Commentary on the Surah of the Sun 9 страница
that God fashioned in the world of the Logos-Command
to be a Manifestation for the theophany of the totality of His Names and His Attributes.
8.
In the world of creation He named him Muhammad, amongst His servants.
9.
And upon him, his family and his companions,
be peace and many expressions of peaceful greeting.
The Tablet of the Merciful [God]
1856-8, the early or mid-Bagdhad era
The Arabic and Persian tablet of the Merciful [God].
The Arabic term for mercy, rahmat, often the Divine `mercy', `compassion', or `kindness' of God. "the Merciful" and "the Compassionate" has an important place in Islamic theology, featured within a number of Hadith ascribed to the prophet Muhammad or the twelver Imams, and also occuring in key points within the Quran a number of times.
TRANSLATION IN PROGRESS
S. Lambden, University of California at Merced
Commentary on the "He is" (Huwa) CHAPTER ONE
Divisions 1-[11]
Last written 2006 - being updated
Baha'-Allah's wholly Arabic scriptural Tablet sometimes referred to in Persian as the Tafsīr-i hu is (more correctly Arab.) Tafsīr huwa, the "Commentary on the He is" ( هو = huwa = "He is"). It is a scriptural Tablet of around twenty pages dating from the mid.-late Iraq (Baghdad) period (c. 1859?). It has the following Arabic prescript
"This is that which was revealed from the Empyrean of Grandeur (jabarūt al-`uẓmat) through the Tongue of Power (bi-lisān al-`izzat) and raised up regarding the Truth of His sanctified Mirror (mirātihi al-qudsiyya) and All-Eternal Light (al-nūr al-azaliyya)."
In basic grammatical terms هو = huwa is the Arabic third person masculine pronoun. In the Qur'ān and in numerous other Arabic Islamic religious texts, traditions and literatures it is often indicative of the existent reality of the Godhead whose personal Name is Allah is presupposed. Thus هو in the Qur'an and elsewhere as well as in thousands of Babi-Baha'i religious texts, indicates the reality, transcendence and absolute existence of the Godhead. Thus also the common theological phrase هوالله which also has deep theological and alphabetic or numerological significances in Islamic mysticism as well as in a considerable number of the writings of the Bab and other primary and secondary Babi and Baha'i sacred literatures. Additionally, the Bab wrote several commentaries on the first letter of the هو huwa or several works entitled Tafsir al-hā' (Commentary upon the letter "H"). Baha'-Allah's Tafsir-i hu or Tafsir Huwa was writtern in a Babi universe of discourse before he had announced his own messianic or theophanological claims in 1863 (near Baghdad) and subsequently in 1866-7. (from Edirne) CE.
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The text of the Tafsir-i hu / Tafsir huwa has never been officially published or translated. The text I refer to, translate and to some extent reproduce here is based on a typed text communicated to me by the Baha'i World Centre (Haifa, Israel) in 1982
Commentary on the "He is" CHAPTER ONE
Divisions 1-[11]
A large tablet from right before 1860, that is comparable to the commentary on the Light verse. “He is” is a Islamic term akin to the Biblical term “I am”. (I am that I am. The great I am. etc)
HE IS
[1.]
[He is God. He is that He is.]
Arabic preface
2.
This is that which was sent down from the celestial realm of Grandeur
through the Tongue of Might and Loftiness
regarding the Reality of His Sanctified Mirror and Eternal Light.
Persian
3.
O This Temple!
We assuredly created thee according to these "Most Beautiful Names"
and made Thee all things
relative to the Names which allude unto Us through the mention of "He is",
in order that they might be a sign communicated on Our part unto all the worlds.
3.
O thou Enquirer!
Hearken unto My gracious favour, then turn unto My Guidance
for thou shall not find another more righteous than Me,
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nor a mystic lovermore elevated than Me in the genesis of the Cause of God.
4.
So clothe thy temple with the robe of the Spirit,
then adorn thine outer beings with vestments of Light.
5.
So know that God, exalted and glorified be He,
addresseth His Mirror in this verse which hath descended from Him,
6.
`O Eternal Fruit,
Lordly Garments, Ancient Temple and Perpetual Tree,
We, verily, created thee according to these `Most Beautiful Names'.'
7.
In other words,`We allotted Thee all the Names from them that were
made manifest, dawned forth, shone brightly, and radiated from
the most sublime celestial realm and the Kingdom of Origination;
8.
selected from the Most Beautiful Names which We referred unto Our Person,
since He, verily -- exalted he His mention -- is the Names which are referred to His Being
that is derived from the Most Beautiful Names and the Most Lofty Signs:
9.
And `Alī [the Bāb] is the Fountainhead of His Essence and the Mine of His [God's] Knowledge;
the [Retreat] [word] of His Command and the Locale of His Activity, (or, Source of His Action)
relative to all that hath been or will be made manifest, and that hath been or will be created.
10.
Apart from these Names, of which mention is made apart from the Most Beautiful Names,
nothing is alotted unto His Logos-Persona or alotted unto His Essence.
11.
Such hath been His way on the part of He [God] before whom there is nothing
and after Whom [there is everything in Creation.]
12.
Translated by S. Lambden from text provided by the Bahai World Center
Edit in Progress
Tablet for Mulla Muhammad Ja`far Naraqi
Written in reply to a letter Bahaullah had received from a Babi believer called Sijjin, apparently a certain Mulla Muhammad Ja`far Naraqi, who deceased in 1860-61.
(Quran 83:8, "the Book of the libertines is in Sijjin")
He apparently had a role in developing Baha-ullah's withdrawal from Iraqi Kurdistan in 1854-6.
[SIJJIN]
1.
2.
3.
Translation in Progress
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S. Lambden, University of California at Merced
Tablet of the City of the Divine Union CHAPTER ONE
Divisions 1-30
CITY OF DIVINE UNION
1
He is the Splendid, the Splendid, the Most Splendidly radiant.
2.
This is the City of Divine Union.
3.
Enter ye therein, O concourse of the believers in Divine Union!,
so that ye may, on account of the glad-tidings of the Spirit,
be numbered among such as are endowed with mystic insight. [1]
4.
He is the Mighty, the [Lord], the Elevated, the Transcendent, the [ ]
5.
These are the verses of the Book. [of Certitude, the Iqan, “the Book of the City of Certitude]
6.
I have distinguished its verses making them wondrous, without error as befits the signs of God;
a guidance, a light, and a remembrance
unto whomsoever are resident in the heavens or on the earth.
7.
Therein are contained that which will draw the people nigh unto the court of sanctity.
8.
It, furthermore, is a Book wherein is contained every mighty directive (cause).
9.
It, in truth, was sent down on the part of [a Lord that is] Wise, Knowing.
10.
"Hearken unto the Day [the present day]
when the Herald raiseth His Call in the midmost heart of the immortal realm,
when the Dove of Hijāz warbleth from the land of `Irāq summoning all unto concord,
and when the gate of heaven is flung open before the face of the entire creation.
11.
This is the Day that shall not be overtaken by the gloom of night,
as the sun receiveth its light therefrom,
inasmuch as this Day is illumined by the splendour of His radiant face.
12.
By the righteousness of God! At that moment a holy and new earth is spread out
at the command of God, the Omnipotent the Mighty, the Inaccessible"
Translated by S. Effendi GWB 26:60-64 + GPB 245
Transliteraion added by S. Lambden
13.
"Praise be to God, the All-Possessing, the King of incomparable glory,
a praise which is immeasurably above the understanding of all created things,
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and is exalted beyond the grasp of the minds of men.
14.
None else besides Him hath ever been able to sing adequately His praise,
nor will any man succeed at any time in describing the full measure of His glory.
15.
Who is it that can claim to have attained the heights of His exalted Essence,
and what mind can measure the depths of His unfathomable mystery?
16.
From each and every revelation emanating from the Source of His glory,
sacred and never-ending evidences of unimaginable splendour have appeared,
and out of every manifestation of His invincible power oceans of eternal light have outpoured.
17.
How immensely exalted are the wondrous testimonies of His almighty sovereignty,
a glimmer of which, if it but touched them,
would utterly consume all that are in the heavens and in the earth!
18.
How indescribably lofty are the tokens of His consummate power,
a single sign of which, however inconsiderable,
must transcend the comprehension of whatsoever hath, from the beginning that hath no beginning,
been brought into being, or will be created in the future, until the end that hath no end.
19.
All the Embodiments of His Names wander in the wilderness of search,
athirst and eager to discover His Essence,
and all the Manifestations of His Attributes implore Him,
from the Sinai of Holiness, to unravel His mystery.
20.
A drop of the billowing ocean of His endless mercy
hath adorned all creation with the ornament of existence,
and a breath wafted from His peerless Paradise
hath invested all beings with the robe of His sanctity and glory.
21.
A sprinkling from the un‑fathomed deep of His sovereign and all-pervasive Will
hath, out of utter nothingness, called into being a creation
which is infinite in its range and deathless in its duration.
22.
The wonders of His bounty can never cease,
and the stream of His merciful grace can never be arrested.
23.
The process of His creation hath had no beginning, and can have no end.
24.
In every age and cycle He hath,
through the splendrous light shed by the Manifestations of His wondrous Essence,
recreated all things,
25.
so that whatsoever reflecteth in the heavens and on the earth the signs of His glory
may not be deprived of the outpourings of His mercy,
nor despair of the showers of His favours.
26.
How all-encompassing are the wonders of His boundless grace!
27.
Behold how they have permeated the entirety of creation.
28.
Such is their virtue that not a single atom in the entire universe can be found
which doth not declare the evidences of His might,
which doth not glorify His holy Name,
or that is not expressive of the brilliant light of His unity.
29.
So perfect and comprehensive is His creation
that no mind nor heart, however keen or pure,
can ever grasp the nature of the most insignificant of His creatures; [the spirit of life]
much less fathom the mystery of Him Who is the Day Star of Truth,
Who is the invisible and unknowable Essence.
30.
The conceptions of the devoutest of mystics,
the attainments of the most accomplished amongst men,
the highest praise which human tongue or pen can render
are all the product of man's finite mind and are conditioned by its limitations.
Tablet of the City of the Divine Union CHAPTER TWO
Divisions 31-[46]
CITY OF DIVINE UNION
31.
Ten thousand Prophets, each [comparable to] a Moses,
are thunderstruck upon the Sinai of their search at His forbidding voice,
"Thou shalt never behold Me!";
32.
whilst a myriad Messengers, each as great as Jesus,
stand dismayed upon their heavenly thrones by the interdiction,
"Mine Essence thou shalt never apprehend!"
33.
From time immemorial He hath been veiled in the ineffable sanctity of His exalted Being,
and will everlastingly continue to be, in the impenetrable mystery of His unknowable Essence.
34.
Every attempt to attain to an understanding of His inaccessible Reality
hath ended in complete bewilderment,
and every effort to approach His exalted Being and envisage His Essence
hath resulted in hopelessness and failure.
35.
How bewildering to me, insignificant as I am,
is the attempt to fathom the sacred depths of Thy knowledge!
36.
How futile my efforts to visualize the magnitude of the power inherent in Thine handiwork‑‑
the revelation of Thy creative power!
37.
How can mine eye, which hath no faculty to perceive itself,
claim to have discerned Thine Essence,
38.
and how can mine heart, already powerless to apprehend the significance of its own potentialities,
pretend to have comprehended Thy nature?
39.
How can I claim to have known Thee,
when the entire creation is bewildered by Thy mystery,
and how can I confess not to have known Thee,
when, lo, the whole universe proclaimeth Thy Presence and testifieth to Thy truth?
40.
The portals of Thy grace have throughout eternity been open,
and the means of access unto Thy Presence made available, unto all created things,
and the revelations of Thy matchless Beauty have at all times been
imprinted upon the realities of all beings, visible and invisible.
41.
Yet, notwithstanding this most gracious favour, this perfect and consummate bestowal,
I am moved to testify that Thy court of holiness and glory
is immeasurably exalted above the knowledge of all else besides Thee,
and the mystery of Thy Presence is inscrutable to every mind except Thine own.
42.
No one except Thyself can unravel the secret of Thy nature,
and nothing else except Thy transcendental Essence
can grasp the reality of Thy unsearchable being.
43.
How vast the number of those heavenly and all-glorious Beings
Who, in the wilderness of their separation from Thee,
have wandered all the days of their life, and failed in the end to find Thee!
44.
How great the multitude of the sanctified and immortal Souls
Who were lost and bewildered while seeking in the desert of search to behold Thy face!
45.
Myriad are Thy ardent Lovers Whom the consuming flame of remoteness from Thee
hath caused to sink and perish,
and numberless are the faithful Souls Who have willingly laid down their lives
in the hope of gazing on the light of Thy countenance.
46.
The sighs and moans of these longing hearts that pant after Thee
can never reach Thy holy court,
neither can the lamentations of the Wayfarers that thirst to appear before Thy face
attain Thy seat of glory."
47.
48.
Translated by S. Effendi, in GWB
TRANSLATION IN PROGRESS
S. Lambden, University of California at Merced
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