THE
QAYYŪM AL-ASMĀ' OF THE BĀB.
Part LXXIII
[73]
سورة الكهف
Sūrat al-Kahf
(The Surah of the Cave)
on
Qur'ān 12:72
Spanning around four pages of Arabic text Qayyūm al‑asmā' surah LXXIII (73) is entitled the Sūrat al-Kahf (The Surah of the Cave) following the title of Surah 18 of the Qur'an. In neo-qur'anic fashion it commences with the basmala then cites Qur'an 12:72 after which it has as verse 3 (of the QA) the isolated letters A-L-M (= also Q. 2 etc). Following a bold opening declaration in verse four the Bāb refers to the Aṣḥāb al-kahf ("The Companions of the Cave") and al-Raqīm (traditionally the name of a dog ) and seems, rewriting Q. 18: 9, to pose a rhetorical question about the people's failure to identify these figures with the person of the Bāb, the seven letters of whose name (`Ali Muhammad) correspond with the seven sleepers or companions of the "Cave" which seems to relate to the Bab in his occulted, messianic state as the Dhikr or Remembrance.
It is in verse four of the new Sūrat al-Kahf the Bāb refers to the Aṣḥāb al-kahf ("The Companions of the Cave") and al-Raqīm - traditionally identified as the `dog' of the seven sleepers though some modern scholars think it originally meant `an Inscription'). He rewrites Qur'an 18:9 and seems to pose a rhetorical question about the people's failure to realize his presence with the companions or sleepers of the "Cave". The person of the Bab as the messianic figure of the new age was in the "cave" of his occulted or hidden state yet as one fully capable of revealing astonishing verses as was ordained in pre-eternity. The الكهف al-kahf or "Cave" itself then is explicitly indentified with the Bab perhaps as the representative of the occulted Dhikr or Remembrance. Thus he states in verse 7 :
و انّ الكهف هذا الباب و فی امّ الكتاب قد كان حول النّار مسطوراً
"The "Cave" (al-kahf) is this Bāb, for such was inscribed about the [Sinaitic] "Fire" (al-nar) in the Archetypal-Mother Book (umm al-kitāb).
Later in Qayyum al-asma' 73:10 the Bab associates his seven letter personal name, `Ali [3 letters] Muhammad [4 letters] with the Aṣḥāb al-kahf ("The Companions of the Cave"), he being their "Lord" (rabb) since his seven letter name has an identical abjad value to Rabb (R- 200 +"b" = 2) of 202. The Aṣḥāb al-kahf ("The Companions of the Cave") are now longer exactly "cave"-bound in ghaybat ("occultation") but rose up phoenix-like from the celestial Sinaitic Fire (al-nar) by virtue of the theophany of the "Lord" through the seven letter Name of the Bab.
و انّ حروف اسمائك اصحاب الكهف سبعة اذ قاموا من حول النّار و قد قالوا ربّنا ربّ العرش لا اله الّا هو لن ندعو من دون اللّه الهاً و انّ اللّه قد كان علی كلّشیء شهيداً
[10] The [seven] letters of thy Name are the seven Aṣḥāb al-kahf (Companions of the Cave) since they rose up from about the [Sinaitic] Fire (al-nar) and proclaimed , `Our Lord is the Lord of the Throne!. No God is there except Him. Never shall we supplicate a god other than God'. And God hath ever been witness unto all things (kullu shay').
