قَيُّوم الاَسمَاء
The Qayyum al-Asma' of the Bab
Part I
سورة الملك
Sūrat al-mulk
The Surah of the Dominion
Scans from a photocopy a 1261/1845 Ms. of QA. 1
[1]
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate
[2] "ALL praise be to God Who hath, through the power of Truth, sent down this Book unto His servant [the Bāb], that it may serve as a shining light for all mankind" (SWB:41). [3] This, in truth, in the estimation of God, is the Exalted Path (sirāṭ `aliyy) [`Alī ] It verily, stretches upright according to the truth established in the Mother Book (umm al-kitāb). [4] And He is, in the Mother Book which is before Us, assuredly One Exalted, One according to the Most Great Truth (al-ḥaqq al-akbar), reckoned wise (ḥakīm an) on the part of the All-Merciful. [5] He is the True One from God (al-ḥaqq min `and Allāh) according to the pure religion (al-dīn al-khāliṣ) inscribed in the Mother Book in the vicinity of the Mount [Sinai] (al-ṭūr). [6] "Verily, this is none other than the sovereign Truth; it is the Path which God (ṣirat Allāh) hath laid out for all that are in heaven and on earth. Let him then who will, take for himself the right path unto his Lord. (SWB:41). [7] "Verily this is the true Faith of God [the upright Religion] (al-dīn al-qayyim). And sufficient witness are God and such as are endowed with the knowledge of the Book (`ilm al-kitāb)" (SWB: 41). [8] "This is indeed the Eternal Truth which God, the Ancient of Days (al-qadīm), hath revealed unto His Omnipotent Word [Greatest Word] (al-kalimat al-akbar) -- He Who hath been raised up from the midst of the Burning Bush [Sinaitic Fire] (al-nār)" (SWB:41). [9] "This is the Mystery (al-sirr) which hath been hidden from all that are in heaven and on earth, and in this wondrous Revelation ("Cause", al-amr al-badī`) it hath, in very truth, been set forth in the Mother Book by the hand of God, the Exalted" (SWB: 41).
[10] God, verily, hath decreed that this Book be divulged in interpretation (tafsīr) of the "Best of Narratives" (aḥṣan al-qaṣaṣ, see Q.12:3) [= the Joseph story in the Qur'an] on the part of Muhammad [the hidden 12th Imam] son of Ḥasan [al-`Askarī, 11th Imam] (d. c. 260/874] son of `Alī [al-Hadi, 10th Imam](d. c. 254/868) son of Muhammad [al-Taqī, 9th Imam[ (d. c. 220/835) son of `Alī [al-Riḍā', 8th Imam, d. c. 203/818] son of Mūsā [al-Kāẓim, 7th Imam] (d. c. 183/799) son of Ja`far [al-Sādiq, 6th Imam], (d. c. 148/765)son of Muhammad [al-Bāqir, 5th Imam] ( d. c. 120/738?) son of `Alī [Zayn al-`Ābidīn, 4th Imam] (d. c. 95/713) son of Ḥusayn [3rd Imam] (d. c. 61/680) son of `Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib [1st Imam] (d. c. 40/661) unto His servant [= the Bāb] (d. 1266/1850) to the end that it might be an eloquent Proof of God (ḥujjat-Allāh) from the Remembrance (al-dhikr) unto all the worlds. [11] God beareth witness as if through the testimony of His own Logos-Self for He, verily, is the True One. No God is there except Him. So too the angels (al-malā'ika) and the possessors of knowledge (ulu al-`ilm) standing, as accords with justice, upright about the Remembrance (al-dhikr). No God is there except Him and God knoweth all things. [12] The pure Religion (al-dīn al-khāliṣ) of this Remembrance (al-dhikr) is faultless (sālim). Whomsoever desireth [to identify with true] Islam let such an one be submissive unto this Cause (al-amr), for such shall God accord the status of a Muslim in the Holy Book (kitāb al-abrār) according to the pure Religion (al-dīn al-khāliṣ) worthy of praise (cf. Q. 3:18-19). [13] And whomsoever disbelieveth in Islam shall not have his deeds accepted by God on the Day of Resurrection; not the least thing, as befits the Truth, shall in any way be accepted. [14] Fitting it is that God burn him in the regenerative Fire of God (nār Allāh al-badī`) according to the decree of the Book sealed up, in very Truth, in accordance with the decree of the Gate (ḥukm al-bāb) [15] God is He Who no God is there except Him. And He is God One Ever-Aware of the believers. [16] God is He Who, no God is there except Him. And He is God, One Witness unto all the worlds the believers. [17] God is He Who, no God is there except Him. And He is God, One All-Knowing about the believers. [18] God is He Who, no God is there except Him. And He is God, One All- Encompassing of the believers. [19] God will not accept from anyone any deed except from one who arrives at the Gate, through the Gate (al-bāb bi'l-bāb = Q.12:XX) prostrate before God, the Ancientand praiseworthy in the vicinity of the Gate. [20-1] God hath, in very truth given thee permission [to accomplish this]! So be prostrate and draw nigh for the [Sinaitic] Fire (al-nār) in the Point [Locus] of [Cosmic] Water (nuqṭat al-mā') is evidently, in very truth, prostrate upon the earth before God, the True One.
[22] "O concourse of kings and the sons of kings! (yā ma`shar al-mulūk wa abnā' al-mulūk). Lay aside, one and all [in truth, as befits the Truth] your dominion which belongeth unto God (mulk Allāh)" (SWB:41).
[23] "O king of Islam! [Muhammad Shah r.1834-1848] (lit. "king of the Muslims", malik al-muslimūn). Aid thou, with the truth, after having aided the Book, Him Who is Our Most Great Remembrance (dhikrinā al-akbar) for God hath, in very truth, destined for thee, and for such as circle round thee, on the Day of Judgment [Resurrection], a responsible position in His Path" (SWB:41)
[24] "I swear by God O [Muhammad] Shah! [lit. O thou king!] If thou showest enmity unto Him Who is His Remembrance, (dhikr) God will, on the Day of Resurrection, condemn thee, before the kings, unto hell-fire, and thou shalt not, in very truth, find on that Day any helper except God, the Exalted" (SWB:41-2). [25] Purge thou, O [Muhammad] Shah, the Sacred Land (al-arḍ al-muqaddas) [= Tehran] ( the `atabāt in Ottoman Iraq) from such as have repudiated the Book (ahl al-radd), ere the day whereon the Remembrance of God (al-dhikr) cometh, terribly and of a sudden, with His potent Cause (al-amr al-qawiyy) by the leave of God, the Most High" (SWB:42). [26] "God, verily, hath prescribed to thee [ Muhammad Shah] to submit unto Him Who is His Remembrance (al-dhikr) , and unto His Cause (al-amr), and to subdue, with the truth and by His leave, the countries, for in this world thou hast been mercifully invested with sovereignty, (al-mulk) and wilt, in the next, dwell, nigh unto the Seat of Holiness, with the inmates of the Paradise of His good-pleasure" (jannat al-riḍwān, lit. `Garden of Riḍwān) (SWB:42). [27] Let not thy sovereignty (al-mulk) deceive thee, O [Muhammad] Shah, for `every soul shall taste of death,' [Q. 3:182] and this, in very truth, hath been written down as a decree of God" (SWB:41). [28] Be thou content with the commandment of God the True One, inasmuch as sovereignty (al-mulk) as recorded in the Mother Book (umm al-kitāb) by the hand of God is surely invested in Him Who is the Remembrance (al-dhikr). [29]
And [O kings!] give aid towards victory before God through thy very own selves and thy swords (bi-anfusikum wa asyāfikum) in the shade of the Most Great Remembrance (al-dhikr al-akbar) for the sake of this pure Religion (al-dīn al-khāliṣ) which is, in very truth, mighty.
[30] "O Minister of the Shah! [King] (wazīr al-malik) [ = Ḥajjī Mīrzā Āqāsī c.1783-1848]
Fear thou God, besides Whom there is none other God but Him, the Sovereign Truth, the Just, and lay aside thy dominion (al-mulk), for We, by the leave of God, the All-Wise, inherit the earth and all who are upon it (cf. Q.19:41), and He shall rightfully be a witness unto thee and unto the Shāh [King] (al-malik )" (SWB:42-3). [31] Were ye to obey the Remembrance of God (al-dhikr) with absolute sincerity, We guarantee, by the leave of God, that on the Day of Resurrection, a vast dominion (al-mulk an `aẓīm an) shall be yours in His eternal Paradise (jannat al-`adn, Garden of Eden)" (SWB:43). [32] Vain indeed is your dominion [O Kings!], for God hath set aside earthly possessions for such as have denied Him; for unto Him Who is your Lord shall be the most excellent abode [`the best return'], (ḥasan al-mā'ab), He Who is, in truth, the Ancient of Days" (al-qadīm an). (SWB:43). [33] With Us is an elevated dominion (al-mulk an rafī` an ) in the Garden of Eternity (jannat al-khuld) which We bestow upon such as We desire among Our servants such, that is, as are established in this Gate (al-bāb) by God and in very truth, an upholder of His verses.
[34] O concourse of kings! (yā ma`shar al-mulūk). Deliver with truth and in all haste the verses sent down by Us, to the peoples of Turkey and of India" (SWB:43) [35] and beyond them, with power and with truth, to lands in both the East and the West" (SWB:43).
[36] O servants of the All Merciful! God did not create you or provide for you except with respect to a Cause (amr) which, in very truth, is mighty before God in the Mother Book (umm al-kitāb). [37] So follow ye! that which God hath revealed unto Us of the decrees of the Gate (al-bāb) in this Book, submissive before God and, in very truth, content with His Cause. [38] And know that if ye aid God, He will, on the Day of Resurrection, graciously aid you, upon the Bridge (al-ṣirāt), through Him Who is His Most Great Remembrance (al-dhikr al-akbar)" [39] By God! If ye do well, to your own behoof will ye do well; and if ye deny God and His signs [verses], We, in very truth, having God, can well dispense with all creatures and all earthly dominion (al-mulk)" (SWB:42)
[40] "O people of the earth!
Whoso obeyeth the Remembrance of God (dhikr-Allāh) and His Book hath in truth obeyed God and His chosen ones and he will, in the life to come, be reckoned in the presence of God among the inmates of the Paradise of His good-pleasure" (jannat al-riḍwān, `Garden of Riḍwān')(SWB:43) [41] We, verily, have set the mountains on earth in motion as well as the stars above the heavenly Throne in the vicinity of the Sinaitic Fire (al-nār) in the Pivot of the watery Expanse (quṭb al-mā'), this by virtue of the Remembrance (al-dhikr), through God, the True One. Not any one among you shall be left out [at the time of assembling for judgment] (Q.18:47f). [42] He is One Wrathful (al-qāhir) beyond His servants. And God is He Who knoweth all things.
Select Text critical Notes for QA 1
A = QA ms. 1261 = Muhammad Mahdī ibn Karbalā'ī, dated 1261. One of the earliest extant mss.
B = QA cited Izhaq = early citations of the QA in Muhammad Karim Khān Kirmanī (d. 1871, the Shaykhī anti-Bābī-Baha'ī leader), Izhāq al-bāṭil ("The Crushing of Falsehood", 1261/1845).
C = QA ms. F.11 = Browne Coll. Cambridge Univ. F.11 (1891)
D = QA ms. 1323 = QA copy made 1st Muḥarram, 1323/ 8th March 1905.
The translation above is based upon ms. A. Alternative or variant readings deriving from other mss. are indicated by a red asterisk (*) and the exact alternatives spelled out in the footnotes below the verse being indicated as QA1: verse number.
QA1:5 . The readings inserted in red are are from ms. D (mss. 1323)
نّه الحق من عند اللّه *و علی الدّين الخالص قد كان فی امّ الكتاب * حول الطّور مسطوراً
He is the True One from God (al-ḥaqq min `and Allāh) according to the pure religion (al-dīn al-khāliṣ) inscribed in the Mother Book in the vicinity of the Mount [Sinai] (al-ṭūr )...
QA1: 9 . The readings inserted in red are readings are from ms. D (1323)
انّ هذا لهو السّرّ فی السّموات و الارض و علی الامر البديع باذن* [بايدی] اللّه العلیّ قد كان بالحق فی امّ الكتاب مكتوباً
"This is the Mystery (al-sirr) which hath been hidden from all that are in heaven and on earth, and in this wondrous Revelation ("Cause", al-amr al-badī`) it hath, in very truth, been set forth in the Mother Book with the permission of God, the Exalted by the [two] hands of God, the Exalted" (SWB:41).
QA1: 18 ADD details
اللّه الّذی لا اله الا هو و هو اللّه كان بالمؤمنين* محيطاً
"God is He Who, no God is there except Him. And He is God, One All-Encompassing of the believers".