THE PERSIAN BAYAN OF THE BAB (1819-1850 CE).
I-I
The First Unity (al-wāḥid al-avval).
Trans. Denis MacEoin (1990s > Tue, 8 Jul 1997 22:48:34 +01 OO (BST)
Translation Denis MacEoin (1990s) posted Sun, 13 Jul 1997 21: 19:58 +01 OO (BST), with select Modifications, Notes and Transliteration by Stephen Lambden 2019.
In progress, last updated 10-02-2019.
I shall here and there insert transliteration and clarificatory comments in square brackets [] also offering occasional endnotes of exposition or commentary. Stephen Lambden 2019...
Chapter One Persian Bayan
[of Sayyid `Ali Muhammad Shirazi, the Bab 1817-1850]
ln the first chapter of the number of Ali Things [kull shay' = abjad 361], the decree which God - praised be He and glorified - has rendered obligatory is the declaration: 'there is no god but God, truly, truly'. Wherefore, the whole of the Bayan shall return to this declaration, and the appearance of a new creation shall take place from it. The recognition of this declaration is conditional on recognition of the Point of the Bayan, which God has made the essence of the Letters of the Seven. Whoever realizes that he is the Point of the Qur'an in his end and the Point of the Bayan in his beginning, and that he is the Primai Will that exists in its own self, through whose decree all things are created and in whom they subsist, his essence has borne witness to the singleness of his Lord. But whoever has not believed in him is rekjected and shall enter the fire. What fire is further removed than he who has not believed in him? And he who has believed shall enter into affirmation. What paradise is more exalted than the one who believes in him? lt is a declaration that has praised and magnified and extolled and sanctified and glorified its Lord at morn and eventide.
Regard not this declaration except as you lok upon the sun in the heavens, and regard not him who believes in him except as you regard the mirror. lndeed, whosoever believes in the essence of the Letters of the Seven, his inner being shall be given assistance by one of the names of God, praised be He and glorified, and his outer being shall be a leaf among the leaves of the Tree of Affirmation. Ali things return to this one thing, and all things are created through this one thing. This one thing shall be, in the next resurrection, none other than he whom God shall manifest, who, in every degree, utters the words, 'Verily, 1 am God, no god is there beside Me, the Lord of all things. All save Me is my creation. Wherefore, 0 My Creation, worship Me!' And know that he is the mirror of God, from whom the mirror of the physical universe (mulk) is rendered lurninous, which is made up of the Letters of the Living. ln him none can be seen except God Himself. Whoever in the Bayan utters the declaration, 'there is no god but God', turns towards God through him, for his creation began in him and to him his creation shall return.
The fruit of this knowledge is that, at the time of the appearance of him whom God shall manifest, you should not say, 'we say "there is no god but God" and this is the basis of religion'. For what you say is but a reflection from his sun, which has shone forth in his first manifestation He is more worthy of this declaration in his own self than are the realities of all created things, for if the mirror should say 'the sun is in me', it is evident to the sun that it is but its reflection speaking.
O creation of the Bayan, we have caused you to know the exaltation of your existence in the declaration of your Lord, that you may not be veiled by the truth from him whom God shall manifest on the Day of Resurrection. That of which you speak resembles its appearance in your hearts and that concerning which he speaks. That it is to which God has borne witness in Himself, that there is no god but He, the Preserver, the Self-Subsistent. ln this day, whoever in the Qur'an should utter this declaration, which is the essence of the faith, it cannot be doubted that he shall have uttered what Muhammad, the Messenger of God, uttered before this. The sun of this declaration was in his (Muhammad's) heart, and its reflection shone forth in those who utter (that declaration) today. Wherefore, it returns to him in his second appearance, which is the appearance of the Point of the Bayan, not in his first appearance, for in his first revelation the tree of oneness had not been raised up in the realities of created beings. Now that one thousand two hundred and seventy years have passed, this tree has reached the stage of fruition. Everyone in whom there is a reflection of that sun of the Point of the Qur'an, which is identical with the Point of the Bayan, must needs be manifested before him.
I have used as an example the highest declaration, upon which the faith of all men depends. The beginning of faith is confirmed through its utterance, and all speak it at the moment of death and finally reurn to it. Wherefore, the reflections of the mirrors return only to that in which they had their origin. If the mirror should remove that portion of the sun's reflection that lies within it, it will return to it [the sun], for that is where it had its inception. Both its return and its going back exist in nothing but the limitation imposed upon it by being nothing more than a mirror.
Since the exaltation of the word of the Qur'an in former times and the elevation of the word of the Bayan aher it may be considered thus when face to face with the Sun of Reality, what is the state of those matters that are derived from that word, matters such as the recognition of God's names, or those of the Prophet, the Imams of Guidance, the Gates of Guidance, as well as secondary questions without number or end? Anyone who has been veiled by one of these things from the reality that isn the source of his existence, and unto which it returns, should he belong to the Tree of Affirmation and should the sign of his oneness be a token of the Sun, well and good; but, God forbid, should it not be a token of it, he would be unworthy of any mention.
For how ohen did those individuals who associated themselves with the Qur'an issue decress contrary to what God had revealed. This was mentioned with respect to their realities, not with regard to what is connected to the realities; for whatever connects itself to anything but God will return to the reality of that thing. And since its reality is not a token of God, it is not mentioned in His presence. But whatever is connected to true realities will return to them. If they are signs (naturally) situated within the mirrors of their own hearts and not (artificially) placed there, they will return to their own seats in the beginning and at the end. Since the sun has been shining from eternity, those mirrors have at all times been tokens of it; God's grace has never been interrupted under any conditions, nor shall it ever corne to an end.
Whosoever says: 'God, God is my Lord, and I associate no-one with my Lord. The Essence of the Letters of the Seven is the Gate of God [bab Allah], and 1 do not believe in any gate other than him'; (whoever says this) and believes in the one God shall manifest, such a man has attained to this first gate of the first unity. Blessed be they who have attained to the bounty of a mighty day, the day on which all shall bring themselves into the presence of God, their Lord.
ENDNOTES
Stephen Lambden
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I-II
The First Unity (al-wāḥid al-avval), Section II/ Chapter II.
Trans. Denis MacEoin (1990s > Date: Sun, 13 Jul 1997 21:19:49 +0100 (BST)
Notes Stephen Lambden 2017.
I shall here and there include modifications, insert transliteration and clarificatory comments in square brackets [] also offering occasional endnotes of exposition or commentary.
♦
Persian Bayan Chapter One Pt.II
The Second Chapter of the First Unity [ of the Persian Bayan]
[of Sayyid `Ali Muhammad Shirazi, the Bab 1819-1850]
The substance of this chapter is that Muhammad and the manifestations of his self have returned to the world. They were the first servants who presented themselves before God on the Day of Judgement and who, after confessing to His singleness, brought the verses of His Gate to all men. And God made them Imams, according to His promise in the Qur'an: 'We desire to show Our bounty unto them that have been brought low upon the earth, and to make them Imams and to render them the inheritors'.
By that same proof whereby the prophethood of Muhammad [b. Mecca c.570 -d. Mecca 632 CE] was established in days gone by, his return to the world has been made clear in the eyes of God and those who possess knowledge. That proof consists of the verses of God, verses whose like cannot be produced by ail who dwell on the earth. There can be no doubt that the honour of the servant consists in affirming the singleness of his Lord, in recognizing Him, in confessing to His justice, in obedience to Him, and in (obtaining) His good-pleasure. Nor is there any doubt that these holy souls attained to the essence of all exaltation and grandeur before all other men. For any being endowed with spirit who reflects will see no glory in anything except in the good-pleasure of God. There can be no doubt that they were the first lights to bow down before God, to accept the verses that had been sent down upon His Gate, and to spread them abroad among men. There is no exaltation higher than this in the world of creation, than for man's heart to show the way to God, and for him to never to be veiled from his Beloved, even for so much as a ninth of a ninth of a tenth of a tenth of a ninth part. For whatever any soul may perform during its lifetime, it seeks for nothing but the good-pleasure of God, since that is the ultimate goal to which all things aspire. Nor can there be any doubt but that God's good-pleasure is no revealed in anything but the contentment of that individual to whom God has given His proof. Nor can there be any doubt that these holy lights were content with God's good-pleasure before anything else came into existence. This is the highest exaltation, above ail other exaltation, and the most splendid elevation, above all other elevation. No doubt is there that their return in the second revelation is mightier in God's sight that their first appearance in days gone by.
ln this day, the station of the wilaya [Imamological guidance) is established by the very same thing that established the station of the Prophet in former days, even though the manifestation of the Point of the Bayan is absolutely identical with that of Muhammad, which has been brought back to life. Nevertheless, since he has appeared in the (form of the) revelation of Gad Himself, all the names beneath his shadow are God's tokens, for he is the First and the Last, the Outward and the lnward, and the Beautiful Names belong to him. ln this dispensation (kur), Gad has singled out their names as the Letters of the Living, for there were fourteen holy souls, as well as the hidden and guarded name, which is known by the names of the Four Gates, or the Lights of the Throne, or the Bearers of Creation, Sustenance, Death, and Life. All of these together form the number of 'the Living' (hayy ) [hayy = abjad 18] , who were the nearest of the Names to God. All others were guided by their guidance, for Gad started the creation of the Bayan through them, and through them He shall cause it to return. They were the lights that bowed themselves down from all eternity before God's Throne, and they are still there in prostration. ln every revelation, they have been known to God by a ( different) name, and in every revelation their physical names have been altered. But the names of their real selves, which are God's tokens, which are manifest in their hearts, and without which they would be unable to present themselves before Godin the nearness of their realities, have ever been and continue to be (exactly the same). God possesses Names infinite and without end, but all things have been illumined by these names, for ail things are guided by their guidance. Within the hearts of these names, nothing but God can be seen; indeed, within the heart of any believer whatseover, be it man or woman, nothing can be seen but that name through which the heart receives assistance from God, and in that name nothing can be seen but God and God atone, except that creation and command are His, in the past and in the future. No God is there save He, the Living, the Self-Subsisting. Every soul who has been a believer in Muhammad or in someone other than him, has returned in his shadow. Each one shall have his reward for what he has done. God is witness over ail things.
Endnotes
Stephen Lambden
♦
I -III>XIX.
The First Unity (al-wāḥid al-avval), Section III-XIX / Chapter III-XIX .
[of Sayyid `Ali Muhammad Shirazi, the Bab 1819-1850]
Trans. Denis MacEoin (1990s > 14 Jul 1997 18:34:01 +01 00 (BST).
I shall here and there insert transliteration and clarificatory comments in square brackets [ ] also offering occasional modifications, endnotes of exposition or commentary. Stephen Lambden 2019...
Persian Bayan Chapter One Pt. III -XIX / Wahid I Bab III-XIX.
The Third - Nineteenth Chapters of the First Unity [of the Persian Bayan].
The Third Chapter of the First Unity
Concerning this, that [Imam] Ali [ibn Abī Ṭālib, 1st Imam/ 4th Caliph, d. c. 40/661] has returned to the world, together with those who believed in him and those who believed in someone else. He was the second to believe in the Point [the Bab], after the Letter Sin [the second latter of the basmala].
The Fourth Chapter of the First Unity
Concerning this, that Fatima [daughter of the Prophet Muhammad and wife of Imam `Ali] has returned to the life of the world, with those who believed in her, and those who believed in someone else.
The Fifth Chapter of the First Unity
Concerning this, that [the second Imam] Hasan ibn `Ali, b. 3/624-5- d. 49/669-70, son of `Ali and Fatimah] has returned to the life of the world, with those who believed in him, and those who believed in someone else.
The Sixth Chapter of the First Unity
Concerning this, that [the third Imam] Ḥusayn[ d. c. 61/680) son of `Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib and Fatimah] has returned to the life of the world, with those who believed in him, and those who believed in someone else.
The Seventh Chapter of the First Unity
Concerning this, that [the fourth Imam] `Alī ibn al-Husayn [Zayn al-`Ābidīn, the 4th Imam, d. c. 95/713, the son of Ḥusayn [3rd Imam] and Fatimah] has returned to the life of the world, with those who believed in him, and those who believed in someone else.
The Eighth Chapter of the First Unity
Concerning this, that [the fifth Imam] Muhammad [al-Bāqir, the 5th Imam, d. c. 120/738)] ibn [son of] `Alī [Zayn al-`Ābidīn, 4th Imam] has returned to the life of the world, with those who believed in him, and those who believed in someone else.
The Ninth Chapter of the First Unity
Concerning this, that [the sixth Imam] Ja'far [al-Sādiq, 6th Imam], d. c. 148/765] ibn Muhammad [al-Baqir, the 5th Imam] has returned to the life of the world, with those who believed in him, and those who believed in someone else.
The Tenth Chapter of the First Unity
Concerning this, that [the seventh Imam] Mūsā [al-Kāẓim, the 7th Imam], d. c. 183/799) ibn Ja'far [al-Sadiq, the 6th Imam] has returned to the life of the world, with those who believed in him, and those who believed in someone
else.
The Eleventh Chapter of the First Unity
Concerning this, that [the eighth Imam] `Alī [al-Riḍā', 8th Imam, d. c. 203/818] ibn [son] of Mūsā [al-Kāẓim, 7th Imam] has returned to the lite of the world, with those who believed in him, and those who believed in someone else.
The Twelfth Chapter of the First Unity
Concerning this, that [the ninth Imam] Muhammad [al-Taqī, the 9th Imam, d. c. 220/835) ibn 'Ali [al-Riḍā', the 8th Imam] has returned to the life of the world, with those who believed in him, and those who believed in someone else.
The Thirteenth Chapter of the First Unity
Concerning this, that [the tenth Imam] 'Ali [al-Naqi] ibn Muhammad has returned to the life of the world, with those who believed in him, and those who believed in someone else.
The Fourteenth Chapter of the First Unity
Concerning this, that [the eleventh Imam] Hasan ibn 'Ali [al-Askari] has returned to the life of the world, with those who believed in him, and those who believed in someone else.
The Fifteenth Chapter of the First Unity
Concerning this, that His Holiness the Proof has appeared with signs and explanations in the revelation of the Point of the Bayan [the Bab], which is identical to the revelation of the Point of the Qur'an [Muhammad], although the Point of the Bayan was mentioned in the first place and that of the Qur'an in the second, while the revelation of His Holiness was mentioned in the fifteenth chapter.
The hidden meaning of this is that the Point, in the station of absolute nakedness, which is the pure revelation of God, in which it manifests itself as God [in person], was mentioned in the first station; and in the station of determination, which is the Primal Will, it was mentioned in the second station; and in the station of rising up above all souls, whch is the special privilege of the fourteenth revelation, it was mentioned in the fifteenth station. But the Point itself has ever been and shall ever be in the station of primacy, and is more worthy of the mention of all names than are the names themselves. For example, when the name of divinity exists, there also exists that of lordship and all the (other names), despite the fact that appearance in the name of divinity has always been and shall always be mentioned in the station of the Point. The likenesses of all the names appear in the elevation of their own places. Wherefore, He is the First at the same time that He is the Last, and He is the Hidden at the same time He is the Manifest, and He it is Who is mentioned by every name at the same time as He is not mentioned by any name. No god is there but He, the One Who arises, the Self-Subsisting.
The Sixteenth Chapter of the First Unity
Concerning this, that the First Gate has returned to the world with every one who believed in him, whether truly or not.
The Seventeenth Chapter of the First Unity
Concerning this, that the Second Gate has returned to the world with every one who believed in him, whether truly or not.
The Eighteenth Chapter of the First Unity
Concerning this, that the Third Gate has returned to the world with every one who believed in him, whether truly or not.
The Nineteenth Chapter of the First Unity
Concerning this, that the Fourth Gate has returned to the world with every one who believed in him, whether truly or not.
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