QAYYŪM AL-ASMĀ'
Part XV [15]
سورة المشية
Sūrat al-Mashiyya
(The Surah of the Divine Will)
on
Qur'ān 12:14
Translation Stephen N. Lambden
1982-2016 + Last updated 14-02-2020.
[1]
بسم اللّه الرّحمن الرّحيم
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate
[2]
"They [brothers] said, ` If the wolf (al-dhi'b) eats him, and we a band, then are we losers!'" (Q.12:14. trans. Arberry).
[3]
طهص[س]
Ṭ-H-S
[Abjad = 9+5+60 = 74]
[4] He is God Who, no God is there except Him. There is nothing like unto Him. His is the creation and the command (al-khalq wa'l-amr) [cf. Q. 7:54]. And He is God Who hath ever been aware of everything (kulli shay'). [5] So By the Lord of the heaven and of the earth! This Book cometh from God, the True One (al-haqq). Such is, in Truth, in very Truth, manifestly sufficient through God, by means of His servant (`abd) [the Bab]. [6] God is indeed One Self-Sufficient [Rich] (al-ghaniyy) while ye are but poor ones (al-fuqara') before the All-Merciful [God]. This is what God hath indeed decreed, ordained relative to [through] that Bab (Gate). [7] So follow ye all what God the True One (al-haqq) hath sent down unto thee, in very Truth, in His Book (al-kitab) which is Pristine [Pure] (al-khalis), something visibly [manifestly] Powerful (jahrat qawiyy an).
[8] So fear ye then God, in very Truth, in that Bab (Gate) and be ye among the best of helpers (khayr ansar) before God, the Exalted, the Praiseworthy, in the pathways of that Bab. [9] God hath indeed, in Truth, in very Truth, decreed for thee the Cause (al-amr) in His Book (al-kitab) after the secret [mystery] of the Book (sirr al-kitab) as ordained in the vicinity of the [Celestial] Watery Expanse (al-ma'). [10] So pardon ye the people and forgive many among them (kathir) be witness that God hath ever been active in this respect! [11] God hath ever greatly loved among the believers in that Bab (Gate) such whose attributes (sifat) hath ever been, in Truth in very Truth, inscribed in the Book of God (kitab Allah), the Exalted, nigh the theophanic Fire. [12] He is indeed the One who hath ever decreed thy Divine Providence in Heaven (rizq fi'l-sama') for this is a revelation befittingly apportioned. [13] If thou dost desire to attain unto God and the Abode of the Hereafter (dar al-akhira) then by thy Lord, the All-Merciful that which God made for thee in addition to one Elevated, His servant (`abd) [the Bab], in Truth, as accords with the knowledge of the Book (`ilm al-kitab), then there is what cometh from the True One (min al-haqq) One All-Knowing (`alim an), as accords with the secret mystery of the Letter "B" (sirr al-ba').
[14] He is indeed the One who hath decreed thy circumstances (umur) in His Mighty Book as accords with the Pathways of Rectitude (subul al-sawa'), well-ordered (manzum an) nigh the vicinity of the Bab (fi hawl al-bab). [15] This to the end that thou might assuredly attain unto His Bounty (fasl) and be befittingly grateful for both the hinderance [foe. enemy] and the attainment (al-`aduw wa'l-i[tti]sal) for they are, in Truth, according to the decree of the Book, many (kathir an).
[16] He is indeed the One who caused His verses to be made manifest before His servants (`ibad), with the permission of God, in Truth, in very Truth in the Glorious Book of God (kitab Allah al-majid), the One Well-Praised (al-hamid), as befits the Wondrous Pathways of Rectitude (subul al-sawa' badi` an). [17] This to the end that they might be informed through the Pristine (al-khalis) Dhikr-Allah (Remembrance of God) of what they might, in Truth, in very Truth, dispute in the Pathway of His Love (fi sabil muhabbatihi), questioning yet expressing gratitude (sa'il an shukur an). [18] God hath indeed desired within this Book that there be every good (kull al-khayr) in the Name of the Bab. This as accords with the secret mystery of the Theophanic Fire (sirr al-nar) determined (maqdiyy an) within the Mother [Archetypal] Book (umm al-kitab). [19] He is indeed the One who made our hearts (qulub) to be a secret Treasury of His Cause (makman amrihi) and our inmost breasts (sudur) to be Repositories of His Hiddenness [Occultation] (aw'iya ghaybihi) through His Divine Power (qudratihi) for He is God Who hath ever been Powerful (qadir an) over everything.
[20] He is indeed the One who confirmed our action in His Praiseworthy Book (Kitab al-hamid) unto the people of insight among the believers (ahl al-basa'ir min al-mu'minin). This in a perspicuous verse (aya muhkamat) within the Qur'an. It was "not thyself that threw what thou threw but that God" (Q. 8:17b), in very Truth, did so relative to the Cause (`ala al-amr) for He is indeed is One Supremely Active ( fa``al an) [in this world] and Powerful (qadir an). [21] There are those who subscribe to a falsity regarding the Name (al-ism) despite the fact that the Truth (al-haqq) has been disclosed unto them on the part of God, the Exalted, the Powerful (al-`aliyy qawiyy an). [22] So shall He cause them to go astray at the resurrection through hellfire (naran), in fact through the searing heat of an intense (kabir an) hellfire upon hellfire (harr al-nar b'l-nar). [23] This a retribution [recompense] (juza') for an evil act (sayyi'at), something just (`adl) as befits its like. Yet We do not, in very Truth, cast utter injustice (zallam) upon the servants [of God] even to the extent of the shell of a date-stone (qatmir an). [24] Such as act with the perfect integrity of good deeds (al-salihat) at the side of Our Dhikr (Remembrance), God will, in very Truth, bestow upon them from His Bounty (fadl) a double portion, nay a thousand fold ( اضعافاً و آلافاً , ad`af an wa alaf an). And He is God who hath ever been Powerful over everything (qadir an `ala kulli shay').
[25]
O people of the Furqan (Criterion)!
[cf. Q. 25].
Thou art in line with the Truth (`ala al-haqq) among the people of the Qur'an (min ahl al-qur'an). This, in very Truth, is the Dhirk (Remembrance), the very Logos-Self of the Book (nafs al-kitab). So, with the permission of God, return ye all unto him, thy Master (mawla), the True One (al-haqq). God hath indeed made the eschatological, latter-day Return (al-ruju` fi'l-ma`ad) to before Him to be something distinctly apparent (mashud an). [26] God indeed decreed whatever He so decreed! Such will indeed come to pass (m-d-y IV) for the Cause [of God] will be activated (maf`ul an) [cf. Q. 73:18b] within the Mother [Archetypal] Book (umm al-kitab) about the theophanic Fire (al-nar).
[27] The brothers of Joseph said unto their father [Jacob-Israel] "the wolf (al-dhi'b) shall be well-disposed on eating him" [Joseph]! [see Q.12:14a] for we are, while upon the earth, nigh the theophanic Fire (al-nar); it is thus as if we have, in Truth, in very Truth, found befitting remembrance (madhkur an). [28] Thus have We [God], in very Truth, divinely inspired thee (w-h-y) [the Bab] with something of what God intended by the inner depths (butun) of this [Qur'anic] verse [= Q. 12:14]. This the end that the people might become believers in God and, in truth, in very Truth, in His Powerful (qawiyy an) verses.
[29] Wherefore did the [twelve Arabic] letters (huruf) of "There is no God but God" ( لا اله الّا اللّه - la ilaha illa Allah)" say unto [Imam]`Ali [or the Bab] on the Day of the Genesis (yawm al-bada'), celebrated (mashur an) about the land of the Inmost Heart (ard al-fu'ad) nigh the theophanic Fire (nar): [30] "Well-disposed the wolf (al-dhi'b) ate him for we (Q. 12:14a), in Truth, in very Truth, are but "a band" (`usbat) [of letters] (Q. 12:14b ) before Him!" And God hath ever been Powerful (qawiyy an) over everything (kull shay'). [31] God did not make us to be aware of the Truth (`ala al-haqq) regarding the secret mystery of Joseph within the land of the Euphrates (sirr yusuf `ala ard al-firat) with a billowing forth (masjur an) nigh the Watery Expanse (hawl al-ma'). [32] We [the "band", `usbat] did not desire that we be subject to anything other than his supplication (du`a) within the land (ard) [of the inmost heart], in Truth, as befits the Truth, a befitting witness [testimony] (shahid an). [33] Wherefore thou failed to speculate about the Truth (al-haqq) which cometh from God and were thus among those lost in perdition (خسراناً khusran an; Q. 12:14b).
[34] And We, with the permission of God, made Our verses (ayat), in Truth, in very Truth, to be pertinent to all the worlds, a guarding Patron (wakil an) about the theophanic Fire (hawl al-nar). [35] God is He who gave them permission respecting the divine revelation (tanzil) and the inner exegesis thereof (ta'wil) even as they have, in Truth, in very Truth, willed something praiseworthy (mahmud an). [36] Yet did We guard them from attaining to the subtle allusions (al-ishara) as well as from that which thou [the Bab] consider to be destitute (makhdhul an) or other than Reality (al-haqq). [37] God testifieth and sufficient in God, in Truth, in very Truth, is the testimony to Our [revealed] verses. By God! the True One! They cannot possibly will anything save what God, in Truth, in very Truth, their Lord Himself doth will respecting their secret mystery (sirr) and their public persons. And God hath ever been Witness (shahid an) unto everything (kull shay'). [38] The servants of the All-Merciful are well-aware that We, in Truth, in very Truth, expounded Our verses in this Book. This in the vicinity of the Bab (hawl al-bab) perchance the people, empowered by God, the Praiseworthy (al-hamid), might themselves offer praise (mahmud an). [39] And this perchane the people might be show gratitudel (shukur an) towards God, the One Elevated (al-`aliyy).
[40] Say: Invoke ye God through His Name, the All-Merciful (al-rahman) in the Pathway of the Bab (sabil al-bab). God indeed hath the Most Beautiful Names (al-asma' al-husna)pertaining to the Bab! He hath ever been one secreted [concealed, veiled] (mastur an) about the theophanic Fire (al-nar).
♦
[41] [42]
SELECT NOTES AND COMMENTS
Stephen Lambden
[20b] ... It was "not thyself that threw what thou threw but God" (Q. 8:17b) that, in very Truth, did so relative to the Cause (`ala al-amr) for He is indeed is One Supremely Active ( fa``al an) and Powerful (qadir an). We have here a citation of Q. VIII Surat al-Anfal (The Spoils of War) v. 17b. This qur'anic phrase originally had to do with Muslims throwing sand into the eyes of their enemies at the battle of Badr. This was interpreted or understood in the Qur'an as an act of God Himself. The Badr event has become the powerfully active God-generated revelation of a verse or verses within the Qur'an as it or they pertain to the new Cause or religion of the Bab.
