Sayyid `Ali Muhammad Shirazi, the Bab (1819-1850)
The Khuṭba-yi Qahriyya, the Literary Oration Expressive of Wrathfulness
or
"The Sermon of Wrath".
Muhammad Shah Qajar and Hajji Mirza Āqāsī from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York)
An Epistle directed to Hajji Mirza Āqāsī and others.
♦
Beta Translation based on INBMC 64: 127-150.
Stephen Lambden 1980s + 2022.
IN PROGRESS - Last updated 26-02-2022 + 22-08-2023
In its Persianized title the Khuṭba-yi Qahriyya ("The Sermon of Wrath") or the Literary Oration of the Bab expressive of the Divine Wrathfulness was written for or addressed to حاجی میرزا عباس ایروانی Ḥāǰǰī Mīrzā ʿAbbās Īravāni (of Yerevan) otherwise known as Hajji Mirza Āqāsī (b. Maku c. 5th Rabi al-Awwal 1198 / January 28 1784 - d. 18th Jumada II, 1264 [5] / 22nd May 1848) a Ni`matallāhī Sufi and the grand vizier of Muhammad Shah Qajar (reigned 1834-1848).
See EIr. article by Abbas Amanat, “ĀQĀSĪ,” Encyclopaedia Iranica, II/2, pp. 183-188, available online at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/aqasff-ujuli-mnsz-adras-ivxni-ca (accessed on 24 February 2022).
ĀQĀSĪ – Encyclopaedia Iranica (iranicaonline.org)
BETA TRANSLATION FROM INBMC 64:127f.
Based on the text as partially pointed in INBMC 64:127-150 and other mss. [Cf. the typescript in MacEoin, Sources, App. Twelve, p.244]
♦
The Khuṭba-yi qahriyya, the Literary Oration Expressive of Wrathfulness
or
"The Sermon of Wrath".
[0]
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
[I]
[1]
[Q-H-R]
Praised be to God who with thunderous Wrath expresses wrathful forcefulness (bi-taqhīr) by virtue of His indominatable Wrathfulness (iqtihari-hi) which is Wrath-generating (qahhār) being expressive of His Wrathful Power (qahhāriyyati-hi) towards all levels of Being (kaynuniyyāt) tending to blasphemous ways (al-mushrikāt) in their every possible mode of expression (min al-mumkināt)!
[2]
[ `-Z-M]
And Praised be to God who with sublime Maganimity (muta`azzim) by virtue of Supreme Exaltedness (bi-ta`zīm) greatly Magnifies the Immensity (ta`azzam) of the Divine Grandiosity (i`tazzām) above the Essential Realities (dhatiyyāt) beyond all levles of existence (al-mawjudāt).
[3]
[J-B-R]
And Praised be to God who through Mighty Compulsion powerfully determines (bi-tajbīr) any restoration (ijtibār), compelled (jabr) by means of His Powerful Deterministic Omnipotence (jabbāriyyat) respecting whatsoever pertains to levels of anticipated [menacing] self identities (nafsāniyyāt al-muna`dāt).
[4]
[Q-D-R]
And Praised be to God who expresses His Almighty Power (iqtidar) by means of an Appraisal (bi-taqdīr) pertinent to the Determination (taqaddar) through the special Capability (iqtidār) of the Powerful strength of His Might (qudrat) in estimating the [levels of] "I"- ness [individual natures] (anayyāt) within the [inherent human] quiddities (al-māhiyyāt).
[II]
[1] So Glorified then be He and Exalted be He for He did indeed render sacrosanct (harram) the Gnosis (`irfān) of [even] the garments of the Countenance of the Holiness of His Peerless Uniqueness (qumus tal`at hadrat faraniyyat) for the [eminent among the] people of subtle allusiveness (ahl al-ishārāt). [2] He furthermore, made utterly remote (aba`d) from proximity to the sanctuary of the holiness (sāhat al-quds) of His Realm of Jabarut (Omnipotence) all of the strictures of the materiality (al-mādiyyāt) of the people characterized by the hybris of vainglory (ahl al-subuhāt)! [3] And He made most severe (ashadd) His Hellfire (al-nar) for the essential realities of the denizens of proponents of logicality (jawhariyyāt ahl al-dalāllāt), their heedlessness nigh the remembrance of His Elevatedness shall result in destruction! [4] And He shall also make especially severe the punishment of the isolated ones among the inhabitants of the realm of the earthly dominion (al-mujarradāt ahl al-mulk) for their disdainful aversion towards the Countenance of His Eminent Presence (tal`at hadrat).
[III]
[1] What then could possibly be greater than His Overpowering Assault against persons tyrannical (l'l-zālimin) towards the custodians of His wilāya, Providential Guidance (ahl al-wilāya), those that is who exist within the world of Divinity (`ālam al-lāhūt) sanctified beyond such considerations as may br be speculative [merely bodily] (al-ashbāh) or proof-centered (dalāllāt)? [2] And what is more Mighty (a`zam) than His Vehemence (naqmāt) towards those full of arrogance (mustakabirin) towards the people of His Love (ahl al-muḥabbat) who exist within the world of Omnipotent Power (`ālam al-jabarūt) purified above even the sphere of the Divine Names and of the Divine Attributes (munazzirin `an al-asmā' wa'-sifāt)? [3\ And what is more Majestic (ajall) than the manifestation of His Furious Anger (ẓuhur sakht) expressive of His Justice (`adl) unleashed upon those heedless of the Truth (al-ghafilin min al-haqq) of the custodians of His Inner Gnosis (ahl al-ma`rifat) those that is who inhabit the world of the Kingdom of God (`ālam al-malakūt) purified above all manner of likenesses and allusive traits (imthāl wa al-ishārāt)? [4] And what is more evident (ẓuhūr) than His Indignant Anger (ghadb) overarching in its Outreach (tawl) towards such as remain away at a distance (al-mub`adin) within their own selves, even though He hath instructed them through the people given to His devout worship (ahl al-ta`at) who exist within the world of the Earthly Dominion (`alam al-mulk), persons elevated above the limitation of the various signs and the stations (`alāmāt wa'l-maqāmāt)?
[IV]
[1] So Glorified then be He and Exalted be He on account of the sublimity of the Indignant Fury (ghaḍb) of His Own Logos-Self (nafs) [2] and of the sheer Might (`aẓm) of the Anger of His Eminence (sakht jināb) [3] for He did indeed raise up [the Prophet] Muhammad -- may peace and blessings be upon him and his family -- from the midmost-heart of Pre-Existence (buḥbuḥat al-qidam) unto the arena of the people [nations] (sa'ir al-umam), one Peerless [Unique\ (munfardin an) relative to such as are
[ X] He did indeed establishe him [Muhammad] as a Manifestation of His Justice (mazhar `adl) and of His Wrathful Power (qahhāriyyat) [see I:1 above] then of His extended Outreach (tawl) and of His Powerful Omnipotence (jabbāriyyat) [see I:2 above]. Then was He content with respect to the Anger (sakht) of His Fury (sakht) and He negated the vehemence of His Indignant Anger (ghadb) by means of His raging Fury (ghadb) to the end that His Wrath (qahr) might be realized [dissipated] ...
[x]
So be aware, O thou Disbeliever in God (kāfir bi'llāhi) and denier of His verses (mushrik bi-āyāt)!
Ā Ī Ū ā ī ū Ḍ ḍ ḥ Ḥ ṣ Ṣ ṭ Ṭ ẓ Ẓ
Ā Ī Ū ā ī ū Ḍ ḍ ḥ Ḥ ṣ Ṣ ṭ Ṭ ẓ Ẓ
Closing Lines - Translated from INBMC 64:150
... They shall come to know, such as have comitted tryanny; that is to say, precipitated upheavel. And Glorified be God, thy Lord and Lord of Might above that which they do [vainly] describe! And peace be upon the sent Messengers (al-mursalin), And praised be unto God, the Lord of all the worlds.
♦
[Written by] the insignificant servant Yahya Tashwiq Shirazi scribe of this blessed letter [of the Bab] .... 9th of the [Babi-Baha'i] month of Asma' (Names) [in the year] 95 [BE = 1939-40 CE].
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