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QA XXVIII [28] Surat al-Qaraba on Qur'an 12:27

QA XXVIII

[28]

Introduction

سورة القرابة

Sūrat al-Qaraba (The Surah of the Kinsfolk).

on Qur'an 12:27.

Translation Stephen Lambden, UC Merced.

1982-2020 - IN PROGRESS - Last updated and corrected 30-04-2020.  Portions of the Arabic text cited below are generally that of the very early 1261 /1845 CE ms. INBMC III. 

Select mss PDfs of QA XXVIII [28]:

  • The c. 1261 /1845 CE ms associated with Mulla Husayn Bushru'i, in INBMC vol. III [Aḥsan al-Qaṣaṣ, "The Best of Stories", Q,12:3], pp. 48-51. PDf = INBMC III-QA 28.pdf
  • EGB Ms. F11 (9). (1891), pp.   PDf. = Add ms.
  • Ms. 1st Muharram 1323/ Wed Mar 8, 1905. pp. 98-103. PDf. QA 28 ms.1905 QA 28 ms.1905.pdf
  • Ms. No. 269. Princeton Univ. [Sharh Surat Yusuf], f/40-42. Completed 10th Jumada al-thani, 1327 = 29th July, 1909. PDf. = QA-28 Princeton ms.no 269.pdf

The 19th cent. Entrance to the House of the Bab in Shiraz.

[1]

بسم اللّه الرّحمن الرّحيم

In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.

[2]

(Qur'an 12:27)

"When he saw his shirt was torn from behind he said, 'This is of your women's guile; surely your guile is great" (Qur'an 12:27. trans Arberry).

[3]

الم

A-L-M

[Abjad = 1+30+40 = 71]

[4] Praised be to God who hath conversed with Our servant [the Bab], in Truth, regrading the letters of the Divine Oneness (ahraf al-ahadiyya) [situated] above the [alphabetical] Scripts [Lines] (fawq al-sutur) evident about the Dawning-Point of the Divine Theophany (matla` al-zuhur). [5] This Book was indeed revealed according to the mystery secreted within mystery (fi'l-sirr mustasirr `ala al-sirr), veiled up within the Greatest Mystery (muqanna` bi'l-sirr al-akbar) [set] within the Upright [Alphabetical] Script ["A"] (khatt al-qa'im) in the Dawning-Place of  the Daytime Sunrise (matla` al-nahar), above its Being are mysteries  revealed (asrar tanzil an). [6] God, who, no God is there except Him. Every Day He is occupied with a task (min al-sha'n) regenerative (al-ibda`) [cf. Q. 55:29], And He is God, One Powerful (qadir an) over all things (kull shay').

[7] We, we do testify unto thy penmanship during some of thy days, for persons among thy kinsfolk (l'l-rijal al-quraba). We decreed that there be a  concealment (kannan) thereof on this Day of Resurrection (yawm al-qiyama); as pertains, that is, to these [revealed] documents [papers] (al-waraqat). God thy Lord is the True One (al-haqq). For the sake of the Truth (al-haqq) He will assuredly guide them unto His Mighty Path (sirat), as, in very Truth, accords with the Truth, through One  Powerful (quwiyy), Near-at-Hand (qarib an).

[8] We have indeed born witness unto thy refutation [return] of the response (radd al-jawab) unto the Book [Treatise] (al-kitab); thIs  in the papers revealed  in the sacred land [the `Atabat in Ottoman Iraq] (الورقة المنزلة من الارض المقدّسة = al-waraqat al-munazila fi'l-ard al-muqaddas), [9] We shall instruct the people about the  Greatest Dhikr (al-dhikr al-akbar) through the Dhikr of God (dhikr Allah), the Exalted, in Truth,  in very Truth, One  Powerful (quwiyy), near-at-hand (qarib an) [of imminent advent].

[10]

ايّها التّجّار السّاكنون فی البرّ و البحر

O thou merchants (al-tujjār) resident in both land and sea!

Fear ye God regarding the Greatest Word (al-kalimat al-akbar) and send unto the Greatest Dhikr (Remembrance) after information about his homeland, everything that his hands had written, or was written down with his consent unto thee, during the days of his mercantile activity.  As for the documents [leaves, pages] (al-waraqat al-mukhrajat) sent forth by his own hand, scriptural Tablets (alwāḥ) in the form of sacred scrolls (alwāḥ min ṣuḥufāt al-quds), they have, in every respect, been declared sacrosanct, forbidden by God unto all souls, save that is, [persons] with His most great permission.  And God hath ever been All-Knowing of His servants, the believers.

[11] The Dhikr is this Arabian Youth (al-fata al-`Arabi) [the Bab] for He [God] was, in very Truth, as thou art well-aware Witness thereto. [12] And We do indeed testify to the fact that this Day, as evident within thy sublime Script (khatt al-akbar) are [revealed] pages (al-waraqat) dispatched unto a person among thy kinsfolk (li'l-nafs al-qariba) [resident in the]  wicked region [country, territory] (al-bildat al-khabitha). [13] Yet shall God guide the [two nearest] relatives (al-aqrabayn) unto His Elevated Path (al-sirat.. al-`aliyy [`Ali]), as accords with the decree of the Book, as determined with the express permission of the Bab Himself. [14] Will not whomsoever makes a fool of themselves after the production of a [revealed] Book following [the appearance of]  the Greatest Dhikr (messianic Remembrance) (al-dhikr al-akbar) be reckoned one far removed [remote] (ba`id an)  from the Bab? [15]  And God will assuredly, in very Truth, judge among the people on the Day of Resurrection (yawm al-qiyama). The Dhikr (messianic Remembrance)  [in this respect] will not in the least degree act unjustly, even to the extent of the [ultra-thin] skin of a datestone skinned (qitmir qitmir an).

[16]

ايّها الكبراء و بعض من الصّغراء من ذی قرابة الذّكر الاكبر 

O thou Distinguished Elders (al-kabira') and some among the younger ones (al-sughara') of the kinsfolk of the Greatest Dhikr (al-dhikr al-akbar)!

God hath indeed written down for thee something of the knowledge of the Greatest Dhikr (al-dhikr al-akbar) who hath, from his youth up till today, ever been known amongst thee through association with him [the Bab], with myself in whatever region of the earth  (bi'l-muhajarat `alayhi fi ay ard) God hath desired for him.  So By thy Lord! the True One. who, no God is there except Him.  When thou were in his neighbourhood (jiwar) with sincerity (ikhlas) for the merest twinkling of an eye, such would assuredly greatly profit thee beyond the benefit of most of thy other deeds! It would indeed be of greater benefit than the rulership of the whole world (mulk al-dunya'), generously spending [almsgiving] (infaq an) in the Path of God, the True One.

[17]  

فارغبوا الی الكلمة الاكبر

So Desire ye then the Greatest Word (al-kalimat al-akbar)!

And follow ye not the promptings of Satan (khutuwat al-shaytan). God summoneth thee unto Paradise (al-jannat). Satan only summoneth the people unto hellfire (al-nar)! Such in very Truth, hath ever been ordained within the Mother [Archetypal] Book (umm al-kitab). 

[18]

يا ملأ الانوار

O Concourse of Lights!

Hearken ye unto My Call in these crimson leaves (al-waraqat al-hamra') upon this Snow-White Tree (shajarat al-bayda') in the firmament of Mount Sinai (fulk al-tur al-sina'), "I, I indeed am God! No God is there except I Myself (انّی انا اللّه الّذی لا اله الّا انا)". Thou hast heard this Dhikr (Remembrance) with the two names (`Ali Muhammad) within mine own Self [= the Bab] reflective of the two Beloved Ones (al-habibayn), from My servant (`abd) [the Bab]. His grandfather hath indeed been named at the Divine Throne (al-`arsh) as Ibrahim (Abraham) and his two parents bore the names of the twin  primordial Beloved ones (al-hahibayn al-awwalayn) [= Muhammad Rida', d.  early 1820s and Fatimah Begum d. Karbala, c. 1881]. His mother is Fatimah, the Pure One (al-tahirah) even as the possessors of intelligence do testify in the Dawning-Place of  Goodly things  (matla` al-akhyar), the Mystery of the Lights (sirr al-anwar). This on the part of One Mighty, Most Forgiving (`aziz ghuffar) who, no God is there except Him. And He is God who hath ever been One Powerful over all things (kull shay').

[19]

يا اهل العماء 

فاستمعوا ندائی من لسان الباب

O denizens of the Theophanic Cloud (ahl al-ama')!

Heaken ye unto My Call from the tongue of the Bab, this Arabian Youth (al-fata al-`arabi) who crieth out on Sinai (al-sina') according to the melody of the Point of Ice (`ala lahn nuqtat al-thalj), "God, no God is there except Him. I have indeed treasured thee from within the Point of the Genesis (min nuqtat al-bada') in the purified, sacred loins (al-aslab al-tahirah al-zakiyya) up until this Day, as the Covenanted Point of the Seal (nuqtat al-khatm ma`hud an)! [20] God indeed did cause to be made manifest a Youth (al-ghulam) among the company of the purified [Shi`i eschatological] nobles (ta'ifa min al-nujaba al-athar) until such time as no single soul was capable of doubting, in any respect, his Cause [purpose] (amr) consonant [as it was] with the Greatest Truth (al-haqq al-akbar). And God is indeed of the Truth, One Wise, All-Knowing (hakim an `aliyy an)..

[21]

ياذ القرابة من الذّكر الاكبر

O ye Kinsfolk of the Greatest Dhikr (Remembrance)!

This is the Blessed Tree (al-shajarat al-mubaraka) dyed Crimson through the Oil of Servitude (al-duhn al-`ubudiyya)! It was indeed planted above the Point of the Theophanic Fire (nuqtat al-nar) in Thy regions and they in no wise understood anything about this; not even with respect to his sanctified, designated Divine Attributes (sifat al-qudsiyya al-mukh[h]assa) let alone his Angelic, Reality-Centered States of Being (ahwal al-malakiyya al-huqqa) or his  clearly conceived [wisdom-induced], assured undertakings (harakatihi al-muhkamat al-muttaqinat).  Thou loved him only in the light of thine own limited assumptions (zann), far removed from the Grestest Truth (al-haqq al-akbar) though he [the Bab] is, in the sight of God, according to the Greatest Truth (bi'l-haqq al-akbar), the very Logos-Self-Person of the [expected] al-Hujjat (the Proof / the True One (nafs al-hujjat). He was unquestionably reckoned in the Mother [Archetypal] Book (umm al-kitab) to be above the Point of the Theophanic Fire (nuqtat al-nar) [ = the "Burning Bush" on Mt. Sinai according to the Bible and the Qur'an, cf. SWB:52 below].

[22]

يا ذ القرابة من ذلك الكلمة العظيمة

O ye Kinsfolk of this Mighty Word (al-kalimat al-`azimat)!

If ye believe in him [the Bab] and render His Cause (amr) victorious, We will forgive thy shortcomings [sins] (al-khati'at), will write down for thee a double reward (di`f al-thawab) for thy deeds, and be enabled to dwell nigh God, the True One, within the sanctified locale (hadirat al-quds) in the vicinity of the Bab. [23] And if they disbelieve in [Our] the Dhikr (Remembrance) and this Our True Book, then by God! the True One! We shall indeed twice consign thee to the torment of hellfire (al-nar) and there shall not be for thee in the [eschatological] hereafter aside from God, any helper (zahir an). [24] And if this insuprable honour (al-fakhr al-mani`) on the part of God, should prove insufficient for thine own selves, although it cometh from the Greatest Remembrance (al-dhikr al-akbar), then repent thee before God  on account of that which came forth from thyselves other than the Truth respecting the Mighty Sanctity of the Dhikr (Remembrance). And We, in very Truth, have indeed been, with the permission of God, sufficient as a Patron (wali) for the believers, the True One, thy Protector (ajwar) as ones befitting a double reward (di`f al-thawab). And God hath ever been a befitting Witness of everything (kull shay').

[25]

يا قرّة العين

O Solace of Mine Eyes! [The Bab]

Deliver a message unto the women [handmaids] (nisa') among thy kinsfolk (qurabat), the directive (hukm) of the Greatest Word (al-kalimat al-akbar). Caution them then to take heed of the Mighty Light [Fire] (al-nur al-kabira) and give them the Good-News that as a result of the Greatest Covenant (al-`ahd al-akbar) about the Garden [Paradise] of Ridwan (jannat al-ridwan), there will be Immortality [an Immortal Youth] (khuld an) from God flanked by Holiness [the Holy One] (hawl al-quds). And God, Lord of all the worlds, hath ever been Powerful over all things (kull shay'). [cf. SWB:52 ¶2).

[26]

يا امّ الذّكر

O Mother of the Dhikr (the Remembrance)!

May peace from the Lord be upon thee! Thou were indeed patient about the Logos-Self [Person] of God, the Elevated (nafs Allah al-`aliyy/`Ali). So be ye aware of the destiny of thy son, the Mightiest Word, (kalimat al-akbar). He is indeed the Questioner (al-mas'ul) at thy graveside (qubr) on the Day of thy resurrection [when being gathered, assembled for judgment] (yawm hashrika). And thou art indeed the `Mother of the Faithful' [believers] (umm al-mu'minin) as recorded (maktub an) in the Preserved Tablet (al-lawh al-hafiz) by the hands of the Dhikr (Remembrance) [the Bab]! [cf. SWB: 52-3]

[27]

يا قرّة العين

O Solace of Mine Eyes! [The Bab]

فاكتب علی الطّاهرات الفاطميّات من اهل بيتك فی بلدة الرّحمن الی الارض المقدّسة فی هذه السّنة العظيمة الی ما اذّن الذّكر الاكبر لما يعلم بعلم اللّه من اهل بيته فی ذلك الباب بالحقّ الاكبر ولايعلمون النّاس من علم الكتاب الّا حرفاً قليلاً ه

Write thee [the Bab] unto the Fatimah-like Pure Ones (al-tahirat al-fatimiyyat) of the people of thy Household in the country of the All-Merciful [Persia] and unto the Sacred Land [the `Atabat regions in Ottoman Iraq]! This in this mighty year (al-sanat al-`azimat [1260/1844]) according to that which the Greatest Remembrance (al-dhikr al-akbar) crieth out for He knoweth through the knowledge of God (`ilm Allah) through the people of His House (ahl baytihi) [the Imams] through, according to the Greatest Truth (b'l-haqq al-akbar), the instrumentality of this Bab. [Be ye aware that] The people know nothing of the knowledge of the Book (`ilm al-kitab) save  but a single [a few] letter[s] (harf an qalil an)!

[28]

يا ملأ الانوار

O Concourse of Lights!

 فاستمعوا النّار ندائی من نقطة النّار فی هذا البحر المحيط الباء البيضاء علی تلك الارض الحمرإ انّی انا اللّه الّذی لا اله الّا هو قد عقدت علی العرش سريّة اسم الحبيبة من الحبيب الاوّل للذّكر الاكبر و هذا لقد جعلت ملئكة السّماء و اهل الرّضوان فی يوم العهد بالحقّ الاكبر علی الذّكر بالذّكر شهيداً ه 

Hearken ye unto the Theophanic Fire (al-nar), to My Call from this Point of the Theophanic Fire (nuqtat al-nar) in this All-Encompassing Ocean (al-bahr al-muhit), [extending from] the Snow-White [Arabic] Letter "B" (al-ba' al-bayda') above this Crimson Land (al-ard al-hamra') [saying],  انّی انا اللّه الّذی لا اله الّا هو "I am indeed God, no God is there except Him!". I indeed secretly (sirriyya) made a [marriage] contract upon the Divine Throne  (al-`arsh) regarding the [one bearing the same] name of the  female Beloved (habiba = Khadijah. wife] of the First Beloved (al-habib al-awwal = the Prophet Muhammad] to be [wedded to] the Greatest Remembrance (li'l-dhikr al-akbar) [the Bab]. I furthermore made it such that the angels of heaven (mala'ikat al-sama') and the denizens of Ridwan ["Paradise"](ahl al-ridwan), on the Day of the Covenant (yawm al-`ahd) acccording to the Greatest Truth (bi'l-haqq al-akbar), bore witness unto the Dhikr (Remembrance) through the Dhikr (Remembrance) (`ala al-dhikr bi'l-dhikr shahid an).

[29]

اعظمی فضل الذّكر الاكبر

 يا ايّتها الحبيبة من لدی المحبوب عند حبيبی

Magnify the Bounty of the Greatest Dhikr (Remembrance) (al-dhikr al-akbar)!  O Thou Beloved [wife Khadijah] on behalf of the Beloved One (al-mahbub) on the part of My Beloved (`ind habibi)! Thou art not the like of any other women if thou should follow the Cause of God, the True One, regarding the Greatest Truth (al-haqq al-akbar). Be ye aware of the Mighty Reaity (haqq al-`azim) from the Pre-Existent Word (al-kalimat al-qadim) for thyself and be full of pride (fakhr) in being the consort of the Beloved One ( bi'l-jalus ma` al-habib) [the Bab], the Beloved of God (mahbub Allah al-akbar), the very Greatest.This honour (al-fakhr) should suffice thee for it cometh from One Wise, One All-Praised (al-hakim hamid an). [30] Now be ye patient as to the circumstances that God hath ordained regarding the Bab and his family [people] (ahl). Thy son Ahmad is with Fatimah, the Glorious (al-jalila) [daughter of the Prophet Muhammad], in Truth, in very Truth, in the sanctified Paradise (al-jannat al-quds). He was in Truth, endowed with Lordly knowledge (bi'l-`ilm al-marbub)! [cf. Balyuzi. Khadijah, 7-8].

[31] And such as gaze towards the Light (al-nur) before Mount [Sinai] (al-tur) evocative of the Discourse-Speech of Glory-Beauty (mantiq al-baha'), in Truth, in very Truth, concealed (mastur an), shall nigh the Pre-Existent Mystery of God (sirr Allah al-qadim), vision with Our permission, the Light before the Mount [Sinai] (al-nur qabl al-tur) in the Dawning-Place of the Theophany [Manifestation] (matla` al-zuhur). He was indeed the One Who could be witnessed nigh the Bab (`ind al-bab mashhud an). [32]  And those who visioned the Golden, Leaf made crimson (al-waraqat al-dhahabiya al-muhammara) in the embodied Light (bi'l-nur al-hajariyya) alongside the Being Generating [Sinaitic] Tree (al-shajarat al-mutakawwin) nigh the Theophanic Fire (hawl al-nar) beheld the Alchemical Artistry (al-san`) of the Greatest Wise One (al-hakim al-akbar) as [positioned] nigh the Centre of the [Arabic Letter] "M" (mim =  م ) (markaz al-mim), the second [letter M م] of the letters of the name Muhammad, the Arabian (al-`arabi). Such was indeed inscribed within the Mother [Archetypal] Book (umm al-kitab).  

[33]

يا قرّة العين

فات ذا القربی من اهل العماء

O Solace of Mine Eyes! [The Bab]

The kinsfolk (al-quraba) slipped away from the denizens of the Theophanic Cloud (ahl al-`ama')! Yet their destiny, fortunate circumstances was on account of the secreted Mystery veiled up in mystery (sirr al-mustasirr al-muqanna` al-sirr), veiled up (mastur an) nigh the Theophanic Fire (hawl al-nar). [34] They proffered to the Muslims as the denizens of the abyss of loving-kindness (lujjat al-muhabbat) in accordance with the Greatest Truth (`ala al-haqq al-akbar), the secret of the [alphabetical] Line ["A"], a droplet of fresh (al-tariyya) [cf. Q. 16:14;35:12] Water (al-ma') sprinkled forth from the Goblet of Gold (كأس الذّهب  = ka'is al-dhahab cf. Q. 43:71; 56:18; 76:15; 88:14) [the Bab]. This with the permission of God, the Wise One in accordance with the Path of Wisdom (sabil al-hikmat). And God, thy Lors was indeed witness of everything (kull shay').  [35] They proffered, in Truth, in very Truth, unto the sons of the Path (abna al-sabil) this Path of God (sabil Allah) throughout the heavens and the earth and whatsoevr lieth between them, as accords with the foreordained destiny of all of their stations (maqam) which, with the permission of God, thy Lord, the True One,  lie beneath the worldly green veils. And He was indeed, in Truth, in very Truth, All-Encompassing (al-muhit an) with respect to [His knowledge of] every thing (kull shay'),  [and] with special regard to certain things. 

[36]

يا قرّة العين

O Solace of Mine Eyes!  [The Bab]

Do not make thy hand[s] outstretched with respect to the Cause (mabsuta `ala al-amr) [cf. Q.5:64] for the people are inebriated (al-sakran) on account of the Mystery (al-sirr)! For thee there is, in Truth,  a time of return (kurrat) after this cycle [dispensation] (al-dawrah). So hereabout (hunalik) make ye manifest a Mystery (sirr an) deriving from the Mystery (min al-sirr) yet only to the extent of the twinkling of a warning intimation (samm al-`ibrat) in the Greatest Mount [Sinai] (al-tur al-akbar) such that the dwellers on the Mount (al-turiyyun) do assuredly expire at [on]  that Sinai (al-sina') which is nigh the Dawning-Place of the diffusion [`sprinkling forth'] of this Light (matla` rashh min dhalik al-nur), the Help in Peril (al-muhaymin), the Crimson (al-hamra'). This with the permission of God, the All-Wise, for God hath ever been, in Truth, in very Truth,  One who is thy Preserver [Protector] (hafiz an) [of the Bab] (cf. SWB:53, cited below).  

[37]

يا قرّة العين

O Solace of Mine Eyes!  [The Bab]

Gaze ye towards the people with the Eye of Insight (bi'l-`ayn al-hadid)! Is there then any person thou can discover who is not inebriated  (al-sakr) nigh the Greatest Mystery (al-sirr al-akbar)? By God the True One!  I indeed do see among them those drunk with a potent wine (al-khamr al-`aziziyya), aside that is, from a few of the [Babi] forerunners (al-sabiqun) [cf. Q. 56:10] obedient to My Mighty Covenant (fi `ahdi al-akbar). The latter  are, in very Truth, upright (al-qayyim) through vissititude (al-ikhtilaf) marking their precedence before God, the True One. Such were indeed always written down (maktub an) within the Mother [Archetypal] Book (umm al-kitab),

[38]

يا اهل الارض

O People of the Earth!

This My Mystery (sirri), invoking both honor [might, glory] and dishonor [shame] (`izz an wa  `arra), it cannot, in very Truth, be born by any, even a purified (al-khalis) soul, except their gaze be ever-directed towards God and towards His Pre-Existent Power (qudratihi al-qadim), extending over all things (kull shay'), in accordance with the Greatest Truth (al-haqq al-akbar). Such was assuredly evident on the part of the Bab within the Dawning-Place of his inmost heart (matla` al-fu'ad).

هنالك باذن اللّه البديع قد رقّت براقع الانقاب عن صور الغلمان فی قدس السّماء من الجنان السّيناء  فح قد شاهد العبد جمال الرّحمن بما قد قدّر اللّه له اقلّ من سمّ الابرة فی الكتاب الاكبر وانّ اللّه قد كان علی كلّ شیء شهيداً ه

[39] Thus round about that place  (hunaka) [Shiraz], with the permission of God, the Wondrous Innovator (al-badi`),  I  was indeed refined (r-q-q), through the casting away of the coverings  (bi-raqib` al-inqab)  engendered by the trappings of  the young ones [youths] (suwar al-ghilman [pl. sing. ghulam]), in the sanctity of heaven (quds al-sama'), nigh the heavenly gardens of  Mount Sinai (min jannan al-sina'). A piercing sound was heard (fahh) when the servant (al-abd) [the Bab] witnessed the Beauty of the All-Merciful (jamal al-rahman). This God had ordained for him although it [this vision] was but the merest twinkling of [the eye of] a needle (samm al-abrat)  as registered in the Greatest Book (al-kitab al-akbar). And God is indeed Witness of every thing (kull shay'). 

[40]

يا قرّة العين

O Solace of Mine Eyes!

We assuredly caused the heavens and the earth to be raised up through Our Name, the True One (al-haqq). Then I made them both to dwell upon the written script (al-khatt) [Arabic letter ا "A"] partitioned (al-ha'il) between the two [horiontal letter "B" orthographic] lines (al-satrayn) in [the shape of] this [name the] Bab (باب = [note the twin orthography]). This with the permission of God, the Praiseworthy, the Pre-Existent [Ancient of Days] who, no God is there except Him. And He is God who hath ever been Witness of every thing (kull shay'). 

[41]

يا ايّها النّاس

O Thou people!

Fear ye God, thy Lord! regarding the intense heat of the hellfire of Gehenna (harr al-nar al-jahim [hajjim])! This was indeed, on the part of God, something severe (shadid an). Thus the True One (al-haqq), in very Truth, said, " [The blazing hell named] Gehenna (jahannam) will not be filled up with thee [all]  is a single day'. We replied to Gehenna (jahannam), "How then shall it be filled up?". It (Gehenna] replied, "In whatever manner We desire!". And this matter hath indeed been ordained in the Mother [Archetypal] Book (umm al-kitab).

[42]

 يا اهل القدس

O People of Holiness!

لاتقتلوا بالاشارة دون الباب انفسكم فانّ الامر من لدی البديع قد كان فی امّ الكتاب عظيماً ه و انّا نحن قد ارسلنا شاهداً من اهلها بان شهد ان كان قميصه قدّ من قبل فصدّقت و هو من الكاذبين علی الباب الاكبر قد كان مشهوداً ه و ان كان قميصه قدّ من دبر فكذبت و هو من الصّادقين عند اللّه  فی امّ الكتاب علی الحقّ بالحقّ قد كان فی امّ الكتاب علی الحكم الباب مقروناً ه

Thou shall thyselves never prove able to kill through allusive disclosure (al-ishara) of whatever kind [min dun `aside from'] the Bab! Indeed! The [Babi] Cause (al-amr) is of [God] the Wondrous Innovator (al-badi`), it hath forever been Mighty (`azim an) within the  Mother [Archetypal] Book ( umm al-kitab). We assuredly sent a witness (shahid an) from among his family [people] (ahl) who testified to the fact that his garment (qamis) was torn aforetime (qudda min qabl). Such is thus firmly established!  He who reckons otherwise is among those who evidently (mashhud an) utter  falsehood (al-kadhibin) about the Greatest Bab (al-bab al-akbar). 

[X]  "And [when he saw that] his garment (qamis) was torn from behind" [Q. 12:27a = و ان كان قميصه قدّ من دبر .. ) [he said that]  it was the women's guile [ فكذبت ] / they uttered lies though he [the Bab] hath ever been, in the estimation of God, among the truly righteous (al-sadiqin هو من الصّادقين). Such in Truth, in very Truth, hath ever been evident within the Mother [Archetypal] Book (umm al-kitab) for it was something securely bound up (maqrun an), in accordance with the decree of the Bab himself (`ala hukm al-bab), within the Mother [Archetypal] Book ( umm al-kitab). 

 

Select Notes and Comments

Stephen Lambden

A few paragraphs (verses 18 [as 14 in part], 21, 25, 28, 29, 36, XX) of the Surat al-Qarabah (QA XXVIII[28]) have previously been translated by Shoghi Effendi ( 21b and 36 in part - see below), Habib Taherzadeh and others in the Baha'i generated compilation Selections from the writings of the Bab (= SWB. Baha'i World Center, Haifa, Israel, 1976, pp. 52-53; Muntakhabāt-i āyāt az āthār-i Ḥadrat-i Nuqṭah-ʼi Ūlá. 134 BE/ Wilmette, Illinois, BPT., 1978/1984 = Original Persian and Arabic texts edition [Abbrev = SWB-txts,] pp. 34-35) as well as by Hasan Balyuzi in his book Khadijih Bagum, The Wife of the Bab (Oxford: George Ronald, 1981), pp. 7-9 and Ahang Rabbani (trans. and annotated), Mirza Habibu'llah Afnan, The Genesis of the Babi-Baha'i Faiths  in Shiraz and Fars (Leiden-Boston:  Brill, 2008), pp.18-19 fn. 56 and 58. My translation above was made independently of these Baha'i printed sources and represents a Beta or fallible academic attempt at a complete rendering of QA XXVIII [28] as accurately and literally as possible without too much paraphrase and possibly unwarranted tangential exegesis. 

al-Tājir (a Merchant), the Bab as a merchant. 

 “The first of such as were engaged in mercantile activity (ba`'i) like myself, was Muhammad, the Messenger of God then [Imam] `Ali [ibn `Abi Talib] and then such as gave testimony (al-shuhadā') after him.” From  a Letter or scriptural Tablet of the Bab to Mullā Shaykh AIī Turshīzī entitled `Aẓīm (d. Tehran 1852) printed in Mazandarani, KZH III:164-6; 2nd ed. III: 132-3.  Fully translated on this Lambden website H*).

Like the prophet Muhammad and other religious authorities and worthies, being a merchant (al-tājir) was the worldly trade or occupation of the Bab. He was very pround of being a merchant like the prophet Muhammad as indicated in an important letter to Mullā Shaykh AIī Turshīzī entitled `Aẓīm (d. Tehran 1852) and in many other scriptural sources.  The Bab successfully traded from Shiraz and Bushire until the early 1840s.

It appears from the twenty-eighth Sūrat al-Qarābah (The Surah of the Kinsfolk) of the QA that the Bab was writing and communicating sacred verses before mid 1844 while still operating as a merchant :

O thou merchants (al-tujjār) resident in both land and sea! Fear ye God regarding the Greatest Word (al-kalimat al-akbar) and send unto the Greatest Dhikr (Remembrance) after information about his homeland, everything that his hands had written, or was written down with his consent unto thee, during the days of his mercantile activity.  As for the leaves [pages] (al-waraqat al-mukhrajat) sent forth by his own hand, scriptural Tablets (alwāḥ) in the form of sacred scrolls (alwāḥ min ṣuḥufāt al-quds), they have, in every respect, been declared sacrosanct, forbidden by God unto all souls, save that is, with His permission,  with that of the Greatest One.  And God hath ever been All-Knowing of His servants, the believers (QA 28: 10ff. trans. Lambden)     

Waste time if not learned in fiqh…

 

Shoghi Effendi has brilliantly translated QA 28:21b as follows:

O ye kinsmen of the Most Great Remembrance! This Tree of Holiness, dyed crimson with the oil of servitude, hath verily sprung forth out of your own soil in the midst of the Burning Bush, yet ye comprehend nothing whatever thereof, neither of His true, heavenly attributes, nor of the actual circumstances of His earthly life, nor of the evidences of His powerful and unblemished behavior. Actuated by your own fancies, you consider Him to be alien to the sovereign Truth, while in the estimation of God He is none other than the Promised One Himself, invested with the power of the sovereign Truth, and verily He is, as decreed in the Mother Book, held answerable in the midst of the Burning Bush.… * (cited SWB-Selections, 52).

Mine own fallible, beta translation (repeated below) is not intended to supercede the formar authoratative translation but to give an a more literal, academic indication of the original text :

[21]

ياذ القرابة من الذّكر الاكبر

O ye Kinsfolk of the Greatest Dhikr (Remembrance)!

This is the Blessed Tree (al-shajarat al-mubaraka) dyed Crimson through the Oil of Servitude (al-duhn al-`ubudiyya)! It was indeed planted above the Point of the Theophanic Fire (nuqtat al-nar) in Thy regions and they in no wise understood anything about this; not even with respect to his sanctified, designated Divine Attributes (sifat al-qudsiyya al-mukh[h]assa) let alone his Angelic, Reality-Centered States of Being (ahwal al-malakiyya al-huqqa) or his  clearly conceived [wisdom-induced], assured undertakings (harakatihi al-muhkamat al-muttaqinat).  Thou loved him only in the light of thine own limited assumptions (zann), far removed from the Grestest Truth (al-haqq al-akbar) though he [the Bab] is, in the sight of God, according to the Greatest Truth (bi'l-haqq al-akbar), the very Logos-Self-Person of the [expected] al-Hujjat (the Proof / the True One (nafs al-hujjat). He was unquestionably reckoned in the Mother [Archetypal] Book (umm al-kitab) to be above the Point of the Theophanic Fire (nuqtat al-nar) [ = the "Burning Bush" on Mt. Sinai according to the Bible and the Qur'an, cf. SWB:52 cited immediately above].

Shoghi Effendi has also brilliantly translated QA 28:36  as follows:

 O Qurratu’l-‘Ayn! Stretch not Thy hands wide open in the Cause, inasmuch as the people would find themselves in a state of stupor by reason of the Mystery, and I swear by the true, Almighty God that there is yet for Thee another turn after this Dispensation.

And when the appointed hour hath struck, do Thou, by the leave of God, the All-Wise, reveal from the heights of the Most Lofty and Mystic Mount a faint, an infinitesimal glimmer of Thy impenetrable Mystery, that they who have recognized the radiance of the Sinaic Splendor may faint away and die as they catch a lightning glimpse of the fierce and crimson Light that envelops Thy Revelation. And God is, in very truth, Thine unfailing Protector. Chapter XXVIII. cited SWB-Selections, 53.

Mine own fallible, beta translation (above and repeated below) is not intended to supercede the formar authoratative translation but to give an a more literal, academic indication of the original text :

[36]

يا قرّة العين

O Solace of Mine Eyes!  [The Bab]

Do not make thy hand[s] outstretched with respect to the Cause (mabsuta `ala al-amr) [cf. Q.5:64] for the people are inebriated (al-sakran) on account of the Mystery (al-sirr)! For thee there is, in Truth,  a time of return (kurrat) after this cycle [dispensation] (al-dawrah), hereabout (hunalik). So make ye manifest a Mystery (sirr an) deriving from the Mystery (min al-sirr) yet only to the extent of the twinkling of a warning intimation (samm al-`ibrat) in the Greatest Mount [Sinai] (al-tur al-akbar) such that the dwellers on the Mount (al-turiyyun) do assuredly expire at the Sinai (al-sina') which is nigh the Dawning-Place of the Diffusion of this Light (matla` rashh min dhalik al-nur), the Help in Peril (al-muhaymin), the Crimson (al-hamra'). This with the permission of God, the All-Wise for God hath ever been, in Truth, in very Truth,  One who is thy Preserver [Protector] (hafiz an) [of the Bab] (cf. SWB:53). 

The rewriting of Q. 12:27 at the end of verse 42 in the Sūrat al-Qarābah

"When he saw his shirt (qamis) was torn (qudda) from behind (min dubur) he said, 'This is of your women's guile (fakadhabat); surely your [women's] guile is great (wa huwa min al-sadiqin)" (Qur'an 12:27. trans Arberry transliteration added).