The Kitāb al-fihrist (The Book of the Index)
Introduction, Stephen Lambden, UC Merced.
In Progress- Last updated 19-01-2021.
Composed on on 15th Jumada II 1261 AH / 21st June 1845 CE after his Ḥajj or pilgrimage, the early Kitāb al-fihrist (Book of the Index) of the Bāb, among other things, lists his writings up to the time of composition, detailing titles, subsections and to some extent contents.
The Kitāb al-fihrist (Book of the Index) of the Bāb
Translation, Stephen N. Lambden UC Merced.
This translation is made from the Arabic text contained in TBA Ms. 6007C pp. 339-348 selectively imaged below and gradually retyped here also. Readings in other mss. have also been consulted and variant readings will in due course be noted including those contained in the following mss -:
Manuscripts of the Kitāb al-fihrist
- (1) Tehran Baha'i Archives = INBA 4011C pp. 62-69.
- (2) Tehran Baha'i Archives = INBA 5014C pp. 285-293.
- (3) Tehran Baha'i Archives = INBA 6006[7]C pp. 339-348.
- (4) Princeton Univ. Lib. Ms. ADD HERE.
- (5) INBMC 43 :123-4 (Final Pages only).
- (6) Ms. ?? partial French trans. and tabulation in Nicholas, 1905 (Séyyèd Ali Mohammed...) pp. 22-46.
The Kitāb al-fihrist (Book of the Index).
[I]
[1]
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
[2]
المرا
Alif-Lām-Mīm-Rā’-Alif
“A”- “L”- “M”- “R”- “A”.
[3f]
ذلك الكتاب ذكر من الله في حكم عبد بديع
و انه لامام حي عظيمانه لكتاب من الله قد نزل من لدن بقية الله امام حق قديم و انه لهو الحق في السموات و الارض لا يعزب من علمه شيیءِ و لا يحيط بذكره خلق ان اتبع حكم ما اوحی اليك الان من ربك فان الامر قد قضی و كل في حشر البديع ليبعثون
[3] And this is a Book which was sent down from God containing a directive (ḥukm) from a wondrous servant. [4] It is indeed a Book which hath come down from the Remnant of God (Baqiyyat-Allāh), an Imam, a True One, and Ancient of Days [Pre-existent] (al-ḥaqq al-qadīm). [5] He is indeed the True One (al- ḥaqq) [for whomsoever are] within the heavens and on the earth. [6] No single thing escapes His knowledge neither do the creatures befittingly encompass His Dhikr (Remembrance) for He is assuredly an Imam, One Living (al-ḥayy) and a Mighty One (al-`aẓīm). [7] So follow whatsoever decree (ḥukm) He hath now inspired for unto thee for such cometh from thy Lord. [8] The Cause (amr) hath indeed been initiated such that all shall certainly be raised up [resurrected] at the wondrous [ new eschatological] Assembling (fī ḥashr al-badī`).
[II]
[1-4]
قل انني عبد من بقية الله قد امنت بالله و اياته و ما نزل في القران من عند الله و انه لا اله الا هو لشهيد عليم اشهد لله في ذلك الكتاب بما شهد لذاته بذاته انه لا اله الا هو العزيز القديم و اشهد لمحمد رسول الله ما قد شآءِ الله لنفسه انه لا اله الا هو لقوي عزيز
[1] Say: `I am a servant from the Baqiyyat-Allāh (messianic Remnant of God). [2] I have believed in God and His verses [signs] and what hath been sent down in the Qur’ān on the part of God. He, verily, no God is there except Him, assuredly a Witness, One Informed. [3] I bear witness before God regarding this Book since He doth testify before His Own Essence and through His Own Essence that He is indeed One besides Whom there is none other Deity except Him, the Mighty, the Ancient. [4] And I bear witness that Muhammad is assuredly the Messenger of God whom God hath indeed willed for his own Logos-Self (li-nafsihi), for He, verily, no deity is there except Him, One Powerful and Mighty indeed.
قل انه متفرد في علم الله عن المثل و كل لديه من المعدومين في كتاب الله لمسطور و اشهد بعد رسول الله في حكم الولاية في احرف الاحدية لا اله الا الله و كل له مسلمون اشهد ان اسمآئهم في كتاب الله عليّ و الحسن و الحسين و عليّ و محمد و جعفر و موسی و عليّ و محمد و عليّ و الحسن و محمد امام العدل لمسطور و اشهد ان ما سواهم لدی ذكر قدرتهم لمعدوم بعد ذكر لموجود و اشهد ان فاطمة بنت رسول الله ورقة من الشجرة البيضآءِ لا اله الا هو
[5] Say: `He is supremely unique in the knowledge of God relative to any [inadequate] similitude for all before Him are naught but things reckoned non-existent in the inscribed Book of God. [6] And I bear witness after the Messenger of God unto the decree of the wilāya (the locus of divine providence) relative to the [abjad value] of the (twelve) [supreme] letters of the Divine Unity (= لا اله الا الله the aḥraf al-aḥadiyya = `the twelver Imams') before whom all are accounted Muslims.
لا اله الا الله
ل ا ا ل ه ا ل ا ا ل ل ه
[7] I testify that their (twelve) names in the Book of God are : [Imams] [i] `Alī and [ii] Ḥasan and [iii] Ḥusayn [iv] `Alī (Zayn al-Abidin) [v] Muhammad (al-Baqir) and [vi] Ja`far (al-Sādiq) [vii] Mūsā (al-Kāẓim) [viii] `Alī (al-Riḍā'), [ix] Muhammad (al-Taqī) [x] `Alī (al-Nāqī) [xi] Ḥasan (al-`Askarī) and [xii] Muhammad (al-Mahdī) the Imam of [who will establish] Divine Justice, assuredly one divinely inscribed [ in the Book]. [8] And I bear witness that supplementary to these [imamological] aspects before [Me] is mention of their power [of affirmation] (qudrat) nigh [their] negation (ma`dūn) [= the لا "no God"] juxtaposed with the mention of their [affirmative] existence (mawjūd). [9] And I bear witness that Fāṭima is the daughter of the Messenger of God (rasūl Allāh), a leaf (waraqa) of the Snow-white Tree (al-shajarat al-bayḍā').
[10-11]
قل ايای فاسجدون
و اشهد لنفسي كل ما شاءِ الله لنفسه لن يحيط بعلم الله احد و كل له خاضعون و اشهد لابواب كلمة الرحمن لا اله الا هو قل ايای فاشهدون شهد الله لعبده بما قد احاط علم ربه و كفی بذلك في الحكم عليك شهيدا
[10] And Say: `Prostrate ye then before Me!' I do indeed bear witness relative to My Self (nafs) unto all that God hath willed for His Own Self. None can encompass His knowledge. All are indeed humbled before Him. And I testify unto the gates (li-abwab) of the Word of the All-Merciful (kalimat al-rahman), No God is there except Him.
[11] Say: `Bear ye witness before Me!' God hath indeed testified unto [the truth of] His servant (`abd) since He hath indeed encompassed the knowledge of His Lord. And such is a sufficient witness of the decree respecting thee.
[III]
[1f]
قل يا ايها الملاءِ
ان اسمعوا حكم بقية الله من لدن عبده علي حكيم و انه لعبد قد ولد في يوم اول المحرم من سنة 1235 و ان الان يوم النصف من شهر المقدم علی شهر الرجب من سنة في كتاب الله لمسطور و ان ما نزل من يديه من يوم الاذن الی ذلك اليوم تلك الايات في كتاب الله لمشهود و ان اول قد نزل الروح علی قلبه قد كان يوم النصف من شهر عين الاول و الی ذلك اليوم الذي قد حرم الله عليكم اياتنا خمسة عشر شهرا في كتاب الله لمكتوب قل كل ما نزل من يدي من دون ما قرئت كتاب الله
[1]
Say: O thou Concourse!
Hearken ye unto the decree of the Remnant of God (Baqiyyat-Allāh through his servant `Alī [Muhammad, the Bab], the Wise One (al-hakīm). He is indeed a servant (`abd) born on that day which is the first of Muḥarram 1235 (AH) [= [Wednesday] October 20th 1819 CE]. [2] And now [the date is] a day in the middle (15th) of the month preceding the month of al-Rajab [= 15th Jumada II = June 21st 1845 CE ] in the year 1261 which was assuredly inscribed in the Book of God (kitāb Allāh). [3] And that which was revealed [sent down from God] through his hands from the day of his authorization [by God] (yawm al-idhn) unto this day are [such as is reckoned] verses (al-ayat) in the Book of God (kitan Allah), a befitting witness. [4] The onset (awwal) [of the time of] the descent of the Spirit (al-rūḥ) upon his heart (qalb) was in the middle (15th) of that month which is the essence of the First. [5] And up until that day it was the case that God sanctified Our verses for [a period of] fifteen months as indeed was reckoned in the Book of God (kitāb Allāh).
Say: Everything that was sent down through my hands aside from what you recite....
♦
Say: `My name is Muhammad after the word `Alī [= Muhammad `Alī]
and the name of my father, after the mention of the word Muhammad is Riḍā' [= Muhammad Riḍā']. He, assuredly, was written down in the Book of God. The name of my grandfather in the Book of God was Ibrāhīm (Abraham) and the name of his father (the Bāb's great-grandfather) was Naṣr-Allāh such as is recorded in the Qur'ān. 2
♦
This Book is a Remembrance on My part in order that the people might be instructed. What follows is everything which was sent down on the part of the Remembrance (= the Bāb) in the days of His Lord -- written during a fifteen month period and sometime earlier. Persons should preserve it, just as they do their own selves, a recompense for the Day when all shall be belong to God. They should write down these sūras:
