The Kitāb-i Panj Sha`n
(The Book of the Fives Modes) of the Bab
Stephen N. Lambden
Under revision April 2014
Under Revision 2009-10 / April 2014
The opening lines of the Arabic Kitāb-i Panj Sha`n (I /1:1-5), Revelation Mode (sha`n) 1 = Āyāt (Arabic verses) :
In the Name of God, the Deity Most Divine (al-a'lah), the Supreme Deity (al-a'lah).
[1] I, verily am God, no God is there except Me, the Deity Most Divine (al-a'lah) the Supreme Godhead (al-a'lah).
[2] In the Name of God, the Deity Most Divine (al-a'lah), the Supreme Deity (al-a'lah). Through God is God (bi-Allāh Allāh), the Deity Most Divine (al-a'lah), the Supreme Godhead (al-a'lah).
[3] In the Name of God, the Deified, the Deified. God, no God is there except Him, the Deity Most Divine, the Supreme Deity. God, no God is there except Him, the Deified, the Deified God, no God is there except Him, the Deity Generative of the twin Deities (al-ilāhān) God, no God is there except Him, the Deity Generative of the Deity Generated. Unto God indeed, before Him [alone] are these dual Deities of the heavens and of the earth and what lieth between them.
The Kitāb-i Panj Sha`n (= KPS) (The Book of the Five Modes [ or Grades]) is a fairly lengthy major work of the Bāb largely written largely in Arabic but with s As is well-known, the Bāb divided his writings into categories, modes, grades or types (sha`n, pl. shu`ūn). He often spoke of a five-fold division (cf. the word Bāb has an abjad numerical value of 5) which, though it sometimes varies a little, often includes the following categories of revealed verses :
- (1) Āyāt = Qur’anic style verses;
- (2) Munājāt = Devotional pieces, prayers, supplications;
- (3) Khuṭbah = Sermons, Orations, Homilies or alternatively, Suwar-i `ilmiyya = "Surahs expressive of divine knowledge”;
- (4) Tafāsīr [sing. Tafsīr] = “ Scriptural Commentaries”, and
- (5) Fārsī = Persian language revelations.
This pentadic (five-fold) configuration is clear from the Persian Bayān and other writings, especially Persian Bayan III:17; VI:1 and IX:2. It is on account of this five-fold division of the Bāb’s writings that the Kitāb-i Panj Sha`n gets its name. Panj means “five” and sha`n (pl. shu`ūn) means “mode”, “category”, “grade”, etc. The KPS and related works and compilations are sometimes also referred to by the slightly abbreviated Persian equivalent Shu'ūn-i khamsa (= “Five Modes”). Volumes of works with this title can be found in mss. collections of the Bāb's writings existing in the British Museum [Library] ( Or. 5612 and Or. 6680), the Cambridge University Library (Browne Collection) and elsewhere (e.g. BBF.2 etc).
It is significant that the Bāb included Persian as one of the specific languages of revelation as, of course, did Baha'u'llah himself. Within Islam the only language of qur'anic revelation is Arabic. Although some foreign language items of vocabulary such as the Persian words firdaws (Paradise) are found in the Qur'an, many if not most Islamic scholars tended to play down the existence and/or importance of such loan words or items of non-Arabic qur'anic vocabulary. It was argued by Muslims in the light of authoritative hadith that Arabic is supreme and that it is the language of God most fit for the revelation of the Word of God. The Bāb and Baha'u'llah added Persian to the Islamic Arabic language of revelation. An Indo-European language (Persian) was added to the Semitic (Arabic) language, rather like the Christian Bible which includes scripture in a Semitic (Hebrew-Aramaic) language (the Hebrew Bible, Tanakh) and an Indo-European language (Greek), the Greek New Testament.
The Kitāb-i Panj Sha`n is a work that the Bāb began writing at a very auspicious time, at the beginning of the Bābī year seven which falls in the spring of the year 1850 CE. More precisely he commenced this work on the 1st of Bahā’ of the Badī` or Bābī (-Bahā’ī ) year 7 (= 1850 ) which (in the Christian Gregorian calendar ) corresponds to the 19th of March 1850 CE (= in the Islamic calendar to the 5th of Jumāda I in the year 1266 AH). From this date onwards the Bāb wrote five Arabic-Persian grades daily in the name of specific leading Bābī disciples (to whom specific groups were sent out) until 21st Jumada I (1266), about 4 months before the martyrdom of the Bāb in Tabrīz (NW Iran) on July 9th 1850. In communicating these daily revelations for 17 days the result was 17x5 or 85 grades constituting a lengthy book of over 500 pages. The Kitāb-i Panj Sha`n was thus fairly speedily completed on the 4th of April 1850 or 21 Jumādā 1st 1266 AH, about 4 months before the martyrdom of the Bāb in Tabrīz (NW Iran) on July 9th 1850.
Though many unpublished often incomplete mss. of the Kitāb-i Panj Sha`n are known to exist, no compete critical edition has to date been produced. Important mss. have not yet been collected together and compared with one another in order to obtain a reliable or critical edition. The Azalī Bābī, only barely semi-critical printed edition dating to the 1960s, is not complete according to the Bāb’s own mss. description of his planned `Book of the Five Grades’. It contains twelve five-fold sections constituting (5 x12 = ) sixty divisions and thus lacks twenty-five grades or modes (5X5) which he apparently actually revealed. Something like a third of the KPS is absent from the Azali printed edition which is in part a pastiche from a variety of mss. The Kitāb-i Panj Sha`n fast became a much beloved compendium of deep at times devotional or Dhikr-type revelations. It is full of richly meditative and rhythmic paragraphs as well as highly evocate theological materials. It is meant to be chanted and heard as well as intellectually experienced, being both meditative and rhapsodic as well as intellectually challenging for the Bābi or Muslim and other readers.
The KPS includes many theologically challenging paragraphs as well as bewilderingly complex mystical details. It also messianic contains a large number of cryptic messianic references to the Bābī messiah man yuẓhir-uhu Allāh (Him whom God shall make manifest”). The Possible recepients of the Pentadic Divions of the KPS Several thought not all (?) of the seventeen major pentadic or five-fold sections of the KPS appear to be most centrally related to a particular disciple of the Bāb. This was often someone who held a leading position in the Bābi religion in the period immediately prior its times of writing (1850). The Names of God focused upon in the five-fold sections of the KPS often relate closely to the theological identity of a given Bābī leader as is indicated by the abjad or numerical value of that persons name or title. It is not currently known with any certainty which specific Bābī disciples are alluded or addressed in each of the 17 divisions of the KPS, the identity of only a proportion of them is tentatively known : exactly which persons are allusively indicated is not as yet known or is disputed. The following are among the individuals currently believed to be significant figures focused upon or allusively addressed in the Kitab-i Panj Sha`n with some indication of their identity (where known) and in a few cases a line or two addressed to them:
[1]
Pentad I. KPS:1ff. Unknown .
Man yuẓhiru-hu-Allāh (Him whom God shall make Manifest)?
Perhaps to be associated with the supremely Divine Bābī messiah man yuẓhiru-hu-Allāh (Him whom God shall make Manifest)
بسم الله الاءله الاٍٍءله اننی انا الله لا اله الا انا الاءله الاءله
In the Name of God, the Deity Most Divine (al-a'lah), the Supreme Deity (al-a'lah).
I, verily am God, no God is there except Me, the Deity Most Divine (al-a'lah), the Supreme Godhead (al-a'lah).
[2]
Pentad II. KPS:37ff. Unknown .
بسم الله الاوحد الاوحد بسم الله الوحد الوحد بسم الله الموجد الموتحد...
In the Name of God, the Supremely Unique (al-awḥad), the Supremely Unique (al-awḥad)...
[3]
Pentad III. KPS: 67ff.
Sayyid Asad (= abjad 65) -Allāh Khū’ī (d. 1856) through the Name of God Dayyān (= “Judge”, abjad 65).
بسم الله الاءِحد الاءِحد بسم الله الاحد الاحد بالله الله الاحد الاحد لا اله الا هو الاءِحدالاءِحد ...
In the Name of God, the Supremely One (al-awḥad), the Supremely One (al-awḥad)
In God is God, the One, the One, no God is there except Him, the Supremely One, the Supremely One ,...
[4]
Pentad IV. KPS:106ff.
Mīrzā Yaḥyā (= abjad 28) Nūrī, Subḥ-i Azal (The Morn of Eternity)
Mīrzā Yaḥyā (= abjad 28) Nūrī, Subḥ-i Azal (The Morn of Eternity) (d. Famagusta, Cyprus 1912) known through the Name of God the Wāḥid (Unique) (= abjad 28 like Yaḥyā). This pentad begins with the basmala incorporating a superlative derived from the root Ḥ-Y-Y / Ḥ-W-Y having connotations of = "to live", "to be alive", be quickened" etc from which the proper Name يحيى Yaḥyā derives. This name is actually an unusual Arabic form of "Yohannan" perhaps related to this Christian Syriac form of the name "John". (KPS:106f)
بسم الله الاحيی الاحيی
الله لا اله الا هو الاحيی الاحيی بالله الله الحيی الحيی لله لا اله الا هو المحيی المحيی
In the Name of God,the Supremely Alive, the Most Living.God, no God is there except Him, the Supremely Alive, the Most Living. In God is God, the Living One the One Alive.God, no God is there except Him, the Enlivener (al-muḥyi), the Regenerator (al-muḥyi).
[5]
Pentad V. KPS: 138ff.
Mullā `Abd al-Karīm Qazvīnī (d. 1852) known as Mirza Aḥmad Kāṭib (the Scribe)
Mullā `Abd al-Karīm Qazvīnī (d. 1852) known as Mirza Aḥmad Kāṭib (the Scribe). He was a key secretary of the Bab and a teacher of Muhammad Nabil-i Zarandi (d. 1892) who was imprisoned in the Siyah Chal with Baha'u'llah and executed in 1852 CE.
بسم الله الاقوم الاقوم
بسم الله القوم القوم بالله الله القوم القوم الله لا اله الا هو الاقوم الاقوم ...
In the Name of God, the Supremely Powerful, the Most Powerful. God, no God is there except Him, the Supremely Alive, the Most Living. In the Name of God, the Powerful, the Powerful. In God is God, the Powerful, the Powerful. God, no God is there except Him, the Supremely Powerful, the Most Powerful.
[6]
Pentad VI. KPS: 172ff.
Mīrzā Ḥusayn `Alī Nūrī Bahā’u’llāh (d. Acre, Palestine, 1892 CE)
Mīrzā Ḥusayn `Alī Nūrī Bahā’u’llāh (d. Acre, Palestine, 1892 CE) known through the Name of God Bahā’ (= “Glory-Beauty”, abjad = 9) or (Azali-Bābis assert) Fāṭima Baraghānī (d. 1852) known as Ṭāhirah also allegedly known through the Name of God Bahā’. Below are the opening verses of the Kitāb-i Panj Sha`n believed to have been dedicated to Baha'-Allah, section VI mode 1:
In the Name of God,
the All-Glorious (al-abha), the Most Beautiful (al-abha).
In God is God, the Luminous (al-bahiyy), the Splendid (al-bahiyy). God, no God is there except Him, the All-Glorious (al-abha), the Most Beautiful (al-abha). In God is God, the Luminous (al-bahiyy), the Splendid (al-bahiyy). God, no God is there except Him, (One) Radiating Splendor (al-mubtaha), (One) Manifesting Glory (al-mubtaha). God, no God is there except Him, the Beauteous (al-mubahiyy) the Beauteous (al-mubahiyy). God, no God is there except Him, the One (al-wāḥid), the Glorification (al-buhyān). And unto God is the Luminosity (al-bahiyy) of the Glorification (al-buhyān) of His Glory (al-bahā') throughout the heavens and the earth and whatsoever lieth between them. And unto God belongs the Splendour (al-bahā') of the Glorification (al-buhyān) of the Glory (al-bahā') of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever lieth between them. God is [indeed] the Glory of the Glorifying of the Luminous Glory (baha' al-bāhiyy al-bahiyy)....(KPS:138f)
The above translation and transliteration are at times very loose. Words derived from the same Arabic root as the title Bahā' (B-H-A/W-') are colored red and continue for much longer than few lines translated above. The effect of reciting these words allusive of glory-beauty-splendor and light etc., can be spiritually intoxicating or hypnotic in intensity. It is almost act of mystical Dhikr of the kind indulged in by many Islamic mystics.
[7]
Pentad VII. KPS: 213ff.
Ḥājī Mirza Sayyid `Alī (d. 1850), maternal uncle of the Bab,
Ḥājī Mirza Sayyid `Alī (d. 1850), a merchant and one of the maternal uncles of the Bab, the Khal-i A`ẓam ("Most Great Uncle) who some reckon one of the key disciples, the Ḥurufat al-ḥayy (Letters of the Living). He was also the first of the seven martyrs of Tehran.
بسم الله الاجلل الاجلل
بالله الله الجلل الجلل الله لا اله الا هو الاجلل الاجلل الله لا اله الا هو الجلل الجلل
In the Name of God, the All-Sublime (al-ajlal), the Most Sublime (al-ajlal).
In God is God, the Illustrious, the Illustrious. God, no God is there except Him, the All-Sublime (al-ajlal), the Most Sublime (al-ajlal). God, no God is there except Him, the Illustrious, the Illustrious. (KPS:213)
[8]
Pentad VIII. KPS: 252ff.
Mullā Shaykh `Alī Turshīzī (d. 1852) through the Name of God `Aẓīm
Mullā Shaykh `Alī Turshīzī (d. 1852) through the Name of God `Aẓīm (= "Mighty", "Great"). A Shaykhī convert and militant Babi who in 1848 was selected to intimate the Bāb's then more explicit messianic claims. He admitted a role in the attempt on the life of Nasir al-Din Shah (d. 1896) as a result of which he was martyred.
بسم الله الاجمل الاجمل
بالله الله الجمل الجمل ذی الجمالين بسم الله الجمل ذی الجملاءِ
بسم الله المجمل المجمل بالله الله المجمل المجمل بالله الله الجمل ذی الجمالين
In the Name of God,
the Supremely Beautiful (al-ajmal), the Most Beautiful (al-ajmal).
In God is God, the Beautiful, the Beauty possessed of two-fold Beauty (al-jamālayn). In the Name of God, the Beauty possessed of Beauteousness. In the Name of God, the Beautified, the Beautifying. In God is God, the Beautified, the Beautifying.In God is God, the One Beautiful possessed of twofold Beauty(KPS:252f).
[9]
Pentad IX. KPS: 291ff.
Sayyid Ḥusayn Yazdī (d. 18XXADD), Kāṭib al-Bayān ("The Scribe")
The Scribe (Kāṭib al-Bayān) Sayyid Ḥusayn Yazdī (d. 18XXADD) or Ḥusayn Wahhābī (d. 18ADD?).
بسم الله الانور الانور
بسم الله النور ذی النوارين بسم الله النور ذی النوراءِ بسم الله النور ذی الانوار
بسم الله النور ذی النوار بسم الله النور ذی النوور
In the Name of God,
the Supreme Light, the Most Great Light.
In the Name of God possessed of double Luminosity.
In the Name of God , the Light possessed of Radiance. In the Name of God, the Light possessed of Lights...(KPS:291f)
[10]
Pentad VII. KPS: 327ff.
Mullā Ibrāhīm Mahallātī (d. 18XX),
Mullā Ibrāhīm Mahallātī (d. 18XX), a one-time companion of the learned Babi martyr Ṭāhirah...
بسم الله الاقدم الاقدم
بسم الله الواحد القدام بسم الله المقدم المقدم بسم الله المقدم المقدم
In the Name of God,
the Most Ancient (al-aqdam), the Most Pre-Existent (al-aqdam) .
In the Name of God the Unique (al-wāḥid) the Foremost (al-quddām) .
In the Name of God the Antecedent (al-muqaddam), the Uppermost (al-muqaddam)
In the Name of God the Antecedent (al-muqaddam), the Uppermost (al-muqaddam)...(KPS:327f)
The Final seven Pentads
The persons for whom pentads XI- XVII were dedicated is unknown:
Complete these details --
-
Pentad XI. KPS: 365f - Unknown akmal (The Most Perfect)
-
Pentad XII. KPS: XXXf - Unknown aḥkam (The Most Regulated)
-
Pentad XIII. KPS:XXXf - Unknown aqdar (The Most Mighty)
-
Pentad XIV. KPS: 405f - Unknown al-a`lam (The Most Learned)
-
Pentad XV. Unknown ??
-
Pentad XVI. Unknown ??
-
Pentad XVII. Unknown ??
