The initial basmala of Kitab-i Panj sha'n VI
Towards a Translation of the opening Section of the Sixth Pentad of
THE KITAB-I PANJ SHA'N
Pentad VI. KPS: 172ff (Azali printing),
Trans. Stephen Lambden, 1996.
This pentad is believed to have been dedicated to 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) or to Fāṭima Baraghānī (d. 1852) known as Ṭāhirah also allegedly known through the Name of God Bahā’. Below are a rough translation of the opening verses of the Kitāb-i Panj Sha`n which form part of KPS section VI mode 1 (=Arabic). This 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 the few lines translated above. The effect of reciting these words allusive of baha' as 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 of the Sufi or `Irfani (gnostic) kind as well as some early Babis and Baha'is.
The initial basmala and opening lines
Pentad VI.
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)
