SAḤĪFA-YI `ADLIYYA (THE TREATISE EXPRESSING JUSTICE)
Trans. Stephen N. Lambden UC Merced.
2010 - May 2014 - 2018
IN PROGRESS - Last Uploaded 25-07-2018.
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On the Knowledge [Gnosis] of God (ma`rifat Allāh) and of His chosen Ones (awliyā') according to what God, Exalted and Glorified be He, hath commanded.
[1] Know thou that the basis of religion (aṣl-i dīn) is the knowledge [gnosis] of God (ma`rifat Allāh). [2] The perfection of the knowledge [gnosis] [of God] (kamāl-i ma`rifat) is the Divine Unity (tawḥīd). [3] And the perfection of the Divine Unity (kamāl-i tawḥīd) is the [apophatic] negation (nafy) of the Divine Attributes and Names (ṣifāt va asma') from His sanctified Essence (dhāt-i muqaddas). [4] The perfection of [apophatic] negation (kamāl-i nafy) is the attainment unto the abysmal depth of the Divine Unicity (wurūd lujjat-i aḥadiyyat) through the fathoming [knowledge] of [both] the [theologically apophatic] [Divine] Wholly-Otherness [Separateness] (qaṭ`) and the [theologically cataphatic] demonstrative vision (mushāhada) of that foundational Basis of the Divine Bounty (aṣl-i jūd-i ān). [5] Yet the reality (ḥaqīqat) of these [two] modes [levels] of [approach to] the Sign of God (marātib-i āyat-Allāh) are [but] One (aḥad) . [6] This since both religio-philosophical insight ( `irfān) and certitude (īqān) are realized through the existence of His Holiness the Lord of Might (ḥaḍrat-I rabb-i `izzat).
[7] Know therefore that the Apparentness (ẓāhir) of the Pre-Eternal Divine Essence (dhāt-iI qidam) is the Logos-Persona of His Inwardness (nafs-i bāṭin-i ū) [8] such that the Beingness of that [Pre-Eternal Divine Essence] is His [Own] Logos-Persona (kaynūniyyat-i ān nafs-i dhāt-i ū). [9] For All-Eternity hath He been though an existence (vujūdī) dependent upon anything hath He never been. [10]
Saḥīfa-yi `adliyya
(The Treatise expressing Justice)
Trans. from the Persian Stephen N. Lambden 2011+ 2018.
Section One
On the Dhikr-Allāh (Remembrance of God), Mighty and Elevated be He.
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
I
[1] Praise (ḥamd) and benediction (sipās) is befitting of the depiction of the Beauty (jamāl) of the Essence [of the Deity] (dhāt) for He hath ever been Peerless [Unique] (fard) in His own Being (kawn) with naught else alongside Him. [2] Eternally in His own Being (kawnūniyyat) hath He ever been, and will forever remain, in an Elevated state, changeless (taghyīr) and without alternation (taḥwīl). [3] It is utterly impossible to depict His sanctified Essence (dhāt-i muqaddas) or to compare some non-existent thing to Him; neither can anyone be authorized (taklīf) to gain gnosis (ma`rifat) of the Essential Reality of His Being (kuna dhātiyya-i khūd). [4] ADD
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[4] And now the clarification of the matter of regarding the servant [the Bāb] who was impoverished before God [through theft] (`abd al-muftaghir ilā Allāh) and thus took firm hold of the cord of the family of God (ḥabl āl Allāh). After returning from [the 1844-45 CE) pilgrimage (ḥajj) and thus accomplishing the completion of the [messianic] Proof (ḥujjat) through the proffering of [divine] knowledge (iẓhār-i `ilm) unto every world by means of [the revelation of] firmly established books and well-assured treatises (kutub-i muḥkamma va saḥā’if-i muttaqina). Numerous books, that is, of every kind, sent down [revealed] (nāzil) from the custodians of knowledge and exposition (ahl al-`ilm va bayān) [the Imams] in the mid-most heart of the ocean of tribulation and occulted seclusion (buḥbūḥat-i baḥr-i ḥazn va infirād). And with the greater portion of those [revealed] verses (aghlab āyāt) was made manifest a miraculous sign (`ajz) on the part of one other than the people of erudition [e.g. the unlettered Bāb] (ahl-i `ilm) through, that is, the production of [divinely revealed] Arabic verses (āyāt-i `arabiyya).
Section Two
[Sahifa, 5-14]
In Exposition of the Balance of the Cause of God (al-qustās bi-amr Allāh).
Section Three
[Sahifa:15ff]
SECTION THREE
فی معرفة الله و معرفة اوليائه بما امر الله عز وجل
On the Gnosis of God (ma`rifat Allāh) and the Gnosis of His chosen Ones (ma`rifat awliyā’) relative to that which God-exalted and elevated be He—hath stipulated.
[1] Know thou that the basis of [true] religion is the Gnosis of God (ma`rifat Allāh). [2] And that the perfection of [this] gnosis (ma`rifat) is tawḥīd (the Divine Unity). [3] The perfection of tawḥīd (the Divine Unity) is the [apophatic] negation of the [Divine] Attributes and the [Divine] Names (nahy ṣifāt va asmā’) from His sanctified [Unknowable] Essence (dhāt-i muqaddas). [4] And the perfection of this [aforementioned] negation (nahy) [of the [Divine] Attributes and [Divine] Names] is the realization (wurūd) of the [Apophatic Depth] Abyss of the [Divine] Unicity (lujjat-i aḥadiyya) through the comprehension (`ilm) of [both] His [apophatic] Abstraction [Disconnection] (qaṭ`) and His [cataphatic] Contemplatability [Evidentness] (mashāhida) by virtue of the availability of that [Divine] Bounty [Deity] (vuṣūl-i jūd-i ān).
[5] Now the reality of these [theological] levels constitutes a sign of God (āyāt-Allāh) which is a Singularity (vaḥda) such that by virtue of that Gnosis (`irfān) and Certitude (īqān) the existence of His Highness the Lord of Might (ḥadrat-I rabb-I `izzat) is realized [actualized] (ḥāṣil). [6] Know [further] that the Pre-Existent Divine Essence (dhāt-i qadīm) in its Apparentness (ẓāhir) is [remains] His Occulted Logos Persona (nafs-i bāṭin) and the Beingness (kawnūniyyat) of that Logos Persona (nafs) is its [His] Essential Reality (dhātiyyat).
[Mi`rāj p.34]
… On all levels the ideal position of established faith (mithl-i i`tiqād) in tawḥid (the Divine Unity) is necessary. So too is firm faith in the Mi`rāj of that Holiness (ḥaḍrat) [Muhammad], in his body (bi-jism) and in [wearing] his clothes and his two sandals (bi-libās va na`lay), [a doctrinal matter] requisite and unquestionable (farḍ va muḥaqqiq). And [belief in] the doctrinal position (i`tiqād) [established] in the Hadīth transmitted through Ḥumayra [`A’yisha bint Abu Bakr] is, in this connection, also necessary.
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