Concerning the questions of Manakji Limji Hataria 4 страница
236.
"They have misrepresented matters before the presence of the King in such a way that if any ill deed proceed from any one of this sect they account it as a part of the religion of these servants.
237.
But, by God, beside Whom there is none other God,
this Servant hath not sanctioned the committing of sins,
much less that whereof the prohibition hath been explicitly revealed in the Book of God!
238.
God hath prohibited unto men the drinking of wine,
and the unlawfuless thereof hath been revealed and recorded in the Book of God, Quran 5:92
and the doctors of the age (may God multiply the like of them)
have unanimously prohibited unto men this abominable action;
yet withal do some commit it.
239.
Now the punishment of this action falls on these heedless persons,
while those manifestations of the glory of sanctity remain holy and undefiled:
unto their sanctity all Being, whether of the unseen or the seen, testifieth.
240.
"Yea, these servants of God regard God as 'doing what He pleaseth,
and ordering what He willeth.' Quran 2:254, 3:35, 22:14,19
241.
There is no retreat nor way of flight for anyone save unto God,
and no refuge nor asylum but in Him.
242.
And at no time hath the caviling [reviling] of men, whether learned or unlearned,
been a thing to rely on, nor will it be so.
243.
The prophets, who are the pearls of the Ocean of Union and the recipients of Divine Revelation,
have ever been the objects of men's aversion and caviling; much more these servants.
244.
Even as He saith:
`Every nation schemed against their apostle to catch him.
And they contended with falsehood therewith to refute the truth.' Quran 40:5
245.
So likewise He saith,
`There came not unto them any apostle but they mocked at him.' Quran 15:11, 36:29
246.
Consider the appearance of the Seal of the Prophets, the King of the Elect (the soul of the worlds be His sacrifice); after the dawning of the Sun of Truth from the horizon of the Hijaz what wrongs befell that Manifestation of the Might of the Lord of Glory at the hands of the people of error!
247.
So heedless were men that they were wont to consider the vexation of that Holy One as one of the greatest of good works and as the means of approaching God Most High.
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248.
For in the first years the doctors of that age, whether Jews or Christians,
turned aside from that Sun of the Highest Horizon;
249.
and, at the turning aside of those persons, all, whether humble or noble,
girt up their loins to quench the radiance of that Light of the Horizon of Ideals.
250.
The names of all are recorded in books: amongst them were
Wahb ibn Rahib, Ka`b ibn Ashraf, `Abdu'llah ibn Ubayy, and the like of these persons;
till at length the matter reached such a point that they convened a meeting
to take counsel as to the shedding of the most pure blood of that Holy One,
as God (glorious is His mention) hath declared:
251.
`And when those who misbelieved plotted against thee
to confine thee, or slay thee, or drive thee out;
and they plotted, and God plotted;
and God is the best of plotters.' Quran 8:30
252.
So likewise He saith:
`And if their aversion be grievous unto thee,
then, if thou art able to seek out a hole down into the earth, or a ladder up into the sky,
that thou mayest show them a sign--do so:
253.
yet if God pleased He would assuredly bring them all to the true guidance:
be not therefore one of the ignorant.' Quran 6:35
254.
By God, the hearts of those near to God are scorched at the purport of these two blessed verses;
255.
yet the like of these matters certainly transmitted to Us are blotted out of sight,
and men have not reflected, neither do reflect about,
what it was that was the reason of the turning aside of God's servants among the people
at the appearance of the daysprings of divine lights.
256.
"So, too, before the Seal of the Prophets, consider Jesus the Son of Mary.
257.
After the appearance of that Manifestation of the Merciful One
all the doctors charged that Quintessence of Faith with misbelief and rebelliousness;
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258.
until at length, with the consent of Annas, who was the chief of the doctors of that age,
and likewise Caiaphas, who was the most learned of the judges,
John 11:49-50, 18:13-28, Acts 4:6-10
they wrought upon that Holy One that which the pen is ashamed and unable to repeat.
259.
The earth with its amplitude was too strait for Him, until God took Him up into the heaven.
260.
Yet were a detailed account of the prophets to be submitted it is feared that weariness might result.
(K____ here inserts a passage)
261.
"And the Jewish doctors especially hold that after Moses no plenipotentiary prophet possessed of a new Law shall come, yet that [prophet] from amongst the children of David shall appear,
who shall give currency to the Law of the Pentateuch, until, by his help, the ordinances of the Pentateuch shall become current and effective between the East and the West.
262.
So too the people of the Gospel regard it as impossible that after Jesus the Son of Mary any Founder of a new religion should shine forth from the day spring of the Divine Will;
and they seek a proof in this verse which is in the Gospel:
'Verily it may be that the heaven and the earth should pass away,
yet the word of the Son of Man shall never pass away.'
263.
And they hold that what Jesus the Son of Mary hath said and commanded shall not suffer change,
whereas he saith in one place in the Gospel,
'Verily I go and come again';
264.
and in the Gospel of John likewise He giveth tidings of 'the Comforting Spirit that shall come after me';
while in the Gospel of Luke also certain signs are mentioned.
265.
But, because some of the doctors of that faith have propounded for each utterance an explanation after their own lusts, therefore have they remained veiled from the meaning intended."
(From here to the end, the tablet is in Arabic)
(S. Effendi's translation)
Tablet of the Letter to the Kings CHAPTER TEN
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Divisions 266-290
Tablet to the Shah of Iran
THE LETTER TO THE KINGS
266.
O would that thou wouldst permit Me, O Shah,
to send unto thee that which would cheer the eyes, and tranquillize the souls,
and persuade every fair-minded person that with Him is the knowledge of the Book.
Certain translations have a sentence in Persian that follows the first Arabic sentence
(after "...Book.")
267.
"Some men, when they are unable to answer their opponent,
lay hold of the rope of textual corruption;
whereas mention of textual corruptions occurs only in special passages."
268.
Yet for the repudiation of the foolish and the connivance of the divines,
I would have uttered a discourse that would have thrilled and carried away the hearts
unto a realm from the murmur of whose winds can be heard:
`No God is there but He!'
(Browne's translation resumes)
269.
But now, because the time admitteth it not, the tongue is withheld from utterance,
and the vessel of declaration is sealed until God shall unclose it by His power:
verily He is the Potent, the Powerful.
270.
"Glory be to Thee, O God!
O My God, I ask of Thee in Thy Name,
whereby Thou hast subdued whomsoever is in the heavens and the earth,
that Thou wilt keep the lamp of Thy religion with the glass of Thy power and Thy favours,
271.
so that the winds of denial pass not by it
from the region of those who are heedless of the mysteries of Thy Sovereign Name:
then increase its light by the oil of Thy wisdom:
verily Thou art Potent over whomsoever is in Thy earth and Thy heaven.
272.
"O Lord,
I ask of Thee by the Supreme Word,
whereat whosoever is in the earth and the heaven feareth,
save him who taketh hold of the `Most Firm Handle', Quran 2:257, 31:21
that Thou wilt not abandon Me amongst Thy creatures:
273.
lift Me up unto Thee, and make Me to enter in under the shadow of Thy mercy,
and give Me to drink of the pure wine of Thy grace,
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that I may dwell under the canopy of Thy glory and the domes of Thy favours:
verily Thou art powerful unto that Thou wishest,
and verily Thou art the Protecting, the Self-Sufficing.
274.
"O King!
The lamps of justice are extinguished, and the fire of persecution is kindled on all sides,
until that they have made My people captives.
275.
This is not the first honour which hath been violated in the way of God.
276.
It behooveth everyone to regard and recall what befell the kindred of the Prophet
until that the people made them captives and brought them in unto Damascus the spacious;
and amongst them was the Prince of Worshippers,
the Stay of the elect, the Sanctuary of the eager (the soul of all beside him be his sacrifice).
277.
It was said unto them, `Are ye seceders?'
278.
He said,
`No, by God, we are servants who have believed in God and in His signs,
and through us the teeth of faith are disclosed in a smile,
and the sign of the Merciful One shineth forth; through our mention spreadeth Al-Batha (Mecca),
and the darkness which intervened between earth and heaven is dispelled.'
279.
It was said,
`Have ye forbidden what God hath sanctioned, or sanctioned what God hath forbidden?'
280.
He said,
`We were the first who followed the commandments of God:
281.
we are the source of command and its origin,
and the firstfruits of all good and its consummation:
282.
we are the sign of the Eternal,
and His commemoration amongst the nations.'
283.
It was said,
`Have ye abandoned the Quran?'
284.
He said,
`Through us did the Merciful One reveal it;
and we are gales of the All-Glorious amidst His creatures;
we are streams which have arisen from the most mighty Ocean
whereby God revived the earth after its death;
285.
from us His signs are diffused, His evidences are manifested, and His tokens appear;
and with us are His mysteries and His secrets.'
286.
It was said,
`For what fault then were ye afflicted?'
287.
He said,
`For the love of God and our severance from all beside Him.'
288.
"Verily We have not repeated his expressions (upon him be peace),
yet rather We have made manifest a spray from the Ocean of Life which was deposited in his words, that by it those who advance may live and be aware of what hath befallen the trusted ones of God on the part of an evil and most reprobate people.
289.
And today We see the people censuring those who acted unjustly of yore,
while they oppress more vehemently than those oppressed, and know it not.
290.
By God, I do not desire sedition,
yet the purification of God's servants from all that withholdeth them from approach to God,
the King of the Day of Invocation.
Tablet of the Letter to the Kings CHAPTER ELEVEN
Divisions 291-325
Tablet to the Shah of Iran
THE LETTER TO THE KINGS
291.
"I was asleep on My couch:
the breaths of My Lord the Merciful passed over Me and awakened Me from sleep:
(K____'s translation adds:)
[and commanded me to proclaim betwixt earth and heaven:
292.
this was not on my part, yet on His part,
and] to this bear witness the denizens of the realms of His Power and His Kingdom,
and the dwellers in the cities of His Glory, and Himself, the True.
293.
I am not impatient of calamities in His way,
nor of afflictions for His love and at His good pleasure.
294.
God hath made affliction as a morning shower to this green pasture,
and as a match for His lamp whereby earth and heaven are illumined.
295.
"Shall that which anyone hath of wealth endure unto him,
or avail him tomorrow with him who holdeth his forelock?
296.
If any should look on those who sleep under slabs and keep company with the dust,
can he distinguish the bones of the king's skull from the knuckles of the slave?
297.
No, by the King of Kings!
Or doth he know governors from herdsmen,
or discern the wealthy and the rich from him who was without shoes or carpet?
298.
By God, distinction is removed,
save for him who fulfilled righteousness and judged uprightly.
299.
Where are the doctors, the scholars, the nobles?
300.
Where is the keenness of their glances, the sharpness of their sight,
the subtlety of their thoughts, the soundness of their understandings?
301.
Where are their hidden treasures and their apparent gauds,
their bejewelled thrones and their ample couches?
302.
Alas!
All have been laid waste, and the decree of God hath rendered them as scattered dust!
303.
Emptied is what they treasured up,
and dissipated is what they collected, and dispersed is what they concealed:
304.
they have become such that thou seest nothing except their empty places,
their roofs broken open, their uprooted beams, their new things waxed old.
305.
As for the discerning man, verily wealth will not divert him from regarding the end;
and for the prudent man, riches will not withhold him from turning toward God
the Rich, the Exalted.
306.
Where is he who held dominion over all whereon the sun arose,
and who spent lavishly and sought after curious things in the world and what is therein created?
307.
Where is the lord of the swarthy squadron and the yellow standard?
308.
Where is he who ruled Zawra (Baghdad),
and where he who wrought injustice in (Damascus) the spacious?
309.
Where are they at whose bounty treasures were afraid,
at whose openhandedness and generosity the ocean was dismayed?
310.
Where is he whose arm was stretched forth in rebelliousness,
whose heart turned away from the Merciful One?
311.
Where is he who used to make choice of pleasures and cull the fruits of desires?
312.
Where are the dames of the bridal chambers, and the possessors of beauty?
313.
Where are their waving branches and their spreading boughs,
their lofty palaces and trellised gardens?
314.
Where is the smoothness of the expanses thereof and the softness of their breezes,
the rippling of their waters and the murmur of their winds,
the cooing of their doves and the rustling of their trees?
315.
Where are their laughing hearts and their smiling teeth?
316.
Woe unto them!
They have descended to the abyss and become companions to the pebbles;
to day no mention is heard of them nor any sound;
nothing is known of them nor any hint.
317.
Will the people dispute it while they behold it?
Will they deny it when they know it?
318.
I know not in what valley they wander erringly:
do they not see that they depart and return not?
319.
How long will they be famous in the low countries and in the high, descend and ascend?
320.
`Is not the time yet come to those who believe
for their hearts to become humble for the remembrance of God?' Quran 57:15
321.
Well is it with that one who hath said or shall say,
`Yea, O Lord, the time is ripe and hath come,' and who severeth himself from all that is.
322.
Alas!
Nothing is reaped but what is sown, and nothing is taken but what is laid up,
save by the grace of God and His favour.
323.
Hath the earth conceived Him whom the veils of glory
prevent not from ascending into the Kingdom of His Lord,
the Mighty, the Supreme?
324.
Have We any good works whereby defects shall be removed or which shall bring Us near unto the Lord of causes?
325.
We ask God to deal with Us according to His grace, not His justice,
and to make Us of those who turn toward Him and sever themselves from all beside Him.
Tablet of the Letter to the Kings CHAPTER TWELVE
Divisions 326-350
Tablet to the Shah of Iran
THE LETTER TO THE KINGS
(S. Effendi's translation)
326.
I have seen, O Shah, in the path of God what eye hath not seen nor ear heard.
327.
Friends have disclaimed Me;
ways are straitened unto Me; the pool of safety is dried up;
the plain of ease is scorched yellow.
328.
How numerous the tribulations which have rained, and will soon rain, upon Me!
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