The Book of the Epistle to the Son of the Wolf CHAPTER SIXTY TWO 11 страница
379.
This is indeed a token of Our grace, and I, truly, am the Most Bountiful, the Ancient of Days.
380.
We have brought forth all Lights from the Orb of Our name, the True One, have caused them to return unto It, and have again made them manifest in the form of a human temple.
381.
All glory be unto the Lord of strength, might, and power!
382.
None can withstand the operation of My will or the exercise of My might.
383.
I am He Who hath raised up all creatures through a word of My mouth, and My power is, in truth, equal to My purpose.
384.
Say:
It is in Our power, should We wish it, to cause all created things to expire in an instant, and, with the next, to endue them again with life.
385.
The knowledge thereof, however, is with God alone, the All-Knowing, the All-Informed.
386.
It is in Our power, should We wish it, to enable a speck of floating dust to generate, in less than the twinkling of an eye, suns of infinite, of unimaginable splendour,
387.
to cause a dewdrop to develop into vast and numberless oceans, to infuse into every letter such a force as to empower it to unfold all the knowledge of past and future ages.
388.
This, in truth, is a matter simple of accomplishment.
389.
Such have been the evidences of My power from the beginning that hath no beginning until the end that hath no end.
390.
My creatures, however, have been oblivious of My power, have repudiated My sovereignty, and contended with Mine own self, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.
391.
Say:
Of all that lieth between heaven and earth, naught can stir except by My leave, and unto My Kingdom none can ascend save at My behest.
392.
My creatures, however, have remained veiled from My might and My sovereignty, and are numbered with the heedless.
393.
Say:
Naught is seen in My revelation but the Revelation of God, and in My might but His Might, could ye but know it.
394.
Say:
My creatures are even as the leaves of a tree.
395.
They proceed from the tree, and depend upon it for their existence, yet remain oblivious of their root and origin.
396.
We draw such similitudes for the sake of Our discerning servants that perchance they may transcend a mere plant-like level of existence and attain unto true maturity in this resistless and immovable Cause.
397.
Say:
My creatures are even as the fish of the deep.
398.
Their life dependeth upon the water, and yet they remain unaware of that which, by the grace of an omniscient and omnipotent Lord, sustaineth their very existence.
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399.
Indeed, their heedlessness is such that were they asked concerning the water and its properties, they would prove entirely ignorant.
400.
Thus do We set forth comparisons and similitudes, that perchance the people may turn unto Him Who is the Object of the adoration of the entire creation.
The Tablet of the Temple CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Divisions 401-425
THE TEMPLE
401.
O people!
Fear God, and disbelieve not in Him Whose grace hath surrounded all things, Whose mercy hath pervaded the contingent world, and the sovereign potency of Whose Cause hath encompassed both your inner and your outer beings, both your beginning and your end.
402.
Stand ye in awe of the Lord, and be of them that act uprightly.
403.
Beware lest ye be accounted among those who allow the verses of their Lord to pass them by unheard and unrecognized; these, truly, are of the wayward.
404.
Say:
Would ye worship him who neither heareth nor seeth, and who is of a truth the most abject and wretched of all God's servants?
405.
Wherefore have ye failed to follow the One Who hath come unto you from the Source of Divine Command bearing the tidings of God, the Most Exalted, the Most Great?
406.
O people!
Be not like unto those who presented themselves before Our throne, and yet failed to perceive or comprehend; these are indeed a contemptible people.
407.
We recited unto them verses that would enrapture the dwellers of the heavenly Dominion and the inmates of the Kingdom on high, and yet they departed veiled therefrom, and hearkened rather unto the voice of him who is but a servant of God and a mere creation of His Will.
408.
Thus do We impart unto you that which shall guide you towards the path of God's favoured ones.
409.
How many those who entered within the Abode of Paradise, the Seat wherein the throne of God had been established, and stood before their Lord, the Most Exalted, the Most Great, only to inquire about the four Gates or of some Imám of the Islamic Faith![7]
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410.
Such was the state of these souls, if ye be of them that comprehend.
411.
It is even as ye witness in the present day:
those who have disbelieved in God and joined partners with Him cling to a single one of Our Names, and are debarred from recognizing Him Who is the Creator of all Names.
412.
We testify that such men are of a truth amongst the people of the Fire.
413.
They ask the sun to expound the words of the shadow, and the True One to explain the utterances of His creatures, could ye but perceive it!
414.
Say:
O people!
The sun offereth naught save the brilliance of its own light and that which appeareth therefrom, whilst all else seek illumination from its rays.
415.
Fear God, and be not of the ignorant!
416.
Among them also were those who inquired of the darkness about the light.
417.
Say:
Open thine eyes, that thou mayest behold the brightness which hath visibly enveloped the earth!
418.
This, verily, is a light which hath risen and shone forth above the horizon of the Dayspring of divine knowledge with manifest radiance.
419.
Would ye ask the Jews whether Jesus was the True One from God, or the idols if Muḥammad was an Apostle of His Lord, or inquire from the people of the Qur'án as to Him Who was the Remembrance of God, the Most Exalted, the Most Great?
420.
Say:
O people!
Cast away, before the splendours of this Revelation, the things that ye possess, and cleave to that which God hath bidden you observe.
Such is His command unto you, and He, verily, is best able to command.
421.
By My Beauty!
My purpose in revealing these words is to cause all men to draw nigh unto God, the All-Glorious, the All-Praised.
422.
Beware lest ye deal with Me as ye dealt with My Herald.
423.
Do not object, when the verses of God are sent down unto you from the Court of My favour, saying, "these do not proceed from an innate and untaught nature",
for that nature itself hath been created by My word and circleth round Me, if ye be of them that apprehend this truth.
424.
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Inhale from the utterances of your Lord, the All-Merciful, the sweet smell of the garment of inner meanings, which hath been diffused throughout the entire creation and hath shed its fragrance over all created things.
425.
Happy are those who perceive it and hasten unto God with radiant hearts.
The Tablet of the Temple CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Divisions 426-4
THE TEMPLE
426.
O Living Temple!
We, verily, have made Thee a mirror unto the kingdom of names, that Thou mayest be, amidst all mankind, a sign of My sovereignty, a herald unto My presence, a summoner unto My beauty, and a guide unto My straight and perspicuous Path.
427.
We have exalted Thy Name among Our servants as a bounty from Our presence.
I, verily, am the All-Bountiful, the Ancient of Days.
428.
We have, moreover, adorned Thee with the ornament of Our own self, and have imparted unto Thee Our Word, that Thou mayest ordain in this contingent world whatsoever Thou willest and accomplish whatsoever Thou pleasest.
429.
We have destined for Thee all the good of the heavens and of the earth, and decreed that none may attain unto a portion thereof unless he entereth beneath Thy shadow, as bidden by Thy Lord, the All-Knowing, the All-Informed.
430.
We have conferred upon Thee the Staff of authority and the Writ of judgement, that Thou mayest test the wisdom of every command.
431.
We have caused the oceans of inner meaning and explanation to surge from Thy heart in remembrance of Thy Lord, the God of mercy, that Thou mayest render thanks and praise unto Him and be of those who are truly thankful.
432.
We have singled Thee out from amongst all Our creatures, and have appointed Thee as the Manifestation of Our own self unto all who are in the heavens and on the earth.
433.
Bring then into being, by Our leave, resplendent mirrors and exalted letters that shall testify to Thy sovereignty and dominion, bear witness to Thy might and glory, and be the manifestations of Thy Names amidst mankind.
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434.
We have caused Thee again to be the Origin and the Creator of all mirrors, even as We brought them forth from Thee aforetime.
435.
And We shall cause Thee to return unto Mine own self, even as We called Thee forth in the beginning.
Thy Lord, verily, is the Unconstrained, the All-Powerful, the All-Compelling.
436.
Warn, then, these mirrors, once they have been made manifest, lest they swell with pride before their Creator and Fashioner when He appeareth amongst them, or let the trappings of leadership delude and debar them from bowing in submission before God, the Almighty, the All-Beauteous.
437.
Say:
O concourse of mirrors!
Ye are but a creation of My will and have come to exist by virtue of My command.
438.
Beware lest ye deny the verses of My Lord, and be of them who have wrought injustice and are numbered with the lost.
439.
Beware lest ye cling unto that which ye possess, or take pride in your fame and renown.
440.
That which behoveth you is to wholly detach yourselves from all that is in the heavens and on the earth.
441
Thus hath it been ordained by Him Who is the All-Powerful, the Almighty.
442.
O Temple of My Cause!
Say:
Should I wish to transform, in a single moment, all things into mirrors of My Names, this undoubtedly is in My power,
how much more in the power of My Lord, Who hath called Me into being through His all-compelling and inscrutable command.
443.
And should I choose to revolutionize the entire creation in the twinkling of an eye, this assuredly is possible unto Me,
how much more unto that sovereign Purpose enshrined in the Will of God, My Lord and the Lord of all the worlds.
444.
Say:
O ye manifestations of My Names!
Should ye offer up all that ye possess, nay your very lives, in the path of God, and invoke Him to the number of the grains of sand, the drops of rain, and the waves of the sea,
445.
and yet oppose the Manifestation of His Cause at the time of His appearance, your works shall in no wise be mentioned before God.
446.
Should ye, however, neglect all righteous works and yet choose to believe in Him in these days, God perchance will put away your sins.
He, verily, is the All-Glorious, the Most Bountiful.
447.
Thus doth the Lord inform you of His purpose, that haply ye may not wax proud before the One through Whom whatsoever hath been revealed from all eternity hath been confirmed.
448.
Happy is he who approacheth this Most Sublime Vision, and woe to them that turn aside!
449.
How numerous those who expend all their wealth in the path of God, and whom We find, at the hour of His Revelation, to be of the rebellious and the froward!
450.
How many those who keep the fast in the daytime, only to protest against the One by Whose very command the ordinance of the fast was first established!
Such men are, in truth, of the ignorant.
451.
And how many those who subsist on the coarsest bread, who take for their only seat the grass of the field, and who undergo every manner of hardship, merely to maintain their superiority in the eyes of men!
452.
Thus do We expose their deeds, that this may serve as a warning unto others.
453.
These are the ones who subject themselves to all manner of austerities before the gaze of others in the hope of perpetuating their names, whilst in reality no mention shall remain of them save in the curses and imprecations of the dwellers of earth and heaven.
454.
Say:
Would it profit you in the least if, as ye fondly imagine, your names were to endure?
Nay, by the Lord of all worlds!
455.
Was the idol 'Uzzá[8] made any greater by this, that its name lived on amidst the worshippers of names?
Nay, by Him Who is the persona of God, the All-Glorious, the All-Compelling!
456.
Should your names fade from every mortal mind, and yet God be well pleased with you, ye will indeed be numbered among the treasures of His name, the Most Hidden.
457.
Thus have We sent down Our verses that they may attract you unto the Source of all Lights, and acquaint you with the purpose of your Lord, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.
458.
Abstain, then, from all that hath been forbidden unto you in the Book, and eat of the lawful things which God hath provided for your sustenance.
459.
Deprive not yourselves of His goodly bestowals, for He, verily, is the Most Generous, the Lord of grace abounding.
460.
Subject not yourselves to excessive hardships, but follow the way We have made plain unto you through Our luminous verses and perspicuous proofs, and be not of the negligent.
The Tablet of the Temple CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Divisions 461-485
THE TEMPLE
461.
O concourse of divines!
It is not yours to boast if ye abstain from drinking wine and from similar transgressions which have been forbidden you in the Book,
462.
for should ye commit such deeds, the dignity of your station would then be tainted in the eyes of the people, your affairs would be disrupted, and your name disgraced and dishonoured.
463.
Nay, your true and abiding glory resideth in submission to the Word of Him Who is the Eternal Truth, and in your inward and outward detachment from aught else besides God, the All-Compelling, the Almighty.
464.
Great is the blessedness of that divine that hath not allowed knowledge to become a veil between him and the One Who is the Object of all knowledge, and who, when the Self-Subsistent appeared, hath turned with a beaming face towards Him.
465.
He, in truth, is numbered with the learned.
466.
The inmates of Paradise seek the blessing of his breath, and his lamp sheddeth its radiance over all who are in heaven and on earth.
467.
He, verily, is numbered with the inheritors of the Prophets.
468.
He that beholdeth him hath, verily, beheld the True One, and he that turneth towards him hath, verily, turned towards God, the Almighty, the All-Wise.
469.
O ye the dawning-places of knowledge!
Beware that ye suffer not yourselves to become changed,
470.
for as ye change, most men will, likewise, change.
471.
This, verily, is an injustice unto yourselves and unto others.
472.
Unto this beareth witness every man of discernment and insight.
473.
Ye are even as a spring.
474.
If it be changed, so will the streams that branch out from it be changed.
475.
Fear God, and be numbered with the godly.
476.
In like manner, if the heart of man be corrupted, his limbs will also be corrupted.
477.
And similarly, if the root of a tree be corrupted, its branches, and its offshoots, and its leaves, and its fruits, will be corrupted.
478.
Thus have We set forth similitudes for your instruction, that perchance ye may not be debarred by the things ye possess from attaining unto that which hath been destined for you by Him Who is the All-Glorious, the Most Bountiful.
479.
It is indeed in Our power to take up a handful of dust and to adorn it with the vesture of Our Names.
480.
This, however, would be but a sign of our favour, and not an indication of any merit it may have inherently possessed.
481.
Thus hath it been revealed in truth by Him Who is the Sovereign Revealer, the All-Knowing.
482.
Consider the Black Stone,[9] which God hath made a point whereunto all men turn in adoration.
483.
Hath this bounty been conferred upon it by virtue of its innate excellence?
484.
Nay, by Mine own self! Or doth such distinction stem from its intrinsic worth?
485.
Nay, by Mine own Being, Whose Essence even the wisest and most discerning of men have failed to grasp!
The Tablet of the Temple CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Divisions 486-510
THE TEMPLE
486.
Again, consider the Mosque of Aqṣá and the other places which We have made sanctuaries unto the people in every land and region.
487.
The honour and distinction they enjoy is in no wise due to their own merit, but stemmeth from their relation to Our Manifestations, Whom We have appointed as the Daysprings of Our Revelation amidst mankind, if ye be of them that understand.
488.
In this there lieth a wisdom inscrutable to all save God.
489.
Inquire, that He may graciously make plain unto you His purpose.
490.
His knowledge, verily, embraceth all things.
491.
Detach yourselves, O people, from the world and all its vanities, and heed not the call of such as have disbelieved in God and joined partners with Him.
492.
Arise above the horizon of utterance to extol and praise your Lord, the All-Merciful.
493.
This is that which God hath purposed for you; well is it with them who perceive it.
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