The Book of the Epistle to the Son of the Wolf CHAPTER ONE 14 страница
905. yet these people, ravenous as the dogs, have gathered around carrion, and contented themselves with the stagnant waters of a briny lake. 906. Gracious God! how strange the way of this people! 907. They clamor for guidance, although the standards of Him Who guideth all things are already hoisted. 908. They cleave to the obscure intricacies of knowledge, when He, Who is the Object of all knowledge, shineth as the sun. 909. They see the sun with their own eyes, and yet question that brilliant orb as to the proof of its light. 910. They behold the vernal showers descending upon them, and yet seek an evidence of that bounty. 911. The proof of the sun is the light thereof, which shineth and envelopeth all things. 912. The evidence of the rain shower is the bounty thereof, which reneweth and investeth the world with the mantle of life. 913. Yea, the blind can perceive naught from the sun except its heat, and the arid soil hath no share of the showers of mercy. 914. “Marvel not if in the Qur’án the unbeliever perceiveth naught but the trace of letters, for in the sun, the blind findeth naught but heat.” 915. In another passage He saith: “And when Our clear verses are recited to them, their only argument is to say, ‘Bring back our fathers, if ye speak the truth!’” The Book of Certitude CHAPTER THIRTY ONE Divisions 916-950 2ND CERTITUDE 916. Behold, what foolish evidences they sought from these Embodiments of an all-encompassing mercy! 917. They scoffed at the verses, a single letter of which is greater than the creation of heavens and earth, and which quickeneth the dead of the valley of self and desire with the spirit of faith; 918. and clamored saying: “Cause our fathers to speed out of their sepulchers.” 919. Such was the perversity and pride of that people. 920. Each one of these verses is unto all the peoples of the world an unfailing testimony and a glorious proof of His truth. 921. Each of them verily sufficeth all mankind, wert thou to meditate upon the verses of God. 922. In the above-mentioned verse itself pearls of mysteries lie hidden. 923. Whatever be the ailment, the remedy it offereth can never fail. 924. Heed not the idle contention of those who maintain that the Book and verses thereof can never be a testimony unto the common people, inasmuch as they neither grasp their meaning nor appreciate their value. 925. And yet, the unfailing testimony of God to both the East and the West is none other than the Qur’án. 926. Were it beyond the comprehension of men, how could it have been declared as a universal testimony unto all people? 927. If their contention be true, none would therefore be required, nor would it be necessary for them to know God, inasmuch as the knowledge of the divine Being transcendeth the knowledge of His Book, and the common people would not possess the capacity to comprehend it. 928. Such contention is utterly fallacious and inadmissible. 929. It is actuated solely by arrogance and pride. 930. Its motive is to lead the people astray from the Ridván of divine good-pleasure and to tighten the reins of their authority over the people. 931. And yet, in the sight of God, these common people are infinitely superior and exalted above their religious leaders who have turned away from the one true God. 932. The understanding of His words and the comprehension of the utterances of the Birds of Heaven are in no wise dependent upon human learning. 933. They depend solely upon purity of heart, chastity of soul, and freedom of spirit. 934. This is evidenced by those who, today, though without a single letter of the accepted standards of learning, are occupying the loftiest seats of knowledge; and the garden of their hearts is adorned, through the showers of divine grace, with the roses of wisdom and the tulips of understanding. 935. Well is it with the sincere in heart for their share of the light of a mighty Day! 936. And likewise, He saith: “As for those who believe not in the verses of God, or that they shall ever meet Him, these of My mercy shall despair, and these doth a grievous chastisement await.” 937. Also, “And they say, ‘ Shall we then abandon our gods for a crazed poet?’” 938. The implication of this verse is manifest. 939. Behold what they observed after the verses were revealed. 940. They called Him a poet, scoffed at the verses of God, and exclaimed saying: “These words of his are but tales of the Ancients!” 940. By this they meant that those words which were spoken by the peoples of old Muhammad hath compiled and called them the Word of God. 941. Likewise, in this day, thou hast heard the people impute similar charges to this Revelation, saying: 942. “He hath compiled these words from the words of old”; or “these words are spurious.” 943. Vain and haughty are their sayings, low their estate and station! 944. After the denials and denunciations which they uttered, and unto which We have referred, they protested saying: 945. “No independent Prophet, according to our Scriptures, should arise after Moses and Jesus to abolish the Law of divine Revelation. 946. Nay, he that is to be made manifest must needs fulfill the Law.” 947. Thereupon this verse, indicative of all the divine themes, and testifying to the truth that the flow of the grace of the All-Merciful can never cease, was revealed: 948. “And Joseph came to you aforetime with clear tokens, but ye ceased not to doubt of the message with which He came to you, until, when He died, ye said, 949. ‘God will by no means raise up a Messenger after Him.’ 950. Thus God misleadeth him who is the transgressor, the doubter.” The Book of Certitude CHAPTER THIRTY TWO Divisions 951-980 2ND CERTITUDE 951. Therefore, understand from this verse and know of a certainty that the people in every age, clinging to a verse of the Book, have uttered such vain and absurd sayings, contending that no Prophet should again be made manifest to the world. 952. Even as the Christian divines who, holding fast to the verse of the Gospel to which We have already referred, have sought to explain that the law of the Gospel shall at no time be annulled, and that no independent Prophet shall again be made manifest, unless He confirmeth the law of the Gospel. 953. Most of the people have become afflicted with the same spiritual disease. 954. Even as thou dost witness how the people of the Qur’án, like unto the people of old, have allowed the words “Seal of the Prophets” to veil their eyes. 955. And yet, they themselves testify to this verse: “None knoweth the interpretation thereof but God and they that are well-grounded in knowledge.” 956. And when He Who is well-grounded in all knowledge, He Who is the Mother, the Soul, the Secret, and the Essence thereof, revealeth that which is the least contrary to their desire, they bitterly oppose Him and shamelessly deny Him. 957. These thou hast already heard and witnessed. 958. Such deeds and words have been solely instigated by leaders of religion, they that worship no God but their own desire, who bear allegiance to naught but gold, who are wrapt in the densest veils of learning, and who, enmeshed by its obscurities, are lost in the wilds of error. 959. Even as the Lord of being hath explicitly declared: “What thinkest thou? 960. He who hath made a God of his passions, and whom God causeth to err through a knowledge, and whose ears and whose heart He hath sealed up, and over whose sight He hath cast a veil —who, after his rejection by God, shall guide such a one? 961. Will ye not then be warned?” 962. Although the outward meaning of “Whom God causeth to err through a knowledge” is what hath been revealed, yet to Us it signifieth those divines of the age who have turned away from the Beauty of God, 963. and who, clinging unto their own learning, as fashioned by their own fancies and desires, have denounced God’s divine Message and Revelation. 964. “Say: It is a weighty Message, from which ye turn aside!” 965. Likewise, He saith: “And when Our clear verses are recited to them, they say, ‘This is merely a man who would fain pervert you from your father’s worship.’ 966. And they say, ‘This is none other than a forged falsehood.’” 967. Give ear unto God’s holy Voice, and heed thou His sweet and immortal melody. 968. Behold how He hath solemnly warned them that have repudiated the verses of God, and hath disowned them that have denied His holy words. 969. Consider how far the people have strayed from the Kawthar of the divine Presence, and how grievous hath been the faithlessness and arrogance of the spiritually destitute in the face of that sanctified Beauty. 970. Although that Essence of loving-kindness and bounty caused those evanescent beings to step into the realm of immortality, and guided those destitute souls to the sacred river of wealth, 971. yet some denounced Him as “a calumniator of God, the Lord of all creatures,” others accused Him of being “the one that withholdeth the people from the path of faith and true belief,” and still others declared Him to be “a lunatic” and the like. 972. In like manner, thou observest in this day with what vile imputations they have assailed that Gem of Immortality, and what unspeakable transgressions they have heaped upon Him Who is the Source of purity. 973. Although God hath throughout His Book and in His holy and immortal Tablet warned them that deny and repudiate the revealed verses, and hath announced His grace unto them that accept them, yet behold the unnumbered cavils they raised against those verses which have been sent down from the new heaven of God’s eternal holiness! 974. This, notwithstanding the fact that no eye hath beheld so great an outpouring of bounty, nor hath any ear heard of such a revelation of loving-kindness. 975. Such bounty and revelation have been made manifest, that the revealed verses seemed as vernal showers raining from the clouds of the mercy of the All-Bountiful. 976 The Prophets “endowed with constancy,” whose loftiness and glory shine as the sun, were each honored with a Book which all have seen, and the verses of which have been duly ascertained. 977. Whereas the verses which have rained from this Cloud of divine mercy have been so abundant that none hath yet been able to estimate their number. 978. A score of volumes are now available. 979. How many still remain beyond our reach! 980. How many have been plundered and have fallen into the hands of the enemy, the fate of which none knoweth. The Book of Certitude CHAPTER THIRTY THREE Divisions 981-1015 2ND CERTITUDE 981. O brother, we should open our eyes, meditate upon His Word, and seek the sheltering shadow of the Manifestations of God, that perchance we may be warned by the unmistakable counsels of the Book, and give heed to the admonitions recorded in the holy Tablets; 982. that we may not cavil at the Revealer of the verses, that we may resign ourselves wholly to His Cause, and embrace wholeheartedly His law, that haply we may enter the court of His mercy, and dwell upon the shore of His grace. 983. He, verily, is merciful and forgiving towards His servants. 984. And likewise, He saith: “Say, O people of the Book! do ye not disavow us only because we believe in God and in what He hath sent down to us, and in what He hath sent down aforetime, and because most of you are doers of ill?” 985. How explicitly doth this verse reveal Our purpose, and how clearly doth it demonstrate the truth of the testimony of the verses of God! 986. This verse was revealed at a time when Islám was assailed by the infidels, and its followers were accused of misbelief, when the Companions of Muhammad were denounced as repudiators of God and as followers of a lying sorcerer. 987. In its early days, when Islám was still to outward seeming devoid of authority and power, the friends of the Prophet, who had turned their face toward God, wherever they went, were harassed, persecuted, stoned and vilified. 988. At such a time this blessed verse was sent down from the heaven of divine Revelation. 989. It revealed an irrefutable evidence, and brought the light of an unfailing guidance. 990. It instructed the companions of Muhammad to declare the following unto the infidels and idolaters: 991. “Ye oppress and persecute us, and yet, what else have we done except that we have believed in God and in the verses sent down unto us through the tongue of Muhammad, and in those which descended upon the Prophets of old?” 992. By this is meant that their only guilt was to have recognized that the new and wondrous verses of God, which had descended upon Muhammad, as well as those which had been revealed unto the Prophets of old, were all of God, and to have acknowledged and embraced their truth. 993. This is the testimony which the divine King hath taught His servants. 994. In view of this, is it fair for this people to repudiate these newly revealed verses which have encompassed both the East and the West, and to regard themselves as the upholders of true belief? 995. Should they not rather believe in Him Who hath revealed these verses? 996. Considering the testimony which He Himself hath established, how could He fail to account as true believers them that have testified to its truth? 997. Far be it from Him that He should turn away from the gates of His mercy them that have turned unto and embraced the truth of the divine verses, or that He should threaten those that have clung to His sure testimony! 998. He verily establisheth the truth through His verses, and confirmeth His Revelation by His words. 999. He verily is the Powerful, the Help in peril, the Almighty. 1000. And likewise, He saith: “And had We sent down unto Thee a Book written on parchment, and they had touched it with their hands, 1001. the infidels would surely have said ‘This is naught but palpable sorcery.’” 1002. Most of the verses of the Qur’án are indicative of this theme. 1003. We have, for the sake of brevity, mentioned only these verses. 1004. Consider, hath anything else besides the verses been established in the whole Book, as a standard for the recognition of the Manifestations of His Beauty, that the people might cling to, and reject the Manifestations of God? 1005. On the contrary, in every instance, He hath threatened with fire those that repudiate and scoff at the verses, as already shown. 1006. Therefore, should a person arise and bring forth a myriad verses, discourses, epistles, and prayers, none of which have been acquired through learning, what conceivable excuse could justify those that reject them, and deprive themselves of the potency of their grace? 1007. What answer could they give when once their soul hath ascended and departed from its gloomy temple? 1008. Could they seek to justify themselves by saying: “We have clung to a certain tradition, and not having beheld the literal fulfillment thereof, we have therefore raised such cavils against the Embodiments of divine Revelation, and kept remote from the law of God”? 1009. Hast thou not heard that among the reasons why certain Prophets have been designated as Prophets “endowed with constancy” was the revelation of a Book unto them? 1010. And yet, how could this people be justified in rejecting the Revealer and Author of so many volumes of verses, and follow the sayings of him who hath foolishly sown the seeds of doubt in the hearts of men, and who, Satan-like, hath risen to lead the people into the paths of perdition and error? 1011. How could they allow such things to deprive them of the light of the Sun of divine bounty? 1012. Aside from these things, if these people shun and reject such a divine Soul, such holy Breath, to whom, We wonder, could they cling, to whose face besides His Face could they turn? 1013. Yea—“All have a quarter of the Heavens to which they turn.” 1014. We have shown thee these two ways; walk thou the way thou choosest. 1015. This verily is the truth, and after truth there remaineth naught but error. The Book of Certitude CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR Divisions 1016-1045 2ND CERTITUDE 1016. Amongst the proofs demonstrating the truth of this Revelation is this, that in every age and Dispensation, whenever the invisible Essence was revealed in the person of His Manifestation, certain souls, obscure and detached from all worldly entanglements, would seek illumination from the Sun of Prophethood and Moon of divine guidance, and would attain unto the divine Presence. 1017. For this reason, the divines of the age and those possessed of wealth would scorn and scoff at these people. 1018. Even as He hath revealed concerning them that erred: “Then said the chiefs of His people who believed not, ‘We see in Thee but a man like ourselves; and we see not any who have followed 1019. Thee except our meanest ones of hasty judgment, nor see we any excellence in you above ourselves: nay, we deem you liars.’” 1020. They caviled at those holy Manifestations, and protested saying: “None hath followed you except the abject amongst us, those who are worthy of no attention.” 1021. Their aim was to show that no one amongst the learned, the wealthy, and the renowned believed in them. 1022. By this and similar proofs they sought to demonstrate the falsity of Him that speaketh naught but the truth. 1023. In this most resplendent Dispensation, however, this most mighty Sovereignty, a number of illumined divines, of men of consummate learning, of doctors of mature wisdom, have attained unto His Court, drunk the cup of His divine Presence, and been invested with the honor of His most excellent favor. 1024. They have renounced, for the sake of the Beloved, the world and all that is therein. 1025. We will mention the names of some of them, that perchance it may strengthen the fainthearted, and encourage the timorous. 1026. Among them was Mullá Husayn, who became the recipient of the effulgent glory of the Sun of divine Revelation. 1027. But for him, God would not have been established upon the seat of His mercy, nor ascended the throne of eternal glory. 1028. Among them also was Siyyid Yahyá, that unique and peerless figure of his age, Mullá Muhammad ‘Alíy-i-Zanjání Mullá ‘Alíy-i-Bastámí Mullá Sa‘íd-i-Bárfurúshí Mullá Ni‘matu’lláh-i-Mázindarání Mullá Yúsuf-i-Ardibílí Mullá Mihdíy-i-Khu’í 1029. Siyyid Husayn-i-Turshízí Mullá Mihdíy-i-Kandí Mullá Báqir Mullá ‘Abdu’l-Kháliq-i-Yazdí Mullá ‘Alíy-i-Baraqání and others, well-nigh 400 in number, whose names are all inscribed upon the “Guarded Tablet” of God. 1030. All these were guided by the light of that Sun of divine Revelation, confessed and acknowledged His truth. 1031. Such was their faith, that most of them renounced their substance and kindred, and cleaved to the good-pleasure of the All-Glorious.
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