أَصْحَابَ الْكَهْفِ
Some Notes on the Babi and Baha'i
Interpretations of the Qur'anic Surat al-Kahf (The Surah of the
Cave).
Stephen
Lambden
In progress 2009-10
The eighteenth qur’ānic surah (`chapter’), the Meccan [+Medinan] Sūrat al-kahf (Surah of the Cave) is usually dated to
the Medinan period of the lifetime of the Arabian prophet
Muhammad. A number of Sunnī and Shī`ī traditions deriving from
the Prophet Muhammad, the Shi`i Imams and others highlight the
importance of the qur’ānic Sūrat al-kahf (Surah of the
Cave), the eighteenth sūrah of the Qur’ān. Having 110
verses it commences as follows (in the A. J. Arberry trans.):
XVIII THE CAVE:
In the Name of God, the
Merciful, the Compassionate
Praise belongs to God who has
sent down upon His servant the Book and has not assigned unto it
any crookedness; [2] right, to warn of great violence from Him,
and to give good tidings unto the believers, who do righteous
deeds, that theirs shall be a goodly wage [3] therein to abide
for ever, [4] and to warn those who say, 'God has taken to
Himself a son'; they have no knowledge of it, they nor their
fathers; a monstrous word it is, issuing out of their mouths;
they say nothing but a lie. [5] Yet perchance, if they believe
not in this tiding, thou wilt consume thyself, following after
them, of grief. [7] We have appointed all that is on the earth
for an adornment for it, and that We may try which of them is
fairest in works; [8] and We shall surely make all that is on it
barren dust.
The Surah of the Cave
includes a number of
important prophetological or qiṣaṣ al-anbyiā’ (Stories of the Prophets) type narratives. Firstly,
following the verses cited above,
[I]. The narrative of أَصْحَابَ
الْكَهْف
aṣḥāb al-kahf (`The Companions
of the Cave’) Q. 18 verses 9-26 :
This narrative has it that fleeing from religious persecution a
number of young men take refuge in a kahf, or cave. They fall
asleep and awake after a considerable period of time.
Numerous attempts have been made to trace the origins of this
story including a parallel in the Christian story of the
`Seven Sleepers of Ephesus’.
أَمْ حَسِبْتَ أَنَّ أَصْحَابَ الْكَهْفِ وَالرَّقِيمِ
كَانُوا مِنْ آيَاتِنَا عَجَبًا
[9]
Or do you reckon that the
Companions of the Cave (aṣḥāb al-kahf)
and al-Raqīm [their dog or an inscription"?)
were
among Our wondrous (`ajab an ) signs
إِذْ أَوَى الْفِتْيَةُ إِلَى الْكَهْفِ فَقَالُوا
رَبَّنَا آتِنَا مِن لَّدُنكَ رَحْمَةً وَهَيِّئْ
لَنَا مِنْ أَمْرِنَا رَشَدًا
[10]
When those
young men [youths] (al-fityat)
took refuge in the Cave (al-kahf) they said [in
prayer] : `O our Lord! Bestow Thy Mercy (raḥmat)
upon us and regulate our circumstance
aright
فَضَرَبْنَا عَلَى آذَانِهِمْ فِي الْكَهْفِ سِنِينَ
عَدَدًا
[11]
I
n
the Cave (al-kahf) We sealed up their ears for a
number of years
ثُمَّ بَعَثْنَاهُمْ لِنَعْلَمَ أَيُّ الْحِزْبَيْنِ
أَحْصَى لِمَا لَبِثُوا أَمَدًا
[12]
Then We
awakened them perchance We would be aware which of
the two groups (al-hizhayn) could account for how
long they had remained [in the cave
نَحْنُ نَقُصُّ عَلَيْكَ نَبَأَهُم بِالْحَقِّ
إِنَّهُمْ فِتْيَةٌ آمَنُوا بِرَبِّهِمْ وَزِدْنَاهُمْ
هُدًى
[13]
And
Aوَرَبَطْنَا عَلَى
قُلُوبِهِمْ إِذْ قَامُوا فَقَالُوا رَبُّنَا رَبُّ
السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ لَن نَّدْعُوَ مِن دُونِهِ
إِلَهًا لَقَدْ قُلْنَا إِذًا شَطَطًا
[14]
هَؤُلَاء قَوْمُنَا
اتَّخَذُوا مِن دُونِهِ آلِهَةً لَّوْلَا يَأْتُونَ
عَلَيْهِم بِسُلْطَانٍ بَيِّنٍ فَمَنْ أَظْلَمُ مِمَّنِ
افْتَرَى عَلَى اللَّهِ كَذِبًا
[15]
وَإِذِ
اعْتَزَلْتُمُوهُمْ وَمَا يَعْبُدُونَ إِلَّا اللَّهَ
فَأْوُوا إِلَى الْكَهْفِ يَنشُرْ لَكُمْ رَبُّكُم
مِّن رَّحمته ويُهَيِّئْ لَكُم مِّنْ أَمْرِكُم
مِّرْفَقًا
[16]
وَتَرَى الشَّمْسَ
إِذَا طَلَعَت تَّزَاوَرُ عَن كَهْفِهِمْ ذَاتَ
الْيَمِينِ وَإِذَا غَرَبَت تَّقْرِضُهُمْ ذَاتَ
الشِّمَالِ وَهُمْ فِي فَجْوَةٍ مِّنْهُ ذَلِكَ مِنْ
آيَاتِ اللَّهِ مَن يَهْدِ اللَّهُ فَهُوَ الْمُهْتَدِ
وَمَن يُضْلِلْ فَلَن تَجِدَ لَهُ وَلِيًّا مُّرْشِدًا
[17]
وَتَحْسَبُهُمْ
أَيْقَاظًا وَهُمْ رُقُودٌ وَنُقَلِّبُهُمْ ذَاتَ
الْيَمِينِ وَذَاتَ الشِّمَالِ وَكَلْبُهُم بَاسِطٌ
ذِرَاعَيْهِ بِالْوَصِيدِ لَوِ اطَّلَعْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ
لَوَلَّيْتَ مِنْهُمْ فِرَارًا وَلَمُلِئْتَ مِنْهُمْ
رُعْبًا
[18]
وَكَذَلِكَ
بَعَثْنَاهُمْ لِيَتَسَاءلُوا بَيْنَهُمْ قَالَ قَائِلٌ
مِّنْهُمْ كَمْ لَبِثْتُمْ قَالُوا لَبِثْنَا يَوْمًا
أَوْ بَعْضَ يَوْمٍ قَالُوا رَبُّكُمْ أَعْلَمُ بِمَا
لَبِثْتُمْ فَابْعَثُوا أَحَدَكُم بِوَرِقِكُمْ هَذِهِ
إِلَى الْمَدِينَةِ فَلْيَنظُرْ أَيُّهَا أَزْكَى
طَعَامًا فَلْيَأْتِكُم بِرِزْقٍ مِّنْهُ
وَلْيَتَلَطَّفْ وَلَا يُشْعِرَنَّ بِكُمْ أَحَدًا
[19]
إِنَّهُمْ إِن
يَظْهَرُوا عَلَيْكُمْ يَرْجُمُوكُمْ أَوْ يُعِيدُوكُمْ
فِي مِلَّتِهِمْ وَلَن تُفْلِحُوا إِذًا أَبَدًا
[20]
وَكَذَلِكَ
أَعْثَرْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ لِيَعْلَمُوا أَنَّ وَعْدَ
اللَّهِ حَقٌّ وَأَنَّ السَّاعَةَ لَا رَيْبَ فِيهَا
إِذْ يَتَنَازَعُونَ بَيْنَهُمْ أَمْرَهُمْ فَقَالُوا
ابْنُوا عَلَيْهِم بُنْيَانًا رَّبُّهُمْ أَعْلَمُ
بِهِمْ قَالَ الَّذِينَ غَلَبُوا عَلَى أَمْرِهِمْ
لَنَتَّخِذَنَّ عَلَيْهِم مَّسْجِدًا
[21]
سَيَقُولُونَ
ثَلَاثَةٌ رَّابِعُهُمْ كَلْبُهُمْ وَيَقُولُونَ
خَمْسَةٌ سَادِسُهُمْ كَلْبُهُمْ رَجْمًا بِالْغَيْبِ
وَيَقُولُونَ سَبْعَةٌ وَثَامِنُهُمْ كَلْبُهُمْ قُل
رَّبِّي أَعْلَمُ بِعِدَّتِهِم مَّا يَعْلَمُهُمْ
إِلَّا قَلِيلٌ فَلَا تُمَارِ فِيهِمْ إِلَّا مِرَاء
ظَاهِرًا وَلَا تَسْتَفْتِ فِيهِم مِّنْهُمْ أَحَدًا
[22]
وَلَا تَقُولَنَّ
لِشَيْءٍ إِنِّي فَاعِلٌ ذَلِكَ غَدًا
[23]
إِلَّا أَن يَشَاء
اللَّهُ وَاذْكُر رَّبَّكَ إِذَا نَسِيتَ وَقُلْ عَسَى
أَن يَهْدِيَنِ رَبِّي لِأَقْرَبَ مِنْ هَذَا رَشَدًا
[24]
وَلَبِثُوا فِي
كَهْفِهِمْ ثَلَاثَ مِئَةٍ سِنِينَ وَازْدَادُوا
تِسْعًا
[25]
18:10 Then We smote their ears many years in the Cave.
Afterwards We raised them up again, that We might know which of
the two parties would better calculate the while they had
tarried.
We will relate to thee their tidings truly. They were
youths who believed in their Lord, and We increased them in
guidance.
And We strengthened their hearts, when they stood up and said,
'Our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and earth; we will not call
upon any god, apart from Him, or then we had spoken outrage.
These our people have taken to them other gods, apart from Him.
Ah, if only they would bring some clear authority regarding
them! But who does greater evil than he who forges against God a
lie?
18:15 So, when you have gone apart from them and that they
serve, excepting God, take refuge in the Cave, and your Lord
will unfold to you of His mercy, and will furnish -- you with a
gentle issue of your affair.'
And thou mightest have seen the sun, when it rose, inclining
from their Cave towards the right, and, when it set, passing
them by on the left, while they were in a broad fissure of the
Cave. That was one of God's signs; whomsoever God guides, he is
rightly guided, and whomsoever He leads astray, thou wilt not
find for him a protector to direct.
Thou wouldst have thought them awake, as they lay sleeping,
while We turned them 'now to the right, now to the left,' and
their dog 'stretching its paws on the threshold'. Hadst thou
observed them surely thou wouldst have turned thy back on them
in flight, and been filled with terror of them.
And even so We raised them up again that they might question one
another. One of them said, 'How long have you tarried?' They
said, 'We have tarried a day, or part of a day.' They said,
'Your Lord knows very well how long you have tarried. Now send
one of you forth with this silver to the city, and let him look
for which of them has purest food, and bring you provision
thereof; let him be courteous, and apprise no man of you.
'If they should get knowledge of you they will stone you, or
restore you to their creed, then you will not prosper ever.'
18:20 And even so We made them stumble upon them, that they
might know that God's promise is true, and that the Hour --
there is no doubt of it. When they were contending among
themselves of their affair then they said, 'Build over them a
building; their Lord knows of them very well.' Said those who
prevailed over their affair, 'We will raise over them a place of
worship.'
(They will say, 'Three; and their dog was the fourth of them.'
They will say, 'Five; and their dog was the sixth of them'
guessing at the Unseen. They will say, 'Seven; and their dog was
the eighth of them.' Say: 'My Lord knows very well their number,
and none knows them, except a few.' So do not dispute with them,
except in outward disputation, and ask not any of them for a
pronouncement on them.
And do not say, regarding anything, 'I am going to do that
tomorrow,' but only, 'If God will'; and mention thy Lord, when
thou forgettest, and say, 'It may be that my Lord will guide me
unto something nearer to rectitude than this.')
And they tarried in the Cave three hundred years, and to that
they added nine more.
18:25 Say: 'God knows very well how long they tarried. To Him
belongs the Unseen in the heavens and in the earth. How well He
sees! How well He hears! They have no protector, apart from Him,
and He associates in His government no one.'
[II]. Moses and the Servant (`abd), Joshua or al-Khaḍir / Khiḍr (“The Green One”)
Q. 18 verses 60-82.
The theodicy narrative centering upon the testing of Moses
or Moses and the (unnamed) Servant (`abd) who is
often identified with al-Khaḍir or Khiḍr
(“The Green One”) Q. 18 verses 60-82. The Dhū’l-Qarynayn figure is traditionally identified
with Alexander of Macedon or Alexander the Great (356‑323 BCE )
though he is also identified, among others, with Imam `Ali ibn Abi
Ṭālib (d. 40/661).
[III]. The story of Dhū’l-Qarynayn (“Possessed of Two Horns”)
Q. 18 verses 83-101.
The story of Dhū’l-Qarynayn (“Possessed of Two Horns”)
Q. 18 verses 83-101.
Some Shaykhī interpretations of these portions of the
Surah of the Cave.
Some Bābī-Bahā’ī interpretations
of the Surah of the Cave
The Bābī-Bahā’ī Interpretation of the motifs, verses, pericopae
and narratives contained within the Sūra of the Cave form a
significant part of Bahā’ī sacred scripture. Episodes,
themes and motifs contained in the important, rich and
fascinating qur'anic Surat al‑kahf (Sura of the Cave; Q. 18;
especially Q. 18:60‑102) were of central importance to the
founders of the Bābi and Baha'i religions; the two
contemporary messianic figures of the Iranian Qajar period,
Sayyid `Ali Muhammad Shirazi known as the Bāb ("Gate" 1817‑50)
and Mirza Husayn `Ali Nuri (1819‑92) entitled, Baha'‑Allah (The
Glory of God). Within the extensive and largely unpublished
Arabic and Persian writings of these two successive,
revolutionary claimants there exist quite a number of
exegetical‑eisegetical treatments of Q. 18:60ff. While the
Bāb, for example, eisegetically rewrote or re‑revealed the story
of Dhū'l‑Qarnayn ("The Possessor of the Two Horns") in his first
major work, the Qayyūm al‑asmā’ (mid. 1844), Bahā'u'llāh
wrote a detailed commentary on Q. 18:XXff. Various key figures,
motifs and terms mentioned in the Surat al‑kahf receive
novel interpretations by these Persian born persons who claimed
to be the latter day manifestations of the Qā’im ( Shī`ī
messiah) and the Qayyūm (eschatological theophany).
Attention is given by the Bāb and Baha'-Allah, for example, to
the multi‑faceted and influential account of the associated,
highly suggestive phrase majma` al‑bahrayn (`confluence of the
two seas'), the theme of the aṣḥāb al‑kahf (Companions
of the Cave) and of Dhū'l‑Qarnayn (`The Possessor of Two
Horns') in which Yajuj and Majuj (Gog and Magog) also figure.
Such material was drawn upon and interpreted in diverse
non‑literal (allegorical, typological... ) ways.
Both the Bāb and Baha'-Allah occasionally framed their claims
based upon phrases or figures mentioned in the Surat al‑kahf.
The latter, for example, in his Lawh‑i qinā'
(Tablet of
the Veil) called the Shaykhi leader Karim Khān Kirmānī (d.1871)
to listen to him as the "Khidr of [these]days" capable of
leading him to the "Kawthar [Fount] of Eternal Subsistence".
Addressing a certain "letter qāf between two
alifs
(=Āqā [Mīrzā Āqā] Rikab Saz Shirazi ?) in another untitled
Tablet he bade him "hearken" unto his message as the messianic
personification of the majma al‑baḥrayn ("Confluence of
the Two Seas") (see Māzandarānī, Āsrār al‑āthār, 4:230)
The
Sūrat al-Kahf
(Surah of the Cave)
LXXIII (73)
in the
Qayyūm al-asmā'
of the Bab.
Spanning 5-7 pages of
Arabic text Qayyūm
al‑asmā'
surah LXXIII
(73) is
entitled the Sūrat al-Kahf (The Surah of the Cave).
In neo-qur'anic fashion it commences with the basmalah then
cites Qur'an 12:72 ("They said: "We have lost the great beaker
[cup] of the king (ṣuwa`a al-malik) ; Anyone who produces it, will
be given [the reward of] a camel-load [of grain]; I personally
guarantee this") after which it has as verse 3 (of the QA) the isolated letters A-L-M (= also Q. 2 etc).
It thus begins:
سورة الكهف
[1]
بسم اللّه الرحمن الرحيم
[2]
(Qur'an
12:72)
قَالُواْ نَفْقِدُ صُوَاعَ
الْمَلِكِ وَلِمَن جَاء بِهِ حِمْلُ بَعِيرٍ وَأَنَاْ بِهِ زَعِيمٌ
[3]
آلم
A-L-M
[4]
ذكر
اللّه
فی الشّجرة المباركة فاستمع ندإ اللّه انّی انا اللّه الّذی لا اله
الا
انا وانا
لعلیّ قد كنت علی الحقّ بالحقّ كبيراً
[4] The
Dhikr-Allah (Remembrance of God) is in the Blessed Tree (shajarat
al-mubārakah)!
So hearken unto the Call of God (nida'-Allah), 'I, verily,
am God, no God is there except I Myself". And I, I am
indeed `Ali [One Transcendent] for I was, in very truth, One Mighty (kabīr
an).
After
this bold opening verse the Bāb refers to the Aṣḥāb al-kahf
("The Companions of the Cave") and al-Raqīm and
seems, rewriting Q. 18: 9, to pose a rhetorical question about
the people's failure to identify these figures with the person
of the Bab -- it is somewhat unclear whether the adjectival
"sleeping" (ruqūd
an) refers to the people or those in the "cave"
-- the translations is uncertain...
[5-6]
انحسب
/
افحسب/
ام حسب النّاس ان
اصحاب الكهف والرقيم قد كانوا من دون الباب رقودا
*
تا
للّه انّ آياتنا فی ذلك الباب علی
المؤمنين لكانت بالحقّ علی الحقّ البديع عجيباً
[5] The
people have supposed that the Aṣḥāb al-kahf
("The Companions of the Cave") and al-Raqīm were "asleep" (ruqūd
an)
respecting the Bāb? [6] [Nay!] By God! Our
wondrous (al-badi`) "verses" (or "signs")
in this Bāb were, in very truth, something
amazing (`ajib an)
for the believers.
[7]
و انّ الكهف هذ الباب و فی امّ الكتاب قد كان حول النّار مسطورا
The "Cave" (al-kahf)
is this Bab, something inscribed about the [Sinaitic]
"Fire" (al-nar) in the Archetypal Book (umm al-kitab).
The Bāb's version of the story of Dhū'l‑Qarnayn
in Qayyūm al-asmā' LXXV (75)
In one of the suras (LXXVI) of his "Tafsir surat yusuf" (= "Qayyūm
al‑asma' ; mid. 1844 CE) the Bāb exegetically `rewrote'
in waḥy (`revelation mode') Qur'an 18:83ff., the story of Dhū'l‑Qarnayn
("The One possessed of Two Horns"), traditionally [among others]
Alexander the Great (356‑323 BCE). What follows is a sample of
the Bāb's exegetical `rewrite' with some comments;
"O Solace of the Eye[s]!
The people shall ask thee about Dhū'l‑Qarnayn. Say [in
reply]: `Yea! By my Lord! I am the King of the two
Originations (malik al‑bad'ayn) in the two horns (al‑qarnayn).
I am the elevated Dhū'l Qarnayn in the two bodies
(al‑jismayn). I am the [Sinaitic] Fire in the two
[cosmic] Waters (al‑mā'ayn). I am the [cosmic]
Water (al‑mā') in the two [Sinaitic] Fires
(al‑nārayn). So hearken unto my call from these
two [Sinaitic] Mounts (al‑ṭūrayn).' We verily,
established him [= Dhū'l‑Qarnaun = the Bāb] in the land
and We, in very truth, bestowed a letter [of the
alphabet] from the name of the Dhikr upon this Arabian
Youth (al‑ghulam al‑`arabi = the Bāb) such that the
ways and means to all ends became his. Say: I verily,
when I followed the Path, journeyed until I reached the
[place of the] setting of the Sun. I found it setting in
the Fount of Salsal [= a paradisiacal well of limpid
water]. At that place I gazed upon the denizens of the
mystic Cloud (ahl min al‑`ama') [who were
gathered] about the Fount. I saw them prostrating before
God, the Exalted. They spoke to me about the secret
knowledge (al‑`ilm al‑mustasirr), [concerning] a
letter [of the alphabet] inscribed above the line
(al‑satr) and I spoke to them of a cipher (ramz
an) veiled in mystery (sirr al muhajjab). Then I
followed the command (al‑amr) until I reached the
dawning‑place of the Sun (mala` al‑shams). I found it
[the Sun] rising from the Camphor‑Fount (`ayn al‑kafur)
upon a company of the people of the mystic Cloud (al‑`amā').
We found that they had no covering [protection from the
Sun] save the verse (or sign) of the Divine Unity (ayat
al‑tawhid = the "shahada), "an affair mysteriously
concealed. They said: `God, verily, is, in very truth,
your Master, nothing is like unto Him'. I said to them:
`He, God, is the True One, no god is there save Him, One
Exalted and Mighty.' "
In this passage the Bāb identifies himself with Dhū'l‑Qarnayn.
The dual form of qarn (= `horn') leads him to give vent to a
variety of claims connected with his role as Bāb to the
occulted or hidden [twelfth] Imam. God bestowed on him a letter
(celestial potency ?) of the name of the "Dhikr</I>
("Remembrance" a quasi‑ messianic title in Bābism) such that he
was able to undertake heavenly journeys or travel on the path of
celestial initiation. At the setting‑place of the celestial Sun
where the Fount of limpid water is located he saw the "ahl al‑`ama'
</I>and had a conversation with them. Deep qabbalistic mysteries
were discussed. Then, at the dawning‑place of the celestial Sun
where the Camphor Fount is located he also met a company of the
"ahl al‑ `amā'" who had no protection from the Sun of Reality
save the `shield' of an expression of the Divine Unity ("al‑tawhid</I>
= " la ilaha ila llah" (`There is no god but God'). While they
proclaimed God's uniqueness the Bāb testified to His unity.
The ahl al‑`ama', it may be gathered, exist at the extreme
orient and extreme occident of the spiritual world; those points
where the Sun of Reality rises and sets. They are privy to the
secret of the Hidden Imam and converse with the Bāb about deep
mysteries. It appears that the journeys of Dhū'l‑Qarnayn ‑‑
transcendentalised by the Bāb ‑‑ are understood to be expressive
of the recognition and heavenly initiation of the Bāb by the "ahl
al‑ `ama'.</I> In this context it is likely that the "ahl al‑ama'
</I> correspond with the inhabitants of twin cities of Jarbalqa
(in the spiritual orient) and Jabarsa (in the spiritual
occident) mentioned in various Shi`i traditions and in the
writings, for example, of such exponents of "gnostic" (irfani)
mysticism as Mir Muhammad Baqir, Damad Astarabadi (d. 1041/1631)
and Baha al‑Din al‑`Amili (= Shaykh Baha'i, d. 1030/1621).They
are the company of purified souls that inhabit the interworld of
archetypal realities. Towards the end of the same surah of the
Qayyūm al‑asmā' in which the story of Dhū'l‑Qarnayn is
re-expressed and reinterpreted, the Bāb addresses the "ahl al‑`ama'"
after stating that he was sent by God from the expected Imam:
"The polytheist's (mushrikin) shall ask you, `Who sent
you unto us?'.. Say: `God the Cleaver of the
heavens and the earth! from the Proof (min `ind hujjat),
the expected [messianic] Qā'im. He, verily, is the True
One and I am one of his servants.. And say unto the "ahl
al‑`ama'" `God created you from clay; He will return
you unto it and from it He will bring you forth yet
again before this sublime Gate (al‑Bāb= the Bāb).'"
Here the Bāb underlines the essential createdness of the "ahl
al‑`ama'". Fashioned by God they will be suject to the
eschatological `recreation' and appear before the Bāb, the
representative of the Hidden or expected Imam.
An important unpublished epistle
of Baha'‑Allah is expostitory of Q. 18:59ff.
In a lengthy and extremely interesting untitled letter of Baha'-Allah
Dhū'l‑Qarnayn is said to signify (on one level) the `Self' or
Logos-Self", the exalted "Person" (nafs) of the Prophet
Muhammad who was the locus or possessor of nubuwwa (`prophethood')
and wilāya (`divine providence') and was, by virtue of
his primordial reality, the Lord of both East and West (see
letter in INBMC 56:43‑67 [esp.p.61ff]. cf.also extract from a
letter of `Abdu'l‑Baha in Ishraq Khavari (ed)" Ma'idih</I>
2:43).
Moses and the page-youth al-Khidr (the "Verdant", Green One).
Baha'‑Allah's detailed interpretations of the story of Moses
and the youth often identified as Khiḍr are found in his
commentary upon Qur'an 13:17[18] and 18:60ff which may date from
the latter period of his sojurn or exile in Ottoman Iraq
(1863‑1868). He commences his allegorical interpretations as
follows:
"Know thou that when Moses attained the most elevated [mystical]
levels (maratib al‑a`la), traversed the paths of eternal
subsistence (masalik al‑baqā') and was irradiated with the
Lights of Might and Grandeur, he desired to draw nigh unto the
Tree of the Divine Decree (shajarat al‑qaḍā') and the Lote‑Tree
of Realization (sidrat al‑imḍā'). This that he might witness
such as is decreed in a Preserved Tablet (lawḥ maḥfūẓ).
Whereupon did he say unto the attendant [page, youth], `I shall
not give up [but shall keep on walking] until I attain the
confluence of the two seas, or [until] I have travelled for a
considerable period'
And We expound [interpret] the youth [page] (al‑fata) as his
[Moses'] [outer] body (al‑jism) for he [Moses] is the Divine
Youth (al‑fata al‑`ilāhī) in whom the sun of Prophethood (shams
al‑nubuwwa) radiated forth with the utmost Lordship (bi‑ghayat
al‑rabbāniyya) though the people fail to comprehend. He,
assuredly, is indeed the youth (fata) who was irradiated with
the theophanic effulgences (tajalliyat) of the lights of the
kingdom (anwār al‑malakūt) and was sustained by the fruits of
the Sinaitic Lote‑Tree (sidrat al‑sinā') which shed light in the
Mount of Eternal Subsistence (ṭūr al‑baqā') with a manifest
effulgence.
He [Moses] assuredly is the youth [page] (al‑fata) who beareth
the mysteries of God (asrār Allāh) and His treasures [as would
be evident] if the people did but understand. Though few among
the people comprehend this he [Moses] is indeed the shell in
which is found the hidden pearl which is the [inner] Being of
the [Sinaitic] Speaker (al‑kalim = Moses) and which sparkles
with the lights of pre‑existence (anwār al‑qidam) and sheds
splendour through the theophanic effulgence of the Sun of the
Greatest Name (al‑ism al‑a`ẓam).
Then know , O wayfarer in the paths of God and observer of the
Beauty of God that the import of the `confluence of the two
seas' (majma al‑baḥrayn) is the [confluence] of the sea of
Prophethood (baḥr al‑nubuwwa) and [the sea of] Divinity ( wa'l‑uluhiyya).
He [Moses] attained, that is the station (maqam) of union with
the ocean of Lordship (bahr al‑rububiyya) which surged in his
very essence and every wave of which cried out, `He, verily,
no God is there except Him. He created the creation from nothing
through His command, `Be! and it is.' (Q.00) and originated
existence from nothing through His utterance. And He is the
Mighty, the Beloved One.'
On another level we interpret the first sea as the Sea of gnosis
(bahr al‑`irfān) and the second as the Sea of [mystical]
attainment (bahr al‑wuṣul)...
when He [Moses] attained the confluence of the two seas and the
ocean of gnosis was united with the ocean of [mystic] attainment
[realization] (as was previously mentioned) "they [two] forgot
their fish" as indeed thou do observe. So know that the
intention of "fish" in this verse (Q. 18:60/1) is the mundane,
earthly modes [of existence] which are known to exist in the
outer world. Thus when they [two = Moses] attained to the sea
[of the attainment of gnosis] they forgot everything
pertaining to the worlds of [earthly] dominion; such [memories]
returned to its origin, basis and source.
This is a sealed reality since when humanity (al‑insān) is
drowned in the sea of mystical gnosis (bahr al‑`irfan) and has
attained to the depth of ocean of reality in the worlds of
pre‑eternity then are cast off the two "sandals" of the mundane
worldly grades (na`layn al‑shu`unat al‑dunyawiyya) and carnal
proclivities (al‑shawat al‑nafsaniyya) [as would be
realized] if you are of such as comprehend.
ADD
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Select
Bibliography
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