هَيْكَل

Double Haykal of the Bāb.

Haykal:

Selections, Notes and Translations from the Arabic and Persian Writings of Sayyid `Ali Muhammad Shirazi, the Bab (1819-1850 CE)

IN PROGRESS 2009-10

Dr. Stephen Lambden UC-Merced

A brief account of the life and writings of

Sayyid `Alī Muhammad Shirazi, the Bāb (1819-1852 CE).

 

Catalogue and Introduction to the Arabic and Persian Writings of the Bāb

The Qur'anic Sūrat al-Baqara

Tafsir Surat al-Baqara: Introduction, Extant mss..,

Tafsīr Sūrat al-Baqara (Commentary upon the Surah of the Cow)

The Qayyūm al-asmā'

قَيُّوم الاَسمَاء

Joseph and Jacob reunited

The Qayyum al-asma' : Introductory Notes

The Isolated Letters of the Qayyūm al-asmā'-I-XII

The Isolated Letters of the Qayyūm al-asma, Tabulated and Introduced.

سورة

QA 1-XII : Sūrah Titles and Isolated Letters

The Sūrah Titles of the Qayyūm al-asma' : Tabulated and Introduced.

 

MESA Paper - Montreal, 2008 :

(1)

The Surah Titles of the Qayyum al-asma' : Gateways to the Earliest Thought of the Bab.

(2)

Part II : Some Comments on specific Sura Titles of the Qayyūm al-asmā'

QAYYUM AL-ASMA' 001

SURAT AL-MULK

Texts and Translation of the Qayyūm al-asmā'

Stephen N. Lambden

 The Figure of Joseph in the Qayyūm al-asmā'

 

The eschatological כְּתנֶת פַּסִּים "coat of many colours"

The motif of the Beauty of Joseph in Islamic and Babi-Baha'i literatures

The room where The Báb declared His mission on May 23, 1844 in His house in Shiraz.

The claims of the Bāb in the Qayyūm al-asmā'

The Bahā'ī interpretation of the Qayyūm al-asmā'

Further Tafsīr and related writings of the Bab

بسملة

The Basmala

The Islamic Basmala : Bibliography,,,

The Tafsīr ḥurūf al-basmala of the Bāb

 لَوْحٍ  محْفُوظ

The Lawh maḥfūẓ ("The Preserved Tablet"): Some Introductory Notes

The Bāb in response to a question about the Lawh maḥfūẓ ("The Preserved Tablet").

The Qur'anic Sūrat al-kawthar

The Tafsīr Sūrat al-kawthar of the Bab

Du`a-yi Alf

The Qur'anic Sūrat al-`Aṣr

The Tafsīr Sūrat al-`Aṣr of the Bab. 

The Tafsir Surat al-Qadr [`Laylat al-Qadr'] Q. 97 of the Bāb

__________________________

Writings and Letters dating to the period of the Pilgrimage of the Bāb

Sahifa bayn al-haramayn

("The Treatise [written] between the Two Shrines")

Introduction, Extant mss. Translations.

Sahifa bayn al-haramayn, Text and Translation

Introduction and Translated excerpts

The Kitāb al-rūḥ (The Book of the Spirit).

 

Khaşā'il-i sab`a ("The Seven Directives").

 

The al-Khuṭba al-Ṭutunjiyya of Imam `Ali and the Commentary of Sayyid Kazim Rashti

Sharḥ al-Khuṭba al-Ṭutunjiyya of the Bab

 

Early Khuṭbas  of the Bāb.

The Islamic and Babi background of the Khuṭba

Early Khuṭbas or Sermons of the Bab as listed in his Kitab al-fihrist ("Book of the Index", 1845)

Khuṭbas or sermons formed an important vehicle for the revelations of the Bab from the earleist period. From late 1844  perhaps XX khuṭbas were written or delivered throughout the period surrounding the Bab's pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina and his return to Persia in 1845. This is clear from the Kitab al-fihrist (Book of the Index) of the Bab which was written on  15th Jumada II 1261 AH or  June 21st 1845 CE and  various other early writings. Here we may note the following Khuṭbas of the Bab:

  • Two khuṭbas revealed in Bushire՝ : Mss. = (1) Tehran, INBA 4011C, pp. 341-48 (2) Tehran, INBA 5006C, pp. 359-63

  • Khuṭba revealed in Banakān' No surviving manuscript is. known.

  • 'Khuṭba revealed in Kanakān' : Mss. = (1.) Tehran, IΝΒΑ 4011C, pp. 351-58 (2). Tehran, INBA 5006C, pp. 355-59.

  • Khuṭba on the `Īd al-Fiṭr (= 1st Shawwal 1260 at end of Ramadan = 1st October 1844?),

Khuṭba fi'l-Masqat ("Sermon at Muscat")

  • Khuṭba written in Masqat [Musqat] (1). Tehran, INBA 4011C, pp. 359-96; (2.) Tehran, INBA 5(X)6C, pp. 326-30

  • Text and Translation

Khuṭba fi'l-Jidda ("Sermon of Jeddah")

Introduction, Extant mss. and Translations.

Khuṭba `Ilm al-Huruf ("Sermon on the science of Letters")

  • Khuṭba on the sufferings of the Imam Husayn' (= Khuṭba fi'I safına) (1). Tehran, IΝΒΑ  5006C, pp. 317-20  (2) INBMC 91:

  • Three  khuṭbas revealed on the way to Mecca' . Not extant?

  • Khuṭba for Mullā Ḥusayn revealed on board ship' (?= 'a khuṭba revealed in Jidda at the time of his embarkation on the ship') 1. Tehran, IΝΒΑ 4011C, pp. 348-51 2. Tehran, IΝΒΑ 5006C, pp. 339-40

Khuṭba Madīna ("Sermon revealed one stage from Medina")

Faryal Naveed Old Medina Giclee Print

  • A Khuṭba (Sermon) of the Bāb composed near Medina.

  • Khuṭba revealed one stage from Medina' 1. Tehran, INBA 5006C, pp. 322-24 ; INBMC 91:ADD.

  • (xi) Two  khuṭbas revealed near the staging-post of al-Safra' 1. Tehran, ΓΝΒΑ 5006C, pp. 320-22 and 324-26.

  • (x) 'A Khuṭba [written] one stage from Medina' 1. Tehran, INBA 5006C, pp. 322-24
  • (xi) Two Khuṭbas [written] near the staging-post of al-Safra' 1. Tehran, ΓΝΒΑ 5006C, pp. 320-22 and 324-26
  • (xii) A Khuṭba written as a preface to the Tafsīr Sūrat al-kawthar (see under that title)

    Khuṭbas associated with Tafsir  and other works of the Bab

  • Khuṭba associated with the Tafsir Surat al-Baqara  of the Bab (late 1843)

  • Khuṭba  prefaced to the Tafsĩr Sürat al-kawthar  (Q.  ) of the Bab (1845) See ADD

  • The Khuṭba al-Jalīliyya ("The Sermon of the Divine Majesty")  This Khuṭba in INBMC 67: 1-5 immediately precedes the Bab's Tafsir Surat al-`Asr. It is not listed in MacEoin's Sources...

Other Khuṭbas of the Bab

Early Letters or Alwāḥ ("scriptural Tablets") of the Bāb

Select Letters or Alwāḥ ("scriptural Tablets") of the Bāb listed in the Kitab al-fihrist and thus predating June 21st 1845 CE. 

  • The Thirty Eight Letters / Alwāḥ (Tablets) of the Bāb:

  • (i) Five addressed  to Mullā Ḥusayn Bushrū'ī, the first of the `Letters of the Living' (d. Tabarsī 1849 CE).

  • (ii) Three addressed to Mīrzā Sayyid Ḥasan, the great Afnan and brother-in-law of the Bab (d. xxxx/xxxx CE).

Letter to the Ottoman Sultan `Abd al-Majid / Abdülmecit (1839-1861)

See full size image

See full size image  

  • (v) To the Ottoman Sulṭān `Abd al-Majīd (d. 1861 CE).

  • (1a) Partial translation Nicholas (1934) Quelques Documents Relatifs au Babism,

  • (1b) Translation

  • (1b) Translation Stephen Lambden :

Letters to the Maternal uncle of the Bab, Ḥājī Mīrzā Sayyid `Alī (d. 1852 CE)

  • (vi) Six Letters/Tablets addressed  to the maternal uncle of the Bab, Ḥājī Mīrzā Sayyid `Alī (d. 1852 CE), his guardian known as the Khāl-i A`ẓam ("the Greatest Uncle"). One of the seven martyrs of Tehran.

  • (1) Add

  • (2) Add

  • (3) Add

  • (4) Add

  • (5) Add

  • (6) Letter sent with Quddus to Shiraz for Hājj Mirza Sayyid `Alī. 

  • (6a) French trans. in  Nicolas, Séyyèd Ali Mohammed, (1905), pp. 214-18.

 

  • (vii) 2 to Ḥājī Mullā Muhammad (d.    CE).

Two Letters to the Khadījah Bagum (d. 1882 CE), the wife of the Bab and cousin of  his mother

  • (viii) Two for  Khadījah Bagum (d. 1882 CE), the wife of the Bab and cousin of the mother of the Bab.

  • (1) The `First Letter to Khadījah Bagum, the wife of the Bab'. See Balyuzi, The Bab (1973); at the front is a good photograph of the autograph original text 

  • (2) The Second Letter to Khadījah Bagum, the wife of the Bab. 

Three Tablets to the Sunni Ḥanbalī, Maghribī, and Ḥanafī Imāms

  • (ix)  Three Tablets to the Sunni Ḥanbalī, Maghribī, and Ḥanafī Imāms

 Tablet to the Shaykhī leader Ḥājī Mirza Muhammad Karīm Khān Kīrmānī (d. 1288/1871).

Letter to Ḥājī Mullā Muhammad `Alī Barfurushi, Quddūs, the last `Letter of the Living' (d.    CE).

  • (xi) to Ḥājī Mullā Muhammad `Alī Barfurushi, Quddus, the last `Letter of the Living' (d.    CE).

  • (xii) to Mina `Abd al-Bāqī Rashtī (d.   CE).

  • (xiii) to Mīrzā Sayyid Ḥasan Khurāsānī (d.   CE).

  • (xiv) to Shaykh Rafī` (d.   CE).

Letters to Mullā Ṣādiq Muqaddas Khurāsānī, Ism-Allāh al-Asdaq (d. Hamadan 1889 CE)

Letter to Hajji Mirza Muhammad Kāẓīm Khān Kirmani (d. Add).

  • (xvi) to Muhammad Kāẓīm Khān (d.    CE).

  • (xvii) to Shaykh Khalaf (d.    CE).

Letter to Shaykh Sulaymān  [of Muscat?] (d.    CE).

  • (xviii) to Shaykh Sulaymān  [of Muscat?] (d.    CE). Partly translated in Selections, pp. 35-37.

Letter to the Sharīf Sulaymān of Mecca (d.    CE).

  • (xix) to Sharīf Sulaymān of Mecca (d.    CE).

  • (1) Text partly published in translated in Selections From the Writings of the Bab (1978), pp. 29-30.

  • (xx) to Sayyid Ibrahīm [Mahāllatī?] (d.    CE).

  • (xxi) to Sayyid `Alī Kirmānī (d.    CE).

  • (xxii) to Sulaymān Khān  (d.    CE).
     


Select  Devotional writings of the Bāb:

Salat - Munajat - Du`a - Ziyārat -Visitation texts ... 

Devotional works predating June 1845 CE listed in the Kitab al-Fihrist of the Bab

Ten Prayers written in reply to questions: 

  • (1) Prayer in reply to twenty questions

  • (2) Prayer in  reply to al-`Alawiyya

  • (3) Prayer in  reply to Mullā `Abd al-KhāIiq [Yazdī] (d. XXX/XXX)

  • (4) Prayer in  reply to Karbalā'ī `Alī Aṣghar (d. XXX/XXX)

  • (5) Prayer in  reply to Mullā `Abd al-Jalīl [Urūmī] (d. XXX/XXX) on the sijdat al-shukr  ('thanksgiving prostration')

  • (6) Prayer in  reply to Mīrzā Muhammad `Alī Nahrī (d. XXX/XXX)

  • (7) Prayer in  reply to Mullā Aḥmad Khurāsānī [Mu`āllim-i Ḥisārī?](d. XXX/XXX), Di`bil, and the son of Mīrzā `Alī al-Akhbarī (d. XXX/XXX)

  • (8) Prayer in reply to Mīrzā Hādī (d. XXX/XXX) and Mīrzā Muhammad `Alī Qazvīnī (d. XXX/XXX)

  • (9) Prayer in  reply to Mullā Ibrahīm Mahallatī (d. XXX/XXX)

  • (10) Prayer in  reply to the Shi`i scholar Sayyid Ja`far Shubbar  (d. XXX/XXX).

 

Ziyārat al-Zahrā

Mss. (1) Tehran, TBA 6003C : 148-59

Ziyāra jāmi'a şaghīra  ("The Lesser Visiting Tablet")

= Chapter 1 of Risāla furū` al-'adliyya : (1) Tehran, INBA 5006C, p. 2, line 20 to top left corner 203
 

Ziyãrat jāmi`a kabīra ("The Greater Visiting Tablet")

  • Mss.  = (1) 1. Cambridge, Browne F.22 (item 1) (2) Tehran, MBA 6003C, pp. 132-45 (incomplete) (3)  Tehran, MBA 6009C, pp. 173-219 (incomplete; dated 1267/1851) (4)  Iran, INBMC 50: 1-72 (5). Russia (?), Kažem Beg copy. (MacEoin, Sources, ). 

The Du`a al-Ḥājat

An Acrostic Supplication of the Bāb for the fulfillment of one’s wishes

Du`a Tawassul (The Supplication of the Fervent Plea)

Sharh Tasbīḥ ("Commentary on the Glorification") of  Fāṭima Zahra (d. 11/633)

The Reply of the Bāb to

The Questions of Mirza Muhammad Zavarih [Zawara]

 

Ḥadīth  Literatures and Commentaries of the Bāb on Islamic Traditions.

 

Islamic traditions or Hadith Literatures.

Ḥadith are of the greatest significance in Sunni and Shi`i Islam. The word Ḥadith can indicate a textual tradition which sets down something of doctrinal or practical religious significance allegedly related to the Prophet Muhammad or to one or more of the Twelver Imams.  It's text (Ar. matn) was often initially orally transmitted through a possibly lengthy and sometimes complicated  and controversial chain of transmitters (Ar. isnad).

The Bab and the Shi`i Hadith Literatures.

Select  Hadith commentaries of the Bāb

The Earliest Period May 1844- September 1846

The Commentaries on the Delphic Maxim, "Know thyself!". 

Surat al-Nūr and the Light Verse

The Commentary on the Hadith mā al-ḥaqīqa ("What is Reality?").

The Years in Isfahan and   1846-8

  • Tafsīr Ḥadith

  • Tafsīr Ḥadith

  • Tafsīr Ḥadith

  • Tafsīr Ḥadith

  • Tafsīr Ḥadith

  • Tafsīr Ḥadith

The Years of Imprisonment in Mah-Ku and Chihriq 1848- early July 1850

  • Tafsīr Ḥadith

  • Tafsīr Ḥadith

  • Tafsīr Ḥadith

Hadith Commentary in other writings of the Bab.

THE KITAB AL-FIHRIST

كتاب الفَهرست

1261/1845

Extant mss. Introduction and Translations.

This work was written in Bushire after the Bāb had completed his pilgrimage on June 21st 1845 = 15th Jumadi II 1261 AH. It includes a list of most of his early works up to the date of its writing (K. Fihrist  TBA. 6006C: 339‑348, esp. 346‑ 7). 

 The Kitāb al-Fihrist ("The Book of the Index")

Text and Translation

The Khuṭba al-dhikriyya ("The Sermon of the Remembrance")

1262/1846 

 حروف الحي

Ḥurūfāt al-Ḥayy

The Scriptural alwāḥ (Tablets) of the Bāb to the Ḥurūfāt al-Ḥayy (`Letters of the Living')

Tablet to Mullā Ḥusayn Bushrū'ī (The 1st `Letter of the Living')

Tablet to Mullā Ḥasan Bushrū'ī (The 2nd `Letter of the Living')

من يظهره الله

 Two Alwah (`Scriptural Tablets') of the Bāb addressed to the Babi Messiah Figure Man Yuẓhiru-hu Allāh,  `He Whom God shall make manifest'.

THE ISFAHAN PERIOD

(September 1846-> March 1847 CE)

 

Select Writings of the Bab dating to the Isfahan Period

وَالْعَصْرِ

The Qur'anic Sūrat al-`Aṣr

The Tafsīr Sūrat al-`Aṣr of the Bab. 

The Letters to Manūchihr Khan Governor of Isfahan,

Mu`tamid al-Dawla (d. 1847)

 

Risāla fī'l-nubuwwa al-khaṣṣa

(The Treatise on the Specific Prophethood [of Muhammad)

al-Lawāmi` al-Badī` ("The Wondrous Brilliances")

Select Alwah-Scriptural Tablets and Letters of the Isfahan Period 

 

Ṣaḥīfa Ja`fariyya = Sharh Du`a al-Ghayba

Introduction, Extant mss. and Translations.

The Ṣaḥīfa‑yi `adliyya  ("Treatise on Justice")

Introduction, Extant mss. and Translations.

The Risāla Dhahabiyya ("The Golden Treatise") for Mulla Jawād Viliyānī (1847 CE).

 

Risāla furū` al-`adliyya  ("The Treatise on the Branches of Justice")

Introduction, Extant mss. and Translations.

 

 

THE LAST YEARS IN PERSIAN ĀDHIRBĀYJĀN : AT MĀKŪ AND CHIHRĪQ

( August ? 1847-> July 9th 1850 CE)

 

The Dala'il-i Sab`ah (The Seven Proofs), Persian.

Introduction, Extant mss. and Translations.

The Dala'il-i Sab`a (The Seven Proofs), Arabic.

Introduction, Extant mss. and Translations.

THE PERSIAN AND ARABIC BAYANS

The Persian Bayān Introduction, Extant mss. and Translations.

  • I   The First Unity (al-wāḥid al-avval)

  • II  The Second Unity (al-wāḥid al- l)

  • III  The Third Unity (al-wāḥid al- l)

  • IV The Fourth Unity (al-wāḥid al- l)

  • V  The Fifth Unity (al-wāḥid al- l)

  • VI  The Sixth Unity (al-wāḥid al- l)

  • VII  The Seventh Unity (al-wāḥid al- l)

  • VIII  The Eighth Unity (al-wāḥid al- l)

  • IX  The Ninth Unity (al-wāḥid al- l)

The Arabic Bayān  Introduction, Extant mss. and Translations.

 Various Later Letters or alwāḥ (Scriptural Tablets) of the Bāb

[A]

        Thirty two Arabic items from the writings of the Bāb are listed in the Edward G. Browne (d. 1926) Cambridge University Collection Ms. F.21 (9). Many of these often deeply theological texts date to the Mākū period (1848-9 CE). Ms. F 21 is described as follows, "Pp. 232 of 21.4 x14.4c. and 19 ll. ; clear, legible naskh, dated the 5th of Dhu'l-Qa'da, 1330/Oct. 16, 1912 ; received from Mīrzā Muṣṭafā on Nov. 4, 1912." (Catalogue, 1934, 62; see further MacEoin, Sources, 30, 95-6). The Mīrzā Muṣṭafā  mentioned here is the Azali scribe  who was actually named Ismā'īl Sabbāgh-i Siddihi [Isfahani]. He made many valuable copies of the writings of the Bab for E. G. Browne. With some additional clarification and occasional correction the thirty-two texts contained in Ms f.21 are as follows (notes and translations in URLs]:

  • [01] Reply to one of the believers (pp.1-3).

  • [02] Unspecified  (pp.3-9).

  • [03] Reply to a question of Sayyid Yaḥyā Darābī al-Wāḥid al-Awwal (`The First Wāḥid')  (pp.9-26).

  • [04] In commentary on a statement of Sayyid Kāẓim Rashtī (d.1259/1843)(pp.26-35).

  • [05] To Sayyid Yaḥyā Darābī al-Wāḥid al-Awwal (`The First Wāḥid') (pp.35-44).

  • [06] تفسير الواو فی كلمة والصافات = Commentary upon the letter wāw (و) in the opening phrase of the first verse of the Sūrat al-Ṣāffāt, wa'l-Ṣāffāt, "By those arrayed in rows!" ("Qur'ān, 37:1a) (p. 44-60). In this work the Bab mentions al-jabal al-shadīd ("the Severe Mountain") which is one of the ways he referred to Mākū, the place of his imprisonment in Persian Ādhirbāyjān in 1848-9.  

  • [07] Continuation and conclusion of No [6] above (pp. 60-63).

  • [08] Explanation of the [eschatological-chronological implications]  دائرة الايقغ , Dā'irat al-A+Y+Q-Gh (= abjad 1-10-100-1000), the Talismanic Circle of the Numerical series  1-10-100-1000") (pp. 63-65).

  • [09]  Answer to Shaykh Nāṣir al-Dīn Karbalā'ī, written in 1264/1848 (pp. 65-77).

  • [10] On the  بسيط الحقيقة  Basīṭ al-Ḥaqīqa ("The Unicity-Simplicity of Reality [is all things]" of Mulla Sadra al-Din Shirazi (d. Basra, c. 1050 /1640-1), (pp. 77-88).

  • [11] Answer to the Mu`tamad al-Dawla, Manūchihr Khān Gurjī (d. 1264/1847) one time Governor of Isfahan (pp. 88-93).

  • [12] Answer to the Governor of Shūshtar (pp. 93-100).

  • [13] Answer to a student on the queries in the Qur'ān (pp.100-104).

  • [14] On the Mi'rāj (Night Journey) [cf. Qur'an 17:1f] in the Land of Ṣād (Isfahān) (pp. 104-106).

  • [15] Explanation of a tradition of the Imam Riḍā' (pp. 106-108).

  • [16] Answer to Ḥājjī Muhammad, written from Mākū (pp. 108-111).

  • [17] Answer to an enquirer in Isfahān (pp. 111-115).

  • [18] Answer to Sayyid Asadu'llāh of Qazwīn (pp. 115-116), dated Jumādā 1, 1263/ April-May, 1847, from "the Prison in the Mountain " (p.116-120).

  • [19] Answer to Mullā Rajab 'Alī [Janāb-i-Qahīr] (pp. 120-127).

  • [20] Answer to Sayyid Ahmad Āqā-Zāda (p. 126-7).

  • [21] Answer to Mīrzā Muhammad 'Alī (p. 127-131).

  • [22] Answer to Mīrzā 'Abdu'l-Wahhāb Munshī (p. 131-133).

  • [23] Answer to the father of Sayyid Ḥusayn, written from Mākū (p. 133-135).

  • [24] To Jināb-i-Ṭāhira (Qurrat al-'Ayn) [d. 1852 CE], from Mākū (p. 135-138).

  • [25] Answer to Mullā Aḥmad Ibdāl [Maraghā'ī] (12th `Letter of the Living', d. Tabarsi, 1848-9), from Mākū (p. 138-143).

  • [26] To Sayyid Abu'l Ḥasan ibn Sayyid `Alī Zunūzī, Commentary on the Du`ā al-Ṣabāḥ (Morning Prayer) of Imam `Ali ibn Abi Talib (d. 40/661) dating from the Mākū period since the Bāb refres to being fi wast al-jibal ( "in the centre of the mountain", p.145), (p. 143-155).

  • [27] Commentary on the āyāt al-nūr ("Verse of Light "- Qur'ān 24:35) (p. 155-171)

  • [28] Answer to Asad (pp. 171-189).

  • [29] To Mīrzā Najaf-Qulī (pp. 189-192).

  • [30] To two persons from "the Land of Paradise" (pp. 192-196).

  • [31] To Mullā Ahmad (pp. 196-223).

  • [32] Letter to the `Ulamā' (pp. 224-232).

    (List based on the Browne-Nicholson, Catalogue p.62)

 

 

From a Tablet of the Bāb to Mullā Muhammad Baqīr Tabrīzī (d. Istanbul c. 1881 CE)

The Kitāb-i Panj sha`n (The Book of the Fives Modes)

Introduction, Extant mss. and Translations.

Translation of Kitāb-i Panj sha`n 1/1

The (Lawḥ‑i ) Haykal al‑dīn  ("Temple of Religion"; 1266/early‑mid 1850)

Haykal al‑dīn : Introduction, Extant mss. Translations.

  

Waṣiyyat-nāma ("The Will and Testament")