THE

QAYYŪM AL-ASMĀ' 

قَيُّوم الاَسمَاء

OF THE BĀB.

Part I

 سورة الملك

Sūrat al-mulk   

(The SURAH OF THE DOMINION)

Scans from a photocopy a 1261/1845 MSS. OF QA. 1

COVER PAGE02 +  QA001A-P3 + QA001B-P4

 

 

The Surah of the Dominion

 سورة الملك

Sūrat al-mulk

[1] 

                 بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم               

 

         الحمد لله الذی الّذی نزّل الكتاب علی عبده بالحقّ ليكون للعالمين سراجاً وهّاجاً   

"ALL praise be to God Who hath, through the power of Truth, sent down this Book unto His servant [the Bāb],

that it may serve as a shining light for all mankind."

(SWB:41)

[3] 

انّ هذا صراط علیّ عند ربّك بالحقّ قد كان فی امّ الكتاب علی الحق القيّم مستقيماً  

This, in truth, in the estimation of God, is the Exalted Path (sirāṭ `aliyy) [`Alī ]

It verily, stretches upright according to the truth established in the Mother Book (umm al-kitāb)

 [4]  

و انّه فی امّ الكتاب لدينا لعلیّ و علی الحق الاكبرقد كان عند الرّحمن حكيماً  

And He is, in the Mother Book which is before Us, assuredly One Exalted, One according to the Most Great Truth

(al-ḥaqq al-akbar), reckoned wise (ḥakīm an) on the part of the All-Merciful.

 

[5] 

و انّه الحق من عند اللّه *علی الدّين الخالص  قد كان فی امّ الكتاب * مسطوراً  

He is the True One  from God (al-ḥaqq min `and Allāh) according to the pure religion (al-dīn al-khāliṣ)

inscribed in the Mother Book  in the vicinity of the Mount [Sinai] (al-ṭūr).

[6] 

 انّ هذا لهو الحقّ صراط اللّه فی السّموات و الارض فمن شاء اتّخذه الی اللّه بالحقّ سبيلاً  

"Verily, this is none other than the sovereign Truth;  it is the Path which God (ṣirat Allāh)   hath laid out for all that are in heaven and on earth.

Let him then who will,  take for himself the right path unto his Lord.

(SWB:41) 

[7] 

انّ هذا لهو الدّين القيّم و كفی باللّه و من عنده علم الكتاب شهيداً  

"Verily this is the true Faith of God, [Upright Religion] (al-dīn al-qayyim).

And sufficient witness are God and such as are endowed with the knowledge of the Book (`ilm al-kitāb)."

(SWB:41)

[8] 

    انّ هذا لهو الحقّ بالحقّ علی الكلمة الاكبر من اللّه القديم  قد كان من حول النّار مبعوثاً  

"This is indeed the eternal Truth which God,

the Ancient of Days (al-qadīm), hath revealed unto His Omnipotent Word [Greatest Word] (al-kalimat al-akbar) --

He Who hath been raised up from the midst of the Burning Bush [Sinaitic Fire] (al-nār )."

(SWB:41) 

 [9] 

 انّ هذا لهو السّرّ فی السّموات و الارض و علی الامر البديع  باذن* اللّه العلیّ  قد كان بالحق فی امّ الكتاب مكتوباً  

"This is the Mystery (al-sirr) which hath been hidden from all that are in heaven and on earth, and in this wondrous Revelation

("Cause", al-amr al-badī`) it hath, in very truth,  been set forth in the Mother Book  by the hand of God, the Exalted."

(SWB:41).

[10] 

اللّه قد قدّر ان يخرج ذلك الكتاب فی تفسير احسن القصص  من عند محمّد بن الحسن بن علی بن محمّد بن علی بن موسی  بن جعفر بن محمّد بن علی بن الحسين بن علی بن ابيطالب  علی عبده ليكون حجّة اللّه من عند الذّكر علی العالمين بليغاً  

God, verily, hath decreed that this Book be divulged in interpretation (tafsīr)  of the  "Best of Narratives" (aḥṣan al-qaṣaṣ, Q.12:3)  [= the Joseph story in the Qur'an] on the part of Muhammad [the hidden 12th Imam] son of Ḥasan [al-`Askarī, 11th Imam] (d. c. 260/874]  son of `Alī [al-Hadi, 10th Imam](d. c. 254/868) son of Muhammad [al-Taqī, 9th Imam[ (d. c. 220/835) son of `Alī  [al-Riḍā', 8th Imam, d. c. 203/818] son of Mūsā [al-Kāẓim, 7th Imam] (d. c. 183/799) son of Ja`far [al-Sādiq, 6th Imam], (d. c. 148/765)son of Muhammad [al-Bāqir, 5th Imam] ( d. c. 120/738?)  son of `Alī [Zayn al-`Ābidīn, 4th Imam] (d. c. 95/713) son of Ḥusayn [3rd Imam] (d. c. 61/680) son of `Alī  ibn Abī Ṭālib  [1st Imam] (d. c. 40/661) unto His servant [= the Bāb] (d. 1266/1850) to the end that it might be an eloquent Proof of God (ḥujjat-Allāh)  from the Remembrance (al-dhikr) unto all the worlds.

[11] 

اشهد اللّه كشهادته لنفسه انّه الحقّ  لا اله الا هو و الملائكة واولوالعلم   قوّام حول الذّكر بالقسط لا اله الا هو

وهو اللّه كان بكلّ شیء عليماً  

God beareth witness as if through the testimony of His own Logos-Self for He, verily, is the True One. No God is there except Him.  So too the angels (al-malā'ika) and the possessors of knowledge (ulu al-`ilm)  standing, as accords with justice, upright about the Remembrance (al-dhikr).  No God is there except Him and God knoweth all things.

[12] 

انّ الّدين الخالص هذا الذّكر سالم فمن اراد الاسلام فليسلّم امره لان يكتبه اللّه فی كتاب الابرار مسلماً

و علی الدّين الخالص قد كان بالحق  محموداً  

The pure Religion (al-dīn al-khāliṣ) of this Remembrance (al-dhikr) is faultless (sālim).  Whomsoever desireth [to identify with true] Islam let such an one be submissive unto this  Cause (al-amr), for such shall God accord the status of a Muslim  in the Holy Book  (kitāb al-abrār) according to the pure Religion (al-dīn al-khāliṣ)  worthy of praise (cf. Q. 3:18-19).

[13] 

و من يكفر بالاسلام لن يقبل اللّه عنه من اعماله  قد كان فی يوم القيمة  من بعض الشیء علی الحقّ بالحقّ شيئاً  

 

And whomsoever disbelieveth in Islam shall not have his deeds accepted by God  on the Day of Resurrection;

not the least thing, as befits the Truth, shall in any way be accepted.

[14]   

و حقّ علی اللّه ان يحرقه بنار اللّه البديع بحكم الكتاب  من حكم الباب  محتوماً  

Fitting it is that God burn him in the regenerative Fire of God  (nār Allāh al-badī`)

according to the decree of the Book  sealed up, in very Truth, in accordance with the decree of the Gate

(ḥukm al-bāb)

 [15]   

اللّه الّذی لا اله الا هو و هو اللّه كان بالمؤمنين بصيراً  

God is He Who no God is there except Him.

 And He is God One Ever-Aware of the believers

 [16]   

 

اللّه الّذی لا اله الا هو وهو اللّه كان بالمؤمنين شهيداً    

God is He Who, no God is there except Him. And He is God, One Witness unto all the worlds the believers.

[17] 

اللّه الّذی لا اله الا هوو هو اللّه كان  بالمؤمنين عليماً    

God is He Who, no God is there except Him. And He is God, One All-Knowing about the believers.

[18] 

اللّه الّذی لا اله الا هو و هو اللّه كان  بالمؤمنين* محيطاً   

God is He Who, no God is there except Him. And He is God, One All-Encompassing of the believers.

[19] 

و انّ اللّه لن يقبل من احد من بعض العمل الامن اتی الباب بالباب ساجداً للّه القديم  من حول الباب محموداً  

God will not accept from anyone any deed except from one who arrives at the Gate, through the Gate (al-bāb bi'l-bāb  =  Q.12:XX)

prostrate before God, the Ancientand praiseworthy in the vicinity of the Gate  

[20-1]   

اللّه قد اذن لك علی الحقّ  فاسجد و اقترب فانّ النّار فی نقطة الماء  للّه الحقّ قد كان  ساجداً

 علی الارض بالحقّ مشهوداً

God hath, in very truth given thee permission  [to accomplish this] !

So be prostrate and draw nigh for the [Sinaitic] Fire (al-nār) in the Point [Locus] of [Cosmic] Water (nuqṭat al-mā')

is evidently, in very truth, prostrate upon the earth before God, the True One.

[22] 

يا معشر الملوك و ابناء  الملوك

 انصرفوا عن ملك اللّه جميعكم بالحقّ علی الحقّ جميلاً  

"O concourse of kings and  the sons of kings!

(yā  ma`shar al-mulūk wa abnā' al-mulūk)

Lay aside, one and all  [in truth, as befits the Truth] your dominion which belongeth unto God (mulk Allāh)."

(SWB:41)

[23] 

يا ملك المسلمين

 فانصر بعد الكتاب ذكرنا الاكبر بالحقّ

فانّ اللّه قدّر لك و للحافين من حولك فی يوم القيمة  علی الصّراط موقفاً علی الحقّ مسئولاً  

"O king of Islam! [Muhammad Shah r.1834-1848]           

  (lit. "king of the Muslims", malik al-muslimūn)

Aid thou, with the truth, after having aided the Book,  Him Who is Our Most Great Remembrance (dhikrinā al-akbar)  for God hath, in very truth, destined for thee,   and for such as circle round thee, on the Day of Judgment [Resurrection],  a responsible position in His Path."    

(SWB:41)

[24]

 يا ايّها الملك تا للّه الحقّ لو تعادی مع الذّكر  ليحكم اللّه فی يوم القيمة عليك بين الملوك بالنّار

 و لن تجد اليوم من دون اللّه العلیّ الحقّ بالحقّ ظهيراً  

   "I swear by God O [Muhammad] Shah! 

[lit. O thou king!]   If thou showest enmity unto  Him Who is His Remembrance, (dhikr)  God will, on the Day of Resurrection,  condemn thee, before the kings,  unto hell-fire,  and thou shalt not, in very truth,  find on that Day any helper except God, the Exalted."  (SWB:41-2)

[25]

يا ايّها الملك

طهّر الارض المقدّسة من اهل الرّد الكتاب  من قبل يوم جاء الذّكر فيها بغتة باذن اللّه  العلیّ علی الامر القوّی شديداً   

 Purge thou, O [Muhammad] Shah, the Sacred Land  (al-arḍ al-muqaddas) [= Tehran] ( the `atabāt  in Ottoman Iraq) from such as have repudiated the Book (ahl al-radd), ere the day whereon the Remembrance of God (al-dhikr)  cometh, terribly and of a sudden, with His potent Cause (al-amr al-qawiyy) by the leave of God, the Most High."  (SWB:42)

[26] 

و انّ اللّه قد كتب عليك ان تسلّم الذّكر و امره  و تسخر البلاد بالحقّ باذنه  فانّك فی الدّنيا مرحوم علی الملك و فی الاخرة

 من اهل جنّة الرّضوان حول القدس     قد كنت  مسكوناً  

 "God, verily, hath prescribed to thee [ Muhammad Shah] to submit unto Him Who is His Remembrance (al-dhikr)  , and unto His Cause (al-amr),  and to subdue, with the truth and by His leave,  the countries, for in this world thou hast been mercifully invested with sovereignty,  (al-mulk)  and wilt, in the next, dwell, nigh unto the Seat of Holiness, with the inmates of the Paradise of His good-pleasure"  (jannat al-riḍwān,  lit. `Garden of Riḍwān).      

(SWB:42)

[27] 

يا ايّها الملك لايغرّنك الملك فانّ لكلّ نفس ذائقة الموت  قد كان بالحقّ علی الحقّ من حكم اللّه مكتوباً  

"Let not thy sovereignty (al-mulk) deceive thee,   O [Muhammad] Shah,   for `every soul shall taste of death,' [Q. 3:182]

and this, in very truth, hath been written down as a decree of God."

(SWB:41)

[28] 

و ارض بحكم اللّه الحقّ فانّ الملك فی امّ الكتاب  علی شأن الذّكر بايدی اللّه قد كان بالحقّ مسطوراً  

         Be thou content with the commandment of God the True One, inasmuch as sovereignty (al-mulk)

   as recorded in the Mother Book (umm al-kitāb)  by the hand of God  is surely invested in Him Who is the Remembrance  (al-dhikr).

  [29]

و انصروا اللّه بانفسكم و اسيافكم فی ظلّ هذا الذّكر الاكبر  لهذا الدّين الخالص بالحقّ علی الحقّ قويّاً  

And [O kings!] give aid towards victory before God through thy very own selves and thy swords

(bi-anfusikum wa asyāfikum)  in the shade of the Most Great Remembrance (al-dhikr al-akbar)  

for the sake of this pure Religion (al-dīn al-khāliṣ)  which is, in very truth, mighty.

 [30]

يا وزير الملك

 خف عن اللّه الّذی لا اله الّا هو الحقّ العادل و اعزل نفسك عن الملك  فانا نحن قد نرث الارض و من عليها باذن اللّه الحكيم

 و انّه قد كان بالحقّ عليك و علی الملك شهيداً  

    "O Minister of the Shah! [King] (wazīr al-malik) 

[ = Ḥajjī Mīrzā Āqāsī  c.1783-1848]

Fear thou God,   besides Whom there is none other God but Him, the Sovereign Truth, the Just, and lay aside thy dominion  (al-mulk),  for We, by the leave of God, the All-Wise,  inherit the earth and all who are upon it  (cf. Q.19:41),   and He shall rightfully be a witness unto thee and unto the Shāh [King] (al-malik )."

  (SWB:42-3)

[31]

و انّا نحن قد ضمّنا باذن اللّه لانفسكم ان تطيعوا الذّكر بالصّدق الخالص بانّ لكم فی القيامة  فی جنّة العدن ملكاً علی الحقّ عظيماً   

"Were ye to obey the Remembrance of God

(al-dhikr) with absolute sincerity, We guarantee, by the leave of God, that on the Day of Resurrection,  a vast dominion (al-mulk an `aẓīm an)  shall be yours in His eternal Paradise (jannat al-`adn,  Garden of Eden)."  

(SWB:43)

[32]

و انّ ملككم هذه  باطلة و قد جعل اللّه  متاع الدّنيا للمشركين  و انّ عند اللّه موليكم حسن الماب  قد كان بالحقّ علی الحقّ قديماً  

    "Vain indeed is your dominion [O Kings!],  for God hath set aside earthly possessions for such as have denied Him; for unto Him Who is your Lord shall be  the most excellent abode [`the best return'], (ḥasan al-mā'ab), He Who is, in truth, the Ancient of Days" (al-qadīm an).

(SWB:43)

   [33] 

و انّ لنا فی جنّة الخلد ملكاً رفيعاً  نعطی من نشاء   من عبادنا  ممّن كان فيهذا الباب باللّه و لاياته علی الحقّ نصيراً

With Us is an elevated dominion

(al-mulk an  rafī` an ) in the Garden of Eternity (jannat al-khuld)  which We bestow upon such as   We desire among Our servants  such, that is, as are established in this Gate (al-bāb) by God  and in very truth, an upholder of His verses

 [34]  

يا معشر الملوك

 بلّغوا آياتنا  الی الترك و ارض الهند بالحقّ علی الحقّ سريعاً  

  "O concourse of kings! (yā ma`shar al-mulūk)

Deliver with truth and in all haste the verses sent down by Us,  to the peoples of Turkey and of India,

 (SWB:43) 

[35] 

و ما وراءِ ارضها من مشرق الارض  و غربها بالحقّ علی الحقّ قويّاً  

and beyond them, with power and with truth,  to lands in both the East and the West ."

 (SWB:43) 

[36] 

يا عباد الرّحمن

انّ اللّه ما خلقكم و ما رزقكم الا لامر  قد كان عند اللّه فی امّ الكتاب علی الحقّ بالحقّ عظيماً  

O servants of the All Merciful!

God did not create you or provide for you except with respect to a Cause (amr) which, in very truth,

is mighty before God in the Mother Book (umm al-kitāb).

[37] 

و اتّبعوا ما اوحی اللّه الينا من احكام الباب فی ذلك الكتاب  مسلّماً للّه و لامره علی الحقّ رضيّاً  

So follow ye!  that which God hath revealed unto Us of the decrees of the Gate (al-bāb)  in this Book,

submissive before God and, in very truth, content with His Cause.

[38] 

وعلموا ان تنصروا اللّه ينصركم فی يوم القيمة بالذّكر الاكبر علی الصّراط نصراً كريماً  

"And know that if ye aid God, He will, on the Day of Resurrection,

graciously aid you, upon the Bridge (al-ṣirāt),  through Him Who is His Most Great Remembrance (al-dhikr al-akbar)."

 (SWB:43)

[39] 

تاللّه ان احسنتم احسنتم لانفسكم  وان تكفروا باللّه و باياته لكنّا باللّه عن الخلق و الملك علی الحقّ غنيّاً  

 "By God! If ye do well, to your own behoof will ye do well; and if ye deny God and His signs [verses],

We, in very truth, having God, can well dispense with all creatures and all earthly dominion (al-mulk)."

 (SWB:42)

 

   [40] 

يا اهل الارض

من اطاع ذكر اللّه و كتابه  هذا فقد اطاع اللّه و اوليائه بالحقّ  و قد كان فی الاخرة من اهل جنة الرّضوان عند اللّه مكتوباً  

"O people of the earth!

Whoso obeyeth the Remembrance of God (dhikr-Allāh)  and His Book hath in truth obeyed God and His chosen ones and he will, in the life to come, be reckoned in the presence of God  among the inmates of the Paradise of His good-pleasure."  (jannat al-riḍwān, `Garden of Riḍwān')

(SWB:43)

[41] 

و انّا نحن قد سيّرنا الجبال علی الارض و النّجوم علی العرش حول النّار فی قطب الماء  من لدی الذّكر باللّه الحقّ

و لن يغادر منكم احداً احداًً

We, verily, have set the mountains on earth in motion  as well as the stars above the heavenly Throne

 in the vicinity of the Sinaitic Fire (al-nār) in the Pivot of the watery Expanse (quṭb al-mā'),  this by virtue of the Remembrance (al-dhikr), through God, the True One.  Not any one among you shall be left out [at the time of assembling for judgment] (Q.18:47f)  

[42] 

و هو القاهر فوق عباده  هو اللّه كان بكلّشیء عليماً      

He is One Wrathful (al-qāhir)  beyond His servants.  And God is He Who knoweth all things.

 

Select Text critical Notes for QA 1

  

  • A  =  QA ms. 1261 = Muhammad Mahdī ibn Karbalā'ī, dated 1261. One of the earliest extant mss.

  • B  =  QA cited Izhaq = early citations of the QA in Muhammad Karim Khān Kirmanī (d. 1871, the Shaykhī anti-Bābī-Baha'ī leader), Izhāq al-bāṭil  ("The Crushing of Falsehood", 1261/1845).

    •

  • C  =  QA ms. F.11 = Browne Coll. Cambridge Univ. F.11 (1891)

  • D =  QA ms. 1323 = QA copy made 1st Muḥarram, 1323/ 8th March 1905.

    •

  • ADD

    • The Arabic text above will erelong be that of  mss. A above (in progress). Alternative or variant readings  deriving from other mss.  are indicated by a red asterisk (*) and the exact alternatives spelled out in the footnotes below the verse being indicated as QA1: verse number.

     

    QA1 :5 .  The readings inserted in red are are from  mss. D (mss. 1323) 

    نّه الحق من عند اللّه *و علی الدّين الخالص  قد كان فی امّ الكتاب * حول الطّور مسطوراً  

    He is the True One  from God (al-ḥaqq min `and Allāh) according to the pure religion (al-dīn al-khāliṣ) inscribed in the Mother Book  in the vicinity of the Mount  [Sinai] (al-ṭūr )...

    QA1: 9 . The readings inserted in red are readings are from mss.  D (1323)

      انّ هذا لهو السّرّ فی السّموات و الارض و علی الامر البديع  باذن* [بايدی] اللّه العلیّ قد كان بالحق فی امّ الكتاب مكتوباً  

    "This is the Mystery (al-sirr)  which hath been hidden from  all that are in heaven and on earth,  and in this wondrous Revelation ("Cause", al-amr al-badī`)   it hath, in very truth, been set forth in the Mother Book  with the permission of God, the Exalted by the [two] hands of God, the Exalted."  (SWB:41).

     QA1: 18  ADD details

    اللّه الّذی لا اله الا هو و هو اللّه كان  بالمؤمنين* محيطاً   

    "God is He Who, no God is there except Him. And He is God, One All-Encompassing of the believers".