THE LAWḤ-I
ḤAQQ
لوح الحق
THE TABLET
OF THE
ULTIMATELY REAL
[THE
TRUE ONE]
Intro. and prov. trans.
Stephen N. Lambden
THIS IS BEING CORRECTED AND
COMPLETED
JAN.
20064
The Lawḥ-i
ḥaqq (loosely "Tablet of Truth/ True One/ Ultimately Real....") of Mīrzā Ḥusayn `Alī
Bahā'-Allāh (1817-1892 CE) is a short to medium-length Arabic Tablet most probably dating
from the (mid.? c. 1857-8?) Iraq period (1852-1863) of his life. It is a highly
rhythmic Tablet meant to be heard the exact
date of which in unknown (late Iraq; early Edirne?). As far as I am aware it has only been printed once in `Abd al-Ḥamīd
Ishrāq Khāvarī's Persian survey of Bahā'-Allāh's major Tablets entitled
Ganj-i shaygān
("The Befitting Treasury"). This printing is reproduced and
translated below.
The term [al-] Ḥaqq
الحق
/
حق
Within the Lawḥ-i ḥaqq the centrally important Islamic term
al-ḥaqq
is frequent, hence the title traditionally accorded this weighty Tablet. The
Arabic noun haqq has been translated in many different ways ranging from
"right", "real" to the Ultimately Real or God. Haqq has a fascinating semantic
field and range of senses in a wide range of Islamic and other sources. As a
divine "Name" or "Attribute" it has been frequently used within Sufi mystical
and theosophical writings as a key expression synonymous with the Deity
who is the Ultimately Real, indicative of the main Arabic personal Name of God
الله
Allāh. This name of transcendent yet personal Deity
is mentioned numerous times in the Qur'ān and the object of the devotion of many thousands of
pious Muslims. Ḥaqq is frequent as a masculine noun in the Qur'an and often
indicates the Deity.
The following important article on 'God
in Islam' by Louis Gardet is worth citing here (M. Eliade, et. al. ed. Enc. Rel.
Vol. 6:30:
Allāh al-ḥaqq. This phrase appears frequently
in the Qur'ān, where it is related to the sovereign power of the Most High (as
in 22:6, "That is because God is the Truth, and he brings the dead to life, and
he is powerful over everything"). Like al-Raḥman, al-ḥaqq, which
signifies both "the real" and "the truth," is considered a synonym of
Allāh, and
the Sufis, the mystics of Islam, would use al-ḥaqq by preference when
addressing God. The usual translation as "truth" conveys poorly in our European
languages all the resonance of the Arabic term. The primary sense of the root
conveys the idea of an indestructible law engraved in stone, hence an
un-challengeable established fact. It is only by derivation that the concept of
correspondence to fact arises. Only then, in the third instance, does the sense
of right and legal obligation that results from it develop. "The real," "the
truth," and "right" founded on justice are all suggested together by the term
al-ḥaqq. Certainly the Qur'an uses al-ḥaqq for every reality, every
truth, and every recognised right. However, the source of each lies always in
God, who alone can authenticate every reality and every truth since only the
divine decree (qadar) really founds truth and right, a
created fact, a word, or a requisite of the created thing. God alone is total
truth, since he alone is the real in its totality. Truth and reality correspond here since God alone is "subsistent in himself,"
al-Qayyūm (3:1), he who exists in himself
and by himself with no reason for being other than himself (see also 20:111, 2:255). It is this absolute subsistence that establishes him in reality and truth, necessary by essence and "without cleft." He is for this reason perfectly truthful and makes truth manifest. Used thus in figurative substitution,
al-Ḥaqq is related to the Qur'anic substantive names preferred by tradition, such as
al-`Adl ("justice"), al-Nūr ("light"; God is
perfectly and manifestly evident in himself: "light upon light," 24:35), and
al-Salam ("peace"). The term al-ḥaqq
thus shows that in Islam God is not merely presented as the supreme reality, but rather as the only reality, the only one to truly deserve this name since reality without breach or hollow
(ṣamad) is a concept that applies only
to God... (Enc. Rel. 6:30f)
The term [al-] ḥaqq
الحق
/
حق
Muslim philosophers, intellectuals and mystics and have frequently and
variously defined
ḥaqq
حق.
al-ḥaqq has multi-faceted philosophical, theological and other senses. It
semantic field is immense. No single rendering of the term can possibly do
justice to its rich philosophical-theological range of senses. English
translations of al-ḥaqq are of necessity inadequate; no single
synonymous word can
encompass its weighty theological and other implications.
In the Qur'ān al-ḥaqq occurs some
XX times.
The
Khubat al-ṭutunjiyya ("Sermon of the Gulf")
ascribed to Imam
`Alī (d. 40/661) the first Shī`ī Imam has this Imam, like Jesus (see Jn ), claim in Arabized Greek to be the "Truth"
"I am the Truth" , `-L-Y-U-TH-U-A (Gk. = "Truth").
In his useful Islamic dictionary Netton has an excellent entry
under al-ḥaqq,
al-ḥaqq (Ar.) The truth/ Divine Truth. This is
a word of immense significance in the intellectual and linguistic
development of Islam. ḥaqq can be both a noun and an adjective,
meaning `truth' and `rightness' and also `true', `right' and `correct'.
However, it also has a more technical sense as an attribute and name of God.
As such it is not to be borne by any human being. The great mystic al-Hallāj
(q.v.) proclaimed `I am the [Divine] Truth' (Anā 'l-ḥaqq) with fatal
results. In the Qur`ān (q.v.) the word ḥaqq is used in a variety of
contexts (Netton 1992:96).
`Abd al-Ḥamid al-Ghazali (d./1111)
discourses on al-ḥaqq in his Ninety-Nine Names of God :
2.
Al-ḥaqq
the Truth
is the one who is the antithesis of falsehood, as things may become evident by their opposites. Now everything
of which one is aware may be absolutely false, absolutely true, or true in one
respect and false in another. Whatever is impossible in itself is absolutely
false, while that which is necessary in itself is absolutely true, and
whatever is possible in itself and necessary by another is true in one respect
and false in another. For this last has no existence in itself and so is
false, yet acquires existence from the side of what is other than it, so it is
an existent in this respect that acquired existence is bestowed upon it so in
that respect it is true while from the side of itself it is false. 82 For that
reason the Most High said: everything is perishing but His face (XXVIIl:88).
He is forever and eternally thus; not in one state to the exclusion of
another, for everything besides Him forever and eternally is not deserving of
existence with respect to its own essence but only deserves it by virtue of
Him, for in itself it is false; it is true only in virtue of what is other
than it. From this you will know that the absolutely true is the One truly
existing in itself, from which every true thing gets its true reality. [I 3 8]
It may also
be said about the judgment, by which reason asserts that something exists,
that it is true in the measure that it corresponds to the thing. Considered in
itself, the judgment may be said to exist, but considered in relation to the
reason which understands it in its intentional role, it is said to be true.
Therefore, the existent most
deserving of being called true is God the most high, and the knowledge which
most deserves to be called true is the knowledge of God great and glorious for
it is true in itself that is, it corresponds to what is known, forever and
eternally. Moreover, it corresponds through itself and not through something
else; not like knowledge derived from another existing thing, for that obtains
only so long as the other exists, and should it become nothing, the belief
about it will be false. So that belief as well is not true by virtue of the
essence of the thing believed, since
I24
Part Two: Chapter One
that very thing does not exist by virtue of itself but
by virtue of another.
And this may also be applied to assertions, as one speaks of a true or
false assertion. And so far as that is concerned, the most true assertion is
your saying: there is no god but God, for it is correct forever and eternally,
by virtue of itself and not by virtue of another.
Therefore, 'true' applies to
existence in individuals, to existence in the intellect, which is knowledge;
and to existence in speech, which is utterance. The thing which most deserves
to be [called] true is the one whose existence is established by virtue of its
own essence, forever and eternally, and its knowledge as well as the witness
to it is true forever and eternally. So all that pertains to the essence of
the truly existing One, and to nothing else. [I 39]
Counsel: Man's share in this name lies in seeing himself
as false, and not seeing anything other than God great and glorious as true.
For if a man is true, he is not true in himself but true in God great and
glorious, for he exists by virtue of Him and not in himself; indeed he would
be nothing had the Truth not created him. So the one who said: 'I am the
truth' was wrong, unless it be taken according to one of two
interpretations, the first of which being that he means he exists by virtue of
the Truth. But this interpretation is far-fetched because the statement does
not communicate it, and because that would hardly be proper only to him, since
everything besides the Truth exists by virtue of the Truth.
On the second
interpretation, he is so absorbed in the Truth that he has no room for
anything else. One may say of what takes over the totality of a thing and
absorbs it that one is it, as the poet says: 'I am whom I desire, and he whom
I desire is I,' and by that he means that he is absorbed in it [istighraq]. Among Sufi groups the name
of God the most high which most often flows from their lips in their
statements and during states of prayer is al-ḥaqq [I25]
al-Ḥaqq
الحق in
the writings of the Bab.
As indicated above, the word al-ḥaqq is very frequent in the
writings of the Bāb.
In occurs several hundreds of times in his first major work the Qayyām
al-asmā' (mid. 1844,
400+pp)
where this word is more frequent that it is in the Qur'an. Diverse phrases
incorporating the
word al-ḥaqq are an integral part of the saj`, the Arabic versified, rhyming
prose of the Bab in this large volume. This style underlines the veracity
and revealed nature of this neo-qur'anic yet exegetical text.
Bahā'-Allāh, like
Ḥusayn ibn Manṣūr al-Hallāj (d. 304/ 922), explicitly claimed to be
al-ḥaqq as early as his
āz bagh-i
ilāhī ("From the Garden of
God" c. 1860?) when he claims,
"ADD
(INBMC 36:457-60).
In the well-known Arabic Tablet of Aḥmad (c.1865?)
Bahā'-Allāh
refers to the Bāb in the following way,
"He [the Bāb] is al-ḥaqq ("the
True One") and his Book is the Mother Book (umm al-kit
āb)
did ye but know" (Bahā' ī Prayers, XX ).
THE LAWḤ-I
ḤAQQ
"THE TABLET OF THE
ULTIMATELY REAL"
PROVISIONAL TRANSLATION
Stephen N. Lambden
REVISION IN
PROGRESS
[0]
My God, the All-Glorious
(ilāhī al-abhā)
[text uncertain]
[or]
[He is]
The Luminous, the All Glorious
(al-bahiyy al-abhā)
[1]
[1]
This is the Lawḥ al-ḥaqq
("Tablet of the Ultimately Real").
[2]
قد نزل من جبروت الامر
It was sent down from the realm of the Divine Command
(jabar
ūt
al-amr).
[3]
و
من يقرئه
ويتفكر
فيه يبعثه الله فی قطب الرضوان
بطراز الذی
يستشرق
منه انوار
الرحمن
و يستضئی
منها اهل ملأ
العالين
Whoso recites it
and ponders thereon shall be raised up by God nigh unto the pivot of Ridwān.
This by virtue of an ornamented
Reality (ṭarāz) from whom
radiates the orient Lights of the All-Merciful (anwār
al-raḥmān),
from which the
denizens of the concourse of all the worlds are illumined.
[4]
هوالحق
He is the True One
(huwa al-ḥaqq).
[5]
قد
كان عن افق الحق علی الحق بالحق مشهودا
Assuredly was he, as befits the Real Truth, in very Truth
(`ala al-ḥaqq
bi'l-ḥaqq), made manifest from the horizon of
the Ultimately Real (`an ufq al-ḥaqq).
[II]
[1]
ان
يا ملأ
الحق
O concourse of the Ultimately Real
One (malā' al-ḥaqq)!
[2]
قد
ظهر الحق عن افق الحق فی هذا
الحق
الذی طلع عن
مطلع الحق و ينطق بالحق
The Truly Real One
(al-ḥaqq)
has, in very Truth, been made manifest from the horizon of Ultimately
Real
(`an ufq al-ḥaqq
fi hadha'l-ḥaqq),
for he hath dawned
forth from the Dawning-Place of the
Ultimately Real
(maṭla` al-ḥaqq).
[3]
Assuredly was He the One who utters the
Real Truth
(bi 'l-ḥaqq)
and, as befits the Ultimately Real,
(`alā al-ḥaqq),
celebrates thee, O thou who did in no wise forget the Ultimate Reality
(al-ḥaqq)
at the time when a covenant
was taken with thee regarding His
Logos-Self,
the Truly Real One
(`ahd nafsihi al-ḥaqq).
[4]
Thou indeed are not of such
as have turned aside from the Ultimately Real
(al-ḥaqq)
and are numbered among the
negligent.
[5]
Say: `By God!
Should at this moment the Truly Real One (al-ḥaqq)
make a declarative summons unto those before Him, he would
undoubtedly
partition all existence, for this is assuredly the Ultimate Reality
(al-ḥaqq)
who hath, as befits the Truly Real (`ala al-ḥaqq)
been made manifest.
[6]
He is undoubtedly the Ultimately Real One (al-ḥaqq)
through whom
the ultimately true Reality (ḥaqqaq al-ḥaqq) was established aforetime
and who shall in time to
come confirm its Ultimate Reality
(yuḥaqqaq al-ḥaqq).
[III]
[1]
And thou, O concourse of the True One!
(mal
ā'
al-ḥaqq)
Gaze ye upon the
Ultimately Real One (al-ḥaqq)
for I have shed splendor from the Sun of His Beauty
(shams jamālihi).
[2]
Then hearken ye unto melodies of the True One
(naghamāt
al-ḥaqq),
unto whatsoever
emerges from His quiver [-like lips]
[3]
Then drink you deep of the
nectar of Truth (tasnīm
al-ḥaqq cf. Q 83:27-8),
from what he bestows
upon thee from the Goblet of His Bestowal
(kā's
al-`inayāt).
[4]
Then feast upon the Bountiful Favor
of the Truly Real One
(ni`mat al-ḥaqq),
from what hath been sent down from the heaven of the majesty of His Sovereignty
as well as from the
sanctified clouds of His bounties
[5]
Then be ye
protected through the patronage of the
Tree of Ultimate Reality
(shajarat al-ḥaqq)
which is none other than this Youth
(ghulām).
[6]
Should he be stirred up within
his Logos-Self
the very theophanic manifestations of Reality
(ẓuhūrāt
al-ḥaqqiyya)
and the suns of the Divine
Oneness (shumūs
al-aḥadiyya)
would assuredly
be set in motion.
[7]
And should he be stilled within his Own
Logos-Self the very
Beauty of the True One
(jamāl
al-ḥaqq) would be solaced
thereby and
furthermore, His Temple (haykal)
would be reclining upon that
celestial Throne (`arsh)
which is sanctified
and inaccessible.
[IV]
[1]
And thou,
O concourse of the Truely Real One! (mal
ā'
al-ḥaqq)
Should you enable
your eyes to envision the enveloping dust of contingent existence
(ghabār
al-mumkināt) and whatsoever
has originate from it, as contrasted with
that which is befitting of the
Sovereign of Names and Attributes
(sulṭān
al-asmā' wa'l-ṣifāt),
you would
assuredly testify to the fact that
the manifestations of the True One
(maẓāhir
al-ḥaqq),
His Dawning-Points
(maṭāli`),
His Effulgences (mashāriq)
and His Hidden Retreats do assuredly circumambulate
about this Ultimately
True One (al-ḥaqq) Who hath, in very Truth
(bi'l-ḥaqq),
assuredly been made manifest.
[2]
This whereupon he, in very Truth (bi'l-ḥaqq), became established upon
the celestial Throne (al-arsh) before the
shadow of which
all who are in both the heavens and on the earth do prostrate
themselves.
[3]
Should they prove unable to comprehend this truth or fail to
perceive it within themselves,
they would assuredly be reckoned among such as are
heedless of this Truth
[of the Truly Real One] (al-ḥaqq).
[4]
The One that is
Who,
should he rend asunder the covering of the Divine Majesty (raq`a al-jalāl)
through the Countenance of the Divine Beauty (wajh al-jamā)
all things would
assuredly be caused to cry out --
[his Reality] for the Holy Spirit (rūḥ al-quds)
would confirm them
in view of the fact that the Logos-Reality [Person] of
Bahā'
(nafs al-baha')
hath assisted them in the world of eternal subsistence (`alam al-baqa') --
[5]
through the [declaration]
"I verily am the Truly Real (ana al-ḥaqq) no God is
there except Him.
[6]
And We, one and all, before the theophany of this Ultimate
Reality
(zuhur hadha al-ḥaqq) are numbered among such as prostrate themselves.
[7]
This is undoubtedly He before whom do proceed the manifestations of
the
Truly Real One (mazahir al-ḥaqq),
from behind Whom proceed the dawning-places of
Lordliness
(matali` al-arbab); at whose right-hand proceed
the essences of laudation (jawahir al-suhban) and on whose left are
the Embodiments [Temples] of
the All-Merciful
(hayākil al-rahman).
[V]
[1]
Every single one of the aforementioned beings cries out, shouts and proclaims,
`O Concourse of the Bayan! By God!
The very voices of the All-Merciful (alsan al-rahman) do accuse you of falsehood
in that within your own selves you claimed [true] faith in God, the Help in Peril,
the Mighty, the Omnipotent,
yet did falsely claim within your selves that you did believe in God
and the manifestation of His Logos-Self
(mazahar nafsihi)
who was named `Ali before Nabil [Muhammad] (= the Bab)
[2]
Yet, when His Emissary (mursalihi) [Baha'-Allah]
came with the Sovereignty of the Divine Authority (bi-sultan min al-amr)
upon clouds of holiness within the Supreme Paradise (firdaws al-a`la )
you disbelieved in him then accused him of falsehood until you decreed his death;
just as the divines of the Criterion [Qur'an] (`ulamā' al-furqan) did to `Ali [Muhammad the Bab]
before the [coming of Baha'-Allah as] the Manifestation of His Self
(maẓhar nafsihi), the Exalted (al-`aliyy),
the Transcendent, the Powerful, the Help in Peril, the Omnipotent.
[3]
Naught came to pass regarding a single thing but that he
refuted thee, disassociated himself
from thee and sought protection in God from
any encounter with thee.
[4]
So by God! Shouldst you act justly within yourselves you wouldst assuredly witness
that Logos-Soul (nafs) who emerged from
amongst you
to the end that he might refute thee.
[5]
The very heaven (sama')
which hath been raised up above your heads
is such that he may assuredly be disassociated from thee.
[6]
Everything that rains down from the cloud[s]
rejects whatever emerges from your voices
as you wouldst realize should you be among such as do hearken.
[7]
In thy [Bab] case was the cloud of the All-Merciful and the divine Bounty (al-fadl)
interdicted and the livelihood of the denizens of the Supreme
Concourse altered.
[8]
At this did the Countenance of the Divine Grandeur (wajh
al-kubriya') turn white
for you did commit the like of what none had
committed aforetime.
[9]
We concealed this matter through a bounty which derives from Us
for We indeed are the Dispenser of Bounty (al-fiddal), the
Powerful, the Wise.
[10]
We did not manifest among the servants [a single]
iota [sprinkling] (rashḥ)
of the ramifications [`sprinklings'] (tarashshuhat) of
the seas of your actions otherwise the
announcement of the truth (`ala al-ḥaqq)
of what you did commit might precipitate
the retrogression of the Divine
Cause and the return of existence (al-wujud)
unto sheer (baht), categorical (al-batt)
non-existence (`adm)
and everything that you witnessed in the earthly dominion
(al-mulk)
would be transformed into dust.
[11]
Wherefore was the Religious Cause (decree, al-amr)
sent down from a Mighty Bestower
as you would realize if you were to be be numbered
amongst the mindful
(al-mutanabbihin).
TO
BE COMPLETED AND
CORRECTED
THE LAWḤ-I ḤAQQ
لوح الحق
("TABLET OF THE
ULTIMATE REALITY")
Arabic text as
published in
Ganj-i shayigan, 37-40
هذا لوح الحق
قد نزل من جبروت الامر
و
من يقرئه
ويتفكر
فيه يبعثه الله فی قطب الرضوان
بطراز
الذی يستشرق
منه
انوار الرحمن
و يستضئی منها اهل ملأ
العالين
هوالحق
قد
كان عن افق الحق علی الحق بالحق مشهودا
ان
يا ملأالحق
قد
ظهر الحق عن افق الحق فی هذا
الحق
الذی
طلع عن مطلع الحق و ينطق بالحق و يذكركم
علی الحق اياكم ان لا تنسوا الحق حين الذی اخذ عنكم
عهد نفسه الحق و لا تكونن من الذينهم اعرضوا عن الحق
و كانوا من المعرضين
قل
تالله ان الحق حينئذ ينادی
فی امامه و يجزالموجودات بان هذا لهو الحق
قد
ظهرعلی الحق و انه لهو الحق الذی به حقق الحق من قبل
و يحقق الحق من بعد
و
انتم يا ملأالحق فانظروا الحق
[38]
بما اشرقت من شمس جماله
ثم اسمعوا نغمات الحق عما
يخرج عن شفتائه
ثم استشربوا من تسنيم الحق عما
يعطيكم من كأس عنايته
و كلوا من نعمه الحق عما نزلت
من سمأ عزّ سلطانه و غمام قدس
افضاله ثم استظلوا
فی ظل شجرةالحق
هذا العاتم الذی لويحرك فی
نفسه ليتحرك به ظهورات الحقية
و شموسات
الا حديه
و اذا يسكن فی نفسه ليستقر جمال الحق
ثم هيكله
علی عرش قدس منيع
و انتم يا ملأالحق لو تصفون
ابصاركم عن غبار الممكنات
و مايحدث منها مما لا يليق
بسلطان الاسماٌ و الصفات لتشهدوا بان مظاهر الحق
و مطالعه و مشارفه و مكامنه ليطوفن فيحول هذا الحق
الذی ظهر بالحق ثم استویبالحق علی العرش الذی
يسجد عند طله كل من عی السموات و من عی الارض
و لوانهم لن يعرفون ذلك ولا يستشعرون عی انفسهم
و يكونن من الغافلين عن هذا الحق الذی لويشق
برقع الجلال عن وجه الجمال لينطقن كل الاشيأ ويؤيدهم
روح القدس بما ايده نفس البهأ عی عالم البقأ
بانی
اناالحق لا اله الا هو
و انا كل عند ظهور هذا الحق
لتكونن من الساجدين
و ان هذا لهو الذی يمشی عن
امامه مظاهر الحق و عن ورائه
مطالع الارباب و عن يمينه
[39]
جواهرالسبحان
و عن يساره هياكل الرحمن
و كلهم
ينطقن و يصيحن
و ينادين
ان يا ملأالبيان
تالله قد
كذبكم السن الرحمن بما تدعون فی انفسكم
الايمان بالله
المهيمن العزيز القدير
لانكم انتم ادعيتم فی انفسكم بانكم
آمنتم بالله و مظهر نفسه الذی سمّی بعلی قبل نبيل
فلما
جأ مرسله بسلطان من الامر علی غمام القدس
فی فردوس
الاعلی اذا انكرتموه و كذبتموه الی ان افيتم علی قتله
كما افتوا علمأ الفرقان علی علی من قبل مظهر نفسه
العلی المتعالی المقتدر المهيمن القدير اذا ما تمرون
علی شيئی الا و قد يكذبكم ويبرء
منكم و يستعيذ بالله
من لقائكم فوالله لو تنصفون فی انفسكم تشهدون بان
نفس الذی يخرج منكم ليكذبكم و سمأالتی رفعت فوق
رؤسكم ليبرء منكم و كلما يمطرمن السحاب ينكر ما يخرج
من السنكم لو انتم السامعين و بكم منعت غمام الرحمة
و الفضل و بدلت عيش اهل ملأ
الاعلی ثم اصفرّ وجه
الكبريا لانكم فعلتم مالا فعل احد من قبل و انّا سترناه
بفضل من لدنا و انا الفضال المقتدر الحكيم و ما اظهرنا
بين العباد هذا رشح من ترشحات بحور اعمالكم و الا لو
انطق علی الحق فيما فعلتم ليرجع امرما يكون الی ما كان
و يرجع الوجود الی عدم البحت البات و يبدل كلما
يشهد
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فی الملك الی التراب و كذلك نزل الامر من لدن عزيز
وهاب ان انتم تكونن من المتنبّهين
Baha'u'llah Baha'u'llah Baha'u'llah
