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Also known as the Tafsīr āya-yi nūr (Commentary on the Light Verse [Q 24: 35) this fairly lengthy Arabic composition was written for the Bābī Mirzā Āqā-yi -Rikāb-Sāz Shīrāzī (d. 18XX). It opens with an exposition of the creation in pre-eternity of the archetypes of the letters of the Arabic alphabet in terms of the emergence of the primordial "Point" and the letter alif. Then, following a few paragraphs on the purpose of creation and the exalted status of the Bāb and leading Bābis, Bahā'-Allāh dwells on the theme of continuing divine guidance and, among other things, mentions that he had received a letter from a Bābī referred to as "the letter of Qāf" (presumably Rikāb-Sāz Shīrāzī) enquiring about certain hidden mysteries. The rest of the Tafsīr Ḥurūfāt. , though there are a number of digressions, consists of replies to Rikāb-Sāz's questions centering on, a) the mysteries of the `Light Verse' (MA 4:53-57) and b) the `isolated Letters' Alif-Lām-Mīm (Qur'ān 2:1), c) alchemical secrets. (Ma'idih 4:57ff).
The full contents cannot be summarized here. It is in that part of the Tafsīr ḥurufāt in which Bahā'-Allāh comments on the "Light Verse" that some details of central interest are to be found. This verse reads as follows: 1) The qur'ānic `Light verse' (Q. 24:35): اللَّهُ نُورُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْض ِ
God is the Light of the heavens and of the earth مَثَلُ نُورِهِ كَمِشْكَاةٍ فِيهَا مِصْبَاحٌ The likeness of His Light is even as [the light streaming from] a niche (mishkat) containing a lamp (al-miṣbāḥ); الْمِصْبَاحُ فِي زُجَاجَةٍ the lamp (al-miṣbāḥ) is in a glass (zujājat), الزُّجَاجَةُ كَأَنَّهَا كَوْكَبٌ دُرِّيٌّ the glass even as a resplendent Star (kawkāb durriya) يُوقَدُ مِنْ شَجَرَةٍ مُبَارَكَةٍ زَيْتُونِةٍ enkindled from the oil (zaytūn), of a blessed Tree (shajarat mubāraka) لاَ شَرْقِيَّةٍ وَلاَ غَرْبِيَّةٍ [an olive] neither of the East nor of the West. يَكَادُ زَيْتُهَا يُضِيءُ وَلَوْ لَمْ تَمْسَسْهُ Its oil (zaytuhā) well nigh radiates forth even though it [Fire] hardly touches it. نَارٌ نُورٌ عَلَى نُورٍ It is Light upon Light [and] يَهْدِي اللَّهُ لِنُورِهِ مَنْ يَشَاءُ God guideth unto His Light whomsoever He wills. وَيَضْرِبُ اللَّهُ الأَمْثَالَ لِلنَّاسِ وَاللَّهُ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيمٌ And God [does indeed] strike similitudes (al-amthāl) for the people for God is aware of it all things.
Again was he [Moses] summoned before the Shore of the Ocean of [the Divine] Grandeur in the Crimson Dome (qubbat al-hamrā'): `Lift up, O Moses, thine head!'. And when he lifted it up he saw a light, blazing and luminous from the Furthermost Tree in the Verdent [or Green] Vale. Wherefore was he [Moses] guided by the Most-Great Guidance from the Fire kindled from the Lote-Tree of Eternity. Then he doffed the sandals of desire and detached himself from the dominion of the last [hereafter] and the first [this world]. All this was what God had decreed for him even as thou hast been informed in the [scriptural] Tablets. Thus was his Cause raised up and his remembrance exalted. He among those who turned their faces by the lights of the [Sinaitic] Fire towards the paths of justice. Such is what was ordained for Moses son of `Imrān in the Dome of Time (qubt al-zamān) if you are of those who are informed. Thus hath borne witness the Paran of Love with the Paran of Fire in the Horeb of Holiness and the Sinai of Nearness if you scan the pages of Justice (sahā'if al-`adl) with the eye of God" (Ma'idih 4:53-4) Set in pre-eternity and Based on qur'ānic texts mystically interpreted, this spiritual midrash indicates that Moses' encounter with the Divine led him to veil his face out of the fear of God. When commanded to lift it up he saw a light (nūr) emanating from the Furthermost Tree (cf. Q. ) which led to his being rightly guided and becoming detached from all things. Moses' exAr.ience of God was an exAr.ience of the Divine Light for "God is the Light (nūr) of the heavens and of the earth" (Q. 24:35a). Having related the Call of Moses and the Divine Light, Bahā'-Allāh associates the "lights of the Divine Unicity" (anwār al-ahadiyya), the [Sinaitic] "fire of the Divine Ipseity" (nūr al-huwiyya) and the paradisical Lote-Tree with the Call of the Prophet Muhammad: Seized with spiritual rapture he heard the Call of God "from the Tree of [His] Humanity in his inmost being", saying, "Verily He is Thou who art God, the king, the Protector, the Mighty, the Holy." The Arabian Prophet had an exAr.ience of his Divinity. This he wanted to communicate to his contemporaries the Jews. He wanted them to acknowledge that his station was such that the Sinaitic Mysteries were being reenacted in his own interior being which is the locus of the Divine Light. If the Jews could realise that the "mysteries of the Divine Unicity" (asrār al-aḥadiyya) shone forth in the "Tree of his Logos-Self" .. (shajarat nafsihi) they would detach themselves from "the fire which shone forth in the Sinai of the Decree upon the Moses of the Command" and become his followers (Muslims). God's inspiring Muhammad with the Light Verse (Q. 24:35), Bahā'-Allāh states, was such that it might be a proof unto those who were given the Torah and a guidance unto those who were guided by the lights of guidance (anwār al-hidāyat) in the Muhammadan Lote-Tree (sidrat al-Muhammadiyya = the prophet Muhammad)" (Ma'idih 4:54-55). Having thus explained, Bahā'-Allāh, God commanded Moses to tell his followers about the advent of the Prophet Muhammad; to "announce unto the people (Jews) this (Muhammadan) Sinai in this Aḥmadian [Sinaitic] Spot (al-buq`at al-aḥmadiyya). This is indicated in the following qur'ānic verse,
While Moses was guided by the "Fire of the Tree in the region of the right-hand side of the Vale [of Sinai]" and was among those who entered the "Blessed Spot" (buq`at al-mubārakat) the Prophet Muhammad was capable of transforming "fire" (nār) into "light" (nūr) and guiding whomsoever he desired unto it. Indeed, the key terms used in the Light Verse are Symbolic of the being of the Arabian Prophet:
Bahā'-Allāh's mystical interpretation of the Light Verse is thus intimately linked with the qur'ānic accounts of Moses' Sinaitic encounter with the Divine. It was, it is alleged, originally revealed in order to induce Jews to become Muslims for it is allegorically indicative of the exalted status of the Arabian Prophet. On the isolated Letters' Alif-Lām-Mīm (Qur'ān 2:1) After a few further paragraphs relating the Light Verse / Muhammadan Light to the Ar.son of the Bāb and either himself or Mirzā Yaḥyā, Bahā'-Allāh takes up the question of "the isolated letters in the tracts and scriptures" (saha'if wa'l-zuburāt). He, without going into details, first dwells on the sublime and veiled mysteries indicated by the detached letters and the human locus (haykal) around which they revolve. The expression "This is the Book" (dhalik al-kitāb) in Qur'an 2:1 is related to the nafs, the Logos-Self' of the Prophet Muhammad who is the bearer of the "most beautiful names" (cf. Q. ) and one whose name and reality are to be related to the isolated letters and compounded expressions. Then, after associating the letters alif lam. mim (Q.2:1a) with (respectively) the principles of "Divinity" (al-uluhiyya), al-wilāya (providential locus of guidance) and the "Muhammadan Being" (kaynūniyyat al-muhammadiyya) a few paragraphs are addressed to the people of the Bayān. In line with statements attributed to Imams it is argued that the date of the Bāb's advent was predicted on the basis of the numerical values of a succession of certain of the qur'ānic detached letters. Despite this the Bahā'-Allāh was, like past Prophets, rejected. Having raised the issue of the Bāb's rejection, Bahā'-Allāh addresses the Muslim community (malā' al-furqān). He bids them acknowledge that prophecies and eschatological signs have come to pass and invites them to ponder upon the Qur'ān. Therein it is related how past Messengers, despite the fact that each and every one of them came with a miraculous proof and predicted that another would succeed them, were rejected. In illustration of these points reference is made to the missions of Moses, Jesus, Muhammad and the Bāb. The rejection of Moses is spoken about in the following terms:
This paragraph is largely based upon qur'ānic texts. Though there are no obvious signs of direct Biblical influence certain episodes in the career of Moses are all but allegorised. He came with the "rod of command" (see Exod.+ Qur'ān ) and from (?) the "Paran of Love". His miraculous signs were interior attributes. Jesus' rejection by the Jews is summed up as follows:
Jesus, it is indicated, was rejected by the Jews because they diDīnot consider that he fulfilled the prophecies and associated his miracles with vain sorcery. Also worth noting is the fact that Jesus is represented as one who predicted the advent of the Prophet Muhammad with "allusions mighty and praiseworthy" (bi-ishārāt `izz mamūd [sic ]; Ma'idih 4:65).
Apart from the material summarized above the Lawḥ-i hurufat .. contains no further references to Jews, Christians or pre-Islamic prophets. As indicated, the latter part of this treatise consists largely of a series of explanations of the isolated letters mostly the triplet series A-L-M and a discussion of alchemical secrets. |