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TB-2A THE EARLY IRAQ YEARS OR THE FIRST IRAQ PERIOD OF Bahā'-Allāh'S LIFETIME (1269-1272 / 1853-1854) TB2A: 00 (Ar. Per.) TB2A: 00 (Ar. Per.) TB2A: 00 (Ar. Per.) TB2A: 00 (Ar. Per.) TB2A: 00 (Ar. Per.) TB2A: 00 (Ar. Per.) لوح كُلُّ الطَّعَامِ TB2A: 00 (Ar.) Lawḥ-i kull al-ta`ām (The Tablet of all Food). Opening Lines: بسم الله البهي الابهى
Closes:
Text from INBMC
+ full Eng. trans. and commentary `in SL., A Tablet of Bahā'-Allāh
of the early Iraq Period: The Tablet of All Food (Lawḥ-i kull al-ṭa`ām) in
Bahá'í Studies Bulletin 3:1 send ed. on this website (forthcoming).
Ishrāq Khāvarī, Ganj. 8-10 ; cf. BW XIV:622-3; RahiqM II: XXXX Shoghi Effendi, GPB:116-7; Taherzadeh RB I:55-60; Balyuzi BKG:ll2-3; Probably written in late 1853 or early 1854 (1270 AH), this wholly Arabic Tablet is essentially a non-literal Bābī inspired commentary upon Qur'ān 3: [87]93. It was written in response to a question about this qur'anic verse by Ḥajjī Mīrzā Kamāl al-Dīn Narāqī (d. Narāq c.1278-9/1881) which had been inadequately replied to by Mīrzā Yaḥyā Nūrī (c.1831-1914), the then nominal head of the Bābī community. This verse of the Qur'ān 3:[87] 93 reads, كُلُّ الطَّعَامِ كَانَ حِـلاًّ لِّبَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ إِلاَّ مَا حَرَّمَ إِسْرَائِيلُ عَلَى نَفْسِهِ مِن قَبْلِ أَن تُنَزَّلَ التَّوْرَاةُ قُلْ فَأْتُواْ بِالتَّوْرَاةِ فَاتْلُوهَا إِن كُنتُمْ صَادِقِينَ ṭa`ām) was lawful to the children of Israel [=Jacob] except that which Israel had forbidden unto himself before the Tawrat (Torah, Hebrew Bible) was sent down [revealed]. Say: `Bring then the Tawrat and read it, if you are truthful." (Q. 3:[87] 93)
This qur`ānic verse would seem to express Muhammad's desire, in the light of the plethora of Jewish prohibitions concerning food and the need to define Islam as against Judaism, to free his community from the burden of excessive dietary regulations or food restrictions. Prohibitions concerning food were not imposed on the Israelites "before the revelation of the Torah, except for a prohibition, not of divine origin, which Israel (= Jacob) had imposed on himself:
Q. 3:93 would thus "appear to be a reference to the ancient Israelite prohibition of the sciatic nerve after the struggle of Jacob and the angel registered in Gen. 32:33" (art., Ghidhā' in EI2 II:1061). Abu'l-Ḥasan `Alī ibn Mattāya al-Wāḥidī (d. 468/1075) in his Asbāb al-nuzūl (Cairo 1959, 65) has explained the circumstances of the revelation of Q. 3:87 [93] in the following manner (as summarized by M. Seale in his The Bible and the Qur'ān, 111):
The Bābī Ḥajjī Mīrzā Kamāl al-Dīn ibn Ḥajjī Mīrzā Muhammad Tāqī Narāqī (d. Narāq c.1278-9/1881) was the grandson of Mullā Aḥmad Narāqī, a prominent mujtahid, notable poet and the great-grandson of Ḥajjī Mullā Mihdī Narāqī who wrote a book on the episode of Karbala entitled Muḥrīq al-qulūb (Ishraq Khāvarī, RM 2:614-5). He was converted to Bābism by a certain Mullā Ja`far who had met the Bāb in Kāshān and who is several times directly addressed in this Tablet. Mīrzā Kamāl al-Dīn Narāqī had traveled to Iraq in the hope of meeting Mīrzā Yaḥyā from whom he initially requested a commentary on Qur'ān 3:87.2 Apparently unimpressed with Mīrzā Yaḥyā's response (no longer extant?) he sought enlightenment from Bahā'-Allāh thereafter becoming his ardent admirer.3 Why Mīrzā Kamāl al-Dīn wanted an exegesis of Q. 3:87 is not clear but it was very likely motivated by antinomian tendencies amongst the Bābīs as indicated in the Lawḥ-i kull al-ta`ām itself: ADD
It is thus possible that Mīrzā Kamāl al-Dīn's question was prompted by this work of the Bāb in the light, perhaps, of the antinomian tendencies of certain Bābī factions (see further BSB ). In his early Bayān `illati taḥrīm al-mahārim.. (On the reason for the prohibition of forbidden things) the Bāb quotes Q. 3:87 and relates this verse to Imām `Alī who "did not forbid any soul anything except what it made unlawful for itself" (TBA. Ms. 6006C, 87). After the death of the Bāb certain Bābī factions in Iran and Iraq adopted an anti-Islamic, free-thinking, antinomian stance. The missionary H. A. Stern (d. ) in the early 1850s, seems to have come in contact with such Bābīs in Māzandarān. Posing as Muslims they asked Stern for anti-Islamic tracts and expressed such contempt for Islam that the missionary was "glad to get out of their company" (Dawnings.. 261-2; cf. Shoghi Effendi, GPB:113ff). In the L. kull al-ṭa`ām Bahā'-Allāh states that Q. 3:87 has an infinitude of subtle meanings and that, through the grace of God, he could expound its mysteries from his day "until the days find their consummation in al-mustaghath (= [abjad] 2001 of the Babi era)", until the time of the eschatological renewal. Written in a revelatory style, a variety of meanings are given to the terms ṭa`ām ("food") "Israel" and "children of Israel" in the Lawh-i kull al-ṭa`ām. Towards the beginning of this "tablet" the mystical significance of "food" (ṭa`ām) is related to the hierarchy of metaphysical realms well-known in theosophical Sufism; those of hāhūt (= the realm of the Divine Ipseity); lāhūt (= the realm of the Divine Theophany) jabarūt (= the realm of the `Divine decrees/spiritual powers') Malakūt (= the realn of the angels) and Nasūt (= the realm of creation). In summary the meanings of ta`ām are as follows-:
(aṣḥāb al-nūr).
(5) the "paradise of the divine bounty" (jannat al-fal) , the "crimson land" (arḍ al-ḥamrā'), the "golden secret" (sirr al-safrā', the "snow-white mystery" (mustassir al-bayḍā) and the "point of nasūt" (nuqṭat al-nasūt). Herein the "proofs of the Remembrance" (adillā' al-dhikr) are greatest. Having set down these esoteric meanings of "food" (ta`ām) Bahā'-Allāh laments his sad plight, alludes to the faith status of Mirzā Kamāl al-Dīn (drawing on Q. 18:17-18) and expresses his intention to expound Qur'ān 3:87 still further. He explains that "food" also signifies the "Logos-Self of knowledge" (nafs al-`ilm) or all branches of learning, "Israel" the "primal point" (nuqtat al-alā; the Bāb) and the "children of Israel" one whom God made a "Proof" (ḥujjat) for the people "in these days" (= Mīrzā Yaḥyā ?). The phrase "except what Israel made unlawful for itself" refers to that which the Bāb made unlawful "for his elevated ones and his servants" (the Bābīs). Most probably countering the antinomian tendencies of a Bābī faction --who may have cited Qur'ān 3:93 [87] in support of their antinomian stance -- the need to follow the Bābī law is underlined:
Having thus explained, Bahā'-Allāh, in the light of Mīrzā Kamāl al-Dīn's having been "irradiated through the orient light of the splendors of the Morn of Eternity" (ṣubh al-azal; i.e. turned to Mīrzā Yaḥyā as the head of the exiled Bābī community ?), identifies "food" (ṭa`ām) with the sāḥib al-amr ("bearer of the Cause" = Mīrzā Yaḥyā?). "Israel" in this connection signifies al-mashiyya al-awaliyya (the "Primal will") by means of which God created everything, while the "children of Israel" are those who attained faith in the Bāb from the "year sixty" (= 1260/1844) and there after those who have and will come to believe in him until the Divine Theophany at the eschatological consummation.
Still further interpretations of the key terms in Qur'ān 3:94 are given towards the end of the Lawḥ kull al-ṭa`ām. At one point Bahā'-Allāh explains this verse in the light of the Islamic dispensation, calling to mind the Bāb's earlier explanations of "Israel" and the "children of Israel" in his Tafsīr Sūrat al-baqara:
He then explains that for those who "dwell in the "Crimson Isle" (jazirat al-ḥamrā'), the "Orchard of the Bayān" (ḥadīqat al-bayān; i.e. the Bāb s) the "food" (ta`ām) of the Islamic wilayat (see above) is abandoned and the "Primal Point" or Bāb is desired. For Bābīs, in other words, the Islamic dispensation has been abrogated. "Israel" furthermore signifies the "Last Objective" (wijhat al-ukhrā, the "Mystery of Endless Duration" (sirr al-ṣAḥmadāniya) (allusions to Quddūs?) and the "Countenance of Light" (tal`at al-nūr), the "Isolated Manifestation" (mujarrid al-ẓuhūr), the "Temple of the Divine Unicity" (haykal al-aḥadiyya) whom the aggressors caused to be "imprisoned in the land" and "concealed in the cities" (allusions to Mīrzā Yaḥyā?).
Finally Bahā'-Allāh identifies the "food" (ta`ām) mentioned in Qur'ān 3:87 with "the Ocean of the Unseen (baḥr al-ghayb) which is hidden in the "Pages of Light" (saḥā'if al-nūr) and treasured up in the Inscribed Tablets (alwāḥ al-mastūr) perhaps meaning Bāb sacred writings. "Israel" signifies the "Manifestation of the Command" (maẓhar al-amr = Mirzā Yaḥyā?) and the "children of Israel" the "people of the Bayān" (ahl al-bayān =the Bābīs) for whom the "food" (ta`ām) of the Bāb revelation is permitted -- if they are sincere Bābīs who derive spiritual sustenance from the true fountainhead of guidance.
On these interpretations compare also the Tafsīr sūrat al-baqara, of the Bāb, 168, 176, 223 and 270, where imamological and cosmological interpretations are given to "Israel" and "the children of Israel". Like Bahā'-Allāh, the Bāb before him had identified "Israel" with God's creative Will, al-mashiyyat, the "children" of Israel being all that was brought into being by it ( T. Baqara, 223 on Q. 2:83).
TB2A: 00 (Ar.) Sūrat al-kifāya ("The Surah of the Sufficiency) c. 1853-4 (?) For the ḥarf al-jūd ("the Letter of the Divine Bounty) whose precise identity is uncertain. Opens: This is the
And He is God who was Powerful over all things.
[I]
[1] O people of the letter "H" (al-hā') [2] Hearken unto the melody of the Crimson Leaf (waraqat
al-ḥamrā')
in the Paradise of the Divine Cloud (jannat al-`amā')
for He, verily,
is the Light of the Radiant Temple Who acts on behalf of God, as a Manifest Light unto the worlds (nūr an mubīn an).
ADD ARABIC Closes : He is assuredly the One before Whose knowledge not a single thing,
whether in the heavens or on the earth, or what lieth between them, remains hidden. And He is God Who hath ever encompassed all things. The Arabic Sūrat al-kifāya ("The Sura of the Sufficiency") of Bahā-Allāh remains unpublished and unstudied. It is nowhere listed or referred to by Shoghi Effendi. A photocopy of the difficult ms. can be found in INBMC 36:277-280. I have supposed that the Surat al-kifāya might date from the earliest Iraq period (2TB1) or date to the pre-Kurdistan (1856 CE) Iraq period. This especially since it has much in common with the definitely early Lawḥ-i kull al-ta`ām (Tablet of All Food). This dating is, however, highly speculative. In 1988/9 I requested a copy from Haifa wondering if they had a better mss than that reproduced in INBMC 36 and it appears that they do not because I received from the BWC in 1984. a slightly enlarged photocopy of the INBMC 36 ms. The Surat al-kifāya was primarily addressed to one designated as the ḥarf al-jūd ("the Letter of [the Divine] Bounty/ Bountiful One") whose identity is uncertain. The designation ism al-jūd ("the name of the Bountiful One") and Ism Allāh al-jūd (= "the Name of God, the Bountiful One"; Mazandarani, Asrar 3:57ff)) was applied in many Tablets of Bahā-Allāh to Āqā / Mīrzā Muhammad Jawād Qazvini (d.191? CE), ultimately an opponent of `Abd al-Baha', one of the so-called ahl al-tawḥīd or muwahhidun, "Unitarians", (cf. Browne, Materials.. viiiff). He was certainly in Baghdad prior to 1862 though it is not at all clear if he was ever designated harf al-jūd or might be the one so designated in the Surat al-kifāya. Many other Jawād's might be suggested if it could be legitimately argued that the harf al-jūd is another Bābī named Jawād including, Hajji Siyyid Jawad Karbalā'ī (d. Kirman c. 1882/3) an early Bābī and Bahā'ī of great learning and importance (cf. Sulaymani Masabih 2:471ff). Alternatively, perhaps Mīrzā Wahhab-i Khurasānī who was known as Mīrzā Jawād (see Fayḍī, K. La`ali 302-3). The working out of the identity of this ḥarf al-jūd is obviously important for the dating of the Surat al-kifāya.
The Surat al-kifāya seems to be an early (c. 1852-4?) defense of the leadership role and Bābī authority of Baha'-Allah's half-brother Mīrzā Yaḥyā Nūrī (c. 1834 -Cyprus,1914). Much of the arcane terminology centers around his various titles many of which derive from the Bāb himself. e.g. nūr = abjad 256... ; I:9 ṭal`at Allāh = Yaḥyā ; XIII:1 ṭal`at al-nūr, etc. There is also a fairly clear reference at XI:4 to Yaḥyā's early (or future?) Kitab al-nūr (The Book of Light, c. 1854) several mss. copies of which are still extant; in, for example, the British Museum [Library]). Yaḥyā' is pictured in the Surat al-kifāya as the source of Bābī knowledge. As Bahā'-Allāh categorically stated in many of his post-1863 scriptural Tablets, he upheld the sublimity of Yaḥyā's station before he became subversive and inadequately self-obsessed. He kept much of this Bābī-Azalī rebellion secret for two decades or more (c.1846-66), before, that is he more openly announced his own theophanic status (1863+6,etc). The issue of Mīrzā Yaḥyā's remaining outwardly hidden and isolated in the face of the need for a manifest centre of Bābī authority and revelation, is obvious. Despite his obfuscation Yaḥyā must be viewed by the early, post (July 9th)1850 Bābīs as a centre of Bābī gnosis.
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