Translation Stephen Lambden from the text cited in Ma'idih-yi asmani 4: 184-6

AN EARLY POEM OF MĪRZĀ ḤUSAYN  `ALĪ,

 BAHĀ'-ALLĀH: THE RASHḤ-I `AMĀ'

("THE SPRINKLING OF THE CLOUD OF UNKNOWING")

Rev. BSB 3:2 (1984).

BEING REVISED AND UPDATED 1/11/03

    Below is a slightly revised version of my 1984 translation and commentary upon the Rashḥ-i `amā'  which was originally published in Bahā'ī Studies Bulletin 3:2 Sept.1984  [rev.1997/2001]. This is  followed by my revised second provisional translation of the Rashḥ-i `amā'  from an unpublished (Haifa supplied) mss in the hand of   Bahā'-Allāh's major amanuensis Zayn al-Muqarribīn which is probably an authentic  later, post-1863  recension of the Rashḥ-i `amā' .

See below                for the Commentary and Appendix on `amā' revised from BSB 3:2 (1984).

AN EARLY POEM OF MIRZĀ ḤUSAYN `ALĪ, BAHĀ'- ALLĀH: THE  RASHḤ-I `AMĀ’  

 رَشْح  عَمَاء 

("THE SPRINKLING OF THE CLOUD OF UNKNOWING").

Trans. Stephen N. Lambden. Revised from Bahā'ī  Studies Bulletin  3:2

(Sept.1984) rev.1997/8.

Copyright: Newcastle upon Tyne: Hurqalya Publications. 

    Bahā'-Allāh's Rashḥ-i `amā’  is a Persian poem of nineteen or more couplets (19 [+1]) which takes its name from the opening words of its first hemistich. Widely regarded by Bahā'īs as the earliest extant example of divine revelation (Bahā'ī scripture) it was apparently composed during the time of its author's imprisonment in the Siyah Chal ("Black Pit’) dungeon in Tehran; that is, at some time during the latter half of the year 1852 (early 1269 AH). It was, Bahā'-Allāh has  explicitly stated in his later writings, during the "year nine" (1269 AH/ Oct. 15th 1852 = October 4th 1853 CE) that he underwent profound mystical experiences and resolved to attempt to regenerate the demoralized Bābī community.

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        It seems likely, as most Bahā'ī writers have maintained, that the Rashh-i `ama’ is expressive of Bahā'-Allāh's own assumption of a leading role within the Bābī community a few years after the execution of the Bāb on July 9th 1850. To what extent, however, Bahā'-Allāh  therein alludes to the theophanic status he later explicitly (allusively from the mid.-late 1850s?) claimed is not clear bearing in mind the extravagant claims made by many leading Bābīs in the 1850s, the poetic nature of this work, and the probability that he is representing himself as a channel through which the celestial and eschatological Bābī spirit flows. He certainly makes no explicit claim to be man yuẓhiru-hu Allāh ("Him whom God would make manifest" , the expected Bābī messiah) and could be understood to be representing himself as a leading Bābī rather than claiming to be the inaugurator of a new (though essentially secret) religious dispensation.

        In his The Revelation of Bahā'u'llāh the well-known Bahā'ī writer Adib Taherzadeh (d. 2000) has expressed the opinion that the Rashḥ-i `ama’ ".. may well prove impossible to translate." Such is not exactly the case even bearing in mind the fact that `certainty' in translation is seldom possible. A literalistic translation is not too difficult though a multiplicity of possible renderings offer themselves. The task of translation is not at all "impossible" though there exist several (three or four?) variant textual traditions. It would seem likely that Bahā'-Allāh himself at different times re-worked or re-revealed the Rashḥ-i `amā’  as he did, for example, with his Sūrat al-haykal  ("Surah of the Temple",  1867-8+1869+1873?). The text in the hand of Zayn al-Muqarribīn (as will be seen) may be his latest recension.

        While translation of the Persian of the Rashh-i `amā’  is not too difficult it is not straightfoward determining a "precise" contextual meaning or the initially  Bābī Sitz im Leben (`setting in life' historical context).  The basic sense of most lines of the Rashh-i `amā’  seems clear enough though there are various expressions that could be understood and translated in a variety of ways (e.g. line 11a see below). In this (still beta) provisional translation of one text little attempt has been made to be anything but as literalistic as is reasonably possible. I may well of course have completely misunderstood the sense of a number of the more abstruse parts of this beautiful poem and would be delighted to receive alternative renderings and suggestions.

        As yet there is no critical edition[s] of the Rashh-i `amā'. The four texts available to me are far from consistent. As far as I am aware the Persian text has to date only been printed in `Abd al-Hamid Ishrāq Khāvarī's compilation Mā'idih-yi āsmānī 4:184-6.This latter text is obviously divergent from other mss versions. It is not, however, in complete agreement with the divergent and  (earlier?) text photostatically reproduced in INBMC 36: 60-1 or with all other extant manuscript versions.

        The text translated below is based upon a Haifa supplied unpublished mss in the hand of Zayn al-Muqarribīn (to be printed in the forthcoming 1988 reprint of BSB 3/2: 4-114). Actual and probable variant readings in the (not very legible) INBMC 36:460-461) and in other manuscripts lead me to suppose that the Zayn text represents a developed tradition -- the Rashh-i `ama perhaps having gone through two or more recensions,  perhaps stemming from Bahā'-Allāh himself. Textual variants will be registered and commented upon in the detailed exegetical notes (in the forthcoming BSB).

        If in attempting to translate the Rashh-i `amā'  I have "attempted the impossible", it was certainly with my `head in the clouds' that the somewhat extended section on the use of the term `ama’ (lit. `cloud') in Bābí-Bahā'í scripture was written (see BSB 3/2:42-114). I hope it contains some points of interest for those who do not share my fascination with the byways of Bābī-Bahā'ī doctrine.

OF THE RASHḤ-I `AMĀ'  (Text Ma'idih 4:184-6 )

STEPHEN N. LAMBDEN 1984 [2001-3]

 رَشْح  عَمَاء   

 هو الله

رشح عما از جذبه ما ميريزد 

سّر وفا از نغمه ما ميريزد

بحر صفا از موج لقا كرده خروش

 اين طرفه عطا از جذبه ها ميريزد

Out of a Wave of the Ocean of the Meeting with God the Sea of Purity has cried out;

On account of Our Rapture this Precious Favor pours  forth.

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