TRANSLATIONS FROM THE WRITINGS

OF

Sayyid Kāẓim  Rashtī

(d. 1259/1843)

  by

Sayyid Kāẓim  al-Husayni al-Rashtī  

A Treatise in Explanation and Commentary upon [a Shī`ī graphical form of]  the Mightiest Name of God

  by

Sayyid Kāẓim  Rashtī

        And he [Shaykh Aḥmad] disclosed some of the secrets of that Mighty Name (al-ism al-mu`aẓẓim) and explained that it is differentiated into thirteen letters, <sup>[note 1]</sup> four of which are from the Torah (al-tawrāt), four from the Gospel (al-injīl) and five from the Qur’ān. His [clarificatory] directive was realized [at a time when] the heart (al-qalb) [of Sayyid Kazim] was preoccupied (mushtaghil <sup>an</sup> ) and the thoughts [mind] bewildered (khāṭir mushawwash<sup>an</sup>) before  the  abstruse characteristics (li-nawādir al-aḥwāl), the disturbing nature of the  peculiarities (taṣādum  al-a`rāḍ) [of this matter] as well as  the accumulation of distractions  (tarākum al-ashghāl)        of the fundamentals (al-uṣūl)  and the completion of the xxxxx and the  xxxx for unto God does it [they]  return.

            Wherefore do I say that this al-ism al-a`ẓam al-mu`aẓẓīm  (Mighty, Greatest Name) has resulted from the configurations of the practitioners of letter mysticism (ahl al-ḥurūf) according to the belief that it is constitutive of the greatest of the [divine] Names (al-asmā’).  All of them claim that they derived it from [Imam] `Alī (d. 40/661), upon whom be peace.  ADD .......   And our intention in this instance is an exposition of some of the manifestations of that [divine] Name.

            He, Our Master (mawla), the Ḥujjat (Proof = Imam `Alī) (may God hasten his bliss)  says, just as my Shaykh [Ahmad al-Ahsa'i] transmitted it, and my teacher (may God extend His eternal status) from his sanctified father Zayn al-Dīn Ibrahīm [transmitted it] from such as transmitted it from the Ḥujjat (`Alī, upon Him be peace) in a [poetic] ḥadīth  in which he says:

[2]

Three  rods (`uṣiyy)  in a row [| | |] after  [1] a seal [khātam = ☆ ]  

above them [2] the likeness of a straightened lance [‑‑].  

[3]

و ميم  طميس ابترثم سُلم   

[4]

        كهئة السلام [الى كل مامول] و ليس بسلم       

                        [ unto all that is hoped for]* but which is not a ladder. [NOTE 2]                                        

[5]

واربعة مثل الاصابع صففت           تشيرالى الخيرات من غير معصم

تشيرالى الخيرات في كل مغنم *

Four things like fingers in a row [IIII], pointing to good deeds but without a wrist 

[6]  

وهاء شقيق  

And a [letter] "H" (hā ) which is cleft (shaqīq)  = [ھ ]   

[7]

  ثم واو منكوس كانبوب حجام و ليس بمحجم 

then an inverted [letter] wāw (=  ൦ =  و) like the syphon of a phlebotomist  (ka‑anbūb ḥajjām, "tube of  the cupper") though not a cupping glass (miḥjam) : 

_________________________________

NOTE ON THE ABOVE POEM OF `ALI [elements 1-7+1=8].

According to Sayyid Kāẓim Rashtī these foregoing poetical lines ascribed to Imam `Alī yield the following  graphic expression or diagram of the Mightiest Name. It has an extra pentalpha (item 8) making 13 +1= 14 elements:

Some versions continue with the following further  poetical lines ascribed to  Imam `Alī   

فان كنت لم تعلمه من قبل فاعلم

“This is [representative] of the Mighty Name (al‑ism al‑ mu`aẓẓim);  If you knew it not aforetime, then know it now!

فياحامل الاسم الاعطيم به اكتقي

"O bearer of the Mighty Name (ṣāḥib al‑ism al‑`aẓīm)!

Take sufficiency therein for you shall be preserved from misfortunes  and kept safe thereby.

It is the Name of God (ism Allāh),  exalted be His glory, unto all humankind whether pure Arab (faṣīḥ)  or non-Arab (a`jam).”

 [NOTE 3]

__________________________________________________________________

The text of `Ali's poem as cited by Sayyid Kāẓim towards he beginning of his Commentary continues from the text cited above as follows:

خطوط على ا لاعراف لاح  رسُومها   

عليها براهين من ا لنور  فاعلم  

 Above them  testimonies deriving from Light  (barāhīn min al-nūr), So know!

Yet is there no diminution for their numbering (iḥṣā') through inadequacy;

[10]

عليه من النورالالهى جلاله 

الى كل الانسان فصيح واعجم   

[reaching out] unto all humanity be they pure Arab or non-Arab

فمن اعرف*  االتوراة منهن* أربع

وأربع من إنجيل عيسى ابن مريم

 وخمسة من القرآن وهي تمامها 

  [13]

فيا حامل الاسم الذي جل قدره  

Now I [Sayyid Kāẓim] say that I have found various poems attributed to Amīr al-Muminīn (The Commander of the Faithful) -- upon him be peace -- in exposition of this [Mightiest] Name according to the  clarification implicit in these [aforementioned poetical] verses.... He [`Alī] says-- upon him be peace--

فان كنت لم تعلمه من قبل فاعلم

And this is the form (ṣūrat) of the Greatest Name (al-ism al-a`ẓam): [note 4]

        And when the vision is sharp and the thought penetrative respecting the utterance of `Alī (upon whom be peace),

And this matter was not made clear  through explication thereof is evident by virtue of the clarity of the allusion.

ADD HERE

Moses and the four Toraic Letters
Sayyid Kāẓim further explains how it is that the Torah has four "letters" of the Mightiest Name. He suggests that this is so in the light of the following well known prophetic ḥadīth , "O `Alī you are to me after the manner of Aaron to Moses" (see for example, ). A typological relationship is thus set up between Moses and Muhammad. Moses [= Muhammad], it is explained, is foundational (aṣl ^an), the Reality (al ḥaqīqa), while the Torah (al tawrat) before him is his essential persona (aṣāla dhāt an). Moses the prophet (al nabī) is essentially the Moses of the gate of reality upon reality (ḥaqīqa). In a metaphorical sense the reality of the Torah which was revealed before him consists of four letters which are the four lettered personal name Muḥammad ([1] م mīm = M + [ 2]ح ḥā’ = Ḥ + [3] م mīm = M + [4] د dāl = D : محمد = Muḥammad). The manifestation of the name Muhammad before Moses took place at the Sinaitic theophany (tajallī) of the Lord (= Q. 7:143). The agent of this theophany of the name Muhammad is again said to have been an individual from among the cherubim (rajal min al karubiyyīn) evidently one associated with the name Muhammad (Rashtī, Sh.Ism, 273b); a kind of cherubic, pre-existent spiritual locus of the name Muhammad. Shaykh Aḥmad had explained ADD

Jesus and the four Injīl (Gospel) Letters.
That four letters of the al ism al a`ẓam are found in "the Injīl of Jesus son of Mary" is also commented upon by Sayyid Kāẓim. He states, "And he [Jesus] is the likeness (mithāl) of [Imam] `Alī." This typological equation also has to do with the letters of the mightiest Name being imamologically realized. That Imam `Alī is equated with Jesus finds echoes in the writings of the Bāb (see Persian Bayan VIII:2).

Muḥammad and the five Qur’ānic letters
Five "letter" components of Mightiest Name are also allotted to the Qur'an. They are imamologically understood as representing the pentad of the four twelver Imams, [1] Ḥasan, [2] Ḥusayn, [3] Ja`far al-Ṣādiq, [4] Mūsā and the prophet’s daughter [5] Fāṭima. At one point in his commentary on the Khuṭba al ṭutunjiyya Sayyid Kāẓim also interprets the seven graphic sigla of the Mightiest Name imamologically, as [1] Muhammad and the  six of the Imams, [2] `Alī, [3] Fāṭima [4] Ḥasan, [5] Ḥusayn, [6] Ja`far and [7] Mūsā. These seven are indicative of the fullness, the pleroma of the fourteen (= 2x7= 14) immaculate ones (Sh.Ttnj : 53).

[1] On the  "Seal" (Khatam) or Pentalpha     (mss. p. 00).

 “Now the  the seal (khātam = the  pentalpha  ☆ ) is allusive of the “theophany” of the Name (ẓuhūr al-ism), that is to say, the mightiest ] Divine Self-manifestation (tajallī al-a`ẓam) just as in the [qur’ānic] supplication  (= Q. Surah 1: 1-5) exists in five modes (fī du`a fī khams maqāmāt). Such are the levels expressive of [theologically] apophatic [non-disclosive] tokens of Him (al-maqāmāt  wa hiya al-`allāmāt  allati lā ta`ṭīl li-hā) on every level wherein God could be known. For whoso knoweth Him, praised be He, does not realize any distinction between Him and aught else, except that they are His servants and His creatures.

The First Station (al-maqām al-awwāl) [expressed by the pentalpha  ☆) is  the station of the inmost depth (al-bāṭin), the Mystery which is veiled in Mystery (al-sirr muqanna` fi’l-sirr), the Reality of the Ultimate Reality (ḥaqq al-ḥaqq), the Shadowy Depth of His Being  (ẓill al-kaynūniyyatihā), its Secret (sirr) and its Light (nūr), its Veil (ḥijāb) and its Universal Countenance (wajh al-kullī) as well as its resplendent  Splendor (ḍiyā’ al-muḍī`).   

The Second Station (al-maqām al-thānī) [expressed by the pentalpha  ☆ ] is the station of the theophany of that Mightiest Name (ẓuhūr al-ism al-a`ẓam)  on the level of the inmost depth (al-bāṭin). This in that it is indeed the Inmost Depth (al-bāṭin), the mystery secreted in mystery (al-sirr al-mustansirr bi’l-sirr), the Reality of the Ultimate Reality (ḥaqq al-ḥaqq), the Theophany of His Beingness (ẓuhūr al-kaynūniyyatihā) and the First station of its  XXXX (             ) as well as the Genesis of the Theophany of  …… (mabda’ al-ẓuhūr …..)   

The Third Station (al-maqām al-thānī) [expressed by the pentalpha  ☆]

The Fourth Station (al-maqām al-thānī) [expressed by the pentalpha  ☆]

The Fifth Station (al-maqām al-thānī) [expressed by the pentalpha  ☆]

Sayyid Kāẓim and sigla 7 the inverted letter wāw  =  و  -  

             The inverted letter wāw element existing in many of the diagrammatic forms of the Mightest Name is a representation of an inverted,  elongated and reversed Arabic [Persian] letter wāw (W [V]). It is basically an inverted (Arabic) letter (W = V) with an `extended tail'.  It is interesting to note that Sayyid Kāẓim in his  Risālah fī Sharḥ wa tafsīr ism al-a`ẓam gives the seventh item in `Imam `Alī's graphic depiction of the Mightiest Name of God, the inverted letter  wāw   و   (see above), a messianic significance. He  states that it  "alludes to the [messianic] Proof (al‑ḥujjat),  the son of Ḥasan [al‑Askarī, the 11th Imam, d. c. 260/874]". The central (hidden) letter "A" (alif)   of the three letters of wāw  when spelled out in full (= the three letters  واو =wāw) represents the Qā’im or Shi`i messianic Ariser as one "stationed between the two gulfs (ṭutunjayn), the isthmus (barzakh) between the two worlds".

 

APPENDIX ONE

Being corrected and completed.

Some notes on the interpretations of the letter  wāw  in the writings of Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsā'ī (1752-1826) and some post-Shaykhi Baha'i interpretations.

In certain of his writings Shaykh Ahmad evinced a remarkable knowledge of `ilm al-ḥurūf (letter mysticism) or             ilm al-jafr.   In for example, his Sharḥ al-fawā’id the letter wāw is associated with the Arabic qur’anic imperative headed phrase “Be and its is!” (kun fa`ya-kun). The word  kun = “Be!” being derived from  the  Arabic trilateral root K-W-N in which the "hidden" letter “wāw” is concealed.

           The qur’anic six days of creation, furtghermore, are associated with the following six stages or modes of the realization of created being :

·  (1) yawn al-

·  (2) yawm al-

·  (3) yawm al-

·  (4) yawm al

·  (5) yawm al-

·  (6) yawm al-

            Shaykh Ahmad also commented upon the  sirr al-tankīs li‑ramz al‑ra`īs   in a highly abstruse fashion as will be seen in the translation of his al-Risāla al-Rashtiyya in which it is stated that the inverted letter wāw (W [= V]) represents the Qā'im, the messianic 12th Imām. Its being inverted is a reference to his return. This interpretation is based on the fact that he letter wāw  (Per. vāv ) contains three letters  when spelled or written out in full, ADD ARABIC     (= W+A+W). Of these three letters making up or spelling in full the Arabic letter W (V) which has been reversed, Shaykh Aḥmad has explained as follows;

·  [1] The first wāw (abjad  6) of represents the (biblical) qur’ānic six days of creation (refer Qur'ān 50:38, etc., cf. Genesis 1).

·  [2] The second wāw    (abjad  6) signifies the days in which "the first [primal]" (al-ūlā) again comes into being. It apparently signifies the onset of the eschatological era which is actualized at the rise of the expected messianic Qā'im.

·  [3] The alif   in the middle of the two letter wāws) signifies the person of the messianic Qā'im, the one who rises up between these two "creations".

This early Shaykhi mode of exegesis of the is also taken up in Bābī‑Bahā’ī scripture, most notably in the Qayyūm al‑asmā’  of the Bāb and, for example,  the  al‑Kitāb al‑aqdas  ( "Most Holy Book" c. 1873) and the Acre (West Galilean period) Lawḥ‑i Hirtik  (Tablet to Hardegg, 187X?) of Bahā’u’llāh. 

 Bahā’-Allāh, the Lawḥ-i Qinā'  (`Tablet of the Veil’) and the Risālah al-Rastiyya of Shayh Aḥmad al-Aḥsā’ī

            The Lawḥ-i Qinā' (`Tablet of the Veil’) of Bahā’-Allāh is primarily addressed to the polymath and polemical opponent of the Bābī‑ Bahā’ī religions, the third Shaykhī leader Karīm Khān Kirmānī (d.1871). <sup>[1]</sup>  This significant Arabic Tablet probably dates shortly before that of the Lawh-i Hirtīk  (i.e. c.1869-71? See Majmū`a, 85‑6). In it Bahā’-Allāh cites the substance of an epistle  of Shaykh Aḥmad known as the Risāla al‑Rashtiyya (written 1197 /1783) written in response to an enquiry of Shaykh Mūsā ibn Muhammad al‑Sayīgh. [2] He  refers to its author in exalted terms as "the most glorious, the most favoured midday [sun] of Islam (ẓuhr al‑islām),  the "Ka`bah of humankind" who was the "lamp of knowledge betwixt the worlds". In this work Shaykh Aḥmad had apparently responded to an enquiry from about the signficance of the phrase "the [messianic] Qā’im is in the backbone [loins]   (al‑aṣlāb) ". In the course of his complex reply he  refers to the letter wāw  and to the sirr al‑tankīs li‑ramz al‑ra’īs ,  the "mystery of inversion on account of the symbol of the Ruler";  the reversed and extended letter  wāw  within the graphic Greatest Name of God symbol.

            A condensed version of the Shaykh’s reply is cited by Bahā’-Allāh towards the end of his Lawḥ‑i Qinā’.  After the basmalah  Shaykh Aḥmad cites a prophecy from one of the twelver Imams indicating the date of the appearance of the expected  Mahdī (`Rightly Guided  Messiah). It is computed according to the numerical value and relationship of two fourfold  letter groupings of the isolated letters of the Qur’ān. They are the four letters alif‑l ām‑mīm‑ṣād  ( A‑L‑M‑ṣ) which occur before the  Sūrat al‑A`raf  ("The Heights", Q. 7;  collective  abjad numerical value= 161) and the four letters alif‑lām‑mīm‑rā’  ( A‑L‑M‑R ;  collective  abjad  numerical value = 271) which open the Sūrat al‑Ra`ad (`Thunder’, Q. 13).1 Within the following translation some very speculative expository remarks may help clarify what seems to be indicated by Shaykh Aḥmad:

"I [Shaykh Aḥmad] state [in reply] what has been transmitted [from one of the twelver imāms],

"After the realization of  A‑L‑M‑Ṣ (alif‑lām‑mīm‑ṣād in Q.7) through  A‑L‑M‑R (alif‑lām‑mīm‑rā’ in  Q. 13) the Mahdī [Qā’im] ‑‑ upon him be peace‑‑  shall rise up".

The [letter] A (alif) assuredly came at the realization of the [aforementioned letter] ṣ (ṣād). And the [letter] ṣ (ṣād) is before you more expansive than the two thighs (awsa`al‑fakhdhāyn) [the two letter w’s in wāw ?]. How then could it  [the "A" ] [merely] be one of the two [thighs = w’s]?

            Furthermore [be aware] that the [letter] wāw  is [spelled with] three letters [1] [having an abjad numerical value of] six (= w) and [2] [the letter] alif  (A) and [3] six (= abjad w). [The import is that] six "days" have undoubtedly transpired and the [letter] alif  (A) is the completion (al‑tammām) [of the awaited period] such that no [further] word need be uttered!

            What though is [indicated by]  the [second] six (= w)? It is the other [subsequent] "days" (al‑ayyām al‑ukhar). Otherwise, why was there evident a repetition ["return" of the w] (al‑`aud)?  Such assuredly resulted through the mystery of inversion on account of the symbol of the Ruler (sirr al‑tankīs li‑ramz al‑ra`īs).

            And should this repetition [or  "return" of the wāw] be otherwise accounted for the confirmation (al‑iqrār) thereof would be by virtue of the [existence of the] subsequent [remaining] six (= the second  w) (al‑sitta al‑bāqiyya). Then would the matter (al‑amr)  [still find realization] in the [messianic] Proof (al‑ḥujja = the Qā’im‑Mahdī) and the [personification of] the Greatest Name (al‑ism al‑a`ẓam) would be manifested in the two upright [letter] "A"s (bi’l‑alifayn al‑qā’imayn) through the letter (bi’l‑ḥarf)  which is two letters contained within Allāh )  (ḥarfān min Allāh) [1st letter of Allāh  = "A"  and last letter = "h"]. This  since the two [letter A’s] are [indications of] eleven (1 = 1 beside 1 =11?)  and both [also] indicate  thirteen [= abjad  aḥad = "one" = 1+8+4 = 13 or abjad  5+6 = huwa= `He is’).

            Thus was manifest the [letter] wāw  (abjad =  6+1+6 =13) which is [also] the [letter] "H" (al‑hā’). Where then is the differentiation [between these two letters; W= 6+1+6 = 13  and "H" = huwa = 5+ 6 =13]? Yet the one (= the letter A) (al‑wāhid) is what lieth betwixt the six (= w) and the six (= w) [in the letter wāw = 6+1+6] realized through the completion of [the abjad value of the isolated letters?] A‑L‑M‑Ṣ (alif‑lām‑mīm‑ṣād (Q. 7 = abjad 161) through A‑L‑M‑R (Q. 13  alif‑lām‑mīm‑rā’  = abjad  231 Q.13 ). Thus is apparent the mystery of the six [= wāw].1...

Everything of the foregoing is [indicated] in the [letter] wāw  (w) which is upturned  from the [letter] "H" which is ADD HERE AND CORRECT  ? (al‑mankūsa min  al‑hā’)."

 Here Shaykh Aḥmad appears to indicate that the Qā'im (= the alif) will appear at the end of the era or cycle of the six days of creation as their ultimate goal or completion ‑‑ the era of the six "days" (= religious eras)  of creation has been understood to signify the prophetic missions of the often six, and variously identified, prophets "endowed with constancy" (ulū al-`azm   refer Majlisī, Bihār 2d ed. 11:34ff. cf. Qur'ān 46:34: the six are often considered Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and  Muhammad). Also that the final wāw (of      ) or the "(other) six" has to do with the `other days' or era of the "return" (raj`a ) hence the inverted backward stretching wāw (in the "greatest name of God" representation) indicating the eschatological "return" (raj`a) of past peoples. Such at least may be something of the meaning of al‑Aḥsā'ī. 

Bahā’-Allāh, `Abdu'l‑Bahā and other Bahā'ī writers

            Bahā'ī interpretations of the sirr al-tankīs  to some extent draw on, though they often go beyond, those which appear to have been envisaged by Shaykh Aḥmad al-Aḥsā'ī and his successor Sayyid Kāẓim Rashtī. [3] They are many and complicated and cannot be discussed in detail here. It must suffice to make a few remarks about the meaning of the sirr al-tankīs.. in connection with the eschatological inversion of faith status or outward rank. As indicated above,  the phrase sirr al-tankīs..  ("the mystery of inversion") has to do with the interpretation of the meaning implied in this diagrammatic element found in graphic forms of the Greatest Name of God.

             Bahā’-Allāh, `Abdu'l‑Bahā and other Bahā'ī writers have given the inverted wāw and its three component letters (when written out in full) cyclic and eschatologically oriented interpretations.  Allusion is found to [1] the six `prophets endowed with constancy' (the first wāw), [2] the Bāb (the Alif: the Bāb being regarded as the Qā'im ) and [3] Bahā’-Allāh (the second wāw)  Alternatively,  as in the Lawh-i Hirtīk,  to the reversal of outward rank with the coming of Bahā’-Allāh is indicated by the  inverted, reversed  letter W. The fact that the inverted wāw stretches backwards and has an abjad value of six probably led to the idea that the messianic advent of Bahā’-Allāh has reversed the faith‑status or rank of all prefious unbelieving religionists. In one of his explanations of the sirr al-tankīs   Bahā’-Allāh, as in the Lawh-i Hirtīk,, relates its mystery to the effect of his revelation and writes, "Thus have We made their exalted ones their lowly ones and their lowly ones their exalted ones. This is the mystery of inversion for the cipher of the chief." [1]  Such an interpretation of the sirr al-tankīs  is also presupposed in the following passage from Bahā’-Allāh's  al‑Kitāb al- Aqdas  which was most probably written shortly after the  Lawh-i Hirtīk:  

"Behold, the "Mystery of Great Reversal in the sign of the Sovereign" (sirr al-tank īs li-ramz al-ra'īs) hath now been made manifest. Well is it with him God hath aided to recognize the "Six" raised up by virtue of this "Upright Alif"; he, verily is of those whose faith is true. How many the outwardly pious who have turned away, and how many the wayward who have drawn nigh, exclaiming: "All praise be to Thee, O Thou the Desire of the worlds!" In truth, it is in the hand of God to give what He willeth to whomsoever He willeth, and to withhold what he pleaseth from whomsoever He may wish. He knoweth the inner secrets of the hearts and the meaning hidden in a mocker's wink. How many an embodiment of heedlessness who came unto Us with purity of heart have We established upon the seat of Our acceptance; and how many an exponent of wisdom have We in all justice consigned to the fire. We are, in truth, the One to judge. He it is Who is the manifestation of "God doeth whatsoever He pleaseth", and abideth upon the throne of "He ordaineth whatsoever He chooseth" (Aqdas 2 [al-Hasanī]:127. trans., Aqdas tr. 1992: ¶157 pp. 75‑6.)            

ENDNOTES

^{[1] As will be seen, the Shī`ī graphical form of of the al-ism al-a`ẓam  (Mighttest Name) commented upon by Sayyid Kāẓim (there are numerous variants) has thirteen (within 7) elements counting from the inverted, extended letter wāw to the final pentacle (☆) as can be seen above.} 

[2]  I wonder if this line might be slighty rewrittten and retranslated : reading al-salālim for  al-salām (= "well-being", "peace"..), " Thus, [4]  "then a ladder like unto the shape of the stairway,  though it is not a ladder "

[2] Arab. text cited from  al‑Būnī, Shams, cited  Winkler, 1930:69‑71 with German trans. 71; text and French trans. Anawati, 1967:24, 27; Eng. trans. MacEoin, 1982 [BSB 1/1:4‑14] = 1992:93‑97  = App. XXIII. I have adapted Mac Eoin’s translation in the light of the other translations and al‑Būnī’s Shams.

 [4]   After citing an extended version of the tradition from Imām `Alī and one of the graphical forms of the al-ism al-a`ẓam, Sayyid Kāḥim defines a [divine] "Name" as a named ẓuhūr, an appearance or theophany. It is  al-mutajallī , a transfiguration or self-manifestation. The mightiest theophany (tajallī al-a`ẓam) of a Name is the reality of the al-ism al-a`ẓam, the Greatest Name of God (Sh-Ism, 271 a-b)]

  ໒  ھ  IIII  ⌗ﻡ    III ☆