PART THREE -SECTION
TWO
[II]
بهاء
THE WORD BAHĀ' AS THE QUINTESSENCE OF THE GREATEST NAME
OF GOD
AND ITS
OCCURRENCE IN THE WRITINGS OF THE BĀB.
الاسم الأعظم
Stephen
Lambden [August 1992].
BEING REVISED AND UPDATED 2007-8
“O Peoples of the world!
He Who is the Most Great Name
(al-ism al-a`ẓam) is come, on the part of the Ancient
King”
(Bahā'-Allāh, ESW:128)
“Let your joy be the joy born of My Most Great Name (ismī al-a`ẓam),
a Name that bringeth rapture to the heart, and filleth with ecstasy the minds of all who have drawn nigh
unto God” (Bahā'-Allāh , Aqdas 38, para. 31)
1.0
Introduction
This paper is an attempt to explore some linguistic, historical and
theological aspects of the Arabic word
بهاء
bahā'
which is viewed by Bahā'īs as the quintessence
of the
الاسم
الأعظم
(al-ism
al-a`ẓam = the Mightiest [Greatest] Name [of God]) or
اسم
الله الاعظم
( ism
Allāh al-a`ẓam = "the Greatest [Mightiest] Name of God), one form of
which they regard as the (Arabic) title
بهاء
الله
= Bahā’-Allāh (= Bahā’u’llāh) which could be correctly translated in
several different ways; e,g, the Glory-Splendour-Radiance-Beauty of God though modern Bahā’īs, following the preference of `Abd
al-Bahā’ and Shoghi Effendi, translate `the Glory of God’ where ‘glory’
is expressive of the divine radiance and splendor personified in the
person of Mīrzā Ḥusayn `Alī Nṭūr
ī (b. Tehran [Iran] 1817, d. Acre
[Palestine] 1892 CE) who adopted the title Bahā’-Allāh. This title
Bahā’-Allāh thus basically indicates a radiant divine theophany, a Divine
Manifestation attended and personified as a supernatural radiance,
emanating Light, Splendour and Beauty.
_______________________
The word-motif بهاء
Bahā’ in Bābī scripture and
religion
Chapter
x
Sayyid `Ali
Muhammad the Bāb and the Mightiest Name of God.
1.0 Sayyid `Ali Muhammad the Bāb and his writings.
1.1 On the significance and translation of the word baha' in the
writings of the Bab.
1.2 The theology of the Bab
1.3 The Names of God in the writings of the Bāb
1.4 The Mightiest Name in the writings of the Bāb
1.5 The word bahā’ in the writings of the Bāb
The word
bahā' and such forms of it as its superlative abhā'
are quite frequent in the scriptural Tablets and writings of the Bāb. From the
early Tafsīr Sūrat al-Baqara ("Commentary on the Sūrah of the
Cow"; early 1844) and Qayyūm al-asmā' (mid-1844) until his last
major work the Haykal al-dīn ("The Temple of Religion" ; written
shortly before his martyrdom in 1850), it is theologically significant
in a variety of contexts. There can be little doubt that the Bāb
attached a special significance to the word bahā'. As will be
evident below, its frequency is related to his
deep devotional, theological and ritualistic
re-revelation of the Shi`i Islamic Ramadan Dawn
Prayer and ther related Du`ā al-Mubāhala
ascribed to the fifth and sixth Shi`i Imams
Muhammad al-Baqir and Ja`far al-Ṣādiq.
The
word bahā' in the Qayyūm al-asmā' (= QA; mid. 1844 CE).
In the first major revelation of the Bāb, the Qayyūm
al-asmā' the word bahā' occurs some 14 times --
bahiyya
("luminous") occurs at least once. [30] Here, as in other works of the
Bāb, it is cosmologically, theologically and for Bahā'īs, prophetically
significant. It indicates, for example, an exalted and radiantly
splendid celestial realm. On occasion, it characterizes the
most-elevated mystical heights, the radiance of the elevated Sinai. It
describes the glorious splendour of the celestial Sinaitic sphere which
emanates from the "fire" of the "Burning Bush" or "Tree".
ADD TEXTS AND DETAILED COMMENTS
It is in the 20th
Sūra of the QA that the first occurrence
of bahā' is found. Mystically interpreting the Qur'ānic form of the
Joseph story, QA 20 refers to the "Remembrance" (dhikr = the
hidden, messianic Imām) as one protected and concealed at the qutb
al-bahā' ("Pole of Splendour") situated above Mount Sinai
(al-ṭūr al-sīnā') cf. Joseph's being cast into the pit by his brothers Gen
37:24; Qur'ān 12:10f.
Two Sūras later in QA 22 mention is made of the
celestial "water" which extends around the quṭb nuqṭat al-bahā'
("Pole of the Point of bahā’").
Surat al-Huriyya
(QA 29)
QA 29 is designated the "Sūra of the
Maiden (sūrat al-huriyya)". Here, in the course of addressing the
"people of the earth", the Bāb (speaking with the voice of God) claims
to be a "Maiden" (al-ḥūriyya) begotten by
al-Bahā’: "..I am
the Maid of Heaven (al-ḥūriyya) begotton by [the Spirit of] Bahā (waladtanī al-bahā')..." (QA XXIX trans. SWB:54). In various
Tablets including the Sūrat al-Bayān ("Sūra of the Exposition" c.
186?) Bahā’-Allāh refers to QA 29 and claims to be this heavenly Maiden:
"[By God!] I am the Maid of Heaven (al-ḥūriyya), the Offspring
begotton by the Spirit of Bahā (al-Bahā’; trans. Shoghi Effendi,
GWB CXXIX:283).
While in QA 38 the Bāb appears to be addressed as the "The
Radiant Light of God (nūr Allāh al-bahiyy)",
there exists a
complex rewrite of select verses of the Qur'ānic Sūra of the Cave in QA
54 in which the phrase, "the midst of the Fire in the Beauty of Bahā'" (khilāl al-nār fī jamāl al-bahā') occurs (cf. Qur'ān 18:80
and context).
It is at QA 57 that the Bāb refers to the "people of
Bahā'" who sail in "Arks of ruby, tender, crimson-coloured". The phrase
"people of Bahā’" occurs hundreds of times in Bahā'ī scripture and
usually indicates the followers of Bahā’-Allāh. The "Crimson Ark" is
symbolic of the Bahā'ī religion, the vehicle of salvation. [31]
The
"Remembrance" (Dhikr) is described in QA 75 as a "Blessed Tree
on Mount Sinai sprung up from the Land of Bahā’".
In QA 76 reference is
made to a mysterious "Watercourse of Bahā’ (majrā al-bahā) above
Mount Sinai" and QA 77 identifies the "Light of Bahā'" as the vehicle of
the divine theophany on Sinai experienced by Moses (see Lambden, Sinaitic, 101).
The Bāb claims in QA 79 to be both the "Indubitable
Word" (al-kalimat al-ḥaqqah) and the "Calamitous Word"
(al-kalimat al-qāri`at) situated about the mystic "Fire" nigh unto
"the pivot of the sphere of Bahā'"..
While in QA 93 the Bāb claims to be the "throne of Bahā'" (al-`arsh
al-bahā ') in QA 100 he claims to have planted with his own hands
"Trees bearing the semblances of Bahā'" (hā'it al-bahā').
Not
only does the Bāb in QA 107 claim to be the Cherubic Being who appeared
to Moses on the "Mount of Bahā’" (ṭūr al-bahā'; cf. Lambden, Sinaitic, 99)
he, speaking with the Voice of God in the following
chapter (QA 108), bids the "Solace of Mine Eyes" (Qurrat al-`ayn = the
Bāb himself or Bahā’-Allāh?) proclaim "I am al-Bahā'".
The final occurrence of the word bahā' in QA 109, is related to the
observance of obligatory prayer before the setting of the sun in the
"sphere of Bahā'".
Persian
and Arabic Expositions (Bayāns)
The word bahā' not only designates the first month of the
new Bābī-Bahā'ī calendar but the ninth 19 year cycle or "Unity" (Vaīd);
the 17th of these 19 year cycles being Bahīyy (= "Luminous" a
derivative of bahā') and the 18th Abhā. Among the many
significant uses of bahā' and abhā' in the Bāb's writings
-- many of which are regarded by Bahā'īs as allusions to the person of
Bahā’-Allāh -- is the following "prophetic announcement" from the Persian Bayān,
ADD TEXT
"Well is it with him who fixeth his gaze upon the Order of Bahā’-Allāh ,
and rendereth thanks unto his Lord. For He will assuredly be made
manifest. God hath indeed irrevocably ordained it in the Bayān"
[GPB:25].
In another passage we read,
ADD TEXT
“The Bahā' of Him Whom God shall make manifest is immeasurably above
every other Bahā'.." (SWB:156).
Bahā’-Allāh, as the Bābī messiah figure
man yuẓhiru-hu Allāh is
here allocated a superlative measure of "glory", of bahā'. While
in Persian Bayān 3:14 it is stated, "All the Bahā’ of the
Bayān is man yuẓhiru-hu Allāh” at 3:15 the "Primal Will"
(Reality of the Manifestation of God), in each "Dispensation", is said
to have been Bahā’-Allāh ("the Glory of God"), besides whose bahā' all
else hath even been, and will ever remain as naught.
In his
Arabic Bayān the Bāb links the moment of the dawning of the "Sun
of Bahā'" (shams al-bahā') with the expected divine
Manifestation. He states that in the Book of God, the period from the
beginning of the rise of the "Sun of Bahā'" until its setting, is better
than every period of night (see texts cited in Ma’idih 7:32/ Rahiq
1:364). [32]
Kitāb-i panj sha'n (= K-Panj-S) ("The Book of the Five Grades")
Written a few months prior to the Bāb's martyrdom, this
fairly lengthy Arabic and Persian work contains quite a few paragraphs
may be viewed as creative re-revelations of the opening section of the
Shī'ī Dawn Prayer (Du`ā saḥar; see above). At KPS:88 the Bābī
Messiah "Him whom God will make manifest" (man yuzihiru-hu
Allah) is
said to be God's "servant, Word and Glory" (Bahā') and much else
besides. The KPS contains quite a number of occurrences of the words bahā' and
abhā as well as the phrase/title
Bahā’-Allāh;
"Say: Yea! We have all been glorified in Bahā’-Allāh" (see p.71). One
section (pp.172-212) is believed to have been specially dedicated to
Mīrzā Ḥusayn `Alī Nūrī, Bahā’-Allāh.
In KPS III:3 [16], (as Adib Taherzadeh noted), the question is
posed, "Do ye know Bahā’-Allāh or not? For He is the glory of Him Whom
God shall make manifest" (trans. Taherzadeh, Covenant, 44).
As in the QA the Bāb, speaking with the Voice of God, claims identity
with Bahā’-Allāh. In this important and largely unstudied work, he
seems to write in the light of the essential oneness of the Manifestations of
God and speaking prophetically with the Voice of God?,
ADD TEXT
"Say: This is Bahā’-Allāh unto such as are in the heavens and in the
earth and whatsoever is between them." (p.71 cf. GPB: 28).
The Kitāb
al-asmā' (= K. Asmā’ , 1849/50) (“The Book of Names”).
Dating from
the last year of his mission (1849/50) the massive and very little
studied or appreciated wholly Arabic Kitāb
al-asmā' (“The Book of Names”) of the Bāb has been reckoned a work
unworthy of serious attention. Both Edward G. Browne (d.1926) and more
recently Denis MacEoin adopted a dismissive and high-handed orientalist
judgment of this important work - they give the impression that they had
no taken thr trouble to examine it thoroughly! The former
This lengthy Arabic work
exists in numerous, often variant mss. and contains many
occurrences of the word bahā'
and
various derivatives from the same root. A good many of these occurrences
are closely related to the Shi`i fasting Du`ā al-sabah or the related
challenging devotional Du`ā al-mubāhala (Supplication for
Mutual ). One
mss. of the Kitāb al-asmā' (or "Four Grades") included in the INBMC vol.
29 spans no less than 665 pages. Its opening section (1/1)
commences as follows, focusing on the root R-SH-D (= `to guide',
guidance...) :
بسم الله الارشد الارشد
In
the Name of God, the Supreme Guide, the Supreme Guide
الله
لا اله الا هو الارشد الارشد
God,
no God is there except Him, the Supreme Guide, the Supreme Guide
قل
الله ارشد فوق كل ذا ارشاد
لن يقدر ان يمتنع عن مليك سلطان ارشاده من احد لا فی السموات ولا
فی الارض ولا ما بينهما يخلق ما يشاءِ بامره انه كان رشادا راشدا رشيدا
Say: God is the Supreme Guide, beyond all possessed of the
ability to guide (irshād) for it can in no wise be implied that His
would withhold the Monarch of the Sovereignty of His Guidance
from anyone whether in the heavens or upon the earth or
betwixt these twain. He creates whatsoever He wills through
His Command for He is indeed a
Source of Guidance
(irshād an),
a
Guiding Reality
(rāshid
an),
a
Guidance (rashīd
an) .
A page or so further on this opening section (1/1 pp.4-5)
we read following a few short verses commencing with the imperative qul
we have twenty-one (or so short verses partially based upon and
mirroring the succession of divine attributes spelled out in the
Du`ā al-sabah and/or the related Du`ā al-mubāhala.
[1] ولله
ماخلق
ويخلق واليه كل يرجعون
[0]
ولله
بهاءِ
ما خلق ويخلق واليه كل يبعثون
ولله جلال
ما خلق ويخلق واليه كل ينقلبون
[2]
و لله جمال ما خلق و يخلق
وان اليه كل يبعثون
[3]
ولله
عظم ة
ما خلق و يخلق وكل بامره قائمون
[4]
ولله نور ما خلق و يخلق وان اليه
كل ينقلبون
[5]
ولله
رحم ة
ما خلق
ويخلق وكل برخمته يشرحون[6]
ولله
اسماءِ
ما خلق ويخلق وكل با
سمائه ليسميون[7]
ولله عز ما خلق ويخلق وكل بعززه
يتعززون[8]
ولله مجد
ما خلق ويخلق وكل بمجده يتمجدون[9]
ولله علم ما خلق ويخلق
وكل بعلمه يتعلمون
[10]
ولله
قدرة
ما خلق و يخلق وكل بقدرته يتقدرون
[11]
ولله
قوة
ما خلق ويخلق و كل بقوته يتقويون
[12]
ولله رضاءِ
ما خلق
ويخلق وكل برضائه يسترضوه
[13]
ولله شرف ما خلق و يخلق و كل
بشرفه يتشرفون
[14]
ولله سلطان ما خلق و يخلق وكل
بسلطانه يتسلطون
[15]
ولله ملك ما خلق و يخلق وكل
بملكه يتملكون
[16]
ولله علو ما خلق
ويخلق وكل بعلوه يستعليون
[17]
ولله
ايات
ما خلق و يخلق وكل باياته
يستكرمون
[18]
ولله غناءِ
ما خلق و يخلق وكل بغنائه يستغنيون[19]
ولله
فضل ما خلق و يخلق و كل بفضله يستفضلون [20]
ولله عدل ما خلق و
يخلق وكل بعدله يستعللون
[21]
[0] And unto God belongs what was created and what He
will create for unto Him shall all return [1] And unto God belongs
the Bahā' (Splendor) of
what was created and what He will create for unto Him will
everything be raised up. [2] And unto God belongs the
Jalāl ("Glory") of what
was created and what He will create for through Him will
everything be turned upside down. [3] And unto God belongs the
Jamāl (Beauty) of what
was created and what He will create for unto Him will everything
be raised up. [4] And unto God belongs the
`Azimat (Grandeur) of
what was created and what He will create for through His Command
will everything be upraised (qā'imūn). [5] And unto God belongs the
Nūr ("Light") of what was
created and what He will create for through Him will everything be
turned upside down. [6] And unto God the
Raḥmat ("Mercy") of what
was created and what He will create for all, through His Mercy are
judged mercifully. [7] And unto God are the
Asmā' ("Names") of
what was created and what He will create for all, through His
Names (asmā') are indeed named. [8] And unto God belongs the
`Izz ("Might") of
what was created and what He will create for all, through His
Mightyness are rendered mighty. [9] And unto God belongs the
Majd ("Radiance")
of what was created and what He will create for all, through His
Radiance are rendered radiant. [10] And unto God belongs the
`Ilm ("Knowledge")
of what was created and what He will create for all, through His
Knowledge are informed. [11] And unto God belongs the
Qudrat ("Might") of
what was created and what He will create for all, through His
Might, are made mighty [12] And unto God belongs the
Quwwat ("Power") of
what was created and what He will create for all, through His
Power are empowered [13] And unto God belongs the
Ridā' ("Felicity") of
what was created and what He will create for all, through His
Felicity will be made content [14] And unto God belongs the
Sharaf ("Nobility") of
what was created and what He will create for all, through His
Nobility, are made noble. [15] And unto God belongs the
Sulṭān ("Sovereignty") of
what was created and what He will create for all, through His
Sovereignty, express sovereignty [16] And unto God belongs the
Mulk ("Dominion") of what
was created and what He will create for all, through His Dominion,
express dominance. [17] And unto God belongs the
`Uluww ("Sublimity") of
what was created and what He will create for all, through His
Sublimity, become sublime. [18] And unto God belong the
Āyāt ("Verses") of what
was created and what He will create for all, through His verses
are ennobled [19] And unto God belongs the
Ghinā' ("Independence")
of what was created and what He will create for all, through His
Independence, become independent. [20] And unto God belongs the
Faḍl ("Bounty") of what
was created and what He will create for all, through His Bounty,
are made bountiful. [21] And unto God belongs the
`Adl ("Justice") of what
was created and what He will create for all, through His Justice,
become just.
The first
occurrences of word bahā' - as a blessing upon the first
Bābī "Unity" (abjad = 19),
al-Wāḥid al-Awwāl
("The First Unity") and of the messianic
title man yuẓhiru-hu Allāh (Him Whom God shall make manifest) in ms.
INBMC 29 are found in section 4/4 (pp. 8-9) where we read:
الرابع فی الرابع
بسم الله الارشد الارشد
الحمدلله الذی لا اله الا هو الارشد الارشد وانما
البهاءِ من الله
علی الواحد الاول ومن يشاهد
ذالك الواحد حيث لا يری فيه الا
الواحد الاول وبعد فاشهد
ان لا مرشد الا الله سبحانه ولا مراد
سواه ولا هادی غيره ان استرشدت بارشاد
من يظهره الله جل ذكره
فاذا انه جل جلاله مرشدك وهذا لا تقدر عليه من سبيل الی يوم
In the Name of God, the Supreme Guide (al-arshad), the Supreme Guide(al-arshad).
Praised be to God, Who,
no God is there except Him, the Supreme Guide, the Supreme Guide.
And al-Baha' (the Glory-Beauty) from God be upon the al-Wāḥid
al-Awwāl ("The First Unity") and whose testifies unto that Wāḥid and
who seeth naught therein save
al-Wāḥid al-Awwāl ("The First Unity").
So
Bear witness now that there is no Guide (murshid) except God. So
praised be unto Him! No Intended One (murad) is there aside
from Him and no Guidance (hādi) other than He. Then beseech ye
guidance ( R-SH-D
from X)
in the Guidance (bi-irshād) of
man yuẓhiru-hu
Allāh (Him Whom God shall make manifest), exalted be His
remembrance..." (K-Asma, 8-9).
Elsewhere in
this ms. (INBMC 29) of the Kitāb al-asmā' there are a very large number
of references to both the word bahā' (and its known and unused
forms or derivatives from the same triliteral Arabic root, B-H-A-` ) and
to the messianic title من يظهره الله
man yuẓhiru-hu Allāh.
Something like no less than XXX uses
of bahā' in a variety of contexts and genitive and other phrases are
found and perhaps XXX references to
man yuẓhiru-hu Allāh.
The Beautiful Joseph (Yūsuf al-Bahā') and the name of
God al-Bashīr ("the Herald")
In that section of the Kitāb
al-asmā commenting upon the
name of God al-Bashīr ("the Herald") reference is made to robe
or "garment of the Joseph of Bahā'" which has been understood relative
to Bahā’-Allāh as the Bābī messiah figure man
yuẓhiru-hu Allāh
(see Ishrāq Khāvarī, QI 4:1870ff). The use of the word bashīr
("bearer/herald of good tidings") in Q.12:93 should be noted here is
rooted in the episode of Joseph's garment being placed on the face of
the patriach Jacob/Israel and restoring his vision, "But when the bearer
of good tidings [bashīr] came to him, and laid it [the qamīṣ ,
"robe, garment") on his [Jacob's] face [wajh], forthwith he saw
once again..". [33]
It is this Qur'ānic verse (12:93) which lies behind the
Bāb's exegetical rewrite of it in the Kitāb al-asmā. The Bāb
exhorts his readers to "hearken" then take firm hold of the "garment of
the Joseph of Bahā'" (qamīṣ yūsif al-bahā') from the hand of the
"Exalted, Transcendent Herald of Glad-Tidings" (mubashshirihi al-`alī
al-a`lā). The "garment" should be placed upon thy head in order that
one might be endowed with insight' (li-tartadda baṣīr
an)
(text cited QI 4:1875).
Wasiyyat-Nāmih
("Will and Testament")
Finally, in connection with the Bāb's writings it may be
noted that in his undoubtedly authentic Wasiyyat-Nāmih ("Will and Testament") the Bāb
refers to himself as "one who liveth in the Abhā Horizon" (INBMC 64:96).
According to Shoghi Effendi in his God Passes By this was an
allusion to Bahā’-Allāh as the Abhā Horizon wherein He "lived
and dwelt" (GPB:97). The essential oneness of the twin manifestations of
this era is implied in this mystical cosmology.
The
Haykal of 365 derivitaves of the word
بهاء
At Chihrīq, before his martyrdom in July 1850, the Bāb entrusted
Mullā Bāqir, a Letter of the Living, with a box containing a piece of
blue paper inscribed with some 360 derivatives of the word bahā' in
fine calligraphic script. Written in the form of a pentagram this,
according to Bahā’ī historical sources, was ultimately delivered to
Bahā'-Allāh (see DB. 370+fn. `Abdu'l-Bahā’, Travellers Narrative,
26-6). [34] While this pentagram appears to be lost [35] something of
the nature of such derivatives as it might contain (i.e. buhyān
and mubti[a]ha) can be gathered from certain sections of such
of his works as the Kitāb-i-panj sha'n ("Book of the Five
Grades"; see above) which is reckoned a work in which "the name
Bahā’-Allāh" is prophesied (GPB:28).
In his account of this matter `Abdu'l-Bahá' writes in A Traveller's
Narrative , "Now the Siyyid Báb had disposed all His affairs before
setting out from Chihríq towards Tabríz, had placed His writings and
even His ring and pen-case in a specially prepared box, put the key of
the box in an envelope, and sent it by means of Mullá Báqir, who was one
of His first associates, to Mullá `Abdu'l-Karím of Qazvín. This trust
Mullá Báqir deliv¬ered over to Mullá `Abdu'l-Karím at Qum in presence of
a numerous company. At the solicitations of those present he opened the
lid of the box and said, "I am commanded to convey this trust to
Bahá'u'lláh: more than this ask not of me, for I cannot tell you."
lmportuned by the company, he produced a long epistle in blue, penned in
the most graceful manner with the utmost delicacy and firmness in a
beautiful minute shikastih hand, written in the shape of a man so
closely that it would have been imagined that it was a single wash of
ink on the paper. When they had read this epistle [they perceived that]
He had produced three hundred and sixty derivatives from the word Bahá.
Then Mullá `Abdu'l-Karím conveyed the trust to its destination." `Abdu'l-Bahá',
A Traveller's Narrative.. pp.25-6.
In L. Albee Mathews book, Not Every Sea Hath Pearls (Add details),
reference is made to this author's viewing and having a photograph taken
in the British Museum [Library] of "The Star Tablet" of the Báb . She
wrote to Shoghi Effendi about this and apparently later (in 1944) viewed
the Báb's "authentic" "Star Tablet" (pp.63-4). What she thought "The
Star Tablet" of the Báb however, may merely have been one of the
numerous haykals (pentacles or star-shaped Tablets / talismans) of the
Báb or his followers.
The word Bahā' in the writings of leading Bābīs
In one of
his Tablets of the Adrianople-Edirne period, the
Lawḥ-i Sarrāj ("Tablet to Alī Muhammad
Sarrāj", c.1867) Bahā’-Allāh has cited prophetic
intimations of the "greatest name" in the
writings of leading Bābīs. Muhammad `Alī
entitled Quddūs (= "the Most Holy") is said to
have written Tablets at Badasht (see above) and
referred to a time when the Lord will cause a
secret to be made manifest `from the horizon of
Bahā' in the land of "or even nearer"' (aw ādnā
see Qur'ān 53:9 ), shining resplendent from the
"Point of Bahā'" (see Ma'idah 7:97).
A Persian couplet of
Fatima Baraghani better known as Tāhirih or Qurrat al-`Ayn ("Solace
of the Eyes") (d. 1852 CE) containing the word bahā' is
likewise cited in the Lawḥ-i Sarrāj (in Ma'idah 7:98). In her Arabic and Persian writings
and poems this
learned female Letter of the Living occasionally used the words bahā’ or
abhā. The Baha'i `Hand of the Cause of God', Abu'l-Qasim Faizi
(d. XXXX CE)
has
translated the following passage from one of Tahirih's "epistles”:
O my God! O my God! The veil must be removed from the face of the
Remnant of the Lord.
O my God! Protect Ḥusayn the mystery of Muhammad
and advance the day of reunion with him...
Make the point of Bahā, O my
God, to circulate.... (cited Faizi, 9)
BIBLIOGRAPHY AND
ABBREVIATIONS
Ar-Bayan = al-Bayān al-`arabī.
Ar-Dala'il =
-
in Dalā'il-i sab`ih. np.nd. [Azal
ī ed. Tehran, 196?] [pp.](alif. nūn );
-
[1] IBA (? = Nicolas
ms.106),102a..104b.
-
[2]
K- = Kitab = Book
...
-
K-Asmā’ = al-Kitāb al-asmā' .
[1] INBMC 29. [2] Uncat. mss. Marzieh Gail Coll. Bosch Bahā’ī
Library (USA)
-
-
K. Fihrist = Kitāb al.fihrist
INBA. Ms 6007C:339.348.
-
K. Panj.S = Kitāb.i panj sha'n.
np.nd. [Tehran Azali ed. 196?]
-
K. Haykal= Haykal al.dīn. np.nd
[Tehran, Azalī ed. 196?]
-
K. `Ulamā’ = Kitāb al.`ulamā'
INBMC 67:206.16; Afnan 2000:107.111.
-
K. Rūḥ = Kitāb al.rūḥ
[incomplete]. Haifa mss.
Kh- = Khutbah =
Sermon/Oration ...
Kh.Ḥuruf = Khuṭba on `ilm
al.ḥurūf INBA 91; INBA6004C: 209.213.
Kh. Jidda = Khuṭba at Jeddah. INBA
91: 61.81
Kh .Qahriyya. = Khuṭba.yi
qahriyya. INBMC 64:127.150.
P. Bayan. = Bayān.i farsī np. nd.
[Tihran, Azali ed.]
QA = Qayyūm al.asmā’. Afnān Lib.
ms.5
Q. Maḥfuz = Su`āl `an al-lawḥ al-maḥūẓ. (Q.85:22)
, TBA. mss. 6006C:79.80.
Q. Zavarih = Reply to the three questions of Mīrzā
Muhammad Sa`īd Zavārih on Basīṭ al.ḥaqīqa and other matters INBMC
69:419.437.
R- = Risalih =
Treatise ...
-
R. Dhah. = Risāla Dhahabiyya. (cf. Afnān,
2000:449). INBMC 86:70.98.
-
R. Jasad. = Risāla fī’l. jasad al.nabī (=
Sharḥ kayfiyyat al.mi`rāj) INBMC 69:416.418.
-
R. Nubuwwat = Risāla fī' al-nubuwwa al-khāṣṣah
INBMC 14:385.
-
R. Sulūk = Risāla fī al-sulūk. TBA., Ms.
6006C: 73.74..
S. B-al-Haramayn = Ṣaḥīfa bayn al-ḥaramayn.
S. Ja`far = Sāḥīfa.yi Ja`fariyya. INBMC 98:48.108;
INBMC 60:57.154.
Shu'unK = Shu`ūn.i khamsa al.fārsī (= Persian
K.Panj.?) INBMC 82:78.133.
T- = Tafsir =
Commentary...
-
T. Akhi = Tafsīr ḥadīth `allamanī akhī
rasūl.Allāh. INBAMC 14:410.417.
-
T-`Ama’ = Tafsīr, ḥadīth al.`amā’.
-
[1] TBA. Ms 6007C:1.16..
-
T-`Asr = Tafsīr sūra wa'l.`aṣr. (Q.110) INBMC
69:21.119
-
T-Baqara = Tafsīr sūrat al.baqara (Q.2 ) INBMC
69: (1ff) 157.294+377.410.
-
T-Basmala = Tafsīr (ḥurūf ) al.basmala. TBA
ms. 6014C: f. 301.370..
-
T-Ha’ (1) = Tafsīr al.Hā’ (1) INBMC
14:221.283; INBMC 67:4.52.
-
T-Ha’ (2) = Tafsīr al.Hā’ (2) INBMC
14:284.320. INBMC 67:53.85
-
T-Hamd = Tafsīr Sūrat al.ḥamd (Q.1). INBAMC
69:120.153.
-
T-Kawthar = Tafsīr Sūrat al.kawthar. EGB Coll.
Ms. Or. F10 [7].
-
T-LaylatQ.= T.Laylat al.qadr, (Q.97) INBMC
69:14..21.
-
T-Kumayl = Tafsīr Ḥadīth Kumayl ibn Ziyād al-Nakhā’ī.
[1] INBMC 53:63.8.
-
T-Man = Tafsīr ḥadīth man `arafa nafsahu faqad
` arafa rabbahu. INBAMC 14:468.477; [2] INBMC 40:46.53.
Wasiyya =
Azalī editions of writings of the
Bāb.
-
Per-Bayan = Bayān.i Fārsī. Tehran, n.d.
-
Per-Dala’il = Dalā’il.i Sab`ah. Tehran:
n.d.
-
Qismati = Qismati az alwāḥ.i khaṭṭ. i
nuqṭa.yi ūlā wa Sayyid Ḥusayn Kātib (n.p. [Iran] n.d.).
Translations of A. L. M. Nicholas
(1864-1939)
-
P. Béyan = Le Béyan Persan, trans. A. L. M.
Nicolas, 4 vols. Paris: Librarie Paul Geuthner, 1911.14
-
Ar. Béyan = Le Béyan Arabe, Le Livre Sacré
Bábyse. Paris: Ernest Leroux, 1905
-
S. Prev. = Le Livre des Sept Preuves de la
mission du Bab. Paris: Maisonneuvre, 1902
Translations of the Baha'i World
Centre (Haifa, Israel).
-
SWB = Selections from the Writings of the Bab
([= SWB] trans. by Habib Taherzadeh ( et al.). Haifa: BWC,1976.
-
SWB* = Muntakhabati az ªthªr.i hadrat.i
Nuqtih.i ƒlª. Wilmette: BPT, 1978.
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