Muslims
expect one or more Messiah figures to appear at the eschaton
(`time of the end').
They have been given a variety of titles or designations. Among
Sunni Muslims the eschatological messiah figure is most frequently
called the Mahdi (the Rightly Gudied One). This figure is often
(though not always) equated by Shī`ī scholars with the Qā'im.The
titles Qā'im and Mahd)
were both used early on in Shī`ī circles. They were sometimes used
together in the (hybid) form al-Qā'im al-Mahdi
where Mahdi
(`One Rightly Guided')
is an attribute of the Qā'im.
At times , however, there was some confusion as to their possibly
seperate identities. A tradition from Imam Ṣa`far al-Ṣādiq
reported in the Kitāb al-ghayba of al-Nāsir al-Din Tūsi (d.
460/1067) records that when the Imam was asked, `Are al‑Mahdi
and al‑Qā'im one (and the same person)?' he replied in
the affirmativeṭ
"When asked, "Why was he named Mahdī?" He answered,
"Because he guides to the secret thingsṭ and he is named Qā'im
because he will rise after death. He will rise for an important
task." (cited Sachedina 1981:61).
A similar tradition again from the fifth Imam, Muhammad al-Bāqir is
related by Muhammad al‑Nu'mānī (d.36ā/97ā-1).
"When al‑Qa'im from the family of the Prophet will rise
he will distribute equally among the people and will establish
Ṣustice among his subṢects. Thus those who obey him will obey God
and those who defy him will defy Godṭ but he will be called al‑Mahdi,
the one who will guide, since he will guide to the secret matters
(amr al‑khafi) and will bring out the Torah and other books of
God from a cave in Antioch and will rule the people of the Torah
according to the Torah, and the people of the Gospel according to
the Gospel, and the people of the Qur'an according to the Qur'an" (
cited Sachedina, ibid).
Introduction ….. to this // ḥadīth
A certain
Maṭār b. Muhammad
ūahmān
al-Warrāq (d. 120/743 ?) transmitted traditions from Ka`b al-Aḥbār
reckoning that the Mahdī was so named because he would be guided
(yuhdā) to find copies of the original text of the Torah and the
Gospel concealed in Antioch. One Sunnī tramsission of this
hadīth partly parallels the Shī`ī version cited above,
AThe
Mahdī will send (an army) to fight the Rūm, will be given the
knowledge (fiÎh) of ten, and will bring forth the Ark of the Divine
Presence (tābūt al-sakīna) from a cave in Antioch in which
are the Torah which God sent down to Moses and the Gospel which he
sent down to Ṣesus, and, he will rule among the People of the Torah
according to their Torah and among the People of the Gospel
according to their Gospel" (cited Madelung, `Mahdī',
EI2 CVD-Rom [V:1232b])
5. 0 The term Qayyūm in the Qur’ān and select Islamic thinkers
The masculine noun/adṢective and divine attribute
al-qayyūm occurs three times in the Qur'ān, the first occurrence
being towards the beginning of the celebrated Āyat al-kursī
("Throne verse" ' Q. 2:255) which is "one of the most famous and
beloved verses of the Qur’ān, frequently recited as a protection
against harm or evil" (Netton, 1992:45).
"God, there is no God except He, the Living, the
qayyūm... (2:255a)
"God, there is no God except He, the Living, the
qayyūm (3:2)
" faces shall be humbled unto the Living, the qayyūm
(20:111b)
It will be appropriate to mention at this point that Shoghi Effendi's frequent translation of the divine attribute al-qayyūm
in Bābī-Bahā'ī scripture by "the Self-Subsisting" mirror's that of
George Sale whose translation of the Qur'ān was highly-praised by
him as the Guardian of the Bahā'ī Faith -- as was that of Rodwell
who adopts the same translation at Q. 20:111b.
This translation
(cf. the synonymous "self-subsistent" ) of Shoghi Effendi not only
follows that of Sale (1734) and Rodwell (1831) but is paralleled by
a number of modern western and Muslim scholars (see Appendix 1).
In Qur’ān commentaries
The many Qur’ān comentaries in varying ways and
sometimes at considerable length comment upon the general linguistic
and theological significance of [the divine attribute] al-qayyūm
-- details cannot be gone into here. Arthur Ṣeffery who seems to
recognize a Hebrew or Syriac origin (see fn below). succinctly sums
matters up when he writes in his The Foreign Vocabulary of the
Qur’ān
"The Commntators are unanimous that the meaning is XXXX
al-Qā’im al-dā'im ( eq \O()ab., Bai eq \O()., and as-SiṢistānī,
250), but they were in difficulties over the form, and there are
variants XXXXX [qiyām, qayyim, Qā’im] . Their trouble in
explaining the form is well illustrated by al-`Ukbarī, Imlā',
i.70 for the only possibility is to take it on the measure XXXX [fay``ūl]
and we have reason to suspect all words of this form. It is not
strange therefore, in spite of its obvious connection with XXX [qāma],
to find that some of the authorities took it as a word borrowed
from the Syriac [fn.1 as-Suyūtī, Itq, 324ṭ Mutaw, 54)"
(1938:245)
In his monumental Ṣāmi` al-bayān.. al-Ṭabarī (d. XXX/923)
[12] notes that
grammatically al-qayyūm follows the Arabic paradigmatic pattern
al-fay`ūl deriving] from al-qiyām ("maintaining") like
' qayyūm
-- according to Ṭabātabā'ī the form al-fay`ūl "is used to show
the maximum degree of a quality" (al-Mīzān trans. 4:155). He
states that it indicates the Qā’im (`[Self-] Subsistent/
Upholder') "as one who provides for and maintains what he
creates." In commenting upon Qur’ān 2:255 he lists a number of
interpretive definitions of al-Qayyūm. This divine attribute
can indicate "He Who is al-Qā’im ("the [Eternal Overseer
standing) over everything" (transmitted through MuṢāhid) or "the
custodian of everything as He who protects, provides for and
maintains things" (from al-Rabī`). As well as signifying "He Who
is the Qā’im ("Eternal Overseer") (from al-Suddī) the divine
attributes al-ḥayy al-qayyūm ("the Livingṭ the
Self-Subsistent") can be expressed as being synonymous with al-qā’im
al-dā'im ("the Eternal Support/Overseer")( see Ṣāmi` 3:5-6).
The early Persian Sufi commentator on the Qur’ān, Rashīd
al-Dīn Maybudī (d.520/1126) in his Kashf al-asrār.. ("The
Unveiling of the Secrets..") translates
al-ḥayy
al-qayyūm
at Q. 2:255 with the Persian zindih-' pāyandih ' "the
Living, the Solid/Constant/Eternal" (Kashf 1:685).
Commenting on al-qayyūm in the Throne verse the
Shī`īte Sufi `Abd al-Razzāq al-Kashānī (d.c. 730/1330) -- expressing
the views of the great Shaykh Ibn al`Arabī (d. 638/1270) -- says
that this [divine attribute] indicates He Who is subsistent by
virtue of His own Self (alladhī yaqūma bi-nafsihi). God is
"He who upholds everything since it subsists in Him" such that "if
it were not for His maintenance (qiyām) nothing in existence
would subsist" (1:142).
`Abū'I-Qāsim al-Zamakhsharī (d. 538/1144) in his Al-Kashshāf..
echoes al- eq \O()Ṭabarī when he glosses al-qayyūm in Q.
2:255a as "The Eternal (al-dā'im), the Supporter through
providence of the created order (al-qiyām bi-tadbīr al-khalqṭ
1:300). Shaykh `Abū `Al¦ al-Ṭabarsī [Tabrizi] (d.548/1153) in his
compendium of his MaṢma` al-bayān.. and other tasfīr
works entitled Ṣawāmi` al-Ṣāmi` also repeats this when he
makes exactly the same statement about the significance of the
al-qayyūm (in Q.2:255aṭ Ṣawāmi` 1:167ṭ cf. Qarshayy,
Qamūs, 6:50-51).
In the weighty and wide-ranging commentary of Fakhr al-Dīn
Rāzī (d.606/ 1209) known as the Mafatī
eq \O() al-ghayb
("Keys of the Unseen") and Tafsīr al-kabīr ("The Great
Commentary") detailed comments are introduced by noting that Ibn `Abbas
(d.c. 68/687ṭ the cousin of the prophet Muhammad) stated that "the
greatest of the names of God is al-
eq \O()ḥayy al-qayyūm
("the Livingṭ the Qayyūm) which indicates that God "[eternally]
subsists by virtue of His Essence" (yakūn mutaqayyim an
bi-dhātihi). Among several other significances al-qayyūm
(in Q. 2:255) "is illustrative of His [God's] being Self-Subsistent
through His own Essence (Qā’im an bi-dhātihi) and One Who
Appraises (mutaqawwim) everything other than Himself" (al-Tafsīr
al-kabīr, 7:4)
The combined Tafsīr of al-Suyūṭī (d. 911/1505)
and al-Maṭallī (d. 864/1409) known as the Tafsīr al-Ṣalālayn
(`Tafsīr al the Two Ṣalāls') sums up earlier comments on qayyūm
in the `Throne Verse' as signifying "The [power of] transmitting
forces for the unholding through providence of the created order"
(al-mubāligh fī qiyām bi-tadbir khalqihi?ṭ Tafsīr al-Ṣalālain,
53).
The Shī`ī commentator Muhmmad Ḥusayn Ṭabātabā'ī
(d.1402/1981) in his al-Mīzān fī tafsīr al-Qur’ān (1393/19733)
includes some clear comments upon al-qayyūm in course of his
discussion of the `Throne Verse' (Q. 2:255)ṭ
"The original meaning of the verb (to stand) has, by
association, been extended and now it is used for protecting a
thing, accomplishing a task and managing it, bringing up a thing,
looking after it and having power over it. Allāh clearly said that
He "stands" with the affairs of His creation, that is, watches it,
looks after it and brings it up and has all power over it. He says: Is it He then who stands over (i.e., watches) every soul
as to what it earns? (13:33). Another verse is more
comprehensive: Allāh bears witness that there is no god but He (and
so do the angels and those possessed of knowledge), standing with
(maintaining) Ṣustice, there is no god but He, the Mighty, the Wise
(3:18). He maintains His creation with Ṣustice. He does not give and
does not withhold but with Ṣustice─and
existence is nothing except giving and withholding. He gives to
everything what it deserves. Lastly, He declares that this
maintaining with Ṣustice is according to His two great names, the
Mighty, the Wise: by His Might He maintains every thingṭ and by His
Wisdom He does Ṣustice to it.
Allāh is the origin of every thing.
Existence as well as all attributes, qualities and the effects of
every thing begin from Him. All other "origins" originates from Him.
He stands over every thing in the real and comprehensive sense of
"standing", as explained above. There is no weakness or flaw in His
"standing"ṭ and other things cannot stand except by Him. This
attribute is reserved for Him in both ways: "Standing" cannot be
found except in Allāh, and Allāh is never anything but standing. The
former is understood by the syntax of the sentence: Allah is the
"Standing". The latter is understood by the next sentence: "Slumber
does not overtake Him nor sleep".
This discourse leads us to believe that the
name al‑qayyūm (The Standing) is the basis for all the
divine names which refer to His attributes of action in any way,
like the Creator, the Sustainer, the Originator, the Resurrector,
the Bestower of life, the Giver of death, the Forgiver, the
Compassionate, the Affectionate and so on." (al-Mīzān trans,
4:155-6).
Finally in connection with comments on al-qayyūm in
works of Tafsīr it may be noted that the Muslim scholar M.I. Siddiqi
in his recnt The Ninety Nine Names of Allah comments as
follows on al-Qayyūm in Qur’ān 3:2:
"Al‑Qayyūm
is an Attribute of Allah which means the Self‑Subsisting. He
sustains does not depend on anything, nor does He require any
support. He is Omnipotent, Omniscient, Creator and Sustainer of all
things. He is Almighty and the sole Provider. He sustains the
existence of everything and is Himself sustained or supported by no
body. By the mere mention of Life and Self‑Subsistence as His two
essential attributes the possibility of all co‑partnership with Him
is negatived outright. Allāh is called Al Qayyūm because He is the
Self‑Subsisting, Living Lord Who Ṣudgeth all. He who repeals this
Name will never fall into inadvertency." (1988:99)
Qayyūm and the divine Names and Attributes
In categorizing the divine attributes
(al-ṣifāt)
some Islamic theologians have made mention of the
ṣifā
eq \O() al-dhāt
or "Attributes of the [Divine] Essence". Various divine attributes
have been included within this grouping including al-qayyūm
-- as well, for example, as such attributes as
al-samad
("Transcendent Eternity") al-ḥaqq
("Reality") and al-quddūs ("Sublime Holiness"). Debate took
place as to whether these attributes were identical with the Essence
or eternally subsist within it .
The attribute al-qayyūm is, according to
prophetic tradition, reckoned among the 99
al-asmā' al-husnā'
("Most Beautiful Names" Q. 59:24). Abū Ḥamīd al-Ghazālī (d. 1111
CE) commented upon it as the 64th name, (so its place in the
tradition of 99 names deriving from Abū Huraira, (d.58/678) in his
al-Maqṣ
ad al-asnā fī sharḥ asmā' Allāh al-huṣnā
:
"64. Al-Qayyūm -- the Self-Existing.
You must know
that things are distinguished into what requires a subṢect, like
accidents and attributes, of which it is said that they do not
subsist in themselvesṭ and into what does not need a subṢect, of
which it is said that it subsists in itself, like substances. Yet
while a substance may have no need of a substratum in which to
subsist, given that it subsists in itself, it nevertheless remains
in need of things necessary for its existence, and they are
conditions for its existing. So it is not really subsistent in
itself, since it requires the existence of another to subsist, even
if it does not need a substratum [or subṢect, in which to subsist]
itself, whose subsistence would not be from another, and whose
existence would not be conditioned by the existence of another, it
would subsist in itself absolutely (al-qā’im bi-nafsihi mu
eq \O()lṭaq an).
If beyond that, every existent subsisted by virtue of it, such that
the existence and conservation of things would be inconceivable
without it, that would be the self‑existing one (al-qayyūm)
since it subsisted in itself and each thing subsisted by it. But
that is none other than God -- may He be praised and exalted. And
man's access to this attribute is in proportion to his detachment
from everything that is not God the most high." (text 1971:143ṭ
trans. al-Ghazālī, 1992:129-30).
Dealing with certain of the 99 most beautiful names
of God in the Kitāb al-tawḥīd of the
Bi
eq \O()ḥār al-anwār,
Muhammad Bāqir MaṢlisī (d.1111 / 1699) notes:
"`al-Qayyūm': al-qayyūm
["Self-Subsistent") and al-qiy[y]ām [' `Support'ṭ`Subsistence')
are two forms [after the pattern] al-fay``ūl and al-fi``āl
implying the personal actualization of something (min qumtu bi'l-shay').
Wherefore is one's endeavour (walliyatihi) realized through
one's own self (nafsika) for one's having taken charge (tawallayta)
involves both maintenance (sifxxx)
and restoration (ADD).
It [the sense of al-Qayyūm] has an implied syntactical dimension
(taqdīr) as is illustrated by their phrase: `What it implies is
neither wholly [summed up] by [the form] dayyūr nor
diyyār (Bihār
2 4:201).
At the end of that section of the Biḥār
al-anwār
dealing with supplications pertaining to the eschatological "Hour"
(sā`āt) Majlisī comments on the the phrase wa'l-qayyūm
(" and the Qayyūm!) contained in a supplication of the eleveth Imām,
Ḥasan al-Askarī (d.260/8??):
"`And the Qayyūm!' indicates the [All-Enduring]
Maintainer (al-qiyām), the Eternal (al-dā'im)
providing for all created things (bi-tadbīr al-khalq) and
sustaining them (
eq \O()XXXif eq \O()).
It is the form fay``ūl with reference to he who upholds
through a command (yaqūmu bi'l-amr) since he has maintained
(XXX
xif x)
it or One Existent [Subsistent] through His [own] Essence (al-Qā’im
bi'l-dhāt), through Whom all things subsist (qiyām).." (Biḥār
2 86:367)
In that section of Shaykh Taqī al-Dīn ibn Ibrahīm al-Kaf`amī's
al-Misbāh
("The Luminary") about the traditions relating to the interpretation
of the al-asmā' al-husnā'
("most beautiful names[of God]) the divine Name al-Qayyūm is
commented upon as follows -- the influence of Majlisī seems evident
(see Bihār
cited above):
"al-Qayyūm: He is al-Qā’im ("the
Eternal Overseer"), All-Enduring without cessation by virtue of His
Essence (al-Dā'im bi'lā zawāl). Through Him is all existence
maintained (qiy[y]ām) by virtue of His Creative power (īṢād), His providence (tadbīr) and His custodianship (
hifz).
Illustrative of this [are His words], "What, He Who Stands [Aware]
(al-Qā’im) over every soul for what it has earned?" (Q.
13:33a trans. Arb. 243)ṭ that is to say, `He is One Who establishes (yaqūmu) their well-being (arzāq), their ultimate fate
(uxāl) and their doings (a`māl).' And it is said that
He is responsible for (qayyim) everything through his
patronage (bi'l-ri`āya) of it. And the equivalent (mithlahu)
of qayyūm is qiy[y]ām (' `Support' `Subsistence') for
these two [forms] are of [the pattern] fay``ūl and al-fi``āl
implying the personal actualization of something (min qumtu bi'l-shay').
Wherefore is one's having taken charge (tawallayta) realized
by virtue of one's own self (nafsika) as also one's
self-restoration (`overhauling', `improvement' la
tahu)
and one's self-regulation (`making ammends'ṭ dabbartahu).
Thus do they say [in illustration], `It's [al-qayyūm's] sense is
neither [wholly summed up] as [the form] dayyūr nor diyyār.' And it is said, He is One fully aware (al-ā`lam) of every
affair (bi'l-umūr) [cf. Q.13:33] thus their saying, `He is
One Who matter'(huwa yaqūmu bi-hadhr'l-amr) which has the
sense, `He knows what is what' (yalam mā fīhi)." (al-Misbāh
[1994] 439).
It is interesting to note that the Divine attribute
al-qayyūm or verses in which it is contained have been
associated in Islamic theological tradition with the powerful and
mysterious al-ism al-a`
eq \O()am,
the `greatest name [of God]'. The early Sufi commentator Sahl al-Tustarī
(d. 283 /896) commenting on the opening verse[s] of the Surā of the
Family of `Imrān in his Tafsīr al-Qur’ān al-a
eq \O()īm
has it that "This
[text] is the greatest name of God (al-ism Allāh al-a`zam)
inscribed in heaven in green light extending from the East unto the
West" (Tafsīr 24). In the aforementioned commentary of Fakhr
al-Dīn Rāzī the Tafsīr al-kabīr ("The Great Commentary") this
same association of the greatest name is registered when it is
recorded that al-ḥayy
al-qayyūm
is reckoned by some to be "the greatest name
(al-ism al-a`ẓam)
among the names of God" (al-Tafsīr al-kabīr 7:5). Similar
statements are contained in other Islamic works.
In that section of Kaf`amī's
al-Mi
eq \O()ṣbāḥ eq \O()
("The Luminiary") about the traditions concerning
al-ism al-a`ẓam
(`greatest name'ṭ see Kaf`amī, Miṣbāḥ
408-418)
it is also, for example, recorded that this name is
yā
ḥayy yā qayyūm
(' "O Living One! O Self-Subsisting!")
or Allāh
al-
ḥayy al-qayyūm
(' Godṭ the Living Oneṭ the Self-Subsisting!). In addition the
greatest name is reckoned to be contained in two of those verses of
the three sūras of the Qur’ān which contain the divine Attribute
al-qayyūm ("The Family of `Imran", 3:2 and Sūra Tā Hā, 20:111ṭ
see above Kaf`amī, Miṣbāḥ
409).
An early treatise entitled al-Asmā' al-Idrīsiyya
("The Idrisite [Divine] Names") is ascribed to one of the
second-generation Muslims (al-tābi`ūn), the ascetic,
intellectual and Sufi, al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī (d.110/728). Among the
forty divine names allegedly revealed to the antediluvian prophet
Enoch (Idrīs) "the sixth name" is listed as "O qayyūm, He
that permitteth nothing to die that lieth within the domain of His
knowledge and is not wearied [destroyed, annihilated] thereby"
(Arabic in Abul Quasem 1991:XXṭ personal trans.). While what
immediately follows the divine name al-qayyūm seems to be
something of an early semi-anthropopathic explanation, the
immediately following commentary is distinctly anthropocentric:
"The virtue of the great name is that the man who is
suffering from forgetfulness so much that he cannot memorize
anything, should read this name twenty-seven times everyday before
the morningṭ his memory will be strong. If after reading it, a
person indicates his house, the house will remain safe from theives."
(trans. Abul Quasem 1991:39).
Evidently the quasi-magical recitation of the divine
name al-qayyūm was thought to actualize the stability or
sustenance of human memory and property.
al-Qayyūm in miscellaneous Islamic thinkers
Ibn Sīnā ( ' Avicenna, )
Goodman, 1992:79-80
"Surely no creationist worthy of the name would take
Razi's Five Eternals as an adequate expression of the world's
absolute dependence on the unique and absolute act of God. Thus Ibn
Sina reasons that only the idea of contingency can capture what is
at stake in the scriptural idea of creation.
As Rahman sums up the position,
all beings other than God are inherently infected
with contingency ... temporal beings, which are already
composites of form and matter . . . the heavenly bodies
which are composites of an eternal form and an eternal
matter . . . the transcendental Intelligences, which are
free from matter and are not subṢect to any change, yet
are composites of essence and existence . . . a contingent
can never shed its contingency at any stage of its career
and become self‑necessary like God.... This is the true
meaning of the famous metaphysical dictum "Existence is
accidental to essence." It means that the contingent is
never rid of its contingency.... This, of course, does not
mean that the contingent world is accidental in the entire
scheme of things, since it is necessarily involved in God's
self‑knowledge ... in the context of its cause the
contingent does attain necessityṭ it does not become
self‑necessary but "necessary‑by‑dine‑other," as Ibn Sina
invariably puts it. 63
Ibn Sina echoes the Qur'anic Throne verse
(2:255) by calling God Qayyūm, ever‑enduring or
self‑subsistent. The expression confirms for him the
scriptural legitimacy of linking the world's contingency
with God's Self‑sufficiency. Maimonides similarly
appropriates the name Shaddai interpreting it as
containing in small the idea of God's Self‑sufficiency,
which he takes to be the sense of the Tetragrammaton, a
miniature ontological argument, spelled out in the
revelation of God's most explicit name I AM THAT I AM, as
Maimonides [80->) glosses the passages where that name is
revealed to Moses. The Throne verse is particularly well
suited to Ibn Sina's purpose, since it links God's creation
and providential care with His everlastingness:
"He is the Living and Everlasting.... Neither sleep nor
slumber over take Him . . . His throne spreadeth vast over
heaven and earth. His are all things in heaven and earth .
. . and He is unwearied in preserving them." A modern
Muslim commentary writes of this verse, "Who can translate
its glorious meaning, or reproduce the rhythm of its well‑
chosen and comprehensive words. Even in the original Arabic
the meaning seems to be greater than can be expressed in
words.... The attribute of Qaiyum includes not only the idea
of'Self‑subsisting' but also the idea of 'keeping up and
maintaining all life.'"65 But the richness of meaning here
results in part from the accretion of layers of
interpretation deposited by the kalam and even by the
philosophy of Ibn Sina, which the glossator silently uses.
Indeed, the Qur`anic language itself is a translation
here, the Arabic al‑.Hayy, al‑Qayyūm echoing the Hebrew .Han
ve‑Qayyom (Berakhot 32a) and the la ta'khudbubu sinatun wa
la nawmun rendering the loyanum ye‑lo yishan of Psalms 121:
4, even to the extent of using the corresponding words.06
Rahman rightly reappropriates the sense that Ibn Sina adopted
and enriched.
Suhrawardī, Hayākil al-Nūr Per.
`Alī ibn Ahmad (Muḥyī
al-Dīn) al-Būnī (d. 632/ 1225 CE)
In his influential esoteric, magical quasi-qabbalistic
treatises al-Shams al-ma`ārif [al-kubrā] ("The Sun of Mystic
Meaning") al-Būnī several times comments upon the Divine Name al-Qayyūm.
In the course of commenting upon the `Most Beautiful Names of God'
(al-asmā' Allāh al-
eq \O()ḥusnā)
in section 64 of the second book of the Shams al-ma`ārif al-kubrā
(II:159ff) he writes regarding "His Name
al-Qayyūm"ṭ
"This Brilliant Name (al-ism al-azhar) and
dazzling, eminent mystery (al-sirr al-karīm al-bāhir) is
amomng the most frequent of His designations. God, exalted be He,
[through it] causeth to rise up (aqāma?) outwardly or inwardly His
command such that He is the Master [Possessor] of the condition of
sustainability [veracity?] (
sādiqat)
by virtue of which He maintains [ sets up, sustains] (aqāma)
all things. [Thereby] doth He establish indication of he whose name
is Ṣoseph (li-man kāna ismuhu yūsif) and in this reality is
not [at all] concealed. And know that sustainability (al-qayyūmiyya)
is consensed[concentrated] in Him (mukhtaxa bi-hi) --exalted be He.
He says -- exalted be He, "
Shaykh Muḥyī al-Dīn Ibn al-`Arabī (d. /1270).
`Abd al-Razzāq al-Kashānī (d.c. 730/1330)
The Shī`īte Sufi `Abd al-Razzāq al-Kashānī in his
Istilāhāt
al-Sūfīya
("Sufi Lexicon") under the letter
`Abd al-Karīm ibn Ibrāhīm al-Ṣīlī (d.c. 832/1428).
The divine attribute al-qayyūm is commented
upon in al-Insān al-Kāmil ("The Perfect Man..") of `Abd al-Karīm
al-Ṣilī
4.1 The Bāb's use of the term Qayyūm
The divine attribute Qayyūm is quite common
in the writings of the Bāb. Partly due to Sufi influence and its
being understood messianically (see below), it occurs much more
frequently in his Arabic and Persian writings than it does in the
Qur’ān. One of the main titles of the first maṢor work of the Bāb,
`the Bābī Qur’ān,' is Qayyyūm al-asmā'
(' QA) which might be
loosely and literally translated, "The `The Eternalality of the
Names'. The word qayyūm in this title is, however,
messianically charged. It is indicative of the expected,
eschatological Ḥusayn (raṢ`at-i Ḥusayn) for the numerical (abṢad)
valie of these two words is identical (Yūsuf ' 156 '
qayyūm).
Within the QA the word qayyūm is very common. It
occurs, for example, some four times in one sūra, Sūra 59 on Q.
12:58 -- perhaps because the name Ṣoseph (' Qayyūm ) occurs in this
verse ' "And Joseph's brethren (akhwat yūsuf) came and
presented themselves before him. He did not recognise them but they
did not recognise him." It (sūra 59) opens,
"Assuredly did God inform the servants of the Supreme
Name (al-ism al-akbar): `No God is there except Him,
al-
ḥayy
("the Living") al-qayyūm...'"
Later we read, "He is God, Who, no god is there except
Him, the Ultimately Real [True One] (al-ḥaqq),
for He is God, Who, in very truth, is One Self-Subsisting (qayyūm
an).." (p.235+237 cf. 94:379) and "countenances
shall assuredly be humbled before the Living, (al-ḥayy), al-Qayyūm.."
(a quote from Q. 20:111ṭ ibid). As in two of the verses of the Q.,
the Divine Attributes al-ḥ eq \O()ayy (the Living) and al-qayyūm
("the Self-Subsisting") follow each other in many verses of the QA
(.e.g. 66:265ṭ 69:279ṭ 85:341ṭ 89:357, 359ṭ 90:360ṭ 92:367ṭ 94:379ṭ
99:395ṭ 110:441).
There are a few passages in the QA in which the Bāb,
speaking with the voice of God identifies himself with the
Qayyūm:
"O people of the Throne! Hearken unto my call from
around this Gate. I, verily, am God, no God is there except Him. And
I am the Living One (al-hayy)
for I, in very truth, am the Qayyūm.." (QA 85:342)
"O people of Paradise! Hearken unto my call from the Sun
which radiateth in the ? of the seventh ocean upon the greatest line
(al-khaṭṭ
al-akbar)
above the mystery deriving from the fourth line, "I verily, am God,
the Living (al-Hayy), al-qayyūm with the Truth (al-haqq).."
(88:354)
"I, verily, am God, Who, no God is there except Me. I
created Paradise for the people of love through My Word (kalimatī),
this `Alid Arabian Youth in very truth the True one
(hadha al-ghulām
al-`arabī al-alawwī al-
eq \O()ḥaqq bi'l-ḥaqq).
I originated the Fire (al-nār) from the shadow of Paradise
for the people who dispute His Word and His Book which was sent down
on the part of God, the True One. And I, verily, am al-Qayyūm,
manifest unto all the worlds" (QA 90:363)
Qayyūm in Bābī eschatology
The earliest maṢor work of the Bāb, his Tafsīr
sūra yūsuf ("Commentary on the Sūra of Joseph" mid. 1844) is
also known as both the Aḥsan al-qiṣaṣ
(`Best of Stories') after Qurān 12:3 and the Qayyūm al-asmā'.
Exactly why it has this latter designation is not, at present,
entirely clear though it is clear that it is related to the fact
that Qayyūm and Joseph (Ar. Yūsuf) have the same
abjad (numerical) valueṭ namely 156:
Qayyūm ' Q+Y+U+M ' 100+10+6+40
' 156.
Yūsuf
' Y+S+U+F ' 10+6+60+80
' 156.
In the XXX sūra of this lengthy Arabic voume the prophet
Ṣoseph is directly typologically equated with Imām Ḥusayn
(d.61/680), the martyred grandson of the Prophet Muhammad
whose eschatological "return" was expected by Shī`ī Muslims. The
multi-faceted Qayyūm al-asmā' may thus, on one level, be
understood to be indicative of the new divine Ṣoseph (' qayyūm) or
the eschatological returned Husyan. As a manifestation of the Qayyūm
(who follows the Qā’im) he is a divine figureṭ one around whom all
the names of God revolve.
There exists an important Tablet of the Bāb in reply a
question posed by his disciple Mullā Muhammad Baqīr (the
thirteenth `Letter of the Living') about the Bābī messiah figure
man yuẓhiru-hu Allāh.
It commences,
"The Beauty-Splendour which cometh from God (al-bahā'
min Allāh) -- exalted be His Remembrance -- be upon Him Whom God
shall make manifest (man yuẓhiru-hu Allāh)
-- exalted be His command -- and upon whomsoever is created through
His command, for naught can be seen in Him except what God hath
caused to be manifested unto Him, through Him, by virtue of His
Utterance, `Verily, no God is there save Him, the Help in Peril, the
Self-Subsisting (al-qayyūm)... And I say that He, verily, is
the Qayyūm: for that one is a Manifestation of one of those
staunch through the unfolding of His Oneness …(qawwām bisāt
ahadiyyatihi)..."
(see Kashf al-ghitā,
439ff).
The Bāb also uses the term qayyūm in a
chronologically oriented eschatolocial sense. In the Arabic Bayān.
He writes,
"When you hear mention of the one we shall manifest in
the name of the Qā’im, anticipate the difference between al-Qā’im
and al-qayyūm. Then you shall attain unto all good in the
year nine [1269/1852-3]." (VI:15, 27 trans. Mac. 198?:135ṭ
cf. Māzandarānī AA 4:529).
Similarly, in the very late Haykal al-dīn ( March 1850?ṭ the
Bāb's last maṢor work) we read,
"Rise up! when you hear the name of the Qā’im and when
you make mention thereof. And you shall witness all good ( ADD)
between the difference of al-Qā’im and al-qayyūm
which is numerically (`adadan) in nine years." (VI:15 trans.
Mac 198?:135).
As we shall see the messianic siginificance of the
numerological difference between al-Qā’im and al-qayyūm
was specifically explained by Bahā’-Allāh in one of his Persian
Tablets.
5.0 The Bahā'ī interpretation of the terms Qā’im and Qayyūm.
Bahā’-Allāh in numerous writings has applied the term
Qā’im to the Bāb and had also, many times applied the rank of Qayyūm
as the eschatological advent of divinity. In one untitled Tablet he
states, "Various individuals of the people of the Sunna and the [Shī`ī]
congregation (nafsī āz ahl-i sunnat va Ṣamā`at) have in one
way or another supplicated for the advent of the messianic person
and era (Qā’imiyya). At the moment of the nearness of this event
some 100,000 persons had submitted unto him [the Bāb] and risen up
in his service..."
5.1 Bahā’-Allāh's use of the term Qayyūm
In certain Tablets of Bahā’-Allāh both the words Qā’im
and Qayyūm are used as attributes of God -- or the Manifestation of
God. A good example of this is the Lawḥ-i anta al-kāfī
("Long Healing Prayer"). In line nine of this prayer God is
addressed as Qā’im (translated "Self-Subsisting by Shoghi
Effendi) while in line twenty He is accorded the attribute Qayyūm
(translated "All-Compelling"!) being followed by an unusual
(essentially synonymous and grammatically parallel) Arabic form
Day`ūm (sic.! which is derived from al-dā'im meaning
"Eternal") translated by Shoghi Effendi as (God the) "Ever Abiding"
( see Tasbī
eq \O()ḥ,
208-9 trans. Bahá'í Prayers 1985:92,94).
In the novel forms of the neo-basmalah which head
various Tablets of Bahā’-Allāh al-qayyūm sometimes along
with al-muhaymun ("the Help in Peril") may be found. This is
the case, for example, with a prayer to be recited on leaving one's
house (see Tasbīḥ
235). These closely same divine attributes are often associated in
Bahā'ī devotional writings (cf. Qur’ān?) and frequently occur within
or at the end Bahā'ī prayers and devotional texts. This is the case
at the end of Bahā’-Allāh's prayer to be recited on departing from
the city (Tasbḥī
h.
235).
An early (Iraq period?) epistle of Bahā'-Allāh
commenting on an alchemical discourse of Maria the Ṣewess or Copt (INBA
66:187-205. cf. MA 4:26-45)
contains a
theologically significant opening paragraph which make it clear that
these terms do not apply to the transcendent and unknowable
divinity.
"The book (kitāb) was received at the Court of
Oneness and its contents perused. Unto God be praise that thou wast
illumined, in this Merciful Dawn (fajr-i rahmānī),
with the splendours of the lights of the Sun of Gnosis. Yet, from
the True One -- exalted be His Characteristics -- thou didst
request that thou be everlastingly adorned with the Ethiopian
ornament [robe] (
tarāz-i habashī)
and be related to that sanctified shade (nush??) since the
Divine Cause (amr-i ilāhī) is related thereto.
The Might of the Everlasting One
(samadānī)
is superlatively great! Nay rather, He is above everything great
and supremely great. Greater is He than every Qā’im ("Ariser"/Shī`ī
Messiah) and Qayyūm (“Self-subsisting theophany”). Naught
can one vision in Him save the mystery of Divinity (al-uluhiyya)
and the absolute Oneness (al-aḥadiyya
al-XXXirf).
We beseech God that he cause the worldly eyes (?) to be opened in
order that they might come to understand and bear witness that there
is no god except Him. Eternally was He, in the Oneness of His
Essence, sanctified above even His Own Being. Everlastingly is He,
in the Self-Subsistence of His Own Self, sanctified above the
mention of aught besides Himself for He is the One Absolutely Pure
(al-mutanazza) by virtue of His Transcendent Existence
(bi-kaynūniyyat).
Exalted is the depiction of the mere
possibilities of the Singularity of His Essence above the
characterization of the of created things. Sanctified is He by
virtue of His Personal Identity ("I-ness" bi-āniyyā) from the
befitting mention of the inhabitants of the earth and the heavens --
this relative to the Cause and the creation (amr wa'l-khalq)
and to both the Beginnings and the Ends (fī'l-badāyyāt
wa'l-nihāyyāt). He, verily, is King of Names and Attributes
and clear of the benefits (alā't?) and what may be intimated in
symbols (al-ishārāt).
Here Bahā’-Allāh distances of transcendent Unknowable
Essence of Divinity from the divine attribute Qayyūm which is
de-transcendentalized. The Qayyūm here is Bahā’-Allāh who came in
the station of Divinity. The de-transcendentalization of Divines
designation and epithets in the light of Bahā’-Allāh's claims is
quite common. As on the "Day of God" Bahā’-Allāh the Manifestation
of God is Divine, the Divine Unknowable Reality is made wholly
other, utterly transcendent. God is not a messianic figure, the
Qā’im (cf. the Bāb) neither is He BA as the advent of "God" the
Qayyūm.
Bahā’-Allāh specifically comments on the word al-qayyūm
on the course of listing a number of key divine Attributes
which commence with the Arabic letter "Q" (' abṢad 100)
(al-qāf)
in a Tablet commenting upon the alphabetic implications of the
basmalah and first two verses of the Sūra of the Pen ( Q.
68:1-2 ' Bismillah al-raḥman al-raḥim. Nūn. wa'l-Qalam!"
INBMC 56:24-42)ṭ
"And additionally the Name al-Qayyūm which God
made to be an Overseer over everything (Qā’im an
`alā kulli shay') and a Sovereign [Reality] over all things
(sulhān
an `alā kulli shay'). He it is Who, through His
rising up for the Cause (bi-qiyyāmihi `alā amrihi), the
latter [eschatological] resurrection (al-qiyāmat al-ukhrā)
became evident and whomsoever inhabited heaven and earth were
unsettled and the dwellers of the cities of Names (madā'in al-asmā')
bewailed [lamented]." (INBMC 56:31).
Theophany and chronological prophecy: al-Qā’im and al-qayyūm
As mentioned above, Bahā’-Allāh in one of his Persian
Tablets responds to a question about the difference between al-Qā’im
and al-Qayyūm (see citation in Mā'idih 4:174 and
Athar 4:530-1). He explains the word Qā’im and Qayyūm
in numerological terms relative to the time of his advent after the
Bāb's declaration in 1260/1844.
"As for what thou
hast asked about the difference between al‑Qā’im and al‑qayyum. Know that the
difference between these two names is just as thou observe between
al‑a`ẓam
("the most great") and al‑`aẓīm
("the great"). And this is what My Beloved One [the Bāb] indicated
aforetime. We have mentioned this in the Kitāb-i badī`
and naught was intended by this except that the people would be
informed of the fact that He [the promised one] to be made manifest
is to be one greater (a`ẓam)
than what hath [previously] appeared (ẓahara)
[as the religion of the Bab or the Bāb]. And He, the Qayyūm, is superior to the Qā’im.
This is assuredly the Truth unto which testifieth the Tongue of the
All‑Merciful in the heaven of the Bayān (jabarut al‑bayān).
Know! then be capable of being detatched through Him from all the
worlds.
Wherefore doth the Qā’im call out from the
right-side of the heavenly Throne and proclaim:
`O Concourse of the Bayān! By God! This is assuredly the Qayyūm. He
hath come unto you with manifest sovereignty. And this is assuredly
that "Most Great One" (al-a`ẓam) before whose Countenance (Face
wajh) eveyone most great (a`ẓam)
and great (`aẓīm)
prostrates. Then appropriate not the Greatest Name
(al-ism al-a`ẓam)
lest ye manifest arrogance before the Manifestations of His
Sovereignty (ẓuhūrāt
sulṭānihi).
And never attempt to gain ascendency over the Qayyūm save for the
sake of his abnegation (li-fanā'ihi) in His Court....
Say: `O People (qawm)! This is assuredly the Qayyūm. He,
verily, is situated beneath your COMPLETE
So know thou that the numerical difference [between al-Qā’im
and al‑Qayyūm] is 14, and this amounts to the number of al‑bahā' ('
14) when the hamza
( ء
)
is reckoned as six (B '2 + H ' 5 + A ' 1 +
' ' 6 Total ' 14) for its form (shakl) is that of a six
( ء
) in the alphabetical mode (qā'idat al‑hindisa[t]).
And if thou recite "al‑Qā’im" and find that the difference (from
Qayyūm) is five (5) then this indicates [the letter] al‑hā' (abjad
'
5) within [the word] al‑Bahā'. And relative to this station (maqām)
[in this manner) does al‑Qayyūm rise up upon the Throne of His
name al‑Qā’im just as the letter hā' (' 5) riseth
up above [the letter] wāw (' 6).
And on one [another] level (maqām)
the [letter] hamza of Qā’im amounts to six (6)
according to the alphabetical computation (hisāb al‑hindisa[t].)
it yields the difference which is nine (9). And furthermore, it is
this Name (' bahā' ' abjad 9 or 14). And through this six [nine]
(cf. AA 4:531 al-tis`a) He -- exalted be His sovereignty ‑‑
intended the theophany of the nine (ẓuhūr
al‑tis`ah).
On this level thou shalt see no difference in the appearance of the
two names (ẓāhir
al‑ismayn
' Qā’im and Qayyūm)..
By My Life! This difference is a sign of My
Greatness for such as do circumambulate the heaven of Bahā' ! This
do We demonstrate for thee in concrete (ẓāhir)
terms. The inward reality (bāṭin) of the significance of His
position as the Qayyūm is is that the name al-Qayyūm surpasseth
Qā’im in being more elevated (a`raf) though counted among the
maintainers (al-Xāfixīn)??
....
CORRECT AND COMPLETE THIS
....[Persian] Know thou that the intention of the Primal
Point regarding the [numerical] difference between al-Qā’im and al-Qayyūm
and [between] A`ẓam and `Aẓ)īm was the Grandeur (`most-greatness'ṭa`ẓamiyyat)
of the forthcoming theophany (ẓuhūr-i ba`d). Regarding the greatness
(`aẓīm)
and the position of the Qayyūm (qayyūmiyyat) of the
eschatological [latter] theophany (ẓuhūr-i
ākhir)
above the Qā’im and the difference between the "most great"
(a`ẓ
am)
and the "great" (`aẓīm)
it relates to the number of the theophany which is nine... And this
Grandeur (a`ẓamiyyat)
and Qayyūm-hood (qayyūmiyyat) is manifest and evident in this
theophany (ẓuhūr) and whatsoever was made manifest on His part. For
example, the intention of Qayyūm is the theophany of nine (ẓuhūr-i
tis`ah) and He is made manifest with the name of Bahā'. And the
magnitude of that Grandeur (a`ẓamiyyat)
is evidenced by the letters (ḥurūf). On one level the hamza
of Bahā' is calculated as six and that of Qā’im as one. So ponder
ye upon this for such as signs for the mystic knowers (al-`arifīn)."
(Mā'idih 4:174).
____________________________________________________________________________________
In this passage Bahā’-Allāh seems to be saying that the
Bāb's references to the difference between al-Qā’im and
al-qayyūm ultimately indicate the number nine which has
messianic and chronological import. It indicates his personal
theophany as Bahā' the abjad numerical value of which is nine. It
was also in the year nine (1269/1852-3) that his call took
place or the messianic kull al-khayr ("all good") was
realized. The
abjad value of Qā’im is 142
(
ء
hamza ' 1) but counting hamza as 6 it is 147 (Q
' 100 + A'1 + ' '
1 [6] + M ' 40> total ' 142 or 147]) which is numerically 14 or 9
less than that of qayyūm (Q ' 100+Y' 10+W '6+ M'40> total'
156). Hamza is normally alocated an
abjad value of one
but as it resembles one of the shapes of the number six it may be
taken as abjad numerical value six.
Difference ' 5
Q'100 + A'1 +
ء
'
1 +Y' 10 + M'40 Total ' 151.
Difference' 9 Q'100 + A'1 +
ء
' '1 +M'40 Total ' 147
Difference ' 0 Q' 100+ y'10+ '
ء
'6 +M'40 Total' 156
Bahā’-Allāh's Evolving Claims
During the early to mid-1850's a good many Bābīs made
exalted claims for themselves and directly or indirectly challenged
the by-no-means universally acknowledged leadership role of Mīrzā
Yahyā.
Bahā’-Allāh however, right up until the end of the Iraq period,
supported his half-brother and spoke of himself as a leading Bābī.
He, to quote Shoghi Effendi, "... appeared in the guise of ... one
of the foremost disciples of the Báb ..."
In a number of his writings of the Iraq period
Bahā’-Allāh speaks of himself as naught but a servant of God and was
viewed by some Bābīs as the "return" of the Imām Husayn. His early,
semi-secret claim to Husayniyya would not necessarily have been
viewed as extraordinary, in the light of the plethora of divine and
exalted ranks claimed by leading Bābīs (e.g. Quddūs). The Bāb
himself had accorded "divinity" or exalted stations upon a veritable
pleroma of true believers. Many leading Bābīs were reckoned to be
the "return" of the various Imāms or "people of the House".
At one point in the early
Tablet of All Food (Lawh-i
Kull al-Ta`ām
, late 1853 -> early 1854 C.E.) Bahā’-Allāh states: "I have claimed
naught but servitude to God, the True One ..."
Similar statements are to be found in many other pre-1866 Tablets of
Bahā’-Allāh, including the
Sūrat al-Kifāya (c.1855?), Lawh-i
Madīnat al-Tawhīd
(c.1857?), Sahīfa-yi Shattīyya (c.1858?)
and in other untitled letters. In one untitled letter of Bahā’-Allāh
we read:
"Say: O People! This is the servant of God. And He is naught save
the like of anyone among you."
Such clear declarations of servitude did not, however,
eclipse Bahā’-Allāh's claiming, when appropriate, divine inspiration
and speaking of himself in very exalted terms. It was one thing to
claim "Divinity" and "Godhood" -- after the fashion of a good many
God-intoxicated Sufis -- and another to explicitly claim
independent Prophethood or to be the promised one of the Bayān,
man yuzhiruhu'llāh, capable of abrogating the Bayān and
inaugurating a new religious dispensation. The Bābī and later Bahā'ī
barber and poet, Ustad Muhammad `Alī Salmānī, who visited
Baghdad in 1862 observed that Bahā’-Allāh "... would say
whatever the Manifestation of God [independent Prophet] would say,
but in all he uttered there was no "I am He!".
The encounter (meeting) with God on the "Day of God"
In one of his Tablets BA states that certain of the
"People of the Bayān" (Bābīs) obṢect to his claim to Divinity (uluhiyya).
This in spite of the fact that it is stated "in all the [sacred]
books, `On that Day His Holiness the Qayyūm will utter the word[s],
I, verily, I am God..". Proof texts are then cited from Qur’ān (
), Islāmic traditions and the Bible (Isaiah 2:11b,10 35:1-2). (MA
7:207-8).
The Abrahamic religions and the eschatological advent of God.
The sacred scriptures and traditons of the Semitic
Religions -- Ṣudaism, Christianity and Islam etc -- all contain
eschatological predictions of the ultimate advent of the Godhead
Himself. He is to appear in person in eschatological times.
"O people of Cities and Villages! Hearken unto that which the
Tongue [of Grandeur] crieth out the Kingdom of Exposition (malakūt
al-bayān) on behalf of He Who causeth all things to exclaim, `He
verily, there is no God except I Myself (anā) the Unique, the
All-Informed. He, assuredly, is the One Who caused the sacred books
(al-kutub) to be revealed and Who dispatched (arsal)
the Messengers (al-rusul ' `Manifestations of God' ) in view
of the fact that (`alā ) "He, verily, there is no God except
I Myself, the ?, the Wise" (INBMC 98:[cols. 66-68] col. 66.)
Islam
Seal of the Prophets
In defending the legitimacy of his claim to divinity in
the Law
eq \O()-i Ṣawhar-i eq \O() amd,
Bahā’-Allāh also quotes and comments on that line of the "blessed
Sermon of the Gulf which shone forth from the horizon of the heaven
of guardianship [Imam `Alī] in which the advent of "He Who conversed
with Moses" (mukallim mūsa) on Sinai is mentioned. He
stresses the importance of this prophecy and declares that through
it "all the peoples of the world were given the glad-tidings of the
[eschatological] manifestation of God (zuhūr Allāh)."
Referring to himself, he explains:
"Today He Who conversed with Moses (mukallim mūsa) hath
appeared and hath cried out, 'I, verily am God.'"
That a Prophet of God would be made manifest and make
such claims is, Bahā’-Allāh also argues, anticipated in various
hadīth ("Islamic sacred traditions") and quranic texts. The
"Day of Resurrection" is the time of the rising up of the
"Manifestation of the Self of God" (mazhar-i nafs Allah).
The the thrid person to
the first person:
the word
huwa -> anā
"Say:
The Word (al-kalimat) hath assuredly appeared which
hath made your nuqabā' ("nobles") and your `ulamā'
("learned") to fleeṭ this [claim of] "I am" (anā')
about which We gave you news aforetime.
He, assuredly, is the Mighty, the All-Knowing" (IQ:235)
Incarnation
In his Lawh-i mīlād-i ism-i a'zām ("Tablet of
the Nativity of the Greatest Name"ṭ cited in Mā'idih 4:342-346)
Bahā’-Allāh, expressing an exalted theophanology wrote, "He [Bahā’-Allāh]
hath been born Who neither begeteth nor is begotten." (See Qur’ān
112:3ṭ originally designed to counter Christian incarnationalism [p.
344]). This claim of Bahā’-Allāh appears to be a striking
illustration of the Bahā'ī doctrine that whatsoever is said about
God in the Holy Books revolves around the transcendent Self (nafs)
of the Manifestation or Messenger of God- God in his essence being
unknowable and absolutely transcendent.
Lawh-i Ṣawhar-i hamd
("The Tablet of the Essence of Praise")
This unpublished Persian Epistle which is largely
addressed to the people of the world collectively opens with a
paragraph in which God's supreme transcendence and essential
incomprehensibility are clearly and categorically set forth. The
next few paragraphs contain many points of interest and serve to
underline the elevated status of the Manifestations or Messengers of
God. The "Blessed and Primordial Word (kalimat) which shone
forth from the Dawning-Place of the Will (mashiyya) of the
King of the Divine Oneness [God]" as the agent of creation is
equated with the nafs ( divine "Self") of the Manifestation
of God. As the exclusive intermediaries between God and creation,
the great Prophets represent the Godhead and express His divinity.
Prophecies about the eschatological advent of God refer to them and
to Baha'u'llah in particular for, as the "Most Great Theophany" (zuhūr-i
a`zam), he has been manifested in every age and cycle with a
particular Name, and appeared on the "Day of God." Despite the fact
that "He Who Conversed with the Speaker (mukallim-i kalim)
[Moses]" disclosed the "Greatest Name" (ism-i a'zam) or
identity of Bahā’-Allāh, souls have remained veiled from him.
About half way through his Tablet of the Essence of
Praise, Baha'-Allah mentions how different religious factions have
been held back from faith on account of his various claims to "Prophethood"
(nubuwwa), "Guardianship" (wilāya), and "Divinity" (uluhiyya). He
expresses astonishment that Ṣews, Christians, and other communities
in possession of a Holy Book obṢect to his claim to divinity and
writes:
"Say: O thou
who art dumb! Hast thou not heard the Call of God from the [Sinaitic]
Tree (al- shaṢara) raised up from the Luminous Spot (al-buq'a
al-nura), "No God is there except Him." Then consider this and
be not such as hearken but fail to comprehend." It is implied
that Bahā'u'llah's claim to divinity was foreshadowed on Sinai.
6.0 Bahā’-Allāh claim to be the Qayyūm ("Deity
Self-Subsisting")
Surāt al-asmā'
[?]
"Rise up O people! for the victory of God. The Qayyūm
about whom ye were promised by the Qā’im hath come unto you. Through
him the Greatest Convulsion (`Earthquake', al-zalzāl al-akbar)
and the Most Great Terror (al-faza` al-a`
eq \O()am)
(cf. Q. 21:103 ' "Greatest Terror" [al-faza` al-akbar] )
hath come to pass. Through his theophany the sincere ones (al-makhlisūn)
are reṢoicing while the such as Ṣoin partners with God are burned up
in the fire of remorse (? nār al-ghill). (IQ:78 ' Surāt al-asmā'?)
Lawḥ-i
`Abd al-Wahhāb
"Say: O people! Fear God, the Day hath come and the Qayyūm crieth
out with the Most elevated Call.." (AA 4:530)
Untitled Tablets
In one untitled Tablet to Zayn al-}bidīn
the new basmalah includes the names of God / Bahā’-Allāh, al-Qā’im
and al-Qayyūm
"He is the Perspicuous (al-mubīn), al-Qā’im
(the Eternal), al-Qayyūm.
O Zayn
al-`Abidīn! Know thou that everything that thou hast heard
about the beginning of the Cause was made manifest through
My Name, the Mighty, the Powerful, the Qayyūm... (AA 4:530).
In certain Tablets al-Qayyūm is regarded as a name
empowered by and specific to Bahā’-Allāhṭ
"In His
name, the Supremely Powerful (al-muqtadir) over all things.
He, verily, hath unsealed the hidden wine through My Name
al-qayyūm. Blessed be such persons as are informed!.." (AA
4:530)
"..Inform ye the learned and all their multifarious minions
[levels] (al-`ulūm wa shu`ūnātihā) then hold ye fast in the
name of the Qayyūm which hath shone forth from this
luminous horizon.." (IQ:230-240 [233]).
"He is
the Most Ancient (al-aqdam), the Most Great (al-a`zam).
[This
is] A missive which sent down by One Munificent. He
assuredly giveth the world the glad-tidings of the theophany
of the greatest Name (al-ism al-a` zam) ... whoso hath
risen up at [news of] the Call [of Bahā’-Allāh] is of the
companions of al-Qayyūm (ashāb
al-qayyūm) according to a preserved Tablet (fī lawh
Xafī).." (AA 4:530).
APPENDIX 1
ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS OF Al-QAYYUM
The following are a few examples from western and
Muslim translators (the translation of the three Qur’ānic verses
will be successively indicated unless an identical rendering occurs
'X3) follwed by a variety of examples from miscellaneous sources.
REORGANIZE THIS
Western
"the self-subsisting"
(x3)
George Sale (1734>)
"the Eternal"ṭ "the Merciful"ṭ "Self-subsisting"
Ṣ.M. Rodwell (1861)
"the self-subsistent" (x3)
E.H. Palmer (1880)
"the Everlasting" (x2)ṭ "the Eternal"
A.Ṣ.
Arberry (1955)
Muslim
"the Eternal"
(x3)
M.M. Pickthall (1930)
"the Self-subsisting [supporter of all], the Eternal"ṭ
"The Self-Subsisting [the Supporter of all], the
Eternal"ṭ
"The Self-Subsisting,[the Sustainer] Eternal".
Yūsuf `Alī (1937/8>) "the Eternal One"ṭ "Ever-existent
One"ṭ "Ever-existent"
N.Ṣ. Dawood (1956 [68]3)
"the Self-subsisting by Whom all things
subsist"
M.H. Tabātabā'ī (19733[tr. 82])
"the Eternal" ṭ "Eternal Sustainer [of everything]"(x2)
M.M. Khatib (1984)
"the self-subsisting, ever-sustaining"(x2), "the
Eternal".
Ahmed
Ali (1984[86]2
Miscellaneous
"The Self-subsisting
(God)".. Ṣ. Penrice
(1873:122)
"The
Self-subsisting"
A. Ṣeffery (1939:244)
"the Eternal
Sovereign"... M. M. Ayoub
(1984:246)
"the
Self-Subsisting"
M.I. Siddiqi (1988:99)
"the
Everlasting"...
C. Glassé (1989:58)
TO BE COMPLETED AND CORRECTED
