Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Bahá'u'lláh, Commentary on the Surah of the Sun, bahai-library.com.
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Commentary on the Surah of the Sun
Bahá'u'lláh
Juan Cole, translator
1994/2000
original title
Tafsír-i-Súriy-i-Va'sh-Shams
1880s(?)
see translator's introduction
1. 2000 version (see 1994 version below)
Download: bahaullah_surih_vash-shams_cole.pdf.
2. 1994 version
Qur'an 91, The Surah of the Sun
By the sun and its noonday brightness!
By the moon when it followeth it!
By the day when it revealeth its glory!
By the night when it enshroudeth it!
By the heaven and that which built it!
By the earth and that which spread it forth!
By a soul and Him who fashioned it!
And informed it of its wickedness and its piety;
Blessed now is he who hath kept it pure,
and undone is he who hath corrupted it!
Thamud in their insolence rejected their prophet,
When the greatest wretch among them rushed up:
Said the Apostle of God to them, "The Camel of God! Let her drink."
But they treated him as an impostor and hamstrung her.
So their Lord destroyed them for their crime, and visited all alike:
Nor feared He the issue thereof.
[Translation based on Rodwell, but modified by Cole, with reference to Arberry.]
Bahá'u'lláh's Commentary on the Surah of the Sun
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate
Praise be to God, Who hath set the dove of eloquence, perched
among the twigs of the tree of explanation, to weaving her divers
melodies.
Her lyrics tell of how there is no God but God, Who hath brought new
beings into existence, and created the contingent world by means of His
Primal Will, whereby He hath caused to exist all that was and yet shall
be.
May God be glorified, Who hath embellished the heavens of reality with the
sun of metaphorical meanings and mystical insight, as inscribed by the Pen
of the Most High. Sovereignty belongeth to God, the Omnipotent, the
Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting. He hath brought forth the Most Great
Ocean, which uniteth in itself the waters flowing from the spring of the
letter H, which flow into the Most Ancient Name (Baha), from which the
Primal Point was separated off, and whereby the unifying Word hath
become manifest and both spiritual truth and religious law were revealed.
The upholders of the divine unity broke through its surface and soared up
into the heavens of ecstasy and divine presence. The sincere ones thus
attained the beatific vision of their Lord, the All-Glorious, the Devoted
Friend.
Then peace and blessings be upon the Dawning-Place of the Most
Beautiful Names and the Most Exalted Attributes, in every letter of Whose
appellation the Divine Names are treasured up, and whereby existence
itself, whether visible or invisible, hath been adorned. He was called
Muhammad in the realm of names, and Ahmad in the Kingdom of eternity.
And peace be upon His House and His Companions, from this day until
that upon which the Tongue of Grandeur shall speak forth. Sovereignty
belongs to God, the One, the All-Conquering.
Your letter reached Us, and We have perused it, with all its
allusions. We beseech God to aid thee in doing that which He loves, that
He might bring thee nigh unto the shores of that sea from which rise up the
waves of the Name of thy Lord, the Most High. Every drop thereof saith,
"There is no God but God, the Creator of all Names and of the Heavens
above."
O questioner, if thou seekest the Sacred Fold and the Sinai of divine
proximity, then cleanse thy heart of all else but Him. Remove the sandals
of thy suppositions and idle fancies, that thou mightest see with the eye of
thine heart the effulgences of God, the Lord of the Throne and of the
Earth. For this is the day of unveiling and witnessing. Separation hath
passed away, and union hath arrived. This is from the bounty of thy Lord,
the Cherished, the Beloved. Leave posing questions and seeking answers
to the people of this earth, and ascend by the wings of abnegation into
those skies wherein thou shalt draw nigh to the clemency of thy Lord, the
Merciful, the Compassionate.
Say: O people, the Primal Point hath been revealed, the Universal
Word hath been brought to fruition, and the kingdom of God, the Help in
Peril, the Self-Subsisting, hath been made manifest. Say: O people, ye
disport yourselves in a puddle, oblivious to the sweet sea that billoweth
before your faces. What aileth ye, that ye comprehend not? Do ye speak
forth with the knowledge ye possess when He hath appeared, Who knew
the Point of Knowledge that generated all things, and to which they all
returned? From this Point did issue God's own words of wisdom, and
sciences that yet remain concealed in the treasuries of the purity of thy
Lord, the Exalted, the Almighty. Leave allusions to those trapped in them,
and set out toward that station wherein ye shall perceive the fragrances of
knowledge from His heavens. Thus counseleth ye this Servant, every
member, every artery, of whose body testifieth that there is no God save
He. He ever subsisted in the zenith of His might and glory, and in the
heights of His honor and radiance. The Ones He sent with truth and
guidance are the Dawning-places of His revelation to all creation, and the
Daysprings of His inspiration among His servants. Through them were the
mysteries unveiled, and the divine Laws legislated, and by Them was
realized the Cause of God, the All-Powerful, the Mighty, the
Unconstrained. No God is there but He, the Omniscient, the All-Knowing.
O questioner, know thou that the people pride themselves upon
knowledge, and praise it, whereas this Servant complaineth of it. For
without it Baha would not have been imprisoned in Akka with extreme
abasement, nor would He have drunk from the cup of woes proffered by
His enemies. Eloquence hath banished Me, and the science of rhetoric
brought Me low. My mention of conjunction [union with God] hath torn
Me limb from limb. My succinctness hath provoked a long-winded
affliction, grammar hath deprived Me of all comfort, and syntax hath
disordered the pleasures of My heart. My knowledge of God's mysteries
hath become a chain about my neck. Given all this, how can I respond to
your question concerning the verses revealed from the heavens of majesty
and grandeur, especially since the hearts of the discerning have failed to
comprehend them, and the minds of the sagacious never soared into the
heavens of their meanings?
My pinions have been clipped by the shears of envy and rancor.
Should this broken bird find wings, He would fly into the sky of rhetoric
and exposition and warble on the twigs of the tree of knowledge a song
that would lift up the hearts of the sincere ones into the firmament of
longing and attraction. They would then witness the effulgences of their
Lord, the Mighty, the Bestower. At this time, however, I am forbidden to
uncover what was hidden, release what was repressed or speak openly of
what was concealed. We must withhold it rather than revealing it. Were
We to speak of what God hath taught Us by His grace, the people would
back away from Us and flee, save for those who have imbibed the elixir of
life from the chalice of the words of their Lord, the All-Merciful.
For, every word sent down from the heavens of revelation upon the
prophets and messengers hath been filled with the sacred waters of
figurative meaning, explanation, wisdom and exposition. Blessed are they
who drink thereof. Since We have perceived in thee the fragrance of love,
We shall reply to thee briefly and with concision. Thus mightest thou sever
thyself from those who interpret all scripture metaphorically, who have
opposed the truth and its mystery and cling instead to their own
conjectures and vain imaginings, even though aforetime it was revealed that
"Conjecture availeth nothing against the truth" and in another place
"Some conjecture is a sin."
Know that the sun mentioned in this blessed surah hath divers
meanings. At the level of primacy and unity, and in the city of pre-existent
divinity, it is one of God's mysteries, one of his sanctuaries, stored
away in
His treasure hold, concealed in His knowledge, and sealed by God's own
seal. No one is informed thereof save the One, the Unique, the
Omniscient.
For in this station the sun signifieth the Primal Will and the
illumination of
divine oneness that by means of its Self sheddeth its effulgence upon the
horizons. Whoever approached it was illumined thereby just as, when the
sun riseth, its rays encompass the world, all save those surfaces that remain
veiled from it by some obstacle. Consider the land unencumbered by trellis
or wall: it is irradiated by the sun, whereas walls cast a shadow that
prevents the earth from receiving this effulgence. In the same way, behold
the sun of reality. It sheddeth the light of meanings and explanation upon
beings. Whoso turneth toward it is rendered luminous by its rays, and such
a one's heart gloweth with its light. Whoso turneth away will never have
any portion therein, for the veil of self and passion hath intervened, and
such a one remaineth far from the emanations of the sun of reality that
flashed forth from the horizons of the heaven of heavens.
Then, in another station, it refereth to the prophets and pure
ones of
God, for they are the suns of His names and attributes amid his creation.
Were it not for them, no one would have been illumined by the mystical
knowledge of God. As you see, every nation on earth hath been
enlightened by one of these brightly shining suns. Whoso denieth them
remaineth deprived. For instance, those of God's servants who followed
the Christ were irradiated by the sun of his knowledge, until the
luminary of
the horizons dawned over the Hijaz. Those who denied him [Muhammad]
among the Christians and other communities were thereby deprived of that
sun and its rays. Their very repudiation of him became a wall that locked
out the light emanating from the horizon of the Cause of their Lord, the
Omnipotent, the Succorer.
On yet another level of reality, it refereth to the friends and lovers
of God, since they are the suns of authority among his creatures. Without
them, gloom would have encompassed the entire earth, save those thy Lord
willed to escape it. The word hath many other referents. Were ten scribes
to come into Our presence and take down Our utterances for a year, or
two years, they would in the end confess their inability to keep pace. Were
it not for the denials of some ignoramuses, We would have discoursed at
greater length, and the revered Pen of God would have gone beyond the
mention of limitations.
Know assuredly that just as thou firmly believest that the Word of
God, exalted be His glory, endureth for ever, thou must, likewise, believe
with undoubting faith that its meaning can never be exhausted. They
who are its appointed interpreters, they whose hearts are the
repositories of
its secrets are, however, the only ones who can comprehend its manifold
wisdom. Whoso, while reading the Sacred Scriptures, is tempted to
choose therefrom whatever may suit him with which to challenge the
authority of the Representative of God among men, is, indeed, as one dead,
though to outward seeming he may walk and converse with his neighbors,
and share with them their food and drink.
Oh, would that the world could believe Me! Were all the things
that lie enshrined within the heart of Baha, and which the Lord, His God,
the Lord of all names, hath taught Him, to be unveiled to mankind, every
man on earth would be dumbfounded.
How great the multitude of truths which the garment of words can
never contain! How vast the number of such verities as no expression can
adequately describe, whose significance can never be unfolded, and to
which not even the remotest allusion can be made! How manifold are the
truths which must remain unuttered until the appointed time is come! Even
as it hath been said: "Not everything that a man knoweth can be disclosed,
nor can everything that he can disclose be regarded as timely, nor can every
timely utterance be considered as suited to the capacity of those who hear
it."
Of these truths some can be disclosed only to the extent of the
capacity of the repositories of the light of Our knowledge, and the
recipients of Our hidden grace. We beseech God to strengthen thee with
His power, and enable thee to recognize Him Who is the Source of all
knowledge, that thou mayest detach thyself from all human learning, for
"what would it profit any man to strive after learning when he hath already
found and recognized Him Who is the object of all knowledge?" Cleave to
the Root of knowledge, and to Him Who is the Fountain thereof, that thou
mayest find thyself independent of all who claim to be well versed in human
learning, and whose claim no clear proof, nor the testimony of any
enlightening book, can support.
In another station, it refereth to the most beautiful names of God,
insofar as every one of His names constituteth a sun shining above the
horizon. Consider the name of God, "the knowing." It is a sun that
dawneth above the horizon of the will of thy Lord, the All-Merciful, its
rays bathing the bodies of all things in the known universe. Thou wilt find
every correct science among those persons of learning who have not given
in to their passions and base desires, who have acknowledged the path of
the divine decree and held fast to the firm handle of faith. Know that such
a one is in the right, and that his knowledge is a ray that emanated from the
light of this sun. We have, verily, interpreted the names and elucidated
their mysteries, effulgences, and coruscations, their externality and
internality, the secrets of their letters and the wisdom of their composition
in an epistle that We penned for one of Our friends who had inquired
concerning the names and what they contained.
Know that the Word of God, in the primal reality and the first
station, compriseth those meanings that most of the people have failed to
perceive. We bear witness that His words are complete, and in every one
of these words lie concealed meanings apprehended by no one but Himself,
and from Him is knowledge of the Book. No God is there but Him, the
Almighty, the Omnipotent, the Bestower.
Those who wrote commentaries on the Qur'an fell into two sorts.
The first neglected the literal sense in favor of an esoteric exegesis. The
other interpreted literally and ignored its metaphorical dimension. Were
We to review all their sayings and statements, thou wouldst be overtaken
with fatigue and unable to read what We have written for thee. Therefore,
We have declined to mention them here. Blessed are they that cling both
to the literal and to the esoteric, for those are His servants that have
believed in the universal Word.
Know that whoso clingeth to the outward sense of the words,
leaving aside their esoteric significance, is simply ignorant. And whoso
concentrateth on the metaphorical sense to the exclusion of the prosaic
meaning is heedless. Only the one who intepreteth the verses esoterically
while harmonizing this reading with the literal meaning can be said to be a
complete scholar. This maxim hath dawned from the horizon of
knowledge, so know thou its value and cherish its excellence. Verily, we
mention Our object allusively in our words and intimations. Blessed is the
one who graspeth Our intent and arriveth at the goal.
Say: O people, the nightingale warbleth upon the twigs, the royal
cockerel crieth out with wisdom and utterance, and the peacock spreadeth
its feathers in paradise. How long will ye sleep upon the couch of
heedlessness and transgression? Rise from the bed of selfish passion and
advance toward the dawning-place of the compassion of thy Lord, the
Sovereign of Eternity, the Revealer of Names. Beware lest ye oppose Him,
who calleth you to God and to His precepts. Fear ye God and be not of
the negligent.
Then know that God swore to His prophet by the sun of divinity,
sovereignty, will, volition, and names; by the lights of these suns, their
effulgences, emanations, and effects, and by the sun shining and apparent
above the horizon of this exalted firmament.
"By the moon when it followeth it!" The moon signifieth the
station of guardianship, which followeth the sun of prophethood, that is, it
appeareth afterward, to vindicate the cause of the prophet among God's
servants. Were We to elaborate on the stations of the moon, thou wouldst
be presented with a hefty tome indeed.
"By the day when it revealeth its glory!" The intent of the word
"day" on the level of primal reality is every Day whereon a prophet or
messenger of God appeared, to establish His mention among His servants
and to implement His laws among His creatures. Thereon, the
Manifestation of His Cause emanateth forth upon phenomenal beings. On
that Day, the lights of the sun are manifest, and He is the One who causeth
their effulgence in the sense that in Him and by Him the sun of
prophethood shineth and sheddeth its light.
"By the night when it enshroudeth it!" By the night is meant the
veil of oneness behind which was hidden the Point of Reality. After this
Point descended from its highest station, it settled into the realm of
oneness, the plane of unity. From it the soft form of the letter alif became
manifest, and beneath the veil of oneness there appeared the alif in motion,
which is its upright form. It covereth the veil itself, and concealeth the
Point of Reality that constituted the actuality of the sun of prophethood.
"By Heaven and that which built it!" Heaven possesseth, for the
people of truth, divers referents: the heaven of meanings, the heaven of
mystical insight, the heaven of the religions, the heaven of learning, the
heaven of wisdom, the heaven of grandeur, the heaven of exaltation, the
heaven of glory. The phrase "that which built it" signifieth the One Who
created all the heavens just mentioned, and all that thou seest in the
phenomenal world.
"By the earth and Him who spread it forth!" By the earth is
intended the hearts. They are, indeed, vaster than the earth and heaven, for
the heart is the most great throne upon which descendeth the effulgence of
thy Lord, Creator of the nations and Reviver of mouldering bones. This is
an earth in which God hath sown the seeds of His knowledge and love, that
the sprouts of learning and certitude might shoot forth. Say, O people:
Today is the day of sowing. Plant in your hearts with the hands of
certitude that which hath been bestowed upon you by your Lord, the All-
Knowing, the All-Wise. "And Him who spread it forth" means the One
who unfolded it with the hand of His might and the power of His Cause.
"By a soul and Him who fashioned it!" The soul or self hath
numerous stations and subsists upon divers planes. Among them is the self
of the kingdom, the self of sovereignty, the self of Godhead, the self of
divinity, the self of holiness, the self of serenity, the self of
contentment, the
self of satisfaction, the self of inspiration, the blameworthy self, and
the self
that is at the command of evil. The soul intended in this verse is the one
that God hath rendered capable of all works, including acceptance and
opposition, error and guidance, belief and unbelief. "And Him who
fashioned it" means the One who created it and ordered it.
"And informed it of its wickedness and its piety." This verse
signifieth that God informed and instructed the soul concerning its
wickedness, that is, the deeds that benefit it not and that take it far
from its
sovereign Creator. "Its piety" referreth to the inspiration that he
giveth the
soul concerning that which will sanctify it from what hath been forbidden
it.
That is, He created it and informed it of the path of guidance and error,
truth and falsehood, light and darkness. The He commanded it to forsake
what was prohibited to it and to perform that which was enjoined upon it.
"Blessed now is he who hath kept it pure." This verse constituteth
an answer to His oath upon the soul. That is, whoso cleanseth the soul
from shortcomings and passions, from all that hath been interdicted in the
Book, hath attained the goal. Consider those who have purified their souls
in these days. By My Life! They, verily, are blessed. They are persons
undeterred by the world and all that is therein from setting out on the clear
and straight path. Verily, they exemplify this blessed verse, clothing
themselves in piety and clinging to the hem of the loving-kindness of their
Lord in these days, wherein most have stumbled. We bear witness to
whatever God hath attested, and confess the truth of that which He hath
revealed. Verily, He is the Truth, and after the truth there is naught but
falsehood.
"And undone is he who hath corrupted it!" That is, whoso causeth
the soul to become lost hath gone astray, and hath neglected to forbid it
that which was prohibited or to enjoin upon it that which it was
commanded to perform.
"The Thamud tribe in their impiety rejected their prophet."
Thamud, according to what is recorded in the books, was a community to
whom God sent the Prophet Salih, but they rejected him after he enjoined
them to good and forbade them from evil. They did not follow the
commands and precepts of God. Finally, they hamstrung Salih camel.
"So their Lord destroyed them for their crime." That is, God
visited His wrath upon them and made of them an object lesson to all the
peoples on earth. In reality, all those who oppose the truth belong to the
tribe of Thamud, whatever their actual genealogy. They shall be tormented
and destroyed, just as were their predecessors. Verily, God is Almighty
and Omnipotent. Praise be to God, Lord of all the worlds.
We have forborne to mention what the commentators have said in
interpreting this blessed chapter, for such commentaries are freely available
among the people and whoso desireth may consult them. They have
interpreted the sun as the outward sun, and likewise the moon, and so forth
throughout the surah. They trod down the path of fundamentalism and
satisfied themselves with what they possessed. We have, on the other
hand, interpreted it in a way not mentioned in such books. We beseech
God to render every letter of what was mentioned a chalice brimming with
meanings and knowledge, and to give thee to drink therefrom what will
enable thee to detach thyself from all that runneth contrary to His good-
pleasure. May it bring thee nigh unto the station He hath preordained for
His pure ones, for He is, verily, the Forgiving, the Merciful. Praise be to
God, Lord of the Worlds.
Praise be to thee, O Lord, My God! I beseech thee by Thy name,
whereby all things glorify Thee, to open the eyes of thy creatures, that they
may see the evidences of Thy splendid unity, and the effulgences of the sun
of thy loving-kindness. O Lord, leave them not to themselves, for they are
thy servants and creatures. Attract them by the exalted Word unto the
Dayspring of Thy most beautiful names and the treasury of Thy highest
attributes. Thou art, verily, able to do whatsoever Thou desirest. No God
is there but thee, the Almighty, the All-Wise.
References
Todd Lawson, "Interpretation as Revelation: The Qur'an Commentary
of Sayyid `Ali Muhammad Shirazi, the Bab (1819-1850), in Andrew
Rippin, ed., Approaches to the History of the Interpretation of the Qur'an
(Oxford at the Clarendon Press, 1988), pp. 223-53.
Bahá'u'lláh, Majmu`ih-yi alvah-i mubarakih-yi hadrat-i Bahá'u'lláh, ed.
Muhy'd-Din Sabri (Cairo: Sa`dat Press, 1920; repr. Wilmette, Il.: Baha'!
Publishing Trust, 1978), pp. 2-17.
"Tafsir Surat 'Wa'sh-Shams,'" in Bahá'u'lláh, Majmu`ih, Sabri ed., p. 11.
Nasiru'd-Din Abu Sa`id `Abdu'llah ash-Shirani al-Baydawi, Anwar at-
tanzil wa asrar at-ta'wil (Beirut: Dar al-Jil, n.d.), pp. 800-801 for a
literalist,
or at least highly concrete, exegesis of the Surah of the Sun.
Bahá'u'lláh, al-Kitab al-aqdas (Bombay, n.d.), p. 107: "Inna'lladhi
yu'awwilu ma nuzzila min sama'il-wahy wa yukhrijuhu `an az-zahiri, innahu
harrafa kalimatu'llahi."
Ibid., pp. 38-39.
I was urged by Franklin Lewis of the University of Chicago to make
clearer in this revision (1 April 1994) the distinction between a perhaps
more Apollonian semiotic approach that would stress polyvalence, and the
more Dionysian approach of Derrida's deconstruction, which would talk of
semantic ambiguity and instability. I do not myself believe deconstruction
is altogether incompatible with elements of Babi-Bahá'í epistemology, but
in this paper I am simply opening the question. I do wish to suggest
that in
any case the alternative Western traditions of positivism and the Vienna
circle approach to language analysis are unlikely to be as helpful in
understanding Bahá'u'lláh's and the Bab's approaches to textual
interpretation as are either semiotics or postmodernism (the latter itself
diverse and not limited to deconstruction).
Shoghi Effendi Rabbani, The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh (Wilmette, Il:
Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1969), p. 150.
I am grateful to Franklin Lewis of the University of Chicago for his
meticulous comments on the earlier draft of this translation. I am grateful
to Stephen Lambden for publishing the earlier draft of this provisional
translation, the circulation of which in Bahá'í Studies Bulletin made it
possible for Mr. Lewis to comment on and improve it.
This passage is abstruse, but it appears to refer to the two-stage
Neoplatonic and mystical doctrine of the appearance of the world. First
there is the level of the unknowable God, subsisting in and by Himself.
This level is variously referred to as that of God's essential "identity"
(huwiyyah) or, in the Tablet of All Food, as hahut (probably formed on the
Syriac pattern of words such as nasut or humanity from the "h" of
huwiyyah). Huwiyyah or identity derives from the third-person masculine
pronoun in Arabic, huwa or he. Huwa ("He," a typical Sufi way of
referring to God), huwiyyah or (divine) identity, and hahut or the level of
unknowable divinity, all begin with the Arabic letter "ha'" or the soft
H.
That the "waters" of this letter H (unknowable divinity) run into the Most
Great Ocean would appear to refer to the process whereby the Universal
Intellect is emanated from the primal One. The Universal Intellect is coded
here as the Most Ancient name, or Baha, an Arabic word meaning "glory"
that is made up of the letter H (referring to huwiyyah or the unknowable
divinity), the letter B, and the letter alif. Alif, a straight line, is
often used
by Muslim mystical thinkers to symbolize the Universal Intellect. The
Arabic letter B in turn is made up of a horizontal line curved up at each end
(and therefore replicating the alif), with a point underneath it. The
letter B
is therefore a symbol of the further emanation of the world from the
Universal Intellect, since it is made up of a basic shape that is lent
meaning
only by being differentiated. Unlike the divine, which is essentially One,
the world, like the Arabic letter B, is essentially dual in character. By
analogy, the "Primal Point" is the manifestation of God in this world that
gives differentiation to human society. The word Baha therefore encodes
the entire Neoplatonic process of emanation, containing the H of the primal
huwiyyah or divine identity, the alif of the Universal Intellect, the B
of the
emanated cosmos, and the Primal Point or manifestation in the world of the
Universal Intellect, which gives it meaning or rationality (Arabic `aql, Gr.
nous). For hahut in the Tablet of All Food, see "Lawh Kull at-Ta'am" in
lshraq-Khavari, Ma'idih-'i Asmani, IV, pp. 260-70 and Stephen Lambden,
"A Tablet of Mirza Husayn `Ali Bahá'u'lláh of the Early Iraq Period: The
Tablet of All Food," Bahá'í Studies Bulletin, vol. 3, no. 1 (June
1984):4-67.
The transformation of the alif into the B (symbolizing the emanation of the
superlunary spheres from the Universal Intellect) is made explicit by the
Shi`ite mystic Rajab al-Bursi, Mashariq Anwar al-Yaqin fi Asrar Amir al-
Mu'minin (Beirut: n.p., 1979), pp. 20-21. On this figure see B.Todd
Lawson, "The Dawning of the Lights of Certainty in the Divine Secrets
Connected with the Commander of the Faithful by Rajab Bursi (d. 1411),"
in Leonard Lewisohn, ed., The Legacy of Medieval Persian Sufism
(London: Khaniqahi Nimatullahi Publications, 1992), pp. 261-276. The
procession from H to alif to B is not necessarily always stated in so
straightforward a manner. Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsa'i appears to see the
broken alif as an intermediate stage between the upright alif and the supine
ba'. The intermediate level of Universal Spirit has, in turn, the shape
of the
lam, the Arabic "L." Ahmad al-Ahsa'i/Abu'l-Hasan al-Jilani, 1 Safar
1224/18 March 1809, in Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsa'i, Jawami` al-kalim, 2 vols.
(Tabriz: Muhammad Taqi Nakhjavani, 1273-1276), I, i, 11:143-144.
Qur'an 53:28 (53:29, Flugel).
Qur'an 49:12.
This and the following three paragraphs were translated by Shoghi
Effendi Rabbani in Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh (Wilmette,
Il.: Baha'! Publishing Trust, 2nd edn 1976), LXXXIX.
Here ends the section translated by Shoghi Effendi.
In Surah 91 of the Qur'an, entitled "The Sun," verse 1: "By the sun and
its morning brightness!"
Qur'an, 91:2. Subsequent verses quoted are all from the same surah,
and are quoted in order, so further identification of them would seem
pedantic.
Again, this passage refers to the letter mysticism of Muslim
Neoplatonism. The upright alif, equivalent to the English long A when not
associated with the hamzah glottal stop, often symbolizes the Universal
Intellect. Alif also has a "soft" or "broken" form, with the shape of the
Arabic ya' or Y but without any pointing. This "soft" form of the alif was
often seen by mystics to symbolize an intermediate stage of emanation, in
the transformation from alif to ba' (the Arabic B consists of a horizontal,
slightly curved line, with one point beneath it). The sequence upright alif-
broken alif-B thus symbolizes the emanation of Universal Spirit and
Universal Nature from Universal Intellect. For further details, see note 10
above.
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──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Commentary on the Surah of the Sun
Bahá'u'lláh
Juan Cole, translator
1994/2000
original title
Tafsír-i-Súriy-i-Va'sh-Shams
1880s(?)
see translator's introduction
1. 2000 version (see 1994 version below)
Download: bahaullah_surih_vash-shams_cole.pdf.
2. 1994 version
Qur'an 91, The Surah of the Sun
By the sun and its noonday brightness!
By the moon when it followeth it!
By the day when it revealeth its glory!
By the night when it enshroudeth it!
By the heaven and that which built it!
By the earth and that which spread it forth!
By a soul and Him who fashioned it!
And informed it of its wickedness and its piety;
Blessed now is he who hath kept it pure,
and undone is he who hath corrupted it!
Thamud in their insolence rejected their prophet,
When the greatest wretch among them rushed up:
Said the Apostle of God to them, "The Camel of God! Let her drink."
But they treated him as an impostor and hamstrung her.
So their Lord destroyed them for their crime, and visited all alike:
Nor feared He the issue thereof.
[Translation based on Rodwell, but modified by Cole, with reference to Arberry.]
Bahá'u'lláh's Commentary on the Surah of the Sun
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate
Praise be to God, Who hath set the dove of eloquence, perched
among the twigs of the tree of explanation, to weaving her divers
melodies.
Her lyrics tell of how there is no God but God, Who hath brought new
beings into existence, and created the contingent world by means of His
Primal Will, whereby He hath caused to exist all that was and yet shall
be.
May God be glorified, Who hath embellished the heavens of reality with the
sun of metaphorical meanings and mystical insight, as inscribed by the Pen
of the Most High. Sovereignty belongeth to God, the Omnipotent, the
Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting. He hath brought forth the Most Great
Ocean, which uniteth in itself the waters flowing from the spring of the
letter H, which flow into the Most Ancient Name (Baha), from which the
Primal Point was separated off, and whereby the unifying Word hath
become manifest and both spiritual truth and religious law were revealed.
The upholders of the divine unity broke through its surface and soared up
into the heavens of ecstasy and divine presence. The sincere ones thus
attained the beatific vision of their Lord, the All-Glorious, the Devoted
Friend.
Then peace and blessings be upon the Dawning-Place of the Most
Beautiful Names and the Most Exalted Attributes, in every letter of Whose
appellation the Divine Names are treasured up, and whereby existence
itself, whether visible or invisible, hath been adorned. He was called
Muhammad in the realm of names, and Ahmad in the Kingdom of eternity.
And peace be upon His House and His Companions, from this day until
that upon which the Tongue of Grandeur shall speak forth. Sovereignty
belongs to God, the One, the All-Conquering.
Your letter reached Us, and We have perused it, with all its
allusions. We beseech God to aid thee in doing that which He loves, that
He might bring thee nigh unto the shores of that sea from which rise up the
waves of the Name of thy Lord, the Most High. Every drop thereof saith,
"There is no God but God, the Creator of all Names and of the Heavens
above."
O questioner, if thou seekest the Sacred Fold and the Sinai of divine
proximity, then cleanse thy heart of all else but Him. Remove the sandals
of thy suppositions and idle fancies, that thou mightest see with the eye of
thine heart the effulgences of God, the Lord of the Throne and of the
Earth. For this is the day of unveiling and witnessing. Separation hath
passed away, and union hath arrived. This is from the bounty of thy Lord,
the Cherished, the Beloved. Leave posing questions and seeking answers
to the people of this earth, and ascend by the wings of abnegation into
those skies wherein thou shalt draw nigh to the clemency of thy Lord, the
Merciful, the Compassionate.
Say: O people, the Primal Point hath been revealed, the Universal
Word hath been brought to fruition, and the kingdom of God, the Help in
Peril, the Self-Subsisting, hath been made manifest. Say: O people, ye
disport yourselves in a puddle, oblivious to the sweet sea that billoweth
before your faces. What aileth ye, that ye comprehend not? Do ye speak
forth with the knowledge ye possess when He hath appeared, Who knew
the Point of Knowledge that generated all things, and to which they all
returned? From this Point did issue God's own words of wisdom, and
sciences that yet remain concealed in the treasuries of the purity of thy
Lord, the Exalted, the Almighty. Leave allusions to those trapped in them,
and set out toward that station wherein ye shall perceive the fragrances of
knowledge from His heavens. Thus counseleth ye this Servant, every
member, every artery, of whose body testifieth that there is no God save
He. He ever subsisted in the zenith of His might and glory, and in the
heights of His honor and radiance. The Ones He sent with truth and
guidance are the Dawning-places of His revelation to all creation, and the
Daysprings of His inspiration among His servants. Through them were the
mysteries unveiled, and the divine Laws legislated, and by Them was
realized the Cause of God, the All-Powerful, the Mighty, the
Unconstrained. No God is there but He, the Omniscient, the All-Knowing.
O questioner, know thou that the people pride themselves upon
knowledge, and praise it, whereas this Servant complaineth of it. For
without it Baha would not have been imprisoned in Akka with extreme
abasement, nor would He have drunk from the cup of woes proffered by
His enemies. Eloquence hath banished Me, and the science of rhetoric
brought Me low. My mention of conjunction [union with God] hath torn
Me limb from limb. My succinctness hath provoked a long-winded
affliction, grammar hath deprived Me of all comfort, and syntax hath
disordered the pleasures of My heart. My knowledge of God's mysteries
hath become a chain about my neck. Given all this, how can I respond to
your question concerning the verses revealed from the heavens of majesty
and grandeur, especially since the hearts of the discerning have failed to
comprehend them, and the minds of the sagacious never soared into the
heavens of their meanings?
My pinions have been clipped by the shears of envy and rancor.
Should this broken bird find wings, He would fly into the sky of rhetoric
and exposition and warble on the twigs of the tree of knowledge a song
that would lift up the hearts of the sincere ones into the firmament of
longing and attraction. They would then witness the effulgences of their
Lord, the Mighty, the Bestower. At this time, however, I am forbidden to
uncover what was hidden, release what was repressed or speak openly of
what was concealed. We must withhold it rather than revealing it. Were
We to speak of what God hath taught Us by His grace, the people would
back away from Us and flee, save for those who have imbibed the elixir of
life from the chalice of the words of their Lord, the All-Merciful.
For, every word sent down from the heavens of revelation upon the
prophets and messengers hath been filled with the sacred waters of
figurative meaning, explanation, wisdom and exposition. Blessed are they
who drink thereof. Since We have perceived in thee the fragrance of love,
We shall reply to thee briefly and with concision. Thus mightest thou sever
thyself from those who interpret all scripture metaphorically, who have
opposed the truth and its mystery and cling instead to their own
conjectures and vain imaginings, even though aforetime it was revealed that
"Conjecture availeth nothing against the truth" and in another place
"Some conjecture is a sin."
Know that the sun mentioned in this blessed surah hath divers
meanings. At the level of primacy and unity, and in the city of pre-existent
divinity, it is one of God's mysteries, one of his sanctuaries, stored
away in
His treasure hold, concealed in His knowledge, and sealed by God's own
seal. No one is informed thereof save the One, the Unique, the
Omniscient.
For in this station the sun signifieth the Primal Will and the
illumination of
divine oneness that by means of its Self sheddeth its effulgence upon the
horizons. Whoever approached it was illumined thereby just as, when the
sun riseth, its rays encompass the world, all save those surfaces that remain
veiled from it by some obstacle. Consider the land unencumbered by trellis
or wall: it is irradiated by the sun, whereas walls cast a shadow that
prevents the earth from receiving this effulgence. In the same way, behold
the sun of reality. It sheddeth the light of meanings and explanation upon
beings. Whoso turneth toward it is rendered luminous by its rays, and such
a one's heart gloweth with its light. Whoso turneth away will never have
any portion therein, for the veil of self and passion hath intervened, and
such a one remaineth far from the emanations of the sun of reality that
flashed forth from the horizons of the heaven of heavens.
Then, in another station, it refereth to the prophets and pure
ones of
God, for they are the suns of His names and attributes amid his creation.
Were it not for them, no one would have been illumined by the mystical
knowledge of God. As you see, every nation on earth hath been
enlightened by one of these brightly shining suns. Whoso denieth them
remaineth deprived. For instance, those of God's servants who followed
the Christ were irradiated by the sun of his knowledge, until the
luminary of
the horizons dawned over the Hijaz. Those who denied him [Muhammad]
among the Christians and other communities were thereby deprived of that
sun and its rays. Their very repudiation of him became a wall that locked
out the light emanating from the horizon of the Cause of their Lord, the
Omnipotent, the Succorer.
On yet another level of reality, it refereth to the friends and lovers
of God, since they are the suns of authority among his creatures. Without
them, gloom would have encompassed the entire earth, save those thy Lord
willed to escape it. The word hath many other referents. Were ten scribes
to come into Our presence and take down Our utterances for a year, or
two years, they would in the end confess their inability to keep pace. Were
it not for the denials of some ignoramuses, We would have discoursed at
greater length, and the revered Pen of God would have gone beyond the
mention of limitations.
Know assuredly that just as thou firmly believest that the Word of
God, exalted be His glory, endureth for ever, thou must, likewise, believe
with undoubting faith that its meaning can never be exhausted. They
who are its appointed interpreters, they whose hearts are the
repositories of
its secrets are, however, the only ones who can comprehend its manifold
wisdom. Whoso, while reading the Sacred Scriptures, is tempted to
choose therefrom whatever may suit him with which to challenge the
authority of the Representative of God among men, is, indeed, as one dead,
though to outward seeming he may walk and converse with his neighbors,
and share with them their food and drink.
Oh, would that the world could believe Me! Were all the things
that lie enshrined within the heart of Baha, and which the Lord, His God,
the Lord of all names, hath taught Him, to be unveiled to mankind, every
man on earth would be dumbfounded.
How great the multitude of truths which the garment of words can
never contain! How vast the number of such verities as no expression can
adequately describe, whose significance can never be unfolded, and to
which not even the remotest allusion can be made! How manifold are the
truths which must remain unuttered until the appointed time is come! Even
as it hath been said: "Not everything that a man knoweth can be disclosed,
nor can everything that he can disclose be regarded as timely, nor can every
timely utterance be considered as suited to the capacity of those who hear
it."
Of these truths some can be disclosed only to the extent of the
capacity of the repositories of the light of Our knowledge, and the
recipients of Our hidden grace. We beseech God to strengthen thee with
His power, and enable thee to recognize Him Who is the Source of all
knowledge, that thou mayest detach thyself from all human learning, for
"what would it profit any man to strive after learning when he hath already
found and recognized Him Who is the object of all knowledge?" Cleave to
the Root of knowledge, and to Him Who is the Fountain thereof, that thou
mayest find thyself independent of all who claim to be well versed in human
learning, and whose claim no clear proof, nor the testimony of any
enlightening book, can support.
In another station, it refereth to the most beautiful names of God,
insofar as every one of His names constituteth a sun shining above the
horizon. Consider the name of God, "the knowing." It is a sun that
dawneth above the horizon of the will of thy Lord, the All-Merciful, its
rays bathing the bodies of all things in the known universe. Thou wilt find
every correct science among those persons of learning who have not given
in to their passions and base desires, who have acknowledged the path of
the divine decree and held fast to the firm handle of faith. Know that such
a one is in the right, and that his knowledge is a ray that emanated from the
light of this sun. We have, verily, interpreted the names and elucidated
their mysteries, effulgences, and coruscations, their externality and
internality, the secrets of their letters and the wisdom of their composition
in an epistle that We penned for one of Our friends who had inquired
concerning the names and what they contained.
Know that the Word of God, in the primal reality and the first
station, compriseth those meanings that most of the people have failed to
perceive. We bear witness that His words are complete, and in every one
of these words lie concealed meanings apprehended by no one but Himself,
and from Him is knowledge of the Book. No God is there but Him, the
Almighty, the Omnipotent, the Bestower.
Those who wrote commentaries on the Qur'an fell into two sorts.
The first neglected the literal sense in favor of an esoteric exegesis. The
other interpreted literally and ignored its metaphorical dimension. Were
We to review all their sayings and statements, thou wouldst be overtaken
with fatigue and unable to read what We have written for thee. Therefore,
We have declined to mention them here. Blessed are they that cling both
to the literal and to the esoteric, for those are His servants that have
believed in the universal Word.
Know that whoso clingeth to the outward sense of the words,
leaving aside their esoteric significance, is simply ignorant. And whoso
concentrateth on the metaphorical sense to the exclusion of the prosaic
meaning is heedless. Only the one who intepreteth the verses esoterically
while harmonizing this reading with the literal meaning can be said to be a
complete scholar. This maxim hath dawned from the horizon of
knowledge, so know thou its value and cherish its excellence. Verily, we
mention Our object allusively in our words and intimations. Blessed is the
one who graspeth Our intent and arriveth at the goal.
Say: O people, the nightingale warbleth upon the twigs, the royal
cockerel crieth out with wisdom and utterance, and the peacock spreadeth
its feathers in paradise. How long will ye sleep upon the couch of
heedlessness and transgression? Rise from the bed of selfish passion and
advance toward the dawning-place of the compassion of thy Lord, the
Sovereign of Eternity, the Revealer of Names. Beware lest ye oppose Him,
who calleth you to God and to His precepts. Fear ye God and be not of
the negligent.
Then know that God swore to His prophet by the sun of divinity,
sovereignty, will, volition, and names; by the lights of these suns, their
effulgences, emanations, and effects, and by the sun shining and apparent
above the horizon of this exalted firmament.
"By the moon when it followeth it!" The moon signifieth the
station of guardianship, which followeth the sun of prophethood, that is, it
appeareth afterward, to vindicate the cause of the prophet among God's
servants. Were We to elaborate on the stations of the moon, thou wouldst
be presented with a hefty tome indeed.
"By the day when it revealeth its glory!" The intent of the word
"day" on the level of primal reality is every Day whereon a prophet or
messenger of God appeared, to establish His mention among His servants
and to implement His laws among His creatures. Thereon, the
Manifestation of His Cause emanateth forth upon phenomenal beings. On
that Day, the lights of the sun are manifest, and He is the One who causeth
their effulgence in the sense that in Him and by Him the sun of
prophethood shineth and sheddeth its light.
"By the night when it enshroudeth it!" By the night is meant the
veil of oneness behind which was hidden the Point of Reality. After this
Point descended from its highest station, it settled into the realm of
oneness, the plane of unity. From it the soft form of the letter alif became
manifest, and beneath the veil of oneness there appeared the alif in motion,
which is its upright form. It covereth the veil itself, and concealeth the
Point of Reality that constituted the actuality of the sun of prophethood.
"By Heaven and that which built it!" Heaven possesseth, for the
people of truth, divers referents: the heaven of meanings, the heaven of
mystical insight, the heaven of the religions, the heaven of learning, the
heaven of wisdom, the heaven of grandeur, the heaven of exaltation, the
heaven of glory. The phrase "that which built it" signifieth the One Who
created all the heavens just mentioned, and all that thou seest in the
phenomenal world.
"By the earth and Him who spread it forth!" By the earth is
intended the hearts. They are, indeed, vaster than the earth and heaven, for
the heart is the most great throne upon which descendeth the effulgence of
thy Lord, Creator of the nations and Reviver of mouldering bones. This is
an earth in which God hath sown the seeds of His knowledge and love, that
the sprouts of learning and certitude might shoot forth. Say, O people:
Today is the day of sowing. Plant in your hearts with the hands of
certitude that which hath been bestowed upon you by your Lord, the All-
Knowing, the All-Wise. "And Him who spread it forth" means the One
who unfolded it with the hand of His might and the power of His Cause.
"By a soul and Him who fashioned it!" The soul or self hath
numerous stations and subsists upon divers planes. Among them is the self
of the kingdom, the self of sovereignty, the self of Godhead, the self of
divinity, the self of holiness, the self of serenity, the self of
contentment, the
self of satisfaction, the self of inspiration, the blameworthy self, and
the self
that is at the command of evil. The soul intended in this verse is the one
that God hath rendered capable of all works, including acceptance and
opposition, error and guidance, belief and unbelief. "And Him who
fashioned it" means the One who created it and ordered it.
"And informed it of its wickedness and its piety." This verse
signifieth that God informed and instructed the soul concerning its
wickedness, that is, the deeds that benefit it not and that take it far
from its
sovereign Creator. "Its piety" referreth to the inspiration that he
giveth the
soul concerning that which will sanctify it from what hath been forbidden
it.
That is, He created it and informed it of the path of guidance and error,
truth and falsehood, light and darkness. The He commanded it to forsake
what was prohibited to it and to perform that which was enjoined upon it.
"Blessed now is he who hath kept it pure." This verse constituteth
an answer to His oath upon the soul. That is, whoso cleanseth the soul
from shortcomings and passions, from all that hath been interdicted in the
Book, hath attained the goal. Consider those who have purified their souls
in these days. By My Life! They, verily, are blessed. They are persons
undeterred by the world and all that is therein from setting out on the clear
and straight path. Verily, they exemplify this blessed verse, clothing
themselves in piety and clinging to the hem of the loving-kindness of their
Lord in these days, wherein most have stumbled. We bear witness to
whatever God hath attested, and confess the truth of that which He hath
revealed. Verily, He is the Truth, and after the truth there is naught but
falsehood.
"And undone is he who hath corrupted it!" That is, whoso causeth
the soul to become lost hath gone astray, and hath neglected to forbid it
that which was prohibited or to enjoin upon it that which it was
commanded to perform.
"The Thamud tribe in their impiety rejected their prophet."
Thamud, according to what is recorded in the books, was a community to
whom God sent the Prophet Salih, but they rejected him after he enjoined
them to good and forbade them from evil. They did not follow the
commands and precepts of God. Finally, they hamstrung Salih camel.
"So their Lord destroyed them for their crime." That is, God
visited His wrath upon them and made of them an object lesson to all the
peoples on earth. In reality, all those who oppose the truth belong to the
tribe of Thamud, whatever their actual genealogy. They shall be tormented
and destroyed, just as were their predecessors. Verily, God is Almighty
and Omnipotent. Praise be to God, Lord of all the worlds.
We have forborne to mention what the commentators have said in
interpreting this blessed chapter, for such commentaries are freely available
among the people and whoso desireth may consult them. They have
interpreted the sun as the outward sun, and likewise the moon, and so forth
throughout the surah. They trod down the path of fundamentalism and
satisfied themselves with what they possessed. We have, on the other
hand, interpreted it in a way not mentioned in such books. We beseech
God to render every letter of what was mentioned a chalice brimming with
meanings and knowledge, and to give thee to drink therefrom what will
enable thee to detach thyself from all that runneth contrary to His good-
pleasure. May it bring thee nigh unto the station He hath preordained for
His pure ones, for He is, verily, the Forgiving, the Merciful. Praise be to
God, Lord of the Worlds.
Praise be to thee, O Lord, My God! I beseech thee by Thy name,
whereby all things glorify Thee, to open the eyes of thy creatures, that they
may see the evidences of Thy splendid unity, and the effulgences of the sun
of thy loving-kindness. O Lord, leave them not to themselves, for they are
thy servants and creatures. Attract them by the exalted Word unto the
Dayspring of Thy most beautiful names and the treasury of Thy highest
attributes. Thou art, verily, able to do whatsoever Thou desirest. No God
is there but thee, the Almighty, the All-Wise.
References
Todd Lawson, "Interpretation as Revelation: The Qur'an Commentary
of Sayyid `Ali Muhammad Shirazi, the Bab (1819-1850), in Andrew
Rippin, ed., Approaches to the History of the Interpretation of the Qur'an
(Oxford at the Clarendon Press, 1988), pp. 223-53.
Bahá'u'lláh, Majmu`ih-yi alvah-i mubarakih-yi hadrat-i Bahá'u'lláh, ed.
Muhy'd-Din Sabri (Cairo: Sa`dat Press, 1920; repr. Wilmette, Il.: Baha'!
Publishing Trust, 1978), pp. 2-17.
"Tafsir Surat 'Wa'sh-Shams,'" in Bahá'u'lláh, Majmu`ih, Sabri ed., p. 11.
Nasiru'd-Din Abu Sa`id `Abdu'llah ash-Shirani al-Baydawi, Anwar at-
tanzil wa asrar at-ta'wil (Beirut: Dar al-Jil, n.d.), pp. 800-801 for a
literalist,
or at least highly concrete, exegesis of the Surah of the Sun.
Bahá'u'lláh, al-Kitab al-aqdas (Bombay, n.d.), p. 107: "Inna'lladhi
yu'awwilu ma nuzzila min sama'il-wahy wa yukhrijuhu `an az-zahiri, innahu
harrafa kalimatu'llahi."
Ibid., pp. 38-39.
I was urged by Franklin Lewis of the University of Chicago to make
clearer in this revision (1 April 1994) the distinction between a perhaps
more Apollonian semiotic approach that would stress polyvalence, and the
more Dionysian approach of Derrida's deconstruction, which would talk of
semantic ambiguity and instability. I do not myself believe deconstruction
is altogether incompatible with elements of Babi-Bahá'í epistemology, but
in this paper I am simply opening the question. I do wish to suggest
that in
any case the alternative Western traditions of positivism and the Vienna
circle approach to language analysis are unlikely to be as helpful in
understanding Bahá'u'lláh's and the Bab's approaches to textual
interpretation as are either semiotics or postmodernism (the latter itself
diverse and not limited to deconstruction).
Shoghi Effendi Rabbani, The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh (Wilmette, Il:
Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1969), p. 150.
I am grateful to Franklin Lewis of the University of Chicago for his
meticulous comments on the earlier draft of this translation. I am grateful
to Stephen Lambden for publishing the earlier draft of this provisional
translation, the circulation of which in Bahá'í Studies Bulletin made it
possible for Mr. Lewis to comment on and improve it.
This passage is abstruse, but it appears to refer to the two-stage
Neoplatonic and mystical doctrine of the appearance of the world. First
there is the level of the unknowable God, subsisting in and by Himself.
This level is variously referred to as that of God's essential "identity"
(huwiyyah) or, in the Tablet of All Food, as hahut (probably formed on the
Syriac pattern of words such as nasut or humanity from the "h" of
huwiyyah). Huwiyyah or identity derives from the third-person masculine
pronoun in Arabic, huwa or he. Huwa ("He," a typical Sufi way of
referring to God), huwiyyah or (divine) identity, and hahut or the level of
unknowable divinity, all begin with the Arabic letter "ha'" or the soft
H.
That the "waters" of this letter H (unknowable divinity) run into the Most
Great Ocean would appear to refer to the process whereby the Universal
Intellect is emanated from the primal One. The Universal Intellect is coded
here as the Most Ancient name, or Baha, an Arabic word meaning "glory"
that is made up of the letter H (referring to huwiyyah or the unknowable
divinity), the letter B, and the letter alif. Alif, a straight line, is
often used
by Muslim mystical thinkers to symbolize the Universal Intellect. The
Arabic letter B in turn is made up of a horizontal line curved up at each end
(and therefore replicating the alif), with a point underneath it. The
letter B
is therefore a symbol of the further emanation of the world from the
Universal Intellect, since it is made up of a basic shape that is lent
meaning
only by being differentiated. Unlike the divine, which is essentially One,
the world, like the Arabic letter B, is essentially dual in character. By
analogy, the "Primal Point" is the manifestation of God in this world that
gives differentiation to human society. The word Baha therefore encodes
the entire Neoplatonic process of emanation, containing the H of the primal
huwiyyah or divine identity, the alif of the Universal Intellect, the B
of the
emanated cosmos, and the Primal Point or manifestation in the world of the
Universal Intellect, which gives it meaning or rationality (Arabic `aql, Gr.
nous). For hahut in the Tablet of All Food, see "Lawh Kull at-Ta'am" in
lshraq-Khavari, Ma'idih-'i Asmani, IV, pp. 260-70 and Stephen Lambden,
"A Tablet of Mirza Husayn `Ali Bahá'u'lláh of the Early Iraq Period: The
Tablet of All Food," Bahá'í Studies Bulletin, vol. 3, no. 1 (June
1984):4-67.
The transformation of the alif into the B (symbolizing the emanation of the
superlunary spheres from the Universal Intellect) is made explicit by the
Shi`ite mystic Rajab al-Bursi, Mashariq Anwar al-Yaqin fi Asrar Amir al-
Mu'minin (Beirut: n.p., 1979), pp. 20-21. On this figure see B.Todd
Lawson, "The Dawning of the Lights of Certainty in the Divine Secrets
Connected with the Commander of the Faithful by Rajab Bursi (d. 1411),"
in Leonard Lewisohn, ed., The Legacy of Medieval Persian Sufism
(London: Khaniqahi Nimatullahi Publications, 1992), pp. 261-276. The
procession from H to alif to B is not necessarily always stated in so
straightforward a manner. Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsa'i appears to see the
broken alif as an intermediate stage between the upright alif and the supine
ba'. The intermediate level of Universal Spirit has, in turn, the shape
of the
lam, the Arabic "L." Ahmad al-Ahsa'i/Abu'l-Hasan al-Jilani, 1 Safar
1224/18 March 1809, in Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsa'i, Jawami` al-kalim, 2 vols.
(Tabriz: Muhammad Taqi Nakhjavani, 1273-1276), I, i, 11:143-144.
Qur'an 53:28 (53:29, Flugel).
Qur'an 49:12.
This and the following three paragraphs were translated by Shoghi
Effendi Rabbani in Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh (Wilmette,
Il.: Baha'! Publishing Trust, 2nd edn 1976), LXXXIX.
Here ends the section translated by Shoghi Effendi.
In Surah 91 of the Qur'an, entitled "The Sun," verse 1: "By the sun and
its morning brightness!"
Qur'an, 91:2. Subsequent verses quoted are all from the same surah,
and are quoted in order, so further identification of them would seem
pedantic.
Again, this passage refers to the letter mysticism of Muslim
Neoplatonism. The upright alif, equivalent to the English long A when not
associated with the hamzah glottal stop, often symbolizes the Universal
Intellect. Alif also has a "soft" or "broken" form, with the shape of the
Arabic ya' or Y but without any pointing. This "soft" form of the alif was
often seen by mystics to symbolize an intermediate stage of emanation, in
the transformation from alif to ba' (the Arabic B consists of a horizontal,
slightly curved line, with one point beneath it). The sequence upright alif-
broken alif-B thus symbolizes the emanation of Universal Spirit and
Universal Nature from Universal Intellect. For further details, see note 10
above.
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