The Bab's "Journey towards God"

Be steadfast (istaqim ), O seeker of piety (tuqan), in the station of affirming the divine unity (maqám al-tawhíd).

God, exalted be He, said:

AS FOR THOSE WHO SAY "OUR LORD IS GOD" THEN CONTINUE STEADFAST (thumma 'staqámú ), THE ANGELS DESCEND UPON THEM SAYING "FEAR NOT, NOR BE GRIEVED, AND RECEIVE GOOD NEWS OF THE GARDEN WHICH YE WERE PROMISED!"

 

Know ye that the paths to God are as numerous as the breaths (anfás) of the creatures, and that there is no soul (nafs) but one (wáhida) (1), and that there is no religion but the one religion (dín wáhid), and it is the Cause of God (amr Alláh)

AND OUR COMMAND IS BUT A SINGLE (ACT) (wáhida ) {LIKE THE TWINKLING OF AN EYE} . . . (Qur'an 54:40)

SO SET THOU (fa-'aqim ) THY FACE STEADILY TO THE TRUE FAITH-THE NATURE MADE BY GOD (fitra alláh) IN WHICH HE HAS MADE MEN. THERE IS NO ALTERING OF GOD'S CREATION. (2)

Indeed, the Religion is supported (mutaqawwam ) by four pillars.

1) Tawhíd

2) Nubuwwa

3) Waláya, and

4) Shí'a

[These] are four gates (abwáb, sing. báb) of which no one is of any use without the others.

And all of this is the FACE OF GOD (wajh Alláh ) which will never perish (Cf. 28:88). And it (3) is the love of the Family of God (hubb ál Alláh) which is the same as the love of God (wa huwa nafs hubb Alláh). And this is the Hidden Treasure to which the Prophet, upon him and his family be peace, openly alluded (ishára . . . talwíhan) (4) when he said: Above each good is another good until one loves us, and when one loves us there is no good above it. (5)

So love (hubb ), Lover (habíb ), lover (muhibb ), and Beloved (mahbúb ) are four signs (áyát ) issuing from the self-manifestation of the family of God (tajallí ál Alláh ) in you and in your soul.

Whenever these four signs are remembered within you and your heart is illumined, and your soul stirred, and your spirit moved and your body quakes with longing (shawq), then at that time you are truly (haqqan) among the people of paradise and the companions of the Commander of the Faithful, upon him be peace.

At that time you are upon the TRUE RELIGION (al-dín al-qayyim, Qur'an 30:30) and the TRUE BALANCE (al-qistás al-mustaqím, Qur'an 17:35 & 26:182) and the obvious and clear PATH (al-sirát al-wádih al-mubín ). Above this station (maqám ) there is no good (hasana ).

Thus one ascends into the abode of God (baqá' Alláh ).

There is no end to the love of God and no finish.

This is the Axis (qutb ) of the search.

Indeed the Sharí'a in its entirety is a way for the quest of the servant for his Lord, but by movement upon the Axis as I have described.

As for the road to attaining the Axis - know that attainment to the station of your sign is attainment to your Lord. And this is the station of pure piety towards God, exalted be He, as when one of the prophets asked of God, praised be He, "How can we attain to Thee?" God, may he be exalted, said, "Throw down thyself and rise to Me." (6)

And this is why the station of the novices (al-mubtadi'ín ) is conditional upon denying the self what it passionately desires and forcing upon it what it detests because there is no veil more base (awhash) for the servant than his own self.

By God! If you struggle against your self and send it to the station of nearness and remembrance and intimacy in the shade of your Beloved and adore Him above all else, even if you were cut to shreds you would not be negligent of His station because the knower is he whose heart is with God and he has no speech, allusion nor act except in, by, with and about God, exalted be He.

Neglect not your personal struggle (ijtihád ) and thereby forfeit

THY PORTION IN THIS WORLD BUT DO THOU GOOD AS GOD HAS BEEN GOOD TO THEE (7)

 

And if you are neglectful it will be your great loss on the Day of the Return and you will say:

"AH! WOE IS ME! - IN THAT I NEGLECTED MY DUTY TOWARDS GOD Qur'an 39:56 (8)

 

So pass on whither we have been ordered (9) and fear not (10)

THE REPROACHES OF THOSE WHO FIND FAULT. THAT IS THE GRACE OF GOD WHICH HE WILL BESTOW ON WHOM HE PLEASETH AND GOD IS THE OWNER OF ALL GRACE AND THE ALL-KNOWING. Qur'an 5:54 (11)

 

Flee from *-* (12) from whatever distracts you from God. Indeed such is a deadly poison which will consume you in flames while you are unaware.

NAY, WERE YOU TO KNOW WITH CERTAINTY OF MIND ('ILM AL-YAQÍN) (YOU WOULD BE AWARE). YOU SHALL CERTAINLY SEE HELLFIRE. AGAIN YOU SHALL SEE IT WITH CERTAINTY OF SIGHT ('ayn al-yaqín ) Qur'an 102:5-7

It is incumbent upon you to abandon the world and all that is in it. Indeed, it is the chief of all evils. And in your quest do not linger at any station. Thus a dog of the Jews is better than the people of the marketplace because the people of the marketplace are the people of lingering (ahl al-wuqúf ) and this is the source of that negligence which bars access to God.(13)

Indeed, the world and the hereafter (al-dunyá wa'l-ákhira ) are two states (14). If you turn towards God (15), exalted be He, then you are in paradise and if you regard your self then you are in the fire and in the world. Therefore understand these allusions (ishárát) and sever thyself from all habits and lusts. And endure patiently the alienation of people and the blame of the companion (16) and the Schadenfreude of the enemy from among family and offspring.

And when you have begun your quest along this path of search, then the gate of God (báb Alláh ) will open to your soul and you will request entrance into the realm of the holy one (mulk al-karím ).

For the people of insight these subtle allusions [will suffice]:

Rend the veils of glory *-* allusions and efface the idle fancies and rend the veils and be attracted through the exclusive unity - the quality of affirming the divine unity until the light of dawn shines forth from the sun of thy reality (17) and YOU ENTER THE CITY of unity WHILE ITS PEOPLE ARE UNAWARE (18) and extinguish the lamp (19) of everything that has veiled you from God, exalted be He, so that when you attain to a PRAISED STATION (20) such as God, exalted be He, has promised the people who glorify God at night

(21), that is to say the turning towards the absolute divine unity in the midst of intense darkness,

IT MAY BE THAT THY LORD WILL RAISE THEE UP TO A PRAISEWORTHY STATION. (22)

 

And THIS IS THE BOOK (2:2), on the WAY (sabíl ) of search, kept brief for those possessed of insight and in it is that which will be sufficient for the pure amongst the affirmers of the divine unity. The particulars have been fully written about by my master, my support, my teacher, the pilgrim Sayyid Kázim al-Rashtí, may God lengthen his life and bring forth from it good results. So seek the way (23)

OF YOUR LORD MADE SMOOTH FOR THEE. THERE COMETH FORTH FROM THEIR BELLIES A DRINK DIVERSE OF HUES, WHEREIN IS HEALING FOR MANKIND. (Quran16:69)

 

and a mercy

 

WHILE THE OPPRESSORS INCREASE ONLY IN RUIN (Quran17:82).

This is a preliminary translation of "Risalat al-suluk by the Bab" (Tehran Baha'i Archives Ms. 6006. C., pages or folios 73-74, 23 lines per page. The risala begins on the 7th line of 73. I am very grateful to Stephen Lambden for a xerox of this short work of the Bab's. The above is a translation of one of the Bab's earliest extant writings known as the Risala fi's-suluk. Denis MacEoin ( Sources for Early Babi Doctrine and History, pp. 44, 196 [viz. "Risalat at-Tasdid"]) lists five manuscripts of this short work (p.196) and observes that "it appears to have been written during the later years of Sayyid Kazim Rashti's life (and thus before the commencement of the Bab's own career)." (p.44) Denis has chosen to translate suluk as "right behavior" (p.44) the contents and concerns of this brief piece strongly suggest that a more accurate rendering would be "journey," "spiritual search" or even "mystic quest". I offer here a translation of the text without the encumbrances of copious notes and references, except as indicated by the "Key" and a few brief "Notes". Thus, for the time being, only Quranic references and quotations, together with the identification of Hadith quotations and allusions will be found. Some of this will continue to figure prominently in later Writings of the Bab. For example, the relatively lengthy quotation from the Hadith ma' l-haqiqa (the sacred words in answer to the question "What is reality?"; also known widely as the Hadith Kumayl) in this short work is noteworthy because it shows the importance the Bab attached - from the beginning - to this celebrated and widely-commented short sermon of Ali ibn Abi Talib (not found, incidentally, in the canonical Nahj al-balagha), the first Imam of the Shi'a and prime bearer of post-prophetic spiritual authority and charisma (walaya). This is significant because it shows the Bab to be clearly engaged in the long, venerable and exceedingly rich Shi'i mystical - or gnostic, as some express it - discourse. The interest in the Hadith did not stop with the Bab (who eventually conferred one of its formulations, subh-i azal, upon Bahau'llah's half-brother as an honorific title). Baha'u'llah also makes repeated reference to it throughout His Writings as when he speaks of the "veils of glory" (subuhat al-jalal).

The translation offered here also demonstrates, if such were necessary, how important the Qur'an was for the Bab. Here it is most important to point out that while many of the Quranic quotations or references are very brief, their appearance in this text is also meant to stimulate in the mind of the reader the immediate scriptural context that they represent in addition to the relevant distinctive Shi'i exegetical tradition.

Finally, this risala demonstrates quite clearly the interest the Bab had in and attachment to the teachings of Shaykh Ahmad and Sayyid Kazim. Apart from the explicit mention of the latter, the basic quaternary structure of the discourse reflects Shaykhi teachings. The understanding of the "next world" (Paradise or Hellfire) as spiritual conditions, rather than places, is also a distinctive Shaykhi teaching and shows how that synthesis combined the languages of Sufism and Shi'ism. I plan to offer a fuller account of these features of the Risala in a future commentary which will contain a translation of the Hadith ma' l-haqiqa, the Bab's separate commentary on it, reference to Shi'i exegesis of the text and a discussion of the Quranic and other Hadith material in addition to a discussion of related writings from the masters of the Shaykhi school. This will appear eventually in the new journal Syzygy (edited by Stephen Lambden).

In the meantime, I hope the H-Bahai people will find the above of some interest both from the point of view of the history of Babi and Baha'i thought and the spiritual teachings of the recent divine manifestation of Shiraz. In some cases, the translation violates strict literalness in the interest of readability. Quran translations are based upon those of Yusuf Ali. I should like to record my debt to Dr. Muhamed Afnan who years ago kindly agreed to look over a preliminary edition of the Arabic text and offer several valuable suggestions based upon his precious and intimate knowledge of the Bab's writings and manuscripts of the Risala not available to me. All errors in the translation are mine and mine alone.

KEY

Kjhkjhkj = words of the Bab

KJHKJHKJ = Quotations from the Quran whether signalled or not

{KJHKJH} = relevant quranic material usually immediately before or after a quranic citation but not explicitly quoted by the Bab

kjhkjh = citations from the holy traditions, signalled or otherwise, also transliterated Arabic terminology.

Notes

(1) Cf. Quran 4:1, 31:28, 39:6.

(2) {THAT IS THE RIGHT RELIGION (al-dín al-qayyim), BUT MOST PEOPLE DO NOT KNOW} Quran 30:30 {-31: taqiy & qáma wa lá takúnú min al-mushrikín 32: OF THOSE WHO DIVIDED THEIR RELIGION AND BECAME PARTIES (shí'an ), EVERY SECT REJOICING IN WHAT THEY HAD WITH THEM}. N.b. fitra; Fatima Fatir: Fatima the Creator.

(3) I.e. the FACE or direction, that which is sought, the direction in which the seeker goes.

(4) Cf. the hadíth kuntu kanzan makhfiyan and the commentary on this important hadith by 'Abdu'l-Bahá' translated by Moojan Momen . . .

(5) Source unknown.

(6) Source unknown.

(7) Cf. Quran 28:77, the story of Qárún. This reference may be a clue to the social class, if not the identity, of the recipient of the tablet. This verse continues: AND SEEK NOT OCCASIONS FOR MISCHIEF IN THE LAND. FOR GOD LOVES NOT THOSE WHO DO MISCHIEF.

(8) = má farrattu fí janb alláh (janb is a metaphor implying threshold and by extension door or gate, viz Báb. The verse continues: AND WAS BUT AMONG THOSE WHO MOCKED!

(9) Paraphrase of Quran15:65, the story of the Prophet's Hijra.

(10) Different grammar from the following quotation from the Quran, but the meaning can be the same.

(11) The Báb deviates from the Qur'án in this citation. Again, it is important to note the mention of the TRUE FRIEND (walí ) in the verse immediately following as well as the other elements of the Shaykhí four supports: YOUR REAL FRIENDS ARE NO LESS THAN GOD, HIS MESSENGER AND THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE BELIEVERS . . .Quran 5:55.

(12) *-* indicates a possible scribal error. This can be checked when more mss. are collated.

(13) That is "lingering/loitering/hesitation/wuqúf" is "the source of that negligence which bars access to God."

(14) Hál = Sufi usage transformed by hikmat ilahi eschatology.

(15) The root iswajh = FACE, direction (see above).

(16) malámat al-qarín, cf. Quran 37:51; 43:36; 43:38; 4:38 where qarín is frequently an evil companion.

(17) This is a running commentary on an oft-cited portion of the famous Hadíth Kumayl.

(18) Reference to Quran 28:15 and the story of Moses murdering the man. Shortly, at 28:18, there is a mention of DAWN or MORNING. See the following.

(19) Hadíth Kumayl.

(20) maqám mahmúd, cf. Quran17:79.

(21) ahl al-tahajjud fí al-layl.

(22) Quran17:79. Note well the uncited previous verse: {ESTABLISH WORSHIP AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN UNTIL THE DARK OF NIGHT, AND THE RECITAL OF THE QUR'AN AT DAWN. LO! THE RECITAL OF THE QUR'AN AT DAWN IS EVER WITNESSED. AND SOME PART OF THE NIGHT AWAKE FOR IT(fa-tahajjad bihi ), A LARGESS FOR THEE.} which connects the Bab's language mentioned in the previous note to the Quran. His reader was expected to know the allusion without his having to explicitly cite the precise language.

(23) Different grammar but can have the same meaning as beginning of following Quranic quotation.