The Khutbat al-Ṭutunjiyya in the writings of the Bāb

 From the very beginning  of his messianic career in the 1840s, the  Bāb quite frequently cited and creatively refashioned  lines of the Khuṭba al-ṭutunjiyya,   sometimes exhibiting the influence of his one-time teacher Sayyid Kāẓim Rashtī with whom he associated for perhaps 6-9 months in the early 1840s.The dual term الطتنجين  (the two gulfs") occurs some three times in the Qayyūm al-asmā', most importantly at one point in QA 54 the Sūrat al-ghulām (Surah of the Youth) and twice in QA 109, the Sūrat al-`abd (see trans. below). This latter Surah 109 and the preceding Surah 108 of the QA, form a duality having preliminary disconnected letters which successively spell the Names (1) `Ali  (`+L-Y) and (2) Muhammad (M+H+M+D), yielding when read in in succession the parentally bestowed name of Sayyid `Ali Muhammad Shirazi, known as the Bab (the Gate). As we shall see, the Bāb associated himself as the transcendental locus of messianic walāya  ("guidance") to the "two gulfs" by virtue of the duality of his his twin parentally bestowed name `Ali Muhammad. Other passages and motifs  in the Qayyūm al-asmā' draw upon or allusively expound dimensions of lines within the  Khuṭba al-ṭutunjiyya. What follows is an attempt to sum them up.

The Tafsir Surat al-Baqara (early 1844)

       Even before his May 1844 quasi-messianic disclosure before Mullā Ḥusayn Bushrū'ī (d. 1849) the Bab showed familiarity with the Kh-T. In his early 1844 CE Tafsīr Sūrat al-baqara (Commentary on the Surah of the Cow) he wrote:

ADD TRANS.

The Qayyūm al-asmā' (mid. 1844)

        In expressing his own claims in sometimes cryptic though elevated terms in his lengthy Arabic Qayyūm al-asmā' ( [Deity] Self-Subsisting among the Divine Names", mid. 1844 CE) and elsewhere the  Bab often used “I am “ proclamations and dual formations echoing sayings ascribed to `Alī in the Kh-T. Thus, for example, in his claim, “I am one presiding over the ṭutunjayn ... al-khālijayn (“the two gulfs... the twin bays”) (QA. 93:374-5; 109:434-5).  In the following passage from QA  54 (on Qur'ān 12:53), the Sūrat al-Ghulām (The Surah of the Youth),  the Bāb appears to express his superiority to the first two Shaykhs of Shaykhism (al-Shaykhiyya) and underlines his authoritative exposition of the "mystery of the two Gulfs" (sirr al-ṭutunjayn) as the then locus of walāya  through the hidden Imam:

  و لقد نطقت بالحرفين و لا انطق حرفا من النّفسين الاوّليين

 و لا يوجد حرفا من سرّ الطتنجين  الّا بنفسی الحقّ حامل الاسمين

 "We did speak forth  through two letters although  there was not divulged even a [single] letter through the two foremost souls

[= ? Shaykh Aḥmad Aḥsā'ī  and Sayyid Kāẓim Rashtiī]

Not even a single letter shall be discovered of the mystery of the two Gulfs (al-ṭutunjayn), save through My Logos-Self (nafsi)

the True One which is the bearer of the Two Names (ḥāmil al-ismayn )" (=  [1] `Alī  + [2] Muhammad = the Bāb?).

 

   Qayyūm al-asmā' 4

As early as the 4^th chapter of his weighty Qayyum al-asma’  (mid. 1844), the commentary on Qur’an 12:3 entitled Surat al-madinah (Surah of the City),  the Bab presupposed a detailed knowledge of the “Sermon of the Gulf” and of Sayyid Kazim’s Commentary thereon.  Addressed by God as Qurrat al-`ayn (The solace of the eyes), the Bab is told to “Strike for the people of the City the parable of the two persons (al-nafsayn)”. These two “souls” represent two contrasting religious “factions” (al-hizbayn). Individualized, the good one of the two “souls” appears (like the Bab) in the “Sacred Mosque” (al-masjid al-ḥaram; cf. Q. l7:1), a “vision of justice” (ru'yat al-`adl) while the other symbolizes a false messiah, another Gate (Bāb) in opposition to the Gate (al-Bāb) and destined for hell. That aspects of this symbolism relate  to the Shaykhi exegesis of the Khutba al-Tutunjiyya is especially clear from this verse of the Surat al-madinah, “ For the latter [of the two “souls”] were [provided] two rivers (nahrayn) in the land of the "two Wests" (fi arḍ al-maghribayn);  having two gardens (jannatayn) in one of  the two gulfs (khalījayn).  

       Qayyūm al-asmā' 109

       Several of the most important references and interpretations of the twin gulfs cosmology of the Kh-T in the Qayyūm al-asmā'  are found in Surah 109, the Sūrat al-`Abd (Surah of the Servant). As noted this Surah bears four isolated letters which spell the name Muhammad (M-Ḥ-M-D) and opens with an address to the "denizens of the Divine Throne" (ahl al-`arsh) followed by one addressed to the people of the earth:

يا اهل الارض

 اسمعوا نداء الطّيور علی شجرة المتورّقة من كافور الظّهور فی وصف هذا الغلام

العربیّ المحمّدیّ العلویّ الفاطمیّ المكّیّ المدنیّ الابطحیّ العراقیّ

 بما قد تجلّی الرّحمن علی ورقاتهنّ انّه هو العلیّ و هو اللّه كان عزيزاً حميداً

"O people of the earth!

Hearken unto the  Call of the birds upon the Tree leafed out in Camphor evocative of the depiction of this Youth who is at once Arabic, Muhammad related, `Alid, Fāṭimid, Meccan, Medinan, pre-   (al-abṭḥā) and Iraqi. This in that he hath indeed  divulged the glory of the All-Merciful (tajalli al-rahman) unto their  leaves [birds]  for He, verily, is Elevated. And He is God Who is One Mighty, Praiseworthy."

In the following key pericope within the Surat al-`Abd the Bāb spells out aspects of his spiritually transcendentalized appearance in a poetically and mystical suggestive fashion coming to make mention of the  سرّ الطّتنجين    or "mystery of the "twin Gulfs" ". Reminiscent of certain statements about the beautiful appearance of the occulted, hidden Imam contained in the Bihar al-anwār and elsewhere (see Majlisi, Bihar² 53:1ff) the Bāb begins,

هذا فتی ابيض فی اللّون و ازعج فی العين سوی فی الحاجبين مستوی الاطراف كاذهب المفرغ الطّریّ من العين مشاشة المنكبين كالفضّة المصفيّة المائلة فی الكأسين علوّ هيبته

"This Youth (al-fatā) is supremely snow-white of hue (abyaḍ fī al-lawn) and totally soul-strring of eye (az`ar fi'l-`ayn) though other than doubly screened off by [many] veils (?), lean of extremities [limbs] (al-aṭraf) even as hollowed guilding [gold-work] (ka-mushshad al-mufarraq), perfume-radiating of eye, of gait doubly high-flanked even as silver (al-fiḍḍa)..

        The succeeding paragraph or very long verse is an esoteric, imamological expression of the claims and eschatological function of the Bab as the one (like Imam `Ali) presiding over those now recreated spheres of existence which are the "twin gulfs" etc. It contains aspects of the Bab's  eschatologically charged development of Sayyid Kāẓim Rashti's exegesis of the twin-gulfs cosmology, linking, for example, the motif of  [Imam]`Ali presiding over (wāqif `ala) the "twin gulfs" with the Bāb operating -- with the permission of God -- as the eschatological Judge (ḥākim)  throughout all existence, encompassed by the twin "gulfs" of (loosely) "heaven" and "hell". The Bāb pictures several times pictures himself as the supreme Duality presiding over the realms of cosmic duality. He is in various ways symbolically of dual nature : (1) his name is  [1] `Ali + [2] Muhammad (2) (2) he is like the barzakh (ithmus) or "barrier" differentiating two "amr"s (lit. commands") or modes of possible  being (3) he is graphically the dual structured Bāb (باب   = bāb =ب  + ا + ب  ), the spelling of which consists of a duality of "B"s with an upright letter "A" in the centre  suggestive of his presiding as "A" over two "b"-generated "gulfs"  as the Lord of Being (4) His descent as one named `Ali Muhammad, from Muhammad through [1] `Ali and [2] Fatima also suggests his being transcendentally Dual, etc.

 

 قد ظهرت علی هيبة الاوّلين و انبساط رحمته قد نشرت علی الملك كرحمة الحسنين لم ير قطب السّماء بمثله فی العدل كالعدلين و فی الفضل كالنّيّرين الجامع فی الاسمين من اعلی الجيبين و برزخ الامرين فی سرّ الطّتنجين الواقف كالالف القائم بين السّطرين علی مركز العالمين ً

        "He [the Bāb] was indeed made manifest in the form of the two Primal Ones (al-awwalayn) [= Muhammad and `Ali?] and hath outstretched His Divine Mercy (raḥmat) such that it was diffused within the earthly dominion (al-mulk) even as the Mercy of the two [Imam] Ḥasans [No.2 son of `Ali and no. 11 al-Askarī]. It was such that its like  is never seen [even] at the [very] Pivot of Heaven (qutb al-ama') such was the  [expression of Divine] Justice (al-`adl), being tantamount to a Double [outpouring of] Justice (`al-`adlayn).  And in [the outpouring of] Divine Bounty (faḍl) he is even as the twin shining Lights (al-nayyirayn) conjoined in the two Names pertinent to the supremely elevated twin Depths [Bosoms] (al-jaybayn) as well as the Barzakh (Isthmus) of the two Causes (al-amrayn) pertinent to the secret of the two Gulfs (sirr al-ṭutunjayn), [He is ] the One presiding upright like the standing letter "A" between the two [alphabetiical] lines (al-wāqif ka'l-alif al-qā'im bayn al-saṭrayn) (cf the shape of  باب   = bāb ) above the midmost-heart of the two worlds (`alā markiz al-`alamayn).

الحاكم باذن اللّه فی النّشاتين الاخرتين سرّ العلويين و بهجة الفاطمين و ثمرة قديمة من الشّجرة المباركة المحمّرة بالنّار العمائين و قدّة من قدوة الحجب المتلألين بالخفقين الواقف حول النّار فی البحرين شرف السّمإ الی علل الارضين و كفّ من طين الارض علی اهل الجنّتين هاتين مدهامتين علی نقطة المغربين و هذين سرّ الاسمين فی خلف المشرقين المولّد فی الحرمين و النّاظر بالقبلتين من ورإ الكعبتين المصلّی علی عرش الجليل مرّتين مالك الامرين و المإ الطّاهر فی الخليجين النّاطق فی المقامين و العالم بالامامين البإ السّائرة فی المإ الحروفين و النّقطة الواقفة علی باب الالفين المدوّر حول اللّه فی الدّورين و المنطّق عن اللّه فی الكورين عبد اللّه و ذكر حجّته علی العالمين

He is the One who, with the permission of God, is [presiding as] the Judge (al-ḥākim)  throughout the twin spheres of latter-day [eschatological] generated existence (al-nishātayn al-ākhiratayn), as the Mystery of the dual  `Alid nature (sirr al-`alawiyyayn) and the Delight which is doubly Fāṭimid (bihjat al-fāṭimiyyayn).  [This concerns the Bab as] a Pre-Existent Fruit (thamara qadīma) from the Blessed Tree  (al-shajarat al-mubāraka) [Fatima] rendered  crimson through the [Sinaitic] Fire of the doubly beclouded Sphere (al-`amā'ayn); He [the Bab] is One  visibly variagated  on account of the nature of that Veil (qiddat min qudūd al-ḥijāb) which is doubly brilliant with twofold flashes [wings] (al-mutalā'lā'ayn bi'l-khafqayn). He [the Bab] is One presiding about the [Sinaitic] Fire (wāqif ḥawl al-nār) in the two [cosmic] Oceans (al-baḥrayn), one Illustrious of Heaven (sharaf al-samā') [yet inclined] towards the  defectiveness  of the two Earths (`ilal al-arḍayn). He molded the Earth  from [a mere handful of] clay (ṭīn) [then] elevated it for the denizens of the two Paradises (ahl al-jannatayn), they two  ADD

 

they both [for the sake] of the Throne of Glory (`arsh al-jalīl),  twice existent, thereon the King of the two Modes of the Divine Command (mālik al-amrayn) and the Purified Water

 

هذا الغلام يقال لجدّه ابرهيم و هو الرّوح فی الاوّلين و هو الباب بعد البابين الاخرين و الحمد للّه ربّ العاليمن و هو اللّه قد كان بالعالمين محيطا

"This is the Youth who addresses his forbear Abraham saying, `This is indeed is the Spirit of the  two Primal Ones (al-awwalayn) [= Muhammad and `Ali?] for  he [the Bab] is the Gate after the two latter Day [eschatological] Gates [Shaykh Ahmad + Sayyid Kazim?]. And praise be to God, the All-Encompassing Lord of all the worlds.   

        In another pericope or lengthy verse of the Sūrat al-`abd reference is made to the people or denizens of the sphere of the two Gulfs and to the related "two Easts" and the "two Wests":

يا قرّه العين

 فانطق باذن اللّه علی لحن الحبيبين و قل انّی انا الحقّ بالنّورين فی الحولين و انّی انا المكلّم عن اللّه فی الطّورين

و انّی انا المنزل باللّه هذين فرقانين علی الحبيبين فی الاسمين هذا علی الحبيب محمّد كبير السّنّ فی السّنّتين

هذان فرقانان من ربّ العالمين علی اهل الطّتنجين من اهل المشرقين و المغربين و انّ اللّه قد كان بالعالمين شهيداً

O Qurrat al-`Ayn (Solace of the Eye)!

Cry out with the permission of God according to the melody of the twin Beloveds (al-ḥabibayn) and say: `I am indeed the Truth (innani anā al-ḥaqq) in the two Lights (al-nūrayn) about the two [Sinaitic] Locales (ḥawlayn). And I am indeed the One Who Conversed (mukallim) with God in the twin [Sinaitic] Mounts (al-ṭūrayn). And I am indeed the revealer through God of these two Furqāns [= Qur'āns] unto the twin Beloveds (al-ḥabībayn) with the two Names (al-ismayn). The same unto the Beloved Muhammad, Mighty of Practise in the two customary formulations (sunna fi'l-sunnatayn), these two Furqāns [=Qur'āns] from the Lord of the two worlds [revealed] unto the people of the twin Gulfs (ahl al-ṭutunjayn), the denizens of the "two Easts" and of the "Two Wests". And God is indeed witness throughout all the worlds."

 

The Tafsīr of the Bāb on a passage in the Sharḥ Khuṭbat al-Ṭutunjiyya of Sayyid Kāẓim Rashtī

        This probably early, roughly 5-6 page Arabic work of the Bāb, opens with the basmala  and straightway refers to the Kh-ṭutunjiyya of  “Our mawlānā (“Lord”)  [Imam] `Alī who, the Bab declares, opens this sermon with a “statement  expressive of  a thousand degrees of praise and salutation” (ālāf al-thanā’ wa’l-taḥiyya), namely,  “Praised be to God, who hath cleft the firmaments asunder, etc”.  He then refers to what the al-mu`allim (“the teacher) apparently his one time teacher Sayyid Kāẓim Rashtī had said ADD

 

In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate

 Our Master [Imam] `Alī  said (upon him be peace) in the Khuṭbat al-Ṭutunjiyya (“Sermon of the Gulf”)  according to his statement  expressive of  a thousand degrees of praise and salutation (ālāf al-thanā’ wa’l-taḥiyya),  “Praised be to God, who hath cleft the firmaments asunder, etc”.  And the teacher (al-mu`allim) [Sayyid Kāẓim Rashtī] said -- may my spirit be a sacrifice for him -- `I indeed do say, `In the Name of God’ and `Praised be to God’, for I seek commencement in God”  in commenting upon the mystery of the Word (fī sharḥ sirr min al-kalimat) which hath been commented upon by the Word of Truth (kalimat al-ḥaqq) (= Sayyid Kāẓim himself ) – may my spirit be a sacrifice unto him – respecting the Khuṭbat al-Ṭutunjiyya  (“Sermon of the Gulf”) that he might instruct the people [about] a portion of the fullness  of the gravitas of the Book (ḥazz al-kull min ḥukm al-kitāb) as befits the portion so merited (kalimat al-thawāb)  and in accordance with what God had willed respecting that snow-white Leaf (al-waraqat al-bayḍā’).

CONTINUE

 

Comments of the Bāb on Khuṭbat al-ṭutunjiyya IV:4 in his Tasfīr al-hā' (I&II) and other writings.

 

        In Kh-T Imam `Alī at one point apparently declares his having a direct vision of God and Paradise when he states at  IV:4,

رأيت (رحمة) الله والفردوس  رأي العين

With the vision of [mine own] the eyes did I see [the Mercy of ] God  ([raḥmat] Allāh ) and Paradise (al-firdaws).

        The recent printing of the Mashariq al-anwar of Rajab al-Bursi referred to above does not read "I saw God" but has "I saw the Mercy of God" for direct vision of God is generally regarded as impossible in the Abrahamic religions -- Judaism, Christianity and Islam. It appears that this is a pious toning down of a controversial line in the Kh-T for the text cited by the Bab in several of his writings including his early Tafsir Surat al-Baqara ( ADD) does not have vision of the رحمة الله  ("Mercy of God")  but has `Alī declaring his direct vision of God. This is obviously designed to express Imam `Ali's superiority to Moses and others in the Jewish and Christian traditions who failed to directly vision the Godhead.

        When Moses requests vision of God in Exodus 33:18-23 he asks to see God's (Heb.)  kabod ("glory") but is is only offered indirect vision not of His "face" (panim) but of His "backside" (`ahorayim) while sheltering in the "cleft of a rock". Only God's "goodness" (tobah), the providential aspect of His Being, may be experienced when protected by the divine "hand" not any aspect of his Essence, Self identity or transcendent Being. Direct vision of God is impossible in the Hebrew Bible and Jewish tradition. The Qur'an has a very similar teaching. It illustrating this matter graphically when the divine tajalli  (theophanic self-disclosure) causes a mountain near Sinai to be reduced to dust and Moses to fall down in a swoon (Q. 7:143).

        The direct vision of the absolute divine Essence of the Godhead (dhat Allah) is also regarded as impossible in both the Babi or Baha'i sacred scriptures. The Bab underlined this very strongly throughout his writings. While he cited Kh-T IV:4 at least six times he never interpreted it literally.

Tafsīr Sūrat al-baqara (Commentary on the Surah of the Cow), Q. 2:ADD. 

Tafsīr al-hā' I  (Commentary on the Letter "H" ) 

Tafsīr al-hā' II  (Commentary on the Letter "H" ) 

Tafsīr Sūrat al-ḥamd (Commentary on the Surah of the Praise", Q. )

al-Lawāmi' al-badī`  ("The Wondrous Brilliances") c. 1846/7,

         In his epistle known as al-Lawāmi' al-badī`  ("The Wondrous Brilliances", c. 1846/7), the Bab interpreted this line to refer to Imam 'All's inner "vision of the [Primal] Will of God" (ru'yat al-mashiyya),  not in any way a direct vision of the transcendent Deity. This is also the case in his Commentary on the Du'a al-sabah (Dawn Prayer), where the same line from the Kh-T  is quoted and interpreted in terms of the 'Vision of the Divine Theophany" (ru'yat al-tajallī), understood as a divine Manifestation not a disclosure of the divine Essence.

The Letter in reply to Questions of  Nasir al-Din Karbala'i

The detailed and fascinating Arabic letter of the Bab

 

The Khuṭbat al-Jidda  (Homily from Jeddah)

 

The  Commentary of the Bab upon Lawḥ maḥfūẓ  ("The Preserved Tablet"), Q. 85:22

        While the opening lines of the Bāb’s early Khuṭbat al-Jidda  (Homily from Jeddah) appear to be  influenced  by the opening words of the al-Khuṭba al-ṭutunjiyya  (INBMC 91:60-61; cf. Ibid 50 [untitled]), the definite and deep influence of the Kh-ṭutunjiyya  upon the following two translated paragraphs  (VII-VIII) of the Bāb’s  commentary upon the qur’ānic phrase lawḥ maḥfūẓ  ("The Preserved Tablet", Q. 85:22) -- which has to so with the Divine Decree and human destinies -- is  obvious :

[VII]

        [1] And God assuredly made this to be that Book (al-kitāb) , the Supremely Great Tablet (lawh al-akbar). [2] And He foreordained therein whatsoever was called into being  at the beginning and the end [of things]  (abda` fi al-bad` wa'l-khatm). [3] God destined for that Book (al-kitab)  two Gates (bābayn) unto the depth [mystery] of the two Gulfs (li-sirr al-ṭutunjayn), through the Water of the two Bays (mā’ al-khalījayn).  [4] One of these two [streams of water] is the Water of the Euphrates of the Realities of  the Elevated Beings (mā’ al-firāt ḥaqā’iq al-`aliyyīn) [who are] of the inmates of the two Easts (min ahl al-mashriqayn) from the two [regions] most proximate [unto God] (min al-aqrabayn). [5] The second of the two [streams] is [that of] the Water of the fiery Hellish Expanse of the saline bitterness [streaming] from the inmates of the two Wests (min ahl al-maghribayn), from the two [regions] most remote [from God] (min al-ab`adayn [sic.]). And God fashioned above every entrance (`alā kull bāb)  the tripartite [trinitarian] form (ṣūrat al-tathlīth). And within the threefold form is the trinitarian Personage [= Jesus?] (haykal al-tathlīth) [leading] unto the depth of the gates of Gehenna (li-tamām abwāb al-jaḥīm).. 

[VIII]

[1] And God fashioned above every entrance (`alā kull bāb) the triadic form (ṣūrat al-tathlīth). [2] And within the triadic  form is the trinitarian Personage [temple = Jesus as one wrongly worshipped] (haykal al-tathlīth) [leading] unto the totality of the gates of Genenna  (li-tamām abwāb al-jaḥīm),  the nineteen waystations of the pre-existent Judge (min al-ḥākim al-qadīm) (cf. Q. 74:26-31). [3] And God assuredly made in the interior dimension (bāṭin)  of that [aforementioned Guarded] Tablet [of Destiny] (al-lawḥ [al-maḥfūẓ])  [naught but]  a Mercy and a sweet repose  (raḥmat wa rāḥat)  [4] though in its exterior dimension (ẓāhir)  did he of old ordain punishment (al-`udhāb). [5] And praised be unto God, their Unifier (mawaḥḥid) transcendent above whatsoever they resolve

(The Bāb, Q. L-Maḥfūẓ,  80). See further:

http://www.hurqalya.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/03-THE%20BAB/post%201844/mahfuz.snl.htm

 The Persian  Dalā'il-i Sab`a  (Seven Proofs).

About half way through his Persian  Dalā'il-i Sab`a  (Seven Proofs) (c. 1848)  the Bāb explicitly cites the passage from Kh-T  (XI:13 see trans. below) about the outward latter day realization of the divine theophany before Moses. He introduces his partly paraphrased  citation in the following interesting way:

و از جمله كلماتی كه قلب بان ساكن ميگردد كلام امير المؤمنين ( ع) است . كه در خطبهء تطنجيه فرموده .

الی ان قال

 فتوقعوا مكلم موسی من الشجرة الطور . فيظهر هذا ظاهر مكشوف و معاين و موصوف.

 و نظر نموده كه غير از ذكر اننی انا اللّه لا اله انا . از آن ظاهر نشده و نميشود

"And among the utterances that incline the heart towards repose is the statement of  the Commander of the Faithful (Amīr al-Muminīn = Imam `Alī) found in the Sermon of the Gulf   (khuṭbah-' tuṭunjiyya)  at the point where he says, 

"So anticipate ye the [theophany of the] He Who conversed with Moses (mukallim mūsā) from the [Sinaitic] Tree on the Mount (min al-shajarat al-ṭūr) for such shall be manifest outwardly unveiled, publicly celebrated and  clearly depicted (mawṣūf)".

Then observe that aside from the mention of "I verily, am God, no God is there except Me" [by the Bāb himself] such [ a promise] hath not been outwardly realized..."

    The Bāb implies that apart from his own uttering of the Sinaitic claim to Divinity "I, verily, am God" which parallels what God said to Moses on the Sinaitic Mount,  the promise of the Kh-T would not have been realized. He then continues to cite further eschatologicaly suggestive passages from the Kh-T (see below XIII:3 and ADD       ):

و در همين خطبه در موضع ديگر فرموده . و ان لكم بعد حين . طرفة تعلمون بها بعض البيان و ينكشف لكم صنايع البرهان.

الی ان قال . فعند ذلك ترتج الاقطار بالدعات الی كل باطل . هيهات هيهات توقعوا حلول الفرج الاعظم . و اقباله فوجاً فوجا۰

"And in another place within the very same Sermon (khuṭba) he says, "For you [there shall be a disclosure] "after a moment" (ba`ad ḥīn, abjad = 68), a twinkling novelty (al-ṭurfa) [star?] on account of which you shall  know something of the Bayan ("clear exposition") and there shall be disclosed for you wondrous evidences of demonstrative Proof (sanā'i` al-burhān)" [= XIII:2b-3a] until he [Imam `Alī further] says, " ADD REST + COMMENTS

 

Cf. "In due course there shall appear  a [twinkling] novelty (al-ṭurfa) [star?]  through which you shall come to realize

aspects of this [matter] clearly (al-bayān).

 

 

The Khuṭbat al-Ṭutunjiyya in the writings Mirza Husayn `Ali Nuri, Baha'-Allah (d. 1892 CE).

    Both the Bāb and Bahā'-Allāh saw themselves as the eschatological theophany of the Sinaitic speaker (mukallim al-ṭūr)  whose future advent is predicted by `Alī  in the Kh-T at XI:13 in the translation below (see Bursī, Mashariq, 168; Lambden 1986, index):

فتوقعوا ظهور مكلم موسی من الشجره علی الطور

"then anticipate ye the theophany of the Speaker  who conversed with Moses  (ẓuhūr mukallim mūsā)

from the Tree upon the Mount [Sinai]  (min al-shajarat `ala al-ṭūr)  for He shall assuredly be outwardly unveiled and publicly celebrated...

 

The  لوح جوهر حمد , Lawḥ-i Jawhar-i ḥamd.

        The Lawḥ-i jawhar-i hamd  (Tablet of the Essence of Praise) is an unpublished Persian Epistle of Bahā'-Allāh  largely addressed to the people of the world collectively. It 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 mashiyya  (Will) of the King of the Divine Oneness/ God" as the agent of creation is equated with the nafs (Logos-Self) of the mazhar-i ilahi  (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 Bahā'-Allāh in particular for, as the zuhúr i-a'zam ("Most Great Theophany"), 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 (mukallam-i kalím) [Moses]" disclosed the ism-i a'ẓam ("Greatest Name") or identity of Bahā'-Allāh, souls have remained veiled from him.

        About half way through his Tablet of the Essence of Praise, Bahā'-Allāh mentions how different religious factions have been held back from faith on account of his various claims to nubuwwa ("Prophethood") wilāya ("authoritative Guidance") and ulūhiyya ("Divinity"). He expresses astonishment that Jews, Christians, and other communities in possession of a Holy Book object to his claim to divinity and writes:

        "Say: 0 thou who art dumb! Hast thou not heard the Call of God from the [Sinaitic] Tree (al-shajarat) raised up from the Luminous Spot (al-buq'a an-nūrā), "No God is there except Him." Then consider this and be not such as hearken but fail to comprehend."

It is implied that Bahā'-Allāh's claim to divinity was foreshadowed on Sinai. In defending the legitimacy of his claim to divinity, 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 wilāya  [Imam 'Ali]" in which the advent of "He Who conversed with Moses" (mukallim musa) 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 (zuhur Alláh)." Referring to himself, he explains: "Today He Who conversed with Moses (mukallam musa) 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 Islamic traditions (hadith) and quranic texts. The "Day of Resurrection" is the time of the rising up of the "Manifestation of the Logos-Self of God" (mazhar-i nafs Alláh). (adapted from Lambden, 1987: 156-7) It is  clear from the Lawh-i Jawhar-i hamd that the above cited line (XI:13 below) of the Kh-T  is central to the theophanic self-understanding of both the Bāb and Bahā'-Allāh  who both saw themselves as the fulfillment of the words,

فتوقعوا ظهور مكلم موسی من الشجره علی الطور

... then anticipate ye the theophany of the Speaker  who conversed with Moses  (ẓuhūr mukallim mūsā) from the Tree upon the Mount [Sinai] 

(min al-shajarat `ala al-ṭūr) for He shall assuredly be outwardly unveiled and publicly celebrated...

The Bab and Baha'-Allah saw this line as a very significant eschatological prediction strongly suggestive of the (subordinate) Divinity of the latter-day manifestation of God. This Persian Lawḥ-i Jawhar-i ḥamd  ("The Tablet of the Essence of Praise') of Bahā'-Allāh explicitly refers  to the Kh-T as a "blessed sermon" (khuṭbat-i mubārakah)  which 'radiated forth' (ishrāq namūdah)  from  Imam `Alī  who is referred to as "the horizon of the heaven of absolute walāya ("divine guidance")  (ufq-i samā'-yi vilāyat-i muṭlaqah). The Persian text and translation of pertinent sections of the Lawḥ-i jawhar-i hamd   may now be selectively cited: and loosely translated:

     اگر چه خطبه مباركه طتنجيه كه از افق سما ولايت مطلقه اشراق نموده بلسان ابدع پارسی شرح نشده ...

  مقصود آن حضرت از ذكر خطبه اين كلمه مباركه بوده كه ميفرمايد:  فتوقعوا ظهور مكلم موسی من الشجره علی الطور

 و اين كلمه بمنزله قطب است يدور حولها رحی الحكمة و البيان و باين كلمه جميع اهل عالم را بظهوراللّه بشارت دادهاند ... اليوم مكلم موسی ظاهر و بانّی انااللّه ناطق ًانتهی

... although the blessed Khuṭbah-yi ṭutunjiyya ("Sermon of the Gulf") which shone forth from the horizon of the heaven of absolute walāya ("divine guidance") (ufq-i samā'-yi vilāyat-i muṭlaqah) hath not been commented upon in the most wondrous Persian tongue (bi-lisān-i abda`-i pārsī) ... the intention of that Holy Personage [= Imam `Alī] in delivering that Sermon (Khuṭbah [Ṭutunjiyya]) was [essentially for the sake of] this blessed statement (kalimat-i mubārakah),  wherein he says, "then anticipate ye the theophany of the Speaker  who conversed with Moses (ẓuhūr mukallim mūsā) from the Tree upon the Mount [Sinai] (min al-shajarat `alā al-ṭūr)".  And this [particular] statement (kalimat), as the locus of the revelation of the Pivot (manzilat-i quṭb) [Imam Alī],  is circled about by the very millstones of wisdom and exposition (ruḥīy al-ḥikmat wa'l-bayan) for through this statement (kalimat) all of the peoples of he world were given the glad-tidings of the [eschatological] theophany of God (ẓuhūr Allāh)... today the "One Who conversed with Moses" (mukallim Mūsās) [= Bahā'-Allāh] is apparent (ẓāhir) and crieth out [saying],  "I, verily, I am God"... (Lawḥ-i Jawhar-i ḥamd, mss. p. XX; INBMC 36: [161-8] ADD; cf. Ishrāq Khāvarī, Raḥīq  Makhtum X: XXX).

 

The Lawh-i Ibn-i Dhi`b (Epistle to the Son of the Wolf) (c. 1891 CE).

        One of the latest major works of Baha'-Allah this lengthy Persian epistle was addressed to Shaykh Muhammad Taqī Najafī (d. 1914) the son of Muhammad Baqir Najafi (d.       )  is fairly rich in Sinaitic and related theological materials fn. 253 and contains an important section on the question of Bahā'-Allāh's claim to divinity. About a quarter of the way through his treatise, he records that either Shaykh Muhammad or some other opponent of the Bahā'ī religion had suggested that the qur`anic Sūrat at-tawḥīd  ("Sura of the Divine Unity", Qur'an 112) be translated [into Persian], to the end that it may be clear to all that "the one true God begetteth not, nor is He begotton." This was with a view to countering the assertions of such "Bábís" (i.e., Bahá'ís) as "believe in his [Bahá'u'lláh's] Divinity", his rubūbiyya, ( lit.) "Lordship" and ulūhiyya ("Godhood" or "Divinity")". fn. 254 Immediately after recording such views, Bahā'-Allāh defends his claim to divinity in the following terms:

"This station [Divinity] is the station in which one dieth to himself (fanā' az nafs) and liveth in God (baqā' bi-Allāh)"  fn. 255

Concluding Note

        It is thus evident that many Babi-Baha'i sources have reference in Arabic (or Persian trans.) خطبة الطتنجيه  / خطبة ' طتنجيه   almost always with  the    طتنج   spelling which is most likely due to Shaykhi influence or more precisely the influence of the Sharh Khutbat al-Ṭutunjiyya of Sayyid Kazim Rashti where this spelling is dominant. Whatever the earliest or "correct" spelling of the most probably Arabic loanword (Ṭ[T]-N-J)  the spelling preferred by (Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsa'i and) Sayyid Kazim Rashti became dominant in Babi-Baha'i literatures in which the writings of the revered second Shaykhi leader and one time "teacher" of the Bāb were very highly regarded. 

 

 

---

THE

KHUṬBAT AL-ṬUTUNJIYYA

("SERMON OF THE GULF")

trans. Stephen N. Lambden

[I]

[1]

  الحمد لله الذى فتق الاجواء

وخرق الهواء وعلق الارجاء

واضاء الضياء واحيى الموتى وامات الاحياء    

Praise be to God Who hath cleft the firmaments asunder (cf. Q 21:30), split up the atmosphere,

suspended the margins of the heavens (Q. 69:17), caused the solar luminary [sun] (ḍiyā')  to shine

 forth, quickened the dead and made the living to die.

[2]

احمده حمداًَ سطع فارفع وشعشع فلمع

حمداًَ  يتصاعد في السماء ارساله ويذهب في الجو اعتداله     

I render Him such praise as rises resplendent, a praise at once radiant  then brilliant, a praise which,

on being communicated, ascends  unto heaven  and which, in its directness,  

traverses the celestial sphere

[3]

يخلق السماوات بلا  دعائم واقامها بغير قوائم

He created the heavens without pillars and set them upright without supports

(cf. Q. 13:2; 31:10).

[4]

 وزينها بالكواكب المضيئات وحبس في الجو سحائب مكفهرات 

Then He adorned them with radiant stars [constellations]

(al-kawākib al-muḍi`āt) and caused many a dusky cloud (sahā'ib mukfahirrat)

to be restrained in the celestial sphere

[5]

يخلق البحار والجبال على تلاطم تيار رفيق رئيق

فتق رتجاها * فتغطمطت امواجها  

He created the oceans and the mountains  upon dashing, surging,

concomitant, flowing waves. He tore their floodgates asunder

such that  their waves formed a vast billowing sea.

 

 [II]

[1]

 احمده وله الحمد،

 I give praise unto Him to Whom all praise is due.

[2]

 واشد ان لا إله إلا هوواشهد أن محمدأ عبده ورسوله

I testify that there is no God except Him and I bear witness that Muhammad  is His servant and His Messenger

[3]

، انتجبه من البحبوحة العليا، وأرسله في العرب

and that God chose him from the supreme pivotal region (buhbūḥat al-ulyā')  and sent Him unto the Arab peoples.

[4]

  وابعثه هاديآ مهديآ  حلا حلا طلسميا

 He dispatched him [Muhammad]  as a rightly guided (hādī)

Guide for others (mahdi),  one most agreeable of talismanic disposition (tilasmī  ^an).

[5]

فأقام الدلائل، وختم الرسائل بصر به السلمين

So he [Muhammad] lifted up the Proofs and sealed the sent Messengers (al-rasā'il) (cf. Q. 33:40)

such that Muslims obtained insight through him.

[6]

، واظهر به الدين، صلى الله عليه وآله الطاهرين

Through Him [Muhammad] (may the salutation of God be upon Him and His pure family)

did God cause His religion to be made manifest.

[III]

[1]

ايها الناس انيبوا الى شيعتى  والتزموا بيعتي

O People!

turn ye repentantly unto my party  (shi`ah, Shī`ī Islam) and adhere to a pledge of fealty unto me!

[2]

وواظبوا على الدين بحسن اليقين،

And be persistent in religion  (al-dīn)  with the excellence of certainty (bi-ḥusn al-yaqīn).

[3]

وتمسكوا بوصي نبيكم الذي به نجاتكم،

Adhere steadfastly to the successor  [legatee] (waṣī) of your Prophet  (nabī,)  [Muhammad] through whom is your salvation  (najāt).

[4]

 وبحبه يوم الحثسر منجاتكم

By virtue of his love, on the [eschatological] Day of Assembling  (yawn al-hashr),  is your safe haven.

 

[IV]

[1]

فأنا الامل والمأمول

I am the hope and I am the One hoped for (cf. Q. 15:3; 18:46).

[2]

انا الواقف على الطتنجين

 I am the one who is stationed over the two Gulfs (wāqif `alā al-ṭutunjayn)

[3]

انا الناظرالي المغربين والمشرقين

I am the one who beholds the "two Easts" and the "two Wests" (al-maghribayn wa'l-mashriqayn) (cf. Q. 55:17).

[4]

رأيت (رحمة) الله والفردوس * رأي العين

With the vision of mine own eyes did I see [the Mercy of ] God  ([raḥmat] Allāh ) and Paradise (al-firdaws).

(cf. Q.18:107; 23:11)

[5]

وهو في البحرالسابع يجري في الفلك في زخاخيره النجوم والحبك

Such is within the seventh Ocean which flows in the celestial sphere;

within its brimming oceanic expanse are the stars and their orbits

(al-hubuk, cf. Q. 51:7).

[6]

و رأيت العرض ملتفة كالتفاف الثوب القصور

I saw the earth wrapped up as if by an enveloping garment, though an inadequate robe.

[7]

و هي في خزف من التطنج الايمن مما يلي المشرق والتطنجان

It was within something earthen ware [clay] (khazaf) from the right-hand Gulf (min al-tuṭunj al-ayman)

which faces the East (al-mashriq) and towards the twin Gulfs (al-tuṭunjayn). 

[8]

   الخليجان من الماء كأنهما أيسارتطنجين

which are the twin Bays of  Water [the Watery Expanse]  (khalijān min al-mā')  that seem to incline to the left of the twin Gulfs (al-tuṭunjayn).

[V]

[1]

وأما المتولي دائرتها وما أفردوس 

Now as for the Supreme Guide  [walī] (mutawallī )  over their Cosmic Circle (dā'ira) and what constitutes Paradise.

[2]

وما هم فيه إلا كالخاتم في الاصبع  

[Bear in mind that to Imam `Ali]

There is naught therein save what is as the likeness of signet ring upon a finger (khātam fi iṣba`) [of God]!

[3]

 ، ولقد رأيت الشمس عند غروبها وهي كالطاير المنصرف إلي وكره،

For I [Imam `Ali] did indeed see the Sun  nigh its setting place and it was even as a bird seeking its nest!

[4]

        لولا اصطكاك رأس افردوس واختلاط التطنجين وصريرالفلك

    يسمع من السماوات والأرض رميم حميم دخولها في الماء الأسود وهي العين الحمئة

[Indeed!] If it were not for the reverberation of  the summit of Paradise, the confluence of the  twin Gulfs (ikhtilaṭ al- tuṭunjayn), and the shrill sound [music] of the celestial sphere (sarīr al-falak), all that are in the heavens and the earth would hearken unto the dissipation of [solar] heat (ramīm al-ḥamīm) attendant upon the descent of the Sun into the black  watery Abyss [Expanse] (al-mā' al-aswad) which is  [nothing but] the muddy wellspring (al-`ayn al-ḥami`a)  (cf. Q.18:86[84]).

[VI]

[1]

I (Imam`Alī)  know of the wonders of the creation of God what none knows except God.

[2]

And I am aware of what hath been and what will be; as well as what transpired at the time of the primordial particles

(lit. `atoms' al-dharr al-awwal)  with such as preceded the first Adam (ādam al-awwal; cf.Q.7:172).

[3]

It was assuredly disclosed for Me such that I became truly aware for my Lord taught Me and I thus inform thee lest incapacity set in.

[4]

So do not raise a clamor or be tongue-tied.

[5]

Were it not for my fear that you would start making reference to  insanity (the jinn)  or `apostasy', I would assuredly announce unto you

the condition persons were in, and your part therein as well as what you shall encounter up till the Day of Resurrection (yawn al-qiyāma).

[6]

Such knowledge was entrusted unto Me  wherefore have I taught.

[7]

And this knowledge was concealed from all the prophets (al-nabbiyin) except that is, the bearer of this [Islamic] Law  (shari`a) of yours

(= Muhammad),  peace be upon Him and His family.

[8]

He taught me His knowledge and I taught Him my knowledge.

[9]

We, verily, are the initial Warning (al-nadhr al-awwali);  the Warning about the hereafter  and the primordial era,

(al-nadhr al-akhira wa'l-awwali)  as well as the Warning for every time and season (al-nadhr kull zamān wa awan).

[10]

Through Us will perish such as are to perish and through Us  is saved such as are to obtain salvation.

[11]

And you [people] shall not be able to carry out that  ability which is [especially focused] in Us.

 

[VII]

[1]

 By He Who causes the seed to germinate (falaq al-habbat; Q. 6:95)!

Who initiates the breeze, Who stands matchless before the realm of Divine Grandeur and Might

(al-jabarut wa'l-`aimat).

[2]

The winds, the atmosphere, and the birds are assuredly subjected to Us.

[3]

The world mundane was presented to me but I turned away from it.

[4]

I overturned the world (al-dunyā')  and,  prostrate before Me, it was inclined in my direction.

[5]

When is it then,  that the dependencies (al-lawahiq) will overcome Me (?)

[6]

 I know what is beyond the supreme Paradise (al-firdaws al-a`la')

and that which is beneath the lowest abyss (`lowest seventh', al-sab`at al-sufli)

as well as what is in the elevated heavens what is between them and what is beneath the earth

[7]

All this knowledge is of the all-embracing kind, not merely traditional knowledge

 

[VIII]

[1]

I swear by the Lord of the Mighty Throne!

If I so wished I could inform you of your forefathers (aba') and predecessors (`ancestors', aslaf):

[2]

including, where they were, from whom they were; where they are now and how they came to be where they are!

[3]

How many of you are imbibing [eating] the substance [flesh] of his brother and drinking at  the [fountain-] head of his father

(sharib bi-ra's abihi; see Q.18:26) and yet longs for him [the father] and wishes to be with him!

[4]

 O how preposterous! And O how preposterous! Again, O how preposterous!

[4]

When what is hidden be disclosed, what is concealed in the breasts come to pass and it become known whither conscience roams.

[5]

I swear by God! you will assuredly have been assembled in groups and been many times returned.

[6]

And how many are those who, between successive returns (karra wa karra) constitute the multiplicity of signs (aya wa ayat)

differentiating between such as have been slain [martyred] and those who have passed away (maqtul wa mayyit).

[6]

For some there are in the craw of birds (hawasil al-tuyur) and those that are in the insides of beasts (batun al-wahsh)

as well as humanity between those that have passed away  and those implicit in marital intercourse or between coming and going.

 

[IX]

[1]

Were I to disclose for thee what I have accomplished from the first Aeon (al-qadim al-awwal)

and what is to be realized by myself in the hereafter (al-akhira), you wouldst assuredly behold stupendous wonders

astonishing affairs and well-preserved handiworks.

[2]

I am the Master of the first Creation (al-khalq al-awwal)  before the first Noah.

[3]

And were I to instruct thee as to what took place between Adam and Noah

(of the wondrous events that I wrought and of the nations that I caused to perish)

the truth of the statement,  "evil is that which they were about" would be confirmed.

[4]

 I am the Master of the first [two] Flood[s] (al-tufan al-awwal;  Q. 7:133).

[5]

 I am the Master of the second [two] Flood[s] (al-tufan al-thani;  Q. 29:14).

 

[6]

 I am the Master of the Deluge of `Iram (cf. Q. 34:16).

[7]

I am the Master of the Hidden Mysteries

[8]

I am the Master of `Ad and the Gardens (cf. Q.44:25).

[9]

 I am the Master of Thamud and its wondrous signs.

[10] I am their Leveler [11]  I am their Destroyer [12] I am their Enlivener

 انا الاول ، انا الآخر  

[13] I am the First (al-awwal)  [14] I am the Last (al-akhira).

 انا الظاهر انا الباطن

[15] I am the Manifest [16] l am the Hidden (cf. Q.57:3).

[17]

 انا مع الكور قبل الكور

I am with the Cycle which was before  any Cycle began (al-kawr qabl al-kawr).

[18]

 او مع الدور قبل الدور

I am with the Dispensation before any Dispensation commenced (al-dawr qabl al-dawr).

[19]

 انا مع القلم قبل القلم

I was with the Pen before the Pen.

[20]

 انا مع اللوح قبل اللوح

I was with the Tablet prior to the Tablet.

[21]

 انا صاحب الازلية الاولية

I am the Master of the First eternity (al-azaliya al-awwaliyya).

[22]

 انا صاحب جابلقا وجابرسا

I am the Master of [the celestial realms of] Jābulqā and Jārbarsā.

[23]

 انا صاحب الر فوف ويهرم  

I am the Master of the Elevated Sphere and of  Bahram [Mars]

[22]

 ان مدير العالم الأول حين لا سماؤكم هذه ولا غبراؤكم

I am the Ruler of the First World (al-`ālam al-awwal)

which existed when there was neither this heaven nor this earth which you do indeed know.

[X]

[1]

 قال : فقام اليه ان صويرمة

The son of Ṣ-W-R-M-A came nigh and said:

فقال : أنت أنت يا أمير المؤمنين

"Thou art assuredly what thou art, O  Amīr al-Muminīn" (Commander of the Faithful)!

 [2]

 

`Alī responded [ and said]: "I am! Indeed I am! There is none other God but God who is my Lord and the Lord of all created things.

[3]

 Unto Him belongs the creation and the command (al-khalq wa'l-amr).

[4]

He it is Who, through His Wisdom, all affairs are directed and Who, through His power, upraises the heavens and the earth."

[5]

Methinks the weak ones amongst you are saying,

`Do you pay heed  unto what  Ibn `Abī Ṭālib (= Imam `Alī) proclaims about himself?

[6]

For not so long ago,  it was he whom the military forces of the Syrians overshadowed.

And he would not go out to engage them though [a certain] Muhammad and Ibrahim were sent out!'

[7]

Now, assuredly shall I [Imam `Alī] fight the Syrians with you, killing, in other words, slaughtering (qatlat wa ay qatlat)!

[8]

By my truthfulness and my standing!

 I shall undoubtedly fight the people of Syria, killing, in other words, slaughtering (qatlat wa ay qatlat)!

[9]

And I shall assuredly fight the people of Siffin with all slaughter, seventy-fold slaughter  (bi-kull qaṭla sab`in qatla) !

 [10]

 And I shall assuredly bring new life  unto every one resigned  [who is Muslim].

[11]

I shall assuredly give deliverance to both the commander and his fighter until that thirst for justice which is within my breast be allayed.

[12]

 I shall fight a myriad engagements for `Ammār Yāsir  and for Uways al-Qaranī

[both d. Siffīn 657 CE].

 [13]

Let none say when? How? and in what manner?

 and with whose assistance? A leader [military chief', awwali]  shall exclaim,

`No!', `How!', `Where?', `When?',  `A fitting time!', `Till when?'

 [14]

How then shall it be when you shall see  the commander of Syria  announcing proclamations and cutting off rulers?

[15]

 Then shall we assuredly make him to taste a painful retribution.

[16]

Rejoice then! for on the morrow, through the decree of my Lord, will the command of all creation (amr al-khalq) revert to me.

[17]

 Let not what I say seem presumptuous  for I have been vouchsafed the knowledge of deadly fate and tribulation

(`ilm al-manaya wa'l-balaya), of [mystical] exegesis, revelation (ta`wīl wa'l-tanzil), and decisive discourse

(faṣl al-khiṭāb);  the knowledge of calamities, battles and catastrophes.

[18]

From us there is not a single thing hidden!

[19]

Relative to this one -- and he indicated [Imam] Ḥusayn (peace be upon him) --  the brightness [Light] (nūr) which is between his eyes

 has been unleashed [avenged?].

 [20]

 I shall be present with him for a long while,  when convulsions will shake the earth and the moon be eclipsed;

when the faithful believers will rise up against him [Ḥusayn] from every dwelling place.

[21]

I swear by God!

 If I so wished I would let you hearken unto their names, one by one, every man among them; both their names and the names of their

 forefathers. They will be begotten through the loins of men and the wombs of women until the Day whose time is promised

 (yawm al-waqt al-ma`lum; cf. Q. 15:38?).

 

[XI]

[1]

Then he [`Alī] said:

"O Jabir! Thou art with the True One (al-ḥaqq) and shall, henceforth, be with Him.

And in Him shall thou pass away.

 [2]

O Jabir!

When the [summoning] Bell  (al-nāqūs) shall toll!

[3]

When the nightmare shall constrain!  (kabasa al-kābūs)

[4]

When a buffalo (al-jāmūs) shall speak out!

[5]

Oh! nigh are these wonders, wonders indeed!

[6]

When the Fire (al-nār) shall be ignited in my sight!

[7]

When the banner of the house of `Uthmān (al-rāyat al-`uthmāniya)  shall appear in the black wadi (bi-wādī al-sawdā') 

[8]

When Baṣra shall be divided in conflict, some gaining ascendancy over others

 and each faction pursuing the other!

[9]

When the armies of Khurāsān  [in Persia]  shall begin to move,

 and when Shu`ayb ibn Ṣāliḥ al-Tamīmī shall succeed  in the interior of Ṭāliqān

and Sa'īd al-Susī (of Shusha)  be acknowledged  leader in Khuzistan.

[10]

And when banner shall be held aloft  by Kurdish Amalekites,

 [11]

 the Arabs gain ascendancy over the territories of Armenia and the Slavs  (bilād al-arman wa saqallāb)

[12]

and Heraclius

(Byzantine Emperor 610-641),  (cf. Q 15:38)

 submit to Constantinople before the [longstanding] patriarchs of  Sinan (?) (li-baṭāriqa sīnān),

 [13]

فتوقعوا ظهور مكلم موسی من الشجره علی الطور

then anticipate ye the theophany of the Speaker  who conversed with Moses  (ẓuhūr mukallim mūsā)

from the Tree upon the Mount [Sinai]  (min al-shajarat `ala al-ṭūr) for He shall assuredly be outwardly unveiled and publicly celebrated.

 [14]

Oh! How many a wondrous sign I do not seek to mention and how many indications

   have I left undivulged for I cannot find a single soul who can bear them.

[XII]

[1]

I am the one who ordered Iblīs [= Diabolos = Satan] to bow down [before Adam]! For I am the one who, by the command of God,

 chastised him [Satan] and his hosts for pride and high-handed jealousy.

[2]

انا رافع ادريس مكاناً علياً

I am the One Who raised up Idrīs  (Enoch) to a lofty place (Q. 19:57).

[3]

انا منطق عيسى فى المهد صبياً

I am the Agent whereby the infant Jesus was enabled to speak in the cradle!

[4]

انا مدين الميادن و واضع الارض

I am the flattener [Midian] of the valleys (madyan al-madāyīn)

and the one who sets the earth in order  (cf. Isa.xxxx ).

[5]

I am the one who has divided the earth into five parts: a fifth land, a fifth sea, a fifth mountains,

a fifth regions populated and a fifth regions desolate.

[6]

انا خرقت القازم من الترجيم

وخرقت العقيم من الحيم

I am the One who tore asunder Clysma (near the Red Sea) from Tarjīm;

and split apart `Aqīm  from al-Ḥim.

[7]

I cleft everything asunder from everything else; some persons  from others!

[8]

انا طيرثا

I am Ṭ-Y-R-TH-A

[9]

انا جانبوثا

I am  J-A-N-B-W-TH-A

[10]

انا الباحلون

I am the [?] A-L-B-A-R-Ḥ-L-U-N

[11]

انا عليوثوثا

 I am the Truth

(`-L-Y-U-TH-U-TH-A)  

(= Greek. Έγç..[ή] άλήθgια = ego eimi  aletheia   = John 14:6a).

[12]

اناالمسترق علىالبحارفي نواليم الزحارعندالبيار، حتـى  يخرج لي ما اعد لي فيه من اخيل والرجل،

I am one carried aloft above the Oceans on the crests of of the swelling seas

 unto the cultivated lands until there emerges  for me what is allotted for me therein of  horses and soldiers.

[13]

، فخذ ، ما أحببت، وأترك ما أردت

Take then what you desire and abandon what you wish.

[XIII]

[1]

ثم اسلم إلى عـمار بن ياسر اثـني عشر الف أدهم على أدهم، منها محب  لله ولرسوله ،

مع كل واحـد اثني عثسر كتيبة   لا يعلم عددها إلا الله

 

Then he [Imam `Alī] handed over to  `Ammār ibn Yāsir twelve thousand black-colored mounts [horses]

 (among them one beloved of God and his Messenger),  every one of whom had twelve thousand  [supportive angelic] battalions

[and] none knows their number except God!

[2]

ألا فابشروا، فانـتم نعم الاخوان ، إلا وان لكم بعد حين طرفة تعامون بها بعض البيان

[Then `Alī addressed them saying]

 'So why do you not rejoice? For you are among the favored brethren (na`am al-ikhwān).

In due course there shall appear  a [twinkling] novelty (al-ṭurfa) [star?]  on account of which you shall come to realize

aspects of this [matter] clearly (al-bayān).

[3]

تنكشف لكم صنايع البرهان عند طلوع بهرام و كيوان علىدقائق الافتران

 

[This when] there shall be disclosed for you wondrous evidences in demonstrative Proof (sanā'i` al-burhān) 

when Mars (al-baḥrām) and Saturn (al-kaiwān) shall rise up in a precisely concurrent astronomical conjunction (`alā daqā'iq al-iqtirān)

[4]

فعندما تتواتر الهزات والزلازل

Nigh this [there shall also be] successive tremors and earthquakes (al-hazzāt wa'l-zalā'zil)

[5]

 وتقبل  مرايات من شاطـئ  جيحون الى بيداء بابل،

and there shall come to pass ostentatious hypocrisy [dissimilation] (murāyāt)

from the Shore of the river Oxus  (shāṭī` al-jayḥūn) as far as the desert of Babylon (baydā' al-bābīl).  

[XIV]

[1]

[Imam `Ali then said:]

انا مبرج الابراج

I am the zodiacal locus of the constellations  (mubraj al-abrāj);

[2]

وعاقد الرياح،

[I am] the Controller of the winds [weather] (`āqid al-riyāḥ)

[3]

ومفتح الافراج

[I am] the Opener of the  breach (mufattiḥ al-afrāj);

[4]

وباسط العجاج،

[I am] the  Mollifier of the fearful cry (bāsiṭ al-`ajjāj);

[5]

 انا صاحب الطور

I am the Lord of the [Sinaitic] Mount (ṣāḥib al-ṭūr);

[6]

انا ذلك النور الظاهر،

I am that [Sinaitic] Light made manifest (al-nūr al-ẓāhir);

[7]

انا ذلك البرهان الباهر،

I am that Evidence dazzlingly resplendent (al-burhān al-bāhir);

[8]

 وانما كشف  لموسـى  سقص من شقص الذر من المثقال

 و كل ذلك بعلم من الله ذي الجلال

Such was indeed disclosed before Moses;

Persona after Persona,  the merest mote expressive of the [Divine] Gravitas 

(shiqṣ min shiqṣ al-dhārr min mithqāl)

In totality this [theophany] was through that knowledge which cometh from God, the Lord of Awesome Glory (dhū'l-jalāl).

 

[XV]

[Imam `Alī continued]

[1]

انا صاحب جنات الخلود  

I am indeed the Lord of the Paradise of Immortality (ṣāḥib jannat al-khulūd)!

[2]

انا  مجري الانهار انهاراًً  من ماء تيار، وانهارا من لبن، وانهارأ من عسل مصفى

وانهارا من خمر لذة للشاربين

I am indeed the Dispenser of the rivers (al-anhār)

streaming from the billowing Watery Expanse (mā' al-taiyār) including rivers of milk (laban)  and rivers of pure honey (`aṣal),

as well as rivers of wine (khamr) procured for the bliss of such as do quaff thereof.   

[3]

، انا حجبت جهنم وجعلتها طبقات السعيروسقر الجير و الاخرى عمقيوس اعددها للظالمين

I am the One who overshadowed Gehenna and who made its levels Sa'īr, the blazing inferno

and the hellish Saqar of  lime (saqar al-jīr)  then ultimately the uttermost abyss (`amqiyūs) its depths prepared for the iniquitous

 (ẓālimūn). 

[5]

واودعت ذلك كله وادي برهـوت

And all [inmates] of the foregoing [levels of hell] are consigned unto that Vale in Hadramut (wādī al-barhūt).

[6]

 وهو والفلق  ورب ما خلق، يخلد فيه الجبت والطاغوت وعبيدهما، ومن كفر بدي الملك والملكوت

Indeed! By He Who is!  By  the Distinguisher [Separator], the Lord Who created!

Therein are imprisoned both [the demoniac] Jibt and Ṭāghūt along with such as serve these two [along also with]  whomsoever hath

 disbelieved in [God] the Lord of  the Earthly Dominion and of the Eternal Kingdom (dhū'l-mulk wa'l-malakūt).

[XVI]

[1]

[Imam `Alī then said:]

I am the Fashioner of the Climes (ṣāni` al-aqālīm) through the command (bi'l-amr) of the All-Wise, the All-Knowing. 

[2]

I am the Word (al-kalimat) through which all instructions (al-umur) were completed and the epochs of time (al-duhūr) were stretched out.

[3]

I am the One who established the climes (al-aqālīm) as four  and the island peninsulars (al-jazā'ir) as seven.

[4]

Thus is the  Southern zone (iqlīm al-junūb) the source of blessings (ma`dan al-barākāt)

while the  Northern zone (iqlīm al-shimāl) is the source of  majestic powers (ma`dan al-saṭwāt);

[5]

The region  of Sheba (iqlīm al-ṣabā) is the source of  earthquakes (ma`dan al-zalāzil)

while the region of  the west wind (iqlīm al-dabūr) is the domain of catastrophic events  (ma`dan al-halakāt)

[6]

Woe then be upon your towns (al-madā'īn) and your great cities (al-amṣār) on account of the tyrannical oppressors (al-ṭughāt)

who shall be made manifest!

[7]

So shall they alter things and  precipitate change.

[8]

Wherefore shall there be a propensity for severe afflictions (al-shadā'id)  on account of  the rule of eunuchs (dawlat al-khiṣyān)

and the dominion of those childish  and of women (malikat al-ṣubyān wa'l-niswān).

[XVII]

[1]

Nigh that time there shall be convulsion in all quarters through the summoning  unto all manner of false perversion (al-bāṭil).

[2]  

How preposterous! How very preposterous! [this shall be]

[3]

Yet anticipate you the onset of the supremely great repose (al-farj a`ẓam)  for such will be accepted in troops (fawj ^an fawj ^an).

[4]

Then shall God transform the gravel [pebbles] ( ḥaṣbā') of Najaf  into gemstones (jawhar ^an )

and place them beneath the footsteps of the believers.

[5]

Therewith [however] shall  the deviant and the hypocrites transact [false business] so as to nullify  the

[high value of] the red ruby (yāqūt al-aḥmar) as well as [that of] pristine pearls and jewels.

[6]

This circumstance shall be the most evident of the [eschatological] signs (`alāmāt) until there be categorically realized  the

[promise of the theophany] of His luminous  Radiance  (ḍiyā'ihi) and the supernal brilliance of His Beauty-Glory  (saṭ` bahā'ihi);

[7]

[That eschatological Day]

there shall [thus] be made manifest whatsoever persons have desired [of the eschatological Divine vision?]

and you shall be worthy [to attain] that which you consider [especially] beloved.

[8]

 Is this not a  [befitting token] for you of the [coming?] wonders of plentitude  (`ajā'ib al-jamma) and of the [current?]

circumstances of misfortune (umūr al-mulmillat)?

[XVIII]

[1]

O  resemblances of wild asses (ashbāh al-i`thām) and  wild beasts among the cattle (bahā'im al-an`ām)!

[2]

How will you fare when the banners of the children of Kenan [Cainan] [allied] with `Uthmān ibn  `Anbasat

do assuredly take you unawares in the [open spaces]  courtyards of Syria (`irāṣ al-shām)?

[3]

[fearing that]

Consonant therewith is the Patriachate (abuwiyya) and compliant therewith the Umayyads!

[4]

Preposterous indeed is [the notion] that the truth [of this matter] should be discerned by an Umayyad (umawī) or 

an `Adite [enemy] (`adawī) [= one of the tribe of `Adī  son of Sheba?].

(cf. Tabari, Tarikh, 225  trans. Brinner vol. 2: 23; Yakut, Mu`jam al-buldan 4:90)

 [XIX]

[1]

Then he [Imam `Alī ] -- may the salutations of God be upon him -- lamented and said:

[2]

Oh! Alas for the community (al-umam)!

Do you not witness  the banners of the children of the [courtly] threshold (`atabat) [= the Umayyads?]

with those of the children of  Kenan [= Cainan], the wanderers thrice (sā'irīn  thalāth ^an);

[cf. Gen 5:9f, 1Chr. 1:2]

[3]

[they are persons] mounted up (al-murtakbīn), constituting a great multitude (jibill ^an jibill ^an )

evoking acute fear (khawf shadīd) and  future misery (bu's `atīd).

[4]

Oh! Alas for it is surely the time about which you were  promised; we cannot possibly bear those [who come] upon she-camels]

(`alā najā'ib)(?) accompanying them the mounts of the celestial spheres  (marākib al-aflāk).

[5]

It is as if I [Imam `Alī] am with infidels who assert that [Imam] `Alī himself claims Lordship (al-rabbāniyya)!

[6]

Ah alas! Witness you all unto the testimony [of `Alī himself evoked by] your enquiry respecting this [calumny],

countering this issue.

[7]

"`Alī is [not a Lord but] a Light that is created  (nūr  makhlūq), a blessed servant provided for [by God] (`abd marzūq)".

[8]

Anyone who asserts other than this de facto paradigm (fa`aliyya) shall be accursed of God and be subject to the curse

of the such as do utter curses. 

[XX]

[1]

Then he [Imam `Alī] descended [the pulpit] and he said,

I  seek refuge in the Lord of  the Dominion and of the Kingdom (al-mulk wa'l-malakūt)!

And I seek protection in the Lord of Might and the Empyrean (al-jabarūt)!

And I seek abstinence through the Lord of Power and of the Kingdom (al-malakūt) from everything that I fear and  am cautious about!

[2]

O people!

None of you should make mention of these words except under circumstances  disastrous (nāzila) or calamitous (shadda);

save that is, when God should sanction the separation of such things from Him.

[3]

Then Jabīr commented

`This [circumstance] alone', O Amīr al-Muminīn (Commander of the Faithful)!'

[4]

Then he [Imam `Alī] responded,

`Yea! Indeed!'

Yet he  added unto this [disclosure] thirteen names.

[Evidently the name `Alī  + the other 13 protective names of the 14 immaculate ones,

Muhammad + Fāṭima  + the 12 Imams =  14]

[5]

So we rallied together then rode away and left.

 

___________________________________

 

THIS IS UNDER  CORRECTION AND REVISION ON THIS WEBSITR

DURING 2005-6

 

 

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Variant readings, notes and commentary

To be added 2005-6

 Pararaph I

[5]

يخلق البحار والجبال على تلاطم تيار رفيق رئيق

فتق رتجاها * فتغطمت امواجها  

* An alternative reading registered in the Dar al-Andalus printing of al-Bursi in fn.1 p. 166 is:    كذا وظاهر  رتاجها  *  

 

Pararaph II

[4]

 He dispatched him [Muhammad]  as a rightly guided (mahdī)

Guide for others (hadi),  one who was a dignified leader, of talismanic disposition (tilismānī).

[7]

و هي في خزف من التطنج الايمن مما يلي المشرق والتطنجان

Such is within earthen ware  (khazaf) at the right-hand Gulf (min al-tuṭunj al-ayman)

which faces the East (al-mashriq) and [towards another of ?] the twin Gulfs (al-tuṭunjayn). 

The words   هي في خزف    hiya fi khazaf   translated "Such is within an  earthen ware cleft (khazaf)"  might perhaps be translated "within an earthen ware vessel"... ADD..

It is a phrase reminiscent of Quran 55:14 which,  also on cosmological lines, mentions  the creation of man / humanity from clay ( ṣalṣāl ⁱⁿ ), like "potter's clay", perhaps clay ready to be fashioned into shape:

خلق الانسان من صلصال كالفخار

 He created man [humanity] from fermented clay like earthenware  (khalaqa al-insān min ṣalṣāl ⁱⁿ k'l-fakhār)  

---

 

[XVII]

[1]

Nigh that time there shall be convulsion in all quarters through the summoning  unto all manner of false perversion (al-bāṭil).

[2]  

How preposterous! How very preposterous! [this shall be]

[3]

Yet anticipate you the onset of the supremely great repose (al-farj a`ẓam)  for such will be accepted in troops (fawj ^an fawj ^an).

SURAT AL-NASR, Q. 110

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ
إِذَا جَاء نَصْرُ اللَّهِ وَالْفَتْحُ

وَرَأَيْتَ النَّاسَ يَدْخُلُونَ فِي دِينِ اللَّهِ أَفْوَاجًا

فَسَبِّحْ بِحَمْدِ رَبِّكَ وَاسْتَغْفِرْهُ إِنَّهُ كَانَ تَوَّابًا

(1)

When there shall come the victory of God (nasr Allah) and the triumph (al-fatḥ)

(2)

then you shall see the people entering the religion of God (dīn Allāh) in troops (afwāj ^an)

(3)

So glory in the praise of thy Lord and seek His forgiveness for He hath ever been inclined towards 

 

 

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Select Bibliography -- to be added

al-Ahsa'i, Shaykh Ahmad b. Zayn al-Din.

 

Corbin, Henri,

al-Hā'irī, Hajj Shaykh `Ali al-Yazdi  (d. 1333/ 1915)

• Ilzām al-nāṣib fi ithbāt al-ḥujjat al-al-ghā'ib vol. 2 (5th ed. Beirut: Mu'assat al-A`lā, 1404/1984)  This compilation of Shi`i messianic and apocalyptic materials contains both the Kufa delivered Khutbat al-Bayan (see vol. 2 pp. 232-242) and a recension of the Khutbat al-tutunjiyya (vol. 2 pp. 242-252) perhaps derived from

Lambden, Stephen.

 

Lawson, B. Todd

• Note especially Lawson's ground-breaking doctoral thesis and article posted on H-Baha'i

• http://www2.h-net.msu.edu/~bahai/bhpapers/vol5/tatanj/tatanj.htm,

Rashti, Sayyid Kazim (d. 1259/1843).

 

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tutunjiyya  tatanjiyya tutunjiyya