Tafsīr Ḥadīth al-ḥaqīqa

or the

Commentary of the Bāb upon the Ḥadīth Kumayl

  IN PROGRESS 2006-7

INTRODUCTION AND PROVISIONAL TRANSLATION STEPHEN LAMBDEN

INTRODUCTORY NOTE

  The حديث حقيقت  Ḥadīth al-ḥaqīqa  (Tradition concerning Ultimate Reality) or (loosely) Ḥadīth Kumayl  is the record of an alleged Arabic conversation between the first Shī`ī Imam, `Alī b. Abī Ṭālib (d.40/661) and his associate, the one-time governor of Hīt (Iraq), Kumayl ibn Ziyād ibn Nahīd ibn Haytham ibn Sa'd ibn Malik ibn al-Nakhā'ī. (c.18/639 -- c. 85/704?) whose shine is located at Wadī al-Salām near Najaf (Iraq; al-Mufīd, K. al-Irshād, add). The hadith Kumayl is a well-known tradition much discussed and highly influential in Shī`ī Islamic philosophy and mysticism [1] as well as many times registered and partially interpreted in early Shaykhī texts and in Bābī-Bahā'ī scriptural  literatures. As will be seen below, it was variously commented upon by Shi`i mystics and philosophers, by the first two Shaykhi leaders,  ADD and by Sayyid `Ali Muhammad Shirazi, the Bab (1819-1850) and Mirza Husayn `Ali Nuri (1817-1892), entitled Baha'-Allah (the Splendor of God) and founder of the Baha'i religion.

RECENSIONS OF THE TEXT OF THE HADĪTH KUMAYL OR  HADĪTH AL-HAQĪQA

 The textual history of the  several Arabic versions of the Hadith Kumayl or Hadith al-haqiqa spans several hundreds of years. Among others sources the Arabic text of this dialogue between the `Alī b. Abī Ṭālib (d. 40/661) and his associate, Kumayl ibn Ziyād al-Nakhā'ī. (c.18/639-81[8]/701[7]) be found, for example, in ADD

 

Translations of the   five disclosures by `Ali  regarding  ما الحقيقة  (= mā’ al-ḥaqīqah), `What is Ultimate Reality?’.

 الحقيقة   (= al-ḥaqīqah = Ultimate Reality [God]) in  Imām `Alī's five definitions of reality" (haqīqa)  disclosed to Kumayl ibn Ziyād ibn Nahīk al-Nakhā’ī (d. c. 85/704?);  in the well-known recensions of the Hadītḥ Kumayl or the Ḥadīth (Tradition) regarding the question  ما الحقيقة  (= mā’ al-ḥaqīqah), `What is Ultimate Reality?’. 

Portions of versions the Ḥadīth al-ḥaqīqa  have several times been (partially) translated into English;  (1) by the Cambridge orientalist Edward G. Browne (d.1926) in Appendix II of his edition of the so-called Tarikh-i Jadīd (New History) (p.329 cf. p. X = EGB) and (2) by the American Presbyterian missionary Dwight M Donaldson (d.1976) in his still useful 1938  article published in the Muslim World  28 (1938), 249-257 (= DMD).

        The following are the five definitions of al-haqīqa  ("Reality") given by Imam `Alī in the Ḥadīth Kumayl as translated by Browne in Appendix II of his edition and translation of the New History .. (1893 [1975]: 329): CHECK THIS

[1] "The revelation of the splendours of Divine Majesty without a sign"

[2] "The effacement of the conjectured, and the clearing of the known"

[3] "The rending of the veil by the triumph of the mystery"

[4] "The attraction of the Divine Unity through the nature of the apprehension of its Oneness"

[5] "A Light shining forth from the Morning of Eternity and irradiating the temples of the Unity"

  Without giving the whole of the introductory material it can be noted here that one portion of the Ḥadīth al-ḥaqīqa  sets forth centrally important  statements about al-ḥaqīqa which Kumal ibn Ziyad has repeatedly enquired about.   The centrally important statements about al-ḥaqīqa made by `Alī are responses to the repeated enquiry of Kumayl as to   ما الحقيقة  (= mā’ al-ḥaqīqah), `What is Ultimate Reality?’. After an introductory exchange with Kumayl, the dialogue continues as follows with my own highly provisional translation and a few of the older translations:

Kumayl, enquires,  يا اميرالمؤمنين ما الحقيقة

 "O Commander of the Faithful,  `What is al-ḥaqīqa'  (Ultimate Reality [God])?

He [Imam `Alī] replied,  "  فقال ما لك والحقيقة

`What have you and al-ḥaqīqa' (Ultimate Reality)  got to do with one another'?

So he [Kumayl] responded saying, فقال او لست صاحب سرك,

'Is it not that I am a [sharing] companion of your secret?'

And he [Imam `Alī] replied قال بلى ولكن يرشح عليك ما يطفح منى  ,

`Yes!  But what [gnosis merely] sprinkles down upon you, billows over [luxuriantly] through me'.

At this point in the dialogue with Kumayl Imam `Alī utters the following five successive  definitions of  الحقيقة (al-ḥaqīqa, =  “Ultimate Reality) :

 فقال او مثلك تخيب سائلا

So he [Kumayl] replied,  

 [1]

    فقال الحقيقة   كشف سبحات الجلال من غير اشارة    فقال الحقيقة

 [al-ḥaqīqa,  “Ultimate Reality” [is expressed through] The disclosure of the splendors of the Divine Majesty (subuḥāt al-jalāl)

without any indication [of  the Reality of the Ultimate Deity] (min ghayr al-ishāra)

 فقال زدنى بيانا    Thereupon [Kumayl] said, “Please expound further for me”

قال عليه السلام  So he [Imam `Ali] continued,  [ saying that awareness of al-ḥaqīqa also demands]

[2]

 محو الموهوم و صحو المعلوم

 “The nullification of idle speculation [about Ultimate  Reality  [God] (maḥw al-mawhūm) and the [consequent] realization of that which [can be appropriately] known  [ about God-Reality] (ṣaḥw al-ma`lum)"

 فقال زدنى بيانا   Thereupon [Kumayl] said, “Please expound further for me”

[3]

  قال هتك السر لغلبة السر

Then he [`Ali] said [al-ḥaqīqa] is [furthermore] the dissolution of the covering through the  ADD  of the mystery  ( hata al-sitr li-ghalbat al-sirr)  "The rending of the veil by the triumph of the mystery" (EGB)

 

  فقال زدنى بيانا

 Thereupon [Kumayl] said, “Please expound further for me”  Then he [`Ali] said [al-ḥaqīqa]  is

[5]

قال نور يشرق من صبح الازل  فيلوح على هياكل التوحيد آثاره

"A Light (nūr) dazzling forth from the Dawn [Morn] of Eternity (ṣubḥ al-azal) [ nūr ashraq min subḥ al‑azal `alā hayākil al‑tawhīd ]

 its traces shimmering upon the Embodiments [Temples] of the Divine Unity (`ala hayākil al-tawḥīd āthārihi).

"A Light shining forth from the Morning of Eternity and irradiating the temples of the Unity" (EGB)

               Used by Bāb as a title for   Mīrzā Yaḥyā Nuri  derived  from the gentive phrase (Ar.)    صبح الازل  (Per.) صبح ازل    Subḥ‑i Azal  within the Hadītḥ Kumayl (see above) it was thus that the supporters of Mīrzā Yaḥyā became known as Azalīs (lit. loosely,  "Eternalites") and their religious orientation Azalī Bābism  ‑‑ today a religious faction more or less extinct in concrete terms but very much alive in the arena of written neo‑Azalī anti‑Bahā'ī polemic.

[1]

So he [Imam `Alī]  stated,

كشف سبحات الجلال من غير اشارة

"al-ḥaqīqa  [is expressed through] the disclosure of the splendors of the Divine Majesty (subuḥāt al-jalāl) without  any indication

[on an apophatic level]!" (min ghayr al-ishāra)

فقال زدنى بيانا

[2]

قال عليه السلام

 محو الموهوم و صحو المعلوم

So he [Imam `Ali] continued, "[al-ḥaqīqa  further constitutes]

The obliteration of idle speculation  (maḥw al-mawhūm) and the [consequent] realization of that which is [certainly] known (ṣaḥw al-ma`lum)"

[3]

قال زدنى بيانا  قال هتك السر لغلبة السر  فقال زدنى بيانا

"The rending of the veil by the triumph of the mystery" (EGB)

[5]

قال نور يشرق من صبح الازل  فيلوح على هياكل التوحيد آثاره

So he [Imam `Ali] continued, 

"A Light shining forth from the Morning of Eternity and irradiating the temples of the Unity" (EGB)

  ADD  (DMD)

"A Light (nūr) radiates forth from the Dawn [Morn] of Eternity (ṣubḥ al-azal)  its traces shimmering upon the embodiments [Temples] of the Divine Unity (hayākil al-tawḥīd)" (SL)

[6]

 فقال زدنى بيانا فقال اطف السراج فقد طلع الصبح

"So he [Imam `Ali further] stated,

Quench then the lamp (al-sirāj) !  For the Dawn time [Morn] (al-ṣubḥ)  has arisen indeed"

  

     Shī`ī and Shaykhī Commentaries on the Ḥadīth al-ḥaqīqa

     Many commentaries in Arabic and some in Persian on the Ḥadīth al-ḥaqiqa have been written, a few of which have been published although many remain in manuscript.[2]  The following is a very selective list of persons who have written commentaries:

(1) . شرح حديث حقيقتSharḥ ḥadith ḥaqīqa (Commentary upon the Hadith of Ultimate Reality) by Shāh Ni`mat-Allāh Walī (        ), the founder of the  Ni`mat-Allāhi Sufi order.   

(2)  شرح خبر كميلSharḥ khabar Kumayl  by Jamāl al-Dīn Ḥasan ibn Yūsuf Muṭahhir , `Alamah  al-Hillī  (ADD)    Dharia 13: 196.

Fn. In his article      the following 2 mss. of this work are listed:   ف ـ دانشگاه تهران، ش 1/1036 (1برگ)، فهرست 3، ص460.
ب ـ كتابخانه مجلس، ش 32/4900، فهرست ج14، ص67  و ش40/1805، فهرست ج9،ص345

(3) `Abd al-Karim al-Jili (d. c. 736 / 1300), Sharḥ ḥadīth al-ḥaqīqa (Commentary upon the Hadith of Ultimate Reality) = item 15 (pp. 640-645 ) in Majmu`ah-yi Rasā'il va Moṣannafāt Kamā al-Dīn `Abd al-Razzaq Kashani  ed. Majid Hādīzādeh Tehran: Mīrāth-i Maktūb  1370/ 2000.  ISBN 964-6781-330.    

(4) `Izz al-Din Muhammad Ibn Abī Tahir Kashani  (Dhari`a 13:196; 18:190)

(x) Hajji Mullā Hādī Sabziwārī (d. c. 1295[8]/1878[81]) had occasion to comment upon the Ḥadīth al-ḥaqiqa  in various of his works including his `Commentary on the Most Beautiful Names of God' ( ... شرح الاسماء الحسي  ،) an edition of which has recently been published.

       Authors of commentaries in Persian include

(x) Commentary by Muzaffar `Ali Shāh Kirmānī (c.1125/     ). in mss.

 

Early Shaykhī Commentary upon the Ḥadīth al-ḥaqiqa

    The early, first two Shaykhī leaders wrote commentaries on or responded to questions about on the Ḥadīth al-ḥaqiqa.  Shaykh Aḥmad al-Ahsa'i responded to a number of questions about the Ḥadīth Kumayl   including his

 

The Bāb's Commentary upon the Ḥadīth al-ḥaqīqa

  From very early in his mission the The Bab cited and gave importance to the Ḥadīth Kumayl.  He  cited it in his early Risāla fi'l-suluk ("Trestise on the Path") as noted by Todd Lawson (H-Baha'i, Website,  http://www2.h-net.msu.edu/~bahai/trans/vol2/suluk/suluktr.htm).

        In his Sahifa bayn al-haramayn (Epistle Between the two Shrines) (Dec 25th ,1260/1844-5)  the Bāb has several often arcane references to the Ḥadīth Kumayl: 

فانّك قد تراه ؟ بعيداً و انّی قد اراه قريباً

Thus you, have you seen Him?  From afar off, one remote! While I have indeed seen Him, From close at hand, proximate!

ان اتّق اللّه و ارحم نفسك و ادخل باذن اللّه  فی مدينة ربّك و قل حطة ؟  

Then fear God! and exercise supreme mercy upon your self! Enter then, with the permission of God, into the City of thy Lord, and exclaim

  علی سبيل ما علّم علیّ عبده كميل بن زيّاد النّخعی علی صراط قويم   ان اكشف من هذا الباب سبحات الدّلائل من غيراشارة

 قد نزّل من الفؤاد قريباً  و ان اردت الاشارة فقد حرّم عليك لقائه  و كنت عند اللّه فی ارض الحدّ مكتوباً   هذه ما نزّل اليك من كتاب

            In the Perian Bayān, 62-3 we read: 

نانچه اگر امروز كسی در احاديث فتنه و امتحان نظر نمايد مشاهده مينمايد كه چقدر اوليای حق از برای نجات اين خلق در يوم ظهور اهتمام فرموده چنانچه مدققين (؟) نظر در كتاب خود ذكر نموده كه ظهور حضرت ۴ ظهور حقيقت مسئول عنها است كه در حديث كميل مذكور است ولی يهدی اللّه من يشإ و يدخل الجنة من يريد اينست حقيقت جنت  در عالم حيات و بعد از موت لا يعلم الا اللّه هنا لك ما لا عين رات و لا اذن سمعت و لا خطر علی قلب بشر قد خلق اللّه فيها من كل  ما كل عنه من فضله سائلون و اگر ابحر سموات مداد گردد و كل اشيإ قلم و كل ذيروح كاتب هر آينه شيئ از اشيإ جنت بعد از موت را نتوانند درك نمود و مدار آن مدار همين جنتی اس

 

        The Persian Dalā'il-i sab`ih (Seven Proofs)

 In his Persian Dalā'il-i sab`ih (Seven Proofs) which may have been written to a Shaykhi enquirer, the Bab registers the well-known five (or so) definitions of ḥaqīqa ("ultimate reality") communicated by Imam `Alī in the Hadith Kumayl. They are seen as prophetic intimations of aspects of the five successive years of the  mission of the Bab  (1260-1265/6 AH = 1844-1849[50] CE). 

و نظر نموده در اجوبه مرفوعين قبلين يقين مينمائی بر اينكه ظهور موعود منتظر . همان ظهور حقيقت مسئول عنه است  . كه در حديث كميل ديدهء

(I)

(1260 =  1844-1845)

. درسنه اول . كشف سبحات الجلال من غير اشارة  ببين    

 Then observe in the first year 

 "the revelation of the splendors of the Divine Majesty without a sign"

(EGB TN:329)

(II)

(1261 = 1845-6)

Then in the second year

و درثانی  محو الموهوم و صحو المعلوم  

"The obliteration of the fanciful and the XX clearing of the known"

Then in the third  year (1846-7)

 و درثالث هتك الستر لغلبة السر

"The rending of the veil by the triumph of the mystery"

Then in the fourth year (1847-8)

 و در رابع جذب الاحدية  .لصفة التوحيد //  . ببين 

"The attraction of the Divine Unity  through the nature  of the apprehension of its Oneness" (EGB TN:329)

Then in the fifth year (1848-9)

 . و در خامس . نور اشرق من صبح الازل علی هياكل التوحيد

"A light shining forth from the Morning of Eternity  and irradiating the temples of the Unity" 

(EGB TN:329)

  . ببين و نور مشرق از صبح ازل را . خواهی ديد  . اگر خود هارب نگردی . و مضطرب نشوی .

 

The Hadith Kumayl and the title of Mīrzā Yaḥyā (Per.) صُبْح اَزل  Subḥ‑i Azal

( = Ar.  صبح الازل  ) Subḥ al-Azal

 

The half-brother of Baha'-Allah Mīrzā Yaḥyā Nuri’s best known title is (Per.) صُبْح اَزل  Subḥ‑i Azal ( = Ar.  صبح الازل  = Subḥ al-Azal = "The Morn of Eternity" ) derives from this (Arabic genitive) phrase in the 5th definitional clause of الحقيقة      (= al-ḥaqīqah = Ultimate Reality [God]) in  Imām `Alī's five definitions of reality" (haqīqa)  disclosed to Kumayl ibn Ziyād ibn Nahīk al-Nakhā’ī (d. c. 85/704?).

End Notes

[1] The Ḥadīth al-ḥaqiqa  ("Tradition concerning Ultimate Reality") or Ḥadīth Kumayl should not be confused with the Du`a Kumayl  (Supplication of Kumayl) also attributed to Imam `Ali  through the same Kumayl ibn Ziyād. This supplication is usually recited on Thursdays after the Ishā'  prayers, especially on the 5th of Sha'ban. The text of this Du`a Kumayl  can be found, for example, in various early Shi`i sources and in the Mafātīḥ al-jinān, (Keys to Paradise) of `Abbās al-Qummī, (d. 1359/1940). An English translation by William Chittick is found in his XXX. The  book Hadith al-Kisa and Supplication of Kumayl   (Karachi: Khurasan Book Centre) contains an English translation alongside the Arabic text (pp. [39] 40-103). See also 

[2] In writing about the commentaries I have consulted al-Dhar`ia of Aqa Buzurg al-Tehrani and consulted the excellent Persian article on the Ḥadīth al-ḥaqiqa  by

[3]

[4]

The Tafsīr  Hadīth al-ḥaqīqa  of the Bab

The Commentary of the Bāb upon the Ḥadīth al-Ḥaqīqa of Imām `Alī  in reply to  Kumayl b. Ziyād al-Nakhā'ī 

Trans. Stephen Lambden

ARABIC TEXT FROM INBMC 14:462[8]-4xx[x]

(Pagination confused).

 [0]

 [1]

فی تفسير حديث الحقيقه

 و هو ان كميل بن زياد النخعی اردفه علی عليه السلام  يوما علی ناقه

In commentary upon the Ḥadīth al-Ḥaqīqa,  the Tradition about Ultimate Reality  which has it that Kumayl ibn Ziyād al-Nakhā'ī  was riding one day behind [Imam] `Alī (upon Him be peace), upon his she-camel (nāqa) whereupon  Kumayl said `O my Master, what is al-ḥaqīqa ?' 

[2]

 فقال كميل  يا مولای ما الحقيقه

[3]

قال مالك  و الحقيقه

 And [`Alī] replied,

`What do you [Kumayl] and al-ḥaqīqa   have to do with one another?'

[4]

 قال اولست بصاحب سرك

 And Kumayl said,  `Is it not that I am a companion of you secret? '

[5]

 قال بلی و لكن يرشح عليك ما يطفح منی   463  / 469         

 `Ali replied `Yes indeed! But what [gnosis merely] sprinkles down upon you, billows over through me'

[6]

       قال او مثلك يخيب سائلا

He [Kumayl] questioning responded:  What of myself as you likeness  ADD x cccc cccccccccc'

 [7]

قال عليه السلام  كشف سبحات الجلال من غير اشاره الخ

`Ali said -- upon him be peace --  [al-ḥaqīqa  constitutes]  "the disclosure of the Splendors of the Divine Majesty (subuḥāt al-jalāl) without  any indication [on an apophatic level]!" (min ghayr al-ishāra)

[I]

 فاعلم ان كلامه محيط بكلشیٌ و  جارية فی كل العوالم لان الكلام تجلی من تجليات المتكلم و الله تعالی جعله مظهر احاطته و تجليه و كل ظهوراته لان الذات وحده وحده احاطته نفسه و هو المحيط و لا محاط و مقام الاقتران مقام فعله و ظهوره و هو مخلوق خلق بارئه بنفسه و استقره فی ظله و ان كل التعبير ؟ مقام المعرفة تعبر عن مقامه و احاطة كلامه احاطه كلام الله لا يغرب عن تحت ظله شیٌ فاذا عرفت هذه المقدمة فاعلم ان حال كميل يظهر