|
|
QAYYŪM AL-ASMĀ' OF THE BĀB. Part VI [6] سورة الشهادة Sūrat al-shahāda (The Surah of the Testimony) [Martyrdom] on Qur'ān 12:5 Prov. trans. Stephen N. Lambden THIS IS BEING CORRECTED AND REVISED 2006 Part VI of the provisional translation of the Qayyum al-asma’ (= QA) of the Bāb (mid. 1844/1260) with brief introduction and selective notes consists of a full versified English translation of the Surat al-shahada (Surah of the Martyrdom [Testimony]). This translation was done in the early 1980s though not from any critical edition. I simply consulted several good mss. It is now being further revised (Dec. 05). The versification of the surahs of the QA is often uncertain. The Bāb himself stated that there should be forty verses in each surah of the QA as accords with the abjad nunmerical value of lī meaning "before me" in Q. 12:4b (Ar. لۑ= l + ī = 30+10= 40) though I often cannot see quite how this figure is arrived at. In QA6 I tentatively count xx 42 verses and retain versification for the sake of reference and commentary. At times the versification of surahs of the QA at forty (42) verses each may well be symbolic rather than a clear setting down of 40 bayts (verses) of rhymed prose (saj`), though this seems to hold good in QA1 and QA5. QA 6 opens with the basmalah followed by the citation of Q.12:5 upon which it briefly comments in rewritten fashion at the outset of the Surah of the Martyrdom [Testimony] (Surah al-Shahāda). Four isolated letters (ḥurufāt al-muqaṭṭa`āt) open the surah proper; the 4 letters A-L-M-R-A abjad ( = 1+30+40+200+1) = 272 which adds two letters to the qur'anic set A+L+M (abjad 71)... ADD If the isolated letters in QA ms. 1323 A-L-M-A-R (abjad 271) or A-L-M-S (abjad 332) (EGB-F ) which occur once at the opening of the 13th Surah of the Q. To these 4 letters is added the isolated letter A ( Alif = abjad 1), the first letter of the Arabic alphabet. The resultant fivefold group of isolated letters A-L-M-A-R does not occur in the Q. These 5 letters do, however, also open four or five other surahs of the QA (surahs 39+75+84+[91]+99).They have a total abjad value of (1+30+40+200+1=) 272. Aside from being neo-qur’anic their exact significance is at present unclear. For further details see my (unpublished) MESA., 2000 paper `Some Aspects of the Bābī-Bahā'ī interpretation of the Isolated letters (al-ḥurūfāt al-muqat*t*a`a) of the Qur’an’ which deals in detail with the isolated letters of the QA and other writings of the Bāb.QA6:4 is a good early example of the centrality of the love ethic in the writings of the Bāb. This primarily derives from Sufi influence and not that of the New Testament (see also QA6:14ff). Several different themes interact in a complex way in QA6:7ff. Aspects of the story of Joseph and his brothers detailed in Q 12:5f are rewritten in allegorical, imamological fashion. Joseph as is made clear in QA5, is the prototype of the 3rd twelver Imam, the martyred Ḥusayn (b. Medina 4/626- d. Karbala 61/680), grandson of the Prophet Muhammad and son of Faṭima and `Alī the son in Law of the Prophet. Both Joseph, due to the scheming of his jealous brothers and Ḥusayn in battling with `Umayyad forces at Karbala met with a dire fate. Joseph was abandoned to "die" in the "pit" and Ḥusayn, Sayyid al-Shahada the Prince of Martyrs was martyred, beheaded by his `Umayyad enemies. QA6 most probably gets its title from the fact that it contains exegetical, esoteric multi-faceted meditations upon the martyrdom of Joseph-Ḥusayn at the hands of the "brothers" (Joseph had 11 = the forebears of the 12 tribes of Israel). Were the [Muslim] "brothers" to truly have knowledge of, to share in Joseph’s [Ḥusayn’s] vision and appreciate his status and cause, instead of harming him they would offer themselves as martyr’s in his path, for the same of the love of God. Such, however, was not to be for God had willed that the mystery of martyrdom (shahada) overtake Ḥusayn and his companions. In rhythmic sentences QA6:9-12 expresses aspects of the cruel martydom of Ḥusayn even touching upon the fate of his kinsfolk and the women taken captive following his martyrdom as well as the bloody fate of his Shī`ī associates. Elements at the same time seem suggestive of the Bāb’s awareness of future opposition to himself and his new Bābī Cause. QA6:15 makes it cleat that the qur’anic narrtaive of Jospeh’s vision and fate at the hands of his brothers sheds light upon the "ways of the Bāb". People should praise God on this account and for the secrets locked up in the verses but allusively unvelied in the QA. If they knew its secrets they would not act as the "brothers" of Joseph acted and disbelieve in the eschatological mission of the Bāb. It seems that QA 6:16-21 details the cause of the "brothers" coming to martyr Joseph-Ḥusayn instead of offering themselves as a sacrifice in his path. Discovering it seems the secret mystery of Joseph’s exalted claim and purpose (amr -- a difficult term to translate consistently with a wide range of senses) they, mistakenly and misguidedly followed the religious law (sunnan) of putting claimants to elevated stations to death. They thus slaughtered "Joseph" in the same manner that the ungodly had slaughtered Imam Ḥusayn. In like manner again they may attempt to slaughter the Bāb himself if his closely -- though thinly-- guarded secret of wahy and Qā’imiyya, etc be too openly disclosed and hence misunderstood. Jospeh-Ḥusayn’s death led the accursed "Satan" (a figure or type of human opponents of Shi`i religiosity) loose to wreak further havoc. He even attempted to plot against the al-kalimat al-akbar, (the Greatest Word) the person and the Cause of the Dhikr-Bāb although God thwarted this wickedness. At QA6:22f the high status of the Bāb is alluded to in Shi`i terms -- apparently one of the five [1] Muhammad, [2] Ali [3]].Fatima [4] Hasan and [5] Husayn. It may in this respect be that the Bāb identified himself with Husayn (??) or perhaps more probably with `Alī (??). The importance of the pre-eternal covenant and its faith affirmations is also commented upon. This relative to the claims and status of the Bāb. In the timeless, pre-existent realm faith in him was assented to and must be realized anew and acted upon..
QAYYŪM AL-ASMĀ' Part VI سورة الشهادة Sūrat al-shahāda (The Surah of the Testimony). on Qur'ān 12:5
[1] بسم اللّه الرّحمن الرّحيم In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. [2] ق َالَ يَابُنَيَّ لاَ تَقْصُصْ رُؤْيَاكَ عَلَى إِخْوَتِكَ فَيَكِيدُوا لَكَ كَيْدًا إِنَّ الشَّيْطَانَ لِلإِنسَانِ عَدُوٌّ مُبِينٌ
A-L-M-R-A [S] (Alif - L ām- Mīm- Rā’- Alif)(abjad = 272 [332]) [4] ذكر رحمة ربّك عبده عليّاً The Remembrance (Dhikr) of the Mercy of thy Lord is His elevated servant (`abd) [or: His servant `Alí]). [5] و انّا نحن قد انزلنا الكتاب علی عبدنا ليكون النّاس ب ذكر اللّه العلیّ فی ذلك الباب شهيداًWe do intone [verses] for We, indeed, sent down the Book upon Our servant [the Bāb] to the end that the people might witness the exalted Remembrance of God
(dhikr Allāh al-`aliy) in that Gate
[the Bāb] (dhalik al-bāb).
[6]
و انّ اللّه ما اراد من العباد فی يومه هذا و انّ حكمه الحقّ
تنزيلاً On this His Day God hath desired naught for the
servants
except the revealed wisdom of the True One (Ḥikmat al-Ḥaqq ).
[7]
ان كنتم تحبّون اللّه فاتّبعوه يحببكم اللّه و قد كان جزإ
ذكر اللّه الاكبر فی كتابه علی ايدی
الحقّ مسطوراً
If ye love God then follow Him and God will love you.
The reward of [meted
out by] the Most-Great Remembrance of God
(dhikr Allāh al-akbar) is
inscribed in His Book by the hand of the True One. [8]
فمن يعمل مثقال ذرّة من الخير
فانّا نوفّينه يوم القيمة جزإ علی الحقّ بالحقّ موفورا Whoso doeth but an atoms
weight of good shall,
in very truth, be recompensed by Us
with an ample reward
on the Day of Resurrection.
[9]
و من يعمل مثقال ذرّه من الشّرّ
فانّا نذيقنّه باذن اللّه
** ADD And whoso doeth but an atoms weight of evil shall
We,
by the leave of God, cause to taste of the hell-fire which God, the Ancient
One, hath named the scorching wind
(samum) (cf. Q. 15: 27, 52:27, 56:41).
[10] Behold, `Alī
said, `O my [dear little] son [Ḥusayn]!
Do not disclose what God hath enabled thee to vision
about thy circumstances
(amrika) unto thy brothers (Q.12:4a): [keep silent] as an
act of compassion towards them and, in very truth, as an expression of patience before God, the Exalted.
And He, God, is Mighty, Worthy of
Praise.
[11] If thou [Ḥusayn]
did inform them [the brothers]
about thy [future] status (amrika)
manifest in the vision, [disclosing] even a fraction
of that which God hath
ordained for thee,
they [the brothers] will certainly plot against thee
(Q.12:5b)
and thereby manifestly kill their own selves out of
a [misguided] love
of God (muhabbat Allah)
abstracted from [love for] thy Self, the True
One.
[12] God, verily, hath willed what He hath willed for
thy
[Jospeh= Ḥusayn’s] sake;
namely, that [He might] in very truth, [see] thy
blood
dye the earth crimson [through martyrdom].
[13] God, verily,
hath willed what He hath willed that He might see
thy [Ḥusayn’s] hair tinged with thy blood and, as ill befits the
Truth,
thy person slain [and lying] upon the earth and thy body naked upon the
earth.
[14] God, verily,
hath willed what He hath willed
that He might see thy [Ḥusayn’s] daughters and thy womenfolk, as ill befits the Truth,
captive in the hands of the infidels.
[15] God, verily,
hath willed what He hath willed
that He might see the faces of thy [Ḥusayn’s] fellow Shi`is at thy
sides reddened with the dye of their persons [their blood] and,
as ill befits
the Truth, their wounded torsos discarded about the earth.
[16] So disclose nothing of that which God hath ordained
for thy [Husayn's] being
as regards the secreted mystery of the martyrdom
[testimony] of the Divine Oneness (shahādat al-ahadiyiyya),
for thine own
sake, not even a single letter of a portion of the account
[of the vision,
al-qawl).
[17] If thou should inform them [the brothers] of but the
slightest portion of thy circumstances (amr) which are,
in
very truth, secreted in mystery, they [the brothers] would at that very
moment sacrifice themselves before thee [Joseph/Ḥusayn] for the love of God
(muhabbat
Allah),
yearning deeply for God on account of [reunion with?] thine
own self
[Joseph/ Ḥusayn].
And God, as befits the Truth, is well-disposed towards
His servants.
[18] God it is who, no God is there except Him, confirms this wondrous episode [narrative regarding Joseph= Ḥusayn](al hadíth )
perchance the people, as befits the truth,
might render praise and
be thankful for the verses of their Lord, the All-Merciful regarding the
ways of the Gate (subul al-bāb).
[19] The
brothers of Joseph [Ḥusayn] discovered a
trace (ḥarf an lit. `letter’) of
the hidden mystery of his [Joseph's = Ḥusayn’s future?]
situation ("Cause", amr )
despite its being the mystery
deeply veiled by the glorious mystery.
[20] In consequence, the ordinances of
the Prophets
(sunnan al-nabiyyín)
and the witnesses [martyrs] (al-shuhadā')
about killing in His Path (al-qaṭl fi sabilihi), were carried out.
And
God is witness unto all things.
[21] After the slaughter of Joseph the unbelief
of Satan increased
and on this account was he [Satan] reckoned
one cursed on
the part of the All-Merciful and His sanctified ones (as*fiyā) for such
was, in very truth, stipulated in all the [scriptural] Tablets (al-alwāḥ).
[22] And subsequent to his unbelief he [Satan], as ill befits the Truth, hatched
a terrible plot against the Most-Great Word (al-kalimat al- akbar).
[23] But God will cancel out his [Satan's] plot before it is realized
and will cast
him [Satan] into the tempestuous
ocean of shadows (baḥr al-ẓulumāt)
with waves piled one upon another [cf. Q. 24:40].
[24] And He will inform such
as have oppressed Us that they shall not be able to outstrip [or: compete with]
Us
over even a letter of the knowledge of the Book.
By virtue of God, the
Exalted, We, in very truth, encompass
[with Our knowledge] all the worlds.
In the Mother Book (umm al-kitab) God
secretly reckoned thee [the Bāb] among the five [immaculate ones?],
they who
are hidden and mysteriously concealed
(al-khamsat al khifayya al-mustasirr sirr
an).
[26] God hath indeed taught thee the knowledge which even thine
heart
hath been unable to fathom.
[27] We assuredly informed thee of the unprecedented knowledge
of things innovative (`ilm al-bida’ ) which
cometh from the All-Merciful.
[28] That which God hath not willed hath not come
about and forms no part of the of the knowledge of thy Lord.
[29] God hath, in very truth, uttered a narrative
(hadíīh an = the story of Joseph in the Q.?).
[30] And did We not, in very truth, O
servants of God,
make a firm contract [covenant] with you about Our True
covenant (`ahd)?
[31] Yet do ye utter about God, the True One what is
contrary, in very truth,
to the assured and secure Most Great Truth (al-ḥaqq
al-akbar).
[32] We, verily, took a strong pact (mithāqan ghalíz*an)
with you in the [primordial] domain of the proto-particles [of humanity in potentia] (mashad al-dharr).
[33] It concerned love for Our Shī`ī [Islāmic ]party
which is something wondrous according to the Truth.
[34] The Cause
(al-amr), which is of God, the Exalted, is weighty indeed.
God, verily,
hath, as befits the Most Great Truth,
desired for you a Cause (amr an) as
determined in this Book.
[35] The people, however, evince, as ill befits the
Truth,
a heedless and contentious attitude towards this Most Great Gate
(al-bāb
al-akbar), towards Our mighty Cause (amr).
[36] And He, God, is One
Exalted, Mighty.
God is One Who is able to dispense with you.
[37] And God is He
Who hath encompassed [with His knowledge] all things.
[38] Did not Our
Remembrance (dhikr) , in very truth, frequently inform you servants of
God about Our Mighty Cause (amr)?
[39] O ye people of the earth!
Fear ye God as regards
this Leaf [the Bāb] sprung up from this
Tree of the Divine Oneness (shajarat
al-aḥadiyya)
for he, in very truth, is assuredly the True One,
whose
truth is attested by God and by His chosen ones.
And God, verily, is witness
unto all things.
[40] God hath ordained that the servants should serve none but
Him
through the Gate (al-bāb).
Such is the pure religion according to
the best, undeviating Path [unto God].
[41]
[42]
VERSIFICATION
BEING REVISED ______________________________________________
SELECT
CRITICAL NOTES
|