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سورة السطر Sūrat al-saṭr (The Surah of the Line) on Qur'ān 12:10 Stephen N. Lambden Part XI of the provisional translation of the Qayyūm al-asmā’ (= QA) of the Bāb (mid. 1844/1260) with brief introduction and selective notes consists of a full versified English translation of the Sūrat al-saṭr (The Surah of the Script / Line). This translation was done in the early 1980s though not from any critical edition. I simply consulted several good mss. QA11 opens with the basmala followed by the citation of Q.12:10 upon which it briefly comments in rewritten fashion in the course of the Sūrat al-saṭr . Three isolated letters (ḥurufāt al-muqaṭṭa`āt) open the Surah proper, the letters طهع = Ṭ-H-` (Ṭā'-Hā'- `Ayn = abjad 84). The 3 letters are clearly set down in the K.fihrist, QA mss. 1261+ 1323. This succession does not occur in the Q. but Ṭ-H occurs once; thus Ṭ-H-` is extended with the addition of an `ayn , adding 70 to the abjad value, = 9+5+70 = 84. ADD QA11:1-3 opens the Surah of the Divine Cloud by declaring that the messianic “Most Great Remembrance of God” (dhikr Allāh al-akbar) is praised through the ”Remembrance of Our Lord”. Devotionalistic dhikr ultimately revolves around the glorification of the quasi-messianic “Most Great Remembrance”. QA 10:4 states that the divine Bounty was bestowed upon Joseph and his brothers through manifest signs which are expressive of the mystery (sirr) of that Mighty Gate (al-bāb). This perhaps indicates that the quasi-qabbalistic relationships and permutations of the various letters of the alphabet enshrined in the kalimat al-tawhīd (= the 12 sons of Jacob) indicate the messianic secret of the Bāb and perhaps also allude to the eschatological “return” of Imam Ḥusayn. THE QAYYŪM AL-ASMĀ' Part XI سورة السطر Sūrat al-saṭr (The Surah of the Line) on Qur'ān 12:10 [ 1]بسم اللّه الرّحمن الرّحيم In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate [2] قَالَ قَائِلٌ مِنْهُمْ لاَ تَقْتُلُوا يُوسُفَ وَأَلْقُوهُ فِي غَيَابَتِ الْجُبّ يَلْتَقِطْهُ بَعْضُ السَّيَّارَةِ إِنْ كُنتُمْ فَاعِلِينَ
[3] طهع Ṭ-H-` [abjad = 9+5+70 = 86] [4] حمد اللّه الّذی قد خلق السّموات والارض علی الحقّ بالحق طباقاً ليعلم النّاس انّ ربّهم الرّحمن لحقّ و هو اللّه قد كان علی كلّ شی ء قديراًPraised be to God who hath indeed, in very truth, create d the heavens and the earth in tiers [one upon the other] (ṭibāq an), (see Q. 67:3 and 71:15 [14]) to the end that He might inform the people that their Lord the All-Merciful is of a certainly the True One. He is indeed God, Who hath ever been Powerful over all things. [5] و الّذی قد خلقكم من التّراب ثمّ قد جعلكم نطفة ثمّ علّقة ثمّ مضغة ثمّ انشأكم خلقاً فتبارك اللّه احسن المنشئين حكيماً He is the One Who created thee from dust (al-turāb), then made thee a sperm-drop (nuṭfah), then a blood clot (`alaqa), then a clot of tissue (muḍghah) [see Q. 18:37 [37]; 22:5; 23:14; 40:67 [9]; 76:2 etc] then He fashioned thee as another creation (khalq an akhar ). So Blessed be God the very best of originators (aḥsan al-munshi`īn) [cf. Q. XX:XX], One Wise (ḥakīm an) [6] و هو الّذی يحفظكم فی ظلمات ثلاث و يخرجكم من بطون الامّهات و انتم لاتعلمون من علم الكتاب And He is the One Who safeguard three in [from?] triple-massing shadows [darknesses] [(ẓulumāt thalāthah [of the smoke of hellfire?] (cf. Q. 77:30). And He [will] enabled thee to emerge from the wombs of [your] mothers (buṭūn al-ummahāt) (Q. 39:6b [8b]; 53:32 [33]) though thou know nothing of the knowledge of the Book. ADD
[7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37] [38] [39] [40] [41] [42]
______________________________________________ SELECT CRITICAL NOTES
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