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The Sūrat al-Fatḥ
of Bahā'-Allāh
Adrianople-Edirne, c.1865-7?
Last uploaded 6/4/06
Trans from an unpublished mss.
Stephen Lambden. 1988 Being revised and completed 2006-7
In order to explain and legitimate his own years of acting as a leading Bābī
(mid. 1840's until mid. 1860's ) but now claiming exalted Prophethood or
Divinity, there exists an important passage in
Bahā'-Allāh's Sūrat al-Fatḥ ( The Surah of the Commencement' ) or more
likely the Surah addressed to Fath A`ẓam. This important scriptural text is most probably to be dated to the early-mid. Edirne [Adrianople]
period, perhaps between the years 1865-7.
Towards the beginning of this Arabic Tablet
Bahā'-Allāh
claims to be the Remembrance (al-dhikr ) and states that he divulges
nothing save what is in accordance with the recipients' capacity. God lies
behind and determines, through His command, the nature of
Bahā'-Allāh's
claims in direct accordance with a determined measure, "lest the inmost hearts
of such as believe in the unity of God be shattered". Referring to the earlier
Babi situation,
Bahā'-Allāh
continues:
So recollect, O people! the moment when there came unto you the Revealer of the
Bayān
(munzil al-bayān) (the Bāb) with wondrous, holy verses. At one moment
he said, `I am the Gate of Knowledge ( bāb
al-`ilm
) and whosoever is convinced of the truth of My Claim (ḥaqqī) in addition
to that [surpassing that station] (fūq dhalika), hath assuredly
invented lies about Me and acquires great sin within himself '. Then [later] He
said, `I am the Qā'im, the True One ( al-qāim al‑ḥaqq ) whose
manifestation you were promised in mighty, noble Scrolls. This, verily, is
assuredly [the Reality of] Muhammad, the Messenger of God ( rasūl Allāh),
just as you have heard and witnessed in the tablets of God (alwāḥ Allāh),
the King, the Ruler'. He [subsequently] said, `I am the Primordial Point (nuqṭat
al‑awwaliyya)'. And when the beings of a number of predisposed souls were
refined, thereupon the veils were torn asunder and there rose up from the
Dawning-Place of Holiness [the Bāb's claim],` I verily am God, no God is there
except Me, thy Lord and the Lord of all the worlds'. And [He also said], `I,
verily, from the beginning which has no beginning, was a Divinity (ilāh
an), One, Single, Unique... I [the divine, primordial
Bāb], verily, sent the prophets ( al-nabiyyīn ) and the sent Messengers (
al-mursalīn ) from an eternity of eternities..
Then gaze upon Me [Bahā'-Allāh], the Logos-Soul of God ( nafs Allāh
)...
By God, O people! [Initially] I [Bahā'-Allāh] did not desire any
Cause (amr
an)
for Myself and followed all the Manifestations of old. I supported the Cause
of God on all levels ( fī kull
i sha'n ) during the days when faces were concealed out of fear of
the oppressors. I humbled Myself before every soul in the Bayān [all Bābīs]
and lowered the wing of submission ( jannāt al‑taslīm ) before every
worthy believer...
ARABIC-PERSIAN TEXT
AND FULL TRANSLATION
IN PROGRESS
2006
The Sūrat al-Fatḥ
[0]
In the
name of Our Lord, the One Whose aid is sought (al-musta`ān)
[1]
This was
indeed sent down from the heaven of the Divine Command (samā'
al-amr)
unto
whomsoever is within the heavens and the earth(s).
[I]
[1]
O Fatḥ al-A`zam!
I took
firm hold of the Pen that there might be revealed for thee what will
gladden thee and generate within thy heart what
will attract thee towards the Sanctum of God (maqarr Allāh), the
Exalted, the All Mighty. [2] And when
it inclined unto this level of Exposition (Bayān), I hearkened unto
the yearning of My heart and the
clamoring of My Pen for they both did warble mystic meaning
upon the twigs of the Lote-Tree of the All-Merciful (sidrat
al-raḥmān) in the Riḍwān (Felicity) of this Elevated, Sanctified and
Luminous Tablet. [3] At this
lamentation did encompass Me to such a degree that
[x]
So
recollect, O people!
the moment when there came
unto you the Revealer of the Bayān
(munzil al-bayān) (the Bāb) with wondrous, holy verses. At one moment
he said, `I am the Gate of Knowledge ( bāb
al-`ilm
) and whosoever is convinced of the truth of My Claim (ḥaqqī) in addition
to that [surpassing that station] (fūq dhalika), hath assuredly
invented lies about Me and acquires great sin within himself '. Then [later] He
said, `I am the Qā'im, the True One ( al-qāim al‑ḥaqq ) whose
manifestation you were promised in mighty, noble Scrolls. This, verily, is
assuredly [the Reality of] Muhammad, the Messenger of God ( rasūl Allāh),
just as you have heard and witnessed in the tablets of God (alwāḥ Allāh),
the King, the Ruler'. He [subsequently] said, `I am the Primordial Point (nuqṭat
al‑awwaliyya)'. And when the beings of a number of predisposed souls were
refined, then were the veils torn asunder and there rose up from the
Dawning-Place of Holiness [the Bāb's claim],` I verily am God, no God is there
except Me, thy Lord and the Lord of all the worlds'. And [He also said], `I,
verily, from the beginning which has no beginning, was a Divinity (ilāh an), One, Single, Unique... I [the divine, primordial
Bāb], verily, sent the prophets ( al-nabiyyīn ) and the sent Messengers (
al-mursalīn ) from an eternity of eternities..
Then gaze upon Me [Bahā'-Allāh], the Logos-Soul of God ( nafs Allāh
)...
By God, O people! [Initially] I [Bahā'-Allāh] did not desire any
Cause (amr
an)
for Myself and followed all the Manifestations of old. I supported the Cause
of God on all levels ( fī kull
i sha'n ) during the days when faces were concealed out of fear of
the oppressors. I humbled Myself before every soul in the Bayān [all Bābīs]
and lowered the wing of submission ( jannāt al‑taslīm ) before every
worthy believer...
surat al-fath suratu'l-Fath
BAHA'U'LLAH baha'u'llah Bahá'u'lláh
Baha'-Allah Bahá
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