BEING REVISED : 05/07/06
2006-7
The following notes are not intended to be an extended commentary on the
Rashḥ-i `amā'.
Only a few points of doctrinal and philological interest will be noted along
with the several important variant readings contained in a number of unpublished
manuscripts including that reproduced in the Iran National Bahā'ī Archives
Manuscript (Xerox) Collection (INBMC) vol. 36 (see above).
[0]
هُوَ
This heading Ar. Huwa is translated "He is God". It is the third person masculine pronoun
َ
هُو =
huwa meaning "He is" and precedes its object
َ
اللَّهُ
Allāh,
the
Islamic proper Name of God. This phrase is very common in Islamic literatures.
It is also often prefixed to thousands of Persian and Arabic Tablets of Bahā-`Allāh and `Abd
al-Bahā' .
Examples include:
`Abd al-Bahā' has, a number of times, explained its basic significance in Bābī -Bahā'ī scripture.
ADD HERE
[1]
(a)
رَشْح
عَمَاء اَز جَذْب
مَا
مِريِزَد
rashḥ-i `amā'
āz jadhbih-yi mā mīrīzad
On account of
Our Rapture the Sprinkling of the Cloud of Unknowing
(rashḥ-i
`amā' ) rains down
In this opening line Bahā'-Allāh indicated that it is "from"
or "on account of (Per.)
اَز
(āz)
his جَذْب
"rapture" (jadhbih, alternatively, `spiritual ecstacy', `winning-ways' or
possibly `Enraptured Self') that the "Sprinkling of the Cloud of Unknowing"
(rashḥ-i
`amā') rains down. The
implication may be that his mystical experiences whilst imprisoned in the
Sīyāh Chāl ("Black Pit" dungeon) in Tehran had precipitated the outpouring of grace
from the sphere of the Unseen, the Divine Cloud. His deep communion with God had actualized
the outpouring of spiritual favours from the realm or cloud of the dark mist
enveloping his occulted Beloved.
The
iḍāfa
(genitive) construction rashḥ-i `amā'' has been somewhat arbitarily or
subjectively translated Sprinkling of the Cloud of Unknowing. This
translation was first used by Denis MacEoin and always seemed to me to be
particularly apt. The phrase `Cloud of Unknowing' is, of course, the title of an
anonymous 14th century English mystical treatise. ADD
There may be some connection between the Islamic mystical concept of
`amā` and
early Jewish notion of a transcendent, occulted Deity. In the angelology of
the Samaritan (proto-Judaic faction) the divine
(kabod, the theophanous or radiant "glory" ...
(see JSS 2002).
Also of
central background interest in connection with the tradition of
`amā'
(cited above) are various pre-Islamic Patristic Christian expressions of
apophatic (negative) theology,
theological meditations upon that fact that the spiritual aspirant can only
befittingly affirm what God is not, thereby experiencing the `way of
negation'. The writings of Gregory of Nyssa (c.330-395) contain important
materials in this respect. For him Exodus 24:15ff and 20:21 (among other texts)
have to do with the sublimity of the experience of God's incomprehensibility. The former text refers to the "thick darkness" or "dark cloud"
(Heb.) ADD (araphel)
where "God was" .
My reasons for feeling fairly happy with this not wholly literal rendering are,
1) A
"Cloud" is one of the basic senses of
`amā.
Linked with "unknowing"
it could be taken to suggest a number of historical and theological points;
that, for example, (a) for Bābīs the recently martyred Bāb
existed in a hidden spiritual world and was considered the hidden or "occulted"
source of Divine inspiration and (b) the unknown nature of Bahā'-Allāh's messianic secret at the time of the composition of the the Rashḥ-i `amā' ; (c ) the fact that in various Sufi and certain Bābī-Bahā'ī texts `amā' is indicative of the depths
of God's interiority, the hiddeness of His essence (dhāt) or the enwrapped and beclouded nature of
the ultimate reality of Divinity.
In the theosophical Sufism of the school of Ibn al-`Arabi (d. 6xx/1270)
`amā'
became a key cosmological-theological
term. It occurs fairly frequently in the
writings of the Great Shaykh. In his massive Futuhat al-Makkiyya ("Meccan
Openings"), for example,
Ibn al-`Arabi's
Kitāb al-asfār `an
natā'ij al-asfār (Book of the Journeys from the
Consequences of the Journeys) begins
Praise be to God, the One
Existing in the Cloud (al-kā'in fī'l-`amā' ); the One depicted
through the enthronement of the Glory of His Essence (al-mawxxx
bi' l-istiwā = jalāl dhātihi) subsequent to His
non-manifestation (lit.) [vacuity, voidness; farāghihi); He Who
created His earthly realm as well as His heavenly spheres; the
One Who revealed the Qur`ān in the Night of Power (laylat al-qadr)
... (Rasāil, II tract? 1).
رَشْح
rashḥ ("sprinkling")
The governing verbal noun
َرَشْح
=
rashḥ is derived from an Arabic root (R-SH-Ḥ).
The basic verbal form signifies, `to sweat', `to leak', `to percolate', `to
trickle', `to distill', `to exude', 'to drop', ' to moisten' or to 'sprinkle',
etc. Hence rashḥ = "a sprinkling"; alternatively, "a showering", "a dewdrop"
(Lane X: xxf Steingass XXX; Weir XXX). Not found in the Qur'ān this governing verbal noun
rashḥ ("sprinkling") occurs quite frequently in both verbal and nominal forms in Bābī-Bahā'ī scripture. It has its background in
Islamic literatures. A significant occurrence in the imperfect verbal form yarshḥahu is to be found in the well-known Shi`i
Ḥadīth Kumayl
or Ḥadīth al-ḥaqīqa.
Before making five pronouncements as to the deep secrets of
ḥaqq ("reality") Imām `Alī
at one point said to his fellow traveller Kumayl ibn Ziyād
al-Nakha'i in reponse to his imploring him for guidance,
"Nay, verily, I will
answer the call of such as are troubled, and will sprinkle
upon thee somewhat of the overflowing fulness of the Station
of the Truth; receive it from me according to thy capacity,
and conceal it from such as are unworthy to share it"
(trans. Browne, TN:328 cf. Donaldson, 1938:255f ).
In the course of commenting
upon a line of the Khuṭba al-ṭutunjiyya (A Sermon of the Gulf)
ascribed to Imām `Alī (d. 40/661) , Sayyid Kāẓim Rashtī (d.
1260/1844) has occasion to cite and comment upon that line from the
Ḥadīth Kumayl in which the word rashḥ occurs. Commenting upon rashḥ
he writes:
.. says `Yea! What
sprinkles (yarshaḥu) from you overflows from me.. = ADD .
This rashḥ ("sprinkling") is [by virtue of] the ink (al-midād)
through which he delineated created things (al-khalq)
through the prophets (al-anbiyā) and other besides them in
view of the fact that they created through the sprinkling
(al-rashḥ [of the ink of the Divine Pen]) and a sprinkling
of the sprinkling (rashḥ al-rashḥ) and a sprinkling of the
sprinkling of the sprinkling (rashḥ rashḥ al-rashḥ).. (Sh-ṭutunjiyya
239).
Among the verbal and nominal
forms deriving from the root R-SH-Ḥ found in the writings of the Bāb.
In the following oath from a Persian Tablet of Bahā-Allāh its author
uses the plural form of rashḥ in association with the `Ocean of
mystic meanings' : ... I swear by the sprinklings (rashḥāt) of the
Ocean of Mystic Meaning! (baḥr-i ma`ānī) ).. (INBMC XX:450) It is
likely that the word rashḥāt ("sprinklings") here indicates the
effusions or "sprinklings" of "drops" (articulations) of divine
revelation replete with interior meaning. Bahā'-Allāh would thus
seem to swear by his own power of divine revelation.
The Arabic verbal noun
عَمَاء
= `amā'
The governed noun `amā' is derived from the Arabic root amiya the
basic sense of which is `to become blind, to be obscure'. `Amā'
could thus be translated "blindness", "secrecy", "obscurity" (etc.)
though it also has the sense of `cloud', possibly `heavy and thick
clouds (which hide and obscure) or (the opposite!) light diaphanous
clouds. The key theologically loaded occurrence of the word
عَمَاء
(`amā' ) is that found in the `Ḥadīth of the Cloud (al‑`amā’) which
records Muhammad’s response to a question posed by Abū Razīn al‑`Aqīlī
(d. ) about God’s location "before he created the creation", the
reply being,
ADDكان في عَمَاء فوقه هواء و
تحته هواء
He [God] was in
عَمَاء
(`amā’ , a "cloud") with no air above it [Him] and no air
below it [Him].
Then he created His
Throne upon the [cosmic] Water (cited al‑Ṭabarī, Tārīkh,
1:36).
This influential prophetic tradition was regarded as "especially
sound" by the famed and highly respected al‑Ṭabarī author of the
massive Sunni Qur'an commentary and a very detailed Tarikh al-rusul
wa'k-muluk (History of Prophets and Kings). It was also cited in
early Shi`i contexts such as the Akhbār al-zamān (Documentations of
the Era) of al-Mas`udi (d. p. 67)... ADD
The above translated reply to the cosmological-theological question
of Abū Razīn al‑`Aqīlī probably originally expressed the conviction
that God was hidden and Self-subsisting in His own Being. It perhaps
indicated that before His work of creation He was in obscurity,
enshrouded in the `cloud’ of His own Being or wrapped in enveloping,
dark mist. The `Hadith of the cloud' can be regarded as an
Isra'iliyyat type tradition in that it appears to reflect biblical
cosmology and Jewish and/or Christian post-biblical theological
traditions about the nature, place and gravitas of the divine Being.
This ḥadīth appears to reflect passages in the Hebrew Bible where
God is said to dwell in "the thick darkness" (Heb.
הָעֲרָפֶל
ha-araphel,
Exod. 20:21b) and whose theophany was at times in a
"pillar of cloud" (Exod. 33:9ff; cf. 1 Kings 8:12; Ps. 97:2; Jud.
13:22). It is also strongly reminiscent of dimensions of the
apophatic ("negative") theological speculations of the Cappadocian
church father Gregory of Nyssa (d. c. 395 CE) some of whose works
were early translated into Arabic. In his On the Life of Moses this
creative biblical exegete states that the "divine cloud" which led
the Israelities (Exod. 13:31‑2) was "something beyond human
comprehension" (Life of Moses, tr. 38; cf. Philo, Vit. Mos.
I.29.166). Through the influence of the above cited Islamic
tradition of the cloud upon his cosmology, Ibn al‑`Arabī made
considerable use of the term `amā’ (lit. "blindness", "cloud") and
of genitive phrases containing it (al‑Futūḥāt; 1:148; 2:310; 3:430
etc; al‑Ḥakīm, al‑Mu`jam, 820f ). ADD
The Bāb in his early Qayyūm al-asmā' (mid. 1844 CE) also makes
frequent use of the term `amā’ and related genitive expressions
(100+ times). In this highly work the Bāb included addresses to a
mysterious ahl al‑`amā’ (denizens of the Divine cloud) associated
with the celestial Sinaitic realm (Lambden1984;1988).
ADD
A commentary on the
`Tradition of `amā’’ was specifically written by the Bāb for Sayyid
Yaḥyā Dārābī, Vaḥīd (d.1850 CE). Baha'Allah likewise
utilized this terminology extensively. His first major poetical
writing was entitled Rashḥ‑i `amā’ (`The Sprinkling of the Divine
Cloud’, late 1852) after its opening hemstitch
The Bāb and Bahā'-Allāh were both significantly influenced by the
hadith of `amā' tradition and its interpretation in
theosophical Sufism. Bahā'-Allāh's earliest extant work is entitled,
Rashḥ-i `amā' ("The Sprinkling of the Divine Cloud" 1269/ late
1852). The term `amā' (loosely = "cloud") is quite frequent in their
writings. In Bāb) -Bahā') scripture - as in Sufi interpretations -
it is sometimes (though not always) indicative of the hidden and
unknowable essence of God.
In one of his early epistles the Bāb comments in some detail on the
`tradition of `amā' -- quoted in the form: "God was in `amā' (a
"cloud") above it air and below it air". He states that this
tradition indicates God's isolated independence. The term al-`amā'
("the cloud") only inadequately indicates the divine dhāt
("Essence"). In his interpretation, the Bāb seems to underline God's
absolute otherness to such an extent that the term `amā' only
indirectly hints at His transcendent unknowability. God's nafs
("Self") and dhāt ("Essence") are probably to be thought of as
created and hypostatic realities indicative of, yet ontologically
distinguishable from, His uncreated and absolute Ipseity. For the
Bāb `amā' ("cloud") indicates God's absolute otherness. It is
derived from al-`amā or al-`amān ("blindness", "unknowing") for
vision is blinded before God's Face and eyes are incapable of
beholding His Countenance.
For the Bāb the `ḥadīth of `amā' also enshrines the mysteries
surrounding the Sinaitic theophany (see Qur'ān 7:142). It was not
the dhāt al-azal, the eternal unknowable Essence of God that
appeared in the malakūt al-`amā' (celestial realm of `amā' ) and
radiated forth through the Divine Light on Mount Sinai, but an amr
(= lit. "command" or "Logos-Event" which God created from nothing.
The theophany on the Mount was not the manifestation in `amā'` as
God's absolute essence,not a monistic type theophany of he Divine
Essence' (tajallī al-dhāt) but the disclosure of the Divine Light (nūr)
"unto, through and in His Logos-Self (nafs), the Manifestation of
God. The Bāb clarifies his interpretation of the modes of the divine
theophany including the `theophany of the Divine Essence' (tajallī
al-dhāt) found in certain Sufi treatises. Such a theophany does not
involve a manifestation of the Divine Essence understood as a
"cloud" or anything else.
[1b]
سِّر وَفَاء از
نَغمِه ما ميريزد
sirr-i vafā
āz naghmih-yi mā mīrīzad
"The
mystery of fideity pours forth from Our melody"
In the second hemistich of the first line of the Rashḥ-i `amā' the
genitive construction سِّر
وَفَاء
sirr-i vafā parallels and rhymes with rashḥ-i `amā'. Here translated
"Mystery of Fidelity" it might also be rendered "Secret of
Faithfulness" or perhaps, something like, "Inwardly Loyal [One]". It
is probably expressive of God's absolute faithfulness in connection
with the pre-eternal covenant or that aspect of His Being which is
indicative of His continuing to guide mankind. That the "Mystery of
Fidelity" poureth forth from "Our Melody" may be understood to
signify that Bahā'-Allāh's revealing divinely inspired verses
(`melodies') is expressive of and originates in the sphere of the
mystery of God's loyal pledge to guide His creatures.
The terms sirr and vafā' are extremely common in the writings of the
Bāb and Bahā'-Allāh though the genitive expression sirr-i vafā'
(Per./ Arab. = sirr al-wafā') is not. It is, however, found in
Bahā'-Allāh's Lawḥ-i kull al-ṭa`ām (A Tablet of All Food, c. 1854
CE);
"Since at this moment
the Ant of Servitude hides in the Vale of the Divine Unicity
(wādī al-aḥadiyya) in this Night, with mystic fidelity (bi'l-sirr
al-wafā'), I desire to (further) expound that verse (Qur'ān
3:87)..". (Mā'idih 4:274)
The paragraph in which these
lines occur is, unfortunately, obscure. It appears that Bahā'-Allāh
expresses his desire to explain Qur'ān 3:87 (still further -- to
Mīrzā Kamāl al-Dīn Naraqi) ) despite his inner mystical withdrawal
towards God in the light of his being oppressed by his fellow Bābis.
In the Bāb's writings the genitive expression ADD
(wādī al-aḥadiyya) is indicative of the Sinaitic heights in which
the pre-eternal covenant was made. It is the celestial sphere which
is the mystic retreat of exalted beings ( i.e. the Hidden Imam, the
Bāb) who represent God. As the "Ant of Servitude" Bahā'-Allāh has
inwardly withdrawn into this heavenly realm. This during the "Night"
(= the period following the Bāb's martyrdom?) with a mystic
fidelity" (or "the Trusted Secret", "Interior Loyalty" or "Heartfelt
Loyalty"). The implication may be that during a period of spiritual
darkness (= "Night") Bahā'-Allāh's mystic withdrawal is an
expression of his inner loyalty to the Bāb (who exists in the
celestial realm). On the other hand the phrase al-sirr al-wafā'
might allude to the person of the Bāb himself or that sphere which
is expressive of his (the Bāb's) continuing to be the focal centre
of inspiration; one mystically faithful with respect to continuing
to guide leading Bābis.
Only a detailed study of the terms
used in the opening line of the Rashḥ-i `amā' as they occur in Babi
-Bahā') scripture will serve to clarify its meaning , though it
should be borne in mind that there is always the danger of reading
too much into an essentially poetical work. It may be that the
expressions rashḥ-i `amā= and sirr-i wafā' (in line 1) are
indicative of the Bāb as the celestial source of divine inspiration
and guidance; the one who, subsequent to his martyrdom (1850)
existed in the exalted heavenly realm or `cloud of unknowing' (`amā')
and is inwardly faithful (wafā') in terms of being a source of
guidance.
In certain Bābī and Bahā'ī texts the sphere of `amā= is associated
with celestial beings and with the person of the occulted or hidden
(and expected 12th) Imam, Imam usayn, the Dhikr (A Remembrance@ =
the Bāb) as well as with such leading Bāb) s as Bahā'-Allāh. Wafā=
in many such texts is also used in connection with the sphere of
transcendent realities, the sphere of the `Sinaitic mysteries' or
that heavenly realm where the primordial divine theophany took place
and the pre-eternal covenant was made. Sirr-i wafā', if it is not an
allusion to the person of the Bāb, could be indicative of the secret
of that sphere in which God or exalted beings are faithful to or
mindful of the primordial covenant regarding the truth of the Bābī
religion or the person of Bahā'-Allāh.
In his (Muṣibāt-i ḥurūfāt-i `allīyyīn
("The Calamities of the Exalted Letters" c. 1857-8?) Bahā'-Allāh
speaks of the adverse effect his sufferings had upon his power of
Divine Revelation, upon the naghamāt al-wafā' ( "melodies of
fidelity") uttered by the "Nightingale [Dove] of the Command" (warqā'
al-amr = Bahā'-Allāh) (see Ad`īyih 229). At the beginning of
his difficult 77th Persian Hidden Word' ( text in Ad`ī yih, 47ā-2;
Shoghi Effendi [trans.] Hidden Words, 48-9) there is reference to
the "beauty of the immortal Being" (jamāl haykal-i baqā' =
Bahā'-Allāh himself?) repairing from the "emerald height of
fidelity" (`aqabih-i zumurradī -yi wafā') unto the region of the
sidrat al-muntahā (`The Lote-Tree of the Extremity') which is
said to exist in the all-highest Paradise where he weeps in the
presence of exalted beings. This on account of the fact that he
waited expectant on the "hill of faithfulness" (`aqabih-i wafā') but
did not inhale the "fragrance of fidelity" (ra'iḥih-i wafā') from
"them that dwell on earth" (ahl-i arḍ). Written in about 1857 this
`Hidden Word' almost certainly has to do with Bahā'-Allāh's
disillusionment with his fellow Bāb) s (and contemporaries in
general) and his claims and role in his attempts to regenerate them.
His being on the "emerald height of fidelity" or expectantly waiting
on the "hill of faithfulness" probably indicates his mystically
dwelling in that sphere where a pre-eternal covenant was made
regarding his person and which his contemporaries had forgotton --
they did not turn to him; Bahā= u= lāāh did not inhale the
"fragrance of fidelity" to the Bāb or his person from those around
him. The time, however, as the latter half of this abstruse text
indicates, had not arrived for the full disclosure of his claims.
This explanation makes sense inasmuch as emerald is the third of the
four colours mentioned in the Bāb's writings (details cannot be
given here) and qadr the third of the seven `Causes of Creation'
(see for example Saḥīfa yi- `adliyya, 161). In the light of the
foregoing it should also be noted that the genitive expression
"atmosphere of fidelity" (hawā' al-wafā') occurs in the Arabic
section of Bahā'-Allāh's `Tablet of the Holy Mariner' (Lawḥ-i mallāḥ
al-quds, 1863) ( see Mā'idih 4:335f [337]).
Perhaps then, the second hemistich of the first line of the rashḥ-i
`amā` indicates that Bahā'-Allāh's revealing verses is a sign of the
truth of the primordial covenant regarding divine guidance.
[2]
از باد صبا مشك خطا گشته پديد اين نفحه خوش
از جعده ما ميريزد
The musk of
Cathay hath appeared from the zephyr; this
Sweet-Scented Breeze wafts down from Our Ringlet.
In this second line Bahā'-Allāh apparently alludes to his inspired
verses as a gentle breeze or zephyr (bād-i 7 abāout of which the
fragrance of the "Musk of Cathay" (mishk-i khaṭā) had wafted. The
English word musk (derived from the Persian mishk / mushk) denotes
an odoriferous resin obtained from the male musk-deer or the scent
derived from it. Cathay.
خطا
khaṭā describes that region in China from which high quality musk
was obtained. In classical Persian poetry the "Divine Beloved" is
commonly pictured as a beautiful woman or maiden with musk-scented
hair. In his Halih Halih Halih yā bishārat Bahā'-Allāh speaks of the
"Maid of Eternity" (ḥūr-i baqā`) appearing with "musky tresses" (ADD
-yi mishkīn). Here it is from or on account of his "Ringlet" (ja`dih)
that a perfumed or sweet-scented breeze is diffused. He, in other
words, represents himself as a beautiful houri (A divine maiden)
worthy of spiritual love. Such sensual imagery is not uncommon in
Bahā'-Allāh's poetical writings.
[3]
شمس طراز از طلعت
حق كرده طلوع
shams-i
ṭarāz az ṭal`at-i ḥaqq kardih ṭalū`
"The
ornamented Sun hath arisen from the Countenance of the True One"
Here it is on account of or
from the طلعت حق
( "Countenance of the True One")
(= Bahā'-Allāh ?) that the
شمس طراز ("Sun of
Oppulence" = the reality of Bahā'-Allāh's self-disclosure) has
arisen.
[3b]
سّر حقيقت بين كز
وجهه ما ميريزد
See thou
that the Mystery of Reality rains down from Our Face!
sirr-i
ḥaqiqat bīn kaz vajhih mā mīrīzad
It is on account of or from
وجهه ما
"Our Face" (= Bahā'-Allāh)
that the سّر حقيقت
("Mystery of Reality"
sirr-i ḥaq) qat) is revealed. The genitive expression sirr-i
ḥaqqiqat probably derives from the Xth line of the well-known ḥadith
Kumayl Where we read:
ADD
In his
commentary on the ḥadi th Kumayl the Bāb
ADD
[4]
بحر
صفا از موج لقا كرده خروش
اين
طرفه عطا از جذبه ها ميريزد
Out of a
Wave of the Ocean of the Meeting with God
the Sea of
purity has cried out;
On account
of Our rapture this Precious favour pours forth.
[4b]
baḥr-i āz
mawj-i liqā, kardih khurūsh
A Out of a
Wave of the Ocean of the Meeting with God the Sea of Purity has
cried out
In the first hemistich of this line Bahā'-Allāh probably represents
himself as one of the waves (sing. mawj = wave, billow, surging) of
the eschatological لقا the "encounter" or "meeting" with God; the
liqā'-Allāh predicted in the Qur'ān.
Qur'ān 13:12 ADD
In Bābī-Bahā'ī theology the "meeting with God" is understood to mean
attaining the presence of his Divine Manifestation. The لقاء
الله the
eschatoloical "Encounter with God" was interpreted by the Bāb in
terms of attaining the "meeting" with him (Dalā'il-i Sab`ih
31ff and 57). To attain the presence of Bahā'u'llah is to experience
the "meeting with God". In view of this the "Sea of Purity" (baḥr-i
safā') has cried out (karda khură sh-- or raised a shout in
announcement of this means of attaining the "meeting with God" ?).
In place of karda khuruh (so Mā'idih 4) INBMC 36 (see above) has
karda ADD "has been made manifest". If this is the correct reading
the implication would be that the "Sea of Purity" (baḥr-i safā')
represents Bahā'-Allāh whose presence is an expression, a "wave" of
the "Meeting with God" (mauj-i liqā'): the first hemistich of line 4
might thus be translated;
"Out of [or from] the Wave of
the Meeting [with God] the Ocean of Purity [= Bahā'-Allāh ?] has
been manifested"
[4b]
اين طرفه عطا از
جذبه ها ميريزد
On account
of Our rapture this Precious favour pours forth.
The second hemistich of line
4 probably indicates that on account of Bahā'-Allāh's rapture (جذبه
āz jazdhbih mā; cf. line 1) the
طرفه عطا
ṭurfa-i `aṭā' ,"Precious Favour" of the "meeting with God" (through
him?) is available.
Though the text is unclear it
may be that the INBMC 36 text has the reading "On account of the
Rapture of [the one represented by the letter]ه
(hā') this Precious Favour rains down (
ميريزد )
If this is the case it may be that Bahā'-Allah representing himself
or the Bāb as the letter
ه
(hā') (= the first letter of
هُوَ
= "He is" indicative of
Divinity) whose rapture is related to the appearance of the
"Precious Favour" (see also on lines 5, 7, 9 and 13).
[5]
بهجت
مل
از نظره
گل
شد ظاهر
اين
رمز
مليح
از
رنّه
را
ميريزد
At
the sight of the Rose was
the delight of
the wine
apparent;
This
sweet
Cipher rains down
through the ringing
sound of
[the
letter] "R" (
ر =
rā').
بهجت
مل
از نظره
گل
شد ظاهر
biḥjat-i
mull[?] āz na- rih-i gull shud zāhir
In the first
hemistich of this line Bahā'-Allāh probably represents
himself as theگل
gull, "Rose"
at whose sight
delight of the
مل
mul the "wine" of spiritual intoxication derives its
potency. In his Lawḥ-i gull-i ma`nawī (Tablet of the Ideal
Rose c.1865-6) similar imagery is used. Bahā'-Allāh is
pictured as the "Ideal Rose" in the "Divine Riḍwān" to whom
the "nightingales" (= the Bābi's) should turn (see AQA.
4:336-8).
[
5b]
اين
رمز
مليح
از
رنّه
را
ميريزد
This
sweet
Cipher rains down
through the ringing sound of
[the
letter] "R" (
ر =
rā').
īn
ramz-i ma' āz rannih-rā' mirizad
Here it is syntactically and metrically
extremely unlikely that the Arabic-Persian
را
indicates
the letter "R"
ر
(rā').
It is more likely that theرا
(rā')
of
رنّه
راis
the Persian suffix marking the direct object of the verb
ميريزد
used in order to maintain the rhyme. As INBMC 36 indicates,
having ء
(= ḥamza) indicative of the genitive.
رنّه
را
is a genitive
construction and should be read rannih-' rā' meaning "Joyful
Song [or wailing?] of the (Persian-Arabic) letter
را
rā'. The question
thus arises as to what or whom is meant by the letter
را
. Several
possibilities present themselves. It is most likely that the
را
indicates the initial letter of an Arabic-Persian
word indicative of either an abstract reality or a person
such as the Bāb or a leading Bābi whose title begins with
this letter.
A definite possibility is that the
را
of
رنّه
را
indicates
رب
= Rabb
= "Lord"
understood as the (heavenly) Bāb himself or perhaps
Bahā'-Allāh as his "return". Both "Lord" and Bāb have
identical abjad (numerical) values [205] -- a point made
explicitly by the Bāb in his Letter to Muاammad
Shāh (see INBMC 64:[123-126], 110).
Lord =
رب
202 : R
ر=
200 + B=
2
=
ب
Total =
202;
على
`Alī = 110
= +
محمد
= Muḥammad = 92:
Total = 202 .
The significance of
رنّه
را
could also be
considered in the light of the following.
را
(Rā'),
being the first letter of ADD (= ra'ī s = "Chief"), could
be seen to be an allusion to Shaykh Aḥmad al-Ahsā'īs
interpretation of the inverted letter wāw (= Arabic w
spelled in full) element in such Shi`i graphical forms of the al-ism
al-a`zam ("greatest name" of God),. Thus, for
example,
ADD HERE
For Shaykh Aḥmad the
was understood to be an inverted letter wāw,
൦
=
و
with an `extended tail' .
This cryptic sigla is alluded to
al-Kitāb al-aqdas
(c. 1873) of Bahā'-Allāh
as the "mystery of inversion before the Symbol of the Ruler" (sirr al-tankis
li-ramz al-ra'is).
This might at first sight seem a somewhat unlikely
suggestion but it must be borne in mind that :
(1) Shaykh Ahmad's
description of the wāw in the Shi`i
greatest name diagram as the sirr al-tankīs li-ramz al-ra'īs
was understood by Bahā'-Allāh (in his later
writings) to allude to his own advent and was
related (by Shaykh Aḥmad himself as well as Bahā')
writers) to the commencement of the dispensation of
the Qā'im (the Bāb) .
(2) Bahā'-Allāh
apparently represents himself as "this Sweet Cipher" ( ADD
ramz-i maliḥ])
-- the word ramz ("cipher") being in genitive
relationship with ra''is
(= "chief") in Shaykh Aḥmad's statement.
(3) In line with Shaykh Aḥmad's relating the
sirr al-tankis
li-ramz al-ra'is
with successive cycles of divine disclosure and the
advent of the Qā'im lines 6-9 those following line
(5) of the
Rashḥ-i `amā'
are oriented around the theme of the new cycle of
fulfillment;
(4) If ADD (=
"Rapture of Hā'") is the correct reading in line 4
then ADD = "Joyful Song of Rā'") (cf. the expression
ADD "Sweet Cipher") would parallel each other and
might be taken to indicate the letters and ADD which
together spell ADD (cf. lines 7 & 8).
If
the third of these three proposed explanations of
را
rā'
is
correct then it may be deduced that Bahā'-Allāh is alluding
to himself as the "Cipher" (ramz) of the "Chief"
(ra'is
= the Bāb? or God?) whose divine commission is related to
the "mystery of inversion" (sirr al-tankīs)
understood to be indicative of a new phase in the Bābī
dispensation. Alternatively, Bahā'-Allāh may be representing
himself as the "Chief" (ra'is >
rā')
whose "joyful song" (revealing verses ?) is expressive of
the "sweet Cipher"
(ramz-i maliḥ)
of his secret theophanic status.
ALTERNATIVE READING
AT LINE 5
ADD COMMENTARY
[5]
The Treasury of Love (ganjinih-yi ḥubb) appears hid
in the Bosom;
This Love's Treasure (ganj-i mahabbat) cascades as
Pearls of Fidelity
(durr-i
vafāmīrīzad).
[6]
نقره
ناقوری
جذبه
لاهوتی
naqrih-’
nāqūrī jadhbih-yi lāhūtī
The
Stunning Trump! The Celestial Rapture!
In the first hemistich of this line Bahā’u’lāh mentions the
eschatological Trumpet Blast (naqrih-i nāqūrī) and the
anticipated "Celestial Rapture" (jadhbih-yi lāhūtī = the
rejoicing in the highest heavenly realm as a result of the
eschatological disclosure?) which, we learn from the second
hemistich, both rain down or are heard (?) as a single
(Trumpet] blast ADD = nafkha ) from the "firmament of
Heaven" ( ADD jaww al-samā’). As a result of the arrival
the Bābī dispensation and the new though basically secret
messianic claims of Bahā’-Allāh, the eschatological
consummation is being announced in the heavenly realms. It
may be indicated that the predicted (see below) twin
eschatological Trumpet Blasts have become one stunning event
through the person of Bahā’-Allāh, the “spiritual “return”
of the Bāb and the life giving second “blast” of the
“Trumpet”; another divine revelation of the Word of God
(?).
That "The Stunning Trump",
"Trumpet Blast", "Blow on the Trumpet", or the like is the
sense of ADD HERE may be deduced from Qur'ān 74:8 which
reads:
ADD
"And when the Trumpet is sounded"
It is only in this Qur'ānic verse that ADD (nāqūr,
“theTrumpet/ Bugle”) and the passive verbal form ZwY, nuqira
(= `to be sounded, blown into' -- both from the same Arabic root
[N-Q-R]) occur. Elsewhere in the Qur'ān other Arabic terms are
used to indicate the eschatological “Trumpet” (most often
ṣūr x 11) or `Trumpet Blasts - -- whlch herald the onset of
the last "Hour", the “resurrection”, “assembling”, “judgement”
and “encounter with God” (see
Qur'ān 6:73; 18:99; 20:102; 23:103; 27:89; 36:51; 50:19; 69:13;
78:18 and 39:68 (= twin `trumpet blasts').
In the genitive expression ADD the governing verbal noun ADD
is probably to be read ADD (naqra) and understood to
mean (lit.) "the blowing (in the Trumpet; naqrih-' nāqūrī).
In the section on `The blowing into
the Trumpet (nafah al-ṣūr) and the annihilation of the world (fanā’
al-dunyā’) in Majlisi’s Biḥār al-anwār 2
(6:316ff) this verse of the Qur’ān is commented upon in the
following manner:
“Concerning His saying - exalted be He -- “And
when the Trumpet is sounded (ADD” (Q. 74:18); the meaning is
`When the Trumpet is blown into (ADD)’ which [Trumpet]
resembles the form of the Horn (`Bugle', `Trumpet’; ADD , ka-hay’it
al-būq) .And it is said that this is the first blast (`blowing’
ADD ; cf. Rashḥ line 6b) [of the Trumpet] which signalizes the
commencement of the universal, catastrophic terror (al-shadda
al-hā’ila al-`āmma). It is [also] said that upon the second
blast [of the Trumpet] God brings to life the creation
[creatures] (ADD) and causes the resurrection to come about ...”
(Biḥār, 6:373).”
Islamic eschatological traditions contain many further details
about the various Trumpet blasts of the latter days. The
occurrence of ADD nafḥa is quite common in eschatological
traditions which make mention of the end-time blowing into the
trumpet. In his Risāla al-Qatifiyya, for example, Shaykh Aḥmad
responds to a various questions of Shaykh Aḥmad ibn Sāliḥ ibn
Tūq al-Qatfī including one about the eschatological “return” (rujū`)
unto God. He mentions that God will commission the four (Arch)angels
and command Isrāfīl to blow (nafkha) into the Trumpet (al-ṣūr)
etc (Ahsa'i, JK 1/2:135).
In certain writings of the Bāb and
in a great many of the (later) writings of Bahā’-Allāh there are
references to the motif of the eschatological trumpet blast(s)
-- which is rooted in Jewish and Christian apocalyptic
literature (refer
for example, Isaiah 27:13, Zech. 9:14, Targ. Ps. Jon Num 23:21;
1 Thess. 4:16, I Cor 15:52, Rev. 8-11, Matt. 24:31).
Particularly interesting in the light of line 6a
of the Rashḥ-i `amā’ is the Bāb’s reference in his (Persian?)
Ṣaḥīfa-yi `adlīya , to the various signs indicative of the
onset of the `last days' including the announcement that "..
the Trumpet hath been sounded in the domain of the [Divine]
theophany (`land of Manifestation’; nuqira al-nāqūr fī ard al-ẓuhūr)"
(Saḥīfa-yi
`adlīya, 4).
Bahā’-Allāh has interpreted the various Qur'ānic texts that
mention `Trumpet Blasts' in the light of the advent of the Bāb
and his own person, mission and revelation. In his Sūrat al-aḥṣāb
(c. 1864) for example, he writes:
Say: By God! The greatest Trump (
ADD
Sūr al-akbar) hath been made manifest in this
Trumpet (al-nāqūr) which, in very truth, hath cried out. It
hath been sounded (nuqira) and will cry out between the heavens
and the earth with the most elevated shout..". (Ṣūrat al-aḥṣāb
in AQA 4:11)
Such passages could be greatly multiplied. There are at least
50-100 passages in Bahā’-Allāh's writings in which the motif of
the eschatological Trumpet(s) is utilised.
[6b]
اين هردو بيك نفحه از جوّ سما ميريزد
īn
har dū bi-yik nafkhḥih āz jaww-i samā[’] mirīzad
In
the Firmament of Heaven they twain rain down as a Single
Blast.
Bahā’-Allāh, as noted, speaks of the "Stunning
Trump" and the "Celestial Rapture" as both being heard as a
single ADD , "blast" (nafkhih) in the "Firmament of
Heaven" (jaww al-samā'). The occurrence of an
eschatological “blast” is variously referred to and
interpreted in numerous later writings of Bahā’-Allāh.
The expression ADD( jaww al-samā' )
occurs once in the Qur'ān (16:81) as that part of the sky in
which birds soar motionless. In Bābī-Bahā'ī scripture ADD jaww (= `firmament',`air',`atmosphere',`sky') is
frequently used in mystical cosmological contexts; in
connection with the hierarchy of celestial or metaphysical
realms. As the governing noun in a variety of genitive
expressions it is quite common in the writings of the Bāb
(See, for example, Qayyūm al-asmā' (Browne Coll. MS
Or F. 11); LXXVII. fol. 135a; LXXXIV. fol. 145b; LXXXVI.
fol. 150b; XC. fol.15ob; CIX. fol. 195a.
