A Grammar of the Divine:  Translation, Notes, and

 Semi-Critical Edition of the Bāb’s Risāla fī al-naḥw wa al-ṣarf

(A Treatise on Grammar)

William F. McCants

The Bāb’s Arabic prose has long been a source of criticism among his Muslim detractors and, consequently, a major subject of Bahā’ī apologetics.  Despite the amount of ink that has been spilled over the subject, there has been no systematic study of the nature of the Bāb’s violations of Arabic grammar or what he thought about the subject.  To remedy this latter gap in our knowledge, I have made a semi-critical edition of the Bāb’s Risāla fī al-naḥw wa al-ṣarf (A Treatise on Grammar).[1]  Even though the Bāb gave the treatise this title, he does so ironically since he says very little about the discipline and characterizes it as second-order knowledge compared to contemplation of the rules governing God’s interaction with His creation.  However, when describing the latter the Bāb uses the terminology of the former.  Sometimes he does so jokingly, making puns out of words that have both a metaphysical and grammatical meaning in order to drive home his point that study of subjects like the declension of a noun (i`rāb al-ism) pale in comparison to contemplation of the appearance of the Name (i`rāb al-ism).  At other times, the use of words with these dual meanings is meant to highlight the fundamentally linguistic nature of God’s interaction with the world.   

The English word “grammar” neatly conveys the various shades of meaning that are implicit in the Bāb’s discussion of the subject.  On one level, grammar is a system of rules that govern the formation of words (morphology) and their arrangement into units of meaning (syntax).  On another level, a “grammar” is the basic principles of any branch of knowledge.  In this sense we can talk about a grammar of music or a grammar of geography.  Although the Bāb does talk about grammar in the first sense of the word in this treatise, he is primarily interested in the second sense; namely, the principles governing God’s interaction with the world.  Therefore, the Bāb delineates what might be called a grammar of the Divine. 

As I hope to show, the Bāb’s delineation of a grammar of the Divine draws heavily on Shaykh Aḥmad’s theories on the linguistic nature of the operation of God’s Will in the world.  Therefore, a proper treatment of our text would compare the works of the two men on this subject.  However, not enough is known about Shaykh Aḥmad’s metaphysical grammar to comment intelligently on the Bāb’s discussion and almost nothing of the Bāb’s voluminous writings have been published and exist only in manuscripts that are not available for research.[2]  Therefore, I have established a semi-critical edition of his treatise on grammar in order to meet this final need and offer a translation and gloss of the text to serve as a building block for future studies of the Bāb’s ideas on the linguistic nature of Divine self-disclosure.

The purpose of creating a critical edition is to produce a version of a text that most likely resembles what the author wrote.  Of course, if an autograph (a copy of the text in the author’s own hand) can be found, then the job of the editor is fairly straightforward: just reproduce the text.  However, there may be several copies of the same text written by the author and the editor would have to determine which one represents the final form of the text as the author intended it.  While it is useful to compare it with earlier autographs, the base text (the text that is deemed to be most reliable and is reproduced in the critical edition) should reflect the author’s final work on the subject.[3] 

Given the current resources of the modern Bahā’ī community and its general lack of enthusiasm for the creation of critical editions, researchers are not likely to have access to autograph manuscripts, either for viewing in a safe, archival environment or in color reproduction.  Therefore, they must rely on manuscript copies by various scribes.  Here too the task is daunting since many of these manuscripts are also inaccessible.  Those that are accessible are usually in private hands and are photocopies of photocopies, ad infinitum.  Further, unless the scribe dates his transcription, researchers have no tools available to aid them in guessing the approximate age of the text, such as the nature of the manuscript paper, types of inks, and analyses of scribal handwriting.  Dating is crucial in the preparation of a critical edition since the goal of the editor is to reproduce the original version of the text, which is most likely the earliest one (unless the author made changes, as detailed above).  Based on dating and family resemblances between manuscripts (i.e. certain groups of manuscripts share common scribal errors), one could then determine the genealogical relationship between the various manuscript traditions and work back to the original text as written by the author.

Due to this lack of resources, most prospective editors of Bābī and Bahā’ī texts must be satisfied for the time being with the prefix of “semi” to their critical editions and adopt a rather primitive procedure.  Theoretically, the editor must gather as many manuscript copies as possible and then, after reading each of them thoroughly, designate the oldest manuscript as the base text.  The general assumption is that there will be fewer lacunae and scribal errors in a manuscript that was transcribed soon after the original was written.    Variants between this text and later manuscripts will then be recorded in the footnotes and commentary on the text and explanation of obscure terms are confined to the introduction and translation.[4] 

In practice, one of the secondary manuscripts that was transcribed at a later date might better preserve a particular passage than one found in the manuscript designated as the base text.  A judicious editor should use the better-preserved passage in the main text of the critical edition and note that the base text contains something different.  The measure of a successful critical edition is not its faithfulness to a single manuscript.  Rather, the reader should be able to look at the critical edition and the accompanying apparatus and recreate every single manuscript that has been consulted in the preparation of the text.[5]  In preparing the critical edition of the Bāb’s Risāla, I have primarily reproduced the oldest manuscript (see below), but I have used variants from a later manuscript if a word in the older manuscript is an obvious error.  All of the variants are found in the footnotes.  As for the one or two cases of lacunae where a portion is obviously missing from the older manuscript but is preserved in the later manuscript, I have filled the gap in the critical edition with the passage from the later text and enclosed it in brackets.

Finally, a special word of caution for editors of works by the Bāb.  Morphological or syntactical errors in early manuscripts may not necessarily be the result of scribal errors.  The Bāb’s Arabic grammar was often unconventional, particularly when he wrote in what he called the “mode of verses” (sha’n-i āyāt), and ostensible scribal errors could be by the Bāb himself.  Of course, scribal errors do frequently occur and can confuse an otherwise clear statement by the Bāb.[6]  Conversely, later scribes could have knowingly or unknowingly corrected grammatical errors in the original text written by the Bāb.  To be cautious, grammatical errors found in the earliest manuscripts of a work should be preserved in the main text and noted in the critical apparatus along with later variants.  This principle is obviously in tension with that enunciated in the preceding paragraph, so editors will have to be very careful about which variant reading is put in the main text of the critical edition.  It is sometimes a personal judgment based on long exposure to the Bāb’s style and therefore somewhat subjective.  However, as long as every variant is noted in the critical apparatus, editors need not worry unduly about preserving an early scribal error in the main text.

In preparing the text of the Bāb’s “Treatise on Grammar” I have consulted two badly reproduced photocopies of photocopies of INBMC volume 67 and INBA volume 4011C.  Since INBA 4011 is the earlier manuscript, I have taken it as my base text.[7]  In the footnotes the two manuscripts are designated as follows:

            أ :        INBA 4011, p. 167-71.

 ب          :        INBMC 67, pgs. 121-25.

Both texts are written in naskh script, although the handwriting differs.  The manuscript in INBMC 67 is comprised of 62 lines of text with 16 lines per full page and roughly 14 words per line, while INBA 4011 is comprised of 87 lines of text with 19 lines per full page and roughly 9 words per line.  INBMC 67 has some variants in the margins, with one of them designated “خ ل” (nuskha badal), which means that the scribe was noting a variant in another manuscript at his disposal.  All marginal notes by the scribes have been recorded in the footnotes, whether they pertain to variant readings and corrections to the text or to commentary on the text (as occurs once in INBA 4011).  Neither text is vocalized, although INBA 4011 does have tashdīd.  In the edited version, I have vocalized the text when necessary and provided the tashdīd (differences from INBA 4011 are recorded in the footnotes).  However, I have tried to keep vocalization to a minimum and foregone punctuation so as not to prejudice future translators toward any particular reading.  I have also stayed away from capitalizing many terms in the English translation for the same reason.

Although I have been unable to precisely date the Risāla using information in a colophon or textual clues, it is definitely an early work of the Bāb.  First, it is found in INBA 4011, which largely contains texts that he composed between 1844 and 1846.[8]  Further, Māzandarānī states that it was written during his pilgrimage, around the same time that he wrote al-Muhammadaḥīfa bayn al-ḥaramayn.[9]  Finally, the Bāb himself notes in the Kitāb al-fihrist that one of the questions (al-masā`il) that he answered concerned grammar (“fī al-naḥw wa al-ṣarf”).[10]  Since the Kitāb al-fihrist is dated Jumādā II 1261 (June 21, 1845),[11] the Bāb must have written the Risāla fī al-naḥw wa al-ṣarf[12] during the first year of his ministry, probably after he left for his ḥājj.

While we know that the Bāb composed this treatise very early in his ministry, we do not know who the recipient was.  The Bāb does address the recipient as mu`tamad al-quwā (“one dependable in strength”), but this is not necessarily an allusion to someone’s name (it is a paraphrase of Q 53:5).  Given the gender of the address, the recipient was probably a male.  Based on the content of the treatise and the time period in which it was written, the recipient was probably also a Shaykhī. 

            As I claimed in the opening paragraph, the title of the treatise is somewhat misleading since it purports to discuss grammar (al-naḥw wa al-ṣarf).[13]  Therefore, anyone seeking a text in which the Bāb discusses the finer points of grammar or explains some of the more peculiar elements of his syntax, morphology, and style will be disappointed.  Generally, the Bāb did not write about the mechanics of his Arabic, unlike a later claimant to divine revelation, Bahā’u’llāh.[14]  Further, the Bāb composed this treatise before members of the Shī`ī clerical establishment began to criticize his Arabic prose, so we would not expect to see a rebuttal of their criticisms in this text.[15]  The Bāb does signal, however, his view of Arabic grammar as a hindrance to his revelatory creativity by way of allegory.  Near the beginning of the text, he equates syntax (al-naḥw) with Adam and morphology (al-ṣarf) with Eve.  The ubiquitous speaker (the Bāb switches between the third and first person) gives them a place in Paradise, but warns them to not approach the tree of origination (shajarat al-bad’).  As in the Biblical story, they disobey and are cast out of Paradise.  The main lesson seems to be that Arabic grammar is an important part of revelation, but it can be discarded if it encroaches upon the expression of divine truth.  In a similar vein, the Bāb councils the recipient of his treatise to accustom the children of believers to his Arabic style from an early age.  The recipient should do this by writing down the Bāb’s scripture for them in beautiful handwriting in order that they will know, upon reaching the age of maturity, that the Bāb is transcendent (tanzīh) above the limitations of exposition (ḥadd al-bayān). 

            This is not to say, however, that the Arabic writings of the Bāb can be understood without studying Arabic grammar.  Indeed, a basic knowledge of its particulars is necessary to understand his neologisms.  Further, some of his Arabic prose is quite standard and could only be understood by someone versed in the norms of grammar (see my discussion of this under al-`irāb in the gloss).  Finally, much of his metaphysical terminology is derived from Shaykh Aḥmad, who developed many of his metaphysical ideas by contemplating the operations of Arabic grammar.  Therefore, even though the Bāb felt free to violate its norms, he relies upon the reader’s understanding of those norms and the mechanics of grammar to decipher his prose and his metaphysical terminology.

As for the latter, the Bāb in this text divides the operation of God’s Will in the created world into three components: Act (fi`l),[16] Name (ism), and Letter (ḥarf).  This mirrors the division of Arabic words into their three components: verb (fi`l), noun (ism), and particle (ḥarf).  The reader should be aware that my translation of these grammatical terms is somewhat misleading, since there is not a one-to-one correspondence between them and the English equivalents I have given them.  The category of ism, which is translated by English students of Arabic grammar as “noun,” includes things that English grammarians would not classify as nouns, such as adjectives (al-ṣafāt).  Further, the category of ḥarf, which is translated as “particle,” also includes words that would not be classified as particles in English grammar, like fī (the preposition “in”) and wa (the conjunction “and”).  As with English prepositions and conjunctions, the ḥurūf (pl. of ḥarf) are the glue that connects the verbal and non-verbal elements of the sentence together. 

At the end of his treatise, the Bāb uses these three grammatical categories to describe the three basic components of all existence: Act, Name, and Letter.  Or, as he puts it, three of the four basic “letters” of the “word” that God originated and from which all other created things are ultimately derived.  For example, the Bāb dwells on the movement (ḥaraka) and stillness (sukūn) of the Act (fi`l), both terms used in grammar to describe which letters of a verb (fi`l) or noun are vocalized (mutaḥarrik) with a diacritical mark (ḥaraka) or not vocalized (sākin) with a sukūn (a mark indicating that a consonant is not followed by a short vowel).  The Bāb also designates some of the subsets of his metaphysical category of Name (ism) with terms like ṣifa (quality) that also fall under the category of noun (ism) in Arabic grammar (a ṣifa is an adjective).  Finally, the Bāb writes of the component of Letters (ḥurūf) and describes them in terms that could be used to describe the function of particles (ḥurūf) in Arabic grammar. 

In order to avoid a translation that is totally unwieldy (somewhat difficult given the technical nature of the subject matter), I have moved back and forth between rendering the Bāb’s terminology in its metaphysical and grammatical meanings depending on the context.  To ensure that readers are able to recognize the Bāb’s wordplay, I put the Arabic terms in parentheses followed by notes highlighting the grammatical and philosophical denotations of these terms.  By this I hope to highlight a grammatical aspect of the Bāb’s cosmology that has hitherto gone unnoticed in discussions of his metaphysical terminology and in translations of his writings.

Risāla fī al-naḥw wa al-ṣarf :  Semi-Critical Edition

بسم الله الرّحمٰن الرّحيم

الحمد لله الّذي تجلّی علی الانسان بالنّقطة المنفصلة المتحرّكة عن مطلع البيان والحمد لله الّذي اقضی بجوده ما امضی[1] للانسان بالنّقطة المتّصلة[2] المسكّنة في مغرب البيان حتّى يتّصل البحران في نقطة الالتقاء علی هيكل الطّتنجين لئلّا يظنّ اهل الاعيان بما قدّر الله في نقطة البرزخين حكم الخليجين و لقد خلق الرّحمن نقطة النّحو من عالم المحو و احكم الله في نفسها احكام التّحديد علی حكم الموهوم من نقطة المعلوم و كان لله البداء في حكمه و ما من شيء الّا له كتاب مؤجّل لن يستطيع الشّيء علی السَّبْقة من حكم الله ربّه و ذلك حكم من الله الحقّ في شأن الخلق علی الحقّ الخالص مَقْضيّاً

 و لمّا خلق الله مركز النّحو من حول سرّ السّطر قد اوحينا اليه لا تقرب شجرة  البدء فانّها محرّمة عليك بالحقّ ثمّ اقسمتُه حظراً[3] من غبار ارض الصّدد[4] علی القريب[5] فقربها علی غير الاذن و لذا قد حكمنا عليه بالخروج من[6] جنّة الباب و من ذلك الحظر[7] المتصاعدة من اسفل اعضائه قد خلقنا نقطة الصّرف زوجته فحينئذ[8] امر الله خروجها علی هبط الالواح و كان الحكم[9] في امّ الكتاب[10] من اهل التّغيير في سطر التّحديد مكتوباً و الی الان قد بكت النّقطتان في ارض الالواح و ها انا ذا قد غفرتُ لهما قربهما بادن الله ربّهما لما اعترفا بالعجز في ذلك الباب و إنّي انا اليوم بالحقّ للعالمين علی اذن الله العليّ[11] قد كنتُ غفّاراً

[12]يا ايّها الباب الصّفي فٱعلم أنّ للصّبيان المؤمنين بعد طلوع الشّمس من مطلع الاذن حقّ في ذلك الباب أنْ لا يأخذوا سبل العلم من كتب الخلاف لما قد ذقوا[13] ابائهم حبّ الثّمرة من شجرة الخلد و لا ينبغي للامطار النّازلة من بحر المزن[14] شُرْب الحبّ من حبّ[15] العجل لما اراد الله تطهير الارض ليومه الاكبر ألّا[16] يعبدوا الخلق الّا ايّاه إنّه الحقّ لا اله الّا هو فٱكتب على طرق الحسان للصّبيان من تعليم خالق الانسان من مطلع البيان في نفسك علی ظهور هيبته علی كلّ الاكوان والاعيان حتّی يشهدوا بعد البلوغ الی الكمال بتنزيه الباب عن حدّ البيان فقد خلق الله العِلْمَيْنِ من الرّشحة المرشّحة[17] من ذنيك[18] البحرين ﴿مَرَجَ ﭐلْبَحْرَيْنِ يَلْتَقِيَانِ بَيْنَهُمَا بَرْزَخٌ لا يَبْغِيَانِ﴾[19]

ألا يا اهل الارض والسّماء إنّ الله ما قدّر الشّرف للانسان في ذلك العلم من ذنيك[20] البحرين لانّهما حظّ لاهل الخليجين و إنّ[21] الشّرف عند الله العلم بالرّحمن و بالبرزخ القائم بين العالمين فٱرغبوا في خطّ الاستواء الی القائم بين البحرين و المخرج من احدهما لؤلؤ الاعراب و من الاخر تصريف المرجان و للاوّل حدّ من الله محكم لا يعرف الشّيء فصلاً[22]  الّا عن القطع [بالوصل و الثّاني حكم متقن لا[23] يعرف السّكون الّا عن القطع][24] بالسّكون

و ٱطرح سبيل[25] القواعد من ماء الاكسير على الالواح المورقات من هَيٰكِلِ[26] التّوحيد من ظلّ العالم العلوي حتّی يشهد أُولوا الالباب من اهل الايمان أنّ ما هنالك لا يُعرَف الّا بما ههنا و لا تكتب[27] حرفاً الّا و قد تقرء[28] عليه حكم البداء و كلمة الامضاء من الرّحمن ﴿ﺇِنَّا لِلَّهِ و ﺇِنَّا ﺇلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ﴾[29] و ٱفتح باب الكتاب علی الحروف التّسعة و العشرين و أجرِ من قلمك علی الكلّ حكم القرب الی البدء ممّا اهلمك الله من لسان الباب و ٱبدء بالذّكر علی الفعل لانّه[30] مداد الحكم[31] و ٱتمم عددَه علی التكرير في فعل القديم و ٱحكم علی نقطة البرزخ حكم الغيبين في الشّهادتين و ٱفرق حكمها على التقاء الجمْعَيْن و ٱذكر قرب الغيبة علی الشّهادة بعد نظرتك الی اعداد الحروف بالقلّة والكثرة و ٱحكم علی الاقلّ الی لجّة القرب و ٱكتب علی الاكثر نقطة البُعد و ٱصرف[32] الفعل علی صرف الظّهور و ٱعرب الاسم بالماء الطّهور و ٱحكم علی الحرف بالرّبط من عالم الظّهور الی جبل الطّور هنالك نُقِرَ النّاقورُ و نادی كلُّ الحروف من في الطّور أنّ الشّمس قد طلعت و النّهار قد تجلّت[33] و الزّوال  قد اقضت و اللّيل قد ادبرت[34] فما قدّر الله لنا في ذلك اليوم لدی الباب وقوفاً الله ربّنا[35] الّذي لا اله الّا هو فبمثل ذلك ﴿فَلْيَعْمَلِ ٱلْعَامِلُونَ﴾[36]

ثمّ ٱعلم يا معتمد[37] القوى أنّ الاسم سمة[38] الشّيء كما هي بما هي و له مراتب منها أنّ المرايا نعتُه[39] و الالفاظ حدُّه و الاشكال وَصْفُه و الصّور المنقوشة رسمُه و لكلّ كتاب علی حكم الكلّ من عند الله لا نفاد لها و إنّ الله قد جعل الالفاظ اجساداً للارواح الّتي هي المعاني و إنّ الله قد كتب بايديه بينهما نسبة بالحقّ و ما كان بينهما الّا كما كان بين الكاف والنّون

و امّا الفعل فهو[40] حركة الشّيء و عليها قد كان مداد الاسم و الحرف و اصل الفعل[41] خلق ساكن لا يُعرَف بالسّكون و على مذهبنا الّذي هو الحقّ خلق متحرّك[42] لا يُعرَف بالتّحرّك مَن عرف الفصل من الوصل فقد بلغ نقطة العلم 

وامّا الحرف فهو[43] المعنی[44] الّذي لا يحكي الّا عن الرّبط و إنّ الله لمّا اراد أنْ يخلق الحروف ابدع كلمة علی اربعة احرف و قد سمّى[45] الله لكلّ حرف اسماً للاوّل فعل و للثّاني اسم و للثّالث حرف و للرّابع سرّ مستسرّ مقوّمها و ها انا ذا اعرّفكم[46] ذلك الحرف و هو الّذي اشار اليه الصّادق عليه السّلام في حديث الاسم[47] و قد ملاء[48] الابداع من فيض ذلك الحرف و لا يعلم صنعه[49] اللّطيف الّا هو و ٱتّكل علی الله و قل لا حول و لا قوّة الّا بالله و أجرِ القلم علی نقطة الباب بالباب ﴿بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ ٱلحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ ٱلعَالَمِينَ﴾[50]

Notes

[1]   في هامش ب:  خ ل (نسخة بدل) اقتضى يجوده ما اقضى.

[2]   هكذا في ب.  و في أ:  المنفصلة.

[3]   أ:  خطرا.

[4]   ب:  الصدق.

[5]   ب:  القرب.

[6]   ب:  عن.

[7]   أ:  الخطر.

[8]   أ و ب:  فح.

[9]   ب ينقص:  الحكم.

[10]   ب ينقص:  الكتاب. 

[11]   ب ينقص:  العلي.

[12]   ب يزيد:  و بعد.

[13]   أ:  ذقّوا.

[14]   ب يزيد: من.

[15]   ب: "جسد" بدلاً من "حب".

[16]   ب:  ان لا.

[17]  أ:  المرشحة.

[18]  ب: ذلك.  و المثنى العادي لذاك هو "ذينك" (المجرور). 

[19]   (الرحمن) ۵۵:۱۹-  ۲۰.

[20]  ب: ذلك.

[21]  ب ينقص:  إنّ.

[22]   ب ينقص:  فصلا.  و بحاشية:  فضلا.

[23]   ب: الا.

[24]   أ ينقص: بالوصل و الثاني حكم متقن لا يعرف السكون الا عن القطع.

[25]   ب:  سبل.

[26]   هكذا في أ.  و في ب: هيكل

[27]   ب:  يكتب.

[28]   ب ينقص:  تقرء.  و في هامش:  تقرء.

[29]   (البقرة) ۲:۱۵۶.

[30]   ب:  لانها.

[31]   هكذا في ب.  و في أ:  الحكيم.

[32]   هكذا في ب.  و في أ: احرف.

[33]   هكذا في ب.  و في أ:  جلّت.

[34]   هكذا في ب.  و في أ:  ادرت.

[35]   ب:  ربّي.

[36]   أ:  فلنجري العاملين.  و "فليعمل العاملون" من القران, (الصافات) ۳۷: ۶۱.

[37]   ب:  معتمدي.

[38]  أ: سمّة.

[39]   ب:  نعمة.

[40]  ب:  هي.

[41]   ب يزيد: هو.

[42]   أ:  "او خلق تحرّك لا يعرف بالتّحرك"، بدلاً من "و على مذهبنا...متحرك". 

[43]  ب:  هي.

[44]  أ: المعنيّ.

[45]   ب:  سمّاه.

[46]   أ:  اعرفكم.

[47]  في هامش أ:  "حديث شريف قال النّبي (صلّى الله) إنّ الله خلق عباداً ليسوا بأنبياء الله و لا شهداء تغبطهم النّبيّون و الشهداء لقريهم في الله الحديث."  بالرغم من هذا الشرح, الحديث الصحيح الذي الباب يشير اليه يبدأ بالكلمات التالية:  " إِنَّ اللَّهَ تَبَارَكَ وَ تَعَالَى خَلَقَ اسْماً بِالْحُرُوفِ غَيْرَ مُتَصَوَّتٍ...." انظر الى الترجمة. 

[48]   ب:  ملئت.

[49]   هكذا في ب.  و في أ:  صفه.

[50]   (الفاتحة) ۱:۱- ۲.

 Risāla fī al-naḥw wa al-ṣarf :  Translation and Notes