Ismâ’ili materials
Previous Next
In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. Praise be to God, who confirms every thing by his unity; to the glory of whose reverence every thing bows; who embraces by science the thing in every thing;† who is, and before whom was not anything; and who created out of nothing things created; and the glory of whose dominion nothing resembles, so that not any thing is too much for him if he wills it; and who is the cause of every thing; and who dipenses with every thing, and whom nothing dispenses with; whom all things need, and from whom and with whom are all things; from whom every thing emanates, and who emanates not from any thing; and who is not the general of any thing special, and who comes not under anything; and by reason of whom nothing subsists, and to the detriment of whom nothing changes; and to the degree of whose essence there is no reaching for any perception, or any conjecture; who is the Hidden of the hidden, and the Mystery of mystery; from whose unity emanated a sole Amr. And to it was given for a covering the p. 300 Kâf and the Nûn,* comprehending that which was, and that which is, and that which is to be. So then, that is his Word, and his effusion, and his out-pouring, and his science, and the cause of that which is produced by him, and his perfection, and the medium of his producing, and the means of his creating, and the manifester of his declaring,† and the exhibiter of his superior power, and a hiyûly‡ to his command, and a form to his volition, like as the Irâdeh is a hiyûly to his Amr, and a form to his Meshiyeh;§ and as will is a hiyûly to volition, and a form to the intellect.
And so emanates from his sole Amr the first producer, the Sâbiḳ,‖ the most perfect receiver, the simple substance, the apprehender, the comprehender, the suited to the appropriation of perfection, the creator by no reinforcement,¶ and the correspondent of the Eternal One, and the Noble Root, the Primitive Light, and the Universal Intelligence, the improver of things existing, the shedder forth of things created, the producer of things produced, the preceder of things made, the divine in essence, the conjoined with felicities, the abiding, the constant, the medium between the Creator and his reinforcement pertaining to things caused, the made one with the Word, the sharer in the divine majesty, the prior by essence and rank, the exempt from finiteness and defect, the place of the act of creation, and the seat of the act of production, the shedder forth upon the Tâly** as to that which it receives of the out-pouring of the Highest, the lofty, the form of forms, the originator of creatures, the governor of ranks, the performer of wonders, and the manifester of extraordinaries, the complete as to excellencies, the finisher of the first p. 301 five,* the uniter of things allied, the separater of things which differ. So then, it is the first of substances, and the second of manifesters, the necessary by its Cause, the competent by its divinity, the living, the emulous in science, the potent, the ruler, the prohibiter, the commander, the shedder forth, the receiver, the made, the maker, the perfected, the perfecter, the lover, the beloved for its essence, the exerciser of justice, the joyous with its delights, the qualified with the most perfect of attributes, the designated by the most excellent of epithets, which is set forth in the attributes and the names,† and which is named Fate. So then, it is the fortune of fortunes, and the pen of that which is written, and the hiyûly of every hiyûly, and the place of science, and the supreme and primitive nature, which receives effusion from its Cause, and is let out, and so becomes the shedder forth of the lights of his Word, and takes its stand with his taking his stand, and abides with his abiding, by virtue of a continual effusion of reinforcements,‡ from eternity to eternity, endless, without measure, and incomputable. And its receiving that which is not an end§ postulates that it is a receiver in order to spreading, in order that the acted upon may be converted into an actor, and that the Intelligence, and that which is objective to the Intelligence, may become an intelligent being, and that the height of its potency may be manifested, and the light of its wisdom.
And so emanates, in accordance with its volition, in order to the continuance of the perfection of its felicity, through the fairness of its forming, an active substance, congruous with its substance, which is named the Universal Soul, and the Veritable Spirit, which is raised up by it as a receiver of its effusion and its impresses, improving by the succession of its benefits and its lights, prepared for the reception of impress, naked of forms. So then, it is the p. 302 verity of verities, and the quintessence of things recondite, which is designated as the Tâly to that Sâbiḳ, the essence of which is a tablet for the inscribing of the letters of the pen of the Intelligence, a root to that which is beside it of branches, and a branch to that root, a place of beginning to the lettings out of things, and a cause of the measurements of things which have parts, and a medium between the first and the last, and the inward and the outward, the place of coming out of that which is potential to the open field of actuality, the sojourning-place of lights, the excellencies of science and justice,* a power able to manifest sciences in that which is caused, a receiver of the impress of its Cause, an actor, making its impresses upon that which is caused, pervading through all existence, reinforcing, by effusion and aiding, the rest of the Enclosures,† which manifests things subtile, and forms things gross, and disperses through the world its forces, and manifests its ideas in every genus and species and person.
And so emanates therefrom the Primitive Hiyûly, the receiver, essentially, of the forms of things created, upon which the Soul pours out that which it receives of the impress of its Cause, and through the medium of which it perpetuates the perfection of its excellence, and which, by the force of receptivity, and the perfection of preparation for forms, it causes to become the distant three.‡ For, pervading nature and coursing forms are manifested in things whole and things of parts, and things high and things low; and the Hiyûly thereby becomes an absolute body, and the force of the soul is attached to it with attachment, and so are parted off from it the higher envelopes, and made out of it the lower bodies; while attractive, propensive force manifests motion of volition.§
And so the Circumambient is fashioned in the most excellent of fashions, and ordered in the most perfect of states. So then, it is the cause of sensible motions, and the manifester of the forces of the Soul, and the reconditeness of the idea of the Holy One, the limiter of regions, the uniter of things simple and things composite, a cause of place, an actualizer of time, which is enthroned in the evenness of the Merciful, and the place of the loftiness of the envelopes, the basis of the regulator of the day, the compriser of every cause and every effect.*
Afterwards, is let out the Stellar Sphere,† with the fixed stars, the seat of power, which compasses the earth and the heavens, which is the standing-place of forms, and the lunar mansions, and the zodiacal signs, which is denominated the heaven of the degrees of the zodiacal signs, the actualizer of the great periods, the mover of that which is beside it of envelopes.
Afterwards, rises to view the Elevated Palace, the capacious structure, the vestibule, the hall of Keiwân, who is the superior over beings, the master of abstinence and chieftainship, the educator of people of thought and ingenuity, p. 304 the presider over cultivated spots and sown fields, the sheikh of the overflowing, and the lords of groups of houses, the letter out of ages by his rotation, the master of handicrafts, the black as to his colors.
Afterwards, the Second Palace, the solid as to foundations, of which the defenses hide Birjîs, who is the manifest by science and research, the aider of the masters of the luminous and the enlightening, namely the Lights, the shedder forth, whose beauty gives light, the powerful in the house of the King of the invisible realm of heaven, the ordainer of kings and rulers, the manifester of nights and days, the cause of articles* by his movements, and the regulator of fundamentals by his reposings, who puts in motion the great enlightener, the most potent master of revolution.
Afterwards, the Fifth Palace, the palanquin of the fair Nâhaid, and the sitting-place of the bright Zaharah, who is the star of the people of gaiety and ordered song with music, the sweetheart of the sparkling orbs, the adorner of women and girls, the belle of the celestial spheres, the tempter of the king who presides over love and mirthfuness, as for accidents; and as for colors, the white.
Afterwards, the Sixth Palace, the shop of the devices of ’Uṭârid, who is involved in every thing emanating, and every thing coming into existence, the sage, the geometrician, and the sanctified ascetic, the master of paintings and writings, who takes care of the niceties of the arts, the compiler of diwâns, the educator of artificer and artizans, the mingled, the colored, the refined, the varied.
Afterwards, the Seventh Palace, the hippodrome of Jaulân, who is the second enlightener, the hastener in journeyings, without delay, the master of the fashionings of light, the star of the camel-train and couriers, the colorer of things, who has command of striping and reddening, who makes months and years to be, the agent of properties and powers, the befriender as to supplies, the clother, who takes in hand the concerns of common men.
And after the seven homogeneous palaces,† come other seven heterogeneous, which are the four Corner-stones, and their intermediates, the circumscribing three.
The first, then, of the Corner-stones is the Globe of Ether, which is the heaven of the shooting stars, and the station of the possessors of tails and flowing manes, the highest of the elements, and the agent of heats in substances.
Next, the second, is the Globe of Air, with clouds and rains, the place of convolution for the convolution of vapor, the agent of thunder-clouds, and thunder-bolts, and mists, p. 306 and distant thunderings, the uniter of colds in freezing cold, and the life of every thing animate which possesses form.
And the third is the Globe of Water, the giver of moisture to things, the image of science, the all-embracing, by means of which every thing living is constituted, the manifest by the ocean, the filled with substance, the pourer, the profuse.
The fourth is the Globe of gross Earth, the centre of every subtile circumambient,* the guardian of dryness in composites, the binder of separating parts.
The first two are light, and the last two, heavy; and as for each two of them, an intermediate determines them, that they may not exceed their bounds.
And after the fathers and the mothers have moved with the three motions, and natural properties incline towards being awakened, and the three generators appear, and the males are filled with the females, the first of things generated is Minerals, which are compounded of the Corner-stones, of which the lowest is sand, and the highest, small pearls; and as for the second, it is Plants, of which the lowest is the kushût,† and the highest, the tall palm; and the third is Animals, of which the lowest is the intestinal worm, and the highest, man.
So then, these are conjoined substances, and a material not dissevered,‡ spreading itself from the apogee of the Holy One to the perigee of genus, coursing through the worlds, appearing in things which rise to view, and hiding itself in things obscured. In twenty-eight places of manifestation is the Perfect in number, which are three groups of seven,§ successive as to effusion, and the reinforcements p. 307 in which the light of the Divine Word spreads itself of which the form is perfectness, and the ideas are consummate.* And so it appears, in every place of manifesttion, in the most elevated of Impersonations; and them it causes to acknowledge the way of return and deliverance, and instructs in the ideas of mystery and witness,† and commands to obey and worship, and forbids to pass limits. Blessed, then, be that which separates and unites, and which is conversant with that which is made! And let gratitude be to our friends, and praise to our superiors, for the bestowal of acquirements of knowledge, and gifts of thing subtile, and the knowledge of quality, and that which is qualified, and the qualifier. And in him who knows, who is assured, there is that which apprehends every idea.
These things, O my seignors and my brethren, are the verity of my knowledge, and the philosophy of my essence and my quality,‡ and my circuit of my Ka’beh, and my stopping on my ’Arafeh,§ and the hidden sense of my pilgrimage, and the idea of my visitation of the sacred spots, and the finishing of my endeavor for the Ṣafâ of my Choice, and the Marweh of my Fortitude,‖ and my prostration to the Muḥammedan Ḳibleh and the Ḳureishite Ka’beh, and the ’Aly-presence, and the Hâshimite Corner-stones, and the Fâṭimite Domes, and the Ismâ’ilian Imâms, and the Suns of the West and East,—from them and to them let there be the best of peace-giving, and the most perfect of salutation!
"And thy Lord said by inspiration to the bee, 'Take thou of the mountains for homes, and of the trees, and of what they rear for shelter, and afterwards eat thou of every fruit; so pursue thou the ways of thy Lord.' That makes p. 308 to come out from within her a drink varied in its colors, in which there is healing for men. Verily, therein is a sign to people who consider."*
The Memorial of the acquirements of knowledge by the friend of God Ibrâhîm,† of whose spirit was Isma’îl,—let peace from both of them be to us! The Blessed Belief.
Praise be to God who has directed us to his religion, the right, and brought us to his way, the straight, and elected us to the creed of our father Ibrâhîm, and freely bestowed it upon us! for it is the ancient doctrine which is the doctrine of Isma’îl the noble. And let the benedictions of God, and his peace, and his salutations, and his honoring, be to the Possessors of pure elements, and pervading envelopes, and angelic souls, and holy intelligences!‡ I believe as they who profess the unity, believe, and hold to that which they who know, hold to, and I declare as they who believe, declare, that the world with all its parts, from the roof to the ground, is originated, potential; and that that which is originated is that which is potential, needing an originator who exercises preference; and that he is God, the Eternal, the Necessary; the essentially Rich, the Self-subsistent, whom things potential take the place of, and are necessary to, whom we qualify with the qualifyings of hallowing and exalting, and acquit ourselves of the profession of vacuity,§ as well as of anthropomorphism.
And I believe that the Prophets of God are so of right, and veritably Nâṭiḳs, whose testimony is confirmed by intellectual proofs, and decisive arguments; and that the Leaves of the Prophets, and their Books, sent down to them, are the word of God,—let him be magnified and glorified! and p. 309 as for the letter of his revelation, that there is no vagueness in it, and no uncertainty, and no defect, and no fault; and that the angels are they who are the favorite servants of God, who are the Karûbis and the Spirituals;* and that the religions to which the Nâṭiḳs call, during the periods, and the laws which they establish for the people of the ages, are correct as to terms, truthful as to ideas, obligatory as to the following of them, obvious for their utility, the denier of which, during their time, is an infidel, and the opposer of which, during their season, is an obdurate wretch; and as for the law of our period, that it is the Muḥammedan law, and that the religion of this our time is the religion of Aḥmed.
And I believe that the punishment of the sepulchre and its comfort are a reality; and that Munkir and Nakîr are a reality; and the gathering, and the blast;† and the resurrection, a reality; and the Garden and the Fire, a reality; and the Book, and the reckoning, and the Ṣirâṭ,‡ and the Balance, a reality; and the coming to an end, and the returning to God, a reality; and the seeing of him, a reality; and the allowed and the forbidden, a reality; and that the commanding of acts of obedience and services, is a thing admitted;§ and the prohibition of acts of disobedience and offences, a thing objective to the intellect; and that prayer, and alms; and fasting, and pilgrimage, and holy warfare, and justice, and beneficence, and the giving to a relative, are obligatory on the believers; and that the commission of adultery, and the practice of usury, and obscenity, and depravity, and the killing without right, and games, and things intoxicating, are forbidden to the Muslims.
And I believe that the Jinns are existent, and the Sheiṭâns not unreal; and that Iblîs and his troop, the cursed, are the friends of infidels and hypocrites.
And I believe that there is no perfection except by the knowledge of oneself; and no elevation except by making sure the sciences of religion; and no deliverance except by sincerity as to the articles of faith; and no rest except p. 310 in the renunciation of conveniences, and the taking to utilities; and no knowledge except by the profession of unity; and no clean purification, and no attaining, except by perseverance; and no coming up except by the Imâm; and no obedience except by the friends; and no disobedience except by following the adversaries; and no direction, and no being a Muslim, except by submission to the rightful Imâms; and no faith except by love to the pure people of the Family;* and no religion except the religion of the Lords of disclosure and allegory; and no belief except the belief of the Masters of wisdom and the letter of revelation; and no doctrine except the doctrine of the Dâ’is of Isma’îl.
These things are the cream of my doctrine, and my belief on my setting out and my return; and the refined gold of my faith, and the credence of my heart. And therewithal I submit to God in my inmost soul, and my open doing, and hope for the end of the attainment of things desired. And I am fixed in what my tongue has uttered in the presence of my chiefs and my brethren. And we read, "Upon those who believe, and who perform good actions, there rests no guilt in respect to that which they eat, provided they stand in awe, and believe, and perform good actions, and after that stand in awe, and believe, and after that stand in awe, and do virtuously; and God loves those who do virtuously."†
The Memorial of the talker with God Mûsa,—let peace from both of them be to us! The Allegorical Sense of the Blessed Belief. "He it is who has sent down to thee the Book, of which some verses are explicit, which are the mother of the Book, and others not precise. So then, as for them in whose hearts is wandering, they follow that which is not precise, pertaining to it, from desire to seduce, and from desire to allegorize it; while no one knows its allegorical sense, except God and those who are firmly established in science, who say, 'We believe in it; all is p. 311 from our Lord;' and only the possessors of hearts reflect."* I hold fast to the Possessor of majesty and omnipotence, and I fortify myself in the King of the visible realm and the invisible, and I entrust myself to the Living One, who dies not, our Deity, and the Deity of those who discover to us, and our Lord, and the Lord of our superiors, and our Friend, and the Friend of our friends. And I acknowledge that there is no outward without its inward; and no form without its perfect idea; and no rind without its core; and no Light without its veil;† and no Knowing One without his Gate; and no law without its way; and no way without its verity; and no verity without its letter of revelation; and no letter of revelation without its allegorical sense; and no allegorical sense except to the firmly established in science; and no being firmly established in science except to the allegorizers.
So then, as for our saying God, its allegorical sense is the Word. And the allegorical sense of the world is a place for manifesting the divine greatness. And as for the coming into existence, it is the posteriority of the caused to the cause, and the latter's preceding the former, agreeably to convincing proofs, a priori and a posteriori, with reference to order, by argument from order of time, not order of place. And as for potentiality, it is the essence of the being in need, and the ordaining of the realization of the relation of cause to effect. And "the essentially Necessary" implies the absurdity of defining by that which is devoid of quality. And as for the Ma’na's‡ being established as pre-existent and eternal, and the hallowing of the self-existently Necessary, and the exempting of him from his qualities, it is that we abstract from him every thing which occurs to our minds, and is fixed in our perceptions; and we know that p. 312 he is above the reach of the choicest of our perceptions and our conjectures; and his unreached qualities take us out of the ditch of sentimentalizing and the profession of vacuity, while they save us from the fetter of anthropomorphism and assimilation.
And as for prophecy and communication by message, they are the manifestation of the Word in the Veil, and the setting up of the Guide, and the Conductor, and the Gate to the open way of truth and the path of rectitude. And as for the Prophet, he is the informer with regard to fundamentals, calling to that to which the Envoy* calls. And as for the Envoy, he is the Nâṭiḳ, calling to the two Roots, the Sâbiḳ and the Tâly, and the three Branches, the Jedd and the Fatḥ and the Khiyâl,† which make the higher five comprising perfection. The Nâṭiḳ is an outward, of which the inward is the Tâly, to which latter it pertains to train and manage, while the opposite is the case in regard to composing and putting together. And as for the confirmation of communication by message, by means of proof and analogy, it is the allegorical sense of the Asâs,‡ and the manifestation to the intelligent among men of Ideas composed by the Nâṭiḳ. And as for the sending down of the Leaf and the Book, and Jebrîl's bringing the Address, it is the coming of aid to the Nâṭiḳ from the Sâbiḳ, and its directing with reference to composing, and its assisting in the writing out. The embodiment of form objective to the intellect is necessary; and the Address is the verification of things determined by the intellect. And as for the favorite angels, they are the knowing, active forces in the upper and lower worlds. And as for their glorifying night and day, and their ascribing of dominion for people of the faith, with asking of forgiveness, it is the continuing of those forces to order the succession of the Amrs, and the manifestation of the properties thereof, in their known place, without intermission,§ And the Karûbis are the forces p. 313 which support the Nâṭiḳs in composing the letter of revelation. And the Spirituals are the forces which belong to the Asâses in the disclosure of the allegorical sense. And as for religions and laws, they are the institutions of divine intelligences for the good estate of earthly bodies, in order to the perfecting of the sciences of human souls; which are six, while seven is the number of the days of the week.*
And as for the sepulchre, it is corporeal form and the enveloping Palaces. And as for the punishment of the sepulchre, it is the impression made upon the soul by the shackle of that which comes to it of Hiyûly-forms, opposed to its natural properties; which is in the way of fettering. And the comfort of the sepulchre is the loss of the impression made upon it thereby, and its taking refuge in the verification of the apprehensions pertaining to its Palace-like instruments;† which is by the power of attraction. And as for the fixing by Munkir and Nakîr, it is the mastery of the forces of passionate desire and anger. And as for the gathering, it is the hastening of souls in pursuing the route of their instruments, and their decamping to the rear-guard of their instruments,‡ and the conclusion from premises of creatures, in respect to their days, and the verity of the idea of a day which calls all men to their Imâm. And as for the awakening, it is the manifestation of souls in world after world, in accordance with their acquirements of wrong and crime. And as for the allegorical sense of the resurrection, the resurrection of individual souls is separation from the apprehensions of sense, and corporeal instruments; and the resurrection of laws and religions is the appearance p. 314 of the Ḳâim* of the time; and the resurrection of the period in the Universal Soul's showing itself in the well-doings of individual souls; and the resurrection of resurrections is the perfection of deliverance and salvation, and the relief of all souls from being made to emanate, and their reaching the world of the Holy Ones and the place of Lights, and the ending of the prolongation of the hours of the Great Day, and the coming together of the planets, after their separation, at the point of the first equipoise in revolution; and the resurrection of the whole is the consummation of the two awakenings,† and the closing together of the two zones,‡ and the reversion of science and power to the Universal Soul, in the two worlds, and the coming to nothing of articles, and the failure of difference in fundamentals, and the Hiyûly's putting off the clothing of form, and the Soul's dispensing with the efficiencies of necessity,§ and the Knowing One's becoming alone as to his sort and his principle,‖ and the verification of his saying, "And to him shall all command revert."¶
And as for the Book, it is the tablet of secret thought, and the place of that by which the soul is determined in respect to holding to be true and imagining. And as for the reading of it, it is the soul's eyeing and regarding its objects of knowledge akin to itself. And if they are proved sciences and decisive verities, the soul takes hold of them by the right hand, because they pertain to the higher alternative of direction and certain knowledge; and if they are the imaginings of conjecture and the accreditings of supposition, and the doubtings of syllogism, and the beliefs of the following of authority, the soul takes hold of them by p. 315 the left hand,* because they pertain to the lower alternative of conjecturing and error. And as for the reckoning, it is that the superior Universal Soul stands by inferior individual souls, in respect to that which emanates from them of sayings and doings, and sciences and operations, whilst they use the instruments of form, and outward shapes, with the four compound forces, out of which are made up the forces of man, which are the angelic, and the brutal, and the bestial, and the Satanic. And so, if the angelic increases, and the force of certain knowledge predominates, they merit the good of compensation, and are safe from the evil of penalty, and are elevated, as devotees, to the inner court of the invisible realm of the celestial spheres, to have command of worlds beneath which the Regal Powers† have sway, and are raised by degrees to their spiritual mansion, and their world of light; and if one of the three [other] forces predominates, and hinders them from experiencing resurrection, they merit the torment of penalty, and return into the defile of the place of return, and are brought back to the long zig-zag, and to base, hideous form, and are dismissed to a shade in three parts,‡ and are imprisoned in the caverns of abjectness and weakness. And as for the Balance, it is the medium which the intellect makes use of in order to apprehension, and discernment, and preference between the incoherencies of falsehood and the accordances of that which is precious. And as for that which is weighed, it is views and firmly established beliefs, as respects sayings and doings, and sciences and operations. And as for the weigher, it is the intellect, the apprehender, the comprehender, the discerner between the composite and the simple. And as for the Ṣirâṭ,§ it is the intermediate between progression and attainment, shared in common, and the soul's way of transit to the upper world, from the lower p. 316 opposed thereto, between that which is corporeal and that which is spiritual, a place of twisting for minerals, a place of bending for plants, a place of stooping for animals, a place of erect standing for spiritual men and deities.*
And as for the idea of the Garden, it is the eight worlds, of which the first is the Garden of the Balancer which is the station of man; and the second, the Garden of ’Adan, which is the station of angels; and the third, the Garden of eternal life, which consists of the worlds of the celestial spheres; and the fourth, the Superior Garden, which consists of the worlds of spirit abstracted from the enveloping worlds; and the fifth, the Garden of Firdaus, which consists of the worlds of the Soul-like; and the sixth, the Garden of comfort, which is the world of science; and the seventh, the Garden of Riḍhwân, which is the world of the Intelligene; and the eighth, the Garden of the peace of aid; which is the world of the Divine Amr, from which the worlds come forth, and to which is their return.† And as for the gradations of the Garden, they are the degrees of sciences, and the measures of perceptions, in every known Place.‡ And as for the delights, and the enclosures, they are the whirling about of souls in the inner court of their acquirements of knowledge, and their gaiety on reaching their places of witness,§ and their stopping-places. And as for the couches, and the shades, and the cushions, and the mantles, they are the places of manifestation of souls in rival forms, and their putting off disagreeing forms, and clothing themselves in suitable impersonations. And as for the water-pitchers, and the goblets, and the butler, and the wine-chalice, and the wine, they are instruments of the apprehensive faculties, and helps to the comprehension of the sciences of the invisible realm and the angels. And the butler is the Imâm of the circling period; and the wine-chalice is that which the Nâṭiḳ composes of the outward; p. 317 and the pure wine is the allegorical sense of the letter of revelation, and the disclosure of the hidden.
And as for the Fire, it is the seven worlds, namely, the three things generated and the four Corner-stones; of which the first is Leẓa, which is the Globe of Ether; after which is El-Jehîm, the centre of Air and Freezing Cold; after which is Es-Sa’îr, the mansion of Water; after which is El-Hâwiyeh, the place of sepulture; after which is Jehennam, the world of animals other than man; after which is Saḳar, the station of plants; after which is Sejjîl, the place of dead minerals. And its descents are the forms of its hideous impersonations, and its gross, heavy envelopes. And its people are the individual souls which profess false religions and depraved beliefs. And as for the punishment and the penalty, it is that which one experiences of sufferings and pains and diseases, and separation from things habituated to, by the inroad of misfortunes and calamities. And as for the Zubâniyeh,* the helps of El-Jehîm, they are the forms of doubts and ignorances, and the impersonations of errors and phantasms, and the manifesters of false views and failures. And Mâlik† is the impersonation of composite ignorance. And as for the being qualified with badness, that is the being collared with the serpent and the scorpion, and the change of skins, and the being folded to breaking, and the being brought back to the lowest of two low states,‡ and the being conducted into the zig-zag of Es-Sa’îr, and the tree Zaḳḳûm,§ and the becoming akin to the Adversaries,‖ and the gathering of the fruits of infidelity and repugnance, and the feeding on the ḍharî’¶ and putrefaction. And the belief of that which fits not the intellect, and religion, and the following of authority, are the People of uncertainties and conjecturing,** and the drink of hot water, and the sentences adverse to the certain truth.
And as for the coming to an end, and the return to God,—let him be exalted! it is the terminating of all the relations and connections which are between things simple and things composite, of the spiritual and corporeal worlds, and things subtile and things gross, in the four Upholding Roots,* the traces of the Word, in the order indicated, by means of of the letters of God conjoined with the Amr;† which is the idea of the return of things composite, having relation to number, to Unity; which is anterior to Ether, which is the principle of number, and its origin, and which is the principle of the perfect, the deficient, and the redundant.‡
And as for the seeing of him,—let him be exalted! it is the knowledge of the rank of the Imâm, and the witnessing of his lights, comprehending that which is special and that which is general, and the regarding of his traces, embracing ideas and corporeities.
And as for the allowed, it is that which is necessary to be manifested and laid open. And as for the forbidden, it is that which is necessary to be concealed and hidden. And obedience is the entering into covenant with the Ḳâim of the time. And disobedience is the inclining to the Imâms of error and hostility. And as for prayer, it is the connection of the Dâ’i with the House of peace, through paternal connection, in respect to religiousness, with the Imâm.§ And alms is the coming of wisdom to him who is worthy, and the guiding of the inquirer to the open way of truth. And fasting is the abstaining from disclosure of the verities of legal enactments, in the presence of others than those to whom they are suited, during the period of disclosure. And as for the going into retirement,‖ it is the Imâm's hiding himself by means of his Veils,¶ and his concealing himself by means of some of his Dâ’is and his Ḥujjahs, that is, night, which is the Imâm's veiling himself by his Veils from sight. p. 319 And day is that which proves the period of disclosure, that is, the breaking of fast, which is the manifestation of the Imâm behind a Veil, and his causing souls to know without a Gate. And as for the breaking of fast, it is the coming out to view of the divine ideas, and the knowledge of the verity of the circumstances of the Place of return;* which is its manifestation without a Veil with which it veils itself, and without a Gate by which entrance is made to it; and the manifestation of guarded secrets and reserved sciences. And as for pilgrimage, it is correct motive in respect to love of the Seignors, the Imâms, and constancy in friendship for the people of the Family, the Family of science and wisdom. And the setting out is the cutting off of speculation, to the neglect of that which is beside them. And the provision for the way, and the pack-camel, is the asking to be reinforced with their idea.† And the entering upon the sacred territory is departure from the doctrines of the Adversaries, and the acquiring of receptivity and preparation. And as for the stopping on ’Arafeh and Muzdelifeh,‡ it is the being intent upon the canons of wisdom and knowledge. And as for the idea of the slaying and the shearing,§ it is the putting an end to falsehood by the manifestation of the truth. And the casting of stones at intervals of three thousand paces‖ is the rejection of doubting and supposing and conjecturing, as respects sciences and operations. And the kissing of the Black Stone¶ is acceptance of the call from the aided Nâṭiḳ. And the going around the corners** is the knowledge of the groups of seven pertaining to the relation of cause to effect. p. 320 And the Makâm and Zemzem* are the call to that which is inward and the call as to that which is outward. And the running between Marweh and Ṣafâ is the performance of the covenant with faithfulness. And the finishing of pilgrimage by the complete visitation of the sacred spots, is the responding to the Mâdhûns with respect to the general call. And the going against an enemy and holy warfare are the scrutinizing of the arguments of those who are repugnant, and the bringing to nought their sayings by intellectual proofs and decisive arguments. And as for the commission of adultery, it is the responder's being brought into connection† without a witness, and the laying open of things before the choosing to enter into covenant. And the practice of usury is the passionate desire for enrichment, and the seeking of things perishable by the divulging of secrets. And obscenity is the mentioning of commendable actions as pertaining to the obstinate disobedients, and the reference of fair deeds to the hostile transgressors. And depravity is the exchange of the Knowing One for the Ignorant. And transgression is the preferring of that which is excelled above that which excels. And justice is the abandoning of that which is deficient, when the perfect exists. And fair doing is the science of the comprehensiveness of the Imâm, and his sovereignty over that which is inward and that which is outward, or which appears and which hides itself. And the giving to a relative is love of the Family of the Envoy, and friendship for the posterity of the Immaculate,‡ and the extolling of the Hâshimites, and the declaration of the imamship of the Fâṭimite Imâms. And injustice is the making others than the people of the Family the depositories of the imamship, and the falling away from the Knowing One, the Living One, and the imitating of the Ignorant, the Lifeless. And as for the killing without right and evidence, it is the contending for victory without science, and the striving to put to rout without proof. And games are the sciences of the Party of the Outcasts, and the things believed by the Party of the Externalists; which prevent souls p. 321 from inquiring into verities, and from contemplating things which are recondite, and interdict the following of the rules of the ignorants, and the institutions of the Adversaries and the repudiating zealots. And the forbidden intoxicating draught is that which diverts the intellect from direction toward the knowledge connected with inquiry concerning the Imâm, and the witnessing of his lights, comprehending the special and the general, and the regarding of his traces, embracing ideas and corporeities.
And as for the Jinns, they are the Hiders of themselves from the eyes of the aliens, but the Attendants upon the perfect, the good, who expand wings of mercy over the inhabitants of the metropolises. And as for the ’Ifrîts and the Ghûls, they are the accursed, obstinate Adversaries, of the species of the gainsayers and the repugnant,—let the curse of God and of the angels be on them all! And as for Iblîs he is the undertaker of hostility to the manifest Imâm of the age, through envy and hatred.
This is the allegorical sense of my belief with respect to religion, and the refined ore of my holding with respect to the summing up of the substance of certain knowledge; which is the religion of the Noble Envoy, and the creed of our father Ibrâhîm, and the doctrine of the great Annunciation, and the belief of the people of the Noble Family. "So then, whoever changes it, after that he has heard it, the fault thereof rests only upon those who change it. Verily, God is one who hears, one who knows."*
As for the pious, verily they are beheld taking comfort upon couches; in their faces is discerned the brightness of comfort; they have given them to drink pure wine sealed, of which the seal is a perfume of musk. And let those be eager, then, for that, who are eager for gladness, and joy, and happiness, and resurrection.
The Memorial of the Spirit of God ’Îsa and his Legatee Shemun,—let peace from both of them be to us! The Knowledge of the rank of the Imâm,—let the most distinguished peace, and the most perfect salutation, be to his memory! which is the hidden Sense of alms.
It is a saying of his,—let him be exalted! "And we have indeed ennobled the sons of Adam, and borne them upon the land and upon the sea, and bestowed on them good things, and distinguished them above many of those whom we have created, with distinction. On a certain day, we shall call all men to their Imâm; and so, whoever have their books given to them in their right hands, those will read their books, and will not be wronged a mite; and whoever is blind in this world, he will be blind in the world to come, and more out of the way."* Praise be to God who has taught us, and informed us, and ennobled us, and made us to see, in that he has directed us to the way of the profession of unity, and has put us, by causing to follow the Imâms of truth, among the most distinguished of his servants! And benediction, and peace, and salutation, and honoring, be to the memory of our Friend, the Imâm of the time, the point of the circle of religions, the Ḳibleh of the people of the faith, and the plain way to the Gardens, the affirmed as to his existence by argument and proof, the verity of verities, and the end of ways, and the acme of the intention of created things, and the cause of the existence of the Tâly and the Sâbiḳ,† the firm bond of alliance with God, and his clear light, and his certain truth, and his preceptive Book, and his prolonged shadow, and the watering-reservoir of him, and his blessed Place of standing,‡ and his knotted standard, and his Amr by which existence appears, and his Word from which the worlds come forth, and to which they return, the proposed end, the perfection of the knowledge of whom has to do with the ordaining of laws and creeds, the showing of whose rank is that which is intended by the manifestation of occasions and causes, for whose sakes intellects and souls are made fast,§ and on whose account is the manifestation of that which is objective to the intellect and that which is objective to sense, around whom is the circling of the celestial spheres and the envelopes, and from whom proceeds the sustenance of spirits and bodies, and through whom is the remaining of the Corner-stones and the things generated, and to whom pertains the consolidation of causes and things caused, of whose familiarity the p. 323 worlds* are the manifesters, and of whose sanctity they are the place,† and of the lights of whose divinity they are the place of appearing, and of the mysteries of whose humanity they are the hiding-places,‡ and of the suns of whose glory they are the rising-places, and of the moons of whose perfection they are the setting-places,§ by the following of whom elevation is attained, and through the love of whom abiding is perpetual, and by the knowledge of whom there is salvation from the obscurities of El-Hâwiyeh, and arrival at high degrees, and deliverance from the snare of polytheism and disobedience, and rectitude in the open way of direction and faith, to whom the Prophets and the Envoys point, and in whom the courses and the paths come to an end. So then, he is the idea of the Book, and the import of the Address,‖ and the way of right judgment, and the hidden sense of the Veil, and the Gate of Gates. And he is the divine effusion, and the other consummate out-pouring.¶ And to him belongs light, and darkness, and the causing to exist, and annihilation. By obedience to him is perfection, and the reaching to the most exalted of states; and by disobedience to him is irreclaimableness, and falling into the pit of ruin. No companion is without him, and no place dispenses with him; and his effusion is not severed from things produced; and from his science escapes not the weight of a mite, either in the earth or in the heavens; and he exempts not from his sovereignty either things which move or things which are at rest, or things outward or things inward. So then, let worthiness to be glorified, and worthiness to be hallowed, be ascribed to his noble presence! And let there be a hallowing and an exalting of his eternal majesty, and a magnifying and a praising of his great throne!
And to his side we betake ourselves, and with knowledge of him we wake to attention, and to gratitude to him we p. 324 give utterance, and to his mercy we render thanks, and in the profession of his unity we believe, and to his Enclosures we yield obedience, and to his Nâṭiḳs* we give credit. And their Asâses we acknowledge, and their Imâms we know for certain. And with their direction we have contracted, and upon their gladdening with intimacy and secret converse we rely, and in the open way of their counsel we stand fast, and in the light of their lights we see, and in the love of them, and friendship to them, we die and live, and in obedience to them we go on journeys. And if they had not benignantly bestowed upon us their long-suffering, certainly we should not have perceived the enactments of the time, and the Mediators of the Merciful, and the Gate of God, the Knowing One, the Omniscient.
And know thou that every Imâm of the time is according to the time; who is the first and the last, the outward and the inward; who is knowing to every thing.
This, then, is a part of the hidden things of the science of religion, and the mystery of certain knowledge, and the faith of the believers, and the light of the Rightful, and the tenets of those who profess unity, and the crown of those who have knowledge, and the end of the patient, and the mark of every one who has an aim, and the watering-place of everyone who goes to water. So hold thou on to it, with the holding on of him who hopes to have it on the day of return;† and provision thyself with it, for it is the best of provisions for the way. And it is that which is most important of the sciences, and that which is the highest of them. And thou shalt not communicate it except to those to whom it is suited.
And praise be to God who has directed us hereto! and we should not have been to be directed, if God had not directed us. And do thou, O God, bless our chief Muḥammed, and his Family, the good, the pure, with a benediction abiding to the day of doom! And God is our sufficiency. And well is he the Guardian! And well is he the Friend! And well is he the Defender! And let peace be to the Messengers! And praise be to God, the Lord of worlds!
† Meaning, who knows the essence of every thing.
* By the Kâf and the Nûn is meant the creative mandate ###, be thou.
† Meaning the declaration of his mind and will by revelation.
‡ The Greek ὕλη, matter without form. Of course, both this word and "form" are here used metaphorically.
§ By the Irâdeh, or the Will, and the Meshiyeh, or the Volition, seem here to be intended the Sâbiḳ and the Tâly, presently to be mentioned, of which the former emanates directly from the Amr, while the latter emanates from it. The same application of names is found in the books of the Druzes. See De Sacy's Exposé de la Religion des Druzes, Tome ii. pp. 21-2.
‖ i. e. Preceder.
¶ Meaning, without any aiding from a higher power.
** i. e. Follower. See below.
* Meaning the first five emanations, namely, the Amr, the Sâbiḳ, the Tâly, the Primitive Hiyûly, and the Circumambient. See below.
† Namely, those applied to God by the Muslims.
‡ Meaning reinforcements from the Amr, received by the Sâbiḳ, and transmitted to the Prophets of every period, and to the seven Imâms of each, as their representatives, by virtue of which the Deity himself is conceived of as taking his stand, and abiding, in them.
§ Namely, the reinforcement from the Amr.
* Meaning that the divine attributes of knowledge and justice are tabernacled in it.
† Enclosures of the Deity. This name seems to include, in the Ismâ’ilian system, all created existences. See p. 306.
‡ By which is meant the three classes of existence farthest removed from the Deity, namely, Minerals, Plants, and Animals. See below.
§ The name of "the higher envelopes" includes the Stellar Sphere, and the seven Palaces, presently to be mentioned; while the four Globes, of Ether, Air, Water, and gross Earth, together with Minerals, Plants, and Animals, which are also presently to be mentioned, constitute what are called "the lower bodies." It is evidently the Universal Soul of which all these p. 303 conceived to be incorporations, differing only in grade; for they are said to come into existence in consequence of the union of the Soul with "absolute body." But by the inclination of the Soul to absolute body is first developed, according to this system, motion of volition. It follows from this, that all the emanations previously mentioned are to be considered as involuntary.
* From this description it is evident that the Circumambient is Finite Space.
† This is the outer concave of the ancient Ptolemaic system of astronomy as appears from what follows in our text, taken in connection with the following passage from an astronomical work of El-Farghâny, an Arabic astronomer probably of the ninth century of our era: "So then, we say that the number of the spheres which compass all the motions of the stars, is eight; of which seven belong to the seven planets, and the eighth is the highest belonging to the fixed stars, which is the sphere of the zodiacal signs. And the figure of these spheres is like the figure of globes one within another. And so the smallest of them is that which is the nearest of them to the earth which is the globe of the Moon, and the second belongs to ’Uṭârid, [Mercury,] and the third, to Ez-Zaharah, [Venus,] and the fourth, to the Sun, and the fifth, to El-Mirrîkh, [Mars,] and the sixth, to El-Mushtary, [Jupiter,] and the seventh, to Zuḥal, [Saturn,] and the eighth, to the fixed stars. And so, as for the sphere of the fixed stars, which is the sphere of the zodiacal signs, on the one hand, its centre is the centre of the earth; and as for the centres of the seven globes which belong to the planets, they deviate from the centre of the earth, variously." See Ferganensis Elementa Astronomica, ed. J. Golius, pp. 45-6.
* Meaning articles of belief.
† The spheres, or concaves, of the seven planets are referred to under this general name. We have proof of this, and a most important help to the understanding of the descriptions above given of these several Palaces, as well p. 305 as a clear indication of the source from which the ideas here expressed were derived, in Esh-Shahrastâny's account of the Sabians. This author, after characterizing Sabiism as a system inculcating assiduity in action, rather than a religious disposition, goes on to speak of its followers as those who hold to "Spiritual Existences, pure and holy, in substance, act, and state," which are necessary mediators between man and the glorious Creator, in respect to all benefits received from him; so that man must cultivate intercourse with them, by "assiduity in action, austerity, and withdrawment from the mundanities of passions." He also tells us that the Sabians hold these Spiritual Existences to be "the mediating occasions, in respect to production, and causing to exist, and alteration from one state to another, and the causing of created things to tend from a beginning to a perfection." After this he adds: "Some of them are the regents of the seven planets in their spheres, which are their Palaces; and to every Spiritual there is a Palace, and to every Palace, a sphere. And the relation of a Spiritual to that Palace which is appropriate to it, is the relation of the soul to the body; so that it is its lord, and its regent, and its intendant. And they name the Palaces lords; and often they name them fathers, and the elements mothers; and so the action of the Spirituals is to cause them to move, by a peculiar power, in order that from their motions actualities may arise within natural properties and the elements, and therefrom compoundings, and temperaments in composites, upon which follow corporeal forces, and to which are superadded spiritual souls, like the species of plants and the species of animals." He also distinguishes the Spirituals of the Sabian system as "universal" in their "impressions," to which are to be referred the distinctions of species, and "particular," to which are to be referred the distinctions of one individual of a species from another; and as exerting their influences either in the upper air, in the heavens, in the lower atmosphere, and on the earth, or every where, in all existences, alike. See Esh-Shahrastâny's Book of Relig. and Philos. Sects, pp. 203-5. This statement by Esh-Shahrastâny makes it quite evident what is intended by the Palaces and the beings occupying them, described in our text; and also throws light upon the union of these Palaces with the four Corner-stones, or elements, presently to be mentioned as the immediate occasion of the generation of Minerals, Plants and Animals. As to the portraitures of the several regents of the planets, given in our text, however, I am unable to show that they have their analogies in any other system, although I do not doubt that such will be found to be the case. Some of the names which these regents bear in the text may be seen, by reference to our extract from El-Farghâny's astronomical work, to be those which are ordinarily given to some of the planets in Arab astronorny. But others differ. It is deserving of notice, also, that, although seven Palaces are spoken of in our text, the third and fourth, in the order of their being "let out," namely that of the Sun and that of Mars, are omitted in the description.
* See note † p. 303.
† Cuscuta epithymum, a parasitic climbing plant, without roots, and without leaves, but bearing small seeds at its extremities. See Ebn Baithar's Heilund Nahrungs-mittel, übersetzt von Dr. Joseph v. Sontheimer, Bd ii. s. 380.
‡ Meaning, not dissevered from the Deity. See p. 299.
§ These three groups are as follows: 1. the Deity, the Amr, the Sâbiḳ, the Tâly, the Primitive Hiyûly, the Circumambient, and the Stellar Sphere; 2. the seven Palaces; and 3. the Four Corner-stones, and the three classes of generated existences, Minerals, Plants, and Animals. Consequently, "the Perfect in number" denotes some absolute numerical principle pervading all things. It can be nothing else than Unity of number. The ἓν ἀρχή πάντων of the Pythagoreans may be referred to as a parallel, provided only that simultaneousness of existence is ascribed to this principle of Unity and the Deity, for it is said of the Deity, above, that he "is, and before him was not any thing." See p. 299.
* See note ‡ p. 301.
† Meaning the knowledge of God as he is, or, allegorically, acquaintance with the rank and power of the Imâm. See p. 318.
‡ Meaning what is essence and quality to me.
§ Stopping on the hill ’Arafeh, a short distance from Mekkeh, is one of the ceremomes of pilgrimage to the holy city.
‖ There is a play on words, here, which cannot be rendered in English. The arduous ceremony of the walk to and fro between Ṣafâ and Marweh is alluded to; but the idea of the person speaking is, that what he has said is in the way of sincere endeavor to be the object of the friendship of the Imâm, and to be bold in his service.
* Ḳurân, Sur. xvi, vv. 70-71. This passage seems to be used in an allegorical sense, as a recommendation of diligent seeking after hidden knowledge.
† This piece and the two following are called "Memorials" of Abraham, Moses, and Jesus, under the pretense that they contain that which is kindred to the teachings of these earlier Prophets.
‡ A description of the Imâms, as made up of the four elements in their purity, pervaded by influences of the celestial spheres, with special aidings from the Amr, through the Sâbiḳ and the Tâly.
§ See note ‖ p. 276.
* See note † p. 304. The Karûbis are Cherubim.
† Meaning the blast of the trumpet to rouse the dead to final Judgment.
‡ The bridge over Hell.
§ Meaning a thing which the reason allows.
* The family of Muḥammed.
† Ḳurân, Sur. v. v. 94.
* Ḳurân, Sur. iii. v. 5. El-Beiḍhâwy explains the expression "mother of the Book," in this passage, to mean "its root, that to which the test of it amounts." This orthodox commentator is obliged to admit that an allegorical sense pertaining to some verses of the Ḳurân, is here recognized; but he claims that there are points left indefinite because God reserves to himself the knowledge of them, and that man has no concern with the allegorical sense, except where it becomes necessary to lean upon it with reference to faith or practice. See Beidhawii Comm. in Coranum, vol. i. pp. 145-6.
† The Veil of the Ismâ’ilian system seems to be the human person of the Imâm, while the so called Light is the veritable Imâm himself.
‡ i. e. The Idea, the absolute Deity.
* Muḥammed.
† The Jedd, or the Primogenitor, the Fatḥ, or the Opening, and the Khiyâl, or the Image, are here, evidently, used as names of the Primitive Hiyûly, the Circumambient, and the Stellar Sphere
‡ See note * p. 266.
§ What is here allegorized will be best understood by another quotation from Esh-Shahrastâny's statement of the belief of the Sabians in regard to the so called Spirituals. He says, "And they create in hallowing and glorifying, not disobeying God as to that which he commands, and doing that which they p. 313 are commanded. . . . . . And we depend upon them as our administrators, so that they are our lords and our divinities, and our askers, and our intercessors beore God; while he is the Lord of lords, and the God of gods." See Esh-Shahrastâny's Book of Relig. and Philos. Sects, p. 203. The next sentences show that by "the Amrs" are here intended the reinforcements which the Amr transmits to the Nâṭiḳs and Asâses, or Prophets and Legatees, of the seven periods.
* This seems to indicate that the Prophet of the seventh period was not considered as having established the new order of things, when this sermon was composed.
† By which are intended the senses.
‡ This and the "pursuing the route of their impediments" are expressions borrowed from the operations of an army in the field, to signify a victory gained by souls over all the obstacles of corporeal form.
* i. e. The Taker of his stand, meaning the manifestation of the Amr in each new Prophet. See note ‡ p. 301.
† Probably, the awakening by Munkir and Nakîr, (see note ‡ p. 288,) and the awakening for final Judgment.
‡ Meaning the two zones called, in the astronomy of the Arabs "the zone of primary motion," a circle intersecting the earth near the north and south poles, which regulates the rotation of all the heavenly bodies together, from east to west, around the earth, every twenty-four hours; and "the zone of secondary motion," a circle, intersecting the earth at other than the polar points, which regulates the revolutions of the sun and stars from west to east around the earth, in varying periods. See Ferganensis Elementa Astronmica, pp. 15-16, 46.
‖ See note § p. 306.
¶ Ḳurân, Sur. xi. v. 123.
* The taking hold by the right hand, or by the left, in this passage signifies good or evil augury. The language is borrowed from the scene of the judgment-day, as anticipated by the Muslim, when the good man will have his book of accounts put into his right hand, and the bad man will be made to take it by the left hand. See Tableau Général de l'Empire Othoman par M. De M. D'Ohsson, Tome i. p. 47.
† Meaning the Regents of the planets.
‡ Meaning that they become embodied in minerals, plants, or animals. See p. 317.
§ See note ‡ p. 309.
* Here is allegorized that sort of intermediate state represented in the Muslim creed by the bridge over Hell, which the good pass with the speed of lightning, while the bad are precipitated from it into the flames below. It is explained to mean the scene of the progress of souls through this world, in its various stages of mineral, vegetable, and animal embodiment.
† All this may be understood by reference to the system of cosmogony, detailed in the first piece contained in this document.
‡ Place of the reinforcements of the Amr. See p. 301.
§ See note † p. 307.
* Demons of the Muslim Hell.
† A note to the original manuscript, in Arabic, interprets this to be the name of "the barbed and feathered arrow of the porter of Hell."
‡ Meaning, to El-Jehîm. See above.
§ The Tree of Hell.
‖ A name given to the Spirits of Hell.
¶ The ḍharî’ is said to be a plant of heating qualities, found on the shore of the Dead Sea. See Ibn Beiṭâr's Heil- und Nahrungs-mittel, Bd. ii. p. 145.
** A name given to the Spirits of Hell.
* The four elements.
† See note * p. 300.
‡ See note § p. 306; and it is worthy of notice in that connection, that the relations of number as even, and odd, in the two opposite respects of too little and too much, are referred to in the last clause of this sentence.
§ On the relation of the Dâ’i to the Imâm, see p. 280.
‖ This is one of the duties obligatory upon the Muslim. It is defined to consist "in remaining several days and nights in the interior of a mosque, there to fast, pray, and meditate, in an unbroken and complete collectedness of mind." See D'Ohsson's Tableau Général de l'Empire Othoman, Tome ii. p. 7.
¶ See note † p. 311.
* A name applied to the Imâm, as one who brings back the Amr to the world, by virtue of those reinforcements from the Amr which are the essential part of his being.
† Meaning to have the true idea of the Imâm formed in the mind.
‡ A locality near Mekkeh, one of the sacred stations of the Muslim pilgrim, where he spends the night after visiting ’Arafeh. See D'Ohsson's Tableau Général de l'Empire Othoman, Tome ii. p. 29.
§ Meaning, of animals for the sacrifice offered in connection with pilgrimage to Mekkeh.
‖ A ceremony several times repeated by the Muslim pilgrim, in memory of Abraham's putting demons to flight, by throwing stones at them, who tempted him to disobey God. See D'Ohsson's Tabl. Gén. de l'Empire Othoman, Tome ii. pp. 29, ff.
¶ The black stone on one comer of the Ka’beh which is kissed by the pilgrim in making the tour of the Ancient House. See Burckhardt's Travels in Arabia, vol. i. p. 249.
** Of the Ka’beh.
* The Maḳâm, or Maḳâm Ibrâhîm, i. e. The station of Abraham, supposed to mark the spot where the patriarch stood to build the original Ka’beh, is a small building which the Muslim pilgrim passes immediately befare reaching that inner shrine of the Mosque. The well Zemzem is situated near by, but farther from the Ka’beh. See Burckhardt's Travels in Arabia, vol. i. pp. 266-7.
† Meaning his being admitted to the fraternity.
‡ A name applied to Fâṭimeh.
* Ḳurân, Sur. ii. v. 177.
* Ḳurân, Sur. xvii. vv. 72-4.
† Meaning the Amr, or Word, but in a secondary sense. See below, and pp. 301-2.
‡ See note ‡ p, 301.
§ Meaning, embodied.
* The eight higher worlds and the seven lower, mentioned above.
† The embodiment.
‡ Meaning, whose manifested divinity they show, and whose concealed divinity they hide. But let it be carefully observed, that the divinity here ascribed to the Imâm is only a derived divinity.
§ Meaning, whose rising, sun-like glory they exhibit, and whose setting, moon-like light they shroud. There is allusion, in this and the preceding clause, to the distinction between the Imâm making himself known, and the Imâm withdrawing into seclusion, which is clearly expressed in the preceding sermon. See pp. 318-19.
‖ The revelation by Gabriel. See p. 312.
¶ Meaning the effusion of God, and that of the Amr.
* As the representative of the Amr, the Imâm is here said to have his Nâṭiḳs; while immediately afterwards is recognized his relation of successor to the Nâṭiḳ, in the Ismâ’ilian hierarchy.
† The day of final account.