The Qur'an Commentary of Sayyid 'Alí Muhammad, the Báb:
Doctoral dissertation

by Todd Lawson

chapter 4

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Chapter 5

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[1] See the recent discussion of this idea in Taylor, Erring, p.57 where interpretation of texts/symbols is described as a process of making present that which is absent. In the case of the Bab, this may be compared to the appearance of the hidden Imám which was in fact effected through tafsír.

[2] Cited in Rippin, "The Quranic asbáb al-nuzúl material," p.1.

[3] Amanat, pp.56-99; Charismatic, pp.7-38.

[4] Browne, Traveller's, pp.277-90.

[5] Sources, pp.208-10.

[6] The words "Accidence" and "Syntax" appear to translate nahw and sarf respectively. Nahw is usually translated as syntax, while sarf corresponds to morphology or inflection. Browne, New History, p.422.

[7] Amanat, p.296.

[8] Huart, La Religion du Bab, pp. 27-8.

[9] Nicolas, Sèyyid, pp.56-8 and references.

[10] Nicolas, p. 57.

[11] Tág, Le Babisme, pp.318-40.

[12] As mentioned above, this commentary is cast in the form of an imitation of the Qur'an; the most conspicuous evidence of this is that the text is divided into súras and verses.

[13] For critiques of Corbin, see Algar, "The Study of Islam" and Adams, "The Hermeneutic".

[14] See Bibliography. Mention should also be made of tafsír works directly ascribed to al-Sádiq; see Nwyia, "Le Tafsír".

[15] See Bibliography.

[16] See Bibliography.

[17] Bihár, v.93, pp.1-97.

[18] Ayoub, "The Speaking Qur'án and the Silent Qur'án," pp.5-6.

[19] See Bibliography.

[20] See Bibliography.

[21] See Bibliography.

[22] A bibliography of Western studies on this subject would include: Goldziher, Die Richtungen, pp.263-309; Nèldeke et al. Geschichte, part 2, pp.93-112 (and references), which includes a study of the so-called Súrat al-núrayn, published in the 17th century Persian work attributed to one Muhsin Fání, Dabistán-i Madháhib (English translation by David Shea and Anthony Troyer, 1843, an abridged edition of which was published in 1901: Walter M. Dunne: Washington & London); Kohlberg, "Some notes," pp. 209-24; Eliash, "The Shí`ite Qur'án,"; W. St. Clair Tisdall, "Shi`ah additions". Kohlberg's study, while possibly correct in deeming the so-called Shí`í súras in the Dabistán as unworthy of consideration, does not take into account any of the tafsír works of the later Safavid period and will therefore have to be adjusted to accommodate a continued insistence on the alteration of the Qur'an by Imámí Shí`ís.

[23] See Bibliography.

[24] See Bibliography.

[25] Ayoub, p.7.

[26] al-Khú'í, p. 200. This author, by the way, is quoted by Kohlberg, op. cit, pp. 218-9 to support his thesis: "The consensus of opinion among most Ithná `Asharí Imámites is that 'only the order of some of the súras as well as some of the odd verses and not their content (. . .) was corrupted by the `Uthmánic Codex' . . .(p. 219).

[27] Furát, Tafsír, p.84.

[28] Talkhís al-bayán, p.193.

[29] Madelung, "Imamism and Mu`tazilite Theology,", p.21. Madelung is arguing against the thesis of Gianroberto Scarcia, "Intorno alle controversie".

[30] Momen, pp.117-18, 220-5, and references.

[31] He himself is credited with a tafsír. Dharí`a, v.18, p.365, #484.

[32] Notable exceptions are Ayoub, op. cit. and Corbin, particularly in his long discussion of Shí`í tafsír, EII, v.1, pp.135-218; v.3, pp.214-32.

[33] These four books are: al-Káfí fí `ilm al-dín by Kulayní (328/939); Man lá yahduruhu al-faqíh, by ibn Bábawayh (381/991); Tahdhíb al-ahkám and al-Istibsár both by Tusí (460/1067). The "three books" are al-Wáfí; Wasá'il al-shí`a by al-Hurr al-`Amilí (1104/1692); and Bihár al-anwár by Majlisí (1111/1699).

[34] EII, v.4, p.250.

[35] Goldziher, Richtungen, p. 278

[36] Sáfí, pp. 4-18.

[37] Smith, An Historical, p.142.

[38] Ayoub, p.7.

[39] Ayoub, p.4.

[40] Maulví Muhammad Ali, The Holy Qur-án, pp. xci-xcii.

[41] Sáfí, p.13, translated in Ayoub, p.9.

[42] Sáfí, p.15.

[43] Ayoub, p.10. The belief that the true Qur'án was with the hidden Imám a main factor with regard to the Bab's Tafsír súrat Yúsuf. As mentioned above, it is cast in the form of an imitation of the Qur'án. Furthermore, it is presented by the Bab as having been directly communicated to him by the hidden Imám. See below Part ii.

[44] Burhán v.1, pp.30-1.

[45] Corbin, Annuaire, 1965-6, p.107, speaks of an edition in three volumes.

[46] For a list of forty-three of these works see Burhán, v.4, pp.555-9. All that is known of his life is found in ibid., p.555 where the editor has summarized the information on his biography from the Lu'lu'at al-Bahrayn by Yúsuf al-Bahrání, apparently the only work which deals with this subject. It mentions nothing of his early life or education. Information about his writings is taken from Dharí`a, v.1, p.111. On this work specifically see Ibid, v.3, p.93,#294, where it is compared with a number of other works, some in manuscript, and others, like the Tafsír núr al-thaqalayn, which is discussed below.

[47] Burhán, v.1, pp. 2-40.

[48] Ibid., p.3.

[49] Ibid.

[50] Cf. Mullá Sadrá, Tafsír Sadra. Other works dealing with the Qur'an by Mullá Sadrá are: Asrár al-áyát, which is thematic rather than seriatim; Tafsír súrat al-wáqi`a (56); Mutashábihát al-Qur'án in idem, Three Treatises, pp. 75-121.

[51] Burhán, v.1, pp.5-40.

[52] Burhán, v.1, pp.9-10.

[53] Ayoub, p.3

[54] Ayoub, pp.3-5. For a study of the importance of the hadíth in Ismá`ílí Qur'án interpretation, see Shah, "The Imám".

[55] Burhán, v. 1, pp.15-17.

[56] Ibid., pp.17-19.

[57] Ibid., pp.19-21.

[58] Ibid., p.21.

[59] All three hadíths from ibid.

[60] Ibid., p.22. This subject does not appear to have been discussed by al-Suyútí, al-Itqán. It may be peculiar to Shí`í tafsír. The principle is invoked by Muhsin Fayz, and others, including the Bab. See also Ziyára, p.123.

[61] Burhán, v.1, pp.22-3.

[62] All five statements from ibid. pp. 22-3, #3, 4, 5, 9, and 10.

[63] Ibid., pp.23-6.

[64] "min taríq al-mukhálifín"

[65] Burhán, v.1, pp.26-8.

[66] Ibid., p.28, #3.

[67] Ibid., pp.28-31.

[68] Burhán, v.1, pp.31-41; cf. al-Qummí, Tafsír, pp.3-15.

[69] Ibid., pp.32-3.

[70] Ibid., p.34.

[71] Ibid.

[72] Ibid.

[73] Ibid, pp. 34-5.

[74] Ibid., pp.36-40.

[75] Núr, v.1, p."dál" and Núr, v.5, p."bá'".

[76] Núr v.1, p."jím".

[77] Dharí`a, v.24, p. 345, #1967.

[78] Ibid.

[79] See Anwár, pp.2-3

[80] Amanat, p.32.

[81] Dharí`a, v.20, p.264.

[82] Loc. cit. See also Corbin, Annuaire, 1965-6, pp. 106-108.

[83] Corbin, Annuaire, 1965-6, p.107.

[84] Dharí`a, v.20, pp.264-5, #2893.

[85] Annuaire, 1965-6, pp.107-8. Corbin draws attention to a similar work by Shaykh Husayn Yazdí, still in manuscript in Kirmán, which comprises eight volumes in-folio but which covers no more than the Súrat al-baqara.

[86] The following summary is taken from the fihrist of Anwár, pp."waw" - "zá'".

[87] Ibid., pp. 59-69, see also p.75.

[88] Corbin, Annuaire, 1965-6, p.108.

[89] Shoghi Effendí, God Passes By, p.xii.

[90] Nabíl, p. 30.

[91] The two works are the Risálat al-sulúk, Tehran Bahá'í Archives ms. 6006.c, p.74 and the Tafsír súrat al-baqara, Baq., p.6. In the first work the full reference is to "Sayyidí wa mu`tamadí wa mu`allimí al-Hájj Sayyid Kázim al-Rashtí"; in the second the reference is to the death of "al-`álim al-khalíl mu`allimí" without mentioning the name of Rashtí explicitly. These are probably the two earliest extant works of the Bab.

[92] Charismatic, p.58 citing Sayyid Kázim Rashtí, Dalíl al-mutahayyirín, n.p. 1276/1859-60, p.12.

[93] The most recent detailed account of the Shaykhíya is Rafati. For the names of those who issued the several "degrees" to Shaykh Ahmad see p.41. A most helpful summary is Scholl, "Shaykhíyah". See also the relevant chapters in Amanat and Charismatic. Other important discussions of this subject are: Arjomand, The Shadow of God, q.v. Index "Shaykhism"; Bayat, Mysticism and Dissent; pp. 37-58; Corbin EII, v.4, pp.205-300 and his earlier L'Ecole Shaykhie, together with other works such as Spiritual Body, represent the earliest sustained attempt by a Western scholar to understand the Shaykhí synthesis. Corbin's contribution to this area was invaluable. Although his scholarship is frequently disparaged, one should also mention the even earlier works of Nicolas on the Shaykhí school (see Bibliography). A recent work, unavailable to me, is Aflatun Jalali, "The Shaikhiyya of Hajji Muhammad Karim Khan in Kirman," Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of Manchester, 1982.

[94] Rafatí, pp.44-5.

[95] Cf. Nurbakhsh, Masters of the Path, pp.87-91 and 104-5.

[96] Rafati, p.47.

[97] Rafati, pp.48-9. For a helpful summary of the points which came to be regarded as representing the most important differences between the Shaykhís and the rest of the Shí`a see: Momen, pp.226-228.

[98] It mat be that Shaykh Ahmad's association with the Dhahabíya Sufi order is in part responsible for his elaboration of the idea of the Perfect Shí`a. Much work needs to be done on the Sufism of Shaykh Ahmad. See Charismatic, pp. 54-5.

[99] Denis MacEoin, "Shaykhí Reactions," pp.34-6.

[100] EII, v.4, pp.274-86. Salmán, one of the heroes of Shí`ism, was the confidant and disciple of the first Imám. His importance to 12er Shí`ism may be seen in the ascription to him of Persian birth. In fact, the "angels" mentioned in 2:34 are identified as Salmán, also known as Rúzbeh, along with Jundub and Miqdád, in the Bab's tafsír. See Baq., p.131. This identification does not appear to occur in the akhbárí tafásír surveyed above.

[101] MacEoin, "Shaykhí Reactions," pp. 34-6.

[102] Baq., p.13. The same idea is expressed in the earlier Risálat al-sulúk, TBA 6006.C, p.73.

[103] EII, v.1, pp.300-1.

[104] Browne, "Báb, Bábís," Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, v. 2, p.300.

[105] EII, v.4, p.221. The term implies "unlearned knowledge" and derives from the name of an early Muslim, Uways al-Qaraní, who never met the Prophet and converted while living in Yemen. It may also apply to a Sufi who has no Shaykh, or an illiterate person with unusual knowledge. See Schimmel, Dimensions, pp.28, 89 & 105.

[106] This subject is studied at length in Corbin, Spiritual Body.

[107] Corbin, Spiritual Body; idem, "The Visionary Dream"; idem, "Mundus Imaginalis"; Rahman, "Dream, Imagination"; see also Walbridge, The Philosophy, pp. 203-27 for an analysis of the idea in the work of Qutb al-Dín Shírází (710/1311), whom the author describes as possibly the first Islamic philosopher "to have made a determined effort to work out the philosophical implications of the concept".

[108] Corbin, "Mundus Imaginalis," pp.1-2.

[109] Corbin, "Visionary Dreams," pp.406-7.

[110] Corbin, Spiritual Body, pp. 202-3; see Ziyára, pp.368-71.

[111] Quoted by Rahman, "Dream, Imagination," p.419.

[112] EII, v.4, p.284.

[113] See below, Part i, passim; cf. Corbin, Spiritual Body, p.182.

[114] Baq. p.41. Rahman equates the term ard al-za`farán, apparently first used by Ibn `Arabí with the `álam al-mithál. The term was also used by Sayyid Kázim Rashtí, see below Part ii.

[115] Baq., p.244. Cf. also the few mentions of wijdán discussed in Part i.

[116] E.g.: Gramlich, Die Schiitischen Derwischorden Persiens; al-Shaybí, al-Siláh and al-Fikr. The whole question looms very large throughout the work of Corbin. While he never succeeds in formulating a satisfactory solution to the (?false) problem, "which came first?", he does manage to establish the fundamentally Islamic character of mystical thought, the presence of which many earlier scholars had ascribed soley to outside influences of a Hellenistic or Indian origin. See also Nasr, "Shí`ism and Sufism" an analysis from a Shí`í point of view.

[117] Mentioned in Amanat, p.129.

[118] Ibid; see also pp. 314-5 for Sufi tendencies in the writings of other Bábís.

[119] The Dhahabíya recognized only eight of the twelve Imáms, tracing their lineage to the eighth Imám Músá Kázim (183/799-800). This entitled them to the custodianship of the Sháh Chirágh mosque in Shiraz, which was the most important religious establishment in Fars. Amanat, p.67.

[120] One Qutb al-Dín Muhammad Shírází Dhahabí, the thirty-second qutb of the Dhahabíya order, see Rafatí, p.40 and Charismatic, pp.54-5. MacEoin points out that Shaykh Ahmad would have been only seven years of age at the time of Qutb al-Dín's death, and ascribes the several accounts of Qutb al-Dín's relationship with Shaykh Ahmad and other notable Shí`í scholars as an attempt to gain respectability for Sufism which at the time was coming under increasing attack by more "orthodox" interests. It is indisputable, however, that Shaykh Ahmad's ideas contain many references to the "high" Sufism of Ibn `Arabí, aspects of which are accepted by him as had been the case with many Shí`í mystics since the time of Haydar Ámúlí, on whom see EII, v.3, pp.149-213.

[121] There is some disagreement as to the date of the death of the Bab's father, Sayyid Muhammad Ridá'. See Balyúzí, p.32.

[122] Balyuzi, pp.34-9. Other treatments of the Bab's life are: Amanat, pp.100-47; Charismatic, pp.137-42. An important discussion of the problems associated with the biography of the Bab is: Lambden, "An Episode in the Childhood of the Bab".

[123] The Bab's statement, cited in Charismatic, p.138, that a dog belonging to a Jew is to be preferred to the people of the bazaar because of the latters' lack of religious devotion, must be seen as an indictment of the people themselves, not their occupation. For this statement, and its context, see the previously-mentioned Risálat al-sulúk, p.74, considered the Bab's earliest extant work. The opinion of Ivanov, (mentioned in Minorsky, "Review," p.289) that the Bab esteemed trade a noble profession, is doubtless correct.

[124] Charismatic, p.138; see QA, p.48 (Súrat al-qarába).

[125] The following anecdote illustrates this:

I myself heard the late Hájí Siyyid Javád-i-Karbilá'í say that when the Báb was pursuing the career of a merchant in Búshihr, he . . . because of his friendship with the uncles of the Báb used to stay with them whenever he visited either Shíráz or Búshihr. One day Hájí Mírzá Siyyid Muhammad came to him with a request. "Give some good counsel to my nephew . . . tell Him not to write certain things which can only arouse the jealousy of some people: these people cannot bear to see a young merchant of little schooling show such erudition, they feel envious." Balyuzi, p.40; see also Charismatic, pp.138-9.

[126] This is according to the Bab's statement, cited in Amanat, p.131. The sources do not agree on just when and for how long the Bab stayed in the region of `Atabát. Cf. Charismatic, p.139.

[127] Amanat, p.139.

[128] Amanat, pp.133-9 is an important discussion of the Bab's yearlong stay in the `Atabát. (See also ibid., 147.) On this question see Charismatic, pp.139-40. See also Smith & Momen, "The Bábí Movement," p.60.

[129] Charismatic, p.140.

[130] Amanat, pp.146-7, 171-2.

[131] The Bab himself has written (ca. 1262/1846):

When this youth reached the age of compulsory learning, in the tradition of thr Prophet of God in the past, he arrived in Jazírat al-Bahr (i.e. Búshihr). He did not study your scientific methods with any of you (i.e. with the `ulama) and thus in the preserved tablet of the divine order, he is an uneducated (ummí), `Ajamí and descendant of the Prophet of God. Translated in Amanat, pp. 113-4.

[132] To quote Nicolas:

Certes le fait d'écrire currente calamo un commentaire nouveau sur une sourate dont le sens est si obscur, devait frapper détonnement Seyyed Yahya [on whom see below], mais ce qui le suprit plus étrangement encore, ce fut de retrouver, dans ce commentaire, l'explication que lui-m�(tm)me avait trouvée dans ses méditations sur ces trois versets. Ainsi il se rencontrait avec le Reformateur dans une interprétation qu'il croyait avoir été le seul á imaginer et qu'il n'avait communiquée á personne. Le Báb, p. 234. (The commentary here referred to is the Tafsír súrat al-kawthar.)

[133] Baq., p.6.

[134] Amanat, p.125.

[135] Viz, the Tafsír súrat Yúsuf. Sayyid Kázim Rashtí died 11 Dhu'l-Hijja 1259/2 January1844. The exact time of the zuhúr, or declaration of the Bab's mission, is mentioned by him in his Persian Bayán: "The beginning thereof was when two hours and eleven minutes [had passed] from the evening preceding the fifth of Jamádíyu'l-Ulá, 1260 [A.H.], which is the year 1270 of the mission of [Muhammad]." Cited in Nabíl, p. 61.

[136] Charismatic, 158.

[137] From a letter the Bab wrote to his uncle, Hájí Mírzá Sayyid `Alí, on his way from Búshihr to Shiraz, we know that as of 24 Jumádá II, 1261/ 30 June 1845 he was about one week's journey from Shiraz at Kunár-Takhtih. Soon after, the Bab was arrested at Dálakí, one stage closer to Shiraz. Balyuzi, p.105.

[138] In some cases, the Bab himself would commit them to writing; in other cases one appointed especially as amanuensis would perform this task.

[139] There are two distinct works with this title composed by the Bab, one in Persian and one in Arabic. Although they share the same title, and some structural elements, they do not correspond with each other as far as contents are concerned. The Persian Bayán is much longer than the Arabic Bayán and is, withal, much more elaborate in the codification of various laws and ordinances, viz, the "new Sharí`a" of Shí`í eschatology. It is divided into 9 Unities (sing. váhid) 19 chapters (sing. báb) each, except the last, which contains only 10 chapters. It is said that the Bayán was originally planned according to the abjad value of kullu shay' (361), i.e., 19 váhids of 19 bábs each and that the work was intentionally left incomplete so that "Him whom God will manifest" (man yuzhiruhu 'lláh), mentioned hundreds of time in this work, could complete it as a proof of his station. See Sources, p. 120. All references to this work are to Nicolas' 4 volume translation (see Bibliography) thus Bayán, 6:1 (3,113) refers the reader to the first chapter of the sixth unity of that work which is found on page 113 of the third volume of Nicolas' translation.

[140] God Passes by, p.24; Nabíl, p. 31; Sources, pp.27 &129. Sources, (p.129) quotes the Bab: "Thus hath the Point of the Bayán written three commentaries on the Qur'án." These commentaries were entrusted to a certain Sayyid Ibráhím-i Khalíl Tabrízí for safekeeping. No trace of them has been seen since they left the prison of Máh-Kú. Sources, p.129, also says that Subh-i Azal, the appointed leader of the Bábí community and half-brother of Bahá'u'lláh, says that two commentaries on the Qur'an were among those those writings of the Bab taken from Iran to Iraq.

[141] "Vois aussi au sujet du Point du Béyán [i.e., the Bab]. Ceux qui le connaissaient, savent quel était son rang avant la manifestation; mais après la manifestation, et quoique jusqu'á aujourd'hui il ait produit plus de cinq cent mille beits sur des sujets diver . . . ." Bayán, 6:1 (v.3, p.113). According to the Bab, a bayt consists of thirty letters with, and forty letters without `iráb: "Chaque trente lettres forme une ligne, qui avec les accents forme quarante mots." Ibid, (v.3, p.63).

[142] Browne's translation of Bayán-i fársí, váhid, 3, báb,17 (presumably from his own manuscript copy) in Traveller's, p. 344; cf. Bayán, 3:17 (v.2, p.68). The five categories of the Bab's writings are mentioned elsewhere: Bayán, 6:1 (v.3, p.58) & 9:2 (v.4,p.144); Gobineau, 279; Browne, "The Bábís of Persia," JRAS (1889) pp.892-3; idem, "Remarks," JRAS (1892) pp.452-3 & 462-70; Traveller's, pp.343-7; Materials, pp.201,207; "Bab, Babis," p.307b; MacEoin,"Critical Survey," pp. 65-6. (This last title, which is the basis of the revision referred to as Sources, is cited because the pertinent section of my copy of this latter is missing.) See also the discussion of the amount of the Bab's work that has survived in Sources, pp.18-19.

[143] Sources, p.260, n.312.

[144] Afnan & Hatcher, "Western Islamic Scholarship," p.38.

[145] Bayán, passim.

[146] E. G. Browne, ed. Kitáb-i nuqtat al-káf, pp.lv - xcv.

[147] Writings, pp.75 -113.

[148] Bahá'u'lláh, the title assumed by Mirzá Husayn `Alí-yi Núrí, 1817-1892, was the founder of the Bahá'í Faith. This comment may be found in his Kitáb-i �(tm)qán, p. 180 (The English translation is by his great grandson and eventual Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith (walí amru'lláh ) Shoghi Effendi Rabbání, 1897-1957, which is published as: The Kitáb-I-Iqán: The Book of Certitude, p.231. The second statement is from: Shoghi Effendi, God Passes by, p.23.

[149] Browne,"Remarks," p.261.

[150] Tafsír hadíth al-Járíya, 4 mss. (Sources, pp.20,24,72-3,104); Tafsír hadíth Kumayl, 3 mss. (ibid., p.106 refers to this work as "Tafsír hadíth al-haqíqa"); Tafsír hadíth "man `arafa nafsahu", 4 mss. (ibid., p.105); Tafsír hadíth "nahnu wajhu 'lláh", 3 mss. (ibid., p.93); Sharh hadíth "`alamaní (sic) akhí Rasúlu'lláh", 1 ms. (ibid., p.97); Sharh hadíth "má min fi`lin yafa`luhu (sic) 'l-`abd", 1 ms. (ibid.). All mss. of these works exist only in the now inaccessible Tehran Bahá'í Archives. This is particularly unfortunate inasmuch as several of the hadíths mentioned in these titles figure prominently in the Tafsír súrat al-baqara. However, some of the holdings of that archive were xeroxed and distributed, in a set of several volumes, to a select group of persons prior to the revolution. (See Amanat, p.434 who refers to the "Iran National Bahá'í Archives" (INBA) which I presume to be identical with MacEoin's "Tehran B.A.".) I have been able to consult one volume of this material, described below in Part i "Manuscripts", and a few xeroxed pages of another volume, 6006.C.

[151] Sources, p.133, speaks of "two short tafsírs on the first and second sections of the Haykal al-dín [another work by the Bab]. According to the statement preceding these they were written by the Bab himself on the 11th and 12th of Sha`bán 1266/22nd. and 23rd. of June 1850, about two weeks before his execution in Tabríz."; Tafsír al-ha (i & ii), 3 mss. each. This work, according to MacEoin,is a commentary on the letter há' of the word huwa. (Sources, pp.94-5); Tafsír al-asmá' (alternate title for the Kitáb al-asmá', the longest Arabic work by the Bab. "This book largely consists of lengthy variations on the names of God, intended . . .to enumerate each name of God of which a specific believer is regarded as a manifestation." (ibid., pp.133-4); Sharh "on a statement of Sayyid Kázim Rashtí in his commentary on the Khutbat al-Tatanjíya of `Alí, 3 mss. "among the earliest" works of the Bab (ibid., p.97); Sharh Kayfíyati'l-Mi`ráj, 1 ms., (ibid., p.98); Bayán `illatí tahrím al-mahárim, 4 ms. (ibid., p.95); Bayán jabr wa tafwíd, 2 ms. (ibid., pp.95-6); Bayán mas'ilati (sic) 'l-qadr, 3 ms., (ibid., p.96); Bayán taqárub wa tabá`ud, 5 mss, (ibid., p.107); Bayán fí `ilmí'l-jawámid wa'l-mushtáqát (sic; probably `alamay/`ilmay al-jawámid wa al-mushtaqqát), 3 mss. (ibid., p.96); Bayán fí nahw wa sarf (sic), 2 mss. (ibid., p.97). All mss. are in the Tehran Bahá'í Archives. (N.b.: The word sharh appears to have been indifferently applied to some of the Bab's Qur'an commentaries otherwise called tafsír (See below, Part i, "Manuscripts"). I know of no tafsír which has also been called a bayán.)

[152] The list in Amanat, pp.451-2 of the xeroxed volumes of archive material referred to above, gives the impression that much more tafsír material exists than that which has been described in Sources. This is due to the somewhat unsystematized nature of these publications, which have apparently reproduced the same title in several different volumes (ibid., p.434). Of those volumes listed (referred to as INBA followed by a number), no less than eight are said to contain works of tafsír or sharh on suwar, verses, or hadíth. The total number of such works thus referred to is sixty-nine; a figure which, if taken to represent separate works in this genre, is most likely much too high. For example, the volume of this material which I have been able to consult, INBA, #69, contains a commentary which Amanat describes as being in INBA, #40.

[153] Sources, pp.56-8; referred to by the Bab in his Risálat al-dhahabíya, where the he listed fourteen of his works according to the names of the fourteen Pure Ones, as the Kitáb al-Ahmadíya (Sources, p.65). To be discussed at length in Part i.

[154] Ibid., pp.69-73; in the Risálat al-dhahabíya it is called Kitáb al-Husayníya (ibid., p.66). In a list of works drawn up by Subh-i Azal, the following titles also appear: "Ahsan al-qasas (1v.)"; "Ahsan al-qasas (1v.)"; "Commentary on the Qur'án (1v.)"; "Commentary on the Qur'án (1 vol.)"; "Ajwaba (sic) wa tafásír " (ibid., pp.30-1). The Tafsír súrat Yúsuf is the subject of Part ii below; Ahsan al-qasas is an alternate title for this work. It is not possible to guess what the remaining items in this list actually are.

[155] Ibid., pp.91-2, see below.

[156] Ibid., pp.114-5, see below.

[157] Distinct from the brief commentary on the Fátiha which accompanies number 1; Exists in 2 mss. in Tehran.(Sources, pp.44, 84-5, 240).

[158] Said by the Bab to have been stolen from him during his pilgrimage. Sources, p.64. See below Part i "Manuscripts".

[159] A work apparently distinct from item 1; said by the Bab to have been "in the manner of the commentary on the Súra Yúsuf (sic)" and stolen along with number 6. Sources, p.64.

[160] Consisting of "about 157 verses" (listed in the Bab's Kitáb al-fihrist; Sources, p.63); called Kitáb al-Báqiríya in the Risálat al-dhahabíya (Ibid., p.67); should not be confused with a commentary on the basmala which occurs in number 5 (ibid., p.96). May also bear the title Tafsír hurúf basmala, 6 mss. 4 in Tehran and 2 in Haifa. (ibid., p.95)

[161] 1 ms., in Tehran, Sources, p.104. A work with the name Tafsír laylat al-qadr is found in INBA #69, pp.14-21. Given the description in Sources, it is undoubtedly the same work.

[162] 1 ms., ibid., p.105. A work by this name is also in INBA, #69 (pp.2-13) and is most likely identical to the one mentioned by MacEoin.

[163] No manuscript of this work has yet been found. Sources, p.109.

[164] Apparently no mss. are extant. It is said by the Bab to have been among those works which were stolen from him during his pilgrimage. He himself has described it as comprising 200 suwar of twelve verses each (Sources, pp.64-5). The verse is of course one of the most popular, and it is therefore not remarkable that a commentary would have been written on it. What is remarkable here is the structure: suwar and áyát which, it will be argued in Part ii, is one of the more significant aspects of the Tafsír súrat Yúsuf.

[165] 5 mss., (Sources, pp.103-4.) I have seen one of these, namely Cambridge Browne F21 (item 27). The remainder are in INBA volumes.

[166] The otherwise unpublished work is found in Asadalláh Fádil Mázandarání, Kitáb zuhúr al-haqq, vol. 3, Tehran, n.d. [1944], pp.31ff. The author is more properly referred to as Mírzá Muhammad `Alí Zunúzí. The work, in the question-and-answer form, is the record of a conversation which took place between the author and an unknown interlocutor. Inasmuch as Zunúzí was the devoted follower of the Bab who was executed with him, the work, if authentic, must have been written before 1266-7/1850. Balyúzí, pp.153-8; Nabíl, pp.507-18.

[167] Sources, p.98.

[168] Sources, p.133. The work on which these commentaries were written is the Haykal al-dín; the exact date of composition is given as 11 & 12 Sha`bán 1266 [22 & 23 June 1850].

[169] Sources, pp.62-5. This includes both the extant and the "stolen" commentary on al-Baqara.

[170] Browne F10, nineteen lines per page. F2a: hádhá al-kitáb sharh súrat al-kawthar mimmá nuzzila `alá al-nuqtata al-úlá.

[171] Browne F9, fourteen lines per page, no title page.

[172] Lawson, "Exploded Commentary".

[173] For al-Kawthar: Burhán, v.4, pp. 511-15; Anwár, p.287 ; For wa'l-`Asr: Burhán, v.4, pp.504-5; Anwár, p.235. According to Nabíl (p.174) Sayyid Yahyá's wish that the Bab write on the Súrat al-kawthar was not actually expressed; rather, the Bab astonished his visitor by commencing on his own initiative to comment upon a súra which Sayyid Yahyá' had previously and apparently unknown to the Bab, chosen to be commented on as a means of testing the Bab's claims. No reason is given for Dárábí's choice of this particular súra. As for the choice of wa'l-`Asr, it is simply stated that the Bab's host, the Imám-Jum`a of Isfahán, requested a commentary on it.

It was nearing midnight when the Bab found himself engaged in the exposition of the manifold implications involved in the first letter of that S_rih. That letter, the letter váv, upon which Shaykh Ahmad-i-Ahsá'í had already laid such emphasis in his writings, symbolised for the Báb the advent of a new cycle of Divine Revelation, and has since been alluded to by Bahá'u'lláh in the "Kitáb-i-Aqdas" in such passages as "the mystery of the Great Reversal" and "the Sign of the Sovereign." Nabíl, p.201. On this subject see below Part i "Qá'im".

[174] F9, ff.86b-87b; cf. Sáfí, p.490: qála al-Sádiq: al-`asr `asr khurúj al-qá'im.

[175] Sayyid Ja`far ibn Abí Ishaq `Alawí Músawí Dárábí Burujurdí (1267/1850-1). Corbin, Annuaire, 1970-71, p.220. See also EII, v.3, pp.215-16, for a discussion of this non-Shaykhí theosopher and his doctrine hermèneutic. See also Balyúzí, pp.70,90,94.

[176] His chief Arabic work is entitled Saná barq, a commentary upon a celebrated imámí prayer and a "masterpiece" in `irfán. His best-known Persian works are: Ijábat al-mudtarrín fí usúl al-dín; Barq o sharq; and Tuhfat al-mulúk. This last title is considered his major composition and is divided into two parts. The first part is divided into three books: [1] Concerning the Intellect "la première hypostase, identifié avec le Rúh Muhammadí"; [2] Concerning the epiphanies (mazáhir) of the Intellect and the manner in which they relate to the various beings; [3] Concerning the effects (presumably áthár) of the Intellect. The second part is "une vaste systématisation encyclopédique de la philosophie (hikmat) spéculative et de la philosophie pratique." Annuaire,1970-1, pp.220-1. Nicolas makes the following interesting comment about Kashfí:

. . .[il] était un des plus illustres oulèmas de la Perse, et ses études passionées sur les mystères divins lui avaient valu le surnom Kéchchaf c'est á dire ´Celui qi découvre les secrets célestes.�(tm) Il était étranger aux doctrines chéikhies commme á celles de Molla Sadra. Cependant, son zèle emporté, son imagination ardente l'avaient, vers la fin de sa vie fait sortir un peu des sentiers étroits de l'orthodoxie chiite. Il commentait les hadis d'une autre faÁon que ses collègues, et prétendait m�(tm)me, dit-on, avoir pénétré les soixante et dix significations intimes du Qoran. Enfin, il affirmait, en certaines circonstances, avoir accompli quelques voyages en compagnie de Khizr.

Ces étrangetés déplaisaient au clergé officiel, qui se gardait cependant de les attaquer par respect pour l'áge, la science et la haute piété de leur auteur. Les livres qu'il écrivit sont encore aujourd'hui fort estimés et très lus. Le Báb, pp.387-8.

[177] Balyúzí, p.70.

[178] "I was subsequently commanded by the Báb to journey to Burújird, and there acquaint my father with the new Message. He urged me to exercise towards him the utmost forbearance and consideration. From my confidential conversations with him I gathered that he was unwilling to repudiate the truth of the Message I had brought him. He preferred, however, to be left alone and to be allowed to pursue his own way." Nabíl, p.177 quoting Sayyid Yahyá'.

[179] Nicolas acknowledges that certain (unnamed) authors have doubted that the Sháh had sent Sayyid Yahyá on such a mission. They suggest that Dárábí was attracted to Shíráz by his own curiosity. Le Báb, p.388.

[180] For details see Nabíl, pp.171-7.

[181] "This remarkable man, this precious soul, had committed to memory no less than thirty thousand traditions, and was highly esteemed and admired by all classes of people. He had achieved universal renown in Persia, and his authority and erudition were widely and fully recognized." `Abdu'l-Bahá quoted in Nabíl, p.171; see also Le Báb, p.388.

[182] Charismatic, p.181n.142; see also the references here for his biography.

[183] Sources, p.103.

[184] Charismatic, p.166.

[185] In my "Exploded Commentary," cited above.

[186] Scholem, Major Trends, pp.130-5.

[187] Nabíl, p.202.

[188] fí ajamati ard al-safrá' (F10, f.17a) is a reference to one of the four levels represented by the so-called colours of the Throne. See below, Pt. i "Hierarchies-1".

[189] waláya al-mu`ayyana al-mufassala fí nafsi súrat al-inzá`íya (ibid.)

[190] qamar al-núr shams al-zuhúr shajarat al-káfúr wa má' khamr al-zuhúr wa `ayn al-kawthar al-burúr wa ism alláh al-hayy al-ghafúr. Although the text is quite clear, it is possible that má' khamr al-zuhúr represents a scribal error for what might have original been a reference to the quranic má' tahúr (cf., Q.25:48) or sharáb tahúr (cf., Q.76:21).

[191] Another colour of the four lights of the throne.

[192] min ishráq núr subh al-azal (ibid., f.17b) allusion to the above-mentioned hadíth Kumayl.

[193] hunálika yawmidh al-waláyatu li-lláhi 'l-haqq huwa khayrun thawában wa khayrun `uqba (ibid.) This is either a misquotation of 18:44 or a case of deliberate interpolation, most likely the latter given the precedent of the Bab's treatment of the Qur'an in his commentary on Yúsuf. See below, Part ii.

[194] F10, f.17a, l.4.

[195] Browne, "Description," pp.643-7.

[196] MacEoin appears to agree, for in another context we read:

In declaring himself to be the sole source of divine guidance then on earth -- whatever the precise nature of his claim -- the Báb demanded a degree of non-rational obedience which Mullá Jawád and other Shaykhís seem to have been unwilling to give. Charismatic, p.201.

[197] F10, ff.36a-b, translated by MacEoin, Charismatic, p.170.

[198] F10, f.36b. The ellipsis represents two more citations from the Qur'an (11:17; 32:18), which, as in the case of the portion of Q.10:35, begin with 'a fa-man . . .?

[199] F10, ff.11b-34a.

[200] F10, ff.34b-115b.

[201] F10, f.7a.

[202] Ibid., báb baqíyat alláh. The traditional interpretation of baqíyat alláh is that it refers to the Qá'im (Anwár, p.105).

[203] F10,14b, bábíya al-makhsús (sic).

[204] But cf. the mention of Kashfí's possible heterodox leanings referred to by Nicolas above.

[205] Nabíl, p.176.

[206] On whom see Algar, Religion and State, pp.107 &180.

[207] See also Nabíl, pp.201-2; Sources, p.54.

[208] See below, Part i "Hierarchies-1".

[209] F9, f.19a. Earlier we read:

The first letter is the wáw and it has an unlimited number of meanings (marátib), one of them is Universal Waláya and the first channel of divine grace (al-qasabat al-úlá al-iláhíya) (F9, f.13a)

[210] F9, f.71a. dhakara Muhyi'u'l-dín al-A`rábí fí fusúsihi kalimát `ajíba ilá an qála aná dhálika al-qudús fi'l-fard al-`alí muhabbab wa lá shakk anna amthál tilka al-kalima law awwala ahad bi-husn zannihi fa yumkin lahu ma`ná wa lakin innaní aná má uhibbu wa lá' u'awwilu (71b) bal asa'lu alláh fí haqqihi kamá aráda innahu huwa al-`azíz al-muta`ál. I am unable, so far, to locate such a statement by Ibn `Arabí.

[211] F9, f.9b.

[212] F9, f.20a.

[213] Represented by the prepositional phrase lahu bihi, F9, passim. See below, Part i "Tajallí".

[214] F9, f.38b.

[215] E.g., the explicit ref. at F9, f.40a. However, as suggested above, the structure of the letter commentary into four levels of meaning would appear to be an allusion to the doctrine of the four supports.

[216] F9, f.48a.

[217] Nabil, pp.201-2.

[218] Sources, p.114, citing Nuqtat al-káf, p.116.

[219] Sources, p.115.

[220] Pp. 21-114. Incidentally, F9, f.17b has a mysterious lacuna of a few lines which seems to represent a quotation. The material appears to have been erased rather than ommitted by the scribe for the purpose, say, of later rubrication.

[221] Ibn `Abbás, Tanwír, p.2.

[222] Nwyia, "Le Tafsír," p.188. See also Tabarí Tafsír, v.1, pp. 205-9 for similar statements attributed to other early exegetes.

[223] Baqlí, `Ará'is, pp. 4-5.

[224] Frequently quoted in Shí`í works, for specific references see below Part ii.

[225] Futúhát, v.1, pp.335-61.

[226] Huart, Textes, p.288.

[227] Ibn Abí Jumhúr, al-Mujlí, p.5. This is the alif which is elided in the phrase bismi'lláh, the alif of the word ism.

[228] A few examples of this will be cited below in Part ii.

[229] Even as recently as 1981 we find the following statement on the composition of the Tafsír súrat Yúsuf:

As far as can be verified from the available sources, up to this time the Bab did not produce any work of significance and it was only during his encounter with his early believers that he first became aware of his 'exceptional' talent for producing works of tafsír. (Amanat, p.174)

[230] Sources, p.51.

[231] Sources, pp.57-8. Extant works which were probably written by the Bab before the Tafsír súrat al-baqara include the short Arabic Risálat al-sulúk (on which see ibid. p.55).

[232] Browne, "Catalogue," JRAS (1892) pp. 493-9.

[233] The story is told in Persian. The tafsír in question is written entirely in Arabic. The first instance of the phrase tafsír bátin al-bátin occurs at Baq., p.124 and is missing from the corresponding place in Browne's manuscript (C, f.46b), which explains Browne's remark that he was unable to locate it. An occurrence of the phrase fí bátin al-bátin at Baq., p.132 is, however, found at C, f.49b.

[234] Ibid., pp.496-7.

[235] Momen, p.231-2. Momen adds that the Bab had prophesied the advent of another messianic figure "Him whom God shall make manifest". Bahá'u'lláh's eventual claim to be this messianic figure was rejected by Subh-i Azal, who however, seems also to have been awaiting this advent.

[236] Sources, pp.40-1.

[237] Ibid., p.57.

[238] Ibid., p.64.

[239] Ibid., p.238.

[240] Nicolas, Le Livre des Sept Preuves, pp.i-ii, cited in Sources, pp. 60-1.

[241] Sources, p.57.

[242] Browne, "Catalogue & Description," p.498.

[243] Baq., p.6.

[244] Sources, p.237.

[245] f.95b. This manuscript also carries the Introduction mentioned here (ff. 1b-3a).

[246] Numbers 6,7, and 8 above.

[247] Tafsír súrat al-tawhíd, pp.2-13; T. laylat al-qadr, pp.14-21; T. súrat wa'l-`asr, pp.21-119; T. súrat al-hamd, pp. 120-55. In addition the following short treatises are found: Risálat al-i`tiqádát, pp. 411-16; R. fí jasad al-nabí (possibly the same as Kayfíyat al-mi`ráj mentioned above), pp. 416-19; R. basít al-haqíqa, pp.419-33; R. silsilat al-thamáníya, pp.434-7. Many thanks to Mr. Stephen Lambden for making this volume accessible to me.

[248] This is the number assigned in P. Voorhoeve, Handlist of Arabic Manuscripts, Leiden, 1957, p.454. In the catalogue of the Leiden Arabic manuscripts now being produced by J. Witkam, this manuscript will bear the number Ar.2414.

[249] Sources, pp.40-1.

[250] Baq., p.8 & I, p.156: qad ja`alahá alláhu zillahá li-man aqarra bi-waláyatihi; C, f.2b: qad ja`ala alláhu . . . . Repeated reference throughout this commentary to the ideas of ahadíya, wáhidíya, rahmáníya, and so on, constitutes one of its more distinguishing characteristics. The terminology comes originally from Ibn `Arabí (638/1240) and its use here by the Bab offers yet another example of how the work, if not the thought, of one of history's greatest mystics had thoroughly permeated Iranian Shí`í spiritual discourse (`irfán) by this time. For a study of these terms as they were received by Ibn `Arabí's student Qunáwí and others, see Chittick, "The Five Divine Presences". (See also the important critique of this article by Landolt in Studia Iranica, Suppl. 8 (1985) #488, p.126.) Briefly, the term ahadíya represents the highest aspect of the Absolute about which man can notion (if one may use a noun as a verb), but does not, of course, define the Absolute which must always be beyond whatever occurs about It in the mind of man. The term wáhidíya refers to the next highest aspect of the Absolute, the aspect which involves the "appearance" of the divine names and attributes. See also `Abd al-Razzáq al-Káshání, Istiláhát al-súfíya, pp.25 &47. The proper understanding of this technical terminology has been a subject of scholarly debate in Iran for centuries. One form of the argument is analyzed in Landolt, "Der Briefweschel," esp. pp.41-63.

[251] The quranic basis for the doctrine is 3:7: It is He who sent down upon thee the Book, wherein are verses clear that are the Mother of the Book, and others ambiguous. As for those in whose hearts is swerving, they follow the ambiguous part, desiring dissension, and desiring its interpretation; and none knows its interpretation save only God. And those firmly rooted in knowledge say, 'We believe in it; all is from our Lord'; yet none remembers, but men possessed of minds. With this verse comes one of the more fundamental disagreements between the Sunni and Shí`í exegetes who differ as to the sentence structure of this verse. The above translation represents the "Sunní" reading. A Shí`í reading would be: . . .and none knows its interpretation save God and those firmly rooted in knowledge (al-rásikhún) . . . These rásikhún are of course the Imáms. A good summary of the general Sunní/Shí`í debate may be found in Sháh, "The Imám as Interpreter of the Qur'an," p.71n.14.

On the question of muhkamát/mutashábihát, see for example MacAuliffe, "Fakhr al-Dín al-Rází's Approach". The author concentrates on al-Rází's interpretation of this very verse, which becomes something of a statement of method in which various points of view are mentioned. For a discussion of the issue within a tradition more akin to the one in which the Bab wrote, see Mullá Sadrá, Mutashábihát a-Qur'án.

[252] al-Sádiq is said to have glossed al-muhkamát hunna umm al-kitáb as "the Commander of the Faithful and the Imáms" and al-mutashábihát as "fulán wa fulán", e.g., Abú Bakr and `Umar. Anwár, p.132.

[253] Baq., p.25.

[254] On shabah (pl. ashbáh), often encountered with a companion word zill (pl. azilla), see below, "Hierarchies -2".

[255] mazáhir (sing. mazhar) lit: "the place where waláya appears or is manifest". It may be translated directly as manifestations as long as it is remembered that the manifestations themselves are not the agents or manifestors, but the vehicles by means of which the manifestation takes place as a result of God's manifesting activity. See below, "Tajallí".

[256] Baq., p.25. For an earlier similar treatment of the root h b b by the Bab, see below, "Hierarchies-1".

[257] Baq., p.26: kashf subuhát al-jalál This term comes from the famous tradition of Kumayl, a commentary on which is ascribed to the Bab (see above, "Background"). On the hadith see EII, v.1, pp.110-18: "Les entretiens du Ier Imám avec Komayl ibn Ziyád" and references there. Corbin translates the term as "oratoires de la Majesté divine". The Imám's companion asks "What is truth?" "What has the likes of you to do with Truth," scolds the Imám. Kumayl then reproves the Imám by quoting the Qur'an: And as for the beggar, scold him not (93:10). He then quotes the Prophet: "Speak to each according to his intelligence." The Imám, somewhat chastened, replies: "Truth is the unveiling of the glories of the divine majesty without reference (kashfu subuhát al-jalál min ghayri isháratin)." The Bahá'í scholar, Ishráq-Khávarí, explains:

It is contemplation of God, the power, majesty and attributes of beauty and might (jalálíya and jamálíya) of Truth (haqq) performed without contemplating the Divine Essence of God (haqq) because if the Divine Essence is conceptualized then it becomes limited and encompassed and every limited thing is susceptible of sensory reference. It is only possible to think about the traces (athár) of the divinity [as opposed to the essence] which are in the world and one must search the traces, as in the verse: We shall show them our signs in the horizons and in their souls until it is clear to them that it is the truth (41:53). (This verse is frequently referred to by the Bab in the course of this commentary.) Qámús, v.2, p.851.

[258] Baq., p.75. Other tahaddí verses are 10:39, 11:16, 17:90, and 28:49.

[259] On such epithets as "The First" as a reference to Abú Bakr in Ismá`ílí literature, see Strothmann, Korankommentar, Introduction, p.20.

[260] Baq., p.193.

[261] Baq., p.131. The term mashhad al-úlá is determined by the fact that al-úlá ("pre-existence") is one of three technical terms which refer to separate historico-spiritual cycles. The other two are al-dunyá and al-ákhira. These words occur in a verse of a visitation prayer for the Imáms and are commented upon at length by Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsá'í in Ziyára, pp.68-70, in the course of which commentary their technical meaning is made clear. See below "Qá'im".

[262] Baq., p.131.

[263] Baq., pp.195-6.

[264] Baq., p.223. See below "Hierarchies-2".

[265] bi-lá ishára, an allusion to the Hadíth Kumayl.

[266] Baq., p.224.

[267] Landolt, "Walaya," p.317.

[268] The following passage is found at Baq., pp.190-1.

[269] Cf. a later Bábí understanding of al-qurá, mentioned in Charismatic, p.171.

[270] A very well-known tradition. See below Part ii.

[271] Baq., p.191: fí haqq al-imkán.

[272] Cf. the "they will have whatever they want" theme in Qur'an, e.g. 16:31.

[273] See Burhán, v.1,p.104,#3 and Nur, v.1,p.70,#210. This verse also carries an "original Qur'an" tradition, see Burhán, ibid. #2 & Núr, ibid. #214.

[274] inna nahnu la-hum muslimún.

[275] Baq., p.194.

[276] Baq., p.201.

[277] The association of the waláya of `Alí with the primordial covenant is a reading common to akhbárí tafsír: Burhán, v.2, pp. 46-51 ad 7:172: And when the Lord took from the Children of Adam, from their loins, their seed, and made them testify . . . ; cf. also Burhán, v.1, pp. 463-7 ad 5:3: Today I have perfected your religion for you . . . .

[278] Baq., p.201. See al-Mufíd, Kitab al-Irshád, (Eng. trans.) p.124.

[279] See Landolt, "Waláyah," and the reference there to the Háshimíyát of al-Kumayt b. Zayd al-Asadí (126/743), p.318.

[280] Baq., pp.219-20.

[281] Baq., p.220.

[282] Kitáb al-Irshád (Engl. trans.) p.125.

[283] Baq., p.242. On the ambiguity of nafs see below, "Tajallí".

[284] L, p.18: mush`ir bi'l-rubúbíyat al-ahadíya wa'l-`ubúdíyat al-nafsáníya; Baq., p.245: mush`iratun . . . . On `Alí and the ard al-tatanjayn see below, Part ii.

[285] fí mash`ari al-nazari bi-rabbi-hi min ahadin. On the translation of mash`ar see Corbin, Pénétrations, pp.41-4.

[286] So L, p.18: má yadurruhu `an bughd al-haqq; Baq., p.245 & I, p.338: má yadurruhu `an bu`d al-haqq; C, f.91b: má yadurruhu ba`d al-haqq.

[287] Baq, p.245.

[288] Baq., p.244. Such statements, while not frequent, occur several times in the tafsír as will be seen.

[289] For example, his identification as Iblís brings with it a whole series of extremely complex questions revolving around the problem of the way this figure is to be understood in: [1] The Qur'an, [2] Islamic Theology, [3] Mysticism and Theosophy, and the implications all this might have for an adequate appreciation of the problem of evil in Islamicate philosophy. For an introduction to the figure of "the devil" in Islam, see Peter Awn, Iblís.

[290] E.g, Q.57:3: He is the First and the Last, the Outward and the Inward.

[291] Baq. p.25.

[292] Baq., p.35.

[293] Baq., p.85.

[294] E.g. the discussion of waláya in Anwár, pp.337-8. The author also says that wiláya means "assistance" (al-nusra), and waláya means "sovereignty" (al-imára, al-sultán). On mahabba as descriptive of the dynamic which binds the believer to his Imám, whether true or false, see Shaykh Ahmad, Ziyára, p.190.

[295] "Love" corresponds to allegiance, i.e., tawallin, or "following"; it goes from the lower to the higher. "Authority" proceeds from the higher to the lower. On the several intentions of waláya, see Landolt, "Waláya".

[296] EII, v.1, p.329.

[297] Baq., p. 84. furú` = "followers".

[298] inkár, the classic term used to describe the attitude of the early enemies of the Shí`a who refused to acknowledge `Alí.

[299] Baq., p.84.

[300] Baq., pp.84-5.

[301] Baq., p.94. This statement is of course an affirmation of the doctrine of the four supports for which the Shaykhíya is well known. See below "Hierarchies" for a similar statement by the Bab in his earlier Risálat al-sulúk. On the spiritual significance of dharr in early Sufism, see Bèwering, passim. "Atoms" is not a completely satisfactory translation, "seeds" being more suited to the idea of "development" which is intended here.

[302] Baq., pp.94-5.

[303] The first three Caliphs are frequently called fulán in the akhbárí literature which has been published. Whether the manuscript sources of this literature contain other less neutral names, is something that can only be speculated upon.

[304] Baq., pp.131-2.

[305] The edition used here is the one of Muhammad `Abduh and printed in Beirut (n.d.), v.1, pp.30-8, material translated found on pp. 30-1. Cf. the Kitáb al-Irshád (Eng. trans., p.212) where Ibn Abí Quháfa (Abú Bakr) is mentioned by name.

[306] Nahj al-balágha, v.1, p.31.

[307] Ibid., p.37 as translated in Kitáb al-Irshád (Eng. trans.), p.213.

[308] Baq., p.169; I, p.278 & L, p.5 = hiya; C, f.69a = huwa. For the equivalence huwíya/ahadíya, see below "Hierarchies".

[309] It is important to bear in mind the two meanings of áya: sign or verse. The statement undoubtedly connotes a reference to those verses which are interpreted by the Shí`í to be "explicit" confirmations of `Alí's appointment by Muhammad, e.g., Q.5:55.

[310] C, f.69a=musaddiqan as Qur'an. All other mss.: musaddiqatan to agree with áya.

[311] shabah, but it is susceptible of eventual life.

[312] Baq., p. 169: yafná; C, f.63b: nafá.

[313] C, f.63b: bi-hi; all other mss.= bi-há.

[314] {---} represents a lacuna in C, f.63b. This folio contains several errors or variants and it is therefore doubtful that this gap represents any attempt at bowdlerization. Other errors on this folio to be found are at lines 4-6, which present an exact duplication of the previous four lines and the variants mentioned in the two previous notes. Perhaps this portion of the ms. was written under some kind of stress?

[315] Baq., p.169. Cf. Burhán, v.1, p.91,#2 where a similar idea is conveyed by referring to Abú Bakr as "fulán". This particular khabar is of some interest. It is preserved in `Ayyáshí's tafsír on the authority of the father of the important disciple of al-Sádiq, Mufaddal al-Ju`fí, namely one Jábir al-Ju`fí (d.128/745) who asked the Imám al-Báqir about the explanation of the verse from the esoteric point of view (sa'altu Abá Ja`far `an tafsír hádhihi 'l-áyat fí bátin al-Qur'án). The Imám's response helps us understand exactly how the word bátin was used: ". . . and be not the first to disbelieve in him, that is, so-and-so and his companion (sáhib), and whoever follows him and subjects himself to their claim (wa man dána bi-díni-him). God reproves such by saying be not the first to disbelieve in it, that is [the pronoun stands for] `Alí."

[316] I.e., they have lost the vision of `Alí and gained a small price instead. Baq., pp.169-70. The act of regarding anything else, insofar as anything else is incapable of satisfying spiritual need, is a trifling recompense. N.b. C, f.63b: bi-áyati nafsihi.

[317] The Bab adapts the grammar of the Qur'an to mean that price is now the thing acquired. Baq., p.170. These terms have been dealt with elsewhere, except for perhaps atwár, plural of tawr. On this word in `Ayn al-Qudát see Izutsu, "Timeless Order," p.126; cf. Isfaráyiní, Rélévateur, q.v. index "coeur, sphères du, atwár-i dil".

[318] The term `amá has a rich and complex history. As this word is frequently encountered in the writings of the Bab, Bahá'u'lláh, and other Bahá'í authors, some reference to this history is in order. The word figures in a hadíth ascribed to the Prophet:

He was asked: "Where was our Lord before He created creation?" The Prophet answered: "In al-`amá having no air above or beneath it."

A part of this tradition is quoted by Ibn `Arabí (Fusús, v.1, p.111) and al-Káshání, who cites it in a shorter form (the editor of al-Istiláhát gives a variant: ". . . having air above it and beneath it.") in the above form, comments as follows:

al-`amá is the level (hadra) of the Exclusive Unity, according to us. . . . It is said that it is the level of the Inclusive Unity which is the place where the divine names and attributes appear, because al-`amá is a thin cloud (al-ghaim al-raqíq), and this cloud is a screen between heaven and earth. Therefore this level is a screen between the heaven of the Exclusive Unity and the earth of creaturely multiplicity, about which not even the [above] hadíth from the prophet is very helpful. (al-Káshání, al-Istiláhát, pp.131-2.)

Izutsu's translation, "abysmal darkness"( Sufism and Taoism, pp.119) and Austin's "The Dark Cloud" (Bezels, p.134) do not convey the diaphanous quality which al-Káshání emphasizes, suggesting a thin cloud at such a high altitude that it seems to appear and disappear from one moment to the next. A recent discussion of the use of the term in Bábí and Bahá'í literature is Lambden, "The Cloud of Unknowing".

[319] Baq., pp.170-1. The complete verse is: That then is God, your Lord, the True; what is there, after truth, but error? Then how are you turned about? The allusion is particularly deft because of the obvious similarity in terminolgy, obvious only to those who "swim in the sea of the Qur'an", because the first part of the verse is not mentioned!

[320] A possible reference to the Bab's future claims. Baq., pp.183-4. On the connotations of zuhúr see Anwár, p.227, where in addition to the ideas of "appearance" and "advent", are mentioned "dispensation" and "victory" and where its ta'wíl is related to al-báb.

[321] Baq., p.190. See below, however, where the Bab says that disbelief in the waláya of `Alí will never be forgiven.

[322] Baq., p.191.

[323] Ibid.

[324] See above "Background". For this particular report ascribed to the fifth Imám, see: Sáfí, pp.32-3; Burhán, v.1, p.104, #2; Núr, v.1, p.70, #214. Curiously, the only hadíth presented for this verse in Núr is Burhán #2. The isnád may be of some interest: Muhammad bin Ya`qúb (i.e. Kulayní); Ahmad bin Mihrán (3rd cent. traditionist); `Abd al-`Azím bin `Abd Alláh; Muhammad ibn al-Fudayl (follower of al-Sádiq, Músá and Ridá. Regarded as reliable); Abú Hamza (Nasír al-Khádim seems to have been a servant of al-`Askarí; or, al-Thumálí (Thábit b. Dínár) follower of `Alí b. al-Husayn, al-Báqir and al-Sádiq; al-Báqir. (information on these figures is taken from Kitáb al-irshád, (Eng. trans.), q.v. biographical index.)

Tafsír al-Qummí, p.25, speaks of Jews and Christians as the fásiqín intended here. Somewhat closer to the tradition in the Bab's tafsír is al-`Askarí, margin of Qummí, p.87. He identifies the wrongdoers as those who were not accounted in the waláya of Muhammad and `Alí, and their descendents.

[325] Baq., pp.219-20, quoted above.

[326] Baq., p.221.

[327] Ibid. This hadíth is found in Burhán, v.1,p.160, #2 and Núr, v.1, p.79,#258.

[328] Baq, p.222, and all mss.: min kufri jismi 'l-Yazíd.

[329] Baq., pp.221-2. Quite apart from its content, the tone of this first-person statement by the Bab could suggest that he is claiming access to divine knowledge.

[330] Baq., p.226-7: a`rafukum bi-nafsihi a`arafukum bi-rabbihi. See below "Tajallí".

[331] Cf. Richtungen, p. 267 where Goldziher points out that the "shajaratun ma`lúnatun" is identified in some early Shí`í tafsír with the Umayyads..

[332] Baq., p.227. The reference here is to 43:4: wa innahu fí ummi 'l-kitábi ladayná la-`alíyun hakímun. In the Qur'an, the pronoun refers to al-kitáb al-mubín and qur'ánan `arabíyan. It seems clear from the context that this translation is justified.

[333] Baq., p.227. N.b. the allusion to the Khutbat al-shiqshiqíya. The symbol of qamís has an important place in the story of Joseph, discussed below in Part ii.

[334] Baq., p.228. Notice the prominence of "Remembrance" (dhikr) here. The Bab was later to assume the word as a title.

[335] Cf. Burhán, v.1, p.124 #3 where in the tafsír of Qummí, this verse is said to have come down about Abú Dharr and `Uthmán. A very long report on this verse in which Abú Dharr and `Uthmán figure prominently may be found in Núr, v.1, pp. 80-3, #271. See also Qummí, pp.27-8.

[336] Or: "The believer in his amr recognizes them (the qawá`id) within these habitations." Baq., p.228.

[337] Baq., p.232: man `arafa-há fa-qad `arafa alláha The feminine pronoun may refer either to áya or nafs. In the latter case this statement is an allusion to the 'He who knows his self knows his Lord' tradition.

[338] wa hum yad`úna junúda 'l-shaytán; cf. Q.62:95.

[339] min fadli-hi = waláyata-hi

[340] Baq., pp.232-3; Baq. crosses out a repeat of `adháb muhín ilá, p.233.

[341] Also in Burhán, v.1, p.169, #2(= Núr, v.1, p.86,#286, cf. also #282). The isnád in Burhán: Kulayní, Qummí, Ahmad bin Muhammad al-Barqí, his father, Muhammad bin Sunán `Ammár bin Marwán, al-Munkhal, Jábir, Baqir. Núr gives the isnád as: fí usúl al-káfí bi-isnádi-hi `an Munkhal `an Jábir `an Abí Ja`far. The variant #3 in Burhan relates the last half of the verse to the Umayyads. Cf. Qummí, p.28 where there is no trace of this tradition in the appropriate place. The tradition, however, also acknowledged in Sáfí, p.39.

[342] Quoted from al-Qádí, "The Development," p.297. The Kitáb al-irjá` has attracted the interest of a number of scholars, e.g., Cook, Early Muslim Dogma; van Ess, "Das Kitáb".

[343] al-Qádí, p.306.

[344] Rafatí, pp.194-5 & 214.

[345] Ziyára, p.188.

[346] Baq., p.20.

[347] Anwár, pp.59-69.

[348] Ibid., p.60.

[349] Ibid., p.61. Cf. also the discussion of this hadíth in Crow, "The Teaching," pp.119-20 (n.86).

[350] Baq., p.97.

[351] The term Bálá-sarí, "above the head", refers to the main body of the Shí`a because of the common method of performing ritual visiation to the holy shrines. It denotes to the practice of standing at the head of the tomb, a practice which the Shaykhís' condemned as being disrespectful. Shaykhí's became known, therefore, also as "Pusht-i sarís" for their distinctive habit of standing at the foot of a sacred tomb, rather than circumambulating it, while reciting prayers. See Momen, p.227.

[352] Frye, The Great Code.

[353] Ibid., pp.80-1.

[354] Ibid., pp. 82-3.

[355] See below "Qá'im".

[356] For the views of Shaykh Ahmad see his Sharh, pp. 187-9; or his short handbook of doctrine Kitáb hayát al-nafs, Tabríz, 1377 [1957] pp.14-20. See also Rafatí, pp.191ff.

[357] deMiras, La méthode, q.v. "lexique": waláyat & walí.

[358] Landolt, "Waláyah," passim.

[359] Cf. Landolt, "Waláyah," p.318.

[360] EII, v.1, p.122.

[361] Ziyára, p.8. This hadíth, which continues on for a few lines, is a good example of a Shí`í solution to the tashbíhát al-Qur'án problem, another "rational" solution for which was a point of meeting between what might be called the "orthodox" Shí`a and the Mu`tazila. (See MacDermott, The Theology.) It has been partially translated in EII, v.1, p.194. The words "moving about in all directions" should probably be read as a validation of Q.2:115: Whithersoever ye turn, there is the Face of God.

[362] Ziyára, p.8. Cf. EII, v.1, pp.116,187-99 on which the following is based. This hadíth is included in Muhsin Fayz, Nawádir, p.33.

[363] This verse is divided in two: the first part appears at Ziyára, p.5, the second at 8. A recent edition of the prayer may be found in al-Qummí (comp.), Mafátih al-jinán, pp.445-50.

[364] Ziyára, p.8 adds wa sirr mustasirr.

[365] Cf. EII, v.1, pp.189-90.

[366] Ziyára, pp.8-9.

[367] EII, v.1, p.192

[368] See also Landolt's review of Wheeler Thackston (trans.),"The Mystical and Visionary Treatises of Suhrawardí," forthcoming in the Journal of the American Oriental Society, v.107, no.3 (1987).

[369] Rafati, pp.194-6.

[370] EII, v.1, p.194.

[371] Ziyára, p.9.

[372] EII, v.1, p.197.

[373] Ziyára, p.10.

[374] EII, v.1, p.198.

[375] Ziyára, p.11.

[376] EII, v.1, p.199.

[377] Sharh áyat al-kursí, lith. Tabriz (ca. 1860), mentioned in EII, v.1, p.201; see also Qasída, p.99 discussed below, Part ii.

[378] EII, v.1, p.201.

[379] See Part ii.

[380] See below Part ii, for the Shí`í idea of "Book as Imám, Imám as Book" (kitáb sámit/kitáb nátiq).

[381] Baq., p.24. See below.

[382] EII, v.1, p.205. The reference is to Shaykh Ahmad's Sharh al-mashá`ir, a commentary on Mullá Sadrá's Kitáb al-mashá`ir.

[383] EII, v.1, p.203. As Corbin points out, the motif of the four lights of the Throne is found in the standard Imámí compendia of traditions. He refers to, among others, Káfí,1, "Kitáb al-tawhíd", pp. 129-133. For another "semiotique" of colour, see Corbin, L'homme de lumière, 1971.

[384] This world, according to Rashtí, is the all-important `álam al-mithál or mundus imaginalis. The Bab makes no mention of the `álam al-mithál in this commentary.

[385] Sayyid Kazim Rashtí, Sharh áyat al-kursí, p. 2 cited by Corbin, EII, v.1, p.203. See Corbin's discussion, ibid, pp.203-11 for further details about this and other tetrads in both Shaykhí and non-Shaykhí thought.

[386] EII, v.1, p.206.

[387] From Corbin's French translation of this passage of the Sharh áyat al-kursí, EII, v.1, pp.209-10.

[388] EII, v.1, p.204, citing Shaykh Ahmad, Sharh al-mashá`ir.

[389] Cf. the statement by the Bab (Baq., p.14): "The believers are the rays of the prophets."

[390] EII, v.1, p.205. This passage is from Shaykh Ahmad's Sharh al-mashá`ir.

[391] Tehran Bahá'i Archives, 6006.C, pp. 73-4, (Sulúk). See Sources, pp.54-5.

[392] Sulúk, p.74: "This essay on sulúk has been kept brief for the benefit of those who have [spiritual] minds. Nevertheless, it contains sufficient information for those pure affirmers of the divine unity. In any case, the question has been written upon in detail by my lord, support, and teacher Háj Sayyid Kázim al-Rashtí, may God prolong his life (atála alláh baqá'ahu)."

[393] Sulúk, p.73.

[394] This hadith is also quoted in Baq., p.25.

[395] Sulúk, p.73.

[396] Baq., p.11.

[397] Cf. Masháriq, p.35. Here however, the alif mentioned is the one "hidden" in the basmala.

[398] Baq., p.11.

[399] Ibid.: wa bi-amri-hi qámat al-samawát wa'l-ard The above statement also exploits the abjad value of the Arabic alphabet: lám = 30 + mím = 40 = 70; káf = 20 + nún = 50 = 70.

[400] Baq., p.11: li-annahu muzhir al-waláya `an alláh.

[401] Baq., p.11 &I, p.159: aslu-há; C f.4a: usúlu-há.

[402] Baq., pp.11-12: `awámil al-fi`l; C f.4a & I, p.59: `awálim. The há = 5, mím = 40. Eight worlds = 8 x 5 = 40. Mím, as the letter of Fátima, represents the creative principle as it functions in the world accessible through sense perception. On Fátima as personification of this principle, see Corbin, Spiritual Body, pp.51-73.

[403] Baq., p.12. See EII, v.1, pp.310-20 for a full discussion of this hadíth and a history of its interpretation by exponents of theosophical Shí`ism. It is important to note that in the course of this statement attributed to the sixth Imám (only a portion of which is quoted by the Bab), not only are the Imáms characterized as: [1] "the men upon the heights", and [2] "the heights" themselves, but also as [3] "the gates" appointed by God for whoever wants to have knowledge of His self. This of course has important implications for the proper understanding of the Bab's earliest claim to be apart from the "Remembrance" (dhikr), also the "Gate" (báb) of God. On these terms see below, Part ii. For the Arabic text of the hadith: Káfí, v.1, p.184,#9.

[404] Baq., p.12. This hadíth may be found in Burhán, v.1, p.53, #3.

[405] Baq., p.14.

[406] Cf. Q.37:83ff.: Of his party was also Abraham; when he came unto his Lord with a pure heart . . .

[407] Baq, p.14. Cf. the quotation from Rashtí above, which speaks of the Imáms teaching "whoever resides in their House".

[408] Baq., p.13.

[409] Ibid.

[410] An exception is the passing reference to Káfí (Baq., p.90).

[411] Baq., p.41.

[412] Qadímí, p.314.

[413] Sayyid Kázim Rashtí, Sharh al-qasída al-lámíya, lithograph, Tabríz, 1270[1853] (hereafter Qasída). The edition used here is unpaginated. Page numbers supplied are counted from the recto of the title page. The qasída was written by one `Abd al-Báqí Afandí al-Músilí (1204/1789-1278/1861). al-Músilí spent most of his life in Baghdád, and was a distinguished poet and the author of several works on poetry and biography. This particular ode is devoted to the seventh Imám Músá Kázim (183/799-800), and was written on the occasion of the donation of a piece of the covering of the Prophet's tomb in Medina by Sultán Mahmúd II to be used for the Shrine of the Imám Músá located in Kázimayn. Rashtí wrote his commentary in 1258/1842 at the request of `Alí Ridá Pasha, then governor of Baghdád. It is possible that the original qasída was motivated by an anti-Wahhábí sentiment. For brief references to Sayyid Kázim's commentary see Rafati, p.133 and references; Charismatic, p.104 and references. The entire work really needs to be studied thoroughly. Corbin seems not to have taken an interest in it; Nicolas, on the other hand, has translated a passage from it (see below "Qá'im"), part of which corresponds to a passage cited by the renowned Bahá'í apologist, Mírzá Abú'l-Fadá'il Gulpáygání in his Kitáb al-fará'id (pp. 575-7) where the object is to show that Shaykhí writings predicted the advent of the Bab.

[414] Amanat, p.139.

[415] For ard al-za`farán, see Qasída, pp. 54, 59, and 74; for kathíb al-ahmar, pp. 41, 66, 74. Ard al-za`farán is found in the writngs of Ibn `Arabí (Futuhát, v.1, báb 8). See above, Background "The Shaykhí School" and the reference to Rahmán's article which equates it with the `álam al-mithál. This definition would appear to apply here.

[416] Qasída, p.54

[417] Qasída, p.41. For the origin of al-rafraf al-akhdar see 55:76.

[418] Baq., p.240.

[419] See below,"Tajallí". An example of "several maqámát" is that found in Ziyára, p.67 where the four marátib of tawhíd are discussed as: t. al-dhát, t. al-sifát, t. al-af`ál, and t. al-`ibáda.

[420] The statement at Baq., p.240 is: matá wujida; I, p.334: wujidat. The idea that the inanimate earth and the like can be mu'mín or káfir is attested in several hadiths. See, e.g. Burhán, v.3, pp.360-2 ad 33:72. (Incidentally, in the Leiden ms. the text from 2:94 to the end of the commentary on 2:100 is missing.)

[421] Izutsu, Sufism, pp.263-274.

[422] EII, esp. v.2, p.352.

[423] Baq., p.250, C f.93a, I, p.342, L p.19: ahl al-imkán wa al-akwán fí al-akwár wa al-adwár.

[424] Baq., pp.250-1: wa la-hu yuthbitu mulk áyati 'l-ahadíya li-man fí '-l-samawáti 'l-maqbúlát wa'l-ardi 'l-qábilát. For similar statements see the commentary at 2:22 & 2:116, Baq., pp.81-4 & 264.

[425] These last two phrases are missing from L19, probably the result of the copyist skipping a line.

[426] The quranic phrase: Q.10:32 or 39:6 (both verses mentionkingdom ); cf. also yusrafúna in 40:69 wheresigns are mentioned.

[427] Baq., p.264: idh kána huwa al-ghaní `an al-iqtirán wa'l-irtibát. The point here is that Muhammad is like God:when He decrees a thing, He but says to it 'Be!' and it is.

[428] Corbin, Creative Imagination, index, q.v. "Nafas Rahmání"; Izutsu, Sufism, pp116-40.

[429] L p.22 & I, p.354 qá'iman; Baq., p.266 & C f.99a: mutaqá'iman fí kulli 'l-`awálim `an al-rahmán.

[430] Baq., p.278: wa bi'l-`ahdi al-shahádata li-lláh `an aydí má siwá-hu.

[431] Cf. the previous similar equivalence `Alí/Abraham where the reason given is the correspondence between the words khalíl and walí.

[432] It is not clear whether bahá' has the same kind of technical meaning in the Shaykhí context as, for example, al-bayán. The Bab also refers on this page to "the People of al-Bahá' and al-Jamál".

[433] Baq., p.279.

[434] C f.105b: fa-hum minná instead of fí-him all other mss.

[435] C f.105b: wa má imkánuhum instead of má fí imkánihim (all other mss.).

[436] L p.26: wa law lá wujúd li'l-ma`lúm, an obvious scribal error, see following sentence transliterated in the next note.

[437] Baq., p.284: wa law lá du`á'u-humá lam yaqbali 'lláhu tawhídan min mutawahhidin wa qad qabila 'lláhu du`á'a-humá bi-shahádati anfusi-himá li-qabúl nufúsi 'l-muwahhidína anfusihim bi-anna la-hum al-jannata.

[438] Baq., p.284: banayá; this verb is a paronomastic reference to Husayn as the "son" ibn of `Alí, and therefore theIshmael of the verse

[439] ahl al-úlá, see below, "Qá'im".

[440] Baq., pp.284-5. In view of the vigour with which the Bab stresses the redness of the rank of the Shí`a, it is likely that connotations of martyrdom are to be read into it.

[441] I, p.368.

[442] L p.26.

[443] C f.105a.

[444] Baq., p.85.

[445] Baq., p.87.

[446] Baq., pp.87-8.

[447] Baq., pp.88-9. Rivers of water, milk, wine and honey are described in Q.47:15. The Bab has changed their order to conform with the hierarchy. The fourth inscription is a well-known hadíth, see Anwár, p.133.

[448] Ayoub, "The Prayer of Islam," pp.642-3.

[449] Baq., pp.7-9.

[450] I am grateful to Dr. Muhamad Afnan for pointing this out.

[451] See Ayoub, "Prayer," p.638, and, for example the article "al-Mathání," SEI, pp.361-362. However. the akhbárí interpretation supports these understandings of the saba` min al-mathání. In Burhán, v.2, pp.353-4, twelve hadíths are marshalled to support both the idea that the Fátiha is the sab` min al-mathání (#'s 1,2,5,6,11), as well as the Imáms (#'s 3,4,7). The remaining hadíths say that the "seventh" is the Qá'im (#8); #9 says that the verse was not revealed this way, but in any case it refers to "Us" (i.e. the Imáms or the ahl al-bayt), whereas the al-qur'án al-`azím mentioned in the verse refers to the Qá'im; #10 says simply that the verse points to the seven Imáms (!) and the Qá'im; #12 makes the interesting statement that "none of the prophets were given these except Muhammad; they are the seven Imáms around which the spheres revolve and al-qur`án al-`azím is Muhammad."

[452] Baq., pp.112-13 ad 2:29: It is He who created for you all that is in the earth, then He lifted Himself to heaven and levelled them seven heavens; and He has knowledge of everything. Cf. the mention of há becoming mím, during the process of "descent" or creation mentioned above.

[453] Baq., pp.113-4. This tradition appears in Káfí, v.1, p.149 in a separate chapter devoted to the subject. A variant ascribed to the Imám Músá lists these seven in the following order: qadá', qadar, iráda, mashíya, kitáb, ajal, and idhn. (ibid.)

[454] Cf. the hierarchy of paradises mentioned by Karím Khán Kirmání in Corbin, Spiritual Body, p.235.

[455] L, p.26: `ayn al-kibriyat. All the following names are presented as vowelled in this manuscript.

[456] So vowelled in L, p.26 which is followed in Baq., p.282 and C, f.104b; I, p.366: `ayn barhút as Ziyára (see below).

[457] L, p.26: jummatu má sayyidán

[458] The seventh body of water is called an `ayn in C and Baq.; I agrees with L.

[459] Baq., p.282. Cf. Núr, v.4, p.216 #92; the last `ayn here is different: "bal`wrán". The hadíth is also found in Burhán, v.3, p.279 #4, where yet another name "báhúrán" is given in the seventh place. All these names are obscure. Shaykh Ahmad cites this hadíth in Ziyára, p.253, in the course of another discussion of the terms bayán, ma`ání, abwáb, and imáma. Here the third fountain is al-barhút. Elsewhere, Shaykh Ahmad says that the valley of Barhút is where the astral body is joined by the Spirit (see Corbin, Spiritual Body, p.186-7).

[460] má siwá-hum ma`dúmúna `inda maqámi-him

[461] Viz: To facilitate a gradual and graduated access to ever higher levels of spiritual being.

[462] lá didd la-há wa lá zill bal fí 'l-haqíqati khalwa min al-jinán wa'l-jinán khalwa min-há. That the hells are characterized by the nonsubstantial idea of shadow is traceable to the teachings of Suhrawardí, which present evil as having no ontic value whatever. This is also one of the basic principles of Bahá'í theodicy. See `Abdu'l-Bahá'. Mufawadát, pp.183-4 [Eng. translation: Some Answered Questions, pp.301-2]. On Suhrawardí, see now Landolt, "Review of Thackston"; Corbin, EII, v.2; also idem. L'Archange Empourpré, pp.85-6. This metaphysic of light may be seen as having partly developed, although much altered, from Zervanism. Cf. also Widengren, Les Religions de l'Iran, pp.244-52; Bausaní, Persia Religiosa, pp.228-51.

[463] Baq., pp.9-10.

[464] So Halm, Die islamische Gnosis, q.v. index, zill, ashbáh.

[465] On this work, preserved by the Syrian Nusayrí `Alawí and Ismá`ílí communities, see Ibid., pp.240-46 and references. Much of the work is translated in Ibid., pp.246-74.

[466] Cf. Ibid., p.247.

[467] Cf.Ibid., pp.247-8.

[468] Ibid.

[469] Ibid., pp.109-10, 254.

[470] Ibid., p.183. On ashbáh, see also Rubin, "Pre-existence," pp.99-101.

[471] Ibid., pp.256 & 258.

[472] Ibid., pp.197 & 301.

[473] As a matter of fact, much of the otherwise unusual or puzzling vocabulary in this work by the Bab, and the work of Shaykh Ahmad and Sayyid Kázim may be seen as deriving ultimately from this literature, which was encountered in the work of scholars like Rajab Bursí (on whom see below), if not directly from those books like Kitáb al-haft wa 'l-azilla, "The Book of Heptads and Shadows" (half in Arabic and half in Persian, on which see Halm, pp.240-2).

[474] Corbin, Spiritual Body, p.182.

[475] According to Lane, shabah denotes a figure which is visible at a great distance, but which is as yet unidentifiable. Steingass offers a simple, yet helpful definition: "Any object seen at a distance and yet appearing as a black speck."

[476] Isfaráyiní, Révélateur, p.72.

[477] Corbin, Spiritual Body, pp.234-5, from the Irshád al-`awwám; another work by Kirmání, Izháq al-bátil, devotes long sections specifically to refutations of the Bab's claims. These sections are discussed in MacEoin, "Shaykhí Reactions".

[478] Baq., p.16.

[479] "His guidance": hidáyatuhu = `Alí's guidance.

[480] Baq., p.167. Ma`ání, sing. ma`ná, is a notoriously difficult word to pin down. One of the more logical definitions in the present context is: ". . . les concepts positifs de Dieu, les qualifications divines qui ont une signification pour nous, hommes, et c'est la Réalité mohammadienne primordiale, pléróme des Quatorze Immaculés qui sommes ces ma`ání." (Corbin EII, v.1, p.194). This may be summed up by Landolt's "die Idee" (idem, "Briefweschel," p.55); but see also Arberry, Doctrines, where the word is variously translated as "relation" (p. 20), and "being" (p.136). The adjectival ma`nawí corresponds to the English "significant" or "real" in the same way that the spiritual aspect of thing, as opposed to its material aspect, is thought to be "true" or ""real" as opposed to illusory.

[481] C f.6a: "All her community is her servant."

[482] See also Browne, Traveller's, pp.303-4. Cf. also the statement of al-Qummí quoted in Burhán, v.1, p.56 #10, that hidáya in the Book of God has several meanings (wujúh).

[483] EII, v.1, p.198.

[484] EII, v.1, p. 194.

[485] EII, v.1, p.122.

[486] Baq., p.13.

[487] For Ibn `Arabí, these four are designated as awtád (sing. watad); see Chodkiewicz, Sceau, p.119; Khidr himself is referred to as the fourth support (watad), ibid., pp. 120 & 125.

[488] EII, v.1, p.122.

[489] Ibid., p.123.

[490] Ibid., pp.122-3 translated from Haft bábí Bábá Sayyid-ná,in Two Early Ismaili Treatises, ed. by W. Ivanow, Bombay 1933, p. 12.

[491] See EII, v.1, p. 123. In Rúzbihán's hierarchy, the order nuqabá', nujabá' is reversed.

[492] Ibid.

[493] Cited in ibid., p.123 from a short risála by Rashtí. Rashtí's discussion of riwáq, particularly as it pertains to the word báb is discussed below, Partii. Cf. also the "hadíth of `Abdalláh Ibn Mas`úd" summarized in Landolt, "Waláyah," p.321, which mentions 356 (or 355) figures, comprising several categories, on whom the life of the world depends.

[494] Qasída, pp.96-103ff.

[495] Cited in EII, v.1 p.125.

[496] See below, Part ii.

[497] But cf. the designation Shaykhíya. As mentioned earlier, the Shaykhís themselves preferred the designation Kashfíya. This indicates that the former name was meant to imply the kind of Sufi veneration of a shaykh which the Shí`a abominated. Furthermore, it seems that the charge of "shaykh veneration" was not altogether without foundation. See the several passages in Qasída (passim) in which Rashtí quotes al-Ahsá'í as "al-Shaykh al-Akbar", the usual term of respect reserved for Ibn `Arabí.

[498] This is part of a longer tradition which is divided into stages by the Bab:

Sádiq said: "With God we have several states (hálát). In them We are He and He is Us; and He is He and We are Us." (quoted in Ziyára, p.324.)

[499] Baq., p.18: al-mutawajjah nafsu 'l-tawajjuh wa'l-`ilmu huwa 'l-ma`lúm. See below "Tajallí".

[500] I have not been able to find this prayer.

[501] Baq., p.18. The Qur'an reads: wa dakhala 'l-madínata `alá híni ghaflatin min ahli-há. It may be possible to translate it: "He entered the city while ignoring its people." "Swoon" here can only be a reference to the episode of Moses described in 7:143: And when His Lord revealed Him to the mountain He made it crumble to dust; and Moses fell down swooning. The "day of Sha`bán" the eighth day of Sha`bán, the anniversary of the occultation of the 12th Imám. (See Momen, p.239) The entire prayer from which the above quotation is taken may be found in al-Qummí, Mafátih al-jinán, pp.156-9 (the portion quoted by the Bab appears on pp.158-9.)

[502] Baq., p.19. This is relevant for the future claim of the Bab, dhikru'lláh being one his more usual appellations. The Bab was known as Sayyid-i dhikr after his return to Shiraz from `Atabát (after 1257-8/1842; see Amanat, p.141), because of what was apparently a constant preoccupation with prayer and other austerities. It is likely then, that he was describing himself in this passage and was appropriating to himself the qualification of al-`ismat al-kubrá, one of the features of the Imamate in general.

[503] This is a famous statement attributed to several classical Muslim ascetics, as quoted in Sufi manuals, similar to the so-called hadíth al-nawáfil; see Schimmel, Dimensions, p.43.

[504] Similar to a statement usually ascribed to the famous woman mystic, Rabi`a al-`Adawíya (185/801); see Schimmmel, Dimensions, pp.38-9.

[505] Baq., p.19: lá yará nafsa-hu wáqifan fí dhikri 'l-rahmán. It is possible to translate this as: "He does not see himself as desisting from the remembrance of God." However, the translation suggested above is more faithful to the overall Islamic mystical and ascetic tradition; cf., e.g., Arberry, Doctrines, pp.95-6 and passim for cautions against the mystic esteeming himself as performing various pious acts. An interesting cognate to this may be found in the statement of Plotinus, in which he likens the mystical experience to the condition of person so absorbed in reading that he has forgotten that he is reading (O'Brien, The Essential Plotinus, p.30). The repeated use of words derived from the root w q f, may be thought to reflect the Bab's preoccupation at this time with the Khutbat al-tatanjíya, on which see below Part ii.

[506] Cf. 2:284; 13:22; 14:31; 35:29.

[507] C f.7a: yaqúla, not bi-qawl as in Baq. & I,p.165.

[508] This passage is a good example of the melding of Sufi and Shí`í motifs and vocabulary, e.g., esp. sálikín. The reference to "their Imám" is striking, in that it suggests a separate group and is probably an example of the frequent merging of the figures of the Imám Husayn and Husayn b. Mansúr al-Halláj in tradition. This particular statement has been translated as follows:

Comment référer á Toi par quelque chose qui dans son �(tm)tre a besoin de Toi? Quelque chose d'autre aurait-il donc une manifestation que tu n'aurais pas, pour cet autre Te manifeste lorsque tu serais absent, pour que Tu aies besoins d'un indice qui te montre quand Tu serais au loin, de sorte que ce seraient les vestiges qui feraient parvenir jusqu'á Toi? Aveugle est l'úil qui ne te voit pas, tandis que tu ne cesses de l'observer.

(Corbin, Penétrations, p.104-5, n.14)

This passage, obviously a favorite around the time the Bab wrote, is from a very long prayer by the 3rd Imam, al-Husayn (d. 61/680) for the Day of `Arafat as quoted by Badí` al-Mulk Mírzá (d. after 1308/1890) who was the youngest grandson of Fath `Alí Sháh. He was the author of a Persian translation and commentary of Mullá Sadrá's Mashá`ir (see Corbin's edition of this in ibid, pp.91-2, Persian text. The entire prayer is in al-Qummí, Mafátíh al-jinán, pp.261-74, the pertinent passage is at p.272.

[509] Baq., p.20.

[510] Baq., p.20: al-numruqat al-wustá, cf. Qur'an on "middle nation", etc. e.g. 2:143. This hadíth is repeated in slightly differing form in the so-called juz' al-thání of this work in I, p.402. Likewise reference is made to al-numruqat al-kubrá in connection with Muhammad's office, ibid., p.393.

[511] I.e., Gabriel: al-rúh al-amín; C: rúh al-amín

[512] Baq., p.21 & I, p. 166: rú`í; C f.7b: rúhí

[513] Baq., p.21: hlla; C f.7b & I, p.166: hla

[514] I.e., Hasan al-`Askarí (260/873-4) father of the Hidden Imám. His tafsír is often quoted in Shí`í commentaries, an edition of which is printed on the margin of the old edition of the Tafsír al-Qummí (see bibliography); this statement appears on the margin of page 22.

[515] Baq., p.21.

[516] Ziyára, p. 353: wa hákadhá hádhá 'l-maqsad al-thání huwa taríq al-khissísín min shí`atihim.

[517] Ibid.

[518] This appears to be synonymous with ahadíya.

[519] Baq., p.22.

[520] Isfaráyiní, Révélateur, pp.131-2 and notes.

[521] Baq., pp. 21-2: min al-durra ilá 'l-dharra: "from the pearl to the speck of dust" appears to be an idiomatic phrase meaning "whether high or low" which does not refer directly to the quranic primordial covenant; cf, e.g., al-Ahsá'í, Sharh al-fawá'id, p.124 where the terms are used to describe everything within limited existence: al-wujúd al-muqayyad: awwaluhu al-durratu wa akhiruhu al-dharratu.

[522] Baq., p.22. The Bab says God created men each according to their predetermined capacity for accepting or rejecting [waláya].

[523] Baq., pp.22-3.

[524] Corbin, Spiritual Body, p. 230. The passage is from Karím Khán Kirmání, Kitáb Irshád al-`awwám.

[525] In the Bab's earlier Risálat al-sulúk (p. 74), he says that dunyá and the Hereafter are two "states" (hálatán): "If your concentration is upon God, then you are in Paradise, but if your attention is upon your self, then you are in Hell and in al-dunyá." This statement is quite faithful to the Shaykhí doctrine that Paradise and Hell were not real places, but spiritual conditions. This belief is said to have set them apart from the orthodox Shí`a (Rafatí, p.195 quoting a polemical work by one `Abd al-Samad b. `Abd Alláh al-Husayní al-Mázandarání, Tiryáq-i fárúq, litho., Mashhad, 1308[1890]).

[526] Baq., p.23.

[527] kámil muhtamal; I, p.168: al-kámil muhtamal.

[528] Baq., p.23.

[529] Baq., p.23: fa-man amana bi-him wa bi-ghaybi-him li-hádhihi 'l-sab`atu idhá karrarat fa-huwa 'l-mu'minu 'l-khális. N.B. the fourfold interpretation of imán in Burhan,1,p. 56#10 where al-Qummí is quoted as follows:

Imán in the Book of God is according to four aspects (wujúh): [1] iqrár bi'l-lisán; [2] tasdíq bi'l-qalb; [3] al-adá'; [4] al-ta'yíd.

[530] wa mahall tafsíl hádha 'l-ghayb huwa al-qá'im (Baq. = tafdíl; C, f8b & I, p.168 = tafsíl.)

[531] Baq., p.24.

[532] Baq., pp.24-5; C f.9a: li-Adam instead of ka-Adam, altering the sense greatly. Cf. slight variations on this hadíth in the tafsír, attributed to al-`Askarí, al-Qummí, Tafsír, margin pp. 22-3. It is not in Núr. Burhán,v.1, pp.56-7,#11 is exactly as the Báb quotes. Sáfí, p.21 has an unattributed variant: ghayb is that which is hidden from the senses about the tawhíd of God and the nubúwa of the prophets and the rising of the Qá'im, and the return and the resurrection, the remainder is as quoted by the Bab until qad nasaba. al-`Askarí: qad nasaba-há alláh `azza wa jalla `alay-há ka-Adam wa Hawwá wa Idrís wa Núh wa Ibráhím wa'l-anbíyá' al-ladhína yalzamu-hum al-ímán bi-hujaji 'lláhi wa in lam yusháhidú-hum wa yu'minúna bi'l-ghaybi wa hum min al-sá`ati mushfiqúna. [21:49].

[533] Baq., p.30.

[534] al-qishratát; C f.11a &I, p.173: al-qishríyát.

[535] Baq., p.30.

[536] On ashbáh and azilla see above. Concerning al-ashbáh, Ziyára, p.11 records the following exchange:

From Habíb b. Muzáhir ("a leading Kúfan Shí`ite": K. al-Irshad (Eng. trans. 586):

I said to Husayn b. `Alí Abí Tálib (the 3rd Imám): "What sort of thing were you before God created Adam?" He said: "We were ashbáhi núr revolving about the throne of the Merciful, teaching the angels the praise and glorification [of God]."

[537] Ziyára, pp.168-70. This verse, 16:25, functions similarly for Nasír al-Dín Túsí. See his Tasawwurát, (Ivanow translation, see bibliography), pp.50-1 & 74-5.

[538] Baq., p.30: min al-asrár al-láhútíyati 'l-azalíya wa'l-thanawíyati 'l-ghayri mutanáhíya sic min ma`rifati irádati 'lláh al-`álíya. = [perhaps] "and other lesser matters without end concerning the gnosis of the highest purpose of God."

[539] Baq., p.30: qulzum al-mawwáj al-mutasákhir/al-muta'akhkhir al-`amíq. C f.11a: al-mutazákhkhir (very difficult to read); I,p.173: al- mutadhákhkhir.

[540] Baq., pp.30-1. This is a reference to the famous hadíth "Heaven and earth cannot contain Me. That which can contain me is the heart of My servant." (see, e.g., Schimmel, Dimensions, p.190) and a rare reference by the author to himself.

C f.11a-b: lá yajburu wa lá yufawwizu amra-hu bal qad khalaqa 'l-ashyá' bi'l-sirri 'l-ikhtiyár wa inna hádhá 'l-báb huwa `urida hádhá 'l-ján sic awsa` `ammá bayna 'l-samá' wa'l-ard wa huwa 'l-shamsu 'l-mudí' lá yattali`u `alay-há illá 'l-fard al-qadím.

I, pp.173-4: as Baq. except: yajburu.

[541] On this subject see Ayoub, "al-Badá'"; Goldziher, "al-Badá'," SEI, pp.53-5 where reference is made to the Shaykhí treatment of the subject found in Nicolas, Le Chéikhisme, fasc. III "Le Doctrine" (see bibliography).

[542] This level shows much Sufi content, from the reference to the hadíth: al-faqru fakhrí (see Schimmel, op. cit., pp. 121 & 428) to the paradoxical treatment of the principles of faná and baqá. Notice, however, that these traditional Sufi virtues, which represent the "greatest grade" are said, in the following comment, to be properly acquired only by those who have "entered the House", viz, the Shí`a.

[543] Baq., p.32: `alá má hum `alayhi.

[544] al-jawáhir fi'l-khazá'in; C, f.12a: al-jawahir fí jawahir.

[545] Baq., p.32.

[546] Baq., p.33 & I, p.175: ahl al-tafáq; C f.12a: ahl al-nafáq. The word may be meant to convey the meaning of tafawwuq.

[547] Baq., p.37. The following excerpts are from pp.38-40.

[548] This tradition is quoted in Ziyára, p.353.

[549] Baq., pp.120-1.

[550] rubúbíyat al-muqtaranat al-marbúb. The Qur'an reference is 20:5, cf. also 7:53; 10:3; 13:2; 25:59; 32:4; 57:4.

[551] Baq.: `arrafa-ka; C, f.45a: `arafaka; I, p.241: wasafaka.

[552] Baq., p.150 & I, p.263: al-ádam al-úlá; C f.56a: al-ádam al-awwal.

[553] Baq., p.150.

[554] lá didd li-ahli-há. Cf. above ad 2:1 where the First Paradise itself is described in a similar way.

[555] Baq., p.150. Variation on Qur'an 50:29. Cf. also Q.3:182, 8:51, 22:10, 41:46.

[556] Baq., p.151: illá ba`da ma`rifati-him bi'l-núráníya

[557] 3:28 & 30. May be read as: God warns you to beware of Him alone.

[558] Baq., p.151: zawji-há, reference Q. 4:1, 7:189, 39:6, 57,1. Cf also Fusus, 1, p.56 where Adam is identified by Ibn Arabí as the single soul (nafs wáhida) mentioned in 4:1: Mankind, fear your Lord, who created you of a single soul, and from it created its mate . . . The gender of the pronoun is of course determined by the feminine word nafs.

[559] Baq., p.151: fa-lammá ista'nasa bi-zawji-há wa hiya maqámu ta`ayyuni Adam al-úlá

[560] Baq., p.152.

[561] Ibid. This report is also in Safi, p.27, line 13; Burhan, v.1, p. 80, #2 , also part of #4.

[562] Baq., pp.152-3.

[563] Baq., pp.163-4. On this tradition, also cited in the Bab's Risálat al-sulúk, p.73, and its variants, see Algar, "Silent and vocal dhikr," p.39.

[564] Baq., p.164: bi-má hum `alá khiláfi 'l-tawwalí.

[565] Masháriq, p.170: aná . . . qásim al-janna wa'l-nár bi-amr rabbí.

[566] Ibid., pp. 166-70 (reproduced below in Part ii).

[567] See Baq., p.165.

[568] Rafatí, p. 133; see also below Part ii.

[569] Masháriq, p.31.

[570] Masháriq, pp.30-1.

[571] Baq., p.165.

[572] This nine level hierarchy is not found elsewhere in the tafsír, but one assumes that since it is applied here, it may also be applicable at other verses.

[573] From this point on, there is a difference in numbering the levels among the mss.

[574] Baq. adds an illegible word, perhaps "etc."; I, p.363 continues the Qur'an: and a guidance to all beings [followed by] etc.; C f.103a ends as Baq. adding "etc."; L, p.25: as I, adding al-áya instead of "etc."

[575] Baq., p.277: wa inna tafsíra hádhihi 'l-áyati 'l-sharífati li-ahli 'l-haqíqati kánat nafsa-há kullu `alá maqámi-há

[576] Cf., e.g., Masháriq, pp.160-72.

[577] Other related uses in the Qur'an are at 7:187; 91:3; and 92:3. This term, and its derivatives, also exists in the hadíth literature, which will be discussed below in detail.

[578] An important discussion of this is Henry Corbin, "Divine Epiphany" esp. p.123.

[579] Cf. Anwár, p.227 "al-zahr". Other related terms are those derived from the following roots: Sh R Q; B R Z; W H Y; L H M; and N Z L, all of which may be used to refer to the process commonly denoted by the word "revelation", which may be thought of as a synonym for "appearance".

[580] See the citation in Goichon, La Philosophie, p. 42.

[581] It is generally agreed that the most faithful repository of his mature thought is the Fusus al-hikam which was begun in 1229, approximately ten years before his death in Damascus. For a representative passage on this subject see Fusús v.1, p.49.

Much has been written on this most influential of all Muslim mystical philosophers. Beginning with the most recent and pertinent: Chodkiewicz, Le Sceau des saints,1986; Izutsu, Sufism and Taoism, 1984; Corbin, L'Imagination créatrice,1958 (translated by Ralph Manheim as Creative Imagination, 1981); Affifi, The Mystical Philosophy of Muhyid Din-Ibnul Arabi, 1979 (reprint of the 1939 edition). For a good survey of other studies on Ibn `Arabi, see now Morris, "Ibn Arabí and his Interpreters, 1 & 2," 1987.

[582] For tajallí in the writings of Ibn Abí Jumhúr see his al-Mujlí ("the polisher"), esp. pp.204-5.

On this work specifically see Dharí`a, v.20,p.13 where the title is given as al-Mujlí li-mir'át al-munjí. This refers to the successive refinement of the author's thought in the course of commenting on his original Masálik al-afham. This commentary he entitled al-Núr al-munjí. As a commentary on al-Núr al-munjí, the title al-Mujlí refers to the third and final stage of refinement. Dharí`a characterizes Ibn Abí Jumhúr as an "`árif, muhaddith, and a faqíh". See also the article by Madelung, "Ibn Abí Gumhúr".

The importance of Ibn Abí Jumhúr for the study of Shaykhism, is suggested in Rafati, pp.22 & 40 (and references), where for example, the author refers to him in discussing Shaykh Ahmad's early education and mentions the theory that Shaykh Ahmad somehow fell heir to Ibn Abí Jumhúr's library from which he derived a great deal of his methodology, see Corbin, EII, v.4, p.222.

[583] On Ibn `Arabí's influence on Haydar Ámulí see Corbin, EII, v.3, pp.149-213. For his influence on Ibn Abí Jumhúr see ibid., p.156, e.g.:

L'úuvre de Haydar Ámolí est, avec l'úuvre d'Ibn Abí Jomhúr, de celles qui ont le mieux contribué á l'integration de la pensée d'Ibn `Arabí á la pensée shí`ite, comme si la pensée shí`ite retrouvait son propre bien dans l'úuvre immense d'Ibn `Arabí.

Incidentally, Corbin continues:

Cela pose toute la question des origines et des sources de la pensée du Shaykh al-akbar, question á laquelle auront á répondre de futures recherches approfondies aussi bien dans l'oeuvre d'Ibn `Arabí que dans les monuments de la philosophie shí`ite.

In this regard it is of some interest to notice the following headings in Ibn Abí Jumhúr's al-Mujlí:

p.308: fí bayán ithbát zuhúr al-mahdí bi-wujúh `adídatin nuqila li-Muhyi al-Dín al-A`rábí

p.309: fí bayán ithbát al-khiláfati li'l-mahdí, fí bayán taqsím al-khiláfati min kalám Muhyi al-Dín al-A`rábí, mabhath khatm al-waláya li-'l-mahdí min kalám Muhyi al-Dín al-A`rábí

p.310: fí bayán khatm al-waláya li-'l-mahdí fí bayán al-waláyati wa zuhúr al-mahdí bi-naql kalimát Muhyi al-Dín fí 'l-Futúhát

[584] Baq., pp.1-6.

[585] So C f.2b. The manuscripts vary at this point: Baq., p.8 has la-hu bi-hi and a (perhaps crossed out) final bi-hi; I,p.156 has simply la-hu bi-hi.

[586] Cited in Ziyára, p.8 (line 8 up). See also al-Mujlí, p.168. A similar usage is found in the Fusus, although not ascribed to an Imám. Ibn `Arabí is explaining the way we gain knowledge of God. This knowledge, according to Ibn `Arabí is closely associated with individual self-knowledge:

Since we know Him through ourselves and from ourselves, we attribute to Him all we attribute to ourselves. It is for this reason that the divine revelations come to us through the mouths of the Interpreters [the prophets], for He describes Himself to us through us (fa-wasafa nafsa-hu la-ná bi-ná). If we witness Him we witness ourselves, and when He sees us He looks on Himself." (Austin translation, Bezels, pp. 54-5/Fusús, v.1, p.53. For al-mutajallá la-hu, see Fusús, v.1, p.61 (ll.14-15), p.62 (l.1), & cf. p.121 (l.1).)

[587] Baq., p.10.

[588] The root W H M does not occur in the Qur'an. Cf. Mullá Sadrá, Mashá`ir, p.2 who speaks of God's power as repelling the shayátín al-awhám; & Bo Utas, op.cit., p. 182 and the references there. This problem of the fluidity of positive and negative connotations for the same word may be seen in another statement attributed to `Alí, one which appears in the Nahj al-balágha, v.4, p.73: attaqú zunún al-mu'minín fa-inna 'lláha ta`ála ja`ala al-haqq `alá alsinati-him. Here the word "thoughts", which in many contexts has an umistakable negative value, viz, "fancies", can be read only as positive (that is, mental activity which is true, accurate & veridical). Cf., for example, Izutsu, Ethico-Religious Concepts, pp. 131-2. The same may be said for khayál, "imagination".

[589] This translation is in line with a topos frequently referred to by Corbin which is found expressed in the apocryphal Acts of Peter: "I saw him in such a form as I was able to take in./ Talem eum vidi qualem capere potui." See, e.g., Corbin, "Divine Epiphany," p. 69.

[590] A similar idea is also ascribed to al-Halláj (309/922):

Au nom de Dieu Clément et Miséricordieux, Lequel Se manifeste á (al-mutajallí `an) travers toute chose á qui Lui plait. (al-Halláj, Akhbár, #41 p.85).

[591] Corbin, "Le paradoxe du monotheisme," p.14.

[592] See above "Hierarchies".

[593] há = al-awhám.

[594] Baq., p.10 & I,p.158: wa'l-azal nafsu-hu nafsu-hu; C f.3b: wa 'l-azal nafsu-hu.

[595] These two technical terms represent two opposite means of knowledge.

[596] At this point Baq.,10 mistakenly adds wa in qulta huwa huwa which is actually a portion of the sermon al-Yatimíya quoted below.

[597] [a] lam yakun ma`a-hu shay'-un. [b] al-án ka-má kána.

[598] So C f.3b & I, p.158. Baq., p.10: illá inna-hu = al-imkán as a collective for men. The third person plural pronoun could also refer to the Imáms.

[599] idh má siwá-hu lá yumkin fí haqq al-imkán

[600] Mashá`ir, p. 59 (p. 205 of French translation). Mullá Sadrá's source is Shaykh Mufíd (413/1022), Kitáb nawádir al-hikmat.

[601] Corbin, French text of al-Mashá`ir, p. 221. See also Persian text, p. 89.

[602] Qámús-i �(tm)qán, v. 3, pp.1287-9.

[603] Káshání, Istilahát al-súfíya, pp.155-6.

[604] Landolt, "Der Briefweschel," pp.41-54, see p. 48 for a translation of Káshání's treatment of tajallí as it appears in the Istiláhát.

[605] See the related discussions on tajallí-ye kháss in Qámús-i �(tm)qán, v.1, p. 383 and fayz al-aqdas & fayz al-muqaddas, v.3, pp.1193-1204. The author closes his commentary on this phrase, with a long excerpt in which it figures from the Sharh khutbat al-tatanjíya by the successor to Shaykh Ahmad, Sayyid Kázim Rashtí. On the Sharh khutbat al-tatanjíya, see below, Part ii. The Bab wrote a commentary on part of this commentary; it has unfortunately not been possible to consult it (see above, Background).

[606] Bahá'ulláh, The Kitáb-i-Iqán, pp.73-4.

[607] Baq., p.10, and all mss.; cf. F10, f.92b, poss. Khutbat al-taymíya. I have been unable to trace this khutba. {---} indicates material a slight variant of which is quoted in the course of the very long doxology which serves as something of an overture, because of the medley of theosophical "melodies" which it contains, to Masháriq, p.9. It is not referred to here as the khutba mentioned by the Bab.

[608] Here Baq. has fa-huwa huwa ilá 'l-wasf, which is probably an error.

[609] Baq., pp.10-11: lá ya`lamu kayfa huwa illá huwa is a frequent refrain in this work.

[610] Some of these may be found in Chittick (trans.), A Shi`ite Anthology, "Via Negativa", pp.29-30. Many similar selections, some of which are taken from such canonical works as Nahj al-balágha, may also be found here.

[611] al-Halláj, Akhbár al-Halláj, pp.31-2 (French trans., pp.68-9). Elsewhere the editors have written: "Au point de vue de la composition, il convient de comparer les anciennes `aqída et prieres shí`ites." (ibid., "Introduction," p.49). The editors draw attention to the existence of this `aqída in al-Qushayrí's Risála (written in 437/1045), although they do not mention its use in al-Kalábádhí (ca. 380/990), Kitáb al-ta`arruf (See Arberry's translation, Doctrines, pp.15-6).

[612] Viz, `Alí. See above "Hierarchies".

[613] The interesting idea of mystical union of the Shí`a with `Alí is suggested. al-án ka-má kána, usually reserved as a reference to the divine essence, is used here quite unambiguously to refer to `Alí. Baq., pp.17-18; C f.6b: wa hidáyatu-hu nafsu 'l-muttaqín; I,p.164: wa hidáyatu-hu kánat nafsa 'l-muttaqín. kánat has been inserted in Baq. as an afterthought.

[614] E.g. ad 2:2 (Baq., p.16); 2:89 (Baq., p.232); 2:92 (Baq., p.234); 2:97 (Baq., p.240); 2:99 (Baq., p.241); 2:106 (Baq., p.249); 2:113 (Baq., p.258); 2:118 (Baq., p.265); 2:125 (Baqp.., 278); 2:128 (Baq., p.285); 2:137 (Baq., p.292).

[615] Early in the tafsír the Bab quotes a variant of this tradition in the form of a rhetorical question: "Which of God's signs is greater than me and which announcement is greater than me." (Baq., p.26)

[616] Ziyára, p.323. This súra tells the story of Muhammad's ascent (mi`ráj) and contains several verses and words that were to eventually provide technical vocabulary for theologians, philosophers, and mystics of the most diverse temperaments and views. It should be remembered here that Shaykh Ahmad did not support the idea of the Prophet's bodily ascension to the seventh heaven, but insisted that the event took place in the imaginal world of Húrqalyá.

[617] wa nahnu dhálika 'l-wasf al-wáqi` `alayná bi-ná fa-qad tu`urrifa la-ná bi-ná.

[618] al-Ahsá'í, Sharh al-fawá'id, p.26. This work is a commentary on the same author's Fawá'id (written in Yazd in 1211/1797) which is designated by qultu; his Sharh (written 1233/1817 at the request of one Mullá Mashhadí b. Husayn `Alí) follows aqúlu. On this work see Rafatí, p.60. The last statement quoted is a reference to the famous "I was a hidden treasure" hadith.

[619] Ziyára, p.323.

[620] Sulúk, p.73.

[621] There is variation among the mss. in the way the Qur'an is quoted. C f.19b quotes the verse in full before the commentary begins, in which parts of the verse are again quoted. Baq., p.52 and I, p.190 simply cite parts of the verse in the course of the commentary.

[622] Baq., p.53.

[623] Shaykh Ahmad continues his discussion of tawhíd by citing a second hadith, the famous nahnu al-a`ráf statement (on which see above "Waláya" and EII, v.1, pp.310-20). In this hadíth the Imám says, "We are those heights without knowledge of which God is unknown." Ziyára, p.8: nahnu 'l-a`ráfu 'l-ladhína lá yu`rafu 'lláha illá bí-sabíli ma`rifati-ná. This tawhíd and "knowledge" then, are read in light of the fact (derived also from hadíth) that God describes Himself by an attribute to those of His servants who seek knowledge of Him by an attribute. Such an attribute is of necessity generated, and also is not like any other created thing.

[624] The following quotation may be found at Baq., pp.53-4.

[625] a`rifú 'lláha bi-lláh.

[626] a`rafukum bi-nafsihi a`rafukum bi-rabbihi; cited also by Shaykh Ahmad in the context of the above-mentioned discussion of his commentary on 41:53. The author of al-Mujlí cites the same tradition when he discusses the problem of the clear and ambiguous verses of the Qur'an in which he outlines a doctrine of "three scriptures" viz: [1] a macrocosmic book (kitáb al-afáqí); [2] the Qur'an proper (kitáb al-qur'ání); [3] a microcosmic book (kitáb al-anfusí). A reading of any one of the three in the correct way, constitutes reading them all. Concerning this last "book", Ibn Abí Jumhúr quotes the famous statement here attributed to Muhammad: "He who knows himself knows his Lord". The author adds: "Because he is a true knower (`árif) who knows himself properly (`alá má yanbaghí) and peruses his book properly (`alá má huwa `alay-hi fí nafsi-hi `alá má yanbaghí)." At this point the famous quranic statement is cited: Read thy own book! Thy soul suffices thee this day as a reckoner against thee. [17:14] Then comes the following important statement which because of the background it provides not only for the Bab's understanding of tajallí, but also for a deeper general understanding of Shí`í scriptural interpretation, will be quoted in full:

In this way he who peruses the kitáb al-qur'ání accordingly (`alá jihat al-tatbíq) al-haqq appears (tajalla) to him in the form of words and phrases (alfáz, tarkíba), and appears to him (zahara la-hu) under the guise (tahta malábis) of His letters and His verses and His words as a spiritual manifestation (tajallíyan ma`nawíyan) like that which `Alí alluded to:

Verily He has appeared to His servants (la-qad tajallá li-`ibádi-hi) in His words but they do not perceive (yabsirúna).

And he who peruses the kitáb al-afáqí properly (`alá má huwa `alay-hi), the Truth will appear to him in the forms of the His nominal manifestations (fí suwari mazáhiri-hi al-asmá'íyati) in the guise of actions and thoughts (fi`líyat wa `aqlíya al-kawníya), those things which are designated by letters and words and verses, which are expressed through existing things (al-mawjúdát al-`ulúwwíya wa'l-saflíya, and created things (makhlúqát) both spiritual and material, absolute and concrete (al-itláq wa'l-ta`yín) [will appear] as a clear (`iyánan) testimonial manifestation, because there is nothing in existence other than God and His attributes and His names and His acts. Therefore, the whole is He and by Him and from Him and to Him (fa'l-kullu huwa wa bi-hi wa min-hu wa ilay-hi). al-Mujlí, pp.168-9.

(To further point up the similarity between al-Ahsá'í's method and that of the author of this book, attention is drawn to the following discussion by Ibn Abí Jumhúr of the mi`ráj, ibid.,p.169f.)

[627] C f.20a adds here "etc." (ilá ákhiri-hi). This is an apocryphal statement which I have been unable to trace.

[628] man `arafa alláha bi-sabíl hádhi-hi al-nafs al-ladhí (sic. all mss.) fí-hi qad `arafa 'lláha.

[629] lá farq fí'l-ma`rifati illá anna-hu `abdu-hu wa khalqu-hu man `arafa-hu ka-ma`rifati 'lláhi subhána-hu fa-qad `arafa-hu

[630] All of this would seem to indicate that it is the Imám here which is the subject of discussion. Self-knowledge can be accomplished most perfectly by the Imám. Conversely, self-knowledge can never be perfectly accomplished by the believer. The only "way" open to him is knowledge of the "sign" of the Imám which is in him. It is clear that this knowledge can have both an external and internal referent. Whether Shaykh Ahmad opted exclusively for the internal, is something of which Corbin was firmly convinced (EII, v.4, pp.286-300) but which has been questioned (Rafatí, pp.167-217). Judging from the slightly later Tafsír súrat Yúsuf (on which see Part ii), there can be no question that for the Bab this eschatology was (at least eventually) to be mediated through both the external and internal worlds.

There is some disagreement among the mss. here. Both Baq. p.54 and I,p.191 have inserted li-anna-hu before huwa ayat al-tafríd. This suggests that Baq. was being "corrected" while I was being copied from it: . . . fa-lá ya`rifu-hu li-anna-hu huwa . . . instead of . . . lá ya`rifu-hu wa huwa. . . [C f.20a] The connective wa is crossed out of Baq., while it seems never to have been written in I. The above translation follows C.

[631] wa fí kulli shayin la-hu áyatun tadullu `alá ann-hu wáhidun, an apparently anonymous verse frequently cited in classical Sufism and Shí`í theosophical literature. See, e.g., the Bab's older contemporary, Mullá Hádí Sabzavarí (1212/1797-8 -1289/1878), Sharh al-manzúma, p.78 who quotes it in explanation of his own statement: anna 'l-ma`dúma lá yu`ádu bi-`ayni-hi. Incidentally, Bahá'u'lláh criticized Sabzavárí in his Kalimát-i firdawsíya (see idem, Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh, p.61).

[632] Baq., 54: ay bi-má tajalla la-hum bi-him wa hiya anfusu-hum.

[633] C20a adds: "and the instruments (al-álát) only to what is comparable (nazá'iri-há) to them."

[634] This must be a hadíth or maxim, but it is not ascribed to anyone in any of the mss.

[635] Baq., p.54: This is a reference to the often quoted exchange between the first Imám and Kumayl. The statement comes as a response to Kumayl's question: "What is Reality (má al-haqíqa)?". This tradition may be considered as representing one "Islamicate" version of the "What is Truth" topos found in Christianity and put in the mouth of Pilate "for safekeeping". An important difference is thus distinguished: The "impossible" question, if pressed, is for Christianity ultimately both spiritually and politically anarchical. This is why Pilate has the honour. In its Islamic form, however, it becomes partly defused by being at least askable. In this way, it is a door to the rigorous apophatic theology which characterizes both this commentary and the spiritual tradition upon which it is based. As such, the question may then be seen as an "antidote" to the above-mentioned anarchy. Corbin, "La theologie apophatique comme antidote du nihilisme," in Le paradoxe du monothéisme, pp.211-58. For the connection between this hadíth of Kumayl and the so-called "authoritarianism" of Shí`í Islam, see also EII, v.1, pp.110-118.

[636] kashf subuhát al-jalál min ghayri isháratin musháhadatu 'l-`abd wajha 'l-rabb. The "face of the Lord" is a common designation of the Imám, see Anwár, pp.333-4. Cf. also above, the passage translated from Sulúk. It might be translated as: the things which the servant sees as the face of the Lord = the veils of glory are the musháhadati 'l-`abd wajha 'l-rabb.

[637] This may be thought of as a par excellence expression of at least one aspect of what Corbin refers to as the paradox of monotheism. The Arabic is: wa laysa aqrabu min shayin min nafsi-hi ilay-hi wa haqíqati-hi laday-hi wa inna 'lláha subhána-hu názirun bi'l-`abd bi-hi wa mutajallí-hi bi-hi wa muhásibu-hu bi-hi subhána-hu min an tanála [sic; C f.20b & I, p.192: yanálu) ilay-hi tawajjuh ahadin min khalqi-hi. C f.20b: náziran; and omits mutajallí-hi bi-hi; also possibly reads názara bi'l-`abd bi-hi. The meaning appears to be that God does not enter into any relationship, thus all relations are on the level of wajh, which is at the same time the "sign", and the innermost reality (nafs, haqíqa) of any "thing" created.

[638] It is not clear where the quotation ends.

[639] qála sayyid al-mawjúdát fí 'l-imkán; I, p.192 changes the sense somewhat: qála sayyid al-mawjúdát salá alláh `alayhi wa álihi fí'l-imkán . . . . Incidentally, I, as a rule, uses doxographical formulae more frequently than the other mss.

[640] Baq., pp.54-5. A commonly cited hadíth. See Muhsin Fayz, Kalimát, p.3, where a similar statement is ascribed to `Alí.

[641] The vocabulary used here may be an allusion to the statement traditionally ascribed to the first Caliph Abú Bakr: wa 'l-`ajz `an daraki 'l-idrák idrák. See Fusús, v.1, p.62 where it is also clear that Ibn `Arabí does not approve of such declarations of ignorance on the part of man. The subject under discussion is similar to the idea expressed here, namely that God beholds himself through man, it concludes judiciously, with "the whole matter is prone to intricacy and ambiguity." (Austin translation, Bezels, p. 65)

[642] Baq., p.55: wa dhálika záhirun li-ahli 'l-fu'ád li-anna 'lláha qad anzala-hu min majrá al-midád `alá lawh al-sadád ka-dhálika. Masháriq, p.63, in a commentary on 17:32 and in a style frequently emulated by the Bab in this tafsír, equates fu'ád with waláya.

[643] attaqú min firásat al-mu'min fa-innahu yanzuru bi-núr alláh wa huwa núr alláhi al-ladhí khuliqa minhu wa'l-káfir názir bi-nafsi-hi wa khuliqa min-hu (all mss.) This tradition is mentioned by Schimmel, Dimensions, p.205 where firása is defined as the "cardiognosia" of the Sufi Shaykh specifically. Schimmel discusses the hadíth as it is found in Rúzbihán Baqlí, Sharh al-shathíyát, paragraph #190 p.326. Here the statement is ascribed to Muhammad. In determining the end of the hadíth as quoted by the Bab I have followed this text. If the Imám's identity is unspecified by the Bab, it usually means that the speaker is `Alí. I,p.194 alone specifies this Imam as such.

[644] Baq., p.57. The entire commentary is at Baq., pp.52-7, one of the longer commentaries to an individual verse. This last sentence is most probably a reference to the awaited parousia of the hidden Imám.

[645] It should be remembered, however, that al-Ahsá'í is referred to in the works of his successor, Sayyid Kázim Rashtí as al-Shaykh al-Akbar, the title traditionally reserved for Ibn `Arabí. There can be no question that al-Ahsá'í was the object of the kind of veneration which Sufi Shaykhs commonly commanded.

[646] Baq., p.62. It should be added that the verse is seen as descriptive of the events surrounding the rejection of `Alí's waláya.

[647] Reference to the well-known had^th: "The truth is with `Alí and `Alí is with the Truth, it turns wherever he turns [or vice versa]." Cited in full by the Bab, Baq., p.16.

[648] Baq., pp.172-3; C f.64b; I, p.281; L p.5.

[649] Baq., p.173: . L p.6 is clearly vowelled: wa lá abqá li-nafsi-hi inníyatan; C f.65a may be inníyata-hu; I, p.281: . Núr `Alí Shah speaks in similar terms about the level of Inclusive Unity. Cf. deMiras, pp.324-25. Cf. also the verse ascribed to Halláj:

bayní wa baynaka 'anníyun yuzáhimuní

f'arfa` bi-'anniyika 'anníyi min al-bayni

(Akhbár al-Halláj, p.76; see also the commentary by Ibn Taymíya (728/1328) written in response to a statement made about the verse by Suhrawardí (al-Maqtúl), ibid., pp.78-80.

The verse is translated as:

Entre moi et Toi, il y a un "je suis" qui me tourment,

Ah! óte par Ton "Je suis", mon "je suis" hors d'entre nous deux.

(ibid., French text, p.93.)

[650] See the verse from Gulshán-i ráz quoted in Landolt, "Deux opuscules," p. 279. The author points out that the term seems to have been used exclusively in a perjorative sense by Isfaráyiní, Simnání's teacher.

[651] Afnan, Philosophical Terminology, p.93. About the terms ana, aníyya, aná'íyya, and anáníyya, he says:

These are a set of mystic terms which have been often confused with philosophical terminology somewhat similar in orthography though entirely different in sense.

For aníya as a variant of anáníya in a mystical context see, Isfaráyiní, Révélateur, p.107 and note of the Persian text.

[652] Sharh-i manzúma, p.598. On and references to other discussions of the word, see Ivry, "Al-Kindí," pp.131-3.

[653] Afnan, loc. cit. A similar conflation seems to occur in al-Jílí (d. between 811/1408 and 820/1417. See Nicholson, Studies, pp.83-4..

[654] Corbin, Mashá`ir, p.102.

[655] Afnan, op. cit., p.94; Ivry, op. cit., p.132; Goichon, Lexique, pp.9-12.

[656] E.g. M. Abú Rída (ed.) Rasá'il al-Kindí al-falsafíya, v.1, Cairo: 1953, p. 97 (cited by Ivry, loc. cit.); Izutsu (cited above).

[657] op. cit., p. 12.

[658] Goichon, op.cit., p.9.

[659] Afnan, op. cit., p.97.

[660] Baq., pp.131-150, or approximately 1/15 of the entire commentary.

[661] Baq., p.135. This is a famous tradition; see Schimmel, Dimensions, pp.113 & 196.

[662] Baq., pp.135-7.

[663] This is a reflex of those verses in the Qur'an which speak of God's having created mankind from a single soul (nafs wáhida) and from it its mate (wa khalaqa minhá zawjahá) [4:1;7:179; cf. 39:6]. By this allusion, the Bab seeks to identify the "single soul" as Adam. As for Adam al-úlá (sic all mss.), it may be seen as deriving from comments such as those ad 2:34 (Baq., p.131, cited above) which speaks of the mashhad al-úlá or the "place of witnessing", which pertains to the primordial yawm al-mitháq, and where Adam is identified as `Alí. We have also seen in the discussion of hierarchies, the reference to the eighth or highest heaven as al-jannat al-úlá. The frequency of the adjective in such unlikely places is probably a function of its status as a technical term in Shaykh Ahmad's lexicon; cf. Ziyára, pp.68-70, where the three words in one of the verses of the prayer (al-dunyá, al-ákhira, al-úlá) are given specific meanings. This commentary is discussed below, in "Qá'im".

[664] Baq., pp.151-2: ay al-sulúh al-imkání al-ladhí kánat (sic) fí-himá min jihati 'l-inníya; all other mss.: al-latí kánat fí-himá.

[665] Baq., p.152 & L p.1; C f.57a: ? huzúr; I, p.265: hudúr. Khutúr, (usually khawátir) is of course another classical term of Sufi "psychology." According to the great Iranian mystic, Najm al-Dín al-Kubrá (617/1220), they are the ideas which occur spontaneously to the soul, particularly in a state of retreat, and may be either divine or satanic in inspiration. This is mentioned in Schimmel, Dimensions, p.256; Frank, "Created Causality," p.71, translates its use in a theological context as "unreflected impulse to action".

[666] Baq., p.152. The last sentence is not a translation but an attempt to give the sense of the Arabic: wa illá hádhá 'l-zulm `inda má siwá'humá lujjat al-ahadíya lá yasilu ilayhá ahadun min al-ashyá'. This appears to be, among other things, an echo of the famous hadíth: "The good deeds of the pious ones are the sins of the near ones."

[667] Baq., p.155. The passage begins: fa-lammá qaruba Adam bi'l-shajarat al-haqíqa al-mutajallíya min Fátima `alayhá al-salam bi-qurb al-wujúd. As a matter of fact, the figure of Fátima plays a very important role in this tafsír. Unfortunately, it is not possible at this time to do more than mention this fact in passing. (See, e.g., Baq., pp.11, 23, 45, 87, 112, 131, 154, 159-60, 179, 192, 198-200, 211, 213, 273.) On the idea of "ecstacy" (al-wijdán) see below.

[668] Baq., p.185; C f.69b; I, p.290; L p.8. The terminology in this section shows some distinct parallels with Sáfí, although none of the had^hs in the corresponding passage have been quoted. It is possible that the Bab composed this part of the tafsír while reading Sáfí, e.g.: p.31, line10: thirty days of fasting; line11: "forty nights" = twenty nights and twenty days; line 24: "they wronged themselves concerning the waláya of Muhammad and `Alí, and their people the pure, even so, God pardoned them"; line 27,God tells Moses about the excellence of Muhammad and his brother and Trustee `Alí, and the Shí`a; p.32, line 4: God caused those who worshipped the calf to hesitate (waqafa alláh).

See also Burhán,v.1, pp.96-8 #1 & p.98 #2; Nur, v.1, p.68,#197 for a variant of this last.

[669] Q.2:67-73 (Baq., pp.201-5).

[670] Burhán, v.1, pp.108-12.

[671] Baq., pp.200-1.

[672] This is in line with the classical Sufi scale. In another work, the Bab seems to use nafs for the totality of spiritual or human faculties. See Sulúk, p.73, where the four principles of the soul are qalb, fu'ád, rúh, and jism. In this context, these four correspond respectively with the four supports of religion: tawhíd, nubúwa, waláya, and shí`a which may be thought in turn to correspond to hubb, habíb, muhibb, and mahbúb, the four signs from the manifestation of the Family of God which are "in you".

[673] The opposition of `aql and jahl has occupied the minds of Shí`í authors from earliest times. See, e.g., Káfí, v.1, pp.10-29: Kitáb al-`aql wa'l-jahl. A most useful study of some of this early literature is Crow, "The Teaching".

[674] Baq., pp.58-60. It is of some interest that we find in this commentary no detailed hierarchy of the human interior like those taught by earlier Iranian mystics such as Isfaráyiní, Révélateur, e.g., p. 139, or Simnání, his student (see Corbin, Man of Light, pp.121-31). However, the Bab does agree in some places with the Sufís, that the nafs can be a negative principle.

[675] Cf. EII, v.1, p.251.

[676] Baq., p.78. A printed variant of this hadíth is in Muhsin Fayz, Kalimát, p.78.

[677] The same hadíth appears in Káfí, v.1, p.13 #11. N.b. the implied indictment of ijtihád, further evidence of the very early roots of the akhbárí/usúlí controversy.

[678] Baq., p.80.

[679] This is part of a longer hadith preserved in Káfí, v.1, p.12 #8.

[680] Baq., p.80: al-`aqlu hayá' min alláh wa 'l-adáb kulfatun man takallafa 'l-adába qadara `alay-hi wa man takallafa 'l-`aqla lam yazdád bi-dhálika illá jahlan al-hadíth. See Káfí, v.1, pp.23-4 #18; n.b. the typographical error, p. 24: hibá' for hayá'.

[681] Baq., pp.96-104; C f.36a-40a. The isnad, one of two given in the entire commentary, is: al-Shaykh al-Thiqa Abí al-Husayn Muhammad bin `Alí al-Halabí `an Shakhi-hi al-Sayyid Abí `Abd Alláh al-Husayn ibn Ahmadán al-Khusaybí, qála, haddathní Ja`far ibn al-Málik al-Farárí al-Kúfí `an `Abd Alláh `an `Abd Alláh bin Yúnis al-Mawsulí `an Muhammad bin Sadaqati 'l-`Abdí `an Muhammad bin Sanán al-Záhirí `an Safwán bin Yahya al-Kúfí `an al-Mufaddal bin `Umar al-Ju`fí qála qultu li-mawláná al-Sádiq al-wa`d min-hi al-rahmatu wa qad khalwatu bi-hi: ... .

[682] Baq., p.97: The expression sa`bun mustas`abun is usually associated with the hadíth: inna hadíth ál Muhammad sa`bun mustas`abun lá yu'minu bi-hi illá malakun muqarabun aw nabiyyun mursilun aw `abdun imtahana 'lláhu qalba-hu li'l-ímán, and its variants to which Kulayní has devoted a separate chapter: Káfí, v.1, pp.401-2. The long hadíth quoted by the Bab, for which the quotation is something of an introduction, is not mentioned here and I have so far been unable to trace it elsewhere. Traditions transmitted through Mufaddal are sometimes thought to be tainted because of his supposed khattábíya allegiances; see the references in Kohlberg, "An unusual Shí`í isnád," p.147. The material preserved in Káfí is found elsewhere, e.g. Masháriq, p.16; Bahá'u'lláh, Kitáb-i �(tm)qán, p.64 (Eng. trans, p.99).

[683] Baq., p.51. azharahá may refer to mahabba or shí`a. The idea is that it is only the fu'ád that has been touched somehow by the Imám, which is important. Another reading might suggest that it is love for the Shí`a itself, presumably incumbent upon believers, which enables the heart to recognize the Imám.

[684] Baq., p.239.

[685] Baq., p.115: iftiqár. Izutsu translates the word as "ontological need". (Sufism, p. 168.)

[686] This is a variation on the famous hadith quoted by the Bab in Sulúk, p.73: al-turuq ilá alláh . . . . The purpose of the substitution is clear in what follows.

[687] That is, all of these quranic verses are read as referring to `Alí.

[688] Baq., p.166, C f.62a, L p.4 (clearly vowelled: mutli`an ilá), possibly for mutalli`an ilá jamál al-wijdán; I, p.175: mutlaqan. But all of the preceding verbs are in the feminine passive perfect tense.

[689] ittaba`a (as opposed to the quranic tab`ia) connotes also "investigate," "examine," "study".

[690] Baq., pp.165-6.

[691] Cf. Corbin's translation of baqá' as surexistence, EII, v.1, p.224.

[692] Cf. e.g., al-Kubrá, where wijdán is the fifth level of a hierarchy of eight spiritual conditions ranging from the lowest, manám, to the highest, takwín. In this scale, wajd is fourth. See Meier, Die Fawá'ih, Arabic text, fasl 41 & 95. Meier translates wijdán as "being touched inside" (p.101 German text).

[693] Cf. Mashá`ir, p.224 (French text).

[694] See above "Background".

[695] See Adams, "The Hermeneutic", and Algar, "The Study of Islam" for rather harsh appreciations of his work.

[696] There are other opinions: "The only European sources dealing with early Shaykhism are works by Nicolas and Corbin, but none of these is at all adequate for the purposes of serious research." Charismatic, p. ii.

[697] Baq., p.50 & I, p.188: dharr al-rukn al-rábi` iqámat al-Qá'im; C f.18b: dharr rukn rábi` aqámahu al-hujja. . .

[698] Baq., p.50 &I,p.188: li-dhá lammá aqáma al-Imám ... ; C f.18b: wa li-dhá qáma al-Imám ... .

[699] Traditional number of the army of the Qá'im. See Sachedina, Messianism, p.162.

[700] Cf. the reference to Sulúk above.

[701] huwa mashhad `ahd al-mahabba li'l-shí`a wa maqámu-há al-fu'ád azhara-há al-hujja `alay-hi al-salam.

[702] Sic, C f.19a: dharr al-awwal.

[703] Sic, C f.19a: wa'l-thání ismuhu tabáraka wa ta`ála wa huwa al-hamdu li'lláh wa huwa al-iqrár bi-Muhammad bi'l-nubúwa.

[704] Cf. the three dharr in Tustarí: Muhammad, Adam, and the offspring of Adam discussed in Bèwering, Mystical Vision, p.153.

[705] Baq., pp.47-52.

[706] "Risála fí 'l-sharh wa tafsír ism al-a`zam [ ]," Rasá'il li'l-Rashtí, S.O.A.S Arabic ms. 92308O, ff. 271a-274a.

[707] Variations of this amulet may be found in "Risálat al-ism al-a`zam," Masá'il majmú`a, ed. Strothmann in Gnosis-Texte, pp.171-7; MacEoin, "Some Bahá'í and Shaykhi Interpretations of 'The Mystery of Reversal', p.11; idem, "Talismans", pp.92-3. See also Anawati, "Le nom supr�(tm)me," pp.23-30; Canaan, "The Decipherment," pp.142-4. Both authors cite al-Búní (622/1225), Shams al-ma`árif, (see bibliography). See Anawati, p.22, for a discussion of the various editions of this work which he describes as "le vade-mecum de tous les 'professionels' en talismans en Islam." This device is also found in the Bab's Tafsír súrat al-qadr where he says that whoever inscribes it on a ring of red cornelian (`aqíq) will have all good and be protected from evil. Moreover, this device "speaks of" the three grades of the Torah, the four [grades] of the Gospel, and the five [grades] of the Qur'an. (Majmú`a, p.18).

[708] See above for the source of this and the following phrases, "Hierarchies-1".

[709] Risála fí'l-sharh, ff. 271a-2a.

[710] Risála fí'l-sharh, f. 272a. On al-tatanjayn, see below Part ii.

[711] A frequently-quoted hadíth, e.g., Burhán, v.1, p.41, #2 (ascribed to al-Sádiq).

[712] From the Ziyárat al-jámi`a.

[713] Risála fi'l-sharh, f.274a. The term al-mathal al-a`lá occurs in a verse of the Ziyárat al-jámi`a.

[714] See Smith and Momen, "The Bábí Movement," p.60.

[715] From Shaykh Ahmad's "al-Risálat al-Rashtíya," Jawámi` al-kilam, 2 vols. (Tabríz, 1273/1856 & 1276/1859) v.1, pt.2, p.103, translated by MacEoin in his "Some Bahá'í and Shaykhi Interpretations of 'the Mystery of Reversal', pp.11-23. This extract is from pp.16-18. See also the comments on this subject of Stephen Lambden, "A Tablet of Bahá'ulláh,"p.42.

[716] Ziyára, pp.48-50.

[717] MacEoin, "Mystery," p.19.

[718] Ibid.

[719] Ibid., p.20.

[720] Cf. Landolt, "Sakralraum,"pp. 231-265, esp. 261ff for the discussion of the thought of Shaykh Mahmúd-i Ushnuhí and the work ascribed to him Gháyat al-imkán fí diráyat al-makán.

[721] This is an adapted translation of EII, v.4, pp.156-7.

[722] EII, v.4, p.293.

[723] The subject is briefly mentioned by Bahá'u'lláh in his Haft-i vádí, p.117 (English translation, The Seven Valleys, p. 25.)

[724] EII, v.4, p.295.

[725] Ibid., p.297.

[726] The preceding is freely translated and/or adapted from ibid., pp.294-97.

[727] Corbin, EII, v.4, p.287.

[728] Kirmání (1125/1809-1288/1870) was closely related to the Qájárs, the ruling dynasty of Iran at the time. (His father, Ibráhim Khán, was a cousin of Fath `Alí Sháh (r. 1212/1797-1250/1834), governor of Kirmán and Baluchistán, and also a great friend to Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsá'í.) It may be that for this reason he chose to elaborate his teachers thought in ways which would not threaten the status quo. MacEoin, "Shaykhí Reactions" argues along these lines. See also EII, v.4, pp.236-42; Rafati, pp.138-41.

[729] EII, v.4, p.289.

[730] As we have seen this "syzygy" is not reducible to only two basic elements, záhir and bátin but involves also the záhir al-záhir, the záhir al-bátin, the bátin al-záhir, the bátin al-bátin, and others, including the bátin bátin al-bátin. Shaykh Ahmad has written special treatises (unavailable) on these various categories. See Ibráhímí, Fihrist, v.2, pp.48 & 67.

[731] Rafati.

[732] This is part of a longer hadith, cf. Burhán, v.1, pp.53-4,#5.

[733] C f.8b: al-imkán ghayr al-akwán fí kulli `álam . . .; I, p.169: al-imkán ghayb al-akwán . . .; Baq., p.24: al-imkán ghayb al-imkán ghayb al-akwán . . . .

[734] Baq., pp.23-4. The same tradition is found in Burhán, v.1, pp.56-7,#11. The Bab has omitted the final phrase which contains a quranic quotation: "and they believe in the Unseen, trembling because of the Hour . [21:49] C9a has li-Adam instead of ka-Adam.

[735] Baq., pp.183-4.

[736] bi-hi qad qámat al-ibdá`, sic, ibdá` treated as feminine in all mss. This is probably due to the standard Shí`í theosophical doctrine of Fátima as the hypostasis of the creative principle (viz, Fátima Fátir). Such is upheld in this commentary (see above for references to those passages which deal with Fátima). On the subject in general see Corbin, Spiritual Body, pp.51-73.

[737] fa-qad jama`a la-hu al-`aql, but al-fadl is written over this last word. C f.74a has al-`aql only; Both L p.11 and I, p.300 have al-fadl.

[738] Baq., p.198.

[739] Baq., pp.269-70.

[740] Baq., p.222-3. Ta`tíl (unquranic) "devoid of meaning" is of course an allusion, conscious or otherwise, to the general theological dispute between the "anthropomorphizers" and those who would "denude" God of all attributes - a dispute for which the Shí`ism expressed in this commentary provides its own solution. Cf. also Q. 28:88.

[741] Baq., pp.228-9.

[742] Baq., p.237. All mss.: li-anna-hu `inda 'lláhi mawt al-`adl. This is an allusion to 2:94: . . . then long for death ... if you speak truly. The death mentioned in the previous verse where is interpreted by the Bab as: "then long for the love of Husayn because he is death and the meeting with the Lord (liqá' al-rabb)." (Baq, p.237.) That the Qá'im is also identified as death here is a function of the frequently-expressed principle that there is no difference among any of the Imáms.

[743] Baq., p.241.

[744] Although this phrase is quite quranic in tone, it never appears in the Qur'an itself. It is a combination of those verses which speak of the promise of God being inevitable [17:107] or true [e.g. 40:55], the promise of the hour [viz, of resurrection, e.g., 45:32], and the nearness of the hour [e.g., 3:63].

[745] Baq., pp.258-9.

[746] Baq., pp.281-2.

[747] "Quand, par notre inscience, il n'est pas á l'intérieur de nous, il ne peut �(tm)tre ni connu ni reconnu de nous "nulle part", car rien ne peut �(tm)tre connu extérieurement que gráce á une modalité correspondante qui soit en nous." Corbin, EII, v.4, pp.308-9. See also ibid., pp. 286-99: "Eschatologie et isomorphisme du temps et de l'espace." This reference to Corbin is admittedly somewhat perverse.

[748] Fusús, v.1, pp.99 - 106. See also: Austin (trans.), Bezels, pp. 119-27. For the importance of the figure of Yúsuf, and his ordeal with Potiphar's wife in early Sufi tafsír see: Bèwering, The Mystical Vision, p.256.

[749] Abú Hámid al-Ghazzálí, Tafsír súrat Yúsuf, Tehran: 1895.

[750] Delhi:1900. See GAL, v.1 (supp.), p.747 for a list of several mss. of this work with the name: Sirr al-`álamín fí tafsír súrat Yúsuf.

[751] GAL mentions this work in several places. Twice Brockelmann gives the name of the author as as al-Khalwatí (GAL, v.2, p.580 and v.2 (supp.), p.653), and once as Ya`qúb `Afawí "vom Orden der Jalwatíya" (GAL, v.2 (supp.), p.663). In all three places, the work listed (printed in Istanbul,1266 [1849]) and the author's death date (1149/1736) are the same. Thanks to Dr. H. Landolt for drawing this work to my attention.

[752] See v.2, p.204 and p.579; v.2 (suppl.), p.135.

[753] GAL, v.2 (supp.), p. 589. See also p.650. The catalogue in question is Fihrist kitábkhánah-yi madrasah-yi Sipahsálár, v.1, p.128. Dharí`a appears to be the source of this error in GAL, see below.

[754] GAL, v.2 (suppl.), pp.852-3.

[755] Momen, p.145.

[756] GAL, v.2 (suppl.), p.894.

[757] Dharí`a, v.1, p.288.

[758] Dharí`a, v.4, pp.344-46

[759] Thanks to Dr. I. Boullata for calling this work to my attention. Mention may also be made of a recent Persian work devoted to the quranic story of Joseph: Sálihí Najafábádí, Partaw-yi áz jamál-i insáníyat yá tafsír súrih-yi Yúsuf, Qum, 1323 (Sh.).

[760] Paret, "The Qur'án - I," pp. 212-13.

[761] Ibid., p. 212.

[762] Ibid. See also Goldziher, Muslim Studies, v. 2, pp.363-5 on this and other examples.

[763] The exact reasons for Ibn al-Muqaffa`'s death are unclear. Cf. Gabrieli, "Ibn al-Mukaffa`," EI2 , v. 3, pp. 883-5. He lived during the Imamate of Ja`far al-Sádiq, and figures, apparently as a zindíq in hadíths which bear the teachings of this Imám. See Káfí, v.1, pp. 74-5; Irshád (Eng. trans.), p.424.

[764] Cited by Goldziher, op. cit., pp.364-5.

[765] Paret, p.213.

[766] Goldziher, p.365.

[767] al-Hasaní, al-Bábíyún, pp. 81-106.

[768] Paret, p.213.

[769] See below.

[770] Nèldeke, Remarques critiques, pp. 34-5. It is not known if Nèldeke was referring to any specific work here.

[771] Bahá'u'lláh, Kitáb-i iqán, p.180 (Eng. trans. p.231). The second statement is from, Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p.23.

[772] See Momen, "The Trial".

[773] See above, Part i, "Introduction".

[774] Nabíl, p.65; a footnote here quotes the Báb's Persian Bayán (written after 1264/1848), which fixes the date of the Bab's zuhúr, which was proclaimed in the first chapter of the tafsír:

The beginning thereof was when two hours and eleven minutes [had passed] from the evening preceding the fifth of Jamádíyu'l-Ulá,1260[a.h.], which is the year 1270 of the mission of [Muhammad].

[775] QA, p.16 (F11, f.13b).

[776] In a letter by the Bab cited in Charismatic, p.157.

[777] Charismatic, pp.157-8 (see also here the references to the Cambridge manuscript, F11.

[778] Sources, pp.70-2.

[779] v.1, pp.179-91.

[780] He died in 1912. He was the half-brother of Bahá'u'lláh, and was regarded in the period after the Bab's execution as the leader of the Bábí movement. Later disagreements between him and Bahá'u'lláh resulted in a split. After this his followers, who did not recognize Bahá'u'lláh's claims to be "he whom God shall make manifest" (man yuzhiruhu alláh, many times referred to in the Báb's Bayán) were known as Azalís,while those who accepted Bahá'u'lláh's claims became known as Bahá'ís.

[781] Dimensions describe the area covered by the text, not the actual size of the page.

[782] Momen, "Trial", p.118.

[783] Browne, Materials, pp.202, 221 & 225. Incidentally, Browne remarks here that the "specimens [of this work] printed by Baron Rosen (referred to above) are amply sufficient to enable the student conversant with Arabic to form a judgement of the work." ibid., p.203.

[784] Browne, "Catalogue and Description," pp.261-8, 699-701.

[785] QA, pp.5,9,10,11,13-18,19,27,32, 34,36,40,42-5,48,49,52,55,56,59, 65,67,89,90,157,189 (reproduced below), 206; F11, ff.9b,33b,44a,119a,123a, 200a.

[786] E.g., F11, ff.153b,l.9; 160a,l.7; 163a, l.9; 177b,l.7; cf., respectively, QA, pp.178,l.20; 186,ll.8-9 (These lines are repeated in the corresponding section of the following chapter, viz, QA, p.189, ll.2-4. That it has been left out of F11, may indicates that the scribe of this later manuscript had recognized such an error in his own exemplar, or used an exemplar without the mistake.)

[787] On which see, von Denffer, `Ulúm al-Qur'án, p.168.

[788] QA, pp.3,151, 223, 232.

[789] There are on occasion lists of "spiritual types" such as are found in the Tafsír súrat al-baqarat. See, for example, QA, p.226 where nine types are detailed.

[790] F11 f.192a (QA, p.223).

[791] Bausani, Persia Religiosa, p.460.

[792] Amanat, p. 204, quoting a letter by the Bab.

[793] Q.2:255; 3:2; 20:111.

[794] Anawatí, "Le nom supr�(tm)me," pp.14-15.

[795] Nabíl, pp.41-2. Husayn is understood by Nabíl to mean Husayn `Alí Núrí, Bahá'u'lláh.

[796] Cf. Wansbrough, Quranic Studies, pp.131-9 where the author analyzes the commentary on súra 12 of Muqátil ibn Sulaymán (d.148/765). Wansbrough maintains that notwithstanding the claim of narrative consistency by mufassirún, that the story of Joseph is "elliptic, often unintelligible without exegetical complement." (p.131). His characterization of Muqátil's exegetic method points to some resemblance with the Bab's: "Words, occasionally phrases, even clauses, but never sentences or entire verses, were glossed in sequence at a ratio of approximately 1:1, resulting in a highly segmented composition. This is accentuated by employment of zero connective with 'envelopment' of the (preceding) text." The Bab's avoidance of any connective has already been pointed out; whereas in the commentary on al-Baqara he frequently employed such words as ay and wa'l-murád,these are entirely absent from this tafsír. The comparison with Muqátil's method is, however, ultimately a false one because the style of this early commentary was undoubtedly conditioned by sustained oral delivery, whereas the style of the Bab's commentary is, I believe, conditioned by the intention to remove the "exegetical distance" between his words and the words of the Qur'an which such connectives would emphasize.

[797] Cited by Heller, "Yúsuf b. Ya`qúb," SEI, p.646.

[798] According to the usual numbering of verses, súra 21 has112 verses, while 17 and 12 both have 111 verses. No súra has 114 verses, the number which corresponds exactly to the total number of súras in the Qur'an.

[799] In his Kitáb sabíl al-faláh, mentioned in Corbin, Annuaire, 1968-9, p.152. This may have been a long-standing practice, in which case Shaykh Ahmad's Ziyára might also have been seen, in some way, as a new Qur'an. This, in turn, might have provided some of the inspiration for the Bab's work.

[800] See the references to the earliest masáhif, for example, that of Ibn Mas`úd (32 or 33/652 or 3), which omitted these three short "prayers" in Bell, The Qur'án Translated, v.1, p.1 and v. 2, p. 686; Welch, "al-Kur'án", EI2 , p.409.

[801] Strothmann, "Takíya" , SEI, p.562.

[802] Amanat, p.204.

[803] Amanat, pp.174-5.

[804] Nabil, p.59. Incidentally, the Qayyúm al-asmá is also known simply as the Furqán in connection with a tradition from al-Sádiq, which runs: "The Book [kitáb ] is the brief version (mujmal )and the Furqán is the comprehensive (mufassal ) one, which appears according to the time (waqt )." (Cited and translated by Amanat, p.204.)

[805] Burhán, v.2, p.270, #7 (from Káfí).

[806] Amanat, pp.204-5

[807] Burhán, v.2, p.271, #12 (from Qummí's tafsír).

[808] ibid., p.272,#23.

[809] Ibn Bábawayh, Kitáb ikmál al-dín wa itmám al-ni`ma, p.18.

[810] ibid., p.613. Elsewhere it is mentioned that the Qá'im will announce his message to the "east and west" that he is the baqíyat alláh. (Bihár, v. 52 pp. 191-2, #24).

[811] See below, chapter 4.

[812] E.g., QA, pp.103-4: "Enter the gate prostrating to God and say: 'The Remnant of God is better for you than your own selves." Cf. QA, p.16: "I am the clear proofs (bayánát) of the Remnant of God." Elsewhere the Bab is designated as the "Remnant of the gates" (QA, p.167).

[813] Ikmál al-dín, p.612.

[814] See Nabíl, e.g., pp., 54, 57 & 79.

[815] Bihár, v.52, p.347, #97.

[816] Bihár, v.53, p.36. See also p.14.

[817] Ikmál al-dín, p.621.

[818] Ibid, p.620.

[819] Bihár, v.52, p.394.

[820] Ziyára, p.261; the commentary begins here and ends on p.283. Much of this is taken up with the quotation of a very long hadíth transmitted by Mufaddal from al-Sádiq.

[821] Ibid., p.271.

[822] Ibid: "kitában jadídan wa huwa `ala 'l-`arab shadíd " Variants of this tradition are also mentioned by the Bahá'í apologist Mírzá Abú'l-Fadl Gulpáygání, Kitáb al-Fará'id, pp.290, 295, & 296 (quoting Bihár al-anwár).

[823] Rosen, Collections scientifiques, v.1, pp.179-91.

[824] Browne, "The Bábís of Persia," pp.904-11; idem, "Remarks," pp.261-7; idem, "Catalogue and Description," pp.699-701.

[825] Momen, "The Trial". This important article contains the translation of several excerpts from the tafsír. See also Amanat, pp.204-7 and passim; Charismatic, pp.157-62.

[826] bá' = 2 + lám = 30 + yá' = 10 = 42. (Dr. Muhamad Afnan, personal communication.) The work has elsewhere been described as containing forty verses per súra (Browne,"Remarks," pp. 261-62), representing the abjad value of the quranic lí "to me" or, "before me" (lám = 30 + yá' = 10). The prepositional phrase is an explicit allusion to the dream of Joseph: Father, I saw eleven stars, and the sun and the moon: I saw them bowing down before me (lí) [12:4]. Browne notes, however, that several chapters of the British Library ms. (probably Or. 3539, another ms. of the work there is Or. 6681) are described in the ms. itself as having forty-two verses (as is one chapter of F11). In either case, the number of verses are taken to be symbolic of either the acceptance or assertion of spiritual authority (Browne, "Remarks," p.262).

[827] Chapters1,2,52 and 95 in QA. Incidentally, there are many blank spaces at the heading of the chapters in F11. It appears that the scribe intended to insert rubrications in these blanks, which would carry such information as the number of verses, and so on.

[828] QA, pp.223 and 225 respectively.

[829] Welch,"Kur'án," p.414.

[830] QA, p.3.

[831] QA, p.5.

[832] QA, p.6.

[833] QA, p.67.

[834] QA, p.116.

[835] QA, p.231. Al-qurá al-mubáraka is a possible reference to the Fourth Support, cf. Charismatic, p.171.

[836] See, for example, Meier, "Some aspects of Inspiration".

[837] This method is reminiscent idea contained in the famous Shí`í hadíth which quotes the Imam al-Báqir as : "It is we who are the meanings (ma`ání). We are the Hand of God, His vicinity, His tongue, His command, His decision, His knowledge, His truth. We are the Face of God, which is turning in all directions toward the terrestrial world in your midst. He who recognizes us has certitude for an Imám. He who rejects us has Hell as an Imám." (Quoted above, Part i, "Hierarchies -1".) The interesting statement: "We are the meanings" among other things, takes for granted the absolute spiritual authority implied in the act of paraphrase. Inasmuch as the Tafsír speaks incessantly of the Bab as a new zuhúr of the divinity, it is precisely the Bab who is the "meaning".

[838] Nabíl, p.61.

[839] Translated by Browne, "Bábís of Persia," p.908.

[840] Some others are the Word (kalima ), Qá'im of the year One Thousand, the Blessed Tree in Sinai, and the Resurrection. For a discussion of these and other designations of spiritual authority see Afnán & Hatcher, "Western Islamic Scholarship and Bahá'í Origins", pp.29-51.

[841] In this same chapter, the following phrase occurs: wa inná qad sayyarná 'l-jibál `alá 'l-ard (cf. 18:47) wa 'l-nujúm `alá 'l-`arsh hawl al-nár fí qutb al-má' min ladá 'l-dhikr bi-lláh al-haqq . . . : "We have set the mountains in motion upon the earth, and the stars upon the Throne around the fire which is in the point [lit., axis] of water in the presence of the Remembrance in God (bi-lláh ), the Reality . . .".

[842] Other more dramatic examples of this figure are: "We have apportioned mounains on the earth, and placed the earth upon the water, and the musky air [we have caused to come forth] from under the hot coldness (al-harr al-bard )" (QA, p.137). "O peoples of the earth! Cleave ye tenaciously to the Cord of the All-Highest God, which is but this Arabian Youth, Our Remembrance [i.e. the Báb] - He Who standeth concealed at the point of ice amidst the ocean of fire." (Writings, p.54). Numerous other examples from this work could be cited. This joining of opposites may have its origin in the Qur'an (21:69) where God orders the fire to be cool for Abraham; or, it may be related to the kind of idea represented by the statement ascribed by Ibn `Arabí to Abú Sa`id al-Kharráz (276 or 7/899 or 90) who, when asked by what means he knew God, answered that it was by the fact that God is the joining of opposites (jam` bayna'l-naqídayn) (cited in Corbin, Creative Imagination, p.188. On the theme in Ibn `Arabí, see also Izutsu, Sufism and Taoism, passim. A related sentiment is from Rúmí: sulh-i azdád ast asli-i ín jihán: "The harmony between opposites is the principle of this world." quoted in Nasr, Islamic Science, p. 228.)

Incidentally, ice is a frequent image in the tafsír. A particularly powerful example is when the Bab speaks of the hidden Imám: ". . . and when He chanteth words of praise and glorification of God all Paradise becomes motionless like unto ice locked in the heart of a frost-bound mountain." (Writings, p.54).

[843] QA, pp.100-5.

[844] "In very truth" translates a frequent "refrain" throughout this work: "alá'l-haqq bi'l-haqq". This translation does not convey the all-important allusion to God, al-haqq , "The Truth" or "the Reality" par excellence.

[845] QA, p.100.

[846] QA, pp.160-95.

[847] QA, p.161.

[848] QA, p.145.

[849] QA., p.212. al-`amá is a frequent term in this work.

[850] "al-súra al-latí tudhkaru fí-há al-baqara". See Watt, Bell's Introduction, p.59.

[851] The subject of the place of jihád in Bábí history and doctrine is one of much debate. See MacEoin, "The Bábí Concept of Holy War"; idem, "From Babism to Bahá'ísm; Afnan & Hatcher, "Western Islamic Scholarship".

[852] Browne, "Catalogue and Description," pp. 262-3, 699-701, Le Bab, pp.22-8.

[853] Browne, "The Bábís of Persia", JRAS (1889) pp. 908-909; hádhá al-ghulám l-`Arabí al-Muhammadí al-`Alawí al-Fátimí al-Makkí al-Madaní al-Abtahí al-`Iráqí (QA, p.225). While such an adjectival litany may be foreign to Western temperaments it is of course universally regarded as one of the pillars of style in older Arabic literature, e.g. al-Suyútí refers to the `Abbasid "quasi-Caliph" al-Mutawakkil as: al-Imámí al-A`zamí al-Háshimí al-`Abbásí al-Mutawakkilí. (William Y. Bell (ed. & trans.), The Mutawakkilí of As-Suyútí, Cairo, 1924, p.15, Arabic text).

[854] Collections scientifiques, v.1, p.186.

[855] Browne, "Bábís", p.909. Browne's transliteration of this passage, which occurs in the Súrat al-`abd, [QA, p.226] is:

Al-Bá'u s-sáiratu fí'l-má'il-hurúfín wa'n-Nuqtatu'l-wáqifatu `alá bábi'l-Alifayn.

[856] Ibid. Although Browne gives no reference for this quotation, it may be found in the recent edition of what is persistently referred to as Ibn `Arabi's Qur'an commentary, but which is most certainly the work of `Abd al-Razzáq al-Káshání, Tafsír al-Qur'án al-karím, v.1, p.8.

[857] See above, Part i "Hierarchies-1" for details of this work.

[858] Qasída, p.82.

[859] Browne, "Bábís," p.909. (Browne's transliteration.)

[860] See above, Pt. 1, "Hierarchies-1".

[861] Browne, "Bábís," p.909.

[862] Collections scientifiques, v.1, pp.180 & 181.

[863] This corresponds to QA, pp.92-8.

[864] QA, pp.160-86.

[865] MacEoin, "Concept", p.93, "Reactions", pp.16-20.

[866] but giving as reason for this the fact that the text is concerned with doctrinal reflections. The genre of tafsír is not conditioned by the absence or presence of doctrinal reflections.

[867] Charismatic, p.158.

[868] See Momen, "The Trial". This important article analyzes the precise charges of the proceedings against one of the Bab's disciples, and an examination of the relevant passages of the commentary, the promulgation of which led to these charges. Momen's conclusion is the same as the one put forth here: that the Bab was claiming revelation.

[869] Charismatic, p.159. Although it is clear that "the theory behind the tafsír was much more complex than mere (sic) imitation of the Qur'án." ibid.

[870] Ibid., where the author gives references to the Cambridge ms.

[871] Ibid.

[872] Charismatic, p.159.

[873] Translated by Browne, "Remarks," p. 266. Part of this passage is cited in Charismatic, p.157.

[874] Writings, p.119.

[875] Sources, pp.125-6.

[876] Because these terms are used with such frequency, it would require a great deal of effort to indicate all those hundreds of passages in which they occur. For those titles mentioned here, the first three may be read at QA, p.4 and the last may be found at QA, p.8.

[877] Browne (trans.), New History, pp.336, 359, 374, 376 (jináb-i zikr), 382, 394; idem, "Catalogue & Description," p. 303.

[878] MacEoin, Reactions, p.18.

[879] Amanat, p.173

[880] Anwár, pp.151-2; dhikr as Qur'an: 43:44, hadíth quoted from Káfí on the authority of al-Sádiq; dhikr as Prophet: 16:43, hadíth from al-Sádiq; dhikr as `Alí: 62:9, from the Kitáb al-ikhtisás of al-Mufíd, had^th ascribed to al-Báqir (Anwár, p.26); dhikr alláh al-akbar as the Imáms: 29:45, hadíth ascribed to al-Báqir (Anwár, pp.7-8). References in parentheses indicates that Isfahání does not mention these reports in the course of his article, but refers to them as having already been cited in one of the three prologues to his tafsír.

[881] "Qála shaykhuná al-`alláma," Anwár, p.152.

[882] A similar interpretation is given for 18:101, 74:31.

[883] Anwár, p.152.

[884] Anwár here misquotes the Qur'an, replacing invoked (udi`ya) with mentioned (dhukira). Nonetheless, such a reading is in line with akhbárí commentary, cf. Burhán, v.4, pp.77-8, #2 where the two verses are said to complement one another.

[885] Anwár, p.152. In the Sharh al-qasída, Sayyid Kázim says "Each prophet is the embodiment (hásil) of one of the divine names which are specific to his station and rank . . . the names, from the point of view of unity and multiplicity, are as individual drops from the sea of absolute nubúwa, and the embodiment of this latter rank is the seal of the prophets (Muhammad) . . . who is the bearer of the ism al-a`zam al-`azam al-a`zam, and the one who mentions (dhákir) the dhikr al-ajall al-a`lá al-a`lá al-`alá." (Qasída, p.66)

[886] For a detailed study of this topic see Mahmoud Ayoub, "The Speaking Qur'an and the Silent Qur'án".

[887] EII, v.4, p.23 quotes the following statement from al-Suhrawardí (1191): "le Livre est l'Imám muet, l'Imám est le Livre parlant." (Source unspecified.)

[888] See above "Background" where the centrality of this hadíth in Shí`í tafsír is mentioned.

[889] Cf. the characteristic argument from the Bab referred to above, Part i, in affirming the necessity of what he calls "the hidden support". Briefly, it is not permissible to rely upon the ulama for guidance, because some of them are more qualified than others and disagree amongst themselves. It is, therefore, necessary to choose only one for a guide, because "none but a single soul is capable of bearing the universal bounty from the Imám."

[890] Corbin, Trilogie, index, s.v. Nátiq.

[891] EII, v.4, p.283 summarizing Ibrahímí, Fihrist, v.1, pp.127-31.

[892] Apart from the hadíths from the Imáms quoted in Part i which mention the mysterious categories of nuqabá', nujabá', and so forth, classical Sufism frequently speaks of a group of pure souls who are unknown by the generality of men. (See, e.g., Abú Bakr al-Kalábádhí (d. ca. 380/990), Kitáb al-ta`arruf (English translation by Arberry, The Doctrines, pp.10-11.) Cf. the later development in al-Suhrawardí of the "pole" (qutb) discussed by Corbin, EII, v.2, pp.67-80.

[893] See Baq., pp.47-52, esp. p.52. "God has caused these three [confession, respectively, of tawhíd, nubúwa, and wisáya] to appear because of man's need for them, but He has veiled one [the fourth, viz, "al-ism al-maknún al-makhzún," "al-rukn al-rábi`," i.e. the name of the Qá'im, and by implication, his spokesman or báb] on account of man's inability [to deal with it: l-`adam ihtimál al-khalq]."

[894] Baq., p.52.

[895] Bèwering, Mystical Vision, pp.237-8; n.b. also the famous statement of al-Halláj: "I am al-haqq".

[896] Chodkiweizc, Sceau, e.g., pp.178-9 & 203.

[897] It is interesting in this regard, to notice the exact phraseology of Sahl's claim: "I am the proof of God for you in particular (khassatan) and for the people in general (`ámmatan)." (Bèwering, p.237). This could be read in connection with the state of affairs in Shí`ism at the time. While the Hujja was indeed in hiding, he was nonetheless available to a select group of people, namely, the four abwáb or nuwwáb mentioned above. It is possible to read in Sahl's claim, an attempt to correct what might have appeared to him to be an unsatisfactory religious situation, namely that mankind be deprived of direct, authoritative guidance. In addition, it is interesting to bear in mind the later frequent Shí`í usage of the terms, khass and `amm, in which the former refers to the Shí`ís and the latter refers to the Sunnís.

[898] Bowering, p.237.

[899] This Khutba, preserved in Nahj al-balágha, is referred to many times in Baq. (see Part i); the opening line is: "By God! That man snatched the caliphate as if it were a garment which could be put on by him, even though all the while he knew that my station was [like] that of the pivot of the grinding stone (wa innahu la-ya`lamu mahallí minhá mahallu 'l-qutb min al-raha)." (Nahj, v.1, pp.30-1.)

[900] Out of 145 "conversions" to Bábism before 1264/1848, seventy-five were of persons identified as Shaykhís. Smith & Momen, "The Bábí Movement." p. 60

[901] See, however, the view that the expectation a new age, taught by al-Ahsá'í and Rashtí but not widely circulated "heightened a sense of millenarian hope among some Shaykhíya for the full disclosure of the new age through the guidance of the perfect Shí`ah, or possibly even the long-expected return of the Hidden Imam." (Scholl, p.232).

[902] "Quiconque se proclame publiquement le Báb de l'Imám, se met eo ipso en dehors du shi`isme, car il en profane le secret fondamentale, viole le ghaybat, rompt l'attente eschatologique." EII, v.4, p.283.

[903] Bausani, "Bábís," Encyclopedia of Religion, p.33.

[904] Amanat, pp.148-51.

[905] Ibid., pp.56-99. The whole topic is the subject of Charismatic which provides many important insights on the problem.

[906] Cf. the discussion of this in Amanat, pp.175-6.

[907] Ibid., pp.171-5

[908] QA, p.7. Much of the language of the Tafsír súrat Yúsuf consists of variations on the same theme. Similar statements may be found on almost every page.

[909] QA, pp.6-7.

[910] A detailed study of this distinctive technique will be offered below in the translation of the Bab's chapter of the "Bee", in which the quranic material is set off from the Bab's words in italics.

[911] See above,"Background", for a brief discussion of the way in which Q.3:7 was understood in akhbárí exegesis.

[912] QA, p.7. The italicized portion is a direct quotation from Q.3:10.

[913] See also Anwár, p.152 where it is said that th ahl al-bayt are precisely the Most Great Remembrance of God (wa innahum dhikr alláh al-akbar).

[914] QA, p.7.

[915] QA, p.7.

[916] QA, p.8.

[917] See EII, v.4, pp.286-300. The idea is that one is capable of understanding or perceiving those things or truths which correspond to something like their analogues, which exist a priori in the soul or mind of the subject. This theory of isomorphism operates on all ontological levels, and may be seen as deriving from the famous quranic verse: We shall show them Our signs in the horizons and within themselves until it is manifest unto them that it is the truth. 41:53. This is similar to the nonquranic verse, whose origin appears to be unknown, but which is quoted frequently in `irfání and philosophical literature, and for that matter is quoted by the Bab (Baq., p.54): "And in each thing there is a sign which proves that God is one (wa fí kulli shay'in la-hu áyatun tadallu annahu wáhid)."

[918] It is suggested, furthermore, that Corbin's own profound pessimism, born of the example of twentieth century European history, admirably predisposed him to sympathy for what might be called the benign anarchism implicit in Shaykhism.

[919] Rashtí, in discussing these two major cycles, was quite specific:

The first cycle (al-dawrat al-úlá), which was concerned with externals, ended with the completion of the 12th century . . . The purpose of the present cycle (al-karrat al-tháníya wa al-dawra al-ukhrá) is to cause the hidden things to appear (li-bayán ahkám zuhúr al-bawátin) . . . The first cycle was for the training of bodies and the present cycle is for the training of sancitified spirits and pure souls. (Qasída, p.356).

Rashtí's theory seems to parallel, in some respects, that of the early Ismá`ílí teaching involving two cycles, specifically the dawr al-kashf, (which may correspond with Rashtí's dawrat al-úlá), and the dawr al-satr, (corresponding with the dawrat al-ukhrá). See Corbin, Trilogie, pp.181-3 and passim; idem, "Cyclical Time"; and Walker, "Eternal Cosmos". See also Rafati, pp.169-73.

[920] Browne, Traveller's, p.226.

[921] QA, p.9: inná nahnu qad nazzalná al-kitáb `alá kulli ummatin bi-lisáni-him [cf.14:4] wa qad nazzalná hádhá 'l-kitáb bi-lisán al-dhikr `alá 'l-haqq bi'l-haqq badí`an.

[922] Huizinga, Homo Ludens, p.12. The rules which the Bab's Tafsír súrat Yúsuf breaks are quite obvious: it presumes to challenge the `ijaz al-Qur'án doctrine by its form alone; the Arabic language is stressed beyond the usual confines of usage, idiom, and grammar; the claim to spiritual authority (both implicit and explicit) was perceived as an outrage, and so on. Perhaps most importantly in the present context, is the flagrant disregard for the venerable rules of tafsír itself (e.g., proceeding in the commentary seriatim, establishing an exegtical unit through use of such words as "ya`ní" and "al-murád", providing lexical equivalents for single words, and so on) which, as we have seen, were followed (however distinctively) by the Bab in Tafsír súrat al-baqara.

[923] QA, p.6. This and the following examples represent only the smallest fraction of such material. As was the case with the word dhikr, báb is employed in a wide variety of innovative and rhythmic phrases. Some idea of the effect this fluent manipulation of terms might have had on the reader/listener, can be had only by examining an extended passage. See the photocopied examples of the work below in chapters 3 and 4.

[924] QA, p.111.

[925] QA, p.13.

[926] Rippin, "The Quranic asbáb al-nuzúl material," pp.95-6.

[927] E.g., QA, p.12, see also, e.g., QA, pp.9,14, 17, 22, 25, 107.

[928] QA, pp.11, 13, 14, 23, 32, 73, 77, 107.

[929] E.g., QA, pp.3, 4, 6, 7, 8, etc.

[930] QA, p.6.

[931] E.g. QA, pp.17, 19, 20, 22,

[932] E.g. QA, p.23, see also e.g., pp.12 & 24.

[933] QA, p.40. Here the scribe first wrote (naturally enough) "nuqtat al-bá'", which has been corrected to "nuqtat al-báb". This corrected version appears in F11, f.35b. The occurrence of the plural abwáb in this chapter is directly related to the quranic verse under which it was written, 12:23: Now the woman in whose house he was solicited him and locked the doors on them . . . . As mentioned above, perhaps one of the features which commended the Súrat Yúsuf as a subject for commentary to the Bab, is the comparative frequency in it of the word báb.

[934] QA, p.192.

[935] The four representatives of the hidden Imám, Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-`Askarí recognized by Twelver Shí`ism were: `Uthmán al-`Amrí, his son Abú Ja`far Muhammad ibn `Uthmán, Abú al-Qásim ibn Rúh al-Nawbakhtí, Abú al-Husayn `Alí ibn Muhammad al-Samarrí. See Momen, pp.162-4.

[936] Le Báb, pp.9-11.

[937] Amanat, p.197.

[938] Ibid., pp.143, 173.

[939] Ibid., p.433.

[940] Or clavis hermeneutica, as Corbin prefers (Annuaire,1965-6, p.108). The following citations are from Anwár, p.91.

[941] Probably the K. kanz al-fawá'id of Abú al-Futuh Muhammad bin `Alí bin `Uthmán al-Karájakí, the student of Ibn Shádhán al-Qummí, (cf. Bihár, v.1, p.18); possibly: K. kanz al-fawá'id fí hall mushkilát al-qawá`id by `Umíd al-Dín `Abd al-Muttalib (cf. Bihár, v.1, p.21).

[942] Bihár, v.1, p.15 refers to this work simply as Kitáb Salím bin Qays al-Halálí.

[943] Anwár, p.91.

[944] Ibid.

[945] This work is published: Abú `Abd Alláh Muhammad Ibn Shahráshúb, Manáqib ál Abí Tálib, 3 vols., Najaf, 1376/1956.

[946] This book was written by Ibn Bábawayh and recently printed in an edition by `Alí Akbar Ghaffárí, Tehran, 1379/1959.

[947] This notion of God being concealed by the Prophets and Imáms plays an important role in Ismá`ílí and Shaykhí thought. (See below.) It depends upon the idea that revelation is that which simultaneously conceals and reveals. On this, see for example, Guénon, The Lord of the World, p.19n.

[948] See the Bab's use of this expression in Baq., p.242.

[949] Anwár, p.91. Such a statement suggests that the author was perhaps a moderate akhbárí. It is suggested further that his interpretation of these hadíths would not necessarily be rejected by the usúlíya (Momen, private communication).

[950] See Anwár, pp.337-9. Many other quranic nouns which are susceptible of the kind of metonymy which has become so familiar, are equally applicable to the Book and the Imám or Prophet, as we have seen in the case of dhikr. Two examples will suffice: habl ("rope", see Anwár, p.129) and núr ("light", Anwár, p.315). A study of those nouns which can and cannot be used interchangeably for the Book, and the Prophet or Imám (that is to a say, a person), would probably shed more light on the Shí`í attitude towards scripture.

[951] Masháriq, pp.23-4.

[952] Ibid., p.51.

[953] Ibid., pp.60-1.

[954] Rafatí, p.148. Mentioned also by Amanat, pp. 47 &173.

[955] Amanat, p.137.

[956] EII, v.4, pp.249-53.

[957] Writings, p.51. Cf. QA, Súrat al-anwár, pp.45-8, this passage occurs on p.46. This particular chapter is distinguished by the mention in it of proper names (apart from those of the Imáms who are, in any case, mentioned but very infrequently in the work). In the course of an exhortation to the ulama to the effect that the study of any other book than this work is forbidden and designating it as the kitáb alláh, the Bab writes the above passage. He then says: "We made the two gates as two signs, around the water, efface the sign of night and establishing the sign of day. He then writes: "O Qurrat al-`Ayn! Say to the great scholar Ja`far al-`Alawí: "You are upon the truth since you have prostrated to the gate of God and you are therefore accounted as praiseworthy in the mother of the book. . . . You have followed his cause and we have therefore made you a pillar (rukn) exalted over all the worlds/beings and in the Hereafter you will be with us . . . O dear friend, say, by the most great permission of God, to our servant `Abd al-Kháliq, the scholar: God has brought you to His most great Remembrance during the known months, but you did not perceive anything about his most sound cause (amrihi al-aqwam) in his most mighty acts, and God has seen you commiting shirk against certain aspects of his most sound cause . . . O Qurrat al-`Ayn! Say to al-Shaykh al-Kabír al-Hasan al-`Arabí of the family of `Usfúr (Ál `Usfúr), whom God has caused to dwell in jazírat al-bahr (Búshihr): "Verily you are upon truth from your Lord, the Truth, so assist our Word, and his book, the truth, and summons the people to the pure religion (al-dín al-khális). (QA, pp.46-7.)

Ja`far al-`Alawí is possibly Mullá Ja`far Naráqí cf. Amanat, p.298, or Mullá Ja`far Qazvíní, ibid., pp.162, 307. Momen has suggested (private communication) that since neither of these two were Sayyids (as al-`Alawí would imply), the reference may be to Sayyid Ja`far Kashfí (on whom see above, "Background"). `Abd al-Kháliq is undoubtedly Mullá `Abd al-Kháliq Yazdí, one-time student of Shaykh Ahmad (Amanat, pp.362-8). On the Ál `Usfúr family of Búshihr and its connections with Ahsá'í and Rashtí, see ibid., p.129.

[958] E.g., QA, pp.148, 161, 216, 226.

[959] Ziyára, p.5.

[960] The Bab quotes this variant, Baq., p.190. Incidentally, a little before this commentary, the Bab makes what appears to be an allusion to his own status. Here he says of Q. 2:56, that it refers to the "return" of the Family of God and only those who are "deputized" (yunayyabu) can mention this." (Baq., p.188).

[961] Ziyára, p.7.

[962] Qasída, p.64.

[963] Ibid., p.61.

[964] Ibid., p.103. Rashtí says that this is one of the doctrines of the "ahl al-ishráq min ahl al-wifáq wa al-ittifáq", which he seems to endorse. The identity of this group is not clear.

[965] Qasída, p.103.

[966] Qur'an 54:50, 67:3, 4:72, respectively.

[967] This is a reference to the "City of knowledge" hadíth.

[968] The Bab expresses this idea in his commentary on al-Baqara: "The greatest name (al-ism al-a`zam) is "He" (huwa). It is the gate of union with Him (báb i'tiláfihi), even if the wáw is not fully pronounced [as in "hu"], in that it causes [the believer] to enter upon God without looking to the gate (báb), because the gate is [merely] the pointer (al-ishára). (Baq., p.12)

[969] Qasída, p.103.

[970] Qasída, p.319.

[971] This is also the classical Sufi theme of the awliyá': they are the signs of God (Landolt, "Waláyah," p.322).

[972] Qasída, p.28.

[973] Ibid, 96.

[974] Ibid., p.96. Similar language is found in the work of Ibn Abí Jumhúr, mentioned earlier. For example, where the author discusses the divine acts (af`ál) he says, quoting Ibn `Arabí, that of the primordial divine acts, the second is called by the theologians, with justification, the gate of justice. Ibn Abí Jumhúr says that in this statement there is an allusion to the gate of tawhíd in which, according to the Sufis, there are several stations: the station of jam`, and the the station of tafarruqa, and the station of jam` al-jam`, and the al-jámi` li'l-jamí` ( al-Mujlí, p.202). Elsewhere, he discusses the "city of knowledge" tradition and the variant cited by Shaykh Ahmad in explaining how the divine sciences are related to `Alí (Ibid., p.371).

[975] In any case, Rashtí, as one of the ulama, would be entitled to the title báb in one of its interpretations. See below, Rashtí's reference to "the ulama who really know".

[976] Qasída, p.97.

[977] Namely: tawhíd, ma`ání, abwáb, imám, arkán, nuqabá, and nujabá'. See above, Part i, "Hierarchies-2".

[978] Qasída, p.99. This is the Shí`í interpretation of Ibn `Arabí's doctrine of waláya, the classical source for which is Haydar Ámulí (d. after 787/1385-6).

[979] Ibid., pp.206-7. Apart from further defining báb, this passage is most important because of the series of dual nouns employed. The following chapter will explain the background and offer an analysis of this usage which is found frequently in the Tafsír súrat Yúsuf and is one of the reasons why the Bab's commentary has been so often regarded as incomprehensible. An understanding of the Bab's use of such language, will further confirm that he was making the highest possible claim for himself at this relatively early stage of his career.

[980] Rashtí then proceeds to discuss the metaphysical principles of `arsh and kursí as two gates of knowledge. Ibid., p.207.

[981] Ja`far ibn al-Mansúr al-Yamaní, al-Dá`í (ascribed), Kitáb al-kashf, p. 14.

[982] Corbin, Trilogy, p.31.

[983] Ibid., p.180 and references.

[984] idem., Histoire, p.113.

[985] Mentioned by Goldziher, Introduction, pp. 246-7.

[986] Writings, pp.106-8.

[987] Ibn Hibatalláh, Mizáj al-tasním, p. 72. See also the German introduction, pp. 23-4.

[988] Ibid., p.182, ad 18:93-4. For earlier instances of the Ismá`ílí identification of báb with hijáb, see Corbin, Trilogie, p.179 and references.

[989] Qasída, p.236.

[990] Ibid., p.239.

[991] ibid.

[992] Ibid., p.242. See also ibid., pp.265 & 320.

[993] Ibid., pp.323 & 358.

[994] Ibid., p.95.

[995] Ibid., pp.137, 138, 156.

[996] Ibid., p.156.

[997] QA, p.3, v.20. (The numbering of the verses is provisional.)

[998] QA, p.23, v.29.

[999] QA, p.51, v.10. This is slightly adapted from the translation in Writings, p. 54.

[1000] QA, p. 86, v.36.

[1001] QA, p. 91, v.23.

[1002] QA, p.114, v.9.

[1003] QA, p. 164, v.41.

[1004] QA, p.167, v.24; cf. Q.11:100.

[1005] QA, pp. 229-30, v.17.

[1006] For example, qutb is the title given, in Sufi literature, to the one who heads the hierarchy of saints (nuqabá', abdál, etc.). SEI, pp.55 & 582.

[1007] Nahjal-balágha, v.1, pp.30-31. This khutba, it will be remembered, was frequently referred to by the Bab in the Tafsír súrat al-baqara.

[1008] EII, v.3, pp.9-10.

[1009] ibid., v.1, p.21.

[1010] ibid., p.298; on this "double trap" see also idem, Trilogie, pp.11.

[1011] EII, v.2, p.205, cf. ibid., v.4, p.261 which discusses further the polar dimension conferred upon the believer by his Imám.

[1012] Ibid., p.69.

[1013] Ibid., pp.71-2.

[1014] From the French translation of a passage from al-Mujlí, p.488 by Corbin, EII, v.4, pp.406-7.

[1015] Ibid., p.282.

[1016] Ibid., pp.282-3.

[1017] Cf. Chodkiewicz, Sceau, pp.159-79.

[1018] QA, p.4, v.39.

[1019] QA, p.115, v. 21.

[1020] QA, p.150, v. 42.

[1021] QA, p.159, v. 34.

[1022] QA, p.163, v. 28.

[1023] QA, p. 202, v. 39.

[1024] QA, p. 40, v. 6.

[1025] QA, p.227, v.20.

[1026] QA, p.154, v.19. Cf. Mizáj al-tasním, p.72, quoted above, which continues: "When the Lord of the Age will have become absolutely established [in the earth], he will become the centre of all its forms (sára markazan li-suwarihá ajma`)." Cf. also Corbin, "L'idée du Paraclet".

[1027] Eliade, "La Concidentia Oppositorum".

[1028] Ibid., pp. 234-5.

[1029] Rafati, p.195.

[1030] Cf. Anwár under such headings as "al-akhira," (p.72), where in one hadíth it is defined as the return of the hidden Imám (al-raj`a wa'l-karra); "al-janna," (p.118) where Paradise is described as the dawlat al-haqq ma`a 'l-qá'im; "al-nár," (p.314) where `Alí is described as the sáhib al-janna wa'l-nár.

[1031] A commentary on one verse of Rashtí's commentary is ascribed to the Bab (Sources, p.97). Three manuscripts are known to exist, none of which have been available to me.

[1032] Annuaire,1969-70, pp. 235-41. Other mentions of the Sharh khutbat al-tatanjíya may be found in Corbin, EII, v.1, p.96n.; v.3, p.184n.; v.4,p.195n. & 236n. See also Rafatí, p.133.

[1033] Rosen, Collections scientifiqes, v.1, p.186.

[1034] From Masháriq, pp.166-70. Bursí wrote a Tafsír súrat al-tawhíd which is apparently still in manuscript (Sipahsálár Catalogue, v.1, pp.127-8). His nisba refers to the small town in Iraq, situated on the Euphrates between Hilla and Kufa.

[1035] Annuaire, p.235.

[1036] Rashíd al-Dín Abú `Abdalliah Muhammad ibn `Alí ibn Sharáshúb Sarawí Mázandarání (b. ca. 490/1096), Manáqib ál Abí Tálib. He also wrote a work entitled Ma`álim al-`ulamá. Majlisí identifies it with the Khutbat al-aqálim, as does the author of Dharí`a. (Annuaire, pp. 235-6).

[1037] Masháriq, p.166. Lest it be thought that the last phrase is a misprint, it is found quoted in this way at Baq., p.9, C, f.3a, and I, p.157: wa 'l-firdaws rá'yu 'l-`ayn. The editor's note in the text reads simply: fí 'l-asl "afradaws".

[1038] Ibid., p.167

[1039] túfán occurs twice in the Qur'an: 7:133 & 29:14.

[1040] Ibid.,167-8.

[1041] Annuaire, p.235.

[1042] Ibid., pp.233-4. The text of this khutba is also found in Masháriq, p.31 and is said by Corbin to have been also commented on by Rashtí.

[1043] Landolt, Correspondance Spirituelle, p.21 (intro.); see the following quotation, which describes the source of this voice as "la substance subtile du Moi (latífah-ye kámilah-ye anáníya). Cf. also idem, "Deux opuscules de Semnání sur le moi théophanique".

[1044] Landolt, Correspondance, p.6 (intro.).

[1045] EII, v.1, p.96n.

[1046] Kitáb al-kashf, p.8. See below, the Bab's appropriation of the title kalimat alláh al-akbar.

[1047] Rajab Bursí is considered to have been an extremist by "orthodox" Shí`í writers. (Cf. the comments in the Sipahsálár Catalogue, loc.cit.). In a recent polemical work directed against Bábism, the author makes the following statement about Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsá'í:

It is quite obvious from his teachings that in a number of matters, Ehsai (sic) had followed the deviationist schools of Hurúfí, Nuqtaviyan, Adadiya, Ghulat sects and some of the mystical sects who went on to elevate the Imam or the Prophet to superhuman levels and deify them. Most of these extreme views that led to his excommunication, were borrowed directly from the writings of Hafiz Rajab Bursa Hilli . . . and Qazi Saiduddin Qummi . . . Hafiz Rajab was, in turn, influenced by the views of Sayyid Shah Fazlulláh . . . Fazl-i Hurufi . . . founder of the Hurúfí sect . . . (Noori, Finality of Prophethood, p. 20, English text.)

The statement is of course impossibly general, but it does indicate a common attitude.

[1048] EII, v.1, p.96n.

[1049] EII, v.3, p.184n.

[1050] The commentary is apparently on the whole Masháriq; cf. EII, v.4, p.212.

[1051] Annuaire, p.236. The edition of the commentary used by Corbin was lithographed in Tabríz in 1270 [1853]. Despite its 353 pages, in-8_, of tightly written script, 35 lines per page, it was left unfinished, covering only one of several levels of meaning which the author of the commentary perceived the sermon as encompassing. "Tel qu'il est, il a, cependant, les vertus d'une Somme."

[1052] Baq., p.24.

[1053] This has implications for the term al-`amá "the cloud", which although strictly not a void, may be seen as devoid of "meaning" (cf. al-ma`ání) prior, (in an ontological sense) to the articulation within it of the divine hypostases known collectively as the "Family of God".

[1054] Cf. e.g. Baq., p.10: "wa dáma al-mulk fi'l-mulk ... ".

[1055] Annuaire, pp.236-237.

[1056] Ibid., pp.237-8.

[1057] In this connection, it would be interesting to study the work of the Bab's disciple, Mullá Muhammad `Alí Bárfurúshí, known as Quddús, on the interpretation of the sád of samad (from Q.112) which is reported to be "thrice as voluminous as the Qur'án itself". (Nabíl, p.357) No manuscripts of it have been found.

[1058] Kafí, v.1, p.10: "When God created the Intellect, he tested it by saying 'Draw near!' Then it drew near. Then he ordered it to depart, and it departed. God exclaimed, 'By My might and glory! I have created nothing which is dearer to Me than you." On `aql in hadíth attributed to Sádiq, see Crow, "The Teaching," passim.

[1059] This topic of nuzúl and su`úd is of course a standard one in Muslim spiritual philosophy. Cf. Rafatí, pp.111-13 for Shaykh Ahmad's twenty-eight tier "alphabet" hierarchy, which is possibly the precedent for Rashtí's. However there is no mention in Rafatí of a corresponding negative hierarchy.

[1060] Annuaire, p.239. Material in quotation marks is from Corbin's translation of Rashtí.

[1061] EII, v.2, pp.54-6; see ibid, pp.88-90 & 96; ibid., v.3, p.208n.

[1062] Also quoted by the Bab, Baq., p.165; see above Part i "Hierarchies-2".

[1063] Cf. Baq., p.224. Cf. also the similar view put forth by Ismá`ílí author, Husayn ibn `Alí ibn Muhammad, ibn al-Walíd (7th/13th century) translated in Corbin, Trilogie, p.184. Earlier (5th/11th century), Násir-i Khusraw had taught a similar doctrine (mentioned in EII, v.4, p.296).

[1064] Cf. above (Part i "Hierarchies-1") the three levels of rubúbíya in the Tafsír súrat al-baqara, specifically such expressions as: "The Lordship which exists when no vassal (marbúb) is seen."

[1065] Annuaire, pp.240-1.

[1066] Meier, "Some Aspects of Inspiration," p.421.

[1067] See the "hadíth al-kisá'," Mafátíh al-jinán, appendix, pp.1-4; cf. also Momen, p.14.

[1068] In the early exegetical work Kitáb asás al-ta'wíl, by the Ismá`ílí dá`í, Qádí al-Nu`mán (363/974), the interesting comment is made to the effect that the "front" and "back" of the shirt refer to exoteric and esoteric knowledge respectively ( p.144). (Cf. the early Sufi interpretation in Bèwering, p.256.) The qamís in verse 12:93 is seen as representing imáma (K. asás, p.163).

[1069] Sufi literature on the initiatory khirqa speaks of its heavenly origin also, and mentions the qamís of Joseph (with which the khirqa is compared) as that which protected Abraham from the fire. `Umar Suhrawardí (632/1234), `Awárif, pp.95-102.

[1070] Núr, v.2, p.462, #187. The compiler adds that a similar tradition is found in Káfí. (This tradtion from Káfí is found in Burhán, v.2, p.269 #1.) Núr, 2, p.463, #191, quotes the Ikmál al-dín: "When the Qá'im comes forth the shirt of Joseph will be on him, and he will have the staff of Moses and the ring of Solomon." The heavenly origin of this shirt was also taught by the early exegete Kalbí (150/767) as what Wansbrough (p.134) terms "a reflex of Rabbinic descriptions" of the robe in Genesis.

[1071] Anwár, p.271.

[1072] ibid., p.110.

[1073] Ibid., pp. 294-5. In discussing the connotations of "deception" which the word carries, Isfahání refers to 6:72 those who do not clothe their faith in darkness , and says that this refers to those who did not confuse the waláya with the waláya of "so-and-so and so-and-so". It might be asked whether fulán wa fulán is an editorial substitution for more derogatory appellations, such as those seen in the commentary on al-Baqara.

[1074] Qasída, p.68. The verse is: a`taytu má lam yahza Ya`qúb bihi idh já'ahu bi-shadhá al-qamís al-shamál.

[1075] Ibid.

[1076] In some cases, however, several súras continue a running commentary on large sections of the Qur'an; in these instances, therefore, the introduction of what appears to be unlikely material in commenting on this or that verse of súra 12, is but the continuation of a theme begun much earlier in the work. This is not the case in the present context. Cf. those chapters mentioned above (Part ii, Chapter 2) which represent large, uninterrupted sections of running paraphrase of the Qur'an.

[1077] Furát, Tafsír Furát al-Kúfí (see bibliography); see also Dharí`a, v.4, pp.298-300; Sezgin, v.1, p.539 gives a probable death date of 310/922. See above "Background".

[1078] Tafsír Furát, p.84.

[1079] al-`adháb, cf. Anwár, p.230.

[1080] Cf. the tafsír of this verse by al-Sharíf al-Radí quoted above in "Background".

[1081] See Sáfí, p.250 which quotes traditions with other interpretations from Káfí, the Kitáb al-khisál of Ibn Bábawayh (381/991), the Kitáb majma` al-bayán of Tabarsí (548/1153), in addition to the tradition in the Tafsír of al-Qummí ascribed to al-Sádiq: "We, by God, are the bees whom God inspired to take houses from the mountains, that is to take a shí`a from the `Arabs, and from the trees, that is [to take a shí`a] from the Persians, and that which they build, [means to take a shí`a] from among the mawálí. And comes forth from their bellies a drink of diverse hues means the knowledge (`ilm) which comes from us to you." Sáfí, also cites a similar hadíth from the Tafsír al-`Ayyáshí, the author of which (d. early 4th/10th cent.) was a contemporary of al-Qummí and had converted from Sunnism to Shí`ism, see Ayoub, "Speaking," p. 6. Later exegesis, while including similar hadíths, also cites a tradition which specifies that the inspiration intended here is ilhám, as opposed to the wahí explicitly stated in the text. This reflects theological disputes about the nature and degrees of divine inspiration; one position being that wahí is a technical term which can only be used as descriptive of the inspiration which comes to a prophet. (Núr, v.3, pp.64-5 & Burhán, v.2, pp.375-6). The predominant tendency of the interpretation of this verse was seen by the author of Anwár to be the identification of thebees with the Imáms, and the drink with their knowledge. See the respective articles in this work on nahl (p.320) and sharáb (pp.192-3). Cf. also the eighteenth century Ismá`ílí tafsír (referred to above), p.126, where allusions to imáma are read into the verse.

[1082] Ziyára, pp. 69-70. Rashtí also mentions the Súrat al-nahl in his commentary on the Qasída (pp.31-2), and says that al-nahl itself is another name for divine knowledge (muntahal al-`ilm), and that one may find in the súra an explanation of various states of the bees and the details of the blessings which God bestowed upon his servant (i.e., Muhammad).

[1083] An anecdote is told of how the Bab, while a student of Shaykh `Ábid, and therefore still a young child, gave an extemporaneous explanation of the basmala which greatly impressed his teacher, who was himself a student of Shaykhí theology. Nabíl, p. 75. On the "wise child" motif in biographies of the Bab see Lambden, "An Episode in the Childhood of the Bab".

[1084] Burhán, v.1, pp.43-4, #1 from Qummí who gave six separate isnáds for this matn. In addition, Burhán lists six more variants. Similar material is found in Núr and Sáfí. Incidentally, this hadíth provides important background for the the title Bahá' alláh, assumed by Mírzá Husayn `Alí Núrí, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith.

[1085] Ayoub, "The Prayer of Islam," pp. 639-42. The basmala is also treated as a separate verse in the Ahmadí interlinear Qur'an: The Holy Qur'án, translated by Maulawí Sher `Alí, Rabwah, Pakistan, 1979.

[1086] Núr,1, pp. 6-7, #22.

[1087] ibid., #21 and #23. This tradition was cited by Rashtí in his discussion of the Greatest Name referred to above (Part i, "Qá'im"), where it was suggested that aqrab, as applicable to both time and place, might be construed as an allusion to the imminent appearance of an actual Qá'im.

[1088] The numbering of the verses of this work is not always simple or straightforward; thus if the assumption here is correct, it would facilitate the task somewhat, inasmuch as all chapters are said to contain forty-two verses.

[1089] al-Káshání, Tafsír "Ibn `Arabí", v.1, p.8, unascribed. See also Qasída, p.82 where it is ascribed to the Prophet. Rashtí adds that the bá' is: al-lawh al-mahfúz, al-kitáb al-mastúr, marja` al-haqá'iq al-iláhíya wa mahall al-asmá' wa'l-sifát al-idáfíya wa'l-khalqíya, wa'l-bá' mazhar al-jalíl wa qalam, al-tafsíl wa'l-mabda' wa'l-dalíl wa'l-sabab wa'l-sabíl wa'l-sirr wa'l-ta`líl . . ., etc.

[1090] Qasída, pp. 84-5 & 92; Rashtí adds: "`Alí did not make anything higher than the point." There follows an elaborate discussion of five levels of meaning of the basmala.

[1091] Nabíl, p.63.

[1092] Baq., pp.11-12.

[1093] Charismatic, p.146. Cf., e.g., the title of the110th chapter of the Tafsír súrat Yúsuf: "Súrat al-sábiqín," (QA, pp.229-31)

[1094] On the identity and number of the first disciples of the Bab, see Amanat, pp.177-9.

[1095] Qasída, pp.90-1.

[1096] Browne, Traveller's Narrative, p.229. Cf. also the passage from Amanat, p. 204, quoted above.

[1097] Charismatic, p.174 where the author perceives a gradual evolution of the nature of the Bab's claims, as opposed to one claim which came to be expressed more and more openly (i.e., by the word mazhar) as time went by. In fact, the Bab refers to himself in numerous places in this early work as mazhar, e.g., QA, pp.113 (in the voice of the hidden Imám) and QA, p.170: "Praised be to God who sent down this Book with the truth upon his servant that he might be a mazhar in all the worlds."

[1098] The months of this calendar, still used by Bahá'ís, take their names from key words found in a popular Shí`í prayer which is recited during the month of Ramadan. (Mafátíh al-jinán, pp.184-6.) These key words appear to have no direct relationship with the letters of the basmala. On the Mafátíh al-jinán, Corbin has written: "Signalons . . . la beauté de ce livre; le détail de son calendrier liturgique et les excercises spirituels privés qu'il préconise, en font un témoin par excellence de la piété shí`ite et un document inappréciable de psychologie religieuse." (EII, v.4, p.41.)

[1099] Qasída, p.93.

[1100] Rafatí, p.175, see p.160 for the description of a manuscript copy of this document in the Near Eastern Collection of the UCLA Library.

[1101] Corbin, Trilogie, p.30. The quotation is from Paul Kraus, Jábir ibn Hayyán, v.2, Cairo,1942, p.263. Reference may also be made to Corbin, "Le Livre du Glorieux de Jábir ibn Hayyán", Eranos-Jahrbuch, v.18 (1950), pp.75-87. See also Masháriq, esp. pp.18-38. In addition, see Ibn `Arabí, Futúhát, vol.1, pp.231-361: "al-báb al-thání fí ma`rifa marátib al-hurúf"; and the well-known manual on magic by al-Búní (622/1225), Shams al-ma`árif al-kubrá. Thus, it is not necessary to ascribe to the Bábí use of gematria, a Hurúfí influence. In fact, the most recent study of the Hurúfí's refers to other less superficial similarities, namely Fádil Alláh's claim to be mahdí, the combining of teachings of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and antipathy for both the mainstream of Shí`ism and Sufism. (Gèlpinlari, Hurúfílik metinleri katalogu, p.20. Thanks to Mr. R. Sezer for translating the appropriate passage for me; thanks also to Dr. A. Karamustafa for drawing my attention to this book.) On notarikon, and other less respectable forms of exegesis, see Todorov, Symbolism, p.105.

[1102] Ziyára, p.69.

[1103] Thus Abú `Ubayda found it necessary to specify dhálika 'l-kitáb" as hádhá 'l-Qur'án and cite poetry to prove his point. Abú `Ubayda, Majáz, pp. 28-9. On this see also Rippin, "The Quranic asbáb al-nuzúl material," pp. 95-6. Here, it is suggested that all of the asbáb literature for this verse has as its main purpose the relieving of this ambiguity.

[1104] Burhán, v.1, p.53, #1, ad 2:2 and #1 ad 2:3.

[1105] See also the discussion on this point in the translation by Maulvi Muhammad Ali (see bibliography), p.12 who cites Lane to suggest that the usage dhálika, in implying remoteness, indicates esteem.

[1106] For the second see the quotation from the Kitáb al-kashf in the above discussion of the Khutbat al-tatanjíya. It may be speculated whether or not the more grammatically correct usage there, reflects editorial adjustment.

[1107] Wright, Grammar, v.1, p.179.

[1108] The voice from the burning bush is also a classic argument in Sufi literature to justify tajallí of various kinds, not necessarily "revelation" of a prophetic Book. See al-Káshání's letter to Simnání, in Landolt, "Der Briefweschel," p.72 and the several references to Sufi and Shí`í literature pp.72-3, n.125.

[1109] Charismatic, p.157-8.

[1110] Qadímí, pp.433 & 674.

[1111] Writings, p.49, n.2 and Rosen, Collections scientifiques, v.1, p.187n.

[1112] Cited in Fusús, v.1, p.325.

[1113] Idem, Kitáb-i Iqán, English translation (slightly adapted), p. 49, Persian text, p.38.

[1114] I.e., muttasil marfú`; see Robson, "Hadíth," E12, v.3, p.25.

[1115] Masháriq, p.172.

[1116] Ascribed to Mírzá Muhammad Akhbárí (1178/1764-1232/1816, on whom see Amanat, pp.25-8), translated in Nabíl, pp.49-50 (see also the reference here to the predictions of none other than Ibn `Arabí about the rise of the mahdí in Persia). I have not located the original for this hadíth.

[1117] Mentioned above, Part ii, Chapter 1; see also Nabíl, p.27 and the hadíth quoted by Rashtí (Qasída, p.69): The Prophet said: "God created husn in a hundred parts and gave Joseph ninety-nine."

[1118] For the Fátiha as umm al-kitáb see Anwár, pp. 80-1. N.b. also the hadíth cited in ibid., p.80, from `Alí: "The family of Muhammad is the umm al-kitáb and its seal (khátimatuhu)."

[1119] al-Halláj, Akhbár, (introduction) p.49.

[1120] Reza Tevfiq in Huart, Textes Houroufis, p.293. See the following pages for the background of this belief, which is associated with Abraham. See also p.305.

[1121] Akhbár, #32 &34.

[1122] Cf. Anwár, pp.182-3, where the standard interpretation of this word, i.e. qiyáma, is also given. In addition to standing for waláya proper, it also represents `Alí himself.

[1123] Anwár, p.73, quoting, among others, the Kitáb al-wáhida of Táriq bin Shiháb, `Alí said: "The Imám is a holy spirit (rúh qudsí) and a divine cause (amr ilahí).

[1124] See Masháriq, p.63.

[1125] See Anwár, p. 256 where the quranic matla` al-fajr is interpreted as the Qá'im in a hadíth from al-Sádiq.

[1126] Cf. the translation in Writings, p. 69.

[1127] Anwár, p.200.

[1128] On this: Ayoub, Redemptive Suffering. QA: al-qamís al-mughammas; F11, f.164a: al-qamís al-muqammas.

[1129] Cf. Writings, p. 74 for this and the following two verses.

[1130] Anwár, pp. 207-8.

[1131] The usage here may also be derived from some ziyárát dedicated to `Alí, in which the phrase: yá' mishkát al-diyá'" occurs. Anwár, pp. 205-6.

[1132] Of some interest here is the point made by the Bab elsewhere. The images of fire (nár) and light (núr) represent respectively, those who either accept or reject his claim. The numerical difference between the two (nár = 251; núr = 256) is represented by the numerical value of báb (5). Thus through recognition of the Bab, "fire" is transformed into "light". (Amanat, p.203).

[1133] Cf. Schimmel, Dimensions, p.143. Similar terminology was noticed above in the work of Rashtí.

[1134] Cf. Arkoun, p. 49. Here the author, who appears to be speaking from a Sunní standpoint, makes a reference to Ricoeur's definition of the "cercle herméneutique" in setting forth eight principles, either explicit or implicit, of classical exegesis. I stress the Sunní nature of the schema because he presents the seventh principle in the following terms:

La disparition du prophète a enfermé tous les croyants dans un cercle herméneutique: chacun est confronté, désormais, au texte qui re - présent la Parole; chacun doit "croire pour comprendre et comprendre pour croire".

By comparison, it would appear that the same thing occurred within Shí`í Islam, or at least was perceived later to have occurred, with the disappearance of the twelfth Imám.

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