Six Provisional Translations


Khazeh Fananapazir


****Provisional translation Number 1

Baha'u'llah Ma'idih ye Asmani Volume 4 page 141 line 6

*nufuus e naa'iqah ye ghaafelah. This heedless and prattling have understood this Revelation to be like unto the events of the past. Up to this moment they have not comprehended the significances of the "Day of God." They continue to deceive the people with the vain imaginings [awhaamaat] and the vain mentions that were current in the past. I swear by the righteousness of our Lord the Promised One! They have not uttered a word of truth. And now there are others now who intend to walk in the footsteps of those who were in the past Dispensation. If they had apprehended the meaning of the "Day of God" they would have utterly buried in the soil of oblivion such mentions as the mention of 'Wali' [=successor] and 'Was.i'[=appointee] and their like. They have not become cognizant of the fact that their Gates [abwaab] their Four Gates became the cause and reason of error. If those false utterances had not emanated from these day springs of falsity [=mat.aali' e kiz.b], the Primal Point, may the spirit all else but Him be a sacrifice unto Him, would not have been martyred.. And now they have attached themselves to that same system [dastgaah] and wish to deceive the friends with those same mentions.

Provisional translation number 2
Baha'u'llah, quoted in Zuhur ul H.aqq by Fad.il e Maazandaraani Tablet addressed to Mirza Abu'l-Faz.l

"And that which you have mentioned about Shalmaghani and what Shalmaghani has uttered in relation to this Supreme Manifestation of God [= Z.uhur illah al-a'z.am] this is that which the Tongue of the Ancient of days has now uttered:

O Abul Faz.l ! thou has spoken the truth and thou hast disclosed what was hidden in the words of Shalmaghani. The intention of My Herald, the Primal Point, may the spirit of all else be His sacrifice, in referring to this matter was to tear the veil of vain imaginings of the people, because as your honour is aware, the heedless members of the Shi'ih sect have mentioned many things on this matter (of the Occultation of the Hidden Imam). At some time they built with the hands of their fancies the Sacred Precinct [=naah.iyah ye muqaddasah]. At another time the mention of the "underground cellar" [sardab] and the "ocean" flowed from their falsifying tongues and yet at another they talked about Jabulqa and Jabulsa. Finally it became evident and manifest that all these utterances were aloft on the steed of fancy and that their riders were speeding in the wilderness of vain imaginings and idle thought. The intention of His holiness, the Bab, was always to tear the veils asunder, so that all may recognise that that Divine Entity, the Promised One, the Sanctified Essence was in the unborn world [as.laab] not in these falsely fabricated cities =nah dar shahr haaye mawhuumah ye maj'uulah]. In the beginning of the Bab's Dispensation no more could be appreciated by the people than these mentions and what He spoke was to outward appearance in agreement with what later flowed from his Supreme Pen and He now speaks in His own Self between the earth and heaven saying: "In truth I am the Mother Book amongst all creation! I am the Manifest Truth amongst all humankind and I am the utterance of the All- merciful in the world of existence. How blessed is the one who mentioned Him before and mentions Him again now and who bears witness unto Him as all created things have borne witness to the Cause of God the Revealer of these verses. **

Provisional translation number 3

from Baha'u'llah's Tablets quoted in Faad.il e Maazandaraani Amr va Khalq

Volume 2 page 3

**They asked Ja'far the brother of H.asan 'Askari: "Did your brother have any offspring? " He replied: "There was an infant but he died." But when the temples of falsity [=hayaakil e maj'uulah] heard this utterance they denied him and called Ja'far the Liar. Consider how grievous was their wrong-doing and their falsification. Then they proceeded to make mention of the "sacred precinct", and the appearance of tawqi'at [=communications of the Hidden One] from the sacred precincts with all the details that you have heard of before. May God vouchsafe fairness and equity unto these people for they have left their people in a wilderness of vain imaginings and false ideas, in greater perdition than Abu Lahab.**

4] from His holiness 'Abdu'l-Baha
**
Muh.Ad.arat Volume 2 page 833 Dar khus.us. e Imam e Thaani 'ashar. Thou hast asked the detail in relation to the 12th Imam. The realisation of this entity has never been in the world of corporeal existence. Rather His holiness the 12th Imam has always been in the realm of the unseen. He had never a realization in the world of physicality rather some of the leaders of the Shi'ihs at that time in the past, merely to protect the weak souls considered it expedient to describe that Personage Who is present in the realm of the unseen in this manner. Their descriptions were such that one could almost imagine that He is in the realm of physicality. For the world of existence in its totality is one world. "It is only unseen in relation to you and it is only visible in relation to you." All this was their consideration, their thought their expedience. There is a couplet composed by Ibn H.ajar in this regard in his S.awaa'iq [vide note below]

How can the Sardab [=the Cellar in Samarra Iraq] give birth to a human child?

God forgive your thoughts! for you have truly found a third to the mythical twin of the phoenix and the mythical giant.

In sum if you refer to all the traditions in this regard and if you exert the utmost careful study you will conclude that this peerless being the 12th Imam has never existed in the world of physical existence.***

note S.awaa'iq mentioned by the Master refers to S.awaa'iq il muh.riqah by Ibn Hajar e Haithami

http://www.al-islam.org/murajaat/49.htm

...and it is transmitted by Ibn Hajar where we have indicated a short while ago while referring to Al-Sawa`iq al-Muhriqa. also please see

  1. http://www.islamic-paths.org/Home/English/Sects/Shiite/Encyclopedia/Chapter_8_Part04.htm
  2. Islamic Sects and Followings
  3. Shi'ite Beliefs and Practices
  4. A Shi'ite Encyclopedia
  5. Shia/Sunni and Qur'an:
  6. Belief of Shia in the Completeness of Qur'an
  7. ...al-Sawa'iq al-Muhriqah, by Ibn Hajar al-Haythami...

Provisional 5
tablet of Husayn

Tablet

and the same Tablet is quoted in Qamus e Iqan by [Ishraq Khavari] Volume 1

page 190.

This servant promised its provisional translation.

Here it is:

*****

THE TABLET OF HUSSAIN

BY BAHA'U'LLAH

His holiness the exalted Bab because of the weakness of the people at the inception of his manifestation showed extreme forbearance. He spoke with the utmost wisdom e.g. he says in a certain context, 'if anyone attributes prophethood, imamate or anything above these stations or similar to it has perpetrated a calumny against me and I am far removed from him'. There are many such examples in the utterances of the Bab. In another context He even says that if anyone ascribes the particular and explicated Gatehood [Babiyyat e Makhs.us.ih ye mans.us.ih] to Me has uttered a fabrication. Then afterwards He has mentioned all these grades to apply to His own station. In one instance He says, "I am the same Point of the Qur'an (Muhammad) that have been manifested in this spiritual cycle as the Point of the Bayan. This former station would be the station of prophethood and in the case of the latter station of the Imamate, He revealed: 'I am the promised Qa'im Whose advent you were promised'. Yet in other circumstances He has denied all the above and mentioned higher stations. Thus in a passage He reveals that if people were not so weak He would not have mentioned that His station was that of [representing] the Primal Will.' There is no doubt whatever that all these utterances are the exercise of H.ikmat [Wisdom] for if in the beginning of His manifestation He were to utter the above last utterances the flame and fire of opposition and rejection would have inflicted on Him what it did eventually achieve in the end. At all times reflect upon the tyranny of the oppressor, the objections of the enemy and the denial of the gainsayers who are none other than the divines of this age. Such was their opposition that He Who was the Quintessence of existence itself [Jawhar e Wujud] called Himself the "Servant of the Remnant of God" but this degraded people were not happy with that and they perpetrated that which my pen and my tongue are both unable to describe and up to this point in time no one has been able to ascertain the truth of this or to comprehend the consequences and traces of this matter

****

Tablet Provisional Number 6

Ma’idiyi Asmani [MA] Part II compiled from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Baha by ‘Abdu’l-H.amidi Ishraq Khavari 1984 NSA India New Delhi India [reproduced from and consists of the original MA volumes II, V, and IX which were previously published by the BPT of Iran

Page 54 bab e chehel va duvvum

****

O S.ad.ru-s. S.udur! Thy "outspread sroll" [=raqq e Manshur cf Q 52:3] was perused…As to thy question in regard to the Twelfth Imam. Inasmuch as in the texts of the traditions [=Ah.Adeeth] of the Holy Imams, to outward seeming, there is disagreement and conflict, for example in some h.adith the person of Muh.ammad the son of H.asan [al-‘Askari], peace be upon Him, is considered to be the Promised Qa’im, and in another h.adith and another place the death of Muh.ammad the son of H.asan [al-‘Askari], peace be upon Him and the birth in the Last Day of the Promised Qa’im are both affirmed, [because of this apparent divergence and] in order to achieve agreement between these two types of h.adith [=be jahat e tawaafoq e bayn e do hadith] there is no other alternative for any soul [=chaareh az baraaye nafsee nah] but to attain certitude [tayaqqun] in this matter, namely: that the Twelfth Imam, the Promised Qa’im was present spiritually [=Ruuh. an] in the Realm of Malakuut [=h.ayyiz e malakuut], and in the Day of His Appearance [ZuhUr], He became visible in the corporeal realm [=jism]. And with this individuation in body He did become a second Person [= be een tajassum shakhs. e thaani gasht]. “And there is not a thing but its (sources and) treasures (inexhaustible) are with Us; but We only send down thereof in due and ascertainable measures.” [Qur’an 15:21] Thus every thing that appears in the realm of the earthly kingdom [=mulk] has, in priority, been in the Realm of Malakuut [=h.ayyiz e malakuut] and possesses the principle of existence [h.ukm e wujuud]. Now this question of the Twelfth Imam and the Promised Qa’im is very shaky in a sequence of chained traditions. If a person were endowed with the sense of equity he would not place his confidence in any of these divergent, dissonant, and disagreeing narrations. The members of the Shi’ih Community would tend to consider each of the immaculate Imams as the Qá’im [=He Who ariseth] in His day and were always awaiting the day of His uprising forth [=khuruuj]. After the passing of Imam H.asan ‘Askari the leaders of the community became aware that the foundations of the hopes and aspirations of the Shi’ihs would be utterly destroyed and that they would all become dejected and reach oblivion. They, therefore, wanted to adhere to any means whatever to keep and preserve them. So they used allusions, metaphors, abstruse language, and interpretations and in this wise disagreeing narratives appeared. The truth of the matter is this that the Shi’ih community were divided into three after the Imam H.asan ‘Askari, peace be upon Him. Some adhered to the imamate of Ja’far the “ignorant” [=Ja’far e naadaan]. And this group congratulated and greeted his imamate. Another group completely gave up, and a third group pinned their hopes on the Occultation [=ghaybuubat], and they were eagerly anticipating each day the up-rising [=khuruuj]. It is now a thousand years that they are waiting and they are still not tired nor are they giving up. Praise be to God! Even though the Appearance and manifestation of the One True God is clearly the text of the holy Qur’an, namely the Divine Utterance, exalted and blessed be He, And Thy Lord shall come and His angels rank upon rank. [Qur’an 89:22]. In this they doubt. In this they are perturbed and are shaken. In this they take recourse to bizarre interpretations. And in order to ignore this they adhere to such narratives and traditions that are in the utter state of shakiness and dubiety. Rather they presume that those narrations are an explicit text and, utilizing these, they object and oppose. What a state of foolishness [=balaahat] and ignorance [=naadaani] is this! What an obtuseness and bewilderment is the result of all this! And upon thee be my greetings and praise. ‘‘Abdu’l-Baha ‘Abbas.