Letters and numbers: symbols, interpretation, and spiritual purpose

92 The novel thoughts thou hast expressed as to the symbolism contained in the word "sparrow" were considered. Thou appearest to be well grounded in mystic truth. However, in each realm, to every letter a meaning is allotted which pertaineth to that realm. Indeed, the wayfarer findeth a secret in every name and a mystery in every letter.

Consider the point - though limited, how many worlds of words, letters and phrases lie hidden within it! Four alifs appear from its four directions, and each alif containeth a world. Were all the peoples of the world to attempt to interpret the point of the extended alif, which is expressed as 'ba', they would fail to do so.

Whosoever attaineth unto this station hath attained unto the source and beginning of all knowledge. All infinite letters branch forth from the Ocean of the Primal Point, and unto it do they return and find their end. And whoso knoweth the Point is enriched above the knowledge of aught else, and in the inmost of the inmost essence, whoso knoweth the Point knoweth that whereof the outer letters are composed and that which brancheth forth from them.

From its letter 'Ba', all beings have appeared, and from its point the world of distinction has come into being. Were this 'Ba' to be expounded, the mysteries of the first and the last would become manifest through it. It is the mirror of all letters and words, wherein the mysteries of eternity are concealed and upon which the affairs of nations depend.

O thou binder of books! Shouldst thou refer to the heavenly Books and Sacred Scriptures, and ponder the meanings enshrined therein, thou wouldst see that all their tidings and signs herald the advent of the Light of Truth and the Centre of Divinity. Forget not the tradition that saith: "Whatsoever is in the Torah, the Gospel, and other Scriptures is in the Qur'an, and whatsoever is in the Qur'an is in its Exordium, and whatsoever is in its Exordium is in the Basmalah, and whatsoever is in the Basmalah is in the Ba'."

The Primal Point, after traversing the realms of the Kingdom, appeared adorned with the seal of finality, and from its composition diverse forms became manifest, culminating in the Most Great Form.

And praise be to God Who brought the existences into being through the embellishment of the mystic Alif, self-subsisting, which was originated through the causation of the Point before it and was brought into being through the essence of the aforementioned Will, in its own rank, through it, by it, unto it. … Thus it is neither of primordial eternity nor of ultimate perpetuity, but rather it shineth forth from the Sun of Oneness, gleaming from the glory of the Impenetrable, enduring through the endurance of the Supreme Identity.

The letters (alphabet) and the numbers (arithmetic) have a mystic correspondence with transcendent reality. … The plurality (27 to 28) of the letters can be traced back to the point (nuqtih), in the case of the numbers, to the one. The point of the world of letters and the one of the world of numbers thus become a universal principle which conditions, penetrates and limits the world of appearances.

Then know that this Alif contains mysteries from all branches of knowledge, as God has bestowed upon it from the wonders of His grace, and in it is ordained the knowledge of what was and what will be. For example, if you were to extract the letters contained within the mysteries of this Alif, as We have previously imparted to you, from its four stations, and write their pronunciations, and thereafter divide them into four divisions, and apply to each division what it requires of ascent, descent, elevation and equivalence, there would be revealed to you mysteries at which minds would be bewildered, and you would discover what you have heard of the comprehensive Jafr, and arrive at the source of all knowledge.

As for what you mentioned about jafr - the comprehensive jafr in its primal reality is the Temple of the Manifestation. This station is a summary - God willing, after entering the depths of certitude you will become aware of a matter that is more precious in God's sight than all else.

Regarding what was written about the science of letters and the hidden [science], what was revealed was a treatise on the knowledge of the haykal sent down from the heaven of the Lord of Causes specifically for you.

God, there is no God but He, hath created the letter Alif for His servant with commanding power. God, there is no God but He, hath ordained the letter Lam for His wisdom according to the decree of the Book. God, there is no God but He, hath made the letter Ra for the expansion of His Cause as He willeth in the Mother Book, decreed in truth around the Fire.

For a name like Muhammad - peace be upon him and his family - is not possible in origination, because the letter Mim is the first letter of Will (Mashiyyat). When that letter appeared in his name, it indicated that in the pillar of the element of fire, it encompasses all stations from the rank of receptivities and the accepted.

Praise be to God Who created from His Most Exalted Word sublime letters, and took their essence through the operations of His wisdom and the manifestations of His power, and from its letter Mim created the Kingdom of Utterance, and from its Ha' the realm of praise and glorification, and from its other Mim the center of the circle of existence, and from its Dal created the servants and manifested the decree of return.

The one addressed is the Kaf, and He Who addressed it is God, exalted and glorified be He. He revealed Himself unto it through itself at the locus of the Point; wherefore He ascribed unto it the station of Oneness. All this hath been set forth in the ranks of reality -- tenfold in the essential grades, eighteen immutable, and nineteen in motion -- within the sphere of cycles and the pole of the circles of directions.

Verily all that the Qur'an containeth is encompassed in the Surih of Praise, and all that it containeth is encompassed in the Basmalah, and all that the Basmalah containeth is encompassed in the letter Ba, and all that is in the Ba is encompassed in the Point, and I am that Point beneath the Ba.

Open thou the gate of the Book upon the twenty-nine letters, and cause to flow from these upon all the decree of nearness.

Begin with what God has inspired you through the tongue of the Bab and commence with mention of the verb, for it is the pivot of the decree. These are its numbers through repetition in the Ancient Verb.

Praise be to God Who created the letters according to the repetition of the name of the All-Bountiful from His own Self, and the letter la that the tongues of all created things might proclaim His praise in the letter la without the judgment which the Christians have taken therefrom in the form of the cross, and the Divine Nature resolved the alif of unity in the human nature of the letter of multiplicity which is the lam.

… Know thou that God hath created in thee the luminous and dark letters from fourteen points of articulation. The first is a path of truth we hold fast to, and the second is all other letters beside these.

All praise be to God Who hath manifested Himself through the signs by their own essence, and through the gates by the Alif standing in their manifestations, and through the heavens and earth by the name of the Ba, their Creator, and through the star of heaven by the Ta, its Revealer, and through the director of celestial spheres by the name of Tha, their Guide, and through the mountain wood by the name of Jim, their Uplifter, and through the flowing rivers by Ra, their Impeller, and through the winds by the name of Ta, their Disperser, and through the stations by the name of Ha, their Ordainer, and through the clouds by the name of Kha, their Subjugator, and through the rivers by the name of Ra, their Flow-giver, and through sustenance by the name of Za, their Provider, and through the ages by the name of Dal, their Turner, and through the originator of bodies by the name of Dhal, their Renewer, and through death by the name of Sin, their Life-giver, and through lightning by the name of Shin, their Illuminator, and through the surface by the name of Ta, its Spreader, and through meteors by the name of Za, their Revealer, and through the path by the name of 'Ayn, its Guide, and through the veils by the name of Ghayn, their Concealer, and through the flash by the name of Fa, their Establisher, and through minerals by the name of Qaf, their Evaluator, and through darkness by the name of Lam, their Mover, and through pages by the name of Kaf, their Inscriber, and through banners by the name of Vav, their Settler, and through deeds by the name of Nun, their Confirmer, and through books by the name of Ba, their Manifester, and through fire by the name of La, their Igniter, and through water by the name of Ya, their Flow-giver, and through air by the name of Ha, their Preserver, and through dust by the name of death, their Resurrector, and through attributes by the name of names, their Turner, and through places by the name of separation, their Connector, and through names by the name of Kaf, their Causer, and through the path by the name of Kha, their Former, and through trees by the name of wonders, their Bringer-forth, and through the Throne by the Most Great Name, the eight angels, their Bearers, and through the Chair by the name of the Most High, their Holder, and through the unseen by the name of the All-Knowing, their Teacher, and unto the proofs by the name of the Beloved, their Sender, and through the loved ones by the name of the Most High, their Establisher, and through the successors by the name of the Most High, their Lord.

O Lord my God! I beseech Thee by the Alif of the Father, and the Ba of the Revelation, and the Ta of the Oft-Returning, and the Tha of Steadfastness, and the Jim of Generosity, and the Ha of Wisdom, and the Kha of the All-Informed, and the Dal of Perpetuity, and the Dhal of Creation, and the Ra of Lordship, and the Za of the Sower, and the Sin of Splendor, and the Shin of Gratitude, and the Sad of Patience, and the Dad of Conscience, and the Ta of Sinai, and the Za of Manifestation, and the 'Ayn of Knowledge, and the Ghayn of Victory, and the Fa of Success, and the Qaf of Nearness, and the Kaf of Glory, and the Lam of the Standard, and the Mim of Honor, and the Nun of Light, and the Vav of Providence, and the Ha of Identity, and the Lam of Grace, and the Alif of Command, and the Ya of Certitude, to send Thy blessings upon all Thy guides and the thrones of Thy manifestation and the seats of Thy concealment, both of the past and of the future.

We have indeed known what thou hast discovered regarding the laws of the letters of the Qur'an, and We have expounded therein that which none before this could encompass in knowledge.

We have sent forth in the land of contingent beings a luminous Letter Tha to illumine all who dwell in the kingdom with its light, that they may become victorious helpers of the All-Merciful, and that they may testify within themselves that He is the Truth, there is no God but Him, the Lord, and He is powerful over all things.

… Verily I am the letter Mim between Tha and Ra, remembered. Verily I am the letter Ra, I was visible in the letter Jim of the word Thamar (fruit).

And if thou findest him in his first temple, say: Verily the letter Qaf and Fa with the addition of Alif thereto hath been concealed. If thou art able, bring it forth through a power from Us and a sovereignty from Our presence, and I am, verily, the Mighty, the Beloved.

When will the countenance of the letter Ha without garment unveil itself and the face of the letter Ba without veil reveal its mystery? So that the mighty throne may quiver and the ancient seat be filled with delight.

Abdul Baha: There is a kind of mathematics where they take the name of a person according to 'Abjad' (each letter of the alphabet has a numerical value) and the sum total of the values of the letters in the name are used. This mathematics is a concise science.

Say: This is that hidden knowledge which shall never change, since its beginning is with nine, the symbol that betokeneth the concealed and manifest, the inviolable and unapproachably exalted Name.

Thou hast taken much trouble in the correspondence of numbers. The digit nine is the perfect number and other higher numbers are the mere repetition of one to nine. For example the number ten is the repetition of number one; twenty is the repetition of two; one hundred is the repetition of ten; one thousand is the repetition of one hundred, ad infinitum. Consequently the most perfect and the greatest digit is nine.

Moreover, the numerical equivalent of the letter ha [itself] is five. This ha is the ha of the reality (huwiyyat) and essence of the Most Merciful, which is manifest and clear in the number five, which is the numerical equivalent of the word "Bab". Therefore, in the Greatest Name as it appears on the ringstone symbol, the ba has been joined with the ha.

Likewise, the Greatest Name is manifest in that symbol, its numerical equivalent being nine, for nine is the numerical equivalent of Baha. Multiply it by the word Bab, which equals five, that is nine times five, which makes 45.

So number 9 is the highest, and from it all other numbers are made. … For example, the calculation of the number of the word "Bab" is number 5, and Baha is 9. Now, if you multiply 9 by 5 you have 45. Now 45 is the Arabic numerical value of the word Adam:

Aliph equals 1

Dal equals 4

Mim equals 40

and the sum of all is 45

As Adam is the Father of humanity and it means the real man, therefore the product of the number of the Bab and Baha is equal to the number of Adam.

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His exalted Word states: "In the year Nine ye shall attain unto all good, and in the year Nine ye shall attain unto the presence of God." And addressing His Holiness the Great One (upon Him be all the most glorious glory and the most exalted exaltation), He says - His exalted Word:

This is what We promised thee aforetime when We answered thee.

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He spake, and His Word is the truth: "In the year nine ye shall attain unto all good," if ye be of them that turn unto Him.

Then he cites the blessed verse from the Furqan which states "This is but a Reminder for all the worlds, and you shall surely know its tidings after a time," meaning that focal point is the Remembrance of God, and what He announces will become manifest and evident in the year after sixty-eight, which corresponds to the numerical value of "time," and after "time" is sixty-nine, meaning it will bear fruit, just as the Exalted One [the Bab] has stated: "Then in the year nine you shall attain all good."

Then came this blessed verse: "This is naught but a Reminder to the worlds" - that is, the one asked about is but the Great Remembrance of God, and "ye shall surely know its tidings" means what He will inform and announce "after a time" - that is, after the year sixty-eight corresponding to the numerical value of "Hin" (time), for after year sixty-eight comes year sixty-nine, and this is the year of the manifestation of the Ancient Beauty, as the Most Glorious Beauty, exalted be He, hath said: "Then in the year nine ye shall attain unto all good."

What we have today are the meanings of two of the letters of the Greatest Name. They are: B and H.

This is what We promised thee aforetime: "Be patient until there passeth from the Bayan nine. Say: All was created in His grasp and all are obedient unto Him. Verily, after a time [ba'da hin] there shall come to you a Command which ye shall come to know."

Of the eight letters of the Greatest Name, four are in the air and God will soon reveal them to His Proof after his appearance. The four that have descended are the words of Unity, Prophethood, Guardianship and Following. Today its fourth is the name of its third, and the name of its third comes before its second, and God will not accept any deed from anyone except through knowledge of Him.

There is no God but Him, and verily the Being of the Seven Letters ['Ali-Muhammad] is His servant and His Word. God has chosen for Him names of His Primal Nature equaling the essential numbers of all things, and through them have the heavens and the earth and all that lies between them been filled. Verily, there is no God but Him, the Supreme, the Self-Subsisting.

Know that the word "Joseph" corresponds in number to the Qayyumu'l-Asma [Joseph=qayyum=156] and refers to the Qa'im of the House of Muhammad, peace be upon Him. Inasmuch as I observed that every morning you would recite "I believe in the Mystery of the Family of Muhammad," etc., I desired that the veil be lifted, that deeds might conform to mere verbal profession.

In the first line He inscribed the letters of the abjad, and from its twenty-eight letters, which are the source and return of all things, He derived the name Vahid. In the second line He took the dots marking the ranks of ones, tens, hundreds and thousands, wherefrom the name Mahbub was derived. … Similarly He recorded in each line the equivalents of each abjad letter and derived therefrom a name, until He reached the similar ta's, which represent the ultimate degree of geometry and forms in the material world, from which He derived the name Haqq.

As for what appears in the Visitation Prayer of the Prince of Martyrs (may the souls of those near to God be sacrificed for him), namely "Through thy tribulation the Point left its position and took for itself a station beneath the letter B" - know that the Point's position is at the heading of the Book of Creation, and that the Point is differentiated by the Alif, and the Alif is repeated in numbers, thus manifesting exalted letters and perfect words.

… As for the blessed verse "Eight shall bear the throne of thy Lord on that day" - know that the eight bears the nine, and this indicates that the number of the Most Great Name is nine, as it sits upon the eight that bears its throne.

The learned ones maintain that "Face" refers to the proofs of the Prophet, since the numerical value of "face" is 14, referring to the fourteen holy Innocents (peace be upon them).

This is the station concerning which Ahmad-i-Ahsa'i, upon him be the Glory of God, gave tidings, saying: "The Vav consisteth of three letters: six and alif and six; and the Six Days have passed, and the Alif is the Completion, and there is no word; how then the Last Six Days? Otherwise the Return would not be realized, for it is the mystery of inversion for the symbol of the Chief.

Through the first Vav were created the heavens which were raised up throughout the ages, and through the second was manifested He before Whom the doubles bowed down in worship.

We have adorned the Night of Power with the letter "H" that the people of Baha may attain certitude through this Most Great, Supreme Name. Through it was the Qur'an adorned aforetime, and when combined with "V" the number six appears, if ye be of them that understand.

Praise be to God, the Quickener of all beings, the Creator of light and darkness, Who dispels the gloom of nights with the light of days, Who brings forth fruits from their sheaths, Who hath chosen from among the days eleven - the number of Huva - which is the Hidden Mystery known only to him who is acquainted with the secrets of destiny. In six of these He created the heavens and the earth, and there remained the number of Ha, which was revealed on the Night of Power.

Understanding cannot comprehend Him, for the letter 'waw' is different from 'ha', and likewise is the ruling for the remaining letters.

Six of them belong to the letter Wáw in connection to the limitations of things, and one of them belongeth to their manifestations in the station of the Sign of God.

And among the things which God hath decreed by confirmation, and which He hath caused to come to pass through bada', is that whereunto I now allude in the obscurities of these intimations, that it may draw thee unto the sacred court of the Throne of the Names and Attributes. It is this: that for the letter waw, the first letter of that verse, there should be appointed a direction abstracted from the six directions.

Say: The difference between the letter Alif in fire and the letter Waw in light is the numerical value of the Gate. Thus does God transform fire into light for those who were prostrating before God their Lord.

This concerns the science of the letter "Ha" in the reckoning of numbers. Thus was the letter "Waw" established in numerical calculation, and the ordinance of days and their relation to the seven planets - such is God's decree in the science of the Point, as the heart hath truly witnessed, and the heart did not falsify what it saw.

… Verily God hath created for the letter Alif the decree of Paradise and its people, then for Ha the decree of Will, then for 'Ayn the decree of Divine Determination and its hosts, then for Ta the decree of Destiny and its like, then for Kaf the decree of Permission and its sister, then for Lam the decree of the Book and its similitude, then for Qaf the decree of the Appointed Time and its form.

In the school of the People of God it hath been made manifest that the Dispensation is a circle of Revelation [da'iratu'l-zuhur]; and this same circle is, in very truth, four thousand. It is the Jafr of 'Ali -- upon Him be peace -- for it hath been established in the science of the adepts of jafr that the Book of 'Ali -- peace be upon Him -- opened with four thousand and ended with four thousand, a perfect circle. None who obtaineth sight thereof falleth short of beholding, in the very Essence of Manifestation, the arising of the Qa'im -- exalted be He.

In regard to thy question concerning the science of letters: take, from the head of each ten, the first letter. Over the first, reckon the element of fire, circumambulating the Name of God, "the Withholder"; over the second, the element of air, around the Name of God, "the Living"; over the third, the element of water, around the Name of God, "the True"; and over the fourth, the element of earth, around the Name of God, "the Causer of Death." Then multiply the letters of each decade -- the first by the fourth, and the third by the second; thereafter subtract seven, and pass judgment upon the seven after thou hast regarded the twenty-nine mansions in the science of the stars.

God hath created through numbers, and the knowledge of everything is in everything, and God hath ever been powerful and mighty over this.

… Say: God loves that knowledge, which is the science of numerical values of letters, just as in the letter "Ba" you write the figure two. Say: This is an inaccessible and exalted knowledge - whoever is given it has been given a great bounty.

… And I created the letters and made them the keys to all knowledge from Our presence, for We have power over all things.

Know thou through the all-embracing Form which is the very truth of certitude in the knowledge of certitude, and reckon from alif to nun in the abjad - there wilt thou see the number 400, and verily He is the Knower of all things hidden.

And when one of the Letters of the First asked me about his death with these words: "When shall be the death of AQSY?", the answer came in the very letters of the question through the science of numerology: "He shall die on the day that is measured" - take from the number of the first of the day to the last number of the letter "T", then match from the time of the question to the time he reached his seat, and preserve this knowledge.

And verily what ought to be manifested is that which is manifest above all things, and hidden beneath all things, and first before all things, and last on the right of all things, and dominant on the left of all things, according to what is in the traditions concerning the age of thirty. And verily from the first descent of the water of His being until the time He spoke the number of Ta and Kaf, and We have not made thee aware of it, and from an ancient living soul the letter of peace, and it has been fulfilled according to what the pure Family of God have informed after peace, the cycle of fire.

Say: In the disconnected letters, if ye count their letters without counting their repetitions, ye shall find in your hand the name of "the Most Great" in the Book of God that ye may magnify your Lord. And if ye count their letters without counting their repetitions, the Mother Book proclaimeth "the path of 'Ali is truth, hold fast unto it; verily We have ever been the Guardian of all things."

Therefore hold fast to the pentagonal form, the human temple whose outward form is Ha' and whose inner reality is Vav-Qaf. This is the Most Great Name and the Most Noble Design whereby all turn unto God their Lord, and whereby all begin from God their Lord, and whereby all worship God their Lord.

And in the days when neither the Letters are among you and the Point hath been concealed by God's leave, deliver it unto the Gates of Guidance from your Guardian, and give it to none save God, and preserve it with those who are trustworthy among your kindred.

… Establish, O my God, all the letters in the hearts of men, their spirits, their souls and their bodies, and transform, O my God, all the letters into those letters which Thou lovest to mention and which Thou permittest to appear before Thee as prostrate servants.

Write the letter Ba in the third circle of my life, for I verily testify to Thy unity after my certitude in Thy glorification and my acknowledgment of Thy praise, that there is no God but Thee.

Say: My God, my God! I testify to Thy grace, Thy bounty and Thy generosity, and I acknowledge Thy sovereignty that hath encompassed Thy dominion, and the letter B whereby Thou didst bring forth existence from non-existence, and the letter H whereby the limbs of the nations who broke Thy Covenant and Testament trembled, and who acted in ways that caused the dwellers of the cities of Thy names and attributes to lament.

Therefore, O my God, teach everyone who entereth the Bayan to recite the prayer of negation and affirmation in Thy path, for it is the swiftest of prayers Thou hast sent down and the greatest of words Thou hast created. Thou hast ordained for Thyself to answer him who calleth upon its number seeking Thy good pleasure - in negation by granting him dominion, and in affirmation for Thy loved one by granting him victory.

Verily, what is wondrous is that the name of the First and the Last, the Manifest and the Hidden, hath been fulfilled from the night of thy recognition of thy Lord. The number of negation in "There is no God" hath extended fifty thousand years, and the days of affirmation have dawned, yet until now what behooveth the negation of negation and the affirmation of affirmation hath not been mentioned.

O God! I beseech Thee by Thy Loftiness, which is exalted above all things, to abase every ba that is attributed to the Tree of Negation and whatsoever is related to it, by Thy might before Thyself and before all things.

O God! I beseech Thee by Thy Divinity which is exalted above all things, to punish every being of Alif associated with the Tree of Negation, by Thy Sovereignty which is sanctified above all things.

Glory be unto Thee, O my God! Destroy every being of Alif who believeth not in Him Whom Thou shalt make manifest, the Essence of Thy Greatest Proof, through Thy divinity which is exalted above all things.

Hallowed art Thou, O my God! I beseech Thee by Thy Primality -- whereby Thou art supreme above all things -- that Thou annihilate every identity of alif that is ascribed to the Tree of Negation, by Thy power over whatsoever Thou willest; for Thou art, in very truth, potent over all things.

Glory be unto Thee, O God my Lord! I beseech Thee by Thy Divinity which transcendeth all things, that Thou assist every soul with Alif who believeth in Him Whom Thou shalt make manifest on the Day of Resurrection, the Essence of Thy greatest proof.

A. B. These letters are symbols predicting future events. If you add these letters, each representing a number, without repeating any one of them, the sum total will be the year of the appearance of his holiness the Bab. … Moreover, every letter indicates a station, for example:

Alif, Lam, Mim.

Alif is a sign indicating the station of Divinity.

Lam is a sign indicating the station of Successorship.

Mim is a sign indicating the station of Prophethood.

Again: Lam is Ali.

Mim is Muhammad.

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Besides these historied [sic] testimonies the word "Music" is Persian. It comes from "Musik" and the word "Musik" comes from the word "Musighar," a sweet singing bird.

The meaning of the word in the tradition is not the pronounced letter. Rather, the meaning is that whatever human virtues appeared in the early centuries and were manifested in the realm of existence - of sciences, arts, inventions, discoveries, institutions, mysteries of creation and realities of beings - all of these are equivalent to two letters. However, what will appear after the manifestation of the Qa'im regarding the mysteries of the world of being, realities of things, arts and wonders, human knowledge, hidden secrets and guarded mysteries, is equivalent to twenty-five letters.

He called the Center of the Covenant the pivot of misbelief and considered it the point of negation - God forbid! Regarding numbers, these ignorant people do not know that any number can be made to correspond to the Most Beautiful Names [of God] and other names.

However, today the greatest of all things is to strive that perchance ye may save one who is drowning - that is, to quicken one who is dead through the water of Divine love, or guide one who is heedless unto the abode of wisdom. The sciences of numbers neither nourish nor satisfy.

For example, some have asked about numerology, and likewise about the elixir, and likewise about the poetry of poets and sayings of mystics, and the Supreme Pen has mentioned what should be mentioned and answers to all have been revealed. However, today these sciences are not and have not been beloved, for these sciences have been and will be the cause of delay and hindrance. Many who engaged in the elixir and numerology lost their minds from excessive delusion and reflection, and signs of madness appeared in them.

The science of jafr had currency in the Qur'anic Dispensation, but its derived principles were unknown, therefore correct results were not obtained. But in this Dispensation all are commanded not to pursue matters that do not yield great results.

When thou didst inquire about divination (jafr), in truth this is not and hath never been the day for questions, even as the Primal Point, Who gave the people glad tidings of the Lord of the Beginning and the End, forbade all from asking questions in this Most Great Revelation.

… Today the comprehensive book of divination is that Most Exalted Word which hath flowed and will continue to flow from the Supreme Pen. From it can be derived all that lieth concealed within the tabernacle of God's knowledge.

The science of numbers is one of the common sciences, but the aim of 'Abdu'l-Baha is, that the Heavenly Knowledge and Divine Wisdom encircle the world of existence.

All scientific discoveries and attainments are the outcomes of knowledge and education. The telegraph, phonograph, telephone were latent and potential in the world of nature but would never have come forth into the realm of visibility unless man through education had penetrated and discovered the laws which control them.

What you have expressed regarding the correspondence of numbers, letters and words was noted, but it would have been better if the time you spent on these matters had been spent on teaching the Cause of God with wisdom and utterance.

To support these hermeneutic unveilings, much use was made of the cabalistic manipulation of words, the 'science of letters' that was traditional to Shi'i esotericism and much encouraged by the Bab. By translating words into their numerical equivalents and then transforming these into new words, manifest hidden meanings could be unveiled. By such means certain numbers assumed great symbolic value. In particular, the ubiquitous nineteen (equivalent to {wahid} (unity), and {wujud} (God's absolute being)) came to be employed in the very structure of religious life in such areas as communal organization and the derivation of a new calendar.

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In Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsa'i's view, then, a primordial text, the Preserved Tablet or the Leaf, made of letters, influences the unfoldment of human existence. … Each of the primordial letters out of which the world was made corresponds to both a name of God and to a plane of reality. His schema in this regard resembles, but is not identical to, the correspondences put forward by Ibn `Arabi, who also held that the twenty-eight basic letters come together to form all things in the cosmos. (in Juan Cole, "The World as Text: Cosmologies of Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsa'i", http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jrcole/ahsai2.htm)

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...for the Bab, words and letters are not the only things endowed with spiritual reference: He extensively interprets all things in this symbolic logic, and His use of linguistic signs is just one example of this universal semiotics. Yet, given the prevalence, particularly among the Shaykhis, of the millenarian expectation that the Qa'im would unveil the inner meanings of the disconnected letters of the Qur'an, it was inevitable that the Bab would often use this particular symbolic medium, focusing on alphabetic letters, to convey His message.

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Regarding your various questions: We must avoid giving the impression of being all tied up with peculiar religious theories; on the other hand, the 9 sides of the Temple, and the 9-pointed star require an explanation, and he feels the best one is this: Nine is the highest digit, hence symbolizes comprehensiveness, culmination; also, the reason it is used in the Temple's form is because 9 has the exact numerical value of Baha (in the numerology connected with the Arabic alphabet) and Baha, is the name of the Revealer of our Faith, Baha'u'llah. … He does not want the friends to be rigid in these matters, but use their judgement and tact, sometimes one statement is exactly the right for one type of mind and wrong thing another.

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