The Primal Will: creation, revelation, and the light of the Word

And if thou sailest upon the sea of creation, know that the First Remembrance, which is the Primal Will of God, may be likened unto the sun, which God, exalted be His glory, hath created through His all-pervading power. … Know thou that its example is like unto the sun - if it should rise unto infinity, there would still be but one sun, and if it should set unto infinity, there would still be but one sun.

The first thing to emanate from God is that universal reality which the ancient philosophers termed the "First Intellect" and which the people of Baha call the "Primal Will."

… Though the First Intellect is without beginning, this does not mean that it shares in the pre-existence of God, for in relation to the existence of God the existence of that universal Reality is mere nothingness--it cannot even be said to exist, let alone to partake of the pre-existence of God.

Through pure creativity He hath brought the contingent Will into being from the midst of sheer nothingness, and hath attributed it to Himself as a mark of honor, even as He hath called the Kaaba His House. He hath brought all creation into existence through its existence.

For God has ever been and ever shall be, and for His Essence there has never been and never shall be a manifestation of His Own Self, since the manifestation of eternity in contingent being is through contingency itself, and in contingency there has never been and never shall be anything greater than His Most Great Will. And this is the Single Point through which in every Dispensation the beloved conditions are created through the acceptance of creation, and the glorious conditions of the Beloved are made manifest to His companions.

But the holy Manifestations in the world of creation spoke of a third station which is the station of Will and the medium for the outpouring of the unknowable, imperceptible Mystery.

The world of Command is the station of the Primal Will which is a universal reality that is resolved into infinite forms.

Rather is it the Primal Will, which consisteth of the radiance and bounties of that Sun, that causeth the manifestation, appearance, and visibility of all beings.

He hath created the Will, then through it created whatsoever He desired. And the example of the creation of the Will is like unto the sun - were it to rise unto infinity times infinity, it would still be one sun. Likewise the Will, from a beginning that hath no beginning unto an end that hath no end, were it to appear, it would still be one Will.

The first veil is at the mention of specification, where reference is made to the Divine Will, the First Creation, the First Mention, the Sun of Reality, the Morn of Eternity, the Muhammadan Essence, the Primal Unity, the First Manifestation, the First Action, the First Mirror, the First Effulgence, and similar expressions, all of which indicate that first essence that prostrated before God, recognized its Creator, and declared: "Thee do we worship and before Thee do we bow down."

… All things were created through it, whether of heaven or earth, mountain or sea, great creation or small. It verily encompasseth all the heavens and all the earth and whatsoever is between them - an encompassment of knowledge and dominion, not of physical embodiment within physical form.

This is the rank of the Primal Will which we express in the highest sense as the First Remembrance, with which nothing else is mentioned.

It continues eternally in the highest station as the Creator which was manifested to it at the beginning of its creation as a sign of the appearance of His Self-Subsistence, a mirror reflecting His Countenance of Eternality, and a geometry for the manifestation of His sovereignty. It is the sign for which God has made no beginning except the perpetuity of His grace, and no end except in itself.

When He willed - and God's Will is His bringing into being, not from anything - He did not beget anything but rather created things through Will, and created Will through itself. Will is the first point mentioned in contingent existence, and it is the First Remembrance whereby God remembered Himself: "Verily I am God, there is no god but I. I was a hidden treasure and I loved to be known, so I created creation that I might be known."

He hath brought into being the very Essence of the Primal Will (mashiyyah) for the station of His own "I-ness," the manifestation of His sustaining power, the token of His self-subsistence, and the dawning of the light of His sanctity. … It is the cause of causes in the beginnings of the Command and the ends of its consummation -- He hath indeed established it, in the station of the Will, as the station of His own Self.

… When it is established through the radiant proof of reason, which speaks of the verses manifested in his essence, the servant knows that the Bearer of the First Remembrance, which is the Primal Will, could not have appeared in the realm of creation except that his name be Muhammad - may God's peace be upon him and his family.

When you recognize the mystery of creation through what has descended in the hidden indications of these expressions, witness that the philosophers have slipped in the station of recognizing that First Emanation, which is the letter Kaf revolving upon itself, by itself, for itself, from itself - for they are unable to comprehend how God originated the Will by itself, for itself, from itself, without being touched by the fire of His Essence.

The beginning of the existence of the Primal Will--which is the Cause of causes and the ultimate light of the Eternal Morn--was but from nothing, as You manifested unto it through itself, and it was established in its shadow.

You bestowed upon it what it could bear of what it would create through itself.

When God willed a thing, the Will came into being through God, not from anything, and fell prostrate upon its throne before God: "Verily Thou art God, there is no God but Thee, alone with no partner, and I am the first of those who prostrate before God, the Exalted, the Praiseworthy."

He created the Primal Will before all things from nothing through itself, and fashioned it according to the form of its acceptance without any precedent, and ordained for it the law of correspondence in the form of its unity without any condition save its own essence. And He distinguished within its unified whole through the decree of the pair, which is its servitude, and brought forth through it the decree of the sister of the Primal Will without any creation besides it, and established it in the station of its authority in every aspect of its essential nature.

From it all things were fashioned, through it all things were called into being, upon it all things were founded, and within it all things found their establishment. Through it was the Divine Will brought into being before the mention of thingness, and in it was Lordship made manifest and all servitude made firm. It is neither of the eternal East nor of the non-existent West. It came into being through its own essence, not from any creation before it, and was endowed with its identity without any invention to rival it.

He hath created all things through the Will which He hath brought into being in the realm of possibility through the essence of possibility itself.

There was no cause for Thy creation save Thy bringing it into being, and no reason for Thy invention save Thy origination of it.

Through His power He created Will from nothing, and through His Will He brought forth Desire from naught. Then He raised up whatsoever He pleased by His command in the kingdoms of His might and holiness, and in the realms of His detachment and grace.

… By the cause is meant the Primal Will, and by what is created through the cause is meant the conditions of that cause until the appearance of the end. When thou desirest something, look not to the means and the cause, but rather look to God Who created all things through the cause and created the cause without a cause.

Whoso knoweth of a certainty that He is the Point of the Qur'an manifested in His Resurrection, and the Point of the Bayan in His first Revelation, and that He is the Primal Will Who existeth by Himself, the Self-Subsistent, while all things are created by His bidding, and exist by Him, he is numbered among those whose inmost realities have testified unto the unity of his Lord.

When thou hast understood this, bear witness that God hath created the creation of all that is in the Bayan through its Point, and this is the meaning of the true saying "God created all things through the Primal Will and created the Primal Will by itself," for this is manifest where God revealed Himself to the Point of the Bayan through itself, by itself, of itself, and caused it to speak verses which are its proof from its Lord apart from aught else. Then He created through it all who are in the Bayan.

Praise be to God Who hath created the heavens and the earth in truth, and Whose decree concerning them both hath proceeded from the Point of the letter Ba in the center of the Fire around the Gate.

Through the Kaf God created the substance of things and the sign of His uniqueness and the temple of His oneness, indicating God alone, and it is the highest consciousness in contingency wherein God alone is known, and it is called the heart. Through the Nun God created things from the beginning of inclination toward Himself to the uttermost multiplicity, from infinity unto infinity.

Praise be to God Who hath made the line, formed from the Primal Point manifest in the letter B, the ornament of His Name, the All-Subduing above all names. Then He divided it in two through the mystery concealed between the two commands, and joined the one with the other through the wisdom hidden beneath the veil of destiny.

He is the One Who hath manifested the Point, and from it detailed the knowledge of what was and what will be, though it was itself created by the Will that proceeded from Him and was brought into being by a stroke of His Pen.

Then another point appeared, and verily it was the Primal Will, through which God created all that was and will be, and all that appeared before and will appear unto the end that hath no end.

We created all contingent things through the Contingent Will, and it is verily the Most Great Word that appeared with a sovereignty witnessed throughout all worlds.

This blessed Primal Word hath been called by all names - in one place as the Trumpet, in another as the Bugle, and likewise as the Path, the Balance, and the like. It is the cause of the gathering and resurrection of all things whatsoever that have been created in earth and heaven. Through it was manifested all that hath been sent down in the Book concerning the Hour and its signs, and the Resurrection and what shall appear therein. In one station it cannot be described by any description nor mentioned by any mention, while in another station it is described by the most exalted attributes and mentioned by the most beautiful names. Verily it is the Primal Will which created itself by itself and created through itself all else besides it.

In its primary rank, in the station of divine unity and the ancient, heavenly sanctuary, it is a mystery of God's mysteries, a protection from God's protections, treasured in God's treasuries, concealed in God's knowledge, sealed with God's seal. None has comprehended it save the One, the Single, the All-Informed, for in that station it is the Primal Will itself and the dawning of Divine Unity, shining forth by itself upon the horizons, illuminating whoever turns toward it.

The Sun of the Word hath dawned from the horizon of the All-Merciful Will with wondrous and sublime lights.

He hath created all things through the Word which He created from His Will that hath appeared and shone forth from the sovereignty of the Divine Purpose in whatsoever was and shall be.

Thou art He Who created all contingent beings through a word from the Book of Thy Command, and brought forth all existing things through a drop from the cloud of Thy power.

As for the heavenly spirit, it is a holy essence, a perfect word, a complete sign, the mystery of existence, and the reality hidden from the eyes of all beings. It is the Supreme Pen, the Most Merciful Soul, and the manifestation of Truth from the dawning-place of creation and its sun at the point of invention. This is specifically for the Prophets in the worlds of creation.

God testifieth that there is none other God but Him and that 'Ali is the Sovereign of His Will, then His Purpose, then His Remembrance and Glory, then His Manifestation and Grandeur, then His Concealment and Mystery. All were sent forth by His command and all through Him are created.

All that is mentioned in the realm of possibility referreth to the Will, and It is this Human Being Who speaketh: "There is none other God but Me, the Mighty, the Single."

The Divine Will hath appeared from the horizon of Purpose, and It is sovereign over all names and their Kingdom, and attributes and their Dominion.

He hath brought forth Will for the existence of essences, Purpose for the determination of quiddities, Destiny for the ordering of beings, Decree for the manifestation of meanings in essential realities, and Permission, Term, and Book for the perfection of capacities in the realm of concrete existence - that all might know, through mention of these ranks, the truth of the Manifestations of His sanctity and the signs of His uniqueness in the kingdom of names and attributes, and whatsoever God hath ordained in the knowledge of ultimate ends and purposes unto infinity in the rank of essences, until it reacheth the station of dust.

Glorified and exalted be He! He hath created the Will from naught through the existence of contingent things, then Purpose for the determination of essential realities, then Destiny for the geometry of material things, then Decree for the judgment of origination in beings, then Term for the limits of quiddities, then Permission for the manifestation of universals and particulars in the world of names and attributes, then the Book to encompass all that His knowledge hath encompassed in the realm of possibility.

His Will is the Father of the world and His Purpose is the Mother of the children of Adam, and Divine Destiny--that is the station of the geometry of all things from God, the Creator of heaven--and Divine Decree is His firm and established judgment.

However, We did not send it unto thee until its time should come, for all matters are dependent upon the signature that returns to the Decree that returns to Destiny that returns to the Will that returns to the Primal Will which creates by My command, the Mighty, the Exalted, the Most Exalted, the Powerful, the Impregnable.

Know thou that the outward station of this Word among the stars and heavenly bodies is that of the sun; among letters and words it representeth the right pillar; among the ranks of divine action it representeth the Will; among the elements it representeth heat; among the seasons, summer; among measurements, length; in man's outer form it representeth sight, for the station of sight is that of fire; in man's inner being it representeth the heart; among the faculties it representeth the inner heart; among colors it representeth yellow; and among the elements it representeth fire.

The mystery of this station is that the Eternal Being, in the unseen of Its essence and the hidden nature of Its attributes, required perfect manifestation and self-disclosure. According to some monotheists, manifestation is the appearance of the True One, glorified be He, to Himself by Himself in the forms of archetypes, while self-disclosure is His witnessing of His own beauty and perfection in the mirrors of realities and archetypes. Therefore, through the Most Holy Effusion, the attributes of the Divine Essence have manifested from the plane of Divine Unity into the plane of Primordial Unity.

"The world of existence came into being through the heat generated from the interaction between the active force and that which is its recipient." That is to say: The substance and primary matter of contingent beings is the ethereal power, which is invisible and known only through its effects, such as electricity, heat, and light--these are vibrations of that power, and this is established and proven in natural philosophy and is known as the ethereal matter. This ethereal matter is itself both the active force and its recipient; in other words, it is the sign of the Primal Will in the phenomenal world. 'God created man by the Primal Will and the Primal Will by itself.'

Life on earth did not exist from the beginning and all at once, but it developed in stages and by degrees. The atoms of the elements are predisposed (programmed) to synthesis and composition according to the laws of nature; the Cosmic Spirit, the divine Primal Will operates and creates in this manner. The Primal Will operates in the element, in the primal atom, as attraction and repulsion; on the next higher level as organic life; then as animal-vegetative; and finally as spiritual life, which is destined to rise to the super-spiritual.

The philosophers also each say that a force or universal reality is the source of all created things. Their difference with the Prophets is only in this: that the Prophets say that universal reality and all-encompassing aspect is the absolutely wealthy, perceiving and choosing by will, while the philosophers consider it poor, non-perceiving and powerless.

As to the third, that all objects in the world are made or formed by will. Then, there should be a Creator for everything, for instance, to place the eye in its own place, the ear in its proper place, etc. Such a power creates, gives life to man, and works through His will. We call this will, GOD! All the prophets believed in such a Great Being."

Say: Who hath a will more potent than God's in all the kingdom of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them, if ye will aught by His leave?

… Say: God is the Creator of all things, and unto Him shall all return. Say: God createth what He willeth through His command "Be," and it is.

Within Thy grasp is the kingdom of all things. Thou createst whatsoever Thou willest, how Thou willest, by what means Thou willest, and for what purpose Thou willest.

Through Thy power, from which nothing can withstand Thy will, and through Thy might, which no thing can frustrate before Thy strength, Thou dost quicken whom Thou willest through the manifestations of Thy glorious grandeur, the holy revelations of Thy eternal sovereignty, the conditions of Thy glorious oneness, and the dawning-places of Thy wondrous bounty.

Nothing can don the garment of existence save through choice in genesis and law, for the cause of choice is choice itself.

And as for what thou didst desire that God should guide whom thou lovest unto Him - God, thy Lord, is the Best of guides. He desired through His Primal Will to guide all things, but some love God and therefore love, while others love not. And when some remained veiled, God caused His Secondary Will to flow after His proof had been completed and perfected against those who were veiled from the Primal Will.

So take the meaning of the verse from the Primal Will to the ultimate station of dominion.

When the Ocean of God's Primal Will turned towards creation and its adornment, and the refinement of souls and their preparation, He ordained the Supreme Pen as His first interpreter and commanded it to promulgate His laws and ordinances. These laws and ordinances have had and shall have no purpose except the preservation of souls, their comfort, education and advancement to the heights of certitude, which are the cause and reason for the prosperity of the world, its security and the perpetuation of existence.

That which was hidden has been revealed through the all-compelling Supreme Will. The manifestors of conjecture and idle fancy seized upon an imaginary thing and clung to it. But the Hand of Divine Power removed the veil and rent asunder the covering, revealing what was hidden in the breasts before the faces of the world.

I have seen none save those who walk the paths of vain imaginings, for all today are veiled from the Point of Will and the all-embracing Word, and like the peoples of old and new, they cling to their own idle fancies and suppositions, turning away from the Sovereign of certitude.

And that word is a word which, from everlasting to everlasting, hath been---outwardly and inwardly---in the divine Books; and it is this: "God doeth whatsoever He willeth, and ordaineth whatsoever He pleaseth." If a soul attain unto the knowledge of the Truth and come to know, in very deed, that He doeth whatsoever He willeth and ordaineth whatsoever He pleaseth, then will he be withheld by no sedition, nor will he be perturbed by any event. Such a one is the drinker of the cup of tranquillity, and such a one hath attained unto the station of certitude.

When great events unfold, they are part of this interconnected system, guided by God's will. Even seemingly small occurrences are part of this divine plan.

Though some have complained, and still complain, of its faithlessness and instability, yet in truth it hath ever been, and remaineth, beloved, inasmuch as Divine wisdom hath so required, and without His command and His will not a leaf of the leaves hath stirred, nor will it ever stir. Whatsoever hath come to pass is in conformity with wisdom, and all must needs be content therewith---nay rather, cherish hope in it.

"That is according to the Will of God. When God wills they step into the arena of human life."

We should not be occupied with our failings and weakness, but concern ourselves about the Will of God so that It may flow through us, thereby healing these human infirmities.

Would that we were like the leaves of the trees, which have no motion of their own - their movements come from the wind, and the wind appears through the Will. Would that we servants too had our motion and stillness proceed from the Will of God, exalted be His glory.

The fire that came down from heaven was no other than the Fire of the Love of God descending from the heaven of the Divine Will; the bullocks are human and carnal desires and appetites which are entirely burned away by this Ideal Fire, leaving the spiritual Altar, cleansed and pure.

On that victorious day the angels, which are the sanctified human realities, and the Spirit, which is the Primal Will, ascend to the Kingdom of spiritual perfections and divine virtues.

Divine counsels are a spiritual feast sent down from the heaven of the All-Merciful Will. The friends must appreciate the value of this everlasting bounty and not lose this most great favor and most perfect grace through the conjectures of transient souls.

Take, in His Name, and drink, in His love, the spiritual wine that hath flowed from the finger of God's Will, the All-Merciful.

Therefore, do Thou send Thy blessings upon the First Light that shone forth from Thy Being, and gleamed from the Essence of Thy Self, and beamed from the Sun of Thy Oneness, and dawned from the Moon of Thy creation, and upon them that have believed in Thee and in Thy signs and have done all that Thou lovest, for in Thy hands is the kingdom of all things.

Then cause me to enter the shore of the ocean of Thy good-pleasure, and number me with those who have circled round Thy Will and Thy Purpose.

He hath moreover deposited within the realities of all created things the emblem of His Will's recognition that everyone may know of a certainty that the Primal Will is the Beginning and the End, the Manifest and the Hidden, the Maker and the Sustainer, the Omnipotent and the All-Knowing, the One Who heareth and perceiveth all things, He Who is invincible in His power and standeth supreme in His Own identity, He Who quickeneth and causeth to die, the All-Powerful, the Inaccessible, the Most Exalted, the Most High.

Catalogue reference: BB00001 · passage alignment is approximate; supplied wording retained.