The Primal Word: meaning before syllable or sound

Know thou, moreover, that the Word of God - exalted be His glory - is higher and far superior to that which the senses can perceive, for it is sanctified from any property or substance. It transcendeth the limitations of known elements and is exalted above all the essential and recognized substances. It became manifest without any syllable or sound and is none but the Command of God which pervadeth all created things. It hath never been withheld from the world of being. It is God's all-pervasive grace, from which all grace doth emanate. It is an entity far removed above all that hath been and shall be.

For by the Word is not meant the body of Christ but the divine perfections that were manifested in Him. Thus Christ was like a spotless mirror which was turned towards the Sun of Truth, and the perfections of that Sun, that is, its light and heat, were plainly manifest in that mirror. If we look into the mirror, we see the sun and we say it is the sun. … The perfections of Christ are called the Word since all created things are like individual letters, and individual letters do not convey a complete meaning; while the perfections of Christ are even as an entire word, for from a word a complete meaning can be inferred.

The third station is that of divine manifestation and heavenly splendour, which is the Word of God, the everlasting Grace, and the Holy Spirit. This station has neither beginning nor end; for firstness and lastness pertain to the contingent world and not to the world of God.

Assuming the truth of this hypothesis, "attainment unto the divine Presence" is in this sense obviously possible to no one, inasmuch as this revelation is confined to the innermost Essence, unto which no man can attain. "The way is barred, and all seeking rejected." The minds of the favorites of heaven, however high they soar, can never attain this station, how much less the understanding of obscured and limited minds.

… The knowledge of Him, Who is the Origin of all things, and attainment unto Him, are impossible save through knowledge of, and attainment unto, these luminous Beings who proceed from the Sun of Truth. By attaining, therefore, to the presence of these holy Luminaries, the "Presence of God" Himself is attained.

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

"He said, may God preserve him: What is the meaning of the tradition transmitted from 'Alí (peace be upon him): "Whoso hath known his own self hath verily known his Lord'?"

Know, O brother - may God have mercy upon thee - that I counsel thee, before commencing the explanation, with counsels which, if thou accept from me, will make attainment easy for thee; otherwise, the matter will be difficult for thee, and there is no path to knowledge except through knowing these counsels:

First, thou must purify thy heart from every principle thou hast received from thy scholars, for they have drawn from turbid springs flowing one into another, some rejecting others. Hast thou not seen those who have changed God's bounty - that is, knowledge of Him - into disbelief and caused their people to dwell in the abode of perdition - Hell, wherein they burn; how evil a resting place! Soon they shall meet with destruction though they reckon they are doing good. Nay! From their hearts flows the abyss upon their tongues - the fire of polytheism and the poison of unbelief - yet they perceive not. If thou art fair to thy Lord, fearful of His station, and restrainest thyself from vain speech, thou wilt know that I am among the truthful ones. By God, I am indeed solicitous for thee and loving.

Second, compare not the words of thine Imams with the speech of creation, for speech is a manifestation among the manifestations of the speaker's action, mirrors reflecting what is in his heart. Just as their souls are conclusive proofs and decisive signs from God, glory be to Him, unto all worlds, so too are their words. Just as if all creation were to gather to produce the like of a single verse of the Qur'an they would be unable, so too are their words God's proof upon creation, and they are the perfect gatherer, for they issue from the source of purity. From a single one of their words emerges all religion, nay all existence is but the trace of a letter of His Word.

Behold in truth that God, exalted be He, is eternally One, none beside Him, never changing from His single state, now as He was, His Self His Self, and creation dwells in the plane of His dominion. 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."

And God, glory be to Him, created from the evidence of this Word, which is the final degree of the Point, the water whereby all things live - though with its Creator it is but a letter, and its Creator is from God's Manifest Self that gleamed forth. Were it eternal, change would be necessitated, but He, exalted be He, never changes from His single state. Will exists in the station of thingness, which is the realm of absolute contingency, while pre-existence is His Self alone, His Self alone - no remembrance here, no trace here. The remembrance and trace we have described is His Will, which is an attribute of inference, not an attribute uncovering Him. His evidence is His signs, which are Will, and His existence is His proof, which is the sign of Oneness.

After Muhammad there is no limit to His Will, no end and no finality. All things point to Him, and He alone points to God, for in this station there is no direction for Him, and because they are the Self of God - whosoever knows them knows God - meaning the knowledge possible in the contingent realm. To them belongs creation and command, and unto them do all affairs return, for command and creation are both contingent and return not to the Ancient One, but rather return from attribute to attribute, while sovereignty endures in sovereignty. The created ends with its like - the path to eternity is barred and the quest rejected. His proof is in His signs and His existence in His confirmations.

Indeed all actions from them are from God, glorified be He, as clearly stated by the Proof in his visitation to Muhammad ibn Uthman al-Amri: "Your striving in God possesses God's Will." Similar statements abound in verses and traditions. Everything from them is from God, for they speak not from desire - it is naught but revelation revealed. Their words are the words of God. Whoever asks 'why' or 'how' has disbelieved, for His word encompasses all things, flowing through all worlds according to the languages of their people. In His word there is no simile, for the likened would be identical to that which it is likened to, no metaphor and no allegory, for metaphor and allegory are devices of the powerless, while He is the All-Powerful, the Mighty.

God taught Adam the names of all beneath his station, and this Adam, our father Adam, is a thousand thousand Adams removed from the First Adam, yet he cannot know the names of the Imams, for even Jesus, noblest of prophets, admitted this, as God relates his words: "I know not what is in Thy Self." What is related in traditions that God taught Adam the names of the Five for his repentance - Muhammad, Ali, Fatima, Hasan and Husayn - such that none calls upon God through them but God must answer, that knowledge was at Adam's station, and nothing surpasses its source. Let this suffice you in not comparing speech.

And third, interpret not the words of the Infallible Ones as deficient, but rather as sublime and noble - "Houses which God has permitted to be raised, wherein His name is remembered." To remember from inability is lies and fabrication against God. The Imam said: "Has God permitted you, or do you fabricate against God? The fabricators - their abode is the Fire and they have no helper." Accept my counsels, and God is thy Guardian. As for the meaning of Ali's words, know and plant firm thy feet upon the Path.

God the Exalted said: "We shall show them Our signs in the horizons and within themselves until it becomes clear to them that it is the Truth."

And God the Exalted said in the Gospel: "Know thyself and thou shalt know thy Lord - thy outward is for annihilation and thy inward am I."

And the Messenger of God said: "He among you who best knows himself best knows his Lord."

And Ali, when asked by a bedouin about the higher realm, said: "Forms devoid of matter, free from potentiality and capacity, upon which He shone forth and they became illumined, and which He beheld and they became radiant. He cast into their essence His image, and thus His acts were manifested through them."

Husayn, peace be upon him, said in his prayer on the Day of Arafah: "Has any other than Thee a manifestation that Thou lackest, so that it would be that manifestation that revealeth Thee? When wert Thou ever hidden, that Thou shouldst need proof to lead to Thee? And when wert Thou ever distant, that created things should lead us to Thee? Blind be the eye that seeth Thee not!"

Ali ibn Husayn said in his dawn prayer, known as the Prayer of Abu Hamzah: "Through Thee I knew Thee, and Thou didst direct me unto Thee and called me to Thee. Had it not been for Thee, I would not have known what Thou art."

as-Sadiq said: "Servitude is a substance whose essence is Lordship. What is lost in servitude is found in Lordship, and what is hidden in Lordship is attained in servitude."

The Imam said in his prayer for the month of Sha'ban: "O my God! Grant me complete devotion to Thee, and illuminate the vision of our hearts with the light of their looking toward Thee, until the sight of the hearts penetrates the veils of light and reaches the Source of Grandeur."

The Proof said in the prayer for the month of Rajab, indicating this station: "There is no difference between Thee and them, save that they are Thy servants and Thy creation. Their analysis and synthesis are in Thy hands. Their beginning is from Thee and their return is to Thee. They are supports and witnesses, manifestations and opposites, guardians and pioneers. Through them Thou hast filled Thy heaven and earth until it became manifest that there is no God but Thee."

Look, then, with the eye of thy heart upon what hath been imparted to thee, and know with certainty that God, exalted be He, is eternally One, having neither name nor form. His Essence is His Essence, and no wings of hearts can soar to His presence, nor can any mind conceive of His holy might. He is as He Himself hath said: "No vision can grasp Him." He is One, alone, with none beside Him. There is no God but He.

When He desired to create all contingent beings, He created them in the image of His action, creating them from nothing by His power. His Will was their origination, nothing else. When He created contingent beings by His Command - and the contingent is unable to reach or ascend unto Him, and the Truth, glorified be He, is too glorious and great to be known by anyone, for knowledge is contingent upon conjunction, which is an attribute of contingency, while He, the Truth, is far more exalted and mighty than this - divine wisdom necessitated that He describe Himself to contingent beings, though His description is His origination from nothing.

This description, which nothing in creation resembleth, God made the way to know Him and the sign of His oneness, that the contingent might reach the ultimate outpouring possible in the contingent realm. God made this description the reality of the servant, and it is the Lordship of the Lord, exalted and glorified be He. It is His self [nafs] and heart [fu'ad]. God described Himself to everything through everything, and cast into the essence of everything His own likeness, until He became known; and in all things there is a sign indicating that He is One. That description is the sign of the Lord and the reality of the servant. And this description has as many stations as there are breaths of the creatures. All souls are as mirrors, and He is manifest to the mirrors through the mirrors. He is the One, the sign of God and His description. And for all things this soul exists - whoso knoweth it hath known his Lord.

The meaning is that there is no way unto God except through recognition of this soul, which is the same as the recognition of the Lord, for a thing cannot be comprehended beyond its source. Whoso knoweth his own self through the attributes of his Creator knoweth Him, and that description is the description of the Lord - there is nothing like unto Him, and He is the Most Exalted, the Most Great.

Therefore did the Imam say: "Know God through God, the Messenger through his Message, and those endued with authority through their bidding to what is right and their forbidding what is wrong." This description from the Truth, from God to the servant, hath four stations through four manifestations:

First, the description of the indication of God, the One, the Single, the Eternal, Who begetteth not nor is begotten, and there is none like unto Him. This is the station of pure unity and absolute oneness - its beginning is identical with its end, and its manifestation identical with its concealment. There is no way unto Him save through what He hath described of Himself. He is the sign of God, the Ancient, Who is the Knower but hath no known thing, the Hearer but hath no heard thing, the Seer but hath no seen thing. The way unto Him is barred and the quest rejected. Second is the manifestation of His attributes, which is Prophethood. Third is the manifestation of His names, which is Divine Authority. Fourth is the manifestation of His deeds, which is the followers.

The expression of manifestation through four descriptions is outward, and God the Most High hath no description save through His deeds. Though the way of knowing Him is through the breaths of creation, it is confined to eight worlds in succession, and these are their universals: First, the world of the Point, the Alif, the Letters and the Word - this is the world of Muhammad and his household. Second, the world of the Prophets and Trustees. Third, the world of man. Fourth, the world of the jinn. Fifth, the world of angels and devils. Sixth, the world of animals. Seventh, the world of plants. Eighth, the world of minerals.

The description of each subsequent world describes the nature of the world before it unto the end of its station. Therefore it is related in the tradition that the ant claims for God two lordships, and that description which is in everything is God's lordship over it thereby. "Is it not enough that thy Lord is witness over all things?" - meaning, present in thy absence and presence. This is the pillar of light which the Imam beholds and turns toward, and through which he becomes aware of the deeds of creation. Were he to desire, he could manifest it in everything from everything, just as He manifested from Moses' staff what He manifested, and the Imam pointed to the image of the lion and it became a living creature. Through this door are opened the difficulties of most traditions, such as the saying of the Imam in the visitation prayer for the supporters of Husayn (peace be upon him): "May my father and mother be sacrificed for you." For the vision of the Imam is a sign of God within him - he sees naught but the light of God and hears no voice but His voice. There is no difference between this description of the servant and the declaration "There is no god but God" - both are created signs that point to God, for temporal existence and its attributes, insofar as they are effects of God's action, are signs of God Almighty in consciousness, without regard to their individual identity and temporal nature, meaning they are lifted up by God's leave.

At this stage, the tree of essence has no mention - it is an evil tree, uprooted from above the earth with no stability. Indeed, this description is God's judgment upon essence as it truly is, and He is not unjust to His servants. Know the essence as He made it, as Ali (peace be upon him) indicated in the Sermon of the Camel's Foam, that the tree of unbelief - meaning essence - should know that my position in relation to it is like that of the axis to the millstone. Through knowledge of itself it denied and disbelieved, yet the description is not unjust to the servants.

This tree has an effect from its shadow through the existence of light - look at the sun: when it rises its light shines upon everything, and when it falls upon the tree it creates a shadow. When the shadow rises in the shade, the shadow has neither mention nor portion before the sun. Thus does denial find its limit before recognition.

I seek God's forgiveness for excessive definition. When the Sufis reached this station they claimed they had reached God, and they wrote in their books mighty words at which the heavens almost burst and the earth split asunder. In our school this was considered unbelief - I seek refuge in God from Satan's stain. Glory be to God, far exalted is He above what the wrongdoers say!

Here the pen has stopped, yet we do not fall short in explanation. He who knows has known, and he who is ignorant remains ignorant. Give not to the foolish your wealth. Indeed, we belong to God and to Him we shall return. And praise be to God, Lord of all worlds.

Know that His word encompasses all things and flows through all worlds, for speech is a manifestation among the manifestations of the Speaker. God, exalted be He, made it the manifestation of His encompassing nature and His revelation, and of all His appearances, for the Essence alone encompasses itself, and He is the Encompasser and nothing encompasses Him.

And that is none other than the utterance of the Will, which is the utterance of God: for the Eternal Essence hath ever been, and ever shall be, in a single state, while utterance belongeth to the realm of creation and innovation; and since in the Will naught is seen but God alone, this utterance is accordingly attributed unto God: for none but God is able to produce its like.

… Rather, from the beginning that hath no beginning till the end that hath no end, there hath always been, and will continue forever to be, one single Will, Who shineth forth in each Dispensation by a specific Revelation, becoming the Manifestation of "He shall not be asked of His doing, and He doeth what he willeth."

The spiritual power associated with the world of nature is the power of investigation, and it is through investigation that it discovers the realities and properties of things. But the heavenly intellectual power, which is beyond nature, encompasses, knows and comprehends all things, is aware of the divine mysteries, truths and inner meanings, and discovers the hidden verities of the Kingdom. This divine intellectual power is confined to the holy Manifestations and the Daysprings of prophethood. A ray of this light falls upon the mirrors of the hearts of the righteous, that they may also receive, through the holy Manifestations, a share and benefit of this power.

15 If the wayfarers be among them that dwell in the court of the All-Praised, this is the station of the Intellect, which is known as the messenger of the realm of the body and the most great pillar. That which is intended, however, is the universal divine Intellect, whose sovereignty fostereth the growth of all things, and not every vain and feeble mind. Thus hath the wise Sana'i written:

"How can feeble reason embrace the Qur'an

Or the spider snare a phoenix in its web?

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68 God, the Most High, hath placed these signs in men so that veiled minds might not deny the mysteries of the life beyond, nor belittle that which hath been promised them. For some hold fast to reason and deny whatever reason comprehendeth not, and yet feeble minds can never grasp the reality of the stages that we have related: The universal divine Intellect alone can comprehend them.

But a word is composed of letters and has independent sense and meaning. Therefore, as Christ conveyed the perfect meaning of divine reality and embodied independent significance, He was the Word. He was as the station of reality compared to the station of metaphor. There is no intrinsic meaning in the leaves of a book, but the thought they convey leads you to reflect upon reality. The reality of Jesus was the perfect meaning, the Christhood in Him which in the Holy Books is symbolized as the Word.

The reason we call Christ the Word, is because we human beings, compared to Him, are like letters, and He as a word. A word has a complete meaning, whereas a letter has not. A letter has not an independent meaning: likewise all members in a political body have not a distinct status. A word always gives one the idea of something with a complete meaning, an independent meaning.

Christ is the Word. Now what may this mean? The sign of the Word of Christ is the Divine Virtues: the sign of the Messianic Word is the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The Word means Divine Perfection, Heavenly Bestowals.

The Word manifested in Jesus is Divine Knowledge. The Knowledge of God is inseparable from the Reality of God.

Abdul Baha: They have asked if it is possible for a person to reach the station of Christ, - whoever suffers of prays, can he reach this station?

No! It cannot be, because Christ was the Word of God, the Holy Spirit.

Question: In 1 Corinthians 15:22 it is written: "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." What is the meaning of these words?

Answer: Know that there are two natures in man: the material and the spiritual. The material nature is inherited from Adam, while the spiritual nature is inherited from the reality of the Word of God, which is the spirituality of Christ. The material nature is born of Adam, but the spiritual nature is born of the grace of the Holy Spirit. The material nature is the source of every imperfection and the spiritual nature is the source of all perfection.

The Apostles were even as Letters, and Christ was the essence of the Word Itself; and the meaning of the Word, which is grace everlasting, cast a splendor on those Letters.

Know thou for a certainty that thou wilt succeed in this, for the confirmations of the Holy Spirit are continually descending, and the power of the Word will exert such an influence that the Letter shall become the mirror in which the splendid Sun--the Word Itself--will be reflected, and the grace and glory of the Word will illumine the whole earth.

The Sun of Truth is the Word of God, upon which dependeth the education of those who are endowed with the power of understanding and of utterance. It is the true spirit and the heavenly water, through whose aid and gracious providence all things have been and will be quickened.

And this is clear: a power above and beyond the powers of nature must needs be brought to bear, to change this black darkness into light, and these hatreds and resentments, grudges and spites, these endless wrangles and wars, into fellowship and love amongst all the peoples of the earth. This power is none other than the breathings of the Holy Spirit and the mighty inflow of the Word of God.

The Word of God is Love. It has gathered us together to partake of material and spiritual food....

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I testify that no sooner had the First Word proceeded, through the potency of Thy will and purpose, out of His mouth, and the First Call gone forth from His lips than the whole creation was revolutionized, and all that are in the heavens and all that are on earth were stirred to the depths. Through that Word the realities of all created things were shaken, were divided, separated, scattered, combined and reunited, disclosing, in both the contingent world and the heavenly kingdom, entities of a new creation, and revealing, in the unseen realms, the signs and tokens of Thy unity and oneness.

This is the Word whereby the realities of all things were raised up and through which the Prophets and Messengers were sent forth.

Thus hath the Originator brought forth His Word, and He is God, powerful over all things.

He hath created the Word in the form of man, and through it He hath drawn all worlds unto Him. He who is not attracted by the Word of God cannot truly be said to exist.

The Will hath appeared and the Manifestation of God's decree, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting, hath come. And verily it speaketh in the contingent world in human form, yet most of the people hear not.

And when the appointed time was fulfilled and the Hour had struck, the Word shone forth above the horizon of the Will of God.

This Word hath been God's balance amongst His servants and the straight path for people of insight and guidance. In one station this Word hath been called by all the most beautiful names, and in another station it hath been sanctified from all, for the Manifestation and Dawning-Place of the Word hath been the Divine Manifestation among creation. And in another station the Word itself is the Manifestation.

This Point is the focal centre of the circle of Names and marketh the culmination of the manifestations of Letters in the world of creation. Through it have appeared indications of the impenetrable Mystery, the adorned Symbol, He Who standeth revealed in the Most Great Name -- a Name which is recorded in the luminous Tablet and is inscribed in the holy, the blessed, the snow-white Scroll. And when the Point was joined to the second Letter which appeareth in the beginning of the Mathani, it traversed the heavens of exposition and utterance. Then the eternal Light of God shed its radiance, flared up in the midmost heart of the firmament of testimony and produced two Luminaries.

Hear what the Beauty of the Manifestation sings in this cycle upon this blessed spot which has been raised up from the right hand of the Throne - that there is none other God but Him and that the Primal Point Who was made manifest in the year sixty is verily the Word of God and His sovereignty, and the wisdom of God and His proof, and the Command of God and His splendor, and in Him the Beloved and the Loved One became united, and He is verily the Word from which the letters were differentiated through His command "Be! and it is," and He is verily the Point from which appeared the letters and words, and through Him was manifested every hidden knowledge, and through Him was the Kaf joined with the Nun, and every firm and decreed matter became manifest, and He is verily the Book of God wherein is inscribed the knowledge of all that was, were ye to know, and He is verily the Balance of God and His wisdom, and the Path of God and His Command, and through Him every believer was separated from every rejected misbeliever, and through His nearness appeared the decree of Paradise and after Him the decree of the Fire, were ye to understand.

In the dogmatic teachings about the Qur'an, called Hadith, it says: "Everything that is in the Qur'an lies in the first Surih, the Fatihah, and everything that is in the Fatihah is to be found in the first sentence: Bismi'llahi'r-Rahmani'r-Rahim = in the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate, and everything in this first sentence is contained in the "bi" (its initial letter), and everything contained in the "bi" is to be found in the point under the "bi" (its smallest part), and I (the Prophet, here 'Ali) (successor and interpreter of Muhammad and the Qur'an) am the Point (Nuqtih) under the "bi"." - His Holiness the Bab has found from counting the letters of the phrase: Bismi'llahi'r-Rahmani'r-Rahim that the number 19 represents the mystic basic number of the cosmos (universe). This mystic basic number 19 at the same time represents the Logos, the Manifestation, the Emanation of God, which can at the same time be designated by the "bi" or the point (nuqtih) under the "bi".

When inclination came from Paradise and the Will became attached to Desire - which is Eve, the first Adam - God created her from the Will for the tranquility of the Primal Adam. When He disobeyed, He departed from the Paradise of Identity and entered into the surging darkness of this world, the fire of duality.

God hath not created anything except that He hath taken from it a covenant of His Lordship. This is a Day whereon God hath offered His love unto all things, and the first to respond was the Point of the Bayan. Therefore hath He made him the Manifestation of His Self in that Ridvan and bestowed upon him that which none in Paradise hath been given, from the beginning that hath no beginning unto the end that hath no end.

O King of the Muslims! After the Book, aid Our Most Great Remembrance in truth, for verily God hath ordained for thee and for those who circle round thee, on the Day of Resurrection, a station of questioning upon the Bridge, according to the truth.

… By God! If ye do good, ye do it for your own selves, and if ye deny God and His signs, verily We through God can dispense with all creation and dominion, in truth. O people of the earth! Whoso obeyeth God's Remembrance and this His Book hath indeed obeyed God and His friends in truth, and shall be recorded in the hereafter as one of the people of the Garden of Good-Pleasure with God.

… O concourse of divines! Fear God in your opinions from this your day, for the Remembrance among you from Us is in truth a judge and witness. Turn away from that which ye take from other than God's Book of truth, for ye shall in truth be questioned at your station on the path on the Day of Resurrection.

… O people! If ye believe in God alone, then follow Me in this Most Great Remembrance from your Lord, that God may forgive you your sins.

… And in the origination of the signs and the hours and the souls and the horizons are signs for those of understanding among you who are witness to the remembrance of God, the Most High. Fear God and speak not concerning the Most Great Remembrance of God anything besides God, for verily We have taken His covenant from every Prophet and His people regarding His remembrance, and We send not the Messengers save with this firm covenant.

… We have, of a truth, perfected Our favor upon the dwellers of the heavens and earth through the bounty of the Remembrance, in truth, as a blessing. God hath made the supreme blessing in this your Day to be the remembrance of God, the Most High, and God is witness over all things.

… Verily God created Joseph and his brethren in the realms of holiness from a sprinkling upon a name from the drop of creation, from that water brought into being. When We found in Joseph love for the Most Great Remembrance, We clothed him, by God's leave, in the garments of prophethood, according to what was decreed for him in the Mother Book around the Fire.

… He is the Remembrance from God to give you glad tidings of His promise and to warn you of His vengeance, and He is the One concealed in the Mother Book, preserved at the Point of Fire according to what was in the mystery of the Book.

He is the Remembrance before you, to your right, and to your left, by God's leave in truth, that people might be mentioned in truth around the Gate through the wondrous verses in this Book.

… O people of the earth! Deal not with the Most Great Remembrance as the community dealt with Husayn unjustly in the Holy Land.

… Know, O servants of God, the Light hath come to you from God, the Exalted, in truth mighty and resplendent, that ye may seek of His grace what God hath ordained in His dominion, in truth by truth, as a decree.

… And verily man, in truth, with God your True Master, is he who gathereth around the water. And verily the beast, in truth, is he who is cast forth from around the Fire.

… O people of the earth! Hold fast to the cord of God, the Impregnable -- Our Remembrance, this Arabian Youth Who hath been concealed at the point of ice upon seas of fire. Remember in His presence, after His permission, God's favors upon you, and conceal not the truth in His presence. Know ye not that God knoweth whatsoever is in the heavens and earth, what ye conceal and what ye reveal?

… God encompasseth all things. Whoso is an enemy to God and His angels and His messengers after the Remembrance hath come unto them from God -- We are witnesses of their unbelief, and in the life to come they shall have no portion save a mighty fire.

… Fear God, O company of kings, regarding distance from the Remembrance after the Truth has come to you with the Book and verses from God through the tongue of the Remembrance wondrously. Seek bounty from God, for after your belief, God has ordained for you a garden whose breadth is as the breadth of all gardens, wherein you shall find naught but blessings and bounties from God, according to that which was great in the Mother Book.

… God, besides Whom there is none other true God, saith: Indeed, whoso visiteth the Remembrance of God after His passing, it is as though he hath attained the presence of the Lord, seated upon His mighty Throne.

… He is an Arab youth who has been concealed around the fire in the Mother Book. God has revealed to Me in truth within the House of Kaaba: "Verily, I am God, there is no God but I. I have chosen you for Myself and selected the Remembrance for yourself.

… Verily this Remembrance is the remnant of the lights, and He is better for you if ye be faithful to God, the Most High, in truth and by truth.

… We have sent no Prophet but We took from him a covenant concerning the Remembrance and His Day. Verily the Remembrance of God and His Day have been witnessed in truth at the Most Exalted Prospect before the angels of the Throne.

Verily this is the Primal Point, arrayed in His new attire and manifested in His glorious Name. He at present beholdeth everything from this Horizon. Indeed He is supreme over all things.

… Say, O people, fulfil whatever ye understand of the Persian Bayan and whatever ye understand not ask this unerring Remembrance that He may set forth clearly that which God hath intended in His Book, for in truth He knoweth that which is enshrined in the Bayan by virtue of the Will of Him Who is the Omnipotent, the Powerful.

Well is it with every fair-minded person that hath judged fairly Him Who is the Most Great Remembrance, and woe betide him that hath erred and doubted."

The remembrance of God is a leaf among His leaves, and verily His remembrance hath preceded all worlds. Were it not for His remembrance, none would have known Him to remember Him.

Leave behind all mention and cling to the hem of the grace of this Most Great Remembrance, Who hath come with the truth and hath spoken in every state that there is none other God but He, the Mighty, the All-Forgiving.

I am carried back to such heights that I recognize my self to be the same as the remembrance of Thee in Thy realm, and the essence of Thy praise among Thy servants. As long as that self endureth, so long will Thy praise continue to be shed abroad among Thy creatures and Thy remembrance glorified by Thy people.

All glory be to Thee, O Lord my God! I bear witness for Thee to that whereto Thou Thyself didst bear witness for Thine own Self, ere the day Thou hadst created the creation or made mention thereof, that Thou art God, and that there is none other God beside Thee. From eternity Thou hast, in Thy transcendent oneness, been immeasurably exalted above Thy servants' conception of Thy unity, and wilt to eternity remain, in Thine unapproachable singleness, far above the praise of Thy creatures. No words that any one beside Thee may utter can ever beseem Thee, and no man's description except Thine own description can befit Thy nature. All who adore Thy unity have been sore perplexed to fathom the mystery of Thy oneness, and all have confessed their powerlessness to attain unto the comprehension of Thine essence and to scale the pinnacle of Thy knowledge. The mighty have all acknowledged their weakness, and the learned recognized their ignorance. They that are possessed of influence are as nothing when compared with the revelations of Thy stupendous sovereignty, and they who are exalted sink into oblivion when brought before the manifestations of Thy great glory. The radiance of the brightest luminaries is eclipsed by the effulgent splendors of Thy face, and the tongues of the most eloquent of speakers falter under the unrestrained effusions of Thy holy utterance, and the foundations of the mightiest structures tremble before the onrushing force of Thy compelling power.

Who is there, O my God, that can be deemed worthy to be remembered when Thou art remembered, and where is he to be found who can be regarded as capable of hinting at Thy nature or worthy of mention in the court of Thy transcendent oneness? From everlasting Thou has been alone with no one else beside Thee, and to everlasting Thou wilt continue to be one and the same. No God is there beside Thee, the God of power, of glory and wisdom.

Glorified be Thy name, O Lord my God! I beseech Thee by Him Who is Thine exalted and supreme Remembrance, Whom Thou hast sent down unto all Thy creatures and invested with Thy name, the All-Glorious, Whose will Thou hast ordained to be Thine own will, Whose self Thou hast decreed to be the revealer of Thine own Self, and His essence the Day-Spring of Thy wisdom, and His heart the treasury of Thine inspiration, and His breast the dawning-place of Thy most excellent attributes and most exalted titles, and His tongue the fountain-head of the waters of Thy praise and the well-spring of the soft-flowing streams of Thy wisdom, to send down upon us that which will enable us to dispense with all else except Thee, and will cause us to direct our steps towards the sanctuary of Thy pleasure and to aspire after the things Thou didst ordain for us according to Thine irrevocable decree. Empower us, then, O my God, to forsake ourselves and cleave steadfastly to Him Who is the Manifestation of Thy Self, the Most Exalted, the Most High. Supply us also with that which is best for us, and write us down with such of Thy servants as have repudiated the Idol (Mirza Yahya), and firmly believed in Thee, and been so established on the throne of certitude that the whisperings of the Evil One have been powerless to hinder them from turning their faces towards Thy name, the All-Merciful.

Powerful art Thou to do what Thou pleasest and to ordain what Thou willest. No God is there but Thee, the All-Possessing, the All-Highest, the Almighty, the All-Bountiful, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.

If Thou refusest, O my God, to aid them that love Thee, assist Thou, then, Thine own Self and Him Who is Thy Remembrance.

I implore Thee, by this very word that hath shone forth above the horizon of Thy will, to enable me to drink deep of the living waters through which Thou hast vivified the hearts of Thy chosen ones and quickened the souls of them that love Thee, that I may, at all times and under all conditions, turn my face wholly towards Thee.

God willing, may all attain unto the eternal bounty which in one instance hath been interpreted as the Divine Word. This exalted Word hath been recorded by the Most Exalted Pen in the Crimson Book: "Blessed is the soul that hath attained unto the Word of God in His days," for whosoever attaineth unto divine mention, that mention appeareth as a lamp before his face, manifest, evident, bright and visible in all the worlds.

Purify yourselves with the water of detachment from covetousness and unseemly deeds, that ye may discover the mystery of the Day of the Self-Subsisting. The Primal Light hath appeared in the Final Day.

He it is Who sent down the Book wherein He hath detailed all that ye know not, and He shall continue to expound the truth and send down the Command as He willeth, were ye to understand. He hath taught all things the measures of knowledge according to their capacity, were ye to know, and He shall continue to teach His servants from the wonders of knowledge, for He is verily the Sovereign, the Compassionate.

Glorified be He Who sendeth down whatsoever He willeth through His command, manifesting it at one time in the form of spirit, then in the frame of a body, then as a physical form, and Who hath ordained for each of these a station that none knoweth save him whom God hath taught from the wonders of His knowledge.

Then, by His absolute will, He placed its reins, by permission of a Manifestation, within the grasp of power of a trusted one. Such is the decree of the Mighty, the Powerful.

Say: Is there any doubt about God, or about His signs which have been sent down from the heaven of Command, or about His power?

The world hath been set ablaze by the Fire that hath been kindled from the Tree of God's Command, the Lord of all worlds.

Then another countenance emerged and said: "Verily it is the fire of the love of God, and when it appeared on the Mount of Beauty, the Most Exalted Word was revealed in the form 'There is no God but Me, the Powerful, the Imprisoned.'"

Say: I have come from the Orient of the Command to give life to all who are on earth. Fear God, O people, and follow not those who have denied their Lord, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.

...the gnostics maintain the existence of only two worlds, the world of God and the world of the creature. The prophets, however, maintained the existence of three worlds: the world of God, the world of the Will or the Word, and the world of created things. The Prophets, therefore, maintained that a knowledge of God is impossible.... There is, therefore, only one way to God and that is through the realization of His Manifestation or Prophet in that age.

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The Zuhurs (Manifestations) are Manifestations of the Primal Will.

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...the First Remembrance, which is the Primal Will of God, may be likened unto the sun. … And know thou that He indeed resembleth the sun. Were the risings of the sun to continue till the end that hath no end, yet there hath not been nor ever will be more than one sun.... It is this Primal Will which appeareth resplendent in every Prophet and speaketh forth in every revealed Book.

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The Nuqta or Point is the Mirror of God and existed before the Prophet.

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The whole of the Bayan is the unfolding of the Point, which is the Primal Will, and resembles the sun.

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The Point is the differentiator of the Letters and the Letters emanate from It.

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God creates by His Primal Will both Light and Fire, and His Will is the Nuqta or Point.

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God in truth created the Will before all other things and made it the cause of their existence. It is the First Remembrance, whereof the Imam asked while addressing Jonah: "Dost thou know what the Will is?" He replied: "No." Then he explained: "It is the First Remembrance." Through the gift of His wisdom and the excellence of His craftsmanship, God placed within it a sign of the manifestation of His self-subsistence, that it might indicate His oneness under all conditions. This Will hath seven modes without which it is impossible for anything to be clothed in the vesture of existence...

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Concerning thy question about the meaning of the philosopher's saying, "From the One proceedeth only One": The statement is incorrect when the Cause is meant to be the Absolute Essence... However, when the intention behind the statement is to refer to the Primal Utterance, which is created by God by Itself, for Itself, then verily it is the truth... … There is no doubt that the Eternal Essence hath ever been immeasurably exalted above any association with His creatures; how much less could it become the source out of which things proceed. Though the statement is discussed in philosophy, the truth is that it must refer to the grades of the creative Action itself.

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In the rank of the First Remembrance, which is the most great of the degrees of the creation, this First Remembrance must exist for four causes: the creation by God, the very being, the form, and the utility or fruit. Existence is not possible in the world of contingency except by the aid of these four aspects. Each thing, to manifest its existence, must have an element of fire, an element of air and of water to conserve this existence, and an element of earth to accept the degrees.

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...the Reality of Muhammad is not exactly the permanent archetypes themselves. Rather, it is the unifying principle of all archetypes, the active principle on which depends the very existence of the archetypes. Considered from the side of the Absolute, the Reality of Muhammad is the creative activity itself of the Absolute, or God 'conceived as the self-revealing Principle of the universe'. It is the Absolute in the first stage of its eternal self-manifestation, i.e., the Absolute as the universal Consciousness.... Thus the Prophet Muhammad on the cosmic level corresponds almost exactly to the Plotinian First Intellect.

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He [the Bab], as affirmed by Himself, 'the Primal Point from which have been generated all created things,' ... the 'Remembrance of God'...

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Fear ye God, and Our Cause, which concerneth Him Who is the Most Great Remembrance of God.

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Verily the object of each and every sign revealed by God in the Scriptures or in the world at large or in the hearts of men is but to make them fully realize that this Remembrance is indeed the True One from God.

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