Epistle to the Son of the Wolf — §168
Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 168 of 268.
Source (Persian)
باری هر معرضی به کلمه ای تمسّک نموده و بر حقّ اعتراض کرده * سبحان اللّه ذکر الوهيّت و ربوبيّت که از اولياء و اصفياء ظاهر شده ان را اسباب اعراض و انکار قرار دادهاند * حضرت صادق فرموده [ العبوديّة جوهرة کنهها الرّبوبيّة ] و حضرت امير در جواب اعرابی که از نفس سؤال نموده فرموده [ و ثالثها اللّاهوتيّة الملکوتيّة و هی قوّة لاهوتيّة و جوهرة بسيطة حيّة بالذّات ] ( الی ان قال ) عليه السّلام [ فهی ذات اللّه العليا و شجرة طوبی و سدرة المنتهی و جنّة المأوی ] حضرت صادق فرموده [ اذا قام قائمنا اشرقت الارض بنور ربّها ] و همچنين از ابی عبداللّه عليه السّلام حديث طويلی ذکر شده و از جمله نصوص حديث مذکور اين کلمه عليا است [ فعند ذلک يهبط الجبّار عزّ و جلّ من الغمام و الملائکة ] و فی القرآن العظيم ﴿هَلْ يَنظُرُونَ إِلَّا أَنْ يَأْتِيَهُمْ اللّهُ فِی ظُلَلٍ مِنَ الغَمَامِ﴾ و در حديث مفضّل ميفرمايد [ يسند القائم ظهره الی الحرم و يمدّ يده المبارکة فتری بيضاء من غير سوء و يقول هذه يد اللّه و يمين اللّه و عن اللّه و بامر اللّه ] * هر نحو اين احاديث را معنی نمودهاند اثار قلم اعلی را هم معنی نمايند * حضرت امير فرموده [ انا الّذی لا يقع عليه اسم و لا صفة ] * و همچنين فرموده [ ظاهری إمامة و باطنی غيبٌ لا يدرک ] * قال ابو جعفر الطّوسی [ قلت لابی عبداللّه انتم الصّراط فی کتاب اللّه و انتم الزّکاة و انتم الحجّ قال يا فلان نحن الصّراط فی کتاب اللّه عزّ و جلّ و نحن الزّکاة و نحن الصّيام و نحن الحجّ و نحن الشّهر الحرام و نحن البلد الحرام و نحن کعبة اللّه و نحن قبلة اللّه و نحن وجه اللّه ] * روی جابر عن ابی جعفر عليه السّلام قال [ يا جابر عليک بالبيان و المعانی فقال عليه السّلام امّا البيان و هو ان تعرف اللّه سبحانه ليس کمثله شیء فتعبده و لا تشرک به شيئا و امّا المعانی فنحن معانيه و نحن جنبه و يده و لسانه و امره و حکمه و علمه و حقّه اذا شئنا شاء اللّه و يريد ما نريده ] * ايضا حضرت امير عليه السّلام فرمود [ کيف أَعبُدُ رَبًّا لم أره ] و در مقام ديگر ميفرمايد [ ما رأيت شيئا الّا و قد رأيت اللّه قبله او بعده او معه ] *
Shoghi Effendi Translation
Every one who hath turned aside from Me hath clung to his own idle words, and therewith voiced his objections to Him Who is the Truth. Gracious God! Such references as have been made to Divinity and Godhead by the holy ones and chosen ones of God have been made a cause for denial and repudiation. The Imam Sadiq hath said: "Servitude is a substance, the essence of which is Divinity." The Commander of the Faithful (Imam ‘Alí) answered an Arab, who had questioned him concerning the soul, as follows: "The third is the soul which is divine and celestial. It is a divine energy, a substance, simple, and self-subsistent." And further He - peace be upon him - said: "Therefore it is the Most Sublime Essence of God, the Tree of Blessedness, the Lote-Tree beyond which there is no passing, the Garden of Repose." The Imam Sadiq hath said: "When our Qá’im will arise, the earth will shine with the light of her Lord." Likewise, a lengthy tradition is attributed to Abi-'Abdi'llah - peace be upon him - in which these sublime words are found: "Thereupon will He Who is the All-Compelling - exalted and glorified be He - descend from the clouds with the angels." And in the mighty Qur’án: "What can such expect but that God should come down to them overshadowed with clouds?" And in the tradition of Mufaddal it is said: "The Qá’im will lean His back against the Sanctuary, and will stretch forth His hand, and lo, it shall be snow-white but unhurt. And He shall say: \‘This is the hand of God, the right hand of God, that cometh from God, at the command of God!'" In whichever manner these traditions are interpreted, in that same manner let them also interpret that which the Most Sublime Pen hath set down. The Commander of the Faithful (Imam ‘Alí) hath said: "I am He Who can neither be named, nor described." And likewise He hath said: "Outwardly I am an Imam; inwardly I am the Unseen, the Unknowable." Abu-Ja'far-i-Tusi hath said: "I said to Abi Abdi'llah: \‘You are the Way mentioned in the Book of God, and you are the Impost, and you are the Pilgrimage.' He replied: \‘O man! We are the Way mentioned in the Book of God, - exalted and glorified be He - and We are the Impost, and We are the Fast, and We are the Pilgrimage, and We are the Sacred Month, and We are the Sacred City, and We are the Kaaba of God, and We are the Qiblih of God, and We are the Face of God.'" Jabir hath said that Abu-Ja'far - peace be upon him - spoke to him as follows: "O Jabir! Give heed unto the Bayán (Exposition) and the Ma'ani (Significances)." He - peace be upon him - added: "As to the Bayán, it consisteth in thy recognition of God - glorified be He - as the One Who hath no equal, and in thy adoration of Him, and in thy refusal to join partners with Him. As to the Ma'ani, We are its meaning, and its side, and its hand, and its tongue, and its cause, and its command, and its knowledge, and its right. If We wish for something, it is God Who wisheth it, and He desireth that which We desire." Moreover, the Commander of the Faithful (Imam ‘Alí) - peace be upon him - hath said: "How can I worship a Lord Whom I have not seen?" And, in another connection, he saith: "Nothing have I perceived except that I perceived God before it, God after it, or God with it."
Translation Notes
ذکر
literal: remembrance; mention; memory; invocation; reminders; commemorations
اولياء
literal: guardian; protector; friend; ally; lord; helper; first; primary; original
اصفياء
literal: pure one; chosen one; selected one; elite; purity; clarity; sincerity; pure; sincere
عليه
literal: exalted; highest; supreme; most high; upon you; on; over; Ali (name); upon
مذکور
literal: remembrance; mention; memory; invocation; reminders; commemorations
يهبط
literal: landing place; descent; alighting place
عزّ
literal: glory; might; honor; dignity; power; majesty
الملائکة
literal: kingdom; dominion; realm; sovereignty; possessions; property; ownership
غيبٌ
literal: the unseen; the invisible; the hidden; the unknowable; stranger; foreign; alien; separated
يدرک
literal: to overtake; to catch; to reach; to attain; to perceive; to comprehend
