الرسالة الموسومة ببدء التوحيد لدعوة الحق
I put my trust in our Lord, the Creator, the All-Knowing, the Most High, the Highest, the Judge of judges, who does not enter thoughts and imaginings. Exalted is His remembrance above the descriptions of those who describe and the comprehension of human beings. The letters of “In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful” signify the ranks of our Lord's servant, the Imam.
My letter to you, community of brethren who have responded to the Call of our Lord al-Ḥākim, the One, the Unique, the Self-Sufficient—exalted is His remembrance above consort and child—who worship Him and no other, and who have escaped the snare of accursed Iblīs, the contemptible Opponent, his accursed spies, his erring helpers, and his party of devils. Iblīs has no authority over you, his soldiers have no place among you, and his ornamented deceptions have no importance for you. Rather, you are the angels brought near, who have mastered their own souls and restrained themselves from the actions of polytheists.
You are the bearers of the Throne of our Lord—exalted be His remembrance. The Throne here means His true knowledge, which is difficult, exceedingly difficult, and cannot be borne except by a sent prophet, an angel brought near, or a believer whose heart our Lord has tested in faith in Him alone. Glorified and exalted is He above what they describe.
Now then: I praise to you our Lord, besides whom we have no lord. I command you and myself to thank Him for His favors and gifts, with the gratitude of one who deserves an increase in this life and the next. I advise you, according to what our Lord—exalted be His remembrance—has instructed and commanded me, to discard beliefs that you are no longer required to hold and abandon what you lose nothing by lacking: the extinguished cycles of the past and the obsolete, lifeless religious laws. There was no Speaker among them who did not abrogate the religious law of those who came before him. When Muḥammad son of ʿAbd Allāh, the sixth Speaker, appeared and proclaimed his message, he abrogated all the earlier religious laws and closed the paths. He said that whoever did not abandon the former religion of his fathers and ancestors should be killed and called an unbeliever, while whoever abandoned the law he formerly held and ceased looking back to it received the name of Islam, and in his peace/submission was free of blame. Muḥammad promised them Paradise forever.
The rational and sufficient explanation, the one that brings deliverance, is that the intended indication here is the worship of the Existent One rather than the absent non-being. A human being is the child of his day and hour. In existence lie his rest, worship, life, and the object toward which he points.
Our Lord al-Ḥākim, the Creator and All-Knowing, has abrogated Muḥammad's religious law in its entirety: outwardly for believers endowed with excellence and inwardly for discerning Unitarians.
One whose heart is illumined, whose understanding of affairs is victorious over created beings, and who does not openly practice unbelief under the cloak of hypocrisy, pays no attention to the blaze and exaltation of the religious law or to the splendor of embellished speech. He knows that these are a means of drawing unbelievers on toward their ruin and distinguishing Unitarians from them.
As He said, “So that God may distinguish the impure from the pure.” Although the impure and the pure—that is, the polytheist and the Unitarian—are not hidden from our Lord—exalted be His remembrance—He wished to show the Unitarians which among them would turn back upon his heels. Our Lord knows what is within breasts and what is to come.
A brief proof of the disappearance of the religious law can be given through one matter, for this epistle cannot contain a lengthy explanation. The book known as The Hidden Refutation establishes the abrogation of all seven pillars, outward and inward, through the power and support of our Lord—exalted be His remembrance—and there is no strength or power except through Him.
Indeed the abolition of almsgiving itself provides an answer to those who ask about the other pillars, for almsgiving is joined to prayer. ʿAbd al-Lāt son of ʿUthmān, surnamed Abū Bakr, attacked the Banū Ḥanīfa with the Emigrants and Helpers, killed the men of Banū Ḥanīfa, plundered their wealth, and took their women captive. ʿAlī son of Abī Ṭālib, the Foundation of the Speaker, bought from among the captives a woman known as al-Ḥanafiyya—whose name was Tuḥfa, the mother of his son Muḥammad.
He was asked, “ʿAlī, how can you consider it lawful to purchase a Muslim woman who testifies that there is no god but God and Muḥammad is God's Messenger, performs the five prayers, and fasts in Ramaḍān?”
ʿAlī replied, “What benefit are the two testimonies to her or her people, or all the works of the two religious laws, when they have not paid almsgiving? Almsgiving is the religious law in its entirety. Whoever does not pay it must be killed, and his property and family become lawful to us.” He cited, “Woe to the polytheists who do not give almsgiving.” Thus God removed them from Islam and made them polytheists.
You, community of believing Unitarians, have heard and know the decree that our Lord—exalted be His remembrance—ordered read to you. He abolished almsgiving, tithes, fifths, and all other charitable dues for you forever. He did not abolish your duty to preserve one another's inviolability and protection. There can be no clearer rational and visible proof of the abrogation of the religious law. You shall hear the explanation of the abolition of all the pillars and the evident proofs of it, if our Lord wills; through Him comes success in every affair. Glorified and exalted is He above their descriptions.
Know that our Lord—exalted be His remembrance—has removed from you seven obligatory pillars belonging to the law-bound religion and imposed upon you seven religious qualities of tawḥīd:
First, and greatest, truthfulness of the tongue.
Second, protection of the brethren.
Third, abandonment of what you formerly followed and believed concerning the worship of absent non-being and falsehood.
Fourth, repudiation of the Iblises and tyranny.
Fifth, tawḥīd of our Lord—exalted be His remembrance—in every age, time, epoch, and season.
Sixth, contentment with His actions, whatever they may be.
Seventh, submission to His command in secret and amid events.
Let each of you know that our Lord—exalted be His remembrance—sees you from where you do not see Him. Beware, beware that your hearts contradict what your tongues say to your brethren, for that is associationism itself, and associationism is a tremendous wrong. Our Lord—exalted be His remembrance—will recompense you for all your affairs. Do good, command what is right, and know that our Lord does not let the reward of those who do good go to waste.
Know that all the names appearing in the Qurʾān refer to the Preceder, Follower, Grandfather, Opening, Imagination, Speaker, Foundation, Imam, Proof, and Caller: ten complete ranks. All of them pointed to ʿAlī son of Abī Ṭālib, who was the Foundation of the Speaker. They indicated him through the spiritual meaning.
ʿAlī son of Abī Ṭālib in turn pointed to the final goal and culmination, the Mahdī bi-llāh, Saʿīd son of Aḥmad. The Mahdī spoke with his own tongue and acknowledged in his own age and time that he was a servant and possession of our Lord, the Qāʾim, the All-Knowing al-Ḥākim. May His peace and mercy be upon us.
The Mahdī was an instrument and vessel of the true Call. Something had been deposited in him; the supreme Lord, manifesting Himself to His creatures in a form resembling theirs and according to their condition, took that deposit from him, so that they might perceive some of the power of His station and hear His words from the humanity of the visible form.
But the divinity of our Lord—exalted be His remembrance—His reality and essential nature, is the Cause-Maker of the Cause of Causes, eternal and everlasting. It is not perceived by imagination, known by understanding, or contained in thoughts and imaginings, nor in prose and verse. Glorified and exalted is He above what they describe.
Know also that all the ranks the earlier teachers arranged in their books and described as spiritual and corporeal were intended to signify the people of outward and inward knowledge. They spoke of higher and lower ranks: “higher” means those who rise above others through knowledge, and “lower” those who have not attained the perfection of true knowledge.
All are known persons existing in our present age, employed within the dominion of our Lord and acknowledging His lordship, worshipping His power willingly or unwillingly. As He said, “To God prostrates whoever is in the heavens and the earth, willingly or unwillingly.” “Heavens” and “earth” here signify the Speakers and Foundations.
He meant that all their followers acknowledge our Lord—exalted be His remembrance. Among them are obedient believers who agree with Him, and among them are unbelieving, associating hypocrites.
To whom belong sovereignty and wisdom today, and on every day? The answer is: to our Lord al-Ḥākim—exalted be His remembrance and mighty His name—besides whom none is worshipped.
Whoever accepts the guidance of the Guide of the world, the servant of our Lord al-Ḥākim, the Most High, is among the successful: those who have attained tawḥīd and escaped impiety, who need not fear the outward or grieve over the associationism of the inward, and who know the secrets of past cycles and of what is yet to come.
Whoever sinks into arrogance, possesses the soul of the wretched, and is overcome by brutish ignorance and obscenity, saying, “We found our fathers following a religion, and we follow in their footsteps,” gains only absent non-being. Such people have not acknowledged the Existent One and have no knowledge of the Unique Worshipped One. They wander among humanity without a worshipped God in heaven or an existing Imam on earth. They have worshipped idols and images, and so deserve lasting punishment from the All-Knowing Creator. Glorified and exalted is He above what they describe.
Community of Unitarians of our Lord—exalted be His remembrance—the time has come for the manifestation of realities, the exposure of associationism and falsehood, and the abrogation of religious laws and paths. Prepare yourselves to kill the fighters of error, to lead the Zanj in chains, to take women and children captive, and to slaughter their men, through the sword of our Lord the Most High, exalted in majesty and greatness. Glorified and exalted is He above what polytheists and ignorant people say.
This is a complete unveiling through the hand of His servant, the Qāʾim of the Age, who proclaims the explanation, guides to the reality of faith, and takes vengeance upon the polytheists and tyrants by the sword of our Lord and the strength of His authority alone. We seek help from no one else and rely upon none besides Him.
Praise and thanks belong to our Lord alone. He suffices me and is the best Helper and Supporter.
This epistle was composed in the month of Ramaḍān, in the first year of the Qāʾim of the Age, year 408 AH. Completed. Praise belongs to our Lord alone; He suffices us and through Him we seek help in every affair.