Al-Sīra al-Mustaqīma
السيرة المستقيمة
I have put my trust in our Lord, the Creator, the All-Knowing, the Most High, the Judge of judges, who does not enter into thoughts and imaginings. Exalted is His remembrance above the descriptions of those who describe and the comprehension of mankind.
In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful: the attributes of His servant, the Imam; the practices of the literalist Speakers, the doctrines of the outward adherents of religious law, and the embellishments of associationism.
They say that the Creator—glorified is He—created Adam from dust, personally undertook his creation, and shaped him with His hand in the likeness of Himself; they cite the Qurʾān in support of this. The Jews, drawing on the Torah, say that Adam was created and formed in the likeness of the God of the Children of Israel. But this is inconsistent with reason and with the realities. No one may accept it, because an image is a body, and whoever has a body has a form composed of parts. Adam and his children would then resemble the Creator—exalted is He above that. Where, then, would be the distinction between servant and Worshipped One, Creator and created, Provider and provided for? This is impossible and is associationism and error itself. The Qurʾān has already shown the falsity of their statement: “There is nothing like Him.” Yet they believe in part of the Book and disbelieve in another part.
As for their assertion that Adam had neither father nor mother, it is impossible for a speaking, corporeal being to exist except from a similar body, male and female. Natural earth produces only worms, snakes, scorpions, beetles, and creatures of that kind; it cannot produce a human being. If they maintain that Adam's excellence consisted in not coming from a man's loins, not entering a womb, and not being stained with blood, then Muhammad should likewise have been created from earth instead of coming from the loins of an unbeliever and being stained by the blood of an ignorant unbelieving woman.
The Muslims believe that Muhammad's parents were unbelievers and died as unbelievers, and that he cannot intercede for his community until he abandons his father and mother, repudiates them, and prefers his community to his parents, leaving them in Hell. This is ugly speech, manifestly false and worthless, incompatible with reason and unacceptable to anyone possessed of intellect.
There are three Adams: Adam of Universal Purity; before him [in the ranking] Adam the disobedient, who is partial; and below him Adam the forgetful, who is corporeal [jurmānī]. All three came from male and female, not from earth as the adherents of literalist ornamentation assert. Far be it from the Creator—glorified is He—to create His chosen representative from dust, one of the humblest things. If we interpret their statement literally, He should have created him from the most precious and exalted things: jewels, rubies, and emeralds. If they say that He created him from earth because earth is pure, stones are purer, since soil mixes with impurities while stones do not absorb them. Water is also purer than earth, which becomes soiled and cannot purify itself. Since earth alone is mentioned, we know that another reality was intended, not what people commonly suppose.
The literalists who associate others with God say that He named him Adam because he was made from the adīm, the surface of the earth.
Yet worms, snakes, scorpions, beetles, and similar creatures also come from the earth's surface, and none of them has been called Adam. Another group says that He named him Adam because his complexion was changed or darkened. This is an attack upon the Creator's sovereignty and a diminution of His attributes. How could He choose something and make its appearance discolored, when people regard a man's blackness as a defect? Glorified is the Creator of creatures above such deficiency. He exalted the station of His chosen one above defects, but these people have been blind to that and too proud to ask; nothing guides them except the sword.
Some deficient Ismāʿīlī Shīʿīs say that the Creator named the Opponent Iblīs because he had no father or mother. They have not distinguished the implications of what they say, since they themselves acknowledge that Adam had neither religious father nor religious mother, and that Christ had no father. By their reasoning, each of these would have to be called Iblīs, since each lacked a father. There would be no distinction between Opponent and Guardian. This is impossible, empty ornamentation, incompatible with reason, and unacceptable to an intelligent person.
I shall now set out in this Conduct what you need to know about Adam: his name, his father's name, and his city; the name of Iblīs, his father's name, and his city; and the full ranks of Adam, if our Lord—exalted be His remembrance—wills. Upon Him I rely; through His support I speak; through His strength I have prevailed; through His knowledge I have risen. He is the Most High, the All-Aware, the Mighty.
Know—may the Lord aid you in obedience to Him—that Adam of Universal Purity is Dhū Maʿa. He had served the Call to tawḥīd and the worship of our Lord, the Most High and All-Aware, in former ages before the cycle in which he was named Adam. In that cycle, however, he appeared among a world called the jinn, who worshipped non-being.
Adam of Purity was born in India, in a city called Adamīniyya. His name was Shaṭnīl, and his father's name Dānīl. In outward affairs he was a physician of bodies.
In reality, he was a physician of spirits through the sciences of tawḥīd. He left his homeland and reached Yemen, arriving in a city called Ṣarna, a name which in Arabic signifies “the Miracle.” When he entered and saw its inhabitants associating others with God, he called them to the tawḥīd and worship of our Lord—exalted be His remembrance. They responded to him, and the city became divided into two parties: Unitarians and polytheists. The sage Shaṭnīl told the Unitarians, “Separate yourselves from the polytheists,” meaning, “Keep away from them.” They accepted his instruction and separated, whereupon the name of separation was applied to them.
Iblīs had been a Caller among the jinn and had once obeyed the Creator—glorified is He. His name was Ḥārith and his father's name Tirmāḥ. He came originally from Iṣfahān and lived in the city called the Miracle. The Greek name of Iṣfahān was, according to this account, Damīr. In that age there was no manifest Imam or effective Proof for creation, except that the lights had been gathered in Shaṭnīl son of Dānīl. He was said to have no father or mother because he was an Imam by his own rank. He was said to be “of earth” because he appeared from among the believers, who resemble earth. It was said that the Creator formed him “with His hand” because He originated him from pure light and supported him with universal support.
Light and support are likened to two hands, for radiant light and universal wisdom move the ranks, enabling them to escape doubt and associationism, just as hands move bodies and enable people to cleanse themselves of the impurities of urine and excrement.
When our Lord the Creator—glorified is He—sent him forth, He commanded the angels, meaning the Callers, to prostrate before Adam—that is, to obey him. All the ranks and Callers obeyed except Ḥārith son of Tirmāḥ of Iṣfahān. He refused and became proud. He looked upon Shaṭnīl son of Dānīl as though he were merely a Responder and claimed priority for his own service in the Call. He said, “I am better than he,” meaning higher in rank. “You created me from fire”—from the knowledge of realities and the light of the Call—“and created him from clay”—from the instruction given to the Responders.
The Responders are the soil of pure love. Water signifies true knowledge; when water is mixed with earth, it becomes clay suitable for building. Likewise, when a Responder acquires knowledge of realities, he reaches maturity and becomes fit for the Call. This is why Ḥārith said, “You created him from clay.”
As for the assertion that the Creator made Adam in His own image, its meaning is that He imposed obedience to Adam upon all the worlds just as obedience to Himself is required. Whoever obeys Adam obeys the Creator; whoever disobeys Adam disobeys our Lord—exalted be His remembrance—because Adam is His deputy and the means of reaching Him. All the ranks and Callers obeyed except Ḥārith son of Tirmāḥ of Iṣfahān. He was expelled from the Call, which is the Garden, and dropped from the number of the ranks.
Shaṭnīl established his station and dispatched the Proofs and Callers, who spread abroad. He was called Adam, meaning the lord and Imam of the ranks. He was called the father of humanity because “humanity” here means the Unitarians: they had received the glad tidings of Adam, accepted tawḥīd from him, and thus became his children in religion. Likewise his spouse Eve was his Proof, called Ḥawwāʾ because she contained all the believers. She was called the mother of humanity because she was appointed to nurse them with true knowledge, educate them, and raise them from degree to degree until they reached the rank of proclamation.
When Adam's ranks were complete, his Call had spread, the believers had multiplied, and Ḥārith son of Tirmāḥ openly opposed him, the city divided into two parties, Unitarians and polytheists. Shaṭnīl ordered the believers to repudiate the others—Iblīs and his party of jinn. Whenever a Unitarian met his brother, he asked, “Have you fled from Iblīs and his party?” The other answered, “I have forsaken them.” Thus the city of Ṣarna came to be called Hajar, for its people had forsaken Iblīs and his companions.
A merchant or scholar from al-Aḥsāʾ named Ṣarṣar came to the city while its people were traveling there to trade. One of the Callers entrusted him with the covenant immediately and brought him to Adam, who was Shaṭnīl. Adam sent him out as a Caller to al-Aḥsāʾ and its districts. He departed at once and took the covenant from many people in al-Aḥsāʾ and its districts. He enjoined upon them the tawḥīd and worship of our Lord—exalted be His remembrance—acknowledgment of Shaṭnīl and his Imamate, and repudiation of Iblīs and his companions.
He told them, “When you enter Hajar, scowl and wrinkle your noses before its inhabitants, for a man named Ḥārith son of Tirmāḥ of Iṣfahān lives there with many followers. They have opposed the command of our Lord, the All-Knowing Creator, and denied the excellence of the Imam. Do not address its people with any knowledge except those who attend the gathering of the sage Shaṭnīl with you.”
They accepted what the Caller Ṣarṣar taught them concerning worship and this “shortening,” and so were called Qarāmiṭa (Qarmaṭians) down to our own time. In Persia and Khurāsān the name came to be used of anyone known for tawḥīd: people say, “This man is a Qarmaṭian,” and for this reason they call his doctrine Qarmaṭian Ismāʿīlism.
Abū Ṭāhir, Abū Saʿīd, and other Qarmaṭians were Callers of our Lord the Creator, worshipping Him, fearing Him, bowing before His majesty and greatness, and declaring Him transcendent above all His creatures. The Lord endowed them with leadership, and they accomplished deeds of open manifestation that no other Callers had accomplished. They killed more of the polytheists than other Callers could. Yet our Lord—glorified is He—did not make the full Unveiling easy at their hands, because His knowledge, power, greatness, and will encompassed what would happen after them: the loss of tawḥīd, error, pursuit of the sons of al-ʿAbbās and their appetites, and descent into misguidance.
The time of the Unveiling has now come near; the hour of the sword, abasement, and violent destruction of the hypocrites approaches. The people of al-Aḥsāʾ, Hajar, and Persia must return to their former tawḥīd and worship of our Lord—exalted be His remembrance—bow before His majesty, declare Him above all creatures, and support tawḥīd as their forefathers once did. I shall establish the Call among them, reunite the friends and servants, and subdue every obstinate tyrant with the sword of our Lord—exalted be His remembrance—until no polytheist, unbeliever, or hypocrite against Him remains in the two sanctuaries. Religion shall be one, without opponent or adversary, through the power of our Lord al-Ḥākim, the One, the Unique, the Self-Sufficient, exalted above consort and child, and through the might of His authority. There is no power or strength except through Him. Upon Him I rely, through Him I am sufficient, and to Him is the return. He suffices me and is the best Helper and Supporter.
Let us return to Adam and his ranks. Adam of Purity was born in India, in Adamīniyya, and appeared from Ṣarna. His first Proof came from Baṣra and was named Akhūj. His second Proof came from a city called Sarmana and was named Sharaḥ. When Adam met him and took the covenant from him as required, he said, “I wish to make you the Foundation of my ranks; choose whether you accept.” Sharaḥ replied, “If you wish it, I wish it.” Adam made him the Foundation of the ranks and named him Shīth (Seth). Thus he became a son in religion, not a son by nature.
The third Proof was Yūshaʿ son of ʿImrān; the fourth, Dāwūd son of Hirmis; the fifth, ʿĪsā son of Lamkh; the sixth, ʿĀbid son of Sarḥān; the seventh, ʿAzrawīl son of Salmūn; the eighth, Hilīl son of Bādis; the ninth, Dānīl son of Harzaṭāf; the tenth, ʿAyyāsh son of Hābīl; the eleventh, Aflāṭūn son of Qaysūn; and the twelfth, Qaydār son of Lamak. These twelve were the ranks of his religious dispensation and the angels of his Call. His dispensation contained no obligations of outward religious law, no worship of calf or buffalo, no bonds of grim ritualism, and no associationism of the nightmare. Rather, it was a subtle dispensation of tawḥīd.
In our own age we have returned through the hand of the Adam of your age, Ḥamza ibn Aḥmad of Purity, just as “We repeat the first creation as We began it.” Our Lord—exalted be His remembrance—is the One who does this, the Powerful and Overpowering.
As for the second Adam, of whom the Qurʾān says “he disobeyed his Lord,” that is Akhnūkh (Enoch), who was a Proof of Adam of Purity. The Adam of whom it was said that he forgot and that no firm resolve was found in him is Sharaḥ, called Shīth.
Shaṭnīl chose these two from all his ranks and appointed them to stand in his place in the Call. Each was called Adam, because he made them fathers of the Unitarians and Imams for those below them. He was the one who placed them in the Garden. Akhnūkh occupied the position of the male and Shīth that of the female. He instructed Akhnūkh orally and renewed the covenant with Shīth: they must worship none besides our Lord, the All-Knowing Creator—exalted be His remembrance—associate no one with Him, and not disobey their Imam Shaṭnīl, who was the means of reaching the Creator.
In the time of Shaṭnīl, our Lord—upon us be His peace and mercy—was outwardly known, in His human manifestation and among mankind, as al-Bār (the Creator). Hence the Persians say Bār-Khudāy, meaning God. Thus they called our Lord al-Ḥākim—exalted be His remembrance—Bār-Khudāy. Its meaning is the greatest God, the God of gods. People pronounce this without understanding, and some even regard it as unbelief while still saying it from habit, willingly or unwillingly. As it is said, “To God prostrates everyone in the heavens and on earth, willingly or unwillingly.”
Our Lord the Creator—glorified is He—said to Akhnūkh, “Dwell, you and your spouse Sharaḥ, in the Garden,” meaning the Call of tawḥīd. “Eat from it,” meaning attain the exalted station, “but do not approach this tree, lest you become wrongdoers”: do not claim Shaṭnīl's rank and excellence, lest you become covenant-breakers. “Then Satan caused them to slip from it,” that is, from the covenant, and expelled them from the rank they had held with him.
Satan was not Iblīs. He had previously been an Authorized Instructor under Iblīs and had joined him in opposition to Shaṭnīl. His name was Habal, which is why the Arabs call an idol Hubal, and why they say of a man that he is a great fool.
The serpent was a Caller under Akhnūkh, named Ubīl. The peacock was an Authorized Instructor in the Call, named Ṭāwiyūkh.
Habal continued to visit Ubīl the Caller and Ṭāwiyūkh, telling them, “I have advice for our master Akhnūkh and his brother Sharaḥ; it will benefit them.” Eventually they brought him before Akhnūkh and his companion Sharaḥ. When he entered and stood before them, he fell down in prostration. Akhnūkh said, “Have you perhaps returned from your unbelief and from the hypocrisy you practiced against the Imam, your assistance to Iblīs and his party, and your guilt toward these two?”
Habal replied, “No! By your right and the right of the Creator, I have come only to advise you both. I am jealous on your behalf because your Satan has wronged you and you have incurred his anger. I heard our Lord the Creator—glorified is He—say that the Imamate belongs to Akhnūkh, and that Sharaḥ is his deputy in the Call.”
Akhnūkh made him swear an oath. He swore that his words were true and his actions sincere advice. Then the wickedness of Akhnūkh's own soul and his retreat into misery led him to forget the covenant he had undertaken. Akhnūkh claimed a rank to which he had no right. Their nakedness became apparent to them: that is, the defective ornamentation of speech from the two religious laws, which are like urine and excrement, while their two proponents are like the front and rear private parts. They began to cover themselves with leaves of the Garden. This did not help them. A proclamation went out among the Responders that Akhnūkh had disobeyed Adam, his Imam, that Habal the Satan had led him astray, and that both had been removed from their former rank.
They spent many years weeping over what they had done and begging the Imam to pardon them. This is what is said in the Qurʾān: “Our Lord, we have wronged ourselves, and if You do not forgive us—”
“—and have mercy on us, we shall surely be among the losers,” meaning losers in religion. Shaṭnīl had mercy on them and asked the Creator—exalted be His remembrance—to pardon them. He pardoned them through the intercession of the rank of faith and the greatness of Shaṭnīl's station. This is the meaning of the words, “Adam received words from his Lord, and He turned toward him in mercy.” The Arabic word kalimāt (“words”) consists of five letters, and Shaṭnīl also consists of five letters. In the Imam five stations were gathered: the rank of corporeal beings, the rank of material beings, the rank of spiritual beings, the rank of psychic beings, and the rank of luminous beings. He restored the two to their former station and drew them near.
Our Lord the Creator—glorified is He—continued to show mercy to the people of that age until their intentions changed and they inclined toward the polytheists. Then the Creator—exalted be His remembrance—became angry with them, withdrew His favor, and manifested Nūḥ (Noah) son of Lamak with a religious law unlike the one they had known. Noah called them to worship non-being and affirm the unity of an idol. Whoever accepted him and entered his law he called victorious; whoever refused he called an unbeliever. He imitated Adam of Purity by appointing ranks and establishing a Call. His Foundation was Sām (Shem), with twelve Proofs before him, calling people to worship non-being and obey him.
Noah's law remained until Ibrāhīm (Abraham) son of Āzar appeared; Āzar's name was Akhūkh. Abraham replaced Noah's law with his own, appointed Ismāʿīl (Ishmael) as the Foundation of his Call, and appointed twelve Proofs and thirty Callers to invite people to worship non-being, affirm the unity of an idol, and obey Abraham. Whoever accepted him was called a believer; whoever refused was called an unbeliever.
His Call remained among his community until Mūsā (Moses) son of ʿImrān appeared. Moses replaced Abraham's law with his own, appointed Hārūn (Aaron) as his Foundation and twelve Proofs who invited people to worship one who cannot be seen, affirm the unity of one who cannot be known, and obey Moses.
His Call remained until ʿĪsā (Jesus), son of Yūsuf, appeared, replacing Moses's law with his own. He manifested his Call, appointed Shimʿūn al-Ṣafā as his Foundation, and twelve Proofs stood before him: these were the disciples, who called people to worship and affirm the unity of non-being and to obey Jesus. He was the son of the Universal Father—that is, the Proof of the Qāʾim, exalted be His remembrance—but they did not understand his words and symbols. Whoever accepted him he called a believer; whoever did not he called an unbeliever.
His law remained in all lands until Muḥammad son of ʿAbd Allāh appeared with his prophecy and rose among the worlds with his mission. He abrogated all the preceding religious laws with his own, demolished their structures with his proof, and replaced their Calls with his Call. He appointed ʿAlī son of ʿAbd Manāf as his Foundation. twelve Proofs: the one surnamed Abū Bakr, whose name was ʿAbd al-Lāt; ʿUmar; ʿUthmān; Ṭalḥa; al-Zubayr; Saʿd; Saʿīd; ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf al-Zuhrī; and ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Jarrāḥ al-Anṣārī. Muʿāwiya son of Ṣakhr had been a Proof before ʿAlī was appointed Foundation. When Muḥammad appointed ʿAlī, he removed Muʿāwiya from his rank. That is why Muʿāwiya claimed the caliphate after ʿUthmān: he had previously been the fourth among them.
When ʿAlī son of ʿAbd Manāf was appointed Foundation, Muʿāwiya refused to accept him, saying, “Muḥammad appointed me before he appointed you to the Call.” Whoever accepted Muḥammad's law and abandoned the religion of his parents and ancestors he called a submissive Muslim, a believing, God-fearing man. Whoever refused to abandon his ancestral religion he called an unbeliever, hypocrite, and wretch.
He employed the sword against them, took their children and descendants captive, and sold them in markets and streets. Their ancestral religions did not benefit them. Yet every community had a messenger from whom it received its religion, and all acknowledged that they had such messengers. He did not accept their former religions, but demanded that they acknowledge and obey him, and imposed the poll tax upon them in humiliation.
This claim, however, properly belongs only to the Master of the Resurrection, the servant of our Lord al-Ḥākim—exalted be His remembrance for he repudiates their religions as laws of associationism and unbelief and rises against them with the sword and the power of our Lord—exalted be His remembrance. The adherents of obligatory religious laws, by contrast, all acknowledge one another's actions: each living teacher says that the preceding teacher was his brother, sent by God, and spoke by God's command.
How could one of them then invalidate his brother's law after testifying that it came from God, kill its followers, take their children captive, and call them unbelievers? Such action would amount to transgression, unbelief, and speech without God's approval. Seeing that their affairs are contradictory and their deeds reject reason and truth, we know that they have borrowed the claims of the Master of the Resurrection and sought for themselves his reports and signs. They are one in what they say, although their outward forms differ.
Muḥammad son of ʿAbd Allāh's law continued to pass through the hands of his community until his cycle ended and another Speaker appeared: Muḥammad son of Ismāʿīl, who sealed and completed the religious laws. As Jaʿfar son of Muḥammad said, “Our beginning runs through our end, and through him God sealed our affair.” This means that no further law imposing obligations would come after it. There were three, the fourth of whom was Saʿīd son of Aḥmad al-Mahdī in the cycle of Muḥammad son of Ismāʿīl, and three caliphs before them; thus there were seven, completing the cycle of Muḥammad son of Ismāʿīl. The last was ʿAbd Allāh al-Mahdī, a servant of our Lord—exalted be His remembrance. Then our Lord called Himself al-Qāʾim, a name also belonging to His servant.
He called Himself al-Qāʾim because of what His servant said in the Qurʾān: “God bears witness”—that is, Muḥammad bears witness—“that there is no god but He,” referring to the divinity of our Lord—exalted be His remembrance. “The angels” are the Proofs; “those endowed with knowledge” are the Callers; “upholding justice” means raised above all Speakers, Legatees, and Imams through tawḥīd, which is justice. “There is no god but He, the Mighty, the Wise.” He is al-Ḥākim—exalted be His remembrance—the One who stands over every soul and what it has earned, the One who gives honor, the Mighty.
He is al-Ḥākim—exalted be His remembrance—appearing to us in whatever form He wills, however He wills. “The religion before God is Islam”: that is, people submit their affairs to the Lord—glorified is He—and accept His decree. They are truly submitted to Him, believers in Him, and sincere Unitarians in worship.
Our Lord—exalted be His remembrance—was named al-Qāʾim because He first appeared to the world with kingship and human manifestation during the age of the law-bound, associationist Speakers. He rose over the worlds with strength and power, established His justice for the Unitarians, and set in place the foundations of His tawḥīd, completing the building in this age according to His will.
If someone asks, “Why was our Lord—glorified is He—called by the name of His servant, and what is the wisdom of that?” we answer through His support: all the names by which people name the Creator in the Qurʾān and elsewhere belong, in their ordinary use, to His servants and ranks. The greatest name for them in the Qurʾān is Allāh. Its outward aspect is created written strokes; its inward aspect is visible ranks who receive sustenance. Outwardly it is a name, inwardly it is the named being; the Worshipped One is distinct from both. He is the true meaning, the divinity of our Lord—glorified is He above their descriptions.
Since servants cannot perceive the tawḥīd of their Creator except according to their own condition and through their human forms, wisdom and justice required that He be named by their names so that they might grasp something of His realities. Yet in the title al-Qāʾim there is a subtle meaning unknown to the world. No Unitarian should call our Lord simply Qāʾim al-Zamān (Qāʾim of the Age), for His title is al-Qāʾim, with the definite article al-. Nor may he call His servant al-Qāʾim; he must omit al- and say Qāʾim al-Zamān. The word Qāʾim consists of four letters, as does Allāh; the name Allāh designates the Caller, and in reality the Imam. Imām likewise has four letters. The Caller, Imam, and the designation Allāh all refer to servants of our Lord, al-Qāʾim, the All-Knowing, al-Ḥākim exalted be His remembrance. The additional alif and lām in our Lord's name, which must not be added to the servant's title, express His transcendence above likeness: the letters can be read as lā, “no,” meaning that He has no likeness among created beings and no partner in power and perfection. His servant is called Qāʾim because he upholds the ranks of tawḥīd; he possesses neither power nor perfection of his own but needs the support of our Lord—exalted be His remembrance—and the strength of His perfection. Glorified and exalted is He above their descriptions.
The word al-Qāʾim consists of six letters and denotes the Worshipped One; Qāʾim has four and denotes a servant. Between the Arabic words ʿabd (“servant”) and maʿbūd (“worshipped”) there are also two additional letters, for the former has three and the latter five. The extra letters are mīm and wāw. Mīm has the numerical value forty and wāw six. This indicates the forty-six ranks of the Imamate and tawḥīd belonging to our Lord al-Qāʾim, the All-Knowing al-Ḥākim—exalted be His remembrance—not to His servant, who is appointed over those ranks. They are the Intellect, the Soul, the Word, the Preceder, the twelve Proofs, the Follower counted among those ranks, and thirty Callers. Together they make forty-six ranks. All belong to our Lord al-Qāʾim al-Ḥākim, the Most High.
He establishes strength for these ranks, that is, He is their Imam. This is the cause and wisdom of our Lord's title al-Qāʾim, though His remembrance is exalted far above names and attributes.
Now the cycles have revolved; all that existed in past ages has been invalidated. Of the fire of associationist religious law nothing remains but flame and sparks; soon its heat will be extinguished and its traces vanish. The manifestation of the central point has begun through the tawḥīd of our Lord the Creator, the Compelling King, the Mighty and Forgiving, the Giver of honor and Overpowering, al-Ḥākim, the One, the Unique, the Self-Sufficient, exalted above consort and child. Exalted is His remembrance and mighty His name; none besides Him is worshipped.
Praise and thanks belong to our Lord for the manifestation of the Light of Lights and the emergence of what lay buried beneath the wall. He has favored us and you by manifesting directly in humanity and appearing to you in visible form, through which you remember something of His human manifestation. I do not speak of His essence, self, form, meaning, attributes, veil, station, or face except under necessity, according to the hearers' capacities, what they can understand, what their intellects can contain, and what their thoughts can entertain.
Were we to speak otherwise, they would not understand the words, nor would the explanation benefit them. In truth, our Lord—exalted be His remembrance—does not enter thoughts and imaginings, does not mingle with an inward essence or appear as creatures do. From Him everything began and to Him everything returns. “Each day He is engaged in an affair”; one affair does not distract Him from another. He is exalted above being encompassed by cycles and times. No creature can grasp His actions, comprehend the full extent of His sovereignty, or attain even the tenth part of a tenth part of a tenth part of the truth of His conduct and proof.
If people reflected upon the signs of Him they see in the world, and upon the manifest tokens before their eyes, the direct sight of them would suffice instead of seeking an absent non-being by hearsay or relying upon the writing of histories and biographies. They witness actions from Him which could not be the actions of a human being and which have never been reported in chronicles.
If I tried in this Conduct to recount all the signs and tokens our Lord—exalted be His remembrance—has manifested, no parchment could contain them and no pen could write them, as the Qurʾān says: “If all the trees on earth were pens and the sea, with seven more seas supplying it, were ink, God's words would not be exhausted.” Here “God” refers to the human manifestation of our Lord—glorified is He.
I shall, however, mention in this Conduct a few instances, small in number but of great benefit to whoever reflects upon them, affirms His unity, and worships our Lord—glorified is He, whose sovereignty is above the rule of imaginings. I shall speak briefly of what our Lord—glorified is He—did concerning Barjawān and Ibn ʿAmmār.
I shall set out what the common people report outwardly, according to the limits of their understanding. They say that a young boy became king while Barjawān ruled all the eastern territories and Ibn ʿAmmār ruled all the western territories. Our Lord—glorified is He—commanded that they be killed, and they were killed like dogs. He did not fear military disorder or disturbance, though no other earthly king would dare to act in such a way.
He then ordered the killing of the kings and tyrants of Kutāma without fearing their offspring and companions. At midnight He walked among their descendants without sword or knife. I myself witnessed this during the time of the accursed Abū Rakwa, al-Walīd son of Hishām, when he had kindled his rebellion and the soldiers' hearts trembled in their beds at the destruction of armies and killing of men. Our Lord—great is His power—would go out at midnight to the desert of al-Jubb and meet Ḥassān son of ʿAyyān al-Kalbī with five hundred horsemen, standing among them without weapons or equipment until each had asked the other about his needs.
He also entered the desert of al-Jubb outwardly with no one but the mounted attendants and muezzins accompanying Him.
The same occurred during the rebellion of Mufarrij son of Daghfal son of Jarrāḥ, his brother and sons, Badr son of Rabīʿa, and the Arabs generally. The people of the Ḥijāz were with their ruler, al-Ḥusayn son of Jaʿfar al-Ḥusaynī, who rebelled in Mecca, went on to al-Ramla, and joined Ibn Jarrāḥ and his sons.
There was no soldier or civilian at the court who did not expect every day and night that al-Ḥusayn son of Jaʿfar al-Ḥusaynī would come with Mufarrij son of Daghfal and his sons to seize Cairo. Yet our Lord—exalted be His remembrance—rode out each day and night, left Cairo after nightfall, and entered the desert of al-Jubb toward the mountain, the very place where the common people supposed Mufarrij son of Jarrāḥ would arrive. Al-Ḥusaynī did not return to Mecca until enmity broke out between him and Ibn Jarrāḥ, and Ibn Jarrāḥ sought to kill him. Afterward Mufarrij son of Daghfal son of Jarrāḥ perished. All the kings of the earth would have been incapable of such conduct.
Another astonishing proof of His great power and sovereignty is that you witness acts of our Lord—glorified is He—which cannot belong to any human being, whether Speaker, Foundation, Imam, or Proof. Yet these things have only increased your blindness and lack of insight.
The sun is naturally hot and dry, not by religious obligation. It is one of the inanimate bodies, possessing neither intellect nor discernment. Its nature is to dry things and alter their colors. Yet it is our Lord's custom—exalted be His remembrance—to ride during the hottest season and walk in burning heat, as well as in winter. When a strong southern wind blows in spring and thick dust rises, people suffer from wind and dust even inside their homes.
Our Lord—glorified is He—then rides outwardly to the desert of al-Jubb and returns. Everyone in the procession has eyes streaming with tears from the dust and wind, struggles to speak clearly, and suffers hardship and fatigue beyond endurance.
But our Lord—glorified is He—returns in the same condition in which He left the sacred precinct. No one has ever seen His face darkened by the terrible dust storm or burning winds, nor any sign of fatigue upon Him. The others' faces become dark, their tongues dry up, and their souls almost reach their throats from exhaustion. No one can say that he saw Him drink water, eat food, or attend to urination or defecation. Far be it from Him—glorified is He. Although many people accompany Him in His processions, He conceals such things from their sight, and none has witnessed them.
Nor can anyone who has been present with our Lord—glorified is He—in places not open to everyone say that he saw Him suffering fatigue, eating, or drinking. Far be it from Him, exalted far above what the polytheists say. No king or other person can do this.
Consider also what the polytheists allege about illness in His body—an allegation which He brought about to make their hearts sick. Outwardly He rides in a litter carried by four of the opposing polytheists, and it passes through the midst of rebels, covenant-breakers, and hypocrites. He has killed the chiefs of the troops, and most of the populace are His enemies in religion, apart from a small group of Unitarians who believe in Him and accept His decree. Kings normally distrust even their own troops and sons, fearing treachery. How then could someone whom people suppose to be ill and unable to walk, and who has killed the tyrants and kings of the earth, pass among his enemies in a litter?
The deeds I have recounted in this Conduct are not the deeds of any ordinary human being. Yet they are not great things for our Lord—glorified is He. I have mentioned them so that you might draw lessons and reflect. Their significance is that they are the acts of One who has power over all things, who created them, knows what is hidden, and judges over the people of earth and heaven. Indeed He is more exalted and greater still—glorified and exalted far above what the unbelievers say and the polytheists describe. Even less than this would suffice as an example for one who learns and a thought for one who reflects.
Whoever abandons the ancestral religion he formerly followed and follows the Straight Conduct, which he has witnessed with his own eyes, is saved, reaches the ultimate goal, and becomes one of the highest angels. Whoever stops at the outward religious law and what the Calf and Buffalo have legislated obtains from religion nothing but refuse. Neither its outward appearance nor its foundations will benefit him; he destroys his spirit, soul, and senses.
Hear, community of believers, what I have commanded you: practice truthfulness and protection of the brethren; command what is right, which is tawḥīd; reject what is wrong, which is associating another with our Lord—exalted be His remembrance; maintain the bonds of religious kinship; lower your gaze and guard your chastity. Accept the acts of our Lord—exalted be His remembrance—and surrender your affairs to Him. Then you will be delivered from the punishment of outward religion, saved from the associationism of inward religion, and raised to the highest stations.
If you worship Him, you work for the benefit of your own souls. If you disbelieve in Him, shame and punishment will fall upon you sooner or later. Our Lord—glorified is He—does not wrong His servants.
Praise and thanks belong to our Lord alone in prosperity and adversity, severity and ease. He suffices us and is the best Helper and Supporter.
The composition of this Conduct was completed through the support of our Lord—glorified is He and great is His power—in Jumādā al-Ūlā, the second year of the manifestation of the servant and possession of our Lord—exalted be His remembrance—Ḥamza son of ʿAlī son of Aḥmad, Guide of the Responders, who takes vengeance upon the polytheists by the sword of our Lord—exalted be His remembrance—and the strength of His authority. He is the best Helper and Supporter. Praise and thanks belong to our Lord alone.
Completed.