التنبيه والتأنيب
I have sent this to Maʿadd ibn Muḥammad and to the negligent men who are with him in Cairo. In the fourteenth year of the Riser of the Age. Compared and found sound. Praise belongs to the Bestower of the blessing and its Lord. I place my trust in our Lord al-Ḥākim alone, and give thanks to His servant, the Riser of Truth.
Praise be to God, who establishes and fortifies the foundations of tawḥīd, subdues falsehood through truth and confirms it, destroys associationism, humbles its adherents and scatters them, weakens the schemes of those who fail, and establishes the argument, through the justice of free choice flowing from His guiding, rising Guardian, against covenant-breakers and the unjust. He puts an end to the assaults of false doctrines through the Guardian of His truth and is exalted above the embellished inventions of the people of unbelief. Through the signs He has manifested, He has made His Guardian a witness to His unity.
His peace rests upon His messenger, who rises with truth and discloses the secret at His command; His mercy upon the spiritual ranks who proclaim tawḥīd, establishing justice among creatures as He required in their time and age. They give their voices to proclaiming what He has judged and commanded; they bear hardship, injury, and harm in His obedience through His favor upon them. His special blessings rest upon the awaited, rising Imam. His mercy rests upon the true friends in every region who are free of apostasy, denial, obstinacy, negligence, and rejection, and upon those who follow them in submission, kindness, patience, guidance, and certainty.
Now then: those marked by integrity, religion, right guidance, justice, transcendence, and tawḥīd have a duty to look with their inner sight, not merely their eyes. They must reflect upon the ages that have passed in the light of wisdom, repair what they have neglected, and recover through truth what they have overlooked. They must not imagine that the obligations laid upon created servants concern other people and not themselves.
No indeed! By God, the signs of the Resurrection have already overshadowed you. Still you remain heedless: you will not relinquish your obstinate resistance to the decisive signs or cease reviling the friends of tawḥīd, despite the warnings already given to you. When you are admonished with wisdom, its words pass across your ears. When callers summon you to tawḥīd, the words slide past your understanding. Have you forgotten the conditions and signs of religion, or deliberately shut your eyes to the Day of Resurrection and its judgments? Why do you show no reverence for God, who created you in stages? You compete in false accusation and ignorance and join forces in defaming people of religion and merit. You have undergone a transformation without knowing it, and your beliefs have exposed what you tried to conceal. Yet you remain unaware of it.
Were you not commanded, by an honored decree proceeding from the exalted authority, to carry weapons in all places—even the secure sanctuary—for the protection of great and small, near and far? This was an indication of the manifestation of tawḥīd and the open proclamation of praise and glorification, just as the earlier indication, during the time of concealment and prudent secrecy, was recorded in the books of wisdom: “Whoever lays down his weapon is safe; whoever closes his door is safe; whoever enters the house of Abū Sufyān is safe.” That is, remain silent; sheathe the sword of the tongue until permission is given for explanation and disclosure. But you are heedless of these judgments, wavering in confusion about the realities of the commands. Truth has become plain to those with eyes to see and the covering has been removed from the hearts of its people; still you turn away from the reminder.
This is confirmed by what was recited to you from the noble decree addressed to all of you: “You are in a stupor regarding the rights of divine lordship, blind concerning the obligations of the trust, far from discharging the duties required by blessings, lost in a perplexing wilderness through failure to distinguish, and afflicted by a severe illness of discernment.” “He knows your remedy and removes your misery born of deficient dispositions.” Do you think this rebuke and harsh speech were addressed to secretaries and administrators concerning the collection of revenues, or to troops and Turks about marching and fighting? Those who turn away from God have lied and strayed far. You shall see, and they shall see, which of you has gone astray. The Guardian of truth knows best who has wandered from His path and who is rightly guided. It is also a sign for discerning religious people and a proof against the disputants the Jews of this community.
Everyone heard what was said in the celebrated sermon at the Mosque of al-Qarāfa: “Servants of God, the fast has run its course and departed, and the breaking of the fast has shown itself and drawn near.” Who could miss this except a lost and unsuccessful person, or one who falsely claims religion?
Then there appeared something that silenced the tongues of deceivers, humiliated the obstinate, and suppressed those who blocked the path of truth: a lofty, honored decree issued by the exalted authority. It said: “Remove from yourselves the sources of fear and anxiety; put away the corruption caused by imagination and apprehension. Know for certain that the Commander of the Faithful has placed you in a position of choice and has relieved you of the burden of concealment and secrecy regarding your convictions, so that each person may act sincerely, without relying upon obstacles and excuses to turn aside from what he sees and believes. The Commander of the Faithful has narrowed the scope of his excuse by conveying the full meaning of his intention and urging him to manifest his conviction, secure against any hand raised to injure him, resting within a covenant under which he shall not be attacked. Let whoever is present convey it to whoever is absent, so that knowledge of it may spread among the distinguished and common people. Let it be a lesson among humanity and let its wisdom remain through the passing days.”
Reflect on these words and their meanings! Did he not say that the Commander of the Faithful had placed you in a position of choice? What justice is there except free choice? He said that he had urged each person to reveal his belief. Did he urge people to disclose truth and justice or to declare falsehood and ignorance? O God, curse whoever has misunderstood this command, blinded his insight, and preferred his own choice to Your choice for him, so that his hidden character was exposed!
The decree says that this knowledge should spread among all and its wisdom remain through the ages. Did he command that his own will be made known—or the disclosure of something else? Does enduring wisdom lie in the tawḥīd which he commanded and manifested, or in publicly professing affection for Abū Bakr and ʿUmar? The decree also says that each person should be sincere in his actions, rather than avoiding what he believes by blaming external obstacles. Does this mean sincerity in tawḥīd and its manifestation, or sincerity in an associationist belief and concealment of that belief? And it says that the Commander of the Faithful had narrowed every excuse by conveying the full meaning of his intention. Did he explain it so that he might trick people concerning his command, or was this entire address meaningless? It must be one of those interpretations—or the third, which is his real intention. May God drive away the covenant-breakers and humble the ranks of renegades. For if this intention is established, as the widely circulated supreme decree shows, whoever conceals his creed or opposes the command has cast the bond of faith from his neck and departed from the people of tawḥīd.
The public issuance of this great decree, containing these carefully arranged words, is certain and well known. Whoever thereafter opposes it and conceals his religious belief has removed the bond of faith from his neck, disobeyed, and departed from the people of tawḥīd by opposing the command of the Most High and Glorious.
Someone might object: “Creatures cannot resist the command of the Creator, exalted be His power. If He commands one thing and forbids another, yet His command and prohibition are not followed, this implies weakness, whether in part or altogether.” The answer is that this person misunderstands the Creator's commands and prohibitions. If His command imposed an irresistible necessity and His prohibition an inescapable compulsion, nobody could doubt Him and all creatures would obey. Then distinction of merit would disappear. With distinction gone, reward and punishment would lose their meaning; and that would make the promise of recompense pointless. Far be that from God! Rather His command offers choice and His prohibition warns. In this way justice is established among creatures through choice, and the promised recompense and punishment on the true Day of Resurrection are justified.
Whoever judges impartially can see that this is the meaning of the Creator's command, though all humankind might deny it through ignorance. The noble decree allowing people to reveal their doctrines was made known to everyone. Those endowed with sound resolve and pure souls made their beliefs concerning tawḥīd explicit in obedience to the Wise and Praiseworthy One. Those committed to falsehood refused to answer; the deceivers disobeyed the divine command. They showed that their claim to this rank was empty, for they neither accepted the command nor obeyed it. “May God fight them! How they are turned away!”
The Creator, exalted be His blessings, protects the friends of His Guardian from these people and establishes the case against those who opposed Him and transgressed His command. O wicked community, the affair is not as you imagine or believe. The punishment is deserved because you neglected what you were commanded to do, and the proof stands against you because you denied and falsely accused the truth from which you turned away.
Another apostate may object that the decree was addressed only to Muslims, not to believers. The answer is that Islam is the broader designation and faith the more particular; all were addressed by the broader name so that no one might plead ignorance of the command. There is no plea against God after His messengers. The proof stands against those who rejected the persons who openly proclaimed tawḥīd and fulfilled the command of the Wise and Glorious One. The Creator's commands do not compel all persons irresistibly, nor do His prohibitions remove the possibility of choice. Were they irresistible, all creatures would be alike, reward and punishment would be void, and religious obligations would lose their meaning. His command offers a choice and His prohibition gives warning; by these, justice and recompense are established. The rational proof also stands against those who professed tawḥīd. Those who attended or heard the gatherings of wisdom and mercy are likewise responsible for what was recited to them.
When the false teachers denied the nearness of the appointed day and the manifestation of the Witness and the Witnessed, the imminence of the hour troubled them. The written word says: “On the Day when every soul finds present whatever good it has done, and whatever evil it has done, it will wish there were a vast distance between itself and that evil.” The Imam's recorded discourse also says: “On the day when some of your Lord's signs come, faith will not profit a soul that had not believed before or earned some good through its faith.” Justice was extended to the rest of creation so that the proof, established through freedom of choice, should reach all of them.
For this purpose messengers were sent who publicly proclaimed tawḥīd and offered the choice, so that near and distant alike might hear them, including those who had not heard the gatherings of wisdom in this age. The argument was thereby established against them through a choice offered justly. Indeed, justice required that the proof be laid before the whole world in earlier ages; people stayed away through denial of truth and rejection of tawḥīd in every cycle. Its repetition ensures, as the scripture says, that people have no plea against God after the messengers. Among people of understanding the proof is founded on wisdom, the living witness, and rational evidence; for others it comes through the open proclamation of tawḥīd and a summons expressed as a choice. “Follow a straight path”; “You shall know its tidings after a time”; “The messenger's duty is only clear proclamation.”
I shall remind you of things familiar to you, notorious among all people and witnessed openly, indications of tawḥīd and signs for those of sound insight. A noble order directed everyone, when offering greetings, to stand on the right side alone; to put a single line on each petition; and to maintain singularity in other actions, public appearances by men and women, and the presentation of writings to the Sacred Presence. It also ordered secretaries and accountants to dispense with the distinguishing dots on letters, indicating clarification and explicit expression. Such commands signaled the open proclamation of the unity of the Merciful God and the end of the period of hiding through the appearance of clear speech. Gifts from the treasuries were also to be issued singly, and entry into the Sacred Presence restricted to individual admissions. Each was a sign and indication addressed to the people of tawḥīd.
The saying that “knowledge will soon be raised and ignorance will appear” was meant for devout Unitarians, not wretched unbelievers. One interpretation is that familiar knowledge of the religious law will be lifted as that dispensation ends, while what people had formerly dismissed as unknown—the tawḥīd of the Creator—will appear, through the blessing of the present age. Whoever has understood the doctrine of the Imamate, the termination of a religious law at the beginning of each cycle, and the signs pointing to our own age ought to understand this. What clearer evidence could there be for the obedient friends of the Guardian than the abolition of almsgiving and sacrifices, the feasts of sacrifice and of breaking the fast, the end of the sermon in al-Azhar Mosque, and the interruption of pilgrimage and the rite of sacrifice? These were the inauguration of a new cycle and the public proclamation of the word of tawḥīd.
There is also another reading of “knowledge will be raised”: the standing of the science of tawḥīd will be exalted by its dignity and truth, while the world's ignorance of it will become manifest. This establishes the Creator's justice among creatures. If knowledge itself were simply abolished, the worlds would have an excuse in ignorance; no proof would stand against them, and they could not be called to account for failure to seek it.
The argument of truth has prevailed through proof and justice over those whose hearts have been covered by what they earned. “No indeed! They shall be veiled from their Lord on that day. Then they shall enter the blazing Fire. Then it shall be said to them: This is what you used to deny.” Such people wander in the bewilderment of error, roaming in every valley and pushing back against truth. “May God fight them! How they are turned away!” Blindness grew upon them over time until they seemed never to have heard the religious sages or the gatherings of mercy concerning covenant and fidelity. We are like travelers joined in a caravan when a terrible dark night overtakes them, wiping out their tracks and landmarks; every route threatens destruction except the single path of deliverance toward Paradise and peace.
Among the warnings recited previously is an image: we are like a caravan whose baggage has been loaded for travel and which is overtaken by a fearsome, dark night, with landmarks effaced and signs of the road lost. The journey continues, and its morning is the Resurrection. Many roads lead to destruction; one alone leads to the Garden and happiness. The warning continues: “Do not stray in your terrible night, for its morning brings a dwelling where there is no recovery from misfortune. Look to yourselves before the allotted period expires.” Is the one path of deliverance to be found among the ignorant and brutal enemies, or among those who called people to the tawḥīd of the Creator and obeyed Him? Or is it with those who disobeyed His command by attacking, killing, and declaring His callers liars? “Has God permitted you this, or do you invent a lie against God?” “God's curse is upon the wrongdoers.” On the Day of Resurrection, those who lied about God will have blackened faces: “Is there not in Hell an abode for the arrogant?”
As the verses say:
The miserable person, when he has little faithfulness, shows no concern for the passing of years and ages.
The enmity of religion—what hidden resentments feed it! Yet God will surely aid His supporters.
People plot in rebellious pursuit of their own desires; God knows their schemes and the plots they contrive.
How far can the striving man attain his desire? The ages pass, and the hours run out.
Patience is the shelter of those whose character is complete; God rewarded them for the patience they bore.
Praise belongs to God, a praise that never ends—the praise of those grateful for His blessings.
God is greater, with a magnification through which treacheries are annihilated until not a trace of them remains.
What drives their denunciation of the friends of tawḥīd is ignorance, weakness of understanding, corrupt judgment, and envy of those upon whom God has bestowed high station. Did they not hear in the gatherings of favor and blessing that those who had attended and remained firm were to disclose what had previously been done in secret, and that the community was to ascertain those who had been gained for our Lord among the believers? The faithful made their earlier deeds known, counted those who had gathered for their Lord, and acted decisively in publicly confronting the hypocrites. They were to be bold in confronting hypocrisy. This praise of those chosen for the task is hidden only from those who exchanged God's blessing for unbelief and brought their people into the house of ruin.
If one says that those words have passed into history and have no present use, then the same would have to be said of all the sciences we have heard—God forbid! Rather, the very distinction of a miraculous sign is that wisdom points toward an event before its proper time, so that the virtue of those upon whom it becomes evident may be recognized in their own age.
They, by God, are the ones who give their voices and lives, who openly proclaim tawḥīd and salvation. They are the true messengers and proofs of the exalted Creator against those who reject the truth. Their lights surpassed other lights and their fire quenched other fires through obedience to the Most High when opponents quarrelled and false claimants refused His command.
The gatherings of mercy also testified concerning their instruction of children in mosques in the land of the ʿajam. No one nourished by even a little wisdom can doubt that “the people of the ʿajam” here signify those to whom the signs of tawḥīd have become unintelligible, whose gates of knowledge and guidance are closed. The spiritual ranks are the “mosques”: through them the worship of transcendence directed to the One Most High becomes known. The shrines themselves are signs referring to these spiritual ranks, but are deserted because the world knows nothing of them: scarcely a pilgrim enters, one after another. Were they named shrines merely for their stones and clay, or to indicate what they symbolize among the ranks of religion? Their naming must signify wisdom, not a meaningless accident. Yet you, stubborn deniers, will neither wake up to the symbols nor obey the exalted commands.
Before long the Creator will expose the disgraces of the covenant-breaking apostates, and the Riser, who stands over every soul and what it has earned, will administer the recompense. Consider the movement of the days and awaken from your sleep before the pens grow dry. Learn from the reproaches made clear through the interpretation of the pillars of Islam.
Among these interpretations is the stoning of the pillars at the pilgrimage: it means throwing away doctrines that call to associationism, hypocrisy, error, and destruction, disavowing their advocates and deeds, and making tawḥīd sincere. Then comes mention of the final night prayer performed at Muzdalifa. Its referent is the Riser—peace upon his remembrance—and its four obligatory units correspond to the letters of his title.
Next come the three days of departure, signifying three heralds of the Riser—peace upon him: the first, the Gate of his Proof; the second, his Caller; and the third, his Proof. People move away from them and toward them; this, you have seen for yourselves. The proof of the man who called you to record your covenant has therefore prevailed: he directed you to escape the Iblises and hypocrisy. Return, heedless people, to truth, and consider truthful speech.
Do not become those described in the two hundred and forty-fourth gathering read by Mālik ibn Saʿīd: “Listen now to what is recited about hypocrisy and hypocrites, the harm of deceit and deceivers, and the invitation to reflect.” The gathering quoted: “Those who wait to see what happens to you: if you gain a victory from God, they say, ‘Were we not with you?’ But if unbelievers gain a share, they say, ‘Did we not gain power over you and protect you from the believers?’ God will judge between you on the Day of Resurrection. God will never give the unbelievers a way against the believers. The hypocrites seek to deceive God, but He deceives them; when they stand for prayer they stand lazily, showing off before people, remembering God but little.” This is your own likeness. Anyone among you with reason who judges himself fairly will recognize it.
The same gathering explained your failure: do not imitate those who wait to see whether believers will succeed, staying away from the House of Emigration, the dwelling of faith and the Call. They profess faith in outward appearance while awaiting the outcome. If the believers gain victory and cease to fear concealment, proclaim wisdom, and open the inward teaching of mercy, these people join them and pretend that their delay was a form of patient waiting for instruction. But if weakness prevails and opposition and innovation gain strength, they flatter the opponents, boasting that they had not emigrated to meet the appointed ranks, and disowning the praiseworthy religion and the bonds of faith.
This is your likeness. Repair what you have neglected before it is too late; hasten to the Call of Truth before its appointed hour. Whoever has warned has given ample warning, and “the messenger's duty is only clear proclamation.” The proof has been established, the argument stated, and the reality explained. Where could you flee from the One from whom no distant refuge can protect you? Where will you go when summoned to true tawḥīd and asked to explain transcendence, free of resemblance and embodiment, and to give truthful proof for your beliefs? That day is not far away. “Bring your proof, if you are truthful.”
Those who defend falsehood will lose; those who act will triumph; impostors and hypocrites will be exposed by their deeds and words. They waver between opposing parties, belonging fully to neither. All the figurative interpretations I have cited are directed against those whose insight has failed to grasp them. Their time was the period when ritual prayer had effect and works were accepted and raised. But at the appearance of the Riser the benefit of those works ceases: the gatherings of mercy teach that the Riser, when manifested in unity, brings a time in which the old ritual deeds are no longer accepted. The Creator has established the proof against the world by raising the Riser and showing him before it. As was said, the proof of the Riser appears before him. He called them to Himself through Himself, pointed them toward His unity, and set aside the deeds of the former dispensation and their supposed merit. Only the certain Unitarians answered, while the deniers and the defiled held back, not understanding the account of the People of the Trench or the fire supplied with fuel.
The account of the fire is interpreted as the public proclamation of tawḥīd directed to the sole Worshipped One: “They sat beside it, witnessing what they did to the believers. They resented them only because they believed in God, the Mighty, the Praiseworthy, to whom belongs the kingdom of the heavens and the earth; God is witness over everything.” You have been blind to the promised day, abandoned the station of the Witness and the Witnessed, and persecuted believing men and women without repenting. Thus the Qurʾān warns of the torment of Hell and of the burning. When you were brought before the burning pit, you refused; when called to it, you broke your covenant and turned away. You did not equal the woman carrying her infant when she wept in dread of the flames and the child called to her, “Go forward, mother, into the fire, and do not retreat from the tawḥīd of the One, the Compeller.” Neither the signs of wisdom nor their open explanation awaken you. Such people are the fuel of Hell.
The scripture says: “Here you are, called to spend yourselves in God's path. Some of you are miserly, but whoever is miserly is miserly only toward himself. God is rich and you are poor. If you turn away, He will replace you with another people, and they will not be like you.” When truth speaks and the devils' voices are silenced, the hour of manifestation comes: the trumpet is sounded—“when the horn is blown, that day will be a hard day, not easy for the unbelievers.” It is the day when every nursing mother forgets the child she nursed and every pregnant woman lays down her burden; people appear drunk although they are not, for God's punishment is severe. “The day the earth will be changed into another earth, and the heavens also, and they shall emerge before God, the One, the Overpowering.” “The day when the Spirit and the angels stand in ranks, none speaking except those whom the Merciful permits and who speak rightly.” That is the true day, and whoever wills may take a way back to his Lord.
Other verses speak of people entering God's religion in multitudes and of the day of opening or victory when the faith of unbelievers no longer helps them: “Turn away from them and wait; they too are waiting.” Listen, then, to the Caller of Truth, people! Through tawḥīd the Call of the Iblises has ceased. Awaken from sleep before the great calamity arrives, with its cry and its crushing blow. When morning dawns and its signs appear, and the night passes with its appointed time, those who travelled through darkness will praise their night journey, and the shrouds of error will be lifted from the truth. Of what use to others will their reminder be then? Know that there is no god but God; seek forgiveness for your own sins and for believing men and women. God knows your secrets.
People, only a small remnant of time remains to you, with great and rapid events beyond it. Do not grow weak after having begun, nor refuse the summons before the pens dry and the command is given to cease speaking to you. God's proof concerning the man who summoned you stands firm; your task is to examine the evidence that his summons is correct, particularly the gatherings of wisdom recited to you during this trial of absence. If his claim is established by clear argument from those gatherings, all of you must answer, acknowledge, and submit; if he cannot establish it, no claim can be made against you. This is the clearest proof and most excellent statement for you to hear.
The comparison with the call to prayer on the Feast of Breaking the Fast is part of this account. Before the Riser's manifestation, the call went forth in the period of his concealment; after his manifestation, the time is compared to afternoon following noon. The response in absence is accepted as a ransom of the soul; once the manifestation has occurred, the terms change. The verse “Faith will not profit a soul that had not believed before or earned good through its faith” is therefore interpreted in two ways: as an inner explanation concerning the end of the feast and forms of purification, and as the cessation of acceptance of earlier deeds at the coming of the Riser.
I have now overcome you with my argument and established the truth of my summons, and you have heard—if you can understand it—my prayer and appeal to God for your guidance. O God, whoever breaks the covenant after this explanation is read, whose inner sight remains blind after such rebuke, and who turns back after this evidence has clarified the way to tawḥīd and faith: take them by the forelocks toward the truth they neglected. Open their sight through the beginnings of their own intentions so that they may affirm it; answer their evil with the generosity You show to those who do good, so that they understand. Give them a path toward what pleases You. You have power over this, and You are worthy of answering the prayer.
O God, I am Your weak servant. I have given counsel as You commanded me, indicated Your unity as You taught me, and established Your argument, Guardian of Truth, with what You granted and inspired in me. You witness what I have done; to You belongs the praise for granting me success. Fulfill Your promise to Your Guardian, O You who never break Your promise and who do not countenance injustice toward servants. Bless the Riser of Truth who guides to You, signifies You through Your unity, is Your chosen one among creation and originated beings, and calls the nations through all the cycles to true transcendence. Bless him and his spiritual ranks who follow his path in obedience.
I added these words to ensure that the letter would be conveyed, discreetly and gently, to one of two men: Maʿadd ibn Muḥammad or Ṭāhir ibn Tamīm. May God guide whoever seeks His pleasure. If they work together to help the matter, God will not cause their effort to go astray, diminish their reward, or forget their deed. If they neglect it, their conduct too is known and preserved, and what they have done will stand before them tomorrow.
On the back of the letter was written: “I place my trust in our Lord al-Ḥākim alone. This epistle has reached you and establishes the argument against you by what you have acknowledged and know. Examine it as one who looks to his own welfare and knows his past and his future. You are answerable for what has been told you in it and for carrying out the trust entrusted to you.” “Read it to all those whom you recognize as receptive, providing them with the choice without coercion or compulsion. If you do so, you will have fulfilled the trust and escaped the treachery of concealing it. If you hide it from a person in whom you recognize guidance toward tawḥīd, you will be lost and perish; and if you spread it indiscriminately to those outside the appropriate circle, you will be killed. Wait, if you wish, for the person who will collect it after you have copied it, and report what you have done.”
God gives success to whoever strives for His pleasure and abundantly rewards the grateful for what they do openly and secretly in His service. If you consider this with sincerity and careful examination, you will recognize the bright, clear road and the way forward.
Written in the fourteenth year of the Riser of the Age, who takes vengeance upon associators, apostates, Iblises, and tyrants by the sword of our Lord and the might of His sovereignty. Completed through the favor of the Guardian of the Command. Praise belongs to our Lord alone, and thanks to His servant, the guiding Imam.