تقليد سكين
I place my trust in the Guardian, the divine al-Ḥākim who judges by truth, and give thanks to His servant, the guiding Imam and Guardian of creation.
From the devoted servant Bahāʾ al-Dīn, tongue of the believers and support of the Unitarians, the left wing and the fourth lesser rank, to the shaykh who has received divine approval, the proof of the believers and the choice of the Unitarians. May the Creator safeguard for you the favor bestowed upon you by His Guardian and bring near to you the calling of people to tawḥīd and the receiving of their covenant. He has qualified you for this duty and extended your authority in the Unitarian Call throughout the region of Upper Syria, including the power to appoint and dismiss there. May this charge gather the highest hopes and the most exalted ranks for you; may the purity of your inward intention in discharging the trust carry you to the most distinguished positions and the furthest goals.
Now then: power, majesty, transcendence, exaltation, sanctification, and divinity belong to the God al-Ḥākim, alone in origination and exalted above all descriptions that enter the thoughts of individual people, kinds, or species. Minds and imaginations fall short of apprehending Him; intellects and eyes are incapable of conceiving Him. He is unique in the majesty of sovereignty and the greatness of might and alone possesses the perfection of holiness and the purity of divinity.
His peace rests upon His Guardian, the Riser, who carries out the work commanded to him: dissolving, abrogating, and demolishing the foundations of the associationist religious laws and their regulations. Through truth he cuts off the lines of earlier ordinances, cancels the laws of religious communities, and destroys the Iblises of the ages and the adherents of previous religious directions by revealing tawḥīd. The Lord's mercy rests upon His spiritual ranks, who, with His support, are keys to closed knowledge and lamps for the friends who are confused in darkness. Their precious wisdoms dispel obscurity from souls during the universal flood and the schemes of the Antichrists that arise in times of interruption. Through their hands mercy reaches respondents in every district, and they patiently endure injury and hardship through steadfast submission and waiting.
Excellent, virtuous, and fully worthy shaykh: gifts differ in their merits and grants ascend through their benefits. No gift is finer than tawḥīd and no favor greater than the summons to transcendence and the pure proclamation of divine unity. Both cause the Guardian's blessings to follow one another and multiply, and make His signs recur and increase.
The entrusted districts begin among the Syrian borderlands and the lands approaching the Jordan. Your charge extends through the Syrian districts, from the Jordan region and the adjoining lands toward the coastal provinces, their districts and mountains, encompassing ʿArqa and its surroundings, as far as Rafaniyya and its surroundings, together with Ḥimṣ and its districts, then Ḥamāh, Tadmur (Palmyra), and Salamiyya, the place where saffron grows; then turning back to encompass Damascus and its districts, with the lands of al-Bathaniyya and Ḥawrān. I have designated you for the Call as I was myself chosen and authorized for it by the Guardian of grace and beneficence, by command of the Lord, God of creation and Judge of judges.
In the guiding Call for which you have been selected, follow the path of the discerning and learned. Take up this great report and weighty affair as those who governed the missionary regions did before you, whom the Creator granted honor through sound hearts and pure intentions. Through the cycles they became leading spiritual ranks and chiefs of communities, possessing a firm and powerful resolve to obey and sufficient strength to seek what was right. Let your speech be joined to truthfulness, success, and tawḥīd; let your actions be governed by wise judgment, forbearance, knowledge, and steadfastness. Let your heart prepare to meet the lights of the truths and receive understanding and help, as a transparent jewel shines when struck by subtle light and as the eyes the analogy of eyes facing the darkness of night and the radiance of daylight.
Prepare the way for the brethren through affection and humble yourself toward those you summon and spread your wing over them. Let your direction and your prayers be a means of seeking success from the Guardian of religion. Make your counsel and prayer a means of seeking guidance and support for them Treat the brethren and the young with gentleness, kindly admonition, and reminders, preserved through success, right direction, and sound judgment. Honor both younger and older among the upright Unitarians. Recite to them the distinctive principles of tawḥīd and disclose their realities. Establish among them the signs of religion, removing doubts and disagreements. Then you will take possession of the virtues your hands have planted, gather the fruit of your labor on the Day of Recompense, and receive favor in this world and the next.
Do not let the passing of the days obscure the admonitions of this age. The signs and judgments of this age remain a proof against creatures throughout the passing days and ages. Make their meanings a guide for your heart, a mirror before you, and a banner of guidance.
Deliverance, deliverance belongs to those possessing insight among the Unitarians! Destruction awaits the obstinate who fall short. Appoint in the region good Callers, upright men of virtue, and pure Unitarians whose religious discernment is sound, whose inward purposes accord with their outward conduct, whose conviction and religion are sound, and whose patience and certainty have been proved in the trial of the Antichrist. Appoint, as far as you can, enough to complete the number of eleven Callers, and six Authorized Instructors. Do not give yourself leave to neglect these appointments or make excuses about them. Instruct them as I have instructed you; grant them the good you have been granted. Beware of recruiting too many persons of no worth: most disturbances come from them.
Choose integrity rather than numbers; excessive appointments multiply disputes and corruption. Ask the guidance of our Lord, the divine al-Ḥākim, the Creator, and approach Him through His Guardian who guides to the everlasting abode. He will protect you from those who pursue opposition and from the schemes of evildoers. Adopt the disposition of the faithful, righteous Callers and upright Unitarians, for they are visible to the Guardian of their command and are examined concerning what they hide in their hearts and inward selves. Keep yourself above speaking with those hardened in hypocrisy, who have withdrawn from the covenant or have written it and then turned back in imitation of transgressors.
If one of these people presses you with speech and insists on questioning you, answer him with the realities of tawḥīd and sweep away his falsehood with the decisive arguments of transcendence and divine unity. For when lights meet and cast their rays upon a claimant who does not belong to their nature, their brightness dispels the dark inventions and false assertions of those who do not belong to their kind.
Know that truthfulness is the likeness of the Guardian of religion: it is the clear path and deliverance for His friends. Lying is the likeness of the accursed Opponent; it misleads his followers and leads them to ruin. Warn those among children and brethren who seek refuge with you against lying, and counsel them through the admonitions of men of merit and certainty.
Whenever some subtle matter of tawḥīd becomes difficult to you, or people of doubt and unbelief force a question upon you, turn sincerely and humbly to the Guardian of mankind. Seek guidance through His Guardian, the guiding Imam. Your thought will become clear enough for the obscure matters to be illuminated, and the purity of your essence, joined to sincere devotion, will enable you to perceive the truths of divinity. Inform me of these questions through trustworthy Unitarians, so that I may refer what you send to the One to whom I am commanded to refer it, in order to explain what remains uncertain.
Take refuge in all your affairs with the Lord, the divine al-Ḥākim, the Overpowering One, and seek help through His Guardian, the Imam who avenges himself upon the unbelieving Pharaohs, raising the banner of revelation on every height. He will suffice you in what troubles you and protect you through sincerity of intention and sound faith against misleading and destructive delusions. Understand my charge to you, and do not sell your hereafter for your worldly life. A watcher is over you, hears your speech, and sees you. Praise the Guardian—exalted be His remembrance—for His abundant gifts, and give thanks for the favor of His Guardian, my master and yours.
Written at the beginning of Jumādā al-Ākhira in the years of the Riser of the Age. Praise belongs to our Lord al-Ḥākim alone and gratitude to His servant, the guiding Guardian.
The appointment is complete through the strength and power of our Lord.