تقليد الأمير ذي المحامد
I place my trust in the Lord, the God al-Ḥākim, exalted above imaginings and beyond delimitation, description, and attributes.
From the obedient and submissive servant, the fourth of the numbered ranks and possession of the guiding Imam, the Riser, to the Possessor of Praiseworthy Qualities, the supporter of the Unitarians, the emir Abū al-Fawāris Miʿḍād ibn Yūsuf. May the Creator preserve you in the favor His Guardian has bestowed upon you, enabling you to establish the signs of His religion and His unity. May He uphold you through the support of His Guardian in declaring His transcendence and freedom from all comparisons. May He make you one who verifies and demonstrates the signs and conditions of the Resurrection, and one who protects those of the community around you who seek deliverance.
Now then: praise, glory, and greatness belong to the holy Lord, the God al-Ḥākim, exalted above the thoughts of intellects and souls. He has made the firm commitments of His tawḥīd into bonds around necks and has made His own reality manifest as an argument against the worlds through absolute certainty and demonstration, refuting the worlds of nonexistence by the proofs of existence. He has clarified the path through the Riser of Truth, the Guardian who points to the reality of the Worshipped One, makes plain the road of peace and guidance, and watches over every soul and all that it has earned. He is the One without equal. He unties the knots of the invented laws of the Iblises. He undoes the fabricated rules of the Iblises and demolishes the foundations of their falsely invented religious law.
Look, Possessor of Praiseworthy Qualities, upon these teachings with the eye of certainty. Conduct all your affairs according to the instructions of the approved shaykh, the chosen one among the Unitarians. Follow his example openly and inwardly, and in your important affairs resort to his presence: he is responsible for the flourishing of this district. If you wish to correspond with us through a messenger, you have permission to do so after consultation with him and after acquainting him with the matter; give precedence to what is good. Send greetings and inquire after those chiefs of the tribe who held this responsibility before you and then withdrew from it.
Turn your attention to the religious and noble shaykhs: the pure and chosen people of Faljīn, those at ʿAyn Ṣawfar, al-Murūj, and ʿAyn ʿĀr, and the sincere neighbors who have associated themselves with them and followed their example, like the steadfast striving people of al-Bīra. The nurturer of the truths, the traveling star, has made their lofty stations clear and explained their submission, unity, and acknowledgment. Convey to them all my thanks and praise, my prayers to the Creator for their success, and my supplication on their behalf.
In each one of these places appoint an authorized instructor (maʾdhūn) from among those whose conduct and religion are good and whose trustworthiness, submission, and certainty are established in your judgment. Let him read to the brethren and sisters the messages of grace which you have copied, after you have received and copied from the approved shaykh the epistles and decrees he has shown you.
As for the reliable shaykh Abū al-Qāsim ibn Manṣūr, increase his station, recognize his right on account of his sincerity and fidelity, and confirm that his merits justify a higher rank.
As for the two successful emirs, Abū al-Ḥasan and Abū al-ʿIzz, the rightly guided sons of al-Khiḍr: convey to them on my behalf acknowledgment of the honor they have won in religion. Give them good news of the ranks among the pure Unitarians to which their knowledge entitles them. Thus may blessings follow upon them through their perfected insight, and may the precious gifts and treasures they receive multiply through your good offices.
Lower your wing in kindness to the brethren and sisters marked by the sign of religion, that is, the sincere male and female Unitarians. Support them and stand beside them in their needs and important undertakings. In their various degrees they are your children and brothers, your companions in ease and hardship, and your helpers. Encompass them with your shelter and protection; let your safekeeping be bound to them and their well-being joined to your own safety and well-being. Recite to them the particular qualities and meanings of tawḥīd. Explain its prohibitions and admonitions directly to them. Urge them to protect their brethren in religion, awaken them to mutual assistance among sincere Unitarians, and learn the stations of people of conviction and solidarity and those who fall short in equal treatment. Thus may the people in your district be distinguished by their meanings and identifying signs, and recognized in their endeavors by their names and characteristics.
The graves have been scattered, and the time of resurrection and reawakening has come near. The Guardian's road has become plain to all creation, and the proof of the guiding Riser has prevailed in exalting the religion of truth. The warner is ready and the truthful bearer of glad tidings is established. I admonish you, so admonish them; I awaken you, so awaken them. Make this testament a mirror and lamp for your insight, and a means and ladder toward the highest attainments. These words are addressed to you and to everyone alike; tomorrow each of you will be questioned concerning them.
Examine where sound counsel must be offered. May the Creator keep you under His watchful care. Look closely to the meanings of the wisdom that has been entrusted to you. I entrust you to the protection of the all-knowing al-Ḥākim. For your salvation and theirs I intercede through the one whose servant I am, the Master of the Presentation, the guiding Imam who rises.
The appointment of the shaykh Miʿḍād is complete. Praise belongs to our Lord al-Ḥākim alone, and thanks to His servant, the guiding Imam, the Riser.