I put my trust in the Lord God al-Ḥākim, beyond the transcendence described by human minds, and seek approach to Him through His servant, the Guide who upholds the truth of tawḥīd and divinity. From the advising servant Bahāʾ al-Dīn, tongue of the believers, defender of the Unitarians, possessed by and subject to obedience to the guiding Qāʾim, his Master and Lord; the left wing, the fourth, the last and smallest of the ranks, according to the command of the One who favored him and guided him.
To all the noble, pure, honored masters in al-Aḥsāʾ, successors to the masters of the nations—the truthful former Callers to tawḥīd, inheritors of the virtues of their forebears, the faithful and God-fearing messengers. They succeed their forebears in excellence and in seeking redress for the blood of oppressed and tried Unitarians; and to the faithful, pure, submissive friends in their company, people of patience, trust, submission, and certainty.
Peace upon whoever has been enabled to submit to the guiding Imam, Guardian of the Age, whose insight has been uncovered so that he knows the ranks and signs of tawḥīd, the clarification, and the demonstration; who has found guidance through the lights of his instruction and been delivered from vanity, arrogance, and injustice toward the people of truth. The Lord's mercy and blessings upon my brothers who seek through him a way to the sovereign Judge.
Now then: greatness, dignity, exaltation, worship, submission, and acknowledgement belong to obedience to the Lord God al-Ḥākim, the overpowering One, exalted above the most subtle stirrings of imagination and the passing thoughts of the mind. His unity cannot be limited by the understanding expressed in words, nor can His mighty power be comprehended through sight and reflection. He has made the very inability of purified intellects to encompass Him an acknowledgement of His unity, and has tested humanity through His manifest appearance in a form of correspondence, so that the case against the souls of the worlds may be established through the reality of truth, with a warning and full opportunity to understand.
Honor, therefore, belongs to those who grasp the reins of obedience and acknowledge the Existent One. The others remain confined in their denial, wandering between the realities and doubts, stripped of the purified insight of those who serve the Guardian. Exalted is the Lord who made His guiding Guardian the means of uncovering the concealed purposes of hearts and appointed him over every soul and what it has earned, so that nothing beyond His power could escape.
Honored masters, receive the lights of the realities with the substances of your souls. Confront the hostile obstacles of time with patience. Your pure ancestors established this foundation upon the truth of tawḥīd and its clarification. They strengthened it with humility, noble character, contentment, and submission, until the building stood firm. Believers resident among them and those who arrived from all countries shared in its construction, spreading the word of tawḥīd and making it known among the people of every religion.
Their virtues became celebrated in the regions through the purity of their tawḥīd. Their successors followed their example in the truth throughout successive periods. Why then have you narrowed the security, justice, fairness, kindness, and forbearance which your predecessors extended in their own dwelling to those who reached them? Why has a man who crossed difficult and remote lands, endured hardship, hunger, and dangers in obedience to the Guide of the nations, and carried to you true knowledge from the awaited, standing Imam, not received that welcome? He came to explain among you the decisive signs of tawḥīd and the books of guidance.
Why did you not receive the person responsible for carrying this noble gift and blessing, who knew its meaning and grasped its excellent evidence, and who asked you no reward, as you receive those who come and dwell among you from the sects of lying unbelievers? The latter have not learned from the respite granted them, have refused the call of truth and mercy, have not abandoned their foolish innovations and corrupt desires, and have not sought the guidance of the lofty palace now visible. Their minds remain those of wandering beasts in human form, captivated by degraded appetites and hard hearts.
You, honored masters, need fear no earthly power because of any wrong you have committed against it. Nor do the nations outside the religion of tawḥīd possess grounds to brand you unbelievers, so that you would have to conceal this message; nor does an enemy occupy your land whom you must placate. What, then, has caused you to reject hearing the Qāʾim's wisdom, the wisdom toward which you and your ancestors have pointed and which you have awaited through the ages?
If—God forbid—the masters have forgotten the signs of tawḥīd and faith because time has seemed long over repeated ages, why did they not receive the martyred shaykh as one would receive a messenger sent by a sovereign from a neighboring land? In worldly government, the sovereign must hear such a messenger himself, or have his chief representative hear him if he cannot, in order to learn what the sender has entrusted to him. This is the conduct of the comfortable rulers of this world. How much more fitting is it for men of rank to inquire into the signs of religion!
Unless this rejection and arrogance toward those who reached you arose because the written wisdom in the epistles was weak or its language lacked substance—or because it did not contain decisive proofs requiring obedience to the awaited Guide—there is no reason for it. If intermediaries failed to convey the message to you, I appeal to the awaited Guardian of Command to guide you and complete His favor of tawḥīd upon you.
What grief it brings that persons of noble standing, who have long carried the hostility of the nations and kept their promises and covenants in expectation of the Qāʾim, should hold back when his signs are presented! They have turned from obedience after being summoned to recognize his exalted stations. When the guidance of his religion reached them through his Proof, they neglected and drove away his messenger, although believers who heard him had recognized his words, submitted, and accepted them. Before the pure messenger reached his intended destination, he passed from this life in obedience to his Lord. His son arrived in his place; that is part of what has led us to understand what happened. May God grant safety on the day of recompense to whoever accepts the Guardian's command and gratefully receives the water of life sent to him.
Honored masters, distinguish yourselves through virtue from those who merely imitate the practices of the multitude. Through the noble teaching of the awaited Qāʾim, separate yourselves from the obstinate who doubt his ranks and despair. The secrets of hearts have been displayed; the case has been established against the unjust. The gate of the lofty palace has opened, and the birds of Paradise sing within it with strange hymns of glorification and miraculous affirmations of unity. The disused well overflows with sweet, pure water; the other spring, linked to the false Messiah, pours bitterness and sickness upon the souls of deniers. They mistake the substances of reality for accidental attributes and weaken the bearers of the noblest forms of knowledge through corruption and dissolution. Through the ignorance, lack of discipline, and baseness of the Awaited One's enemies, these souls have fallen from elevation into blindness, deafness, and degradation, condemned to return in impure bodily forms for their obstinacy, hypocrisy, and fabricated accusations against the Proofs of the Guardian of Truth.
You, honored and faithful masters, are the flower of the decisive signs, the noble fruits of the branches of truth, successors to those who called people to the highest knowledge. You have followed their ancient way by guarding the faithful men and women, and are acquainted with the transmigration of spiritual substances as they return among tongues and palates. These substances ascend to the exalted assembly when they have completed the degrees of perfection, abide in a pure and radiant dwelling, and will appear with the manifestation of the Guardian of Truth at the completion of his intention. They will witness the reward of the sincere and the punishment of wicked transgressors, in recompense for their defense of the Unitarians and their repudiation of apostates who made themselves enemies of the Guardian and envied his friends.
Honored masters, will you not be worthy successors of your pure predecessors in the labor to which they devoted their minds? Will you not publish and manifest the guiding Call and stand together before witnesses to spread its signs and explain them to the nations? Draw knowledge from its pure origin, from the overflowing wisdom and sacred light within it, and uphold the standards of the righteous who came before you. Thus the word of truth may rise through your efforts and your lineage may be established in the sacred dwelling through the guiding Call.
Look at what happened in former ages to nations proud of themselves that oppressed the brethren and, after being warned, refused tawḥīd and belief. This age is not like those that came before. In it the enemies of the Qāʾim are stripped of their pride and victory, while the nations who deny his blessings fall under humiliation and compulsion. Seek refuge, pure men, in the Guardian of Truth from the consequences of arrogance. Sanctify yourselves through humility before the Lord God al-Ḥākim before the pens grow dry, the pages are folded, and the light of manifestation sends its thunderbolts upon those who have refused tawḥīd.
The awaited, guiding Qāʾim—peace upon his remembrance—is free of injustice and oppression, exalted above fraud and cruelty. His patience and knowledge encompass the peoples. Humanity agrees in expecting a guide who will fill the earth with equity and justice as it was filled with injustice and oppression. But consider what truth and justice themselves require. Could the awaited, standing Guide demand from nations that they obey a religion not made known to them? Could he punish them for failing to follow teachings they never learned? Surely he must warn them and establish the proof so clearly that they can recognize and comprehend his commands.
How can obedience be demanded to one who has not appeared to the world to be known, whose name and qualities have not been identified, whose commands and prohibitions have not reached the ears of nations, whose doctrine has not spread to the horizons, and whose Callers and proofs have never established his claim before mankind? Only when his injunctions and prohibitions have become known among Arabs and non-Arabs does his case stand against the nations. His reward after manifestation and his intercession before the Creator belong to those who receive his command, obey, are satisfied, and submit, while those who turn aside bear the consequences.
These established proofs refute the claim of every sect that demands obedience to a standing, guiding, or awaited one who has never appeared to the world and whose knowledge and Call have not been made manifest in clear speech. The case can only be established through a publicly known summons, commands, and prohibitions addressed to the followers of every religious community.
Such communities include Christians, Muslims, Jews, and Magians—among the communities of the preceding religious dispensations—and the religious groups known as Nuṣayriyya, Qaṭʿiyya, the followers of Isḥāq al-Aḥmar called Ḥamrāwiyya, the Shumayṭiyya, Kaysāniyya, Jārūdiyya, Zaydiyya, Mūsawiyya, Kashkāwiyya, and others not named. Their claims are deceptive, and accepted only by those who abandon reason.
Reason decides, and truth allows or forbids a religious assertion according to whether the person concerned actually appeared to humanity, summoned it to a religion, and established a case by verifiable words and deeds, then withdrew from the world after that manifestation in a withdrawal explicitly announced as a trial and examination.
If an advocate of one of those sects protests and adorns his position with deceptive words, saying that his master called people to religion before his absence, the response is: “Do not say, 'Before his absence'; say, 'Before his death.'” Moreover, if he called people at all, it was to an absent nothingness, to religious law, and to associationism and deception, rather than to the present truth.
The awaited, guiding Mahdī, the Qāʾim of Truth—may God's peace rest upon his remembrance—rose in the most noble of stations and established the case against the worlds by his public manifestation with proofs and signs. That is why he is called the Qāʾim. After publicly receiving the designation of Imam, he summoned the nations to the unity of the Lord God al-Ḥākim, Originator of originated beings, the existing God and Mighty One of heaven and earth. He set up the proofs and clarifications, while his ranks and Callers spread the Call of tawḥīd throughout the horizons. Thus no one could say, “No bearer of good tidings or warning came to us.” The warning did indeed come, although only a small, praiseworthy company accepted it.
Only after establishing the argument before the worlds did he withdraw—peace upon his remembrance—into the dominion of his Creator, for a term that He will complete according to the teachings of wisdom. At its end the truth of the proofs will be established against the obstinate. The obedient who were oppressed will be vindicated against the doubting, apostate wrongdoers, and equity, truth, and justice will be established on the day of resurrection, judgment, and separation through the power of the Creator and the blessing of His Qāʾim and Guide.
Listen closely, noble masters, endowed with pure souls, substantial intellects, ancient honor, and sound judgment, to the Caller of the awaited, guiding Imam. Drink his water, clear and undefiled by the small creatures who have polluted the wells. Bind your pure souls to harmony with the earlier believers. Lower your wings in humility toward distant Unitarians, so that you remain firm in obedience to the standing, guiding Imam, faithful to his covenant and ranks, and mindful of the blood of Unitarians unjustly shed.
Let contentment and submission be the motto of your assembly, as they were of the pure predecessors. Through the return to the Guardian's command, obtain the sweet water of life from its spring; return to your noblest and purest element through the sanctity of the imamate, remaining in it. May the shelter of its dignity extend over you when the knowledge of religion is revealed, and may rivers of blessing flow upon you when the banners of truth, victory, and triumph are raised over the nations that resist truth.
You shall then dwell under the victorious authority of the Guardian, within steadfast glory, rulers over the Arabs and judges among them on account of your noble precedence in tawḥīd. This is so if you put on the garments of obedience and submission, extend a hand against obstinacy and rebellion, reconcile with those of the earlier faithful, and preserve sincere affection. Take heed, noble masters, of the admonitions in the signs of tawḥīd and the opportunity for peace. Clothe yourselves in certainty before the Resurrection overwhelms you.
The veils have been lifted from the egg of truth and the concealed one is near his manifestation. Heavy clouds rumble, and the lightning of appearance flashes forth before the rains of resurrection. The trees of reality are ripe and ready to flower and bear fruit. The jewels of light gleam within their elements, ready for fullness and perfection. The breeze blows upon the frivolous and the south wind upon the people of error; the souls of the people of truth are distinguished for recompense, and the seeker and the sought become known.
Reflect, honored masters, on the narrow paths of those who deny, the changing purposes of the deceivers, and the exposure of pretenders. Thus your souls may be secure in true certainty, your eyes may look with knowledge upon the realities of religion, and the devices of the wicked may become small beside your virtues. Your understanding will rise toward union with the noblest substance.
The doors have been opened for the establishing of proof and repentance before creation. The cycles have reached completion, and the time inscribed in the Book has arrived. We belong to the Lord and rely upon Him, trusting His promise to His friends.
Honored masters, understand the examples I have set before you and recognize the meaning of the advice and sayings I have offered. By the truth, their foundation has been made firm. Be awakened by this reminder and exhortation. Reflect upon the true counsel I have placed in these arousing signs.
The Knower of hidden things and the inward secrets of hearts knows that I have not neglected the masters or cast aside correspondence with you through indifference. Distance and immense dangers have stood in the way. The Unitarians were not secure even in their homes because they had become mingled with their opponents. How then could they be safe in travel? The easiest road lies among the Arabs, among whom treachery has multiplied and fidelity to obligations has diminished. They have betrayed those who sought their protection and broken trust in companionship and deposits. Few among them now hold fast to religion, and the changing times have placed them far from us.
The departed shaykh—may the Creator sanctify his soul and restore it to the sacred station of the imamate—sought a route to the masters through Shaykh Abū al-Ḥasan al-Shabāsh, his son, a descendant of blessed men, and the vizier, the noble master Ẓahīr al-Dīn, helper of believers and sword of the Unitarians, rightly acting in his commands and prohibitions, bearing the duties laid upon him in obedience to the awaited, guiding Imam. With the sword of truth, that Imam will destroy the person who resists, doubts, and disbelieves, and his banners are bound with honor, victory, and triumph.
The pure Shaykh Abū al-Ḥasan al-Shabāsh proclaimed the merits of the noble masters, celebrated their virtues in discourse, and made known their generous deeds and excellent qualities. Through the auspicious action of Ẓahīr al-Dīn, helper of the believers and sword of the Unitarians, the paths leading to the masters were opened to Unitarians after having been obstructed, and the fires of associationism that had flared in the region were extinguished.
Afterward the departed shaykh went to the noble masters carrying the letters. His son returned following his departure from this life—may God illuminate his face—full of thanks for the two noble princes, Abū Manṣūr al-Ḥusayn ibn Jaʿfar and Abū Muḥammad ibn al-Ghayth, and for the accomplished Shaykh Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn al-Faḍl. He established that they possessed praiseworthy qualities and virtues.
I learned that the noble masters wished to correspond directly with someone without an intermediary, a person who would know the finer meanings and could give complete answers to their questions. Therefore, despite the remoteness and hardship of the route, I hastened to send my pure daughter Sārra, assured of her great reward from the Qāʾim of Truth and her success in the hereafter.
The honored masters should know that she is among the weakest servants of the Qāʾim, wavering between life and death. May they see with the eyes of truth who has risen through degrees of excellence, and recognize those accompanying her among the pure brethren sent with this writing. They undertake this journey to urge the masters to act before the opportunity is lost, that they may obtain rich reward before the appointed hour.
I supplicate the One exalted beyond limits and imagination and sanctified beyond the reach of knowledge, seeking approach to Him through His awaited Guardian and the chosen ranks who follow His will. May He inspire the Callers to tawḥīd and those called to it with piety, and lead them together with the assembly of Unitarians toward what is noblest, best, and highest. He is capable of doing this and worthy of answering the prayer.
Praise and sanctification belong to the Lord God al-Ḥākim, exalted beyond all description; approach to Him is through His awaiting, guiding servant the Qāʾim. He suffices His weak, possessed servant on the day when the lips are sealed and the inward secrets of hearts are revealed.
Written in the month of Ṣafar in the twenty-second year of the Qāʾim of Truth and Guide of guides. After the writing of this letter, obstacles arose which prevented the pure woman from traveling; the journey was to be undertaken only after the masters' acceptance of the teaching of the awaited Qāʾim had become clear. I have dispatched brethren to the dwelling of the masters, who are free to decide as circumstances permit. We await whatever good news comes from them.
Completed. Praise belongs to our Lord alone, and thanks to the Qāʾim of the Age, His servant.