منشور إلى المحل الأزهر الشريف
I have put my trust in our Lord, the Forgiving, the Righteous, the God of the Worlds, and sought approach to Him through His Guardian, who takes vengeance upon the enemies of religion.
From the servant and possession of the Guardian of ages and times, the Qāʾim who recompenses humankind, Master of the Resurrection and the Rising, to the assembly of shaykhs of the religion in the noble Radiant Assembly (al-Maḥall al-Azhar al-Sharīf), who have repudiated those who split and altered and distorted the truth.
Peace upon whoever considers the realities of wisdom with the eye of inward discernment, takes warning, restrains himself and seeks refuge in the protection of the Guide, the Guardian of his age, and is guided; who purifies himself from clinging to the alleged infallibility of one who strayed from his religion, descended from his station and fell; and who becomes his own restraint against those who denied the favor, departed from the truth and went astray.
Now then: praise belongs to the Lord, the divine al-Ḥākim, the Righteous, exalted beyond being ancient or nonexistent and beyond whatever moves within secret thoughts and inward intentions. He brought all His creatures into being and made clear the ways of guidance and error. He made the proof manifest against living, speaking humanity through what people find in mute animals lying prone, and alerted them to what no rational person can overlook, so that proof may be established with justice over those who disobey and those who obey, and so that reward and deserved punishment may follow.
His peace rests upon His Guardian, the Guide of nations, the Cause of the causes of existing things, who administers recompense to souls for evil and good; and His peace, favor and blessings upon the ranks of His religion and those who follow them and struggle against the people of deception in the gravest trials.
O pure brethren! The period of the oppressive adversaries has ended. What the rebellious claimants concealed in their consciences has now emerged from potentiality into actuality, and they have openly declared the doubts they harbored against religion. Awaken, brethren, from the sleep of the inattentive, and do not follow the rumors spread by the base faction. They are the scoundrels of humankind, followers of rebellion and ignorance, and adherents of the ingratitude and error their souls have made attractive to them.
By God, I mean the three leaders of that faction, the foundation of tumult and corruption. Through their appetites and malicious schemes they contaminate the intentions of souls with dissension and obstinacy; the result is a lowering of stations and transformation of forms on the Day of Recompense and Return.
Do not, brethren, invalidate the beginnings of your obedience because of the ornaments of deceivers. Do not withdraw from the sound truth because those who deserted the foundations of religion have turned backward. Letters have arrived from the pious brethren of the House of Sulaymān and the House of ʿAbd Allāh, repudiating those among the wretched faction who turned from their religion and departed from the truth. I thanked God Most High that their scattered company was reunited and that their hearts had regained affection.
By God, I was calmed by the meaning of their words and recognized the sincerity of their testimony. I received further communications from the truthful, discerning Shaykh Ṣafī al-Dīn and from Abū al-Sarāyā, faithful in service. They confirmed the excellent obedience of the community after dissension, the removal of rancor and the preservation of souls against injustice.
By God, these two have fulfilled what may rightly be hoped of them. They have become spokesmen for the virtues of the House of ʿAbd Allāh and the House of Sulaymān and have made their good qualities known with truthful speech. The expressions in the letters describing the suffering and distress endured by my daughters and brethren have reached me. By God, they wounded my heart and brought abundant tears to my eyes for what befell them, including injuries that came to my knowledge and distortions of which I had not previously been informed.
I leave the reckoning of those who injured their reputations through distortion and deceit to the One who does not disappoint whoever turns to Him in sincere prayer and unity. I seek approach through the Guardian of the Religion to the Lord transcending every description devised by His creatures and servants, that He may establish your community in obedience, submission and satisfaction with His Guardian, and direct their intentions to the straightest and broadest path.
Indeed, I had not supposed any member of the community to be truly guilty of the entire disorder. Responsibility lies rather with those upon whom the community relied for its guidance and direction: they fell short of directing the people away from their error. All this, in my judgment, occurred within that failure. But repentance before the Day of Judgment expiates the sins that preceded it. Their reconciliation in purity of religion keeps them far from the burning fire. My brethren and shaykhs know this to be true.
I also say that Shaykh Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn, the chief, did not give the command concerning what was done to ʿAmmār—may God be pleased with him—except in consequence of the obligations he believed he owed to a man he had accepted as a founder and guide; this was the work of an impostor returned to the lowest condition by deception and disguise. Thus the shaykh is not to be blamed if he repudiates the false charge, repents, returns to the truth and acknowledges the Guardian, the Qāʾim of the Religion. Read this letter of mine to him and to those with him, and make them attest their commitment to honoring the truth and obeying it. That way the proof will stand against the person who committed the greatest part of this offense, should he persist in his deed.
I have examined all the memoranda, lists of names and letters from the pure shaykhs innocent of doubt and blame. By God, the arrival of the religious Shaykh Abū al-Maʿālī, companion of trust and purity, gave me joy. His reunion with the two distinguished shaykhs Abū al-Khayr Salāma ibn Jandal, the precious Realization of Religion, and Abū al-Faḍl Ḥamza ibn Abī Manṣūr, the noble Supporter of Truth, strengthened this feeling. They and their companions from Ḥuwayẓa repudiated those who strayed from the truth through foulness and deception.
I have read the letter from my brother Musharraf, brother of the Supporter of Truth, and accepted his supplication and thanked him for his effort. I have done the same for Abū al-Ḥasan, brother of the Realization of Religion; the good Shaykh Furayj ibn Surūr; al-Ḥasan Jarrāḥ ibn Tamīm; al-Ḥasan ibn al-Baṭmī; Qassām ibn ʿĪsā; and their counterparts among the neighboring communities and the pure adherents of truth.
I also considered the letters received by Shaykh Ṣafī al-Dīn, the truthful demonstrator of proof: those of the pure descendants of my clan and of trustworthy, faithful people who discharge the debts of my ancestors—Rajab ibn Yūnus, guarantor of the believers; Muṣabbiḥ ibn al-Ḥasan, Supporter of the Unitarians; Abū Ṭālib, Nourisher of Knowledge and Religion; Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad; Ḥusayn ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān; Abū al-Fawāris Najāʾ; another Ibrāhīm; and the rest of the community whose names I have not listed. All are my brethren, people of purity, noble standing and certainty.
I have also examined every letter sent by the two distinguished shaykhs Abū al-Dirʿ Jawshan and Abū al-Laqā Thābit—may God keep them in success—who share in upright direction and verification, as well as those of the Unitarian community around them. Their sincerity in repudiating those who broke their allegiance in religion has been established to my satisfaction.
Likewise I examined the letters of the pure Shaykh Ṣafī al-Dīn, the demonstrator, and his account of the obedience of the noble shaykhs of Damascus. He had earlier reported their names and families, and testified concerning their fidelity after their opposition to the rebels had become apparent. He informed me that deception had entered into his own testimony in fabricated legal records associated with a wretched impostor. He also made known that brother Ḥasan al-Ḥāmilī had withdrawn his earlier position; I accepted this. May God gather the souls of all the sincere upon the word of truth.
I have written the names of all these pure people and established them in the Register of Felicity. When the remaining forms of their repudiation of those who abandoned obedience are complete, they will be transferred to the Register of the Divine Will and the station of volition.
I have been told that Abū al-Ḥasan has said in some of his statements, “If the branches are corrupted, the roots are corrupted.” The poor man has been excessively expansive in this argument. He looks from the place where he imagines an impossibility. I therefore establish for the people of truth a principle that frees them from sickness and bondage. In brief: in certain earlier explanations of wisdom, the roots of souls concern their association with deeds. Souls are rewarded for practicing truth and punished for displaying opposition and error.
It is therefore established that the people of truth do not share the same roots with those who have departed from the realities of religion. Nor should the branches and roots of religion be compared to the branches and roots of natural bodies. Know, brethren, that creatures have freedom to choose and, after a short while, will be brought to presentation, reckoning and recompense. Whoever fabricated false accusations against the people of truth will regret what he invented.
Listen carefully, pure brethren. This is the time of distinction, when you must hear the decisive signs, display truthfulness and sincerity, and awaken to the striking proofs of wondrous wisdom. The path has become clear to the world of creation; proof has been established for the nations by the designation of the originated spiritual substances.
Where can the one who cried for help to the devils of the factions during the interval now go—the one who galloped with the horses of the Iblīses against the landmarks of the ranks and the gates?
I have written this book to give the virtuous Unitarians a choice and sincere counsel. It is an address to them as the people of truth owe them an explanation of the lying faction, so that the proof may be established against those who remain obstinate and resistant.
Praise belongs to God, transcending all ends and limitations. Thanks belong to His Guardian, inheritor of the keys of the earth and heavens, destroyer of the faction who turned religion to falsehood and who will bring the interval of imposture to an end.
I entrust the community of my brethren to the One in whose protection no trust can be lost.
Completed. Praise belongs to our Lord alone, and thanks to His Guardian, His guiding servant.