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Abstract: English translation by Peter Terry of Nicolas' French translation of The Báb's "Seven Proofs," with preface by Moojan Momen and list of works of Nicolas. Notes: See summary of this work at bahai-library.com/walbridge_miscellaneous_topics. Classified in Provisional translations. |
The Seven Proofs
by Báb, The
translated by A.L.M. Nicolas and Peter Terry.originally written as "Dalá'il-i-Sab'ih" in Persian.
The Work of A.L.M. Nicholas (1864-1937) [1]
No European scholar has contributed so much to our knowledge of the life and teaching of the Báb as Nicolas. His study of the life of the Báb and his translations of several of the most important books of the Báb remain of unsurpassed value.
Nicolas's father, J. B. Nicolas, was in the French Consular Service in Persia, and Nicolas himself was born at Rasht in Gilan in 1864. According to his own statement, he could speak Persian and Russian even before he learnt his native French. Like his father, he joined the French Consular Service and spent most of his working life in Persia.
Nicolas also derived his inspiration to study the Bábís from Gobineau, but in a manner almost exactly opposite to Browne. According to a statement made by Nicolas, his father had clashed with Gobineau:
Gobineau, arriving at the Legation, imbued with diplomatic prejudices, despising his colleagues, entered into an argument with my father on the subject of a manuscript bought by the latter from a courtier. [2] My father made some remarks about this which turned my thoughts towards the idea of verifying for myself the background of the matter. Among his papers, he left a critique of Gobineau's book, Les Religions et Les Philosophies dan l'Asie Centrale, which encouraged me to do some research and refute its errors, this work having been written without sufficient data with the aid of a Jew that Gobineau had as a teacher of Persian, who could only teach his pupil the little that he knew of the sect. I collected my material largely from a native secretary, [3] Mírzá Ibráhím of Tíhrán, who I discovered to be a Bahá'í and who put me in touch with the followers of the sect.77
Nicolas,in the same statement, goes on to describe how his interest in the subject grew:
I was helped in my work by a young Persian, and each day we would go in the afternoon for a walk outside the town, leaving by the Shimran gate. The purity of the air, the serenity, the mildness of the temperature, and in certain seasons, the perfume of the acacias, predisposed my soul to peace and gentleness. My reflections on the strange book [The Seven Proofs by the Báb] that I had translated, filled me with a kind of intoxication and I became, little by little, profoundly and uniquely a Bábí. The more I immersed myself in these reflections, the more I admired the greatness of the genius of him who, born in Shíraz, had dreamt of uplifting the Muslim world...78
In his early works, Nicolas steered clear of the barren ground over which Browne was wandering - the claims of Mírzá Yahyá Subh-i-Azál. In a letter to Browne in March 1902, he wrote concerning the documents which he had collected:
Only those which are directly related to the Báb interest me at this time; whether they concern the history or the dogma. I consider that task sufficient for the moment, and I will concern myself later with the Imamate of Subh-i-Azál and the second divine Manifestation in the person of Bahá79
This first phase of Nicolas's work may be considered to have been completed in 1914 by the publication of the last volume of Le Beyan Persan. After this there is a hiatus, and when Nicolas began writing again on this subject, in 1933, his articles were very obviously hostile and bitter towards the Bahá'ís and, although not strongly advocating the claims of Mírzá Yahyá in the way that Browne did, Nicolas was obviously not unfavourable to them.
The main reason for Nicolas's hostility to the Bahá'ís at this time appears to have been twofold. Firstly he seems to have acquired a profound dislike for 'Abdu'l-Bahá's historical work A Traveller's Narrative, and he loses no opportunity to attack this. But secondly, and much more importantly, Nicolas was deeply hurt at the disparagement and neglect that he felt the Bahá'ís showed towards the Báb. Nicolas considered that in A Traveller's Narrative and other Bahá'í works, the Báb's station and importance had been belittled, making him but the insignificant forerunner, the John the Baptist, of Bahá'u'lláh.
Towards the end of Nicolas' life, however, he was sent copies of two important works by Shoghi Effendi: a translation of Nabil's Narrative of the life of the Báb, and The Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh, in which the Báb's station as an independent Messenger of God, equal in essence to Bahá'u'lláh is stated emphatically. Nicolas was, of course, overjoyed. To the lady who sent him these books, Miss Edith Sanderson, he wrote:
I do not know how to thank you nor how to express the joy that floods my heart. So it is necessary not only to admit but to love and admire the Báb. Poor great Prophet, born in the heart of Persia, without any means of instruction, and who, alone in the world, encircled by enemies, succeeds by the force of his genius in creating a universal and wise religion. That Bahá'u'lláh succeeded Him eventually may be, but I want people to admire the sublimity of the Báb, who has, moreover, paid with his life, with his blood, for the reforms he preached. Cite me another similar example. At last, I can die in peace. Glory be to Shoghi Effendi who has calmed my torment and my anxieties, glory be to him who recognizes the worth of Siyyid 'Alí-Muhammad, the Báb. I am so happy that I kiss your hands that have written my address on the envelope which carried Shoghi's message. Thank you, Mademoiselle; thank you from the depths of my heart.80
It is difficult to be certain that the following list represents the entirety of Nicolas's writing on the subject of the Bábí and Bahá'í religions, as he makes reference to a few works which the present author has been unable to trace and therefore assumes were never printed. [4]
Works by A.L.M. Nicolas
HISTORIES [5]
Seyyed Alí Mohammed dit le Báb, Paris 1905. 458 pp.
A history of the Bábí movement up to 1852. Nicolas gives a list of sources for this book on pp. 48-53. It is interesting to note that among his oral sources are four of the leading Bahá'ís of that period, who had been designated by Bahá'u'lláh as 'Hands of the Cause': Mírzá 'Alí-Muhammad, 'Ibn-i-Asdaq: Mullá 'Al-Akbar-i-Sháhmírzádí, Hají Akhund; Mírzá Muhammad-Táqíy-i-Abharí, 'Ibn-i-Abhar; and Mírzá Hasan-i-Adíb.
The other two oral sources named are Siyyid 'Ismu'lláh, who was presumbly Siyyid Mihdíy-i-Dihají, and Mírzá Yahyá, Subh-i-Azál.
TRANSLATIONS OF THE WRITINGS OF THE BÁB[6]
1. Le Livre des Sept Preuves, Paris 1902. 68 pp. A translation of the Báb's Dalá'il-i-Sab'ihMONOGRAPHS[7]
2. Le Beyan Arabe, Paris 1905. 235 pp. A translation of the Arabic Bayán.
3. Le Beyan Persan, 4 vols., Paris 1911-14. A translation of the Persian Bayán.
1. Qui est le successeur du Báb?, Paris 1933. 16 pp. Written to demonstrate that Mírzá Yahyá was the true successor of the Báb.ARTICLES[8]
2. Massacres de Bábís en Perse, Paris 1936. 42 pp. Accounts of several of the most important persecutions and martyrdoms of the Bábís and Bahá'ís.
1. “A propos de deux manuscrits 'Bábís' de la Bibliotheque Nationale” Revue de l'Histoire des Religions, Vol. 47, Paris 1903, pp. 58-73. Concerning the controversial manuscripts of Nuqtatu'l-Kaf.
2. “Sur la Volonte Primitive et l'Essence Divine d'apres le Báb” Revue de l'Histoire des Religions, Vol. 55, Paris 1907, pp. 208-12. Abridged version of a lengthy note by Nicolas explaining some of the terms in the Bábí writings.
3. “Le Club de la fraternite” Revue du Monde Musulman, Vol. 13, Paris 1911, pp. 180-184. Translation of an article by Atrpet in the Armenian periodical Sourhandag refuting the suggestion that the Bahá'ís played an important part in the constitutional upheavals.
4. “Le Dossier russo-anglais de Seyyed Ali Mohammed dit le Báb” Revue du Monde Musulman, Vol. 14, Paris: 1911, pp. 357-63. Documents found in the British and Russian Consulates in Tabríz relating to the episode of the Báb: frequently quoted in the present work.
5. “Abdoul-Beha et la situation” Revue du Monde Musulman Vol. 21, Paris 1912, pp. 261-7. Translation of an article in the Persian periodical Fikr that contained an alleged exchange of letters between 'Abdu'l-Bahá and Mírzáá Ghaffar Zanuzí. Published under pseudonym 'Ghilan’.
6. “Le Behahis et le Báb”; Journal Asiatique, Vol. 222, Paris 1933, pp. 257-64.
7. “Quelque Documents relatifs au Bábisme”. Journal Asiatique, Vol. 224, Paris 1934, pp. 107-42. Some extracts from the works of the Báb, as well as some Persian Government correspondence.
8. “Le Báb astronome” Revue de l'Histoire des Religions, Vol. 114, Paris 1936, pp. 99-101.
NOTES
[1] Taken from The Bábí and Bahá'í Religions: Some Contemporary Western Accounts. Edited by Moojan Momen (Oxford : George Ronald, 1981), pages 36-40. Captured from the International Bahá'í Library site (http://library.bahai.org/sc/nic1.htm - nic4.htm) on Thursday, December 7, 2000. (MW's Note)
[2] Gobineau describes J. B. Nicolas as 'un drole' - a rascal (letter to his sister, see Hytier, Les Depeches Diplomatiques p. 148n) (Momen's Note).
[3] Presumbly at the French Legation (Momen's Note).
[4] Nicolas apparently published an article entitled "Une Causerie sur le Báb", which the editor has been unable to trace. There is also a reference in “Quelque Documents relatif au Bábisme” (see the following list) to a work that Nicolas had prepared for publication entitled “La voie doloureuse de Seyyed 'Alí Mohammad, dit le Báb, which he describes as 'crammed with numerous unedited documents', but which no editor had accepted. The article “Quelque Documents” therefore consists of some extracts from this longer work, which presumably was never published (Momen's Note).
[5] Taken from The Bábí and Bahá'í Religions: Some Contemporary Western Accounts. Edited by Moojan Momen (Oxford : George Ronald, 1981), pages 36-40. Captured from the International Bahá'í Library site (http://library.bahai.org/sc/nichis.html) on Thursday, December 7, 2000. (MW's Note)
[6] Ibid. (MW's Note)
[7] Ibid. (MW's Note)
[8] Ibid. (MW's Note)
PREFACE
by A. L. M. NICOLAS
Provisionally Translated from the French by Peter Terry
[p.I]
T he Book of the Seven Proofs is the most important of the polemical [1] works which issued from the pen of Siyyid 'Alí Muhammad [2] , called the Báb.
It appears to be difficult to fix a date for the publication of this book by its Author. Actually, it is generally admitted that it was composed during His voyage to Makka [3] in response to the objections or the questions of one of the 'ulamá [4] of Yazd [5] . That this book is a response to an interrogator [questioner] is not in doubt as one can see from the beginning; that it was composed for one of the 'ulamá of Yazd is, after all, of little importance; but that it was written during His Makkan voyage cannot be admitted.
It is as I establish it in my work, A Prophet in the Nineteenth Century [6] -- the first writings of the new Apostle are: 1) the Risaliy-i-Fiqhiyyih [7] ; 2) the Commentary on the Suráh of Yusuf [8] ; 3) probably some of the verses of the Bayán [9] ; 4) the collection of Suráhs known by the name of Kitáb al-Haramayn [10] , and 5) the Kitáb al-Rúh [11] , revealed mid-sea [on board a sailing vessel],
[p.II]
on the return voyage from Makká, between Maskat [12] and Bushíhr [13] .
Now, the tradition that the Báb during His pilgrimage composed a work in response to certain questions posed to him by a contradictor [one who opposed Him] is perfectly exact. The Kitáb al-Haramayn gives us the proof of this because it is this response. This work, which is certainly the one which Monsieur de Gobineau [14] calls “The Journal of the Pilgrimage” is dated [15] , and its text gives precious indications of the history of the beginnings of the Bábí Faith. I cite long excerpts therefrom in the book which I have cited above [16] ; may it be sufficient for us here to know that the Báb responds therein in a lengthy manner to a person named Hájí Siyyid 'Alí Kirmání [17] , who hesitates to recognize Him in His prophetic station. The argument is moreover completely different from that which we encounter here [in the Dala'il-i-Sab'ih]: it is based almost entirely upon this verse of the Qur'án [18] :
[This is the truth from your Lord: therefore do not doubt it.] To those who dispute with you concerning Jesus after the knowledge you have received, say: 'Come, let us gather our sons and your sons, our wives and your wives, our people and your people. We will then pray and call down the curse of God on every liar.'
The Báb in effect proposes several times therein [19] that his questioner try this decisive proof [take this proof as decisive], which, if we believe in the Bible, has always resulted in the confusion of those who negated [denied] the prophets.
We have said that the Book of the Seven Proofs could not
[p.III]
have been written during the pilgrimage--actually it was written on the mountain of Máh-Kú [20] as it is evident therefrom [from the text] that the Author was imprisoned there at the time at which He speaks [writes]. Moreover, if He could foresee--as it is certain that He did [21] --the denouement [22] of the tragedy of which He was the principal hero, He could have known in advance the name of the place where the next to last act of His martyrdom would take place [23] .
But, what is even more clear, is what He said [wrote] there [24] about this Himself, on page forty-five [25] :
See how the awaited Exalted One [26] manifested His truth before the eyes of the Muslims to open before them the way of salvation. She, the first effulgence of creation, She, the Mirror of God, condescended to present Herself under [through] the appearance of the Door Who conducts to the knowledge of the hidden descendant of Muhammad. [27] In His first book He spoke in the name of the laws of the Qur'án so that men would not be troubled by the new text and the new law; so that they could be convinced that this law [of the Báb] is the equivalent of their own Book (the Qur'án), so that they do not remain in obscurity and comprehend at last that they were created for this very law. Meanwhile it is a question worthy of examination. (Although He presented Himself as the Door which conducts to the knowledge of the Imam Mahdí) He has encountered sectarians of the Qur'án who have not understood: and yet all are instructed [educated] in the promises of the sacred text. He who
[p.IV]
thrusts far from himself those who allow themselves to be guided by the imagination, he who confines himself to the apparent [clear] limits of the Qur'ánic law, that one is the wise one, that one lives in the kingdom of the good-pleasure of God, that one acts following [in accordance with] true science [knowledge] and walks upon the road which conducts [leads] to the approbation [approval] of the Exalted One!!
The Báb hence qualifies [identifies] Himself here as the Imám Mahdíí and rejects the title of Báb by which He had [earlier] invested Himself.
Furthermore, we learn from the Bábí historian, 'Aghá Mírzá Janí [28] that Siyyid 'Alí Muhammad made this last revelation [revealed this qualification] during the last days of His detention [imprisonment] in Chihríq. Monsieur de Gobineau thus errs in placing this manifestation in Shírází [29] as he also errs elsewhere [30] when he adds 'the title of Báb having become free was conferred upon Mullá Husayn Bushrú'í' [31] . This latter one, whom one names voluntarily [willingly] Evvel men amen (or the first believer, name under which he is already designated in the Kitáb Baynu'l-Haramayn) receives the title of Báb'u'l-Báb. [32]
It is on the other hand impossible that this book was written in Chihríq
[p.V]
for the Báb would not have forgotten to speak of His change of residence. Finally, and we will explain it in our history [33] , the revelation of the true title of the Apostle must have taken place not at the end, but at the start of His stay at Máh-Kú or even a little earlier. Objections would have presented themselves immediately and it is at this moment and to these objections that our Author responds.
His correspondent evidently asked of Him all of the proofs of His mission and the response which he receives is admirable in [its] precision and in [its] clarity. [34] It is based upon two verses of the Qur'án [35] : according to the first nobody can produce verses, had he [even] for collaborators all men and all the demons--according to the second, nobody understands the meaning of the verses of the Qur'án, except for God and the men of a solid science [knowledge]. [36]
Well, during 1260 years, not one verse was drawn up, no man upon the surface of the earth emitted the claim to have caused such to descend from the sky [heaven], and here it is that someone presents himself who 'makes them descend' like a spring shower.
Of two things the one [first]: either the 'verse” [37] is of divine origin and the only proof of the mission of Muhammad--even as the latter [Muhammad] attests in the Qur'án--or it is a simple literary work, [a] suggestion which the Qur'án absolutely rejects.
Then remains the first hypothesis, admitted as
[p.VI]
'certain truth' by all Muslims. Now, the Báb produces verses--divine work [creation]--He is therefore sent by God, it is from Him that He possesses His mission.
If you disclaim the value of these verses, do not forget what your forefathers said of those of Muhammad when He presented them to them: “they are ancient fables cunningly arranged” [38] What do they say today? What is left of their affirmations? What will be left of yours as well?
“The verses can be comprehended by God only, and men of solid science.” [39] Do you believe yourselves to be men of a solid science? [40] To make such an affirmation is simple enough, to prove it, that is everything. Prove to me then your knowledge in explaining to me the Qur'án, which you cannot do. Prove to me that you are imbued with the true doctrine of the Qur'án, that you are good among the good ones, pure among the pure, elect among the elect: and the only proof that you are capable of giving, it is to submit yourselves to the immutable laws of God and to believe in His new revelation as you have believed in His previous revelations.
For God is One in His Person [Self], as He is One in His Attributes, One in His works. Unique is the teaching which He gives to you since the origin of the ages, unique is He Whom He will give you in time to come [after the passing of times]. And you seem to believe that you can learn nothing [not learn anything] more. In your arrogance [pride], you think that you know everything and you think you have responded in a sufficient fashion when to the least
[p.VII]
question you have answered [with] 'Mystery'. There is not, there could not be any mystery, but the teaching which is given to you is proportioned to your forces [capacities]. And it is the secret which I come to unveil to you, for your intelligence was not able to penetrate it, even though all the terms[limits] of the problem had been submitted to you. In the “Psalms” [41] , God replies to David Who asks Him why He created humanity: “Because I was a hidden treasure and that it pleased Me to be known”. Is it then to know Him that one is stopped at every step by 'the mystery' in the path which leads to Him? Is it then to know Him that one makes an angry and jealous God like the Jews, a God of battles like the Christians, a partial [side-taking] God like the Muslims, an anthropomorphic God like the immense majority of men? Is He thus a liar, this God Whom you adore, would He forget His promises - this Creator before Whom all [things] incline [bow down] themselves? No not so, He has promised you that you will know Him and you will know Him, not in a single blow[all of a sudden], but by successive degrees. The “Professor” has not lacked in [the performance of] His task; He has come at diverse intervals, He has taught you the true law. Is it His fault that you have not recognized Him? As adorators of idols which you are, you have adored His body which is nothing [of no value], you were bent under His force when He was powerful, you were conquered by His sabre [sword] when He made use thereof. But you have not been able to comprehend from whence 'They' came, Who 'They' were and Muhammad told you “The Prophets, I am 'Them'”!! [42]
[p.VIII]
For all [of Them], whatever names They held [had], were but one and the same emanation from the primal [original] will [wish] of God to be known, they are the very incarnation of the first creation of God and you have not understood this: you have remained Israelites without recognizing Moses in Jesus, Christians without perceiving Jesus in Muhammad, you wish to remain Muslims without seeing in Me Muhammad!
Following [Corresponding to] the progress which humanity has accomplished [achieved], every prophet was sent with divers signs to prove His mission: material at first, these signs were elevated little by little towards immateriality. Adam shows you prodigies in teaching you to make service [use] of the earth and fire, Noah teaches you the qualities of waves and wind, others instruct you in the arts and in industry, and when, forgetful of the origins of your instruction [education], you boast that you accomplish miracles, Moses presents Himself Who exceeds them [the miracles you boast for yourselves] and destroys them [ibid.] with His rod. You advance in the sciences; you study yourselves in your bodies and when finally you have, according to yourselves, penetrated the secret of death and that of life, Jesus comes Who, with His breath, makes of a dead one a living one, of a living one a cadaver! [43]
Your schools of philosophy are opened, letters [literature] become your domain, you elevate yourselves to the most sublime beauties of the human genius, and Muhammad appears Who speaks to you the very language of God in its splendid and marvelous eloquence.
What more do you need and what [more] are you asking for?
[p.IX]
Do you believe thus to submit God to your caprices? Have you forgotten the obedience that you owe to Him? Have you become the masters? You can believe this in your arrogance [pride], but what would you think of Him if He would listen to your bawlings? Believe, do not believe, how can this matter to His Majesty, to His Power, to His Sublimity; your reasonings will they stop the working [forward march] of the world? Scorn each other, calumniate, excommunicate each other. May each one of you, enclosed in the narrowness of his sect, cry with arrogance in the [his] heart: Multi enim vocati, pauci vero electi [44] without comprehending that by that very thing he excludes himself from the number [company] of the elect!
What is this thus that the creature [has] and what madness leads him astray? Can she [45] not take a look at the past and bow down before the marvelous work of the Lord? What, these men, who after having ridiculed Muhammad have inclined themselves under [the reign of] His law, will thus not comprehend that they expel themselves today from Islám. Brought up in the idea that the verses are the work of God, convinced of this eternal truth against which nothing prevails, here they are who now turn themselves away from the verses of the Bayán.
This is, briefly summarized, the argument of the Báb in the first part of the Book of the Seven Proofs. Fundamentally, the proof is one and thereafter He will finish by affirming that one must believe in His mission uniquely [only] because He proclaims it.
In the second part, He descends from these heights and consents to give certain explanations, not to
[p.X]
prove His mission--for it proves itself--but to “reassure the heart” of those who hesitate upon the path and to give them arguments to oppose to their contradictors [attackers, opponents]. He comments therein upon a certain number of hadíth. [46]
I must point out that the Báb, in addressing Himself to the Shi'ites, clashes not only with the hadíth of the Arabian Prophet, but also with those of the Twelve Imáms, and that [the hadíth of the Twelve Imáms] is an accumulated confusion of things of which nothing can give an idea.
He declares, what many people admit, that every hadíth that is not in close connection with the Qur'án is false; and, by [virtue of] this fact, He rejects nine-tenths of them out of hand. He applies to those which remain the rules of Muslim criticism [scholarship] [47] which it would be too long to repeat here and conserves [retains] only a small number of them [the hadíth], relative to the quantity collected by Majlissí. [48]
We will not follow Him in His discussion, but, with an example, to which He returns at every instant [moment], we will attempt to seize [grasp] the profundity of His thought.
When Jesus Christ appeared, the Jews awaited the Messiah promised by the prophecies: These prophecies were of considerable number, obscure, contradictory, and it was incumbent upon the priests [49] of Moses [to make] the effort to study them and to explain them [to others]. They did not fail therein at all and we do not have any [a single] reason to suspect their good faith and their piety. On the contrary, it is by an excess of scruple that they refused to recognize Jesus: when they examined the mass of the prophecies
[p.XI]
concerning the coming of the divine messenger, they saw that they[the prophecies] did not apply to the Person Who claimed [50] this title: for example it was not at all proven, for them, that Jesus was of the race [house/family/heritage] of David [51] . It is thus by [through] “reason” that they pushed away [rejected] the Christ [Messiah], but by human reason, that is to say powerless and confined. The Catholic Church, which rose up thereafter, treated as fables and as lies a large portion of these traditions [prophecies], and explained in a new and precise fashion certain other ones [prophecies] which the Jews obstinately did not comprehend in the sense in which they [the prophecies] had been henceforth indicated to them. [52] Faithful to their traditions [traditional interpretations of the prophecies?], entrenched in the confines of their religion, convinced of the truth of a science [body of knowledge] which was nothing but a tissue of errors, the Jews, in good faith pushed away [rejected] Him Whom they awaited with such impatience.
Triumphant, the Christians did not avoid falling into the same rut: their zeal carried them away: they rejected, in treating them as apocryphal, certain writings which nonetheless contained the truth. Convinced of their [being on the] good path [rightness], they explained that the “Counsellor” promised by Jesus was the Holy Spirit, and, their eyes fixed upon the Gospels they awaited the end of the world, the last judgment, the return of Jesus in the clouds, without the least in the world understanding the sense of these words: “the Paraclete” “the last judgment” “the return of Jesus”.
And when the promised Ahmád [53] came to proclaim His
[p.XII]
mission before the face of the world which awaited Him, they cried against the blasphemer, the false prophet. The example of the Jews was of no service to them, for like them [the Jews] they turned themselves, full of a blind rage, against the new Apostle and opposed themselves by violence and blood to the propagation of His doctrine.
Alas, it would seem that this would suffice to open the eyes of humanity [--] henceforth clear-seeing. Truly these battles, these hatreds, these horrors, these tortures should they not have stopped before the [operation of] evident reason? So many times tested, will man then always fall again into the same snare and will he wear out, by the obstinacy of his error the obstinacy of divine benevolence?
These Muslims in their turn take upon their shoulders the weight of all of the crimes of the past, these elected of God throw themselves to the envy of one another in perdition. As the Jews did towards Jesus, as the Christians did in the case of Muhammad, they bark their blasphemies against the Báb, and once more, according to the strong expression of the Gospel [54] , the dog returns to its vomit.
These examples from the past offer nothing consoling, but nevertheless humanity must not despair; the law of progress was inscribed upon its brow since its infancy and a day will come when universal brotherhood will no longer be a fruitless word.
As we see it, the argument of the Báb is new and original [55] , and one can already, by this simple glimpse, realize the powerful interest which the
[p.XIII]
reading of His literary work offers. The framework of this effort [work] does not leave me at all the liberty to explain, even briefly, the principal dogmas [teachings] of a doctrine [which is] certainly bold and of which the appearance is surely brilliant and sympathetic. I hope to do so hereafter, but, I have still, for the moment, an observation to present regarding the Book of the Seven Proofs.
Indeed, towards the end of His work, the Báb speaks of the miracles which have accompanied His manifestation. This will no doubt astonish the reader, for he will have seen, in the course of His response [that is the text of this Book], our Apostle clearly negating the material miracles which the Muslim imagination attributes to Muhammad. He affirms that for Himself, as for the Arabian Prophet, the only proof of His mission is “the descent of verses”. There are no others, not that He is incapable of producing miracles--for God doeth whatsoever He willeth--but simply because the “material prodigies” are inferior to the “immaterial miracles”.
It seems to me, the explanation of this apparent contradiction is simple enough. The Báb, in addressing Himself to people imbued with the idea of miracles, speaks to them [in] their language and shows them that often what one calls [a] “prodigy” [marvel] is nothing other than a coincidence. We will accustom ourselves hereafter to the ways that the Báb has of expressing Himself and I hope thus to justify [be confirmed in] the opinion which I present here.
NOTES
(All notes by Peter Terry, unless otherwise indicated. MW's note)
[1] ' polemical works'-- devoted to attack upon or refutation of the opinions or principles of another; Shoghi Effendi, in God Passes By, p. 26 (Wilmette:Bahá'í Publishing Trust,1944;1970) echoes Nicolas in calling Dala'il-i-Sab'ih 'the most important of the polemical works of the Báb'.
[2] ' Siyyid 'AlíMuhammad'-- given name of the Founder of the Bábí Faith, also known as the Báb, the Primal Point, the Point of the Bayán, Who was born in 1819 in Shíírází and died in 1850 in Tabríz, both cities in Irán.
[3] ' Makka'-- name of the city located on the western coast of Arabia (the modern state is named Saudi Arabia) which is the site of pilgrimage of all Muslims.
[4] 'ulamá -- plural of 'alim meaning 'knowing, cognizant, informed, learned, erudite'; having 'ilm which is defined as 'knowledge, learning, perception, science'. All definitions from the Arabic are taken from Hans Wehr's Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic , translated and edited by J. Milton Cowan and published by Spoken Language Services, Ithaca, New York, 1976. In this context 'ulamá refers to those who are trained in Muslim learning, who are the Islámic equivalent of clergymen.
[5] ' Yazd'-- city in central Irán, between Isfáhán and Kirmán.
[6] A Prophet
in the Nineteenth Century -- subtitle of Seyyed 'AlíMohammed
dit le Báb , by A. L. M. Nicolas, published in Paris by Dujarric in
1905.
[8] Commentary on the Suráh of Yusuf -- first work of the Báb revealed after His declaration on 23rd May 1844, first chapter revealed on that occasion according to the eye-witness account of Mullá Husayn Bushrú'í; also called the Qayyumu'l-'Asmá and Ahsan al-Qisas, what Bahá'u'lláh has characterized as “the first, the greatest, and mightiest of all books” in the Bábíí Dispensation. (Shoghí Effendí, God Passes By (1), p. 23).
[9] Bayán -- internal evidence indicates that both the Persian Bayán and the Arabic Bayán were written during the Báb's interment in Máh-Kú most likely in 1848; no student of the Bábí Revelation other than A. L. M. Nicolas makes this claim that portions of the Bayán had been among “the first writings of the new Apostle”.
[10] Kitáb al-Haramayn -- also referred to as Kitáb Bayna'l-Haramayn and as Sahifá Bayna'l-Haramayn , referring either to the twin holy cities of all Muslims, Makka and Madina, or to the two holy cities of Shi'ite Islám, Karbilá and Najáf, probably revealed in the summer of 1845.(see footnote 15)
[11] Kitáb
al-Rúh -- also referred to as Kitáb al-'Adl , revealed,
according to A. L. M. Nicolas, during His voyage from Maskat to Búshihr;
according to H. M. Balyuzí, the Báb, 'returning from His pilgrimage
to Mecca, arrived at Búshihr sometime in the month of Safár 1261
A.H.(February-March 1845).' (H. M. Balyuzí, The Báb, Oxford:
George Ronald, 1973, p. 77).
[13] Búshihr-- a city in Irán in the province of Fárs, located on the Persian Gulf and roughly one hundred miles southwest of Shíráz, and opposite the modern city of Al-Kuwayt in the nation-state of Kuwait.
[14] Joseph Arthur le Comte de Gobineau, Les Religions et les Philosophies dans l'Asie Centrale, Paris: Didier et Cie, 1865.
[15] Kitáb al-Haramayn is dated by A. L. M. Nicolas in (6), p. 206; Nicolas quotes his copy of this work and translates it as follows: “Le premier jour que l'esprit descendit dans le coeur de cet esclave etait le 15 du mois de Rebi el-Ewel. Et jusqu'a aujourd'hui, ou Dieu vous interdit mes versets, quinze mois ont ete ecrits dans le livre de Dieu.” This I translate into English as follows: “The first day that the spirit descended into the heart of this slave [referring to the Báb] was the 15th of the month of Rabi' al-Awal [1260]. And until today, when God forbids you My verses, fifteen months have been written in the book of God.” As the 15th of Rabi' I 1260 corresponds to the 4th of April 1844, fifteen months later would find us at the 4th of July 1845. According to the Báb's Kitáb al-Fihrist, p. 286, which was revealed according to its own testimony (cited by Denis MacEoin in his article on the Báb (pp. 278-84, vol. III, Encyclopedia Iranica, 1989; and in his book The Sources for Early Bábí Doctrine and History, Leiden: Brill, 1992) on 15 Jumada II 1261, which corresponds to 21st June 1845 when the Báb was in Bshihr, 'the first day on which the spirit descended into his heart' was the 15th of Rabi' II 1260, which corresponds to the 4th of May 1844 (this date is also reported in the above-cited article and book). It may be pointed out, that if the text of the Kitáb al-Haramayn indeed gives the date of its composition as 15 Jumada II 1261/21st June 1845, to quote MacEoin, and if it indeed states that it has been revealed fifteen months after 'the first day on which the spirit descended into his heart' to quote Nicolas, and if, to quote MacEoin, this spiritual event took place on 15 Rabi'II 1260/4 May 1844 rather than on 15 Rabi' I 1260/4th April 1844 (to quote Nicolas), what is the real difference? The period of time between 15 Rabi' I 1260/4th April 1844 and 21st June 1845 is precisely fourteen months and two weeks. The period of time between 15 Rabi' II 1260/4 May 1844 and 21 June 1845 is precisely thirteen months and two weeks. According to MacEoin (in his earlier cited book) there are several manuscripts of Kitáb al-Haramayn including two copies dated circa 1261/1845, and until all of these copies are carefully studied it will be impossible to determine which, if any, of these dates are reliable. However, it should be noted that MacEoin's date for the composition ofKitáb al-Haramayn falls two weeks short of fifteen months after Nicolas' date for 'the first day', and in either case, the revelation of this book falls in early summer 1845.
[16] A
Prophet in the Nineteenth Century -- subtitle of Seyyed 'Alí Mohammed
dit le Báb , by A. L. M. Nicolas, published in Paris by Dujarric in
1905.
[18] Qur'án,
Suráh of the 'Imrans (III), verse 60, N. J. Dawood translation into English,
Penguin Classics.
[19] i.e.
in the Kitáb al-Haramayn
[21] “Precognition of the Báb” -- Nicolas makes this assertion but gives no evidence in support thereof. Perhaps in one of his other publications devoted to the Báb, such as his biography cited earlier, there may be some instances reported of the clairvoyance of the Báb.
[22] “denouement of the tragedy”-- the outcome of a complex sequence of events; Nicolas seems to refer here to the martyrdom of the Báb, which took place on 9 July 1850 in the city of Tabríz, located about two hundred miles south of Máh-Kú (see previous footnote), on the eastern side of Lake Urumiyyih, in modern Adharbáyján-e Sharqí.
[23] Nicolas seems to be pointing out that inasmuch as the Báb was clairvoyant, and inasmuch as He does speak of Máh-Kú but not of Chihríq in the Dala'il-i-Sab'ih , it seems evident that He was writing from Máh-Kú rather than from Chihríq.
[24] i.e.
in the Book of the Seven Proofs
[25] This
does not correspond with the French translation, so it must identify the page
in the original manuscript which Nicolas translated.
[26] The Imám
Mahdí, Who is none other than the Báb. (A. L. M. Nicolas's note).
[28] “the Bábí historian, Aghá Mírzá Jání”-- cited as a source frequently by Nicolas in his biography of the Báb (6); described in a footnote in Balyuz's biography of the Báb (17), p. 52 as 'the first to attempt to write a history of the new theophany', and his full name given p. 174 as Hájí Mírzá Jání Kashání supposed author of Kitáb-i Nuqtatu'l-Kaf, being the earliest history of the Bábís', published with English notes but without translation of the Persian text by E. G. Browne in 1910 (Leiden: Brill). Identified as a forgery or greatly adulterated by sectarians identified with Mírzá Yahyá, a pretender for leadership of the Bábís after the decease of the Báb, who demonstrated his desire to alter the historical record in order to bolster his candidacy, according to Mírzá 'Abu'l Fadl Gulpáygání, H. M. Balyuzí and other scholars. A highly controversial work.
[29] Nicolas asserts that the Comte de Gobineau (see footnote 14) identifies the Báb's revelation of His station as the Imám Mahdí and His rejection of His title of Báb with the very beginning of His mission, in Shíráz. It is clear from a number of sources that the Báb did not assume the title of Imám Mahdí until very late in His mission, and certainly did not do so during His residence in Shíráz.
[30] Nicolas quotes a passage from the Comte de Gobineau's book (see footnote 14).
[31] Mullá Husayn-i-Bushrú'í--
according to his own account, quoted by Nabil-i-A'zám (The Dawnbreakers ,
chapter III, British and US editions), on the same night that Siyyid 'Alí Muhammad Shírází
assumed the title 'Báb', He conferred upon His first believer, this same
Mullá Husayn, the title “Bábu'l-Báb”.
Nicolas encourages his reader to be sympathetic to the Báb and to His followers, to trust their own accounts of themselves over the calumnious and distorted accounts written by their enemies in the Muslim community. (Peter Terry's Note).
[33] A
Prophet in the Nineteenth Century -- subtitle of Seyyed 'Ali Mohammed
dit le Báb , by A. L. M. Nicolas, published in Paris by Dujarric in
1905.
[35] “two verses of the Qur'án”-- the first verse referred to: XVII:89 (“Say: If men and jinn combined to write the like of this Koran, they would surely fail to compose the like, though they helped one another as best they could”, see Fifth Proof; the second verse referred to: III:5 (“and none knows its interpretation, save only God, and those firmly rooted in knowledge”), see Fifth Proof.
[36] Qur'án, Surát
al-Imrán (III), verse 7, interpreted by Nicolas in a similar way to
the English translation of Yusuf 'Alí: “but no one knows its hidden
meanings except Allah and those who are firmly grounded in knowledge”,
in contrast to the renderings of various other translators: “yet none knoweth
its interpretation but God. And the stable in knowledge.” (Rodwell), “None
knoweth its explanation save Allah. And those who are of sound instruction.”
(Pickthall), “but none know the interpretation of it except God. But those
who are well grounded in knowledge” (Palmer). Nicolas's interpretation
corresponds with that of Bahá'u'll´h, as translated and interpreted
by Shoghí Effendí, as the various citations of this
verse also assume this form: “None knoweth the meaning thereof except God
and them that are well-grounded in knowledge.” (Bahá'u'll´h, Kitáb-i-Iqán,
pp. 17, 213, 255-256)
[38] Qur'án,
VI:25; VIII:31; XVI:24; XXIII:83; XXV:5; XXVII:68; XLVI:17; LXVIII:15; LXXXIII:13
[39] Qur'án,
Surát al-Imrán (III), verse 7.
This is, of course a Shi'ite interpretation of this Qur'ánic verse. (Peter Terry's Note).
[41] ' Psalms'-- Nicolas is obviously (to a European Christian or Jewish reader) referring to the Book of Psalms, traditionally attributed (in major part) to the authorship of King David, and called Tehilim in the original Hebrew. The verse quoted here by Nicolas was not found in any of the Psalms by the English translator, and indeed the only use of 'hidden treasure' discovered was the fourteenth verse of the seventeenth Psalm (17:14)-- 'From men which are thy hand, O Lord, from men of the world, which have their portion in this life, and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure: they are full of children, and leave the rest of their substance to their babes.' (King James Version) This verse seems to bear no relationship to the one cited by Nicolas.The real source of this reference to the 'hidden treasure' appears to be an Islámic tradition, which is not found in any of the standard collections of ahadíth , but is referred to multiple times in the fourth volume of the Mathnaví of Jalalu'd-Dín Rumí, and in the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh (Prayers and Meditations , pp. 48, 286 and possibly p. 321; Tablets of Bahá'u'll´h , pp. 114, 140 and possibly pp. 47, 50, 77, 258; Arabic Hidden Words, #3), and the theme of a commentary penned by 'Abdu'l-Bahá' in His youth (Tafsír-i-Hamsa Kansan Makhfiyyan ).
[42] ' The Prophets, I am Them'-- Nicolas quotes a hadíth (tradition) related of the Prophet Muhammad, without identifying his source or the veracity of the statement made therein. Bahá'u'lláh, in Kitáb-i-Iqán (US edition, 1970) seems to quote this hadíth in two places: p. 152-53 ('Thus hath Muhammad, the Point of the Qur'án, revealed: 'I am all the Prophets.'') and p. 162 ('Hath not Muhammad, Himself, declared: 'I am all the Prophets'?'). The first of these two citations is also found in Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh , US edition, 1971.
[43] ' of a dead one a living one, of a living one a cadaver'-- Jesus raises the only son of a widow living in the city of Nain, as described in the Gospel of Luke, 7:11-15:
11 And it came to pass the day after, that He went into a city called Nain; and many of his disciples went with Him, and much people.
12 Now when He came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her.
13 And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not.
14 And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. and He said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise.
15 And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And He delivered him to his mother.
Jesus equates spiritual death with physical death, as cited in the famous verses from the Gospel of Matthew, 8:21-22:
21 And another of His disciples said unto Him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.It seems that these are the two occurrences to which Nicolas refers.
22 But Jesus said unto him, Follow Me; and let the dead bury their dead.
[44] Multi enim vocati, pauci vero electi -- Latin (Vulgate) version of the words of Jesus, known to English readers of the King James Version as follows: “for many be called, but few chosen” (Gospel of Matthew, 20:16).
[45] the creature:
feminine word in French
[47] ' rules of Muslim scholarship'--this refers to the rules whereby Muslim scholars came to decisions about matters of Islámic doctrine and practice.
[48] '
Majlissi' is Muhammad Baqír ibn Muhammad Taqí Majlisí, compiler
of Bihar al-Anwár (25 volumes, published in Tíhrán:1885-1897). Bahá'u'lláh
quotes one hadíth from Bihar al-Anwár in Kitáb-i-Iqán (p.
243), not because He considers them to provide authoritative arguments in favor
of the prophetic claims of the Báb, but in the following spirit (pp. 237,
256):
“Although We did not intend to make mention of the traditions of a bygone age, yet, because of Our love for thee, We will cite a few which are applicable to Our argument...”[49] “ the priests of Moses”-- Moses was commanded by God in the Torah to appoint two kinds of ministers to the service of God on behalf of the Hebraic people: the kohanim , who are the priests who serve in the Tabernacle and later in the Temple; and the leviim , who are assistants to the priests but not permitted into the inner sanctum of either the Tabernacle or the Temple, who provide the music (vocal and instrumental) of the Temple, and carry out many other specific duties.
“These things We mention only that the people may not be dismayed because of certain traditions and utterances, which have not yet been literally fulfilled, that they may rather attribute their perplexity to their own lack of understanding, and not to the non-fulfilment of the promises in the traditions, inasmuch as the meaning intended by the Imáms of the Faith is not known by this people, as evidenced by the traditions themselves.”
[50] ' the Person Who claimed this title'-- Did Jesus claim to be a divine messenger? Very definitely we can affirm the He did and we are able to cite many specific references in support of such an affirmation.
[51] Did Jesus claim to be descended from King David? Jesus did not make this claim Himself. The Gospel of Matthew states that Jesus was descended from King David through His father Joseph (1:1-16), and the Gospel of Luke makes the same statement but with a different geneology (3:23-31f); also, in the Gospel of John (6:42), Joseph is identified as the father of Jesus. But the Gospels of Matthew and Luke specifically state that Joseph was not the father of Jesus, that He was conceived in His mother Mary by the Holy Ghost (Matthew 1:18,20; Luke 1:35), and consequently His patrilineal descent from David seems to be tenuous at best.
[52] This controversy between the Catholic Church and the Jews is not elaborated by Nicolas, and the reader may wish to know in more detail the clashing approaches to the interpretation of prophecy in the Catholic and Jewish traditions. For fulfillment of this aim the reader is invited to study those reference works on this subject to be found in most university libraries and many large public libraries and generally identified as Interpreter's Dictionaries and Relgious Encyclopedias.
[53] promised Ahmád--this refers to the Qur'án, Sur´t al- (LXI), verse 6:
And remember, Jesus, the son of Mary, said: “O Children of Israel! I am the messenger of Allah (sent) to you confirming the Law (which came) before me, and giving glad Tidings of a Messenger to come after me, whose name shall be Ahmád.” But when he came to them with Clear Signs, they said, “This is evident sorcery!”
[54] “the strong expression of the Gospel”-- This is not an expression of the Gospel but rather it is a proverb quoted by Peter, one of the twelve disciples of Jesus in his Second General Epistle (2:22): “But as it happened unto them according to the true proverb, 'The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.'” Peter is quoting one of the proverbs from the Book of Proverbs, called mishlei in Hebrew and attributed traditionally to King Solomon, from the twenty-sixth chapter and eleventh verse (26:11): “As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly.”
[55] “ the argument of the Báb is new and original”-- Shoghí Effendí, in God Passes By (1), p. 26, once again agrees with the assessment of Nicolas, calling the Dala'il-i-Sab'ih, “original in conception”.
OF THE
DALA'IL‑I‑SAB'IH
FROM THE FRENCH OF A. L. M. NICOLAS
BY PETER TERRY:
FIRST PROOF
I f the verses of the Qur'án were not superior to the miracles of all the prophets, how could those ones [miracles] have been abrogated by these ones [verses]? How is it that alone, the Qur'án could have remained? That is a strong and perfect proof that this proof is superior (to the miracles accomplished by) the rod of Moses or other antecedent miracles of the preceding manifestations. [37]
Notes
Unless otherwise stated, all notes are by Peter Terry.
All material in square brackets also by Peter Terry. (MW’s note.)
[37] Everyone
knows that the Qur'án recognizes in the Christ the greatest of the Prophets:
only Muhammad surpasses Him. There are two great proofs of this, the one
intellectual, the other material. The intellectual one is that, as we have seen,
each prophet enlarged the instruction given by His immediate predecessor: Muhammad
coming after Jesus and revealing a larger portion of the divine secrets had to
be, by the very fact thereof [of doing so], superior to Him [Jesus]. The material
proof is in the existence of the Qur'án: indeed, the prodigies accomplished
by Moses were transitory, there is not left today any trace thereof, except in
the memory of men. Jesus surely resuscitated a cadaver, but it was only for a
certain time, and the body, one moment reanimated, fell again into death. The
Miracle of Muhammad is on the contrary eternal in duration: it was not
produced only during the life of the Prophet to disappear after Him [His ascension],
it exists still, it manifests itself every day and it will manifest itself until
the end of the ages. (A. L. M. Nicolas's note)
SECOND PROOF
W ith the religion which you profess, you can not find any escape. Indeed, following what is written in the Qur'án, you say: “Besides God, no person can cause (to descend
[p.10]
from heaven) verses (such) that one can say they come from God.” [38] If a creature could have produced such, one certainly would have produced them during this period of one thousand two hundred and seventy years. The incapacity of the creatures thus seems to you, up until now, very evident. Therefore, remark how perfect is the goodness of God for all those who accept the Qur'án, for it has closed, for them, the doors of doubt. Indeed, at the very moment that they see verses (they must accept them), for it can not come to their spirit [the thought or feeling] that they come from another than God. Furthermore, it is said in the Qur'án that no person can create even a hadíth. [39] Hence, a sincerely pious and believing man can not allow entry into his heart the thought that the verses of my Bayán [40] come from another one but God. [41] Perhaps, the pen would refuse its service to such a work, for finally, it is impossible to realize [become real] for a Muslim, how much more so, and I ask pardon from God for this supposition, for a man who rejects Islám.
I vow by the Pure Attributes of God! The divine blessing
[p.11]
was perfect for all those who believe in the Qur'án for if anyone wishes to reflect [remember] well [profoundly] on that which testifies to the (divine) truth of this Book, (which is to say the verses), he can not do otherwise than to admit [to] the celestial emanation of no matter what verse of my Bayán. How could he doubt? How could he not be convinced? Be candid, what difference is there between the day that you knew yourself and in which you entered into Islám by means of the Evidence of the Qur'án, and the day in which you saw the Bayán‑‑in which you did not want to believe?
You did not see Muhammad, that is evident: you do not see of [from] Him any miracle except for the Qur'án. And so, if it is without understanding anything about it that you have embraced your religion, why have you embraced it? If, on the contrary, it is with intelligence that you have chosen it, what difference can there be between the moment in which you saw the Qur'án, in which you have been convinced of the powerlessness of every man to make a similar book, in which finally you have accepted the Muslim religion, and the moment in which you examined the Bayán without being able to be convinced (of its divinity)? Truly is it necessary that God give you another Proof? [42] When He will ask you: “For what reason did you embrace the Muslim religion?” would you have another argument to invoke besides the Qur'án? It is thereupon verily that God confirms His testimony.
And so, even as you embraced the religion of the Arabic Prophet, by means of His book, you should have, in the same fashion, given your faith to the Nuqtih‑Bayán. For finally, once again, you did not see Muhammad and nevertheless you believed in His book: from then on, in the same fashion you should have, after having seen a verse of the Bayán, believed in all of its verses as you believed in those of the Qur'án. God has sent no
[p.12]
Prophet who distributes a book issuing from Him as proof of His mission: that is a point particular to the Nuqtih‑Bayán, that if He presents verses to a Muslim, these verses are, as of the essence of the Qur'án itself, a complete and perfect proof for this Muslim. Yes, the sight alone of but one of these verses (suffices) for those who have the intelligent and perspicacious eye: for the others, I do not speak of them, for they are not worthy of a similar attention, God having said in the greater part of the Manifestations that these signs are for those who have Faith and Intelligence and not for the great majority of the creatures, who are not in a state to comprehend. [43]
These are two of the seven proofs that I give you, they depend one upon the other. The first is thus that the verses are superior to all the miracles of all of the prophets, the second is that God alone has the power to cause to descend verses from heaven.
[p.13]
See how God tests His creatures! [44] If He had given to the Nuqtih‑Bayán the rod which He delivered to Moses, not one of those who believe in the Qur'án would have remained in doubt, all would have believed. And here that God gave to Him a sign superior to this rod, following the very religion of the Muslims and the testimony of their book: any many of the creatures were tested and withdrew themselves all of a sudden. This derives from their lack of religion and of investigation in their own religion, for the sight alone or the audition alone of a single verse surpasses the greatest of all the miracles of the prophets.
Notes
Unless otherwise stated, all notes are by Peter Terry.
All material in square brackets also by Peter Terry. (MW’s note.)
[38] Qur'ánic testimony:
If you have doubts regarding the Book which We have sent to Our servant, produce a chapter in the least similar to those which it encloses and call, if you are sincere your witnesses, those which you invoke beside God. But if you do not do this, and for sure you will not do so, fear again [for] the fire prepared for the infidels, the fire of which men and rocks will be the fuel. If you doubt what We have revealed to Our servant, produce one chapter comparable to it. Call upon your idols to assist you, if what you say be true. But if you fail (as you are sure to fail) then guard yourselves against the Fire whose fuel is men and stones, prepared for the unbelievers. (Qur'án, II:23)
They say: “It is he (Muhammad) who has invented it?” Reply to them: “Compose then a single chapter like this: call to it all those whom you can, save God, if you are sincere.” If they say: “He invented it himself,” say: “Bring me one chapter like it. Call on whom you may besides God to help you, if what you say be true!” (Qur'án, X:38)
If they say: “He has invented it himself,” say to them: ”Produce ten invented chapters like it. Call on whom you will among your idols, if what you say be true. But if they fail you, know that it is revealed with God's knowledge, and that there is no god but Him. Will you then accept Islám?” (Qur'án, 11:13‑14)
[39] This verse was not discovered. However, the Qur'án makes similar statements that were identified:
Say, If mankind and the jinn gathered together to produce the like of this Qur'án, they could not produce the like thereof, even though they should help one another. (Qur'án 17:89)
O men, a similitude is set forth, so listen to it. Surely, those on whom you call instead of God cannot create even a fly, though they combine together for the purpose. And if the fly should snatch away anything from them, they cannot recover it therefrom. Weak indeed are both the seeker and the sought. (Qur'án 22:73)
[40] Bayán is the generic term the Báb uses to refer to all of his writings. It is also the title of two books: the Bayán al-'Arabiyya (Arabic Bayán) and the Bayán-i-Farsí (Persian Bayán), both authored in Máh-Kú in 1848.
[41] The Báb in all of this passage depends upon the verses of the Qur'án which we have already cited. He also makes allusion to these verses:
It is not the demons who have brought the Qur'án from heaven; this would not suit them and they would not have able to do so; they are even deprived of the right to hear it in heaven. (Qur'án XXVI:210‑212)There can thus be no doubt about this for a Muslim: the Qur'án was created by God, men and demons are incapable of producing even a single verse: hence, whatever is a verse, is the work of God. That [Hence] if you say that I am Myself the Author, you ascribe a lie to the Qur'án which has foreseen your objection; but, if He had not done so [foreseen your objection], that God is the master of the events of this world [is evident]: if He gave to the Prophets Whom He sent proofs of their mission, it is impossible that He did not unmask every charlatan who wished to pass himself off as sent by Him, risking thus the success of His work of salvation. How from then on could He permit a false prophet to produce verses which, by definition, are [of] divine manufacture? On the contrary, He would paralyze the hand that wished to write them, the tongue that wished to speak them, the brain that wanted to compose them before such a blasphemy could take place. Furthermore, since you believe in the divinity of the verses, because they are the work of God, because men and demons would be incapable of producing them, how can you say that if I produce them, they do not come from heaven? (A. L. M. Nicolas's note)
[42] Truly must God give you another Proof of the Divinity of whatsoever mission and particularly of Mine, other than that which He fixed Himself for Eternity, that is to say the verses? (A. L. M. Nicolas's note)
[43] The books of Moses were never presented as proof of His mission. The miracles, that is to say this proof [of His mission] were due to His rod. The Gospels of Jesus are the simple collection of His acts and of His words: that which constituted His miracles coming to support His prophetic mission, this was His breath resuscitating the dead. Each one of them had furthermore been predicted by His predecessor. For Muhammad, the proof that He is sent by God, is found first and before all [else] in the prediction that Jesus made, in the Gospels of His coming. That should have sufficed, but God, to spare [save] the future gave Him the Qur'án. He was thus deprived of the gift of inferior miracles, but He brought a Book of which the reading alone demonstrated its divine origin. He elevated thus human thought to the spectacle of the very works of Divinity, and He prepared also the terrain for His successors, for once the Qur'án, that is to say the verses, [were] admitted as coming directly from the celestial world, the following [succeeding] prophets had only to present such [verses] in their turn to be immediately recognized. They need no longer preoccupy themselves [in order] to prove their mission: their language suffices because they express themselves in verses. Thus the great ones of the nation must submit themselves and bring about the consent of the others, for it is not for the vulgum pecus that the verses descend from heaven upon the earth. The lower people have only to act as it [they] has [have] since the origin of the world, that is to say to follow the movement. For finally only a few men saw the miracles of the Christ and believed in Him, the others did not become Christians except through the testimony of these eye‑witnesses. It was the same for Muhammad with this difference that His miracle is produced continually: but for whom? For the [ones with] high intelligences and also they must be versed in the science of the Arabic language. A Persian who knows in general very poorly his [own] language and Arabic not at all, how could he be struck by a miracle of which he cannot even suspect the nature? He is a Muslim only because of the example which is given him by the great ones and by following the universal consent. This is why the responsibility of the enlightened men is terrible, in the sense that they are not only the cause of their own damnation but also of that of thousands of individuals that their conversion would have restored to the straight path. (A. L. M. Nicolas's note)
[44] Elif, Lam, Mim. [Do] men imagine that they will be left tranquil, if only they say: “We believe”; and that they will not be put to the test? (A. L. M. Nicolas's note)
[Alif, Lam, Mim. Do men think that once they say: “We are believers”, they will be left alone and not be put to the test?] (Qur'án, XXIX:1) (PT's note).
THIRD PROOF
T he Proof of the Divine Power proceeds continuously from the verses. Do not think that it is an easy work (to produce such); their creation is more marvelous than that of the creatures of heaven, of the earth and of that which is between them.
Refer yourself simply to the letters of the alphabet. Everyone uses them to speak and God manifested them from a man who had not frequented the schools. Nobody, upon the surface of the globe could present a similar creation for it is no other than the manifestation of the
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divine Power [45] and it is a sign without mixture of His grandeur. But the creatures live in a perishable world and they cannot pause at the sublimity and at the magnificence of the verses: they do not see except for their own nature and cannot attain to the height [loftiness] of this testimony that will subsist until the day of judgment. [46]
Notes
Unless otherwise stated, all notes are by Peter Terry.
All material in square brackets also by Peter Terry. (MW’s note.)
There was a time when you had no book to recite, in which you would not have known how to trace a single line with your right hand. Oh! hence, those who negate the truth could doubt. (Qur'án, XXIX:47)(A. L. M. Nicholas's note)
[Never have you read a book before this, nor have you ever transcribed one with your right hand. Had you done either of these, the unbelievers might have doubted. (Qur'án, XXIX:47)]
[46] We have already seen this, [that] the miracles of all of the previous prophets were transitory, [while] those of Muhammad, that is the verses, reproduce themselves every time that one opens His book. It is the same for those of the Báb which consist of the Bayán. One must know that the invention of the alphabet, is divine work for God prepared in this way, for the future, the manifestation of the most sublime of the miracles: take note that men made use of the letters placed in this way at their disposition: when have they made verses: never before Muhammad, never after Him. The Báb appears in His turn, He causes them [verses] to descend from heaven, [so] what veil thus blinds the eyes of men who do not believe in Him? (A. L. M. Nicholas's note)
The verses and the Book are superior to no matter what miracle, in such manner that, for the Muslim, there is no other way but to believe in this superiority which God Himself has affirmed in the Súrah of the Spider:
Does it not suffice them that We have sent you the Book of which you recite to them verses!Certainly there is in this a proof of the mercy of God and notification for all men who believe.
[Is it not enough for them that We have revealed to you the Book for their instruction? Surely in this there is a blessing and an admonition to true believers.] (Qur'án, XXIX:50; Nicolas; [Dawood] translations)
The greater part of the passages of the Qur'án respond to the frivolous demands which were made of the Prophet of God. For example, it is said in the Súrah of the Night Journey: [47]
They say: we will not believe you, unless you cause to gush from the earth a source of living water. Or at least that you have a garden planted with palm trees and with vines and that you cause to gush torrents from the midst of this garden. Or at least that a fragment of the sky fall upon us, or at least that you bring God and the angels as guarantors of your words. Or at least that you have a house ornamented with gilt, or at least that you rise to the heaven: we would not believe nonetheless that you had risen up, except if you caused to descend a book that all of us would be able to read. Reply to them: by the glory of my Lord! Am I something other than a man and an envoy?
[They say: “We will not believe in you until you make a spring gush from the earth before our very eyes, or cause rivers to flow in a grove of palms
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and vines; until you cause the sky to fall upon us in pieces, as you have threatened to do, or bring down God and the angels in our midst; until you build a house of gold, or ascend to heaven; nor will we believe in your ascent until you have sent down for us a book which we can read.” Say: “Glory to my Lord! Surely I am no more than an apostle made of flesh and blood.”] (Qur'án, XVí:90‑92, Nicolas; Dawood translations)
And so, now, reply to me candidly. What difference is there between these Arabs and you who (like them), demand everything that comes into your head? If you imagine that the slave [48] can do whatever he wishes, you deceive yourself. This power is in the hand of God. If it had been in the hands of the slave there would not have remained a single infidel upon the surface of the globe, for the confessors[?] for whom all the hopes would have been realized (by their Prophet) would have believed in Him.I take refuge in God! If you accept as proof that which God Himself has established as such, if you believe in Him and seek
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to satisfy Him, then how can you wish to bring to Him the proof of your faith [based] upon points[grounds] which do not please Him and cannot please Him: He forbade this in the Súrah of the Bee to the slaves who do not believe in the verses:
Certainly, God does not direct at all those who do not believe in His verses: a cruel chastisement is reserved for them. Those who do not believe in the verses of God commit an untruth, they are liars. [God will not guide those who disbelieve God's revelations. Grievous punishment awaits them. None invents falsehoods save those who disbelieve God's revelations: they alone are the liars.] [49] (Qur'án, XVI:106, Nicolas; Dawood translations)Pay good attention to this: in each manifestation it is precisely on this point [50] where the greater part of the creatures lose their way, who mistake the direction and go from the Paradise of Faith to the hell of irreligion. Know well that He from whom the Proof was attested, comes from God. This suffices as proof, even as God says so, in the Qur'án, by the mouth of Moses:
We come to you with a sign from your Lord: may peace be upon him who follows the straight path.
[We have come to you with a revelation from your Lord: blessed is he that follows the right guidance.] (Qur'án, XX:47, Nicolas; Dawood translations)
If the proof of Moses and of Aaron against Pharoah had not been perfect in a single sign, God would not have affirmed that in this verse. You see from now on that a single verse suffices to prove a mission.
Notes
Unless otherwise stated, all notes are by Peter Terry.
All material in square brackets also by Peter Terry. (MW’s note.)
[47] Night Journey, laylat al-mir'áj--an experience of the Prophet Muhammad is alluded to, it is believed, in the Qur'án:
Glory be to Him Who carried His servant By night, from the Holy Mosque to the Furthest Mosque, the precincts of which We have blessed, so that We might show Him some of Our signs. Surely He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing. (Súrat al-Isra', 17:1)Much more detailed accounts of this experience are found in the hadíth collections, including Sahih Muslim, which was compiled in the mid-800s C.E. by 'Abu al-Husayn Muslim 'Ibn al-Hajjaj al-Qushayrí, who was known as Muslim 'Ibn al-Hajjaj (c. 817-875 CE). In that collection (Sahih), a hadíth narrated on the authority of Anas 'Ibn Malik, a contemporary of the Prophet Muhammad, is related as follows (http://www.noblesanctuary.com/miraj.html):
“I was brought al-buraq who is an animal white and long, larger than a donkey but smaller than a mule, who would place its hoof at a distance equal to the range of vision. I mounted it and came to Bait-al Maqdis (Jerusalem). I then tethered it to the ring used by the prophets. I entered the area of the Mosque and prayed two rak'at in it. I then came out and Gabriel brought me a vessel of wine and a vessel of milk. I chose the milk, and Gabriel said, 'You have chosen al-fitra, the natural way.'
“He then ascended with me into the lower heavens and requested that they be opened. It was said: 'Who are you?' He responded: 'Gabriel.' It was then said: 'Who is with you?' He responded: 'Muhammad.' It was then said: 'Has revelation been sent to him?' He responded: 'Revelation has been sent to him.' It was then opened for us and there I was with Adam. He welcomed me and prayed for my well-being.
“Then we ascended to the second heaven and Gabriel requested that it be opened. It was said: 'Who are you?' He responded: 'Gabriel.' It was then said: 'Who is with you?' He responded: 'Muhammad.' It was then said: 'Has revelation been sent to him?' He responded: 'Revelation has been sent to him.' It was then opened for us and when I entered Jesus and John welcomed me and prayed for my well-being.
“Gabriel then ascended with me to the third heaven and requested that it be opened. It was said: 'Who are you?' He responded: 'Gabriel.' It was then said: 'Who is with you?' He responded: 'Muhammad.' It was then said: 'Has revelation been sent to him?' He responded: 'Revelation has been sent to him.' It was then opened for us and there I was with Joseph, who was given a great portion of beauty. He welcomed me and prayed for my well-being.
“Gabriel then ascended with me to the fourth heaven and requested that it be opened. It was said: 'Who are you?' He responded: 'Gabriel.' It was then said: 'Who is with you?' He responded: 'Muhammad.' It was then said: 'Has revelation been sent to him?' He responded: 'Revelation has been sent to him.' It was then opened for us and there I was with Enoch. He welcomed me and prayed for my well-being.
“Gabriel then ascended with me to the fifth heaven and requested that it be opened. It was said: 'Who are you?' He responded: 'Gabriel.' It was then said: 'Who is with you?' He responded: 'Muhammad.' It was then said: 'Has revelation been sent to him?' He responded: 'Revelation has been sent to him.' It was then opened for us and there I was with Aaron. He welcomed me and prayed for my well-being.
“Gabriel then ascended with me to the sixth heaven and requested that it be opened. It was said: 'Who are you?' He responded: 'Gabriel.' It was then said: 'Who is with you?' He responded: 'Muhammad.' It was then said: 'Has revelation been sent to him?' He responded: 'Revelation has been sent to him.' It was then opened for us and there I was with Moses. He welcomed me and prayed for my well-being.
“Gabriel then ascended with me to the seventh heaven and requested that it be opened. It was said: 'Who are you?'He responded: 'Gabriel.' It was then said: 'Who is with you?' He responded: 'Muhammad.' It was then said: 'Has revelation been sent to him?' He responded: 'Revelation has been sent to him.' It was then opened for us and there I was with Abraham who was leaning against the bayt al-ma'mur into which enter seventy thousand angels each day never to return.
“Then I was brought to the Sidrat al-Muntahá, the Lote Tree of the Furthest Limit, whose leaves were like the ears of an elephant and whose fruits at first appeared insignificant. But when Alláh spread His command over them they transformed to the point where no one in creation could describe their beauty. Then Alláh revealed what He revealed to me. He then made obligatory for me fifty prayers every night and day.
“I began my descent until I reached Moses who asked me: 'What has your Lord made obligatory for your community?' I said to him, 'Fifty prayers.' He then said, 'Return to your Lord and ask Him to reduce them, your community will not be able to bear that. I know the people of Israel from long experience and I have tested them.' I then returned to my Lord and said, 'O Lord, make things lighter for my people.' He then reduced it by five prayers for me. I then returned to Moses and he said to me, 'Your community will not be able to stand that. So return and ask Him to make things lighter.' I kept going between my Lord and Moses until Alláh said, 'O Muhammad, there are five prayers every night and day. Each prayer is equal to ten prayers making them equal to fifty prayers. Whoever intends a good deed and does not do it, there will be written for him a single good deed. If he does it then there will be written for him ten good deeds. Whoever intends an evil deed and does not do it then there is nothing written against him. If he does it then there is written for him one evil deed.'
“I then descended until I reached Moses and informed him of what had occurred. He then said to me, 'Return to your Lord and ask Him to make things lighter.' The Messenger of Alláh, may Alláh bless him and grant him peace then said, 'I have returned to my Lord until I felt ashamed before Him.'”
[48] The slave of God, man.
I was for a long time undecided upon the interpretation to give this passage.
I believed at first that by the word slave, the Báb wished to speak of
Himself and was saying from henceforth that He was not the master able to do
everything that He wished. This seemed to conform to that which preceeds and
to that which follows this passage, but [this interpretation would have] placed
between Him and Muhammad, according to the passage of the Qur'án
cited here, too great a difference. Indeed, Muhammad here qualifies Himself
as man and as envoy, the Báb could do no less. One must therefore understand
in this way this passage: God gives as testimony of a mission whatever power
He wishes to His envoy, and this testimony must suffice. The creatures, through
the intermediary of their prophet, can not obtain everything extra [in addition]
that they ask for. It is for God to decide whether He should accord [grant] this
or not.But, as He wishes to test men (Qur'án, passim.) He refuses [to
accord extra requests] most often and from then on these ones blame the Prophet.
If God did not act in this way, if through the intermediary of His Prophet He
gave to His creatures all that they asked for, not one, seeing his wish realized,
would remain in unbelief: but then what merit would there be in believing in
the Prophet and in obeying Him? (A. L. M. Nicholas's note)
[49] You are [a] Muslim, you believe in God and you seek to please Him to find your salvation: so why do you act contrary to His orders? He says to you: “Muhammad does not have the gift of material miracles. The proof which I gave of His mission are the verses of the Qur'án. It is necessary then, that you believe in these verses without asking for something else; if you do not believe in them, a cruel chastisement is reserved for you.” And so, I do not say something else to you Myself, and I bring as proof of My mission these verses in which you must believe. You ask from Me I do not know what miracle, the verses thus do not suffice you? In this case, you await the chastisement. (A. L. M. Nicholas's note)
[50] Men never hold themselves to that which the Prophet says: they change at every instant the terrain of the discussion. (A. L. M. Nicholas's note)
FIFTH PROOF
God, according to the Qur'án, did not give another proof of the
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mission of Muhammad other than that which follows from the verses. [51] It is thus [for this reason] that He says in the Súrah of the Night Journey:
Say: when men and genies unite to produce something similar to this Qur'án, they would produce nothing like it, even if they were to mutually assist each other.These miracles of which one speaks today in the books relative to the Prophet, if they had whatsoever value, God would have made of them the proof of the mission of His envoy: [even] if it is spoken of in the Qur'án, it is no less true that God did not make of it [the so‑called miracle] the “testimony” of the mission of Muhammad. For example:
[Say: “If men and jinn combined to write the like of this Koran, they would surely fail to compose the like, though they helped one another as best they could.”] (Qur'án, XVII:89, Nicolas; Dawood translations)
The moon was cleft in two.God alone knows what this verse means even as it is written in another place:
[The moon was cleft in two.] (Qur'án, LIV:1, Nicolas; Dawood translations)
There is but God that knows the interpretation of this and the men of stalwart science.
[and none knows its interpretation, save only God, and those firmly rooted in knowledge.] (Qur'án, III:5, Nicolas; Arberry translations)
Notes
Unless otherwise stated, all notes are by Peter Terry.
All material in square brackets also by Peter Terry. (MW’s note.)
[51] Here the Báb, from the Shí'ite point of view, enters into blasphemy and impiety. This phrase, indeed, is but a way of negating the miracles of the Prophet, and what miracles[!]: those which are mentioned even in the Qur'án, for, if He speaks here only of the cleft moon, He implies also the ascension of Muhammad to heaven. He does not even seek to give any explanation; disdainfully He says: God alone knows what these verses mean where it is a question of miracles. I negated [rejected] one day myself this miracle in speaking with a Mujtahid. He asked me the reason for my unbelief. I believed myself obligated to respond to him that as the moon did not shine upon Arabia alone, the other peoples would have been witnesses to this strange phenomenon. But no astronomer remarked upon it, no historian mentioned it. “It is,” he answered me, “that, as you were infidels, God did not wish to show you His miracle. He amassed clouds around the moon in such fashion that it shined only upon that place where Muhammad and His companions were found: the miracle was visible only to them.” (A. L. M. Nicholas's note)
SIXTH PROOF
W ith you I do not discuss except in relying [resting, leaning] upon the testimony of reason.
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If someone wishes today to embrace the Muslim religion, is the divine testimony complete for him, yes or no? If you say no, then, after death, how could God chastise this someone? During his life, how could one reproach him for not being [a] Muslim? If you say 'Yes', why yes? If it is simply because you affirm it that you believe it, that is really not an argument; but if you say: “Yes, by the Qur'án” then you are reasonable and you give a solid and irrefutable argument.
Would you now cast a glance upon the manifestation of the Bayán. If one of those who believe in the Qur'án wished to reason in its favor as he would do so with him[that one] who is against the Islámic religion, nobody would remain in opposition and all would find salvation in the day of judgment. [52] Indeed, if a Christian says: “Me, I understand nothing in the Qur'án; how can it be a testimony for me?” ‑‑that is a rationale that does not merit a moment's attention. And so, that is [also] the case with the adorers of the Qur'án who say: we do not understand the eloquence of the verses of the Bayán, which can not therefore be a testimony for us. To the man who speaks this way one has only to reply: “O ignorant one, how is it that you became a Muslim? You did not see the Prophet, you did not see the miracles: if it is without understanding that you so became, why did you become one? Did you become so [one] upon the confession made to you of the masters of science and knowledge of their powerlessness (to produce verses) or are you humble and submissive because of the innate dispositions deposited in you which made you hear the word of God‑‑which is one of the signs of the love of science [53] ‑‑then, for you the proof remains complete. From now on, because beforehand you acted following your soul, act the same [way] today in that which concerns the Bayán.”
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Notes
Unless otherwise stated, all notes are by Peter Terry.
All material in square brackets also by Peter Terry. (MW’s note.)
[52] For they would have believed in Me. (A. L. M. Nicholas's note)
[53] Otherwise called grace. (A. L. M. Nicholas's note)
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