@@The "Quddus" discussion on talisman@indiana.edu Fall 1995@@
Abraxas
currently being espoused by Starr Saffa and her cacophony chorus of
illiterate (mostly North American and British) political supporters,
here is sections of a thread on the original tali...@indiana.edu list
regarding Quddus. Interestingly enough and in hindsight much of the
speculation is wrong and heavily biased in a Baha'i direction. Had one
known at the time that the entire corpus of the Essence of the Seven
Letters' writings in the post-Shaykh Tabarsi period explicitly refers
to Subh-i-Azal as the Return of Quddus - not to mention His own
writings later - several hundred thousand holes would've been poked
then and there in the entire edifice of the Baha'i claim.
In any case, the only person who seems to think that Tahirih was
thought as a Manifestation *after* the Essence of the Seven Letters and
Quddus -- note, *after* not in parity, in equality or before, but
*after* -, was Juan Cole whom Starr Saffa seems to think supports her
argument.
W
>From rab...@a1.bmoa.umc.dupont.comFri Sep 8 19:15:47 1995
Date: Fri, 08 Sep 95 13:31:01 -0400
From: Ahang Rabbani
To: tali...@indiana.edu
Subject: The Station of Quddus -- continued
[This message is converted from WPS-PLUS to ASCII]
Dear Ahmad and other friends,
With your kind permission, I continue our discussion on this
thread ...
The Station of Quddus is a mysterious one to be sure. In one of
His Writings, Quddus Himself mentions that His station remains
hidden from all men and that humanity remains unaware of His true
Self. When one thinks about this, it is indeed the case. We all
have a very limited understanding of His station. We know that
He was the foremost disciple of the Bab, a fellow traveler with
the Bab, together with Mulla Husayn He was the principle teacher
of the Babi Dispensation, played a central role at the Badasht
conference, the leader of the Letters of the Living and other
defenders during the Fort Tabarsi period, but perhaps beyond
these fragmentary pieces of information that is scattered
throughout Nabil's immortal history, the Dawn-Breakers, not much
more is known about Him by the community.
Contrasted against this is the fact that, Quddus in one of His
Writings says that "In all the Revelation of the past, His
appearance was anticipated."
Indeed this statement is literally true as He, together with
Baha'u'llah and the Bab, are mentioned in all the Sacred Books of
the past. (In a forthcoming book on the Life and Writings of
Quddus, I've devoted a whole chapter to this topic. What follows
is a very, very brief sampling/summary of that material.)
For example, in the Jewish Scripture, the Book of Daniel, 12:5,
we find a statement about the vision of Prophet Daniel of Quddus.
In the Christian Scripture, the Book of Revelation, 11:11, St.
John the Divine, refers to him as one the Two "Witnesses" -- one
being the Bab the other Quddus. (See Abdu'l-Baha's commentary in
Some Answered Question for details.)
There are other references in Judeo-Christian Scriptures.
In the Islamic Dispensation, there are several wonderful
prophecies about Him in Qur'an. For example there is the verse
of Qur'an that says: "Az arsalna alayhim athniyn. Fakazabuhuma.
Fa azzna huma bi thalatha" (We sent unto you Two. You rejected
them Both (literally: you considered Both liars). We graced you
then with the Third.)
For a long time, the early believers where puzzled by this verse.
They could not figure out what it meant. Finally, during the
Abdu'l-Baha's ministry, they wrote to Him saying, "The Master, we
have found this prophecy in Qur'an about You. The first Two sent
were, of course the Bab and Baha'u'llah, whom were rejected by
humanity and now God has graced us with the "Third" which is
You." Abdu'l-Baha wrote back, saying: not even close! He said
that by the "Third" is meant Baha'u'llah! The first Two are the
Bab and Quddus -- both of Whom were rejected by humanity, so God
then honored us with Baha'u'llah.
Now, this is Tablet of Abdu'l-Baha shows his incredible genius.
He knew that if He was to leave it at that, then folks would say:
"Gee, Abdu'l-Baha is doing "ta`ruf". This is really a reference
to Him, but He is being humble and is Interpreting it this way to
be modest."
So, Abdu'l-Baha continued in the Tablet that He wrote on this
subject by quoting from Baha'u'llah Himself where He (the Blessed
Perfection) refers to Himself as the "Third". Thereby, the
Master showed that this was not His Interpretation, but rather it
was Baha'u'llah's.
Anyway, my point is that there are a number of verses of Qur'an
that seem to refer to Quddus. (Again there are lots of details
that must wait for the publication of the book on Quddus.)
In addition to the statements of Qur'an about Quddus, there are a
number of oral statements from Prophet Muhammad -- the so called
Hadith-i Nabavi. For example, there is this oral statement of
Muhammad: "And when the Mihdi is made manifest, He shall lean
His back against ka`bih and shall address to the 313 followers
who will have grouped around Him, these words: 'The
Baqiyyitu'llah will be best for you if ye are of those who
believe.' " And of course Quddus fulfilled this prophecy upon
His entry in Fort Tabarsi. (A few comments: 313 refers to the
number of martyrs at the Fort, and not the participants.
Baqiyyitu'llah is a code word used in Qur'an to refer to
Baha'u'llah -- it is translated as "the remnant of God", God
referring to the Bab, and Baha'u'llah is literally the only Babi
leader Who survived, hence, the remnant.)
Anyway, what is of interest is that this Hadith has to do with
Mihdi, and yet it was fulfilled in Quddus. There are a number of
other statements about Mihdi and yet find their their fulfillment
in Quddus and not the Bab. Incidentally, this is a very
important in understanding the station of Quddus -- that is, He
is the very reflection/essence of the Bab. But more on this
later ...
Additionally, there are numerous traditions by the Imams about
Him -- which quoting them just makes this posting even more
boring than it already is.
When one examines all these traditions by Imams (particularly the
6th Imam), one notes that the Islamic Dispensation was
anticipating not just one Qa'im, but rather 3 Qa'ims. The first
Qa'im is the "One Who will arise from the House of Muhammad", the
second is the Qa'im-i Khurasani (Mulla Husayn) and the third is
the Qa'im-i Gilani (the One Who will arise from Gilan (province
where Quddus was born)). The early narrators of the Faith, refer
to Quddus as Qa'im-i Gilani in their histories and this is how he
was known by the Babi community.
Anyway, the above sampling of the prophecies about Him is
sufficient to give us a rudimentary understanding that the Person
of Quddus was anticipated down the ages and Dispensations.
Again, please understand that my knowledge is extremely limited
on this subject and can only hope that others with much deeper
understanding will grace us with their insights.
(more to follow ...)
lovingly, ahang.
>From jrc...@umich.eduFri Sep 8 19:16:28 1995
Date: Fri, 8 Sep 1995 16:26:22 -0400 (EDT)
From: Juan R Cole
To: Ahang Rabbani
Cc: tali...@indiana.edu
Subject: Re: The Station of Quddus and Tahirih
It may be interesting to note that after the Bab's and Quddus's deaths
a
group of Babis grew up known as Qurratis, who believed that Tahirih was
the Manifestation after the BAB>
CHEERS JUAN COLE< HISTORY UNIV OF MICHIGAN
>From rab...@a1.bmoa.umc.dupont.comFri Sep 8 19:23:53 1995
Date: Fri, 08 Sep 95 15:09:01 -0400
From: Ahang Rabbani
To: tali...@indiana.edu
Subject: more on the Station of Quddus
[This message is converted from WPS-PLUS to ASCII]
Beloved Friends,
I hope that none of you are getting too tired with this thread,
because I just think that it's an extremely fascinating and
novel subject. So. please stay with me as we now want to look
at some of the Writings of the Central Figures about Quddus --
this should give us an added measure of understanding of His
stupendous station and unique rank in this Dispensation.
So, here we go .... stay with me now and read carefully....
First, in my last post I meant to include a brief statement
from Quddus but I forgot. Sorry. So, I do it now.
In one of His Writings Quddus states: "I swear by God, I am
the Promised One, Who has been mentioned in all the Heavenly
Tablets. All the Divine Manifestations, both by allusion and
outwardly, have anticipated Me. Therefore, I swear by God, if
thou fail to recognize Me and believe in Me, verily thou have
failed to believe in all the previous Manifestations and
disbelieved in Them all."
(Pretty neat statement, don't you think? Go back and read it
again.)
The Writings of the Bab are filled with references, in the most
tender terms, to Quddus. The Bab has immortalized Him as
Ismu'llahi'l-Akhir (The Last Name of God).
The Bab in Qayyumu'l-Asma (His magnificent commentary on the
Sura of Joseph) had adopted the title of Hadrat-i A`la (His
Holiness the Exalted One) for Himself. This is the title that
commonly you find in the Writings used to refer to the Bab.
(For example see Abdu'l-Baha's Will and Testament where He
refers to the "Exalted One", meaning the Bab.) Now, what is
fascinating is that around the time of Badasht conference, the
Bab instructed all believers to begin to refer to Quddus as
Hadrat-i A`la. In other words, by giving Quddus His own title,
the Bab made the association between Himself and Quddus very
explicit one.
But there is more, a lot more ...
The Bab in the Persian Bayan extolled Quddus as the
fellow-pilgrim and Habib (beloved) round Whom mirrors to the
number of 8 vahids (152) revolve and one whose "detachment and
the sincerity of whose devotion to God's will God prideth
Himself amidst the Concourse on High." (I read the second
"God" to be a reference to the Bab Himself. In numerous
places, the Bab, Baha'u'llah and Quddus have used "God" as
references to their inner/higher Self.)
There are truly a large number of amazing statements about
Quddus revealed by the Bab. For example there is a large Book,
over 300 pages, by the Bab, found only very recently, where the
whole thing is a eulogy in honor of Quddus and Mulla Husayn.
(Very recently a very, very large body of the Writings of the
Bab and other Figures was located across the globe.) There are
some incredible statements in the Bab's Writings about Quddus
the kernel of which is that Quddus is the reflection of the
very essence of Himself.
Unlike Baha'u'llah and Abdu'l-Baha, both the Bab and Shoghi
Effendi have revealed very few Tablets of Visitations. One
such Tablet of Visitation was revealed by the Bab in honor of
Quddus which stands some 14 pages long. Baha'u'llah has
revealed 3 Tablets of Visitation in honor of Quddus!
The title of "Quddus" was conferred upon Him by the Bab during
the Badasht Conference. The significant of this title lies in
Islamic prophecies which anticipated that the appearance of
Qa'im and return of Christ will be simultaneous. "Quddus" is a
derivative of the Arabic "Ruhu'l-Quds" (The Holy Spirit) which
has a clear Christian connotation. Therefore, through such a
title, the believers recognized that the age-old prophecies
about the appearance of Qa'im and return of Christ find their
realization in the Bab and Quddus -- the Twin Luminaries of the
Babi Dispensation.
In numerous passages in His Writings, Quddus, identifies
Himself with the spiritual return of Christ -- as was
anticipated in earlier prophecies. He even began to refer to
His sister as "Maryam". And much like Christ, He wore very
simple clothing, the garment of dervish -- unlike the Bab and
other Letters of Living which wore the clothing of the Divines.
(In fact, people knew Him by His clothing which is how He was
identified at Niyala (after Badasht conf) and received beating
before Baha'u'llah came to His rescue and gave Quddus His own
clothing so people won't recognize Him. Of course, some time
earlier, in Shiraz, at the court of the Governor, again because
of His clothing, He was initially ignored and only Mulla Sadiq
Khurasani was rebuked and beaten -- later Quddus did receive
severe beating.)
Incidentally, the connection between Quddus and return of
Christ is not lost on Baha'u'llah, as on a number of occasions
when He recalls Quddus, He somehow evokes the association with
Christ. For example, Baha'u'llah in one Tablet states: "No
one has suffered more at the time of martyrdom than Quddus --
not even Christ."
Again, if I was to relate the details of Quddus' martyrdom, how
He was literally torn apart piece by piece, and then set on
fire, you would fully agree with Baha'u'llah that no one, not
even Christ, suffered at the hour of death the agonies which He
endured.
Getting back to the Badasht Conference, it was during that time
that the believers collectively, for the first time perhaps,
became acquainted with the Writings of Quddus. Before then,
Quddus had kept His Writings to Himself and very few had seen
them. Of course, in the summer of 1847, when at the
instruction of the Bab, Mulla Husayn for the second time in his
life had gone on the search for the "Hidden Treasure", upon
seeing a single page of Quddus' Writings had become aware of
the supreme nature of those verses and the recognized that
their source is none other than Divine Fountainhead and that
the Hidden Treasure as promised by the Bab is none other than
Quddus.
But now, at Badasht, Quddus' Writings were being read by all.
So, what did Quddus say in His Writings during Badasht period?
Any why are we placing such importance on them?
From cb...@ccs.carleton.caFri Sep 8 22:48:36 1995
Date: Fri, 8 Sep 95 22:37:53 EDT
From: Christopher Buck
To: tali...@indiana.edu
Cc: Christopher Buck
Subject: Is Quddus a Manifestation?
Ahang's posts on Quddus reflect an exhaustive research effort
incorporating some newly-discovered primary sources as well as other
unpublished material. This is the cutting edge. Right before our eyes!
However, I would advise Ahang to perhaps publish the prophecy
material separately. I think it detracts from the importance of what
he is doing. This is only my opinion. I offer it respectfully.
I cannot pretend to know more than I do. So I publicly pose the
question: What does all of this mean? Are Quddus's theophanic locutions
simply ecstatic utterances representing an extension of the Bab's own
revelation? Is Quddus the Babi *al-Hallaj*?
Or are we to read the writings of Quddus--which the Bab
referred to as *evident magic* or *palpable sorcery*--a little more
literally? If read literally, especially in light of the praise the
Central Figures of the Faith lavish on him, the writings of Quddus
could be interpreted as revelation.
Quddus proclaims himself a Manifestation. Quddus writes like a
Manifestation. In the Master's interpretation [or, in one of his two
interpretations] of the *Tale of the City* in the heart of the Qur'an,
Quddus figures as an Apostle along with the Bab.
So, Ahang, my question is this: We know Quddus is important.
But why is he important? It would be a tautology to say Quddus is
important because the Central Figures say so. The question remains:
What is Quddus's role? What did he do that surpasses Mulla Husayn? Or
are we simply to accept Quddus's importance as a matter of faith?
Christopher Buck
>From ni...@unm.eduSat Sep 9 00:06:54 1995
Date: Fri, 8 Sep 1995 21:32:15 -0600 (MDT)
From: Sadra
To: Christopher Buck
Cc: Tali...@indiana.edu
Subject: Re: Is Quddus a Manifestation?
Dear Chris--
What's going on?! You wrote *exactly* what I was thinking, especially
the
Quddus as the Babi Hallaj part. This is the second time this has
happened
in the last month (first with Juan, now with you) - are we all tapped
into
some common astral plane or something :-)
I'd be lying if I didn't say I was more than a bit intrigued by this
whole topic of Babi shathiyyat (words of ecstatsy) and Quddus as a
silent
Manifestation. OTOH, a case could also be made for Tahirih. Remember
her
dismissive remarks to Quddus at Badasht - she did say her maqAm
(station)
was higher than his. Btw, has anybody noticed how Isma'ili this whole
Quddus/Tahirih phenomenon is. I'm thinking of the natiq/samit issue.
Any
thoughts?
Nima
---
>From rab...@a1.bmoa.umc.dupont.comSat Sep 9 16:28:27 1995
Date: Fri, 08 Sep 95 18:53:01 -0400
From: Ahang Rabbani
To: tali...@indiana.edu
Subject: Quddus -- part 4
[This message is converted from WPS-PLUS to ASCII]
Hello everyone, its me again and ready to do a bit more on the
station of Quddus and some references to Him.
I thought if there was an interest, after we've considered
some Tablets by Baha'u'llah and Abdu'l-Baha about His rank,
then we do a bit in terms of survey of His life. So far,
we've kept the discussion pretty low-tech as its best not to
let folks get bored with heavy-duty Text analysis stuff.
OK, here we go...
Previously, we noted that Quddus, much the same way as
Baha'u'llah and the Bab, is a historic Figure that has been
mentioned in all the previous Dispensations. He even said so
Himself.
(Homework for interested parties: What are some of the
prophecies about Abdu'l-Baha and Shoghi Effendi from the
Sacred Scripture of the past? Very much interested in hearing
your thoughts. There are amazing stuff out there about these
Two Figures, too...)
We then talked briefly about what the Bab said about Him. On
purpose, we kept it short for now but when we talk about
Quddus' life, perhaps we can dial in some more of such
materials.
Last thing we were talking about was the Writings of Quddus at
Badasht. (How the heck did we get on that subject? Well, too
late now, let's role with the punches ...)
There is a Tablet from Baha'u'llah that very roughly says:
Jinab-i Quddus, Wrote a number during our stay at Badasht
and send them out. This servant was not involved with
them. Of the things written, He foretold of this
(Baha'u'llah's) wondrous Cause -- directly, not by
allusions. Exalted be His utterance: 'When the Lord
stealthily appears over the Horizon of Baha, on earth
this brilliant and evident Countenance is manifest from
the point of Baha. At that time, will raise new heavens
with wondrous pens. This is Our command to dwellers of
the most exalted Concourse (`Ama), those that have been
enlightened.' These Tablets are now available and are
all about this Cause in the most evident Words.
What I understand out of this Tablet is that Baha'u'llah is
referring to a number of Tablets from Quddus Written during
the Badasht period (to be published in the forthcoming book on
Quddus) which in a most direct manner tell about Baha'u'llah's
eminent declaration -- by Name!
What is also marvelous about this passage which Baha'u'llah
quotes is Quddus' reference to "new heavens with wondrous
pens", which I take to be an allusion to the true scholars of
the Cause -- and please note that the language used in this
regard is extremely close to what Baha'u'llah uses in the
Kitab-i Aqdas when He refers to such scholars, "... stars of
the heaven of understanding ...".
I should mention, there are other statements that totally blow
me away every time I read them which are characterizations of
Baha'u'llah by Quddus. In a language totally on its own
plane, Quddus talks about the Station of Baha'u'llah. Stuff
one has never heard before!! Language so sublime, its really
overwhelming; the most exciting things one has ever seen.
These are the sort of things that confirms ones belief and
enable us to reach new heights of appreciation for the
exalted, nay, the supreme character of this Dispensation.
We must have some of these Writings of Quddus about
Baha'u'llah here on Talisman. But, all in good time ...
And if you think that is amazing, wait till we have passages
from Quddus about Abdu'l-Baha!!
If you ever thought that Tablet of Branch or Tablet to the
Land of Ba was incredible in what they said about the Master,
well, folks, you ain't seen nothing yet! And Quddus wrote
these things about Abdu'l-Baha when the Master must of been
only about 2 or possibly 3 years old! In a little boy of that
age, Quddus, with His Divine foresight, recognized the unique
and wondrous station of the Master. Wait till we get to
Quddus' travels to Tihran (after His pilgrimage) and then
we'll have these passages. OK?
Anyway, I really got off track in this posting. I meant to
share some extracts from Baha'u'llah's Tablets about Quddus.
To make it up to you, permit me to share a true jewel. This
is an extract from Baha'u'llah commentary on the Light Verse
in my extremely inadequate rendering:
Know thou, the first One that we sent unto you is the
One that appeared above the Horizon of Fars (ie. the
Bab) and Revealed unto Him, under the shadow of spirits,
from the Exalted and Resplendent Heaven. The Last One
that we sent, was like Him. On the Concourse on High we
called Him: Quddus. If thou art of those endowed with
understanding. We have Graced Them Both with this
Beauty (Baha'u'llah), Who appeared in truth and
manifests above the Horizon of God's commands as an
Omnipotent King.
I think this passage is relatively straight forward. Let me
just note that the reference to Quddus as the "Last One"
recalls to mind the sweet melodies heard many years earlier
from the Tablet of All Food when Baha'u'llah says:
... if the Last Point, the countenance of my beloved
Quddus, was present, He would grieve over My condition
and lament on what has befallen Me....
Of course, as everyone recalls, the appellations "Last Point"
needs to be understood in contrast to the "Primal Point", the
Bab. In other words, together They constitute the Alpha and
Omega of the Babi Dispensation.
OK, let's do one more quotation and then call it quits for
tonight.
Baha'u'llah in the long Fasting Prayer (which I don't believe
is available in English), says to the effect:
O My Lord, thy praise be upon Him Who is the Last One to
be sent down, Whose essence is the same as His (the
Bab's) essence, and His manifestation is the same as His
manifestation, only that He acquired His radiance from
Him and prostrated Himself before Him and testified to
His own servitude...
Unfortunately, the English language, or at least my poor
command of it, does not allow us to fully appreciate the
elegance of Baha'u'llah's majestic prose, but nonetheless we
gain a glimpse that He is stating: Quddus and the Bab are of
the same essence with Quddus operating under the shadow and
the Will of the Bab, as the latter is the unquestioned
Authority for His Dispensation -- all others are servants unto
Him.
Wow!! The significance of these passages, I think, is
gradually beginning to sink in. Here we have this Figure,
anticipated in all the past Dispensations and, in the words of
Baha'u'llah, ranks as a Manifestation of God and yet operates
under the shadow of the Bab! The point of all this, I
believe, is to help us understand the exalted station of the
Bab -- Who ranks so supreme that His chief disciple Himself
has such an enormous station!
I think in many ways, all of these statements about Quddus,
are meant to underscore the incredible, the unthinkable
station of the Bab!
(more to follow)
lovingly, ahang.
ps. I just read Chris' perceptive question. Wish I had a
good answer for him. He knows so much more about all of
these. But tomorrow will do my best to offer a few comments.
pss. I also read Nima's posting about Tahirih. Let me just
say that all this stuff about a rife between Quddus and
Tahirih at Badasht is as bogus as a $3. bill! I'll prove it
based on the Writings of Tahirih and Quddus. Shoghi Effendi
is absolutely right on this issue -- and MacEoin/Amanat dead
wrong. Stay toned. Now we're getting to the interesting
stuff... Oh, yes, we'll have some fun now ...
>From rab...@a1.bmoa.umc.dupont.comSat Sep 9 16:41:36 1995
Date: Sat, 09 Sep 95 13:05:01 -0400
From: Ahang Rabbani
To: tali...@indiana.edu
Subject: Rumi and a bit on Quddus ...
[This message is converted from WPS-PLUS to ASCII]
Beloved Everyone,
Last night, our good friend Shastri wrote that he recalled some
Tablet of the Master about Rumi to the effect that although Rumi
wan't a Manifestation but his Mathnavi has the same effect as the
Revealed Word. As I am not familiar with this Tablet, if anyone
knows a reference, please ....
In clearning up my directories this morning I noted that a
similar issue was raised by Brent a few months back. Back then
Brent was looking for the source of a Hadith reportedly quoted by
Abdu'l-Baha which says because of Rumi the Islamic Dispensation
instead of half day (500 years) survived for a full day (1000
years). In reply on Feb 5th I wrote:
> Dear Brent:
> Mirza Abu'l-Fadl in his masterpiece, "Far`id", quotes a Haidth
> attributed to Muhammad, and as such known as Hadith-i-Nabavi.
> (Science of Hadith is a fairly complex topic and among other
> things seeks to categorize all the Traditions. Two categories
> are of particular importance, Hadith-i Nabavi, which are sayings
> of the Prophet and Hadith-i Qudsi, which are the statements of
> God Revealed to Muhammad but are not part of Qur'an. An example
> of the latter is the famous tradition, "I was a Hidden
> Treasure...", which Abdu'l-Baha revealed His most incredible
> commentary when He was between 12-14 years old -- others have
> claimed that He was older when He revealed it, but this is not
> so.)
> This famous Hadith goes: "An salahat ummati filha yuman. Va
> an fusadat filha nisfi yum". Translation: "If my people remain
> righteous they will last one Day (1000 years) and if they become
> degenerate will last one-half day (500 years).
> So far we are on solid ground, as the authority of Mirza
> Abu'l-Fadl (which if I recall correctly give his source anyway --
> I can check Far'id later) is beyond questioning.
> Every Persian friend that you ever meet will tell you that they
> have heard that Abdu'l-Baha has also quoted this Hadith,
> presumably in one of His Talks, and has stated that despite the
> condition of Muslims and because of the appearance of Jalalid-Din
> Rumi, Islam was granted its full duration.
> I have never been able to locate a pilgrim note that actually
> captures this comment by the Master.
> In my opinion, it's very likely that Abdu'l-Baha has said
> something to this effect and that's why it has spread so widely
> among Persian believers. There are other supportive evidences:
> 1. Abdu'l-Baha was a great admirer of Rumi. So was Baha'u'llah.
> 2. Abdu'l-Baha often quotes from Rumi in His Tablets. For
> example, He was always heard repeating the famous lines "Ay Ishq
> manam az to, sar kashtih vu gumrahi ...". This seems to be the
> favorite poem of the Master. (Baha'u'llah also quotes this poem
> in a Tablet to a certain Shaykh Isma'il.)
> 3. The influence of Rumi on the moral and spiritual education of
> Iran and that region is absolutely unique. No one else (I dare
> say, not even Islam) has been able to bring about the spiritual
> transformation in the character of Persians that Rumi was able
> to.
> 4. By far, the vast majority of Baha'is of Iran found their way
> to the Faith through the poetry and influence of Rumi. (My own
> grandfather, a firm Zoroastrian, accepted Baha'u'llah through the
> statements found in "Divan Shaykh Tabriz". So I will eternally
> remain grateful and in love with Rumi.) The Faith of Baha'u'llah
> has not had a greater teacher than Rumi -- with the notable
> exception of Abdu'l-Baha himself.
> 5. One night, in the course of his table talks, the Guardian
> discussed the countering influence of Sa'di and Rumi. Sa'di, in
> words of Shoghi Effendi, was a person who did not understand the
> importance of "staying true to the principles". He then quoted
> Sa'di's famous line ("a durgh maslihat amiz, bih az rasti fitnih
> angiz" -- a lie in good intention is better than a seditious
> truth) and said that this one line destroyed the entire moral
> fiber of the Persian society. He went on then and greatly
> praised Rumi for his spiritual insights and ethical and moral
> education of man.
> So, Brent, I suppose this posting solved only half of the puzzle
> and gave you the Hadith about half-day business. The second
> half, namely, source for Abdu'l-Baha's comment, remains to be
> unearthed.
> lovingly, ahang.
Also while deleting stuff this moring I came up this posting from Feb
6th (my birthday!) and because of its association with both Rumi and
Quddus, decided to share it again. Hope you'll enjoy it again as much
as you did the first time!
> Dear Friends:
> All this talk about Rumi made me think of a bit of trivia about
> Rumi which I share for what's worth ....
> As you remember, Quddus left Shiraz along with Mulla Sadiq
> Khurasani after being severely beaten and persecuted. They
> traveled South for a few days and then parted company. Mulla
> Sadiq went towards Yazd and Quddus proceeded to Kirman.
> Nabil hints that the purpose of Quddus' journey was to acquaint
> Haj Karim Khan with the message of the Bab. No doubt this is
> true. But I think Quddus had a plan "B" which was even more
> important. The clever fellow that he was, he knew full well that
> Haji Karim Khan (whom Baha'u'llah says is referred to 3 times in
> Qur'an -- which gives him the unique distinction of being
> mentioned negatively in 3 separate Dispensations!) would not
> accept the Faith.
> What his plan "B" was to win over Aqa Siyyid Javad Kirmani to the
> Faith. This Siyyid Javad is actually a cousin of the Bab and was
> the highest ranking Shi'ih clergy in Kirman. (The Bab had
> another cousin, Mirzayi-Shirazi, which years later was elevated
> to the highest rank of Shi'ih hierarchy and was also secretly a
> believer in both the Bab and Baha'u'llah. Another relative of
> the Bab, Aqa Mirza Aqa-yi Nur'd-Din had a long interview with him
> and found out how for some 2 decades he has been stealthily
> protecting Baha'is.) Aqa Siyyid Javad was not only a very
> important religious figure, and an admirer of Shaykh Ahamd and
> Siyyid Kazim, but was also politically a very powerful man. To
> the point that Haj Karim Khan's father, the ruthless and vicious
> Ibrahim Khan-i Zahiru'd-Dawlih, never messed with him.
> Anyway, Siyyid Javad used to teach a course of study that was
> extremely popular. Students from all regions of country would
> come to his class. For example, Mulla Hadi Sabzivari who is one
> the greatest philosophers of modern times, and mentioned by
> Baha'u'llah in His Tablet of Wisdom, traveled on foot to Kirman
> to attend his class. On hearing that the class was full, he
> became a janitor for the school, married the daughter of the
> custodian of the school, only so that he could hear the lectures
> of Siyyid Javad!!
> Siyyid Javad's course would run for 6 month. He would start on
> the first day of the fall and conclude on the eve of NawRuz.
> He would start his course, day one, with reading the first two
> lines of Rumi's Mathnavi:
> "Bishnu az nay chun hikayat mikunad, az judayiha shikayat mikunad
> ..."
> He would then spend this entire 6 months in explaining just the 2
> opening verses of Rumi -- and that's what made his course so
> unique and special so that great scholars would come to learn
> from him.
> Incidentally, this cousin of the Bab, remained faithful to Him
> and protected the believers of Kirman from Haj Karim Khan and
> later of his son, Haj Muhammad Khan. He has a most fascinating
> life. I've been able to piece together a fairly complete
> biography of him.
> While we are on trivia, here is another one: Baha'u'llah once
> observed that Nabil has said more poetry than any other person,
> including the author of Mathnavi (ie. Rumi). He then went on to
> say that not only Nabil has surpassed Rumi in volume, but that
> his influence would outshine Rumi's.
> What I get out of this statement of Baha'u'llah is that
> millenniums after Rumi has been reduced to just a footnote in
> history books, Nabil's narrative would continue to edify and
> inspire humanity.
> Forgive me for taking your time with a bit of trivia ....
> lovingly, ahang.
Periodically, I get called upon to do various deepening classes and
often I get assigned maybe 2 hours and they say: "tell us about the
Writings of the Bab!" Or they give me 4 days at some summer school
and say, "Talk about the Kitab-i Aqdas." At such times, I am reminded
of the story of Siyyid Javad and how he would spend 6 months on the
first 2 lines of Mathnavi, but in these days people expect to learn
all there is about the Kitab-i Aqdas in 4 days! Or to master the
Revelation of the Bab in 2 hours! It's interesting times that we live
in ...
best wishes, ahang.
>From rab...@a1.bmoa.umc.dupont.comSun Sep 10 14:06:25 1995
Date: Sat, 09 Sep 95 16:13:01 -0400
From: Ahang Rabbani
To: tali...@indiana.edu
Subject: Quddus -- part 5
[This message is converted from WPS-PLUS to ASCII]
Dearest Friends,
Now I know that all day long you've been sitting front the
terminal, chewing your nails, pulling your hair, asking "So,
where is Ahang with his wonderful postings on Quddus? God, I
can't wait! Want to know more!!" Well, despair no more, your
prayers been answered! Doctor to rescue ...
With your kind permission, instead of continuing with the theme
on the unique Station of Quddus, I'm now going to switch to His
Writings and say a few words about them. Of course a great deal
more remains to be said about His Station, but we'll just
intermix them as the theme warrants.
So, here we go with everything you ever wanted to know about
Quddus' Writings but were afraid to ask....
I think its best to initially give a survey of His Writings.
I'll first give you a list of what we have and then comment on
the items that He Wrote and are presently not in possession of
the Faith. OK?
As was mentioned yesterday, the credit for collecting and
publishing some of the Writings of Quddus must go to the Hand of
the Cause Fadil-i Mazandarani. He collected 6 items from Quddus
and published them all in his "Tarikh Zuhuru'l-Haqq", vol. 3.
Though none of them are dated, a cursory analysis indicates that
He wrote all of them after His return back from Atabat.
So that this comment would make sense for some of the younger
members of Talisman, allow me to give a *very* brief outline of
Quddus' life -- this should help in giving everyone a frame of
reference for our discussion of His Writings. I emphasis that I
like to keep it simple so that *everyone* benefit -- not just our
renowned scholars! But I'll give enough new materials along the
way so that even the most learned among us would say: "Gush, I
didn't know that!" So, no one will be bored.
Quddus was born two years after the Bab -- Baha'u'llah was two
years older than the Bab, Who in turn was two years older than
Quddus. (interesting, no?)
It should be mentioned that various narratives such as
Nuqtatu'l-Kaf, Tarikh-i Jadid, Nabil's narratives, etc., give
varying years for His birth. But He Himself says in one of His
Writings that He is "two years younger than My Lord (the Bab)".
(Another triumph for Nabil!)
Unlike the Bab and Baha'u'llah, He was born in very humble
settings (in His words "poor and devoid of wealth") with His
father, Aqa Muhammad Salih, being a poor farmer engaged in rice
cultivation. From His mother side, His geneology can be traced
to Imam Hasan -- and this is significant in light of a number of
traditions about Him, (as an example see how Abdu'l-Baha in SAQ
uses this fact and His name, Muhammad-Ali, to conclude that
together with the Bab, They fulfilled St John's prophecy.) In
fact, right before His martyrdom, there was a trial, (much like
the Bab's trial), where He was questions by various divines in
attendance. One of the issue raised against Him was accusation
that He was not a Siyyid. (Technically, to be a Siyyid, one's
*father* must be a descendent of the Prophet, otherwise, one
receives the title of "Mirza" -- indicating, in most cases, one's
mother is from the family of the Prophet.) Anyway, His clever
response was: "How are the Imam Husyan and Hasan related to the
Prophet?" Which of course the answer is through their mother,
Fatimih! So, His Siyyidness remained in tact, but they killed
Him immediately after the trail anyway.
He spent the first 12 years of His life in His native town,
today's Babul. There are many evidences available that indicates
from early childhood He was truly exceptional and possessed of
innate knowledge. His remarkable piety, devotion and brilliance
was noted by His childhood teacher Mulla Muhammad Hamzih
Shariatmadar. This man was one of the chief Islamic leaders of
the area and played a very significant role in protecting Quddus
during later years and Quddus shortly before His own martyrdom
entrusted His Writings to this man. He is also the person that
after Quddus' brutal martyrdom collected His remains (literally
pieces of His body) and buried them in their present location.
Shariatmadar has left us a very detailed narrative of Quddus'
life.
But far more importantly, very recently a 100 page autobiography
of Quddus has been located, titled Kitabu'l-Quddus, which the
manuscript is *probably* in His own hand. (I told you I'll have
juicy stuff...) More on this later ...
Anyway, at the age of 12, this bright youngster, was sent to a
school nearby town of Sari. Sometime later He joined a small
group of students in Mashhad, and enrolled in the school of Mulla
Jafar where He spent some 6 years. Mulla Jafar, like Mulla
Shariatmadar, was a Shaykhi and a number of future Letters of
Living (e.g. Mulla Husayn) were his student.
Again all accounts of this period, point to His extreme piety.
He would, very much like the Bab in Bushihr, devote long hours of
days to intense praying and meditation. His uprightness,
devotion and attention to minute details of the Islamic law were
truly exemplary.
When one thinks about it, all the Holy Figures have spent some
portion of their life in seclusion and intense meditation. This
is indeed true of Quddus. Another important consideration is the
careful attention They paid to details of religious laws. In
case of Quddus, recall to mind the words of Aqay-i Kalim, who met
Quddus in Tihran in early 1846.
"The charm of his person, his extreme affability, combined
with a dignity of bearing, appealed to even the most careless
observer. Whoever was intimately associated with him was
seized with an insatiable admiration for the charm of that
youth. We watched him one day perform his ablutions, and
were struck by the gracefulness which distinguished him from
the rest of worshipers in the performance of so ordinary a
rite. He seemed, in our eyes, to be the very incarnation of
purity and grace."
(A personal note: its too bad we stopped reading the Aqdas on
Talisman. The laws are infinitely more important than all these
other stuff we talk about ... But, heck, what do I know?! ...)
At the age of 18, He moved to Attabat and enrolled in the classes
of Siyyid Kazim Rashti and became one of the disciples of the
Shaykhi leader. Nabil says that He studied there for 4 years,
but, I figure only 3 years -- the math simply doesn't add up
otherwise. Whatever the right figure might be, what is important
is Quddus' behavior during this period. Several reports of this
period indicates that He would be the last to arrive and the
first to leave the lecture, never spoke during the classes and
kept pretty much to Himself -- pretty much like the Bab Who spent
about 9 months in Siyyid's classes and behaved the same way. But
the main difference between the Two was that Quddus dressed as a
dervish, was consumed with Sufi thoughts, and was extremely poor.
Did the Bab and Quddus know each other in Attabat?
Unfortunately, I don't know the answer. With neither of Them, do
we know precisely when they were in Atabat, but we do have pretty
good estimates. Given that, there seems that they must have
overlapped for a while -- at least 2 months. Anyway, I haven't
been able to resolve this issue. If anyone can help with this
question, then in space of two days and two nights, should a
capable amanuensis be found, I shall reveal verses the equivalent
of thrice the Qur'an in thy honor!
Getting back to our story, after Atabat, Quddus returned back to
His native town Barfurush and remained there for one year til he
heard of Siyyid's death. This one year at Barfurush was the
beginning of very intense persecution that he would suffer later
at the hand of chief religious leader of that region, the
deplorable Sa'idu'l-Ulama. The cause of this persecution is very
important since at a later stage the very root of the sever
persecution of the Babis is based on this and it has to do with
the tension between Usulis, Akhbaris and Shaykhi. As much ink
has already flowed on this topic, I'll spear the good people of
Talisland with ugly details.
Which brings us to the Writings of Quddus. (You were saying,
"Damn, that boy forgot all about the Writings and instead is
giving us a history lesson!" Relax, there is a method to my
madness...)
Some of the Writings of Quddus that Fadil-i Mazandarani has
published are from this period. Fadil implies that all 3 letters
of Quddus (1. p 407-9, 2. p 409-14 and 3. p 414-18 of
Zuhuru'l-Haqq, vol 3) are during this year of stay at Barfurush.
Fadil doesn't really give a date for these letters, but strongly
implies that they were from this period, which I must take an
exception with Fadil on the second letter. In my view, the
second letter is from the period of Quddus' return back from
pilgrimage. At any rate, this is an insignificant point.
Before I end this posting, let me say a word about Quddus'
handwriting. Those of your that have suffered through MacEoin's
Sources for the Babi Doctrinal and History, may remember that he
blasts Quddus for his totally unreadable handwriting. In fact,
MacEoin has nothing good to say about Quddus' Writings and point
blank says how fortunate we are not to have more of His Writings.
(I'll deal with this last point later and show you what an
utterly stupid comment it is which goes to the quality of this
so-called scholar!!)
But for now, I just have one question for Dr. MacEoin. Where in
God's Kingdom did you ever see the handwriting of Quddus?
The answer, my friends, is that he hasn't! As with many other
things in his book, he is just full of BS.
The truth is there is only one piece of Writing that is confirmed
to be in the hand of Quddus. I have a copy of it and MacEoin has
never seen it. Its a single page letter. The quality of
penmanship is the most exquisite that one has ever seen! Very
much in the style of early Baha'u'llah's hand. A facsimile will
adorn the opening page of the book on His life and Writings.
Well guys, I said I'll be brief, but I wasn't. I said that I'll
survey His Writings but I didn't. Hell, with so many lies, you
can just call me "MacEoin". (But please don't. It'll ruin our
friendship.)
OK, so that you won't be too upset with me, I leave you with one
last jewel. Remember earlier mention was made about Quddus'
Writings about Abdu'l-Baha and how in the most wondrous and
majestic language Quddus describes the Station of the Master?
Well, guess how He refers to Abdu'l-Baha...
He refers to Him as "sirru'llah" (The Mystery of God).
That's right folks, you heard it first right here on Talisman!
This wonderful appellation by which Baha'u'llah refers to the
Master in the Tablet of Branch, has its roots in the Writings of
Quddus.
Don't you think that's the neatest thing? Absolutely amazing!
What an incredible connection! Stay toned. More neat surprises
to come ...
lovingly, ahang.
To: tali...@indiana.edu
Subject: RE: Is Quddus a Manifestation?
[This message is converted from WPS-PLUS to ASCII]
Dear Chris:
I deeply appreciate your encouragement -- it shows that at least
one person is reading the stuff, so perhaps it isn't a waste of
time after all. I was beginning to wonder if *anyone* was
reading, or were people just politely tolerating me.
You aptly wrote:
> What does all of this mean? Are Quddus's theophanic locutions
> simply ecstatic utterances representing an extension of the
> Bab's own revelation? Is Quddus the Babi *al-Hallaj*?
> Or are we to read the writings of Quddus--which the Bab
> referred to as *evident magic* or *palpable sorcery*--a little
> more literally? If read literally, especially in light of the
> praise the Central Figures of the Faith lavish on him, the
> writings of Quddus could be interpreted as revelation.
> Quddus proclaims himself a Manifestation. Quddus writes like a
> Manifestation. In the Master's interpretation [or, in one of
> his two interpretations] of the *Tale of the City* in the heart
> of the Qur'an, Quddus figures as an Apostle along with the Bab.
I fully agree with everything you said. There is absolutely no
question that His Writings form part of the Babi Revelation and
that He ranks as a Manifestation of God. To appreciate Quddus'
caliber of discourse, one must turn to His Writings.
Unfortunately, outside of the 6 short pieces that Fadil has
published of them (which are *not* at all representative of His
Writings), nothing else has been printed of Him. We'll have at
least another 20 items by Quddus (and perhaps some of His
utterances) published soon.
Revelation, is Revelation. Nothing else compares to it. Mirza
Abdu'l-Fadl in his masterpiece, Fara'id explains that when those
endowed with understanding come upon the Revealed Word, they will
immediately recognize it's potent and sublime character. So, to
appreciate the nature of Quddus' Writings, the best we can do is
to turn to them. Hence, my humble efforts to get His Writings
published. Let the community see for itself what wondrous words
He wrote. (BTW, in my view, this is the only way to neutralize
the poisonous comments of MacEoin and Amanat -- individuals who
had no allegiance to the Faith, hence utterly failed to
understand the transcendent character of Quddus' Writings.)
You saw what Baha'u'llah said about His Writings and how in the
most direct language Quddus refers to this Dispensation.
Abdu'l-Baha also had seen them -- in all probability in Baghdad
as that's when they were all collected and transcribed.
In a Tablet Abdu'l-Baha says:
"Hadrat-i Quddus, ruhy lahu'l-fada, yik Kitab dar tafsir
Samad nazil farmudand. Az unvan-i Kitab ta nahayatash Iny
Ana'llah ast" (His Holiness Quddus, may My spirit be
sacrificed for Him, Revealed a Book as commentary on Samad
(Singleness). From the Title to the end utters: I am
God.)
Again, elsewhere Abdu'l-Baha states:
His Holiness Quddus, may My spirit be sacrificed for Him,
was the essence which manifested that (the Bab's) Sun of
Truth. He was a brilliant Light, luminous Star, the
essence of purity and quintessence of transcendence. And
of course a hundred thousand 'I am God' was Revealed by His
blessed Tongue. However, this incomparable Essence, tells
that He knows none other than His Lord (the Bab) and that
He is His wondrous Reflection and his faithful Servant.
One could go on for quit a while and quote extensively from
Baha'u'llah and Abdu'l-Baha about the nature and the wonder in
the Quddus's Revealed Words. But I think through the few
quotations that we've seen in the past 2 days, a clear picture is
coming to focus.
You further commented:
> So, Ahang, my question is this: We know Quddus is important.
> But why is he important? It would be a tautology to say Quddus
> is important because the Central Figures say so. The question
> remains: What is Quddus's role? What did he do that surpasses
> Mulla Husayn? Or are we simply to accept Quddus's importance as
> a matter of faith?
This is an excellent question and really must be attempted by
those much abler than I -- such as yourself. But now that people
are tolerating my incoherent ramblings, let me try an answer.
What the Principle Luminaries of our Faith (to include Shoghi
Effendi) say about Quddus *is* important. For one thing, they
serve as a guide for us to look for the right things.
Abdu'l-Baha's characterization of Quddus' Writings help us to
know what Quddus' literary signature was like -- it was the most
luminous projection of Divine Attributes through His sayings of
"I am God." And if nothing else, such statements by the Master
has been of tremendous help in deciding what is by Quddus and
what is possible forgery!
Further, how are we to understand the station of Quddus? Through
history? Hardly. He is Who He is! In rank and station a
Manifestation of God Who appeared under the shadow of yet
another. In fact the truly amazing thing about the Bab is that
Two other Manifestations appeared with Him -- Baha'u'llah and
Quddus. And that Both the Bab and Quddus had no other purpose
than to pave the way and extol the Supreme Station of
Baha'u'llah! (Amazing stuff! I tell you, we stand far too close
to the towering shadow of the Founders of our Faith to be even
able to gain a barest glimpse of their sublime station.)
Now, having said this, you queried about Quddus' role. You asked
"what did he do that surpassed Mulla Husayn?" I think you're
looking for some kind of historical explanation. Again, we must
turn to those on Talisman with proper training and expertise on
such matters, but since I happen to be logged on the computer let
me comment.
A distinguishing feature of the Bab's and Baha'u'llah's
Dispensations is that during the course of their Ministry,
because of exiles, They were removed from their community. By
mid point in the Bab's Ministry, this became a real practical
problem. While He had given some initial instructions to His
chief disciples to spread throughout the realm and execute
various instructions (mostly about teaching the new born Faith),
by the summer of 1847, the Bab realized that it was propitious to
launch a more organized effort to propagate the Cause. At any
rate, some of the Letters of the Living needed to be re-focused
in their efforts. They needed on-going guidance.
His problem was that He was banished to Mah-Ku and in effect cut
from His community. For all practical purposes, the community
had no leader to serve as a rallying point to provide daily
management of the affairs. This is where, in God's inscrutable
wisdom, Quddus came in. Quddus became a defacto leader of the
Babi community in lieu of the Bab. He had the God-given
spiritual capacities to serve this purpose.
Now, remember from history, how when Mulla Husayn came on foot to
Mah-Ku, the Bab instructed him to go back on foot and search for
the "Hidden Treasure" in Mazandaran. It was for the next nearly
two years that Quddus became the focus of all significant Babi
activities. He was the principle teacher of the new Message in
Mashhad, which the Bab lent his utmost support by issuing the
call: Hasten to Khurasan. Quddus was the very reflection of the
Bab and recall how the Bab even bestow upon Him, His own title!
Quddus is the one that gave the title of Siyyid Ali to Mulla
Husayn -- a few historians have reported this title came from the
Bab, but there is good evidence to the contrary. And of course
the final act of this divine drama was played out in Mazandaran
and all the available Letters of the Living (11 of them) stood
under the shadow of Quddus during that siege of Fort Tabarsi --
of which 10 fell as martyrs. Fort Tabarsi episode, to be sure,
is the most significant single event of the Babi Dispensation,
save the Bab's Night of Declaration.
You asked: what did Quddus do that surpassed Mulla Husayn. The
answer is given by Nabil. At the instruction of the Bab, Mulla
Husayn had no trouble to recognize and instantly begin to obey
Quddus -- remember what Baha'u'llah says in K1 of Kitab-i Aqdas!
Anyway, from the fall of 1847 to March of 1849, til his last
breath, Mulla Husayn served his newly found Lord, Quddus. Again,
this is what the Bab wanted him to do -- to follow the commands
of Quddus as if they were the Bab's own self.
In the final analysis, the importance of Quddus lies in the
importance of the Bab. Quddus is nothing more than a reflection
of the glory of the Bab. He is the Moon which received its light
from the Sun of Reality of the Bab.
To understand Quddus, to approach His Writings in a prayful
attitude, provide us a window to understand the Supreme Station
of the Bab, which in turn will guide us to the Threshold of
Baha'u'llah.
with deepest love, ahang.
The answer to this most fascinating question will be given in
the next post.... stay toned...
(Don't you absolutely love these stuff about Quddus?? I think
they are positively thrilling ...)
much love, ahang.
ps. Please do let me know if you get tired of these things and
I'll shut up ...
Abraxas
>From rab...@a1.bmoa.umc.dupont.comMon Sep 11 23:09:33 1995
Date: Mon, 11 Sep 95 09:45:01 -0400Subject: Quddus -- part 6
[This message is converted from WPS-PLUS to ASCII]
Dear Friends,
In our discussion of the life and writings of Quddus, we got as
far as His return back to Barfurush after His 3 years of study
with Siyyid Kazim and the beginning of persecutions which some
six years later cost Him his life.
The early to middle of the 19th century in Iran marks a period
of particularly high tension between Akhbari and Usuli factions
of Shi'i religion -- respectively, representing the orthodox and
progressive factions of Shi'i school of thoughts in Islam. This
competition was specially aggravated given the challenge which
Shaykhi matrix of thought presented to the Usuli factions The
clash between Shaykhi and Usuli followers (which by the middle
of the 19th century were the dominant force) was later
translated to the ideological clash between the Babis and
Usulis.
It is against this background that we note Quddus' sufferings as
a leader of Shaykhi faction in Barfurush during His year-long
stay there. In this period, His sole supporter was His
childhood teacher, Shariatmadar.
Soon after His arrival, Quddus began to separate Himself from
the society and seek the seclusion and privacy of His father's
home and undertake long hours of meditation. A number of close
companions began to gradually recognize in Him his divine
capacities and were deeply attracted to Him. With them, Quddus,
would share the news of the near advent of the Promised One. As
His fame increased so did His troubles. The center all the
seditions was none other than Sa'idu'l-Ulama.
(The Islamic Hadith hold that a bearded woman, named Sa'id,
would use his ax to kill the Qa'im, the Promised One. It was on
May 16, 1849, that Sa'idu'l-Ulama used his ax to tear Quddus
apart and mutilate His remains.)
With the news of Siyyid Kazim's death, Quddus decided to proceed
to Shiraz. Outwardly He told His family that He was going on a
Pilgrimage journey to Macca.
By now, of course, the Bab had declared Himself in Shiraz and 17
Letters of the Living were already enrolled. (As a side, it
should be pointed out, that Shiraz served as the Qiblih, the
Point of Adoration, during the Babi Dispensation. Mulla Husayn,
Quddus and others, from at least Khurasan period -- before
Badasht! -- offered their prayers in the direction of Shiraz. I
shared this fact to begin to set the stage for debunking all
these claims that it was Tahirih who recognized and insisted on
separation of Babi from Islamic Dispensation. Long before
Badasht, both Mulla Husayn and Quddus were preaching this Truth.
More on this later...)
Call to mind Nabil's report, how one night the Bab said to Mulla
Husayn that the last Letter of the Living will arrive tomorrow.
Next day, Quddus arrived in the city and upon seeing His old
classmate, Mulla Husayn, asked if he had discovered the Promised
One. Mulla Husayn tried to not answer the question, but Quddus
replied: "Why seek you to hide Him from Me. I can recognize
Him by His gait. I confidently testify that none besides Him,
Whether in the East or in the West, can claim to be the Truth.
None other can manifest the power and majesty that radiate from
His holy person." Of course, Quddus was pointing to the Bab Who
had His back to the two of them and was standing not far from
them. Mulla Husayn uncontrollably utters this poem:
"Dideh khahm kih bashad Shah shinas,
Shah ra bishnasad andar har libas"
(Grant me eyes which would recognize the King,
in whatever clothing the King is attired.)
Mulla Husayn goes to the Bab and reports the conversation. The
Bab says: "We have in the world of the spirit been communing
with that youth. We know him already. We indeed awaited His
coming. Go to Him and summon Him forthwith to Our presence."
So, notice that Quddus immediately recognized the Bab (unlike
Mulla Husayn himself who asked for proofs and arguments), by
just beholding the back of the Bab and that the Bab says the Two
been already communing.
Now, ponder what Quddus has Written:
Qul: Ana'l hamdu'llah lazy qad rabbani bi aydy min qabil.
Yata qad arani ala'l-qarsh jamalihu va huvva rabu'l-alamin
hamidan fi ummu'i-kitab jabaran...
Say: Praise by upon My Lord (the Bab) Who with His divine
Hands guided Me from before, even manifest His Countenance
to Me in the Paradise. Verily, He is the Lord of the
worlds, and in the Mother Book is Generous and Omnipotent.
I testify that before Thou declared thy most august Self
to the world of creation, I beheld Thy most luminous
Countenance and prostrated Myself before Thy Throne of
Majesty and Might. I testify before all creation that
there is no other God in both the heaven and earth but
Thee, the ancient, the everlasting.
The wonderful thing about this passage, as I understand it, is
that Quddus testifies that He had known the Bab and was in
communication with him ("guided Me") *before* the Bab's
Declaration!
This is absolutely a wonderful piece of Writing to have.
Previously, we had Nabil's reported words of the Bab that the
Two were in communication in the world of spirit and now we have
the actual, written Words of Quddus that indeed this
communication was taking place in the heavens (or world of
spirit) and that Quddus recognized the Bab long before His open
Declaration to Mulla Husayn!
(personal note: during the time that I've been focusing on the
Babi Dispensation and carefully reading a number of primary
documents, the amazing thing that I have come to understand is
how incredibly *accurate* Nabil's narrative is. It's just a
miracle of Baha'u'llah, (because nothing else can explain it),
that so many of the details that Nabil gives, and in recent
years have come under criticism in certain quarters, are in fact
absolutely true and accurate! Any wonder why the beloved
Guardian considered it so important? We just need to publish
these primary documents so that all can see for themselves...
The above example, regarding the Bab's and Quddus' early
interaction, is just one such instance.)
Perhaps at this juncture it behooves us to pause and ponder the
station of the Letters of the Living.
First, call to mind St. John's vision (Book of Revelation) of
the 24 Elders seated before God (i.e. Baha'u'llah). The beloved
Master explains that the first of these Elders is the Bab, the
next 18 are the Letters of the Living and the twentieth is Mirza
Muhammad-Taqi, the Vakkilu'l-Haqq, (the saintly architect of the
Temple in Ishaqabad and the cousin of the Bab -- he was a son of
the Bab's Great Uncle (recipient of the Kitab-i Iqan)).
To understand their station a bit more fully allow me to share a
few extract -- and please forgive my extremely inadequate
rendering.
Baha'u'llah in the Kitab-i Badi`, His longest revealed Work
states:
It is certain that after the Point (the Bab), Truth is
manifest from the Letters of the Living. The whole of
Dispensation of Bayan, is created under the shadow of the
first Vahid. And the Truth, in its essence, is their
dominion as is all the Attributes and exalted Names.
Elsewhere in relation to the sublimity of His own Dispensation
and the transcendent character of His Revelation, Baha'u'llah
has stated:
If today the entire dwellers of the heavens and earth
were to become exalted as the Bayanic Letters (ie.
Letters of the Living) which are a hundred thousand
times more exalted and superior to the Qur'anic Letters
(the Imams), but failed for even a moment to recognize
this Cause, they will be counted as opponent of God and
recorded as the Letters of Negation.
While in this passage, Baha'u'llah clearly exalts the Letters of
Living over those of the previous Dispensation, but sobering
fact of this passage cannot be lost on any one of us. Please go
back and read it again. He says, even if the station of an
individual is as exalted as the Letters of the Living, but in
failing to recognize the Truth of His Revelation, the person is
counted as an enemy of God and the Letter of Negation. There is
much to ponder in this passage.
The Bab in the Bayan (5:2) enjoins upon the community to raise
18 Temples in the name of the Letters of the Living. He
emphasis that these must be mighty Temples and no expenditure
spared.
Also, significant pronouncements by the Bab regarding His
Letters of the Living is made in Bayan (8:17) and also in His
opening sermon of the Bayan. Elsewhere, He explains the
relationship between the first Vahid (He and 18 L of L) and the
formula at the beginning of each Sura of Qur'an, Bismillah-i
Rahman-i Rahim.
The burial place of the 18 Letters of the Living is:
Martyrs:
Barfurush (Quddus)
Fort Tabarsi (8 of them: Mulla Husayn, ...)
Tihran (Tahirih and Siyyid Husayn Yazdi)
Turkey (Mulla Ali-Bastami)
By natural death (or presumed so):
India (Shaykh Sa'id Hindi)
Istanbul (Mulla Baqir-i Tabrizi)
Karbala (Mulla Khudabakh-i Quchani)
Qazvin (Mirza Hadi)
Yazd (Mirza Muhammad-i Yazdi)
unknown:
Mulla Hasan Bajistani
A point of interest that needs to be borne in mind about the
burial place of Mulla Husayn and Quddus is that the Bab in a
Tablet of Visitation in their honor states that the very dust
associated with these Two, for a radius of 1 mile from their
respective resting place, will bring solace to desolate and
healing to ill and sick -- a fact, confirmed by Baha'u'llah.
Assuming its OK with everyone, we'll continue our discussion of
Quddus's life after His enrollment as a Letter of the Living in
another post.
With loving Baha'i greetings, ahang.
>From rab...@a1.bmoa.umc.dupont.comTue Sep 12 11:01:40 1995
Date: Mon, 11 Sep 95 22:49:01 -0400
From: Ahang Rabbani
To: tali...@indiana.edu
Subject: Quddus -- reading assignment
[This message is converted from WPS-PLUS to ASCII]
Friends,
Our dear Juan Cole, to whom I owe *everything* about the Quddus
project, just shared a great suggestion which I like to pass it
along. He suggested that we use this occasion to deepen a bit
more on the Dawn-breakers. I think that sounds great.
So, here's the thought: I'm going to pause posting on Quddus for
at least through this weekend and give everybody a chance to find
their copy of Nabil's Narrative (look in the attic, or old boxes
in the garage, maybe the back of the closet, anyway, have faith,
you'll find it!), then read chapter 3 and 7. Chapter 3 has to do
with the Bab's Declaration (its a little over 40 pages) and
Chapter 7 with His Pilgrimage (its only about 10 pages or so).
Now, if you feel like reviewing some other sources like Amanat's,
or MacEoin's, or Tarikh-i Jadid, or Browne's Material ... by all
means, knock yourself out ... You'll get extra credits...
I hope we'll have good discussion around these materials. This
is a good time to do some serious deepening on early Babi
Dispensation and through our give and take get exposed to some
additional information.
What you say?
ahang.
>From rab...@a1.bmoa.umc.dupont.comTue Sep 12 23:19:20 1995
Date: Tue, 12 Sep 95 16:07:01 -0400
From: Ahang Rabbani
To: tali...@indiana.edu
Subject: RE: Quddus
[This message is converted from WPS-PLUS to ASCII]
Dear Sen:
Thanks very much for the extract from the Seven Valley -- and
your extremely perceptive comments!
I've been struggling with the question of Quddus' Station for a
while too and I think we have the same problem with His as we do
with Abdu'l-Baha's -- they are just not going to be defined in
terms of our past religious experience or even the Writings.
"Seeing with the eyes of God" is an exalted station, and perhaps
the highest station, for a believer to be sure. I think that
Tahirih perhaps best represents this station though. Hujjat,
Vahid, Dayyan, possibly Mulla Husayn (though his writings offer
very little evidence in this regard), may also be prime
candidates for it too.
But, somehow Quddus doesn't seem to fit this. He seems to have
certain God-given gifts. The stories of His childhood imply the
same sort of innate knowledge that the Bab possessed. His
schooling is very limited and yet His writings are truly amazing.
He claims Divine Revelation and indeed what we read by Him are
nothing short of it. When it comes to Quddus, it seems, there is
more than "seeing" with the eye of God.
What of His claims to divinity? History of Sufism, as Nima would
tell us, is packed with such claimants. The more famous
claimants to being God are: Mansur-i Hallaj, Abu'l-Hasan
Khariqani, Abu-Sa'id Abu'l-Khayr (it is said that Kabaa
circumambulated him!), Mullana Rumi, (Chirs Buck is right and I
was wrong, alast night I found a poem by Rumi where he claims to
be God), Shah Nimatu'llah Valli-i Kirmani and Shaykh Shatah (this
latter one is where the term "shatahiyyit" comes from). Anyway,
is Quddus just a modern day version of one of these?
What of all the ranks and titles that Baha'u'llah and the Bab
have bestowed upon Him? The rank of "mazhariyyat"! This can't
just be bestow on someone who "sees with the eyes of God". What
of the Qur'anic title of "Messenger"? What of Baha'u'llah's
explanation that He was the very essence of the BAb?
The beloved Guardian makes a very interesting point at the
beginning of the Dispensation of Baha'u'llah when he says that
the Bab ranks below that of Baha'u'llah. So, that suggests there
is a pecking order among the Manifestations and that not all are
equal in rank! Also, Baha'u'llah says that no one ranked in the
Dispensation as high as Quddus, save the Bab Himself.
These seem to suggests that He clearly was in the class of
Manifestations (whatever that means!) and yet *not* authorized as
One. In other words, exactly as Abdu'l-Baha said, He was the
moon that drew His light from the Sun of the Bab.
Here is another difficult question: Who ranked higher, Quddus or
Abdu'l-Baha? And if its Quddus, then why is He not listed as one
the Central Figures of the Faith?
Clearly, the question of Quddus and His rank and writings is
going to remain a puzzling one and requires much more thinking.
I also happen to think that it's one of the more interesting
aspects of the Babi Dispensation that has not been explored
previously. Am I wrong?
Sen, I don't have any answers--wish to God that I did--only
questions. Any insights that you or others wish to share will
greatly help expand our collective understanding.
best wishes, ahang.
malug...@gmail.com
I have read these posts on the station of the divine Quddus with joy! At the end of it have concluded that Quddus was assigned by Allah to be the Manifestation of the Bab. Quddus was that appointed perfect Mirror of the Manifestation of God, just as the Manifestation of God is the Sadratu'l-Muntaha.
To repeat, it can be believed with confidence, based upon all available evidence, that Quddus was the Manifestation of the Bab, that the Bab would speak through Quddus, and that the Words of Quddus were really the unalloyed and undiluted Words of the Manifestation of God, the Bab. Thus, the Holy Manifestation, the Primal Point, revealed the Words of God, and the divinely appointed and perfected Quddus revealed the Words and likeness of the Bab. He is the divinely appointed revelation of the Bab, as the Bab is the divinely appointed revelation of the one true God.
Thus is confirmed the revealed Words of HH Baha'u'llah, when He revealed in the Surat Al Haykel, that "Should they hide Me away in the depths of the earth, yet would they find Me riding aloft on the clouds, and calling out unto God, the Lord of strength and of might."(ยง 142 in Summons from the Lord of Hosts, Baha'i World Center, 2002). The purpose and will of the All-Mighty can never be thwarted. If the Manifestation be consigned to a mountain cave, yet will it manifest Itself through the Appointed Mirror, Quddus. And His being is conclusive and literal evidence of the Self-Subsisting to do His will. "Fain would they put out Allah's light with their mouths; but God hath willed to perfect His Light, albeit, the infidels abhor it."
Love to all,
Dalton Garis
Flushing, Queens, New York City