In the name of God, the High, the highest !
Glory and praise be to the Lord of the World and of Man who in His sacredness (muqaddas) is above all description and explanation, beyond definition and comprehension. His attributes are manifested in everything. It is He who grants special properties to plants like sandal wood or incense, who gives various colours to minerals, from the (white) pearl to the (red) ruby. The existence of the whole world is due to His existence, He is All-powerful, Almighty, Generous and Seeing. It is He who has granted the beauty of His own exaltedness to the face (appearance) of man, He who bestowed the mantle of His limitless forgiveness to the noblest of creations, man. He manifested, in man the boundless properties of the Invisible Mystery. He manifests Himself an endless number of times in the form of man in each period (dawr), and epoch (kawr) . The comprehension of the Eternal Substance is above the power of understanding of all mortals, although His attributes are always manifested in every world and man. That knowledge is forbidden, as is known, and everyone who wants to comprehend His Substance is bound to fail in the attempt. [2] 25 This is why some one said : "If the knowledge is barred, the search is frustrated." In another saying there is a maxim : "Knowledge is concerned with one point, but the ignorant have made it concerned with things." 26
O, darwish!, Those who justify the principle "Whoever understood himself, understands his Lord," refer to one's knowing himself, thus (being able) to recognize his Lord (in his creation). Just in this sense the Final Prophet says: "My Lord has instructed me in the best way." The meaning of the Instructor 27 is One (Wahid) who is the mirror of the One (Ahad) , because all the properties of the latter are apparent from the former, as is said: There is no difference between thee and my beloved." That form of the One (Wahid) is not for a moment excepted from the law of accidence (arad) . In every single age (qarn) that Mysterious Substance (Jawhar) , the One (Ahad), manifests itself in the accidence (arad) under a certain name, because the Ahad, the One, who is the same as Wahid , is free from possessing a (visible) form (haykal). 28 Such manifestation is the first Adam (or First Man), while the second Adam (or man) 29 comes from the Substance of the Instructor (adîb), just in the same way as the sun is in the sky, over the earth. His position is indicated by the Creator to the created by miracles (âyât) and proofs. [3] The proof (ithbât) of His being is His blessed substance from which are apparent the attributes of the Supreme Deity (Ilâh-i Kull) . 30 That Mysterious Substance (Dhât-i ghayb) is neither complex, nor a body, nor substance, nor accidence. Is Divine Substance (Jawhar) visible by itself? No, this is impossible. It is visible only through its accidence, as, e.g., the accidence of man is his stature (haykal) This 31 is placed into the heart of Adam (or man, generally ?) and rests there just as the stature of the letter alif in the word li'-lah (Allah ?). 32 It is dressed into three garments, one of (the colour of) the sun, the other of the moon, and the third of the brocade of the dawn 33 That Substance cannot be recognized except in Adam ( or man, generally?). It is proved ithbat mi-shawad) from three words (kalima) . 34
Firstly, the people think that it is like the noun, verb, and adverb. Others say : day, night, and dawn fajar) Others again say : spiritual guide ( murshid), spiritual instructor pir and spiritual teacher (dalil) 35. Certain philosophers 36 call it : depth, length, breadth. Thus in various expressions they refer to three different ideas ( kalmia ). (While) the basis is three dots, one dot becomes proved. 37
When the devotee glorifying (?), the alij will draw it with the alif of the expression ila illa wa la illa 38 with the help of the (one) dot, the noun, verb and adverb become apparent. When that is so, one may draw that alif till it becomes the letter ya. 39 O darwish, what is that letter? Between alif and ya there are twenty nine letters. Four (sacred) books are composed of those twenty nine letters. These twenty [4] nine letters come from three letters ch, p and zh each of which is written with the help of three dots. These dots are the foundation, and the rest are additional. 40
In every five hundred thousand years these three letters which have nine dots, manifest themselves in a name which has the meaning of the number nine. This also is a symbol libas ) of the One Wahid , Muhammad and Ali. These three names are derived from three original dots. This is the form of the three dots . . . These three dots are these three names (either) in the Psalms ( Zubur) or the Coran ( Bayyi-na) . 41 In the numeral value of letters (bayyina) "alif" is one hundred and eleven. Lif is one hundred and ten. Ali is one hundred and ten. Muhammad is ninety-two. Subtract this from one hundred and ten, and eighteen will remain. Alif is one, and thus there is 19 which is the sum of the letters in the word Wahid . The followers of the Path mardan-i tarid) call these three letters, pir, murshid, and murid. 42
It is said 43 that on the day when neither the earth nor the sky were in existence, the King of the whole and all things existed. He wanted to raise a world. He moved Himself and vapour and smoke came up. From the steam there appeared a drop of something. 44 He made that something into water for a world. Steam condensed into water and hardened, taking position near the water, and that Mysterious One (Ghayb) moved His Spirit over the water. From the water wonderful creations became produced. He kept the water under His instruction 45 for five hundred thousand years until He created (the letter) ya and ya came out (of water) upon the dry land ( khak).
It was water and it purified a world.
It was water and turned man into earth. 46
For five hundred thousand years He instructed the earth ( khak ) until He created the word "hu". In five hundred thousand years He made ya into la 47 and hu into illa . For five hundred thousand years He blew from the breeze of His Almightiness the breathing of His spirit upon the earth and water until He created a figure in the likeness of His own image (surat) and made Himself appear in the form (libas) of Adam. 48 By His own tongue, He pronounced : "And blessings be upon God, the best of creators " (Coran, XXIII, 14) This creation has become 49 the best and noblest of all creations. This creation is called the First Adam. The meaning of the First Adam will be explained further on.
Adam the Friend of God who has already been nine [6] thousand years ruling ( the earth), says : "When I came out of Paradise.50 I held a small stone in my hand. It fell upon the earth, and I myself bent down to pick it up. Then a cry rose from four mountains : O Adam, do not pick it up! We, every small stone in us, shall become a sign of an Adam, and thou are the final of Adams (khatm-i Adam-ha) Just as it was asked from Adam : O Adam, who was before thee? He replied : Adam. (They asked) : and before (that) Adam? He replied : again Adam; even if every moment the same question is repeated, I shall reply: Adam. 51
O, darwish! This world has neither a beginning nor an end. Faith ( iman) 52 is eternal (qa'im) of the with God, but transient with men. It is narrated concerning that Adam : The Substance (Jawhar) after having created water and earth wanted to raise a world. It created a (secondary) substance (gawhar) which was Bani Amin (Banyamin). It called him out, using the word ya, Ya (O) Bani Amin, come let us lay foundations to the (institution of) pir and murid . Bani Amin replied: O King, you (sic) are (Supreme) Substance in possession of Almightiness, and I am only a (secondary) substance (gawhar) I am created through Thee (ba-wasita'i Tu) I obey all that you would order."
The Supreme Substance (Jawhar) said : "I, being the King, shall transfer my royal authority to thee, and accept the position of a murid " The (secondary) substance (gawhar) replied: "O King, I posses no power to keep the world (in order) [7] The Jawhar said, "I shall give thee assistants (yar) and present thee with slaves (ghulam). " The gawhar asked: "Who will be the witness (of the transfer of authority?) The Jawhar out of the word "hu" and its substance ( hui ) created Pir-i-Musi, the Record Keeper ( Qalam-zan ). (The King) said: "O friend ( yar ) be witness of the fact that I accept Bani Amin, who is a (secondary) substance ( gawhar ), as my Pir i.e. spiritual guide, and become myself a murid from today that is (the time of life ( nashr) )till the day of hashr, death. Pir-i-Musi asked: "What is the purpose of myself and my being created, (besides being) the witness? The Jawhar replied: "I appoint thee the record-keeper of all good and bad actions (of mankind)." Pir-i-Musi again asked: "And who is the witness of this?" ( the Jawhar ) then created Daud from His own sweat, and said: "O Daud, be a witness that I have accepted Bani Amin as my Pir , and myself as his murid and appointed Pir-i-Musi as the record-keeper of the Table of Fate ( Lawh )" Daud then asked, "What is the purpose of my creation?" The Jawhar answered, "I appoint thee as a guide and assistant, giving relief to people in difficulties." Daud asked, "And who is the witness (of this)?" The King out of His seal ring (muhr ) created Mustafay-i Daudan, and said, "Be a witness of the fact that I have accepted Bani Amin as my Pir appointed Pir-i-Musi as the record-keeper, and Daud as the helper (of those) in difficulties" Mustafay -i-Daudan asked , "What is the purposes of my creation?" the Jawhar answered, "I appoint thee as the one who takes the souls (out of human bodies on their deaths) qabid-i arwah." He also wanted a witness, [8] and the King created fifteen thousands slaves (ghulam ) out of the gawhar (secondary substance), entrusting these to Bani Amin. They all gave evidence (of what they witnessed). Then (the King) created nine thousand (other) slaves out of His own substance ( az jawhar-i khud ) entrusting these to Mustafya-i Daudan, and they also became witness. 53
The King in the presence of the four Angels namely, Bani Amin, Pir-i-Musi, Daud, and Mustafay-i Daudan, collected the sweat on His forehead, and it turned into a nut ( jawzi basta shud ). He broke it before the assembly ( dar khidmat-i jam' ) before Bani Amin, thus handing over His own head to the gawhar. The others ( yaranq ) also one after the one, handed over their heads, and received possession of the mystery ( sirr ) The King then appointed these four Pirs as pir-i dalil, pir-i irshad, pir-i nazar, and (one more) pir-i dalil 54 in order that they might carry on preaching and give guidance to humanity in their search for the Jawhar , so that when He Himself comes out, they would recognize Him. He gave each of them a trust and (special) instructions ( amanat wa ahkam ) 55 and Himself disappeared behind the veil of absence ( parda-i ghayb ). 56 They (yaran ) formed an assembly (jam ) in the particle of the Universe ( dharra'i kull ) 57 conveying the mystery of (the future) manifestations 58 They laid the principles of the assembly of the faithful ( usul - i jam . ) 59
Such principles are five : 60 one is in the position of the Deity ( hahut ) 61 [9] He is superior to (the next) three, 62 and these are superior (to the next) five. These are superior to seven, and these, in their turn, are superior to forty ( chihil tan )These are superior to 72, and here the number 5, 7, 40, and after forty came 72. Nine names are those of Walis(?) 63 two names (men) out of these nine belong to the Qutb 64 and seven others are his (whose?) men who are concealed ( rijal-i u ki dar ghayb ) and while those two are the revealers of the mystery ( mafatih -i ghayb and 72 (27?) in the unity ( wahdat ) of the number of fundamentals make twenty (?) In nine houses comes to balance (?). 65 When one (i.e. the first in the mystical hierarchy) dies ( parda mikashad ) one of the next three takes the place of that one. From those five one takes the place of one of the three, from those seven one takes the place of (one of the ) five. One of the forty takes the place of one of the seven and one of the seventy takes the place of one of the forty. One of the seventy two is Adam. 66
This assembly ( jam ) took place in Hell or Fire (nar) which reigned for five thousand years until Adam appeared from the dust ( khak ).The life of Adam appeared from earth, and the death of Ta us-iKa us 67 was in Hell. The Jawhar i.e. the First Dot, uttered [10] a call : " O, Bani Jann 68 I am the soul of all the souls, and spirit of all the spirits who had created you on the first Day. Come now to render your accounts. " Those created of fire and water regarded themselves as equal to the Jawhar They replied : "We are just like yourselves." They thus showed opposition, denying (the authority of ) the Jawhar The latter uttered a call, " O, Mustafay-i da'udan! Come here!" The Angel (Malak) Mustafa appeared with the slave ( ghulaman who were witnesses of the pre-eternal Divine act. The Jawhar replied, " Take the spirit of all the spirits, and present it before the assembly ( jam. )"
The "snatcher of spirits" went to take the souls, and began to catch them by forty different painful calamities, until the creations of fire became weak. They turned their faces towards their king who was Malk Ta'us, and said, " O King, it is obvious that the end of the world ( yawm-i hashr ) has arrived, and the world became dark and sinister. Malak Ta'us looked into the box of trust ( sunduq -i amanat ) 69 and saw that (really) the day of the death had arrived, and that the Jawhar is going to lay foundation of the (new) life. In a moment he saw that Mustafay-i Dau'dan had appeared. He addressed Mustafa, and said, " O snatcher of spirits ! Take me along with thyself to the King of Love . " …70