Egyptian-Hebrew stream·Jabirian Corpus·Selections from the Book of Fifty·Selections from the Book of Fifty

p. 490 (leaf n495)

(10) the Treasurer, (11) the Greater Man, (12) the Lesser Man, (13) the Ascetic, (14) the First Believer, (15) the Tested Believer, (16) the Wanderer, (17) the Star, (18) the Cherub, (19) the Gate, 3 (20) the Orphan, (21) the Knower, (22) the Jurist, (23) the Speaker, (24) the Silent, (25) the Noble, (26) the Elevated, (27) the Captain, (28) the Chamberlain, (29) the Repeller, (30) the Philosopher, (31) the Disciple, (32) the Sign, 6 (33) the King, (34) the Island, (35) the Concealer, (36) the Publicizer, (37) the Bestower, (38) the Station, (39) the Witness, (40) the Preacher, (41) the Proof, (42) the Mediator, (43) the Instructor, (44) the Deputy, 9 (45) the Successor, (46) the Diran, (47) the Certain, (48) the Hidden, (49) the Path, (50) Mercy, (51) Eternity, (52) the Devotee, (53) Life, (54) the Forbidder, (55) the Master of the Command, who when he appears 12 must have them, since each one of them is delegated to a matter in which none other shares. Some said: each one of these persons knows the knowledge of the Imam,

15> * it is permissible < that they be Imams. Yet the people of speculation possess a decisive distinction,
which is that the definition of the Imam, in his view, is the one perfect in knowledge who acts by it, while the others do not act by it and do not judge. As for the veils, they are two of his companions: the praiseworthy, who is marked by knowledge and companionship of the people, so that when asked he conveys and shows gentleness; and the blameworthy, who conceals

p. 491 (leaf n496)

And he fancies. As for the orphan, it is the nurture of the Imam and it is never released to him, and he is veiled; none sees him save the Imam. As for the gate, it is the one who performs the greater universal exercise; there is nothing beyond it save arrival by his saying: I am the city of knowledge and upon its gate. Thus it indicates that he is the key. We need to clarify whether every prophet and Imam and orphan and gate accepts a limit of a prophet and Imam and orphan and gate, then it branches out upon the rest of the persons. As for the people of revelation and miracle, they asserted that they are not one, even if they are equal in what we have mentioned, for if they were in one sense their miracles and their customs would not have differed; thus it became clear that each one of them differs from the other—I mean the prophet from the prophet, the Imam from the Imam, and the rest of those remaining upon that. ... For the corporeality that accepts the limit of the Imam and the spirituality, if they are not equal, the knowledge needed for them both would not be one, because of the increase of the mixture and its deficiency and its equilibrium and the bestowal of spirituality upon every mixture according to its receptivity. Thus the deserving one who imparts a meaning among meanings only attains that by means of its likes upon that first matter, without increase or decrease. We only said that because the second is not like the first in number, and likewise the third in relation to the second and the first. Thus the one who took knowledge from his companion is more entitled to precedence than the one who takes from other than his companion. Not every Imam is from an orphan, even if some of the Imams are from an orphan. And not

p. 492 (leaf n497)

Image of al-Hasan and al-Husayn and Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya in the estimation of the Commander of the Believers as his rank with the Prophet, because there is none among them who is a qayyim while the Commander of the Believers was an orphan. Likewise the community had none who was a bab while ʿAli was a bab. These two are superiorities even if their persons are equal. As for the remaining Imams, they took from their fathers and those enjoined upon them. Therefore al-Husayn is preferred in some statements over al-Hasan because he took from his father while al-Husayn took from his father and from al-Hasan, even if it is said that al-Hasan took from the Prophet >and from ʿAli< and from Salman, because al-Husayn had taken from the three and from his brother. There is none among them who took from his brother among the remaining ones except al-Husayn. The superiority of Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya is because it is not related that the Commander of the Believers taught him anything apparent except by way of hearing his speech and by his saying “Thou art truly my son.” This is not its place because it is long and people have differed much concerning it. As for the fourth, it is almost like the following, meaning that the rank of ʿAli ibn al-Husayn is almost like the rank of al-Hasan. As for the difference between the Imam and the Prophet: the Prophet is the Speaker and the Imam is silent. The Prophet is the commander and the hijab is commanded. The Imam is commanded, knowing what he is commanded, while the hijab does not know all that he is commanded. The Prophet is the doer, ruler and commander, while the yatim is not a doer, not a ruler and not a commander. The Imam is silent and speaking, while the yatim is neither silent nor

p. 493 (leaf n498)

It is not a speaker nor a knower of every thing commanded. The Veil is commanded and the Orphan is not commanded. The Prophet is the Gatherer and the Gate is one. The Imam is a ruler and the Gate is a guide. The Gate knows and the Veil does not know. The Gate is connected and the Orphan is separated. The Gate is fixed, ٣ the Orphan is transferable. The difference among the Prophets is according to the measure of the religious communities and the Imams according to the measure of succession, and peace.

The Thirty-seventh Treatise (٦)

He has become certain that the name and the word are the roots of the conventional dispositions of speech in its entirety, because the names indicate substances and the word indicates the act. The name ٩ and the word is specific. Every word is a name but not every name is a word. The negative enters upon the word, not the name: “Every man is not a writer.” The name is the subject and the word is the predicate. There must be a distinction between the first and the second, because there are not in the world two persons with one meaning, for it is predicated by accident, not ١٢ by essence, and difference is by accident.

The people have set up the whole as a cycle of six persons. A group has said: “If the matter is straight from the first to the sixth, the matter is attached ١٥ to the Imams. And if the matter is disordered, the existence of the Speaker [occurs]. The statement concerning

p. 494 (leaf n499)

On ʿAli b. al-Husayn, for he took little from his father yet was a seeker of knowledge as though he were the Opener. Then came Muhammad b. ʿAli, for he is the End. As for our lord Abu ʿAbd Allah, he set the matter aright and ordered it and did not split it; were it not for that, there would have been need of the Speaker and the repetition of the matter, and by him one dispenses with that. In it is the miracle that cannot be. For the miracle is two miracles: one in the state of impossibility, and the second in the chapter of possibility. ٣ Impossibility is what summons to the doing of the impossible, while the possible is like the Qurʾan and what resembles it. ٦ As for what is called the simple (al-basit), it is the man who possesses the perfect, complete knowledge after which there is no further goal; yet it is from + the milk (al-laban) as though it were the codex and the teacher. ٩ He is the unifier of speech and silence and like the first of the individuals. The precedent (al-sabiq) is as though the opposite of the simple, because the simple is like the first and the precedent is like the first of the two compounds; therefore the Commander of the Believers is described by it. As for the follower (al-tali), it is like the precedent because ١٢ the precedent relies upon it. The foundation (al-asas) and the preparer (al-muʿidd) are like the precedent and the follower. Then the bearer (al-hamil) is the first raised one by which the coming-to-be of things is completed toward expression and meaning. Since the name stands by itself and the meaning does not stand by itself, it is necessary that the name ١٥ be the bearer and the meaning the borne, like the human being: for he is the second substance from our side and the first from the side of Nature. He is the believing, patient one; to him belong faith and patience according to his saying (God bless him and grant him peace): “The believer is like the earth; do you not see that every benefit comes from it ١٨ and every harm is upon it?” As for the treasurer (al-khazin), it has been said that he is the trusted one.

p. 495 (leaf n500)

Like Ibn ʿAbbas and the like. The greater human [and the lesser] is the one eloquent in all, answering every meaning. The lesser is like the preserver of one matter from those sciences. ٣ And the ascetic, the abandoner after purification and power, and that is his saying: “Refresh the hearts, why the remembrance?” And the first believer and the tested one concerning whom there is no doubt. ٦ And the wanderer, the fleer from the people. And the guiding star, the indicator. The cherubim like the star [because the wanderer is like the Commander of the Believers and Jaʿfar] and he is like the follower. ٦ And the knower and the jurist like the sage and the instructor. And the noble is he who receives the respondent and the caller. And the elevated has surpassed the nobles and the pure ones. And the chief, the distinguisher from these persons ٩ (5) The Thirty-Ninth Treatise. The preceding treatise is like the substrate for that one, because it is from the most difficult of the science of the inward, which is the quest for the property of the Speaker and the Silent, and knowledge of their persons, their names, and their conjunction. ١٢ We say: the disagreement in this chapter is in eight things according to eight persons. And that is (1) [according to] the silence of the Commander of the Believers according to > existence <.

p. 496 (leaf n501)

The Prophet, (n) and the silence of Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya in the presence of the Commander of the Faithful, (h) and the silence of al-Husayn in the presence of al-Hasan, (d) and the silence of Musa in the presence of al-Tufayl, (h) and the silence of Muhammad ibn Isma'il in the presence of Musa, (w) and the silence of our master Ja'far in the presence of Isma'il and Musa, (z) and the silence of Muhammad ibn Isma'il in the presence of Ja'far, (h) and the silence of Zayd in the presence of Ja'far. This is contrary to the Shi'a, because the manifestation was only from the production of the meanings in the human person, and it is divided into silent and speaking. And that is like astonishment that one should know which is prior, the speaking or the silent, and which is more excellent. Because the speaking is by its nature and that is general to all human animals, and the silent is not in its contrary, and a second speaking which is that toward which we point and that is toward the speech of the leading principle and life and philosophy. This speaking is not toward the created form and the limit but toward the useful purpose. And it is like geometry and medicine and writing, because every physician and geometer is a human and it is not convertible, because the universal negative converts as a universal negative and the particular negative does not convert. So when the silent was a human and was in itself speaking, then the silent has the knowledge by which the speaking speaks, and he has the silence and he has the possibility upon speech. So then the silent is more excellent because of his comprehension of the definitions, so he is prior and the speaking follows him. And according to the common opinion the speaking is opposite the speakers and the Imam is not speaking at any time. And it was said: the Prophet has the rank of the Imamate.

p. 497 (leaf n502)

And the rank of prophethood and the message: he is distinguished by these three things, and the Imam by one thing. Let us therefore consider the matter of speech (al-nutq), which is announcing and giving legal opinions. For the Prophet it is to ordain, and for the Imam to defend the sacred precinct by word and by acting upon it. The cause therein is that that which is indicated (al-madlul ʿalayhi) is superior to the indicator (al-dall), because the indicator is a seeker while that which is indicated is firmly established. It has been said: the indicator is a part of that which is indicated. Thus the Speaker indicates the Silent One, while the Silent One indicates nothing. Also, the Silent One precedes the Speaker, because the Speaker is originated. Let us therefore say: the Silent One is the first of all things, that which has no first except by connection, as if it were analogous to the act from the agent. If a doubter should doubt and say that the First has no regimen (tadbir) and this is changeable, we reply: the change of this is not due to its corruption. For even if Zayd and ʿAmr were nonexistent and then existed after their nonexistence, the human being is not corrupt. Likewise the sphere in its translation: Jupiter or any other of the planets is not like it in the Balance (mizan). And such is the state of the human being in translation: it is neither eternal nor corrupt. It is like one adorned with the colors of garments and images, yet it is one. If the Agent is first and the Patient second <...>, then for that reason he deserves the name of the Imam, because he is the preceding antecedent. The Speaker is a follower, yet he is near and far: near on account of the need of the act for the patient, and far from the diversity of substances; and because the act is not in need of the patient in the way the agent is in need of the patient.

p. 498 (leaf n503)

It has been established that the intermediary deserving the name of the two extremes is divine and human, according to the statement of one who held that opinion concerning him. As for being divine, it is from the aspect of the First, because he is in the station of the One with respect to Unity, and therefore he deserved the name of the One. As for being human, it is from the aspect of his connection with the effect from the other side for the completion of the generated thing which is the sign of Wisdom and its parts. This person >......< is both divine and human and is not like the two. For water and fire are both divine and human, but the particularity of this One with completion is like the particularity of the One from Unity. Therefore his human aspect was contrary to the human aspect of all other existing things. Therefore he was named by the sphere, and the seven spheres move toward the six bodily directions for the completion of the generated thing. And there is disagreement among the Imams in four places: (a) concerning Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya and al-Hasan who is the second, >(b) then concerning Zayd and Jaʿfar<, (c) then concerning Musa and Ismaʿil, (d) then concerning Musa and Muhammad ibn Ismaʿil. That is because ʿAli (peace be upon him) is nobler in essence than his child and prior in time, rank, and nature. Then disagreement from here: one group said the matter is in the eldest of the child, so the eldest. Another group said it is in the youngest. Another group said the one advanced among persons is advanced only by knowledge; whichever is more knowledgeable is more entitled to the command, whether small or great. And they invalidated their affair concerning the matter of al-Hasan and Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya, and concerning Zayd.

p. 499 (leaf n504)

And Jaʿfar, and in Musa and Ismaʿil, and in Musa [and Jaʿfar his son] and Muhammad ibn Ismaʿil. You say: The Commander of the Faithful is the First, so the trusteeship belongs to him unto two ٣ on account of requital, as if he knows the posterity; and that is the condition which is between Jaʿfar and Zayd. For Zayd spoke that he was more entitled to the command than Jaʿfar because he was his uncle, and said: “I refrained from my brother Muhammad, but I am more entitled than his son.” And upon that Jaʿfar referred the command ٦ unto Musa after Ismaʿil and turned it away from Muhammad ibn Ismaʿil. And that, for verily it was obligatory among them from the side that the First Imam or the Source or the Father has what is delegated to them; and that even if he commanded one of them to speak, it is not ٩ because he is incapable of that. And what is related that the Commander of the Faithful established al-Hasan for the people of the outward and Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya for the affair of the inward. And likewise Jaʿfar did in the affair of Musa and Ismaʿil. And some of them have inverted, so he replied to them that it is impossible and that is not ١٢ agreed upon among the Shiʿa. And that he ascribes to the outward Imam incapacity for knowledge of the inward, so it is necessary that the silent one of the outward and the inward be one in essence. And that is delegated toward the saying of the Ghulat and the Sufiyya, because the single person may ١٥ appear in the two forms. And it is the saying of the Prophet, God bless him and grant him peace: “The fly has two wings; in one of them is the disease and in the other is the remedy.” And it is the saying

p. 500 (leaf n505)

God the Exalted: “So a wall was set between them with a gate, its inner side wherein is mercy and its outer side from before it the chastisement.” And that is taken from the she-camel concerning the command. ٣ And the preventer is either by the sword or by the proof or by both of them. Likewise the Imam has two tongues for the people of eloquence and of deficiency ().

p. 501 (leaf n506)

As for what is obligatory for the master upon the disciple, it is that the disciple be soft, receptive to all his statements from all his aspects, not objecting to him in any matter whatsoever; and if he is sufficient, conceiving the matter, then the treasures of the master, the knower, are not revealed ٣ to the disciple except upon stillness toward him and utmost solidification for him. That is because the station of the master is the station of knowledge itself; the opposer of knowledge is the opposer of rightness, and the opposer of rightness is situated in error and mistake, and this is not preferred by a rational one. Also, if ٦ the disciple is not to this degree of obedience to the master, the master gives him the husks of knowledge and its exterior, and the thing which is called only the external and outer knowledge. I do not mean by my statement regarding the disciple that he be obedient to the master in any ٩ of the bodily and external matters of the kinds of benefits; rather, I mean by that only the reception of knowledge and study, hearing the proof upon it, preserving it, and abandoning laziness and distraction.

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