STUDIES IN THE
BABI AND BAHA'I RELIGIONS

(formerly Studies in Babi and Bahá'í History)

VOLUME FIVE

STUDIES IN HONOR OF
THE LATE HASAN M. BALYUZI

Edited by

MOOJAN MOMEN

Kalimat Press
Los Angeles

Copyright © 1988 by Kalimat Press All Rights Reserved
First Edition
Manufactured in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
(Revised for vol. 5)
Studies in Babi and Baha'f history.
Vol. 5 has title: Studies in the Babi and Baha'f religions.
Includes bibliographies.
Contents: v. 1. [no title]—v. 2. From Iran east and west/edited by
Juan R. Cole and Moojan Momen—[etc.]—v. 5. Studies in honor of
the late Hasan M. Balyuzi/edited by Moojan Momen.
1. Baha'i Faith—History.   2. Babism—History.
I. Momen, Moojan.   II. Cole, Juan Ricardo.   III. Smith,
Peter, 1947 Nov. 27-    .   IV. R. Jackson Armstrong-Ingram.
V. Title: Studies in the Babf and Baha'f religions.
BP330.S78 1982   297'.89   83-227
ISBN 0-933770-16-2 (v. 1) ISBN 0-933770-72-3 (v. 5)

CONTENTS
Foreword by Moojan Momen	    vii
Hasan M. Balyuzi (1908-1980): A Bio-bibliographic Sketch by Moojan Momen	     xi
The Terms "Remembrance" (dhikr) and "Gate" (bdb)
in the Bab's Commentary on the Sura of Joseph B. Todd Lawson, Ph.D., University of Toronto	       1
The Sinaitic Mysteries: Notes on Moses/Sinai Motifs
in Babi and Baha'f Scripture Stephen N. Lambden, University of Newcastle upon Tyne,
England	    65
Relativism: A Basis for Baha'f Metaphysics
Moojan Momen, Bedfordshire, England	  185
What Was a Baha'f? Concerns of British Baha'fs,
1900-1920 Phillip R. Smith, University of Birmingham, England...' 219
Some Aspects of the Establishment of the Guardianship ^    ' Loni Bramson-Lerche, Ph.D.	:.. 253

NOTE
All dates in this volume are given as either B.C.E. (Before the Christian, or Common, Era) or C.E. (Christian, or Common, Era) in place of B.C. and A.D., respectively. This usage has been adopted by many in the field of religious studies because it avoids the theological implications of the latter (B.C. = Before Christ, and A.D. = anno domini, In the year of our Lord), which believers in non-Christian religions may not find acceptable.
M. MOMEN

FOREWORD
In the range of Baha'f literature that has been published in recent years, there has been a great deal of historical work done—biographies of the central figures of the Baha'f Faith, general histories, biographies of prominent Baha'is, as well as the series Studies in Bdbi and Baha 'i History and various papers that have appeared in scholarly periodicals. This upsurge of interest in Baha'f history was to a large extent prompted by the work of Hasan Balyuzi, whose contribution to Baha'f studies is commemorated in this volume. Other areas of Baha'f studies have not, however, received so much attention. In this volume, the aim is to broaden this stream of scholarly material so that it will include areas of study other than history. The reader will note that, in keeping with this purpose, the title of the series has been changed.
The first paper takes us on to textual studies. It has always been assumed, particularly by Western scholars, that when Sayyid 'All Muhammad Shirazi took on the title of the Bab (Gate) at the beginning of his ministry, this title referred to those earlier Babs, who in Shi'i history had acted as intermediaries between the occulted Twelfth Imam and the believers. Todd Lawson has, however, carried out a careful study of Shi'i literature in the tradition of which the Bab was writing, and he demonstrates that the term bob more usually referred to the Imam himself, as does the associated term
vii

viii        Moojan Momen
dhikr (Remembrance) which the Bab also used to refer to himself in his early writings. Lawson goes on to examine the text of the Qayyum al-Asmd which was written in the first year of the Bab's ministry. He produces further evidence here which suggests that the Bab claimed a station equivalent to that of Muhammad or to that of the Imams from the very beginning of his ministry, albeit his claim was somewhat camouflaged initially.
The second paper also explores the field of textual studies. Stephen Lambden examines the manner in which the episode of Moses' encounter with the Burning Bush on Mount Sinai has become, in the writings of the Bab and Baha'u'llah, a typological theme which serves to denote the manifestation of the deity on the earthly plane. Lambden's detailed study shows that Baha'u'llah uses this imagery to expound his teachings on this subject and also to defend himself against charges of having claimed to be God.
The third paper explores the area of Baha'i metaphysics. Very little has been written on this subject in the past. This paper attempts to show that there is a good reason for this, since the Baha'i position is that it is not possible to obtain any absolute knowledge of metaphysics. All metaphysical statements are purely relative to the person who makes them. Hence even seemingly contradictory positions can be simultaneously "true." This metaphysical relativism serves as the theoretical foundation for the Baha'i position on the essential unity of all religions.
In a volume commemorating Hasan Balyuzi, it would not be appropriate to have included no history at all, since this was his main area of interst. Therefore, the last two papers are historical ones. One of these deals with a subject that was close to Hasan Balyuzi's heart, the history of the British Baha'i community. More specifically, Phillip Smith examines the way British Baha'is saw themselves during the first two decades of the present century. Although the presentation of the

Foreword       ix
Baha'i teachings in literature from this period may seem similar to what is expounded today, Smith argues that the Baha'fs themselves viewed their Faith very differently. The Baha'i movement was, to many of the Baha'fs of that time, not a separate and independent religion. Rather, it was a revival of mankind's religiosity, a revival that could occur within the context of established religious forms.
Times of transition are critical periods in the history of any religion. In Baha'i history, a number of these critical periods have been associated with the transfer of religious leadership. Loni Bramson-Lerche examines one such period (from the death of 'Abdu'1-Baha into the beginnings of the institution of the Guardianship) from the viewpoint of what occured within the American Baha'i community. As with other critical periods, the spectre of schism and disintegration arose. In this case, it was associated with opposition to Shoghi Effendi's efforts to establish the Baha'i administrative system.
In all, it is hoped that the publication of this volume will serve both to develop Baha'i history and at the same time to widen the field of Baha'i studies. Although an effort was made to include here papers on Baha'i theology and philosophy, these essays were not completed in time. They will, it is ^hoped, be included in subsequent volumes in the series.
M. MOMEN
BEDFORDSHIRE, ENGLAND DECEMBER 1987

HASAN M. BALYUZI as a young man.

HASAN M. BALYUZI (1908-1980) A Bio-bibliographical Sketch
Hasan Muvaqqar Balyuzi was born into a distinguished Iranian family on 7 September 1908. His forebearers had been merchants on the Gulf Coast of Iran. His father, Mirza 'All Muhammad Khan, Muvaqqaru'd-Dawlih, had received part of his education in England and had risen to high office on his return to Iran, becoming governor of Bushihr and the Gulf Ports and later Minister of Public Works until his death in 1921. When the British occupied Bushihr in 1915, Muvaqqaru'd-Dawlih, who was then the governor, and his family were exiled to India. Thus, Hasan Balyuzi received some of his early education in English at Poona. Later, after spending some time in Tehran and Shiraz, Balyuzi traveled to the American University at Beirut to continue his studies.
The links between the family of Balyuzi and the Baha'i Faith were strong. His father was one of the paternal relatives of the Bab, and his mother was a relative of the Bab's wife. Although both of his parents were Baha'is, the restrictions on openly discussing the new religion in the presence of servants and others in the household meant that Hasan learned little about the Baha'i Faith in his childhood years. But later, his reading of a few Baha'i books, and in particular his meeting with Shoghi Effendi in Haifa in 1925, while on his

XI
xii        Moojan Momen
way to take up his studies in Beirut, turned him into a confirmed believer.
His initial studies were in chemistry, but when it came to post-graduate work, he chose the field of history. In 1932, he came to London where he pursued his study of history at the London School of Economics. He obtained a master's degree and was proceeding with his doctorate when the outbreak of the Second World War interrupted his studies. He thereafter took up an appointment with the newly formed Persian Service of the British Broadcasting Corporation. His numerous broadcasts included talks on Iranian culture, Western history and culture, translations into Persian of many classics of English prose and poetry, as well as features on current affairs, and interviews with Iranian personalities. His talks were greatly admired by the Iranian audience of the BBC over the course of more than twenty years. Some of his translations of English literature were published in Iran.
During the Second World War, Hasan Balyuzi married Mary (Molly) Brown (the daughter of Kathleen Brown, later Lady Hornell), who was a member of Sadler's Wells Ballet. They lived temporarily in Evesham, where the BBC Persian Service had moved for the duration of the war. They had five sons. Balyuzi was, by this time, very fully involved in the work of the British Baha'i community. From 1933, he had been elected each year to the national administrative body, the National Spiritual Assembly. In 1942, he became its chairman, a position that he held almost continuously until 1960. In addition, he was appointed to numerous committees of this body, played an active role in the London Baha'i community and traveled and lectured around the country. His Baha'i responsibilities greatly increased when, in 1957, he was appointed by Shoghi Effendi as one of the Hands of the Cause of God, the highest rank of service and honor in the Baha'i community. His responsibilities included the propagation and protection of the Baha'i Faith; but the full range of the role of the

Hasan M. Balyuzi       xiii
Hands was only revealed by the death of Shoghi Effendi one month after Balyuzi's appointment. Since Shoghi Effendi had named the Hands of the Cause as the "Chief Stewards of Ba-ha'u'llah's embryonic World Commonwealth," it fell to them to organize the affairs of the Baha'i Faith in the period from 1957 until the election of the Universal House of Justice in 1963.
It is, however, as an author and scholar that Hasan Balyuzi is most remembered. To appreciate the importance of his work, it is necessary to understand the situation in the 1960s when his books began to appear. The work of Balyuzi began the process of correcting three major deficiencies that existed at this time in the range of literature about the Baha'i Faith. First, although more than half a century ealier there had been much research done on Baha'i subjects by scholars such as Prof. E. G. Browne, and the Russian scholars Baron Rosen and Capt. Tumansky, this effort had not been followed up by subsequent generations of scholars and almost nothing of an academic nature had appeared for fifty years or more. There was, therefore, a pressing need to revitalize the academic study of the Baha'i Faith. Second, in 1960, the only information that most Baha'is had about the history of their religion came from a very few books. The history of the Babi period was covered at length in Shoghi Effendi's translation of Nabfl's narrative, The Dawn-Breakers, and popularized by William Sears in his Release the Sun. But for information about subsequent periods, the Baha'is only had the masterful but sketchy outline in Shoghi Effendi's God Passes By, the relevant chapters in Esslemont's Bahd'u'lldh and the New Era, and a few narrative and anecdotal works such as Lady Blomfield's The Chosen Highway and May Maxwell's An Early Pilgrimage. The earlier works by scholars such as Browne were by this time out of print and, in any case, they were mainly concerned with the earlier Babi period. Even in the Persian language, there was no comprehensive history of the Baha'i Faith in print.

Hasan M. Balyuzi        xv

HASAN M. BALYUZI relaxing in his study, c. 1978.

xvi        Moojan Momen
the publication of 'Abdu'l-Bahd: The Center of the Covenant of Bahd'u'lldh was delayed until 1971.
As he started to write The Bdb: The Herald of the Day of Days, the book that completed his trilogy, Balyuzi was concerned that his book should not be merely a rewriting of Shoghi Effendi's translation of Nabils narrative. His problem was resolved when documents from the British Public Records Office relating to the period of the Bab were made available to him. His book became "the first in the range of Baha'i Faith literature to make extensive use of official documents from governmental archives.2" It was published in 1973.
Muhammad and the Course of Islam (published in 1976) was the next book. He wrote this because he felt that there was no history of Islam available that combined accuracy and scholarship with a sympathetic approach to the religion. He also felt that it was essential for Western Baha'is to obtain a better grasp of Islam to improve their understanding of their own religion.
Having completed his trilogy of the central figures, it became clear that the relatively small and sketchy nature of the volume on Baha'u'llah was inappropriate when compared with the much fuller volumes on the Bab and 'Abdu'1-Baha. Balyuzi therefore decided to begin research on a more detailed biography of Baha'u'llah, even while he was writing his book on Islam. It was always his practice work on several projects simultaneously.
For Bahd'u'lldh: the King of Glory, Balyuzi read every source he could obtain. He planned from the start to make this project more than one volume. But as he wrote and came across more and more material, so the projected size of the work increased to four volumes. Then in October 1979, he suffered a heart attack. He appeared to make a good recovery, and his energy and enthusiasm increased. But, in the event, he had completed only one volume and had written most of a second when he passed away in his sleep on 12 February 1980.

Hasan M. Balyuzi       xvii
Balyuzi had hoped to publish a series of small booklets on the lives of prominent members of the Afnan family, the family of the Bab. After his death, a short volume on the wife of the Bab, Khadijih Bagum, the first of these, was published in 1981, while the material written for the second was incorporated (as Chapter 17, on Nuri'd-Din Afnan) into the second volume of his series on Baha'u'llah, Eminent Bahd'is in the Time of Baha'u'llah, published in 1985. He had left written instructions that a trust, the Afnan Library Trust, be set up which would form a Baha'i Faith research library, and to this he donated all of his Baha'i books and papers. This trust was established. It is hoped that it will eventually fulfill his wish and develop into a research library for all scholars.
Of Balyuzi's character and ability, it must be left to future writers to assess these adequately. Only the passage of time will allow them to be justly appreciated. Much of his writing ran counter to present-day styles of scholarly prose. But his work in imbued with two qualities which will cause it to be remembered long after much other material written to such standards has been forgotten. First, was his assiduous pursuit of truth. He would take endless trouble to track down even the most minor fact or date. He would write several letters in pursuit of just one piece of information which might take up only one line in his book. He did not hesitate to discard large sections of his manuscript if his researches left any doubt as to the truth of what he had written. Edward Granville Browne and the Bahd'i Faith was rewritten three times because new facts emerged that caused him to reconsider his earlier versions.
Second, was his integrity. There are no hidden motives in his writings. He wrote nothing for fame or self-advancement. He wrote only what he thought correct after due consideration. His books clearly show him to be a Baha'i, but nothing is concealed or distorted to protect the Baha'i Faith, or anyone, or anything. He always maintained that it was best to tell it "warts and all."

xviii        Moojan Momen
Another characteristic that marked him out was his generosity with the materials in his possession. Not for him to jealously guard his sources to prevent others from using them before he could get into print. He lent whatever he had freely and without hesitation. He was particularly anxious to promote Baha'f studies, and it was to this end that he arranged for the establishment of the Afnan Library Trust. He had an extensive knowledge of the history of Iran, as well as a profound grasp of the undercurrents of Iranian affairs. He could recount biographical information and family background for almost any notable of the last two hundred years of Iranian history, particularly if the person hailed from his native Shiraz.
To those who knew him, he was warm, witty, urbane, a keen follower of current affairs (his family still possesses an enormous collection of newspaper cuttings extending over many years), and much given to recounting stories (particularly if these were amusing). His gentle, unassuming nature would perhaps have led him to go unnoticed in a group, had he not had great natural dignity and nobility. He held a warm affection for all aspects of Iranian culture, and particularly for those emanating from his beloved Shiraz. But he also appreciated the cutlural achievements of the British and other nations. Towards the end of his life, events occuring in Iran caused him great pain, none more than the destruction of the House of the Bab in Shiraz by the revolutionary government. His interests were wide-ranging and he could converse on almost any topic, but he never made a pretence of knowledge in areas where he had none.
The following passage from the writings of Mirza Abu'l-Fadl Gulpaygani, whom Balyuzi much admired, sums up well the philosophy that embued the character and writings of Balyuzi himself:
Although the author is a believer in the holy path of the Baha'f Faith, God is my witness—and He suffices as a witness—that I

Hasan M. Balyuzi       xix
have not been unduly influenced in the writing of this history by my love or faith. My devotion to Baha'u'llah has not deflected me from the path of fairness. For the station of a historian is beyond that of love and devotion and too sacred to be defiled by bias and prejudice. A historian must put to one side his love or hate for various groups when writing about historical events and must with the utmost justice and equity record what he knows. For truthfulness is a precious gem and the fairness of human beings is their purest ornament.
The following is a list of his publications:
English Works:
Baha'u'llah. London: Baha'f Publishing Trust, 1938.
A Guide to the Administrative Order. London: Baha'f Publishing Trust, 1941.
Bahd 'u 'Hah: A Brief Life, Followed by an Essay on the Manifestation of God entitled: The Word made Flesh. London: George Ronald, 1963.
Edward Granville Browne and the Bahd'i Faith. London: George Ronald, 1970.
Abdu'l-Bahd: The Centre of the Covenant of Baha'u'llah. London: George Ronald, 1971.
The Bab: The Herald of the Day of Days. Oxford: George Ronald, 1973.
Muhammad and the Course of Islam. Oxford: George Ronald, 1976.
Baha'u'llah: The King of Glory. Oxford: George Ronald, 1980.'
Khadijih Bagum: The Wife of the Bab. Oxford: George Ronald, 1981.
Eminent Bahd'is in the Time of Baha'u'llah. Oxford: George Ronald, 1985.
Persian Works:
Ndbarddari. Tehran: Chapkhanih Taban, 1351.
xx       Moojan Momen
Tundbdd Havddith. Tehran: Chapkhanih Fanis, 1353. Vdzhih-hdy-i Farsi dar Zabdn Ingiltsi. Tehran: Chapkhanih Fanis, 2535.
M. MOMEN
NOTES
'Abdu'l-Bahd, p. xi.
The Bab, p. xi.

STUDIES IN THE

BABI AND BAHA'I RELIGIONS

VOLUME FIVE

DR. WILLIAM CORMICK (1820-1877) personal physician to Nasiru'd-Dm Mirza, governor of Tabriz (later to become shah). In 1848, he became the only Westerner known to have conversed with the Bab when he was called upon to attend the wounds to the Bab's feet inflicted by
the bastinado after his trial in Tabriz.
(See E. G. Browne, Materials for the Study of the Bdbi Religion, pp. 260-64;
and M. Momen, The Bdbi and Bahd'i Religions, pp. 74-75, 497-98.)

The Terms "Remembrance" (dhikr) and "Gate" (báb) in the Bab's Commentary on the Sura of Joseph
by B. Todd Lawson

The Commentary on the Sura of Joseph (Tafsir silrat Yusuf), also known as the Qayyum al-asmd and the Ahsan al-qasas, was composed at the very beginning of the career of Sayyid 'Ali-Muhammad Shirazi, the Bab. It was begun on the evening of 22 May 1844 (5 Jumada 1260), during the important interview with Mulla Husayn in the course of which the latter, a young student of the late Sayyid Kazim Rashti, acknowledged the claim of his host, 'Ali Muhammad Shirazi, to be the promised one for whom he had been searching.1 It has been studied by several Western scholars, all of whom agree that it is one of the Bab's works, that it is obscure in several places, and that it is not a tafsir in the usual sense of the word.
Many scholars have alluded to the importance of this work for a proper understanding of the development of the Bab's ideas. They have also agreed that one of the most obdurate problems the text presents is the question of voice. Who is actually speaking the words? There are at least four possible choices: the first, is that the speaker is 'Ali-Muhammad Shirazi, the young merchant; second, that the speaker is actually

2        Todd Lawson
the Hidden Imam, Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-'Askari, who has chosen 'Ali-Muhammad Shirazi to be his mouthpiece, and as a result of which the "merchant" is thus elevated to the rank of the Remembrance (dhikr) or Gate (bdb) of the Imam; third, that the speaker is 'Ali-Muhammad Shirazi as the Imam himself; and fourth, that the speaker is God. A solution to this problem is suggested in the following pages: that the Bab claims through the use of a complex of symbols and imagery to be the Imam himself, and therefore his words are the words of God. Prof. Browne, who was the first to study this problem, was fairly certain on this point:
Of himself he speaks often, but in various, and often very enigmatical ways. Thus in one place he calls himself "This well-favoured Arabian youth, in whose grasp God hath placed the kingdom of the heavens and the earth"; in another he says, "0 people of the earth! hear the voice of your Lord, the Merciful, from the tongue of celebration of this Arabian youth, the son of 'All the Arabian"; a few lines further on he describes himself as . . . "This Arabian youth, of Muhammad, of 'Alf, of Fatima, of Mecca, of Medina, of Batha, of 'Iraq." In another passage he alludes to himself as "called by the Persians a Shirazi."2
Here Browne cites Rosen's related observation:
Ce jeune homme, qui est tantot 'Arabi, tantot, Ajami, Madam, etc. revient tres-souvent dans le courant du livre (. . . presque sur chaque feuillet), sans que Ton puisse comprendre exactement son role.3
Browne continues:
I have no doubt myself that [the Bab] is throughout speaking of himself. He calls himself "Muhammadi, " Alawi," "Fdtimi," be cause as a Seyyid, he is descended from these. That he should describe himself as a Shirazi is only natural, as is the use of the

"Remembrance" and "Gate"       3
epithet 'Ajami (Persian); but it is harder to see for what reason he calls himself "Makki," "Madam," " 'Iraqi," etc. I can only suppose that on account of his visits to Mecca and Medina, and his sojourn at Kerbela, he considers himself entitled to apply these titles to himself.
In other places he speaks of himself in a manner entirely mystical, as "the Light on Sinai, and Sinai in the rising-place of the manifestation" (fi matla' iz-zuhur); "the (letter) Bd which perme ates the water of the Letters, and the Point which stands at the Gate of the two Alifs.4
Browne thought this usage an allusion to the universal intelligence, and quotes what he believed to be Ibn 'Arabi's tafsir:
Here is a subtle point, which is this, that the prophets . . . have placed the letters of the alphabet in correspondence with the degrees of Existences . . . and therefore it is said, "Existences [al-mawjiiddt] emerged from the Bd' of Bismi'lldh," since that is the letter which follows the Alif which is placed to correspond with the Essence of God. And it (i.e., the letter Bd) signifies the First Intelligence, which was the first thing which God created.5
The Shaykhi leader, Sayyid Kazim Rashti (d. 1259A.H./1843 C.E.) has taken the symbol of the bd' a bit further in a passage of one of his most famous and important works, the Shark al-qasida al-ldmiya.6 Here he does in fact quote the hadith cited above from the tafsir attributed to Ibn 'Arabi, and goes on to say that the bd is the "preserved tablet, the hidden book («/-kitdb al-mastur)"; "the place to which all divine realities return"; and the "locus of all the divine names and attributes." It is also "the place of the manifestation of the glorious one {al-jalit)"; the "pen which details (qalam at-tafsil)"; and the "starting place of all divine proofs and reasons," because it is associated with absolute waldya (divine authority invested in a prophet or imam), which is "the place where the power for everything in creation, whether potential or actual (al-akwdn

4        Todd Lawson
wa'l-a'ydn) appears." This may also be called "the gate to God for creation, and the gate to creation for God: That except through which the bounty of God reaches no-one." It is the "absolute gate" and the "true waif {al-wali al-haqq).7
Finally, Browne quotes a similarly obscure allusion in which the Bab refers to himself as:
The mystery (which is) in the Gospel Syrian, and in the Pentateuch Hebraic, and the mystery concealed in the Kur'an (which is) of Muhammad. {As-sirru fi'l-Injil Surydni, wa's-sirr fi't-Tawrdt rabbdni, wa's-sirru'l-mustasirru fi'l-Furkdn Ahmadi}.8
While Browne is undoubtedly correct in his assumption that all of these allusions intend the Bab himself, he also appreciates the difficulty they present. Most of the scholarship which has dealt with the Bab's Tafsir surat Yiisuf has been characterised by a degree of puzzlement, usually because of a lack of familiarity with those very cryptic statements of the Imams from which much of this obscure terminology derives. For example, as-sirr and as-sirr al-mustasirr both had precise intentions for Shaykh Ahmad9; the Bab here appears to be "improvising" on a familiar theme. However, Browne writes:
I only hazard a guess at the meaning of these passages, especially the last two, which are very obscure. Indeed as they stand they appear to contravene the rules of grammar.10
Regarding the style of the commentary, Rosen's assessment was somewhat more severe. In his description, he speaks of "this strange work" and alludes to its incomprehensibility.11 He refers to Chapters 49 and 50 (both named Surat al-ahkdm), as being the most intelligible, because they include what Rosen calls "renseignements positifs sur les doctrines exoteres de l'auteur du livre." In fact, these two chapters present an example of the frequent running paraphrase of

"Remembrance" and "Gate"       5
long, consecutive sections of the Qur'an so characteristic of the commentary. In the case of Chapter 49, the paraphrase includes material from Qur'an 2:183 to 2:245, and a few verses from other sections of the Qur'an (e.g., 5:2-5:6). In the case of Chapter 50, the quranic material treated, in addition to the appropriate verse of Sura 12, includes Qur'an 5:87, 4:176, 5:38, 5:96-97, 6:151-2, and so forth.12
A much better example of this, and one which Rosen might have, therefore, considered even more intelligible than the examples he cites, includes all of the text of the commentary between Chapters 80 and 91,13 which more or less consecutively incorporates much of Qur'an 10:57-16:66. Examples of this type could be greatly multiplied, but these two will suffice. They illustrate another way in which the Bab attempted to appropriate and participate in the spiritual power (or charisma) of the Qur'an in order to invoke his own spiritual authority— by recasting the existing revelation in a new form. While much of the legislative content of the Qur'an remains unchanged here, the Bab, by taking obvious liberties with the Book, nevertheless asserts his own authority over it. This in itself is perhaps evidence enough that, while the Bab refers to his station in allusive and ambiguous terms, there can really be little doubt that he considered himself as holding a rank equal to that of Muhammad. This, I think, is also conclusively borne out by the quranic form of the work: the use of suras, verses, "mystical letters," and so forth.
Others who have examined this work are not so ready to accept that the Bab, at this stage of his career, was claiming divine revelation, the rank of Imam or Prophet (which are functionally equivalent insofar as it is through them that the divine will is made known or manifest).14 MacEoin, for example, describes three phases of the Bab's career. The first includes the period up to 1848, during which his movement grew rapidly and the Bab presented himself as the agent of the Hidden Imam, precisely as bdb. During the second, from

6        Todd Lawson
1848-9, the Bab "proclaimed himself the promised Mahdf in Person." The third phase is characterized by the Bab's "assumption of the role of an independent prophet or divine 'manifestation' directly empowered by God to open a new religious dispensation after Islam, to reveal new scriptures and to ordain a new legal system."15
However, MacEoin has, in his discussion of this commentary, acknowledged the complexity of the question. Rightly pointing out that the work is "much more" than a tafsir,16 he mentions its being modeled on the Qur'an, but appears not to appreciate the significance of this as an emblem of authority and divine revelation. He does say that this imitation of the Holy Book led to accusations that the Bab had written a false Qur'an, citing Tunakabunf and others.17 In view of the Islamic article of faith, which is more or less universally held, concerning the miraculous nature of the Qur'an (i'jdz al-Qur'dn), the significance of such a charge cannot be overemphasized. What it means, at the very minimum, is that those who leveled the charge had accused the author of claiming for himself an evidentiary miracle on a par with the sacred book of Muslims, quite apart from whatever those who made the accusations actually thought about such a claim.
Furthermore, as has been suggested here, given the quranic form alone, it would seem that the charge was in all ways accurate.18 While those who made the accusations did not perhaps appreciate the full implications of the Bab's claims at the time, it is wrong to say that the response was "superficial."19 Such a response is, in fact, precisely to the point. To illustrate the apparently ambiguous claims of the Bdb, MacEoin cites a series of passages from the commentary:
At the very beginning of the book, it is made clear that the twelfth Imam had sent it (akhraja) to his servant (the Bab, frequently referred to as "the remembrance"—al-dhikr); he has been sent these "explanations" from the "baqiyyat Allah, the exalted

"Remembrance" and "Gate"       7
one, your Imam." To be more precise, "God has sent down (an-zala) the verse upon His Proof, the expected one," who has, in turn, revealed them to his remembrance. In different terminology, the Imam inspires (awhd) the bdb with what God has inspired him.20
MacEoin's assessment of these expressions is important.
The role of the Imam here appears to be very similar to that of the angel Gabriel in the Qur'anic theory of revelation; thus, for example, he has inspired the Bab just as God inspired the prophets of the past. The process is not, however, quite so simple, for the bulk of the work seems to be intended as the words of the Imam speaking in the first person, while there are a great many passages in which either God or the Bab is intended as the speaker, and others in which it is not at all clear as to whom is intended.21
As a matter of fact, in the Bab's earlier Commentary on the Sura of al-Baqara, it is quite clear that the Imam, and specifically the Imam as Qa'im (or Mahdi, the Promised One), was regarded by the Bab not only as similar to Gabriel, but as Gabriel himself. In one particular context, it is pointed out that Gabriel represented a principle which served as a link between the heart (fu'dd) and mind (qalb) of Muhammad.22 It is therefore reasonable to suspect that this same principle operates in this commentary, but with the important difference that it is now the heart and mind of the Bab (rather than the Prophet Muhammad) between which this angelic principle serves as a link. MacEoin acknowledges that the present work is meant to symbolize the appearance, or reappearance, in the world of one who is invested with great spiritual power and authority:
It is, nevertheless, manifest that the book is represented as a new divine revelation of sorts, comparable to the Qur'an. Thus the Imam is "made known" through "the new verses from God,"

8        Todd Lawson
while God speaks "in the tongue of this mighty remembrance (i.e., the Bab)." It is stated that "this is a book from God" and that "God has sent down (anzala) this book," while the Bab is summoned to "transmit what has been sent down to you from the bounty of the Merciful." In this respect, a comparison is drawn from the Qur'an which goes beyond mere [!] form: God has "made this book the essence (sirr) of the Qur'an, word for word," and one will not find a letter in it other than the letters of the Qur'an"; this book "is the Furqan of the past," and is referred to repeatedly as "this Qur'an," "this Furqan," or one of "these two Furqans," while reference is made to "what God has sent down in His book, the Furqan, and in this book." As in the case of the Qur'an, a challenge is made to men to produce a book like it, for it is held to be inimitable. As such, it is in itself the evidence of the Imam to men. It contains the sum of all previous scriptures, abrogates all books of the past, except those revealed by God, and is the only book which God permits the 'ulamd to teach.23
In view of the passages from the book referred to in this statement, it seems highly unlikely that the magnitude of such challenges and claims to a new revelation would have been lost on any Muslim who read them.
Elsewhere, in an unrelated context in which he denies charges that he had shown favoritism to one of his early followers whom he had chosen from among several others to accompany him on his pilgrimage, the Bab makes the following statement:
Not that special grace was shewn to him [ . . . Hajf Mulla Muham-mad-'Alf of Barfurush, afterwards called Jendb or Hazrat-i Kud-dus . . .], for that same grace was shewn to all, though they veiled themselves therefrom. For in that year of the "Manifestation" [A.H. 1260] the Book of the Commentary on the Siira-i-Yusuf reached all.24
Elsewhere, in speaking of the veiled nature of his claims in the early period, the Bab wrote:

%	"Remembrance" and "Gate"       9
Consider the manifold favours vouchsafed by the Promised One, and the effusions of His bounty which have pervaded the concourse of the followers of Islam to enable them to attain unto salvation. Indeed observe how He Who representeth the origin of creation, He Who is the Exponent of the verse, "I, in very truth, am God," identified Himself as the Gate (bdb) for the advent of the promised Qa'im, a descendant of Muhammad, and in His first Book enjoined the observance of the laws of the Qur'an, so that the people might not be seized with perturbation by reason of a new Book and a new Revelation and might regard His Faith as similar to their own, perchance they would not turn away from the Truth and ignore the thing for which they had been called into being.25
This important passage was written by the Bab later in his career in a work entitled The Seven Proofs (Dald'il-i sab'a). MacEoin has confirmed that the work was written in Mah-Ku in 1264/1848, laying to rest earlier uncertainties as to the date of composition.26 The Seven Proofs was apparently written for a Babi who was experiencing doubt about the more explicit claims made by the Bab at this time. The passage is self-explanatory and is undoubtedly conditioned by the nature of the questions put forth. This may explain the apparent contradiction between it and the first one quoted, where the Bab says that there was ample proof in his Commentary on the Sura of Joseph for everyone to properly recognize his station. It is possible that the Bab is referring not only to the contents, but to the form of the work as well. Again, and at the risk of monotony, the significance of the casting of this work in the form of the Qur'an cannot be overemphasized as an emblem of the appropriation by the author of spiritual authority. One reiterates this point because it seems not to have been fully appreciated in the past. The medium here is indeed the message.
While the problem of who is speaking in the Tafsir swat Yusuf appears to be greatly complicated by the various titles or epithets which populate the text, from all that has been

io        Todd Lawson
cited so far it would seem that there can be no question about the "voice" of the commentary. Regardless of who is presented as speaking, the Bab, the Imam, or God (see the translations below), the author of the commentary becomes tinged by the spirit of either the Imam or God in the process of transmitting the words. The same thing occurs, for example, in the Qur'an, particularly in those many verses which begin with "Say" (qui). With this single imperative, it is made clear that Muhammad has been chosen by God as a divine messenger— what Muhammad says in such a context is therefore divine. In other words, by being directly addressed by God, Muhammad's own authority is underscored.
But beyond this "merely" rhetorical aspect, the existence of various speakers in the commentary points to a spiritual principle which has characterized and continues to characterize Islamic religion. Very briefly, and taking the most useful example, in Sufism the basic elements of spiritual and religious discourse center on two principles: the master and the student. The relationship between the two is paramount in the spiritual quest. The student or disciple is expected to surrender himself entirely to his master for the duration of the training period. This is one of the main reasons why Sufism was, and is, so mistrusted in very orthodox circles, whether Sunni or Shf'f. In any case, the purpose behind this surrender or submission is to enable the student to assimilate as much as possible the master's habits and knowledge. In some cases, this imitation of the master or shaykh would become so complete that the disciple or student would hear the master's voice in his own speech.27
Orthodox Shi'i doctrine and the teachings of Shaykh Ahmad agreed that it was very dangerous to choose a spiritual master apart from the fourteen Pure Ones (Muhammad, Fatima, and the twelve Imams). Thus, for the Shf'a and the Shaykhiyya (and the Bab) the highest point of focus was either the entire holy family or one particular member of it. During the time

"Remembrance" and "Gate"       n
the Bab was writing, the most prominent member of the holy family would have been the Qa'im or the Twelfth Imam. Thus, it is reasonable to assume that the Twelfth Imam functions for the Bab in much the same way that the Sufi shaykh functions for his disciple. The spiritual relationship would be the same. Whereas the Sufi student would eventually acquire as much of the shaykh's knowledge and habits as his own capacity would allow, the Bab, through meditation and communion with the spiritual principle of the Twelfth Imam would acquire as much of this identity as his capacity would allow. The complete identification of the Bab with the Twelfth Imam indicates that this capacity was vast indeed.
Dhikr.
Among the various titles found in the commentary, two in various combinations, stand out as the most frequent: dhikr and bob. Hasan Balyuzi, to whose memory this essay is dedicated, signalled the importance of the former {dhikr) as one of the titles by which the Bab was known. In his invaluable study of the life and mission of the forerunner of the Baha'i Revelation, the following statement appears:
By Dhikr, he means Himself. Repeatedly in the Qayyum al-Asma, the Bab refers to Himself as Dhikr, and was known to His followers as Dhikru'llah-al-A'zam (Mention of God, the Most Great), or Dhikru'llah-al-Akbar (Mention of God, the Greatest), and sometimes as Hadrat-i-Dhikr.28
In what follows, some of the Islamic background of the word, together with a few of the innumerable contexts in which it appears in the Commentary on the Sura of Joseph, will be presented in an attempt to better understand some of the implications of this title—something of what it meant, or could have meant, to both the Bab and his followers.

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This word has a long and multiform history in Islamic religious literature and practice and is perhaps most encountered in connection with the Sufi practices sometimes called "audition" (samd1). Of interest in this work is the usage of the term which is perhaps less well known, namely as the designation of a person. Throughout the Commentary on the Sura of Joseph the Bab refers to himself as adh-dhikr (the Remembrance), dhikr alldh (the Remembrance of God), dhikr alldh al-akbar (the Most Great Remembrance of God), or dhikr alldh al-'ali(the Exalted Remembrance of God), in addition to other similar combinations.29
Browne has remarked in several places that the term dhikr alldh, "the Remembrance of God," was used by the Bab's followers in referring to him.30 MacEoin also notices that the term was widely used by the Bab at this time.31 Amanat says that the claim to dhikriyya, the quality of being the Remembrance of God (or of the Prophet and the Imams), as well as bdbiyya, the quality of being the Gate of God (or of the Prophet and the Imams) "were assumed with a vague sense of deputy-ship or delegation from the Concealed Imam."32 The title Remembrance of God itself is derived first of all from the Qur'an, where several verses refer to the "remembrance of God." Some idea of the way in which the term is used by the Bab may, therefore, be thought to involve the several meanings which these quranic passages contained for the Akhbarf exe-getical tradition, a tradition of reading the Holy Book of Islam with which the Bab's own reading had much in common.33 And so, a brief synopsis of some of"this material will not be out of place.
One work which summarizes much of the interpretation of the Qur'an which is said to come directly from the Imams is the introduction to a work entitled Tafsir mir'dt al-anwdr by Abu al-Hasan al-Isfahani (d. 1138/1725-6). Isfahan! begins by saying that the word dhikr may have several possible references. The first is the Qur'an itself, followed by the Prophet (an-nabi), 'All, the Imams, waldya (divinely sanctioned guar-

"Remembrance" and "Gate"       13
dianship), and imdma (divinely sanctioned leadership; both terms imply absolute obedience to the Imam), and finally the act of reminding people of God's blessing and beneficence. This last possibility is, however, applicable only in the case of the Prophet and the Imams. Isfahani then cites the appropriate verse, together with its explanation by one of the Imams, for each of these possibilities.34 The epithet adh-dhikr al-hakim (Qur'an 3:58) is said to apply both to 'All and the other Imams. These latter, according to 'Allama al-Hilli,35 are referred to as adh-dhikr because they mention those things which benefit mankind, like the sciences of divine unity ('ulum at-tawhid), the return {al-ma'dd), and the other verities which are connected with waldya. Isfahani cites another tradition from as-Sadiq in explanation of Qur'an 20:124 ("but whosoever turns away from my remembrance"). The Imam said: "That is (ya'ni) from the waldya of 'All."36 Isfahani quotes the seventh Imam, Musa, as saying that the waldya of 'All is the password (tadhkira, i.e., to enter paradise) for the godfearing. Isfahani says that, in general, all of the interpretations (ta'-wildt) of the word dhikr refer either explicitly (sanhdn) or implicitly (dimnan) to the waldya of 'All.37 Isfahani closes his discussion of this word, with the following statement:
In al-Kdfi, as-Sadiq is quoted as saying about the verse [Qur'an 39:45], "When God is alone mentioned, then shudder the hearts of those who believe not," that is [this phrase should be understood to mean]: "When God is remembered through obedience to that member of the family of Muhammad [i.e., the Imam] whom all were commanded to obey." And he said about Qur'an 41:12 "when God was called upon only, you disbelieved,"38 "That is, [disbelieved] in the waldya of him for whom God commanded waldya ..." This is why the Imams are the only possessors of the remembrance (ulu adh-dhikr), as in the statement of as-Sadiq: "We are the possessors of the remembrance and the possessors of knowledge ..." And thus they are the ones who follow the Remembrance, as as-Sadiq is quoted in al-Kdfi on the verse: "Thou warnest only him who follows the Remembrance ..."

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[Qur'an 36:11] where all of the interpretations which were applied to the other verses are applicable, according to [as-Sadiq's] statement: "That is to say, 'All is the explanation {bayan) of the ta'wil of dhikr." So understand.
... It is possible, from what we have said, that the ta'wil of tadhkir and its like, may be as a synonym for admonition (tanbih) and contemplation of the truth (tadabbur fi 'l-haqq) which is the waldya, viz, that obedience must be to the people of the House, and that one must abandon allegiance to everyone else. . . . As "for adh-dhikr, this word also signifies 'All, and there is no doubt that it includes the Imams and even their perfect shi'a [shi'atuhum al-kummdl]. Thus in one of the hadith 'All said: "In the Qur'an I am designated by several names, try to master them and beware that you do not err." Then he mentioned several of them and said: "I am adh-dhikr implied in the verse: "Those who remember God." [Qur'an 3:191].39
The above clearly illustrates a cardinal principle of all Shi-ism: the two sources of religious authority, the Qur'an and the Imams, function in a complementary manner—to such a degree that their respective titles are interchangeable. Dhikr may designate either the written scripture (the Qur'an), or the human form which has been designated as the bearer of divine authority (the Prophet, or one of the Imams). Often the former is referred to as the "silent Book" (al-kitdb as-sdmit), while the latter is referred to as the "speaking Book" {al-kitdb an-ndtiq).40 In the same way, both the written text and the human bearer of authority may be referred to as imam.41 These categories and their mutual dependency derive from, among other statements, the hadith ath-thaqalayn, in which the Prophet says that his legacy to the community consists of "two important things": the Qur'an and his descendants. The underlying assumption of this Shi'i principle is that a text, in this case the Qur'an, is suceptible to multiple interpretations, and that in order to minimize disharmony within the community resulting from conflicting interpretations, a single interpreter must be established and recognized.42

"Remembrance" and "Gate"       15
In this regard, the principle or rukn ("pillar," "support") of waldya contains within it profound implications for the principles of interpretation, as a result of which the preeminent function of the wall (who may be, in this case, either the Prophet or one of the Imams) is precisely that of interpreter {mutarjim) par excellence. This function is designated in early Isma'fli literature by the epithet an-ndtiq al-wdhid (the single speaker), a term which bespeaks the absolute authority (onto-logical, eschatological, hermeneutical, legal, and political), involved in the office of imdm/wali.43 For the present discussion, it is important to note that the idea of a "single speaker" resurfaced in more recent years, with all of these implications, in the writings of the Shaykhis. The distinguishing feature of the Shaykhi concept of wahdat al-ndtiqa, however, resides in the very fact that its bearer must remain unknown. The ndtiq wdhid occupies the summit of the Shaykhi spiritual hierarchy of categories of believers such as abwdb, nuqabd', and nujabd', who are likewise unidentifiable during the time of the occupation of the Twelfth Imam. Corbin states:
The shaykhs of the Shaykhi tradition have always affirmed that in every age this ndtiq wdhid, the "perfect Shi'f" and supreme bob of the Imam exists; but none among them have ever pretended that it was himself, nor pretended to be recognized as such. Far from it. They have affirmed his existence, because it is impossible that the human world, earthly humanity, be deprived of this existence, but they have likewise affirmed the impossibility of his manifestation, that is to say, the impossibility of men having the capacity to recognize him, to "determine" him, or proclaim the name of him in person.44
The idea of an anonymous spiritual elite is, of course, a very old one,45 and as the above quotation, which is Corbin's summary of the doctrine as explained by AbuTQasim Ibrahimi, Sarkar Aqa (d. 1389 A.H./1969 C.E., the fifth successor of Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsa'i), indicates, it is also a very durable one. That it is in some measure faithful to the spirit of early

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Shaykhism is confirmed by a similar statement, written by the Bab himself, in the Commentary on the Surat al-Baqara. In this statement, the Bab refers to the Shaykhi doctrine of the four supports: tawhid, the unity of God; nubuwa, prophet-hood; wisdya, the successorship of the Imams; and the fourth support, al-rukn al-rdbic, the connection between the Qa'im (Hidden Imam) and the believers:
God has caused these three [confession, respectively, of tawhid, nubuwa, and wisdya] to appear because of man's need for them, but He has veiled one [the fourth, "al-ism al-maknun al-makhzun," "al-rukn al-rdbi'," the name of the Qa'im, and by implication, his spokesman or bdb] on account of man's incapacity (li-'adam ihtimdl al-khalq).46
The existence of such a statement in this earlier work by the Bab, contrasted with the proclamation contained in the Commentary on the Sura of Joseph written only a few months later, indicates a profound change in the Bab's attitude. Whereas before it was imperative that the name of the 'Qa'im remain hidden "in the souls of the Shi"a,"47 it is now incumbent upon all men to recognize him speaking in the person of the Bab. That the Bab intended that he be regarded as the exclusive representative of the Qa'im is confirmed in the quotations cited below. The claim of the Bab to be either the personification of the heretofore more or less abstract principle of the Gate of the Imam, or of the Imam himself, could not but be received as a scandal and profanation of an old Shi'i doctrine, which had long since been "metaphorized" beyond any danger of vulgarization, or perhaps more importantly, politicization.
The irreconcilable nature of these two attitudes is reminiscent of a similar oscillation in Sufism. On the one hand, there is the above-noted doctrine of the "hidden elite," and on the other hand, the tendency among some mystics to make various grandiose claims to spiritual authority. An example of the

"Remembrance" and "Gate"       17
latter may be found in the early figure of Sahl at-Tustari (d. 283 A.H./896 C.E.),48 or later in the writings of Ibn 'Arabi (d. 638A.H./1240 C.E.).49 At-Tustari's claim to be the "proof of God" (hujjat alldh) is interesting in itself as a case of Sufi/ Shf'f terminological confluence, particularly in view of the fact that the claimant lived ten years into the period of the Shi'i "lesser occupation." It is during this period, which began in 260/873-4, that according to tradition, the preeminent Shi'i hujja, Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-'Askari, the Twelfth or Hidden Imam, became inaccessable to the main body of believers.50 Even more striking is the gloss anonymously provided for this statement: "[He means] the pole (qutb) around which revolves the millstone (rahan)."51 The similarity between this statement and the opening line of the Khutbatu'sh-shiqshiqiyya ascribed to 'All is too striking to be ignored.52 At this time, however, one can do no more than note in passing such Sufi/Shf'i cross-fertilizations.53
At some point, there occurred a radical change in the Bab's writing on this subject. That such a change should occur in a single individual, as opposed to the above doctrinal differences which the history of Sufism as a whole records, is a phenomenon of some significance. In addition, the fact that so many of the Bab's early followers were members of the Shaykhi school54 indicates that a similar change occurred in their attitude as well, insofar as they had previously held that the Qa'im, or his representative, must remain unknown.55 It may be assumed that the transition from being a follower of Sayyid Kazim Rashti to being a champion of the Bab was brought about, at least partly, by what was perceived to be a certain continuity of theme between the teachings of the two masters. Corbin and Sarkar Aqa may have been repulsed by the rupture of the "eschatalogical hope,"56 (which appears to function for both of them as the creative tension of individual spirituality) represented by the phenomenon of le bd-bisme. However, the historical fact that the Bab's message

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(including presumably, that part of his message which invoked those venerable Shi'f symbols, such as dhikr, bdb, and the like) was enthusiastically embraced (and by Shaykhfs) indicates that the power which resided in such words was too great to be monopolized by philosophy.
Several factors seem to have played an important role in effecting this change: the visions which the Bab claims to have received prior to writing the Commentary on the Sura of Joseph; the credibility lent to such claims by the Bab's saintly character which was universally acknowledged57; the disarray in which the followers of Sayyid Kazim Rashti found themselves upon the death of their leader58; and perhaps most importantly, the intense atmosphere of messianic expectation which permeated the Shi'f world at this time.59 A somewhat cynical interpretation suggests that the Bab and his writings were manipulated by more sophisticated men, dissatisfied with the political and religious status quo.60 This calls to mind early orientalist interpretations of Islam, in which any possible explanation for Muhammad's prophecy (and therefore the subsequent success of Islam) was preferable to one which simply acknowledged that Muhammad, and those who followed him, sincerely thought that he was a prophet. That the Bab considered himself as having been "chosen" to fulfill the Shi'f prophecies seems clear.61
For textual evidence of this transformation in the nature of the Bab's claims, reference may be made to statements in the Commentary on the Sura of Joseph like the following unequivocal one, which is in the form of a general address by the Bab on behalf of the Hidden Imam:
0 servants of the Merciful! Take not friends from among the disbelievers as opposed to the sdbiqin [i.e., the "Letters of the Living"] from the believers. He who comes to God disbelieving in the Book and in this Remembrance of ours (dhikrind hddhd) will have nothing from God.62

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Earlier in the same chapter, the Bab has written, again in the voice of the Imam:
Indeed, We have sent down this Book with the truth from God to our Servant63 and have made all the verses in it clear (muhkamdf), not ambiguous (mutashdbihdt). And none knows their interpretation {ta'wila-hd) except God and whomsoever We desire from among the sincere servants of God. Therefore, ask the Remembrance their interpretation (ta'wil). Indeed, as decreed in the Book, He has, through the bounty of God, knowledge of all its verses.64
Quite apart from identifying the author as dhikr, this passage is a good example of the way in which the Bab improvised on quranic material.65 In this case Qur'an 3:7, which establishes the hermeneutical categories for all Qur'an interpretation, has been radically changed. Whereas in the Qur'an, "the Book," (i.e., the Qur'an proper) has been described as containing two basic types of verses, the Bab (or the Hidden Imam) annuls one of these categories, namely that of "ambiguous verses" (mutashdbihdt). One of the implications of this is that the true meaning of the Book, particularly insofar as it foretells the advent of the Qa'im and the events surrounding his return, is completely, that is to say "unambiguously," accessible through the interpretations of the Bab. In addition, the "clear verses" (muhkamdf) are also subject to interpretation. This differs from the quranic original which can be interpreted as stating that a number of qualified persons (al-rdsikhun), "those whose knowledge is sound," are capable of interpreting the verses.66 In the present case, it would appear that it is the Remembrance alone who is qualified to comment on the text.
Following the above quotation, the Bab has written:
Those who disbelieve in the Most Great Remembrance of God, neither their wealth nor their children will avail them . . ,67

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It is, of course, possible that in this passage the "Most Great Remembrance of God" {dhikr alldh al-akbar) refers to the Book, rather than to the Bab. However, it seems clear from the above that dhikr refers to a person, in this case the person of the Bab.68 In the same chapter the Bab has written, paraphrasing Qur'an 3:14:
Indeed God has appointed an excellent abode for those who assist the exalted Remembrance of God (dhikr alldh al- 'alt) with their hands and their tongues and their wealth for the love of God, the Self-Sufficient.69
It is important to note the reference here to the Bab's own name ('Ah') in the epithet. This provides further support for the identification of the Bab with the dhikr. The following passage, which combines frequent quranic images, also tends to support this reading:
In the origination of night and day and their appearance (ibldju-humd), and the bringing forth of the living from the dead, and the bringing forth of the dead from the living are signs (dydt) for this Most Great Remembrance of God (li-dhikr alldh al-akbar had ha). Thus it is recorded in the Preserved Tablet (al-lawh al-hafiz) in the presence of God, the Exalted (al-'alt).70
The following extended final excerpt is a good example of the way in which the language of the Qur'an and the "Akh-bari code" are combined:
0 People! If you believe in God alone then follow me in the Most Great Remembrance of God (ft dhikri alldh al-akbar) from your Lord that God might forgive you your sins. Verily, God is Forgiving and Merciful to the believers. Verily, We have chosen the messengers through Our Word and preferred some of their progeny over others through the Great Remembrance of God (dhikr alldh al-kabtr), and concealed it as decreed in the Book. And We

"Remembrance" and "Gate"       21
have given to Thee [i.e., the Bab] the authority of the Gates (hukm al-abwdb) by the permission of God, the All-Hearing. And God is a witness over all things. And We sent down Our spirit upon Mary and We accepted from the wife of 'Imran her vow to God, the Exalted (al-'ali). And God is apprised of his servants, the believers. And We gave to the Prophet Zachariah the glad tidings (dhikriyan) of Our name Yahya [John the Baptist], confirming this Most Great Word of God (kalimat alldh al-akbar hddhd), and thus We appointed him a chief {sayyid) and a chaste one in the Mother Book. Indeed, the likeness of the creation of the worlds in the sight of God is as the likeness of Our cause (amrund). When it is Our wish, We but say to it, "Be thou," and it is called into being (naqiil la-hu kun fa-kdna) in the precincts of the fire in the Book of God, the All-Praised (al-hamid). Verily, God has taught Thee the knowledge of the Book from the furqdn and the Gospel and the Torah and the Psalms, and whatever is beyond them of the Scriptures. And in the estimation of Thy Lord, Thou art abiding at the gate of the point of the hidden bd'. Verily, We have revealed unto Thee (awhaynd) Our hidden tidings and sent down unto Thee this book through the power of Truth. We have forbidden unto Thee unlawful deeds and decreed goodly deeds that the people might believe in Thy word (bi-dhikrika) . . . Verily, those who fancy that they can compete with Thee to any degree in knowledge, sink from the sky to a wretched earth. God is witness over all things. God has touched Thy Being (dhdt) with Our Beings [a reference to all the Imams] and Thine Essence (kaynuna) shineth with the light of the Essence of God, the Ancient, Our Lord. And God is powerful over all things. And the infidels (mushrikun) themselves have plotted against Thy word (dhikrika), but they harm only themselves. Indeed, God fulfills His Covenant, and I have purified Thee and made my claim on Thee and raised Thee up to God, the True One, so that Thou rulest by the permission of God, on the Day of Resurrection, about that wherein mankind disagrees concerning the exalted Remembrance of God (dhikr alldh al-'ali). And God is witness over all things. Some of the people of the city have said: "We are God's helpers." But, when the Remembrance came suddenly upon them, they turned away from assisting us. Indeed God, My Lord and Thy Lord, is the True One, so worship Him.

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And this is a high road (sirdt 'all) in the estimation of Thy Lord-straight. Ere long will God judge among mankind with the Truth, then they will not find themselves any sanctuary from the rule of God, the Pure. Indeed, this command is ordained in the Mother Book.71
This passage, as in the case with so many others in the Commentary on the Sura of Joseph, is developed around a section of the Qur'an. By seizing upon a key quranic word or phrase, usually in existing quranic sequence, the Bab elaborates his own particular message through paraphrase. This method, by which the Bab weaves his own words into the fabric of the Qur'an, is analyzed elsewhere72; this particular chapter, the Surat al-Imdn, of the Bab's tafsir is constructed around the Surat Al-i 'Imrdn of the Qur'an (3:1-60 approximately). In any case, the above passages, which are typical of those found in each of the other one-hundred-ten chapters of the work, seem to indicate that the Bab is intended by the Hidden Imam (his alter-ego) to be regarded as the personification of the remembrance of God. As we have seen, a source for such personification may be found in the works of Akhbari tafsir, where the Prophet and Imams are identified either individually or collectively as dhikr.
Quite apart from the rigorous effort of the Shaykhfs, and others before them (e.g., Mulla Sadra, and apparently the Bab himself in al-Baqara) to insulate belief from the harshness of the world, such terms as dhikr and bob are seen, especially here in this work of the Bab, to have a life of their own. The ideas which they convey: savior, guide, refuge, and so forth, are finally simply too appealing to remain in a philosophical realm to which the "common man" has no access. For the Shaykhfs, particularly the post-Rashtf Shaykhi authors, mankind in general is now, and will be for an indefinite span of time, incapable of recognizing the spiritual grandeur of an actual theophany in the person of an Imam (ndtiq, bdb, dhdkir,

"Remembrance" and "Gate"       23
or dhikr). This is so because such recognition necessitates a spiritual correspondence between the theophany and the one who recognizes it.73 The Shaykhis imply that such a correspondence can be expected in only a few cases. On the other hand, the proclamation that such an Imam has appeared "in the world" suggests a view of humanity as not essentially flawed, but potentially perfect in all the ways that the Imam himself is perfect, namely as the locus for the appearance of the innumerable divine attributes of God. An announcement such as the one contained in the The Commentary on the Sura of Joseph refuses to accept that such a capacity is limited to an elite.74
In addition, the Shaykhi belief, taught by Sayyid Kazim Rashti, that the world was on the verge of entering a new cycle which would involve a new and higher level of man's spiritual maturity could have suggested to those numerous Shaykhi students who were to become followers of the Bab that it was no longer necessary, or perhaps even possible to rely on the argument of "incapacity" as a safeguard against the dangers (spiritual and political) inherent in recognizing an actual person as the bearer of waldya.75
Bab.
Every writer who has made mention of the Bab has pointed out that this title assumed by him at the beginning of his mission signifies in Arabic "Gate" or "Door," but in specifying that whereunto he professed to be the "Gate" they are no longer in accord.76
—E. G. Browne
The Imam, or Qa'im, was a prominent topic in the Bab's earlier commentary on Baqara. It has been argued that while in that work the Bab did recognize the Qa'im as a spiritual principle which had been "deposited" into the souls of the believers, he also spoke of the eventual government (wizdra,

24        Todd Lawson
dawla) of the Qa'im.77 Granted, these terms are susceptible of an esoteric or spiritual interpretation. But, it is important to note that among the Shaykhis the usual discussion of qiydma ("resurrection") involved recourse to elaborate discussions of subtle and dense time as well as to such "imaginal" locations as hurqalyd, or the 'dlam al-mithdl.78 Neither of these terms appear in the commentary on Baqara, or, for that matter, in the Commentary on the Sura of Joseph. It may be argued that either the Bab, as a student of Shaykhi philosophy, had taken all of these terms and the ideas which they implied for granted and, therefore, found it unnecessary to employ them in that work; or that, for whatever reasons, he did not subscribe to the theory which they suggested. If he did not subscribe to the theory, it seems plausible to expect that he, along with a number of his early followers, many of whom were avowed Shaykhis, anticipated the appearance of an actual person in the capacity of Qa'im—the return of the Hidden Imam. A third possibility, in line with Amanat's analysis, is that the Bab was far less influenced by the Shaykhis than is commonly believed.79 At this point in the study of the Bab's life and work, this last possibility stands out as being the most likely of the three, although, as we have seen, there are clear points of agreement between the Bab and the Shaykhis in certain areas. It is, in any case, left open as to whether the Shaykhis, notwithstanding their terribly recondite theories of qiydma, did not also expect an actual Imam to appear.
One of the most frequent titles assumed by or "bestowed upon" the author of this commentary is indeed that of "gate" (bdb). Because of this, and because it is the title by which 'Ali-Muhammad Shirazi is best known, it is appropriate to treat in some detail what is undoubtedly a very important word. The better its use in the commentary is properly grasped, the better our ability to understand this rather difficult work. For if the term indicates, even at this stage of development of the Bab's message, something beyond a mere "herald" of future

"Remembrance" and "Gate"       25
events, namely a kind of prophethood, then the text, unusual as it is, must be read as a "new scripture" (as is in fact stated in the work).80 In the face of new prophecy, we are well-advised to expect a departure from the rules.81 That those readers of the revelation who became followers of the Bab would have found in the work sufficient proof of such claims indicates that, however outlandish or bizarre the work might appear to Western readers, it undoubtedly had meaning for those who were perhaps in the best position to judge it.
The word bdb occurs in almost every chapter of the text, usually several times. Sometimes it appears simply as bdb al-lah (the Gate of God):
Verily, those who disbelieve in the sublime Gate of God {bi-bdb al-lah al-rafi"), indeed We have ordained for them a painful chastisement by the authority of God.82
At other times, it appears as bdb imdmikum (the Gate of your Imam)
Did not the Remembrance and the Book come to you from all directions with the most great truth calling: "0 people! I am the Gate of your awaited Imam . . . "83
or, as hddhd 'l-bdb (this Gate)
Indeed, mankind is wrongfully neglectful and contentious concerning this Most Great Gate of Our mighty Cause. And He is God, the Exalted {al-'alt), the Great.84
Dhdlika 'l-bdb ("that Gate", "that is the Gate"; "this Gate", "this is the Gate") is also frequently encountered85 and is seen to exploit the ambiguity associated with dhdlika 'l-kitdb [Qur'an 2:2].86 Such a usage represents a particularly deft allusion to the Shi'i doctrine of the Imam as Book and the Book as Imam, discussed above.

26        Todd Lawson
Several times, the author is referred to as bdb alldh al-akbar (the Most Great Gate of God), al-bdb al-akbar, (the Most Great Gate), or dhdlika al-bdb al-a'zam (that/this Most Mighty Gate).87 These usages find their parallel in others, such as adh-dhikr alldh al-akbar (the Most Great Remembrance of God), or kali-mat alldh al-akbar {sic) (the Most Great Word of God).88 Other epithets, such as bdb alldh al-rafi" (the Sublime Gate of God) are also found.89 Several times the ahl al-bdb (the people of the Bab) are referred to, indicating presumably those who have recognized the claims put forth:
Verily, your Lord God said: "I am truly merciful to those of My servants who are believers from among the people of the Gate."90
Similarly, the sabil al-bdb (the path of the Gate) or some variation is often read:
He is God, the Truth, He of whom [it is said] "There is no God but Him." He has desired only that you serve sincerely in the path of this Gate.91
A most important usage of the term appears in the following:
inna hukm ad-dunyd wa 'l-dkhira 'aid khdtam al-abwdb fi nuqtati 'l-bdb hawl an-ndr qad kdna ft umm al-kitdb mahtuman.
Indeed, the rule of the world and the hereafter [devolves] upon the Seal of the Gates in the Point of the Gate in the precincts of fire, and is firmly established in the Mother Book.92
An indication of how the Bab meant these references to be understood is found in such statements as:
wa innd nahnu qad rafa'nd darajdt al-abwdb bi-qudrat alldh al-akbar bi'l-haqq wa inna adh-dhikr hddhd la-huwa al-murdd bi'l-'alim laday al-hakim wa huwa 'lldh qad kdna bi'l-haqq mahmudan.
We have elevated the rank of the gates through the most great

"Remembrance" and "Gate"       27
power of God. This Remembrance is He Who is intended as the Knower of all things (or, He who is intended by the divine name "learned") before Him Who is the All-Wise. And verily, He is God, the All-Praised.93
Such a statement appears to support the idea put forth elsewhere that as a result of the unrelenting negative theology of Shaykhism, the Imams and the Prophet came to fill the "void" left by the deus absconditus (the hidden God).94 By negative theology is meant the classical view of God as being beyond any human conception, including "pure being." Thus all that can be known of God is known through the Prophet and the Imams, who represent, collectively, and individually, the deus revelatus (the revealed God). Clearly, the two terms deus absconditus and deus revelatus refer to two modes of the divinity, rather than to two distinct entities.95 In this context, the rank of bdbiyya is elevated to fill the position otherwise occupied by the Imams. Nonetheless, there appears to be a certain amount of reluctance in recent studies to acknowledge that the Bab at this time was claiming such an exalted spiritual rank.
While it is certainly true that the term bdb can refer to those who represented the Hidden Imam during the period of the minor occultation (i.e., 260 A.H./873-4 A.D. to 329 A.H./941 A.D.) during which time he communicated to his followers through a series of four individuals who were known as "Gates," "Deputies," or "Emissaries" (abwdb, nuwwdb, or sufard), it is also true that the term has a great many connotations as a function of its use in various traditions ascribed to the Imams and in other contexts.96 Nicolas, in arguing that the title denotes spiritual authority beyond "mere" bdbiyya (namely imdma), has discussed the importance of certain traditions which designate the Imams themselves as "gates."97
But there continues to be some equivocation about the significance of the term as applied to the Bab in this commentary. Amanat writes:

28        Todd Lawson
It is almost certain that references to the Concealed Imam in the works of the Bab are, even from the early stages, references to the status which inwardly he claimed for himself.98
This statement may be thought to be supported by those passages in the Tafsir surat al-baqara, which speak of the Qa'im as an esoteric principle, perhaps even ultimately accessible to all believers. Elsewhere, however, Amanat refers to the vagueness of the terminology in the commentary, or its ambiguity." The conclusion put forth by him is that the Tafsir surat Yusuf announces certain claims of the Bab, but not his "real" claims.100 The point to be made in this article is that within the Bab's immediate literary and social milieu, such terms as bdb and dhikr had acquired a sufficiently broad semantic range to accommodate a hierarchy of meanings. It would, therefore, be wrong to suppose that the Bab's perception of his spiritual rank had evolved or developed from seeing himself as a representative of the Imam, to possessing the rank of imdma, and ultimately to being a manifestation or claiming divinity, merely because his language became less ambiguous as time went by. To repeat, a study of the Tafsir surat al-baqara has shown that the Bab's concept of spiritual authority was one in which the Prophet and the Imam could be equated, in some sense, with God. Moreover, one of the ontological levels of imdma was seen to be bdbiyya or gate-hood, the level of the appearance of the principle of imdma to the believers.
For our purposes, this hadith literature has been conveniently summarized in Isfahanf's dictionary.101 The Akhbari commentator of the Qur'an says that both bdb and abwdb occur in many traditions, meaning that the Imams themselves are the gates of God, and the gate by which the believer approaches God. He quotes from the Kitdb kanz al-fawd'id,102 a tradition in which the Prophet, addressing Abu Dharr (an early hero of the Shf'a) says: " All is the greatest gate of God (bdb

"Remembrance" and "Gate"       29
alldh al-akbar), he who desires God let him enter the gate." As we have seen, the Bab has appropriated this very title to himself. Isfahani then quotes from the book of Sulaym bin Qays:103
I heard Salman al-Farisi . . . say that 'All is a gate, God opens it and whoever enters is a believer and whoever goes out of it is a disbeliever (kdfir).104
Isfahani says that this meaning for the word bdb will also be adduced in the reports he lists in his article on al-bayt, as well as in the famous hadith mutawdtir (a tradition which has no gaps in its chain of transmission, implying that it is very reliable) in which Muhammad declared: "I am the city of knowledge and 'All is its gate." In addition, it occurs in some of the reports that cite the variant: "I am the house of wisdom and All is its gate."105
Isfahani continues with material from the Mandqib of Ibn Shahrashub,106 which quotes 'All as having said: "I am the gate of God through which anyone who comes to God must enter prostrate." He then quotes as-Sadiq from the Ma'dnial-akhbdr:107 " 'All said, 'I am the gate of repentance (ana bdb hittatin, Qur'an 2:58). Isfahani says that this hadith will come again on the article on hittatun and safinatun where the meaning is that the Imams are like the "gate of repentance" of the Banilsrd'il mentioned in Qur'an 2:58. This statement also occurs in the course of the article on as-sur (wall) (Qur'an 57:13): "And a wall shall be set up between them, having a door in the inward whereof (bdtinuhu) is mercy, and against the outward thereof (zdhiruhu) is chastisement." The commentator says that the "gate" is 'All, just as the word gate in Qur'an 15:14 is 'All. He adds that in some of the reports the Imams are said to be the "gates to the Qur'an," the "gate of faith," the "gate of immortality" (bdb al-muqdm), the "gates of Paradise," "the gate of laws," the "most sought gate," the "gate of certitude," and finally the "gate of piety."

30        Todd Lawson
Isfahanf then quotes the transmission of al-Kaf'amf from the fifth Imam, al-Baqir:
God is concealed from men by his prophet and the trustees (awsiyd) who came after him to whom he gave all the knowledge men would require.108 When the time came for the Prophet to give 'Ah' the divine wisdom he said: "I am the city of knowledge and 'All is its gate." In any case, God had already made it obligatory upon men to submit to 'All in his statement: "And enter in at the gate, prostrating, and say, 'Unburdening (hittatun)V We will forgive you your transgressions, and increase [reward for] the good-doers" [Qur'an 2:58], that is, those who do not doubt the excellence of the gate, and the loftiness of his power.108
Returning to Kdfi, where 'All himself is quoted, Isfahanf cites the statement: "God appointed knowledge for a certain people and imposed upon the servants obedience to them through His statement: 'Enter the houses through their gates' [Qur'an 2:189]. The 'houses' here are the houses of the knowledge which had been entrusted to the prophets. 'Their gates' are the trustees of the prophets."
Isfahanf closes this article with his own views. He says that these last two hadith and their like, especially those in his article on al-bayt and elsewhere, indicate that the intention is according to the exegetical principle of spiritual metaphor (al-murdd at-tashbihdt al-ma'nawiyya). "The prophets themselves are the gates of the religion {din) of God, and the signposts of His religion {ma'dlim dinihi),109 and the means of passing through the gates to Him for men. At the same time, the trustees {awsiyd; sing., wast) are the gates of the prophets, and the means whereby men approach the prophets." He then quotes the Prophet, who said to 'Alf: "You are the gate to me for whoever enters it, and I am the gate of God; any one but you who enters it has not attained me and will not attain God." Then God sent down the verse: "It is not piety to come to the houses from the backs of them ..." [Qur'an 2:189]. Isfahanf closes his discussion with the following:

"Remembrance" and "Gate"       31
It is obvious that the gate of the gate of God is the gate of God. In this sense, the ulama are the gates to the Imams, nay, rather [they are] also the gates of God, according to this reasoning.110 And since such is the cause for the attainment of faith {al-fawz bi'l-imdn), and repentance of sins (hatt adh-dhunub), and access to all the paradises, and the knowledge of the divine laws, they are named gates. 'All is the greatest gate (al-bdb al-akbar), inasmuch as he is clearly given this name in many of the reports. Likewise, the khulafd' al-jawr, and their following, and the ulama of the opposition and their companions, are the gates of disbelief and deviation and hell. Ta'wil is applied to this word in all places accordingly; only God truly knows.111
Curiously, the author of Anwar makes no mention of the historical four deputies (nuwwdb), or gates (abwdb) of the Hidden Imam. In summary, bob can designate the prophets in general, the Prophet Muhammad in particular, the Imams (especially 'All as al-bdb al-akbar), and even the ulama. In light of the interchangeability in Shiism of the authority of Book and Imam, it is interesting that bdb appears to be uniquely applicable to a person. A similar case is the word wall.112 Apart from the single possibility of interpreting bdb as designating the Imams in their capacity as bdb al-Qur'dn (that is, as interpreters of the Holy Book), the Qur'an itself is not mentioned in Isfahani's discussion of the word.
Another work which has been shown to have a bearing on the study of Shaykhism and the writings of the Bab, is Rajab Bursi's compilation of Shi'i lore entitled Mashdriq anwdr al-yaqin fi asrdr Amir al-Mu'minin.113 Aside from referring to the recitation of the fdtiha as a means of "opening" the gates of heaven to the believer,114 Bursi quotes (in addition to quoting some of those hadith mentioned in Anwar) the following:
'All said: "0 people! we are the gates of wisdom and the keys of mercy and the masters of the community and the trustees of the book."115 The Messenger of God said: "When I went up to the seventh

32        Todd Lawson
heaven, and beyond it to the sidrat al-muntahd ["the Lote-Tree beyond which there is no passing" for the believer], and beyond it to the veils of light, my Lord called to me and said, '0 Muhammad, you are my servant, and I am your Lord, so humble yourself to me and serve me and trust in me and I will accept you as my servant and friend and messenger and will accept for you 'All as caliph and gate, and make him my proof against all my servants ... To God there is a [particular] gate; whoever enters it is saved from Hell. [This gate] is the love of 'All. Indeed, he who loves 'All, God will give him, for every vein in his body and every hair thereon a city in Paradise."116
Having examined what might be considered to be a synopsis of Akhbari thought on the term bdb, attention is now turned to some of the ways the title figured in some of the works of Shaykh Ahmad and Sayyid Kazim. It is important to note that both men were known by their followers as gates.117 Rafati refers to a letter written by Tahirih, who was one of the Letters of the Living (huriif al-hayy), in which reference is made to Shaykh Ahmad and Sayyid Kazim as the "two gates (al-bdbayn)," and Sayyid Kazim himself as "the earlier gate of God" (bdb alldh al-muqaddam). Sayyid Kazim was also referred to in this way by the Babi historian al-Qatfl ibn al-Karbala'f.118 All of these sources, however, are written by Babis who had previously been adherents of the Shaykhi school. So far, it has not been possible to locate a direct statement by either Shaykh Ahmad or Sayyid Kazim, in which an explicit claim to bdbiyya is made.
However, given the above range of meanings which the term bdb was capable of bearing, it would not be surprising if these two scholars had tacitly accepted such a title as a possible metaphor for the function of the ulama. Such would offer an example of the moderate Akhbarism which the Shaykhi leaders propounded as a means of bridging the gulf between two antagonistic Shf'i trends.119 It is also possible that the former followers of Shaykh Ahmad and Sayyid Kazim have

"Remembrance" and "Gate"       33
retrojected the title bob on to the first two masters of the Shay-khiyya, in order to emphasize a continuity between Shaykhism and the religion of the Bab. The Bab himself refers to them as gates in the Commentary on the Sura of Joseph:
0 ye peoples of the earth! During the time of My absence I, verily, sent down the gates unto you. However, the believers, except for a handful, obeyed them not. Formerly I sent unto you Ahmad and more recently Kazim, but apart from the pure in heart amongst you, no one followed them.120
The grammatical dual plural of bdb is found in several places throughout the commentary, and it may be thought that wherever it occurs, it may on some level, refer to the first two leaders of the Shaykhf school.121 However, the dual plural is so widely used throughout the commentary that it should be considered a separate subject. Suffice it here to say that such high frequency of the dual form is an allusion to the language and content of the famous "Sermon on the [Two] Gulfs."122
To return to the term bdb in Shaykhf thought, commenting on a verse of a traditional Shi'f prayer of visitation: "May peace be upon you, 0 people of the House of Prophecy!",123 Shaykh Ahmad says that this means that the Imams are the people of the house of prophetic knowledge because they preserve it, and this knowledge is from divine revelation {waht). In the esoteric interpretation, the "house" is the Messenger of God himself in whom nubuwa was put, and the separate "houses" are all of the family of the Messenger. "However, the Prophet is the greatest house, nay rather he is the city and they are the gates." He quotes al-Baqir: "The family of Muhammad are the gates of God and the path to Him and the summons to Paradise." He then quotes the celebrated hadith in which the Prophet says that he is the city of knowledge and 'All is its gate, and that no one enters this city except through

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its gate. Shaykh Ahmad also says that it is related that the Prophet said: "I am the city of wisdom."124 In this case, wisdom means knowledge. He then quotes the Kitdb al-ihtijdj of Tabarsi, which contains the statement of 'All commenting on Qur'an 2:189, about which he says: "We are the houses which God commanded to be entered by their gates, we are the gates of God and the house which should be entered thereby. He who pledges allegiance to us and confesses our waldya will have entered these houses through their gates, but whoever opposes us will have entered the houses from behind." Shaykh Ahmad then cites several of the traditions which were cited by Isfahan!, indicating his own veneration of the Akh-barf tradition.125 This veneration was either already shared by, or passed on to, his successor Sayyid Kazim Rashtf.
Sayyid Kazim speaks of the "Gate of God" in various ways. In one place, he refers to Muhammad himself as the bob alldh, from which those who claim to be independent have turned away.126 Elsewhere he speaks of the divine bounties (al-fuyuddt) as being the gate of God to creation (bdb alldh ild al-khalq).127 And in another passage, relating the three categories of abddl ("substitutes," "saints")—arkdn, nuqabd', and nujabd' —to the idea of gate, he says that they are three, but one in essence (fi 'ayn kawnihd wdhidatun).128
The first is the place where divine unity appears (mazhar at-tawhid) in the maqdm at-tdbi'iyya. The second is the place where prophecy appears (mazhar an-nubuwa) in the same maqdm. And the third is the place where waldya appears (mazhar al-waldya) in the same maqdm. Each one is a mazhar at-tawhid, nubuwa, and waldya, and each is [simultaneously] a manifestation of the part (mazhar al-ba'd) and a manifestation of the whole (mazhar al-kull).129
The inspiration for this statement is the quranic reference to the "single command (or cause)" of God, as is clear from the portions of verses immediately quoted in rapid succession as follows:

"Remembrance" and "Gate"       35
And Our command (amrund) is but one (wdhidatun) . . . Thou can see no disharmony {tafdwutin) in the creation of the Merciful. . . If it had been from any other than God they would have seen therein much disharmony.130
So he who recognizes only one aspect is one-eyed (a'war), and he who recognizes [only] two aspects in one is cross-eyed (ahwdl). But he who recognizes them all in one aspect, and not in three, is a true seer (basirun kdmilun). . . . Know that the gates of the gate and the aspects of the threshold are all one, when you consider what is inside the "house" or the "city."131 But if the sight is turned to the gates as such (ild nafs al-abwdb), then the gate will disappear and the threshold becomes blocked.132 It is as if the gate were the same as the "house."133
Here is an instance of the important theme of simultaneous veiling and revealing. If attention stops at the gate itself, then that to which it leads is lost sight of, or veiled. This is a clear warning about indiscriminant attachment to the "personality" of the person who functions as the gate. On the other hand, this same gate when approached as a means of leading beyond itself, reveals.
Elsewhere Sayyid Kazim, quotes the following hadith from the tenth Imam, 'All ibn Muhammad al-Hadi al-'Askari (disappeared 254 A.H./868 C.E.):
When you approach the gate recite the Creed (shahdda)134 twice, for the gate of God is not known unless God is remembered [mentioned] near it. And if God is brought to mind near it (7m-dahu), then it is [truly] the gate, and the proof (ad-dalil) and the threshold, and the path. And if God is not brought to mind in his/its presence {'indahu) in neither His name nor attribute, then that [particular] gate is not the gate of God.135
The intention here of the hadith (and of Sayyid Kazim) seems to be quite straightforward: if someone claims to be the "gate of God" and God is in fact not "brought to mind" when in the presence of such a claimant, then the claims are false.136

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In several places Sayyid Kazim appears to use the terms gate {bdb) and veil {hijdb) interchangeably. Thus, in speaking of the fdtiha, he says that a proper reading of it will name the one who is the "gate of gates" {bdb al-abwdb) and the first veil of "the breath of the Merciful" {an-nafas ar-rahmdni).137 Here, bdb al-abwdb is one of the many names of the Holy Spirit, who as a primordial creature (and also as a creative principle) recites "both books"—the "book" of creation and the Qur'an proper. Commenting on the verse of the ode: "This is the curtain of the city of knowledge away from whose gate is led the one who has not entered" {hddhd riwdq madinat al-'ilm al-lati min bdbi-hd qad dulla man la yadkhulu), Sayyid Kazim says that three words are important here: curtain {ar-riwdq), city {al-madina), and gate {al-bdb), the exoteric meanings of which require no interpretation.
I will mention that which has overflowed to me from the sea of Light {bahr an-nur) and that which has come to me through the praise of God from the world of felicity ('dlam as-surur) which has not been mentioned before, except by way of allusions.138
He then defines "curtain" {ar-riwdq) as "threshold" (jandb), "gate of the gate" {bdb al-bdb), and "veil of the veil" {hijdb al-hijdb). Further, he calls it:
The pole around which the days revolve, the full moon which illumines the darkness {badr az-zaldm) . . . the one who combines [in his person] those teachings (jdmV al-kalim) about piety and justice, which refute, on behalf of true religion, the corruption of the exaggerators {tahrif al-ghdlin), . . . the judge over the flock and the rightful successor of the Imam {khalifat al-imdm), . . . the tree of piety {shajarat at-taqwd), he without whom the traces of prophecy would have been effaced and without whom the pillars of waldya would have crumbled. . . . [He is] the one who knows, without having to learn {al-'dlim bi-ghayr at-ta'allum), the understander {al- 'drif) of all the mysteries of Being in both the invisible and visi-

"Remembrance" and "Gate"       37
ble worlds, the dawning place of the [single] point of knowledge (matla' al-'ilm) which the ignorant have multiplied. . . . [He is] the one who knows the secret of the one and the many . . . and the secret of integration (sirr al-jam *) and the integration of integration {jam' al-jam *) and the mystery of reward and punishment . . . and the mystery of that soul, which if known, God is known.139
One of the more important features of this passage is, of course, the reference to unlearned knowledge, sometimes referred to as 'ilm laduni (cf. Qur'an 18:65), which was one of the credentials the Bab was eventually to claim. Sayyid Kazim continues in the same vein at some length, adducing similar equivalents for the curtain of the door of the city of knowledge. Although no proper names are mentioned, it is possible that by the words "gate" and "city", the persons (or principles) of 'All and Muhammad are intended. It may also be that Rashtf here regards himself as the curtain, which both conceals and provides access to the Imam. Given however, his own scholasticism, it is difficult to see how the qualification of unlearned knowledge could be appropriated by him, unless it refers to supernatural knowledge which he acquired from the kinds of dreams or visions which both Shaykh Ahmad and the Bab experienced.140 It is also explained that the term curtain (riwdq) is equally applicable to the abddl, namely those souls who qualify as arkdn, nuqabd, and nujabd (whose numbers are often set at four, thirty, and forty respectively), who will serve in their capacity as riwdq until the day of judgement (yawm al-waqt al-ma'lum).141
Another aspect of bdbiyya comes a little later; in discussing the famous hadith in which the seven grades constitutive of spiritual knowledge (ma'rifd) are mentioned,142 Sayyid Kazim makes the following statement:
The gates are the [former] prophets; they were the gates of God in worldly affairs (tashrt"), but our Prophet is the gate of God in both the metaphysical and physical worlds (takwin wa tashrt").

38        Todd Lawson
Existence comes to no one except through his agency (ivdsita) and the agency of the awliyd after him, particularly the Seal of Absolute Waldya (i.e., 'Ali; khdtam al-waldya al-mutlaqa) to whom leadership (riydsa) and sovereignty (saltana) befell from the Seal of Prophecy (nubtiwa, i.e., Muhammad).143
Commenting on the word satr (now glossed as hijdb, veil), which occurs in another verse of the ode, Sayyid Kazim gives it a precise meaning:
[It is] the gate which connects the higher world with the lower (al-bdb al-wdsil wa'l-wdsita bayna al-'dli wa'l-sdfil) the one who interprets the meaning of the Qur'an (al-mutarjim li't-tibydn 'inda ta'lim al-Qur'dn) ... to whomever does not understand. This can only be the one who unites the two stations, the tenant in the two degrees, the matter between the two matters, the one who abides over the two gulfs, the one who surveys the two wests and the two easts (jdmi' al-maqdmayn, khd'iz al-martabatayn wa 'l-amr bayn al-amrayn, al-wdqif 'aid at-tutunjayn, al-ndzir fi'l-maghribayn wa'l-mashriqayn).Ui
Sayyid Kazim then says that the Messenger of God is the most great veil interposed between God and His creation, and the awliyd' and the khulafd are his veils which are interposed between him and his flock:
The wall is the veil and gate of the Prophet (nabi). And this wait also has a gate and they are the ulama who really know (al-'ulamd' al-'drifun al-atydb) and the perfect spiritual guides. They are the gate of gates (bdb al-bdb) and the veil of veils {hijdb al-hijdb).145
Apart from seeing in this statement a possible indication for an understanding of the idea of the Fourth Support, namely as the whole body of those from among the Shi'a who may be considered "perfect spiritual guides," we see in all of this material how closely Sayyid Kazim accepts the wide variety of meanings given to the word bdb in those akhbdr quoted in

"Remembrance" and "Gate"       39
Anwar. (Cf. especially the mention of shi'atuhum al-kummal, "their perfect shi'a," above, p. 15.)
This application of the term gate (bdb) to prophets is reminiscent of certain Isma'fli texts, such as the work ascribed to Ja'far ibn Mansur al-Yamani (tenth century C.E.), supposed author of the Kitdb al-kashf. It may, therefore, represent an actual case of the often suggested Isma'fli influence (albeit through Akhbarf Qur'an interpretation) on Shaykhi thought:
The naming of the gates: One gate is Adam and his proof {hujja) is Seth; one gate is Noah and his proof is Shem, one gate is Abraham and his proof is Ishmael; one gate is Moses and Joshua is his proof; one Gate is Jesus and Simon his proof. The proof of Muhammad is 'All. The proof of Hasan is Husayn. The Proof of 'All b. Husayn is Muhammad his son al-Baqir, the proof of al-Baqir is Abu 'Abd Allah Ja'far as-Sadiq b. Muhammad, and thus the Imams from the progeny of Ja'far b. Muhammad, one after the other, until the appearance (zuhur) of the Qa'im.146
This statement is important because it suggests that the term gate is used as a function of relation, and not as an absolute, as is the case with other such terms (e.g., proof, hujja). Corbin, in his study of other Isma'fli works, has spoken of a ten-tier hierarchy for the Isma'fli grade of bdbiyya,147 which indicates further the all-important relativity of the term. The bdb, according to another early text, is precisely the last Imam, "le Resurrecteur."liS While here in the Kitdb al-kashf, Muhammad is not explicitly called a gate, it is implied in the context. The passage presupposes a kind of progressive revelation which the Bab, our author, most certainly subscribed to. For example, he says that the "day of resurrection" for one religion is the advent of a new religion which is destined to supplant it.149 Thus the time of Jesus was the day of resurrection for the religion of Moses, the time of Muhammad was the day of resurrection for the religion of Jesus, and his own manifestation represents the day of resurrection for Islam.150

40        Todd Lawson
In this regard, and in particular connection with the sura of Joseph, it is of some interest to note that an eighteenth century Isma'ili commentary by the thirty-third Yemeni dd'i mut-laq, Diya'u'd-Din Isma'il ibn Hibat Allah, interprets the first part of 12:56 ("So We established Joseph in the land") as: "That is, by his attaining to the rank of gatehood."151 (wa kadhdlika makkannd li-Yusuf fi'l-ard. . ., ya'ni, bi-bulughihi bi-rutbati'l-bdbiyya) Clarification of what is meant here by bdbiyya is found elsewhere in the work, where one Abu Muhammad Aristdtdlis is mentioned as being the ndsut (human form) of the mysterious prophet-figure Khidr, for whom he thus functions as a veil and the bdb al-abwdb. In this way, his earthly sovereignty functions as "the Imamic Veil", (al-hijdb al-imdmiyya). The implication is that whoever obeys this particular political leader also obeys the higher authority on whose behalf the earthly leader functions, at one and the same time, as a concealer and a representative.152
This commentary need not have any direct connection with the Bab's for such shared semantic relationships to exist. Given the factor of geography alone, the possibility of the Bab (or even Shaykh Ahmad) ever having read it is remote. The citation is interesting because it refers to the office of bdb in connection with earthly sovereignty, and also as a veil. It also points to a specific case of Isma'ili doctrinal correspondence.
Commenting on another verse in which the word bdb is used,153 Sayyid Kazim says that the gate, as a veil, is an intermediary:
[Bdb] means the saintly men (ar-rijdl al-abddl). And because it represents two relationships (i.e., one to the higher world, the other to the lower) it is named "gate."154
Sayyid Kazim says that bdb is composed of three letters, two of which are the same, which indicates the joining of the two principles (i.e., "higher" and "lower"). The other letter stands between them and indicates the ultimate unity of

"Remembrance" and "Gate"       41
both worlds. The letter bd' which stands for this relationship, even though it appears to be two, is in reality only one. But if it is omitted, there ceases to be a gate. The first bd' indicates the principle of fatherhood. The second bd' is the bd' of the basmala, from which all existing things came forth (analogous to motherhood).155
This idea of the bdb as veil is taken up elsewhere in Qasida, and it appears to be one of the more important themes of the book.156 Representing, therefore, a principle which simultaneously reveals and conceals, the title bdb was admirably suited to the uses put to it by the author of the Commentary on the Sura of Joseph.
Sayyid Kazim also equates "gate" with the face of God (i.e., the Imam)157; the Fourth Support, which here is further defined as the perfect master (al-murshid al-kdmil) and just teacher (ash-shaykh al-'ddil). This is a contrasting view to Shaykhi material discussed above, in which the Fourth Support is seen to refer to a group, rather than an individual.158 He several times refers explicitly to the "city of knowledge" hadith159; and in one place says that the Qur'an itself is the "gate," an equivalence we have not been able to locate in the Akhbari literature.160 However, as was the case in that literature as summarized in Anwar, there seems to be no direct reference to the early emissaries of the Hidden Imam as gates, but confirmation of this would require further study of the work. What is clear is that the word is used in a variety of ways indicating prophecy and imdma.
Such is the immediate background for the manner in which the Bab's first disciples could have understood the term gate, particularly as used in those passages mentioned above, where the author of the Commentary on the Sura of Joseph is called the "most great gate of God." As such, I do not think that the word struck them as vague. It may be, however, that those persons who allied themselves with the movement and who did not come from a Shaykhi or other similar milieu did not perceive all of the manifold implications of the term. This

42        Todd Lawson
might explain why the Bab employed other, more universally recognized titles of authority, as his movement gained in popularity. But it seems clear that his assumption of the titles bdb and dhikr did, in fact, put forth his real claims right from the beginning.
NOTES
On the spelling of the word tutunjiyya, see note at beginning of the references of Lambden paper, p. 160.
Nabfl, Dawn-Breakers, p. 65. Corroboration of this date may be found in the text of the commentary where the Bab mentions that at the time of writing he is twenty-five years old. (The Bab, Joseph, p. 16). See the discussion of the date of composition in MacEoin, "Charismatic," pp. 157-8.
Browne, "The Babis," pp. 908-909: hddhd al-ghuldm al-'Arabi al-Muhammadi al-'Alawi al-Fdtimi al-Makki al-Madani al-Abtahi al-'Iraqi (The Bab, Joseph, p.225). While such an adjectival litany may be foreign to Western tastes, it is of course universally regarded as one of the pillars of style in older Arabic literature, e.g. as-Suyutf refers to the 'Abbasid "quasi-Caliph" al-Muttawakkil as: al-Imdmi al-A'zami al-Hdshimi al-Abbdsi al-Mutawakkili. (William Y. Bell, ed. & trans., The Mutawakkili oj as-Suyuti p. 15, Arabic text).
Ibid., quoting Rosen, Collections, p. 186.
Browne, "The Babfs", p. 909. Browne's transliteration of this passage, which occurs in the Sural al-'abd, (The Bab, Joseph, p. 226) is: Al-Bd'u s-sd'iratu Ji'l-md'il-hurujin (sic) wa'n-Nuktatu'l-wdki-fatu 'aid bdbi'l-AUJeyn.
MacEoin thinks such passages containing references to Mecca and Medina (as in Makki and Madani) were written after (or at least during) the Bab's pilgrimage. This would, of course explain their otherwise perhaps somewhat mysterious use. (See MacEoin, "Charismatic," p. 158.) It is also possible that, by using such adjectives, the Bab was interested in invoking the purely spiritual connotations such terms would have in calling to mind highly venerated holy places in Islam in general, and in the case of Iraq, Shf'i Islam in particular.

"Remembrance" and "Gate"       43
Browne, "The Babis," p. 909. Although Browne gives no reference for this quotation, it may be found in the recent edition of what is persistently referred to as Ibn 'Arabi's Qur'an commentary, but which is most certainly the work of 'Abd ar-Razzaq al-Kashanf, Tafsir al-Qur'dn al-Karim, v. 1, p. 8.
Sayyid Kazim Rashti, Shark al-qasida al-ldmiya, (hereafter Qasida). The edition used here is unpaginated. Page numbers supplied are counted from the recto of the title page. The qasida (ode) was written by one 'Abd al-Baqi Afandi al-Musili (b. 1204 A.H./1789 C.E.-d. 1278 A.H./1861 C.E.). Al-Musili spent most of his life in Baghdad and was a distinguished poet and the author of several works on poetry and biography. This particular ode is devoted to the seventh Imam Musa Kazim (d. 183 A.H./799-800 C.E.), and was written on the occasion of the donation of a piece of the covering of the Prophet's tomb in Medina by Sultan Mahmud II to be used for the Shrine of the Imam Musa located in Kazimayn. Rashti wrote his commentary in 1258 A.H./1842 C.E. at the request of 'AH Rida Pasha, then governor of Baghdad. It is possible that the original qasida (as well as the gift) was motivated by anti-Wahhabi sentiment.
For brief references to Sayyid Kazim's commentary see Rafati, "Development," p. 133 and references; MacEoin, "Charismatic," p. 104 and references. The entire work really needs to be studied thoroughly. Corbin seems not to have taken an interest in it. Nicolas, on the other hand, has translated a passage from it, part of which corresponds to a passage cited by the renowned Baha'f apologist, Mirza AbiiTFada'il Gulpaygani in his Kitdb al-fard'id (pp. 575-7) where the object is to show that Shaykhi writings predicted the advent of the Bab.
Rashti, Qasida, p. 82. "Wall" designates the one in whom divine authority has been invested. It may also be translated as "guardian."
Browne, "The Babis," p. 909. (Browne's transliteration.)
See Corbin, En Islam iranien, vol. 1, pp. 186-99. Some of this material is translated and discussed in Lawson, "The Qur'an," pp. 115-22. Briefly, these terms refer to the lower two of four hierarchical levels of divinity and its manifestation.

Browne, "The Babis," p. 909.
Rosen, Collections, pp. 180 & 181.
This corresponds to The Bab, Joseph, pp. 92-8.

44        Todd Lawson
The Bab, Joseph, pp. 160-86.
Corbin refers to this as "kathenotheism." See En Islam iranien, vol. 1, pp. 205-6. The idea may be found in the teachings of the Imams themselves, for example the following one quoted in ibid. from 'All himself.
"I am to Muhammad as light is to light." Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsa'f explained this statement as follows: "This light is totally in Muhammad, it is totally in the Imam 'All, totally in Fatima, totally in the Imam Hasan, totally in the Imam Husayn, just as it is totally in each one of the remaining Fourteen Pure Ones (i.e., Muhammad, Fatima, and the twelve Imams). Despite its multiplicity, it is nonetheless one. This is what the Imams meant when they said: 'We are all Muhammad. The first among us is Muhammad. The one in the middle is Muhammad. The last of us is also Muhammad.' "
The Bab certainly subscribed to this view. See Lawson, "The Qur'an," passim.
MacEoin, "Concept," p. 93; "Reactions," pp. 16-20.
But giving as reason for this the fact that the text is concerned with doctrinal reflections. The genre of tafsir is not conditioned by the absence or presence of doctrinal reflections.
MacEoin, "Charismatic," p. 158.
See Momen, "The Trial." This important article analyzes the precise charges of the proceedings against one of the Bab's disciples and examines the relevant passages of the Commentary on the Sura of Joseph, the promulgation of which led to these charges. Momen's conclusion is the same as the one put forth here: that the Bab was claiming revelation.
MacEoin, "Charismatic," p. 159. Although it is clear that "the theory behind the tafsir was much more complex than mere imitation of the Qur'an." {ibid., emphasis added)
MacEoin, "Charismatic," p. 159, where the author gives references to the Cambridge ms.
MacEoin, "Charismatic," p. 159.
The Bab, Baqara, p. 239.
MacEoin, "Charismatic," p. 159.
Translated by Browne, "Remarks," p. 265. Part of this passage is cited in MacEoin, "Charismatic," p. 157.

"Remembrance" and "Gate"       45
The Bab, Writings, p. 119.
MacEoin, "Sources," pp. 125-6.
Landolt, Correspondance, p. 21.
Balyuzi, The Bab, p. 231, fn. 11.
Because these terms are used with such frequency, it would be impossible to indicate all those hundreds of passages in which they occur. For those titles mentioned here, the first three may be read at The Bab, Joseph, p. 4 and the last may be found at The Bab, Joseph, p. 8.
Browne (trans.), New History, pp. 336, 359, 374, 376 (jendb-i dhikr), 382, 394; idem, "Catalogue and Description," p. 303.
MacEoin, Reactions, p. 18.
Amanat, "Early," p. 173.
See Lawson, "The Qur'an," e.g., pp. 78-114.
Anwar, pp. 151-2; for dhikr as Qur'an: 43:44, hadith quoted from al-Kdfi (see Kulaym in bibliography) on the authority of as-Sadiq; for dhikr as Prophet: 16:43, hadith from as-Sadiq; for dhikr as 'Alf: 62:9, from the Kitdb al-ikhtisds of al-Muffd, hadith ascribed to al-Baqir (Anwar, p. 26); for dhikr alldh al-akbar as the Imams: 29:45, hadith ascribed to al-Baqir {Anwar, pp. 7-8). References in parentheses indicates that Isfahani does not mention these reports in the course of his article, but refers to them as having already been cited in one of the three prologues to his tafsir.
"Qdla shaykhund al-'alldma," Anwar, p. 152.
A similar interpretation is given for Qur'an 18:101, 74:31.
Anwar, p. 152.
Anwar here misquotes the Qur'an, replacing invoked (udi'ya) with mentioned (dhukira). Nonetheless, such a reading is in line with Akhbari commentary, cf. Bahrani, Burhdn, v. 4, pp. 77-8, #2 where the two verses are said to complement one another.
Anwar, p. 152. In the Qasida, Sayyid Kazim Rashti says "Each prophet is the embodiment (hdsil) of one of the divine names which are specific to his station and rank . . . the names, from the point of view of unity and multiplicity, are as individual drops from the sea of absolute nubuwa, and the embodiment of this latter rank is the seal of the prophets (Muhammad) . . . who is the bearer of the ism al-a'zam al-'azam al-a'zam, and the one who mentions (dhdkir) the dhikr al-ajall al-a'ld al-a'ld al-'ald." {Qasida, p. 66).

46        Todd Lawson
For a detailed study of this topic see Ayoub, "The Speaking Qur'an,"; see also Momen, Shi'{Islam, p. 16 and footnote.
Corbin, En Islam iranien, v. 4, p. 23 quotes the following statement from as-Suhrawardi (d. 1191 C.E.): "le Livre est l'lmam muet, l'lmam est le Livre parlant." (Source unspecified.)
Cf. the characteristic argument from the Bab found in his commentary on the Surat al-kawthar, affirming the necessity of what he calls "the hidden support." Briefly, the argument runs: it is not permissible to rely upon the ulama for guidance, because some of them are more qualified than others and they disagree amongst themselves. It is, therefore, necessary to choose only one for a guide, because "none but a single soul is capable of bearing the universal bounty from the Imam." The Bab, Tafir surat al-kawthar, f. 36b.
Corbin, Trilogie, index, s.v. Ndtiq.
Corbin, En Islam iranien, v. 4, p. 283 summarizing Ibrahimi, Fihrist, v. 1, pp. 127-31.
Apart from the many hadith from the Imams that mention the mysterious categories of nuqabd', nujabd', and so forth, classical Sufism frequently speaks of a group of pure souls who are unknown to the generality of men. (See, e.g., Abu Bakr al-Kalabadhi (d. ca. 380 A.H./990 C.E.), Kitdb at-ta'arruf (English translation by Arberry, The Doctrines, pp. 10-11.) Cf. the later development in as-Suhrawardf of the idea of the "pole" (qutb) discussed by Corbin, En Islam iranien, v. 2, pp. 67-80.
The Bab, Baqara, p. 52. On the Shaykhf doctrine of the four supports, see Momen, Shi'i Islam, p. 228.
The Bab, Baqara, p. 52.
Bowering, Mystical, pp. 237-8; n.b. also the famous statement of al-Hallaj: "I am the Truth (and 1-haqq)."
Chodkiewizc, Sceau, e.g., pp. 178-9 and 203.
It is interesting, in this regard, to notice the exact phraseology of Sahl's claim: "I am the proof of God for you in particular (khassatan) and foij the people in- general ('ammatan)." (Bowering, Mystical, p. 237). This could be read in connection with the state of affairs in Shiism at the time. While the Hujja was indeed in hiding, he was nonetheless available to a select group of people, namely, the four gates or^deputies (abwdb, or nuwwdb) mentioned belo'w, p.

"Remembrance" and "Gate"       47
27. It is possible to read in Sahl's claim an attempt to correct what might have appeared to him to be an unsatisfactory religious situation, namely, that mankind be deprived of direct, authoritative guidance. In addition, it is interesting to bear in mind the later frequent Shi'f usage of the terms, khass and 'amm, in which the former refers to the Shi'i's and the latter refers to the Sunnis.
Bowering, Mystical, p. 237.
This khutba, preserved in the Nahj al-baldgha, is a favorite among the Shi'a because it offers a rare statement by 'All on the usurpation of the caliphate by Abu Bakr. It is referred to many times by the Bab in Baqara (see Lawson, "The Qur'an," passim). The opening line is: "By God! That man (i.e., Abu Bakr) snatched the caliphate as if it were a garment which could be put on by him, even though all the while he knew that my station was [like] that of the pivot of the grinding stone (wa innahu la-ya'lamu mahalli minhd mahallu 1-qutb min ar-rahd)." {Nahj, v. 1, pp. 30-1.)
One discussion of the relationship between Sufism and Shi-ism is Seyyid Husayn Nasr, "Shi'ism amd Sufism: their Relationship in Essence and in History," Sufi Essays, (New York, 1977) 104-20. See also the related article in ibid., 97-103: "Seventh-century Sufism and the School of Ibn 'Arabi." The standard reference for the whole topic, particularly as it concerns early Islamic history is ash-Shaybi, as-Silah. The magisterial work by Gramlich (see bibliography) is a comprehensive study of Iranian Sufism.
Out of 145 "conversions" of leading Babfs before 1264 A.H./ 1848 C.E., seventy-five were of persons identified as Shaykhis. Smith and Momen, "The Babi Movement," p. 60.
See, however, the view that the expectation of a new cycle, taught by al-Ahsa'f and Rashtf (but not widely circulated) "heightened a sense of millenarian hope among some Shaykhiyya for the full disclosure of the new age through the guidance of the perfect Shi'ah, or possibly even the long-expected return of the Hidden Imam." (Scholl, p. 232).
"Quiconque se proclame publiquement le Bab de l'lmam, se met eo ipso en dehors du shi'isme, car il en profane le secret fonda-mental, viole la ghaybat, rompt l'attente eschatologique." Corbin, En Islam iranien, v. 4, p. 283, paraphrasing Ibrahimi, Fihrist.
Bausani, "Babfs," p. 33.

48        Todd Lawson
Amanat, "Early," pp. 148-51.
Amanat, "Early," pp. 56-99. The whole topic is the subject of MacEoin, "Charismatic," which provides many important insights.
Cf. the discussion of this in Amanat, "Early," pp. 175-6.
Amanat, "Early," pp. 171-5.
The Bab, Joseph, p. 7. Much of the language of the Tafsir surat Yusuf consists of variations on the same theme. Similar statements may be found on almost every page.
Note that the word servant {'abd) is one of the more frequent by which Muhammad is referred to in the Qur'an (e.g., 2:23 and 8: 41). This usage would connote to Muslims that the Bab was claiming the status which Muhammad was accorded by applying the same word to himself.
The Bab, Joseph, pp. 6-7.
A detailed study of this distinctive technique is found in Lawson, "The Qur'an," pp. 362-96.
On the importance of Qur'an 3:7 see the recent discussion in MacCauliffe, "al-Razi". The interpretation of the verse is a major bone of contention between Sunni and Shf'i Muslims. For the nature and details of the argument, see Shah, "The Imam," p. 71.
The Bab, Joseph, p. 7. Most of this passage is a direct quotation from Qur'an 3:10.
See also Isfahani, Anwar, p. 152 where it is said that the ahl al-bayt are precisely the Most Great Remembrance of God (wa inna-hum dhikr alldh al-akbar.)
The Bab, Joseph, p. 7.
The Bab, Joseph, p. 7.
The B*b, Joseph, p. 8.
See note 65 above.
See Corbin, En Islam iranien, v. 4, pp. 286-300. The idea is that one is capable of understanding or perceiving those things or truths which corresponds to something like their analogues, which exist a priori in the soul or mind of the subject. This theory (isomor-phisme) operates on all ontological levels, and may be seen as deriving from the famous quranic verse: "We shall show them Our signs in the horizons and within themselves until it is manifest unto them that it is the truth." (41:53) This is similar to the nonquranic verse whose origin appears to be unknown, but which is quoted frequently

"Remembrance" and "Gate"       49
in 'irfdni and the philosophical literature, and for that matter is quoted by the Bab {Baqara, p. 54): "And in each thing there is a sign which proves that God is one {wafikulli shay'in la-hu dyatun tadallu annahu wdhid)."
A better example may be found in the writings of the Bab himself. In what is considered his oldest extant work, the Treatise on the Mystic Search (Risdla fi's-suluk) the Bab says that the human soul is composed of four elements: divine oneness (tawhtd), prophecy (nubuwa), guardianship (waldya), and finally, the principle of the community of believers (shi'a). This implies that it is because the soul is so constituted, the individual is able to know each of the four elements when they occur on the "outside." See The Bab, Su-liik, p. 73. The idea is a familiar one in Muslim spiritual philosophy and has been expressed in several different ways. For example, the famous theory of permanent individual "essential archetypes" (a'ydn ath-thdbita) propounded by Ibn 'Arabi, may be thought to share many of the same featrues.
It is suggested, furthermore, that Corbin's own profound pessimism, born of the example of twentieth-century European history, admirably predisposed him to sympathy for what might be called the benign anarchism implicit in Shaykhism.
Sayyid Kazim, in discussing these two major cycles, was quite specific:
The first cycle (ad-dawrat al-uld), which was concerned with externals, ended with the completion of the twelfth century . . . The purpose of the present cycle {al-karrat ath-thdniya wa ad-dawra al-ukhrd) is to cause the hidden things to appear (li-baydn ahkdm zuhur al-bawdtin) . . . The first cycle was for the training of bodies and the present cycle is for the training of sanctified spirits and pure souls. (Qasida, p. 356).
Sayyid Kazim's theory seems to parallel, in some respects, that of the earlier Isma'iTi teaching involving two cycles: (1) the cycle of secrecy (dawr as-satr) and (2) the cycle of disclosure (dawr al-kashf). The first might correspond with Sayyid Kazim's dawrat al-ula, while the second to his dawrat ath-thdni. See Corbin, "Divine Epiphany," pp. 106-107, "Cyclical Time"; Walker, "Eternal Cosmos." See also, Rafati, "Development," pp. 169-73.

50        Todd Lawson
Browne, Traveller's, p. 226.
Lawson, "The Qur'an," pp. 240-9.
On these terms, particularly as they appear in some of the writings of Shaykhf authors, see for example, Corbin, "Mundus imaginalis."
Amanat, "Early," p. 147.
Qur'an, e.g., The Bab, Joseph, p. 9: innd nahnu qad nazzalnd al-kitdb 'aid kulli ummatin bilisdni-him [cf. 14:4] wa qad nazzalnd hddhd 'l-kitdb bi-lisdn adh-dhikr 'aid 'l-haqq bi'l-haqq badi'an. "We have revealed scripture to every community in its own language. In truth, We have revealed this scripture in the wondrous new language of the Remembrance." The single quranic reference to 14:4 is misleading. In actual fact, this single verse from Joseph alludes to many different verses. A single example will suffice. The opening phrase innd nahnu qad nazzalnd could suggest to those fully steeped in the Qur'an the opening phrase of Qur'an 15:9: innd nahnu nazzalnd adh-dhikr—"\t is We who have sent down the Remembrance." Such examples from Joseph could be greatly multiplied.
Huizinga, Homo Ludens, p. 12. The rules which the Bab's Tafsir surat Yusuf breaks are quite obvious: it presumes to challenge the i'jaz al-Qur'dn doctrine by its form alone; the Arabic language is stressed beyond the usual confines of usage, idiom, and grammar; the claim to spiritual authority (both implicit and explicit) was perceived as an outrage, and so on. Perhaps most importantly in the present context, is the flagrant disregard for the venerable rules of tafsir itself—e.g., proceeding in the commentary seriatim, establishing an exegetical unit through use of such words as "ya'ni" and "al-murdd" ("this means"), providing lexical equivalents for single words, and so on, which were followed (however distinctively) by the Bab in the earlier Tafsir surat al-baqara, but completely disregarded in the work at hand. This is important because it shows that the style of the Bab's commentary on the Sura of Joseph is quite deliberate, rather than the result of unfamiliarity with, or inability to function in, the discipline of traditional Qur'an exegesis.
The Bab, Joseph, p. 6. This and the following examples represent only the smallest fraction of such material. As was the case

"Remembrance" and "Gate"       51
with the word dhikr, bdb is employed in a wide variety of innovative and rhythmic phrases. Some idea of the effect this fluent invocation of such powerful words might have had on the reader/listener can be had only by examining an extended passage.
The Bab, Joseph, p. 111.
The Bab, Joseph, p. 13.
See, e.g., The Bab, Joseph, pp. 9, 12, 14, 17, 22, 25, 107.
Briefly, there is a very old argument among interpreters of the Qur'an about how this demonstrative should be translated. The literal meaning is "that is the book," and the verse continues "in which there is no doubt." This reading raised questions, however, about which book was intended. If it were the Qur'an that was meant, then why not the more likely demonstrative hddhd 'l-kitdb, "this is the book." See Rippin, "The Quranic asbdb al-nuzul Material," pp. 95-6. According to some Muslim exegetes, it should be translated as "that is the Book" rather than "this is the Book" because the remoteness implied by the former is more respectful."
The Bab, Joseph, pp. 11, 13, 14, 23, 32, 73, 77, 107.
e.g., The Bab, Joseph, pp. 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, etc. The sic here refers to the apparent lapse in grammar: al-kalima is feminine, but the adjective, al-akbar is masculine. There are, however, several cases of an Arabic feminine noun being used as masculine: 'alldma, (very learned), khalifa, (caliph), rdwiya (story-teller). More interestingly, however, is the precedent in Arabic for treating kalima itself as masculine. All Arabic translations of the New Testament, translate John 1:1 as: fi'l-bad' kdna 1-kalima wa'l-kalima kdna 'inda 'lldh wa kdna kalimatu 'lldha (In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God). Kdna (was) is in its masculine form, a more "grammatical" (but unacceptable) reading would he: fi'l-bad' kdnat al-kalima . . . The point is that kalima refers to Jesus and should therefore be treated as masculine. (My thanks to D. Aqiqi for drawing my attention to this biblical grammatical "anomaly.") The Imams are frequently referred to in hadith literature as the "Words of God."
The Bab, Joseph, p. 6.
e.g., The Bab, Joseph, pp. 17, 19, 20, 22.
e.g., The Bab, Joseph, p. 23; see also e.g., pp. 12 & 24.

52        Todd Lawson
The Bab, Joseph, p. 40. Here the scribe first wrote (naturally enough) "nuqtat al-bd'", which has been corrected to "nuqtat al-bdb." This corrected version appears in Fll, f.35b. The occurrence of the plural abwdb in this chapter is directly related to the quranic verse under which it was written, Qur'an 12:23: "Now the woman in whose house he was solicited him and locked the doors on them." It may be that one of the features which commended the Surat Yiisuf as a subject for commentary to the Bab, is the comparative frequency in it of the word bdb.
The Bab, Joseph, p. 192. Note the rare use in this work of the exegetical technical term al-murdd.
Lawson, "The Qur'an," passim.
This type of theology is, of course, quite familiar to Baha'fs.
The four representatives of the Hidden Imam, Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-'Askari recognized by Twelver Shiism were: 'Uthman al-'Amrf, his son Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn 'Uthman, Abu al-Qasim Husayn ibn Ruh al-Nawbakhti, and Abu al-Husayn 'Ah* ibn Muhammad as-Samarri. See Momen, Shi'i Islam, pp. 162-4.
Nicolas, Le Bdb, pp. 9-11.
Amanat, "Early," p. 197.
Amanat, "Early," pp. 143, 173.

Amanat, "Early," p. 433.
Or clavis hermeneutica, as Corbin prefers (Annuaire, 1965-6, p. 108). The following citations are from Anwar, p. 91.
Probably the K. kanz al-fawd'id of Abu'l-Futuh Muhammad bin 'All bin 'Uthman al-Karajakf, the student of Ibn Shadhan al-Qummi, (cf. Majlisf, Bihar, v. 1, p. 18); possibly: K. kanz al-fawd'id fi hall mushkildt al-qawd'id by 'Umfdu'd-Dm 'Abd al-Muttalib, (cf. Majlisf, Bihar, v. 1, p. 21).
Majlisf, Bihar, v. 1, p. 15 refers to this work simply as Kitdb Sulaym bin Qays al-Hildli.
Isfaham, Anwar, p. 91.
Isfahan!, Anwar, p. 91.
This work is published: Abu 'Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Shahrashub, Mandqib Al AM Tdlib, 3 vols., Najaf, 1376 A.H./1956 C.E.
This book was written by Ibn Babuyah (d. 991 C.E./381 A.H.)

"Remembrance" and "Gate"       53
and recently printed in an edition by 'All Akbar Ghaffari (Tehran, 1379 A.H./1959 C.E.).
This notion of God being concealed by the Prophets and Imams plays an important role in Isma'ili and Shaykhi" thought. It depends upon the idea that revelation is that which simultaneously conceals and reveals. (See below.)
See the Bab's use of this expression in Baqara, p. 242.
Such a statement suggests that the author was perhaps a moderate Akhbari. It is suggested further that his interpretation of these hadi'th would not necessarily be rejected by the usuliyya (Mo-men, private communication). By characterizing him as an Akhbari I wish to emphasize the extreme veneration of the Fourteen Pure Ones found in his work and which is shared by the Shaykhiyya, the Babi's, and (at least in theory) the Baha'fs.
Isfahanf, Anwar, p. 91.
See Isfahanf, Anwar, pp. 337-9. Many other quranic nouns which are susceptible of the kind of metonymy which has become so familiar are equally applicable to the Book and the Imam or Prophet, as we have seen in the case of dhikr. Two examples will suffice: habl (rope; see Isfahanf, Anwar, p. 129) and nur (light; Isfahanf, Anwar, p. 315). A study of those nouns which can and cannot be used interchangeably for the Book, and the Prophet or Imam (that is to say, a person), would probably shed more light on the Shf'f attitude towards scripture.
See bibliography. Rafati, "Development," p. 133 mentions that the versions of the famous "Sermon on the [Two] Gulfs" which Sayyid Kazim comments upon in his famous Shark al-khutba at-tutun-jiya, is the one found in Shaykh al-Bursfs collection. Lawson, "The Quran," esp. pp. 181-3, points out that some of the Bab's technical vocabulary is the same as that found in Mashdriq.
Bursf, Mashdriq, pp. 23-4.
Bursf, Mashdriq, p. 51.
Bursf, Mashdriq, pp. 60-1.
Rafati, "Development," p. 148. Mentioned also by Amanat, "Early," pp. 47 & 173.
Amanat, Early, p. 137.
Corbin, En Islam iranien, v. 4, pp. 249-53.

54        Todd Lawson
120.	Writings, p. 51. Cf. The Bab, Joseph, "Surat al-anwar," pp. 45-8, this passage occurs on p. 46. This particular chapter is distin guished by the mention in it of proper names (apart from those of the Imams who are, in any case, mentioned but very infrequently in the work). In the course of an exhortation to the ulama to the effect that the study of any other book than this work is forbidden and designating it as the kitdb alldh, the Bab writes the above passage. He then says: "We made the two gates as two signs, around the water, effacing the sign of night and establishing the sign of day." He then writes: "0 Qurrat al-'Ayn! Say to the great scholar Ja'far al-'Alawf: 'Truly, if you were to prostrate before the Gate of God, you could be accounted as praiseworthy in the Mother Book ... If you were to follow His Cause, we would make you a pillar (rukn), exalted above all scholars, and in the Hereafter you would be with Us . . .' 0 dear friend, say, by permission of God, the Most Great, to our servant 'Abd al-Khaliq, the scholar: 'God has brought you to His most great Remembrance during the known months, but you per ceived nothing of His most perfect Cause (amrihi al-aqwam) in His most mighty acts, and God has seen you commiting shirk against certain aspects of his most perfect Cause . . .' 0 Qurrat al-'Ayn! Say to al-Shaykh al-Kabir al-Hasan al-'Arabi [of the family] of al 'Usfur, whom God has caused to dwell in jazirat al-bahr (Bushihr): 'Verily you are from your Lord, the Truth, so assist our Word, and His book, the Truth, and summon the people to the pure religion (al-din al-khdlis). (The Bab, Joseph, pp. 46-7.)
Ja'far al-'Alawf is possibly Mulla Ja'far Naraqi, cf. Amanat, "Early," p. 298, or Mulla Ja'far Qazvfni, ibid., pp. 162, 307. But most likely, as Momen has suggested (private communication), since neither of these two were Sayyids (as al-'Alawf would imply), the reference is probably to Sayyid Ja'far Kashfi, illustrious father of Vahid, the very important early follower of the Bab. 'Abd al-Khaliq is undoubtedly Mulla 'Abd al-Khaliq Yazdi, one-time student of Shaykh Ahmad (Amanat, "Early," pp. 362-8). On the Al 'Usfur family of Bushihr and its connections with Shaykh Ahmad and Sayyid Kazim, see ibid., p> 129.
E.g., The Bab, Joseph, pp. 148, 161, 216, 226.
Lawson, "The Qur'an," pp. 329-60.
Al-Ahsa'f, Sharh al-ziydra, p. 5. This is one of Shaykh Ah-

"Remembrance" and "Gate"       55
mad's most important works, the title may be translated as: "The Commentary on the Universal Prayer of Visitation." This refers to the prayer being suitable for use at the shrines of any one of the members of the Holy Family venerated by Twelver Shf'is. A recent edition of this prayer may be found in Qummf, Mafdtih, pp. 445-50. It is of some interest to note here what appears to be a tradition of regarding this prayer as something of a "Shi'f Qur'an." (See Lawson, "The Qur'an," p. 267.) This could explain why Shaykh Ahmad felt he had already fulfilled the traditional obligation of a Muslim scholar to produce a Qur'an commentary (tafsir) by writing this work. So far, I have been unble to locate a Tafsir al-Qur'dn ascribed to Shaykh Ahmad (or to any other Shaykhi for that matter). This is somewhat unusual. In any case, the whole Shi'i phenomenon of regarding as the sacred book persons or texts other than the Qur'an proper is undoubtedly one of the solutions to the "problem" of the Bab's Commentary on the Sura of Joseph.
The Bab quotes this variant, Baqara, p. 190. Incidentally, a little before this part of that earlier commentary, the Bab makes what appears to be an allusion to his own special status. Here he says of Qur'an 2:56, that it refers to the "return" of the Family of God and only those who are "[divinely] deputized" (yunayyabu) can mention this." (The Bab, Baqara, p. 188).
al-Ahsa'f, Ziydra, p. 7.
Rashti, Qasida, p. 64.
Rashti, Qasida, p. 61.
Rashti, Qasida, p. 103. The author says that this is one of the doctrines of the "ahl al-ishrdq min ahl al-wifdq wa al-ittifdq," which he seems to endorse. The identity of this group is not clear.
Rashti, Qasida, p. 103.
Qur'an 54:50, 67:3, 4:72, respectively.
This is a reference to the "City of Knowledge" hadith.
The Bab expresses this idea in his commentary on al-Baqara: "The greatest name" (al-ism al-a'zam) is "He" (huwa). It is the gate of union with Him (bdb i'tildfihi), even if the wdw is not fully pronounced [as in "huwa"], in that it causes [the believer] to enter upon God without looking to the gate (bdb), because the gate is [merely] the pointer (al-ishdra)." (The Bab, Baqara, p. 12)
Rashti, Qasida, p. 103.

56        Todd Lawson
I.e., the Islamic declaration of faith: "There is no God but God, and Muhammad is His Prophet." A distinctively Shi'f declaration adds: "And 'All is the wait of God." See Joseph Eliash, "On the Genesis and Development of the Twelver-Shi'f Three-tenet Sha-hada," Der Islam, v. 47 (1971) pp. 265-72.
Rashtf, Qasjda, p. 319.
This is also the classical Sufi theme of the awliyd': they are the signs of God (see e.g., Landolt, "Walayah," p. 322).
Rashtf, Qasida, p. 28. "The breath of the Merciful" is a technical term from the ontology of Ibn 'Arabf. See Izutsu, Sufism, p. 131-3. While the Shaykhis disagreed with Ibn 'Arabf on many points, most importantly on the problem of waldya and its rightful bearer, much of the terminology of their discussions, as indeed that of the discussions of most Muslim mystical philosophers of the last six hundred years, may be traced to the great Andalusian mystic. For an aspect of Ibn ' Arabf s thought found in the writings of Ba-ha'u'llah, see Alessandro Bausani, "Note sulla circolarita dell'es-sere in Ibn al-'Arabf (1165-1240)," Rivista degli Studi Orientali, vol. 56 (1982), p. 70.
Rashtf, Qasida, p. 96.
Rashtf, Qasida, p. 96. Similar language is found in the work of Ibn Abf Jumhur (d. ca. 1400) with whose thought Shaykh Ahmad and Sayyid Kazim were most certainly familiar (Rafati, "Development," p. 40). For example, Ibn Abf Jumhur discusses the divine acts (af'dl) and says, quoting Ibn 'Arabf, that of the primordial divine acts, the second is called by the theologians, with justification, the gate of justice. Ibn Abf Jumhur says that in this statement there is an allusion to the gate of tawhid ("divine unity," more exactly "affirming divine unity") in which, according to the Sufis, there are several stations: the station of jam', and the station of tafarruqa ("disintegration") and the station of jam' al-jam'', and the al-jdmi' li'l-jami' (Von Abf Jumhur, al-Mujli, p. 202). Elsewhere, he discusses the "City of Knowledge" tradition and the variant cited by Shaykh Ahmad in explaining how the divine sciences are related to 'All (Ibn Abf Jumhur, al-Mujli, p. 371).
In any case, Sayyid Kazim, as one of the ulama, would be entitled to the title bdb in one of its interpretations. See below, Sayyid Kazim's reference to "the ulama who really know."

"Remembrance" and "Gate"       57
Rashtf, Qasida, p. 97.
Namely: (1) The level of divine unity (tawhid); (2) the level of positive, spiritual meanings (ma'dni); (3) the level of gates (abwdb); (4) the level of a leader invested with spiritual and temporal authority (imam); (5) the level of the pillars of religion (arkdn); (6 & 7) the levels of two classes of spiritual elite known as the lieutenants and the nobles (nuqabd, and nujabd). These terms are discussed in Browne, Traveller's Narrative,,pp. 303-4; MacEoin, "Hierarchy," pp. 113-5; and Lawson, "The Qur'an," pp. 115-86.
Rashtf, Qasida, p. 99. This is the Shi'f interpretation of Ibn Arabf's doctrine of waldya, the classical source for which is Haydar Amulf (d. after 787 A.H./1385 A.D.).
Rashtf, Qasida, pp. 206-7. Apart from further defining bdb, this passage is most important because of the series of dual nouns employed. As mentioned above, the Bab uses the dual number very frequently in Joseph, and sometimes in ways which would be very difficult to understand were it not for the precedents offered by this kind of expression in Sayyid Kazim's writings and elsewhere. An analysis of the Bab's use of such language (see note 65, above) further confirms that he was making the highest possible claim for himself at this relatively early stage of his career.
Rashtf, Qasida, p. 207.
Ja'far ibn al-Mansur al-Yamani, al-Da'f (ascribed), Kitdb al-Kashf, p. 14.
Corbin, Trilogy, p. 31.
Corbin, Trilogy, p. 180 and references. It is also known that the Isma'ili author, Mu'ayyad Shirazi (d. 470 A.H./1077 G.E.), was the bearer of the title bdb in at least one of its levels of meaning. (Corbin, Histoire, p. 113).
Mentioned by Goldziher, Introduction, pp. 246-7.
The Bab, Writings, pp. 106-8.
Ibn Hibatallah, Mizdj at-tasnim, p. 72. See also the German introduction, pp. 23-4.
Ibn Hibatallah, Mizdj at-tasnim, p. 182, ad 18:93-4. For earlier instances of the Isma'ili identification of bdb with hijdb, see Corbin, Trilogie, p. 179 and references.
Rashtf, Qasida, p. 236.
Rashtf, Qasida, p. 239.

58        Todd Lawson
Rashtf, Qasida, p. 239.
Rashtf, Qasida, e.g., pp. 242, 265, and 320.
Rashtf, Qasida, pp. 323 and 358. The identification of "face of God (wajh alldh)" mentioned several times in the Qur'an (e.g., 2:115 and 272; 30:37), with the Imam is a very old and traditional Shf'f interpretation. See the appropriate article, "wajh," in Isfahanf, Anwar, pp. 333-35.
Rashtf, Qasida, p. 95.
Rashtf, Qasida, pp. 137, 138, 156.
Rashtf, Qasida, p. 156.
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