An Early Untitled Letter or Scriptural Tablet of the Bab mentioning his being a Servant (al-`abd) and having `Ubudiyya (Devotional Servitude)...
Introduction and translation Stephen Lambden UC Merced, 2019.
In progress - last updated 07-10-2019.
An important, early,
The following extract from a medium length Arabic Tablet of the Bab written before Jumad- Awwal = 1263 April – May 1847 .
It is printed in
Mirza Asad-Allah, Fadil-i Mazandarani,
- Kitab-i zuhur al-haqq III: XX + 2nd ed. pp. 13-16.
It is in part focused on the Bab being an `abd :
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate
Praised be to God Who originated the Formative Genesis (ibtida` al-ibda`), not from any prior formative genesis...
“So know that what may be specifically designated knowledge (al-`ilm al-khāliṣ) is that which is not dependent upon anything save the ma`rifat Allāh (the Gnosis of God), exalted be his/its mention. It is the fiṭrat Allāh, the natural religious disposition originating with God which He created within the `Abd (Servant) to the end that He might thereby establish his `ubudiyya (servitude) before God, his Lord. Imam `Alī alluded to this in terms of the [three constituent] letters (`=1 b=2 d-3) of `Abd.
- This since [the letter] `Ayn indicates his `ilm (knowledge) through God.
- The [letter] al-bā’ (B) suggests his differentiation (bawn `an) from the Creator (al-khalq)
- while the [letter] al-dāl (D) indicates his proximity to the Creator God without any clear explanation or even allusion…
That which you wrote about the Gate of the Imam (bāb al-imām) is without doubt (lā budda) expressive of his being a Mirror (mirāt an) before Him … the Imam is indeed the Mirror of God (mirāt Allāh) … for naught can be discerned in him save His Countenance. Indeed! God did not make any difference between He Himself and him (the Imam) save relative to the matter of `ubūdiyya (“servitude”)…”
The servant (`abd), like the Imam, is a Mirror of God. He reflects the Divine Lordhsip (rabbāniyya).