19
The Mother of Books, the Umm al-Kitab,
1
is a book of epic poetry representative of the spirituality of the
ghulat
, the so-called “exaggerators” within early Shi‘ite Islam. These religious adherents practiced a form of religion that could be described as messianic, mystical, even gnostic or Manichaean. This selection from the Mother of Books includes part of the major section of the text, in which a revelation about the origin and meaning of the world is given, in dialogue form, from Baqir, as teacher, to Jabir, as the recipient of revelation. Presented with mythic color, apocalyptic fire, and mystical power, the revelation describes the glories, angels, and colors of the cosmic realm, along with the god who remains exalted above it all. The imagery employed within the text is reminiscent of the opening chapters of Genesis and gnostic interpretations of Genesis, and the text demonstrates its points with reference to proof texts from the Qur’an. The Mother of Books highlights moments in the life of Muhammad the prophet, his family members, and those around, in order to proclaim creation, the fall into disbelief, and the return to knowledge and salvation.
Among the characters and terms in the text, Ali, Fatima, Hasan, and Husayn are members of the family of Muhammad; Boraq is the winged horse, and Duldul the white mule of Muhammad; Salman is a
follower of Ali and here the spiritual regent of god, with similarities to personified wisdom and the heavenly human in gnostic texts; Iblis is the devil; and Azazi’il is an arrogant angel who resembles the arrogant creator of this world in gnostic texts.
The Essential Mystery
Jabir rose to his feet, saying, “My lord,
tell me the meaning of the holy phrase,
Bismillah al-rahman al-rahim.
These words meaning ‘In the name of Allah,
the compassionate, the merciful’ begin
each chapter of the Qur’an. And many
recite them before doing anything.
All know them as the essential mystery.”
Baqir said, “They are from the high king, who is god.
He wrote them as the loftiest line on earth:
seven and twelve parts the king made for himself.
Overhead he made a sea of a thousand colors
and below another sea named godliness.
Between the seas the king placed seven and twelve deathless
uncreated lights, his ears and eyes. As written in the Qur’an,
‘He let two great bodies of water flow. They meet
with a barrier to halt their commingling.’
“Jabir, the large bodies of water are two seas,
the barrier is the king, their pearls and coral
are the Naqib and Najib angels. They are dazzling
lights and lamps joining realms to believers’ hearts.
By the highest god, here is knowledge flowing
from paradise to paradise and hell to hell,
and nothing has been written of these events
.
The Seven and Twelve Light Our Form and Body
“Jabir, the seven and twelve also light our form
and body. So the brain is the white sea,
and the spirit of speech is the high king
found in the medulla. Two eyes, two ears,
two nostrils, and the mouth are seven parts
of the high king. Two hands with ten fingers
are the twelve parts dividing the white sea
and remote eternal sphere. And in that sphere
is the high king’s canopy over our heads.
“The sphere is the great spirit of a thousand colors.
The brain is the white earth over seven skies
as the white sea lies over seven realms
of a heavenly palace. As it is written, ‘A revelation
from him who created the earth and heaven.
The merciful one sat on the throne possessing
all in the skies, on earth, and in between
and underground.’ God is on the white sea
as the high king’s throne—he is all powerful!
Our Features Also Reflect Bismillah’s Letters
“Our human features were created to prove
this mystery. The right ear, eye, nostril,
and language reflect ba
and sin
and mim
,
and language is the dot under the
ba
.
2
The left ear, eye, and nostril become lams
and mim
and ha
. The holy spirit of life
on the forehead is the sign and proof
of alif
in the middle, and these part
s
figured on our head are the spirit’s tools.
The ears are set at both sides for eternity.
Quicker than a wink they inform life spirit.”
What Is the Creator of This World Like?
Jabir rose to his feet, wiped his face with his hand,
and asked, “My lord, is the creator in heaven
or on earth? What is he and where is he from?
What does he look like? What virtues has he?
Where is he from and what has he created?”
The revealer of knowledge—may our salvation
come from him—said, “Jabir, these are hard questions.
Forget them. It’s wrong to open the curtain
before the high king. It is a grave sin.
No prophet or spirit has ever drawn open
the curtain, even a slit, to reveal the king.
No book has ever recorded his face.
Keep this book for yourself and the believers.
The Five Preexistent Lights
“Before the sky or earth or any creature,
there were five preexistent lights in five colors
like the rainbow. Sublime air issued like sun
from sparks of light and spread over the sky
and earth. The five lights stood in this air,
and a glow came out of the belly of light
continuously and in five colors: hearing,
sight, smell, taste, and speech. The five lights
are Muhammad, Ali, Fatima, Hasan
,
and Husayn. They came from nothing. As it is written,
‘Speak out that he is god, one sovereign god.
He did not father children, nor was he fathered;
there’s none like him.’ Around believers’ heads
these five lights swim around the throne of god.
The Spirit of Speech Sits in the Sea on the Brain
“The spirit of speech sits among them. He is the god
of truth. He creates and appears in each name
and body, from the loftiest of summits
down to the profoundest depths. Jabir,
I said, the lord is spirit through his godliness
and sun through light. Through spirituality
he has been called the spirit of speech. He sits
in the white sea on the brain of the believers.
His is color of lightning, clouds, and moon.
God’s Form and Attributes
“Here is god’s form. His right hand is retention
that comprehends and is the color of sun.
His left hand is the spirit of thought. From it
comes the full propagation of all light.
‘No. Spreading his hands, he gives as he wishes,’
and this spirit is the color violet.
God’s head is the grandest spirit composed
of all kinds of colors, a thousand of them.
There is nothing higher than he, neither
in heaven nor on earth. ‘There is nothing
that might be his equal. He hears and sees.
’
“His right eye is a huge spirit, the color
of white crystal. His left eye is the spirit
of the intellect, color of red yellow fire.
“His two ears are an intense mixing of
the rays of color from the holy veil.
“The lord’s nostrils are the spirit of knowledge,
one the color of red carnelian, exuding everywhere
a floating holy perfume. The other nostril
is the spirit of the almighty, green
from god’s breath and radiance. His tongue
is the voice of holy spirit, the color of red rubies.
“The heart of the lord is the spirit of faith,
whose name is the confessor of one true faith
and who is the color of the sphere of the moon.
“On the day of resurrection the lord
will place his foot across hell and freeze it.
“The lord’s throne is this godly seat, the brain.
The right half of the brain is the spirit
of wisdom, and the left is the spirit of abundance.
The lord sits in his majesty. As it is written,
‘The merciful set himself on the throne.’
These five lights, visible from eight angles,
are reflected on the believers’ faces
and compose the lord’s throne: of two eyes, ears,
nostrils, speech, and spirit perceiving taste.
”
The Order of the Heavenly Realms
Jabir said, “My lord, if you will, enlighten me.
Tell your servant the face, sense, and majesty
of holy realms, of light joining realm to realm.”
Baqir said, “First comes the curtain of eternity
on the white sea and the form of the high king.
Muhammad, Ali, Fatima, Hasan, and Husayn
are of this realm, finished by Abu Talib
and Abdallah. These five angels’ five lights
join the white sea like trees of paradise.
“Five creatures sit in five trees in the first, white sphere:
The lion, Boraq, the white falcon, the royal phoenix,
and Duldul, who is the sign of godliness,
sit on the top of five trees, singing praise,
happiness, honor, and glory from the leaves:
‘All on heaven and earth glorify god,
most holy king, the powerful and wise.’
Boraq comes from the light of Muhammad,
Duldul from the light of Ali, the lion
from the light of Fatima, the white falcon
from the light of Hasan, the royal phoenix
comes from the glittering light of Husayn.
“The white sea is decorated with them.
In all this vastness in the white sphere,
a thousand times greater than other realms,
lies ‘a garden as great as sky and earth.
’
The Ruby Red Curtain
“Below this white dome is a curtain red
like a ruby. In this curtain five creatures
appear in five Tuba trees. The ruby curtain
is believable down to the last sphere.
In rainbow colors 124,000 lights
on the white sea glitter to the last sphere
where 124,000 white lights
came to the ruby curtain. As it is written,
‘Have you not seen that god created seven layers
of skies and how he placed the moon as light
and sun as lamp? God made you grow in earth
like plants.’ The high one fastened many lights
and spirits to these spheres, and then he placed
the sun and moon and glowing trees as beauty.”
The Beginning of Creation Springs from Azazi’il
Then Jabir stood, prayed, and said, “My Lord,
how did the high king create all these spheres
and palaces? From where did he make the spirits?
What was the origin of his creation?”
The revealer of knowledge—may we be blessed—
said, “The creation of these realms is hard
to fathom. Not everyone knows the way
to knowledge, and its secret’s well concealed.
Jabir, in the beginning there was god,
only eternal god and nothing else,
but in the middle of five special light
s
the high king shone, as told in the beginning
of this book. All the heavens and the earth
were nothing but pure clear fine spiritual air.
From five specific elements came five
lights of the farthest realms, and they contained
some 124,000 hues,
and every moment was another color.
“Those special elements were members of
the farthest dome. A hundred thousand shining
lights, candles, and lamps emerged from the depths
of the high king in that dome, moving from
nonbeing to being. As it is written, ‘Questions of
the hour are but a second.’ No one knows
the majesty of angels, of angelic beings
and creatures. If the seas turned into ink
and trees were writing instruments, the seven
heavens were paper, and the spirits and beings
of lights, jinns, and humans began to write
and wrote about the appearance and majesty
of the eternal farthest dome, all would be used,
less than a thousandth of it written down,
fulfilling words of god, ‘Look, if the sea
were ink for words of my lord, it would
dry up before seizing words of my lord.’
“Then the high king’s cries echoed left and right.
The two cries then converted into beams,
and these two beams were pure uncounted spirits.
Each spirit was made of seven colors, each
color a million colors like the rubies
from Badahsan, carnelian, coral,
turquoise, emerald, and pearls. And each joint beame
d
its light like a clear star, and as our fingers
and toes have nails, so every moon or sun
shone from each nail. They were in six circles,
and each group had a leader and an elder.
The master was Azazi’il, and his
six ranks of elders went from one to six.
In His Image and Arrogance Azazi’il Creates from Light
“The high king lent Azazi’il light, and using
this light he shaped his creations.
In his image he made spirits. The king
shouted about what he had done. Azazi’il shouted
his creation of place, aeon, and spirit into being,
and no one but the high king knows how many.
3
“The high king said to Azazi’il, ‘Old man,
tell me who you are and what I am
and what all these creatures are.’ Azazi’il
answered, ‘You are a god and I’m a god,
and all these spirits both of us have made.’
4
“The high king said, ‘There cannot be two gods.
You’re my creation. I’m the one who’s made
these spirits,’ in fulfillment of god’s word;
‘I will create a person out of clay.’
“Azazi’il said, ‘What I’ve made is more
than yours; yes, I’ve made ten times more than you.
How can you dare claim your divinity?
’
The High King Takes Back the Light from Azazi’il
“The high king captured Azazi’il’s light,
saying, ‘These creatures you have made I made
also. If I withdraw the gift I loaned you,
how will you create?’ He took from Azazi’il
the light he’d loaned him and the creatures
that had been made with it, and from it
he made a dome of a white sea a thousand times
larger than the blue dome of earthly sky.
He made 124,000 lamps,
flickering candles, and brightly burning lights
appear, and painted palaces and castles
out of white crystal in 100,000 colors,
and he adorned them with the flowing rivers
of the water of life and on the riverbanks
the Tuba tree. In branches of the trees
the royal phoenix sat, and in its shade
were young men and boys. The white falcon, Duldul,
Boraq, and the lion adorned this white sphere.
On branches he created the wood pigeon,
turtledove, and nightingale, beautiful
beyond description. ‘Nothing had been made
like him. He is the one who hears and sees.’
“After the high king fashioned the white dome
in all its beauty, he told Azazi’il,
‘Make another sea equal to the one
that I have made.’ After the king said this,
Azazi’il was shocked. He could not make
such a creation. And as it is written, ‘Those
who won’t believe are doomed to nothingness.’
‘God doesn’t lead those lacking faith in him.
’
The High King Creates More Glorious Beings
“The high king wanted to create more beings
and showed this, shouting out his echo ahead
and behind, and when it reached the horizons
of the holy realm, everything rebounded
the echo of the two shouts, and from them
arose six tiers of spirits a thousand times
more delicate and pure. They were embellished
with pearls, corals, and rubies. A light shone
from every joint, a sun from every sinew.
A clear moon sparkled out of its navel.
“The high king glorified himself and from him
all learned to glorify and became glorifiers.
The senior in these six ranks was his Salman.
5
The others said, ‘This place is beautiful,
and the form god has given us is beautiful.
If the godhead who created us appeared,
we’d testify he gave us paradise
and beauty’s forms would be with us forever.’
“Then the high king turned to them, saying, ‘I am
Allahu akbar
, I am Allahu akbar
.’
The spirits were amazed, not knowing whether
the high king spoke for himself or someone else.
When some time passed, the high king said again,
‘I am Allahu akbar
, I am Allahu akbar
,’
which means, ‘I am your great god and creator.
’
Azazi’il Rebels and Falls from Glory
“The king said to Azazi’il, ‘Azazi’il,
lie on the ground before Salman. All followers
lie on the ground before the foremost who
confirm Salman or I will cast you down
below.’ As it is written, ‘When we said to the angels,
“Lie down before Adam,” they all lay down
except for Iblis, who arrogantly refused.
He was faithless.’
“Then Azazi’il
turned to the king. He was a fool and claimed
divinity.
6
A second and a third
arose and came to aid Azazi’il.
They claimed divinity, calling the king
a common liar and a thief, a trickster,
and then they said that ‘god is one of three.’
7
“The six denying ranks turned on Salman
and battled him at length with arrogance.
The high king said, ‘You unbelieving demons,
corruption, rebels! You attempt to rule
this realm and the eternal far white sea,
but you cannot rule unless you will affirm
me and my regent.’ This fulfills god’s word,
‘Jinns and humans! You try to penetrate
the precincts of the sky and of the earth,
but without my permission you will fail!
’
The Denying Ranks Are Confined
“Then the high king gave orders to Salman,
‘We cannot leave these beings in this state.
From seven lights I made to cloak the faithless,
turn ruby light into a ruby curtain.
Transform the fire light, and make a curtain
from it, and keep them muffled in the cloth
and cover the white eternal farthest sea
with this curtain, color of ruby.’ As it is written,
‘We told you all to fall from paradise.’
“Right then Salman began to terrorize,
seizing the ruby light, and cloaking them
as by a ruby dome, cloaked the white sea
and farthest dome. He stripped them of their fire,
spreading it out below them. They lived
between these curtains for a thousand years.
Azazi’il Continues His Rebellion
“Azazi’il stayed with six groups of beings
locked in this paradise a thousand years.
After the thousand years the high creator
appeared behind the curtain of Salman
and said clearly, ‘I am god.’ Azazi’il
denied him and again he was the fool.
This denial is mentioned in the Qur’an,
where it says, ‘When we said to the angels,
“Lie down before Adam,” they all lay down
except for Iblis. He said, “Should I bow
before one whom you fashioned out of clay?
”
He asked, “What kind of king is this? You showered
more honor on him than me. If you’ll grant me
a chance to wait until the resurrection,
I’ll murder his descendants, save a few.”
God said, “Go away. Whoever follows you,
hell will be his reward. Wake whom you can,
use your armies to incite them, take up
their fortune and their children, promise them
all kinds of things. Satan makes lying vows.
But you have no command over my servants.”’
“They fought a horrid and horrific battle
against the high king. Then the high creator
ordered Salman, ‘We have no use for them
in paradise. Take the sun-colored light
from them and spread it out below them all.’
Salman struck terror in their ranks. He cut
them off from sun-colored light and turned
it into sun water, spread it below,
adorned it with great tons of light and color,
the sun and moon. Azazi’il was imprisoned
with all his beings. He cloaked his violet realm
with realms of sun. His beings stayed behind
the curtain of the sun a thousand years.
This World Is Made Colorless
“God made the world framed with appalling mountains,
expansive deserts, profound seas, and beasts
and birds from substances of the six ranks
of faithless. Then he took away the color
of the world. Prolonged time passed without day
or darkness, when there was no time or name
or any soul across the dry cracked earth
.
The World Comes to Life
“Then the high king flung out denying spirits,
the faithless minds, flung them out of the kingdom
down onto earth, and then he gave the world
a breath, a spirit, and it came to life.
Vegetation and plants sprang from the earth,
and through his force vegetation and plants
were fashioned from the substance of the cursed,
proceeding from the shout of Azazi’il.
“This vegetative spirit spread everywhere
across the earth. And then the high king chose
to regenerate the seven colors taken
from Azazi’il: red, black, blue, violet,
indigo blue, yellow, and white. He called
them clouds and returned water to the streams
and rivers, scattering them over the earth,
keeping the earth moistened and fresh. And steam
in the spirit’s world became the angel whom
the high king consigned to the clouds. He fulfilled
his words, ‘The thunders praise him, as do angels.’”
This Describes the Body as Microcosm
Jabir said, “My lord, what can be the proof
that the highest command descends from clouds?”
Baqir answered, “Here is truth. Each particle
of holy light sent through this cloud down to
the path of breathing earth is consonant
with the highest command. The cloud itsel
f
consists of substance of Azazi’il.
Jabir, if clouds were not from Azazi’il,
the sun and moon sloping along their spheres
would not be hidden to the waverers.
Azazi’il shows in the microcosm
with seven faces: evil thoughts and greed,
jealousy, doubt, uncertainty. The glow
of faith’s spirit and the intelligible sun
are also hidden from the spirit of lust.
“Clouds of the macrocosm are combined
with light of the high king as a nude body
combines with spirit. And the other cloud,
highest in the command, is spirit’s speech,
color of cloud, the thunder and lightning
and the moon’s rain are knowledge of the light.
The earth on which it tumbles is the heart,
the sky from which it comes is spirit’s faith,
its sphere is language: ‘All float in a sky.’
The High King Wants to Create People on Earth
“Then the high king said, ‘I want to make
people on earth, endowing them dominion
over the world.’ ‘When the lord told his angels,
I will send a successor to the earth,’
they became three nations. One nation said,
‘God does what he wants to.’ ‘And he decides
his ways. You want it solely at god’s desire.’
“Others said, ‘Why place someone on this earth
who unjustly sheds blood, who commits acts
of shame?’ ‘Azazi’il rebelled and others ros
e
in the madness of his misery, and said,
“If you create someone else in this world,
we will not prostrate ourselves before him.”’
“The high king said, ‘Come before waverers
and bow down before everything above you,
and before those who know the earth and heavens
and those who know the plants and growing things.’
The angels could not comprehend, but waverers
explained the knowledge of the earth and heavens,
the names of plants and growing things, mountains
and all on earth. ‘He taught Adam the names
and then he showed them to the angels.’
Iblis, Who Is Satan, Rebels; Shadows and Phantoms Appear
“Iblis and his people who had the form of fire
rebelled and showed their disbelief. ‘We won’t
bow down before them, we’re better than they.’
‘You fashioned me of fire but him of clay.’
The high king grew furious. He said to them,
‘The covering will fall off all of you—
and this is hell—and you will wander proud
no longer, but you’ll linger in those tight
and black and body-hugging darkest forms.’
Humans Are Evicted from Paradise
“When the high king came in, he howled against
the lingerers, ‘Get out of here, all of you.
Get out of paradise. Assume the form
of thin dark shadows.’ He hurled them away
into their shadowy shape, and had women
appear with deep vaginas and with breasts.
”
How the Individual Comes to Knowledge and Is Saved
Then Jabir said, “My lord, when will the spirit
Baqir answered, “A spirit
of conviction living in the heart is witness
to divinity and leaves the heart and goes
into the brain, if it has witnessed clearly.
And even after worship from the highest
heaven and from the earth, it won’t accept
anything but witnessing described as just
in Muhammad’s Qur’an, a testimony
for current imams, whose appearance is
the paradise of the exalted king.
“Their speech provides the gate to paradise,
the place of Salman, and the site where orphans
bow and where seven angels say their prayers,
the realm of the Naqib, the palace of the Najib,
the dome of Adam and the ark of Noah,
the priestly robes of Abraham, the tablets
of Moses, the summit of Jesus, and the throne
where Muhammad the chosen lives, along
with the thirty-legged footstool of Ali,
the prince of the believers, and the garden
of Fatima, and paradise of Hasan and Husayn,
the bridge of the believers. They make up
the refuge of the cherubim, the spheres
of beings of light, direction of the prayer
of spiritual beings. The high king said,
I do not wish you to turn east and west
to say your prayer. The eternal god prefers
you turn to the good imams and believ
e
in their prophetic light, in every show
of light, and every palace, realm, aeon,
and cycle, each location of the deity,
the kingdom, the great lord, the glory and
eternity of godliness, the light,
spirit, humanity, the flesh, and imam.
“Everywhere you must testify to him
and sacrifice possessions, blood, and power
to build a dam to hold back death and need,
hunger and poverty, grave sicknesses
and all the world’s catastrophes. What happens
to you in any form, be patient; suffer it.
In all things fear judgment, try to grow nearer to god,
and be on guard against this awful world.
Have faith. And thus you fulfill god’s word,
‘Goodness does not require you to turn
your face to east or west. It asks you to believe
in god and the last day, the angels, scripture,
and prophets.’ The last day is a great day.
Believe in these words and believe in light
of the high king’s regent, Salman, who is
the word of god. For everything in heaven
and on the earth is also in the word of god,
and nothing on dry land or in the sea
is not part of his word, ‘and there is nothing,
wet or dry, not recorded in his word.’”
Where Does This Secret Knowledge Come From?
Then Jabir said, “My lord, is the final testimony
from us or from the will and glory
of the high king? When the inspired who know
sit on the carpet of the great lord, the curtai
n
of light is raised and your students testify.
Where does this secret knowledge come from?”
Baqir answered, “Get away from bad students
as from the avarice of those who know.”
Jabir said, “My lord, explain to your low servant.”
Baqir said, “Be careful. These words are difficult.
By Muhammad and the glorified, by Ali
the highest, these are words not written in
a book. One keeps them secret. Jabir, if
the right imam and the inspired who knows
reveals the truth to students, the pupil
would not accept it and the heart’s spirit
could not absorb it. The speaking spirit
of life is all alone. Then at the bidding
of the high king, with the purpose and will
of the imam, a spirit of lightning color
will come down from the blue dome and enter
the student’s brain and spirit of the heart.
The spirit of the heart believes in glory
and words of one who knows and testifies
in truth of the convinced. At the will of the
high king, the shining spirit descends from
the moon-colored curtain and searches out
the tested spirit, speaker for the teacher.
The spirit of the heart of students hears
this word and testifies to godliness
of one who knows, but his rank is incapable
of holding the word in his memory.
“Then by the will of one who knows, the spirit
of retention descends from the sun-colored
curtain, and it enters faith’s spirit
.
The word remains in memory, but he
has not the strength to think of it. But sent
by the high king, thought’s spirit comes down from
the violet-colored curtain and resides
in his retention. The spirit of the heart
thinks of this thought and understands the words
of one who knows but who lacks strength to speak
before the one who truly knows the word.
“Then the almighty’s spirit descends from
the emerald green curtain and enters thought.
The student’s heart floats overhead and in
his limbs he clearly sees the holy realm.
These words are clear but are not from the curtain
until the will of one who knows the light
of spirit and of wisdom descends from
the agate-colored realm and joins the spirit
of the high lord. This spirit is gifted with language,
and light of knowledge speaks before the one
who knows. It is not perfect yet, and one
who knows has not approved it. Then intellect
comes down from the realm, the color of fire,
and enters knowledge. Finally the student
understands clearly and hears the words
of one who knows. He cannot yet transcend
his sensual soul, the spirit of desire, and the rebuked Adam,
until the holy spirit appears from the dome
of red ruby and enters his spirit.
“The spirit of the student’s heart crushes
the three souls tempting sin in him, kills them,
and as the seven components, heart, head, lungs, liver,
spleen, bladder he destroys the seven
unbelievers who have lived in his soul
,
and Iblis’s cycle is over now.
The lusting in his penis and testicles
is dead, the spirit of the heart awakes
at night and fasts by day. A human still is
not about to rise to heaven. He’ll get there
if by the will of the high king and through
the light of one who knows and the resolution
of the disciple a great universal spirit
descends from the white dome and enters in
the student’s holy spirit. Then spirit of
the student’s heart will climb a few steps higher
from the house of wind and hover in
the commanding arteries of his chest.
“Body and matter will be bright and light
because of light of godliness and holy
revelation. God says, ‘Is there anyone
whose chest god has expanded for Islam
so he’s enlightened by the lord?’ But spirit
of the heart still can’t reach the brain. Great spirit
descends from under the high king’s canopy,
in the remotest realm, at the command
and by the will of the high king and with
the purpose of good imams, landing perfectly
on the great universal spirit. Then
the spirit of the heart can move from chest
to lips, tongue, and mouth, and end up on
the holy throne. The one who knows arises
and testifies to spirit as to himself.
“The student will be perfect, and ten spirits
are spoken for. God says, ‘These are the perfect ten.’
The ten stanzas of the Qur’an also
convey the ten Islamic ranks, ten day
s
of feast,
9
the counting going up to ten
and when it gets to ten begins again,
and every number ten around the world
stands for it too. That’s why we call this book
the ten speeches, and this description resides
uniquely in this book and in no other.”
