Gnostic Letter
Date: February 16, 1939 [Bahman 27, 1317AHS / Dhū’l-Hijjah 26, 1357 AH]
Place: Qum
Subject: Divine subtleties and mystical mysteries
Addressee: Sayyid Ibrāhīm Khū’ī (Maqbare’ī)
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
All praise is due to God, who manifested Himself from the invisible concealment of Identity (the status of Oneness) to the status of Nameness and His Names of Essence appeared through the truth of ‘amā’ in the status of Unity; all His qualities and Attributes united in the Occult Oneness and His gifts wore the garment of unification on its inward aspect; Exalted and Unique in terms of comparison, Approaching and Manifesting while immaculate. His are the keys to the names of the invisible, and the seals to the Truth of the divine endowment.
O God! You are Pure and Immaculate. You, whose peak of Oneness lies out of the reach of the mystics’ wishes and whose Identities’ grandeur is loftier than the fantasies of the adorers! Your Greatness is too eminent to let any trespassers to pass, and your gifts are too blessed to be praised by any praisers. Yours is Primordiality while Eternity is Yours and Ye are Eternal while Primordial; so You are the Worshipper and the Worshipped. O God! I praise and thank Thee in Thine “five-fold languages”—though You are just One—for Thine blessings revealed in the visible and invisible worlds. You who are manifest while concealed and concealed while manifest!
O God! We ask Thee for help and seek refuge in Thee, from the sneaking Tempter, that bandit along the path of humanity who guides his followers to the dark pit of nature. O God! Guide us to the right path, which is the ultimate spirituality, and the position where all Sacred Names of God assemble. Extend Your infinite salutations to the beginning and the end of the Light (which is the Prima Materia), and the manifestation, appearance and substance of the Essence of Light; the one which is also the ultimate spirituality as he approached (drew nigh), then gave up all determinations (came down) and moved in grace (it was of the length of two bows), then came close to be an entire curve with two arches of eternal Beingness and the invisible sublime (or even nearer) or even closer than that which is the position of ‘amā’, or rather there is no position there—according to the most authorized views; “The phoenix is not a bird to trap; Lo! Gather up your snare!”
Extend also Your salutations to his progeny who are the doorways of Divine Manifestation and the sources of Light; indeed they are themselves lights upon lights—“And He whom Allah hath not appointed light, for him there is no light” —especially send your salutations to the Seal of Muhammadan Guardianship and the recipient of the Ahmadian blessings, who will become the symbol of lordship after his fathers who symbolized God’s servitude; and in fact, “It is true servitude whose essence is Lordship” —the Imām who is the representative of haqq [truth] on earth and the heavens, and whose existence is the treasure of the Ever-living God’s Names; the occulted and long-awaited Imām, the descendant and offspring of the past awlīyā’ [saints] (may our lives be sacrificed for him). O God! Send Your curse upon his enemies who are bandits along the path of salvation and the leaders of the nations to the paths of damnation and misguidance.
Furthermore, the human being has been distinguished from the other creatures by an ethereal divine essence and a heavenly nature [fitrah]; “the nature (framed) of Allah, in which He hath created human” and this divine essence—from one perspective—is the same trust which is referred to by the Almighty: “Lo! We offered the trust unto the heavens and the earth and the mountains, but they shrank from bearing it and were afraid of it. And man assumed it.” It is this God-given nature which perceives the Unity of God [tawhīd] in the three statuses: Giving up all determinations and referring all things to Him, doing away with anything extra even in His Names, and annihilating everything in Him; whoever who does not attain this position has abandoned the God-given nature and broken his divine vow, is totally ignorant of the divine status, and has been cruel to God, the Exalted. And it is obvious to the people of heart among the virtuous sābiqūn [pioneers in faith] that it is impossible to attain such a lofty standing unless you undergo spiritual but sane asceticism—after cleansing your soul of base “will” and turning your face to the divine knowledge [ma‘ārif].
Then, O self who has your perpetual abode on earth! Leave the dark and fearful house of nature and migrate toward Allah, the Exalted, Who is the point of collectivity, and toward His messenger who is the possessor of the Ahmadian heart of Oneness, so that when you are met by death—that which is the end of all worldly forms—you’ll be rewarded by God Himself. And in your path to Allah, follow the word of your spiritual father (Ibrāhīm, the Khalīl [friend of God]), who says: “Lo! I have turned my face toward Him who created heavens and the earth.” Lo! This is the great salvation and the paradise of essence in unification with God, which [according to the Holy Prophet (s) ] “is not observed by any eyes and not heard by any ears and not perceived by any human hearts.”
O self! Do not be satisfied with the animal desires and lust, nor be with the worldly offices, nor with your prayers and prostrations; do not be content with the God-given physical beauty. Don’t be happy with formal wisdom and the dubiousness of divine philosophy [kalām], nor with the eloquence of the superficial Sufis and mystics. Do not care much for the tumultuous claims and delusions of the people of rough cloak [khirqah] for trusting them and spending efforts in them is damnation, and, as the Lord’s saint [walī] has been quoted to have said, “Knowledge itself is the greatest veils.” Nay, conversely, your efforts have to be directed to Allah, the Exalted, your Creator, Originator and Restorer—in all your moments and behaviors, thoughts, observations, and wayfaring.
And this is my recommendation to my own dark self and also to my friend and master, the knowledgeable scholar Āqā Sayyid Ibrāhīm Khū’ī known as Maqbare’ī, who has a luminous insight into divine studies and an exact mind for the holy wisdom—may His grandeur last and God Almighty lead him to the extreme ends of the mystics and the main goal of the seekers. I humbly put forward to him whatever I had learnt from the great men and the books of the wise people, which was of much benefit to him, until—thanks to God—he has now fulfilled his wish and has worn the robe of piety and righteousness. In God Almighty we trust, both at the beginning and at the end.
And I again admonish him as we have been admonished by the great scholars, not to reveal any of the secrets of the divine knowledge but to those qualified, and to keep silent about the mysteries but in the proper circles. God—Exalted be His Name—said, “And We reveal of the Qur’an that which is healing and mercy for believers though it increaseth the evil-doers in naught save ruin.” And I request him—may his glory last—to make mention agreeably of me in the presence of His Lord and never to forget me in his prayers; for praying is in fact a door open to the lovers of His Divine Eminence.
“Our Lord! Give unto us in the world that which is good and in the Hereafter that which is good, and guard us from the doom of fire.” O God! Resurrect us along with the good and keep us away from the evil ones’ companionship. Accept the intercession of Muhammad and his pure progeny—may God’s salutations be upon them.
Written on Dhū’l-Hijjah al-Harām 26, 1357 AH /Bahman 27, 1317 AHS by the feeble servant of God, Sayyid Rūhullāh, son of Sayyid Mustafā Khomeinī Kamare’ī.