PART I.

EXPLANATION ABOUT THE FIRST CREATED BEINGS.—RECORD OF THE GENII. — NARRATIVES OF THE PROPHETS: TO WHOM GREETINGS AND SALUTATION.—HISTORY OF THE KINGS OF PERSIA, AND OF THE ANCIENT PHILOSOPHERS.

GENII WERE THE FIRST CREATED BEINGS.

SEVERAL authors of reputation mention that Jâbur, the auxiliary* —may Allah reward him—who was an indi­vidual distinguished among the inhabitants of Madinah by his virtues and learning, had, before the origin of the religion of Islâm, associated with Jewish priests, Christian doctors and the like, and had made inquiries from them about past events, but that after having heard the various accounts of the Gentiles, his mind was not satisfied with any of them. When the sun of Muhammad’s prophetship rose on the horizon of the country of Yathrab,* and Jâbur had become an intimate friend of the seal of prophets— upon whom be the most perfect of benedictions—he was always kindling the lights of knowledge at the flambeau of prophecy, and therefore attained a high degree of informa­tion. It is related that he said one day, ‘Prophet of Allah! which was the thing first invested with the robe of existence by the Almighty?’ His lordship replied: ‘The light of thy prophet, O Jâbur.’ It is, however, known that on this point also many Muhammadans differ; and the reason of the discrepancy is, because many contradictory traditions have come down to us on this subject, as the prophet— upon whom be the benediction of Allah and peace—has said: ‘The first [thing] which Allah created was my light; and the first which Allah created was the pen, and the first which Allah created was the intellect; and He said to it “Approach,” and it approached. He said to it “Retreat,” and it retreated. He said: My honour and glory! By thee I grant, and by thee I forbid. By thee I establish [now] and by thee I appoint [what is to be].’ The author of the ‘Noâdir-ulma’ani’ has added the following two traditions to the preceding: ‘The prophet of Allah—u. w. bl., etc.—has said: The first which Allah created was the table,* and he said also that the first which Allah created was the spirit.’ The U’lama have expounded these tra­ditions, but the elucidation is the one adduced by the chief of the assembly of the verifiers, and the leader of those of the present age, the Emâm Abdullah Bin Ali Bin Asad Aliamani Aliafai, in his book entitled ‘Noâdir-ulma’ani,’ namely, that according to these accredited traditions the Lord of prophecy—u. w. bl., etc.—means by these meta­phors one essence; because that essence is manifest by itself, but not the manifester; and the abundance of per­fections has been imparted to the holy prophetic nature (benediction, etc.) by the inscrutable Creator through this essence, which the prophet called light and ascribed to himself; and metaphorically considering it as the limner of knowledge passing over the preserved table, or over the surfaces of pictures, it was interpreted as the pen; being, therefore, able to perceive and to understand its own nature, and the nature of everything else, it was called the intellect; but as the place of the pictures is evident and established, it was called the table; and since it is living by nature, and is the vivifier of other faculties, it was called the spirit. This definition is one of the most glorious certainties, since the number of names does not imply con­tradiction in the object named. The purpose of these preliminary remarks is, to state that the Lord of glory illuminated the light of Muhammad, which is also called the white essence, with the splendour of beauty; that essence became divided into two parts, one of which was extremely pure and luminous, whereas the other appeared to the vision of the intellect to be inferior to the first. The first was called light, and the second fire. Of the first, noble and superior individuals, the heavenly bodies and constellations, the souls of the prophets, of saints, and those of the right hand,* were created. From what has just been said, it appears that every thing, except Allah, was created by means of the light of his Lordship the seal of the prophets, who has thus arrived from the corner of non-existence, in the plain of being and evidence, in conformity with the words, ‘Hadst thou [i.e. Muhammad] not been, the heavens would not have been created,’* which confirm the above assertions; consequently his Holiness and Lord­ship is the noblest and the most excellent of beings. On the subject of the beings first created, there are also other opinions, but the author is loath to cite them, lest he should unnecessarily prolong this dissertation.