There are numereous indications, in logical arguments as well as in tradition,
showing that without the help of the Hujjat it is impossible to recognise the
Imam.

The logical proof is as follows. In every thing existent its perfect quality
cannot pass from the state of potency into action without an impulse from
outside. If it could be otherwise, the result necessarily would be that all the
(material) bodies, in which the ability of movement is considered as their most
perfect state, could come into activity spontaneously, without being compelled
by something else, which "stays behind them," i.e., in some of them the
vegetable spirit, and in the others the animal or human spirit. If this is the case
with the body, which belongs to the world of semblance, in the spirit, which is
the archetype (of the body), without (the help of ) the Hujjat no spiritual
movement can exist, because it is the progress from the vices towards (moral)
perfection and transmitting (the teaching ) to those able (to accept it).

Having explained what is the recognition of the Imam, I will proceed to discuss
the recognition of the Hujjat. Know that by this name a person is called whose
real essence is the same as that of the Imam, from all eternity. He becomes
manifested in this world from the sake of the "people of order" so that by
having instructed them in his teaching he should make them recognise the
Imam, because the Imam himself is free from (the necessity of) adopting (the
teaching) or transmitting it (to anybody). The Hujjat, however, free from (the
necessity of) adopting (the teaching) or transmitting it (to anybody). The
Hujjat, however, free from (the necessity of) receiving (any body's) instruction,
is not free from the duty (of delivering his teaching). And the da'I as well as
the three degrees under him are not free (from both duties). The convert
(mustajib) is not allowed to teach and needs only to accept the instruction.

Therefore it is now clear that the Hujjat has a necessity to deliver his teaching
and others need either accept it and transmit or only adopt it. And if he do not
appear and teach, the "people of order" will fail in attaining salvation and
perfection (in) the next life, and therefore [Fol.gv.] there will be no use in the
creation of the world.

It is also necessary to know that the Imam must necessarily exist in all three
kawns, i.e., worlds, - material, spiritual and cosmic, because he is in fact the
"indispensably existent," and every thing besides him is but "possibly existent."

By this latter name anything is called which cannot exist by itself. And as now
all these "possibly existent" objects in fact exist, (it follows that) the Imam is
manifested in their generic class in both worlds (kawn). Where it not so, the
worlds (akwan) could not exist.

If some one says that the Creator (mujid) [1] is an impossibility because the
opposite of the existence (of anything) is non-existence of the equally possible
(mumkinat) thing (i.e., belonging to the same category), and not the non-existence
of the One on whom the existence itself depends; nor will be their
non-existence the counterpart of the "Indispensably-existent" (wajibu'l-wujud);
or if he should say that they exist, but are the cause of the other, - all this is
senseless. Therefore [Fol.5] it is obvious that the Imam must be manifested in
both the worlds, one created and corporeal (i.e., material), and the other
abstract (amri) [2] and spiritual, as all three kinds of existence are based on
(the same) Primal Divine Volition (amr).

[1] In the text there is mawjud, i.e., available, existent. This is obviously
erroneous in the context.

[2] The term amr, i.e. (Divine) command, or the primal creative volition of the
Deity, and what belongs to it. Amri, all deal with those basic principles of
creation which precede the visible world.

In the created, material world the posterity (awlad) of everything are always
similar (in properties) to their progenitors, so that the son takes the place of the
father. The same is true of the spiritual world, and the world of primal realities
(amri), with the adversaries who maintain this on the basis of their Shari'at, the
"people of order" (ahl-I tarattub) from their doctrine (ta'lim), and the "people
of (Divine) unity" (ahl-I wahdat), i.e., the Hujjat, from the Divine assistance
(ta'yid).

And then this also should be noted that the manifestation (of the Imam) in all
these worlds (akwan) is relative (idafi), not absolute (haqiqi). If it were
absolute, it would (have the power to ) rule the world of "possibles"
(mamkinat).

The term "relative" (idafi) is applied to something that resembles something
else (in certain respects), but is essentially different from it, just as a mirage
resembling water, or a reflection in a mirror, and which are different (from
what they resemble). The real, or absolute (haqiqi) is called something that is
the original reality, as water (resembled by a mirage), or the original object
(reflected in a mirror). So Ra'is Hasan says in a poem:-

Thou art a being that appears as a man to men, before the eyes of men, in this world;
In the form of a man thou art and with men thou remainest.
Thou comest amongst men not showing thy real face,
[Fol.5v.] (Because) in thy pure and attributeless essence thou art void of every (form).
If (thou appearest) amongst the men, thou art a man, if amidst spirits-a spirit,
Thou grantest them their existence as well as governest them.

And the same Ra'is says in (another) poem:-

The reason why thou has received the illusory attributes,
And why they became incalculable for the world,
If that every religion, whether it be true or false, bad or good,
Invented its own way (of worship) and calls thee by a different name.
Of all these names and attributes, which appeared,
A garden rose up with young trees of the saying "I was a Hidden Treasure."
Thou art partaking in all these, only from Thee
Comes the existence of all these, inherent in the beings.
But in the eyes of the truth, in Thy real essence Thou art
Really void of all the attributes and all the names.

And Khwaja Nasir says:-

O thou, in whose existence is a possibility of being for the world,
O thou, in whose protection is mankind's safety!
As a person thou art the manifestation of theDivine Light,
And in the view of reason thou art the source of the different kinds of creations of the world.
Thou comest appearing to the eyes of all creatures,
But remainest hidden even from the Universal Reason in thy mysterious power.
All three worlds are with thee, and thou hast been with all of them,
Both (the material and spiritual) worlds come from thee, but thou art from from all of them.[Fol.6]
(Therefore) it is to be understood, that only the manifestation of the Imam in these worlds is their real cause,
not anything else.

[1] A short lacuna in the text.

One must also know that the "people of the order," i.e. the da'is and other
inferior ranks (hudud) can always trace the person of the Imam by the guidance
of two signs of which one is his legitimate nomination of two signs of which
one is his legitimate nomination (nass) and the other his descent. But the
chosen, i.e. the Hujjat, knows him since pre-eternal times by his miraculous
knowledge and by innate disposition. In several past incarnations some da'is
have not erred in recognising the Imam's person through being in possessionof
the true knowledge. The reason (of their correct recotgnition) was their
following that principle. But the other da'is, who were misguided, committed
an error, the reason of which was that they took into consideration only the
(Imam's) descent. Therefore they gave up Shah Nizar with his (real rights for)
Imamat. This was the reason (why it happened in this way).

In the two incarnations, in which he dropped both indications, he first caused
to appear his Hujjat and appointed him, and after this [Fol.4] he withdrew his
two signs and disappeared, even in his personal form, from amongst the
"people of order." Later on the higher degrees of the believers traced the
person of the Imam with the help of the indication and guidance of the Hujjat
after an examination of the matter. But some people, not strong (in their
belief), did not listen to these arguments of the Hujjat or (simply) were
incapable of understanding them [1] by the way of following the opinion of
the majority.

And again one must know that (the way to) the knowledge of the Imam is
fourfold. [Fol.3v.] First, the knowledge of his body. It can be shared even by
an animal. Secondly, the knowledge of his name. It can be obtained even by
adversaries. Thirdly, the recognition of his Imamat. In this the "people of the
order" can participate. Fourth, the knowledge of his (real) nature. It can be
posse4ssed by his Hujjat only.

One must also know that whenever during the six millennia of the "night of
faith" the Imam has a bodily incarnation (as an ordinary man). [Fol.3] his
Hujjat has no complete manifestation. So it was in the time of the Prince (of
the believers - Ali) when Salman did not reveal his teaching except to one
man.[1] But as soon as the Imam becomes hidden, he (Hujjat) must be
completely manifested and it is impossible that both, the Imam's bodily
incarnation as well as preaching in his favour, would disappear. He would
cause by this the creations to perish.

The reason why the Imam occasionally withdraws the completemanifestation
of the Hujjat and himself becomes incarnated as an ordinary man is that at that
time the people are not capable (of accepting his doctrines), God forbid! Just
as Hakim Nizari says in his poetry:-

Do not withdraw from those who ardently desire its advent
The full (ma'nawi) manifestation (the date of which) is covered withmystery!
And, after this, the door of mercy in the Heaven

[1] Certain expressions in this text have been naively ciphered, either entirely
or partly, with the help of the figures substituted for letters according to the
abjad system, with zeros being omitted in tens. Thus I-m-a-m is 1+4
(0)+1+4(0). This system is apparently not used in the Fatimid literature which
employs a specialscript. The single man to whomSalman revealed his doctrine
was certainly the Prophet. The part of the Salman as Jabra'il is probably a new
invention of the Safawid times.

[2] Ma-bandi may stand for ma-band. In the province of Qa'in and Birjand,
from which Nizari was hailed, this is now the usual form of the Imperative with
a negation,

So it is proved that it is on account of his slaves' errors, negligence and
sinfulness that he shuts occasionally the door of mercy and the gate of the
knowledge of himself and leaves them to their fate.
If thou leave us to ourselves to act, (Then) explain (clearly) what thou wilt have us to do.

Firstly I begin to discuss the recognition of the Imam, which is as follows, so
that thou mayest to know. (By the name of) Imam is called a man whi at one
time may be (directly) know in his own person, and at another time through
(the guidance of) his Hujjat. It is possible to recognise him (directly) only on
the day of the "Sabbath of the faith." and it has to be known that every "day of
the faith" is equal to one thousand years of this world (so that) a week of the
Religion lasts seven thousand years. In these seven days the "day of the faith"
is only one, not more, and the other six are the "night of the faith." This "day
of the Religion" is called Saturday and on this day the Sun of the Faith, the
Imam, becomes manifested. This is the reason why it is said : "All the (Divine)
commandments will pass, but that about Saturday will remain." [Fol.2]. The
other six days are called the "night of the faith," and the reason for this is that
at that time the law (shari'at) of the prophets is a veil (hijab) of the Imam just
as the night is the veil of the sun in this world. But as there is the moon which
takes the place of the sun when it is hidden, so there is Hujjat, who takes the
place of the Imam when he is not manifest, in order that his slaves, i.e., the
"people of order", could recognise him with (the help of) the light of his
"Proof's" teaching.

It is also to be understood that in the six thousand years of the "night of the
faith" the Imam also becomes manifest occasionally. But these his
manifestations are not ma'nawi, i.e., those in which he appears in his full glory,
and the knowledge of him, in his real essence, cannot be attained. Just as on
the contrary in the millennium of Saturday he can be recognised with his real
nature because on that day his manifestation is complete.[1] Therefore in these
six thousand years he cannot be recognised. So the [Fol. 2v] great Ra'is says
(in his poetry):

The manifestation (of the Imam is a mystery.
Do not associate it with any (ordinary) person,
Because for the believer who is passing through the Resurrection (qiyamat) it
is immaterial whether he is absent or present.[2]

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[1] The terms shakli, idafi and ma'nawi, in application to the idea of the zuhur are here the
same as in the Rawdatu't-taslim. These ideas substantially differ from those of
the Fatimid time where the zuhur of the Imam is his appearance to the world in
the capacity of the ideal theocratic ruler. It is interesting to note that here the
term satr, opposite to zuhur,does not appear at all.

[2] The poetical quotations which appear in this opuscule have, as a rule,
suffered so much in transcription by ignorant scribes that the meaning of some
passages remains quite obscure. In some of these the prosody is not only badly
violated, but ocasionally simply disregarded. Mard-I Qiyamat may also be a
poetical expression for the Qa'im (the term which does not appear here). I
must confess that the meaning of this bayt is not clear to me.

But it would be absurd (to think) that he will leave the "chosen of the order"
(khassan-I tarattub) without the possibility of recogtnising him; for the purpose
of their acquiring this knowledge the world was created. If he should leave
them so, -which God forbid ! - he would be ungenerous. Therefore inevitably
a moon must exist in this night (of faith) which would remain perpetually
manifest in its real nature. Any one who will not attain the knowledge during
the time when the moon appears in its real essence, how should he acquire (this
knowledge) at the time when the sun is manifest in a form which gives no
light? Just as a poet says:-
If to-day no benefit is derived from a complete manifestation (of the Hujjat),
Of what use will be to-morrow a bodily manifestation (of the Imam)?

In another place the poet says:-
The complete manifestation (of the Hujjat) whose propaganda is at work,
Will not be greater or smaller than what it actually should

In the name of God the Merciful, the Compassionate.
(This is) a Note [1] on the recognition of the Imam who is the hypostasis
(mazhar) [2] of the Divine creative act (amr); the Hujjat, (his) "proof" who is
the hypostasis of the Universal Reason ( aql-I kull); da'I, "the preacher";
ma'dhun-I akbar, the "senior licensee" (to preach); ma'dhun-I asghar, the
"junior licensee," [3] and mustajib, the "neophyte" (lit. "asking questions," one
who has the right to ask questions concerning the religion, and of course,
receive correct answers), who all are the hypostasis of the Universal Soul
(nafs-I kull); and ahl-I tadadd, the "opponents" (or adversaries of the religion)
who are the hypostasis of the Universal Body (jism-I kull.)

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[1] The term fasl, originally meaning section, chapter, division (in a book), in Ismaili
literature is used since the earliest times in the sense of apparrently "small
book," pamphlet, note. In this sense it is already in use at the beginning of the
fourth/tenth century, in the works of Abu Hatim ar-Razi. I have collected
many instances of the use of this term in my "Rise of the Fatimids," p.299;
"Guide to Ismaili Literature," p.101; and, especially in application to Persia, in
the "Kalam-I Pir," p. xxix.

[2] The author's philosophical terminology is rather primitive and inaccurate,
as may be seen almost on every page. A literal rendering of the terms which he
uses would render his work very obscure. I therefore apologise for rendering
these nearer to the intended sense rather than to the philological derivation.

[3] I may recall the fact that Ismaili ideas of the hierarchy were always
fluctuating in the course of history, being adjusted to the requirements of the
moment and circumstances, either in the way of the expansion of the number of
the ranks, or contraction of this. The ma'dhun was an assistant of the da'I,
probably being appointed from amongst the more intelligent and devout new
converts in the community. His duties were those of a preacher and instructor
of others.

As mentioned above, the original copy forms a part of a majmu'a, No.4 of the
collection of I. I. Zaroobin. Both the hand-made paper and handwriting seems
to be of Indian origin. The coopy is not dated, but looks as if not older than
the middle of the last century.

The handwriting is unskilled, but legible nasta'liq. There are eleven lines to a
page, of 8.5 cm. The size: 21.0 by 11.5 cm. State of preservation: good.
Fols. 16.

In order to facilitate references to the Persian text, published separately, and to
the first edition, all references (as also in the index) are made to the folios of
the original copy. The letter "v" standing after the figure, verso, means the
reverse side of the leaf. The beginning of each page of the original copy is
marked both in the translation and in the edition of
the Persian text, as it was marked in the first edition.