If some one should ask why they are the same as regards their nature but exist
separate in the bodily form, he may be answered in two ways.

(The first) explanation is this. If their persons were not different so that one of
them might preach in favour of the other, a suspision might arise amongst the
common people and they might think that he is doing this for a mean purpose if
he were to call them to join his own cause. But as long as he preaches
apparently in favour of someone else, the mob does not consider him [Fol. 11)
as doing this is his own favour, being ingnorant of the fact that both of them
are one. They live in the world of multitude and find a proof of the Truth of
the religion of our Lord and his Hujjat in what is said in the "blessed books"
(fusul-I mubarak). At the same time if the Imam and his Hujjat were not the
same in their religion and preaching, the result necessarily would be that this
their religion and the Truth are different, manifold. And as soon as the (true)
religion becomes manifold, it makes no difference whether there be two (sects)
or seventy-one.

The second reply is as follows: If their persons were not different, so that one
could manifest himself in all the three worlds and the other observe the Truth
only, a doubt might appear in the religion of the "people of order," who are the
seekers after the way to the Truth, about the real character of his preaching.
By these logical proofs and the evidence of tradition it is explained why in the
six thousand years of the "night of the religion" the knowledge of Imam cannot
be acquired without the help of his Hujjat.

The proof of tradition (can be derived) first from the orthodox teachings of
shari'at, which are called by their followers "the word of God and of the
Prophet," and also from the teachings of the "worshippers of the Truth," who
are opposed to the orthodox, as Hakim Sana'I, (Jalalu'd-Din) Rumi "the
revealer of the Truth," Shaykh Attar, and others. And even from the words of
the Batinis, which God inspires to them. (Fol. 7). They all cannot understand,
and even fall into contradictions with themselves. There are also teachings of
the mystery of the (eternal) Truth, revealed by the Imam, in the time of his
perfect incarnation, or by his Hujjat who is always completely manifested.
Whenever in the plain taching of shari'at the Coran, the Lord (mihtar) Jabra'il,
Mika'il, Israfil and Azra'il are spoken of, their real meaning and archetype, as
can be explained, is the Hujjat, because in allegorical interpretation, ta'wil, the
meaning of the "angel" is the "people of unity" (ahl-I wahdat), i.e., the Hujjat,
nobody else. And wherever da'I mentioned, it means the prophet, as in the
Coran (XXXIII, 45) there is a verse (let His word be exalted!)-- ". . . calling
towards God, by His order, as a burning candle." And as regards (his
statement) that he (Muhammad) was receiving revelation from Jabra'il, i.e.,
that he was a da'I, he received instruction from Salman, and the words which
he uttered prove this: "If Abu Dharr could know what is in the mind of
Salman, truly he would call him an unbeliever," which means that should Abu
Dharr be aware of what is in Salman's heart, he would kill him. When our
Lord (Sayyid-na) was asked about the meaning of this tradition of the Prophet
[Fol, 7v], he said in reply that if Salman were to say to Abu Dharr that his,
Salman's, position is superior to that of the Prophet and that Mawla-na Ali is
the creator and the architect of the world, the former would look upon these
words as heresy and slay Salman.

There are (words) of the Amiru'l-mu'min ( Ali): "Salman is with us (as one)
of (our own) family, the sun from the Light of God, a part of us (and) from us.
The heart of a true believer is the Light of God, but no believer is as powerful
as Salman, although a believer is eternal in the two worlds."

Rumi, the revealer of the Truth, says about Khidr and Moses that the latter was
learning perfection from the former. And in the beginning when Moses had not
received from him a (revealed) instruction, he could not realise the mysterious
meaning of Khidr's actions. So Rumi sayd in his Mathnavi: -

That boy whose throat Khidr has cut
The common people will not undestand his mystery.
Even from Moses with all his wisdom and wit
It remained hidden. Thou, o wingless, do not try to fly![1]

Hakim Nizari says (alluding to this story):-

If it had been an easy thing to penetrate to that source (of mystery),
How could Moses turn back from Khidr in confusion?

The Paradise of Adam, the Ark of Noah, the vision [Fol. 8] of Abraham,
Jesus and Mary, the mount Sinai of Moses, Gabriel of Mustafa - all these are
(forms of ) the Hujjat. All the orthodox believe in this (tradition), but they do
not know about its interpretaion (ta'wil). Just as Amir Sayyid Ali-I Wa'iz
(Kashifi), one of the orthodox, ina poem composed in praise of Ali says that
once (the Prophet) was sitting and Jabra'il was by his side. At this time the
Amiru'l-mu'minin ( Ali) entered the house and Gabriel paid respect to him.

The Prophet asked: "Why hast thou such veneration for my little boy?" To
this Gabriel replied: "He, was my teacher in the beginning of my existence."
Then the Prophet asked: "How much time passed since thy creation?" Gabriel
replied:-

"Although I do not know the (exact) number of my years,
I know a star, an ornament of the Divine Throne,
It is a star which only once in every thiry thousand years
Rises over the greatest and the highest Throne (of God)
Since the time when I came into existence by His might,
That star thirty thousand times appeared to me."

It is also said that although Gabriel has the form of a bird, as the other angels,
on that day, however, he appeared [fol. 8v.] to the Prophet in the form of a
man, and as a man was sitting by the side of Mustafa. In fact the Imam, who is
the "origin" (asl), and Gabriel, who follows him, as well as Mustafa, who
follows Gabriel, all of them always have the appearance of a man; and later,
when Mustafa accepted the teaching of the Hujjat, their real essence became
(also) one. Not only can Mustafa, the "strong one" (qawi) amongst the
"people of order," join them, but the other degrees which are inferior to him
can become joined with them as soon as they receive the same knowledge.

Amidst the traditions current amongst the orthodox there is one in which it is
related that somebody asked A'isha if it is true that the Prophet says that on a
certain night he went to heaven and saw those things (of which he told).
A'isha said in reply: "I saw only that he went out from the house and came
back so soon that water was still flowing from the jug which he struck with the
skirt of his cloak when going out. And I do not know anything as regards
what he says that Gabriel brings messages to him. I know only that occasionly
the barefooted Salman comes and tells something secretly, and [Fol. 9v.] after
a short time the Prophet begins to say that Gabriel descended and told him
from the mouth of God this or that."

In short, all the tradition of the orthodox gives evidence that Gabriel is (in
reality) Salman, but they cannot understand this. And what the "people of
Truth" say is as well absolute evidence that the Imam has said: "Salman is
from me and I am from Salman." In another place he said: "Salman is one of
the gates of Paradise," because the door of Paradise is a man, and therefore the
whole place of it must be a man. In another place he says: "Salman is the door
of Paradise," but (he does) not (say): "soul of Paradise." In some other place
he says: "I am with my friends everywhere they would seek for me, in the hills,
on the plain, in the desert," etc. And everybody to whom he revealed his
essence, i.e., the knowledge of him, is not in need of being physically
connected with the Imam. This is the Great Resurrection.[1] In another place
he says: "Be obedient to me, and I will make thee like myself," i.e., [Fol. 9v.]
"obey me and thou wilt be similar to myself as Salman."

Ra'is Hasan says:-

Thou art one whose "Door" is the Hujjat in this world;

(It can be said) by a hundred thousand mouths there is none similar to and of
the same origin as thee.

(About) his position which is so close to God as that of the "two bows' length,"
Wisdom tells in Kenoma (Emptiness) and Pleroma (Fulness), i.e. the whole of the Universe.

And the same author in another place says:-
Salman-I Farsi, through whom the world was created.
Is the "door" (to the knowledge) of Ali. Let us begin (this poem) with mention of his name.
He prostrated himself in veneration of the face of God for the reason
That we would do prostration for the worship of the face of God.

Hakim Nizari says:-
O Lord, in the great revelation,
In which thou hast unveiled the hidden mystery,
If thou hast manifested in secret,
It is because thou hast caused the trumpets (of the Resurrection) to be blown by thy Hujjat.

The same poet in these munajat says:-

By the truth of the prophets and thy Hujjat,
Who made ready the way to thy teaching (da'wat).

Hakim Thana'I says in a poem (composed in praise of ) Iskandar regarding the
circumstances of his joining the teaching of the Hujjat: [Fol. 10].

The true belief became glorious in the world in my eyes because it was told me
That the exalted guide (to it) is he, the "gate of Mawla-na."

Khwaja Nasir says[1]:-

When his Hujjat will blow the first of his trumpets, He will kill all those who
are still living in posession of knowledge.

And when He in His own person will blow the trumpet of the Resurrection,
[1] This may be Nasiru'd-din Tusi whose poetry is apparently not preserved.

In another poem it is said:-
Whoever does not know without doubt the Hujjat of the Truth in this world,
He has no eye which can see, he is the most blind of all the blind.

Khwaja Qasim from Tushtar[1] says:-

I have acquired the knowledge of the Imam of my time with the help of a man
Who is himself the incomparable name of One God.

That man is the Hujjat and the "incomparable name," which is the name of the
Imam, is the Hujjat as well, because (only) he is the Imam's real name and only
from him is it possible to acquire a knowledge of the Imam, and not from those
fictitious names. The teaching, concealed in the majority of the books and
poems current amongst this community, is that the "door of mercy" and the
"gate of knowledge" of the Imam is the Hujjat, leading to the prson and the
name of the Imam, and (as in ordinary life) whoever comes through the door
enters the house, and who does not do so cannot come into it.

The nature and the real essence of both [Fol. 10v] are the same. This doctrine
was explained several times. And if it were not so and they both were not the
same, in such a case one of them would be God, and the other a creature. But
God cannot be recognised from the creature. This is the difference in the
teaching of this community and of intuitive systems.[1] The doctrines of the
orthodox say the same, although they cannot understand these implications.
O, my pir, my God, with thy help I knew the Truth,
O, my guide and leader, with thy assistance I have found the Truth.

And it is said:-
The men of God are not God himself,
But they are not distinct from God.
(And another verse):-
For the reason that thy eyes are weak,
Thy first object of worship must be the pir.

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