I sat spellbound by His utterance, oblivious of time and of those who awaited me. Suddenly the call of the
muadhdhin summoning the faithful to their morning prayer, awakened me from the state of ecstasy into which I seemed to have fallen.
All the delights, all the ineffable glories, which the Almighty has recounted in His Book as the priceless possessions of the people of Paradise – these I seemed to be experiencing that night.
Methinks I was in a place of which it could be truly said: ‘Therein no toil shall reach us, and therein no weariness shall touch us; No vain discourse shall they hear therein, nor any falsehood, but only the cry, “Peace! Peace!”; “Their cry therein shall be, `Glory be to Thee, O God!’ and their salutation therein, `Peace!’ And the close of their cry, `Praise be to God, Lord of all creatures!’” 31ACT2
Sleep had departed from me that night. I was enthralled by the music of that voice which rose and fell as He chanted; now swelling forth as He revealed verses of the
Qayyúmu’l-Asmá’ again acquiring ethereal, subtle harmonies as He uttered the prayers He was revealing. At the end of each invocation, He would repeat this verse: “Far from the glory of thy Lord, the All-Glorious, be that which His creatures affirm of Him! And peace be upon His Messengers! And praise be to God, the Lord of all beings!”
36ACT2
[Some notes on the Qayyúmu’l-Asmá’: Note on its content ,
Note on its use
and
Note on its analysis.
English translation of its excerpts can be found in Selections from the Writings of the Báb.]
27 Pronounced muezzin; refers to the one who raises the call to prayer. Muslims are called to prayer five times a day. The cal to prayer is called adhán, [Arabic word meaning to listen]. The adhán is raised at these times: [in Arabic] Fajr [dawn], Dhuhr [noon], Asr [afternoon], Maghrib [sunset], and Isha [evening]. This is described further in
28 Quotes from the Qur’án
29 Qayyúmu’l-Asmá’ [literal translation: the Self-Subsisting of the [Divine] Names] is the title commonly used for this work of the Báb. As it is framed as a commentary on the Quran’s twelfth súra [chapter], the Súra of Yúsuf [Joseph], it is sometimes also called Tafsír-i-sūrih-i-Yúsuf [commentary on the Súra of Joseph]. It consists of 111 chapters, and the first chapter called the Súra of Mulk was revealed in its entirety on this first evening. The remainder of the work was revealed over the next forty days. The entire work is in Arabic. It was one of the main texts that the Bábís eventually used in their teaching work. Bahá’u’lláh in the Kitáb-i-Íqán calls it “the first, the greatest and mightiest of all books”. For an analysis of structure and certain interpretations of the Qayyúmu’l-Asmá’ see Saiedi Gate of the Heart, chapters 4-5, p11-159.
30 Dawn-Breakers Chapter 3, p62-63
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