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Karím Khán Kirmání and the Kitáb-i-ˆqán

Sholeh A. Quinn

he Kitáb-i-ˆqán is one of the most

T
the Shi‘i holy shrines in Najaf and
important compositions of Karbala. We know what his questions
Bahá’u’lláh, prophet-founder of were, because Bahá’u’lláh asked the Báb’s
the Bahá’í religion. This work was writ- uncle to draw up a list. Christopher Buck
ten in Baghdad approx. 1-2 years (1861- provides a succinct summary of these
2) before He made something of his questions in his book Symbol and Secret:
theophanological claims known (from (1) The Day of Resurrection: will
1863 onwards). The text was originally it be corporeal? How will the just
known as Risálah-i Khál (“Treatise to the be recompensed and wicked dealt
uncle”). It is written in Persian, with a with?
number of Biblical, Qur’ánic, and (2) The Twelfth Imám: How can
Islamic passages and quotations in traditions attesting his occulta-
Arabic. The text was translated into tion be explained?
English as early as 1900, when ‘Alí Qulí (3) Quranic Interpretation: How
Khán translated it, apparently at the can literal meaning of scripture be
request of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, son and succes- reconciled with the interpreta-
tions current among Bábís?
sor of Bahá’u’lláh. 1 Shoghi Effendi,
grandson and successor of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, (4) Advent of the Qá’im: How can
the apparent non-fulfillment of
then translated the text into English in
popular Imámí traditions concern-
1931. The Kitáb-i-ˆqán was written in ing the Resurrector be explained?2
reply to certain questions posed by Óájjí
Mírzá Sayyid Mu˙ammad, one of the The K i t á b - i - ˆ q á n is Bahá’u’lláh’s
maternal uncles of ‘Alí Mu˙ammad answers to these questions, which He
Shírází, known as the Báb, founder of composed within a 48-hour period.
the Bábí religion. Óájjí Mírzá Sayyid Although ostensibly composed for the
Mu˙ammad was a Shi‘i Muslim, not a Báb’s uncle, Buck suggests a multiplicity
Bábí, and unwilling to accept the Báb’s of “audiences” for the Kitáb-i-ˆqán : (1)
claims due to certain expectations that the immediate audience of the Báb’s
he had regarding the nature of the Qá’im uncle, (2) the Bábís of the time, for we
(the Shi‘i Muslim Messiah) and the cir- see phrases such as “O people of the
cumstances of His coming. He posed the Bayán,” and (3) the whole world, as seen
questions when he passed through in the phrase “O ye peoples of the
Baghdad with his brother, after visiting world.”3

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Lights of ‘Irfán Book Five

This project began with my attempt to many people had asked Him about him,
contextualize just one small section of Bahá’u’lláh says that He was unable to do
the Kitáb-i-ˆqán, by choosing to focus so because He did not have access to the
on one individual mentioned in this author’s writings. However, He tells us
book. The reference appears immediately that eventually someone was able to
before one of the best-loved and most locate in Baghdad a copy of the book
cherished sections of the Kitáb-i-ˆqán, Irshád al-‘avám and brought it to Him.6
sometimes known as “the true seeker” Karím Khán Kirmání was born in 1810
section, or the “tablet of the true seek- and died in 1871. He came from the
er.” The section begins as follows: Persian city of Kirman, and was the son
But, O my brother, when a true of a Qajar prince. Kirmání’s father was
seeker determineth to take the Ibráhím Khán Zahír al-Dawlah, and
step of search in the path leading Kirmání had nineteen brothers and twen-
to the knowledge of the Ancient ty-one sisters. This Ibráhím Khán was an
of Days, he must, before all else,
admirer of Shaykh A˙mad al-A˙sá’í,
cleanse and purify his heart, which
is the seat of the revelation of the founder of the Shaykhi movement, which
inner mysteries of God, from the contributed markedly to the establish-
obscuring dust of all acquired ment of the Bábí religion. Ibráhím Khán
knowledge, and the allusions of founded a school named after himself,
the embodiments of satanic the Ibrahimiyya school. When Karím
f a n c y .4 Khán went to Karbala, soon after his
It is here that Bahá’u’lláh introduces an father’s death, he met Sayyid KáΩim
example of what appears to be the Rashtí, successor to Shaykh A˙mad al-
antithesis of the true seeker, the shakhß-i A˙sá’í and leader of the Shaykhi move-
mujáhid, and indeed He seems to juxta- ment at the time. Karím Khán Kirmání
pose the ideal “true seeker” station became a disciple of Sayyid KáΩim
towards which He states all must strive, Rashtí, and eventually went back to
with an account of a specific historical Kirman, where he planned apparently to
figure. This would be Karím Khán “teach and guide the faithful” there.7
Kirmání, whom Bahá’u’lláh initially Kirmání was an extremely learned and
alludes to when He states, highly prolific individual who wrote a
For instance, a certain man, reput- great deal on a wide variety of subjects.
ed for his learning and attain- He was perhaps best known for his elab-
ments, and accounting himself as orations on the “fourth pillar,” or the
one of the pre-eminent leaders of “rukn al-rábi‘. ” Shaykh A˙mad had
his people, hath in his book already condensed the traditional “five
denounced and vilified all the pillars” of Shi‘i Islam — (1) divine unity,
exponents of true learning.5 (2) prophethood, (3) resurrection, (4)
Despite deciding that He needed to divine justice, and (5) the imamate—into
address this individual’s writings, as three pillars: (1) knowledge of God, (2)

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Karím Khán Kirmání

prophethood, (3) the imamate. The early Khán Kirmání spent his last years in pri-
Shaykhi leaders added a fourth pillar: (4) vacy on his estate in Langar, outside of
the Shi‘i community or someone within Kirman city. Mangol Bayat states that
that community who would offer guid- “his ideas remained unrealized, his ambi-
ance. (Sayyid KáΩim saw this as an indi- tion unfulfilled,” and the radical trans-
vidual figure, and it was understood mes- formation of Shaykhi ideas into a con-
sianically by the Báb). Kirmání seems to crete program of action was instead
have modified that fourth pillar to refer undertaken by someone else — i.e. the
to (4) “knowledge of friends and enemies B á b .1 0
of the Imams.”8 Kirmání wrote a number
of passages and tracts elaborating on his The Mi‘ráj
understandings of this fourth pillar.
Other subjects he wrote on included As a considerable portion of
optics, alchemy, ˙adith, color mysticism, Bahá’u’lláh’s comments on Kirmání
prophetology, and many others. relate to the mi‘ráj, a brief discussion of
this phenomenon in Islamic studies
As time passed, because of the sorts of
would be useful. The mi‘ráj is associated
ideas he was teaching to his students, he
with Qur’ánic verses, in particular the
ran into conflicts with various individu-
following: “Glory be to Him who trans-
als and groups in Kirman. Among those
individuals were his brother-in-law, ported His servant by night from the
Sayyid Áqá Javád Shírází (he was a son- Masjid al-Óaram to the Masjid al-Aqßá
in-law of Ibrahím Khán Zahír al-Dawla which We have surrounded with blessing,
and therefore Karím Khán’s brother-in- in order to show him one of our signs.”11
law). These two quarreled over control The significance of the mi‘ráj in Islamic
of the Ibrahimiyya school, with Karím history has been noted as follows:
Khán trying to have Shaykhism taught The belief that Muhammad
there. When Sayyid Kázim Rashtí died in ascended to heaven in the course
of his life and beheld the secrets
1844, Karím Khán proclaimed himself of the otherworld as no other per-
the new leader of the Shaykhí school, and son had ever beheld them is shared
from what I can gather, continued to by all factions of Islam. In Muslim
spread the teachings of Shaykh A˙mad religious literature, the idea of the
and Sayyid KáΩim and expanded Shaykhí Mi‘raj, Muhammad’s ascension to
thought in various ways. heaven, is closely associated with
that of the Isra’, his nocturnal
In addition to clashes with the religious journey. Neither term appears as
orthodoxy, and other Shaykhis, Karím such in the Qur’án, yet both
Khán also denounced the Báb, and in fact developed in close connection
viciously attacked Him and His claims in with crucial, though ambiguous,
a number of essays and books (at least Quranic passages.12
eight). His earliest work against the Báb The Qur’ánic passage related to the
was entitled the Izhaq al-batil.9 Karím m‘iráj has received a great deal of atten-

185
Lights of ‘Irfán Book Five

tion on the part of commentators, ana- sion of the mystery of the


lysts, poets, artists, and others through- ‘Mi’ráj’. We gathered from his
out history. Legends quickly developed statements that unless a man be
in the first two centuries after the estab- deeply versed in them all, he can
never attain to a proper under-
lishment of Islam and found their way standing of this transcendent and
into a number of different genres of exalted theme. Among the speci-
writing. The mi‘ráj appears in numerous fied sciences were the science of
versions, with different explanations and metaphysical abstractions, of
important variations reflecting the his- alchemy, and natural magic. Such
torical period in which the story was vain and discarded learnings, this
retold, etc. The story found its way into man hath regarded as the pre-req-
uisites of the understanding of the
a number of genres of literature and sacred and abiding mysteries of
Islamic writing, including “stories of the divine Knowledge.14
prophets” literature (qißas al-anbiyá’),
Bahá’u’lláh expresses concern that “Not
general histories, Mu˙ammad’s biogra-
one understanding heart or mind, not
phy, and ˙adith literature. There has been
one among the wise and learned, hath
lively and robust debate surrounding a
taken notice of these preposterous state-
number of elements of the story, includ-
ments,” that is, those made by the author
ing whether or not the ascension was a
in this work.15 He asks,
spiritual event or a physical one. We find
mi‘ráj literature in east and west Africa, How can the knowledge of these
sciences, which are so con-
we find it in Indonesian literature, and
temptible in the eyes of the truly
we find it in Islamic art, with some mag- learned, be regarded as essential to
nificent productions of mi‘rájnamahs, the apprehension of the mysteries
manuscripts of the mi‘ráj being beauti- of the ‘Mi’raj,’ whilst the Lord of
fully illuminated. The story has been the ‘Mi’raj’ Himself was never
interpreted by theologians, by neopla- burdened with a single letter of
tonic Islamic philosophers, by Sufis, and these limited and obscure learn-
ings, and never defiled His radiant
by poets.13
heart with any of these fanciful
Bahá’u’lláh says that while the Irshád i l l u s i o n s ?16
al-a‘vám was in his possession, He had Bahá’u’lláh presents an alternative route
the opportunity to glance at it a couple to understanding the mi‘ráj, stating:
of times, and the second time He exam-
ined it, He “accidentally came upon the By the righteousness of God!
story of the ‘Mi’ráj’ of Mu˙ammad.” He Whoso desireth to fathom the
mystery of this ‘Mi’raj,’ and
also states that He noticed that the craveth a drop from this ocean, if
author had listed the mirror of his heart be already
some twenty or more sciences, the obscured by the dust of these
knowledge of which he considered learnings, he must needs cleanse
to be essential for the comprehen- and purify it ere the light of this

186
Karím Khán Kirmání

mystery can be reflected therein.17 16) addition and subtraction


17) approximation and interdistance
Bahá’u’lláh continues to criticize
18) planetary conjunctions and
Karím Khán’s arrogance and ignorance,
genealogy
and expresses astonishment over the fact
19) astrology
that people were actually listening to
20) embryology (? rukhá’im)
Karím Khán, and following him. 21) transubstantiation
22) reverberations
The Irshád al-a‘vám 23) pharmaceuticals and planets /
solar systems
Kirmání wrote the Irshád al‘-avám
24) mechanics
1267/1850-51, and it was published in
25) resemblances (? mushákilah)18
Tabriz, Iran in 1271/1854-55, some six
years before Bahá’u’lláh composed the Kirmání certainly does see himself as
Kitáb-i-ˆqán in 1861. It was also pub- being the only one sufficiently knowl-
lished in Bombay in 1851, approximately edgeable in these sciences to be able to
ten years before Bahá’u’lláh wrote the explain the realities of the mi‘ráj, and
Kitáb-i-ˆqán. This book exists in three boasts that he has been able to provide
volumes, and the section in the Irshád al- these explanations using a colloquial and
‘avám about the mi‘ráj appears to be common language that villagers would be
exactly that portion of the book that able to understand, and anticipates
Bahá’u’lláh read and refers to. I have receiving criticism about this.
translated the relevant passage which What I find particularly interesting is
includes the list of “sciences” Kirmání that it is immediately after Bahá’u’lláh’s
says are necessary to understand the commentary on Karím Khán Kirmání and
mi‘ráj. They consist of the following: his writings that we find the famous
1) geometry “true seeker” section of the Kitáb-i-ˆqán.
2) astronomy It is also interesting to note that the
3) Ptolemaic studies requirements of the true seeker as
4) geography expounded in the Kitáb-i-ˆqán number
5) mirrors and imaging approximately the same as Kirmání’s list.
6) natural sciences For purposes of comparison,
7) divine knowledge/divinity Bahá’u’lláh’s list is as follows:
8) philosophy of nature (1) [The true seeker must] cleanse
9) medicine
and purify his heart from the
10) impressions
obscuring dust of all acquired
11) talismanic magic
knowledge, and the allusions of
12) magic squares
the embodiments of satanic
13) grammatical studies
fancy.
14) signs/esoteric significances
15) rubrics (2) purge his breast, which is the

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Lights of ‘Irfán Book Five

sanctuary of the abiding love of (12) He should be content with lit-


the Beloved, of every defile- tle, and be freed from all inor-
ment, and sanctify his soul dinate desire
from all that pertaineth to
(13) treasure the companionship of
water and clay, from all shad-
those that have renounced the
owy and ephemeral attach-
world,
ments.
(14) regard avoidance of boastful
(3) He must so cleanse his heart that
and worldly people a precious
no remnant of either love or
benefit.
hate may linger therein, lest
that love blindly incline him to (15) At the dawn of every day he
error, or that hate repel him should commune with God,
away from the truth. (16) with all his soul persevere in
(4) That seeker must at all times put the quest of his Beloved.
his trust in God, (17) He should consume every way-
(5) must renounce the peoples of ward thought with the flame of
the earth, His loving mention,
(6) detach himself from the world (18) with the swiftness of lightning,
of dust, pass by all else save Him.
(6) cleave unto Him Who is the (19) He should succour the dispos-
Lord of Lords. sessed,
(7) He must never seek to exalt him- (20) and never withhold his favour
self above any one, from the destitute.
(8) must wash away from the tablet (21) He should show kindness to
of his heart every trace of pride animals, how much more unto
and vainglory, his fellow-man, to him who is
endowed with the power of
(9) must cling unto patience and
utterance.
resignation,
(22) He should not hesitate to offer
( 1 0 ) observe silence and refrain
up his life for his Beloved,
from idle talk.
(23) nor allow the censure of the
(11) regard backbiting as grievous
people to turn him away from
error, and keep himself aloof
the Truth.
from its dominion, inasmuch as
backbiting quencheth the light (24) He should not wish for others
of the heart, and extinguisheth that which he doth not wish for
the life of the soul. himself,

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Karím Khán Kirmání

(25) nor promise that which he doth blanket condemnation of science or


not fulfil. learning, for Karím Khán’s list contains a
(26) With all his heart should the number of highly respected sciences,
seeker avoid fellowship with some of which Bahá’u’lláh elsewhere
evil doers, and pray for the extensively praises.20
remission of their sins. Conclusion
(27) He should forgive the sinful, This study has shown the benefits of
and never despise his low what we can generally call “contextual-
estate, for none knoweth what ization” of Bahá’í sacred writings. In
his own end shall be. many cases, it is not only appropriate,
but beneficial and advantageous to be
(28) he should regard all else beside
more familiar with the historical back-
God as transient, and count all
ground and circumstances relating to the
things save Him, Who is the
production of a particular text. In this
Object of all adoration, as
instance, it is not just reading
utter nothingness.19
Bahá’u’lláh, but reading what Bahá’u’lláh
In one sense, Bahá’u’lláh could be jux- read, that results in a much greater
taposing Karím Khán’s list of 25 “sci- appreciation of the “Tablet of the true
ences” necessary to understand the mys- seeker.”
teries of the mi’raj with His own list of
approximately the same number of qual-
Notes
ities necessary for understanding the
Author’s Note: I am grateful to Dr. Stephen
divine mysteries. For those readers who N. Lambden for assistance with this
were familiar with the Irshád al-a‘vám paper. I am also grateful for the assis-
and Kirmání’s list of 25 sciences, tance of Drs. Iraj and Lily Ayman. I take
full responsibility, of course, for all
Bahá’u’lláh’s list certainly would have
errors and oversights. An expanded ver-
provided an extremely powerful contrast sion of this paper will appear in the online
between the two. periodical, Syzygy, edited by Dr. Stephen
N. Lambden.
Karím Khán extends or exaggerates the
1. Christopher Buck, Symbol and Secret:
argument in the Kitáb-i-ˆqán beyond,
Qur’án Commentary in Bahá’u’lláh’s
perhaps, what Bahá’u’lláh intended. Kitáb-i-ˆqán (Los Angeles: Kalimat Press,
Bahá’u’lláh, it seems to me, in the Kitáb- 1995), 36.
i-ˆqán, stresses the point that sciences 2. Buck, Symbol and Secret, 13-14.
such as those listed by Karím Khán 3. Buck, Symbol and Secret, 14.
Kirmání are not useful in understanding 4. Bahá’u’lláh, The K i t á b - i - ˆ q á n, translated
the mi‘raj, which Bahá’u’lláh understands by Shoghi Effendi as The Book of
spiritually, as did Shaykh A˙mad and Certitude (Wilmete: Bahá’í Publishing
Sayyid KáΩim. It is important to note Trust, 1983), 192.
that Bahá’u’lláh does NOT present a 5. Kitáb-i-ˆqán, 184.
6. Kitáb-i-ˆqán, 184.

189
Lights of ‘Irfán Book Five

7. Mangol Bayat, Mysticism and Dissent: “Say, the science of healing is the most
Socioreligious Thought in Qajar Iran noble of all sciences.” (trans. Stephen N.
(Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, L a m b d e n , w w w . h u r q a l y a . p w p . b l u e y o n-
1982), 86. Information on Kirmání’s der.co.uk/BAHA'-ALLAH/L-TIBB.htm)
biography can also be found in
“shaykhiyya,” Encyclopaedia of Islam,
2nd edition (E I 2), by Denis MacEoin.
8. E I 2 , “shaykhiyya” and Stephen N.
Lambden, “Some Aspects of Isrá’íliyyát
and the Emergence of the Bábí-Bahá’í
Interpretation of the Bible,” PhD disser-
tation, University of Newcastle upon
Tyne, 2000.
9. Will McCants, a graduate student at
Princeton University, has written a paper
on this work which was presented at the
Irfan Colloquium at Louhelen Conference
Center in October, 2003. Kirmání com-
posed the Iz˙áq al-bátil approximately a
year or so after the Báb made His claims
to Mullá Óusayn, and in it he not only
divined the fact that the Báb was making
a great claim, but thought fit to reject it
and condemn it through a close analysis
of the Qayyum al-asmá. He also consid-
ered the Bayán blasphemous, attacked the
notion of a “new prophet,” and vowed
that he would destroy the Báb.
10. Bayat, Mysticism and Dissent, 86.
11. Qur’án, 17: 1.
12. The Encyclopedia of Religion, ed. Mircea
Eliade (New York: Simon and Schuster
Macmillan, 1995), “m i ‘ r á j” vol. 9, 552.
13. EI2, “Mi‘rádj.”
14. Kitáb-i-ˆqán, 186.
15. Kitáb-i-ˆqán, 186
16. Kitáb-i-ˆqán, 187
17. Kitáb-i-ˆqán, 187
18. Kirmání, Óájj Mu˙ammad Karím Khán,
Irshád al-a‘vám (Kirman: Chápkhánah-i
Sa‘ádat, n.d.), 396-397.
19. Kitáb-i-ˆqán, slightly modified and para-
phrased, 192-195.
20. One obvious example is the science of
medicine († i b b), which Bahá’u’lláh praises
using a very exalted language Law˙-i-†ibb,

190

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