بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيم
In the Name of God the Compassionate, the Merciful!
Commentary: 19 letters indicate the pleroma consisting of God, the 4 Archangels of the Throne (i.e. Mika'il/Michael, Isra'fil/Raphael, Jibra'il/Gabriel and Izra'il/Azrael) and the 14 infallibles as the symbolic basis of creation. 19 is also the abjad numerical value of the word wujud (existence/being) and wahid (one/unity). The four words of the bismillah indicate the 4 worlds of lahut/divinity, jabarut/the empyrean of power, malakut/angelic world and mulk/dominion. This verse instances the attributive imprint (khisla) of Will (mashiya) and the pentagram seal of the Greatest Name (ism al-a'zam).
الْحَمْدُ للّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِين
Praise be unto God the Lord of all the worlds!
Praise be unto God the Lord of all the worlds!
Commentary: The Lord of the Worlds refers to the Presence of Divinity, which is the First Intellect ('aql awwal), otherwise known as the Nur Ahmadi (the Most Praised Light), the Universal Intellect ('aql kolli), the Primal Point (nuqtat'ul-ula) and the Primal Will (mashiya al-ula), which is the first thing emanated in pre-eternity (azal) by the Unknowable Godhead who is beyond all knowledge, understanding, predication, so beyond all categories of lordship, because nothing exists with the Hidden Ipseity (dhat al-ghayb) for It to be lord to anything because It is "One without peer or equal" and "neither begets nor is begotten" and so transcends even the very notion and category of lordship. This verse instances the attributive imprint of Volition (irada) and the 'three sticks in a row after a seal above them the semblance of a straightened lance' sigil of the Greatest Name.
الرَّحمـنِ الرَّحِيم
The Compassionate, the Merciful!
The Compassionate, the Merciful!
Commentary: This refers to the process of the formal instantiation of the worlds from the stage of latent pregnancy of the immutable archetypal forms of the kosmos (a'yan thabita) in the world of lahut (divinity) from potency to act in the world of jabarut (the empyrean of power). This verse instances the attributive imprint of Determination (qadar) and the 'blind mim' sigil of the Greatest Name.
مَـالِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّين
Sovereign of the Day of Judgement!
Sovereign of the Day of Judgement!
Commentary: Sovereignty belongs to the First Intellect as the first emanation of the Godhead who creates all the forms of the kosmos and likewise annihilates them. The Day of Judgement of each thing is the annihilation of its composite quintessence in one form and its resurrection into either a higher or lesser form, depending on its providential preparedness (isti'dad). This verse instances the attributive imprint of Authorization (qada') and 'a ladder unto all which is hoped for' sigil of the Greatest Name.
إِيَّاك نَعْبُدُ وإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِين
To Thee do we render worship and from Thee do we seek for aid.
To Thee do we render worship and from Thee do we seek for aid.
Commentary: This instances the Origination (mabda') and the Return (ma'ad) as worship returns to its Source what its Source has given as aid. The plural "we" instances the immutable archetypal forms who in their primordial latency, before having tasted creation, are in a state of perpetual ontological 'worship' - that is, they are in a state of ontological passivity - and the aid in the form of the act of the fiat 'Be' (kun) by the First Intellect grants them existentiation. This verse instance the attributive imprint of Realization (imda') and the 'four things pointing to good deeds' sigil of the Greatest Name.
اهدِنَــــا الصِّرَاطَ المُستَقِيمَ
Guide us upon the straight Path!
Guide us upon the straight Path!
Commentary: The sirat al-mustaqim (the straight path) refers to the Eternal Wilaya (Providential Guidance) of the Ahl al-Bayt (People of the House) who are the Personified Gates of Divinity and the Face of God (wajh allah) to creation. This verse instances the attributive imprint of the divine Allotment (ajall) and the letter ha' of the Greatest Name.
صِرَاطَ الَّذِينَ أَنعَمتَ عَلَيهِمْ غَيرِ المَغضُوبِ عَلَيهِمْ وَلاَ الضَّالِّين
The Path of those Thou hast bestowed grace; not those who have been shown (Divine) anger, or those gone astray!
The Path of those Thou hast bestowed grace; not those who have been shown (Divine) anger, or those gone astray!
Commentary: The Path of Grace is the Path of the Imams and Guides of Light (a'immat al-nur) and their gnostic initiates or ' believers' (mu'minun). The path of anger is the path of the guides of darkness (adilla al-jawr) and misguidance, and those gone astray are those multitudes who have followed the guides of darkness, the masters of the counter-initiation. This final verse instances the kosmic Book (kitab) and the inverted waw of the Greatest Name which indicates the plane of the eschatological differentiation (tafriq) and the separation of the Light (nur) from the darkness (zulma), the affirmation (ithbat) as against the negation (nafy); that is, the manifestation of the Unicity (tawhid) which is personified in the words of the tahlil as 'there is no god but God' (la ilaha illa allah).
~ Credit via N. Wahid Azal's blog ~
A Contemporary Gnostic Commentary of the Opening Chapter of the Quran
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