On the Jangling of the Bell (Ṣalṣalat al-Jaras)

The jangling of the bell: the disclosure of the Powerful Attribute, [laid bare] from a shank [in earnest], by way of self-disclosure by it upon a mode of Magnificence.

And it is an expression for the bringing-forth of the subduing Awe (al-hayba).

And that is because the divine servant began to be realized by the Powerful Reality, [and] there was brought forth to him, in its beginnings, the jangling of the bell.

So he finds a matter that subdues him by way of the Magnificent power, so he hears, of that, a creaking from the colliding of the realities one against another, as though it were the jangling of the bell on the outside.

And this is a witnessing that bars the hearts from the boldness of entering into the Magnificent Presence, by the strength of its subduing of the one who reaches it.

So it is the Greatest Veil (al-ḥijāb al-aʿẓam) that stood between the divine rank and the hearts of His servants.

So there is no way to the disclosure of the divine rank except after hearing the jangling of the bell.

And I found, the night I was carried by night to the lofty heavens, upon my reaching this most sublime station and most radiant vista of Awe in this place, what [made] my powers dissolve, my compositions wither, my parts be crushed, and my frame be effaced.

And I was hearing only a jangling that levels the mountains for its Awe and makes the two weighty ones [jinn and humankind] humble for its Might.

And I was seeing only a cloud of lights pouring down with a downpour of fire.

And I, with that, was in darknesses of the seas of the Essence, some above some -- so there was no existence of a heaven beneath them nor an earth.

So the still mountains were set moving; and I saw "the earth laid bare, and We gathered them and left not one of them behind. And they were presented before your Lord in ranks" (18:47-48).

And they remain so, in pre-eternity and post-eternity.

So I said: What ails the heaven?

It was said: "It was rent asunder, and gave ear to its Lord, as in truth it must" (84:1-2).

So I said: And what ails the earth?

It was said: "It was stretched out, and cast forth what was in it, and emptied itself" (84:3-4).

So I said: And what ails the sun?

It was said: "It was wound up [darkened]; and the stars darkened; and the mountains were set moving; and the ten-month pregnant camels were neglected; and the wild beasts were gathered; and the seas were set boiling; and the souls were paired; and the buried girl was asked for what sin she was slain; and the scrolls were spread open; and the heaven was stripped away; and the Blaze was kindled; and the Garden was brought near" (81:1-13).

So I said: What ails me?

So the Majestic One said: "A soul knew what it had made present" (81:14). And this is a lesser resurrection (qiyāma ṣughrā) that the Real set up for me as a likeness of the greater resurrection, that I might be upon clear evidence from my Lord, and so guide to Him whoever is of my party.

Thereupon a questioner of precise inquiry asked of the interpreter of verification.

So I questioned him -- without [there being any] ignorance -- about the Attributes and the Essence, and about the divine station which is after that, [by way of] the exhausting of what is there;

and about the human, and from which aspect the writing of the Qurʾān comes to be;

and how is the matter of the Seal (al-khitām) which is with the Possessor of Majesty and Honor.

So he laughed, after he had smiled, and signaled, at those expressions, with allusions in the oath.

He said: "So I swear by the receding stars, the running, the setting; and by the night as it departs; and by the dawn as it breathes -- truly it is the word of a noble messenger, possessed of power, secure with the Possessor of the Throne, obeyed there, trustworthy" (81:15-21).

So I turned [the matter] over before his eyes, and exhausted what he pointed to:

So the union had a state I will not divulge / so suppose what you wish: the matter is spacious.

A lover and his beloved at the summit of his seclusion / a king, and his sovereign, and the host gathered.

The bride of nearness was exalted above a rank / of majesty, like a dew that does not fall [in drops].

So the horizon is a circle, and the clouds are raining / and the thunder rebuking, and the lightning flashing.

So the sea is in flood, and the wind in roaring / and the fire in sparks, and the water gushes.

And the whole revolving sphere stood upon / a shank, abased, humbling itself to the Might of Might.