Translation, Commentary Surih of Kawthar

Thus he must testify that Their Inmost Realities (kaynúníyyát) sharply sever the inmost realities of praising the Essence amongst the essences, and Their Quintessences (dhátíyyát) forcefully bar those who abide in the realm of dominion of praising the Attributes amongst the attributes, and Their Identities (aníyyát) cut off those who reside in the world of earthly sovereignty (mulk) from describing the Names and the utter pure Countenance of the Sovereign Source of Revelation, and Their Selves (nafsáníyyát) shut out the inhabitants of the domain of kingdom (malakút) from describing the Ends and the Beginnings. Verily, it is by Them that those who move within the ocean (lujjah) of Justice, beneath the clouds (mukfahirrát) of Ifrídaws, are moving; and it is by Them that those who repose within the ocean (lujjah) of Mercy, which streameth forth out of the Yamín of the Ifríqíyyah well spring, beneath the shades of the mighty deep-rooted (jurthúm) tree of Firdaws, are reposing. All allusions are, in truth, veils in Their praise, and all references are obscurities (zulam) in Their description. It is God Who knoweth Their glorious station and the praise befitting Them; and none other besides Him will ever be able to comprehend the truth of Their station. And were they to understand anything of Their majesty, that understanding would be as a tiny ant’s comprehension of the vast earth upon which it moveth. I ask pardon of God, for it is even less than this comparison. Shouldst thou desire to quaff of the milk of that lofty river, it would behove thee to behold present within it, like the living men, all the other three rivers. Thus, when ‘Alí the Son of Husayn, peace be upon Him, offered a believer a new drink, he saw within it all the four rivers. He, therefore, said: “verily, I saw within the cup all the four rivers. When I desired wine, it stepped forward before the other three; methinks it was alive and could understand that which occurred to my heart.” The same principle is applicable to honey, milk and incorruptible water. Shouldst thou gaze upon this Cause with the eye of truth, thou wouldst discern that it is the crystal incorruptible water before the Kibrít well spring; the fresh milk before the Yamín well spring; the pure honey before the Tabaríyyih well spring¸ and the wine before the Barahút well spring, on the very earth of this world. 30 Nay, rather, the apparent alteration of form is due to the mention of plurality that succeedeth the station of transcendent Unity. 31

30 In Islamic traditions and in the writings of Ahsá’í, there are frequent references to diverse rivers, seas, paradises and well springs. In a tradition, The Imám interprets the Qur’ánic reference to seven seas which cannot exhaust the