Story of Joseph

Original paper taken from

Brent Poirier

THE QA‟IM AND THE QAYYUM

Siyyid Kazim told his disciples of the two Promised Ones to come:

“Verily I say, after the Qá'im the Qayyum will be made manifest. For when the star of the Former has set, the sun of the beauty of Husayn will rise and illuminate the whole world.” (The Dawn-Breakers, pp. 41-42)

The first was known as the Qa‟im. Qa‟im is derived from the Arabic word meaning “to stand”, and it means “the One who stands up,” “He who stands,” or “He Who will arise.” This refers to the Bab.

The word “Qayyum” is the superlative of the same word. It means “Self-Subsistent,” is an attribute of God, and generally refers to the Deity. It is the word translated as “Self-Subsisting” in the Short Obligatory Prayer. In the instance of this prophecy from Siyyid Kazim, it refers to Baha‟u‟llah.

Story of Joseph and His brothers

This told in the Book of Genesis, Chapters 30-50. With some variations, the same story, characterized by Muhammad as “The Best of Stories”, is told in the Qur‟an. An entire Surih (Arabic for “Chapter”) of the Qur‟an, the 12th Surih, known as the Surih of Joseph, is dedicated to it.

Just as the Books of the Bible are divided into chapters and verses, the Surihs of the Qur‟an are comprised of numbered verses, and the Surih of Joseph contains one hundred eleven verses.

The Bab wrote a commentary on the Surih of Joseph, initially known as Tafsir Suratu’l-Yusuf, dedicating a chapter of His commentary to each verse. This work, which He later designated as the Qayyumu’l-Asma’, comprises 111 chapters; each chapter is a commentary on a verse of the Surih of Joseph.

“Qayyumu‟l-Asma‟”

The word „Asma‟ means “Names” and refers to the people in this world of being, known in the Baha'i Writings as the Kingdom of Names.

The phrase “Qayyumu‟l-Asma‟” is not merely the name by which the Bab designated this Book, it is the title He gave to a Person. It is the title of the One promised by the Bab.

Hard to translate “Qayyumu‟l-Asma‟”. It conveys the meaning of the One through whom all others have their being; the One who causes the other names to exist; the One who lives independently in a world of contingent names; the One who causes the Qa‟im to arise; the One through Whom all others are standing.

THE FIRST VERSE OF THE SURIH OF JOSEPH

Since the Bab‟s Revelation to Mulla Husayn concerned the first verse of the Surih of Joseph, we will now read that verse.

THE FIRST VERSE OF THE SURIH OF JOSEPH:

Here is Qur‟an, Surah 12, Verse 1, as rendered by various translators:

Those are the signs of the perspicuous Book. (E.H. Palmer translation)

These are verses of the Scripture that maketh plain. (Pickthall)

These are the verses of the Book that makes manifest. (Maulana Muhammad Ali)

These are messages of a revelation clear in itself and clearly showing the truth. (Muhammad Asad)

Chapter 1 of the Qayyumu’l-Asma’. These, therefore, are among the words revealed to Mulla Husayn on that momentous evening in 1844:

ALL praise be to God Who hath, through the power of Truth, sent down this Book unto His servant, that it may serve as a shining light for all mankind... Verily this is none other than the sovereign Truth; it is the Path which God hath laid out for all that are in heaven and on earth. Let him then who will, take for himself the right path unto his Lord. Verily this is the true Faith of God, and sufficient witness are God and such as are endowed with the knowledge of the Book. This is indeed the eternal Truth which God, the Ancient of Days, hath revealed unto His omnipotent Word -- He Who hath been raised up from the midst of the Burning Bush. This is the Mystery which hath been hidden from all that are in heaven and on earth, and in this wondrous Revelation it hath, in very truth, been set forth in the Mother Book by the hand of God, the Exalted...

O concourse of kings and of the sons of kings! Lay aside, one and all, your dominion which belongeth unto God...

Let not thy sovereignty deceive thee, O Shah, for 'every soul shall taste of death,‘ [Qur'án 3:182] and this, in very truth, hath been written down as a decree of God.

O King of Islam! Aid thou, with the truth, after having aided the Book, Him Who is Our Most Great Remembrance, for God hath, in very truth, destined for thee, and for such as circle round thee, on the Day of Judgment, a responsible position in His Path. I swear by God, O Shah! If thou showest enmity unto Him Who is His Remembrance, God will, on the Day of Resurrection, condemn thee,before the kings, unto hell-fire, and thou shalt not, in very truth, find on that Day any helper except God, the Exalted. Purge thou, O Shah, the Sacred Land [Tihran] from such as have repudiated the Book, ere the day whereon the Remembrance of God cometh, terribly and of a sudden, with His potent Cause, by the leave of God, the Most High. God, verily, hath prescribed to thee to submit unto Him Who is His Remembrance, and unto His Cause, and to subdue, with the truth and by His leave, the countries, for in this world thou hast been mercifully invested with sovereignty, and wilt, in the next, dwell, nigh unto the Seat of Holiness, with the inmates of the Paradise of His good-pleasure...

By God! If ye do well, to your own behoof will ye do well; and if ye deny God and His signs, We, in very truth, having God, can well dispense with all creatures and all earthly dominion.

BE thou content with the commandment of God, the True One, inasmuch as sovereignty, as recorded in the Mother Book by the hand of God, is surely invested in Him Who is His Remembrance...

O Minister of the Shah! Fear thou God, besides Whom there is none other God but Him, the Sovereign Truth, the Just, and lay aside thy dominion, for We, by the leave of God, the All-Wise, inherit the earth and all who are upon it [cf. Qur'án 19:41] and He shall rightfully be a witness unto thee and unto the Shah. Were ye to obey the Remembrance of God with absolute sincerity, We guarantee, by the leave of God, that on the Day of Resurrection, a vast dominion shall be yours in His eternal Paradise.

Vain indeed is your dominion, for God hath set aside earthly possessions for such as have denied Him; for unto Him Who is your Lord shall be the most excellent abode, He Who is, in truth, the Ancient of Days....

O concourse of kings! Deliver with truth and in all haste the verses sent down by Us to the peoples of Turkey and of India, and beyond them, with power and with truth, to lands in both the East and the West.... And know that if ye aid God, He will, on the Day of Resurrection, graciously aid you, upon the Bridge, through Him Who is His Most Great Remembrance...

O people of the earth! Whoso obeyeth the Remembrance of God and His Book hath in truth obeyed God and His chosen ones and he will, in the life to come, be reckoned in the presence of God among the inmates of the Paradise of His good-pleasure. Chapter I.

(The Qayyumu’l-`Asma’, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, pp. 40-43)

Divine Principles1. The great oppression mentioned in the Gospel of Matthew, interpreted

as humanity not knowing where to turn to hear the Word of God, precedes the appearance of every Manifestation

2. At the beginning of His Dispensation the Manifestation is not recognized by humanity

3. Eventually the Manifestation rises to prominence and sovereignty over the peoples of the world

4. God gives full measure to humanity even when we offer him but a pittance.

5. Reference to the "Gates" the spiritual guides of humanity.

6. The people are astonished at the beauty of the new Manifestation of God.

7. There is a time of concealment and when the set time is fulfilled, there is a time of Manifestation

8. The reward of God

9. Eventually the Manifestation of God is recognized by humanity and His position exalted in the eyes of men

10. God returns to us whatever we give to Him

11. When the Manifestation gives the people the bread of His spirit and His counsel, and they "eat" with Him, then their eyes are opened and they recognize Him

12. The Right of God

13. God promises to send the Manifestation to humanity, humanity promises to accept Him.

14. The people receive the new Revelation symbolized by "new garments" they are given

15. The gathering of humanity at the Judgment Day to be sifted and judged by God is symbolized by the brothers of Joseph standing before Him and being questioned

FINAL THOUGHTS

These verses are describing, in highly symbolic form, events of cosmic significance. Scholar’s understanding of various symbols in the Best of Stories:

Jacob entrusting Joseph to His brothers, and the brothers promising their father in return to take care of Joseph, signifies the Greater Covenant between God and humanity, to send Messengers to humanity, and humanity's promise to turn to Them.

The appearance of Joseph's brothers gathered before Him signifies the great gathering of all humanity before their Lord at the Judgment Day.

Joseph giving full measure of corn to His brothers, and returning their payment to each of them, relates to the abundance of gifts God's Messenger gives to humanity, and to His Self-Sufficiency, being above any need of His creatures.

Their wearing new clothes refers to their acceptance of His Message.

Their eating bread with Him signifies drawing near to Him in faith.

Their eyes being closed, then being opened and recognizing their brother after eating bread, signifies human beings who at first do not recognize the Manifestation, then after receiving His spiritual gifts recognize Him.

The brothers' mistreatment of Joseph at first, and their later bowing before Him with their faces to the ground, signifies humanity's initial rejection of all of the Manifestations of God, and in particular their rejection of the True Joseph, the Manifestation to succeed the Bab -and humanity's later acceptance of Him.

Joseph's being cast into a pit, being sold into slavery, and being cast into prison, all indicate humanity's initial rejection of Him, and specifically refers to Baha‟u‟llah‟s imprisonment in the Black Pit of Tehran.

The Pharaoh's realization of Joseph's spiritual powers to interpret dreams indicates humanity's dawning recognition of the powers of the Manifestation.

The famine in the land signifies humanity's hunger for divine knowledge, and Joseph's position as being charged with distribution of food to the land signifies the eventual rise of the Manifestation to universal recognition by all humanity, which feasts on His Word.