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ABD AL-KARIM AL-JILI: Tawid, Transcendence and Immanence – Dr Nicholas Lo Polito [University of Birmingham] - The Cave and the Inscription

(28) (The Ba’) is the soul, and it is a dark letter. In addition, in the entire Basmala there are no dark letters besides it. By dark letters, I mean _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _.

The bright ones that are abbreviated at the beginning of the suwar are  _ _ _ _ _ _   !

God made of the letter Ba’ the beginning of the Qur’an in every sura because the first veil between you and His [divine] Being - praise to Him - is darkness. But when your being ceases to exist and nothing will remain except Him, His names and attributes that originate in Him, that will be a veil upon Him; but that is brightness.

Except for the Ba’ that represents your existence and is dark. For this reason the Ba’ is a cloak over the dot because it is over it, [like] the cloak is over the garments. The Ba’ is darkness to the light of the dot, veiled [as it is] by the presence which is the visible world [that originated] from the beautiful world of the dot. In fact, a rational consideration of the appearance of the dot behind [the Ba’] points to the fact that the realm of what is [truly] real is [hidden] behind what is visible.

Since the dot is attached to the Ba’, the Ba’ is used in speech for joining. And since the shape of the dot is stretched to [form] the Ba’, the Ba’ in the speech of the Arabs is used to indicate instrumentality.

(29) When the blissful fire shone for the Ba’ on the tree of its soul, it penetrated the darkness of the invisible canopy of its night, away from its own world, so as to acquire fire for its constitution, or to find within itself direction [in its journey] from itself to itself. It was carved out of an upright portion of the tree of the Alif that is the name of God.

Remove your shoes - that is, your character and your being - for indeed, you are at the Blessed Valley, and you are occasion of doubt and defilement. There is no place for you in the Blessed Valley of the dot unless you rid your being and your character of doubt and defilement.

Stretch out under the light of the Alif, like the shadow that stretches out, for the shadow of something is that thing. So the length of the Ba’ in every writing is the same length as the line of the Alif of which it is a projection. It saw itself as a shadow of this erection, aware that its existence depended on it. Because a shadow cannot exist, except as a figure between the bodily mass and the level [ground]. Its own existence was dismissed as delusion. Because the shadow by itself is not completely in existence. It is rather the separation of the figure between the concealed mass and the ground. Thus, the existence of the shadow on its own is impossible. However it is a necessary existence.

Having verified such degree of non-existence in the Ba’, the Alif took it to itself and set it in its place. Then the Alif was incorporated into it. For this reason in the [formula] “In the Name of God (the All Compassionate and Most Merciful)” it grew in length and became evidence of the assimilation of the Alif. Conceptually, [the Ba’] is delegate of the Alif. Formally, it is an elongated version of the Alif. Thus, it obtained the form and the conceptual significance of the Alif.

It occurred to discuss the position of the Alif. In the idiom of the Arabs it is not known of any Ba’ that stands in place of the Alif except for the Ba’ of Bism Allah. Look now at this Ba’, how my sharpness has increased the condition of its great beauty.