-- provisional translation by Necati Alkan with assistance from Khazeh Fananapazir
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. Praise
be to Him Who hath sent the Book unto whosoever He willeth among His servants.
Verily, there is none other God beside Him, the All-Possessing, the
All-Praised. In His grasp He holdeth the kingdom of all things. Nothing
escapeth His knowledge. There is none other God beside Him. Say: Him do all worship.
Verily, this Book is a command from God unto all who are on
earth. Issue forth from your cities for the Covenant of the Remnant of God, the
living, the undoubted Leader [Imám]. He is indeed the Book wherein there is no
doubt, sent down from the presence of His Servant ‘Alí, the All-Wise.
And He, verily, is ‘Alí, the All-Wise, the Path of God in
the heavens and on the earth. He calls the people to the Straight Path at the
bidding of thy Lord. He verily is the Mystery of the heavens, Who commands from
the Presence of the Remnant of God, the true and undoubted Leader. He, verily,
is the Light from the right side of the Mount Sinai in the Book of thy Lord.
There is no God but Me. Say: Him do they all fear.
Read the Book of thy Lord, O Majíd, through the command of
thy Lord in the preserved Book. Know thou that God hath knowledge of all things
in the heavens and on the earth, and that thou art concerning the verdict
passed on the messenger [Bastámí, one of the Letters of the Living], possessed
of great wrongdoing. Fear God, O thou man! For today no place is there for
anyone to flee except he believeth in the signs of God and is accounted among
those who worship Him.