This section includes the interpretation (tafsir) of parts of the Great Quran.
(524) This is what I heard from my Master, my Reminder, and my Sheikh, and I have transmitted it as a narration from him. My Master and true father Abu al-Fath Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Baghdadi—may God be pleased with him and satisfy him—said regarding the words of the Mighty and Sublime: {In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful}:
As for "In the name" (Bismi): it is the Mim [Muhammad], and it has been related that it is the Gate [Salman]. As for "God" (Allah): it is the Supreme Name, the Lord Mim [Muhammad]—exalted be his glory; a name for the Meaning (al-Ma'na)—majestic is He who named him. As for "the Compassionate" (al-Rahman): it is the first Ha [al-Hasan], and "the Merciful" (al-Rahim): it is the second Ha [al-Husayn]. They are two gentle names, one gentler than the other, because it is said: "a merciful man," but it is not said: "a compassionate man" [in the sense of Rahman].
That is because he [al-Hasan] was the first manifestation as Himself in the line of Imamate; it was the Hasanide station, and he is the Lord Mim. For even if the Name were to appear through a thousand persons, they would all be names of the Meaning and His veils, and they are Lord Muhammad in reality. Allah consists of three letters [in Arabic: L-L-H]; it is a name specific to the Meaning—exalted be his glory—because it is not used to point to anyone but Him. When the Alif enters it [making it A-L-L-H], it becomes four letters, and it is the Lord Muhammad. If you intend by it the Meaning, you are correct; and if you intend by it the Mim, you are correct.1 This is what I have known of that; and above every possessor of knowledge, there is One more knowing.