events in the elemental world, letter for letter and meaning for meaning.
(The Kaʿba’s Treasure and the Treasure of Knowledge)
Know that God Most High placed a treasure in the Kaʿba. The Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, intended to bring it out and spend it, then another consideration occurred to him because of a benefit he perceived. After him ʿUmar intended to bring it out but refrained, following the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace. It remains there to this day.
As for me, a gold tablet from it was brought to me when I was in Tunis in the year 598. It had a crack and was a finger thick, a span wide, and a span or more in length, with writing in a script I did not know. This happened because of something that arose between God and me. I asked God to return it to its place, observing proper conduct toward the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace. Had I brought it before people, a blind turmoil would have arisen. I therefore left it for that benefit as well.
He, may God bless him and grant him peace, did not leave it without purpose. He left it for the one who will uphold God’s command at the end of time, who will fill the earth with equity and justice as it was filled with oppression and wrong. A report we have transmitted concerns its being brought out by this deputy. I cannot now recall from whom I transmitted it[2] or the volume in which I saw it.
Likewise, God made a treasure of knowledge of Him in the knower’s heart. He bears witness to God in what the Real witnessed of Himself, that there is no god but God, and denies this rank to everything apart from Him. He said, “God bears witness
Notes
[2]
(The author states here that he does not remember the report’s route of transmission or its location. This qualification has been retained as given.)
