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The Letters of the Living ((アラビア語:حروف الحي)) was a title provided by the Báb to the first eighteen disciples of the Bábí Religion. In some understandings the Báb places himself at the head of this list (as the first letter). In this article, the former notation will be used except when specifically said otherwise. == Mystical meaning == The Báb named the first eighteen believers in his mission as the ''Letters of the Living'' (''Ḥurúfu'l-ḥayy'' in Arabic). One of the Báb's titles was the "Primal Point" (''nuqti-yi-úlá''). As Bahá'i scholar Moojan Momen explains:
The 19 letters of the Basmala are (note Arabic is "read" right to left): ب س م ا ل ل ه ا ل ر ح م ن ا ل ر ح ي م. ((in English) m a l l e t h a l m n a l t h m j s b.) Additionally, the Báb says: ''…the Five Letters of Hell-Fire when separated become 19, as God says: 'Over it (Hell) are Nineteen'; and so also the Letters in the Five Letters of Affirmation are nineteen.'' The title "Point" may also refer to the divine and worldly aspects of the Manifestation of God, similar to the geometric point, which is without specific dimension and connects the physical with the nonphysical world. The term "Hayy" means ''The Living'' and is used as one of the names of God in Islamic and Bábí scriptures.〔 In addition to the 19 letters themselves, in the Abjad numerals system the letters of the Arabic alphabet are assigned numerical values. The Arabic letters h ح and y ي, which compose the Arabic singular adjective meaning "living" in the phrase Letters of the Living, add up to 18, and therefore the phrase ''Letters of the Living'' refers to the number 18. There is a similar symbolism about the numerical value of the corresponding Hebrew word in Judaism. The Báb referred to the 18 Letters of the Living, along with himself, as the first ''Váḥid'' of the Bayán Dispensation. In the Abjad numerical value of the word Wáḥid (واحد) is 19. The word Wáḥid means "One". The Báb used this term as a reference to God and his Manifestations.〔Notes by the Universal House of Justice, Iraj Ayman, Muhammad Afnán, Robert Stockman. ''(Bayán: The symbol of "Letters" and the Letters of the Living )''〕 == The Letters == The Letters are listed here in the order given by Nabíl in The Dawn-Breakers,〔Nabíl, The Dawn-Breakers, Chapter 3, p. 80〕 and supported by Qatíl al-Karbalá'í except where indicated: 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Letters of the Living」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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