Aligned sentence by sentence
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Part One · Chapter Sixty-Three — Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh: The Name of Necessary Existence
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Let me preface a preliminary remark and say: this that he, peace be upon him, said — 'and they say to me, What is His name? what shall I say to them?' (Ex 3:13) — how did this matter necessarily require this question, such that he sought with what to answer it? As for his saying 'and they will not believe me, nor hearken to my voice; for they will say, The Lord hath not appeared unto thee' (Ex 4:1) — that is very clear, because the same must be said to everyone who claims prophecy, until he brings proof. Also, if the matter is as it appears to be — merely a name one pronounces — either the Israelites already knew that name or had never heard it. If it was known to them, there is no need for him to inform them of it, for his knowing it is like their knowing it; and if it had never been heard by them, what is the proof that this is God's name, if knowing His name is the evidence? Furthermore: after informing him of this name, He, exalted be He, said to him, 'Go, and gather the elders of Israel, and they will hearken to your voice' (Ex 3:16); and after this Moses himself, peace be upon him, responded and said, 'and they will not believe me nor hearken to my voice' (Ex 4:1) — even though God's word to him had already preceded it: 'and they will hearken to your voice.' And God, exalted be He, said to him after that: 'What is this in your hand? And he said, A staff' (Ex 4:2).
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What you know will clarify all of this difficulty for you — and it is what I shall now say. You know the prevalence of the doctrines of the Sabians in those times, and that all the people except a very few were worshippers of idolatry — meaning the belief in spiritual forces, drawing down influences, and making talismans. And the claim of every person of knowledge in all eras was either: that he had attained speculation and inference that led him to the conclusion that there is a God over the entire world — like Abraham; or: that a spiritual force from a star or an angel and the like had descended upon him. But a person claiming prophecy on the grounds that God spoke with him and sent him — this had never been heard before Moses our teacher. And do not be misled by what is said of the patriarchs — that God spoke with them and was revealed to them — for you will not find that mode of prophecy being used for calling people or guiding others such that Abraham or Isaac or Jacob or those before them said to people: 'God said to me, do this or do not do this' or 'He sent me to you.' That never occurred; rather the address to them was concerning what pertained to them alone — I mean their own perfection and guidance in what to do, and tidings of what the end of their offspring's affair would be, nothing more. And they called people through speculation and teaching, as is evident from what is said: 'and the souls they had made in Ḥaran' (Gen 12:5).
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When He, mighty and exalted, was revealed to Moses our teacher and commanded him to call people and transmit this mission to them, he said: 'The first thing they will ask me is to verify for them that there is a God over the world in existence, and after that I will claim that He sent me' — for at that time all the people, save a very few, had no awareness of the existence of God, and the utmost of their speculation did not go beyond the sphere and its forces and actions; for they had not departed from the sensory realm nor attained any rational perfection. So God informed him at that time of a knowledge by which to reach them and verify for them the existence of God — and that is 'Ehyeh asher Ehyeh' (Ex 3:14). This is a name derived from hayah, which is existence; for hayah indicates the meaning of 'was,' and there is no difference between 'was' and 'existed' in the Hebrew language. And the entire secret lies in His repeating the very word that indicates existence in the position of an attribute; for asher requires the mention of the connected attribute, since it is an incomplete noun requiring a relative clause — meaning the equivalent of alladhī and allatī in Arabic. So the first noun — which is the subject — is Ehyeh; and the second noun, with which it is described, is Ehyeh — the same exact word. It is as if He declared explicitly that the subject is the attribute itself; and that was a clarification of the meaning that He is existent not through existence. So the summary of that meaning and its explanation is thus: The Existent that is the Existent — that is, the Necessarily Existent. And that is what proof necessarily leads to: that there is here a necessarily existent thing that has not ceased and will never cease to be, as we shall demonstrate.
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When He, exalted be He, informed him of the proofs by which His existence would be established in the minds of their scholars — for after this it came: 'Go, gather the elders of Israel,' promising him that they would understand what he conveyed to them and accept it, this being His saying 'and they will hearken to your voice' — Moses, peace be upon him, rejoined and said: 'They will accept that there is a God in existence, by these rational proofs; but what will be my evidence that this existent God sent me?' And He gave him the sign. It is thus clear that the meaning of his saying 'What is His name?' is only: Who is this one that you claim sent you? He said 'What is His name?' out of respect and reverence in address — as if saying: Your essence and Your truth no one is ignorant of; if You are asked about Your name — meaning: what is the meaning indicated by the name? — it is only strange to address and say that there are those who are ignorant of this Existent; so he attributed their ignorance to the name and not to the Named.
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Likewise the name Yah is from the meaning of the eternity of existence. And Shaddai is derived from dai, which means sufficiency: 'and the work was sufficient' (Ex 36:7) — and the shin means 'that which,' like shekvar (already), so that the meaning is 'He that suffices'; the intent being that He has no need, in the existence of what He brought into existence nor in its continuation, of anything beyond Himself — rather His existence, exalted be He, suffices for that. And likewise the name El Ḥasīn is derived from strength: 'and it was strong as oaks' (Amos 2:9). And likewise ẓur (Rock) is a common noun, as we explained.
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It has thus become clear to you that all the names are derived or said by common denomination — like ẓur and its equivalents. There is no non-derived name of Him, exalted be He, except the four-letter Name, which is the Explicit Name — because it does not indicate an attribute, but only pure existence alone; and within absolute existence there is implied that it is always, meaning: necessarily existent.
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Understand what the discourse has reached.