THE
SUMMONS
OF THE
LORD OF
HOSTS
TABLETS
OF
BAHÁ’U’LLÁH
BAHÁ’Í WORLD CENTRE
HAIFA
Súriy-i-Haykal / Súrih of the Temple
Pope Pius IX
Napoleon III
Czar Alexander II
Queen Victoria
Náṣiri’d-Dín
Sháh / Lawḥ-i-Sulṭán
Súriy-i-Ra’ís
LawḤ-i-Ra’ís
LawḤ-i-Fu’ád
Súriy-i-Mulúk / Súrih
to the Kings
Endnotes
Note on the
translation
Key to
passages translated by Shoghi Effendi
Index
The years following Bahá’u’lláh’s arrival in Adrianople witnessed His Revelation’s
attainment, in the words of Shoghi Effendi, of “its meridian glory” through the
proclamation of its Founder’s message to the kings and rulers of the
world. During this relatively brief but
turbulent period of the Faith’s history, and in the early years of His
subsequent exile in 1868 to the fortress town of ‘Akká, He summoned the
monarchs of East and West collectively, and some among them individually, to
recognize the Day of God and to acknowledge the One promised in the scriptures
of the religions professed by the recipients of His summons. “Never since the
beginning of the world”, Bahá’u’lláh declares, “hath the Message been so openly
proclaimed.”
The
present volume brings together the first full, authorized English translation
of these major writings. Among them is
the complete Súriy-i-Haykal, the Súrih of the Temple, one of Bahá’u’lláh’s most
challenging works. It was originally
revealed during His banishment to Adrianople and later recast after His arrival
in ‘Akká. In this version He incorporated
His messages addressed to individual potentates—Pope Pius IX, Napoleon III,
Czar Alexander II, Queen Victoria, and Náṣiri’d-Dín Sháh.
It was this composite
work which, shortly after its completion, Bahá’u’lláh instructed be written in
the form of a pentacle, symbolizing the human temple. To it He added, as a conclusion, what Shoghi Effendi has
described as “words which reveal the importance He attached to those Messages,
and indicate their direct association with the prophecies of the Old Testament”:
Thus have We built the Temple with
the hands of power and might, could ye but know it. This is the Temple promised unto you in the Book. Draw ye nigh unto it. This is that which profiteth you, could ye
but comprehend it. Be fair, O peoples
of the earth! Which is preferable,
this, or a temple which is built of clay?
Set your faces towards it. Thus
have ye been commanded by God, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.
During the last years of His ministry Bahá’u’lláh Himself arranged for the
publication for the first time of definitive versions of some of His principal
works, and the Súriy-i-Haykal was awarded a prominent position among them.
Of the various writings
that make up the Súriy-i-Haykal, one requires particular mention. The Lawḥ-i-Sulṭán, the Tablet to
Náṣiri’d-Dín Sháh, Bahá’u’lláh’s lengthiest epistle to any single
sovereign, was revealed in the weeks immediately preceding His final banishment
to ‘Akká. It was eventually delivered
to the monarch by Badí‘, a youth of seventeen, who had entreated Bahá’u’lláh
for the honour of rendering some service.
His efforts won him the crown of martyrdom and immortalized his
name. The Tablet contains the celebrated
passage describing the circumstances in which the divine call was communicated
to Bahá’u’lláh and the effect it produced.
Here, too, we find His unequivocal offer to meet with the Muslim clergy,
in the presence of the Sháh, and to provide whatever proofs of the new
Revelation they might consider to be definitive, a test of spiritual integrity
significantly failed by those who claimed to be the authoritative trustees of
the message of the Qur’án.
Included in this collection, as well, is the
first full translation of the Súriy-i-Mulúk or Súrih of the Kings, which Shoghi
Effendi described as “the most momentous Tablet revealed by Bahá’u’lláh in
which He, for the first time, directs His words collectively to the entire
company of the monarchs of East and West”.
It sets forth both the character of His mission and the standard of justice
that must govern the exercise of their rule in this Day of God:
Lay not aside the fear of God, O
kings of the earth, and beware that ye transgress not the bounds which the
Almighty hath fixed. Observe the
injunctions laid upon you in His Book, and take good heed not to overstep their
limits. Be vigilant, that ye may not do
injustice to anyone, be it to the extent of a grain of mustard seed. Tread ye the path of justice, for this,
verily, is the straight path.
The Tablet introduces
some of the great themes that were to figure prominently in the Writings of
Bahá’u’lláh over the next two and a half decades: the obligation of those into whose hands God has entrusted civil
authority to institute the reign of justice, the necessity for the reduction of
armaments and the resolution of conflicts among nations, and an end to the
excessive expenditures that were impoverishing these rulers’ subjects.
Surveying the principal
contents of Bahá’u’lláh’s majestic call to the kings and rulers of the world, Shoghi
Effendi has written:
The magnitude and diversity of the
theme, the cogency of the argument, the sublimity and audacity of the language,
arrest our attention and astound our minds.
Emperors, kings and princes, chancellors and ministers, the Pope himself,
priests, monks and philosophers, the exponents of learning, parliamentarians
and deputies, the rich ones of the earth, the followers of all religions, and
the people of Bahá—all are brought within the purview of the Author of these
Messages, and receive, each according to their merits, the counsels and
admonitions they deserve. No less
amazing is the diversity of the subjects touched upon in these Tablets. The transcendent majesty and unity of an
unknowable and unapproachable God is extolled, and the oneness of His
Messengers proclaimed and emphasized.
The uniqueness, the universality and potentialities of the Bahá’í Faith
are stressed, and the purpose and character of the Bábí Revelation unfolded.
The summary draws attention to Bahá’u’lláh’s uncompromising indictment of
the conditions of human society for which its leadership is held primarily
responsible:
Episodes, at once moving and
marvellous, at various stages of His ministry, are recounted, and the
transitoriness of worldly pomp, fame, riches, and sovereignty, repeatedly and
categorically asserted. Appeals for the
application of the highest principles in human and international relations are
forcibly and insistently made, and the abandonment of discreditable practices
and conventions, detrimental to the happiness, the growth, the prosperity and
the unity of the human race, enjoined.
Kings are censured, ecclesiastical dignitaries arraigned, ministers and
plenipotentiaries condemned, and the identification of His advent with the
coming of the Father Himself unequivocally admitted and repeatedly
announced. The violent downfall of a
few of these kings and emperors is prophesied, two of them are definitely
challenged, most are warned, all are appealed to and exhorted.
In a Tablet, the
original of which has been lost, Bahá’u’lláh had already condemned, in the
severest terms, the misrule of the Ottoman Sulṭán ‘Abdu’l-‘Azíz. The present volume includes, however, three
other Tablets which address two ministers of the Sulṭán, whose selfish
and unprincipled influence played an important role in Bahá’u’lláh’s successive
banishments. The Súriy-i-Ra’ís, which
addresses ‘Álí Páshá, the Ottoman Prime Minister, was revealed in August
1868 as the exiles were being moved from Adrianople to Gallipoli, and exposes
unsparingly the abuse of civil power the minister had perpetrated. The Lawḥ-i-Ra’ís, which also contains
passages directed to ‘Álí Páshá, was revealed shortly after
Bahá’u’lláh’s incarceration in the citadel of ‘Akká and includes a chilling
denunciation of the character of the Minister.
The third Tablet, the Lawḥ-i-Fu’ád, revealed in 1869 shortly after
the death of Fu’ád Páshá, the Ottoman Minister to whose machinations it
refers, describes the spiritual consequences of the abuse of power, and foretells
the imminent downfall of his colleague, ‘Álí Páshá, and the overthrow of
the Sulṭán himself—prophecies that were widely circulated and whose
dramatic fulfilment added greatly to the prestige of their Author.
It seems especially appropriate, as
Bahá’u’lláh’s influence penetrates ever more deeply the life of the larger
society throughout the world, that the full texts of these great Tablets should
now be available for a broad readership.
We express to the committees who were commissioned to undertake and
review these translations the deep gratitude we feel for the care and
sensitivity they have brought to the task.
Bahá’ís will recognize key passages from several of the Tablets that
were introduced to the West by Shoghi Effendi.
His translations into English of the Bahá’í Holy Texts provide an
enduring standard for the efforts of those who rise to the challenge of
preparing appropriate renderings into English of these treasures of the Faith.
The Universal House of Justice
This is
the Súrih of the Temple which God hath ordained to be
the
Mirror of His Names between the heavens and the earth, and
the Sign
of His Remembrance amidst the peoples of the world.
1 Glorified is He Who hath revealed
His verses to those who understand.
Glorified is He Who sendeth down His verses to those who perceive. Glorified is He Who guideth whomsoever He
pleaseth unto His path. Say: I, verily, am the Path of God unto all who
are in the heavens and all who are on the earth; well is it with them that
hasten thereunto!
2 Glorified is He Who sendeth down His
verses to those who comprehend.
Glorified is He Who speaketh forth from the Kingdom of His Revelation,
and Who remaineth unknown to all save His honoured servants. Glorified is He Who quickeneth whomsoever He
willeth by virtue of His word “Be”, and it is!
Glorified is He Who causeth whomsoever He willeth to ascend unto the heaven
of grace, and sendeth down therefrom whatsoever He desireth according to a prescribed
measure.
3 Blessed is He Who doeth as He
willeth by a word of His command. He,
verily, is the True One, the Knower of things unseen. Blessed is He Who inspireth whomsoever He willeth with whatsoever
He desireth, through His irresistible and inscrutable command. Blessed is He Who aideth whomsoever He
desireth with the hosts of the unseen.
His might is, in truth, equal to His purpose, and He, verily, is the
All-Glorious, the Self-Subsisting.
Blessed is He Who exalteth whomsoever He willeth by the power of His
sovereign might, and confirmeth whomsoever He chooseth in accordance with His
good pleasure; well is it with them that understand!
4 Blessed is He Who,
in a well-guarded Tablet, hath prescribed a fixed measure unto all things. Blessed is He Who hath revealed unto His Servant that
which shall illumine the hearts and minds of men. Blessed is He Who hath sent down upon His Servant such
tribulations as have melted the hearts of them that dwell within the Tabernacle
of eternity and the souls of those who have drawn nigh unto their Lord. Blessed is He Who hath showered upon His
Servant, from the clouds of His decree, the darts of affliction, and Who
beholdeth Me enduring them with patience and fortitude. Blessed is He Who hath ordained for His
Servant that which He hath destined for no other soul. He, verily, is the One, the Incomparable,
the Self-Subsisting.
5 Blessed is He Who hath caused to
rain down upon His Servant from the clouds of enmity, and at the hands of the
people of denial, the shafts of tribulation and trial; and yet seeth Our heart
filled with gratitude. Blessed is He
Who hath laid upon the shoulders of His Servant the burden of the heavens and
of the earth—a burden for which We yield Him every praise, though none may grasp
this save them that are endued with understanding. Glorified is He Who hath surrendered the embodiment of His Beauty
to the clutches of the envious and the wicked—a fate unto which We are fully
resigned, though none may perceive this save those who are endued with
insight. Glorified is He Who hath left
Ḥusayn to make His dwelling amidst the hosts of His enemies, and exposed
His body with every breath to the spears of hatred and anger; yet do We yield
Him thanks for all that He hath destined to befall His Servant Who repaireth
unto Him in His affliction and grief.
6 While engulfed in tribulations I
heard a most wondrous, a most sweet voice, calling above My head. Turning My face, I beheld a Maiden—the
embodiment of the remembrance of the name of My Lord—suspended in the air
before Me. So rejoiced was she in her
very soul that her countenance shone with the ornament of the good pleasure of
God, and her cheeks glowed with the brightness of the All-Merciful. Betwixt earth and heaven she was raising a
call which captivated the hearts and minds of men. She was imparting to both My inward and outer being tidings which
rejoiced My soul, and the souls of God’s honoured servants.
7 Pointing
with her finger unto My head, she addressed all who are in heaven and all who
are on earth, saying: By God! This is the Best-Beloved of the worlds, and
yet ye comprehend not. This is the
Beauty of God amongst you, and the power of His sovereignty within you, could
ye but understand. This is the Mystery
of God and His Treasure, the Cause of God and His glory unto all who are in the
kingdoms of Revelation and of creation, if ye be of them that perceive. This is He Whose Presence is the ardent
desire of the denizens of the Realm of eternity, and of them that dwell within
the Tabernacle of glory, and yet from His Beauty do ye turn aside.
8 O people of the Bayán! If ye aid Him not, God will assuredly assist
Him with the powers of earth and heaven, and sustain Him with the hosts of the
unseen through His command “Be”, and it is!
The day is approaching when God will have, by an act of His Will, raised
up a race of men the nature of which is inscrutable to all save God, the
All-Powerful, the Self-Subsisting. He
shall purify them from the defilement of idle fancies and corrupt desires,
shall lift them up to the heights of holiness, and shall cause them to manifest
the signs of His sovereignty and might upon earth. Thus hath it been ordained by God, the All-Glorious, the
All-Loving.
9 O people of the Bayán! Would ye deny Him Whose presence is the very
object of your creation, while ye rejoice idly upon your couches? Would ye laugh to scorn and contend with
Him, a single hair of Whose head excelleth, in the sight of God, all that are
in the heavens and all that are on the earth?
O people of the Bayán! Produce,
then, that which ye possess, that I may know by what proof ye believed
aforetime in the Manifestations of His Cause, and by what reason ye now wax so
disdainful!
10 I
swear by Him Who hath fashioned Me from the light of His own Beauty! None have I ever seen that surpasseth you in
heedlessness or exceedeth you in ignorance.
Ye seek to prove your faith in God through such holy Tablets as ye possess,
yet when the verses of God were revealed and His Lamp was lighted, ye disbelieved
in Him Whose very Pen hath fixed the destinies of all things in the Preserved
Tablet. Ye recite the sacred verses and
yet repudiate Him Who is their Source and Revealer. Thus hath God blinded your eyes in requital for your deeds, would
ye but understand. Day and night ye
transcribe the verses of God, and yet ye remain shut out, as by a veil, from
Him Who hath revealed them.
11 In this Day the Concourse on high
beholdeth you in your evil doings and shunneth your company, and yet ye
perceive it not. They ask of one
another: “What words do these fools
utter, and in what valley are they wont to graze? Do they deny that whereunto their very souls testify, and shut
their eyes to that which they plainly behold?”
I swear by God, O people! They that
inhabit the Cities of the Names of God are bewildered at your actions, while ye
roam, aimless and unconscious, in a parched and barren land.
12 O Pen of the Most High! Hearken unto the Call of Thy Lord, raised
from the Divine Lote-Tree in the holy and luminous Spot, that the sweet accents
of Thy Lord, the All-Merciful, may fill Thy soul with joy and fervour, and that
the breezes that waft from My name, the Ever-Forgiving, may dispel Thy cares
and sorrows. Raise up, then, from this
Temple, the temples of the Oneness of God, that they may tell out, in the
kingdom of creation, the tidings of their Lord, the Most Exalted, the
All-Glorious, and be of them that are illumined by His light.
13 We, verily, have ordained this
Temple to be the source of all existence in the new creation, that all may know
of a certainty My power to accomplish that which I have purposed through My
word “Be”, and it is! Beneath the
shadow of every letter of this Temple We shall raise up a people whose number
none can reckon save God, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting. Erelong shall God bring forth from His
Temple such souls as will remain unswayed by the insinuations of the
rebellious, and who will quaff at all times of the cup that is life
indeed. These, truly, are of the blissful.
14 These are
servants who abide beneath the shelter of the tender mercy of their Lord, and
who remain undeterred by those who seek to obstruct their path. Upon their faces may be seen the brightness
of the light of the All-Merciful, and from their hearts may be heard the
remembrance of Mine all-glorious and inaccessible Name. Were they to unloose their tongues to extol
their Lord, the denizens of earth and heaven would join in their anthems of praise—yet how few are they who hear!
And were they to glorify their Lord, all created things would join in
their hymns of glory. Thus hath God
exalted them above the rest of His creation, and yet the people remain
unaware!
15 These are they who circle round the
Cause of God even as the shadow doth revolve around the sun. Open, then, your eyes, O people of the
Bayán, that haply ye may behold them!
It is by virtue of their movement that all things are set in motion, and
by reason of their stillness all things are brought to rest, would that ye
might be assured thereof! Through them
the believers in the Divine Unity have turned towards Him Who is the Object of
the adoration of the entire creation, and by them the hearts of the righteous
have found rest and composure, could ye but know it! Through them the earth hath been established, the clouds have
rained down their bounty, and the bread of knowledge hath descended from the
heaven of grace, could ye but perceive it!
16 These souls are the protectors of
the Cause of God on earth, who shall preserve its beauty from the obscuring
dust of idle fancies and vain imaginings.
In the path of their Lord they shall not fear for their lives; rather
will they sacrifice their all in their eagerness to behold the face of their
Well-Beloved when once He hath appeared in this Name, the Almighty, the
All-Powerful, the All-Glorious, the Most Holy.
17 O Living Temple! Arise by the power of Thy Self in such wise
that all created things will be moved to arise with Thee. Aid, then, Thy Lord through such ascendancy
and might as We have bestowed upon Thee.
Take heed lest Thou falter on that Day when all created things are
filled with dismay; rather be Thou the revealer of My name, the Help in Peril,
the Self-Subsisting. Assist Thy Lord to
the utmost of Thine ability, and pay no heed to the peoples of the world, for
that which their mouths utter is like unto the droning of a gnat in an endless
valley. Quaff the water of life in My
name, the All-Merciful, and proffer unto the near ones amongst the inmates of
this lofty station that which shall cause them to become detached from all
names and enter beneath this blessed and all-encompassing shadow.
18 O Living Temple! Through Thee have We gathered together all
created things, whether in the heavens or on the earth, and called them to
account for that which We had covenanted with them before the foundation of the
world. And lo, but for a few radiant faces and
eloquent tongues, We found most of the people dumbfounded, their eyes staring
up in fear. From the former We brought
forth the creation of all that hath been and all that shall be. These are they whose countenances God hath
graciously turned away from the face of the unbelievers, and whom He hath
sheltered beneath the shadow of the Tree of His own Being; they upon whose hearts
He hath bestowed the gift of peace and tranquillity, and whom He hath
strengthened and assisted through the hosts of the seen and the unseen.
19 O Eyes of this
Temple! Look not upon the heavens and
that which they contain, nor upon the earth and them that dwell thereon, for We
have created you to behold Our own Beauty:
See it now before you! Withhold
not your gaze therefrom, and deprive not yourselves of the Beauty of your Lord,
the All-Glorious, the Best-Beloved.
Erelong shall We bring into being through you keen and penetrating eyes that will contemplate the
manifold signs of their Creator and turn away from all that is perceived by the
people of the world. Through you shall
We bestow the power of vision upon whomsoever We desire, and lay hold upon
those who have deprived themselves of this gracious bounty. These, verily, have drunk from the cup of
delusion, though they perceive it not.
20 O Ears of this Temple! Purge yourselves from all idle clamour and
hearken unto the voice of your Lord. He, verily, revealeth unto you, from the Throne of glory, that
there is none other God save Me, the All-Glorious, the Almighty, the Help in
Peril, the Self-Subsisting. Erelong
shall We bring into being through you pure and undefiled ears which will heed the
Word of God and that which hath appeared from the Dayspring of the Utterance of
your Lord, the All-Merciful. They shall
assuredly perceive the sweet accents of Divine Revelation that proceed from
these most blessed and hallowed precincts.
21 O Tongue of this Temple! We, verily, have created thee through Our
name, the All-Merciful, have taught thee whatsoever had remained concealed in
the Bayán, and have bestowed upon thee the power of utterance, that thou mayest
make mention of Mine exalted Self amidst My creatures. Proclaim, then, this wondrous and mighty
Remembrance, and fear not the manifestations of the Evil One. Thou wert called into being for this very
purpose by virtue of My transcendent and all-compelling command. Through thee have We unloosed the Tongue of
Utterance to expound all that hath been, and We shall again, by My sovereign
power, unloose it to speak of that which is yet to come. Erelong shall We bring into being through
thee eloquent tongues that will praise and extol Me amongst the Concourse on
high and amidst the peoples of the world.
Thus have the verses of God been revealed, and thus hath it been decreed
by the Lord of all names and attributes.
Thy Lord, verily, is the True One, the Knower of things unseen. Nothing whatsoever shall prevent these
tongues from magnifying their Creator.
Through them, all created things shall arise to glorify the Lord of
names and to bear witness that there is none other God save Me, the
All-Powerful, the Most-Glorious, the Best-Beloved. Nor shall those who make mention of Me speak aught unless they be
inspired by this Tongue from its lofty station. Few, however, are they who understand! No tongue is there that speaketh not the praises of its Lord and
maketh not mention of His Name. Amongst
the people, however, are those who understand and utter praises, and those who
utter praises, yet understand not.
22 O Maid of inner meanings! Step out of the chamber of utterance by the
leave of God, the Lord of the heavens and the earth. Reveal, then, thyself adorned with the raiment of the celestial
Realm, and proffer with thy ruby fingers the wine of the heavenly Dominion,
that haply the denizens of this world may perceive the light that shone forth
from the Kingdom of God when the Daystar of eternity appeared above the horizon
of glory. Perchance they may arise
before the dwellers of earth and heaven to extol and magnify this Youth Who
hath established Himself in the midmost heart of Paradise upon the throne of
His name, the All-Sufficing Helper—He upon Whose countenance shineth the
brightness of the All-Merciful, from Whose gaze appear the glances of the
All-Glorious, and in Whose ways are revealed the tokens and evidences of God,
the omnipotent Protector, the Almighty, the All-Loving.
23 Grieve not if none be found to
accept the crimson wine proffered by Thy snow-white hand and to seize it in the
name of Thy Lord, the Most Exalted, the Most High—He Who hath appeared again in
His name, the Most Glorious. Leave this
people unto themselves, and repair unto the Tabernacle of majesty and glory,
wherein Thou shalt encounter a people whose faces shine as brightly as the sun
in its noontide splendour, and who praise and extol their Lord in this Name
that hath arisen, in the plenitude of might and power, to assume the throne of
independent sovereignty. From their
lips Thou shalt hear naught but the strains of My glorification and praise;
unto this Thy Lord beareth Me witness.
The existence of these people, however, hath remained concealed from the
eyes of all who, from everlasting, have been created through the Word of
God. Thus have We made plain Our
meaning and set forth Our verses, that perchance men may reflect upon the signs
and tokens of their Lord.
24 These are they who, in truth, were
not enjoined to prostrate themselves before Adam.[1] They have never turned away from the
countenance of Thy Lord, and partake at every moment of the gifts and delights
of holiness. Thus hath the Pen of the
All-Merciful set forth the secrets of all things, be they of the past or of the
future. Would that the world might
understand! Erelong shall God make
manifest this people upon the earth, and through them shall exalt His name,
diffuse His signs, uphold His words, and proclaim His verses, in spite of those
that have repudiated His truth, gainsaid His sovereignty, and cavilled at His
signs.
25 O Beauty of the All-Glorious! Shouldst Thou chance upon this people and
enter their presence, recount unto them that which this Youth hath related unto
Thee concerning Himself and the things that have befallen Him, that they may
come to know what hath been inscribed upon the Preserved Tablet. Acquaint them with the tidings of this
Youth, and with the trials and tribulations He hath suffered, that they may
become mindful of Mine afflictions, and be of them that understand. Recount, then, unto them how We singled out
for Our favour one of Our brothers,[*]
how We imparted unto him a dewdrop from the fathomless ocean of knowledge,
clothed him with the garment of one of Our Names, and exalted him to such a
station that all were moved to extol him, and how We so protected him from the
harm of the malevolent as to disarm even the mightiest amongst them.
26 We arose before the peoples of earth and
heaven at a time when all had determined to slay us. While dwelling in their midst, We continually made mention of the
Lord, celebrated His praise, and stood firm in His Cause, until at last the
Word of God was vindicated amongst His creatures, His signs were spread abroad,
His power exalted, and His sovereignty revealed in its full splendour. To this bear witness all His honoured
servants. Yet when My brother beheld
the rising fame of the Cause, he became filled with arrogance and pride. Thereupon he emerged from behind the veil of
concealment, rose up against Me, disputed My verses, denied My testimony, and
repudiated My signs. Nor would his
hunger be appeased unless he were to devour My flesh and drink My blood. To this testify such of God’s servants as
have accompanied Him in His exile, and they that enjoy near access unto Him.
27 To this end he conferred with one of My
servants[2]
and sought to win him over to his own designs; whereupon the Lord despatched
unto Mine assistance the hosts of the seen and the unseen, protected Me by the
power of truth, and sent down upon Me that which thwarted his purpose. Thus were foiled the plots of those who
disbelieve in the verses of the All-Merciful.
They, truly, are a rejected people.
When news spread of that which the promptings of self had impelled My
brother to attempt, and Our companions in exile learned of his nefarious
design, the voice of their indignation and grief was lifted up and threatened
to spread throughout the city. We
forbade, however, such recriminations, and enjoined upon them patience, that
they might be of those that endure steadfastly.
28 By God, besides Whom is none other
God! We withstood all these trials with
forbearance, and enjoined upon God’s servants to show forth patience and
fortitude. Removing Ourself from their
midst, We took up residence in another house, that perchance the flame of envy
might be quenched in Our brother’s breast, and that he might be guided
aright. We neither opposed him, nor saw
him again thereafter, but remained in Our home, placing Our hopes in the bounty
of God, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting. When, however, he realized that his deed had been exposed, he
seized the pen of calumny and wrote unto the servants of God, attributing what
he had himself committed unto Mine own peerless and wronged Beauty. His purpose was none other than to inspire
mischief amongst God’s servants, and to instil hatred into the hearts of those
who had believed in God, the All-Glorious, the All-Loving.
29 By the One in Whose hand is My
soul! We were dismayed by his
deceitfulness—nay, bewildered were all things visible and invisible. Nor did he find respite from what he
harboured in his bosom until he had committed that which no pen dare describe,
and by which he disgraced the dignity of My station and profaned the sanctity
of God, the Almighty, the All-Glorious, the All-Praised. Were God to turn all the oceans of the earth
into ink and all created things into pens, they would not suffice Me to exhaust
the record of his wrongdoings. Thus do
We recount that which befell Us, that haply ye may be of them that understand.
30 O Pen of Eternity! Grieve not at the things that have befallen
Thee, for erelong shall God raise up a people who will see with their own eyes
and will recall Thy tribulations.
Withhold Thy pen from the mention of Thine enemies, and bestir it in the
praise of the Eternal King. Renounce
all created things, and quaff the sealed wine of My remembrance. Beware lest Thou become occupied with the
mention of those from whom naught save the noisome savours of enmity can be
perceived, those who are so enslaved by their lust for leadership that they
would not hesitate to destroy themselves in their desire to emblazon their fame
and perpetuate their names. God hath
recorded such souls in the Preserved Tablet as mere worshippers of names. Recount then that which Thou hast purposed
for this Temple, that its signs and tokens may be made manifest upon earth, and
that the brightness of this Light may illumine the horizons of the world and
cleanse the earth from the defilement of those who have disbelieved in
God. Thus have We set down the verses
of God and made plain the matter unto those who understand.
31 O Living Temple! Stretch forth Thy hand over all who are in
heaven and on earth, and seize within the grasp of Thy Will the reins of
command. We have, verily, placed in Thy
right hand the empire of all things. Do
as Thou willest, and fear not the ignorant.
Reach out to the Tablet that hath dawned above the horizon of the pen of
Thy Lord, and take hold of it with such strength that, through Thee, the hands
of all who inhabit the earth may be enabled to lay fast hold upon it. This, in truth, is that which becometh Thee,
if Thou be of those who understand.
Through the upraising of Thy hand to the heaven of My grace, the hands
of all created things shall be lifted up to their Lord, the Mighty, the
Powerful, the Gracious. Erelong shall
We raise up, through the aid of Thy hand, other hands endued with power, with strength
and might, and shall establish through them Our dominion over all that dwell in
the realms of revelation and creation.
Thus will the servants of God recognize the truth that there is none
other God beside Me, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting. With these hands, moreover, We shall both
bestow and withhold, though none can understand this save those who see with
the eye of the spirit.
32 Say: O people!
Can ye ever hope to escape the sovereign power of your Lord? By the righteousness of God! No refuge will ye find in this day, and no
one to protect you, save those upon whom God hath bestowed the favour of His
mercy. He, verily, is the
Ever-Forgiving, the Most Compassionate.
Say: O people! Forsake all that ye possess, and enter
beneath the shadow of your Lord, the All-Merciful. Better is this for you than all your works of the past and of the
future. Fear ye God, and deprive not
yourselves of the sweet savours of the days of the Lord of all names and
attributes. Take heed lest ye alter or
pervert the text of the Word of God. Walk ye in the fear of God, and be numbered with the righteous.
33 Say: O people!
This is the Hand of God, which hath ever been above your own hands,
could ye but understand. Within its
grasp We have ordained all the good of the heavens and the earth, such that no
good shall be made manifest but that it proceedeth therefrom. Thus have We made it the source and treasury
of all good both aforetime and hereafter.
Say: The rivers of divine wisdom
and utterance which flowed through the Tablets of God are joined to this Most
Great Ocean, could ye but perceive it, and whatever hath been set forth in His
Books hath attained its final consummation in this most exalted Word—a Word
shining above the horizon of the Will of the All-Glorious in this Revelation which
hath filled with delight all things seen and unseen.
34 Erelong shall God draw
forth, out of the bosom of power, the hands of ascendancy and might, and shall
raise up a people who will arise to win victory for this Youth and who will
purge mankind from the defilement of the outcast and the ungodly. These hands will gird up their loins to
champion the Faith of God, and will, in My name the Self-Subsistent, the
Mighty, subdue the peoples and kindreds of the earth. They will enter the cities and will inspire with fear the hearts
of all their inhabitants. Such are the
evidences of the might of God; how fearful, how vehement is His might, and how
justly doth He wield it! He, verily,
ruleth and transcendeth all who are in the heavens and on the earth, and
revealeth what He desireth according to a prescribed measure.
35 Should any one of them be called
upon to confront all the hosts of creation, he would assuredly prevail through
the ascendancy of My Will. This,
verily, is a proof of My power, though My creatures comprehend it not. This, verily, is a sign of My sovereignty,
though My subjects understand it not.
This, verily, is a token of My command, though My servants perceive it
not. This, verily, is an evidence of
Mine ascendancy, though none amongst the people is truly thankful for it, save
those whose eyes God hath illumined with the light of His knowledge, whose
hearts He hath made the repository of His Revelation, and upon whose shoulders
He hath placed the weight of His Cause.
These shall inhale the fragrances of the All-Merciful from the garment
of His Name, and shall rejoice at all times in the signs and verses of their
Lord. As for those who disbelieve in
God, and join partners with Him, they shall indeed incur His wrath, shall be
cast into the Fire, and shall be made to dwell, fearful and dismayed, in its
depths. Thus do We expound Our verses,
and make plain the truth with clear proofs, that perchance the people may
reflect upon the signs of their Lord.
36 O Living Temple! We have, in very truth, appointed Thee to be
the sign of My majesty amidst all that hath been and all that shall be, and
have ordained Thee to be the emblem of My Cause betwixt the heavens and the
earth, through My word “Be”, and it is!
37 O First Letter of this Temple,
betokening the Essence of Divinity![3] We have made thee the treasury of My Will
and the repository of My Purpose unto all who are in the kingdoms of revelation
and creation. This is but a token of
the grace of Him Who is the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.
38 O Second Letter of this Temple,
betokening My name, the Almighty! We
have made thee the manifestation of Our sovereignty and the dayspring of Our
Names. Potent am I to fulfil that which
My tongue speaketh.
39 O Third Letter of this Temple, betokening
My name, the All-Bountiful! We have
made thee the dawning-place of Our bounty amidst Our creatures and the
fountainhead of Our generosity amidst Our people. Powerful am I in My dominion.
Nothing whatsoever of all that hath been created in the heavens or on
the earth can escape My knowledge, and I am the True One, the Knower of things
unseen.
40 O Pen!
Send down out of the clouds of Thy generosity that which shall enrich
all created things, and withhold not Thy favours from the world of being. Thou, verily, art the All-Bountiful in the
heaven of Thine eternity, and the Lord of infinite grace unto all who inhabit
the kingdom of names. Look not upon the
people and the things they possess; look rather upon the wonders of Thy gifts
and favours. Gather then Thy servants
beneath Thy shade that shadoweth all mankind.
Stretch forth the hand of bounty over all creation, and the fingers of
bestowal over all existence. This,
verily, is that which beseemeth Thee, though the people understand it not. Whosoever turneth his face towards Thee
doeth so by Thy grace, and as to him who turneth away, Thy Lord, in truth, is
independent of all created things. Unto
this bear witness His true and devoted servants.
41 Erelong shall God raise up, through
Thee, those with hands of indomitable strength and arms of invincible might,
who will come forth from behind the veils, will render the All-Merciful
victorious amongst the peoples of the world, and will raise so mighty a cry as
to cause all hearts to tremble with fear.
Thus hath it been decreed in a Written Tablet. Such shall be the ascendancy which these souls will evince that
consternation and dismay will seize all the dwellers of the earth.
42 Beware lest ye shed the blood of
anyone. Unsheathe the sword of your
tongue from the scabbard of utterance, for therewith ye can conquer the
citadels of men’s hearts. We have
abolished the law to wage holy war against each other. God’s mercy, hath, verily, encompassed all
created things, if ye do but understand.
Aid ye your Lord, the God of Mercy, with the sword of
understanding. Keener indeed is it, and
more finely tempered, than the sword of utterance, were ye but to reflect upon
the words of your Lord. Thus have the
hosts of Divine Revelation been sent down by God, the Help in Peril, the
Self-Subsisting, and thus have the armies of divine inspiration been made
manifest from the Source of command, as bidden by God, the All-Glorious, the
Best-Beloved.
43 Say: The measure of all created things hath been
appointed in this concealed and manifest Temple, wherein lie enshrined the
knowledge of the heavens and the earth, and of all things past and future. The finger of God’s handiwork hath inscribed
upon this Tablet that which the wisest and most learned of men are powerless to
fathom, and hath created therein temples inscrutable to all save His own Self,
could ye but apprehend this truth.
Blessed be the one who readeth it, who pondereth its contents, and who
is numbered with them that comprehend!
44 Say: Naught is seen in My temple but the Temple of God, and in My
beauty but His Beauty, and in My being but His Being, and in My self but His
Self, and in My movement but His Movement, and in My acquiescence but His
Acquiescence, and in My pen but His Pen, the Mighty, the All-Praised. There hath not been in My soul but the
Truth, and in Myself naught could be seen but God.
45 Beware lest ye speak of duality in
regard to My Self, for all the atoms of the earth proclaim that there is none
other God but Him, the One, the Single, the Mighty, the Loving. From the beginning that hath no beginning I
have proclaimed, from the realm of eternity, that I am God, none other God is
there save Me, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting; and unto the end that
hath no end I shall proclaim, amidst the kingdom of names, that I am God, none
other God is there beside Me, the All-Glorious, the Best-Beloved. Say:
Lordship is My Name, whereof I have created manifestations in the world
of being, while We Ourself remain sanctified above them, would ye but ponder
this truth. And Godhead is My Name,
whereof We have created exponents whose power shall encompass the people of the
earth and make them true worshippers of God, could ye but recognize it. Thus should ye regard all Our Names, if ye
be endued with insight.
46 O Fourth Letter of this Temple,
betokening the attribute of Grace! We
have made thee the manifestation of grace betwixt earth and heaven. From thee have We generated all grace in the
contingent world, and unto thee shall We cause it to return. And from thee shall We manifest it again,
through a word of Our command. Potent
am I to accomplish whatsoever I desire through My word “Be”, and it is! Every grace that appeareth in the world of
being hath originated from thee, and unto thee shall it return. This, verily, is what hath been ordained in
a Tablet which We have preserved behind the veil of glory and concealed from
mortal eyes. Well is it with them that
deprive themselves not of this manifest and unfailing grace.
47 Say: In this day, the fertilizing winds of the
grace of God have passed over all things.
Every creature hath been endowed with all the potentialities it can
carry. And yet the peoples of the world
have denied this grace! Every tree hath
been endowed with the choicest fruits, every ocean enriched with the most
luminous gems. Man, himself, hath been
invested with the gifts of understanding and knowledge. The whole creation hath been made the
recipient of the revelation of the All-Merciful, and the earth the repository
of things inscrutable to all except God, the Truth, the Knower of things
unseen. The time is approaching when
every created thing will have cast its burden.
Glorified be God Who hath vouchsafed this grace that encompasseth all
things, whether seen or unseen! Thus
have We created the whole earth anew in this day, yet most of the people have
failed to perceive it. Say: The grace of God can never be adequately
understood; how much less can His own Self, the Help in Peril, the
Self-Subsisting, be comprehended!
48 O Temple of the Cause! Grieve not if Thou findest none ready to
receive Thy gifts. Thou wast created
for My sake; occupy Thyself therefore with My praise amidst My servants. This is that which hath been ordained for
Thee in the Preserved Tablet. Having
found upon the earth many a soiled hand, We sanctified the hem of Thy garment
from the profanity of their touch and placed it beyond the reach of the
ungodly. Be patient in the Cause of Thy
Lord, for erelong shall He raise up souls endowed with sanctified hearts and
illumined eyes who shall flee from every quarter unto Thine all-encompassing
and boundless grace.
49 O Temple of God! No sooner had the hosts of Divine Revelation
been sent down by the Lord of all names and attributes bearing the banners of
His signs, than the exponents of doubt and fancy were put to flight. They disbelieved in the clear tokens of God,
the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting, and rose up against Him in enmity and
opposition. Amongst them were those who
claimed: “These are not clear verses
from God, nor do they proceed from an innate and untaught nature.” Thus do the unbelievers seek to remedy the
sickness of their hearts, utterly heedless that they thus render themselves
accursed of all who dwell in heaven and on earth.
50 Say: The Holy Spirit Itself hath been generated
through the agency of a single letter revealed by this Most Great Spirit, if ye
be of them that comprehend. And that
innate and untaught nature in its essence is called into being by the verses of
God, the Help in Peril, the All-Glorious, the Best-Beloved. Say:
This nature prideth itself in its relation to Our transcendent Truth,
whilst We, for Our part, glory neither in it nor in aught else, for all beside
Myself hath been created through the potency of My word, could ye but
understand.
51 Say: We have revealed Our verses in nine
different modes. Each one of them
bespeaketh the sovereignty of God, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting. A single one of them sufficeth for a proof
unto all who are in the heavens and on the earth; yet the people, for the most
part, persist in their heedlessness.
Should it be Our wish, We would reveal them in countless other modes.
52 Say: O people!
Fear ye God, and allow not your tongues to utter, in their
deceitfulness, that which displeaseth Him.
Stand abashed before the One Who, as ye well know, hath created you out
of a drop of water.[4] Say:
We have created all that are in heaven and on earth in the nature made
by God. Whosoever turneth unto this
blessed Countenance shall manifest the potentialities of that inborn nature,
and whosoever remaineth veiled therefrom shall be deprived of this invisible
and all-encompassing grace. Verily,
there is naught from which Our favour hath been withheld, inasmuch as We have
dealt equitably in the fashioning of each and all, and by a word of Our mouth
presented unto them the trust of Our love.
They that have accepted it are indeed safe and secure, and are numbered
among those who are immune from the terrors of this Day. Those, however, who have rejected it have,
in truth, disbelieved in God, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting. Thus do We distinguish between the people
and pronounce judgement upon them. We,
of a certainty, have the power to discern.
53 Say: The Word of God can never be confounded with
the words of His creatures. It is, in
truth, the King of words, even as He is Himself the sovereign Lord of all, and
His Cause transcendeth all that was and all that shall be. Enter, O people, the City of Certitude
wherein the throne of your Lord, the All-Merciful, hath been established. Thus biddeth you the Pen of the
All-Glorious, as a token of His unfailing grace. Haply ye may not make His Revelation a cause of dissension
amongst you.
54 Among the infidels are those who
have repudiated His Self and risen up against His Cause, and who claim that
these divine verses are contrived. Such
also were the objections of the deniers of old, who now implore deliverance
from the Fire. Say: Woe betide you for the idle words that
proceed from your mouths! If these
verses be indeed contrived, then by what proof have ye believed in God? Produce it, if ye be men of understanding! Whensoever We revealed Our clear verses unto
such men, they rejected them, and whensoever they beheld that which the
combined forces of the earth are powerless to produce, they pronounced it
sorcery.
55 What aileth this people that they
speak of that which they understand not?
They raise the same objections as did the followers of the Qur’án when
their Lord came unto them with His Cause.
They, verily, are a rejected people.
They hindered others from appearing before Him Who is the Ancient
Beauty, and from sharing the bread of His loved ones. “Approach them not,” one was even heard to say, “for they cast a
spell upon the people and lead them astray from the path of God, the Help in
Peril, the Self-Subsisting.” By the
righteousness of the one true God! He
who is incapable of speaking in Our presence hath uttered such words as none among
the former generations hath ever spoken, and hath committed such acts as none
of the unbelievers of bygone ages hath ever committed.
56 The very words and deeds of these
men bear eloquent testimony to the truth of My words, if ye be of them that judge
with fairness. Whosoever attributeth
the verses of God to sorcery hath not believed in any of His Messengers, hath
lived and laboured in vain, and is accounted of those who speak that of which
they have no knowledge. Say: O servant!
Fear God, thy Creator and thy Fashioner, and transgress not against Him,
but judge with fairness and act with justice.
Those whom the Lord hath endued with knowledge shall find, in the very
objections raised by the unbelievers, conclusive proofs to invalidate their claims
and vindicate the truth of this manifest Light. Say: Would ye repeat that
which the unbelievers uttered when a Message came unto them from their Lord? Woe betide you, O assemblage of foolish
ones, and blighted be your works!
57 O Ancient Beauty! Turn aside from the unbelievers and that
which they possess, and waft over all created things the sweet savours of the
remembrance of Thy Beloved, the Exalted, the Great. This remembrance quickeneth the world of being and reneweth the
temples of all created things.
Say: He, verily, hath
established Himself upon the Throne of might and glory. Whosoever desireth to gaze upon His
countenance, lo, behold Him standing before thee! Blessed be the Lord Who hath revealed Himself in this shining and
luminous Beauty. Whosoever desireth to
hearken unto His melodies, lo, hear them rising from His resplendent and
wondrous lips! And unto whosoever
desireth to be illumined by the splendours of His light, say: Seek the court of His presence, for God hath
verily granted you leave to approach it, as a token of His grace unto all
mankind.
58 Say: O people!
We shall put to you a question in all truthfulness, taking God for a
witness between you and Us. He, verily,
is the Defender of the righteous.
Appear, then, before His Throne of glory and make reply with justice and
fair-mindedness. Is it God Who is
potent to achieve His purpose, or is it ye who enjoy such authority? Is it He Who is truly unconstrained, as ye
imply when ye say that He doeth what He pleaseth and shall not be asked of His
doings, or is it ye who wield such power, and who merely make such assertions
out of blind imitation, as did your forebears at the appearance of every other
Messenger of God?
59 If He be truly unconstrained, behold
then how He hath sent down the Manifestation of His Cause with verses which
naught in the heavens or on the earth can withstand! Such hath been the manner of their revelation that they have
neither peer nor likeness in the world of being, as ye yourselves beheld and
heard when once the Daystar of the world shone forth above the horizon of ‘Iráq
with manifest dominion. All things
attain their consummation in the divine verses, and these indeed are the verses
of God, the Sovereign Lord, the Help in Peril, the All-Glorious, the
Almighty. Beyond this, He hath been
made manifest as the Bearer of a Cause whose sovereign might is acknowledged by
all created things, and this none can deny save the sinners and the ungodly.
60 Say: O people!
Is it your wish to conceal the beauty of the Sun behind the veils of
your own selfish desires, or to prevent the Spirit from raising its melodies
within this sanctified and luminous breast?
Fear ye God, and contend not with Him Who representeth the Godhead. Dispute not with the One at Whose bidding
the letter “B” was created and joined with its mighty foundation.[5] Believe in the Messengers of God and His
sovereign might, and in the Self of God and His majesty. Follow not those who have repudiated what
they had once believed, and who have sought for themselves a station after
their own fancy; these, truly, are of the ungodly. Bear ye witness unto that whereunto God Himself hath borne
witness, that the company of His favoured ones may be illumined by the words
that issue from your lips. Say: We, verily, believe in that which was
revealed unto the Apostles of old, in that which hath been revealed, by the
power of truth, unto ‘Alí,[†]
and in that which is now being revealed from His Throne of glory. Thus doth your Lord instruct you, as a sign
of His favour and as a token of His grace that encompasseth all the worlds.
61 O Feet of this Temple! We, verily, have wrought you of iron. Stand firm with such constancy in the Cause
of your Lord as to cause the feet of every severed soul to be strengthened in
the path of God, the Almighty, the All-Wise.
Beware lest the storms of enmity and hatred, or the blasts of the
workers of iniquity, cause you to stumble.
Be immovable in the Faith of God, and waver not. We, verily, have called you forth by virtue
of that Name which is the source of all steadfastness, and by the grace of each
one of Our most excellent Names as revealed unto all who are in heaven and on
earth. Erelong shall We bring into
being through you other feet, firm and steadfast, which shall walk unwaveringly
in Our path, even should they be assailed by hosts as formidable as the
combined forces of the former and latter generations. In truth, We hold all grace in the hollow of Our hand, and bestow
it as We please upon Our favoured servants.
Time and again have We vouchsafed unto you Our favours, that ye may
offer such thanks unto your Lord as to cause the tongues of all created things
to speak forth in praise of Me, the All-Merciful, the Most Compassionate.
62 O Living Temple! Arise to serve this Cause through a might
and a power born of Us. Disclose, then,
unto the servants of God all that the Spirit of God, the sovereign Lord, the
Incomparable, the All-Glorious, the All-Wise, hath imparted unto Thee. Say:
O people! Will ye turn away from
Him Who is the Eternal Truth, and choose instead him whom We have created out
of a mere handful of clay? To do so is
to inflict a grievous injustice upon yourselves, if ye be of them that reflect
upon the verses of your Lord. Say: O people!
Cleanse your hearts and your eyes, that ye may recognize your Maker in
this holy and luminous attire.
Say: The celestial Youth hath
ascended the Throne of glory, made manifest His independent sovereignty, and
now voiceth, in the most sweet and wondrous accents, this call betwixt earth
and heaven: “O peoples of the
earth! Wherefore have ye disbelieved in
your Lord, the All-Merciful, and turned aside from Him Who is the Beauty of the
All-Glorious? By the righteousness of
God! This is His Hidden Secret, Who
hath risen from the dayspring of creation; and this is His cherished Beauty,
Who hath shone forth above the horizon of this exalted Station, invested with
the sovereignty of God, the Help in Peril, the All-Glorious, the All-Subduing,
the Almighty.”
63 O Temple of Holiness! We, verily, have cleansed Thy breast from
the whisperings of the people and sanctified it from earthly allusions, that
the light of My beauty may appear therein and be reflected in the mirrors of
all the worlds. Thus have We singled
Thee out above all that hath been created in the heavens and the earth, and
above all that hath been decreed in the realms of revelation and creation, and
chosen Thee for Our own Self. This is
but an evidence of the bounty which God hath vouchsafed unto Thee, a bounty
which shall last until the Day that hath no end in this contingent world. It shall endure so long as God, the Supreme
King, the Help in Peril, the Mighty, the Wise, shall endure. For the Day of God is none other but His own
Self, Who hath appeared with the power of truth. This is the Day that shall not be followed by night, nor shall it
be bounded by any praise, would that ye might understand!
64 O Breast of this Temple! We, verily, have caused all things to mirror
forth thy reality, and made thee as a mirror of Our own Self. Shed, then, upon the breasts of all created
beings the splendours of the light of thy Lord, that they may be freed from all
allusions and limitations. Thus hath
the Daystar of wisdom shone forth above the horizon of the Pen of the Eternal
King. Blessed are those who perceive
it! Through thee have We created other
sanctified breasts, and unto thee shall We cause them to return, as a token of
Our grace unto thee and unto Our favoured servants. Erelong shall We bring into being through thee men with
sanctified and illumined breasts, who will testify to naught save My beauty and
show forth naught but the resplendent light of My countenance. These shall in truth be the mirrors of My
Names amidst all created things.
65 O Temple of Holiness! We, verily, have made Thine inmost heart the
treasury of all the knowledge of past and future ages, and the dawning-place of
Our own knowledge which We have ordained for the dwellers of earth and heaven,
that all creation may partake of the outpourings of Thy grace and may attain,
through the wonders of Thy knowledge, unto the recognition of God, the Exalted,
the Powerful, the Great. In truth, that
knowledge which belongeth unto Mine own Essence is such as none hath ever
attained or will ever grasp, nor shall any heart be capable of bearing its
weight. Were We to disclose but a
single word of this knowledge, the hearts of all men would be filled with
consternation, the foundations of all things would crumble into ruin, and the
feet of even the wisest among men would be made to slip.
66 Within the treasury of Our Wisdom
there lieth unrevealed a knowledge, one word of which, if we chose to divulge
it to mankind, would cause every human being to recognize the Manifestation of
God and to acknowledge His omniscience, would enable every one to discover the
secrets of all the sciences, and to attain so high a station as to find himself
wholly independent of all past and future learning. Other knowledges We do as well possess, not a single letter of
which We can disclose, nor do We find humanity able to hear even the barest
reference to their meaning. Thus have
We informed you of the knowledge of God, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. Were We to find worthy vessels, We would
deposit within them the treasures of hidden meanings and impart unto them a
knowledge, one letter of which would encompass all created things.
67 O Inmost Heart of this Temple! We have made thee the dawning-place of Our
knowledge and the dayspring of Our wisdom unto all who are in heaven and on
earth. From thee have We caused all
sciences to appear, and unto thee shall We cause them to return. And from thee shall We bring them forth a
second time. Such, indeed, is Our
promise, and potent are We to effect Our purpose. Erelong shall We bring into being through thee exponents of new
and wondrous sciences, of potent and effective crafts, and shall make manifest
through them that which the heart of none of Our servants hath yet conceived. Thus do We bestow upon whom We will
whatsoever We desire, and thus do We withdraw from whom We will what We had
once bestowed. Even so do We ordain
whatsoever We please through Our behest.
68 Say: Should We choose, at one time, to shed the
radiance of Our loving providence upon the mirrors of all things, and, at
another, to withhold from them the splendours of Our light, this verily lieth
within Our power, and none hath the right to ask “why” or “wherefore”. For We are potent indeed to achieve Our
purpose, and render no account for that which We bring to pass; and none can
dispute this save those who join partners with God and doubt His Truth. Say:
Nothing can withstand the power of Our might or interrupt the course of
Our command. We exalt whomsoever We
please unto the Realm of supernal might and glory, and, should We so desire,
cause the same to sink into the lowest abyss of degradation.
69 O dwellers of the earth! Would ye contend that if We raise up a soul
unto the Sadratu’l-Muntahá,[6]
it shall then cease to be subject to the power of Our sovereignty and
dominion? Nay, by Mine own Self! Should it be Our wish, We would return it to
the dust in less than the twinkling of an eye.
Consider a tree: Behold how We
plant it in a garden, and nourish it with the waters of Our loving care; and
how, when it hath grown tall and mature, and brought forth verdant leaves and
goodly fruits, We send forth the tempestuous gales of Our decree, tear it up by
its roots, and lay it prostrate upon the face of the earth. So hath it been Our way with all things, and
so shall it be in this day. Such, in
truth, are the matchless wonders of Our immutable method—a method which hath
ever governed, and shall continue to govern, all things, if ye be of them that
perceive. None, however, knoweth the
wisdom thereof save God, the All-Powerful, the Almighty, the All-Wise.
70 Would ye gainsay, O people, the very
thing that your eyes behold? Woe unto
you, O assemblage of deniers! That
which alone is exempt from change is His own Self, the All-Merciful, the Most
Compassionate, were ye to gaze with the eye of insight, while all else beside
Him can be altered by an act of His Will.
He, verily, is the All-Powerful, the Almighty, the All-Wise.
71 O people! Dispute not concerning My Cause, for ye shall never fathom the
manifold wisdom of your Lord, nor shall ye ever gauge the knowledge of Him Who
is the All-Glorious, the All-Pervading.
Whosoever layeth claim to have known His Essence is without doubt among
the most ignorant of all people. Every
atom in the universe would charge such a man with imposture, and to this
beareth witness My tongue which speaketh naught but the truth. Magnify My Cause and promulgate My teachings
and commandments, for none other course beside this shall beseem you, and no
other path shall ever lead unto Him.
Would that ye might heed Our counsel!
72 O Living Temple! We have made Thee the Dayspring of each one
of Our most excellent titles, the Dawning-Place of each one of Our most august
attributes, and the Fountainhead of each one of Our manifold virtues unto the
denizens of earth and heaven.
Thereafter have We raised Thee up in Our own image betwixt the heavens
and the earth, and ordained Thee to be the sign of Our glory unto all who are
in the realms of revelation and creation, that My servants may follow in Thy
footsteps, and be of them who are guided aright. We have appointed Thee the Tree of grace and bounty unto the
dwellers of both the heavens and the earth.
Well is it with them who seek the shelter of Thy shade and who draw nigh
unto Thy Self, the omnipotent Protector of the worlds.
73 Say: We have made each one of Our Names a
wellspring from which We have caused the streams of divine wisdom and
understanding to gush forth and flow in the garden of Our Cause—streams whose
number none can reckon save Thy Lord, the Most Holy, the Omnipotent, the
Omniscient, the All-Wise. Say: We have generated all Letters from the Point
and have caused them to return unto It, and We have sent It down again in the
form of a human temple. All glory be
unto the Author of this incomparable and wondrous handiwork! Erelong shall We unfold and expound It
again, in Our name, the All-Glorious.
This is indeed a token of Our grace, and I, truly, am the Most
Bountiful, the Ancient of Days.
74 We have brought forth all Lights from
the Orb of Our name, the True One, have caused them to return unto It, and have
again made them manifest in the form of a human temple. All glory be unto the Lord of strength,
might, and power! None can withstand
the operation of My will or the exercise of My might. I am He Who hath raised up all creatures through a word of My
mouth, and My power is, in truth, equal to My purpose.
75 Say: It is in Our power, should We wish it, to
cause all created things to expire in an instant, and, with the next, to endue
them again with life. The knowledge
thereof, however, is with God alone, the All-Knowing, the All-Informed. It is in Our power, should We wish it, to
enable a speck of floating dust to generate, in less than the twinkling of an
eye, suns of infinite, of unimaginable splendour, to cause a dewdrop to develop
into vast and numberless oceans, to infuse into every letter such a force as to
empower it to unfold all the knowledge of past and future ages. This, in truth, is a matter simple of
accomplishment. Such have been the
evidences of My power from the beginning that hath no beginning until the end
that hath no end. My creatures,
however, have been oblivious of My power, have repudiated My sovereignty, and
contended with Mine own Self, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.
76 Say: Of all that lieth between heaven and earth,
naught can stir except by My leave, and unto My Kingdom none can ascend save at
My behest. My creatures, however, have
remained veiled from My might and My sovereignty, and are numbered with the heedless. Say:
Naught is seen in My revelation but the Revelation of God, and in My
might but His Might, could ye but know it.
Say: My creatures are even as
the leaves of a tree. They proceed from
the tree, and depend upon it for their existence, yet remain oblivious of their
root and origin. We draw such
similitudes for the sake of Our discerning servants that perchance they may
transcend a mere plant-like level of existence and attain unto true maturity in
this resistless and immovable Cause.
Say: My creatures are even as
the fish of the deep. Their life
dependeth upon the water, and yet they remain unaware of that which, by the
grace of an omniscient and omnipotent Lord, sustaineth their very
existence. Indeed, their heedlessness
is such that were they asked concerning the water and its properties, they
would prove entirely ignorant. Thus do
We set forth comparisons and similitudes, that perchance the people may turn
unto Him Who is the Object of the adoration of the entire creation.
77 O people! Fear God, and disbelieve not in Him Whose grace hath surrounded
all things, Whose mercy hath pervaded the contingent world, and the sovereign
potency of Whose Cause hath encompassed both your inner and your outer beings,
both your beginning and your end. Stand
ye in awe of the Lord, and be of them that act uprightly. Beware lest ye be accounted among those who
allow the verses of their Lord to pass them by unheard and unrecognized; these,
truly, are of the wayward.
78 Say: Would ye worship him who neither heareth nor seeth, and who is of
a truth the most abject and wretched of all God’s servants? Wherefore have ye failed to follow the One Who
hath come unto you from the Source of Divine Command bearing the tidings of
God, the Most Exalted, the Most Great?
O people! Be not like unto those
who presented themselves before Our throne, and yet failed to perceive or
comprehend; these are indeed a contemptible people. We recited unto them verses that would enrapture the dwellers of
the heavenly Dominion and the inmates of the Kingdom on high, and yet they
departed veiled therefrom, and hearkened rather unto the voice of him who is
but a servant of God and a mere creation of His Will. Thus do We impart unto you that which shall guide you towards the
path of God’s favoured ones.
79 How many those who entered within
the Abode of Paradise, the Seat wherein the throne of God had been established,
and stood before their Lord, the Most Exalted, the Most Great, only to inquire
about the four Gates or of some Imám of the Islamic Faith![7] Such was the state of these souls, if ye be
of them that comprehend. It is even as
ye witness in the present day: those
who have disbelieved in God and joined partners with Him cling to a single one
of Our Names, and are debarred from recognizing Him Who is the Creator of all
Names. We testify that such men are of
a truth amongst the people of the Fire.
They ask the sun to expound the words of the shadow, and the True One to
explain the utterances of His creatures, could ye but perceive it! Say:
O people! The sun offereth
naught save the effulgence of its own light and that which appeareth therefrom,
whilst all else seek illumination from its rays. Fear God, and be not of the ignorant! Among them also were those who inquired of the darkness about the
light. Say: Open thine eyes, that thou mayest behold the brightness which
hath visibly enveloped the earth! This,
verily, is a light which hath risen and shone forth above the horizon of the
Dayspring of divine knowledge with manifest radiance. Would ye ask the Jews whether Jesus was the True One from God, or
the idols if Muḥammad was an Apostle of His Lord, or inquire from the
people of the Qur’án as to Him Who was the Remembrance of God, the Most
Exalted, the Most Great?
80 Say: O people!
Cast away, before the splendours of this Revelation, the things that ye
possess, and cleave to that which God hath bidden you observe. Such is His command unto you, and He,
verily, is best able to command. By My
Beauty! My purpose in revealing these
words is to cause all men to draw nigh unto God, the All-Glorious, the
All-Praised. Beware lest ye deal with
Me as ye dealt with My Herald. Do not
object, when the verses of God are sent down unto you from the Court of My
favour, saying, “these do not proceed from an innate and untaught nature”, for
that nature itself hath been created by My word and circleth round Me, if ye be
of them that apprehend this truth.
Inhale from the utterances of your Lord, the All-Merciful, the sweet
smell of the garment of inner meanings, which hath been diffused throughout the
entire creation and hath shed its fragrance over all created things. Happy are those who perceive it and hasten
unto God with radiant hearts.
81 O Living Temple! We, verily, have made Thee a mirror unto the
kingdom of names, that Thou mayest be, amidst all mankind, a sign of My
sovereignty, a herald unto My presence, a summoner unto My beauty, and a guide
unto My straight and perspicuous Path.
We have exalted Thy Name among Our servants as a bounty from Our
presence. I, verily, am the
All-Bountiful, the Ancient of Days. We
have, moreover, adorned Thee with the ornament of Our own Self, and have
imparted unto Thee Our Word, that Thou mayest ordain in this contingent world
whatsoever Thou willest and accomplish whatsoever Thou pleasest. We have destined for Thee all the good of
the heavens and of the earth, and decreed that none may attain unto a portion
thereof unless he entereth beneath Thy shadow, as bidden by Thy Lord, the
All-Knowing, the All-Informed. We have
conferred upon Thee the Staff of authority and the Writ of judgement, that Thou
mayest test the wisdom of every command.
We have caused the oceans of inner meaning and explanation to surge from
Thy heart in remembrance of Thy Lord, the God of mercy, that Thou mayest render
thanks and praise unto Him and be of those who are truly thankful. We have singled Thee out from amongst all
Our creatures, and have appointed Thee as the Manifestation of Our own Self
unto all who are in the heavens and on the earth.
82 Bring then into being, by Our leave,
resplendent mirrors and exalted letters that shall testify to Thy sovereignty
and dominion, bear witness to Thy might and glory, and be the manifestations of
Thy Names amidst mankind. We have
caused Thee again to be the Origin and the Creator of all mirrors, even as We
brought them forth from Thee aforetime.
And We shall cause Thee to return unto Mine own Self, even as We called
Thee forth in the beginning. Thy Lord,
verily, is the Unconstrained, the All-Powerful, the All-Compelling. Warn, then, these mirrors, once they have
been made manifest, lest they swell with pride before their Creator and
Fashioner when He appeareth amongst them, or let the trappings of leadership
delude and debar them from bowing in submission before God, the Almighty, the
All-Beauteous.
83 Say: O concourse of mirrors! Ye are but a creation of My will and have
come to exist by virtue of My command.
Beware lest ye deny the verses of My Lord, and be of them who have
wrought injustice and are numbered with the lost. Beware lest ye cling unto that which ye possess, or take pride in
your fame and renown. That which
behoveth you is to wholly detach yourselves from all that is in the heavens and
on the earth. Thus hath it been
ordained by Him Who is the All-Powerful, the Almighty.
84 O Temple of My Cause! Say:
Should I wish to transform, in a single moment, all things into mirrors
of My Names, this undoubtedly is in My power, how much more in the power of My
Lord, Who hath called Me into being through His all-compelling and inscrutable
command. And should I choose to
revolutionize the entire creation in the twinkling of an eye, this assuredly is
possible unto Me, how much more unto that sovereign Purpose enshrined in the
Will of God, My Lord and the Lord of all the worlds.
85 Say: O ye manifestations of My Names! Should ye offer up all that ye possess, nay
your very lives, in the path of God, and invoke Him to the number of the grains
of sand, the drops of rain, and the waves of the sea, and yet oppose the
Manifestation of His Cause at the time of His appearance, your works shall in
no wise be mentioned before God. Should
ye, however, neglect all righteous works and yet choose to believe in Him in
these days, God perchance will put away your sins. He, verily, is the All-Glorious, the Most Bountiful. Thus doth the Lord inform you of His
purpose, that haply ye may not wax proud before the One through Whom whatsoever
hath been revealed from all eternity hath been confirmed. Happy is he who approacheth this Most
Sublime Vision, and woe to them that turn aside!
86 How numerous those who expend all their wealth in the
path of God, and whom We find, at the hour of His Revelation, to be of the
rebellious and the froward! How many
those who keep the fast in the daytime, only to protest against the One by
Whose very command the ordinance of the fast was first established! Such men are, in truth, of the
ignorant. And how many those who
subsist on the coarsest bread, who take for their only seat the grass of the
field, and who undergo every manner of hardship, merely to maintain their
superiority in the eyes of men! Thus do
We expose their deeds, that this may serve as a warning unto others. These are the ones who subject themselves to
all manner of austerities before the gaze of others in the hope of perpetuating
their names, whilst in reality no mention shall remain of them save in the
curses and imprecations of the dwellers of earth and heaven.
87 Say: Would it profit you in the least if, as ye fondly imagine, your
names were to endure? Nay, by the Lord
of all worlds! Was the idol ‘Uzzá[8]
made any greater by this, that its name lived on amidst the worshippers of names? Nay, by Him Who is the Self of God, the
All-Glorious, the All-Compelling!
Should your names fade from every mortal mind, and yet God be well
pleased with you, ye will indeed be numbered among the treasures of His name,
the Most Hidden. Thus have We sent down
Our verses that they may attract you unto the Source of all Lights, and
acquaint you with the purpose of your Lord, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. Abstain, then, from all that hath been
forbidden unto you in the Book, and eat of the lawful things which God hath
provided for your sustenance. Deprive
not yourselves of His goodly bestowals, for He, verily, is the Most Generous,
the Lord of grace abounding. Subject
not yourselves to excessive hardships, but follow the way We have made plain
unto you through Our luminous verses and perspicuous proofs, and be not of the
negligent.
88 O concourse of divines! It is not yours to boast if ye abstain from
drinking wine and from similar transgressions which have been forbidden you in
the Book, for should ye commit such deeds, the dignity of your station would
then be tainted in the eyes of the people, your affairs would be disrupted, and
your name disgraced and dishonoured.
Nay, your true and abiding glory resideth in submission to the Word of
Him Who is the Eternal Truth, and in your inward and outward detachment from
aught else besides God, the All-Compelling, the Almighty. Great is the blessedness of that divine that
hath not allowed knowledge to become a veil between him and the One Who is the
Object of all knowledge, and who, when the Self-Subsisting appeared, hath
turned with a beaming face towards Him.
He, in truth, is numbered with the learned. The inmates of Paradise seek the blessing of his breath, and his
lamp sheddeth its radiance over all who are in heaven and on earth. He, verily, is numbered with the inheritors
of the Prophets. He that beholdeth him
hath, verily, beheld the True One, and he that turneth towards him hath,
verily, turned towards God, the Almighty, the All-Wise.
89 O ye the dawning-places of
knowledge! Beware that ye suffer not
yourselves to become changed, for as ye change, most men will, likewise,
change. This, verily, is an injustice
unto yourselves and unto others. Unto
this beareth witness every man of discernment and insight. Ye are even as a spring. If it be changed, so will the streams that
branch out from it be changed. Fear
God, and be numbered with the godly. In
like manner, if the heart of man be corrupted, his limbs will also be
corrupted. And similarly, if the root
of a tree be corrupted, its branches, and its offshoots, and its leaves, and
its fruits, will be corrupted. Thus
have We set forth similitudes for your instruction, that perchance ye may not
be debarred by the things ye possess from attaining unto that which hath been
destined for you by Him Who is the All-Glorious, the Most Bountiful.
90 It is indeed in Our power to take up a
handful of dust and to adorn it with the vesture of Our Names. This, however, would be but a sign of our
favour, and not an indication of any merit it may have inherently
possessed. Thus hath it been revealed
in truth by Him Who is the Sovereign Revealer, the All-Knowing. Consider the Black Stone,[9]
which God hath made a point whereunto all men turn in adoration. Hath this bounty been conferred upon it by
virtue of its innate excellence? Nay,
by Mine own Self! Or doth such
distinction stem from its intrinsic worth?
Nay, by Mine own Being, Whose Essence even the wisest and most
discerning of men have failed to grasp!
91 Again, consider the Mosque of
Aqṣá and the other places which We have made sanctuaries unto the people
in every land and region. The honour
and distinction they enjoy is in no wise due to their own merit, but stemmeth
from their relation to Our Manifestations, Whom We have appointed as the
Daysprings of Our Revelation amidst mankind, if ye be of them that
understand. In this there lieth a
wisdom inscrutable to all save God.
Inquire, that He may graciously make plain unto you His purpose. His knowledge, verily, embraceth all
things. Detach yourselves, O people,
from the world and all its vanities, and heed not the call of such as have
disbelieved in God and joined partners with Him. Arise above the horizon of utterance to extol and praise your Lord,
the All-Merciful. This is that which
God hath purposed for you; well is it with them who perceive it.
92 Say: O people!
We have commanded you in Our Tablets to strive, at the time of the
promised Revelation, to sanctify your souls from all names, and to purify them
from all that hath been created in the heavens or on the earth, that therein
may appear the splendours of the Sun of Truth which shineth forth above the
horizon of the Will of your Lord, the Almighty, the Most Great. We have, moreover, commanded you to cleanse
your hearts from every trace of the love or hate of the peoples of the world,
lest aught should divert you from one course or impel you towards another. This, verily, is among the weightiest counsels
I have vouchsafed unto you in the perspicuous Book, for whoso attacheth himself
to either of these shall be prevented from attaining a proper understanding of
Our Cause. To this beareth witness
every just and discerning soul.
93 Ye, however, have broken the Covenant of
God, forgotten His Testament, and at last turned away from Him Whose appearance
hath solaced the eyes of every true believer in the Divine Unity. Lift up the veils and coverings that obscure
your vision, and consider the testimonies of the Prophets and Messengers, that
haply ye may recognize the Cause of God in these days when the Promised One
hath come invested with a mighty sovereignty.
Fear God, and debar yourselves not from Him Who is the Dayspring of His
signs. This shall, in truth, but profit
your own selves; as to your Lord, He, verily, can afford to dispense with all
creatures. From everlasting was He
alone; there was none else besides Him.
He it is in Whose name the standard of Divine Unity hath been planted
upon the Sinai of the visible and invisible worlds, proclaiming that there is
none other God but Me, the Peerless, the Glorious, the Incomparable.
94 Behold, however, how those who are
but a creation of His Will and Command have turned aside from Him and have
taken unto themselves a lord and master beside God; these, truly, are of the
wayward. The mention of the
All-Merciful hath at all times been upon their lips, and yet when He was
manifested unto them through the power of truth they warred against Him. Wretched indeed shall be the plight of such
as have broken the Covenant of their Lord when the Luminary of the world shone
forth above the horizon of the Will of God, the Most Holy, the All-Knowing, the
All-Wise! It was against God that they
unsheathed the swords of malice and hatred, and yet they perceive it not. Methinks they remain dead and buried in the
tombs of their selfish desires, though the breeze of God hath blown over all
regions. They, truly, are wrapt in a
dense and grievous veil. And oft as the
verses of God are rehearsed unto them, they persist in proud disdain; it is as
though they were devoid of all understanding, or had never heard the Call of
God, the Most Exalted, the All-Knowing.
95 Say: Alas for you! How can ye profess yourselves believers, when ye deny the verses
of God, the Almighty, the All-Wise?
Say: O people! Turn your faces unto your Lord, the
All-Merciful. Beware lest ye be veiled
by aught that hath been revealed in the Bayán:
It was, in truth, revealed for no other purpose than to make mention of
Me, the All-Powerful, the Most High, and had no other object than My
Beauty. The whole world hath been
filled with My testimony, if ye be of them that judge with fairness.
96 Had the Primal Point
been someone else beside Me as ye claim, and had attained My presence, verily
He would have never allowed Himself to be separated from Me, but rather We
would have had mutual delights with each other in My Days. He, in truth, wept sore in His remoteness
from Me. He preceded Me that He might
summon the people unto My Kingdom, as it hath been set forth in the Tablets,
could ye but perceive it! O would that
men of hearing might be found who could hear the voice of His lamentation in
the Bayán bewailing that which hath befallen Me at the hands of these heedless
souls, bemoaning His separation from Me and giving utterance to His longing to
be united with Me, the Mighty, the Peerless.
He, verily, beholdeth at this very moment His Best-Beloved amidst those
who were created to attain His Day and to prostrate themselves before Him, and
yet who have inflicted in their tyranny such abasement upon Him as the pen
confesseth its inability to describe.
97 Say: O people!
We, verily, summoned you, in Our former Revelation, unto this Scene of
transcendent glory, this Seat of stainless sanctity, and announced unto you the
advent of the Days of God. Yet, when
the most great veil was rent asunder, and the Ancient Beauty came unto you in
the clouds of God’s decree, ye repudiated Him in Whom ye had believed aforetime. Woe betide you, O company of infidels! Fear ye God, and nullify not the truth with
the things ye possess. When the
luminary of divine verses dawneth upon you from the horizon of the Pen of the
King of all names and attributes, fall ye prostrate upon your faces before God,
the Lord of the Worlds. For to bow down
in adoration at the threshold of His door is indeed better for you than the
worship of both worlds, and to submit to His Revelation is more profitable unto
you than whatsoever hath been created in the heavens and on the earth.
98 Say: O people!
I admonish you wholly for the sake of God, and seek no reward from
you. For My recompense shall be with
God, He Who hath brought Me into being, raised Me up by the power of truth, and
made Me the Source of His remembrance amidst His creatures. Hasten to behold this divine and glorious
Vision, the Spot wherein God hath established His Seat. Follow not that which the Evil One
whispereth in your hearts, for he, verily, doth prompt you to walk after your
lusts and covetous desires, and hindereth you from treading the straight Path
which this all-embracing and all-compelling Cause hath opened.
99 Say: The Evil One hath appeared in such wise as
the eye of creation hath never beheld.
He Who is the Beauty of the All-Merciful hath likewise been made
manifest with an adorning the like of which hath never been witnessed in the
past. The Call of the All-Merciful hath
been raised, and behind it the call of Satan.
Well is it with them who hearken unto the Voice of God, and turn their
faces towards His throne to behold a most holy and blessed Vision. For whoso cherisheth in his heart the love
of anyone beside Me, be it to the extent of a grain of mustard seed, shall be
unable to gain admittance into My Kingdom.
To this beareth witness that which adorneth the preamble of the Book of
Existence, could ye but perceive it.
Say: This is the Day whereon
God’s most great favour hath been made manifest. The voice of all who are in the heavens above and on the earth
below proclaimeth My Name, and singeth forth My praises, could ye but hear
it!
100 O Temple of Divine Revelation! Sound the trumpet in My Name! O Temple of Divine mysteries! Raise the clarion call of Thy Lord, the Unconditioned, the Unconstrained! O Maid of Heaven! Step forth from the chambers of paradise and announce unto the people of the world: By the righteousness of God! He Who is the Best-Beloved of the worlds—He Who hath ever been the Desire of every perceiving heart, the Object of the adoration of all that are in heaven and on earth, and the Cynosure of the former and the latter generations—is now come!
101 Take heed lest ye hesitate in
recognizing this resplendent Beauty when once He hath appeared in the plenitude
of His sovereign might and majesty. He,
verily, is the True One, and all else besides Him is as naught before a single
one of His servants, and paleth into nothingness when brought face to face with
the revelation of His splendours.
Hasten, then, to attain the living waters of His grace, and be not of
the negligent. As to him who
hesitateth, though it be for less than a moment, God shall verily bring his
works to naught and return him to the seat of wrath; wretched indeed is the
abode of them that tarry!
Pope Pius IX
102 O
Pope! Rend the veils asunder. He Who is the Lord of Lords is come
overshadowed with clouds, and the decree hath been fulfilled by God, the
Almighty, the Unrestrained. Dispel the
mists through the power of thy Lord, and ascend unto the Kingdom of His names
and attributes. Thus hath the Pen of
the Most High commanded thee at the behest of thy Lord, the Almighty, the
All-Compelling. He, verily, hath again
come down from Heaven even as He came down from it the first time. Beware that thou dispute not with Him even
as the Pharisees disputed with Him without a clear token or proof. On His right hand flow the living waters of
grace, and on His left the choice Wine of justice, whilst before Him march the
angels of Paradise, bearing the banners of His signs. Beware lest any name debar thee from God, the Creator of earth
and heaven. Leave thou the world behind
thee, and turn towards thy Lord, through Whom the whole earth hath been
illumined.
103 We have adorned the Kingdom with the
ornament of Our name, the All-Glorious.
Thus hath it been decreed by God, the Fashioner of all things. Take heed lest thy vain imaginings withhold
thee, when once the Sun of Certitude hath shone forth above the horizon of the
Utterance of thy Lord, the Mighty, the Beneficent. Dwellest thou in palaces whilst He Who is the King of Revelation
liveth in the most desolate of abodes?
Leave them unto such as desire them, and set thy face with joy and
delight towards the Kingdom.
104 Say: O peoples of the earth!
Destroy the abodes of negligence with the hands of power and assurance,
and raise up the mansions of true knowledge within your hearts, that the
All-Merciful may shed the radiance of His light upon them. Better is this for you than all whereon the
sun shineth, and unto this beareth witness He Who holdeth within His grasp the
ultimate decree. The Breeze of God hath
been wafted over the world at the advent of the Desired One in His great glory,
whereupon every stone and clod of earth hath cried out: “The Promised One is come! The Kingdom is God’s, the Mighty, the
Gracious, the Forgiving.”
105 Beware lest human learning debar
thee from Him Who is the Supreme Object of all knowledge, or lest the world
deter thee from the One Who created it and set it upon its course. Arise in the name of thy Lord, the God of
Mercy, amidst the peoples of the earth, and seize thou the Cup of Life with the
hands of confidence. First drink thou
therefrom, and proffer it then to such as turn towards it amongst the peoples
of all faiths. Thus hath the Moon of
Utterance risen above the horizon of wisdom and understanding.
106 Tear asunder the veils of human
learning lest they hinder thee from Him Who is My name, the
Self-Subsisting. Call thou to
remembrance Him Who was the Spirit, Who, when He came, the most learned of His
age pronounced judgement against Him in His own country, whilst he who was only
a fisherman believed in Him. Take heed,
then, ye men of understanding heart!
Thou, in truth, art one of the suns of the heaven of His names. Guard thyself, lest darkness spread its veils
over thee, and fold thee away from His light.
Ponder, then, that which hath been sent down in the Book by thy Lord,
the Almighty, the All-Bountiful.
107 Say: Still your pens, O concourse of divines, for lo, the shrill voice
of the Pen of Glory hath been lifted up between earth and heaven. Cast away all that ye possess and take fast
hold of that which We have revealed unto you with power and authority. The Hour that was concealed within the
knowledge of God hath struck, whereupon all the atoms of the earth have
proclaimed: “The Ancient of Days is
come in His great glory! Hasten unto
Him, O peoples of the earth, with humble and contrite hearts.” Say:
We, in truth, have given Ourself as a ransom for your own lives. Alas, when We came once again, We beheld you
fleeing from Us, whereat the eye of My loving-kindness wept sore over My
people. Fear God, O ye that perceive.
108 Consider those who opposed the Son,
when He came unto them with sovereignty and power. How many the Pharisees who were waiting to behold Him, and were
lamenting over their separation from Him!
And yet, when the fragrance of His coming was wafted over them, and His
beauty was unveiled, they turned aside from Him and disputed with Him. Thus do We impart unto thee that which hath
been recorded in the Books and Scriptures.
None save a very few, who were destitute of any power amongst men,
turned towards His face. And yet today
every man endowed with power and invested with sovereignty prideth himself on
His Name! In like manner, consider how
numerous, in these days, are the monks who, in My Name, have secluded
themselves in their churches, and who, when the appointed time was fulfilled,
and We unveiled Our beauty, knew Us not, though they call upon Me at eventide
and at dawn. We behold them clinging to
My name, yet veiled from My Self. This,
verily, is a strange thing.
109 Say: Take heed lest your devotions withhold you from Him Who is the
object of all devotion, or your worship debar you from Him Who is the object of
all worship. Rend asunder the veils of
your idle fancies! This is your Lord,
the Almighty, the All-Knowing, Who hath come to quicken the world and unite all
who dwell on earth. Turn unto the
Dayspring of Revelation, O people, and tarry not, be it for less than the
twinkling of an eye. Read ye the
Evangel and yet refuse to acknowledge the All-Glorious Lord? This indeed beseemeth you not, O concourse
of learned men!
110 Say: If ye deny this Revelation, by what proof have ye believed in
God? Produce it then. Thus hath the summons of God been sent down
by the Pen of the Most High at the bidding of your Lord, the Most Glorious, in
this Tablet from whose horizon the splendour of His Light hath shone forth. How many are My servants whose deeds have
become veils between them and their own selves, and who have been kept back
thereby from drawing nigh unto God, He Who causeth the winds to blow.
111 O concourse of monks! The fragrances of the All-Merciful have
wafted over all creation. Happy the man
that hath forsaken his desires, and taken fast hold of guidance. He, indeed, is of those who have attained
unto the presence of God in this Day, a Day whereon commotions have seized the
dwellers of the earth and filled with dismay all save those who have been
exempted by God, He Who layeth low the necks of men.
112 Adorn ye your bodies whilst the
raiment of God is stained with the blood of hatred at the hands of the people
of denial? Issue forth from your
habitations and bid the people enter the Kingdom of God, the Lord of the Day of
Judgement. The Word which the Son
concealed is made manifest. It hath
been sent down in the form of the human temple in this day. Blessed be the Lord Who is the Father! He, verily, is come unto the nations in His
most great majesty. Turn your faces
towards Him, O concourse of the righteous!
113 O followers of all religions! We behold you wandering distraught in the
wilderness of error. Ye are the fish of
this Ocean; wherefore do ye withhold yourselves from that which sustaineth you? Lo, it surgeth before your faces. Hasten unto it from every clime. This is the day whereon the Rock[‡] crieth out and shouteth, and celebrateth the praise of its Lord,
the All-Possessing, the Most High, saying:
“Lo! The Father is come, and
that which ye were promised in the Kingdom is fulfilled!” This is the Word which was preserved behind
the veils of grandeur, and which, when the Promise came to pass, shed its
radiance from the horizon of the Divine Will with clear tokens.
114 My body hath borne imprisonment that your
souls may be released from bondage, and We have consented to be abased that ye
may be exalted. Follow the Lord of
glory and dominion, and not every ungodly oppressor. My body longeth for the cross, and Mine head awaiteth the thrust
of the spear, in the path of the All-Merciful, that the world may be purged
from its transgressions. Thus hath the
Daystar of divine authority shone forth from the horizon of the Revelation of
Him Who is the Possessor of all names and attributes.
115 The people of the Qur’án have risen
against Us, and tormented Us with such a torment that the Holy Spirit lamented,
and the thunder roared out, and the clouds wept over Us. Among the faithless is he who hath imagined
that calamities can deter Bahá from fulfilling that which God, the Creator of
all things, hath purposed. Say: Nay, by Him Who causeth the rain to
fall! Nothing whatsoever can withhold
Him from the remembrance of His Lord.
116 By the righteousness of God! Should they cast Him into a fire kindled on
the continent, He will assuredly rear His head in the midmost heart of the
ocean and proclaim: “He is the Lord of all that are in heaven and all that are
on earth!” And if they cast Him into a darksome pit, they will find Him seated
on earth’s loftiest heights calling aloud to all mankind: “Lo, the Desire of
the World is come in His majesty, His sovereignty, His transcendent dominion!”
And if He be buried beneath the depths of the earth, His Spirit soaring to the
apex of heaven shall peal the summons: “Behold ye the coming of the Glory;
witness ye the Kingdom of God, the Most Holy, the Gracious, the All-Powerful!”
And if they shed His blood, every drop thereof shall cry out and invoke God in
this Name through which the fragrance of His raiment hath been diffused in all
directions.
117 Though threatened by the swords of
Our enemies, We summon all mankind unto God, the Fashioner of earth and heaven,
and We render Him such aid as can be hindered by neither the hosts of tyranny
nor the ascendancy of the people of iniquity.
Say: O peoples of the
earth! Scatter the idols of your vain
imaginings in the name of your Lord, the All-Glorious, the All-Knowing, and
turn ye unto Him in this Day which God hath made the King of days.
118 O Supreme Pontiff! Incline thine ear unto that which the
Fashioner of mouldering bones counselleth thee, as voiced by Him Who is His
Most Great Name. Sell all the
embellished ornaments thou dost possess, and expend them in the path of God,
Who causeth the night to return upon the day, and the day to return upon the
night. Abandon thy kingdom unto the
kings, and emerge from thy habitation, with thy face set towards the Kingdom,
and, detached from the world, then speak forth the praises of thy Lord betwixt
earth and heaven. Thus hath bidden thee
He Who is the Possessor of Names, on the part of thy Lord, the Almighty, the
All-Knowing. Exhort thou the kings and
say: “Deal equitably with men. Beware lest
ye transgress the bounds fixed in the Book.”
This indeed becometh thee. Beware
lest thou appropriate unto thyself the things of the world and the riches
thereof. Leave them unto such as desire
them, and cleave unto that which hath been enjoined upon thee by Him Who is the
Lord of creation. Should anyone offer
thee all the treasures of the earth, refuse to even glance upon them. Be as thy Lord hath been. Thus hath the Tongue of Revelation spoken
that which God hath made the ornament of the book of creation.
119 Consider a pearl which shineth by
virtue of its inherent nature. If it be
covered with silk, its luster and beauty will be concealed. Likewise, man’s distinction lieth in the
excellence of his conduct and in the pursuit of that which beseemeth his
station, not in childish play and pastimes.
Know that thy true adornment consisteth in the love of God and in thy
detachment from all save Him, and not in the luxuries thou dost possess. Abandon them unto those who seek after them
and turn unto God, He Who causeth the rivers to flow.
120 Whatever proceeded from the tongue
of the Son was revealed in parables, whilst He Who proclaimeth the Truth in
this Day speaketh without them. Take
heed lest thou cling to the cord of idle fancy and withhold thyself from that
which hath been ordained in the Kingdom of God, the Almighty, the
All-Bountiful. Should the inebriation
of the wine of My verses seize thee, and thou determinest to present thyself
before the throne of thy Lord, the Creator of earth and heaven, make My love
thy vesture, and thy shield remembrance of Me, and thy provision reliance upon
God, the Revealer of all power.
121 O followers of the Son! We have once again sent John unto you, and
He, verily, hath cried out in the wilderness of the Bayán: O peoples of the world! Cleanse your eyes! The Day whereon ye can behold the Promised One and attain unto
Him hath drawn nigh! O followers of the
Gospel! Prepare the way! The Day of the advent of the Glorious Lord
is at hand! Make ready to enter the
Kingdom. Thus hath it been ordained by
God, He Who causeth the dawn to break.
122 Give ear unto that which the Dove of
Eternity warbleth upon the twigs of the Divine Lote-Tree: O peoples of the earth! We sent forth him who was named John to
baptize you with water, that your bodies might be cleansed for the appearance
of the Messiah. He, in turn, purified
you with the fire of love and the water of the spirit in anticipation of these
Days whereon the All-Merciful hath purposed to cleanse you with the water of
life at the hands of His loving providence.
This is the Father foretold by Isaiah, and the Comforter concerning Whom
the Spirit had covenanted with you.
Open your eyes, O concourse of bishops, that ye may behold your Lord
seated upon the Throne of might and glory.
123 Say: O peoples of all faiths!
Walk not in the ways of them that followed the Pharisees and thus veiled
themselves from the Spirit. They truly
have strayed and are in error. The
Ancient Beauty is come in His Most Great Name, and He wisheth to admit all
mankind into His most holy Kingdom. The
pure in heart behold the Kingdom of God manifest before His Face. Make haste thereunto and follow not the
infidel and the ungodly. Should your
eye be opposed thereto, pluck it out.[10] Thus hath it been decreed by the Pen of the
Ancient of Days, as bidden by Him Who is the Lord of the entire creation. He, verily, hath come again that ye might be
redeemed, O peoples of the earth. Will
ye slay Him Who desireth to grant you eternal life? Fear God, O ye who are endued with insight.
124 O people!
Hearken unto that which hath been revealed by your All-Glorious Lord,
and turn your faces unto God, the Lord of this world and of the world to
come. Thus doth He Who is the
Dawning-Place of the Daystar of divine inspiration command you as bidden by the
Fashioner of all mankind. We, verily,
have created you for the light, and desire not to abandon you unto the
fire. Come forth, O people, from
darkness by the grace of this Sun which hath shone forth above the horizon of
divine providence, and turn thereunto with sanctified hearts and assured souls,
with seeing eyes and beaming faces.
Thus counselleth you the Supreme Ordainer from the scene of His
transcendent glory, that perchance His summons may draw you nigh unto the
Kingdom of His names.
125 Blessed the one who hath remained
faithful to the Covenant of God, and woe betide him who hath broken it and
disbelieved in Him, the Knower of secrets.
Say: This is the Day of Bounty! Bestir yourselves that I may make you
monarchs in the realms of My Kingdom.
If ye follow Me, ye shall behold that which ye were promised, and I will
make you My companions in the dominion of My majesty and the intimates of My
beauty in the heaven of My power forevermore.
If ye rebel against Me, I will in My clemency endure it patiently, that
haply ye may awaken and rise up from the couch of heedlessness. Thus hath My mercy encompassed you. Fear ye God and follow not in the ways of
those who have turned away from His face, though they invoke His name in the
daytime and in the night season.
126 Verily, the day of ingathering is
come, and all things have been separated from each other. He hath stored away that which He chose in
the vessels of justice, and cast into fire that which befitteth it. Thus hath it been decreed by your Lord, the
Mighty, the Loving, in this promised Day.
He, verily, ordaineth what He pleaseth.
There is none other God save He, the Almighty, the All-Compelling. The desire of the Divine Sifter hath been to
store up every good thing for Mine own Self.
Naught hath He spoken save to acquaint you with My Cause and to guide
you to the path of Him whose mention hath adorned all the sacred Books.
127 Say: O concourse of Christians!
We have, on a previous occasion, revealed Ourself unto you, and ye
recognized Me not. This is yet another
occasion vouchsafed unto you. This is
the Day of God; turn ye unto Him. He,
verily, hath come down from heaven even as He came down the first time, and He
desireth to shelter you beneath the shade of His mercy. He, verily, is the Exalted, the Mighty, the
Supreme Helper. The Beloved One loveth
not that ye be consumed with the fire of your desires. Were ye to be shut out as by a veil from
Him, this would be for no other reason than your own waywardness and
ignorance. Ye make mention of Me, and
know Me not. Ye call upon Me, and are
heedless of My Revelation, notwithstanding that I came unto you from the heaven
of pre-existence with surpassing glory.
Rend the veils asunder in My name and through the power of My
sovereignty that ye may discover a path unto your Lord.
128 The King of Glory proclaimeth from
the tabernacle of majesty and grandeur His call, saying: O people of the Gospel! They who were not in the Kingdom have now
entered it, whilst We behold you, in this day, tarrying at the gate. Rend the veils asunder by the power of your
Lord, the Almighty, the All-Bounteous, and enter, then, in My name My
Kingdom. Thus biddeth you He Who
desireth for you everlasting life. He,
verily, is potent over all things.
Blessed are those who have recognized the Light and hastened unto
it. They, verily, dwell in the Kingdom,
and partake of the food and drink of God’s chosen ones.
129 We behold you, O children of the Kingdom,
in darkness. This, verily, beseemeth
you not. Are ye, in the face of the
Light, fearful because of your deeds?
Direct yourselves towards Him.
Your All-Glorious Lord hath blessed His lands with His footsteps. Thus do We make plain unto you the path of
Him Whom the Spirit prophesied. I,
verily, bear witness unto Him, even as He hath borne witness unto Me. Verily, He said: “Come ye after Me, and I will make you to become fishers of
men.” In this day, however, We
say: “Come ye after Me, that We may
make you to become quickeners of mankind.”
Thus hath the decree been inscribed in this Tablet by the Pen of
Revelation.
130 O Pen of the Most High! Bestir Thyself in remembrance of other kings
in this blessed and luminous Book, that perchance they may rise from the couch
of heedlessness and give ear unto that which the Nightingale singeth upon the
branches of the Divine Lote-Tree, and hasten towards God in this most wondrous
and sublime Revelation.
Napoleon III
131 O King of Paris![11] Tell the priests to ring the bells no
longer. By God, the True One! The Most Mighty Bell hath appeared in the
form of Him Who is the Most Great Name, and the fingers of the Will of Thy
Lord, the Most Exalted, the Most High, toll it out in the heaven of Immortality
in His name, the All-Glorious. Thus
have the mighty verses of Thy Lord been again sent down unto thee, that thou
mayest arise to remember God, the Creator of earth and heaven, in these days
when all the tribes of the earth have mourned, and the foundations of the
cities have trembled, and the dust of irreligion hath enwrapped all men, except
such as God, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise, was pleased to spare. Say:
He Who is the Unconstrained is come, in the clouds of light, that He may
quicken the world with the breezes of His name, the Most Merciful, and unify
its peoples, and gather all men around this Table which hath been sent down
from heaven. Beware that ye deny not
the favour of God after it hath been sent down unto you. Better is this for you than that which ye
possess; for that which is yours perisheth, whilst that which is with God
endureth. He, in truth, ordaineth what
He pleaseth. Verily, the breezes of
forgiveness have been wafted from the direction of your Lord, the God of Mercy;
whoso turneth thereunto shall be cleansed of his sins, and of all pain and
sickness. Happy the man that hath
turned towards them, and woe betide him that hath turned aside.
132 Wert thou to incline thine inner ear
unto all created things, thou wouldst hear: “The Ancient of Days is come in His
great glory!” Everything celebrateth
the praise of its Lord. Some have known
God and remember Him; others remember Him, yet know Him not. Thus have We set down Our decree in a
perspicuous Tablet.
133 Give
ear, O King, unto the Voice that calleth from the Fire which burneth in this
verdant Tree, on this Sinai which hath been raised above the hallowed and
snow-white Spot, beyond the Everlasting City; “Verily, there is none other God
but Me, the Ever-Forgiving, the Most Merciful!” We, in truth, have sent Him Whom We aided with the Holy Spirit
that He may announce unto you this Light that hath shone forth from the horizon
of the Will of your Lord, the Most Exalted, the All-Glorious, and Whose signs
have been revealed in the West. Set
your faces towards Him on this Day which God hath exalted above all other days,
and whereon the All-Merciful hath shed the splendour of His effulgent glory
upon all who are in heaven and all who are on earth. Arise thou to serve God and help His Cause. He, verily, will assist thee with the hosts
of the seen and unseen, and will set thee king over all that whereon the sun
riseth. Thy Lord, in truth, is the
All-Powerful, the Almighty.
134 The
breezes of the Most Merciful have passed over all created things; happy the man
that hath discovered their fragrance, and set himself towards them with a sound
heart. Attire thy temple with the
ornament of My Name, and thy tongue with remembrance of Me, and thine heart
with love for Me, the Almighty, the Most High.
We have desired for thee naught except that which is better for thee
than what thou dost possess and all the treasures of the earth. Thy Lord, verily, is knowing, informed of
all. Arise, in My Name, amongst My servants, and say: “O ye peoples of the earth!
Turn yourselves towards Him Who hath turned towards you. He, verily, is the Face of God amongst you,
and His Testimony and His Guide unto you.
He hath come to you with signs which none can produce.” The voice of the Burning Bush is raised in
the midmost heart of the world, and the Holy Spirit calleth aloud among the
nations: “Lo, the Desired One is come
with manifest dominion!”
135 O King!
The stars of the heaven of knowledge have fallen, they who seek to
establish the truth of My Cause through the things they possess, and who make
mention of God in My Name. And yet,
when I came unto them in My glory, they turned aside. They, indeed, are of the fallen.
This is, truly, that which the Spirit of God hath announced, when He
came with truth unto you, He with Whom the Jewish doctors disputed, till at
last they perpetrated what hath made the Holy Spirit to lament, and the tears
of them that have near access to God to flow.
Consider how a Pharisee who had worshipped God for seventy years
repudiated the Son when He appeared, whereas one who had committed adultery
gained admittance into the Kingdom.
Thus doth the Pen admonish thee as bidden by the Eternal King, that thou
mayest be apprised of what came to pass aforetime and be reckoned in this day
among them that truly believe.
136 Say: O concourse of monks!
Seclude not yourselves in your churches and cloisters. Come ye out of them by My leave, and busy,
then, yourselves with what will profit you and others. Thus commandeth you He Who is the Lord of
the Day of Reckoning. Seclude
yourselves in the stronghold of My love.
This, truly, is the seclusion that befitteth you, could ye but know
it. He that secludeth himself in his
house is indeed as one dead. It
behoveth man to show forth that which will benefit mankind. He that bringeth
forth no fruit is fit for the fire.
Thus admonisheth you your Lord; He, verily, is the Mighty, the
Bountiful. Enter ye into wedlock, that
after you another may arise in your stead.
We, verily, have forbidden you lechery, and not that which is conducive
to fidelity. Have ye clung unto the
promptings of your nature, and cast behind your backs the statutes of God? Fear ye God, and be not of the foolish. But for man, who, on My earth, would
remember Me, and how could My attributes and My names be revealed? Reflect, and be not of them that have shut
themselves out as by a veil from Him, and were of those that are fast
asleep. He that married not could find
no place wherein to abide, nor where to lay His head, by reason of what the
hands of the treacherous had wrought.
His holiness consisted not in the things ye have believed and imagined,
but rather in the things which belong unto Us.
Ask, that ye may be made aware of His station which hath been exalted
above the vain imaginings of all the peoples of the earth. Blessed are they that understand.
137 O
King! We heard the words thou didst
utter in answer to the Czar of Russia, concerning the decision made regarding
the war.[12] Thy Lord, verily, knoweth, is informed of
all. Thou didst say: “I lay asleep upon my couch, when the cry of
the oppressed, who were drowned in the Black Sea, wakened me.” This is what We heard thee say, and, verily,
thy Lord is witness unto what I say. We
testify that that which wakened thee was not their cry but the promptings of
thine own passions, for We tested thee, and found thee wanting. Comprehend the meaning of My words, and be
thou of the discerning. It is not Our
wish to address thee words of condemnation, out of regard for the dignity We
conferred upon thee in this mortal life.
We, verily, have chosen courtesy, and made it the true mark of such as
are nigh unto Him. Courtesy is, in
truth, a raiment which fitteth all men, whether young or old. Well is it with him that adorneth his temple
therewith, and woe unto him who is deprived of this great bounty. Hadst thou been sincere in thy words, thou
wouldst have not cast behind thy back the Book of God, when it was sent unto
thee by Him Who is the Almighty, the All-Wise.
We have proved thee through it, and found thee other than that which
thou didst profess. Arise, and make
amends for that which escaped thee.
Erelong the world and all that thou possessest will perish, and the
kingdom will remain unto God, thy Lord and the Lord of thy fathers of old. It behoveth thee not to conduct thine
affairs according to the dictates of thy desires. Fear the sighs of this Wronged One, and shield Him from the darts
of such as act unjustly.
138 For what thou hast done, thy kingdom shall
be thrown into confusion, and thine empire shall pass from thine hands, as a punishment
for that which thou hast wrought.[13]
Then wilt thou know how thou hast plainly erred. Commotions shall seize all the people in that land, unless thou
arisest to help this Cause, and followest Him Who is the Spirit of God in this,
the Straight Path. Hath thy pomp made
thee proud? By My Life! It shall not endure; nay, it shall soon pass
away, unless thou holdest fast to this firm Cord. We see abasement hastening after thee, whilst thou art of the
heedless. It behoveth thee when thou
hearest His Voice calling from the seat of glory to cast away all that thou
possessest, and cry out: “Here am I, O Lord of all that is in heaven and all
that is on earth!”
139 O King!
We were in ‘Iráq, when the hour of parting arrived. At the bidding of the King of Islám[§] We set Our steps in his direction. Upon Our arrival, there befell Us at the hands of the malicious
that which the books of the world can never adequately recount. Thereupon the inmates of Paradise, and they
that dwell within the retreats of holiness, lamented; and yet the people are
wrapped in a thick veil! Say: Do ye cavil at Him Who hath come unto you
bearing the clear evidence of God and His proof, the testimony of God and His
signs? These things are not from
Himself; nay, rather they proceed from the One Who hath raised Him up, sent Him
forth through the power of truth, and made Him to be a lamp unto all mankind.
140 More grievous became Our plight from
day to day, nay, from hour to hour, until they took Us forth from Our prison
and made Us, with glaring injustice, enter the Most Great Prison. And if anyone ask them: “For what crime were they imprisoned?”, they
would answer and say: “They, verily,
sought to supplant the Faith with a new religion!” If that which is ancient be
what ye prefer, wherefore, then, have ye discarded that which hath been set
down in the Torah and the Evangel?
Clear it up, O men! By My
life! There is no place for you to flee
to in this day. If this be My crime,
then Muḥammad, the Apostle of God, committed it before Me, and before Him
He Who was the Spirit of God, and yet earlier He Who conversed with God. And if My sin be this, that I have exalted
the Word of God and revealed His Cause, then indeed am I the greatest of sinners! Such a sin I will not barter for the
kingdoms of earth and heaven.
141 Upon Our arrival at this Prison, We
purposed to transmit to the kings the messages of their Lord, the Mighty, the
All-Praised. Though We have transmitted
to them, in several Tablets, that which We were commanded, yet We do it once
again as a token of God’s grace.
Perchance they may recognize the Lord, Who hath come down in the clouds
with manifest sovereignty.
142 As
My tribulations multiplied, so did My love for God and for His Cause increase,
in such wise that all that befell Me from the hosts of the wayward was
powerless to deter Me from My purpose.
Should they hide Me away in the depths of the earth, yet would they find
Me riding aloft on the clouds, and calling out unto God, the Lord of strength
and of might. I have offered Myself up
in the way of God, and I yearn after tribulations in My love for Him, and for
the sake of His good pleasure. Unto
this bear witness the woes which now afflict Me, the like of which no other man
hath suffered. Every single hair of
Mine head calleth out that which the Burning Bush uttered on Sinai, and each
vein of My body invoketh God and saith:
“O would I had been severed in Thy path, so that the world might be
quickened, and all its peoples be united!” Thus hath it been decreed by Him Who
is the All-Knowing, the All-Informed.
143 Know
of a truth that your subjects are God’s trust amongst you. Watch ye, therefore, over them as ye watch
over your own selves. Beware that ye
allow not wolves to become the shepherds of the fold, or pride and conceit to
deter you from turning unto the poor and the desolate. Wert thou to quaff the mystic Wine of
everlasting life from the chalice of the words of thy Lord, the All-Merciful,
thou wouldst be enabled to forsake all that thou dost possess and to proclaim
My Name before all mankind. Cleanse
then thy soul with the waters of detachment.
Verily, this is the Remembrance that hath shone forth above the horizon
of creation, which shall purge thy soul from the dross of the world. Abandon thy palaces to the people of the
graves, and thine empire to whosoever desireth it, and turn, then, unto the
Kingdom. This, verily, is what God hath
chosen for thee, wert thou of them that turn unto Him. They that have failed to turn unto the
Countenance of God in this Revelation are indeed bereft of life. They move as bidden by their own selfish
desires, and are in truth accounted among the dead. Shouldst thou desire to bear the weight of thy dominion, bear it
then to aid the Cause of thy Lord. Glorified
be this station which whoever attaineth thereunto hath attained unto all good
that proceedeth from Him Who is the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.
144 Arise thou, in My name, above the
horizon of renunciation, and set, then, thy face towards the Kingdom, at the
bidding of thy Lord, the Lord of strength and of might. Through the power of My sovereignty stand
before the inhabitants of the world and say: “O people! The Day is come, and the fragrances of God
have been wafted over the whole of creation.
They that have turned away from His Face are the helpless victims of
their corrupt inclinations. They are
indeed of them that have gone astray.”
145 Adorn the body of Thy kingdom with
the raiment of My name, and arise, then, to teach My Cause. Better is this for thee than that which thou
possessest. God will, thereby, exalt
thy name among all the kings. Potent is
He over all things. Walk thou amongst
men in the name of God, and by the power of His might, that thou mayest show
forth His signs amidst the peoples of the earth. Burn thou brightly with the flame of this undying Fire which the
All-Merciful hath ignited in the midmost heart of creation, that through thee
the heat of His love may be kindled within the hearts of His favoured
ones. Follow in My way and enrapture
the hearts of men through remembrance of Me, the Almighty, the Most Exalted.
146 Say: He from whom, in this day, the sweet savours of the remembrance
of His Lord, the All-Merciful, have not been diffused, is indeed unworthy of
the station of man. He, verily, is of
them that have followed their own desires, and shall erelong find himself in
grievous loss. Doth it behove you to
relate yourselves to Him Who is the God of mercy, and yet commit the things
which the Evil One hath committed? Nay,
by the Beauty of Him Who is the All-Glorified! could ye but know it. Purge your hearts from love of the world,
and your tongues from calumny, and your limbs from whatsoever may withhold you
from drawing nigh unto God, the Mighty, the All-Praised. Say:
By the world is meant that which turneth you aside from Him Who is the
Dawning-Place of Revelation, and inclineth you unto that which is unprofitable
unto you. Verily, the thing that
deterreth you, in this day, from God is worldliness in its essence. Eschew it, and approach the Most Sublime
Vision, this shining and resplendent Seat.
Blessed is he who alloweth nothing whatsoever to intervene between him
and his Lord. No harm, assuredly, can
befall him if he partaketh with justice of the benefits of this world, inasmuch
as We have created all things for such of Our servants as truly believe in God.
147 Should your words, O people, be at
variance with your deeds, what then shall distinguish you from those who
profess their faith in the Lord, their God, and yet, when He came down to them
overshadowed with clouds, rejected Him and waxed proud before God, the
Incomparable, the Omniscient? Shed not
the blood of anyone, O people, neither judge ye anyone unjustly. Thus have ye been commanded by Him Who knoweth,
Who is informed of all. They that
commit disorders in the land after it hath been well ordered, these indeed have
outstepped the bounds that have been set in the Book. Wretched shall be the abode of the transgressors!
148 God hath prescribed unto everyone
the duty of teaching His Cause. Whoever
ariseth to discharge this duty, must needs, ere he proclaimeth His Message,
adorn himself with the ornament of an upright and praiseworthy character, so
that his words may attract the hearts of such as are receptive to his
call. Without it, he can never hope to
influence his hearers. Thus doth God
instruct you. He, verily, is the
Ever-Forgiving, the Most Compassionate.
149 They who exhort others unto justice,
while themselves committing iniquity, stand accused of falsehood by the inmates
of the Kingdom and by those who circle round the throne of their Lord, the
Almighty, the Beneficent, for that which their tongues have uttered. Commit not, O people, that which dishonoureth
your name and the fair name of the Cause of God amongst men. Beware lest ye approach that which your
minds abhor. Fear God and follow not in
the footsteps of them that are gone astray.
Deal not treacherously with the substance of your neighbour. Be ye trustworthy on earth, and withhold not
from the poor the things given unto you by God through His grace. He, verily, will bestow upon you the double
of what ye possess. He, in truth, is
the All-Bounteous, the Most Generous.
150 Say: We have ordained that our Cause be taught through the power of
utterance. Beware lest ye dispute idly
with anyone. Whoso ariseth wholly for
the sake of his Lord to teach His Cause, the Holy Spirit shall strengthen him
and inspire him with that which will illumine the heart of the world, how much
more the hearts of those who seek Him.
O people of Bahá! Subdue the
citadels of men’s hearts with the swords of wisdom and of utterance. They that dispute, as prompted by their
desires, are indeed wrapped in a palpable veil. Say: The sword of wisdom
is hotter than summer heat, and sharper than blades of steel, if ye do but
understand. Draw it forth in My name
and through the power of My might, and conquer then with it the cities of the
hearts of them that have secluded themselves in the stronghold of their corrupt
desires. Thus biddeth you the Pen of
the All-Glorious, whilst seated beneath the swords of the wayward.
151 If ye become aware of a sin committed by
another, conceal it, that God may conceal your own sin. He, verily, is the Concealer, the Lord of
grace abounding. O ye rich ones on
earth! If ye encounter one who is poor,
treat him not disdainfully. Reflect
upon that whereof ye were created.
Every one of you was created of a sorry germ.[14] It behoveth you to observe truthfulness,
whereby your temples shall be adorned, your names uplifted, your stations
exalted amidst men, and a mighty recompense assured for you before God.
152 Give ear, O peoples of the earth,
unto that which the Pen of the Lord of all nations commandeth you. Know ye of a certainty that the
Dispensations of the past have attained their highest, their final consummation
in the Law that hath branched out from this Most Great Ocean. Haste ye thereunto at Our behest. We, verily, ordain as We please. Regard ye the world as a man’s body, which
is afflicted with divers ailments, and the recovery of which dependeth upon the
harmonizing of all of its component elements.
Gather ye around that which We have prescribed unto you, and walk not in
the ways of such as create dissension.
153 All feasts have attained their
consummation in the two Most Great Festivals, and in two other Festivals that
fall on the twin days—the first of the Most Great Festivals being those days
whereon God shed the effulgent glory of His most excellent Names upon all who
are in heaven and on earth, and the second being that day on which We raised up
the One Who announced unto the people the glad tidings of this Great
Announcement.[15] Thus hath it been set down in the Book by
Him Who is the Mighty, the Powerful. On
other than these four consummate days, engage ye in your daily occupations, and
withhold yourselves not from the pursuit of your trades and crafts. Thus hath the command been issued and the
law gone forth from Him Who is your Lord, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.
154 Say: O concourse of priests and monks! Eat ye of that which God hath made lawful unto you and do not
shun meat. God hath, as a token of His
grace, granted you leave to partake thereof save during a brief period. He, verily, is the Mighty, the
Beneficent. Forsake all that ye possess
and hold fast unto that which God hath purposed. This is that which profiteth you, if ye be of them that
comprehend. We have ordained a fast of
nineteen days in the most temperate of the seasons, and have in this
resplendent and luminous Dispensation relieved you from more than this. Thus have We set forth and made clear unto
you that which ye are bidden to observe, that ye may follow the commandments of
God and be united in that which the Almighty, the All-Wise, hath appointed unto
you. He Who is your Lord, the
All-Merciful, cherisheth in His heart the desire of beholding the entire human
race as one soul and one body. Haste ye
to win your share of God’s good grace and mercy in this Day that eclipseth all
other created Days. How great the
felicity that awaiteth the man that forsaketh all he hath in a desire to obtain
the things of God! Such a man, We
testify, is among God’s blessed ones.
155 O King!
Bear thou witness unto that which God hath Himself and for Himself borne
witness ere the creation of earth and heaven, that there is none other God but
Me, the One, the Single, the Most Exalted, the Incomparable, the
Inaccessible. Arise with the utmost
steadfastness in the Cause of thy Lord, the All-Glorious. Thus hast thou been instructed in this
wondrous Tablet. We, verily, have
desired naught for thee save that which is better for thee than all that is on
earth. Unto this testify all created
things and beyond them this perspicuous Book.
156 Meditate on the world and the state
of its people. He, for Whose sake the
world was called into being, hath been imprisoned in the most desolate of
cities,[**] by reason of that which the hands of the wayward have
wrought. From the horizon of His
prison-city He summoneth mankind unto the Dayspring of God, the Exalted, the
Great. Exultest thou over the treasures
thou dost possess, knowing they shall perish?
Rejoicest thou in that thou rulest a span of earth, when the whole
world, in the estimation of the people of Bahá, is worth as much as the black
in the eye of a dead ant? Abandon it
unto such as have set their affections upon it, and turn thou unto Him Who is
the Desire of the world. Whither are
gone the proud and their palaces? Gaze
thou into their tombs, that thou mayest profit by this example, inasmuch as We
made it a lesson unto every beholder.
Were the breezes of Revelation to seize thee, thou wouldst flee the
world, and turn unto the Kingdom, and wouldst expend all thou possessest, that
thou mayest draw nigh unto this sublime Vision.
157 We behold the generality of mankind
worshipping names and exposing themselves, as thou dost witness, to dire perils
in the mere hope of perpetuating their names, whilst every perceiving soul
testifieth that after death one’s name shall avail him nothing except insofar
as it beareth a relationship unto God, the Almighty, the All-Praised. Thus have their vain imaginings taken hold
of them in requital for that which their hands have wrought. Consider the pettiness of men’s minds. They seek with utmost exertion that which
profiteth them not, and yet wert thou to ask of them: “Is there any advantage in that which ye desire?”, thou wouldst
find them sorely perplexed. Were a
fair-minded soul to be found, he would reply:
“Nay, by the Lord of the worlds!”
Such is the condition of the people and of that which they possess. Leave them in their folly and turn thy sight
unto God. This is in truth that which
beseemeth thee. Hearken then unto the
counsel of thy Lord, and say: Lauded
art Thou, O God of all who are in heaven and on earth!
Czar Alexander II
158 O Czar of Russia! Incline thine ear unto the voice of God, the
King, the Holy, and turn thou unto Paradise, the Spot wherein abideth He Who,
among the Concourse on high, beareth the most excellent titles, and Who, in the
kingdom of creation, is called by the name of God, the Effulgent, the
All-Glorious. Beware lest thy desire
deter thee from turning towards the face of thy Lord, the Compassionate, the
Most Merciful. We, verily, have heard
the thing for which thou didst supplicate thy Lord, whilst secretly communing
with Him. Wherefore, the breeze of My
loving-kindness wafted forth, and the sea of My mercy surged, and We answered
thee in truth. Thy Lord, verily, is the
All-Knowing, the All-Wise. Whilst I lay
chained and fettered in the prison, one of thy ministers extended Me his
aid. Wherefore hath God ordained for
thee a station which the knowledge of none can comprehend except His
knowledge. Beware lest thou barter away
this sublime station. Thy Lord, verily,
doeth what He willeth. What He pleaseth
will God abrogate or confirm, and with Him is the knowledge of all things in a
Guarded Tablet.
159 Beware lest thy sovereignty withhold
thee from Him Who is the Supreme Sovereign.
He, verily, is come with His Kingdom, and all the atoms cry aloud:
“Lo! The Lord is come in His great
majesty!” He Who is the Father is come,
and the Son, in the holy vale, crieth out: “Here am I, here am I, O Lord, My
God!”, whilst Sinai circleth round the House, and the Burning Bush calleth
aloud: “The All-Bounteous is come
mounted upon the clouds! Blessed is he
that draweth nigh unto Him, and woe betide them that are far away.”
160 Arise thou amongst men in the name
of this all-compelling Cause, and summon, then, the nations unto God, the
Exalted, the Great. Be thou not of them
who called upon God by one of His names, but who, when He Who is the Object of
all names appeared, denied Him and turned aside from Him, and, in the end,
pronounced sentence against Him with manifest injustice. Consider and call thou to mind the days
whereon the Spirit of God appeared, and Herod gave judgement against Him. God, however, aided Him with the hosts of
the unseen, and protected Him with truth, and sent Him down unto another land,
according to His promise. He, verily,
ordaineth what He pleaseth. Thy Lord
truly preserveth whom He willeth, be he in the midst of the seas, or in the maw
of the serpent, or beneath the sword of the oppressor.
161 Blessed be the king whom the veils
of glory have not deterred from turning unto the Dayspring of beauty and who
hath forsaken his all in his desire to obtain the things of God. He, indeed, is accounted in the sight of God
as the most excellent of men, and is extolled by the inmates of paradise and
them that circle morn and eve round the Throne on high.
162 Again I say: Hearken unto My voice that calleth from My
prison, that it may acquaint thee with the things that have befallen My Beauty,
at the hands of them that are the manifestations of My glory, and that thou
mayest perceive how great hath been My patience, notwithstanding My might, and
how immense My forbearance, notwithstanding My power. By My life! Couldst thou
but know the things sent down by My Pen, and discover the treasures of My
Cause, and the pearls of My mysteries which lie hid in the seas of My names and
in the goblets of My words, thou wouldst, in thy love for My name, and in thy
longing for My glorious and sublime Kingdom, lay down thy life in My path. Know thou that though My body be beneath the
swords of My foes, and My limbs be beset with incalculable afflictions, yet My
spirit is filled with a gladness with which all the joys of the earth can never
compare.
163 Set thine heart towards Him Who is the
Point of adoration for the world, and say: “O peoples of the earth! Have ye denied the One in Whose path He Who
came with the truth, bearing the announcement of your Lord, the Exalted, the
Great, suffered martyrdom?” Say: This is an Announcement whereat the hearts
of the Prophets and Messengers have rejoiced.
This is the One Whom the heart of the world remembereth, and is promised
in the Books of God, the Mighty, the All-Wise.
The hands of the Messengers were, in their desire to meet Me, upraised
towards God, the Mighty, the Glorified.
Unto this testifieth that which hath been sent down in the sacred
Scriptures by Him Who is the Lord of might and power.
164 Some lamented in their separation
from Me, others endured hardships in My path, and still others laid down their
lives for the sake of My Beauty, could ye but know it. Say:
I, verily, have not sought to extol Mine own Self, but rather God
Himself, were ye to judge fairly.
Naught can be seen in Me except God and His Cause, could ye but perceive
it. I am the One Whom the tongue of
Isaiah hath extolled, the One with Whose name both the Torah and the Evangel
were adorned. Thus hath it been decreed
in the Scriptures of thy Lord, the Most Merciful. He, verily, hath borne witness unto Me, as I bear witness unto
Him. And God testifieth to the truth of
My words.
165 Say: The Books have been sent down for naught but My remembrance. Whosoever is receptive to their call shall
perceive therefrom the sweet fragrances of My name and My praise; and he who
hath unstopped the ear of his inmost heart shall hear from every word
thereof: “The True One is come! He indeed is the beloved of the worlds!”
166 It is for the sake of God alone that My
tongue counselleth you and that My pen moveth to make mention of you, for
neither can the malice and denial of all who dwell on earth harm Me, nor the
allegiance of the entire creation profit Me.
We, verily, exhort you unto that which We were commanded, and desire
naught from you except that ye draw nigh unto what shall profit you in both
this world and the world to come.
Say: Will ye slay Him Who
summoneth you unto life everlasting?
Fear ye God, and follow not every contumacious oppressor.
167 O proud ones of the earth! Do ye believe yourselves to be abiding in
palaces whilst He Who is the King of Revelation resideth in the most desolate
of abodes? Nay, by My life! In tombs do ye dwell, could ye but perceive
it. Verily, he who faileth, in these
days, to be stirred by the breeze of God is accounted among the dead in the
sight of Him Who is the Lord of all names and attributes. Arise, then, from the tombs of self and
desire and turn unto the Kingdom of God, the Possessor of the Throne on high
and of earth below, that ye may behold that which ye were promised aforetime by
your Lord, the All-Knowing.
168 Think ye that the things ye possess
shall profit you? Soon others will
possess them and ye will return unto the dust with none to help or succour
you. What advantage is there in a life
that can be overtaken by death, or in an existence that is doomed to
extinction, or in a prosperity that is subject to change? Cast away the things that ye possess and set
your faces toward the favours of God which have been sent down in this wondrous
Name.
169 Thus doth the Pen of the Most High
warble unto thee its melodies by the leave of thy Lord, the All-Glorious. When thou hast heard and recited them,
say: “Praise be unto Thee, O Lord of
all the worlds, inasmuch as Thou hast made mention of me through the tongue of
Him Who is the Manifestation of Thy Self at a time when He was confined in the
Most Great Prison, that the whole world might attain unto true liberty.”
170 Blessed be the king whose
sovereignty hath withheld him not from his Sovereign, and who hath turned unto
God with his heart. He, verily, is
accounted of those that have attained unto that which God, the Mighty, the
All-Wise, hath willed. Erelong will
such a one find himself numbered with the monarchs of the realms of the
Kingdom. Thy Lord is, in truth, potent
over all things. He giveth what He
willeth to whomsoever He willeth, and withholdeth what He pleaseth from
whomsoever He willeth. He, verily, is
the All-Powerful, the Almighty.
Queen Victoria
171 O Queen in London! Incline thine ear unto the voice of thy
Lord, the Lord of all mankind, calling from the Divine Lote-Tree: Verily, no God is there but Me, the
Almighty, the All-Wise! Cast away all
that is on earth, and attire the head of thy kingdom with the crown of the
remembrance of thy Lord, the All-Glorious.
He, in truth, hath come unto the world in His most great glory, and all
that hath been mentioned in the Gospel hath been fulfilled. The land of Syria hath been honoured by the
footsteps of its Lord, the Lord of all men, and north and south are both
inebriated with the wine of His presence.
Blessed is the man that hath inhaled the fragrance of the Most Merciful,
and turned unto the Dawning-Place of His Beauty, in this resplendent Dawn. The Mosque of Aqṣá vibrateth through
the breezes of its Lord, the All-Glorious, whilst Baṭḥá[††] trembleth at the voice of God, the Exalted, the Most High. Whereupon every single stone of them
celebrateth the praise of the Lord, through this Great Name.
172 Lay aside thy desire, and set then
thine heart towards thy Lord, the Ancient of Days. We make mention of thee for the sake of God, and desire that thy
name may be exalted through thy remembrance of God, the Creator of earth and
heaven. He, verily, is witness unto
that which I say. We have been informed
that thou hast forbidden the trading in slaves, both men and women. This, verily, is what God hath enjoined in
this wondrous Revelation. God hath,
truly, destined a reward for thee, because of this. He, verily, will pay the doer of good his due recompense, wert
thou to follow what hath been sent unto thee by Him Who is the All-Knowing, the
All-Informed. As to him who turneth
aside, and swelleth with pride, after the clear tokens have come unto him from
the Revealer of signs, his work shall God bring to naught. He, in truth, hath power over all
things. Man’s actions are acceptable
after his having recognized (the Manifestation). He that turneth aside from the True One is indeed the most veiled
amongst His creatures. Thus hath it
been decreed by Him Who is the Almighty, the Most Powerful.
173 We
have also heard that thou hast entrusted the reins of counsel into the hands of
the representatives of the people.
Thou, indeed, hast done well, for thereby the foundations of the edifice
of thine affairs will be strengthened, and the hearts of all that are beneath
thy shadow, whether high or low, will be tranquillized. It behoveth them, however, to be trustworthy
among His servants, and to regard themselves as the representatives of all that
dwell on earth. This is what
counselleth them, in this Tablet, He Who is the Ruler, the All-Wise. And if any one of them directeth himself
towards the Assembly, let him turn his eyes unto the Supreme Horizon, and
say: “O my God! I ask Thee, by Thy most glorious Name, to
aid me in that which will cause the affairs of Thy servants to prosper, and Thy
cities to flourish. Thou, indeed, hast
power over all things!” Blessed is he
that entereth the Assembly for the sake of God, and judgeth between men with
pure justice. He, indeed, is of the
blissful.
174 O ye the elected representatives of the
people in every land! Take ye counsel
together, and let your concern be only for that which profiteth mankind and
bettereth the condition thereof, if ye be of them that scan heedfully. Regard the world as the human body which,
though at its creation whole and perfect, hath been afflicted, through various
causes, with grave disorders and maladies.
Not for one day did it gain ease, nay its sickness waxed more severe, as
it fell under the treatment of ignorant physicians, who gave full rein to their
personal desires and have erred grievously.
And if, at one time, through the care of an able physician, a member of
that body was healed, the rest remained afflicted as before. Thus informeth you the All-Knowing, the
All-Wise.
175 We behold it, in this day, at the mercy of
rulers so drunk with pride that they cannot discern clearly their own best
advantage, much less recognize a Revelation so bewildering and challenging as
this. And whenever any one of them hath
striven to improve its condition, his motive hath been his own gain, whether
confessedly so or not; and the unworthiness of this motive hath limited his
power to heal or cure.
176 That which the Lord hath ordained as
the sovereign remedy and mightiest
instrument for the healing of all the world is the union of all its
peoples in one universal Cause, one common Faith. This can in no wise be achieved except through the power of a
skilled, an all-powerful and inspired Physician. This, verily, is the truth, and all else naught but error. Each time that Most Mighty Instrument hath
come, and that Light shone forth from the Ancient Dayspring, He was withheld by
ignorant physicians who, even as clouds, interposed themselves between Him and
the world. It failed, therefore, to
recover, and its sickness hath persisted until this day. They indeed were powerless to protect it, or
to effect a cure, whilst He Who hath been the Manifestation of Power amongst
men was withheld from achieving His purpose, by reason of what the hands of the
ignorant physicians have wrought.
177 Consider these days in which He Who
is the Ancient Beauty hath come in the Most Great Name, that He may quicken the
world and unite its peoples. They,
however, rose up against Him with sharpened swords, and committed that which
caused the Faithful Spirit to lament, until in the end they imprisoned Him in
the most desolate of cities, and broke the grasp of the faithful upon the hem
of His robe. Were anyone to tell them:
“The World Reformer is come”, they would answer and say: “Indeed it is proven that He is a fomenter
of discord!”, and this notwithstanding that they have never associated with
Him, and have perceived that He did not seek, for one moment, to protect Himself. At all times He was at the mercy of the
wicked doers. At one time they cast Him
into prison, at another they banished Him, and at yet another hurried Him from
land to land. Thus have they pronounced
judgement against Us, and God, truly, is aware of what I say. Such men are reckoned by God among the most
ignorant of His creatures. They cut off
their own limbs and perceive it not; they deprive themselves of that which is
best for them, and know it not. They
are even as a young child who can distinguish neither the mischief-maker from
the reformer nor the wicked from the righteous. We behold them in this Day wrapt in a palpable veil.
178 O ye rulers of the earth! Wherefore have ye clouded the radiance of
the Sun, and caused it to cease from shining?
Hearken unto the counsel given you by the Pen of the Most High, that
haply both ye and the poor may attain unto tranquillity and peace. We beseech God to assist the kings of the
earth to establish peace on earth. He,
verily, doth what He willeth.
179 O kings of the earth! We see you increasing every year your
expenditures, and laying the burden thereof on your subjects. This, verily, is wholly and grossly unjust. Fear the sighs and tears of this Wronged
One, and lay not excessive burdens on your peoples. Do not rob them to rear palaces for yourselves; nay rather choose
for them that which ye choose for yourselves.
Thus We unfold to your eyes that which profiteth you, if ye but
perceive. Your people are your
treasures. Beware lest your rule violate
the commandments of God, and ye deliver your wards to the hands of the
robber. By them ye rule, by their means
ye subsist, by their aid ye conquer.
Yet, how disdainfully ye look upon them! How strange, how very strange!
180 Now that ye have refused the Most
Great Peace, hold ye fast unto this, the Lesser Peace, that haply ye may in
some degree better your own condition and that of your dependents.
181 O rulers of the earth! Be reconciled among yourselves, that ye may
need no more armaments save in a measure to safeguard your territories and
dominions. Beware lest ye disregard the
counsel of the All-Knowing, the Faithful.
182 Be united, O kings of the earth, for
thereby will the tempest of discord be stilled amongst you, and your peoples
find rest, if ye be of them that comprehend.
Should any one among you take up arms against another, rise ye all
against him, for this is naught but manifest justice. Thus did We exhort you in the Tablet sent down aforetime,[‡‡] and We admonish you once again to follow that which hath been
revealed by Him Who is the Almighty, the All-Wise. Should anyone seek refuge with you, extend unto him your
protection and betray him not. Thus doth
the Pen of the Most High counsel you, as bidden by Him Who is the All-Knowing,
the All-Informed.
183 Beware lest ye act as did the King
of Islám[§§] when We came unto him at his bidding. His ministers pronounced judgement against Us with such injustice
that all creation lamented and the hearts of those who are nigh unto God were
consumed. The winds of self and passion
move them as they will, and We found them all bereft of constancy. They are, indeed, of those that are far
astray.
184 Rein in Thy pen, O Pen of the
Ancient of Days, and leave them to themselves, for they are immersed in their
idle fancies. Make Thou mention of the
Queen, that she may turn with a pure heart unto the scene of transcendent
glory, may withhold not her eyes from gazing toward her Lord, the Supreme
Ordainer, and may become acquainted with that which hath been revealed in the
Books and Tablets by the Creator of all mankind, He through Whom the sun hath
been darkened and the moon eclipsed, and through Whom the Call hath been raised
betwixt earth and heaven.
185 Turn thou unto God and say: O my Sovereign Lord! I am but a vassal of Thine, and Thou art, in
truth, the King of kings. I have lifted
my suppliant hands unto the heaven of Thy grace and Thy bounties. Send down, then, upon me from the clouds of
Thy generosity that which will rid me of all save Thee, and draw me nigh unto
Thyself. I beseech Thee, O my Lord, by
Thy name, which Thou hast made the king of names and the manifestation of
Thyself to all who are in heaven and on earth, to rend asunder the veils that
have intervened between me and my recognition of the Dawning-Place of Thy signs
and the Dayspring of Thy Revelation.
Thou art, verily, the Almighty, the All-Powerful, the
All-Bounteous. Deprive me not, O my
Lord, of the fragrances of the Robe of Thy mercy in Thy days, and write down
for me that which Thou hast written down for Thy handmaidens who have believed
in Thee and in Thy signs, and have recognized Thee, and set their hearts
towards the horizon of Thy Cause. Thou
art truly the Lord of the worlds and of those who show mercy the Most Merciful. Assist me, then, O my God, to remember Thee
amongst Thy handmaidens, and to aid Thy Cause in Thy lands. Accept, then, that which hath escaped me
when the light of Thy countenance shone forth.
Thou, indeed, hast power over all things. Glory be to Thee, O Thou in Whose hand is the kingdom of the
heavens and of the earth.
186 O
King of the Earth! Hearken unto the
call of this Vassal: Verily, I am a
Servant Who hath believed in God and in His signs, and have sacrificed Myself
in His path. Unto this bear witness the
woes which now beset Me, woes the like of which no man hath ever before
sustained. My Lord, the All-Knowing,
testifieth to the truth of My words. I
have summoned the people unto none save God, thy Lord and the Lord of the
worlds, and have endured for love of Him such afflictions as the eye of
creation hath never beheld. To this
testify those whom the veils of human fancy have not deterred from turning unto
the Most Sublime Vision, and, beyond them, He with Whom is the knowledge of all
things in the preserved Tablet.
187 Whensoever
the clouds of tribulation have rained down the darts of affliction in the path
of God, the Lord of all names, I have hastened to meet them, as every
fair-minded and discerning soul shall attest.
How many the nights which found the beasts of the field resting in their
lairs, and the birds of the air lying in their nests, while this Youth
languished in chains and fetters with none to aid or succour Him!
188 Call
Thou to mind God’s mercy unto Thee; how, when Thou wert imprisoned with a number
of other souls, He delivered Thee and aided Thee with the hosts of the seen and
the unseen, until the King sent Thee to ‘Iráq after We had disclosed unto him
that Thou wert not of the sowers of sedition.
Those who follow their corrupt desires and lay aside the fear of God are
indeed in grievous error. They that
spread disorder in the land, shed the blood of men, and wrongfully consume the
substance of others—We, verily, are clear of them, and We beseech God not to
associate Us with them, whether in this world or in the world to come, unless
they should repent unto Him. He,
verily, is of those who show mercy the most merciful.
189 Whoso turneth towards God must
distinguish himself from others by his every deed, and follow that which hath
been enjoined upon him in the Book.
Thus hath it been decreed in a lucid Tablet. Those, however, who cast behind their backs the commandments of
God, and follow the prompting of their own desires, are, verily, in grievous
error.
190 O King!
I adjure thee by thy Lord, the All-Merciful, to look upon thy servants
with the glances of the eye of thy favour, and to treat them with justice, that
God may treat thee with mercy. Potent
is thy Lord to do as He pleaseth. The
world, with all its abasement and glory, shall pass away, and the kingdom will
remain unto God, the Most Exalted, the All-Knowing.
191 Say: He hath kindled the lamp of utterance, and feedeth it with the
oil of wisdom and understanding. Too
high is thy Lord, the All-Merciful, for aught in the universe to resist His
Faith. He revealeth what He pleaseth
through the power of His sovereign might, and protecteth it with a host of His
well-favoured angels. He is supreme
over His servants and exerciseth undisputed dominion over His creation. He, verily, is the All-Knowing, the
All-Wise.
192 O
King! I was but a man like others,
asleep upon My couch, when lo, the breezes of the All-Glorious were wafted over
Me, and taught Me the knowledge of all that hath been. This thing is not from Me, but from One Who
is Almighty and All-Knowing. And He
bade Me lift up My voice between earth and heaven, and for this there befell Me
what hath caused the tears of every man of understanding to flow. The learning current amongst men I studied
not; their schools I entered not. Ask
of the city wherein I dwelt, that thou mayest be well assured that I am not of
them who speak falsely. This is but a
leaf which the winds of the will of thy Lord, the Almighty, the All-Praised,
have stirred. Can it be still when the
tempestuous winds are blowing? Nay, by
Him Who is the Lord of all Names and Attributes! They move it as they list.
The evanescent is as nothing before Him Who is the Ever-Abiding. His all-compelling summons hath reached Me,
and caused Me to speak His praise amidst all people. I was indeed as one dead when His behest was uttered. The hand of the will of thy Lord, the
Compassionate, the Merciful, transformed Me.
Can anyone speak forth of his own accord that for which all men, both
high and low, will protest against him?
Nay, by Him Who taught the Pen the eternal mysteries, save him whom the
grace of the Almighty, the All-Powerful, hath strengthened.
193 The Pen of the Most
High addresseth Me, saying: Fear
not. Relate unto His Majesty the Sháh
that which befell thee. His heart,
verily, is between the fingers of thy Lord, the God of Mercy, that haply the
sun of justice and bounty may shine forth above the horizon of his heart. Thus hath the decree been irrevocably fixed
by Him Who is the All-Wise.
194 Look upon this Youth, O King, with
the eyes of justice; judge thou, then, with truth concerning what hath befallen
Him. Of a verity, God hath made thee
His shadow amongst men, and the sign of His power unto all that dwell on earth. Judge thou between Us and them that have
wronged Us without proof and without an enlightening Book. They that surround thee love thee for their
own sakes, whereas this Youth loveth thee for thine own sake, and hath had no
desire except to draw thee nigh unto the seat of grace, and to turn thee toward
the right hand of justice. Thy Lord
beareth witness unto that which I declare.
195 O
King! Wert thou to incline thine ear
unto the shrill of the Pen of Glory and the cooing of the Dove of Eternity
which, on the branches of the Lote-Tree beyond which there is no passing,
uttereth praises to God, the Maker of all names and Creator of earth and
heaven, thou wouldst attain unto a station from which thou wouldst behold in
the world of being naught save the effulgence of the Adored One, and wouldst
regard thy sovereignty as the most contemptible of thy possessions, abandoning
it to whosoever might desire it, and setting thy face toward the Horizon aglow
with the light of His countenance.
Neither wouldst thou ever be willing to bear the burden of dominion save
for the purpose of helping thy Lord, the Exalted, the Most High. Then would the Concourse on high bless
thee. O how excellent is this most
sublime station, couldst thou ascend thereunto through the power of a
sovereignty recognized as derived from the Name of God!
196 Amongst the people are those who
allege that this Youth hath had no purpose but to perpetuate His name, whilst
others claim that He hath sought for Himself the vanities of the world—this,
notwithstanding that never, throughout all My days, have I found a place of
safety, be it to the extent of a single foothold. At all times have I been immersed in an ocean of tribulations,
whose full measure none can fathom but God.
He, truly, is aware of what I say.
How many the days in which My loved ones have been sorely shaken by
reason of My afflictions, and how many the nights during which My kindred,
fearing for My life, have bitterly wept and lamented! And this none can deny save them that are bereft of
truthfulness. Is it conceivable that He
Who expecteth to lose His life at any moment should seek after worldly
vanities? How very strange the
imaginings of those who speak as prompted by their own caprices, and who wander
distractedly in the wilderness of self and passion! Erelong shall they be called upon to account for their words, and
on that day they shall find none to befriend or help them.
197 And amongst the people are those who
claim that He hath disbelieved in God—yet every member of My body testifieth
that there is none other God but Him; that those Whom He hath raised up in
truth and sent forth with His guidance are the Manifestations of His most
excellent names, the Revealers of His most exalted attributes, and the
Repositories of His Revelation in the kingdom of creation; that through them
the Proof of God hath been perfected unto all else but Him, the standard of
Divine Unity hath been raised, and the sign of sanctity hath been made
manifest; and that through them every soul hath found a path unto the Lord of
the Throne on high. We testify that
there is none other God but Him, that from everlasting He was alone with none
else besides Him, and that He shall be unto everlasting what He hath ever been. Too high is the All-Merciful for the hearts
of those who have recognized Him to apprehend His true nature, or for the minds
of men to hope to fathom His essence.
He verily is exalted above the understanding of anyone besides Himself,
and sanctified beyond the comprehension of all else save Him. From all eternity He hath been independent
of the entire creation.
198 Remember the days in which the Sun
of Baṭḥá[***]
shone forth above the horizon of the Will of thy Lord, the Exalted, the Most
High, and recall how the divines of that age turned away from Him, and the
learned contended with Him, that haply thou mayest apprehend that which, in
this day, remaineth concealed behind the veils of glory. So grievous became His plight on every side
that He instructed His companions to disperse.
Thus was the decree made manifest from the heaven of divine glory. Remember, furthermore, how, when one of
these same companions came before the King of Ethiopia and recited unto him a
Súrih of the Qur’án, he declared to his attendants: “This, truly, hath been revealed by One Who is All-Knowing and
All-Wise. Whoso acknowledgeth the
truth, and believeth in the teachings of Jesus, can in no wise deny what hath
been recited. We, verily, bear witness
to its truth, even as we bear witness to the truth of that which we possess of
the Books of God, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.”
199 I swear by God, O King! Wert thou to incline thine ear to the
melodies of that Nightingale which warbleth in manifold accents upon the mystic
bough as bidden by thy Lord, the All-Merciful, thou wouldst cast away thy
sovereignty and set thy face towards this Scene of transcendent glory, above
whose horizon shineth the Book of the Dawntide,[16]
and wouldst expend all that thou possessest in thine eagerness to obtain the
things of God. Then wouldst thou find
thyself raised up to the summit of exaltation and glory, and elevated to the
pinnacle of majesty and independence.
Thus hath the decree been recorded in the Mother Book by the Pen of the
All-Merciful. Of what avail are the
things which are yours today and which tomorrow others shall possess? Choose for thyself that which God hath
chosen for His elect, and God shall grant thee a mighty sovereignty in His
Kingdom. We beseech God to aid thy
Majesty to hearken unto that Word whose radiance hath enveloped the whole
world, and to protect thee from such as have strayed far from the court of His
presence.
200 Glory be to Thee, O Lord My
God! How many the heads which were
raised aloft on spears in Thy path, and how many the breasts which were made
the target of arrows for the sake of Thy good pleasure! How many the hearts that have been lacerated
for the exaltation of Thy Word and the promotion of Thy Cause, and how many the
eyes that have wept sore for love of Thee!
I implore Thee, O Thou Who art the King of kings and the Pitier of the
downtrodden, by Thy Most Great Name which Thou hast made the Dawning-Place of
Thy most excellent names and the Dayspring of Thy most exalted attributes, to
remove the veils that have come in between Thee and Thy creatures and debarred
them from turning unto the horizon of Thy Revelation. Cause them, then, O My God, by Thy most exalted Word, to turn
from the left hand of oblivion and delusion unto the right hand of knowledge
and certitude, that they may know what Thou hast purposed for them through Thy
bounty and grace, and may set their faces towards Him Who is the Manifestation
of Thy Cause and the Revealer of Thy signs.
201 O My God!
Thou art the All-Bountiful, Whose grace is infinite. Withhold not Thy servants from the most
mighty Ocean, which Thou hast made the repository of the pearls of Thy
knowledge and Thy wisdom, and turn them not away from Thy gate, which Thou hast
opened wide before all who are in Thy heaven and all who are on Thy earth. O Lord!
Leave them not to themselves, for they understand not and flee from that
which is better for them than all that Thou hast created upon Thine earth. Cast upon them, O My God, the glances of the
eye of Thy favour and bounty, and deliver them from self and passion, that they
may draw nigh unto Thy most exalted Horizon, taste the sweetness of Thy
remembrance, and delight in that bread which Thou hast sent down from the
heaven of Thy Will and the firmament of Thy grace. From everlasting Thy bounty hath embraced the entire creation and
Thy mercy hath surpassed all things. No
God is there but Thee, the Ever-Forgiving, the Most Compassionate.
202 Glorified art Thou, O Lord My
God! Thou well knowest that Mine heart
hath melted in Thy Cause, and that My blood so boileth in My veins with the
fire of Thy love that every drop of it proclaimeth with its inner tongue: “Grant that I may be spilt upon the ground
for Thy sake, O my Lord, the Most High, that from it there may spring forth
that which Thou hast purposed in Thy Tablets and hast hidden from the eyes of all,
except such servants as have tasted of the crystal stream of knowledge from the
hands of Thy grace and quaffed the soft-flowing waters of understanding from
the cup of Thy bestowal.”
203 Thou knowest, O My God, that in all
Mine affairs I have sought only to obey Thy bidding, that in Mine every
utterance I have wished only to extol Thy praise, and that in whatsoever hath
proceeded from My Pen I have purposed only to win Thy good pleasure and to
reveal that which Thou hast enjoined upon Me through Thy sovereignty.
204 Thou beholdest Me, O My God, as one
bewildered in Thy land. Whensoever I
make mention of that which Thou hast enjoined upon Me, Thy creatures cavil at
Me; yet were I to neglect that which Thou hast bidden Me observe, I would
deserve the scourge of Thine anger and would be far removed from the meadows of
Thy nearness. Nay, by Thy glory! I have set My face towards Thy good
pleasure, and turned away from the things whereon Thy servants have set their
affections. I have embraced all that is
with Thee, and forsaken all that might lead Me away from the retreats of Thy
nearness and the heights of Thy glory.
I swear by Thy might! With Thy
love in My heart nothing can ever alarm Me, and in the path of Thy good
pleasure all the world’s afflictions can in no wise dismay Me. All this, however, proceedeth from Thy power
and Thy might, from Thy bounty and Thy grace, and is not of Mine own deserving.
205 This is an Epistle, O My God, which
I have purposed to send unto the King.
Thou knowest that I have wished of him naught but that he should show
forth justice to Thy servants and extend his favours unto the people of Thy
kingdom. For Myself I have desired only
what Thou didst desire, and through Thy succour I wish for naught save that
which Thou wishest. Perish the soul
that seeketh from Thee aught save Thyself!
I swear by Thy glory! Thy good
pleasure is my dearest wish, and Thy purpose My highest hope. Have mercy, O My God, upon this poor
creature Who hath clung unto the hem of Thy riches, and this suppliant soul Who
calleth upon Thee, saying, “Thou art, verily, the Lord of might and
glory!” Assist Thou, O My God, His
Majesty the Sháh to keep Thy statutes amidst Thy servants and to
manifest Thy justice amongst Thy creatures, that he may treat this people as he
treateth others. Thou art, in truth,
the God of power, of glory and wisdom.
206 By the leave and permission of the King of
the Age, this Servant journeyed from the Seat of Sovereignty[†††]
to ‘Iráq, and dwelt for twelve years in that land. Throughout the entire course of this period no account of Our
condition was submitted to the court of thy presence, and no representation
ever made to foreign powers. Placing
Our whole trust in God, We resided in that land until there came to ‘Iráq a
certain official[17] who, upon
his arrival, undertook to harass this poor company of exiles. Day after day, at the instigation of some of
the outwardly learned and of other individuals, he would stir up trouble for
these servants, although they had at no time committed any act detrimental to
the state and its people or contrary to the rules and customs of the citizens
of the realm.
207 Fearing lest the actions of these
transgressors should produce some outcome at variance with thy world-adorning
judgement, this Servant despatched a brief account of the matter to Mírzá Sa‘íd
Khán[18] at the
Foreign Ministry, so that he might submit it to the royal presence and that
whatever thou shouldst please to decree in this respect might be obeyed. A long while elapsed, and no decree was
issued. Finally matters came to such a
pass that there loomed the threat of imminent strife and bloodshed. Of necessity, therefore, and for the
protection of the servants of God, a few of them appealed to the Governor of
‘Iráq.[19]
208 Wert thou to observe these events
with the eye of fairness, it would become clear and evident in the luminous
mirror of thine heart that what occurred was called for by the circumstances,
and that no other alternative could be seen.
His Majesty himself is witness that in whatever city a number of this
people have resided, the hostility of certain functionaries hath enkindled the
flame of conflict and contention. This
evanescent Soul, however, hath, since His arrival in ‘Iráq, forbidden all to
engage in dissension and strife. The
witness of this Servant is His very deeds, for all are well aware and will
testify that, although a greater number of this people resided in ‘Iráq than in
any other land, no one overstepped his limits or transgressed against his neighbour. Fixing their gaze upon God, and reposing
their trust in Him, all have now been abiding in peace for well-nigh fifteen
years, and, in whatever hath befallen them, they have shown forth patience and
resigned themselves to God.
209 After the arrival of this Servant in
this, the city of Adrianople, some of the people of ‘Iráq and elsewhere
inquired about the meaning of the term “rendering assistance unto God” which
hath been mentioned in the Holy Scriptures.
Several answers were sent out in reply, one of which is set forth in
these pages, that it may be clearly demonstrated in the court of thy presence
that this Servant hath had no end in view but to promote the betterment and
well-being of the world. And if certain
of the divine favours which, undeserving as I may be, God hath pleased to
bestow upon Me be not plain and manifest, this much at least will be clear and
apparent, that He, in His surpassing mercy and infinite grace, hath not
deprived Mine heart of the ornament of reason.
The passage that was referred to concerning the meaning of “rendering
assistance unto God” is as follows:
He is God, exalted be His glory!
210 It is clear and evident that the one true
God—glorified be His mention!—is sanctified above the world and all that is
therein. By “rendering assistance unto
God”, then, it is not meant that any soul should fight or contend with
another. That Sovereign Lord Who doeth
whatsoever He pleaseth hath entrusted the kingdom of creation, its lands and
its seas, into the hands of the kings, for they are, each according to his
degree, the manifestations of His divine power. Should they enter beneath the shadow of the True One, they will
be accounted of God, and if not, thy Lord, verily, knoweth and observeth all
things.
211 That which
God—glorified be His Name!—hath desired for Himself is the hearts of His
servants, which are the treasuries of His love and remembrance and the
repositories of His knowledge and wisdom.
It hath ever been the wish of the Eternal King to cleanse the hearts of
His servants from the things of the world and all that pertaineth thereunto,
that they may be made worthy recipients of the effulgent splendours of Him Who
is the King of all names and attributes.
Wherefore must no stranger be allowed in the city of the heart, that the
incomparable Friend may enter His abode.
By this is meant the effulgence of His names and attributes, and not His
exalted Essence, inasmuch as that peerless King hath ever been, and shall
eternally remain, sanctified above ascent and descent.
212 It
followeth, therefore, that rendering assistance unto God, in this day, doth not
and shall never consist in contending or disputing with any soul; nay rather,
what is preferable in the sight of God is that the cities of men’s hearts,
which are ruled by the hosts of self and passion, should be subdued by the
sword of utterance, of wisdom and of understanding. Thus, whoso seeketh to assist God must, before all else, conquer,
with the sword of inner meaning and explanation, the city of his own heart and
guard it from the remembrance of all save God, and only then set out to subdue
the cities of the hearts of others.
213 Such is
the true meaning of rendering assistance unto God. Sedition hath never been pleasing unto God, nor were the acts
committed in the past by certain foolish ones acceptable in His sight. Know ye that to be killed in the path of His
good pleasure is better for you than to kill.
The beloved of the Lord must, in
this day, behave in such wise amidst His servants that they may by their very
deeds and actions guide all men unto the paradise of the All-Glorious.
214 By Him Who
shineth above the Dayspring of Sanctity!
The friends of God have not, nor will they ever, set their hopes upon
the world and its ephemeral possessions.
The one true God hath ever regarded the hearts of men as His own, His
exclusive possession—and this too but as an expression of His all-surpassing
mercy, that haply mortal souls may be purged and sanctified from all that
pertaineth to the world of dust and gain admittance into the realms of
eternity. For otherwise that ideal King
is, in Himself and by Himself, sufficient unto Himself and independent of all
things. Neither doth the love of His
creatures profit Him, nor can their malice harm Him. All have issued forth from abodes of dust, and unto dust shall
they return, while the one true God, alone and single, is established upon His
Throne, a Throne which is beyond the reaches of time and space, is sanctified
above all utterance or expression, intimation, description and definition, and
is exalted beyond all notion of abasement and glory. And none knoweth this save Him and those with whom is the
knowledge of the Book. No God is there
but Him, the Almighty, the All-Bountiful.
215 It behoveth the benevolence of the
Sovereign, however, to examine all matters with the eye of justice and mercy,
and not to content himself with the baseless claims of certain
individuals. We beseech God to
graciously assist the King to fulfil that which He pleaseth, and, verily, that
which He desireth should be the desire of all the worlds.
216 Later this Servant was summoned to
Constantinople, whither We arrived accompanied by a poor band of exiles. At no time thereafter did We seek to meet
with anyone, as We had no request to make and no aim in view but to demonstrate
unto all that this Servant had no mischief in mind and had never associated
with the sowers of sedition. By Him Who
hath caused the tongues of all beings to speak forth His praise! While certain considerations rendered it
difficult to make application to any quarter, such steps were perforce taken to
protect certain souls. My Lord, verily,
knoweth what is in Me, and He beareth witness unto the truth of what I say.
217 A just king is the shadow of God on earth. All should seek shelter under the shadow of
his justice, and rest in the shade of his favour. This is not a matter which is either specific or limited in its
scope, that it might be restricted to one or another person, inasmuch as the
shadow telleth of the One Who casteth it.
God, glorified be His remembrance, hath called Himself the Lord of the
worlds, for He hath nurtured and still nurtureth everyone. Glorified be, then, His grace that hath
preceded all created things, and His mercy that hath surpassed the worlds.
218 It is clear and evident that, whether this
Cause be seen as right or wrong by the people, those who are associated with
its name have accepted and embraced it as true, and have forsaken their all in
their eagerness to partake of the things of God. That they should evince such renunciation in the path of the love
of the All-Merciful is in itself a faithful witness and an eloquent testimony
to the truth of their convictions. Hath
it ever been witnessed that a man of sound judgement should sacrifice his life
without cause or reason? And if it be
suggested that this people have taken leave of their senses, this too is highly
improbable, inasmuch as such behaviour hath not been confined to merely a soul
or two—nay, a vast multitude of every class have drunk their fill of the living
waters of divine knowledge, and, intoxicated, have hastened with heart and soul
to the field of sacrifice in the way of the Beloved.
219 If these souls, who have renounced all
else but God for His sake and offered up their life and substance in His path,
are to be accounted as false, then by what proof and testimony can the truth of
what others assert be established in thy presence? The late Ḥájí Siyyid Muḥammad[20]—may
God exalt his station and immerse him in the ocean of His forgiveness and
mercy!—was one of the most learned divines of his age, and one of the most
devout and pious men of his time. So
highly was he regarded that his praise was on every tongue, and his righteousness
and piety were universally acknowledged.
Yet, when hostilities broke out with Russia,[21]
he who himself had pronounced the decree of holy war, and who with blazoned
standard had left his native land to rally to the support of his faith,
abandoned, after the inconvenience of a brief encounter, all the good that he
had purposed, and returned whence he had come.
Would that the veil might be lifted, and that which hath ere now
remained hidden from the eyes of men be made manifest!
220 For more than twenty years this people
have, day and night, been subjected to the fury of the Sovereign’s wrath, and
have been scattered by the tempestuous gales of his displeasure, each to a
different land. How many the children who have been left fatherless,
and how many the fathers who have lost their sons! How many the mothers who have dared not, out of fear and dread,
to mourn their slaughtered offspring!
How numerous those who, at eventide, were possessed of utmost wealth and
affluence, and who, when morning came, had fallen into utter abasement and destitution! No land is there whose soil hath not been
tinged with their blood, nor reach of heaven unto which their sighs have not
ascended. Throughout the years the
darts of affliction have unceasingly rained down from the clouds of God’s
decree, yet despite all these calamities and tribulations, the flame of divine
love hath so blazed in their hearts that even should their bodies be torn
asunder they would not forsake their love of Him Who is the Best-Beloved of the
worlds, but would welcome with heart and soul whatever might befall them in the
path of God.
221 O
King! The breezes of the grace of the
All-Merciful have transformed these servants and attracted them unto His Holy
Court. “The witness of a true lover is
upon his sleeve.” Nevertheless, some of
the outwardly learned have troubled the luminous heart of the King of the Age
concerning these souls who revolve round the Tabernacle of the All-Merciful and
who seek to attain the Sanctuary of true knowledge. Would that the world-adorning wish of His Majesty might decree
that this Servant be brought face to face with the divines of the age, and
produce proofs and testimonies in the presence of His Majesty the Sháh! This Servant is ready, and taketh hope in
God, that such a gathering may be convened in order that the truth of the
matter may be made clear and manifest before His Majesty the Sháh. It is then for thee to command, and I stand
ready before the throne of thy sovereignty.
Decide, then, for Me or against Me.
222 The All-Merciful saith in the
Qur’án, His abiding testimony unto all the peoples of the world: “Wish ye then for death, if ye be men of
truth.”[22] Behold how He hath declared the yearning for
death to be the touchstone of sincerity!
And, in the luminous mirror of thy judgement, it is doubtless clear and
evident which people have chosen, in this day, to lay down their lives in the
path of the Beloved of the worlds.
Indeed, were the books supporting the beliefs of this people to be
written with the blood spilled in the path of God—exalted be His glory!—then
countless volumes would have already appeared amongst men for all to see.
223 How, We fain would ask, is it
possible to impugn this people whose deeds are in conformity with their words,
and to give credence instead to those who have refused to relinquish one jot of
their worldly authority in the path of Him Who is the Unconstrained? Some of the divines who have declared this
Servant an infidel have at no time met with Me. Never having seen Me, or become acquainted with My purpose, they
have nevertheless spoken as they pleased and acted as they desired. Yet every claim requireth a proof, not mere
words and displays of outward piety.
224 In this connection the text of several
passages from the Hidden Book of Fáṭimih—the blessings of God be upon
her!—which are relevant to the present theme will be cited in the Persian
tongue, that certain matters which have ere now been hidden may be revealed
before thy presence. The people
addressed in the aforementioned Book, which is today known as the Hidden Words,
are those who, though outwardly known for learning and piety, are inwardly the
slaves of self and passion.
225 He saith:
O ye that are foolish, yet have a name to be wise! Wherefore do ye wear the guise of the
shepherd, when inwardly ye have become wolves, intent upon My flock? Ye are even as the star, which riseth ere
the dawn, and which, though it seem radiant and luminous, leadeth the wayfarers
of My city astray into the paths of perdition.
226 And likewise He saith: O ye seeming fair yet inwardly foul! Ye are like clear but bitter water, which to
outward seeming is crystal pure but of which, when tested by the Divine
Assayer, not a drop is accepted. Yea,
the sunbeam falls alike upon the dust and the mirror, yet differ they in
reflection even as doth the star from the earth: nay, immeasurable is the difference!
227 And also He saith: O essence of desire! At many a dawn have I turned from the realms
of the Placeless unto thine abode, and found thee on the bed of ease busied
with others than Myself. Thereupon,
even as the flash of the spirit, I returned to the realms of celestial glory,
and breathed it not in My retreats above unto the hosts of holiness.
228 And again He saith: O bondslave of the world! Many a dawn hath the breeze of My
loving-kindness wafted over thee and found thee upon the bed of heedlessness
fast asleep. Bewailing then thy plight
it returned whence it came. [23]
229 Therefore, in the exercise of the
royal justice, it is not sufficient to give ear to the claimant alone. God saith in the Qur’án, the unerring
Balance that distinguisheth truth from falsehood: “O ye who believe! If a
wicked man come to you with news, clear it up at once, lest through ignorance
ye harm others, and afterward repent of what ye have done.”[24] The holy Traditions, moreover, contain the
admonition: “Believe not the
tale-bearer.” Certain of the divines, who have never seen Us, have misconceived
the nature of Our Cause. Those,
however, who have met Us will testify that this Servant hath not spoken save in
accordance with that which God hath commanded in the Book, and that He hath
called attention to the following blessed verse—exalted be His Word: “Do ye not disavow us merely because we
believe in God, and in what He hath sent down unto us, and in what He had sent
down aforetime?”[25]
230 O King of the age! The eyes of these refugees are turned
towards and fixed upon the mercy of the Most Merciful. No doubt is there whatever that these
tribulations will be followed by the outpourings of a supreme mercy, and these
dire adversities will be succeeded by an overflowing prosperity. We fain would hope, however, that His
Majesty the Sháh will himself examine these matters and bring hope to
the hearts. That which We have
submitted to thy Majesty is indeed for thine highest good. And God, verily, is a sufficient witness
unto Me.
231 Glorified art Thou, O Lord My
God! I bear witness that the heart of
the King is in truth between the fingers of Thy might. If it be Thy wish, do Thou incline it, O My
God, in the direction of charity and mercy.
Thou, verily, art the Almighty, the Most Exalted, the Most Bountiful. No God is there besides Thee, the
All-Glorious, the One Whose help is sought by all.
232 Concerning the prerequisites of the
learned, He saith: “Whoso among the
learned guardeth his self, defendeth his faith, opposeth his desires, and
obeyeth his Lord’s command, it is incumbent upon the generality of the people
to pattern themselves after him....”[26] Should the King of the Age reflect upon this
utterance which hath streamed from the tongue of Him Who is the Dayspring of
the Revelation of the All-Merciful, he would perceive that those who have been
adorned with the attributes enumerated in this holy Tradition are scarcer than
the philosopher’s stone; wherefore not every man that layeth claim to knowledge
deserveth to be believed.
233 Again concerning the
divines of the Latter Days, He saith:
“The religious doctors of that age shall be the most wicked of the
divines beneath the shadow of heaven.
Out of them hath mischief proceeded, and unto them it shall
return.” And again He saith: “When the Standard of Truth is made
manifest, the people of both the East and the West curse it.”[27] Should anyone dispute these Traditions, this
Servant will undertake to establish their validity, since the details of their
transmission have been omitted here for the sake of brevity.
234 Those doctors who have indeed drunk
of the cup of renunciation have never interfered with this Servant. Thus, for example, Shaykh
Murtaḍá[28]—may God
exalt his station and cause him to repose beneath the canopy of His
grace!—showed forth kindness during Our sojourn in ‘Iráq, and never spoke of
this Cause otherwise than as God hath given leave. We beseech God to graciously assist all to do His will and
pleasure.
235 Now, however, all have lost sight of
every other consideration, and are bent upon the persecution of this
people. Thus, if it be inquired of
certain persons who, by the grace of their Lord, repose beneath the shadow of
thy royal mercy and enjoy countless favours, “What service have ye rendered in
return for these royal favours? Have ye
through wise policy annexed a further territory to the realm? Have ye applied yourselves to aught that
would secure the welfare of the people, the prosperity of the kingdom, and the
lasting glory of the state?”, they will have no other reply than to designate,
justly or falsely, a group of people before thy royal presence as Bábís, and
forthwith to engage in massacre and pillage.
In Tabríz, for instance, and in the Egyptian town of Manṣúríyyih,
a number of this people were ransomed and large sums were seized, yet no
account of these matters was ever made in the court of thy presence.
236 The reason for which all these
things have come to pass is that their persecutors, finding these unfortunate
ones without protection, have forgone more weighty matters and occupied
themselves instead with harassing this afflicted people. Numerous confessions and divers creeds abide
peacefully beneath the shadow of thy sovereignty. Let this people be also numbered with them. Nay, those who serve the King should be
animated by such lofty aims and sublime intentions as to continually strive to
bring all religions beneath the shelter of his shadow, and to rule over them
with perfect justice.
237 To enforce the laws of God is naught but
justice, and is the source of universal content. Nay more, the divine statutes have always been, and will ever
remain, the cause and instrument of the preservation of mankind, as witnessed
by His exalted words: “In punishment
will ye find life, O men of insight!”[29] It would, however, ill beseem the justice of
thy Majesty that for the trespass of a single soul a whole group of people
should be subjected to the scourge of thy wrath. The one true God—glorified be His Name!—hath said: “None shall bear the burden of another.”[30] It is clear and evident that in every
community there have been, and will ever be, the learned and the ignorant, the
wise and the heedless, the profligate and the pious. That a wise and reflecting soul should commit a heinous deed is
most improbable, inasmuch as such a person either seeketh after this world or
hath forsaken it: if he be of the
latter, he would assuredly have no regard for aught else besides God, and
moreover the fear of God would deter him from unlawful and reprehensible
actions; and if he be of the former, he would just as assuredly avoid such
deeds as would alienate and alarm the people, and act in such a manner as to
earn their confidence and trust. It is
therefore evident that reprehensible actions have always emanated, and will
ever emanate, from ignorant and foolish souls.
We implore God to guard His servants from turning to anyone save Him,
and to draw them nigh unto His presence.
His might, in truth, is equal to all things.
238 Praise be unto Thee, O Lord My
God! Thou hearest the voice of My
lamentation, and beholdest My condition, My distress and affliction! Thou knowest all that is in Me. If the call I have raised be wholly for Thy
sake, then draw thereby the hearts of Thy creatures towards the heaven of Thy
knowledge, and the heart of the Sovereign towards the right hand of the throne
of Thy name, the All-Merciful. Supply
him then, O My God, with a portion of that goodly sustenance which hath
descended from the heaven of Thy generosity and the clouds of Thy mercy, that
he may forsake his all and turn unto the court of Thy favour. Aid him, O My God, to assist Thy Cause and
to exalt Thy Word amidst Thy creatures.
Strengthen him, then, with the hosts of the seen and the unseen, that he
may subdue every city in Thy Name, and hold sway, through Thy sovereignty and
might, over all that dwell on earth, O Thou in Whose hand is the kingdom of
creation! Thou, verily, art the Supreme
Ordainer in both the beginning and the end.
No God is there but Thee, the Most Powerful, the All-Glorious, the
All-Wise.
239 So grossly hath Our Cause been
misrepresented before thy royal presence that, if some unseemly act be
committed by but one of this people, it is portrayed as being prompted by their
beliefs. By Him besides Whom there is
none other God! This Servant hath
refused even to sanction the commission of reproved actions, how much less
those which have been explicitly prohibited in the Book of God.
240 God hath forbidden unto men the
drinking of wine, and this prohibition hath been revealed and recorded in His
Book. In spite of this, and of the fact
that the learned doctors of the age—may God increase their numbers!—have all
prohibited the people from such a wretched act, there still remain some who
commit it. The punishment which this
act entaileth, however, applieth only to its heedless perpetrators, whilst
those noble manifestations of supreme sanctity remain exalted above and exempt
from all blame. Yea, the whole
creation, both seen and unseen, beareth witness unto their holiness.
241 Yea, these servants regard the one
true God as He Who “doeth as He willeth”[31]
and “ordaineth as He pleaseth”.[32] Thus they view not as impossible the
continued appearance in the contingent world of the Manifestations of His
Unity. Should anyone hold otherwise,
how would he be different from those who believe the hand of God to be “chained
up”?[33] And if the one true God—glorified be His
mention!—be indeed regarded as unconstrained, then whatever Cause that Ancient
King may please to manifest from the wellspring of His Command must be embraced
by all. No refuge is there for anyone
and no haven to hasten unto save God; no protection is there for any soul and
no shelter to seek except in Him.
242 The essential requirement for whoso
advanceth a claim is to support his assertions with clear proofs and
testimonies. Beyond this, the rejection
of the people, whether learned or ignorant, hath never been, nor shall it ever
be, of any consequence. The Prophets of
God, those Pearls of the ocean of Divine Unity and the Repositories of Divine
Revelation, have ever been the object of men’s repudiation and denial. Even as He saith: “Each nation hath plotted darkly against their Messenger to lay
violent hold on Him, and disputed with vain words to invalidate the truth.”[34] And again:
“No Messenger cometh unto them but they laugh Him to scorn.”[35]
243 Consider the dispensation of Him Who
is the Seal of the Prophets and the King of the Chosen Ones—may the souls of
all mankind be offered up for His sake!
After the Daystar of Truth dawned above the horizon of Ḥijáz, how
great were the cruelties which the exponents of error inflicted upon that
incomparable Manifestation of the All-Glorious! Such was their heedlessness that they regarded every injury
inflicted upon that sacred Being as ranking among the greatest of all acts, and
constituting a means of attainment unto God, the Most High. For in the early years of His mission the
divines of that age, both Christian and Jewish, turned away from that Daystar
of the heaven of glory, whereupon all people, high and low alike, bestirred
themselves to extinguish the light of that Luminary of the horizon of inner
meanings. The names of all these
divines have been mentioned in the books of old; among them are Wahb
Ibn-i-Ráhib, Ka‘b Ibn-i-Ashraf, ‘Abdu’lláh-i-Ubayy, and others of their
like.
244 Finally, matters came to such a pass
that these men took counsel together and conspired to shed His pure blood, even
as God—glorified be His mention!—saith:
“And remember when the disbelievers schemed against Thee, that they
might lay hold upon Thee, or slay Thee, or cast Thee out; and so they schemed,
and God schemed, and God, verily, is the best of schemers.”[36] Again He saith: “But if their opposition be grievous to Thee—if Thou canst, seek
out an opening into the earth or a ladder into heaven and bring to them a sign;
yet if God wished, He could gather them unto true guidance; be Thou not, then,
of the ignorant.”[37] By God!
The hearts of His favoured ones are consumed at the purport of these two
blessed verses. Such established and
undisputed facts have been forgotten, and no one hath paused to reflect, in
days past or in this day, upon the things that have prompted men to turn away
from the Revealers of the light of God at the time of their manifestation.
245 Likewise, before the appearance of
the Seal of the Prophets, consider Jesus, the Son of Mary. When that Manifestation of the All-Merciful
revealed Himself, all the divines charged that Quintessence of faith with
impiety and rebellion. Eventually, with
the sanction of Annas, the most learned of the divines of His day, and
Caiaphas, the high priest, His blessed person was made to suffer that which the
pen is ashamed to mention and powerless to describe. The wide world in all its vastness could no longer contain Him,
until at last God raised Him up unto heaven.
246 Were a detailed account of all the
Prophets to be given here, We fear that it might lead to weariness. The doctors of the Torah in particular
assert that no independent Prophet will come after Moses with a new Law. They maintain that a Scion of the House of
David shall be made manifest Who will promulgate the Law of the Torah, and help
establish and enforce its commandments throughout the East and the West.
247 The followers of the Gospel,
likewise, hold as impossible that the Bearer of a new Revelation should again
shine forth from the dayspring of the Will of God after Jesus, Son of
Mary—peace be upon Him! In support of
this contention, they adduce the following verse from the Gospel: “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but the
words of the Son of Man shall never pass away.”[38] They maintain that neither the teachings nor
the commandments of Jesus—peace be upon Him!—may ever be altered.
248 At one point in the Gospel, He saith: “I go away, and come again.”[39] Again in the Gospel of John, He hath
foretold the advent of a Comforter who shall come after Him.[40] In the Gospel of Luke, moreover, a number of
signs and portents have been mentioned.
Certain divines of that Faith, however, have interpreted these
utterances after their own fancy, and have thus failed to grasp their true
significance.
249 O
would that thou wouldst permit Me, O Sháh, to send unto thee that which
would cheer the eyes, and tranquillize the souls, and persuade every
fair-minded person that with Him is the knowledge of the Book. Certain persons, incapable of answering the
objections raised by their opponents, claim that the Torah and the Gospel have
been corrupted, whereas in reality the references to such corruption pertain
only to specific cases.[41] But for the repudiation of the foolish and
the connivance of the divines, I would have uttered a discourse that would have
thrilled and carried away the hearts unto a realm from the murmur of whose
winds can be heard: “No God is there
but He!” For the present, however,
since the season is not ripe, the tongue of My utterance hath been stilled and
the wine of exposition sealed up until such time as God, through the power of
His might, shall please to unseal it.
He, verily, is the Almighty, the Most Powerful.
250 Praise
be unto Thee, O Lord My God! I ask Thee
by Thy Name, through which Thou hast subdued all who are in the heavens and all
who are on the earth, to protect the lamp of Thy Cause within the globe of
Thine omnipotence and Thy bountiful favour, lest it be exposed to the blasts of
denial from those who remain heedless of the mysteries of Thy name, the Unconstrained. Increase, then, by the oil of Thy wisdom,
the radiance of its light. Thou,
verily, hast power over all the dwellers of Thine earth and of Thy heaven.
251 I implore Thee, O My Lord, by that most
exalted Word which hath struck terror into the hearts of all who are in the
heavens and on the earth, save only those who have taken fast hold of Thy Sure
Handle, not to abandon Me amidst Thy creatures. Lift Me up, then, unto Thyself, cause Me to enter beneath the shadow
of Thy mercy, and give Me to drink of the pure wine of Thy providence, that I
may dwell within the tabernacle of Thy majesty and beneath the canopy of Thy
favour. Potent art Thou to do what
pleaseth Thee. Thou, verily, art the
Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.
252 O King!
The lamps of equity have been extinguished, and the fire of tyranny hath
so blazed on every side that My people have been led as captives from Zawrá’[‡‡‡]
to Mosul, known as Ḥadbá’. This
is not the first outrage that hath been suffered in the path of God. It behoveth every soul to consider and call
to mind that which befell the kindred of the Prophet when the people took them
captive and brought them unto Damascus, kn own as Fayḥá’. Amongst them was the prince of them that worship
God, the mainstay of such as have drawn nigh unto Him, and the sanctuary of
those who long for His presence—may the life of all else be a sacrifice unto
him![42]
253 They were asked: “Are ye of the party of the Seceders?”[43] He replied:
“Nay, by the Lord Almighty. We
are but servants who have believed in God and in His verses. Through us the countenance of faith hath
beamed with joy. Through us the sign of
the All-Merciful hath shone forth. At
the mention of our names the desert of Baṭḥá[§§§]
hath overflowed with water and the darkness separating earth and heaven hath been dispelled.”
254 “Have ye forbidden”, they were
asked, “that which God hath made lawful, or allowed that which He hath
forbidden?” “We were the first to
follow the divine commandments”, he answered.
“We are the root and origin of His Cause, the beginning of all good and
its end. We are the sign of the Ancient
of Days and the source of His remembrance amongst the nations.”
255 They were asked: “Have ye forsaken the Qur’án?” “In our House”, he replied, “did the
All-Merciful reveal it. We are the
breezes of the All-Glorious amidst His creation. We are the streams that have branched out from the Most Great
Ocean, through which God hath revived the earth, and through which He shall
revive it again after it hath died.
Through us His signs have been diffused, His proofs revealed, and His
tokens disclosed. With us is the
knowledge of His hidden meanings and His untold mysteries.”
256 “For what crime have ye been
punished?” they were asked. “For our
love of God”, he made reply, “and for our detachment from aught else save Him.”
257 We have not related his exact words—peace
be upon him!—but rather have We imparted a sprinkling from that ocean of life
eternal that lieth enshrined within them, that those who hearken thereunto may
be quickened and made aware of what hath befallen the trusted ones of God at
the hands of a lost and wayward generation.
We see the people in this day censuring the oppressors of bygone ages,
whilst they themselves commit yet greater wrongs and know it not!
258 God beareth Me witness that My
purpose hath not been to foment sedition, but to purify His servants from
whatsoever hath prevented them from drawing nigh unto Him, the Lord of the Day
of Reckoning. I was asleep upon My
couch, when lo, the breezes of My Lord, the All-Merciful, passed over Me, awoke
Me from My slumber, and bade Me lift up My voice betwixt earth and heaven. This thing is not from Me, but from
God. Unto this testify the dwellers of
His Dominion and of His Kingdom, and the inhabitants of the cities of His
unfading glory. By Him Who is the
Truth! I fear no tribulation in His
path, nor any affliction in My love for Him and in the way of His good pleasure. Verily God hath made adversity as a morning
dew upon His green pasture, and a wick for His lamp which lighteth earth and
heaven.
259 Shall a man’s wealth endure forever,
or protect him from the One Who shall, erelong, seize him by his forelock? Gazing upon those who sleep beneath the
gravestones, embosomed in the dust, could one ever distinguish the sovereign’s
crumbling skull from the subject’s mouldering bones? Nay, by Him Who is the King of kings! Could one discern the lord from the vassal, or those that enjoyed
wealth and riches from those who possessed neither shoes nor mat? By God!
Every distinction hath been erased, save only for those who upheld the
right and who ruled with justice.
260 Whither are gone the learned men,
the divines and potentates of old? What
hath become of their discriminating views, their shrewd perceptions, their
subtle insights and sage pronouncements?
Where are their hidden coffers, their flaunted ornaments, their gilded
couches, their rugs and cushions strewn about?
Gone forever is their generation!
All have perished, and, by God’s decree, naught remaineth of them but
scattered dust. Exhausted is the wealth
they gathered, dispersed the stores they hoarded, dissipated the treasures they
concealed. Naught can now be seen but
their deserted haunts, their roofless dwellings, their uprooted tree-trunks,
and their faded splendour. No man of
insight will let wealth distract his gaze from his ultimate objective, and no
man of understanding will allow riches to withhold him from turning unto Him
Who is the All-Possessing, the Most High.
261 Where is he who held dominion over
all whereon the sun shineth, who lived extravagantly on earth, seeking out the
luxuries of the world and of all that hath been created upon it? Where is the commander of the swarthy legion
and the upraiser of the golden standard?
Where is the ruler of Zawrá’, and where the tyrant of Fayḥá’?[44] Where are those before whose munificence the
treasure-houses of the earth shrank in shame, and at whose largesse and
swelling spirit the very ocean was abashed?
Where is he who stretched forth his arm in rebellion, and who turned his
hand against the All-Merciful?
262 Where are they who went in quest of
earthly pleasures and the fruits of carnal desires? Whither are fled their fair and comely women? Where are their swaying branches, their spreading
boughs, their lofty mansions, their trellised gardens? And what of the delights of these
gardens—their exquisite grounds and gentle breezes, their purling streams,
their soughing winds, their cooing doves and rustling leaves? Where now are their resplendent morns and
their brightsome countenances wreathed in smiles? Alas for them! All have
perished and are gone to rest beneath a canopy of dust. Of them one heareth neither name nor
mention; none knoweth of their affairs, and naught remaineth of their signs.
263 What! Will the people dispute then that whereof they themselves stand
witness? Will they deny that which they
know to be true? I know not in what
wilderness they roam! Do they not see
that they are embarked upon a journey from which there is no return? How long will they wander from mountain to
valley, from hollow to hill? “Hath not
the time come for those who believe to humble their hearts at the mention of
God?”[45] Blessed is he who hath said, or now shall
say, “Yea, by my Lord! The time is come
and the hour hath struck!”, and who, thereafter, shall detach himself from all
that hath been, and deliver himself up entirely unto Him Who is the Possessor
of the universe and the Lord of all creation.
264 And yet, what hope! For naught is reaped save that which hath
been sown, and naught is taken up save that which hath been laid down,[46]
unless it be through the grace and bestowal of the Lord. Hath the womb of the world yet conceived one
whom the veils of glory shall not hinder from ascending unto the Kingdom of his
Lord, the All-Glorious, the Most High?
Is it yet within us to perform such deeds as will dispel our afflictions
and draw us nigh unto Him Who is the Causer of causes? We beseech God to deal with us according to
His bounty, and not His justice, and to grant that we may be of those who have
turned their faces unto their Lord and severed themselves from all else.
265 I
have seen, O Sháh, in the path of God what eye hath not seen nor ear
heard. Mine acquaintances have
repudiated Me, and My pathways have been straitened. The fount of well-being hath run dry, and the bower of ease hath
withered. How numerous the tribulations
which have rained, and will soon rain, upon Me! I advance with My face set towards Him Who is the Almighty, the
All-Bounteous, whilst behind Me glideth the serpent. Mine eyes have rained down tears until My bed is drenched.
266 I
sorrow not for Myself, however. By
God! Mine head yearneth for the spear
out of love for its Lord. I never
passed a tree, but Mine heart addressed it saying: “O would that thou wert cut down in My name, and My body
crucified upon thee, in the path of My Lord!”, for I see the people wandering
distraught and unconscious in their drunken stupor. They have raised on high their passions and set down their
God. Methinks they have taken His Cause
for a mockery and regard it as a play and pastime, believing all the while that
they do well, and that they dwell securely in the citadel of safety. Howbeit the matter is not as they fondly
imagine: tomorrow shall they behold
that which today they are wont to deny!
267 Erelong shall the exponents of
wealth and power banish Us from the land of Adrianople to the city of
‘Akká. According to what they say, it
is the most desolate of the cities of the world, the most unsightly of them in
appearance, the most detestable in climate, and the foulest in water. It is as though it were the metropolis of
the owl, within whose precincts naught can be heard save the echo of its
cry. Therein have they resolved to
imprison this Youth, to shut against our faces the doors of ease and comfort,
and to deprive us of every worldly benefit throughout the remainder of our
days.
268 By God!
Though weariness lay Me low, and hunger consume Me, and the bare rock be
My bed, and My fellows the beasts of the field, I will not complain, but will
endure patiently as those endued with constancy and firmness have endured
patiently, through the power of God, the Eternal King and Creator of the
nations, and will render thanks unto God under all conditions. We pray that, out of His bounty—exalted be
He—He may release, through this imprisonment, the necks of men from chains and
fetters, and cause them to turn, with sincere faces, towards His face, Who is
the Mighty, the Bounteous. Ready is He
to answer whosoever calleth upon Him, and nigh is He unto such as commune with
Him. We further beseech Him to make of
this darksome tribulation a shield for the Temple of His Cause, and to protect
it from the assault of sharpened swords and pointed daggers. Adversity hath ever given rise to the
exaltation of His Cause and the glorification of His Name. Such hath been God’s method carried into
effect in centuries and ages past. That
which the people now fail to apprehend they shall erelong discover, on that day
when their steeds shall stumble and their finery be folded up, their blades
blunted and their feet made to falter.
269 I know not how long they shall spur on the
charger of self and passion and rove in the wilderness of error and
negligence! Shall either the pomp of
the mighty or the wretchedness of the abased endure? Shall he who reposeth upon the loftiest seat of honour, who hath
attained the pinnacle of might and glory, abide forever? Nay, by My Lord, the All-Merciful! All on earth shall pass away, and there
remaineth alone the face of My Lord, the All-Glorious, the Most-Bountiful.[47]
270 What armour hath not been pierced by
the arrow of destruction, and what regal brow not divested by the hand of
Fate? What fortress hath withstood the
approach of the Messenger of Death?
What throne hath not been shattered to pieces, what palace not reduced
to rubble? Could the people but taste
that choice Wine of the mercy of their Lord, the Almighty, the All-Knowing,
which lieth in store for them in the world beyond, they would assuredly cease
their censure, and seek only to win the good pleasure of this Youth. For now, however, they have hidden Me behind
a veil of darkness, whose fabric they have woven with the hands of idle fancy
and vain imagination. Erelong shall the
snow-white hand of God rend an opening through the darkness of this night and
unlock a mighty portal unto His City.
On that Day shall the people enter therein by troops, uttering what the
blamers aforetime exclaimed,[48]
that there shall be made manifest in the end that which appeared in the
beginning.
271 Is it their wish to tarry here when
already they have one foot in the stirrup?
Look they to return, once they are gone? Nay, by Him Who is the Lord of Lords! save on the Day of Judgement, the Day whereon the people shall
arise from their graves and be asked of their legacy. Well is it with him who shall not be weighted down with his
burdens on that Day, the Day whereon the mountains shall pass away and all
shall gather to be questioned in the presence of God, the Most Exalted. Stern, indeed, is He in punishing!
272 We beseech God to purge the hearts of
certain divines from rancour and enmity, that they may look upon matters with
an eye unbeclouded by contempt. May He
raise them up unto so lofty a station that neither the attractions of the
world, nor the allurements of authority, may deflect them from gazing upon the
Supreme Horizon, and that neither worldly benefits nor carnal desires shall
prevent them from attaining that Day whereon the mountains shall be reduced to
dust. Though they now rejoice in the
adversity that hath befallen Us, soon shall come a day whereon they shall
lament and weep. By My Lord! Were I given the choice between, on the one
hand, the wealth and opulence, the ease and comfort, the honour and glory which
they enjoy, and, on the other, the adversities and trials which are Mine, I
would unhesitatingly choose My present condition and would refuse to barter a
single atom of these hardships for all that hath been created in the world of
being.
273 But for the tribulations that have touched
Me in the path of God, life would have held no sweetness for Me, and Mine
existence would have profited Me nothing.
For them who are endued with discernment, and whose eyes are fixed upon
the Sublime Vision, it is no secret that I have been, most of the days of My
life, even as a slave, sitting under a sword hanging on a thread, knowing not
whether it would fall soon or late upon him.
And yet, notwithstanding all this We render thanks unto God, the Lord of
the worlds, and yield Him praise at all times and under all conditions. He, verily, standeth witness over all
things.
274 We beseech God to extend wide His shadow,
that the true believers may hasten thereunto and that His sincere lovers may
seek shelter therein. May He bestow
upon men blossoms from the bowers of His grace and stars from the horizon of
His providence. We pray God, moreover,
to graciously aid the King to do His will and pleasure, and to confirm him in
that which shall draw him nigh unto the Dayspring of God’s most excellent
names, so that he may not give countenance to the injustice he witnesseth, may
look upon his subjects with the eye of loving-kindness, and shield them from
oppression. We further beseech God,
exalted be He, to gather all mankind around the Gulf of the Most Great Ocean,
an ocean every drop of which proclaimeth that He is the Harbinger of joy unto
the world and the Quickener of all its peoples. Praise be to God, the Lord of the Day of Reckoning!
275 And finally We beseech God, exalted
be His glory, to enable thee to aid His Faith and turn towards His justice,
that thou mayest judge between the people even as thou wouldst judge between
thine own kindred, and mayest choose for them that which thou choosest for
thine own self. He, verily, is the
All-Powerful, the Most Exalted, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.
276 Thus have We built the Temple with the hands of power and might,
could ye but know it. This is the Temple
promised unto you in the Book. Draw ye
nigh unto it. This is that which
profiteth you, could ye but comprehend it.
Be fair, O peoples of the earth!
Which is preferable, this, or a temple which is built of clay? Set your faces towards it. Thus have ye been commanded by God, the Help
in Peril, the Self-Subsisting. Follow
ye His bidding, and praise ye God, your Lord, for that which He hath bestowed
upon you. He, verily, is the
Truth. No God is there but He. He revealeth what He pleaseth, through His
words “Be and it is”.
In His name, the All-Glorious!
1 Hearken, O Chief,[49]
to the voice of God, the Sovereign, the Help in Peril, the
Self-Subsisting. He, verily, calleth
aloud between heaven and earth, summoning all mankind unto the scene of
transcendent glory. Neither thy grunting, nor the barking of those around thee, nor
the opposition of the hosts of the world can withhold the Almighty from
achieving His purpose. The whole world
hath been set ablaze by the Word of thy Lord, the All-Glorious, a Word softer
than the morning breeze. It hath been
manifested in the form of the human temple, and through it God hath quickened
the souls of the sincere among His servants.
In its inner essence, this Word is the living water by which God hath
purified the hearts of such as have turned unto Him and forgotten every other
mention, and through which He draweth them nigh unto the seat of His mighty
Name. We have sprinkled it upon the
people of the graves, and lo, they have risen up, with their gaze fixed upon
the shining and resplendent Beauty of their Lord.
2 Thou hast, O Chief, committed that
which hath caused Muḥammad, the Apostle of God, to lament in the most
sublime Paradise. The world hath made
thee proud, so much so that thou hast turned away from the Face through whose
brightness the Concourse on high hath been illumined. Soon thou shalt find thyself in manifest loss! Thou didst conspire with the Persian
Ambassador to harm Me, though I had come unto you from the source of majesty and
grandeur with a Revelation that hath solaced the eyes of the favoured ones of
God.
3 By God! This is the Day wherein the undying Fire crieth out from within
all created things: “The Best-Beloved
of the worlds is come!” And before all
things there standeth a Moses, hearkening to the Word of thy Lord, the
Almighty, the All-Knowing. Were We to
divest Ourself of the mortal raiment which We have worn in consideration of
your weakness, all that are in heaven and on earth would offer up their souls
for My sake. To this thy Lord Himself
doth testify. None, however, can
perceive it save those who have detached themselves from all things for love of
their Lord, the Almighty, the Most Powerful.
4 Hast thou imagined thyself capable
of extinguishing the fire which God hath kindled in the heart of creation? Nay, by Him Who is the Eternal Truth,
couldst thou but know it. Rather, on
account of what thy hands have wrought, it blazed higher and burned more
fiercely. Erelong will it encompass the
earth and all that dwell therein. Thus
hath it been decreed by God, and the powers of earth and heaven are unable to
thwart His purpose.
5 The day is approaching when the Land
of Mystery[****]
and what is beside it shall be changed, and shall pass out of the hands of the
King, and commotions shall appear, and the voice of lamentation shall be
raised, and the evidences of mischief shall be revealed on all sides, and
confusion shall spread by reason of that which hath befallen these captives at
the hands of the hosts of oppression.
The course of things shall be altered, and conditions shall wax so
grievous, that the very sands on the desolate hills will moan, and the trees on
the mountain will weep, and blood will flow out of all things. Then wilt thou behold the people in sore
distress.[50]
6 O Chief! We revealed Ourself unto thee at one time upon Mount Tíná, and at
another time upon Mount Zaytá,[51]
and yet again in this hallowed Spot.
Following, however, thy corrupt inclinations, thou didst fail to respond
and wert accounted with the heedless.
Consider, then, and call thou to mind the time when Muḥammad came
with clear tokens from Him Who is the Almighty, the All-Knowing. The people were wont to pelt Him with stones
from hidden places and in the markets, and they rejected the signs of God, thy
Lord and the Lord of thy forefathers.
The learned also denied Him, as did their followers, and likewise the
kings of the earth, as thou hast heard from the tales of old. Among those kings was Chosroes,[52]
to whom Muḥammad sent a blessed epistle summoning him unto God and
forbidding him from misbelief. Verily,
thy Lord knoweth all things. Following
the promptings of his evil and corrupt desires, however, Chosroes waxed
arrogant before God and tore up the Tablet.
He, verily, is accounted among the inmates of the nethermost fire.
7 Was it in Pharaoh’s power to stay
the hand of God from exercising His sovereignty when he acted wantonly in the
land and was of the transgressors? From
within his own house and in spite of his will We brought forth Him Who
conversed with God. Well able are We to
achieve Our purpose. Recall, moreover,
how Nimrod kindled the fire of impiety that its flames might consume Abraham,
the Friend of God; We delivered Him, however, through the power of truth and
seized Nimrod with the fury of Our wrath.
Say: The Oppressor[††††]
put to death the Beloved of the worlds to quench the light of God amongst the
people and to debar them from the wellspring of life eternal in the days of thy
Lord, the Gracious, the Most Bountiful.
8 We, too, have revealed the Cause of
God in His cities and raised aloft His remembrance amidst them that truly
believe in Him. Say: This Youth hath come to quicken the world and
unite all its peoples. The day is
approaching when that which God hath purposed will have prevailed and thou
shalt behold the earth transformed into the all-glorious paradise. Thus hath it been inscribed by the Pen of
Revelation upon this weighty Tablet.
9 Forsake Thy mention of the Chief, O
Pen, and call to remembrance Anís, that intimate of the love of God who severed
himself from the wayward and the infidel.
He tore the veils asunder in such wise that the inmates of Paradise
could hear them being rent. Glorified
be God, the Sovereign, the Powerful, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.
10 O nightingale! Incline thine ear unto the voice of the All-Glorious on this
night when armed troops have surrounded Us while We remain in a state of utmost
joy. O would that our blood might be
shed upon the earth and our bodies cast upon the dust in the path of God! This, indeed, is My desire and the desire of
whosoever hath sought Me and attained unto My most wondrous, Mine incomparable
Kingdom.
11 Know thou, O servant, that one day,
upon awakening, We found the beloved of God at the mercy of Our
adversaries. Sentinels were posted at
every gate and no one was permitted to enter or leave. Indeed, they perpetrated a sore injustice,
for the loved ones of God and His kindred were left on the first night without
food. Such was the fate of those for
whose sake the world and all that is therein have been created. Woe betide the perpetrators and those who
led them into such evil! Erelong will
God consume their souls in the fire.
He, verily, is the fiercest of avengers.
12 The people surrounded the house, and
Muslims and Christians wept over Us, and the voice of lamentation was upraised
between earth and heaven by reason of what the hands of the oppressors had
wrought. We perceived that the weeping
of the people of the Son exceeded the weeping of others—a sign for such as
ponder.
13 One of My companions offered up his
life, cutting his throat with his own hands for the love of God, an act unheard
of in bygone centuries and which God hath set apart for this Revelation as an
evidence of the power of His might.[53] He, verily, is the Unconstrained, the
All-Subduing. As for the one who thus
slew himself in ‘Iráq,[54]
he truly is the King and Beloved of Martyrs, and that which he evinced was a
testimony from God unto the peoples of the earth. Such souls have been influenced by the Word of God, have tasted
the sweetness of His remembrance, and are so transported by the breezes of
reunion that they have detached themselves from all that dwell on earth and
turned unto the Divine Countenance with faces beaming with light. And though they have committed an act which
God hath forbidden, He hath nevertheless forgiven them as a token of His
mercy. He, verily, is the Ever-Forgiving,
the Most Compassionate. So enraptured
were these souls by Him Who is the All-Compelling that the reins of volition
slipped from their grasp, until at last they ascended to the dwelling of the
Unseen and entered the presence of God, the Almighty, the All-Knowing.
14 Say: This Youth hath departed out of this country and deposited
beneath every tree and every stone a trust, which God will erelong bring forth
through the power of truth. Thus hath
the True One come and the command of Him Who is the Ordainer, the All-Wise,
been fulfilled. The hosts of earth and
heaven are powerless to resist His Cause, nor can all the kings and rulers of
the world ever frustrate His purpose.
Say: Adversity is the oil which
feedeth the flame of this Lamp and by which its light is increased, did ye but
know. Indeed, the repudiation of the
froward serveth but to proclaim this Faith and to spread the Cause of God and
His Revelation throughout the world.
15 Great is your blessedness, inasmuch
as ye have forsaken your homes and wandered the land for the love of your Lord,
the Almighty, the Ancient of Days, until ye entered the Land of Mystery at a
time when the fire of oppression was ablaze and the croaking of the raven of
discord had been raised. Ye are My
partners in My tribulations, for ye were present with Us during the darksome
night in which the hearts of those who testify to the unity of God were
agitated. Ye entered this land for the
sake of Our love, and departed therefrom through Our command. By the righteousness of God! Because of you the earth itself glorieth
over heaven. How excellent is this most
sublime, this glorious and exalted bounty!
Ye have been deprived of your nest, O birds of eternity, for the sake of
your Lord, the Unconstrained, but your true abode is beneath the wings of the
grace of the All-Merciful. Blessed are
they that understand.
16 O My Dhabíḥ! May the breaths of the spirit waft upon thee
and upon such as have sought communion with thee, inhaled from thee the sweet
fragrance of My presence, and hearkened unto that whereby the hearts of the true
seekers are sanctified. Render thanks
unto God inasmuch as thou hast attained unto the shores of this Most Great
Ocean, and give ear to the very atoms of the earth proclaiming: “This is the Best-Beloved of the
worlds!” The dwellers of the earth have
wronged Him and failed to recognize the One Whose name they ceaselessly
invoke. Lost are such as have remained
heedless and have opposed Him for Whose loved ones it would have behoved them
to offer up their lives, how much more for His own luminous and resplendent
Beauty!
17 Be thou patient, though thy heart be
consumed in its separation from God, for He hath granted thee an exalted
station in His presence. Nay, thou art
even now standing before His face, and We are imparting unto thee, through the
tongue of might and power, such words as even the ears of the sincere ones have
been deprived of hearing. Say: Were He to utter but one word, that word
alone would exceed in sweetness all the sayings of men.
18 Had Muḥammad, the Apostle of
God, attained this Day, He would have exclaimed: “I have truly recognized Thee, O Thou the Desire of the Divine
Messengers!” Had Abraham attained it,
He too, falling prostrate upon the ground, and in the utmost lowliness before
the Lord thy God, would have cried:
“Mine heart is filled with peace, O Thou Lord of all that is in heaven
and on earth! I testify that Thou hast
unveiled before mine eyes all the glory of Thy power and the full majesty of
Thy law! I bear witness, moreover, that
through Thy Revelation the hearts of the faithful are well assured and
contented.” Had Moses Himself attained
it, He, likewise, would have raised His voice saying: “All praise be to Thee for having lifted upon me the light of Thy
countenance and enrolled me among them that have been privileged to behold Thy
face!”
19 Consider the people and their
condition. Reflect upon the things that
their mouths have uttered and that their hands have wrought in this blessed,
this most holy and peerless Day. They
that have tarnished the good name of the Cause of God and turned unto the Evil
One are accursed of all created things and are numbered among the inmates of
the fire. Verily, whosoever hath
hearkened to My call shall remain unperturbed by the clamour of all that are on
earth; and whosoever is influenced by the words of anyone beside Me hath never
heard My call. By God! Such a man is deprived of entering My
Kingdom, is debarred from My realms of majesty and power, and is of them that
are in utter loss.
20 Sorrow not for that which hath
befallen thee. Thou hast borne for My
love that which most people have never endured. Thy Lord knoweth and is informed of all. He was with thee in the assemblages and
gatherings, and heard that which flowed from the wellspring of thy heart in
remembrance of thy Lord, the All-Merciful.
This, indeed, is a token of His bountiful favour.
21 Erelong will God raise up from among
the kings one who will aid His loved ones.
He, verily, encompasseth all things.
He will instill in the hearts the love of His loved ones. This, indeed, is irrevocably decreed by One
Who is the Almighty, the Beneficent.
22 We beseech God to gladden the hearts of
His servants through thy call, to make thee an ensign of guidance in His lands,
and to assist through thee those who have been brought low. Heed not the one who raised a loud clamour
and he who raiseth it even now. Let thy
Lord, the Ever-Forgiving, the Most Generous, be all-sufficient unto thee. Relate unto My loved ones that which thou
hast seen and learned of the tale of this Youth, and convey unto them that
which We have imparted unto thee.
Verily, thy Lord assisteth and watcheth over thee at all times and under
all conditions. The blessings of the
Concourse on high surround thee, and the kindred and the leaves of the holy
family who circle round the celestial Tree extol thee with a wondrous praise.
23 O Pen of Revelation! Call Thou to remembrance him[‡‡‡‡]
whose letter reached Us during this darksome night. He it is who wandered from region to region until he entered the
City,[§§§§]
seeking the shelter of the mercy of his Lord, the Almighty, the Most High. Eagerly awaiting the favours of his Lord, he
dwelt therein for a night, but departed therefrom the following morning as
bidden by God, filling with sorrow the heart of this Youth. To this the Almighty is Himself a witness.
24 Great is thy blessedness, for thou
hast received the wine of utterance from the hand of the All-Merciful, and
became so enraptured by the sweet fragrance of the Best-Beloved as to renounce
thy comfort and to be numbered with them that have hastened unto His Paradise,
the Dawning-Place of the signs of thy Lord, the Gracious, the Peerless. Happy the one who hath quaffed the wine of
inner mysteries from the countenance of his Lord and been intoxicated by this
pure and crystal draught. By God! It causeth every true believer to soar in
the heaven of majesty and grandeur, and transmuteth every doubt into certainty.
25 Grieve not at what hath befallen
thee, but put thy whole trust in God, the Almighty, the All-Knowing, the
Wise. Raise thy house upon the solid
foundation of divine utterances, and give praise to thy Lord. He, verily, shall suffice thee above all the
peoples of the earth.
26 God hath, in truth, inscribed your
names upon a Tablet wherein are enshrined the hidden secrets of all that hath
been. Erelong shall the faithful call
to remembrance your exile and all your journeys in His path. He, verily, loveth those who love Him, and
is the helper of the sincere. By the
righteousness of God! The eyes of the
Concourse on high are fixed upon you and their fingers point towards you. Thus doth the bounty of your Lord encompass
you. Would that the people might
recognize that which hath escaped them in the days of God, the All-Glorious,
the All-Praised.
27 Render thanks unto God for having
aided thee to know Him and to enter within the precincts of His court at a time
when the ungodly surrounded the family of thy Lord and His loved ones, and
expelled them from their homes with manifest cruelty, intending to separate us
at the shore of the sea. Verily, thy
Lord is aware of that which lieth concealed within the breasts of the
unbelievers. Say: Even should ye tear our bodies asunder, ye
could not banish from our hearts the love of God. We were of a truth created for sacrifice, and in this do we take
pride before all creation.
28 O thou who art set aglow with the fire
of the love of God! Know thou that thy
letter hath reached Us and that We have been apprised of its contents. We beseech God to confirm thee in His love
and in His good pleasure, to assist thee in the promotion of His Cause, and to
number thee with such as have arisen for the triumph of His Faith.
29 As to thy question regarding the soul: Know thou that among the people there are
numerous treatises and manifold views as to its stations. Among these are the soul of the kingdom, the
soul of the dominion, the celestial soul, the divine soul, the sanctified soul,
as well as the benevolent soul, the contented soul, the soul pleasing unto God,
the inspired soul, the irascible soul, and the concupiscent soul. Every group hath its own pronouncements
concerning the soul and We are disinclined to dwell upon the sayings of the
past. Verily, with thy Lord is the
knowledge of the former and latter generations.
30 Would that thou wert present before
Our throne to hear from the Tongue of Grandeur itself that which thou desirest
and scale the loftiest heights of knowledge by the grace of Him Who is the
All-Knowing, the All-Wise! The ungodly,
however, have intervened between us.
Take heed lest thou be grieved thereby.
Be content with that which hath been ordained by an irrevocable decree,
and be of them that endure with patience.
31 Know that the soul which is common
to all men cometh forth following the commingling of things and after their
maturation, as thou dost observe in the germ:
once it hath developed to its predestined stage, God manifesteth the soul
that was latent within it. Thy Lord, verily,
doeth what He willeth and ordaineth what He pleaseth.
32 As to the soul which is intended, in
truth it hath been called forth by the Word of God and is such that, if it be
kindled with the fire of the love of its Lord, neither the waters of opposition
nor the oceans of the world can quench its flame. That soul is indeed a fire ablaze in the tree of man which
proclaimeth: “No God is there but Him!” Whosoever hearkeneth unto its call is verily
of those who have attained unto Him.
And when it casteth off its earthly frame, God shall raise it up again
in the most excellent of forms and cause it to enter a sublime paradise. Thy Lord, of a certainty, hath power over
all things.
33 Know, furthermore, that the life of
man proceedeth from the spirit, and the spirit turneth to wheresoever the soul
directeth it. Ponder upon that which We
have revealed unto thee that thou mayest recognize the Soul of God which hath
appeared above the Dayspring of bounty invested with manifest sovereignty.
34 Know also that the soul is endowed
with two wings: should it soar in the
atmosphere of love and contentment, then it will be related to the
All-Merciful. And should it fly in the
atmosphere of self and desire, then it will pertain to the Evil One; may God
shield and protect us and protect you therefrom, O ye who perceive! Should the soul become ignited with the fire
of the love of God, it is called benevolent and pleasing unto God, but should
it be consumed with the fire of passion, it is known as the concupiscent
soul. Thus have We expounded this
subject for thee that thou mayest obtain a clear understanding.
35 O Pen of the Most High! Recount unto him who hath turned unto Thy
Lord, the All-Glorious, that which shall enable him to dispense with the
sayings of men. Say: Spirit, mind, soul, and the powers of sight
and hearing are but one single reality which hath manifold expressions owing to
the diversity of its instruments. As
thou dost observe, man’s power to comprehend, move, speak, hear, and see all
derive from this sign of his Lord within him.
It is single in its essence, yet manifold through the diversity of its
instruments. This, verily, is a certain
truth. For example, if it directeth its
attention to the means of hearing, then hearing and its attributes become
manifest. Likewise, if it directeth
itself to the means of vision, a different effect and attribute appear. Reflect upon this subject that thou mayest
comprehend the true meaning of what hath been intended, find thyself
independent of the sayings of the people, and be of them that are well
assured. In like manner, when this sign
of God turneth towards the brain, the head, and such means, the powers of the
mind and the soul are manifested. Thy
Lord, verily, is potent to do whatsoever He pleaseth.
36 All that We have mentioned here hath
been elucidated in the Tablets We have revealed in response to questions
regarding the disconnected letters of the Qur’án. Ponder them that thou mayest comprehend that which hath been sent
down from the Kingdom of Him Who is the Almighty, the All-Praised. Thus have We chosen to be concise in this
Tablet. We beseech God to acquaint thee
through this brief exposition with that which words can never hope to exhaust,
and to give thee to drink of the limitless oceans from this cup. Thy Lord, verily, is the All-Bountiful and
unassailable in His power.
37 O Pen of the Ancient of Days! Call Thou to remembrance ‘Alí,[*****]
he who sojourned with Thee in ‘Iráq until the Daystar of the world departed
therefrom. He forsook his home to
attain the court of Thy presence at a time when We were captive in the hands of
such as have been deprived of the sweet savours of the All-Merciful. Grieve not at what hath befallen Us and thee
in the path of God. Rest assured and
persevere. He, verily, rendereth
victorious those who love Him, and His might is equal to all things. Whoso turneth unto Him brighteneth thereby
the faces of the Concourse on high, and unto this God Himself is My witness.
38 Say: O people, do ye imagine that, after rejecting the One through
Whom the religions of the world have been made manifest, ye still bear
allegiance to the Faith of God? By the
righteousness of God! Ye are accounted
among the inmates of the Fire. Thus
hath the decree been recorded in the Tablets by the Pen of God. Say:
Never will the barking of dogs deter the Nightingale from warbling its
melodies. Ponder awhile that perchance
ye may discover a path leading to the Eternal Truth.
39 Say: Magnified art Thou, O Lord my God! I entreat Thee by the tears Thy lovers have shed in their longing
after Thee, and by the yearning of those who cry out in their separation from
Thee, and by Thy Best-Beloved Who hath fallen into the hands of Thine
adversaries, to graciously assist those who have sought refuge beneath the
sheltering wings of Thy favour and loving-kindness, and who have yearned for no
other Lord except Thee.
40 We have forsaken our homes, O Lord, in
our eagerness to meet Thee and in our longing to be united with Thee. We have traversed land and sea to attain the
court of Thy presence and to give ear to Thy verses. When we arrived at the shores of the sea, however, we were held
back from Thee, as the ungodly intervened between us and the light of Thy
countenance.
41 O
Lord! Dire thirst hath seized us, and
with Thee are the soft-flowing waters of eternal life. Potent art Thou to do what pleaseth
Thee. Deny us not the object of our
quest. Write down then for us the
recompense decreed for such of Thy servants as enjoy near access to Thee and
are wholly devoted to Thy will. Make us
so steadfast in Thy love that naught shall keep us back from Thee or deter us
from Thine adoration. Powerful art Thou
to do Thy pleasure. Thou, verily, art
the Almighty, the Most Generous.