--provisional translation by Stephen Lambden
In My Name, that warbleth upon the Twigs!
O My Name! Hearken unto My Call which cometh from the
precincts of the heavenly Throne that it might enable thee to attain unto the
shore of an opulent Ocean; the fathomless deep of which no seeker hath ever
attained. And Thy Lord is assuredly One Knowing and Generous.
We indeed desired to cast Our Bounty upon thee by making
mention of that which We visioned. This to the end that thou mayest
witness the Luminous World in this nether world of darkness and be firmly
assured that for Us there is many a world within this mortal world. Then render
thanks unto Thy Lord, the Well-Informed. And if He desired that He might
cause the rays of the Sun to appear from a tiny atom or disclose the waves of
the ocean from a mere droplet, He is assuredly capable of this; even as He hath
enabled the knowledge of what was and what is to emerge from a single Point!
We were enthroned upon the heavenly Throne when there
entered a Luminous Maiden clad in a beauteous, snow white robe. Even as
the full moon did her brilliant morning light dawn forth from the horizon of
heaven. Exalted be God, her Originator, for no eye hath ever beheld anything
like unto her!
When she untied her face covering veil, the heavens and the
earth beamed forth; Pre-Existent Being, by virtue of her Radiant Lights,
disclosed theophanic splendor thereon. Exalted be God, her Originator, for
no eye hath ever beheld anything like unto her!
Then she smiled and bent obliquely, like the stem of a balsam plant before the gaze of the All-Merciful. Exalted be He Who Manifested her for no eye hath ever beheld anything like unto her!
Then did she move about and circumambulate with neither
intention nor desire on her own part but as if the needle of her yearning
were attracted by the magnetic intensity of the Beauty which beamed forth
before her Countenance. Exalted be her Originator, for no eye hath ever beheld
anything like unto her!
When she walked forth the Divine Glory attended her whilst
the Kingdom of Beauty heralded her from behind. This on account of the
wonder of her comeliness, her amorous ways and the perfect symmetry of her
form. Exalted be her Originator, for no eye hath ever beheld anything like unto
her!
Then We discovered her jetblack locks cascading over the
length of her snow-white neck as if night and noontime embraced in this most
beauteous locale and most elevated goal. Exalted be her Originator, for no eye
hath ever beheld anything like unto her!
We investigated the depth of her Countenance and discovered
the Hidden Point neath the Veil of Unicity, radiating forth from the horizon of
her Bosom. Through it were the Tablets of the Love of the
All-Merciful differentiated in the continent world as well as the
registers of the enraptured lovers in the Horizons. Exalted be her
Originator, for no eye hath ever beheld anything like unto her!
And the circumstance of that Point was narrated by the
Subsequent Point situated above and to the right-hand of side her
Breast. Exalted be the Lord of the Hidden and Manifest who created
her!
Then did the Temple of God rise up and walk
forth whereon the Maiden also didst walk along behind, listening,
trembling and enraptured at the verses of her Lord. Exalted be He Who
created her, for no eye hath ever beheld anything like unto her!
Then were the joy, rapture, and yearning of the Maiden
multiplied to the extent that she was transformed and swooned away. When
she recovered from her swoon she drew nigh said: ‘May my soul be a sacrifice
for thine incarceration, O Mystery of the Unseen in the Kingdom of
Existence.’ Exalted be her Originator, for no eye hath ever beheld
anything like unto her!
Then did she gaze toward the Orient Light of the Throne even
as one in a state of intoxication and mystical bewilderment; until that is, she
set her hand upon the neck of her Lord and drew Him nigh in unity. When
the Maiden drew nigh, We also drew nigh and found with her that which was sent
down by Our Exalted Pen in the treasured Crimson Scroll. Exalted be her
Originator, for no eye hath ever beheld anything like unto her!
Then did the Maiden bow her head and place her Countenance
upon her two fingers. It was as if the new Moon were conjoined with an
wholly full Moon. Exalted be her Originator, for no eye hath ever beheld
anything like unto her!
Thereupon she wailed and exclaimed: ‘May the world and all
that is therein be a ransom for Thy woes. O Sovereign of heaven and earth!
Wherefore hast Thou left Thyself in the hands of the dwellers of this
prison-city of ‘Akká? Hasten Thou to other dominions, to Thy retreats above,
whereon the eyes of the people of names have never fallen.’ We smiled and spake
not. [1]
Consider ye this most exquisite commemoration and what We
have intended by the most secreted mystery, a matter evident yet most
hidden, O ye possessors of knowledge among the companions of the Crimson Ark.
This commemoration hath coincided with the day in which the
Herald was born who cried out after My Remembrance and Our
Sovereignty. He announced unto the people the tidings of My Will, the
ocean of My Intention and of the Sun of My Theophany. We honoured Him with
another Day in which the Hidden Unseen, the Treasured Mystery and the
Well-Guarded Symbol hath been manifested. The One, that is, through Whom
the dwellers of the Kingdom of Names were disarrayed and whomsoever were
on earth and in heaven were thunderstruck; save that is, such as We
safeguarded through a Sovereignty and a Power which cometh from Us. I,
verily, am One Powerful to accomplish whatsoever He willeth. No God is there
except Me, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. Blessed be whomsoever hath
caught the fragrance of God in this Day, which is the Dawning-Place of the
Theophany, the Orient of My Name, the Forgiving. Thereon hath the
Breath wafted, the Breeze come forth and the ecstasy of the Theophany entranced
all such as are lie in the graves. [On that Day] Mount Sinai crieth out
saying. ‘The Kingdom is God’s, the Powerful, the Transcendent, the All-Knowing,
the All-Informed.’ This Day every seeker attaineth the Desired One, every
mystic aspirant achieveth Real Gnosis and every wayfarer reacheth the
Straight Path.
Praised be unto Thee, O my God. May Thy lovers be blessed in
such wise that Thou send down upon them from the heaven of Thy Bounty, that
which will enable them to be detatched from all that is other than
Thee. Do Thou orient them in the direction of that Horizon from which
beameth forth the Sun of Thy Bounty. Empower them, O my God, with what
will benefit them in both this world and the world to come. Thou in Truth
art the Powerful, the Transcendent, the Benefactor, the One Who Giveth Forth,
the Wealthy, the Generous.
- Baha’u’llah (English source: Irfán Colloquium session #22 (English) London, England, August 27–29, 1999)
Notes
[1] The provisionally translated paragraph was replaced with
the one quoted by ‘Abdu’l-Baha in ‘Selections from the Writings of
‘Abdu’l-Baha’
