Dalá’il-i-Sab’ih (The Seven Proofs) – by the Báb

[The Dala'il-i-Sab'ih (Seven Proofs), the most important of the polemical works of the Báb, was revealed during that same period [Mah-Ku]. Remarkably lucid, admirable in its precision, original in conception, unanswerable in its argument, this work, apart from the many and divers proofs of His mission which it adduces, is noteworthy for the blame it assigns to the "seven powerful sovereigns ruling the world" in His day, as well as for the manner in which it stresses the responsibilities, and censures the conduct, of the Christian divines of a former age who, had they recognized the truth of Muhammad's mission, He contends, would have been followed by the mass of their co-religionists. (Shoghi Effendi, 'God Passes By')]

-- Provisional English translation from the French of Nicolas – by Peter Terry

In the Name of God, the Only Unique, the Only Unique. [60] Praises be to God, for there is none other God but He, the Only Unique, the Only Unique. All splendor [61] comes from God, upon the 'Man Yuzhiruhu'llah' [62] and upon His Apostles even until the eternity of eternities.

And following:

We have examined the letter which was written to us: if one were to desire a detailed explanation of the proofs establishing the truth of this Manifestation [63], this one [such an explanation] would be too long and the tablets of the world of existence and of possibilities [64] would not be sufficient for this. [65]

But, the essence of this discourse and the pearl of this aim [66] are that there never has been and there is now no doubt that the Eternal God has always been immovable in the Loftiness of His Divinity, in the sublimity of His Pure Attributes, and that He will remain always in the Splendor and the immutability of His Infinite Grandeur. Nothing has known Him as He should be known and the praises which have been made of Him have remained below Him. He is Pure of all names, Free from all semblances. [67] Everything is known to Him and His Grandeur resides in this that He remains unknown to all. His Creation has never had a commencement and will never have an end as then there would have been or there would be a necessary stoppage to [interruption in] His kindnesses. [68] All the times that it has been found useful in this world of Possibilities [69], He has sent Prophets and has made descend from the Heaven the Books of the Law: He will do so again when the need will make itself felt. [70]

Lawh-i Haqqu’n-Nas (Tablet of the Right of the People) - by Baha’u’llah

Original

-- provisional translation by Mehran Ghasempour

In the Name of God, the Beneficient, the Merciful

Praise be to God Who fulfilled what He revealed to all His Prophets and Messengers and gave to all the tidings of His days. And of them is the Day which He promised us in His Mighty Book through His saying, exalted be His dominion: on that day "God will enrich everyone out of His abundance." [Qur’an 4:130] And this, truly, is our Day, when I behold Him enriching all who enter in His shadow from the abundance of His knowledge and command, inasmuch as on this Day He hath placed the reins of knowledge in the grasp of His lowliest servant and in the possession of His most insignificant subject who hath held fast to the cord of His Love in the days of His manifestation.

And praise be to God who inspireth whom He wisheth with the hosts of His revelation and "casteth the light of His knowledge into the heart of whom He willeth." [Islamic Hadíth] There is no God but Him Who is manifest through the manifestation of His own Self, inasmuch as there remains no veil for Him but the light of His Beauty, and no cloud but the abundance of His manifestation.

Blessing and peace be upon the noblest of His Chosen Ones, and the most distinguished of His creation, and upon His kindred, and upon His family, and upon His saints who stood firm in His Cause and continued steadfast in His love.

Risáliy-i-Síyásíyyih (A Treatise on Statesmanship) – by ‘Abdu’l-Baha, 1893

Original

-- provisional translation

He is God

Praise and benediction are owed to the pure Lord, who made the appearance of the sacred perfections of the human realm the foundation for his creation. Thus might the invisible Essence become visible in the court of perception by means of modalities, effects, laws, deeds, essences and mysteries. And thus might the lights of the reality of the saying, “I was a hidden treasure and loved to be known” become apparent from the dawning-place of the morn of vision.

Praise and glorification are also due to the complete individual reality of the great one, who is the sun of the reality of the divine world, the most great luminary of the human realm, the center of the divine self-disclosure, and the dawning-place of the attributes of the one true Lord. By means of his appearance, the secret of “thus I created the creation, so that I might be known” became a reality. “And thou beholdest the earth blackened, then, when We send down water upon it, it quivers, and swells, and puts forth herbs of every joyous kind.” (1)

In these days and times, events contrary to all religious laws and destructive of both human society and of the divine foundation have occurred as a result of the actions of some ignorant, unwise insurgents and fomenters of turmoil. They made the perspicuous divine religion a pretext, and by their sedition and clamor they have brought shame upon the people of Iran before the nations of the world, whether they be friends or strangers. Praise be to God! They claim to be shepherds, but they bear the characteristics of wolves. They read the Qur’an, but they desire to behave like rapacious beasts. They have a human form, but they approve of bestial conduct. “When it is said to them, ‘Do not corruption in the land,’ they say, ‘We are only ones that put things right.’ Truly, they are the workers of corruption but they are not aware.”(2) It has therefore become imperative that a brief discourse be delivered concerning the foundation stone of the divine religion, and to alert the friends to be wise and awake.

The Poem of Rashh-i-'Amá (The Mist of Unknown) – Revealed in the Siyah-Chal

-- provisional translation by Ramin Neshati

Our charm bids waft the Mist of Unknown

Mystery of fidelity thus flows from Our tone

The east wind, musk-laden, from Cathay (2) whirls

Its scent so sweet streams forth from Our curls

The ornamented sun from the True One hath risen

Mystery of reality from Our (3) visage doth blazon

The sea of purity roars from waves of rapture (4)

This gift bestowed from His essence (5) We capture

Love's treasures lie hid in the bosom of Fars (6)

Out this treasure-trove Pearls of Fidelity pours

Delight of wine evinced when All (7) was manifested

To songs of providence (8) this Sublime Token attested

A blast on the trumpet, the attraction divine

These two in one blow flow from the Exalted Clime

Confessed Our face to the cycle of: "I am He"

Baha (9) is brimming with the epoch of: "He is He" (10)

The river of life shimmers in the closet (11) of the heart

This sweet wine the ruby lips of Baha doth part

An Epistle of the Báb to Sultan Abdu’l-Majíd

-- provisional translation by Necati Alkan with assistance from Khazeh Fananapazir

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. Praise be to Him Who hath sent the Book unto whosoever He willeth among His servants. Verily, there is none other God beside Him, the All-Possessing, the All-Praised. In His grasp He holdeth the kingdom of all things. Nothing escapeth His knowledge. There is none other God beside Him. Say: Him do all worship.

Verily, this Book is a command from God unto all who are on earth. Issue forth from your cities for the Covenant of the Remnant of God, the living, the undoubted Leader [Imám]. He is indeed the Book wherein there is no doubt, sent down from the presence of His Servant ‘Alí, the All-Wise.

And He, verily, is ‘Alí, the All-Wise, the Path of God in the heavens and on the earth. He calls the people to the Straight Path at the bidding of thy Lord. He verily is the Mystery of the heavens, Who commands from the Presence of the Remnant of God, the true and undoubted Leader. He, verily, is the Light from the right side of the Mount Sinai in the Book of thy Lord. There is no God but Me. Say: Him do they all fear.

Read the Book of thy Lord, O Majíd, through the command of thy Lord in the preserved Book. Know thou that God hath knowledge of all things in the heavens and on the earth, and that thou art concerning the verdict passed on the messenger [Bastámí, one of the Letters of the Living], possessed of great wrongdoing. Fear God, O thou man! For today no place is there for anyone to flee except he believeth in the signs of God and is accounted among those who worship Him.

Lawh-i-Yawm-i-Shahádat-i-Hadrat-i-A'lá (Tablet Concerning the Day of the Martyrdom of His Holiness the Báb) – by ‘Abdu’l-Baha

[Original Tablet published in ‘Ayyam-i-Tis'ih (The Nine Days), pages 187-88]

-- provisional translation by Khazeh Fananapazir

O thou honoured 'Alí Akbar! [1]

This day is the day of the Martyrdom of His Holiness, the Exalted One, may our heart be sacrificed for His sanctified blood.

This Day is the day in which this "Sun of Truth" concealed itself behind the clouds of providence.

This Day is the day in which this luminous Orb did set!

This Day is the day in which that Body, pure and without blemish or spot fell upon and rolled onto the blood soaked earth

This Day is the day in which His chest and His heart, immaculate and pure like unto a spotless mirror, was riddled by thousands of bullets!

This Day is the day in which that "Divine Lamp" became severed from Its physical frame!

This Day is the day in which the cries and lamentations of the Concourse on high are raised

This Day is the day in which the inhabitants of the Kingdom of God weep and moan, the eyes in tears and their hearts torn!

(Source: Baha’i Library Online)

[1] Mullá 'Alí-Akbar-i-Shahmirzadí, known as Hají Akhund, one of the four Hands of the Cause appointed by Bahá'u'lláh.

Tablet of Visitation for the Mother of Baha’u’llah – by Baha’u’llah

--provisional translation by Baharieh Rouhani-Ma’ani

The most honoured, esteemed and respected mother.

He is God! 

Praised be Thou O Lord, My God! This is My mother who hath acknowledged Thy oneness, confessed Thy unity, attained the honour of meeting Thy Manifestations in Thy days, reached the station of recognition and entered the tabernacle of Heaven, for she loved Thyself and Thy Servant and held fast to the cord of Thy love through the sanctified Temples of Thy Sovereignty. 

I beseech Thee, therefore, O My God, to grant her the honour of beholding Thy Beauty, and vouchsafe unto her the gift of Thy Presence. Give her to drink then from the ocean of Thy mercy and the chalice of Thy forgiveness. Make her to dwell, O My God, in the precincts of Thy mercy in the Heaven of eternity. Grant her to hear Thy holy melodies that she may cast the veil from her head in her eagerness to meet Thee and speed through the domains of Thy nearness and union.

Thou art verily powerful over all that Thou desirest, and Thou art verily the Mighty, the Most Luminous.

(source: Included in ‘Leaves of the Twin Divine Trees’, by Baharieh Rouhani-Ma’ani; approved by the Baha’i World Center)

Lawh-i-Náqús (Tablet of the Bell) -- (Tablet of the Feast of Ridván) - by Bahá'u'lláh

--provisional translation by Ali-Kuli Khan and Marzieh Gail

[See another provisional translation]

He is the Almighty Lord!

Lo, this is the garden of Paradise wherein is raised the Voice of God, the Dominant, the Strong; Here do the immaculate Maids of Heaven dwell, they whom no eye hath seen save only God's, the Sanctified, the Well-Beloved; Herein the eternal nightingale singeth on the bough of the sacred Lote-Tree a song that bedazzaleth the minds, and herein are the needy led to the haven of wealth, and all men guided to the Word of God; verily this is a manifest truth.

[Here is the song that the nightingale singeth;]

In Thy Name that is God,

Thou art verily God!

O sacred Monk, ring out the bells, for the day of God hath come, and the Beauty of the All-Glorious is established on the holy, shining throne.

Glory to Thee, O God, O Thou who art God,

O Thou who alone art God!

O prophet of wisdom, Hud, beat thou upon thy drum, in the name of the Lord, the Precious, the Bountiful, for the Temple of Holiness is seated upon His high, unapproachable throne.

Glory to Thee, O God, O Thou who art God,

O Thou who alone art God!

O Thou beauty of eternity, pluck with the fingers of the spirit at the strings of Thy lute that is wondrous and Holy, for the Heavenly Beauty hath come in His garment of glimmering silk.

Glory to Thee, O God, O Thou who art God,

O Thou who alone art God!

Lawh-i Kullu't-Ta'am: Tablet of All Food - by Bahá'u'lláh

-- provisional translation by Stephen Lambden

He is Supremely Powerful in accomplishing that which He willeth through a command on His part. And He is God, Powerful over all things.

Praise be to God Who hath caused Oceans of Light to surge in the Divine Fiery Water; excited the Letters of the Dispensation (huruf al-zuhur) in the Incomparable, Beclouded Point and made the Hidden Mount to revolve about the Firmament of the Theophany, the Concealed Self, the Focal Centre of Eternality. He caused the Lordly Point to circle round the Most-Splendid, All-Enduring Ornament to the end, that all might testify that He is the True One; no God is there save Him. He, verily, is the Incomparable, the One, the Eternal, Who neither begetteth nor is begotten. He can never be likened to any single thing. And He, God, is the Majestic, the All-Compelling.

Praise be to God Who hath caused the Fiery Depths to overflow from the Purified, Sanctified Temple and made the Beauteous Deep to sprinkle forth refined, glorious Dewdrops. He hath attracted the Countenances characterised by the letter "H" (al-ha') through the unique, eternal melodies and enabled the Light-filled Dove to sing forth with warblings timeless and everlasting. This, to the end, that all might become aware that He is the True One; there is none other God besides Him, the Beneficent, the Almighty Who cannot be described by aught save His Essence or characterised by aught save His Eminence. He, verily, is the All-Powerful, the Wrathful.

Praise be to God Who hath caused the Light to circle round the twin Mounts of His Light and made the Light to revolve around the twin Spheres of His Light. He hath caused the Light to beam forth in the Loci of His Light and made the Light to be retained in the Repositories of His Light. He hath also caused the Light to scintillate through the impulses of His Light and made the Light to shine resplendent in the Countenances of His Light. Praise God! Praised be God! Worthy of praise is He Who establisheth His Own worth, for besides Him there is none other.

Tablet of Visitation for Quddús – by the Báb

-- provisional translation

(Originally written as "Ziyarat-Namih-i-Mullá Muhammad ‘Alí-i-Barfurushí")

In the Name of God, the Most Inaccessible, the Most Holy!

Holy, holy, holy (quddus, quddus, quddus)! The glory from God, no other God is there but He, rest upon thy heart and the heart of whomsoever is in thy heart, and upon thy spirit and the spirit of whomsoever is in thy spirit, and upon thy soul and whomsoever is in thy soul, and upon thy body and whomsoever is in thy body. Then, the exaltation from God rest upon thy heart and the heart of whomsoever hath been created from the light of thy praise, and upon thy spirit and whomsoever hath been created from the spirit of thy benediction, and upon thy soul and whomsoever hath been created from the soul of thy unification, and upon thy body and whomsoever hath been created from the light of thy glorification. Thou hast been raised up, nor is there above thee anyone possessed of exaltation like unto thee; thou hast come near, nor is there anyone possessed of proximity like unto thine.

All created things have given praise in unison out of the essence of thy praise, and all atoms have rendered glorification out of the camphor of thy glorification, and all the psychic entities have extolled the oneness of God in unison out of the substance of thine extolling of His unity, and all the individual realities have lauded the greatness of God in unison out of the absolute reality of thy glorification of His greatness. All render praise unto God through thee, and all sanctify God through thee, and all extol God's singleness through thee, and all magnify God through thee. So great hath been thine affliction that the afflictions of all created things are cut off from any connection with it; the calamity that hath overwhelmed thee hath reached so high a station that no other calamity of any created thing may be mentioned in the same breath as it.

Sharh Wahdat al-Wujud (Tablet on the Unity of Existence) – by ‘Abdu’l-Baha

 -- provisional translation

He is God!

Those pre-eminent Sufis who founded the doctrine of the "unity of existence" [wahdat al-wujud] never intended by this term the universally predicated existence which is conceived by the mind. For such an existence is but an accident among others occurring in association with the realities of things. That is to say, these realities are the substance [jawhar], whereas that existence which is conceived by the mind, the universally predicated existence, is but an accident associated with them.

Rather, what these pre-eminent figures have alluded to is an existence compared to which the realities of all things are mere accidents. By this is intended an existence that is pre-eternal [qadim] whilst all other things are contingent [hadith]. Thus, the existence to which they refer is that ineffable Reality whereby all things are realized, or, in other words, by virtue of which all things subsist, but which itself remaineth self-subsistent above the heavens and the earth.  The words "He is the Ever-Living, the Self-Subsistent" [Qur'an 2:255 and 3:2] bear witness to the truth of this utterance. And since that existence whereby all things are realized is one, there is "unity of existence."

The generality of the Sufis, however, conceive of that ineffable Reality as having resolved itself [hulul] into countless forms, as hath been said:

The sea hath ever been the sea.

And all contingent things its waves and forms

This world resembleth ice, and Thee

Thou art the water at its very source.

In other words, although that ineffable Reality defieth all description, they found themselves obliged to describe it, and hence termed it "existence." In brief, the generality of the Sufis hold that the existence which is above all description and beyond all understanding is like unto the sea, and the realities of all things are even as its waves. Although the waves continually ebb and flow, the sea remaineth ever the same and unchanged.

But in the eyes of the people of Truth, the Baha'is, that unseen and unknowable Being is like unto the sun, which hath dawned above all things and from whose rays all creatures, whether mineral, plant, animal, or human, obtain illumination. That is to say, its effulgent rays shine upon them all and they, in turn, reflect faithfully its light. Thus, if thou dost gaze upon the stone, the earth, the plant, the animal, and man, thou wilt find them one and all to be partaking of the bounty of the sun. In like manner, although the realities of all created things are the recipients of the bounty of the Daystar of Truth, the latter doth not descend from its heights of holiness and sanctity, nor doth it resolve itself into contingent beings. "No thing is there but that it containeth a sign betokening His oneness."[Attributed to Abu'l-'Atahiyah]

Lawh-i-Ru’yá’ (Tablet of the Vision) - by Bahá’u’lláh

--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!

A letter from the Báb to His mother during His pilgrimage, circa 1844-1845

-- provisional translation by Baharieh Rouhani Ma’ani, approved by the Universal House of Justice for inclusion in the book: 'Leaves of the Twin Divine Trees'.

He is God, the Most High!

In the name of God, the Most Merciful of the Merciful! This is a letter written from the port of Mukhá to the honourable mother, may God, the Most Exalted, keep her safe! She is most certainly eager to know about the well-being of her son.

A letter was sent from Búshihr. I trust God, the Most High, that it hath been illumined with the honour of thy perusal. I explained in the letter sent from Búshihr the details up to Musqal. Surely, it hath been conveyed to thy noble presence.

Praised be God, my health until this day that I arrived in Mukhá hath been good and there hath been no change in my condition. With assistance from God, exalted be He, soon I shall reach the spot where prayers are answered. I will most certainly pray on thy behalf and on behalf of honourable grandmother. Through God's bounty, no ground for doubt exists and refusal cannot be imagined.

Mubarak [1] continues to find life in service. He does what he needs to do with the help of the accompanying religious students.

Convey greetings to everyone. To the sister of Aqa Mirzá Siyyid Hasan, [2] surely the letter I sent from Musqat hath been received and she will also peruse this page.

Kiss the faces of núr-i-chashmán [those who solace the eye] [3]

The sister of Jináb-i Shaykh together with ‘Aqá Siyyid Mirzá... have, praised be God, arrived.

Peace be upon thee, and God's mercy and His blessings.

Dated: The 10th day of the month of Dhí Qa'dih. Praised be God, the Lord of all the worlds.

- (Included in the book: 'Leaves of the Twin Divine Trees', by Baharieh Rouhani Ma’ani)

[1] The Báb’s Ethiopian servant.

[2] Khadíjih Bagum, the wife of the Báb, whose eldest brother was Mirzá Siyyid Hasan.

[3] Núr-i-chashmán is a term used for referring to one’s own children or the children of the family.

Risálah fi’s-Sulúk ilá Alláh (The Spiritual Journey towards God) – by the Báb [1]

-- provisional translation by Todd Lawson

“In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate” (Qur’an) [2]

Be steadfast, O seeker of piety, in the station of affirming the divine unity. As God, exalted be He, has said:

“As for those who say ‘our Lord is God’ then continue steadfast, the angels descend upon them saying ‘fear not, nor be grieved, and receive good news of the Garden which ye were promised!’” (Qur’an)

Know ye that “the paths to God are as numerous as the breaths of the creatures” yet, there is “no Soul but One” (Qur’an) and there is no religion but the one religion, and it is the “Cause of God and our Command is but a single Act” (Qur’an)

“So set thou thy face steadily towards the True Faith – the Nature made by God – in which He has made men. There is no altering in God’s creation.” (Qur’an)

Verily, Religion is supported by four pillars:

1) Affirming the divine unity

2) Prophethood

3) Guardianship, and

4) The community of true believers

These are four gates, none of which is of any use without the others.

And all of this is the “Face of God which never perish” (Qur’an). And this is the love of the Family of God which is the same as the love of God. This is the Hidden Treasure to which the Prophet, upon Him and His family be peace, openly alluded when He said: “Above each good is another good until one loves us, and when one loves us there is no good higher.” (Qur’an)

The Persian Bayan (the introductory portion) – by the Báb

-- provisional translation

In the Name of God, the Inaccessible, the Most Holy

Praise and sanctification are due to the regal substance of holiness, glory, and majesty, Who has existed eternally and will continue to exist in the being of His own Essence, Who has always been and always will be exalted in His own eternity, far above the comprehension of all things. He did not create the sign of His knowledge within any other being other than by means of the incapacity of all things to know Him; nor did He shine forth upon any other thing other than through His own Self. He has, therefore, always been lifted high above association with any other thing, and He brought all things into existence in order that they might all confess before Him on the Day of Resurrection within the being of their true selves that He has neither peer nor equal, nor rival, nor likeness, nor similitude.

No, He has been and remains alone in the dominion of His own Godhood. He has been and remains glorified in the sovereignty of His own Lordship. Nothing else has ever recognized Him as He deserves to be recognized, nor can anything ever hope to do so, for whatever mention of existence they might apply to Him would itself have already been created by the sovereign power of His own Will, and He Himself would already have shone forth on it with His own Self upon the exalted heights of His Throne. He created the sign of His knowledge within the depths of all things in order that they might be sure that He is the First and the Last, the Manifest and the Hidden, the Creator and the Sustainer, the Powerful and the Knowing, the Hearing and the Seeing, the One Who Buries and the One Who Raises the Dead, the Giver of Life and the Giver of Death, the Mighty and the Inaccessible, the Exalted and the All-Highest. He it is Who has never guided and will never guide anyone unless it be to the exaltation of His glorification and the sublimity of His praise and the inaccessibility of His Oneness and the elevation of His magnification.

Lawh-i-Maryam (Tablet to Maryam) [1] - by Bahá’u’lláh

-- provisional translation by Julio Savi and Faezeh Mardani Mazzoli

He is sorrowful in My sorrow.

O Maryam! The wrongs which I suffer have blotted out the wrongs suffered by My First Name (the Báb) from the Tablet of creation [2] and the showers of affliction rained at all times upon this veilless Beauty from the clouds of God’s decree.

My expulsion from My country was for no other reason except My love for the Beloved, and my removal from My land was for no other motive but My willing submission to the Goal of all desire (ridáy-i-maqsúd).

In the summons of God’s decree I was even as a kindled and shining lamp and in the time of heavenly trials I was as steadfast (thábit) [3] as a mountain.

In the revelations of grace I was even as a raining cloud and in restraining the enemies of the King of Oneness like a blazing fire.

The tokens of My might have become a cause of the envy of My enemies and the effulgences of My wisdom have turned into instruments of the perfidy of the malicious.

There was not a night during which I rested in a safe place, not a morning in which I lifted My head from My couch with ease.

I swear by the Beauty of God! Husayn wept for the wrongs I have suffered and the Friend (Abraham) cast himself into the fire for My grief.

Were thou to examine carefully the matter, the eyes of might are weeping behind the Tabernacle of sinlessness and the people of glory are moaning in the precincts of loftiness. Unto this beareth witness the Tongue of truth and glory. 

Functioning of the Universal House of Justice – by ‘Abdu’l-Baha

-- provisional translation by Moojan Momen

He is the All-Glorious!

O you who are clinging fast to the hem of Covenant, your letter was read and your detailed questions were noted. Although calamities, like deadly poison, have affected my limbs, my members and my joints, such that my pen is prevented from writing and my tongue from speaking, and my tasks are so many that it is not possible to describe them, yet nevertheless, out of the great love that this servant has for that gentleman, a spiritual answer will be given, which will be compatible with Divine wisdom, concise and illuminating, perfectly explaining the matter. It will be a comprehensive explanation concerning this question and will contain acceptable and sought-after insights such that by this explanation, clarification, analysis, allusion, commentary and spiritual interpretation, one hundred doors will be opened up by each of its doors. Otherwise, were the horizons to become pages, it would not be enough to encompass [this theme].

You have asked about the wisdom of assigning some of the important legislation (ahkám) to the House of Justice. The first [point to be made] is this that this divine cycle is purely spiritual (rawhání), divine (rahmání) and moral (vujdání). It is not so much concerned with the physical (jismání), the worldly (mulkí) or with the stages of material existence (shu’ún-i násutí). Similarly, the Christian cycle was purely spiritual and in the entirety of the Gospels, there is nothing except the prohibition of divorce and an allusion to the lifting of the [law of the] Sabbath. All of the laws (ahkám) are spiritual and the morals divine. Just as it is said: “The Son of Man did not come to judge the world but to give it life.” [cf. John 3:17; 12:47] Now this great cycle is also purely spiritual and is the giver of eternal life, for the fundamental basis of the religion of God is to adorn [people] with good character, to improve them with virtuous conduct and to regulate their interactions. The intention is this that beings who were veiled [from the light] might attain to the vision [of His Beauty] and that darksome reality might become filled with light.

Commentary on the first few words of the thirtieth Súrah of the Qur'án: the Súrah of al-Rúm (Rome) – by ‘Abdu’l-Baha

-- provisional translation by Moojan Momen

(please see some background information at the end of the Tablet)

He is the All- Glorious!

Praise be to Thee, O Lord! O my God! Out of Thy Bounty and Mercy, Thou hast caused the waters of existence to descend from the heaven of Thy Oneness and Thou hast caused the showers of Thine Eternal Bounties to rain down from the clouds of the heaven of Thy Mighty Oneness until, through this most mighty Beneficence, the rivers of Thy most wondrous Grace flowed forth upon the soil of all possible existent realities in Thine act of Creation. All lands and regions were watered by these streaming, heavenly rivers. Every hill and city was inundated by these torrential celestial floods. And then there shone forth upon them the sun of Thy Mercy from the horizon of Thy holy Might. And the grains, O my God, of Thine Exalted Word and Thy Most Mighty Verses were sown in the earth of human capacity by Thy great Grace and Favour.

These existent realities, however, became differentiated and diverged through the effulgences of the Sun of Thy most great Name. Some of them, O my God, just as Thou hast reckoned according to Thy secret knowledge, are pure and refined hearts upon which that Sun imprinted its signs and from which there appeared traces of its effulgence. It hath stirred up and fertilized their soil and there hath grown forth from them the myrtles of love and knowledge of Thee. They have been adorned by the sacred blossoms of yearning for and attraction towards Thee as like a blessed and fertile land. Some, however, O my God, were soiled hearts obscured by the rust of their vain imaginings, veiled from their Lord by the veils of darkness. No trace appears among them of the effulgences of that sun nor of the signs of the One Who hath created and ordained it. Upon their soil, the grain of the mention of their Lord is as upon desolate and barren land. Thou art not, however, O my God, neglectful in Thine effulgences upon the creation and the appearance of Thy signs among existent realities, as Thou hast said, and Thy word is the truth: “No fault canst thou see in the creation of the All-Merciful” (Qura’n 67:3) and “Your creation and your resurrection is but as a single soul (Qur’an 31:28).

Tablet of visitation in honor of Khadíjih Bagum, the wife of the Báb – by Bahá’u’áh

-- provisional translation approved by the Universal House of Justice for inclusion in the book: 'Leaves of the Twin Divine Trees' (by Baharieh Rouhani Ma’ani)

He is the comforter of the sorrowful!

O Pen! Verily Thou hast been visited by a great calamity, an immense affliction, which hath caused the inhabitants of the highest Heaven and most lofty Paradise to lament. Through this affliction sorrow hath ascended until it seized the hem of the robe of the Merciful. Blessed be the man who arose to render her service in her lifetime and visited her grave after she winged her flight and ascended to the world beyond. Blessed likewise be the handmaiden who betook herself to her shrine and through her drew nigh unto God.

The glory shining from the horizon of My luminous Brow, and the splendour of the light manifested from the heaven of My Name, the Most Glorious, be upon thee, O thou the fruit of the divine Lote-Tree, the blessed and luminous leaf, the consort of the One through Whose revelation the kingdom of immortality and the realm of creation were wreathed in smiles! I testify that thou art in truth the first leaf who attained the cup of a sure union and the last fruit who offered up her soul because of her separation from Him. Thou art the one whose inner being was consumed, whose heart melted, and whose limbs were set aflame by reason of thy remoteness from the presence of the One Whom God hath made to be the Dawning-place of His Signs, the Dayspring of His Proofs, the Manifestation of His Names, the Source of His laws, and the Seat of His Throne.

O My leaf and the fragrance of the paradise of My good pleasure! Thou art with the Supreme Companion, and this Wronged One maketh mention of thee in the prison of 'Akká. Thou art she who, before the creation of the world of being, discovered the fragrance of the garment of the All-Merciful. Thou wert honoured with meeting Him, attained union with Him, and drank the wine of nearness from the hand of His bestowal. I testify that in thee two signs have been conjoined: The sign of union revived thee in the beginning and the sign of separation encompassed thy death in the end. How many a night did thy sighs ascend because of thy love for God and thy tears flow at the mention of His Name, the Most Glorious! He hath verily been with thee, witnessing thy burning, thy fervour, thine eagerness, thy yearning, and hearing the lamentation of thy heart and the wailing of thine inner being.

Tablet of visitation for the martyrs of Nayriz, Iran – by 'Abdu'l-Bahá

-- provisional translation

He is God!

O Divine Breezes, wafting over that Most Luminous Spot, convey the fire of the love of my heart, the longing of my soul, the deep attachment of my spirit and the ardent desire of my heart yearning to be at that place where the fallen heads were crowned with the greatest martyrdom adorned with jewels shedding light upon the ages and centuries past as they were separated from their bodies in the Path of God.

Say: May the bright lights shining from the Abha Kingdom Illuminate that brilliant sepulcher. May the soft breezes blowing from the gardens of the Most Sublime Paradise waft over that Most Luminous Spot. That verdant garden, that sublime meadow was honored by you.

O heads severed in the Path of your Lord! O faces illuminated by the light of the Sun of Guidance! O eyes brightened by turning towards the Splendor of the Daystar of Thy Revelation! O ears made receptive by listening to the Call of the Lord! O nostrils invigorated by inhaling the pure breath of the Guidance of God! O palates refreshed by tasting every bitterness yet sweetened in the path of the Love of God!

May my spirit be a sacrifice for you! May my being be a sacrifice for you! May my reality be a sacrifice for you!