-- provisional translation by Adib Masumian
[More contextual information on the Panj Kanz, is also
provided by Adib Taherzadeh in ‘The Revelation of Baháʼuʼlláh’, vol. 2, pp.
140–143]
[Please note: Baha’u’llah’s utterances are in quotes.]
The First Treasure
One day, the Beauty of the All-Knowing [Baha’u’llah] was
walking in the bírúní [1] of the Most Great House in Baghdád when some of the
princes of Persia, who were residing in that land, entered His presence. With
the utmost solicitude, the Ancient Beauty [Baha’u’llah] inquired after them and
asked about the current affairs of that land. One of them made this remark,
“How is it that You discuss spiritual matters with Your friends when they
attain Your presence, but with us You ask only of the town and the market? It
seems You do not consider us worthy,” by which he intended to ask, “Why should
these people—bereft of exquisite clothing, wealth, knowledge, and insight—take
precedence over us, with our riches and sagacity?”
The Blessed Beauty responded:
“Dost thou know what sort of person is worthy of hearing My
words and is fit to enter My presence? I will say it that thou shalt know.
Suppose one should find himself in a limitless space, unbounded in every
direction. To the right, there existeth every pomp and glory, pleasure and
comfort, and sovereignty eternal and stainless; and to the left is prepared
every calamity and hardship, vengeance and poverty, and vicissitude unyielding
and perpetual. Suppose then that the Faithful Spirit should call out, from the
precincts of the Lord of the Worlds, to that one, saying, ‘Shouldst thou choose
the right—with its eternal pleasures and all that is therein—over the left,
thou wouldst not, in the estimation of God, be abased in the least; and
shouldst thou choose the left—with its perpetual hardships and all that is
therein—over the right, it would not add an ounce to thy worth in the sight of
the Almighty, the Unconstrained.’ Should that one choose, at that moment, the
left over the right—afire with ardor and zeal, and filled with rapture and
ecstasy—then would he be fit to enter My presence and worthy of hearing My
magnificent words.”
“If thine aim be to cherish thy life, approach not our
court;
But if sacrifice be thy heart’s desire, come and let others
come with thee.
For such is the way of faith, if in thy heart thou seekest
reunion with Bahá;
Shouldst thou refuse to tread this path, why trouble us?
Begone!” [2]
In the same vein, the Dove of Eternity [Baha’u’llah] has
warbled thus in the gardens of the Qasídiy-i-Varqáʼíyyih [3]:
“Thou didst desire a hopeless union, the
condition for which Thou must satisfy:
Thou must drain every cup of fate’s ordeals;
thy heart must spew the blood of tyranny.
Thou must cut off all hope of comfort’s touch;
Thou must renounce every necessity.
Thy duty is to shed blood in love’s faith;
a love-scorched soul is fealty to Me.
Nights spent awake at slanderer’s attacks,
a constant stream of insults all the days;
In My faith poison’s as a healing drink;
in My Path, fate’s wrath is a tender grace.
Cease claiming to love, or accept all this,
For thus was it ordained in My Law’s scroll.” [4]
And in the same connection, He has said:
“Should a person not see himself swimming in a sea of blood,
and yet claim to love Me, he would be utterly bereft of sincerity.”
The Second Treasure
When the Lord of Men, [Baha’u’llah] the Causer of Causes,
[Baha’u’llah] had concluded His first utterance, He addressed that same
questioner, saying:
“Dost thou know what My purpose is in coming to this world
and in proclaiming My Cause amongst the peoples? I will say it that thou shalt
know. I have come to establish openly—through the strength and power of
God—justice, protection, trustworthiness, and piety in every corner of this
world, which is so replete with defilement, and in which the oppression of the
oppressors and the treachery of the treacherous have sealed shut the door of
tranquility to all creation. These I shall establish in such wise that a woman
secluded behind the veil—to a ray of whose beauty even the sun itself would
fail to compare, and whose virtue and beauty are without like or peer; a woman
adorned with every precious gem, and bedecked with ornaments incalculable even
to them that are endued with understanding—can step out from behind that veil
with manifest splendor and travel, alone and without guardian or escort, from
the uttermost corners of the East to the uttermost ends of the West. She would,
indeed, be a wayfarer in every land and a traveler in every region. The state
of trustworthiness, piety, equity, and justice—free of any treachery, baseness,
injustice, and oppression—will be such that not a single rapacious hand would
stretch out to encroach upon her riches, nor would one look of perfidy,
perversity, or passion fall upon the beauty of her purity. Indeed, with a heart
unsullied and countenance filled with joy, she would conclude her journey
through every land and return to her native home.”
He then said:
“I will, through the power of God, fashion the world in this
very way, and this greatest portal will be opened before the faces of all men.
It is in this connection that the Supreme Pen hath revealed, ‘Erelong wilt thou
behold the earth as the Most Glorious Paradise.’”
The Third Treasure
Concerning the subjects of pure motives, deeds sanctified in
every way, living only for the sake of God, and having one’s gaze ever fixed
upon God—Who is rich in Himself and independent of all that is not of Him—the
Tongue of Grandeur [Baha’u’llah] gave an allegory, which was even as a limpid
wine sealed in the vessel of purity, majesty, and glory. With it, He addressed
the entire creation, quenching the thirst of them who wander in a desert devoid
of truthfulness and sincerity:
“Suppose there is a rich man, who possesseth a wealth so
incalculable that it exceedeth even the number of people on this earth, and a
poor man, whose indigence is as extreme as the affluence of the rich man.
Suppose then that, with generosity and beneficence, the rich man gradually
giveth so much of his wealth to the poor man that it doth revert that rich one
to his own initial state of poverty. Consequently, as fate would have it, the
formerly rich man now oweth a meager sum to another, yet this is a debt he is
unable to pay. In the markets and in the streets, people arise to punish and
torment him, and his deliverance from this state remaineth unimaginable until
his debt is paid. It is under these circumstances that the formerly poor man
cometh upon the formerly rich man, to whom he oweth his superior wealth. As the
gaze of the formerly rich man falleth upon his friend, he thinketh to himself,
‘Would that this friend of mine remember my charity unto him, that he might
rescue me from this plight!’ Yet, the very moment the thought ‘I rendered
charity unto him’ entered the mind of the formerly rich man, all his good works
sank into nothingness. He was, moreover, held back from obtaining the
good-pleasure of God, and shut out as by a veil from the true meaning of
humanity. In like manner, suppose the formerly poor man—indebted to the
formerly rich man for the degree of affluence he now enjoyeth—should think to
himself, ‘How excellent! Because of the infinite kindnesses this man rendered
unto me, I am able to rescue him from his hardship and secure his comfort for
the remainder of his life.’ In thinking that he saved his friend through his
kindness or his generosity, and not through humanity alone, this man depriveth
himself of the chalice of pure intentions, and—despite the immensity of his
wealth—departeth to the valley of eternal baseness and perpetual poverty,
unless the beneficence of the formerly rich man be rendered purely out of
humanity and strictly for the sake of God, and the act of the formerly poor man
be carried out for God alone without consideration of previous or subsequent
circumstances. ‘We nourish your souls for the sake of God; we seek from you
neither recompense nor thanks.’” [5]
Gracious God! Behold the realm wherein the immortal Bird of
Eternity [Baha’u’llah] wings His flight, and observe the passion and desire of
this mortal lot! Gone are the days when a man would, by simply reciting the
declaration of faith, be numbered with the true believers. The time has come
when the Ancient Beauty,* seated upon His mighty throne, proclaims unto all
that dwell upon the earth:
O wayfarer, O mystic, O lover, O you who have attained unto
reunion with the Beloved!
Until His attributes appear in thee,
Know thyself as lost, in separation [6]
Out of Thy benevolence, O God, and by the legitimacy of the
Mystery of God, make me a striver in Thy path, purely for Thy sake, who makes
mention of Thee and arises only in Thy love. Enable me to reflect all Thine
attributes, to be a mirror of Thine essence, to manifest naught but utter
servitude, and to be a star of salvation unto others. Make me, moreover, a
discerning friend, a dayspring of life, and a servant unto all Thy creatures.
The Fourth Treasure
The Tongue of Glory [Baha’u’llah] then delivered these
blessed and consummate words:
“Had the community of Islam acted upon two commands from
among the utterances of God, all mankind would have been guided aright, reached
the realm of His acceptance, and attained unto the pavilion of reunion with
Him. That community would not be afflicted with all these spiritual maladies
and selfish motives, which prompted them to put to death Him Who is the solace
of the eyes of the Prophets, and the apple of the eyes of the Messenger of
Bathá [Mecca] and Yathrib [Medina]. [7] They regarded themselves as His
followers, who arose in the Name of the Promised Qáʼim, [8] yet they made His
pure and radiant body the target of their darts. ‘O Thou Who art our Lord!
Judge between us and our people in truth, for Thou art the best of those who
give judgment.’ [9] The aforementioned two commands are these: ‘O ye who
believe! Fear God, and be with the sincere ones,’ [10] not with them whose
hearts are hardened and incapable of the remembrance of God." [11]
In this connection, the Tongue of Grandeur also said:
“Suppose that thou shouldst associate with another over the
course of three meetings. If thine influence had no discernible effect on him,
thou shouldst undoubtedly avoid his company, for his influence upon thee will,
in time, be made manifest.”
The Lord of All Creation [Baha’u’llah] continued in this
connection:
“Suppose there is a man with a keen sense of smell, and a
sound and discerning sense of taste. As soon as another man, vigilant and ever
mindful of God, entereth the home of the first man, he findeth the air to be
fragrant, the food delicious, and the drink delectable and delightful.
Conversely, should a heedless person enter that home, he would find the air
unpleasant, and the flavor of the food and drink unpalatable. We seek refuge
with God from the wickedness of the heedless! He saith, glorified be His
mention: ‘Treasure the companionship of the righteous and eschew all fellowship
with the ungodly.’ [12]
The Fifth Treasure
Since the Ancient Beauty has flung open the doors of joy and
glad-tidings before the faces of the people of the world, He has delivered this
mighty utterance:
“I have come to this world to mine gems. If the tiniest gem
be latent within a stone, and if that stone be hidden beneath the seven seas, I
shall not cease My work until I have extracted the gem from that stone. He
saith, exalted be He: ‘God, exalted be His glory, hath sent a Trusted One in
every age to bring forth Mystic Gems from the mine of man.’” [13]
O God! In this state of poverty and degradation, I make
mention of Thy hidden treasures; deprive me not thereof. Aid me, then, to
perform such acts as beseem Thee. Thou, verily, art the All-Hearing, the
Answerer of Prayers.
Notes
[1] From the Encyclopedia Iranica: “The public or male
quarters of wealthy households, used for the conduct of business, male
religious ceremonies, and parties for men.”
[2] An excerpt from the Persian poem Sáqí az Ghayb-i-Baqá,
revealed by Bahá’u’lláh in Kurdistán. Translated by Shoghi Effendi in The
Dawn-Breakers, p. 96 (Brit.), pp. 137–8 (U.S.).
[3] “The Ode of the Dove,” an Arabic poem revealed by
Bahá’u’lláh in Kurdistán.
[4] Qasídiy-i-Varqáʼíyyih, verses 55–61. Translation by Juan
Cole; available online.
[5] Qurʼán 76:9.
[6] From Bahá’u’lláh’s Mathnaví-yi-Maʻnaví, verse 288.
Translation by Franklin Lewis; available online here. For consistency’s sake,
the present translator has altered Lewis’s translation of this couplet to use
archaic forms of pronouns.
[7] This is a reference to the Prophet Muḥammad.
[8] This is a reference to the Báb.
[9] Qurʼán 7:89.
[10] Qurʼán 9:119.
[11] This appears to be a paraphrase of Qurʼán 39:22.
[12] Bahá’u’lláh, Persian Hidden Words, #3.
[13] From a tablet by Bahá’u’lláh. English translation
published in ʻAbdu’l-Bahá, A Traveller’s Narrative, p. 42. The present
translator has altered E.G. Browne’s rendering of this excerpt so that it more
closely follows the style used by Shoghi Effendi. Bahá’u’lláh makes a very
similar declaration in Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 10: “The purpose of
the one true God, exalted be His glory, hath been to bring forth the Mystic
Gems out of the mine of man…”