Tablet of Visitation for Badí – by Baha’u’llah

--provisional translation by Peyman Sazedj

In the name of Him Who hath power to ordain what He willeth!

This is a Book sent down in truth in remembrance of that which hath caused the face of the Cause of God to unveil its splendor betwixt earth and heaven. Say: It is the Utterance of God unto all that dwell on earth. The day star of wisdom hath risen above its horizon; upon it the Pen of the All-Merciful hath traced: the prison belongeth to the Manifestation of the Cause of your Lord, the Almighty, the Beneficient. Give ear, O thou remnant of the family, unto that which the Tongue of Majesty and Glory speaketh, that the remembrance of Thy Lord may attract thee to such heights that thou shalt not be overcome by grief. Behold, We have manifested Our Cause through thee. So overpowering hath been its manifestation, that the hearts of men have been struck with terror and their eyes been blinded.

Know thou that when We desired to call Badí into being, We summoned him alone to Our presence, addressed to him a word, and lo! his limbs were so sorely shaken that he nearly swooned away. We protected him, however, through the power of Our sovereignty. We then called him into being and fashioned him, and We breathed into him the spirit of might and power. Such was the infusion of Our might, that had We but bidden him, he would have subdued all who are in the heavens and all who are on the earth. Thy Lord is, in very truth, the Mighty, the Unrestrained.

No sooner was he perfected by the Word of thy Lord, and recreated by the breath of His Revelation, than he rejoiced before Our presence and turned, with majesty and power, towards the field of sacrifice. Such was his determination, that the Concourse on high and the inhabitants of the Cities of the Names of God were sorely shaken. Thereupon a Voice was heard from the seat of glory, calling: "Hallowed be the All-Glorious Who hath created what He was pleased to create. He is indeed the Almighty, the All-Bounteous.”

The Persian Tablet of Ahmad – by Baha’u’llah

-- provisional translation by Foad Seddigh

[Please note: some portions of this Tablet have been translated by Shoghi Effendi. These are shown in italics]

In the name of our Lord, the Exalted, the Most High!

These are the wondrous divine exhortations that have been uttered by the Tongue of Power in the sanctuary of grandeur, from the unapproachable sanctity of His mercy-seat, saying: ‟Incline thine inner ears to His call and deprive not yourselves of the admonishments of the Beloved.”

O banished and faithful friend! Quench the thirst of heedlessness with the sanctified waters of My grace, and chase the gloom of remoteness through the morning-light of My Divine presence. Suffer not the habitation wherein dwelleth My undying love for thee to be destroyed through the tyranny of covetous desires, and overcloud not the beauty of the heavenly Youth with the dust of self and passion. Clothe thyself with the essence of righteousness, and let thine heart be afraid of none except God. Obstruct not the luminous spring of thy soul with the thorns and brambles of vain and inordinate affections, and impede not the flow of the living waters that stream from the fountain of thine heart. Set all thy hope in God, and cleave tenaciously to His unfailing mercy. Who else but Him can enrich the destitute, and deliver the fallen from his abasement?

O My servants! Were ye to discover the hidden, the shoreless oceans of My incorruptible wealth, ye would, of a certainty, esteem as nothing the world, nay, the entire creation. Let the flame of search burn with such fierceness within your hearts as to enable you to attain your supreme and most exalted goal—the station at which ye can draw nigh unto, and be united with, your Best-Beloved.

O Ahmad! Bar not thyself from the surging seas of divine favour that are concealed from the eyes of men, and be not of those who stray from the clear and straight path. By the manifest light of His divine guidance, strive to attain a luminous vision by whose aid you will be lead to the sanctified and blessed spot in the Sinai of Revelation, whereby you may be illumined by the boundless effulgences of His light, and from the ceaseless Revelation of Divine Utterance, hearken to the soul-stirring call: “Look that thou mayest behold Me!”