-- 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!”
