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CHAPTER ONE
THE GREAT ANNOUNCEMENT
THE PURPOSE OF THE PROPHETS
The Revelation which, from time immemorial, hath been acclaimed
as the Purpose and Promise of all the Prophets of God, and
the most cherished Desire of His Messengers, hath now, by virtue
of the pervasive Will of the Almighty and at His irresistible
bidding, been revealed unto men. The advent of such a Revelation
hath been heralded in all the sacred Scriptures. Behold how, notwithstanding
such an announcement, mankind hath strayed from
its path and shut out itself from its glory.
Say: O ye lovers of the One true God! Strive, that ye may truly
recognize and know Him, and observe befittingly His precepts.
This is a Revelation, under which, if a man shed for its sake one
drop of blood, myriads of oceans will be his recompense. Take heed,
O friends, that ye forfeit not so inestimable a benefit, or disregard
its transcendent station. Consider the multitude of lives that have
been, and are still being, sacrificed in a world deluded by a mere
phantom which the vain imaginations of its peoples have conceived.
Render thanks unto God, inasmuch as ye have attained unto your
heart's Desire, and been united to Him Who is the Promise of all
nations. Guard ye, with the aid of the one true God- exalted be
His glory--the integrity of the station which ye have attained, and
cleave to that which shall promote His Cause. He, verily, enjoineth
on you what is right and conducive to the exaltation of
man's station. Glorified be the All-Merciful, the Revealer of this
wondrous Tablet.
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THE TRUE BELIEVER
Behold, how the divers peoples and kindreds of the earth have
been waiting for the coming of the Promised One. No sooner had
He, Who is the Sun of Truth, been made manifest, than, lo, all
turned away from Him, except them whom God was pleased to
guide. We dare not, in this Day, lift the veil that concealeth the
exalted station which every true believer can attain, for the joy
which such a revelation must provoke might well cause a few to
faint away and die.
He Who is the Heart and Center of the Bayan hath written:
"The germ that holdeth within itself the potentialities of the Revelation
that is to come is endowed with a potency superior to the
combined forces of all those who follow Me." And, again, He
saith: "Of all the tributes I have paid to Him Who is to come after
Me, the greatest is this, My written confession, that no words of
Mine can adequately describe Him, nor can any reference to Him
in My Book, the Bayan, do justice to His Cause."
Whoso hath searched the depths of the oceans that lie hid within
these exalted words, and fathomed their import, can be said to have
discovered a glimmer of the unspeakable glory with which this
mighty, this sublime, and most holy Revelation hath been endowed.
From the excellence of so great a Revelation the honor with which
its faithful followers must needs be invested can be well imagined.
By the righteousness of the one true God! The very breath of these
souls is in itself richer than all the treasures of the earth. Happy is
the man that hath attained thereunto, and woe betide the heedless.
THIS WONDROUS DAY
Verily I say, this is the Day in which mankind can behold the
Face, and hear the Voice, of the Promised One. The Call of God
hath been raised, and the light of His countenance hath been lifted
up upon men. It behoveth every man to blot out the trace of every
idle word from the tablet of his heart, and to gaze, with an open
and unbiased mind, on the signs of His Revelation, the proofs of
His Mission, and the tokens of His glory.
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Great indeed is this day! The allusions made to it in all the sacred
Scriptures as the Day of God attest its greatness. The soul of every
Prophet of God, of every Divine Messenger, hath thirsted for this
wondrous Day. All the divers kindreds of the earth have, likewise,
yearned to attain it. No sooner, however, had the Day Star of His
Revelation manifested itself in the heaven of God's Will, than all,
except those whom the Almighty was pleased to guide, were found
dumbfounded and heedless.
O thou that hast remembered Me! The most grievous veil hath
shut out the peoples of the earth from His glory, and hindered them
from hearkening to His call. God grant that the light of unity may
envelop the whole earth, and that the seal, "the Kingdom is God's,"
may be stamped upon the brow of all its peoples.
HOW SEVERE THE TESTS
By the righteousness of God! These are the days in which God
hath proved the hearts of the entire company of His Messengers and
Prophets, and beyond them those that stand guard over His sacred
and inviolable Sanctuary, the inmates of the celestial Pavilion and
dwellers of the Tabernacle of Glory. How severe, therefore, the test
to which they who join partners with God must needs be subjected!
THE TIME FORE-ORDAINED
The time fore-ordained unto the peoples and kindreds of the earth
is now come. The promises of God, as recorded in the holy Scriptures,
have all been fulfilled. Out of Zion hath gone forth the Law
of God, and Jerusalem, and the hills and land thereof, are filled
with the glory of His Revelation. Happy is the man that pondereth
in his heart that which hath been revealed in the Books of
God, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting. Meditate upon this, O ye
beloved of God, and let your ears be attentive unto His Word, so
that ye may, by His grace and mercy, drink your fill from the
crystal waters of constancy, and become as steadfast and immovable
as the mountain in His Cause.
In the Book of Isaiah it is written: "Enter into the rock, and
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hide thee in the dust, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of
His majesty." No man that meditateth upon this verse can fail
to recognize the greatness of this Cause, or doubt the exalted
character of this Day--the Day of God Himself. This same verse
is followed by these words: "And the Lord alone shall be exalted
in that Day." This is the Day which the Pen of the Most High
hath glorified in all the holy Scriptures. There is no verse in them
that doth not declare the glory of His holy Name, and no Book
that doth not testify unto the loftiness of this most exalted theme.
Were We to make mention of all that hath been revealed in these
heavenly Books and holy Scriptures concerning this Revelation,
this Tablet would assume impossible dimensions. It is incumbent,
in this Day, upon every man to place his whole trust in the manifold
bounties of God, and arise to disseminate, with the utmost
wisdom, the verities of His Cause. Then, and only then, will the
whole earth be enveloped with the morning light of His Revelation.
BEWARE LEST YE FAIL
Bestir yourselves, O people, in anticipation of the days of Divine
justice, for the promised hour is now come. Beware lest ye fail to
apprehend its import and be accounted among the erring.
WHY THE PEOPLE HAVE DENIED GOD
Consider the past. How many, both high and low, have, at all
times, yearningly awaited the advent of the Manifestations of God
in the sanctified persons of His chosen Ones. How often have they
expected His coming, how frequently have they prayed that the
breeze of Divine mercy might blow, and the promised Beauty step
forth from behind the veil of concealment, and be made manifest
to all the world. And whensoever the portals of grace did open,
and the clouds of divine bounty did rain upon mankind, and the
light of the Unseen did shine above the horizon of celestial might,
they all denied Him, and turned away from His face the face of
God Himself....
Reflect, what could have been the motive for such deeds? What
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could have prompted such behavior towards the Revealers of the
beauty of the All-Glorious? Whatever in days gone by hath been
the cause of the denial and opposition of those people hath now led
to the perversity of the people of this age. To maintain that the
testimony of Providence was incomplete, that it hath therefore
been the cause of the denial of the people, is but open blasphemy.
How far from the grace of the All-Bountiful and from His loving
providence and tender mercies it is to single out a soul from
amongst all men for the guidance of His creatures, and, on one
hand, to withhold from Him the full measure of His divine testimony,
and, on the other, inflict severe retribution on His people
for having turned away from His chosen One! Nay, the manifold
bounties of the Lord of all beings have, at all times, through the
Manifestations of His Divine Essence, encompassed the earth and
all that dwell therein. Not for a moment hath His grace been withheld,
nor have the showers of His loving-kindness ceased to rain
upon mankind. Consequently, such behavior can be attributed to
naught save the petty-mindedness of such souls as tread the valley
of arrogance and pride, are lost in the wilds of remoteness, walk in
the ways of their idle fancy, and follow the dictates of the leaders
of their faith. Their chief concern is mere opposition; their sole
desire is to ignore the truth. Unto every discerning observer it is
evident and manifest that had these people in the days of each of
the Manifestations of the Sun of Truth sanctified their eyes, their
ears, and their hearts from whatever they had seen, heard, and felt,
they surely would not have been deprived of beholding the beauty
of God, nor strayed far from the habitations of glory. But having
weighed the testimony of God by the standard of their own knowledge,
gleaned from the teachings of the leaders of their faith, and
found it at variance with their limited understanding, they arose
to perpetrate such unseemly acts....
Consider Moses! Armed with the rod of celestial dominion,
adorned with the white hand of Divine knowledge, and proceeding
from the Paran of the love of God, and wielding the serpent of
power and everlasting majesty, He shone forth from the Sinai of
light upon the world. He summoned all the peoples and kindreds
of the earth to the kingdom of eternity, and invited them to partake
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of the fruit of the tree of faithfulness. Surely you are aware
of the fierce opposition of Pharaoh and his people, and of the stones
of idle fancy which the hands of infidels cast upon that blessed
Tree. So much so that Pharaoh and his people finally arose and
exerted their utmost endeavor to extinguish with the waters of
falsehood and denial the fire of that sacred Tree, oblivious of the
truth that no earthly water can quench the flames of Divine
wisdom, nor mortal blasts extinguish the lamp of everlasting dominion.
Nay, rather, such water cannot but intensify the burning
of the flame, and such blasts cannot but insure the preservation of
the lamp, were ye to observe with the eye of discernment, and
walk in the way of God's holy will and pleasure....
And when the days of Moses were ended, and the light of Jesus,
shining forth from the Day Spring of the Spirit, encompassed the
world, all the people of Israel arose in protest against Him. They
clamored that He Whose advent the Bible had foretold must needs
promulgate and fulfil the laws of Moses, whereas this youthful
Nazarene, who laid claim to the station of the divine Messiah, had
annulled the laws of divorce and of the sabbath day--the most
weighty of all the laws of Moses. Moreover, what of the signs of
the Manifestation yet to come? These people of Israel are even
unto the present day still expecting that Manifestation which the
Bible hath foretold! How many Manifestations of Holiness, how
many Revealers of the light everlasting, have appeared since the
time of Moses, and yet Israel, wrapt in the densest veils of satanic
fancy and false imaginings, is still expectant that the idol of her
own handiwork will appear with such signs as she herself hath
conceived! Thus hath God laid hold of them for their sins, hath
extinguished in them the spirit of faith, and tormented them with
the flames of the nethermost fire. And this for no other reason
except that Israel refused to apprehend the meaning of such words
as have been revealed in the Bible concerning the signs of the
coming Revelation. As she never grasped their true significance,
and, to outward seeming, such events never came to pass, she,
therefore, remained deprived of recognizing the beauty of Jesus
and of beholding the Face of God. And they still await His coming!
From time immemorial even unto this day, all the kindreds and
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peoples of the earth have clung to such fanciful and unseemly
thoughts, and thus have deprived themselves of the clear waters
streaming from the springs of purity and holiness....
To them that are endowed with understanding, it is clear and
manifest that, when the fire of the love of Jesus consumed the
veils of Jewish limitations, and His authority was made apparent
and partially enforced, He, the Revealer of the unseen Beauty,
addressing one day His disciples, referred unto His passing, and,
kindling in their hearts the fire of bereavement, said unto them:
"I go away and come again unto you." And in another place He
said: "I go and another will come, Who will tell you all that I
have not told you, and will fulfil all that I have said." Both these
sayings have but one meaning, were ye to ponder upon the Manifestations
of the Unity of God with Divine insight.
Every discerning observer will recognize in the Dispensation of
the Qur'an both the Book and the Cause of Jesus were confirmed.
As to the matter of names, Muhammad, Himself, declared: "I am
Jesus." He recognized the truth of the signs, prophecies, and
words of Jesus, and testified that they were all of God. In this
sense, neither the person of Jesus nor His writings hath differed
from that of Muhammad and of His holy Book, inasmuch as both
have championed the Cause of God, uttered His praise, and revealed
His commandments. Thus it is that Jesus, Himself, declared:
"I go away and come again unto you." Consider the sun.
Were it to say now, "I am the sun of yesterday," it would speak
the truth. And should it, bearing the sequence of time in mind,
claim to be other than that sun, it still would speak the truth. In
like manner, if it be said that all the days are but one and the
same, it is correct and true. And if it be said, with respect to
their particular names and designations, that they differ, that
again is true. For though they are the same, yet one doth recognize
in each a separate designation, a specific attribute, a particular
character. Conceive accordingly the distinction, variation, and
unity characteristic of the various Manifestations of holiness, that
thou mayest comprehend the allusions made by the Creator of all
names and attributes to the mysteries of distinction and unity,
and discover the answer to thy question as to why that everlasting
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Beauty should have, at sundry times, called Himself by different
names and titles....
When the Unseen, the Eternal, the Divine Essence, caused the
Day Star of Muhammad to rise above the horizon of knowledge,
among the cavils which the Jewish divines raised against Him was
that after Moses no Prophet should be sent of God. Yea, mention
hath been made in the Scriptures of a Soul Who must needs be
made manifest and Who will advance the Faith, and promote the
interests of the people of Moses, so that the Law of the Mosaic
Dispensation may encompass the whole earth. Thus hath the King
of eternal glory referred in His Book to the words uttered by
those wanderers in the vale of remoteness and error: " 'The hand
of God,' say the Jews, 'is chained up.' Chained up be their own
hands; and for that which they have said, they were accursed.
Nay, outstretched are both His hands!" "The hand of God is
above their hands." Although the commentators of the Qur'an
have related in divers manners the circumstances attending the
revelation of this verse, yet thou shouldst endeavor to apprehend
the purpose thereof. He saith: How false is that which the Jews
have imagined! How can the hand of Him Who is the King in
truth, Who caused the countenance of Moses to be made manifest,
and conferred upon Him the robe of Prophethood--how can the
hand of such a One be chained and fettered? How can He be
conceived as powerless to raise up yet another Messenger after
Moses? Behold the absurdity of their saying; how far it hath
strayed from the path of knowledge and understanding! Observe
how in this Day also, all these people have occupied themselves
with such foolish absurdities. For over a thousand years they
have been reciting this verse, and unwittingly pronouncing their
censure against the Jews, utterly unaware, that they themselves,
openly and privily, are voicing the sentiments and belief of the
Jewish people! Thou art surely aware of their idle contention,
that all Revelation is ended, that the portals of Divine mercy are
closed, that from the day springs of eternal holiness no Sun shall
rise again, that the Ocean of everlasting bounty is forever stilled,
and that out of the Tabernacle of ancient glory the Messengers
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of God have ceased to be mate manifest. Such is the measure of
the understanding of these small-minded, contemptible people.
These people have imagined that the flow of God's all-encompassing
grace and plenteous mercies, the cessation of which no mind can
contemplate, has been halted. From every side they have risen and
girded up the loins of tyranny, and exerted the utmost endeavor
to quench with the bitter waters of their vain fancy the flame of
God's Burning Bush, oblivious that the globe of power shall,
within its own mighty stronghold, protect the Lamp of God....
Behold how the sovereignty of Muhammad, the Messenger of
God, is today apparent and manifest amongst the people. You
are well aware of what befell His Faith in the early days of His
Dispensation. What woeful sufferings did the hand of the infidel
and erring, the divines of that age and their associates, inflict upon
that spiritual Essence, that most pure and holy Being! How abundant
the thorns and briars which they have strewn over His path!
It is evident that that wretched generation, in their wicked and
satanic fancy, regarded every injury to that immortal Being as
a means to the attainment of an abiding felicity; inasmuch as the
recognized divines of that age, such as 'Abdu'llah-i-Ubayy, Abu
Amir, the hermit, Ka'b-ibn-i-Ashraf, and Nadr-ibn-i-iHarith, all
treated Him as an impostor,-and pronounced Him a lunatic and
a calumniator. Such sore accusations they brought against Him
that in recounting them God forbiddeth the ink to flow, Our pen
to move, or the page to bear them. These malicious imputations
provoked the people to arise and torment Him. And how fierce
that torment, if the divines of the age be its chief instigators, if
they denounce Him to their followers, cast Him out from their
midst, and declare Him a miscreant! Hath not the same befallen
this Servant, and been witnessed by all?
For this reason did Muhammad cry out: "No Prophet of God
hath suffered such harm as I have suffered." And in the Qur'an
are recorded all the calumnies and reproaches uttered against Him,
as well as all the afflictions which He suffered. Refer ye thereunto,
that haply ye may be informed of that which hath befallen His
Revelation. So grievous was His plight, that for a time all ceased
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to hold intercourse with Him and His companions. Whoever associated
with Him fell a victim to the relentless cruelty of His
enemies. .. .
Consider, how great is the change today! Behold, how many
are the Sovereigns who bow the knee before His name! How
numerous the nations and kingdoms who have sought the shelter
of His shadow, who bear allegiance to His Faith, and pride themselves
therein! From the pulpit-top there ascendeth today the
words of praise which, in utter lowliness, glorify His blessed name;
and from the heights of minarets there resoundeth the call that
summoneth the concourse of His people to adore Him. Even those
Kings of the earth who have refused to embrace His Faith and to
put off the garment of unbelief, none-the-less confess and acknowledge
the greatness and overpowering majesty of that Day
Star of loving-kindness. Such is His earthly sovereignty, the evidences
of which thou dost on every side behold. This sovereignty
must needs be revealed and established either in the lifetime of
every Manifestation of God or after His ascension unto His true
habitation in the realms above....
It is evident that the changes brought about in every Dispensation
constitute the dark clouds that intervene between the eye of
man's understanding and the Divine Luminary which shineth
forth from the day spring of the Divine Essence. Consider how
men for generations have been blindly imitating their fathers, and
have been trained according to such ways and manners as have
been laid down by the dictates of their Faith. Were these men,
therefore, to discover suddenly that a Man, Who hath been living
in their midst, Who, with respect to every human limitation, hath
been their equal, had risen to abolish every established principle
imposed by their Faith--principles by which for centuries they
have been disciplined, and every opposer and denier of which they
have come to regard as infidel, profligate and wicked,--they would
of a certainty be veiled and hindered from acknowledging His
truth. Such things are as "clouds" that veil the eyes of those whose
inner being hath not tasted the Salsibil of detachment, nor drunk
from the Kawthar of the knowledge of God. Such men, when
acquainted with those circumstances, become so veiled that, with
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out the least question, they pronounce the Manifestation of God
as infidel, and sentence Him to death. You must have heard of
such things taking place all down the ages, and are now observing
them in these days.
It behoveth us, therefore, to make the utmost endeavor, that, by
God's invisible assistance, these dark veils, these clouds of Heaven-
sent trials, may not hinder us from beholding the beauty of His
shining Countenance, and that we may recognize Him only by
His own Self.
MANIFESTATIONS OF GOD
To every discerning and illuminated heart it is evident that God,
the unknowable Essence, the Divine Being, is immensely exalted
beyond every human attribute, such as corporeal existence, ascent
and descent, egress and regress. Far be it from His glory that
human tongue should adequately recount His praise, or that human
heart comprehend His fathomless mystery. He is, and hath ever
been, veiled in the ancient eternity of His Essence, and will remain
in His Reality everlastingly hidden from the sight of men. "No
vision taketh in Him, but He taketh in all vision; He is the Subtile,
the All-Perceiving." . . .
The door of the knowledge of the Ancient of Days being thus
closed in the face of all beings, the Source of infinite grace, according
to His saying, "His grace hath transcended all things;
My grace hath encompassed them all," hath caused those luminous
Gems of Holiness to appear out of the realm of the spirit, in the
noble form of the human temple, and be made manifest unto all
men, that they may impart unto the world the mysteries of the
unchangeable Being, and tell of the subtleties of His imperishable
Essence.
These sanctified Mirrors, these Day Springs of ancient glory,
are, one and all, the Exponents on earth of Him Who is the central
Orb of the universe, its Essence and ultimate Purpose. From Him
proceed their knowledge and power; from Him is derived their
sovereignty. The beauty of their countenance is but a reflection
of His image, and their revelation a sign of His deathless glory.
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They are the Treasuries of Divine knowledge, and the Repositories
of celestial wisdom. Through them is transmitted a grace that is
infinite, and by them is revealed the Light that can never fade....
These Tabernacles of Holiness, these Primal Mirrors which reflect
the light of unfading glory, are but expressions of Him Who is
the Invisible of the Invisibles. By the revelation of these Gems of
Divine virtue all the names and attributes of God, such as knowledge
and power, sovereignty and dominion, mercy and wisdom,
glory, bounty, and grace, are made manifest.
These attributes of God are not, and have never been, vouchsafed
specially unto certain Prophets, and withheld from others. Nay,
all the Prophets of God, His well-favored, His holy and chosen
Messengers are, without exception, the bearers of His names, and
the embodiment of His attributes. They only differ in the intensity
of their revelation, and the comparative potency of their light.
Even as He hath revealed: "Some of the Apostles We have caused
to excel the others."
It hath, therefore, become manifest and evident that within the
tabernacles of these Prophets and chosen Ones of God the light
of His infinite names and exalted attributes hath been reflected,
even though the light of some of these attributes may or may not
be outwardly revealed from these luminous Temples to the eyes
of men. That a certain attribute of God hath not been outwardly
manifested by these Essences of Detachment doth in no wise imply
that they who are the Day Springs of God's attributes and the
Treasuries of His holy names did not actually possess it. Therefore,
these illuminated souls, these beauteous Countenances have, each
and every one of them, been endowed with all the attributes of
God, such as sovereignty, dominion, and the like, even though to
outward seeming they be shorn of all earthly majesty....
THE TRUTH OF HIS MISSION
Know thou of a certainty that the Unseen can in no wise incarnate
His Essence and reveal it unto men. He is, and hath ever
been, immensely exalted beyond all that can either be recounted
or perceived. From His retreat of glory His voice is ever proclaiming:
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claiming: "Verily, I am God; there is none other God besides Me,
the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. I have manifested Myself unto
men, and have sent down Him Who is the Day Spring of the signs
of My Revelation. Through Him I have caused all creation to
testify that there is none other God except Him, the Incomparable,
the All-Informed, the All-Wise." He Who is everlastingly hidden
from the eyes of men can never be known except through His
Manifestation, and His Manifestation can adduce no greater proof
of the truth of His Mission than the proof of His own Person.
THE STANDARD OF HIS TRUTH
O Salman! The door of the knowledge of the Ancient Being
hath ever been, and will continue for ever to be, closed in the face
of men. No man's understanding shall ever gain access unto His
holy court. As a token of His mercy, however, and as a proof of
His loving-kindness, He hath manifested unto men the Day Stars
of His divine guidance, the Symbols of His divine unity, and hath
ordained the knowledge of these sanctified Beings to be identical
with the knowledge of His own Self. Whoso recognizeth them
hath recognized God. Whoso hearkeneth to their call, hath hearkened
to the Voice of God, and whoso testifieth to the truth of
their Revelation, hath testified to the truth of God Himself. Whoso
turneth away from them, hath turned away from God, and whoso
disbelieveth in them, hath disbelieved in God. Every one of them
is the Way of God that connecteth this world with the realms
above, and the Standard of His Truth unto every one in the kingdoms
of earth and heaven. They are the Manifestations of God
amidst men, the evidences of His Truth, and the signs of His glory.
ONENESS OF THE PROPHETS
The Bearers of the Trust of God are made manifest unto the
peoples of the earth as the Exponents of a new Cause and the
Revealers of a new Message. Inasmuch as these Birds of the celestial
Throne are all sent down from the heaven of the Will of God,
and as they all arise to proclaim His irresistible Faith, they, therefore,
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are regarded as one soul and the same person. For they all
drink from the one Cup of the love of God, and all partake of
the fruit of the same Tree of Oneness.
These Manifestations of God have each a twofold station. One
is the station of pure abstraction and essential unity. In this respect,
if thou callest them all by one name, and dost ascribe to
them the same attributes, thou hast not erred from the truth. Even
as He hath revealed: "No distinction do We make between any
of His Messengers." For they, one and all, summon the people of
the earth to acknowledge the unity of God, and herald unto them
the Kawthar of an infinite grace and bounty. They are all invested
with the robe of prophethood, and are honored with the
mantle of glory. Thus hath Muhammad, the Point of the Qur'an,
revealed: "I am all the Prophets." Likewise, He saith: "I am the
first Adam, Noah, Moses, and Jesus." Similar statements have
been made by Imam 'Ali. Sayings such as these, which indicate the
essential unity of those Exponents of Oneness, have also emanated
from the Channels of God's immortal utterance, and the Treasuries
of the gems of Divine knowledge, and have been recorded in the
Scriptures. These Countenances are the recipients of the Divine
Command, and the Day Springs of His Revelation. This Revelation
is exalted above the veils of plurality and the exigencies of
number. Thus He saith: "Our Cause is but One." Inasmuch as
the Cause is one and the same, the Exponents thereof also must
needs be one and the same. Likewise, the Imams of the Muhammadan
Faith, those lamps of certitude, have said: "Muhammad
is our first, Muhammad is our last, Muhammad our all."
It is clear and evident to thee that all the Prophets are the
Temples of the Cause of God, Who have appeared clothed in divers
attire. If thou wilt observe with discriminating eyes, thou wilt
behold them all abiding in the same tabernacle, soaring in the
same heaven, seated upon the same throne, uttering the same
speech, and proclaiming the same Faith. Such is the unity of those
Essences of Being, those Luminaries of infinite and immeasurable
splendor! Wherefore, should one of these Manifestations of Holiness
proclaim saying: "I am the return of all the Prophets," He,
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verily, speaketh the truth. In like manner, in every subsequent
Revelation, the return of the former Revelation is a fact, the truth
of which is firmly established....
The other station is the station of distinction, and pertaineth
to the world of creation, and to the limitations thereof. In this
respect, each Manifestation of God hath a distinct individuality,
a definitely prescribed mission, a predestined revelation, and specially
designated limitations. Each one of them is known by a
different name, is characterized by a special attribute, fulfils a definite
mission, and is entrusted with a particular Revelation. Even
as He saith: "Some of the Apostles We have caused to excel the
others. To some God hath spoken, some He hath raised and exalted.
And to Jesus, Son of Mary, We gave manifest signs, and We
strengthened Him with the Holy Spirit."
It is because of this difference in their station and mission that
the words and utterances flowing from these Well Springs of Divine
knowledge appear to diverge and differ. Otherwise, in the eyes of
them that are initiated into the mysteries of Divine wisdom, all
their utterances are, in reality, but the expressions of one Truth
As most of the people have failed to appreciate those stations to
which We have referred, they, therefore, feel perplexed and dismayed
at the varying utterances pronounced by Manifestations
that are essentially one and the same.
It hath ever been evident that all these divergencies of utterance
are attributable to differences of station. Thus, viewed from the
standpoint of their oneness and sublime detachment, the attributes
of Godhead, Divinity, Supreme Singleness, and Inmost Essence,
have been, and are applicable to those Essences of Being, inasmuch
as they all abide on the throne of Divine Revelation, and are
established upon the seat of Divine Concealment. Through their
appearance the Revelation of God is made manifest, and by their
countenance the Beauty of God is revealed. Thus it is that the
accents of God Himself have been heard uttered by these Manifestations
of the Divine Being.
Viewed in the light of their second station--the station of
distinction, differentiation, temporal limitations, characteristics and
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standards--they manifest absolute servitude, utter destitution, and
complete self-effacement. Even as He saith: "I am the servant of
God. I am but a man like you." . . .
Were any of the all-embracing Manifestations of God to declare:
"I am God," He, verily, speaketh the truth, and no doubt attacheth
thereto. For it hath been repeatedly demonstrated that through
their Revelation, their attributes and names, the Revelation of God,
His names and His attributes, are made manifest in the world.
Thus, He hath revealed: "Those shafts were God's, not Thine."
And also He saith: "In truth, they who plighted fealty unto Thee,
really plighted that fealty unto God." And were any of them to
voice the utterance, "I am the Messenger of God," He also speaketh
the truth, the indubitable truth. Even as He saith: "Muhammad
is not the father of any man among you, but He is the Messenger
of God." Viewed in this light, they are all but Messengers of that
ideal King, that unchangeable Essence. And were they all to proclaim,
"I am the Seal of the Prophets," they, verily, utter but the
truth, beyond the faintest shadow of doubt. For they are all but
one person, one soul, one spirit, one being, one revelation. They
are all the manifestation of the "Beginning" and the "End," the
"First" and the "Last," the "Seen" and "Hidden"--all of which
pertain to Him Who is the Innermost Spirit of Spirits and Eternal
Essence of Essences. And were they to say, "We are the Servants
of God," this also is a manifest and indisputable fact. For they
have been made manifest in the uttermost state of servitude, a
servitude the like of which no man can possibly attain. Thus in
moments in which these Essences of Being were deep immersed
beneath the oceans of ancient and everlasting holiness, or when
they soared to the loftiest summits of Divine mysteries, they
claimed their utterances to be the Voice of Divinity, the Call of
God Himself.
Were the eye of discernment to be opened, it would recognize
that in this very state, they have considered themselves utterly
effaced and non-existent in the face of Him Who is the All-Pervading,
the Incorruptible. Methinks, they have regarded themselves
as utter nothingness, and deemed their mention in that
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Court an act of blasphemy. For the slightest whisperings of self
within such a Court is an evidence of self-assertion and independent
existence. In the eyes of them that have attained unto that Court,
such a suggestion is itself a grievous transgression. How much
more grievous would it be, were aught else to be mentioned in that
Presence, were man's heart, his tongue, his mind, or his soul, to be
busied with any one but the Well-Beloved, were his eyes to behold
any countenance other than His beauty, were his ear to be inclined
to any melody but His Voice, and were his feet to tread
any way but His way....
By virtue of this station they have claimed for themselves the
Voice of Divinity and the like, whilst by virtue of their station
of Messengership, they have claimed for themselves the Messengers of
God. In every instance they have voiced an utterance that would
conform to the requirements of the occasion, and have ascribed all
these declarations to Themselves, declarations ranging from the
realm of Divine Revelation to the realm of creation, and from the
domain of Divinity even unto the domain of earthly existence.
Thus it is that whatsoever be their utterance, whether it pertain
to the realm of Divinity, Lordship, Prophethood, Messengership,
Guardianship, Apostleship, or Servitude, all is true, beyond the
shadow of a doubt. Therefore these sayings which We have quoted
in support of Our argument must be attentively considered, that
the divergent utterances of the Manifestations of the Unseen and
Day Springs of Holiness may cease to agitate the soul and perplex
the mind.
BREAKERS OF THE COVENANT
Consider the former generations. Witness how every time the
Day Star of Divine bounty hath shed the light of His Revelation
upon the world, the people of His Day have arisen against Him,
and repudiated His truth. They who were regarded as the leaders
of men have invariably striven to hinder their followers from
turning unto Him Who is the Ocean of God's limitless bounty.
Behold how the people, as a result of the verdict pronounced
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by the divines of His age, have cast Abraham, the Friend of God,
into fire; how Moses, He Who held converse with the Almighty,
was denounced as liar and slanderer. Reflect how Jesus, the Spirit
of God, was, notwithstanding His extreme meekness and perfect
tender-heartedness, treated by His enemies. So fierce was the opposition
which He, the Essence of Being and Lord of the visible and
invisible, had to face, that He had nowhere to lay His head. He
wandered continually from place to place, deprived of a permanent
abode. Ponder that which befell Muhammad, the Seal of the
Prophets, may the life of all else be a sacrifice unto Him. How
severe the afflictions which the leaders of the Jewish people and of
the idol-worshipers caused to rain upon Him, Who is the sovereign
Lord of all, in consequence of His proclamation of the unity of
God and of the truth of His Message! By the righteousness of My
Cause! My Pen groaneth, and all created things weep with a great
weeping, as a result of the woes He suffered at the hands of them
that have broken the Covenant of God, violated His Testament,
rejected His proofs, and disputed His signs. Thus recount We
unto thee the tale of that which happened in days past, haply thou
mayest comprehend.
Thou hast known how grievously the Prophets of God, His Messengers
and Chosen Ones, have been afflicted. Meditate a while on
the motive and reason which have been responsible for such a persecution.
At no time, in no Dispensation, have the Prophets of
God escaped the blasphemy of their enemies, the cruelty of their
oppressors, the denunciation of the learned of their age, who appeared
in the guise of uprightness and piety. Day and night they
passed through such agonies as none can ever measure, except the
knowledge of the one true God, exalted be His glory.
Consider this wronged One. Though the clearest proofs attest
the truth of His Cause; though the prophecies He, in an unmistakable
language, hath made have been fulfilled; though, in spite of
His not being accounted among the learned, His being unschooled
and inexperienced in the disputations current among the divines,
He hath rained upon men the showers of His manifold and
Divinely-inspired knowledge; yet, behold how this generation hath
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rejected His authority, and rebelled against Him! He hath, during
the greater part of His life, been sore-tried in the clutches of His
enemies. His sufferings have now reached their culmination in this
afflictive Prison, into which His oppressors have so unjustly thrown
Him. God grant that, with a penetrating vision and radiant heart,
thou mayest observe the things that have come to pass and are
now happening, and, pondering them in thine heart, mayest recognize
that which most men have, in this Day, failed to perceive.
Please God, He may enable thee to inhale the sweet fragrance of
His Day, to partake of the limitless effusions of His grace, to quaff
thy fill, through His gracious favor, from the most great Ocean
that surgeth in this Day in the name of the Ancient King, and to
remain firm and immovable as the mountain in His Cause.
Say: Glory be to Thee Who hast caused all the holy Ones to
confess their helplessness before the manifold revelations of Thy
might, and every Prophet to acknowledge His nothingness at the
effulgence of Thy abiding glory. I beseech Thee, by Thy name
that hath unlocked the gates of Heaven and filled with ecstacy
the Concourse on high, to enable me to serve Thee, in this Day,
and to strengthen me to observe that which Thou didst prescribe
in Thy Book. Thou knowest, O my Lord, what is in me; but I
know not what is in Thee. Thou art the All-Knowing,
the All-Informed.
THE MEANING OF TRUE UNITY
Beware, O believers in the Unity of God, lest ye be tempted
to make any distinction between any of the Manifestations of His
Cause, or to discriminate against the signs that have accompanied
and proclaimed their Revelation. This indeed is the true meaning
of Divine Unity, if ye be of them that apprehend and believe this
truth. Be ye assured, moreover, that the works and acts of each
and every one of these Manifestations of God, nay whatever pertaineth
unto them, and whatsoever they may manifest in the
future, are all ordained by God, and are a reflection of His Will
and Purpose. Whoso maketh the slightest possible difference between
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their persons, their words, their messages, their acts and
manners, hath indeed disbelieved in God, hath repudiated His signs,
and betrayed the Cause of His Messengers.
THE PROPHETIC CYCLE HATH ENDED
It is evident that every age in which a Manifestation of God
hath lived is divinely ordained, and may, in a sense, be characterized
as God's appointed Day. This Day, however, is unique, and is to
be distinguished from those that have preceded it. The designation
"Seal of the Prophets" fully revealeth its high station. The Prophetic
Cycle hath, verily, ended. The Eternal Truth is now come.
He hath lifted up the Ensign of Power, and is now shedding upon
the world the unclouded splendor of His Revelation.
HE HATH RECREATED ALL THINGS
Praise be to God, the All-Possessing, the King of incomparable
glory, a praise which is immeasurably above the understanding of
all created things, and is exalted beyond the grasp of the minds
of men. None else besides Him hath ever been able to sing adequately
His praise, nor will any man succeed at any time in describing
the full measure of His glory. Who is it that can claim
to have attained the heights of His exalted Essence, and what mind
can measure the depths of His unfathomable mystery? From each
and every revelation emanating from the Source of His glory, holy
and never-ending evidences of unimaginable splendor have appeared,
and out of every manifestation of His invincible power
oceans of eternal light have outpoured. How immensely exalted
are the wondrous testimonies of His almighty sovereignty, a glimmer
of which, if it but touched them, would utterly consume all
that are in the heavens and in the earth! How indescribably lofty
are the tokens of His consummate power, a single sign of which,
however inconsiderable, must transcend the comprehension of
whatsoever hath, from the beginning that hath no beginning, been
brought into being, or will be created in the future till the end
that hath no end. All the Embodiments of His Names wander in
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the wilderness of search, athirst and eager to discover His Essence,
and all the Manifestations of His Attributes implore Him, from
the Sinai of Holiness, to unravel His mystery.
A drop of the billowing ocean of His endless mercy hath adorned
all creation with the ornament of existence, and a breath wafted
from His peerless Paradise hath invested all beings with the robe
of His sanctity and glory. A sprinkling from the unfathomed deep
of His sovereign and all-pervasive Will hath, out of utter nothingness,
called into being a creation which is infinite in its range and
deathless in its duration. The wonders of His bounty can never
cease, and the stream of His merciful grace can never be arrested.
The process of His creation hath had no beginning, and can have
no end.
In every age and cycle He hath, through the splendorous light
shed by the Manifestations of His wondrous Essence, recreated all
things, so that whatsoever reflecteth in the heavens and on the earth
the signs of His glory may not be deprived of the outpourings of
His mercy, nor despair of the showers of His favors. How all-
compassing are the wonders of His boundless grace! Behold how
they have pervaded the whole of creation. Such is their virtue
that not a single atom in the entire universe can be found which
doth not declare the evidences of His might, which doth not glorify
His holy Name, or is not expressive of the effulgent light of His
unity. So perfect and comprehensive is His creation that no mind
nor heart, however keen or pure, can ever grasp the nature of the
most insignificant of His creatures; much less fathom the mystery
of Him Who is the Day Star of Truth, Who is the invisible and
unknowable Essence. The conceptions of the devoutest of mystics,
the attainments of the most accomplished amongst men, the highest
praise which human tongue or pen can render are all the product
of man's finite mind and are conditioned by its limitations. Ten
thousand Prophets, each a Moses, are thunderstruck upon the Sinai
of their search at His forbidding voice, "Thou shalt never behold
Me!"; whilst a myriad Messengers, each as great as Jesus, stand
dismayed upon their heavenly thrones by the interdiction, "Mine
Essence thou shalt never apprehend!" From time immemorial He
hath been veiled in the ineffable sanctity of His exalted Self. and
+P30
will everlastingly continue to be wrapt in the impenetrable mystery
of His unknowable Essence. Every attempt to attain to an
understanding of His inaccessible Reality hath ended in complete
bewilderment, and every effort to approach His exalted Self and
envisage His Essence hath resulted in hopelessness and failure.
How bewildering to me, insignificant as I am, is the attempt to
fathom the sacred depths of Thy knowledge! How futile my
efforts to visualize the magnitude of the power inherent in Thine
handiwork--the revelation of Thy creative power! How can mine
eye, which hath no faculty to perceive itself, claim to have discerned
Thine Essence, and how can mine heart, already powerless
to apprehend the significance of its own potentialities, pretend to
have comprehended Thy nature? How can I claim to have known
Thee, when the entire creation is bewildered by Thy mystery, and
how can I confess not to have known Thee, when, lo, the whole
universe proclaimeth Thy Presence and testifieth to Thy truth?
The portals of Thy grace have throughout eternity been open,
and the means of access unto Thy Presence made available, unto
all created things, and the revelations of Thy matchless Beauty
have at all times been imprinted upon the realities of all beings,
visible and invisible. Yet, notwithstanding this most gracious
favor, this perfect and consummate bestowal, I am moved to testify
that Thy court of holiness and glory is immeasurably exalted above
the knowledge of all else besides Thee, and the mystery of Thy Presence
is inscrutable to every mind except Thine own. No one except
Thyself can unravel the secret of Thy nature, and naught
else but Thy transcendental Essence can grasp the reality of Thy
unsearchable being. How vast the number of those heavenly and
all-glorious Beings Who, in the wilderness of their separation from
Thee, have wandered all the days of their life, and failed in the
end to find Thee! How great the multitude of the sanctified and
immortal Souls Who were lost and bewildered while seeking in the
desert of search to behold Thy face! Myriad are Thy ardent Lovers
Whom the consuming flame of remoteness from Thee hath caused
to sink and perish, and numberless are the faithful Souls Who
have willingly laid down their lives in the hope of gazing on the
light of Thy countenance. The sighs and moans of these longing
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hearts that pant after Thee can never reach Thy holy court, neither
can the lamentations of the Wayfarers that thirst to appear before
Thy face attain Thy seat of glory.
MANIFOLD WOES AND TRIALS
Praise be to Thee, O Lord My God, for the wondrous revelations
of Thy inscrutable decree and the manifold woes and trials Thou
hast destined for Myself. At one time Thou didst deliver Me into
the hands of Nimrod; at another Thou hast allowed Pharaoh's rod
to persecute Me. Thou, alone, canst estimate, through Thine all-
encompassing knowledge and the operation of Thy Will, the incalculable
afflictions I have suffered at their hands. Again Thou
didst cast Me into the prison-cell of the ungodly, for no reason
except that I was moved to whisper into the ears of the well-
favored denizens of Thy Kingdom an intimation of the vision
with which Thou hadst, through Thy knowledge, inspired Me,
and revealed to Me its meaning through the potency of Thy might.
And again Thou didst decree that I be beheaded by the sword of
the infidel. Again I was crucified for having unveiled to men's
eyes the hidden gems of Thy glorious unity, for having revealed
to them the wondrous signs of Thy sovereign and everlasting
power. How bitter the humiliations heaped upon Me, in a subsequent
age, on the plain of Karbila! How lonely did I feel amidst
Thy people! To what a state of helplessness I was reduced in that
land! Unsatisfied with such indignities, My persecutors decapitated
Me, and, carrying aloft My head from land to land paraded it
before the gaze of the unbelieving multitude, and deposited it on
the seats of the perverse and faithless. In a later age, I was suspended,
and My breast was made a target to the darts of the
malicious cruelty of My foes. My limbs were riddled with bullets,
and My body was torn asunder. Finally, behold now, in this Day
My treacherous enemies have leagued themselves against Me, and
are continually plotting to instill the venom of hate and malice
into the souls of Thy servants. With all their might they are
scheming to accomplish their purpose.... Grievous as is My
plight, O God, My Well-Beloved, I render thanks unto Thee, and
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My Spirit is grateful for whatsoever hath befallen Me in the path
of Thy good-pleasure. I am well pleased with that which Thou
didst ordain for Me, and welcome, however calamitous, the pains
and sorrows I am made to suffer.
THE DIVINE SPIRIT AWOKE HIM
Lay not aside the fear of God, O ye the learned of the world,
and judge fairly the Cause of this unlettered One to Whom all the
Books of God, the Protector, the Self-Subsisting, have testified....
Will not the dread of Divine displeasure, the fear of Him Who hath
no peer or equal, arouse you? He Whom the world hath wronged
hath, at no time, associated with you, hath never studied your
writings, nor participated in any of your disputations. The garb
He weareth, His flowing locks, His headdress, attest the truth of
His words. How long will ye persist in your injustice? Witness
the habitation in which He, Who is the incarnation of justice, hath
been forced to dwell. Open your eyes, and beholding His plight,
meditate diligently upon that which your hands have wrought,
that haply ye may not be deprived of the light of His Divine
utterance, nor remain bereft of your share of the ocean of His
knowledge.
Certain ones among both commoners and nobles have objected
that this wronged One is neither a member of the ecclesiastical
order nor a descendent of the Prophet. Say: O ye that claim to
be just! Reflect a little while, and ye shall recognize how infinitely
exalted is His present state above the station ye claim He should
possess. The Will of the Almighty hath decreed that out of a house
wholly devoid of all that the divines, the doctors, the sages, and
scholars commonly possess His Cause should proceed and be made
manifest.
The Breathings of the Divine Spirit awoke Him, and bade Him
arise and proclaim His Revelation. No sooner was He roused from
His slumber than He lifted up His voice and summoned the whole
of mankind unto God, the Lord of all worlds. We have been
moved to reveal these words in consideration of the weakness and
frailty of men; otherwise, the Cause We have proclaimed is such
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as no pen can ever describe, nor any mind conceive its greatness.
To this beareth witness He with Whom is the Mother Book.
TO BUILD ANEW THE WORLD
The Ancient Beauty hath consented to be bound with chains
that mankind may be released from its bondage, and hath accepted
to be made a prisoner within this most mighty Stronghold that
the whole world may attain unto true liberty. He hath drained
to its dregs the cup of sorrow, that all the peoples of the earth
may attain unto abiding joy, and be filled with gladness. This is
of the mercy of your Lord, the Compassionate, the Most Merciful
We have accepted to be abased, O believers in the Unity of God;
that ye may be exalted, and have suffered manifold afflictions, that
ye might prosper and flourish. He Who hath come to build anew
the whole world, behold, how they that have joined partners with
God have forced Him to dwell within the most desolate of cities!
EVERY SOUL ENDOWED
Say: O people! Withhold not from yourselves the grace of God
and His mercy. Whoso withholdeth himself therefrom is indeed
in grievous loss. What, O people! Do ye worship the dust, and
turn away from your Lord, the Gracious, the All-Bountiful? Fear
ye God, and be not of those who perish. Say: The Book of God
hath been sent down in the form of this Youth. Hallowed, therefore,
be God, the most excellent of makers! Take ye good heed,
O peoples of the world, lest ye flee from His face. Nay, make
haste to attain His presence, and be of them that have returned
unto Him. Pray to be forgiven, O people, for having failed in
your duty towards God, and for having trespassed against His
Cause, and be not of the foolish. He it is Who hath created you;
He it is Who hath nourished your souls through His Cause, and
enabled you to recognize Him Who is the Almighty, the Most
Exalted, the All-Knowing. He it is Who hath unveiled to your
eyes the treasures of His knowledge, and caused you to ascend unto
the heaven of certitude the certitude of His resistless, His irrefutable,
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and most exalted Faith. Beware that ye do not deprive
yourselves of the grace of God, that ye do not bring to naught your
works, and do not repudiate the truth of this most manifest, this
lofty, this shining, and glorious Revelation. Judge ye fairly the
Cause of God, your Creator, and behold that which hath been sent
down from the Throne on high, and meditate thereon with innocent
and sanctified hearts. Then will the truth of this Cause appear
unto you as manifest as the sun in its noon-tide glory. Then will
ye be of them that have believed in Him.
Say: The first and foremost testimony establishing His truth is
His own Self. Next to this testimony is His Revelation. For
whoso faileth to recognize either the one or the other He hath
established the words He hath revealed as proof of His reality and
truth. This is, verily, an evidence of His tender mercy unto men.
He hath endowed every soul with the capacity to recognize the
signs of God. How could He, otherwise, have fulfilled His testimony
unto men, if ye be of them that ponder His Cause in their
hearts. He will never deal unjustly with any one, neither will He
task a soul beyond its power. He, verily, is the Compassionate,
the All-Merciful.
Say: So great is the glory of the Cause of God that even the
blind can perceive it, how much more they whose sight is sharp,
whose vision is pure. The blind, though unable to perceive the
light of the sun, are, nevertheless, capable of experiencing its continual
heat. The blind in heart, however, among the people of the
Bayan--and to this God is My witness--are impotent, no matter
how long the Sun may shine upon them, either to perceive the
radiance of its glory, or to appreciate the warmth of its rays.
Say: O people of the Bayan! We have chosen you out of the
world to know and recognize Our Self. We have caused you to
draw nigh unto the right side of Paradise--the Spot out of which
the undying Fire crieth in manifold accents: "There is none other
God besides Me, the All-Powerful, the Most High!" Take heed
lest ye allow yourselves to be shut out as by a veil from this Day
Star that shineth above the day-spring of the Will of your Lord,
the All-Merciful, and whose light hath encompassed both the small
and the great. Purge your sight, that ye may perceive its glory
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with your own eyes, and depend not on the sight of any one except
your self, for God hath never burdened any soul beyond its power.
Thus hath it been sent down unto the Prophets and Messengers
of old, and been recorded in all the Scriptures.
Strive, O people, to gain admittance into this vast Immensity
for which God ordained neither beginning nor end, in which His
voice hath been raised, and over which have been wafted the sweet
savors of holiness and glory. Divest not yourselves of the Robe of
grandeur, neither suffer your hearts to be deprived of remembering
your Lord, nor your ears of hearkening unto the sweet melodies of
His wondrous, His sublime, His all-compelling, His clear, and
most eloquent voice.
THIS NEW WORLD ORDER
The world's equilibrium hath been upset through the vibrating
influence of this most great, this new World Order. Mankind's
ordered life hath been revolutionized through the agency of this
unique, this wondrous System--the like of which mortal eyes have
never witnessed.
Immerse yourselves in the ocean of My words, that ye may unravel
its secrets, and discover all the pearls of wisdom that lie hid
in its depths. Take heed that ye do not vacillate in your determination
to embrace the truth of this Cause--a Cause through which
the potentialities of the might of God have been revealed, and
His sovereignty established. With faces beaming with joy, hasten
ye unto Him. This is the changeless Faith of God, eternal in the
past, eternal in the future. Let him that seeketh, attain it; and
as to him that hath refused to seek it--verily, God is Self-Sufficient,
above any need of His creatures.
Say: This is the infallible Balance which the Hand of God is
holding, in which all who are in the heavens and all who are on
the earth are weighed, and their fate determined, if ye be of them
that believe and recognize this truth. Say: Through it the poor
have been enriched, the learned enlightened, and the seekers enabled
to ascend unto the presence of God. Beware, lest ye make it
a cause of dissension amongst you. Be ye as firmly settled as the
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immovable mountain in the Cause of your Lord, the Mighty, the
Loving.
THE REMEDY THE WORLD NEEDETH
The All-Knowing Physician hath His finger on the pulse of
mankind. He perceiveth the disease, and prescribeth, in His unerring
wisdom, the remedy. Every age hath its own problem, and
every soul its particular aspiration. The remedy the world needeth
in its present-day afflictions can never be the same as that which
a subsequent age may require. Be anxiously concerned with the
needs of the age ye live in, and center your deliberations on its
exigencies and requirements.
We can well perceive how the whole human race is encompassed
with great, with incalculable afflictions. We see it languishing on
its bed of sickness, sore-tried and disillusioned. They that are
intoxicated by self-conceit have interposed themselves between it
and the Divine and Infallible Physician. Witness how they have
entangled all men, themselves included, in the mesh of their devices.
They can neither discover the cause of the disease, nor have
they any knowledge of the remedy. They have conceived the
straight to be crooked, and have imagined their friend an enemy.
Incline your ears to the sweet melody of this Prisoner. Arise,
and lift up your voices, that haply they that are fast asleep may
be awakened. Say: O ye who are as dead! The Hand of Divine
bounty proffereth unto you the Water of Life. Hasten and drink
your fill. Whoso hath been re-born in this Day, shall never die;
whoso remaineth dead, shall never live.
TABLETS TO THE KINGS
O kings of the earth! He Who is the sovereign Lord of all is
come. The Kingdom is God's, the omnipotent Protector, the Self-
Subsisting. Worship none but God, and, with radiant hearts, lift
up your faces unto your Lord, the Lord of all names. This is a
Revelation to which whatever ye possess can never be compared,
could ye but know it.
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We see you rejoicing in that which ye have amassed for others
and shutting out yourselves from the worlds which naught except
My guarded Tablet can reckon. The treasures ye have laid up
have drawn you far away from your ultimate objective. This
ill beseemeth you, could ye but understand it. Wash from your
hearts all earthly defilements, and hasten to enter the Kingdom of
your Lord, the Creator of earth and heaven, Who caused the
world to tremble and all its peoples to wail, except them that have
renounced all things and clung to that which the Hidden Tablet
hath ordained.
This is the Day in which He Who held converse with God
hath attained the light of the Ancient of Days, and quaffed the
pure waters of reunion from this Cup that hath caused the seas
to swell. Say: By the one true God! Sinai is circling round the
Day Spring of Revelation, while from the heights of the Kingdom
the Voice of the Spirit of God is heard proclaiming: "Bestir yourselves,
ye proud ones of the earth, and hasten ye unto Him."
Carmel hath, in this Day, hastened in longing adoration to attain
His court, whilst from the heart of Zion there cometh the cry:
"The promise is fulfilled. That which had been announced in the
holy Writ of God, the most Exalted, the Almighty, the Best-
Beloved, is made manifest."
O kings of the earth! The Most Great Law hath been revealed
in this Spot, this scene of transcendent splendor. Every hidden
thing hath been brought to light, by virtue of the Will of the
Supreme Ordainer, He Who hath ushered in the Last Hour, through
Whom the Moon hath been cleft, and every irrevocable decree
expounded.
Ye are but vassals, O kings of the earth! He Who is the King
of Kings hath appeared, arrayed in His most wondrous glory,
and is summoning you unto Himself, the Help in Peril, the Self-
Subsisting. Take heed lest pride deter you from recognizing the
Source of Revelation, lest the things of this world shut you out as
by a veil from Him Who is the Creator of heaven. Arise, and
serve Him Who is the Desire of all nations, Who hath created you
through a word from Him, and ordained you to be, for all time,
the emblems of His sovereignty.
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By the righteousness of God! It is not Our wish to lay hands
on your kingdoms. Our mission is to seize and possess the hearts
of men. Upon them the eyes of Baha are fastened. To this testifieth
the Kingdom of Names, could ye but comprehend it. Whoso
followeth his Lord, will renounce the world and all that is therein;
how much greater, then, must be the detachment of Him Who
holdeth so august a station! Forsake your palaces, and haste ye
to gain admittance into His Kingdom. This, indeed, will profit
you both in this world and in the next. To this testifieth the Lord
of the realm on high, did ye but know it.
How great the blessedness that awaiteth the king who will arise
to aid My Cause in My Kingdom, who will detach himself from
all else but Me! Such a king is numbered with the companions
of the Crimson Ark--the Ark which God hath prepared for the
people of Baha. All must glorify his name, must reverence his
station, and aid him to unlock the cities with the keys of My
Name, the omnipotent Protector of all that inhabit the visible
and invisible kingdoms. Such a king is the very eye of mankind,
the luminous ornament on the brow of creation, the fountain-head
of blessings unto the whole world. Offer up, O people of Baha,
your substance, nay your very lives, for his assistance.
O kings of Christendom! Heard ye not the saying of Jesus,
the Spirit of God, "I go away, and come again unto you"? Wherefore,
then, did ye fail, when He did come again unto you in the
clouds of heaven, to draw nigh unto Him, that ye might behold
His face, and be of them that attained His Presence? In another
passage He saith: "When He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He
will guide you into all truth." And yet, behold how, when He
did bring the truth, ye refused to turn your faces towards Him,
and persisted in disporting yourselves with your pastimes and
fancies. Ye welcomed Him not, neither did ye seek His Presence,
that ye might hear the verses of God from His own mouth, and
partake of the manifold wisdom of the Almighty, the All-Glorious,
the All-Wise. Ye have, by reason of your failure, hindered the
breath of God from being wafted over you, and have withheld
from your souls the sweetness of its fragrance. Ye continue roving
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with delight in the valley of your corrupt desires. Ye, and all ye
possess, shall pass away. Ye shall, most certainly, return to God,
and shall be called to account for your doings in the presence of
Him Who shall gather together the entire creation . . .
Twenty years have passed, O kings, during which We have,
each day, tasted the agony of a fresh tribulation. No one of them
that were before Us hath endured the things We have endured.
Would that ye could perceive it! They that rose up against Us
have put us to death, have shed our blood, have plundered our
property, and violated our honor. Though aware of most of our
afflictions, ye, nevertheless, have failed to stay the hand of the
aggressor. For is it not your clear duty to restrain the tyranny of
the oppressor, and to deal equitably with your subjects, that your
high sense of justice may be fully demonstrated to all mankind?
God hath committed into your hands the reins of the government
of the people, that ye may rule with justice over them, safeguard
the rights of the downtrodden, and punish the wrong-doers.
If ye neglect the duty prescribed unto you by God in His Book,
your names shall be numbered with those of the unjust in His
sight. Grievous, indeed, will be your error. Cleave ye to that
which your imaginations have devised, and cast behind your backs
the commandments of God, the Most Exalted, the Inaccessible, the
All-Compelling, the Almighty? Cast away the things ye possess,
and cling to that which God hath bidden you observe. Seek ye His
grace, for he that seeketh it treadeth His straight Path.
Consider the state in which We are, and behold ye the ills and
troubles that have tried Us. Neglect Us not, though it be for a
moment, and judge ye between Us and Our enemies with equity.
This will, surely, be a manifest advantage unto you. Thus do We
relate to you Our tale, and recount the things that have befallen
Us, that ye might take off Our ills and ease Our burden. Let
him who will, relieve Us from Our trouble; and as to him that
willeth not, My Lord is assuredly the best of helpers.
Warn and acquaint the people, O Servant, with the things We
have sent down unto Thee, and let the fear of no one dismay Thee,
and be Thou not of them that waver. The day is approaching
when God will have exalted His Cause and magnified His testimony
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in the eyes of all who are in the heavens and all who are
on the earth. Place, in all circumstances, Thy whole trust in Thy
Lord, and fix Thy gaze upon Him, and turn away from all them
that repudiate His truth. Let God, Thy Lord, be Thy sufficing
succorer and helper. We have pledged Ourselves to secure Thy
triumph upon earth and to exalt Our Cause above all men, though
no king be found who would turn his face towards Thee.
Lay not aside the fear of God, O kings of the earth, and beware
that ye transgress not the bounds which the Almighty hath fixed.
Observe the injunctions laid upon you in His Book, and take good
heed not to overstep their limits. Be vigilant, that ye may not do
injustice to anyone, be it to the extent of a grain of mustard seed.
Tread ye the path of justice, for this, verily, is the straight path.
Compose your differences, and reduce your armaments, that the
burden of your expenditures may be lightened, and that your
minds and hearts may be tranquillized. Heal the dissensions that
divide you, and ye will no longer be in need of any armaments
except what the protection of your cities and territories demandeth.
Fear ye God, and take heed not to outstrip the bounds of moderation,
and be numbered among the extravagant.
We have learned that you are increasing your outlay every year,
and are laying the burden thereof on your subjects. This, verily,
is more than they can bear, and is a grievous injustice. Decide
justly between men, and be ye the emblems of justice amongst
them. This, if ye judge fairly, is the thing that behoveth you, and
beseemeth your station.
Beware not to deal unjustly with any one that appealeth to you,
and entereth beneath your shadow. Walk ye in the fear of God,
and be ye of them that lead a godly life. Rest not on your power,
your armies, and treasures. Put your whole trust and confidence
in God, Who hath created you, and seek ye His help in all your
affairs. Succor cometh from Him alone. He succoreth whom He
will with the hosts of the heavens and of the earth.
Know ye that the poor are the trust of God in your midst. Watch
that ye betray not His trust, that ye deal not unjustly with them and
that ye walk not in the ways of the treacherous. Ye will most certainly
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be called upon to answer for His trust on the day when the
Balance of Justice shall be set, the day when unto every one shall
be rendered his due, when the doings of all men, be they rich or
poor, shall be weighed.
If ye pay no heed unto the counsels which, in peerless and unequivocal
language, We have revealed in this Tablet, Divine chastisement
shall assail you from every direction, and the sentence of
His justice shall be pronounced against you. On that day ye shall
have no power to resist Him, and shall recognize your own impotence.
Have mercy on yourselves and on those beneath you.
Judge ye between them according to the precepts prescribed by
God in His most holy and exalted Tablet, a Tablet wherein He
hath assigned to each and every thing its settled measure, in which
He hath given, with distinctness, an explanation of all things, and
which is in itself a monition unto them that believe in Him.
Examine Our Cause, inquire into the things that have befallen
Us, and decide justly between Us and Our enemies, and be ye of
them that act equitably towards their neighbor. If ye stay not the
hand of the oppressor, if ye fail to safeguard the rights of the
down-trodden, what right have ye then to vaunt yourselves among
men? What is it of which ye can rightly boast? Is it on your food
and your drink that ye pride yourselves, on the riches ye lay up in
your treasures, on the diversity and the cost of the ornaments with
which ye deck yourselves? If true glory were to consist in the possession
of such perishable things, then the earth on which ye walk
must needs vaunt itself over you, because it supplieth you, and
bestoweth upon you these very things, by the decree of the
Almighty. In its bowels are contained, according to what God
hath ordained, all that ye possess. From it, as a sign of His mercy,
ye derive your riches. Behold then your state, the thing in which
ye glory! Would that ye could perceive it!
Nay! By Him Who holdeth in His grasp the kingdom of the
entire creation! Nowhere doth your true and abiding glory reside
except in your firm adherence unto the precepts of God, your
wholehearted observance of His laws, your resolution to see that
they do not remain unenforced, and to pursue steadfastly the
right course.
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O Kings of the earth! Give ear unto the Voice of God, calling
from this sublime, this fruit-laden Tree, that hath sprung out of
the Crimson Hill, upon the holy Plain, intoning the words: "There
is none other God but He, the Mighty, the All-Powerful, the All-
Wise." . . . Fear God, O concourse of kings, and suffer not your
selves to be deprived of this most sublime grace. Fling away, then
the things ye possess, and take fast hold on the Handle of God, the
Exalted, the Great. Set your hearts towards the Face of God, and
abandon that which your desires have bidden you to follow, and
be not of those who perish. Relate unto them, O servant, the story
of 'Ali (the Bab), when He came unto them with truth, bearing
His glorious and weighty Book, and holding in His hands a testimony
and proof from God, and holy and blessed tokens from Him.
Ye, however, O kings, have failed to heed the Remembrance of
God in His days and to be.guided by the lights which arose and
shone forth above the horizon of a resplendent Heaven. Ye examined
not His Cause when so to do would have been better for
you than all that the sun shineth upon, could ye but perceive it.
Ye remained careless until the divines of Persia--those cruel ones
--pronounced judgment against Him, and unjustly slew Him. His
spirit ascended unto God, and the eyes of the inmates of Paradise
and the angels that are nigh unto Him wept sore by reason of this
cruelty. Beware that ye be not careless henceforth as ye have been
careless aforetime. Return, then, unto God, your Maker, and be
not of the heedless . . . My face hath come forth from the veils,
and shed its radiance upon all that is in heaven and on earth; and
yet, ye turned not towards Him, notwithstanding that ye were
created for Him, O concourse of kings! Follow, therefore, that
which I speak unto you, and hearken unto it with your hearts, and
be not of such as have turned aside. For your glory consisteth not
in your sovereignty, but rather in your nearness unto God and
your observance of His command as sent down in His holy and
preserved Tablets. Should any one of you rule over the whole earth,
and over all that lieth within it and upon it, its seas, its lands, its
mountains, and its plains, and yet be not remembered by God, all
these would profit him not, could ye but know it . . . Arise, then,
and make steadfast your feet, and make ye amends for that which
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hath escaped you, and set then yourselves towards His holy Court,
on the shore of His mighty Ocean, so that the pearls of knowledge
and wisdom, which God hath stored up within the shell of His
radiant heart, may be revealed unto you . . . Beware lest ye hinder
the breeze of God from blowing over your hearts, the breeze
through which the hearts of such as have turned unto Him can be
quickened . . .
Hearken, O King (Sultan 'Abdu'l-'Aziz), to the speech of
Him that speaketh the truth, Him that doth not ask thee to
recompense Him with the things God hath chosen to bestow upon
thee, Him Who unerringly treadeth the straight Path. He it is
Who summoneth thee unto God, thy Lord, Who showeth thee
the right course, the way that leadeth to true felicity, that haply
thou mayest be of them with whom it shall be well.
Beware, O King, that thou gather not around thee such ministers
as follow the desires of a corrupt inclination, as have cast
behind their backs that which hath been committed into their
hands and manifestly betrayed their trust. Be bounteous to others
as God hath been bounteous to thee, and abandon not the interests
of thy people to the mercy of such ministers as these. Lay not
aside the fear of God, and be thou of them that act uprightly.
Gather around thee those ministers from whom thou canst perceive
the fragrance of faith and of justice, and take thou counsel with
them, and choose whatever is best in thy sight, and be of them that
act generously.
Know thou for a certainty that whoso disbelieveth in God is
neither trustworthy nor truthful. This, indeed, is the truth, the
undoubted truth. He that acteth treacherously towards God will,
also, act treacherously towards his king. Nothing whatever can
deter such a man from evil, nothing can hinder him from betraying
his neighbor, nothing can induce him to walk uprightly.
Take heed that thou resign not the reins of the affairs of thy
state into the hands of others, and repose not thy confidence in
ministers unworthy of thy trust, and be not of them that live in
heedlessness. Shun them whose hearts are turned away from thee,
and place not thy confidence in them, and entrust them not with
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thine affairs and the affairs of such as profess thy faith. Beware
that thou allow not the wolf to become the shepherd of God's flock,
and surrender not the fate of His loved ones to the mercy of the
malicious. Expect not that they who violate the ordinances of God
will be trustworthy or sincere in the faith they profess. Avoid
them, and preserve strict guard over thyself, lest their devices and
mischief hurt thee. Turn away from them, and fix thy gaze upon
God, thy Lord, the All-Glorious, the Most Bountiful. He that
giveth up himself wholly to God, God shall, assuredly, be with
him; and he that placeth his complete trust in God, God shall,
verily, protect him from whatsoever may harm him, and shield
him from the wickedness of every evil plotter.
Wert thou to incline thine ear unto My speech and observe My
counsel, God would exalt thee to so eminent a position that the
designs of no man on the whole earth can ever touch or hurt thee.
Observe, O King, with thine inmost heart and with thy whole
being, the precepts of God, and walk not in the paths of the
oppressor. Seize thou, and hold firmly within thy grasp, the reins
of the affairs of thy people, and examine in person whatever pertaineth
unto them. Let nothing escape thee, for therein lieth the
highest good.
Render thanks unto God for having chosen thee out of the
whole world, and made thee king over them that profess thy faith.
It well beseemeth thee to appreciate the wondrous favors with
which God hath favored thee, and to magnify continually His
name. Thou canst best praise Him if thou lovest His loved ones,
and dost safeguard and protect His servants from the mischief of
the treacherous, that none may any longer oppress them. Thou
shouldst, moreover, arise to enforce the law of God amongst them,
that thou mayest be of those who are firmly established in His law.
Shouldst thou cause rivers of justice to spread their waters
amongst thy subjects, God would surely aid thee with the hosts of
the unseen and of the seen, and would strengthen thee in thine
affairs. No God is there but Him. All creation and its empire are
His. Unto Him return the works of the faithful.
Place not thy reliance on thy treasures. Put thy whole confidence
in the grace of God, thy Lord. Let Him be thy trust in whatever
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thou doest, and be of them that have submitted themselves to His
Will. Let Him be thy helper and enrich thyself with His treasures,
for with Him are the treasuries of the heavens and of the earth.
He bestoweth them upon whom He will, and from whom He
will He withholdeth them. There is none other God but Him, the
All-Possessing, the All-Praised. All are but paupers at the door
of His mercy; all are helpless before the revelation of His sovereignty,
and beseech His favors.
Overstep not the bounds of moderation, and deal justly with
them that serve thee. Bestow upon them according to their needs,
and not to the extent that will enable them to lay up riches for
themselves, to deck their persons, to embellish their homes, to
acquire the things that are of no benefit unto them, and to be
numbered with the extravagant. Deal with them with undeviating
justice, so that none among them may either suffer want, or
be pampered with luxuries. This is but manifest justice.
Allow not the abject to rule over and dominate them who are
noble and worthy of honor, and suffer not the high-minded to
be at the mercy of the contemptible and worthless, for this is
what We observed upon Our arrival in the City (Constantinople),
and to it we bear witness. We found among its inhabitants some
who were possessed of an affluent fortune and lived in the midst
of excessive riches, while others were in dire want and abject
poverty. This ill beseemeth thy sovereignty, and is unworthy of thy
rank.
Let My counsel be acceptable to thee, and strive thou to rule
with equity among men, that God may exalt thy name and spread
abroad the fame of thy justice in all the world. Beware lest thou
aggrandize thy ministers at the expense of thy subjects. Fear the
sighs of the poor and of the upright in heart who, at every break
of day, bewail their plight, and be unto them a benignant sovereign.
They, verily, are thy treasures on earth. It behoveth thee,
therefore, to safeguard thy treasures from the assaults of them
who wish to rob thee. Inquire into their affairs, and ascertain,
every year, nay every month, their condition, and be not of them
that are careless of their duty.
Set before thine eyes God's unerring Balance and, as one standing
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in His Presence, weigh in that Balance thine actions every day,
every moment of thy life. Bring thyself to account ere thou art
summoned to a reckoning, on the Day when no man shall have
strength to stand for fear of God, the Day when the hearts of the
heedless ones shall be made to tremble.
It behoveth every king to be as bountiful as the sun, which
fostereth the growth of all beings, and giveth to each its due, whose
benefits are not inherent in itself, but are ordained by Him Who
is the Most Powerful, the Almighty. The King should be as generous,
as liberal in his mercy as the clouds, the outpourings of
whose bounty are showered upon every land, by the behest of Him
Who is the Supreme Ordainer, the All-Knowing.
Have a care not to entrust thine affairs of state entirely into
another's hands. None can discharge thy functions better than
thine own self. Thus do We make clear unto thee Our words of
wisdom, and send down upon thee that which can enable thee to
pass over from the left hand of oppression to the right hand of
justice, and approach the resplendent ocean of His favors. Such
is the path which the kings that were before thee have trodden,
they that acted equitably towards their subjects, and walked in
the ways of undeviating justice.
Thou art God's shadow on earth. Strive, therefore, to act in
such a manner as befitteth so eminent, so august a station. If thou
dost depart from following the things We have caused to descend
upon thee and taught thee, thou wilt, assuredly, be derogating
from that great and priceless honor. Return, then, and cleave
wholly unto God, and cleanse thine heart from the world and all
its vanities, and suffer not the love of any stranger to enter and
dwell therein. Not until thou dost purify thine heart from every
trace of such love can the brightness of the light of God shed its
radiance upon it, for to none hath God given more than one heart.
This, verily, hath been decreed and written down in His ancient
Book. And as the human heart, as fashioned by God, is one and
undivided, it behoveth thee to take heed that its affections be,
also, one and undivided. Cleave thou, therefore, with the whole
affection of thine heart, unto His love, and withdraw it from the
love of any one besides Him, that He may aid thee to immerse
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thyself in the ocean of His unity, and enable thee to become a true
upholder of His oneness. God is my witness. My sole purpose in
revealing to thee these words is to sanctify thee from the transitory
things of the earth, and aid thee to enter the realm of everlasting
glory, that thou mayest, by the leave of God, be of them that abide
and rule therein....
I swear by God, O King! It is not my wish to make My plaint
to thee against them that persecute Me. I only plead my grief
and My sorrow to God, Who hath created Me and them, Who
well knoweth our state and Who watcheth over all things. My
wish is to warn them of the consequences of their actions, if perchance
they might desist from treating others as they have treated
Me, and be of them that heed My warning.
The tribulations that have touched Us, the destitution from
which We suffer, the various troubles with which We are encompassed,
shall all pass away, as shall pass away the pleasures in which
they delight and the affluence they enjoy. This is the truth which
no man can reject. The days in which We have been compelled to
dwell in the dust will soon be ended, as will the days in which they
occupied the seats of honor. God shall, assuredly, judge with truth
between Us and them, and He, verily, is the best of judges.
We render thanks unto God for whatsoever hath befallen Us,
and We patiently endure the things He hath ordained in the past
or will ordain in the future. In Him have I placed My trust; and
into His hands have I committed My cause. He will, certainly,
repay all them that endure with patience and put their confidence
in Him. His is the creation and its empire. He exalteth whom
He will, and whom He will He doth abase. He shall not be asked
of His doings. He, verily, is the All-Glorious, the Almighty.
Let thine ear be attentive, O King, to the words We have addressed
to thee. Let the oppressor desist from his tyranny, and cut
off the perpetrators of injustice from among them that profess thy
faith. By the righteousness of God! The tribulations We have
sustained are such that any pen that recounteth them cannot but
be overwhelmed with anguish. No one of them that truly believe
and uphold the unity of God can bear the burden of their recital.
So great have been Our sufferings that even the eyes of Our enemies
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have. wept over Us, and beyond them those of every discerning
person. And to all these trials have We been subjected, in spite of
Our action in approaching thee, and in bidding the people to enter
beneath thy shadow, that thou mightest be a stronghold unto
them that believe in and uphold the unity of God.
Have I, O King, ever disobeyed thee? Have I, at any time,
transgressed any of thy laws? Can any of thy ministers that represented
thee in `Iraq produce any proof that can establish my disloyalty
to thee? No, by Him Who is the Lord of all worlds! Not
for one short moment did We rebel against thee, or against any
of thy ministers. Never, God willing, shall We revolt against thee,
though We be exposed to trials more severe than any We suffered
in the past.
In the day time and in the night season, at even and at morn,
We pray to God on thy behalf, that He may graciously aid thee
to be obedient unto Him and to observe His commandment, that
He may shield thee from the hosts of the evil ones. Do, therefore,
as it pleaseth thee, and treat Us as befitteth thy station and beseemeth
thy sovereignty. Be not forgetful of the law of God in
whatever thou desirest to achieve, now or in the days to come.
Say: Praise be to God, the Lord of all worlds!
O King of Paris! Tell the priest to ring the bells no longer. By
God, the True One! The Most Mighty Bell hath appeared in the
form of Him Who is the Most Great Name, and the fingers of the
will o thy Lord, the Most Exalted, the Most High, toll it out in
the heaven of Immortality, in His Name, the All-Glorious. Thus
have the mighty verses of thy Lord been again sent down unto
thee, that thou mayest arise to remember God, the Creator of earth
and heaven, in these days when all the tribes of the earth have
mourned, and the foundations of the cities have trembled, and the
dust of irreligion hath enwrapped all men, except such as thy Lord,
the All-Knowing, the All-Wise, was pleased to spare.... Give ear,
O King, unto the Voice that calleth from the Fire which burneth in
this Verdant Tree, upon this Sinai which hath been raised above
the hallowed and snow-white Spot, beyond the Everlasting City:
"Verily, there is none other God but Me, the Ever-Forgiving, the
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Most Merciful!" We, in truth, have sent Him Whom We aided
with the Holy Spirit (Jesus), that He may announce unto you
this Light that hath shone forth from the horizon of the will of
your Lord, the Most Exalted, the All Glorious, and Whose signs
have been revealed in the West, that ye may set your faces towards
Him (Baha'u'llah), on this Day which God hath exalted above
all other days, and whereon the All-Merciful hath shed the splendor
of His effulgent glory upon all who are in heaven and all who
are on earth. Arise thou to serve God and help His Cause. He,
verily, will assist thee with the hosts of the seen and unseen,
and will set thee king over all that whereon the sun riseth. Thy
Lord, in truth, is the All-Powerful, the Almighty.... Attire thy
temple with the ornament of My Name, and thy tongue with
remembrance of Me, and thine heart with love for Me, the
Almighty, the Most High. We have desired for thee naught except
that which is better for thee than what thou dost possess and all
the treasures of the earth. Thy Lord, verily, is knowing, informed
of all....
O King! We heard the words thou didst utter in answer to the
Czar of Russia, concerning the decision made regarding the war
Thy Lord, verily, knoweth, is informed of all Thou didst say: "I
lay asleep upon my couch, when the cry of the oppressed, who
were drowned in the Black Sea, awakened me." This is what we
heard thee say, and, verily, thy Lord is witness unto what I say.
We testify that that which wakened thee was not their cry, but the
promptings of thine own passions, for We tested thee, and found
thee wanting. Comprehend the meaning of My words, and be thou
of the discerning . . . Hadst thou been sincere in thy words, thou
wouldst have not cast behind thy back the Book of God, when it
was sent unto thee by Him Who is the Almighty, the All-Wise.
We have proved thee through it, and found thee other than that
which thou didst profess. Arise, and make amends for that which
escaped thee. Ere long the world and all that thou possessest will
perish, and the kingdom will remain unto God, thy Lord and the
Lord of thy fathers of old. It behoveth thee not to conduct thine
affairs according to the dictates of thy desires. Fear the sighs of
this Wronged One, and shield Him from the darts of such as act
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unjustly. For what thou hast done, thy kingdom shall be thrown
into confusion, and thine empire shall pass from thine hands, as a
punishment for that which thou hast wrought. Then wilt thou
know how thou hast plainly erred. Commotions shall seize all the
people in that land, unless thou arisest to help this Cause, and followest
Him Who is the Spirit of God (Jesus) in this, the straight
Path. Hath thy pomp made thee proud? By my Life! It shall not
endure; nay, it shall soon pass away, unless thou holdest fast by
this firm Cord. We see abasement hastening after thee, while thou
art of the heedless . . . Abandon thy palaces to the people of the
graves, and thine empire to whosoever desireth it, and turn, then,
unto the Kingdom. This, verily, is what God hath chosen for thee,
wert thou of them that turn unto Him . . . Shouldst thou desire
to bear the weight of thy dominion, bear it then to aid the Cause
of thy Lord. Glorified be this station which whoever attaineth
thereunto hath attained unto all good that proceedeth from Him
Who is the All-Knowing, the All-Wise . . . Exultest thou over
the treasures thou dost possess, knowing they shall perish? Rejoicest
thou in that thou rulest a span of earth, when the whole
world, in the estimation of the people of Baha, is worth as much as
the black in the eye of a dead ant? Abandon it unto such as have
set their affections upon it, and turn thou unto Him Who is the
Desire of the world. Whither are gone the proud and their palaces?
Gaze thou into their tombs, that thou mayest profit by this example,
inasmuch as We made it a lesson unto every beholder. Were
the breezes of Revelation to seize thee, thou wouldst flee the
world, and turn unto the Kingdom, and wouldst expend all thou
possessest, that thou mayest draw nigh unto this sublime Vision.
O Czar of Russia! Incline thine ear unto the voice of God, the
King, the Holy, and turn thou unto Paradise, the Spot wherein
abideth He Who, among the Concourse on high, beareth the most
excellent titles, and Who, in the kingdom of creation, is called
by the name of God, the Effulgent, the All-Glorious. Beware lest
thy desire deter thee from turning towards the face of thy Lord,
the Compassionate, the Most Merciful. We, verily, have heard the
thing for which thou didst supplicate thy Lord, whilst secretly
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communing with Him. Wherefore, the breeze of My loving-
kindness wafted forth, and the sea of My mercy surged, and We
answered thee in truth. Thy Lord, verily, is the All-Knowing, the
All-Wise. Whilst I lay chained and fettered in the prison, one of
thy ministers extended Me his aid. Wherefore hath God ordained
for thee a station which the knowledge of none can comprehend
except His knowledge. Beware lest thou barter away this sublime
station . . . Beware lest thy sovereignty withhold thee from Him
Who is the Supreme Sovereign. He, verily, is come with His
Kingdom, and all the atoms cry aloud: "Lo! The Lord is come in
His great majesty!" He Who is the Father is come, and the Son
(Jesus), in the holy vale, crieth out: "Here am I, here am I, O
Lord, My God!", whilst Sinai circleth round the House, and the
Burning Bush calleth aloud: "The All-Bounteous is come mounted
upon the clouds! Blessed is he that draweth nigh unto Him, and
woe betide them that are far away."
Arise thou amongst men in the name of this all-compelling
Cause, and summon, then, the nations unto God, the Exalted, the
Great. Be thou not of them who called upon God by one of His
names, but who, when He Who is the Object of all names appeared,
denied Him and turned aside from Him, and, in the end, pronounced
sentence against Him with manifest injustice. Consider
and call thou to mind the days whereon the Spirit of God (Jesus)
appeared, and Herod gave judgment against Him. God, however
aided Him with the hosts of the unseen, and protected Him with
truth, and sent Him down unto another land, according to His
promise. He, verily, ordaineth what He pleaseth. Thy Lord truly
preserveth whom He willeth, be he in the midst of the seas, or in
the maw of the serpent, or beneath the sword of the oppressor . . .
Again I say: Hearken unto My Voice that calleth from My
prison, that it may acquaint thee with the things that have befallen
My Beauty, at the hands of them that are the manifestations of My
glory, and that thou mayest perceive how great hath been My
patience, notwithstanding My might, and how immense My forbearance,
notwithstanding My power. By My Life! Couldst thou
but know the things sent down by My Pen, and discover the
treasures of My Cause, and the pearls of My mysteries which lie
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hid in the seas of My names and in the goblets of My words, thou
wouldst, in thy love for My name, and in thy longing for My
glorious and sublime Kingdom, lay down thy life in My path.
Know thou that though My body be beneath the swords of My
foes, and My limbs be beset with incalculable afflictions, yet My
spirit is filled with a gladness with which all the joys of the earth
can never compare.
Set thine heart towards Him Who is the Point of adoration for
the world, and say: O peoples of the earth! Have ye denied the
One in Whose path He Who came with the truth, bearing the
announcement of your Lord, the Exalted, the Great, suffered martyrdom?
Say: This is an Announcement whereat the hearts of the
Prophets and Messengers have rejoiced. This is the One Whom the
heart of the world remembereth and is promised in the Books of
God, the Mighty, the All-Wise. The hands of the Messengers were,
in their desire to meet Me, upraised towards God, the Mighty, the
Glorified.... Some lamented in their separation from Me, others
endured hardships in My path, and still others laid down their
lives for the sake of My Beauty, could ye but know it. Say: I,
verily, have not sought to extol Mine Own Self, but rather God
Himself were ye to judge fairly. Naught can be seen in Me except
God and His Cause, could ye but perceive it. I am the One Whom
the tongue of Isaiah hath extolled, the One with Whose name both
the Torah and the Evangel were adorned.... Blessed be the king
whose sovereignty hath withheld him not from his Sovereign, and
who hath turned unto God with his heart. He, verily, is accounted
of those that have attained unto that which God, the Mighty, the
All-Wise, hath willed. Ere long will such a one find himself numbered
with the monarchs of the realms of the Kingdom. Thy Lord
is, in truth, potent over all things. He giveth what He willeth to
whomsoever He willeth, and withholdeth what He pleaseth from
whomsoever He willeth. He, verily, is the All-Powerful, the
Almighty.
O Queen in London! Incline thine ear unto the voice of thy
Lord, the Lord of all mankind, calling from the Divine Lote-Tree:
Verily, no God is there but Me, the Almighty, the All-Wise!
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Cast away all that is on earth, and attire the head of thy kingdom
with the crown of the remembrance of thy Lord, the All-Glorious.
He, in truth, hath come unto the world in His most great glory,
and all that hath been mentioned in the Gospel hath been fulfilled.
The land of Syria hath been honored by the footsteps of its
Lord, the Lord of all men, and north and south are both inebriated
with the wine of His presence. Blessed is the man that inhaled the
fragrance of the Most Merciful, and turned unto the Dawning-
Place of His Beauty, in this resplendent Dawn. The Mosque of
Aqsa vibrated through the breezes of its Lord, the All-Glorious
whilst Batha (Mecca) trembleth at the voice of God, the Exalted,
the Most High. Whereupon every single stone of them celebrateth
the praise of the Lord, through this Great Name.
Lay aside thy desire, and set then thine heart towards thy Lord,
the Ancient of Days. We make mention of thee for the sake of God,
and desire that thy name may be exalted through thy remembrance
of God, the Creator of earth and heaven. He, verily, is witness
unto that which I say. We have been informed that thou hast
forbidden the trading in slaves, both men and women. This,
verily, is what God hath enjoined in this wondrous Revelation. God
hath, truly, destined a reward for thee, because of this. He, verily,
will pay the doer of good his due recompense, wert thou to follow
what hath been sent unto thee by Him Who is the All-Knowing,
the All-Informed. As to him who turneth aside, and swelleth with
pride, after that the clear tokens have come unto him, from the
Revealer of signs, his work shall God bring to naught. He, in truth,
hath power over all things. Man's actions are acceptable after his
having recognized (the Manifestation). He that turneth aside
from the True One is indeed the most veiled amongst His creatures.
Thus hath it been decreed by Him Who is the Almighty, the Most
Powerful.
We have also heard that thou hast entrusted the reins of counsel
into the hands of the representatives of the people. Thou, indeed,
hast done well, for thereby the foundations of the edifice of thine
affairs will be strengthened, and the hearts of all that are beneath
thy shadow, whether high or low, will be tranquillized. It behoveth
them, however, to be trustworthy among His servants, and to
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regard themselves as the representatives of all that dwell on earth.
This is what counselleth them, in this Tablet, He Who is the Ruler,
the All-Wise.... Blessed is he that entereth the assembly for the
sake of God, and judgeth between men with pure justice. He,
indeed, is of the blissful....
Turn thou unto God and say: O my Sovereign Lord! I am but
a vassal of Thine, and Thou art, in truth, the King of Kings. I
have lifted my suppliant hands unto the heaven of Thy grace and
Thy bounties. Send down, then, upon me from the clouds of Thy
generosity that which will rid me of all save Thee, and draw me
nigh unto Thyself. I beseech Thee, O my Lord, by Thy name,
which Thou hast made the king of names, and the manifestation
of Thyself to all who are in heaven and on earth, to rend asunder
the veils that have intervened between InC and my recognition of
the Dawning-Place of Thy signs and the Day Spring of Thy Revelation.
Thou art, verily, the Almighty, the All-Powerful, the All-
Bounteous. Deprive me not, O my Lord, of the fragrances of the
Robe of Thy mercy in Thy days, and write down for me that which
Thou hast written down for Thy handmaidens who have believed
in Thee and in Thy signs, and have recognized Thee, and set their
hearts towards the horizon of Thy Cause. Thou art truly the Lord
of the worlds and of those who show mercy the Most Merciful.
Assist me, then, O my God, to remember Thee amongst Thy handmaidens,
and to aid Thy Cause in Thy lands. Accept, then, that
which hath escaped me when the light of Thy countenance shone
forth. Thou, indeed, hast power over all things. Glory be to Thee,
O Thou in Whose hand is the kingdom of the heavens and of the
earth.
Say: O King of Berlin! Give ear unto the Voice calling from
this manifest Temple: Verily, there is none other God but Me, the
Everlasting, the Peerless, the Ancient of Days. Take heed lest pride
debar thee from recognizing the Dayspring of Divine Revelation,
lest earthly desires shut thee out, as by a veil, from the Lord of the
Throne above and of the earth below. Thus counselleth thee the
Pen of the Most High. He, verily, is the Most Gracious, the All-
Bountiful. Do thou remember the one whose power transcended
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thy power (Napoleon III), and whose station excelled thy station.
Where is he? Whither are gone the things he possessed? Take warning,
and be not of them that are fast asleep. He it was who cast
the Tablet of God behind him, when We made known unto him
what the hosts of tyranny had caused Us to suffer. Wherefore,
disgrace assailed him from all sides, and he went down to dust in
great loss. Think deeply, O King, concerning him, and concerning
them who, like unto thee, have conquered cities and ruled over men.
The All-Merciful brought them down from their palaces to their
graves. Be warned, be of them who reflect . . . O banks of the
Rhine! We have seen you covered with gore, inasmuch as the
swords of retribution were drawn against you; and you shall have
another turn. And We hear the lamentations of Berlin, though
she be today in conspicuous glory.
O king! I was but a man like others, asleep upon My couch,
when lo, the breezes of the All-Glorious were wafted over Me, and
taught Me the knowledge of all that hath been. This thing is not
from Me, but from One Who is Almighty and All-Knowing. And
He bade Me lift up My voice between earth and heaven, and for
this there befell Me what hath caused the tears of every man of
understanding to flow. The learning current amongst men I studied
not; their schools I entered not. Ask of the city wherein I dwelt,
that thou mayest be well assured that I am not of them who speak
falsely. This is but a leaf which the winds of the will of thy Lord,
the Almighty, the All-Praised, have stirred. Can it be still when
the tempestuous winds are blowing? Nay by Him Who is the
Lord of all Names and Attributes! They move it as they list. The
evanescent is as nothing before Him Who is the Ever-Abiding.
His all-compelling summons hath reached Me, and caused Me to
speak His praise amidst all people. I was indeed as one dead when
His behest was uttered. The hand of the will of thy Lord, the
Compassionate, the Merciful, transformed Me. Can any one speak
forth of his own accord that for which all men, both high and
low, will protest against him? Nay, by Him Who taught the Pen
the eternal mysteries, save him whom the grace of the Almighty,
the All-Powerful, hath strengthened. The Pen of the Most High
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addresseth Me saying: Fear not. Relate unto His Majesty the Shah
that which befell thee. His heart, verily, is between the fingers
of thy Lord, the God of Mercy, that haply the sun of justice and
bounty may shine forth above the horizon of his heart. Thus hath
the decree been irrevocably fixed by Him Who is the All-Wise.
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