My captivity can bring on Me no shame. Nay, by My life, it
conferreth on Me glory. That which can make Me ashamed is the conduct of such
of My followers as profess to love Me, yet in fact follow the Evil One. They, indeed,
are of the lost. 
O people of the Bayán! We, verily, set foot within the
School of God when ye lay slumbering; and We perused the Tablet while ye were
fast asleep. By the one true God! We read the Tablet ere it was revealed, while
ye were unaware, and We had perfect knowledge of the Book when ye were yet
unborn. These words are to your measure, not to God’s. To this testifieth that
which is enshrined within His knowledge, if ye be of them that comprehend; and
to this the tongue of the Almighty doth bear witness, if ye be of those who
understand. I swear by God, were We to lift the veil, ye would be dumbfounded….
Were We to address Our theme by speaking in the language of the inmates of the
Kingdom, We would say: “In truth, God created that School ere He created heaven
and earth, and We entered it before the letters B and E were joined and knit
together.” Such is the language of Our servants in Our Kingdom; consider what
the tongue of the dwellers of Our exalted Dominion would utter, for We have
taught them Our knowledge and have revealed to them whatever had lain hidden in
God’s wisdom. Imagine then what the Tongue of Might and Grandeur would utter in
His All-Glorious Abode!
We did not refuse such material benefits as could relieve Us
from Our afflictions. Every one of Our companions, however, will bear Us
witness that Our holy court is sanctified from, and far above, such material
benefits. We have nevertheless accepted, while confined in this Prison, those
things of which the infidels have striven to deprive Us. If a man be found
willing to rear, in Our name, an edifice of pure gold or silver, or a house
begemmed with stones of inestimable value, such a wish will no doubt be granted.
He, verily, doeth what He willeth, and ordaineth that which He pleaseth. Leave
hath, moreover, been given to whosoever may desire to raise, throughout the
length and breadth of this land, noble and imposing structures, and dedicate
the rich and sacred territories adjoining the Jordan and its vicinity to the
worship and service of the one true God, magnified be His glory, that the
prophecies recorded by the Pen of the Most High in the sacred Scriptures may be
fulfilled, and that which God, the Lord of all worlds, hath purposed in this
most exalted, this most holy, this mighty, and wondrous Revelation may be made
manifest.
Blessed be the king whom the veils of glory have not
deterred from turning unto the Dayspring of beauty and who hath forsaken his
all in his desire to obtain the things of God. He, indeed, is accounted in the
sight of God as the most excellent of men, and is extolled by the inmates of
paradise and them that circle morn and eve round the Throne on high.
Every unbiased observer will readily admit that, ever since
the dawn of His Revelation, this wronged One hath invited all mankind to turn
their faces towards the Day Spring of Glory, and hath forbidden corruption,
hatred, oppression, and wickedness. And yet, behold what the hand of the
oppressor hath wrought! No pen dare describe his tyranny. Though the purpose of
Him Who is the Eternal Truth hath been to confer everlasting life upon all men,
and ensure their security and peace, yet witness how they have arisen to shed
the blood of His loved ones, and have pronounced on Him the sentence of death.
Call thou to mind that which hath been revealed unto Mihdí,
Our servant, in the first year of Our banishment to the Land of Mystery
(Adrianople). Unto him have We predicted that which must befall Our House
(Baghdád House), in the days to come, lest he grieve over the acts of robbery
and violence already perpetrated against it. Verily, the Lord, thy God, knoweth
all that is in the heavens and all that is on the earth. (Baha’u’llah,
‘Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah’)
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 appeared, and Herod gave
judgement 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.
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, 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.”
O Shaykh! [1] It is incumbent upon the divines to unite with
His Majesty, the Sháh—may God assist him—and to cleave day and night unto that
which will exalt the station of both the government and the nation. This people
are assiduously occupied in enlightening the souls of men and in rehabilitating
their condition. Unto this testifieth that which hath been sent down by the
Most Sublime Pen in this lucid Tablet. How often have things been simple and
easy of accomplishment, and yet most men have been heedless, and busied
themselves with that which wasteth their time!
This Wronged One hath, at all times, summoned the peoples of
the world unto that which will exalt them, and draw them nigh unto God. From
the Most Sublime Horizon there hath shone forth that which leaveth no room unto
any one for vacillation, repudiation or denial. The wayward, however, have
failed to profit therefrom; nay, it shall only increase their loss.
Whatsoever ye understand not in the Bayán, ask it of God,
your Lord and the Lord of your forefathers. Should He so desire, He will
expound for you that which is revealed therein, and disclose to you the pearls
of Divine knowledge and wisdom that lie concealed within the ocean of its
words. He, verily, is supreme over all names; no God is there but Him, the Help
in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.
O thou who hast fixed thy gaze upon My countenance! Admonish
men to fear God. By God! This fear is the chief commander of the army of thy
Lord. Its hosts are a praiseworthy character and goodly deeds. Through it have
the cities of men’s hearts been opened throughout the ages and centuries, and
the standards of ascendancy and triumph raised above all other standards.
This day, it behoveth whoso hath quaffed the Mystic Wine of
everlasting life from the Hands of the loving-kindness of the Lord his God, the
Merciful, to pulsate even as the throbbing artery in the body of mankind, that
through him may be quickened the world and every crumbling bone.
Say: O people of God! Adorn your temples with the adornment
of trustworthiness and piety. Help, then, your Lord with the hosts of goodly
deeds and a praiseworthy character. We have forbidden you dissension and
conflict in My Books, and My Scriptures, and My Scrolls, and My Tablets, and
have wished thereby naught else save your exaltation and advancement. Unto this
testify the heavens and the stars thereof, and the sun and the radiance
thereof, and the trees and the leaves thereof, and the seas and the waves
thereof, and the earth and the treasures thereof. We pray God to assist His
loved ones, and aid them in that which beseemeth them in this blest, this
mighty, and wondrous station.
We have admonished Our loved ones to fear God, a fear which
is the fountain-head of all goodly deeds and virtues. It is the commander of
the hosts of justice in the city of Bahá. Happy the man that hath entered the
shadow of its luminous standard, and laid fast hold thereon. He, verily, is of
the Companions of the Crimson Ark, which hath been mentioned in the
Qayyúm-i-Asmá.
O people of the world! When the Mystic Dove will have winged
its flight from its Sanctuary of Praise and sought its far-off goal, its hidden
habitation, refer ye whatsoever ye understand not in the Book to Him Who hath
branched from this mighty Stock.
The foundations of idle fancies have trembled, and the
heaven of vain imaginings hath been cleft asunder, and yet the people are in
doubt and in contention with Him. They have denied the testimony of God and His
proof, after He came from the heaven of power with the kingdom of His signs.
They have cast away what had been prescribed, and perpetrated what had been
forbidden them in the Book. They have abandoned their God, and clung unto their
desires. They truly have strayed and are in error. They read the verses and
deny them. They behold the clear tokens and turn aside. They truly are lost in
strange doubt.
Happy are ye, O ye the learned ones in Bahá. By the Lord! Ye
are the billows of the Most Mighty Ocean, the stars of the firmament of Glory,
the standards of triumph waving betwixt earth and heaven. Ye are the
manifestations of steadfastness amidst men and the daysprings of Divine
Utterance to all that dwell on earth. Well is it with him that turneth unto
you, and woe betide the froward.
The hope is cherished that ye may obtain true education in
the shelter of the tree of His tender mercies and act in accordance with that
which God desireth. Ye are all the leaves of one tree and the drops of one
ocean.
Grieve not, O House of God, [Baghdad House] if the veil of
thy sanctity be rent asunder by the infidels. God hath, in the world of
creation, adorned thee with the jewel of His remembrance. Such an ornament no
man can, at any time, profane. Towards thee the eyes of thy Lord shall, under
all conditions, remain directed. He, verily, will incline His ear to the prayer
of every one that visiteth thee, who will circle around thee, and calleth upon
Him in thy name. He, in truth, is the Forgiving, the All-Merciful.
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.
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. Thy
Lord, verily, doeth what He willeth.
What He pleaseth will God abrogate or confirm, and with Him is the
knowledge of all things in a Guarded Tablet.
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.
We behold the generality of mankind worshipping names and
exposing themselves, as thou dost witness, to dire perils in the mere hope of
perpetuating their names, whilst every perceiving soul testifieth that after
death one’s name shall avail him nothing except insofar as it beareth a
relationship unto God, the Almighty, the All-Praised. Thus have their vain imaginings taken hold of
them in requital for that which their hands have wrought.
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 Bahá, 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.
Meditate on the world and the state of its people. He, for
Whose sake the world was called into being, hath been imprisoned in the most
desolate of cities, by reason of that which the hands of the wayward have
wrought. From the horizon of His prison-city He summoneth mankind unto the
Dayspring of God, the Exalted, the Great.
Set forth that which ye possess. If it be favourably
received, your end is attained; if not, to protest is vain. Leave that soul to
himself and turn unto the Lord, the Protector, the Self-Subsisting. Be not the
cause of grief, much less of discord and strife.
He is a man of insight whose eyes have been illumined with
the brightness of Thy face, and who, as soon as Thy call was raised, hath
recognized Thee. (Baha’u’llah, ‘Prayers and Meditations by Baha’u’llah’)