O Rebellious Ones! My forbearance hath emboldened you and My
long-suffering hath made you negligent, in such wise that ye have spurred on
the fiery charger of passion into perilous ways that lead unto destruction.
Have ye thought Me heedless or that I was unaware? 
The breezes of utterance in this Revelation are not to be
compared with those of former ages. This Wronged One hath been perpetually
afflicted, and found no place of safety in which He could peruse either the
writings of the Most Exalted One (the Báb) or those of any one else.
It is clear and evident that, in this Dispensation wherein
the banner of utterance hath been raised aloft and the candle of discernment
hath been lit, there is no Lord but the Exalted One [the Báb] He it is Who is
one in His essence and one in His attributes, single in the kingdom of names
and peerless in the realm of actions. It is by virtue of His blessed name that
the seas of Divine Unity have been made to surge; it is through the power of
His resistless command that the immutable decrees of destiny have been
enforced; it is through the potency of His sovereign might that the dictates of
fate have been fixed. Who hath the power to soar in that exalted atmosphere or
to cherish another beloved than Him? We all abide beneath His shadow and seek
our portion from the ocean of His grace. However far the gnat may fly, it can
never traverse the length and breadth of heaven, and however high the sparrow
may soar, it can never attain the tree of immortality.
The beginning of religion is love for God and for His Chosen
Ones, and its end is to manifest that love to His servants.
O Ye People that have Minds to Know and Ears to Hear! The
first call of the Beloved is this: O mystic nightingale! Abide not but in the
rose-garden of the spirit. O messenger of the Solomon of love! Seek thou no
shelter except in the Sheba of the well-beloved, and O immortal phoenix! dwell
not save on the mount of faithfulness. Therein is thy habitation, if on the
wings of thy soul thou soarest to the realm of the infinite and seekest to
attain thy goal.
God testifieth and beareth Me witness that this Wronged One
hath not perused the Bayán, nor been acquainted with its contents. This much,
however, is known and is clear and indubitable that He [the Báb] hath ordained
the Book of the Bayán to be the foundation of His works.
We have heard the moaning of the pulpits which, as attested
by all, the divines of the age of this Revelation have ascended, and from which
they have cursed the True One, and caused such things to befall Him Who is the
Essence of Being and His companions as neither the eye nor the ear of the world
hath seen or heard.
The blind fanaticism of former times hath withheld the
hapless creatures from the Straight Path. Meditate on the Shí’ih sect. For
twelve hundred years they have cried “O Qá’im!”, until in the end all
pronounced the sentence of His death, and caused Him to suffer martyrdom,
notwithstanding their belief in, and their acceptance and acknowledgment of,
the True One—exalted be His glory—and of the Seal of the Prophets, and of the
Chosen Ones. It is now necessary to reflect a while, that haply that which hath
come between the True One and His creatures may be discovered, and the deeds
which have been the cause of protest and denial be made known.
Know thou that, according to what thy Lord, the Lord of all
men, hath decreed in His Book, the favors vouchsafed by Him unto mankind have
been, and will ever remain, limitless in their range. First and foremost among
these favors, which the Almighty hath conferred upon man, is the gift of
understanding. His purpose in conferring such a gift is none other except to
enable His creature to know and recognize the one true God—exalted be His
glory. This gift giveth man the power to discern the truth in all things, leadeth
him to that which is right, and helpeth him to discover the secrets of
creation. Next in rank, is the power of vision, the chief instrument whereby
his understanding can function. The senses of hearing, of the heart, and the
like, are similarly to be reckoned among the gifts with which the human body is
endowed. Immeasurably exalted is the Almighty Who hath created these powers,
and revealed them in the body of man.
The tie of servitude established between the worshiper and
the adored One, between the creature and the Creator, should in itself be
regarded as a token of His gracious favor unto men, and not as an indication of
any merit they may possess. To this testifieth every true and discerning
believer.
All the Divine Books and Scriptures have predicted and
announced unto men the advent of the Most Great Revelation. None can adequately
recount the verses recorded in the Books of former ages which forecast this
supreme Bounty, this most mighty Bestowal.
O My servant that believest in God! By the righteousness of
the Almighty! Were I to recount to thee the tale of the things that have
befallen Me, the souls and minds of men would be incapable of sustaining its
weight. God Himself beareth Me witness. …Meditate diligently upon the Cause of
thy Lord. Strive to know Him through His own Self and not through others. For
no one else besides Him can ever profit thee. To this all created things will
testify, couldst thou but perceive it.
For every act performed there shall be a recompense
according to the estimate of God, and unto this the very ordinances and
prohibitions prescribed by the Almighty amply bear witness. For surely if deeds
were not rewarded and yielded no fruit, then the Cause of God—exalted is
He—would prove futile. Immeasurably high is He exalted above such blasphemies!
However, unto them that are rid of all attachments a deed is, verily, its own
reward.
Thou hast moreover asked Me concerning the ordinances of
God. Know thou of a truth that whatsoever hath been prescribed in the Book is
indeed the truth, no doubt is there about it, and it is incumbent upon everyone
to observe that which hath been sent down by Him Who is the Revealer, the
All-Knowing. Were a man to put them away despite his being aware thereof, God
would truly be clear of such a one and We too would be clear of him, inasmuch
as His ordinances constitute the fruits of the divine Tree and none other than
the heedless and the wayward will deviate therefrom.
O servant! Warn thou the servants of God not to reject that
which they do not comprehend. Say, implore God to open to your hearts the
portals of true understanding that ye may be apprised of that of which no one
is apprised. Verily, He is the Giver, the Forgiving, the Compassionate.
Verily I say, the creation of God embraceth worlds besides
this world, and creatures apart from these creatures. In each of these worlds
He hath ordained things which none can search except Himself, the
All-Searching, the All-Wise.
O would that that which interveneth between the children of
men and their Creator were dispelled that they might be enabled to behold God’s
invincible sovereignty and dominion, quaff from the wellspring of His heavenly
streams, be sprinkled with the outpourings of the ocean of true understanding
and be purged from the defilements of the ungodly and the suspicious.
Emerge from behind the veil, by the leave of thy Lord, the
All-Glorious, the Most Powerful, and seize, before the eyes of those who are in
the heavens and those who are on the earth, the Chalice of Immortality, in the
name of thy Lord, the Inaccessible, the Most High, and quaff thy fill, and be
not of them that tarry. I swear by God! The moment thou touchest the Cup with
thy lips, the Concourse on high will acclaim thee saying, “Drink with healthy
relish, O man that hast truly believed in God!”, and the inhabitants of the
Cities of Immortality will cry out, “Joy be to thee, O thou that hast drained
the Cup of His love!”, and the Tongue of Grandeur will hail thee, “Great is the
blessedness that awaiteth thee, O My servant, for thou hast attained unto that
which none hath attained, except such as have detached themselves from all that
is in the heavens and all that is on the earth, and who are the emblems of true
detachment.”
The followers of the Gospel… hold as impossible that the
Bearer of a new Revelation should again shine forth from the dayspring of the
Will of God after Jesus, Son of Mary—peace be upon Him! In support of this
contention, they adduce the following verse from the Gospel: “Heaven and earth
shall pass away, but the words of the Son of Man shall never pass away.” [cf.
Matthew 24:35; Mark 13:31; Luke 21:33.] They maintain that neither the
teachings nor the commandments of Jesus—peace be upon Him! —may ever be
altered.
…consider Jesus, the Son of Mary. When that Manifestation of
the All-Merciful revealed Himself, all the divines charged that Quintessence of
faith with impiety and rebellion. Eventually, with the sanction of Annas, the
most learned of the divines of His day, and Caiaphas, the high priest, His
blessed person was made to suffer that which the pen is ashamed to mention and
powerless to describe. The wide world in all its vastness could no longer
contain Him, until at last God raised Him up unto heaven.
To enforce the laws of God is naught but justice, and is the
source of universal content. Nay more, the divine statutes have always been,
and will ever remain, the cause and instrument of the preservation of mankind…
Had you believed in Me, O wayward generation, every one of
you would have followed the example of this youth, who stood in rank above most
of you, and willingly would have sacrificed himself in My path. The day will
come when you will have recognised Me; that day I shall have ceased to be with
you.”
Methinks I heard a voice calling in My inmost being: “Do
Thou sacrifice the thing which Thou lovest most in the path of God, even as Ḥusayn,
peace be upon him, hath offered up his life for My sake.” And were I not
regardful of this inevitable mystery, by Him in whose hand is My soul, even if
all the kings of the earth were to be leagued together, they would be powerless
to take from Me a single letter; how much less can such servants as these, who
are worthy of no attention, and who verily are of the outcast? that all may
know the degree of My patience, My resignation and self-sacrifice in the path
of God.
The more He extolled the remembrance of God, the greater
they waxed in their oppression, until all the divines pronounced sentence
against Him, save those that were acquainted with the precepts of God, the
All-Glorious, the Best-Beloved. Matters came to such a pass that they united to
put Him to death. They suspended Him in the air, and the hosts of misbelief
flung at Him the bullets of malice and hatred, piercing the body of the One
unto Whom the Holy Spirit is a humble servant, the dust of Whose feet is the
object of adoration of the Concourse on high, and from Whose very sandals the
inmates of Paradise seek a blessing. Whereupon the inhabitants of the unseen
realm wept sore beneath the pavilion of eternity, the pillars of the Throne
trembled, the inmost realities of all things were stirred into commotion, and
the divine Tree received its full measure of His gleaming blood which was shed
upon the earth.
O people! I have revealed Myself for His Manifestation, and
have caused My Book, the Bayán, to descend upon you for no other purpose except
to establish the truth of His Cause. Fear ye God, and contend not with Him as
the people of the Qur’án have contended with Me. At whatever time ye hear of
Him, hasten ye towards Him, and cleave ye to whatsoever He may reveal unto you.
Naught else besides Him can ever profit you, no, not though ye produce from
first to last the testimonies of all those who were before you.
O people! The clouds of wisdom have been lifted and God hath
revealed His Cause. This is that which ye were promised in all the Scriptures.
Fear ye God and hasten unto Me. I am, O people, a scion of your Prophet. I have
brought unto you verses that bewilder the minds of them that perceive, and this
is but a token of God’s proof and testimony. Deny them not at the prompting of
your idle fancies, and be fair in your judgement. They verily proceed from the
religion of God that hath been sent down unto you through the power of truth,
would that ye might believe!
God is My witness, O people! I am come to you with a
Revelation from the Lord, your God, the Lord of your fathers of old. Look not,
O people, at the things ye possess. Look rather at the things God hath sent
down unto you. This, surely, will be better for you than the whole of creation,
could ye but perceive it. Repeat the gaze, O people, and consider the testimony
of God and His proof which are in your possession, and compare them unto the
Revelation sent down unto you in this Day, that the truth, the infallible
truth, may be indubitably manifested unto you. Follow not, O people, the steps
of the Evil One; follow ye the Faith of the All-Merciful, and be ye of them
that truly believe. What would it profit man, if he were to fail to recognize
the Revelation of God? Nothing whatever. To this Mine own Self, the Omnipotent,
the Omniscient, the All-Wise, will testify.”
…this, the Lord of days, the Day whereon the Day-Star of the
Bayán manifested itself above the horizon of mercy, the Day in which the Beauty
of the All-Glorious shone forth in the exalted person of ‘Alí-Muḥammad, the
Báb. No sooner did He reveal Himself, than all the people rose up against Him.
By some He was denounced as one that hath uttered slanders against God, the
Almighty, the Ancient of Days. Others regarded Him as a man smitten with
madness, an allegation which I, Myself, have heard from the lips of one of the
divines. Still others disputed His claim to be the Mouthpiece of God, and
stigmatized Him as one who had stolen and used as his the words of the
Almighty, who had perverted their meaning, and mingled them with his own. The
Eye of Grandeur weepeth sore for the things which their mouths have uttered,
while they continue to rejoice upon their seats.
O company of the Concourse on high, and O denizens of the
immortal city! Hasten ye to pay homage, for the Shrine of grandeur hath
appeared within this Tabernacle round which all former shrines revolve; and
circle about and draw nigh unto the Lord of all men in these days, the like of
which the eyes of the former generations have never beheld. All hail then to
this, the Festival of the Lord, that hath dawned above the horizon of God, the
Most Gracious, the All-Bountiful!
O ye that abide beneath the tabernacle of grandeur! O ye
that dwell within the pavilion of inviolable sanctity! O ye that are sheltered
under the canopy of loftiness and glory! Lift up your voices and sing in the most
melodious of tones in your most exalted chambers, for in this Dispensation the
veiled Beauty hath been revealed, and the Day-Star of the Unseen hath risen
above the horizon of ancient glory. All hail then to this, the Festival of the
Lord, that hath appeared with a splendid adorning!