Say, by the righteousness of God! The All-Merciful is come
invested with power and sovereignty. Through His power the foundations of
religions have quaked and the Nightingale of Utterance hath warbled its melody
upon the highest branch of true understanding. Verily, He Who was hidden in the
knowledge of God and is mentioned in the Holy Scriptures hath appeared. 
They [“the people of tyranny”] have rejected the bounty of
God and His proofs and have repudiated the testimony of God and His signs. They
have gone astray and have caused the people to go astray, yet perceive it not.
They worship vain imaginings but know it not. They have taken idle fancies for
their lords and have neglected God, yet understand not. They have abandoned the
most great Ocean and are hastening towards the pool, but comprehend not. They
follow their own idle fancies while turning aside from God, the Help in Peril,
the Self-Subsisting.
Verily, the birds abiding within the domains of My Kingdom
and the doves dwelling in the rose-garden of My wisdom utter such melodies and
warblings as are inscrutable to all but God, the Lord of the kingdoms of earth
and heaven; and were these melodies to be revealed even to an extent smaller
than a needle’s eye, the people of tyranny would utter such calumnies as none
among former generations hath ever uttered, and would commit such deeds as no
one in past ages and centuries hath ever committed.
Were We to unveil the pearls of testimony which lie hid
within the shells of the ocean of knowledge and assurance or to let the
beauties of divine mystery which are hidden within the chambers of utterance in
the Paradise of true understanding, step out of their habitation, then from
every direction violent commotion would arise among the leaders of religion and
thou wouldst witness the people of God held fast in the teeth of such wolves as
have denied God both in the beginning and in the end. Therefore We restrained the
Pen for a considerable lapse of time in accordance with divine wisdom and for
the sake of protecting the faithful from those who have bartered away heavenly
blessings for disbelief and have chosen for their people the abode of
perdition.(cf. Qur’an 14:33)
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.
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 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.
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.
Blessed are they that occupy themselves in the House of
Worship with the remembrance of Him Who is the Lord of the righteous! Blessed
are they that arise in the service of this House! Blessed are they that have
raised up this House!
Viewed in the light of their [Manifestations of God] second
station—the station of distinction, differentiation, temporal limitations,
characteristics and standards,—they manifest absolute servitude, utter
destitution and complete self-effacement. Even as He saith: “I am the servant
of God. [Qur’án 19:31] I am but a man like you.” [Qur’án 18:110]
It hath been forbidden you to smoke opium. We, truly, have
prohibited this practice through a most binding interdiction in the Book.
Should anyone partake thereof, assuredly he is not of Me. Fear God, O ye endued
with understanding!
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: This is the Most Great Testimony, by which the validity of
every proof throughout the ages hath been established, would that ye might be
assured thereof. 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 immovable mountain in the Cause of your Lord, the Mighty, the Loving.
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.
When the time set for this Revelation was fulfilled, and He
Who is the Day Star of the world appeared in ‘Iráq, He bade His followers
observe that which would sanctify them from all earthly defilements. Some
preferred to follow the desires of a corrupt inclination, while others walked
in the way of righteousness and truth, and were rightly guided.
…were they [Manifestations of God] 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 deeply immersed beneath the oceans of ancient and everlasting
holiness, or when they soared to the loftiest summits of divine mysteries, they
claimed their utterance 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
Court an act of blasphemy. For the slightest whispering 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 anyone 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.
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.
Were He to decree as lawful the thing which from time
immemorial had been forbidden, and forbid that which had, at all times, been
regarded as lawful, to none is given the right to question His authority. Whoso
will hesitate, though it be for less than a moment, should be regarded as a
transgressor.
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 name and His
attributes, are made manifest in the world. Thus, He hath revealed: “Those
shafts were God’s, not Thine!” [Qur’án 8:17] And also He saith: “In truth, they
who plighted fealty unto thee, really plighted that fealty unto God.” [Qur’án
48:10] 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.” [Qur’án 33:40] 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.
Take heed that ye dispute not idly concerning the Almighty
and His Cause, for lo! He hath appeared amongst you invested with a Revelation
so great as to encompass all things, whether of the past or of the future.
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!