The world passeth away, and that which is everlasting is the
love of God. God willing, thou shalt circumambulate the True One in every world
of His worlds and shalt be free from all else save Him.... 
O peoples of the world! He Who is the Most Great Name is
come, on the part of the Ancient King, and hath announced unto men this
Revelation which lay hid in His knowledge, and was preserved in the treasury of
His protection, and was written down by the Most Sublime Pen in the Books of
God, the Lord of Lords.
O Son of Beauty! By My spirit and by My favor! By My mercy
and by My beauty! All that I have revealed unto thee with the tongue of power,
and have written for thee with the pen of might, hath been in accordance with
thy capacity and understanding, not with My state and the melody of My voice.
O kings of the earth! We see you increasing every year your
expenditures, and laying the burden thereof on your subjects. This, verily, is
wholly and grossly unjust. Fear the sighs and tears of this Wronged One, and
lay not excessive burdens on your peoples. Do not rob them to rear palaces for
yourselves; nay rather choose for them that which ye choose for yourselves.
Thus We unfold to your eyes that which profiteth you, if ye but perceive. Your
people are your treasures. Beware lest your rule violate the commandments of
God, and ye deliver your wards to the hands of the robber. By them ye rule, by
their means ye subsist, by their aid ye conquer. Yet, how disdainfully ye look
upon them! How strange, how very strange! .
O concourse of rulers and divines! Incline your ears unto
the Voice calling from the horizon of Akká. Verily, it aideth you to proceed
aright, and draweth you nigh unto Him, and directeth your steps towards the
station which God hath made the Dayspring of His Revelation and the
Dawning-Place of His splendors.
Time and again have We, for the sake of God, admonished the
distinguished divines, and summoned them unto the Most Sublime Horizon, that
perchance they might, in the days of His Revelation, obtain their portion of
the ocean of the utterance of Him Who is the Desire of the world, and remain
not utterly deprived thereof.
O Children of the Divine and Invisible Essence! Ye shall be
hindered from loving Me and souls shall be perturbed as they make mention of
Me. For minds cannot grasp Me nor hearts contain Me.
O ye rulers of the earth!
Wherefore have ye clouded the radiance of the Sun, and caused it to
cease from shining? Hearken unto the
counsel given you by the Pen of the Most High, that haply both ye and the poor
may attain unto tranquillity and peace.
We beseech God to assist the kings of the earth to establish peace on
earth. He, verily, doth what He willeth.
All should know, and in this regard attain the splendours of
the sun of certitude, and be illumined thereby: Women and men have been and
will always be equal in the sight of God. The Dawning-Place of the Light of God
sheddeth its radiance upon all with the same effulgence. Verily God created
women for men, and men for women. The most beloved of people before God are the
most steadfast and those who have surpassed others in their love for God,
exalted be His glory....
Steadfastness in the Cause is mentioned in the Tablets and
set forth by the Pen of the Ancient of Days. Render thanks to the Beloved of
the world that thou hast set thy heart on Him and art uttering His praise. Many
a man hath in this day been deprived of making mention of the All-Sufficing
Lord and of recognizing His truth; and many a woman hath fixed her gaze upon
the Horizon of the Most High, and hath adorned herself with the garb of the
love of the Desire of the world. This is God's grace which He bestoweth upon
whomsoever He pleaseth. By the Day-Star of ancient mysteries! The sweet-scented
fragrance of every breath breathed in the love of God is wafted in the court of
the presence of the Lord of Revelation. The reward of no good deed is or ever
will be lost. Blessed art thou, doubly blessed art thou! Thou art reckoned
amongst those handmaidens whose love for their kin hath not prevented them from
attaining the shores of the Sea of Grace and Mercy. God willing, thou shalt
rest eternally neath the shade of the favours of the All-Merciful and shalt be
assured of His bounties. Engage in the praise of the True One and rejoice in
His loving-kindness.
Be fair in your judgment. Every good thing is of God, and
every evil thing is from yourselves. Will ye not comprehend? This same truth
hath been revealed in all the Scriptures, if ye be of them that understand.
Every act ye meditate is as clear to Him as is that act when already
accomplished. There is none other God besides Him. His is all creation and its
empire. All stands revealed before Him; all is recorded in His holy and hidden
Tablets. This fore-knowledge of God, however, should not be regarded as having
caused the actions of men, just as your own previous knowledge that a certain
event is to occur, or your desire that it should happen, is not and can never
be the reason for its occurrence.
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.”
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. Watch over thyself, and follow not the
footsteps of these people. 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.
Look at the world and ponder a while upon it. It unveileth
the book of its own self before thine eyes and revealeth that which the Pen of
thy Lord, the Fashioner, the All-Informed, hath inscribed therein. It will
acquaint thee with that which is within it and upon it and will give thee such
clear explanations as to make thee independent of every eloquent expounder.
O people! I have revealed Myself for His [Baha’u’llah’s]
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.
Walk thou high above the world of being through the power of
the Most Great Name, that thou mayest become aware of the immemorial mysteries
and be acquainted with that wherewith no one is acquainted. Verily, thy Lord is
the Helper, the All-Knowing, the All-Informed. Be thou as a throbbing artery,
pulsating in the body of the entire creation, that through the heat generated
by this motion there may appear that which will quicken the hearts of those who
hesitate.
Make thou mention of this Day and magnify that which hath
appeared therein. It will in truth suffice all mankind… It behoveth thee to
speak forth in such wise as to set the hearts of true believers ablaze and
cause their bodies to soar.
Whoso firmly believeth today in the rebirth of man and is
fully conscious that God, the Most Exalted, wieldeth supreme ascendancy and
absolute authority over this new creation, verily such a man is reckoned with
them that are endued with insight in this most great Revelation. Unto this
beareth witness every discerning believer.
That which hath been in existence had existed before, but
not in the form thou seest today. The world of existence came into being
through the heat generated from the interaction between the active force and
that which is its recipient. These two are the same, yet they are different.
Thus doth the Great Announcement inform thee about this glorious structure.
Such as communicate the generating influence and such as receive its impact are
indeed created through the irresistible Word of God which is the Cause of the
entire creation, while all else besides His Word are but the creatures and the
effects thereof. Verily thy Lord is the Expounder, the All-Wise.
As regards thine assertions about the beginning of creation,
this is a matter on which conceptions vary by reason of the divergences in
men’s thoughts and opinions. Wert thou to assert that it hath ever existed and
shall continue to exist, it would be true; or wert thou to affirm the same
concept as is mentioned in the sacred Scriptures, no doubt would there be about
it, for it hath been revealed by God, the Lord of the worlds. Indeed He was a
hidden treasure. This is a station that can never be described nor even alluded
to. And in the station of ‘I did wish to make Myself known’, God was, and His
creation had ever existed beneath His shelter from the beginning that hath no
beginning, apart from its being preceded by a Firstness which cannot be
regarded as firstness and originated by a Cause inscrutable even unto all men
of learning.