O King! I adjure thee by thy Lord, the All-Merciful, to look
upon thy servants with the glances of the eye of thy favour, and to treat them
with justice, that God may treat thee with mercy. Potent is thy Lord to do as
He pleaseth. The world, with all its abasement and glory, shall pass away, and
the kingdom will remain unto God, the Most Exalted, the All-Knowing. 
…should a person arise and bring forth a myriad verses,
discourses, epistles, and prayers, none of which have been acquired through
learning, what conceivable excuse could justify those that reject them, and
deprive themselves of the potency of their grace? What answer could they give
when once their soul hath ascended and departed from its gloomy temple? Could
they seek to justify themselves by saying: “We have clung to a certain
tradition, and not having beheld the literal fulfilment thereof, we have
therefore raised such cavils against the Embodiments of divine Revelation, and
kept remote from the law of God?”
Thou hast, moreover, asked Me concerning the nature of the
celestial spheres. To comprehend their nature, it would be necessary to inquire
into the meaning of the allusions that have been made in the Books of old to
the celestial spheres and the heavens, and to discover the character of their
relationship to this physical world, and the influence which they exert upon
it. Every heart is filled with wonder at so bewildering a theme, and every mind
is perplexed by its mystery. God, alone, can fathom its import. The learned
men, that have fixed at several thousand years the life of this earth, have
failed, throughout the long period of their observation, to consider either the
number or the age of the other planets. Consider, moreover, the manifold
divergencies that have resulted from the theories propounded by these men. Know
thou that every fixed star hath its own planets, and every planet its own
creatures, whose number no man can compute.
And likewise, He saith: “And had We sent down unto Thee a
Book written on parchment, and they had touched it with their hands, the
infidels would surely have said ‘This is naught but palpable sorcery.’” [Qur’án
6:7] Most of the verses of the Qur’án are indicative of this theme. We have,
for the sake of brevity, mentioned only these verses. Consider, hath anything
else besides the verses been established in the whole Book, as a standard for
the recognition of the Manifestations of His Beauty, that the people might
cling to, and reject the Manifestations of God? On the contrary, in every
instance, He hath threatened with fire those that repudiate and scoff at the
verses, as already shown.
As to thy question whether the physical world is subject to
any limitations, know thou that the comprehension of this matter dependeth upon
the observer himself. In one sense, it is limited; in another, it is exalted
beyond all limitations. The one true God hath everlastingly existed, and will
everlastingly continue to exist. His creation, likewise, hath had no beginning,
and will have no end. All that is created, however, is preceded by a cause.
This fact, in itself, establisheth, beyond the shadow of a doubt, the unity of
the Creator.
Verily I say, the human soul is exalted above all egress and
regress. It is still, and yet it soareth; it moveth, and yet it is still. It
is, in itself, a testimony that beareth witness to the existence of a world
that is contingent, as well as to the reality of a world that hath neither
beginning nor end. Behold how the dream thou hast dreamed is, after the lapse
of many years, re-enacted before thine eyes. Consider how strange is the
mystery of the world that appeareth to thee in thy dream. Ponder in thine heart
upon the unsearchable wisdom of God, and meditate on its manifold
revelations....
And likewise, He saith: “Say, O people of the Book! do ye
not disavow us only because we believe in God and in what He hath sent down to
us, and in what He hath sent down aforetime, and because most of you are doers
of ill?” [Qur’án 5:62] How explicitly doth this verse reveal Our purpose, and
how clearly doth it demonstrate the truth of the testimony of the verses of
God! This verse was revealed at a time when Islám was assailed by the infidels,
and its followers were accused of misbelief, when the Companions of Muhammad
were denounced as repudiators of God and as followers of a lying sorcerer. In
its early days, when Islám was still to outward seeming devoid of authority and
power, the friends of the Prophet, who had turned their face toward God,
wherever they went, were harassed, persecuted, stoned and vilified. At such a
time this blessed verse was sent down from the heaven of divine Revelation.
O My Nabíl! Let nothing grieve thee, rather rejoice with
exceeding gladness inasmuch as I have mentioned thy name, have turned My heart
and My face towards thee and have conversed with thee through this irrefutable
and weighty exposition. Ponder in thy heart upon the tribulations I have
sustained, the imprisonment and the captivity I have endured, the sufferings
that have befallen Me and the accusations that the people have levelled against
Me. Behold, they are truly wrapped in a grievous veil.
Beware, O My loved ones, lest ye despise the merits of My
learned servants whom God hath graciously chosen to be the exponents of His
Name ‘the Fashioner’ amidst mankind. Exert your utmost endeavour that ye may
develop such crafts and undertakings that everyone, whether young or old, may
benefit therefrom. We are quit of those ignorant ones who fondly imagine that
Wisdom is to give vent to one’s idle imaginings and to repudiate God, the Lord
of all men; even as We hear some of the heedless voicing such assertions today.
O Shaykh! Wert thou to perceive, be it less than a needle’s
eye, the breaths of Mine utterance, thou wouldst abandon the world and all that
is therein, and wouldst set thy face towards the lights of the countenance of
the Desired One. Briefly, in the sayings of Him Who is the Spirit (Jesus)
unnumbered significances lie concealed. Unto many things did He refer, but as
He found none possessed of a hearing ear or a seeing eye He chose to conceal
most of these things. Even as He saith: “But ye cannot bear them now.” That
Dawning-Place of Revelation saith that on that Day He Who is the Promised One
will reveal the things which are to come. Accordingly in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, and
in the Tablets to the Kings, and in the Lawḥ-i-Ra’ís, and in the Lawḥ-i-Fu’ád,
most of the things which have come to pass on this earth have been announced
and prophesied by the Most Sublime Pen.
O My Brother! Hearken to the delightsome words of My honeyed
tongue, and quaff the stream of mystic holiness from My sugar-shedding lips.
Sow the seeds of My divine wisdom in the pure soil of thy heart, and water them
with the water of certitude, that the hyacinths of My knowledge and wisdom may
spring up fresh and green in the sacred city of thy heart.
And likewise, He saith: “Say to them that are of a fearful
heart: be strong, fear not, behold your God.” [1] This blessed verse is a proof
of the greatness of the Revelation, and of the greatness of the Cause, inasmuch
as the blast of the trumpet must needs spread confusion throughout the world,
and fear and trembling amongst all men. Well is it with him who hath been
illumined with the light of trust and detachment. The tribulations of that Day
will not hinder or alarm him. Thus hath the Tongue of Utterance spoken, as
bidden by Him Who is the All-Merciful.
Isaiah saith: “The Lord alone shall be exalted in that Day.”
Concerning the greatness of the Revelation He saith: “Enter into the rock, and
hide thee in the dust, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of His majesty.”
And in another connection He saith: “The wilderness and the solitary place
shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.
It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory
of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon, they
shall see the glory of the Lord, and the splendor of our God.”
Thou hast, moreover, asked Me concerning the state of the
soul after its separation from the body. Know thou, of a truth, that if the
soul of man hath walked in the ways of God, it will, assuredly, return and be
gathered to the glory of the Beloved. By the righteousness of God! It shall
attain a station such as no pen can depict, or tongue describe. The soul that
hath remained faithful to the Cause of God, and stood unwaveringly firm in His
Path shall, after his ascension, be possessed of such power that all the worlds
which the Almighty hath created can benefit through him. Such a soul provideth,
at the bidding of the Ideal King and Divine Educator, the pure leaven that
leaveneth the world of being, and furnisheth the power through which the arts
and wonders of the world are made manifest. Consider how meal needeth leaven to
be leavened with. Those souls that are the symbols of detachment are the leaven
of the world. Meditate on this, and be of the thankful.
In the Tablet to ‘Abá Badí, this holy verse hath been
revealed: “Verily, We have enjoined on every son to serve his father.” Such is
the decree which We have set forth in the Book.
A true philosopher would never deny God nor His evidences,
rather would he acknowledge His glory and overpowering majesty which overshadow
all created things. Verily We love those men of knowledge who have brought to
light such things as promote the best interests of humanity, and We aided them
through the potency of Our behest, for well are We able to achieve Our purpose.
Know thou… that the people aforetime have produced things
which the contemporary men of knowledge have been unable to produce. We recall
unto thee Murtús who was one of the learned. He invented an apparatus which
transmitted sound over a distance of sixty miles. Others besides him have also
discovered things which no one in this age hath beheld. Verily thy Lord
revealeth in every epoch whatsoever He pleaseth as a token of wisdom on His
part. He is in truth the supreme Ordainer, the All-Wise.
In every land We have set up a luminary of knowledge, and
when the time foreordained is at hand, it will shine resplendent above its
horizon, as decreed by God, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. If it be Our Will We
are fully capable of describing for thee whatever existeth in every land or
hath come to pass therein. Indeed the knowledge of thy Lord pervadeth the
heavens and the earth.
Indeed the breezes of divine revelation are diffused from
the verses of thy Lord in such wise that no one can dispute its truth, except
those who are bereft of hearing, of vision, of understanding and of every human
faculty. Verily thy Lord beareth witness unto this, yet the people understand
not.