O people of the Bayán! I swear by God! This Wronged One hath
had no other intention except to manifest the Cause He was commissioned to
reveal. Were ye to incline your inner ears unto Him, ye would hear from every
limb and member and vein and even from every single hair of this Wronged One
that which would stir and enrapture the Concourse on high and the world of
creation. 
Consecrate Thou, O my God, the whole of this Tree unto Him,
[Baha’u’llah] that from it may be revealed all the fruits created by God within
it for Him through Whom God hath willed to reveal all that He pleaseth. By Thy
glory! I have not wished that this Tree should ever bear any branch, leaf, or
fruit that would fail to bow down before Him, on the day of His Revelation, or
refuse to laud Thee through Him, as beseemeth the glory of His all-glorious
Revelation, and the sublimity of His most sublime Concealment. And shouldst
Thou behold, O my God, any branch, leaf, or fruit upon Me that hath failed to
bow down before Him, on the day of His Revelation, cut it off, O My God, from
that Tree, for it is not of Me, nor shall it return unto Me.
Say: “The True One is come evident as the shining sun; O
pity that He should have come into the city of the blind!”
God is My witness that this Wronged One hath had no purpose
except to convey the Word of God. Blessed are the fair-minded, and woe betide
them that have turned aside.
Bear thou witness in thine inmost heart unto this testimony
which God hath Himself and for Himself pronounced, that there is none other God
but Him, that all else besides Him have been created by His behest, have been
fashioned by His leave, are subject to His law, are as a thing forgotten when
compared to the glorious evidences of His oneness, and are as nothing when
brought face to face with the mighty revelations of His unity.
…concerning the divines of the Latter Days, He [1] saith:
“The religious doctors of that age shall be the most wicked of the divines
beneath the shadow of heaven. Out of
them hath mischief proceeded, and unto them it shall return.”
It behoveth thee to look with divine insight upon the things
We have revealed and sent unto thee and not towards the people and that which
is current amongst them. They are in this day like unto a blind man who, while
moving in the sunshine, demandeth: Where is the sun? Is it shining? He would
deny and dispute the truth, and would not be of them that perceive. Never shall
he be able to discern the sun or to understand that which hath intervened
between him and it. He would object within himself, voice protests, and would
be among the rebellious. Such is the state of this people. Leave them unto
themselves, saying: Unto you be that which ye desire and unto us that which we
desire. Wretched indeed is the plight of the ungodly.
O Son of My Handmaid! Guidance hath ever been given by
words, and now it is given by deeds. Every one must show forth deeds that are
pure and holy, for words are the property of all alike, whereas such deeds as
these belong only to Our loved ones. Strive then with heart and soul to
distinguish yourselves by your deeds. In this wise We counsel you in this holy
and resplendent tablet.
Know thou…that in the Day of His Manifestation all things
besides God shall be brought forth and placed equally, irrespective of their
rank being high or low. The Day of Return is inscrutable unto all men until
after the divine Revelation hath been fulfilled. He is in truth the One Who
ordaineth whatsoever He willeth. When the Word of God is revealed unto all
created things whoso then giveth ear and heedeth the Call is, indeed, reckoned
among the most distinguished souls, though he be a carrier of ashes. And he who
turneth away is accounted as the lowliest of His servants, though he be a ruler
amongst men and the possessor of all the books that are in the heavens and on
earth.
O Sun-like Mirrors! Look ye upon the Sun of Truth. Ye,
verily, depend upon it, were ye to perceive it. Ye are all as fishes, moving in
the waters of the sea, veiling yourselves therefrom, and yet asking what it is
on which ye depend.
Beware, beware lest thou behave like unto the people of the
Bayán. For indeed they erred grievously, misguided the people, ignored the
Covenant of God and His Testament and joined partners with Him, the One, the
Incomparable, the All-Knowing. Verily they failed to recognize the Point of the
Bayán, for had they recognized Him they would not have rejected His
manifestation in this luminous and resplendent Being. And since they fixed
their eyes on names, therefore when He replaced His Name ‘the Most Exalted’ by
‘the Most Glorious’ their eyes were dimmed. They have failed to recognize Him
in these days and are reckoned with those that perish. Indeed, had they known
Him through His own Self or by virtue of that which He hath revealed, they
would not have repudiated Him when He appeared in this glorious and
incomparable Name, which God hath ordained to be the Sword of His Revelation
between heaven and earth, and through which truth is separated from error, even
from now until the Day when mankind shall stand before the Lord of the worlds.
Concerning the prerequisites of the learned, He saith:
“Whoso among the learned guardeth his self, defendeth his faith, opposeth his
desires, and obeyeth his Lord’s command, it is incumbent upon the generality of
the people to pattern themselves after him....” [1] Should the King of the Age reflect upon this
utterance which hath streamed from the tongue of Him Who is the Dayspring of
the Revelation of the All-Merciful, he would perceive that those who have been
adorned with the attributes enumerated in this holy Tradition are scarcer than
the philosopher’s stone; wherefore not every man that layeth claim to knowledge
deserveth to be believed.
And now concerning thy reference to the existence of two
Gods. Beware, beware, lest thou be led to join partners with the Lord, thy God.
He is, and hath from everlasting been, one and alone, without peer or equal,
eternal in the past, eternal in the future, detached from all things,
ever-abiding, unchangeable, and self-subsisting. He hath assigned no associate
unto Himself in His Kingdom, no counsellor to counsel Him, none to compare unto
Him, none to rival His glory. To this every atom of the universe beareth
witness, and beyond it the inmates of the realms on high, they that occupy the
most exalted seats, and whose names are remembered before the Throne of Glory.
God grant that, with a penetrating vision, thou mayest
perceive, in all things, the sign of the revelation of Him Who is the Ancient
King, and recognize how exalted and sanctified from the whole creation is that
most holy and sacred Being. This, in truth, is the very root and essence of
belief in the unity and singleness of God. “God was alone; there was none else
besides Him.” He, now, is what He hath ever been.
Glorified art Thou, O My God! Bear Thou witness that,
through this Book, I have covenanted with all created things concerning the
Mission of Him Whom Thou shalt make manifest, ere the covenant concerning Mine
own Mission had been established. Sufficient witness art Thou and they that
have believed in Thy signs. Thou, verily, sufficest Me. In Thee have I placed
My trust, and Thou, verily, takest count of all things.
In the third of the most holy lines writ and recorded in the
Ruby Tablet by the pen of the unseen this is revealed:
Every conqueror is but a serf whom Thy [God’s] hand hath
subjected, and the richest of the rich is as destitute before the immensity of
Thy wealth. The noblest of nobles is humbled when faced with the manifestations
of Thy glory, and the mightiest of potentates is a mere abject one when
confronted with the compelling evidences of Thine authority.
Tear asunder, O my God, the veil of vain imaginings that
hath obscured the vision of Thy people, that all may haste towards Thee, may
tread the path of Thy pleasure, and walk in the ways of Thy Faith.
