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…