We have not entered any school, nor read any of your
dissertations. Incline your ears to the words of this unlettered One, wherewith
He summoneth you unto God, the Ever-Abiding. Better is this for you than all
the treasures of the earth, could ye but comprehend it. 
Say: This, verily, is the heaven in which the Mother Book is
treasured, could ye but comprehend it. He it is Who hath caused the Rock to
shout, and the Burning Bush to lift up its voice, upon the Mount rising above
the Holy Land, and proclaim: “The Kingdom is God’s, the sovereign Lord of all,
the All-Powerful, the Loving!”
By God! Though weariness lay Me low, and hunger consume Me,
and the bare rock be My bed, and My fellows the beasts of the field, I will not
complain, but will endure patiently as those endued with constancy and firmness
have endured patiently, through the power of God, the Eternal King and Creator
of the nations, and will render thanks unto God under all conditions. We pray
that, out of His bounty—exalted be He—He may release, through this imprisonment,
the necks of men from chains and fetters, and cause them to turn, with sincere
faces, towards His face, Who is the Mighty, the Bounteous. Ready is He to
answer whosoever calleth upon Him, and nigh is He unto such as commune with
Him.
Erelong shall the exponents of wealth and power banish Us
from the land of Adrianople to the city of ‘Akká. According to what they say,
it is the most desolate of the cities of the world, the most unsightly of them
in appearance, the most detestable in climate, and the foulest in water. It is
as though it were the metropolis of the owl, within whose precincts naught can
be heard save the echo of its cry. Therein have they resolved to imprison this
Youth, to shut against our faces the doors of ease and comfort, and to deprive
us of every worldly benefit throughout the remainder of our days.
I noted, moreover, thine allusions to thy death in God and
thy life through Him, and the love thou dost cherish for the beloved of the
Lord and for the Manifestations of His names and the Exponents of His
attributes. I have purposed, therefore, to acquaint thee with holy and
resplendent tokens from the realms of might and glory, that haply they may draw
thee nigh unto the court of holiness, nearness, and beauty, and draw thee to a
station wherein thou shalt see naught in all existence but the hallowed Countenance
of thy Beloved, and wilt behold all of creation as a day wherein none was
deemed worthy of mention.
We have decreed, O people, that the highest and last end of
all learning be the recognition of Him Who is the Object of all knowledge; and
yet, behold how ye have allowed your learning to shut you out, as by a veil,
from Him Who is the Day Spring of this Light, through Whom every hidden thing
hath been revealed. Could ye but discover the source whence the splendor of
this utterance is diffused, ye would cast away the peoples of the world and all
that they possess, and would draw nigh unto this most blessed Seat of glory.
O ye leaders of religion! Who is the man amongst you that
can rival Me in vision or insight? Where is he to be found that dareth to claim
to be My equal in utterance or wisdom? No, by My Lord, the All-Merciful! All on
the earth shall pass away; and this is the face of your Lord, the Almighty, the
Well-Beloved.
Say: O leaders of religion! Weigh not the Book of God with
such standards and sciences as are current amongst you, for the Book itself is
the unerring balance established amongst men. In this most perfect balance
whatsoever the peoples and kindreds of the earth possess must be weighed, while
the measure of its weight should be tested according to its own standard, did
ye but know it.
God testifieth and beareth Us witness that We have, at all
times, been busied with the propagation of this Cause. Neither chains nor
bonds, stocks nor imprisonment, have succeeded in withholding Us from revealing
Our Self. In that land We forbad all mischief, and all unseemly and unholy
deeds. Day and night We sent forth Our Tablets in every direction. We had no
other purpose except to edify the souls of men, and to exalt the blessed Word.
Thou hast enquired about the warning We gave to the people
at the time of Our departure from ‘Iráq to the effect that when the Sun
disappeareth from sight, birds of darkness will be in motion and the standards
of Samírí [1] will be reared high. I swear by God! Those birds have stirred in
these days and Samírí hath raised his clamour. Well is it with him who
recognizeth and is numbered with men of understanding. We have also warned them
against the appearance of the calf. God is My witness! All Our warnings have
come to pass, as indeed, they are bound to, inasmuch as they have issued from
the fingers of glory and might. Beseech thou God to protect thee from the
mischief of these men and to purify thee from the insinuations of the froward.
Strengthen thy loins then for the promotion of the Cause and pay no attention
unto the words uttered by the people of the Bayán, for they are truly incapable
of understanding and have failed to comprehend the essence of the Cause as is
revealed in this august, this Most Great Announcement. Thus have We inspired
thee, and infused into thy heart that which will make thee independent of the
allusions of mankind.
Say, O people, fulfil whatever ye understand of the Persian
Bayán and whatever ye understand not ask this unerring Remembrance
[Baha’u’llah] that He may set forth clearly that which God hath intended in His
Book, for in truth He knoweth that which is enshrined in the Bayán by virtue of
the Will of Him Who is the Omnipotent, the Powerful.
Purge thou thy heart that We may cause fountains of wisdom
and utterance to gush out therefrom, thus enabling thee to raise thy voice
among all mankind. Unloose thy tongue and proclaim the truth for the sake of
the remembrance of thy merciful Lord. Be not afraid of anyone, place thy whole
trust in God, the Almighty, the All-Knowing.
Praised be Thou, O Lord my God! I implore Thee by Thine
Ancient Beauty and Most Great Name, Whom Thou hast sacrificed that all the
dwellers of Thine earth and heaven may be born anew, and Whom Thou hast cast
into prison that mankind may, as a token of Thy bounty and of Thy sovereign
might, be released from the bondage of evil passions and corrupt desires…
…naught is reaped save that which hath been sown, and naught
is taken up save that which hath been laid down, [cf.Luke 19:21] unless it be
through the grace and bestowal of the Lord.
Hath the womb of the world yet conceived one whom the veils of glory
shall not hinder from ascending unto the Kingdom of his Lord, the All-Glorious,
the Most High? Is it yet within us to
perform such deeds as will dispel our afflictions and draw us nigh unto Him Who
is the Causer of causes? We beseech God
to deal with us according to His bounty, and not His justice, and to grant that
we may be of those who have turned their faces unto their Lord and severed
themselves from all else.
Be ye guided by wisdom in all your doings, and cleave ye
tenaciously unto it. Please God ye may all be strengthened to carry out that
which is the Will of God, and may be graciously assisted to appreciate the rank
conferred upon such of His loved ones as have arisen to serve Him and magnify
His name. Upon them be the glory of God, the glory of all that is in the
heavens and all that is on the earth, and the glory of the inmates of the most
exalted Paradise, the heaven of heavens.
These gifts [“favors vouchsafed by Him unto mankind”] are
inherent in man himself. That which is preeminent above all other gifts, is
incorruptible in nature, and pertaineth to God Himself, is the gift of Divine
Revelation. Every bounty conferred by the Creator upon man, be it material or
spiritual, is subservient unto this. It is, in its essence, and will ever so
remain, the Bread which cometh down from Heaven. It is God’s supreme testimony,
the clearest evidence of His truth, the sign of His consummate bounty, the
token of His all-encompassing mercy, the proof of His most loving providence,
the symbol of His most perfect grace. He hath, indeed, partaken of this highest
gift of God who hath recognized His Manifestation in this Day.
Every one of these gifts [“favors vouchsafed by Him unto
mankind”] is an undoubted evidence of the majesty, the power, the ascendancy,
the all-embracing knowledge of the one true God—exalted be His glory. Consider
the sense of touch. Witness how its power hath spread itself over the entire
human body. Whereas the faculties of sight and of hearing are each localized in
a particular center, the sense of touch embraceth the whole human frame. Glorified
be His power, magnified be His sovereignty!
About two months after Our arrival in ‘Iráq, following the
command of His Majesty the Sháh of Persia—may God assist him—Mírzá Yaḥyá joined
Us. We said unto him: “In accordance with the Royal command We have been sent
unto this place. It is advisable for thee to remain in Persia. We will send Our
brother, Mírzá Músá, to some other place. As your names have not been mentioned
in the Royal decree, you can arise and render some service.” Subsequently, this
Wronged One departed from Baghdád, and for two years withdrew from the world.
Upon Our return, We found that he had not left, and had postponed his
departure. This Wronged One was greatly saddened.
One must call the people to love and faithfulness, to zeal
and contentment, that the sinful may be admonished and the ranks of the
virtuous may swell. Nor is it possible that there be no sinners: So long as the
name “the Ever-Forgiving” shineth resplendent above the horizon of existence,
there will be sinners in the world of creation, for the latter cannot appear
without the former and the former cannot exist without the latter.