O Son of Man! Bestow My wealth upon My poor, that in heaven
thou mayest draw from stores of unfading splendor and treasures of imperishable
glory. But by My life! To offer up thy soul is a more glorious thing couldst
thou but see with Mine eye. 
Peruse thou the Kitáb-i-Íqán and that which the All-Merciful
hath sent down unto the King of Paris [Napoleon III] and to such as are like
him, that thou mayest be made aware of the things that have happened in the
past, and be persuaded that We have not sought to spread disorder in the land
after it had been well-ordered. We exhort, wholly for the sake of God, His
servants. Let him who wisheth turn unto Him, and him who wisheth turn aside.
Our Lord, the Merciful, is verily the All-Sufficing, the All-Praised.
O concourse of ardent lovers! By the righteousness of God,
this is a night [Birth of Baha’u’llah] the like of which hath never been
witnessed in the world of creation. And this, verily, is from the grace of God,
the All-Glorious, the Most Bountiful.
But for the tribulations that have touched Me in the path of
God, life would have held no sweetness for Me, and Mine existence would have
profited Me nothing. For them who are
endued with discernment, and whose eyes are fixed upon the Sublime Vision, it
is no secret that I have been, most of the days of My life, even as a slave,
sitting under a sword hanging on a thread, knowing not whether it would fall
soon or late upon him. And yet,
notwithstanding all this We render thanks unto God, the Lord of the worlds, and
yield Him praise at all times and under all conditions. He, verily, standeth witness over all things.
And finally, I was cast by the transgressors into the
prison-city of Akká, and my kindred were made captives in Baghdád. The power of
Thy might beareth me witness, O my God! Every trouble that hath touched me in
Thy path hath added to my joy and increased my gladness. I swear by Thee, O
Thou Who art the King of Kings! None of the kings of the earth hath power to
hinder me from remembering Thee or from extolling Thy virtues. Were they to be
leagued—as they have been leagued—against me, and to brandish their sharpest
swords and most afflictive spears against me, I would not hesitate to magnify
Thy name before all them that are in Thy heaven and on Thy earth. Nay rather, I
would cry out and say: “This, O my Beloved, is my face which I have offered up
for Thy face, and this is my spirit which I have sacrificed for Thy spirit, and
this is my blood that seetheth in my veins, in its longing to be shed for love
of Thee and in Thy path.”
Though the fierce winds of the hatred of the wicked doers
blew and beat on this Lamp, [Baha’u’llah] He was, at no time, in His love for
Thy [God’s] beauty, hindered from shedding the fragrance of His light. As the
transgressions committed against Thee waxed greater and greater, my eagerness
to reveal Thy Cause correspondingly increased, and as the tribulations
deepened—and to this Thy glory beareth me witness— a fuller measure of Thy sovereignty
and of Thy power was vouchsafed by me unto Thy creatures.
O Son of Man! Should prosperity befall thee, rejoice not,
and should abasement come upon thee, grieve not, for both shall pass away and
be no more.
By My Lord! Were I
given the choice between, on the one hand, the wealth and opulence, the ease
and comfort, the honour and glory which they [certain divines] enjoy, and, on
the other, the adversities and trials which are Mine, I would unhesitatingly
choose My present condition and would refuse to barter a single atom of these
hardships for all that hath been created in the world of being.
We beseech God to purge the hearts of certain divines from
rancour and enmity, that they may look upon matters with an eye unbeclouded by
contempt. May He raise them up unto so
lofty a station that neither the attractions of the world, nor the allurements
of authority, may deflect them from gazing upon the Supreme Horizon, and that
neither worldly benefits nor carnal desires shall prevent them from attaining
that Day whereon the mountains shall be reduced to dust.
The purpose underlying all creation is the revelation of
this most sublime, this most holy Day, the Day known as the Day of God, in His
Books and Scriptures—the Day which all the Prophets, and the Chosen Ones, and
the holy ones, have wished to witness.
The station which he who hath truly recognized this
Revelation will attain is the same as the one ordained for such prophets of the
house of Israel as are not regarded as Manifestations 'endowed with constancy.’
By God! Troubles have failed to unnerve Me, and the
repudiation of the divines hath been powerless to weaken Me. I have spoken, and
still speak forth before the face of men: ‘The door of grace hath been unlocked
and He Who is the Dayspring of Justice is come with perspicuous signs and
evident testimonies, from God, the Lord of strength and of might!’ Present
thyself before Me that thou mayest hear the mysteries which were heard by the
Son of ‘Imrán [Moses] upon the Sinai of Wisdom. Thus commandeth thee He Who is
the Dawning-Place of the Revelation of thy Lord, the God of Mercy, from His
great Prison.
Know thou and be well assured that from the first day
whereon the voice of the Most Sublime Pen was raised betwixt earth and heaven
We offered up Our souls, and Our bodies, and Our sons, and Our possessions in
the path of God, the Exalted, the Great, and We glory therein amongst all
created things and the Concourse on high. Unto this testify the things which
have befallen Us in this straight Path. By God! Our hearts were consumed, and
Our bodies were crucified, and Our blood was spilt, while Our eyes were fixed
on the horizon of the loving-kindness of their Lord, the Witness, the
All-Seeing.
Know thou that he is truly learned who hath acknowledged My
Revelation, and drunk from the Ocean of My knowledge, and soared in the
atmosphere of My love, and cast away all else besides Me, and taken firm hold
on that which hath been sent down from the Kingdom of My wondrous utterance.
He, verily, is even as an eye unto mankind, and as the spirit of life unto the
body of all creation. Glorified be the All-Merciful Who hath enlightened him,
and caused him to arise and serve His great and mighty Cause. Verily, such a
man is blessed by the Concourse on high, and by them who dwell within the
Tabernacle of Grandeur, who have quaffed My sealed Wine in My Name, the
Omnipotent, the All-Powerful.
My glory be with thee, O thou that callest upon My name,
whose eyes are directed towards My court, and whose tongue uttereth the praise
of thy Lord, the Beneficent.
We beseech God that He may graciously vouchsafe His grace
unto all men, and enable them to attain the knowledge of Him and of themselves.
By My life! Whoso hath known Him shall soar in the immensity of His love, and
shall be detached from the world and all that is therein. Nothing on earth
shall deflect him from his course, how much less they who, prompted by their
vain imaginations, speak those things which God hath forbidden.
We have forbidden men to walk after the imaginations of
their hearts, that they may be enabled to recognize Him Who is the sovereign
Source and Object of all knowledge, and may acknowledge whatsoever He may be
pleased to reveal. Witness how they have entangled themselves with their idle
fancies and vain imaginations. By My life! They are themselves the victims of
what their own hearts have devised, and yet they perceive it not. Vain and
profitless is the talk of their lips, and yet they understand not.
Say: Observe equity in your judgment, ye men of
understanding heart! He that is unjust in his judgment is destitute of the
characteristics that distinguish man’s station. He Who is the Eternal Truth
knoweth well what the breasts of men conceal. His long forbearance hath
emboldened His creatures, for not until the appointed time is come will He rend
any veil asunder. His surpassing mercy hath restrained the fury of His wrath,
and caused most people to imagine that the one true God is unaware of the
things they have privily committed. By Him Who is the All-Knowing, the
All-Informed! The mirror of His knowledge reflecteth, with complete distinctness,
precision and fidelity, the doings of all men. Say: Praise be to Thee, O
Concealer of the sins of the weak and helpless! Magnified be Thy name, O Thou
that forgivest the heedless ones that trespass against Thee!
That which hath been made manifest in this preeminent, this
most exalted Revelation, stands unparalleled in the annals of the past, nor
will future ages witness its like.