The world of being shineth, in this Day, with the
resplendency of this Divine Revelation. All created things extol its saving
grace, and sing its praises. The universe is wrapt in an ecstasy of joy and
gladness. The Scriptures of past Dispensations celebrate the great Jubilee that
must needs greet this most great Day of God. Well is it with him that hath
lived to see this Day, and hath recognized its station. 
We have also heard a number of the foolish of the earth
assert that the genuine text of the heavenly Gospel doth not exist amongst the
Christians, that it hath ascended unto heaven. How grievously they have erred!
How oblivious of the fact that such a statement imputeth the gravest injustice
and tyranny to a gracious and living Providence! How could God, when once the
daystar of the beauty of Jesus had disappeared from the sight of His people,
and ascended unto the fourth heaven, cause His holy Book, His most great
testimony amongst His creatures, to disappear also? What would be left to that
people to cling to from the setting of the daystar of Jesus until the rise of
the sun of the Muhammadan Dispensation?
Erelong We will, in very truth, torment such as waged war
against Husayn [Imám Husayn], in the Land of the Euphrates, with the most
afflictive torment, and the most dire and exemplary punishment.
O Maryam! From the land of Tá, [Tihrán] after countless
afflictions, We reached ‘Iráq, at the bidding of the Tyrant of Persia, [
Násiri’d-Dín Sháh] where, after the fetters of Our foes, We were afflicted with
the perfidy of Our friends. God knoweth what befell Me thereafter! At length,
abandoning My home and all that was therein, and renouncing My life and all
that pertained thereunto, I retired alone and companionless. I roamed the wilderness
of resignation, travelling in such wise that in My exile every eye wept sore
over Me, and all created things shed tears of blood because of My anguish. The
birds of the air were My companions and the beasts of the field My associates.
In such wise did I, even as the flash of the spirit, pass over this fleeting
world. For two years or rather less, I shunned all else but God, and closed
Mine eyes to all except Him, that haply the fire of hatred may die down and the
heat of jealousy abate.
Strive… that thou mayest forsake the path of illusion and
imitation and gain admittance into the realm of inner vision and the kingdom of
spiritual discoveries. For in these days all are bewildered in the drunkenness
of ignorance, save those whom thy Lord hath willed to spare. Some consider the
fading mirage to be the billowing ocean and reckon the impenetrable darkness as
the radiant morn. Others, having forsaken the river of eternal life, content
themselves with a vanishing drop. Such is the state and condition of the
people: “Thus have We created the souls in divers conditions.” [Cf. Qur’án
71:14]
Occupy thyself in remembrance of the Beauty of Him Who is
the Unconstrained at early morn, and seek communion with Him at the hour of
dawn. O ‘Alí! Remembrance of Me is a healing medicine to
the souls and a light to the hearts of men.
Say: O people! Spread not disorder on the earth nor dispute
with your fellow men, for this would ill beseem them that occupy, beneath the
shadow of their Lord, the station of such as are faithful to the one true God.
Whensoever ye encounter a thirsty soul, give him to drink from the cup of
everlasting life; and whensoever ye find a hearing ear, recite unto him the
verses of God, the Powerful, the Mighty, the Compassionate. Unloose your
tongues with kindly words and, should ye find the people inclined towards the
Sanctuary of God, summon them to the truth; otherwise leave them to their own
selves and to that condition which is the reality of the nethermost fire.
Beware lest ye cast the pearls of inner meaning before the blind and the barren
in heart, inasmuch as they are deprived of beholding the light and are unable
to distinguish the worthless pebble from the precious and gleaming pearl. Wert
thou for a thousand years to recite unto a stone the verses of wondrous glory,
would it ever be affected by them or comprehend their significance? Nay, by thy
Lord, the All-Merciful, the Most Compassionate! Wert thou to recite unto the
deaf all the verses of God, would they hear a single letter thereof? Nay, by His
ancient and glorious Beauty!
Blessed, doubly blessed, is the ground which His
[‘Abdu’l-Baha’s] footsteps have trodden, the eye that hath been cheered by the
beauty of His countenance, the ear that hath been honoured by hearkening to His
call, the heart that hath tasted the sweetness of His love, the breast that
hath dilated through His remembrance, the pen that hath voiced His praise, the
scroll that hath borne the testimony of His writings.
Say: None shall be immune in this Day from God’s decree;
none shall find refuge save in Him. This, verily, is the truth, and aught else
is but manifest error. God hath made it incumbent upon all to teach His Cause
to the extent of their ability. Such is the decree that the Finger of might and
power hath recorded in the Tablets of supernal glory. Whoso quickeneth but a
single soul in this Revelation, it is as though he had quickened all humanity:
Him will God, on the Day of Resurrection, raise again to life in the paradise
of His oneness, adorned with the raiment of His own Self, the Sovereign
Protector, the Almighty, the All-Bountiful. Such is the nature of the
assistance ye can render to your Lord, and naught else is worthy of mention in
this Day in the presence of God, your Lord and the Lord of your sires of old.
A Word hath, as a token of Our grace, gone forth from the
Most Great Tablet—a Word which God hath adorned with the ornament of His own
Self, and made it sovereign over the earth and all that is therein, and a sign
of His greatness and power among its people, that all may glorify thereby their
Lord, the Almighty, the All-Powerful, the All-Wise, and extol the praise of
their Creator and the sanctity of the Soul of God that holdeth sway over all
created things. This, verily, is none other than a Word sent down by Him Who is
the All-Knowing, the Ancient of Days.
There hath branched from the Sadratu’l-Muntahá this sacred
and glorious Being, this Branch of Holiness; well is it with him that hath
sought His shelter and abideth beneath His shadow. Verily the Limb of the Law
of God hath sprung forth from this Root which God hath firmly implanted in the
Ground of His Will, and Whose Branch hath been so uplifted as to encompass the
whole of creation. Magnified be He, therefore, for this sublime, this blessed,
this mighty, this exalted Handiwork! Draw nigh unto Him, O people, and taste
the fruits of wisdom and knowledge that have proceeded from Him Who is the
Almighty, the All-Knowing. Whoso hath failed to taste thereof is deprived of
God’s bounty, though he partake of all that the earth can produce, could ye but
perceive it!
This Day a door is open wider than both heaven and earth.
The eye of the mercy of Him Who is the Desire of the worlds is turned towards
all men. An act, however infinitesimal, is, when viewed in the mirror of the
knowledge of God, mightier than a mountain. Every drop proffered in His path is
as the sea in that mirror. For this is the Day which the one true God,
glorified be He, hath announced in all His Books, unto His Prophets and His
Messengers.
Say: O people! Let not this life and its deceits deceive
you, for the world and all that is therein is held firmly in the grasp of His
Will. He bestoweth His favor on whom He willeth, and from whom He willeth He
taketh it away. He doth whatsoever He chooseth. Had the world been of any worth
in His sight, He surely would never have allowed His enemies to possess it,
even to the extent of a grain of mustard seed. He hath, however, caused you to
be entangled with its affairs, in return for what your hands have wrought in
His Cause. This, indeed, is a chastisement which ye, of your own will, have
inflicted upon yourselves, could ye but perceive it. Are ye rejoicing in the
things which, according to the estimate of God, are contemptible and worthless,
things wherewith He proveth the hearts of the doubtful?
Grieve thou not over those that have busied themselves with
the things of this world, and have forgotten the remembrance of God, the Most
Great. By Him Who is the Eternal Truth! The day is approaching when the
wrathful anger of the Almighty will have taken hold of them. He, verily, is the
Omnipotent, the All-Subduing, the Most Powerful. He shall cleanse the earth
from the defilement of their corruption, and shall give it for an heritage unto
such of His servants as are nigh unto Him.
God hath, through His tongue that uttereth the truth, testified
in all His Tablets to these words: “I am He that liveth in the Abhá Realm of
Glory.”
Thus have We built the Temple with the hands of power and
might, could ye but know it. This is the
Temple promised unto you in the Book. Draw ye nigh unto it. This is
that which profiteth you, could ye but comprehend it. Be fair, O peoples of the earth! Which is preferable, this, or a temple which
is built of clay? Set your faces towards
it. Thus have ye been commanded by God,
the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting. Follow ye His bidding, and praise ye God, your Lord, for that which He
hath bestowed upon you. He, verily, is
the Truth. No God is there but He. He revealeth what He pleaseth, through His
words “Be and it is”.
He [God], verily, overshadoweth all that is in the heavens
and on earth. To none is given the right to protest against anyone concerning
that which hath befallen the Cause of God. It behoveth whosoever hath set his
face towards the Most Sublime Horizon to cleave tenaciously unto the cord of
patience, and to put his reliance in God, the Help in Peril, the Unconstrained.
O people of the Qur’án! Ye are as nothing unless ye submit
unto the Remembrance of God and unto this Book. If ye follow the Cause of God,
We will forgive you your sins, and if ye turn aside from Our command, We will,
in truth, condemn your souls in Our Book, unto the Most Great Fire. We, verily,
do not deal unjustly with men, even to the extent of a speck on a date stone.
O ye loved ones of God! Drink your fill from the well-spring
of wisdom, and walk ye in the garden of wisdom, and soar ye in the atmosphere
of wisdom, and speak forth with wisdom and eloquence. Thus biddeth you your
Lord, the Almighty, the All-Knowing.
…while in ‘Iráq, We wished to come together with the divines
of Persia. No sooner did they hear of this, than they fled and said: ‘He indeed
is a manifest sorcerer!’ This is the word that proceeded aforetime out of the
mouths of such as were like them. These [divines] objected to what they said,
and yet, they themselves repeat, in this day, what was said before them, and
understand not. By My life! They are even as ashes in the sight of thy Lord. If
He be willing, tempestuous gales will blow over them, and make them as dust.
Thy Lord, verily, doth what He pleaseth.