We have a fixed time for you, O peoples. If ye fail, at the
appointed hour, to turn towards God, He, verily, will lay violent hold on you,
and will cause grievous afflictions to assail you from every direction. How
severe, indeed, is the chastisement with which your Lord will then chastise
you! 
O ye that dwell on earth! The religion of God is for love
and unity; make it not the cause of enmity or dissension. In the eyes of men of
insight and the beholders of the Most Sublime Vision, whatsoever are the
effective means for safeguarding and promoting the happiness and welfare of the
children of men have already been revealed by the Pen of Glory. But the foolish
ones of the earth, being nurtured in evil passions and desires, have remained
heedless of the consummate wisdom of Him Who is, in truth, the All-Wise, while
their words and deeds are prompted by idle fancies and vain imaginings.
“This is the Day which past ages and centuries can never
rival. Know this, and be not of the ignorant.” “This is the Day whereon human
ears have been privileged to hear what He Who conversed with God [Moses] heard
upon Sinai, what He Who is the Friend of God [Muḥammad] heard when lifted up
towards Him, what He Who is the Spirit of God [Jesus] heard as He ascended unto
Him, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.” “This Day is God’s Day, and this
Cause His Cause. Happy is he who hath renounced this world, and clung to Him
Who is the Dayspring of God’s Revelation.” “This is the King of Days, the Day
that hath seen the coming of the Best Beloved, He Who through all eternity hath
been acclaimed the Desire of the World.”
Lofty is the station of man! Not long ago this exalted Word
streamed forth from the treasury of Our Pen of Glory: Great and blessed is this
Day—the Day in which all that lay latent in man hath been and will be made
manifest. Lofty is the station of man, were he to hold fast to righteousness
and truth and to remain firm and steadfast in the Cause. In the eyes of the
All-Merciful a true man appeareth even as a firmament; its sun and moon are his
sight and hearing, and his shining and resplendent character its stars. His is
the loftiest station, and his influence educateth the world of being.
Incline your ears to the sweet melody of this Prisoner.
Arise, and lift up your voices, that haply they that are fast asleep may be
awakened. Say: O ye who are as dead! The Hand of Divine bounty proffereth unto
you the Water of Life. Hasten and drink your fill. Whoso hath been re-born in
this Day, shall never die; whoso remaineth dead, shall never live.
Hast thou [‘Álí Páshá, the Ottoman Prime Minister] imagined
thyself capable of extinguishing the fire which God hath kindled in the heart
of creation? Nay, by Him Who is the Eternal Truth, couldst thou but know it.
Rather, on account of what thy hands have wrought, it blazed higher and burned
more fiercely. Erelong will it encompass the earth and all that dwell therein. Thus hath it been decreed by God, and the powers of earth and heaven are unable
to thwart His purpose.
He Who is your Lord, the All-Merciful, cherisheth in His
heart the desire of beholding the entire human race as one soul and one body.
Haste ye to win your share of God’s good grace and mercy in this Day that
eclipseth all other created Days. How great the felicity that awaiteth the man
that forsaketh all he hath in a desire to obtain the things of God! Such a man,
We testify, is among God’s blessed ones.
How great the blessedness that awaiteth the king who will
arise to aid My Cause in My Kingdom, who will detach himself from all else but
Me! Such a king is numbered with the companions of the Crimson Ark—the Ark
which God hath prepared for the people of Bahá. All must glorify his name, must
reverence his station, and aid him to unlock the cities with the keys of My
Name, the omnipotent Protector of all that inhabit the visible and invisible
kingdoms. Such a king is the very eye of mankind, the luminous ornament on the
brow of creation, the fountain-head of blessings unto the whole world. Offer
up, O people of Bahá, your substance, nay your very lives, for his assistance.
O Chief! [‘Álí Páshá,
the Ottoman Prime Minister] We revealed Ourself unto thee at one time upon
Mount Tíná, and at another time upon Mount Zaytá, [1] and yet again in this
hallowed Spot. Following, however, thy corrupt inclinations, thou didst fail to
respond and wert accounted with the heedless. Consider, then, and call thou to
mind the time when Muhammad came with clear tokens from Him Who is the
Almighty, the All-Knowing. The people were wont to pelt Him with stones from
hidden places and in the markets, and they rejected the signs of God, thy Lord
and the Lord of thy forefathers. The learned also denied Him, as did their
followers, and likewise the kings of the earth, as thou hast heard from the
tales of old. Among those kings was Chosroes, [2] to whom Muhammad sent a
blessed epistle summoning him unto God and forbidding him from misbelief. Verily,
thy Lord knoweth all things. Following the promptings of his evil and corrupt
desires, however, Chosroes waxed arrogant before God and tore up the Tablet.
He, verily, is accounted among the inmates of the nethermost fire.
We can well perceive how the whole human race is encompassed
with great, with incalculable afflictions. We see it languishing on its bed of
sickness, sore-tried and disillusioned. They that are intoxicated by
self-conceit have interposed themselves between it and the Divine and
infallible Physician. Witness how they have entangled all men, themselves
included, in the mesh of their devices. They can neither discover the cause of
the disease, nor have they any knowledge of the remedy. They have conceived the
straight to be crooked, and have imagined their friend an enemy.
The All-Knowing Physician hath His finger on the pulse of
mankind. He perceiveth the disease, and prescribeth, in His unerring wisdom,
the remedy. Every age hath its own problem, and every soul its particular
aspiration. The remedy the world needeth in its present-day afflictions can
never be the same as that which a subsequent age may require. Be anxiously
concerned with the needs of the age ye live in, and center your deliberations
on its exigencies and requirements.
By the righteousness of God! It is not Our wish to lay hands
on your [kings of the earth] kingdoms. Our mission is to seize and possess the
hearts of men. Upon them the eyes of Bahá are fastened. To this testifieth the
Kingdom of Names, could ye but comprehend it. Whoso followeth his Lord, will
renounce the world and all that is therein; how much greater, then, must be the
detachment of Him Who holdeth so august a station! Forsake your palaces, and
haste ye to gain admittance into His Kingdom. This, indeed, will profit you
both in this world and in the next. To this testifieth the Lord of the realm on
high, did ye but know it.
Drink deep, O ye dwellers of earth and heaven, from the
chalice of eternal life that the hand of Bahá proferreth in this most lofty and
exalted Paradise. By God! Whoso partaketh but a drop thereof shall neither
suffer the vicissitudes of time nor fall prey to the wiles of the Evil One, but
the Lord shall send him forth in every Dispensation adorned with a hallowed and
wondrous beauty. All hail then to this, the Festival of the Lord, that hath
been made manifest from the seat of the Lord of all wisdom!
O kings of the earth! The Most Great Law hath been revealed
in this Spot, this scene of transcendent splendor. Every hidden thing hath been
brought to light, by virtue of the Will of the Supreme Ordainer, He Who hath
ushered in the Last Hour, through Whom the Moon hath been cleft, and every
irrevocable decree expounded.
From the dawning-place of the divine Tablet the day-star of
this utterance shineth resplendent, and it behoveth everyone to fix his gaze
upon it: We exhort you, O peoples of the world, to observe that which will
elevate your station. Hold fast to the fear of God and firmly adhere to what is
right. Verily I say, the tongue is for mentioning what is good, defile it not
with unseemly talk. God hath forgiven what is past. Henceforward everyone
should utter that which is meet and seemly, and should refrain from slander,
abuse and whatever causeth sadness in men.
AlthoughL the Realm of Glory hath none of the vanities of
the world, yet within the treasury of trust and resignation We have bequeathed
to Our heirs an excellent and priceless heritage. Earthly treasures We have not
bequeathed, nor have We added such cares as they entail. By God! In earthly
riches fear is hidden and peril is concealed. Consider ye and call to mind that
which the All-Merciful hath revealed in the Qur’án: ‘Woe betide every slanderer
and defamer, him that layeth up riches and counteth them.’ [Qur’án 104:1–2]
Fleeting are the riches of the world; all that perisheth and changeth is not,
and hath never been, worthy of attention, except to a recognized measure.
This is the day which God hath announced through the tongue
of His Apostle. Reflect, that thou mayest apprehend what the All-Merciful hath
sent down in the Qur’án and in this inscribed Tablet. This is the day whereon
He Who is the Dayspring of Revelation hath come with clear tokens which none
can number. This is the day whereon every man endued with perception hath
discovered the fragrance of the breeze of the All-Merciful in the world of
creation, and every man of insight hath hastened unto the living waters of the
mercy of His Lord, the King of Kings.
Thou art He, O my God, Who hath raised me up at Thy behest,
and bidden me to occupy Thy seat, and to summon all men to the court of Thy
mercy. It is Thou Who hast commanded me to tell out the things Thou didst
destine for them in the Tablet of Thy decree and didst inscribe with the pen of
Thy Revelation, and Who hast enjoined on me the duty of kindling the fire of
Thy love in the hearts of Thy servants, and of drawing all the peoples of the
earth nearer to the habitation of Thy throne.
O Dwellers in the City of Love! Mortal blasts have beset the
everlasting candle, and the beauty of the celestial Youth is veiled in the
darkness of dust. The chief of the monarchs of love is wronged by the people of
tyranny and the dove of holiness lies prisoned in the talons of owls. The
dwellers in the pavilion of glory and the celestial concourse bewail and
lament, while ye repose in the realm of negligence, and esteem yourselves as of
the true friends. How vain are your imaginings!
This is the Day in which He Who held converse with God hath
attained the light of the Ancient of Days, and quaffed the pure waters of
reunion from this Cup that hath caused the seas to swell. Say: By the one true
God! Sinai is circling round the Day Spring of Revelation, while from the
heights of the Kingdom the Voice of the Spirit of God is heard proclaiming:
“Bestir yourselves, ye proud ones of the earth, and hasten ye unto Him.” Carmel
hath, in this Day, hastened in longing adoration to attain His court, whilst
from the heart of Zion there cometh the cry: “The promise is fulfilled. That
which had been announced in the holy Writ of God, the most Exalted, the
Almighty, the Best-Beloved, is made manifest.”