How vast the number of people who will, on the Day of
Resurrection, regard themselves to be in the right, while they shall be
accounted as false through the dispensation of Providence, inasmuch as they
will shut themselves out as by a veil from Him Whom God shall make manifest and
refuse to bow down in adoration before Him Who, as divinely ordained in the
Book, is the Object of their creation. 
…He, the Mover of all beings, that glorified Countenance, is
the source of such potencies as neither this wronged One can reveal, nor this
unworthy people comprehend. Immensely exalted is He above men’s praise of His
sovereignty; glorified is He beyond that which they attribute unto Him!
In every age and century, the purpose of the Prophets of God
and their chosen ones hath been no other but to affirm the spiritual
significance of the terms “life,” “resurrection,” and “judgment.”
Gracious God! How far have that people strayed from the way
of God! Although the Day of Resurrection was ushered in through the Revelation
of Muhammad, although His light and tokens had encompassed the earth and all
that is therein, yet that people derided Him, gave themselves up to those idols
which the divines of that age, in their vain and idle fancy, had conceived, and
deprived themselves of the light of heavenly grace and of the showers of divine
mercy. Yea, the abject beetle can never scent the fragrance of holiness, and
the bat of darkness can never face the splendour of the sun.
The Person of the Manifestation hath ever been the
representative and mouthpiece of God. He, in truth, is the Day Spring of God’s
most excellent Titles, and the Dawning-Place of His exalted Attributes. If any
be set up by His side as peers, if they be regarded as identical with His
Person, how can it, then, be maintained that the Divine Being is One and Incomparable,
that His Essence is indivisible and peerless? Meditate on that which We have,
through the power of truth, revealed unto thee, and be thou of them that
comprehend its meaning.
Happy is the man who will arise to serve My Cause, and
glorify My beauteous Name. Take hold of My Book with the power of My might, and
cleave tenaciously to whatsoever commandment thy Lord, the Ordainer, the
All-Wise, hath prescribed therein.
The purpose of God in creating man hath been, and will ever
be, to enable him to know his Creator and to attain His Presence. To this most
excellent aim, this supreme objective, all the heavenly Books and the
divinely-revealed and weighty Scriptures unequivocally bear witness. Whoso hath
recognized the Day Spring of Divine guidance and entered His holy court hath
drawn nigh unto God and attained His Presence, a Presence which is the real
Paradise, and of which the loftiest mansions of heaven are but a symbol. Such a
man hath attained the knowledge of the station of Him Who is “at the distance
of two bows,” Who standeth beyond the Sadratu’l-Muntahá. Whoso hath failed to
recognize Him will have condemned himself to the misery of remoteness, a
remoteness which is naught but utter nothingness and the essence of the
nethermost fire. Such will be his fate, though to outward seeming he may occupy
the earth’s loftiest seats and be established upon its most exalted throne.
....
Say, ye will be unable to recognize the One True God or to
discern clearly the words of divine guidance, inasmuch as ye seek and tread a
path other than His. Whenever ye learn that a new Cause hath appeared, ye must
seek the presence of its author and must delve into his writings that haply ye
may not be debarred from attaining unto Him Whom God shall make manifest at the
hour of His manifestation. Wert thou to walk in the way of truth as handed down
by them that are endowed with the knowledge of the inmost reality, God, thy
Lord, will surely redeem thee on the Day of Resurrection. Verily He is potent over
all things.
Sanctify your souls from the world, O people, and hasten
unto the Divine Lote-Tree in this furthermost sanctuary, that ye may hearken
unto the voice of your Lord, the All-Merciful, calling from this Paradise which
hath been created at the behest of God, the All-Praised, and before whose
portals the inmates of the pavilion of sanctity bow down in adoration.
He Who is the Day Spring of Truth is, no doubt, fully
capable of rescuing from such remoteness wayward souls and of causing them to
draw nigh unto His court and attain His Presence. “If God had pleased He had
surely made all men one people.” His purpose, however, is to enable the pure in
spirit and the detached in heart to ascend, by virtue of their own innate
powers, unto the shores of the Most Great Ocean, that thereby they who seek the
Beauty of the All-Glorious may be distinguished and separated from the wayward
and perverse. Thus hath it been ordained by the all-glorious and resplendent
Pen....
On the first day that the Ancient Beauty ascended His Most
Great Throne in the garden named Riḍván, the Tongue of Glory gave utterance to
three blessed words. First, that in this Revelation the law of the sword hath
been annulled. Second, that ere the expiration of one thousand years whosoever
advanceth a prophetic claim is false. By “year” a full year is intended, and no
exegesis or interpretation is permitted in this matter. And third, that at that
very hour God, exalted be His Glory, shed the full splendour of all His names
upon all creation.
O ye who are invested with the Bayán! Should ye be apprised
of a person laying claim to a Cause and revealing verses which to outward
seeming are unlikely to have been revealed by anyone else save God, the Help in
Peril, the Self-Subsisting, do not pass sentence against him, lest ye may
inadvertently pass sentence against Him Whom God shall make manifest. Say, He
Whom God shall make manifest is but one of you; He will make Himself known unto
you on the Day of Resurrection. Ye shall know God when the Manifestation of His
Own Self is made known unto you, that perchance ye may not stray far from His
Path.
Proclaim unto the celestial Concourse, O Pen of effulgent
glory, that lo, the veil of concealment hath been rent asunder and the Beauty
of the Lord hath been revealed from this Scene of transcendent glory with such
radiance as to cause the luminaries of His command to shine above the dayspring
of His almighty Name.
That the Manifestations of Divine justice, the Day Springs
of heavenly grace, have when they appeared amongst men always been destitute of
all earthly dominion and shorn of the means of worldly ascendancy, should be
attributed to this same principle of separation and distinction which animateth
the Divine Purpose. Were the Eternal Essence to manifest all that is latent
within Him, were He to shine in the plentitude of His glory, none would be
found to question His power or repudiate His truth. Nay, all created things
would be so dazzled and thunderstruck by the evidences of His light as to be
reduced to utter nothingness. How, then, can the godly be differentiated under
such circumstances from the froward?
Blessed are they that have soared on the wings of detachment
and attained the station which, as ordained by God, overshadoweth the entire
creation, whom neither the vain imaginations of the learned, nor the multitude
of the hosts of the earth have succeeded in deflecting from His Cause.
Verily, on the First Day We flung open the gates of Paradise
unto all the peoples of the world, and exclaimed: ‘O all ye created things!
Strive to gain admittance into Paradise, since ye have, during all your lives,
held fast unto virtuous deeds in order to attain unto it.’ Surely all men yearn
to enter therein, but alas, they are unable to do so by reason of that which
their hands have wrought. Shouldst thou, however, gain a true understanding of
God in thine heart of hearts, ere He hath manifested Himself, thou wouldst be
able to recognize Him, visible and resplendent, when He unveileth Himself
before the eyes of all men.
…when the name of anyone, whether living or dead, is
mentioned in His [Baha’u’llah’s] presence, that soul hath verily attained to
the mention of the pre-existent King. Blessed are they that attain thereto!
Ponder upon the people unto whom the Gospel was given. Their
religious leaders were considered as the true Guides of the Gospel, yet when
they shut themselves out from Muhammad, the Apostle of God, they turned into
guides of error, notwithstanding that all their lives they had faithfully
observed the precepts of their religion in order to attain unto Paradise; then
when God made Paradise known unto them, they would not enter therein. Those
unto whom the Qur’án is given have wrought likewise. They performed their acts
of devotion for the sake of God, hoping that He might enable them to join the
righteous in Paradise. However, when the gates of Paradise were flung open to
their faces, they declined to enter. They suffered themselves to enter into the
fire, though they had been seeking refuge therefrom in God.
Behold how in this Dispensation the worthless and foolish
have fondly imagined that by such instruments as massacre, plunder and
banishment they can extinguish the Lamp which the Hand of Divine power hath
lit, or eclipse the Day Star of everlasting splendor. How utterly unaware they
seem to be of the truth that such adversity is the oil that feedeth the flame
of this Lamp! Such is God’s transforming power. He changeth whatsoever He
willeth; He verily hath power over all things....
Verily no God is there but God; His is the kingdom of heaven
and earth and He is the Clement, the All-Knowing. God testifieth that there is
no God but Him, and He Who speaketh at the bidding of His Lord is but the First
to worship Him. He is the peerless Creator Who hath created the heavens and the
earth and whatsoever lieth between them, and all do His bidding. He is the One
Whose grace hath encompassed all that are in the heavens, on earth or
elsewhere, and everyone abideth by His behest.
O thou who hast set thy face towards the Realm on High and
hast quaffed My sealed wine from the hand of bounteousness! Know thou that the
term ‘Infallibility’ hath numerous meanings and divers stations. In one sense
it is applicable to the One Whom God hath made immune from error. Similarly it
is applied to every soul whom God hath guarded against sin, transgression,
rebellion, impiety, disbelief and the like. However, the Most Great
Infallibility is confined to the One Whose station is immeasurably exalted
beyond ordinances or prohibitions and is sanctified from errors and omissions.
Indeed He is a Light which is not followed by darkness and a Truth not
overtaken by error. Were He to pronounce water to be wine or heaven to be earth
or light to be fire, He speaketh the truth and no doubt would there be about
it; and unto no one is given the right to question His authority or to say why
or wherefore. Whosoever raiseth objections will be numbered with the froward in
the Book of God, the Lord of the worlds. ‘Verily He shall not be asked of His
doings but all others shall be asked of their doings.’ He is come from the invisible heaven, bearing
the banner ‘He doeth whatsoever He willeth’ and is accompanied by hosts of
power and authority while it is the duty of all besides Him to strictly observe
whatever laws and ordinances have been enjoined upon them, and should anyone
deviate therefrom, even to the extent of a hair’s breadth, his work would be
brought to naught.
Say, this is the Day when the Speaker on Sinai hath mounted
the throne of Revelation and the people have stood before the Lord of the
worlds. This is the Day wherein the earth hath told out her tidings and hath
laid bare her treasures; when the oceans have brought forth their pearls and
the divine Lote-Tree its fruit; when the Sun hath shed its radiance and the
Moons have diffused their lights, and the Heavens have revealed their stars,
and the Hour its signs, and the Resurrection its dreadful majesty; when the
pens have unloosed their outpourings and the spirits have laid bare their
mysteries. Blessed is the man who recognizeth Him and attaineth His presence,
and woe betide such as deny Him and turn aside from Him.
Say, by the righteousness of God! The All-Merciful is come
invested with power and sovereignty. Through His power the foundations of
religions have quaked and the Nightingale of Utterance hath warbled its melody
upon the highest branch of true understanding. Verily, He Who was hidden in the
knowledge of God and is mentioned in the Holy Scriptures hath appeared.
They [“the people of tyranny”] have rejected the bounty of
God and His proofs and have repudiated the testimony of God and His signs. They
have gone astray and have caused the people to go astray, yet perceive it not.
They worship vain imaginings but know it not. They have taken idle fancies for
their lords and have neglected God, yet understand not. They have abandoned the
most great Ocean and are hastening towards the pool, but comprehend not. They
follow their own idle fancies while turning aside from God, the Help in Peril,
the Self-Subsisting.
Verily, the birds abiding within the domains of My Kingdom
and the doves dwelling in the rose-garden of My wisdom utter such melodies and
warblings as are inscrutable to all but God, the Lord of the kingdoms of earth
and heaven; and were these melodies to be revealed even to an extent smaller
than a needle’s eye, the people of tyranny would utter such calumnies as none
among former generations hath ever uttered, and would commit such deeds as no
one in past ages and centuries hath ever committed.
Were We to unveil the pearls of testimony which lie hid
within the shells of the ocean of knowledge and assurance or to let the
beauties of divine mystery which are hidden within the chambers of utterance in
the Paradise of true understanding, step out of their habitation, then from
every direction violent commotion would arise among the leaders of religion and
thou wouldst witness the people of God held fast in the teeth of such wolves as
have denied God both in the beginning and in the end. Therefore We restrained the
Pen for a considerable lapse of time in accordance with divine wisdom and for
the sake of protecting the faithful from those who have bartered away heavenly
blessings for disbelief and have chosen for their people the abode of
perdition.(cf. Qur’an 14:33)
Know thou that though My body be beneath the swords of My
foes, and My limbs be beset with incalculable afflictions, yet My spirit is
filled with a gladness with which all the joys of the earth can never compare.
By My life! Couldst thou but know the things sent down by My
Pen, and discover the treasures of My Cause, and the pearls of My mysteries
which lie hid in the seas of My names and in the goblets of My words, thou
wouldst, in thy love for My name, and in thy longing for My glorious and
sublime Kingdom, lay down thy life in My path.
Hearken unto My voice that calleth from My prison, that it
may acquaint thee with the things that have befallen My Beauty, at the hands of
them that are the manifestations of My glory, and that thou mayest perceive how
great hath been My patience, notwithstanding My might, and how immense My
forbearance, notwithstanding My power.
Blessed are they that occupy themselves in the House of
Worship with the remembrance of Him Who is the Lord of the righteous! Blessed
are they that arise in the service of this House! Blessed are they that have
raised up this House!
Viewed in the light of their [Manifestations of God] second
station—the station of distinction, differentiation, temporal limitations,
characteristics and standards,—they manifest absolute servitude, utter
destitution and complete self-effacement. Even as He saith: “I am the servant
of God. [Qur’án 19:31] I am but a man like you.” [Qur’án 18:110]
It hath been forbidden you to smoke opium. We, truly, have
prohibited this practice through a most binding interdiction in the Book.
Should anyone partake thereof, assuredly he is not of Me. Fear God, O ye endued
with understanding!
Say: This is the infallible Balance which the Hand of God is
holding, in which all who are in the heavens and all who are on the earth are
weighed, and their fate determined, if ye be of them that believe and recognize
this truth. Say: This is the Most Great Testimony, by which the validity of
every proof throughout the ages hath been established, would that ye might be
assured thereof. Say: Through it the poor have been enriched, the learned
enlightened, and the seekers enabled to ascend unto the presence of God. Beware
lest ye make it a cause of dissension amongst you. Be ye as firmly settled as
the immovable mountain in the Cause of your Lord, the Mighty, the Loving.
Immerse yourselves in the ocean of My words, that ye may
unravel its secrets, and discover all the pearls of wisdom that lie hid in its
depths. Take heed that ye do not vacillate in your determination to embrace the
truth of this Cause—a Cause through which the potentialities of the might of
God have been revealed, and His sovereignty established. With faces beaming
with joy, hasten ye unto Him. This is the changeless Faith of God, eternal in
the past, eternal in the future. Let him that seeketh, attain it; and as to him
that hath refused to seek it—verily, God is Self-Sufficient, above any need of
His creatures.
When the time set for this Revelation was fulfilled, and He
Who is the Day Star of the world appeared in ‘Iráq, He bade His followers
observe that which would sanctify them from all earthly defilements. Some
preferred to follow the desires of a corrupt inclination, while others walked
in the way of righteousness and truth, and were rightly guided.
…were they [Manifestations of God] to say: “We are the
servants of God,” this also is a manifest and indisputable fact. For they have
been made manifest in the uttermost state of servitude, a servitude the like of
which no man can possibly attain. Thus in moments in which these Essences of
being were deeply immersed beneath the oceans of ancient and everlasting
holiness, or when they soared to the loftiest summits of divine mysteries, they
claimed their utterance to be the Voice of divinity, the Call of God Himself.
Were the eye of discernment to be opened, it would recognize that in this very
state, they have considered themselves utterly effaced and non-existent in the
face of Him Who is the All-Pervading, the Incorruptible. Methinks, they have
regarded themselves as utter nothingness, and deemed their mention in that
Court an act of blasphemy. For the slightest whispering of self, within such a
Court, is an evidence of self-assertion and independent existence. In the eyes
of them that have attained unto that Court, such a suggestion is itself a grievous
transgression. How much more grievous would it be, were aught else to be
mentioned in that Presence, were man’s heart, his tongue, his mind, or his
soul, to be busied with anyone but the Well-Beloved, were his eyes to behold
any countenance other than His beauty, were his ear to be inclined to any
melody but His voice, and were his feet to tread any way but His way.
The world’s equilibrium hath been upset through the
vibrating influence of this most great, this new World Order. Mankind’s ordered
life hath been revolutionized through the agency of this unique, this wondrous
System—the like of which mortal eyes have never witnessed.
Were He to decree as lawful the thing which from time
immemorial had been forbidden, and forbid that which had, at all times, been
regarded as lawful, to none is given the right to question His authority. Whoso
will hesitate, though it be for less than a moment, should be regarded as a
transgressor.
Were any of the all-embracing Manifestations of God to
declare: “I am God!” He verily speaketh the truth, and no doubt attacheth
thereto. For it hath been repeatedly demonstrated that through their
Revelation, their attributes and names, the Revelation of God, His name and His
attributes, are made manifest in the world. Thus, He hath revealed: “Those
shafts were God’s, not Thine!” [Qur’án 8:17] And also He saith: “In truth, they
who plighted fealty unto thee, really plighted that fealty unto God.” [Qur’án
48:10] And were any of them to voice the utterance: “I am the Messenger of
God,” He also speaketh the truth, the indubitable truth. Even as He saith:
“Muhammad is not the father of any man among you, but He is the Messenger of
God.” [Qur’án 33:40] Viewed in this light, they are all but Messengers of that
ideal King, that unchangeable Essence. And were they all to proclaim: “I am the
Seal of the Prophets,” they verily utter but the truth, beyond the faintest
shadow of doubt. For they are all but one person, one soul, one spirit, one
being, one revelation. They are all the manifestation of the “Beginning” and
the “End,” the “First” and the “Last,” the “Seen” and “Hidden”—all of which
pertain to Him Who is the innermost Spirit of Spirits and eternal Essence of
Essences.
Take heed that ye dispute not idly concerning the Almighty
and His Cause, for lo! He hath appeared amongst you invested with a Revelation
so great as to encompass all things, whether of the past or of the future.
My captivity can bring on Me no shame. Nay, by My life, it
conferreth on Me glory. That which can make Me ashamed is the conduct of such
of My followers as profess to love Me, yet in fact follow the Evil One. They, indeed,
are of the lost.
O people of the Bayán! We, verily, set foot within the
School of God when ye lay slumbering; and We perused the Tablet while ye were
fast asleep. By the one true God! We read the Tablet ere it was revealed, while
ye were unaware, and We had perfect knowledge of the Book when ye were yet
unborn. These words are to your measure, not to God’s. To this testifieth that
which is enshrined within His knowledge, if ye be of them that comprehend; and
to this the tongue of the Almighty doth bear witness, if ye be of those who
understand. I swear by God, were We to lift the veil, ye would be dumbfounded….
Were We to address Our theme by speaking in the language of the inmates of the
Kingdom, We would say: “In truth, God created that School ere He created heaven
and earth, and We entered it before the letters B and E were joined and knit
together.” Such is the language of Our servants in Our Kingdom; consider what
the tongue of the dwellers of Our exalted Dominion would utter, for We have
taught them Our knowledge and have revealed to them whatever had lain hidden in
God’s wisdom. Imagine then what the Tongue of Might and Grandeur would utter in
His All-Glorious Abode!
We did not refuse such material benefits as could relieve Us
from Our afflictions. Every one of Our companions, however, will bear Us
witness that Our holy court is sanctified from, and far above, such material
benefits. We have nevertheless accepted, while confined in this Prison, those
things of which the infidels have striven to deprive Us. If a man be found
willing to rear, in Our name, an edifice of pure gold or silver, or a house
begemmed with stones of inestimable value, such a wish will no doubt be granted.
He, verily, doeth what He willeth, and ordaineth that which He pleaseth. Leave
hath, moreover, been given to whosoever may desire to raise, throughout the
length and breadth of this land, noble and imposing structures, and dedicate
the rich and sacred territories adjoining the Jordan and its vicinity to the
worship and service of the one true God, magnified be His glory, that the
prophecies recorded by the Pen of the Most High in the sacred Scriptures may be
fulfilled, and that which God, the Lord of all worlds, hath purposed in this
most exalted, this most holy, this mighty, and wondrous Revelation may be made
manifest.
Blessed be the king whom the veils of glory have not
deterred from turning unto the Dayspring of beauty and who hath forsaken his
all in his desire to obtain the things of God. He, indeed, is accounted in the
sight of God as the most excellent of men, and is extolled by the inmates of
paradise and them that circle morn and eve round the Throne on high.
Every unbiased observer will readily admit that, ever since
the dawn of His Revelation, this wronged One hath invited all mankind to turn
their faces towards the Day Spring of Glory, and hath forbidden corruption,
hatred, oppression, and wickedness. And yet, behold what the hand of the
oppressor hath wrought! No pen dare describe his tyranny. Though the purpose of
Him Who is the Eternal Truth hath been to confer everlasting life upon all men,
and ensure their security and peace, yet witness how they have arisen to shed
the blood of His loved ones, and have pronounced on Him the sentence of death.
Call thou to mind that which hath been revealed unto Mihdí,
Our servant, in the first year of Our banishment to the Land of Mystery
(Adrianople). Unto him have We predicted that which must befall Our House
(Baghdád House), in the days to come, lest he grieve over the acts of robbery
and violence already perpetrated against it. Verily, the Lord, thy God, knoweth
all that is in the heavens and all that is on the earth. (Baha’u’llah,
‘Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah’)
Arise thou amongst men in the name of this all-compelling
Cause, and summon, then, the nations unto God, the Exalted, the Great. Be thou
not of them who called upon God by one of His names, but who, when He Who is
the Object of all names appeared, denied Him and turned aside from Him, and, in
the end, pronounced sentence against Him with manifest injustice. Consider and
call thou to mind the days whereon the Spirit of God appeared, and Herod gave
judgement against Him. God, however,
aided Him with the hosts of the unseen, and protected Him with truth, and sent
Him down unto another land, according to His promise. He, verily, ordaineth
what He pleaseth. Thy Lord truly preserveth whom He willeth, be he in the midst
of the seas, or in the maw of the serpent, or beneath the sword of the
oppressor.
Beware lest thy sovereignty withhold thee from Him Who is
the Supreme Sovereign. He, verily, is come with His Kingdom, and all the atoms
cry aloud: “Lo! The Lord is come in His
great majesty!” He Who is the Father is come, and the Son, in the holy vale,
crieth out: “Here am I, here am I, O Lord, My God!”, whilst Sinai circleth
round the House, and the Burning Bush calleth aloud: “The All-Bounteous is come
mounted upon the clouds! Blessed is he that draweth nigh unto Him, and woe
betide them that are far away.”
O Shaykh! [1] It is incumbent upon the divines to unite with
His Majesty, the Sháh—may God assist him—and to cleave day and night unto that
which will exalt the station of both the government and the nation. This people
are assiduously occupied in enlightening the souls of men and in rehabilitating
their condition. Unto this testifieth that which hath been sent down by the
Most Sublime Pen in this lucid Tablet. How often have things been simple and
easy of accomplishment, and yet most men have been heedless, and busied
themselves with that which wasteth their time!