He that bringeth up his son or the son of another, it is as
though he hath brought up a son of Mine; upon him rest My Glory, My
Loving-Kindness, My Mercy, that have compassed the world. 
O My servant that believest in God! By the righteousness of
the Almighty! Were I to recount to thee the tale of the things that have
befallen Me, the souls and minds of men would be incapable of sustaining its
weight. God Himself beareth Me witness. Watch over thyself, and follow not the
footsteps of these people. Meditate diligently upon the Cause of thy Lord.
Strive to know Him through His own Self and not through others. For no one else
besides Him can ever profit thee. To this all created things will testify,
couldst thou but perceive it.
Give ear, O My servant, unto that which is being sent down
unto thee from the Throne of thy Lord, the Inaccessible, the Most Great. There
is none other God but Him. He hath called into being His creatures, that they
may know Him, Who is the Compassionate, the All-Merciful. Unto the cities of
all nations He hath sent His Messengers, Whom He hath commissioned to announce
unto men tidings of the Paradise of His good-pleasure, and to draw them nigh
unto the Haven of abiding security, the Seat of eternal holiness and
transcendent glory.
The heaven of divine wisdom is illumined with the two
luminaries of consultation and compassion and the canopy of world order is
upraised upon the two pillars of reward and punishment.
Let nothing grieve thee, O Land of Tá (Tihrán), for God hath
chosen thee to be the source of the joy of all mankind. He shall, if it be His
Will, bless thy throne with one who will rule with justice, who will gather
together the flock of God which the wolves have scattered. Such a ruler will,
with joy and gladness, turn his face towards, and extend his favors unto, the
people of Bahá. He indeed is accounted in the sight of God as a jewel among
men. Upon him rest forever the glory of God, and the glory of all that dwell in
the kingdom of His revelation.
Governments should fully acquaint themselves with the
conditions of those they govern, and confer upon them positions according to
desert and merit. It is enjoined upon every ruler and sovereign to consider
this matter with the utmost care that the traitor may not usurp the position of
the faithful, nor the despoiler rule in the place of the trustworthy.
From the beginning of time the light of unity hath shed its
divine radiance upon the world, and the greatest means for the promotion of
that unity is for the peoples of the world to understand one another’s writing
and speech. In former Epistles We have enjoined upon the Trustees of the House
of Justice either to choose one language from among those now existing or to
adopt a new one, and in like manner to select a common script, both of which
should be taught in all the schools of the world. Thus will the earth be
regarded as one country and one home.
The most glorious fruit of the tree of knowledge is this
exalted word: Of one tree are all ye the fruit, and of one bough the leaves.
Let not man glory in this that he loveth his country, let him rather glory in
this that he loveth his kind.
The Pen of Glory counselleth everyone regarding the
instruction and education of children. Behold that which the Will of God hath
revealed upon Our arrival in the Prison City and recorded in the Most Holy
Book. Unto every father hath been
enjoined the instruction of his son and daughter in the art of reading and
writing and in all that hath been laid down in the Holy Tablet. He that putteth
away that which is commanded unto him, the Trustees are then to take from him
that which is required for their instruction, if he be wealthy, and if not the
matter devolveth upon the House of Justice. Verily, have We made it a shelter
for the poor and needy.
In this Revelation the hosts that can render it victorious
are the hosts of praiseworthy deeds and upright character. The leader and
commander of these hosts hath ever been the fear of God, a fear that
encompasseth all things and reigneth over all things.
Should it be Our wish it is in Our power to compel, through
the agency of but one letter of Our Revelation, the world and all that is
therein to recognize, in less than the twinkling of an eye, the truth of Our
Cause.
Announce unto My servants the advent of the One Who came
unto them with the power of truth bearing the name of ‘Alí, [the Báb] Who
dawned above the horizon of holiness with the splendours of a cherished glory,
and from Whose right hand flowed the crystal streams of the spirit, laying bare
the wonders of a hidden knowledge.
“God”, said He, [the Báb] “is My witness, O people! I am
come to you with a Revelation from the Lord, your God, the Lord of your fathers
of old. Look not, O people, at the things ye possess. Look rather at the things
God hath sent down unto you. This, surely, will be better for you than the
whole of creation, could ye but perceive it. Repeat the gaze, O people, and
consider the testimony of God and His proof which are in your possession, and
compare them unto the Revelation sent down unto you in this Day, that the
truth, the infallible truth, may be indubitably manifested unto you. Follow
not, O people, the steps of the Evil One; follow ye the Faith of the
All-Merciful, and be ye of them that truly believe. What would it profit man,
if he were to fail to recognize the Revelation of God? Nothing whatever. To
this Mine own Self, the Omnipotent, the Omniscient, the All-Wise, will
testify.”
Ages rolled away, until they attained their consummation in
this, the Lord of days, the Day whereon the Day-Star of the Bayán manifested
itself above the horizon of mercy, the Day in which the Beauty of the
All-Glorious shone forth in the exalted person of ‘Alí-Muhammad, the Báb. No
sooner did He reveal Himself, than all the people rose up against Him. By some
He was denounced as one that hath uttered slanders against God, the Almighty,
the Ancient of Days. Others regarded Him as a man smitten with madness, an
allegation which I, Myself, have heard from the lips of one of the divines.
Still others disputed His claim to be the Mouthpiece of God, and stigmatized
Him as one who had stolen and used as his the words of the Almighty, who had
perverted their meaning, and mingled them with his own. The Eye of Grandeur
weepeth sore for the things which their mouths have uttered, while they
continue to rejoice upon their seats.
It is incumbent upon everyone to observe God’s holy
commandments, inasmuch as they are the wellspring of life unto the world.
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.
Say: O concourse of
priests and monks! Eat ye of that which
God hath made lawful unto you and do not shun meat. God hath, as a token of His grace, granted
you leave to partake thereof save during a brief period. He, verily, is the Mighty, the Beneficent. Forsake all that ye possess and hold fast
unto that which God hath purposed. This
is that which profiteth you, if ye be of them that comprehend. We have ordained a fast of nineteen days in
the most temperate of the seasons, and have in this resplendent and luminous
Dispensation relieved you from more than this. Thus have We set forth and made clear unto you that which ye are bidden
to observe, that ye may follow the commandments of God and be united in that
which the Almighty, the All-Wise, hath appointed unto you.
All feasts have attained their consummation in the two Most
Great Festivals, and in two other Festivals that fall on the twin days—the
first of the Most Great Festivals being those days whereon God shed the
effulgent glory of His most excellent Names upon all who are in heaven and on
earth, and the second being that day on which We raised up the One Who
announced unto the people the glad tidings of this Great Announcement. [1] Thus hath it been set down in the Book by
Him Who is the Mighty, the Powerful. On
other than these four consummate days, engage ye in your daily occupations, and
withhold yourselves not from the pursuit of your trades and crafts. Thus hath the command been issued and the law
gone forth from Him Who is your Lord, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.
Regard ye the world as a man’s body, which is afflicted with
divers ailments, and the recovery of which dependeth upon the harmonizing of
all of its component elements. Gather ye around that which We have prescribed
unto you, and walk not in the ways of such as create dissension.
Give ear, O peoples of the earth, unto that which the Pen of
the Lord of all nations commandeth you. Know ye of a certainty that the
Dispensations of the past have attained their highest, their final consummation
in the Law that hath branched out from this Most Great Ocean. Haste ye
thereunto at Our behest. We, verily, ordain as We please.
O Land of Tá! (Tihrán) Thou art still, through the grace of
God, a center around which His beloved ones have gathered. Happy are they;
happy every refugee that seeketh thy shelter, in his sufferings in the path of
God, the Lord of this wondrous Day! Blessed are they that remember the one true
God, that magnify His Name, and seek diligently to serve His Cause. It is to
these men that the sacred Books of old have referred. On them hath the
Commander of the Faithful lavished his praise, saying: “The blessedness
awaiting them excelleth the blessedness we now enjoy.” He, verily, hath spoken
the truth, and to this We now testify. The glory of their station, however, is
as yet undisclosed. The Hand of Divine power will, assuredly, lift up the veil,
and expose to the sight of men that which shall cheer and lighten the eye of
the world.
Were the mysteries, that are known to none except God, to be
unraveled, the whole of mankind would witness the evidences of perfect and
consummate justice. With a certitude that none can question, all men would
cleave to His commandments, and would scrupulously observe them. We, verily,
have decreed in Our Book a goodly and bountiful reward to whosoever will turn
away from wickedness and lead a chaste and godly life. He, in truth, is the
Great Giver, the All-Bountiful.
I testify that thou [House of Baha’u’llah in Baghdad] art the
scene of His transcendent glory, His most holy habitation. Out of thee hath
gone forth the Breath of the All-Glorious, a Breath that hath breathed over all
created things, and filled with joy the breasts of the devout that dwell in the
mansions of Paradise. The Concourse on high, and they that inhabit the Cities
of the Names of God, weep over thee, and bewail the things that have befallen
thee.
When thou art departed out of the court of My presence, O
Muhammad, direct thy steps towards My House (Baghdád House), and visit it on
behalf of thy Lord. When thou reachest its door, stand thou before it and say:
Whither is the Ancient Beauty gone, O most great House of God, He through Whom
God hath made thee the cynosure of an adoring world, and proclaimed thee to be
the sign of His remembrance unto all who are in the heavens and all who are on
the earth? Oh! for the former days when thou, O House of God, wert made His
footstool, the days when in ceaseless strains the melody of the All-Merciful
poured forth from thee! What hath become of thy jewel whose glory hath
irradiated all creation? Whither are gone the days in which He, the Ancient
King, had made thee the throne of His glory, the days in which He had chosen
thee alone to be the lamp of salvation between earth and heaven, and caused
thee to diffuse, at dawn and at eventide, the sweet fragrance of the
All-Glorious?
Call thou to remembrance, O Land of Tá (Tihrán), the former
days in which thy Lord had made thee the seat of His throne, and had enveloped
thee with the effulgence of His glory. How vast the number of those sanctified
beings, those symbols of certitude, who, in their great love for thee, have
laid down their lives and sacrificed their all for thy sake! Joy be to thee,
and blissfulness to them that inhabit thee. I testify that out of thee, as
every discerning heart knoweth, proceedeth the living breath of Him Who is the
Desire of the world. In thee the Unseen hath been revealed, and out of thee
hath gone forth that which lay hid from the eyes of men.