…thou shouldst urge all the believers to show forth kindness
and mercy and to overlook certain shortcomings among them, that differences may
be dispelled; true harmony be established; and the censure and reproach, the
hatred and dissension, seen among the peoples of former times may not arise
anew. 
I swear by God! Whoso faileth to obey the commandments of
God can in no wise be numbered among His loved ones, for among the conditions
of His love is to follow His commandments and observe His prohibitions.
Rememberest thou [1] not God’s warning uttered in times
past, that thou mayest be of them that heed His warning? He said, and He,
verily, speaketh the truth: “From it (earth) have We created you, and unto it
will We return you, and out of it will We bring you forth a second time.” This
is what God ordained unto all them that dwell on earth, be they high or low. It
behoveth not, therefore, him who was created from dust, who will return unto
it, and will again be brought forth out of it, to swell with pride before God,
and before His loved ones, to proudly scorn them, and be filled with disdainful
arrogance. Nay, rather it behoveth thee and those like thee to submit
yourselves to them Who are the Manifestations of the unity of God, and to defer
humbly to the faithful, who have forsaken their all for the sake of God, and
have detached themselves from the things which engross men’s attention, and
lead them astray from the path of God, the All-Glorious, the All-Praised. Thus
do We send down upon you that which shall profit you and profit them that have
placed their whole trust and confidence in their Lord.
I swear by God! So great are the things ordained for the
steadfast that were they, so much as the eye of a needle, to be disclosed, all
who are in heaven and on earth would be dumbfounded, except such as God, the
Lord of all worlds, hath willed to exempt.
Thou art the One, O my God, to Whom every name is abashed to
be related, and in Whose presence all things shrink for shame from being
mentioned. From eternity Thou hast dwelt in those transcendent heights that are
exalted above all mention and description. How great are Thy sovereignty and
Thy power and how mighty Thy grandeur!—this, though all things acknowledge that
Thou art entirely sanctified from, and immeasurably exalted above, all but
Thine own Self. Thou has subdued the entire world through a single Word that
hath been related to the kingdom of Thine utterance and from which the
fragrance of the robe of Thy Command hath been wafted.
By God! This is the Day whereon from the murmur of the
waters can be heard: “No God is there but Him, the Help in Peril, the
Self-Subsisting”, and from the whispering of whose breezes can be heard: “No
God is there but Him, the Almighty, the Best-Beloved”, and from the rustling of
whose trees can be heard: “No God is there but Him, the Most Powerful, the
Ever-Giving, the All-Glorious, the All-Loving”, and beyond them, from the
Tongue of Grandeur can be heard: “This is the Day of the appearance of Him Who
is manifest yet hidden, Who is visible yet concealed. Hasten unto Him, O ye who
are the daysprings of the divine names, and draw nigh unto Him, O ye who dwell
in the kingdom of creation, with hearts that have been purified from
superstitions and vain imaginings and sanctified from the idle talk of men!”
Praise be unto Thee, O Thou Who art the Lord of the world
and the Ruler of the nations! I testify that Thou hast from eternity been
sanctified above the mention of all created things and exalted beyond the
loftiest descriptions of Thy creatures. Whensoever Thy devoted servants sought
to ascend unto the station of Thy recognition, the hosts of Thy knowledge
barred their way; and whensoever Thy near ones desired to gain admittance to
the heaven of Thy nearness, the overpowering majesty of Thine utterance kept
them back. We bear witness that the loftiest of the divine names are but
servants at Thy door, and that their most glorious manifestations bow down
before Thy countenance and are humbled in Thy presence. Thou art, in truth, He
Who can neither be described in letters, nor evoked by words, nor even
contained within the hidden meanings they conceal. For these are all
circumscribed by the inherent limitations of speech which characterize all the
utterances of the peoples of the world.
For eleven years We dwelt in that land, until the Minister
representing thy government arrived, whose name Our pen is loth to mention, who
was given to wine, who followed his lusts, and committed wickedness, and was
corrupt and corrupted ‘Iráq. To this will bear witness most of the inhabitants
of Baghdád, wert thou to inquire of them, and be of such as seek the truth. He
it was who wrongfully seized the substance of his fellow-men, who forsook all
the commandments of God, and perpetrated whatever God had forbidden.
Eventually, he, following his desires, rose up against Us, and walked in the
ways of the unjust. He accused Us, in his letter to thee, and thou didst believe
him and followed in his way, without seeking any proof or trustworthy evidence
from him. Thou didst ask for no explanation, nor didst thou attempt either to
investigate or ascertain the matter, that the truth might be distinguished from
falsehood in thy sight, and that thou mightest be clear in thy discernment.
Find out for thyself the sort of man he was by asking those Ministers who were,
at that time, in ‘Iráq, as well as the Governor of the City (Baghdád) and its
high Counsellor, that the truth may be revealed to thee, and that thou mayest
be of the well-informed.
Imagine thyself [1] to be under the eye of God, O Minister!
If thou seest Him not, He, in truth, clearly seeth thee. Observe, and judge
fairly Our Cause. What is it that We have committed that could have induced
thee to rise up against Us, and to slander Us to the people, if thou be of them
who are just? We departed out of Ṭihrán, at the bidding of the King, and, by
his leave, transferred Our residence to ‘Iráq. If I had transgressed against
him, why, then, did he release Me? And if I were innocent of guilt, wherefore
did ye afflict Us with such tribulation as none among them that profess your
faith hath suffered? Hath any of Mine acts, after Mine arrival in ‘Iráq, been
such as to subvert the authority of the government? Who is it that can be said
to have detected any thing reprehensible in Our behavior? Enquire for thyself
of its people, that thou mayest be of them who have discerned the truth.
Set before thine eyes God’s unerring Balance and, as one
standing in His Presence, weigh in that Balance thine actions every day, every
moment of thy life. Bring thyself to account ere thou art summoned to a
reckoning, on the Day when no man shall have strength to stand for fear of God,
the Day when the hearts of the heedless ones shall be made to tremble.
Let My counsel be acceptable to thee [1], and strive thou to
rule with equity among men, that God may exalt thy name and spread abroad the
fame of thy justice in all the world. Beware lest thou aggrandize thy ministers
at the expense of thy subjects. Fear the sighs of the poor and of the upright
in heart who, at every break of day, bewail their plight, and be unto them a
benignant sovereign. They, verily, are thy treasures on earth. It behoveth
thee, therefore, to safeguard thy treasures from the assaults of them who wish
to rob thee. Inquire into their affairs, and ascertain, every year, nay every
month, their condition, and be not of them that are careless of their duty.
There lay concealed within the Holy Veil, and prepared for
the service of God, a company of His chosen ones who shall be manifested unto
men, who shall aid His Cause, who shall be afraid of no one, though the entire
human race rise up and war against them. These are the ones who, before the
gaze of the dwellers on earth and the denizens of heaven, shall arise and,
shouting aloud, acclaim the name of the Almighty, and summon the children of
men to the path of God, the All-Glorious, the All-Praised.
Glorified, immeasurably glorified art Thou, my Best-Beloved!
Inasmuch as Thou hast ordained that the utmost limit to which they who lift
their hearts to Thee can rise is the confession of their powerlessness to enter
the realms of Thy holy and transcendent unity, and that the highest station
which they who aspire to know Thee can reach is the acknowledgement of their
impotence to attain the retreats of Thy sublime knowledge, I, therefore,
beseech Thee, by this very powerlessness which is beloved of Thee, and which
Thou hast decreed as the goal of them that have reached and attained Thy court,
and by the splendours of Thy countenance that have encompassed all things, and
by the energies of Thy Will whereby the entire creation hath been generated, not
to deprive them that have set their hopes in Thee of the wonders of Thy mercy,
nor to withhold from such as have sought Thee the treasures of Thy grace.
Ignite, then, within their hearts the torch of Thy love, that its flame may
consume all else except their wondrous remembrance of Thee, and that no trace
may be left in those hearts except the gem-like evidences of Thy most holy
sovereignty, so that from the land wherein they dwell no voice may be heard
except the voice that extolleth Thy mercifulness and might, that on the earth
on which they walk no light may shine except the light of Thy beauty, and that
within every soul naught may be discovered except the revelation of Thy
countenance and the tokens of Thy glory, that haply Thy servants may show forth
only that which shall please Thee and shall conform wholly unto Thy most potent
will.
O Dwellers of My Paradise! With the hands of loving-kindness
I have planted in the holy garden of paradise the young tree of your love and
friendship, and have watered it with the goodly showers of My tender grace; now
that the hour of its fruiting is come, strive that it may be protected, and be
not consumed with the flame of desire and passion.
Render thou thanks unto the Beloved of the world for having
graciously aided thee to attain confirmation in this glorious Cause. Entreat
Him moreover to make His loved ones steadfast therein, for the inflammatory
writings of the mischief-makers are widespread and the clamour of the
foreboders of evil is raised high. Happy are they that have cast behind their
backs all else save God and have held fast unto that which the Lord of strength
and power hath enjoined upon them.
Consider the multitude of souls who seemed to be intensely
eager and athirst, yet when the Ocean of living waters did surge forth in the
world of being, they remained deprived thereof, inasmuch as they failed to
relinquish idle fancy and to become consciously aware of Him Who is the Object
of all knowledge. This failure is in recompense for the deeds their hands had
formerly wrought.
God grant thou shalt ever be bright and radiant, beaming
with the light of the Sun of Truth, and mayest unloose thy tongue in magnifying
the Name of God, which is the most laudable of all acts.
O Son of Man! My calamity is My providence, outwardly it is
fire and vengeance, but inwardly it is light and mercy. Hasten thereunto that
thou mayest become an eternal light and an immortal spirit. This is My command
unto thee, do thou observe it.
It behoveth… the loved ones of God to be forbearing towards
their fellow-men, and to be so sanctified and detached from all things, and to
evince such sincerity and fairness, that all the peoples of the earth may recognize
them as the trustees of God amongst men. Consider to what lofty heights the
injunctions of the Almighty have soared… Blessed are they who, on the wings of
certitude, have flown in the heavens which the Pen of thy Lord, the
All-Merciful, hath spread.
Happy the one who hath quaffed the wine of inner mysteries
from the countenance of his Lord and been intoxicated by this pure and crystal
draught. By God! It causeth every true believer to soar in the heaven of
majesty and grandeur, and transmuteth every doubt into certainty.
“O ye that are bereft of understanding! A severe trial
pursueth you, and will suddenly overtake you. Bestir yourselves, that haply it
may pass and inflict no harm upon you.” “O ye peoples of the world! Know,
verily, that an unforeseen calamity is following you, and that grievous
retribution awaiteth you. Think not the deeds ye have committed have been
blotted from My sight.” “O heedless ones! Though the wonders of My mercy have
encompassed all created things, both visible and invisible, and though the
revelations of My grace and bounty have permeated every atom of the universe,
yet the rod with which I can chastise the wicked is grievous, and the
fierceness of Mine anger against them terrible.”
O ye beloved of God! Repose not yourselves on your couches,
nay, bestir yourselves as soon as ye recognize your Lord, the Creator, and hear
of the things which have befallen Him, and hasten to His assistance. Unloose
your tongues, and proclaim unceasingly His Cause. This shall be better for you
than all the treasures of the past and of the future, if ye be of them that
comprehend this truth.
Praise be unto Thee, O Lord my God! We have observed the
Fast in conformity with Thy bidding and break it now through Thy love and Thy
good-pleasure. Deign to accept, O my God, the deeds that we have performed in
Thy path wholly for the sake of Thy beauty with our faces set towards Thy
Cause, free from aught else but Thee. Bestow, then, Thy forgiveness upon us,
upon our forefathers, and upon all such as have believed in Thee and in Thy
mighty signs in this most great, this most glorious Revelation. Potent art Thou
to do what Thou choosest. Thou art, verily, the Most Exalted, the Almighty, the
Unconstrained.
…obligatory prayer and fasting occupy an exalted station in
the sight of God. It is, however, in a state of health that their virtue can be
realized. In time of ill health it is not permissible to observe these
obligations; such hath been the bidding of the Lord, exalted be His glory, at
all times. Blessed be such men and women as pay heed, and observe His precepts.
All praise be unto God, He who hath sent down the verses and is the Revealer of
undoubted proofs!
Cling firmly to obligatory prayer and fasting. Verily, the
religion of God is like unto heaven; fasting is its sun, and obligatory prayer
is its moon. In truth, they are the pillars of religion whereby the righteous
are distinguished from those who transgress His commandments. We entreat God,
exalted and glorified be He, that He may graciously enable all to observe that
which He hath revealed in His Ancient Book.