Letter concerning the Tablet of the Divine Test 1 страница
Akka era, 1880s
Tablet of Baha’u’llah via Khadimu’llah
to Mulla Sadiq-i Khurasani
concerning the Surah of the Divine Test
It will have been known to the friends of God that one day the antichrist arose with a new scheme, in order to sow doubts in the hearts of the servants. Yes, in Edirne he advertised his intention to the Iranians, saying, “Today we have resolved that he shall come to the Sultan Selim mosque, and we also shall attend, and shall make the truth manifest. Thus might truth be distinguished from falsehood.”
Mir Muhammad Shirazi became aware of this saying, and informed Aqa Mirza Muhammad Quli. The latter repeated it in the most glorious presence. When he was informed, he departed that very hour and set out for the above-mentioned mosque. There are more details, but we shall mention only those necessary to telling the story. He said to Mir Muhammad, “Go and inform the gentleman that I am waiting in the mosque.” The aforementioned Mir Muhammad gave the news to that accursed one. Azal excused himself, saying that it was not possible that day. “The appointment will have to be fixed on another day.”
Then Mir Muhammad said to that wicked one, “You yourself chose these arrangements. You stated a preference for this matter. You wrote a document saying that whoever did not appear today is false and far from the truth. Then how can any word of yours be depended upon?”
In short, he stayed at the mosque until sundown, but that wicked one avoided coming. As he passed through the market, the tongue of God addressed Mir Muhammad with these holy and eternal verses. All the people heard it, and were astonished at their revelation. This is the content of the aforementioned discourse:
14.
When we heard, we issued from our house with manifest sovereignty. We said, “Muhammad, the spirit has departed from its seat and along with it the spirits of the pure ones went forth, as did the realities of the Messengers. In truth, you shall behold the people of the most exalted panorama above my head. Then in my grasp are the proofs of the prophets. Then open your eyes. This is `Ali [the Bab], then Muhammad, the messenger of God, who has risen above the horizon of the House with evident sovereignty and come to you with all the verses from God, the mighty, the Omnipotent.”
Say: Were all the clergy and mystics on earth, and all the kings and emperors, to be gathered, I would stand before them and recite the verses of God, the king, the glorious, the wise. I am he who fears no one, even should all who are in the heavens and the earth assemble against me. The very verses have humbled themselves before my countenance, and all sounds are submissive before my wondrous and most amazing melodies. This is my palm, which God has rendered white for all the worlds. And this is my staff. Were we to cast it down, it would swallow the entire creation. All that has been created between the heavens and the earth is but a handful of clay to your lord.
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Go, Muhammad, to the concourse of idolaters and say, “The youth has come to you and with him are the hosts of revelation and inspiration. The kingdom of the Cause marches before him, and behind him are the tribes of the concourse on high and the inhabitants of the cities of eternity then the angels who are near.” Say: Fear God, and do not oppose the one by whose command every wise decree was ordained. Then come into the presence of God with your ropes and your staffs and with whatever you possess, if you are able to do so. We go now to the house of God that was erected by one of the kings and named the “Selim.” I, alone, have come to you from the dawning place of eternity with a great, a most great announcement. I shall wait until the sun sets in the west, so that perhaps my opponents will find the opportunity within themselves to repent.
Know that God forbade his friends from meeting with the idolaters and hypocrites. Nevertheless, we departed from our house depending upon God, gaze set toward the precincts of the Cause, so that thereby the heedless servants of God might be made aware. Those who have denied God or joined partners with him shall never believe in God, even should he bring them the sacred scrolls, or the hosts of the Invisible, or the proofs of the Messengers [and meeting with God only increases them in their oppression and unbelief. Thus was it revealed in the tablets, and in this mighty and inaccessible Tablet.
Know, Muhammad, that every Name that is related to my self has been exalted in the kingdom of names, if you but knew. Say: Today, the bond with all loved ones has been severed, save for those who entered under the shadow of this radiant and illumined Countenance. Whoever clings to one of the divine Names, while turning away from its Creator, is not of me, and God is innocent of him. In truth, we created the names just as we created any other thing, if you but knew. Say: Verily, I have manifested myself for the sake of God, and have gone out for the sake of God, and I speak before all who are on earth just as I speak before your face. I fear no one. My actions testify to that, if you but knew. Say: In truth, the signs of the Absolute Truth are as obvious as the light and rays of the sun. Nay, by God, they are even more apparent to anyone with sharp vision. Do you think anyone other than he can exist alongside him? No, by his exalted and mighty self. Say: All the realities of all things walk when this youth walks, and when he becomes still, so too do our steadfast servants. Sever yourself from the Names, and be satisfied with your Lord, and be not among the ignorant. Those who have devoted themselves to the divine names, they are worshippers of idols, if you would bear witness. Verily, a prophet is one who prophesies to the people of these pre-existent and most precious tidings. A messenger is one who fulfills my mission to those who have lost their path. The vicar [imam] is one who stands before my countenance with manifest humility. The lieutenant [vali] is one who seeks shelter in the fortress of my secure protection. The successor [vasi] is one who counsels the people with what we have commanded them in a guarded tablet.]
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He whom the idolaters have taken to themselves as their lord, whereby they have risen in opposition to God, the mighty, the august, the beautiful—he was just like any of the servants. He used to come into my presence morning and night. Then there wafted upon him from the region of his base self the gales of passion, as a result of his past behavior. Finally, they cast him down off his seat and abandoned him in the lowest depths. We had made his name renowned among the servants for a secret reason of our own.
60.
In truth, your lord is ruler over what he desires.
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Also, there is a man by the name of Hasan Aqa in that land, a tobacconist [a tobacco merchant]. The antichrist was with him when he issued the aforementioned challenge. The text was written out with his knowledge. Indeed, in reality on that day the truth was fulfilled and perfect. Rather, it became most seasoned and most perfect.
When Mir Muhammad came into the presence of the Beauty of God (4), he said, “I informed that accursed one (that is, Mirza Yayha), that Baha’u’llah was waiting in the mosque, and I said, `You should come and demonstrate your own truth.’
“That accursed one said, `Today it will have to be postponed. Choose another day.’”
Afterwards the tongue of God spoke forth, saying that with God it had been known that that scoundrel would not appear, and the purpose was to complete the proof. Rather, the proof had been complete from pre-eternity against those deniers of the beauty of the lord of the worlds.
The beauty of God departed from the mosque. It so happened that the store of the aforementioned Hasan Aqa was on Baha’u’llah’s route. When he arrived at the store, the tongue of God said, “Based on the decision that the gentleman had announced in his proclamation, the countenance of the All-Merciful presented himself, whereas the idolaters repudiated their own agreement.”
The next day, this sublime pronouncement was issued to Hasan Aqa. Yet the accursed one [Azal] gave it no attention. [Presumably Azal acquiesced, after counsel with others.]
The text of the letter is as follows:
1.
In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
This is a letter from this youth to all who are upon the earth. Worship none but God, the king, the exalted, the mighty. Thus has the decree been revealed in all the tablets from the powerful, the Omnipotent.
We heard that some of our opponents desired to come into the presence of this youth. Say: Come, and do not delay! We have appointed as the meeting-place the house of God, which was erected by one of the emperors, and was called “Selim” in the kingdom of names, if you but knew. We have selected as the days for the meeting Sunday and Monday. God was a witness to what I say.
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13.
He is the one intended by your lord, the knowing, the wise.
Source: `Abdu’l-Hamid Ishraq-Khavari, ed. Ma’idih-‘i Asmani, 9 vols. (Tehran: MMMA, 1973), 4: 277-281.
Notes
(1) Mirza Yayha Subh-i Azal
(2) Note: The prologue is written in the third person, in the voice of Mirza Aqa Jan Kashi, Khadimu’llah, Baha’u’llah’s scribe. However, Baha'i tradition has been to account this as a literary device, and to see the entire Tablet as having been written by Baha’u’llah.
(3) Adrianople
(4) Baha’u’llah.
(5) Another translation of some of this passage can be found in Shoghi Effendi Rabbani, God Passes By (Wilmette, Ill.: Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1970), pp. 168-169.
(6) The printed text gives tablaghu, to reach, which does not seem to me to make much sense. The manuscript of Qazvini’s 1867 letter gives tatla`u, to “stretch the neck forward.” This latter is very possible. However, since the miracle of Moses’ staff, being referred to here was to swallow the magician’s serpents, and since the shape of tabla`u, to swallow, is the same as that of the other two words given by copyists, I feel certain that it is the best reading here.
(7) passages in brackets are in the 1867 Qazvini letter but omitted from the Lawh-i Mubahalih. Some of these passages, but not all, are in Ishraq-Khavari, Ma’idih-‘i Asmani, 7:243-744.
(8) Qazvini gives wajh or “countenance” here, whereas the printed text gives “amr” or Cause: Ishraq-Khavari, Ma’idih-‘i Asmani, 7:243.
(9) Ishraq-Khavari, Ma’idih-‘i Asmani, 7:244 adds and guides (hada)
(10) Ishraq-Khavari, Ma’idih-‘i Asmani, 7:244 gives has come to him (atahu)
Tablet of the Riḍwān of Justice CHAPTER ONE
Divisions 1-25
Written at the Ottoman city of Edirne (Adrianople) circa 1867.
RIDVAN OF JUSTICE
Preamble
This is the [Tablet of the] Riḍwān of Justice!
It was indeed made manifest through the Divine Bounty
and by virtue of the Ornamentation of God,
an expression of Mighty and Transcendent scriptural traces.
1.
In the Name of God,
the Promoter of Justice, the All-Wise.
2.
This is a Tablet in which God raised up His Name, the Promoter of Justice.
3.
Therefrom did He breath forth the Spirit of Justice
within the temples of the totality of created things.
4.
This to the end that all might assuredly rise up for the sake of pure Justice and might,
of their own beings, decree the same as well as [decree it] for the selves of the servants [of God].
5.
Such persons should in no wise fear this [just decree]
even to the extent of the pit of a date-stone.
6.
O this Name!
We made thee to be a Sun
among the Suns of Our Most Beautiful Names betwixt earth and heaven.
7.
Shed then illumination upon all things
that were created at the genesis of creation through Thy Mighty Wondrous Lights.
8.
This perchance the people may be gathered together in Thy shadow [shade]
having razed behind themselves the darkness of tyranny
and shed illumination through Thy sacred and luminous Lights.
9.
O this Name!
We made thee to be the genesis of Our Justice
and its very locale (the very source) amongst such of Our servants as are nigh unto God.
10.
Through Thee hath been manifested the Justice of every dispenser of justice,
while through Thine Ornament hath Our proximate servants been ornamented.
11.
O this Name!
Beware lest this position [station] seduce thee away from humility
through proximity to God, the Powerful, the Mighty.
12.
Know ye then that thy connection to Us is even as the connection of other than thee for there is no difference between thee and aught else besides thee of what hath been created betwixt the heavens above and the earths below.
13.
This since We, when We did mount up upon the celestial Throne which is expressive of Justice, We thereby created the contingent realms through a Word which cometh from Us.
14.
Wherefore was thy Lord One Mighty over all things.
15.
We thus raised up certain of the Divine Names unto the Kingdoms of Eternity,
a Bounty from before Us for We are indeed Powerful, Transcendent, Mighty, Wondrous.
16.
Say:
There is indeed no relationship whatsoever between Him and between His creation.
17.
So praised be He above all that He created and above everything of which Our servants might make mention.
18.
Indeed! The relationship which truly results in a relationship and is mentioned in the scriptural Tablets, is realized [made manifest] through the Divine Intention which was generated through His Divine Will which He created through His All-Encompassing and Conclusive Logos-Command.
19.
It is the case, however, that We have chosen thee [al-Ādil = the Name of God, `The Promoter of Justice], selected thee, and elevated thee in this scriptural tablet that thou might render thanks unto thy Lord and be numbered among such as are detached.
20.
Yet beware lest the elevation of thy Name obstruct thee from God,
thy Lord and the Lord of all the worlds.
21.
We do indeed exalt whomsoever We will through Our Logos-Command for We are All-Powerful in accomplishing whatsoever He willeth and in stipulating whatsoever We intend.
22.
Naught shalt thou [al-Ādil = `The Promoter of Justice], witness within thine own self save the theophany of the Sun of His Word, the Logos-Command which hath radiated forth from the Horizon of the Mouth of the Intention of Thy Lord, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
23.
And thou [al-Ādil = `The Promoter of Justice] shalt never witness within thine own essence any Power or Might [AQA., IV: 247] any motion or repose, save by virtue of the Logos-Command of God, the Ruler, the Mighty, the Powerful.
24.
Thy movement shall be [at the promptings] of the Breezes of Thy Lord, the Most Exalted, the All-Glorious not [as accords with] that which thou dost cherish from the precincts of the lower-self and passion.
25.
Thus doth the Supreme Pen command thee that thou might act accordingly.
Tablet of the Riḍwān of Justice CHAPTER TWO
Divisions 26-50
RIDVAN OF JUSTICE
26.
Beware lest thou be the likeness of such as have been ornamented with the ornament of the Divine Names in the kingdom of origination yet gaze upon thine own self and feel elevated on account of the [glory] of this Name
for this is blasphemy against God Who created thee and provideth for thee.
27.
Such an one will indeed be returned from the most elevated station
unto the lowest [position] among those of low estate.
28.
Say:
`The [Divine] Names are what have been sent down of the [Divine] Garments
and We ornament therewith such as We will among Our devoutly attentive servants.
29.
Yet do We withhold this from whomsoever We willeth.
30.
And such is a directive from Us
for We are indeed the Powerful, the Wise Director, the All-Knowing.
31.
That which We advise Our servants at this time of dispossession corresponds with that which We advise them at the moment of [the bestowal of] providence.
32.
Wherefore, Know ye then the directive of thy Lord
and be numbered among those of manifest certainty
for Our Might can in no wise, in any way, be stolen away,
nor can the Hands of Our Mighty Power ever be up;
as thou wouldst know if thou were to be numbered among the mystic knowers.
33.
Say:
`Every Name that knoweth its Lord, and doth not deviate from its specified limit,
will, at every moment, have its gravitas magnified.
34.
At every instant there shall radiate upon it the Sun of the Providence of its Lord,
the Forgiving, the Generous,
for it shall make progress upon the stairway of detachment
unto a station which cannot be articulated save by its Originator.
35.
This station [position] can never be spoken about except with His permission,
neither can it make progress but through the Divine Intention which cometh from Him.
He is indeed the All-Powerful, the Justice Promoter,
the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.
36.
O this Name!
Take glory unto thyself for We have made thee to be the Dawning-Place of Our Justice within all the worlds.
37.
We will indeed bring forth from thee manifestations within the dominion [of creation]
through whom We will roll up the tent of injustice [tyranny]
and spread out the carpet of Justice [in its stead] betwixt the heavens and the earths.
38.
Thereby will God obliterate the traces of injustice [tyranny] throughout the world and ornament the horizons of the regions throughout all the worlds with their [these Divine] Names.
39.
Such are the ones through whom the very Mouth of Existence [operative] throughout realms both seen and the unseen, shall be wreathed in smiles.
40.
These are the mirrors of My Justice amidst my servants
and the dawning-places of My [Divine] Names amidst My created [terrestrial] localities.
41.
Through them will the hands of tyranny [injustice] be cut off and the powers of the Cause be strengthened.
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