The Book of the Epistle to the Son of the Wolf CHAPTER SIXTY TWO 24 страница
and hath assigned unto no one a share of this lofty and sublime station—
a station which is a vesture which the fingers of transcendent power have woven for His august Being.
41.
It befitteth no one except Him Who is seated upon the mighty throne
of ‘He doeth what He pleaseth’.
42.
Whoso accepteth and recognizeth that which is written down at this moment by the Pen of Glory
is indeed reckoned in the Book of God, the Lord of the beginning and the end,
among the exponents of divine unity, they that uphold the concept of the oneness of God.
43.
When the stream of words reached this stage, the sweet savours of true knowledge were shed abroad and the day-star of divine unity shone forth above the horizon of His holy utterance.
44.
Blessed is he whom His Call hath attracted to the summit of glory,
who hath drawn nigh to the ultimate Purpose,
and who hath recognized through the shrill voice of My Pen of Glory
that which the Lord of this world and of the next hath willed.
45.
Whoso faileth to quaff the choice wine which We have unsealed
through the potency of Our name, the All-Compelling,
shall be unable to discern the splendours of the light of divine unity
or to grasp the essential purpose underlying the Scriptures of God,
the Lord of heaven and earth, the sovereign Ruler of this world and of the world to come.
46.
Such a man shall be accounted among the faithless in the Book of God,
the All-Knowing, the All-Informed.
47.
O thou honoured enquirer!
We bear witness that thou didst firmly adhere unto seemly patience
during the days when the Pen was held back from movement
and the Tongue hesitated to set forth an explanation regarding the wondrous sign,
the Most Great Infallibility.
48.
Thou hast asked this Wronged One to remove for thee its veils and coverings,
to elucidate its mystery and character, its state and position,
its excellence, sublimity, and exaltation.
49.
By the life of God!
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,
50.
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.
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51.
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.
52.
O thou seeker who art gifted with keen insight!
I swear by Him Who attracted the Concourse on high
through the potency of His most sublime Word!
53.
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;
54.
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 of former generations hath ever uttered,
and would commit such deeds as no one in past ages and centuries hath ever committed.
55.
They have rejected the bounty of God
and His proofs and have repudiated the testimony of God and His signs.
56.
They have gone astray and have caused the people to go astray, yet perceive it not.
57.
They worship vain imaginings but know it not.
58.
They have taken idle fancies for their lords and have neglected God, yet understand not.
59.
They have abandoned the most great Ocean
and are hastening towards thepool, yet comprehend not.
60.
They follow their own idle fancies while turning aside from God,
the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsistent.
The Tablet of Splendours CHAPTER THREE
Divisions 61-90
SPLENDOURS
61.
Say,
By the righteousness of God!
The All-Merciful is come invested with power and sovereignty.
62.
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.
63.
Verily, He Who was hidden in the knowledge of God and is mentioned in the Holy Scriptures
hath appeared.
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64.
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.
65.
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;
66.
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.
67.
Blessed is the man who recognizeth Him and attaineth His presence,
and woe betide such as deny Him and turn aside from Him.
68.
I beseech God to aid His servants to return unto Him.
Verily He is the Pardoner, the Forgiving, the Merciful.
69.
O thou who hast set thy face towards the Realm on High
and hast quaffed My sealed wine from the hand of bounteousness!
70.
Know thou that the term ‘Infallibility’ hath numerous meanings and divers stations.
71.
In one sense it is applicable to the One Whom God hath made immune from error.
72.
Similarly it is applied to every soul whom God hath guarded
against sin, transgression, rebellion, impiety, disbelief, and the like.
73.
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.
74.
Indeed He is a Light which is not followed by darkness
and is a Truth not overtaken by error.
75.
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.
76.
Whosoever raiseth objections will be numbered with the froward in the Book of God,
the Lord of the worlds.
77.
‘Verily He shall not be asked of His doings
yet all others shall be asked of their doings.’
78.
He is come from the invisible heaven,
bearing the banner ‘He doeth whatsoever He willeth’
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and is accompanied by hosts of power and authority
79.
while it is the duty of all besides Him to strictly observe
whatever laws and ordinances have been enjoined upon them,
80.
and should anyone deviate therefrom, even to the extent of a hair’s breadth,
his work would be brought to naught.
81.
Consider thou and call to mind the time when Muḥammad appeared.
82.
He said, and His word is the truth:‘
Pilgrimage to the House is a service due to God.
83.
And likewise are the daily prayer, fasting,
and the laws which shone forth above the horizon of the Book of God,
the Lord of the World and the true Educator of the peoples and kindreds of the earth.
84.
It is incumbent upon everyone to obey Him in whatsoever God hath ordained;
and whosoever denieth Him hath disbelieved in God,
in His verses, in His Messengers, and in His Books.
85.
Were He to pronounce right to be wrong or denial to be belief,
He speaketh the truth as bidden by God.
86.
This is a station wherein sins or trespasses neither exist nor are mentioned.
87.
Consider thou the blessed,
the divinely-revealed verse in which pilgrimage to the House is enjoined upon everyone.
88.
It devolved upon those invested with authority after Him
to observe whatever had been prescribed unto them in the Book.
89.
Unto no one is given the right to deviate from the laws and ordinances of God.
90.
Whoso deviateth therefrom is reckoned with the trespassers in the Book of God,
the Lord of the Mighty Throne.
The Tablet of Splendours CHAPTER FOUR
Divisions 91-120
SPLENDOURS
91.
O thou who hast fixed thy gaze upon the Dawning-Place of the Cause of God!
92.
Know thou for a certainty that the Will of God is not limited by the standards of the people,
and God doth not tread in their ways.
93.
Rather is it incumbent upon everyone to firmly adhere to God’s straight Path.
94.
Were He to pronounce the right to be the left or the south to be the north,
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He speaketh the truth and there is no doubt of it.
95.
Verily He is to be praised in His acts and to be obeyed in His behests.
96.
He hath no associate in His judgement nor any helper in His sovereignty.
97.
He doeth whatsoever He willeth and ordaineth whatsoever He pleaseth.
98.
Know thou moreover that all else besides Him have been created
through the potency of a word from His presence,
while of themselves they have no motion nor stillness, except at His bidding and by His leave.
99.
O thou who soarest in the atmosphere of love and fellowship
and hast fixed thy gaze upon the light of the countenance of thy Lord, the King of creation!
100.
Render thanks unto God,
inasmuch as He hath unravelled for thee that which was hidden
and enshrined in His knowledge so that everybody may become aware
that within His realm of supreme infallibility
He hath not taken a partner nor a counsellor unto Himself.
101.
He is in truth the Dayspring of divine precepts and commandments
and the Fountainhead of knowledge and wisdom,
while all else besides Him are merely His subjects and under His rule,
and He is the supreme Ruler, the Ordainer, the All-Knowing, the All-Informed.
102.
As to thyself, whenever thou art enraptured by the vitalizing breaths of the revealed verses
and art carried away by the pure, life-giving water
proffered by the hand of the bounty of thy Lord, the sovereign Ruler of the Day of Resurrection,
lift up thy voice and say:
103.
O my God! O my God!
I yield Thee thanks that Thou hast directed me towards Thyself,
hast guided me unto Thy horizon,
and hast clearly set forth for me Thy Path,
104.
that Thou hast revealed to me Thy testimony
and enabled me to set my face towards Thee,
while most of the doctors and divines among Thy servants together with such as follow them have,
without the least proof or evidence from Thee, turned away from Thee.
105.
Blessing be unto Thee, O Lord of Names,
and glory be unto Thee, O Creator of the heavens,
inasmuch as Thou hast, through the power of Thy Name, the Self-Subsistent,
given me to drink of Thy sealed wine,
hast caused me to draw nigh unto Thee
and hast enabled me to recognize the Dayspring of Thine utterance,
the Manifestation of Thy signs, the Fountainhead of Thy laws and commandments
and the Source of Thy wisdom and bestowals.
106.
Blessed is the land that hath been ennobled by Thy footsteps,
wherein the throne of Thy sovereignty is established and the fragrance of Thy raiment is diffused.
107.
By Thy glory and majesty, by Thy might and power,
I desire not my sight save to behold Thy beauty,
nor my hearing save to hearken to Thy call and Thy verses.
108.
O my God! O my God!
Debar not the eyes from that for which Thou hast created them,
nor the faces from turning to Thy horizon,
or from paying homage at the portals of Thy majesty,
or from appearing in the presence of Thy throne,
or from bowing down before the splendours of the Day-Star of Thy bounty.
109.
I am the one, O Lord, whose heart and soul, whose limbs,
whose inner and outer tongue testify to Thy unity and Thy oneness,
and bear witness that Thou art God and that there is no God but Thee.
110.
Thou didst bring mankind into being to know Thee and to serve Thy Cause,
that their station might thereby be elevated upon Thine earth and their souls be uplifted
by virtue of the things Thou hast revealed in Thy Scriptures, Thy Books and Thy Tablets.
111.
Yet no sooner didst Thou manifest Thyself and reveal Thy signs
than they turned away from Thee and repudiated Thee
and rejected that which Thou didst unveil before their eyes
through the potency of Thy might and Thy power.
112.
They rose up to inflict harm upon Thee,
to extinguish Thy light and to put out the flame that blazeth in Thy Burning Bush.
113.
Their iniquity waxed so grievous that they conspired to shed Thy blood and to violate Thy honour.
114.
And likewise acted he whom Thou hadst nurtured with the hand of Thy loving-kindness,
hadst protected from the mischief of the rebellious among Thy creatures
and the froward amidst Thy servants,
and whom Thou hadst set the task of writing Thy holy verses before Thy throne.
115.
Alas! Alas! for the things he perpetrated in Thy days
to such an extent that he violated Thy Covenant and Thy Testament, rejected Thy holy Writ,
rose up in rebellion, and committed that which caused the denizens of Thy Kingdom to lament.
116.
Then no sooner had he found his hopes shattered and had perceived the odour of utter failure
than he raised his voice and gave tongue to that which caused Thy chosen ones,
who are nigh unto Thee, and the inmates of the pavilion of glory,
to be lost in bewilderment.
117.
Thou seest me, O my God, writhing in anguish upon the dust, like unto a fish.
118.
Deliver me, have mercy upon me, O Thou Whose aid is invoked by all men,
O Thou within Whose grasp lie the reins of power over all men and women.
119.
Whenever I ponder my grievous shortcomings and my great trespasses,
despair assaileth me from every direction,
and whenever I pause to meditate upon the ocean of Thy bounteousness
and the heaven of Thy grace and the day-star of Thy tender compassion,
120.
I inhale the fragrance of hope diffused from right and left, from north and south,
as if every created thing imparteth unto me the joyous tidings
that the clouds of the heaven of Thy mercy will pour down their rain upon me.
The Tablet of Splendours CHAPTER FIVE
Divisions 121-155
SPLENDOURS
121.
By Thy might, O Thou Who art the Mainstay of the sincere ones
and the Desire of them that enjoy near access unto Thee!
122.
Thy manifold favours and blessings
and the revelations of Thy grace and loving-kindness have truly emboldened me.
123.
How, otherwise, can utter nothingness magnify the Name
of Him Who hath, by a word, brought creation into being,
and how can an evanescent creature extol Him Who hath demonstrated
that no description can ever express Him and no word of praise magnify His glory?
124.
He hath from everlasting been immeasurably exalted above the understanding of His creatures
and sanctified from the conceptions of His servants.
125.
O Lord!
Thou beholdest this lifeless one before Thy face;
suffer him, through Thy generosity and bountiful favour,
not to be deprived of the chalice of immortal life.
126.
And Thou seest this afflicted one standing before Thy throne;
turn him not away from the ocean of Thy healing.
127.
I entreat Thee to enable me at all times and under all conditions to remember Thee,
to magnify Thy Name and to serve Thy Cause,
though I am well aware that whatever proceedeth from a servant
cannot transcend the limitations of his soul, nor beseem Thy Lordship,
nor is worthy of the court of Thy glory and Thy majesty.
128.
Thy might beareth me witness!
Were it not to celebrate Thy praise, my tongue would be of no use to me,
and were it not for the sake of rendering service to Thee, my existence would avail me not.
129.
Yet for the pleasure of beholding the splendours of Thy realm of glory,
why should I cherish sight?
And but for the joy of giving ear to Thy most sweet voice, of what use is hearing?
130.
Alas! Alas!
I know not, O my God, my Mainstay, my heart’s Desire,
whether Thou hast ordained for me that which shall bring solace to mine eyes,
gladden my bosom and rejoice my heart,
or whether Thine irrevocable decree,
O King of eternity and the sovereign Lord of all nations,
will debar me from presenting myself before Thy throne.
131.
I swear by Thy glory and majesty and by Thy dominion and power,
the darkness of my remoteness from Thee hath destroyed me.
132.
What hath become of the light of Thy nearness, O Desire of every understanding heart?
133.
The tormenting agony of separation from Thee hath consumed me.
134.
Where is the effulgent light of Thy reunion,
O Well-Beloved of such as are wholly devoted to Thee?
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