Tablet of the Deathless Youth 4 страница
can never be the same as that which a subsequent age may require.
25.
Be anxiously concerned with the needs of the age ye live in,
and center your deliberations on its exigencies[problems] and requirements.
Tablet to Mánikchí Sáhib CHAPTER TWO
Divisions 26-60
[FRUITS OF THE SAME TREE]
26.
We can well perceive how the whole human race is encompassed
with great, with incalculable afflictions.
27.
We see it languishing on its bed of sickness, sore-tried and disillusioned.
28.
They that are intoxicated by self-conceit have interposed themselves between it
and the Divine and infallible Physician.
29.
Witness how they have entangled all men, themselves included,
in the mesh of their devices.
30.
They can neither discover the cause of the disease,
nor have they any knowledge of the remedy.
31.
They have conceived the straight to be crooked,
and have imagined their friend an enemy.
32.
Incline your ears to the sweet melody of this Prisoner.
33.
Arise, and lift up your voices,
that haply they that are fast asleep may be awakened.
34.
Say:
O ye who are as dead!
The Hand of Divine bounty profereth unto you the Water of Life.
35.
Hasten and drink your fill.
36.
Whoso hath been re-born in this Day, shall never die;
whoso remainteth dead, shall never live.
37.
You have written regarding languages:
38.
Arabic and Persian are both good,
for that which one desires of a language is to attain insight into the discourse of the narrator
and this can be obtained from either tongue.
39.
However, because in this day the Sun of Wisdom shines forth from the horizon of Persia
this language is all the more praiseworthy.
40.
O friend!
When the Primal Word appeared in these latter days,
a number of the heavenly souls heard the Melody of the Beloved and hastened toward it,
41.
while others, finding the deeds of some at odds with their words,
stayed far and were deprived from the radiance of the Sun of Knowledge.
43.
Say,
O ye sons of earth!
Thy Lord, the Pure One, proclaims:
44.
In this glorious Day whatever will purge you from corruption
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and will lead you towards peace and composure, is indeed the Straight Path.
45.
Purity from the stains of desire
means detachment from all things that occasion loss and decrese human nobility,
46.
which in turn comes about when one favors his own words and deeds,
notwithstanding their merit.
47.
Serenity is attained when one becomes the well-wisher of all who are on earth.
48.
He who is informed will readily testify
that if all the peoples of the earth were to attain to these Heavenly Utterances
they would by no means be prevented from the Ocean of Divine Generosity.
49.
The heaven of righteousness has no Star,
and shall not have any, brighter than this.
50.
The first Utterance of the Wise One is this:
51.
O ye sons of earth!
Turn away from the darkness of alienation and seek the radiance of the Sun of Unity.
52.
This is that which shall benefit the people of the world more than aught else.
53.
O friend!
The Tree of Utterance has no better a Blossom
and the Ocean of Wisdom has no brighter a Pearl than this.
54.
O ye sons of wisdom!
Flimsy as it may be,
the eyelid yet prevents the eye from seeing the world and all that is therein.
55.
Consider then what would result when the curtain of greed veils the vision of the heart.
56.
Say,
O people!
The darkness of greed and envy obscures the light of the soul
even as clouds eclipse the radiance of the sun.
57.
He who listens with the ear of intelligence to this Utterance
shall unfurl the wings of freedom
and soar with great ease toward the heaven of understanding.
58.
When the world was environed with darkness,
the Sea of Generosity was set in motion and Divine Illumination made visible the deeds.
59.
This is that same illumination foretold in the heavenly books.
60.
Should the Almighty desire it,
He will sanctify the hearts with pure speech
and shine the Light of the Sun of Unity upon the souls and thereby regenerate the world.
Tablet to Mánikchí Sáhib CHAPTER THREE
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Divisions 61-90
[FRUITS OF THE SAME TREE]
61.
O people!
Words must be demonstrated through deeds, for the latter is the true witness of the former.
62.
Words alone shall not quench the thirsty nor unlock the doors of sight to the blind.
63.
The Heavenly Wise One proclaims:
A harsh word is like unto a sword, while gentle speech like unto milk.
64.
In this manner will the children of the world attain to knowledge and improve their lot.
65.
The Tongue of Wisdom proclaimeth:
He that hath Me not is bereft of all things.
66.
Turn ye away from all that is on earth and seek none else but Me.
67.
I am the Sun of Wisdom and the Ocean of Knowledge.
68.
I cheer the faint and revive the dead.
69.
I am the guiding Light that illumineth the way.
69.
I am the royal Falcon on the arm of the Almighty.
70.
I unfold the drooping wings of every broken bird and start it on its flight.
71.
The Peerless Friend says:
The path of freedom has been opened!
Hasten ye!
72.
The Fount of Knowledge is gushing!
Drink ye!
73.
Say
O friends!
The tabernacle of unity hath been raised; regard ye not one another as strangers.
74.
Ye are the fruits of one tree, and the leaves of one branch. [or, the same]
75.
Truly I say:
Whatsoever decreases ignorance and increases knowledge
has been and shall be pleasing to the Creator.
76.
Say,
O people!
Walk under the shadow of Justice and Righteousness
and take shelter under the pavilion of Unity.
77.
Say,
O thou possessor of sight!
The past is the mirror of the future;
78.
see and be apprised thereof that perchance you may recognize the Friend
and not be the cause of His displeasure.
79.
In this day, the best fruit from the Tree of Knowledge
is that which benefits mankind and improves his condition.
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80.
Say!
The tongue bears witness to My Truth;
do not defile it with falsehood.
81.
The soul is the treasury of My Mystery;
do not surrender it to greed.
82.
It is hoped that in this Dawn,
through which the universe has been illumined
with the rays of the Sun of Understanding and Knowledge,
we may attain to the good pleasure of the Beloved
and drink from the Ocean of Divine Recognition.
83.
O friend!
As ears are few to hear,
for some time now the Pen has been silent in its own chamber,
to such an extent that silence has overtaken utterance, and has been deemed more favorable.
84.
Say,
O people!
Words are revealed according to capacity,
so that newcomers may stay and beginners may make progress.
85.
Milk must be given according to prescribed measure,
such that the babes of the world may enter into the Realm of Grandeur
and be established upon the Court of Unity.
86.
O friend!
We have seen the pure ground
and have sown the seed of knowledge thereupon.
87.
Now it is left to the rays of the sun,
will they singe the seedling or cause it to grow?
88.
Say:
In this day, through the greatness of the Peerless, the Wise One,
the Sun of Knowledge has appeared from behind the veil of the soul.
89.
All the birds of the meadow are inebriated through the wine of Understanding
and are content with the remembrance of the Beloved.
90.
Well is it with him who comprehends.
Provisionally translated by R. Neshati
based on the provisional translation of M. A. Sohrab
Introduction based on the superb introduction and notes of R. Neshati
Tablet of the Arabs
translated by Joshua Hall 2017
originally revealed as "Súrat al-A`ráb" in Arabic.
About: Bahá’u’lláh likely revealed His Súrah of the Arabs in the early `Akká period, after His exile from Baghdád in 1863. This Súrah serves as an epistle to the Bahá'ís of Arab extraction living in `Iráq.
In it, Bahá’u’lláh sets forth essential principles of His Faith, as well as elucidating the characteristics which distinguish the spiritual life. After affirming the verity of His Cause and Revelation, Bahá’u’lláh states that His Súrah mentions “the servants of God who recognized Him in His own Self”, who, being unaffected by the outcry of the disbelievers, attained to God's mercy and grace for having known Him in His Manifestation.
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After lauding the Arab believers of `Iráq for having been chosen by God, Bahá’u’lláh admonishes them to stand firm in His Cause and to be unwavering in the standards which He delineates in this Súrah. By reforming their own characters and adorning themselves with the attributes of God, they are to be “as the stars amidst the concourse of the earth” in order to guide others to God’s Revelation.
Bahá’u’lláh then affirms that earthly sovereignty has been left to the kings in His dispensation, and that God desires the hearts of His loved ones above all else. Bahá’u’lláh also counsels the believers not to dispute with anyone, confirming that the “law of the sword has been abrogated” and that “service is to be rendered by wisdom and exposition”, and not by force or coercion.
Bahá’u’lláh likewise relates the sorrows of His exile and the hardships that He faced, and directs the Arabs to remember the days when He lived amongst them. He speaks of the attempt at His life made by His brother, Mírzá Yaḥyá, here not mentioned by name but obliquely referenced as is common in Arabic style.
In conclusion, Bahá’u’lláh gives the Arabs a moving benediction, and warns them not to draw near to those from whom the “odors of hypocrisy diffuse.”
Surah of the Arabs CHAPTER ONE
Divisions 1-25
THE ARABS
1.
This is the Súrah of the Arabs
which has been revealed by One Who is the Revealer, the Ancient of Days
2.
He is the Sanctified, the Transcendent,
the Exalted, the Most Effulgent
3.
These are the verses of God which have been sent down from the heaven of wondrous glory,
and which God has made to be a proof and testament from Him unto the worlds.
4.
Within it are mentioned the servants of God who recognized God in His being,
who were not shut out as by a veil on account of the outcry of the idolators,
5.
who entered the shelter of His loving providence
and reposed in the precincts of His mercy which surpasses all contingent things
– this, indeed, is a great bounty.
6.
These are they upon whom the heavenly concourse pronounce their blessings,
as well as the angels that have drawn nigh.
7.
These are they who fell on their faces in prostration before God, the Exalted, the Sublime,
when the Everlasting Sun once again shed its effulgence upon them
from the Most High Horizon.
8.
O Beloved of God from amongst the Arabs!
9.
Give ear unto the call of God proceeding from this Tree upraised in truth,
all of Whose leaves speak forth in all things:
10.
“I am God;
none other god is there beside Him,
the Sanctified, the Almighty, the Munificent”.
11.
O people, hasten unto the Sidrah of God and take shelter beneath its shade.
The Lote-tree, representative of the Manifestation of God in the Bahai tablets.
12.
By the One True God!
Were you to search all the climes of the earth and the expanse of the heavens,
never would you find an abode of safety
save beneath the shade of this Tree which overshadows the worlds.
13.
From amidst its leaves the sweet-scented breeze of the Lord is wafted,
giving life to every moldering bone.
14.
Turn unto it and partake of Its fruits,
that your hearts may be purified thereby of the suggestions of every wretched deceiver.
15.
Render praise, then, unto God
for having preserved you from the wastes of self and passion,
16.
for having delivered you from the depths of prejudiced delusion and blindness
on a Day when God came with the kingdom of His Cause
and made His sovereignty manifest before all in heaven and on earth.
17.
Thank Him for having enabled you to recognize Him Who is His Own Being,
for having revealed His beauty to you, for having spoken with you openly,
and for His having numbered you among His servants who are endowed with understanding.
18.
Stand firm in the Cause,
insofar as Satan has come forth with his armies,
and bids you at every moment to deny God, Who created you by a word from Him,
and Who made you among them who have attained.
19.
Praise God for having chosen you for His own,
such that after the Sun of Eternity had set in its own country,
it dawned forth from the horizon of `Iráq, your land.
20.
This is of His grace unto you,
which nothing, whether in the heavens or on earth, can surpass.
21.
The Face of God was amongst you with refulgent radiance,
unconcealed and divested of every veil.
22.
He recited to you the verses of your Lord for months and years.
23.
The Ancient Beauty used to walk amidst you with God's majesty and presence,
and revealed to you at each moment a new light.
24.
Thus was the favor of God and His mercy complete unto you,
that you might be among those in gratitude.
25.
It is befitting that you pride yourselves over all the peoples of the earth,
for none have been graced with such as you have attained,
if you be among them possessed of understanding.
Surah of the Arabs CHAPTER TWO
Divisions 26-60
THE ARABS
26.
You are thus to characterize yourselves with the attributes of God,
that the perfumes of holiness may be diffused over all creation from your hearts,
and that the signs of your Lord, the All-Merciful, the Compassionate,
may be revealed from you.
27.
Insofar as He has chosen you from amongst His creatures,
strive that there be manifest from you such as has not been evinced by those beside you,
that your eminence may be apparent in itself amongst the worlds.
28.
Be as the stars amidst the concourse of the earth,
that you may guide those servants who have veiled themselves
from recognizing God and Him Who is the Revealer of His Cause,
and who are among the heedless.
29.
Be marked by trustworthiness toward yourselves and all people,
then with regard to their wealth and possessions,
for such a virtue was beloved of God before the creation of Adam from water and clay.
30.
Were you not to be trustworthy and faithful on earth,
neither could you be at peace with yourselves nor the people with you.
31.
Thus does God counsel you with the tongue of the Revealer of His Cause;
indeed, a reminder is this to you and all creation.
32.
Purify your hearts of envy and hatred,
and your souls from lusts and corrupt inclinations.
33.
Observe, then, such as you are bidden by God.
34.
Indeed, that which God commands His servants
is better for them than the treasures of the heavens and earth.
35.
Beware lest you dispute with anyone regarding such as is created in this world;
36.
leave it unto the people thereof,
that your souls may be at rest and you be wholly devoted to your Lord,
the Exalted, the Sublime.
37.
The kingdom of wealth is in the hand of your Lord, the All-Merciful;
38.
He enriches whom He wills at His own behest,
and He is, in truth, the Omnipotent, the Almighty, the Munificent.
39.
Know, then, that God has entrusted the earth unto the kings,
and has made them the manifestations of His might amidst all creation,
if they enter under the shadow of the Sidrah of the Cause.
40.
Beyond this, authority is in His grasp; He does as He wills and decrees as He pleases.
41.
Nothing has He desired for Himself.
42.
He has left the world and its vanities to the people thereof,
and has sanctified His loved ones from turning unto it;
43.
for He desires naught for them except that which they shall endure so long as He Himself,
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