Tablet to Jinab-i Khalil “the Friend” 9 страница
The Tablet of the River CHAPTER TWO
Divisions 26-50
THE RIVER
26.
Now, some argue that if the miracles attributed to past prophets are true,
then they must appear now, as well.
27.
But this argument is unworthy of the consideration of illumined minds and pure hearts.
28.
It is quite frequently the case
that affairs occurred in the past that no longer occur today, and vice versa.
29.
"In every matter your lord possesses treasure holds that he sends down as he wishes,
according to his own measure.
30.
That is your lord, and the lord of your fathers aforetime."
31.
For instance, every thirty years as you count and reckon,
in some countries a plague epidemic used to break out.
32.
Can this interval be disputed?
33.
And can it be denied that no such thing has recently occurred?
34.
Otherwise, many other things should also occur nowadays
that used to take place but do not, and vice versa.
35.
It might be asked why a miracle demonstrating pure power and the divine attributes should not appear,
so as to cause the exaltation of lofty spirits and of holy souls.
36.
Indeed, this is a truth, the like of which you speak forth in utterance.
37.
But God has sublime parables, if you but knew.
38.
Consider the course of the Tigris, which you see.
39.
It grows turbulent at the time when it overflows its banks and goes on its course.
40.
What it does is determined by its own sovereignty.
41.
It pays no heed to the cries of weak souls that are raised from every side,
that a mighty dam has been breached,
42.
or a wall in such and such locality has crumbled,
or a house has been destroyed, or a mansion has collapsed.
43.
Rather, it flows on, with perfect dominion, power, triumph and sovereignty.
44.
At every stage, it acts with perfect egalitarianism. [doctrines of philosophy]
45.
For instance, before its onslaught,
every building, whether it belongs to an emperor or to a pauper, is equally at risk.
46.
The only exception is a building that is so strong that it can stand firm on its own.
47.
Thus do we coin for you parables,
so that perhaps you might attain certitude in your beliefs.
48.
Render your vision and insight subtle,
49.
so that a breeze from the wind of delight and splendor might caress your heart
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and you might be firmly ensconced [settled] on the throne of tranquillity.
50.
This is the greatest, the supreme teaching,
if you can but discern it.
The Tablet of the River CHAPTER THREE
Divisions 51-75
THE RIVER
51.
In addition, note that if a powerful individual desired to dam up this river,
and to curb it by means of main force and sovereign power,
52.
[note] how many homes and dwellings would in consequence be destroyed,
and how many souls would drown.
53.
Yet at the same time, [dry] desiccated fields that had for some time been afflicted with burning thirst
would attain fresh and wondrous life and would be clothed in fine and magnificent new raiments.
54.
Thus does God create what he wills by his command,
and there is no god but God.
55.
That is the lord of the worlds.
56.
In the same way, consider the foreordained an predestined mysteries
— what has appeared and shall appear.
57.
Like this river, events flow in their own station.
58.
But if something appears that is contrary to that destiny,
then conflict arises in the world.
59.
If you can grasp this abstruse and recondite [deep] enigma,
[that] ismore hidden than any other secret,
60.
you will be able to dispense with the question you posed, and with all such questions in the future.
61.
In any age or epoch, when [God,] the Point of Unity and the self-sufficient Essence desires,
He makes this real river and true sea to appear,
and sets it flowing, [with meteoric objects]
clothing it in a new body and a wondrous robe.
62.
All those edifices of being and imaginings of false souls then drown and perish.
63.
But they are obliterated by the utmost thirst and parching,
neglecting even so much as to take a sip from it.
64.
Thus does God revivify whomever he wishes,
vindicating whomever he pleases and denying whomever he wishes, if you but knew.
65.
The winds of yearning begin gusting over the flooded river of essence
that flows from the north of unity.
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66.
How many exalted souls, possessors of hearts and sound imaginations,
and how many perfect lofty edifices, [noble constructions] will be destroyed and effaced!
67.
By him who grasped the heavens by his might and caused the rivers to flow by his command!
68.
If it were not for fear of the hidden hatred in the breasts of the people,
69.
I would have continued to mirror forth all divine parables and subtleties of the celestial laws
with reference to the very flowing of this physical river.
70.
Yet what shall I say?
71.
I make no claim to a cause [like that]
72.
The intensity of the sorrow and grief that have befallen me during these days
has left me sorely tried between the Gog of silence and the Magog of speech. Ezekiel ___
73.
I beseech God to send down an Alexander who will erect a protecting wall.
74.
Hidden allusions have been concealed in these phrases
and sacred letters have been treasured up in these words.
75.
Happy are those who have grasped these pearls,
have appreciated their [great] value, and have attained their [glorious] presence.
The Tablet of the River CHAPTER FOUR
Divisions 76-100
THE RIVER
76.
It is obvious and well known that disagreement,
from the most distant worlds of meaning to the nearest stages of words,
is caused by differences in the forms reflected by individual mirrors.
77.
Every person speaks of and relates what is within him.
78.
For instance, in this very parable of the Tigris,
note how from one point of view it overflows and affects mansions and buildings equally.
79.
But any vale that had greater capacity could take in more water,
and any dam that was less sturdy would be less able to resist the flood.
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80.
These differences, then, derive from situation.
81.
In the same way, consider the rays of the pre-existent sun,
which shines with a single ray [of sun] in the heavens of the hearts of contingent beings.
82.
Thereafter, its reflection in the forms, which is visible in the mirrors,
differs because of the differences among the mirrors themselves.
83.
For some mirrors stand exalted in their nature and sublime in their aspirations,
whereas others stoop in the baseness of their rigidity and their descent into obliteration.
84.
All have stages before God and all shall return to him.
85.
Those endued with insight must have sharp vision and a heart as big as all being,
so that an opportunity at hand does not prevent some from gazing upon the beauty,
nor deprive others of the water of life.
86.
Thus might they be favored with all foods and receive their portion.
87.
Then what necessity would there be to hold fast to the words of the people,
or to be torn apart by the deeds of the servants?
88.
All drink from one body of water and sip from one lake,
and all occupy levels before God, and all proceed according to their stations.
89.
Today, every person who believes in the most exalted countenance
and who is certain of his station upon the throne after him,
will have a sufficient share of knowledge and deeds.
90.
Yet the only way to attain his good pleasure and faith in him
is by obeying his command in every respect.
91.
This is the most great, glorious and incorruptible result.
92.
No one besides God has any goal nor any end.
93.
All that has been mentioned in description of the Tigris river was a parable that flowed from the Pen.
94.
It pondered and thought about the river,
until all the mysteries, including the veil of nearness and distance, loftiness and basement,
were lifted so that the beauty was uncovered.
95.
Gaze upon this sea of seas, for all oceans will be [nothing more than] droplets before his grandeur,
for the wellspring of the Essence and the [ore] mine of the blessed attributes is itself billowing.
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96.
Say: Praise be to God!
97.
How amazing is your Cause, how great your power,
98.
how extensive your sovereignty, how triumphant your splendor!
99.
We know nothing of You, save what you have taught us from yourself,
by the [word] of the manifestation of your [being],
the wellspring of your essence, the [ore] mine of your Cause,
and the sanctuary of your command.
100.
Verily, you know all that has been created and shall be created,
and verily you are the Absolute Truth, knower of the invisible.
The Tablet of the River CHAPTER FIVE
Divisions 101-125
THE RIVER
101.
Javad, I shall share with you one letter, which is pure compassion and clemency,
which has been taken from the substance of the books and the essence of the scrolls,
102.
so that from the cloud of oneness the water of self-sufficiency might rain down upon your reality
and the reality of the servants. [of God]
103.
Thus might you attain to eternal life, which is this:
104.
Possess a pure, kindly and radiant heart,
that yours may be a sovereignty ancient, imperishable, and everlasting.
105.
This is my treasure, which is related to you.
106.
If it lives and is implemented,
it shall never die nor perish.
107.
This is a light that is not extinguished,
a treasure that is not exhausted,
108.
a raiment that does not wear out,
and a splendor over which no curtain is drawn.
109.
By it many are led astray, whereas [by it] others are guided.
110.
Praise God that you have been the recipient of this universal word,
this divine melody, and this celestial song.
111.
I have found nothing more incontrovertible than this phrase,
otherwise I would have shared it with you.
112.
I have no greater counsel than the saying mentioned above.
113.
Preserve it, if you wish to find a path to the possessor of the Throne.
114.
Because of the love I bear for that gentleman, this answer has been written.
115.
Otherwise, I have no inclination to write anything, or to compose a single letter.
116.
God suffices as a witness and a protector for you.
117.
Therefore, arise with legs of iron
to tread the highway that we have stretched out upon the white land of the spirit.
118.
With blazing eyes, gaze upon its pillars and its foundations.
119.
With ears of sapphire listen to what has appeared therefrom, in regard to the question you posed.
120.
With a golden palm and fingers of power take what is therein and what is upon it.
121.
Confess with the tongue of song and celebration, with clapping and drumming,
that there is no god but He;
122.
that `Ali Muhammad (the Bab) is the eternal essence and being of God;
that Muhammad `Ali (Quddus) is the [ore] mine of the Cause of God and his enduring quintessence;
123.
that the Living Countenance is the sanctuary of the command of God and his subsisting identity;
that the Letters of the Living are the first to have believed in God and his verses.
Verily, we all cling to him.
124.
In truth, this word distinguishes between truth and falsehood
until the day when the Hour shall strike,
when all shall be present before God and all abide by his bidding.
125.
Glory be upon those who believe in him on the day of the Encounter,
on which they attain to his presence.
Translated by J. R. I. Cole
Tablet to `Ali Pasha III CHAPTER ONE
the Sultan of Turkey Divisions 1-25
Describing the sufferings of Baha-ullah and his followers, after his arrival in Akka.
SULTAN OF TURKEY
1.
He is the Possessor in His might and power!
2.
The Supreme Pen proclaims:
O, thou personage, who considerest thyself the greatest of all men,
while looking upon the Divine Youth, thinking him to be the lowest of men,
yet through him the Eye of the Supreme Concourse is brightened and illumined.
3.
This Youth has never made nor will he ever make a request of thee:
4.
For from the beginning every one of the Manifestations of Mercifulness and the dawning-Places of the Glory of the Almighty, who have stepped forth from the Realm of Immortality upon the arena of existence and shone forth with great splendor for the quickening of the dead,
5.
men like thee have considered those Sanctified Souls and Temples of Oneness upon whom the reformation of the world depends, as the people of strife, and wrong-doers.
6.
Verily, their names (the deniers) are forgotten and ere long thy name will also be forgotten and thou shalt find thyself in great loss.
7.
According to thy opinion this quickener of the World and its Peace-Maker is culpable and seditious.
8.
What crime have the women, children and suffering babes committed, to merit thy wrath, oppression and hate?
9.
In every religion and community the children are considered innocent, nor does the Pen of Divine Command hold them responsible, yet the reign of thy tyranny and despotism has surrounded them.
10.
If thou art the follower of any religion or sect, read thou the Heavenly Books, the Inspired Epistles and the Divine Writings, so that thou mayest realize the irresponsibility of children.
11.
On the other hand, even those people who do believe in God, have never committed such crimes.
12.
In everything an effect is hidden, and no one has denied the effects of things except an ignorant one who is completely denied and deprived of intelligence.
13.
Therefore, undoubtedly the lamentation of these children and the cries of these wronged ones will produce a great effect.
14.
You have persecuted a number of souls who have shown no opposition to your country
and who have instigated no revolution against the government;
15.
nay, rather, days and nights they have been peacefully engaged in the mentioning of God.
16.
You have pillaged their properties
and through your tyrannical acts, all they had was taken from them.
17.
When the order was issued for the banishment of this Youth, these souls began to lament,
18.
yet the officers who constituted my guard mentioned that these souls had committed no wrong,
nor has the government banished them,
yet if they desire they may follow you for no one will oppose them.
19.
Consequently, they paid all their own expenses and leaving their property behind,
they were contented with the Countenance of this Youth and trusting upon God they departed again with the True One, until the fortress of Akka became the place of the incarceration of Baha'.
20.
The day after the arrival, the officials of the army surrounded the men, women, and children
and carried them to the gloomy dungeon of the barrack.
21.
The first night they were given neither bread nor water,
for the sentinels were guarding the door of the prison and permitted no one to leave the place.
22.
They did not consider the plight of these wronged ones.
23.
Water was asked for, but it was refused.
24.
It is now some time since we are all imprisoned in this dungeon;
25.
although we were living for five years in Adrianople and all the people, whether ignorant or wise, rich or poor, testified to the sanctity and holiness of these servants.
Tablet to the Sultan of Turkey CHAPTER TWO
Divisions 26-60
SULTAN OF TURKEY
26.
When departing from Adrianople one of the believers of God sacrificed himself with his own hand, for he could not see this Wronged One in the hands of the tyrants.
27.
On our way we were transferred three times, from one ship to another, and it is evident that a number of the children suffered under these severe circumstances.
28.
When we left the steamer, they separated four of the friends from us, and prevented them from following, and upon the departure of this Youth, one of the four, named Abdul Gaffar, threw himself into the sea and no one has ever found any trace of him.
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