Tablet of the Deathless Youth 3 страница
where it appears and is revealed by another name and description,
and in another form with other attributes.
24.
The death of things witnessed in this world applies to the form and the body only,
not to the reality and the essence. 5
25.
Without a doubt, the realities of things appear in different guises and have diverse manifestations in every world, and countless realities are revealed in every world.
26.
Those mature philosophers who have drunk the choice wine of true understanding have acknowledged the embodiment of deeds. 6
27.
The All-Glorious states:
“He will requite them for their [acquired] attributes.” 7
28.
The Dayspring of the Revelation of the All-Merciful has declared:
29.
“The people will be requited for their deeds, with reward being the consequence of good deeds and punishment the consequence of wrongdoing.”
30.
It is evident, then, that deeds will be preserved and every (acquired) attribute will continue to exist, so that through the attribute or deed itself requital can be given.
31.
Every (acquired) attribute a person possesses and every deed he commits,
will therefore reveal itself and take on a particular form in [ ]
32.
In Aristotelian philosophy, the essence and reality of “triangleness,” for example,
is having three sides and three angles whose sum adds up to 180 degrees.
33.
These attributes cannot be removed from a triangle without destroying its fundamental nature.
34.
Yet any acquired accidental attributes, like being red or being dense,
can be added or removed, as they are not essential to its nature.
35.
In the same way, the essential nature of “humanness” is having a rational mind,
while accidental attributes, like being just or being oppressive,
are not essential to the reality of man.
Tablet of the Right of the People CHAPTER TWO
Divisions 36-65
THE RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE
36.
In his Sharḥ-i-Golshan-Rāz, al-Lāhījī explains that the term tajassum-i-aʿmāl, which Bahā’u’llāh uses here, refers to the embodiment of human deeds on the day of resurrection after death:
37.
“After the separation of the soul from the physical body,
man will possess an ideal spiritual body devoid of any corporeal darkness or density.
38.
That ‘body’ is like crystal clear water, and whatever passes before it appears and becomes reflected in it.
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39.
He will witness again in that mirror all of his deeds and actions distinguished and represented in appropriate images.
40.
Eventually, all the acts, deeds, and attributes preserved and firmly embedded in the soul,
by reason of the removal of the dark veils of the body and nature,
will become manifest in the ideal inter-world portrayed in befitting images,
41.
for that is a world wherein the manifest and the hidden are the same,
and all things become revealed,
“each world” so that He may requite each soul for what it has done.
He, indeed, is swift in calling to account.”8
42.
Whenever we desire to make statements and give analogies that are easy to understand and comprehend, in order to explain this theme and expound on the nature of the manifestations of things in the innumerable worlds,
I consider no analogy more befitting than that of the dream world.
43.
It is said that “sleep is the brother of death,”9
so may you recognize the brother by the likeness of his brother.
44.
Consider how in the world of vision you see certain things, and later while awake in this world, you interpret and explain them by referring to other names, forms, and representations.
45.
Then after a lapse of time, something very similar to what you interpreted and explained is witnessed.
46.
Therefore, O my brother, when you dream and see such a thing in the world of vision,
it will have another name and attribute there different from that which it has here.
47.
Recognize, then, that this same difference in forms applies to the world after death.
48.
And know of a certainty that while the reality and the essence are one,
the form and the representation will vary.
49.
If you are unable to grasp this theme through your own experience,
then refer to the interpretations of the wise among those who interpret dreams,
for they have an interpretation for every statement and every action,
and for each thing they have an explanation.
50.
The most truthful of speakers, in His book, mentions Joseph’s vision
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(upon him and the Lord of our age be peace)
and his interpretation of the dreams of two other individuals.10
51.
Now consider.
What kind of world is that wherein his father and mother are seen as the sun and the moon,
and his brothers appear in the form of stars?
52.
And what is this world wherein the reverse is seen: the sun and the moon in the form of his father and mother, and the stars in the form of his brothers?
53.
He says (exalted be his sovereignty),
“I saw eleven stars, and the sun and the moon;
I saw them bowing down before me.” 11
54.
The interpretation of this vision became clear once Joseph was established upon the throne of glory, and Jacob and Joseph’s eleven brothers prostrated themselves at his feet.
55.
Now, since this question has become established and ascertained,
it is evident that the rendering of each due
takes place in every world in a manner befitting that world.
56.
Otherwise, assuredly the administration of justice could not be fulfilled.
57.
I will set forth another analogy for you that, by this means,
you may more easily comprehend the topic of our discourse and realize your aim.
58.
Suppose that during the season of spring someone should steal the seeds and grains of another individual and then plant those seeds in his own garden, so that after a time they grow into tender young bushes, and, finally, during the summer season, they are ready for harvest.
59.
Then it happens that a just king, during this same summer season,
desires to redress the injustice done to the wronged one.
60.
What will his course of action be?
61.
Will he take steps to replace the lost seeds or grains,
or will he return the shrubs themselves with their fruit on them?
62.
Certainly, you would say the bushes, even though this form is not the same as that form,
and this name and this attribute are unlike the name and the attribute the seeds had in the spring.
63.
Perhaps you would assert that those same seeds and grains no longer exist in the summer season.
64.
And assuming they did exist and the very same seeds could be returned, this would provide no benefit or gain to their owner, for the season of spring, which is the time of planting, has already passed, and the seeds and grains would be of no use.
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65.
However, it is clearly incorrect to say that the seeds no longer exist and provide no benefit,
for in truth and fact, those seeds and grains do exist
and have appeared in the form of the bushes
and their fruit, which are superior and more valuable.
Tablet of the Right of the People CHAPTER THREE
Divisions 66-90
THE RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE
66.
How often it happens that justice is dispensed in this very world while you remain unaware.
64.
Such is the case when one’s adornments and possessions become the cloak of tests and afflictions,
and tests and afflictions appear in the form of possessions.
65.
Often it happens that the loss of these possessions is the reason
and cause for dispelling one’s afflictions.
66.
In this case, there is no distinction between losing one’s possessions through spiritual causes
and losing them through the oppression of another.
67.
Although the oppressor has seized and stolen your property,
he has also removed the cause of your affliction and brought it on himself.
68.
Is any better method of dispensing justice conceivable?
No, by the Lord of the worlds!
69.
Were I to explain and remove the veil from the manifestations of the deeds, acts, and words that appear in limitless and manifold forms in the worlds of God,
it is feared, on the one hand, that sanctified souls would forsake their bodies
and ascend to the seats of the glory of the All-Merciful;
and, on the other, that the wicked and perverse would perish
out of fear for what they have committed during their futile lives.
73.
How I long for spiritual attributes, goodly deeds, and truthful and beneficial words!
74.
For the outcome of these is an upraised heaven, an outspread earth, rising suns, gleaming moons, scintillating stars, crystal fountains, flowing rivers, gentle breezes, sublime palaces, lofty trees, heavenly fruits, rich harvests,12 warbling birds, crimson leaves, and perfumed blossoms.
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75.
Thus I say:
“Protect me, protect me, O my Lord, the All-Merciful,
from blameworthy attributes, wicked deeds, unseemly acts, and deceitful and injurious words!”
76.
For the outcome of these is realized in the contingent realm as hell and hellfire, and the infernal and fetid trees,13 as utter malevolence, loathsome things, sicknesses, misery, pollution, and war and destruction.
77.
Great God!
To disclose more than this is not permissible.
78.
I declare that all majesty and greatness belong to God, the Incomparable, the AllCompelling.
79.
I will present another example from the realm of divine legislation, which corresponds to the world of creation, by referring to the application of religious law.
80.
God willing, to the extent you are informed of the divine worlds, you will recognize and understand the metaphorical nature of this world, and will be able to extend it to the limitless worlds.
81.
I relate a parable from the religious law of Islām and the law preceding it, of which you are aware and which you acknowledge.
82.
Should a Christian, in accordance with religious law and ordinance, owe a jar of wine and a piece of pork to a debtor, and later on both should become Muslims,
83.
what course should the deputies of the sacred law follow in order to redress the right of the wronged and requite the overdue debt owed to him?
84.
For in Islām, wine and pork are unlawful and have no value,
and will yield no benefit to the one to whom they are due.
85.
You have no recourse except to say:
either they should compensate the creditor with goods that are lawful in Islām,
or they should award him its monetary value in conformity with what legal experts consider equitable and fair.
86.
Similar judgments in some legal cases are mentioned and recorded in the books of the jurists.
87.
Should I desire it, I could unfold for you many more analogies, both common and abstruse.
88.
Through the power of God and His might, I am able to do this.
89.
But I refrain from this lest our discourse become protracted and cause you to become weary and inattentive.
90.
Thus, I conclude this discourse and give praise to God, who has guided us to recognize His Most Great Name and has acquainted us with that whereof the peoples of the world are unaware.
Translated by K. Brown
1
2
Probably a reference to the prophet Muḥammad, though possibly to the Bāb. According to Armin Eshraghi, this type of ambiguity can often be observed in Bahāʾuʾllāh’s writings and is generally done on purpose.
3 Armin Eshraghi explains that Bahāʾuʾllāh is here applying conventions of modesty expected in Persian letter writing: that the addressee has thought of the unworthy writer, namely, Bahāʾuʾllāh, is a great blessing and a token of his goodwill.
4 According to common Muslim belief, after bodily death the human soul resides in an intermediate world before the event of the Great Resurrection. Shaykh Aḥmad describes the Great Resurrection as the moment souls are summoned to appear before God in celestial archetypal bodies by the second blast of the archangel Seraphiel’s trumpet, after which they receive God’s judgment and obtain their just due, whether this be reward or punishment.
(See H. Corbin, Spiritual Body and Celestial Earth, pp. 191-195.) The Islamic principle of ḥaqq al-nās (the right of the people) asserts that in the next world souls will receive compensation for the debts owed to them.
7 Qurʾān 6:139. The verb translated here as “requite” (jazā) has the double implied meaning of “to reward” or “to punish”, depending on whether the deed being requited is good or bad. The context of this passage makes it clear that God, in this case, is saying He will punish these people for their wrongdoings (= shameful acquired attributes) and for their false assertions. The term waṣf, as a synonym for ṣifa, means “attribute,” “characteristic,” “trait,” or “property”). It also has the meaning of “description,” “depiction,” “representation,” etc., as well as “attribution” and “ascription,”, so the verse in question could also be translated “He will requite them for their [false] attribution,” as some Qurʾān translators have done.
8 Qurʾān 14:51.
9 From an authentic ḥadīth of the Prophet narrated by Jābir Ibn Abd Allāh, al-Ṭabarānī, al-Muʿjam al-awsaṭ, p. 938.
10 See Qurʾān 12:4–5 and 12:36 ff.
11 Qurʾān 12:4.
12 Literally, “low hanging bunches of grapes,” a Qurʾanic image of Paradise, see sūras 69:23, 76:14.
13 The trees of Zaqqūm and Ẓarīʿ, the fruits of which are said to be more bitter than aloe, more fetid than carrion,and hotter than fire, which are the food of the inmates of hell.
Tablet to Mánikchí Sáhib CHAPTER ONE
Divisions 1-25
[Tablet of the Fruits of the Same Tree]
A noteworthy tablet written in response to a 1870s letter of questions from a Parsi envoy of the Zoroastrian community in India, a man who had met with Baha-ullah in Bagdad in 1854 and became his friend. It is the first occasion where Baha-ullah gives expression to the now-famous anthem: "Ye are the fruits of one tree, and the leaves of one branch." [or, Ye are the fruits of the same tree, and the leaves of the same branch] Therefore ihe tablet could be named accordingly.
The document is one of only a few times that Baha-ulllah wrote in the pure Perisan dialect. It also is the basis for doctrines that he elaborates upon in later letters of teaching.
The recepient's name is actually Manikji Limji Hataria. In Hindi, the suffix ‘ji' is appended to names and titles of venerated persons as a sign of respect and endearment, the closest English rendering being ‘dear.' Also, it is customary in India to use ‘Sahib' as a formal designation or title of a respected personage, somewhat equivalent to ‘Excellency' in English.
[FRUITS OF THE SAME TREE]
1.
In the Name of the Incomparable Lord!
2.
Praise be unto Him, the Eternal Seer,
who through a dewdrop of the ocean of His generosity
raised up the firmament of existence, begemmed it with the stars of knowledge,
and summoned mankind to the court of perception and understanding!
3.
This dewdrop, which is the Primal Word of the Almighty,
is at times called 'the Water of Life',
for it quickens the lifeless souls in the desert of ignorance
4.
and at other times it is known as 'the First Rays'.
5.
When this radiance shone forth from the Sun of Wisdom,
the Primary Movement was made manifest through the bounty of the Incomparable, the Wise One.
6.
He is the Knower, the Merciful!
7.
He is sanctified above every statement and attribute!
8.
The seen and the unseen fail to attain a measure of His understanding.
9.
The world of being and everything therein bears witness to this Utterance.
10.
Thus it is established, that the First Bestowal of the Almighty is speech,
and its acceptance by Him is conditioned upon wisdom.
11.
It is the First Instructor in the School of Existence
and the Primal Emanation of God.
12.
All that is visible is only through the radiance of its Light,
and all that is revealed is through the appearance of its Knowledge.
13.
All names originate from His Name,
and the start and end of all affairs are in His Hand.
14.
Your letter reached this Captive of the world in this prison.
15.
It brought happiness, increased friendship,
and renewed the remembrance of former times.
16.
Praise be unto the Possessor of the Universe for permitting our meeting in the land of Arabia.
17.
We met, we conversed, and we listened.
18.
It is hoped that forgetfulness shall not follow that encounter,
that the passage of time shall not erase its remembrance from the heart
19.
and that from what was sown shall sprout the flora of friendship,
verdant, luxuriant and imperishable.
20.
You have asked about Divine Names.
21.
The All-Knowing Physician hath His finger on the pulse of mankind.
22.
He perceiveth the disease,
and prescribeth, in His unerring wisdom, the remedy.
23.
Every age hath its own problem, and every soul its particular aspiration.
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