Tablet of the City of the Radiant Acquiescence
A large Arabic tablet
1.
This is the City of Radiant Acquiescence.
2.
"In the Name of God, the Elevated, the Most Transcendent"
Allusion to the personal name and elevated status of the Bab, whose first name was Ali, that translates to 'elevated'. See too the name of Ali ibn Abi Talib, the first of the twelve Imams.
3.
The Mercy of God maketh mention of His servant,
that he might thereby be chosen by the Supreme Concourse
4.
so that he might, at every moment, render thanks unto his Lord [God]
because His Bounties upon him have been realized,
and realized upon the peoples of the heavens and of the earth.
5.
6.
TRANSLATION IN PROGRESS
S. Lambden, University of California at Merced
Tablet of the Quintessence of Laudation
A medium length mainly Persian scriptural tablet of considerable doctrinal importance. Most likely from the late 1880s.
1.
He is the Most Holy, the Most Great,
the Very Clear, the All-Knowing, the Conversant,
the quintessene of of laudation.
2.
Translated by S. Lambden
in progress
Tablet to Jinabi Mirza`Ali Aqa Muvaqqir al-Dawlah CHAPTER ONE
Divisions 1-[ ]
the father of the Hand of the Cause [of God],
Hasan Balyuzi, 1890-1980
The Persian text starts with a theological proclamation that echoes a phrase in the Khutba al-Tutunjiyya of the first twelver Imam, `Ali ibn Abi Talib of AD 650.
1.
The tablet starts with mention of the addressee, Jinab-i Mirza `Ali Aqa.
2.
He is the Help in Peril, by virtue of the Names [of God]
3.
This Day the Speaker on the Mount [Sinai] crieth out in the Kingdom of the Bayan
so that all are summoned unto the Straight Path and the Mighty Announcement of the end of days.
Quran 1:6, 11:56
Quran 78:2
4.
Translated by E. G. Browne
available offline
Commentary on Qurān 36:14
"And We strenghtened [the two of] them with a third"
Translated by S. Lambden
Translating in progress
QURAN 36:14
1.
In the Name of God,
the Most Creative, the Most Inaccessible,
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the Most Holy, the Most Glorious.
[ ]
[7].
"Whereupon the Tongue of God cried out in all things,
[8].
"I, verily, am the One Who Liveth in this Horizon which hath, in very truth, appeared.
[9].
In the Supreme Concourse was he named with the Name of "Exalted One" (Ali), the Transcendent.
[10].
Then, in the cities of Names with the name of the One Resplendent, All-Glorious. (Baha-ullah)
[11].
Then [also] among the concourse of things originated with this Name [Ḥusayn]
by virtue of which the [eschatological] tumult hath been raised up.
.
Tablet of the Beginning CHAPTER ONE
Divisions 1-[20]
to Fath al-Azam
Written in Arabaic, the tablet that addresses the start of Baha-ullah's dispensation, is named after its recipient, a Bahai called by the name Fath al-A`zam. An important scriptural tablet, it is probably from the Adrianople-Edirne days, about 1865-67.
In order to explain and legitimate his own years of acting as a leading Bābī from the mid 1840's until the mid 1860's, yet now claiming to be the exalted Prophethood and subordinate Divinity,
there exists an important verse here clarifying his gradually evolving claims, from servitude unto theophanic subordinate divinity of Messianic prophethood.
(The messianic claims of Baha-ullah may yet be disputed, however the greater mantle of the prophethood of the the prophet Baha-ullah (Peace be upon Him) cannot be doubted whatsoever, despite some indications of a few forged tablets (or simply translations) in his name. The authenticity of his doctrines and volumious nature of his writings are overwhelming proof of his authenticity as a legitimate prophet of God, although more a prolific writer of prophetic instruction, than raised up to be a leader of the people, as was Mohammed, Samuel, or Moses.)
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THE COMMENCEMENT
1.
In the name of Our Lord, the One Whose aid is sought.
2.
This was indeed sent down from the heaven of the Divine Command
unto whomsoever is within the heavens and the earth(s).
3.
O Fatḥ al-A`zam!
I took firm hold of the Pen that there might be revealed for thee what will gladden thee
and generate within thy heart what will attract thee
towards the Sanctum of God, the Exalted, the All Mighty.
4.
And when it inclined unto this level of Exposition (Bayān),
I hearkened unto the yearning of My heart and the clamoring of My Pen,
5.
for they both did sing mystic meaning upon the twigs of the Lote-Tree of the All-Merciful
in the Riḍwān of this Elevated, Sanctified, and Luminous Tablet.
6.
At this lamentation encompassed Me to such a degree that [ ].
7.
So recollect, O people, the moment when there came unto you
the Revealer of the Bayān [the Bāb] with wondrous, holy verses.
8.
At one moment he said,
`I am the Gate of Knowledge
and whosoever is convinced of the truth of My Claim in addition to that [surpassing that station],
hath certainly invented lies about Me and acquires great sin within himself '.
9.
Then [later] He said,
`I am the Qā'im, the True [Servant]
whose manifestation you were promised in mighty, noble Scrolls.
10.
This, verily, is assuredly [the Reality of] Muhammad, the Messenger of God,
just as you have heard and witnessed in the tablets of God, the King, the Ruler'.
11.
He [subsequently] then said,
`I am the Primordial Point'. [the first prophet of many more]
12.
And when the beings of a number of predisposed souls were refined,
then were the veils torn asunder
13.
and there rose up from the Dawning-Place of Holiness [the Bāb's claim],
14.
`I verily am God,
no God is there except Me, thy Lord and the Lord of all the worlds'.
15.
And (He also said),
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`I, verily, from the beginning which has no beginning, was a Divinity, Alone, Single, Unique.
16.
I (the divine, primordial Bāb), verily, sent the [past] Prophets
and the sent Messengers from an eternity of eternities past.
17.
Then gaze upon Me, (the Bab, words now inferred by Bahā'-ullāh) the Logos-Soul of God.
18.
By God, O people!
Initially I (Bahā'-ullāh) did not desire any Cause for Me personally,
and followed all the Manifestations of old.
19.
I supported the Cause of God on all levels
during the days when faces were concealed out of fear of the oppressors.
20.
I humbled My soul before every soul in the Bayān, (all the Bābīs)
and lowered the wing of submission before every worthy believer.
[21].
Translated by S. Lambden
Transcription in progress
Tablet of the Furthermost Mosque CHAPTER ONE
Divisions 1-[ ]
Masjid Al-Aqṣā
A unamed Arabic tablet of the Akka years.
During the Akka period of his religious ministrations, Baha-ullah claimed to be a personification of the Masjid al-Aqsa, the "Furthermost Mosque" referred to in Qur'an 17:1, and the Meccan Kabah, and the Jerusalem Temple. That these holy buildings would be rebuilt or re-established in eschatological times is predicted in various Biblical texts and Islamic traditions.
THE FURTHERMOST MOSQUE
1.
He is the Exalted, the Mighty.
2.
The Call of God has certainly been raised up from the right-hand side of the Divine Throne [speaking the words]:
3.
“I, verily, am God, the Unique, the Peerless.
4.
You shall in no wise inhibit your ears
from hearkening unto the pure spiritual intimacies of the Word of God.
5.
Then be among such as turn unto Him with a purified heart.
6.
Such are certainly of those who have sanctified their ears for hearkening to
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the Divine Call from the Luminous Tree raised up upon the Blessed, Crimson Spot.
7.
By God! The promised [prophet] has indeed appeared in His Name, the Loving,
on the part of God the Mighty, the Deliberate.
8.
Emerge ye then from the cities of idle fancy,
for the monarch of Certitude has come with the Light of the All-Merciful.
9.
Wherefore has the matter been decreed on the part of God, the Peerless, the All-Enduring.
10.
Necks hath been humbly leveled before the manifestation of the brightness of the Horizons for the people hath been enveloped in veils of hypocricy
11.
Under such circumstances did the Tongue of Divine Inspiration cry out ever-voicing the words:
12.
This is the Day whereon every atom utters the cry,
`The King of Names and Attributes hath indeed come,
He who took for himself neither a Partner nor a Son.'
13.
Say,
Mystical knowledge is assuredly the gnosis of My Logos-Persona.
14.
Whoso has attained thereto has assuredly attained unto God.
15.
And whoso turns away therefrom
is among such as hath disbelieved in the verses of the All-Merciful.
16.
Of such account does the Tongue of Grandeur cry out and bears witness, [saying],
`We have indeed ornamented the Kingdom with Our Name and the Heaven with Our verses
17.
So Fear ye God, O People,
and follow ye not all such as have disbelieved.
18.
[I am indeed the Masjid al-Aqṣā ("Furthermost Mosque") among you
and the [Meccan] Sanctuary of God before your faces,
the Sanctified House before all humankind.
19.
Beware lest ye withold thine own selves from hath been ordained for thee...
20.
21.
Translated by S. Lambden
Edit in Progress
Now in progress
Tablet of the Veil CHAPTER ONE
Divisions 1-[ ]
A letter to the Sheik of Kirman,
Hajji Mirza Muhammad Karim Khan Kirmani, the Veiled One, in 1869.
The Kirmani Shaykhi leader was ante-sympathetic towards the new religion of Bab and the Bahais. The Veil is mainly addressed to this polymath and polemic opponent of the Bābī Bahā’ī religion, the Kirmani Shiekhī leader Karīm Khān Kirmānī. He was the third shiek to rule the city of Kirman since Shiek Amhad.
In the latter part of the tablet is a reply to a question by Shaykh Aḥmad from a century before about the phrase "the Qā'im exists in the loins" (written in 1783 in the “Treatise of the People of Rasht, (a city in Iran). The treatise of Shiek Aḥmad refers to the "Mystery of the Great Reversal",
"Six days have elapsed and the alif (A) is the completion, no more need be said,
and the (other) six refers to the other days.
Otherwise why was the going back produced,
for it is the mystery of great reversal in the sign of the Sovereign."
THE VEIL
1.
In the Name of God, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.
2.
O thou (Karīm Khān Kirmānī) who hath a reputation for knowledge
yet is actually one standing at the brink of the abyss of ignorance.
3.
We have heard that thou became acquainted with the Truth of the True [Lord] (through the Bab),
yet have turned aside from one of His beloved ones (Quddus)
who had delivered unto thee a Noble Communication [a letter of the Bab]
in order to facilitate thy guidance unto God, thy Lord and the Lord of all the worlds.
4.
Thou turned aside from him and followed after the ways of the ignorant ones.
~
[ ]4.
As for that which thou hast heard of the mention of al-Muqanna`.
[ ]5.
He is famous as al-Muqanna` al-Kindi,
who is [in fact] Muhammad ibn Zafar ibn `Umayr ibn Fir`ayn ibn Qays ibn Aswad.
[ ]6.
He was among those deeply informed.
[ ]7.
If We desired that We might make mention of his forefathers [ancestors],
one by one, back until the very ultimacy of the primary era,
We would be confident that My Lord would so instruct me regarding
both the earliest and the latest branches of knowledge [and of science]!.
~
[ ]3.
Say,
With My Lord are the Treasuries of Knowledge and the knowledge of all of the creatures.
[ ]4.
Lift up thine head from the couch of heedlessness
in order that thou might bear witness to the Most Great Remembrance of God
enthroned upon the Throne of the Manifestation
just as the enthronement of the letter "H" (ha') upon the letter "W". (vav)
(forming the word Huwa, "He is [God]").
[ ]5.
So rise ye up from the slumber of base passion then follow thy Lord,
the Elevated, the Most Transcendent.
Translated by S. Lambden
in progress
Notes
In this significant Arabic tablet Bahā-ullāh cites the substance of a epistle of Shaykh Aḥmad known as the Risāla al Rashtiyya (written 1197 /1783) written in response to an enquiry of Shaykh Msā ibn Muhammad al Sayīgh. He refers to its author in exalted terms as "the most glorious, the most favoured midday [sun] of Islam (ẓuhr al islām), the "Ka`bah of humankind" who was the "lamp of knowledge betwixt the worlds". In this work Shaykh Aḥmad had apparently responded to an enquiry from about the signficance of the phrase "the [messianic] Qā’im is in the backbone [loins] (al aṣlāb) ". In the course of his complex reply he refers to the letter wāw and to the sirr al tankīs li ramz al ra’īs , the "mystery of inversion on account of the symbol of the Ruler"; the reversed and extended letter wāw within the graphic Greatest Name of God symbol.
Commentary on the "He is" (Huwa) CHAPTER ONE
Divisions 1-[11]
Baha'-Allah's wholly Arabic scriptural Tablet sometimes referred to in Persian as the Tafsīr-i hu is (more correctly Arab.) Tafsīr huwa, the "Commentary on the He is" (huwa = "He is"). It is a scriptural Tablet of around twenty pages dating from the mid.-late Iraq (Baghdad) period (c. 1859?). It has the following Arabic prescript:
"This is that which was revealed from the Empyrean of Grandeur (jabarūt al-`uẓmat) through the Tongue of Power (bi-lisān al-`izzat) and raised up regarding the Truth of His sanctified Mirror (mirātihi al-qudsiyya) and All-Eternal Light (al-nūr al-azaliyya)."
In basic grammatical terms huwa is the Arabic third person masculine pronoun. In the Qur'ān and in numerous other Arabic Islamic religious texts, traditions and literatures it is often indicative of the existent reality of the Godhead whose personal Name is Allah is presupposed. Thus in the Qur'an and elsewhere as well as in thousands of Babi-Baha'i religious texts, indicates the reality, transcendence and absolute existence of the Godhead. Thus also the common theological phrase that also has deep theological and alphabetic or numerological significances in Islamic mysticism as well as in a considerable number of the writings of the Bab and other primary and secondary Babi and Baha'i sacred literatures. Additionally, the Bab wrote several commentaries on the first letter of the huwa, or several works entitled Tafsir al-hā' (Commentary upon the letter "H"). Baha'-Allah's Tafsir-i hu or Tafsir Huwa was writtern in a Babi universe of discourse before he had announced his own messianic or theophanological claims in 1863 near Baghdad, and subsequently in 1866-67 from Edirne.
The text of the Tafsir-i hu / Tafsir huwa has never been officially published or translated. The text referred to here is based on a typed text communicated by the Baha'i World Centre in 1982.
Tablet of Commentary on the "He is" CHAPTER ONE
Divisions 1-[11]
A large tablet from right before 1860, that is comparable to the commentary on the Light verse. “He is” is a Islamic term akin to the Biblical term “I am”. (I am that I am. The great I am. etc)
HE IS
[1.]
[He is God. HeTablet o is that He is.]
Arabic preface
2.
This is that which was sent down from the celestial realm of Grandeur
through the Tongue of Might and Loftiness
regarding the Reality of His Sanctified Mirror and Eternal Light.
Persian
3.
O This Temple!
We assuredly created thee according to these "Most Beautiful Names"
and made Thee all things
relative to the Names which allude unto Us through the mention of "He is",
in order that they might be a sign communicated on Our part unto all the worlds.
3.
O thou Enquirer!
Hearken unto My gracious favour, then turn unto My Guidance
for thou shall not find another more righteous than Me,
nor a mystic lovermore elevated than Me in the genesis of the Cause of God.
4.
So clothe thy temple with the robe of the Spirit,
then adorn thine outer beings with vestments of Light.
5.
So know that God, exalted and glorified be He,
addresseth His Mirror in this verse which hath descended from Him,
6.
`O Eternal Fruit,
Lordly Garments, Ancient Temple and Perpetual Tree,
We, verily, created thee according to these `Most Beautiful Names'.'
7.
In other words,`We allotted Thee all the Names from them that were
made manifest, dawned forth, shone brightly, and radiated from
the most sublime celestial realm and the Kingdom of Origination;
8.
selected from the Most Beautiful Names which We referred unto Our Person,
since He, verily -- exalted he His mention -- is the Names which are referred to His Being
that is derived from the Most Beautiful Names and the Most Lofty Signs:
9.
And `Alī [the Bāb] is the Fountainhead of His Essence and the Mine of His [God's] Knowledge;
the [Retreat] [word] of His Command and the Locale of His Activity, (or, Source of His Action)
relative to all that hath been or will be made manifest, and that hath been or will be created.
10.
Apart from these Names, of which mention is made apart from the Most Beautiful Names,
nothing is alotted unto His Logos-Persona or alotted unto His Essence.
11.
Such hath been His way on the part of He [God] before whom there is nothing
and after Whom [there is everything in Creation.]
12.
Translated by S. Lambden from text provided by the Bahai World Center
Edit in Progress
Tablet to Nabil CHAPTER ONE
Divisions 1-[ ]
Mullah Muhammad Nabil-i Zarandi, the Bahai poet and historian
A disciple of Baha'-ullah who was, among other things, the organizer and author of a vast collection of notes and papers pertaining to Babi-Baha'i history and apologetics, a portion of which in English translation was entitled The Dawn-Breakers, by the Guardian of the Bahai religion, Shoghi Effendi in 1932.
NABIL
1.
From the Right-Hand side of the Divine Throne is revealed:
2.
God, the All-Merciful, hath willed that the people ought, under all circumstances,
to pay heed unto the Divine Law
3.
in that heedless, negligent souls re-orient themselves in the direction of goodly urges
from the Shore of the Divine Union.
4.
O Nabil!
Rise up within thine heart, thy sight, thy hearing, thy tongue,
and throughout all thy members in the service of thy Pre-Existent Master.
5.
Thus commands thee He Who is seated at the very apex of calamity and extreme deprivation.
6.
So initiate thy footsteps through what is leaden [weighty iron] for the sake of My Cause!
7.
Making thy tongue even as a multi-faceted sword
for the sake of My Remembrance and My Exaltation.
8.
[ ]1.
O Nabil!
By My Life! This Day is the Day for Attentiveness.
[ ]2.
So Blessed be the ear that hath inclined towards the Most Great Shore!
[ ]3.
Rise ye then up through My Sovereignty and My Cause amongst My creatures.
[ ]4.
Remind them about what hath come to pass as a result of this Announcement
for through it heaven hath been cleft asunder,
the mountains crushed to dust, and there hath appeared the "The Great Terror," Quran 21:103
[ ]5.
The moon hath been eclipsed,
and there hath been manifested the trembling of the earthquakes amidst the tribes [of the earth]!
[ ]6.
The stars hath fallen and the luminaries of idle fancy hath been darkened.
[ ]7.
At this, the Dove warbled forth upon the branches of
the Sidrat al-Muntaha (the Lote Tree of the End), pronouncing,
[ ]8.
"The Kingdom belongeth to God,
thy Lord and the Lord of all the worlds!".
[ ]10.
Then Write for such that dwell [ ]...
A number of Bahá-ulláh's writings bear directly or indirectly upon the theme of the endtime "catastrophe". It is stated that various of his revelatory Tablets, as expressions of the scriptural word, amount to being encapsulations of end-time, cataclysmic "trumpet blasts" precipitating revolutionary "terror" and calamitous change. In the tablet to Nabíl [-i Zarandi?], he speaks on the theme of his revelations in the light of end-time "judgement" or "catastrophe" and says,
[Armageddon]
.
For every individual among the rulers of the earth
there was revealed a specific tablet from the heaven of the Divine Will.
.
Each one of them [the "Tablets to the Kings and rulers"] hath been designated by a special Name.
.
The first hath been named "The Rumbling [Shout]", Quran 54:31
the second "The [Catastrophic] Blow", Quran 101
.
the third "The Inevitable [Calamity]", Quran 69
the fourth, "The Plain", Quran 79:14
the fifth "The Catastrophe", Quran 79:34
.
and the others,
"The Stunning Trumpet Blast," Quran 80:33
"The Near Event," Quran 67:27
.
"The Great Terror," Quran 21:103
"The Trumpet," Quran 6:73
"The Bugle,"and their like. Quran 74:8
.
The tablet ends with an Arabic prayer.
[ ]4.
...turning to God,
the King of the Heavenly Throne and of the earth below.
[ ]5.
Thus have We clarified for thee, narrated for thee,
have cast things forth for thee,
and We have We have announced unto thee something exhilirating.
[ ]6.
And thou should [beseech God] saying,
`Unto thee be praise,
O Thou in whose grasp is the Omnipotent sphere of the Cause and of the creation.
[ ]7.
In thy Right Hand is the Kingdom of the Dominion of the heavens and of the earth.
[ ]8.
Unto thee be praise in that Thou hast remembered me in the Most Great Prison
and hast set me apart, one separated, from everything.
[ ]9.
Thou art indeed the Most Merciful of those given to mercifulness
and the Most Noble among such as are characterized by nobility.
[ ]0.
[Unto Thee be praise! O King of the Day of Judgement!
It is uncertain if the last line here (in brackets) is the end of the tablet or the start of another.
Translated by S. Lambden
Tablet for Abd al-Wahhab CHAPTER ONE
Divisions 1-[ ]
For a certain believer entitled the Bestower, or Giver
Revealed in Arabic
THE GIVER
1.
He is the One Who gazeth forth from His Supreme Horizon
2.
O `Abd al-Wahhab!
Upon thee be Baha'-Allah, the Splendour of God,
the Mighty, the Bestower (al-wahhab).
3.
Hearken ye unto the Call of this Wronged [Servant]!
4.
He calleth thee to remembrance in this prison of Acre
for the Ocean of the All-Merciful hath been manifest before all realms of Possibility and the breezes of the All-Merciful are cast forth for the adherants of all religions.
5.
Therefore blessed be whomsoever catcheth the fragrances of divine inspiration
and seizeth the Book through a power which cometh from God, the Lord of all the worlds.
6.
We have heard thy call through thy communication (kitab).
7.
We make mention of thee in the light of that which shall draw thee near
to the Horizon of the Manifestation, during these Days of God, the Mighty, the Praiseworthy.
8.
We have flung open the gate of knowledge through the key of the Bayan [the Explaination]
even though the people are in manifest error.
9.
10.
.
.
Translated by S. Lambden
In progress
Tablet of the Priest of Istanbul CHAPTER [ ]
Divisions [ ]
otherwise named the Tablet to the Son of Man
What is referred to as `the Tablet of the Son of Man', drawing on the translation of Shoghi Effendi, is a tract from a lengthy summary of a large tablet of Baha-ullah to a priest living in Istanbul. That is to say, the so-called Tablet of the Son of Man forms part of the larger unamed tablet that converses with followers of the Bab.
Selection translated by S. Effendi
Gleanings 36
Translations of Shaykhi, Babi and Baha'i Texts, vol. 5, no. 2 (May, 2001)Baha'u'llah, Tablet of the Son (Jesus), Letter of the Middle Edirne Period circa 1866 Translation* and Commentary. Cole gives an excellent full translation of the Tablet of Baha'-ullah which cites in summary form the `Tablet to the Priest of Istanbul'.
Gleanings 36
Know thou that when the Son of Man…
Know thou that when the Son of Man [al-ibn = Jesus] yielded up His breath (al-ruh) to God, the whole creation (al-ashiya' kulliha) wept with a great weeping. By sacrificing Himself, however, a fresh capacity was infused into all created things. Its evidences, as witnessed in all the peoples of the earth, are now manifest before thee. The deepest wisdom (al-hikmat) which the sages (al-hakim) have uttered, the profoundest learning which any mind hath unfolded (`alam ... al-`ulum), the arts (kull al-sani`) which the ablest hands have produced, the influence 86 exerted by the most potent of rulers (al-sultan), are but manifestations of the quickening power (al-quwwat) released by His transcendent, His all-pervasive, and resplendent (al-munir) Spirit (ruh).
We testify that when He came into the world, He shed the splendor of His glory upon all created things (tajalli `ala al-mumkinat). Through Him the leper recovered from the leprosy of perversity and ignorance. Through Him, the unchaste and wayward were healed. Through His power, born of Almighty God, the eyes of the blind were opened, and the soul of the sinner sanctified.
Leprosy may be interpreted as any veil that interveneth between man and the recognition of the Lord, his God. Whoso alloweth himself to be shut out from Him is indeed a leper, who shall not be remembered in the Kingdom of God, the Mighty, the All-Praised. We bear witness that through the power of the Word of God every leper was cleansed, every sickness was healed, every human infirmity was banished. He it is Who purified the world. Blessed is the man who, with a face beaming with light, hath turned towards Him.
Tablet to Mīrzā Abbās Āstarābadī CHAPTER ONE
Divisions 1-[9]
concerning the Greatest Name of God
MĪRZĀ ABBĀS ĀSTARĀBADĪ
1.
In the Name of God, the [Lord].
2.
Thy letter arrived in the Acre prison
and the gaze of the Wronged [Servant] who summoneth all unto God,
the Help in Peril, the Independent, was directed unto it.
3.
The start of that [communication] was ornamented with this blessed phrase,
“I, verily, O my God,
beseech Thee through Thy glory at its Most Brilliant”.
4.
Thou art aware of the perfidy of the people of the Criterion (the Qurān, the Muslims)
despite the fact that they [certain of the Imams] indicated that the Greatest Name of God is mentioned in this [Ramaḍan fast] prayer [of the Imam Muhammad al-Bāqir].
5.
And it is abundantly clear and evident on the part of the possessors of insight
that the position of the mention [in the prayer] of the Greatest Name
is at its very first lines.
6.
This since it has preeminence over the [other Divine] Names
and is the genesis (source) and dawning-point of the [other] commemorative lines
[of the prayer being mentioned and positioned at the very start of the prayer.
7.
In spite then of this, all repudiated it
and remained unaware of its Truth.
8.
Nay indeed!
They [the Shīīa priests] issued a order for Bahā-ullah’s execution,
except, that is, them that were, in very Truth,
safeguarded by God and rescued from the ocean of idle fancies.
9.
He [God] indeed is assuredly the Powerful, the Potent.
10.
11.
Translated by S. Lambden
Tablet of Muhammad Ibrahim Khalil, Muballigh of Shiraz CHAPTER ONE
Divisions 1-[ ]
[ ]
1.
In the Name of God, the Knowledgeable, the All-Knowing.
2.
Praised be to God
Who made the ornament of the Scriptural Tablets to be numerologically significant
through the [Lord] which hath ever been sanctified above [mere] numeration [of reunion].
3.
He made it [the 19] to be the source of [ ].
4.
So when the manifestation was realized by virtue of His Sovereignty,
above its pillars there was manifested the [number] four
which [number] is completely realized in the [number] ten. (4 = 1+2+3+4 = 10)
5.
And by means of it, the levels of numeration were fully realized
in the modes of the Rememberence, and of the allusive indications.
6.
By virtue of the vision of every insightful person near the summit of this level [or, station]
was the form-image of the beginning relative to the genesis of the numbers.
7.
At this did the sun of the Divine Names radiate forth
from the horizon of this heaven expressing the various levels and the scripts,
8.
delimited according to the numbers of the Wāw (W = 6) and the Hā’ (H = 5)
which were established above them
in the worlds of realization beyond that of the divine Decree.
9.
Then when the scripts were made manifest,
the ornamentation was realized by means of the Divine Names
according to the number of Our Name, the Blissful. ( = 11)
10.
We ornamented thereby the first talismanic Temple
and made it to be the genesis of causality.
11.
Then We then separated therefrom the Temple and the Names
until the temples were completed up until the ninth Temple.
12.
Now as for what thou enquired about regarding the days
which We made to be a manifestation of the Ha' (H = 5) in the kingdom of origination,
[ ]
13.
14....
Translated by S. Lambden
Edit in progress
Tablet of the Robe [of Joseph] CHAPTER ONE
Divisions 1-30
THE ROBE OF JOSEPH
1.
This is the Chapter of the Garment.
2.
We, in very truth, sent it down as a Manifestation of My Temple [Persona] betwixt all the worlds!
3.
In the Name of God, the Most Holy, the Most Holy
and In His Name of the Resplendent, the All-Glorious.
4.
O citizens of subsistent eternity amidst the Supreme Concourse!
5.
Hearken ye unto the Call of God from this lively breeze
that echoes in this remindful atmosphere beneath this intimate, gracious Heaven.
6.
He who voices these words is indeed the Muezzin,
the person Who invites the people to prayer,
to the Most Great Pilgrimage.
7.
This through this Greatest Word that stands up above
the temple of the cosmic script in this Book.
8.
This on account of the Pen of Might
and by virtue of that Divine Grace which is hidden away.
9.
Say:
He indeed is the Most Great Book which was sealed up with the Seal of God,
hidden beyond the veils of the Unseen and treasured up in the Treasuries of Might.
10.
He, in very truth, was made manifest through the Divine Grace
in the form of the Divine Justice
during those days which were, in very truth, foreordained."
11.
O Solace of the Spirit!
Send ye down upon the realms of the possible from the heaven of Thy Bounty
what will make them to be detached from whatsoever lieth betwixt earth and heaven,
for they indeed were ill equipped to fathom the secret of the mystery
or the annihilated state of these domes near the dawning-place of this beauty.
12.
This since they, in thy hearing, were indeed persons suspended!
13.
O Solace of the Spirit!
The unbelievers (among the Bābīs) were in a state of doubt regarding thy Cause
despite the fact that We cried out unto them according to the tones of the Remembrance
near the Dawning-Place of Light in this Theophany which hath shone forth in this Sinaitic Mount.
14.
It was indeed lifted up above these two names
in these two resplendent Suns within the two Beauties.
15.
And as for thee, thou shalt not weep!
16.
Rather, be thou patient, and show forbearence,
for thy Lord is the All-Merciful and will keep thee safe from the hosts of Satan.
17.
He, indeed, is [Lord] that doth act with wisdom relative to all the worlds.
18.
He shall burn away the veils from thy face, then the self-glorifications from thy Beauty.
19.
And He shall cause [Him] to dawn forth from the Dawning-Place of Paradise
above the Temple of Light in the form of the Spirit.
20.
Then thou shalt not turn in the direction of anyone
nor fix thy gaze towards the visages of the unbelievers.
21.
Rather, orient thyself in the direction of the Divine Throne, the vicinity of thy Lord.
22.
He sufficeth thee over all the worlds
and He, in truth, rendereth thee victorious
and at every moment protects thee, just as thou hath been assisted through the Divine Bounty.
23.
Thereby hath He caused the Spirit to cry out in thy breast
and thereby made thee Luminous and Splendid above all the worlds.
24.
Say:
By God! I, verily, am the Greatest Panorama amidst the Supreme Concourse,
the Most Pristine Beauty in the Abhā Horizon,
the Most Evident Word near the Furthermost Tree,
25.
the Mighty Announcement near the Lote-Tree beyond which there is no passing,
the Hidden Visage in the Heaven of the Divine Decree,
the Mystery of God and His Logos-Command in the Kingdom of Origination.
26.
Through the intimation of My Pen the decree of the letter Kāf (K)
was made manifest betwixt earth and heaven,
27.
and the decree of the letter Nūn (N) was made manifest
in the Cities of the Divine Names, for thy Lord is indeed Generous.
28.
He, in very truth, poured the Divine Bounty upon thee and made thee to be a Mighty Pillar.
29.
Say:
`I, verily, am the Most Great Pillar and the Most Complete Word.
30.
And whoso taketh firm hold of Me is indeed them who taketh firm hold of the Mountain of God,
the Help in Peril in this manifest Immutability
who hath ever been far beyond the pavilions of Infallibility,
in very truth concealed behind the threshold of the Veils of Divine Grandeur.
Tablet of the Robe of Joseph CHAPTER TWO
Divisions 31-60
THE ROBE OF JOSEPH
31.
O Solace of Eternity in the Resplendent Dawning-Place!
32.
By God! Thou art indeed the Wise [Lord] in this Heaven.
33.
Then be Thou Wise in whatsoever manner pleaseth thee
for with thee are established the dictates of the Divine Decree
as are consummate with true actualization.
34.
The very Suns and the Moons are subjected to thy Logos-Command,
Quran 7:54, 15:12, 13:2, 14:33, 31:29, 35:13, 39:5
35.
thine indeed is the Logos-Command, for through none other than thee
is the Logos-Command [operative] in the Mighty Heaven of Eternity.
36.
And Thine is the Creation in the Kingdoms of both earth and heaven.
37.
Thy Lord is He Who, no God is there except Him.
38.
Before all the worlds did he make thee to be Singled Out, Victorious and Evident.
39.
O people of the Earth!
You have supposed that you shall enter the Paradise in this Eden Quran 61:12
which hath indeed appeared above the Temple of Ridwān in this Garden!
40.
This without any trace of love for this Eternal, Primordial, Eternal without Beginning,
All-Eternal, Persian, Arabic, and Divine Youth.
41.
What you suppose within yourselves is absolutely wretched.
42.
Wherefore is the abode of the evildoers a hellfire, justly situated,
an ample [recompense] in the lowest depths of Ghenenna. Quran 17:63
43.
Say,
We sent down into the hearts of the unbelievers a terrible fear of the realisation of justice. Q 3:151
44.
And within the hearts of the confessors of the Divine Union
did We evoke a sense of peaceful security (“Shekinah” Hebrew) Q 48:4,18,26, 2: 248, 9:26,40
45.
through the Divine Grace diffused from this Book
which was indeed sent down unto all the worlds
from the Heaven of the Unseen through the Divine Bounty.
46.
O citizens of the realms of Existence!
Hearken ye unto the melodies of God in the mid-most heart of the Garden of Paradise,
from the Lote-Tree of Holiness which was planted in the Land of Saffron (Edirne/Adrianople)
by the hands of the All-Merciful.
47.
Say,
By God! Through merely a single melody therefrom
the theophany of Light was realized upon the Elevated Mount, in the Sinai of Holiness,
beyond the domain of divine intimacy before Moses the Speaker
in the Lofty Heights of Eternity near the Lote-Tree of the Extremity.
48.
This on account of this Sinaitic Fire which blazeth out with Golden [Yellow] Light, proclaiming,
49.
"I, verily, am God,
your Lord and the Lord of your fathers aforetime". Exodus 3:6, Quran ___
50.
He, assuredly, was ever the All-Surrounding [Lord] relative to all the worlds.
51.
It was through merely a single melody therefrom
that the spirits were moved in the bodies of contingent beings
and the Nightingale of the Divine Throne did warble betwixt earth and heaven.
52.
On this account did the the Spirit of Holiness cry out with a wondrous, melliflous, Tongue
whereat was manifest the decree of the letter Kāf (K) and the letter Nūn (N).
53.
Thus was completed the intention of God as befits whomsoever is in the heavens or on the earth.
54.
The Beauty of God was made manifest adorned with the Ornament
that all in every dominion were thunderstruck.
55.
O thou people of the earth!
Inasmuch as thou shalt never be satisfied with this Most Pristine Beauty in this Greatest Ridwān,
then die in thy fury,
56.
for there hath indeed appeared Him whom God made to be a Light
unto such as confess the unity of God and a Fire unto the unbelievers.
57.
And He hath ever been cognizant of all things.
58.
Say:
None hath raised up a Call unto God this Day
except them that hath entered into the Paradise of Immortality,
59.
annihilated through this Word, which was, in truth, cried out in this Sinaitic Mount
as accords with the elevation of this Cause.
60.
Say:
This is assuredly the Book of God and the Sealed and Embellished Scroll
which was preserved, in truth, beneath the Storehouses of Might
and within the Veils of Infallibility.
Tablet of the Robe of Joseph CHAPTER THREE
Divisions 61-85
THE ROBE OF JOSEPH
61.
O thou concourse of the earthly and heavenly regions!
How could ye estimate that ye could fathom anything other than a few mere dewdrops of the reality pertaining to this Fortified Citadel?
62.
This since it was fashioned from Ingots of Iron Quran 18:95
raised up beyond the very Mountain of Might!
63.
Or how could ye reckon that ye could come out from the land of God?
64.
Nay indeed! By He besides Whom there is no God!
65.
They shall never fathom its magnitude [points of exit] nor prove capable of emerging therefrom;
unless, that is, they should take firm hold of this Golden Cord within this atmosphere.
66.
For such hath radiated forth from this Heaven, divulged its theophanic glory in this Divine Cloud,
which was transfigured in Crimson hue in the midmost heart of this Eternity.
67.
And these matters have not even been comprehended by the insight of the peoples of radiance,
lest they be numbered among the the inmates of Paradise within the Ridwān of Holiness,
according to what is written by the Pen of God.
68.
O people of the Bayān!
Do ye utter the like of what they uttered aforetime,
reckoning that "the Hand of God is chained up"?
69.
Or do ye suppose within thy hearts that the Gates of the Divine Bounty are bolted up?
70.
This after they were everlastingly opened up
before the visages of all that inhabit the heavens and the earth!
71.
Say:
By God! Since the Gate of Holiness was opened up on the right-side of Paradise,
the Ancient Beauty dawned forth therefrom with Manifest Sovereignty.
72.
This is indeed the [Lord]Whom God made to be a husband for Her
and for them that confess the Unity of God
and a Warner for them that deny the Union of God.
73.
He is, indeed the Lamp of God betwixt the heavens and the earth
ignited through His Essence, before His Essence, through the Oil of His Spirit. Quran 24:35
from which are illuminated the members of the Supreme Concourse
as well as the citizens of the Crimson Paradise
and the people of the Abyss of Sanctity situated beyond the Depths of the Divine Grandeur.
74.
Thus was the Command, in very truth,
written down by the Pen of the Divine Decree upon the Tablet of Realization.
75.
O Solace of Eternity!
Withold thou not the wonders of thy Grace from the domains of contingent Reality, nor should ye hide it through the veils of mystical allusions.
76.
Emerge then, from beyond the Ruby Chamber,
then proffer ye the Choice Wine of Life from the Chalices of the All-Merciful in this Riḍwān,
through the hand of this Youth who hath been made manifest
from the Horizon of Holiness with the Ornament of God.
77.
Beware then lest ye shield thine eyes from the Divine Grace
or hold back from the servants the Fountain of the Divine Bounty.
78.
Neither fix thy gaze upon them nor upon what is associated therewith.
79.
Rather, do thou gaze upon the Greatest Panorama,
which is indeed a mighty, praiseworthy station.
80.
Then be ye merciful unto them
and raise them up unto this Heaven where there exists the Cloud of Might and Eternity.
81.
Shower ye then down upon uncertain existence the beloved rains of the Divine Bounty.
82.
Thou art indeed Generous in the Kingdom of Names
and the Ancient [God] characterized by the Divine Grace in the Mighty Heaven of Eternity,
possessed of Mighty Bounty in the celestial sphere of Divinity within the transcendent Cloud.
83.
In very truth wert Thou amongst the Supreme Concourse
as [our Lord] manfest through the Divine Bounty above the celestial Throne.
84.
Say:
The Beauty of the All-Merciful hath appeared,
and the Visage of the Hallowed Glory made manifest in the Human Temple,
so blessed by God Who, in very Truth, sent Him.
85.
He taught this Pen the secret of the alphabetical Locale, the Decree of the Exposition,
for He was indeed [a Lord] Powerful over all things.
Tablet of the Robe of Joseph CHAPTER FOUR
Divisions 86-1[ ]
THE ROBE OF JOSEPH
86.
O Solace of the Spirit!
The people acknowledged a Beneficience which We bestowed upon Thee
before the creation of all levels of existence within the proto-atoms of pre-Eternity,
87.
as well as prior to the ornamenting of the (pre-existent) bodies of all things
with the Garment of Names at the (pre-eternal) moment when the Adam of Eternity,
through the invisible Spirit-Logos, existed within the Edenic Earth of Realization.
88.
And since the calumnies of the unbelievers against Thee were averted, do not weep.
89.
We will certainly arrive to sanctify the strutting train of Thine opponents
from the Manifestations of Names and Attributes,
just as We purified Thee from the knowledge of every pitiful unbeliever.
90.
Wherefore then stand ye upright for the Cause!
91.
Then cry out betwixt earth and heaven for We have girded the Spirit which is in Thy Breast!
92.
So Trust in God thy Lord, in the Nightime of Sanctity and the radiant Dawntime of Nearness,
for He will indeed protect Thee from from every wicked tyrant.
93.
So draw ye near unto God, thy Lord,
and then turn aside from whatsoever is other than Him,
94.
for We will guard Thee through the Sovereignty of Might and Power,
and We shall preserve Thee with the Infallibility
which remains incomprehensible to all the creatures.
95.
He will indeed manifest Thy Cause,
and We shall elevate Thy Name within the Concourse of Divine Names.
96.
And We shall make mention of Thee within the pavilion of Holiness with a Tongue that is Confirming and Trustworthy.
97.
Thus do We cast upon Thee something of the verses of the Cause,
and We communicate to Thee the divine verses
to the purpose that they be a consummate Proof from before Thy Lord,
sufficient for all the worlds.
98.
O Thou Greatest Remembrance of God! [allusion to Him Who Will be Manifest]
How shall I make mention of the wonders of Thy Remembrace
in that Thou inspired Me after the unbelievers encompassed Me, from every direction.
99.
And Thou did indeed did bear witness thereto.
100.
By God! The primary figure was in error over My Cause,
and confusion did shriek when hatred was noised abroad
within the breasts of them that have no faith in Thee, in the spectre of a mere moment in time.
101.
And Thou wert exalted in their eyes,
yet when he gazed upon the wonders of Thy Benevolence
and Thy Bounty respecting My Truth,
and drew near unto Thy person, he joyfully enthralled My Spirit...
102.
103.
The tablet draws heavily on the imagery and style of the Book of Names, the Qayyum al-Asmā’ of the Bab, with the arcane predictions of which it several times judges to be fulfilled in the theophany of Bahā'-allāh. In the early writing of the Bab, there are various paragraphs in which Arabic dual forms occur, giving cause to examine other verses for second meanings.
Throughout the Tablet of the Garment are lines indicative of Bahā-ullāh’s claim to be the exalted prophet predicted by the Bāb, the promised prophet of the Qayyúm al-Asma’ and other writings. Bahā'-ullāh, for example, is the messianic “Remembrance” (of God), frequently mentioned in the writings of the Bab, and closely associated with the Bab.
It is here presupposed that Bahā-ullāh spoke with the voice of the messianic Remembrance whose advent was anticipated by the Bāb in his Book of Names, the Qayyúm al-Asmā'. Similar to the Remembrance, he reveals verses from the "Mount" of his being in the new Bahā'í theophany or dispensation. From the "Land of Saffron" (Edirne-Adrianople) as the "Lote Tree of Holiness," he calls out divine melodies. Through him the theophany of the Sinaitic Light was realized before Moses (Qur'an 7:143), when he proclaimed his divinity from the all-encompassing blazing, yellow light of the Sinaitic Fire. (2,000 years before Mohammed, and 1,000 years before Socrates).
In the lines following those translated above, Bahā-ullāh dwells on the stunning results of his theophany before Moses. He speaks of his manifestation as that of the "Beauty of God", before whom all souls in the dominion of God were thunderstruck or fell into a swoon. Alluding to the yellow color of the Sinaitic Light, he also pictures himself as the "Yellow Thread" which he explains, "beamed forth in this Heaven", "divulged glory upon this Divine Cloud and been made manifest in crimson hue in the midst of this Eternity". The implication is that the glory of Bahā'u'llāh's theophany was the radiating of the yellow Sinaitic light and the crimson Sinaitic fire mentioned in the Qayyúm al-asmā' and other writings of the Bāb. Clear reference to Qur'an 7:143 and to Qayyúm al-asmā' Chapter 28 is also made in the following verses of the tablet,
[ 8].
Say,
By God! The Primal Beauty hath once again been made manifest
and hath shed the glory of merely an infinitesimal glimmer of a light of the lights of His Face
on them that inhabit the heavens and the earth.
[ 9].
And, lo, before this effulgent and transcendent Beauty, [the Manifestation]
the inhabitants of the Mount swooned away upon the Elevated Mount [Tower]
after We had announced this Cause unto them in mighty, preserved tablets.
[ 0].
So recite thou all that which hath been revealed by Our Primal Beauty (the Bāb),
in the Qayyúm al-Asmā' [Sura 28],
that thou mayest comprehend the secret of the Cause
regarding this Mystery which was veiled behind many mysteries.
As the return of the "Primal Beauty" manifest in the Bāb, Bahā'u'llāh claims to have divulged the glory (tajallā) of a mere glirnmer of the Sinaitic lights of his Face. This stunning theophany, anticipated in the Qayyúm al-asmā', caused the mysterious Sinaites or "inhabitants of the Mount" (al-túriyyún) to swoon away. Similarly, at yet another point in the Sura of the Robe, we read,
[ ]2.
Purify then the mirrors of thine hearts,
that the theophany of the lights of this Beauty may be realized.
[ ]3.
Say,
By God! The inhabitants of the Mount have fallen into a swoon on the Sinai of the Cause.
[ ]4.
The citizens of the heavenly Kingdom have taken flight before this Divine Lion. Quran 7:(451)
[ ]5.
Spiritual souls expire on account of this Terror which hath unsettled all things;
except, that is, those who have been seized by the Hand of the Divine Bounty
on the part of [the Lord] Mighty and Powerful.
The inhabitants of Sinai (the Mount), among other exalted beings, have been powerfully influenced by the manifestation of Bahā-ullāh. Several verses of the tablet are addressed to the peoples of the worlds, as well as to members of the Bābī community. In various ways Bahā'-ullāh proclaims his exalted status as the Messianic prophet predicted in Bābí and other sacred scriptures. He states that the revelations of the Bāb were revealed for his sake.
We did not send down the Bayān except for the sake of this Call
that remained secreted in the Wine of Holiness
on tablets that did not reduce to ashes [with] the gaze of human vision.
The Divine and messianic status of the prophet Bahā-ullāh is said to be concealed from humankind and from the followers of the Bab. His great prophetic reality was concealed behind 70,000 veils of Light, something that the Earthly human vision had not witnessed. Proclaiming his mission Bahā-ullāh states,
Say:
O people!
This is the Logos-Person of God amongst you, and His Sovereignty in your midst.
Bahā'-allāh expresses his concern over the rejection of a future theophany,
[ 6].
Say:
O people!
I fear not for mine own Logos-Person.
[ 7].
Nay rather, for He who shall come after me
on the day in which the fire will blaze up and the lights will radiate forth within it.
Bahā'-allāh laments the peoples rejection of the prophetic mission of the Bab,
[ ]5.
O Concourse of the Bayān!
Hast thou forgotten the moment when there came unto thee `Alí (the Bāb)
with the sovereignty of the divine Command?
[ ]6.
When the `ulamā’ of the Furqan (the Quran) rejected Him,
and issued a decree against him and executed him,
it was such that both the heavens and earth wept over Him
and those near unto God did weep and wail.
The last verses of the tablet are addressed to various Bābīs, including Radi al-Rúh, who became an important Bahai apologist and that compiled Bahai proof texts of 'Testimony'. The tablet ends with a two-page prayer, followed by an address to the letter J. [That is, Joseph, using the abbreviation of titles, an Arabic literary practice]
[ ]3.
We, when We desire that We might finish and complete the Word,
We hear the Call betwixt earth and heaven, saying,
[ ]4.
`O Joseph of the Divine Grandeur in garments of glory,
deprive not the ears from the melodies of Thy holiness,
nor the the eyes, from being smeared with the eye-makeup of the knowledge of thy Beauty,
[ ]5.
nor the suns, from the flashes of the Lights of Thy Grace;
nor the hearts, from the breezes of Thy Love,
[ ]6.
neither the uncertain and needy existence,
from the sprinklings of the Bounty of Thy Mercy which surroundeth all the worlds.
[ ]7.
O, letter "J"!
Steal away this Robe, then cast it upon the Visage of Existent Reality,
[ ]8.
that perchance the dawning points of the Divine Attributes might emerge from behind the veils,
and beam forth from the Veils of Glory,
[ ]9.
and thus [all will] come to know the [Lord] who came unto them
from the Shore of Eternity with manifest Sovereignty.
[ ]0.
Praise be unto whomsoever knoweth his Patron through this resplendent manifest robe.
Translated by S. Lambden
Transcription in progress
Tablet of the City of the Divine Union CHAPTER ONE
Divisions 1-30
CITY OF DIVINE UNION
1
He is the Splendid, the Splendid, the Most Splendidly radiant.
2.
This is the City of Divine Union.
3.
Enter ye therein, O concourse of the believers in Divine Union!,
so that ye may, on account of the glad-tidings of the Spirit,
be numbered among such as are endowed with mystic insight. [1]
4.
He is the Mighty, the [Lord], the Elevated, the Transcendent, the [ ]
5.
These are the verses of the Book. [of Certitude, the Iqan, “the Book of the City of Certitude]
6.
I have distinguished its verses making them wondrous, without error as befits the signs of God;
a guidance, a light, and a remembrance
unto whomsoever are resident in the heavens or on the earth.
7.
Therein are contained that which will draw the people nigh unto the court of sanctity.
8.
It, furthermore, is a Book wherein is contained every mighty directive (cause).
9.
It, in truth, was sent down on the part of [a Lord that is] Wise, Knowing.
10.
"Hearken unto the Day [the present day]
when the Herald raiseth His Call in the midmost heart of the immortal realm,
when the Dove of Hijāz warbleth from the land of `Irāq summoning all unto concord,
and when the gate of heaven is flung open before the face of the entire creation.
11.
This is the Day that shall not be overtaken by the gloom of night,
as the sun receiveth its light therefrom,
inasmuch as this Day is illumined by the splendour of His radiant face.
12.
By the righteousness of God! At that moment a holy and new earth is spread out
at the command of God, the Omnipotent the Mighty, the Inaccessible"
Translated by S. Effendi GWB 26:60-64 + GPB 245
Transliteraion added by S. Lambden
13.
"Praise be to God, the All-Possessing, the King of incomparable glory,
a praise which is immeasurably above the understanding of all created things,
and is exalted beyond the grasp of the minds of men.
14.
None else besides Him hath ever been able to sing adequately His praise,
nor will any man succeed at any time in describing the full measure of His glory.
15.
Who is it that can claim to have attained the heights of His exalted Essence,
and what mind can measure the depths of His unfathomable mystery?
16.
From each and every revelation emanating from the Source of His glory,
sacred and never-ending evidences of unimaginable splendour have appeared,
and out of every manifestation of His invincible power oceans of eternal light have outpoured.
17.
How immensely exalted are the wondrous testimonies of His almighty sovereignty,
a glimmer of which, if it but touched them,
would utterly consume all that are in the heavens and in the earth!
18.
How indescribably lofty are the tokens of His consummate power,
a single sign of which, however inconsiderable,
must transcend the comprehension of whatsoever hath, from the beginning that hath no beginning,
been brought into being, or will be created in the future, until the end that hath no end.
19.
All the Embodiments of His Names wander in the wilderness of search,
athirst and eager to discover His Essence,
and all the Manifestations of His Attributes implore Him,
from the Sinai of Holiness, to unravel His mystery.
20.
A drop of the billowing ocean of His endless mercy
hath adorned all creation with the ornament of existence,
and a breath wafted from His peerless Paradise
hath invested all beings with the robe of His sanctity and glory.
21.
A sprinkling from the un‑fathomed deep of His sovereign and all-pervasive Will
hath, out of utter nothingness, called into being a creation
which is infinite in its range and deathless in its duration.
22.
The wonders of His bounty can never cease,
and the stream of His merciful grace can never be arrested.
23.
The process of His creation hath had no beginning, and can have no end.
24.
In every age and cycle He hath,
through the splendrous light shed by the Manifestations of His wondrous Essence,
recreated all things,
25.
so that whatsoever reflecteth in the heavens and on the earth the signs of His glory
may not be deprived of the outpourings of His mercy,
nor despair of the showers of His favours.
26.
How all-encompassing are the wonders of His boundless grace!
27.
Behold how they have permeated the entirety of creation.
28.
Such is their virtue that not a single atom in the entire universe can be found
which doth not declare the evidences of His might,
which doth not glorify His holy Name,
or that is not expressive of the brilliant light of His unity.
29.
So perfect and comprehensive is His creation
that no mind nor heart, however keen or pure,
can ever grasp the nature of the most insignificant of His creatures; [the spirit of life]
much less fathom the mystery of Him Who is the Day Star of Truth,
Who is the invisible and unknowable Essence.
30.
The conceptions of the devoutest of mystics,
the attainments of the most accomplished amongst men,
the highest praise which human tongue or pen can render
are all the product of man's finite mind and are conditioned by its limitations.
Tablet of the City of the Divine Union CHAPTER TWO
Divisions 31-[46]
CITY OF DIVINE UNION
31.
Ten thousand Prophets, each [comparable to] a Moses,
are thunderstruck upon the Sinai of their search at His forbidding voice,
"Thou shalt never behold Me!";
32.
whilst a myriad Messengers, each as great as Jesus,
stand dismayed upon their heavenly thrones by the interdiction,
"Mine Essence thou shalt never apprehend!"
33.
From time immemorial He hath been veiled in the ineffable sanctity of His exalted Being,
and will everlastingly continue to be, in the impenetrable mystery of His unknowable Essence.
34.
Every attempt to attain to an understanding of His inaccessible Reality
hath ended in complete bewilderment,
and every effort to approach His exalted Being and envisage His Essence
hath resulted in hopelessness and failure.
35.
How bewildering to me, insignificant as I am,
is the attempt to fathom the sacred depths of Thy knowledge!
36.
How futile my efforts to visualize the magnitude of the power inherent in Thine handiwork‑‑
the revelation of Thy creative power!
37.
How can mine eye, which hath no faculty to perceive itself,
claim to have discerned Thine Essence,
38.
and how can mine heart, already powerless to apprehend the significance of its own potentialities,
pretend to have comprehended Thy nature?
39.
How can I claim to have known Thee,
when the entire creation is bewildered by Thy mystery,
and how can I confess not to have known Thee,
when, lo, the whole universe proclaimeth Thy Presence and testifieth to Thy truth?
40.
The portals of Thy grace have throughout eternity been open,
and the means of access unto Thy Presence made available, unto all created things,
and the revelations of Thy matchless Beauty have at all times been
imprinted upon the realities of all beings, visible and invisible.
41.
Yet, notwithstanding this most gracious favour, this perfect and consummate bestowal,
I am moved to testify that Thy court of holiness and glory
is immeasurably exalted above the knowledge of all else besides Thee,
and the mystery of Thy Presence is inscrutable to every mind except Thine own.
42.
No one except Thyself can unravel the secret of Thy nature,
and nothing else except Thy transcendental Essence
can grasp the reality of Thy unsearchable being.
43.
How vast the number of those heavenly and all-glorious Beings
Who, in the wilderness of their separation from Thee,
have wandered all the days of their life, and failed in the end to find Thee!
44.
How great the multitude of the sanctified and immortal Souls
Who were lost and bewildered while seeking in the desert of search to behold Thy face!
45.
Myriad are Thy ardent Lovers Whom the consuming flame of remoteness from Thee
hath caused to sink and perish,
and numberless are the faithful Souls Who have willingly laid down their lives
in the hope of gazing on the light of Thy countenance.
46.
The sighs and moans of these longing hearts that pant after Thee
can never reach Thy holy court,
neither can the lamentations of the Wayfarers that thirst to appear before Thy face
attain Thy seat of glory."
47.
48.
Translated by S. Effendi, in GWB
TRANSLATION IN PROGRESS
S. Lambden, University of California at Merced
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