What follows is a composite provisional translation (in other words, not official or authorized; see here for more) of a Tablet of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, published in Safíniy-i-ʻIrfán, vol. 11, pp. 24–25. It is a “composite translation” in that the portion in black is my provisional rendering; the portion in red is a translation by Shoghi Effendi, published in The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh; and the portion in blue is an early rendering by Ahmad Sohrab, published in Tablets of Abdul Baha Abbas, pp. 405–06 (an earlier draft of this same translation, where Sohrab is identified as the translator, appears in the Dwight Barstow collection, no. 70).
In The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, Shoghi Effendi refers to the addressee of this Tablet as “a man of recognized authority and standing.” In Muḥáḍirát, vol. 1, pp. 173–75, ‘Abdu’l-Ḥamíd Ishráq-Khávarí has identified him as Siyyid Faraj Gúrání, the leader of the Allíyu’lláhí sect (also known as the Yarsan or Ahl-e Haqq) in the region of Gúrán in western Iran who covertly embraced the Bahá’í Faith. To summarize the account of Gúrání’s conversion described in Muḥáḍirát, a Bahá’í travel-teacher named Darvísh Ṭayfúr met Gúrání and introduced him to the Faith. Initially skeptical, Gúrání requested proof that the Faith was true through a dream. This led to a correspondence between Darvísh Ṭayfúr and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Who wrote a Tablet that mentioned a rider on a sky-colored horse in the Gúrán desert as evidence. When Gúrání visited that desert and witnessed what was promised, he fled in fear but ultimately accepted the Bahá’í Faith. However, concerned about losing his position of leadership and fearing backlash from his followers, Gúrání kept his newfound faith a secret for the rest of his life, never revealing it even to his children.
—Adib Masumian
18 September 2024
* * *
He is God
To the respected personage
God is the All-Glorious
The lovers cast off the garment of existence and don the crimson robe dyed in the blood of martyrdom. The mystics discard the cloak of vain imaginings and array themselves in the noble vesture of truth. More befitting to thy stature is the clothing of sanctity, and more becoming to thy form the raiment of divine unity, for this attire is woven of the silk of the highest heaven and embroidered with gold in a matchless workshop. Its warp is knowledge, its weft certitude; its maker is the All-Wise Master, its tailor the All-Powerful Guide, and its factory the Abhá Kingdom. It shall never be torn or in need of mending, nor shall it ever become outworn. Day by day its splendor and exquisiteness will be made manifest; no impurity shall ever sully it, and it will ravish the eye of the beholder.
O my friend! The undying Fire which the Lord of the Kingdom hath kindled in the midst of the holy Tree is burning fiercely in the midmost heart of the world. The conflagration it will provoke will envelop the whole earth. Its blazing flames will illuminate its peoples and kindreds. All the signs have been revealed; every prophetic allusion hath been manifested. Whatever hath been enshrined in all the Scriptures of the past hath been made evident. To doubt or hesitate is no more possible.
Some people of former times and some sects avoided certain others as strangers, but now the Glorious Beloved One hath ridden upon His swift coursing steed, circling about in the arena of Truth and all that was hidden became manifest.
Let there be no more silence nor reticence, taciturnity nor negligence. The Candle is lighted—yet the moths continue motionless and melancholy behind the veils.
Now is the time to roar like unto a sea and seek to ascend heavenward! If we desire to reach the apex of the Supreme Kingdom, we must unfurl our wings; if we wish to dive into the depths of the ocean, we must teach our limbs swimming.
Time is pressing. The Divine Charger is impatient, and can tarry no longer. Ours is the duty to rush forward and, ere it is too late, win the victory.
A typescript of the original Persian text of this Tablet appears below.
Adib Masumian 