What follows is my provisional translation (in other words, not official or authorized; see here for more) of a Tablet of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the original text of which has been published in Muntakhabátí az Makátíb-i-Ḥaḍrat-i-‘Abdu’l-Bahá, vol. 3, p. 203 (selection no. 280).
O sincere servant of the Abhá Beauty! Render thanks unto God that, in the path of that incomparable and compassionate Beloved, thou hast endured evident tribulations and suffered endless trials. Thou hast tasted the deadly poison and drunk the bitter cup. This is a bounty and a favor, a mercy and a kindness. A soul not sacrificed in the path of the Beloved is baser than the body, and a head not offered up in the way of the Lord of all worlds is inferior to the foot.
Our days will pass away, our lives will come to an end, and naught will remain of our earthly states. Yet vast is the difference between the soul that hath concluded its days in pursuit of carnal desires and selfish passions, and the one that hath consecrated the span of its existence to bearing the direst of calamities in the path of the Lord of Signs. The one hath achieved a mighty gain, while the other hath fallen into manifest loss. The one hath plucked the fruit of salvation from the Tree of Life, while the other hath obtained only the bitter colocynth from the garden of idle desires. The field of the one hath received heavenly blessings, while from the barren soil of the other naught hath sprung but the weeds of failure. Can they who have gained be equal with them who have lost? Or can they who have attained be on a par with them who have remained deprived? No, by God! It is the sincerely devoted who enjoy distinction.
Upon thee be greetings and praise.
A typescript of the original Persian and Arabic text of this Tablet appears below (all punctuation and short vowel marks mine).
Adib Masumian 