What follows is my provisional translation (in other words, not official or authorized; see here for more) of a Tablet of Baháʼuʼlláh, the original text of which has been published in Muḥáḍirát, vol. 3, pp. 309–313, and also made available on the Bahá’í Reference Library here.
In the Name of Our Lord, the Most Holy, the Most Great, the Most Exalted, the Most Glorious
Praise be to God, His aid hath been received and His confirmations are more manifest than light itself. The Daystar of His bounty is apparent at every moment; the pen can never reckon the extent of His grace, and the ink is powerless to recount His generosity. Every person of insight confesseth to His grandeur, and every possessor of attentive hearing acknowledgeth His sovereignty. Unto Him be praise and bounty, laudation and glorification! In one sense, He hath made the tongues of His chosen ones to be the helpers of His Cause, and from them hath flowed that which hath quickened the moldering bone. The decree of the tongue is mightier than the rule of the sword, and the power of utterance is stronger than the armies and legions of men. In this day, the well-favored of God—magnified be His glory—are skilled in their treatment of sicknesses and resolved to educate His servants. In due measure, they give the people of this world, who are like unto children, their proportionate share of sustenance. In its primary station, the Word is the water of life unto the dead ones of the earth, and a powerful hand for the salvation of its peoples. With but one sublime Word, man is delivered from the darkness of vain imaginings to the light of certitude, and raised from the abysmal well to the lofty palace.[1] I implore God, exalted be He, to protect His chosen ones with the hosts of might and power, and to assist them with the swords of wisdom and utterance. He, verily, is the Mighty, the Powerful, the Beneficent.
Lauded be Thy name, O Thou in Whose grasp are the reins of every being and the destinies of all creation! I beseech Thee by Thy supreme signs, and by the pearls which lie hid in the treasuries of Thy most glorious Pen, to make whosoever hath sought Thee to soar in the atmosphere of Thy nearness. Cause him, moreover, to fix his gaze on Thy horizon and speak forth amidst Thy creation with prudence and clarity. Make manifest unto him, O my God, those seas concealed in Thy verses and hidden in Thy words, that he may be intoxicated with the wine of understanding and proclaim that which shall attract the hearts of all them that believe in religion. Thou, in truth, art the Almighty, the All-Bountiful.
When this servant[2] was seated on a certain day of the fasting season, pondering the mysteries of the Cause of his Lord—the All-Glorious, the All-Knowing—one of the believers entered with thy letter in hand. I took it from him, whereupon I opened it and found therein that whereby the fragrance of thy lines and whatsoever surroundeth them was diffused, adorned as they were with the remembrance of Him Who is my Desire and thine. From the chalices of thy words, I quaffed the river of thy purity, thy humility, and thine attention to God. After immersing myself in the ocean of the bounty of my Lord, I searched for the Dayspring of His secrets and the Dawning-place of His signs,[3] until I reached my destination and conveyed what flowed from thy pen in praise of thy Lord, at which time the Tongue of Grandeur uttered that through which the realities of all things have been enraptured. He said, and His word is the truth:
He is the Witness, the All-Informed
O thou who art remembered before God! Incline thine ear unto the Call which cometh from the Most Exalted Horizon; it, verily, doth proffer unto thee the living waters of grace from the bounteous hand of thy Lord, Who layeth low the necks of men. He beholdeth and beareth witness; He is the Almighty, the All-Seeing. Nothing whatever escapeth His knowledge; He knoweth what is hidden in the hearts of men, and seeth what is concealed in the treasuries of the breasts of the righteous.
As I was walking in the House,[4] reciting the verses of thy Lord, the attending servant entered and related unto Me what the tongue of thy heart had said concerning the Cause of God, the Lord of all men. We gave ear thereunto and have responded to thee with this Tablet, which God hath made a sea of grace unto the world and a fountain of life unto the dead. By My life! Were it to be cast upon the stone, rushing rivers would gush out therefrom. When thou hast quaffed the living waters of understanding from the chalice of utterance, say:
“Praise be unto Thee, O Thou Who holdest in Thy grasp the reins of all creation, for honoring me with Thy remembrance and adorning me with the embellishment of Thy Supreme Pen, from which the secrets of both the beginning and the end have appeared! Thou seest me, O Lord, journeying in Thy realms to exalt Thy Word, and proclaiming amidst Thy servants that which Thou didst bid me to say in Thy Book. I beseech Thee by the waves of the ocean of Thy bounty, and by the lamp Thou didst protect from the tempestuous winds with the glass of Thy power, to ordain for me what shall make me strong by Thy might and potent by Thy will, that with tact and eloquence I may say unto Thy servants that which will draw their hearts nigh unto Thee, and sanctify them from the doubts of the dwellers of Thine earth and the allusions of them that have rejected Thy blessings. Aid me, then, O my Beloved, to do that which will attract the hearts of Thy creatures. Potent art Thou to do what Thou willest, and in Thy grasp are the reins of earth and heaven. O Lord! Withhold not the plentiful outpourings of Thy days from this, Thy servant, and deprive him not of the sweet savors of Thy revelation and inspiration. Assist me by Thy grace, O my Lord, and strengthen my limbs, that I may set aside my own desire and cleave tenaciously to Thy volition, refusing even to move unless Thou shouldst will it. Write down for me by Thy mercy, which hath preceded all creation, that which shall solace my eyes and the eyes of Thy servants, and assure my soul and the souls of them that dwell in Thy lands. Powerful indeed art Thou do to what pleaseth Thee. No God is there but Thee, the Almighty, the All-Wise.”
Hear thou now in the Persian tongue.[5] I pray God may assist thee to do that which will exalt His Word. O thou whose gaze is fixed upon My countenance! The sun of God’s bounty is shining from the horizon of grace, and the ocean of His knowledge is surging before thy face. Entreat Him not to withhold the splendors of the Daystar of justice and fairness from His servants, for whosoever attaineth thereto shall be detached from all else but Him, and moved to turn towards the firmament of His mercy with heart and soul.
Give the regards of this Wronged One to Siyyid Muṣṭafá [Rúmí], upon him be My glory; Ḥájí Siyyid Mihdí [Shírází], upon him also be My glory; and the other friends, and counsel them to be mindful of the divine signs and bounties. God grant that they may be graciously aided to acquire eternal stations in this ephemeral world. Convey thou likewise the greetings and salutations of this Wronged One to Jináb-i-Faraj, upon him be My glory. We beseech God to assist him to do His will and pleasure, and to adorn him with that which beseemeth these days. He, in truth, is the One Who heareth all things and is ready to answer; He is the Ever-Forgiving, the Most Compassionate.
All grace and beneficence, bounty and glory belong unto Him! With a resplendent effulgence, the Daystar of His favor is apparent at every moment, and with proofs and evidences, His truth hath been established and demonstrated. He can never be mentioned with any remembrance but His, nor ever be understood through any knowledge but His own. For His friends He hath designated a spacious pavilion, which representeth the acknowledgement of one’s powerlessness before the tokens of the majesty, the might, and the sovereignty of God, Who hath deigned to accept this powerlessness out of His grace. Praised be He, and thanks be unto Him for His gifts and bestowals.
Mention of thee hath been and continueth to be made repeatedly in the gatherings of the chosen ones, and also in Mine own presence. We hope that God, exalted be He, may bestow a supreme profit unto the merchants of His knowledge. The people of the earth have remained unaware up to the present time; they are oblivious to the fruits of the tree of rehabilitation, concord, and unity. They know not whence they came into this world, nor for what purpose they have come. I swear by Him Who is Our Beloved and yours! Were they to apprehend this to the extent of a needle’s eye, they would hold fast unto it and cast all else aside—that is, they would dispense with aught else but God, and dedicate themselves to His service and good-pleasure, inasmuch as this announceth to the sore athirst the glad-tidings of the living waters of God’s mercy, summoneth the ignorant to Him Who is the Point of knowledge, and appriseth the uninformed of His bounty. This is the day of all-surpassing grace, for the Most Great Vision is illumined with the splendors of the Supreme Ordainer. Well is it with him who hath not been disheartened by the changes and chances of this world, nor deterred from his resolve by the clamor of the people. This is the day whose mention hath flowed from the divine Pen and been recorded in the Books of old and of more recent times. Blessed is he who setteth his face towards it, drinketh his fill from it, and attaineth unto it, and woe betide them that are heedless of it and turn away from it. Wherever they may be, the chosen ones of God are remembered in Our holy court. This evanescent Soul hath mentioned and still mentioneth each and every one of them with the pearls of His sublime and wondrous remembrances, and He imploreth God to adorn them all with the ornament of distinction.
O God, my God! Withhold not this lofty robe from the bodies of Thy friends. The body of man cometh from Thee; all adornment thereof is Thine, as are the oceans of grace and bounty. Do Thou ordain, then, that which beseemeth Thy beneficence. Thou, verily, art the Most Gracious, the All-Bountiful, and of them who show mercy, Thou art indeed the Most Merciful.
I convey My greetings and salutations to thine honorable brother, Ḥájí Faraju’lláh—upon him be the glory of God—and I beseech the Almighty, magnified be His splendor, to crown his endeavors with such success that wherever he may be, in whatever land he may find himself, he will center his thoughts on service to the Cause and attain to the bounty of God.
Thou hadst made mention of Bashír. Praise be to God, he is well and mentioneth thee on occasion. Exceedingly great is the power of God, Who hath made a myriad kinds of fruit, along with delicate flowers of exquisite quality and varying color, to emerge from the barren soil. Perchance a glad-tiding may likewise appear from Bashír, which is to say that he may succeed in rendering a service. Our Lord is, in very truth, the Almighty, the Most Powerful.
Praise and glory rest upon thy noble self, as well as them who are with thee and hear the words thou speakest for the Cause of God—He Who is thy Lord and Mine, the Lord of the Mighty and Exalted Throne.
Khádim
9 Shavvál 1305 AH
[19 June 1888]
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[1] “The abysmal well” and “the lofty palace” are references to Qurʼán 22:45: “How many a town have We destroyed while it did wrong, laying thus fallen upon their roofs! And [how many] an abandoned well and lofty palace” (The Study Quran). I am grateful to Alexander Nilsson for calling these references to my attention.
[2] Mírzá Áqá Ján Khádim, the amanuensis of Baháʼuʼlláh.
[3] These are both references to Baháʼuʼlláh.
[4] Possibly the Mansion of Bahjí, given that this Tablet was revealed in 1888.
[5] Up to this point, all but the first paragraph of the Tablet had been revealed in Arabic.
A scanned typescript of the complete text of this Tablet in the original Persian and Arabic appears below.
Adib Masumian 