What follows is my provisional translation (in other words, not official or authorized; see here for more) of two passages from a Tablet of Bahá’u’lláh. The original text of the first paragraph has been published in Áyát-i-Iláhí, vol. 2, p. 289, while the second is published on p. 290 of that same book. Both of these pages (AYI2.289x and AYI2.290x) are referenced in the same entry of the Partial Inventory (BH02558), indicating that they belong to a single Tablet.
O My Afnán![1] My peace and My glory rest upon thee. In truth, fairness hath ceased to exist, and oppression is readily apparent. From every direction, the fire of cruelty is blazing fiercely, and the light of justice is concealed. God doth testify, and the Manifestations of His names and attributes bear witness, that the purpose of raising the divine Call hath been to cleanse, with the living waters of utterance, the ears of all creation from lying tales, and prepare them to hear the goodly, the blessed, the most exalted words that have appeared from the treasury of knowledge. Well is it with them that judge fairly. This Wronged One hath never cherished any desire of His Own. The True One attesteth, and the Embodiments of justice give testimony, that the objective of these statements and explanations hath been to edify the souls of humanity and extinguish the fire of hatred with wisdom and utterance. Thou and the other loved ones who are illumined with the light of detachment and adorned with the ornament of fairness will bear witness to the truthfulness of this Wronged One and His integrity.
For nearly forty years have We forbidden Our servants, with tender counsels and wise admonitions, to engage in conflict and contention. This intention hath, through the irresistible Will of God and His aid, spread so pervasively throughout Persia that the believers have been reviled and yet responded with seemly words; they have met hideous acts with beautiful conduct; they have been slain but still interceded.[2] In spite of all this, not one person, whether from the government or the populace, hath paid it any mind. How many are the foolish ravings that have been expressed day and night, in speech and in writing, while the wronged ones of the earth have clung firmly to the cord of patience and cleaved tenaciously to hem of fortitude, choosing not to utter a single word in reply. The Seal of the Prophets and the Guide of all paths,[3] may the souls of all else but Him be offered up for His sake, hath said, “O Abá Dharr![4] For everything there is a sign. The sign of the intellect is contemplation, and the sign of contemplation is silence.”[5] He hath similarly stated, “O Abá Dharr! The most excellent act of worship is to keep silent for the sake of God.”[6] In short, at all times of tyranny and oppression, We have remained patient and trusted in God.
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[1] “Afnán” being a title for the Báb’s maternal relatives. I do not know the identity of the Afnán for whom this Tablet was revealed.
[2] This last remark, “they have been slain but still interceded,” is probably a specific reference to the trial of the men who, in 1889, murdered a Bahá’í named Ḥájí Muḥammad-Riḍá Iṣfahání in ‘Ishqábád. Bahá’u’lláh Himself briefly discussed that episode in this paragraph (and the subsequent one) of Epistle to the Son of the Wolf. The erudite Mírzá Abu’l-Faḍl, who had recently arrived in ‘Ishqábád, served as the spokesperson and lawyer for the Bahá’ís during the trial. He recorded a detailed account of the proceedings and other ensuing events, which has been translated into English by the late Ahang Rabbani and made available here. For more information on this episode in Bahá’í history, refer to Ahang Rabbani, “Ponder Thou upon the Martyrdom of Hájí Muhammad-Ridá: Nineteen Historical Accounts,” digitally published in Witnesses to Babi and Bahá’í History, vol. 5 (2007), available online here.
[3] Both of these titles refer to Muḥammad.
[4] Abú Dharr al-Ghifárí, a humble shepherd by profession, was one of the first people to convert to Islam and a close companion of Muḥammad. For more information on him, see here. His title has been spelled Abá Dharr in the translation of this Tablet because the original Arabic hadith attributed to Muḥammad has his title in the accusative case, since it follows the vocative yá (“O”), as a result of which it must be spelled Abá rather than Abú, its default form in the nominative case.
[5] ‘Abdu’l-Bahá is reported to have said in one of His talks, “Bahá’u’lláh says there is a sign (from God) in every phenomenon: the sign of the intellect is contemplation and the sign of contemplation is silence, because it is impossible for a man to do two things at one time—he cannot both speak and meditate” (Paris Talks, no. 54). In attributing those statements to Bahá’u’lláh, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá may have been referring to this Tablet, given the parallel between the hadith that Bahá’u’lláh has ascribed to Muḥammad in this sentence and the paraphrase from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in Paris Talks. I am grateful to Abir Majid for making the connection between that talk and this Tablet. As for the hadith, I have not been able to locate it anywhere outside of this Tablet, but another hadith with almost identical wording has been published in such collections as Biḥar al-Anwár (see here) and Tuḥaf al-‘Uqúl (see here), though in that version the speaker is not Muḥammad, but the seventh Imam of Shia Islam, Músá al-Káẓim, and he is addressing Hishám ibn al-Ḥakam, one of his disciples, not Abú Dharr.
[6] As with the hadith mentioned in the preceding endnote, I have not been able to find another source that attributes this one to Muḥammad, but it has been ascribed to the Imám ‘Alí in several places, such as this website.
A typescript of the original Persian and Arabic text of these passages appears below (all punctuation and vowel marks mine).
Adib Masumian 