What follows is my provisional translation (in other words, not official or authorized; see here for more) of a Tablet of Bahá’u’lláh, the original text of which appears in a manuscript collection held at the British Library (Or15715, pp. 246–47).
This Tablet was addressed to a certain youth named Badí‘ in the city of Dihaj, but I do not think this could have been the Apostle of Bahá’u’lláh also known as Badí‘ (Áqá Buzurg-i-Nishápúrí) who was martyred as a youth after delivering Bahá’u’lláh’s Lawḥ-i-Sulṭán to Náṣiri’d-Dín Sháh, for two reasons. The first is that, to my knowledge, the martyred Badí‘ was never in the city of Dihaj. The second is that the father of the Badí‘ for whom this Tablet was addressed seems to have been named ‘Alí-Akbar, whereas the name of the father of the martyred Badí was Ḥájí ‘Abdu’l-Majíd Nishápúrí (he is perhaps more commonly known as Abá Badí‘, meaning “the father of Badí‘”). I suspect that Bahá’u’lláh may have conferred the title of Badí‘ on more than one person; if true, I do not know who the Badí‘ for whom this Tablet was revealed or his father could have been, and the same goes for his mother, who is also mentioned in it.
For a Tablet that Bahá’u’lláh appears to have revealed later for this same Badí‘, see here.
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D H[1]
Jináb-i-Badí‘, upon him and his father[2] be the Glory of God
He is the Lord of Utterance, and He is the All-Seeing
The Sun of Truth proclaimeth: O youth! Praised be God that, in the early days of thy life, thou hast attained the bounty of the Lord of all humanity. Mention of thee shall not be effaced from the Book of God, and from the Pen of the Most High hath proceeded, with regard to thee, that which will remain and endure for as long as the kingdoms of earth and heaven shall persist. With the utmost joy and radiance, occupy thyself with the remembrance of the Peerless Friend; rejoice in His love and utter His praise. Thou hast been and wilt continue to be remembered before this Wronged One.
In these days, he who beareth the Name of God, Mihdí[3]—upon him be My glory—hath implored the bestowal of gracious favor unto thee. God willing, thou mayest attain the loving providence of the True One and be illumined with the lights of His Countenance.
We will now mention, at this juncture, thy mother[4] who hath believed in God, the Lord of worlds, and quaffed the living waters of reunion from the hands of the bounty of her Lord, the Ever-Forgiving, the Most Merciful. We convey Our greetings from this spot unto thee and unto her as a token of Our grace; I am the Most Gracious, the Ancient of Days.
We shall now mention thy father, through whom the sun of constancy hath dawned forth and the fragrance of assurance wafted throughout the world. We bear witness that he hath cast vain imaginings behind his back, setting his face toward this Horizon from which hath shone the Daystar of the revelation of thy Lord, the Almighty, the Most Powerful. He it is who hath renounced the books of the world and cleaved tenaciously to the Mother Book at the behest of God—the All-Glorious, the All-Praised—achieving the greatest steadfastness in such wise that neither hath the clamoring of the wolves hindered him from the Lord of Lords, nor hath fear of the ascendancy of the divines kept him back from the King of all names. Indeed, he hath forsaken the world and turned to the Most Great Prison, the place which God hath blessed with His footsteps, and in which He revealed what lay hidden and concealed in His guarded Tablet.
O ‘Alí-Akbar! Unto thee hath turned the Face of the Supreme Ordainer; for thee hath He given a testimony wherewith the treasures of heaven and earth can never compare, and He thanketh Himself on thy behalf. Verily, thy Lord is the Gracious, the Generous. The resplendent light shining from His snow-white glory rest upon thee, O thou who hast spoken what the Nightingale of faithfulness hath warbled and the celestial Bird trilled upon the branch of eternity! There is, in truth, no God but Him, the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing. Well is it with thee, and whosoever visiteth thee as stated by My Most Exalted Pen, and them that have attained the recognition of God in this sublime Day.
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[1] Short for Dihaj, a city in the Iranian province of Kerman.
[2] The father of this Badí‘ was a man named ‘Alí-Akbar, whom Bahá’u’lláh mentions later in this Tablet. I do not know who he was; he could not have been Siyyid ‘Alí-Akbar Dihají, the man for whom the Fire Tablet was revealed and the nephew of Siyyid Mihdí Dihají (see note 3 below), because a descendant of his told me that he did not have any sons, only two daughters named Bahíyyih-Sulṭán and Qudsíyyih. In any case, Bahá’u’lláh seems to refer to him in a lengthy Arabic Tablet where He states:
We will now mention, at this juncture, the one named ‘Alí-Akbar, who set his face toward the Supreme Horizon and crossed land and sea until he reached the shore of the Most Great Ocean, where he hearkened to the Call coming from the Dayspring of the utterance of His Lord, the King of names, and beheld what no eye hath seen. We bear witness that he listened, turned his face, and hastened forth till he entered the Sacred Vale, wherein hath been diffused the sweet savor of God, Lord of the hidden and manifest alike, and in which he testified unto that which God Himself hath testified—that there is no God but Him, the True One, the Knower of things unseen. He heard the shrill voice [of the Supreme Pen] and the rustling [of the divine Lote-Tree] and discerned the Most Great Sign from the Sadratu’l-Muntahá, as well as that which the hearts and minds of humankind have failed to comprehend. He, verily, hath believed in God in the Day whereon the divines of the earth and its doctors have rejected Him, as have those who have followed them, without a clear token from God, the Almighty, the All-Loving.
(Athár-i-Qalam-i-A‘lá, vol. 2 (2002 ed.), selection no. 2, p. 53; Partial Inventory ID no. BH00026. Provisional translation mine.)
Immediately afterwards, Bahá’u’lláh says, “We will now make mention of his son, whom We have named Badí‘ . . .”
[3] Siyyid Mihdí Dihají (1836–1920), a Bábí who became a Bahá’í but ultimately sided with Mírzá Muḥammad-‘Alí in mid-1910 in opposition to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá as leader of the Bahá’í Faith. For information on Dihají, refer to Moojan Momen, The Bahá’í Communities of Iran, vol. 2, pp. 449–50.
[4] I do not know who the mother of this Badí‘ was, but Bahá’u’lláh appears to mention her in the same Tablet quoted in note 2 above, where He refers to her as one who “heard and responded, then seized the chalice of nearness and reunion, and drank from it in the Name of her Lord, the Sovereign of all existence” (provisional translation mine), and then addresses her thus:
O mother of Badí‘! Let nothing grieve thee. We, verily, exhort thee at all times to observe patience and fortitude, even as We have exhorted Our handmaids in the past. Thy Lord is, in truth, the Patient, the Thankful.
(Provisional translation mine.)
A typescript of the original Persian and Arabic text of this Tablet appears below (all punctuation mine).
Adib Masumian 