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 appears in a collection of manuscripts held at the British Library (Or15715, p. 227). A brief passage from the original text of this Tablet has been published in Payám-i-Malakút, p. 231.
R. SH.[1]
To Jináb-i-Muḥammad-‘Alí-Q.,[2] upon him be the Glory of God
In the Name of the One True God
From time immemorial, the glances of God have been directed towards His loved ones, and they have been illumined with the light of the Sun of Truth. The Tongue of Grandeur hath spoken in remembrance of each and every one of them. In this Day, the fragrances of bounty and utterance have perfumed the world, but most are deprived and bereft thereof. We entreat God to rend asunder the veils, these having been and continuing to be the insinuations of the ignorant, who have adorned their heads with turbans, and who have striven and strive still, with the utmost endeavor, to stop Our servants. “May God condemn them!”[3] Well is it with thee, inasmuch as the hindrances of the obstructors and the barriers of those shut out as by a veil have failed to keep thee back from the sweet savors of the Day of Reckoning and the manifest Light.
We make mention, at this juncture, of thy wife, announcing unto her the signs of thy Lord. We implore God to confirm her and ordain what will endure perpetually. O My handmaid! Rejoice in My remembrance and bear witness to what God hath testified—that there is indeed no God but Him, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.
We now make mention of thy sister, the wife of the one named Faḍlu’lláh. We, verily, have turned towards her from the direction of this Prison, and remembered her with a mention that hath enraptured the hearts and souls. In this Day, the leaves of the Tree must, with consummate sanctity and purity, guide the maidservants of the earth to the Most Exalted Horizon. The handmaids of God are today reckoned among the men; happy and blessed are they! We beseech God to make them all so steadfast that neither the cruelty inflicted by the oppressors nor the fire ignited by the transgressors shall deter them from God’s straight Path.
O Muḥammad-‘Alí! When thou hast read the words traced by My Pen in this Tablet of Mine, say: “O God, my God! Praise be to Thee for proffering unto me the wine of Thine utterance with the hand of Thy bounty. I entreat Thee to ordain for me every good thing Thou hast ordained for Thy chosen ones. O Lord! Thou seest me with my hands raised up to the heaven of Thy grace; out of Thy generosity, debar them not, and out of Thy munificence, disappoint them not. Send down upon me, from the firmament of Thy beneficence, what will draw me nigh unto Thee and adorn me with the ornament of Thy glory and wealth. Thou, in truth, art potent to do what pleaseth Thee, and in Thy grasp are the reins of all beings, seen and unseen alike.”
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[1] This is presumably an abbreviation of “Rasht,” the city for which this Tablet was destined.
[2] “Q.” (originally ق , or qáf) here may be short for “Qulí” or a similar name.
[3] cf. Qur’án 9:30 and 63:4.
A typescript of the original Persian and Arabic text of this Tablet appears below (all punctuation and vowel marks mine).
Adib Masumian 