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 (Or15719, p. 193). In the margin of that page is written ibn-i-madhkúr, meaning “the son of the aforementioned,” and since this Tablet is preceded in that collection by another Tablet revealed for a certain Ḥájí Muḥammad-Riḍá, the addressee of this Tablet seems to have been his son. However, since I do not know who that Ḥájí Muḥammad-Riḍá was, I am unable to identify this unnamed youth.
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In the Name of the One True God
God grant that, in thy youth, thou mayest mention, praise, and serve the Cause of God. The world is passing with the swiftness of lightning. Strive that, in this transient realm, thou mightest reach the river of life and drink therefrom. How many are those who spent lengthy periods and entire lifetimes waiting for this most glorious and most holy Day, but when the Sun of Revelation shone forth from the horizon of the Will of the divine King, they were all seen to be heedless and deprived—nay, in complete opposition and repudiation! This, notwithstanding that all things are most explicitly admonishing the creatures of this contingent plane, reminding them of their deeds and vicissitudes, for at all times can every possessor of sight behold the signs of extinction and disappearance, and yet all are oblivious thereof. By the righteousness of God! The people are indeed in evident loss.
Give thanks to Him Who is the Desire of the world that thou wert mentioned before this Wronged One in this Most Great Prison, and that thou hast received this most great Tablet. Though today the value of God’s Word be unknown to the ignorant, erelong will its station be made manifest and its rank clear to the peoples of the earth. Blessed is the soul that hath attained even to a single letter of the Book and acted in accordance with what hath been revealed therein.
This Day is the day for pure deeds. God willing, His friends must appear in the midst of humankind with the utmost trustworthiness and sincerity, as well as goodly and commendable acts. These are like unto a lamp for dispelling the darkness of the world. We exhort thee and the other friends of God with two utterances and counsel you for His sake: the first is to be steadfast in the Cause, inasmuch as it is exceedingly great, and its greatness hath been mentioned in the Books of God; the second is to do that which befitteth and beseemeth these days. Please God, in this ephemeral realm, thou mayest obtain an everlasting station and achieve His purpose. Yield thanks unto God for this immense bounty and say, “Praised be God, the Lord of the worlds!”
A typescript of the original Persian and Arabic text of this Tablet appears below (all punctuation mine).
Adib Masumian 