What follows is my provisional translation (in other words, not official or authorized; see here for more) of an unpublished Tablet of Bahá’u’lláh. I am grateful to Steven Phelps for supplying me with a scan of the original text, which comes from a manuscript collection held at the British Library (Or15715, pp. 373–74). Due to copyright reasons, the scan itself has not been made available here; instead, I have prepared a typescript of the original text and included it underneath the provisional translation. An opening sentence of this Tablet has also been published in Má’idiy-i-Ásmání, vol. 8, p. 110.
Jináb-i-M. SH.
In the Name of God, the All-Knowing, the All-Seeing
The utterances of God are being spoken in Persian. Though the Arabic language be richer, yet is the Persian tongue more sweet.
Fix thy gaze at all times on these blessed words, which even as the sun are rising above the horizon of this divine Tablet: “He that giveth up himself wholly to God, God shall, assuredly, be with him.” This Servant attesteth to the truth of what hath been said. Cling thou thereto; it will suffice thee, if thou wouldst act in accordance therewith. He, verily, is the Educator, the All-Knowing. Ponder awhile: All the peoples of the world have been created to recognize God, and unto them hath been made, in all the heavenly Books, the promise of the Most Great Revelation. Yet in spite of this, when the veils were rent asunder—when the obscuring mists were dispelled and the Countenance of the Desired One was clearly manifested from the horizon of Revelation—everyone rose up to oppose and protest against Him, notwithstanding that they had all been awaiting Him. Thus hath it been said aforetime: “A true believer is rarer than the philosopher’s stone.”[1]
Had they reflected for even less than a moment on what appeared previously, they would surely not have been deprived, in this day, of the Ocean of inner meaning, nor debarred from the Sun of divine knowledge. Hearken thou to the voice of this Wronged One, and cleave tenaciously, at the end of thy life, to that which is better for thee than all the treasures of the earth. I swear by the Ocean of knowledge that what is being said is the truth; no doubt is there about it. Incline thine ear to My voice and “say ‘God,’ then leave them to play at their idle talk.”[2] Wert thou to discover, to an extent smaller than a needle’s eye, the fragrances of the utterances of the All-Merciful, thou wouldst behold thyself detached from the world and all who dwell thereon. With the utmost joy, radiance, and assurance, thou wouldst choose for thyself a place of refuge beneath the shade of the Friend.
A prayer was previously sent. Continue to recite it, for it is a key to the doors of divine bounty, mercy, and compassion. Blessed is the one that hath held fast to the cord of the Cause and clung to the hem of the loving-kindness of his Lord, the Most Generous.
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[1] From a ḥadíth attributed to the Imám Ja‘far Ṣádiq.
[2] Qur’án 6:91.
A complete typescript of the original Arabic and Persian text of this Tablet appears below (all punctuation mine).
Adib Masumian 