Adib Masumian

What follows is my provisional translation (in other words, not official or authorized; see here for more) of two Writings by Bahá’u’lláh, the original texts of which are digitally available on the Bahá’í Reference Library here.

The man in whose honor these words were revealed, Áqá ‘Abdu’ṣ-Ṣáliḥ, had “the distinction of being gardener at the Riḍván” (meaning the Garden of Riḍván in ‘Akká), as mentioned by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in His eulogy for him, published in Memorials of the Faithful, chapter 8. Toward the end of that eulogy, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá states, “The Ancient Beauty [Bahá’u’lláh] was well pleased with ‘Abdu’ṣ-Ṣáliḥ, and after his ascension revealed a Visitation Tablet in his honor, also delivering an address concerning him,” and these are the very same texts that appear below, in which homage is paid to the devotion and skill of ‘Abdu’ṣ-Ṣáliḥ as a gardener through the imagery Bahá’u’lláh has used.

In connection with the opening paragraph of the Tablet, it is worth noting that, in the pilgrim notes of Badí‘ Bushrú’í (published in Persian under the title Dar Ẓill-i-Shajariy-i-Mítháq), the entry for Wednesday, 27 October 1915 (pp. 300–301) includes an account in which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and some of the believers went that evening to the Garden of Riḍván in ‘Akká, and when they reached its door, they stopped and recited this Tablet of Visitation in a loud voice.

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He is the Compassionate, the All-Bountiful

Blessed is the one who entereth the garden^* and maketh mention of God, his Lord, the All-Merciful. O followers of this Wronged One! When ye reach the door thereof, halt and say:

The fragrant breezes wafting from thy roses and flowers be upon thee, O ‘Abdu’ṣ-Ṣáliḥ, along with brilliant light! I bear witness that thy traces in the garden attest to thy presence, thy life, and thine arising to serve God, thy Lord, the All-Merciful. I testify, moreover, that thou livest in the Most Exalted Realm and art mentioned in the Crimson Tablet. O Ṣáliḥ! These most sublime words will suffice thee, spoken as they are by this Wronged One in the Prison of ‘Akká. I bear witness—as do the Celestial Concourse, the inmates of Paradise, and the denizens of the highest heaven—that thou didst attain the days of God, didst ascend during His days, and didst spend thine own days in the service of His days. Alas, alas! The trees lament thy separation, the roses thy remoteness, and the rivers thine absence. In truth, manifold sorrows have seized all the orchards and gardens of the earth.

O Ṣáliḥ! Blessed, doubly blessed art thou! Indeed, God hath blessed thy life and thy death. The Supreme Pen hath made mention of thee in the Most Glorious Paradise on a Day wherein thou didst take for thyself a path unto God, the Lord of all being. This is a Day in which the dwellers of the realms above shall inhale from thee the sweet savor of the garden. Radiant splendor and effulgent light be upon those who seek thee, visit thee, and remember thee in the path of God, the Lord of all worlds. Glory rest upon thee—as well as the origin of thy being and its end, thine outer temple and thine inner self—and upon thee rest also the mercy of God, His grace, His bounty, His bestowals, and His blessings.

He is the Ever-Forgiving, the Most Bountiful

Great is thy blessedness, O Ṣáliḥ! Thou hast chosen for thyself, on this Day and in the precincts of the mercy of thy Lord, an exalted station and perspicuous mention. Magnify thyself on My behalf, then beseech God to sustain us with that wherewith He hath sustained thee, and to deliver us from the world, releasing us from its adversities and its torments. Well is it with the one who remembereth thy days and draweth nigh, through thee, unto God, thy Lord and the Lord of all who are in the heavens and on the earth. O Ṣáliḥ! Forget not thy loved ones in thy glorious station and thy lofty, thy blessed, thy manifest habitation.

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^* All instances of “the garden” in this Tablet refer to the Garden of Riḍván in ‘Akká.

A typescript of the original Arabic text of these Writings appears below (all short vowel marks mine).

هُوَ الْمُشْفِقُ الْکَرِیمُ

طُوبَی لِمَنْ یَدْخُلُ الْبُسْتَانَ وَ یَذْکُرُ اللّهَ رَبَّهُ الرَّحْمَنَ یَا حِزْبَ الْمَظْلُومِ اِذَا بَلَغْتُمْ بَابَهُ قِفُوا وَ قُولُوا

النَّسَمَاتُ الْمُعَطَّرَةُ الَّتِی تَسْرِی مِنْ اُورَادِکَ وَ اَزْهَارِکَ عَلَیْکَ یَا عَبْدَالصَّالِحُ وَ النُّورُ اللَّائِحُ اَشْهَدُ اَنَّ آثَارَکَ فِی الْبُسْتَانِ یَشْهَدُ بِحُضُورِکَ وَ حَیَاتِکَ وَ قِیَامِکَ عَلَی خِدْمَةِ اللّهِ رَبِّکَ الرَّحْمَنِ اَشْهَدُ اَنَّکَ تَکُونُ حَیّاً فِی الْأُفُقِ الْأَعْلَی وَ مَذْکُوراً فِی الصَّحِیفَةِ الْحَمْرَآءِ یَا صَالِحُ یَکْفِیکَ هَذِهِ الْکَلِمَةُ الْعُلْیَا الَّتِی نَطَقَ بِهَا الْمَظْلُومُ فِی سِجْنِ عَکَّا اَشْهَدُ وَ یَشْهَدُ الْمَلَأُ الْأَعْلَی وَ سُکَّانُ الْفِرْدَوْسِ وَ الْجَنَّةِ الْعُلْیَا بِأَنَّکَ اَدْرَکْتَ اَیَّامَ اللّهِ وَ صَعِدْتَ فِی اَیَّامِهِ وَ صَرَفْتَ اَیَّامَکَ فِی خِدْمَةِ اَیَّامِهِ فَآهٍ آهٍ تَنُوحُ الْأَشْجَارُ فِی فِرَاقِکَ وَ الْأَوْرَادُ فِی هَجْرِکَ وَ النَّهْرَانِ فِی غَیْبَتِکَ قَدْ اَخَذَتِ الْأَحْزَانُ بَسَاتِینَ الْأَرْضِ وَ حَدَائِقَهَا کُلَّهَا

یَا صَالِحُ طُوبَی لَکَ ثُمَّ طُوبَی لَکَ اِنَّ اللّهَ بَارَکَ حَیَاتَکَ وَ مَمَاتَکَ قَدْ ذَکَرَکَ الْقَلَمُ الْأَعْلَی فِی الْفِرْدَوْسِ الْأَبْهَی فِی یَوْمٍ فِیهِ اِتَّخَذْتَ لِنَفْسِکَ سَبِیلاً اِلَی اللّهِ مَوْلَی الْوَرَی هَذَا یَوْمٌ فِیهِ یَجِدُ مِنْکَ اَهْلُ الْجِنَانِ عَرْفَ الْبُسْتَانِ الْبَهَآءُ الْمُشْرِقُ وَ النُّورُ اللَّائِحُ عَلَی الَّذِینَ یَقْصِدُونَکَ وَ یَزُورُونَکَ وَ یَذْکُرُونَکَ فِی سَبِیلِ اللّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِینَ النُّورُ عَلَیْکَ وَ عَلَی اَوَّلِکَ وَ آخِرِکَ وَ ظَاهِرِکَ وَ بَاطِنِکَ وَ رَحْمَةُ اللّهِ وَ فَضْلُهُ وَ عِنَایَتُهُ وَ اَلْطَافُهُ وَ بَرَکَاتُهُ

هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الْکَرِیمُ

نَعِیماً لَکَ یَا صَالِحُ قَدِ اِتَّخَذْتَ الْیَوْمَ لِنَفْسِکَ فِی جِوَارِ رَحْمَةِ رَبِّکَ مَقَاماً عَلِیّاً وَ ذِکْراً جَلِیّاً کَبِّرْ عَلَی نَفْسِکَ مِنْ قِبَلِی ثُمَّ اسْأَلِ اللّهَ اَنْ یَرْزُقَنَا مَا رَزَقَکَ وَ یُخَلِّصَنَا عَنِ الدُّنْیَا وَ شِدَّتِهَا وَ عَذَابِهَا طُوبَی لِمَنْ یَذْکُرُ اَیَّامَکَ وَ یَتَقَرَّبُ بِکَ اِلَی اللّهِ رَبِّکَ رَبِّ مَنْ فِی السَّمَوَاتِ وَ الْأَرَضِینَ یَا صَالِحُ لَا تَنْسَ اَحِبَّائَکَ فِی مَقَامِکَ الْمَحْمُودِ وَ مَقَرِّکَ الْمُرْتَفَعِ الْمُبَارَکِ الْمَشْهُودِ