Baha’u’llah’s Tablet of the Hair, no. 4

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 is published in La’áli’u’l-Ḥikmat, vol. 3, pp. 69–70 (selection no. 34). I am grateful to Khazeh Fananapazir for his suggested edits to this translation.

This is one of eleven Arabic Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh known as “the Tablets of the Hair,” which depict His hair and its wondrous qualities in figurative language. Authorized translations of five of these Tablets are available here. I have provisionally translated the other six here. 

He is the All-Knowing

O peoples of heaven and earth! Know ye that We made all things the treasuries of My power, then did We choose from them that which We made the adornment of My face. Unto it belong countless names and innumerable attributes, and in its appearance in the form of a serpent are signs indeed for the discerning. Say: It is, in truth, the serpent of divine decree; through it God guardeth His treasures, and protecteth them from the hands of robbers and the eyes of traitors. Say: It is that which, though it move upon the treasury of lights shining from the countenance of thy Lord, the Unconstrained, yet latent within it are treasures still, inscrutable to all save God—the All-Possessing, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise—and them whom He willeth and wisheth to guide. He, verily, is gracious to His servants. He teacheth whom He willeth what shall make him so rich as to be able to dispense with all else. Blessed, therefore, be God, the Most Bountiful of the bountiful! Well is it with him who hath attained to the knowledge thereof, and reached the loftiest heights of the grace that proceedeth from Him Who is the All-Wise, the All-Informed.

Thus do We impart unto Our servants that which is hidden from them, that haply one may comprehend it, and such might appear in the realm of creation as will astonish the minds of the learned, the hearts of the sages, and the souls of all creatures.

A typescript of the original Arabic text of this Tablet appears below. 

هو العليم

أَنْ يا أَهْلَ السَّمواتِ وَالأَرْضِ فَاعْلَمُوا بِأَنّا جَعَلْنا كُلَّ الأَشْياءِ كَنائِزَ قُدْرَتِيْ، ثُمَّ اخْتَصَصْنا مِنْها الَّذِيْ جَعَلْناهُ طِرازَ وَجْهِيْ وَلَهُ أَسْماءٌ لا يُحْصى وَصِفاتٌ لا تُعْدى وَفِيْ ظُهُوْرِهِ عَلى هَيْئَةِ الثُّعْبانِ لآياتٌ لِلْمُتَفَرِّسِيْنَ، قُلْ إِنَّها لَثُعْبانُ الْقَضاءِ بِها يَحْمِي اللهُ كُنُوْزَهُ وَيَحْفَظُها مِنْ أَيْدِي السَّارِقِيْنَ وَأَنْظُرِ الْخائِنِيْنَ، قُلْ إِنَّها وَلَوْ تُحَرَّكُ عَلى كَنْزِ الأَنْوارِ مِنْ وَجْهِ رَبِّكَ الْمُخْتارِ وَلكِنْ فِيْ نَفْسِها سُتِرَتْ كُنُوْزٌ ما اطَّلَعَ بِها أَحَدٌ إِلاَّ اللهُ الْمَلِكُ الْعالِمُ الْحَكِيْمُ وَمَنْ شاءَ وَأَرادَ وَإِنَّهُ لَذُوْ فَضْلٍ عَلى الْعِبادِ يُعَلِّمُ مَنْ يَشاءُ ما يُغْنِيْهِ عَنْ دُوْنِهِ فَتَبارَكَ اللهُ أَكْرَمُ الأَكْرَمِيْنَ، فَيا حَبَّذا لِمَنْ فازَ بِعِرْفانِها وَبَلَغَ ذِرْوَةَ الْفَضْلِ مِنْ لَدُنْ حَكِيْمٍ خَبِيْرٍ، كَذلِكَ نُلْقِيْ عَلى الْعِبادِ ما سُتِرَ عَنْهُمْ لَعَلَّ يَفْقَهُ نَفْسٌ وَيَظْهَرُ فِي الإِبْداعِ ما يَتَحَيَّرُ عَنْهُ عُقُوْلُ الْعُقَلاءِ وَأَفْئِدَةُ الْحُكَماءِ وَأَنْفُسُ الخَلائِقِ أَجْمَعِيْنَ.