What follows is my provisional translation (in other words, not official or authorized; see here for more) of a Tablet of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. The original text has not been published; a typescript of it was shared with me by Marc Soudon, who received it from the National Bahá’í Archives of France.
This Tablet was addressed to Gabriel Sacy (20 November 1858 – 21 March 1903), an Egyptian Catholic and Martinist who seems to have become a Baháʼí around the turn of the twentieth century, apparently under the guidance of Mírzá Abu’l-Faḍl Gulpáygání, who was also living in Egypt at the time. Sacy spoke seven languages, studied at the Syrian Protestant College (now the American University of Beirut), and worked as the head of the personnel office at the Ministry of Finance in Cairo. E.G. Browne writes that Sacy “had become a fervent Baháʼí with a very remarkable faculty for interpreting the prophecies of the Old and New Testaments, especially those of the Book of Daniel and Revelation, in support of the Bábí and Bahá’í claims” (Materials for the Study of the Bábí Religion, pp. 185–86).
Paris
To the honorable Jibrán Effendí Ṣáṣí [Gabriel Sacy]
He is God!
O thou who art attracted by the divine fragrances! Two letters for thee have we sent to Paris, and we have written thee concerning the address which thou didst compose and bring to perfection. No doubt is there that the Spirit aided thee in composing it. I beseech God that He may reward thee for this and unlock before thy face the gates of understanding with the keys of the bounties of the Holy Spirit, that thou mayest be enabled to compose treatises even greater than this one for the diffusion of the fragrances of God and the promotion of His Word. Should it prove possible to publish the treatise in English and French, there would be no objection to this; however, to print it in Arabic would not be permissible at this time, out of wisdom for the sake of God’s Cause, nor must it be dispatched to the Pope and heads of state, for its time will come and its season shall arrive.
As to the Kitáb-i-Íqán, it hath been translated by someone in America and is now being prepared for publication.*
Concerning the oil, send it to Aḥmad Effendí Yazdí and he will forward it with one of the believers when he cometh to this land. Write thou detailed instructions for its use.
Verily do I beseech God to aid thee under all circumstances and make thee a sign of His mercy amidst humankind. Be thou confident in the grace of thy God and assured of the confirmations of thy Lord, standing firm in His Cause with such steadfastness as will shake the pillars of error throughout the whole world. Turn with devotion to thy God and chant the verses of divine unity at morn and eventide, communing with thy Lord in the dead of night and the break of dawn. Consort with the believers in that spacious city, gather them together in assemblages of supplication and prayer, and expound unto them the greatness of the Cause and the supreme triumph they have attained in these days of the Lord. By God, the True One! The angels of heaven envy the bounty vouchsafed unto the believers in these times, yet are the eyes of humanity veiled therefrom. Erelong shall mysteries be revealed, lights shine forth, and coverings be lifted from the face of truth. Then will be made manifest the station of the righteous, and then will be realized the everlasting glory which shall be theirs throughout the succession of ages and centuries. Upon thee be greetings and praise.
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* The Kitáb-i-Íqán was first translated into English by Ali-Kuli Khan and published as The Book of Assurance in 1904, and it is this translation to which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá is referring here.
A typescript of the original Arabic text of this Tablet appears below (all punctuation and short vowel marks mine).
Adib Masumian 