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).
He is God!
Egypt
To the esteemed Jibrán Effendí Ṣáṣí [Gabriel Sacy]
O thou who art attracted by the sweet savors of God! I received thy missive from Paris dated 20 September 1902, and behold, I address thee herewith in reply, that thy heart may be gladdened by this letter and thou mayest perceive how the heart of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá is filled with love for the people of Bahá.
O my dear and beloved friend! I beseech God to open before thy face the portals of triumph, that thy breast may be dilated by a brilliant light shining from the Daystar of the world. We returned unto thee thy eloquent and marvelous treatise in the previous mail. How fluent, how graceful was that treatise! It must be translated into English and French and then printed, the introduction being sound. Moreover, concerning the gathering of the believers in that city, this causeth their hearts to be fixed upon the Kingdom of God, their faces to become radiant through the light of His bestowal, their breasts to be dilated through His guidance, and their spirits to rejoice in His glad-tidings. Blessed, then, is the one who striveth to gather the believers, and happy whosoever remindeth the people of the gifts of God’s Kingdom. Upon thee be greetings and praise.
A typescript of the original Arabic text of this Tablet appears below (all punctuation and short vowel marks mine).
Adib Masumian 