What follows is my provisional translation (in other words, not official or authorized; see here for more) of a Tablet from ‘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 Bahá’í World Center.
This Tablet makes reference 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
Care of Dr. Muḥammad Khán[1]
To G. d’Ange d’Astre[2]
33 Bd. des Invalides
Paris
O handmaid of God! Thy letter hath been received and its contents noted. Thy services were already known to me before it arrived. Well aware am I that thy sole desire is to serve the Kingdom, and that whensoever thou hast met with the dear friends upon their return from ‘Akká, thou hast loved them with all thy heart and treated them with kindness. Now must thou, by day and by night, confine thy thoughts and thy words in such wise that thou mayest guide the French and lead them into the path of the Kingdom, that they might acquire a fervent attraction and obtain, in this luminous age, a portion of God’s boundless bestowals.
Show thou the utmost kindness, on my behalf, unto that handmaid of God, Madame Ṣáṣí [Madeleine Sacy], along with her children. I beseech God that they may exalt the name of Monsieur Ṣáṣí [Gabriel Sacy] in this world and the next. Convey thou also to thine own daughter my greetings and loving-kindness. Upon thee be the glory of the All-Glorious.
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[1] Dr. Muḥammad Khán Maḥallátí, an Iranian Bahá’í who studied medicine in Paris and went on to reside there.
[2] Georgina d’Ange d’Astre (also known as Georgina Bazé), a French Bahá’í, actress, seamstress, and nurse. For a biography of her in French, see Marie Dufon-Roche, Oser vouloir: Georgina Bazé, une femme dans l’Histoire, Éditions Marie Romaine (sine loco, 2023).
A typescript of the original Persian text of this Tablet appears below (all punctuation and short vowel marks mine).
Adib Masumian 