In 1863, on the first day of His arrival at the garden of Ridvan, Baha'u'llah revealed a singularly important Tablet known as Suriy-i Sabr (Surih of Patience), or Lawh-i Ayyub (the Tablet of Job), thus named in memory of one of the survivors of the Nayriz-I holocaust, Haji Muhammad Taqiy-i Nayrizi, surnamed Ayyub. Some time ago, I asked Dr. Khazeh Fananapazir to prepare a translation of this Tablet for inclusion in a forthcoming study on Nayriz and I am now pleased to have Dr. Fananapazir's permission to share his labor [with this website -ed.]. -Ahang Rabbani
This is the City of Patience. Strive ye to enter it, O concourse of the
patient ones!
In His name, the Exalted One, He Who is the Most Exalted.
This is the remembrance of God in the City of Patience regarding Job, Our
servant, Whom We sheltered under the shade of that Holy Tree planted in His
heart, to Whom We demonstrated the fire ignited in His Own Essence, and to
Whose Self We revealed Our Own Self by His Own Self. We called Job from this
sacred Spot whose environs are sanctified with this call, "Verily, He is God,
Thy Lord and the Lord of all things. He is All-Powerful over all things, the
Self-Subsisting One." When Job's face was illumined by the fire burning in the
sacred Tree, We clothed Him with the garment of Prophethood and commanded Him
to instruct men in the essence of graciousness and bounty and to invite the
people to the holy and beloved Shore. We established Job on earth and caused
the waters of divine munificence to descend on Him so that through riches He
became independent of all the inhabitants of the earth. We conferred on Him a
bounteous fortune and made Him very wealthy in the kingdom. We caused Him to
receive a portion of all wealth and strengthened His back with great power. We
gave Him sons from his loins and established an exalted station for Him in all
the lands.
Job was amongst His people many years, counseling them with the hidden gems of
the knowledge We taught Him, and He reminded His people of the Days of God that
were truly to come. He said, "O my people! In truth, oceans of knowledge are
contained within the Self of God Who hath arisen to establish justice. Hasten
ye therefore that ye may find a way unto it. Verily, the Sun of God's loving
kindness continues to shine forth from the midmost zenith and the beauty of the
Countenance of God bath appeared from behind the Holy Tabernacles. Attend unto
His presence that haply He may bestow upon you portions of His much-loved
splendor. The heavens of grandeur are uplifted and have become adorned with
constellations of knowledge and wisdom. Thus has God's holy cause dawned forth
from the sanctified horizon. O my people! Before Me Messengers came with the
divine Word and They all announced unto you that which will turn you towards
the exalted and glorious shore. The divinely appointed time hath come upon you
and the Lights of God's justice hath shone forth, the Immortal Bird hath sung,
the Dove of Revelation has warbled, the clouds of God's illumination have
become uplifted, and the oceans of divine bounty have poured forth. O people of
the earth! Ye are deprived of all this. Fear ye God, corrupt not the earth of
God's wisdom, and hearken unto these words which are descending from the heaven
of God's nearness."
From the beginning that hath no beginning, to the end that hath no end, We
have thus counseled Our servants through the tongue of the Messengers, yet all
have turned away from God's admonitions and have retreated therefrom save those
who have been encompassed by Our loving-kindness. These are the souls who
hearkened unto God's call as voiced from behind the hidden veils of glory. They
responded to the Summoner unto God with both their inner and outer being and
sought attraction through the melodies of the Beloved, attaining unto the
stations of guidance. Upon them be the mercy of God, and the salutations of
God, Who hath given them what no one knoweth and hath caused them to reach a
station that is hidden from the eyes of all creation.
Ere long will the cause of God be manifested and truth shall be
distinguished from falsehood. The standards of guidance will be uplifted and
all traces of those who have joined partners with God obliterated. The earth
shall be inherited by those servants who are wholly consecrated unto God, have
not imbibed the love of the "Calf" in their hearts, and who turn away from
those who continue to disbelieve despite clear evidences presented to them.
Thus have the fingers of might upon the tablets of light inscribed the divine
behest.
Call to mind Our servant, Job. When He appeared with the standards of
wealth in the kingdom of earth, His people were envious of Him, continually
defaming Him in their gatherings. All their deeds are preserved in God's secret
scrolls. Their vainly imagined that Job summoned people to God merely because
He had been granted the treasures of this nether world, although, in fact, Job
was sanctified from both their vain beliefs and certain truths, and indeed from
all that is in this world. When We purposed to show the signs of the one true
God as demonstrated in Job's detachment and reliance, We caused to descend upon
Him tribulations from all sides and truly tried Him with many tests.[1] We took His sons from Him and discontinued
the bounty We had given Him. Every day We deprived Him of something good; not a
day passed but there descended on Job, from the site of divine decree, what
hath been written by the Pen of God's will and suffering. Loss engulfed Him as
had been ordained by the Mighty, the Self-Subsisting One. We burnt what He had
planted by the hands of the angels of God's command and everything was utterly
lost. When We had cleansed Him of earthly ornaments and material pollution, and
had purified Him of physical possessions, then, as a further test, We caused
the angels of divine wrath to blow poisonous air on His skin, making His body
weaken, His temple tremble, and His limbs quiver so much that no portion of His
being was left uncovered by wounds, and yet, in all these states, His gratitude
increased daily. He remained patient and did not complain. We thus accounted
Him of those who trust and are patient and grateful.
Job's people expelled Him from the town where He lived, showing no shame
toward God, their Creator. They hurt Job as much as they could, and thus did We
deem Him one of the wronged of this world. The portals of wealth were closed to
His face and the doors of poverty opened in such wise that several days passed
before He could satisfy His intense hunger. Thus was the matter decreed. There
remained unto Him no friend or companion and He became alone in the world
except for His wife, who believed in God and served Job in all His
tribulations. We confirmed her to be His support in all matters. When this
companion found her Husband in such a grievous state, she went to her people
and asked them for a loaf of bread, but those embodiments of iniquity refused
to give her any. In truth, We have registered all things in Our perspicuous
Book. As His condition grew extreme, she sought help from the worst of women,
but even this woman refused to give a piece of bread until she had taken from
Job's wife what she wanted. I swear by God! The pen is ashamed to recall such
events, but God is a witness of their deeds. Job's wife came to Him with the
bread, but when He saw that her hair cut off, He bewailed in such a way that
all the heavens and earth bewailed as well. Said He, "O handmaiden of God! I
see thou hath done what is truly not allowed. Why did you permit your hair, an
adornment for thy beauty, to be cut off?" Said she, "O Job! The more I asked
Thy people for a piece of bread for Thee, the more they refused, until I
entered the house of one of the maidservants of God. She also refused to give
me bread until she had taken my hair, and this is the bread I have brought
before Thy face. In this manner hath she rebelled against God's law. She has
truly waxed proud and the matter is finished between her and me. O Job, forgive
me and do not punish me for this transgression. I was reduced to an extreme
condition because of my concern for Thee. Have mercy on me and forgive me, for
Thou art always generous and forgiving."
What was decreed came to pass and in this wise Job was sorrowful that all
heavens would well nigh have cloven asunder and the earth of patience would
have been split and the mountain of long suffering would have been reduced to
pieces. So he placed his face on the dust and he said. "O my Lord! Suffering
has encompassed from all sides and truly Thou art the One Whose mercy has
preceded all things. In Thy generosity have compassion on me and be kind to me
in Thy bountiful favor, for Thou art compassionate unto Thy servants." And when
We heard His call We caused there to flow under his right leg a clear sweet
water and We commanded Job to immerse himself in it and to drink therefrom. And
when he drank therefrom he became purified of all ailments and was manifest in
the most beauteous form. We returned to him all We had taken from him and even
more such that We rained on him from the Dominion of wealth what enriched him
and made him independent of all earth. We solaced his eyes by the joy of his
family and we fulfilled what We had promised the patient ones in all the holy
and preserved Tablets. We made good all his affairs and We confirmed him with
mighty arm of Our revelation. Thus We raise the submissive ones and thus We
cause to perish those who wax proud, they who act wickedly in the land. Thus We
accomplish that which We purpose and We fulfill the rewards of the long
suffering and We vouchsafe to them generously of Our holy treasures.
O peoples of the earth! Be patient and persevering in the path of God and do
not sorrow about that which will befall you in these "Days of the Spirit". Soon
ye shall see the recompense of the patient ones in the transcendent and holy
Garden (Ridvan). In truth God has created a Paradise in the retreats of
immortality and has named it "patience". Its name was treasured in the
immaculate treasures of God up to the present Day. And in it was ordained what
was not ordained in all other gardens and We have at this moment unveiled it
for you and caused it to be remembered by you as a mercy on Our part to all the
worlds. And in this paradise there are rivers of the providence of God and God
has forbidden it from any one except those who have persevered in calamities
seeking thereby the good pleasure of God. None shall enter these gardens except
such as have not perverted the bounty of God in themselves and flew with the
wings of might in the atmosphere of patience. These are they who have been
long-suffering in all tribulations and the more the tribulations increased
their love for their Lord waxed greater and with their entire being they turned
to the exalted and holy One. The ecstasies of desire grew intense in their
hearts and the breaths of enthusiasm became great in their being so much so and
they gave of their wealth and they gave all that vouchsafed by God to them and
in all those states they were grateful to their Lord and they did not seek help
from any one and God inscribed the names of the patient ones in His holy and
irrevocable tablets.
Truly blessed is the one who arrays himself with the garment of patience and
equanimity and who does not change in afflictions and whose footsteps do not
slip when the tempests of wrath blow and remains acquiescent at all times and
relies on God at all times. I swear by God! Soon will God cause him to be
manifested within the canopy of grandeur with a luminous garment which will
scintillate like unto the scintillation of light above the spiritual horizon
and eyes will be dazzled upon beholding him and above his head there will be a
caller from God saying, "This is verily the one who was long suffering for God
in the vain and futile world and in all that the unbelievers did unto him. The
concourse on high will seek blessing from him and the occupiers of God's
pavilions will seek to meet him as well as the holy maidens in the sacred and
beautiful tabernacles." So O People of the Bayan! Be patient in these passing
days and do not complain that your abject ornaments have been lost and do not
bemoan of the afflictive trials that have been ordained in the Mighty Scrolls
of God.
Further know ye that for all good deeds there is ordained a limited reward in
the Book of God with the exception of patience. This is the point that was made
by God unto Muhammad, the Apostle of God. "Those who patiently persevere will
truly receive a reward without measure."[2] Thus
has the Faithful Spirit revealed unto the heart of Muhammad in the Arabian
Tongue and thus has it been revealed in all the mighty and new Tablets what has
been ordained for the patient ones. Further know ye that God has ordained
patience to be the garment of all the Messengers and no Prophet or Messenger
has been sent but his temple has been ordained with the robe of patience. Thus
has been taken God's Covenant with every Prophet sent by Him.
It behoveth in the beginning for the patient person to persevere in himself so
that he will withhold himself from all wickedness, evil, and desires, and from
all that God has forbidden in His Book and so will his name be inscribed in the
Tablets as a patient one. And further he shall be persevering despite the
afflictions that shall descend on him in the path of his Fashioner and that he
be not shaken when the tempestuous winds of divine decree blow and when the
ocean of God's destiny billows in the dominion of His irrevocable Plan and that
he remain steadfast in the Faith of God.
And further that he should be patient with what the friends of God bring upon
him and that he should be forbearing with the believers for the love of God and
the pleasure of His Religion. Anticipate ye therefore the Day when the clouds
of patience shall be uplifted and the immortal Bird shall warble, and the
Peacock of holiness shall be made manifest with the ornament of Revelation in
the kingdom of His reunion, and the stammering tongues shall be freed singing
the accents of the Nightingale, and the Dove of paradise shall sing betwixt
earth and heaven and the Trumpet shall be sounded and bodies of existence shall
all be renewed, and the Divine Fire shall be ignited, and God in His
transcendent and glorious Beauty shall come in the clouds of the Spirit. Then
haste ye to Him O peoples of the earth! And do not heed anything else of this
world, and let nothing impede you, and let the affairs of learning should not
hinder you and the matters of wisdom should not lock you out haste with all
haste to the holy and uplifted Precinct. For if you had been of the patient
ones from all eternity but if ye tarry on that Day less than a moment the
quality of true patience shall not be yours. This has been revealed by the pen
of the Omniscient One.
Say, O people of the world, fear God in these Days and do not fabricate
falsehoods against His Trusted Ones and speak not of what ye have no
cognizance. For ye are of the weak ones on earth and of the poor ones[3] in His land so wax not proud in your selves and
hurry towards the accepted land of God's will.
I swear by God! This nether world shall pass away and all that ye delight in it
with it, and the angels of His wrath shall assemble you in the presence of the
Mighty and Omnipotent King. And you shall be asked of what you have wrought in
your days for naught is left in the heavens or earth but that it is written in
the tablets of His Knowledge. Then no one will assist you and none will
befriend you and nothing will avail you but what you have planted in the field
of your deeds. So be awakened O wicked ones and hearken unto the admonition of
this kind Friend who admonishes you for the sake of God and does not want from
you either a recompense or thanks. His reward is with the One that has sent Him
in truth and has caused to descend on Him verses that the proof may be
fulfilled unto all the world. How long will ye repose yourself on the seats of
heedlessness and how long shall ye follow that are not but the abject ones
moved by others.
I swear by God! They whom you have taken to be lords beside the One True God do
not have names or essences mentionable in the sight of God. Have mercy on
yourself and fear God your Fashioner. Return to him that He may forgive your
evil deeds and he is truly forgiving unto His servants.
Say I swear by God! They to whom you attribute knowledge and have accepted them
as your divines they are in the sight of God the worst of men nay the
quintessence of evil flees from them. Thus has the matter been inscribed in the
scrolls of God's knowledge. We testify that they have not drunk from the
fountains of knowledge and they have not attained unto a word of Wisdom and
have not become aware of the mysteries of Revelation and have been racing in
the land of their selfish desires. Nothing of rejection and denial against a
prophet or a successor of a prophet has come to pass except after their
permission. Thus has always been their injunction carried out on the
Countenances of holiness.
Say to them: O ignorant ones! Did We not reveal in the past: "A Day that God
shall come in the canopies of clouds."[4] How is
it that when He came down in the clouds of Revelation in the Temple of `Ali,
you turned away and rejected Him and waxed haughty and brought about your own
perdition?[5] Was it not also revealed in your
Book: "the Day when Thy Lord comes or certain of the signs of Thy Lord."[6] And when He did come with evident signs
wherefore did ye turn away from those signs and veiled yourselves with the
veils of self?
Say: Verily God is sanctified from coming and descent. For He is Single,
Transcendent Whose knowledge encompasses all the heavens and the earth. For He
never comes in His Essence nor can He be seen in His Innermost Being and cannot
be recognized in His Divine Ipseity and He cannot be comprehended with all His
attributes. Thus He that cometh is the Manifestation of His own Self and indeed
He did come in the Name of `Ali[7] and ye
gathered around Him with the claws of hatred and passed sentence on Him, O
concourse of divines, and were not ashamed in the face of Him Who created you
and fashioned you. Thus have We[8] taken account
of your affair in preserved Tablets of glory.
O Ear of Immortal truth! Hearken to what these unbelievers say: God has sealed
Prophethood with the coming of His Beloved Muhammad, the Apostle of God, and He
shall not raise any one after Him[9] and He has
made His own hands chained[10] of disposing
grace; the embodiments of sanctity shall never appear after Him; the Lights of
grace shall never shine again; bounty is terminated; power has ended;
loving-kindness has been consummated; the portals of grace are closed even
though the breezes of divine grace are ever blowing from the Ridvan of might.
Say: May your own hands be chained and accursed are you in these sayings.
Rather His hands are stretched to give bounty to all the heavens and the earth.
He will rise with power whoever He wishes and He shall not be asked of his
doings. Verily He has power over all things.
Say: O People of the Qur'an! Ponder ye in the Book that was revealed in truth
unto Muhammad in which he sealed Prophethood with the coming of His beloved
Prophet until the day of resurrection. But this day is the day of Resurrection
whereon God has risen in the Manifestation of His Self but you have become
veiled from it just as the peoples before have become veiled on the advent of
Muhammad and you have become drowned in the depths of an ocean of ignorance and
denial.
Say: Were ye not promised "attaining the presence of God"[11] in the "Days of God"[12]? But when the Promise did come and the Beauty shone above
the Horizon of Glory you turned your gaze away and were resurrected[13] blind in the Plain of resurrection.
Say: Was it not revealed in the Qur'an[14],
and His word is the Truth: "Thus have We made you a nation intermediate. That
ye may be witnesses over the nations, and the Messenger a witness over
yourselves."? But you have interpreted this verse according to your desires
although at all times you admitted what was also revealed is truth: None
knoweth the interpretation thereof except God and they that are firmly grounded
in knowledge[15]. Although you are certain of
this verse and although you were prevented, yet you have interpreted and
expounded the words of God. But you have risen to object to and to deny those
"firmly grounded in knowledge." In fact you slay them as you slew them
aforetime and are proud of what you perpetrate. Woe unto you and what your
hands have wrought and woe unto what you have vain imaginings in the Cause of
God in Days that the lights of guidance are manifest at this dawn of knowledge.
Ask them then as to how they interpret that which has been revealed from the
kingdom of glory unto the Arabian Prophet and what do they say the meaning of
Intermediate is. If Prophethood has been sealed with Him how is the Prophet's
nation said to be intermediate amongst the nations? In this wise ascertain the
limit of their cognizance. It is as though they have never hearkened the
melodies of the Divine Nightingale or if they heard it they did not apprehend
its purpose and in this manner the testimony of their own Book is completed
unto them. This is what the word of all the peoples when the dispensation of
each of the Prophets comes. As oft as a Messenger came to them they told that
Messenger, "You have not been sent by God and Prophethood was sealed by the
previous one." Thus does Satan embellish to their eyes their deeds and words
and in this they are far remote from the shores of truth.
Tell them then the story of Muhammad when aforetime He came with clear
sovereignty. Said He, "These are the verses of God that have been revealed in
truth." Do not have discord in the Cause of God but gather on around this
glorious and transcendent shore. O people! Look at Me with the eye of God and
follow not your desires and be not like those who call God in their days and
night but when He came to them they turned away and denied him and were found
prostrate upon the idols of their own selves.
The Jews said, "By God! This is He who has fabricated a falsehood against God,
or He is possessed or He is under a spell." They said, "God has sealed
Prophethood with Moses and this command of God is decreed in the Torah. Further
the Law of the Torah shall never be abrogated as long as God exists and the One
that is to be raised after Moses will arise under the auspices of the Mosaic
Law so that he may spread its ordinances amongst all the peoples of the earth
and thus has the command of God been revealed from the firmament His Revelation
brought down.
The people of the Gospel spoke like unto them and are waiting from that Day
till this. And their position was rejected by God in that which He revealed
upon Muhammad in the Arabic tongue in the Sura of the Jinn: "They came to think
as ye thought that God would not raise up any one (to Prophethood)."[16]
I swear by God! This verse and what is treasured within it suffices all the
peoples of the earth should they tread the goodly and honorable path. Say[17]: God hath sent down His Messengers to
succeed to Moses and Jesus, and He will continue to do so till `the end that
bath no end'; so that His grace may, from the heaven of Divine Bounty be
continually vouchsafed to mankind. He doeth what He willeth and He shall not be
asked of what He does. Rather all will be asked of all things in the court of
divine Justice.
Hearken then unto what these objectors say and how they have come to think as
the servants who were before have thought. Say: I swear by God! Ye are guilty
of a misapprehension in this matter. For verily the "Hour" has passed in truth
and the "Resurrection" has risen despite you and despite those who are deafened
unto divine melodies. Say: Ye speak as the peoples of bygone ages spoke at the
time of the Apostle of God and ye are expectant as they were expectant and your
footsteps have slipped upon this path which has been outstretched for truth.
Ponder ye therefore on the significance of this verse that ye may be nourished
from the nourishment of knowledge that is descending from the heaven of
holiness in a preordained measure.
O Solace of the Eyes of Eternity! Witness what the unbelievers report about
this verdant and blessed Tree that is upraised on the musk-laden mount. So high
have its Branches grown that They have reached a place hidden beyond the
Tabernacles of holiness. And these unbelievers have purposed to cut omits
twigs. Say: it is protected in the fortress of God and is guarded in His loving
providence and yet God has prevented the hands of the unbelievers and
hypocrites from molesting it, such that their hands will never reach it. Soon
will God gather under its shade all who are in the kingdom of existence and
this is what God has written for His own Self to accomplish and all that has
been irrevocable in the Tablets of might written with the Pen of knowledge.
O Solace of the Eyes of Beauty! Remind the servants with the remembrances of
the spirit in these days and make them hear the immortal melodies that they may
come to apprehend in themselves something even for lesser than a moment haply
they may not entertain thoughts as the people aforetime thought and that they
may have certitude that God is able to send a Messenger at all moments. Say O
people of hatred! May you perish in your wrath! This victory has been decreed
by the luminous and glorious Pen. Reveal unto them what the Dove of the Spirit
has sung in the holy and beloved Ridvan haply they may follow the
interpretation of the term "Seal" as was uttered by the Tongue of the Name of
God 'Ali, He Who was firmly grounded in knowledge, in His Visitation of the
Prophet. He said in truth, "Muhammad the Sealer of what preceded Him and the
Initiator of that which was to come[18]." In
this was uttered the significance of the term of Seal from that unapproachably
holy tongue. Thus did God ordain Him to be the Seal of those Prophets that
preceded Him and an Initiator of a series of Messengers to come after Him.
In this wise ponder ye in what We have revealed unto you in all truth that ye
find a way to the precinct of God's Revelation on the shore of holiness. Be not
veiled therefore because of what ye have heard from your divines and ask the
questions of religion from him whom God has ordained to be "firmly grounded in
knowledge" and from whose countenance resplendent lights are shed.
O people! Fear God and take not knowledge from muddied fountains that flow from
a source of self and ignorance. Take ye your portion from sweet flowing,
unsullied, waters that flow from the right hand of the throne and which God has
apportioned for the righteous.
O Holy Countenance! Waft unto all existent things what God has vouchsafed in
His munificence unto Thee that all things may rise from the sepulchres of their
bodies and that they may all be cognizant of that Revelation that has come in
all truth. Then send upon all beings musk-laden breezes that have been fragrant
from thee from the source of immortality that haply moldering bones may be
revived by them and that people may not deprive themselves from this Spirit
that has been breathed by this pre-existent, eternal, and timeless Pen and
thereby they, endowed with the most beauteous form, may attain resurrection in
this holy and blest land.
O Pen of Revelation! Thou seest and bearest witness that beings do not seek
this outspread bountiful mercy that encompasses all the heavens and the earth
and seek not to turn to the Countenance from whom the lights of the Spirit
shine forth and by Whom all the Kingdoms of Revelation and creation have become
illumined, and Thou art a witness unto all that. These people race in the
valley of self and desire and immerse themselves with those who have not
attained Thy presence even though Thou hast given them all the glad tidings of
this Day by Thy glorious and perspicuous Pen. Thou sayest and Thy word is most
sweet in the dominion of eternity. On that day the Cause belongs solely unto
God.
Thus hath the matter pertaining to this day been inscribed by the Pen of Glory
moved by the Finger of Spirit upon the Tablet of glory, and when the day did
come to pass and when the hour did come and when the matter was consummated and
when the lights of Thy beauty were shining in the midmost part of heaven then
all of them rose in opposition to this light which shineth from all the
horizons. They veiled themselves with thick veils of faithlessness. In this
manner apprehend the position of all the peoples in all the ages namely that
despite their waiting and their anticipation of the Days of God, when the time
pre-ordained did come to pass they all denied him because of that which Satan
had suggested in their hearts and caused themselves to be remote from the
shores of holiness.
In this Day also you see these unbelievers awaited and they indeed were
expectant in all their Days as they were promised by the tongue of Muhammad the
Apostle of God. And whenever they heard the name of the Promised One they rose
and shouted, "May God hasten by His Advent our deliverance!" And when He
appeared in all truth they gainsaid Him, and raised objections to Him, and
disputed idly with Him, and imprisoned Him in the midst of mountains, and the
hatred of their hearts was not quenched until they perpetrated against Him what
caused the hearts of all existence and visible reality to burn, and because of
this the foundations of the City of immortality in the divine dominions
trembled and the Beauty of the Unseen mourned in His holy and secret domains.
O Countenance of Glory! Remind the believers and the Concourse of the
everlasting what the unbelievers used to utter in the Days commemorating the
martyrdom of the Imam Husayn at the hands of the unjust and wicked ones. These
people used to recite the verses of Visitation of Husayn every day and would
accurse the doers of wrong against Him, so much so that every morning they
would recite a hundred times, "O God, curse the first to wrong the just cause
of Muhammad and the Family of Muhammad![19]"
And when Husayn was resurrected once more in the Holy Land they wronged Him and
killed Him and they perpetrated against him what was never done before. In this
wise does God separate between truth and falsehood and between light and
darkness and reveals to you what will make manifest the deeds of all
wrong-doers.
Then make mention in the Book, the servant of God, Taqi[20]. He who believed in God on the day when the revelation
was resplendent from the dawning place of the spirit. He is the one who
assisted his Lord as much as he could when Vahid entered the eastern city of
love [i.e. Nayriz]. He said "O my people, in truth the testimony of God has
come and the countenance of truth is unveiled." O people of the Qur'an! Haste
ye to it and do not turn your back therefrom. O my people! The beauty of God
has dawned from the horizon of holiness. The promise is fulfilled. Haste ye to
the Ridvan in which his countenance is shining from. Beware that you do not
deprive yourselves and your eyes from attaining the presence of God, for this
is the day of God which has been ordained to be harsh unto the unbelievers.[21]
0 my people! Verily the Book of God has been set and this is the book wherein
nothing of the deeds of the peoples of the world is left out from it even to
the measure of a tiny pebble[22]. 0 people! Do
not become veiled from the beauty of God that has come in the shades of the
clouds surrounded by holy angels for this is the way his revelation has been
decreed from his throne on high.
Remember when Vahid said, "O people, I have come to you bearing a Tablet of
spirit from the Bab, the exalted One. O people, do not enter divisions in this
Cause of God and answer this caller who calls you with all sincere truthfulness
and who discloses for you what will approximate you to the right hand of the
Beloved and glorious One. O people, you have been promised in all the tablets
to attain the presence of God and this is the day that the beauty of God has
been disclosed, the day in which His light has been manifest, the day in which
the Summoner[23] is calling you and the day in
which the heavens have been cloven asunder with the clouds[24]. Fear ye God and do not close your eyes from the most
luminous and holy beauty."
This is the day you have been promised through the tongue of the messengers and
this way God took a covenant from you in the heaven of pre-existence. Therefore
fulfill your own covenant and do not tarry upon the land of misgiving. There is
amongst the people one who has been faithful to the call of God and responded
the truthful Summoned and there is one that has turned away and rebelled
against God. Amongst those who have accepted God is the one named Taqi. He has
believed and has been faithful to his promise. He attained the presence of
Vahid, he adhered firmly to the most firm handle. He did not divide the word of
God. He was faithful to the true religion. He assisted God at all times in
whatever way he could, God has placed his name upon the lines of eternity
written by the Pen of glory. Suffering and affliction embraced him and he bore
in his own soul all manner of afflictions and under those circumstances he was
always grateful and ever patient.
Those who assist God with their wealth and their lives and who are patient
under all conditions of hardship for the purpose of attracting God's good
pleasure these are the ones who shall attain victory for all eternity. Such
people even if they are killed or burned because they have been created of the
spirit shall always soar in the spiritual atmosphere through God's permission.
These shall not attend to their bodies in this world and these seek sufferings
in the path of God as a sinner seeks forgiveness, as a babe seeks the breast
milk given to it by the mercy of God thus does the nightingale remind you with
spiritual recollections so that men may detach themselves from their own self,
their money and wealth and to return to the holy and clear presence.
Days passed until such time as a group of people from the town which God has
blessed and whose name has been uplifted in the Tablet from which the Mother
Book has been derived gathered around Vahid. These people obeyed the commands
of God, circled around his cause, sacrificed their wealth, gave up everything
they had of the treasures of this world, and were not frightened of anyone and
God is aware of everything. Their hearts were like iron in the aim to render
victory to God, no blame from the blamer attached to them, no objection
prevented them, rather they were exalted in the cities of God like holy and
uplifted ensigns. Matters reached a point that the chieftain of the army of
tyranny, he who disbelieved in God and His beauty and turned away from His
proofs and was the most wicked man of the earth, heard about Vahid. Unto this
bears witness those men who are hidden in the tabernacles of immortality.
O people of Nayriz! Thank ye God your creator who vouchsafed His bounty upon
you, preferred you upon the peoples of the earth, honored you with attaining
His presence, made you aware of His own self, nourished you from the fruits of
the Tree of paradise at a time when all were depriving themselves of it. God
gave you the bounty of appreciating His Days, God sent you the breezes of
holiness and turned you to the right hand of divine unity and enabled you to
get close to the holy Vale. Thus does God vouchsafe unto whomever He wishes and
He chooses to confer His mercy upon those who have detached themselves of all
earthly things. Thus cheer yourselves and pride yourselves over all the peoples
of the earth. Know you that God has written your names upon Holy Tablets and
has ordained for you a praiseworthy station in paradise. I swear by God! If the
station of anyone of you should become clear all the peoples will give their
lives in their desire for this station created by the hand of God. But this
station is hidden from the eyes of men that the good may be distinguished from
the corrupt and thus does God test the people in this world that what is in
their hearts may become manifest and you have been a witness to all that.
How many servants of God who worshipped God in the days of their life and who
would order the people to good and righteousness and would weep over the
afflictions of the family of God[25] and who
would cast their eyes down when they would recite their prayers and their
Tablets of Visitation all these to express their devotion and adoration to the
Seat of Sanctity. But when the Truth came to them they turned away and
disbelieved in Him until they slew Him with their own hands and were happy in
their deeds. Thus does God bring to naught the deeds of those who show pride
and will accept the deeds of those who turn solely unto Him, and humble
themselves before His countenance and tread the path of His good pleasure.
O people of Nayriz! Recall the bounty of God wherewith He has graciously
vouchsafed unto you and whereby He has taught you what He has not taught the
divines of the earth -- divines who because of the great size of their turbans
cannot even walk on earth and when they move it is as if a mountain of hatred
moves.
I swear by God! It behooves you, O friends of God, that you sanctify yourselves
from all that ye have been forbidden and thank God in all your days and your
nights because He chose you for a bounty from of which others did not have a
portion. You must give account of your Lord, your Creator, so that because of
you the fragrances of God may be wafted and in this way you may be
distinguished from those who have disbelieved and joined partners unto God.
Thus does the Nightingale give counsel unto you and teach you the ways of
knowledge that you may become steadfast in the religion of God and constant in
that religion of love. Fear God and do not dissipate your deeds through
negligence and do not impress on God as a favor that they believe in God and
the person of His Manifestation. Rather it is God that has conferred the favor
on you in that He has assisted you to recognize the Revelation and has shown
you the paths of dignity and righteousness and has inspired you with His
wondrous and treasured knowledge.
Blessed are ye the people of Nayriz in that you are patient in your suffering
and afflictions in these times ordained by God and in all you heard with your
ears and as all you witnessed soon God will reward you with the best reward and
He shall give you what shall be pleasing to your souls and what shall establish
your names in his hidden and holy Book. Strive therefore that you do not waste
your fortitude with complaints and be ye acquiescent with what God has ordained
unto you and what He shalt ordain in the future. For this world and its
ornaments and its treasures shall all vanish in less than a moment for there is
no permanence in it and you shall attain the presence of the glorious Beloved.
Great is your blessedness therefore and those who sacrificed themselves in the
days of God for they are of those who soared in the atmosphere of divine love
until they reached a place that was forbidden unto those other than them.
O holy Pen! Recount what came to pass upon Vahid from the enemies of the self
of God so that his affair may be mentioned amongst the Concourse on High in all
truth. When he [i.e. Haji Zaynu'l-Abidin Khan, the governor of Nayriz] who
disbelieved and waxed wicked and showed pride before God and rebelled against
Him sent the armies of unbelief and commanded those armies to kill those people
who had no equal or compare in the depth of their belief in God, and when he
commanded them to shed the blood of those people whose blood has caused
everything to be made pure, he then ordered the multitude to perpetrate what
was not revealed in the Book of God for such was his custom and degree. He then
arranged that there be two chiefs for the hosts of the enemy, chiefs who had
disbelieved in God and in His verses and who had exchanged for their religion
this world and who bought for themselves everlasting and permanent deprivation
and who were proceeding to face as a result of their tyranny the wrath of God.
These two chieftains came with all their armies of disbelief and with all their
hosts of wickedness and they surrounded the hosts of God and his loved ones and
they are already inscribed in the Mother Book by the Pen of revelation as the
most wicked of people. For they waged war against the companions of God, they
fought with them, they disputed with them, they engaged in many battles with
them, and they did whatever they could to vanquish the hosts of the one true
God, but in all these battles God made them to be defeated in the hands of the
believers.
When they were impotent to defeat the party of God and His loved ones, they
engaged in many deliberations and arranged a deception and consulted on their
plans until they decided to send to Vahid an envoy with a tongue of falsehood
and deception. This envoy of Satan entered the presence of Vahid and said, "O
Vahid, you are a descendent of the Prophet Muhammed and we admit that you have
the dignity and honor above us and we have not come to antagonize thee but we
wish for a reconciliation and we are prepared to hear what you have to tell us
and we shall follow what you say and not dispute with that in the smallest way
possible.
Then Vahid's spiritual utterance started and the Holy Spirit spoke through his
tongue and said, "O people! If you accept my honor and dignity and if you admit
that I am a descendent of the Prophet of God, why have you attacked me with
your armies, why have you encircled our people and why have you turned away
from the cause of God and rebelled against him? O people! Fear God. Do not
perpetrate mischief in God's earth. Do not abandon the true religion of God
behind your backs. Fear God who has created you and nourished you and revealed
to you these new and wondrous verses. O people! The world will pass away, your
armies will disappear as will also the one who sent you with the intention of
oppressing us. Consider what happened to the nations of the past and learn of
those affairs that transpired. O people, I am nothing but a servant who has
believed in God and in the verses of God that have been revealed through the
utterance of 'Ali in truth [i.e. the Bab. If you are not pleased with me, I
shall travel away from you towards God as I do not seek anything here. Fear God
and do not shed the blood of His lovers; do not take in vain the property of
people; do not disbelieve after your claims of belief. These are my counsels
unto you, follow my advice and do not deprive yourselves of a revelation that
has dawned from the horizon of the spirit. O people, will you kill someone who
says my Lord is Gad after he has brought verses whose comprehension is beyond
the intelligence of all creation? Have mercy on yourselves and do not follow
your selfish desires. You shall soon leave this evanescent world and you shall
soon find yourselves in the presence of One Who is omnipotent and
self-subsisting. You shall be asked then of what you have done in this world
and you shall be requited with all your deeds in this perishing domain. All
this has been decreed irrevocably in the Tablets of Glory."
Following this there were many envoys and communications between them until
they introduced the Book of God, the Qur'an, and pledged a solemn oath on it
and sealed it and sent it to Vahid, the beauteous one. In this way they sought
to accomplish a deception in the cause of God by pledging by their tongue what
was not in their heart for their hatred was like a fire smoldering behind the
smoke of deception. They implored Vahid to adorn their tents and assemblies
with his coming and they further emphasized all their pledges and covenants
although they were recumbent on the couch of self and desire. When the sealed
Qur'an, the Book of God, came in front of Vahid he rose and said to his
friends, "O people, the promised hour is come, the decrees of God will soon be
accomplished, I shall go to them so that what is hidden behind the tabernacles
of God's destiny will come to pass", for indeed he was always reliant upon God.
Vahid entered amongst the armies of tyranny and the hosts of Satan with a few
souls. His enemies rose and welcomed him and gave him honor in their walking
and sitting and he stayed with them a few days and in his name they composed a
missive to the people of Nayriz that they should separate and that no trouble
will await them until they made sure that they were all separated and then the
armies of unbelief entered their residence and performed a great deception over
them. When they were sure of what they had done they then bespoke their
covenant and testament and turned away from the pledge sealed in the Book and
it is thus that their names are written in the Books of God as those who are
cursed. They took Vahid, they dishonored him, they made his body naked and they
perpetrated against that body what causes the eyes of the People of Paradise to
shed tears of blood. May God curse such people who cause such oppression and to
those who act tyrannically in these days when the Son of Truth is still hidden
behind the clouds of holiness. They were not happy in what they had done or how
may they had slain or how many of their women they had enslaved or how much of
their property they had plundered. In none of these they feared God who was
their creator and their Lord rather they used to vie with each other as to how
much oppression they laid loose on the believers in accord with what the evil
one inspired them but God is a witness of all deeds.
Matters reached to this pass that they raised the decapitated heads on arrows
and spears and brought these heads to the land which God has honored above all
lands for the Merciful One sat on the throne of His great Name.[26] And when they brought these to that city, the inhabitants
of the city gathered around them, some inflicted harm in their insults and some
stoned them and in these circumstances the denizens of heaven raised the
fingers of wonderment and astonishment at what they perpetrated against these
luminous beings. After they caused them to enter that city He only knows what
befell them for God is the one who has taken account of everything in His
gracious and glorious Book.
O Thou beauty of the holy One! This is not the first deed the unbelievers
perpetrated for in the past they killed Husayn and His companions and they
enslaved His family and now they cry over him and lament His events every
morning and eve. Say to them O Concourse of the ignorant, did you not seek to
establish the truth of Husayn and His companions because they sacrificed
themselves and their possessions? Is that not what you commemorate? Why is it
them that you attribute unbelief to these holy martyrs for they also sacrificed
their possessions and their families in the path of God and these believers
also strove in that path until they were all slain in different ways in such
wise that no ear has heard and no eye has seen? When it is said to them "Why
did you kill those who believed in God and His verses?" they replied, "Because
we find them to be unbelievers."
Say: by God, your reply is exactly what proceeded from your mouth against all
the Prophets and Messengers and you kill them all with the sword of hatred for
God comprehends everything. Woe unto you for you disbelieved in all the
Messengers of God for you rose to fight all of them and shed their blood
unjustly and the Tablets which are concealed testify to your deeds. Tell them,
did not God ordain in his Book (the Qur'an) what distinguishes truth and
falsehood with His words (yearn for death if you speak the truth[27]? So why have you ascribed falsehood to those whom the
Book of God testified to their truth, a Book after which no falsehood comes[28] as this has been sent down in the Tablet.
But you are not conscious of this and you have abandoned the Book of God behind
you, and you have slain those who yearn for martyrdom in the path of God, and
this testifieth your own eyes, your tongue, your heart and beyond all this God
is a witness unto this.
Fie on you, for you have shed the blood of people whom the eyes of existence
have not seen like them and you have ascribed falsehood after the Book of God
testified to their truth and in all this you have followed those who are not
prepared to lose an atom of their prestige in the path of God. Their greatest
endeavor in this world is to eat of the peoples' property and to sit at the
high place in the assemblies of people and in all of this is their sole glory
upon the peoples of the world. By God! It is worthy that you should indeed take
these evildoers to be your friends and that you should follow them and as a
result enter a fire that has been created for these unbelievers. Say to them,
by God, if only you could have any awareness in yourselves even less than a
moment, you would erase all your books that you have written without God's
permission and you would hit your heads and you would flee from your own homes
and you would live in mountains and you would feed yourselves only the dust of
the earth.
Say unto them, the destiny of those who have been martyred is fulfilled and now
they are flying in the atmosphere of God's nearness and they are
circumambulating His mighty throne and at all times the angels of God's bounty
descends upon them and gives them the glad tidings of a glorious station and at
every day God reveals to them his ornament that if it should be disclosed to
the peoples of the heavens and earth they would all fall down and become
stupefied.
Say to them: O Concourse of evildoers, do not rejoice in your deeds for you
shall soon return to God and you shall face the resurrection in the mighty
arena on a day which will result in the quacking of the limbs of all creation.
God will then adjudicate against you with his justice because of what your
hands have perpetrated against the believers in your worthless times. Nothing
will be left of your deeds but it will all be presented to Him and you shall be
requited with what your hands have wrought for nothing escapes God's knowledge
and He comprehends all things. Soon will these wrongdoers say while sunk in the
lowest grades of hellfire would to God that we had not taken these divines to
be friends for us.
O people of Nayriz! Recall the bounty of God when you were on the edge of
unbelief but God redeemed you with his loving kindness and guided you to His
name, Vahid. Recall further when you were enemies that God brought harmony in
your hearts and united you and uplifted your names and revealed to you verses
from the tongue of glory of the well beloved. Recall further when We passed by
you with the hosts of our angels when We opened the doors of paradise unto you
when you were assembled in that fort. That was the time when the evil one
whispered amongst you and caused fear to enter your hearts and it was then that
We found some of you trembling and quaking but We forgave those who were
trembling as a mercy on our part and upon all peoples.
Say: those of your town who have disbelieved are the worst of men as you are
the best of men, thus has it been reckoned in the Tablet, which is sealed with
the seal of glory. Those people who did not attain the presence of Vahid those
who fought with him, disputed idly with him, they have been cursed in both this
world and the next and the word of retribution has been enacted against them
from the Mighty the Wise One.
O friends of God in that city! Take hold firmly the cord of God, then thank him
as he has preferred you in all truth and because of His mercy you became
steadfast upon the path of holiness. O trees of that city, prostrate yourselves
before God, your Creator, as the breezes of the divine springtime wafted over
you in this resplendent and divine season. O land of that city, be thankful to
God, your Lord, for you are the land changed by God on the day of resurrection
and upon you has shone the light of the spirit from the most luminous horizon.
O air of that city, make mention of God who has purified you from the dust of
self and desire and caused you to be revived and to return back to His old
self.
O Yahya! Great is your blessedness for you fulfilled the everlasting covenant
when the heavens and the earth were created and you took hold of the Book of
God with the strength of your sincere belief and turned yourself to the
sanctuary of the divine beauty having been moved by the breezes of His day.
Therefore, celebrate in the Concourse on High for you have been mentioned in
the Tablet to which belongs the spirit of all divine books and beyond the
books, the Mother Book that has been protected in the sanctuary of
infallibility. Thus does God reward his servants who believe in Him and His
verses and He taketh hold of those who act tyrannically on earth. May the
malediction of God rest upon the wrong doers.
O Solace of the eye of eternity! Change your tone and chant upon the melodies
of those nightingales singing in the tabernacle of divine names and in the
dominions of divine attributes that the birds of the throne may detach
themselves from the dust of themselves, and may therefore turn back to their
original homeland which is sanctified beyond transcendence. O Thou Quintessence
of truth! Sing and chant with the most beauteous melodies for all the maidens
of paradise have come out of their assemblies and their tents of purity that
they may hear Your own melody, the melody that has been sung in the pages of
God in the book, Qayyumu'l-Asma. Do not deprive these of what they have desired
to hear of Thy new and wondrous melodies and loving kindness for Thou art
indeed the most generous One in the highest grades of immortality and in truth
Thou art indeed the most generous One in the dominion of eternity and Thy Name
is well known amongst the concourse on high as the Generous One.
O Thou most holy Beauty! The unbelievers do not respite Thee that a breath
should be exhaled from Thy chest for as My voice wishes to leave My mouth, they
place the hand of hatred over My mouth and yet with all your knowledge of this
matter you command Me to raise My call in this atmosphere for Thou art the doer
in truth, Thou art the commander in justice. Thou does what Thou wishes and
Thou art wise over all things. If Thou hearkenest to the call of Thy servant,
if Thou fulfillest his wish then forgive them with the utmost kind word and
delicate utterance that those handmaidens of eternity may return to their seats
in the crimson and ruby laden chambers.[29]
Thou knowest that I have now become afflicted between the unbelievers from two
parties and Thou commandest in both Revelations and overseest both
Dispensations and Thou art manifest in the Twin garments and Thou art
resplendent through the Two Suns and have been mentioned with the Twin Names,
possessest the Twin Dawning-places, commandest the secret of the Twin Mysteries
in these Two Lines and God is fully aware beyond all this.[30]
Thou knowest that I have no fear for Myself rather I have sacrificed Myself, My
soul and My spirit on the day that Thou graciously honored Me with Thy
presence, the day that Thou made me recognize Thy new beauty and inspired me
with the gems of Thy revelation which are shed upon everyone that entereth the
shade of thy cause. My fear is that the limbs of they command may fall apart in
this great revelation as these envious ones have created divisions on the day
that Thou seated thyself upon the throne of existence with they all embracing
mercy. Thus have we explained everything in a Tablet that is revealed from the
heaven of the divine spirit.
O Thou blood soaked Garment[31]! Do not heed
the misgivings of mankind rather burn asunder their veils and appear with thy
divine ornament amongst earth and heaven and chant of they hidden and treasured
melodies born of Thy spirit in these days whereon there has befallen upon the
Manifestation of the self of God what the eyes of creation have not seen. O
Thou most holy beauty! The Cause is in thy hand and I am not but a humble
servant before Thee, commanded by Thee and it is because Thou commanded me to
make mention of the most Great Remembrance and of the most Great Treasure.
Therefore, thou shouldst order Thy heavenly angels to protect the limbs of the
divine throne and the exalted angels to guard the tabernacles of grandeur lest
veils of divinity may be torn asunder as a consequence of this call which has
been hidden up to now in Thy chest. And yet Glory of the Spirit! Conceal not
Thyself behind those veils but appear with the might of God and break the sew
the Vessel of Spirit - a Vessel that has been sealed with the Seal of divine
protection from the beginning that has no beginning, that perfume-laden
fragrances may blow from this Pre-existent Vessel upon all creation so that it
may revive all existence with the breath of the Merciful that they may all
arise to serve the Cause in this day whereon the Spirit is evidently visible
above the dawn of truth.
Say: this Tablet enjoins upon you patience on this day of the Great Terror[32] and commands us to be forbear in this Most
Great Agitation[33] when this Dove of Hijaz
flies from Iraq and sheds upon all contingent beings the fragrances of
separation and on the face of heaven appears the color red for thus is the
matter decreed in the Mother Book.
Say: The Bird of Immortality has flown from the Horizon of Eternity[34] and has purposed the Sheba of the Spirit in
the Sinai of holiness so that in the Mirror of divine destiny the commands of
His decree may be reflected and this is but one of God's hidden secrets. Say:
The Bird of Glory has flown from one branch and has sought the Branch of
holiness planted in the land of exile. Say: the Breeze of Divine Unity has
dawned from the Abode of Peace [i.e. Baghdad] and has sought to blow over the
city of separation as mentioned in the scrolls of divine Revelation. Say: O
concourse in the heavens and on earth! Throw ye ashes[35] on your faces and on your heads because the Beauty of God
disappears from these near cities and intends to dawn from the horizon of a
remote heaven.[36] All this has been decreed
in truth and We are thankful to God in that He has caused to descend on Us
tribulation after tribulation and at this moment too He rains upon Us from the
Clouds of His Decree down-pouring of well-known sorrows.
O Thou Quintessence of sorrow! Seal thou the utterance in this remembrance for
We have truly become saddened and the Concourse on High have become sorrowful
and then make mention of that servant of God who asked of that true and
veritable "Great Announcement." Say: I swear by the One True God! That
"Announcement" came to pass in the Perspicuous Beauty of 'Ali[37]. But the servants disagreed about it and the divines of
this Age objected to Him -- divines who were veiled in the veils of self. And
you did recognize the Beauty of God in The Raiment of 'Ali, the
Self-Subsisting. And ere long all in the heavens and earth will recognize Him
and this was previously inscribed in truth and has been irrevocable with God.
And ye shall know of His Announcement at an inevitably approaching time.
But O people of the Bayan! Strive with the utmost striving that ye may not
disagreed[38] about the Cause of God and be ye
as steadfast as the mountain in all truth in such wise that the whisperings of
the Evil One may not cause you to slip and that nothing on earth may pervert
you. All this is that which the Dove of Revelation counselleth you at the time
of departure from `Iraq because of what the hands of unbelievers have wrought.
Furthermore know ye, O concourse of chosen ones, that when the Sun sets, the
birds of night will move about in the darkness, but you ought not pay heed to
them. Rather turn your faces in this well-beloved and holy direction. Beware
lest ye follow the "Samiri"[39] in your souls;
beware lest ye fall behind the "Calf" when it bleats amongst you. This is my
best counsel unto you and unto all created things. You shall hear the call of
Samiri after Me and he will summon you to the Evil One. Go ye not therefore to
him, rather turn to this Hidden and Glorious Beauty. At this point We address
all who are in heaven and on earth from this City that haply all things may
attain to what has been ordained for them from the Wise, the Omniscient One.
O Moment[40] of time! Be not heedless of this
moment that has come in truth during which the breeze of God is blowing from a
holy and westerly direction. O Hour[41]!
Celebrate this hour that has arisen with thee and recognize this eternal,
heavenly and everlasting banquet that has descended from the clouds of holiness
and light from the heaven of might in the name of God. O Day! Illumine all
existing things in this luminous, effulgent and divine Day that has become
manifest from the horizon of Iraq.
In this wise We clarify for you the divine verses and We disclose to you the
words of the spirit and vouchsafe unto all things what has been ordained in the
Book of divine might so that everyone may know the fountain of divine bounty
which is following from this Ridvan in all truth. May the spirit be upon you
and upon those who have circumambulating and directing themselves in the
direction of divine love.