Posted to Tarjuman, Bridges and a private list
by Khazeh Fananapazir, July 2002;
Web edition proofread, further annotated
and prepared by Mehdi Wolf, July, 2002.
Lawh-i-‘Ustad
Husayn-i-Khayyát[1]
(Tablet to ‘Ustad
Husayn-i-Khayyát)[2]
A Provisional Translation of the Tablet of the Master
Khazeh Fananapazir
The station of
assurance[3] is greater
in degree than that of mere
faith.[4] It is the
station denoted by “that they should add faith upon
faith.”[5] Even
though His holiness Abraham was in the highest station of
assurance,[6] the
divine perfections have no end. The grades of existence are finite but the
perfections in each grade of existence are endless. Thus when He [Abraham]
sayeth, “that my heart may have
assurance”[7]
this is the station of the Knowledge of
Certainty.[8] This is
a certainty that will be achieved with reflection and rational proofs. The
Station of the Vision of
Certainty[9] is the
station of beholding the lights of
certainty.[10] The
station of the Reality of
Certainty[11] is the
full realization of that certainty. The similitude and example of this is this:
that with reflection and rational proof, certainty about the existence of fire
can be achieved, but when one seeth fire itself, that is then the station of the
Vision of Certainty. When a human being gets ignited with that same fire or
when one senses fully the heat of that fire, that is the station of the Reality
of Certainty. Thus when his holiness Abraham, the Friend of God, was eager to
attain the infinite perfections of the All Merciful One, He, therefore, sought
the increased realization of all Lordly conditions. In particular, He sought the
raising of the dead. His purpose in wishing the raising of the dead was the
acquisition of eternal life, not this elemental earthly life. His intention was
the appearance of all the conditions and grades of existence in His Own blessed
Self so that by the breath of the Holy Spirit He might be living eternally even
after His evanescence and end.
Upon thee be the Glory of God!
Notes
[1]
Má’idiy-i-Ásamání, Part II [Compiled
from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’ by
‘Abdu’l-Hamid-i-Ishráq
Khávarí, First Indian Edition, October 1984,
Bahá’í Publishing Trust, P.O. Box 19, New Delhi-110001,
India], p. 508. (KF’s note).
[2] Of this
early believer, nothing is know to the present editor. It is also not known
when this Tablet was written (MW’s note).
[3] certitude,
confidence: Itmí’nán
(KF’s note)
[4]
imán (KF’s note)
[5] Cf.
Qur’án 48:4: “That they may add faith upon faith..”
(KF’s note)
[6] The Arabic
is Itmí’nán. The
reason His Holiness Abraham is mentioned here so closely may be understood when
one recalls Q 2: 260. There Abraham in a conversation with God says ‘I
believe I Have faith but m heart needs
Itmi’nán
[Assurance].’ Please see Rodwell eg “When Abraham said, ‘O
Lord! Show me how Thou wilt give life to the dead?’ He [God said]
‘Hast thou not believed [Imán]?’ He said, ‘Yes
but I have asked Thee that my heart [Qalb] may be well assured’
[ATTAIN
Itmí’nán].
(KF’s note).
[7] “Had
Abraham attained it, He too, falling prostrate upon the ground, and in the
utmost lowliness before the Lord thy God, would have cried: ‘Mine heart
is filled with peace, O Thou Lord of all that is in heaven and on
earth!’” (Shoghi Effendi: World Order of
Bahá’u’lláh, Page: 105) (KF’s
note)
[8]
‘ilm al-yaqin. Cf. Qur’án 102:5. The phrase is
translated as “..know with certainty of mind” in Yúsef
‘Alí. (KF’s note, expanded by MW).
[9]
‘ayn al-yaqin. Cf. Qur’án 102:7. Translated as
“certainty of sight” in Yúsef ‘Alí. (KF’s
note, expanded by MW).
[10] Cf.
Lawh-i-Dunyá (Tablet of the
World): “Praise and thanksgiving beseem the Lord of manifest dominion Who
hath adorned the mighty prison with the presence of their honours
‘Alí-Akbar and Amín, and hath illumined it with the light
of certitude, constancy and assurance” (Tablets of
Bahá’u’lláh Revealed After the Kitáb-i-Aqdas
p. 83, Emphasis added). The two souls referenced here are
Hájí Mullá
‘Alí-Akbar Shahmírzádí and
Hájí
Abu’l-Hasan
Ardakání, Hands of the Cause appointed by
Bahá’u’lláh. In this same Tablet,
Bahá’u’lláh describes the Hands of the Cause as those
“through whom the light of fortitude hath shone forth”
(ibid.)(MW’s note).
[11]
haqq al-yaqin. Cf.
Qur’án 56:96. Translated as “Very Truth and Certainty”
in Yúsef ‘Alí (KF’s note, expanded by
MW).