Translated by Khazeh Fananapazir
in July, 2003 at the request
of the Bahá’í
Academics Resource Library and an individual believer;
Web edition prepared by Mehdi Wolf, July, 2003
by permission of the translator.
Lawh-i-Amínu’l-Bayán
(Tablet to Sháh-Muhammad-Amín)
Excerpt
Trans. Khazeh Fananapazir
Introduction
THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE
DEPARTMENT OF THE SECRETARIAT
Mr. xxxx
Canada
Dear Bahá’í Friend,
7 April 2003
The Universal House of Justice has received your email of 23 February
2003 requesting a copy of the Tablet revealed by
Bahá’u’lláh for
Sháh-Muhammad-Amin[1],
which is mentioned in the following passage appearing on page 47 in Memorials
of the Faithful (Wilmette: Bahá’í Publishing Trust,
1971):
When news of his martyrdom reached the Prison, all the captives
grieved, and they shed tears for him, resigned to God and undefended as he was
in his last hour. Even on the countenance of
Bahá’u’lláh, there were visible tokens of grief. A
Tablet, infinitely tender, was revealed by the Supreme Pen, commemorating the
man who died on that calamitous plain, and many other Tablets were sent down
concerning him.
Your request was referred to the Research Department for comments, and
it has stated that to the best of its knowledge, the Tablet in question was
revealed in Arabic in honour of
Jinab-i-Varqá[2],
and is dated I of Sha’ban 1298 (28 June 1881). It has indicated
that the Tablet is quite lengthy and covers many subjects. A portion of it,
however, is devoted to the martyrs of
Miyandu’da[3],
and Sháh-Muhammad-Amín
is commemorated in words that are, indeed, “infinitely tender”.
While this Tablet has not yet been translated into English, an original language
copy of it can be found in the publication titled Irán National
Bahá’í Archives, number 8, pages 512 to 549. Given your
interest, the Research Department has provided the enclosed transcription of the
relevant text from the Tablet. You may wish to seek the assistance of one of the
friends in your area with a knowledge of Arabic to provide you with a
provisional translation.
With loving Bahá’í greetings,
Department of the Secretariat
Lawh-i-Amínu’l-Bayán
(Tablet to Sháh-Muhammad-Amín)
Excerpt
Trans. Khazeh Fananapazir
T
o the one who hath fixed his gaze upon the Countenance of God, the Most
Glorious - his honour Varqá, upon him be the Glory of God, the Lord of
the throne above[4] and
the earth below!
In the Name of our Lord the Most Holy, the Most Great, the Exalted, the
Most Glorious, Who illuminated the world of humanity by the sun of firmament of
His Knowledge, and Who adorned the heaven of wisdom with the stars of
discernment and sight!
As to your question of the One True God - glorified be His
bounteousness - concerning the martyrs of Miyan Duáb, these luminous
words were revealed from the Heaven of His Will:
The Praise that is sanctified from human mention and hearing belongeth
to the Lord of all Names! Call to remembrance those souls who have turned their
faces to My all-glorious horizon, have to hearkened My sweet call, have held
firmly unto the Sure Handle, clung to the hem of My luminous garment, have
turned their faces to My Countenance which remaineth when all other things
vanish into nothingness, who have taken their flight in the atmosphere of the
love of their Lord, the Possessor of all Names, and who have quaffed the wine of
His decree from the Crimson Cup and say unto them:
Great is your blessedness for ye did attain the all-highest
purpose, the supreme station, and the sublime grades. Blessed indeed are ye and
sweet is thy recompense inasmuch as the Beloved of the World, the Most Great
Name, is mentioning you in such a manner that, through it, every true seeker
will recognize the fragrance of My Garment, and every one endowed with the true
sense of smell will attain the musk of My Name, the All-Merciful, the Most
Compassionate.
I bear witness that ye have truly recognized God in the Days in which
all things, and beyond all things, the Supreme Concourse, have lamented because
of that which hath befallen those souls who took strong hold of God’s Book
and offered up their all in this Straight Path. Rejoice ye in the Supreme
Horizon, inasmuch as the Lord of all men mentioneth you in this Prison which
hath been named many names and which is designated the Most Great Prison in the
Book of God, the Almighty, the All-Praised.
In truth, your blood that was mixed with the love God hath been shed, your spirits, which were fragrant with the breezes of God’s Days, have
ascended, and your bodies have lain on the ground -- bodies which were adorned
with the ornament of martyrdom in the path of this Cause for which those near
unto God and the sincere ones gave their all and their entire being. In this
wise hath the Tongue of Grandeur spoken in thy memory and thy praise. Verily, He
is the Forgiving, the Most Generous!
The light that shineth from the heaven of the mercy of the All-Merciful
God rest upon you, O ye who art the manifestations of His names in existence and
the dawning-places of His recognition amongst the religions! Ye are indeed the
ones who were prevented not by any one or by the cavilling of the unbelievers.
Ye heard and hastened to that station ordained by the Pen of
God[5], the Single, the
All-Knowing. Great be your blessedness and joy and the blessedness of those who
bring you to remembrance, who visit you and recall the Visitation which the
Tongue of this Wronged One of the world hath uttered as all sorrow hath
encompassed Him -- sorrows brought about by those who have denied the right of
God and the rights of His Friends and who have turned away from a Countenance
that hath shone from the horizon of His Revelation with perspicuous
light.
And We make mention of Amín [whom We have mentioned before in Our perspicuous Book[6]]. In truth, he preceded most of the peoples in the service of God and the service of His
revelation and he hath attained unto that loving providence of which no one
except the Omniscient, the All-Knowing is aware. We were with him as his spirit
ascended unto the Great Beyond. We gave him drink from the most pure
Kawthar[7] time
and again and the mercy of His Lord didst surround him to such an extent that
all pens are powerless to describe it. Unto this doth testify He that hath
spoken and speaketh now and always: There is none other God but Him, the
Almighty, the Most Beauteous One!
O Amín! Thou art a Letter of My Crimson Scroll and thou art a
remembrance from this Book which speaketh the truth. And We make mention of His
lovers - those who visit Him, those of the Supreme Concourse, and those who have
prostrated themselves before the face of their Lord, the Master of this wondrous
New Day.[8] Blessed is
the one that continueth in his remembrance of thee and who seeketh through thee
to get nigh unto God, the Lord of all the worlds.
Notes
[1]
Sháh-Muhammad-i-Manshadí,
surnamed Amínu’l-Bayán (“Trusted of the
Bayán”) by Bahá’u’lláh. He was from the
province of Yazd, and owned property in Manshad. He embraced the faith
of the Exalted Báb early, and was able to recognize Jinab-i-Bahá
as “Him Whom God will make manifest”. Because he selflessly offered
to Bahá’u’lláh the proceeds from the sale of his
property, he was appointed as the first trustee of the
Huququ’lláh
(“Right of God”). Accompanied by Hájí ‘Abu’l-Hasan-i-Ardikaní, he was the first pilgrim to reach ‘Akká and succeed in attaining Bahá’u’lláh’s presence in the public bath. While serving as Trustee, he rendered many services to the Faith. It was Sháh-Muhammad who delivered the
Lawh-i-Sultán to Aqá Bazurg, surnamed Badí (“Wonderous”) on Mount Carmel, to be formerly presented to
Nasir’id-Dín-Sháh. It was also Sháh-Muhammad who undertook the dangerous task of transferring the remains of the Báb from the house of Mírzá Hasan-i-Vazir in
Tihrán to the Shrine of Imám Zadih Zayd. In 1881, he journeyed again to Adhirbáyján with Hájí
‘Abu’l-Hasan-i-Ardikaní to strengthen and encourage the believers in that district. While there, both men were caught up in the Kurdish rebellion of Shaykh ‘Ubaydu’lláh and
Sháh-Muhammad was martyred. Hájí
‘Abu’l-Hasan-i-Ardikaní, who was wounded in the leg, succeeded him as the Trustee of Huququ’lláh. (See
The Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh, vol. 3, pp. 57,
73-6, 179, 183, 427 and God Passes By, p. 274. (MW’s
note).
[2]
Varqá (“Dove” or “Nightingale”) was the title
given by Bahá’u’lláh to Mírzá
’Alí-Muh
ammad, named as a Hand
of the Cause of God by ’Abdu’l-Bahá’ and an Apostle of
Bahá’u’lláh by Shoghi Effendi. See The Revelation
of Bahá’u’lláh, Vol. 4, Chap. 4 (MW’s
note).
[3] Possibly
the present-day town of Miyanku, southern Adhirbáyján, on
the western side of the Caspian Sea, approximately 32 meters above sea level
(MW’s note).
[4] See, e.g.
Qur’án 85:15 (MW’s note).
[5] e.g.,
Qur’án 2:94: “Say: ‘If the last Home, with God, be for
you specially, and not for anyone else, then seek ye for death, if ye are
sincere.’”. See also Hidden Words: “O Son of Being! Seek a
martyr’s death in My path, content with My pleasure and thankful for that
which I ordain, that thou mayest repose with Me beneath the canopy of majesty
behind the tabernacle of glory.” (Arabic #45) (MW’s
note).
[6] The
Leiden List of the Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh
mentions a Tablet of the ‘Akká period named the
Súriy-i-Amín or the
Lawh-i-Amín
(Tablet of the Trustee) and published in
Athar-i-Qalam-i-A‘la [Tracings of the Exalted Pen], Vol. 1.
pp. 170-173 and Athar-i-Qalam-i-A´la, Vol. 4(i), pp. 320-323.
This Tablet may well have been addressed to
Sháh-Muhammad-Amín. In
Memorials of the Faithful, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’ states
that after Sháh-Muhammad-Amín’s
martyrdom, “many other Tablets were sent down concerning him.”
(MW’s note).
[7] According
to Islamic belief, Kawthár is the name of the river in Paradise
from which true believers will drink on the day of Judgement. Literally, it
means ‘Abundance’. In Bahá’u’lláh’s
Writings, it designates the utterances of His Revelation (MW’s
note).
[8] Cf.
Qur’án 1:1-4: “In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most
Merciful. Praise be to God, the Cherisher and Sustainer of the world; Most
Gracious, Most Merciful; Master of the Day of Judgment.”