Issuu

TAZKIYAH:

THE PURIFICATION OF SOULS 1.1

“WITH THE LOYAL THOU DOST SHOW THYSELF LOYAL” (2 Samuel 22:26-28 RSV)

Finally, the judgment has to do with God’s Promised One. God sends His Promised One into the world and how the people treat him and what they think of him is their judgment of themselves. He is like a mirror and what they see is only a reflection of themselves. As it says in 2nd Samuel 22:26-28: “With the loyal thou dost show thyself loyal; with the blameless man thou dost show thyself blameless; with the pure thou dost show thyself pure, and with the crooked thou dost show thyself perverse. Thou dost deliver a humble people, but thy eyes are upon the haughty to bring them down.” Everyone’s salvation is in their own hands; it is between them and God only. The judgment of their relationship to God is through the presence of God on earth in His Promised One; that is, through whether or not, and to what degree, they believe in him. (Dr. Leland Jensen, Revelation Explained, Chapter 11 verse 18)

The Temple is the shekinah, the presence of God. What is being said here is that the only place in this whole, wide world where this presence of God can be found is where the Lamb reestablishes the Universal House of Justice in its childhood form, the second International Baha'i Council. In the Baha’i faith, when we live the life, teach His Cause and are firm in the Covenant, we receive the bounty of the Holy Spirit. This is the presence of God, or “Shekinah.” However, if any one of these is cut off, then the Holy Spirit is cut off. The so-called “mainstream Baha’is” broke the Covenant when they did away with the executive branch. Therefore, they do not have the “Shekinah” (the presence of God). Thus, they are cut off from the bounty of the Holy Spirit, which is spiritual death. When they die the physical death they will be DEAD-DEAD. (Dr. Leland Jensen, Revelation Explained, Chapter 21 verse 22)

And this is the judgment, that the light [Baha’i] has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light [Baha’i], because their deeds were evil. For every one who does evil hates the light [Baha’i Covenant], and does not come to the light [Baha’i Covenant], lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does what is true comes to the light [Baha’i], that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been wrought in God. (John 3:19-21 RSV)

“We must walk the spiritual path with practical feet.” “Therefore, in the beginning the believers must make their steps firm in the Covenant...” --‘Abdu’l-Baha

“The individual should, prior to engaging in the study of any subject, ask himself what its uses are and what fruit and result will derive from it. If it is a useful branch of knowledge, that is, if society will gain important benefits from it, then he should certainly pursue it with all his heart. If not, if it consists in empty, profitless debates and in a vain concatenation of imaginings that lead to no result except acrimony, why devote one’s life to such useless hairsplittings and disputes.”--‘Abdu’l-Baha, The Mysterious Forces of Divine Civilization, p. 106

BPUPC Missoula, Montana

SCIENCE OF THE LOVE OF GOD SERIES THE SPIRITUAL PATH FOR PRACTICAL FEET: WORKBOOK IIa

A CONFIDENT HEART “O SON OF SPIRIT! My first counsel is this: Possess a pure, kindly and radiant heart, that thine may be a sovereignty ancient, imperishable and everlasting.”--Baha’u’llah “The hearts of the people of faith are assured. If they are surrounded by a thousand enemies they stand firm on their ground. The greatest divine bounty is a confident heart. When the heart is confident, all the trials of the world will be as child’s play.”--‘Abdu’l-Baha, Star of the West, Volume 5, p. 214. A friend interested in healing quoted the words of Baha’u’llah: “If one is sick, let him go to the greatest physician.” ‘Abdu’l-Baha said: “There is but one power which heals--that is God. The state or condition through which the healing takes place is the confidence of the heart. By some this state is reached through pills, powders, and physicians. By others through hygiene, fasting, and prayer. By others through direct perception.”--‘Abdu’l-Baha in London, p. 95

INSIGHT From ‘Abdu’l-Baha: I. O THOU FAVORED MAID-SERVANT IN THE THRESHOLD OF THE ALMIGHTY! The letter which thou hast written was perused and its contents were noted. Thou hast written concerning spiritual hearing and insight. The insight (or inner perception) is a correct sight, for it never blundereth. But the outward sight doth err (or misjudgeth); it seeth the mirage as water, considereth the revolving flame as a circle, imagineth the images reflected in a mirror as a reality and judgeth huge bodies as small ones, from a remote distance. There are many evidences as to the blundering of the sight; but the insight apprehendeth the reality and discovereth the mysteries. As to the difference between inspiration and imagination: Inspiration is in conformity with the Divine Texts, but imaginations do not conform therewith. A real, spiritual connection between the True One and the servant is a luminous bounty which causeth an ecstatic (or divine) flame, passion and attraction. When this connection is secured (or realized) such an ecstasy and happiness become manifest in the heart that man doth fly away (with joy) and uttereth melody and song. Just as the soul bringeth the body in motion, so that spiritual bounty and real connection likewise moveth (or cheereth) the human soul. As to truthful dreams: I beg of God that thy inner eye (insight) may be so opened that thou mayest thyself differentiate between truthful and untruthful dreams. Treat thy friends and relatives in general with the utmost kindness and love; (deal in like manner) even with strangers (or outsiders). Convey my great compassion to the little maid-servant of God, she must memorize and recite the following commune: O loving God! I am a young child, a suppliant, a captive. Be Thou my refuge, my support, my protector. I am in distress: give me the means of tranquility. I am needy: bestow upon me the treasure of the Kingdom. I am dead: give me the Spirit of Life. I am weak: favor me with power and strength, so that I may be a maidservant in Thy Threshold, with perfect purity and sanctity; sacrifice myself unto Thee, be quit of myself and seek Thee, walk in the path of Thy good pleasure, speak Thy secret and witness the signs of Thy Oneness wherever I look. O God! Make me ablaze, like unto the fire of Thy love, and make me free from attachment to this mortal world, until I find the peace of soul and the rest of conscience. Thou art the Powerful, the Mighty! Thou art the Hearer, the Seer! II. O THOU WHO ART ATTRACTED TO THE FRAGRANCES OF GOD! Know thou that some of the souls who arrive at this Blessed Spot possess hearing, seeing and smelling; they see what no eye hath ever seen, they hear the melodies of the Dove of Holiness on the Tree of Life, they inhale the fragrances of God from this Garden, and they surely realize that,

verily, this Blessed Spot is a center for pure seeing and strong hearing and is the direction from which the breezes of the Holy Spirit blow. But those who have neither seeing not hearing apprehend nothing and say what they understand not. As to thee and thy daughter who is devoted to God, who presented herself, saw and heard: Know ye, verily, (one possessing) a pure insight is a servant to the people of Baha, but only the prudent can understand this. Know thou, verily, insight (or mental perception) seeth that which sight (or physical perception) seeth not and apprehendeth that which the body perceiveth not, inasmuch as the sight seeth the mirage as water, the images pictured in the mirror as a reality and genuine, and it seeth the earth as stationary, the great stars as small. But the insight correcteth the mistake of the sight and apprehendeth the reality and seeth that the mirage is not water, that the images pictured in mirrors are naught else save mere reflections, that the earth is moving and the distant stars are great. Consequently, the truth of insight, its effectiveness and power is proven, as well as the weakness of sight, its inefficiency and defects. Then, know thou that the power of the Word of God is effective, both in the spirit and the body, and the influence of the spirit of God is predominant over the material as well as the essential and spiritual. And that, verily, God is powerful in all things, and that the signs (or verses) have exoteric and esoteric meaning, and neither their outward preventeth their inward, nor doth their inward prevent their outward meaning. Greeting and praise to the maid-servant of God, thy revered daughter, and to all who commemorate the praise of god, long for the Kingdom of God and are cheerfully moved by the fragrances of God! III. O THOU WHO ART ADVANCING TOWARD GOD! Verily I read thy letter of wonderful expression and eloquent composition and thanked God that He hath poured upon thee the bounty of guidance and hath made thy heart a lamp of piety. Verily I beseech God, with all humbleness, to remove the covering from thine insight and to show unto thee His great signs, and to make thee a banner of guidance, severed from all else save Him, enkindled with the fire of His love, engaged in His praise and apprehending the realities of things; so that thou mayest see with thine eyes, hear with thine ears and not imitate any of the fathers and ancestors; have perception in the matter of thy Lord, for the people are in dark veils. By God, the True One, verily the doors of the everlasting paradise are opened before the faces of the devoted ones and the Tree of Life therein overshadows the spiritual ones. Happy are those who enter it and are sheltered under its shadow!

IV. O THOU WHO HAST SOUGHT ILLUMINATION FROM THE LIGHT OF THE GUIDANCE OF GOD! Verily I read thy words of thanksgiving to God for that He hath directed thee to His Kingdom, illuminated thine insight with the light of guidance, and baptized thee with the water which hath descended from heaven, with the fire which was ignited in the Sinaitic Tree, and with the Holy Spirit which quickeneth hearts and souls. Then, thank thou God for this gift whereby thy face is shining amid the concourse of Chosen Ones. Know thou, verily, man before reaching (spiritual) maturity passes his days and only apprehends trivial things which are clear on account of their exoteric indications, but when he attains full development, then he grasps the reality of things and their esoteric facts. Every day after maturity is equivalent to one year before it, on account of (man’s) perception, understanding apprehension and discoveries. Now, thou hast reached development and apprehended the degree of maturity: Gaze at the grades of the existence, the realities of beings, the allegories in the epistles of God, and the mysteries in the Old and New Testament. By the life of Baha, the covering will be removed from off thee (i.e., facts will be unfolded to thee), and thou wilt be informed of that which all the philosophers and wise men are unable to apprehend. Verily, this is a gift which God assigns only to such of His chosen servants as He willeth. Verily, thy Lord will inspire thee with the mysteries of God, the Protector, the Self-subsistent. Verily, I beseech the Lord of Hosts to increase thy faith each day over that of the previous day, to confirm thee through His Holy Spirit, to give thee capacity to partake of the lights of knowledge and wisdom, to make thee a herald of the Covenant in those regions, and to instruct thee in that which thou knowest not; so that thou mayest become a physician for bodies as well as souls, to heal bodies with the medicines which are useful and beneficial for physical (sickness), and to cure hearts and souls with that antidote which quickeneth hearts and souls. O my friend, it is incumbent upon thee to be severed (from all else save God), to be attracted, to be sincere, and to spend thy life in the path of God. Be thou holy, spiritual, divine, lively, brilliant, godlike, sanctified, pure, with merciful character, firm in the Covenant, fluent and knowing; and gaze toward the Kingdom of El-ABHA with a heart brimming over with the love of God, with tears flowing the commemoration of God, with a face scintillating through the light of God, with a heart sincere to the beloved of God, and with a sword which divides truth from falsehood. By God, the True One, the Spirit of Baha will assist thee with such strength that all the concourse of the earth will fail (to withstand). From Baha’u’llah: V. O FRIEND! Whatsoever hath been announced in the Books hath been revealed and made clear. From every direction the signs have been manifested. The Omnipotent One is calling, in this day, and announcing the appearance of the Supreme Heaven. The world hath been illumined with the splendours of His Revelation, yet how few are the eyes that can behold it! Beseech the peerless and incomparable Lord to bestow a penetrating insight upon His servants, for insight 4

leadeth to true knowledge and is conducive to salvation. Indeed, the attainments of man’s understanding are dependent upon his keenness of sight. Were the children of men to gaze with the eye of understanding, they would see the world illumined with a new light in this day. Say: The Daystar of knowledge is manifest and the Luminary of insight hath appeared. Fortunate indeed is the one who hath attained, who hath witnessed, and who hath recognized. VI. O YE LEADERS OF RELIGION! Who is the man amongst you that can rival Me in vision or insight? Where is he to be found that dareth to claim to be My equal in utterance or wisdom? No, by My Lord, the All-Merciful! All on the earth shall pass away; and this is the face of your Lord, the Almighty, the Well-Beloved. VII. THIS IS NOT A CAUSE WHICH MAY BE MADE A PLAYTHING for your idle fancies, nor is it a field for the foolish and faint of heart. By God, this is the arena of insight and detachment, of vision and upliftment, where none may spur on their chargers save the valiant horsemen of the Merciful, who have severed all attachment to the world of being. These, truly, are they that render God victorious on earth, and are the dawning-places of His sovereign might amidst mankind. From ‘Abdu’l-Baha: VIII. IN THE DAY OF THE MANIFESTATION the people with insight see that all the conditions of the Manifestation are miracles, for They are superior to all others, and this alone is an absolute miracle. Recollect that Christ, solitary and alone, without a helper or protector, without armies and legions, and under the greatest oppression, uplifted the standard of God before all the people of the world, and withstood them, and finally conquered all, although outwardly He was crucified. Now this is a veritable miracle which can never be denied. There is no need of any other proof of the truth of Christ. From Baha’u’llah: IX. IT IS CLEAR AND EVIDENT, therefore, that any apparent variation in the intensity of their light is not inherent in the light itself, but should rather be attributed to the varying receptivity of an ever-changing world. Every Prophet Whom the Almighty and Peerless Creator hath purposed to send to the peoples of the earth hath been entrusted with a Message, and charged to act in a manner that would best meet the requirements of the age in which He appeared. God’s purpose in sending His Prophets unto men is twofold. The first is to liberate the children of men from the darkness of ignorance, and guide them to the light of true understanding. The second is to ensure the peace and tranquillity of mankind, and provide all the means by which they can be established. X. SOLOMON ASKS FOR A DISCERNING HEART. 1 KINGS 3:4-15: The king went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices, for that was the most important high place, and Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.” Solomon answered, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, 5

because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day. “Now, Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?” The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for--both wealth and honor--so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. And if you walk in obedience to me and keep my decrees and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life.” Then Solomon awoke--and he realized it had been a dream. XI. WISE FRIEND! A physician is required so that perhaps the ashes in their eyes can be removed by the elixir of the Greatest Name, and so that the brass of existence can be transformed into gold. Would that the number of those who have gained insight into the beloved of the worlds, which some have achieved, could be increased. Thus might he make apparent in detail, from the manifest letters, the word underlying the infinite branches of knowledge. The people have been stricken with an illness, and curing it is extremely difficult, except for those who have been treated with the greatest antidote. This epidemic consists in people believing that they have attained mystical insight, and then supposing that God is like them. Today, most are afflicted with this disease, and for this reason they are deprived of the Eternal Truth and what is with it. Beseech God to render hearts pure and eyes sharp, so that they might perhaps recognize themselves, and distinguish between themselves and God. Thus might they discern God’s purpose in the revealed verses. If the peoples had understood the divine purpose, they would not have remained veiled at the moment of Revelation.

THE ONE CRUSADE “Thou art Pure and Sublime, O my God! Thou hast made neither error nor need! There is none other God save Thee! I proclaim Thy sublimity, and I am of those who know Thee as the Pure.”--The Bab “O ye loved ones of God! In this, the Baha’i dispensation, God’s Cause is spirit unalloyed. His Cause belongeth not to the material world. It cometh neither for strife nor war, nor for acts of mischief or of shame; it is neither for quarrelling with other Faiths, nor for conflicts with the nations. Its only army is the love of God, its only joy the clear wine of His knowledge, its only battle the expounding of the Truth; its one crusade is against the insistent self, the evil promptings of the human heart. Its victory is to submit and yield, and to be selfless is its everlasting glory.”--‘Abdu’l-Baha “Not by the force of numbers, not by the mere exposition of a set of new and noble principles, not by an organized campaign of teaching--no matter how worldwide and elaborate in its character--not even by the staunchness of our faith or the exaltation of our enthusiasm, can we ultimately hope to vindicate in the eyes of a critical and skeptical age the supreme claim of the Abha Revelation. One thing and only one thing will unfailingly and alone secure the undoubted triumph of this sacred Cause, namely, the extent to which our own inner life and private character mirror forth in their manifold aspects the splendor of those eternal principles proclaimed by Baha’u’llah.” (Shoghi Effendi, Baha’i Administration, p. 196) “The friends must realize the Power of the Holy Spirit which is manifest and quickening them at this time through the appearance of Baha’u’llah. There is no force of heaven or earth which can affect them if they place themselves wholly under the influence of the Holy Spirit and under its guidance. Such individuals who are subject to the negative influences of the world are those who are not properly consecrated in the Faith.” (Shoghi Effendi, August 11, 1957) “The core of religious faith is that mystic feeling which unites Man with God. This state of spiritual communion can be brought about and maintained by means of meditation and prayer. And this is the reason why Baha’u’llah has so much stressed the importance of worship. It is not sufficient for a believer merely to accept and observe the teachings. He should, in addition, cultivate the sense of spirituality which he can acquire chiefly by means of prayer. The Baha’i Faith, like all other Divine Religions, is thus fundamentally mystic in character. Its chief goal is the development of the individual and society, through the acquisition of spiritual virtues and powers. It is the soul of man which has first to be fed. And this spiritual nourishment prayer can best provide.” (Shoghi Effendi, Directives of the Guardian, pp. 86-87) “What is meant by personal God, is a God who is conscious of His creation, who has a mind, a will, a purpose, and not, as many scientists and materialists believe, an unconscious and determined force operating in the universe. Such conception of the Divine Being, as the Supreme and over-present Reality in the world, is not anthropomorphic, for it transcends all human limitations and forms, and does by no means attempt to define the essence of Divinity which is obviously beyond any human comprehension. To say that God is a personal Reality does not

mean that He has a physical form, or does in any way resemble a human being. To entertain such belief would be sheer blasphemy.” (Shoghi Effendi, April 21, 1939, Haifa) “Love and harmony can only be established through love and harmony. It is only through being in spiritual harmony oneself and truly loving humanity that one can possibly work in the Baha’i Cause and bring harmony and peace to the hungering souls of the world.” (CMR, Through Warring Countries unto the Mountain of God, p. 93) “There are three processes in teaching: the first is to attract the people; the second is to convert the people; and the third is to be consecrated. There must be attraction, conversion, and consecration. The teachers must not be unwise.” (Shoghi Effendi, Memories of ‘Abdu’l-Baha: Recollections of the Early Days of the Baha’is of California, p. 115) “If a man has ten good qualities and one bad one, to look at the ten and forget the one; and if a man has ten bad qualities and one good one, to look at the one and forget the ten.”--‘Abdu’lBaha “If someone commits an error and wrong toward you, you must instantly forgive him.” (‘Abdu’lBaha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 453) “The most hateful characteristic of man is fault-finding.”--‘Abdu’l-Baha “How couldst thou forget thine own faults and busy thyself with the faults of others? Whoso doeth this is accursed of Me.”--Baha’u’llah “O ye friends of God! Show ye an endeavour that all the nations and communities of the world, even the enemies, put their trust, assurance and hope in you; that if a person falls into errors for a hundred-thousand times he may yet turn his face to you, hopeful that you will forgive his sins; for he must not become hopeless, neither grieved nor despondent. This is the conduct and the manner of the people of Baha'. This is the foundation of the most high pathway!” (Abdu'l-Baha, Tablets of Abdu'l-Baha II, p. 436) “Whenever you recognize the fault of another, think of yourself! What are my imperfections? -and try to remove them. Do this whenever you are tried through the words or deeds of others. Thus you will grow, become more perfect. You will overcome self, you will not even have time to think of the faults of others.”(‘Abdu’l-Baha, Star of the West, 8(10), p. 138) HE THAT HATH AN EAR, LET HIM HEAR WHAT THE SPIRIT SAITH UNTO THE BODY OF BELIEVERS: “To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.” “He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.”

“To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new Name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.” “He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.” “Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new Name.” “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.” “He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.” (Revelation 2:7, 11, 17; 3:5, 12, 21; 21:7 KJV)

SEVEN PRACTICES OF PERFECTIONS (Talk at 309 West Seventy-eighth Street, New York: 6 July 1912) --‘Abdu’l-Baha-IN THE WORLD OF EXISTENCE man has traversed successive degrees until he has attained the human kingdom. In each degree of his progression he has developed capacity for advancement to the next station and condition. While in the kingdom of the mineral he was attaining the capacity for promotion into the degree of the vegetable. In the kingdom of the vegetable he underwent preparation for the world of the animal, and from thence he has come onward to the human degree, or kingdom. Throughout this journey of progression he has ever and always been potentially man. In the beginning of his human life man was embryonic in the world of the matrix. There he received capacity and endowment for the reality of human existence. The forces and powers necessary for this world were bestowed upon him in that limited condition. In this world he needed eyes; he received them potentially in the other. He needed ears; he obtained them there in readiness and preparation for his new existence. The powers requisite in this world were conferred upon him in the world of the matrix so that when he entered this realm of real existence he not only possessed all necessary functions and powers but found provision for his material sustenance awaiting him. Therefore, in this world he must prepare himself for the life beyond. That which he needs in the world of the Kingdom must be obtained here. Just as he prepared himself in the world of the matrix by acquiring forces necessary in this sphere of existence, so, likewise, the indispensable forces of the divine existence must be potentially attained in this world. What is he in need of in the Kingdom which transcends the life and limitation of this mortal sphere? That world beyond is a world of sanctity and radiance; therefore, it is necessary that in this world he should acquire these divine attributes. In that world there is need of spirituality, faith, assurance, the knowledge and love of God. These he must attain in this world so that after his ascension from the earthly to the heavenly Kingdom he shall find all that is needful in that eternal life ready for him. That divine world is manifestly a world of lights; therefore, man has need of illumination here. That is a world of love; the love of God is essential. It is a world of perfections: virtues, or perfections, must be acquired. That world is vivified by the breaths of the Holy Spirit; in this world we must seek them. That is the Kingdom of everlasting life; it must be attained during this vanishing existence. By what means can man acquire these things? How shall he obtain these merciful gifts and powers? First, through the knowledge of God. Second, through the love of God. Third, through faith. Fourth, through philanthropic deeds. 10

Fifth, through self-sacrifice. Sixth, through severance from this world. Seventh, through sanctity and holiness. Unless he acquires these forces and attains to these requirements, he will surely be deprived of the life that is eternal. But if he possesses the knowledge of God, becomes ignited through the fire of the love of God, witnesses the great and mighty signs of the Kingdom, becomes the cause of love among mankind and lives in the utmost state of sanctity and holiness, he shall surely attain to second birth, be baptized by the Holy Spirit and enjoy everlasting existence. Is it not astonishing that although man has been created for the knowledge and love of God, for the virtues of the human world, for spirituality, heavenly illumination and eternal life, nevertheless, he continues ignorant and negligent of all this? Consider how he seeks knowledge of everything except knowledge of God. For instance, his utmost desire is to penetrate the mysteries of the lowest strata of the earth. Day by day he strives to know what can be found ten meters below the surface, what he can discover within the stone, what he can learn by archaeological research in the dust. He puts forth arduous labors to fathom terrestrial mysteries but is not at all concerned about knowing the mysteries of the Kingdom, traversing the illimitable fields of the eternal world, becoming informed of the divine realities, discovering the secrets of God, attaining the knowledge of God, witnessing the splendors of the Sun of Truth and realizing the glories of everlasting life. He is unmindful and thoughtless of these. How much he is attracted to the mysteries of matter, and how completely unaware he is of the mysteries of Divinity! Nay, he is utterly negligent and oblivious of the secrets of Divinity. How great his ignorance! How conducive to his degradation! It is as if a kind and loving father had provided a library of wonderful books for his son in order that he might be informed of the mysteries of creation, at the same time surrounding him with every means of comfort and enjoyment, but the son amuses himself with pebbles and playthings, neglectful of all his father’s gifts and provision. How ignorant and heedless is man! The Father has willed for him eternal glory, and he is content with blindness and deprivation. The Father has built for him a royal palace, but he is playing with the dust; prepared for him garments of silk, but he prefers to remain unclothed; provided for him delicious foods and fruits, while he seeks sustenance in the grasses of the field. Praise be to God! You have heard the call of the Kingdom. Your eyes are opened; you have turned to God. Your purpose is the good pleasure of God, the understanding of the mysteries of the heart and investigation of the realities. Day and night you must strive that you may attain to the significances of the heavenly Kingdom, perceive the signs of Divinity, acquire certainty of knowledge and realize that this world has a Creator, a Vivifier, a Provider, an Architect-knowing this through proofs and evidences and not through susceptibilities, nay, rather, through decisive arguments and real vision—that is to say, visualizing it as clearly as the outer eye beholds the sun. In this way may you behold the presence of God and attain to the knowledge of the holy, divine Manifestations. You must come into the knowledge of the divine Manifestations and Their teachings through proofs and evidences. You must unseal the mysteries of the supreme Kingdom and become capable of discovering the inner realities of things. Then shall you be the manifestations of the mercy of God and true believers, firm and steadfast in the Cause of God. 11

Praise be to God! The door of divine knowledge has been opened by Baha’u’llah, for He has laid the foundation whereby man may become acquainted with the verities of heaven and earth and has bestowed the utmost confirmation in this day. He is our Teacher and Adviser; He is our Seer and the One clement toward us. He has prepared His gifts and vouchsafed His bounties, revealed every admonition and behest, prepared for us the means of eternal glory, breathed upon us the life-quickening breaths of the Holy Spirit, opened before our faces the doors of the paradise of ABHA and caused the lights of the Sun of Truth to shine upon us. The clouds of mercy have poured down their precious rain. The sea of favor is swelling and surging toward us. The spiritual springtime has come. Infinite bounties and graces have appeared. What bestowal is greater than this? We must appreciate the divine generosity and act in accordance with the teachings of Baha’u’llah so that all good may be stored up for us and in both worlds we shall become precious and acceptable to God, attain to everlasting blessings, taste the delicacy of the love of God, find the sweetness of the knowledge of God, perceive the heavenly bestowal and witness the power of the Holy Spirit. This is my advice, and this is my admonition!

THE WORLD OF INNER SIGNIFICANCES (Talk at Green Acre, Eliot, Maine: 17 August 1912) --‘Abdu’l-Baha-The physical beauty of this place is very wonderful. We hope that a spiritual charm may surround and halo it; then its beauty will be perfect. There is a spiritual atmosphere manifest here particularly at sunset. In cities like New York the people are submerged in the sea of materialism. Their sensibilities are attuned to material forces, their perceptions purely physical. The animal energies predominate in their activities; all their thoughts are directed to material things; day and night they are devoted to the attractions of this world, without aspiration beyond the life that is vanishing and mortal. In schools and temples of learning knowledge of the sciences acquired is based upon material observations only; there is no realization of Divinity in their methods and conclusions--all have reference to the world of matter. They are not interested in attaining knowledge of the mysteries of God or understanding the secrets of the heavenly Kingdom; what they acquire is based altogether upon visible and tangible evidences. Beyond these evidences they are without susceptibilities; they have no idea of the world of inner significances and are utterly out of touch with God, considering this an indication of reasonable attitude and philosophical judgement whereof they are self-sufficient and proud. As a matter of fact, this supposed excellence is possessed in its superlative degree by the animals. The animals are without knowledge of God; so to speak, they are deniers of Divinity and understand nothing of the Kingdom and its heavenly mysteries. As deniers of the Kingdom, they are utterly ignorant of spiritual things and uninformed of the supernatural world. Therefore, if it be a perfection and virtue to be without knowledge of God and His Kingdom, the animals have attained the highest degree of excellence and proficiency. Then the donkey is the greatest scientist and the cow an accomplished naturalist, for they have obtained what they know without schooling and years of laborious study in colleges, trusting implicitly to the evidence of the senses and relying solely upon intuitive virtues. The cow, for instance, is a lover of the visible and a believer in the tangible, contented and happy when pasture is plenty, perfectly serene, a blissful exponent of the transcendental school of philosophy. Such is the status of the material philosophers, who glory in sharing the condition of the cow, imagining themselves in a lofty station. Reflect upon their ignorance and blindness. Nay, rather, the virtue of man is this: that he can investigate the ideals of the Kingdom and attain knowledge which is denied the animal in its limitation. The station of man is this: that he has the power to attain those ideals and thereby differentiate and consciously distinguish himself an infinite degree above the kingdoms of existence below him. The station of man is great, very great. God has created man after His own image and likeness. He has endowed him with a mighty power which is capable of discovering the mysteries of phenomena. Through its use man is able to arrive at ideal conclusions instead of being restricted to the mere plane of sense impressions. As he possesses sense endowment in common with the animals, it is evident that he is distinguished above them by his conscious power of penetrating abstract realities. He acquires divine wisdom; he searches out the mysteries of creation; he 13

witnesses the radiance of omnipotence; he attains the second birth--that is to say, he is born out of the material world just as he is born of the mother; he attains to everlasting life; he draws nearer to God; his heart is replete with the love of God. This is the foundation of the world of humanity; this is the image and likeness of God; this is the reality of man; otherwise, he is an animal. Verily, God has created the animal in the image and likeness of man, for though man outwardly is human, yet in nature he possesses animal tendencies. You must endeavor to understand the mysteries of God, attain the ideal knowledge and arrive at the station of vision, acquiring directly from the Sun of Reality and receiving a destined portion from the ancient bestowal of God.

THE ANCIENT SOUL: EMANATION FROM PRE-EXISTENT SOURCE (Star of the West, 14(1), p. 11) --‘Abdu’l-Baha-Be it known that to know the reality or essence of the soul of man is impossible, for in order to know a thing one must comprehend it, and since a thing cannot comprehend itself to know oneself in substance or essence is impossible... This much can be stated, that the reality of man is a pure and unknown essence constituting a depository emanating from the light of the Ancient Entity, God. This essence or soul of man because of its innate purity and its connection with the unseen Ancient Entity is old as regards time but new as regards individuality. This connection is similar to that of the rays to the sun--the effect to the primal cause. Since the pure essence, whose identity is unknown, possesses the virtues of the worlds of matter and of the Kingdom it has two sides: first, the material and physical; second, the mental and spiritual, which are attributes not found as qualities of matter. It is the same reality which is given different names, according to the different conditions wherein it is manifested. Because of its relation to matter and the phenomenal world when it governs the physical functions of the body it is called the human soul; when it manifests itself as the thinker, the comprehender, it is called the mind. And when it soars into the atmosphere of God and travels in the spiritual world it becomes designated as spirit.

THE SOUL IS AN INTERMEDIARY --‘Abdu’l-Baha-O THOU WHO ART REJOICED AT THE EXPLANATION OF THE MAID-SERVANT OF GOD! Thank thou God that He hath sent forth unto thee such a spiritual and loving sister, who is preserved from egotism and desires and is rejoiced at the glad-tidings of God. Can there be imagined any greater mercy than this? No! by the One who hath created the heaven and earth! Blessed thou art, for thou hast inhaled the fragrances of life from the garden of the Kingdom of El-BAHA before thine ears had heard the call! As to whom thou hast mentioned, it behooveth him to seek only the divine bounties and subjects which lead to the real knowledge of the invisible (world of God), through the mediation of the Holy spirit. Then he will perceive the reality of the triune powers in man, through his innate perception. For, verily, the sign of these triune powers which exist in mankind are spirit, mind and soul. The spirit is the power of life, the mind is the power which apprehendeth the reality of things, and the soul is an intermediary between the Supreme Concourse (or Spiritual World) and the lower concourse (or material world and physical body). It, i.e., the soul, hath two phases: The higher aspireth to the Kingdom of El-BAHA, and the lights of the mind shine forth from that horizon (or kingdom) unto its higher sphere; the other phase inclineth to the lower concourse of the material world and its lowest sphere is enveloped in the darkness of ignorance. But when light is poured upon this phase, and if this phase of the soul is capable of receiving it, then “truth hath come and falsehood vanisheth, for falsehood is of short duration”--otherwise, darkness will surround it from all directions and it will be deprived of association with the Supreme Concourse and will remain in the lowest depths. As to the “voice”: There are two kinds of voices. One is the physical voice and it is expressed by atmospheric vibrations which affect the nerves of the ear; the other is the breath of the Merciful, and this is a call which is continually heard from the Supreme Concourse and cheereth the pure and holy souls. May it be beneficial to those who have heard the Call! Know thou that the Ancient Light and the Manifest Beauty (God) hath sown seeds in the soil of existence and hath irrigated it through His spiritual bounties. This soil will surely bring forth good plants of divine gifts; the leaves of this growth are love and union, its stem is the teachings of the True One and His supreme laws, and the grain pods are the heavenly blessings which giveth life to the souls. Depend thou on these! Depend thou on these! Depend thou on this, and abandon every imagination and be attracted to the light of reality and discover both the divine truths and physical truths! Also, know thou that the greatest spiritual and divine “chaplet” is the Word of God and the Sun of Truth which penetrateth the reality of the created things and attracteth the entire soul of man in the world of existence and shineth forth unto all horizons (or regions). Hast thou ever perceived a greater “chaplet” than this? No! by the Splendor of Baha! Verily, I yearn for the visit of those souls who are cheered, dilated and moved by and attracted to the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. 16

THE WRONGED ONE (al-Mathlum) --Baha’u’llah-“Adorn yourself with My Character, in such wise that should anyone treat you unjustly you would take no heed of him, nor oppose him. Leave him to the judgment of your Lord, the Powerful, Omnipotent and Self-Subsisting. Be at all times a “Wronged One,” (al-Mathlum) for this is one of My Attributes, though none but the sincere are aware of it. Verily, the sighs of patience uttered by one wronged are more precious to God than any other deed, did you but know. Therefore, be patient in the face of whatever befalls you, and set your trust in your Lord God in all your affairs. He, verily, suffices you against all the harm that any created thing can wreak toward you, and preserves you in the shelter of His Cause and the mighty fortress of His guardianship. There is no God but Him. His are the worlds of creation and command (alam-ikhalq va amr) and all seek His aid. Should anyone slander you, you must not retaliate against him in kind lest you become as he is. Turn aside from him and set your face toward the Holy Tabernacle in this exalted and sacred Canopy. Be among men as a sweet-scented knoll, that the fragrance of sanctity may be wafted among them. In such wise, you might succeed in attracting them to the court of the Holy and Beloved One. Should you find a helper among the friends of God, seek his company at eventide and dawn, throughout the months and years. In all matters, emulate God, your Succorer. Walk among men with His dignity and peace, and teach them the Cause of their Lord to the extent that they are able to hear it.” (Baha’u’llah, Suriy-i-Damm: The Surah of Blood)

THE THRONE OF THE INNER TEMPLE “AS THIS PHYSICAL FRAME IS THE THRONE OF THE INNER TEMPLE, whatever occurs to the former is felt by the latter. In realty that which takes delight in joy or is saddened by pain is the inner temple of the body, not the body itself” (The Bab, Lights of Guidance, p. 201). “In every aspect of life, purity and holiness, cleanliness and refinement, exalt the human condition and further the development of man’s inner reality. Even in the physical realm, cleanliness will conduce to spirituality, as the Holy Writings clearly state. And although bodily cleanliness is a physical thing, it hath, nevertheless, a powerful influence on the life of the spirit. It is even as a voice wondrously sweet, or a melody played: although sounds are but vibrations in the air which affect the ear’s auditory nerve, and these vibrations are but chance phenomena carried along through the air, even so, see how they move the heart. A wondrous melody is wings for the spirit, and maketh the soul to tremble for joy. The purport is that physical cleanliness doth also exert its effect upon the human soul” (‘Abdu’l-Baha, Selections, pp. 146147). “It is not the body that feels pain or trouble, but the soul. If we have a pain in our arm, the defect is in the body, but it is the soul that feels the pain and is troubled, not the body, though the body is the cause of the trouble” (‘Abdu’l-Baha, Baha’i Prayers, p. 46). “If we are caused joy or pain by a friend, if a love prove true or false, it is the soul that is affected. If our dear ones are far from us--it is the soul that grieves, and the grief or trouble of the soul may react on the body” (‘Abdu’l-Baha, Paris Talks, p. 65). “It means, in brief, to regard humanity as a single individual, and one's own self as a member of that corporeal form, and to know of a certainty that if pain or injury afflicts any member of that body, it must inevitably result in suffering for all the rest” (‘Abdu’l-Baha, The Secret of Divine Civilization, p. 39). “I AM WELL PLEASED with that which Thou didst ordain for Me, and welcome, however calamitous, the pains and sorrows I am made to suffer” (Baha’u’llah, Gleanings, pp. 89-90) “THOUGH MY BODY BE PAINED by the trials that befall me from Thee, though it be afflicted by the revelations of Thy Decree, yet my soul rejoiceth at having partaken of the waters of Thy Beauty, and at having attained the shores of the ocean of Thine eternity. Doth it beseem a lover to flee from his beloved, or to desert the object of his heart's desire? Nay, we all believe in Thee, and eagerly hope to enter Thy presence” (Baha’u’llah, Prayers and Meditations, p. 95). “PERISH THAT LOVER WHO DISCERNETH BETWEEN THE PLEASANT AND THE POISONOUS in his love for his beloved! Be thou satisfied with what God hath destined for thee. He, verily, ruleth over thee as He willeth and pleaseth. No God is there but Him, the Inaccessible, the Most High.” (Baha’u’llah, Prayers and Meditations, p. 11).

TABLET OF THE CITY OF UNITY (Lawh-i-Madinatu’t-Tawhid) --Baha’u’llah-HE IS THE GLORIOUS-LIGHT, THE GLORIOUS-LIGHT, THE MOST SPLENDIDLY RADIANT IN EL-ABHA! THIS IS THE CITY OF UNITY: Enter therein, O ye who believe in God’s Oneness (mawhidin), so that--by the glad-tidings of the Spirit--ye maybe numbered among those who are endowed with Mystic Insight! HE IS THE MIGHTY, THE ONE, THE EXALTED, THE SUBLIME, THE INCOMPARABLE! THESE ARE THE VERSES OF THE BOOK that I have distinguished making them wondrous-for there is no fault in the verses revealed by God--to be a means of guidance, a light and a remembrance unto all who are resident in the heavens or on the earth. Herein is treasured that by which the people shall draw nigh unto the Court of manifest Sanctity. It is, furthermore, a Book wherein is contained every wise and mighty command (amr). It, in truth, was sent down on the part of One who is the All-Wise, the Omniscient. Herein is that which shall render the people independent of all things, by which the fragrances of holiness suffuse the worlds, and from which it is proclaimed that there is no God but Him! He doeth as He willeth at His own behest, and He doth decree as He pleaseth; none other God is there beside Him, He in Whose possession is all authority and the entire creation. He it is Who giveth life and Who ordaineth death, Who ordaineth death and Who giveth life, and He it is Who is ever-abiding in the realm of eternity. He ruleth as He willeth, and is not to be questioned as to what He willeth, and in His grasp doth lie the kingdom of creation. None other God is there but Him, the Cherished, the All-Beauteous. He is verily the Absolute, besides Whom there is none other God, Who hath everlastingly been sanctified of aught else except Him, exalted above the description of anyone beside Him, and Whose knowledge none can surpass. He encompasseth all things, and none of His creatures shall ever be able to befittingly comprehend His Being. Never shall the certitude of the assured or the understanding of the learned attain His reality. He, verily, is the Possessor of all wealth, the All-Wise, Who is one in His Essence, one is His attributes, and one in His acts, Who hath ever been peerless on the throne of majesty and singular on the seat of glory. He is verily the Eternal from Whom nothing can depart, unto Whom nothing can be joined, Who is, in truth, the All-Knowing, the Omnipotent, the Supreme. Nothing but His own Essence can affirm His oneness, and nothing but His Own Being can truly recognize Him. All that hath been originated and called into being in this world hath been created at the word of His behest. None other God is there but Him, the Almighty, the Munificent. The realization of the mystics in their most exalted station, the wisdom of the wise in their loftiest conception, is but the recognition of the sign of His effulgence by itself, unto itself. This verily is the extremity of knowledge, if ye be of them that have attained the heights of learning. The doors of union with His Eternal Essence being thus closed, and the wings of human understanding being thus powerless to take flight unto the kingdom of His command, He hath sent the Messengers and revealed to Them the scriptures, and hath made the recognition of Them 19

to be the recognition of His own Self. This is that which is accepted from contingent beings, as a token of His generosity and a Testament of His grace unto all who dwell in His earthly dominion. It is as though he hath affirmed the reality of God and the unity of His Essence when one turneth unto Them, and is as though he hath drawn nigh to the court of manifest sanctity when one is brought nigh unto Them. Whoso obeyeth Them hath obeyed God, and whosoever turneth aside from Them hath turned aside from the very face of God, the Almighty, the Omnipotent, the Abiding, the Exalted. God hath ordained that the recognition of Himself be in the recognition of Them. This is what hath been decreed in the Tablets of command by Him Who is the Omnipotent, the All-Powerful; this is the uttermost extremity of the heights which men of understanding can scale, if ye be of them that are possessed of knowledge. God hath not ordained for any soul a portion greater than this, nor any path leading directly unto Him. This is such as He hath written in regard to His own Self, the One True God, if ye be men of insight. How could one who is powerless ascend unto Him Who is the All-Powerful, the Ancient of Days? Say: Glorified be God! All are impoverished before Him and fail to truly know Him. Is it befitting that the evanescent mortal should take flight into the celestial dominion of the Eternal? Say: Glorified be God! All are utterly powerless before Him and bewildered upon contemplating the manifestations of His command. O Salman, testify in thy soul and thy spirit, with thy tongue and every limb of thy body, that there is none other God but Him, and that all are but servants unto Him and stand in adoration before Him. Submit then, O Salman, unto the command of God and such as thou art bidden in the Book, and be not among the heedless. Esteem the eminence of these Days, and forget not in thyself the grace vouchsafed unto them; be among those in gratitude. Detach from thine own self and thy base desires, that God may inspire thee in His grace with that which shall deliver thee from the world. Beware lest thou forbid thyself the sweet-scented breezes of this Spirit; indeed, this would be a grievous wrong to thyself. Turn wholly, then, unto God, the King, the Living, the Omnipotent, the Ancient of Days. Say: This is one of the seasons of God which hath been revealed in His grace, and which nothing, whether in the heavens or on earth, can alter. Say: By God, this is the Spring-Time with whose vernal raiment Paradise hath been adorned, and which shall never be followed by Autumn. This is a verily a Season which no earthly season can surpass, for it is sheltered neath the wing of Him Who is the Exalted, the Sublime. O Concourse on High, take your share of this vivifying breeze, whereby the foundations of the world are made new, whereby the living breath of the Eternal is breathed into the moldering bone. O DENIZENS OF THE DEPTH OF ONENESS! Detach yourselves from such as ye have known and all wherewith ye have testified unto the unity of your Creator, and affirm the oneness of God, in these Days, with that which is revealed to you in truth; be not among the heedless. Take your share, moreover, of this grace into which all things are submerged as bidden by God, the All-Glorious, the All-Praised. O CONCOURSE OF ETERNITY! Set aside all that ye have taken unto yourselves and turn unto the Garden that hath been opened wide by the Name of God, the Exalted, in the heart of transcendent holiness.

O YE THAT DWELL IN THE HEAVENS! Glorify God by the name whereby the letter Kaf is joined with the letters Ra and Mim. Hearken, then, unto the melodies of the spirit sung by this Bird which doth ever warble in all melodies. Say: O ye that dwell on earth, by God, this verily is the Dove which summoneth you unto the most excellent remembrance, that ye may be among them that have remembered. Nothing doth He desire from you, nor shall He ever seek from you any recompense. His reward lieth in this: martyrdom and the love of God, the All-Glorious, the Omniscient. Say: Whoso hath not sought such as I have presently mentioned in truth, is assuredly in loss. Say: Those who flee from death in the path of their Creator are in doubt as to the meeting with God and are among the ignorant. They have failed to perceive the holy fragrances wafting from this luminous raiment; asleep on the bed of heedlessness, they have turned aside from what is better for them than possession of the entire universe. Say: God shall roll up the earth and all that abideth thereon, and gather all in an inviolable place of holiness. Ye shall then behold the mysteries of the Cause and apprehend such as was ordained by God, the Exalted, the Most Wise, and ye shall lament unto yourselves, saying, “Would that we were not neglectful of God’s remembrance and in manifest error!” I swear by God, were He to remove the veil from the eyes of His servants, and if they would then realize such as their hands had wrought, the Spirit would depart from their bodies, and this is a certain truth. O Salman, give ear unto Our counsel that we have given thee in grace, and heed what We have bidden thee in justice, and be not of those that slumber. Bring thyself and others to remembrance of what We have sent down unto thee in truth, that haply the people may turn their hearts unto the seat of divine glory. Now, with regard to what thou hast enquired concerning the verse of the Divine Oneness and the Testimony of the Divine Transcendence, know thou that this is above My station and that I am but a lowly servant. He it is in Whose hand is the kingdom of knowledge, in Whose grasp is the dominion of wisdom. He knoweth whatsoever pleaseth Him in regard to whatsoever He willeth; none other God is there but Him, the Cherished, the Beauteous. He hath command over all in the heavens and on earth; He verily doth as He willeth, and He is verily the Sovereign, the AllGlorious, the All-Powerful. Nothing whatsoever can escape the embrace of His omniscience, nor can anything frustrate His omnipotence. He is not to be questioned as to His doings, and He is, in truth, the All-Compelling, the Conquering, the Almighty, the Most High. Despite my own powerlessness, my hardships, my poverty and my impoverishment, inasmuch as I desire to reveal what God hath bestowed upon Me in His grace--lest I be among them whom He describeth truly in His inviolable Book as, “Those who are miserly and who command others to give but grudgingly, who verily hold back such as God hath given them in His bounty”-wherefore shall I impart to thee what God hath made to flow forth from My Pen, that thou mayest pride thyself in that We have chosen thee from amongst the people, that thou mayest be of them that cleave wholly unto their Lord, and that thou mightest yield him thanksgiving for what He hath graciously given thee, and for the verses which He hath sent down unto thee, verses which strike bewildered awe in men of learning.

Know thou that “Oneness” hath myriad senses, worlds, and stations, which none can recognize or reckon save God, the Omnipotent, the Almighty, the Beauteous. And though We desire to expound for thee in this connection what God hath made known unto Us out of His grace, all the parchment of the world cannot bear it, and even if all the oceans were made into ink, it would still be insufficient for these hallowed, lofty, cherished and precious words. For there is no cessation in the effusion of God’s bounty, nor can anything halt the operation of His command. He it is Who expounded from the first Point the knowledge of all that was and shall be, if ye be of them that recognize this truth. He shall verily set forth from the adornment of this Point such sciences as no ear hath heard of, nor any man, however learned, hath known. Say: If it be His desire to roll up all sciences as have been explicated in this world, from that beginning as hath no beginning, this would indeed be in His power to do so in less than a twinkling of an eye. None other God is there but Him, the Sovereign, the Omnipotent, the Almighty. He it is in Whose grasp is dominion of the kingdom of the heavens and earth. He shall efface whatsoever He willeth, and shall confirm whatsoever He pleaseth, in the power of His might; with Him lieth a Tablet of inviolable holiness. He it is Who hath everlastingly been sanctified from all that ye can conceive, and Who is invested with an all-embracing knowledge in every matter. The very essence of unity and of limitation is but the same in His sight, and yet the generality of men are asleep on the bed of ignorance. Say: Were He to blot out all the verses asserting His divine Unity, and exchange them for such as affirm limitation, this would be the indubitable truth, and none would have the right to exclaim “why” or “wherefore.” For the truth is such as is revealed from Him, and the reality is such as He hath verily ordained in regard to His own Self. Verily, He the Omnipotent, the Almighty. Be then assured, O Salman, that in the treasuries of God’s omniscience I am invested with knowledge before a single letter whereof the learning of no man is worthy of mention, of which neither the testimonies wherewith God’s servants bear witness unto His unity, nor the gem-like utterances wherewith they assert His transcendence, are befitting. Yet inasmuch as His mercy doth surpass the multitude of His creatures, such as the Messengers have bidden them in every age, and the Prophets commanded them in every dispensation, is accepted from them, as a token of His grace unto all created things. Do thou testify that He is immeasurably exalted above the comprehension of any man, that none can attain unto the marvels of His knowledge, and that none in this earthly realm are able to grasp Him, if ye be among them that discern the mysteries of the Cause. Would that holy doves could be found, or pure and unsullied hearts, that they might soar with this Servant in the atmosphere of this knowledge; yet, alas, the wings of whomsoever should venture to draw nigh are burned away to naught. God shall verily call forth into being such servants as are untouched by the limitations of malicious souls, who shall take flight on the wings of holiness, traverse the realms of eternity, and enter the Tabernacle of effulgent Glory; who shall neither be engrossed by earthly matters nor diverted by the vanities of the world from the remembrance of God, the Most High, the Omnipotent, the All-Glorious. Whensoever they should hear the melodies of the Spirit, their eyes will brim with tears, and they will assuredly rejoice at the good favor of God. They shall verily turn unto the Most Holy, the Most Wondrous 22

Beauty, and shall never exchange the verses of God for aught, though they be tempted with all the heavens and earth. And whensoever they hearken unto the melodies of God, they will incline themselves unto the clime of nearness, and be ever ready to lay down their lives. It is now seemly that I begin to treat the matter thou didst request before, and set forth a conclusive explanation of that which the hearts of the wise are unable to grasp. Know thou, O Salman, that We affirm in the station of the unity of God’s Essence that He is verily one in His Essence, and hath eternally been ascendant on the throne of the Divine Oneness and the seat of Supreme Transcendence, that nothing hath ever been coupled with Him, and that no man shall ever be worthy to be mentioned before Him. He is verily the Everlasting, the Abiding, the Almighty, the All-Bountiful. Forever hath He subsisted by virtue of His own Being, and He hath from everlasting been abstracted from any praise that can be uttered, from the understanding of any soul, and from whatever profession of His unity one might assert; and He is as He was in the eternity of eternities. None other God is there beside Him, the All-Glorious, the All-Wise. The realization of the most sainted of mystics and the wisdom of the most accomplished of men, shall ever be barred from apprehending this station, for aught else but Him is as nothing before Him and utterly bereft in His presence, and doth exist only by virtue of His command. None other God is there but Him, and His are the realms of Revelation and of Creation (amr va khalq). He is, verily, informed of all things. He is God; no God is there but Him, Who hath taken unto Himself no associate, no helper, no partner, no peer nor vicegerent. None other God is there but Him, the Almighty, the Powerful, the All-Encompassing. Thou art then witness that He is one in His attributes, and that all attributes are debarred from entry into the court of His holiness; this is what He hath ordained for His own Self, if ye be of them that apprehend this truth. Recognize, moreover, that the myriad worlds of names and attributes shall never be joined unto His Essence, for His attributes are verily His Essence Itself, and none shall ever know how this can be; in very truth, He is the Almighty, the Transcendent, the Forgiving, the Merciful. All these names and attributes refer to His Prophets, His Messengers, and His Elect, for they are the mirrors that reflect His attributes and are the Daysprings of His names; for otherwise, He, in His majesty, would lie hid and concealed in His Essence and attributes. All these beauteous names and sublime attributes are made manifest in His Prophets, lest any soul be entirely bereft of the knowledge of the divine attributes in the dominion of names; and this is a token of His grace unto all the worlds. It is incumbent on him who is a true believer in this station to affirm that these attributes that are manifest in the Messengers of God are naught but His own attributes--exalted is He--in such wise that he seeth no separation between Himself and Them. Their attributes are revealed at His behest and created in conformity to His will; this, verily, is the true recognition of the oneness of God in this station. This have We graciously related unto thee, that thou mayest be them that are steadfast and unwavering. He who is possessed of mystic insight seeth naught, whether in the heavens or on earth, save that he behold God standing supreme above it. Everything doth verily exclaim, with the tongue of its inmost being, that there is no God but Him, the Almighty, the All-Glorious. The true mystic doth ascend to a station wherein he seeth the signs of the effulgence of God in all things, and thereby

is it established before his eyes that He Himself is--and hath ever been--exalted above all things. Glorified be God and exalted is He, from all that is said by these idolaters. It is incumbent on him who is believer in the Divine Unity to make no distinction between the words of God, and to unreservedly testify, in the very core of his being, that all the verses are sent down by Him, and that all which is imparted to the messengers is the indubitable truth revealed by God, the All-Encompassing, the Most Powerful. All of the ordained laws are explicated from a single Point, have their origin in God and are referable to Him, and there is no division between them, if ye be of them that are assured. Though they outwardly differ, there is no essential difference in the divine laws as revealed throughout the ages and in various dispensations, for they are all made manifest from the command of God, and God’s faith hath from eternity been one and so shall it remain forevermore. Thus hath it been inscribed by a sanctified and luminous Pen. Beware, O believers in the Unity of God, lest ye be tempted to make any distinction between any of the Manifestations of His Cause, or to discriminate against the signs that have accompanied and proclaimed their Revelation. This indeed is the true meaning of Divine Unity, if ye be of them that apprehend and believe this truth. Be ye assured, moreover, that the works and acts of each and every one of these Manifestations of God, nay whatever pertaineth unto them, and whatsoever they may manifest in the future, are all ordained by God, and are a reflection of His Will and Purpose. Whoso maketh the slightest possible difference between their persons, their words, their messages, their acts and manners, hath indeed disbelieved in God, hath repudiated His signs, and betrayed the Cause of His Messengers. In such wise have We set forth unto thee the paths of knowledge and of wisdom, that haply ye may be of them that have entered the tabernacle of glory. And whensoever We make mention of this relationship between Them Who are the Gems of the Divine Unity and the Inmost Realities of Singleness, this is in respect to the station of Revelation, inasmuch as all of Them have Their beginning in God and trust in Him, return to Him, rule in accord with His command, and speak with His leave. Thus is the decree of “Oneness” pronounced over Them in this regard and confirmed in Them. In such wise have We revealed unto you the verses, that ye may be of them that are assured. However, in the station of distinction, God causeth some of Them to surpass the others, even as the king surpasseth his subject; in this light, regard the station which some of Them hold to be as the Point which is the source of the letters, the letters having their source in the Point and revolving about it. In like manner, do thou regard the ranks of the prophets. Thou art witness that He Who hath come in the name of ‘Ali * is the point round Whom the souls of the messengers revolve. Say then in thyself, “How blessed is God, the Best of creators!” Thou seest that with regard to Their acts, these come forth at His behest, are created by His command, arise in accordance with what He hath ordained, and return to that station that hath been destined for them on His part. Verily, God is my Lord and your Lord, and the Lord of your fathers of old. Is it possible that anyone even be permitted to move in God’s dominion save that it be decreed by Him in His Book? Say: Glorified be God! All things are set in motion at His behest, and all *

Siyyid ‘Ali-Muhammad, the Bab; Mirza Husayn-‘Ali, Baha’u’llah.

shall return unto Him. None other God is there but Him; He taketh whatsoever He willeth from whomsoever He pleaseth, and He ordaineth for all things such as He desireth. He is, verily, the Omnipotent, the Omniscient. There is nothing whatsoever which is not encompassed in His omniscience before it cometh into being and after its extinction, and He doth verily ordain for all of His creatures what is better for them than the vast canopy of the heavens and the myriad climes of the earth; this, verily, is what hath been written by the Pen of wise and incontrovertible decree. Beware, O ye people of the Explanation (Bayan), lest this cause perplexity for you, for if these acts were to proceed from God Himself, how great would be the chastisement ordained for His rebellious servants in the fires of Hell! Know then that He, in His majesty, hath sent the Messengers that they may counsel mankind to act in accord with such morality and virtue as is inspired from mindfulness of God, may forbid them from following the dictates of their corrupt inclinations and base desires, and may give them the glad-tidings of the meeting with God on a Day when the lights doth shine in effulgence from a Court of Radiant Majesty; this, verily, is such as hath been ordained by Him for the worlds. It is by His Messengers that He hath made known unto His creatures the paths of guidance and of error, and He hath, through the tongues of these Messengers, expounded what He hath desired for His servants, in such wise that there is nothing of good but that it be found in a Perspicuous Book. Inasmuch as He hath revealed the truth unto His creatures, hath spread out before them the ways of holiness, hath made manifest unto them the paths of the all-highest Paradise, hath enjoined upon them such as shall enable them to attain unto these holy stations and bring them nigh unto God, the Almighty, the All-Praised, and hath forbidden them what would most assuredly harm them--therefore, those who are obedient unto Him are risen up on high, while those who turn aside in disdain are brought low in abject abasement. Their choice for either of these two paths can only be made after their knowledge and understanding of the paths of guidance and of error, and God granteth a period of time for them to choose for themselves. This is a token of His Justice unto all who dwell in this earthly dominion. Wherefore, do thou testify that God hath never wronged any soul even to the extent of a blemish on a date stone, nor shall He ever do so. He, verily, is the All-Bounteous, the Clement, the Munificent. The paths distinguishing between truth and falsehood, guidance and error, being thus revealed before mankind, He doth assist them to obtain such as they desire, and they are subject to His reckoning after their choosing thereof. Hereby have We made clear to you the verses, and have set forth for you words of wisdom, that your hearts and the hearts of those who are nigh unto God may rejoice. If He were, exalted be His majesty, to prevent His servants from committing a certain deed, while compelling them to do another in accord with what He hath foreordained, then this would assuredly be an act of injustice on His part. Far be it from Him in His glory that He should deal unjustly with any soul to even the most infinitesimal extent. Despite His compelling power over all things and the irresistible realization of His decree with regard to all things, He hath granted a respite to all creation in His judgement of their deeds until they can recognize the light as distinct

from darkness, and this is of His Grace, if ye behold the secrets of the Cause through the eyes of wisdom. Whoso doth assert a view in contradiction to what We have revealed unto thee is accounted as a transgressor in the Book of God, and He is clear of him, unless he repent, humbly return unto God and seek His forgiveness. God verily doth forgive whomsoever He willeth, doth deal generously with whomsoever He pleaseth, and doth withhold His bounty from whomsoever He doth decree, and He is not to be questioned as to what He hath willed; in His hand is the kingdom of Revelation and of Creation (amr va khalq), and He holdeth in His grasp the dominion of the heavens and the earth. He giveth life and He giveth death, then He giveth death and He giveth life; He is the Ever-Abiding Who perisheth not, from Whose knowledge nothing can escape, Whose grace doth encompass all contingent things, Who knoweth full well the secrets of men’s hearts and all that doth proceed therefrom. None other God is there beside Him, the Omniscient, the All-Compelling, the Ordaining, the Subtle, the All-Knowing. Know, O concourse of the Explanation (Bayan), that God desireth nothing for His servants save that which shall enable them to advance unto the highest heavens in the realm of eternity, and nothing hath He ordained for them save that which doth deliver them from the self and the base passions thereof, that sovereignty may remain unto God, and that the world and all who abide therein may be purged of the defilement of these infidels. We bear witness in the station of unity that all acts of devotion return to God, the All-Glorious, the Transcendent, the All-Knowing, and all of them have been manifested from the self-same Cause by Him Who is the All-Wise, the Almighty, and all have their origin in God and return unto Him; indeed, He is the Source and ultimate End of all things. Unto Him shall the good word ascend; verily, all are prostrate before His Countenance, and it is He Whom all in the heavens and on earth worship. There is nothing that doth not glorify His praise and dread the fury of His scourge. None other God is there beside Him, the All-Glorious, the Self-Subsisting. The necks of all men irresistibly bow before Him in His sovereignty, and every heart doth humble itself before His command and taste of His remembrance. He it is Whom all things have worshiped and Who will ever be worshiped by all in the heavens and on earth. Verily, those who are established on the throne of unity and the seats of singleness, witness within their own selves that all the devotions wherewith men worship their Creator in their monasteries and temples hath been revealed by God and shall return unto Him, for He Who is the object of worship is but one God. Glory be unto Him in His exaltation! Verily, We all stand in adoration before Him! And though His servants be heedless of Him whilst performing their devotions and forgetful of Him Who brought them into being and created them, yet the very soul of these devotions and praises hasten unto Him, and verily, all things hasten unto Him. All the acts of worship and devotion which you behold in the communities of the earth, all of them, have been explicated of God in a dispensation of His Messengers; verily, all are servants unto His command. Howbeit, inasmuch as they are shut out as by a veil from Him Who is the Supreme Objective and what He hath ordained for them, they are deprived of what He hath chosen for them in these Days, when the Tongue of Oneness doth sing in myriad melodies in wondrous and enrapturing tones. Thus 26

have they turned away from God after their awaiting His coming, and chosen that for themselves. Thus are they met with the ineluctable decree of God, as ordained in the scrolls of inviolable holiness. We testify that the stations of unity and the degrees of singleness were all manifest in Him Who is the Divine Beauty, Who was made manifest in the Year Sixty at the behest of God, the Omnipotent, the All-Wise, the All-Knowing. He it is Who is one is His Essence, His attributes and His acts, and Who hath no likeness, no equal, nor adversary. All were created through the operation of His command, and all arise at His behest. None shall ever be a partner with Him in His Cause, nor ever be able to thwart His mandate. He is not to be questioned as to what he Hath done, and all shall verily return to His Presence. Hearken unto the Day when the Herald raiseth His Call in the midmost heart of the immortal realm, and the Dove of Hijaz doth warble from the land of Iraq summoning all unto union, the Day when the Gates of Paradise are flung open before the face of the entire creation. This is a day which shall not be followed by the darkness of night, and the sun itself doth seek to be illumined thereby; for this is a Day lit with the splendor of the divine countenance of His radiant Face. By the righteousness of God! This is when the carpet of holiness is outspread by God, the All-Glorious, the Transcendent. This is a Day when none save thy Lord bear His throne, and unto this do We bear witness. That is a Day when stations are revealed wherein unity shall never be mentioned, and unto which the inmost realities of singleness do not attain, and into the atmosphere of which the highest realizations of the learned shall not soar, save them whom thy Lord hath willed to exempt. Blessed then is he whose eyes are solaced in this Day by beholding the Face of God, the King, the Most Exalted, the All-Glorious. O PEOPLES OF THE EAST AND WEST! These are the breezes evincing the letter Ha which wafted over the valley of transcendent glory in the Sinai of the spirit, a spot where none save God, the Almighty, the Kindly, is mentioned. When they attained thereto, they took the letter Sin from the first valley, for the love of Him Who was joined between them in the apex of eternity, when the gathered letters were made manifest in the worlds of the names and attributes at His behest on the part of God, the All-Glorious, the Beauteous. This is a City which, if one ailing enter therein, he is healed and made whole quicker than a word floweth from the tongue. And if the Kingdom of Names were to pass by it, these names, one and all, would become more glorious and would speak of God, in such wise that by a single one of these names all in the heavens and on earth would be revolutionized. O Salman! Strive in thyself to enter this City, and if thou cannot, do thou listen with thy spirit, that haply thou mayest circle round it and perceive the sweet-scented breezes thereof wafting over thee. By God! Better is this for thee than that thou possess the dominion of the former and latter generations. This is My command unto thee and unto them that have ascended to an abode of manifest sovereignty. When thou dost enter the Land of Sad, * address the letter Za with holy and peerless greeting. Say then: Hearken unto that which the Dove of Holiness doth warble unto thee, when She hath departed from one land and taken flight unto the heaven of exalted majesty, and be grieved not *

Isphahan.

thereby, for therein doth lie the inmost mystery, if ye be of them that see aright. Wherefore, do thou trust in God in thine affairs; fear not any man and be not of them that fear. This is what hath been our counsel aforetime in Tablets of inviolable holiness. Set thy gaze and cleave thy heart unto God, the King, the Almighty, the Munificent. By God, the voice of God shall never cease to call out. He verily calleth aloud in ringing tones at all times and whoso doth cleanse his ears from the idle words of His creatures shall verily hear His voice in the realm of glory, shall heed no man of this world, shall be enraptured by the sweet accents of God and turn unto a repository of immutable sanctity. Likewise, address Mim on Our behalf with praises of wondrous glory. And when thou dost arrive at the Land of Shin, * circulate these Tablets amongst those who believe in them, that by these Tablets they may be called unto the remembrance of God and be of them that are mindful of Him. It is better that one be in remembrance of God by virtue of the Tablets He hath revealed than that he possess all that hath been fashioned by the hands of power in the realm of glory, for in them is seen naught save God alone, and aught else beside was created by a letter thereof, if ye be of them that recognize this truth. Thus have We bestowed Our grace unto thee, O Salman, in that We have revealed to thee the word of the One True God, have expounded for thee the mysteries of the Divine Unity, and have guided thee unto this path wherein the river Salsabil doth flow from this spring, and, verily, its waters shall never be exhausted, but rather shall last so long as the command of God himself, and shall endure in the eternity of eternities. Know, then, O Salman, that one who is bereft of the attributes of unity can never be regarded as worthy of bearing the name of believer in the Divine Unity of God’s Oneness, if ye be of them that perceive. Indeed, one’s affirmation of the Divine Unity cannot be regarded as complete by virtue of a mere verbal confession. O ye People in the Explanation (Bayan)! Strive within yourselves, that ye may be of them that are endowed with the attributes of God; one from whom the sweet-scented breezes of God and His attributes are not perceived, shall never attain unto this station nor ever be numbered with those who believe and uphold the Divine Unity of the Oneness of God. And with this do We complete Our utterance: None other God is there but Him; We are all His servants and unto Him shall We all return. Praise be to God, the Lord of all the Worlds!

Shiraz.

THE TABLET OF THE COLOR OF GOD (Lawh-i Salman I) --Baha’u’llah-“However high exalted souls and purified hearts soar into the heaven of knowledge and mystical insight, they can never escape the plane of contingent being or go beyond what was created in their own souls by their own souls. All the mystical insights of every mystic, all the mentions made by everyone who praises God, all the depictions of everyone who describes him, refer to the effulgence of his Lord that was created in his soul.”--Baha’u’llah IN MY NAME, THE SORROWFUL! Salman, waft the holy breezes of the All-Merciful upon the people of being and contingency from the City of the Soul. Journey with the feet of rectitude and soar upon the wings of detachment, and have a heart aflame with the fire of God’s love, so that the cold of winter shall have no effect upon Thee and so Thou will not be prevented from traveling in the Valley of Oneness. Salman, these Days are the manifestation of the firm and incontrovertible phrase, “No God is there but He.” For the negative particle modifying the positive noun is prior to and has taken precedence over the essence of affirmation. No one among the people of creation has so far become aware of this divine subtlety. What you have witnessed, that to outward seeming the letters of negation have triumphed over the letters of affirmation, is because of the influence of this phrase, the Revealer of which has, owing to a hidden wisdom, caused the negative particle to come first in this universal phrase. If I were to make mention of the convincing wisdom concealed therein, Thou would suddenly swoon, indeed, would fall dead. While what you witness on the earth is apparently contrary to the manifest will of the Temples of the Cause, nevertheless, esoterically everything was and shall be according to the Divine Will. Were any soul, after reading this Tablet, to contemplate the aforementioned phrase, they would become aware of a matter never before apparent. For the form of the words is the treasure hold of truth and the meanings lodged therein are the pearls of knowledge of the Sovereign of Oneness. The hand of divine purity hinders the people from recognizing this truth when the will of God suspends it, but when the hand of power lifts the seal therefrom, then the people will become aware of it. For example, consider the words of the Qur’an, which were, every one, treasuries of the knowledge of the Pre-existent Beauty. All the learned clergy read them night and day and wrote commentaries on them. Even so, they were unable to make manifest the meaning of even one letter from among the pearls concealed in the treasure vaults of these words. But when the Promised Day arrived, the hand of might that belonged to the Manifestation of God who preceded Me removed the seal in accordance with the condition and capacity of the people. Thus, the children of this era, who have never understood a word of the esoteric branches of knowledge, have become aware of hidden secrets, to the extent that they were able to do so, such that a child was able to compel one of the clergymen of this era by his discourse. This is the 29

power of the divine hand and the sphere of influence exercised by the will of the Sovereign of Unity. Were anyone to contemplate the above-mentioned utterance, they would see that not an atom moves save by the will of the Absolute Truth, and no one learns a single letter save by His volition. Exalted be His station, power, dominion, greatness and Cause; and exalted be His grace upon all who are in the kingdom of the heavens and the earth. Salman, the Pen of the All-Merciful says in this dispensation: “I have removed the negative particle from before the affirmation, and the wisdom thereof will, should God desire, descend from the heaven of volition. We will send it later.” Salman, sorrows have encompassed Me to such a degree that the tongue of the All-Merciful has been forbidden to make mention of exalted matters. By the One Who reared the contingent world, the gate of the garden of meaning has been bolted up by the oppression of the idolaters, and the breezes of knowledge have been prevented from blowing from the Yemen of the Glorious, the One. Salman, I have been afflicted by tribulations in this physical world both earlier and later; do not think they are limited to these days. A person * whom We raised over months and years with the hand of compassion once attempted to kill Me. Were I to make mention of the secrets of the past, Thou would become aware that some individuals who had been brought into being by a word of command have arisen to contend with God and have set back the wonders of His Cause. Consider Harut and Marut, † who had been servants of God and near to Him, so holy that they became known as angels. By the All-encompassing Divine Will, they came from non-existence into being, and their names and works became renowned in the kingdom of the heavens and the earth. They were so close to God that the tongue of grandeur spoke of them. They reached such a station that they came to consider themselves the most pious, most exalted, and most selfdenying of all the people. Then a breeze blew from the land of tests and they returned to the nethermost flames. The details of the story of these two angels that are current among the people are for the most part false and distant from the shore of truth. With Us is the knowledge of everything in glorious and guarded Tablets. Nevertheless, no one among the peoples of that age protested against God that He--may His greatness be glorified--had bestowed upon those two angels the station of holiness and nearness that they had attained. Salman, say to the people of the Bayan: “You are trading salt water for the divine everlasting stream and the eternal heavenly fountain, and are stopping up your ears from hearing the melodies of the Nightingale of Immortality. Walk in the outstretched shade of the cloud of compassion and dwell in the shadow of the Lote-Tree of Grace!” Salman, the Absolute Truth has always judged the people according to outward appearances, and has commanded all the prophets and messengers to do the same. It is impermissible to do otherwise. For instance, consider a person who is at this moment a believer and a lover of the One God, such that the sun of Divine Unity is refulgent within him. He affirms and recognizes all the divine names and attributes and whatever the Pre-existent Beauty testifies to, he bears witness to that, for himself and by himself. In this station all descriptions are true and current in regard to him. Rather, no one is capable of describing him as he really is save God. All these * †

Mirza Yahya. Qur’an 2:102.

descriptions refer to the effulgence that shone upon him from the sovereign of manifestation. In this station, should any of the people oppose him, they would be opposing God himself. For in him nothing can be seen save the divine effulgences, as long as he remains in this station. Should a bad word be said about him, the speaker would be a liar. After he rises in opposition, however, that effulgence that had been the basis for describing him, and all the other related attributes, depart to their own habitation. Now that individual is not the same person, for those attributes do not subsist in him. If you look with sharp eyes you will notice that not even his clothes are the same. For a believer, while he is believing in and affirming God, might be wearing clothes of cotton, but in God’s eyes they are of heavenly silk. But when he rises in opposition, they are transformed into the flaming tar of Gehenna. At this point, should anyone praise such an individual, he would be a liar and would be mentioned by God as among the people of hellfire. Salman, the evidence for this statement is intrinsically present in everything. It is remarkable that nevertheless the people have remained unaware of it, and have stumbled at the appearance of such matters. Consider the lamp. As long as it is lit and its flame is radiant, were anyone to deny its light he would, naturally, be a liar. But after a gale has blown and snuffed out its light, if anyone were to say that it is shining, then he would be the liar--even though the niche and the candle, whether lit or not, are the same. Today Thou should consider all things to be mirrors (mirat). For all creation was brought into being by a single word, and is standing in one spot in the presence of God. If all would turn their attention to this glorious and eternal Sun, which has dawned forth from the holy and MostGlorious horizon of el-ABHA, the effulgence of the Sun would be inscribed and imprinted on their forms. In this case, all the characteristics and attributes of the Sun are also true of those mirrors, for nothing is apparent in those mirrors save the Sun and its light. To the insightful mystic it is self-evident that these characteristics of the mirrors are not intrinsic to them, but rather pertain to the effulgence from the dawning Daystar of Grace that has become manifest and radiant in these mirrors. As long as this effulgence persists, the characteristics persist. After that effulgence has been erased from the mirrors’ forms, those who continue to praise the mirrors are guilty of pure lies and falsehoods. For the names and attributes circle around an effulgence that dawned from the Sun, not around the mirrors in and of themselves. Salman, the honor, exaltation, greatness, and renown of all names depend on their relationship to God. For instance, consider the religious edifices that have become exalted among the various peoples. They are all circumambulating around these buildings to which they make pilgrimage from distant lands. It is clear that the Pre-existent Beauty--may His splendor be glorified--has related Himself to them, even though everyone knows that God has never and will never stand in need of a building, and His holy essence is related to all places equally. Rather, He has declared these houses of God and other such edifices to be the cause of the triumph and success of His servants, so that none of the people would be deprived of the wonders of His grace. Blessed are those who follow the command of God, implement His decree, and are among those who attain the goal. These buildings and those who circle round them are honored in the sight of God as long as this relationship is not severed. But after its link to God is abrogated, if anyone were to circumambulate such a structure, he would merely be circling his base self, and is considered by God as among the people of hell-fire.

In the same way, consider the buildings of human souls, which, when they rise in opposition, are declared to be false idols, and all who bow down before them are idol worshippers in the eyes of God. Then contemplate how these structures possess the same physical form when they are related to God and when that relationship is abrogated, and their outward appearance in both of these conditions is identical. No change whatsoever can be noticed in them after the advent of a new dispensation. But after the abrogation, the hidden and concealed relationship of the Spirit to those buildings is withdrawn. No one perceived it save the mystics. In the same way, consider all those who manifest names, who are Temples of the soul. Look upon the words of the All-Merciful with a pure heart and sanctified vision, and meditate, that perhaps Thou might attain to that which God desires. Salman, when we departed from Iraq, the tongue of God informed everyone that the pharaoh’s magician, Samiri, was about to appear, that the golden calf would low, and that the birds of night would surely take flight once the Sun had set. Soon these nocturnal fowl will arise to claim for themselves divinity. But we ask God to acquaint the people with their own selves, so that they might avoid trespassing beyond their bounds and their station, and might speak of God by means of this Most Great Mention and might aid God with all their limbs and members. Thus might they become standards streaming between the heavens and the earth. Dwell, O people, in the shadow of God, then persevere in Thy seats of honor by means of the mysterious peace of God * and His serene dignity. Hold firm to the cord of servitude. The creation is God’s. This is a station unequaled by what He created between the heavens and the earth. Thereby God’s command appears among His servants and His creatures. God will aid with true help the one who clings to it in these days. Whoever delays has shown arrogance toward God, and no one shows such arrogance save His sinful adversaries. God willing, all will dwell in tranquility in the shade of the Pre-existent Beauty and will gaze toward the regions of God. This is a mighty grace! You asked about the meaning of some lines of poetry. The Pen of command does not ordinarily engage in explaining the meaning of poetry, since today the oceans of meaning, in its being and origin, are manifest, and there is no need for the words of previous times. Rather, everyone who possesses knowledge, wisdom, and mystical insight, whether past or future, stands in need of these wondrous and billowing oceans. In view of your request, however, a brief mention will be made, and the Pre-existent Pen will write in accordance with the will of God. The verse (of Rumi) about which you asked is: “Because the colorless has fallen captive to color, Moses has gone to war with Moses.” Salman, mystics have made many statements with regard to these lines. Some have supposed that God is the sea and the creation is the waves. They assert that the difference among the waves derives from outward forms, and forms are originated in time. After shedding their forms, all return to the sea. That is, they are the reality of the sea. With regard to their forms, some have explained things differently, the very mention of which is impermissible in this station. In the same way, some have asserted that God is the ink and all things are as the letters, which are the *

The Most Great Peace.

reality of the ink, and which in turn becomes manifest in the diverse forms of the letters. These forms are in reality the one ink. They call the first the station of Oneness and the second the station of Multiplicity. They also refer to God as the One and to things as the numbers, or to God as water and to things as ice. As one mystic wrote: “The similitude of the creation is nothing but ice, and you are to it as the water from which it originates. But when the ice melts, its station is exalted-it is given the station of water! Thus does it occur.” Yes, they consider all things to be manifestations of the essential effulgence of God. They have divided effulgence itself into three types: having to do with the essence, having to do with attributes, and having to do with actions. They believe that things subsist in God manifestationally. If all these matters were set forth in their entirety, tedium would so overtake My listeners that they would be deprived of mystical insight into the essence of knowledge. Likewise, some have asserted that the subsisting essences are within the divine Essence. As one mystical philosopher put it: “The realities of things exist in God’s essence in a most noble manner, and then He emanates them forth.” For they hold that whoever bestows a thing cannot be said to lose it, a proposition they call impossible. Ibn Arabi has written a lengthy commentary on this subject. Mystical philosophers and their modern successors, such as Mulla Sadra Shirazi, Mulla Muhsin Fayd Kashani, and others, have walked the road that Ibn Arabi paved. But blessed are they who tread upon the crimson knoll on the shore of this ocean, which revives by one of its waves all forms and shades in a manner not imagined by the people. Blessed are they who strip themselves of all allusions and indications, and swim in this ocean and its depths, and arrive at the giant fish of meanings and the pearl of wisdom, which were created therein. Blessed are they who attain! Everyone who believed in the utterances of the mystics and became wayfarers on their path considered Moses and Pharaoh both to be manifestations of God. In the final analysis, they held that the former is a manifestation of the divine name, the Guide, the Great, and so forth, while the latter is a manifestation of the divine name, the Misleading, the Abaser, et cetera. Therefore, the command that these two come into conflict was implemented. They further believed that after shedding their human specificities, both are one for they hold that originally all things are one. A summary of this idea was presented above. But, Salman, the Pen of the All-Merciful says, “Today, those who affirm and those who deny these utterances are on the same level.” For the Sun of Reality is itself resplendent and is shining from the horizon of the heavens. All those who busy themselves with such sayings are, of course, deprived of mystical insight into the Beauty of the Compassionate. The prime time for investigating illusions is the time when no divine guidance is present. Today is the springtime of unveiling and attainment. Roam, O people, in the Garden of Unveiling and Disclosure, and forsake illusions. Thus are you commanded by the Pen of God, the Guardian, the Eternal. All branches of knowledge were set forth only for the sake of establishing that which is valid. Now, praise be to God that the sun of the object of knowledge has dawned above the horizon of the sky of eternity, and the moon of validity is shining in the heavens of command. Sanctify Thy heart from all allusions and gaze with your outward eyes toward the daystar of meanings in the holy 33

and spiritual firmament. Note well His effulgence of names and attributes in what is other than He, so that Thou might attain to all knowledge, and to its origin, mine, and wellspring. Salman, by the Pre-existent Beauty! At every moment in these days new branches of knowledge are descending from the heavens of mystical insight into the Lord of the worlds. Blessed are they who arrive at this spring, and sever themselves from all else. People of mystical ecstasy and yearning, be just. There are now among the people endless numbers of books treating the utterances of the mystics that were summarized above. If anyone desired to read them all, two lifetimes would be insufficient! Salman, say: “God is manifest above all things and that Day the dominion is God’s. Leave the people to what is with them.” Yes, leave the sciences of the past to the past. According to the mystics, Moses, who is among the greatest of prophets, during the first ten of thirty days annihilated his own deeds in the deeds of God. In the next ten days he annihilated his own attributes in those of God. In the final ten days he annihilated his own essence in the essence of God. They said that since a remnant of being remained in him, therefore God said to him, “You shall never see me.” Now the tongue of God is speaking. Say: “Show me!” once, and attain to the presence of the All-Glorious a hundred thousand times! Compare the grace inherent in these Days with that of the past. Salman, all that which the mystics have mentioned refers to the plane of creation. For however high exalted souls and purified hearts soar into the heaven of knowledge and mystical insight, they can never escape the plane of contingent being or go beyond what was created in their own souls by their own souls. All the mystical insights of every mystic, all the mentions made by everyone who praises God, all the depictions of everyone who describes him, refer to the effulgence of his Lord that was created in his soul. All, in short, who meditate upon this matter will agree that creation cannot exceed the bounds of its own contingent being. All likenesses and all mystical insight refer, from the beginning that has no beginning, to His creation, which was created from nothing by the contingent will, by itself and for itself. Exalted be God above anyone’s ability to know him by virtue of mystical insight, and above having the likeness of any soul refer to Him! Between Him and His creation there is no relationship, no link, no direction, no allusion, and no indication. He created contingent beings by means of a will that encompassed the worlds. The Absolute Truth remains in the heights of the sovereignty of exaltation, and His unity is sanctified above the knowledge of contingent beings. He shall ever be purified, in the sublimity of His own unattainable and sovereign nobility, from the perception of all beings. All who are in the heavens and on earth were created by a word from Him, and thereby emerged from unadulterated nothingness into the realm of being. How could a creature that was fashioned by a word ascend to the essence of Pre-existence? Salman, the path of all to the essence of Pre-existence is blocked, and the way of all shall forever be cut off. God only made manifest among the people the grace and loving-kindness of the Suns shining from the horizon of Oneness. He equated the knowledge of these holy souls with the knowledge of Himself. Whoever knows them knows God; whoever hears their words hears the words of God; and whoever affirms them affirms God. But whoever rises in opposition to them 34

has risen in opposition to God; whoever opposes them opposes God, and whoever denies them denies God. They are the path of God between the heavens and the earth, the balance of God in the kingdoms of command and creation. They are the manifestations and the proofs of God among his servants and His guides among his creation. Sever Thyself from all that which is renowned among the people, and soar with the wings of detachment into the Most Glorious and sacred heavens of el-ABHA. By God, if you fly into it, and reach the pole of meaning therein, Thou shall never see in existence anything but the countenance of the Divine Beloved, and shall never see the opposers save as a day whereon none of them is mentioned. The mention of this station requires another tongue, and another ear is necessary in order to hear it. It is best that we now leave the secrets of the soul and the wonders of the mention of souls that are deposited in the heavens of the will of the All-Merciful, and turn to the meaning of the poetry. Know that Rumi’s intent in the Mathnavi in mentioning Moses and Pharaoh was to invoke a similitude. It was not that these two were one in essence. We take refuge in God from that! For Pharaoh and his like were created by a word from Moses, if ye did but know. The very outward dispute between them is proof that they were opposed to one another in all the worlds. This is a secret utterance that none but the mystic with insight knows. Rumi has cast all persons in the realm of names as Moses, for all have been created from dust, and shall return to dust. Likewise, all are named by means of letters. In the world of Spirits, which is a monochrome world, there was never any conflict or struggle, nor is there now. For the underlying causes of conflict are not visible. But after the Spirits entered into bodies and they appeared in this world, the causes for contention came to exist, whether for good or evil. If this dispute and wrangling occurs in order to vindicate the Cause of the All-Glorious, it is good. Otherwise, it is evil. This contention, conflict, love, hypocrisy, acceptance, and opposition all derive from causes. For instance, note that cause becomes apparent by reason of a causal agent. The cause is one. But in each soul it is transformed by the nature of that soul, and its effects appear. But in each station they appear under a different aspect. For instance, consider the divine name: “the Self-Sufficient.” In its own kingdom, this name is unified. But after its effulgence in the mirrors of human existence, the effects of that effulgence appear in each soul according to that soul’s exigencies. For instance, in the generous it appears as generosity, whereas in the miserly it takes the form of avarice. In the ill-omened it becomes abasement, and in the blessed it appears as good fortune. For in the condition of poverty, souls and what is in them are concealed. For example, the generosity and avarice of someone who does not possess a single penny is hidden (jinn). Likewise, in such a condition his good or bad fortune would as yet be impossible to discern. After becoming self-sufficient, every soul shows forth what is within it. For instance, one might expend what he possesses in the path of God. Another might organize war materiel and arise to engage in battle with the truth. One might safeguard others to the point where he denies his wealth to himself and his family. Consider how from one effulgence so many different and contradictory things appear. But before that effulgence all these souls were subdued, concealed, and languid. With one ray from the sun of the name: “the SelfSufficient” see how He has resurrected these souls and made visible and manifest what was

hidden within them! If Thou contemplate this utterance with the eye of insight, Thou will become aware of hidden mysteries. Consider the pharaoh of this age, who, if it were not for his outward wealth and power, would never have arisen to wage war against the Beauty of Divine Unity. For had he lacked the means, he would have been powerless to do so, and his unbelief would have remained concealed within him. Therefore, happy are the souls who have not become prisoners of the multi-colored world and what was created therein, but rather attained to the hue of God, that is, who have taken on the color of the Absolute Truth in this wondrous dispensation. This estate is sanctification above all the diverse colors of the world. Only those who are detached have knowledge of this color, insofar as today the people of Baha, who are passengers on the Ark of Eternity and who ply the ocean of glory, recognize one another. Aside from these companions, no one else is aware, and even if others should come to know that color, it would only be to the same extent that the blind can perceive the sun. Salman, tell the servants to come to the shore of the sea of Pre-existence, so that they might become sanctified above all colors and arrive at the most pure and holy seat and the Most Great Panorama. The various colors of this world have deprived the servants of the holy and Most Glorious shore of el-ABHA. Consider the individual * who rose up to battle against Me. I swear by the sun of the horizon of meanings that night and day he was in my orbit, and in the evenings when I was in bed, he was standing at its head. I recited to him the verses of God and he was standing in My presence at all hours of the day. When the Cause was raised aloft and he saw that his name became visible, then the color of that name and love of leadership so overtook him that he was deprived of the sacred shore of unity. By the One in Whose Hand is My Soul! The creation had never before seen the like of this soul in his love of leadership and high station. By the One who caused all things to speak forth in praise of God! If all the people of creation determine to reckon his envy and hatred, they would, every one, discover themselves incapable of doing so. We beseech God to purify his breast and return him to himself and to aid him in affirming God, the Powerful, the Exalted, the Mighty. Salman, consider the Cause of God. One word is made to appear from the tongue of the manifestation of Divine Unity, and this word was intrinsically one, coming from a single wellspring. But after the sun of the word dawns from the horizon of God’s mouth upon His servants, it manifests itself in each soul according to its condition. For instance, in one person it becomes opposition, in another acceptance. In the same way, in others it becomes love or hatred, and so forth. Afterwards, this lover and this hater arise to struggle and do battle with one another. Color has tinged both of them, for before the appearance of the word, they were friends to one another and united. After the dawn of the sun of the word, the term “adherent” was embellished with the color of God, while “opponent” was tinted with self and passion. The radiance of this same divine word in the soul of an adherent was manifested with the color of acceptance, while in the soul of the opponent it appeared in the hues of opposition--even though the original ray was sanctified above colors. Consider the sun, which with one burst of light sheds its effulgence in mirrors and glasses. But in every pane of glass it appears with the color of that glass, as is apparent and as all have witnessed. *

Mirza Yahya.

Yes, the reason for the battle of the opponent and the adherent is color. But between these two colors lies an inestimable difference. One is tinged with God, and the other with base passion. The believer who advances and struggles is tinted with the All-Merciful, while the hypocritical opponent is tinted with Satan. The former color causes and brings about the purification of souls from the hue of anything but God. The latter causes souls to be sullied with the manifold colors of self and passion. The former bestows the grace of eternal life, and the latter unending death. The former guides those who are detached to the heavenly spring of immortality, while the latter causes the veiled ones to taste the fruit of the infernal tree. From the former the scent of the Compassionate wafts, and from the latter the odor of the prince of darkness. Rumi’s intent in these words was not that Moses and Pharaoh were on the same level. We take refuge in God from that! But some of the ignorant have thus understood him. Moses’ actions with regard to his own religion bear true witness, for he struggled on behalf of God, with the goal of delivering Pharaoh from the colors of annihilation and of allowing him to attain the hues of God, and so that he himself might taste the sweet waters of martyrdom in the path of the Friend. Pharaoh struggled, on the contrary, in order to preserve himself and his power. Moses’ goal was to light the lamp of God among the people, and Pharaoh’s goal was to put it out. Is one who sacrifices his life in the way of God like one who keeps himself safe behind seventy thousand veils? What is their difficulty, that they do not understand at all an utterance of God, the Knowing, the Wise? Rather, Rumi’s intent was that the cause of the war between Moses and Pharaoh was color. But Moses’ color was a hue for the sake of which the people of the Concourse on High sacrificed themselves. Pharaoh’s color was one that even the people of the lowest rung of hell avoid. Rumi himself, in many places, mentioned Pharaoh. If you examine these verses closely, you will perceive that his intent was not that which some have attributed to him. What yearning he exhibited, that he might associate intimately with the divine friends and attain the honor of serving the companions of God. This is what he wrote in one place: “If he is without God’s grace and his chosen ones, his page is black (siyah hastash varaq) though he be an angel.” Yes, Salman, tell the beloved of God to look at anyone’s words not with the eyes of opposition, but rather with the eyes of compassion and mercy--except for the words of those persons who, today, have written fiery treatises in refutation of God. It is absolutely incumbent upon all persons to write whatever they can in rebuttal of those who have sought to refute God. Thus has it been decreed by the Mighty, the All-Powerful. For today, all must aid God by words and utterances, not with the sword and its like. This is what We have revealed before, as well as at this time, if ye but knew. By the One Who is now saying in all things that there is no God but Him! Should anyone pen a single word in rebuttal of a polemic against God, a station would be bestowed upon him such as would be the envy of the Concourse on High. All the pens in creation are powerless to describe this station, and the tongues of all beings are inadequate to depict it. For any individual who today perseveres in this 37

Most Holy, exalted and sublime Cause is equal to all who are in the heavens and the earth. God knows and bears witness to this. Beloved of God, do not recline on the carpets of ease. When you recognize your Creator and hear what has befallen Him, arise to aid Him. Speak, and do not remain silent for an instant. In truth, this is better for Thee than the treasures of all that was and shall be, if ye only knew. This is the counsel of the Pen of the Most High to the servants of God. Salman, know that no one among God’s servants who had any wisdom at all has asserted that adherents and opponents, and lovers of the One God and idolaters, are all on the same level. The real intent of that which Thou hast heard, or seen in some books of the ancients, lies in the holy court of God. As for the assertion that names are one in the kingdom of names, you must not think that the metaphysical realms of the kingdom (malakut), dominion (jabarut), and divinity (lahut) are today circling the throne. The dimensions of divinity, dominion and the kingdom, as well as realms above these, exist and subsist by virtue of the emanation from the planes and worlds that are visible in this station. It is impermissible to give the details of these stations, which are suspended in the heavens of the Divine Will until such time as God reveals them by His grace. He is, in truth, powerful over all things! Yes, in the court of the Absolute Truth, all names are one. But this is before the appearance of the differentiating word. For instance, note that today all manifestations of the names in their own kingdom are present before God. The same is true of the dawning-points of attributes and of all existing things. That the Temple of Pre-existence seated himself upon the throne of justice required that His grace be bestowed equally upon all. But afterwards, the distinguishing and discriminating word came into existence and became visible to the servants. Thus, all persons who answered “Yes,” attained to all good. I swear by the sorrow of the divine Beauty that a station has been foreordained for the believer, such that were it revealed to the people of the earth to less than the extent of the eye of a needle, all would die yearning for it. In this physical life the stations of believers are hidden from the believers themselves. Any persons who were not confirmed in replying, “Yes,” are not mentioned in God’s presence. We take refuge in God from the unremitting torment predestined for such a one. Salman, deliver the words of the All-Merciful to the servants and say: “Safeguard yourselves from the wolves of the earth. Do not listen to the deceitful discourse in which some engage. Purify your ears so that you might listen to My words. Refine Thy heart from all that has been created in preparation for its mystical knowledge of my beauty.” Say: “How many a morning has the effulgence of the Beauty of the chosen One passed over your hearts, and found you busy with another, and returned to its fixed abode!” Say: “Walk, O servants, in the footsteps of God. Meditate on the deeds of the manifestation of Pre-existence, and contemplate His words. For thereby perhaps ye will attain to the heavenly and inexhaustible divine spring of the AllGlorious.” If believers and unbelievers had the same station, and the worlds of God were limited to this world, the manifestation who preceded Me would never have given himself into the hands of his enemies, nor would he have sacrificed his life. I swear by the dawning Sun of Command that if the people were aware to the slightest degree of the longing and pining of the chosen Beauty at the time when they suspended that divine body in the air, all would out of yearning give their lives for the sake of this great and divine Revelation. “They gave sugar to the parrot and dung to 38

the beetle. The crow is bereft of the nightingale’s song, and the bat flees from the rays of the sun.” Salman, My tribulations among the nations and states is powerful evidence and unassailable proof. For a period of twenty years We have not so much as taken a drink of water in peace, or rested all night. Sometimes We were bound with chains and fetters, and at others We were arrested and made prisoner. If Our gaze had been fixed upon this world and what is on it, We would never have fallen victim to these afflictions. Blessed is the soul who is nourished by the fruit of this station, and tastes of its sweetness! Beseech God for eyes to see, and ask for sound taste, for to one deprived of sight the forms of Joseph and the wolf seem identical, and to the taste buds of one ill, the bitter gourd and sugar taste the same. I maintain the hope, however, that from the holy breezes of these Days souls will become manifest who would not pay a penny for this world and all that it contains. Shorn of all else but Him, they will gaze toward the precincts of God and consider sacrificing their lives in the path of the All-Merciful to be the easiest of things. They will not stumble on the way because of the opposition of opponents, and will choose to seat themselves under the shade of the Friend. Blessed be the former and happy are the latter. How glorious are the former and how noble are the latter. By God, the houris in the Most Exalted Chambers find no rest because of their pining to meet these souls. The Concourse of Immortals cannot sleep because of their yearning. Thus has God singled those out for Himself and rendered them detached from all the worlds. Salman, the sorrows befalling the Pen of the All-Merciful have prevented it from mentioning the stations of Oneness. This injury to the Seat of Glory has reached the point that if all existence came to the table of His bounties and partook of its fare until the end that has no end, no one could say a word. They have made charges of miserliness against Me, writing to the ends of the earth, saying “Our stipend has been cut off.” Consider their vileness and abasement, and how they have written and dispatched such calumnies everywhere in order to attract to themselves earthly vanities from the people and in order to slander the Ancient Beauty. Since Thou were here, you saw that this Servant never even saw the monthly stipend provided by the state with His own eyes. Whatever money does exist is divided up outside and distributed to each individual. Even though it surely undermines the Cause of God, they have established this practice of taking the money, as Thou hast heard. By the Beauty of the Pre-existent, the first tribulation that befell this Youth was that He took a monthly stipend from the Ottoman state. Had these companions not been My fellow-travelers, I would, of course, never have accepted it. Thou are well informed as to how difficult matters were for the exiles. Even so, all showed forth nobility and patiently acquiesced in the Divine Decree. Nothing can befall Us save what God decrees for us. We have put Our trust in Him in every affair. This group that has complained to all regions about the stipends, and who have fallen to begging, claim divinity and have risen in opposition to the Eternal Truth. Again, contemplate those persons who followed this group here. Woe unto them and to all those who support them, for they shall be seized by the angels of wrath at the behest of the All-Glorious, the Mighty, the Eternal. They shall not find for themselves any ally or helper. Thus has it been revealed in truth from the kingdom of God, the Help in Peril, the Mighty, the Beloved. Glory be upon Thee, Salman! And upon those who have not sold the words of God for the vain imaginings of a reprobate. 39

WHEN REASON WILL BECOME MANIFEST AMONG HUMANKIND (Lawh-i Salman II) --Baha’u’llah-O SALMAN! In every affair, strive to be like God, and be content with the Divine Decree. Consider how, according to outward appearances, this Youth has been sorely tried from every direction, and all physical doors have been closed upon Him. At every moment demons strive to darken the lamp of God and to extinguish its flame, which burns with such brightness and radiance that it illuminates the heavens and the earth. Yet the people behave as though no harm has befallen Him. Make no plaint concerning this world’s exaltation or abasement, glory or vileness. Under all conditions, set thy gaze upon Us. For all that is visible shall be lost. That thou seest some of the people delighting in the glory of this world and proud of their high station merely demonstrates the heedlessness of those souls. Every person of vision and insight bears witness that this saying is the truth, and this utterance has dawned forth from the word of illumination. For all know that these things are unworthy of consideration and are unstable, and that when the Angel of Death arrives they shall undergo an alteration. Therefore, it is established that those persons who set their hearts on these things are heedless, and it is negligence that leads them to busy themselves with such matters. In one Tablet it has been revealed that among the signs of the maturity of the world is that no one will agree to bear the burdens of autocratic rule. Sovereignty will remain with no one volunteering to bear it alone. Those will be the days when Reason will become manifest among humankind. Only in order to proclaim the Cause of God and to promulgate His religion will any soul shoulder this crushing burden. Pure is the one who places himself in this extreme peril and accepts this hardship and tribulation for the love of God and His Cause, for the sake of His Countenance, and in order to make manifest His faith. For this reason has it been revealed in the Tablets that it is incumbent to pray for and love such a sovereign. O SALMAN! The world is fleeting, and soon all those ye see upon the earth shall return to the dust. We beseech God to bestow His confirmations upon His friends, that they may perceive the fragrance of the spiritual rose garden. Any soul who has attained to it has never gazed and shall never gaze at anything but God, and shall be content, patient and thankful for His Decrees. Be thou not sad that you were unable to attain My presence. God has bestowed upon thee the reward of one who visited Him. God willing, thou shalt exert thyself so that the deeds of God will appear from thee, and you will blaze-forth with a fire that will warm all others. Advance toward God with a pure heart and soul, a truthful tongue, and sanctified vision. Then call upon Him under all conditions. He is, in truth, the helper of all who advance toward Him, and He is, in truth, the Forgiving, the Compassionate. We have heard the wailing of the prisoners among My people and My friends. Praise be to God, insofar as He has rendered Me and My people and My friends prisoners for His sake. Even though the sun pass away, the mention of these things shall not pass away. God shall make manifest whatever He wills. He is, in truth, the Mighty, the AllPowerful. For reasons of wisdom, no Tablet has been revealed for any of the prisoners except for the Name of God, Mim. Convey My greetings, nevertheless, to all of them. The affairs of all are evident. One Tablet for ‘Abdu’l-Vahhab was revealed and should be delivered. Although it has been 40

revealed in the language of the people and according to their exoteric grammar, it nevertheless is sufficient unto all who are on earth, if they perceive it. In the Tablets to various quarters, no specific names have been mentioned, but they are known to God. Every one of the Tablets has been revealed for some exigency. Blessed is he who knows, and is grateful. A box of candy has been prepared for those in Mosul and should be delivered. We ask Thee, O God, by those whom Thou hast made abased prisoners, from Baghdad to Mosul; and with regard to the woman who was among them and was in the Presence of the Manifestation of Thy Cause--We beseech Thee that she should make Thy loved ones firm in Thy Love. Then cause them to be upright in spreading Thy Cause. O God, Thou seest and know what has befallen them in Thy Love and good-pleasure, such that the eyes of Thy pure ones and the people of the pavilions of Thy glory have wept for them. I ask Thee not to deprive them of Thy loving-kindness and grace. Cause them to dwell in the vicinity of Thy compassion in this world and the next. In truth, Thou art powerful over all things.

COMMENTARY ON THE SAYING: “WHOSO KNOWETH HIS OWN SELF HATH KNOWN HIS LORD” (Bayan-i Hadith-i Sharif “Man Arafa Nafsahu Faqad Arafa Rabbahu”) --Baha’u’llah-HE IS GOD, THE AUGUST, THE BEAUTIFUL! How wondrous is the unity of the Living, the Ever-Abiding God! A unity which is exalted above all limitations, that transcendeth the comprehension of all created things! He hath, from everlasting, dwelt in His inaccessible habitation of holiness and glory, and will unto everlasting continue to be enthroned upon the heights of His independent sovereignty and grandeur. How lofty hath been His incorruptible Essence, how completely independent of the knowledge of all created things, and how immensely exalted will it remain above the praise of all the inhabitants of the heavens and the earth! From the exalted source, and out of the essence of His favor and bounty He hath entrusted every created thing with a sign of His knowledge, so that none of His creatures may be deprived of its share in expressing, each according to its capacity and rank, this knowledge. This sign is the mirror of His beauty in the world of creation (alam-i-khalq). The greater the effort exerted for the refinement of this sublime and noble mirror, the more faithfully will it be made to reflect the glory of the names and attributes of God, and reveal the wonders of His signs and knowledge. Every created thing will be enabled (so great is this reflecting power) to reveal the potentialities of its Pre-ordained station, will recognize its capacity and limitations, and will testify to the truth that “He, verily, is God; there is none other God besides Him!” And that ‘Ali-Muhammad is the Manifestation of all the Names, and is the Dawning-Point of all the Attributes, and that all were created by His will and all act according to His command. There can be no doubt whatever that, in consequence of the efforts which every man may consciously exert and as a result of the exertion of his own spiritual faculties, this mirror can be so cleansed from the dross of earthly defilement and purged from satanic fancies as to be able to draw nigh unto the meads of eternal holiness and attain the courts of everlasting fellowship. In pursuance, however, of the principle that for everything a time hath been fixed, and for every fruit a season hath been ordained, the latent energies of such a bounty can best be released, and the vernal glory of such a gift can only be manifested, in the Days of God. Invested though each day may be with its pre-ordained share of God’s wondrous grace, the Days immediately associated with the Manifestation of God possess a unique distinction and occupy a station which no mind can ever comprehend. Such is the virtue infused into them that if the hearts of all that dwell in the heavens and the earth were, in those days of everlasting delight, to be brought face to face with that Day Star of unfading glory and attuned to His Will, each would find itself exalted above all earthly things, radiant with His light, and sanctified through His grace. All hail to this grace which no blessing, however great, can excel, and all honor to such a lovingkindness the like of which the eye of creation hath not seen! Exalted is He above that which they attribute unto Him or recount about Him! It is for this reason that, in those days, no man shall ever stand in need of his neighbor. It hath already been abundantly demonstrated that in that divinely-appointed Day the majority of them 42

that have sought and attained His holy court have revealed such knowledge and wisdom, a drop of which none else besides these holy and sanctified souls, however long he may have taught or studied, hath grasped or will ever comprehend. It is by virtue of this power that the beloved of God have, in the days of the Manifestation of the Day Star of Truth, been exalted above, and made independent of, all human learning. Nay, from their hearts and the springs of their innate powers hath gushed out unceasingly the inmost essence of human learning and wisdom. O Hadi! God willing, Thou hast been guided to the lights of the dawn of eternity and the manifestation of the everlasting morn. For in such wise doth the heart become sanctified from the ephemeral, wicked selves, and thus wilt Thou witness that all branches of knowledge and their secrets are inscribed upon it. For He possesseth the comprehensive Book and the complete Word, and the mirrors that reflect the verse, “Everything we have numbered in a clear register,” did ye but know. * Thou hast inquired about detachment. It is well known to Thee that by detachment is intended the detachment of the soul from all else but God. That is, it consisteth in soaring up to an eternal station, wherein nothing that can be seen between heaven and earth deterreth the seeker from the Ultimately Real. In other words, he is not veiled from divine love or from busying himself with the mention of God by the love of any other thing or by his immersion therein. For it can clearly be seen that today most of the people have seized upon fleeting baubles and clung to defective goods, and have remained deprived of perpetual bounty and of the fruits of the blessed Tree. Although a wayfarer upon the path of the Ultimately Real might reach a particular station, without detachment he would not be able to perceive that station or any other plane. This topic, however, shall never be mentioned by any translator, nor shall any pen set it down or any author discourse upon it. This is from the grace of God; He bestoweth it upon whoso He willeth. By detachment is not meant giving away and depleting all one’s wealth. Rather, it denotes turning unto God and supplicating Him. This plane can be attained in every precinct and is manifest and visible from everything. He is detachment, and is the alpha and the omega thereof. Therefore, We beseech God to make Us detached from anyone save Him and to grace Us with the attainment of His presence. Verily, there is no God but He. Command and creation (amr va khalq) belong to Him. He maketh beloved whatever He wisheth to whomsoever He desireth, and verily He is Powerful over All-things! Another question regarded the Return. This matter hath been treated in detail and at length in all the Tablets, in diverse statements and innumerable aphorisms. God willing, Thou shalt refer to them, that Thou mightest attain an understanding thereof. † The genesis of all things is from God and all things shall return unto Him. There is no escape for anyone. All return to the Ultimately Real, but some to His mercy and good pleasure, and others to His wrath and fire. In Persian and Arabic Tablets this matter hath been commented upon in its entirety. Refer to them if ye desire to know. Likewise, the Primal Point, may his grandeur be glorified, wrote in detail concerning this subject in the Persian Bayan. Consult it, for a single letter thereof sufficeth all the people of the earth. Verily, God hath made mention of all things in a perspicuous Book. Consider Thine own

* †

Qur'an 36:11; 78:29. See Suriy-i-Vafa for more.

origin, which was from God, and which shall return unto Him. As ye began, so shall ye return, and shall return to Him. Thou hast asked about the saying, “Whoso knoweth his own self hath known his Lord.” It is well known to thee that this statement hath, in every one of the infinite worlds, wondrous meanings according to the exigencies of that world, of which no one else hath or ever will have any knowledge. Were all of this to be discussed as it deserveth, all the pens of the universe and oceans of ink would not suffice. However, a droplet from this most great, endless ocean shall be mentioned, that perhaps seekers might be enabled to reach their destination and wayfarers might attain the original goal. God guideth whoso He desireth to the path of the Mighty, the Powerful, the Omnipotent! Consider the rational faculty with which God hath endowed the essence of man. Examine Thine own self, and behold how Thy motion and stillness, Thy will and purpose, Thy sight and hearing, Thy sense of smell and power of speech, and whatever else is related to, or transcendeth, Thy physical senses or spiritual perceptions, all proceed from, and owe their existence to, this same faculty. So closely are they related unto it, that if in less than the twinkling of an eye its relationship to the human body be severed, each and every one of these senses will cease immediately to exercise its function, and will be deprived of the power to manifest the evidences of its activity. It is indubitably clear and evident that each of these afore-mentioned instruments has depended, and will ever continue to depend, for its proper functioning on this rational faculty, which should be regarded as a sign of the revelation of Him Who is the sovereign Lord of all. Through its manifestation, all these names and attributes have been revealed, and by the suspension of its action they are all destroyed and perish. It would be wholly untrue to maintain that this faculty is the same as the power of vision, inasmuch as the power of vision is derived from it and acteth in dependence upon it. It would, likewise, be idle to contend that this faculty can be identified with the sense of hearing, as the sense of hearing receiveth from the rational faculty the requisite energy for performing its functions. This same relationship bindeth this faculty with whatsoever hath been the recipient of these names and attributes within the human Temple. These diverse names and revealed attributes have been generated through the agency of this sign of God. Immeasurably exalted is this sign, in its essence and reality, above all such names and attributes. Nay, all else besides it will, when compared with its glory, fade into utter nothingness and become a thing forgotten. Wert Thou to ponder in Thy heart, from now until the end that hath no end, and with all the concentrated intelligence and understanding which the greatest minds have attained in the past or will attain in the future, this divinely ordained and subtle Reality, this sign of the revelation of the All-Abiding, All-Glorious God, Thou wilt fail to comprehend its mystery or to appraise its virtue. Having recognized Thy powerlessness to attain to an adequate understanding of that Reality which abideth within Thee, Thou wilt readily admit the futility of such efforts as may be attempted by Thee, or by any of the created things, to fathom the mystery of the Living God, the Day Star of unfading glory, the Ancient of everlasting days. This confession of helplessness

which mature contemplation must eventually impel every mind to make is in itself the acme of human understanding (irfan) and marketh the culmination of a person’s development. If Thou wert to ascend the stages of reliance upon God and detachment by means of the ladders of glory and inaccessibility, and if Thou wert to open Thy spiritual eye, Thou wouldst see this utterance as an abstract truth, free of the limitations of self. And thou wouldst hear the words, “Whoso hath known anything hath known his Lord” in the ear of Thy consciousness through the angelic call of the divine Dove of Holiness. For in all things is present and visible the sign of the effulgence of the self-subsistent Glory and the rays of the manifestation of the unique Sun. This sign is not and never shall be confined to any one soul. This is the truth, and no doubt lies therein, if you be among those who know. But the primary intent of knowing the self in this station is the knowledge of the Self of God in every day and age. For the Pre-existent Essence and the Ocean of Reality is exalted above the knowledge of all else but Him. Therefore, the insight attained by all the mystics actually hath reference to their insight into the Manifestations of His Cause. They are the Self of God among His servants, His Manifestation in His Creation, His Sign among His creatures. Whoso knoweth them hath known God, whoso hath affirmed them hath affirmed God, whoso hath acknowledged Their truth hath acknowledged the signs of God, the Help in Peril, the Everlasting. Thus do We reveal for ye the signs, that Thou may be guided by the Signs of God. O Hadi! Follow the guidance of God, Thy Lord and the Lord of all things. Then gird up Thy loins to aid the Cause of God. Do not follow those who took pharaoh’s magician, Samiri, as their friend instead of God, who ridicule the verses of God and are of the transgressors. And when the verses of Thy Lord are recited to them, they say: “These are veils.” Say: “By virtue of what word have ye believed in God, your Lord? Produce it, if ye speak the truth.” Now, matters have reached such a pass that, by Him Who holds My Soul in His hands, all who are in the heavens and on earth weep and wail with the eye of mystery at how this Servant is oppressed. We have relied upon God, Our Lord and the Lord of All-things. I shall ever view all who are in the world as nothing but a handful of dust, save for those who have entered into the depths of the love and knowledge of God. Thus do we remind Thee, that Thou mightest be among they who know. As for thy question concerning the Saying, “The believer is alive in both worlds.” Yes, that is a truth, like the existence of the Sun, which shone forth in this Atmosphere, which hath appeared in this Sky, which subsisteth in this Cloud of the Unseen, if Thou art among those who know. Indeed, wert Thou to be steadfast in Thy love for Thy Lord and to attain that station wherein Thou shalt never stumble, there would appear from Thee that whereby both worlds would be revivified. This is Revelation from the Mighty, the All-Knowing! Then thank God for having given thee to drink from this spring, which giveth new life to the Spirits of the Near Ones; for having lifted Thee up in truth; and for having revealed to Thee those Words whereby the proof of God to all the worlds was perfected. By God, if a drop thereof were bestowed on the people of the heavens and the earth, Thou wouldst find them all subsisting in the eternity of Thy Lord, the Mighty, the Powerful!

It is clear and evident that when the veils that conceal the realities of the manifestations of the Names and Attributes of God, nay of all created things visible or invisible, have been rent asunder, nothing except the Sign of God will remain--a sign which He, Himself hath placed within these realities. This sign will endure as long as is the wish of the Lord Thy God, the Lord of the heavens and of the earth. If such be the blessings conferred upon all created things, how superior must be the destiny of the true believer, whose existence and life are to be regarded as the originating purpose of all creation. Just as the conception of faith hath existed from the beginning that hath no beginning, and will endure till the end that hath no end, in like manner will the true believer eternally live and endure. His Spirit will everlastingly circle round the Will of God. He will last as long as God, Himself, will last. He is revealed through the Revelation of God, and is hidden at His bidding. It is evident that the loftiest mansions in the Realm of Immortality have been ordained as the habitation of them that have truly believed in God and in His signs. Death can never invade that holy seat. Thus have We entrusted Thee with the signs of Thy Lord, that Thou mayest persevere in Thy love for Him, and be of them that comprehend this truth. Since all these matters have been mentioned extensively and in detail in most of the Tablets, We have adverted to them here only with the utmost brevity. We hope that, God willing, Thou shalt attain the farthest horizon of holiness, shalt arrive at the reality of those journeys that are the station of subsistence in God, and shalt have influence, shine and glow like a Sun in the world of dominion and sovereignty. Despair not of the clemency of God, for none despaireth of His generosity save those in loss.

UNVEILING A VERSE FROM SA’DI (Tafsir-i Bayti az Sa’di) --Baha’u’llah-“The Friend is closer to me than I am to myself But even more amazing is that I am so distant from Him.” --Sa’di THE INTENT OF THE POET in these verses, is to expound upon the blessed verse of the Qur’an (50:15), “We are nearer to him than the jugular vein.” And, in fact, he has rendered it well into Persian. At this time, Sa’di is drinking the wine of the grace of the Lord of the Worlds, for he is being mentioned by the tongue of the Pre-Existent. For he has spoken the truth, that “I am nearer to human beings than their jugular vein is to them.” For this reason he says that “though the effulgence of the Beloved is so close, even with the assurance of this station and the affirmation of this plane, I remain far from Him.” That is, the heart that is the seat of the All-Merciful and the throne of the effulgence of the Lord is neglectful of His mention, busying itself with the mention of someone else. It is veiled and has turned its attention toward this world. The Ultimately Real is devoid of nearness and distance, and is sanctified above these stations, having the same relationship to all. This closeness and farness is an aspect of His Manifestations. It is self-evident that the heart is the throne of the epiphany of the All-Merciful, just as We have made clear in such former revealed verses as: “The heavens and the earth cannot contain Me, but the heart of My believing servant can contain Me.” But this heart, which is the locus of the manifestation of the Lord and the seat of the effulgence of the Compassionate often is neglectful of the Revealer. When it is heedless of the Ultimately Real, it is far away, and deserves to be called “distant.” When it is making mention of the Ultimately Real, it is close by, and is then called “near.” Also note that often human beings are forgetful of themselves, but God continues to encompass them with His knowledge, and the dawning rays of the effulgence of the shining Sun are visible and apparent. For this reason, God is, of course, closer, and always shall be. For He is Knowing, Seeing, and All-Encompassing, whereas human beings are heedless and veiled from the mysteries of what was created within them. Every insightful person sees with the eye of certainty that proximity and distance are mentioned with respect to external appearances, whereas that Sovereign of PreExistence was, and always shall be, beyond nearness, farness, mention, names, and attributes. Yes, proximity to the Ultimately Real in this station is turning one’s attention to Him, while remoteness is forgetfulness of Him. For instance, every soul that has quaffed the Most Pure, the Most Glorious Wine has ascended to the zenith of nearness and union. Without that, they would be on the lowest rung of remoteness and separation, even though they might at every moment utter the mention of the All-Merciful and act according to His commands. For today, the diverse communities that exist upon the earth, since they are deprived of the Wine of Divine Unity, are all wandering in the desert of remoteness.

Closeness and distance can be witnessed in the appearance of the divine Manifestations. All souls that turn their faces toward the shrine of certainty are reckoned among the people of nearness, while all who turn away are remote. Proximity to God is devoid of remoteness, if the people do not remain distant. The root of the Tree of Nearness is planted in the earth of this utterance that descended from the heavens of the All-Merciful, and its branch encircled the worlds. When the sun of the Name, “the Near,” dawned forth from the Orient of reunion, it encompassed all the horizons. Spiritual closeness is prior to and more near than physical proximity. For it can be seen that often persons who were with God morning and night appeared to be thus honored, but God refused to recognize their nearness, because they lacked spiritual closeness. God is Knowing and is the Concealer, and if a soul dwells in the remotest lands, yet gazes toward God, then he is accounted among the near ones. Blessed and excellent is the soul that has both bestowed upon it. By Him Who abased Me so as to glorify the worlds! And Who cast Me into prison to liberate the people of the earth! Were a soul to come with sincerity before the compassionate Countenance, it would be equivalent to all the good deeds performed by the ancients and the moderns. No, I beseech God for forgiveness, for this station cannot be limited by words and speech. No one is aware of the grace of this station save God, may His greatness be glorified. Should a soul arrive in the precincts of the throne of manifestation, he will be the recipient in all the infinite worlds of the grace and recompense of this action. What then would those receive, who attain to His presence? The intent of that which was revealed from the heaven of loving-kindness and was mentioned in the scriptures was meeting with God. Blessed is the one who attains it, and arrives in that region, from the horizon of which shone forth the sun of the Beauty of his Lord’s mercy, the Exalted, the Mighty, and touched its earth and inhaled its air. Verily, he has attained to the ultimate good, beyond any other grace or providence. By God, the inhabitants of paradise will visit him and perceive from him the fragrance of God, the Almighty, the Guardian, the August, the All-Powerful!

THE CLEANSING OF THE TEMPLE “

The Passover (Naw Ruz) of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the Temple * he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers at their business. And making a whip of cords, he drove them all, with the sheep and oxen, out of the temple; and he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; you shall not make my Father’s house a house of trade” (“And said unto them, It is written, “My House shall be called the House of Prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves” Matt. 21:13, Jer. 7:11 KJV). His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for Thy House will consume me.” (John 3:13-17 RSV) An extract taken from Shaykh Ahmad bin Zayn’al-Din al-Ahsa’i’s response to a questioner who asked him how he could develop purity of intention, mindfulness, right conduct in obedience and worship, and progress of the soul in the perfections of holiness. The Shaykh replied: A person’s intentions only become pure when the signs of God’s grace become manifest on his feelings and senses and, as a result, the keen desire to achieve that which is in God’s possession and the good things promised by Him--the Truthful One--draws him (to service in His lovingkindness). This also happens when the signs of God’s justice become apparent on a person’s senses: such that the fear of standing in God’s Presence and the fear of His clear warnings turn the person away (from error). † When man achieves this goal--he turns away from everything else besides God--turning towards Him alone. This is when a person’s intentions become pure, their heart becomes present in the Presence of God and their actions become accepted. They then become occupied by acts of obedience and service, their soul advances in the divine perfections, they become adorned by the character of the spiritual ones and their spirit becomes attached to the higher realm of holiness. However, as man is preoccupied with the vices of nature and his containers ‡ are veiled, this high goal is difficult for him to achieve. The reason for his preoccupation (with the vices of *

The “Temple” here is also symbolic of the human temple, the physical body, which is meant to be a House of Prayer (worship and workshop) for the growth and development of the soul. The cleansing and purification of the self (body, mind, and spirit) is likened to a king purifying the country--Christ cleansing temple--of the human body from foreign invaders “money-changers,” so to speak; so that the spiritual powers of the soul shall overcome and prevail, and the self shall become purified and cleansed as being fit for service as the tabernacle of the divine spirit of the One True Invisible God. “O SON OF BEING! Thy heart is My home; sanctify it for My descent. Thy spirit is My place of revelation; cleanse it for My manifestation” (Baha’u’llah, HW:A59). † “And if he feareth not God, God will make him to fear all things; whereas all things fear him who feareth God” (Baha’u’llah, Chihar Vadi). ‡ “Veiled Containers” in one sense refers to the senses and feelings that are to be filled up in God. In another sense to the receptacles of his DNA that Baha’u’llah has explained: “God hath, in truth, inscribed your names upon a Tablet wherein are enshrined the hidden secrets of all that hath been” (Suriy-i-Ra’is) meaning that we can beseech God to subdue the genes that lead to error (making them recessive) and to activate the genes that lead to reunion and restoration (making them dominant). Also, in another sense, “Veiled Containers” refers to the stomach, heart, lungs,

nature) is because when he arrived in this world, his soul had remained in the company of its life of infancy and (at that time) its main concern was nothing but food and drink due to the immaturity and weakness of its powers that kept it from reaching the divine perfections. Then, his soul advanced in the levels of ignorance, such as lust, anger, pride, jealousy and other such vile characteristics, and these characteristics of the lower-self overpowered him and established their dwelling places and residence in him (spiritually and bodily). The intellect-which calls a servant to God and towards His loving-obedience--only started coming to him little by little, gradually, and it only landed at its first residence (stages of maturation) at the time of his puberty. It (the intellect: the servant of the soul) arrived at its residence as a lonely stranger without any helper, while its enemies had overpowered the city and rebelled in the land and caused a lot of corruption in it. Thus, the intellect entered as a lowly, humble, unfamiliar stranger, powerless to execute any command or take any action. Then, God bestowed His grace upon him a second time--after having brought him into existence and created him well-guided and perfect (physically the first time)--by sending him an angelicking from his realm of dominion (Jabarut) to aid him to do His obedience (to align his will with the Will of God ) and help him rout out and prevail against his enemies. And God aided the king with a host of His angels who obeyed his command and warded off his enemies and by the command of this king they were guided by the truth and judged by it. Then, God bestowed His grace upon him again time after time. So, He sent him the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) and thereby taught him the path of His Divine Law (Shariah) a second time as He had taught him it the first time and explained to him the right conduct in all his actions and words, movements and stillness, and in all conditions, distinguishing the right from the wrong. He also established proofs for him and left nothing that was good for him that He did not guide him to, nor anything that was harmful for him that He did not make him aware of. In this manner, He guided him to every particular on both paths (of the Arc of Ascent and of the Arc of Descent) through his exhaustive commands and prohibitions so that humankind may not have any excuse against God after (His sending them) His messengers and promised ones. “O ye loved ones of God! In this, the Baha’i dispensation, God’s Cause is spirit unalloyed. His Cause belongeth not to the material world. It cometh neither for strife nor war, nor for acts of mischief or of shame; it is neither for quarrelling with other Faiths, nor for conflicts with the nations. Its only army is the love of God, its only joy the clear wine of His knowledge, its only battle the expounding of the Truth; its one crusade is against the insistent self, the evil promptings of the human heart. Its victory is to submit and yield, and to be selfless is its everlasting glory.”--‘Abdu’l-Baha

brain, bones, reproductive genitalia, and the other organs and parts. ‘Abdu’l-Baha explains: “Like unto the apostles of Christ, who were filled with Him, these souls also have become filled with His Holiness Baha’u’llah; that is, the love of Baha’u’llah has so mastered every organ, part and limb of their bodies, as to leave no effect from the promptings of the human world” (Tablets of the Divine Plan).

SURAH OF THE SOVEREIGN (Suriy-i-Ra’is) --Baha’u’llah-“O God, my God! I have set out from my home, holding fast unto the cord of Thy love, and I have committed myself wholly to Thy care and Thy protection. I entreat Thee by Thy power through which Thou didst protect Thy loved ones from the wayward and the perverse, and from every contumacious oppressor, and every wicked doer who hath strayed far from Thee, to keep me safe by Thy bounty and Thy grace. Enable me, then, to return to my home by Thy power and Thy might. Thou art, truly, the Almighty, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.” --Baha’u’llah IN HIS NAME, THE ALL-GLORIOUS! Hearken, O Chief, * to the voice of God, the Sovereign, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting. He, verily, calleth aloud between heaven and earth, summoning all mankind unto the scene of transcendent glory. Neither thy grunting, nor the barking of those around thee, nor the opposition of the hosts of the world can withhold the Almighty from achieving His purpose. The whole world hath been set ablaze by the Word of thy Lord, the All-Glorious, a Word softer than the morning breeze. It hath been manifested in the form of the Human Temple, and through it God hath quickened the souls of the sincere among His servants. In its inner essence, this Word is the living water by which God hath purified the hearts of such as have turned unto Him and forgotten every other mention, and through which He draweth them nigh unto the seat of His mighty Name. We have sprinkled it upon the people of the graves, and lo, they have risen up, with their gaze fixed upon the shining and resplendent Beauty of their Lord. Thou hast, O Chief, committed that which hath caused Muhammad, the Apostle of God, to lament in the most sublime Paradise. The world hath made thee proud, so much so that thou hast turned away from the Face through whose brightness the Concourse on High hath been illumined. Soon thou shalt find thyself in manifest loss! Thou didst conspire with the Persian Ambassador to harm Me, though I had come unto you from the source of majesty and grandeur with a Revelation that hath solaced the eyes of the favored ones of God. By God! This is the Day wherein the undying Fire crieth out from within all created things: “The Best-Beloved of the worlds is come!” And before all things there standeth a Moses, hearkening to the Word of thy Lord, the Almighty, the All-Knowing. Were We to divest Ourself of the mortal raiment which We have worn in consideration of your weakness, all that are in heaven and on earth would offer up their souls for My sake. To this thy Lord Himself doth testify. None, however, can perceive it save those who have detached themselves from all things for love of their Lord, the Almighty, the Most Powerful.

This Tablet addresses ‘Ali Pasha, the Ottoman Prime Minister, referred to here as Ra’is (meaning: Chief, Ruler, Head, or Sovereign); and was revealed in Arabic in honor of Haji Muhammad Isma’il-i-Kashani, entitled Dhabíh (Sacrifice) and Anis (Companion) by Baha’u’llah.

Hast thou imagined thyself capable of extinguishing the fire which God hath kindled in the heart of creation? Nay, by Him Who is the Eternal Truth, couldst thou but know it. Rather, on account of what thy hands have wrought, it blazed higher and burned more fiercely. Erelong will it encompass the earth and all that dwell therein. Thus hath it been decreed by God, and the powers of earth and heaven are unable to thwart His purpose. The day is approaching when the Land of Mystery * and what is beside it shall be changed, and shall pass out of the hands of the King, and commotions shall appear, and the voice of lamentation shall be raised, and the evidences of mischief shall be revealed on all sides, and confusion shall spread by reason of that which hath befallen these captives at the hands of the hosts of oppression. The course of things shall be altered, and conditions shall wax so grievous, that the very sands on the desolate hills will moan, and the trees on the mountain will weep, and blood will flow out of all things. Then wilt thou behold the people in sore distress. † O Chief! We revealed Ourself unto thee at one time upon Mount Tina, and at another time upon Mount Zayta, ‡ and yet again in this hallowed Spot. Following, however, thy corrupt inclinations, thou didst fail to respond and wert accounted with the heedless. Consider, then, and call thou to mind the time when Muhammad came with clear tokens from Him Who is the Almighty, the AllKnowing. The people were wont to pelt Him with stones from hidden places and in the markets, and they rejected the signs of God, thy Lord and the Lord of thy forefathers. The learned also denied Him, as did their followers, and likewise the kings of the earth, as thou hast heard from the tales of old. Among those kings was Chosroes, § to whom Muhammad sent a blessed epistle summoning him unto God and forbidding him from misbelief. Verily, thy Lord knoweth all things. Following the promptings of his evil and corrupt desires, however, Chosroes waxed arrogant before God and tore up the Tablet. He, verily, is accounted among the inmates of the nethermost fire. Was it in Pharaoh’s power to stay the hand of God from exercising His sovereignty when he acted wantonly in the land and was of the transgressors? From within his own house and in spite of his will We brought forth Him Who conversed with God. Well able are We to achieve Our purpose. Recall, moreover, how Nimrod kindled the fire of impiety that its flames might consume Abraham, the Friend of God; We delivered Him, however, through the power of truth *

Adrianople. In the first instance Sultan ‘Abdu’l-‘Aziz lost both his throne and his life in 1876 and during the subsequent war with Russia (1877–1878), Adrianople was occupied by the enemy and the Turks experienced a violent bloodbath. World War I then issued forth from the Balkans; and later the NATO expansion took control of this area leading to the events set forth by the Russian invasion of Ukraine (2022) on the shores of the Black Sea. See Lawh-i-Howdaj and Tablet of the Holy Mariner for more. ‡ Literally, “the Mount of Figs” and “the Mount of Olives”, cf. Qur’an 95:1. § Chosroes II Parviz, the Sassanian monarch who reigned in Persia during the lifetime of Muhammad, was responsible for the whole-sale massacre of the House of David save the exilarch (exiled monarch of King David) Bostanai who alone, as a newborn infant, was the sole survivor. “When the Chief of the Exile [Exilarch of King David] came into the presence of that Luminary of divine wisdom, of salvation and certitude, the Imam Rida--had the Imam, that mine of knowledge, failed in the course of their interview to base his arguments on authority appropriate and familiar to the Exilarch, the latter would never have acknowledged the greatness of His Holiness”; note: “The Resh Galuta [Exilarch or “Catholicos”], a prince or ruler of the exiles in Babylon, to whom Jews, wherever they were, paid tribute” (‘Abdu’l-Baha, SDC, p. 36). Baha’u’llah is a male-sperm descendant of King David through the exilarch Bostanai, that continues the throne-line of King David down until the present day. †

and seized Nimrod with the fury of Our wrath. Say: The Oppressor * put to death the Beloved of the worlds to quench the light of God amongst the people and to debar them from the wellspring of life eternal in the days of thy Lord, the Gracious, the Most Bountiful. We, too, have revealed the Cause of God in His cities and raised aloft His remembrance amidst them that truly believe in Him. Say: This Youth hath come to quicken the world and unite all its peoples. The day is approaching when that which God hath purposed will have prevailed and thou shalt behold the earth transformed into the all-glorious paradise. Thus hath it been inscribed by the Pen of Revelation upon this weighty Tablet. Forsake Thy mention of the Chief, O Pen, and call to remembrance Anis, that intimate of the love of God who severed himself from the wayward and the infidel. He tore the veils asunder in such wise that the inmates of Paradise could hear them being rent. Glorified be God, the Sovereign, the Powerful, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. O Nightingale! Incline thine ear unto the voice of the All-Glorious on this night when armed troops have surrounded Us while We remain in a state of utmost joy. O would that our blood might be shed upon the earth and our bodies cast upon the dust in the path of God! This, indeed, is My desire and the desire of whosoever hath sought Me and attained unto My most wondrous, Mine incomparable Kingdom. Know thou, O servant, that one day, upon awakening, We found the beloved of God at the mercy of Our adversaries. Sentinels were posted at every gate and no one was permitted to enter or leave. Indeed, they perpetrated a sore injustice, for the loved ones of God and His kindred were left on the first night without food. Such was the fate of those for whose sake the world and all that is therein have been created. Woe betide the perpetrators and those who led them into such evil! Erelong will God consume their souls in the fire. He, verily, is the fiercest of avengers. The people surrounded the house, and Muslims and Christians wept over Us, and the voice of lamentation was upraised between earth and heaven by reason of what the hands of the oppressors had wrought. We perceived that the weeping of the people of the Son exceeded the weeping of others--a sign for such as ponder. One of My companions offered up his life, cutting his throat with his own hands for the love of God, an act unheard of in bygone centuries and which God hath set apart for this Revelation as an evidence of the power of His might. † He, verily, is the Unconstrained, the All-Subduing. As for the one who thus slew himself ‡ in Iraq, he truly is the King and Beloved of Martyrs, and that which he evinced was a testimony from God unto the peoples of the earth. Such souls have been influenced by the Word of God, have tasted the sweetness of His remembrance, and are so transported by the breezes of reunion that they have detached themselves from all that dwell on earth and turned unto the Divine Countenance with faces beaming with light. And though they have committed an act which God hath forbidden, He hath nevertheless forgiven them as a token of His mercy. He, verily, is the Ever-Forgiving, the Most Compassionate. So enraptured were *

The Bab was executed under the orders of Nasiri’d-Din Shah. Haji Ja‘far-i-Tabrizi: he was prevented in time from ending his life. ‡ Siyyid Isma‘il of Zavarih. †

these souls by Him Who is the All-Compelling that the reins of volition slipped from their grasp, until at last they ascended to the dwelling of the Unseen and entered the presence of God, the Almighty, the All-Knowing. Say: This Youth hath departed out of this country and deposited beneath every tree and every stone a trust, which God will erelong bring forth through the power of truth. Thus hath the True One come and the command of Him Who is the Ordainer, the All-Wise, been fulfilled. The hosts of earth and heaven are powerless to resist His Cause, nor can all the kings and rulers of the world ever frustrate His purpose. Say: Adversity is the oil which feedeth the flame of this Lamp and by which its light is increased, did ye but know. Indeed, the repudiation of the froward serveth but to proclaim this Faith and to spread the Cause of God and His Revelation throughout the world. Great is your blessedness, inasmuch as ye have forsaken your homes and wandered the land for the love of your Lord, the Almighty, the Ancient of Days, until ye entered the Land of Mystery at a time when the fire of oppression was ablaze and the croaking of the raven of discord had been raised. Ye are My partners in My tribulations, for ye were present with Us during the darksome night in which the hearts of those who testify to the unity of God were agitated. Ye entered this land for the sake of Our love, and departed therefrom through Our command. By the righteousness of God! Because of you the earth itself glorieth over heaven. How excellent is this most sublime, this glorious and exalted bounty! Ye have been deprived of your nest, O birds of eternity, for the sake of your Lord, the Unconstrained, but your true abode is beneath the wings of the grace of the All-Merciful. Blessed are they that understand. O My Dhabih! May the breaths of the spirit waft upon thee and upon such as have sought communion with thee, inhaled from thee the sweet fragrance of My presence, and hearkened unto that whereby the hearts of the true seekers are sanctified. Render thanks unto God inasmuch as thou hast attained unto the shores of this Most Great Ocean, and give ear to the very atoms of the earth proclaiming: “This is the Best-Beloved of the worlds!'” The dwellers of the earth have wronged Him and failed to recognize the One Whose name they ceaselessly invoke. Lost are such as have remained heedless and have opposed Him for Whose loved ones it would have behooved them to offer up their lives, how much more for His own luminous and resplendent Beauty! Be thou patient, though thy heart be consumed in its separation from God, for He hath granted thee an exalted station in His presence. Nay, thou art even now standing before His face, and We are imparting unto thee, through the tongue of might and power, such words as even the ears of the sincere ones have been deprived of hearing. Say: Were He to utter but one word, that word alone would exceed in sweetness all the sayings of men. Had Muhammad, the Apostle of God, attained this Day, He would have exclaimed: “I have truly recognized Thee, O Thou the Desire of the Divine Messengers!'” 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! I testify that Thou hats unveiled before mine eyes all the glory of Thy power and the full majesty of Thy law! I bear witness, moreover, that through Thy Revelation the hearts of the 54

faithful are well assured and contented.” Had Moses Himself attained it, He, likewise, would have raised His voice saying: “All praise be to Thee for having lifted upon me the light of Thy countenance and enrolled me among them that have been privileged to behold Thy face!” Consider the people and their condition. Reflect upon the things that their mouths have uttered and that their hands have wrought in this blessed, this most holy and peerless Day. They that have tarnished the good name of the Cause of God and turned unto the Evil One are accursed of all created things and are numbered among the inmates of the fire. Verily, whosoever hath hearkened to My call shall remain unperturbed by the clamor of all that are on earth; and whosoever is influenced by the words of anyone beside Me hath never heard My call. By God! Such a man is deprived of entering My Kingdom, is debarred from My realms of majesty and power, and is of them that are in utter loss. Sorrow not for that which hath befallen thee. Thou hast borne for My love that which most people have never endured. Thy Lord knoweth and is informed of all. He was with thee in the assemblages and gatherings, and heard that which flowed from the wellspring of thy heart in remembrance of thy Lord, the All-Merciful. This, indeed, is a token of His bountiful favor. Erelong will God raise up from among the kings one who will aid His loved ones. He, verily, encompasseth all things. He will instill in the hearts the love of His loved ones. This, indeed, is irrevocably decreed by One Who is the Almighty, the Beneficent. We beseech God to gladden the hearts of His servants through thy call, to make thee an ensign of guidance in His lands, and to assist through thee those who have been brought low. Heed not the one who raised a loud clamor and he who raiseth it even now. Let thy Lord, the Ever-Forgiving, the Most Generous, be all-sufficient unto thee. Relate unto My loved ones that which thou hast seen and learned of the tale of this Youth, and convey unto them that which We have imparted unto thee. Verily, thy Lord assisteth and watcheth over thee at all times and under all conditions. The blessings of the Concourse on High surround thee, and the kindred and the leaves of the holy family who circle round the celestial Tree extol thee with a wondrous praise. O Pen of Revelation! Call Thou to remembrance him (Anis) whose letter reached Us during this darksome night. He it is who wandered from region to region until he entered the City (Adrianople), seeking the shelter of the mercy of his Lord, the Almighty, the Most High. Eagerly awaiting the favors of his Lord, he dwelt therein for a night, but departed therefrom the following morning as bidden by God, filling with sorrow the heart of this Youth. To this the Almighty is Himself a witness. Great is thy blessedness, for thou hast received the wine of utterance from the hand of the AllMerciful, and became so enraptured by the sweet fragrance of the Best-Beloved as to renounce thy comfort and to be numbered with them that have hastened unto His Paradise, the DawningPlace of the signs of thy Lord, the Gracious, the Peerless. Happy the one who hath quaffed the wine of inner mysteries from the countenance of his Lord and been intoxicated by this pure and crystal draught. By God! It causeth every true believer to soar in the heaven of majesty and grandeur, and transmuteth every doubt into certainty.

Grieve not at what hath befallen thee, but put thy whole trust in God, the Almighty, the AllKnowing, the Wise. Raise thy House upon the solid foundation of divine utterances, and give praise to thy Lord. He, verily, shall suffice thee above all the peoples of the earth. God hath, in truth, inscribed your names upon a Tablet wherein are enshrined the hidden secrets of all that hath been. Erelong shall the faithful call to remembrance your exile and all your journeys in His path. He, verily, loveth those who love Him, and is the helper of the sincere. By the righteousness of God! The eyes of the Concourse on High are fixed upon you and their fingers point towards you. Thus doth the bounty of your Lord encompass you. Would that the people might recognize that which hath escaped them in the days of God, the All-Glorious, the All-Praised. Render thanks unto God for having aided thee to know Him and to enter within the precincts of His court at a time when the ungodly surrounded the family of thy Lord and His loved ones, and expelled them from their homes with manifest cruelty, intending to separate us at the shore of the sea. Verily, thy Lord is aware of that which lieth concealed within the breasts of the unbelievers. Say: Even should ye tear our bodies asunder, ye could not banish from our hearts the love of God. We were of a truth created for sacrifice, and in this do we take pride before all creation. O thou who art set aglow with the fire of the love of God! Know thou that thy letter hath reached Us and that We have been apprised of its contents. We beseech God to confirm thee in His love and in His good pleasure, to assist thee in the promotion of His Cause, and to number thee with such as have arisen for the triumph of His Faith. As to thy question regarding the soul: Know thou that among the people there are numerous treatises and manifold views as to its stations. Among these are: The soul of the Kingdom of God (nafs malakutiyya), The soul of the Dominion of Power (nafs jabarutiyya), The soul of the Heavenly Court (nafs lahutiyya), The soul of the Divine Empyrean (nafs ilahiyya), The perfect sanctified soul (nafs qudsiyya), as well as The contented soul (nafs mutma’inna), The accepting soul (nafs radiya), The accepted soul (nafs mardiyya), The inspired soul (nafs mulhama), The blaming soul (nafs lawwama), and the The commanding soul (nafs ammara). Every group hath its own pronouncements concerning the soul and We are disinclined to dwell upon the sayings of the past. Verily, with thy Lord is the knowledge of the former and latter generations.

Would that thou wert present before Our throne to hear from the Tongue of Grandeur itself that which thou desirest and scale the loftiest heights of knowledge by the grace of Him Who is the All-Knowing, the All-Wise! The ungodly, however, have intervened between Us. Take heed lest thou be grieved thereby. Be content with that which hath been ordained by an irrevocable decree, and be of them that endure with patience. Know that the soul which is common to all men cometh forth following the commingling of things and after their maturation, as thou dost observe in the germ: once it hath developed to its predestined stage, God manifesteth the soul that was latent within it. Thy Lord, verily, doeth what He willeth and ordaineth what He pleaseth. As to the soul which is intended, in truth it hath been called forth by the Word of God and is such that, if it be kindled with the fire of the love of its Lord, neither the waters of opposition nor the oceans of the world can quench its flame. That soul is indeed a fire ablaze in the tree of man which proclaimeth: “No God is there but Him!” Whosoever hearkeneth unto its call is verily of those who have attained unto Him. And when it casteth off its earthly frame, God shall raise it up again in the most excellent of forms and cause it to enter a sublime paradise. Thy Lord, of a certainty, hath power over all things. Know, furthermore, that the life of man proceedeth from the spirit, and the spirit turneth to wheresoever the soul directeth it. Ponder upon that which We have revealed unto thee that thou mayest recognize the Soul of God which hath appeared above the Dayspring of bounty invested with manifest sovereignty. Know also that the soul is endowed with two wings: should it soar in the atmosphere of love and contentment, then it will be related to the All-Merciful. And should it fly in the atmosphere of self and desire, then it will pertain to the Evil One; may God shield and protect Us and protect you therefrom, O ye who perceive! Should the soul become ignited with the fire of the love of God, it is called benevolent (mutma’inna) and pleasing (mardiyya) unto God, but should it be consumed with the fire of passion, it is known as the concupiscent soul (nafs ammara). Thus have We expounded this subject for thee that thou mayest obtain a clear understanding. O Pen of the Most High! Recount unto him who hath turned unto Thy Lord, the All-Glorious, that which shall enable him to dispense with the sayings of men. Say: Spirit, mind, soul, and the powers of sight and hearing are but one single reality which hath manifold expressions owing to the diversity of its instruments. As thou dost observe, man's power to comprehend, move, speak, hear, and see all derive from this sign of his Lord within him. It is single in its essence, yet manifold through the diversity of its instruments. This, verily, is a certain truth. For example, if it directeth its attention to the means of hearing, then hearing and its attributes become manifest. Likewise, if it directeth itself to the means of vision, a different effect and attribute appear. Reflect upon this subject that thou mayest comprehend the true meaning of what hath been intended, find thyself independent of the sayings of the people, and be of them that are well assured. In like manner, when this sign of God turneth towards the brain, the head, and such means, the powers of the mind and the soul are manifested. Thy Lord, verily, is potent to do whatsoever He pleaseth.

All that We have mentioned here hath been elucidated in the Tablets We have revealed in response to questions regarding the disconnected letters of the Qur’an. Ponder them that thou mayest comprehend that which hath been sent down from the Kingdom of Him Who is the Almighty, the All-Praised. Thus have We chosen to be concise in this Tablet. We beseech God to acquaint thee through this brief exposition with that which words can never hope to exhaust, and to give thee to drink of the limitless oceans from this cup. Thy Lord, verily, is the All-Bountiful and unassailable in His power. O Pen of the Ancient of Days! Call Thou to remembrance ‘Ali *, he who sojourned with Thee in Iraq until the Daystar of the world departed therefrom. He forsook his home to attain the court of Thy presence at a time when We were captive in the hands of such as have been deprived of the sweet savors of the All-Merciful. Grieve not at what hath befallen Us and thee in the path of God. Rest assured and persevere. He, verily, rendereth victorious those who love Him, and His might is equal to all things. Whoso turneth unto Him brighteneth thereby the faces of the Concourse on High, and unto this God Himself is My witness. Say: O people, do ye imagine that, after rejecting the One through Whom the religions of the world have been made manifest, ye still bear allegiance to the Faith of God? By the righteousness of God! Ye are accounted among the inmates of the Fire. Thus hath the decree been recorded in the Tablets by the Pen of God. Say: Never will the barking of dogs deter the Nightingale from warbling its melodies. Ponder awhile that perchance ye may discover a path leading to the Eternal Truth. Say: Magnified art Thou, O Lord my God! I entreat Thee by the tears Thy lovers have shed in their longing after Thee, and by the yearning of those who cry out in their separation from Thee, and by Thy Best-Beloved Who hath fallen into the hands of Thine adversaries, to graciously assist those who have sought refuge beneath the sheltering wings of Thy favor and loving-kindness, and who have yearned for no other Lord except Thee. We have forsaken our homes, O Lord, in our eagerness to meet Thee and in our longing to be united with Thee. We have traversed land and sea to attain the court of Thy presence and to give ear to Thy verses. When we arrived at the shores of the sea, however, we were held back from Thee, as the ungodly intervened between us and the light of Thy countenance. O Lord! Dire thirst hath seized us, and with Thee are the soft-flowing waters of eternal life. Potent art Thou to do what pleaseth Thee. Deny us not the object of our quest. Write down then for us the recompense decreed for such of Thy servants as enjoy near access to Thee and are wholly devoted to Thy will. Make us so steadfast in Thy love that naught shall keep us back from Thee or deter us from Thine adoration. Powerful art Thou to do Thy pleasure. Thou, verily, art the Almighty, the Most Generous.

Mirza ‘Ali-Akbar-i-Naraqi.

THE OVERTHROW OF ROME: THE TEN STAGES OF THE SOUL (Tafsir Surat al-Rum va Maqamat al-Nafs) --’Abdu’l-Baha-“Bismillah ar-Rachman ar-Rahim. Alif-Lam-Mim. The Romans have been defeated, In the land nearby, and they, after their defeat, they will be victorious. In a few years...” (Q. 30:1-4) HE IS THE ALL-GLORIOUS! Praise be to Thee, O Lord! O my God! Out of Thy Bounty and Mercy, Thou hast caused the waters of existence to descend from the heaven of Thy Oneness and Thou hast caused the showers of Thine Eternal Bounties to rain down from the clouds of the heaven of Thy Mighty Oneness until, through this most mighty Beneficence, the rivers of Thy most wondrous Grace flowed forth upon the soil of all possible existent realities in Thine act of Creation. All lands and regions were watered by these streaming, heavenly rivers. Every hill and city was inundated by these torrential celestial floods. And then there shone forth upon them the sun of Thy Mercy from the horizon of Thy holy Might. And the grains, O my God, of Thine Exalted Word and Thy Most Mighty Verses were sown in the earth of human capacity by Thy great Grace and Favor. These existent realities, however, became differentiated and diverged through the effulgences of the Sun of Thy Most Great Name. Some of them, O my God, just as Thou hast reckoned according to Thy secret knowledge, are pure and refined hearts upon which that Sun imprinted its signs and from which there appear traces of its effulgence. It hath stirred up and fertilized their soil and there hath grown forth from them the myrtles of love and knowledge of Thee. They have been adorned by the sacred blossoms of yearning for and attraction towards Thee as like a blessed and fertile land. Some, however, O my God, were soiled hearts obscured by the rust of their vain imaginings, veiled from their Lord by the veils of darkness. No trace appears among them of the effulgences of that Sun nor of the signs of the One Who hath created and ordained it. Upon their soil, the grain of the mention of their Lord is as upon desolate and barren land. Thou art not, however, O my God, neglectful in Thine effulgences upon the creation and the appearance of Thy signs among existent realities, as Thou hast said, and Thy word is the truth: “No fault canst thou see in the creation of the All-Merciful (Q. 67:3)” and “Your creation and your resurrection is but as a single soul” (Q. 31:28). At this time, I ask of Thee by Thy Name, which were it to be cast upon the mountains, they would crumble into dust and flow away, were it to be scattered upon the seas, they would overflow, were it to be thrown upon shriveled branches, they would turn green and flower, and upon the blind, they would see, and upon the dumb, they would speak, and upon the deaf, they would hear, and upon the dead, they would arise, that Thou mayest lift the veils which intervene between Thee and Thy creatures and which prevent them from entering into the wellspring of Thy Mercy, from setting out on the pathway of Thy mighty Oneness, from hearkening to the melodies of the birds of Thy throne, and from drinking from the chalice of Thy love and knowledge of Thee. Verily, they are the lowly at Thy gate and the needy before the manifestation 59

of Thy wealth. For themselves they seek to acquire neither benefit nor harm, neither life nor resurrection. Raise then, O my God, these pure souls to Thee and cause them to ascend with the wings of Divine Unity into the clouds (ama) of the highest heaven of the glory (baha) of Thy Singleness. Shine forth upon them at every instant with what Thou wishest to bestow upon these compounded realities and these sacred hearts, for there is neither beginning nor end to signs of Thee, nor a first or last to Tokens of Thee. Wert Thou to shed Thy splendor upon the sincere ones among Thy creatures at every instant in all of Thy manifold ways, no reduction would there be in Thine Ancient Riches, nor any diminution in Thy Hidden Treasures. And so, O my God, be merciful to Thy needy servants. Cause them to be seated beneath the tree of Thy Mercy and feed them from the table that Thou hast sent down from the heaven of Thy glorious Oneness. For verily Thou are the True Giver and Thou art the Forgiving, the Merciful. Thou knowest, O my God, that this servant is the neediest of all the servants in Thy realm and is the lowliest of Thy creatures in Thy lands. How then, with such absolute poverty, is it possible for me to explain the incorporated and hidden meanings within the realities of Thy words and the secrets which Thou hast hidden from the eyes of the mystic knowers behind the Tabernacle of Thy word. Since, however, Thou hast commanded me, I take up my pen trusting in Thee and relying upon Thy Bounty and Mercy. For Thou hast willed, O my God, that there flow forth from this ephemeral pen the seas of Thy Knowledge and the oceans of Thy secrets. Thou dost not wish that the tongue of the Supreme Pen be silent amidst the concourse of Thy creatures nor that the outflowing bounties of the Ancient Beauty be cut off from the peoples. The command is Thine. Thou doest as Thou desirest and Thou ordaineth what Thou pleaseth and the limit Thou hast set is: No God is there but Thee, the Powerful, the Mighty, the All-Bountiful! O distinguished and excellent questioner! Know thou that from within every one of the Words of God, there surge forth oceans of hidden meanings, without number, and that from within every letter of the verses of thy Lord, there shine forth the suns of secrets, heavenly signs and truths, that none can number except God, thy Lord and the Lord of thy fathers before you. That being the case how is it possible for ink to flow forth with these hidden meanings, even were there to be oceans of it, and how would sheets of paper suffice, even were they to be as extensive as the horizon? There is no end to this most great gift and no beginning to this most great mercy for it to be exhausted. Just as He says, and His word is the truth: “Were the ocean to be ink for the words of my Lord, verily that ink would be exhausted ere the words of my Lord were exhausted, even were a similar amount of ink added to it” (Q. 18:109). However, even if all of it cannot be mentioned, all of it need not be left out either. Therefore I can mention some of the hidden and secret meanings streaming from the torrents of the words of your Lord, the Exalted, the Mighty. I. Know thou that these holy verses and heavenly sounds having meanings that are outer (zahir) and inner (batin) and also the inner of the inner (batin al-batin) and so forth endlessly. For the words of God are mirrors encompassing (muhitah) the forms (suwar) of all things. Thus is it that He says: “There is nothing dry nor wet but that it is inscribed in a perspicuous Book.” (Q. 6:59).

And as for the outer meaning, God hath announced the destruction of the might of the Persians and the victory and triumph of Rome (Byzantium), after the Byzantines had been defeated and brought to naught at the hands of the Persians--their unity had been sundered and their alliances dispersed. The explanation of this is that in the days when the sun of Divine Oneness was shining from the Muhammadan point and the banners of guidance were raised over the notables of Yathrib and Batha, * the dove was warbling upon the twigs of the Sadrat’ul-Muntaha and the peacock singing in the heavenly sanctuary, the idolaters said that Khusraw (Chosroes II Parviz) the king of the Persians, who were not people of the book, had defeated and was victorious over the Emperor of Byzantium, who was of the People of the Book. Similarly, they said, we will destroy the might of Muhammad the Messenger of God on account of his being of the People of the Book as is the emperor of Byzantium and we are not people of the book as is the king of the Persians. And so God caused these heavenly verses (ayat lahut) to descend and announced that Byzantium would defeat its enemy the Persians within a few years. And a few (bid) means between three and nine. And after seven of those years, God caused to appear that which had been announced by His most mighty Companion (Muhammad). The Byzantines were victorious over the Persians and their ascendancy was established. Thus was it confirmed to the sincere ones that the knowledge of God precedes all things and embraces all that is in existence, whether of the seen or unseen. † This is that which the hearts of those who write the commentaries hath sung in the gardens of the mighty Qur’an. But other than this they have not penetrated to the secrets deposited therein nor to the stored and hidden mysteries flowing within the streams of the words of Thy Lord the AllKnowing, the All-Wise. And with this they cannot satisfy those who are sore athirst for the living waters of the Kawthar of the Spirit from the hands of Grace and Beneficence. And this is nothing for those whom God has endowed with a penetrating vision and has taught them the meaning of His word and has informed them of the true interpretation of His verses. It is therefore necessary that I mention some of the things that God has intended by these hidden verses, these heavenly songs. II. I say that Rome signifies that station which refers to and relates to the existent realities, to pure being and to the concealing veils and the woes which issue forth from the specifications of existence. And these are overcome and vanish with the rise of the rays shining forth from the Sun of Truth. And so when the Cycle of the Spirit has come to an end and the lamps of guidance have been extinguished, and the breezes of righteousness have been stilled, and the winds of faithfulness have died down, and the voices of the nightingales of Oneness in the gardens of *

Medina and Mecca. Chosroes II Parviz, the Sassanian monarch who reigned in Persia during the lifetime of Muhammad, was responsible for the whole-sale massacre of the House of David save the exilarch (exiled monarch of King David) Bostanai who alone, as a newborn infant, was the sole survivor. Baha’u’llah is a male-sperm descendant of King David through the exilarch Bostanai, that continues the throne-line of King David down until the present day. In the days of Muhammad, Chosroes defeated the armies of “Rum” of the Christian Eastern Orthodox Byzantine Empire (today continued in succession claims of Russia), seized control over Jerusalem and Damascus in 613 and 614 AD (see SAQ, p. 54), and captured the True Cross of Jesus and brought it back to the Persian Capital as a present for his wife, Shirin, who was herself a Christian. After the capture of Jerusalem, Chosroes had the exilarch Bostanai sold into slavery, where he then passed from owner to owner, until he was eventually purchased and manumitted by the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), made a freedman, and served, for a time, as his barber. †

faithfulness have become fatigued, and the heaven of wealth and the garden of victories has been transformed into a barren wasteland and the owl hoots balefully from the Tree of Zaqqum (Q. 37:62; 44:43; 56:52), then does the breeze of the spring-time of the All-Merciful waft from the Valley of Ayman * the blessed spot, and the Sun of Divine Oneness rise from the dawning-place of the Will of Thy Lord the All-Merciful, the Compassionate, and the clouds of Divine Bounty arise and pour out upon the hearts, souls, and the inner realities causing the soils of capacity and receptivity to become verdant and the earth of knowledge to sprout forth. Then does the Blessed Tree become verdant from which can be heard the call: “O Moses! Thou art in the holy vale of Tuwa” (Q. 20:11-12) and the fire of reality appears in that “olive tree which is neither of the east nor of the west. And its oil almost catches fire even though no fire has touched it. It is light upon light. God guides to His light whomsoever He wills” (Q. 24:35). Then doth the nightingale of inner meaning sing upon the branches with the most lofty melodies. And it says “The Romans have been defeated in the nearest of lands.” What land is nearer than the realities of things and their specifications? Then the tongue of the Ancient of Days announces, and it is indeed a mighty word, that the King of the Living the Eternal has decreed that every affair should have a prescribed and fixed term. And so at the end of this Cycle, there will come days when this shining Sun will set and be followed by billowing clouds, and this spiritual spring-time will be ended by darksome autumn, and this lofty garden will be transformed and its trees uprooted, and its leaves scattered, and its breezes will be stilled, and its rivers interrupted and their limpidity (clarity) destroyed. “This is the way of God and thou wilt not find any change or alteration in His way” (Q. 48:23; 17:77). And so O questioner! See thou with an insight which God created after your outer vision. Is any just person able to say that all of the meanings of the words of God exist with those who cannot distinguish their left hands from their right. No! By the one whom the dove doth mention when it doth speak forth betwixt heaven and earth. On the contrary, it is certain that the meanings will inspire those hearts that are pure and turned towards the Kingdom. Were God to desire it, He would cause one of His lovers to arise and stand upon the center of guidance amidst the concourse of creation and to commentate, with His assistance and power, upon the realities within His verses, giving such meanings as are known only to God and to those who are firmly established in His knowledge (Q. 3:7). Approach thou then Thy Lord with radiant face and seeing eye and say: O Lord! Make firm my steps in Thy Cause and teach me Thy hidden knowledge and Thy treasured secrets and raise me up to Thy lofty Kingdom and Thy MostGlorious Companion (Rafiqika’l-ABHA). Cause me to understand the meanings of Thy verses so that I may shine forth upon the horizon of Thy Will with Thy knowledge, like unto the morning star, and may show unto the people Thine eternal path and Thy straight way, which whosoever doth tread upon it will reach the Orient of Thy signs and the Dawning-place of Lights. For this is that which will favor me as I contemplate Thy most great verses and gaze upon the signs of Thine exalted effulgences. O Lord! Favor me with this most great gift and this most mighty mercy. For this is what I hope from Thee and it is my goal and my desire. O my king and my desire at every stage, and the joy of my heart and the *

The valley of the right-hand (ayman) side: the place from which the Burning Bush called out to Moses (Q. 28:30).

solace of my soul in the day-time and in the night season. Thou art the Giver, the Generous, the Compassionate, the Merciful. III. And in the station of Souls, thou seest that these Divine verses have holy and heavenly meanings. Among these are that God has intended by the word “Rum” the forces of self and passion and the peoples of ignorance and blindness; in that it assisted--at the time of the appearance of His Friend *--the forces of reason and intelligence with great power; until it saw the signs of its Mighty Lord and heard the most sweet Call from the lofty horizon and drank the sealed wine from the hand of the faithful cup-bearer. The sweetness of the wine of the mention of its Lord the All-High captivated it to the extent that it became drowned in the oceans of the Love of God. At this time the reality of self and passion passed away with its conditions and powers at the appearance of the signs of the Absolute Divine Reality and it was defeated and vanished before the authority of the verses of its Creator. However, its state of defeat was the very source of its power, its ability, its loftiness and its might. For it grew and found reassurance in the remembrance of its Lord and through this it was enabled to overcome everything and to encompass, through the power of its Creator and Origin, the realities of the Kingdom in accordance with its capacity and to understand the secrets of its Creator and Fashioner. And what conquest could be greater than this, were people able to see with the eye of God? Indeed were they able to able to soar with the wings of the spirit in the heavens of knowledge they would bear witness that this is the conquering power and the overwhelming might and the triumphant sovereignty. However, when they are concealed behind the veils of neglectfulness and have forgotten what they used to bring to mind, God doth smite their eyes with a veil and their ears with heaviness. Rise then with power, O revered questioner, and mention Thy Lord among the concourse of the earth and say: How long will you be satisfied with a brackish and malodorous drop? From the All-Mighty, All-Glorious Ocean which billows forth from His Essence to His Essence and from a sprinkling (rashh) of which God hath created all existence, living and enduring, “All things are living” just as He hath said, and His word is the Truth: “We made from water every living thing” (Q. 21:30)! IV. And on one level, God intended by the word “Rum” those souls who turn their faces seeking enlightenment when the Sun of the Ancient of Days doth shine forth from the Dawning-Place of the Greatest Name. They purify the mirrors of their hearts and draw near to the rays of that noble light. For the noun “Rum” according to linguistic usage is connected with fine white (complexions) and people of reddish (hair) and pure souls who look to their Lord with radiant snow-white rejoicing countenances. In this is the comparison and the relevance (of the spiritual symbolism). And as for the meaning of His Words, magnified be He: “The Byzantines were overcome,” that is to say that those blameless souls who have effaced their designations and limitations at the appearance of their Revealer so that they have become designated by the attributes of the All*

An allusion to the Apostle of God, the prophet Muhammad.

Merciful and they have appeared with heavenly signs--they are overcome in the physical world. God has sent them the winds of tests and difficulties and has thrown them into the clutches of those who have repudiated His Truth, those who have not inhaled the breezes of life, have renounced their intellect and clung to their passions. But when they have overcome with respect to the Spirit, they will similarly physically overcome their enemies through the power of their Creator. * For God has assigned all good for His loved ones in every one of His world, even the world of body and memory. Thou dost witness that mention of them dost fill the horizons and their name raises the standards of harmony and through them the world is set aflame and the potentialities of all things is illuminated by the light of existence emerging from nothingness. Through them the stones have been shattered, days have dawned and the oceans billowed; through them the holy laws have been established, the waters have become clear, the out-spread tables have been sent down (Q. 5:113), the diseases remedied, the dead brought to life, the earth has been made to shake, the heavens have been cleft asunder, the mountains split in two, paradise has been brought close, the trees have given forth fruit, the secret things have been made known, the veils rent asunder, the lights have shone forth, and the signs of purification (alathar) have been made known. Then, say: Praise be to God, the Creator of these burning meteors, these brilliant stars, these consummate words, these lofty souls, these singular minds, and these spirits enraptured by God their Lord. And say: O Lord! Cause me to enter under the shade of the Tree of Thy Mercy. Immerse me in the deep ocean of the Might of Thy Oneness. Sanctify me from all else save Thee. Deliver me from the floods of self and passion so that I may arise just as Thou hast caused them to arise in service of Thee and may stand ready to obey Thy command by Thy Might and Power. Verily Thou art the Giver to whomsoever Thou willest by Thy gracious hand and Thou art powerful over all things. V. And in another sense, God has intended by this word of the Qur’an, the Divine ordinances (shara’i) and prescriptions (sunan) and the laws (hudud) of God and His decrees (hukm). For the people, in the Days of the Interval † have cast the laws of God behind their backs. They have *

“To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God” “He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death” “To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new Name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it” “He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels” “Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new Name” “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne” “He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son” (Revelation 2:7, 11, 17; 3:5, 12, 21; 21:7 KJV). † Between the appearance of one successor and another in the lesser Covenant; and between the Manifestations of God and promised ones in the greater Covenant.

forgotten the decrees of God to such an extent that they replaced them and established a rule of ignorance (siyasatan jahaliyyatan) and made laws according to custom. They raised the banner of arbitrary and tyrannical decrees to such an extent that they forsook all spiritual knowledge and guidance and clung instead to the basest of fancies and passions. They fell from the heaven of reason and prohibitions; and took up their residence in the abyss of error and blindness. They chose the highway of the corrupt and imagined it to be a straight path (siratun mustaqimun). They applied themselves to the idols of luxurious living and did not know the corrupt from the wholesome. Thus were the lamps of justice and fairness extinguished and the storms of error intensified. The sign of tyranny seized power and the traces of illumination were obliterated. The people were afflicted by disasters by night and by predators during the day to such an extent that they forsook the commands and prescriptions of God and abrogated the Divine decrees and laws. Thus were the holy and divine laws overthrown (ghalabat) among the people. Through the power and might of God, however, at the time of the dawning of the Morn of Guidance from the horizon of eternity, the clouds of doubt and error were dispersed and the heaven of knowledge and righteousness restored. The wondrous light shone forth and the gloomy darkness vanished. The Straight Path was manifested and the Scales set. The Sure Handle (Urvat’ul-Vuthqa), which cannot be rent, was extended and the pollens of the Spring of Justice and wisdom wafted from the direction of the Bounty of the Preexistent Lord. The trees of the human form became clothed with the leaves of knowledge and Divine wisdom; and the Goodly Tree--the roots of which are firmly in the earth and the branches of which are in heaven--was planted. Its fruit came in every season, its twigs (afnan) and branches (aghsan) stretched forth as far as the horizons. The birds of faithfulness sought refuge and built their nests within the Tree. The nightingales of awareness sang upon it the songs of the Friend and the doves of love cry out from its twigs with the Psalms of the House of David * to such an extent that spirits trembled, hearts were rent asunder, eyes were consoled, souls were rejoiced and this existence became the garden of paradise. However, thou dost see that there appeared a wild and evil people and an ignorant and detestable group among the people; their ignorance was so great that they were unable to distinguish right from left and they wrote upon sheets of water. They performed every abomination and committed that which even the animals eschew, and so how can they be called human beings. But when there appeared among them the Most Great Friend, † the most magnificent Light, the sign of the Ancient of Days, the most joyful morn, they took refuge in the cave of His teaching for a certain number of days and years until this ignorant people ascended from the depths of ignorance to the summit of knowledge and wisdom and became proficient in the arts and sciences and outstripped the most noted scholars and learned men. They became famous among God’s creatures for the specific qualities of humanity and for their divine attributes such that they became a mine of perfections and knowledge and the pivot of the circle of praiseworthy deeds and beneficence. Thus were they victorious as far as the horizons and gained sovereignty over every tribe and people in creation. And so people began to come from every direction to their lands in order to learn knowledge and wisdom. They became adorned with the vestments of excellence and perfections. And all this was only out of the Grace and Mercy of God who sent to be among them the Best of Creatures with a power which no creature possesses. * †

See Psalm 89. An allusion to the Apostle of God, the prophet Muhammad.

VI. And in another sense, God intended by the word “Rum” the existent realities, which are revealed by the Divine Names and Attributes, are warmed by the flame of Oneness, are kindled in the blessed spot within the delights of paradise, appear and are seen upon four ancient pillars, * are established through the divine and heavenly scriptures, and arise out of the essence of Singleness. O would that the All-Merciful would break open from the mouth of this servant the seals of caution and concealment so that I could explain to you, O friend, the stations of the Fire of Oneness and the Blessed Tree and its branches and leaves and the state of the place of Paradise which God has concealed from the eyes of all save those who soar with the wings of victory in the atmosphere which brings joy to the souls. And so inhale the fragrance of faithfulness from the shirt of Baha which hath been smattered with bright-red blood on account of what the idolaters have done to His effulgent, illumined Beauty--and this after God hath established a Covenant with them in every Holy Book, Scripture and Psalm that at the time of each effulgence of one of His Lights and the Dawning of each Sun upon His horizons, they would recognize His Power and Sovereignty and prostrate themselves to Him on the Day when He comes to them in shadow of His clouds and that they should sacrifice themselves at the time of His appearance in order to attain His Presence. What a pity and what a cause of regret for them that they have neglected nearness to God. And so there will come to them an announcement of what they have neglected. Then will their skins shiver, their livers bleed, their hearts melt, their souls mourn and their innermost selves lament. And they will bite their finger-tips out of grief and remorse at what they have done and that they have barred themselves from the Table of Life sent down from the heaven of the Mercy of their Lord, the Mighty, the Forgiving. We will now return to what we were mentioning in explanation of the term: “Rum.” We said that its meaning was the realities of things and their essences (mahiyyat) and the capacity of created things and their potentialities. And the meaning of “were overcome” is that the outpourings of the All-Merciful and the eternal effulgences pervaded the potential realities pouring forth from the pre-existent light, filled them, overcame (ghalabat) them, and surrounded them from all directions, both inwardly and outwardly, on the Day when the Sun of the Ancient of Days shone forth from the horizon. For on such a blessed and promised day, God does not look at the capacity of existent realities and their preparedness. No, He pours forth upon them from the oceans of His Grace and Beneficence even if they have not the capacity for a single drop of its rivers such that you will see the poor man clothed in the robe of His wealth and the destitute beggar wearing the garments of His Might and Loftiness. Just as He hath said, and His word is the truth: “We desire to show favor unto the weak upon the earth, and We make them leaders and inheritors” (Q. 28:5). *

“Verily, Religion is supported by four pillars: a) Affirming the divine unity (tawhid); b) Prophethood (nubuwwa); c) Guardianship (walaya: W&T, pp. 11, 12, 14, 15); and d) The community of true believers (shi’a: the alim, W&T, pp. 14-15, 19-20; 25). These are four gates, none of which is of any use without the others” (The Bab, Risalah fi’sSuluk ila Allah).

O Thou who art soaring in the atmosphere of the love of God and travelling upon the sea of Bounty. Arise from the torpor of idle fancies and open your eyes to witness how the Ancient Beauty doth shine forth upon you and upon the whole of creation from the horizon of Bounty. His Countenance doth shine forth between earth and heaven. You will observe the comprehensiveness of the Bounty of Your Lord and the generality of His Beneficence towards those who draw nigh unto Him. You will see how the ocean of His Most Great Mercy billows forth out of the right hand of His Will and you will experience the fragrance of His Most Mighty Mercy wafting from the direction of His Providence so that you will know that, in this day, should a gnat desire to become an eagle or a drop to become an ocean in the shadow of this Beauty, then it would be able to, with the assistance of God and His Power. He hath said, and His word is the Truth: “Were an ant to desire to have full mastery over the Qur’an and its inner meaning and the inner meaning of the inner meaning (fi hukmi sawad ‘ayni ha), it will undoubtedly be able to do so for the secrets of eternity vibrate within the realities of all created things.” * Therefore say: Blessed be He who causeth His Might, His Sovereignty, His Mercy and His Beneficence to appear in these days within all created things! And as for His saying, exalted be He: “And they will afterwards overturn their defeat.” That is to say that there will come a day in which the Sun of Divine Oneness will set in the Occident of Eternity, the winds of the spirit blowing from the direction of Faithfulness will be stilled, the lamp of love in the breasts of those possessed of understanding will be put out, the fires of longing in the hearts of the wise will be extinguished, the Table of Divine Knowledge that hath descended from heaven of certitude will be withdrawn, the clouds of holiness will be prevented from yielding rains and the seas of Divine Oneness from surrendering the pearls of mysteries. Thus doth this most abundant favor and most great bounty come to an end and this day of lights is turned into darksome night. And if you should find the creation in such a state, then be certain that the morn of certitude is nigh and the day-break of the All-Merciful from the Dawning-Place of Creation and the coming of Your Lord in the shadow of clouds approaches. Then raise your hands towards your Lord and say: Unto Thee be praise and gratitude, O my most glorious Lord! In that Thou hast created me and sent me forth in this Day when Thy Countenance doth shine forth, Thy Beauty hath appeared, Thy Visage shineth forth, Thy Mercy hath preceded all things, Thy Bounty is abundant, Thy Power doth encompass all, Thy signs appear, Thy verses are revealed, Thy Word is exalted and Thy proof is established. By Thy Might! Were I to praise Thee for as long as Thy sovereignty endures, I would not be able to produce a single word in praise of Thee. However, on account of what I have seen of the universality of Thy Bounty and greatness of Thy Generosity, a drop from among Thy servants would be enabled to approached the station of oceans and an atom would be equivalent to the station of suns. Therefore have I stepped before Thee offering my thanks which are as the buzzing of mosquitoes in

This statement made by the Bab is quoted by ‘Abdu’l-Baha in several places. See Shoghi Effendi, Advent of Divine Justice, p. 46; and World Order of Baha’u’llah, pp. 126-7 for more.

the valley or the crawling of an ant along a chain. Verily Thou art the Forgiving, the All-Merciful. VII. And among the meanings intended by God in this Qur’anic word is the station of legal-opinion (speculative thought) and reasoning and the setting up of decisive evidences and logical proofs of the Oneness, the Singleness, the Might, the Power and the Sovereignty of God just as thou hast seen and observed in the days prior to the appearance of the Most Mighty Light from the Dawning-Place of His Name the Generous, to such an extent that no-one had any pathway or any guide to Him except the appearance of those signs and evidences which the intellect and legalopinion (speculative thought) indicated. And the people inferred from these His existence and steered clear of anything other than this. When, however, the sun of the horizons dawned from the Dawning-Place of the Ancient of Days in the most noble of forms and all existence was illumined by the rays radiating out over all creation, the veils of speculative thought and reasoning were rent asunder and the banners of proofs and intimations were unfurled and the standards of revelations (mukashafat) and testimonies were raised over the signs of hearts and perceptions. Then were the pure souls (athar) able to enter into the presence of their Lord on the Day when the earth shook and mountains were cleaved. Then say: Blessed be God, the King, the Mighty, the Omnipotent who hath annihilated the darkness with light with a Mighty Sovereignty. “Al-Rum was defeated”: that is to say the drops of the waters of speculative opinion and reasoning vanished in the face of the billowing oceans of the revelations (mukashafat) and testimonies of He who is a coolness on the brow of those who seek Him with ardor and is sweet water for their thirst and healing for their ill. He destroyed and brought to naught that which is nothing but idle fancies, vain thoughts, false inferences and empty speculations--for the likeness of these proofs before the face of Thy Lord is as the likeness of shadow before the dawning of the sun. For even were there to be logical proofs for It, they cannot be held to exist in the face of Its effulgences, nor can they be said to endure before Its radiating rays. Indeed, they are veiled from It even were they to be given proof of It. In the opinion of them who have drunk a draught of sealed wine from the hands of the Bounty of His Name the Eternal, the most mighty of the veils of His servants is that they rely on the ephemeral shadow for knowledge of the Sun of the Ancient of Days and depend upon mere traces and seek to give proofs in this way for that which is the origin of all lights. And despite this, they consider that they have reached the center of guidance and are proceeding upon the celestial spheres of the mind. On the contrary, they are plunged in the depths of idle fancies and are wandering lost in the wildernesses of vain imaginings. Arise then with power from God and strength from His Sovereignty call out to the negligent: “How long will you gallop in the deserts of ignorance? The flashes of inner meanings lighten the heaven of the spirit and ignite the horizons with the fire of God which hath appeared from the Sinaitic Tree upon the Mount of Eternity. Verily, O Concourse of Lovers, draw near to it so that you may be warmed by it, be guided by it, be ignited by a glowing brand from it and may hear its sighing!”

Say: “The eyes of all things have been consoled by entering into the Presence of their Lord while you do not perceive. All created things have been aroused while you remain negligent. All existence has arisen while you slumber upon the cushions of negligence. The tongues of all things are speaking forth in mention of the King of Heaven while you are silent. “If you do not turn towards this Beauty, then to which beauty will you look? If you are not aroused by this call, then by what call will you be aroused? If you are not stirred by this Spirit, by what spirit will you be stirred? Do you count yourselves as being alive? Nay, ye are among the companions of the graves. Do you maintain that you are among those that perceive and hear? Deaf are ye and blind, neither do ye understand. Has the Mercy not anticipated? The Bounty not abounded? The proof not been spoken? The evidences not made clear? The verses not descended or the word not been completed? Have the doves of paradise not sung and has heaven not been brought near? Has the blessed Tree not given fruit and the oceans of mystery billowed forth? Nay, the most mighty battle (waqi’ah) has occurred and the most great calamity (tamah) has appeared and all things have been gathered and resurrected (hashara) in the presence of God, the Protector, the Everlasting, even as the unbelievers are wandering astray in their drunkenness!” VIII. And among the things that God has intended by these consummate words are the bodily stages and physical (nasut) realities, together with their accidents and specifications in their realm and domain. And the meaning of His words, may His station be exalted: “Al-Rum was overcome” is that the bodily stages pass away with the manifestation of the spiritual verses and the rivers of reality inundate the earths of the pure hearts when the All-Merciful is mounted upon His Most Mighty Throne in the midst of all beings. For the armies of the spirit fall upon and attack the troops upon the Day of the Return with the power of the Lord of Lords. Thus are the bodily things overthrown and dominion belongs to the things of the Spirit. And in this are signs for those who discern. And among what God has intended by these firm and enduring words is concerning the idle fancies and vain imaginings in the hearts of ordinary people. For during the days when the Sun of Knowledge and Wisdom has set, thou dost witness that idle fancies and vain imaginings have supreme sovereignty among the concourse of created things. Thou dost observe that all are depending upon idle fancies for knowledge and to solve problems, even for matters of the Holy Law and Divine Ordinances. They have no capacity to swim in the oceans of knowledge nor to plunge the depths of wisdom. When the Sun of Certitude doth shine forth from the clear horizon, however, the rays of the Divine Beauty doth cause the darkness of idle fancies and vain imaginings to disappear. Then doth the tongue of creation speak forth saying: the Truth hath come and Error hath disappeared. Verily Error was bound to vanish. O Friend! Speak forth with a wondrous tongue: Thine is the bounty, the grace, the mercy, and the beneficence upon this servant who is not worthy of anything in Thy Kingdom in that Thou hast saved me from the wilderness of idle fancies and hast caused me to seek shelter amidst the twigs of the Tree of knowledge. O Lord! Cause me to be firm in Thy Love and to arise to 69

assist Thy Cause and to establish Thy Rule. Make me one of Thy banners among Thy servants that I may be a focal point for Thine inspiration and may be assisted by Thy signs. Verily, Thou art powerful over all things by Thy Might and sovereignty, O Thou Beloved of the worlds. IX. And among what God has intended by these comprehensive words are THE STAGES OF THE SOUL (maqamat al-nafs) and the states thereof, its degrees, its elevation and diminution, its ascent and its fall, out of the bounty of its Creator, the generosity of its Originator and the power of its Source. Know thou that the soul has various stages (maratib) and uncountable degrees (darajat). But its totality in the stages of existence is confined and limited to: The stable mineral soul (nafs jamadiyya ma‘daniyya) The growing vegetative soul (nafs namiya nabatiyya) The sensing animal soul (nafs haywaniyya hassasiyya) The earthly human soul (nafs nasutiyya insaniyya) The commanding soul (nafs ammara) The blaming soul (nafs lawwama) The inspired soul (nafs mulhama) The contented soul (nafs mutma’inna) The accepting soul (nafs radiya) The accepted soul (nafs mardiyya) The perfect soul (nafs kamila) The soul of the Kingdom of God (nafs malakutiyya) The soul of the Dominion of Power (nafs jabarutiyya) The soul of the Heavenly Court of the Divine Empyrean (nafs lahutiyya qudsiyya) As for “the mineral soul,” it consists of intrinsic matter in the form of minerals and this is its perfection, its purity and the effects that appear from it. And so observe the precious stones that are mined; how they are heated within the bowels of the earth until they reach their perfection and beauty through the appearance of this soul within them and the emergence of their essential qualities through this process. And as for “the growing vegetable soul,” it consists of an essence within which arises the vegetative power through which seeds, leaves, branches and trees grow and develop in that it takes matter and elements and gives these to the trees and plants so that they grow and mature. They grow and extend their branches and give forth their fruits, their flowers and their leaves. And as for “the animal soul,” it consists of an essence within which arises the powers of sensing those physical things that can sensed.

And as for “the human soul,” it consists of the rational-soul that is to say an essence within which arises the powers of the human being, the outer and inner senses, the divine perfections and knowledge, the heavenly sciences, the eternal arts, and the hidden wisdom. Likewise, it is the place where dark passions and earthly (nasut) failings appear. Praise be to God for this astonishing sign, this mighty matter, this comprehensive word on the scroll of existence. For thou dost observe that it has various stations, diverse stages of ascent and manifold degrees to which there is no end. It has the capacity to be the mirror for the manifestation of the realities of the realm of the Primal Will (lahut) and the place wherein the divine and perfect attributes are revealed and appear. It also capable of descending into existential darkness, where it is veiled with thick veils arising from its limitations and its specific qualities which prevent it from attaining to its origin and point of return and hide from it the signs of its Creator which have been deposited with in it through the grace of its Maker. On account of its progression to the stages of nearness and reunion and its descent into the regions of perdition and error, it is clothed in each stage and station in clothes that are different from the previous. Therefore it is known in each stage by a particular term. For example, in its descent into the lowest stations of animal passions, its preoccupation with the trivialities of this vile world, its infatuation with evil and ephemeral desires, its congealment from the coldness of the contingent world, its extinguishing of the heat of the love of its Lord, the Mighty, the Generous, its fall and its descent into the turmoil of error and its excessive preoccupation with reprehensible and brutish actions, it is known as “the commanding soul” (nafs ammara) * as He hath said, and His word is the truth: “Verily, the soul commands to evil unless My Lord hath mercy upon it” (Q. 12:53). Then it progresses from this dire state and this base level to a station wherein there comes to it from time to time an awareness of the depths of its embroilment in danger, of its descent into the abyss of heedlessness, its treading such pathways, its self-concealment from its Lord God, its neglect of its Creator, its bewilderment in the wilderness of error and passion, and its forgetfulness of the mention of God the King, the Mighty, the All-High. On occasions, there passes over it the breeze of the perception of its state and it is awoken to a slight extent. It then blames itself for the depths that it perceives of its immersion in the tribulations of heedlessness and transgression and reproaches itself when it sees itself bewildered in the deserts of perversity and error. It regrets its baseness and its vile state in the lowest degrees of error and ruinous passions and its concealment behind the accumulated veils which prevent it from ascending to lofty spiritual stations and distract it from the remembrance of God through the evil whisperings of Satan. And so on account of its regret and remorse concerning its station and its blaming itself it is called “the blaming soul” (nafs lawwama)--as He hath said, may His name be magnified: “No, I will swear by the blaming soul” (Q. 75:2).

nafs ammara: The soul that commands to evil, e.g., the insistent self. ‘Abdu’l-Baha states: “O ye loved ones of God! In this, the Baha’i dispensation, God’s Cause is spirit unalloyed. His Cause belongeth not to the material world. It cometh neither for strife nor war, nor for acts of mischief or of shame; it is neither for quarrelling with other Faiths, nor for conflicts with the nations. Its only army is the love of God, its only joy the clear wine of His knowledge, its only battle the expounding of the Truth; its one crusade is against the insistent self, the evil promptings of the human heart. Its victory is to submit and yield, and to be selfless is its everlasting glory.”

And when the soul progressed from this lowly, brutish and abased state and ascended to a more noble, more fortunate, nearer, concealed location, it was assisted by the confirmations of God and inspired by the contents of its own book--as it is said: “Read thou thy book, sufficient is it for thy soul as an account against thee on this day” (Q. 17:14). Then there came to it the signs of inspiration and the reality of day became apparent to it from that of night and it was summoned to the shore of the ocean of experiential-knowledge (irfan), was sustained by holy foods from the gardens of paradise, harvested the fruits of the tree of beneficence, drank from the streams of bounty and grace, benefited from the eternal bounty, and tasted the sweetness of blessings. It came to understand the cause of its elevation and degradation, its ascent and descent, and its rising and setting as it ought to be. It reflected upon its state, its plight became clear to it, and this led it to become averse to those things that perish (faniyyat) and to incline towards those things that endure (baqiyyat). It closes its eyes to those things that exist and turns instead to the Court of the Almighty, the All-Compelling. It anticipates the call of the Concourse on High and turns its attention to those things that will cause it to ascend until it reaches the throne of assurance and the seat of gratitude. It becomes the focal point of inspiration among humanity. It discovers as a result of its efforts and strivings those beneficial things which will lead it to its purpose and goal. Then it is termed the “the inspired soul” (nafs mulhama) for it is inspired as to that which leads it to depravation or to righteousness--as He hath said, blessed and glorified be He: “By the soul and what is like unto it, He inspired it as to that which leads it to depravation or to righteousness” (Q. 91:7-8). And in a station which awakens it to the mention of its Lord and arouses it to the call of its Creator from the slumber of vain imaginings and brings its attention to the remembrance of God, the Almighty the All-Knowing, to its arising and ascent to the stations of love and assurance, its immersion in the Ocean of Certitude, its recognition of the signs of God in the dawning-places of contingent being, the horizons of existence and the breaths of the All-Merciful, the appearance of the evidence of Divine Oneness from the dayspring of heaven, its entrance into and remaining in the heart of paradise, its simmering in the heat of the love of its Lord, the Almighty, the Beneficent, its pathway and passage to God the All-Powerful, the Ruler of Paradise, its setting on the throne of calmness and repose, and its drinking from the chalice of firmness and constancy at all times. Then it is termed “the assured soul” (nafs mutma’inna) because it is assured in its faith, its turmoil and unrest is calmed, it has quenched its thirst, soothed its torment, it has thinned and removed its veils, it has changed its darkness to light, it has ended its futility, its shortcomings have turned to perfection, it has pierced its veils, torn its coverings, revealed its secrets, shaken its foundations and unloaded its burdens. It has reported the tidings that your Lord has revealed to it. Exalted is God, its guide and its savior, the One Who illumines it and forms it, above all that the ignorant have said. And when it has reached this most mighty and perfect station, this most pleasant, most pure, most sweet destination, and has drunk from these clear spring waters of Saba (the East Wind), it will attain to the station of submission and contentment, it will leave behind its searching and neediness and will entrust its affairs to God, the Mighty and Eternal King. It will rely upon Him and recline against the cushion of His bounty and beneficence. It will not see in this station anything that is inconsistent with its contentment (rida) and it does not prefer the greatest ease to the most mighty calamity. Indeed it is content with (radiya) and accepts whatever God may decree for it and thou wilt observe it joyful and happy when troubles descend and grateful and 72

thankful when the oceans of misfortunes and disaster billow forth. Even were the arrows of misfortune and grief to issue forth from the clouds of destiny and the rains of sorrow and adversity to descend upon it, thou wouldst observe it wetting its tongue with praise of its Lord, the Help-in-Peril, and eloquently expounding in mention of the Generous King. This is a station which, wert thou to attain unto it, thou wouldst arrive at a happiness which would not be followed by sadness, a joy which is not succeeded by grief, an ease and comfort that does not end in distress and hardship, a prosperity that does not turn to destitution and misfortune, for the might of thy Lord has grasped firmly the reins of affairs. “The earth is His handful on the Day of Resurrection, while the heavens will be rolled up in His right hand. Praised be to Him and Exalted is He above everything that they ascribe as partner unto Him” (Q. 39:67). Thus is it that not a leaf stirs upon a tree nor does a fruit fall except by the will of Thy Lord, the Merciful, the Compassionate. For the seeker in this exalted station there remains no will, no rest, no motion, no destiny nor any fate except in God. Indeed, his essence, his attributes, his being, his very sense of self all fade away overwhelmed by the signs of Divine Oneness, just as the shadows disappear when the preexistent sun shines forth. And when his will has faded away and vanished in the Will of the One True God, and his will has become identical to His Will, and his pleasure is the same as His pleasure, and the veils have been lifted, the coverings have disappeared, and idolatry (shirk) has vanished from the reality of his heart, then does there appear is the soul the sign of acceptance. Then on account of its acceptance of the decree of its Creator and its submission to the command of its Maker, it is known as “an accepting soul” (nafs radiya). Insofar as all-encompassing blessings and mercy reach it, bounties and favors encompass it, a covering of grace and beneficence enclose it, and God clothes it in the robe of obedience and His favor, the Supreme Concourse addresses it, saying: “Well is it with thee in that thou hast traversed the path and covered the way until thou didst enter into the spring of faithfulness and didst obtain the clear waters of submission and contentment (rida). Thou hast left behind thy passions and accepted the decree of Thy Lord. Thou hast expended what is thine and sacrificed thy spirit, thy heart and thine inner-self upon the path to thy Lord. This then is thy consolation-thus hast thou attained unto this most exalted station and this most glorious company. Thus hast thou become accepted (mardiyya) and approved in the sight of God, thy Lord, and hast sought the shelter of the bounty of thy Lord, trembling with joy and happiness at His Bounty and Beneficence. Verily, His Grace towards His sincere servants is mighty!” And on account of its rising by means of its acceptance (rida) into the heights of being accepted by God (miraj al-mardiyyah ‘ind Allah), its Lord, and its being approved in its state of nothingness (fana’) by its Creator, it is known as “the accepted soul” (nafs mardiyya). And when it soared on the wings of holiness into the atmosphere of this paradise and tasted of the sweetness of the stations of reunion in the gardens of heaven, these illumined and lofty stations were collected within it; and it arose to this elevated and spiritual degree and there gushed forth from the lofty heights of its reality the springs of the wisdom of eternity 73

(samadaniyyah). It became the focal point of inspiration and the dawning-place for the radiance of the lights of this effulgence and became content with the remembrance of God the Gracious Sovereign. It has become accepting (radiyya) of His decree and accepted (mardiyya) in nothingness (fana’) at His gate, therefore it is known as “the perfect soul” (nafs kamila) on account of its being characterized by these spiritual and divine (rachmani) perfections and being comprised of these essential (jawhariyya) and Godly Attributes. Then is it worthy and prepared for entry into the garden of the Kingdom of God (malakut) which is the paradise of the righteous and the refuge of the free whose faces have been illumined by the glad-tidings of God. In it appears the beauty of the All-Merciful and the sign of the Beneficent One. To these stations do His words, may his Grandeur be magnified, refer: “O thou assured (mutma’inna) soul, return to thy Lord, accepting (radiya) and accepted (mardiyya). Enter among my servants! Enter my paradise!” (Q. 89:27-30). For the garden of refuge, the meads of splendor, the exalted heaven and the All-High Paradise are the pastures of the Kingdom of God (malakut). In this Day, the doors are flung open, its land stretches out, its lights shine forth, its fruits ripen, its blossoms open out, its streams flow, its oceans billow, its springs gush forth, its breezes are gentle, its surface is delicate, its doves sing out, its mouths smile, its sorrows are made joyous, its lightenings flash, its dawnings are filled with light, its birds warble, its palaces are adorned and its joys draw near. Therefore, rise and with the loudest voice proclaim: “Hasten, O ye lovers, to the dawning-place of this Most Ancient Light that shines forth and glistens and head towards this lofty and sublime refuge!” The soul, when it has entered this exalted heaven, this eternal paradise, has sought the dawn of this most luminous day, has entered this most pleasant, most pure place, has taken on perfections, acquired the illumination of the essence (jawahir) of Names and Attributes, has drunk deep from this “cup tempered at the camphor fountain” (Q. 76:5), has roamed throughout these lands, plunged the depths of these seas, and has been guided to this fire kindled and aflame on the Paran of Love, confirms in its reality the word of Divine Unity (kalimat al-tawhid) and establishes in its essence the Sign of Detachment (ayat al-tajrid). It attains to everlasting life and eternal living. It takes pleasure from delights the like of which no eye has seen nor any ear heard. It drinks from the clear springs which flow from the right hand of the Throne of Reality and tastes of the fruit of the tree growing in the midst of Paradise, stirred by the breezes coming from the direction of the Beauteous One, through which the hearts of those who believe in the Divine Unity have been revived and the leaves on the branches of the hearts of the sincere ones have been set in motion. It attains unto the seat (markaz) of eternal life (baqa’) in the shadow of the countenance of its Most Exalted Lord, such that not the slightest trace of the ephemeral (fana’) should be hidden within it nor the misfortune of evanescence or annihilation befall it--just as He hath said, and His word is the truth: “All that are thereon (upon the earth) shall perish (fana’) and there remaineth but the Countenance of thy Lord, full of Glory and Honor” (Q. 55:27-8). And when the soul hath unfolded the wings of the Spirit, been attracted by the Joy of God, hath soared to the Most Exalted Horizon, hath sought the Most-Glorious Companion (Rafiqika’lABHA), it doth ascend to the divine station of the Realm of the Power and Dominion of God (jabarut) and is assisted by an overwhelming and all-conquering Force and Energy and by the intricate and Ancient Secret and by the noble and Mighty Mystery. It becomes aware of the secrets of hidden and invisible realities which consumes in envy the hearts of the mystic 74

knowers. It is imprinted by the rays shining forth from the Sun of Truth and by its effects and comes to resemble its appearance and its light in every state and condition. It ascends to a station that God hath made to be far above the understanding of the minds of men, for this station is created out of the elements of power, strength, might, authority, sovereignty, omnipotence, protection, and freedom and nothing that has limitations or pluralities has any resemblance to it. On the contrary it is the very essence (jawhar) of Unity, the Substance of Singleness and abstraction, the Light of Lights, the Mystery of Mysteries, the Furthermost Tree (Sidrat’ulMuntaha), the exalted rank, the all-highest station, the Masjid al-Aqsa (the furthermost mosque), and the ultimate goal in the world of creation (alam-i-Khalq) even though perfections have no beginning nor end to them and are beyond all limitations. Well is it with the one who has entered this Holy, Noble and Mighty station. And as for “the Divine Soul” (nafs ilahiyya), it consists of the Universal Reality which brings together all of the Divine realities of the realm (lahut) of Primal Manifestation and the eternal secrets, the outer aspect of which is the Ancient Light and the inner aspect is the Most Mighty and Sublime Mystery, the Primal Point from which appear all things and to which they revert, from which they originate and to which they return. Thus is it the Primal Oneness (ahadiyya) in its essence and the derived Oneness (wahidiyya) in its attributes. And from it there appears plurality through manifestation (zuhur) and illumination, and it becomes divided, dispersed and manifold, and radiates. And so the horizons and souls become filled and illumined by it on the Day of the Covenant, and on account of it the Tabernacles of Unity tremble and are set in motion. From it there grow the branches of the Tree of Oneness and by it they are clothed in the primal garment and the Most Perfect Light. And from a single sign (ayat) from it there appear all of the Divine Names to which human realities can attain and from a mark (simah) from it there grow forth all of the true hidden Divine Attributes. And so it is the Center of the Circle of existence through the manifestation (zuhur) of “There is no God but God” and the axis of the Sphere of Eternity, around which circles the star of Oneness and Unity, such that all of the hidden realities circle around this point of Oneness in the realm of the Divine Empyrean of Primal Manifestation (nuqtah al-ahadiyyah al-lahutiyyah) and all of the subtle luminous essences (kaynunat) derive from this flame which is kindled, ablaze and speaking forth in the Tree of Humanity saying: “There is no God but He, the Mighty, the Powerful, the Eternal!” This Soul consists of the reality of the sanctified persons and true thrones--the horsemen of human intelligence can never gallop in this pasture nor can the birds of the mind of creatures travel in this land. Only the sincere ones among them receive the great bounty of the rays of this Most Luminous Light in their haste and progress towards the state of nothingness (fana’) at the gate of the Mighty King. Wretched and condemned are the people who imagine that they have attained unto their highest station when they have not even circled around their inner sanctuary. How can the gnats of ephemeral being (fana’) vie with the Phoenix of the Dawning-place of Eternity (baqa’). Why is it that for a putrid, salty, bitter drop, they reject the sweet, clear and billowing sea. To whatever extent they who seek to rise to the highest stations of mystic knowledge may ascend or to whatever high station in the degrees of Certitude (iqan) they that hold fast to the Divine Unity (tawhid) may climb, they are only reading the letters of the book of their own souls (Q. 17:14), only attaining the sign that is refulgent, deposited, incorporated, and concealed within the 75

realities of their own inner being (kaynunatihim) and only revolving around the centers of the circles of their own essential natures (dhatiyyatihim). And as for the stages that are above their worlds and beyond their attainment, they are not able to seek information about them nor to understand them. Observe with the eye of reality physical (kharijiyyah), created things. You will see that everything else is not able to understand what is above it even were it to progress in its station to the highest degree of (its own) existence, even as thou dost witness that the mineral however much it may progress and ascend to the summit of perfection is unable to know or to understand the station of the vegetable. And similarly, however much the plant may increase in splendor and growth, it can never become aware of the reality of the animal. And in the same way, the animal however much it may improve its goodness, splendor and proportions, it will never possess knowledge of the essence (huwiyyat) of humanity nor of its realities, states and attributes. Know thou therefore that, in the variety of their stages, degrees and stations, souls are bound by this condition--that none of them are able to transgress their limits or station. No bird is able to fly above the upper limit of its flight. And if matters are thus among these created, contingent, physical (kharijiyya) beings which share pertinent and similar aspects, then how much more so between the stations of contingent reality and those of the realities of Primal Manifestation, which the human intellect fails to understand, souls become confused in trying to know, tongues are powerless to explain, and the wings of the birds of hearts and minds are too feeble to fly to the heights of elucidating it. X. Let us now return to our theme of the stations of the soul and its degree and conditions, its elevation and decline and its exaltation. We have stated that this Most Great Sign in one station confirms the soul and its degrees and is transformed from stage to stage and from station to station. For in each degree it leaves behind its limitations and its condition. It seizes possession through its efforts of the signs of the degree that is above it and it leaves behind its former condition through tests which purify it (tuzakki ha), refine it, cleanse it and make it detached from whatsoever is not worthy in it in the path of its Creator. And when it is released and saved from all of the lower degrees and ascends with the help of its Originator and Fashioner to a high degree, it gains a victory over the power of the lower degrees and vanquishes the hosts of the realities of the base states. Then understand what He, glorified be He, hath said: “The Byzantines were overthrown”--that is to say it has overthrown and caused to diminish and fade away “the commanding soul” (nafs ammara) through the misfortune of the thunderbolts that fell upon it from the realms of the Kingdom (malakut) and the flaming-fire that entered upon it from the repositories of the Dominion of Power and Command (jabarut). Then was it aided by the hosts of guidance and victory and assisted by the Angels of Spirit and righteousness. It was awakened from its slumber and its negligence and it ended its immersion, its decline and abasement and bore witness to its fall and its lowly condition. Then it called to mind its condition, refined its vision, purified its sight until it came to know its state and what it was that veiled it and hindered it and became a cause for its remoteness, denial, negligence, and inebriation. Then it grasped hold of the hem of Grace and Mercy and supplicated God and took refuge in His Presence, until it ascended and was 76

saved from that state and stage and entered the loftiest station (maqam). Thus was it transformed in its stations and degrees and was victorious over and over again until it went back to its origin and returned to its center and was clothed in the robe of its perfection and entered the shadow of its Lord, the Seat of Truth in the presence of the All-Mighty King. O thou who art kindled and aglow with the fire of the love of God! Know thou that were this servant to wish to interpret this Divine (lahut) verse in all of the hidden stations and Divine realities and in the stations of Jabarut and Malakut, the existent realities, the seen and unseen worlds, the manifestations of Primal Oneness and the states of conditioned Oneness, the spiritual essences (kaynunat), the foundations of the heart, the explicit appearance (masha‘ir) of the Reality and of the Soul and that which pertains and is supplementary to this with the most complete exposition and the most perfect explanation, he would be able to do so--with the help of God, and His Power and Grace and confirmation! But souls are not able nor do they have the capacity to hear it and understand it. Therefore do we hold the pen back from exposition and movement and give to you these keys of elucidation. Therefore open--by the power of your Lord--all of the doors that have been shut in your face so that you may be aware of the hidden and concealed mysteries of God, may witness and reveal the preserved and guarded secret, may travel in that spacious and mighty Kingdom, plunge into that swelling and billowing sea and that mighty and rolling ocean, glean from the bright stars of light by the Grace of the King of Manifestation. By the Lord of forgiveness and the well-known beauty of gratitude! Were one of the sincere ones to turn to God in this Most Great Day and see with the purest vision, he would understand all of the realities and meanings of every word of the verses of God, the Eternal Protector--nay indeed, every letter and every dot. For realities and meanings in their entirety flow forth within their inner aspect and streams burst forth from them and oceans billow within them. Well is it with those who attain thereunto! These meanings which we have set forth appear and are made manifest from this blessed verse when we read “the Byzantines are overthrown”--that is to say in the passive form, but if we read it in the active form, there appear from it other meanings which there is no opportunity today to explain and make clear and to uncover its mysteries and secrets. We leave that for another time. We trust in God in all matters and we seek help from the cord of His Mercy and Grace. Verily He gives answers to the questioner and wealth to the needy.

TABLET OF THE CITY OF RADIANT-ACQUIESCENCE (Lawh-i-Madinatu’r-Rida) --Baha’u’llah-IN THE NAME OF GOD, THE EXALTED, THE MOST HIGH! Remind his servant of God’s clemency in truth, that he might be honored thereby among the concourse of the worlds, and might give thanks to his Lord at all times, insofar as God’s bounties to him and the people of the heavens and the earth have been completed. This is from a Book wherein is mentioned that which will bring the people near to the Court of the Holy, the Manifest. It bears witness that there is no God but Him and all are His servants, and all shall return to Him. The likeness of those who listen to the melodies of God and follow them is: A light illumined by the radiance of God, the Mighty, the All-Powerful. Likewise, gaze at the crystal that ignites fires when the sun shines on it. This is a reminder from Us to those who remember. Say, O people of the earth: If you sanctify your souls and spirits, you will find them more fine than crystal, and this is an indisputable truth. And if you allow God, your Creator, to shine on them, there would be reflected in them the Word of God, the Help in Peril, the Uncreated. Then the fire of nearness would be ignited therein, whereby your physical and ethereal bodies would be illumined, as would everything that pertains to you. Thus would the torch of love be kindled in the bush of your soul, which would burn away the veils that come between you and the splendor of the Divine Countenance. Thus do we teach you the paths of the soul, that you might be among the mystic knowers. Say: If the odor of evanescence lingers in your heart with regard to this world and its baubles, you shall never perceive the fragrance of immortality from the coat of the Holy, the Radiant One. Follow, people of the earth, what God had enjoined upon you and do not differ with regard to the ordinances ordained in the Book. Then hold fast to the Sure Handle of God (Urvat’ul-Vuthqa), the Omnipotent, the Magnificent, the All-Praised. In truth, in this Tablet the dove warbles the songs of everlasting life and speaks to you from the kingdoms of the Spirit. Herein is guidance and a reminder to the believers. Thus does God single out for His compassion whomever He pleases, and reveals to you from the heaven of glory mighty and wondrous fruits! Say: O People of the earth, the lamp of light has been ignited within the glass of sanctity, whereby the Concourse of Eternal Life has been illumined. Fear God, and do not veil yourselves from Him. The ark of God has been fashioned by the hands of the angels of paradise. So cling to it, people of the explanations and commentaries (Bayan). It is better for you than the treasures and the glorious and sparkling gems found in the earth. The Sun of Beauty has risen to the zenith, but you are lying in the beds of heedlessness, deprived of this grace that even the eyes of the near ones have never seen. Fear God, then set out on the paths of radiant-acquiescence in the Days of God, the Powerful, the Splendid, the All-Praised. If you do not know His paths, We shall teach them to you in truth by virtue of a letter that God revealed to Me so as to complete His proof to all those who are in the realm. Know that radiant-acquiescence has infinite stages. We shall instruct you in them by means of the words God makes to flow from My Pen (qalam). This shall enable you to dispense with all that the ancients and moderns possess. Whoever wishes to tread the path of radiant-acquiescence 78

must be content with God, his Creator, and with what He has ordained for him and written with an Exalted Pen in truth, and with whatever He has specified in Holy and guarded Tablets. He must be content with himself. But no one can attain this state until he has severed himself from all who are in the heavens and the earth, if you be among the mystic knowers. For if a human being commits the least iniquity within himself, he will not be content with himself. This is that which We have shown you in truth, so that you might be content and might ascend to the station wherein honey and poison are the same, since both are decreed by the Mighty, the Ordainer. Were someone to worship God from all eternity and yet abhors within himself any of the calamities and adversities that have afflicted him, his name shall not be entered in the Tablets as among those who are content with the Holy and Radiant Pen. For those who claim in themselves the love of God but who regret their tribulations in His path cannot rightly be called content. This is what we say to you in truth, that you might be steadfast in love. How can someone assert that he has the love of God in his heart and then despise what befalls him from his Beloved, the Mighty, the Generous? Or that he is content with the friends of God in the land and is humble before the believers? For if he deems himself above the believers, it is as though he has grown haughty toward God. We take refuge in God from that, O Concourse of the Sincere! Whoever is content with God, his Lord, will be content with His servants, who have believed in Him and His signs on the Day whereon all who are in the heavens and the earth have swooned. For a servant’s satisfaction with God cannot be demonstrated save by his satisfaction with the friends of God, who have detached themselves from everything but God and depended on Him. Await, then, the day whereon the trump shall be sounded, the dove shall warble, the gates of paradise shall be thrown open, and God shall come with a wondrous Cause. Therefore, hasten to him, people of the explanations and commentaries (Bayan), and do not hesitate for less than an instant. This is the basis of radiant-acquiescence. Do not differ regarding it, O Concourse of Near Ones. At that time you will discover the breezes of radiant-acquiescence from the east of sanctity. You shall be overcome by yearning and you shall be transformed upon the seat of the Mighty, the Trustworthy. Beware, people of the explanations and commentaries (Bayan), that you do not delay within yourselves. Do not veil yourselves from the Beauty of God, the Glorious, the All-Praised. By God, it is better for you to stand in His Presence once than to possess all that is on earth and in the heavens. But you, who have asked of God, rejoice in yourself, for you have arrived at The City of Radiant-Acquiescence and wended your way to the Squares of Sanctity! At this time, We bear witness to you that you have soared into the heaven of contentment. You have avoided your own regions and drawn near to the precincts of God, the Mighty, the Generous. You have emigrated from your homeland and journeyed unto God, until you arrived in the place that is visited by the people of the Pavilions of Eternity at morn and eve. Blessed are you and those like you, whom God has enabled to attain to the Shore of Eternity along the Crimson Sea. They hastened to the melodies of God from behind the veils of power. Then they made pilgrimage to the place around which circumambulate the bushes of Sinai, wherein all beings, whether among the ancients or the moderns, have removed their sandals.

Then know that your love for God is God’s good-pleasure with you and your good-pleasure with him. This is the religious path that was ordained by the right hand of God’s wisdom, and it shall not change with a change of prophets, nor is it renewed by the advent of a new messenger. Rather, all enjoin this upon the people, and it is a trust of God deposited in the hearts of the sincere. This is what suffices you above all else. Whoever attains this flowing spring shall never forsake an iota of the Book, and shall only be pleased with what God desires for him. Thus do we set forth for you the verses in truth, so that you might attain Certitude (Iqan). After you revive your Spirit by means of the warbling of the dove and renew the Temple of your soul with the robe of immortality, then return to the House of God in your own land and spread the gladtidings from Us among those who rejoice in the gladness of the Spirit. Remind them of the verses of God and be as the breezes of spring to the people of your homeland, whereby they may renew their souls and spirits. This is what We command you in truth if you are among those who hear. You shall never be capable of this unless you turn toward God with your entire being and unless you reject all that is in the hands of the people. Once you have renewed yourself then you will be able to renew the people. This is what the dove counsels you in truth, so that you might be among the reformers who have been encompassed by the guidance of God, who have tasted the sweetness of love and drunk from the springs that flow from the direction of a mighty throne. Then remind for Us all those who believe in God and his verses in your land, as well as those who have emigrated unto God and entered into the precincts of God, the Glorious, the Noble. Among them is K, who has surpassed all others in virtue, and whom We are at this time mentioning in the Book as among the myriad of saints. Also among them is Q, who emigrated toward God in his days and was among the devout. They include H, who emigrated and then returned with our permission, who was immersed in the ocean of love. R heard the melodies of the dove and entered under the shadow of God, the Mighty, the Knowing. Among them are they who emigrated and returned, but whose names we have not mentioned, all of whom have attained a high station with regard to virtue, which none among the creation can comprehend. God will manifest to them the fruits of their deeds and they shall soar with sapphire wings into the garden of the Holy, the Generous. Some made the journey with their hearts, and their names were inscribed by the Pen of Power upon glorious and inaccessible Tablets. The doors of paradise shall be thrown open before their faces, and they shall enter therein by virtue of Our peace and compassion, where they shall reside. By God, were He to manifest to the people of the heavens and the earth an incalculably small portion of what He has decreed for those who journeyed and emigrated unto God, all would be led to the wondrous and sacred shore. But all have been veiled as a result of what they have committed in the Days of God, and they were another, evil people. Say: O Concourse of Believers! Be patient at what has befallen you and be not anxious concerning the harm and suffering that have afflicted you. He shall bestow full recompense upon the long-suffering. The world and its people shall pass away, and all shall return to their abode in the fire, nor is there any escape for them from the vengeance of the Lord, the Conquering, the Subduing, the Mighty, the Omnipotent. Say: O People of the earth! Do you not see the transformations occurring in the land, and the changes the earth is undergoing, such that no second goes by without most affairs therein suffering an alteration? Therefore, what sign 80

reassures your hearts and souls? Woe unto you! Upon what basis have you acted in this vain life? For you have advanced toward your base selves, and turned away from the One who created you, nourished you, and showed greater compassion to you than has any other. Say: By God, you are only as a wayfarer resting in the shade of a tree. But that shade is of necessity ephemeral, and you must not repose your confidence in it or in anything that will pass away. Put your trust in what does not perish, in what endures in the immortality of God, the Everlasting, the Eternal, the Glorious. Have you found that your mornings are like your evenings, or that your youth is like your old age? All this is a reminder to you, Muslims. The contradictions apparent in all things were only ordained to remind you of the impermanence of your selves, so that you might become aware of it and not be obdurate. Hold fast instead to the cord of God, then firmly grasp the firm handle of the explanations and commentaries (Bayan). This is what was writ for you by the finger of the Glorious, the True. Thus have We taught you the gems of knowledge, acquainted you with the wonders of wisdom, spoken to you of the realities of mystical insight, and shown you the paths of paradise--so that thereby your hearts and the hearts of the mystic knowers might be reassured. Praise be to the Lord of the worlds, and mercy be upon you, followers of the explanations and commentaries (Bayan). Behold, I desire to sever Myself from all names, and to call out to My Lord with the melodies that enthrall the hearts of the people of Tawhid. * Praise be unto Thee, O God, My God. Send to Your lovers what will refresh their hearts and calm their souls, so that they might make mention of You aloud just as they make mention of You in their hearts. That is within Your power, which encompasses both the easy and the hard. My Beloved! Raise the standards of Your triumph and victory above the people of Your Kingdom, that they might gather together in the shade of Your loving-kindness. These are the scattered, who have dispersed throughout Your lands, and shall never find for themselves a refuge save with You, or a sanctuary other than You, or an asylum except for You. Then gather them beneath the shadow of the Tree of Your loving-kindness and honor them with Your grace, and verily You are the Most Generous of the Generous. You know, My Beloved, what Your enemies have done to Your friends, such that they usurped from them everything You had bestowed upon them by Your munificence and inflicted on them that of which no ear had ever heard. In every land their blood was shed, and on every pyre their bodies were cremated. How many a little one was left with no elder, how many a mother wailed for her son, and how many a son wept for his father. You have reckoned all of that, and were witness to it. In truth, My God, You witness and see how tyranny has encompassed Your earth and Your countries such that the traits of Justice will not be visible to anyone. All have followed the demons, and affairs have nearly reached the point where Your Name and Attributes have been lifted from the earth. All have adopted a deity for themselves other than You. You are, concerning all this, Knowing, Informed. The darkness of heedlessness has encompassed all the people of Your earth, such that were any of Your servants to mention Your Name, they would ridicule him. My heart, and the breasts of the people of Tawhid, have burned at this. By Your glory, My Beloved, I shall never find any of Your servants following Your path, nor shall I ever perceive from them the fragrance of Your Love. All have adopted this world for themselves as a protector, save for those who returned to You and were among the returnees. *

People of Divine Unity.

Every day I associate with the servants, and I see them heedless of You, such that they turn their faces toward every countenance but not toward Your Illumined Visage, and they turn toward every city save the City of Your Glorious Divinity. It is as though it was not You who had created them and nourished them. Thus have We found affairs to be among those idolaters. Abasement has reached the point where Your friends will be unable to make mention of You, and when they wish to recite Your words they will have to hide in their homes. Thus have the hearts of the lovers been filled with sorrow. If you accept this state of affairs for Yourself, O My God, then woe betide Your pure ones in your land. How can they hear from Your enemies what does not befit Your station? Would that all of them were struck blind so as not to see it, and struck deaf so as not to hear what is inappropriate to Your Radiant Beauty. In truth, were You to leave them in this condition, by Your Might, the evidences of your sovereignty would be effaced in Your Kingdom, the pillars of Your rule in Your land would be demolished, and Your Name and emblem would be erased throughout all creation. O My God and My Beloved! Do not make them wait, after matters have come to this. Rather, reveal to them what will turn them toward You. Then remove this lad who has arisen against You with his entire being, and those who followed him in his passions, so as to purify Your sanctified land from those infidels. I know, O my God, that You desired this every year, but it did not occur because You changed Your mind, and this is the evident truth. Then send down, O My God, Your fixed Decrees and effective Laws, which can never be repelled by a change of mind or altered by selfish passion. Then fix all this, My Beloved, upon glorious and preserved Tablets and in a holy and wise Book that shall never be effaced and which shall not be subject to limitations, but rather in which matters shall be inscribed by the Mighty Pen of Command. Then decree thereafter, My God, what is good for Your servants, for in Your hand is all good. In truth, You are the Ruler, the Judge, the Knowing, the Giving, the Wise. How long, O My God, will You forebear toward Your Own enemies? By Your glory, Your Patience has reached the point where Your servants complain of the wonders of Your Might, rather they have become convinced it does not exist, whereas I remain certain that You are powerful over all things. In truth, You are the Most Powerful of the Powerful! You know that My anxiety was not for Myself, nor for the abasement of Your lovers. Rather, I see that all have risen in opposition to You and Your Beauty, and have ridiculed Your verses. For this reason, My breast burns, My inmost soul cries out, and My eye weeps. In truth, You know what is in My soul, and You encompass all things. Therefore, My Beloved, forgive Me and My offenses, which I have committed in Your Presence, for My very mention of You is a sin unmatched by anything in the heavens or on earth. Then forgive My parents, My loved ones, My kith and kin. In truth, You are the Most Merciful of the Merciful. Then forgive the one who hurried unto You and arrived in Your Presence, and his parents. Do not seize hold of them, My Beloved, for their offenses and sins. Rather, show compassion to them and show them forbearance. In truth, You are the Most Clement of the Clement, and the Most Generous of the Generous! This is a Book from Baha to all who are in the heavens and on earth. Praise be to God, Lord of all the worlds!

QIBLIH ESTABLISHED FOR 500,000 YEARS --Baha’u’llah-ONE SHOULD NOT PAY ATTENTION TO THE ENEMIES, HE SAITH, EXALTED BE HE: Erelong you will hear the call of the clamorous impostor, don’t pay attention to him, but leave him to himself. Set your faces toward Him Who is the Qiblih, the Object of the Adoration of all humankind, Who has fulfilled the proof with this Proof that is revealed through the power of truth (Haqq)! The Lights have attained their consummation in this Horizon, the source whence the Splendor of Might and Grandeur is diffused. Blessed is the soul that hath been brought up as the servant with respect to God in that which has been sent down in the Scrolls and the Tablets. Say: If in each day another one is manifested, the Cause of God will not find rest in the cities and the lands. This is the Manifestation that manifests His Own Self every Five-Hundred-Thousand years time only once. Moreover, We unveiled the cover and we lifted the veil. Blessed is he that recognized the Purpose of God; and in his recognition (irfan) has rejoiced in his heart and been made firm in the Cause such that he cannot be made to stumble by the entire creation. Verily We unveiled in this Tablet a secret wrapt in secrets--and in this Revelation We have concealed that which is the Hidden, lest the tumult of the wicked rise.

THE UNITY MEETING (Nineteen Day Unity Feasts) --‘Abdu’l-Baha-O Thou kind Lord! These are Thy servants who have gathered in this meeting, have turned unto Thy kingdom and are in need of Thy bestowal and blessing. O Thou God! Manifest and make evident the signs of Thy oneness which have been deposited in all the realities of life. Reveal and unfold the virtues which Thou hast made latent and concealed in these human realities. O God! We are as plants, and Thy bounty is as the rain; refresh and cause these plants to grow through Thy bestowal. We are Thy servants; free us from the fetters of material existence. We are ignorant; make us wise. We are dead; make us alive. We are material; endow us with spirit. We are deprived; make us the intimates of Thy mysteries. We are needy; enrich and bless us from Thy boundless treasury. O God! Resuscitate us; give us sight; give us hearing; familiarize us with the mysteries of life, so that the secrets of Thy kingdom may become revealed to us in this world of existence and we may confess Thy oneness. Every bestowal emanates from Thee; every benediction is Thine. Thou art mighty. Thou art powerful. Thou art the Giver, and Thou art the EverBounteous. I. The Unity Meeting: You should celebrate splendidly, and with one another you should be exceedingly kind and affectionate so that this may astonish the people of that city. In the meeting you should speak of the teachings of His Holiness, Baha’u’llah, deal with their details and explain the fruits they produce, which results have generated such great earthquakes in the East (spiritual regeneration). You should explain how the different hostile religions which were thirsty for one another’s blood have been brought together by them (the teachings of Baha’u’llah) under the pavilion of uniformity, that is, the Oneness of the world of Humanity! II. Now, O faithful friends and companions of that Bright Countenance! Is it becoming that we should sit idle, even for one moment, practice delay, and seek ease and comfort, so that we be exposed to temptation and indolence, be occupied with our own thoughts and lose our hearts to strangers and kindred? Nay, by GOD, we ought not to rest for one moment, day nor night; we ought not to pollute our pure hearts with the attachment to this world:--we must prepare Divine Assemblies, establish Feasts of Love, sing the melody of the Most Glorious Kingdom accompanied with stringed instruments and with drums and flutes; hasten, dancing and laughing with joy, to the altar of martyrdom, and offer body and soul, head and trunk, as a sacrifice! III. O dear friend! The darkness of error hath encompassed the world; it is now the time to spread the light of guidance. The world hath wholly become the tomb of the dead; it is now time that it shall be transformed into palaces of the living. The East and the West have become a thorny desert of oppression; it is time they should become a rose-garden of faithfulness.

You have written concerning the Feast of Remembrance * which you arranged after the Persian manner, at which the friends engaged in serving the beloved ones like unto ‘Abdu’l-Baha: This arrangement of festivities and affection, chanting of Tablets, explaining realities and significances, and this inculcating of the teachings and exhortations of ‘Abdu’l-Baha causeth everlasting life and maketh the hearers as heavenly angels. Whenever such an entertainment is arranged through spiritual sentiments, shining faces and merciful hearts, it is a “Lord’s Supper.” For the brilliancy of the Kingdom of Abha will shine and the spirituality of ‘Abdu’l-Baha become manifest. This is that “Divine Table” of which mention is made in the prophecies: “On that day they shall gather together at the Divine Table;” and “people shall come from the East and West and arrive in His Kingdom.” ***** O Thou kind Lord! Thou hast created all humanity from the same stock. Thou hast decreed that all shall belong to the same household. In Thy Holy Presence they are all Thy servants, and all mankind are sheltered beneath Thy Tabernacle; all have gathered together at Thy Table of Bounty; all are illumined through the light of Thy Providence. O God! Thou art kind to all, Thou hast provided for all, dost shelter all, conferrest life upon all. Thou hast endowed each and all with talents and faculties, and all are submerged in the Ocean of Thy Mercy. O Thou kind Lord! Unite all. Let the religions agree and make the nations one, so that they may see each other as one family and the whole earth as one home. May they all live together in perfect harmony. O God! Raise aloft the banner of the oneness of mankind. O God! Establish the Most Great Peace. Cement Thou, O God, the hearts together. O Thou kind Father, God! Gladden our hearts through the fragrance of Thy love. Brighten our eyes through the Light of Thy Guidance. Delight our ears with the melody of Thy Word, and shelter us all in the Stronghold of Thy Providence. Thou art the Mighty and Powerful, Thou art the Forgiving and Thou art the One Who overlooketh the shortcomings of all mankind.

Feast of Remembrance or Meeting of Faithfulness, held every nineteen days. The Persian word “vahid” literally means “unity” and has the numerical spiritual value of 19. Vahid Meeting, Unity Meeting, Feast of Remembrance, 19 Day Feast, Lord’s Supper, Divine Table are all cognates of the same event.

THE TWELVE PRINCIPLES OF THE BAHA’I FAITH (UHJ.net) 1. The Oneness of Humanity 2. Independent, Unfettered Investigation of the Truth 3. Religion is Progressive, All having a Common Foundation 4. Religion must be the Source of Unity 5. True Science and True Religion must Correspond 6. The Equality of Men and Women 7. Removal of all Prejudice 8. Universal Peace upheld by a Spiritual World Government 9. Universal Compulsory Education 10. A Spiritual Solution to the Economic Problem 11. A Universal Auxiliary Language 12. Universal House of Justice with the Davidic King as its President

Truth Suppression .....

''Not the violent conflict between parts of the truth, but the quiet suppression of half of it, .is the formidable evil. There is always hope when people are forced to listen to both sides. It is when they· attend to only one that errors harden into prejudices, and truth itself ceases to have the effect of truth,. by being exaggerated into falsehood.'' -John Stuart Mill

“If it is considered with insight, it will be seen that all the forces of the universe, in the last analysis serve the Covenant.” --‘Abdu’l-Baha