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