| 1 |
This is a Tablet from this Servant, who is called Husayn
in the kingdom of names, to the concourse of the kings of the earth.
Haply they may approach it in a spirit of open-mindedness, discover from
its message the mysteries of divine providence, and be of those that
comprehend its meaning, and perchance they may forsake all they possess,
turn towards the retreats of holiness, and draw nigh unto God, the
All-Glorious, the Incomparable.
|
| 2 |
O kings of the earth! Give ear unto the Voice of God,
calling from this sublime, this fruit-laden Tree, that hath sprung out
of the Crimson Hill, upon the holy Plain, intoning the words: ``There is
none other God but He, the Mighty, the All-Powerful, the All-Wise.''
This is a Spot which hath been sanctified by God for those who approach
it, a Spot wherein His Voice may be heard from the celestial Tree of
Holiness. Fear God, O concourse of kings, and suffer not yourselves to
be deprived of this most sublime grace. Fling away, then, the things ye
possess, and take fast hold on the Handle of God, the Exalted, the
Great. Set your hearts towards the Face of God, and abandon that which
your desires have bidden you to follow, and be not of those who perish.
|
| 3 |
Relate unto them, O Servant, the story of `Alí,{¤¤¤¤¤}
when He came unto them with truth, bearing His glorious and weighty
Book, and holding in His hands a testimony and proof from God, and holy
and blessed tokens from Him. Ye, however, O kings, have failed to heed
the Remembrance of God in His days and to be guided by the lights which
arose and shone forth above the horizon of a resplendent Heaven. Ye
examined not His Cause when so to do would have been better for you than
all that the sun shineth upon, could ye but perceive it. Ye remained
careless until the divines of Persia -- those cruel ones -- pronounced
judgement against Him, and unjustly slew Him. His spirit ascended unto
God, and the eyes of the inmates of Paradise and the angels that are
nigh unto Him wept sore by reason of this cruelty. Beware that ye be not
careless henceforth as ye have been careless aforetime. Return, then,
unto God, your Maker, and be not of the heedless.
|
| 4 |
Say: The Sun of vicegerency hath dawned, the Point of
knowledge and wisdom hath been made plain, and the Testimony of God, the
Almighty, the All-Wise, hath been made manifest. Say: The Moon of
eternity hath risen in the midmost heaven, and its light hath illumined
the dwellers of the realms above. My face hath come forth from the
veils, and shed its radiance upon all that is in heaven and on earth;
and yet, ye turned not towards Him, notwithstanding that ye were created
for Him, O concourse of kings! Follow, therefore, that which I speak
unto you, and hearken unto it with your hearts, and be not of such as
have turned aside. For your glory consisteth not in your sovereignty,
but rather in your nearness unto God and your observance of His command
as sent down in His holy and preserved Tablets. Should any one of you
rule over the whole earth, and over all that lieth within it and upon
it, its seas, its lands, its mountains, and its plains, and yet be not
remembered by God, all these would profit him not, could ye but know it.
|
| 5 |
Know ye that a servant's glory resideth in his nearness
unto God, and that, unless he draweth nigh unto Him, naught else can
ever profit him, even should he hold sway over the entire creation. Say:
The breeze of God hath wafted over you from the retreats of Paradise,
but ye have neglected it and chosen to persist in your waywardness.
Guidance hath been given unto you from God, but ye have failed to follow
it and preferred to reject its truth. The Lamp of God hath been lit
within the niche of His Cause, but ye have neglected to seek the
radiance of its glory and to draw nigh unto its light. And still ye
slumber upon the couch of heedlessness!
|
| 6 |
Arise, then, and make steadfast your feet, and make ye
amends for that which hath escaped you, and set then yourselves towards
His holy Court, on the shore of His mighty Ocean, so that the pearls of
knowledge and wisdom, which God hath stored up within the shell of His
radiant heart, may be revealed unto you. Such is the counsel that shall
profit you most; make of it your provision, that ye may be of those who
are guided aright. Beware lest ye hinder the breeze of God from blowing
over your hearts, the breeze through which the hearts of such as have
turned unto Him can be quickened. Hearken unto the clear admonitions
that We have revealed for you in this Tablet, that God, in turn, may
hearken unto you, and may open before your faces the portals of His
mercy. He, verily, is the Compassionate, the Merciful.
|
| 7 |
Lay not aside the fear of God, O kings of the earth, and
beware that ye transgress not the bounds which the Almighty hath fixed.
Observe the injunctions laid upon you in His Book, and take good heed
not to overstep their limits. Be vigilant, that ye may not do injustice
to anyone, be it to the extent of a grain of mustard seed. Tread ye the
path of justice, for this, verily, is the straight path.
|
| 8 |
Compose your differences and reduce your armaments, that
the burden of your expenditures may be lightened, and that your minds
and hearts may be tranquillized. Heal the dissensions that divide you,
and ye will no longer be in need of any armaments except what the
protection of your cities and territories demandeth. Fear ye God, and
take heed not to outstrip the bounds of moderation and be numbered among
the extravagant.
|
| 9 |
We have learned that ye are increasing your outlay every
year, and are laying the burden thereof on your subjects. This, verily,
is more than they can bear, and is a grievous injustice. Decide ye
justly between men, O kings, and be ye the emblems of justice amongst
them. This, if ye judge fairly, is the thing that behoveth you, and
beseemeth your station.
|
| 10 |
Beware not to deal unjustly with anyone that appealeth
to you and entereth beneath your shadow. Walk ye in the fear of God, and
be ye of them that lead a godly life. Rest not on your power, your
armies, and treasures. Put your whole trust and confidence in God, Who
hath created you, and seek ye His help in all your affairs. Succour
cometh from Him alone. He succoureth whom He willeth with the hosts of
the heavens and of the earth.
|
| 11 |
Know ye that the poor are the trust of God in your
midst. Watch that ye betray not His trust, that ye deal not unjustly
with them and that ye walk not in the ways of the treacherous. Ye will
most certainly be called upon to answer for His trust on the day when
the Balance of Justice shall be set, the day when unto everyone shall be
rendered his due, when the doings of all men, be they rich or poor,
shall be weighed.
|
| 12 |
If ye pay no heed unto the counsels which, in peerless
and unequivocal language, We have revealed in this Tablet, Divine
chastisement shall assail you from every direction, and the sentence of
His justice shall be pronounced against you. On that day ye shall have
no power to resist Him, and shall recognize your own impotence. Have
mercy on yourselves and on those beneath you, and judge ye between them
according to the precepts prescribed by God in His most holy and exalted
Tablet, a Tablet wherein He hath assigned to each and every thing its
settled measure, in which He hath given, with distinctness, an
explanation of all things, and which is in itself a monition unto them
that believe in Him.
|
| 13 |
Examine Our Cause, inquire into the things that have
befallen Us, and decide justly between Us and Our enemies, and be ye of
them that act equitably towards their neighbour. If ye stay not the hand
of the oppressor, if ye fail to safeguard the rights of the downtrodden,
what right have ye then to vaunt yourselves among men? What is it of
which ye can rightly boast? Is it on your food and your drink that ye
pride yourselves, on the riches ye lay up in your treasuries, on the
diversity and the cost of the ornaments with which ye deck yourselves?
If true glory were to consist in the possession of such perishable
things, then the earth on which ye walk must needs vaunt itself over
you, because it supplieth you, and bestoweth upon you, these very
things, by the decree of the Almighty. In its bowels are contained,
according to what God hath ordained, all that ye possess. From it, as a
sign of His mercy, ye derive your riches. Behold then your state, the
thing in which ye glory! Would that ye could perceive it!
|
| 14 |
Nay, by Him Who holdeth in His grasp the kingdom of the
entire creation! Nowhere doth your true and abiding glory reside except
in your firm adherence unto the precepts of God, your wholehearted
observance of His laws, your resolution to see that they do not remain
unenforced, and to pursue steadfastly the right course.
|
| 15 |
O kings of Christendom! Heard ye not the saying of
Jesus, the Spirit of God, ``I go away, and come again unto you''?65
Wherefore, then, did ye fail, when He did come again unto you in the
clouds of heaven, to draw nigh unto Him, that ye might behold His face,
and be of them that attained His Presence? In another passage He saith:
``When He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you into all
truth.''66
And yet behold how, when He did bring the truth, ye refused to turn your
faces towards Him, and persisted in disporting yourselves with your
pastimes and fancies. Ye welcomed Him not, neither did ye seek His
Presence, that ye might hear the verses of God from His own mouth, and
partake of the manifold wisdom of the Almighty, the All-Glorious, the
All-Wise. Ye have, by reason of your failure, hindered the breath of God
from being wafted over you, and have withheld from your souls the
sweetness of its fragrance. Ye continue roving with delight in the
valley of your corrupt desires. By God! Ye, and all ye possess, shall
pass away. Ye shall, most certainly, return to God, and shall be called
to account for your doings in the presence of Him Who shall gather
together the entire creation.
|
| 16 |
Again, heard ye not that which hath been recorded in the
Gospel concerning those ``which were born, not of blood, nor of the will
of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God''67
-- that is, those who have been made manifest through the power of God?
Wherefore it becometh evident that one may well be manifested in the
world of creation who is truly of God, the Almighty, the All-Knowing,
the All-Wise. How is it then that when word reached you of Our Cause, ye
failed to inquire from Our own lips, that ye might distinguish truth
from falsehood, discover Our aim and purpose, and learn of the
afflictions which We have suffered at the hands of an evil and wayward
generation?
|
| 17 |
O Minister of the King of Paris!68
Hast thou forgotten the pronouncement recorded in the Gospel according
to John concerning the Word and those who are its Manifestations? And
hast thou ignored the counsels of the Spirit{~~~~~~} concerning the
Manifestations of the Word, and been numbered with the heedless? If not,
wherefore then didst thou conspire with the Minister of Persia69
to inflict upon Us that which hath caused the hearts of men of insight
and understanding to melt, the tears of the denizens of the Realm of
eternity to flow, and the souls of them who are nigh unto God to mourn?
And all this thou didst commit without seeking to examine Our Cause or
to discern its truth. For is it not thy clear duty to investigate this
Cause, to inform thyself of the things that have befallen Us, to judge
with equity, and to cleave unto justice?
|
| 18 |
Thy days shall pass away, thy ministry shall come to an
end, and thy possessions shall vanish and be no more. Then, in the
presence of the almighty King, thou shalt be called to answer for that
which thy hands have wrought. How many the ministers who came before
thee into this world, men who exceeded thee in power, excelled thee in
station, and surpassed thee in wealth, and yet returned to dust, leaving
upon the face of the earth neither name nor trace, and are now plunged
in grievous remorse. Amongst them were those who failed in their duty
towards God, followed their own desires, and trod the path of lust and
wickedness. And amongst them were those who observed that which hath
been prescribed in the verses of God, judged with fairness by the divine
guidance that overshadowed them, and entered beneath the shelter of the
mercy of their Lord.
|
| 19 |
I admonish thee, and those who are like thee, to deal
not with anyone as ye have dealt with Us. Beware lest ye follow in the
footsteps of the Evil One and walk in the ways of the unjust. Take from
this world only to the measure of your needs, and forgo that which
exceedeth them. Observe equity in all your judgements, and transgress
not the bounds of justice, nor be of them that stray from its path.
|
| 20 |
Twenty years have passed, O kings, during which We have,
each day, tasted the agony of a fresh tribulation. No one of them that
were before Us hath endured the things We have endured. Would that ye
could perceive it! They that rose up against Us have put us to death,
have shed our blood, have plundered our property, and violated our
honour. Though aware of most of our afflictions, ye, nevertheless, have
failed to stay the hand of the aggressor. For is it not your clear duty
to restrain the tyranny of the oppressor, and to deal equitably with
your subjects, that your high sense of justice may be fully demonstrated
to all mankind?
|
| 21 |
God hath committed into your hands the reins of the
government of the people, that ye may rule with justice over them,
safeguard the rights of the downtrodden, and punish the wrongdoers. If
ye neglect the duty prescribed unto you by God in His Book, your names
shall be numbered with those of the unjust in His sight. Grievous,
indeed, will be your error. Cleave ye to that which your imaginations
have devised, and cast behind your backs the commandments of God, the
Most Exalted, the Inaccessible, the All-Compelling, the Almighty? Cast
away the things ye possess, and cling to that which God hath bidden you
observe. Seek ye His grace, for he that seeketh it treadeth His straight
Path.
|
| 22 |
Consider the state in which We are, and behold ye the
ills and troubles that have tried Us. Neglect Us not, though it be for a
moment, and judge ye between Us and Our enemies with equity. This will,
surely, be a manifest advantage unto you. Thus do We relate to you Our
tale, and recount the things that have befallen Us, that ye might take
off Our ills and ease Our burden. Let him who will, relieve Us from Our
trouble; and as to him that willeth not, My Lord is assuredly the best
of helpers.
|
| 23 |
Warn and acquaint the people, O Servant, with the things
We have sent down unto Thee, and let the fear of no one dismay Thee, and
be Thou not of them that waver. The day is approaching when God will
have exalted His Cause and magnified His testimony in the eyes of all
who are in the heavens and all who are on the earth. Place, in all
circumstances, Thy whole trust in Thy Lord, and fix Thy gaze upon Him,
and turn away from all them that repudiate His truth. Let God, Thy Lord,
be Thy sufficing succourer and helper. We have pledged Ourself to secure
Thy triumph upon earth and to exalt Our Cause above all men, though no
king be found who would turn his face towards Thee.
|
| 24 |
Call Thou to remembrance Thine arrival in the City, how
the Ministers of the Sultán thought Thee to be unacquainted with their
laws and regulations, and believed Thee to be one of the ignorant. Say:
Yea, by My Lord! I am ignorant of all things except what God hath,
through His bountiful favour, been pleased to teach Me. To this We
assuredly testify, and unhesitatingly confess it.
|
| 25 |
Say: If the laws and regulations to which ye cleave be
of your own making, We will, in no wise, follow them. Thus have I been
instructed by Him Who is the All-Wise, the All-Informed. Such hath been
My way in the past, and such will it remain in the future, through the
power of God and His might. This, indeed, is the true and right way. If
they be ordained by God, bring forth, then, your proofs, if ye be of
them that speak the truth. Say: We have written down in a Book which
leaveth not unrecorded the work of any man, however insignificant, all
that they have imputed to Thee, and all that they have done unto Thee.
|
| 26 |
Say: It behoveth you, O Ministers of State, to keep the
precepts of God, and to forsake your own laws and regulations, and to be
of them who are guided aright. Better is this for you than all ye
possess, did ye but know it. If ye transgress the commandment of God,
not one jot or one tittle of all your works shall be acceptable in His
sight. Ye shall, erelong, discover the consequences of that which ye
shall have done in this vain life, and shall be repaid for them. This,
verily, is the truth, the undoubted truth.
|
| 27 |
How great the number of those who, in bygone ages, have
committed the things ye have committed, and who, though superior to you
in rank, have, in the end, returned unto dust, and been consigned to
their inevitable doom! Would that ye might ponder the Cause of God in
your hearts! Ye shall follow in their wake, and shall be made to enter a
habitation wherein none shall be found to befriend or help you. Ye
shall, of a truth, be asked of your doings, shall be called to account
for your failure in duty with regard to the Cause of God, and for having
disdainfully rejected His loved ones who, with manifest sincerity, have
come unto you.
|
| 28 |
It is ye who have taken counsel together regarding them,
ye that have preferred to follow the promptings of your own desires, and
forsaken the commandment of God, the Help in Peril, the Almighty.
|
| 29 |
Say: What! Cleave ye to your own devices, and cast
behind your backs the precepts of God? Ye, indeed, have wronged your own
selves and others. Would that ye could perceive it! Say: If your rules
and principles be founded on justice, why is it, then, that ye follow
those which accord with your corrupt inclinations and reject such as
conflict with your desires? By what right claim ye, then, to judge
fairly between men? Are your rules and principles such as to justify
your persecution of Him Who, at your bidding, hath presented Himself
before you, your rejection of Him, and your infliction on Him every day
of grievous injury? Hath He ever, though it be for one short moment,
disobeyed you? All the inhabitants of `Iráq, and beyond them every
discerning observer, will bear witness to the truth of My words.
|
| 30 |
Be fair in your judgement, O ye Ministers of State! What
is it that We have committed that could justify Our banishment? What is
the offence that hath warranted Our expulsion? It is We Who have sought
you, and yet, behold how ye refused to receive Us! By God! This is a
sore injustice that ye have perpetrated -- an injustice with which no
earthly injustice can measure. To this the Almighty is Himself a
witness.
|
| 31 |
Have I at any time transgressed your laws, or disobeyed
any of your ministers in `Iráq? Inquire of them, that ye may act with
discernment towards Us and be numbered with those who are well-informed.
Hath anyone ever brought before them a plaint against Us? Hath anyone
amongst them ever heard from Us a word contrary to that which God hath
revealed in His Book? Bring forth, then, your evidence, that We may
approve your actions and acknowledge your claims!
|
| 32 |
Had ye wished to deal with Us in accordance with your
principles and standards, it would have behoved you to respect and
honour Us for complying with your commands and following that which ye
have pleased to ordain. Likewise, it would have beseemed you to repay
the debts which We incurred in `Iráq in the execution of your wishes.
Ye should have given ear then unto Us, heard the account of Our woes,
and judged with equity, as ye would judge your own selves. Ye should not
have wished for Us that which ye have not wished for yourselves, but
rather chosen to act with generosity. By God! Ye dealt with Us neither
in accordance with your own principles and standards, nor with those of
any man living, but in accordance with the promptings of your evil and
wayward passions, O ye concourse of the froward and the arrogant!
|
| 33 |
O Bird of Holiness! Soar in the heaven of communion with
Me, and acquaint the people with that which We disclosed unto Thee in
the billowing oceans of immortality beyond the mount of glory. Let the
fear of no one dismay Thee, and put Thy trust in God, the Almighty, the
Beneficent. We, verily, shall protect Thee from those who, without a
clear token from God or an enlightening Book, have grievously wronged
Thee.
|
| 34 |
Say: God is My witness, O concourse of the negligent! We
came not unto you to spread disorder in your lands or to sow dissension
amongst your peoples. Nay rather, We came in obedience to the command of
the sovereign, and in order to exalt your authority, to instruct you in
the ways of Our wisdom, and to remind you of that which ye had forgotten
-- even as He saith in truth: ``Warn them, for, in truth, Thy warning
will profit the believers.''70
But ye hearkened not unto the sweet melodies of the Spirit, and gave ear
unwittingly unto Our enemies, they who follow the promptings of their
corrupt inclinations, whose deeds the Evil One hath made fair-seeming in
their own eyes, and whose tongues utter calumnies against Us. Heard ye
not that which hath been revealed in His all-glorious and unerring Book:
``If a wicked man come to you with news, clear it up at once''?71
Wherefore have ye then cast the command of God behind your backs, and
followed in the footsteps of them that are bent on mischief?
|
| 35 |
We have heard that one of these calumniators hath
alleged that this Servant practised usury whilst residing in `Iráq, and
was engaged in amassing riches for Himself. Say: How can ye judge a
matter whereof ye have no knowledge? How can ye hurl calumnies against
the servants of God, and entertain such evil suspicions? And how could
this accusation be true, when God hath forbidden this practice unto His
servants in that most holy and well-guarded Book revealed unto Muhammad,
the Apostle of God and the Seal of the Prophets, a Book which He hath
ordained to be His abiding testimony, and His guidance and monition unto
all mankind? This is but one of the matters in which We have opposed the
divines of Persia, inasmuch as We have, according to the text of the
Book, forbidden unto all men the practice of usury. God Himself beareth
witness to the truth of My words. ``Yet I hold not myself clear, for the
soul is prone to evil.''72
We intend only to impart unto you the truth, that ye might be informed
thereof and be of them that lead a godly life. Beware lest ye give ear
to the words of those from whom the foul smell of malice and envy can be
discerned; pay no heed to them, and stand ye for righteousness.
|
| 36 |
Know ye that the world and its vanities and its
embellishments shall pass away. Nothing will endure except God's Kingdom
which pertaineth to none but Him, the Sovereign Lord of all, the Help in
Peril, the All-Glorious, the Almighty. The days of your life shall roll
away, and all the things with which ye are occupied and of which ye
boast yourselves shall perish, and ye shall, most certainly, be summoned
by a company of His angels to appear at the spot where the limbs of the
entire creation shall be made to tremble, and the flesh of every
oppressor to creep. Ye shall be asked of the things your hands have
wrought in this, your vain life, and shall be repaid for your doings.
This is the day that shall inevitably come upon you, the hour that none
can put back. To this the Tongue of Him that speaketh the truth and is
the Knower of all things hath testified.
|
| 37 |
Fear God, ye inhabitants of the City, and sow not the
seeds of dissension amongst men. Walk not in the paths of the Evil One.
Walk ye, during the few remaining days of your life, in the ways of the
one true God. Your days shall pass away as have the days of them who
were before you. To dust shall ye return, even as your fathers of old
did return.
|
| 38 |
Know ye that I am afraid of none except God. In none but
Him have I placed My trust; to none will I cleave but Him, and wish for
naught except the thing He hath wished for Me. This, indeed, is My
heart's desire, did ye but know it. I have offered up My soul and My
body as a sacrifice for God, the Lord of all worlds. Whoso hath known
God shall know none but Him, and he that feareth God shall be afraid of
no one except Him, though the powers of the whole earth rise up and be
arrayed against him. I speak naught except at His bidding, and follow
naught, through the power of God and His might, except His truth. He,
verily, shall recompense the truthful.
|
| 39 |
Narrate, O Servant, the things Thou didst behold at the
time of Thine arrival in the City, that Thy testimony may endure amongst
men, and serve as a warning unto them that believe. We found, upon Our
arrival in the City, its governors and elders as children gathered about
and disporting themselves with clay. We perceived no one sufficiently
mature to acquire from Us the truths which God hath taught Us, nor ripe
for Our wondrous words of wisdom. Our inner eye wept sore over them, and
over their transgressions and their total disregard of the thing for
which they were created. This is what We observed in that city, and
which We have chosen to note down in Our Book, that it may serve as a
warning unto them, and unto the rest of mankind.
|
| 40 |
Say: If ye be seekers after this life and the vanities
thereof, ye should have sought them while ye were still enclosed in your
mothers' wombs, for at that time ye were continually approaching them,
could ye but perceive it. Ye have, on the other hand, ever since ye were
born and attained maturity, been all the while receding from the world
and drawing closer to dust. Why, then, exhibit such greed in amassing
the treasures of the earth, when your days are numbered and your chance
is well-nigh lost? Will ye not, then, O heedless ones, shake off your
slumber?
|
| 41 |
Incline your ears to the counsels which this Servant
giveth you for the sake of God. He, verily, asketh no recompense from
you and is resigned to what God hath ordained for Him, and is entirely
submissive to God's Will.
|
| 42 |
The days of your life are far spent, O people, and your
end is fast approaching. Put away, therefore, the things ye have devised
and to which ye cleave, and take firm hold on the precepts of God, that
haply ye may attain that which He hath purposed for you, and be of them
that pursue a right course. Delight not yourselves in the things of the
world and its vain ornaments, neither set your hopes on them. Let your
reliance be on the remembrance of God, the Most Exalted, the Most Great.
He will, erelong, bring to naught all the things ye possess. Let Him be
your fear, and forget not His covenant with you, and be not of them that
are shut out as by a veil from Him.
|
| 43 |
Beware that ye swell not with pride before God, and
disdainfully reject His loved ones. Defer ye humbly to the faithful,
they that have believed in God and in His signs, whose hearts witness to
His unity, whose tongues proclaim His oneness, and who speak not except
by His leave. Thus do We exhort you with justice, and warn you with
truth, that perchance ye may be awakened.
|
| 44 |
Lay not on any soul a load which ye would not wish to be
laid upon you, and desire not for anyone the things ye would not desire
for yourselves. This is My best counsel unto you, did ye but observe it.
|
| 45 |
Respect ye the divines and learned amongst you, they
whose conduct accords with their professions, who transgress not the
bounds which God hath fixed, whose judgements are in conformity with His
behests as revealed in His Book. Know ye that they are the lamps of
guidance unto them that are in the heavens and on the earth. They who
disregard and neglect the divines and learned that live amongst them --
these have truly changed the favour with which God hath favoured them.
|
| 46 |
Say: Wait ye till God will have changed His favour unto
you. Nothing whatsoever escapeth Him. He knoweth the secrets both of the
heavens and of the earth. His knowledge embraceth all things. Rejoice
not in what ye have done, or will do in the future, nor delight in the
tribulation with which ye have afflicted Us, for ye are unable by such
means as these to exalt your stations, were ye to examine your works
with acute discernment. Neither will ye be capable of detracting from
the loftiness of Our state. Nay, God will add unto the recompense with
which He shall reward Us, for having sustained with persevering patience
the tribulations We have suffered. He, verily, shall increase the reward
of them that endure with patience.
|
| 47 |
Know ye that trials and tribulations have, from time
immemorial, been the lot of the chosen Ones of God and His beloved, and
such of His servants as are detached from all else but Him, they whom
neither merchandise nor traffic beguile from the remembrance of the
Almighty, they that speak not till He hath spoken, and act according to
His commandment. Such is God's method carried into effect of old, and
such will it remain in the future. Blessed are the steadfastly enduring,
they that are patient under ills and hardships, who lament not over
anything that befalleth them, and who tread the path of resignation.
|
| 48 |
That which hath befallen Us hath been witnessed before.
Ours is not the first goblet dashed to the ground in the lands of Islám,
nor is this the first time that such schemers have intrigued against the
beloved of the Lord. The tribulations We have sustained are like unto
the trials endured aforetime by Imám Husayn. For he was approached by
messengers from malicious and evil-hearted plotters, inviting him to
come forth from the city; yet when he came unto them, accompanied by his
kindred, they rose up against him with all their might, until at last
they slew him, slaughtered his sons and his brothers, and took captive
the remainder of his family. So did it come to pass in an earlier age,
and God, verily, is a witness unto My words. Of his lineage there
survived none, whether young or old, save his son `Alí al-Awsat, known
as Zaynu'l-`Ábidín.
|
| 49 |
Behold then, O heedless ones, how brightly the fire of
the love of God blazed aforetime in the heart of Husayn, if ye be of
them that ponder! So intense grew its flame that fervour and longing at
last seized the reins of patience from his grasp, and the love of Him
Who is the All-Compelling so enraptured his heart that he surrendered
his soul, his spirit, his substance, and his all in the path of God, the
Lord of the worlds. By God! Sweeter was this in his sight than the
empire of earth and heaven. For the true lover desireth naught save
reunion with his beloved and the seeker hath no goal but to attain unto
the object of his quest. Their hearts long for reunion even as the body
yearneth for the spirit, nay greater indeed is their longing, could ye
but perceive it!
|
| 50 |
Say: That same fire now blazeth in Mine own breast, and
My wish is that this Husayn may lay down His life in like manner, in the
hope of attaining unto so august and sublime a station, that station
wherein the servant dieth to himself and liveth in God, the Almighty,
the Exalted, the Great. Were I to disclose unto you the mysteries which
God hath enshrined therein, ye would, of a truth, offer up your lives in
His path, renounce your riches, and forsake all that ye possess, that ye
might attain this transcendent and all-glorious station. God, however,
hath veiled your hearts and obscured your eyes, lest ye should apprehend
His mysteries and be made aware of their meaning.
|
| 51 |
Say: The sincere soul longeth for nearness to God even
as the suckling babe yearneth for its mother's breast, nay more ardent
is his longing, could ye but know it! Again, his longing is even as the
panting of one sore athirst after the living waters of grace, or the
yearning of the sinner for forgiveness and mercy. Thus do We expound
unto you the mysteries of the Cause, and impart unto you what shall
render you independent of all that hath so far occupied you, that
perchance ye may enter the Court of Holiness within this exalted
Paradise. I swear by God! Whoso entereth therein shall never abandon its
precincts, and whoso gazeth thereon shall never turn away therefrom,
even should the swords of infidels and deniers rain blows upon him. Thus
have We related unto you that which befell Husayn, and We beseech God
that He may destine for Us that which He had decreed for him. He,
verily, is the Most Generous, the All-Bountiful.
|
| 52 |
By the righteousness of God! Through his deed the
fragrances of holiness were wafted over all things, the proof of God was
perfected, and His testimony made manifest to all men. And after him God
raised up a people who avenged his death, who slew his enemies, and who
wept over him at dawn and at eventide. Say: God hath pledged in His Book
to lay hold upon every oppressor for his tyranny, and to uproot the
stirrers of mischief. Know ye that such holy deeds exert, in themselves,
a great influence upon the world of being -- an influence which is,
however, inscrutable to all save those whose eyes have been opened by
God, whose hearts He hath freed from obscuring veils, and whose souls He
hath guided aright.
|
| 53 |
The day is approaching when God will have raised up a
people who will call to remembrance Our days, who will tell the tale of
Our trials, who will demand the restitution of Our rights from them
that, without a tittle of evidence, have treated Us with manifest
injustice. God, assuredly, dominateth the lives of them that wronged Us,
and is well aware of their doings. He will, most certainly, lay hold on
them for their sins. He, verily, is the fiercest of avengers.
|
| 54 |
Thus have We recounted unto you the tales of the one
true God, and sent down unto you the things He had preordained, that
haply ye may ask forgiveness of Him, may return unto Him, may truly
repent, may realize your misdeeds, may shake off your slumber, may be
roused from your heedlessness, may atone for the things that have
escaped you, and be of them that do good. Let him who will, acknowledge
the truth of My words; and as to him that willeth not, let him turn
aside. My sole duty is to remind you of your failure in duty towards the
Cause of God, if perchance ye may be of them that heed My warning.
Wherefore, hearken ye unto My speech, and return ye to God and repent,
that He, through His grace, may have mercy upon you, may wash away your
sins, and forgive your trespasses. The greatness of His mercy surpasseth
the fury of His wrath, and His grace encompasseth all who have been
called into being and been clothed with the robe of life, be they of the
past or of the future.
|
| 55 |
O concourse of Ministers of State! Do ye believe in your
hearts that We have come to divest you of your earthly possessions and
vanities? Nay, by the One in Whose hand is My soul! Our intention hath
been to make clear that We oppose not the commands of the sovereign, nor
are We to be numbered with the rebellious. Know ye of a certainty that
all the treasures of the earth, all the gold, the silver, and the rare
and precious gems they contain, are, in the sight of God, of His chosen
ones and His loved ones, as worthless as a handful of clay. For erelong
all that is on earth shall perish, and the kingdom will remain unto God,
the All-Powerful, the Incomparable. That which perisheth can never
profit Us, nor can it profit you, were ye but to reflect.
|
| 56 |
By the righteousness of God! I speak not falsely, and
utter naught save that which God hath bidden Me. To this bear witness
the very words of this Tablet, if ye but reflect upon its contents.
Follow not the promptings of your own desires, nor the whisperings of
the Evil One in your souls. Follow rather the Cause of God, both in your
outward and your inner lives, and be not of the heedless. Better is this
for you than all that ye have laid up in your houses, and all that ye
have sought by day and night.
|
| 57 |
The world will pass away, and so will all the things
whereat your hearts rejoice, or wherein ye pride yourselves before men.
Cleanse the mirrors of your hearts from the dross of the world and all
that is therein, that they may reflect the resplendent light of God.
This, indeed, shall enable you to dispense with all save God, and to
attain unto the good pleasure of your Lord, the Most Bountiful, the
All-Knowing, the All-Wise. We, verily, have unfolded before your eyes
that which shall profit you both in this world and in the realm of
faith, and which will lead you to the path of salvation. Would that ye
might turn thereunto!
|
| 58 |
Hearken, O King,{++++++} to the speech of Him that
speaketh the truth, Him that doth not ask thee to recompense Him with
the things God hath chosen to bestow upon thee, Him Who unerringly
treadeth the straight Path. He it is Who summoneth thee unto God, thy
Lord, Who showeth thee the right course, the way that leadeth to true
felicity, that haply thou mayest be of them with whom it shall be well.
|
| 59 |
Beware, O King, that thou gather not around thee such
ministers as follow the desires of a corrupt inclination, as have cast
behind their backs that which hath been committed into their hands and
manifestly betrayed their trust. Be bounteous to others as God hath been
bounteous to thee, and abandon not the interests of thy people to the
mercy of such ministers as these. Lay not aside the fear of God, and be
thou of them that act uprightly. Gather around thee those ministers from
whom thou canst perceive the fragrance of faith and of justice, and take
thou counsel with them, and choose whatever is best in thy sight, and be
of them that act generously.
|
| 60 |
Know thou for a certainty that whoso disbelieveth in God
is neither trustworthy nor truthful. This, indeed, is the truth, the
undoubted truth. He that acteth treacherously towards God will, also,
act treacherously towards his king. Nothing whatever can deter such a
man from evil, nothing can hinder him from betraying his neighbour,
nothing can induce him to walk uprightly.
|
| 61 |
Take heed that thou resign not the reins of the affairs
of thy state into the hands of others, and repose not thy confidence in
ministers unworthy of thy trust, and be not of them that live in
heedlessness. Shun them whose hearts are turned away from thee, and
place not thy confidence in them, and entrust them not with thine
affairs and the affairs of such as profess thy faith. Beware that thou
allow not the wolf to become the shepherd of God's flock, and surrender
not the fate of His loved ones to the mercy of the malicious. Expect not
that they who violate the ordinances of God will be trustworthy or
sincere in the faith they profess. Avoid them, and preserve strict guard
over thyself, lest their devices and mischief hurt thee. Turn away from
them, and fix thy gaze upon God, thy Lord, the All-Glorious, the Most
Bountiful. He that giveth up himself wholly to God, God shall,
assuredly, be with him; and he that placeth his complete trust in God,
God shall, verily, protect him from whatsoever may harm him, and shield
him from the wickedness of every evil plotter.
|
| 62 |
Wert thou to incline thine ear unto My speech and
observe My counsel, God would exalt thee to so eminent a position that
the designs of no man on the whole earth can ever touch or hurt thee.
Observe, O King, with thine inmost heart and with thy whole being, the
precepts of God, and walk not in the paths of the oppressor. Seize thou,
and hold firmly within the grasp of thy might, the reins of the affairs
of thy people, and examine in person whatever pertaineth unto them. Let
nothing escape thee, for therein lieth the highest good.
|
| 63 |
Render thanks unto God for having chosen thee out of the
whole world, and made thee king over them that profess thy faith. It
well beseemeth thee to appreciate the wondrous favours with which God
hath favoured thee, and to magnify continually His name. Thou canst best
praise Him if thou lovest His loved ones, and dost safeguard and protect
His servants from the mischief of the treacherous, that none may any
longer oppress them. Thou shouldst, moreover, arise to enforce the law
of God amongst them, that thou mayest be of those who are firmly
established in His law.
|
| 64 |
Shouldst thou cause rivers of justice to spread their
waters amongst thy subjects, God would surely aid thee with the hosts of
the unseen and of the seen, and would strengthen thee in thine affairs.
No God is there but Him. All creation and its empire are His. Unto Him
return the works of the faithful.
|
| 65 |
Place not thy reliance on thy treasures. Put thy whole
confidence in the grace of God, thy Lord. Let Him be thy trust in
whatever thou doest, and be of them that have submitted themselves to
His Will. Let Him be thy helper and enrich thyself with His treasures,
for with Him are the treasuries of the heavens and of the earth. He
bestoweth them upon whom He will, and from whom He will He withholdeth
them. There is none other God but Him, the All-Possessing, the
All-Praised. All are but paupers at the door of His mercy; all are
helpless before the revelation of His sovereignty, and beseech His
favours.
|
| 66 |
Overstep not the bounds of moderation, and deal justly
with them that serve thee. Bestow upon them according to their needs,
and not to the extent that will enable them to lay up riches for
themselves, to deck their persons, to embellish their homes, to acquire
the things that are of no benefit unto them, and to be numbered with the
extravagant. Deal with them with undeviating justice, so that none among
them may either suffer want, or be pampered with luxuries. This is but
manifest justice.
|
| 67 |
Allow not the abject to rule over and dominate them who
are noble and worthy of honour, and suffer not the high-minded to be at
the mercy of the contemptible and worthless, for this is what We
observed upon Our arrival in the City, and to it We bear witness. We
found among its inhabitants some who were possessed of an affluent
fortune and lived in the midst of excessive riches, while others were in
dire want and abject poverty. This ill beseemeth thy sovereignty, and is
unworthy of thy rank.
|
| 68 |
Let My counsel be acceptable to thee, and strive thou to
rule with equity among men, that God may exalt thy name and spread
abroad the fame of thy justice in all the world. Beware lest thou
aggrandize thy ministers at the expense of thy subjects. Fear the sighs
of the poor and of the upright in heart who, at every break of day,
bewail their plight, and be unto them a benignant sovereign. They,
verily, are thy treasures on earth. It behoveth thee, therefore, to
safeguard thy treasures from the assaults of them who wish to rob thee.
Inquire into their affairs, and ascertain, every year, nay every month,
their condition, and be not of them that are careless of their duty.
|
| 69 |
Set before thine eyes God's unerring Balance and, as one
standing in His Presence, weigh in that Balance thine actions every day,
every moment of thy life. Bring thyself to account ere thou art summoned
to a reckoning, on the Day when no man shall have strength to stand for
fear of God, the Day when the hearts of the heedless ones shall be made
to tremble.
|
| 70 |
It behoveth every king to be as bountiful as the sun,
which fostereth the growth of all beings, and giveth to each its due,
whose benefits are not inherent in itself, but are ordained by Him Who
is the Most Powerful, the Almighty. The King should be as generous, as
liberal in his mercy as the clouds, the outpourings of whose bounty are
showered upon every land, by the behest of Him Who is the Supreme
Ordainer, the All-Knowing.
|
| 71 |
Have a care not to entrust thine affairs of state
entirely into another's hands. None can discharge thy functions better
than thine own self. Thus do We make clear unto thee Our words of
wisdom, and send down upon thee that which can enable thee to pass over
from the left hand of oppression to the right hand of justice, and
approach the resplendent ocean of His favours. Such is the path which
the kings that were before thee have trodden, they that acted equitably
towards their subjects, and walked in the ways of undeviating justice.
|
| 72 |
Thou art God's shadow on earth. Strive, therefore, to
act in such a manner as befitteth so eminent, so august a station. If
thou dost depart from following the things We have caused to descend
upon thee and taught thee, thou wilt, assuredly, be derogating from that
great and priceless honour. Return, then, and cleave wholly unto God,
and cleanse thine heart from the world and all its vanities, and suffer
not the love of any stranger to enter and dwell therein. Not until thou
dost purify thine heart from every trace of such love can the brightness
of the light of God shed its radiance upon it, for to none hath God
given more than one heart. This, verily, hath been decreed and written
down in His ancient Book. And as the human heart, as fashioned by God,
is one and undivided, it behoveth thee to take heed that its affections
be, also, one and undivided. Cleave thou, therefore, with the whole
affection of thine heart, unto His love, and withdraw it from the love
of anyone besides Him, that He may aid thee to immerse thyself in the
ocean of His unity, and enable thee to become a true upholder of His
oneness. God is My witness. My sole purpose in revealing to thee these
words is to sanctify thee from the transitory things of the earth, and
aid thee to enter the realm of everlasting glory, that thou mayest, by
the leave of God, be of them that abide and rule therein.
|
| 73 |
Hast thou heard, O King, what We have suffered at the
hands of thy ministers and how We have been treated by them, or art thou
of the negligent? If indeed thou hast heard and known, wherefore didst
thou not forbid thy ministers to commit such deeds? How didst thou
desire for Him Who hath complied with thy command, and been obedient to
thy behest, that which no king would desire for any of his subjects? And
if thou knowest not, this indeed is a more grievous error, wert thou of
the God-fearing. Wherefore shall I recount to thee that which We have
suffered at the hands of these oppressors.
|
| 74 |
Know, then, that We came unto thy city at thine own
behest, and entered therein with conspicuous honour. They expelled Us,
however, from thy city with an abasement with which no abasement on
earth can compare, if thou be of them that are well-informed. They made
Us journey until We reached the place[@@@@@@} which none entereth except
such as have rebelled against the authority of the sovereign, and as are
numbered with the transgressors. All this, notwithstanding that We had
never disobeyed thee, though it be for a single moment, for when We
heard thy bidding We observed it and submitted to thy will. In dealing
with Us, however, thy ministers neither honoured the standards of God
and His commandments, nor heeded that which hath been revealed to the
Prophets and Messengers. They showed Us no mercy and committed against
Us that which no one among the faithful hath ever wrought against his
fellow, nor any believer inflicted upon an infidel. God knoweth and is a
witness unto the truth of Our words.
|
| 75 |
When they expelled Us from thy city, they placed Us in
such conveyances as the people use to carry baggage and the like. Such
was the treatment We received at their hands, shouldst thou wish to know
the truth. Thus were We sent away, and thus were We brought to the city
which they regard as the abode of rebels. Upon our arrival, We could
find no house in which to dwell, and perforce resided in a place where
none would enter save the most indigent stranger. There We lodged for a
time, after which, suffering increasingly from the confined space, We
sought and rented houses which by reason of the extreme cold had been
vacated by their occupants. Thus in the depth of winter we were
constrained to make our abode in houses wherein none dwell except in the
heat of summer. Neither My family, nor those who accompanied Me, had the
necessary raiment to protect them from the cold in that freezing
weather.
|
| 76 |
Would that thy ministers had dealt with Us according to
the principles they uphold amongst themselves! For, by God, they dealt
with Us neither in accordance with the commandments of God, nor with the
practices they uphold, nor with the standards current amongst men, nor
even with the manner in which the destitute of the earth receive a
wayfarer. Such is the account of what We suffered at their hands, and
which We have related unto thee in a language of truthfulness and
sincerity.
|
| 77 |
All this befell Me, though I had come unto them at their
own behest and did not oppose their authority, which deriveth from thine
own. Thus did We accept and observe their bidding. They, however, appear
to have forgotten that which God hath commanded. He saith, and His Word
is the truth: ``Act with humility towards the believers.''73
Methinks that their only concern was their own comfort and repose, and
that their ears were deaf to the sighs of the poor and the cries of the
oppressed. They seem to imagine that they have been created from pure
light, while others have been fashioned out of dust. How wretched are
their imaginings! We have all been created from a sorry germ.74
|
| 78 |
I swear by God, O King! It is not My wish to make My
plaint to thee against them that persecute Me. I only plead My grief and
My sorrow to God, Who hath created Me and them, Who well knoweth our
state and Who watcheth over all things. My wish is to warn them of the
consequences of their actions, if perchance they might desist from
treating others as they have treated Me, and be of them that heed My
warning.
|
| 79 |
The tribulations that have touched Us, the destitution
from which We suffer, the various troubles with which We are
encompassed, shall all pass away, as shall pass away the pleasures in
which they delight and the affluence they enjoy. This is the truth which
no man on earth can reject. The days in which We have been compelled to
dwell in the dust will soon be ended, as will the days in which they
occupied the seats of honour. God shall, assuredly, judge with truth
between Us and them, and He, verily, is the best of judges.
|
| 80 |
We render thanks unto God for whatsoever hath befallen
Us, and We patiently endure the things He hath ordained in the past or
will ordain in the future. In Him have I placed My trust; and into His
hands have I committed My Cause. He will, certainly, repay all them that
endure with patience and put their confidence in Him. His is the
creation and its empire. He exalteth whom He will, and whom He will He
doth abase. He shall not be asked of His doings. He, verily, is the
All-Glorious, the Almighty.
|
| 81 |
Let thine ear be attentive, O King, to the words We have
addressed to thee. Let the oppressor desist from his tyranny, and cut
off the perpetrators of injustice from among them that profess thy
faith. By the righteousness of God! The tribulations We have sustained
are such that any pen that recounteth them cannot but be overwhelmed
with anguish. No one of them that truly believe and uphold the unity of
God can bear the burden of their recital. So great have been Our
sufferings that even the eyes of Our enemies have wept over Us, and
beyond them those of every discerning person. And to all these trials
have We been subjected, in spite of Our action in approaching thee, and
in bidding the people to enter beneath thy shadow, that thou mightest be
a stronghold unto them that believe in and uphold the unity of God.
|
| 82 |
Have I, O King, ever disobeyed thee? Have I, at any
time, transgressed any of thy laws? Can any of thy ministers that
represented thee in `Iráq produce any proof that can establish My
disloyalty to thee? Nay, by Him Who is the Lord of all worlds! Not for
one short moment did We rebel against thee, or against any of thy
ministers. Never, God willing, shall We revolt against thee, though We
be exposed to trials more severe than any We suffered in the past.
|
| 83 |
In the daytime and in the night season, at even and at
morn, We pray to God on thy behalf, that He may graciously aid thee to
be obedient unto Him and to observe His commandment, that He may shield
thee from the hosts of the evil ones. Do, therefore, as it pleaseth
thee, and treat Us as befitteth thy station and beseemeth thy
sovereignty. Be not forgetful of the law of God in whatever thou
desirest to achieve, now or in the days to come. Say: Praise be to God,
the Lord of all worlds!
|
| 84 |
Dost thou imagine, O Minister of the Sháh in the
City, that I hold within My grasp the ultimate destiny of the Cause of
God? Thinkest thou that My imprisonment, or the shame I have been made
to suffer, or even My death and utter annihilation, can deflect its
course? Wretched is what thou hast imagined in thine heart! Thou art
indeed of them that walk after the vain imaginings which their hearts
devise. No God is there but Him. Powerful is He to manifest His Cause,
and to exalt His testimony, and to establish whatsoever is His Will, and
to elevate it to so eminent a position that neither thine own hands, nor
the hands of them that have turned away from Him, can ever touch or harm
it.
|
| 85 |
Dost thou believe thou hast the power to frustrate His
Will, to hinder Him from executing His judgement, or to deter Him from
exercising His sovereignty? Pretendest thou that aught in the heavens or
in the earth can resist His Faith? Nay, by Him Who is the Eternal Truth!
Nothing whatsoever in the whole of creation can thwart His Purpose. Cast
away, therefore, the mere conceit thou dost follow, for mere conceit can
never take the place of truth. Be thou of them that have truly repented
and returned to God, the God Who hath created thee, Who hath nourished
thee, and made thee a minister among them that profess thy faith.
|
| 86 |
Know thou, moreover, that He it is Who hath, by His own
behest, created all that is in the heavens and all that is on the earth.
How can, then, the thing that hath been created at His bidding prevail
against Him? High is God exalted above what ye imagine about Him, ye
people of malice! If this Cause be of God, no man can prevail against
it; and if it be not of God, the divines amongst you, and they that
follow their corrupt desires and such as have rebelled against Him will
surely suffice to overpower it.
|
| 87 |
Hast thou not heard what a man of the family of Pharaoh,
a believer, hath said of old, and which God recounted unto His Apostle,
Whom He hath chosen above all human beings, and entrusted with His
Message, and made the source of His mercy unto all them that dwell on
earth? He said, and He, verily, speaketh the truth: ``Will ye slay a man
because he saith my Lord is God, when he hath already come to you with
proofs of his mission? And if he be a liar, on him will be his lie, but
if he be a man of truth, part at least of what he threateneth will fall
upon you.''75
This is what God hath revealed unto His Well-Beloved One, in His
unerring Book.
|
| 88 |
And yet, ye have failed to incline your ears unto His
bidding, have disregarded His law, have rejected His counsel as recorded
in His Book, and have been of them that have strayed far from Him. How
many those who, every year, and every month, have because of you been
put to death! How manifold the injustices ye have perpetrated --
injustices the like of which the eye of creation hath not seen, which no
chronicler hath ever recorded! How numerous the babes and sucklings who
were made orphans, and the fathers who lost their sons, because of your
cruelty, O ye unjust doers! How oft hath a sister pined away and mourned
over her brother, and how oft hath a wife lamented after her husband and
sole sustainer!
|
| 89 |
Your iniquity waxed greater and greater until ye slew
Him Who had never taken His eyes away from the face of God, the Most
Exalted, the Most Great.{¤¤¤¤¤¤} Would that ye had put Him to
death after the manner men are wont to put one another to death! Ye slew
Him, however, in such circumstances as no man hath ever witnessed. The
heavens wept sore over Him, and the souls of them who are nigh unto God
cried out for His affliction. Was He not a Scion of your Prophet's
ancient House? Had not His fame as a direct descendant of the Apostle
been spread abroad amongst you? Why, then, did ye inflict upon Him what
no man, however far ye may look back, hath inflicted upon another? By
God! The eye of creation hath never beheld your like. Ye slay Him Who is
a Scion of your Prophet's House, and rejoice and make merry while seated
on your seats of honour! Ye utter your imprecations against them who
were before you, and who have perpetrated what ye have perpetrated, and
remain yourselves all the time unaware of your enormities!
|
| 90 |
Be fair in your judgement. Did they whom ye curse, upon
whom ye invoke evil, act differently from yourselves? Have they not
slain the descendant of their Prophet{~~} as ye have slain the
descendant of your own? Is not your conduct similar to their conduct?
Wherefore, then, claim ye to be different from them, O ye sowers of
dissension amongst men?
|
| 91 |
And when ye took away His life, one of His followers
arose to avenge His death. He was unknown of men, and the design he had
conceived was unnoticed by anyone. Eventually he committed what had been
preordained. It behoveth you, therefore, to attach blame to no one
except to yourselves, for the things ye have committed, if ye but judge
fairly. Who is there on the whole earth who hath done what ye have done?
None, by Him Who is the Lord of all worlds!
|
| 92 |
All the rulers and kings of the earth honour and revere
the descendants of their Prophets and holy men, could ye but perceive
it. Ye, on the other hand, are responsible for such acts as no man hath,
at any time, performed. Your misdeeds have caused every understanding
heart to be consumed with grief. And yet, ye have remained sunk in your
heedlessness, and failed to realize the wickedness of your actions.
|
| 93 |
Ye have persisted in your waywardness until ye rose up
against Us, though We had committed nothing to justify your enmity. Fear
ye not God Who hath created you, and fashioned you, and caused you to
attain your strength, and joined you with them that have resigned
themselves to Him?{+++++++} How long will ye persist in your
waywardness? How long will ye refuse to reflect? How long ere ye shake
off your slumber and are roused from your heedlessness? How long will ye
remain unaware of the truth?
|
| 94 |
Ponder in thine heart. Did ye, notwithstanding your
behaviour and the things your hands have wrought, succeed in quenching
the fire of God or in putting out the light of His Revelation -- a light
that hath enveloped with its brightness them that are immersed in the
billowing oceans of immortality, and hath attracted the souls of such as
truly believe in and uphold His unity? Know ye not that the Hand of God
is over your hands, that His Decree transcendeth all your devices, that
He is supreme over His servants, that He is equal to His Purpose, that
He doth what He wisheth, that He shall not be asked of whatever He
willeth, that He ordaineth what He pleaseth, that He is the Most
Powerful, the Almighty? If ye believe this to be the truth, wherefore,
then, will ye not cease from troubling and be at peace with yourselves?
|
| 95 |
Ye perpetrate every day a fresh injustice, and treat Me
as ye treated Me in times past, though I never attempted to meddle with
your affairs. At no time have I opposed you, neither have I rebelled
against your laws. Behold how ye have, at the last, made Me a prisoner
in this far-off land! Know for a certainty, however, that whatever your
hands or the hands of the infidels have wrought will never, as they
never did of old, change the Cause of God or alter His ways.
|
| 96 |
Give heed to My warning, ye people of Persia! If I be
slain at your hands, God will assuredly raise up one who will fill the
seat made vacant through My death, for such is God's method carried into
effect of old, and no change can ye find in God's method of dealing.
Seek ye to put out God's light that shineth upon His earth? Averse is
God from what ye desire. He shall perfect His light, albeit ye abhor it
in the secret of your hearts.
|
| 97 |
Pause for but a little while and reflect, O Minister,
and be fair in thy judgement. What is it that We have committed that
could justify thee in having slandered Us unto the King's Ministers, in
following thy desires, in perverting the truth, and in uttering thy
calumnies against Us? We have never met each other except when We met
thee in thy father's house, in the days when the martyrdom of Imám
usayn was being commemorated. On those occasions no one could have had
the chance of making known to others his views and beliefs in
conversation or in discourse. Thou wilt bear witness to the truth of My
words, if thou be of the truthful. I have frequented no other gatherings
in which thou couldst have learned My mind or in which any other could
have done so. How, then, didst thou pronounce thy verdict against Me,
when thou hadst not heard My testimony from Mine own lips? Hast thou not
heard what God, exalted be His glory, hath said: ``Say not to everyone
who meeteth you with a greeting, `Thou art not a believer'.''76
``Thrust not away those who cry to their Lord at morn and even, craving
to behold His face.''77
Thou hast indeed forsaken what the Book of God hath prescribed, and yet
thou deemest thyself to be a believer!
|
| 98 |
Despite what thou hast done I entertain -- and to this
God is My witness -- no ill will against thee, nor against anyone,
though from thee and others We receive such hurt as no believer in the
unity of God can sustain. My cause is in the hand of none except God,
and My trust is in no one else but Him. Erelong shall your days pass
away, as shall pass away the days of those who now, with flagrant pride,
vaunt themselves over their neighbour. Soon shall ye be gathered
together in the presence of God, and shall be asked of your doings, and
shall be repaid for what your hands have wrought, and wretched is the
abode of the wicked doers!
|
| 99 |
By God! Wert thou to realize what thou hast done, thou
wouldst surely weep sore over thyself, and wouldst flee for refuge to
God, and wouldst pine away and mourn all the days of thy life, till God
will have forgiven thee, for He, verily, is the Most Generous, the
All-Bountiful. Thou wilt, however, persist, till the hour of thy death,
in thy heedlessness, inasmuch as thou hast, with all thine heart, thy
soul and inmost being, busied thyself with the vanities of the world.
Thou shalt, after thy departure, discover what We have revealed unto
thee, and shalt find all thy doings recorded in the Book wherein the
works of all them that dwell on earth, be they greater or less than the
weight of an atom, are noted down. Heed, therefore, My counsel, and
hearken thou, with the hearing of thine heart, unto My speech, and be
not careless of My words, nor be of them that reject My truth. Glory not
in the things that have been given thee. Set before thine eyes what hath
been revealed in the Book of God, the Help in Peril, the All-Glorious:
``And when they had forgotten their warnings, We set open to them the
gates of all things,'' even as We did set open to thee and to thy like
the gates of this earth and the ornaments thereof. Wait thou, therefore,
for what hath been promised in the latter part of this holy verse,78
for this is a promise from Him Who is the Almighty, the All-Wise -- a
promise that will not prove untrue.
|
| 100 |
I know not the path ye have chosen and which ye tread,
O congregation of My ill-wishers! We summon you to God, We remind you of
His Day, We announce unto you tidings of your reunion with Him, We draw
you nigh unto His court, and send down upon you tokens of His wondrous
wisdom, and yet lo, behold how ye reject Us, how ye condemn Us, through
the things which your lying mouths have uttered, as an infidel, how ye
devise your devices against Us! And when We manifest unto you what God
hath, through His bountiful favour, bestowed upon Us, ye say, ``It is
but plain magic.'' The same words were spoken by the generations that
were before you and were what ye are, did ye but perceive it. Ye have
thereby deprived yourselves of the bounty of God and of His grace, and
shall never obtain them till the day when God will have judged between
Us and you, and He, verily, is the best of judges.
|
| 101 |
Certain ones among you have said: ``He it is Who hath
laid claim to be God.'' By God! This is a gross calumny. I am but a
servant of God Who hath believed in Him and in His signs, and in His
Prophets and in His angels. My tongue, and My heart, and My inner and My
outer being testify that there is no God but Him, that all others have
been created by His behest, and been fashioned through the operation of
His Will. There is none other God but Him, the Creator, the Raiser from
the dead, the Quickener, the Slayer. I am He that telleth abroad the
favours with which God hath, through His bounty, favoured Me. If this be
My transgression, then I am truly the first of the transgressors. I and
My kindred are at your mercy. Do ye as ye please, and be not of them
that hesitate, that I might return to God My Lord, and reach the place
where I can no longer behold your faces. This, indeed, is My dearest
wish, My most ardent desire. Of My state God is, verily, sufficiently
informed, observant.
|
| 102 |
Imagine thyself to be under the eye of God, O Minister!
If thou seest Him not, He, in truth, clearly seeth thee. Observe, and
judge fairly Our Cause. What is it that We have committed that could
have induced thee to rise up against Us, and to slander Us to the
people, if thou be of them who are just? We departed out of Tihrán, at
the bidding of the King,{@@@@@@@} and, by his leave, transferred Our
residence to `Iráq. If I had transgressed against him, why, then, did
he release Me? And if I were innocent of guilt, wherefore did ye afflict
Us with such tribulation as none among them that profess your faith hath
suffered? Hath any of Mine acts, after Mine arrival in `Iráq, been such
as to subvert the authority of the government? Who is it that can be
said to have detected anything reprehensible in Our behaviour? Enquire
for thyself of its people, that thou mayest be of them who have
discerned the truth.
|
| 103 |
For eleven years We dwelt in that land, until the
Minister representing thy government arrived,79
whose name Our pen is loth to mention, who was given to wine, who
followed his lusts, and committed wickedness, and was corrupt and
corrupted `Iráq. To this will bear witness most of the inhabitants of
Baghdád, wert thou to inquire of them, and be of such as seek
the truth. He it was who wrongfully seized the substance of his
fellow-men, who forsook all the commandments of God, and perpetrated
whatever God had forbidden. Eventually, he, following his desires, rose
up against Us, and walked in the ways of the unjust. He accused Us, in
his letter to thee, and thou didst believe him and followed in his way,
without seeking any proof or trustworthy evidence from him. Thou didst
ask for no explanation, nor didst thou attempt either to investigate or
ascertain the matter, that the truth might be distinguished from
falsehood in thy sight, and that thou mightest be clear in thy
discernment. Find out for thyself the sort of man he was by asking those
Ministers who were, at that time, in `Iráq, as well as the Governor of
the City{¤¤¤¤¤¤¤} and its high Counsellor, that the truth may be
revealed to thee, and that thou mayest be of the well-informed.
|
| 104 |
God is Our witness! We have, under no circumstances,
opposed either him, or others. We observed, under all conditions, the
precepts of God, and were never one of those that wrought disorders. To
this he himself doth testify. His intention was to lay hold on Us, and
send Us back to Persia, that he might thereby exalt his fame and
reputation. Thou hast committed the same crime, and for the self-same
purpose. Ye both are of equal grade in the sight of God, the sovereign
Lord of all, the All-Knowing.
|
| 105 |
It is not Our purpose in addressing to thee these words
to lighten the burden of Our woe, or to induce thee to intercede for Us
with anyone. Nay, by Him Who is the Lord of all worlds! We have set
forth the whole matter before thee, that perchance thou might realize
what thou hast done, might desist from inflicting on others the hurt
thou hast inflicted on Us, and might be of them that have truly repented
to God, Who created thee and created all things, and might act with
discernment in the future. Better is this for thee than all thou dost
possess, than thy ministry whose days are numbered.
|
| 106 |
Beware lest thou be led to connive at injustice. Set
thy heart firmly upon justice, and alter not the Cause of God, and be of
them whose eyes are directed towards the things that have been revealed
in His Book. Follow not, under any condition, the promptings of thine
evil desires. Keep thou the law of God, thy Lord, the Beneficent, the
Ancient of Days. Thou shalt most certainly return to dust, and shalt
perish like all the things in which thou takest delight. This is what
the Tongue of truth and glory hath spoken.
|
| 107 |
Rememberest thou not God's warning uttered in times
past, that thou mayest be of them that heed His warning? He said, and
He, verily, speaketh the truth: ``From it (earth) have We created you,
and unto it will We return you, and out of it will We bring you forth a
second time.''80
This is what God ordained unto all them that dwell on earth, be they
high or low. It behoveth not, therefore, him who was created from dust,
who will return unto it, and will again be brought forth out of it, to
swell with pride before God, and before His loved ones, to proudly scorn
them, and be filled with disdainful arrogance. Nay, rather it behoveth
thee and those like thee to submit yourselves to them Who are the
Manifestations of the unity of God, and to defer humbly to the faithful,
who have forsaken their all for the sake of God, and have detached
themselves from the things which engross men's attention, and lead them
astray from the path of God, the All-Glorious, the All-Praised. Thus do
We send down upon you that which shall profit you and profit them that
have placed their whole trust and confidence in their Lord.
|
| 108 |
O ye divines of the City! We came to you with the
truth, whilst ye were heedless of it. Methinks ye are as dead, wrapt in
the coverings of your own selves. Ye sought not Our presence, when so to
do would have been better for you than all your doings. Know ye that the
Sun of vicegerency hath dawned in all truth, and yet ye have turned away
therefrom. The Moon of guidance hath risen high in the midmost heaven,
and yet ye remain veiled therefrom. The Star of divine bounty hath shone
forth above the horizon of eternal holiness, and yet ye have strayed far
therefrom.
|
| 109 |
Know ye, that had your leaders, to whom ye owe
allegiance, and on whom ye pride yourselves, and whom ye mention by day
and by night, and from whose traces ye seek guidance -- had they lived
in these days, they would have circled around Me, and would not have
separated themselves from Me, whether at eventide or at morn. Ye,
however, did not turn your faces towards My face, for even less than a
moment, and waxed proud, and were careless of this Wronged One, Who hath
been so afflicted by men that they dealt with Him as they pleased. Ye
failed to inquire about My condition, nor did ye inform yourselves of
the things which befell Me. Thereby have ye withheld from yourselves the
winds of holiness, and the breezes of bounty, that blow from this
luminous and perspicuous Spot.
|
| 110 |
Methinks ye have clung to outward things, and forgotten
the inner things, and say that which ye do not. Ye are lovers of names,
and appear to have given yourselves up to them. For this reason make ye
mention of the names of your leaders. And should anyone like them, or
superior unto them, come unto you, ye would flee him. Through their
names ye have exalted yourselves, and have secured your positions, and
live and prosper. And were your leaders to reappear, ye would not
renounce your leadership, nor would ye turn in their direction, nor set
your faces towards them.
|
| 111 |
|
| 112 |
We found you, as We found most men, worshipping names
which they mention during the days of their life, and with which they
occupy themselves. No sooner do the Bearers of these names appear,
however, than they repudiate them, and turn upon their heels. Thus have
We found you, and thus have We reckoned up your actions and borne
witness to all your doings in this day. Know ye that God will not, in
this day, accept your thoughts, nor your remembrance of Him, nor your
turning towards Him, nor your devotions, nor your vigilance, unless ye
be made new in the estimation of this Servant, could ye but perceive it.
|
| 113 |
By God! The Tree of vicegerency hath been planted, the
Point of knowledge hath been made plain, and the sovereignty of God, the
Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting, hath been established. Fear ye the
Lord. Follow not the promptings of your evil desires, but keep the law
of God all your days. Renew the rules of the ways ye follow, that ye may
be led by the light of guidance and may hasten in the path of the True
One.
|
| 114 |
O ye wise men of the City and philosophers of the
world! Beware lest human learning and wisdom cause you to wax proud
before God, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting. Know ye that true
wisdom is to fear God, to know Him, and to recognize His Manifestations.
This wisdom, however, can be attained only by those who detach
themselves from the world, and who walk in the ways of the good pleasure
of their Lord. Are ye possessed of greater wisdom than the one who
contrived a moon which would rise from one well and set in another, and
whose light was visible at a distance of three leagues?81
God, verily, blotted out every trace of his works and returned him unto
dust, as ye have already heard or are now informed.
|
| 115 |
How many the sages and philosophers who equalled or
surpassed him in learning and wisdom! And how vast the number of those
who equalled or surpassed yourselves! Some of them believed in God,
while others disbelieved and joined partners with Him. The latter were
at last cast into the Fire, there to take up their abode, while the
former returned unto the mercy of their Lord, therein to abide. For God
doth not ask you of your sciences, but of your faith and of your
conduct. Are ye greater in wisdom than the One Who brought you into
being, Who fashioned the heavens and all that they contain, the earth
and all that dwell upon it? Gracious God! True wisdom is His. All
creation and its empire are His. He bestoweth His wisdom upon whomsoever
He chooseth amongst men, and withholdeth it from whomsoever He desireth.
He, in truth, is the Bestower and the Withholder, and He, verily, is the
All-Bountiful, the All-Wise.
|
| 116 |
O ye learned of the world! Ye failed to seek Our
presence, that ye might hearken unto the sweet melodies of the Spirit
and perceive that which God in His bounty hath pleased to bestow upon
Me. Verily, this grace hath now escaped you, did ye but know. Had ye
sought Our presence, We would have imparted unto you a knowledge that
would have rendered you independent of all else. But this ye failed to
do, and thus hath the decree of God been fulfilled. Now have I been
forbidden to disclose it, since We stand accused of sorcery, if ye
perceive Our meaning. The same words were uttered by the deniers of old,
men whom death hath long since overtaken and who now dwell in the fire
bewailing their plight. The deniers of this day shall likewise meet
their doom. Such is the irrevocable decree of Him Who is the
All-Powerful, the Self-Sufficient.
|
| 117 |
I counsel you, in the end, not to overstep the bounds
of God, nor to heed the ways and habits of men, for these can neither
``fatten nor appease your hunger''. Fix, rather, your gaze upon the
precepts of God. Whosoever desireth, let him accept this counsel as a
path leading unto his Lord, and whosoever desireth, let him return to
his own idle imaginings. My Lord, verily, is independent above all who
are in the heavens and on the earth, and above all that they say and do.
|
| 118 |
I close with these words uttered by God, exalted be His
glory: ``Say not to everyone who meeteth you with a greeting, `Thou art
not a believer'.''82
|
| 119 |
Peace be upon you, O concourse of the faithful, and
praise be to God, the Lord of the worlds.
|