Tablet to the Christians

(provisional edit: concise form, non-archaic English, original translation from Persian by Shoghi Effendi) 

Revealed by Bahá’u’lláh at the foot of Mount Carmel (Holy Land)
in the latter part of the 19th century

  In the name of the Lord, the Lord of great glory

Say, O followers of the Son [Jesus]! Have you shut out yourselves from Me by reason of My Name? Why do you not ponder in your hearts? Day and night you have been calling upon your Lord, the Omnipotent, but when He came from the heaven of eternity in His great glory, you turned aside from Him and remained sunk in heedlessness.

Consider those who rejected the Spirit [Jesus] when He came unto them with manifest dominion. How numerous the Pharisees who had secluded themselves in synagogues in His name, lamenting over their separation from Him, and yet when the portals of reunion were flung open, they disbelieved in God, the Exalted, the Mighty. They failed to attain His presence even though His advent had been promised them in the Book of Isaiah as well as in the Books of the Prophets and the Messengers. No one from among them turned his face towards the Dayspring of divine bounty except such as were destitute of any power amongst men. And yet, today, every man endowed with power and invested with sovereignty prides himself on His Name.

We, verily, have come for your sakes, and have borne the misfortunes of the world for your salvation. Do you flee the One Who has sacrificed His life that you may be quickened? Fear God, O followers of the Spirit, and walk not in the footsteps of every divine that has gone far astray. Do you imagine that He seeks His own interests, when He has, at all times, been threatened by the swords of the enemies; or that He seeks the vanities of the world, after He has been imprisoned in the most desolate of cities? Be fair in your judgement and follow not the footsteps of the unjust. 

Open the doors of your hearts. He Who is the Spirit verily stands before them. Will you bar the doors of your houses in My face? He, verily, has again come down from heaven, even as He came down the first time.

The river Jordan is joined to the Most Great Ocean, and the Son, in the holy vale, cries out: 'Here am I, here am I, O Lord, my God!', while Sinai circles round the House, and the Burning Bush calls aloud: 'He Who is the Desired One is come in His transcendent majesty.' Say, Lo! The Father is come, and that which you were promised in the Kingdom is fulfilled! This is the Word which the Son concealed, when to those around Him He said: 'You cannot bear it now.' Beware, O followers of the Son, that you do not cast it behind your backs. Take fast hold of it. Better is this for you than all that you possess. The Hour which We had concealed from the knowledge of the peoples of the earth and of the favoured angels has come to pass. Say, verily, He has testified of Me, and I do testify of Him. Indeed, He has purposed no one other than Me.

My body has endured imprisonment that you may be released from the bondage of self. Set your faces then towards His face and follow not the footsteps of every hostile oppressor.

Announce unto the priests: Lo! He Who is the Ruler is come. Step out from behind the veil in the name of your Lord, He Who lays low the necks of all men. Proclaim then unto all mankind the glad-tidings of this mighty, this glorious Revelation. Verily, He Who is the Spirit of Truth is come to guide you unto all truth. He speaks not as prompted by His own self, but as bidden by Him Who is the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.

Say, this is the One Who has glorified the Son and has exalted His Cause. Cast away, O peoples of the earth, that which you have and take fast hold of that which you are bidden by the All-Powerful. Purge your ears and set your hearts towards Him that you may hearken to the most wondrous Call which has been raised from Sinai, the habitation of your Lord.

O concourse of priests! Leave the bells, and come forth, then, from your churches. It behoves you, in this day, to proclaim aloud the Most Great Name among the nations. Do you prefer to be silent, while every stone and every tree shouts aloud: 'The Lord is come in His great glory!'? Well is it with the man who hastens unto Him. He that summons men in My name is, verily, of Me, and he will show forth that which is beyond the power of all that are on earth. Follow the Way of the Lord and walk not in the footsteps of them that are sunk in heedlessness. Well is it with the slumberer who is stirred by the Breeze of God and arises from amongst the dead, directing his steps towards the Way of the Lord. Verily, such a man is regarded, in the sight of God, the True One, as a jewel amongst men and is reckoned with the blissful.

Say: In the East the light of His Revelation has broken; in the West have appeared the signs of His dominion. Ponder this in your hearts, O people, and be not of those who have turned a deaf ear to the admonitions of Him Who is the Almighty. Let the Breeze of God awaken you.

O concourse of bishops! You are the stars of the heaven of My knowledge. My mercy desires not that you should fall upon the earth. My justice, however, declares: 'This is that which the Son has decreed.' And whatsoever has proceeded out of His blameless, His truth-speaking, trustworthy mouth, can never be altered. The bells, verily, peal out My Name, and lament over Me, but My spirit rejoices with evident gladness. The body of the Loved One yearns for the cross, and His head is eager for the spear, in the path of the All-Merciful.

O concourse of monks! If you choose to follow Me, I will make you heirs of My Kingdom; and if you transgress against Me, I will, in My long-suffering, endure it patiently, and I, verily, am the Ever-Forgiving, the All-Merciful.

Bethlehem is awake by the Breeze of God. We hear her voice saying: 'O most generous Lord! Where is Your great glory established? The sweet savours of Your presence have quickened me, after I had melted in my separation from You. We called unto her: 'O Bethlehem! This Light has risen in the Orient, and travelled towards the Occident, until it reached you in the evening of its life. Tell Me then: Do the sons recognize the Father, and acknowledge Him, or do they deny Him, even as the people of old denied Him (Jesus)?'

I never passed a tree but Mine heart addressed it saying: 'O if only you were cut down in My name, and My body crucified upon you.'

Say:
 Blessed the slumberer who is awakened by My Breeze.

Blessed the lifeless one who is quickened through My reviving breaths.

Blessed the eye that is solaced by gazing at My beauty.

Blessed the distressed one who seeks refuge
beneath the shadow of My canopy.

Blessed the abased one who lays fast hold on the cord of My glory;
and the needy one who enters beneath the shadow of the Tabernacle of My wealth.

Blessed the ignorant one who seeks the fountain of My knowledge;
and the heedless one who cleaves to the cord of My remembrance.

Blessed the ear that has heard and the tongue that has borne witness and
the eye that has seen and recognized the Lord Himself,
in His great glory and majesty, invested with grandeur and dominion.

Blessed are they that have attained His presence.

Blessed is he who has laid down his life in My path and
has borne hardships for the sake of My Name.

Blessed is he who has remained faithful to My Covenant, and whom the things of the world have not kept back from attaining My Court of holiness.

Blessed is the man who has detached himself from all else but Me,
has soared in the atmosphere of My love,
has gained admittance into My Kingdom, gazed upon
My realms of glory, quaffed the living waters of My bounty,
has drunk his fill from the heavenly river of My loving providence,
acquainted himself with My Cause, apprehended that which
I concealed within the treasury of My Words, and has
shone forth from the horizon of divine knowledge
engaged in My praise and glorification.

Verily, he is of Me.

Upon him rest My mercy,

My loving-kindness,

My bounty and

My glory.

Jun 3, 2012 -- 1:14PM, Lilwabbit wrote:

Thank you for the text and these beautiful letters.

I've read a mystic who said that the writings in heaven are curved letters with dots and short lines. I don't know how old is Arabic alphabet but the above, to me, is like work of art. I just kept looking at it even though I can not read or make any sense of it except in a way admire it.

Jun 13, 2012 -- 8:12AM, Dostojevsky wrote:

Thank you for the text and these beautiful letters.

I've read a mystic who said that the writings in heaven are curved letters with dots and short lines. I don't know how old is Arabic alphabet but the above, to me, is like work of art. I just kept looking at it even though I can not read or make any sense of it except in a way admire it.

Salutations Dostojevsky!

As with all of these beautifully curved strokes of the Oriental pen, they are not as easy to read even for a native. My Arabic and Persian is rudimentary, but with a little help I have surmised the text to be:

Nasrún mín'Alláh va fathú qurbat (Arabic) which translates roughly:

"God's Assistance, the beginning of pious acts."

Here is some more beautiful Bahá'í calligraphy (Persian) (click "calligraphy" for more) showcasing verses from the Seven Valleys.

Great for you to drop by!

LilWabbit

Jun 14, 2012 -- 1:35PM, world citizen wrote:

Lilwabbit ~

That website of Arabic Baha'i calligraphy by Burhan Zurha'i is awesome!  Wish I'd had access to his work when I used to do my etchings.  Would have sincerely appreciated having had his permission to do a few renderings of his (especially the "Valleys").

This was one of my renderings on black glass of Mishkin Qalam's "Bismi'llahi'l Bahaiyyi'l Abha" (In the name of God, the Glorious, the Most Glorious).  You might recognize it as being from the fronticepiece of The Master's book "Memorials of the Faithful."

Wow, World! You amaze me with your talent which I knew nothing about! Simply beautiful...

Jun 14, 2012 -- 3:53PM, world citizen wrote:

Kind of you to say, wabbit.  Haven't etched now in more than a decade, but never used acid.  Detail was achieved because I only used a handheld dentist's drill with diamond (dust) and/or carbide drill bits of different sizes.  Glad you like the sampling of pieces I made.

Wow! Why did you stop?

Take up the drill and dust

get glass o scribe and

scrape more shapes

and words in beauty graced

treasures as these deserve the light

that flees free through matter's lattice

Mirror thy love's face, trace thy soul's lace

Unloose thy locks, embrace and blazon

In His name, the Divine Artificer's,

prentice all are always we,

By service learning,

Full urns earning

of unearned

and unearnable

Bounty honey sweet