Volume 103: Akka 1868–1892 year unknown, Part I (5 of 5)

BH00607: O Mihdi! Upon thee be My Glory and My…

He is the Hearer, the Answerer!

O Mihdi! Upon thee be My Glory and My loving-kindness! From the Supreme Prison there hath flowed from the Pen in thy remembrance that which caused the hearts of ardent lovers to soar unto God, the Lord of the Day of the Covenant. Thou hast been blessed with My call time and again, and with My verses repeatedly. God shall soon raise up from every word that which shall recount this most exalted station. Verily thy Lord is the Omnipotent, the Unconstrained. Beware lest the veils of the world prevent thee, or the oppression of those who have denied God, the Lord of Lords, weaken thee. Say: O people of the Bayan! Fear the All-Merciful. Cast behind you the idols of names, turning unto God, the One, the Alone, the Omnipotent, the Mighty, the All-Forgiving. This is a Day wherein none save Him is mentioned, as attesteth the Mother Book which is with Him. Say: Fear God, O people of the Bayan, and deny not Him Who hath come unto you with God’s signs and sovereignty. Thus hath the matter been decreed from the presence of God, the Lord of the beginning and the end.

We have desired to make mention of him who was named Hashim, that he may rejoice in God’s loving-kindness, the Lord of the worlds. O Hashim! Hear the call from the supreme horizon, from the Ultimate Lote-Tree in the prison of ʿAkka: Verily there is none other God but Me, the One, the Alone, the Omnipotent, the All-Powerful. Cast aside vain imaginings, turning to the horizon wherefrom hath shone the Sun of Certitude from God, the All-Knowing, the All-Informed. Beware lest anything prevent thee from this Most Great Announcement, or any matter grieve thee in this Straight Path. Say: O people of the earth! I have forsaken the religion of a people who believed not in God, the Lord of the Glorious Throne. Beware lest the swords of the enemies frighten you, or the derision of those who have denied the Day of Judgment grieve you. Thus have We caused thee to hear the warbling of the Dove of Divine Knowledge upon the highest branches. Blessed art thou and blessed is he who hath turned and said:

“Praise be unto Thee, O Thou the Goal of all who are in the heavens and on earth!”

O Muhammad-Qabli-Isma’il! Hearken unto the call of God, the Mighty, the Beautiful. He maketh mention of thee and those who have believed, whereby the eyes of the mystics have been gladdened. When thou hast drunk the choice wine of revelation from the cup of My bounty and hast heard My most sweet call from the direction of My prison, turn toward the Kaaba of God and say:

My God, my God! Praise be to Thee for having illumined my heart with the light of Thy guidance and for having revealed unto me from the treasuries of Thy Most Exalted Pen the pearls of bounty and bestowal. I beseech Thee by the repositories of Thy revelation and the Daysprings of Thy Cause to ordain for this poor one, through the Pen of Thy bounty, that which will exalt him through Thy Name. Thou art, verily, the Omnipotent over what Thou willest, and within Thy grasp are the reins of all things past and future.

O Muhammad-Qabli-Taqi! We have made mention of thee as a bounty from Our presence, and We mention thee as a mercy from God, the Mighty, the All-Praised. Blessed is he who hath drunk the choice wine of My utterance from the cup of My bounty and hath heard My most sweet call from My most exalted horizon on this blessed, mighty and wondrous Day. Grieve not at the clamor of the wayward, and fear not the might of the oppressors. Take hold of the Book with the power proceeding from God, the Lord of the exalted Throne, and say:

My God, my Lord, and my Support! I beseech Thee by the lights of Thy countenance and the mysteries of Thy Book to aid me to serve Thy Cause in Thy days. Thou art, verily, the Omnipotent, the Mighty, the All-Bountiful.

O Ancient Beauty! Turn Thy face from the direction of the Most Great Prison toward him who was named Rida in the books of names, that he may give thanks unto his Lord, the Rememberer, the All-Knowing, the All-Informed.

O Rida! We make mention of him who was named Muhammad—upon him be My glory and loving-kindness—whom the breezes of Revelation stirred and whom the hand of might raised up to serve this glorious and mighty Cause. We have made mention of him and those with him through verses that all the books of the world cannot equal, as doth testify the Mother Book in this exalted station. O Rida, say:

Praise be to Thee, O Lord of all beings and Ruler of the Kingdom of Names, for having made me to speak Thy praise, to turn unto Thy Kaaba, and to circle round Thy will. I beseech Thee by Thy Most Great Throne and by Thy Most Ancient and Most Mighty Name to make me steadfast in Thy love and firm in Thy Cause. Verily, Thou art the All-Powerful, the All-Knowing, the All-Informed.

O Most Exalted Pen! Hear My sweetest call, then make mention of him who hath turned unto Thy horizon and desired to enter the depths of the ocean of Thy oneness—he who was named Ahmad in the Kingdom of Names and whose name hath flowed from the Tongue of Grandeur in this clear moment. Blessed art thou for having turned and heard the Call when it was raised between earth and heaven, and for having attained unto the mention of God and His signs that have encompassed all who are in the heavens and on earth. Beware lest the veils of names prevent thee from drawing nigh unto their Creator and their Manifestation. Take hold, with the hands of resignation, of the hem of thy Lord’s mercy, and say:

My God, my God! Thou seest me turning unto Thee, enkindled with the fire of Thy Sacred Tree, and attracted by Thy verses. I beseech Thee by the lights of Thy throne and by that which lay hidden and treasured in Thy knowledge, to aid me to be steadfast in this Cause whereby all things have cried out and proclaimed:

“O concourse of earth and heaven! By God! The Lord of all beings hath come with a sovereignty that hath subdued all who are in the heavens and on earth.”

To this doth bear witness the Most Great Book of God in this mighty Prison.

The Most Great Branch and My loved ones there have mentioned thee time and again, and he who was named Husayn, who arose to serve the Cause in its earliest days, hath made mention of thee. We have remembered thee through this wondrous Book. We beseech God to assist His loved ones in that which will cause the fragrance of the garment to be diffused throughout all regions and the sweet savors of holiness to spread among His servants. Verily, He is powerful over whatsoever He willeth. He is the All-Bountiful, the Ever-Forgiving, the Most Merciful. We make mention of Our loved ones who have not broken God’s covenant and His testament, and who have acknowledged that which the Tongue of Grandeur hath spoken in His days. We ask for them divine success and confirmation in all conditions. Verily, He is the Self-Sufficient, the Most Exalted.

O My loved ones! Know ye the value of these days and hold fast unto that which will cause the exaltation of the Word of God. These days shall pass away, and whatsoever is seen and shall be seen will return to nothingness. Therefore must they who are immersed in the sea of oneness and have turned to the Most Sublime Horizon arise to mention and praise God and to serve His Cause throughout the nights and days. These sublime words were previously revealed from the tongue of the Wronged One:

Death to the veiled ones, pain to the frozen ones; The King of Days hath come, that Perfect Treasure hath come,

That Hidden Mystery hath been revealed, Despite the will of common folk.

And likewise in another place:

That divine Horseman with sovereign crown, With the diadem of “I am God”, like dawn emerged from night

Say: O people! None can prevent the influence of the Most Exalted Word and the Supreme Pen. By a power and might hath the Cause been made manifest, the like of which the essence of creation hath never witnessed. We beseech God to set ablaze His loved ones with the fire of the Divine Lote-Tree—a fire which neither the happenings of the world nor the oceans of rejection and hypocrisy can extinguish or diminish. Ye are today the daysprings of acceptance and the dawning-places of the love of the Eternal Beloved. Ye must raise the hands of hope toward the heaven of God’s generosity in such wise that through them may be uplifted the hands of all created things, and manifest such power that the might of all beings shall fail to weaken it.

Take ye the Book of God with the power and sovereignty bestowed by Him. He is with you and will aid you with His sovereignty. Verily, there is no power save His power and no sovereignty save His sovereignty. He is the Single, the One, the Mighty, the All-Conquering, the Commander, the All-Wise. We were with you in your [gathering], aware of your state, and We heard your mention and praise of God’s Manifest, Speaking and Clear News. At this point We wish to conclude this Tablet with mention of Mulla Ahmad-ʿAli.

O Ahmad-i-ʿAli! We testify that thou hast drunk the choice wine of thy Lord’s utterance time and again, and He hath given thee to drink of the Kawthar flowing from the Supreme Pen. Be thou thankful and numbered among the grateful. Thou hast ever been beneath the glances of Our loving-kindness. Illumine the loved ones of the City of Nun and Ya with the effulgent lights of the Luminary of utterance, the Goal of all the worlds. They have striven in God’s path and aided His Cause with a power that neither the might of tyrants nor the assault of pharaohs could withstand. Blessed are they in that the Goal of the world hath, in the Most Great Prison, taken up the chalice of utterance in their names and drunk therefrom in remembrance of them in this hallowed, luminous, transcendent, glorious and exalted station. Give them glad-tidings from Us and remind them from Our presence. Verily thy Lord is the All-Merciful, the Bountiful. We have mentioned thee in numerous Tablets and ordained for thee that which the treasuries of earth cannot equal, as this clear Book doth testify.

The loved ones must, one and all, with spirit and fragrance, with wisdom and utterance, awaken those who slumber and deliver those who waver from the limitations of the ungodly. The former people clung to [names] and were thus deprived of their Goal. Therefore were they barred from the ocean of mercy of the Ancient Lord Who hath appeared through His Most Great Name, and they remain, like the Jewish people, wandering in the wilderness of perplexity. O My loved ones! Strive ye, perchance ye may preserve the world from the suppositions and imaginings of the past and bestow upon it the living waters. Ye are the divine cup-bearers. Praise be to God, His Holiness the Afnan is present in that land. Ye must, in consultation with him, hold fast to whatsoever conduceth to the exaltation of existence. God will soon manifest that wherewith He hath given you glad-tidings in His Books, His Scriptures and His Tablets. Verily He is the Omnipotent over whatsoever He willeth, and He is the Ordainer, the Ancient of Days.

BH00617: My spirit and my being be a sacrifice unto…

In the Name of God, the Most Inaccessible, the Most Holy, the Most Mighty, the Most Glorious!

My spirit and my being be a sacrifice unto Thee, O Spirit, through Whom the breath of the Spirit hath wafted from the direction of Thy nearness, and the fragrance of the garment of Thy reunion hath been diffused, causing these decayed bones to quiver. The glorious letter of that beautiful Countenance, which was adorned with the crown of grandeur, magnificence and glory to the name of our Lord, the Glorious, the Most Glorious, came as a spiritual diadem adorning the head of this ephemeral one, and the fragrances of the garment of sanctification were inhaled from its holy words, free from incidental allusions and the indications of vain imaginings.

Glory be unto God, then power, might and dominion be unto God, Who, by a gesture of the finger of His power, rent asunder the all-encompassing veils of names, and were He to will and make another gesture with His other sacred fingertip, He would raise up the entire kingdom of names and the heaven of essences in their reality. Then would appear the word: “Immortality belongeth unto God, the Powerful, the Glorious, the Most Glorious.” And furthermore, with this same exalted finger He created a new creation, such that were all the worlds of origination and invention to become embodiments of names and desire to utter or speak a single letter from the letters of the Book of Creation other than that which hath been revealed from the Most Glorious Pen of God, they would all be considered absolute nothingness and sheer non-existence. Exalted, exalted is the power of our Lord, the All-Compelling, the Mighty, the Omnipotent!

Praise be to God that your honor is manifest before the Most Great Scene as one of the powerful, steadfast souls, and is adorned with the ornament of a new creation. We beseech God that through the effect of thy steadfastness He may manifest powerful souls and firm feet that may stand firm in the Cause and aid the All-Merciful with the swords of utterance. Verily, He is powerful over all things.

And regarding your previous request for permission to attain His presence, this servant beareth witness that at all times the decree of nearness and attainment unto His presence is established concerning your honor. These are now the days wherein we must all dedicate all affairs to the service of the Cause and occupy ourselves with teaching. Praise be to God that the True One, glorified be He, hath confirmed and assisted your honor, and you have been and are engaged in services to the Cause. May my soul be a sacrifice for thy devoted efforts!

Concerning the beloved friends in the land of S and M, about whom they have written both before and after, mention of all has been made before the Divine Throne, and infinite expressions of loving-kindness have dawned from their Source upon all. All have been and are beneath the glance of mercy and the gaze of loving-kindness, and the Tablets of God have also been sent down from the heaven of His Will. God willing, they will gradually be dispatched, and all shall be nourished from the inexhaustible ocean of grace. Convey this evanescent one’s expressions of devotion, self-effacement and glorification to all of them. May my spirit be a sacrifice unto them for having recognized, turned unto, believed in, and become certain of God. We beseech God that they may remain steadfast in the love of God and His Cause, and be among the firm ones. In the Tablet addressed to your honor, all have been mentioned by the Ancient Tongue.

Convey the glorification of the True One to all. The petitions that were sent with Jinab-i-Aqa Shaykh-ʿAli, upon him be the Glory of God, met with circumstance, and in the great city all were destroyed, and indeed they acted with wisdom. Your honor should write the details to the people of Kha.

Two Tablets specifically for Jinab-i-Aqa Siyyid Muhammad-Rida and Aqa Siyyid Abu-Talib were revealed more than a year ago but did not arrive. Now they have been sent and should be delivered. A single number of exalted Tablets were revealed, some sent without names. Your honor should consider them and deliver them as appropriate, and gladden and illumine all with the manifestations of God’s infinite bounties and the effulgences of the Sun of His most glorious mercy. The Branches of the Divine Lote-Tree, its twigs, fruits and leaves, all remember your honor with most wondrous and exalted praise, mention and glorification. Furthermore, convey this evanescent one’s expressions of devotion, love and glorification to your honored father and mother, upon them be the glory of their Lord, and likewise to all relatives and kin and all who attain your presence. I trouble all with expressions of devotion and countless glorifications. God willing, may all remain firm and steadfast in the path of the Cause through the influence of your holy breaths and spiritual emanations, in such wise that the false indications and ungodly allusions of the opposing souls may neither prevent nor veil them.

By God! O my beloved! Verily the Cause is mighty, and mightier than all that is mighty, nay mightier still than that, and thy Lord is the Most High, the Mighty.

According to your command, you must act with great wisdom in this journey, and strong emphasis has been laid on this matter. God willing, this has been and will continue to be observed.

Furthermore, among the incidents that have occurred is that two individuals and their sister in the Land of Mystery exhibited such behavior that, by God besides Whom there is no other God, the like of it has never been heard of in creation. When God forbade them from what they did, they turned away and objected until they denied God, the Master of the Day of Judgment. In all days and nights they engaged in what they were forbidden from. They mocked God’s messengers and emissaries, and from them appeared that which caused the dwellers of Paradise and those who circle around thy Lord’s throne, the Mighty, the Generous, to lament. They were never truly followers of my Faith, but in the Land of Mystery they secretly engaged in opposition and objection until one saw the overwhelming might of his Lord and repented at the time of death, and God forgave him—verily thy Lord is the Forgiving, the Merciful.

After his passing, Rida-Quli came and repented—verily thy Lord is the Ever-Forgiving, possessed of manifest grace. Though his inner hypocrisy was known, due to the precedence of mercy and the all-encompassing grace, it was concealed until he arrived at this prison and openly began misleading some, for he found the True One imprisoned and oppressed. He drank wine openly and his sister would drink and appear before the Countenance. Thus did it come to pass with the Beloved. This has been mentioned that thou mayest be informed. And this was among their better deeds—we seek God’s refuge from their other acts. When their rebellion, tyranny and ingratitude reached their height, God cast them out and left them in the torment of hell. They departed and said what none before had said. Fie upon them and their faithlessness!

Whatever divine verses they possessed, they added some fabricated ones and gave them to the people of this land, creating great mischief. But their efforts in this vain life came to naught. Verily He is the ruler over what He wills. They attributed all their reprehensible deeds to the True One. Observe how, despite God’s great mercy and all-encompassing grace, they rebelled such that when they sought forgiveness it was not accepted. Thus they returned disappointed and at loss, and now they have united with Satan—God’s curse be upon them. Those souls wrote such letters in the Land of Mystery against Iblis and his followers and sent them in all directions. In any case, O My loved one, they have manifested such hatred the like of which has not been seen. They oppose all the Prophets and Messengers. We beseech God to seize them with His justice. Verily He is the Mighty, the Powerful.

Furthermore, for some time verses had not been revealed from the heaven of divine will, the door of meeting was closed, and the Countenance of the Desired One sat alone in the house. For several days now the clouds of favor have risen and the rain of mercy has descended. God willing, mighty tablets will continue to be sent from the divine direction, that thy eyes and the eyes of the knowing ones may be gladdened thereby. And praise be to God, the Lord of the worlds. Additionally, regarding the outcast soul, a brief note has also been written to Aqa Mirza Husayn, upon him be the glory of God—they will observe it. Also, convey from this servant an exalted greeting to Aqa Mirza Sayyid Husayn from the people of Ta and Fa, and write to them in detail so they may be informed. And the spirit and glory and holiness and splendor be upon thee and those with thee among the people of Baha.

In most of the revealed Tablets, whether Persian or Arabic, the Pen of the Lord of Creation has, both implicitly and explicitly, forbidden the servants to turn towards this direction, and there has been much emphasis, warning and admonition in this binding commandment from the presence of the Mighty, the Powerful One. You must specifically forbid this and not allow anyone to turn in this direction, for manifest harm lies therein. In one of the exalted Persian Tablets, these words were revealed—exalted be His glory:

“Forbid the loved ones of God from turning towards this direction. Say: O friends! harm will befall the very root of the Tree through coming and going. Beware lest ye transgress that which hath been ordained in the Book. He, verily, is the All-Knowing, the All-Informed.”

Similar blessed passages, and even more severe and emphatic ones, have been revealed in numerous places, but we have confined ourselves to this one passage. We must all beseech God, exalted be His glory, to grant us the grace to act according to His command and walk in the path of His good-pleasure. Verily, He ordaineth naught for His servants save that which is better for them than the kingdoms of earth and heaven. And praise be to God, the Lord of the worlds.

There are two petitions in the envelope which this servant has submitted. Please deliver them to the two names, upon them be the Glory of God.