earth and the heaven feareth save him who taketh hold of the 'Most Firm
Handle,'(42) that Thou wilt not abandon Me amongst Thy creatures: lift Me
up unto Thee, and make Me to enter in under the shadow of Thy mercy, and
give Me to drink of the pure wine of Thy grace, that I may dwell under the
canopy of Thy glory and the domes of Thy favors: verily Thou art powerful
unto that Thou wishest, and verily Thou art the Protecting, the
Self-Sufficing.
"O King! The lamps of justice are extinguished, and the fire of
persecution is kindled on all sides, until that they have made My people
captives. This is not the first honor which hath been violated in the way
of God. It behooveth everyone to regard and recall what befell the kindred
of the Prophet until that the people made them captives and brought them
in unto Damascus the spacious; and amongst them was the Prince of
Worshipers, the Stay of the elect, the Sanctuary of the eager (the soul of
all beside him be his sacrifice). It was said unto them, 'Are ye
seceders?' He said, 'No, by God, we are servants who have believed in God
and in His signs, and through us the teeth of faith are disclosed in a
smile, and the sign of the Merciful One shineth forth; through our mention
spreadeth Al-Batha,(43) and the darkness which intervened between earth
and heaven is dispelled.' It was said, 'Have ye forbidden what God hath
sanctioned, or sanctioned what God hath forbidden?' He said, 'We were the
first who followed the commandments of God: we are the source of command
and its origin, and the firstfruits of all good and its consummation: we
are the sign of the Eternal, and His commemoration amongst the nations.'
It was said, 'Have ye abandoned the Qur'an?' He said, 'Through us did the
Merciful One reveal it; and we are gales of the All-Glorious amidst [His]
creatures; we are streams which have arisen from the most mighty Ocean
whereby God revived the earth after its death; from us His signs are
diffused, His evidences are manifested, and His tokens appear; and with us
are His mysteries and His secrets.' It was said, 'For what fault [then]
were ye afflicted?' He said, 'For the love of God and our severance from
all beside Him.'
"Verily We have not repeated his expressions (upon him be peace), but
rather We have made manifest a spray from the Ocean of Life which was
deposited in his words, that by it those who advance may live and be aware
of what hath befallen the trusted ones of God on the part of an evil and
most reprobate people. And today We see the people censuring those who
acted unjustly of yore, while they oppress more vehemently than those
oppressed, and know it not. By God, I do not desire sedition, but the
purification of [God's] servants from all that withholdeth them from
approach to God, the King of the Day of Invocation.
"I was asleep on My couch: the breaths of My Lord the Merciful passed over
Me and awakened Me from sleep: to this bear witness the denizens [of the
realms] of His Power and His Kingdom, and the dwellers in the cities of
His Glory, and Himself, the True. I am not impatient of calamities in His
way, nor of afflictions for His love and at His good pleasure. God hath
made affliction as a morning shower to this green pasture, and as a match
for His lamp whereby earth and heaven are illumined.
"Shall that which anyone hath of wealth endure unto him, or avail him
tomorrow with him who holdeth his forelock? If any should look on those
who sleep under slabs and keep company with the dust, can he distinguish
the bones of the king's skull from the knuckles of the slave? No, by the
King of Kings! Or doth he know governors from herdsmen, or discern the
wealthy and the rich from him who was without shoes or carpet? By God,
distinction is removed, save for him who fulfilled righteousness and
judged uprightly. Where are the doctors, the scholars, the nobles? Where
is the keenness of their glances, the sharpness of their sight, the
subtlety of their thoughts, the soundness of their understandings? Where
are their hidden treasures and their apparent gauds, their bejeweled
thrones and their ample couches? Alas! All have been laid waste, and the
decree of God hath rendered them as scattered dust! Emptied is what they
treasured up, and dissipated is what they collected, and dispersed is what
they concealed: they have become [such that] thou seest naught but their
empty places, their gaping roofs, their uprooted beams, their new things
waxed old. As for the discerning man, verily wealth will not divert him
from regarding the end; and for the prudent man, riches will not withhold
him from turning toward [God] the Rich, the Exalted. Where is he who held
dominion over all whereon the sun arose, and who spent lavishly and sought
after curious things in the world and what is therein created? Where is
the lord of the swarthy squadron and the yellow standard? Where is he who
ruled Zawra,(44) and where he who wrought injustice in [Damascus] the
spacious? Where are they at whose bounty treasures were afraid, at whose
openhandedness and generosity the ocean was dismayed? Where is he whose
arm was stretched forth in rebelliousness, whose heart turned away from
the Merciful One? Where is he who used to make choice of pleasures and
cull the fruits of desires? Where are the dames of the bridal chambers,
and the possessors of beauty? Where are their waving branches and their
spreading boughs, their lofty palaces and trellised gardens? Where is the
smoothness of the expanses thereof and the softness of their breezes, the
rippling of their waters and the murmur of their winds, the cooing of
their doves and the rustling of their trees? Where are their laughing
hearts and their smiling teeth? Woe unto them! They have descended to the
abyss and become companions to the pebbles; today no mention is heard of
them nor any sound; nothing is known of them nor any hint. Will the people
dispute it while they behold it? Will they deny it when they know it? I
know not in what valley they wander erringly: do they not see that they
depart and return not? How long will they be famous in the low countries
and in the high, descend and ascend? 'Is not the time yet come to those
who believe for their hearts to become humble for the remembrance of
God?'(45) Well is it with that one who hath said or shall say, 'Yea, O
Lord, the time is ripe and hath come,' and who severeth himself from all
that is. Alas! naught is reaped but what is sown, and naught is taken but
what is laid up, save by the grace of God and His favor. Hath the earth
conceived Him whom the veils of glory prevent not from ascending into the
Kingdom of His Lord, the Mighty, the Supreme? Have We any good works
whereby defects shall be removed or which shall bring Us near unto the
Lord of causes? We ask God to deal with Us according to His grace, not His
justice, and to make Us of those who turn toward Him and sever themselves
from all beside Him.
"O King, I have seen in the way of God what no eye hath seen and no ear
hath heard. Friends have disclaimed Me; ways are straitened unto Me; the
pool of safety is dried up; the plain of ease is [scorched] yellow. How
many calamities have descended, and how many will descend! I walk
advancing toward the Mighty, the Bounteous, while behind Me glides the
serpent. My eyes rain down tears until My bed is drenched; but My sorrow
is not for Myself. By God, My head longeth for the spears for the love of
its Lord, and I never pass by a tree but My heart addresseth it [saying],
'O would that thou wert cut down in My name and My body were crucified
upon thee in the way of My Lord'; yea, because I see mankind going astray
in their intoxication, and they know it not: they have exalted their
lusts, and put aside their God, as though they took the command of God for
a mockery, a sport, and a plaything; and they think that they do well, and
that they are harbored in the citadel of security. The matter is not as
they suppose: tomorrow they shall see what they [now] deny.
"We are about to shift from this most remote place of banishment(46) unto
the prison of Akka. And, according to what they say, it is assuredly the
most desolate of the cities of the world, the most unsightly of them in
appearance, the most detestable in climate, and the foulest in water; it
is as though it were the metropolis of the owl; there is not heard from
its regions aught save the sound of its hooting. And in it they intend to
imprison the Servant, and to shut in Our faces the doors of leniency and
take away from Us the good things of the life of the world during what
remaineth of Our days. By God, though weariness should weaken Me, and
hunger should destroy Me, though My couch should be made of the hard rock
and My associates of the beasts of the desert, I will not blench, but will
be patient, as the resolute and determined are patient, in the strength of
God, the King of Preexistence, the Creator of the nations; and under all
circumstances I give thanks unto God. And We hope of His graciousness
(exalted is He) the freedom of Our necks from chains and shackles in this
imprisonment: and that He will render [all men's] faces sincere toward
Him, the Mighty, the Bounteous. Verily He answereth him who prayeth unto
Him, and is near unto him who calleth on Him. And We ask Him to make this
dark calamity a buckler for the body of His saints, and to protect them
thereby from sharp swords and piercing blades. Through affliction hath His
light shone and His praise been bright unceasingly: this hath been His
method through past ages and bygone times.
"The people shall know what today they understand not when their steeds
shall stumble, their beds be rolled up, their
[Pages 81-94]
swords be blunted, and their footsteps slip. I know not how long they
shall ride the steed of desire and wander erringly in the desert of
heedlessness and error. Of glory shall any glory endure, or of abasement
any abasement? Or shall he endure who used to stay himself on high
cushions, and who attained in splendor the utmost limit? No, by My Lord
the Merciful! 'All that is thereon is transient, and there remaineth
[only] the face of My Lord' the Mighty, the Beneficent. What buckler hath
not the arrow of destruction smitten, or what pinion hath not the hand of
fate plucked? From what fortress hath the messenger of death been kept
back when he came? What throne hath not been broken, or what palace hath
not been left desolate? Did men but know what pure wine of the mercy of
their Lord, the Mighty, the All-Knowing, was beneath the seal, they would
certainly cast aside reproach and seek to be satisfied by this Servant;
but now have they veiled Me with the veil of darkness which they have
woven with the hands of doubts and fancies. The White Hand shall cleave an
opening to this sombre night. On that day the servants [of God] shall say
what those caviling women said of yore, that there may appear in the end
what began in the beginning. Do they desire to tarry when their foot is in
the stirrup? Or do they see any return in their going? No, by the Lord of
Lords, save in the Resurrection! On that day men shall arise from the
tombs and shall be questioned concerning their riches. Happy that one whom
burdens shall not oppress on that day whereon the mountains shall pass
away and all shall appear for the questioning in the presence of God the
Exalted! Verily He is severe in punishing.
"We ask God to sanctify the hearts of certain of the doctors from rancor
and hatred that they may regard things with eyes which closure overcometh
not; and to raise them unto a station where the world and the lordship
thereof shall not turn them aside from looking toward the Supreme Horizon,
and where [anxiety for] gaining a livelihood and [providing] household
goods shall not divert them from [the thought of] that day whereon the
mountains shall be made like carpets. Though they rejoice at that which
hath befallen Us of calamity, there shall come a day whereon they shall
wail and weep. By My Lord, were I given the choice between the glory and
opulence, the wealth and dignity, the ease and luxury wherein they are,
and the distress and affliction wherein I am, I would certainly choose
that wherein I am today, and I would not now exchange one atom of these
afflictions for all that hath been created in the kingdom of production!
Were it not for afflictions in the way of God My continuance would have no
sweetness for Me, nor would My life profit Me. Let it not be hidden from
the discerning and such as look towards the chiefest outlook that I,
during the greater part of My days, was as a Servant sitting beneath a
sword suspended by a single hair who knoweth not when it shall descend
upon Him, whether it shall descend instantly or after a while. And in all
this We give thanks to God the Lord of the worlds, and We praise Him under
all circumstances: verily He is a witness unto all things.
"We ask God to extend His shadow,(47) that the unitarians may haste
thereto, and that the sincere may take shelter therein; and to bestow on
[these] servants flowers from the garden of his grace and stars from the
horizon of his favors; and to assist him in that which he liketh and
approveth; and to help him unto that which shall bring him near to the
Dayspring of His Most Comely Names, that he may not shut his eyes to the
wrong which he seeth, but may regard his subjects with the eye of favor
and preserve them from violence. And we ask Him (exalted is He) to make
thee a helper unto His religion and a regarder of His justice, that thou
mayest rule over [His] servants as thou rulest over those of thy kindred,
and mayest choose for them what thou wouldest choose for thyself. Verily
He is the Potent, the Exalted, the Protecting, the Self-Subsistent."
Now since suitable occasion hath arisen it hath been considered
appropriate that some of the precepts of Baha'u'llah which are contained
in tracts and epistles should also be inserted briefly in this treatise,
so that the main principles and practice and [their] foundations and basis
may become clear and apparent. And these texts have been copied from
numerous tracts.
Amongst them [is this]: "Consort with [people of all] religions with
spirituality and fragrance.... Beware lest the zeal of ignorance possess
you amongst mankind. All originated from God and returneth unto Him:
verily He is the Source of creation and the Goal of the worlds."
And amongst them [is this]: "Ye are forbidden sedition and strife in the
books and epistles; and herein I desire naught save your exaltation and
elevation, whereunto beareth witness the heaven and its stars, the sun and
its radiance, the trees and their leaves, the seas and their waves, and
the earth and its treasures. We ask God to continue His saints and
strengthen them unto that which befitteth them in this blessed, precious,
and wondrous station, and We ask Him to assist those who surround Me to
act according to that whereunto they have been commanded on the part of
the Supreme Pen."
And amongst them [is this]: "The fairest tree of knowledge is this sublime
word: 'Ye are all the fruit of one tree and the leaves of one branch.'
Pride is not for him who loves his country, but for him who loves the
[whole] world."
And amongst them [is this]: "Verily he who educateth his son, or one of
the sons [of another], it is as though he educated one of My sons. Upon
him be the splendor of God, and His grace, and His mercy which preceded
the worlds."
Amongst them [is this]: "O people of Baha! Ye have been and are the
dawnings of affection and the daysprings of divine grace: defile not the
tongue with cursing or execration of anyone, and guard the eye from that
which is not seemly. Show forth that which ye have: if it be accepted, the
object is attained; if not, interference is vain: leave him to himself,
[while] advancing toward God, the Protecting, the Self-Subsistent. Be not
a cause of grief, much less of strife and sedition. It is hoped that ye
will be nurtured in the shade of the lote-tree of Divine Grace, and
practice that which God desireth. Ye are all leaves of one tree and drops
of one sea."
Amongst them [is this]: "The faith of God and religion of God hath been
revealed and manifested from the heaven of the Will of the King of
Preexistence only for the union and concord of the dwellers upon earth:
make it not a cause of discord and dissension. The principal means and
chief instrument for [bringing about] the appearance and irradiance of the
luminary of concord is the religion of God and the Law of the Lord; while
the growth of the world, the education of the nations, and the peace and
comfort of those in all lands are through the divine ordinances and
decrees. This is the principal means for this most great gift; it giveth
the cup of life, bestoweth everlasting life, and conferreth eternal
blessedness. The chiefs of the earth, especially the exemplars of divine
justice, must make strenuous efforts to guard this state and to upraise
and preserve it. So likewise that which is necessary is inquiry into the
condition of the people, and cognizance of the deeds and circumstances of
each one of the different classes. We desire of the exemplars of God's
power, namely of kings and chiefs, that they will make endeavor: perchance
discord may depart out of [their] midst, and the horizons may be illumined
with the light of concord. All must hold to that which floweth from the
Pen of Reminder, and practice it. God witnesseth and [all] the atoms of
existences testify that we have mentioned that which will be the cause of
the exaltation, elevation, education, preservation, and reformation of the
dwellers upon earth. We desire of God that He will strengthen [His]
servants. That which this Oppressed One seeketh of all is justice and
fairness: let them not be satisfied with listening; let them ponder on
what hath become manifest from this Oppressed One. I swear by the Sun of
Revelation, which hath shone forth from the horizon of the heaven of the
Kingdom of the Merciful One, that, if any [other] expositor or speaker had
been beheld, I would not have made Myself an object for the malevolence
and the calumnies of mankind." Finis.
By these sentences a clue to the principles, ideas, line of conduct,
behavior, and intentions of this sect is placed in the hand; whereas if we
seek to become acquainted with the truth of this matter through the
accounts and stories which are in the mouths of men, the truth will be
entirely concealed and hidden by reason of their manifold differences and
contrariety. It is therefore best to discover the principles and objects
of this sect from the contents of their teachings, tracts, and epistles.
There is no authority nor are there any proofs or texts superior to these,
for this is the foundation of foundations and the ultimate criterion. One
cannot judge of the generality by the speech or action of individuals, for
diversity of states is one of the peculiarities and concomitants of the
human race.