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"?(85) 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."(86) 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"(87)--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!(88) 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(89) concerning the Manifestations of the Word, and been
numbered with the heedless? If not, wherefore then didst thou conspire
with the Minister of Persia(90) 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 Sultan 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
'Iraq, 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 'Iraq? 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 'Iraq 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."(91) 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"?(92) 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 'Iraq, 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."(93) 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 Islam, 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 Imam 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 'Ali al-Awsat, known as Zaynu'l-'Abidin.
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.