taken His eyes away from the face of God, the Most Exalted, the Most
Great.(99) 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(100) 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?(101) 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 Imam Husayn 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'."(102) "Thrust not away those who cry to their
Lord at morn and even, craving to behold His face."(103) 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,(104) 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 Tihran, at the bidding of the King,(105)
and, by his leave, transferred Our residence to 'Iraq. 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 'Iraq, 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,(106) 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 'Iraq. To this will bear witness
most of the inhabitants of Baghdad, 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 'Iraq, as well as the Governor of the
City(107) 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."(108)
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 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.
112 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.
113 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?(109) God, verily, blotted out every trace of his works and
returned him unto dust, as ye have already heard or are now informed.
114 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.
115 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.
116 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.
117 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'."(110)
118 Peace be upon you, O concourse of the faithful, and praise be to God,
the Lord of the worlds.
NOTE ON THE TRANSLATION
Wherever possible, translations made by Shoghi Effendi have been
incorporated in the present volume. These passages account for
approximately one third of the text. The committees and individuals
appointed to prepare the translations faced the challenge of rendering the
balance of the Text in a manner at once faithful to the meaning of the
original and consistent with the exalted English style established by the
Guardian for the translation of Baha'u'llah's matchless utterance.
In the translation of the Lawh-i-Sultan the translators benefited from
consulting the earlier, pioneering translation of the English orientalist
E. G. Browne as it appeared in 'Abdu'l-Baha's _A Traveller's Narrative_,
first published by Cambridge University Press in 1891.
KEY TO PASSAGES TRANSLATED BY SHOGHI EFFENDI
Abbreviation of Sources
ESW Baha'u'llah. Epistle to
the Son of the Wolf.
Wilmette: Baha'i
Publishing Trust, 1988.
GPB Shoghi Effendi. God
Passes By. Wilmette:
Baha'i Publishing Trust,
1974.
GWB Baha'u'llah. Gleanings
from the Writings of
Baha'u'llah. Wilmette:
Baha'i Publishing Trust,
1976.
KI Baha'u'llah. The
Kitab-i-Iqan. Wilmette:
Baha'i Publishing Trust,
1994.
HW Baha'u'llah. The Hidden
Words. Wilmette: Baha'i
Publishing Trust, 1994.
(PHW are from the Persian
Hidden Words.)
PDC Shoghi Effendi. The
Promised Day Is Come.
Wilmette: Baha'i
Publishing Trust, rev.
ed., 1996.
WOB Shoghi Effendi. The World
Order of Baha'u'llah:
Selected Letters.
Wilmette: Baha'i
Publishing Trust, 1991.
PARAGRAPH PASSAGE SOURCE
Suriy-i-Haykal
6-7 "While engulfed in GPB 101-102
tribulations ...
of them that
perceive."
8 "The day is WOB 109-110
approaching when
God ... the
Self-Subsisting."
34 "Erelong shall God WOB 110
draw forth ... how
vehement is His
might"
42 "Beware lest ye ESW 25
shed the blood ...
if ye do but
understand."
44 "Naught is seen in WOB 109
My temple ...
could be seen but
God."
47 "the fertilizing WOB 169, PDC ¶112
winds ... whether
seen or unseen!"
50 "The Holy Spirit WOB 109
Itself ... of them
that comprehend"
66 "Within the WOB 109
treasury of Our
Wisdom ... the
All-Wise."
75 "It is in Our WOB 107
power, should We
wish it, to enable
... futureages."
88 "Great is the PDC ¶271
blessedness ...
the Almighty, the
All-Wise."
89 "O ye the PDC ¶208
dawning-places ...
and unto others."
89 "Ye are even as a PDC ¶208
spring ... it
fruits, will be
corrupted."
96 "Had the Primal WOB 138
Point ... with
each other in My
Days."
Pope Pius IX (Lawh-i-Pap)
102 "O Pope!... the PDC ¶71
Almighty, the
Unrestrained."
102 "He, verily, hath PDC ¶71
again come ...
hath been
illumined."
203 "Dwellest thou in PDC ¶71
palaces ...
towards the
Kingdom."
105 "Arise in the name PDC ¶71
of thy Lord
...peoples of all
faiths."
106 "Call thou to PDC ¶72
remembrance ...
away from His
light."
108 "Consider those PDC ¶72
who opposed ...
disputed with
Him."
108 "None save a very PDC ¶72
few ... eventide
and at dawn."
109 "Read ye the PDC ¶256
Evangel ...
concourse of
learned men!"
111 "The fragrances of PDC ¶256
the ... fast hold
of guidance."
112 "The Word which PDC ¶73
the Son ... of the
righteous!"
113 "This is the day PDC ¶73
... Kingdom is
fulfilled!"
114 "My body longeth PDC ¶73
... from its
transgressions."
115 "The people of the PDC ¶247
Qur'an ... clouds
wept over Us."
116 "And if they cast WOB 108
... the Gracious,
the All-Powerful!"
118 "O Supreme Pontiff PDC ¶74
... the book of
creation."
120 "Should the PDC ¶74
inebriation ...
Revealer of all
power."
126 "Verily, the day PDC ¶74
of ingathering ...
the
All-Compelling."
127 "Say: O concourse PDC ¶261
of Christians ...
turn ye unto Him."
127 "The Beloved One PDC ¶261
... heedless of My
Revelation"
128 "O people of the PDC ¶261
Gospel! ...
everlasting life."
129 "We behold you ... PDC ¶261
Direct yourselves
towards Him."
129 "Verily, He said PDC ¶261
... quickeners of
mankind."
Napoleon III (Lawh-i-Napulyun II)