"He is the King, the All-Knowing, the Wise!..."
"These daily obligatory prayers, together with a few other specific ones,
such as the Healing Prayer, the Tablet of Ahmad, have been invested by
Baha'u'llah with a special potency and significance, and should therefore
be accepted as such and be recited by the believers with unquestioning
faith and confidence, that through them they may enter into a much closer
communion with God, and identify themselves more fully with His laws and
precepts."
--From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi
He is the King, the All-Knowing, the Wise! Lo, the Nightingale of Paradise
singeth upon the twigs of the Tree of Eternity, with holy and sweet
melodies, proclaiming to the sincere ones the glad tidings of the nearness
of God, calling the believers in the Divine Unity to the court of the
Presence of the Generous One, informing the severed ones of the message
which hath been revealed by God, the King, the Glorious, the Peerless,
guiding the lovers to the seat of sanctity and to this resplendent Beauty.
Verily this is that Most Great Beauty, foretold in the Books of the
Messengers, through Whom truth shall be distinguished from error and the
wisdom of every command shall be tested. Verily He is the Tree of Life
that bringeth forth the fruits of God, the Exalted, the Powerful, the
Great.
O Ahmad! Bear thou witness that verily He is God and there is no God but
Him, the King, the Protector, the Incomparable, the Omnipotent. And that
the One Whom He hath sent forth by the name of 'Ali(11) was the true One
from God, to Whose commands we are all conforming.
Say: O people be obedient to the ordinances of God, which have been
enjoined in the Bayan by the Glorious, the Wise One. Verily He is the King
of the Messengers and His Book is the Mother Book did ye but know.
Thus doth the Nightingale utter His call unto you from this prison. He
hath but to deliver this clear message. Whosoever desireth, let him turn
aside from this counsel and whosoever desireth let him choose the path to
his Lord.
O people, if ye deny these verses, by what proof have ye believed in God?
Produce it, O assemblage of false ones.
Nay, by the One in Whose hand is my soul, they are not, and never shall be
able to do this, even should they combine to assist one another.
O Ahmad! Forget not My Bounties while I am absent. Remember My days during
thy days, and My distress and banishment in this remote prison. And be
thou so steadfast in My love that thy heart shall not waver, even if the
swords of the enemies rain blows upon thee and all the heavens and the
earth arise against thee.
Be thou as a flame of fire to My enemies and a river of life eternal to My
loved ones, and be not of those who doubt.
And if thou art overtaken by affliction in My path, or degradation for My
sake, be not thou troubled thereby.
Rely upon God, thy God and the Lord of thy fathers. For the people are
wandering in the paths of delusion, bereft of discernment to see God with
their own eyes, or hear His Melody with their own ears. Thus have We found
them, as thou also dost witness.
Thus have their superstitions become veils between them and their own
hearts and kept them from the path of God, the Exalted, the Great.
Be thou assured in thyself that verily, he who turns away from this Beauty
hath also turned away from the Messengers of the past and showeth pride
towards God from all eternity to all eternity.
Learn well this Tablet, O Ahmad. Chant it during thy days and withhold not
thyself therefrom. For verily, God hath ordained for the one who chants
it, the reward of a hundred martyrs and a service in both worlds. These
favors have We bestowed upon thee as a bounty on Our part and a mercy from
Our presence, that thou mayest be of those who are grateful.
By God! Should one who is in affliction or grief read this Tablet with
absolute sincerity, God will dispel his sadness, solve his difficulties
and remove his afflictions.
Verily, He is the Merciful, the Compassionate. Praise be to God, the Lord
of all the worlds.
--Baha'u'llah