Lawh-i-Ishraqat/Page1/Authorized14

O Jalíl! We have unveiled to thine eyes the sea and the waves thereof, the sun and the radiance thereof, the heavens and the stars thereof, the shells and the pearls thereof. Render thou thanks unto God for so great a bounty, so gracious a favor that hath pervaded the whole world.

O thou who hast set thy face towards the splendors of My Countenance! Vague fancies have encompassed the dwellers of the earth and debarred them from turning towards the Horizon of Certitude, and its brightness, and its manifestations and its lights. Vain imaginings have withheld them from Him Who is the Self-Subsisting. They speak as prompted by their own caprices, and understand not. Among them are those who have said: “Have the verses been sent down?” Say “Yea, by Him Who is the Lord of the heavens!” “Hath the Hour come?” “Nay, more; it hath passed, by Him Who is the Revealer of clear tokens! Verily, the Inevitable is come, and He, the True One, hath appeared with proof and testimony. The Plain is disclosed, and mankind is sore vexed and fearful. Earthquakes have broken loose, and the tribes have lamented, for fear of God, the Lord of Strength, the All-Compelling.” Say: “The stunning trumpet-blast hath been loudly raised, and the Day is God’s, the One, the Unconstrained.” And they say: “Hath the Catastrophe come to pass?” Say: “Yea, by the Lord of Lords!” “Is the Resurrection come?” “Nay, more; He Who is the Self-Subsisting hath appeared with the Kingdom of His signs.” “Seest thou men laid low?” “Yea, by my Lord, the Most High, the Most Glorious!” “Have the tree-stumps been uprooted?” “Yea, more; the mountains have been scattered in dust; by Him the Lord of attributes!” They say: “Where is Paradise, and where is Hell?” Say: “The one is reunion with Me; the other thine own self, O thou who dost associate a partner with God and doubtest.” They say: “We see not the Balance.” Say: “Surely, by my Lord, the God of Mercy! None can see it except such as are endued with insight.” They say: “Have the stars fallen?” Say: “Yea, when He Who is the Self-Subsisting dwelt in the Land of Mystery.18 Take heed, ye who are endued with discernment!” All the signs appeared when We drew forth the Hand of Power from the bosom of majesty and might. Verily, the Crier hath cried out, when the promised time came, and they that have recognized the splendors of Sinai have swooned away in the wilderness of hesitation, before the awful majesty of thy Lord, the Lord of creation. The trumpet asketh: “Hath the Bugle been sounded?” Say: “Yea, by the King of Revelation! when He mounted the throne of His Name, the All-Merciful.” Darkness hath been chased away by the dawning light of the mercy of thy Lord, the Source of all light. The breeze of the All-Merciful hath wafted, and the souls have been quickened in the tombs of their bodies. Thus hath the decree been fulfilled by God, the Mighty, the Beneficent. They who reject the truth have said: “When were the heavens cleft asunder?” Say: “While ye lay in the graves of waywardness and error.” Among the faithless is he who rubbeth his eyes, and looketh to the right and to the left. Say: “Blinded art thou. No refuge hast thou to flee to.” And among them is he who saith: “Have men been gathered together?” Say: “Yea, by My Lord! whilst thou didst lie in the cradle of idle fancies.” And among them is he who saith: “Hath the Book been sent down through the power of the true Faith?” Say: “The true Faith itself is astounded. Fear ye, O ye men of understanding heart!” And among them is he who saith: “Have I been assembled with others, blind?” Say: “Yea, by Him that rideth upon the clouds!” Paradise is decked with mystic roses, and hell hath been made to blaze with the fire of the impious. Say: “The light hath shone forth from the horizon of Revelation, and the whole earth hath been illumined at the coming of Him Who is the Lord of the Day of the Covenant!” The doubters have perished, whilst he that turned, guided by the light of assurance, unto the Dayspring of Certitude hath prospered. Blessed art thou, who hast fixed thy gaze upon Me, for this Tablet which hath been sent down for thee—a Tablet which causeth the souls of men to soar. Commit it to memory, and recite it. By My life! It is a door to the mercy of thy Lord. Well is it with him that reciteth it at eventide and at dawn. We, verily, heard thy praise of this Cause, through which the mountain of knowledge was crushed, and men’s feet have slipped. My glory be upon thee and upon whomsoever hath turned unto the Almighty, the All-Bounteous. The Tablet is ended, but the theme is unexhausted. Be patient, for thy Lord is patient.

These are verses We sent down previously, and We have sent them unto thee, that thou mayest be acquainted with what their lying tongues have spoken, when God came unto them with might and sovereignty. The foundations of idle fancies have trembled, and the heaven of vain imaginings hath been cleft asunder, and yet the people are in doubt and in contention with Him. They have denied the testimony of God and His proof, after He came from the heaven of power with the kingdom of His signs. They have cast away what had been prescribed, and perpetrated what had been forbidden them in the Book. They have abandoned their God, and clung unto their desires. They truly have strayed and are in error. They read the verses and deny them. They behold the clear tokens and turn aside. They truly are lost in strange doubt.

We have admonished Our loved ones to fear God, a fear which is the fountainhead of all goodly deeds and virtues. It is the commander of the hosts of justice in the city of Bahá. Happy the man that hath entered the shadow of its luminous standard, and laid fast hold thereon. He, verily, is of the Companions of the Crimson Ark, which hath been mentioned in the Qayyúm-i-Asmá.

Say: O people of God! Adorn your temples with the adornment of trustworthiness and piety. Help, then, your Lord with the hosts of goodly deeds and a praiseworthy character. We have forbidden you dissension and conflict in My Books, and My Scriptures, and My Scrolls, and My Tablets, and have wished thereby naught else save your exaltation and advancement. Unto this testify the heavens and the stars thereof, and the sun and the radiance thereof, and the trees and the leaves thereof, and the seas and the waves thereof, and the earth and the treasures thereof. We pray God to assist His loved ones, and aid them in that which beseemeth them in this blest, this mighty, and wondrous station. Moreover We beseech Him to graciously enable those who surround Me to observe that which My Pen of Glory hath enjoined upon them.