The Lawḥ-i Baqā' 

(The Tablet of Subsistent Eternity) 

(mid. 1870s?).

UNDER CORRECTION

2006

Provis Trans. Stephen N. Lambden

June, 2000.

[I]

[II]

[1]

Know, O servant,

that thy letter was received by Us.

We took hold thereof with the hands of the Divine Favor.

Therein thou didst denounce him [Yahya?] through the Utterance of thy Lord, the Mighty, the Praised.

[2]

 We beamed forth beyond what was written therein and decreed for thee in the Tablet [of al-Baqā']

 a [special] rank

if thou should vision him, fall prostrate and proclaim,  `Praised be God, Lord of all the worlds’.

[3]

We wrote down for thee such benefits as are the lot of such as have attained the Meeting with God (liqā’Allāh).

[4]

And We decreed for thee such as We desired for thee, for thy Lord is indeed One Powerful and Mighty.

[5]

 Render thanks unto thy Lord in that He revealed for thee this  luminous and resplendent Tablet  from the heaven of the Divine Bounty.

[6]

In all circumstances be content through the Divine Bounty and rise up for His Victory betwixt earth and heaven.

[7]

Beware lest the croaking of such as have disbelieved in God 

 withhold thee or thou be veiled by the veils of such as have sought [benediction] from the Divine Countenance

after he had shone forth with manifest Sovereignty from the horizon of the Will of thy Lord,  the All-Merciful.

[8]

He indeed is One Who bestows favor upon such as rise up in the service of His Cause and did summon  the people unto Him.

[9]

So blessings be upon whomsoever attained detachment from all that is other than Him and orients his heart towards whatsoever was

commanded by One Mighty and All-Knowing.

[1]

Know thou that We cast upon the kings  a Word (kalimat) from before Us that provided sustenance.

[2]

We beseech God that He guide them unto His straight Path.

 [3]

We indeed raised up one of Our servants whom We clothed in the garment of detachment and ornamented with

 the ornament of power and contentment (ṭaraz al-quwwat wa’l-iṭimān).

[4]

We dispatched him

 [Āqā Buzurg-i Khurāsānī,Badī`]

unto him

[Nāṣir al-Dīn Shāh,r. 1846-1896]

with a Manifest Book

(al-kitāb al-mubīn).

[5]

And We communicated unto him the treatises (risalāt) of his Lord  perchance he would utter remembrance

 and incline to the fear of God, for thy Lord is indeed One Who Ruleth according to that which He willeth

and is not witheld by the insinuations  of such as have spread iniquity.

[6]

Wherefore do We announce unto thee the tidings.

This to the end that thou might arise  according to whatsoever hath been decreed on the part of thy Lord, One Mighty, Beautiful

(al-jamīl).

[1]

We did indeed send aforetime unto the Messenger of the Spirits

(mursal al-aryāḥ)

that with the mounting up of the Temple of Pre-Existence

(haykal al-qidam)

upon the Most Great Throne (al-arsh al-a`ẓam) and the dawning forth of the Sun from the horizon of the Prison [of `Akkā’]

there are assuredly signs for such as are  possessed of insight!

[2]

 So turn ye aside, O people of guidance,  that thou be not controlled by base passion.

[3]

 Take ye hold of this Cord which, when it was set in motion, the very spheres (al-akwān) were thereby

made to revolve  and He dawned forth from the horizon of Names with the permission of the Cleaver of Heaven

(fātir al-samā’).

[1]

Then render thy Lord victorious amidst the concourse of existing beings.

[2]

Thus hast thou been commanded on the part  of the Dawning-Place of Inspiration

(mashriq al- ilhām).

Assuredly doth My Remembrance

(bi-dhikrī)

cause those who confess the Oneness of God to soar up through the night journeys of realities

(ma`ārij al-ḥaqā’iq)

[3]

It  likewise causeth the sincere ones to soar up unto the Dawning-Place of Lights

(mashāriq al-anwār).

[4]

This in My Name which transforms copper into gold and fills with ardent love the company of the pious

(madhhāb al-abrār).

[5]

This through My Most-Sweet Call which hath emblazoned all the worlds.

[6]

Through My All-Glorious Name (al-abhā) streams hath been made to flow from rocks.

[7]

 The Pen hath undoubtedly been stupefied with the love of the King of Pre-Existence

(malik al-qidam)

for, should We command it, it would undoubtedly enrapture all such as inhabit the countries of the world

(al-bilād).

[1]

Say:

`Through My Transcendent Name

(al-ism al-a`lā)

the Kawthar of Life hath been actualized (?) for all who inhabit existent reality.

[2]

And through My Name the All-Merciful (al-raḥman)  the Breeze of forgiveness (?) hath wafted.

[3]

Exalted then be My Most Evident Name

(ismī al-mashūr)

which, when I make mention thereof, houris emerge from their chambers inclining towards the locale of the theophany

(maqarr al-ẓuhūr),

unto His Ultimate Pillar, the Fire of the Supreme Panorama

(manẓar al-akbar).

[4]

We visioned the Ruler [angel] of Our servant nigh a Tablet which delighted the very eyes

of the sincere servants.

[5]

So O Blessed be! He and thou in that thou hast attained unto that whereby

most of the servants were deprived (?).

[6]

Those, that is, who summoned the faith within themselves and when the All-Merciful

came unto them in the Kingdom of the Bayān  they disbelieved in him.

[7]

Let the curse of God be upon those who spread tyranny or were even as vipers among

those of the corrupt.

 [1]

Today is not the Day for  posing questions

(S-B-R VIII = patience, perseverance, endurance]

(al-iṣṭibār).

[2]

 It assuredly is beloved by virtue of My mention,

the Mighty, the Wondrous.

[3] ...??

Rising up in all circumstances according to my remembrance and the victory of My cause

to such a degree that they twain will not be witheld from the locus of darknesses.

[4]

Make mention of those who have believed aforetime

in thy Lord.

Clothe then in the ? of glorification  (takbir) and explanation from the tongue of their Lord, the all-Merciful.

[5]

 This indeed is a mighty bounty.

[6]

Beware lest you turn aside ? from wisdom  in which is Our command from the servants

who stand before thy Lord, the Forgiving, the all-Merciful.

[7]

He shall surely send down for you  from the heaven of destiny (taqdir) what is sufficient

before your Lord, the all-Knowing, the    (khabir).

[8]

Wherefore hath the Tablet of thy Lord been delivered thee so take it with the hand of taslim

and say,

‘Praise be unto Thee, O Lord of all the worlds.’