Lawḥ
Shams-i jamāl-i
ilāhī
The
Tablet
of
the
Sun of the Divine Beauty
BEING
REVISED 2006-7
This Tablet exists in the INBMC Vol. 32: 31-4. though the text is at times
very difficult if not impossible to read. My colleague and friend Nejati Alkan
(now in Prague) discovered another clearer complete text in the Ottoman
archives in Istanbul (Arsivi confiscated alwah, Iradeler, Meclis-i
Mahsus no. 1475/35, 7-13) and was kind enough to provide me with a copy (cf.
my Sinaitic Mysteries, XX).
The text alternates between Persian and Arabic, with a constant heading and
sometimes alternating refrain.
I have named this perhaps Istanbul period (c. 1863??) Tablet of Bahā'-Allāh
after its opening words. The date is unknown though it might at the
earliest be assigned it to the Sulaymaniyya interregnum years (1854-1856 CE) in the light
of the address "O Darvish". As a wandering mystic Bahā'-Allāh was known
as Darvish Muhammad during this time.
[I]
He is God
The Sun of the Divine Beauty
(shams-i jamāl-i ilāhī) beameth forth
from theLordly Orient of the Unseen (mashriq-i ghayb-i rabbānī);
Wherefore are
all wayfarers [? text unclear]
illumined by its shining
forth.
So Oh! Blessed be thou
who art made
luminous through its orient lights.
[II]
He is God
The Lamp of God
(sirāj Allāh) radiateth light such that through its
intrinsic Splendour (ḍiyā'-yi khud)
the candles of the
hearts of humankind are ignited!
So Oh! Blessed be thou
who art rendered resplendent through its splendours!
In this earth the
Tree of Detachment is purified in the hand of the
Beloved of
Paradise
and inclines
towards the Blessed Paradise of Holiness
[? text unclear]
So Oh! Blessed be thou who ..... largely illegible ).... !
The Sinaitic Lote Tree (sidrih-yi sina'i ) crieth out with
the tongue of "I,
verily, am God";
So Oh! Blessed be thou
who hast hearkened
unto its melodies
The Immortal Phoenix
(huma-yi dar sinn?) eternally casteth
a shadow upon the
realms of contingent being (ka'inat).
So Oh! Blessed be thou
who seeketh shelter neath its shade.
[VI]
O Darvish!
Be thou detatched from the world of the nullification (`alam-i
fani)
that thou mayest ever soar bejewelled [with pearls] (purvaz la'ali ?) in
the world of eternal subsistence (`alam-i baqi)!
Then cut thyself off from this mortal world
(al-dunya') until God
enableth thee to ascend unto the lofty heights of the heaven of holiness
(sama' quds marfu` an).
Be thou free of the tincture of the world
(sibagh-i `alam) that thou mayest be
ornamented with the wondrous tincture of the lovers
(sibagh-i
badī`-yi
janan)!
So Oh! Blessed be thou
who art numbered
among such as take action!
[VIII]
He is God
the Desired One!
The Beauty of the
Lord of Divine Majesty (jamāl dhū'l-jalāl) eternally riseth up as a similitude from the Dawning-Place
of the Unseen
So Oh!
Blessed be thou
who hast wert
present between His hands and art numbered
among such as are ennobled
through the His
manifest and resplendent
Beauty (bi-jamālihi al-zahir al-mubīn).
[IX]
BAHA'U'LLAH baha'u'llah Bahá'u'lláh
Baha'-Allah Bahá
