لوح ميرزا عباس استراباد
Extract from a
Tablet of Baha’u’llāh to Mīrzā `Abbās Āstarābadī about the Greatest Name of
God (Per. ism-i a`ẓam)..
Persian text from Mā’ida-yi
Āsmānī, Vol. 4: 23.
بنام خداوند يكتا
...
كتابت در سجن حاضر و توجه اليه طرف المظلوم
الّذی دعا الكل الی اللّه المهيمن القيّوم و صدر آن باين كلمهء
مباركه مزين بود
اللّهم انّی اسئلك من بهائك بابهاه
مشاهده در غفلت اهل فرقان نمائيد مع آنكه از قبل فرمودهاند
كه اسم اعظم الهی در اين دعا مذكور است و نزد صاحبان بصر
بسی واضح و مشهود است كه مقام ذكر اسم اعظم در اول و
ابتدا بوده چه كه مقدم بر اسمإ و مبدأ و مطلع اذكار است
و در صدر دعای مذكور واقع شده با وجود اين جميع انكار نموده
و عارف بحق او نشدند بلكه فتوی بر قتلش دادند الّا من
حفظه اللّه بالحق و انقذه من بحر الاوهام انّه لهو المقتدر
القدير
Trans. Stephen
Lambden
(1980 revised
2007)
In the Name of God, the One.
Thy letter arrived in the (Acre) Prison
and the gaze of the Wronged One (al-maẓlūm = Bahā’u’llāh) who summoneth all unto
God, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting was directed unto it. The
commencement (ṣadr) of that [communication] was ornamented with this blessed
phrase (kalimat-i mubāraka), “I, verily, O my God, beseech Thee through Thy Bahā’
(Splendour) at its Most Resplendent (bi-abhā-hu)…”. Thou art aware of the
perfidy of the people of the Criterion (ahl al-furqān) [=Qur’ān = Muslims]
despite the fact that they [certain of the Imams] indicated that the Greatest
Name of God (ism-i a`ẓam-i ilāhī) is mentioned in this [Ramaḍan fasting]
Supplication (du`ā) [of Imam Muhammad al-Bāqir]. And it is abundantly clear and
evident on the part of the possessors of insight (ṣaḥibān-i baṣar) that the
position (maqām) of the mention [in the Du`ā] of the Greatest Name (ism-i a`ẓam)
is at its very opening or commencement. This since it has preeminence (muqaddam)
over the [other Divine] Names (asmā’) and is the genesis (mubdā’) and
dawning-point (maṭlā) of the [other] commemorative lines [of the Supplication] (adhkar)
being mentioned and positioned at the very inception (ṣadr) of the Supplication
(du`ā). In spite then of this all repudiated it and remained unaware of the
its Truth. Nay indeed! They [the Shī`ī] ulamā’ issued a fatwā for his [Bahā’u’llah’s]
execution, save, that is, such as were, in very Truth, safeguarded by God and
rescued from the ocean of idle fancies. He [God] indeed is assuredly the
Powerful, the Potent.
Translated by
Stephen N. Lambden from the Persian text published in Mā’ida-yi Āsmānī, Vol. 4:
23.
__________________________________________
An untitled Tablet of Bahā'-Allāh
identifying and celebrating the word Bahā' in the Du`ā al-saḥar with himself
as the Greatest Name of God.
بسمي الذي به اشرق نور البيان من أفق
الامكان
يا أيها الناظر الى الوجه والمذكور لدى العرش ا مروز لسان برهان
درملكوت البيان
باين كلمهء
مباركهء
عليا،
،اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَسْأَلُكَ مِنْ
بَهَائِكَ بِأَبْهَاهُ
وَكُلُّ بَهَائِكَ بَهِيٌّ
هذا اسم الله الاعظم الذي اخبر به حجة الله و برهانه ، لعمري ما ظهر
ذكر ولا
بيان اصرح من ذلك طوبى، للمنصفين،
هدا
اسم ارتعدت منه فرائص المشركين
واطمئنت به افئدة المقربين، أقبل وقل
الملك والملكوت فى فبضة قدرة الله و رب العالمين
الذي لم تمنعه الصفوف ولا اقوى جنود العالم يفعل ما يشاء
ويحكم ما يريد وهو العزيز الحميد.
In My Name through which the Light of Exposition (nūr al-bayān) hath
radiated forth from the Horizon of Possibility (ufq al-imkān).
O
Thou who gazest towards the Countenance and are one mentioned before the
Throne!
Today the Tongue of the Proof in the Kingdom of Exposition (malakūt
al-bayān) giveth utterance to this Elevated, Blessed, Word (kalimat-i
mubāraka-i `ulyā') :
"O my God!
I beseech Thee
by Thy Bahā' (Splendor) at its most Splendid (abhā') for all Thy
Splendor (bahā') is truly resplendent (bahiyy)..."
This is the
Greatest Name of God (ism Allāh al-a`ẓam) which was announced by the
proof
of God (hujjat Allāh) and His evidence [the messianic Imam]. By My Life! There
hath not appeared either any mention (dhikr) nor any evidence (bayān) more
lucid (aṣraḥ) than this. Blessed then be
such demand justice (ṭubā li'l-munṣifiyyin)! This is a Name
through which the limbs of the unbelievers (farā'iṣ al-mushrikīn)
hath been made to quake and whereby the hearts of those who are nigh
unto God (afida al-muqarrabīn) hath been made tranqil. So draw ye
nigh and say: `The Kingdom and the Kingdom of God (al-mulk
wa'l-malakūt) are in the grasp of the power of God, the Lord of all
the worlds! He it is whom the [ military] ranks (al-ṣufūf) cannot hold back nor
the powers of the hosts of the world (junūd al-`alam) overpower him. He doeth
whatsoever He willeth and ordaineth whatsoever He pleaseth for He is
One Mighty, Praiseworthy" (trans. Lambden from Behmardi, ed. La`ali-yi
Ḥikmah
II:183).
The above cited and translated
scriptural Tablet of Baha'-Allah clearly identified the words baha' in the
Dawn Prayer with the Mightiest or Greatest Name of God (ism Allāh al-a`ẓam).
ADD HERE
In many of his Arabic and Persian scriptural Tablets (alwāḥ)
Bahā’-Allāh
cites or partially cites the opening lines of the Ramadan Du`a al-Sahar
often utilizing its terminology in benedictions upon Babi-Bahā'i
persons. In an untitled Persian Tablet headed `He is
the Powerful, the Transcendent, the Sanctified,
the Exalted, the All-Glorious, a benediction is uttered upon the young
Bahā'i martyr Āqā Buzūrg-i Khurasānī (executed 1871 CE) who was entitled
Badī` ("Wonderful") in which the slightly modified phrase (the 2nd
person suffix and the bi are omitted) `alay-hu min kull bahā'
abha-hu ("upon
him be all the Bahā' at its Most Splendid (abhā)...
ADD HERE
