Introduction

This following Tablet Bahá’u’lláh revealed upon His exile from Iraq, rather similar to the Dove of Separation in both context and content, and in it He discusses how those who are detached from all but God sustain tribulations for love of Him, and even yearn for them as a suckling babe for its mother’s milk. He closes this Tablet with a brief prayer beseeching God to enable the Friends to cleave unto Him alone, in such a manner that they desire nothing else but Him.

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On Tribulations

Provisional Translation by Joshua Hall

He is the Exalted in the Most High Horizon

O thou Mím, hearken unto My voice and be not of them that tarry. Testify in thyself that there is none other god but Him, the Almighty, the All-Powerful. He doth as He willeth in His authority, and such as He pleaseth is verily His decree. He is not to be questioned as to what He doeth, and He is verily, the Omnipotent, the All-Informed.

Know, then, that thy missive hath come before Us and We have beheld such as thou hast written therein. We beseech God to confirm thee in His Cause, for better is this for thee than possession of the kingdom of the heavens and earth. We counsel thee at this time when the Songbird of everlasting days hath taken flight from the branch of Iraq and doth seek a new abode on account of that which the iniquitous have wrought. By God, this is verily a Youth Who hath sacrificed His life for God, thy Lord and the Lord of the worlds. And were it not that He hath an eye for the Law of God’s Book, He would kiss the hands of the one who doth attempt to slay Him in the paths of God, the Supreme Protector, the Almighty, the Powerful. Those who apprehend the stations of the Cause as accorded by Him Who is the Immutable and Transcendent Sovereign, fear not any soul, though the legions of the hypocrite be arrayed against them. At all times do they await tribulations for love of their Lord of ancient days. For trials do they long, even as the suckling babe doth yearn after the milk of his mother’s breast. God is verily a sufficient witness for what I say.

O ye People of Bayán, fear not anyone, for God hath supreme power over you and shall destine for you whatsoever He desireth; indeed, all else beside Him are bereft of power over the least thing, and this is an incontrovertible truth. I swear by God!  If the beloved of God were to recognize what hath been ordained for them in a transcendent paradise of nearness, at all times would they lay down their lives and cast aside their earthly possessions. They are shut out as by a veil from this reality, however, for they have set their affections on the things of this world; thus do they find tribulations ordained in the path of their Creator difficult to bare, but this is a token of their heedlessness.

Wherefore, O my God, do Thou nourish them with the wine of Thy grace and heavenly favors, in such wise that they be busied in naught else but Thee and desire naught else beside Thee; indeed, this is a plenteous bounty! So confirm them in Thy love that they pay no regard unto those who wander the wastes of heedlessness and who lay claim unto such as hath not been ordained for them by Him Who is all-wise, all-informed.

Peace be upon you and all those who are steadfast in the Cause and in love for God.