The Surat al-`Ibad of Mirza Husayn `ali Nuri, Baha'-Allah (1817-1892 CE).
The Surat al-`Ibad (The Surah of the Servants) of Mirza Husayn `Ali Nuri, Baha'-Allah, is perhaps one of the earliest scriptural Tablets of the Adrianople-Edirne period (1863-1868). The wholly Arabic text waqs written for Siyyid Mihdi Dahaji (b. Yazd c. 1252/1835[6]-19XX) is printed in AQA IV: 23-33 and AQA [Composite, 2002] Vol. 2 : 360-369. A small portion of this Tablet was translated by Shoghi Effendi in Gleanings (GWB. No. XXXI (31 - see below).
The Surat al-`Ibad (The Surah of the Servants) of Baha'-Allah.
Translation Stephen Lambden UCMerced 2015.
Last updated 17-05-2015.
[1]
[0]
This is the Surat al-`Ibad (The Surah of the Servants).
It indeed, in very truth, was revealed on the part of God, the Exalted, the Mighty. It is assuredly a revelation (tanzil) which cometh from One All-Knowing, All-Wise.
[2]
In the Name of God, the Supreme Creator (al-abda`) the Supreme Creator [Most Innovative / Wondrous] (al-abda`)!
[II]
[1] God testifieth that there is no God but Him and We, one and all, are but His servants. [2] God testifieth that there is no God but Him and We, one and all, are but His servants. [3] God testifieth that there is no God but Him and We, one and all, are but His servants.[4] God testifieth that there is no God but Him and We, one and all, are but His servants. [5] God testifieth that there is no God but Him and We, one and all, are but His servants. [6] God testifieth that there is no God but Him and We, one and all, are but His servants. [7] God testifieth that there is no God but Him and We, one and all, are but His servants. [8] God testifieth that there is no God but Him and We, one and all, are but His servants. [9] God testifieth that there is no God but Him and We, one and all, are but His servants. [10] God testifieth that there is no God but Him and We, one and all, are but His servants. [11] God testifieth that there is no God but Him and We, one and all, are but His servants. [12] God testifieth that there is no God but Him and We, one and all, are but His servants. [13] God testifieth that there is no God but Him and We, one and all, are but His servants.
[III]
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O Mihdi!
[Sayyid Mihdi Dahaji]
Testify ye according to that which God Himself doth testify relative to His own Logos-Self (li-nafs) before He created the heavens and the earths, that `He, no God is there except Him'. [2] This Youth (al-ghulam) is His servant (`abd) and His Baha'. [3] He is indeed the "Announcement" (nida') which hath ever been, for an eternity of eternities (azal al-azal), written in Powerful and Mighty scriptural Tablets (al-alwah). [4] None knoweth this except He Himself, the Help in Peril, the Mighty, the All-Powerful. No one is aware of this except whomsoever his Lord ordaineth. [5] This accords with a Command [Cause] (al-amr) about which We informed thee aforetime as would be evident should thou be reckoned among the truly aware (`arifin).
[IV]
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So hearken ye unto my counsel!
[p. 361>] [2] Then also unto that which the Tongue of God (lisan Allah) hath articulated in this wondrous era (al-zaman al-badi`). [3] So beware lest any single thing deter thee or any matter hold thee back. [4] Then hearken ye within thine own self and strive ye with thine own essence that thou be numbered among the righteous (al-salihin) with respect to this Cause (al-amr), [5] over which persons accounted mystical initiates (ahl al-`arifin) were startled, the inhabitants of the pavilions of certitude (ahl suradiq al-iqan) made apprehensice, then the spirits of such as are nigh unto God (arwah al-muqarrarin) thunderstruck. [7]
The Translation of a portion of the Surat al-`Ibad by Shoghi Effendi in Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah XXXI (31)
"Contemplate with thine inward eye the chain of successive Revelations that hath linked the Manifestation of Adam with that of the Báb. I testify before God that each one of these Manifestations hath been sent down through the operation of the Divine Will and Purpose, that each hath been the bearer of a specific Message, that each hath been entrusted with a divinely-revealed Book and been commissioned to unravel the mysteries of a mighty Tablet. The measure of the Revelation with which every one of them hath been identified had been definitely fore-ordained. This, verily, is a token of 75 Our favor unto them, if ye be of those that comprehend this truth…. And when this process of progressive Revelation culminated in the stage at which His peerless, His most sacred, and exalted Countenance was to be unveiled to men’s eyes, He chose to hide His own Self behind a thousand veils, lest profane and mortal eyes discover His glory. This He did at a time when the signs and tokens of a divinely-appointed Revelation were being showered upon Him—signs and tokens which none can reckon except the Lord, your God, the Lord of all worlds. And when the set time of concealment was fulfilled, We sent forth, whilst still wrapt within a myriad veils, an infinitesimal glimmer of the effulgent Glory enveloping the Face of the Youth, and lo, the entire company of the dwellers of the Realms above were seized with violent commotion and the favored of God fell down in adoration before Him. He hath, verily, manifested a glory such as none in the whole creation hath witnessed, inasmuch as He hath arisen to proclaim in person His Cause unto all who are in the heavens and all who are on the earth."
