Sūrat al-Ahsab
(The Surah of the Companions)
or Lawh-i Habib (Tablet for the Beloved One) of Mirza Husayn `Ali Nuri, Baha'-Allah for Mirza Aqa-yi Munib, Habib, the One Beloved.
Edirne dating to c. 1864-5.
Translation
Stephen Lambden UC Merced.
IN PROGRESS -last updated 10-02-2018
The Sūrat al-Ahsab (The Surah of the Companions) or Lawh-i Habib (Tablet for the Beloved One) was written during the early Edirne (Adrionople) period (c. 1864-5) for Mirza Aqa-yi Munib. The text translated here is from
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MS in the hand of Zayn al-Muqarrabin (Baha'i World Center, Haifa Israel).
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INBMC 83:28-43.
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AQA (ed, ) IV : 1-23.
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Text printed in
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See also text printed in Surat al-ashab in, Athar-i qalam-i a`la, vol. 4 Tehran: MMMA [Baha'i Publishing Trust], 125 BE/1968), 205-239. . .
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In the Name of God, the Splendid, the All-Glorious, the All-Glorious.
(bismillah al-bahiyy al-abha al-abha).
H-B.
[Habib, The Beloved One]
Hearken ye unto the Call of God (nida'-Allah) coming from the direction of the Divine Throne (al-`arsh) with verses of the Help in Peril, One Pre-Existent (al-muqaddam) and One All-Knowing (al-`alim). This perhance thou might all draw nigh unto Thy Guiding Master (mawla) and be assured of the Sovereign of the Cause (sultan al-amr) betwixt the heavens and the earth. Thou should be so empowered within thyself, that should all upon earth wage war against thee with the piercing, sharp swords (asyaf) of
"Within the throat of this youth [al-ghulam] lie imprisoned words [lahn`an accent/ melody'] that, if revealed to mankind to an extent smaller than a needle's eye, would be sufficient to cause every mountain [al-jibal] to crumble, the leaves of the trees [al-awraq] to be discolored and their fruits [al-amthar] to fall; would compel every head to bow down in worship and every face to turn in adoration towards this omnipotent ruler [al-malik] who, at various times and in diverse manners, appears as a devouring flame [haykal al-nar], as a billowing ocean [al-bahr], as a radiant light [hai't al-nur], as the tree which, rooted in the soil of holiness, lifts its branches and spreads out its limbs as far as and beyond the throne of deathless glory" [trans. Shoghi Effendi, WOB:108-9]'. At another time thou shalt discover Him to be in the Temple of the Beloved One (haykal al-mahbub) yet in this Garment (al-qamis] which none amongst all the creatures can ever compehend! Were the gnosis (irfan) of Him to be desired by anyone, the result would be that they would swoon away within their own beings [souls] (arwah); save, that is, such as their Lord hath accorded a solaced heart (qalb salim).
Wherefore did the Crier (al-munad) cry out at my right-hand side, while from my left hand-side did the One Artilculate (al-natiq) make pronouncement. Then way beyond Me did One Veracious (al-salih) indicate soundness while the Spirit (al-ruh) did likewise in front of Me! The very Tongue of God (lisan Allah) cried out from above My head [saying] :
`By God!
This is indeed the Desired One (al-maqsud) [confirmed] from the Beginning which hath no beginning!
This is indeed the Divine Countenance (al-wajh) towards which all faces hath been oriented, though many, at this moment, fail to be numbered among such as are endowed with insight (al-sha`irin)!
By God! Whomsoever rejects this Manifest (al-zahir), Brilliant (al-bahir), Transcendent (al-muta`aliyy) and Luminous (al-munir) Divine Bounty (al-fadl), it shall prove necessary for him to enquire regrading his state (hal) from his own mother (umm)! So shall he be returned to the nethermost abyss of Gehenna (asfal al-jahim).
Say: How can ye be assured within thyselves that if thou reject [p.4>] these verses (al-ayat) your very faith (al-iman) in the [previous] Mesengers of God (rusul Allah) or in `Ali [Muhammad, the Bab] aforetime, can be confirmed?. Nay indeed! By the Lord of all the Worlds (rabb al-`alamin)! And by God! the True One (al-haqq)! The very pre-eternal human particles [atoms] (al-dharrat) and beyond them the Tongue of Destiny (lisan al-qudrat), as well as the Tongue of Power (lisan al-quwwat), the Tongue of Might (lisan al-`izzat), the Tongue of Grandeur (lisan al-`azimat) and beyond these the very Tongue of God Himself (lisan Allah), the Powerful. the Mighty, the All-Wise (al-muqtaddir al-`aziz al-hakim), do affirm that this is something untruthful!
This Tablet concludes with the following address :
Say: By God! On account of their names, there is a sounding of the Bell (al-naqus) and the Bird of Paradise (dik al-firdaws) warbleth forth ...
