Lawḥ al-Raḥmat
(The Tablet of the Merciful One).
Introduction
Stephen Lambden - 09-10-2016 - in progress,
The Arabic and Persian Lawḥ al-Raḥmat (The Tablet of the Merciful One) would seem to be a scriptural Tablet of Baha'-Allah dating to around the early or mid. Iraq or Baghdad period (c. 1856-8?). In Arabic the word rahmat often meaning the Divine `mercy', `compassion' or `kindness', etc (cf. Rahman, "The Merciful" and Rahim, "The Compassionate" in the Islamic basmala) has an important place in Islamic theology and features in a number of seminal hadith (tradition) ascribed to the prophet Muhammad or the twelver Imams. It occurs XX times in key points in the Qur'an....
This important Tablet commences as follows with the Islamic basmala :
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
[1] Praised be to God hath ever been One Eternally Existent through the Eternality of His own Being (baqiyyan bi-baqi kaynuniyya), One Ever-Permanent through the Continuance of His Pre-Eternality (daim an bi-dawwam azaliyyat), One Who created all existence (al-mawjudat) through a Word (kalimat) of His Command (amr) and Who caused to be made manifest the realms of possibility (al-mumkinat) for the theophany of the Lights of His Love (anwar hubbihi). [2] He is the One Who made the hearts of His chosen ones (awliya') to be a throne for the enthronement of the Beauty of His Oneness (jamal ahadiyya) and mirrors for the announcement of the Glory of His Sovereignty (jalal sultanat).
[3] Peace and blessing be upon the First-Primal Point (awwal nuqta) made manifest from the unseen dimension of the realm of the Divine Oneness (ghayb al-ahadiyya), the first Letter (awwal harf) by means of which the comprehensive Logos-Word (kalmat al-jami`at) was completed; the Primal Light (awwal nur) which shed splendour from the Dawn of the Divine Ipseity [He-She-It-ness] (fajr al-huwiyya); the First Breeze (awwal nasim) which hath wafted forth from the Divine Garden (riyad al-ilahiyya) which God fashioned in the world of the Logos-Command (`alam al-amr) to be a Manifestation (mazhar an) for the theophany (li-zuhur) of the totality of His Names and His Attributes.
In the world of creation He named him Muhammad, amongst His servants. And upon him, his family and his companions, be peace and many expressions of peaceful greeting.
