Lawh-i Mallāh al-Quds
("The Tablet of the Holy Mariner")
of
Mirza Husayn `Ali Nuri, Baha'-Allah (1817-1892 CE),
Written-revealed near Baghdad, c. March 26th 1863.
Introduction and Notes
Stephen Lambden, UC Merced
Last uploaded - 01-12-2023.
Cited in numerous printings of the standard Baha'i English Prayer book the translation of the Lawh-i Mallah al-Quds (The Tablet of the Holy Mariner) would appear to date to the early 20th century. The following exegetical directive of `Abd al-Baha' is often set forth in this source text:
"Study the Tablet of the Holy Mariner that ye may know the truth, and consider that the Blessed Beauty hath fully foretold future events. Let them who perceive, take warning!"
The Arabic text of this two part ( Arabic + Persian) alwah can be found in the handwriting of his son `Abdu'l-Baha' at the opening page of volume 1 of Adib Taherzadeh's well-known The Revelation of Baha'u'llah (Oxford: George Ronald, 1974+ rev.
The Arabic text of the Lawh-i Mallah al-Quds can be found in the following sources:
- Photograph of a Ms in the handwriting of `Abdu'l-Baha' in Taherzadeh volume 1 (Oxford, George Ronald) 1974 rev. ed. 1976, Front cover - no date or location given for ms. text (see below),
- INBMC XX
- INBMC XX
In his Partial Inventory of the writings of Baha'u'llah vol.1. (The Loom of Reality, 2923) Steven Phelps notes the following three mss of the Lawh-i Mallah al-quds.in the British Library (London): :
- Mss: BLIB Or15692.001,
- BLIB Or15706.073,
- BLIB Or15714.039, IOM.094.
Ma'ida-yi asmani ("The Heavenly Table") Vol. 4 (129 Badi`/1972-3) pages 335-338.
- Ma'ida-yi asmani ("The Heavenly Table") 2nd ed. vol.1 = Four Baha'u'llah volumes, I+4+7+8 (retyped) Vol. 4 pages 335-339 [top page numbering] or .423-427.[lower page numbering].
- Athar-i Qalam-i A`la, vol.5:176f
THE PERSIAN RECENSION
For the summary, quasi-expository Persian text of the Lawh-i Mallāh al-Quds see :
- Mss.
- Mss.
- Ma'ida-yi asmani ("The Heavenly Table") Vol. 4 (129 Badi`/1972-3) pages 339-341.
- Ma'ida-yi asmani ("The Heavenly Table") 2nd ed. vol.1 = Four Baha'u'llah volumes, I+4+7+8 (retyped) Vol. 4 pages 339-341 [top page numbering] or .427-429.[lower page numbering].
For the widely used English translation of the Arabic opening part of the Lawh-i mallah al-quds see :
- Star of the West, vol. xiii. no.4 (May 17th 1922) p.75-77. Here the English translation of the Arabic text is referred to as the "Song of the Holy Mariner-Rcvealed by BAHA 'ULLAH" (on pages 75-77). This latter English translation from the Arabic may have been made by Zia Baghdadi or by Shoghi Effendi himself (?), one of the editors of Star of the West. A comuncation from Shoghi Effendi heads the Star of the West translation stated to have been "Received in America, April, 1922" , received from Shoghi Effendi?:
Later in the 20th century the above Star of the West sometimes free translation was printed in British and other Baha'i Prayer books.
- Baha'i Prayers, UK ed. 19XX.
- Rep. http://www.bahaiprayers.org/mariner.htm
Ā Ī Ū ā ī ū Ḍ ḍ ḥ Ḥ ṣ Ṣ ṭ Ṭ ẓ Ẓ
Ā Ī Ū ā ī ū Ḍ ḍ ḥ Ḥ ṣ Ṣ ṭ Ṭ ẓ Ẓ
Tablet of the Holy Mariner
Translation as found in Baha'i Prayers, UK ed. 19XX. rev. USA, Web. ed.
I have added select transliteration and verse numbering (not in the original) for the sake of commentary and clarification.
[0]
He is the Gracious (al-`aziz), the Well-Beloved (al-mahbub)!
[1]
O Holy Mariner (mallah al-quds)!
Bid thine ark of eternity (safinat al-baqa') appear before the Celestial Concourse (mala al-a`la),
Glorified be my Lord, the All-Glorious!
Fa-Subhan rabbi al-abha
[2]
Launch it upon the ancient sea (bahr al-qidam),
in His Name, the Most Wondrous (bi-badi` min al-asma'),
Glorified be my Lord, the All-Glorious!
[3]
And let the angelic spirits [Temples-Embodiments of the Spirit] (hayakil al-ruh)
enter, in the Name of God, the Most High (bi-ism Allah al-`aliyy al-a`la)..
Glorified be my Lord, the All-Glorious!
[4]
Unmoor it, then, that it may sail upon the ocean of glory (qulzum al-kubriya),
Glorified be my Lord, the All-Glorious!
[5]
Haply the dwellers therein may attain the retreats of nearness in the everlasting realm.
Glorified be my Lord, the All-Glorious!
[6]
Having reached the sacred strand, the shore of the crimson seas,
Glorified be my Lord, the All-Glorious!
[7]
Bid them issue forth and attain this ethereal invisible station,
Glorified be my Lord, the All-Glorious!
[8]
A station wherein the Lord hath in the Flame of His Beauty appeared within the deathless tree;
Glorified be my Lord, the All-Glorious!
[9]
Wherein the embodiments of His Cause cleansed themselves of self and passion;
Glorified be my Lord, the All-Glorious!
[10]
Around which the Glory of Moses doth circle with the everlasting hosts;
Glorified be my Lord, the All-Glorious!
[11]
Wherein the Hand of God was drawn forth from His bosom of Grandeur;
Glorified be my Lord, the All-Glorious!
[12]
Wherein the ark of the Cause remaineth motionless
even though to its dwellers be declared all divine attributes.
Glorified be my Lord, the All-Glorious!
[13]
O Mariner!
Teach them that are within the ark that which we have taught thee behind the mystic veil.
Glorified be my Lord, the All-Glorious!
[14]
Perchance they may not tarry in the sacred snow-white spot,
Glorified be my Lord, the All-Glorious!
[15]
But may soar upon the wings of the spirit unto that station
which the Lord hath exalted above all mention in the worlds below,
Glorified be my Lord, the All-Glorious!
[16]
May wing through space even as the favored birds
in the realm of eternal reunion;
Glorified be my Lord, the All-Glorious!
[17]
May know the mysteries hidden in the Seas of light.
Glorified be my Lord, the All-Glorious!
[18]
They passed the grades of worldly limitations
and reached that of the divine unity, the center of heavenly guidance.
Glorified be my Lord, the All-Glorious!
[19]
They have desired to ascend unto that state which
the Lord hath ordained to be above their stations.
Glorified be my Lord, the All-Glorious!
[20]
Whereupon the burning meteor cast them out from them that abide in the Kingdom of His Presence,
Glorified be my Lord, the All-Glorious!
[21]
And they heard the Voice of Grandeur raised from behind the unseen pavilion upon the Height of Glory:
Glorified be my Lord, the All-Glorious!
[22]
"O guardian angels!
Return them to their abode in the world below,
Glorified be my Lord, the All-Glorious!
[23]
"Inasmuch as they have purposed to rise to that sphere
which the wings of the celestial dove have never attained;
Glorified be my Lord, the All-Glorious!
[24]
"Whereupon the ship of fancy standeth still which the minds of them that comprehend cannot grasp.
"Glorified be my Lord, the All-Glorious!
[25]
Whereupon the maid of heaven looked out from her exalted chamber,
Glorified be my Lord, the All-Glorious!And with her brow signed to the Celestial Concourse,
Glorified be my Lord, the All-Glorious!
[26]
Flooding with the light of her countenance the heaven and the earth,
Glorified be my Lord, the All-Glorious!
[27]
And as the radiance of her beauty shone upon the people of dust,
Glorified be my Lord, the All-Glorious!
[28]
All beings were shaken in their mortal graves.
Glorified be my Lord, the All-Glorious!
[29]
She then raised the call which no ear through all eternity hath ever heard,
Glorified be my Lord, the All-Glorious!
[30]
And thus proclaimed:
"By the Lord! He whose heart hath not the fragrance of the love
of the exalted and glorious Arabian Youth,
Glorified be my Lord, the All-Glorious!
[31]
"Can in no wise ascend unto the glory of the highest heaven."
Glorified be my Lord, the All-Glorious!
[32]
Thereupon she summoned unto herself one
maiden from her handmaidens,
Glorified be my Lord, the All-Glorious!
[33]
And commanded her: "Descend into space from the mansions of eternity,
Glorified be my Lord, the All-Glorious!
[34]
"And turn thou unto that which they have concealed in the inmost of their hearts.
Glorified be my Lord, the All-Glorious!
[35]
"Shouldst thou inhale the perfume of the robe from the Youth that hath been hidden within the
tabernacle of light by reason of that which the hands of the wicked have wrought,
Glorified be my Lord, the All-Glorious!
[36]
"Raise a cry within thyself, that all the inmates of the chambers of Paradise, that are the embodiments of
the eternal wealth, may understand and hearken;
Glorified be my Lord, the All-Glorious!
[37]
"That they may all come down from their everlasting chambers and tremble,
Glorified be my Lord, the All-Glorious!
[38]
"And kiss their hands and feet for having soared to the heights of faithfulness;
Glorified be my Lord, the All-Glorious!
[39]
"Perchance they may find from their robes the fragrance of the Beloved One."
Glorified be my Lord, the All-Glorious!
[40]
Thereupon the countenance of the favored damsel beamed above the celestial chambers even as the
light that shineth from the face of the Youth above His mortal temple;
Glorified be my Lord, the All-Glorious!
[41]
She then descended with such an adorning as to illumine the heavens and all that is therein.
Glorified be my Lord, the All-Glorious!
[42]
She bestirred herself and perfumed all things in the lands of holiness and grandeur.
Glorified be my Lord, the All-Glorious!
[43]
When she reached that place she rose to her full height in the midmost heart of creation,
Glorified be my Lord, the All-Glorious!
[44]
And sought to inhale their fragrance at a time that knoweth neither beginning nor end.
Glorified be my Lord, the All-Glorious!
[45]
She found not in them that which she did desire, and this, verily, is but one of His wondrous tales.
Glorified be my Lord, the All-Glorious!
[46]
She then cried aloud, wailed and repaired to her own station within her most lofty mansion,
Glorified be my Lord, the All-Glorious!
[47]
And then gave utterance to one mystic word, whispered privily by her honeyed tongue,
Glorified be my Lord, the All-Glorious!
[48]
And raised the call amidst the Celestial Concourse and the immortal maids of heaven:
Glorified be my Lord, the All-Glorious!
[49]
"By the Lord! I found not from these idle claimants the breeze of Faithfulness!
Glorified be my Lord, the All-Glorious!
[50]
"By the Lord! The Youth hath remained lone and forlorn
in the land of exile in the hands of the ungodly."
Glorified be my Lord, the All-Glorious!
[51]
She then uttered within herself such a cry that
the Celestial Concourse did shriek and tremble,
Glorified be my Lord, the All-Glorious!
[52]
And she fell upon the dust and gave up the spirit.
It seemeth she was called and hearkened unto Him that summoned her unto the Realm on High.
Glorified be my Lord, the All-Glorious!
[53]
Glorified be He that created her out of the essence of
love in the midmost heart of His exalted paradise!
Glorified be my Lord, the All-Glorious!
[54]
Thereupon the maids of heaven hastened forth from their chambers, upon whose countenances
the eye of no dweller in the highest paradise had ever gazed.
fa-subhan rabbina al-a`la
Glorified be our Lord, the Most High!
[55]
They all gathered around her, and lo! they found her body fallen upon the dust;
fa-subhan rabbina al-a`la
Glorified be our Lord, the Most High!
[56]
And as they beheld her state and comprehended a word (harf) of the tale
told by the Youth (qisas al-ghulam)
they bared their heads, rent their garments asunder, beat upon their faces,
forgot their joy, shed tears and smote with their hands upon their cheeks,
[57]
and this is verily one of the mysterious grievous afflictions—
Glorified be our Lord, the Most High!
♦
THE PERSIAN EXPOSITORY TEXT & TRANSLATION
Lawh-i Mallah al-Quds
("The Tablet of the Holy Mariner")
The three or four page Persian text of Baha'-Allah's Lawh-i Mallah al-Quds is found, for example, in `Abd al-Hamid Ishraq Khavari (d. 1971), ed. and comp. Ma'ida-yi asmani ("The Heavenly Table") Vol. 4 (129 Badi`/1972-3) pages 339-341. It opens with the triple quasi "geopraphical" location huwa (He is...") heading, "Huwa al-`Ajami, al-Farsi, al-`Iraqi" - "He is the Non-`Arab [or Foreigner - Persian], the Persian, the Iraqi [living near Baghdad] indicative of Baha'u'llah's multiple worldly rooted identities or one time places of location. At the time of the revelation of the Lawh-i Mallah al-Quds his being exiled again to Constantinople (= Istanbul) in then Ottoman Turkey was imminent!
The Persian Text as printed in Ma'ida-yi asmani (2nd Baha'u'llah ed. vol.1)
English Translation Stephen Lambden, UC Merced 2023,
[0]
"Huwa al-`Ajami, al-Farsi, al-`Iraqi"
He is the Non-`Arab / Persian, the Persian, the Iraqi!
[1] When, with the permission of the Holy Mariner (mallah-i quds), the denizens of the Divine Ark (fulk-i ilahi) decididly set forth (tashabuth namudah) in the Pre-existent Vessel ["Ark of Eternity"] (safinat-i qadimi) in my Name among the [Divine] Names they journeyed (ravan gashtand) upon the Ocean of Names (bahr-i asma'). [2]
