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Baha'-Allah - Lawh-i Ashraf I (The Tablet for Ashraf).

 

 

Baha'-Allah - Lawh-i Ashraf I (The First Tablet for Ashraf), c. 1866-7.

Opening of the Lawh-i Ashraf as printed in MAM 211ff.

 

 

Introduction and Translation.

Stephen Lambden UC Merced, 1980s+2023.

 

INBMC 81: 213-219.

Majmu`ayi alwah-i Mubaraba, pp.211-219.

See also Ishraq Khavari, Ganj-i Shayigan, 186

 

Translation

Stephen Lambden, UC Merced, 2023.

In Progress- last uploaded 18-03-2023..

[0]

He is the Mighty (al-`aziz), the Wondrous (al-badi`).

[I]

[1]

O Ashraf!

Hearken ye unto that which the Tongue of One Pre-existent (lisan al-qidam) hath cast upon thee and be thou not numbered among the heedless (al-ghafilin). [2] Give ear then unto a melody (naghma) of the melodies (naghmat) of thy Lord such as might come to attract all of the [denizens of all the] worlds (al-`alamin)! [3] Should they be attracted thereto it would be by means of an ear which is purified, receptive to innovation [wondrous indeed]! [4] This would transpire if the Divine Names (al-asma') should so sanctify themselves from the constraints of  created things (hududat al-insha') that they would one and all, come to express the Greatest Name (al-ism al-a`zam) [of God, Baha'-Allah]! This would thou realize if thou should be numbered among the mystic knowers (al-`arifin)!

[5] This since the Ancient Beauty (jamal al-qidam) hath indeed transfigured in Glory [Self-revealed] (tajalli) upon all things (`ala kull al-ashya') by means of all of the Divine Names (bi-kull al-asma') during these Sanctified, Mighty, Forbidding Days (al-ayyam al-muqaddas al-`aziz al-mani`)! [6] So be understanding within thyself such that thou be well-disposed (muhsin an) towards the Cause of thy Lord and sincerely oriented (khalis an ) before His love (hubb). [7] This such that He shall make thee to be expressive of His Most Beautiful Names (min asma' ihi al-husna) within the Kingdom of Creation (malakut al-insha'). [8] This is indeed a Mighty Bounty (fadl kabir).

[II]

[1] By My Life! If this day there were lifted up

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[III]

Text translated by Shoghi Effendi, Gleanings, LII, p.104f

Trans. Shoghi Effendi, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah No. LII [52] p.104f.

Versified and reformed with select transliteration by SL.

[III]

[1]

"Say: O people!

Withold not from yourselves the grace of God and His mercy. [2] Whoso witholdeth therefrom is indeed in grevious loss. [3] What, O people! Do ye worship the dust, and turn away from your Lord, the Gracious, the All-Bountiful? Fear ye God, and be not of those who perish.

[IV]

[1]

Say: The Book of God (kitab Allah)

hath been sent down in the form of this Youth

(`ala haykal al-ghulam).

[2] Hallowed, therefore, be God, the most excellent of makers

(ahsan al-mubdi`in!

[3]

Take ye good heed,

O peoples of the world (mala' al-ard),

lest ye flee from His face. [4] Nay, make haste to attain His presence, and be of them that have returned unto Him   (al-raji`in).

[5]

Pray to be forgiven, O people,

for having failed in your duty towards God, and for having trespassed against His Cause, and be not of the foolish   (al-jahilin).

[6] He it is Who hath created you; He it is Who hath nourished your souls through His Cause, and enabled you to recognize Him Who is the Almighty, the Most Exalted, the All-Knowing. [7] He it is Who hath unveiled to your eyes the treasures of His knowledge (kunuz al-`irfan), and caused you to ascend unto the heaven of certitude (sama' al-iqan)—the certitude of His resistless, His irrefutable, and most exalted Faith. [8] Beware that ye do not deprive yourselves of the grace of God, that ye do not bring to naught your works, and do not repudiate the truth of this most manifest, this lofty, this shining, and glorious Revelation. [9] Judge ye fairly the Cause of God, your Creator, and behold that which hath been sent down from the Throne on high, and meditate thereon with innocent and sanctified hearts. [10] Then will the truth of this Cause appear unto you as manifest as the sun in its noontide glory. Then will ye be of them that have believed in Him.

[V]

MAM 213b

[V]

[1]

Say: The first and and foremost testimony establishing His truth

is His own Self (nafs).

[2]

Next to this testimony is His Revelation (zuhur).

For whoso faileth to recognize either the one or the other He hath established the words He hath revealed as proof of His reality and truth. [3] This is, verily, an evidence of His tender mercy unto men. [4] He hath endowed every soul with the capacity to recognize the signs of God. [5] How could He, otherwise, have fulfilled His testimony unto men, if ye be of them that ponder His Cause in their hearts. [6] He will never deal unjustly with anyone, neither will He task a soul beyond its power. [7] He, verily, is the Compassionate, the All-Merciful.

[VI]

MAM 214

[1]

Say: So great is the glory of the Cause of God

that even the blind can perceive it, how muchmore they whose sight is sharp, whose vision is pure. The blind, though unable to perceive the light of the sun, are, nevertheless, capable of experiencing its continual heat. The blind in heart, however, among the people of the Bayán—and to this God is My witness—are impotent, no matter how long the Sun may shine upon them, either to perceive the radiance of its glory, or to appreciate the warmth of its rays.

[VI]

[1]

Say: O people of the Bayán!

We have chosen you out of the world to know and recognize Our Self. [2] We have caused you to draw nigh unto the right side of Paradise—the Spot out of which the undying Fire crieth in manifold accents: “There is none other God besides Me, the All-Powerful,the Most High!” [3] Take heed lest ye allow  yourselves to be shut out as by a veil from this Daystarthat shineth above the dayspring of the Will of your Lord, the All-Merciful, and whose light hathencompassed both the small and the great. [4] Purge your sight, that ye may perceive its glory withyour own eyes, and depend not on the sight of anyone except yourself, for God hath never burdened any soul beyond its power. [5] Thus hath it been sent down unto the Prophets and Messengers of old, and been recorded in all the Scriptures.

[VII]

[1]

Strive, O people,

to gain admittance into this vast Immensity for which God ordained neither beginning nor end, [2] in which His voice hath been raised, [3] and over which have been wafted the sweet savors of holiness and glory. [4] Divest not yourselves of the Robe of grandeur, [5] neither suffer your hearts to be deprived of remembering your Lord, nor your ears of hearkening unto the sweet melodies of His wondrous, His sublime, His all-compelling, His clear, and most eloquent voice." (Translation Shoghi Effendi).

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