To the First Haykal or Letter of the Living, Mullā Ḥusayn Bushrū'ī (d.1265/1849)
Colour Facsimilie from Muhammad Zarandí Nabíl-i A’zam, Tarikh ed. and trans. Shoghi Effendi Rabbani (d. 1957) as `The Dawn-Breakers: Nabil’s Narrative of the Early Days of the Bahá’í Revelation, (1932; Rep. Wilmette, IL, USA: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1996. .
TABLET TO THE FIRST `LETTER OF THE LIVING'
[1]
Mullā Mullā Ḥusayn Bushrū'ī (d. Ṭabarsī 1265 /1849)
- Tablet to the First Letter of the Living, a devout Shaykhī entitled, Bāb al-Bāb (the Gate of the Gate), d. [Ṭabarsī] 1265 /1849) Trans. Taherzadeh, SWB: 9-10. PDf. With added transliteration, select versification and literary units which are not part of the original Arabic.
[A]
هذا ما نزلنا الى اول من آمن بمن يظهره الله تنذيراً من عندنا للعالمين
This is that which We have revealed for the First Believer (awwal man āmana) in Him Whom God shall make manifest (man yuzhiru-hu Allah), that it may serve as an admonition (tandhir an) from Our presence unto all mankind.
[B]
[Huwa = He is]
[C]
بسم الله العزيزالمحبوب
In the Name of the Almighty (al-`aziz), the Best Beloved (al-mahbūb).
[I]
[1]
LAUDED and glorified (subhān) is He Who is the sovereign Lord (al-malik)
of the kingdoms of heaven and earth and whatever is between them.
[2]
Say, verily unto Him shall all return (al-rāji`ūn),
and He is the One Who guideth at His Own behest (bi-amri-hi) whomsoever He pleaseth.
[3]
Say, all men beseech His blessings and He is supreme (al-qāhir) over all created things (fawq kull shay').
[4]
He is indeed the All-Glorious, the Mighty (al-`azīz), the Well-Beloved (al-mahbūb).
[II]
[1]
This is an epistle from the letter `Thā' [ الثاء ] ( al-thamarah = the Fruit = the Bab)
unto him who is the First Believer (awwal man āmana). [2] Bear thou witness that verily He is I, Myself (innahu anā), the Sovereign (al-malīk), the Omnipotent (al-qaddūr). [3] He is the One Who ordaineth life and death and unto Him shall all return. [4] Indeed there is none other God but Him and all men bow down in adoration before Him. [5] Verily Thy Lord, God, shall presently recompense every one as He ordaineth, even swifter than uttering the words
کُنْ فَیَکون
"Be [thou], and it is!" (kun fa-yakūn)
[Q. 2:117; 3:47; 3:59; 36:82, etc].
[III]
[1] God hath in truth testified in His Book (al-kitāb) and so also have testified the company of His angels (malā'ikat), His Messengers (rusul, sing rasūl) and those endued with divine knowledge (ulu al-`ilm) that thou hast believed in God and in His signs and that everyone is guided aright by virtue of thy guidance (huda).
[2] This is indeed a boundless grace (kull al-fadl) which God, the Ever-Living (al-hayy), the Self-Subsisting (al-qayyūm), hath graciously conferred upon thee aforetime and will confer hereafter.
[3] And since thou didst believe in God before the creation (qabl al-khalq), He hath in truth, at His own behest, raised thee up in every Revelation (kull zuhūr). There is no God but Him, the Sovereign Protector (al-muhaymin), the All-Glorious (al-subbūh).
[4] It behooveth you to proclaim the Cause of God (amr Allāh) unto all created things (kullu shay') as a token of grace from His presence; no God is there but Him, the Most Generous [ X ] (al-majtūr), the All-Compelling [Overwhelming] (al-qayhūr).
[IV]
Say: All matters must be referred to the Book of God (kitab Allāh);
[1]
I am indeed the First to believe in God (awwal man āmana) and in His signs;
[2]
I am the One Who divulgeth (al-zahhār) and proclaimeth the Truth (al-zayhūr) [sic.] and
[3]
I have been invested with every excellent title of God (li kull asmā' khayr in), the Mighty (al-`azīz), the Incomparable ["the Mighted", sic. ] (al-`ayzūz),
[4]
Verily I have attained the Day of the First Manifestation [the Genesis of the Beginning] (badi` al-awwal) and by the bidding of the Lord and as a token of His grace, I shall attain the Day of the Latter Manifestation [the Day of the Genesis of the Endtime] (yawm badi` al-ākhir). There is no God but Him and at the appointed hour everyone shall bow down unto Him in adoration.
[V]
I render thanks and yield praise unto God for having been chosen by Him as the Exponent [Manifestation] of His Cause (mazhar amrihi) in bygone days and in the days to come (min qabl wa min ba`da); there is none other God save Him, the Glorified [the Defender, Protector] (al-hima/ hamiyā?), the All-Praised (al-shukkār), the Ever-Abiding (al-saymūr?). Whatever is in the heavens and on the earth is His and through Him are we guided aright.
[VI]
O people of the Bayān [Exposition, and Everything!
(ahl al-bayan wa kull shay')
Those who embrace the Truth must turn unto Me, as ordained in the Book and divine guidance will be vouchsafed to whosoever attaineth My presence.
Seal translation [omitted in SWB] =
His servant (`abd) the [messianic] al-Dhikr (Remembrance).
Seal translation 2 omitted in SWB = ??
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