The Poem of Rashh-i-'Amá (The Mist of Unknown) – Revealed in the Siyah-Chal

-- provisional translation by Ramin Neshati

Our charm bids waft the Mist of Unknown

Mystery of fidelity thus flows from Our tone

The east wind, musk-laden, from Cathay (2) whirls

Its scent so sweet streams forth from Our curls

The ornamented sun from the True One hath risen

Mystery of reality from Our (3) visage doth blazon

The sea of purity roars from waves of rapture (4)

This gift bestowed from His essence (5) We capture

Love's treasures lie hid in the bosom of Fars (6)

Out this treasure-trove Pearls of Fidelity pours

Delight of wine evinced when All (7) was manifested

To songs of providence (8) this Sublime Token attested

A blast on the trumpet, the attraction divine

These two in one blow flow from the Exalted Clime

Confessed Our face to the cycle of: "I am He"

Baha (9) is brimming with the epoch of: "He is He" (10)

The river of life shimmers in the closet (11) of the heart

This sweet wine the ruby lips of Baha doth part

An Epistle of the Báb to Sultan Abdu’l-Majíd

-- provisional translation by Necati Alkan with assistance from Khazeh Fananapazir

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. Praise be to Him Who hath sent the Book unto whosoever He willeth among His servants. Verily, there is none other God beside Him, the All-Possessing, the All-Praised. In His grasp He holdeth the kingdom of all things. Nothing escapeth His knowledge. There is none other God beside Him. Say: Him do all worship.

Verily, this Book is a command from God unto all who are on earth. Issue forth from your cities for the Covenant of the Remnant of God, the living, the undoubted Leader [Imám]. He is indeed the Book wherein there is no doubt, sent down from the presence of His Servant ‘Alí, the All-Wise.

And He, verily, is ‘Alí, the All-Wise, the Path of God in the heavens and on the earth. He calls the people to the Straight Path at the bidding of thy Lord. He verily is the Mystery of the heavens, Who commands from the Presence of the Remnant of God, the true and undoubted Leader. He, verily, is the Light from the right side of the Mount Sinai in the Book of thy Lord. There is no God but Me. Say: Him do they all fear.

Read the Book of thy Lord, O Majíd, through the command of thy Lord in the preserved Book. Know thou that God hath knowledge of all things in the heavens and on the earth, and that thou art concerning the verdict passed on the messenger [Bastámí, one of the Letters of the Living], possessed of great wrongdoing. Fear God, O thou man! For today no place is there for anyone to flee except he believeth in the signs of God and is accounted among those who worship Him.

Lawh-i-Yawm-i-Shahádat-i-Hadrat-i-A'lá (Tablet Concerning the Day of the Martyrdom of His Holiness the Báb) – by ‘Abdu’l-Baha

[Original Tablet published in ‘Ayyam-i-Tis'ih (The Nine Days), pages 187-88]

-- provisional translation by Khazeh Fananapazir

O thou honoured 'Alí Akbar! [1]

This day is the day of the Martyrdom of His Holiness, the Exalted One, may our heart be sacrificed for His sanctified blood.

This Day is the day in which this "Sun of Truth" concealed itself behind the clouds of providence.

This Day is the day in which this luminous Orb did set!

This Day is the day in which that Body, pure and without blemish or spot fell upon and rolled onto the blood soaked earth

This Day is the day in which His chest and His heart, immaculate and pure like unto a spotless mirror, was riddled by thousands of bullets!

This Day is the day in which that "Divine Lamp" became severed from Its physical frame!

This Day is the day in which the cries and lamentations of the Concourse on high are raised

This Day is the day in which the inhabitants of the Kingdom of God weep and moan, the eyes in tears and their hearts torn!

(Source: Baha’i Library Online)

[1] Mullá 'Alí-Akbar-i-Shahmirzadí, known as Hají Akhund, one of the four Hands of the Cause appointed by Bahá'u'lláh.

Tablet of Visitation for the Mother of Baha’u’llah – by Baha’u’llah

--provisional translation by Baharieh Rouhani-Ma’ani

The most honoured, esteemed and respected mother.

He is God! 

Praised be Thou O Lord, My God! This is My mother who hath acknowledged Thy oneness, confessed Thy unity, attained the honour of meeting Thy Manifestations in Thy days, reached the station of recognition and entered the tabernacle of Heaven, for she loved Thyself and Thy Servant and held fast to the cord of Thy love through the sanctified Temples of Thy Sovereignty. 

I beseech Thee, therefore, O My God, to grant her the honour of beholding Thy Beauty, and vouchsafe unto her the gift of Thy Presence. Give her to drink then from the ocean of Thy mercy and the chalice of Thy forgiveness. Make her to dwell, O My God, in the precincts of Thy mercy in the Heaven of eternity. Grant her to hear Thy holy melodies that she may cast the veil from her head in her eagerness to meet Thee and speed through the domains of Thy nearness and union.

Thou art verily powerful over all that Thou desirest, and Thou art verily the Mighty, the Most Luminous.

(source: Included in ‘Leaves of the Twin Divine Trees’, by Baharieh Rouhani-Ma’ani; approved by the Baha’i World Center)

Lawh-i-Náqús (Tablet of the Bell) -- (Tablet of the Feast of Ridván) - by Bahá'u'lláh

--provisional translation by Ali-Kuli Khan and Marzieh Gail

[See another provisional translation]

He is the Almighty Lord!

Lo, this is the garden of Paradise wherein is raised the Voice of God, the Dominant, the Strong; Here do the immaculate Maids of Heaven dwell, they whom no eye hath seen save only God's, the Sanctified, the Well-Beloved; Herein the eternal nightingale singeth on the bough of the sacred Lote-Tree a song that bedazzaleth the minds, and herein are the needy led to the haven of wealth, and all men guided to the Word of God; verily this is a manifest truth.

[Here is the song that the nightingale singeth;]

In Thy Name that is God,

Thou art verily God!

O sacred Monk, ring out the bells, for the day of God hath come, and the Beauty of the All-Glorious is established on the holy, shining throne.

Glory to Thee, O God, O Thou who art God,

O Thou who alone art God!

O prophet of wisdom, Hud, beat thou upon thy drum, in the name of the Lord, the Precious, the Bountiful, for the Temple of Holiness is seated upon His high, unapproachable throne.

Glory to Thee, O God, O Thou who art God,

O Thou who alone art God!

O Thou beauty of eternity, pluck with the fingers of the spirit at the strings of Thy lute that is wondrous and Holy, for the Heavenly Beauty hath come in His garment of glimmering silk.

Glory to Thee, O God, O Thou who art God,

O Thou who alone art God!