The Summons of the Lord of Hosts:

A Compilation of Descriptions and Commentaries

Prepared for the Wilmette Institute Distance-Learning Course on

The Summons of the Lord of Hosts

© 2011 Wilmette Institute

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Table of Contents

Súriy-i-Haykal 3

Pius IX 13

Napoleon III 23

Czar Alexander II 34

Queen Victoria 42

Násiru’d-dín Sháh (Lawh-i-Sultán) 51

Súriy-i-Raís 65

Lawh-i-Ra’ís 78

Lawh-i-Fu’ád 84

Súriy-i-Mulúk 89

Appendix: First Tablet to Napoleon 114

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Súriy-i-Haykal

From Wendi Momen, A Basic Bahá'í Dictionary: Súriy-i-Haykal Tablet of the Temple In this Tablet Bahá'u'lláh reveals the majesty and glory of the Temple, which is His own Self, and unveils new facets of God's revelation. Bahá'u'lláh ordered this Súrih, together with the Tablets to the Kings, to be copied in the form of a pentacle symbolizing the human-temple. Abdu'l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, 32-33 (print) and 16-17 (electronic): Upon His arrival in prison [Adrianople] He addressed an epistle to Napoleon, which He sent through the French ambassador. The gist of it was, "Ask what is Our crime, and why We are confined in this prison and this dungeon." Napoleon made no reply. Then a second epistle was issued, which is contained in the Súriy-i-Haykal. The epitome of it is: "Oh Napoleon, as thou hast not listened to My proclamation, and as thou hast not answered it, thy dominion will before long be taken away from thee, and thou wilt be utterly destroyed." This epistle was sent to Napoleon by post, through the care of Cesar Ketaphakou, as was known to all the companions of His exile. The text of this warning reached the whole of Persia, for it was at that time that the Kitáb-i-Haykal was spread in Persia, and this epistle was among the contents of this book. This happened in A.D. 1869, and as this Súriy-i-Haykal was circulated in Persia and India and was in the hands of all believers, they were waiting to see what would come to pass. Not long after, in A.D. 1870, the war between Germany and France broke out; and though no one at that time expected the victory of Germany, Napoleon was defeated and dishonored; he surrendered to his enemies, and his glory was changed into deep abasement. Shoghi Effendi, World Order of Bahá'u'lláh, 109-110 (print) and 62-63 (electronic): In the Súratu'l-Haykal, one of the most challenging works of Bahá'u'lláh, the following verses, each of which testifies to the resistless power infused into the Revelation proclaimed by its Author, have been recorded: "Naught is seen in My temple but the Temple of God, and in My beauty but His Beauty, and in My being but His Being, and in My self but His Self, and in My movement but His Movement, and in My acquiescence but His Acquiescence, and in My pen but His Pen, the Mighty, the All-Praised. There hath not been in My soul but the Truth, and in Myself naught could be seen but God." "The Holy Spirit Itself hath been generated through the agency of a single letter revealed by this Most Great Spirit, if ye be of them that comprehend."... "Within the treasury of Our Wisdom there lies unrevealed a knowledge, one word of which, if we chose to divulge it to mankind, would cause every human being to recognize the Manifestation of God and to acknowledge His omniscience, would enable every one to discover the secrets of all the sciences, and to attain so high a station as to find himself wholly independent of all past and future learning. Other knowledges We do as well possess, not a single letter of which We can disclose, nor do We find humanity able to hear even the barest reference to their meaning. Thus have We informed you of the knowledge of God, the All-

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Knowing, the All-Wise." "The day is approaching when God will have, by an act of His Will, raised up a race of men the nature of which is inscrutable to all save God, the All-Powerful, the Self-Subsisting." "He will, ere long, out of the Bosom of Power draw forth the Hands of Ascendancy and Might—Hands who will arise to win victory for this Youth and who will purge mankind from the defilement of the outcast and the ungodly. These Hands will gird up their loins to champion the Faith of God, and will, in My name the self-subsistent, the mighty, subdue the peoples and kindreds of the earth. They will enter the cities and will inspire with fear the hearts of all their inhabitants. Such are the evidences of the might of God; how fearful, how vehement is His might!" Shoghi Effendi, World Order of Bahá'u'lláh, 117 (print) and 67 (electronic): "I am not apprehensive for My own self," Bahá'u'lláh still more explicitly declares, "My fears are for Him Who will be sent down unto you after Me—Him Who will be invested with great sovereignty and mighty dominion." And again He writes in the Súratu'l-Haykal: "By those words which I have revealed, Myself is not intended, but rather He Who will come after Me. To it is witness God, the All-Knowing." "Deal not with Him," He adds, "as ye have dealt with Me." Shoghi Effendi, World Order of Bahá'u'lláh, 138-39 (print) and 77 (electronic): "Had the Primal Point (the Báb) been someone else beside Me as ye claim," is Bahá'u'lláh's explicit statement, "and had attained My presence, verily He would have never allowed Himself to be separated from Me, but rather We would have had mutual delights with each other in My Days." "He Who now voiceth the Word of God," Bahá'u'lláh again affirms, "is none other except the Primal Point Who hath once again been made manifest." Shoghi Effendi, World Order of Bahá'u'lláh, 169 (print) and 93 (electronic): "The whole earth," writes Bahá'u'lláh, "is now in a state of pregnancy. The day is approaching when it will have yielded its noblest fruits, when from it will have sprung forth the loftiest trees, the most enchanting blossoms, the most heavenly blessings. Immeasurably exalted is the breeze that wafteth from the garment of thy Lord, the Glorified! For lo, it hath breathed its fragrance and made all things new! Well is it with them that comprehend." "The onrushing winds of the grace of God," He, in the Súratu'l-Haykal, proclaims, "have passed over all things. Every creature hath been endowed with all the potentialities it can carry. And yet the peoples of the world have denied this grace! Every tree hath been endowed with the choicest fruits, every ocean enriched with the most luminous gems. Man, himself, hath been invested with the gifts of understanding and knowledge. The whole creation hath been made the recipient of the revelation of the All-Merciful, and the earth the repository of things inscrutable to all except God, the Truth, the Knower of things unseen. The time is approaching when every created thing will have cast its burden. Glorified be God Who hath vouchsafed this grace that encompasseth all things, whether seen or unseen!"

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Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, 101-102 (print) and 65 (electronic): In His Súratu'l-Haykal (the Súrih of the Temple) He thus describes those breathless moments when the Maiden, symbolizing the "Most Great Spirit" proclaimed His mission to the entire creation: "While engulfed in tribulations I heard a most wondrous, a most sweet voice, calling above My head. Turning My face, I beheld a Maiden— the embodiment of the remembrance of the name of My Lord—suspended in the air before Me. So rejoiced was she in her very soul that her countenance shone with the ornament of the good-pleasure of God, and her cheeks glowed with the brightness of the All-Merciful. Betwixt earth and heaven she was raising a call which captivated the hearts and minds of men. She was imparting to both My inward and outer being tidings which rejoiced My soul, and the souls of God's honored servants. Pointing with her finger unto My head, she addressed all who are in heaven and all who are on earth, saying: `By God! This is the Best-Beloved of the worlds, and yet ye comprehend not. This is the Beauty of God amongst you, and the power of His sovereignty within you, could ye but understand. This is the Mystery of God and His Treasure, the Cause of God and His glory unto all who are in the kingdoms of Revelation and of creation, if ye be of them that perceive.'" H. M. Balyuzi, Bahá'u'lláh: King of Glory, 384: In their range, their scope and their depth, the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh remain unequalled and unmatched amongst the Scriptures of mankind. That erudite Bahá'í teacher and scholar, Mirza Abu'l-Fadl of Gulpaygan, classifies them into four categories, namely: laws and ordinances; meditations, communes and prayers; interpretations of the sacred Scriptures of the past; and discourses and exordiums. Of the first category he writes: 'Some of them contain laws and regulations whereby the rights and interests of all the nations of the world can be perpetuated, for these statutes are so enacted that they meet the necessities of every land and country and are acceptable to every man of intelligence. In this universality they resemble the laws of Nature, which secure the progress and development of all peoples; and they will bring about universal union and harmony.' Adib Taherzadeh, Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh vol. 3, 133-137: One of the most momentous of the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh is the Súriy-i-Haykal or Súratu'l-Haykal (Súrih of the Temple). Bahá'u'lláh ordered the Súrih and the Tablets to the Kings to be copied in the form of a pentacle symbolizing the human temple. The Tablets were copied in the following order: the Súriy-i-Haykal itself, then the Tablet to Pope Pius IX, the Tablet to Napoleon III, the Tablet to Czar Alexander II, the Tablet to Queen Victoria and the Tablet to Násiri'd-Dín Sháh. Associating this with the prophecy of Zechariah in the Old Testament, Bahá'u'lláh concludes the Súriy-i-Haykal with these words: Thus have We built the Temple with the hands of power and might, could

ye but know it. This is the Temple promised unto you in the Book. Draw ye nigh

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unto it. This is that which profiteth you, could ye but comprehend it. Be fair, O peoples of the earth! Which is preferable, this, or a temple which is built of clay? Set your faces towards it. Thus have ye been commanded by God, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting. Follow ye His bidding, and praise ye God, your Lord, for that which He hath bestowed upon you. He, verily, is the Truth. No God is there but He. He revealeth what He pleaseth, through His Words `Be and it is.' [7-1]

Throughout the Tablet, the Pen of the Most High addresses the Haykal (Temple) and reveals the glory and majesty with which it is invested. In answer to a question, Bahá'u'lláh has stated [7-2] that the Haykal which is addressed in this Súrih is the Person of Bahá'u'lláh, and so is the voice which addresses the Haykal. It is fascinating to know that the One Who speaks with the voice of God in this Tablet is identical with the One spoken to. In this Súrih it is stated that the Haykal has been made a mirror to reflect the sovereignty of God and to manifest His Beauty and Grandeur to all mankind. It has been given the power to do whatsoever It desires. Oceans of knowledge and utterance have been placed within Its heart, and It has been made the Manifestation of God's own Self for all who are in heaven and on earth. Speaking in this Súrih of the transcendent glory with which the Haykal is invested, Bahá'u'lláh states: Naught is seen in My temple but the Temple of God and in My beauty but

His Beauty, and in My being but His Being, and in My self but His Self, and in My movement but His Movement and in My acquiescence but His Acquiescence, and in My pen but His Pen, the Mighty, the All-Praised. There hath not been in My soul but the Truth, and in Myself naught could be seen but God. [7-3]

To fully appreciate the majesty and power of this outstanding work of Bahá'u'lláh in the absence of a translation is impossible. Suffice it to say that every time He addresses the Haykal He unveils a new facet of God's Revelation, as if opening a new door leading to some mystery enshrined in His Writings, a mystery hitherto hidden from the eyes of men. If the pure in heart is enabled to have just a glimpse of this infinite realm of divine Revelation which is beyond his comprehension, such a glimpse can endow his soul with an insight which no human agency can ever hope to confer upon it. In one of His Tablets referring to the vastness and richness of His Revelation, Bahá'u'lláh states: ...immerse yourselves in this Ocean in whose depths lay hidden the pearls

of wisdom and of utterance... [7-4] These words of Bahá'u'lláh become a reality when the believer, in a state of detachment from this world, meditates upon the verses of the Súriy-i-Haykal. For he will

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find many such pearls hidden within its verses. The concept of the Haykal (Temple), in the form of the human temple and representing the Person of Bahá'u'lláh, in itself invokes many thoughts and opens many doors to a deeper understanding of His Revelation. Whereas the human temple is made of flesh and bone, the Haykal is constituted of the Word of God. It is portrayed vividly by Bahá'u'lláh in this celebrated Súrih, and He adds more mystery and realism to it when He addresses some limbs and organs of that Temple as well as the letters (H, Y, K, and L) which constitute the word. Every word and letter uttered by the Manifestation of God assumes meaning and significance beyond the understanding of man. For example, there are lengthy Tablets revealed by the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh explaining the meaning of only one letter mentioned in the Holy Books of older religions. We have already given examples of this in a previous volume. In the Súriy-i-Haykal, Bahá'u'lláh reveals the significance of the letters which form the word `Haykal', and the potentialities with which each one has been invested by God. It is difficult to convey these without having access to the words of Bahá'u'lláh. Bahá'u'lláh states that the Haykal is the source of the creation of the new race of men, that through each one of its letters, God will raise up wonderful beings whose numbers are known to none except Him and whose faces will shine with the radiance of their Lord. These souls will circle around the Cause of God as a shadow moves around the sun. They will protect the Faith from the onslaught of the deniers and will offer up their lives willingly for the promotion of His Cause among men. This Tablet is replete with glad-tidings of the appearance of a band of devoted believers whom Bahá'u'lláh refers to as the new race of men. These words are revealed in the Súriy-i-Haykal: The day is approaching when God will have, by an act of His Will, raised

up a race of men the nature of which is inscrutable to all save God, the All-Powerful, The Self-Subsisting. [7-5]

Bahá'u'lláh exhorts the eye of the Haykal not to gaze upon the world of creation but to focus only upon the beauty of His Lord. He promises the advent of a day when He will have created, through this eye, people of penetrating insight who will see the signs and tokens of His Revelation with a vision bestowed upon them through His bounty and favour. To the ear of the Haykal, Bahá'u'lláh gives counsel to become deaf to the voices of the ungodly and to listen to the melodies of His Revelation. Again, He states that through this ear He will create a race of men with ears purified and worthy to hear the Word of God as revealed by Him in this day. The tongue of the Haykal is also addressed in the same vein - it has been created to mention the name of God and celebrate His praise. He gives the joyous tidings that through the creation of this tongue, God will raise up souls who will conquer the hearts of men through the power of their utterance and the sway of their word. Bahá'u'lláh calls on the Haykal to stretch out its hands upon all the dwellers of earth and heaven, and to hold within its grasp the reins of the Cause of God. He

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prophesies that through these hands, He will soon create hands of power and might through whom God will reveal His omnipotence and ascendancy to all the peoples of the world. Concerning these hands Bahá'u'lláh reveals in the Súrih: He will, ere long, out of the Bosom of Power draw forth the Hands of

Ascendancy and Might - Hands who will arise to win victory for this Youth and who will purge mankind from the defilement of the outcast and the ungodly. These Hands will gird up their loins to champion the Faith of God, and will, in My name the self-subsistent, the mighty, subdue the peoples and kindreds of the earth. [7-6]

The heart of the Haykal, Bahá'u'lláh states, is the source of all knowledge. Of this knowledge He declares: Within the treasury of Our Wisdom there lies unrevealed a knowledge,

one word of which, if we chose to divulge it to mankind, would cause every human being to recognize the Manifestation of God and to acknowledge His omniscience, would enable every one to discover the secrets of all the sciences, and to attain so high a station as to find himself wholly independent of all past and future learning. Other knowledges We do as well possess, not a single letter of which We can disclose, nor do We find humanity able to hear even the barest reference to their meaning. Thus have We informed you of the Knowledge of God, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. [7-7]

Bahá'u'lláh affirms that through the outpouring of knowledge from the heart of the Haykal, He will soon raise up scientists of great calibre who will bring about such marvellous technological achievements that no one can as yet imagine them. This prophecy of Bahá'u'lláh has already been fulfilled - and this is only the beginning. We have previously stated that the Revelation of the Báb ushered in a new era in the fields of science and technology, especially in communications, to prepare the way for the coming of Bahá'u'lláh. His Message being for all mankind, it is only logical that the same God who has revealed it would also create the means for its universal propagation, so that the news of the coming of Bahá'u'lláh might reach every part of the world. Adib Taherzadeh, Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh vol. 3, 140-142: Bahá'u'lláh in the Súriy-i-Haykal rebukes the people of the Bayán for their blindness to His Revelation in spite of the fact that the Báb had nurtured and prepared them for His Coming. He identifies Himself with the Báb in the Súriy-i-Haykal when He addresses the Bábís: Had the Primal Point (The Báb) been someone else beside Me as ye claim,

and had attained My presence, verily He would have never allowed Himself to be separated from Me, but rather We would have had mutual delights with each other in My Days. [7-8]

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Bahá'u'lláh in the Súrih expatiates on His sufferings at the hands of the breakers of the Covenant of the Báb, those who denied His trust and turned away from His Cause. He describes how he had chosen one of his brothers, Mírzá Yahyá, showered upon him a sprinkling from the Ocean of His Knowledge, clothed him with the ornament of a name, and exalted him to such a station that all the believers turned to him in devotion and protected him from every tribulation. Yet when Mírzá Yahyá witnessed the ascendancy of the Bearer of the Message of God for this age, he rose up against Him, attempted to take His life and repudiated His Cause. In a challenging tone Bahá'u'lláh declares that if the followers of Mírzá Yahyá did not turn to Him [Bahá'u'lláh] and lend their support, God would assist Him with His supreme Hosts, both visible and invisible, and would assuredly raise up a new race of men who would champion His Cause and make Him victorious in the end. Bahá'u'lláh in the Súriy-i-Haykal reveals that the power of God is beyond the comprehension of man. Through this power all created things have come into being. If it be His will, He can in one instant take life from everything and in another bestow a new life upon it. These are His Own Words: It is in Our power, should We wish it, to enable a speck of floating dust to

generate, in less than the twinkling of an eye, suns of infinite, of unimaginable splendour, to cause a dewdrop to develop into vast and numberless oceans, to infuse into every letter such a force as to empower it to unfold all the knowledge of past and future ages. [7-9]

He further explains that created things may be likened to the leaves of a tree which derive their sustenance and life from the root but outwardly seem to be flourishing independently of it. It is in the Súriy-i-Haykal that, while admonishing the people for their perversity and blindness to His revelation, Bahá'u'lláh refers to the Manifestation of God who will come after Him. These are His words: By those words which I have revealed, Myself is not intended, but rather

He Who will come after Me. To it is witness God, the All-Knowing... Deal not with Him as ye have dealt with Me. [7-10]

There is no doubt that this passage refers to the Manifestation of God who comes after Bahá'u'lláh, since Shoghi Effendi has confirmed this in His writings. There is a similar passage revealed in another Tablet concerning the next Manifestation of God: I am not apprehensive for My own self, My fears are for Him Who will be

sent down unto you after Me - Him Who will be invested with great sovereignty and mighty dominion. [7-11]

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Adib Taherzadeh, Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh vol. 3, 143: In the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh there are references to the symbolic appearance of the Maid of Heaven to Him. In the Súriy-i-Haykal He describes in a fascinating manner the proclamation of His mission by the Maiden symbolizing the `Most Great Spirit' which animated Him throughout His Ministry. This is how He reveals the descent of this mysterious Spirit upon Himself: While engulfed in tribulations I heard a most wondrous, a most sweet

voice, calling above My head. Turning My face, I beheld a Maiden - the embodiment of the remembrance of the name of My Lord - suspended in the air before Me. So rejoiced was she in her very soul that her countenance shone with the ornament of the good-pleasure of God, and her cheeks glowed with the brightness of the All-Merciful. Betwixt earth and heaven she was raising a call which captivated the hearts and minds of men. She was imparting to both My inward and outer being tidings which rejoiced My soul, and the souls of God's honoured servants. Pointing with her finger unto My head, she addressed all who are in heaven and all who are on earth, saying: `By God! This is the Best-Beloved of the worlds, and yet ye comprehend not. This is the Beauty of God amongst you, and the power of His sovereignty within you, could ye but understand. This is the Mystery of God and His Treasure, the Cause of God and His glory unto all who are in the kingdoms of Revelation and of creation, if ye be of them that perceive.' [7-13]

Adib Taherzadeh, Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh vol. 3, 144: And in the Súriy-i-Haykal He declares: The Holy Spirit Itself hath been generated through the agency of a single

letter revealed by this Most Great Spirit, if ye be of them that comprehend. [7-14] In His Writings, Bahá'u'lláh has indicated that whereas in past Dispensations the Prophets and Messengers of God received their Revelation through an intermediary, in this Dispensation the voice of God may be heard directly from the Person of Bahá'u'lláh. Affirming this in one of His Tablets, [7-15] Bahá'u'lláh states that the same voice which Moses heard through the Burning Bush may be heard directly from Bahá'u'lláh in this Day. Adib Taherzadeh, Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh vol. 3, 145-146: The Súriy-i-Haykal contains many challenging themes. Every line is charged with enormous power and every subject is indicative of the greatness of the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh, such greatness that sometimes it staggers the imagination.

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Although extensive parts of the Tablets which are added to the Súrih have been translated into English by Shoghi Effendi and published, only a few passages from the Súrih itself have been translated. We have already included most of them in this account, and quote the following in conclusion: The onrushing winds of the grace of God have passed over all things.

Every creature hath been endowed with all the potentialities it can carry. And yet the peoples of the world have denied this grace! Every tree hath been endowed with the choicest fruits, every ocean enriched with the most luminous gems. Man, himself, hath been invested with the gifts of understanding and knowledge. The whole creation hath been made the recipient of the revelation of the All-Merciful, and the earth the repository of things inscrutable to all except God, the Truth, the Knower of things unseen. The time is approaching when every created thing will have cast its burden. Glorified be God Who hath vouchsafed this grace that encompasseth all things, whether seen or unseen! [7-18]

John Hatcher, The Ocean of His Words, 138: THE SURATU'L-HAYKAL Another good example of allegory in the art of Bahá'u'lláh is demonstrated by the allegorical framework of the Súratu'l-Haykal (Súrih of the Temple). This work is designated by Shoghi Effendi as "one of the most challenging works of Bahá'u'lláh" (World Order of Bahá'u'lláh 109). Some sixty-three pages in length, this tablet focuses on the allegorical act of fashioning a temple. As we noted in Chapter 2, this allegory works on a number of different levels. On the simplest level the temple is the physical body of the Prophet, the human persona through whom Bahá'u'lláh will communicate to humankind. In the tablet, the divine concourse at the behest of the Divine Will fashions the temple by endowing it with the powers and faculties that the Prophet will need to carry out His mission.

0 Thou, the Eye of this Temple! Look not to the heaven and what is therein, nor to the earth and whatsoever is thereupon; verily We created Thee for My Beauty-Lo, this is It! (Surat 'Ul Hykl 16) 0 Thou, the Tongue of this Temple, Verily We have created Thee in My Name, the Merciful, and taught Thee that which was stored in el-Beyan (the revelation), and made Thee to speak for the sake of My great commemoration in the contingent world. ... (17) 0 Heart of this Temple! Verily we have made Thee the rising place of My science and the manifestation of My wisdom to whomsoever is in heaven and earth. (43)

As we attempt to interpret these allegories, then, we begin to appreciate how demanding and yet richly rewarding this poetic process can be for the creative reader, and we will examine it further in Chapter 5. Allegory can work on so many levels and can compress

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so much meaning into a simple narrative framework, that we readily appreciate why the Prophet (or any good teacher) would find allegory an amazingly effective tool for teaching concepts of spirituality. We also discover how allegory is particularly useful in alluding prophetically to forthcoming events.

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Tablet to Pope Pius IX

Bahá'u'lláh, Proclamation of Bahá'u'lláh, 83-86 (print) and 23-24 (electronic): POPE PIUS IX O POPE! Rend the veils asunder. He Who is the Lord of Lords is come overshadowed with clouds, and the decree hath been fulfilled by God, the Almighty, the Unrestrained... He, verily, hath again come down from Heaven even as He came down from it the first time. Beware that thou dispute not with Him even as the Pharisees disputed with Him (Jesus) without a clear token or proof. On His right hand flow the living waters of grace, and on His left the choice Wine of justice, whilst before Him march the angels of Paradise, bearing the banners of His signs. Beware lest any name debar thee from God, the Creator of earth and heaven. Leave thou the world behind thee, and turn towards thy Lord, through Whom the whole earth hath been illumined... Dwellest thou in palaces whilst He Who is the King of Revelation liveth in the most desolate of abodes? Leave them unto such as desire them, and set thy face with joy and delight towards the Kingdom... Arise in the name of thy Lord, the God of Mercy, amidst the peoples of the earth, and seize thou the Cup of Life with the hands of confidence, and first drink thou therefrom, and proffer it then to such as turn towards it amongst the peoples of all faiths... Call thou to remembrance Him Who was the Spirit (Jesus), Who when He came, the most learned of His age pronounced judgment against Him in His own country, whilst he who was only a fisherman believed in Him. Take heed, then, ye men of understanding heart! Thou, in truth, art one of the suns of the heaven of His names. Guard thyself, lest darkness spread its veils over thee, and fold thee away from His light... Consider those who opposed the Son (Jesus), when He came unto them with sovereignty and power. How many the Pharisees who were waiting to behold Him, and were lamenting over their separation from Him! And yet, when the fragrance of His coming was wafted over them, and His beauty was unveiled, they turned aside from Him and disputed with Him... None save a very few, who were destitute of any power amongst men, turned towards His face. And yet, today, every man endowed with power and invested with sovereignty prideth himself on His Name! In like manner, consider how numerous, in these days, are the monks who, in My Name, have secluded themselves in their churches, and who, when the appointed time was fulfilled, and We unveiled Our beauty, knew Us not, though they call upon Me at eventide and at dawn.... The Word which the Son concealed is made manifest. It hath been sent down in the form of the human temple in this day. Blessed be the Lord Who is the Father! He, verily, is come unto the nations in His most great majesty. Turn your faces towards Him, O concourse of the righteous... This is the day whereon the Rock (Peter) crieth out and shouteth, and celebrateth the praise of its Lord, the All-Possessing, the Most High, saying: `Lo! The Father is come, and that which ye were promised in the Kingdom is fulfilled!...' My body longeth for the cross, and Mine head waiteth the thrust of the spear, in the path of the All-Merciful, that the world may be purged from its transgressions.... O Supreme Pontiff! Incline thine ear unto that which the Fashioner of mouldering bones counselleth thee, as voiced by Him Who is His Most Great Name. Sell all the embellished ornaments thou dost possess, and expend them in the path of God, Who causeth the night to return upon the day, and the day to return upon the night. Abandon thy kingdom unto the kings,

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and emerge from thy habitation, with thy face set towards the Kingdom, and, detached from the world, then speak forth the praises of thy Lord betwixt earth and heaven. Thus hath bidden thee He Who is the Possessor of Names, on the part of thy Lord, the Almighty, the All-Knowing. Exhort thou the kings and say: `Deal equitably with men. Beware lest ye transgress the bounds fixed in the Book.' This indeed becometh thee. Beware lest thou appropriate unto thyself the things of the world and the riches thereof. Leave them unto such as desire them, and cleave unto that which hath been enjoined upon thee by Him Who is the Lord of creation. Should any one offer thee all the treasures of the earth, refuse to even glance upon them. Be as thy Lord hath been. Thus hath the Tongue of Revelation spoken that which God hath made the ornament of the book of creation... Should the inebriation of the wine of My verses seize thee, and thou determinest to present thyself before the throne of thy Lord, the Creator of earth and heaven, make My love thy vesture and thy shield remembrance of Me, and thy provision reliance upon God, the Revealer of all power... Verily, the day of ingathering is come, and all things have been separated from each other. He hath stored away that which He chose in the vessels of justice, and cast into fire that which befitteth it. Thus hath it been decreed by your Lord, the Mighty, the Loving, in this promised Day. He, verily, ordaineth what He pleaseth. There is none other God save He, the Almighty, the All-Compelling. Shoghi Effendi, Promised Day is Come, 22 (electronic): To the Christian kings Bahá'u'lláh, moreover, particularly directs His words of censure, and, in a language that cannot be mistaken, He discloses the true character of His Revelation: "O kings of Christendom! Heard ye not the saying of Jesus, the Spirit of God, `I go away, and come again unto you'? Wherefore, then, did ye fail, when He did come again unto you in the clouds of heaven, to draw nigh unto Him, that ye might behold His face, and be of them that attained His Presence? In another passage He saith: `When He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth.' And yet, behold how, when He did bring the truth, ye refused to turn your faces towards Him, and persisted in disporting yourselves with your pastimes and fancies. Ye welcomed Him not, neither did ye seek His Presence, that ye might hear the verses of God from His own mouth, and partake of the manifold wisdom of the Almighty, the All-Glorious, the All-Wise. Ye have, by reason of your failure, hindered the breath of God from being wafted over you, and have withheld from your souls the sweetness of its fragrance. Ye continue roving with delight in the valley of your corrupt desires. Ye and all ye possess shall pass away. Ye shall, most certainly, return to God, and shall be called to account for your doings in the presence of Him Who shall gather together the entire creation...." Shoghi Effendi, Promised Day is Come, 25-26 (electronic): Revealed to the Pope To Pope Pius IX, Bahá'u'lláh revealed the following: "O Pope! Rend the veils asunder. He Who is the Lord of Lords is come overshadowed with clouds, and the decree hath been fulfilled by God, the Almighty, the Unrestrained.... He, verily, hath again come down from Heaven even as He came down from it the first time. Beware that thou dispute not with Him

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even as the Pharisees disputed with Him [Jesus] without a clear token or proof. On His right hand flow the living waters of grace, and on His left the choice Wine of justice, whilst before Him march the angels of Paradise, bearing the banners of His signs. Beware lest any name debar thee from God, the Creator of earth and heaven. Leave thou the world behind thee, and turn towards thy Lord, through Whom the whole earth hath been illumined.... Dwellest thou in palaces whilst He Who is the King of Revelation liveth in the most desolate of abodes? Leave them unto such as desire them, and set thy face with joy and delight towards the Kingdom.... Arise in the name of thy Lord, the God of Mercy, amidst the peoples of the earth, and seize thou the Cup of Life with the hands of confidence, and first drink thou therefrom, and proffer it then to such as turn towards it amongst the peoples of all faiths.... "Call thou to remembrance Him Who was the Spirit [Jesus], Who, when He came, the most learned of His age pronounced judgment against Him in His own country, whilst he who was only a fisherman believed in Him. Take heed, then, ye men of understanding heart! Thou, in truth, art one of the suns of the heaven of His names. Guard thyself, lest darkness spread its veils over thee, and fold thee away from His light.... Consider those who opposed the Son [Jesus], when He came unto them with sovereignty and power. How many the Pharisees who were waiting to behold Him, and were lamenting over their separation from Him! And yet, when the fragrance of His coming was wafted over them, and His beauty was unveiled, they turned aside from Him and disputed with Him.... None save a very few, who were destitute of any power amongst men, turned towards His face. And yet today every man endowed with power and invested with sovereignty prideth himself on His Name! In like manner, consider how numerous, in these days, are the monks who, in My Name, have secluded themselves in their churches, and who, when the appointed time was fulfilled, and We unveiled Our beauty, knew Us not, though they call upon Me at eventide and at dawn.... "The Word which the Son concealed is made manifest. It hath been sent down in the form of the human temple in this day. Blessed be the Lord Who is the Father! He, verily, is come unto the nations in His most great majesty. Turn your faces towards Him, O concourse of the righteous! ...This is the day whereon the Rock [Peter] crieth out and shouteth, and celebrateth the praise of its Lord, the All-Possessing, the Most High, saying: `Lo! The Father is come, and that which ye were promised in the Kingdom is fulfilled!...' My body longeth for the cross, and Mine head waiteth the thrust of the spear, in the path of the All-Merciful, that the world may be purged from its transgressions.... "O Supreme Pontiff! Incline thine ear unto that which the Fashioner of moldering bones counseleth thee, as voiced by Him Who is His Most Great Name. Sell all the embellished ornaments thou dost possess, and expend them in the path of God, Who causeth the night to return upon the day, and the day to return upon the night. Abandon thy kingdom unto the kings, and emerge from thy habitation, with thy face set towards the Kingdom, and, detached from the world, then speak forth the praises of thy Lord betwixt earth and heaven. Thus hath bidden thee He Who is the Possessor of Names, on the part of thy Lord, the Almighty, the All-Knowing. Exhort thou the kings and say: `Deal equitably with men. Beware lest ye transgress the bounds fixed in the Book.' This indeed becometh thee. Beware lest thou appropriate unto thyself the things of the world and the riches thereof. Leave them unto such as desire them, and cleave unto that which hath been enjoined upon thee by Him Who is the Lord of creation. Should anyone offer thee all the treasures of the earth, refuse to even glance upon them. Be as thy Lord hath been. Thus hath the Tongue of Revelation spoken that which God hath made the ornament of the book of creation.... Should the inebriation of the wine of My verses seize thee, and thou

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determinest to present thyself before the throne of thy Lord, the Creator of earth and heaven, make My love thy vesture, and thy shield remembrance of Me, and thy provision reliance upon God, the Revealer of all power.... Verily, the day of ingathering is come, and all things have been separated from each other. He hath stored away that which He chose in the vessels of justice, and cast into fire that which befitteth it. Thus hath it been decreed by your Lord, the Mighty, the Loving, in this promised Day. He, verily, ordaineth what He pleaseth. There is none other God save He, the Almighty, the All-Compelling." Shoghi Effendi, Promised Day is Come, 39-41 (electronic): A humiliation less spectacular yet historically more significant awaited Pope Pius IX. It was to him who regarded himself as the Vicar of Christ that Bahá'u'lláh wrote that "the Word which the Son [Jesus] concealed is made manifest," that "it hath been sent down in the form of the human temple," that the Word was Himself, and He Himself the Father. It was to him who styling himself "the servant of the servants of God" that the Promised One of all ages, unveiling His station in its plenitude, announced that "He Who is the Lord of Lords is come overshadowed with clouds." It was he, who, claiming to be the successor of St. Peter, was reminded by Bahá'u'lláh that "this is the day whereon the Rock [Peter] crieth out and shouteth ... saying: `Lo, the Father is come, and that which ye were promised in the Kingdom is fulfilled.'" It was he, the wearer of the triple crown, who later became the first prisoner of the Vatican, who was commanded by the Divine Prisoner of `Akká to "leave his palaces unto such as desire them," to "sell all the embellished ornaments" he possessed, and to "expend them in the path of God," and to "abandon his kingdom unto the kings," and emerge from his habitation with his face "set towards the Kingdom." Count Mastai-Ferretti, Bishop of Imola, the 254th pope since the inception of St. Peter's primacy, who had been elevated to the apostolic throne two years after the Declaration of the Báb, and the duration of whose pontificate exceeded that of any of his predecessors, will be permanently remembered as the author of the Bull which declared the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin (1854), referred to in the Kitáb-i-Íqán, to be a doctrine of the Church, and as the promulgator of the new dogma of Papal Infallibility (1870). Authoritarian by nature, a poor statesman, disinclined to conciliation, determined to preserve all his authority, he, while he succeeded through his assumption of an ultramontane attitude in defining further his position and in reinforcing his spiritual authority, failed, in the end, to maintain that temporal rule which, for so many centuries, had been exercised by the heads of the Catholic Church. This temporal power had, throughout the ages, shrunk to insignificant proportions. The decades preceding its extinction were fraught with the gravest vicissitudes. As the sun of Bahá'u'lláh's Revelation was mounting to full meridian splendor, the shadows that beset the dwindling patrimony of St. Peter were correspondingly deepening. The Tablet of Bahá'u'lláh, addressed to Pius IX, precipitated its extinction. A hasty glance at the course of its ebbing fortunes, during those decades, will suffice. Napoleon I had driven the Pope from his estates. The Congress of Vienna had reestablished him as their head and their administration in the hands of the priests. Corruption, disorganization, impotence to ensure internal security, the restoration of the inquisition, had induced an historian to assert that "no land of Italy, perhaps of Europe, except Turkey, is ruled as is this ecclesiastical state." Rome was "a city of ruins, both material and moral." Insurrections led to Austria's intervention. Five great Powers demanded the

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introduction of far-reaching reforms, which the Pope promised but failed to carry out. Austria again reasserted herself, and was opposed by France. Both watched each other on the Papal estates until 1838, when, on their withdrawal, absolutism was again restored. The Pope's temporal power was now denounced by some of his own subjects, heralding its extinction in 1870. Internal complications forced him to flee, in the dead of night and in the disguise of a humble priest, from Rome which was declared a republic. It was later restored by the French to its former status. The creation of the kingdom of Italy, the shifting policy of Napoleon III, the disaster of Sedan, the misdeeds of the Papal government denounced by Clarendon, at the Congress of Paris, terminating the Crimean War, as a "disgrace to Europe," sealed the fate of that tottering dominion. In 1870, after Bahá'u'lláh had revealed His Epistle to Pius IX, King Victor Emmanuel II went to war with the Papal states, and his troops entered Rome and seized it. On the eve of its seizure, the Pope repaired to the Lateran and, despite his age and with his face bathed in tears, ascended on bended knees the Scala Santa. The following morning, as the cannonade began, he ordered the white flag to be hoisted above the dome of St. Peter. Despoiled, he refused to recognize this "creation of revolution," excommunicated the invaders of his states, denounced Victor Emmanuel as the "robber King" and as "forgetful of every religious principle, despising every right, trampling upon every law." Rome, "the Eternal City, on which rest twenty-five centuries of glory," and over which the Popes had ruled in unchallengeable right for ten centuries, finally became the seat of the new kingdom, and the scene of that humiliation which Bahá'u'lláh had anticipated and which the Prisoner of the Vatican had imposed upon himself. "The last years of the old Pope," writes a commentator on his life, "were filled with anguish. To his physical infirmities was added the sorrow of beholding, all too often, the Faith outraged in the very heart of Rome, the religious orders despoiled and persecuted, the Bishops and priests debarred from exercising their functions." Every effort to retrieve the situation created in 1870 proved fruitless. The Archbishop of Posen went to Versailles to solicit Bismarck's intervention in behalf of the Papacy, but was coldly received. Later a Catholic party was organized in Germany to bring political pressure on the German Chancellor. All, however, was in vain. The mighty process already referred to had to pursue inexorably its course. Even now, after the lapse of above half a century, the so-called restoration of temporal sovereignty has but served to throw into greater relief the helplessness of this erstwhile potent Prince, at whose name kings trembled and to whose dual sovereignty they willingly submitted. This temporal sovereignty, practically confined to the miniscule City of the Vatican, and leaving Rome the undisputed possession of a secular monarchy, has been obtained at the price of unreserved recognition, so long withheld, of the Kingdom of Italy. The Treaty of the Lateran, claiming to have resolved once and for all the Roman Question, has indeed assured to a secular Power, in respect of the Enclaved City, a liberty of action which is fraught with uncertainty and peril. "The two souls of the Eternal City," a Catholic writer has observed, "have been separated from each other, only to collide more severely than ever before." Well might the Sovereign Pontiff recall the reign of the most powerful among his predecessors, Innocent III who, during the eighteen years of his pontificate, raised and deposed the kings and the emperors, whose interdicts deprived nations of the exercise of Christian worship, at the feet of whose legate the King of England surrendered his crown, and at whose voice the fourth and the fifth crusades were both undertaken.

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Shoghi Effendi, Promised Day is Come, 80-81 (electronic): Christian Nations against Christian Nations What a sorry spectacle of impotence and disruption does this fratricidal war, which Christian nations are waging against Christian nations— Anglicans pitted against Lutherans, Catholics against Greek Orthodox, Catholics against Catholics, and Protestants against Protestants—in support of a so-called Christian civilization, offer to the eyes of those who are already perceiving the bankruptcy of the institutions that claim to speak in the name, and to be the custodians, of the Faith of Jesus Christ! The powerlessness and despair of the Holy See to halt this internecine strife, in which the children of the Prince of Peace—blessed and supported by the benedictions and harangues of the prelates of a hopelessly divided church—are engaged, proclaim the degree of subservience into which the once all-powerful institutions of the Christian Faith have sunk, and are a striking reminder of the parallel state of decadence into which the hierarchies of its sister religion have fallen. How tragically has Christendom ignored, and how far it has strayed from, that high mission which He Who is the true Prince of Peace has, in these, the concluding passages of His Tablet to Pope Pius IX, called upon the entire body of Christians to fulfill—passages which establish, for all time, the distinction between the Mission of Bahá'u'lláh in this age and that of Jesus Christ: "Say: O concourse of Christians! We have, on a previous occasion, revealed Ourself unto you, and ye recognized Me not. This is yet another occasion vouchsafed unto you. This is the Day of God; turn ye unto Him.... The Beloved One loveth not that ye be consumed with the fire of your desires. Were ye to be shut out as by a veil from Him, this would be for no other reason than your own waywardness and ignorance. Ye make mention of Me, and know Me not. Ye call upon Me, and are heedless of My Revelation.... O people of the Gospel! They who were not in the Kingdom have now entered it, whilst We behold you, in this day, tarrying at the gate. Rend the veils asunder by the power of your Lord, the Almighty, the All-Bounteous, and enter, then, in My name My Kingdom. Thus biddeth you He Who desireth for you everlasting life.... We behold you, O children of the Kingdom, in darkness. This, verily, beseemeth you not. Are ye, in the face of the Light, fearful because of your deeds? Direct yourselves towards Him.... Verily, He [Jesus] said: `Come ye after Me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.' In this day, however, We say: `Come ye after Me, that We may make you to become the quickeners of mankind.'" "Say," He moreover has written, "We, verily, have come for your sakes, and have borne the misfortunes of the world for your salvation. Flee ye the One Who hath sacrificed His life that ye may be quickened? Fear God, O followers of the Spirit [Jesus], and walk not in the footsteps of every divine that hath gone far astray.... Open the doors of your hearts. He Who is the Spirit [Jesus] verily, standeth before them. Wherefore keep ye afar from Him Who hath purposed to draw you nigh unto a Resplendent Spot? Say: We, in truth, have opened unto you the gates of the Kingdom. Will ye bar the doors of your houses in My face? This indeed is naught but a grievous error." Such is the pass to which the Christian clergy have come—a clergy that have interposed themselves between their flock and the Christ returned in the glory of the Father. As the Faith of this Promised One penetrates farther and farther into the heart of Christendom, as its recruits from the garrisons which its spirit is assailing multiply, and provoke a concerted and determined action in defense of the strongholds of Christian orthodoxy, and as the forces of nationalism, paganism, secularism and racialism move jointly towards a climax, might we not expect that the

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decline in the power, the authority, and the prestige of these ecclesiastics will be accentuated, and further demonstrate the truth, and more fully unfold the implications, of Bahá'u'lláh's pronouncement predicting the eclipse of the luminaries of the Church of Jesus Christ. Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, 209-210 (print) and 132-133 (electronic): No less outspoken and emphatic are the messages, some embodied in specific Tablets, others interspersed through His writings, which Bahá'u'lláh addressed to the world's ecclesiastical leaders of all denominations—messages in which He discloses, clearly and unreservedly, the claims of His Revelation, summons them to heed His call, and denounces, in certain specific cases, their perversity, their extreme arrogance and tyranny. In immortal passages of His Kitáb-i-Aqdas and other Tablets He bids the entire company of these ecclesiastical leaders to "fear God," to "rein in" their pens, "fling away idle fancies and imaginings, and turn then towards the Horizon of Certitude"; warns them to "weigh not the Book of God (Kitáb-i-Aqdas) with such standards and sciences as are current" amongst them; designates that same Book as the "Unerring Balance established amongst men"; laments over their blindness and waywardness; asserts His superiority in vision, insight, utterance and wisdom; proclaims His innate and God-given knowledge; cautions them not to "shut out the people by yet another veil," after He Himself had "rent the veils asunder"; accuses them of having been "the cause of the repudiation of the Faith in its early days"; and adjures them to "peruse with fairness and justice that which hath been sent down" by Him, and to "nullify not the Truth" with the things they possess. To Pope Pius IX, the undisputed head of the most powerful Church in Christendom, possessor of both temporal and spiritual authority, He, a Prisoner in the army barracks of the penal-colony of `Akká, addressed a most weighty Epistle, in which He announces that "He Who is the Lord of Lords is come overshadowed with clouds," and that "the Word which the Son concealed is made manifest." He, moreover, warns him not to dispute with Him even as the Pharisees of old disputed with Jesus Christ; bids him leave his palaces unto such as desire them, "sell all the embellished ornaments" in his possession, "expend them in the path of God," abandon his kingdom unto the kings, "arise ... amidst the peoples of the earth," and summon them to His Faith. Regarding him as one of the suns of the heaven of God's names, He cautions him to guard himself lest "darkness spread its veils" over him; calls upon him to "exhort the kings" to "deal equitably with men"; and counsels him to walk in the footsteps of his Lord, and follow His example. To the patriarchs of the Christian Church He issued a specific summons in which He proclaims the coming of the Promised One; exhorts them to "fear God" and not to follow "the vain imaginings of the superstitious"; and directs them to lay aside the things they possess and "take fast hold of the Tablet of God by His sovereign power." To the archbishops of that Church He similarly declares that "He Who is the Lord of all men hath appeared," that they are "numbered with the dead," and that great is the blessedness of him who is "stirred by the breeze of God, and hath arisen from amongst the dead in this perspicuous Name." In passages addressed to its bishops He proclaims that "the Everlasting Father calleth aloud between earth and heaven," pronounces them to be the fallen stars of the heaven of His knowledge, and affirms that His body "yearneth for the cross" and His head is "eager for the spear in the path of the All-Merciful." The concourse of Christian priests He bids "leave the bells," and come forth from their churches;

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exhorts them to "proclaim aloud the Most Great Name among the nations"; assures them that whoever will summon men in His Name will "show forth that which is beyond the power of all that are on earth"; warns them that the "Day of Reckoning hath appeared"; and counsels them to turn with their hearts to their "Lord, the Forgiving, the Generous." In numerous passages addressed to the "concourse of monks" He bids them not to seclude themselves in churches and cloisters, but to occupy themselves with that which will profit their souls and the souls of men; enjoins them to enter into wedlock; and affirms that if they choose to follow Him He will make them heirs of His Kingdom, and that if they transgress against Him, He will, in His long-suffering, endure it patiently. And finally, in several passages addressed to the entire body of the followers of Jesus Christ He identifies Himself with the "Father" spoken of by Isaiah, with the "Comforter" Whose Covenant He Who is the Spirit (Jesus) had Himself established, and with the "Spirit of Truth" Who will guide them "into all truth"; proclaims His Day to be the Day of God; announces the conjunction of the river Jordan with the "Most Great Ocean"; asserts their heedlessness as well as His own claim to have opened unto them "the gates of the kingdom"; affirms that the promised "Temple" has been built "with the hands of the will" of their Lord, the Mighty, the Bounteous; bids them "rend the veils asunder," and enter in His name His Kingdom; recalls the saying of Jesus to Peter; and assures them that, if they choose to follow Him, He will make them to become "quickeners of mankind." Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, 227 (print) and 134-135 (electronic): Pope Pius IX, the undisputed head of the most powerful Church in Christendom, who had been commanded, in an Epistle addressed to him by Bahá'u'lláh, to leave his "palaces unto such as desire them," to "sell all the embellished ornaments" in his possession, to "expend them in the path of God," and hasten towards "the Kingdom," was compelled to surrender, in distressing circumstances, to the besieging forces of King Victor Emmanuel, and to submit himself to be depossessed of the Papal States and of Rome itself. The loss of "the Eternal City," over which the Papal flag had flown for one thousand years, and the humiliation of the religious orders under his jurisdiction, added mental anguish to his physical infirmities and embittered the last years of his life. The formal recognition of the Kingdom of Italy subsequently exacted from one of his successors in the Vatican, confirmed the virtual extinction of the Pope's temporal sovereignty. Adib Taherzadeh, Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh vol. 3, 116-118: The Tablet to Pope Pius IX (in Arabic) was revealed by Bahá'u'lláh around the same time as that to Napoleon. In it Bahá'u'lláh identifies Himself as the Lord of Lords and addresses the Pope with the authority and majesty of God, proclaiming to him in unequivocal language the promised return of Christ in the glory of the Father, and summoning him with the commanding voice of the Almighty to leave his palaces and hasten to present himself before the throne of his Lord. Here are some extracts from this mighty Tablet:

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O Pope! Rend the veils asunder. He Who is the Lord of Lords is come

overshadowed with clouds, and the decree hath been fulfilled by God, the Almighty, the Unrestrained... He, verily, hath again come down from Heaven even as He came down from it the first time. Beware that thou dispute not with Him even as the Pharisees disputed with Him (Jesus) without a clear token or proof...

Dwellest thou in palaces whilst He Who is the King of Revelation liveth in the most desolate of abodes? Leave them unto such as desire them, and set thy face with joy and delight towards the Kingdom... Arise in the name of thy Lord, the God of Mercy, amidst the peoples of the earth, and seize thou the Cup of Life with the hands of confidence, and first drink thou therefrom, and proffer it then to such as turn towards it amongst the peoples of all faiths...

Call thou to remembrance Him Who was the Spirit (Jesus), Who when He came, the most learned of His age pronounced judgment against Him in His own country, whilst he who was only a fisherman believed in Him. Take heed, then, ye men of understanding heart!...

O Supreme Pontiff! Incline thine ear unto that which the Fashioner of mouldering bones counselleth thee, as voiced by Him Who is His Most Great Name. Sell all the embellished ornaments thou dost possess, and expend them in the path of God, Who causeth the night to return upon the day, and the day to return upon the night. Abandon thy kingdom unto the kings, and emerge from thy habitation, with thy face set towards the Kingdom, and, detached from the world, then speak forth the praises of thy Lord betwixt earth and heaven. Thus hath bidden thee He Who is the Possessor of Names, on the part of thy Lord, the Almighty, the All-Knowing. [6-7]

It is significant that very soon after the revelation of this Tablet, the temporal sovereignty of the Pope, which for centuries had proved to be the most powerful in Christendom but which had been diminishing in its power and influence for some time, was, through the potency of the words of the heavenly Father, dramatically extinguished. Shoghi Effendi in his evaluation of this event has written: In 1870, after Bahá'u'lláh had revealed His Epistle to Pius IX, King Victor

Emmanuel I went to war with the Papal states, and his troops entered Rome and seized it. On the eve of its seizure, the Pope repaired to the Lateran and, despite his age and with his face bathed in tears, ascended on bended knees the Scala Santa. The following morning, as the cannonade began, he ordered the white flag to be hoisted above the dome of St. Peter. Despoiled, he refused to recognize this `creation of revolution,' excommunicated the invaders of his states, denounced Victor Emmanuel as the `robber King' and as `forgetful of every religious principle, despising every right, trampling upon every law.' Rome, `the Eternal City, on which rest twenty-five centuries of glory,' and over which the Popes had ruled in unchallengeable right for ten centuries, finally became the seat of the new

22

kingdom, and the scene of that humiliation which Bahá'u'lláh had anticipated and which the Prisoner of the Vatican had imposed upon himself.

`The last years of the old Pope,' writes a commentator on his life, `were filled with anguish. To his physical infirmities was added the sorrow of beholding, all too often, the Faith outraged in the very heart of Rome, the religious orders despoiled and persecuted, the Bishops and priests debarred from exercising their functions.'

Every effort to retrieve the situation created in 1870 proved fruitless. The Archbishop of Posen went to Versailles to solicit Bismarck's intervention in behalf of the Papacy, but was coldly received. Later a Catholic party was organized in Germany to bring political pressure on the German Chancellor. All, however, was in vain. The mighty process already referred to had to pursue inexorably its course. Even now, after the lapse of above half a century, the so-called restoration of temporal sovereignty has but served to throw into greater relief the helplessness of this erstwhile potent Prince, at whose name kings trembled and to whose dual sovereignty they willingly submitted. This temporal sovereignty, practically confined to the minuscule City of the Vatican, and leaving Rome the undisputed possession of a secular monarchy, has been obtained at the price of unreserved recognition, so long withheld, of the Kingdom of Italy. The Treaty of the Lateran, claiming to have resolved once and for all the Roman Question, has indeed assured to a secular Power, in respect of the Enclaved City, a liberty of action which is fraught with uncertainty and peril. `The two souls of the Eternal City,' a Catholic writer has observed, `have been separated from each other, only to collide more severely than ever before.'

Well might the Sovereign Pontiff recall the reign of the most powerful among his predecessors, Innocent III who, during the eighteen years of his pontificate, raised and deposed the kings and the emperors, whose interdicts deprived nations of the exercise of Christian worship, at the feet of whose legate the King of England surrendered his crown, and at whose voice the fourth and the fifth crusades were both undertaken. [6-8]

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Second Tablet to Napoleon III

Bahá'u'lláh, Proclamation of Bahá'u'lláh, 17-23 (print) and 8-11 (electronic): NAPOLEON III O KING of Paris! Tell the priest to ring the bells no longer. By God, the True One! The Most Mighty Bell hath appeared in the form of Him Who is the Most Great Name, and the fingers of the will of Thy Lord, the Most Exalted, the Most High, toll it out in the heaven of Immortality, in His name, the All-Glorious. Thus have the mighty verses of Thy Lord been again sent down unto thee, that thou mayest arise to remember God, the Creator of earth and heaven, in these days when all the tribes of the earth have mourned, and the foundations of the cities have trembled, and the dust of irreligion hath enwrapped all men, except such as God, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise, was pleased to spare. Say: He Who is the Unconditioned is come, in the clouds of light, that He may quicken all created things with the breeze of His Name, the Most Merciful, and unify the world, and gather all men around this Table which hath been sent down from heaven. Beware that ye deny not the favour of God after it hath been sent down unto you. Better is this for you than that which ye possess; for that which is yours perisheth, whilst that which is with God endureth. He, in truth, ordaineth what He pleaseth. Verily, the breezes of forgiveness have been wafted from the direction of your Lord, the God of Mercy; whoso turneth thereunto, shall be cleansed of his sins, and of all pain and sickness. Happy the man that hath turned towards them, and woe betide him that hath turned aside. Wert thou to incline thine inner ear unto all created things, thou wouldst hear: `The Ancient of Days is come in His great glory!' Everything celebrateth the praise of its Lord. Some have known God and remember Him; others remember Him, yet know Him not. Thus have We set down Our decree in a perspicuous Tablet. Give ear, O King, unto the Voice that calleth from the Fire which burneth in this verdant Tree, on this Sinai which hath been raised above the hallowed and snow-white Spot, beyond the Everlasting City: `Verily, there is none other God but Me, the Ever-Forgiving, the Most Merciful!' We, in truth, have sent Him Whom We aided with the Holy Spirit (Jesus Christ) that He may announce unto you this Light that hath shone forth from the horizon of the will of your Lord, the Most Exalted, the All-Glorious, and Whose signs have been revealed in the West. Set your faces towards Him (Bahá'u'lláh) on this Day which God hath exalted above all other days, and whereon the All-Merciful hath shed the splendour of His effulgent glory upon all who are in heaven and all who are on earth. Arise thou to serve God and help His Cause. He, verily, will assist thee with the hosts of the seen and unseen, and will set thee king over all that whereon the sun riseth. Thy Lord, in truth, is the All-Powerful, the Almighty. The breezes of the Most Merciful have passed over all created things; happy the man that hath discovered their fragrance, and set himself towards them with a sound heart. Attire thy temple with the ornament of My Name, and thy tongue with remembrance of Me, and thine heart with love for Me, the Almighty, the Most High. We have desired for thee naught except that which is better for thee than what thou dost possess and all the treasures of the earth. Thy Lord, verily, is knowing, informed of all. Arise, in My Name, amongst My servants, and say: `O ye peoples of the earth! Turn yourselves towards Him Who hath turned towards you. He, verily, is the Face of God amongst you, and His Testimony and His Guide unto you. He hath come to you

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with signs which none can produce.' The voice of the Burning Bush is raised in the midmost heart of the world, and the Holy Spirit calleth aloud among the nations: `Lo, the Desired One is come with manifest dominion!' O King! The stars of the heaven of knowledge have fallen, they who seek to establish the truth of My Cause through the things they possess, and who make mention of God in My Name. And yet, when I came unto them in My glory, they turned aside. They, indeed, are of the fallen. This is, truly, that which the Spirit of God (Jesus Christ) hath announced, when He came with truth unto you, He with Whom the Jewish doctors disputed, till at last they perpetrated what hath made the Holy Spirit to lament, and the tears of them that have near access to God to flow.... O King! We heard the words thou didst utter in answer to the Czar of Russia, concerning the decision made regarding the war (Crimean War). Thy Lord, verily, knoweth, is informed of all. Thou didst say: `I lay asleep upon my couch, when the cry of the oppressed, who were drowned in the Black Sea, wakened me.' This is what we heard thee say, and, verily, thy Lord is witness unto what I say. We testify that that which wakened thee was not their cry but the promptings of thine own passions, for We tested thee, and found thee wanting. Comprehend the meaning of My words, and be thou of the discerning. It is not Our wish to address thee words of condemnation, out of regard for the dignity We conferred upon thee in this mortal life. We, verily, have chosen courtesy, and made it the true mark of such as are nigh unto Him. Courtesy, is, in truth, a raiment which fitteth all men, whether young or old. Well is it with him that adorneth his temple therewith, and woe unto him who is deprived of this great bounty. Hadst thou been sincere in thy words, thou wouldst have not cast behind thy back the Book of God, when it was sent unto thee by Him Who is the Almighty, the All-Wise. We have proved thee through it, and found thee other than that which thou didst profess. Arise, and make amends for that which escaped thee. Ere long the world and all that thou possessest will perish, and the kingdom will remain unto God, thy Lord and the Lord of thy fathers of old. It behoveth thee not to conduct thine affairs according to the dictates of thy desires. Fear the sighs of this Wronged One, and shield Him from the darts of such as act unjustly. For what thou hast done, thy kingdom shall be thrown into confusion, and thine empire shall pass from thine hands, as a punishment for that which thou hast wrought. Then wilt thou know how thou hast plainly erred. Commotions shall seize all the people in that land, unless thou arisest to help this Cause, and followest Him Who is the Spirit of God (Jesus Christ) in this, the Straight Path. Hath thy pomp made thee proud? By My Life! It shall not endure; nay, it shall soon pass away, unless thou holdest fast by this firm Cord. We see abasement hastening after thee, whilst thou art of the heedless. It behoveth thee when thou hearest His Voice calling from the seat of glory to cast away all that thou possessest, and cry out: `Here am I, O Lord of all that is in heaven and all that is on earth!' O King! We were in Iráq, when the hour of parting arrived. At the bidding of the King of Islám (Sultán of Turkey) We set Our steps in his direction. Upon Our arrival, there befell Us at the hands of the malicious that which the books of the world can never adequately recount. Thereupon the inmates of Paradise, and they that dwell within the retreats of holiness, lamented; and yet the people are wrapped in a thick veil!... More grievous became Our plight from day to day, nay, from hour to hour, until they took Us forth from Our prison and made Us, with glaring injustice, enter the Most Great Prison.... Know of a truth that your subjects are God's trust amongst you. Watch ye, therefore, over them as ye watch over your own selves. Beware that ye allow not wolves to become the

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shepherds of the fold, or pride and conceit to deter you from turning unto the poor and the desolate. Arise thou, in My name, above the horizon of renunciation, and set, then, thy face towards the Kingdom, at the bidding of thy Lord, the Lord of strength and of might. Adorn the body of Thy kingdom with the raiment of My name, and arise, then, to teach My Cause. Better is this for thee than that which thou possessest. God will, thereby, exalt thy name among all the kings. Potent is He over all things. Walk thou amongst men in the name of God, and by the power of His might, that thou mayest show forth His signs amidst the peoples of the earth.... Regard ye the world as a man's body, which is afflicted with divers ailments, and the recovery of which dependeth upon the harmonizing of all of its component elements. Gather ye around that which We have prescribed unto you, and walk not in the ways of such as create dissension. Meditate on the world and the state of its people. He, for Whose sake the world was called into being, hath been imprisoned in the most desolate of cities (Akká), by reason of that which the hands of the wayward have wrought. From the horizon of His prison-city He summoneth mankind unto the Dayspring of God, the Exalted, the Great. Exultest thou over the treasures thou dost possess, knowing they shall perish? Rejoicest thou in that thou rulest a span of earth, when the whole world, in the estimation of the people of Bahá, is worth as much as the black in the eye of a dead ant? Abandon it unto such as have set their affections upon it, and turn thou unto Him Who is the Desire of the world. Whither are gone the proud and their palaces? Gaze thou into their tombs, that thou mayest profit by this example, inasmuch as We made it a lesson unto every beholder. Were the breezes of Revelation to seize thee, thou wouldst flee the world, and turn unto the Kingdom, and wouldst expend all thou possessest, that thou mayest draw nigh unto this sublime Vision. Abdu'l-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace, 27-28 (print) and 22-23 (electronic): When Bahá'u'lláh arrived at `Akká, through the power of God He was able to hoist His banner. His light at first had been a star; now it became a mighty sun, and the illumination of His Cause expanded from the East to the West. Inside prison walls He wrote Epistles to all the kings and rulers of nations, summoning them to arbitration and universal peace. Some of the kings received His words with disdain and contempt. One of these was the Sultán of the Ottoman kingdom. Napoleon III of France did not reply. A second Epistle was addressed to him. It stated, "I have written you an Epistle before this, summoning you to the Cause of God, but you are of the heedless. You have proclaimed that you were the defender of the oppressed; now it hath become evident that you are not. Nor are you kind to your own suffering and oppressed people. Your actions are contrary to your own interests, and your kingly pride must fall. Because of your arrogance God shortly will destroy your sovereignty. France will flee away from you, and you will be overwhelmed by a great conquest. There will be lamentation and mourning, women bemoaning the loss of their sons." This arraignment of Napoleon III was published and spread. Read it and consider: one prisoner, single and solitary, without assistant or defender, a foreigner and stranger imprisoned in the fortress of `Akká, writing such letters to the Emperor of France and Sultán of Turkey. Reflect upon this: how Bahá'u'lláh upraised the standard of His Cause in prison. Refer to history. It is without parallel. No such thing has happened before that time nor since—a prisoner and an exile advancing His Cause and spreading His teachings

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broadcast so that eventually He became powerful enough to conquer the very king who banished Him. Abdu'l-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace, 211-212 (print) and 146-147 (electronic): How great the difference between the glory of Christ and the glory of an earthly conqueror! It is related by historians that Napoleon Bonaparte I embarked secretly by night from Egypt. His destination was France. During his campaign in Palestine revolution had broken out and grave difficulties had arisen in the home government. Christian worship had been forbidden by the revolutionists. The priests of Christianity had fled in terror. France had become atheistic; anarchy prevailed. The ship sailed out into a night brilliant with the light of the moon. Napoleon was pacing up and down the deck. His officers were sitting together, talking. One of them spoke of the similarity between Bonaparte and Christ. Napoleon stopped and said grimly, "Do you think I am going back to France to establish religion?" Jesus Christ established the religion of God through love. His sovereignty is everlasting. Napoleon overthrew governments in war and bloodshed. His dominion passed away; he himself was dethroned. Bonaparte destroyed human life; Christ was a Savior. Bonaparte controlled the physical bodies of men; Christ was a conqueror of human hearts. None of the Prophets of God were famous men, but They were unique in spiritual power. Love is the eternal sovereignty. Love is the divine power. By it all the kings of earth are overthrown and conquered. What evidence of this could be greater than the accomplishment of Bahá'u'lláh? He appeared in the East and was exiled. He was sent to the prison of `Akká in Palestine. Two powerful despotic kings arose against Him. During His exile and imprisonment He wrote Tablets of authority to the kings and rulers of the world, announcing His spiritual sovereignty, establishing the religion of God, upraising the heavenly banners of the Cause of God. One of these Tablets was sent to Napoleon III, Emperor of France. He received it with contempt and cast it behind his back. Bahá'u'lláh addressed a second Tablet to him, containing these words, "Hadst thou been sincere in thy words, thou wouldst have not cast behind thy back the Book of God, when it was sent unto thee.... We have proved thee through it, and found thee other than that which thou didst profess. Arise, and make amends for that which escaped thee. Erelong the world and all that thou possessest will perish, and the kingdom will remain unto God. ...For what thou hast done, thy kingdom shall be thrown into confusion, and thine empire shall pass from thine hands, as a punishment for that which thou hast wrought. Then wilt thou know how thou hast plainly erred.... Thy pomp ... shall soon pass away, unless thou holdest fast by this firm Cord. We see abasement hastening after thee...." All this happened just as announced by Bahá'u'lláh. Napoleon III was dethroned and exiled. His empire passed away and became nonexistent while the dominion and sovereignty of Bahá'u'lláh, the Prisoner, has become eternal through the confirmation of God. This is as evident as the light of the sun at midday except to those who are spiritually blind. If we are afflicted with a cold, we cannot inhale the delicate fragrances emanating from the rose garden of the divine Kingdom. Abdu'l-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace, 223 (print) and 155-156 (electronic):

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Fifty years ago Bahá'u'lláh sent Epistles to all the kings and nations of the world, at a time when there was no mention of international peace. One of these Epistles was sent by Him to the president of the American democracy. In these communications He summoned all to international peace and the oneness of the human world. He summoned mankind to the fundamentals of the teachings of all the Prophets. Some of the European kings were arrogant. Among them was Napoleon III. Bahá'u'lláh wrote a second Epistle to him, which was published thirty years ago. The context is this: "O Napoleon! Thou hast become haughty indeed. Thou hast become proud. Thou hast forgotten God. Thou dost imagine that this majesty is permanent for thee, that this dominion is abiding for thee. A letter have we sent unto thee for acceptance with thy greatest love; but, instead, thou hast shown arrogance. Therefore, God shall uproot the edifice of thy sovereignty; thy country shall flee away from thee. Thou shalt find humiliation hastening after thee because thou didst not arise for that which was enjoined upon thee, whereas that which was a duty incumbent upon thee was the cause of life to the world. The punishment of God shall soon be dealt out to thee." This Epistle was revealed in the year 1869, and after one year the foundations of the Napoleonic sovereignty were completely uprooted. Shoghi Effendi, Promised Day is Come, 36-39 (electronic): What, then—might we not consider—has, in the face of so complete and ignominious a rejection, happened, and is still happening, in the course, and particularly in the closing years, of this, the first Bahá'í century, a century fraught with such tumultuous sufferings and violent outrages for the persecuted Faith of Bahá'u'lláh? Empires fallen in dust, kingdoms subverted, dynasties extinguished, royalty besmirched, kings assassinated, poisoned, driven into exile, subjugated in their own realms, whilst the few remaining thrones are trembling with the repercussions of the fall of their fellows. This process, so gigantic, so catastrophic, may be said to have had its inception on that memorable night when, in an obscure corner of Shiráz, the Báb, in the presence of the First Letter to believe in Him, revealed the first chapter of His celebrated commentary on the Súrih of Joseph (The Qayyúm-i-Asmá), in which He trumpeted His Call to the sovereigns and princes of the earth. It passed from incubation to visible manifestation when Bahá'u'lláh's prophecies, enshrined for all time in the Súriy-i-Haykal, and uttered before Napoleon III's dramatic downfall and the self-imposed imprisonment of Pope Pius IX in the Vatican, were fulfilled. It gathered momentum when, in the days of `Abdu'l-Bahá, the Great War extinguished the Romanov, the Hohenzollern, and Hapsburg dynasties, and converted powerful time-honored monarchies into republics. It was further accelerated, soon after `Abdu'l-Bahá's passing, by the demise of the effete Qájár dynasty in Persia, and the stupendous collapse of both the Sultánate and the Caliphate. It is still operating, under our very eyes, as we behold the fate which, in the course of this colossal and ravaging struggle, is successively overtaking the crowned heads of the European continent. Surely, no man, contemplating dispassionately the manifestations of this relentless revolutionizing process, within comparatively so short a time, can escape the conclusion that the last hundred years may well be regarded, in so far as the fortunes of royalty are concerned, as one of the most cataclysmic periods in the annals of mankind.

Humiliation

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Immediate and Complete Of all the monarchs of the earth, at the time when Bahá'u'lláh, proclaiming His Message to them, revealed the Súriy-i-Muluk in Adrianople, the most august and influential were the French Emperor and the Supreme Pontiff. In the political and religious spheres they respectively held the foremost rank, and the humiliation both suffered was alike immediate and complete. Napoleon III, son of Louis Bonaparte (brother of Napoleon I), was, few historians will deny, the most outstanding monarch of his day in the West. "The Emperor," it was said of him, "was the state." The French capital was the most attractive capital in Europe, the French court "the most brilliant and luxurious of the XIX century." Possessed of a fixed and indestructible ambition, he aspired to emulate the example, and finish the interrupted work, of his imperial uncle. A dreamer, a conspirator, of a shifting nature, hypocritical and reckless, he, the heir to the Napoleonic throne, taking advantage of the policy which sought to foster the reviving interest in the career of his great prototype, had sought to overthrow the monarchy. Failing in his attempt, he was deported to America, was later captured in the course of an attempted invasion of France, was condemned to perpetual captivity, and escaped to London, until, in 1848, the Revolution brought about his return, and enabled him to overthrow the constitution, after which he was proclaimed emperor. Though able to initiate far-reaching movements, he possessed neither the sagacity nor the courage required to control them. To this man, the last emperor of the French, who, through foreign conquest, had striven to endear his dynasty to the people, who even cherished the ideal of making France the center of a revived Roman Empire—to such a man the Exile of `Akká, already thrice banished by Súltan `Abdu'l-`Azíz, had transmitted, from behind the walls of the barracks in which He lay imprisoned, an Epistle which bore this indubitably clear arraignment and ominous prophecy: "We testify that that which wakened thee was not their cry [Turks drowned in the Black Sea], but the promptings of thine own passions, for We tested thee, and found thee wanting.... Hadst thou been sincere in thy words, thou wouldst not have cast behind thy back the Book of God [previous Tablet], when it was sent unto thee by Him Who is the Almighty, the All-Wise. ...For what thou hast done, thy kingdom shall be thrown into confusion, and thine empire shall pass from thine hands, as a punishment for that which thou hast wrought." Bahá'u'lláh's previous Message, forwarded through one of the French ministers to the Emperor, had been accorded a welcome the nature of which can be conjectured from the words recorded in the "Epistle to the Son of the Wolf": "To this [first Tablet], however, he did not reply. After Our arrival in the Most Great Prison there reached Us a letter from his minister, the first part of which was in Persian, and the latter in his own handwriting. In it he was cordial, and wrote the following: `I have, as requested by you, delivered your letter, and until now have received no answer. We have, however, issued the necessary recommendations to our Minister in Constantinople and our consuls in those regions. If there be anything you wish done, inform us, and we will carry it out.' From his words it became apparent that he understood the purpose of this Servant to have been a request for material assistance." In His first Tablet Bahá'u'lláh, wishing to test the sincerity of the Emperor's motives, and deliberately assuming a meek and unprovocative tone, had, after expatiating on the sufferings He had endured, addressed him the following words: "Two statements graciously uttered by the king of the age have reached the ears of these wronged ones. These pronouncements are, in truth, the king of all pronouncements, the like of which have never been heard from any sovereign. The first was the answer given the Russian government when it inquired why the war [Crimean] was

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waged against it. Thou didst reply: `The cry of the oppressed who, without guilt or blame, were drowned in the Black Sea wakened me at dawn. Wherefore, I took up arms against thee.' These oppressed ones, however, have suffered a greater wrong, and are in greater distress. Whereas the trials inflicted upon those people lasted but one day, the troubles borne by these servants have continued for twenty and five years, every moment of which has held for us a grievous affliction. The other weighty statement, which was indeed a wondrous statement, manifested to the world, was this: `Ours is the responsibility to avenge the oppressed and succor the helpless.' The fame of the Emperor's justice and fairness hath brought hope to a great many souls. It beseemeth the king of the age to inquire into the condition of such as have been wronged, and it behooveth him to extend his care to the weak. Verily, there hath not been, nor is there now, on earth anyone as oppressed as we are, or as helpless as these wanderers." It is reported that upon receipt of this first Message that superficial, tricky, and pride-intoxicated monarch flung down the Tablet saying: "If this man is God, I am two gods!" The transmitter of the second Tablet had, it is reliably stated, in order to evade the strict surveillance of the guards, concealed it in his hat, and was able to deliver it to the French agent, who resided in `Akká, and who, as attested by Nabíl in his Narrative, translated it into French and sent it to the Emperor, he himself becoming a believer when he had later witnessed the fulfillment of so remarkable a prophecy. The significance of the somber and pregnant words uttered by Bahá'u'lláh in His second Tablet was soon revealed. He who was actuated in provoking the Crimean War by his selfish desires, who was prompted by a personal grudge against the Russian Emperor, who was impatient to tear up the Treaty of 1815 in order to avenge the disaster of Moscow, and who sought to shed military glory over his throne, was soon himself engulfed by a catastrophe that hurled him in the dust, and caused France to sink from her preeminent station among the nations to that of a fourth power in Europe. The Battle of Sedan in 1870 sealed the fate of the French Emperor. The whole of his army was broken up and surrendered, constituting the greatest capitulation hitherto recorded in modern history. A crushing indemnity was exacted. He himself was taken prisoner. His only son, the Prince Imperial, was killed, a few years later, in the Zulu War. The Empire collapsed, its program unrealized. The Republic was proclaimed. Paris was subsequently besieged and capitulated. "The terrible Year" marked by civil war, exceeding in its ferocity the Franco-German War, followed. William I, the Prussian king, was proclaimed German Emperor in the very palace which stood as a "mighty monument and symbol of the power and pride of Louis XIV, a power which had been secured to some extent by the humiliation of Germany." Deposed by a disaster "so appalling that it resounded throughout the world," this false and boastful monarch suffered in the end, and till his death, the same exile as that which, in the case of Bahá'u'lláh, he had so heartlessly ignored. Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, 207 (print) and 130-131 (electronic): To the Emperor of the French, Napoleon III, the most prominent and influential monarch of his day in the West, designated by Him as the "Chief of Sovereigns," and who, to quote His words, had "cast behind his back" the Tablet revealed for him in Adrianople, He, while a prisoner in the army barracks, addressed a second Tablet and transmitted it through the French agent in `Akká. In this He announces the coming of "Him Who is the Unconstrained," whose

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purpose is to "quicken the world" and unite its peoples; unequivocally asserts that Jesus Christ was the Herald of His Mission; proclaims the fall of "the stars of the firmament of knowledge," who have turned aside from Him; exposes that monarch's insincerity; and clearly prophesies that his kingdom shall be "thrown into confusion," that his "empire shall pass" from his hands, and that "commotions shall seize all the people in that land," unless he arises to help the Cause of God and follow Him Who is His Spirit. Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, 224-225 (print) and 142-143 (electronic): To the fate that has overtaken those kings, ministers and ecclesiastics, in the East as well as in the West, who have, at various stages of Bahá'u'lláh's ministry, either deliberately persecuted His Cause, or have neglected to heed the warnings He had uttered, or have failed in their manifest duty to respond to His summons or to accord Him and His message the treatment they deserved, particular attention, I feel, should at this juncture be directed. Bahá'u'lláh Himself, referring to those who had actively arisen to destroy or harm His Faith, had declared that "God hath not blinked, nor will He ever blink His eyes at the tyranny of the oppressor. More particularly in this Revelation hath He visited each and every tyrant with His vengeance." Vast and awful is, indeed, the spectacle which meets our eyes, as we survey the field over which the retributory winds of God have, since the inception of the ministry of Bahá'u'lláh, furiously swept, dethroning monarchs, extinguishing dynasties, uprooting ecclesiastical hierarchies, precipitating wars and revolutions, driving from office princes and ministers, dispossessing the usurper, casting down the tyrant, and chastising the wicked and the rebellious... ...Napoleon III, the foremost monarch of his day in the West, excessively ambitious, inordinately proud, tricky and superficial, who is reported to have contemptuously flung down the Tablet sent to him by Bahá'u'lláh, who was tested by Him and found wanting, and whose downfall was explicitly predicted in a subsequent Tablet, was ignominiously defeated in the Battle of Sedan (1870), marking the greatest military capitulation recorded in modern history; lost his kingdom and spent the remaining years of his life in exile. His hopes were utterly blasted, his only son, the Prince Imperial, was killed in the Zulu War, his much vaunted empire collapsed, a civil war ensued more ferocious than the Franco-German war itself, and William I, the Prussian king, was hailed emperor of a unified Germany in the Palace of Versailles. Adib Taherzadeh, Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh vol. 3, 110-115: Bahá'u'lláh's first Tablet to Napoleon III, sent while He was in Adrianople, had been received by the monarch with discourtesy and disrespect. He is reported to have flung down the Tablet saying `If this man is God, I am two gods!' The second Tablet to Napoleon III was revealed (in Arabic) and sent to him in 1869, after Bahá'u'lláh had received a communication from one of the Emperor's ministers informing Him that up till then there had been no reply forthcoming. This Tablet, unlike the previous one which was written in a mild tone, is revealed in majestic language, has the tone of supreme authority and declares unmistakably that its Author is none other than the King of Kings. Its opening paragraph alone is sufficient to convey to the reader a glimpse of the majesty of Bahá'u'lláh's utterance:

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O King of Paris! Tell the priest to ring the bells no longer. By God, the

True One! The Most Mighty Bell hath appeared in the form of Him Who is the Most Great Name, and the fingers of the will of thy Lord, the Most Exalted, the Most High, toll it out in the heaven of Immortality, in His Name, the All-Glorious... Give ear, O King, unto the Voice that calleth from the Fire which burneth in this Verdant Tree, upon this Sinai which hath been raised above the hallowed and snow-white Spot, beyond the Everlasting City: `Verily, there is none other God but Me, the Ever-Forgiving, the Most Merciful!' [6-2]

In this Tablet Bahá'u'lláh prophesies Napoleon's downfall, states the reason for it, and declares his doom to be inevitable unless he makes amends and arises to serve His Cause. These passages gleaned from the Tablet will serve to acquaint the reader with Bahá'u'lláh's compelling utterance rebuking one of the mightiest monarchs of His time: O King! We heard the words thou didst utter in answer to the Czar of

Russia, concerning the decision made regarding the war (Crimean War). Thy Lord, verily, knoweth, is informed of all. Thou didst say: `I lay asleep upon my couch, when the cry of the oppressed, who were drowned in the Black Sea, awakened me.' This is what we heard thee `say, and, verily, thy Lord is witness unto what I say. We testify that that which wakened thee was not their cry, but the promptings of thine own passions, for We tested thee, and found thee wanting. Comprehend the meaning of My words, and be thou of the discerning... Hadst thou been sincere in thy words, thou wouldst have not cast behind thy back the Book of God, when it was sent unto thee by Him Who is the Almighty, the All-Wise. We have proved thee through it, and found thee other than that which thou didst profess. Arise, and make amends for that which escaped thee. Ere long the world and all that thou possessest will perish, and the kingdom will remain unto God, thy Lord and the Lord of thy fathers of old. It behooveth thee not to conduct thine affairs according to the dictates of thy desires. Fear the sighs of this Wronged One, and shield Him from the darts of such as act unjustly. For what thou hast done, thy kingdom shall be thrown into confusion, and thine empire shall pass from thine hands, as a punishment for that which thou hast wrought. Then wilt thou know how thou hast plainly erred. Commotions shall seize all the people in that land, unless thou arisest to help this Cause, and followest Him Who is the Spirit of God (Jesus) in this, the straight Path. Hath thy pomp made thee proud? By My Life! It shall not endure; nay, it shall soon pass away, unless thou holdest fast by this firm Cord. We see abasement hastening after thee, while thou art of the heedless... Abandon thy palaces to the people of the graves, and thine empire to whosoever desireth it, and turn, then, unto the Kingdom. This, verily, is what God hath chosen for thee, wert thou of them that turn unto Him... Shouldst thou desire to bear the weight of thy dominion, bear it then to aid the Cause of thy Lord. Glorified be this station which whoever attaineth thereunto hath attained unto all good that proceedeth from Him Who is the All-Knowing, the All-Wise...

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Exultest thou over the treasures thou dost possess, knowing they shall perish? Rejoicest thou in that thou rulest a span of earth, when the whole world, in the estimation of the people of Bahá, is worth as much as the black in the eye of a dead ant? Abandon it unto such as have set their affections upon it, and turn thou unto Him Who is the Desire of the world. Whither are gone the proud and their palaces? Gaze thou into their tombs, that thou mayest profit by this example, inasmuch as We made it a lesson unto every beholder. Were the breezes of Revelation to seize thee, thou wouldst flee the world, and turn unto the Kingdom, and wouldst expend all thou possessest, that thou mayest draw nigh unto this sublime Vision. [6-3]

It took only a few months for Bahá'u'lláh's prophecies to be fulfilled; the Emperor met his doom in 1870. Shoghi Effendi has written a brief account of this in The Promised Day Is Come: The significance of the sombre and pregnant words uttered by Bahá'u'lláh

in His second Tablet was soon revealed. He who was actuated in provoking the Crimean War by his selfish desires, who was prompted by a personal grudge against the Russian Emperor, who was impatient to tear up the Treaty of 1815 in order to avenge the disaster of Moscow, and who sought to shed military glory over his throne, was soon himself engulfed by a catastrophe that hurled him in the dust, and caused France to sink from her preeminent station among the nations to that of a fourth Power in Europe.

The battle of Sedan in 1870 sealed the fate of the French Emperor. The whole of his army was broken up and surrendered, constituting the greatest capitulation hitherto recorded in modern history. A crushing indemnity was exacted. He himself was taken prisoner. His only son, the Prince Imperial, was killed, a few years later, in the Zulu War. The Empire collapsed, its programme unrealized. The Republic was proclaimed. Paris was subsequently besieged and capitulated. `The terrible year' marked by civil war, exceeding in its ferocity the Franco-German War, followed. William I, the Prussian king, was proclaimed German Emperor in the very palace which stood as a `mighty monument and symbol of the power and pride of Louis XIV, a power which had been secured to some extent by the humiliation of Germany.' Deposed by a disaster `so appalling that it resounded throughout the world,' this false and boastful monarch suffered in the end, and till his death, the same exile as that which, in the case of Bahá'u'lláh, he had so heartlessly ignored. [6-4]

The Tablet of Bahá'u'lláh to Napoleon was taken out of the Prison by a person

who hid it in his hat so that it might not be detected by the guards. It was delivered to the French consular agent in `Akká who translated it into French and sent it to the Emperor. The reading of the Tablet revealed in such majestic and eloquent language, containing such ominous warnings to the Emperor, deeply affected the son of the French agent who became a believer when he saw to his

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amazement the fulfilment of Bahá'u'lláh's prophecies within so short a period of time.

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Tablet to Czar Alexander II

a.k.a. Lawh-i-Malik-i-Rús (Tablet to Czar Alexander II of Russia)

Bahá'u'lláh, Proclamation of Bahá'u'lláh, 27-30 (print) and 11-12 (electronic): CZAR ALEXANDER II O CZAR of Russia! Incline thine ear unto the voice of God, the King, the Holy, and turn thou unto Paradise, the Spot wherein abideth He Who, among the Concourse on high, beareth the most excellent titles, and Who, in the kingdom of creation, is called by the name of God, the Effulgent, the All-Glorious. Beware lest thy desire deter thee from turning towards the face of thy Lord, the Compassionate, the Most Merciful. We, verily, have heard the thing for which thou didst supplicate thy Lord, whilst secretly communing with Him. Wherefore, the breeze of My loving-kindness wafted forth, and the sea of My mercy surged, and We answered thee in truth. Thy Lord, verily, is the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. Whilst I lay chained and fettered in the prison, one of thy ministers extended Me his aid. Wherefore hath God ordained for thee a station which the knowledge of none can comprehend except His knowledge. Beware lest thou barter away this sublime station... Beware lest thy sovereignty withhold thee from Him Who is the Supreme Sovereign. He, verily, is come with His Kingdom, and all the atoms cry aloud: `Lo! The Lord is come in His great majesty!' He Who is the Father is come, and the Son (Jesus), in the holy vale, crieth out: `Here am I, here am I, O Lord, My God!' whilst Sinai circleth round the House, and the Burning Bush calleth aloud: `The All-Bounteous is come mounted upon the clouds! Blessed is he that draweth nigh unto Him, and woe betide them that are far away.' Arise thou amongst men in the name of this all-compelling Cause, and summon, then, the nations unto God, the Exalted, the Great. Be thou not of them who called upon God by one of His names, but who, when He Who is the Object of all names appeared, denied Him and turned aside from Him, and, in the end, pronounced sentence against Him with manifest injustice. Consider and call thou to mind the days whereon the Spirit of God (Jesus) appeared, and Herod gave judgment against Him. God, however, aided Him with the hosts of the unseen, and protected Him with truth, and sent Him down unto another land, according to His promise. He, verily, ordaineth what He pleaseth. Thy Lord truly preserveth whom He willeth, be he in the midst of the seas, or in the maw of the serpent, or beneath the sword of the oppressor.... Again I say: Hearken unto My Voice that calleth from My prison that it may acquaint thee with the things that have befallen My Beauty, at the hands of them that are the manifestations of My glory, and that thou mayest perceive how great hath been My patience, notwithstanding My might, and how immense My forbearance, notwithstanding My power. By My Life! Couldst thou but know the things sent down by My Pen, and discover the treasures of My Cause, and the pearls of My mysteries which lie hid in the seas of My names and in the goblets of My words, thou wouldst, in thy love for My name, and in thy longing for My glorious and sublime Kingdom, lay down thy life in My path. Know thou that though My body be beneath the swords of My foes, and My limbs be beset with incalculable afflictions, yet My spirit is filled with a gladness with which all the joys of the earth can never compare. Set thine heart towards Him Who is the Point of adoration for the world, and say: O peoples of the earth! Have ye denied the One in Whose path He Who came with the truth, bearing the announcement of your Lord, the Exalted, the Great, suffered martyrdom? Say: This

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is an Announcement whereat the hearts of the Prophets and Messengers have rejoiced. This is the One Whom the heart of the world remembereth and is promised in the Books of God, the Mighty, the All-Wise. The hands of the Messengers were, in their desire to meet Me, upraised towards God, the Mighty, the Glorified.... Some lamented in their separation from Me, others endured hardships in My path, and still others laid down their lives for the sake of My Beauty, could ye but know it. Say: I, verily, have not sought to extol Mine Own Self, but rather God Himself were ye to judge fairly. Naught can be seen in Me except God and His Cause, could ye but perceive it. I am the One Whom the tongue of Isaiah hath extolled, the One with Whose name both the Torah and the Evangel were adorned.... Blessed be the king whose sovereignty hath withheld him not from his Sovereign, and who hath turned unto God with his heart. He, verily, is accounted of those that have attained unto that which God, the Mighty, the All-Wise hath willed. Ere long will such a one find himself numbered with the monarchs of the realms of the Kingdom. Thy Lord is, in truth, potent over all things. He giveth what He willeth to whomsoever He willeth, and withholdeth what He pleaseth from whomsoever He willeth. He, verily, is the All-Powerful, the Almighty. Shoghi Effendi, Promised Day is Come, 26-27 (electronic): In the Tablet addressed to the Czar of Russia, Alexander II, we read: "O Czar of Russia! Incline thine ear unto the voice of God, the King, the Holy, and turn thou unto Paradise, the Spot wherein abideth He Who, among the Concourse on high, beareth the most excellent titles, and Who, in the kingdom of creation, is called by the name of God, the Effulgent, the All-Glorious. Beware lest thy desire deter thee from turning towards the face of thy Lord, the Compassionate, the Most Merciful. We, verily, have heard the thing for which thou didst supplicate thy Lord, whilst secretly communing with Him. Wherefore, the breeze of My loving-kindness wafted forth, and the sea of My mercy surged, and We answered thee in truth. Thy Lord, verily, is the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. Whilst I lay chained and fettered in the prison, one of thy ministers extended Me his aid. Wherefore hath God ordained for thee a station which the knowledge of none can comprehend except His knowledge. Beware lest thou barter away this sublime station.... Beware lest thy sovereignty withhold thee from Him Who is the Supreme Sovereign. He, verily, is come with His Kingdom, and all the atoms cry aloud: `Lo! The Lord is come in His great majesty!' He Who is the Father is come, and the Son [Jesus], in the holy vale, crieth out: `Here am I, here am I, O Lord, My God!', whilst Sinai circleth round the House, and the Burning Bush calleth aloud: `The All-Bounteous is come mounted upon the clouds! Blessed is he that draweth nigh unto Him, and woe betide them that are far away.' "Arise thou amongst men in the name of this all-compelling Cause, and summon, then, the nations unto God, the Exalted, the Great. Be thou not of them who called upon God by one of His names, but who, when He Who is the Object of all names appeared, denied Him and turned aside from Him, and, in the end, pronounced sentence against Him with manifest injustice. Consider and call thou to mind the days whereon the Spirit of God [Jesus] appeared, and Herod gave judgment against Him. God, however, aided Him with the hosts of the unseen, and protected Him with truth, and sent Him down unto another land, according to His promise. He, verily, ordaineth what He pleaseth. Thy Lord truly preserveth whom He willeth, be he in the midst of the seas, or in the maw of the serpent, or beneath the sword of the oppressor....

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"Again I say: Hearken unto My voice that calleth from My prison, that it may acquaint thee with the things that have befallen My Beauty, at the hands of them that are the manifestations of My glory, and that thou mayest perceive how great hath been My patience, notwithstanding My might, and how immense My forebearance, notwithstanding My power. By My life! Couldst thou but know the things sent down by My Pen, and discover the treasures of My Cause, and the pearls of My mysteries which lie hid in the seas of My names and in the goblets of My words, thou wouldst, in thy love for My name, and in thy longing for My glorious and sublime Kingdom, lay down thy life in My path. Know thou that though My body be beneath the swords of My foes, and My limbs be beset with incalculable afflictions, yet My spirit is filled with a gladness with which all the joys of the earth can never compare. "Set thine heart towards Him Who is the Point of adoration for the world, and say: O peoples of the earth! Have ye denied the One in Whose path He Who came with the truth, bearing the announcement of your Lord, the Exalted, the Great, suffered martyrdom? Say: This is an Announcement whereat the hearts of the Prophets and Messengers have rejoiced. This is the One Whom the heart of the world remembereth, and is promised in the Books of God, the Mighty, the All-Wise. The hands of the Messengers were, in their desire to meet Me, upraised towards God, the Mighty, the Glorified.... Some lamented in their separation from Me, others endured hardships in My path, and still others laid down their lives for the sake of My Beauty, could ye but know it. Say: I, verily, have not sought to extol Mine Own Self, but rather God Himself, were ye to judge fairly. Naught can be seen in Me except God and His Cause, could ye but perceive it. I am the One Whom the tongue of Isaiah hath extolled, the One with Whose name both the Torah and the Evangel were adorned. ...Blessed be the king whose sovereignty hath withheld him not from his Sovereign, and who hath turned unto God with his heart. He, verily, is accounted of those that have attained unto that which God, the Mighty, the All-Wise, hath willed. Erelong will such a one find himself numbered with the monarchs of the realms of the Kingdom. Thy Lord is, in truth, potent over all things. He giveth what He willeth to whomsoever He willeth, and withholdeth what He pleaseth from whomsoever He willeth. He, verily, is the All-Powerful, the Almighty." Shoghi Effendi, Promised Day is Come, 42 (electronic): The Rise of Bolshevism The rise of Bolshevism, born amidst the fires of that inconclusive struggle, shook the throne of the Czars and overthrew it. Alexander II Nicolaevich, whom Bahá'u'lláh had commanded in His Tablet to "arise ... and summon the nations unto God," who had been thrice warned: "beware lest thy desire deter thee from turning towards the face of thy Lord," "beware lest thou barter away this sublime station," "beware lest thy sovereignty withhold thee from Him Who is the Supreme Sovereign," was not indeed the last of the Czars to rule his country, but rather the inaugurator of a retrogressive policy which in the end proved fatal to both himself and his dynasty. In the latter part of his reign he initiated a reactionary policy which, causing widespread disillusionment, gave rise to Nihilism, which, as it spread, ushered in a period of terrorism of unexampled violence, leading in its turn to several attempts on his life, and culminating in his assassination. Stern repression guided the policy of his successor, Alexander III, who "assumed

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an attitude of defiant hostility to innovators and liberals." The tradition of unqualified absolutism, of extreme religious orthodoxy was maintained by the still more severe Nicolas II, the last of the Czars, who, guided by the counsels of a man who was "the very incarnation of a narrow-minded, stiff-necked despotism," and aided by a corrupt bureaucracy, and humiliated by the disastrous effects of a foreign war, increased the general discontent of the masses, both intellectuals and peasants. Driven for a time into subterranean channels, and intensified by military reverses, it exploded at last in the midst of the Great War, in the form of a Revolution which, in the principles it challenged, the institutions it subverted, and the havoc it wrought, has scarcely a parallel in modern history. A great trembling seized and rocked the foundations of that country. The light of religion was dimmed. Ecclesiastical institutions of every denomination were swept away. The state religion was disendowed, persecuted, and abolished. A far-flung empire was dismembered. A militant, triumphant proletariat exiled the intellectuals, and plundered and massacred the nobility. Civil war and disease decimated a population, already in the throes of agony and despair. And, finally, the Chief Magistrate of a mighty dominion, together with his consort, and his family, and his dynasty, were swept into the vortex of this great convulsion, and perished. Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, 207 (print) and 131 (electronic): To Nicolaevitch Alexander II, the all-powerful Czar of Russia, He addressed, as He lay a prisoner in the barracks, an Epistle wherein He announces the advent of the promised Father, Whom "the tongue of Isaiah hath extolled," and "with Whose name both the Torah and the Evangel were adorned"; commands him to "arise ... and summon the nations unto God"; warns him to beware lest his sovereignty withhold him from "Him Who is the Supreme Sovereign"; acknowledges the aid extended by his Ambassador in Tihrán; and cautions him not to forfeit the station ordained for him by God. Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, 227 (print) and 143 (electronic):: Nicolaevitch Alexander II, the all-powerful Czar of Russia, who, in a Tablet addressed to him by name had been thrice warned by Bahá'u'lláh, had been bidden to "summon the nations unto God," and had been cautioned not to allow his sovereignty to prevent him from recognizing "the Supreme Sovereign," suffered several attempts on his life, and at last died at the hand of an assassin. A harsh policy of repression, initiated by himself and followed by his successor, Alexander III, paved the way for a revolution which, in the reign of Nicholas II, swept away on a bloody tide the empire of the Czars, brought in its wake war, disease and famine, and established a militant proletariat which massacred the nobility, persecuted the clergy, drove away the intellectuals, disendowed the state religion, executed the Czar with his consort and his family, and extinguished the dynasty of the Romanoffs. Adib Taherzadeh, Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh vol. 3, 118-120:

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Another Tablet revealed in `Akká was a Tablet to the Czar of Russia, Alexander II. It was revealed in Arabic. In it Bahá'u'lláh proclaims His station, identifies Himself as the Heavenly Father and calls on him to arise in His Name, proclaim His Mission and summon the nations to His Cause. These are some of the words of Bahá'u'lláh addressed to the Czar: O Czar of Russia! Incline thine ear unto the voice of God, the King, the

Holy, and turn thou unto Paradise, the Spot wherein abideth He Who, among the Concourse on high, beareth the most excellent titles, and Who, in the kingdom of creation, is called by the name of God, the Effulgent, the All-Glorious. Beware lest thy desire deter thee from turning towards the face of thy Lord, the Compassionate, the Most Merciful... Beware lest thy sovereignty withhold thee from Him Who is the Supreme Sovereign. He, verily, is come with His Kingdom, and all the atoms cry aloud: `Lo! The Lord is come in His great majesty!' He Who is the Father is come and the Son (Jesus), in the holy vale, crieth out: `Here am I, here am I, O Lord, My God!', whilst Sinai circleth round the House, and the Burning Bush calleth aloud: `The All-Bounteous is come mounted upon the clouds! Blessed is he that draweth nigh unto Him, and woe betide them that are far away.'

Arise thou amongst men in the name of this all-compelling Cause, and

summon, then, the nations unto God, the Exalted, the Great. [6-9] Describing the pre-eminent nature of His Revelation, Bahá'u'lláh writes: Say: This is an Announcement whereat the hearts of the Prophets and

Messengers have rejoiced. This is the One Whom the heart of the world remembereth and is promised in the Books of God, the Mighty, the All-Wise. The hands of the Messengers were, in their desire to meet Me, upraised towards God, the Mighty, the Glorified... Some lamented in their separation from Me, others endured hardships in My path, and still others laid down their lives for the sake of My Beauty, could ye but know it. Say: I, verily, have not sought to extol Mine Own Self, but rather God Himself were ye to judge fairly. Naught can be seen in Me except God and His Cause, could ye but perceive it. I am the One Whom the tongue of Isaiah hath extolled, the One with Whose name both the Torah and the Evangel were adorned... [6-10]

The exhortations of Bahá'u'lláh fell on deaf ears. Unmoved by the proclamation of so mighty a message, Alexander II ruled over his country until 1881 when he was assassinated, and with the rise of Bolshevism in 1917 his dynasty was extinguished. There is a passage in this Tablet in which Bahá'u'lláh refers to the Czar's supplication to God but does not reveal its details. He writes: We, verily, have heard the thing for which thou didst supplicate thy Lord,

whilst secretly communing with Him. Wherefore, the breeze of My loving-

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kindness wafted forth, and the sea of My Mercy surged, and We answered thee in truth. Thy Lord, verily, is the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. [6-11]

H. M. Balyuzi, Bahá'u'lláh: The King of Glory, 445-448 [some background information on relations between Russia and Persia]: ...Soon Mushíru'd-Dawlih persuaded Násiri'd-Dín Sháh to visit Europe. He wanted his sovereign to see for himself the advances that Europe and the Europeans had made. This tour took place in the spring of 1873. At Windsor, Queen Victoria invested the Sháh with the Order of the Garter. It was a signal gesture of amicable relations. The previous year, on 25 July, Násiri'd-Dín Sháh had granted to Baron Julius de Reuter, the founder of the world-famed news agency, a concession which had many ramifications. This significant step was taken as planned and directed by the new Grand Vizier. The Reuter Concession included such projects as the construction of a railway line from the Caspian Sea to the Persian Gulf, a tramway line in Tihrán, and the working of all the mineral resources of the country. Reuter had by this time taken British nationality; therefore Russia became apprehensive. But despite these fears and suspicions, Násiri'd-Dín Sháh was given a warm reception in St Petersburg by Tsar Alexander II (1855-81). In the absence of the Sháh, one of his uncles, Hájí Farhád Mírzá, the Mu'tamidu'd-Dawlih, was acting as regent, and a court party had been formed, headed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mírzá Sa'id Khán, the Mu'taminu'l-Mulk, in opposition to the Sadr-i-A'zam. So strong had grown this opposition that on reaching Persian soil, at the port of Anzali, Násiri'd-Dín Sháh was constrained to take away the office of Grand Vizier from Mushíru'd-Dawlih. It has been claimed that Russians acted in concert with Mírzá Sa'id Khán to bring about the dismissal of Mushíru'd-Dawlih, who had now the additional title of Sipahsálár-i-A'zam. Whatever the case, Násiri'd-Dín Sháh was now in one of his very angry moods, and as soon as he gained his capital he went into action, broke up the court party, and dispersed all those who were in the plot. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was taken away from Mírzá Sa'id Khán and given to Mushíru'd-Dawlih, and Mírzá Sa'id Khán was sent away to Mashhad to be custodian of the Shrine of Imám Ridá. But the office of the Sadr-i-A'zam remained, once again, unfilled until it was forced on Mírzá Yúsuf, the Mustawfiyu'l-Mamálik, in June 1884. And the Reuter Concession died a natural death. [footnote: For details and the eventual fate of this Concession which opened a new epoch, the reader is referred to Kazemzadeh, Russia and Britain in Persia, 1864-1914, pp. 100-147.] Also involved in that plot against Mushíru'd-Dawlih were Hájí Mullá 'Alíy-i-Kaní and Siyyid Sálih-i-Arab, two of the most influential divines of the capital, who, in their obscurantism, denounced and castigated the Sadr-i-A'zam as a renegade and irreligious. Some writers have alleged that Mu'tamidu'd-Dawlih, the Sháh's uncle, was the prime mover in that plot. Mírzá Sa'id Khán had been an old hand at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and had stepped into that office after the death of its previous occupant, Mírzá Muhammad-'Alí Khán-i-Shírází, in February 1852, first as deputy and then as full Minister. He and Mírzá Kázim Khán, the Nizámu'l-Mulk, the eldest son of the Núrí Sadr-i-A'zam, took part in the execution of the Bábís in 1852. They fired the first shots at Mullá Husayn-i-Khurásání. He also bore a considerable measure of responsibility for the banishment of Bahá'u'lláh from 'Iráq, urging Mushíru'd-Dawlih in Istanbul to persuade the Ottoman authorities to remove Bahá'u'lláh from the vicinity of the Iránian territories. At times, however, Mírzá Sa'id Khán had made friendly

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gestures towards the Bahá'ís, so much so that for a long time they believed that the Tablet known as Shikkar-Shikan Shavand was addressed to him. In May 1880, Mírzá Sa'id Khán was brought back from Mashhad and installed once again in the Foreign Office. He died in the spring of 1884. Mírzá Yúsuf, the Mustawfiyu'l-Mamálik, whose grand-vizierate was of short duration—he died within two years of his appointment—was one of the most remarkable men of his day. Thoroughly upright, incorruptible, fearless, he was generally called 'Áqá' or 'Jináb-i-Áqá', even by Násiri'd-Dín Sháh. Although it was imputed to him that he had participated in the execution of the Bábís in 1852, having been first to fire at Mullá Zaynu'l-Abidín-i-Yazdí, he stoutly denied it and sent a message to this effect to Bahá'u'lláh, Who favoured him with a gracious reply. (See Addendum V) Although no longer the Sadr-i-A'zam, Mushíru'd-Dawlih prevailed on Násiri'd-Dín Sháh to visit Europe once again. This second visit took place in 1878. It was the year of the Congress of Berlin, and Europe was in an unsettled state. Russia, despite being directly involved in the conflict, again accorded Násiri'd-Dín Sháh a warm reception. A military manoeuvre on a grand scale was held in his honour, and he became so enamoured of the uniform, arms and bearing of the Russian Cossacks that he asked Tsar Alexander to make available to him the services of a number of Russian officers and instructors, that they might organize for him a similar force. Such were the beginnings of the Persian Cossack Brigade (later, Division), a military unit which was to play a significant part in the destinies of Irán and remained under Russian command until the autumn of 1920. Colonel de Mantovitch (the first commander and organizer of this unit) and his staff reached Tihrán in January 1879. In Vienna, too, Násiri'd-Dín Sháh engaged a number of Austrian officers, who arrived at the Persian capital a month earlier than the Russians. At their head was also a colonel, named Schynovsky. However, theirs was a hopeless task, faced as they were with Russian rivalry. It is alleged that the restoration of Mírzá Sa'id Khán to his former post was done under pressure from Russia, which looked askance at the policies of Mushíru'd-Dawlih. In December 1881, Mírzá Said Khán signed with the Russian envoy a treaty known as the Treaty of Akhál, by virtue of which Irán forewent all her frontier claims regarding Transoxania. Mushíru'd-Dawlih was first given the governorship of his native city, Qazvín, and next, subsequent to the assassination of Tsar Alexander II, he was sent at the head of a mission to St Petersburg to convey the condolences of Násiri'd-Din Sháh to Alexander III. On his return, he was sent to Mashhad to assume the custodianship of the Shrine of Imám Ridá and govern the province of Khurásán as well. There he died in November 1881. It is generally agreed that he was poisoned on the order of Násiri'd-Din Sháh. From `Alí-Akbar Furútan, comp., Stories of Bahá'u'lláh, 48-49: From the diary of Jinab-i-Ustad `Ali-Akbar Sháhid Yazdi: A merchant by the name of Aqa Muhammad-Rahim of Isfahan embraced the Faith and set about teaching the Cause. Shortly thereafter a number of people, predominant among them his father, by dint of animosity and cruelty, made his life unbearable. Left with no alternative, he departed from Isfahan and travelled to Sabzivar; later, he pioneered to `Ishqabad. On two occasions he attained the presence of the Blessed Beauty in `Akká.

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Several times, before attaining his heart's desire, he met with the Russian consul in Astarabad, who addressed questions to him pertaining to the Faith. One night, the consul asked him: 'In the Tablet of Bahá'u'lláh addressed to the Czar of Russia it states, "We, verily, have heard the thing for which thou didst supplicate thy Lord..." What had the Czar requested in his prayer?' Aqa Muhammad-Rahim was unsure of how he should respond, but began in this way: 'To me, the rulers of the various nations desire nothing from God except assistance in defeating the enemy and conquering new lands, and inasmuch as the army of Russia had been defeated in the war of Sebastopol, the Czar in his prayers had expressed the wish to overcome the Ottoman Empire.' After having given this reply, Aqa Muhammad-Rahim began to have doubts about the veracity of the statement he had made to the consul. When he arrived in `Akká, he proceeded to the guest-house. `Abdu'l-Bahá paid him a visit and asked about his conversation with the Russian consul. Aqa Muhammad-Rahim reconstructed the meeting in its entirety, and confessed that his interpretation was wide of the mark. On hearing this, the Master assured him that his conscience need not be troubled, because 'One day,' He related, 'the Blessed Beauty observed: "At this very moment the Tablet to the Czar of Russia is being read; the consul is asking one of the friends the nature of the request of the Czar, and he receives the correct answer. His name is Aqa Muhammad-Rahim Isfahani."' The words of a bountiful Master imparted great joy to Aqa Muhammad-Rahim, for he was assured that he had not erred in his comments to the consul. (Adapted from Muhammad-`Ali Faydi, p. 104)

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Section 9: Tablet to Queen Victoria

Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, 253-255 (print) and 171-172 (electronic): CXIX. O ye rulers of the earth! Wherefore have ye clouded the radiance of the Sun, and caused it to cease from shining? Hearken unto the counsel given you by the Pen of the Most High, that haply both ye and the poor may attain unto tranquillity and peace. We beseech God to assist the kings of the earth to establish peace on earth. He, verily, doth what He willeth. O kings of the earth! We see you increasing every year your expenditures, and laying the burden thereof on your subjects. This, verily, is wholly and grossly unjust. Fear the sighs and tears of this wronged One, and lay not excessive burdens on your peoples. Do not rob them to rear palaces for yourselves; nay rather choose for them that which ye choose for yourselves. Thus We unfold to your eyes that which profiteth you, if ye but perceive. Your people are your treasures. Beware lest your rule violate the commandments of God, and ye deliver your wards to the hands of the robber. By them ye rule, by their means ye subsist, by their aid ye conquer. Yet, how disdainfully ye look upon them! How strange, how very strange! Now that ye have refused the Most Great Peace, hold ye fast unto this, the Lesser Peace, that haply ye may in some degree better your own condition and that of your dependents. O rulers of the earth! Be reconciled among yourselves, that ye may need no more armaments save in a measure to safeguard your territories and dominions. Beware lest ye disregard the counsel of the All-Knowing, the Faithful. Be united, O kings of the earth, for thereby will the tempest of discord be stilled amongst you, and your peoples find rest, if ye be of them that comprehend. Should any one among you take up arms against another, rise ye all against him, for this is naught but manifest justice. CXX. O ye the elected representatives of the people in every land! Take ye counsel together, and let your concern be only for that which profiteth mankind, and bettereth the condition thereof, if ye be of them that scan heedfully. Regard the world as the human body which, though at its creation whole and perfect, hath been afflicted, through various causes, with grave disorders and maladies. Not for one day did it gain ease, nay its sickness waxed more severe, as it fell under the treatment of ignorant physicians, who gave full rein to their personal desires, and have erred grievously. And if, at one time, through the care of an able physician, a member of that body was healed, the rest remained afflicted as before. Thus informeth you the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. We behold it, in this day, at the mercy of rulers so drunk with pride that they cannot discern clearly their own best advantage, much less recognize a Revelation so bewildering and challenging as this. And whenever any one of them hath striven to improve its condition, his motive hath been his own gain, whether confessedly so or not; and the unworthiness of this motive hath limited his power to heal or cure. That which the Lord hath ordained as the sovereign remedy and mightiest instrument for the healing of all the world is the union of all its peoples in one universal Cause, one common Faith. This can in no wise be achieved except through the power of a skilled, an all-powerful and inspired Physician. This, verily, is the truth, and all else naught but error.

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Bahá'u'lláh, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, 59-64 (print) and 24-27 (electronic): Likewise, We mention some verses from the Tablet of Her Majesty, the Queen (Queen Victoria)—may God, exalted and glorified be He, assist her. Our purpose is that haply the breezes of Revelation may envelop thee, and cause thee to arise, wholly for the sake of God, and serve His Cause, and that thou mayest transmit any of the Tablets of the kings which might have remained undelivered. This mission is a great mission, and this service a great service. In those regions distinguished divines are numerous, among whom are those Siyyids who are renowned for their eminence and distinction. Confer with them, and show them what hath flowed out of the Pen of Glory, that haply they may be graciously aided to better the condition of the world, and improve the character of peoples of different nations, and may, through the living waters of God's counsels, quench the hatred and the animosity which lie hid and smolder in the hearts of men. We pray God that thou mayest be assisted therein. And this, verily, would not be hard for Him. "O Queen in London! Incline thine ear unto the voice of thy Lord, the Lord of all mankind, calling from the Divine Lote-Tree: Verily, no God is there but Me, the Almighty, the All-Wise! Cast away all that is on earth, and attire the head of thy kingdom with the crown of the remembrance of Thy Lord, the All-Glorious. He, in truth, hath come unto the world in His most great glory, and all that hath been mentioned in the Gospel hath been fulfilled. The land of Syria hath been honored by the footsteps of its Lord, the Lord of all men, and North and South are both inebriated with the wine of His presence. Blessed is the man that hath inhaled the fragrance of the Most Merciful, and turned unto the Dawning-Place of His beauty, in this resplendent Dawn. The Mosque of Aqsá vibrateth through the breezes of its Lord, the All-Glorious, whilst Bathá (Mecca) trembleth at the voice of God, the Exalted, the Most High. Every single stone of them celebrateth the praise of the Lord, through this Great Name." And further We said: "We make mention of thee for the sake of God, and desire that thy name may be exalted through thy remembrance of God, the Creator of earth and of heaven. He, verily, is witness unto that which I say. We have been informed that thou hast forbidden the trading in slaves, both men and women. This, verily, is what God hath enjoined in this wondrous Revelation. God hath, truly, destined a reward for thee, because of this. He, verily, will pay the doer of good, whether man or woman, his due recompense, wert thou to follow what hath been sent unto thee by Him Who is the All-Knowing, the All-Informed. As to him who turneth aside, and swelleth with pride, after that the clear tokens have come unto him, from the Revealer of signs, his work shall God bring to naught. He, in truth, hath power over all things. Man's actions are acceptable after his having recognized (the Manifestation). He that turneth aside from the True One is indeed the most veiled amongst His creatures. Thus hath it been decreed by Him Who is the Almighty, the Most Powerful. "We have also heard that thou hast entrusted the reins of counsel into the hands of the representatives of the people. Thou, indeed, hast done well, for thereby the foundations of the edifice of thine affairs will be strengthened, and the hearts of all that are beneath thy shadow, whether high or low, will be tranquillized. It behooveth them, however, to be trustworthy among His servants, and to regard themselves as the representatives of all that dwell on earth. This is what counselleth them, in this Tablet, He Who is the Ruler, the All-Wise. And if any one of them directeth himself towards the Assembly, let him turn his eyes unto the Supreme Horizon, and say: `O my God! I ask Thee, by Thy most glorious Name, to aid me in that which will cause the

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affairs of Thy servants to prosper, and Thy cities to flourish. Thou, indeed, hast power over all things!' Blessed is he that entereth the Assembly for the sake of God, and judgeth between men with pure justice. He, indeed, is of the blissful. "O ye members of Assemblies in that land and in other countries! Take ye counsel together, and let your concern be only for that which profiteth mankind, and bettereth the condition thereof, if ye be of them that scan heedfully. Regard the world as the human body which, though at its creation whole and perfect, hath been afflicted, through various causes, with grave disorders and maladies. Not for one day did it gain ease, nay, its sickness waxed more severe, as it fell under the treatment of ignorant physicians, who gave full rein to their personal desires, and have erred grievously. And if at one time, through the care of an able physician, a member of that body was healed, the rest remained afflicted as before. Thus informeth you the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. We behold it, in this day, at the mercy of rulers, so drunk with pride that they cannot discern clearly their own best advantage, much less recognize a Revelation so bewildering and challenging as this." And further We have said: "That which God hath ordained as the sovereign remedy and mightiest instrument for the healing of the world is the union of all its peoples in one universal Cause, one common Faith. This can in no wise be achieved except through the power of a skilled, an all-powerful, and inspired Physician. By My life! This is the truth, and all else naught but error. Each time that Most Mighty Instrument hath come, and that Light shone forth from the Ancient Dayspring, He was withheld by ignorant physicians who, even as clouds, interposed themselves between Him and the world. It failed therefore, to recover, and its sickness hath persisted until this day. They indeed were powerless to protect it, or to effect a cure, whilst He Who hath been the Manifestation of Power amongst men was withheld from achieving His purpose, by reason of what the hands of the ignorant physicians have wrought. "Consider these days in which He Who is the Ancient Beauty hath come in the Most Great Name, that He may quicken the world and unite its peoples. They, however, rose up against Him with sharpened swords, and committed that which caused the Faithful Spirit to lament, until in the end they imprisoned Him in the most desolate of cities, and broke the grasp of the faithful upon the hem of His robe. Were anyone to tell them: `The World Reformer is come,' they would answer and say: `Indeed it is proven that He is a fomenter of discord!', and this notwithstanding that they have never associated with Him, and have perceived that He did not seek, for one moment, to protect Himself. At all times He was at the mercy of the wicked doers. At one time they cast Him into prison, at another they banished Him, and at yet another hurried Him from land to land. Thus have they pronounced judgment against Us, and God, truly, is aware of what I say." Bahá'u'lláh, Proclamation of Bahá'u'lláh, 33-35 (print) and 12-13 (electronic): QUEEN VICTORIA O QUEEN in London! Incline thine ear unto the voice of thy Lord, the Lord of all mankind, calling from the Divine Lote-Tree: Verily, no God is there but Me, the Almighty, the All-Wise! Cast away all that is on earth, and attire the head of thy kingdom with the crown of the remembrance of thy Lord, the All-Glorious. He, in truth, hath come unto the world in His most great glory, and all that hath been mentioned in the Gospel hath been fulfilled. The land of Syria

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hath been honoured by the footsteps of its Lord, the Lord of all men, and North and South are both inebriated with the wine of His presence. Blessed is the man that inhaled the fragrance of the Most Merciful, and turned unto the Dawning-Place of His Beauty, in this resplendent Dawn. The Mosque of Aqsá vibrateth through the breezes of its Lord, the All-Glorious whilst Bathá (Mecca) trembleth at the voice of God, the Exalted, the Most High. Whereupon every single stone of them celebrateth the praise of the Lord, through this Great Name. Lay aside thy desire, and set then thine heart towards thy Lord, the Ancient of Days. We make mention of thee for the sake of God, and desire that thy name may be exalted through thy remembrance of God, the Creator of earth and heaven. He, verily, is witness unto that which I say. We have been informed that thou hast forbidden the trading in slaves, both men and women. This, verily, is what God hath enjoined in this wondrous Revelation. God hath, truly, destined a reward for thee, because of this. He, verily, will pay the doer of good his due recompense, wert thou to follow what hath been sent unto thee by Him Who is the All-Knowing, the All-Informed. As to him who turneth aside, and swelleth with pride, after that the clear tokens have come unto him, from the Revealer of signs, his work shall God bring to naught. He, in truth, hath power over all things. Man's actions are acceptable after his having recognized (the Manifestation). He that turneth aside from the True One is indeed the most veiled amongst His creatures. Thus hath it been decreed by Him Who is the Almighty, the Most Powerful. We have also heard that thou hast entrusted the reins of counsel into the hands of the representatives of the people. Thou, indeed, hast done well, for thereby the foundations of the edifice of thine affairs will be strengthened, and the hearts of all that are beneath thy shadow, whether high or low, will be tranquillized. It behoveth them, however, to be trustworthy among His servants, and to regard themselves as the representatives of all that dwell on earth. This is what counselleth them, in this Tablet, He Who is the Ruler, the All-Wise... Blessed is he that entereth the assembly for the sake of God, and judgeth between men with pure justice. He, indeed, is of the blissful.... Turn thou unto God and say: O my Sovereign Lord! I am but a vassal of Thine, and Thou art, in truth, the King of Kings. I have lifted my suppliant hands unto the heaven of Thy grace and Thy bounties. Send down, then, upon me from the clouds of Thy generosity that which will rid me of all save Thee, and draw me nigh unto Thyself. I beseech Thee, O my Lord, by Thy name, which Thou hast made the king of names, and the manifestation of Thyself to all who are in heaven and on earth, to rend asunder the veils that have intervened between me and my recognition of the Dawning-Place of Thy signs and the Day Spring of Thy Revelation. Thou art, verily, the Almighty, the All-Powerful, the All-Bounteous. Deprive me not, O my Lord, of the fragrances of the Robe of Thy mercy in Thy days, and write down for me that which Thou hast written down for thy handmaidens who have believed in Thee and in Thy signs, and have recognized Thee, and set their hearts towards the horizon of Thy Cause. Thou art truly the Lord of the worlds and of those who show mercy the Most Merciful. Assist me, then, O my God, to remember Thee amongst Thy handmaidens, and to aid Thy Cause in Thy lands. Accept, then, that which hath escaped me when the light of Thy countenance shone forth. Thou, indeed, hast power over all things. Glory be to Thee, O Thou in Whose hand is the kingdom of the heavens and of the earth. Shoghi Effendi, Promised Day is Come, 21-22 (electronic):

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(Text appears to be identical to the above selection from Gleanings, from "O kings of the earth!" to "Should any one among you take up arms against another, rise ye all against him, for this is naught but manifest justice.") Shoghi Effendi, Promised Day is Come, 27-28 (electronic): To Queen Victoria Bahá'u'lláh has written: "O Queen in London! Incline thine ear unto the voice of thy Lord, the Lord of all mankind, calling from the Divine Lote-Tree: Verily, no God is there but Me, the Almighty, the All-Wise! Cast away all that is on earth, and attire the head of thy kingdom with the crown of the remembrance of thy Lord, the All-Glorious. He, in truth, hath come unto the world in His most great glory, and all that hath been mentioned in the Gospel hath been fulfilled. The land of Syria hath been honored by the footsteps of its Lord, the Lord of all men, and north and south are both inebriated with the wine of His presence. Blessed is the man that inhaled the fragrance of the Most Merciful, and turned unto the Dawning-Place of His Beauty, in this resplendent Dawn. The Mosque of Aqsá vibrateth through the breezes of its Lord, the All-Glorious, whilst Bathá [Mecca] trembleth at the voice of God, the Exalted, the Most High. Whereupon every single stone of them celebrateth the praise of the Lord, through this Great Name. "Lay aside thy desire, and set then thine heart towards thy Lord, the Ancient of Days. We make mention of thee for the sake of God, and desire that thy name may be exalted through thy remembrance of God, the Creator of earth and heaven. He, verily, is witness unto that which I say. We have been informed that thou hast forbidden the trading in slaves, both men and women. This, verily, is what God hath enjoined in this wondrous Revelation. God hath, truly, destined a reward for thee, because of this. He, verily, will pay the doer of good his due recompense, wert thou to follow what hath been sent unto thee by Him Who is the All-Knowing, the All-Informed. As to him who turneth aside, and swelleth with pride, after that the clear tokens have come unto him, from the Revealer of signs, his work shall God bring to naught. He, in truth, hath power over all things. Man's actions are acceptable after his having recognized [the Manifestation]. He that turneth aside from the True One is indeed the most veiled amongst His creatures. Thus hath it been decreed by Him Who is the Almighty, the Most Powerful. "We have also heard that thou hast entrusted the reins of counsel into the hands of the representatives of the people. Thou, indeed, hast done well, for thereby the foundations of the edifice of thine affairs will be strengthened, and the hearts of all that are beneath thy shadow, whether high or low, will be tranquilized. It behooveth them, however, to be trustworthy among His servants, and to regard themselves as the representatives of all that dwell on earth. This is what counseleth them, in this Tablet, He Who is the Ruler, the All-Wise.... Blessed is he that entereth the assembly for the sake of God, and judgeth between men with pure justice. He, indeed, is of the blissful.... "Turn thou unto God and say: O my Sovereign Lord! I am but a vassal of Thine, and Thou art, in truth, the King of kings. I have lifted my suppliant hands unto the heaven of Thy grace and Thy bounties. Send down, then, upon me from the clouds of Thy generosity that which will rid me of all save Thee, and draw me nigh unto Thyself. I beseech Thee, O my Lord, by Thy name, which Thou hast made the king of names and the manifestation of Thyself to all who are in heaven and on earth, to rend asunder the veils that have intervened between me and my recognition of the Dawning-Place of Thy signs and the Dayspring of Thy Revelation. Thou art,

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verily, the Almighty, the All-Powerful, the All-Bounteous. Deprive me not, O my Lord, of the fragrances of the Robe of Thy mercy in Thy days, and write down for me that which Thou hast written down for Thy handmaidens who have believed in Thee and in Thy signs, and have recognized Thee, and set their hearts towards the horizon of Thy Cause. Thou art truly the Lord of the worlds and of those who show mercy the Most Merciful. Assist me, then, O my God, to remember Thee amongst Thy handmaidens, and to aid Thy Cause in Thy lands. Accept, then, that which hath escaped me when the light of Thy countenance shone forth. Thou, indeed, hast power over all things. Glory be to Thee, O Thou in Whose hand is the kingdom of the heavens and of the earth." Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, 206-208 (print) and 130-131 (electronic): The Proclamation of His Mission had been, as already observed, directed particularly to the kings of the earth, who, by virtue of the power and authority they wielded, were invested with a peculiar and inescapable responsibility for the destinies of their subjects. It was to these kings, as well as to the world's religious leaders, who exercised a no less pervasive influence on the mass of their followers, that the Prisoner of `Akká directed His appeals, warnings, and exhortations during the first years of His incarceration in that city. "Upon Our arrival at this Prison," He Himself affirms, "We purposed to transmit to the kings the messages of their Lord, the Mighty, the All-Praised. Though We have transmitted to them, in several Tablets, that which We were commanded, yet We do it once again, as a token of God's grace." To the kings of the earth, both in the East and in the West, both Christian and Muslim, who had already been collectively admonished and warned in the Súriy-i-Muluk revealed in Adrianople, and had been so vehemently summoned by the Báb, in the opening chapter of the Qayyúmu'l-Asma', on the very night of the Declaration of His Mission, Bahá'u'lláh, during the darkest days of His confinement in `Akká, addressed some of the noblest passages of His Most Holy Book. In these passages He called upon them to take fast hold of the "Most Great Law"; proclaimed Himself to be "the King of Kings" and "the Desire of all Nations"; declared them to be His "vassals" and "emblems of His sovereignty"; disclaimed any intention of laying hands on their kingdoms; bade them forsake their palaces, and hasten to gain admittance into His Kingdom; extolled the king who would arise to aid His Cause as "the very eye of mankind"; and finally arraigned them for the things which had befallen Him at their hands. In His Tablet to Queen Victoria He, moreover, invites these kings to hold fast to "the Lesser Peace," since they had refused "the Most Great Peace"; exhorts them to be reconciled among themselves, to unite and to reduce their armaments; bids them refrain from laying excessive burdens on their subjects, who, He informs them, are their "wards" and "treasures"; enunciates the principle that should any one among them take up arms against another, all should rise against him; and warns them not to deal with Him as the "King of Islám" and his ministers had dealt.... ...To Queen Victoria He, during that same period, addressed an Epistle in which He calls upon her to incline her ear to the voice of her Lord, the Lord of all mankind; bids her "cast away all that is on earth," and set her heart towards her Lord, the Ancient of Days; asserts that "all that hath been mentioned in the Gospel hath been fulfilled"; assures her that God would reward her for having "forbidden the trading in slaves," were she to follow what has been sent unto her by Him; commends her for having "entrusted the reins of counsel into the hands of the

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representatives of the people"; and exhorts them to "regard themselves as the representatives of all that dwell on earth," and to judge between men with "pure justice." Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, 211 (print) and 133-134 (electronic): Some of the weightiest passages of His Epistle to Queen Victoria are addressed to the members of the British Legislature, the Mother of Parliaments, as well as to the elected representatives of the peoples in other lands. In these He asserts that His purpose is to quicken the world and unite its peoples; refers to the treatment meted out to Him by His enemies; exhorts the legislators to "take counsel together," and to concern themselves only "with that which profiteth mankind"; and affirms that the "sovereign remedy" for the "healing of all the world" is the "union of all its peoples in one universal Cause, one common Faith," which can "in no wise be achieved except through the power of a skilled and all-powerful and inspired Physician." He, moreover, in His Most Holy Book, has enjoined the selection of a single language and the adoption of a common script for all on earth to use, an injunction which, when carried out, would, as He Himself affirms in that Book, be one of the signs of the "coming of age of the human race." Adib Taherzadeh, Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh vol. 3, 123-124: A Tablet in Arabic replete with counsels and exhortations was addressed by Bahá'u'lláh to Queen Victoria. In it He proclaims the coming of the Lord in His great glory and summons her to His Cause: O Queen in London! Incline thine ear unto the voice of thy Lord, the Lord

of all mankind, calling from the Divine Lote-Tree; Verily, no God is there but Me, the Almighty, the All-Wise! Cast away all that is on earth, and attire the head of thy kingdom with the crown of the remembrance of thy Lord, the All-Glorious. He, in truth, hath come unto the world in His most great glory, and all that hath been mentioned in the Gospel hath been fulfilled... Lay aside thy desire, and set then thine heart towards thy Lord, the Ancient of Days. We make mention of thee for the sake of God, and desire that thy name may be exalted through thy remembrance of God, the Creator of earth and heaven. He, verily, is witness unto that which I say. [6-13]

Bahá'u'lláh commends the Queen in this Tablet for having `forbidden the trading in slaves' and for having `entrusted the reins of counsel into the hands of the representatives of the people'. It should be noted here that Bahá'u'lláh in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, the Book of Laws, forbids the trading of slaves. He approves the system of government in which representatives of the people take part. In His Tablet to the Queen, Bahá'u'lláh exhorts the members of the British Parliament in these words: It behoveth them [the members of the Parliament] however, to be

trustworthy among His servants, and to regard themselves as the representatives

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of all that dwell on earth. This is what counselleth them, in this Tablet, He Who is the Ruler, the All-Wise... Blessed is he that entereth the assembly for the sake of God, and judgeth between men with pure justice. He, indeed is of the blissful... [6-14]

What a great contrast between these sublime teachings, which constitute the distinguishing character of the future institutions of the Bahá'í Commonwealth, and the present political systems in which everyone fights for himself and his country to the exclusion of others! Adib Taherzadeh, Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh vol. 3, 125: Bahá'u'lláh, in His Tablet to the Queen, has established this basic principle for the members of a Parliament. The exhortation that they ought to `regard themselves as the representatives of all that dwell on earth' may be acceptable to some on moral grounds, but cannot be carried out in practice in a world so divided against itself, and its implementation may be looked upon as an impossibility by those who have not as yet recognized the divine origin of the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh. But those who have embraced His Faith and who are already witnessing the spirit of universal love practised in their local, national and international councils, entertain no doubt that as these embryonic institutions grow and develop to a point where they will be adopted as systems of government, the members of these councils the world over will have acquired such a universal outlook as to fully conform with Bahá'u'lláh's exhortation revealed in the above Tablet. It is then that the Most Great Peace referred to by Bahá'u'lláh will be established. Adib Taherzadeh, Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh vol. 3, 125: In the Tablet to the Queen Bahá'u'lláh counsels the rulers of the world to establish peace on earth. Then He makes this important statement: Now that ye have refused the Most Great Peace, hold ye fast unto this, the

Lesser Peace, that haply ye may in some degree better your own condition and that of your dependants. [6-15]

Adib Taherzadeh, Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh vol. 3, 127: In His Tablet to the Queen, Bahá'u'lláh further counsels the elected representatives of the people throughout the world in these words: O ye the elected representatives of the people in every land! Take ye

counsel together, and let your concern be only for that which profiteth mankind, and bettereth the condition thereof, if ye be of them that scan heedfully. Regard the world as the human body which, though at its creation whole and perfect, hath

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been afflicted, through various causes, with grave disorders and maladies. Not for one day did it gain ease, nay its sickness waxed more severe, as it fell under the treatment of ignorant physicians, who gave full rein to their personal desires, and have erred grievously. And if, at one time, through the care of an able physician, a member of that body was healed, the rest remained afflicted as before. Thus informeth you the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.

We behold it, in this day, at the mercy of rulers so drunk with pride that they cannot discern clearly their own best advantage, much less recognize a Revelation so bewildering and challenging as this. And whenever any one of them hath striven to improve its condition, his motive hath been his own gain, whether confessedly so or not; and the unworthiness of this motive hath limited his power to heal or cure. [6-17]

John Hatcher, The Ocean of His Words, 147: Bahá'u'lláh's prayer revealed for Queen Victoria to recite is particularly interesting. Bahá'u'lláh exhorts the Queen to "Turn thou unto God" and repeat a prayer which begins with her frank admission that she is "but a vassal" of God, Who is, "in truth, the King of Kings." Later in the prayer Bahá'u'lláh has her request from God that He "rend asunder the veils" that have impaired her recognition of the Manifestation. Here again, Bahá'u'lláh as Divine physician praises her nobility, but frankly points out her shortcomings and prescribes the remedy, albeit in a most Ioving and gentle tone: Deprive me not, O my Lord, of the fragrances of the Robe of Thy mercy in Thy days, and write down for me that which Thou hast written down for thy handmaidens who have believed in Thee and in Thy signs, and have recognized Thee, and set their hearts towards the horizon of Thy Cause. (Proclamation of Bahá'u'lláh 35)

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Lawh-i-Sultán (Tablet to the King of Persia, Násiri'd-Dín Sháh)

Bahá'u'lláh, Proclamation of Bahá'u'lláh, 55-60 (print) and 17-18 (electronic): Násiri'd-Dín Sháh O KING! I was but a man like others, asleep upon My couch, when lo, the breezes of the All-Glorious were wafted over Me, and taught Me the knowledge of all that hath been. This thing is not from Me, but from One Who is Almighty and All-Knowing. And He bade Me lift up My voice between earth and heaven, and for this there befell Me what hath caused the tears of every man of understanding to flow. The learning current amongst men I studied not; their schools I entered not. Ask of the city wherein I dwelt, that thou mayest be well assured that I am not of them who speak falsely. This is but a leaf which the winds of the will of thy Lord, the Almighty, the All-Praised, have stirred. Can it be still when the tempestuous winds are blowing? Nay, by Him Who is the Lord of all Names and Attributes! They move it as they list. The evanescent is as nothing before Him Who is the Ever-Abiding. His all-compelling summons hath reached Me, and caused Me to speak His praise amidst all people. I was indeed as one dead when His behest was uttered. The hand of the will of thy Lord, the Compassionate, the Merciful, transformed Me. Can any one speak forth of his own accord that for which all men, both high and low, will protest against him? Nay, by Him Who taught the Pen the eternal mysteries, save him whom the grace of the Almighty, the All-Powerful, hath strengthened. The Pen of the Most High addresseth Me saying: Fear not. Relate unto His Majesty the Sháh that which befell thee. His heart, verily, is between the fingers of thy Lord, the God of Mercy, that haply the sun of justice and bounty may shine forth above the horizon of his heart. Thus hath the decree been irrevocably fixed by Him Who is the All-Wise. Look upon this Youth, O King, with the eyes of justice; judge thou, then, with truth concerning what hath befallen Him. Of a verity, God hath made thee His shadow amongst men, and the sign of His power unto all that dwell on earth. Judge thou between Us and them that have wronged Us without proof and without an enlightening Book. They that surround thee love thee for their own sakes, whereas this Youth loveth thee for thine own sake, and hath had no desire except to draw thee nigh unto the seat of grace, and to turn thee toward the right-hand of justice. Thy Lord beareth witness unto that which I declare. O King! Wert thou to incline thine ear unto the shrill of the Pen of Glory and the cooing of the Dove of Eternity which, on the branches of the Lote-Tree beyond which there is no passing, uttereth praises to God, the Maker of all names and Creator of earth and heaven, thou wouldst attain unto a station from which thou wouldst behold in the world of being naught save the effulgence of the Adored One, and wouldst regard thy sovereignty as the most contemptible of thy possessions, abandoning it to whosoever might desire it, and setting thy face toward the Horizon aglow with the light of His countenance. Neither wouldst thou ever be willing to bear the burden of dominion save for the purpose of helping thy Lord, the Exalted, the Most High. Then would the Concourse on high bless thee. O how excellent is this most sublime station,

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couldst thou ascend thereunto through the power of a sovereignty recognized as derived from the Name of God!... O King of the age! The eyes of these refugees are turned towards and fixed upon the mercy of the Most Merciful. No doubt is there whatever that these tribulations will be followed by the outpourings of a supreme mercy, and these dire adversities be succeeded by an overflowing prosperity. We fain would hope, however, that His Majesty the Sháh will himself examine these matters, and bring hope to the hearts. That which We have submitted to thy Majesty is indeed for thine highest good. And God, verily, is a sufficient witness unto Me.... O would that thou wouldst permit Me, O Sháh, to send unto thee that which would cheer the eyes, and tranquillize the souls, and persuade every fair-minded person that with Him is the knowledge of the Book... But for the repudiation of the foolish and the connivance of the divines, I would have uttered a discourse that would have thrilled and carried away the hearts unto a realm from the murmur of whose winds can be heard: `No God is there but He!'... I have seen, O Sháh, in the path of God what eye hath not seen nor ear heard... How numerous the tribulations which have rained, and will soon rain, upon Me! I advance with My face set towards Him Who is the Almighty, the All-Bounteous, whilst behind Me glideth the serpent. Mine eyes have rained down tears until My bed is drenched. I sorrow not for Myself, however. By God! Mine head yearneth for the spear out of love for its Lord. I never passed a tree, but Mine heart addressed it saying: `O would that thou wert cut down in My name, and My body crucified upon thee, in the path of My Lord!'... By God! Though weariness lay Me low, and hunger consume Me, and the bare rock be My bed, and My fellows the beasts of the field, I will not complain, but will endure patiently as those endued with constancy and firmness have endured patiently, through the power of God, the Eternal King and Creator of the nations, and will render thanks unto God under all conditions. We pray that, out of His bounty—exalted be He—He may release, through this imprisonment, the necks of men from chains and fetters, and cause them to turn, with sincere faces, towards His Face, Who is the Mighty, the Bounteous. Ready is He to answer whosoever calleth upon Him, and nigh is He unto such as commune with Him. From Wendi Momen, A Basic Bahá'í Dictionary: Badí`, Unique, wonderful. The title given by Bahá'u'lláh to Áqá Buzurg-i-Níshápúrí, the 17-year-old youth who carried the Lawh-i-Sultán to Násiri'd-Dín Sháh. Though he had been known as a rebellious youth, Áqá Buzurg was touched when Nabíl related to him verses in which Bahá'u'lláh described His sufferings. He walked from Mosul to `Akká to see Bahá'u'lláh, arriving in 1869. His two audiences with Bahá'u'lláh completely transformed the young man: Though many had sought the honour of carrying Bahá'u'lláh's Tablet to the Sháh, Bahá'u'lláh entrusted it to Áqá Buzurg, whom Bahá'u'lláh named Badí`. When Badí` returned to Persia and delivered the Tablet to the Sháh, he was tortured by bastinado and branding and finally put to death. Bahá'u'lláh often extolled his heroism, stating in a Tablet

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that Badí`s station was so high that it was beyond description and giving him the title Fakhru'sh-Shuhadá' (Pride of Martyrs). Shoghi Effendi named him an Apostle of Bahá'u'lláh. Adib Taherzadeh, Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh vol. 2, 337-340: The Súriy-i-Mulúk was not the only Tablet addressed to the kings. Bahá'u'lláh also revealed a number of Tablets to certain kings, rulers and religious leaders individually. Two of them were revealed in Adrianople: the Lawh-i-Sultán (Tablet to Násiri'd-Dín Sháh) and the first tablet to Napoleon III. Themes of the Lawh-i-Sultán Násiri'd-Dín Sháh was the only monarch to have been closely involved with the Faith of the Báb from the first. He had been informed of its birth soon after the disciples of the Báb began to spread His Faith and he had witnessed its meteoric rise. His was the privilege as Crown Prince of meeting its Author face to face and hearing Him declare in ringing tones to an assembled gathering of the divines and dignitaries of Ádhirbáyján, these majestic words: `I am, I am, I am the Promised One! I am the One Whose name you have for a thousand years invoked, at Whose mention you have risen, Whose advent you have longed to witness, and the hour of Whose Revelation you have prayed God to hasten. Verily, I say, it is incumbent upon the peoples of both the East and the West to obey My word, and to pledge allegiance to My person.' [The Báb, quoted by Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 21] Having observed the overpowering zeal and enthusiasm of the Bábís, and having watched with fear and dismay the humiliating defeats they had inflicted on his army, he arose with the aid of his ministers and at the instigation of the clergy to wipe out the newly-born community from the land of Persia. The execution of the Báb, the martyrdom of thousands of His followers, the imprisonment of Bahá'u'lláh and His exile to `Iráq, together with many atrocities which were committed against an oppressed community, all took place during his reign. It is for this reason that Bahá'u'lláh in one of His Tablets denounces Násiri'd-Dín Sháh in these words:

Among them (kings of the earth) is the King of Persia, who suspended Him Who is the Temple of the Cause (the Báb) in the air, and put Him to death with such cruelty that all created things, and the inmates of Paradise, and the Concourse on high wept for Him. He slew, moreover, some of Our kindred, and plundered Our property, and made Our family captives in the hands of the oppressors. Once and again he imprisoned Me. By God, the True One! None can reckon the things which befell Me in prison, save God, the Reckoner, the Omniscient, the Almighty. Subsequently he banished Me and My family from My country, whereupon We arrived in `Iráq in evident sorrow. We tarried there until the time when the King of Rúm (Sultán of Turkey) arose against Us, and summoned Us unto the seat of his sovereignty. When We reached it there flowed over Us that whereat the King of Persia rejoiced. Later We entered this Prison, wherein the hands of Our loved ones were torn from the hem of Our robe. In such a

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manner hath he dealt with Us! [Bahá'u'lláh, quoted by Shoghi Effendi, The Promised Day Is Come, p. 70]

In the light of these statements, the Tablet of Bahá'u'lláh addressed to Násiri'd-Dín Sháh assumes a special significance. Not only was he familiar with Bahá'u'lláh Himself, whose followers he was persecuting, but because of his religious background he could follow Bahá'u'lláh's reasoning and terminology. However, it appears that in revealing this Tablet Bahá'u'lláh chose, in certain parts, to use unusually difficult Arabic words and phrases, so that the monarch might be forced to seek the help of the divines in reading it. And this is exactly what the King did. He passed it on to the divines and requested them to write an answer to it - a task which they did not fulfil. The Lawh-i-Sultán is the lengthiest Tablet revealed to any monarch. It is partly in Arabic and partly in Persian and is composed with beauty and eloquence. A small portion of it is translated into English by Shoghi Effendi. Although revealed in Adrianople, this Tablet was sent from `Akká. A youth of seventeen, Badí`, accepting martyrdom, took it to Tihrán and personally handed it to the Sháh. We shall record the life and sacrifice of this youth, `The Pride of the Martyrs', in the next volume. In this Tablet Bahá'u'lláh invites the monarch to look upon his people with the eyes of loving-kindness and to rule them with justice. He states that both the pomp and grandeur of this world and its abasement shall pass away. He demonstrates its transitory nature by remarking that should one open the grave of a king and that of a pauper, it would be impossible to distinguish the remains of one from the other. In that state there is no difference between rich and poor, between ruler and subject. He teaches that distinction for man lies in his deeds of righteousness and piety. In several passages Bahá'u'lláh exhorts the King not to fix his attention on this mortal life, reminds him that there were many eminent rulers before him who have departed from this world and that no one remembers them today: their palaces lie in ruins, their treasures are dissipated, and their glory has vanished. Men of learning, scholars, and noblemen, have come in countless numbers and have gone, leaving no trace behind. Their power and influence have been obliterated and their names forgotten. More than once Bahá'u'lláh urges the King to be just, and invites him to judge between Him and His enemies. These are His own words:

Look upon this Youth, O King, with the eyes of justice; judge thou, then, with truth concerning what hath befallen Him. Of a verity, God hath made thee His shadow amongst men, and the sign of His power unto all that dwell on earth. Judge thou between Us and them that have wronged Us without proof and without an enlightening Book. They that surround thee love thee for their own sakes, whereas this Youth loveth thee for thine own sake, and hath had no desire except to draw thee nigh unto the seat of grace, and to turn thee toward the right-hand of justice. Thy Lord beareth witness unto that which I declare. [ibid., p. 41]

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Persecution of the Bábís There is another passage in the Tablet concerning those officials who serve the King `for their own sakes'. Bahá'u'lláh condemns the activities of these men and states that instead of working for the prosperity of the nation, their service to the King consists mainly in denouncing a few souls as Bábís, and then engaging in killing them and plundering their properties. Adib Taherzadeh, Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh vol. 2, 346-351: The Station of Bahá'u'lláh Returning to the Lawh-i-Sultán, there is a celebrated passage in which Bahá'u'lláh describes His own Revelation in language of beauty and power:

O king! I was but a man like others, asleep upon My couch, when lo, the breezes of the All-Glorious were wafted over Me, and taught Me the knowledge of all that hath been. This thing is not from Me, but from One Who is Almighty and All-Knowing. And He bade Me lift up My voice between earth and heaven, and for this there befell Me what hath caused the tears of every man of understanding to flow. The learning current amongst men I studied not; their schools I entered not. Ask of the city wherein I dwelt, that thou mayest be well assured that I am not of them who speak falsely. This is but a leaf which the winds of the will of thy Lord, the Almighty, the All-Praised, have stirred. Can it be still when the tempestuous winds are blowing? Nay, by Him Who is the Lord of all Names and attributes! They move it as they list. The evanescent is as nothing before Him Who is the Ever-Abiding. His all-compelling summons hath reached Me, and caused Me to speak His praise amidst all people. I was indeed as one dead when His behest was uttered. The hand of the will of thy Lord, the Compassionate, the Merciful, transformed Me. Can any one speak forth of his own accord that for which all men, both high and low, will protest against him? Nay, by Him Who taught the Pen the eternal mysteries, save him whom the grace of the Almighty, the All-Powerful, hath strengthened... [Bahá'u'lláh, quoted by Shoghi Effendi, The Promised Day is Come, pp. 40-41]

These words attest the sublimity of the station of Bahá'u'lláh. For He attributes His Revelation to God alone, proclaims His knowledge to be innate and not acquired, describes His own utter submissiveness to the command of the Almighty and indicates that every act of His is that of God. Any unbiased observer who has spiritual insight may readily discover, from the above quoted passages, the truth of the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh. For no human being of sound mind and self-motivated, can make such a staggering claim, announce it to the kings, be persecuted as a result and stand by it till the end. Only a Manifestation of God can speak as Bahá'u'lláh did.

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There is an interesting comment made by `Abdu'l-Bahá in connection with the fore-mentioned passage: `I was but a man like others, asleep upon My couch, when lo, the breezes of the All-Glorious were wafted over Me, and taught Me the knowledge of all that hath been.' He explains:

This is the state of manifestation ... it is an intellectual reality, exempt and freed from time, from past, present, and future; it is an explanation, a simile, a metaphor, and is not to be accepted literally; it is not a state that can be comprehended by man. Sleeping and waking is passing from one state to another. Sleeping is the condition of repose, and wakefulness is the condition of movement; sleeping is the state of silence, wakefulness is the state of speech; sleeping is the state of mystery, wakefulness is the state of manifestation.

For example, it is a Persian and Arabic expression to say that the earth was asleep, and the spring came and it awoke; or the earth was dead, and the spring came and it revived. These expressions are metaphors, allegories, mystic explanations in the world of signification.

Briefly, the Holy Manifestations have ever been, and ever will be, Luminous Realities; no change or variation takes place in Their essence. Before declaring Their manifestation, They are silent and quiet like a sleeper, and after Their manifestation, They speak and are illuminated, like one who is awake. [Abdu'l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, p. 79 (Brit.), pp. 97-8 (U.S.)]

We have previously referred to Abdu'l-Bahá's explanation that a Manifestation of God is always a Manifestation and that He has within Him all the divine attributes long before He receives the call of Prophethood. In one of His Tablets Bahá'u'lláh gives us a glimpse of the stirrings of God's Revelation within Him in His early life. Although we shall never be able to understand fully the reality and all the implications of what took place, nevertheless the story is awe-inspiring. Bahá'u'lláh statesthat once during His childhood, He read the story of the bloodshed which resulted from the massacre of the tribe of Qurayzah, as narrated by Mullá Muhammad Báqir-i-Majlisi. He relates how He was overtaken by feelings of intense sadness and grief as a result of reading this episode. At that time He beheld the limitless ocean of God's forgiveness and mercy surging before Him. Then he beseeched God to vouchsafe unto all the peoples of the world that which would establish unity and love among them. He then describes how suddenly on a certain day before dawn, He was overcome by a condition which completely affected His manners, His thoughts and His words. It was a transfiguration which gave Him the tidings of ascendancy and exaltation, and which continued for twelve days. After this He testifies that the ocean of His utterance began to surge, and the Sun of Assurance shone forth and He continued in this state until He manifested Himself to man. He further testifies in the same Tablet that in this Dispensation, He has, on the one hand, removed from religion anything which could become the cause of suffering and disunity and, on the other, ordained those teachings which would bring about the unity of the human race.

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In the Lawh-i-Sultán Bahá'u'lláh informs the King of the exalted station which awaits him should he recognize the Source of Divine Revelation in this day. He addresses him in these words:

O King! Wert thou to incline thine ear unto the shrill of the Pen of Glory and the cooing of the Dove of Eternity which, on the branches of the Lote-Tree beyond which there is no passing, uttereth praises to God, the Maker of all names and Creator of earth and heaven, thou wouldst attain unto a station from which thou wouldst behold in the world of being naught save the effulgence of the Adored One, and wouldst regard thy sovereignty as the most contemptible of thy possessions, abandoning it to whosoever might desire it, and setting thy face toward the Horizon aglow with the light of His countenance. Neither wouldst thou ever be willing to bear the burden of dominion save for the purpose of helping thy Lord, the Exalted, the Most High. Then would the Concourse on high bless thee. O how excellent is this most sublime station, couldst thou ascend thereunto through the power of a sovereignty recognized as derived from the Name of God!... [Bahá'u'lláh, quoted by Shoghi Effendi, The Promised Day is Come, pp. 41-2]

The Challenge to the Divines In this Tablet to the Sháh, Bahá'u'lláh has made a proposition of the utmost significance, a proposition which no Manifestation of God in earliest days had ever produced. He states:

Would that the world-adorning wish of His Majesty might decree that this Servant be brought face to face with the divines of the age, and produce proofs and testimonies in the presence of His Majesty the Sháh! This Servant is ready, and taketh hope in God, that such a gathering may be convened in order that the truth of the matter may be made clear and manifest before His Majesty the Sháh. It is then for thee to command, and I stand ready before the throne of thy sovereignty. Decide, then, for Me or against Me. [ibid., p. 46]

With this challenging statement Bahá'u'lláh has not fallen short of His duty to establish the truth of His Cause among the peoples of the world. In this Tablet He speaks of the divines, points out their insincerity and lack of understanding, quotes certain traditions of Islám which foreshadow the wickedness of the divines in the latter days, and states that the following passages revealed by Him in The Hidden Words are addressed to such people who are outwardly noted for their learning and piety, but who are inwardly subservient to their passions and lust:

`O ye that are foolish, yet have a name to be wise! Wherefore do ye wear the guise of the shepherd, when inwardly ye have become wolves, intent upon My flock? Ye are even as the star, which riseth ere the dawn,

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and which, though it seem radiant and luminous, leadeth the wayfarers of My city astray into the paths of perdition.'

And likewise He saith: `O ye seeming fair yet inwardly foul! Ye are like clear but bitter water, which to outward seeming is crystal pure but of which, when tested by the Divine Assayer, not a drop is accepted. Yea, the sunbeam falls alike upon the dust and the mirror, yet differ they in reflection even as doth the star from the earth: nay, immeasurable is the difference!'

And also He saith: `O essence of desire! At many a dawn have I turned from the realms of the Placeless unto thine abode, and found thee on the bed of ease busied with others than Myself. Thereupon, even as the flash of the spirit, I returned to the realms of celestial glory, and breathed it not in My retreats above unto the hosts of holiness.'

And again He saith: `O bond slave of the world! Many a dawn hath the breeze of My loving-kindness wafted over thee and found thee upon the bed of heedlessness fast asleep. Bewailing then thy plight it returned whence it came.' [Bahá'u'lláh, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 16]

The `Sword of Wisdom and Utterance' In the Lawh-i-Sultán Bahá'u'lláh tries to dispel some of the doubts and misgivings in the mind of the Sháh concerning the activities of the believers. We must recall that since the birth of the Bábí Faith, the authorities in Persia had been fearful of the influence of the Bábí community. The manner in which the followers of the Báb defended themselves against the onslaught of their adversaries had earned them the reputation of being men of fierce courage and immense self-sacrifice. At the same time the majority of the people were apprehensive of their intentions in furthering the interests of their Faith. The Government had accused the believers of being men of violence ever since a few irresponsible Bábís had made an attempt on the life of the Sháh in 1850. Bahá'u'lláh assures the King in convincing terms that since His arrival in `Iráq, He has exhorted the members of the community to abandon fighting and strife, to lay down the sword, and to conquer the cities of the hearts of men with the sword of wisdom and of utterance. Bahá'u'lláh quotes passages from one of His Tablets in which He counsels the friends that it is better for them to be slain in the path of God than to slay. He states that people have misunderstood the meaning of the word `victory' which appears in heavenly Books. Victory is not won by fighting; it is achieved by good deeds and a stainless life. Adib Taherzadeh, Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh vol. 2, 355-357: The Sufferings of Bahá'u'lláh In the following passages in the Lawh-i-Sultán Bahá'u'lláh dwells on the sufferings which He had endured in the path of God:

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I have seen, O Sháh, in the path of God what eye hath not seen nor ear heard... How numerous the tribulations which have rained, and will soon rain, upon Me! I advance with My face set towards Him Who is the Almighty, the All-Bounteous, whilst behind Me glideth the serpent. Mine eyes have rained down tears until My bed is drenched. I sorrow not for Myself, however. By God! Mine head yearneth for the spear out of love for its Lord. I never passed a tree, but Mine heart addressed it saying: `O would that thou wert cut down in My name, and My body crucified upon thee, in the path of My Lord!'... By God! Though weariness lay Me low, and hunger consume Me, and the bare rock be My bed, and My fellows the beasts of the field, I will not complain, but will endure patiently as those endued with constancy and firmness have endured patiently, through the power of God, the Eternal King and Creator of the nations, and will render thanks unto God under all conditions. We pray that, out of His bounty - exalted be He - He may release, through this imprisonment, the necks of men from chains and fetters, and cause them to turn, with sincere faces, towards His Face, Who is the Mighty, the Bounteous. Ready is He to answer whosoever calleth upon Him, and high is He unto such as commune with Him. [Bahá'u'lláh, quoted by Shoghi Effendi, The Promised Day is Come, pp. 42-3]

Bahá'u'lláh also reminds the King that all the Prophets and Messengers of God have suffered at the hands of their own people, and yet no one reflects on the cause of such behaviour. He speaks of Muhammad and names some of His enemies who strenuously opposed and denounced Him. He also tells the story of Jesus and the cruel judgement passed on Him by religious leaders. In the Lawh-i-Sultán, Bahá'u'lláh dwells on the trials and persecutions which He Himself has endured in the path of God. He speaks about His imprisonment in the Síyáh-Chál, recounts the sufferings which were inflicted upon Him in that dark and pestilential subterranean dungeon, recalls His deliverance from that prison through the power of God, and His exile to `Iráq by the order of the King, after His innocence had been established. He further acquaints the Sháh with conditions in `Iráq: the opposition of the Shi`ah clergy, their plotting and vicious attacks which resulted in His advising some of His companions to seek the protection of the Governor of `Iráq. He describes His arrival in Constantinople, and foretells His future exile to and imprisonment in `Akká, a city described by Him in these words:

According to what they say, it is the most desolate of the cities of the world, the most unsightly of them in appearance, the most detestable in climate, and the foulest in water. It is as though it were the metropolis of the owl. [Bahá'u'lláh, quoted by Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 186]

In a passage in the Lawh-i-Sultán written with great eloquence and power, Bahá'u'lláh prophesies in unequivocal language the triumph of His Cause when people will enter it in troops.

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He declares that in past Dispensations, God established the ascendancy of His Cause through afflictions and sufferings. He prays that in this day these calamities may also act as a buckler to protect His Faith, and makes the following statement concerning trials and tribulations suffered in the path of God:

By Him Who is the Truth! I fear no tribulation in His path, nor any affliction in My love for Him. Verily God hath made adversity as a morning dew upon His green pasture, and a wick for His lamp which lighteth earth and heaven. [Bahá'u'lláh, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 17]

The Story of a Martyr Concerning the believers in this Dispensation, Bahá'u'lláh states that they regard their religion to be the true Faith of God and therefore have renounced their lives in His path and for His sake. He affirms that this act alone is evidence of the truth of their Cause. For no person will normally renounce his life unless he is insane. Bahá'u'lláh, however, dismisses the charge of insanity on the grounds that it cannot be brought against countless men of distinguished conduct and virtuous character who have sacrificed their lives in the path of God. He describes some of the persecutions which were, for twenty years, inflicted upon the community by order of the King. So fierce had been the onslaught that there was no land which had not been dyed with their blood! How many children had been made fatherless, how many fathers had lost their children, and how many mothers had not dared, through fear and dread, to mourn over their slaughtered children! Yet, He testifies, the fire of divine love which burned within the hearts of these people was so bright that even if they were to be hewn in pieces, they would not forswear the love of their Lord. Adib Taherzadeh, Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh vol. 3, 21: Long before His departure from Adrianople, Bahá'u'lláh had prophesied the impending calamities which were to befall Him in His forthcoming exile to `Akká. In some of His Tablets revealed in Adrianople He had alluded to that city, in others He had mentioned `Akká by name as being the next place of His exile. For instance in the Lawh-i-Sultán, the Tablet to Násiri'd-Dín Sháh of Persia, He had clearly prophesied that the next place of His exile would be `Akká. Concerning that city He writes in that Tablet: 'According to what they say, it is the most desolate of the cities of the world, the most unsightly of them in appearance, the most detestable in climate, and the foulest in water.' Adib Taherzadeh, Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh vol. 3, 37-8: Bahá'u'lláh in the Lawh-i-Ra'ís also states that at Gallipoli He sent a verbal message to the Sultán of Turkey through the Turkish officer in charge, who had promised to convey the message. He asked the Sultán to meet Him face to face for a few minutes in order that He might demonstrate to him the authenticity of His Mission. Bahá'u'lláh affirmed His readiness to

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produce anything that the Sultán considered to be a criterion for the truth of His Revelation. Should he fulfil this criterion through the power of God, then the Sultán should free all the innocent prisoners. ... This was not the only time Bahá'u'lláh offered to establish the validity of His Cause for those who held the reins of power in their hands. A similar challenging proposition was made to Násiri'd-Dín Sháh of Persia in the Lawh-i-Sultán, a proposition which was ignored by him and the divines. Adib Taherzadeh, Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh vol.3, 182-7: When Badí` learnt that Bahá'u'lláh was looking for someone to deliver a special Tablet to Násiri'd-Dín Sháh, he begged to be allowed to carry out this service, knowing full well that he would have to lay down his life. Bahá'u'lláh accepted him for this important mission, instructed him to proceed to Haifa where he would be given the Tablet and instructed him also not to associate with any believer, either on the way or in Tihrán. The Tablet to the Sháh of Persia was not handed to Badí` in `Akká. Bahá'u'lláh entrusted Hájí Sháh-Muhammad-i-Amin with a small case and a Tablet to be delivered into the hands of Badí`. The following is the story as recounted by Hájí Sháh-Muhammad to Hájí Mírzá Haydar-`Alí and recorded by the latter.

...I was given a small case... and was instructed to hand it to Badí` at Haifa together with a small sum of money. I didnot know anything about the contents of the case. I met himat Haifa and gave him the glad-tidings that he had been honoured with a trust... We left the town and walked up Mount Carmel where I handed him the case. He took it into his hands, kissed it and knelt with his forehead to the ground. I also delivered to him a sealed envelope [a Tablet of Bahá'u'lláh for Badí` himself]. He took twenty or thirty paces, sat down facing the most Holy Court [`Akká], read the Tablet and again prostrated himself to the ground. His face was illumined with the radiance of ecstasy and the tidings of joy. I asked him if I could read the Tablet also. He replied: 'There is no time.' I knew it was all a confidential matter. But what it was, I had no idea. I could not imagine such a mission. I mentioned that we had better go to the town [Haifa] in order that, as instructed [by Bahá'u'lláh] I might give him some money. He said, 'I will not come to the town; you goand bring it here.' I went; when I returned I could not findhim, in spite of much searching. He had gone... We had no news of him until we heard of his martyrdom in Tihrán.Then I knew that the case had contained the Tablet of Bahá'u'lláh to the Sháh and the sealed envelope contained aTablet which imparted the glad-tidings of the martyrdom of the one who was the essence of steadfastness and strength.The same chronicler has written the following account given by a certain believer, Hájí `Alí, who met Badí` on his way to Persia and travelled with him for some distance: He was a very happy

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person, smiling, patient, thankful, gentle and humble. All that we knew about him was that hehad attained the presence of Bahá'u'lláh and was now returning to his home in Khurásán. Many a time he could beseen walking about a hundred feet from the road in either direction, turning his face towards `Akká, prostrating himself to the ground saying: 'O God! do not take back through Thy justice what thou hast vouchsafed unto me through Thy bounty and grant me strength for its protection.'

The Tablet that Bahá'u'lláh sent to Badí` himself when he was in Haifa is very moving and beautiful. In it He calls him by his new name Badí`, exhorts him to put on the new and wonderful robe of the remembrance of God and crown himself with the crown of His Love. He reminds him that earthly life will eventually come to an end, and urges him to sacrifice his mortal frame in the path of the Beloved, so that he may attain to everlasting life and eternal glory. Badí` travelled on foot all the way to Tihrán. On arrival in the summer of 1869, he discovered that the King was on a camping expedition. He made his way to the area and sat on top of a rock far away, but opposite the royal pavilion. There he sat for three days and three nights in a state of fasting and prayer, awaiting the passing of the royal escort. What thoughts must have passed through his mind as he communed with his Lord, and what feelings of emotion must have filled his being as he sat so close to fulfilling the sacred mission with which he was entrusted, no one can say. One thing we can be sure of, that he possessed a supreme power and a supreme joy and was confident of victory. On the fourth day, the Sháh looking through his binoculars spotted a man dressed in a white garb sitting motionless and in a most respectful attitude on a rock opposite. He guessed that he had some demand to make for justice or was seeking help for his difficulties. He sent his men to find out who he was and what he wanted. Badí` told them that he had a letter from a very important personage for the Sháh and must hand it to him personally. The officers searched him and then brought him to the King. It seems very surprising that these officials, drunk with pride, ruthless and cruel in every way, did not grab the letter from him and walk away. The only explanation is that they must have felt the extraordinary power with which Bahá'u'lláh had invested His messenger. Otherwise, it was very unusual to allow an ordinary citizen to come and meet the sovereign face to face. Only those well versed in the history of Persia in the nineteenth century can appreciate the immense dangers which faced an ordinary person like Badí` wishing to meet a palace official, let alone the King. A despot such as Násiri'd-Dín Sháh ruled his country with a rod of iron. The government officials showed their authority through tyranny. They were accustomed to deal ruthlessly with anyone who dared to utter a word, or raise a finger against them or the established regime. The mere sighting of a soldier wearing the military uniform, or of a low-ranking government officer, was sufficient to frighten people away. As these men passed through the streets most people showed their respect for them; sometimes they had to bribe them and the timid often ran away.

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To meet the King was far more frightful! When the forward section of the royal escort arrived in the street, the cry of the herald who announced to the public the approach of the King's entourage would strike terror into the hearts of the citizens. It was a familiar term to all when he shouted: 'Everyone die', 'Everyone go blind.' The significance of these instructions was that as the King and his men passed by, everyone must stand still as a dead corpse and all eyes must be cast down as if blind. Knowing the circumstances which prevailed at the time, we can appreciate the courage and steadfastness of Badí` and the spirit of ascendancy and superhuman audacity which this youth of seventeen manifested as he stood assured and confident, straight as an arrow, face to face with the King. Calmly and courteously he handed him the Tablet and in a loud voice movingly called out the celebrated verse from the Qur'án: 'O King, I have come unto thee from Sheba with a weighty message.' Badí` was arrested. The Sháh, who must have remembered the attempt on his life by two Bábís about two decades earlier, was taken aback by the courage and fearlessness of Bahá'u'lláh's messenger. Sending the message to Mullá `Alíy-i-Kani, a well-known Muslim divine, to provide an answer, he ordered his men to get from Badí`, first through persuasion and promises, and then by torture if he refused to cooperate, the names of other Bahá'ís. The officer in charge was Kazim Khán-i-Qarachih-Daghi. When he failed to persuade Badí` to reveal names of other Bahá'ís to him, he ordered that he be stripped of his clothes and branded several times with hot bars of iron. Badí` endured these tortures for three successive days with a fortitude that astonished the officials who were watching him. They saw him utterly joyous while being tortured. It seemed to them that he was not feeling the pain; he often seemed to be laughing. This in spite of the fact that at times the smoke and smell created by the burning flesh was so intense that some officials could not stand it and had to leave the tent. The Sháh, who was usually eager to see the photographs of prisoners, ordered a photograph to be taken of Badí`, especially when he had heard the stories of his fortitude under torture. This photograph shows the brazier of fire containing the rods of iron in the foreground and is the best testimony to the spirit of steadfastness and resignation, of calm and assurance which Badí"s face portrays. As the three successive days of torture by branding yielded no information about the identity of other believers, the Chief Officer, Kazim Khán, threatened Badí` with death unless he cooperated. Badí` smiled at this threat and, as he did not reveal any name, his head was beaten to a pulp with a butt of a rifle. His body was thrown into a pit and earth and stones heaped upon it. This was in July 1869. Adib Taherzadeh, Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh vol. 3, 199-200: The proclamation of the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh to the Sháh of Persia had a special significance. This momentous Tablet, handed to the person of the sovereign himself, was meant to introduce the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh in its true perspective to the inhabitants of Persia. The people in that country knew a good deal about the Bábí Faith and the majority were antagonistic to it. For over two decades the people of Persia had witnessed memorable acts of heroism

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performed by that small band of God-intoxicated heroes whose devotion and self-sacrifice had lit a great conflagration throughout the country. The Message of the Báb, the accounts of His martyrdom and the transforming power of His Cause had already reached every corner of that land and from there its reverberations had echoed to the western world. But the people of Persia did not differentiate between the Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh and that of the Báb. Most people considered the Bahá'í Faith to be the same as the Bábí Faith and did not appreciate the vast differences in the teachings of the two. As attested by Bahá'u'lláh in a Tablet, not until this momentous epistle was delivered to the King had the nature of the Cause of God, or the claims of its Founder, or its principles and teachings, been clearly enunciated to those who held the reins of power in their hands. He mentions in the same Tablet that before Badí` had delivered that weighty epistle to the King, God's testimony had not been fulfilled and the conclusive proofs of His Faith had not been declared. But after the proclamation of His Message, there was no remaining excuse for anyone to arise against His Cause. And, since the people of Persia did not respond to the Call of God, which was clearly raised in that Message, sufferings and tribulations which had already been prophesied by the Pen of Bahá'u'lláh descended upon them as a punishment from God.

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Súriy-i-Ra'ís, Surat-ar-Rais, Lawh-i Ra'ís II (Tablet of the Premier [the first minister Mehmet Emin `Alí Páshá])

From Wendi Momen, A Basic Bahá'í Dictionary: `Alí Páshá, Muhammad Amin (1815-71). Grand Vizier of Turkey who helped bring about Bahá'u'lláh's banishment from Baghdád to Constantinople (Istanbul) and thence to Adrianople (Edirne) and eventually to `Akká. Bahá'u'lláh addressed the Súriy-i-Ra'ís and Lawh-i-Ra'ís to `Alí Páshá, rebuking him for his cruelty. Bahá'u'lláh, in Horace Holley, ed., Bahá'í Scriptures (1923), pp. 88-94; trans. anonymous

[Portions of this Tablet have been re-translated by Shoghi Effendi and can be found in Promised Day is Come 60, 72-3; God Passes By 172, 177-8; and World Order of Bahá'u'lláh 94-5; 164.]

SÚRIY-I-RA'ÍS, TABLET [TO THE] MINISTER TO THE SULTÁN O Ra'ís! Hear the Voice of God, the Protecting, Self-existing King. Verily, He crieth between the earth and heaven and summoneth all to the Most Glorious Outlook. Neither doth thy croaking prevent Him, nor the barking of those who are around thee, nor the hosts of the worlds. The world hath been kindled by the Word of thy Lord, El-Abha. It is softer than the breath of the east wind, and hath appeared in the form of man; and by it God hath quickened His advancing servants. In the inner part of this Word there is a water whereby God hath purified the hearts of those who came unto Him, who were negligent in mentioning aught else save Him; and thus have We brought them nigh to the Outlook of His Great Name. We have caused this water to descend upon the dead, and they are looking toward the shining and brilliant Beauty of God. O Chief! Thou hast committed that by reason of which Muhammad, the Prophet of God, lamenteth in the highest heaven. And the world hath made thee proud in such wise that thou hast turned away from the face of Him by whose light the people of the Supreme Assembly are illumined, and thou shalt find thyself in manifest loss. And thou didst unite with the Persian Minister in opposition to Me, after that I came unto you from the rising-place of greatness and might, with a matter whereby the eyes of those near to God are consoled. By God, this is a Day wherein the fire speaketh through all things: "The Beloved of the two worlds hath come!" And on the part of everything an interlocutor of the matter hath sprung up to listen to the Word of thy Lord, the Precious, the Knowing. Verily, should We come out from the Garment which We have worn for the sake of your weakness, all, whosoever is in the heaven and on the earth, would not hesitate to redeem Me by their souls, and to this thy Lord beareth witness; but no one hears Him save those who have severed themselves from the world, through the love of God, the Mighty, the Powerful.

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Dost thou imagine that thou canst quench the fire which God hath kindled in the horizons? No, by Himself, the True One, wert thou of those who know! Rather, by that which thou hast done, its burning is increased, and its blaze; and it shall encompass the earth and whosoever is thereupon. Thus hath the matter been decreed and whosoever is in the heavens or upon the earth could not withstand His command. And the Land of the Mystery (Adrianople) and what is beside it shall be changed, shall pass out of the hands of the Sultán of Turkey, and commotions shall appear, lamentations shall arise and corruptions shall become manifest on all sides, and matters shall be altered by reason of that which hath come upon the hearts from the hosts of the oppressors. The authority shall be changed, and to such an extent shall the matter become grievous that the sandheaps in the desolate hills shall lament and the trees in the mountains weep, and blood shall flow from all things, and thou shalt see the people in great disturbance. O Chief! We have revealed Ourselves to thee once in Mt. Tina (near Baghdád), and once in Mt. Ranita, and also in this Blessed Spot; but thou didst not take any notice, become of that by reason of which thou didst follow thy lust and become one of the heedless. Look! And then remember when Mohamet came with manifest signs on the part of One Mighty and Wise. The people would have stoned Him in the public places and streets, and they denied the signs of God, thy Lord and the Lord of thy fathers who were there. And the learned denied Him; then those factions who followed them, and after them the kings of the earth, as thou hast heard in the stories of those who were aforetime. And of these was Kisra (the Sasanian king). Unto him He sent a kind letter inviting him to God and forbidding him from polytheism; and verily, thy Lord hath knowledge of all things. Verily he made himself great against God, and tore up the letter, because he followed his passion, the lust. Is he not of the people of hell? Was Pharaoh able to hinder God by exercising his dominion, when he relied on the earth and was of the disobedient? We have indeed manifested the Interlocutor (Moses), from Pharaoh's house in spit of his will; verily, We were able to do this. And remember when Nimrod kindled the fire of polytheism, whereby he would burn the Friend of God (Abraham). Verily, We calmed the fire by the truth and brought upon Nimrod manifest grief. Say: Verily, the oppressor (King of Persia) slew the Beloved of the worlds (the Báb) that he mighty thereby extinguish the light of God among His creatures and hinder mankind from the pure water of life in the days of his Lord, the Mighty, the Kind. We have made the matter manifest in the country and elevated His mention (the Báb's) among the unitarians. Say: The Servant hath assuredly come to vivify the world and bring to union whosoever is upon the surface of the earth. That which God willeth shall overcome and thou shalt see the earth as the garden of El-Abha; thus hath it been written by the Pen of Command in an irrevocable Tablet. Leave the mention of the Chief; then mention the Friend who became accustomed to the love of God and separated Himself from those who associated other things with God and were lost. He rent asunder the veils in such wise that the people of paradise heard the rending thereof. Glory be to God, the King, the Knower, the Wise. O Dove! Hear the voice of El-Abha in this night whereon the military officers were assembled against Us, while We were in great joy. O that Our blood might be shed on the surface of the earth in the way of God and that We might be cast on the ground, for this is My desire and the desire of him who hath Me in view and who hath ascended unto My kingdom, the marvellous, the most wonderful. Know then, O servant, that one day We found the friends of

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God confronted by transgressors. The troops beset all gates and prevented the servants of God from entrance and exit, and were of the oppressors. And the friends of God and His family were left without food in the first night. Thus did it befall those for whose sake was created the world and what is therein. Shame upon them, and upon those who command them to do evil! And God shall consume their lives with fire— and verily, He is the fiercest of avengers. Men gathered around the house and the eyes of Islám and the Christians wept and the sound of wailing arose betwixt heaven and earth, because of that which the oppressors had wrought. Verily, We found the Assembly of the Son (Christians) more bitter in their weeping than those of other creeds, and therein are indeed signs to the thoughtful. And one from among the friends has sacrificed himself and cut his throat by his own hand from the love of God. This is the like of which We have not heard from former ages. This is what God hath set apart for this Manifestation as showing forth His Power, for, verily, He is the Mighty, the Powerful. And he whose throat was cut in Iráq (Baghdád), verily, he is the beloved of martyrs and their sultán. And that which appeared from him was the proof of God unto all creatures. The beloved of God are those in whom the Word of God taketh effect and who taste the sweetness of commemoration, and upon whom the fragrance of union hath taken hold in such wise that they separate themselves from whosoever is upon the earth and advance to the Face with brilliant countenances; and though they have committed that which God never permitted, yet God pardoneth them as a favor on His part; verily, He is the pardoner, the merciful. The attraction of the Most Powerful hath overpowered them in such wise that it seized from their hands the reins of option, until they ascended into the station of presence and disclosure, before God, the Precious, the Wise. Say: the Servant hath left this world, but He put every tree and stone in charge of the trust which God shall bring forth with the truth. Thus the True One hath come and the matter hath been decreed on the part of the Designer, the Wise, whose commands the hosts of heaven and earth could not withstand, nor could all the kings and rulers withhold Him from that which He willeth. Say: Calamities are as oil for this lamp and through them its light increaseth, were ye of those who know. Say: All oppositions displayed by the oppressors are indeed as heralds to this matter and by such the appearance of God and His affair have been widely spread among the people of the world. Blessed are ye by reason of that whereby ye left your homes and travelled over the country for the love of God, your Lord, the Mighty, the Pre-existent, until ye came and entered into the Land of Mystery (Adrianople) on a day wherein the fire of oppression was kindling and the raven of separation was crying out. Ye are the participators in My calamities, because ye were with us on a night wherein the hearts of the unitarians were disturbed. Ye entered the land in Our love, and ye left it by Our command. By God, it beseemeth the earth, through you, to make itself great against heaven! How precious is this great and exalted beauty! O ye birds of Eternity, ye were withheld from your nests in the Cause of the Lord, the Unconstrained. Verily, He will make for you lodgings under the wings of the grace of your Lord, the Merciful. Blessed are they who know. O victim of Mine! The Spirit is to thee and to him who rejoiceth by thee and from thee findeth My fragrance and heareth that by reason of which the hearts of the seekers are purified. Thank thou God for that through which thou hast reached the shore of the Most Great Sea and heard the cry of all particles, saying: "This is the Beloved of the World! And the people of the world oppress Him and do not know Him whom they call upon at all times." Those who are heedless and who turned away from Him (the Báb) for the sake of whose Beloved they should sacrifice themselves, are in great loss. How much more then for His brilliant and shining perfection? Although thine heart would assuredly melt at separation from God, be patient, for

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thou hast with Him a great station. Rather, shalt thou stand before the Face, and We will speak to thee with the tongue of might and power, that which the ears of the sincere were withheld from hearing. Say: Should He speak one word, verily it would be of greater sweetness than the words of all the people of the world. This is a Day unto which had Mohamet, the Prophet of God, attained, He would assuredly say: "We have known Thee, O Desire of all the Apostles!" And had the Friend of God, Abraham, attained it, He would have placed His face upon the earth, humbling Himself, before God, saying: "My heart is at peace, O God of whosoever is in earth and heaven. And Thou hast caused me to behold the kingdom of Thy Command and the dominion of Thy Might; and I bear witness that at Thy Manifestation the hearts of those who advance are at peace!" Had the Interlocutor (Moses) attained it, He would surely say: "Praise be to Thee for that Thou hast shown Me Thy Beauty and hast made Me of those who commune with Thee." Reflect upon the people and their condition and that which cometh forth from their mouths and what their hands have wrought in this blessed, holy and wonderful Day. Verily, they who did not obey the Command but turned to Satan are of those who are cursed by all things and they are of the people of fire. He who heareth My voice will not be affect whatever by the voice of the people of the world; and he in whom the voice of aught that is beside Me taketh effect, verily, he did not hear My voice; he is indeed deprived of My Kingdom and the empires of My greatness and might and is of those who lose. Grieve not because of that which hath befallen thee. Verily thou hast forborne for the sake of My love what the majority of the servants have never borne; and thy Lord is the All-Knowing, the Informed. And He hath accompanied thee in the courts of law and heard that which hath flowed from the water of thy pen in commemoration of thy Lord, the Merciful. Verily, this is naught but a manifest grace. And God shall raise up one among the kings who shall succor His saints, for He compasseth all things. And He shall put into the hearts of men the love of His saints and this is a decree on the part of the Mighty, the Beautiful. We ask God to make, through thy cry, the breasts of all the servants dilated with joy and to make thee the standard of guidance throughout the empire, and by thee to render the weak victorious. Thou shalt pay no attention to the grunts of the grunters, but leave them to thy Lord, the Pardoner, the Generous. Relate to My beloved the stories of the Servant, of that which Thou hast learned and heard; then deliver to them what We have delivered to thee; verily, thy God will strengthen thee at all times, and He is thy guard. The Supreme Assembly shall magnify thee and the family of God and His household, the leaves who go around the Tree, shall praise thee and remember thee with a marvellous remembrance. O Pen of Revelation! Remind him whose letter hath come before the Face in this somber night and who travelled over the country until he arrived and entered the city for the purpose of seeking refuge under the protection of the mercy of his Lord, the Mighty, the Powerful,— in which city he spent the night, awaiting the grace of his Lord; and in the morning, by the command of God, he left the city, on which occasion the servant became sad; and God is a witness to all that I say, saying: "Blessed thou art for that by reason of which thou hast received the wine of revelation from the hand of the Merciful in such wise as made thee deny thine own comfort, and because thou art of those who hasten to the region of Paradise, the day-spring of the signs of thy Lord, the Precious, the Peerless." What a victory it is to him who hath drunk the wine of knowledge from the Countenance of his Lord, and who drinketh again the pure sweetness of this wine! By God, through this wine will the unitarians soar to the heaven of

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greatness and glory, and imagination will be altered to reality. Grieve not because of that which hath befallen thee. Rely upon God, the Mighty, the Learned, the Wise; and let the corners of the house be founded upon the Books of Revelation; then mention thy Lord and He will make you dispense with all the people of the world. Verily, He chooseth whom He willeth and He is indeed the Beloved of the devout. By God, the Supreme Assembly seeth you and pointeth to you; thus the grace of your Lord hath encompassed you. O would that the people knew that whereof they are neglectful in the Day of God, the Mighty, the Extolled! Give thanks unto God, inasmuch as He hath strengthened thee with the knowledge of Himself and caused thee to enter into His protection on a Day whereon the unbelievers encompassed the people of God and His saints and drove them forth from their houses with evident tyranny. And they desired to bring about a separation between us on the shore of the sea; and verily thy Lord is aware of that which is in the breasts of the unbelievers. Say: Though ye cut off our limbs, the love of God will not depart from our hearts! Verily, we were created for sacrifice; therefore we glory over the worms. H. M. Balyuzi, Bahá'u'lláh: King of Glory, 469: `Alí Páshá, Muhammad Amin Muhammad Amin `Alí Páshá was born in Istanbul in February 1815, the son of a shopkeeper. Because he had acquired a knowledge of French, he was able to obtain a post in the translation bureau of the Ottoman government in 1833. He was sent on several foreign missions and was the Turkish ambassador in London, 1838-9. In 1840, he became Minister of Foreign Affairs for a short time and returned to this position in 1846 under Rashid Páshá. In 1852 he became Grand Vizier for a few months and then, in 1854, he was again appointed Foreign Minister and, in 1855, Grand Vizier (until the following year). He continued in high office for most of the rest of his life, being Foreign Minister in 1857-8, July 1861 and November 1861 to 1867, and Grand Vizier in 1858-9, 1861 and 1867-71. After Fu'ád Páshá's death in 1869, he combined the posts of Foreign Minister and Grand Vizier. He was a successful diplomat and one of a small group of Turkish statesmen determined to steer Turkey into the nineteenth century, but he tended to be authoritarian and overbearing in his personal manner. He died on 7 September 1871 after three months of illness. Adib Taherzadeh, Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh vol. 1, 225-7 passim: At the time that the companions of Bahá'u'lláh in Baghdád were basking in the sunshine of His presence and the fortunes of the Faith had begun to rise, a campaign of opposition and enmity towards its Author was mounting. The machinations of a number of the ulamá, headed by the crafty and evil-minded Shaykh Abdu'l-Husayn, and ably assisted by the scheming Mírzá Buzurg Khán, the Persian Consul-General in Baghdád to whom reference has been made in a previous chapter, were now beginning to have effect. Their letters of calumny and accusation against Bahá'u'lláh, in which they grossly misrepresented His Cause, were influencing the tyrannical Násiri'd-Dín Sháh. The Persian Foreign Minister, Mírzá Sa'id Khán, was greatly surprised by Bahá'u'lláh's steadfastness when he

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read the Tablet of Shikkar-Shikan which was addressed to him. He did not take any steps, however, to allay the Sháh's fears and suspicions, but instead unquestioningly carried out his orders. These were to instruct the Persian Ambassador in Constantinople, Hájí Mírzá Husayn Khán, the Mushiru'd-Dawlih, to persuade the Ottoman government to remove Bahá'u'lláh from Baghdád, mainly on the grounds that His presence in a city so close to the borders of Persia would exert a harmful influence upon its people. A special dispatch was sent from Tihrán to Constantinople, urging the Ambassador to meet Alí Páshá, the Grand Vizir of the Sultán, and Fu'ád Páshá, the Foreign Minister, to discuss the whole situation with them and obtain an order from the Sultán for the transfer of Bahá'u'lláh from Baghdád. ... In order to strengthen his case, Mírzá Sa'id Khán enclosed in this dispatch the original letter which Mírzá Buzurg Khán, the Consul-General in Baghdád, had sent through the Governor of KirmanSháh to the Sháh, and which contained alarming reports, lies and misrepresentations concerning Bahá'u'lláh. But reports of Bahá'u'lláh's outstanding qualities and attributes had from time to time reached the Sultán, who had been so impressed by these accounts that he resolutely refused to accede to the demands of the Persian government for the extradition of Bahá'u'lláh from his territory. Instead, through Alí Páshá he issued orders that Bahá'u'lláh proceed to Constantinople as a guest of the Ottoman government. A mounted escort was ordered to accompany Him for His protection. In the meantime the believers in Baghdád, unaware of such moves, were happy in their enjoyment of nearness to Bahá'u'lláh.... Adib Taherzadeh, Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh vol. 1, 244: The authorities in Baghdád were surprised that Bahá'u'lláh had not objected to the government's decision to invite Him to Constantinople. In fact, Alí Páshá's letter which was handed to Bahá'u'lláh in the mosque was couched in courteous language, and the Governor of Baghdád expressed his readiness to communicate any message He might wish to send to the Prime Minister, including that of declining the invitation. But Bahá'u'lláh accepted, requiring only that His family and a number of His companions accompany Him and that they be allowed a month to prepare for the journey. Adib Taherzadeh, Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh vol. 2, 55: When we look at the circumstances which had led the Ottoman Government to remove Bahá'u'lláh from Baghdád, we recall the outright refusal of that Government to hand Bahá'u'lláh over to the Persian authorities and its reluctance to banish Him from Baghdád. When Abdu'l-Bahá was in the Garden of Ridván prior to His departure for Constantinople, He wrote a letter to a relative in Persia in which He said that after bringing much pressure to bear upon the Ottoman Government, the Persian Ambassador Hájí Mírzá Husayn Khán became so frustrated by the Sublime Porte that he cut his relationships with his friends in government circles, stayed at home for seven days and refused to see any of the Sultán's ministers. At last Alí Páshá, a very close

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friend of his, found no alternative but to give in and order the removal of Bahá'u'lláh from Baghdád. Adib Taherzadeh, Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh vol. 2, 57: At last the machinations of Mírzá Husayn Khán yielded their fruit. Alí Páshá, the Prime Minister, presented a report to the Sultán informing him of the Persian Government's request that Bahá'u'lláh be banished either to Boursa or Adrianople. He asked the Sultán's approval for banishment to Adrianople and suggested that an allowance of 5,000 qurush per month be given to Bahá'u'lláh for subsistence, adding that during His stay in Constantinople He had been a guest of the Government. He also enclosed the list of all those who had accompanied Him from Baghdád to Constantinople. Adib Taherzadeh, Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh vol. 2, 398: Those mainly responsible for Bahá'u'lláh's final banishment were the Prime Minister, Alí Páshá, the Foreign Minister, Fu'ád Páshá and the Persian Ambassador, Hájí Mírzá Husayn Khán (the Mushiru'd-Dawlih). These three worked together closely until they succeeded in their efforts to banish Bahá'u'lláh to Akká and to impose on Him life imprisonment within the walls of that prison city. Bahá'u'lláh prophesied that Alí Páshá and Fu'ád Páshá would be struck down by the hand of God as a punishment for their action; we shall refer to their fate in the next volume. Adib Taherzadeh, Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh vol. 2, 401-2: While the authorities in Constantinople were actively engaged in their campaign of opposition to Bahá'u'lláh, Khurshíd Páshá, the Governor of Adrianople, did everything in his power to change their course of action but failed in his efforts. At last Alí Páshá, the Prime Minister, succeeded in securing from Sultán Abdu'l-`Azíz an imperial edict dated 5th Rabi'u'l-Akhir 1285 A.H. (26 July 1868) ordering Bahá'u'lláh's exile to the Fortress of Akká and His life imprisonment within the walls of that prison-city. In the same edict five others, mentioned by name, were to be exiled with Him. They were: the two faithful brothers of Bahá'u'lláh, Áqáy-i-Kalím and Mírzá Muhammad-Qulí, His faithful servant Darvísh Sidq-`Alí, the Antichrist of the Bahá'í Revelation Siyyid Muhammad-i-Isfahání, and his accomplice Áqá Ján Big. Mírzá Yahyá was condemned to life imprisonment in Famagusta along with four of Bahá'u'lláh's followers: Mírzá Husayn entitled Mishkin Qalam, Alíy-i-Sayyáh, Muhammad-Báqir-i-Qahvih-chi and Abdu'l-Ghaffar. Adib Taherzadeh, Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh vol. 2, 411-418: The Súriy-i-Ra'ís was revealed in honour of Hájí Muhammad Ismá'íl-i-Káshání, entitled Dhabíh (Sacrifice) and Anís (Companion) by Bahá'u'lláh. It is in Arabic and is addressed to `Alí Páshá, the Grand Vizir of Turkey. Dhabíh, unlike his half-brother Hájí Mírzá Ahmad, was a

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faithful believer and a man of piety. He arrived in Adrianople during the time that the House of Bahá'u'lláh was surrounded by soldiers. He therefore could not attain the presence of Bahá'u'lláh and was advised by Him to proceed to Gallipoli. Dhabíh wrote a letter to Bahá'u'lláh and this Tablet was revealed in his honour. It was after the Revelation of the Súriy-i-Ra'ís and with Bahá'u'lláh's permission that he attained His presence in the public bath in Gallipoli. The following is a brief account of the life and activities of Dhabih as outlined by Shaykh Kazim-i-Samandar in his memoirs:

...Hájí Muhammad Ismá'íl-i-Dhabih of Káshán was a brother of the late Hájí Mírzá Jáni. When the Báb was on His way to Tihrán, ... He honoured these brothers by staying in their home... In the early days of the Faith these two brothers worked together in the promotion of the Cause of God, until Hájí Mírzá Jáni was martyred. After the declaration of Bahá'u'lláh and as a result of much investigation and endeavour on his part, Dhabih became an ardent follower of Bahá'u'lláh. Since that time he engaged in teaching the Faith and transcribing the Writings. He travelled to Adrianople, but his journey coincided with the time of troubles and persecution in that land, a time when the house of Bahá'u'lláh and those of the believers were guarded by troops and no one was admitted. Dhabih and those who were with him proceeded to Gallipoli. The Súriy-i-Ra'ís was revealed in those days... After returning from this journey he devoted his time to teaching the Cause and diffusing the fragrances of God with the utmost vigour and steadfastness. He exerted such an influence in Tihrán that the Nayibu's-Saltanih arrested and imprisoned him. During the interrogations which ensued, Dhabih openly taught the Faith. The authorities took a photograph of him for presentation to the Sháh and copies of it are available from some of the friends. Lately he went via Qazvín to Tabríz where he passed away to the realms of eternity...

In one of His Tablets addressed to Dhabih, Bahá'u'lláh urges him to arise and teach His Cause, as God has created him for this purpose. In another Tablet addressed to Dhabih's son Ghulam-`Alí, Bahá'u'lláh states that Dhabih wished to lay down his life in the path of God and affirms that he had the station of a martyr in the sight of God and was honoured with the appellation Dhabih (Sacrifice) by the Pen of the Most High. The Revelation of the Súriy-i-Ra'ís began soon after Bahá'u'lláh left Adrianople in the village of Kásháníh and was completed at Gyáwur-Kyuy on His way to Gallipoli. The first part of this Súrih is addressed to `Alí Páshá, whom Bahá'u'lláh calls Ra'ís (Chief). This is one of the most challenging Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh, in which the Prime Minister is reprimanded by the Tongue of power and might. In its opening passage Bahá'u'lláh bids `Alí Páshá hearken to the voice of God, calling throughout earth and heaven and summoning mankind to Himself. He states that no power on earth can frustrate Him from proclaiming His Message, and in strong language He unequivocally declares that neither `Alí Páshá's opposition nor that of his associates can hinder Him from carrying out His purpose. He rebukes `Alí Páshá

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for having united with the Persian ambassador in committing that which had caused Muhammad, the Prophet of God, to lament in the most exalted paradise. He proclaims the greatness of His Revelation and the exalted station of its Author, affirms that should He unveil His glory which is kept hidden because of the weakness of man, the whole of creation would sacrifice itself in His path. In this Tablet Bahá'u'lláh identifies `Alí Páshá with those who denied the Manifestations of the past Dispensations and rose up against them. He recalls the arrogance of the Persian Emperor in the days of Muhammad, the transgressions of Pharaoh against Moses and the wicked acts perpetrated by Nimrod against Abraham. Addressing `Alí Páshá directly, Bahá'u'lláh asserts that his efforts to extinguish the fire of the Cause which the hands of God have ignited will be of no consequence; on the contrary they will help to fan it into flame. He prophesies that ere long it will encompass the whole world and that His Revelation will quicken the souls of all mankind. The Súriy-i-Ra'ís was revealed at a time when Bahá'u'lláh and His companions were outwardly afflicted with tribulations and indignities on the eve of their banishment to `Akká, yet from the Pen of the Most High these ominous warnings were issued to one who was the head of the Turkish Government at the time and the main perpetrator of the cruel injustices against Bahá'u'lláh.

The day is approaching when the Land of Mystery (Adrianople), and what is beside it shall be changed, and shall pass out of the hands of the king, and commotions shall appear, and the voice of lamentation shall be raised, and the evidences of mischief shall be revealed on all sides, and confusion shall spread by reason of that which hath befallen these captives at the hands of the hosts of oppression. The course of things shall be altered, and conditions shall wax so grievous, that the very sands on the desolate hills will moan, and the trees on the mountain will weep, and blood will flow out of all things. Then wilt thou behold the people in sore distress. [Bahá'u'lláh, quoted by Shoghi Effendi, The Promised Day Is Come, p. 62]

At one point in the Súriy-i-Ra'ís, Bahá'u'lláh turns His attention away from `Alí Páshá and addresses Dhabíh in words of loving-kindness and appreciation. He states that as the soldiers were keeping guard, He found Himself in a state of immense joy and gladness, for nothing would be more meritorious in His sight than martyrdom in the path of God. He recounts the tragic actions of the Government authorities when they sent troops to surround His residence and those of His loved ones, and states that the believers and His family were left without food on the first night of the siege, and in the following words, depicts the scenes of lamentation by the inhabitants of Adrianople on the day of His departure from the city:

The people surrounded the house, and Muslims and Christians wept over Us... We perceived that the weeping of the people of the Son (Christians) exceeded the weeping of others - a sign for such as ponder. [Bahá'u'lláh, quoted by Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, pp. 179-80]

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He describes the attempt by Hájí Ja'far-i-Tabrízí to take his own life because of the love he cherished for his Lord, testifies that such an act was `unheard of in bygone centuries'; it was an act that `God hath set apart for this Revelation, as an evidence of the power of His might'. [ibid., p. 180] He recalls a similar incident in Baghdád when Siyyid Ismá'íl of Zavárih had been so carried away by the ocean of love which surged within his heart as to take his own life by cutting his throat. Bahá'u'lláh declares that these souls were so magnetized by His love that they were driven by an uncontrollable urge to sacrifice their lives, and affirms that in spite of the fact that in so doing, they acted against His commandments, they are immersed in the ocean of His forgiveness and have attained an exalted station in the realms of God. In the Súriy-i-Ra'ís Bahá'u'lláh affirms that tribulations and sufferings inflicted upon the believers will act as oil for the lamp of the Cause of God and add to its radiance and glory. He states that the Cause is immeasurably great, that nothing can undermine its rise and establishment even though all the forces of earth and heaven league against it and the kings and rulers rise up to oppose it. He further prophesies:

Ere long will God raise up from among the kings one who will aid His loved ones. He, verily, encompasseth all things. He will instill in the hearts the love of His loved ones. This, indeed, is irrevocably decreed by One Who is the Almighty, the Beneficent. [Bahá'u'lláh, quoted by Shoghi Effendi, The Promiscd Day Is Come, p. 75]

So great is this Revelation that Bahá'u'lláh proclaims in the Súriy-i-Ra'ís:

Had Muhammad, the Apostle of God, attained this Day, He would have exclaimed: `I have truly recognized Thee, O Thou the Desire of the Divine Messengers!' Had Abraham attained it, He too, falling prostrate upon the ground, and in the utmost lowliness before the Lord thy God, would have cried: `Mine heart is filled with peace, O Thou Lord of all that is in heaven and on earth! I testify that Thou hast unveiled before mine eyes all the glory of Thy power and the full majesty of Thy law!'... Had Moses Himself attained it, He, likewise, would have raised His voice saying: `All praise be to Thee for having lifted upon me the light of Thy countenance and enrolled me among them that have been privileged to behold Thy face!' [Bahá'u'lláh, quoted by Shoghi Effendi, `The Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh', The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh, pp. 105-6]

One of the unique features of the Manifestation of God is that, unlike the human being, His thoughts and actions are not necessarily directed to the immediate issue of the time no matter how vital and pressing the situation may be. He can never be absorbed in one particular problem to the exclusion of others. For He does not abide in the world of limitations. Although He dwells on earth, He is animated by the Spirit of God and, as stated in Islám, `Nothing whatsoever keepeth Him from being occupied with any other thing.' [Qur'án, lv. 29. Quoted by Bahá'u'lláh, Kitáb-i-Íqán, p. 43 (Brit.), p.67 (U.S.)]

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This characteristic of the Manifestation of God is clearly demonstrated in the person of Bahá'u'lláh as He revealed the Súriy-i-Ra'ís in the midst of calamities and afflictions which even threatened His life and that of His family and companions. For in response to a question by Dhabíh, He describes the nature of the rational soul, and elucidates the conditions under which it can acquire different qualities. He explains that the soul may progress in two different directions. If it moves towards God it will acquire spiritual qualities, and after its separation from the body it will abide in the realms of God adorned with divine attributes. If it turns away from Him, however, it will become satanic and devoid of spiritual characteristics. Bahá'u'lláh dwells on this subject at great length; a detailed study of His explanations is beyond the scope of this volume. Concerning the significance of the Súriy-i-Ra'ís, Bahá'u'lláh in one of His Tablets revealed in `Akká states:

So blind hath become the human heart that neither the disruption of the city, nor the reduction of the mountain in dust, nor even the cleaving of the earth, can shake off its torpor. The allusions made in the Scriptures have been unfolded, and the signs recorded therein have been revealed, and the prophetic cry is continually being raised. And yet all, except such as God was pleased to guide, are bewildered in the drunkenness of their heedlessness!

Witness how the world is being afflicted with a fresh calamity every day. Its tribulation is continually deepening. From the moment the Súriy-i-Ra'ís (Tablet to Ra'ís) was revealed until the present day, neither hath the world been tranquillized, nor have the hearts of its peoples been at rest. At one time it hath been agitated by contentions and disputes, at another it hath been convulsed by wars, and fallen a victim to inveterate diseases. Its sickness is approaching the stage of utter hopelessness, inasmuch as the true Physician is debarred from administering the remedy, whilst unskilled practitioners are regarded with favour, and are accorded full freedom to act... The dust of sedition hath clouded the hearts of men, and blinded their eyes. Erelong, they will perceive the consequences of what their hands have wrought in the Day of God. Thus warneth you He Who is the All-Informed, as bidden by One Who is the Most Powerful, the Almighty. [Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, section xvi]

Adib Taherzadeh, Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh vol. 3, 34: In the early stages of His imprisonment in the barracks and soon after the death of three of His followers, Bahá'u'lláh revealed the momentous Tablet of Ra'ís in Persian, addressed to `Alí Páshá, the Grand Vizir of Turkey, who was His great adversary and the one who had brought about His exile to `Akká. Already, a few months earlier, on His way to Gallipoli, Bahá'u'lláh had addressed to `Alí Páshá a Tablet in Arabic known as the Súriy-i-Ra'ís. In it He had forcefully condemned the

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actions of the Grand Vizir as the main instigator of His exile to the prison city. Of the significance of this Tablet Bahá'u'lláh declares:

From the moment the Súriy-i-Ra'ís was revealed until thepresent day, neither hath the world been tranquillized, norhave the hearts of its peoples been at rest.Now, in the Lawh-i-Ra'ís, the second Tablet to `Alí Páshá, written from within the walls of the Most Great Prison, Bahá'u'lláh rebukes him further for his acts of cruelty and inhuman treatment.The tone of this Tablet is at once moving and tender...

Adib Taherzadeh, Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh vol. 3, 123: It should be noted here that in the Súriy-i-Ra'ís, revealed a few years before when He was on His way to `Akká, Bahá'u'lláh had foretold the calamities which were to befall the Turkish Government and people as a punishment from God for the cruelties they had inflicted on Him and His disciples. And later, in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas (The Most Holy Book), He made a further denunciation of the tyrannical regime in Turkey and prophesied its downfall. The murder of Sultán `Abdu'l-`Azíz in 1876 was the initial punishment, followed by the war of 1877-8 which brought victory to the Russians and set in motion the process of the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire. Adrianople was occupied by the Russians and no less than eleven million people were freed from the cruelties of that tyrannical regime. Tablet to Queen Victoria Adib Taherzadeh, Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh vol. 3, 109: His first Tablet to Napoleon III had been dispatched. The Súriy-i-Ra'ís in which `Alí Páshá, the Grand Vizir, had been severely rebuked and about which Bahá'u'lláh had testified that from the moment of its Revelation 'until the present day, neither hath the world been tranquillized, nor have the hearts of its people been at rest', had been revealed, and the prophecies it contained had been noted with awe and wonder. Furthermore, the process of the disintegration and rolling up of the old order had been set in motion when the summons of the Lord of Hosts to the kings and rulers of the world was either rejected or ignored. Also in that short period of time, the breaker of the Covenant of the Báb, Mírzá Yahyá, stigmatized by Bahá'u'lláh as the 'Most Great Idol' had been cast out with the hands of power and might from the community of the Most Great Name. Adib Taherzadeh, Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh vol. 3, 419: Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith, has also referred to the same subject. Citing some passages from the words of Bahá'u'lláh and `Abdu'l-Bahá, he writes:

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'Sultán `Abdu'l-`Azíz,' Bahá'u'lláh is reported by one of His fellow-exiles to have stated, 'banished Us to this country [Akká] in the greatest abasement, and since his object was to destroy Us and humble Us, whenever the means of glory and ease presented themselves, We did not reject them.' 'Now, praise be to God,' He, moreover, as reported by Nabíl in his narrative, once remarked, 'it has reached the point when all the people of these regions are manifesting their submissiveness unto Us.' And again, as recorded in that same narrative: 'The Ottoman Sultán, without any justification, or reason, arose to oppress Us, and sent Us to the fortress of `Akká. His imperial farman decreed that none should associate with Us, and that We should become the objectof the hatred of everyone. The Hand of Divine power, therefore, swiftly avenged Us. It first loosed the winds of destruction upon his two irreplaceable ministers and confidants, `Alí and Fu'ád, after which that Hand was stretched out to roll up the panoply of `Azíz himself, and to seize him, as He only can seize, Who is the Mighty, the Strong.' 'His enemies,' `Abdu'l-Bahá, referring to the same theme, has written, 'intended that His imprisonment should completely destroy and annihilate the blessed Cause, but this prison was, in reality, of the greatest assistance, and became the means of its development.' '... This illustrious Being', He, moreover, has affirmed, 'uplifted His Cause in the Most Great Prison. From this Prison His light was shed abroad; His fame conquered the world, and the proclamation of His glory reached the East and the West. "His light at first had been a star; now it became a mighty sun.' 'Until our time,' He, moreover, has affirmed, 'no such thing has ever occurred.'

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Lawh-i-Ra'ís [see also supplementary texts under "Lawh-i-Fu'ád"]

H. M. Balyuzi, Bahá'u'lláh: The King of Glory, 469: Alí Páshá, Muhammad Amín Muhammad Amín 'Alí Páshá was born in Istanbul in February 1815, the son of a shopkeeper. Because he had acquired a knowledge of French, he was able to obtain a post in the translation bureau of the Ottoman government in 1833. He was sent on several foreign missions and was the Turkish Counsellor in London, 1838-9. In 1840, he became Minister of Foreign Affairs for a short time and returned to this position in 1846 under Rashíd Páshá. In 1852 he became Grand Vizier for a few months and then, in 1854, he was again appointed Foreign Minister and, in 1855, Grand Vizier (until the following year). He continued in high office for most of the rest of his life, being Foreign Minister in 1857-8, July 1861 and November 1861 to 1867, and Grand Vizier in 1858-9, 1861 and 1867-71. After Fu'ád Páshá's death in 1869, he combined the posts of Foreign Minister and Grand Vizier. He was a successful diplomat and one of a small group of Turkish statesmen determined to steer Turkey into the nineteenth century, but he tended to be authoritarian and overbearing in his personal manner. He died on 7 September 1871 after three months of illness. Adib Taherzadeh, Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh vol. 3, 33-35: In the early stages of His imprisonment in the barracks and soon after the death of three of His followers, Bahá'u'lláh revealed the momentous Tablet of Ra'ís in Persian, addressed to `Álí Páshá, the Grand Vizir of Turkey, who was His great adversary and the one who had brought about His exile to `Akká. Already, a few months earlier, on His way to Gallipoli, Bahá'u'lláh had addressed to `Álí Páshá a Tablet in Arabic known as the Súriy-i-Ra'ís. In it He had forcefully condemned the actions of the Grand Vizir as the main instigator of His exile to the prison city. Of the significance of this Tablet Bahá'u'lláh declares: From the moment the Súriy-i-Ra'ís was revealed until the present day,

neither hath the world been tranquillized, nor have the hearts of its peoples been at rest. [2-5]

Now, in the Lawh-i-Ra'ís, the second Tablet to `Álí Páshá, written from within the walls of the Most Great Prison, Bahá'u'lláh rebukes him further for his acts of cruelty and inhuman treatment. The tone of this Tablet is at once moving and tender. In it Bahá'u'lláh refers to `Álí Páshá as one who considers himself to be the most exalted among men and Bahá'u'lláh, the supreme Manifestation of God, as the lowest of all servants. He identifies `Álí Páshá with those who had opposed the Manifestations of the past and had wrongly

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regarded them to be the cause of discord and dissension in older dispensations. He admonishes him for his ignorance and immaturity, and reveals for him his true status as a person ruled by the most abject of all created things - namely self and passion. This thought-provoking statement of Bahá'u'lláh denouncing self and passion as the worst of all human characteristics merits some explanation: we find similar statements in other Tablets also. Adib Taherzadeh, Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh vol. 3, 36-38: Returning to the Lawh-i-Ra'ís, Bahá'u'lláh in that Tablet rebukes `Álí Páshá for his cruelties in committing a number of innocent people including women and young children to the harsh life of a grim prison, expatiates on His own sufferings and those of His companions in that fortress, recounts the inhuman treatment meted out to everyone on the first night of their arrival in the barracks when the guards had refused to give them food or water, thereby causing unbearable hardship especially to mothers and their suckling babes, relates the tragic story of those two of His disciples who as a result of the prison's loathsome conditions were found dead locked in each other's arms, extols the spirit of love and devotion which two of His followers had manifested when they were prevented by the authorities from accompanying Bahá'u'lláh, describes other cruelties and deprivations to which the prisoners were subjected without any justification, and asserts that no measure of persecution will ever affect the believers, for they long to offer up their lives in the path of their Lord. Bahá'u'lláh informs `Álí Páshá that if he were to become vivified by the breezes of holiness which were being wafted from the glorious court of His presence, he would become so transformed as to renounce the world and long to dwell in one of the ruined quarters of the Most Great Prison. He narrates for him a story of His childhood, portraying in a dramatic way the instability and futility of this earthly life, counsels him not to rely on his pomp and glory as they will soon be coming to an end, reveals to him the greatness of His Revelation, points out the Páshá's impotence to quench the fire of the Cause of God, denounces him for the iniquities he has perpetrated, states that because of his cruelties, the Spirit of God has lamented, the pillars of His Throne have trembled and the hearts of His loved ones been shaken. He emphatically warns him that God's chastisement will assail him from every direction and confusion overtake his peoples and government, and affirms that the wrath of God has so surrounded him that he will never be able to repent for his wrongdoings or make amends. On this last point, Mírzá Áqá Ján, Bahá'u'lláh's amanuensis, asked Him what would happen if, after all, `Álí Páshá changed his attitude and truly repented. Bahá'u'lláh's emphatic response was that whatever had been stated in the Lawh-i-Ra'ís would inevitably be fulfilled, and if all the peoples of the world were to join together in order to change one word of that Tablet, they would be impotent to do so.

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Bahá'u'lláh in the Lawh-i-Ra'ís also states that at Gallipoli He sent a verbal message to the Sultán of Turkey through the Turkish officer in charge, who had promised to convey the message. He asked the Sultán to meet Him face to face for a few minutes in order that He might demonstrate to him the authenticity of His Mission. Bahá'u'lláh affirmed His readiness to produce anything that the Sultán considered to be a criterion for the truth of His Revelation. Should he fulfil this criterion through the power of God, then the Sultán should free all the innocent prisoners. Bahá'u'lláh explains that the only reason for this proposition was that a number of women and children were among the prisoners and had become the victims of tyranny and were afflicted with great hardship and suffering. He reiterates the basic principle that it is not befitting God to justify Himself to any man. For all the peoples of the world have been created to worship and obey Him. However, Bahá'u'lláh had consented in this case to allow the Sultán to seek from Him the truth of His Cause, so that the innocent might not suffer. But neither did the Sultán respond to this challenge nor did the above-mentioned officer send a report to Bahá'u'lláh. This was not the only time Bahá'u'lláh offered to establish the validity of His Cause for those who held the reins of power in their hands. A similar challenging proposition was made to Násiri'd-Dín Sháh of Persia in the Lawh-i-Sultán, a proposition which was ignored by him and the divines. John Hatcher, The Ocean of His Words, 126-131: Epistles to the Kings and Rulers The epistles to the kings and rulers vary in style and content according to the character of the recipient, something that demonstrates Bahá'u'lláh remarkable sensitivity to the personality of the individual recipients of these epistles. Begun in Adrianople after Bahá'u'lláh had proclaimed His identity to the Bábí community, these epistles formally and systematically proclaim to the world's religious and political leaders the advent and purpose of God's new Revelation. It is because of Bahá'u'lláh's revelation of these epistles that the house from which they issued forth was titled "the house of Amru'lláh (the house of "God's command"). [footnote (#24): See Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By 162.] The nature and power of these epistles is astounding; their very existence should inspire our wonder. What reaction did Bahá'u'lláh expect from the mighty and the powerful to whom He addressed these letters? Did He expect them to recognize His authority and accede to His advice? Did the leaders and rulers have any clear proof, or even a reasonable clue that Bahá'u'lláh was Someone to Whom they should pay careful attention? What effect did these letters have on the lives of these individuals? [footnote (#25): Excerpts from some of the more important of these epistles appear in The Proclamation of Bahá'u'lláh, a discussion of what happened to these figures after they received these epistles and what happened as a result of their rejection of Bahá'u'lláh's advice is found in Shoghi Effendi, The Promised Day Is Come.] The first thing we might notice is that these epistles are tonally distinct from one another; these are not form letters. However, there are some common ingredients among them. Each begins with a dear indication that the writer speaks with divine authority:

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Thus have the mighty verses of Thy Lord been again sent down unto thee.... [second epistle to Napoleon III] (Proclamation of Bahá'u'lláh 17) 0 Czar of Russia! Incline thine ear unto the voice of God. . . . (27) 0 Queen in London! Incline thine ear unto the voice of thy Lord, the Lord of all mankind ... (33) 0 King of Berlin! Give ear unto the Voice calling from this manifest Temple: Verily, there is none other God but Me, the Everlasting, the Peerless ... (39) Hearken ye, 0 Rulers of America and the Presidents of the Republics therein, unto that which the Dove is warbling on the Branch of Eternity: There is none other God but Me ... (63)

One noteworthy distinction we can observe in the style among these epistles is that Bahá'u'lláh seems more indirect and gentle with the two rulers who had been the most cruel to Him personally and the most inveterate enemies of the Faith in general: the Sháh of Persia (Násiri'd-Din Sháh) and the head of the Ottoman Empire (Sultán 'Abdu'l-Azíz). In both instances we might assume that this mild tone is due to their familiarity with Bahá'u'lláh as a prisoner and as a Bábí. Consequently, Bahá'u'lláh must now present Himself in a new light--as having acquired a new status. Therefore, He carefully explains to them why He now possesses an authority quite beyond their own. For example, He first reminds the Sultán that He (Bahá'u'lláh) did not seize the opportunity to present Himself to the Sultán to ask for assistance (as was the custom): [footnote (#26): See Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By 158 ff.]

Hearken, 0 King, to the speech of Him that speaketh the truth, Him that doth not ask thee to recompense Him with the things God hath chosen to bestow upon thee, Him Who unerringly treadeth the straight Path. (Proclamation 47)

And to Násiri'd-Dín Sháh Bahá'u'lláh explains that the authority with which He speaks is the authority of God:

0 King! I was but a man like others, asleep upon My couch, when lo, the breezes of the All-Glorious were wafted over Me, and taught Me the knowledge of all that hath been. This thing is not from Me, but from One Who is Almighty and All-Knowing. (Proclamation 57)

Another common ingredient among these epistles is some specific personal sign or evidence that Bahá'u'lláh is not an ordinary person. To Napoleon He reveals His awareness that the French monarch had cast behind his back "the Book of God" when it was sent to him "by Him Who is the Almighty, the all-Wise' (Proclamation 20). Even more mysteriously, this exiled Prisoner from a distant land quotes words that Napoleon had uttered in private to the Czar of Russia:

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0 King! We heard the words thou didst utter in answer to the Czar of Russia, concerning the decision made regarding the war (Crimean War). Thy Lord, verily, knoweth, is informed of all. Thou didst say: "I lay asleep upon my couch, when the cry of the oppressed, who were drowned in the Black Sea, wakened me." This is what we heard thee say, and, verily, thy Lord is witness unto what I say. (Proclamation 19-20)

To Czar Alexander II, Bahá'u'lláh is more gentle in tone, noting that when He (Bahá'u'lláh) was imprisoned in the Siyah-Chal, "one of thy ministers extended Me his aid" (Proclamation 27).[footnote (#27): See Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By 104.] Therefore Bahá'u'lláh's proof to this monarch relates to the Czar's piety: "We, verily, have heard the thing for which thou didst supplicate thy Lord, whilst secretly communing with Him" (Proclamation 27). Incredibly, Bahá'u'lláh goes on to remind the Czar that the prayer was answered. Bahá'u'lláh lets Emperor Francis Joseph know that He is aware of the emperor's pilgrimage to Jerusalem and explains to him the irony of his visit:

0 Emperor of Austria! He who is the Dayspring of God's Light dwelt in the prison of 'Akká, at the time when thou didst set forth to visit the Aqsá Mosque (Jerusalem). Thou passed Him by, and inquired not about Him, by Whom every house is exalted, and every lofty gate unlocked. (Proclamation 43)

Perhaps the most potent opening in these epistles is in Bahá'u'lláh's tablet to Pope Pius IX. Bahá'u'lláh alludes to Christian prophecy regarding the return of Christ, stating that the Second Coming has occurred, and asserting that the Pope is in danger of committing the same sin at this, the Second Coming, as did the Pharisees and the Sanhedrin at the first coming of Christ:

He, verily, hath again come down from Heaven even as He came down from it the first time. Beware that thou dispute not with Him even as the Pharisees disputed with Him (Jesus) without a clear token or proof (Proclamation 83)

Bahá'u'lláh continues in this vein, pointing out the irony that Christ lived among the poor while the Pope lives "in palaces," and reminding the Pope of the parallels between this advent and that of Christ. There are many other common ingredients that characterize these epistles to the mighty rulers of the earth. To some Bahá'u'lláh gives specific guidance. For example, He is frank in His assessment of their leadership. He compliments Queen Victoria on the abolition of slave trade and for having "entrusted the reins of counsel into the hands of the representatives of the people" (Proclamation 34), and yet He cautions her that, however fine her actions may be, "Man's actions are acceptable after his having recognized (the Manifestation)," [footnote (#28): Here Bahá'u'lláh is alluding to the principle He enunciated in the preamble to the Kitáb-i-Aqdas that it is incumbent upon all to (1) recognize the Prophet and (2) follow His commands, and that neither of these actions is "acceptable without the other" (Kitáb-i-Aqdas 11).] and He reveals a special prayer for her to say. For some He makes dire predictions and prophecies. He tells Napoleon III, "thy kingdom shall be thrown into confusion, and thine empire shall pass from thine hands, as a punishment for

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that which thou hast wrought. Then wilt thou know how thou hast plainly erred" (Proclamation 20-21). He forewarns Kaiser Wilhelm I that Germany, though now in prosperity, will twice experience warfare and carnage:

Be warned, be of them who reflect.... 0 banks of the Rhine! We have seen you covered with gore, inasmuch as the swords of retribution were drawn against you; and you shall have another turn. And We hear the lamentations of Berlin, though she be today in conspicuous glory. (Proclamation 39)

He repeatedly cautions Abdu'l-Azíz "not to entrust thine affairs of state entirely into another's hands. None can discharge thy functions better than thine own self " (Proclamation 51). There are many other observations we might make about Bahá'u'lláh's announcement of His station to these historical figures. Among the most interesting studies of these epistles is Shoghi Effendi's discussion of the subsequent history of these figures in The Promised Day Is Come. Especially enlightening is Shoghi Effendi's discussion of the specific predictions made by Bahá'u'lláh in these tablets and of how these prophecies become fulfilled in the lives of these recipients.

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Lawh-i-Fu'ád [see also supplementary texts under "Lawh-i-Ra'ís"]

(note: some of the following quotations are repetitive, e.g. parts of the Tablet to Queen Victoria have been published in Gleanings, Epistle..., and Proclamation.... Most are included anyway, since sometimes the translations differ slightly or Bahá'u'lláh quotes Himself marginally differently. General excerpts relating to all of the Tablets to the kings and rulers are put near the beginning, under the entry for the Lawh-i-Fu'ád.)

From Wendi Momen, A Basic Bahá'í Dictionary: 'Abdu'l-'Aziz. Sultan of the Ottoman Turkish Empire (ruled 1861-76) who banished Bahá'u'lláh from Constantinople (Istanbul) to Adrianople (Edirne) in 1863, and finally to 'Akká in 1868. The Sultan's decree condemned Bahá'u'lláh and His companions to permanent banishment and ordered that they be strictly confined and forbidden to associate with each other or with the local inhabitants. Bahá'u'lláh is reported to have said that in banishing Him without reason to the Most Great Prison ('Akká), 'Abdu'l-'Aziz's tyranny was worse than Násiri'd-Din Shah's. Bahá'u'lláh addressed the Sultan in two Tablets including the Suriy-i-Muluk (Tablet to the Kings), but he did not respond. 'Abdu'l-'Aziz was deposed and assassinated in 1876.

Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, 195-196 (print) and 124 (electronic): "Sultán `Abdu'l-`Azíz," Bahá'u'lláh is reported by one of His fellow-exiles to have stated, "banished Us to this country in the greatest abasement, and since his object was to destroy Us and humble Us, whenever the means of glory and ease presented themselves, We did not reject them." "Now, praise be to God," He, moreover, as reported by Nabíl in his narrative, once remarked, "it has reached the point when all the people of these regions are manifesting their submissiveness unto Us." And again, as recorded in that same narrative: "The Ottoman Sultán, without any justification, or reason, arose to oppress Us, and sent Us to the fortress of 'Akká. His imperial farmán decreed that none should associate with Us, and that We should become the object of the hatred of every one. The Hand of Divine power, therefore, swiftly avenged Us. It first loosed the winds of destruction upon his two irreplaceable ministers and confidants, 'Alí and Fu'ád, after which that Hand was stretched out to roll up the panoply of 'Azíz himself, and to seize him, as He only can seize, Who is the Mighty, the Strong." Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, 208 (print) and 131-132 (electronic): To `Alí Páshá, the Grand Vizir of the Sultán of Turkey He addressed, shortly after His arrival in `Akká, a second Tablet, in which He reprimands him for his cruelty "that hath made hell to blaze and the Spirit to lament"; recounts his acts of oppression; condemns him as one of those who, from time immemorial, have denounced the Prophets as stirrers of mischief; prophesies his downfall; expatiates on His own sufferings and those of His fellow-exiles; extolls

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their fortitude and detachment; predicts that God's "wrathful anger" will seize him and his government, that "sedition will be stirred up" in their midst, and that their "dominions will be disrupted"; and affirms that were he to awake, he would abandon all his possessions, and would "choose to abide in one of the dilapidated rooms of this Most Great Prison." In the Lawh-i-Fu`ád, in the course of His reference to the premature death of the Sultán's Foreign Minister, Fu`ád Páshá, He thus confirms His above-mentioned prediction: "Soon will We dismiss the one (`Alí Páshá) who was like unto him and will lay hold on their Chief (Sultán `Abdu'l-`Azíz) who ruleth the land, and I, verily, am the Almighty, the All-Compelling." Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, 231 (print) and 146-147 (electronic): Nor should, in a review of this nature, reference be omitted to those princes, ministers and ecclesiastics who have individually been responsible for the afflictive trials which Bahá'u'lláh and His followers have suffered. Fu'ád Páshá, the Turkish Minister for Foreign Affairs, denounced by Him as the "instigator" of His banishment to the Most Great Prison, who had so assiduously striven with his colleague `Alí Páshá, to excite the fears and suspicions of a despot already predisposed against the Faith and its Leader, was, about a year after he had succeeded in executing his design, struck down, while on a trip to Paris, by the avenging rod of God, and died at Nice (1869). `Alí Páshá, the Sadr-i-A'zam (Prime Minister), denounced in such forceful language in the Lawh-i-Ra'ís, whose downfall the Lawh-i-Fu`ád had unmistakably predicted, was, a few years after Bahá'u'lláh's banishment to `Akká, dismissed from office, was shorn of all power, and sank into complete oblivion. The tyrannical Prince Mas'úd Mírzá, the Zillu's-Sultán, Nasiri'd-Din Sháh's eldest son and ruler over more than two-fifths of his kingdom, stigmatized by Bahá'u'lláh as "the Infernal Tree," fell into disgrace, was deprived of all his governorships, except that of Isfahan, and lost all chances of future eminence or promotion. The rapacious Prince Jalalu'd-Dawlih, branded by the Supreme Pen as "the tyrant of Yazd," was, about a year after the iniquities he had perpetrated, deprived of his post, recalled to Tihrán, and forced to return a part of the property he had stolen from his victims. H. M. Balyuzi, Bahá'u'lláh: The King of Glory, 471: Fu'ád Páshá (Kececi-Zádih Muhammad) Fu'ád Páshá was born in Istanbul in 1815, the son of a famous poet and scholar, 'Izzat Mullá. He studied at the medical School where he learnt French. He spent three years as an army doctor and then switched to the Translation Bureau in 1937. He was sent on several important diplomatic missions until, in 1852, he was appointed Foreign Minister under 'Álí Páshá. He again served as Foreign Minister in 1855-6, 1858-60, 1861 and 1867, and as Grand Vizier in 1861-3 and 1863-6, alternating with 'Álí Páshá in these important posts. Fu'ád advocated the modernization of the Ottoman state and was also influential in the development of the Turkish language. He died on 12 February 1869 in Nice, France, of a heart condition. Adib Taherzadeh, Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh vol. 3, 87-88:

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Fu'ád Páshá, Foreign Minister of the Ottoman Empire, had been a close collaborator of the Grand Vizir `Álí Páshá in bringing about the exile of Bahá'u'lláh to `Akká and His imprisonment there. In 1869 Fu'ád Páshá was dismissed from his post and subsequently died in France, at Nice. We have already seen how and in what terms Bahá'u'lláh had addressed the Grand Vizir in the Súriy-i-Ra'ís and the Lawh-i-Ra'ís. Now He revealed the Lawh-i-Fu'ád, another Tablet of great significance, in which He severely rebukes Fu'ád Páshá, declares that God had taken his life as a punishment, and describes in strong terms the agony of his soul in facing the wrath of God in the next life for having inflicted such sufferings upon His Supreme Manifestation. In this Tablet Bahá'u'lláh foreshadows the downfall of `Álí Páshá and the Sultán himself in these prophetic words: Soon will We dismiss the one who was like unto him, and will lay hold on

their Chief who ruleth the land, and I, verily, am the Almighty, the All-Compelling. [5-1]

It did not take long after the revelation of this Tablet until `Álí Páshá was disgracefully dismissed from his post and died in AD 1871. At the same time a process of opposition to the Sultán was set in motion in Turkey which culminated in AD 1876 in his dethronement and imprisonment by revolutionaries; a few days later he was killed. As we shall see, the Lawh-i-Fu'ád was to play an important role in the conversion to the Faith of its foremost scholar, Mírzá Abu'l-Fadl. The Lawh-i-Fu'ád was addressed to Shaykh Káim-i-Samandar, a native of Qazvín. From Hatcher/Martin, The Bahá'í Faith: The Emerging Global Religion, 43-46 [note: this excerpt relates to all of the following Tablets to the Kings, not just to the second Tablet to Napoleon]: ...In the meantime, Bahá'u'lláh had again taken up the series of letters to the kings and rulers which had been interrupted by his departure from Adrianople. Individual letters were addressed to Emperor Louis Napoleon, Queen Victoria, Kaiser Wilhelm I, Tzar Alexander II, Násiri'd-Din Sháh in Persia, Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria, and the Ottoman Sultán, 'Abdu'l-'Azíz. In these letters Bahá'u'lláh called on the monarchs to join together in the creation of an international tribunal that would have the authority to decide on disputes between nations. This embryonic world government, he said, should be supported by an international police force maintained by the member states and used to enforce peaceful resolution of all international disputes. The letters also contained prescriptions for creating a sense of community among the peoples of the world. For example, Bahá'u'lláh called for the creation of an international auxiliary language, which would allow every society to maintain its own cultural identity while benefitting from the ability to communicate with all other races and nations. A compulsory

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educational system would assure worldwide literacy; an international system of weights and measures would create common standards for a global economic system; military expenditures would be sharply curtailed and taxation used for social welfare. The monarchs were urged to accept certain basic democratic principles of government in the conduct of their internal affairs. Owing to the close confinement of the exiles, these extraordinary messages were smuggled out of the prison in the clothing of sympathetic visitors. The French consul personally delivered Bahá'u'lláh's first communication to the Emperor Louis Napoleon. Powerful messages were also addressed to the leaders of the world's religions, including Pope Pius IX. Their principal theme was a challenge to ecclesiastical leaders to set aside dogma and attachment to their positions of secular leadership, and to examine seriously the claims Bahá'u'lláh put forward. It was primarily the clergy, the letters asserted, who had been the first to reject and persecute the founders of each of the world's religions. The letter to Pope Pius IX is particularly interesting to students of institutional history, because it outlines a prescription for actions many of which the Pope's successors have since found it impossible to avoid taking. The pontiff was called upon to surrender his temporal sovereignty over the Papal States to a secular government, to leave the seclusion of the Vatican palaces to meet with the leaders of non-Catholic faiths, to present himself before the secular rulers of the world and summon them to peace and justice, to divest himself of the excessive ceremonialism that had grown about his person, and to "be as thy Lord hath been." Similarly, the Catholic clergy were urged to Seclude not yourselves in churches and cloisters. Come forth by My leave, and occupy yourselves with that which will profit your souls and the souls of men. Thus biddeth you the King of the Day of Reckoning. Seclude yourselves in the stronghold of My love. This, verily, is a befitting seclusion, were ye of them that perceive it.... He that wedded not (Jesus) found no place wherein to dwell or lay His head, by reason of that which the hands of the treacherous had wrought. His sanctity consisteth not in that which ye believe or fancy, but rather in the things We possess. [footnote (#24): Cited in Bahá'u'lláh, The Proclamation of Bahá'u'lláh, pp. 95-96.] None of the letters received any significant response from those to whom they were addressed. Among the few recorded reactions was that of Queen Victoria, who is reported to have said merely: "If this is of God it will endure; if not, it can do no harm." [footnote (#25): Cited in Shoghi Effendi, The Promised Day Is Come, p. 65.] In time, however, the letters attracted attention because of the startling fulfillment of the individual prophecies they contained. [footnote (#26): In 1870, the year after the above-mentioned letter to Pope Pius IX was delivered, the pontiff found himself stripped of his role as an independent monarch. The forces of the Italian national revolution compelled him to surrender the Papal States to King Victor Emmanuel. The pope then withdrew into self-imposed retirement as the "prisoner of the Vatican." ] Emperor Louis Napoleon, seemingly the most powerful European ruler of the time, was warned that because of his insincerity and the misuse of his power:

thy kingdom shall be thrown into confusion, and thine empire shall pass from thine hands, as a punishment for that which thou hast wrought ... Hath thy pomp made thee proud? By my life! It shall not endure ... [footnote (#27): Cited in Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Bahá'í World Faith, p. 50.]

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Within two years the emperor had lost throne and empire in the entirely unforeseen debacle at Sedan, and was himself an exile from his native land. [footnote (#28): Alistair Horne, a leading scholarly authority on the events referred to, said "History knows of perhaps no more startling instance of what the Greeks called peripateia, the terrible fall from prideful heights. Certainly, no nation in modern times, so replete with apparent grandeur and opulent in material achievement, has ever been subjected to a worse humiliation in so short a time." The Fall of Paris (London; Macmillan, 1965), p. 34.] Subsequently, the conqueror of Louis Napoleon, Kaiser Wilhelm 1, who had just been made Emperor of a united Germany, received a similar warning. Pride and desire for earthly domination would bring against Germany "swords of retribution" that would leave "the banks of the Rhine covered with blood." Similar warnings were addressed to the Tsar of Russia, Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria, and the Persian Sháh. Particularly explicit were the warning letters to the Turkish Sultán 'Abdu'l-'Aziz and his prime minister, 'Alí Páshá, who held the life of the prisoner of Acre in their hands. These letters predicted the deaths of both 'Ali Páshá and his colleague, Fu'ád Páshá, who was foreign minister, the loss of Turkey's European dominions, and the fall of the Sultán himself. The fulfillment of all of these predictions significantly enhanced the prestige which was steadily growing around Bahá'u'lláh's name. [footnote (#29): Shoghi Effendi devoted an entire book to this subject, The Promised Day Is Come. A prominent Muslim academic who was to become the greatest scholar of the Bahá'í Faith in the Near East, Mírzá Abu'l-Fadl, was converted on seeing the fulfillment of these predictions.]

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Súriy-i-Mulúk, Surat al-Mulúk (Tablet to the Kings, Súrih of the Kings)

Many portions of the Tablet have been translated in Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh: LXV, LXVI, CXIII, CXIV, CXVI

(quoted by the Guardian in Promised Day is Come 23-24), and CXVIII

(quoted by the Guardian in Promised Day is Come 21-22). Another excerpt, from the Proclamation of Bahá'u'lláh, is included below.

Bahá'u'lláh, The Proclamation of Bahá'u'lláh, 45-54 (print) and 14-17 (electronic): Sultán Abdu'l-`Azíz HEARKEN, O King, to the speech of Him that speaketh the truth, Him that doth not ask thee to recompense Him with the things God hath chosen to bestow upon thee, Him Who unerringly treadeth the straight Path. He it is Who summoneth thee unto God, thy Lord, Who showeth thee the right course, the way that leadeth to true felicity, that haply thou mayest be of them with whom it shall be well. Beware, O King, that thou gather not around thee such ministers as follow the desires of a corrupt inclination, as have cast behind their backs that which hath been committed into their hands and manifestly betrayed their trust. Be bounteous to others as God hath been bounteous to thee, and abandon not the interests of thy people to the mercy of such ministers as these. Lay not aside the fear of God, and be thou of them that act uprightly. Gather around thee those ministers from whom thou canst perceive the fragrance of faith and of justice, and take thou counsel with them, and choose whatever is best in thy sight, and be of them that act generously. Know thou for a certainty that whoso disbelieveth in God is neither trustworthy nor truthful. This, indeed, is the truth, the undoubted truth. He that acteth treacherously towards God will, also, act treacherously towards his king. Nothing whatever can deter such a man from evil, nothing can hinder him from betraying his neighbour, nothing can induce him to walk uprightly. Take heed that thou resign not the reins of the affairs of thy state into the hands of others, and repose not thy confidence in ministers unworthy of thy trust, and be not of them that live in heedlessness. Shun them whose hearts are turned away from thee, and place not thy confidence in them, and entrust them not with thy affairs and the affairs of such as profess thy faith. Beware that thou allow not the wolf to become the shepherd of God's flock, and surrender not the fate of His loved ones to the mercy of the malicious. Expect not that they who violate the ordinances of God will be trustworthy or sincere in the faith they profess. Avoid them, and preserve strict guard over thyself, lest their devices and mischief hurt thee. Turn away from them, and fix thy gaze upon God, thy Lord, the All-Glorious, the Most Bountiful. He that giveth up himself wholly to God, God shall, assuredly, be with him; and he that placeth his complete trust in God, God shall, verily, protect him from whatsoever may harm him, and shield him from the wickedness of every evil plotter.

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Wert thou to incline thine ear unto My speech and observe My counsel, God would exalt thee to so eminent a position that the designs of no man on the whole earth could ever touch or hurt thee. Observe, O King, with thine inmost heart and with thy whole being, the precepts of God, and walk not in the paths of the oppressor. Seize thou, and hold firmly within the grasp of thy might, the reins of the affairs of thy people, and examine in person whatever pertaineth unto them. Let nothing escape thee, for therein lieth the highest good. Render thanks unto God for having chosen thee out of the whole world, and made thee king over them that profess thy faith. It well beseemeth thee to appreciate the wondrous favours with which God hath favoured thee, and to magnify continually His name. Thou canst best praise Him if thou lovest His loved ones, and dost safeguard and protect His servants from the mischief of the treacherous, that none may any longer oppress them. Thou shouldst, moreover, arise to enforce the law of God amongst them, that thou mayest be of those who are firmly established in His law. Shouldst thou cause rivers of justice to spread their waters amongst thy subjects, God would surely aid thee with the hosts of the unseen and of the seen and would strengthen thee in thine affairs. No God is there but Him. All creation and its empire are His. Unto Him return the works of the faithful. Place not thy reliance on thy treasures. Put thy whole confidence in the grace of God, thy Lord. Let Him be thy trust in whatever thou doest, and be of them that have submitted themselves to His Will. Let Him be thy helper and enrich thyself with His treasures, for with Him are the treasúries of the heavens and of the earth. He bestoweth them upon whom He will, and from whom He will He withholdeth them. There is none other God but Him, the All-Possessing, the All-Praised. All are but paupers at the door of His mercy; all are helpless before the revelation of His sovereignty, and beseech His favours. Overstep not the bounds of moderation, and deal justly with them that serve thee. Bestow upon them according to their needs and not to the extent that will enable them to lay up riches for themselves, to deck their persons, to embellish their homes, to acquire the things that are of no benefit unto them, and to be numbered with the extravagant. Deal with them with undeviating justice, so that none among them may either suffer want, or be pampered with luxuries. This is but manifest justice. Allow not the abject to rule over and dominate them who are noble and worthy of honour, and suffer not the high-minded to be at the mercy of the contemptible and worthless, for this is what We observed upon Our arrival in the City (Constantinople), and to it We bear witness. We found among its inhabitants some who were possessed of an affluent fortune and lived in the midst of excessive riches, whilst others were in dire want and abject poverty. This ill beseemeth thy sovereignty, and is unworthy of thy rank. Let My counsel be acceptable to thee, and strive thou to rule with equity among men, that God may exalt thy name and spread abroad the fame of thy justice in all the world. Beware lest thou aggrandize thy ministers at the expense of thy subjects. Fear the sighs of the poor and of the upright in heart who, at every break of day, bewail their plight, and be unto them a benignant

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sovereign. They, verily, are thy treasures on earth. It behoveth thee, therefore, to safeguard thy treasures from the assaults of them who wish to rob thee. Inquire into their affairs, and ascertain, every year, nay every month, their condition, and be not of them that are careless of their duty. Set before thine eyes God's unerring Balance and, as one standing in His Presence, weigh in that Balance thine actions every day, every moment of thy life. Bring thyself to account ere thou art summoned to a reckoning, on the Day when no man shall have strength to stand for fear of God, the Day when the hearts of the heedless ones shall be made to tremble. It behoveth every king to be as bountiful as the sun, which fostereth the growth of all beings, and giveth to each its due, whose benefits are not inherent in itself, but are ordained by Him Who is the Most Powerful, the Almighty. The king should be as generous, as liberal in his mercy as the clouds, the outpourings of whose bounty are showered upon every land, by the behest of Him Who is the Supreme Ordainer, the All-Knowing. Have a care not to entrust thine affairs of state entirely into another's hands. None can discharge thy functions better than thine own self. Thus do We make clear unto thee Our words of wisdom, and send down upon thee that which can enable thee to pass over from the left hand of oppression to the right hand of justice, and approach the resplendent ocean of His favours. Such is the path which the kings that were before thee have trodden, they that acted equitably towards their subjects, and walked in the ways of undeviating justice. Thou art God's shadow on earth. Strive, therefore, to act in such a manner as befitteth so eminent, so august a station. If thou dost depart from following the things We have caused to descend upon thee and taught thee, thou wilt, assuredly, be derogating from that great and priceless honour. Return, then, and cleave wholly unto God, and cleanse thine heart from the world and all its vanities, and suffer not the love of any stranger to enter and dwell therein. Not until thou dost purify thine heart from every trace of such love can the brightness of the light of God shed its radiance upon it, for to none hath God given more than one heart. This, verily, hath been decreed and written down in His ancient Book. And as the human heart, as fashioned by God, is one and undivided, it behoveth thee to take heed that its affections be, also, one and undivided. Cleave thou, therefore, with the whole affection of thine heart, unto His love, and withdraw it from the love of any one besides Him, that He may aid thee to immerse thyself in the ocean of His unity, and enable thee to become a true upholder of His oneness. God is My witness. My sole purpose in revealing to thee these words is to sanctify thee from the transitory things of the earth, and aid thee to enter the realm of everlasting glory, that thou mayest, by the leave of God, be of them that abide and rule therein.... Let thine ear be attentive, O King, to the words We have addressed to thee. Let the oppressor desist from his tyranny, and cut off the perpetrators of injustice from among them that profess thy faith. By the righteousness of God! The tribulations We have sustained are such that any pen that recounteth them cannot but be overwhelmed with anguish. No one of them that truly believe and uphold the unity of God can bear the burden of their recital. So great have been Our sufferings that even the eyes of Our enemies have wept over Us, and beyond them those of every discerning person. And to all these trials have We been subjected, in spite of Our action in

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approaching thee, and in bidding the people to enter beneath thy shadow, that thou mightest be a stronghold unto them that believe in and uphold the unity of God. Have I, O King, ever disobeyed thee? Have I, at any time, transgressed any of thy laws? Can any of thy ministers that represented thee in Iráq produce any proof that can establish my disloyalty to thee? No, by Him Who is the Lord of all worlds! Not for one short moment did We rebel against thee, or against any of thy ministers. Never, God willing, shall We revolt against thee, though We be exposed to trials more severe than any We suffered in the past. In the day-time and in the night season, at even and at morn, We pray to God on thy behalf, that He may graciously aid thee to be obedient unto Him and to observe His commandment, that He may shield thee from the hosts of the evil ones. Do, therefore, as it pleaseth thee, and treat Us as befitteth thy station and beseemeth thy sovereignty. Be not forgetful of the law of God in whatever thou desirest to achieve, now or in the days to come. Say: Praise be to God, the Lord of all worlds! Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh, 173-8 (print) and 96-99 (electronic) passim: Though Bahá'u'lláh had been banished from His native land, the tide of calamity which had swept with such fury over Him and over the followers of the Báb, was by no means receding. Under the jurisdiction of the Sultán of Turkey, the arch-enemy of His Cause, a new chapter in the history of His ever-recurring trials had opened. The overthrow of the Sultánate and the Caliphate, the twin pillars of Sunni Islám, can be regarded in no other light except as the inevitable consequence of the fierce, the sustained and deliberate persecution which the monarchs of the tottering House of Uthman, the recognized successors of the Prophet Muhammad, had launched against it. From the city of Constantinople, the traditional seat of both the Sultánate and the Caliphate, the rulers of Turkey had, for a period covering almost three quarters of a century, striven, with unabated zeal, to stem the tide of a Faith they feared and abhorred. From the time Bahá'u'lláh set foot on Turkish soil and was made a virtual prisoner of the most powerful potentate of Islám to the year of the Holy Land's liberation from Turkish yoke, successive Caliphs, and in particular the Sultáns Abdu'l-`Azíz and Abdu'l-Hamid, had, in the full exercise of the spiritual and temporal authority which their exalted office had conferred upon them, afflicted both the Founder of our Faith and the Center of His Covenant with such pain and tribulation as no mind can fathom nor pen or tongue describe. They alone could have measured or borne them. To these afflictive trials Bahá'u'lláh has repeatedly testified: "By the righteousness of the Almighty! Were I to recount to thee the tale of the things that have befallen Me, the souls and minds of men would be incapable of sustaining its weight. God Himself beareth Me witness." "Twenty years have passed," He, addressing the kings of Christendom, has written, "during which We have, each day, tasted the agony of a fresh tribulation. No one of them that were before Us hath endured the things We have endured. Would that ye could perceive it! They that rose up against us have put us to death, have shed our blood, have plundered our property, and violated our honor." "Recall to mind My sorrows," He, in another connection, has revealed, "My

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cares and anxieties, My woes and trials, the state of My captivity, the tears that I have shed, the bitterness of Mine anguish, and now Mine imprisonment in this far-off land... Couldst thou be told what hath befallen the Ancient Beauty, thou wouldst flee into the wilderness, and weep with a great weeping... Every morning I arose from my bed, I discovered the hosts of countless afflictions massed behind My door; and every night when I lay down, lo, My heart was torn with agony at what it had suffered from the fiendish cruelty of its foes." The orders which these foes issued, the banishments they decreed, the indignities they inflicted, the plans they devised, the investigations they conducted, the threats they pronounced, the atrocities they were prepared to commit, the intrigues and baseness to which they, their ministers, their governors, and military chieftains had stooped, constitute a record which can hardly find a parallel in the history of any revealed religion. The mere recital of the most salient features of that sinister theme would suffice to fill a volume. They knew full well that the spiritual and administrative Center of the Cause they had striven to eradicate had now shifted to their dominion, that its leaders were Turkish citizens, and that whatever resources these could command were at their mercy. That for a period of almost three score years and ten, while still in the plenitude of its unquestioned authority, while reinforced by the endless machinations of the civil and ecclesiastical authorities of a neighboring nation, and assured of the support of those of Bahá'u'lláh's kindred who had rebelled against, and seceded from, His Cause, this despotism should have failed in the end to extirpate a mere handful of its condemned subjects must, to every unbelieving observer, remain one of the most intriguing and mysterious episodes of contemporary history. The Cause of which Bahá'u'lláh was still the visible leader had, despite the calculations of a short-sighted enemy, undeniably triumphed. No unbiased mind, penetrating the surface of conditions surrounding the Prisoner of Akká, could any longer mistake or deny it. Though the tension which had been relaxed was, for a time, heightened after Bahá'u'lláh's ascension and the perils of a still unsettled situation were revived, it was becoming increasingly evident that the insidious forces of decay, which for many a long year were eating into the vitals of a diseased nation, were now moving towards a climax. A series of internal convulsions, each more devastating than the previous one, had already been unchained, destined to bring in their wake one of the most catastrophic occurrences of modern times. The murder of that arrogant despot in the year 1876; the Russo-Turkish conflict that soon followed in its wake; the wars of liberation which succeeded it; the rise of the Young Turk movement; the Turkish Revolution of 1909 that precipitated the downfall of Abdu'l-Hamid; the Balkan wars with their calamitous consequences; the liberation of Palestine enshrining within its bosom the cities of Akká and Haifa, the world center of an emancipated Faith; the further dismemberment decreed by the Treaty of Versailles; the abolition of the Sultánate and the downfall of the House of Uthman; the extinction of the Caliphate; the disestablishment of the State Religion; the annulment of the Shari'ah Law and the promulgation of a universal Civil Code; the suppression of various orders, beliefs, traditions and ceremonials believed to be inextricably interwoven with the fabric of the Muslim Faith—these followed with an ease and swiftness that no man had dared envisage. In these devastating blows, administered by friend and foe alike, by Christian nations and professing Muslims, every follower of the persecuted Faith of Bahá'u'lláh recognized evidences of the directing Hand of the departed Founder of his religion, Who, from the invisible Realm, was unloosing a flood of well-deserved calamities upon a rebellious religion and nation.

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Compare the evidences of Divine visitation which befell the persecutors of Jesus Christ with these historic retributions which, in the latter part of the first century of the Bahá'í Era, have hurled to dust the chief adversary of the religion of Bahá'u'lláh. Had not the Roman Emperor, in the second half of the first century of the Christian Era, after a distressful siege of Jerusalem, laid waste the Holy City, destroyed the Temple, desecrated and robbed the Holy of Holies of its treasures, and transported them to Rome, reared a pagan colony on the mount of Zion, massacred the Jews, and exiled and dispersed the survivors? Compare, moreover, these words which the persecuted Christ, as witnessed by the Gospel, addressed to Jerusalem, with Bahá'u'lláh's apostrophe to Constantinople, revealed while He lay in His far-off Prison, and recorded in His Most Holy Book: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the Prophets and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings!" And again, as He wept over the city: "If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, and shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation." ... And, finally, in the Lawh-i-Ra'ís we find these prophetic words recorded: "Hearken, O Chief ... to the Voice of God, the Sovereign, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting... Thou hast, O Chief, committed that which hath made Muhammad, the Apostle of God, groan in the Most Exalted Paradise. The world hath made thee proud, so much so that thou hast turned away from the Face through Whose brightness the Concourse on high hath been illumined. Soon thou shalt find thyself in evident loss... The day is approaching when the Land of Mystery (Adrianople) and what is beside it shall be changed, and shall pass out of the hands of the King, and commotions shall appear, and the voice of lamentation shall be raised, and the evidences of mischief shall be revealed on all sides, and confusion shall spread by reason of that which hath befallen these captives at the hands of the hosts of oppression. The course of things shall be altered, and conditions shall wax so grievous, that the very sands on the desolate hills will moan, and the trees on the mountain will weep, and blood will flow out of all things. Then wilt thou behold the people in sore distress." Thirteen hundred years had to elapse from the death of the Prophet Muhammad ere the illegitimacy of the institution of the Caliphate, the founders of which had usurped the authority of the lawful successors of the Apostle of God, would be fully and publicly demonstrated. An institution which in its inception had trampled upon so sacred a right and unchained the forces of so distressful a schism, an institution which, in the latter days, had dealt so grievous a blow to a Faith Whose Forerunner was Himself a descendant of the very Imáms whose authority that institution had repudiated, deserved full well the chastisement that had sealed its fate. From Wendi Momen, A Basic Bahá'í Dictionary:

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`Abdu'l-`Azíz. Sultán of the Ottoman Turkish Empire (ruled 1861-76) who banished Bahá'u'lláh from Constantinople (Istanbul) to Adrianople (Edirne) in 1863, and finally to `Akká in 1868. The Sultán's decree condemned Bahá'u'lláh and His companions to permanent banishment and ordered that they be strictly confined and forbidden to associate with each other or with the local inhabitants. Bahá'u'lláh is reported to have said that in banishing Him without reason to the Most Great Prison (`Akká), `Abdu'l-`Azíz's tyranny was worse than Násiri'd-Dín Sháh's. Bahá'u'lláh addressed the Sultán in two Tablets including the Súriy-i-Mulúk (Tablet to the Kings), but he did not respond. `Abdu'l-`Azíz was deposed and assassinated in 1876. From Wendi Momen, A Basic Bahá'í Dictionary: Súriy-i-Mulúk. Tablet of Kings. Revealed by Bahá'u'lláh in Arabic while He was in Adrianople, the Súriy-i-Mulúk is addressed to the kings of the world collectively. It proclaims the station of Bahá'u'lláh and puts forward His claims as the Manifestation of God for this age. Bahá'u'lláh, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, 68-70 (print) and 28-29 (electronic): His Excellency, the late Mírzá Husayn Khán, Mushíru'd-Dawlih,—may God forgive him—hath known this Wronged One, and he, no doubt, must have given to the Authorities a circumstantial account of the arrival of this Wronged One at the Sublime Porte, and of the things which He said and did. On the day of Our arrival the Government Official, whose duty it was to receive and entertain official visitors, met Us and escorted Us to the place he had been bidden to take Us. In truth, the Government showed these wronged ones the utmost kindness and consideration. The following day Prince Shuja'u'd-Dawlih, accompanied by Mírzá Safá, acting as the representatives of the late Mushíru'd-Dawlih, the Minister (accredited to the Imperial Court) came to visit Us. Others, among whom were several Ministers of the Imperial Government, and including the late Kamál Páshá, likewise called on Us. Wholly reliant on God, and without any reference to any need He might have had, or to any other matter, this Wronged One sojourned for a period of four months in that city. His actions were known and evident unto all, and none can deny them except such as hate Him, and speak not the truth. He that hath recognized God, recognizeth none other but Him. We have never liked, nor like We, to make mention of such things. Whenever high dignitaries of Persia came to that city (Constantinople) they would exert themselves to the utmost soliciting at every door such allowances and gifts as they might obtain. This Wronged One, however, if He hath done nothing that would redound to the glory of Persia, hath at least acted in a manner that could in no wise disgrace it. That which was done by his late Excellency (Mushíru'd-Dawlih)—may God exalt his station—was not actuated by his friendship towards this Wronged One, but rather was prompted by his own sagacious judgment, and by his desire to accomplish the service he secretly contemplated rendering his Government. I testify that he was so faithful in his service to his Government that dishonesty played no part, and was held in contempt, in the domain of his activities. It was he who was responsible for the arrival of

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these wronged ones in the Most Great Prison (Akká). As he was faithful, however, in the discharge of his duty, he deserveth Our commendation. This Wronged One hath, at all times, aimed and striven to exalt and advance the interests of both the government and the people, not to elevate His own station. A number of men have, now, gathered others about them, and have arisen to dishonor this Wronged One. He, nevertheless, beseecheth God—hallowed and glorified be He—to aid them to return unto Him, and assist them to compensate for that which escaped them, and repent before the door of His bounty. He, verily, is the Forgiving, the Merciful. H. M. Balyuzi, Bahá'u'lláh: King of Glory, 472-3: Husayn Khán, Hájí Mírzá, Mushiru'd-Dawlih Hájí Mírzá Husayn Khán, the Mushiru'd-Dawlih and Sipahsalar-i-A`zam, eldest son of Mírzá Nabi Khán-i-Qazvíní, was born in AH 1243 (1827-8). He was sent to Europe for his education but did not stay there long. In 1266 (1849-50) he was appointed Persian consul at Bombay by Mírzá Taqi Khán, and in 1271 (1854-5) became Consul-General at Tiflis. He was promoted to Minister at Istanbul in 1275 (1858-9), given the title Mushiru'd-Dawlih in 1282 (1865-6), and raised to the rank of Ambassador in June 1869. In November-December 1870, Násiri'd-Dín Sháh performed a pilgrimage to the sacred shrines at Karbila and Najaf. Mírzá Husayn Khán, as Persian ambassador in Turkey, made all the preparations for this journey and proceeded from Istanbul to meet the Sháh. The Sháh was very favourably impressed by his Ambassador, instructed him to accompany the royal party back to Tihran, and not long after, in September 1871 made him Minister or War with the title Sipahsalar-i-A`zam. In November 1871 he was formally appointed Prime Minister. His ministry was marked by a number of reforms but is chiefly remembered for the granting of the Reuter Concession in July 1872. He arranged for and accompanied the Sháh on, his first European tour in 1873. During their absence, however, opposition to Mírzá Husayn Khán mounted and when the Sháh landed at Anzali on his return to Persia, he was met by a deluge of demands for Mírzá Husayn Khán's dismissal. The Sháh although at first inclined to resist this, was eventually forced to relieve Mírzá Husayn Khán of his position in December 1873. He was made Minister of Foreign Affairs, and in the following year Minister for War as well. He accompanied the Sháh on his second European tour in 1878. In 1880, he became Governor of Qazvín and in the following year was sent as the Sháh's personal representative to the coronation of Tsar Alexander III. In 1881, he became Governor of Khurásán, but after only a little more than two months died suddenly on 14 November 1881. It is usually stated that he was poisoned. H. M. Balyuzi, Bahá'u'lláh: King of Glory, 476: Muhammad Khurshíd Páshá (Mehmed Hourshid Pasa) Muhammad Khurshíd Páshá was a minister and provincial governor during the reign of Sultán `Abdu'l-`Azíz and the early days of Sultán `Abdu'l-Hamid's reign. He had been a slave of Yahyá Páshá and had been trained in the secretariat of the Turkish Foreign Office. He served under Fu'ád Páshá in Syria. He was made Governor of Sidon and then of Erzerum. In 1863 he became Minister of Finance. During his term as Governor of Edirne (Adirnih), he was also

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Minister of Religious Endowments. He later spent periods of time as Governor of Ma'muratu'l-`Azíz and Sivas, and as Minister of Finance. He died 1878 in Ankara while he was governor of that city. Adib Taherzadeh, Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh vol. 2, 55-59: The Exile to Adrianople When we look at the circumstances which had led the Ottoman Government to remove Bahá'u'lláh from Baghdád, we recall the outright refusal of that Government to hand Bahá'u'lláh over to the Persian authorities and its reluctance to banish Him from Baghdád. When Abdu'l-Bahá was in the Garden of Ridván prior to His departure for Constantinople, He wrote a letter to a relative in Persia in which He said that after bringing much pressure to bear upon the Ottoman Government, the Persian Ambassador Hájí Mírzá Husayn Khán became so frustrated by the Sublime Porte that he cut his relationships with his friends in government circles, stayed at home for seven days and refused to see any of the Sultán's ministers. At last Alí Páshá, a very close friend of his, found no alternative but to give in and order the removal of Bahá'u'lláh from Baghdád. Now that Bahá'u'lláh was in Constantinople, the Persian Ambassador was making a desperate bid to misrepresent Him to the authorities and thereby secure their support for banishing Him further. The day after Bahá'u'lláh's arrival in Constantinople, the Ambassador sent Prince Shuja'u'd-Dawlih and Hájí Mírzá Hasan-i-Safá, the two most prominent men in his circle, to call on Bahá'u'lláh on his behalf. He expected that Bahá'u'lláh would return the call and see him in person, but he soon found that this was not going to happen. In those days it was customary for prominent guests of the Government, soon after their arrival in the capital, to call upon the Shaykhu'l-Islám, the Prime Minister and other high-ranking officials. It was on the occasion of these visits that people solicited all kinds of favours, made deals and secured the support of the authorities for themselves. Bahá'u'lláh refused to do this and did not even return the visits of some of the Sultán's ministers who had already called on him to pay their respects. Kamál Páshá and a few others went so far as to remind Him of this custom. Bahá'u'lláh responded by saying that He was aware of the practice but had no demands to make of anyone nor did He require favours from them; therefore there was no reason for Him to call. Bahá'u'lláh refers to this in the Súriy-i-Mulúk in these words:

Call Thou to remembrance Thine arrival in the City (Constantinople), how the Ministers of the Sultán thought Thee to be unacquainted with their laws and regulations, and believed Thee to be one of the ignorant. Say: Yes, by My Lord! I am ignorant of all things except what God hath, through His bountiful favour, been pleased to teach Me. To this We assuredly testify, and unhesitatingly confess it. Say: If the laws and regulations to which ye cleave be of your own making, We will, in no wise, follow them. Thus have I been instructed by Him Who is the All-

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Wise, the All-Informed. Such hath been My way in the past, and such will it remain in the future, through the power of God and His might.[l]

This attitude of detachment played into the hands of the Persian Ambassador who decided to introduce Bahá'u'lláh to the Sublime Porte as one who was arrogant and proud, considering Himself subject to no law. The Ambassador did this mainly through the influence of Hájí Mírzá Hasan-i-Safá. This was a man of learning who had travelled widely in Africa and Asia and had been living in Constantinople at the time that Hájí Mírzá Husayn Khán arrived there as Ambassador. He became an intimate friend of the Ambassador and was one of his closest confidants. Hájí Mírzá Hasan was also one of the leading figures among the Súfís of Constantinople and was highly respected in government circles, as in those days there was much regard for the Súfís in the country. During Bahá'u'lláh's sojourn in Constantinople Hájí Mírzá Hasan visited Him more than once. He became aware of Bahá'u'lláh's innate knowledge and when in His presence showed much respect and humility; but outside he worked against Him. Knowing that his word carried much weight at the Sublime Porte, the Persian Ambassador used Hájí Mírzá Hasan as a tool to circulate unfounded reports among the authorities about Bahá'u'lláh's conduct and His aspirations. Indeed this man assisted the Ambassador ably in his campaign to discredit Bahá'u'lláh and misrepresent His Cause. At last the machinations of Mírzá Husayn Khán yielded their fruit. Alí Páshá, the Prime Minister, presented a report to the Sultán informing him of the Persian Government's request that Bahá'u'lláh be banished either to Boursa or Adrianople. He asked the Sultán's approval for banishment to Adrianople and suggested that an allowance of 5,000 qurush per month be given to Bahá'u'lláh for subsistence, adding that during His stay in Constantinople He had been a guest of the Government. He also enclosed the list of all those who had accompanied Him from Baghdád to Constantinople. Immediately upon receipt of this report the Sultán endorsed these measures and the edict was issued the following day. Shoghi Effendi has summarized the events leading to Bahá'u'lláh's further banishment in these words:

No less a personage than the highly-respected brother-in-law of the Sadr-i-A`zam was commissioned to apprise the Captive of the edict pronounced against Him—an edict which evinced a virtual coalition of the Turkish and Persian imperial governments against a common adversary, and which in the end brought such tragic consequences upon the Sultánate, the Caliphate and the Qajar dynasty. Refused an audience by Bahá'u'lláh that envoy had to content himself with a presentation of his puerile observations and trivial arguments to Abdu'l-Bahá and Áqáy-i-Kalím, who were delegated to see him, and whom he informed that, after three days, he would return to receive the answer to the order he had been bidden to transmit. That same day a Tablet, severely condemnatory in tone, was revealed by Bahá'u'lláh, was entrusted by Him, in a sealed envelope, on the following morning, to Shamsí Big, who was instructed to deliver it

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into the hands of Alí Páshá, and to say that it was sent down from God. `I know not what that letter contained,' Shamsí Big subsequently informed Áqáy-i-Kalím, `for no sooner had the Grand Vizir perused it than he turned the colour of a corpse, and remarked: "It is as if the King of Kings were issuing his behest to his humblest vassal king and regulating his conduct." So grievous was his condition that I backed out of his presence.' `Whatever action,' Bahá'u'lláh, commenting on the effect that Tablet had produced, is reported to have stated, `the ministers of the Sultán took against Us, after having become acquainted with its contents, cannot be regarded as unjustifiable. The acts they committed before its perusal, however, can have no justification.' That Tablet, according to Nabíl, was of considerable length, opened with words directed to the sovereign himself, severely censured his ministers, exposed their immaturity and incompetence, and included passages in which the ministers themselves were addressed, in which they were boldly challenged, and sternly admonished not to pride themselves on their worldly possessions, nor foolishly seek the riches of which time would inexorably rob them. Bahá'u'lláh was on the eve of His departure, which followed almost immediately upon the promulgation of the edict of His banishment, when in a last and memorable interview with the aforementioned Hájí Mírzá Hasan-i-Safá, He sent the following message to the Persian Ambassador: `What did it profit thee, and such as are like thee, to slay, year after year, so many of the oppressed, and to inflict upon them manifold afflictions, when they have increased a hundredfold, and ye find yourselves in complete bewilderment, knowing not how to relieve your minds of this oppressive thought... His Cause transcends any and every plan ye devise. Know this much: Were all the governments on earth to unite and take My life and the lives of all who bear this Name, this Divine Fire would never be quenched. His Cause will rather encompass all the kings of the earth, nay all that hath been created from water and clay... Whatever may befall Us, great shall be our gain, and manifest the loss wherewith they shall be afflicted.

The night before His departure for Adrianople Bahá'u'lláh directed Nabíl-i-A`zam and Mírzá Áqá surnamed Muníb to travel to Persia in order to disseminate the news of Bahá'u'lláh among the Bábís, to teach them the Faith and help them to recognize His station. Others whom He dismissed from His presence that evening were Áqá Muhammad-Báqir-i-Káshání, Khayyat-Bashiy-i-Káshání, Áqá Husayn-i-Naraqi, Mír Muhammad-i-Mukari, and Áqá Siyyid Husayn-i-Káshání. The last-named had a great sense of humour and at times he used to come into the presence of Bahá'u'lláh and make Him laugh with some amusing remark. That evening witnessed a great commotion. The thought of separation from their Beloved plunged them into such grief that all the companions of Bahá'u'lláh were moved to tears. Knowing the vital need for someone in Constantinople to serve as a channel of communication for the believers in Persia and assist those who passed through the city, Bahá'u'lláh arranged for Áqá Muhammad-`Alíy-i-Sabbagh of Yazd to remain there. This believer stayed for about two

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years in Constantinople until others were able to take over his work. He then proceeded to Adrianople where he joined the exiles and was once again close to his Lord. Adib Taherzadeh, Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh vol. 2, 61-62: In the Súriy-i-Mulúk, addressing Sultán Abdu'l-`Azíz, Bahá'u'lláh speaks of His arrival in the city of Constantinople in conspicuous glory and His departure `with an abasement with which no abasement on earth can compare'. He also describes the manner in which He and His loved ones were banished to Adrianople and the sufferings they were made to endure on their way to that city and on their arrival there. These are some of His words: `Neither My family, nor those who accompanied Me, had the necessary raiment to protect them from the cold in that freezing weather.' `The eyes of Our enemies wept over Us, and beyond them those of every discerning person.' Adib Taherzadeh, Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh vol. 2, 301-332 passim: Súriy-i-Mulúk The unprecedented outpouring of the Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh which took place immediately after the downfall of Mírzá Yahyá reached its climax with the Revelation of the Súriy-i-Mulúk (Súrih of Kings). This most momentous of the Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh is chiefly addressed to the kings of the world collectively. Revealed in Arabic, it proclaims in unequivocal terms the claims of its Author and His station in language of might and power. To a sincere and unbiased observer, the opening paragraph alone portrays the authority and majesty of the One who announces Himself as the Vicegerent of God on earth and summons the kings and rulers of the world to renounce their possessions and embrace His Cause:

O Kings of the earth! Give ear unto the Voice of God, calling from this sublime, this fruit-laden Tree, that hath sprung out of the Crimson Hill, upon the holy Plain, intoning the words: `There is none other God but He, the Mighty, the All-Powerful, the All-Wise.'... Fear God, O concourse of kings, and suffer not yourselves to be deprived of this most sublime grace. Fling away, then, the things ye possess, and take fast hold on the Handle of God, the Exalted, the Great. Set your hearts towards the Face of God, and abandon that which your desires have bidden you to follow, and be not of those who perish. [Bahá'u'lláh, quoted by Shoghi Effendi, The Promised Day is Come, p. 20]

Bahá'u'lláh unveiled His station gradually and in stages. His Declaration took place in the Garden of Ridván in 1863. On that historic occasion, which may be regarded as the initial stage of His announcement of the advent of the Day of God, He revealed the transcendent glory of His station to only a few of His Companions.

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... The second stage in the revealing of the station of Bahá'u'lláh was its announcement mainly to the members of the Bábí community, through the Revelation of innumerable Tablets from Adrianople as well as the teaching exploits of some of His outstanding disciples. And now, the final stage was this majestic proclamation to the world at large through the kings and leaders who at that time wielded great power and, together with the ecclesiastical authorities, dominated the minds of their subjects. Centuries before, Muhammad had sent emissaries to rulers of some neighbouring lands announcing His mission and inviting them to embrace His Faith. Those whom Muslim historians have recorded as being addressed by Muhammad were the Sháh of Persia, the Negus of Ethiopia, the Emperor of Byzantium, the ruler of Egypt, the Governor of Damascus, and the Imám of Yamámah. The Báb, who had addressed the `concourse of kings and sons of kings' in His Qayyúmu'l-Asmá', and summoned them to deliver His Message to the peoples of the world, sent Tablets to only two monarchs of His day - Muhammad Sháh of Persia and Sultán `Abdu'l-Majíd of Turkey. Bahá'u'lláh, the Supreme Manifestation of God whose mission was to unite the human race under one universal Faith, issued His clarion call to the kings of the world collectively, proclaimed His Message, summoned them to embrace His Cause, urged them to carry out His counsels and warned them of the dire consequences of disobeying His exhortations. The study of the Súriy-i-Mulúk and of His subsequent Tablets to individual crowned heads of the world, brings to light remarkable features of Bahá'u'lláh's indomitable spirit, His courage and His uncompromising attitude in revealing the Truth enshrined within His Revelation. Any man who, over a century ago, addressed the potentates and monarchs of the world, especially such despots as Násiri'd-Dín Sháh of Persia and Sultán `Abdu'l-`Azíz of Turkey, needed to be a master in the art of diplomacy and to couch his words in such terms as to represent himself as a humble servant at their threshold. The pomp and majesty of the kings were so awesome that in most cases a stout-hearted man would feel inhibited to approach them or express his opinions, especially if they were not in conformity with those of the kings. No man of sound mind would have attempted, a hundred years ago, to address the kings in a language ringing with authority and command, especially if he were a prisoner captive in the hands of a despotic ruler. Who else but the Vicegerent of God on earth could have had such power and authority as to address the kings in the manner that Bahá'u'lláh would address them from Akká in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas:

O kings of the earth! He Who is the sovereign Lord of all is come. The Kingdom is God's, the omnipotent Protector, the Self-Subsisting. Worship none but God, and, with radiant hearts, lift up your faces unto your Lord, the Lord of all names. This is a Revelation to which whatever ye possess can never be compared, could ye but know it... Ye are but

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vassals, O kings of the earth! He Who is the King of Kings hath appeared, arrayed in His most wondrous glory, and is summoning you unto Himself, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting. Take heed lest pride deter you from recognizing the Source of Revelation, lest the things of this world shut you out as by a veil from Him Who is the Creator of heaven. Arise, and serve Him Who is the Desire of all nations, Who hath created you through a word from Him, and ordained you to be, for all time, the emblems of His sovereignty.

Some Important Themes of the Súriy-i-Mulúk The responsibility of the kings In the Súriy-i-Mulúk, Bahá'u'lláh admonishes the kings for their failure to heed the Message of the Báb. He addresses them in these words:

Relate unto them, O Servant, the story of `Alí (the Báb), when He came unto them with truth, bearing His glorious and weighty Book, and holding in His hands a testimony and proof from God, and holy and blessed tokens from Him. Ye, however, O kings, have failed to heed the Remembrance of God in His days and to be guided by the lights which arose and shone forth above the horizon of a resplendent Heaven. Ye examined not His Cause when so to do would have been better for you than all that the sun shineth upon, could ye but perceive it. Ye remained careless until the divines of Persia - those cruel ones - pronounced judgement against Him, and unjustly slew Him. His spirit ascended unto God, and the eyes of the inmates of Paradise and the angels that are nigh unto Him wept sore by reason of this cruelty. Beware that ye be not careless henceforth as ye have been careless aforetime. Return, then, unto God, your Maker, and be not of the heedless... [Bahá'u'lláh, quoted by Shoghi Effendi, The Promised Day is Come, pp. 20-21]

These words give us new insight into the fact that Bahá'u'lláh expected the kings, many of whom were uninformed of the Message of the Báb, to have investigated His claims and embraced His Cause. He does not entertain the thought that most of them might have been unaware of His coming or unfamiliar with His claims. On the contrary, He rebukes them for their ignorance and reveals for them the verses of God regardless of the fact that most of them were unfamiliar with His terminology. In summoning them to His Cause, He did not alter His usual style and mode of expression to suit the understanding of His readers. Thus He wrote: `Relate unto them, O servant, the story of `Alí when He came unto them with truth...' The kings ought to have known who `Alí was. It is the duty of man to follow the Word of God, to understand it, and to educate himself through it. Since the disciples of Bahá'u'lláh achieved this, it is expected that all men, regardless of their background and knowledge - and this includes the kings - are capable of grasping the utterances of Bahá'u'lláh which constitute the Word of God for this age.

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Bahá'u'lláh further rebukes the kings for not having recognized His own Revelation. He admonishes them to turn to Him in these words:

My face hath come forth from the veils, and shed its radiance upon all that is in heaven and on earth; and yet, ye turned not towards Him, notwithstanding that ye were created for Him, O concourse of kings! Follow, therefore, that which I speak unto you, and hearken unto it with your hearts, and be not of such as have turned aside. [ibid., p. 21]

In another passage, Bahá'u'lláh reminds the kings of their failure to prevent the enemy from persecuting Him and His followers. He thus rebukes them:

Twenty years have passed, O kings, during which We have, each day, tasted the agony of a fresh tribulation. No one of them that were before Us hath endured the things We have endured. Would that ye could perceive it! They that rose up against Us have put us to death, have shed our blood, have plundered our property, and violated our honour. Though aware of most of our afflictions, ye, nevertheless, have failed to stay the hand of the aggressor. For is it not your clear duty to restrain the tyranny of the oppressor, and to deal equitably with your subjects, that your high sense of justice may be fully demonstrated to all mankind?

Some outstanding features of the Súriy-i-Mulúk are Bahá'u'lláh's counsels to the kings. He outlines for them those qualities which must adorn every crowned head. Having counselled the rulers of the world, Bahá'u'lláh then issued an ominous warning:

If ye pay no heed unto the counsels which, in peerless and unequivocal language, We have revealed in this Tablet, Divine chastisement shall assail you from every direction, and the sentence of His justice shall be pronounced against you. On that day ye shall have no power to resist Him, and shall recognize your own impotence. Have mercy on yourselves and on those beneath you.

The call of Bahá'u'lláh and his summons to the kings fell on deaf ears. Consequently, mankind has increasingly experienced harrowing afflictions of war and the breakdown of order everywhere. The world has been plunged into such chaos and conflict that none may be found among its leaders, whether political or religious, who have the ability to rescue it from its doom and downfall. The sufferings and tribulations which have descended upon man, as foreshadowed by Bahá'u'lláh, are increasing day by day, and the process of the collapse of the old order is accelerating with the passage of time. Grievous as is the plight of humanity, more grievous still is the fact that the generality of mankind, its leaders and its wise men, have not been able to discover the cause of their sufferings and the reason for such conflict and disorder in the world. Only those who have recognized the station of Bahá'u'lláh and embraced His Faith know that these calamities are the direct

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consequence of the rejection of the call of Bahá'u'lláh by mankind in general and by the kings and leaders of the world in particular. They firmly believe that there is no refuge for man today unless and until he comes under the shadow of the Cause of God. Not only in the Súriy-i-Mulúk has Bahá'u'lláh warned mankind of the consequences of rejecting His call, but also in numerous Tablets revealed later He has clearly foreshadowed the torment and trials which would afflict an unbelieving humanity which turned away from its God and rejected His supreme Manifestation. These passages gleaned from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh portray the spectacle awaiting a world steeped in perversity and heedlessness:

`The time for the destruction of the world and its people hath arrived.' `The hour is approaching when the most great convulsion will have appeared.' `The Promised Day is Come, the day when tormenting trials will have surged above your heads, and beneath your feet, saying: "Taste ye what your hands have wrought!"' `Soon shall the blasts of His chastisement beat upon you, and the dust of hell enshroud you.' `And when the appointed hour is come, there shall suddenly appear that which shall cause the limbs of mankind to quake.' `The day is approaching when its [civilization's] flame will devour the cities, when the Tongue of Grandeur will proclaim: "The Kingdom is God's, the Almighty, the All-Praised!"' [Bahá'u'lláh, quoted by Shoghi Effendi, The Promised Day is Come, p. 1]

Although the present day and the immediate future, as foretold by Bahá'u'lláh, are calamitous and very dark, we are reassured by His promise that the distant future is so glorious that no man can as yet visualize it. He states:

After a time, all the governments on earth will change. Oppression will envelop the world. And following a universal convulsion, the sun of justice will rise from the horizon of the unseen realm. [ibid., p. 121]

And again:

The whole earth is now in a state of pregnancy. The day is approaching when it will have yielded its noblest fruits, when from it will have sprung forth the loftiest trees, the most enchanting blossoms, the most heavenly blessings.

Having familiarized the kings with His Message in the Súriy-i-Mulúk and having warned them of the terrible consequences which would follow if they paid no heed to it, the Tongue of Grandeur addresses Bahá'u'lláh in these words:

Warn and acquaint the people O Servant, with the things We have sent down unto Thee, and let the fear of no one dismay Thee, and be Thou not of them that waver. The day is approaching when God will have exalted His Cause and magnified His testimony in the eyes of all who are in the

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heavens and all who are on the earth. Place, in all circumstances, Thy whole trust in Thy Lord, and fix Thy gaze upon Him, and turn away from all them that repudiate His truth. Let God, Thy Lord, be Thy sufficing succourer and helper. We have pledged Ourselves to secure Thy triumph upon earth and to exalt Our Cause above all men, though no king be found who would turn his face towards Thee. [Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, section cxvi]

To the Christians A challenging call awaits the `kings of Christendom' in the Súriy-i-Mulúk:

O kings of Christendom! Heard ye not the saying of Jesus, the Spirit of God, `I go away, and come again unto you'? Wherefore, then, did ye fail, when He did come again unto you in the clouds of heaven, to draw nigh unto Him, that ye might behold His face, and be of them that attained His Presence? In another passage He saith: `When He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth.' And yet, behold how, when He did bring the truth, ye refused to turn your faces towards Him, and persisted in disporting yourselves with your pastimes and fancies. Ye welcomed Him not, neither did ye seek His Presence, that ye might hear the verses of God from His own mouth, and partake of the manifold wisdom of the Almighty, the All-Glorious, the All-Wise. Ye have, by reason of your failure, hindered the breath of God from being wafted over you, and have withheld from your souls the sweetness of its fragrance. Ye continue roving with delight in the valley of your corrupt desires. Ye, and all ye possess, shall pass away. Ye shall, most certainly, return to God, and shall be called to account for your doings in the presence of Him Who shall gather together the entire creation...

To the Sultán of Turkey The only monarch addressed individually in the Súriy-i-Mulúk is Sultán `Abdu'l-`Azíz of Turkey, whose royal edicts had caused Bahá'u'lláh to be confined in the city of Adrianople, designated by Him as the `remote prison', and later in the city of `Akká, the `Most Great Prison'. A great part of His address is translated into English. The opening passage alone demonstrates the majesty of Bahá'u'lláh. His words, uttered with divine authority, portray the King as a mere vassal:

Hearken, O King (Sultán `Abdu'l-`Azíz), to the speech of Him that speaketh the truth, Him that doth not ask thee to recompense Him with the things God hath chosen to bestow upon thee, Him Who unerringly treadeth the straight Path. He it is Who summoneth thee unto God, thy Lord, Who showeth thee the right course, the way that leadeth to true felicity, that haply thou mayest be of them with whom it shall be well. [ ibid., section cxiv]

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Bahá'u'lláh reproves the King for having entrusted his affairs to ministers who are not trustworthy and God-fearing. The corruption which existed in the court of the Sultán, coupled with an oppressive regime, had caused unbearable sufferings for Bahá'u'lláh and His companions. `Alí Páshá, the Grand Vizir, and Fu'ád Páshá, the Foreign Minister, in company with other men, had been the source of oppression and tyranny in that land. No wonder that Bahá'u'lláh, the Judge and the Counsellor for mankind, should have devoted a considerable part of His address to the Sultán admonishing him in these words:

Beware, O King, that thou gather not around thee such ministers as follow the desires of a corrupt inclination, as have cast behind their backs that which hath been committed into their hands and manifestly betrayed their trust. Be bounteous to others as God hath been bounteous to thee, and abandon not the interests of thy people to the mercy of such ministers as these. Lay not aside the fear of God, and be thou of them that act uprightly. Gather around thee those ministers from whom thou canst perceive the fragrance of faith and of justice, and take thou counsel with them, and choose whatever is best in thy sight, and be of them that act generously...

Take heed that thou resign not the reins of the affairs of thy state into the hands of others, and repose not thy confidence in ministers unworthy of thy trust, and be not of them that live in heedlessness. Shun them whose hearts are turned away from thee, and place not thy confidence in them, and entrust them not with thine affairs and the affairs of such as profess thy faith. Beware that thou allow not the wolf to become the shepherd of God's flock, and surrender not the fate of His loved ones to the mercy of the malicious. Expect not that they who violate the ordinances of God will be trustworthy or sincere in the faith they profess. Avoid them, and preserve strict guard over thyself, lest their devices and mischief hurt thee. Turn away from them, and fix thy gaze upon God, thy Lord, the All-Glorious, the Most Bountiful.

In addressing the Sultán, Bahá'u'lláh makes one of the most thought-provoking statements in this Tablet. He affirms:

Know thou for a certainty that whoso disbelieveth in God is neither trustworthy nor truthful. This, indeed, is the truth, the undoubted truth. He that acteth treacherously towards God will, also, act treacherously towards his king. Nothing whatever can deter such a man from evil, nothing can hinder him from betraying his neighbour, nothing can induce him to walk uprightly.

In order to appreciate this statement let us remember that many people whoso believe in God may be truthful and honest in a normal situation. But the real criterion of a man's truthfulness and honesty is his attitude at the time of temptation. When severe tests and trials

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descend upon man, the only thing which keeps him truthful is his faith in God. If he does not believe in God, there is no motivation within him to resist temptation. Bahá'u'lláh continues to offer His counsels to the Sultán with great mercy and compassion. ... To the ministers of the Sultán In the Súriy-i-Mulúk Bahá'u'lláh addresses the ministers of the Sultán, and reproaches them for their actions.... Bahá'u'lláh assures the ministers that His Mission is not to lay His hands on their treasures and earthly goods. He affirms His detachment from all else save God and states that all the treasures of the world appear as a handful of dust in His estimation and in the estimation of His loved ones. For everything shall perish except the splendours of the Cause of God. He warns the ministers of their fate...

To the citizens of Constantinople

To the inhabitants of Constantinople Bahá'u'lláh also directs His admonitions and counsels. He exhorts them to fear God, to incline their ears to His call, to rid themselves of pride, and to detach themselves from this world...

In addressing the people of Constantinople Bahá'u'lláh makes His own position clear to them... It is interesting to note that in His exhortations to the inhabitants of Constantinople, most of whom were Sunnís, Bahá'u'lláh extols in glowing terms the virtues and exalted station of Imám Husayn, describes his sacrifice, and prays that He Himself may similarly lay down His life in the path of God. To the divines and philosophers The ecclesiastical leaders of Constantinople are denounced in the Súriy-i-Mulúk for their waywardness and negligence in that they did not seek to attain His presence and did not investigate His Cause. Bahá'u'lláh rebukes them for being worshippers of `names', and lovers of leadership. He grieves that they failed to recognize Him as their Lord and reckons them as being spiritually dead. Bahá'u'lláh addresses the `wise men' of Constantinople and the philosophers of the world. He warns them not to become proud of their learning, for the essence of wisdom and knowledge is the fear of God and the recognition of His Manifestation. He rebukes them for their failure to seek enlightenment from Him, and counsels them not to violate the laws of God, nor to pay attention to the ways of men and their habits.

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To the French Ambassador Bahá'u'lláh reproaches the French Ambassador in Constantinople for having combined with the Persian Ambassador in acting against Him without enquiring into His case. He tells the French Ambassador that he has neglected the exhortations of Jesus Christ as recorded in the Gospels, otherwise he would not have united himself with the Persian Ambassador. He warns him that soon his glory will pass away and he will have to answer for his doings in the presence of his Lord. He counsels him, and those like him, to tread the path of justice and not to follow the promptings of the evil within their own selves. To the Persian Ambassador A considerable portion of the Súriy-i-Mulúk is addressed to Hájí Mírzá Husayn Khán, the Mushíru'd-Dawlih, the Persian Ambassador in Constantinople. We have already referred to his activities against Bahá'u'lláh. He was a native of Qazvín, one of the ablest statesmen of Persia, who remained in his post as Persian Ambassador in Constantinople for about fifteen years from 1270-85 A.H. (1853-68). In 1288 A.H. (1871) he was promoted to the post of Foreign Minister. Later he was dismissed. Having incurred the Sháh's displeasure he was installed as the custodian of the Shrine of Imám Ridá in Mashhad and there he died suddenly in 1298 A.H. (1881) at the age of fifty-seven. It is commonly believed that he was offered a cup of poisoned coffee by the order of the Sháh. ... Bahá'u'lláh sternly rebukes the Ambassador, as a representative of his country, for the persecutions and sufferings which had been heaped upon the believers in Persia and especially for the supreme crime of the execution of the Báb... In this part of the Súriy-i-Mulúk Bahá'u'lláh alludes to Mírzá Buzurg Khán, the Persian Consul-General in Baghdád who was His implacable enemy and who had played a major part in His exile to Constantinople. He refers to him as the Minister whose name His pen was loth to mention. He denounces this haughty and arrogant man... And finally, the closing passages of His address to the Ambassador reveal Bahá'u'lláh's loving-kindness as He exhorts him to piety, justice, and humility before God and His loved ones... Moves Towards a Further Banishment This Persian Ambassador, the Mushiru'd-Dawlih, who had already succeeded in his efforts to induce the Turkish Government to banish Bahá'u'lláh twice, played an important part also in bringing about His exile to Akká. Soon after the `Most Great Separation' had begun, when the followers of Bahá'u'lláh dissociated themselves from Mírzá Yahyá and his supporters, Siyyid Muhammad-i-Isfahání began to intensify his campaign of misrepresentations against Bahá'u'lláh. He went to Constantinople and met several times with the Persian Ambassador. In the course of these

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interviews he complained about Bahá'u'lláh and poisoned the mind of the Ambassador with so much falsehood and calumny that some of the authorities, who had previously been impressed by Bahá'u'lláh's uprightness and dignity, became disillusioned. And at last he succeeded, through misrepresentations and exaggerated statements, in arousing the fears and suspicion of the Ambassador. Siyyid Muhammad also contacted high officials in the Sublime Porte and spoke to them about Mírzá Yahyá in highly complimentary terms, while referring to Bahá'u'lláh's activities as subversive and aimed at overthrowing the Ottoman Government. .... In the course of this interrogation, Áqá Ján explained his relationship with Siyyid Muhammad. He gave testimony that he had accompanied Siyyid Muhammad in 1867 to the Foreign Office where they had had an interview with a certain high-ranking official. The purpose of this visit, according to him, had been to convince the Government that Mírzá Yahyá ought to be the recipient of the monthly allowance and not Bahá'u'lláh. Áqá Ján affirmed that he had twice visited the Sublime Porte and delivered a petition by Mírzá Yahyá to the Prime Minister concerning this allowance. ... As to Siyyid Muhammad and Áqá Ján, those two men of evil exerted every effort for a long time to discredit Bahá'u'lláh in the eyes of the authorities, while representing Mírzá Yahyá as a man of God endowed with great qualities. A few Turkish government officials were misled by their propaganda. Among them were a certain Ismat Effendi and Hájí Muhammad Nuri. Siyyid Muhammad, master of deception and hypocrisy, had managed to win them over by promising great favours when Mírzá Yahyá had established his ascendancy. One of the tricks was that he and Mírzá Yahyá inscribed a few words within a circle, added their numerical values and claimed that the result indicated that the conquest of Constantinople would take place in the year 1286 A.H. (1869). This circle is referred to by Bahá'u'lláh, in one of His letters to the Governor of Adrianople, as a circle which was designed to stir up sedition. It was circulated among certain people and a copy of it reached the authorities in Adrianople and Constantinople. Mírzá Yahyá promised his Turkish supporters in government circles that he would emerge victorious in the struggle and would richly reward them for their help. He conferred upon Áqá Ján the title of Sayfu'l-Haq (The Sword of Truth) and promised him that he would achieve the conquest of Iráq, while to the amusement of many, the evil-minded Siyyid Muhammad was designated as Quddus (Holy), an appellation which was widely used in official circles. At the same time that this propaganda was going on, Siyyid Muhammad succeeded in creating fear in the minds of the authorities by stating that Bahá'u'lláh, with the help of His followers—many of whom were visiting Adrianople—and assisted by the Bulgarian leaders, was preparing to launch an attack on Constantinople! These false reports alarmed the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister and resulted in the formulation of new policies which eventually led to Bahá'u'lláh's imprisonment in the fortress of Akká. Interrogations in Constantinople In order to allay the fears and clear the misgivings which Siyyid Muhammad had instilled in the mind of the Persian Ambassador, Bahá'u'lláh sent to Constantinople from Adrianople two of His faithful disciples, Mishkin-Qalam and Alíy-i-Sayyáh. A third believer, Jamshid-i-Gurji, was sent with them, mainly to help and serve them while in that city. Mishkin-Qalam and Sayyáh

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had some interviews with the Ambassador, but the calumnies and misrepresentations of Siyyid Muhammad and Áqá Ján had already made an abiding impression upon his mind. Soon their machinations resulted in the arrest and imprisonment of Bahá'u'lláh's emissaries. Mishkin-Qalam, Sayyáh and Jamshid-i-Gurji were taken into custody in Constantinople. Some months before this, a devoted believer from Baghdád, Hájí Mírzá Músáy-i-Javahiri, entitled Harf-i-Báqá, had sent three exquisite Arab horses as a gift to Bahá'u'lláh. And now in this period, when He and His companions were living in great austerity, there was no alternative but to sell these horses. Bahá'u'lláh therefore instructed three of His servants, Ustád Muhammad-`Alíy-i-Salmání, Darvísh Sidq-`Alí, and Muhammad-Báqir-i-Qahvih-chi, to take the horses to Constantinople and sell them there with the help of Abdu'l-Ghaffar. Not knowing that Mishkin Qalam and Sayyáh had been taken to prison, these men went straight to a certain inn known as Kahrabarji Khán where the former three had stayed. Upon their arrival, however, they were arrested by the soldiers who were posted in the Khán, and conducted to prison. Abdu'l-Ghaffar was also taken into custody. Apart from these seven Bahá'ís, the Government also arrested Áqá Ján and they were all interrogated by a commission which later submitted its findings to the Sublime Porte. In these interrogations, which began in April 1868 and lasted several weeks, Áqá Ján tried very hard to disentangle himself from Mírzá Yahyá. He claimed that his own activities were aimed at gaining great political power for the Ottoman Government. But the prosecutors clearly were not impressed by his devious claims, for he was later condemned to life imprisonment in Akká. Each of the seven Bahá'í prisoners was interrogated according to the same general pattern. The questions they were asked were similar in every case. One of the main questions concerned the claims of Bahá'u'lláh. The Bahá'í prisoners were very discreet in their statements, for they did not wish to say anything which might play into the hands of Bahá'u'lláh's enemies. When one reads the account of the interrogations,[29] one marvels at their wisdom. Although some of them were uneducated, their recognition of the Faith and their understanding of the need for its protection were very profound. ... One of the important questions which the authorities were anxious to investigate was the nature of Bahá'u'lláh's activities in Adrianople. There were many wild rumours circulating at the time, all originating from Mírzá Yahyá and Siyyid Muhammad. As we have already stated, Bahá'u'lláh did not associate with the people of Adrianople in general, nor did He involve any of them in the Faith. Yet many dignitaries of the city, including its former governors and especially Khurshíd Páshá, the Governor at the time, were attracted to Him and were among His admirers. On several occasions, Khurshíd Páshá called on Bahá'u'lláh and humbly sat at His feet. One of the most cherished yearnings of his heart was fulfilled when Bahá'u'lláh, after much pleading and insistence by the Governor, accepted his invitation and was entertained by him one evening during the month of fasting. In the course of these interrogations the followers of Bahá'u'lláh stated that Bahá'u'lláh did not associate with people of the city, and that He met only with His own companions who would gather in His presence. When asked, one of the Bahá'í prisoners described the nature of such gatherings, and said that they met together, recited the words of God, and listened to

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Bahá'u'lláh's exhortations—which were to follow the teachings of God and to live in unity and peace with their fellow men. Another important question was the relationship between Bahá'u'lláh and Mírzá Yahyá. They wanted to know who Mírzá Yahyá was, and what was the extent of his knowledge and his following. Every one of the Bahá'í prisoners testified that he did not associate with him and was not therefore in a position to know much about him. Most of them, however, said that Mírzá Yahyá was as a drop compared with the ocean of Bahá'u'lláh's knowledge. Here we can see again their wisdom in dealing with this controversial subject. They did not speak of Mírzá Yahyá's activities. They only made it clear that Bahá'u'lláh was as the light and that light and darkness cannot come together. When Darvísh Sidq-`Alí was asked `How many of Bahá'u'lláh's brothers were in Adrianople?', he replied that there were only two, Mírzá Músá and Mírzá Muhammad-Qulí! When asked who then Mírzá Yahyá was, he replied that he was no longer a brother of Bahá'u'lláh and was cut off from Him. Adib Taherzadeh, Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh vol. 3, 147: The proclamation of the message of Bahá'u'lláh to the kings and rulers of the world had been initiated in Constantinople when He issued His first Tablet to Sultán `Abdu'l-Azíz of Turkey. It reached its climax in Adrianople with the Revelation of the Súriy-i-Mulúk (Súrih of the Kings), a lengthy Epistle addressed to the kings collectively. It continued with the Tablets which form part of the Súriy-i-Haykal, and it was completed by the Revelation of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas in the course of the first few years of Bahá'u'lláh's imprisonment in `Akká. Adib Taherzadeh, Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh vol. 3, 237-8 passim: ...Though He [Bahá'u'lláh] Himself had stringently forbidden His followers, on several occasions, both verbally and in writing, any retaliatory acts against their tormentors, and had even sent back to Beirut an irresponsible Arab convert, who had meditated avenging the wrongs suffered by his beloved Leader, seven of the companions clandestinely sought out and slew three of their persecutors, among whom were Siyyid Muhammad and Áqá Ján. ... He was dictating His Tablets to His amanuensis when the governor, at the head of his troops, with drawn swords, surrounded His house. The entire populace, as well as the military authorities, were in a state of great agitation. The shouts and clamour of the people could be heard on all sides. Bahá'u'lláh was peremptorily summoned to the Governorate, interrogated, kept in custody the first night, with one of His sons, in a chamber in the Khán-i-Shavirdi, transferred for the following two nights to better quarters in that neighbourhood, and allowed only after the lapse of seventy hours to regain His home. `Abdu'l-Bahá was thrown into prison and chained during the first night, after which He was permitted to join His Father. Twenty-five of the companions were cast into another prison and shackled, all of whom, except those responsible for that odious deed, whose imprisonment lasted several years, were, after six days, moved to the Khán-i-Shavirdi, and there placed, for six months, under confinement.

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'Is it proper,' the Commandant of the city, turning to Bahá'u'lláh, after He had arrived at the Governorate, boldly inquired, 'that some of your followers should act in such a manner?' 'If one of your soldiers,' was the swift rejoinder, 'were to commit a reprehensible act, would you be held responsible, and be punished in his place?' When interrogated, He was asked to state His name and that of the country from which He came. 'It is more manifest than the sun,' He answered. The same question was put to Him again, to which He gave the following reply: 'I deem it not proper to mention it. Refer to the farman of the government which is in your possession.' Once again they, with marked deference, reiterated their request, whereupon Bahá'u'lláh spoke with majesty and power these words. 'My name is Bahá'u'lláh (Light of God), and My country is Nur (Light). Be ye apprized of it.' Turning then, to the Mufti, he addressed him words of veiled rebuke, after which He spoke to the entire gathering, in such vehement and exalted language that none made bold to answer Him. Having quoted verses from the Súriy-i-Mulúk, He, afterwards, arose and left the gathering. The Governor, soon after, sent word that He was at liberty to return to His home, and apologized for what had occurred. Adib Taherzadeh, Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh vol. 3, 242: ...[W]hile in the seat of honour and in the presence of officials and dignitaries of the city including the Mufti of `Akká, Bahá'u'lláh recited, in a vibrant voice, some passages from the Súriy-i-Mulúk (Súrih of the Kings) and some other Tablets. Those who are familiar with these Writings know that unless one is well versed in Bahá'u'lláh's teachings and utterances, one will not be able to appreciate the significance of the various allusions He has made in these Tablets, allusions which were clear to the believers, but almost incomprehensible to others. The outcome of all this is gross misunderstanding by those non-Bahá'í authors who have written an account of Bahá'u'lláh's interrogation. Adib Taherzadeh, Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh vol. 3, 251-2: In Adrianople Bahá'u'lláh did not appear in public as much as He had done in Baghdád. Occasionally He visited mosques and sometimes received important guests such as the Governor of the city. But as we have already stated, as the years went by in `Akká, He seldom received anybody outside the circle of the believers. Of course, there were always exceptional cases. For instance, a short time after the slaying of the three Azalis, the Governor, Salih Páshá, who was ill-disposed towards Bahá'u'lláh, was dismissed and replaced by Ahmad Big Tawfiq, who was much more sagacious than his predecessor. Soon after he was installed as Governor, Badri Ján, the sister of the murdered Mírzá Ridá-Qulí, went to see him intent upon discrediting Bahá'u'lláh. In an attempt to completely poison the mind of the Governor, she brought false and slanderous accusations against Bahá'u'lláh, representing Him as One who was aspiring to rule over all men, the kings included. To prove her allegations she left him a copy of the Súriy-i-Mulúk (Súrih of the Kings) and some other Tablets. The reading of this Epistle had the opposite effect on the Governor. According to Bahá'u'lláh's own testimony in a Tablet revealed in the words of His amanuensis, Mírzá Áqá Ján, the Governor himself took the Súrih and other Tablets to `Abdu'l-Bahá and told

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Him that as a result of reading those, he had been convinced of the truth of the Cause, and he begged to be allowed to meet Bahá'u'lláh....

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Lawh-i Napulyun I (First Tablet to Napoleon III)

[Note: This tablet is not included in The Summons of the Lord of Hosts, but provides context for the second Tablet to Napoleon, which is.] Abdu'l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, 32-3 (print) and 16-17 (electronic): Upon His arrival in prison [Adrianople] He addressed an epistle to Napoleon, [Napoleon III] which He sent through the French ambassador. The gist of it was, "Ask what is Our crime, and why We are confined in this prison and this dungeon." Napoleon made no reply. Then a second epistle was issued, which is contained in the Súriy-i-Haykal [one of Bahá'u'lláh's works written after His declaration]. The epitome of it is: "Oh Napoleon, as thou hast not listened to My proclamation, and as thou hast not answered it, thy dominion will before long be taken away from thee, and thou wilt be utterly destroyed." This epistle was sent to Napoleon by post, through the care of Cesar Ketaphakou, [son of a French Consul in Syria with whom Bahá'u'lláh had friendly relations] as was known to all the companions of His exile. The text of this warning reached the whole of Persia, for it was at that time that the Kitáb-i-Haykal was spread in Persia, and this epistle was among the contents of this book. This happened in A.D. 1869, and as this Súriy-i-Haykal was circulated in Persia and India and was in the hands of all believers, they were waiting to see what would come to pass. Not long after, in A.D. 1870, the war between Germany and France broke out; and though no one at that time expected the victory of Germany, Napoleon was defeated and dishonored; he surrendered to his enemies, and his glory was changed into deep abasement. Abdu'l-Bahá, The Secret of Divine Civilization, 62-3 (print) and 24 (electronic): ...At the time of the Franco-Prussian War, in the year 1870 of the Christian era, it was reported that 600,000 men died, broken and beaten, on the field of battle. How many a home was torn out by the roots; how many a city, flourishing the night before, was toppled down by sunrise. How many a child was orphaned and abandoned, how many an old father and mother had to see their sons, the young fruit of their lives, twisting and dying in dust and blood. How many women were widowed, left without a helper or protector. And then there were the libraries and magnificent buildings of France that went up in flames, and the military hospital, packed with sick and wounded men, that was set on fire and burned to the ground. And there followed the terrible events of the Commune, the savage acts, the ruin and horror when opposing factions fought and killed one another in the streets of Paris. There were the hatreds and hostilities between Catholic religious leaders and the German government. There was the civil strife and uproar, the bloodshed and havoc brought on between the partisans of the Republic and the Carlists in Spain. ... Time and again down the centuries, the German state has subdued the French; over and over, the kingdom of France has governed German land. Is it permissible that in our day 600,000

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helpless creatures should be offered up as a sacrifice to such nominal and temporary uses and results? No, by the Lord God!... Adib Taherzadeh, Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh vol. 2, 368-369: This Tablet was revealed by Bahá'u'lláh in Adrianople and forwarded to the Emperor through one of his ministers. Shoghi Effendi writes concerning it:

In His first Tablet Bahá'u'lláh, wishing to test the sincerity of the Emperor's motives, and deliberately assuming a meek and unprovocative tone, had, after expatiating on the sufferings He had endured, addressed him the following words: `Two statements graciously uttered by the king of the age have reached the ears of these wronged ones. These pronouncements are, in truth, the king of all pronouncements, the like of which have never been heard from any sovereign. The first was the answer given the Russian Government when it inquired why the war (Crimean) was waged against it. Thou didst reply: "The cry of the oppressed who, without guilt or blame, were drowned in the Black Sea wakened me at dawn. Wherefore, I took up arms against thee." These oppressed ones, however, have suffered a greater wrong, and are in greater distress. Whereas the trials inflicted upon those people lasted but one day, the troubles borne by these servants have continued for twenty and five years, every moment of which has held for us a grievous affliction. The other weighty statement, which was indeed a wondrous statement manifested to the world, was this: "Ours is the responsibility to avenge the oppressed and succour the helpless." The fame of the Emperor's justice and fairness hath brought hope to a great many souls. It beseemeth the king of the age to inquire into the condition of such as have been wronged, and it behooveth him to extend his care to the weak. Verily, there hath not been, nor is there now, on earth any one as oppressed as we are, or as helpless as these wanderers. [Shoghi Effendi, The Promised Day Is Come, pp. 51-2]

In another passage Shoghi Effendi writes:

Bahá'u'lláh's previous Message, forwarded through one of the French ministers to the Emperor, had been accorded a welcome the nature of which can be conjectured from the words recorded in the `Epistle to the Son of the Wolf':

`To this (first Tablet), however, he did not reply. After Our arrival in the Most Great Prison there reached Us a letter from his minister, the first part of which was in Persian, and the latter in his own handwriting. In it he was cordial, and wrote the following: "I have, as requested by you, delivered your letter, and until now have received no answer. We have, however, issued the necessary recommendations to our Minister in Constantinople

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and our consuls in those regions. If there be anything you wish done, inform us, and we will carry it out." From his words it became apparent that he understood the purpose of this Servant to have been a request for material assistance.' [ibid., p. 51]

It is reported that upon reading it the Emperor flung down the Tablet of Bahá'u'lláh and stated `If this man is God, I am two Gods!' Soon after His arrival in `Akká, Bahá'u'lláh despatched a most challenging Tablet to Napoleon. We shall write about this Tablet in the next volume. Adib Taherzadeh, Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh vol. 3, 110-111: Bahá'u'lláh's first Tablet to Napoleon III, sent while He was in Adrianople, had been received by the monarch with discourtesy and disrespect. He is reported to have flung down the Tablet saying 'If this man is God, I am two gods!' The second Tablet to Napoleon III was revealed (in Arabic) and sent to him in 1869, after Bahá'u'lláh had received a communication from one of the Emperor's ministers informing Him that up till then there had been no reply forthcoming. This Tablet, unlike the previous one which was written in a mild tone, is revealed in majestic language, has the tone of supreme authority and declares unmistakably that its Author is none other than the King of Kings.