A
Study of the Tablets of Baha'u'llah to the Kings
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1) Recipients:
· Collectively (Suriy-i- Muluk, 1868, Adrianople, Kitab-i-Aqdas 1873, Akka)
· Sultan `Abdu'l-Aziz of Turkey (1863, Constantinople, Suriy-i- Muluk, 1868, Adrianople)
· Nasiri'd-Din Shah of Iran (1868, Adrianople)
· Napoleon III of France (1868, Adrianople)
· `Ali Pasha, Grand Vizir of Turkey (1868, Adrianople, Suriy-i-Ra'is; 1869, Akka, Lawh-i-Ra'is)
· Fu'ad Pasha, Turkish Foreign Minister (1870, Akka)
· Napoleon III of France (1869, Akka)
· Pope Pius IX (1870, Akka)
· Czar Alexander II (1870, Akka)
· Queen Victoria of England (1870, Akka)
· Kaiser William I, Emperor of Germany (1873, Kitab-i-Aqdas, Akka)
· Francis Joseph, Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary (1873, Kitab-i-Aqdas , Akka)
2) Muhammad wrote to:
· Khusraw Parviz, Shah of Persia
· Adjamih Abjur, Negus of Ethiopia
· Heraclius, Emperor of Byzantium
· Maqawquis, Ruler of Egypt
· al-Harith Ibn Abi-Shimr, Governor of Damascus
· Hawdhah Ibn `Ali, Imam of Yamamah
3) The Bab wrote to:
· Concourse of kings
· Muhammad Shah of Iran
· Sultan `Abdu'l-Majid of Turkey
· Haji Mirza Aqasi, Grand Vizir of Iran
4)
Suriy-i-Haykal:
· “Thus have We built the Temple...”
· “Naught is seen in My temple but the Temple of God...”
· “...raised up a race of men the nature of which is inscrutable to all...”
· “The Holy Spirit Itself hath been generated through the agency of a single letter revealed by this Most Great Spirit...”
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SURIY-I-MULUK
1. “ O Kings of the earth! Give ear unto the voice of God...”
2. “...Fear God, O concourse of kings...Set your hearts towards the Face of God...”
The
responsibilities of the kings
1. To recognize the Manifestation
2. “...Ye, however, O kings, have failed to heed the Remembrance of God in His days..”
3. “...Though aware of most of our afflictions, ye, nevertheless, have failed to stay the hand of the aggressor...”
4. “God hath committed into your hands the reins of the government of the people, that ye may rule with justice...”
5. “...if ye fail to safeguard the rights of the downtrodden, what right have ye then to vaunt yourselves among men?...If true glory were to consist in the possession of such perishable things, then the earth on which ye walk must needs vaunt itself over you...”
6. “...Nowhere doth your true and abiding glory reside except in your firm adherence unto the precepts of God...”
General
counsels to the kings
1. “Be vigilant, that ye may not do injustice to anyone...”
2. “Compose your differences, and reduce your armaments, that the burden of your expenditures may be lightened, and that your minds and hearts be tranquilized”
3. “We have learned that you are increasing your outlay every year and are laying the burden thereof on your subjects. This, verily, is more than they can bear...”
4. “Know ye that the poor are the trust of God in your midst. Watch that ye betray not His trust...Ye will most certainly be called upon to answer for his trust”
The
consequences of rejection
1. “If ye pay no heed...Divine chastisement shall assail you from every direction...On that day ye shall have no power to resist Him, and shall recognize your own impotence.”
2. “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.”
To
the Christians
1. “O kings of Christendom! Heard ye not the saying of Jesus: ‘I go away and come again unto you’?...Ye continue roving with delight in the valley of your corrupt desires. Ye, and all ye possess, shall pass away.”
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SURIY-I-MULUK
To
the Sultan `Abdu'l-`Aziz of Turkey
1. “Hearken, O King, to the speech of Him that speaketh the truth...”
2. “Beware, O King, that thou gather not around thee such ministers as follow the desires of a corrupt inclination,...”
3. “Beware, that thou allow not the wolf to become the shepherd.”
4. “Know thou for a certainty that whoso disbelieveth in God is neither trustworthy nor truthful.”
5. “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 can ever touch or hurt thee.”
6. “Place not thy reliance on thy treasures.”
7. “Overstep not the bounds of moderation”
8. “Bestow upon them according to their needs, and not to the extent that will enable them to lay up riches...”
9. “Allow not the abject to rule over and dominate them who are noble and worthy of honor, and suffer not the high-minded to be at the mercy of the contemptible and worthless,...”
10. “It behooveth every king to be as bountiful as the sun, which fostereth the growth of all beings,...”
11. “Thou art God's shadow on earth.”
To
the ministers of the Sultan
1. “The days of your life shall roll away, and all the things with which ye are occupied and of which ye boast yourselves shall perish,...”
To
the citizens of Constantinople
1. “...sow not the seeds of dissension amongst men.”
2. “Beware that ye swell not with pride before God, and disdainfully reject His loved ones.”
3. “Lay not on any soul a load which ye would not wish to be laid upon you, and desire not for anyone the things ye would not desire for yourselves. This is My best counsel unto you, did ye but observe it.”
4. “Know ye that I am afraid of none except God...I have offered up My soul and My body as a sacrifice for God...”
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SURIY-I-MULUK
To
the divines and philosophers
1. Rebukes them for being worshippers of names and lovers of leadership.
2. Warns them not to become proud of their learning
To
the French Ambassador
1. Reproaches him for having combined with the Persian Ambassador
To
Haji Mirza Husayn Khan, Mushiru'd-Dawlih, the Persian Ambassador
1. “Dost thou imagine, O Minister of the Shah in the City, that I hold within My grasp the ultimate destiny of the Cause of God?”
2. “Dost thou believe thou hast the power to frustrate His Will,...”
3. “How manifold the injustices ye have perpetrated -...”
4. “...I entertain...no ill-will against thee,...”
To
the people of Persia
1. “If I be slain at your hands, God will assuredly raise up one who will fill the seat made vacant through my death,...”
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LAWH-I-SULTAN
· Revealed in Adrianople, partly in Persian and partly in Arabic, it is the lengthiest Tablet to any monarch.
· Grave of a king and a pauper.
Persecution
of the Babi's
1. “They that surround thee love thee for their own sakes,...”
The
Station of Baha'u'llah
1. “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,...”
2. “The learning current amongst men I studied not;...”
3. “O king! Wert thou to incline thy ear unto the shrill of the Pen of Glory...thou wouldest attain unto a station...”
The
Challenge to the Divines
1. “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,...”
2. Insincerity and wickedness of the divines
The
`Sword of Wisdom and Utterance'
1. Removal of the law of Holy War
The
Sufferings of Baha'u'llah
1. “Mine eyes have rained down tears until My bed is drenched.”
2. “I sorrow not for Myself,...”
3. “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,...”
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Tablets to Napoleon III
The
first Tablet:
1. “Two statements graciously uttered by the king ...”
2. Reply by the king and his minister.
The
second Tablet:
1. “O King of Paris! Tell the priest to ring the bells no longer.”
2. “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.”
3. “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”
4. Commands teaching; Festivals(declarations then birthdays); Fasting etc.
5. Translated & transmitted by Luis Catafago, French consular agent in Akka
Suriy-i-Ra'is
· In honour of Haji Muhammad Isma'il-i-Kashani, Dhabih & Anis.
1. Sufferings as the oil for the lamp of the Cause of God.
2. `Ali Pasha similar to Pharaoh etc.
3. “Land of Mystery...shall be changed, and shall pass out of the hands of the king.”
4. “We perceived that the weeping of the people of the Son exceeded the weeping of others.”
5. Sufferings of exile to Akka; Haji Ja`far-i-Tabrizi's attempt on his own life,...
6. “Ere long will God raise up from among the kings one who will aid His loved ones.”
7. If prophets were alive they would believe
8. Fresh calamities for the world since revelation of Suriy-i-Ra'is
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Lawh-i-Ra'is
1. Sufferings of companions in exile.
2. Devotion of two of followers preferring death to separation.
3. Two brothers embrace and die.
4. Promise of chastisement.
5. No possibility of repentance.
6. Challenge to Sultan re. miracles
Lawh-i-Fu'ad
· For Shaykh Kazim-i-Samandar.
· Conversion of Abu'l-Fada'il.
1. “Soon will We dismiss the one who was like unto him, and will lay hold on their Chief who ruleth the land...”
Tablet to Pope Pius IX
1. “O Pope! Rend the veils asunder. He Who is the Lord of Lords is come...”
2. “Dwelest thou in palaces...?...Sell all the embellished ornaments...”
Tablet to Czar Alexander II
1. “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!'”
2. “...summon, then, the nations unto God,...”
3. “...The hands of the Messengers were, in their desire to meet Me, upraised towards God.,...”
4. “We , verily, have heard the thing for which thou didst supplicate thy Lord,...”
5. Aqa Muhammad-Rahim and the Russian Consul in Esterabad.
6. Murder of Sultan Abdu'l-Aziz in 1876. In 1877-8 Czar went to war against Ottomans to avenge his father's defeat in Crimean war
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Tablet to Queen Victoria
1. “...forbidden the trading in slaves...”
2. “...entrusted the reins of counsel into the hands of the representatives of the people...”
3. “...regard themselves as the representative of all that dwell on earth...”
4. “ Now that ye have refused the Most Great Peace, hold ye fast unto this, the Lesser Peace,...”
In the Kitab-i-Aqdas
1. O kings of the earth! He Who is the sovereign Lord if 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...
2. Ye are but 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 your from recognizing the Source of Revelation, lest the things of this world shut you out as by a veil form 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, ordained you to be, for all time, the emblems of His sovereignty.