O Lord! The tongue of my tongue and the heart of my heart
and the spirit of my spirit and my outward and inmost beings bear witness to
Thy unity and Thy oneness, Thy power and Thine omnipotence, Thy grandeur and
Thy sovereignty, and attest Thy glory, loftiness and authority. I testify that
Thou art God and that there is none other God besides Thee. From everlasting
Thou hast been a treasure hidden from the sight and minds of men and shalt
continue to remain the same for ever and ever. The powers of earth can never
frustrate Thee, nor can the might of the nations alarm Thee. Thou art the One
Who hath unlocked the door of knowledge before the faces of Thy servants that
they may recognize Him Who is the Day-Star of Thy Revelation, the Dawning-Place
of Thy signs, the Heaven of Thy manifestation and the Sun of Thy divine beauty.
In Thy holy Books, in Thy Scriptures and Thy Scrolls Thou hast promised all the
peoples of the world that Thou Thyself shalt appear and shalt remove the veils
of glory from Thy face, even as Thou didst announce in Thy words unto Thy
Friend [Muhammad] through Whom the Day-Star of Revelation shone brightly above
the horizon of Hijáz, and the dawning light of divine Truth shed its radiance
among all men, proclaiming: ‘The Day when mankind shall stand before the Lord
of the worlds.’
[Qur’án 83:6] And before Muhammad Thou didst impart this glad-tiding
unto Him Who conversed with Thee, [Moses] saying: ‘Bring forth thy people from
the darkness into the light and remind them of the days of God.’ [Qur’án 14:5]
Moreover Thou didst proclaim this truth unto the Spirit [Jesus] and unto Thy
Prophets and Thy Messengers, whether of the remote or more recent past. If all
that which Thou hast sent down in glorification of this Most Great Remembrance,
this Great Announcement, were to stream forth from the wellspring of Thy most
august Pen, the inmates of the cities of knowledge and understanding would be
dumbfounded, except such as Thou wouldst deliver through the potency of Thy
might and wouldst protect as a token of Thy bountiful favour and Thy grace. I
bear witness that Thou hast in truth fulfilled Thy pledge and hast made
manifest the One Whose advent was foretold by Thy Prophets, Thy chosen ones and
by them that serve Thee. He hath come from the heaven of glory and power,
bearing the banners of Thy signs and the standards of Thy testimonies. Through
the potency of Thine indomitable power and strength, He stood up before the
faces of all men and summoned all mankind to the summit of transcendent glory
and unto the all-highest Horizon, in such wise that neither the oppression of
the ecclesiastics nor the onslaught of the rulers was able to deter Him. He
arose with inflexible resolve and, unloosing His tongue, proclaimed in ringing
tones: ‘He Who is the All-Bountiful is come, riding aloft on the clouds.
Advance, O people of the earth, with shining faces and radiant hearts!’
Great indeed is the blessedness of him who attaineth Thy
presence, drinketh the wine of reunion proffered by the hand of Thy
bounteousness, inhaleth the fragrance of Thy signs, unlooseth his tongue in
celebrating Thy praise, soareth high in Thy heavens, is carried away by the
sweetness of Thy Voice, gaineth admittance into the most exalted Paradise and
attaineth the station of revelation and vision before the throne of Thy
majesty.
- Baha’u’llah (Ishraqat
[Splendours]; ‘Tablets of Baha’u’llah revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas)
