Tablet of Visitation for Mulla Muhammad 'Ali-i-Barfurushi (Quddús) (Ziyarat-Namih-i-Mullá Muhammad ‘Alí-i-Barfurushí)

by The Báb

published in Rituals in Babism and Bahá'ísm, Pembroke Persian Series, Vol. 2, pages 105-6
London: British Academic Press, 1994

Tablet of Visitation for the martyrs,^[1,2] on them be peace, who have sacrificed themselves for the Last Name of God^[3], Quddús, Quddús, Quddús.

In the Name of God, the Most Inaccessible, the Most Holy!

Holy, holy, holy (quddus, quddus, quddus)! The glory from God, no other God is there but He, rest upon thy heart and the heart of whomsoever is in thy heart, and upon thy spirit and the spirit of whomsoever is in thy spirit, and upon thy soul and whomsoever is in thy soul, and upon thy body and whomsoever is in thy body. Then, the exaltation from God rest upon thy heart and the heart of whomsoever hath been created from the light of thy praise, and upon thy spirit and whomsoever hath been created from the spirit of thy benediction, and upon thy soul and whomsoever hath been created from the soul of thy unification,^[4] and upon thy body and whomsoever hath been created from the light of thy glorification. Thou hast been raised up, nor is there above thee anyone possessed of exaltation like unto thee; thou hast come near, nor is there anyone possessed of proximity like unto thine.

All created things have given praise in unison out of the essence of thy praise, and all atoms have rendered glorification out of the camphor of thy glorification, and all the psychic entities have extolled the oneness of God in unison out of the substance of thine extolling of His unity, and all the individual realities have lauded the greatness of God in unison out of the absolute reality of thy glorification of His greatness. All render praise unto God through thee, and all sanctify God through thee, and all extol God's singleness through thee, and all magnify God through thee. So great hath been thine affliction that the afflictions of all created things are cut off from any connection with it; the calamity that hath overwhelmed thee hath reached so high a station that no other calamity of any created thing may be mentioned in the same breath as it.

By thy glory, there is nothing in existence apart from God that weepeth not sore over thee, that is not established under thy shadow, that doth not praise God with the praise thou didst offer, that doth not sanctify His name with the sanctification thou didst render, that doth not extol the unity of God with the praise of His unity that thou didst utter, and that doth not magnify God with the magnification whereby thou didst honour His greatness. From all eternity and unto all eternity thou hast been in the exaltation of holiness and majesty, and unto all eternity thou shalt be in the height of sanctity and beauteousness. Thou art he that hath become manifest through the manifestation of thy Lord, and kept hidden through the concealment of thy Lord, and thou art the First, for there is no first save thee, and the Last, for there is no last other than thee. Thou hast ascended through the degrees of creation unto that horizon where none hath gone before thee; and thou hast been raised upon the throne of thy glory on the highest horizon of paradise, higher than which there is nothing whatever in the knowledge of God.

I call upon thee and upon all things as witnesses that thy blood is pure, untainted and unsullied, and that through the residue of its very mention the realities of all created things have been made manifest . . . I call upon God and upon all things as witnesses that God hath sanctified thee from all likenesses and hath given unto thee what He hath given unto no one in His creation - not the dominion of earth and all that is on it, but the dominion of Paradise and all that dwell therein. Thus, there shall not come into the heart of anyone a mention of grandeur or might, save that he shall come unto thee with a mention of humility and shall descend to the door of thy courtyard in the utmost degree of abasement . . . Verily, I call to witness the angels of the Throne and the Seat and the heavens and the Most Exalted Paradise and the most glorious garden, that circle about thy grave, and ask that they may take the water that poureth from the eyes of whomsoever exhibiteth love for thee and may bring it into the presence of God, thy Lord, and that God may look upon him that hath performed that act of grace and that His paradise may lament over him, and that He may single him out for all His grace and all that He may fashion, for there is no drop of water more loved by God than that which hath flowed out over thy tribulations and hath appeared on the cheek by reason of thy sufferings ...

Notes

1. This Ziyaratnama (Tablet of Visitation) for Quddús was scanned, proofread, and annotated by Mehdi Wolf from MacEoin, Denis. Rituals in Babism and Bahá'ísm. Pembroke Persian Series, Vol. 2, Charles Melville Series ed. (London and New York: British Academic Press, 1994) pp 105-6 (Appendix IV). Original translated from text in Muhammad `Alí Malik Khusraví, Tarikh-i-shuhadá-yi Amr, I [Tíhrán 130 B.E./1973-4], pp. 412-14.


2. Of course, "martyrs" refers to those who sacrificed themselves during the seige at Shaykh Tabarsí (between about January and October, 1849). Nabil records in The Dawnbreakers that the Báb, upon hearing the news of the seige and the martrydom of many of its defenders, including Mulla Husayn and Quddus, secluded Himself in His prison cell at Chihriq and refused to see anyone, including His secretary, for nine whole days. However, starting on the first of Muharram in the year 1266 (November 17-December 17, 1849), and continuing for one whole week, the Báb revealed a number of Vistation Tablets in praise of the martyrs. It is fair to assume, therefore, that this work dates from between November 17th and November 23rd, 1849. See Nabil-i-Zarandi, The Dawnbreakers, pp. 430-1 (ED. Note)


3. "The Last Name of God" - Ism Allah al-akhir - was a title of Mullá Muhammad `Alí-i-Barfurushí (MacEoin`s note - ED).


4. tawhid - the declaration of God`s unity (MacEoin`s note - ED).