Tablet Revealed by Bahá'u'lláh Commemorating His Birth

by Bahá'u'lláh

The celebration of His birth has come; the beauty of God, the Powerful, the Sublime, the Beloved, is seated upon the throne. Blessed is the one who is present, in this day, before the divine countenance; the gaze of God, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsistent, shall rest upon them.

Say: We observe the celebration in the Most Great Prison, after the kings have arisen against Us. The ascendency of the oppressor cannot frustrate Our purpose, nor do the hosts of earthly dominion trouble Us. This is that whereunto the All-Merciful has borne witness in this illustrious station. Could the very essence of serenity be perturbed by the tumult raised by any man? No! By His beauty dawning in its effulgence on all that is and shall be! This is the sovereignty of God which encompassed all things; this is His might which has overshadowed every seer and all that be seen.

Hold fast onto the rope of empowerment, then remember your Lord, the Unconstrained, in this dawn wherein all that had been hidden and concealed has been revealed; thus has the tongue of the Eternal pronounced on this day when the sealed wine has been offered. Do not let the delusions of those who deny God perturb you, nor prejudices debar you from this outstretched path.

O People of Baha! Soar on the wings of detachment in the heaven of the love of your Lord, the All-Merciful, then render Him victorious with that which has been sent down in a preserved tablet. Beware lest you dispute with any man; reveal yourselves with the fragrance of God and with His utterance [bayan] whereby faces are turned. Such as are heedless in this day abide in the drunkenness of passion, yet understand not. Blessed is the one who turns toward the dawning-place of the verses of their Lord in humility and repents. Arise amidst His servants, then invite them unto remembrance of what has been revealed in the book of their Lord, the Mighty, the Unconstrained.

Say: Be ever mindful of God, and pay no regard to the delusions of those who follow every doubting sinner. Turn with hearts full of light toward the throne of your Lord, the Possessor of all names; indeed, He shall confirm you in the truth. None other god is there beside Him, the Mighty, the Beneficent.

Would you hasten to the pond while the most great ocean is before you? Turn to it and do not follow every deceiving idolater. Thus does the bird of immortality warble upon the branches of Our lote-tree beyond which there is no passing. By God, by but one of its melodies the heavenly concourse is enraptured, then the denizens of the cities of names, who circle round this throne at eve and dawn break.

Thus do the rains of exposition (bayan) fall from the firmament of the will of your Lord, the All-Merciful. Advance toward it, O people, and do not follow those who dispute the signs of God when they are revealed, and who deny their Lord, the All-Merciful, though He come with proof and evidence.