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>>   Letters from the Universal House of Justice Provisional translations
TAGS: Haji Shah-Muhammad-i-Manshadi (Aminul-Bayan); Lawh-i-Aminul-Bayan (Tablet to Shah-Muhammad-i-Manshadi (Aminul-Bayan)); Persecution; Persecution, Deaths; Persecution, Iran; Research Department, Questions and answers; Shah-Muhammad-i-Manshadi (Aminul-Bayan); Varqa; Varqa, Mirza Ali-Muhammad
LOCATIONS: Iran (documents)
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Abstract:
Excerpt of a tablet revealed in honour of the first Trustee of Huquq’u’lláh, surnamed the “Trusted of the Bayán," with introductory letter from the House of Justice.

Tablet to Sháh-Muhammad-Amín (Amínu'l-Bayán) (Lawh-i-Amínu'l-Bayán):
Excerpt

by Bahá'u'lláh and Universal House of Justice

translated by Khazeh Fananapazir
2003-04-07
THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE
7 April 2003

    Dear Bahá'í Friend,

    The Universal House of Justice has received your email of 23 February 2003 requesting a copy of the Tablet revealed by Bahá'u'lláh for Sháh-Muhammad-Amin[1], which is mentioned in the following passage appearing on page 47 in Memorials of the Faithful (Wilmette: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1971):

      When news of his martyrdom reached the Prison, all the captives grieved, and they shed tears for him, resigned to God and undefended as he was in his last hour. Even on the countenance of Bahá'u'lláh, there were visible tokens of grief. A Tablet, infinitely tender, was revealed by the Supreme Pen, commemorating the man who died on that calamitous plain, and many other Tablets were sent down concerning him.

    Your request was referred to the Research Department for comments, and it has stated that to the best of its knowledge, the Tablet in question was revealed in Arabic in honour of Jinab-i-Varqá[2], and is dated I of Sha'ban 1298 (28 June 1881). It has indicated that the Tablet is quite lengthy and covers many subjects. A portion of it, however, is devoted to the martyrs of Miyandu'da[3], and Sháh-Muhammad-Amín is commemorated in words that are, indeed, "infinitely tender". While this Tablet has not yet been translated into English, an original language copy of it can be found in the publication titled Irán National Bahá'í Archives, number 8, pages 512 to 549. Given your interest, the Research Department has provided the enclosed transcription of the relevant text from the Tablet. You may wish to seek the assistance of one of the friends in your area with a knowledge of Arabic to provide you with a provisional translation.

    With loving Bahá'í greetings,
    Department of the Secretariat

Lawh-i-Amínu'l-Bayán

(Tablet to Sháh-Muhammad-Amín)

Excerpt, Trans. Khazeh Fananapazir

To the one who hath fixed his gaze upon the Countenance of God, the Most Glorious - his honour Varqá, upon him be the Glory of God, the Lord of the throne above[4] and the earth below!

In the Name of our Lord the Most Holy, the Most Great, the Exalted, the Most Glorious, Who illuminated the world of humanity by the sun of firmament of His Knowledge, and Who adorned the heaven of wisdom with the stars of discernment and sight!

As to your question of the One True God - glorified be His bounteousness - concerning the martyrs of Miyan Duáb, these luminous words were revealed from the Heaven of His Will:

The Praise that is sanctified from human mention and hearing belongeth to the Lord of all Names! Call to remembrance those souls who have turned their faces to My all-glorious horizon, have to hearkened My sweet call, have held firmly unto the Sure Handle, clung to the hem of My luminous garment, have turned their faces to My Countenance which remaineth when all other things vanish into nothingness, who have taken their flight in the atmosphere of the love of their Lord, the Possessor of all Names, and who have quaffed the wine of His decree from the Crimson Cup and say unto them:

Great is your blessedness for ye did attain the all-highest purpose, the supreme station, and the sublime grades. Blessed indeed are ye and sweet is thy recompense inasmuch as the Beloved of the World, the Most Great Name, is mentioning you in such a manner that, through it, every true seeker will recognize the fragrance of My Garment, and every one endowed with the true sense of smell will attain the musk of My Name, the All-Merciful, the Most Compassionate.

I bear witness that ye have truly recognized God in the Days in which all things, and beyond all things, the Supreme Concourse, have lamented because of that which hath befallen those souls who took strong hold of God's Book and offered up their all in this Straight Path. Rejoice ye in the Supreme Horizon, inasmuch as the Lord of all men mentioneth you in this Prison which hath been named many names and which is designated the Most Great Prison in the Book of God, the Almighty, the All-Praised.

In truth, your blood that was mixed with the love God hath been shed, your spirits, which were fragrant with the breezes of God's Days, have ascended, and your bodies have lain on the ground -- bodies which were adorned with the ornament of martyrdom in the path of this Cause for which those near unto God and the sincere ones gave their all and their entire being. In this wise hath the Tongue of Grandeur spoken in thy memory and thy praise. Verily, He is the Forgiving, the Most Generous!

The light that shineth from the heaven of the mercy of the All-Merciful God rest upon you, O ye who art the manifestations of His names in existence and the dawning-places of His recognition amongst the religions! Ye are indeed the ones who were prevented not by any one or by the cavilling of the unbelievers. Ye heard and hastened to that station ordained by the Pen of God[5], the Single, the All-Knowing. Great be your blessedness and joy and the blessedness of those who bring you to remembrance, who visit you and recall the Visitation which the Tongue of this Wronged One of the world hath uttered as all sorrow hath encompassed Him -- sorrows brought about by those who have denied the right of God and the rights of His Friends and who have turned away from a Countenance that hath shone from the horizon of His Revelation with perspicuous light.

And We make mention of Amín [whom We have mentioned before in Our perspicuous Book[6]]. In truth, he preceded most of the peoples in the service of God and the service of His revelation and he hath attained unto that loving providence of which no one except the Omniscient, the All-Knowing is aware. We were with him as his spirit ascended unto the Great Beyond. We gave him drink from the most pure Kawthar[7] time and again and the mercy of His Lord didst surround him to such an extent that all pens are powerless to describe it. Unto this doth testify He that hath spoken and speaketh now and always: There is none other God but Him, the Almighty, the Most Beauteous One!

O Amín! Thou art a Letter of My Crimson Scroll and thou art a remembrance from this Book which speaketh the truth. And We make mention of His lovers - those who visit Him, those of the Supreme Concourse, and those who have prostrated themselves before the face of their Lord, the Master of this wondrous New Day.[8] Blessed is the one that continueth in his remembrance of thee and who seeketh through thee to get nigh unto God, the Lord of all the worlds.

Notes
    [1] Sháh-Muhammad-i-Manshadí, surnamed Amínu'l-Bayán ("Trusted of the Bayán") by Bahá'u'lláh. He was from the province of Yazd, and owned property in Manshad. He embraced the faith of the Exalted Báb early, and was able to recognize Jinab-i-Bahá as "Him Whom God will make manifest". Because he selflessly offered to Bahá'u'lláh the proceeds from the sale of his property, he was appointed as the first trustee of the Huququ'lláh ("Right of God"). Accompanied by Hájí 'Abu'l-Hasan-i-Ardikaní, he was the first pilgrim to reach 'Akká and succeed in attaining Bahá'u'lláh's presence in the public bath. While serving as Trustee, he rendered many services to the Faith. It was Sháh-Muhammad who delivered the Lawh-i-Sultán to Aqá Bazurg, surnamed Badí ("Wonderous") on Mount Carmel, to be formerly presented to Nasir'id-Dín-Sháh. It was also Sháh-Muhammad who undertook the dangerous task of transferring the remains of the Báb from the house of Mírzá Hasan-i-Vazir in Tihrán to the Shrine of Imám Zadih Zayd. In 1881, he journeyed again to Adhirbáyján with Hájí 'Abu'l-Hasan-i-Ardikaní to strengthen and encourage the believers in that district. While there, both men were caught up in the Kurdish rebellion of Shaykh 'Ubaydu'lláh and Sháh-Muhammad was martyred. Hájí 'Abu'l-Hasan-i-Ardikaní, who was wounded in the leg, succeeded him as the Trustee of Huququ'lláh. (See The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, vol. 3, pp. 57, 73-6, 179, 183, 427 and God Passes By, p. 274. (MW's note).

    [2] Varqá ("Dove" or "Nightingale") was the title given by Bahá'u'lláh to Mírzá 'Alí-Muh ammad, named as a Hand of the Cause of God by 'Abdu'l-Bahá' and an Apostle of Bahá'u'lláh by Shoghi Effendi. See The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, Vol. 4, Chap. 4 (MW's note).

    [3] Possibly the present-day town of Miyanku, southern Adhirbáyján, on the western side of the Caspian Sea, approximately 32 meters above sea level (MW's note).

    [4] See, e.g. Qur'án 85:15 (MW's note).

    [5] e.g., Qur'án 2:94: "Say: 'If the last Home, with God, be for you specially, and not for anyone else, then seek ye for death, if ye are sincere.'". See also Hidden Words: "O Son of Being! Seek a martyr's death in My path, content with My pleasure and thankful for that which I ordain, that thou mayest repose with Me beneath the canopy of majesty behind the tabernacle of glory." (Arabic #45) (MW's note).

    [6] The Leiden List of the Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh mentions a Tablet of the 'Akká period named the Súriy-i-Amín or the Lawh-i-Amín (Tablet of the Trustee) and published in Athar-i-Qalam-i-A'la [Tracings of the Exalted Pen], Vol. 1. pp. 170-173 and Athar-i-Qalam-i-A´la, Vol. 4(i), pp. 320-323. This Tablet may well have been addressed to Sháh-Muhammad-Amín. In Memorials of the Faithful, 'Abdu'l-Bahá' states that after Sháh-Muhammad-Amín's martyrdom, "many other Tablets were sent down concerning him." (MW's note).

    [7] According to Islamic belief, Kawthár is the name of the river in Paradise from which true believers will drink on the day of Judgement. Literally, it means 'Abundance'. In Bahá'u'lláh's Writings, it designates the utterances of His Revelation (MW's note).

    [8] Cf. Qur'án 1:1-4: "In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. Praise be to God, the Cherisher and Sustainer of the world; Most Gracious, Most Merciful; Master of the Day of Judgment."
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