Tablet of Firayját (Lawḥ-i-Firayját) / Tablet of Firáq (Lawḥ-i-Firáq)

by Bahá'u'lláh

1. Introductory information

Translator's footnote, from the PDF below:

Lawḥ-i-Firáq – in 'Iráq is known as Lawḥ-i-Firayját revealed by Bahá'u'lláh on 9 May 1863 at the summer resort mansion of the ex-Valí Dawúd Páshá on the same day of His departure from Firayját on His way to Istanbul, where He bade farewell to His fellow disciples the Arab - the first yield fruits of the Tree of Anisa, the new born ones whom God hath created them from His light on the Day of Resurrection in early April 1853 at Diyala. In Lawḥ-i-Ayyúb Bahá'u'lláh called the City of Peace – The City of Departure.

How to find the original Tablet:
Partial Inventory catalog information: Lawḥ-i-Firayját (Tablet of Firayját), 360 words, Arabic. Partial Inventory ID number: BH02467

Can be found in the INBA section of the Afnán Library: afnanlibrary.org/docs/persian-arabic-mss/inba/ with catalog reference numbers: INBA18:247, INBA71:030b, and INBA92:123 (INBA also online here)

Musical interpretations: youtu.be/YMOMHuDjOFg and youtu.be/BtBQievQMjI.

Excerpt from Hasan Balyuzi

The sun was about to set when they reached Firayjat, three miles away, on the bank of the Tigris. Here too there was a verdant garden which contained a considerable mansion, and here the caravan halted for seven days. While Mirza Musa, the brother of Bahá'u'lláh, was busy tidying their affairs in Baghdad and seeing to the packing and loading of the rest of their goods, Bahá'u'lláh resided in that mansion. In Firayjat horses were made to run a course to test them, and once again Bahá'u'lláh's masterly horsemanship was witnessed. He had two other horses besides the stallion, Sa'udi, one called Farangi and the other Sa'id. There were also two donkeys for the younger sons of Bahá'u'lláh to ride occasionally. At Firayjat people were still coming daily from Baghdad. They could not bear to be wrenched from the presence of Bahá'u'lláh.

Bahá'u'lláh would, while on the move, take His seat in a kajavih, but would mount His horse when approaching a village or a town, to meet the officials and notables who would invariably come out to greet Him. A man named Haji Mahmud walked in front, holding the reins of the mule which bore His {kajavih}, and Mirza Aqa Jan, Mirza Aqay-i-Munir, surnamed Ismu'llahu'l-Munib, and Aqa Muhammad-Ibrahim-i-Amir-i-Nayrizi walked on either side.

'Abdu'l-Bahá has given a vivid and delightful account of the spirit of that journey, in His memoir of Mirza Aqay-i-Munir (Jinab-i-Munib; see Addendum V): 'At the time when, with all pomp and ceremony, Bahá'u'lláh and His retinue departed from Baghdad, Jinab-i-Munib accompanied the party on foot. The young man had been known in Persia for his easy and agreeable life and his love of pleasure also for being somewhat soft and delicate, and used to having his own way. It is obvious what a person of this type endured, going on foot from Baghdad to Constantinople. Still, he gladly measured out the desert miles, and he spent his days and nights chanting prayers, communing with God and calling upon Him.

'He was a close companion of mine on that journey. There were nights when we would walk, one to either side of the howdah of Bahá'u'lláh, and the joy we had defies description. Some of those nights he would sing poems; among them he would chant the odes of Hafiz, like the one that begins, "Come let us scatter these roses, let us pour out this wine," and that other:

"To our King though we bow the knee,
We are kings of the morning star.
No changeable colors have we--
Red lions black dragons we are! "'
- - - - ('Abdu'l-Bahá, Memorials of the Faithful, pp. 145-6.)

On the seventh day, the caravan set its face in earnest towards Constantinople. Keeping to the bank of the Tigris, Judaydah was reached in late afternoon. (from Bahá'u'lláh: The King of Glory, pp. 176-178)

2. Translation

Lawḥ-i-Firayját (Tablet of Firayját)

Glorified art Thou, O Lord my God! I call upon Thee at this time when the accents of the dove of separation are raised from the land of 'Iráq, and the warbling of the Nightingale of fervent longing is heard from the horizon of the world — at such a time do I call upon Thee, proclaiming: "Thou in truth art God, the King, the Mighty, the Beauteous. From everlasting, O my God, Thou hast been exalted in the supremacy of Thy might, Thy power and Thy glory, and unto all eternity Thou wilt remain transcendent in the sublimity of Thy grandeur, Thy majesty and Thy splendour. Every Prophet is filled with consternation when confronted by the manifold evidences of Thy wrath, and every Chosen One standeth dismayed before the revelations of Thy might. No God is there but Thee, the Almighty, the All-Powerful, the All-Compelling."

I yield Thee thanks, O my God, in these days when the oppressors amongst Thy people and the rebellious amongst Thy creatures have arrayed themselves against Us, and are rejoicing at the adversities which, through the mysterious workings of Thy decree, Thou hast caused to descend upon Us as gems from the treasury of Thy providence. Such hath ever been Thy custom with Thy loved ones and Thy practice with Thy chosen servants. I swear by Thy might, O my Beloved, that though others may flee from tribulations suffered in Thy path, I am he who, in his love for Thee, yearneth after every woe and trial. I ask Thee, then, by Thy Name through which the seas of Names have surged before the evidences of Thy transcendent oneness, and through which Thou hast been exalted above all creation in the hallowed sovereignty of thy Lordship, to send down whatever afflictions Thou hast destined for Thy loved ones upon this Thy servant, lest there should befall them that which would still the quickness of their love for Thee, or dampen the fervency of their devotion. I am He, O My God, who would ransom with His life and soul whatsoever proceedeth from Thee or befalleth at Thy bidding. To all this shall I be true, through Thy power and Thy might. No God is there but Thee, the Generous, the Subtile, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.

I ask Thee then, O my God, by the lights of Thy divine unity, and the hidden mysteries of Thine ancient and everlasting being, to preserve Thy loved ones after I am gone, lest their feet should slip upon Thy path. Gather them then together upon the shore of Thy munificence and bounty, and sever them from all but Thee so that they may stand in fear of no one, nor overawed by any soul. Open then their eyes, 0 my God, through the wondrous evidences of Thy might and the sovereign potency of Thy dominion in order that they may see all things held within Thy grasp, and all matters contained within the palm of Thine omnipotence. I swear by Thy beauty, O Thou My hope, that shouldst Thou cause them to ascend to this most sublime and all-highest station, they would tell of Thee continually, and would so completely return unto Thee that naught could cause them any perturbation, though all who are in heaven and on earth should rise up unitedly against them.

I ask Thee then, O my God, by Thy light which hath illuminated all beings, and by Thy glory which hath irradiated the whole of creation, to remember Thy servant who hath been designated "Jím" in the realms of Thine eternity and the canopy of Thy grandeur. Cause him then, 0 my God, to hearken unto the holy melodies of Thy tender mercy, that they may draw him draw him away from himself and from whatsoever is not of Thee, and attract him unto the dawning splendours of Thy love and adoration. Potent art Thou to accomplish this through Thy transcendent might.

3. Scan of original Arabic followed by translation