Tablet to Varqá Regarding the Prince and King of Martyrs (Lawh-i-Varqá dar barih-yi-Mahbubu wa Sultánu'sh-Shuhada)

by Bahá'u'lláh

About: Of this Tablet, Taherzadeh writes in The Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh, Vol. 4, p. 89:^[1,[2]

In a Tablet to Varqá, Bahá’u’lláh pays glowing tribute to the King and Beloved of the Martyrs for their exalted qualities. He affirms that God vouchsafed unto them special favours, and they appeared among people as embodiments of honour and glory. To their goodly virtues both friends and foes had testified. Earlier on they had expressed to Bahá’u’lláh their longing to lay down their lives in His path. In order to describe their exalted station, Bahá’u’lláh states that people would be dumbfounded if the station of even those who worked for them as servants were to be disclosed.

   O Varqá!^[3] The Servant in Attendance^[4] attained My presence and mentioned what thou hadst written and We found thy letter a mirror reflecting thy love for the Beloved of the world and thy turning towards Him. Great is thy blessedness for having drawn nigh, for having drunk thy fill, and for having been caused to attain. Verily, thy Lord is the Resplendent Expounder. Verily, We witness the fire that hath encompassed thee in thy love for thy Lord. We see its flaring up and hear the crackling of its flames. Exalted be He Who hath ignited it, He Who hath made its flames leap high, He Who hath revealed it to all men. He is that Almighty Lord before the evidence of Whose might the essence of power acknowledgeth its helplessness. Verily, thy Lord is He who heareth and seeth, and is the All-Knowing. Rejoice, for this Wronged One maketh mention of thee as He hath in the past, and even in this instant, as He paceth, He giveth utterance to these words: ’Verily, We have sensed the sweet scent of thy love, and have witnessed thy sincerity and thy humility, as thy heart was occupied with the mention of Me and thy tongue with My wondrous praise.’ Thus hat the Sea of life sprinkled its waters upon thee, that thou mayest rejoice in the days of thy glorious, incomparable Lord.

   O Varqá! Thy call was heard and thy letter was presented before the Throne. Praise be to God! By it the fire of divine love blazed up . . . Some of the believers are seen to be sorrowful, even fearful at the events in the Land of Sad;^[5] whilst it was the Hand of Divine Might which graciously singled them out and, from the heaven of His mercy and the clouds of His generosity, caused the overflowing rains of affluence and abundance to shower upon them. The consummate power of God adorned them with honour among the people, so that the tongues of the sincere who enjoyed near access unto Him spoke forth their praise. They reached such heights that their adversaries bore witness to the elevation of their high rank. Then, at the end of their days, they attained the most exalted station which is that of supreme sacrifice; this is a station which Gods chosen ones and His loved ones have at all times desired and everlastingly sought. Notwithstanding, some are sad and sorrowful. It is hoped that this grief hath appeared because of the love entertained for them. I swear by the ocean of divine mysteries that should the station of but one of the servants now engaged in their service be made manifest, the people of the world would be shaken asunder. Great is the blessedness of him who pondereth over that which hath transpired, that he may be informed of the greatness of this Cause and its sovereignty. This station which they attained was that which they themselves implored God - exalted be His glory - to grant them, and which they wished and desired with the utmost eagerness.

   Say: O friends! Ye have endured much in the path of thy love for the Beloved of the worlds; ye have witnessed that which it was not seemly to behold, and have heard that which ill became thine ears, and have endured such burdens in the path of the Friend as were truly heavier that mountains. Great is the blessedness of your backs, your eyes and your ears, for that which they bore and they saw and they heard. Now ye should value this highly exalted station, and not allow it to be squandered. In all cases, this ephemeral world and all who are therein will suffer death, and all things therein will be caught in the claws of change. At all times ask ye God - exalted be He - to keep thee in His safekeeping, and to cause thee to be constant in the path of His Cause. Know ye well that whatever ye have endured or seen or heard for His sake hath been as a token of His special bounty unto you. And among His eternal bestowals is the mention of thee in His Tablets. Verily, ye have tasted the cup of calamity in His path; now drink your fill of the purest elixir from the goblets of His remembrance of you and of His tender mercy unto you. . . . Be not saddened by what appeareth to be thy weakness, thine abasement and thy distress. I swear by the Sun of the Heaven of Independence that honour, wealth and affluence are revolving around thee, and making mention of thee and are turning unto thee. If, in accordance with the dictates of divine wisdom, their appearance is for some days as yet veiled, days will come when each and all of them will become evident and manifest as the sun. We beseech God that men will partake of the sweetness of His divine Utterance.

^[1] i.e. Mírzá Muhammad-Hasan and Mírzá Muhammad-Husayn (MF’s note).

^[2] Source Text: Ishráq-Khávarí. Kitáb-i-Núrayn-i-Nayyirayn [Book of the Twin Shinning Lights], pp 184-7. (The editor thanks Dr. Mehran Ghasempour for correcting this and all other transliterations on this page.) According to the Leiden List of the Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh, This Tablet was revealed during the ’Ákká period (Balyuzí’s note, expanded by MF).

^[3] Varqá (Dove, Nightengale) was the title given by Bahá’u’lláh to Mírzá ’Alí-Muhammad, 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 (MF’s note).

^[4] Mírzá Áqá Ján (Balyuzí’s note).

^[5] Isfahán; For a discussion of the events Bahá’u’lláh refers to, see ’Adib Taherzadeh, The Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh, Vol. 4, pp. 73-80. (Balyuzí’s note, expanded by MF).