This well-known Tablet* in Arabic was revealed by Bahá'u'lláh on Mount Carmel and is one of the most momentous revealed during His Ministry. The first time Bahá'u'lláh visited Haifa was in 1868 when the Austrian Lloyd steamer arrived there in the morning of 31 August. Haifa was then a small town. Bahá'u'lláh disembarked from the ship, stayed a few hours on shore and then sailed to the prison-city of 'Akká. About fifteen years later, when He had moved His residence to the Mansion of Bahjí, Bahá'u'lláh paid a short visit to Haifa and stayed in a house in the German colony. As we have mentioned in a previous volume,† a number of German Templers, expecting the return of Christ, went to the Holy Land and built houses at the foot of Mount Carmel, but none recognized Him when He appeared among them. Bahá'u'lláh even lived in their houses and revealed a Tablet for their chief, yet they remained deprived of the knowledge of the advent of the Day of God. The third visit took place in 1890 when He again stayed in the German colony; and the fourth visit, about a year before His ascension, took place in 1891 when He spent about three months in that area.

It is believed to be on this occasion that Bahá'u'lláh went to the Cave of Elijah on Mount Carmel. Centuries before, a Christian

† see vol. 3, pp. 28-31.

This Tablet contains significant allusions to the establishment of the World Centre of the Faith and is considered its charter. Before the revelation of this Tablet there was apparently nothing in Bahá'u'lláh's Writings concerning the international Seat of His world-encircling order. From the moment He blessed the mountain of God with His footsteps, mysterious forces were released for the creation of the spiritual and administrative centre of the Faith, a centre from which the world-vivifying energies latent within His Revelation will flow to mankind.

In the Tablet of Carmel Bahá'u'lláh enters into a dialogue with the mountain, Carmel. This is not unusual; in other Tablets He has similarly addressed certain cities or locations--for instance, His address to the Land of Tá (Tihrán),* or His dialogue with Jerusalem as revealed in the Lawh-i-Aqdas.† The dialogue in the Tablet of Carmel is at once beautiful, profound and moving. The sublime picture that Bahá'u'lláh has portrayed begins with Himself as He directs His footsteps towards Carmel; the first act in this divine scene is when the voices of 'all created things' are heard addressing Carmel. Then comes Carmel's jubilant words in thanksgiving to its Lord and finally Bahá'u'lláh's response. The opening paragraph of this Tablet raises the curtain of this exalted spectacle.

All glory be to this Day, the Day in which the fragrances of mercy have been wafted over all created things, a Day so blest

† see Tablet of Bahá'u'lláh, pp. 9-17.

that past ages and centuries can never hope to rival it, a Day in which the countenance of the Ancient of Days hath turned towards His holy seat. Thereupon the voices of all created things, and beyond them those of the Concourse on High, were heard calling aloud: 'Haste thee, O Carmel, for lo, the light of the countenance of God, the Ruler of the Kingdom of Names and Fashioner of the heavens, hath been lifted upon thee.' ¹

Of course, the voices of 'all created things' mentioned in the above passage are not heard physically by anyone, let alone when addressing a mountain. This is a spiritual phenomena which only the Manifestation of God has access to. However, it is interesting to note that on countless occasions Bahá'u'lláh has stated that all created things such as the atoms of the earth, the drops of the ocean, the rocks and the trees have been exhilarated through the vibrating influence of His Revelation. For example, in the Lawh-i-Aqdas He testifies that 'every stone and every tree shouteth aloud: "The Lord is come in His great glory".' ²

In another Tablet³ He expresses astonishment that whereas the mineral world is vibrating through the breath of God's utterances in this day, the generality of mankind has remained unaffected. When Bahá'u'lláh was sailing from Gallipoli to 'Akká He indicated in a Tablet⁴ that because the Lord was sailing the drops of the sea were exhilarated in such wise that He heard from each drop what no ear could ever hear. We as human beings are not in a position to see or hear such expressions from lifeless objects. We can do no better than to admit our inability to grasp

4. ibid. no. 73, p. 363.

On the other hand, all things in the universe are somehow related to each other, and every created thing, even an atom, must have some relationship with its creator. But how that relationship works we shall never know. Science has already proved that many things are happening around us which the human body has no way of sensing. For example, the human senses are incapable of detecting electromagnetic waves, yet we are immersed within them. Lately scientists have discovered that trees communicate with each other, but how this is done they have not yet found out. They have proved this by letting a swarm of insects attack one tree. They have noticed that as a result all other trees within a large area change their chemistry in readiness for a similar attack. Our senses are incapable of detecting such a communication.

If this is so, can we not believe that as attested by Bahá'u'lláh there was a certain reaction by the drops of the sea as He, embodying the Most Great Spirit of God, moved over them? Or can we not say that Mt. Carmel expressed, in a language that its Creator alone could understand, a feeling of exhilaration as Bahá'u'lláh walked over it? But who knows the answer to these questions? Whatever these statements may signify to each believer, let us remember that Bahá'u'lláh has repeatedly mentioned them in His Writings. It is not right to look upon God and His creation through one's limited and narrow vision. Who knows the mysterious workings of God in this vast universe? Who knows in what manner all created things respond to their Creator?

A simple and an enlightened approach to the study of the Tablet of Carmel is to consider the dialogue between the voice of the mountain and that of Bahá'u'lláh as a way of expressing God's plan in the language of imagery. That plan was to erect upon that mountain the majestic seat of His spiritual and temporal sovereignty. In this dialogue the mountain of God addresses Bahá'u'lláh in this fashion:

Seized with transports of joy, and raising high her voice, she thus exclaimed: 'May my life be a sacrifice to Thee, inasmuch as Thou hast fixed Thy gaze upon me, hast bestowed upon me Thy bounty, and hast directed towards me Thy steps. Separation from Thee, O Thou Source of everlasting life, hath well nigh consumed me, and my remoteness from Thy presence hath burned away my soul. All praise be to Thee for having enabled me to hearken to Thy call, for having honoured me with Thy footsteps, and for having quickened my soul through the vitalizing fragrance of Thy Day and the shrilling voice of Thy Pen, a voice Thou didst ordain as Thy trumpet-call amidst Thy people. And when the hour at which Thy resistless Faith was to be made manifest did strike, Thou didst breathe a breath of Thy spirit into Thy Pen, and lo, the entire creation shook to its very foundations, unveiling to mankind such mysteries as lay hidden within the treasuries of Him Who is the Possessor of all created things.' ⁵

The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the excellency of our God.⁶

6. Isaiah 35:1-2.

No sooner had her voice reached that most exalted Spot than We made reply: 'Render thanks unto Thy Lord, O Carmel. The fire of thy separation from Me was fast consuming thee, when the ocean of My presence surged before thy face, cheering thine eyes and those of all creation, and filling with delight all things visible and invisible. Rejoice, for God hath in this Day established upon thee His throne, hath made thee the dawning-place of His signs and the dayspring of the evidences of His Revelation. Well is it with him that circleth around thee, that proclaimeth the revelation of thy glory, and recounteth that which the bounty of the Lord thy God hath showered upon thee. Seize thou the Chalice of Immortality in the name of thy Lord, the All-Glorious, and give thanks unto Him, inasmuch as He, in token of His mercy unto thee, hath turned thy sorrow into gladness, and transmuted thy grief into blissful joy. He, verily, loveth the spot which hath been made the seat of His throne, which His footsteps have trodden, which hath been honoured by His presence, from which He raised His call, and upon which He shed His tears.⁷

The following are the concluding passages of the Tablet of Carmel:

'Call out to Zion, O Carmel, and announce the joyful tidings: He that was hidden from mortal eyes is come! His all-conquering sovereignty is manifest; His all-encompassing splendour is revealed. Beware lest thou hesitate or halt. Hasten forth and circumambulate the City of God that hath descended from heaven, the celestial Kaaba round which have circled in adoration the favoured of God, the pure in heart, and the company of the most exalted angels. Oh, how I long to announce unto every spot on the surface of the earth, and to carry to each one of its cities, the glad-tidings of this Revelation--a Revelation to which the heart of Sinai hath been attracted, and in whose name the Burning Bush is calling: "Unto God, the Lord of Lords, belong the kingdoms of earth and heaven." Verily this is the Day in which both land and sea rejoice at this announcement, the Day for which have been laid up those things which God, through a bounty beyond the ken of mortal mind or heart, hath destined for revelation. Ere long will God sail His Ark upon thee, and will manifest the people of Bahá who have been mentioned in the Book of Names.'

Sanctified be the Lord of all mankind, at the mention of Whose name all the atoms of the earth have been made to vibrate, and the Tongue of Grandeur hath been moved to disclose that which had been wrapt in His knowledge and lay concealed within the treasury of His might. He, verily, through the potency of His name, the Mighty, the All-Powerful, the Most High, is the ruler of all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth.⁸

The longing of Bahá'u'lláh 'to announce unto every spot on the surface of the earth, and to carry to each one of its cities, the glad-

How vast is the tabernacle of the Cause of God! It hath overshadowed all the peoples and kindreds of the earth, and will, ere long, gather together the whole of mankind beneath its shelter.⁹

Hasten forth and circumambulate the City of God that hath descended from heaven, the celestial Kaaba round which have circled in adoration the favoured of God.¹⁰

In that same year Bahá'u'lláh's tent, the 'Tabernacle of Glory', was raised on Mt. Carmel, 'the Hill of God and His

10. Gleanings, XI.

Vineyard', the home of Elijah, extolled by Isaiah as the 'mountain of the Lord', to which 'all nations shall flow'.¹¹

It took almost eight years before 'Abdu'l-Bahá was able to arrange the transfer of the remains of the Báb. The casket containing the sacred remains arrived in 'Akká on 31 January 1899. Ten years later on Naw-Rúz* 1909 'Abdu'l-Bahá, with His own hands and in the presence of believers from East and West, placed the wooden casket inside a marble sarcophagus which was lowered into the vault built especially for it inside one of the six rooms constructed by 'Abdu'l-Bahá for this purpose.† In a Tablet He conveyed this good news to the believers in these words:

The most joyful tidings is this, that the holy, the luminous body of the Báb...after having for sixty years been transferred from place to place, by reason of the ascendancy of the enemy, and from fear of the malevolent, and having known neither rest nor tranquillity has, through the mercy of the Abhá Beauty, been ceremoniously deposited, on the day of Naw-Rúz, within the sacred casket, in the exalted Shrine on Mt. Carmel...By a strange coincidence, on that same day of Naw-Rúz a cablegram was received from Chicago, announcing that the believers in each of the American centers had elected a delegate and sent to that city...and definitely decided on the site and construction of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkár.¹²

12. Quoted by Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 276.

I cannot at this juncture overemphasize the sacredness of that holy dust embosomed in the heart of the Vineyard of God, or overrate the unimaginable potencies of this mighty institution founded sixty years ago, through the operation of the Will of, and the definite selection made by, the Founder of our Faith, on the occasion of His historic visit to that holy mountain, nor can I lay too much stress on the role which this institution, to which the construction of the superstructure of this edifice is bound to lend an unprecedented impetus, is destined to play in the unfoldment of the World Administrative Center of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh and in the efflorescence of its highest institutions constituting the embryo of its future World Order.

For, just as in the realm of the spirit, the reality of the Báb has been hailed by the Author of the Bahá'í Revelation as 'The Point round Whom the realities of the Prophets and Messengers revolve', so, on this visible plane, His sacred remains constitute the heart and center of what may be regarded as nine concentric circles,* paralleling thereby, and adding further emphasis to the central position accorded by the Founder of our Faith to One 'from Whom God hath caused to proceed the knowledge of all that was and shall be', 'the Primal Point from which have been generated all created things'.¹³

In his cable to the Bahá'í world Shoghi Effendi described the Shrine as the 'QUEEN OF CARMEL ENTHRONED GOD'S MOUNTAIN, CROWNED GLOWING GOLD, ROBED SHIMMERING WHITE,

Ere long will God sail His Ark upon thee, and will manifest the people of Bahá who have been mentioned in the Book of Names.¹⁵

Again, the Prophets of Israel foresaw these events thousands of years ago, as in this quotation from Isaiah:

And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.¹⁶

16. Isaiah 2:2-4.

The next step taken by Shoghi Effendi was the creation of an arc surrounding these resting-places and facing the Qiblih* of the people of Bahá. The various institutions of the Administrative Centre, including the Universal House of Justice, were to be housed in several edifices erected around this arc. The initial step in the construction of this Administrative Centre was taken when the International Archives Building was built; it was completed by Shoghi Effendi in 1957. Since then the Seat of the Universal House of Justice has been constructed, and it is now planned to erect other edifices to house the remaining institutions and thus complete the Bahá'í World Administrative Centre. The establishment of the Throne of God mentioned in the Tablet of Carmel, as interpreted by Shoghi Effendi, is none other than the establishment of the World Centre on Mount Carmel. He writes:

The conjunction of these three resting-places, under the shadow of the Báb's own Tomb, embosomed in the heart of Carmel, facing the snow-white city across the bay of 'Akká, the Qiblih of the Bahá'í world, set in a garden of exquisite beauty, reinforces, if we would correctly estimate its significance, the spiritual potencies of a spot, designated by Bahá'u'lláh Himself the seat of God's throne. It marks, too, a further milestone in the road leading eventually to the establishment of that permanent world Administrative Centre of the future Bahá'í Commonwealth, destined never to be

* The Point of Adoration, the Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh.