Tablet of the Branch (Súrih-i-Ghusn)

by Foad Shodjai

Place And Date Of Revelation:
Adrianople, closing years (See GPB, pp. 168-77; King, p. 250).

"...whilst in Adrianople, that same Father had, in the Suriy-i-Ghusn (Tablet of the Branch), referred as..." (GPB, p. 242)

Recipient:
Mirza `Ali Rida-i-Mustawfi, the Mustasharu'd Dawlih.

"Mirza `Ali Rida-i-Mustawfi, a native of Khurasan. This believer was a titled person--the Mustasharu'd Dawlih. He had a prominent position in government circles in the district of Khurasan and was a man of great influence there. His teacher was no less a person than Mulla Husayn who taught him the Faith in Mashhad. Mirza `Ali-Rida became a dedicated believer who in spite of his rank and position never hesitated to assist the friends when ever they faced difficulties; he always helped the poor and down-trodden among them. He was the one mainly responsible for providing the horses and finance for Mulla Husayn and his companions when they were leaving Mashhad for Mazindaran on a mission of great importance. With the help of Mulla Sadiq-i-Khurasani, the renowned teacher of the Faith, he succeeded in converting his younger brother Mirza Muhammad-Rida, the Mu'taminu's-Saltanih, who became a devoted believer. When Mirza `Ali-Rida retired, it was this same brother who succeeded him in office. It is interesting to note that in a Tablet, Bahá'u'lláh comments on a photograph of Mu'taminu's-Saltanih, saying that it bears a striking resemblance to Himself." (RofB II, p. 388) (See illustration in Some Eminent Bahá'ís, by Mr. M.H. Balyuzi, p. 54)

Also see `Abdu'l-Bahá , p.22, Balyu zi; Some Eminent Bahá'ís, p. 52-9.

Publication In Original Language:
Athar-i-Qlam-i-`Ala , Vol. 4, pp. 331-5.

Translation And Publication In English:
Translated in parts by the Guardian and quoted in Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh, WO, p. 134. (See EXTRACTS bellow).

The following extract from God Passes By indicates that a translation of this Tablet was at hand as early as the time of `Abdu'l-Bahá's visit to New York:

"...the reading of the newly translated Tablet of the Branch, in a general assembly of His followers in New York,..." (GPB, p. 288)

Summary Of Contents:

"Whether in the Kitab-i-Aqdas, the most weighty and sacred of all the works of Bahá'u'lláh, or in the Kitab-i-`Ahd, the Book of His Covenant, or in the Suriy-i-Ghusn (Tablet of the Branch), such references as have been recorded by the pen of Bahá'u'lláh--references which the Tablets of His Father addressed to Him mightily reinforce--invest `Abdu'l-Bahá with a power, and surround Him with a halo, which the present generation can never adequately appreciate." (WO p. 133).

"It was during that period that the Suriy-i-Ghusn (Surih of the Branch) was revealed, in which 'Abdu'l-Bahá's future station is foreshadowed, and in which He is eulogized as the "Branch of Holiness," the "Limb of the Law of God," the "Trust of God," "sent down in the form of a human temple"-- a Tablet which may well be regarded as the harbinger of the rank which was to be bestowed upon Him, in the Kitab-i-Aqdas, and which was to be later elucidated and confirmed in the Book of His Covenant." (GPB. p. 177)

Bahá'u'lláh declares that Divine Revelation is sent down from the heaven of His Tablets bringing joy to believers and agitations to unbeliever s; warns against turning our souls away from God's bounties; foreshadows `Abdu'l-Bahá's future station; and instructs people to "render thanks unto God...for His appearance"; and establishes that "Whoso turneth towards Him hath turned towards God, and whoso turneth away from Him hath turned away from My beauty"; He warns that "They who deprive themselves of the shadow of the Branch, are lost in the wilderness of error, are consumed by the heat of worldly desires, and are of those who will assuredly perish. "; commands the people to seek the gems of wisdom and knowledge from Him (`Abdu'l-Bahá). He makes illusions to Siyyid Muhammad-i-Isfahani and Mirza Yahya and commands the people [of Bayan] to cast them behind and drink from the water of life in the name o f their Lord, the Merciful. He enjoins upon every soul the duty of teaching His Cause to all mankind; declares that he who revives one soul under this Cause, has, verily, revived all souls; and sets conditions and method of teaching.

Titles of `Abdu'l-Bahá in Suriy-i-Ghusn:
sacred and glorious Being; Branch of Holiness; the Limb of the Law of God; this sublime, this blessed, this mighty, this exalted Handiwork; a sign of His greatness and power among its people; He is the most great Favor unto you, the most perfect bounty upon you; through Him every mouldering bone is quickened; He is the Trust of God amongst you, His charge within you, His manifestation unto you and His appearance among His favored servants;

Passages Indicative Of Subject Matters:
"I affirm," is `Abdu'l-Bahá's own written comment on the Tablet of the Branch, "that the true meaning, the real significance, the innermost secret of these verses, of these very words, is my own servitude to the sacred Threshold of the Abha Beauty, my complete self-effacement, my utter nothingness before Him. This is my resplendent crown, my most precious adorning. On this I pride myself in the kingdom of earth and heaven. Therein I glory among the company of the well-favored!" "No one is permitted," He warns us in the passage which immediately follows, "to give these verses any other interpretation." "I am," He, in this same connection, affirms, "according to the explicit texts of the Kitab-i-Aqdas and the Kitab-i-`Ahd the manifest Interpreter of the Word of God...Whoso deviates from my interpretation is a victim of his own fancy." (GPB, p. 138)

Description By The Guardian:
"...a Tablet which may well be regarded as the harbinger of the rank which was to be best owed upon Him [`Abdu'l-Bahá], in the Kitab-i-Aqdas, and which was to be later elucidated and confirmed in the Book of His Covenant." (GPB. p. 177)

Notes And Bibliography:
There are tablets of Bahá'u'lláh either addressed to, or in honor of,` Abdu'l-Bahá several of which are published and well known: Ad`iyyih-Hadrat-i-Mahbub, pp. 105-110, four tablets; Tihran Archives, Vol. 81, pp. 87-89, 3 tablets. These Tablets should not be confused with the Suriy-i-Ghusn. Lawh-i-Ard-i-Ba (Tablet of the L and of Ba, Beirut) falls in this category.

There are also other Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh addressed to other believers in which He refers to `Abdu'l-Bahá. For instance, in a Tablet addressed to Haji Muhammad Ibrahim-i-Khalil He alludes to `Abdu'l-Bahá as the one amongst His sons "from Whose tongue God will cause the signs of His power to stream forth," and as the one Whom "God hath specially chosen for His Cause." (see GPB p. 242)

Shoghi Effendi, in an unmatched style, discloses the unique station of `Abdu'l-Bahá in the Bahá'í Dispensation as well as the religious history of mankind; quotes extracts from Bahá'u'lláh regarding the station of the Master, followed by `Abdu'l-Bahá's own interpretations of text regarding His Own station; clarifies certain misconceptions regarding the station of `Abdu'l-Bahá; and sets forth the guiding principles of Bahá'í belief. See God Passes By, chapter 18, and Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh, section on `Abdu'l-Bahá.

Also see Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, by Mr. A dib Tahirzadih, Vol. II, chapter 18.

References In The Writings Of The Guardian:
"There hath branched from the Sadratu'l-Muntaha this sacred and glorious Being, this Branch of Holiness; well is it with him that hath sought His shelter and abideth beneath His shadow. Verily the Limb of the Law of God hath sprung forth from this Root which God hath firmly implanted in the Ground of His Will, and Whose Branch hath been so uplifted as to encompass the whole of creation. Magnified be He, therefore, for this sublime, this blessed, this mighty, this exalted Handiwork!...A Word hath, as a token of Our grace, gone forth from the Most Great Tablet -- a Word which God hath adorned with the ornament of His own Self, and made it sovereign over the earth and all that is therein, and a sign of His greatness and power among its people...Render thanks unto God, O people, for His appearance; for verily He is the most great Favor unto you, the most perfect bounty upon you; and through Him every mouldering bone is quickened. Whoso turneth towards Him hath turned towards God, and whoso turneth away from Him hath turned away from My beauty, hath repudiated My Proof, and transgressed against Me. He is the Trust of God amongst you, His charge within you, His manifestation unto you and His appearance among His favored servants...We have sent Him down in the form of a human temple. Blest and sanctified be God Who createth whatsoever He willeth through His inviolable, His infallible decree. They who deprive themselves of the shadow of the Branch, are lost in the wilderness of error, are consumed by the heat of worldly desires, and are of those who will assuredly perish." (WO, p. 134-5, Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh, 678)

References from the Writings Of The Guardian:

GP 177 REF
It was during that period that the Suriy-i-Ghusn (Surih of the Branch)

GP 242 REF
To Him, whilst in Adrianople, that same Father had, in the Suriy-i-Ghusn

GP 288 REF
Tablet of the Branch, in a general assembly of Hi s followers in New York,

WO 133 REF
or in the Suriy-i-Ghusn (Tablet of the Branch),

WO 134 QTD
In the Suriy-i-Ghusn (Tablet of the Branch) the following verses

WO 137 REF
but form no part of, the said Tablet of the Branch.

WO 137 REF
interpretation of certain terms and passages in the Tablet of the Branch,

WO 137 REF
nor even in the Tablet of the Branch, nor in any other Tablet,

WO 138 REF
the Tablet of the Branch, "that the true meaning, the real significance."