BB00229: Tablet to Sultan ’Abdu’l-Majid

In the name of God, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate

Glorified be He Who sendeth down the Book unto whomsoever He willeth among His servants. There is no God but Him, the All-Sufficient, the All-Praised. He it is in Whose hands lies the dominion of all things, and naught escapeth His knowledge. There is no God but Him. Say: Him shall ye worship! Verily this Book is a decree from God unto all who dwell on earth, that ye should go forth from your homes for the Covenant of the Remnant of God, a manifest living One. Verily it is a Book wherein there is no doubt, revealed by His servant, the Most High, the All-Wise. And verily He is the Most High, the All-Wise, the Path of God in the heavens and on earth, calling mankind through thy Lord’s decree unto a straight path. Verily He is the Mystery in the heavens, casting the Command from the presence of the Remnant of God, a manifest and righteous Leader. For He is the Light upon the right side of the Mount in thy Lord’s Book. There is no God but I; say: Him shall ye fear!

Read thy Lord’s Book, O thou glorious one, by thy Lord’s decree in a preserved Book. Know thou that God knoweth whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on earth, and he who was not in accordance with the Messenger’s decree was in grievous wrong. Fear God, O thou man, for on this Day there is no escape for anyone save through belief in thy Lord’s verses and being among those who prostrate themselves.

We have indeed sent down a Book unto the kings that they might know the innovative decrees from the presence of the Remnant of God, a just and upright Leader. And when the Book is sent down unto thee, summon those endued with knowledge before thee, then bid them remember God and recite God’s Book with justice, then judge fairly before God in His decrees, for God shall judge between all with equity on the Day of Resurrection. There is no God but Him, the All-Informed, the All-Knowing.

O concourse! Bear ye witness, for God’s proof hath been completed against you after ye have read a verse from that Book, and God is witness, All-Knowing. O concourse! Fear ye God and judge with justice—can there be any difference between one who cometh from God with numbered verses or one who cometh with a single verse? Nay, by the Qur’an! We make no distinction between any of God’s Messengers, and unto them are we submissive. Were the Qur’an to be revealed as a single verse, could anyone speak even partially about its letters? Glorified be God above what they associate! That Book sufficeth as a proof unto all who are in the heavens and on earth, and God is witness, All-Knowing.

Should all humanity gather together to produce the like of this Book which We have now sent down unto thee, they would never be able, nor would they have the power, even if the jinn were to aid them to the utmost, and God is All-Informed, All-Knowing. We have indeed aforetime sent down a Book containing clear verses from Our presence unto a people who would hearken. Those who follow God’s verses in truth, these are they who are guided, and those who follow their own desires, these are they who are the wrongdoers.

O concourse of the people of Rome! Fear ye God, your Lord, the Most Merciful, regarding this decree, for verily it is truth like unto that which ye firmly believe in God’s Covenant. Those have indeed disbelieved who followed after […] the decree of the false one and the companions of the Fire, and these are they who in God’s Book are the unbelievers, and these are they who are the leaders of the Fire, and in God’s religion they prostrate not, and these are they who are the companions of the Fire, in God’s Book dwelling forever therein. God hath testified for His servant Ali in the Qur’an that He is God’s Path in the heavens and on earth, and naught escapeth His knowledge. He is the Successor of the Apostle of God in a perspicuous Book. And verily today the inheritor of sovereignty is one from his lineage, a manifest and righteous Leader. He it is in whose hands is the dominion of all things, and in His power nothing can frustrate Him, and all creation, according to the decree of the Book, are submissive unto Him.

If ye be in doubt concerning this decree, then remove yourselves from the authority of the Qur’an, for God hath indeed sent down these verses, like unto the Qur’an, upon the heart of the Apostle of God, the Seal of the Prophets. And verily He hath, by God’s leave, sent it down upon the heart of him whom God hath made a proof unto all who are in the heavens and on earth. And verily he is the Guide to God’s Path in a perspicuous Book. And I am indeed a servant who hath believed in God and His verses and what hath been revealed in the Qur’an from the presence of One mighty and wise. Say: I do cast the Cause, by God’s leave, from the presence of a great and righteous Leader. And verily He is the Mystery in the Mother Book, established upon an ancient foundation.

Know ye, O people of the earth, that today there is no escape for anyone from God’s Cause, and on the Day of Resurrection all shall be raised up unto God. And verily one verse of what We have now revealed unto thee equalleth in the Book of God the verses of the Prophets and all that which shall come after from God’s proofs shall be questioned.

We have indeed conveyed thy Lord’s decree in the Mother City and its environs in three Books of truthful verses. Say: Follow ye God’s Cause that ye may prosper. And should any one of you die without accepting this decree, then on the Day of Resurrection he shall assuredly be among the denizens of the fire, and shall be brought forth.

And send thou likewise this Book unto the King of that region with golden ink that thou mayest be numbered among the helpers of that which is written. And whoso denieth Our verses and departeth not from his house as an emigrant unto the Land of Remembrance—We shall reveal his decree in the Book even as was revealed concerning Abu Lahab in the Qur’an. Fear ye God, O concourse of men, and have mercy upon yourselves, and disgrace not your subjects through what hath been sent down unto you after God’s decree, and after all people shall read.

O man! Thou hast followed Satan in decreeing the imprisonment of the Messenger of the Remembrance [Mullá ʿAli Bastami] after having read but a single wondrous letter from Our Book. Fear thou God and deny not His decree, and send forth the Messenger according to what We have revealed unto thee in the Book, with a mighty and gracious decree. Thou knowest not the decree of succession, and verily the Messenger in that land is but a weak servant, yet know thou that We have sent him forth, and We are supreme over all things, and We are witness unto all things, and We are, by God’s leave, powerful over all things.

Know thou God’s decree that if thou send him forth after this Book, We shall write the decree of thy death by thine own hand, and We shall assuredly accomplish what We will. Follow thou God’s decree, O thou exalted one, and follow not thy desires lest they lead thee astray from the path. And God’s decree in any matter is but a clear declaration. Glorified be God, thy Lord, the Lord of Glory, above what they ascribe unto Him. And peace be upon the emigrants, and praise be to God, the Lord of the worlds.