BB00005: Panj Sha’n (Book of the Five Modes)

1. Al-illah

Chapters 9, 12, 14, 15, 17, 18 and 19 are not available.

Mode of verses

In the name of God, the Divinity, the Divine! Verily I am God; there is no God but Me, the Divinity, the Divine!

In the name of God, the Divinity, the Divine! By God, the Divinity, the Divine!

In the name of God, the Divine One, the Divine One! God, there is no God but He, the Divine! God, there is no God but He, the Divine One, the Divine! God, there is no God but He, the Divine of divinity! God, there is no God but He, the Supreme Divine!

And unto God belong the divinities of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them, and God is the Divine of divinity. And unto God belong the divinities of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them, and God is the Supreme Divine. And unto God belongs the sovereignty of the divinity of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them, and God is the Supreme Divine.

Say: God is the Divinity above every possessor of divinity. None can escape from the sovereignty of His divine power, whether in the heavens or in the earth or in what lieth between them. Verily, He is the Divine, the Divine, the Divine.

Say: God is the Divinity above every possessor of divinity. None can escape from His divine authority, whether in the heavens or in the earth or in what lieth between them. Verily, He is the Divine, the Divine, the Most Divine.

Glorified art Thou, O God! Verily Thou art the Divinity of the heavens and of the earth and of whatsoever is between them. Thou givest divine authority to whom Thou willest and takest it away from whom Thou willest. Thou exaltest whom Thou willest and abasest whom Thou willest. Thou aidest whom Thou willest and forsakest whom Thou willest. Thou strengthenest whom Thou willest and weakenest whom Thou willest. Thou enrichest whom Thou willest and impoverishest whom Thou willest. Within Thy grasp is the kingdom of all things. Thou createst what Thou willest by Thy command. Verily, Thou art powerful over all things.

Glorified art Thou, O God! Verily Thou art the Divinity of divinities. Thou givest authority to whom Thou willest and takest it away from whom Thou willest. Thou exaltest whom Thou willest and abasest whom Thou willest. Thou aidest whom Thou willest and forsakest whom Thou willest. Thou enrichest whom Thou willest and impoverishest whom Thou willest. Thou exaltest whom Thou willest and abasest whom Thou willest. Within Thy grasp is the kingdom of all things. Thou createst what Thou willest by Thy command. Verily, Thou art the Divine, the Divine, the Most Divine.

Say: O God! Verily Thou art the God of gods. All who are in the kingdom of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them worship Thee, and all in the kingdom of Command and Creation and whatsoever is beneath them bow down before Thee. Verily, Thou art knowing of all things.

Say: O God! Verily Thou art the Divinity of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them. Thou wilt plant the tree of affirmation in all that Thou hast created and wilt create by Thy command for the Day when Thou wilt manifest the Manifestation of Thy Self, that all may believe in Him and be assured, then prostrate themselves before Him.

Say: God is the Divinity above every possessor of divinity. None can escape from His divine authority, whether in the heavens or in the earth or in what lieth between them. Verily, He is the Divine, the Supreme Divine.

This is a Book from God to Him Whom God shall make manifest, testifying that there is no God but Me, the Divine of divinity. I have made the first principle of every religion to be the words “There is no God but God,” that perchance they who have been given the Book may, on the day of Thy manifestation, affirm Thy truth. These are they who are the people of affirmation in the Book of God, and these are they who are steadfast. And those who are veiled from Thee at the time of Thy manifestation, even if they should affirm the unity of God to the number of all things, their affirmation would not profit them. Say: O all things! Fear ye Me!

Verily I am God, there is no God but Me. None shall comprehend Me save through Him. And whoso desireth to comprehend Me, let him comprehend Him Whom God shall make manifest, for this is a path mighty and impregnable. Verily I am God, there is no God but Me. No thing shall behold Me, and whoso desireth to behold Me, let him behold Him Whom God shall make manifest, for this is a path mighty and impregnable. Verily I am God, there is no God but Me. No thing shall know Me, and whoso desireth to know Me, let him know Him Whom God shall make manifest, for this is a Book sublime and exalted. Verily I am God, there is no God but Me. No thing shall be able to love Me, and whoso desireth to love Me, let him love Him Whom God shall make manifest, for this is a path glorious and magnificent.

Verily I am God, there is no God but Me. None shall hear My remembrance save through Him, and whoso desireth to hear My remembrance, let him hear the remembrance of Him Whom God shall make manifest, for this is a path resplendent and luminous. Verily I am God, there is no God but Me. No thing shall recognize My unity, and whoso desireth to recognize My unity, let him associate nothing with Him Whom God shall make manifest, for this is a path of truth, majestic and glorious. Verily I am God, there is no God but Me. None shall be able to love Me, and whoso desireth to love Me, let him glorify Him Whom God shall make manifest on the day of His manifestation, for this is a path of truth, beauteous and comely. Verily I am God, there is no God but Me.

No thing shall sanctify Me, and whoso desireth to sanctify Me, let him praise Him Whom God shall make manifest in the days of His manifestation, for this is a path of truth, mighty and magnificent. Verily I am God, there is no God but Me. None shall comprehend Me to obey Me, and whoso desireth to obey Me, let him obey Him Whom God shall make manifest, for this is a path of truth, radiant and illumined. Verily I am God, there is no God but Me. No thing shall be able to exalt Me, and whoso desireth to exalt Me, let him exalt Him Whom God shall make manifest, for this is a path of truth, powerful and mighty. Verily I am God, there is no God but Me. I have been from everlasting a hidden mystery, and shall evermore continue to be self-subsisting and impregnable.

All that hath been ascribed unto Mine own Self is that which is ascribed unto Him Whom God shall make manifest, if ye be of them that understand. Verily I, from the beginning that hath no beginning unto the end that hath no end, sanctify My soul from all things. Nothing in the heavens or on the earth or whatsoever lieth between them can comprehend Me. Verily I am the One, the Impregnable, the Most Exalted. I have assigned neither beginning nor end to what I have created. This is of My bounty unto all things, that haply they who have been given the Bayan may present themselves before Him Whom God shall make manifest and prostrate themselves.

O all things! If ye desire to praise Me in return for having created you and nourished you and caused you to die and brought you back to life, then praise Him Whom God shall make manifest, for that is what will reach unto Me, and I am verily the All-Hearing, the Near One. And if ye desire to bestow upon Me anything, then bestow it upon Him Whom God shall make manifest, for that is what will reach unto Me, and I have been, from the beginning that hath no beginning until this moment, the All-Possessing, the Self-Sufficient.

From the time that I desired to make Myself known to My creation, I have chosen a Throne and revealed Myself through it, and have manifested from it clear signs that render all worlds impotent, that ye may testify that there is no God but Me, the Supreme, the Self-Subsisting. Verily, I am neither simple nor ethereal, nor am I what ye describe of jewels. All that I have revealed concerning the Names are proofs of Him Whom God shall make manifest, that ye may be united through Him. I have created all things solely for My unity. O all things! It is Me ye must unify.

Think not that this is merely the words “There is no God but God,” for beneath its shadow, all who are not for Him Whom God shall make manifest shall perish, while all who are for Him Whom God shall make manifest shall endure until the next Resurrection. Were ye to possess all that exists on earth in diamonds beyond compare, the Manifestation of My Self would not accept from you aught save the words “There is no God but God.” This is what God accepteth from all worlds. What God accepteth not, none of His servants accept, and what His servants accept not, God accepteth not. This is the path of God in the heavens and the earth and all that lieth between them.

All that hath been ordained in every religion was ordained to establish these words, yet ye remain veiled from the mystery of the Cause. At this moment, all on earth declare with their tongues “There is no God but God,” and verily the Seven Letters are the proof of God, yet they remain veiled from their meaning, save those who have been given the Bayan—these are they who abide firm in the shadow of affirmation. Say: O ye who have been given the Bayan! If ye were to follow all that hath been revealed in the Bayan, yet on the Day of Resurrection remain veiled from Him Whom God shall make manifest, it would be as though ye had never uttered “There is no God but God” and had never known the mystery of the Cause.

When ye hear of the appearance of the Truth, follow Him, lest ye enter into negation after having striven all your lives for affirmation. For verily, He Whom God shall make manifest possesseth clear signs that render all worlds impotent. All names have been created for these words, if ye would but reflect. All laws have been ordained for this decree, if ye would but ponder. I am God, there is no God but Me. I shall assuredly cause all who enter not the Bayan to be negated, and shall annihilate all such by My command, for We have power over all things.

And We shall assuredly cause all who enter the Bayan to abide in the shadow of affirmation until the day of My manifestation—these are they who shall abide in the shadow of affirmation if they believe in Me and My signs at the time of My appearance; otherwise We shall cause them to enter into negation, which shall cause them to enter the fire. O My servants! Be ye God-fearing.

For I have two paradises as reward for these words: in your life ye shall be preserved from extinction. Do ye not observe those who have been given a portion upon the earth, how no one remembereth them? And when Truth prevaileth over them, He will seize them and cause them to perish. This is their fire in their lives, and your paradise in your life consisteth in what ye merit as ye observe. For if ye do not say “There is no God but God,” God hath ordained for your souls that ye shall instantly cause your souls to perish. And if ye do not cause them to perish, and the Truth or the proofs of Truth appear, He will cause you to perish. This is what your souls merit in yourselves. Will ye not then be God-fearing?

Say not the words “There is no God but God” unless ye join with them the mention of the Messenger in every Dispensation, and then believe in what hath been ordained by the Messenger. Otherwise, all people in their religions utter these words and believe in their prophet with certitude. But when they are veiled from the subsequent Manifestation, their belief in the former one profiteth them not, even though they be sincere in their religion. This is the beginning of the path in your religion, if ye truly believe in God and His signs with certitude.

When ye hear anyone declare “There is no God but Me” with clear proofs that render all the worlds powerless, then hasten unto Him. For this is He Whom ye have been calling upon from a beginning that hath no beginning unto an end that hath no end. This is He Whom God shall make manifest. Do ye not love Him? If ye truly believe in God, your Lord, with certitude, say: “Yea, we all act according to this.” Therefore, detach yourselves from all things and hold fast unto this, for this shall profit you if ye would reflect but a little. If ye strive in your religion yet deny this, it shall not profit you an atom’s weight with God, even if ye were believers at the beginning of your religion.

Cause your souls to perish through your own merit before God, your Lord, causeth you to perish, if ye be truly religious. And those who were given the Gospel—had they recognized God their Lord when Muhammad, the Messenger of God, came unto them, they would have caused their souls to perish and entered beneath the shadow of divine proof. But since they recognized not God their Lord, their profession of divine unity in their religion profited them not, nor did any of the conditions created under this shadow, though they know it not.

Likewise, those who were given the Qur’an—had they recognized God their Lord when they heard a verse from God declaring “There is no God but Me,” all would have believed in Him. But since they believed not, though they consider themselves religious in their own estimation, they must cause their souls to perish, for this is the foundation of their religion, but they understand not nor do they perceive.

Say: This is your reward in your life as ye walk in God’s good-pleasure, delight in what God hath sent down from His presence, are exalted through the laws God hath ordained, and are secure from extinction through your own merit. Can any paradise in your life equal this, if ye would reflect but a little? And your reward after death shall be a paradise created in heaven wherein ye shall possess every good thing, wherein shall be that which hath no equal, no likeness, no peer, and no companion.

If you say “There is no god but God” and then believe in and are certain of the conditions of this Word, you will be secure in your lives from being annihilated by the Truth, and at the moment when God takes your spirits unto the endless End, you will be joyful in the Most Great Paradise. If you possess any understanding, you would choose nothing but this, for you shall surely die. And if you remain veiled from affirmation and enter into negation, should the Truth appear unto you, It would annihilate you, and even if the Cause be weak, you shall still die. However, unto the endless End you shall find no help in the fire.

Say: Have mercy that aught should consume your souls; then declare in truth “There is no god but God.” For whosoever says “There is no god but God” is not veiled from any command revealed in the Bayan, nor from any prohibition, for this pertains to the domains of that Word, would you but reflect a little. And whosoever remains veiled, to the extent of his being veiled in negation after having professed the unity of his Lord, God will surely bestow upon him the recompense of his having remained veiled, as ordained in the Book. Verily He is knowing of all things. Say: Verily the Tree of Negation hath countless branches. Do ye not observe those who opposed the Primal Point? And verily the Tree of Affirmation hath innumerable branches. Do ye not reflect upon the proofs of the Primal Point?

How they annihilate negation through what God hath created in their hearts while they seek none other than God. Say: Verily the Tree of Negation professeth the unity of its Lord, yet it profiteth it not since it entereth not beneath the shadow of Affirmation. God will reckon with it if it entereth not beneath the shadow of Affirmation, for God hath power over this. And whosoever entereth beneath the shadow of Affirmation is not veiled from the ordinances of the Bayan. And those whom thou seest in their religion, are veiled from the ordinances of their religion, and they have not understood the Word “There is no god but God” nor uttered it in truth. How can this profit them when they are veiled from the ordinances of their religion?

Verily the first thing that God prescribed in the Bayan was the Word “There is no god but God” the number of the Unity each day and night, that perchance on the Day of Resurrection they may believe in Him Whom God shall make manifest and in whatsoever He ordaineth through His command, as indicated by those verses, and may then aid the Cause of God in truth.

Mode of prayers

In the name of God, the Divinity, the Divine

Glorified art Thou, O my God! I testify unto Thee in this hour of this night which Thou hast honored and magnified and exalted and adorned and elevated and sanctified and perfected, inasmuch as Thou didst manifest in such an hour the Point of the Bayan, the Sign of Thy Countenance and the Face of Thine Eternity and the Signs of Thy Unity and the Manifestations of Thy Singleness and the Tokens of Thy Self-Subsistence and the Emblems of Thy Sanctity and the Hidden Mysteries of the Glory of the Sovereignty of Thy Divinity. Glorified and exalted art Thou! Sublime indeed is that hour wherein Thou didst create all who are in the Bayan and through which Thou didst manifest whatsoever Thou didst desire and establish whatsoever Thou didst will.

I testify, and all things testify, that on such a night I was in my house before Thee when there descended upon me the first to taste Thy love in that Paradise and to be illumined by Thy revelation in that Garden, and with him were three letters. And in such an hour Thou didst create me through that which Thou didst inspire me to know myself. Glorified and exalted art Thou! Thou didst create therein the sign of guidance at the moment of his hearing and the Most Glorious Light at the mention of his name. Praise be unto Thee, O my God, for this with such praise as none before hath ever praised Thee, nor shall anyone praise Thee hereafter. And thanksgiving be unto Thee, O my God, for this with such thanks as none before hath ever thanked Thee, nor shall anyone thank Thee hereafter.

From the first moment Thou didst cause me to know myself and to know the first to believe in Thee and Thy signs, how many manifestations hast Thou shown unto me and unto them that followed me among the souls and the proofs, after Thou didst create all things that the proofs might appear from him when the Tree of the Bayan would shine forth. Praise be unto Thee for having made this known unto me and enabled Thy servants to attain thereunto. By Thy might! It behooveth all who are on earth, when I make mention of this, to prostrate themselves before Thee and to worship Thee before Thine eyes, inasmuch as all, in all conditions, seek Thy love and Thy good-pleasure.

And Thy love and Thy good-pleasure in that hour were not from what had been ordained before save the exaltation of Thy unity and the invincibility of Thy oneness. All have been veiled from Thy purpose though each hath striven according to his measure to win Thy good-pleasure, except such as Thou hast caused to know Thyself in the Bayan and hast admitted into the Paradise of the Bayan. These indeed have attained unto Thy purpose in the exaltation of Thy unity and have entered Thy paradise through the invincibility of Thy oneness.

Do Thou, therefore, O God, send down upon the first to taste of the gardens of that Paradise and to seek Thy good-pleasure in that Heaven, and upon all who shall follow in his path until the Day of Judgment, from Thee, O Thou the Lord of Glory and Sovereignty, O Thou the Lord of Grandeur and Dominion, from all Thy glory its most glorious, and from all Thy majesty its most sublime, and from all Thy mercy its most vast, and from all Thy words their most perfect, and from all Thy names their most great, and from all Thy might its most potent, and from all Thy will its most efficacious, and from all Thy knowledge its most penetrating, and from all Thy power its most extensive, and from all Thy utterance its most pleasing, and from all Thy causes those most beloved by Thee and most mighty before Thee, and from all Thy honor its most honorable, and from all Thy sovereignty its most enduring, and from all Thy dominion its most excellent, and from all Thy loftiness its most exalted, and from all that Thou hast of Thy most beauteous names and Thy most sublime examples that which befitteth the exaltation of the invincibility of Thy Self-Subsistence and the independence of the sovereignty of Thy Sanctity, for verily Thou hast ever been, O my God, powerful over whatsoever Thou willest and sovereign over whatsoever Thou desirest—in every sorrow I have witnessed or shall witness, there is no God but Thee, and in every joy I have witnessed or shall witness, there is no God but Thee.

For all things are from Thee, through Thee, of Thee and unto Thee alone. There is no God but Thee. If there be any evil, that pertaineth to the self which cannot be attributed to Thee, and if there be any good, that is of the evidences which can be attributed to Thee. O God! Make all the proofs of Thy oneness such that they shall not be consumed by the fire of being veiled from anything, for Thou hast created naught save for this purpose.

I testify before Thee, and before the dwellers of Thy heaven and earth and all those whom Thou hast caused to inhabit them from among Thy servants, that Thou didst manifest me in the years of the quaternary with the Name whose numerical value Thou didst make equal to the letter Ha, according to what Thou hadst ordained concerning the mention of the gates of the quaternary. Then when Thou didst complete the creation of those years, Thou didst manifest me with the Name of Thy Qayyumiyyat over all things and didst exalt the mention of Thyself in the Ha through majesty and in the Vav, and the first to aid Thee were the Daysprings of Thy majesty. Therefore, O God, send Thy blessings upon them with every good that Thy knowledge encompasseth.

I testify before Thee and before all things that Thou hast manifested Thy unity through those sovereign verses and exalted manifestations—how glorious are they in Thy knowledge and how mighty in Thy Book! Through them Thou hast annihilated the self and established the evidences by Thy power and might. How glorious is Thy power and how great is Thy station, wherein through the number of Ba Thou didst manifest the two powers for the exaltation of Thy might, and the numbers of all things in the two Daysprings for the exaltation of Thine eternity. All this is of the wondrous handiwork of Thy Lordship and the sublime and impregnable sovereignty of Thy divine nature.

Cause Thou to descend, therefore, O my God, from Thy presence a protecting verse, whereby Thou shalt cause all things to enter into the paradise of Thy unity, and shalt deliver them from negation beneath Thy unity, inasmuch as Thou hast created all for this, and all shall question Thee concerning this in their beginning and their end.

Cause Thou to descend, therefore, O my God, all Thy victory, and Thy triumph, and Thy subjugation, and Thy manifestation, and Thy sovereignty, and Thy power, and Thy exaltation, and Thy inaccessibility, and Thy glorification, and Thy might, and Thy majesty, and Thy splendor, and Thy grandeur, and Thy greatness, and Thy dominion, and Thy good pleasure, and Thy supremacy, and Thy judgment, and Thy wealth, upon the Tree of Thy love—from its root, and its trunk, and its branches, and its leaves, and its fruits, and whatsoever is within it and upon it—that Thou mayest adorn it with every ornament for the Day of Him Whom Thou shalt make manifest, that Thou mayest present it before Him, prostrate, submissive, humble, obedient, remembering, praising, grateful, and desirous—wherein it desireth naught save through the desire of Him Whom Thou shalt make manifest, and possesseth no will save through the will of Him Whom Thou shalt cause to prevail, and loveth naught save through the love of Him upon Whom Thou shalt confer sovereignty, and hath no power save through that which is ordained by Him Whom Thou shalt cause to triumph, and seeketh no permission save through that which is permitted by Him Whom Thou shalt cause to subjugate the earth and them that dwell thereon.

Glory be unto Thee, O my God! How sublime is Thy bounty and grace, how wondrous Thy generosity and favors, that Thou hast completed the Bayan in two full years after its House was ordained according to the number of ʿDal’. This is the first beginning of the dawning-place of Thine eternity. Therefore, O my God, send down upon those who are in the Bayan, on that Most Great Night which Thou hast adorned with the ornaments of Thy good-pleasure and clothed with the attributes of Thy glory—whose day Thou hast made a festival unto me, making it the greatest of Thy days and the mightiest of Thine hours, for through it Thou didst create the Bayan and make it the festival when Thou didst permit breaking the fast, and made it the first day of Thy Manifestation.

Thou hast invested that day with two mighty significances and clothed that night with two great powers. Therefore, O my God, send down upon the Manifestations of all that Thou hast created in the Bayan—of all Thy revelations, effulgences, signs, evidences, tokens, stations and manifestations—that which befitteth the loftiness of Thy sovereignty, the sublimity of Thy station, the exaltation of Thy signs and the inviolability of Thy words. And send down, O my God, upon the Tree of Thy love—its root, branch, twigs, leaves and fruits—all exaltation, glory, independence, majesty, radiance, elevation, power, dominion, honor, grandeur, might, authority, triumph, sovereignty, excellence, nobility, perfection, tolerance, adornment, and whatsoever Thou possessest of Thy most excellent names and most exalted attributes.

I testify before Thee and before all things that I have believed in Thee and in what Thou hast revealed in the Bayan, and through Thee I seek protection from the self and from all that Thou lovest not. Therefore preserve me, O my God, and all who are in the Bayan, through Thy sovereignty, might, dominion, exaltation, wisdom, glory, knowledge, possession, majesty, honor, power, inviolability, greatness, grandeur, loftiness, elevation, manifestation, revelation and all that Thou possessest of Thy names and attributes. Subject, O my God, every good thing which Thou hast encompassed in Thy knowledge for those who are in the Bayan, and preserve, O my God, from all that is not good, which Thou hast encompassed in Thy knowledge in the Bayan.

Nothing becometh Thee, O my God, neither of what Thou hast created nor of what Thou wilt create. Thou art even as Thou art in Thy most excellent names and most exalted attributes. Who is able to praise Thee? Thou art even as Thou hast praised Thyself, and above what any of Thy servants can praise Thee.

I glorify Thee above all that glorifieth Thee from any thing or shall glorify Thee, and I sanctify Thee beyond all that sanctifieth Thee from any thing or shall sanctify Thee, and I magnify Thee above all that magnifieth Thee from any thing or shall magnify Thee, and I exalt Thee above all that exalteth Thee from any thing or shall exalt Thee, and shall unify Thee beyond all that hath unified Thee or shall unify Thee, and shall make Thee sovereign over all that hath made Thee sovereign or shall make Thee sovereign. Thou art the Most High; naught can equal Thee. Thou art the Most Exalted; naught can compare with Thee. Thou hast prevailed over all things, even until Thou didst triumph over all things.

Thou hast exercised sovereignty over all things, even until Thou didst gain ascendancy over all things. Thou art the Manifest One above Thy creation, the Subduer over Thy servants, the Inaccessible through Thine inaccessibility, the Exalted through Thine exaltation, the Omnipotent through Thine omnipotence, and the All-Powerful through Thy power.

This is a wondrous year which Thou hast glorified, adorned, magnified, honored, perfected, manifested and elevated through what Thou hast created therein of the conditions of Thine eternity, the manifestations of Thine everlastingness, the mysteries of Thy oneness, the essences of Thy self-subsistence, the realities of Thy belovedness, the revelations of Thy manifestation, the evidences of Thy dominion, and what Thou art in Thy names and attributes.

Therefore, O my God, send down upon us in this year the fullness of Thy conquest—its most complete conquest, the fullness of Thy manifestation—its most evident manifestation, the fullness of Thy victory—its most triumphant victory, the fullness of Thy opening—its most perfect opening, the fullness of Thy power—its most potent power, the fullness of Thy exaltation—its most elevated exaltation, the fullness of Thine inaccessibility—its most impregnable inaccessibility, and all that Thou art in Thy most beautiful names and most exalted attributes, as befitteth the sublimity of Thy station and the exaltation of Thy rank.

This is a night wherein I have completed the Alif and Lam in the years of my life and entered into the Ba and Lam. Praise be unto Thee, O my God, for this, whereas before this I was not mentioned before Thee, nor did I exist within Thy sight.

Therefore, O my God, send down upon my parents and those dear to me, from the wonders of Thy creation to the end which none but Thee can reckon, that which befitteth the sublimity of Thy generosity, the exaltation of Thy grace, the elevation of Thy bounty, the inaccessibility of Thy benevolence, the supremacy of Thy beneficence, the magnificence of Thy favors, and the loftiness of Thy bestowals, for all are Thy servants, and in their inmost hearts are all Thy victory and Thy triumph, and what Thou art in Thy names and attributes, Thy joy and Thy delight. For never hath anything been hidden from Thy knowledge, whether in the heavens or on the earth or between them, nor hath anything ever proved impossible for Thee, whether in the kingdom of command or of creation or what lieth beneath them. Verily, Thou art the All-Knowing, the All-Powerful.

Mode of sermons

In the name of God, the Divinity, the Divine

In the Name of God, the Most Exalted, the Most Exalted

Praise be to God Who hath shone forth upon all created things through the transcendent inaccessibility of His eternity, Who hath risen high above all beings through the sovereign majesty of His grandeur, Who hath made Himself unapproachable above all creation through the exaltation of His Self-Subsistence, Who hath manifested Himself above all who dwell in the kingdoms of earth and heaven through the perfection of the effulgence of His countenance, and Who hath exercised dominion over all who inhabit the realms of names and attributes through His all-possessing holiness.

Therefore do I bear witness on this Day which He hath made the Day of His manifestation unto all things, and hath bestowed upon it from His own names to the number of all things, and hath made it greater than every other day through its greatness, more exalted than every other day through its exaltation, more inaccessible than every other day through its inaccessibility, more glorious than every other day through its glory, more elevated than every other day through its elevation, more majestic than every other day through its majesty, mightier than every other day through its might, more perfect than every other day through its perfection, greater than every other day through its greatness, more distinguished than every other day through its distinction, more victorious than every other day through its victory, more sovereign than every other day through its sovereignty, more possessing than every other day through its possession, more preserving than every other day through its preservation, more pleasing than every other day through its pleasure, more knowing than every other day through its knowledge, more powerful than every other day through its power, and more noble than every other day through its nobility, more adorned than every other day through its adornment.

He hath named it with His own name “the Day of God”—exalted be His glory—and hath clothed it in the mantle of divine sovereignty for its glory, and hath caused all other days to be subordinate to its shadow through its exaltation, even as He hath caused all names to be subordinate to the shadow of His Name “Allah.” Exalted, exalted be this blessed and auspicious Day! Exalted, exalted be this transcendent and treasured Day! Exalted, exalted be this sublime and hidden Day! Exalted, exalted be this lofty and secure Day! Exalted, exalted be this majestic and coupled Day! Exalted, exalted be this glorious and manifest Day! Exalted, exalted be this mighty and firm Day!

This is a Day wherein God is not pleased that any sorrow should enter the heart of anyone, much less that it should be heard or seen or witnessed or written. This is a Day wherein God hath manifested the Manifestation of His Self and hath planted the Tree of Affirmation through His appearance, and hath designated for Him all His most beautiful names that His knowledge hath encompassed.

This, then, is the Day of Divinity, this is the Day of Lordship, this is the Day of Oneness, this is the Day of Self-Sufficiency, this is the Day of Unity, this is the Day of Pure Essence, this is the Day of Camphor, this is the Day of Detachment, this is the Day of Divine Style, this is the Day of the Intended One, this is the Day of the Beloved, this is the Day of Divine Attributes, this is the Day of Divine Qualities, this is the Day of Intoxication, this is the Day of Prostration, this is the Day of Exaltation, this is the Day of the Intended One.

God hath inscribed with His own hands at the beginning of its night: “Glory be to God, the Possessor of the transcendent and inaccessible Might,” and at the beginning of its day: “Glory be to God, the Possessor of sublime Majesty.” How glorious is His glory, whereby all possessed of glory seek illumination from His glory, all possessed of majesty seek light from His majesty, all possessed of beauty seek grace from His beauty, all possessed of grandeur seek greatness from His grandeur, all possessed of light seek illumination from His light, all possessed of mercy seek compassion from His mercy, all possessed of loftiness seek exaltation from His exaltation, and all seek might from His might, and every learned one gains knowledge from His knowledge, and every possessor of power draws power from His power, and every utterance seeks contentment through His good-pleasure, and every possessor of proofs derives proof from His love, and every noble one acquires nobility from His ennoblement, and every sovereign exercises dominion through His sovereignty, and every possessor of dominion holds sway through His dominion, and every exalted one becomes elevated through His exaltation.

This is the Day which God created before the creation of all things, and made it a mirror of His Self throughout all days, and sanctified it above all similitudes and likenesses, and purified it from all equals and peers. This is the Day of God, exalted be His glory. This is the Day of God, mighty be His might. This is the Day of God, righteous be His righteousness. This is the Day of God, powerful be His power. This is the Day of God, extended be His outpouring.

This is the Day wherein the dwellers of the Ridvan are adorned, and wherein the inhabitants of Paradise are beautified, and wherein the denizens of the Supreme Horizon are gladdened, and wherein the dwellers of the Most Glorious Retreat are filled with joy, and wherein the inhabitants of the Realm of Divinity are well-pleased, and wherein the dwellers of the Realm of Might are intoxicated, and wherein the inhabitants of the heaven of the Kingdom offer praise, and wherein the dwellers of the summit of sanctity and the ruby are strengthened. This is the Day wherein God loveth that the Tree of Affirmation be raised to such heights that in His knowledge there remaineth naught save that which boweth down before Him and standeth upright before His eyes, after which there shall be but One.

This is what God hath created on that Day of merit, and He hath taken from all things their acknowledgment of its exaltation on the Day of the Covenant and Testament. This is the Day wherein God loveth that no soul in His knowledge should be abased except that He placeth it beneath the shadow of affirmation or counteth it among the summit of creation. This is the Day wherein God loveth that all should honor themselves and then others with the utmost honor, and magnify themselves and then others with the utmost magnification. This is the Day wherein whoso expendeth a mustard seed for the sake of God, God will give him the reward of all who have spent all things. This is the Day wherein whoso honoreth a soul, God will give him the reward of one who honoreth all things.

This is the Day wherein whoso bringeth joy to a soul, God will give him the reward of one who bringeth joy to all things. This is the Day wherein whoso causeth a soul to rejoice, God will give him the reward of one who hath caused all things to rejoice. This is the Day wherein whoso pleaseth a soul with himself, God will give him the reward of one who pleaseth all things with himself. This is the Day wherein He Whom God shall make manifest hath been exalted and made inaccessible in His majesty, and hath been glorified and elevated in His might.

His good-pleasure sufficeth you in lieu of the good-pleasure of all things, and His love sufficeth you in lieu of the love of all things, and His joy sufficeth you in lieu of the joy of all things, and His gladness sufficeth you in lieu of the gladness of all things, and His rejoicing sufficeth you in lieu of the rejoicing of all things. Yea, by God! The matter is more exalted and greater, and the mystery more glorious and mightier than that whoso pleaseth Him, it is as though he hath pleased God his Lord. How then can his reward be equated with the reward of all things? And verily God hath created all things from nothing in such wise that nothing can be reckoned from anything.

Therefore, O dwellers of the Ridvan of the Bayan, hold fast unto His love and His good-pleasure and His obedience and His glory and His might and His exaltation, for all things circle round His Will. God hath not created anything except that He hath taken from it a covenant of His Lordship. This is a Day whereon God hath offered His love unto all things, and the first to respond was the Point of the Bayan. Therefore hath He made him the Manifestation of His Self in that Ridvan and bestowed upon him that which none in Paradise hath been given, from the beginning that hath no beginning unto the end that hath no end.

This is a Day wherein God hath created two mighty festivals and two glorious days which renew your years therein and manifest your break of fast therein. Therefore, magnify ye the Day of God, exalted be His glory, with the utmost magnification, and honor ye the Day of God, mighty be His honor, with the utmost honor, that ye may thereby be guided to honor Him Whom God shall make manifest and to glorify Him Whom God shall raise up.

Watch over your souls, for God shall surely come unto you—His names are proofs of Him—while ye magnify that Day by His command yet remain veiled from His Self. Call ye to mind the stories of the Manifestations of Truth before you, that ye may not slumber. And on the Day when God shall make His Self known unto you, in that very moment ye shall recognize Him.

There is no day like unto that Day when all things worship God, their Lord, while the Manifestation of Divinity and Lordship is in a position whereof God would be ashamed to make mention, though all are treading the path of His love and good-pleasure and yearning for His presence and meeting.

This is a Day wherein God hath revealed:

“Verily I am God, there is none other God but Me, the Most Exalted, the Most Exalted”

according to the number of all things. Recite ye this, and make not yourselves to be among the proofs of self, but rather make yourselves to be among the proofs of affirmation.

For God hath, in the midst of the Paradise of the All-Highest, a mansion hewn of crimson ruby, whose door God hath not opened save on that Day, and He hath created therein, of all things that attract your hearts and spirits and souls and bodies, that which hath no equal, nor peer, nor likeness, nor associate, nor similitude. And whoso reciteth these verses according to the number of all things, God shall cause him to enter, after his death, into that mansion on such a day, and in his life what greater joy than that his tongue should glorify his Lord and his heart seek His good-pleasure.

Can there be any recompense equal to this that God promiseth to His servants? Glorified and exalted is He! I shall praise Him on that blessed Day and in that praiseworthy manner with praise that shall fill all the heavens with the might and loftiness of His sovereignty, and the earth and all that is thereon with the independence and majesty of His dominion, and whatsoever is between them in the kingdom of His command and His creation with the sublimity and splendor and good-pleasure of His oneness—praise such as none before hath offered the like thereof, nor shall anyone after offer its equal—praise resplendent and radiant, praise that hath no equal in His knowledge, nor likeness in His Book, nor peer in His heaven, nor similitude in His earth, nor associate in the kingdom of His command and creation—praise that filleth the pillars of all things through the loftiness of His glorification, and the essence of all things through the sublimity of His sanctification, and the first elements of all things through the exaltation of His magnification, and the final elements of all things through the transcendence of His veneration, and the outer aspects of all things through the independence of His oneness, and the inner realities of all things through the sovereignty of His eternality.

Such praise doth He accept from all His creation, bearing witness to the Tree of Affirmation at the ultimate heights of glory and elevation, and the furthest reaches of majesty and transcendence, and below these at the ultimate point of evanescence and extinction, and the furthest bounds of remoteness and penetration, where none hath mentioned Him, not even His own Self. Praise that transcendeth every eternal and excelleth every being. And I render thanks unto Him on this Day, the impregnable, the mighty, the munificent, the exalted, the glorious—thanks such as none before Him hath rendered, nor shall any of His servants render.

Thanks that filleth all the heavens through the independence, the majesty, the perfection, the forbearance, the justice, the grace and the power of His supreme sovereignty; and the earth and all thereon through the grandeur, the magnificence, the elevation, the invulnerability, the joy, the delight and the innovation of His holy transcendence; and whatsoever lieth between them from the kingdom of His command and creation through the manifestations, conditions, revelations, evidences, signs, stations and mysteries of the sovereign might of His unity; and whatsoever is beneath them through the exaltation, the glory, the good-pleasure, the radiance, the distinction, the intimacy and the sublimity of the King of His holy eternality.

Thus there remaineth not in His knowledge any thing save that which seeketh shelter beneath the Tree of His affirmation, transforming the veil of self through turning unto Him, and concealing its extinction in the presence of independence, until there be concealed therein what is concealed and manifest therefrom what is treasured, like unto the angels on high, they who glorify and sanctify and extol and praise and manifest and elevate. That such a Day should dawn upon the Tree of Truth as dawned upon Solomon, son of David, when there remained not a thing upon the earth but was under the shadow of his seal, and all things thereon were made to serve God through it.

Then doth God become well-pleased with what is on earth even as He is well-pleased with what is in heaven from the angels whose numbers none can reckon, who glorify God their Lord in every state and never weary, who sanctify God their Lord at every moment and never falter, who magnify God their Creator and never fall silent, who extol God their Fashioner and never become veiled. This is a Day wherein God loveth to witness upon the Thrones of Truth the like of this: O ye who possess spirits! That which befitteth God, ascribe not to any besides God, and that which befitteth other than God, ascribe not unto God.

For verily every good that is possible in creation befitteth Him Whom God shall make manifest, and every thing less than good that is possible in creation befitteth whosoever is veiled from Him Whom God shall make manifest. But ye witness the station worthy of the Point of Divinity and Its seat, and the station worthy of that which is other than the Point of Divinity and its place. Therefore fear ye God in your beginning and your end, and deal kindly on that Day with your descendants and those in your households and your kindred and those who love you and those who follow you, and present yourselves before Him Whom God shall make manifest, if ye be in the days of His manifestation, prostrating, humble, devoted, thankful and praising.

And when ye behold the presence of God, ye shall behold first the Primal Point, then the number of letters of the first letter, for this is the uttermost portion allotted unto you, the ultimate goal of your quest, your most exalted share, your most glorious gift, your most excellent bestowal, your most elevated grace, and the most impregnable expression of God’s favor concerning you. Otherwise, ye shall present yourselves before the Primal Point in His seat, glorifying God with supreme glorification and sanctifying Him with mighty sanctification.

For verily the Point of the Bayan, in the exaltation of the throne of His oneness in the Most Exalted Paradise and the inaccessibility of the seat of His singleness in the Most Glorious Ridvan, doth gaze upon you and bear witness concerning you, and beseech God to send down upon you that which ye ask of His grace. However, should ye make mention of Him in the hearts of those who know God their Lord, this would be more elevated in the sight of God your Creator. Therefore gather ye these two bounties in these two festivals, a grace from God, the Lord of all the worlds.

Mode of commentary

In the name of God, the Divinity, the Divine

Verily I am God, there is no God but Me, the Divine, the Divine. And verily the Glory is upon Him Whom God shall make manifest and then upon those who are His exponents. He abideth eternally in the glory of pre-existence. Furthermore, I testify that God, glorified be He, hath ever been an inaccessible, exalted Mystery. Eyes perceive Him not, nor can thoughts of the mind encompass Him. All that thou seest in the Bayan of attributes, or witnesseth in thy heart of descriptions—these are what God hath created by His command. If thou sayest He is like camphor, that is its ordainment; if thou sayest He is pure, that is His dewdrop; if thou sayest He is unseen, that is His source; if thou sayest He is inaccessible, that is His essence.

All the names thou seest or examples thou witnesseth are signs that God hath created for the exaltation of the Manifestation of His Self and the inaccessibility of the Dawning-Place of His Being. All that with which thou describeth God, exalted be His glory, whether of knowledge and power, or wisdom and might, or similar sublime examples and lofty allusions—through these thou seeketh to attain His recognition. Yet He, glorified and exalted be His majesty, cannot be described by what He hath created or will create, nor can anything behold Him, for vision is contingent upon conjunction, and He, glorified be He, can never be conjoined with anything. He hath no likeness among His creation. None can know Him as He is, and all else besides Him are His creatures.

His Being transcendeth the understanding of all else, and His Reality is sanctified above the praise of any besides Him. If thou desirest Him, thou must seek the Manifestation of His Self in every Revelation, for He, glorified be He, hath provided no other path than this.

Consider how all things have known their Lord solely through the tidings of the Messengers. The Messengers are the Thrones of His Revelation—God reveals Himself to them through themselves as He willeth. The likeness of Him Whom God shall make manifest is as the sun in heaven: whether it riseth or setteth, it is but one and the same sun. Likewise, whenever the Messengers are sent or will be sent, that which is manifest in them is one Will. Thy knowledge of that Will in each Revelation is thy knowledge of thy Lord and thy certitude in thy Creator. For that creation there is neither beginning nor end; it proceedeth from infinity unto infinity.

If thou desirest God to be pleased with thee, thou must be pleased with the Thrones of Truth in every Revelation and in their exaltation according to what is ordained by them. Let Me acquaint thee with the mystery of the Cause: all that thou seest in every Revelation is what hath been created by the command of that Most Exalted Throne and Most Glorious Seat, whether His command be manifested in man or in aught else, from the highest heights to the depths below. When it is established that he is the Throne of Truth, and thou witnesseth in his presence a proof that all creation is powerless to produce, then his word is God’s Word, his command God’s Command, his prohibition God’s Prohibition, obedience to him is obedience to God, his good-pleasure is God’s Good-Pleasure.

Likewise, all that is attributed to him is attributed to God, and what is attributed to God returneth unto him. Be not veiled by the conditions of thy religion, for all these refer back to the Throne of Truth, and he standeth through God his Lord, summoneth unto God by His leave, and indicateth God in his entirety. He hath no direction save that which pointeth to God his Creator and what tells of God its Maker. The first thing that God has ordained in every Revelation is the word “There is no God but God.” All that thou seest in every Revelation pertaining to matters of religion is for the exaltation of what is manifest through the Revelation and the inaccessibility of what is hidden in the unseen.

For the meaning of “There is no God but God” is established only through “There is no Proof except Him Whom God shall make manifest,” and “There is no Book except what God reveals unto Him,” and “There are no guides except what is confirmed by His Word,” and “There are no laws except what appears from His presence.” Be thou not veiled from the implications of that Word by even as much as a gnat’s wing, for if He Whom God shall make manifest appears and bids thee take up an atom and thou art veiled, then thou hast indeed been veiled from the words “There is no God but God.” Reflect thou upon thy turning and thy resting place, for the Cause of God in every universal matter is like every particular matter, and in every particular matter like every universal matter.

Perchance thou hast followed all the ordinances of God, yet God may place thee among the rejected ones because thou wert veiled from that particular matter. Therefore watch over thyself. And even if that matter does not appear by His command in the Book, yet when He Whom God shall make manifest testifies to thy being veiled in that matter—for He is more discerning than any discerning one and more subtle than any subtle one—He will judge thee as rejected even if He does not inform thee. He hath made known to thee what will save thee in every Revelation. I testify that this Word created all things—whatsoever is good is from the Tree of Affirmation, which in the Bayan consists of the Seven Letters until the Day of Him Whom God shall make manifest.

And He Whom God shall make manifest—exalted and inaccessible is His power, sublime and resplendent His praise. And whatsoever is not good is from the Tree of Negation. Thus in the Bayan, whosoever opposed the Primal Point—all evil that occurs until the Day of Resurrection stems from and returns to them. And on the Day of Resurrection their creation will be renewed through those who oppose Him Whom God shall make manifest from among those who believed in the Bayan and watched over its remainder, just as those who opposed the Primal Point had believed in what was revealed in the Furqan and watched over what was in it. Therefore watch, O soul, over thyself lest thou be veiled on the Day of Resurrection from God thy Lord, whether thou be the highest or lowest of creation.

For in the presence of Him Whom God shall make manifest thou art equal—if thou believest in Him thou shalt enter beneath the shadow of Affirmation, and if thou art veiled from Him thou shalt enter beneath the shadow of Negation, even after having professed the unity of God thy Lord throughout thy life and having watched over thyself in thy religion lest thou transgress its bounds before God manifests the Manifestation of His Self. For at the time of thy transgression thou art in a fire worse than being veiled. And if thou lookest into all religions, thou seest the dwellers of His paradise and His fire through their following the bounds of their religion or their being veiled.

And thou shalt not present thyself on the Day of Resurrection before Him Whom God shall make manifest except through your adherence to the ordinances of the Bayan, for if you appear before Him while veiled by even a single limitation, you will have veiled yourself from your religion. How then could you dare to appear before God, your Lord? And bear witness that this Word is ever-living, from a beginning that hath no beginning unto an end that hath no end. When one soul is raised up, another inheriteth its station, and when proofs of affirmation are raised up, other proofs of affirmation inherit therefrom. The Cause of God hath ever been living and everlasting, and God’s proofs abide secure in the Ridvan, while proofs other than the Truth remain veiled.

God hath ordained for every matter two recompenses—one during thy life and another after thy death. Thy recompense in this life is that thou shouldst be safeguarded from the claims of self, sustained by the fruits of what hath been revealed in the Bayan, and worship God thy Lord upon the path of proof. At that time, all delight shall be cut off from every manifestation save those who have entered the Bayan, for delight then lieth in God’s Cause and His good-pleasure, and it hath been severed from every manifestation save the manifestation of God in the Bayan, and His Cause and good-pleasure in that Paradise. Therefore, in thy lifetime, raise thy rank and station as much as possible and partake of thy Lord’s bounties.

Let not thyself be deprived thereof, for this is of God’s grace unto His servants. Indeed, God created not these bounties and favors except for the dwellers of that Ridvan and His servants in that Paradise.

Let not death weaken thee, for if thou diest, a living one shall inherit from thee and take pleasure in what thou hast bequeathed. God hath loved that the earth and all upon it should be cultivated through this Cause, and that the gardens of the Bayan should be adorned with the ornaments of this bounty. This is thy portion in thy life, and when thou art taken, if thou art of the tree of self, thou shalt enter the fire for as long as thy Lord willeth, and if thou art among the proofs of affirmation, thou shalt enter the Ridvan for as long as thy Lord willeth.

Let not thy worldly life distract thee from the life wherein thou must abide through the eternity of God, exalted be His glory, and the perpetuity of God, mighty be His power. For if thou art among the proofs of affirmation in thy life, even if thou possessest nothing when thou art taken, thou shalt possess the kingdom of Ridvan and, through the perpetuity of God thy Lord, thou shalt take delight therein in all that God hath created, for which there is no equal, no likeness, no peer, no partner, and no similitude. But if thou art among the proofs of self, thou shalt enter the fire, and if thou livest in this life as though thou hadst not lived even for a moment, so shall it be.

Therefore, again and again I say unto thee: make thyself naught but a companion of Him Whom God shall make manifest, for then thou wilt be among the proofs of the Tree of Affirmation, and on the Day of Resurrection God will judge thee accordingly, not by thy piety in the Bayan. And if thou makest thyself other than among the proofs of Him Whom God shall make manifest, thou shalt surely die if the conquering Truth doth not first annihilate thee, and through the eternity of God, exalted and mighty is He, thou shalt deprive thyself of God’s Ridvan and all that is created therein.

Verily, I counsel thee with true counsel: if thou art possessed of grandeur, detach thyself from thy grandeur and enter beneath the shadow of Him Whom God shall make manifest, for when thou sayest “There is no God but God,” if thou doest not this, thou wilt not have been truthful unto thyself. How can you claim to have recognized the unity of God, your Lord, if you do not associate yourself with Him Whom God shall make manifest? For the meaning of that phrase is that there is no truth except in Him Whom God shall make manifest and those who guide unto Him, whether you find Him exalted in His loftiness with all on earth prostrating before Him, or in His house with none beside Him. Therefore hold fast unto the unity of God and veil yourself from the self.

Approach Him only as befits His station and look not upon outward conditions, for if you were to find all on earth within His grasp you would obey Him, and if you were to find Him alone in the height of His house and the supremacy of His seat you would be patient regarding Him.

You must reflect upon His Manifestation and consider His words, for God has bound Himself by His promise that whosoever contemplates the words of Him Whom God shall make manifest, ponders upon them, and is abashed before the meeting with his Lord, God will guide him unto Himself, for His Manifestation is the Manifestation of God. I inform you that even the most pious in the Bayan may be veiled by their self from saying “yea,” just as you have witnessed in the Bayan concerning those who were given the Book aforetime. That Word is the Word in whose shadow all things of fire and light were created.

God loves that the self should be effaced as it was effaced in the days of Solomon, son of David, when there remained none on earth who believed not in him, for God had caused all on earth to be subject unto him. Be not veiled by the veil of self. Remember Shaddad, for in his denial he reached a point where not a soul was permissible for him, how much less above that. In every Manifestation the Cause is such that those who affirm deserve that all on earth should seek shelter in His shadow, while those who deny deserve to efface themselves before God decrees His command concerning them.

God has ordained for Himself, from a beginning that hath no beginning unto an end that hath no end, that He will efface denial to the extent possible in creation. Dost thou hear today any mention of the deniers of the Qur’an? Thus shalt thou witness in the Bayan. He exalteth those who affirm, preserving them in the utmost glory and inaccessibility, and the summit of holiness and elevation. Dost thou not see today how the guides of affirmation are mentioned in the Qur’an? Thus shalt thou witness in the Bayan.

But the grief is for those people who during the lifetime of the guides of affirmation treat them not as befits their station, while after their death they weep for them night and day and wish they had lived in their time. If ye lived not in our time, then live in the time of Him Whom God shall make manifest if ye attain unto it, for then ye would be truthful in your desire. Yet in the lifetime of the self ye treat them not as befits their station, while after their death ye remember them in ways that would not have pleased them in their lifetime. How can this benefit you? And if you did not comprehend the guides to the self in the Bayan, then understand them in the days of Him Whom God shall make manifest.

Observe what the soul deserves, if you are sincere in the declaration “There is no God but God.” And the first thing that God revealed in the Bayan, until He withdraws it, was prescribed for those therein to recite nineteen times every day and night: “God, there is no God but He, the Protector, the Self-Subsisting.” And whoever veils himself from the Cause of God must pay nineteen mithqals of gold, and if he forgets, he must make it up, but nothing is charged against him in the Book of God. This is so that you may believe in the First Unity on the Day of Resurrection just as you now affirm the unity of God day and night. O God! Annihilate the tree of self through what is possible in Thy knowledge. Verily Thou art knowing of all things and Thou art powerful over all things.

O God! Preserve the tree of affirmation, and raise it up, strengthen it, make it manifest, cause it to prevail, aid it, give it authority, and make it victorious over all else through Thy power over all things. Verily Thou art powerful over all things. Nothing escapes Thy knowledge, whether in the heavens or on the earth or between them, and Thou art knowing of all things.

Persian mode

In the name of God, the Divinity, the Divine

I beseech Thee by Thy Name O God, O God, O God, O God, O God, O God, O God, O God, O God, O Gods! O Divine One, O Lord, O Exalted One, O Most High, O Transcendent One, O Supreme One, I beseech Thee to send Thy blessings upon the First One, through what Thou hast encompassed in knowledge of all good. Verily, Thou art knowing of all things, and Thou art powerful over all things.

Praise and glorification befit the sacred court of the sovereign of the impregnable, Who hath ever existed through the independence and majesty of His own sacred Being, and will forever exist through the elevation and transcendence of His own sacred Essence. He hath created all things from nothing by His command, and hath manifested Himself unto all things, not within anything, through His signs.

Praise without equal befitteth the Desired One Who hath made Himself known through the manifestation of His own Self in the Bayan, such that no atom among created things remaineth veiled from the effulgence of His luminous countenance, and all have attained unto that for which they were created, which is the recognition of His unity. And glorification be upon the Thrones of His manifestation from a beginning that hath no beginning unto an end that hath no end, Who in every manifestation appeareth with a name and in every concealment shineth forth with an attribute, establishing His unity in every condition.

Thou shalt see that He hath raised up certain ones, and hath not fixed any number for the Thrones of the reality of His manifestation, so that all may become illumined and enlightened at the apex of their journey through infinity unto infinity from infinity by infinity. He hath established all the Thrones of Reality in the dawning-place of the Bayan through the Letters of the Seven, and hath ordained that all that is realized through the Thrones of His manifestation shall be realized through this Throne.

This, then, is all of the First and the Last, the Manifest and the Hidden, until the Day when He shall make manifest the Manifestation of His Self, Who is, from the beginning of His manifestation, all the Thrones of Reality and all that is realized through Him is realized in every manifestation. This is the mystery of the words of the Point of the Furqan: “As for the Prophets, verily I am they,” and the mystery of the tradition concerning the Proof, upon him be glory from the Lord of praise, that “Whoso desireth to behold the First Creation, let him look upon…” And He saith not “Whoso desireth to look upon Adam, let him look upon this one,” and likewise unto the end of the degrees of the Thrones of Reality.

For that which establisheth the Messengers is the manifestation of God within them, and that One without number hath been and ever shall be One, becoming not many. His likeness is as the sun—though He is sanctified and exalted above any mention of likeness or similitude—if it should rise unto infinity, there would not be and is not more than one sun.

And the difference in the manifestations of the Thrones, their tongues, their books, and their verses should not veil the observer, for that which is manifest in all is one Command, and that Command is not the Essence of the Unseen Eternity, but rather is a Will that hath been created by itself for itself, not within anything, and in every manifestation is exalted through His bounty and in every concealment is made impregnable through His grace. There has never been nor shall there be any likeness unto Him, for the Essence of Eternity and the Camphor of Pre-existence has ever been sanctified beyond the comprehension of all else and exalted above the praise of all else. He has eternally been independent of all things and self-sufficient above all things.

No place has there been for Him, since place itself is His creation by His Will. He cannot be described by substance or abstraction or simplicity or limitation, for all these are created by His Will. He it is Who created the heavens through His all-pervading power, and the earth through His manifest Will, and whatsoever is between them through His inaccessible Command. He has eternally known all things before their existence and has been powerful over all things after their existence. He has been inaccessible in His own inaccessibility over all things and exalted in His own exaltation over all things. When mention is made of things, every thing in its created rank exists within His dominion, while He remains sanctified beyond association and exalted above separation.

He is near to everything through His own reality in it, yet remote from everything inasmuch as He transcends the conception and comprehension of any thing. All that can possibly be described in contingent existence is His creation, and all attributes in the worlds of being are His description. No path has there been for any thing toward Him, nor shall there be, except through what He reveals in every Manifestation through the Manifestation of His Self. If thou desirest to know Him, know Him Who God shall make manifest. If thou desirest to love Him, possess the love of Him Who God shall make manifest. If thou desirest His good-pleasure, attain the good-pleasure of Him Who God shall make manifest. If thou desirest to witness Him, be thou a witness unto Him Who God shall make manifest.

If thou desirest nearness unto Him, choose thou nearness unto Him Who God shall make manifest. Know thou that the essence of all words and the quintessence of their completion is this and nothing else: that whatsoever appeareth from God appeareth from the Throne of Truth, and whatsoever ascendeth unto God reacheth unto the Throne of Truth and abideth. This is God’s most impenetrable and holy veil, God’s most exalted and resplendent mirror, God’s most noble and sweetest Revelation, and God’s most luminous Mystery. If thou makest all thy knowledge to end in Him Who God shall make manifest, thou shalt have attained the fruit of thy knowledge.

And if thou makest all thy good-pleasure to end in that which attesteth His good-pleasure with thee, thou shalt have reached the ultimate purpose of thine existence through His bounty. His existence in itself is proof of the impossibility of knowing His existence, and the existence of His signs in their essence is proof of the exaltation of His signs. Imagine not that aught else is manifest or that aught else is evident. Nay, by His most sweet and most glorious Self! None was there before Him and none shall there be after Him. None was manifest besides Him and none shall be concealed except Him.

Know that in every Divine Revelation, the first principle of religion hath been that there is no God but God, and all the various aspects of every religion have been but aspects of this exalted Word. Know thou that the Manifestations of this Word have been, and shall forever be, alive from the beginning that hath no beginning unto the end that hath no end. And know that this Word is all things, since all things are but of two kinds: either of fire or of light. If of fire, behold it in the shadow of negation, and if of light, observe it in the shadow of affirmation. The realization of these two conditions is manifest through the One Who appears in the Revelation. Consider the sun and the mirror: when they are set opposite each other, the sun’s appearance is reflected therein.

Such mirrors are called, in the terminology of the Bayan, proofs of affirmation. And any soul that remaineth veiled, the appearance of the Point of the Bayan is not reflected in it. Thus is it accounted as created negation.

Know that in this Revelation, when the Sun of Truth—Who is the Master of fire and light—appeared, the first to turn unto Him became the Tree of Affirmation until the Day of Him Whom God shall make manifest. Every believer who attaineth guidance is an aspect of affirmation. Say: O God, bless Him as befitteth and behooveth Him. And the first to be veiled was negation, and all aspects of being veiled until the Day of Him Whom God shall make manifest are its aspects. Say: O God, seize him and bring him to naught as he deserveth by Thy justice. Verily, Thou art the Most Just of the just.

Know that these two Trees are ornaments in the Bayan and are in the grasp of their Master. On the Day of Him Whom God shall make manifest, behold the first believer as the essence of the Tree of Affirmation, and the first to be veiled as the essence of the Tree of Negation. Both follow with utmost adherence the laws of the Bayan, except that the Tree of Affirmation hath obeyed God in the latter Manifestation while negation desired to worship God in the former Manifestation.

This is the mystery of the tradition concerning Iblis, that after being veiled from the new prostration, he outwardly beseeched God saying, “Forgive me, I will worship Thee with such worship as none hath ever rendered.” Then came the divine revelation from his own self to his own self that “I love to be worshipped in the way I have ordained, not in the way thou wouldst worship.” And if the veil were lifted from thine eyes, thou wouldst see all caught in this trial, for there is no soul that doth not worship God between itself and Him. God shall not accept his worship, except that he worships in the way that God desires.

It is for this reason that it profiteth him not, for on the Day of Him Whom God shall make manifest, God, exalted be His glory, desireth to be worshipped through obedience unto Him. Even if such a one be at the pinnacle of piety in the Bayan and worship God to the utmost extent possible, his example would be as the example given. Take refuge, therefore, in God from this, meaning seek shelter in belief in Him Whom God shall make manifest from those servants who believe not in Him. Behold the Tree of Negation in those who opposed the Point of the Bayan, and the Tree of Affirmation in those who believed in the Point of the Bayan. Negation hath been and ever shall be negative, while Affirmation hath been and ever shall be exalted and unattainable.

Negation reacheth such a point that the soul itself is unwilling to make mention of its name. Consider the negation that opposed the Point of the Furqan: today no soul in Islam would be content to be identified with it, yet all the souls of the Bayan are even more remote than those souls. Likewise, on the Day of Him Whom God shall make manifest, none would be content to be identified with the Point of the Bayan. Take heed that thou utterest “There is no God but God” with sincerity, for if thou speakest with sincerity, thou wouldst not suffer even one person to remain on earth who believeth not in Him Whom God shall make manifest. Otherwise, thou speakest words without comprehending their meaning. Think not that throughout the night the Twin Trees are not manifest. Nay, by God!

Consider how at the end of the Dispensation of the Furqan, the Tree of Affirmation, which was the essence of the Seven Letters in the most exalted realm, was and is the establisher of God’s Cause in His religion, while the divines who acted for themselves were in opposition, as became evident at the time of testing—their negation and its affirmation. Likewise shall it be in the Bayan until the appearance of Him Whom God shall make manifest. I have given an example regarding the following of ordinances, that thou shouldst not include among those who oppose the divines others who are oppressors and veiled from the ordinances of their own religion, for their being veiled in their own religion is evident.

But confusion ariseth in following ordinances, that thou shouldst distinguish affirmation from negation, so that on the Day of Resurrection thou mayest be gathered beneath the shadow of affirmation. It hath been forbidden in the Bayan that some should pronounce judgment of negation and affirmation regarding others, lest discord should appear. None save Him Whom God shall make manifest hath the right to judge. How many servants appear to be of the negation, yet on the Day of Resurrection they turn away from negation. Therefore, cause no discord to appear among yourselves while ye walk in God’s shelter.

And in every night and day, say nineteen times “There is no God but God” in truth, in very truth, for even if thou shouldst say it unto infinity, there hath been and shall be but one Divine Unity, for in names there appeareth naught but the Named One Himself, even as thou sayest there is no sun but the true Sun, shouldst thou observe. Yet consider thou the degrees of unity in relation to the degrees of names and attributes, for in the presence of every true soul that which is contrary to it hath been and shall be negated, and unto God is the journey’s end.

2. Al-awhad

Mode of verses

In the Name of God, the One, the One

In the Name of God, the Unique, the Unique! In the Name of God, the Creator, the Single! Verily I am God! There is no God but Me, the Single, the Single! God—there is no God but Him, the One, the One! God—there is no God but Him, the Unified, the Unified! God—there is no God but Him, the United, the Singular! God—there is no God but Him, the United, the Unifier through God! God is Single, Single, and unto God belongs the unique singularity of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them. God is the Singular, United, Unifying, and unto God belongs the dominion and sovereignty of oneness in the heavens and earth and whatsoever is between them. God is the Unifier, United, Unifying.

Say: God is more Single than any possessor of singleness. None can escape from the dominion and sovereignty of His Singleness, whether in the heavens or in the earth or in whatsoever is between them. Verily He hath ever been the Unifier, the One, the Unique.

Say: God is more Single than any possessor of singleness. None can escape from the unique unity of His Oneness, whether in the heavens or in the earth or in whatsoever is between them. Verily He hath ever been the Unifier, the One, the Unique.

Glory be unto Thee, O God! Verily Thou art the Singular One of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them. Thou givest unity to whomsoever Thou willest and takest it from whomsoever Thou willest. Thou exaltest whomsoever Thou willest and abasest whomsoever Thou willest. Thou aidest whomsoever Thou willest and forsakest whomsoever Thou willest. Thou strengthenest whomsoever Thou willest and weakenest whomsoever Thou willest. Thou enrichest whomsoever Thou willest and impoverishest whomsoever Thou willest. Within Thy grasp is the kingdom of all things. Thou createst whatsoever Thou willest by Thy command. Verily Thou art powerful over all things.

Glory be unto Thee, O God! Verily Thou art the Singular One of those who are singular. Thou givest authority to whomsoever Thou willest and takest it from whomsoever Thou willest. Thou exaltest whomsoever Thou willest and abasest whomsoever Thou willest. Thou aidest whomsoever Thou willest and forsakest whomsoever Thou willest. Thou strengthenest whomsoever Thou willest and weakenest whomsoever Thou willest. Thou enrichest whomsoever Thou willest and impoverishest whomsoever Thou willest. Within Thy grasp is the kingdom of all things. Thou createst whatsoever Thou willest by Thy command. Verily Thou art the Unifier, the One, the Unique.

Say: O God! Verily Thou art the Most Single of the single ones. All who dwell in the kingdoms of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them worship Thee, and all within the kingdom of Command and Creation and whatsoever is beneath them prostrate before Thee. Verily Thou art knowing of all things.

Say: O God! Verily Thou art the Unifier of the heavens and earth and whatsoever is between them. Thou shalt plant the tree of affirmation in all that Thou hast created and wilt create by Thy command for the Day whereon Thou shalt manifest the Manifestation of Thy Self, that all may be among those who prostrate themselves before Thee.

Say: God is more Single than any possessor of oneness. None can escape from the unique unity of His oneness, whether in the heavens or in the earth or in whatsoever is between them. Verily He hath ever been the Unifier, the United, the Unique.

This is a Book unto Him Whom God shall make manifest, testifying that there is no God but Me, the Protector, the Self-Subsisting. Therein is mentioned the second day of the month of Baha and whatsoever hath been ordained on that day concerning the mention of an exalted and elevated truth. Verily I am God! There is no God but Me! I have revealed in the shadow of the First Name what I desired concerning the words “There is no God but God,” that ye may, on the Day of Resurrection, believe in and be assured of Him Whom God shall make manifest, the Manifestation of your Lord.

All that I have created from a beginning that hath no beginning until this time are veiled, save those whom We have guided in the Bayan, for these are they who shall appear in that Paradise through what hath been ordained therein, are empowered by what hath been revealed therein, are made victorious by what hath been expounded therein, are rendered triumphant by what hath been decreed therein, and are made mighty by what hath been set forth therein. These shall abide in that Paradise until the time We shall manifest the Manifestation of Our Self. Then shall these souls be tested. If ye believe in Him Whom God shall make manifest, your Lord, then shall ye be numbered among the Tree of Affirmation, presenting yourselves before God, your Lord.

But should ye be veiled by aught, your affirmation shall be changed to negation in the Book of God. Fear ye God, and exchange not your Paradise for the fire. Think not that they who have not entered the Bayan recognize Me or comprehend any good. Nay, by the mention of the Self-Subsisting, the All-Compelling! None recognizeth Me save he who hath recognized Me in the Bayan and hath accepted what was revealed therein unto Ali before Muhammad. These, verily, are they who possess true understanding, if they believe on the Day of Resurrection in Him Whom God shall make manifest. These shall not depart from the true understanding of God. Otherwise, what they have acquired aforetime shall profit them not. God is, verily, cognizant of all things.

Were We to will it, We would assuredly gather together all the means of the Cause for the Tree of Affirmation, until ye would not witness upon the earth any soul, even as We gathered it together aforetime. We are, verily, powerful over all things. But We desire to admit those who have believed into Paradise and to debar those who have turned away from that Paradise, with justice from Our presence. We are, truly, just. The words “There is no God but God” shall profit you not unless ye make mention of Ali before Muhammad, and then, on the Day of Resurrection, of Him Whom God shall make manifest—a command from God. He, verily, is All-Knowing, All-Wise. All recognize God, their Lord, and all bow down before Him. All sanctify God, their Lord, and all are devoted unto Him.

All glorify God, their Lord, and all are humble before Him. All magnify God, their Lord, and all are submissive unto Him. All extol God, their Lord, and all remember Him. There is no soul but worshippeth God, its Lord, and all are engaged in worship like unto it. None doubteth in God, the Lord of the heavens and the Lord of the earth, the Lord of all that is seen and unseen, the Lord of all worlds. Nay, the first thing that changeth your light into fire is the mention of the Messengers after God in every Dispensation. Will ye not, then, reflect upon God’s creation? Otherwise, all profess with their tongues to recognize God, their Lord, and all worship Him.

Is there any doubt concerning God, the Originator of the heavens and the earth and all that lieth between them, Who sendeth the angels as messengers from His presence, as bearers of glad-tidings and warnings, that ye should worship none but God, our Lord and your Lord, the Lord of the heavens and the Lord of the earth, the Lord of all worlds? Yet ye differ regarding the mention of the Messengers, though the hidden Unity is not established save through what appeareth in the outward Messenger. Will ye not reflect? Were ye to know God, your Lord, and were ye truly to recognize Him, ye would not be veiled from the Messengers in every Dispensation, but would believe in them at the time of their appearance and would be convinced.

Say: The inner essence of all the Messengers is the word “There is no God but God,” while their outward reality is the expression of themselves in every Dispensation through what is manifested from them. Will ye not reflect?

Say: The example of what is manifested in the Messengers is like unto the sun, if ye would but perceive. Through that do ye believe in God and His signs with certitude, and in every Dispensation ye are not veiled from the Messenger. Will ye not ponder? All that ye possess in your religion appeared only from the Messengers. Do ye not see? Similarly, all that ascendeth unto God your Lord is that which riseth unto the Messengers. Do ye recognize aught besides that Most Glorious Veil? I am verily God, there is no God but Me, could ye but see. Were all My servants to aid the Manifestation of My Self, there would remain not upon the earth anything that would indicate self, and all would enter the paradise of affirmation. This We have witnessed. Yea, glory be unto Thee, O God!

Shouldst Thou manifest from Thyself that which would make Thy Word known to all the worlds, none upon earth would hesitate but all would say:

“Glory be unto Thee, O God! There is no God but Thee, and verily He Whom Thou wilt make manifest on the Day of Resurrection is a Messenger from Thee, Whom Thou hast made to appear unto all the worlds.”

This is the love of my heart for the exaltation of Thy unity, and Thou art the Most Seeing of the seeing. And this is the love of my heart for the inaccessibility of the mention of the Manifestation of Thy Self, and Thou art the Most Knowing of the knowing. I commit my affair unto God—that sufficeth me in my return and my dwelling place.

God will assuredly manifest His Cause unto all the worlds, and God will assuredly raise up His Cause above all the worlds, and God will assuredly exalt His Word above all the worlds, and God will assuredly cause the champions of His religion to prevail over all the worlds, and God will assuredly aid the champions of Him Whom God shall make manifest over all the worlds. As to every thing, let it not be associated with the words “There is no God but God” except that ye remember the Messengers thereafter. And let it not be associated with the mention of the Messengers except that ye recognize the Messengers of God in every Dispensation. And let it not be associated with the Messengers of God except that ye love the First Letter from all the Messengers.

And let it not be associated with the First Letter except that ye love all the champions of the Messengers. Say: There is naught but God and then His names and attributes. Do ye not see? Say: There is naught but Him Whom God shall make manifest and then the champions of His Cause and His creation. Do ye not observe? Say: God verily teacheth you in the shadow of every name the knowledge wherewith ye are created through the name of God. It beseemeth not the Manifestation of the name of God that aught should be associated with Him, and all before Him do glorify Him. This is what that Essence deserveth, and none other than It meriteth such desert, if ye believe in God and His signs.

And the meaning of Divinity is to have power over all things, and nothing can frustrate Him, neither in the heavens nor on the earth nor whatsoever is between them. Is there any besides God who hath power over all things? Say: Glory be unto God! All are powerless except God, the Supreme, the Self-Subsisting. On that Day all shall meet God through the Manifestation of His Self in unity, and all that existeth on earth shall abide under the shadow of the Tree of Manifestation. Then shall ye attain unto the paradise of God. Say: God knoweth best what is in the heavens and on earth and whatsoever is between them concerning all things. Will ye not see? This is what He Whom God shall make manifest knoweth. Will ye not reflect?

Say: God hath created the creation of the Bayan according to the number of the name of the Unity, that ye may witness the Unity in all things. And verily your God is One God. There is no God but Him, the Supreme, the Self-Subsisting. Say: The numbers of Unity are but a creation with God. Will ye not see? Say: The name of Unity is the first proof of God, their Lord. Will ye not ponder? And whosoever saith “There is no God but God” yet mentioneth not the Messenger, how can his creation be distinguished in the Book, when all are remembered after the mention of their Prophet?

Were the veil to be lifted from the eyes of all on earth, all would believe in the Manifestation of God’s Cause in every Revelation, for all know God their Lord and are assured of what cometh from Him, and their Prophet is He Whom God shall make manifest, if they would but perceive the mystery of the Cause. Verily, the Outward in all the Messengers is the Inward in them, and the First in all the Messengers is the Last in them. All are from God and all return unto God. Whoso looketh to the mystery of the Cause and was among those who believed in the Primal Point shall on that Day believe in God and in Him through Whom God hath sent down the Bayan, and shall witness in Him the Primal Point as was witnessed on the day of His appearance.

This is God’s mystery concerning the Messengers—veil not yourselves from it. For if ye veil yourselves from a Messenger in His Revelation, it is as though ye had veiled yourselves from all the Messengers in previous Revelations, and ye remain veiled from the mystery of their Outward Manifestation. Therefore have mercy on your own souls, O people of the Bayan, that ye be not veiled by the Bayan and what hath been revealed therein from Him Whom God shall make manifest.

For verily the words “There is no God but God” in the Bayan are what He Whom God shall make manifest declareth of Himself from God, the Lord of the worlds: “Verily there is no God but Me, the Lord of the worlds.” And the mention of Ali before Muhammad is the mention of His Self at the time of His manifestation, that ye may not be veiled from Him when ye have believed in Me. And the verses which God revealeth unto Him are what God hath revealed unto all who are from God, and all return unto God. And the commands that appear from Him are the commands that were revealed before, would that ye might reflect a little. From Revelation to Revelation ye shall know God your Lord. Grieve not the Throne of God’s Revelation nor the exponents of His Cause, and seize your opportunity.

For this appeareth not through means that are with you even if ye were to sacrifice all that is on earth. But God manifesteth what He willeth from His presence. Verily He hath power over all things.

Whoso desireth all the Messengers, let him turn unto Me, and whoso desireth less, let him turn unto Him Whom God shall make manifest, and whoso desireth Him Whom God shall make manifest, let him turn unto Him Who shall appear after Him Whom God shall make manifest, and whoso desireth Him Who shall appear after Him Whom God shall make manifest, let him turn unto Him Who shall appear after after Him Whom God shall make manifest, and let him prostrate himself before God in His presence. And if thou shouldst make mention of them so long as I live, My heart shall never be void of their remembrance, and God is verily powerful over all things. Nay, should I make mention of them for as long as God willeth, they are they who shall be made manifest.

And every Manifestation before is for Him Who shall be made manifest after, and We all are workers for Him Whom God shall make manifest. And whosoever is created in His Dispensation, all shall work for Him Who shall be made manifest after Him Whom God shall make manifest.

Say: Verily the religion is the words “There is no God but God,” then the mention of the Messenger after Him. And whosoever shall speak of the First and shall not speak of the Last, even were he to redeem all who are on earth, it shall not be accepted from him, seeing that ye yourselves profess faith in them both.

Mode of prayers

In the Name of God, the One, the One

Glorified art Thou, O my God! I bear witness, and those who are in the kingdom of Thy command and creation likewise testify, that Thou art God, there is no God but Thee, alone without partner.

Thine is the splendor and all splendors, Thine the might and all mights, Thine the grandeur and all grandeurs, Thine the majesty and all majesties, Thine the light and all lights, Thine the mercy and all mercies, Thine the perfection and all perfections, Thine the completion and all completeness, Thine the greatness and all greatness, Thine the power and all powers, Thine the knowledge and all knowledge, Thine the strength and all strengths, Thine the loftiness and all loftiness, Thine the good-pleasure and all good-pleasures, Thine the honor and all honors, Thine the sovereignty and all sovereignties, Thine the dominion and all dominions, Thine the victory and all victories, and Thine is whatsoever Thou hast loved or wilt love in the kingdom of Thy command and creation. Thou hast ever been alone in the sovereignty of might and majesty, and single in the kingdom of sanctity and beauty.

I beseech Thee by Thy sovereignty at its most sovereign, by Thy might at its mightiest, by Thy wisdom at its wisest, by Thy power at its most powerful, by Thy greatness at its greatest, by Thy protection at its most protective, by Thy sufficiency at its most sufficient, by Thy victory at its most victorious, by Thy triumph at its most triumphant, by Thy dominance at its most dominant, by Thy manifestation at its most manifest, by Thy sovereignty at its most sovereign, by Thy omnipotence at its most omnipotent, by Thy grace at its most gracious, by Thy tenderness at its most tender, and by Thy richness at its richest, that Thou mayest cause to descend upon the Tree of Affirmation in the Bayan, in its root and branch and twigs and leaves and fruits and in all that is in it and upon it, all Thy exaltation and inaccessibility and independence and freedom and transcendence and glory and might and power and sovereignty and dominion and grandeur and majesty and good-pleasure and perfection and strength and loftiness, and all that Thy knowledge encompasses of every victory most victorious, every conquest most conquering, every manifestation most manifest, every sovereignty most sovereign, every power most powerful, every triumph most triumphant, every dominance most dominant, every omnipotence most omnipotent, every grace most gracious, every bounty most bountiful, every tenderness most tender, every beauty most beautiful, every generosity most generous, every gift most pleasing, and all that befits the sublimity of Thy sanctity and the exaltation of Thy grace, as Thou art worthy thereof.

O my God! This is the Tree which Thou hast chosen for Thyself and selected for Thine own Being, and made it a proof of the sovereignty of Thy oneness and a path to the station of Thy singleness. Thou hast joined the mention of Him upon Whom the Bayan was revealed in that Name with the mention of Thy unity. Therefore, I bear witness, and all Thy creation likewise bears witness, that after the earth and all that is thereon was filled with other than justice, Thou didst manifest Him with justice and didst send down upon Him Thy verses and distinguish Him with Thy words and make Him the Manifestation of Thy Will and Creation and the Dawning-Place of Thy Purpose and Perfection. O Thou Most Manifest of the manifest ones! Cause Him to be manifest over all things.

O Thou Most Sovereign of the sovereign ones! Grant Him sovereignty over all things. O Thou Most Dominant of the dominant ones! Grant Him dominion over all things. O Thou Most Victorious of the victorious ones! Grant Him victory over all things. O Thou Most Triumphant of the triumphant ones! Grant Him triumph over all things. O Thou Most Compelling of the compelling ones! Cause all things to be subject unto Him. O Thou Most Supreme of the supreme ones! Grant Him supremacy over all things. For verily Thou art powerful over that and exalted above this. I beseech Thee, O God, to cause the Tree which Thou hast planted in the Bayan to appear before Him Whom Thou shalt make manifest, in prostration, humility, submissiveness, devotion and remembrance.

And do Thou send down upon Him and His chosen ones the most resplendent of all Thy glory, the most sublime of all Thy majesty, the most beautiful of all Thy beauty, the most magnificent of all Thy grandeur, the most abundant of all Thy mercy, the most perfect of all Thy words, the most exalted of all Thy names, the most complete of all Thy perfection, the most powerful of all Thy might, the most efficacious of all Thy will, the most pleasing of all Thy utterance, the most penetrating of all Thy knowledge, the most potent of all Thy power, the most noble of all Thy honor, the most enduring of all Thy sovereignty, and all that befitteth Thee and is worthy of Thee.

For Thy good-pleasure is in His good-pleasure, O my God, and Thy love in His love, and Thy glory in His glory, and Thy majesty in His majesty, and Thy beauty in His beauty.

Do Thou, O my God, cause the whole earth to be subservient unto Him, and show Him the fruits of the Bayan with all the goodness that is therein and thereof. And do Thou, O my God, place a barrier between Him and the self, and cause the self to be subservient unto Him, that the self may be concealed within His Self and manifest unto Him in its outward expression, that His heart may not be saddened by any soul. Verily, Thou art powerful over this and mighty to accomplish this.

And do Thou, O my God, raise up Thy House to the utmost height possible, for this exaltation is a remembrance of Thy Godhead for Him Whom Thou shalt make manifest. And do Thou raise the seat of the Manifestation of Thyself to the highest pinnacle of glory, for this is an evidence of the manifestation of Thy Lordship in the essence of Him Whom Thou shalt make manifest. By Thy glory! Were I to possess the means to build Thy House of white diamonds, I would not introduce therein any other gems, for the dignity of Thy House is higher, more glorious, more exalted and more impregnable than this.

The bounty is from Thee alone, for after Thou wert sanctified above all places and limitations, and exalted beyond all geometry and allusions, Thou didst attribute to Thyself a seat of transcendent glory and a source of sublime and lofty sanctity, that all might circle round the word of Thy unity, and thereby, on the Day of Resurrection, circle round the command of Him Whom Thou shalt make manifest.

I testify, by Thy glory, that he who circleth around Him is more glorious than all that is glorious and mightier than all that is mighty, and that he who circleth around Thy House circleth around the command of Him Whom Thou shalt make manifest. For I see not the people at that time circling around the house of Thy good-pleasure, since Thy House is a living entity that hath never ceased to be and will never cease to be. Whosoever is therein showeth Thee, first and last, outwardly and inwardly. There is no God but Thee, the Mighty, the Exalted.

Do Thou preserve all Thy servants, O my God, from circling around Thy House while their circumambulation leadeth not to affirmation, for I witness at such time that the movements of those people lead not to the Tree of Thy affirmation, though they all account themselves believers in Thee. Thou hast made the sign of the word of Thy unity in the furthest reaches of Thy creation to be Thy House, that all might derive enlightenment in the most exalted heights from the Manifestation of Thyself, and in the most glorious heaven from the Dayspring of Thine Essence. How exalted is Thy transcendence, O my God, and how glorious is Thy sublimity, O my Beloved!

Thou hast linked the mention of Thy Proof with the mention of Thyself, and hast made the essence of all things to be that most mighty Word and that most exalted Sign, for all that Thou hast revealed in the Bayan hath been revealed from that Word. O my God, annihilate the self by whatsoever means of annihilation lies within Thy knowledge, and exalt affirmation by whatsoever means of exaltation lies within Thy knowledge. Take hold of the hands of Thy creatures on the Day of Thy Manifestation that they may not be veiled from the Manifestation of Thy Self, even as they worship Thee in all their conditions. For unto Thee, O my God, belong manifestations which none can reckon save Thee, and concealed realities which none can comprehend save Thee.

From the beginning of that Manifestation Thou didst make the Manifestation of Thy Self the embodiment of Thy sacred letters, and didst ordain Thy concealment in that Manifestation until the Day when they shall find the throne of Thy Manifestation how Thou willest and where Thou willest, and Thou shalt manifest therein whom Thou manifestest through Thy power that extendeth over all things, and Thy sovereignty that prevaileth over all things, and Thy Will that shineth resplendent in all things, and Thy Purpose that encompasseth all things.

When Thou desirest, O my God, His manifestation, gather unto Him first from the Bayan Thy Names by causing them to appear before Him or by guiding them unto Him in whatsoever manner Thou willest and however Thou pleasest. Make, O my God, His glory to transcend all glory, His majesty to transcend all majesty, His beauty to transcend all beauty, His grandeur to transcend all grandeur, and His sovereignty to transcend all sovereignty. Inspire the people of the Bayan to aid Him by whatever means lie within their power, and let them not await His manifestation and then come unto Him while they slumber, as happened with the Messengers of old, when their peoples awaited their appearance, but when they came unto them with clear signs and evidences from Thee, they failed to attain certitude.

Create, O my God, certitude in the hearts of the people of the Bayan at the time of His manifestation, that none may hesitate or utter a word of denial. For Thou hast created naught save that it should, in the moment it recognizeth Him, proclaim: “Yea, verily, I am the first to worship!” Cause Thy guides in the Bayan to reflect upon the days of Thy previous Manifestation, that they may remember and aid the Manifestation of Thy Self. O God, through Him exalt Thy Cause, elevate Thy unity, and annihilate, by whatever means lie within Thy knowledge, those who believe not in Him. Inspire Him, O God, with every good thing from Thy presence, and protect Him, O God, from whatsoever may sadden Him, through Thy power.

Make, O God, His Word to prevail over all created things, His sovereignty to triumph over all existence, His Will to reign supreme over all beings, His Purpose to extend over all atoms, and His power to encompass all who dwell in the kingdoms of earth and heaven. Let all that is attributed to Him be exalted above all things. Verily, Thou art the Powerful, the Mighty, the Dominant, the Self-Subsisting, the Most High, the Supreme, the Exalted, the Most August, the Most Glorious, the Most Great, the Most Powerful, the Most Noble, the Most Perfect, the Most Just. Unto Thee have ever belonged all the most excellent names and the most exalted attributes in their fullness and essence.

O God, exalt the mention of Thy Proof over all created things, for all speak Thy word of unity, though none speak concerning the Manifestation of Thy Self save Thy believing servants.

O my Lord! Inspire all who are in the Bayan to send salutations upon the Manifestation of Thy Self therein nineteen times every day and night, never neglecting it, that thereby they may be aided on the Day of Resurrection in assisting Him Whom Thou shalt make manifest, and first in fulfilling His Covenant, and then all His guides, and His names, and His emissaries, and His witnesses, and His trustees, and His loved ones, and His confidants, and His protectors, and whatsoever pertaineth unto Him from among the guides of the sovereignty of Thy kingdom and the trustees of the dominion of Thy might.

And verily, O my God, elevate his station after Thy House through unconquerable sovereigns and exalted monarchs who shall be sincere in seeking His good pleasure and steadfast in carrying out His bidding, and who shall assist Him on the day of His manifestation through such means as Thou hast provided them and such forces as Thou hast ordained for them. For I, O my God, bear witness before Thee and before all things through the First Name that there is no God but Thee, the Lord of sovereignty and power, and through the Second Name that the One possessed of the Seven Letters is Thy Glory and Thy Might, O Thou Who art the Lord of dominion and appearance.

Therefore, O my God, enable all things to bear witness unto themselves even as I have borne witness before Thee concerning the word of Thy unity and the manifestation of Thyself in the inaccessible heights of Thy oneness and the independent sublimity of Thy glorification. Verily, Thou art over all things powerful and mighty.

Mode of sermons

In the Name of God, the One, the One

Praise be to God Who radiates His light from the splendor of His eternal might, and Whose glory shines forth from the beauty of His everlasting majesty. Praise be to God Who manifests His Cause through the dawning-places of His oneness, and Who perfects His grace through the daysprings of His singleness—praise for which there is no equal in His knowledge, no peer in His Book, no likeness in His heaven, no companion in His earth, and no similitude in the kingdom of His command and creation.

The praise of one who has known His truth through His truth, who has prostrated before His Essence through His Essence, who has detached himself unto Him through His Self’s worthiness of His Self, who has aided His Faith through the exaltation of His Cause for His Cause, and who has preserved what was sent down from Him through the invincibility of His Word with Himself.

Praise that fills the essential realities with the sublimities of His glory, and the abstract entities with the magnificence of His remembrance, and the sanctified beings with the dawning-places of His invisibility, and the glorifying essences with the manifestations of His grace. Praise that causes all things to enter beneath the shadow of His affirmation and purifies all things from the dross of what was created in the soul through His justice. Praise with which all that was and will be created is content, and through which all that was and will be produced is illumined.

Praise that has blazed and risen, gleamed and become impregnable, transcended and ascended, shone forth and become resplendent, and was at the highest horizon at the distance of two bow-lengths or closer, and drew near in approach to the Most Exalted One Who created the highest heavens and the lowest earths and what lies between them in the kingdom of the first and then the dominion of the last.

Praise that fills the pillars of all things with awe of Him, and the beginnings of all things with the exaltation of His Word, and the ends of all things with the invincibility of His oneness, and the outward aspects of all things with the majesty of His everlasting sovereignty. Praise that has flashed and illumined, glorified and beautified, dazzled and ascended, magnified and advanced, manifested and appeared, enlightened and illuminated, concealed and hidden, judged and ordained, empowered and conquered, satisfied and consented, fulfilled and completed, dominated and encompassed, aided and triumphed, honored and ennobled, possessed and guided, uttered and spoke, verified and confirmed, elevated and exalted.

Praise exalted and resplendent, glorification invincible and radiant. Praise brilliant and luminous that nearly blinds vision—God alternates the night and the day, verily in this is a lesson for those possessed of insight. Praise majestic and manifest, encompassing and protective, resplendent and glorious, magnificent and great, illuminating and guiding, supreme and transcendent, conquering and victorious, triumphant and dominant, mighty and powerful, perfect and complete, well-pleased and content, knowing and lofty, radiant and brilliant, mighty and powerful, sovereign and ruling, encompassing and pervading, bestowing and granting, gracious and bountiful, just and equitable.

Praise essential and expansive, abstract and pure, filling the creation of all things with the exaltation of their Creator’s remembrance, and the reality of all things with the invincibility of their Sustainer’s glorification, and the transcendence of all things with the independence of their Fashioner’s majestic glory, and the nearness of all things with the radiance of their Originator’s transcendent sublimity.

Praise be unto Him—a praise that standeth ever upon the proof of proof, made steadfast beyond all steadfastness; and exaltation upon exaltation, rising above all that would rise; and inviolability upon inviolability, withholding all that would withhold. And joy upon joy, glorying beyond all glory; and majesty upon majesty, made manifest beyond all manifestation; and beauty upon beauty, adorned beyond all adorning; and grandeur upon grandeur, magnified beyond all magnificence. And illumination upon illumination, shining beyond all shining; and compassion upon compassion, overflowing beyond all compassion; and consummation upon consummation, made complete beyond all completion; and perfection upon perfection, rendered perfect beyond all perfection. And greatness upon greatness, waxing great beyond all greatness; and might upon might, strengthened beyond all strengthening; and knowledge upon knowledge, known beyond all knowing; and power upon power, empowered beyond all empowering.

And good-pleasure upon good-pleasure, well-pleased beyond all pleasing; and love upon love, loving beyond all love; and loftiness upon loftiness, aspiring beyond all aspiration; and sovereignty upon sovereignty, prevailing beyond all prevailing; and dominion upon dominion, owning beyond all owning. And exaltedness upon exaltedness, exalted beyond all exaltation; and bounty upon bounty, bestowing beyond all bestowal; and trial upon trial, proving beyond all proving; and generosity upon generosity, ennobling beyond all generosity. And precedence upon precedence, outstripping beyond all outstripping; and triumph upon triumph, overcoming beyond all overcoming; and manifestation upon manifestation, appearing beyond all appearance; and subduing power upon subduing power, subduing beyond all subduing. And victory upon victory, aiding beyond all aiding; and opening upon opening, opening beyond all opening; and gathering upon gathering, gathering beyond all gathering. And glad-tidings upon glad-tidings, rejoicing beyond all rejoicing; and delight upon delight, exulting beyond all exultation; and steadfastness upon steadfastness, self-subsisting beyond all self-subsistence; and glory upon glory, glorifying beyond all glorification.

Praise be unto Him whose beginning indicateth His priority, whose end betokeneth His finality, whose outward manifestation signifieth His externality, and whose inward reality denoteth His internality. Praise that adorneth all the heavens with wondrous signs and tokens, and embellisheth the earth with exalted and holy emblems, and all that lieth between them with the elevation of glory and manifestation beyond approach. Praise whereby all things know that God resembleth naught, and that His remembrance, exalted and glorified be He, is sanctified and His Cause sublime and inaccessible. He is neither substance nor essence, neither pure nor compound, nor manifestation. No place encompasseth Him, nor can the highest thoughts of inner minds comprehend Him.

He is not joined to aught, lest duality be implied, nor separate from aught, lest vacancy be inferred. Near is He when far, and far when near. First is He when last, and last when first. Manifest is He when hidden, and hidden when manifest. Exalted is He when nigh, and nigh when exalted. The opposites in creation are joined that all might sanctify Him therefrom, and numbers are transcended in relation to His Cause that all might glorify Him therefrom. Verily God, exalted be His glory, is sanctified above His servants and transcendent above the praise of all His creation.

He hath chosen from the essence of all possibilities a mighty and impregnable substance, and from the summit of all existence a lofty and inviolable essence, and from the realities of all beings a dominant and powerful entity, and from the essences of all atoms a sovereign and possessing reality, and from all who dwell in the kingdom of earth and heaven hath He accepted for Himself a glorious and majestic being. Then He manifested Himself to it through it by itself, and through it He became inaccessible from it, and through it became independent of aught else. And He cast into its identity the likeness of its own essence, whereupon there appeared from it and upon it that verily there is no God but Him, the Dominant, the Transcendent.

He hath joined the mention of what He hath chosen from His creation with the mention of His unity, His singleness, His self-subsistence, His divinity, His Godhead and His Lordship. Through Him all created things are guided and all existent things seek guidance. He hath made Him to stand in His own place in all evidences and to be manifest through the power of His invisibility in the kingdoms of earth and heaven. He hath enjoined upon all things His love and obedience, and hath warned all things against aught save His love and allegiance. He hath made His creation know Him through knowledge of His Self, and hath made all things worship Him through the right of His Essence. Thus hath He made Him the mirror of His Self in the eternity of eternities, never ceasing and never to cease.

Naught is seen therein save God, naught indicated save God, naught proclaimed save from God, naught uttered save about God, naught dwelling save through God, and naught returning save unto God. He hath purified Him from similitudes and forms, and sanctified Him from peers. Indeed, the mention of His love and prophethood hath been joined with the mention of His divinity and oneness. He hath made him the exalted one of the sovereignty of His oneness and the king of the sanctity of His uniqueness, that all may attain through knowledge of him to knowledge of His Self, through love of him to love of His Essence, through allegiance to him to the sign of His Cause, and through all that is attributed to him to that which is attributed to His Essence.

He hath made him the Manifestation of His Self on the Day of Resurrection and placed within his grasp the kingdom of the return of all contingent beings from the creation of the Furqan and the dominion of the creation of all existing things at the beginning of the Bayan. This is he who possesseth, through God, every return and every beginning, and is the Witness from God unto every soul from a beginning that hath no beginning save God, his Lord, unto an end that hath no end save God, his Creator.

The clay of his being was kneaded with the clay of unity and the water of oneness. Thus it is an essential sublimity, a majestic dignity, a pure abstraction in its entirety, a simple magnificence, a camphorated effulgence, a paradisiacal grandeur, a Furqanic majesty, a complete Bayanic perfection, a bestowing glory, a religious eminence, a compassionate might, an attractive pleasure, a lofty exaltation, a towering elevation, a sovereign dominance, an angelic possession, a supreme transcendence. It is all the names of God, the Most High; it is all the similitudes of God, the Most High; it is all the signs of God, the Most High; it is all the words of God, the Most High; it is all the manifestations of God, the Most High; it is all the mysteries of God, the Most High.

God beareth witness, then his self, then the proofs of his self, then the martyrs of his religion, then all things, that my being, my essence, my soul, my identity, my beginning, my end, my outward aspect, my inward aspect, my simplicity, my radiance, my abstraction, my substance, my exaltation, my inaccessibility, my independence, and my majesty, and all that God hath enumerated in me, through me, and by me, testify that there is no God but He, the Single, the Sovereign, and that the Essence of the Seven Letters is the Manifestation of His Self from a beginning that hath no beginning to an end that hath no end.

Through him hath He established the proofs, sent down the epistles, renewed the first things, raised up the mighty matters, and renewed the creation of all that was and will be created, and through him hath He made clear all that He hath willed before and after.

I have attained unto true contentment with God, my Lord, and beyond contentment with the Manifestation of His Self. Were it not for him, I would not have known God nor anything of His Cause. All is through him, from him, and unto him. There is no command save God’s, no glory, no sovereignty, no inaccessibility, and no proof save God’s in the kingdom of earth and heavens. He hath never ceased nor will He ever cease, unto an end that hath no end, in glory and inaccessibility, in grandeur and transcendence. There is no power nor strength save through God, the Proud, the Supreme.

Mode of commentary

In the name of God, the One, the One

Praise be to God, Who is none other than He, the One, the Single! And indeed all glory be unto Him Whom God shall make manifest, from a beginning that hath no beginning unto an end that hath no end, and then upon the guides of His manifestation in the sublimity of eternity in most holy perpetuity.

And now, I testify that God, glorified be He, hath ever been Self-Sufficient, independent of all things. His commandments in every dispensation and His prohibitions have not been through compulsion, force, domination or oppression, but rather in every dispensation God’s commandments are for the attainment by creation of their share of existence and the perfection of the servants in the good-pleasure of their Beloved.

Consider from the time God revealed the Qur’an until now—had He not ordained any command, would anything have diminished from His dominion? And after He ordained, did anything increase in His dominion? Indeed what is meant by dominion is the manifestation of His Self, that is, the Throne of Reality, for that is a sovereignty before whose mighty glory all things fall short of attaining, and all things prostrate themselves before the exaltation of its holy beauty.

When thou hast understood this, know that God’s commandments and prohibitions are grace and bounty, existence and generosity, kindness and favors, for the attraction of creation to the summit of holiness and perfection, and the elevation of the servants to the source of glory and majesty.

I testify that the first thing God revealed in every religion from a beginning that hath no beginning, and will reveal henceforth unto an end that hath no end, is the word “There is no God but God.” The elaboration of this word is the mention of him whose remembrance God hath joined with the remembrance of His own Self—that Him Whom God shall make manifest belongeth glory, sovereignty, might, majesty, holiness, proof, justice, perfection, generosity, bounty, and whatsoever names and attributes befit His mighty glory and the summit of His holy beauty.

In every dispensation, the foundation of religion is the Primary Word, and its aspects are the mention of the Manifestation of Reality, then whatsoever is ordained from His presence. There is no difference in doctrine concerning God, exalted be His glory, nor any doubt in any soul that God, mighty be His might, was and is the Lord of creation and its Creator, the God of creation and its Provider, the Master of creation and its Death-Giver, the Owner of creation and its Life-Giver, the Maker of creation and its Ordainer, the Reckoner of creation and its Effacer.

For everything, by virtue of God’s revelation unto it of His own Self, to His own Self, within His own Self, knoweth God as its Lord, declareth His oneness, sanctifieth Him, prostrateth before Him, magnifieth Him, glorifieth Him, and exalteth Him.

Indeed all differences that have appeared concern the mention of the Second Word, whereby all religions are distinguished. And whatsoever thou hast heard or seen in the verses that God hath mentioned some of His servants as being remote from Him—this is because they obey other than the Manifestation of His Self. Otherwise no soul doubteth concerning God, exalted be His glory, nor suspecteth concerning God, mighty be His might. God hath not created such a soul, nor will He create it.

And what thou hast heard of those who worship idols—they seek to draw near unto God through them and do not make these their gods and lords. Just as thou seeketh to draw near in thy religion through thy Lord’s commandments, they seek to draw near unto God through what was ordained in their religion. These are they who draw near unto God through what hath been ordained in their religion. But when their religion was abrogated, God made mention of them as those who worship other than God, or made mention concerning them of that which is less than this.

Beware, beware lest thou believe that any soul doth not firmly believe that God is its Lord, the Creator of all things, or that in anything God hath created He hath not placed therein a sign of His Own Self, that there is no God but Him, the Lord of all worlds. And whoso believeth that there existeth a soul that hath not recognized God as its Lord and believeth in aught else besides Him, hath indeed been veiled from the mystery which God hath created in all things, and God is not pleased with him. For there existeth not a soul but it knoweth God as its Lord and believeth in its Creator, its Originator, its Fashioner, its Producer and its Causator.

Know thou that differences in the thrones of Reality have caused the nations to differ, and when they were veiled from the mystery of the One manifest in the Messengers and the Command apparent in them, they became veiled at the appearance of the latter by the former. And their being veiled was only due to their own selves through their persistence in their religion, not in the sight of God and those possessed of knowledge, through their being veiled and their lack of understanding concerning the decree of their return and their ultimate abode.

Bear thou witness that the likeness of what is manifest in the Messengers is as the likeness of the sun in the heaven, and the likeness of each Manifestation in each throne is as the likeness of the rising of the sun on a day when God causeth it to rise unto infinity and to set unto infinity—it is one and the same sun. Likewise, from the beginning that hath no beginning unto the end that hath no end, that which is manifest in the Messengers is one Command, its likeness being as I have likened it unto thee. Therefore if thou art veiled from Him Whom God shall make manifest, it is as though thou wert veiled from all the Messengers from the beginning that hath no beginning until the time of His appearance.

And if thou art guided by Him, it is as though thou wert guided by all the Messengers together. And should anyone look upon the mystery of the One in the Messengers and the Command that pervadeth the Sacred Scriptures, he would surely follow the latter Manifestation even as he followeth the former in his religion, and would not be veiled from the mystery of Reality, nor from the Dawning-Place of eternity, nor from the Dayspring of perpetuity, nor from the Guide to Divine Unity, nor from the Manifestation of Divine Singleness. And all that thou hast witnessed of the persistence of each Manifestation in their religions after the appearance of the latter was because they did not perceive the mystery of Reality nor witness the Command of the One in the thrones of eternity.

For example, were the people of the Bayan to look upon the mystery of the Command at the time they recognize Him Whom God shall make manifest, they would surely recognize Him even as they recognize the Point of the Bayan, and would follow Him even as they follow the Point of the Bayan, and would obey Him even as they obey the Point of the Bayan, and would glory in the words of God from Him even as they glory in the words of God in the Bayan.

And We have nurtured thee with this sublime nurture and have manifested unto thee through thyself and every soul through these intimate allusions, that perchance on the Day of God’s Manifestation thou mayest look upon the mystery of Divine Unity and not be veiled by the mention of that Word comprising the Seven Letters from the mention of Him Whom God shall make manifest, for verily He is He and there is none other save Him. He is the One made manifest at the beginning of the Bayan and He is the One made manifest at the end of the Bayan. Indeed, the Manifest in the First and the Last is the Hidden in the Last and the First. There is no God but God in the most hidden mystery, and no proof except Him Whom God shall make manifest in the most evident manifestation.

Be not veiled by the ordinances established in the Faith, for after the realization of that Word, He doeth what He willeth and ordaineth what He desireth. He shall not be asked of His doings, while all others shall be questioned, for what He doeth is what God doeth, and what He ordaineth is what God ordaineth, and what He asketh is what God asketh, and what He witnesseth is what God witnesseth.

Therefore, be thou observant concerning the proof of the Cause. When thou beholdest the irrefutable proof, then commit the matter unto Him and say not why’ or wherefore’. For should He remove all that is with thee, that is what God removeth, and should He command thee as He willeth, that is what God commandeth. He is nearer to thee than thy own self, more gracious to thee than thy own soul, more generous to thy heart, more noble to thee than thy spirit unto thy spirit, and more excellent to thee than thy body, for God chooseth not for the throne of His Manifestation save that which hath no equal, no likeness, no peer, no associate, and no similitude. All the most beautiful names are His attributes and all the most exalted examples are His qualities.

Therefore, hold fast unto that Word, for the Primal Word is an impenetrable mystery within the secret of that Word, and none can comprehend it except through it. Watch over thyself on the Day of God’s Manifestation, for perchance thou mayest behold Him Whom God shall make manifest and follow throughout thy life the Cause of the Point of the Bayan, yet remain veiled when thou art following Him, not knowing thy Lord God, that thy following might return to the throne of thy Lord’s manifestation.

Marvel not at His Revelation of Himself, for those who lived in the days of all the Messengers marveled at how God chose that Soul as the Manifestation of His command and His prohibition, whether He be from among thy children, or one whom thou knowest or knowest not, or among the most exalted and inaccessible of creation, or otherwise. Look thou to the proof and ponder the evidence and the ways, and let not the conditions of Oneness veil thee from thy glorious Lord, for after thou hast witnessed the proof with Him, He is worthy of every good, whether He be the sovereign of all the earth or otherwise.

Watch carefully what I have counseled thee, for on the Day of His Manifestation thou shalt be tested. Reflect upon the stories of the Messengers—whenever a new Messenger came to mankind, they were veiled by the former Messenger and thought they were doing good. Had they understood the mystery of the Cause, they would not have been veiled from the latter, for the former was created only for the manifestation of the latter. I bear witness before God and all things that God created me only for Him Whom God shall make manifest, and created Him Whom God shall make manifest only for Him Who shall be manifested thereafter. Exalted and sanctified is His power, resplendent and glorious is His station, most just and excellent is His holiness, supreme and victorious is His grace.

And His Power hath prevailed, and His Might hath conquered, and His Word hath dominated, and His authority hath triumphed, and His strength hath overcome. And likewise there shall be no end to the Manifestations of God’s Revelation. And verily I submit unto them all, one and all. Therefore, upon those who attain unto their presence it is incumbent to magnify God their Lord before them and to prostrate themselves before their eyes with great prostration. And what hath been ordained in this Gate is the recitation of this Word nineteen times each day and night. And whoso is veiled from it must pay nineteen mithqals of gold, and whoso forgetteth it, nothing is incumbent upon him save to make it up.

And say ye: “God beareth witness that there is no God but Him, and that the Being of the Seven Letters is His servant and His Glory.” Say: All are created by God’s command from Him. This sufficeth you in place of the words “There is no God but God” and then the inaccessible Word that followeth it. This is from God’s grace unto you that ye may be thankful.

Persian mode

In the name of God, the One, the One

Glorification and exaltation befit the holy court of the Living, the Self-Subsisting Sovereign, Who from time immemorial hath dwelt in the sublimity of His own holy Being, without peer or equal, and will forever abide in the exalted heights of His sacred Self, without companion or likeness. No thing hath ever known Him as He deserves to be known, nor praised Him as He deserves in the realm of all created things. He hath manifested Himself after having created all things from nothing through His all-encompassing power, and sustained them through His Self-Subsisting nature, that all might ascend to the summit of His unity’s glory and be honored according to their capacity at His creation.

Forever have all the sovereigns of the kingdoms of first and last, of outer and inner realities, prostrated themselves before Him, been enslaved to His remembrance, and gloried in His praise. And forever shall all the angels of the realms of beginning and end, of finitude and infinity, continue to glorify Him, seek sanctuary in His holy Being, flee unto Him, stand in awe of His justice, and implore His grace. Not an atom hath existed or shall exist save that it worshippeth Him, boweth down before His Being, maketh mention of His praiseworthy attributes, giveth thanks for His favors, and extolleth Him as befitteth His nature.

And after He caused all things to recognize that the praise of aught else but Him befitteth not His holy court, and that the tribute of all save Him is unworthy of His sacred source, incomparable praise be unto Him from the beginning that hath no beginning to the end that hath no end, and matchless thanks be unto Him from the beginning that hath no beginning to the end that hath no end. Praise that filleth the seven heavens with the manifestations of His holy oneness, and the earth and all that is thereon with the wondrous revelations of His sovereign and glorious singleness, and all that lieth between them with the radiant, resplendent, reverberating, ascending, and adorning lights of His holy and majestic glory.

He hath placed in every atom a sign of His oneness, whereby all have become unified in the majesty of the word “There is none other God but God,” have become exalted through the spirit of negation, and have been glorified in the shadow of successive affirmations. Therefore I testify, and all things on that Night which was elevated, beautified, glorified, adorned, magnified, illumined, honored, exalted, perfected, empowered, enriched, given sovereignty, made gracious, granted dominion, ennobled and embellished—all the dwellers of the realms of the Divine Essence and the holy Kingdom—that there is none other God but Him, the Single One, the Inaccessible, the Self-Subsisting.

He hath joined the mention of the Manifestation of His Self in every Revelation with the mention of His own sacred Self, that no atom might be veiled from the outward signs of His oneness, and that the path of inner meanings might lead to the source of outer appearances, and that all might be severed from the vain imaginings of their own selves, and might witness all things in their reality according to that which God hath revealed unto them, knowing that the Second Word is the mirror of the First Word, and from the beginning that hath no beginning to the end that hath no end, the throne of the First Word has been the Second, and it has been and is impossible that this throne should become multiple.

Its likeness may be compared to the sun in the sky, which even if it should rise endlessly would never be more than one sun, and if it should set endlessly would never be more than one sun. For if what is manifest on the thrones were to become multiple, how could it serve as proof of unity? It would itself become that which indicates the First Word—exalted be God far above this! And whereas it is observed that in every Revelation He appears with a name and is manifest with an attribute, these are the earthly limitations of the throne, not He Who is manifest upon the throne. For from the day that has no beginning to the end that has no end, there has been and is no doubt that the thrones are transformed in every Revelation howsoever God willeth.

But he who gazeth upon the mystery of Reality, who reclineth upon the carpet of oneness, who is strengthened by the manifestations of eternality, who awaiteth the dawning-places of infinity, who rejoiceth in the daysprings of eternity, and who is perfected through the manifestations of singleness—such a one hath not regarded and will not regard aught save Him Who is manifest upon the thrones, and He maketh manifest, insofar as is possible in the contingent world, the exaltation of the thrones, that this might become the cause of the exaltation of Him Who is manifest thereon.

Know thou that God, exalted and mighty be He, hath joined the mention of His unity to, and accepteth not nor will ever accept from any soul the word of unity except through acknowledging, His existence and what God hath created of His most beautiful names. And know thou that no soul hath doubted nor will ever doubt God, exalted and mighty be He. And when thou hearest of one who worshippeth idols, this is not because they have set up idols as peers to the sanctified Divine Essence, but rather they have sought through them to draw nigh unto God, even as the inhabitants of every Revelation seek to draw nigh unto God through its intermediaries.

This hath been forbidden by God and made the object of questioning because it was not by God’s command, such that in the latter Revelation they remained veiled and clung to what was ordained in the former Revelation. For this reason was it forbidden. Similarly, the inhabitants of every former Revelation, in relation to the subsequent Revelation, should they fail to enter into that subsequent Revelation, their condition would be the same, even should they have attained the highest pinnacle of piety in their own religion, for their worship would be other than of God. For the worship of God is not realized except through the word of unity, and the word of unity is not established except through mention of the Messenger.

And since He Who is manifest in the Messengers is the inner reality of the First Word, as soon as they remain veiled from Him they become other than of God. Consider all who are on earth in this way, and by God’s might and power worship God in the Bayan, for other than that is other than God. And seek refuge with God, exalted and mighty be He, in the Bayan, lest on the Day of Him Whom God shall make manifest thou become other than of God. For it may be that thy first act of worship is the worship of God while thy second act of worship is the worship of idols.

Indeed, the matter is even more subtle than this, for when thou hearest that He Whom God shall make manifest hath appeared, and yet remainest veiled from Him, thy condition is like unto the condition of those who lived in the time of the previous Manifestation. For be thou the sovereign of that Dispensation or the lowliest of creatures therein, after having worshipped God the Exalted throughout thy life, in less than the twinkling of an eye all is transformed. For there hath never been, nor shall there ever be, any true object of worship besides God. And at the moment of thy being veiled, thou art veiled from none other than the Point of the Bayan, through Whom thy entire religion hath been established.

Consider now what thy condition is, and reflect with the utmost care upon this matter, for while other matters pertain to the subsidiary aspects of religion, if thou goest astray in this, all is lost. Think not that the deeds of all creation hold any significance in the sight of Him Whom God shall make manifest. Through one “yea” all is accepted, and through one “nay” all is annihilated. One “yea” from Him hath ever been and shall ever be greater in the sight of God than the deeds of all things from the beginning that hath no beginning unto the end that hath no end.

Similarly, reflect upon the Manifestation of the Apostle of God, Who appeared after Jesus the son of Mary. After the passage of many years, when all who dwelt on earth should have believed in the Gospel, when He Who was its Lord appeared—Muhammad, the Apostle of God—He remained grief-stricken in Mecca for seven years. Though all would invoke His name, there was none who truly recognized Him, until God the All-Knowing granted Him victory through His power and established His religion through His Will. He revealed His proof in such wise that all were rendered powerless before it, and He showed patience towards them in the hope that all who dwell on earth might enter into the pure religion of God.

Then observe what befell Him Who revealed it, and ponder the events of His Manifestation. Be thou enlightened to the fact that none but God can reckon the number of sovereigns who were among the followers of the previous Manifestation. Yet when He appeared, thou canst see how He was treated. And now, when all existence from the beginning that hath no beginning unto the end that hath no end is turned towards Him, and all act for His sake and seek to draw near unto Him through His own Self, His dwelling place hath been fixed upon a mountain where not a single soul besides Him is present. All exist through Him, yet all remain veiled from their true Purpose. Keep this before thine eyes, that perchance on the Day of Him Whom God shall make manifest it may not be repeated.

After thou hast witnessed His clear signs, doubt not, and tarry not, for thou believest in Him through thy belief in the Point of the Bayan. Remain not veiled, but rather hasten to prostrate thyself before God and aid the Cause of Truth. And likewise, after the appearance of Him Whom God shall make manifest, unto infinity, be thou enlightened at each Manifestation, lest thou remain attached to the previous Revelation and thus become as one remote from God. And recite nineteen times each day and night the word of unity and the prayer associated therewith. And if thou shouldst deliberately remain veiled, there is ordained for thee that which God hath decreed concerning the number of the greeting, if thou art able, and if not, then that which hath been outwardly prescribed.

And if thou shouldst forget, nothing is recorded against thee, nor is there any need to make it up, for God, exalted be His mention and glorified be His power, hath ever been independent of all things and will forever remain independent of all things. Yet all things have been and are dependent upon Him in their inmost reality. He is the Self-Sufficing One, from first to last, and the Self-Subsisting One, both outwardly and inwardly. All worship Him and call upon Him and bow down before Him and remember Him and turn unto Him in all conditions and glorify Him and sanctify Him, and naught is intended by anything save God, and all before Him bow down in adoration.

3. Al-ahad

Mode of verses

In the Name of God, the Single, the Single

In the name of God, the One, the Single! By God, the One, the Single! There is no God but He, the Single, the One! There is no God but He, the One, the Single! There is no God but He, the Unified, the United! In the name of God, the Unifier, the United! God, there is no God but He, the United, the Unified!

By God, the One, the Single! Verily the oneness of the heavens and of the earth and of whatsoever lieth between them is God’s. God is the Single, the One, the Unique! By God, the One, the Single! Verily the oneness of the heavens and of the earth and of whatsoever lieth between them is God’s. God is One, the United, the Available! By God, the Sovereign, the King of oneness of the heavens and of the earth and of whatsoever lieth between them! God is the Single, the United, the Available!

Say: God is One, above every possessor of oneness! None can escape from the sovereignty of His oneness, neither in the heavens, nor on the earth, nor in whatsoever lieth between them. Verily He hath ever been single, one, and unique.

Say: God is One, above all creation! None can escape from the sovereignty of His unique oneness, neither in the heavens, nor on the earth, nor in whatsoever lieth between them. Verily He hath ever been single, one, and unique.

Glorified art Thou, O my God! Verily Thou art the One! The heavens and the earth and whatsoever lieth between them bear witness that Thou dost give sovereignty to whom Thou willest, and dost take it away from whom Thou willest; that Thou dost exalt whom Thou willest, and dost abase whom Thou willest; that Thou dost aid whom Thou willest, and dost forsake whom Thou willest; that Thou dost honor whom Thou willest, and dost humble whom Thou willest; that Thou dost enrich whom Thou willest, and dost impoverish whom Thou willest. In Thy grasp is the kingdom of all things. Thou createst what Thou willest by Thy command. Verily, Thou art powerful over all things.

Glorified art Thou, O my God! Verily Thou art the One! The single ones bear witness that Thou dost give authority to whom Thou willest, and dost take it away from whom Thou willest; that Thou dost exalt whom Thou willest, and dost abase whom Thou willest; that Thou dost aid whom Thou willest, and dost forsake whom Thou willest; that Thou dost enrich whom Thou willest, and dost impoverish whom Thou willest. In Thy grasp is the kingdom of all things. Thou createst what Thou willest by Thy command. Verily, Thou art single, one, and unique.

Say: O my God! Verily Thou art the One of the ones! All who dwell in the kingdom of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever lieth between them worship Thee, and all within the kingdom of Command and Creation and whatsoever lieth beneath them bow down before Thee. Verily Thou art knowing of all things.

Say: O my God! Verily Thou art the One of the heavens and of the earth and of whatsoever lieth between them! Thou shalt plant the tree of affirmation in all that Thou hast created and wilt create by Thy command. Verily Thou art powerful over all things. On the Day when Thou shalt manifest the Manifestation of Thyself, all shall prostrate themselves before Thee among those who bow down.

Say: God is One, above every possessor of oneness! None can escape from the unique oneness of His unity, neither in the heavens, nor on the earth, nor in whatsoever lieth between them. Verily He hath ever been single, united, and unique.

This is a Book from God, the Protector, the Self-Subsisting, unto Him Whom God shall make manifest. Bear thou witness that there is no God but Me, the Mighty, the Beloved. I have created all things, before and after, that they may believe in Thee and in Thy signs, and may be among those who bow down before Thee. If thou dost witness this, then say: Praise be to God Who hath caused all to attain unto His good-pleasure. This is of God’s grace unto me and unto all the worlds. And if thou dost witness less than this, then judge against him who hath not manifested guidance throughout all the earth in the Bayan, for he hath veiled himself from the Cause of thy Lord and that for which he was created, and We are they who judge him.

God hath not permitted anyone in the Bayan to allow anything to remain upon the earth, and all shall attain unto the presence of God at the time of His manifestation. This is the Command of God, the Protecting, the Self-Subsisting.

O Manifestation of Unity! Bear thou witness that there is no God but Me, the One, the Single. And verily what pointeth unto God is like unto how mirrors point to the sun in heaven—thus do all find guidance in the mirrors of Names. Say: Everyone who believeth in Him Whom God shall make manifest is a proof that his heart is one of the names of God in the Book, if he be of the sincere ones. None can be counted among the sincere except they believe in Him Whom God shall make manifest and act not save in accordance with what is prescribed in the Book, for they are among the deserving ones. This, and above this, and above what all the diligent ones can achieve.

And if ye believe in Him or act in any way contrary to God, how then can your hearts point to God while ye make mention of the names of God?

Say: Whosoever believeth in Him Whom God shall make manifest, God will assist him in this world and the next, for God is the best of helpers, the Impregnable. This is God, your Lord. His is the creation and the command. There is no God but He, the Most High, the Most Great.

Unto God belong the divine essences of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them, and God is in truth the Invincible, the Impregnable. Unto God belong the beauties of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them, and God is in truth the Most Great, the Magnificent. Unto God belong the lights of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them, and God is in truth the All-Wise, the All-Judging. Unto God belong the perfections of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them, and God is in truth the Most Perfect, the All-Complete. Unto God belong the grandeurs of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them, and God is in truth the Most Great, the All-Glorious.

Unto God belong the knowledges of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them, and God is in truth the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. Unto God belong the powers of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them, and God is in truth the Almighty, the All-Powerful. Unto God belong the good-pleasures of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them, and God is in truth the Well-Pleased, the All-Pleasing. Unto God belong the nobilities of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them, and God is in truth the Most Noble, the All-Glorious. Unto God belong the loves of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them, and God is in truth the Sovereign, the All-Subduing.

Unto God belong the dominions of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them, and God is in truth the All-Supporting, the Minister. Unto God belong the exaltations of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them, and God is in truth the Most Exalted, the All-High. Unto God belong the justices of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them, and God is in truth the Most Just, the Equitable. Unto God belong the bounties of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them, and God is in truth the Most Bountiful, the All-Gracious.

Say: He is the Subduer above His creation, and He is the Most High, the Most Great. Say: He is the One manifest above His servants, and He is the Most Subtle, the All-Refined. He is the One in Whose grasp lies the kingdom of all things. There is no God but He, the One, the Single, the Glorious.

Say: The first to believe in the Point of the Bayan—that is the mystery of the Bayan. Will ye not reflect? That is the Gate of God for all who are in the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them. Will ye not be thankful? Say: This is the Glory of God for all who are in the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them. Will ye not then be illumined by the Glory of God? Say: This is the majesty of God for all who dwell in the kingdoms of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever lieth between them. Will ye not be clothed with the majesty of God? Say: Yea, we are all illumined by the splendor of God. Say: Yea, we are all invested with the majesty of God.

Say: This is the beauty of God for all who dwell in the kingdoms of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever lieth between them. Will ye not adorn yourselves with the beauty of God? Say: Yea, we are all adorned thereby. Say: This is the grandeur of God for all who dwell in the kingdoms of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever lieth between them. Will ye not magnify yourselves through the grandeur of God? Say: Yea, we are all magnified thereby. Say: This is the light of God for all who dwell in the heavens and the earth and whatsoever lieth between them—light upon light upon light unto light. God guideth unto His light whom He willeth. Will ye not be illumined by the light of God? Say: Yea, we are all illumined thereby.

Say: God is the light of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever lieth between them. The likeness of His light is as one who hath believed in God and His words before all else, then delivered the messages revealed from his Lord, then aided the Cause of God with all his might. God hath made him the light of His own Self, as no veil remaineth between him and God his Lord. Thus doth God exalt whom He willeth, and thus will God cause His foremost servants to inherit Paradise. Say: This is the essence of names in the Book of God—through it do ye turn toward God your Lord. Say: This is the abstraction of similitudes in the Book of God—through it do ye yearn for God your Lord. Say: This is the expansion of names in the Book of God—through it are ye elevated unto God your Lord.

Say: This is the expiation of names in the Book of God—through it do ye ascend unto God your Lord. Say: This is the extinction of names in the Book of God—through it do ye draw nigh unto God your Lord. Do ye recognize this or do ye not recognize this? This is the Throne of God in the Furqan. All who are in Islam were created by His command and all remember Him. Nay, from the beginning that hath no beginning until now, all that hath been created is this Messenger from God declaring that none should be worshipped except God, my Lord and your Lord—for this is a mighty and truthful path. O ye who have been given the Furqan! Reflect how He hath judged those who created you therein while ye, behind veils ascribed to Him, pride yourselves in God’s religion.

Watch over your souls in the Bayan, for He Who created you therein shall believe in Him Whom God shall make manifest even as the Point of the Furqan believed in the Bayan. Will ye not reflect? Make yourselves as pure essence that perchance on the Day of Resurrection, when God shall be made manifest, ye may be manifested and not remain behind veils of knowledge and wisdom, for these would bar you from the path of God while ye call upon Him Whom God shall make manifest but call not upon aught else besides God if ye be believers in the All-Merciful.

It behooveth you when the Point of the Furqan believeth in the Bayan, or when all on earth believe in it, while ye remain veiled from God’s command, though Muhammad the Messenger of God commanded you beforehand to make your religion triumph over every religion through the truth. Ye make objection unto Me before God my Lord even as ye make objection to the Point of the Bayan and Myself, but you remain veiled from His path. Make manifest the Bayan unto all who are on earth, and then present your opposition to Him Whom God shall make manifest, the Throne of glorious love. For on the day of His manifestation, the highest among creation shall be as the lowest, and nearest to Him shall be those who believe in Him. No lineage or pride shall prevail among you except through your faith in Him. This is the path of God from before and after, would that you might reflect thereon.

Verily, He Whom God shall make manifest will bestow threefold blessings upon those who believe in Him, beyond that letter in the Bayan—a gracious reward for having elevated themselves unto God their Lord and having borne witness in His path what none among the ancients have witnessed. Were We to appear on earth and God willed to make Us among the powerful, We would surely raise that seat to the utmost heights of holy, transcendent grandeur and noble, exalted glory, for this was the first one who recognized God his Lord, prostrated before Him, and was among the sincere ones.

All who are guided in the Bayan through their faith in God and His verses—will you not remember the signs of God? On the Day of Him Whom God shall make manifest, if you would sanctify yourselves through your faith in Him, you would attain this station. Say: None other than He shall take the maidens of the gardens of Paradise—all are guided by Him and all find guidance through Him. If you are able to raise above the water this station in God’s Book with incomparable rubies, you raise it through God’s dominion. But though you may be certain and bear witness, this will not benefit you unless on the Day of Resurrection you present it before Him Whom God shall make manifest and believe in Him.

This is an adornment in the Bayan through which all shall be exalted until the Day of Resurrection. Say: Whoso descends upon that House in God’s Book, it is as though he descended upon the Primal Point, and whoso descends upon the Primal Point, it is as though in God’s Book he descended upon Him Whom God shall make manifest. Do you not desire to descend upon God, the Lord of the heavens and the Lord of the earth, the Lord of the seen and unseen, the Lord of all worlds?

Say: God has raised him in Paradise to a horizon where all stand, that he might look upon those who descend upon him and then, through God’s grace, ask that they be guided by him in the hereafter, for that is the transcendent, exalted glory. God is witness over all things. You shall perceive this in the hearts of those who know God their Lord and who are godly upon the earth. Remember this in God’s Book every night and day to the number of the letter Ha, that you might be raised through the First Gate in the most holy Paradise.

Say: O God! Send Thy blessings upon the first to believe in the Manifestation of Thyself in the Bayan, and upon the guides of His Cause. Verily, Thou art the best of those who send blessings. God has chosen for him the thrones of His manifestation, all exalting themselves in God’s path. The thrones of the Books which came before should not be raised above the Throne of the Furqan, but people do not know. God creates whatsoever He willeth by His command, and all shall return unto God their Lord. And thou shalt convey mention of the Fruit in the Books to the great ones of every land if thou dost not witness any grief therein; otherwise be patient until God comes and judges with truth between His servants. Verily, He is the Best of Judges.

But I mention by way of proof to establish that Tree, not by that which attracts his heart from God, the One, the Illuminating. For people cannot bear what God has revealed to it by His own Self. Verily, there is no God but Him, the Protector, the Self-Subsisting. And We shall not refer to God except that We mention the conditions that have emerged from the mention of the name of a distant land, so that not one of the guides of thy Lord witnesses any grief until God aids you with mighty aid and causes you to triumph with great triumph. Verily, He is over that thing Powerful and Mighty.

Mode of prayers

In the Name of God, the Single, the Single

Glorified art Thou, O my God! I and all things bear witness that Thou art God, there is no God but Thee, alone without partner. From time immemorial Thou hast been One God, Single, Eternal, Self-Subsistent, the Ever-Living, the Self-Sustaining, the Sovereign, the Supreme, the Most Holy, Everlasting, Independent, Transcendent, Inaccessible, Exalted, All-Subduing. Thou hast taken neither consort nor son, nor had Thou any partner in Thy creation, nor any helper in what Thou hast fashioned. All are Thy servants and within Thy grasp. All in the kingdom of Thy heaven and earth worship Thee, and all in the realm of Thy Command and creation bow down before Thee.

Thou hast ever been sovereign in the glory of eternity and a King before Whom all things have ever prostrated themselves in the loftiness of Thy grandeur and all things have submitted their very beings to the sublimity of Thy Self-Subsistence. Thou art manifest above all things through the revelation of Thine eternity, and Thou art supreme over all things through the concealment of Thy oneness, and Thou art exalted above all things through the elevation of Thy Self-Subsistence, and Thou art resplendent above all things through the inaccessibility of Thy sanctity, and Thou art powerful over all things through the majesty of Thine oneness, and Thou art dominant over all things through the independence of Thine eternity.

Thou hast ever been the Most Glorious of the glorious, the Most Majestic of the majestic, the Most Beautiful of the beautiful, the Most Great of the great, the Most Luminous of the luminous, the Most Merciful of the merciful, the Most Mighty of the mighty, the Most Perfect of the perfect, the Most Powerful of the powerful, the Most Able of the able, the Most Knowing of the knowing, the Most Noble of the noble, the Most Loving of the loving, the Most Sovereign of the sovereigns, the Most Royal of the royal, the Most Victorious of the victorious, the Most Manifest of the manifest. Sanctified are all Thy names above all similitude and comparison, and exalted are all Thine attributes beyond metaphor and allusion.

Who can adequately praise Thee when Thou hast ever been exalted above the praise of Thy creation? Who can attain unto Thy good-pleasure when all were created by Thy decree? Glorified, exalted, sanctified, most glorious, most majestic, most beautiful, most great, most luminous, most mighty, most honored, most magnificent, most manifest, most hidden, most powerful, most sovereign, most gracious, most generous art Thou!

This is the tradition Thou hast originated through Thy power, wherein Thou didst create the heavens and the earth and whatsoever lieth between them by Thy Will, and didst send down upon all things the wonders of Thy mercy, the gifts of Thy sovereignty, the signs of Thy oneness, the manifestations of Thy singleness, the mysteries of Thine eternity, and that which belongeth unto Thy Most Beautiful Names that are inaccessible and Thy Most Exalted Attributes that are elevated.

Therefore, O my God, do Thou send down in this exalted and sublime year, and in this manifest and glorious cycle, upon Thy dwellers in the Bayan and Thy loved ones in that Paradise, from every glory its most glorious, from every majesty its most majestic, from every beauty its most beautiful, from every grandeur its most grand, from every light its most luminous, from every mercy its most extensive, from every word its most perfect, from every name its most great, from every might its mightiest, from every power its most powerful, from every loftiness its most elevated, from every perfection its most perfect, from every nobility its most noble, from every sovereignty its most enduring, from every dominion its most excellent, from every knowledge its most penetrating, from every strength its strongest, from every ability its most able, from every triumph its most triumphant, from every victory its most victorious, from every manifestation its most manifest, from every conquest its most conquering, from every word its most elevated, from every sign its most honorable, from every word, the most complete and greatest; from every grace, the most gracious; from every bounty, the most bountiful; from every joy, the most joyous; from every independence, the most glorious; from every majesty, the most majestic; from every glory, the most glorious; from every honor, the most holy; and from all that befits the loftiness of Thy sanctified inaccessibility and the exalted glory of Thy elevation, that which Thou art worthy of in the sanctity of might and omnipotence, in the glory of grandeur and dominion, in the transcendence of sovereignty and divinity, in the inaccessibility of dominion and the realm of possibilities, and in the majesty of greatness and exaltation.

For from time immemorial, O my God, Thy wondrous signs have been wonderful, Thy rewards have been new, Thy gifts have been magnificent, Thy favors have been abundant, Thy manifestations have been exalted, and the wonders of the kingdom of Thy Cause and creation have been eternal. Glorified and exalted art Thou!

Send Thou blessings upon the Tree of Affirmation—first in the realm of sovereignty and dominion, then in glory and might; thereafter in power and the realm divine; then in strength and precious radiance; thereafter in kingship and the human world; then in majesty and splendor; then in countenance and beauty; then in direction and perfection; then in archetype and exemplar; then in mercy and bounty; then in awe and justice; then in guidance and reverence; then in decrees and exaltation; then in grandeur and sovereignty; then in loftiness and elevation; then in might and inviolability; then in delight and rejoicing; then in dominion and omnipotence; then in victory and triumph; then in conquest and inauguration; then in resplendence and effulgence; then in augustness and majesty.

Thereafter in forbearance and endurance; then in greatness and magnification; then in light and illumination; then in compassion and tender mercy; then in completion and consummation; then in pride and glorying; then in manifestation and disclosure; then in subjugation and overpowering; then in majesty and magnificence; then in might and invincible strength; then in knowledge and discernment; then in judgment and wise governance; then in dignity and decorum; then in power and irresistible sway; then in predominance and prevailing might; then in exaltation and elevation; then in restraint and inviolability; then in good pleasure and acceptance; then in love and ardent affection; then in honor and nobility; then in authority and absolute command; then in sovereignty and possession.

Thereafter in sublimity and ascension; then in grace and bestowal; then in wealth and independence; then in favors beyond number within the kingdom of Thy dominion, and in blessings without count within the might of the kingdom of Thy Self-Subsisting Being; then by that wherewith Thou art adorned of Thy Most Beauteous Names, unapproachable, and Thy Most Exalted Similitudes, transcendent—whereunto the knowledge of Thy creatures attaineth not, touching the wonders of Thy Cause and Thy power, the lofty heights of Thy tenderness and care, the splendid outpourings of Thy bounty and generosity, the marvels of Thy handiwork and Thy guardianship, the subtleties of Thy grace and sufficiency, the agencies of Thy protection and shelter, the tokens of Thy holiness and majesty, and whatsoever pertaineth to the manifestations of Thy Self-Subsistence, the hidden depths of Thy sanctity, the effulgences of Thy loving-kindness, the evidences of Thy all-gloriousness, and the attributes of Thine everlasting continuance.

How sweet art Thou, O my God, in Thy bounty within that towering, sublime cycle! How glorious art Thou, O my Beloved, in Thy generosity within that lavish, magnificent cycle! Thou art He Who hath ordained the measures for the dwellers of Thy dominion, and hath made plain whatsoever Thou willedst for them that abide within the kingdom of Thy earth and the heaven of Thy will.

Send Thou blessings therein upon Him Whom Thou shalt make manifest—by the two “H’s” and the Baha of Thy creation; by the two Jalals and the splendor of Thy servants; by the kings and sovereigns of the dwellers of Thy earth and Thy heavens; by the ministers and counselors of the kingdom of Thy Cause and Thy creation; by the judges and the wise of the realm of Thy Cause and Thy holiness; by the learned and the scholars from the dawning-places of Thy glory; by the mighty and the noble through Thy grace and the exaltation of Thy mercy; by the perfect and the consummate through Thy holiness and the exaltation of Thy generosity; by the powerful and the strong through the might of Thy power; by the well-pleased and the accepted through the holiness of Thy gift; by the honorable and the illustrious through the loftiness of Thy honor; by the kings and the princes through the inviolability of Thy guardianship; by the sublime and the exalted through the elevation of Thine oneness; and by whatsoever kinds of the might of Thy creation, the manifestations of the holiness of Thy Cause, the rising-places of the might of Thy decree, and the day-springs of the sanctity of Thy command.

And vouchsafe, O God, to send down within that Name, upon the first who tasted of Thy love in that Paradise and was stirred at Thy theophany in that Garden, blessings of transcendent elevation and inviolable might; of towering loftiness and sumptuous splendor; of radiant rejoicing and august majesty; of comely forbearance and magnificent greatness; of luminous illumination and commanding authority; of ministerial support and princely command; of trustworthiness and wise judgment; of perfect knowledge and mighty power; of abundant wealth and invincible strength; of consummate perfection and accepted good pleasure; of exalted sublimity and noble honor; of unassailable eminence and bounteous grace; of balanced equity and primordial antiquity; of everlastingness and all-embracing unity; of manifest support and conquering might; of victorious aid and opening triumph; of spacious relief and joyous delight; of noble worth and sanctified holiness; of rightful appointment and beloved affection; of tender mercy and generous kindness; of subtle grace and nearness; of sheltering shade and succoring aid—unto the number of all who said “Yea” at Thy revelation, and of all that Thy knowledge hath encompassed thereafter at Thy nurturing.

For Thou hast ever been, O my God: all Thy servants and worshippers, Thy supplicants and remembrancers, Thy humbled ones, do magnify Thee above all possibilities by virtue of Thy Godhead; sanctify Thee above all existences by virtue of Thy Lordship; proclaim Thine oneness above all beings by virtue of Thy unity; exalt Thee above every atom by virtue of Thine uniqueness; magnify Thy greatness above all who dwell in the kingdoms of earth and heaven by virtue of Thy self-subsistence; glorify Thee above all names and attributes by virtue of Thy singleness; strengthen Thee above all that inhabit the realms of names and attributes, the earth and the heavens, by virtue of the lofty inviolability of Thy sovereignty, the independent majesty of Thy dominion, the exalted sublimity of Thine eternity, the manifest triumph of Thine everlastingness, the conquering power of Thy Self-Subsistence, the commanding holiness of Thy sanctity, the perfect balance of Thy loving-kindness, the rich sufficiency of Thy purposiveness—whereby Thou alone art worthy, O my God, and none besides Thee; for that wherewith Thy creatures are worthy was created by Thy command, and how can it be conjoined with Thine own worthiness?

Send Thou blessings, therefore, O God, upon that Eternal Tree—its beginning and its end, its outward and its inward, its root and its branch, its boughs and its leaves, all that is within it and upon it, and all that abideth beneath its shade—that Thou mayest cause it to appear above all things by Thy manifestation, prevail over all things by Thy victory, hold dominion over all things by Thy authority, subdue all things by Thy might, empower it over all things by Thy power, aid it over all things by Thy triumph, raise it above all things by Thy elevation, exalt it above all things by Thy sublimity, render it resplendent above all things by Thy effulgence, make it august above every possessor of majesty by Thy majesty, dignify it above every possessor of dignity by Thy decorum, invest it with might above every possessor of might by Thy power, magnify it above every possessor of greatness by Thy greatness, strengthen it above every possessor of strength by Thy invincibility, illumine it above every possessor of light by Thy illumination, cause it to be well-pleased above every possessor of good pleasure by Thy acceptance, enrich it above every possessor of wealth by Thy sufficiency, advance it above every possessor of antiquity by Thy primacy, and subject unto it all that Thou hast created or wilt yet create by Thy power—until the Day whereon Thou shalt present it unto Him Whom Thou shalt make manifest, on the Day of Resurrection, steadfast in faith, assured, worshipful, obedient, mindful, thankful, praiseworthy, content, glorifying, extolling, and affirming.

Verily, nothing is hidden from Thy knowledge, whether in the heavens or on the earth or between them, and nothing can frustrate Thee, whether in the kingdom of command or of creation or what lieth beneath them. Thou, verily, art knowing of all things, and Thou, verily, art powerful over all things.

Mode of sermons

In the Name of God, the Single, the Single

God testifieth that there is none other God but Him, the Single One in the glory of pre-existence, the Unique One in the sovereignty of sanctity and grandeur, the One in the kingdom of might and beauty, the Glorified One in the exaltation of His dominion and justice, the Inaccessible One in the inaccessibility of His sovereignty and grace. All praise that hath shone forth, risen up, gleamed, become inaccessible, radiated, originated, diffused and prevailed—praise dazzling and manifest, and laudation resplendent and evident, filling all the heavens with the manifestations of the sovereign Lord of the Kingdom, and all the earth with the hiddenness of the King of might and oneness, and whatsoever is between them with the wondrous manifestations of the Kingdom of eternity. Praise wherewith He is well-pleased with all created things, and whereby all beings are raised up unto what He hath ordained of His grace as their ultimate goals and ends. Praise that hath no equal in the kingdom of earth and heaven, no likeness in the realm of names and attributes, no peer in the dominion of signs and tokens, no associate in the manifestations of beginnings and endings, and no similitude in the kingdom of conditions and manifestations.

Praise that descendeth upon the dwellers of the paradise of singleness with holy mighty manifestations, and upon the dwellers of the paradise of oneness with glorious heavenly evidences, and upon the dwellers of the ruby paradise with glorious eternal conditions, and upon the dwellers of the paradise of glory with holy majestic signs, and upon the dwellers of the everlasting paradise with sovereign holy manifest appearances, until the dwellers of every paradise become enriched through what descendeth from the wonders of His mercy, and the dwellers of every sublime pavilion are raised up through the dawning-places of the glory of His oneness. Exalted be such a God, the All-Glorious, the Most High! Exalted be such a One, the Single, the Unique!

Exalted be such a Splendor, the Most Resplendent, the Most Luminous! Exalted be such a Majesty, the Most Majestic, the Most August! Exalted be such a Greatness, the Most Great, the Most Magnificent! Exalted be such a Light, the Most Luminous, the Most Radiant! Exalted be such an Ancient, the Most Ancient, the Most Pre-existent! Exalted be such an Eternity, the Most Eternal, the Most Pre-eternal! Exalted be such a Might, the Most Mighty, the Most Powerful! Exalted be such a Grandeur, the Most Grand, the Most Sublime! Exalted be such a Mercy, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate! Exalted be such a Perfection, the Most Perfect, the Most Complete! Exalted be such a Completion, the Most Complete, the Most Consummate!

Exalted be such a Knowledge, the Most Knowing, the Most Transcendent! Exalted be such a Power, the Most Powerful, the Most Mighty! Exalted be such a Good-pleasure, the Most Pleased, the Most Content! Exalted be such a Love, the Most Loving, the Most Affectionate! Exalted be such a Holiness, the Most Holy, the Most Sanctified! Exalted be such a Glory, the Most Glorious, the Most Honored! Exalted be such a Dominion, the Most Dominant, the Most Sovereign! Exalted be such a Patience, the Most Patient, the Most Forbearing! Exalted be such a Manifestation, the Most Manifest, the Most Apparent! Exalted be such a Victory, the Most Victorious, the Most Triumphant! Exalted be such a Protection, the Most Protective, the Most Preserving! Exalted be such a Bounty, the Most Bountiful, the Most Generous! Exalted be such a Transcendence, the Most Transcendent, the Most Exalted!

How lofty is His most lofty exaltation! How resplendent is His most resplendent glory! He is sanctified above all similarity, hallowed beyond all resemblance, unique beyond all likeness, and holy beyond all comparison. All that the highest imaginations have distinguished at their loftiest heights, and all that the deepest understanding hath witnessed at its most profound depths, are but creations in the kingdom of His origination through a word, from the first that hath no first unto the last that hath no last. He testifieth that there is none other God but Him, the All-Powerful, the Most Mighty, and beareth witness at the summit of creation and command that there is none other God but Him, the Most Manifest, the Self-Subsisting.

Exalted, exalted be the sacred pillars of the Kingdom of grandeur, might, sovereignty, greatness, and manifestation—the Sovereign of His oneness! And exalted, exalted be the dominion, majesty, bounty, justice and perfection—the King of His eternity! O all things! Exalted is His inaccessibility and sublime His loftiness. He created naught but for His knowledge, after His independence from all things. He sustained naught but for His worship, after His exaltation above all things. He caused naught to die but for the acknowledgment of His oneness, after His elevation over all things. He quickened naught but for sheltering beneath the tree of His oneness, after His self-sufficiency above all things. He sent down no Book but to exalt the Manifestation of His Self, nor any Command but to make inaccessible the Dawning-Place of His hiddenness, nor any soul, nor any proof save for that which is manifest from the unseen of His oneness and hidden from the revelation of His eternity.

O all things! This is the Day which God, glorified be He, hath adorned with His glory, honored with His honor, magnified with His majesty, beautified with His beauty, embellished with His embellishment, exalted with His exaltation, elevated with His elevation, sanctified with His eternal holiness, illumined with the lights of His oneness, empowered with the might of His holiness, pleased with the good-pleasure of His oneness, made sovereign through the sovereignty of His eternity, made to rule through the dominion of His grandeur, made bountiful through the bounty of His unity, and raised up through the upliftment of His self-subsistence.

Lo! This is a transcendent and resplendent Day, a radiant and glorious morn wherein God turneth the year by God, the Lord of might and power. Therefore, sever yourselves from whatsoever hath appeared among you in the newly-created conditions which ye have comprehended in the knowledge of the heavens or what turneth the first upon the earth. For ye have not been given knowledge of the mystery of Reality, nor have ye attained unto the ultimate mystery of eternity, nor hath that knowledge been permitted unto you. Verily God shall turn the year by His power and shall renew the creation of all things by His grandeur. He hath permitted you knowledge of the turning for glorification, that ye may adorn yourselves on that Day through God, the One, the All-Glorious, the Majestic, that ye may magnify Him and those within it through the magnification of the Majestic King.

However, God hath forbidden you from making the movements of your years in the turning of those names like what is mentioned in that turning by the name of any people. He hath permitted you through His grace to make the movements of your years in the turning of the numbers of the First One, and when it endeth, begin again with the First. Nay, all move in God’s turning and in God’s hovering are renewed. This is the year round which the spheres of the heavens have revolved in the turning of the Name of God, the Most High, and the mention of the Inaccessible.

Verily it is His year—eternal, radiant, glorious, beauteous, magnificent, luminous, merciful, perfect, mighty, learned, ordained, sovereign, noble, royal, loving, well-pleasing, bountiful, holy, pride-inducing, manifest, triumphant, and elevated.

Therefore make the reckoning of the turning of your years in the ranks of letters eleven degrees, according to what God hath ordained in the Bayan. Thus have We sent down the mention of exaltation in the Sublime unto those who have been given that knowledge in an impregnable Book. Verily this is a glorious, blessed and auspicious day, and sacred hours of manifest grace, and sublime moments of soaring majesty, and exalted instants of impenetrable glory. Make ye this, after the Day of God, the most glorious of your days. Adorn yourselves and manifest the bounties and favors of God amongst you, and show kindness one to another. And let it be so with your offspring, those within your households, those whom ye love, and your kindred.

This is a day wherein God loveth that the Tree of Affirmation be established upon the lofty seat of exaltation and glory, and the sublime canopy of elevation and grandeur. This is a day that God loveth and He loveth whoso loveth it. This is a day wherein God loveth to witness negation at the uttermost degree of extinction and nothingness, and affirmation at the highest pinnacle of perpetuity and precedence. Whoso rejoiceth on that day, verily it is as though every believing man and woman had rejoiced. And whoso spendeth on that day even so much as a grain, it is as though he had spent the fullness of all things. And whoso honoreth a soul on that day, it is as though he had honored all things. And whoso bringeth joy to a soul on that day, it is as though he had brought joy to all things.

This is a day whereon God beareth witness unto the Point of the Bayan in that most exalted and sublime station and that most impregnable and glorious canopy. Present yourselves on that day before God, for verily this is your presence before Him Whom God shall make manifest. Not like unto that day when all who are in Islam present themselves before the Seat of the One of the Furqan, and those who succeed them exalt the mention of their predecessors, yet before Him there was but a single soul.

O dwellers of that Paradise! Watch over your souls lest ye be veiled from Him Whom God shall make manifest while ye present yourselves at the seat of the One of the Bayan, for after His manifestation naught shall profit you in the least, and these stations were not raised save that ye might present yourselves before Him Whom God shall make manifest and prostrate yourselves before God, making first a sublime prostration before the Point of the Bayan, then a glorious prostration before the First Living One.

Be not veiled like those who were given the Furqan, for they exalted themselves through the One thereof, and they presented themselves before the Point of the Bayan and prostrated before Him, and God created their latter state greater than their former state through the word of the Point of the Bayan, yet they do not reflect. This is a day whereon God loveth that all who are on earth should present themselves before Him Whom God shall make manifest, each according to his station, believing in God and being assured, praising God as they praise Him in His presence, mentioning the adorned verses, speaking the exalted words, manifesting the glorious countenance, and concealing the simple gaze.

Be not veiled from God by being veiled from Him Whom God shall make manifest on such a blessed and mighty day, and such a sovereign and gracious time, imagining that ye draw nigh unto God, exalted be His glory and sanctified be His holiness, while ye are veiled from Him Who hath created that day by His word. Call ye to mind the stories of the Messengers before you, for after Muhammad, the Apostle of God, came unto those who were given the Gospel, they gloried in that which was attributed to Jesus, son of Mary, and were veiled from Him Who was greater than Jesus, son of Mary, deeming themselves sincere.

Perchance they drew nigh unto God through that which was attributed to the beast that Jesus rode, yet they drew not nigh through Jesus himself as manifested in Muhammad, and they remember but comprehend not. Even as I witness today the dwellers in the gardens of the Qur’an drawing nigh unto God through that Day, after that Day was created wherein was manifested the guardianship of the Second Letter of the Qur’an over all things, and after His advent and before it He renewed the creation of their guardianship, yet all are veiled therefrom save those who have been given the Bayan—these are they who shall triumph.

God, exalted be His glory, beareth witness, and likewise the exponents of His names and His likenesses, and all things, that there is no God but Him, alone, alone. He hath fulfilled His promise and aided His servant, His Word, His Glory, His Sovereignty, His Majesty, His Grandeur, His Might, His Loftiness, His Exaltation, His Power, His Dominion, His Sublimity, His Transcendence, His Authority, His Rule, His Kingdom, His Dominion, and whatsoever His knowledge hath encompassed of all exalted names and elevated likenesses.

Verily the first to believe in Him shall be the throne of His Revelation aforetime in the Bayan, and all who are in the Bayan are thrones of that Throne, even as everyone who is guided by His own self is a throne unto himself, just as the first who turned unto the Point of the Bayan was the throne of the Point of the Qur’an. God hath prescribed for every soul His love, His affection, His good-pleasure, His nearness, the exaltation of his seat, the glory of his rank, the majesty of his grandeur, the beauty of his comeliness, the greatness of his might, the radiance of his light, the perfection of his word, the acceptance of his good-pleasure, the power of his strength, the dominion of his sovereignty, and the kingdom of his dominion.

He is the first who tasted in the Ridvan of the Bayan the virgin fruits of the gardens of the manifestations of His Holiness, the All-Glorious. He hath ascended to the ultimate heights in exalting the remembrance of God, exalted be His glory, until he reached a horizon that none had attained before him nor shall any attain after him. All who are in the Bayan have been guided by that through which the gate of that Ridvan was opened, and in that Name his own mention was ordained, and verily he is an ever-living being in the Ridvan of the Bayan.

He seeth in the presence of God whosoever appeareth before Him, and he should beseech God, his Lord, to guide him by His own Self on the Day of His Manifestation. Therefore, present yourselves at that most exalted and majestic seat, and that most transcendent and noble source, as God hath commanded you, for the exaltation of that sanctified Soul and perfected Being on the Day of His Manifestation, through the word of Him Whom God shall make manifest, that He may raise them up through that wherein they believe.

Verily, God hath not commanded the exaltation of seats except for the exaltation of those who occupy them at the time of their appearance. They possess two spirits: a spirit that is attached to God in the Ridvan, and a spirit that is attached to their thrones, and it is in the Bayan that they shall appear on the Day of Him Whom God shall make manifest through that which He mentioneth concerning them.

Remember ye that Most Exalted Name and Most Resplendent Form five times every day and night. Whoso is veiled therefrom, it is incumbent upon him to give the number of the Unity in weight of rubies, and whoso forgetteth, nothing is incumbent upon him. Should God wish, He will ordain for him a throne in His Manifestation in the Bayan, or numbered thrones as He commandeth, for God hath power over all things.

Mode of commentary

In the Name of God, the Single, the Single

All glory be from God unto Him Whom God shall make manifest. Exalted and sublime is His measure, transcendent and holy is His remembrance, from the beginning that hath no beginning unto the end of the manifestation of the Eternal Morn. Then unto His chosen ones in the splendor of majesty and the radiance of beauty.

I testify that God, glorified be He, hath ever been—His manifestation being identical with His concealment, and His concealment identical with His manifestation. His firstness is identical with His lastness, and His lastness identical with His firstness. He hath ever existed in the glory of eternity and the sanctity of grandeur in one state, one majesty, one beauty, one bounty, and one justice. He beholdeth all things in their stations, their limitations, and their times of existence. He commandeth only for the exaltation of His servants, and forbiddeth only for the protection of His chosen ones. He is independent of the Messengers and hath no need of the Books.

All that the Messengers have manifested is that His servants might know Him, and all that the Books have revealed is that His creation might recognize Him. All the paths that have been made manifest are that the dwellers of His heaven and earth might sanctify Him, and all the proofs that have been established are that they might attain certitude in His oneness in the kingdom of His command and creation. He hath not sent the Messengers except to manifest His power over all creation, not for His Own Self, as His power hath ever been all-pervading with His Self, His Will ever independent with His Self, His Purpose ever majestic with His Essence, and His Manifestations ever mighty with His Reality.

When thou hast recognized thy Lord God through His independence of what He hath created and will create, and the dependence of what He hath created and will create upon His command, then bear thou witness that God, glorified be He, hath no beginning and no end, no outward and no inward. He hath created the causes of creation upon this pattern—they have no beginning, for were thou to conceive of a beginning, before it there would needs be something, and that beginning would precede the first, deserving to be considered as doth the first of the last. Thus do allusions cease in the realm of endings, save that they ascend unto God in the heights of infinity.

Consider the numbers—do they reach a limit? Such is the nature of creation: however high they ascend, they reach no limit. And if it be difficult for thee to understand the beginning of numbers, then before the number is the number, whether it be like the number or parts of the number, and number is never cut off from number.

Having understood this, bear witness that the essence of all this greater world is the creation of man, and that the essences of those who are His chosen ones point unto God in their first and last, their outward and inward aspects, and that their essences are what God hath singled out for His mention, and that the essences of those who believe in Him Whom God shall make manifest before all others, and that these essences are the essence of essences, the archetype of archetypes, the cause of causes, and the foundation of foundations—the Throne of Reality, that is, the Outward in every manifestation through the manifestation of God, exalted be His glory, and the Inward in every concealment through the concealment of God, glorified be His might.

And for this Throne, from the beginning that hath no beginning to the end that hath no end, there is no number, and what thou hast witnessed in the path of the Furqan regarding number—that is for the dwellers of the pavilion of limitation, and the chosen ones of the Furqan are from that number from the wondrous creation.

Behold the proofs of the Qur’an arising from this numerical value derived from the innate nature of things—a proven value. When thou hast witnessed this, then bear witness that the similitude of the Throne of Revelation, though it be exalted above all comparison and sanctified beyond all glorification, yet since all possessors of understanding must needs comprehend it, may be likened to the sun at its zenith. Compare Him Whom God shall make manifest, exalted be His glory, to that sun, and liken all creation to mirrors. Then in the mirrors nothing is seen but a single reflection, and likewise in all creation naught is witnessed but a single Manifestation.

For all that thou seest in the mirrors is but the reflection of one sun, and whatsoever the Source of Revelation decreeth in every Dispensation dependeth upon the mirrors, inasmuch as they know not their Revealer. Were they to know Him, they would be dwellers in the ocean of knowledge and seated upon the summit of utterance. Thus, that which was reflected in the mirrors of the Primal Point is none other than what God reflected in the mirrors of the people of the Bayan, except that these latter know not at this time their Revealer in the Primal Point, while those others do know. All the differences thou observest among the various religions stem from the veiling of the servant from this divine subtlety and eternal reality.

Otherwise, God’s relationship to all creation is equal, and His revelation to all things is uniform in its origination. Thus the mirrors differ only according to their own conditions of nearness or remoteness, while that which proceedeth from God is but one. Having recognized this, bear witness that the mystery of every Revelation is the First Gate of that Revelation, for this is the essence of the creation of the First. Consider, for example, the dwellers beneath the canopy of the Gospel—the essence of their essence were they who turned to Muhammad, the Messenger of God.

Witness then in the Bayan that the essence of the creation of the Qur’an, after the Throne of Reality, are they who believed in it, for were there no other, one would still recognize his Lord and believe in His Manifestation. Thou shalt not witness the essence of essences save through a gleaming veil and a subtle pavilion, for the knowledge of essence is a mighty universal knowledge—whoso is given it hath been given all knowledge in a clear book.

Consider the radiance of a grain of ruby and make it the measure in the science of essence, then witness how many grains of stone would equal it. Then apply this similitude to the chain of humanity, for the purpose of the existence of all human temples is the knowledge and love of God, and all matters of commands and prohibitions culminate in this. And since the knowledge and love of God are manifest only through the knowledge and love of the Throne of Reality, whoso hath attained unto this hath attained unto all that God intended in the creation of man and ordained in Paradise.

On this basis was Muhammad-ʿAli from among the Letters of the Gospel made the essence of all the creation of the Gospel, for he attained unto that for which God created the people of the Gospel in terms of knowledge and obedience. Imagine not that before the appearance of the Prophet, the true believers of that time did not follow the religion of the Gospel, for this would be contrary to God’s good-pleasure in the Book of God. Rather, all the divines of that time before the appearance of the Prophet followed the true religion, which is what God revealed unto Jesus, Son of Mary. Similarly, bear witness that before God made manifest the Point of the Bayan, all its divines, letter by letter, followed the true religion.

Likewise, He Whom God shall make manifest and His divines, before God grants Him leave to reveal Himself and reveal whatsoever He willeth from His presence, will follow what hath been revealed in the Bayan. Indeed, the manner in which He Whom God shall make manifest follows the religion of the Bayan is greater in the sight of God than how all things follow it.

Verily, in this connection God hath desired to exalt the mention of Muhammad, the Apostle of God, through what is exalted in the Bayan, more loftily than what was exalted before, and more gloriously than what was exalted and honored in the kingdom of Command and Creation. He is a living one in the sight of God who beareth witness unto those who enter the Bayan and who unceasingly remembereth God, his Lord, through mentioning His Self. Verily, there is no God but Me, the One, the Single.

Therefore, if thou art able, raise His station to the heights of exaltation and sublimity. And if thou art not able but can attend His seat, then attend it. And if thou art not able but desirest that God thy Lord should grant thee the reward of one who ascendeth unto Him and descendeth at His threshold, then on Friday don the finest raiment God thy Lord hath given thee and drink three cups of water that thy heart may be attracted and thy spirit and being may be refreshed. Then enter thy highest chamber and stand facing the House. Then say “Allah-u-Abha” nineteen times.

Then be seated and say: Glory be unto Thee, O God! Verily Thou art the Creator of the heavens and the earth, their Fashioner, Ordainer and Designer. Nothing in the heavens or on earth or between them can escape Thy knowledge, and nothing in the kingdom of Command or Creation or whatsoever lieth beneath them can frustrate Thee. Verily, Thou art the All-Knowing, the All-Powerful, the Almighty. O my God!

Send Thy blessings upon the Throne of Thy Manifestation in the kingdom of Thy Command and Creation, and upon the Seat of Thy Concealment in the kingdom of Thy heaven and earth, unto which Thou didst reveal Thyself through the Point of the Bayan before all things, and made Him taste of the gardens of the virgin trees of Oneness before all things, and didst bring Him into Thy presence before all things, and caused Him to ascend unto Thee through Thy power above all things, and bestowed upon Him signs and evidences before all things, through every glory Thou hast created or wilt create, and every majesty Thou hast created or wilt create, and every beauty Thou hast created or wilt create, and every grandeur Thou hast created or wilt create, and every light Thou hast created or wilt create.

For verily Thou art Light before every light, and Thou art Light after every light, and Thou art Light above every light, and Thou art Light with every light, and Thou art Light beneath every light.

From the most bountiful of all Thy mercies, and from the most supreme of all Thy grandeur, and from the most perfect of all Thy perfections, and from the most mighty of all Thy might, and from the nearest of all Thy will, and from the most penetrating of all Thy knowledge, and from the most powerful of all Thy power, and from the most pleasing of all Thy good-pleasure, and from the most noble of all Thy nobility, and from the most enduring of all Thy sovereignty, and from the most glorious of all Thy dominion, and from the most exalted of all Thy loftiness, and from the most complete of all Thy signs before Thee, and from the most wondrous of all Thy words with Thee, and from all tidings which Thy knowledge hath encompassed, that which befitteth the sublimity of Thy holy transcendence and the exaltation of Thy glorious elevation.

Verily Thou hast ever encompassed all things and been powerful over all things.

Then prostrate thyself upon the soil thereof, for the relation of the soil unto Him is equal in both nearness and remoteness up to five parasangs, since that is the land whereon the Word of the Bab hath been exalted, and the mystery of Oneness hath prevailed, and the Manifestation of the All-Sufficing hath triumphed, and the signs of Singleness have been glorified, and the evidences of Unity have held sway. And verily, by virtue of God’s mention of it, it shall remain exalted and resplendent until the Day of Him Whom God shall make manifest.

And say in thy prostration: O my God! Thou art the nearest of the near, and the God of gods, and the Most Single of the single ones, and the Most One of the ones, and the Most Eternal of the eternal ones. Send Thy blessings upon the first to believe in Thy Proof, and send down upon him in the pavilions of paradise and the chambers of heaven whatsoever good Thy knowledge encompasseth. If it be not in Thy keeping, bless him as Thou art able, and curse him who hath betrayed him, and more than that.

Then ask of God, thy Lord, thy desire, for God will assuredly fulfill it through His power with the utmost speed that He hath ordained, if thou art sincere in thy purpose and truthful in thy words. And watch over thyself lest thou visit with these sublime words and the Day of Resurrection come upon thee while thou knowest Him not, or after thou hast known Him, if thou help Him not nor grieve for Him. For verily I have seen with mine own eyes in that Resurrection those who visited Muhammad, the Apostle of God, then the Imams of Guidance, then the Gates of Glory, yet knew them not and committed against them that which God would be ashamed to mention, though they would visit them night and day with words that had been revealed in their Books.

And thou shalt recite these words, but when their meaning comes to thee, either thou wilt not believe in them or thou wilt not grieve for Him. He is independent of thy joy and thy faith. Marvel not at this, but look at the numerous religions upon the earth, for every people visits their Prophet and their Prophet’s martyrs in their religion after their Resurrection has passed and their Prophets and their Prophets’ martyrs have returned, while they walk in the atmosphere of their vain imaginings and their unreal conditions.

Ponder then with true pondering, for verily thou, O Third Letter, who believest in Him Whom God shall make manifest, shalt visit thyself with this visitation yet know it not. But God, when He willeth, shall make thee know thyself through the word of Him Whom God shall make manifest. When He maketh thee know, then be certain of thy station and thank God, thy Lord, for everyone who hath read these words, their support hath reached unto thee, and thou shalt know thy worth by helping the Cause of God, with true and befitting aid, before God. And if the mention of the letter “Ha” proveth difficult for thee in its separation in that Gate, verily We shall send down that verse when thou recidest it according to the number of the Gate.

This shall suffice thee from mentioning the Unity, then the Throne of Manifestation, then that Gate, then the completing letters—a bounty from God unto all worlds. God beareth witness that there is no God but Him, and that He Whom God shall make manifest is the Truth from His presence, and that the numbers of the Living Letters who believe in Him, these are they who in the Book of God are brought near.

Persian mode

In the Name of God, the Single, the Single

Praise and glory befit the holy threshold of the Ever-Living, the Self-Subsisting, Who hath been from time immemorial exalted in the inaccessible heights of His holy Essence, and will continue throughout eternity in the sublime independence of His sacred Being. He hath created all things from something by His all-pervading power, and hath caused all things to be manifested from nothing by His insuperable Will.

Who can befittingly praise His sacred Being, when He hath made all things to bear witness to the creation of all things from nothing by His command? No thing hath any reality except through His mention in the dawning-places of His Cause and by His decree in the daysprings of His Remembrance. How can any being deviate by even an atom’s weight from His worship, when all things derive their very existence from Him and move in His love? Though they themselves may be unaware, the possessor of subtle vision perceiveth this truth.

From creation without beginning to creation without end, all things have ever proclaimed and do proclaim “From God, unto God, and for God.” In every condition, whatsoever they utter or do is intended for the manifestations of His power, though they themselves may be veiled therefrom. Yet all things in their entirety worship His sacred Being, and each particle in its measure prostrateth before His holy Self.

Every essence in its essential nature, every abstract reality in its abstraction, every pristine thing in its pristineness, and every pure substance in its purity, from the beginning that hath no beginning unto the end that hath no end, throughout all the kingdoms of the outward and the inward, have been and shall forever remain His worshippers and adorers.

All are severed from all praise and from praising all, and are illumined through Him by His praise of His own Self. All paths bear witness to their extinction and all ways proclaim His transcendence. Praise be unto that Primal Will which He created from nothing by His power and through which He hath manifested Himself to all things according to their station. He hath ordained for it no first beginning nor last ending, that it might serve as proof of the exaltation of His power and the inaccessibility of His Will.

He hath made His example, from first to last, like unto the rising of the sun, and hath ordained every manifestation like unto a dawning, that those who are illumined by the first appearance might not be veiled from the latter appearance. And were it possible for a soul to endure from the first creation that hath no beginning unto the last creation that hath no end, it would witness in that final end, with the same gaze as in that first beginning that hath no beginning, its servitude and prostration before God.

Thus do all atoms revolve around the eternal Point of Unity and are illumined by the holy Dayspring of Divine Oneness, that the dwellers of no manifestation might remain veiled in a subsequent manifestation. And He hath made this Will the spirit of the greater world, whereby all things are sustained, while it itself is sustained by its own essence through God.

And He hath ordained for it infinite progress in less than the twinkling of an eye, all that can be conceived within the realm of possibility—and has decreed its manifestations in the next revelation in the hereafter, so that those ascending through infinite journeys might not remain stationary in their ardent quest, and have ever been and will ever be, to the extent possible in the contingent world, soaring on wings of recognition and love for Him, and hope and knowledge of what is to come, and fear of being deprived of knowledge, traversing all paths without beholding any manifestation other than that Primal Sun’s effulgence, bearing witness to the name of the Creator in an atom of dust, and at the holy horizon becoming observers of the mention of the Lord of Lords, becoming worshippers of the Creator of the heavens and earth and all between them, beholding all their knowledge determined in existence through pure, essential melodies and detached, ethereal songs, so that they might not be veiled from the seat of certitude.

And since the recognition of the Ancient Invisible Essence has been impossible, and God the Exalted has not commanded it for any—since its possibility in the contingent realm is impossible—He has enjoined upon all things, from the beginning that has no beginning to the end that has no end, to know the Sun of Truth which is the Mirror of His Essence and the Primal Will which is the Throne of His Manifestation. He has accepted from all things their recognition of Him as their recognition of Himself, their love for Him as their love for Himself, their pleasure in Him as their pleasure in Himself, their meeting with Him as their meeting with Himself, and their obedience to Him as their obedience to Himself.

And for that He has ordained two stations: the station of the Unseen wherein naught is seen of Him, and the station of Manifestation wherein naught is seen except His Primal Will. This station He has made the creation of that station, and that station He has decreed to be the world of names and attributes for those servants who traverse the depths of similitudes and the surging seas of glory, whose motion is by God, whose stillness is by God, whose beginning is by God, whose end is by God, whose outward aspect is by God, whose inward aspect remembers naught except through God, and who return to none save unto God. They behold the most hidden of the hidden in the most manifest of the manifest, like those servants who behold the mention of the Primal Will in its outward manifestation.

Should one of them live in the time of Him Whom God shall make manifest and desire permission to ask a question, He will say: “Ask God, thy Lord, concerning what thou desirest, for We have ever been loving.” And should He wish to answer, He will say: “Hearken unto what is revealed unto thee from God—verily there is no God but Me, the Best of the loving ones.” And since the paradise of truth dawns not upon the atoms of existence save through recognition of this type of manifestation and certitude in this type of concealment, it is for this reason that, in the dwellers of the previous Manifestation, since creation was confined to the world of limitations and they had no share of pure, absolute manifestation, He has lifted up the thrones manifesting this hidden, treasured knowledge from the dwellers of each revelation, save whom God willeth.

And since in the Manifestation of the Point of the Furqan, the age of this world from the first creation reached completion in eleven thousand, the Point of the Furqan caused a drop thereof to appear upon the countenance of all created things, and that manifest one is the manifest Qur’an.

If anyone has become cognizant of the unseen of that unseen throne—as was the first to believe in Him who was clothed in this garment of glory—as is described in the well-known tradition:

“My knowledge through luminosity is the knowledge of God, and the knowledge of God is My knowledge.”

And He educated the dwellers of the Dispensation of the Qur’an through these inaccessible manifestations, so that on the Day of Resurrection all might recognize their Beloved and behold naught but God in the countenance of the Sun of Truth.

And praise be to God that all the dwellers of the Dispensation of the Qur’an were veiled from their Purpose, and all were veiled by the dawning limitations in their religion from the Essence of essences to which all return, except certain guides who grasped allusions from the words of the Manifestation of the inmost hidden, and through their blessings stepped into the arena of this Revelation and heard with their heart’s core and inner being the call “Verily I am God, there is no God but Me,” and were not frightened. Had all grasped the words of that Manifestation of the inmost hidden, today they would have received all ordinances directly from God and would have been illumined by the meeting with God.

But since God’s proof in every condition has been complete and sufficient, transcendent and perfect for all created things, no atom has had or has any argument for not attaining this exalted knowledge and inaccessible sovereignty. This knowledge has belonged and belongs to Him Whom God shall make manifest, and none other has been or is worthy of it. And if it appears in any other, it is like the reflection of the sun in mirrors, not through essential reality. And this Revelation shall progress such that at the end of night the guides to the names and attributes shall witness in the inmost hidden the mention of the most manifest outer.

But all these are reflections in mirrors for the capacity of the Day of God’s Manifestation, so that at the time of manifestation all who are on earth may look with this vision and gaze with the eternal eye upon the countenance of the Sun of Truth. This has been and is the station of the unseen of the Sun of Truth and the most exalted face of the Dawning-place of the Sun of Eternity. All ranks of prayers and supplications are but a drop of this ocean, and all wondrous tales and allusions are but a sprinkling from this mighty sea. The first to believe in the Point of the Bayan was sailing upon this ocean and gazing into these depths. It was for this reason that he was honored with this nobility and adorned with this guidance.

For had he gazed from any other direction, how could he have witnessed the fruits of the manifestation from the Tree of “Verily I am God, there is no God but Me” before all existence? And if all the dwellers of the Bayan, nay all upon earth, had been educated with this subtle vision and lofty pursuit, perchance on the Day of God’s Manifestation they would not have been frightened by His words and would have gazed upon the inner reality.

Consider thyself at all times oriented towards the essence of truth and enlightened by His manifestations, and know that in every Revelation He hath been and is the representative of the Unseen Eternal Essence. If infinite mirrors were to be placed before Him and He were to decree them to be saints, they would be saints; and if infinite mirrors were placed before Him and He were to pronounce them noble, they would be noble. Similarly, in every beneficent name, apply the mystery of unity, for by His mere will and decree it cometh to pass. The relationship of all things to Him hath been and remaineth a single relationship.

His command, in whatsoever He placeth it, is exalted, and His prohibition, upon whatsoever He layeth it, descendeth, whether that thing be from the highest or lowest of creation.

When thou observest what transpireth in all Dispensations, with their exaltation and abasement, know that this hath ever been the cause: Consider how in the Dispensation of the Primal Point, He established His Cause at the highest rank of creation, which is the station of man, though at the time when He established His Cause none knew that Man, yet today when thou lookest upon Islam, thou findest not a soul who knoweth Him not or believeth not in Him. And thou beholdest His lofty dome in the land of Najaf, where those who would not enter His house in His day now prostrate themselves at His gate, and all monarchs glory in their prostration at His threshold, and all who possess dominion are honored to stand before Him.

This is the fruit of the Tree of Truth’s Command in the noblest of creation, and what thou seest is due to the veils of men, else His Command merited that all things should seek shelter beneath His shade. And whatsoever hath not come to pass hath been due to the veils of men, not from any lack in the Command.

Consider how He hath established His Cause in both the highest of creation and the lowest of creation, which is the station of clay—it hath become the House of God, and seventy thousand souls circle round it each year. This too is due to the veils of men, else His Command meriteth that all upon the earth should seek shelter beneath His shade, and whatsoever hath not come to pass hath been due to the veils of men, not from any lack in the Command. I have given thee examples of the highest and lowest, that thou mayest understand what lieth between them.

Move with insight in every Dispensation, look not to its beginning but fix thine eyes upon its end, which is the next Manifestation, for the exaltation of the former Manifestation is in the beginning of the latter. This is the most exalted Will, whose command is the Command of God and whose prohibition is the Prohibition of God. All are obliged to know Him, to love Him, and to traverse the depths of His names and attributes if they are able. And if they are unable, God hath established for Him a lower station, which is His outward station, called the Sun of Truth, the First Creation, the Primal Will, the Eternal Sun, the Primal Essence of Creation, the First Camphor of Invention, and other such elevated and sublime terms.

This is the station wherein mention is made of the servitude of every Manifestation after the words “There is no god but God.” If one cannot navigate that sea, let him navigate this one. God hath ordained these two stations of Him Whom God shall make manifest as obligatory upon all created things. The first is not acceptable save through the second, and the second is not established save through the first. This is why from the beginning that hath no beginning to the end that hath no end, the foundation of religion hath been the twin testimonies, for all else besides these twin testimonies is realized through the command of another word, whether that command be in the highest ranks of creation, such as the First Living One, or in the lowest ranks of creation, such as the House.

And remember thou the first to believe, for if thou shouldst sail upon the sea of names, thou wouldst behold him as the Primal Will. Know thou that he hath ever been and shall ever be living, and every possessor of might in the Bayan hath become mighty through him, and every possessor of knowledge in the Bayan hath become learned through him, and every possessor of power in the Bayan hath become powerful through him, and every possessor of sovereignty in the Bayan hath become sovereign through him, and every possessor of majesty in the Bayan hath become majestic through him.

And thou shouldst make mention of him in every night and day the number of the Gate, for from the beginning of his manifestation until the exaltation of all, existence hath had no dawning place for the effulgences of the rays of the light of the Eternal Morn save in this number. Say: O God! Send Thy blessings upon the first to believe in Thee, then in Thy Proof, then in the Manifestation of Thyself, with every good thing which Thy knowledge embraceth. Verily Thou art the All-Knowing of all things, and verily Thou art powerful over all things.

4. Al-ahiy

Mode of verses

In the name of God, the Most Living, the Most Living

God—there is no God but Him, the Most Living, the Most Living, by God, God the Living, the Living. God—there is no God but Him, the Life-Giver, the Life-Giver. In the name of God, the Life-Giver, the Life-Giver. God—there is no God but Him, the Ever-Living, the Life-Giver. God—there is no God but Him, the Life-Giver, the All-Pervading.

Say: God is the Ever-Living, exalted above every life; none hath power to withhold himself from the Sovereign, the King of the quickening of all that live—neither in the heavens, nor on the earth, nor in whatsoever lieth between them. He, verily, is the Living, the Life-Giver, the One Who quickeneth from the beginning; and unto God belong the life of the heavens and the earth and all that is between them. God is the Living, the One Who bestoweth life; and unto Him pertaineth the dominion, the sovereignty, of the quickening of the heavens and the earth and all that is between them. God is the Living, the Quickener, the One made manifest; and unto God belong life upon life—the life of the heavens and the earth and all that is between them. And behold: the Living One, the Quickener, the Manifest, is He; and all that He hath created and shall create—whether of death or of life—is in His grasp. There is no God but Him, the Living, the Manifest. Say: God is the Ever-Living, above every living thing. None can refuse the Living One—the Life-Giver, the Sovereign of their quickening—neither in the heavens, nor on the earth, nor in whatsoever is between them. Verily, He is the Living, the Quickener from the beginning.

Say: O God! Thou art the Life of the heavens and of the earth and of what lieth between them. Thou givest life unto whom Thou willest and takest it from whom Thou willest. Thou exaltest whom Thou willest and abaseth whom Thou willest. Thou strengthenest whom Thou willest and weakeneth whom Thou willest. Thou enrichest whom Thou willest and impoverisheth whom Thou willest. Within Thy grasp is the kingdom of all things. Thou createst what Thou willest by Thy command. Verily, Thou art the Living One above all living ones.

Glorified art Thou, O God! Verily Thou art the Source of all life. Thou givest life unto whom Thou willest and takest it from whom Thou willest. Thou causest to triumph whom Thou willest over whom Thou willest. Thou givest victory unto whom Thou willest over whom Thou willest. Thou establishest whom Thou willest over whom Thou willest. Thou aidest whom Thou willest against whom Thou willest. Thou conferrest sovereignty upon whom Thou willest over whom Thou willest. Within Thy grasp is the kingdom of all things. Verily, Thou art the Most Living of all living ones.

Glorified art Thou, O God! Verily Thou art the Most Living of all living ones. Thou givest might unto whom Thou willest and withholdest it from whom Thou willest. Thou raisest up whom Thou willest and bringest low whom Thou willest. Thou conferrest authority upon whom Thou willest and withdrawest it from whom Thou willest. Thou sendest down Thy decree from Thy presence upon whom Thou willest. Verily, Thou art the best of all living ones.

Say: O God! Thou art the Pervader of the heavens and earth and whatsoever lieth between them. All worship Thee in the kingdom of Command and Creation and whatsoever is beneath them, and all bow down before Thee in the kingdom of Command and Creation and whatsoever is beneath them. Verily, Thou hast ever been the Living, the Life-Giving, the Source of Life.

Say: O God! Thou art the Living One from all eternity. Thou hast ever been and will ever be. Thou createst life in whom Thou willest and sendest down death upon whom Thou willest. Verily, Thou art the Living One Who dieth not, the King Who passeth not away, the Just One Who wrongeth not, the Sovereign Who changeth not, and the Single One from Whose grasp nothing escapeth, whether in the heavens or on earth or in what lieth between them. Thou createst what Thou willest by Thy command. Verily, Thou art the best of all who have power.

This is a Book from God unto Him Whom God shall make manifest. Bear thou witness that there is no God but Me, the Lord of all worlds. He it is Who createth whatsoever is in the heavens and the earth and whatsoever lieth between them through His command. Verily He is the Truth, the best of Helpers. He it is Who originateth what He willeth through His command, and verily He is the Lord of all worlds. Say: O God! Thou art the Helper of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever lieth between them. Help Thou, through Thy mighty assistance, those who have believed in Thee in the Bayan. Verily Thou art the most powerful of helpers. Say: All authority resteth with God, both before and after, and unto God shall all return.

Unto God belong all the learned ones of the earth, both before and after, and God is, in truth, powerful over all things. Unto God belong all the mighty ones of the earth, both before and after, and God is, in truth, sanctified in His power. Unto God belong all the beloved ones of the earth, both before and after, and God is, in truth, exalted in His sublimity. Unto God belong all the noble ones of the earth, both before and after, and God is, in truth, inaccessible in His might. Unto God belong all the sovereigns of the earth, both before and after, and God is, in truth, the Supreme Sovereign. Unto God belong all those of lofty station in the heavens and the earth and whatsoever lieth between them, and God is supremely exalted above all things.

Unto God belong all those of resplendent glory in the heavens and the earth and whatsoever lieth between them, and God is supremely effulgent above all things. Unto God belong all those of grandeur in the heavens and the earth and whatsoever lieth between them, and God is supremely majestic above all things. Unto God belong all those of beauty in the heavens and the earth and whatsoever lieth between them, and God is supremely luminous above all things. Say: Every Manifestation createth through that which is revealed in Him—can ye not perceive this? Whether it be from man or from the essence of the beloved dust. Say: God hath created life in those who recognize Him Whom God shall make manifest, while those who recognize Him not are dead and know it not.

Say: The essence of life is in the life of him who believeth in God and in His signs, then in His Messenger, then in those who are created through the command of His Messenger. Do ye not desire, then, to attain unto life? He it is Who giveth life and causeth death, and unto Him shall all return. He it is Who createth what He willeth through His command “Be” and it is. Say: He is the All-Compelling above His creation, and the All-Manifest above His servants, and He is the Guardian, the Self-Subsisting. He it is before Whom prostrate themselves whosoever is in the heavens and whosoever is on the earth and whatsoever lieth between them. There is no God but He, the Guardian, the Self-Subsisting.

Say: Verily, He Whom God shall make manifest and all things are created by God and all stand steadfast through God. Worship ye none but God, my Lord and your Lord, the Lord of the heavens and the Lord of the earth, the Lord of all that is seen and unseen, the Lord of all worlds. He it is Who created me and all things, and He is the All-Subtle Creator. He it is Who sustained me and all things, and He is the Strong Sustainer. He it is Who caused me and all things to die, and He is the Mighty, the Powerful. He it is Who gave life to me and all things, and He is the Holy Ordainer. Say: Verily God beareth witness unto His own Self that there is no God but Me, the Mighty, the Wise. And He glorifieth His own Essence by His Essence that there is no God but Me, the One, the Eternal.

And He sanctifieth His own Reality by His Reality that there is no God but Me, the Single, the Ancient. And He magnifieth His own Identity by His Identity that there is no God but Me, the Most Great, the All-Glorious. Let them exalt Simplicity after Simplicity, bearing witness that there is no God but Me, the Most Generous, the All-Bountiful. Is there any god besides God who can create out of nothing? Say: Glorified and exalted be God! All are His servants and all abide by His command. Say: All believe in Him Whom God shall make manifest, though they know it not. Is there any soul who knows not God its Lord, nor believes in a Prophet from God and His Book and His Way? This is the recognition of Him Whom God shall make manifest in His own Self, but most people do not perceive.

Say: All worship Me. Say: All bow down before Me. Say: All are devoted to Me. Say: All give thanks to Me. Say: All remember Me. Were My power to be made manifest upon the earth, not a single soul would remain of those who believe not in Him Whom God shall make manifest. Would ye not love that We should will what God hath willed, and thereby ye be created? Say: Yea, we shall grant this, and we are all assured of God’s command. If ye will all that Him Whom God shall make manifest willeth, then ye will by God’s will. If ye desire what Him Whom God shall make manifest desireth, then ye desire by God’s desire. If ye determine what Him Whom God shall make manifest determineth, then ye determine by God’s determination.

If ye decree what Him Whom God shall make manifest decreeth, then ye decree by God’s decree. If ye permit what Him Whom God shall make manifest permitteth, then ye permit by God’s permission. If ye defer what Him Whom God shall make manifest deferreth, then ye defer what God deferreth. If ye write what Him Whom God shall make manifest writeth, then ye write what God hath written. God is your glory and the glory of those who believe and who glory in God their Lord. God is your support and the support of those who believe in God and His signs and who seek support in God their Lord. To God belongeth the independence of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them, and God is the sovereign Independent, the Most Exalted.

To God belongeth the majesty of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them, and God is the King, the Most Majestic, the Most Glorious. Say: In that Letter ye behold the Third Letter. This is he who hath believed in God and then in the Manifestation of His Self, and hath then entered through the First Gate, prostrating before God, the Lord of the worlds. He believeth in Him Whom God shall make manifest in the third station, as ye there observe. Be not veiled by the conditions of your knowledge and glory in your earthly life, but look ye to the mystery of the Cause. Reflect upon the days of Muhammad, the Apostle of God.

How many were the divines and the mighty ones, yet when they believed not in Muhammad, the Apostle of God, He made no mention of them, but made mention of Ali and those who believed in God and His signs. How then are they exalted? Ye reflect in the Bayan upon the days when that Letter believed in God his Lord. How many were the learned ones, and those remembered throughout the earth by every name among the mighty, the wise, the powerful and the glorious. But he attained unto what God desired of him, and were it other than this, his station would have been recorded in the Book of God. God bestoweth His grace upon whomsoever He willeth among His servants, and God is the Most Gracious, the All-Bountiful, the Most Beneficent.

Say: Verily this Letter hath delivered the messages of his Lord and hath shown patience in the Cause of God for numbered days, until the Cause reached those who believed in the Point of the Furqan yet remained veiled from the Living One therein. From the first moment when God made manifest the Point of the Bayan until this time, he hath been among the patient ones in the path of God.

O God! Send down upon him resplendent glory throughout all worlds. O God! Send down upon him sublime majesty throughout all worlds. O God! Send down upon him wondrous beauty throughout all worlds. O God! Send down upon him grandeur throughout all worlds. O God! Send down upon him brilliant light throughout all worlds. O God! Send down upon him tender mercy throughout all worlds. O God! Send down upon him perfect completion throughout all worlds. O God! Send down upon him consummate perfection throughout all worlds. O God! Send down upon him exceeding greatness throughout all worlds. O God! Send down upon him transcendent might throughout all worlds. O God! Send down upon him a luminous lamp throughout all worlds. O God! Send down upon him supreme knowledge throughout all worlds. O God!

Send down upon him pure sincerity throughout all worlds. O God! Send down upon him sovereign power throughout all worlds. O God! Send down upon him ministerial authority throughout all worlds. O God! Send down upon him consummate wisdom throughout all worlds. O God! Send down upon him absolute dominion throughout all worlds. O God! Send down upon him lofty exaltation throughout all worlds. O God! Send down upon him endearing love throughout all worlds. O God! Send down upon him intimate nearness throughout all worlds. O God! Send down upon him abundant bounty throughout all worlds. O God! Send down upon him perfect justice throughout all worlds.

O God! Send down upon us triumphant victory. O God! Send down upon us the key of attainment. O God! Send down upon us mighty power. O God! Send down upon us manifest revelation. O God! Send down upon us overwhelming conquest. O God! Send down upon us supreme authority. O God! Send down upon us radiant splendor. O God! Send down upon us majestic glory. O God! Send down upon us magnificent grandeur. O God! Send down upon us effulgent light. O God! Send down upon us compassionate mercy. O God! Send down upon us transcendent greatness. O God! Send down upon us mighty strength. O God! Send down upon us consummate knowledge. O God! Send down upon us glorious deliverance. O God! Send down upon us manifest emergence. O God! Send down upon us exalted nobility. O God!

Send down upon us sovereign dominion. O God! Send down upon us complete possession. O God! Send down upon us perfect governance. O God! Send down upon us sublime exaltation. O God! Send down upon us lofty ascendancy. O God! Send down upon us manifest dignity. O God! Send down upon us abundant grace. O God! Send down upon us perfect equilibrium. O God! Send down upon us consummate beauty. O God! Exalt the mention of this Letter in the kingdom of the heavens and the earth and all that is between them. Verily Thou art the Best of exalters. O God! Elevate his station from Thy presence. Verily Thou art the Most Exalted of the exalted ones.

Say: Were We to will it, We would assuredly ordain in the creation of the Bayan until the Day of Him Whom God shall make manifest proofs of the First One, and We have power over all things. Therefore remember this Name the number of the letter Ha in the night and in the day, for verily We are ever-mindful.

Say: O God! Send Thy blessings upon the Third Temple in the Bayan. Verily Thou art the Best of those who send blessings. And if ye recite the verse which We have sent down in the number of the Unity, it shall suffice you, for We are of those who accept. And whoso maketh mention four times and omitteth one, a weight of diamond shall be required of him, and if he forgetteth, let him make up for it. God is indeed Self-Sufficient, Most High. This is so that ye may not be veiled from the remembrance of God while ye do so willfully. Otherwise God is independent of you and of all things.

And if ye forget, God will not hold you to account after your death, except that ye make up for it during your lifetime, that ye may be watchful of the remembrance of the First Unity, and then on the Day of Resurrection believe in and be assured of Him Whom God shall make manifest and His witnesses.

Mode of prayers

In the Name of God, the Most Living, the Most Living

Glorified art Thou, O my God! I and all things bear witness that Thou art God, there is no God but Thee, alone without any peer.

Thine is the Kingdom and the Dominion, Thine is the Glory and the Omnipotence, Thine is the Power and the Divinity, Thine is the Might and the Magnificence, Thine is the Sovereignty and the Realm of Man, Thine is the Radiance and the Effulgence, Thine is the Grandeur and the Majesty, Thine is the Beauty and the Grace, Thine is the Greatness and the Grandeur, Thine is the Light and the Luminosity, Thine is the Mercy and the Compassion, Thine is the Completeness and the Perfection, Thine is the Exaltation and the Sublimity, Thine is the Honor and the Nobility, Thine is the Transcendence and the Supreme Power, Thine is the Perfection and the Consummation, Thine is the Bounty and the Abundance, Thine is the Knowledge and the Wisdom, Thine is the Power and the Authority, Thine is the Good-Pleasure and the Contentment, Thine is the Love and the Affection, Thine is the Sovereignty and the Dominion, Thine is the Knowledge and the Learning, Thine is the Loftiness and the Elevation, Thine is the Glory and the Majesty, Thine is the Splendor and the Magnificence, Thine is the Beneficence and the Bestowal, Thine is the Grace and the Favor, Thine is the Eternity and the Everlastingness, Thine is the Generosity and the Bountifulness, Thine is the Grace and the Tenderness, Thine is the Munificence and the Liberality, Thine is the Beauty and the Comeliness, Thine is the Power and the Authority.

Thine are all the Most Beautiful Names and Thine are all the Most Exalted Examples. All things worship Thee, O my God, through Thy unity, all things sanctify Thee, O my Beloved, through Thy oneness, all things glorify Thee, O my Adored One, through Thy singleness, all things magnify Thee, O my Desired One, through Thy uniqueness, all things exalt Thee, O Thou Who art praised, through Thy grandeur.

Thou art the Manifest through the manifestation of Thy Self-Subsistence, and Thou art the Hidden through the concealment of Thine Eternity, the Inaccessible through the inaccessibility of Thy Singleness, and the Evident through the evidence of Thy Unity. The essences are powerless to describe Thee and the realities fall short of characterizing Thee. Glorified and exalted art Thou!

Every possessor of splendor boweth down before Thy splendor, every possessor of majesty is humbled before Thy majesty, every possessor of beauty is attracted by Thy beauty, every possessor of greatness is abased before Thy greatness, every possessor of light is illumined by the lights of Thy countenance, every possessor of mercy draweth nigh unto Thee through Thy mercy, every possessor of words is rendered mute before the manifestation of Thy Word, every possessor of grandeur is cut off from all else save Thee through Thine exaltation, every possessor of might taketh shelter beneath the shadow of the Tree of Thy Oneness, every possessor of perfection is as utter nothingness before the perfection of Thy unity, every possessor of will is subject to Thy will, every possessor of knowledge learneth from Thy knowledge, every possessor of power is powerless before Thy might, every possessor of good-pleasure seeketh Thy good-pleasure, every possessor of proof is guided by Thy proofs, every possessor of glory is without rank before Thy glory, every possessor of sovereignty is submissive to Thy sovereignty, every possessor of dominion is in need of the riches of Thy unity, every possessor of loftiness is brought low before the elevation of Thy transcendence.

How exalted, O my God, are Thy manifestations in the glory of eternity, and how wondrous, O my Beloved, are Thy concealments in the sanctity of grandeur! None besides Thee, O my God, hath ever created that he might turn to any other than Thee, and is there any besides Thee, O my Beloved, who hath command that any might seek shelter with other than Thee? Far be it, far be it! Such imaginings exist not in Thy dominion, such thoughts appear not in Thy realm. There is no god besides Thee that any thing might worship, and no lord besides Thee that any thing might adore. All gods are within Thy grasp and all lords are in the right hand of Thy Lordship, and all names are before Thy might and all examples are in the right hand of Thy will.

Therefore, O God, do Thou send down upon the Tree of Thy Mystery, in all its branches, from the beginning wherein Thou didst manifest it to itself through itself until the end which hath no end, every most resplendent glory, all the most excellent majesty, all the most perfect beauty, all the most supreme grandeur, all the most luminous light, all the most exalted loftiness, all the most transcendent sovereignty, all the most consummate perfection, all the most mighty power, all the most potent strength, all the most abundant riches, all the most complete contentment, all the most noble dignity, all the most sovereign dominion, all the most sublime elevation, all the most excellent pride, all the most bountiful generosity, all the most perfect grace, all the most gracious benevolence, all the most ancient antiquity, all the most secure protection, all the most perfect excellence, and all that becometh Thee, O my God, of Thy names befitting the loftiness of Thy holy majesty, and all that Thou art worthy of through the manifestations of the throne of Thy Will.

Thou art the Hidden One in all hiddenness through the concealment of the throne of Thy Purpose. Therefore, O my God, do Thou send down upon all the branches of Thy manifestation, from the beginning that hath no beginning unto the end that hath no end, all that Thou art in the exaltation of Thy transcendence, the sublimity of Thy inaccessibility, the independence of Thy majesty, the excellence of Thy grace, the sovereignty of Thy self-sufficiency, the radiance of Thy splendor, and the supremacy of Thy glory. For I know no throne in the Bayan other than the throne of all Thy manifestations, nor any day that Thou wilt make manifest other than the throne of all Thy manifestations, concealment, beginnings and endings.

When that Manifest One shall be made manifest through Thy manifestation, and that Exalted One shall be raised up through Thy exaltation, and that Inaccessible One shall be made inaccessible through Thy inaccessibility, and that Majestic One shall be clothed with majesty through Thy majesty, and that Sovereign One shall exercise sovereignty through Thy sovereignty, and that Almighty One shall show forth might through Thy might, and that Conquering One shall triumph through Thy triumph, then all that hath been established in all the Books shall be established from Thy presence, and all that hath been ordained in all religions shall be ordained in His good-pleasure, whether it be in the highest or lowest of Thy creation, for the relation of highest and lowest is the same with Thee, and both are within Thy grasp at the level of creation.

Verily, Thy all-pervading power over the creation of an atom is as Thy all-pervading power over the creation of all else.

Glorified, glorified art Thou from my regarding anything in its minuteness, for the atom with Thee is as the creation of all things, and the creation of all things with Thee is as the creation of an atom. All are within Thy grasp and in the right hand of Thy oneness.

Therefore, O my God, do Thou send down upon the Tree through whose exaltation Thy Most Manifest and Wondrous Name, Thy Most Brilliant and Eternal Attribute, Thy Most Mighty and Single Description, Thy Most Glorious and Unique Manifestation, and Thy Most Brilliant and Steadfast Qualities have been fulfilled, all that Thou art, O my God, of Thy inaccessible and radiant manifestations, Thy transcendent and exalted concealments, Thy majestic and beauteous conditions, Thy sublime and elevated aspects, Thy sovereign and dominant stations, Thy manifest and overwhelming signs, and Thy resplendent and transcendent tokens—all that Thou hast encompassed in knowledge of Thy most beautiful and well-pleasing names, Thy most exalted and well-favored similitudes, Thy most sublime and magnificent revelations, Thy most inaccessible and elevated signs, Thy most enriching and self-sufficient intimations, Thy words most perfect and complete, Thy names most great and exalted, Thy examples most magnificent and sublime—for verily Thou hast ever been possessed of transcendent and impregnable glory, of supreme and lofty majesty, of manifest and mighty sovereignty, of noble and generous dominion, of ancient and elevated grace, of perpetual and inaccessible power, and of wondrous and brilliant signs which have bewildered the thoughts of the dwellers of Thy heaven and earth and confounded all within the kingdom of Thy Cause and creation.

O my God! Therefore spread upon the tablets of eternity from Your help its most helping power, and upon the essences of eternity from Your inauguration its most opening force, and upon the realities of oneness from Your triumph its most prevailing might, and upon the souls of glory from Your manifestation its most revealing strength, and upon the beings of praise from Your subjugation its most subduing power, and upon the universals of unity from Your dominion its most ruling authority, and upon the particulars of singleness from Your might its most potent force.

And upon that lofty and elevated Tree, that mighty and impregnable Word, those transcendent and sublime Branches, those manifest and conquering Leaves, those exalted and radiant Fruits—bestow from all Your glory its most glorious, from all Your majesty its most majestic, from all Your beauty its most beauteous, from all Your grandeur its most grand, from all Your light its most luminous, from all Your mercy its most extensive, from all Your words its most perfect, from all Your names its most great, from all Your perfections its most complete, from all Your might its most mighty, from all Your will its most accomplishing, from all Your knowledge its most penetrating, from all Your power its most prevailing, from all Your speech its most pleasing, from all Your causes that which is most beloved and impregnable before You, from all Your honor its most honorable, from all Your sovereignty its most enduring, from all Your dominion its most noble, from all Your exaltation its most elevated, from all Your bounty its most ancient, from all Your signs its most wondrous, from all Your provision its most expansive, from all Your bestowal its most felicitous, from all Your grace its most gracious, from all Your generosity its most generous, from all Your triumph its most triumphant, from all Your victory its most victorious, from all Your revelation its most manifest, from all Your domination its most dominating, from all Your conquest its most conquering, from all Your inaccessibility its most inaccessible, from all Your transcendence its most transcendent, from all Your permanence its most permanent, from all Your perpetuity its most enduring, from all Your blessings its most glorious, from all Your favors its most gentle, from all manifestations its most manifest, from all concealment its most preserved, from all effulgences its most established, and from all that You are, O my God, that which befits the sublimity of Your holiness and the height of Your glory.

O God! Do Thou cause to descend upon that Letter, the Throne of that Name, that which will relieve him from every direction, and unite him with what he loves and is pleased with from all causes, and raise his seat to the utmost height, and grant him words of ultimate inaccessibility, and make him manifest over all things through Your manifestation, and establish his word over all things through Your concealment, and cause him to know himself that he may know his Revealer, and remove from him all that grieves him or stands between him and Your creatures, and inspire those who are in the Bayan to mention him the number of Ha, a mention from Your presence, in every night and day. Verily You are the Best of those who remember.

Mode of sermons

In the name of God, the Most Living, the Most Living

Praise be to God Who hath risen above all created things through the ascendancy of His sovereign Oneness, Who hath elevated Himself above all atoms through the exaltation of His dominion of Unity, Who hath become inaccessible above all beings through the inaccessibility of His realm of Oneness, Who hath become supreme in power above all atoms through the supremacy of His eternal might, Who hath exercised sovereignty over all in the kingdoms of earth and heaven through the dominion of His glorious manifestations. Every thing beareth witness, as doth He Himself, that there is none other God but Him.

He hath been possessed of glory in the glory of eternity, of splendor in the holiness of grandeur, of loftiness in the apex of antiquity, of light in the elevation of bountiful majesty, and of inaccessibility in the inaccessibility of mighty glory—a testimony radiant and resplendent, ardent, divine and unified, sanctified and transcendent, glorious, filling all the heavens with the acceptance of His holy divine good-pleasure, and the earth and all that is thereon with the illumination of His mighty celestial light, and what lieth between them with the splendor of the holy sovereign canopy of His dominion, and what is above them with the exaltation of His sovereign might, and what is beneath them with the inaccessibility of His majestic authority—a testimony whose firstness indicateth its lastness, whose outwardness its inwardness, whose manifestation its concealment, and whose loftiness its nearness—a testimony resplendent, majestic, beauteous, mighty and luminous, which filleth all the heavens with the testimony that there is none other God but Him, the All-Subduing, the Self-Subsisting; and the earth and all that is thereon with the testimony that there is none other God but Him, the Mighty, the Beloved; and what lieth between them with the testimony that there is none other God but Him, the All-Subduing, the Holy; and what lieth beneath them with the testimony that there is none other God but Him, the All-Subduing, the All-Powerful; and whatsoever else there be with the testimony that there is none other God but Him, the Almighty, the Best-Beloved; and the beginning of all things with the testimony that there is none other God but Him, the Manifest, the Described; and the end of all things with the testimony that there is none other God but Him, the Victorious, the Praised—a testimony whose firstness indicateth the firstness of its Source, whose lastness the lastness of its Creator, whose outwardness the outwardness of its Fashioner, and whose inwardness the inwardness of its Ordainer, and which filleth the creation of all things with the truth that there is none other God but Him, the Truth from of old and forevermore.

He chooseth as mirrors for Himself whatsoever He willeth, however He willeth. These indeed reflect His glory, manifest His beauty, show forth His grandeur, radiate His light, manifest His mercy, perfect His words, complete His perfection, demonstrate His might, reveal His greatness, express His good-pleasure, display His power, manifest His knowledge, show forth His love, exercise His dominion, reveal His sovereignty, manifest His pride, demonstrate His appearance, and proclaim His names and attributes. Therefore do the mirrors of eternity proclaim, the essences of perpetuity speak forth, the crystals of divinity rise high, the manifestations of oneness elevate themselves, and the appearances of uniqueness shine forth, for such resplendent glory, manifest majesty, evident beauty, mighty grandeur, proclaimed light, manifested mercy, declared greatness, perfect completion, demonstrated might, proclaimed power, expressed good-pleasure, declared knowledge, proclaimed nobility, manifested sovereignty, declared dominion, and transcendent loftiness.

His is the praise in the glory of eternity, and His the majesty that hath been and ever shall be, for the manifestation of His power in His mirrors and the modes of His bounty in the crystal of His presence—a praise that hath no equal in its likeness, no peer in His Book, no associate in His heaven, no peer in His earth nor likeness in the kingdom of His command and creation—praise resplendent and shining, exalted and lofty, impregnable and invincible, radiant and sublime, glorious and magnificent—which hath blazed forth, risen high and gleamed with light. Praise that filleth the heavens through the manifestations of His oneness and the earth through the revelations of His eternality, and whatsoever is between them through the signs of His holiness.

I testify, and all His names and attributes testify, that there is none other God but Him. He hath ever been the One God, Single, Self-Subsisting, the Ever-Living, the Self-Sustaining, the Sovereign, the Supreme, the Holy, the Eternal, the Everlasting, the Most High, the Inaccessible, the Most Exalted.

Verily He Whom God shall make manifest on the Day of Resurrection through His power is a sign from Him and a Word from His presence. Through Him doth God send down whatsoever He willeth and ordain whatsoever He desireth. God hath chosen Him from the heart of all possibilities for the station of His manifestation, and God hath accepted Him from among the essential realities of all beings for the station of His nurture. These are mirrors wherein naught is seen save the appearance of Him Who causeth them to shine, nor do they speak except of the attributes of Him Who nurtureth them, nor do they manifest aught save what God, their Lord, hath willed, nor do they reveal aught save what God, their Creator, hath revealed.

These are mirrors resplendent, majestic, comprehensive, mighty, luminous, great, glorious, perfect, exalted, impregnable, learned, powerful, well-pleasing, noble, sovereign, possessing, transcendent—mirrors that speak by God’s leave, guide unto God, seek shelter in the shadow of God, begin from God and end in God, ascend through the names of God and rise up through the attributes of God. God hath chosen them and revealed Himself unto them through themselves, and cast into their essence the likeness of their manifestation. Thus have appeared through them the signs of His might, the manifestations of His sovereignty, the revelations of His Self-Subsistence, the evidences of His holiness, and the appearances of His divinity.

It behooveth all mirrors to be thus exalted, all mirrors to thus speak, all mirrors to thus praise God their Lord in their entirety, all mirrors to thus tell of God their Lord—through their first and their last, their outward and their inward aspects—and to thus prove God’s existence through their pure, crystalline, primary and ultimate nature, and to thus speak of God their Lord in the heights of inaccessibility and the summits of transcendence.

Glory be unto Thee, O God, my Lord! Thou hast revealed Thyself unto all created things through themselves, whereupon all that can be shaken hath been shaken by what is within and upon them. Then did the Blessed Tree speak through its nature and guide unto Thee through its beginning and end, its outward and inward reality. Therefore, O my God, exalt it through what Thou inspirest it with of the signs of Thy power and teachest it of the words of Thy unity. Grant it that which will gladden its heart from the unseen realm of Thine eternal sovereignty and the manifestation of Thy everlasting dominion. Make it, O my God, an enduring Word for Him Whom Thou shalt manifest and a ripened fruit for Him Whom Thou shalt cause to appear.

For verily Thou art the First before all things and there was no first before Thee, and Thou art the Last after all things and there was no last after Thee, and Thou art the Outward above all things and there was no outward besides Thee, and Thou art the Inward beyond all things and there was no inward except Thee. All Thy servants, worshippers, supplicants, celebrants, thankful ones, praisers and rememberers—Thou hast made Thyself known to all things, whereupon those who know have come to know Thee through Thy praise, and Thou hast revealed Thyself to all existing things through the signs of Thine eternity, whereupon all possibilities have gleamed with the radiance of Thy unity.

Therefore, O my God, send down upon all mirrors that guide unto Thee, give tidings of Thee, speak from Thy presence, and are exalted through Thine exaltation, and through Thy transcendence Thou art transcendent.

From all Thy splendor, the most splendid; from all Thy glory, the most glorious; from all Thy beauty, the most beautiful; from all Thy grandeur, the most grand; from all Thy light, the most luminous; from all Thy mercy, the most extensive; from all Thy words, the most perfect; from all Thy names, the most great; from all Thy might, the mightiest; from all Thy will, the most conclusive; from all Thy knowledge, the most penetrating; from all Thy power, the most prevailing; from all Thy utterance, the most pleasing; from all Thy honor, the most honorable; from all Thy dominion, the most enduring; from all Thy sovereignty, the most glorious; from all Thy loftiness, the most exalted; from all Thy triumph, the most victorious; from all Thy conquest, the most complete.

O God! Make this Tree the glory of that station and make that Tree a manifestation thereof. Preserve it, O God, by Thy power that no sorrow may touch it in the path of Thy love. Inspire it, O God, from the mysteries of Thy hiddenness and the clouds of Thy sanctity with that which will cause it to speak with the most sublime exaltation and the most glorious transcendence and the highest elevation, for all that is exalted are but shadows of Thy mirrors, and thrones of Thy manifestations, and seats of Thy concealment, and stations of Thy signs, and repositories of Thy tokens.

For verily, I now praise Thee through this wondrous eternal Tongue and this transcendent, exalted, and timeless Sign, that Thou hast caused me to hear from the words of mirrors that have reflected the mirrors of Thy Being, indicated the sublimity of Thine eternity, and spoken of the exaltation of Thine everlastingness through their treasured essence, their attracted reality, their prophetic nature, and their perfected identity.

O God! Add to its splendor from Thy most splendid splendor, to its glory from Thy most glorious glory, to its beauty from Thy most beautiful beauty, to its grandeur from Thy most grand grandeur, to its light from Thy most luminous light, to its mercy from Thy most extensive mercy, to its words from Thy most perfect words, to its names from Thy greatest names, to its perfection from Thy most perfect perfection, to its might from Thy mightiest might, to its knowledge from Thy most penetrating knowledge, to its power from Thy most prevailing power, to its utterance from Thy most pleasing utterance, to its love from Thy most attractive love, to its honor from Thy most honorable honor, to its dominion from Thy most enduring dominion, to its sovereignty from Thy most glorious sovereignty, to its loftiness from Thy most exalted loftiness, and to all that Thou art, O my God, that which hath no equal, no likeness, no similitude, no peer, and no comparison.

For Thou hast ever been, O my God, manifest through the manifestations of Thy Countenance and the revelations of Thy Oneness, and resplendent with the dawning rays of the Sun of Thy Oneness upon the daysprings of Thy Divine Unity. Therefore, O God, create like unto these reflecting, transcendent, and exalted mirrors that which Thy knowledge hath encompassed and Thy power hath prevailed over, for Thy bounty is more exalted and glorious than that, and Thy grace is more sublime and transcendent than this.

O God! Preserve through Thy power the remembrance of the Fourth Letter of the first to believe in the Point of the Bayan and was illumined by Thy light in that Paradise, and inspire all Thy creation to remember him after Thy remembrance and the remembrance of the Word of Thy Manifestation in the remembrance of the Living One. And whoso remembereth not according to the number of Ha in the stages of Thy Manifestation: O God! Bless him through all Thy splendor, for Thou art the Most Splendid of the most splendid ones. O God! Bless him through all Thy glory, for Thou art the Most Glorious of the most glorious ones. O God! Bless him through all Thy beauty, for Thou art the Most Beautiful of the most beautiful ones.

O God! Bless him through all Thy perfection, for Thou art the Most Perfect of the most perfect ones. O God! Bless him through all Thy grace, for Thou art the Most Gracious of the most gracious ones. O God! Raise up the Tree of the Bayan from its root. O God! Bestow Thy blessing, with all Thy glory, upon him who hath not invoked Thee according to the number of the letter Ha in the degrees of Thy Manifestation. Verily, Thou art the Most Glorious of the All-Glorious. O God! Bestow Thy blessing upon him with all Thy majesty. Verily, Thou art the Most Majestic of the All-Majestic. O God! Bestow Thy blessing upon him with all Thy beauty.

Verily, Thou art the Most Beautiful of the All-Beautiful. O God! Bestow Thy blessing upon him with all Thy perfection. Verily, Thou art the Most Perfect of the All-Perfect. O God! Bestow Thy blessing upon him with all Thy bounty. Verily, Thou art the Most Bountiful of the All-Bountiful. O God! Elevate the Tree of the Bayan—its root, its branch, its twigs, its leaves, and its fruits—through all Thy exaltation, Thy loftiness, Thy transcendence, and Thy glory.

O God! Aid the dwellers of that Paradise through all Thy victory—grant them triumph, through all Thy conquest—make them conquer, through all Thy dominion—give them sovereignty, through all Thy power—make them powerful, through all Thy might—make them mighty, through all Thy manifestation—make them manifest, through all Thy sublimity—make them sublime, and through all that beseemeth the loftiness of the cage of Thy transcendence and the summit of the glory of Thy exaltation. Verily, Thou art the Most Exalted of the All-Exalted.

Mode of commentary

In the Name of God, the Most Living, the Most Living

Praised be God, besides Whom there is no God, the Ever-Living, the Ever-Living! And verily all glory is from God upon Him Whom God shall make manifest and then unto the exponents of His Cause who have ever dwelt in the glory of eternity.

I bear witness that God, exalted be His glory, hath ever been sanctified from companionship with His creatures, exalted above all similitudes, and holy beyond all that hath been created or shall be created. He created not His creation save for His recognition, though He is independent of them and their recognition. He created not His servants save for their worship of Him, though He is independent of them and their worship. Recognition is not attained save through love, nor worship save through obedience. Therefore know thou God, thy Lord, glorified be His majesty, through recognizing Him Whom God shall make manifest, exalted be His might.

And worship thou God, thy Lord, by following thy Lord, glorified be His grandeur, through following Him Whom God shall make manifest, extended be His aid. For verily the path to the Eternal Essence other than this is cut off, and the way to the Ever-Abiding Invisible other than this is barred. Having witnessed this, bear thou witness that God, glorified be His praise, maketh Himself known to His creation through the Manifestation of His Self, for whatsoever knowledge the peoples have attained of God their Lord was realized only through what their Prophet taught them.

Hence do the people of understanding perceive, and the people of knowledge comprehend, that whatsoever their Prophet taught them of the knowledge of God was that which God had revealed unto Him of Himself, and through Him did all creation attain unto the knowledge of God. According to what God revealed through the Primal Point at the dawning-place of the Bayan, verily He, exalted and glorified be He, cannot be comprehended by the senses, whether outward or inward, nor can He be known through similitudes, whether of the ancients or the modern ones. All that is possible in the contingent realm is impossible in His presence, and all that can be conceived in creation is sanctified in His court.

Far exalted, far exalted is His Being above being indicated by those possessed of essential realities. Far exalted, far exalted is His Essence above being indicated by those of pure abstract understanding. Far exalted, far exalted is His Essential Reality above being comprehended by the highest perceptions of created beings. Far exalted, far exalted is His Identity above being conceived through the loftiest manifestations of accidental qualities. Glorified and exalted is He! His names are sanctified beyond attribution and description, and His examples are elevated beyond characterization and qualification.

He, mighty and glorious, hath ever sanctified His Self through His Self with a sanctification before which all faces bow in prostration due to its sublimity, and hath ever glorified His Self through His Self with a glorification before which all voices are hushed in awe of its majesty. He will forever magnify His Being through His Being that all contingent things may testify to His oneness as they perceive His glory, and will forever praise His Essence through His Essence that all contingent things may learn of His praise—save that they should say He is the Very Camphor, or the Pure Manifestation, or the Hidden Pattern, or the Abstract Beloved, or the Holy Exalted One, or the Glorified Described, or the Beauteous Characterized, and similar such impossible metaphors and lofty comparisons.

For all these are manifestations that have been dissolved by His creation and revelations that have been perfected by His verses. Far exalted, far exalted is His Cause above descending upon anything, though all things seek shelter in His shadow. Holy are His power and glory, though all things worship Him. I bear witness that His Life, glorified be He, is His very Being, and that He, glorified be His praise, hath no need in Life for the existence of aught beside Him, and likewise in knowledge He hath no need for the existence of anything known, for He is His own Self.

Similarly befitting unto God, glorified and exalted be He, are all the attributes of perfection and names of glory, and whatsoever name is attributed to Him pertaineth to the modes of His action, and these are the modes of His command. The names of the Divine Essence have ever described God, and the names of Divine Action shall forever glorify God. Yet the former is eternally ancient, while the latter is mentioned in connection with creation and origination. If God willeth, He willeth, and if God willeth not, He willeth not. God hath willed to will in all Dispensations, for had He not willed, He would not have created Will itself. His Will existeth not in some inaccessible realm of abstraction, but rather in an exalted and manifest domain.

Whenever He Whom God shall make manifest willeth, His Will is realized. The same is true of all names and attributes. If thou art in doubt concerning this, reflect upon the examples of Oneness. Consider the Qur’an: before Muhammad willed the Ka’bah to be the House of God, did that House possess such creation or not? Similarly with His Will concerning His own Prophethood—before He willed it, it was not yet created, though from a beginning that hath no beginning He was created, and unto an end that hath no end He was sustained. However, the manifestation of that Firstness and Lastness appeared only through His Will in that world. Having recognized this, first hold fast to proof and evidence.

When thou hast witnessed this and attained unto certitude, then at every Revelation hold fast to the throne of Revelation and imagine not aught else. For this is the path of God, both before and after. God’s manifestation among all peoples hath ever been according to that honored station, and God’s concealment in every age according to that preceding station. I bear witness that God, exalted be His glory, hath made His Cause in that Letter a glory unto them that are in the Bayan, and a perfection of His bounty upon them that dwell in that Paradise.

Otherwise, from the Cause nothing reacheth Him save what reacheth the hearts of them that know Him and love Him, and through this there reacheth Him what God hath ordained for him in the days of his life and then in the days of Him Whom God shall make manifest, when He willeth to raise him up. For on that Day that Letter will be known only through his faith. Look not at the martyrs in the Bayan, for their glory lieth in their faith in the Primal Point. Likewise the glory of those who guide unto Him Whom God shall make manifest lieth only in their faith in Him. Beyond this are modes adorned both before and after. Perfect thyself in thy rank that thou mayest be enabled to help God in thine essence.

Ascend through spiritual attributes and be illumined by the light of the pure ones, that on the Day of Resurrection, if thou canst not bring joy to God thy Lord, thou wilt not cause Him grief. When grief is attributed to God, exalted be His glory, He is far above all grief and joy. He hath ever been and ever shall be in one state. That which is attributed to God returneth unto Him Whom God shall make manifest—God hath attributed it to His Own Self, for the glorification of His Being and the honoring of the Manifestation of His Essence. Otherwise, all grief and joy are but two created beings, abiding, worshipping, submissive, humble, devout, mindful and thankful. Grief declareth: “Glory be unto Thee, O God!

Verily Thou hast created me and sustained me and caused me to die and made me live, and hast promised that whoso possesseth me in Thy path, Thou wilt reward him with the recompense of two thousand of Thy exalted angels. This is of Thy bounty unto me and unto all the God-fearing who grieve in Thy path and are patient for Thy sake.” And joy declareth: “Glory be unto Thee, O God! Thou hast created me and sustained me and caused me to die and made me live that I might be manifested unto Him Whom Thou shalt make manifest on the Day of Resurrection, and I was among those who prostrated themselves before Him. Thou hast distinguished me for the dwellers of Paradise among the holy ones and them that glorify Thee, and through me Thou hast caused to dwell in the hearts of Thy patient servants.

Therefore, O Lord, elevate me through Thy exaltation and cause me to enter, through Thy authority, into the hearts of the dwellers of the kingdom of Thy Cause and Thy creation, and transform, O Lord, through Thy power, all grief between me and Him Whom Thou shalt make manifest. Verily, Thou art the Most Powerful of the powerful.” And I bear witness that God hath two griefs and two joys. All that befalleth the Tree of Affirmation of its grief and its joy is elevated and protected, whether its grief be in the station of joy or its joy in the station of grief, or otherwise. If thou dost not comprehend this in the Bayan, then look in the Furqan, how thou on that day rejoicest and art exalted through the griefs and joys of the First One.

Thus must thou witness that the grief of affirmation is pure joy exulting, pure gladness rejoicing, pure delight delighting, pure happiness gladdening, and pure spirit inspiring. Likewise its joy is of transcendent glory exalting, of pure holiness sanctifying, of supreme loftiness uplifting, of resplendent beauty protecting, and of radiant sanctity hallowing. Yet in thine own self thou witnesseth neither true joy nor grief, for both are but transient falsehoods. Will anyone on that day remember the joy of the shadow of the One, or aught of their griefs?

Thus hath God caused them to perish through their deeds, and He will cause those who follow them to perish thereafter, for He, glorified and exalted be He, hath ever been powerful and prevailing, manifest and revealing, knowing and learned, mighty and overwhelming, sovereign and dominating, glorious and resplendent, exalted and sublime, and such similar attributes and manifestations radiating and resounding, which none among the people of truth can enumerate, much less those below them. Verily God loveth to elevate the station of that letter for the exaltation of His Self on the day of Him Whom God shall make manifest. Therefore watch over thyself on that day lest God thy Lord and His chosen ones come unto thee while thou art among the veiled ones.

For when Him Whom God shall make manifest and His chosen ones come unto thee, recognize Him and His chosen ones, if thou art among the believers in the Primal Point and His chosen ones. For thy belief in Him on the day of His manifestation is thy belief in the Bayan, naught else. And be not hasty concerning the Cause of God, for the Cause may come unto thee while thou art among the veiled ones, veiled from the Throne of the Manifestation, how much more from that which is realized through His word. Behold then how many peoples upon the earth, after having been among the chosen ones of affirmation and the dwellers of the paradise of good-pleasure in the days of their Prophet, thou now seest in the fire. Direct thou the Cause after thyself and seek victory through thy heart.

Consider the dwellers of the sea of the Gospel, for after Muhammad, the Messenger of God, came to them and fulfilled what was to be fulfilled, they are still waiting for His appearance. They have veiled themselves from the Throne of the Manifestation, and perchance in their religion they long to recognize the successors of Jesus just as thou now longest to recognize the successors of Muhammad. Verily the Throne of Truth hath appeared, yet thou hast not recognized it, nor that which was created by its command. Therefore gain insight into thy destiny and abode, for this Cause, despite its subtlety, is greater than all things. Place thy trust in God, thy Lord, and remember that Letter the number of times of the Gate each day and night.

And if thou recite that verse, the number of the Unity shall suffice thee in place of the Two Testimonies and the mention of recompense. This is of God’s grace unto all worlds. God testifieth that there is no God but Him, and that He Who possesseth the Seven Letters is His servant and His Word, and that the Guides of the Living One were created by His command, and all in the Book are created by God.

Persian mode

In the Name of God, the Most Living, the Most Living

Praise and glorification have ever been and shall ever be meet for the Ever-Living, the Self-Subsisting, Who hath ever been with the transcendent inaccessibility of His holy Being and shall ever be with the sovereign majesty of His holy Being. No thing hath known Him as He deserves to be known, and no other thing hath worshipped Him as He deserves to be worshipped. How resplendent is His glory, for all the glories of the heavens and earth are but servants to that Purpose! Who can refrain from praising Him, when His very existence is itself proof of the loftiness of His power and the exaltation of His grandeur? And who can forbear from remembering Him, when the very essence of all things doth itself remember Him, testifying that He is single in His sublimity and unique in His holy glory?

All praise be unto Him Who is immutable in the heaven of Sinai, eternal in the heaven of Names, and glorified upon the throne of creation. Praise beseemeth Him Who hath brought all atoms into being from utter nothingness by His command. Thanks be unto Him Who hath caused all created things to subsist without any means. Exalted is the sanctuary of His unity above all understanding, and manifest are the emblems of His majesty and glory beyond the praise of any who would praise Him. All the praise of creation is as naught before His own praise of His Self, and all the understanding of beings is but a shadow compared to His knowledge of His own Essence. For He hath brought all things from nothingness into being, and through their contingent existence hath made His eternal Being known to them.

Through their evanescence He hath manifested the revelation of His everlasting Self, and through their inherent powerlessness He hath caused the oceans of His might to flow. Through their essential poverty He hath made manifest the revelations of His self-sufficiency. All existence, from the beginning that hath no beginning to the end that hath no end, lieth concealed between the Kaf and the Nun of His Word, and all beings, from first to last, abide beneath the shade of the Point within the letter Nun.

Praise be unto Him from the beginning that hath no beginning—praise that beseemeth none save Him and is worthy of none but Him. Matchless thanks be unto Him—thanks that His Being alone deserveth through the merit of His Being, and that befitteth the sanctuary of His exalted inaccessibility. For He hath created all things for the recognition of Himself and for their share in discovering Him, though this is impossible in the realm of contingent being and unrealizable in the grades of existence. He hath chosen from among His creation Mirrors that demonstrate His firstness and His lastness, His outwardness and His inwardness, and hath made these His Will, for He hath willed naught save what He hath willed, and what He hath willed appeareth only through what He hath willed.

For in these Mirrors nothing is seen except His most holy Being, His most exalted Self, His most sublime Essence, and His most resplendent Manifestation. These Mirrors He hath made manifest from the beginning that hath no beginning, in every Revelation through a name, and in every concealment through a throne, and will continue to do so. Were I to say that from the beginning that hath no beginning these Mirrors have appeared and created religions as God pleaseth, verily He is more exalted than this, for the number of all things is but a creation in His kingdom. How then can it prove the sublimity of His grandeur and the transcendence of His eternity?

His Manifestation in this wondrous Dispensation is but a single atom among His infinite revelations. Who can investigate the manifestations of the garments of Reality and the revelations of the Dayspring of Unity? For in the sight of the conception of each thing, its thingness hath been created by Him—how then can it become a proof of Him, when His existence was aforetime prior unto it? And all that He hath manifested from the beginning that hath no beginning until this day hath appeared upon a single Throne, and doth so appear. And should all those Thrones, from the beginning that hath no beginning until this day, be made manifest, they are but mirrors in the sight of His Oneness, and in all is beheld naught save God alone, alone, Who hath no partner.

And were I to say that unto the end that hath no end, according to the number of all atoms, there shall be manifestation for Him, I would have renewed His manifestations by the numbers of all things. And how can mention of this limit be made in the presence of the sanctified Oneness? And should all the mirrors of possibility for future manifestations—even as the mirrors of creation for past manifestations—appear in their entirety in a single manifestation, all would give voice to “Verily, I am God,” from the Essence of the Unseen Eternity, in Whom naught is beheld save Him. And all mirrors rest beneath the shadow of one Mirror, for in all is beheld naught save the One without number.

And all bear witness to the Oneness of that One Who is, and ever hath been, the Mirror of the Unseen Eternity. And in every Manifestation, those mirrors that attain unto the highest pinnacle of that Manifestation are all the self-revelations of that Tree of Manifestation. And permission hath been granted unto all creation to make themselves clear mirrors for the Day of the Rising of Him Whom God shall make manifest, that all may, through Him, by their own selves, be illumined by the splendors of the Sun of Eternity and sheltered beneath His shadow through His pre-existence. And it is meet that all should progress unto this degree of perfection and be nurtured unto this degree of beauty.

Let it not seem difficult unto thee to comprehend how in one Manifestation manifold mirrors can be made double. Look unto God in the previous manifestations—from the beginning that hath no beginning until this day—how many mirrors have been made double, and unto the end that hath no end, how many mirrors shall be made double, all of which stand before God in the places of their own limits, in one station, and ever shall so stand. And in the sight of God, that which hath passed and that which is to come are even as the present, and ever shall be so.

And in every Manifestation, that which hath spoken and speaketh is the Summoner unto that Manifestation—a Mirror that reflecteth the exalted Manifest in that Manifestation and the resplendent Glory in that Splendor. And all the illumined mirrors in every Manifestation have been, and are, Summoners unto Him, and it is impossible that they should appear apart from Him.

And after thou hast become cognizant of this pinnacle of perfection and might of glory, know thou that the Beloved hath ever loved to behold endless radiant mirrors beneath the shadow of His own Mirror. For the more exalted the mirrors become, the more they constitute a splendor for the Primal Mirror; and the more inaccessible the manifestations become, the more they constitute a glory for the Eternal Mirror.

Consider today in the manifestation of the Tree of the Qur’an—whatever good exists therein is evidence of the exaltation of its Point. Likewise today, from the beginning of the Bayan’s revelation until the Day of Him Whom God shall make manifest, whatever becomes exalted in the Bayan is evidence of the exaltation of the Point of Unity and the Dawning-place of the Morn of Eternity. How beloved of God it is and has been that in every Revelation pure mirrors should reflect the Tree of Truth. This is not to say that they shine forth through their own essence without the Primal Will, for if this were so they would have been speaking before the Revelation.

The very fact that they speak after the Revelation, extolling their Lord’s praise and reflecting their Creator’s most resplendent light, proves that they have been illumined by the Primal Will and made resplendent by His manifestation’s dawning. All stand before Him by His command, return unto Him, speak of His glory and abide beneath His shadow. Consider in the Qur’anic Revelation how many sublime and lofty words the Second Letter attributed to his own sacred being, despite the fact that his creation was, according to the Apostle of God’s words, through Him. Similarly in every Revelation, were infinite mirrors such as these to appear, all would be created by that Primal Will and would speak through that Eternal Beauty.

How beloved it is before the Eternal Beloved that all the dwellers of the Bayan should be uplifted through such resplendent manifestations and forever be immersed in their Beloved’s praise. It can be seen that resplendent mirrors will appear in the next Resurrection under the shadow of Him Whom God shall make manifest, being servants and worshippers of the Eternal Being, each according to their heart’s capacity expressing praise of their Beloved. These are guides in whom naught is seen except Him Whom God shall make manifest. They desire only what He has desired, show forth only what He has willed, ordain only what He has ordained, decree only what He has decreed, permit only what He has permitted, defer only what He has deferred, and prescribe only what He has prescribed.

These are they whose hearts’ mirrors are like crystal before the celestial Sun. These are the crystals facing the Sun of Truth that move as it moves and rest as it rests. God’s proof in every Revelation has ever been but one, while infinite primary and secondary proofs abide beneath His shadow, subsequent manifestations appear through His very Revelation, and previous manifestations shine forth through His own Self. In this connection God has desired to mention the Fourth Letter that it might endure until the Day of Him Whom God shall make manifest, to be a gift for the guides to His Faith. He has desired the exaltation of this station that it might be a planting for Him Whom God shall make manifest on the day of His appearance, and a cause of tranquility for those who affirm His Faith.

That Letter hath eternally been, and will forever remain, prostrate and worshipping before God, and in its holy seat and source of glory hath been and shall ever be sanctified through the praise of its Beloved. The mention thereof in every night and day hath been and is the numbers of the Beloved. And whensoever in the first verse, wherein mention of the twin testimonies is made, the numbers of the Living are mentioned, it sufficeth in lieu of mentioning the Letters of the Living in every rank of their numbers. And in every Dispensation, should He create infinite manifestations as He pleaseth, they have been and are confirmed.

And how beloved hath it been before the Eternal Beloved—the mirrors which in their entirety reflect Him and serve as proof of His transcendent glory and His exalted majesty. This is all glory and perfection, and all holiness and beauty, in the estimation of the dwellers of the realm of divinity and the servants of the Concourse on high. Blessed are they and those who follow their example.

5. Aqwam

Mode of verses

In the Name of God, the Self-Subsisting, the Self-Subsisting

In the Name of God, the Self-Subsisting, the Self-Subsisting through God! God is the Self-Subsisting, the Self-Subsisting. There is no God but He, the Most Self-Subsisting, the Most Self-Subsisting. God, there is no God but He, the Self-Subsisting, the Self-Subsisting. God, there is no God but He, the All-Subsisting, the All-Compelling.

In the Name of God, the Sustainer! God, there is no God but He, the Sustainer, the Sustaining. To God belongs the power of sustenance of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them. God is the Sustainer, the Sustaining, the Powerful. To God belongs the mighty sovereignty of sustenance of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them. God is the Sustainer, the Self-Sufficient, the Eternal. To God belongs the dominion and sovereignty over the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them. God is the Sustainer, the Self-Sufficient, the All-Compelling.

Say: God is more Self-Subsisting than any possessor of subsistence. None can resist His sovereign dominion, whether in the heavens or on the earth or between them. Verily, He is the All-Sustaining, the All-Compelling, the All-Powerful.

Say: God is more Self-Subsisting than any possessor of subsistence. None can resist His mighty sovereignty, whether in the heavens or on the earth or between them. Verily, He is the All-Sustaining, the Self-Subsisting, the All-Powerful.

Glorified art Thou, O my God! Thou art the Sustainer of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them. Thou givest sovereignty to whom Thou willest and takest it from whom Thou willest. Thou exaltest whom Thou willest and abasest whom Thou willest. Thou aidest whom Thou willest and forsakest whom Thou willest. Thou strengthenest whom Thou willest and weakenest whom Thou willest. Thou enrichest whom Thou willest and impoverishest whom Thou willest. Within Thy grasp is the kingdom of all things. Thou createst what Thou willest by Thy command. Verily, Thou art the All-Powerful over all things.

Glorified art Thou, O my God! Thou art the Sustainer of all sustainers. Thou givest authority to whom Thou willest and takest it from whom Thou willest. Thou exaltest whom Thou willest and abasest whom Thou willest. Thou aidest whom Thou willest and forsakest whom Thou willest. Thou enrichest whom Thou willest and impoverishest whom Thou willest. Within Thy grasp is the kingdom of all things. Thou createst what Thou willest by Thy command. Verily, Thou art the All-Sustaining, the All-Compelling, the All-Powerful.

Say: O my God! Thou art the Most Self-Subsisting of the self-subsisting ones. Thou knowest what is in the heavens and on the earth and what is between them. Verily, Thou art the Most Knowing of the knowing ones.

Say: O my God! Thou art the Sustainer of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them. Thou shalt plant the Tree of Affirmation in what Thou hast created and wilt create by Thy command, that all may believe in Him Whom Thou shalt manifest on the Day of Resurrection from Thy presence. Verily, Thou art powerful over all things.

Say: God is more Self-Subsisting than any possessor of subsistence. None can resist His mighty sovereignty, whether in the heavens or on the earth or between them. Verily, He is the All-Sustaining, the Self-Sufficient, the All-Powerful.

Say: This is the Book from God, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting, unto Him Whom God shall make manifest. Bear thou witness that there is no God but Me, the Mighty, the Well-Beloved. I have created all things, both before and after, that they may believe in Thee on the day of Thy manifestation, and in Thy signs, that they may be among the guided ones.

Glorified art Thou, O my God! Aid Him with a mighty aid. Glorified art Thou, O my God! Protect Him with a gracious protection. Glorified art Thou, O my God! Grant Him from Thy presence resplendent glory. Glorified art Thou, O my God! Grant Him from Thy presence majestic grandeur. Glorified art Thou, O my God! Grant Him from Thy presence beauteous beauty. Glorified art Thou, O my God! Grant Him from Thy presence tremendous might. Glorified art Thou, O my God! Grant Him from Thy presence illuminating light. Glorified art Thou, O my God! Grant Him from Thy presence merciful grace. Glorified art Thou, O my God! Grant Him from Thy presence perfect completion. Glorified art Thou, O my God! Grant Him from Thy presence magnificent greatness. Glorified art Thou, O my God!

Grant Him from Thy presence mighty power. Glorified art Thou, O my God! Grant Him from Thy presence all-encompassing knowledge. Glorified art Thou, O my God! Grant Him from Thy presence potent strength. Glorified art Thou, O my God! Grant Him from Thy presence divine good-pleasure. Glorified art Thou, O my God! Grant Him from Thy presence loving affection. Glorified art Thou, O my God! Grant Him from Thy presence noble honor. Glorified art Thou, O my God! Grant Him from Thy presence sovereign authority. Glorified art Thou, O my God! Grant Him from Thy presence kingly dominion. Glorified art Thou, O my God! Grant Him from Thy presence transcendent loftiness. Glorified art Thou, O my God! Grant me from Thy presence resplendent glory. Glorified art Thou, O my God!

Grant me from Thy presence majestic grandeur. Glorified art Thou, O my God! Grant me from Thy presence beauteous beauty. Glorified art Thou, O my God! Grant me from Thy presence tremendous might. Glorified art Thou, O my God! Grant me from Thy presence illuminating light. Glorified art Thou, O my God! Grant me from Thy presence merciful grace. Glorified art Thou, O my God! Grant me from Thy presence perfect completion. Glorified art Thou, O my God! Grant me from Thy presence magnificent greatness. Glorified art Thou, O my God! Grant me from Thy presence mighty power. Glorified art Thou, O my God! Grant me from Thy presence all-encompassing knowledge. Glorified art Thou, O my God! Grant me from Thy presence potent strength. Glorified art Thou, O my God!

Grant me from Thy presence divine good-pleasure. Glorified art Thou, O my God! Grant me from Thy presence loving affection. Glorified art Thou, O my God! Grant me from Thy presence noble honor. Glorified art Thou, O my God! Grant me from Thy presence sovereign authority. Glorified art Thou, O my God! Grant me from Thy presence kingly dominion. Glorified art Thou, O my God! Grant me from Thy presence transcendent loftiness.

Verily, We have given Him that which thou hast asked in the Book for Him Whom We shall make manifest, and We have ever been ready to answer. And We have bestowed upon thee that which thou hast asked in the Book at that time, and We have ever been ready to send down revelations. And We do verily hear all who call upon Us, and We have ever been ready to answer. And We do verily respond to the supplication of all who call upon Us, and We have ever been nigh.

Say: Call ye upon Me, O My servants, in all things, for We have power over all that ye desire. And ask ye of Me concerning all things, for We have knowledge of all things. We have not created the heavens and the earth and that which lieth between them save in truth, and We shall verily be the inheritors. All do cultivate the earth for Us, and all labor for Us. And We, verily, shall inherit the earth and all that dwell thereon in every Manifestation, and We have power to do this. And We shall choose from among Our servants whomsoever We will.

Let Us make Him a mirror for all the peoples, and verily We shall teach the verses unto whomsoever We desire among Our servants, and verily We encompass all things. And We shall open the doors of guidance upon the hearts of those who have believed in God and His verses, and We shall teach them from Our presence, for verily We are able to do this. For the like of this shall God nurture His God-fearing servants. For the like of this shall God exalt His sincere servants. For the like of this shall God cause His lofty servants to speak. For the like of this shall God cause His enduring servants to remember. For the like of this shall God teach knowledge and wisdom to whomsoever He willeth among His patient servants.

Say: All authority belongeth unto God, the Lord of the heavens and the Lord of the earth, Lord of the seen and the unseen, Lord of all the worlds. There is no God but Him, all are His worshippers. Say: Were there any god besides God, the creation of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them would be corrupted. All the Messengers speak by His command. Say: In all the Messengers naught can be seen save the Command of God. Do ye not then behold the Manifestation of God? All that God hath revealed unto any Prophet or inspired him with proceedeth from Him—verily there is no God but Me, the Lord of all worlds. Though the Manifestations change, that which they speak changeth not. Do ye not then consider the Command of God?

Reflect ye from the beginning that hath no beginning how many Manifestations have appeared from God and declared: “Verily I am God, there is no God but Me, the Sovereign, the Self-Subsisting.” And unto the end that hath no end how many Manifestations shall appear and proclaim: “Verily I am God, there is no God but Me, the Mighty, the Beloved.” Say: The First and the Last, the Manifest and the Hidden are but one God, the Lord of all worlds. Say: That which hath been ordained from the beginning that hath no beginning and that which shall be ordained unto the end that hath no end is, in this moment, with God. Do ye not then ponder the creation of God?

O God! Purify all the mirrors of hearts. O God! Purify all the mirrors of souls. O God! Purify all the mirrors of hearts and then the spirits of those who have believed in Thee and in Thy verses, then their bodies. Verily Thou art the Most Subtle of the subtle ones. O God! Cause those in the Bayan to ascend to the highest horizon. Verily Thou art the Most Powerful of the powerful ones. O God! Raise those in the Bayan to the Most Glorious Horizon. Verily Thou art the Most Exalted of the exalted ones. O God! Aid those therein. Verily Thou art the Most Helping of helpers. O God! Protect those therein. Verily Thou art the Best Protector of protectors. O God! Forgive those therein. Verily Thou art the Most Forgiving of forgivers. O God! Enrich those therein. Verily Thou art the Most Bountiful of the bountiful ones. O God! Have mercy on those therein. Verily Thou art the Most Merciful of the merciful ones.

Say: There are none therein save those who love Him Whom God shall make manifest on the Day of Resurrection thereafter. Will ye not then enter into the love of God? Say: Whatever God willeth of that embroidered embroidery. Say: Whatever God willeth of that manifest essence. Say: Whatever God willeth of that flowing stream. Say: Whatever God willeth of that woven weaving. Say: Whatever God willeth of that glorious glory. Say: Whatever God willeth of that majestic majesty. Say: Whatever God willeth of that beauteous beauty. Say: Whatever God willeth of that mighty might. Say: Whatever God willeth of that luminous light. Say: Whatever God willeth of that great greatness. Say: Whatever God willeth of that perfected perfection. Say: Whatever God willeth of that complete completion.

Say: Whatever God willeth of that powerful power. Say: Whatever God willeth of that known knowledge. Say: Whatever God willeth of that destined destiny. Say: Whatever God willeth of that well-pleasing pleasure. Say: Whatever God willeth of that beloved love. Say: Whatever God willeth of that sovereign sovereignty. Say: Whatever God willeth of that exalted exaltation. Say: Whatever God willeth of that noble nobility. Say: Whatever God willeth of that lofty loftiness. Say: Whatever God willeth of that generous generosity. Say: Whatever God willeth of that victorious victory. Say: Whatever God willeth of that manifest manifestation. For the like of this shall God cause His servants to act. Not the former alone: for the sake of such a Cause let the latter servants of God lift themselves up unto God; and for the sake of such a Cause let the outward servants of God arise to succor the Faith of God; and for the sake of such a Cause let the inward servants of God resolve to safeguard that which hath been sent down from God. Say: Praise be to God, the Lord of the heavens and the Lord of the earth, the Lord of what is seen and what is unseen, the Lord of all the worlds.

That He may send down upon us—after the number of the Waw hath been decreed for that which is brought into being within the Waw—subtly wrought verses whereby the subtle ones among the servants of God may be adorned, and attractive words whereby the drawn ones among the servants of God may be drawn nigh. O ye possessors of the Bayan! Verily upon that Most Beauteous Exemplar ye advance.

O ye possessors of the Bayan! Ye are nurtured by that same Most Beauteous Exemplar. Therefore make ye your hearts as polished crystals: when they face the sun, they reflect it; from it they speak forth; in its shade they find shelter; according to that whereunto it exalteth, ye are exalted; and according to that whereunto it willeth, ye receive its bestowals.

Say: God is sanctified above all that He hath created and doth create; glorified be God above all that they describe. Say: Nothing doth attain unto God; all that is beneath Him is His creation, and unto Him are all worshippers devoted. Say: God is the Creator of all things, and unto Him shall all return. Say: God is the Sustainer of all things, and unto Him shall all be raised up. Say: God causeth all things to die, and unto Him do all turn with longing. Say: Verily God giveth life to all things, and unto Him do all revert.

Say: Thanks be to God Who hath given utterance to such a treasured ornament. Say: Blessed be God through the remembrance of a Name exalted and beloved. Say: This is the Alif after the One, according as ye remember; therefore behold that whereby God hath manifested Himself, and from the fruits of that Ridvan do ye partake. Say: When ye gather together, remember the remembrance of Ghururud. Blessed be God for a work exquisitely wrought; blessed be God for a tenderness most subtle; blessed be God for an elevation most lofty; blessed be God for an inviolability most secure; blessed be God for a sublimity most exalted; blessed be God for a splendor most sumptuous; blessed be God for a beauty most resplendent; blessed be God for a majesty most august; blessed be God for a comeliness most fair; blessed be God for a perfection most complete; blessed be God for a consummation most entire; blessed be God for a generosity most noble; blessed be God for a mercy most compassionate; blessed be God for a bounty most abundant; blessed be God for a bestowal most lavish; blessed be God for a glory most glorious; blessed be God for a purity most pure; blessed be God for a creation most wondrous; blessed be God for a holiness most holy; blessed be God for a might most mighty; blessed be God for a knowledge all-knowing; blessed be God for a power all-powerful; blessed be God for a love most loving; blessed be God for an honor most honored; blessed be God for an authority most commanding; blessed be God for a sovereignty most sovereign; blessed be God for a steadfastness most firm; blessed be God for a unity most one; blessed be God for a gathering all-embracing; blessed be God for a victory most victorious; blessed be God for an opening most manifest.

Say: In that Name is mentioned the remembrance of the fifth letter in the Book, both aforetime and hereafter; and We indeed were among the rememberers. Whoso shrouds himself from that remembrance—according to the number of the Ha’—the number of the Ha’ shall cleave unto him: emerald-hued is that which hath come to pass by the command of God, that haply ye be not veiled. And whoso forgetteth—even though throughout his whole life—God shall not question him thereof; this is of the grace of God unto all the worlds. God loveth to exalt that seat with a comely might.

And if, after the two words, ye remember the remembrance of the Living, that shall suffice you through the grace of God, that haply ye may give thanks.

Mode of prayers

In the Name of God, the Self-Subsisting, the Self-Subsisting

Glory be unto Thee, O my God! I and all things bear witness that Thou art God, there is no God but Thee, alone without peer or partner.

Thine is the Kingdom and the Dominion, Thine the Might and the Omnipotence, Thine the Power and the Divine Realm, Thine the Strength and the Ruby, Thine the Sovereignty and the Human Realm, Thine the Glory and the Majesty, Thine the Countenance and the Beauty, Thine the Face and the Perfection, Thine the Stations and the Grandeur, Thine the Guidance and the Magnification, Thine the Mercy and the Grace, Thine the Authority and the Justice, Thine the Likeness and the Examples, Thine the Greatness and the Independence, Thine the Pride and the Exaltation, Thine the Grandeur and the Independence, Thine the Glory and the Invincibility, Thine the Power and the Transcendence, Thine the Joy and the Gladness, Thine the Sovereignty and the Omnipotence.

Thine, O my God, is all that Thou hast created or wilt create. All worship Thee according to Thy Unity, all prostrate themselves before Thee, O my Beloved, according to Thy Oneness, all glorify Thee, O my Desire, according to Thy Majesty, all declare Thy Oneness, O my God, according to Thy Eternity, and all magnify Thee, O my Adored One, according to Thy Sovereignty. I sanctify Thee beyond all that hath sanctified or will sanctify Thee, and I glorify Thee beyond all that hath glorified or will glorify Thee. Thou art exalted through the sovereignty of Thy Oneness, and Thou art transcendent through the supremacy of Thy Singleness.

Thou hast ever been a God unique in might and omnipotence, an Eternal Being singular in holiness and divinity, an Everlasting One incomparable in grandeur and greatness, One united in Self-Subsistence and Eternity, and glorious in Sanctity and Holiness. Glorified art Thou! How exalted, how majestic, how beauteous, how great, how luminous, how merciful, how holy, how mighty, how perfect, how complete, how elevated, how radiant, how powerful, how manifest, how sovereign, how compelling, how triumphant, how transcendent art Thou!

Thou art the Manifest through Thy manifestation, the Subduer through Thy dominion, the Helper through Thy victory, the Glorious through Thy glory, the Wise through Thy wisdom, the Creator through Thy creation, the Guide through Thy guidance, the Observer through Thy observation, the Illuminator through Thy illumination, the Forgiver through Thy forgiveness. Exalted art Thou, O my Beloved, above being described by any but Thyself, and sanctified art Thou, O my Praised One, beyond being characterized by any save Thee.

From time immemorial Thy manifestations have shone upon all contingent beings, Thy revelations have been supreme over all atoms, Thy signs have been raised above all created things, Thy words have been exalted above all who dwell in the kingdoms of earth and heaven, and Thy tokens have encompassed all existence. How exalted are Thy names, O my God, and how sanctified are Thy likenesses, O my Beloved! All, from the beginning that hath no beginning, worship Thee according to the merit of Thy Unity, and unto the end that hath no end, shall prostrate before Thee according to the merit of Thy Singleness. How supreme is Thy grace in the mirrors of Thy manifestation, and how supreme is Thy bounty in the crystals of Thy concealment!

Do Thou, O my God, send down upon Him Whom Thou wilt make manifest on the Day of Resurrection the most resplendent of all Thy splendors, the most majestic of all Thy majesties, the most beautiful of all Thy beauties, the most mighty of all Thy mightiness, the most brilliant of all Thy lights, the most extensive of all Thy mercies, the most perfect of all Thy words, the greatest of all Thy names, the most complete of all Thy words, the most glorious of all Thy glories, the most sovereign of all Thy sovereignties, the most excellent of all Thy dominions, the most penetrating of all Thy knowledge, the most far-reaching of all Thy powers, the most noble of all Thy nobility, the most elevated of all Thy exaltation, and whatsoever beseemeth the sublimity of Thy holiness and the heights of Thy glory, whatsoever beseemeth the loftiness of Thy transcendence and the sublimity of Thy exaltation, protect him from before him and behind him, from his right and his left, from above his head and beneath his feet, and from every quarter that might reach him.

And by all that is in Thy possession through the angels of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them, assist him, O God, with a mighty assistance, and grant him, O God, a manifest victory, and aid him, O God, with a powerful aid, and bestow upon him a great dominion, and exalt him, O God, with a lofty exaltation, and make him prevail, O God, over the earth and all who dwell therein through Thy prevailing power, and make him, O God, triumphant over all things through Thy triumph and supreme over all things through Thy supremacy. Therefore, O God, subdue the earth and all who dwell therein through his command, and purify the earth and all who dwell therein through his sovereignty. O God! Fill the earth with Thy bounty and grace through His beneficence.

None beside Thee, O my God, possesses command, and none other than Thee, O my Beloved, wields power. Thou hast manifested Thy might, revealed Thy glory, shown forth Thy sovereignty, adorned Thyself with Thy oneness, embellished Thyself with Thy drawing power, moved through the manifestations of Thy countenance, and emerged through the attraction of the signs of Thy glory. Thou art the One known from the beginning that hath no beginning, and described throughout eternity. Thou art the One praised in the heights of pre-existence and renowned in the depths of nothingness. Glory be to Thee and exalted art Thou! Is one like Thee present before Thy servants, manifest before Thy chosen ones, watching over Thy friends, and seeking the essence of Thy likeness? Glory be to Thee and exalted art Thou!

All Thy creation is in Thy grasp. The dwellers of Thy heaven and earth shall worship Thee, those in the kingdom of Thy Command and creation shall sanctify Thee, those in the atmosphere of Thy nearness and enclosure shall be detached unto Thee, those in the kingdom of Thy nearness and remoteness shall be attracted by Thy manifestations, and those in the kingdom of Thy names and attributes shall be exalted through Thy sublimity. Thou hast risen above all loftiness, proved invincible above all might, and towered above all elevation.

Thou didst not send the Messengers from the beginning that hath no beginning except for the exaltation of Thy oneness, nor reveal the Books except for the elevation of Thy singleness, nor establish the paths except for the ascendancy of Thy Word, nor manifest the outward except for the triumph of Thy sovereignty, nor conceal the inward except for the majesty of Thy self-subsistence. Such hath ever been Thy way with Thy creation, and such will ever be Thy path among Thy servants, whereby in every Revelation Thou dost choose a pure mirror and reveal Thyself to it through itself, making it the Manifestation of Thy Self, the Dawning-Place of Thy mystery, the Evidence of Thy Revelation, and the One supported by Thy hiddenness over all in the kingdom of Thy concealment and manifestation.

All this is to perfect Thy favors, O my God, upon all contingent beings and to complete Thy gifts upon all created things. After Adam, no Manifestation was raised up save that none could say nay, and none could comprehend the wonders of Thy creation and the ordinances of Thy limitation. This was naught but the appearance of Thy grace and bounty, the dawning of Thy generosity and munificence, in that Thou didst choose in every Revelation an invincible mirror and through that mirror didst choose exalted mirrors wherein naught could be seen but Thy manifestation and naught could be shown but Thy concealment.

Praise be unto Thee, O Possessor of transcendent and sublime majesty, for having created me and made me a mirror of Thyself, revealed unto me the Bayan through Thy power, caused me to speak with wondrous manifestations of Thy self-subsistence, exalted me through the revelations of Thy mighty oneness, and created through me countless mirrors from which Thou didst choose those Thou madest mirrors of Thyself, moving them to speak from Thy presence and girding them to proclaim Thy verses.

Praise be unto Thee throughout endless eternity for this supported mirror, for Thou hast revealed Thyself to it through itself, made it the station of Thy manifestation and concealment, caused it to speak with the wonders of Thy revelations and mysteries, and desired to aid it through Thy power, manifest it through Thy sovereignty, empower it through Thy self-subsistence, make it victorious through Thy outward dominion, and exalt it through Thy grandeur.

Therefore, O God, send down upon its glory a glorious glory, upon its majesty a majestic majesty, upon its beauty a beautiful beauty, upon its greatness a great greatness, upon its light an illuminating light, upon its mercy a vast mercy, upon its words perfect words, upon its names mighty names, upon its perfections gentle perfections, upon its might an impregnable might, and upon its loftiness an ancient loftiness; and upon its grandeur, a mighty grandeur; and upon its majesty, a glorious majesty; and upon its sovereignty, a dominant sovereignty; and upon its dominion, an exalted dominion; and upon its sublimity, sublimity; and upon its good-pleasure, a pleasing good-pleasure. O God!

Create through it exalted mirrors, for all that is exalted in the Bayan is from the mirrors of that exaltation of the Manifestation of Thy Self, and all call upon Thee and derive sustenance from Thee and are guided unto Thee.

Therefore, O God, cause to descend upon that Letter in that Name an impregnable essence, a resplendent abstraction, an ancient simplicity, an elevated camphor-like quality, a sublime mode, an eternally radiant being, a pre-existent effulgent reality, a manifest transcendent selfhood, a most exalted manifested identity, a sanctified mode-like simplicity, an attracted camphor-like radiance, a divine-realm-illumined beloved nature, a ruby-like joyous sought-after quality, a renowned elevated attribute, a desired dominant description, a treasured hidden nature, and whatsoever Thou hast encompassed in Thy knowledge of Thy beautiful pleasing Names and Thy most exalted and sublime Examples.

And O God, cause its beginning and end, and what was before its before and after its after, to be conjoined. And O God, cause to descend upon it, in recompense for all the sorrow it hath witnessed, joy from Thy presence and exaltation from Thy court. And O God, open unto it and unto them that are in the Bayan that which will cause all to be well-pleased before Thy power, and all to be thankful before the dawning-places of Thy bounty and Thy eternity, and all to dwell before the daysprings of Thy nearness and Thy perpetuity, and all to rejoice at the manifestations of Thy glory and Thy self-subsistence, and all to be illumined by the wondrous revelations of Thy oneness, and all to be attracted by the conditions of the might of Thy unity.

And O God, inspire all who are in the Bayan to remember it the number of the letter Ha in every day and night, for through this Thou hast desired to make beloved the remembrance of Fatima, the daughter of Thy beloved Muhammad, the Apostle of God. Therefore, O God, raise her seat to the utmost height and cause to descend upon her in her place those possessed of might and power.

Verily, Thou art too exalted to be forgetful of Thy wisdom, but whosoever is veiled after having known shall be bound to pay the number of Ha in mithqals of emerald and green crystal which hath no glory, and whosoever remembereth the Living One after Thy remembrance and the remembrance of the Manifestation of Thy Self shall be excused from that remembrance, for Thou hast desired naught but the manifestation of Thy independence of all things and the causing of all to attain unto the goal of Thy remembrance. Verily, Thou art the Best of Rememberers.

Mode of sermons

In the Name of God, the Self-Subsisting, the Self-Subsisting

Praise be to God Who hath caused to shine forth from the Morn of Eternity upon the temples of all created things the manifestations of the might of His oneness, and hath illumined all contingent beings with the dawning splendors of the glory of His unity, and hath caused all who dwell in the kingdoms of earth and heaven to gleam with the daysprings of the might of His grandeur, and hath adorned all atoms with the ornaments of His modes, and hath raised up all who dwell in the kingdoms of earth and heaven through the exaltation of the inaccessibility of His self-subsistence.

Therefore do I praise Him with praise for having illumined and shone forth and enlightened and caused to flash and gleam and shine resplendently—praise that is resplendent, brilliant, exalted, glorious, beauteous, majestic, mighty, luminous.

O All-Merciful! O Most Great! O Most Perfect! O Most Complete! O Most Excellent! We have beheld Thy knowledge, O All-Loving! O Most Glorious! O Sovereign! O King! O All-Conquering! O Most Beauteous! O Most Attractive! O Eternal! O Self-Subsisting! O All-Bountiful! O Most Gracious! O Most Majestic! O Most Powerful! O Most Manifest! O Most Exalted! O Most Enduring! O Most Loving!

Praise be unto Him Who is worthy of praise, Who is glorified, and laudation be unto Him Who is worthy of glorification, Who is sanctified—praise that filleth all the heavens with the dawning splendors of the light of His countenance, and filleth the earth and all that dwell therein with the gleaming rays of His face, and what lieth between them with the exaltation of His oneness, and what lieth beneath them with the majesty of His self-subsistence, and what lieth above them with the sublimity of His unity—praise whereby the sign of His grace and bounty hath appeared unto all created things, and the rays of His glory and favor have shone forth upon all existing beings, and the pillars of all things are filled with the manifestations of His holiness and exaltation, and the evidences of His glory and might.

Praise that transcendeth all praise through the exaltation of His oneness, and that surpasseth all glory through the revelation of His eternity—praise whereby all things proclaim that there is none other God but Him, the Possessor of Beauty and Perfection, the Possessor of Similitude and Example, the Possessor of Bounty and Majesty.

Praise that no praise can equal, praise that no praise can resemble, praise that no justice can match, praise that no praise can compare, praise that no praise can rival, praise that no praise can parallel, praise that no praise can suffice—resplendent praise and brilliant laudation unto Him Who spoke and caused to speak, Who shone and caused to shine, Who verified and caused to verify, Who proved and caused to prove, Who preceded and caused to precede, Who refined and caused to refine, Who detailed and caused to detail, Who ascended and caused to ascend, Who followed and caused to follow, through what hath shone forth from the dawning-places of the Eternal Morn and what hath gleamed from the outpourings of the Primal Remembrance.

How glorious is that manifest and evident praise! How wondrous is that evident and brilliant praise! How magnificent is that glorious and excellent splendor! How transcendent is that exalted and supreme laudation! How majestic is that mighty and resplendent grandeur! How beauteous is that mighty and overflowing beauty! How perfect is that complete and manifest perfection!

For the like of this, let all who praise offer praise! For the like of this, let all who are thankful give thanks! For the like of this, let all who glorify render glory! For the like of this, let all who manifest make manifest! For the like of this, let all who shine forth shine forth!

Exalted, exalted is God above that Glorious and Self-Glorified One! Exalted, exalted is God above that Majestic and Self-Manifested One! Exalted, exalted is God above that Beautiful and Self-Beautified One! Exalted, exalted is God above that Great and Self-Magnified One! Exalted, exalted is God above that Light and Self-Illumined One! Exalted, exalted is God above that Lofty and Self-Elevated One! Exalted, exalted is God above that Grand and Self-Aggrandized One! Exalted, exalted is God above that Perfect and Self-Perfected One! Exalted, exalted is God above that Mighty and Self-Empowered One! Exalted, exalted is God above that Knowing and Self-Knowing One! Exalted, exalted is God above that Powerful and Self-Powered One! Exalted, exalted is God above that Loving and Self-Loving One!

Exalted, exalted is God above that Pleased and Self-Pleased One! Exalted, exalted is God above that Noble and Self-Ennobled One! Exalted, exalted is God above that Sovereign and Self-Sovereign One! Exalted, exalted is God above that King and Self-Kingly One! Exalted, exalted is God above that Knowing and Self-Knowing One! Exalted, exalted be God above that transcendent knowledge! Exalted, exalted be God above those God-fearing people! Exalted, exalted be God above that recurring justice! Exalted, exalted be God above that overflowing grace! Exalted, exalted be God above that abundant generosity! Exalted, exalted be God above that mutual love! Exalted, exalted be God above that manifest appearance! Exalted, exalted be God above that evident manifestation!

Exalted, exalted be God above that self-sufficient wealth! Exalted, exalted be God above that clear revelation! Exalted, exalted be God above that compelling might! Exalted, exalted be God above that loving tenderness! Exalted, exalted be God above that conquering power! Exalted, exalted be God above that mutual aid! Exalted, exalted be God above that manifest victory! Exalted, exalted be God above that flowing bounty! Exalted, exalted be God above that resplendent light! Exalted, exalted be God above that pervading grace! Exalted, exalted be God above that prevailing wisdom! Exalted, exalted be God above those balanced ministers! Exalted, exalted be God above that transcendent glory! Exalted, exalted be God above that supreme knowledge! Exalted, exalted be God above that drawing near!

Exalted, exalted be God above those circling pearls! Exalted, exalted be God above those shining gems! Exalted, exalted be God above that certain truth! Exalted, exalted be God above those gathered throngs! Exalted, exalted be God above that radiant sun! Exalted, exalted be God above that mutual attraction! Exalted, exalted be God above that patient endurance! Exalted, exalted be God above that manifest purity! Exalted, exalted be God above that firm foundation! Exalted, exalted be God above that enduring permanence! Exalted, exalted be God above that everlasting eternity! Exalted, exalted be God above that bountiful generosity! Exalted, exalted be God above that ancient power!

He hath ever been the One God, Single, Eternal, Self-Subsisting, the Ever-Living, the Self-Sustaining, the Sovereign, the Supreme, the Most Holy, the Everlasting, the Never-Ending, the Self-Dependent, the Most Exalted, the Inaccessible, the Most High, the All-Compelling. He hath taken neither consort nor offspring. All glorify Him in the eternity of the past, and all sanctify Him in the resplendent night. He hath ever revealed Himself unto all His creation through the shining manifestations of His own Self and the radiant dawnings of His glory. Verily God, exalted be His glory, hath ever been sanctified above all things, associated with no thing, known through no thing, and comprehended by no thing.

He is far more exalted, sublime, glorious and mighty than to be comprehended by the highest faculties of abstract realities in their subtlety, or to be described by the loftiest expressions of pure essences in their precision. All that hearts have witnessed is but His creation in His dominion, and all that spirits have known is but His handiwork within His grasp, and all that souls have witnessed is but a token of His eternity, and all that bodies have uttered is but a manifestation of the exaltation of His sovereignty. Verily He, exalted and glorified be He, has ever been an inaccessible mystery, transcendent, sovereign, omnipotent, possessing all things, manifest, well-pleasing. The thoughts of minds cannot comprehend Him, nor can the essence of sight encompass Him.

He is as He has described Himself and above what the possessors of insight and vision say of Him. He is the One, the All-Seeing.

He has sent forth the Messengers to manifest His bounty and grace, and established the paths to reveal His generosity and favor. In every Revelation He has confirmed the proofs through radiant servants, adorned Books, resplendent Manifestations, effulgent dawnings, majestic essences, exalted beings, inaccessible realities, and manifest substances. He creates from nothing by His command, and creates the command by His Self, not from any command preceding it. He has made the likeness of His Cause as the creation of the Will, and made the Will like unto the shining sun—all that rises in its risings and all that sets in its settings is but one sun. All that the mirrors reflect are but reflections of itself, and all that the crystals display are but expressions of its essence.

It is the eternal sign, the everlasting countenance, the pattern of divine presence, the primordial essence, the never-ending substance. It is glory upon glory, majesty upon majesty, beauty upon beauty, grandeur upon grandeur, light upon light, mercy upon mercy, perfection upon perfection, greatness upon greatness, excellence upon excellence, might upon might, adornment upon adornment, nobility upon nobility, good-pleasure upon good-pleasure, sovereignty upon sovereignty, dominion upon dominion, nearness upon nearness, loftiness upon loftiness, divinity upon divinity, lordship upon lordship, oneness upon oneness, unity upon unity, and eternality upon eternality.

All tongues fall short of attaining to its praise, and all hearts confess their impotence to comprehend its description. Such is the creation of the Will, created from nothing by itself for itself, after God cast within it the likeness of its own revelation. Then there appeared from it that which filled the heavens and the earth and all that lies between them. Verily, there is no God but Him, the One, the Manifest.

He has chosen in this Revelation an exalted essence, a glorious abstraction, an eternal being, an everlasting reality, and a beloved excellence. Then He revealed Himself to it through itself and cast upon its identity the likeness of its own essence. Through it He has revealed Himself to the crystalline mirrors, the pristine essences, the camphor-like substances, and the essential realities, filling thereby the heaven of His Revelation and the earth of His appearance and all that lies between them in the kingdom of His invisibility and visibility. Verily, there is no God but Him, the Overseer, the Self-Subsisting.

Know then, O people, worship God, the Creator of all things and their Provider, the One Who causes all things to die and gives them life. He is the One Who has ever been alone, alone, with no partner beside Him, and He will ever continue to be, in the summit of inaccessibility and the heights of transcendence, even as He has been in the excellence of majesty and the exaltation of proof. Exalted be His names above all similitude and allusion, and sanctified be His examples above geometry and indication. He hath chosen for Himself in the Dispensation of the Bayan a throne, then hath shone forth through it upon the crystalline thrones.

Thus hath there appeared from every mirror whatsoever was within and upon it of the praise of the Sovereign of His Self-Subsistence and the radiance of the King of the might of His Divinity. And through that which hath been revealed unto the Manifestation of His Self, He hath established whatsoever He willeth by His command, and made clear whatsoever He desireth by His wisdom, and perfected all things by His execution, and confirmed the mystery of all things by His decree, and elevated the mention of whomsoever is therein by His grace.

And among that which He created in that Dispensation is that Letter in that exalted Name. God, glorified be He, created it because it declared at the first beginning:

“Yea, verily Thou art God! There is no God but Thee, the Possessor of grandeur and majesty, of loftiness and sovereignty, of inaccessibility and awe, of dominion and self-subsistence, of independence and sanctity, of glory and oneness, of transcendence and divinity, of the most excellent divine names and the most exalted heavenly attributes, of the most inaccessible eternal qualities and the most elevated beloved manifestations,”

and similar such exalted examples.

Therefore did God choose it and create it by His Word, and made it the throne of that Word in the Unity of the Furqan. And verily it is the last after its first in the sight of God in glory and exaltation. And He loveth that there should remember it every day and night whoso is in the Bayan to the number of the letter Ha. And if it be remembered in the mention of the aggregate by the Living One, this sufficeth in lieu of that number and entereth into the number of the First Unity. And whoso acteth otherwise hath no worth in anything. But whoso is veiled, upon him shall be binding that which was revealed aforetime, lest anyone be veiled from the Command of his Lord.

And all were believers in Him Whom God shall make manifest and in whatsoever God shall reveal unto Him in the Other Resurrection.

Mode of commentary

In the Name of God, the Self-Subsisting, the Self-Subsisting

Praise be to God, besides Whom there is no God, the Most Firm, the Most Firm. And verily all glory be upon Him Whom God shall make manifest and then upon His representatives, who have been and ever shall be. I bear witness that God, glorified be He, hath ever been a Hidden Treasure, transcendent, exalted, resplendent, adorned, beautified, unified, one, eternal, unique, and shall ever continue to be even as He hath always been. He cannot be known through aught else but Himself, nor can He be described save through His own Self, nor praised through His creation, nor depicted through His servants. He is sanctified above division, exalted above separation, hallowed above all forms, and purified above all similitudes.

He hath ever been, and shall ever remain, in the sovereignty of sanctity and glory, and in the dominion of might and grandeur. All that the senses perceive of outer and inner realities, or that the faculties imagine of simple and ethereal things—these are but His creation which He hath created through His origination and brought into being through His invention. He, exalted be His glory, hath ever known what He hath created and shall create, and shall ever have power over what hath appeared and shall appear. All things are within His grasp.

He hath created the Primal Will—the Essential, the Exemplary, the Simple, the Ethereal, the Abstract, the Beloved, the Eternal, the Resplendent, the Divine Fruit, the Eternal Countenance, the Everlasting Face of Grandeur—not from anything, through itself, by itself. He revealed Himself unto it through it, by its own essence, and through it He withheld Himself from all else.

He cast into its reality the image of its revelation, whereupon there appeared from it and upon it the glorious ones among the glorified, the majestic ones among the magnificent, the beauteous ones among the beautiful, the mighty ones among the powerful, the luminous ones among the radiant, the merciful ones among the compassionate, the perfect ones among the complete, the consummate ones among those endowed with perfection; of the Most Great, the most exalted ones; of the Most Adorned, the most embellished ones; of the Most Essential, the most manifest ones; of the Most Pure, the most pristine ones; of the Most Radiant, the most effulgent ones; of the Most Mighty, the most powerful ones; of the Most Learned, the most knowledgeable ones; of the Most Potent, the most capable ones; of the Most Pleasing, the most delightful ones; of the Most Guiding, the most directing ones; of the Most Noble, the most distinguished ones; of the Most Sovereign, the most authoritative ones; of the Most Possessing, the most commanding ones; of the Most High, the most elevated ones; of the Most Holy, the most sanctified ones; of the Most Ancient, the most pre-existent ones; of the Most Divine, the most celestial ones; of the Most Lordly, the most supreme ones; of the Most Creative, the most generative ones; of the Most Eternal, the most everlasting ones; of the Most Preceding, the most antecedent ones; of the Most Existent, the most unified ones; of the Most Glorious, the most magnificent ones; of the Most Majestic, the most august ones; of the Most Beauteous, the most lovely ones; of the Most Luminous, the most illumined ones; of the Most Merciful, the most compassionate ones; of the Most Mighty, the most powerful ones; of the Most Perfect, the most complete ones; of the Most Great, the most exalted ones; of the Most Knowing, the most learned ones; of the Most Pleasing, the most content ones; of the Most Noble, the most honored ones; of the Most Sovereign, the most authoritative ones; of the Most Regal, the most kingly ones; of the Most Lofty, the most elevated ones; of the Most Renowned, the most celebrated ones; of the Most Victorious, the most triumphant ones; of the Most Brilliant, the most resplendent ones; of the Most Glorified, the most praised ones; of the Most Gracious, the most benevolent ones; of the Most Enduring, the most lasting ones; of the Most Compelling, the most overwhelming ones; of the Most Subduing, the most dominating ones; of the Most Manifest, the most evident ones; of the Most Hidden, the most concealed ones; of the Most Helping, the most assisting ones; of the Most Conquering, the most prevailing ones; of the Most Attracted, the most enchanted ones; of the Most Kind, the most benevolent ones; of the Most Tender, the most gentle ones—and similar such resplendent manifestations and comparable such effulgent revelations.

All this is to demonstrate His power in that Will and to perfect His grace in that Purpose, that all may attain unto the Source of His holiness and good-pleasure, and that all may ascend unto the atmosphere of His glory and decree. Verily, exalted and glorified is He! His Essence hath no manifestation nor concealment, no beginning nor end. All the names that have appeared are manifestations of His supreme independence, and all the examples that have emerged are suns of His exalted nobility. He hath ever been sanctified above all things and independent of all things, while all are poor before Him in their essential beings and are servants before Him in their personal realities. He hath no place nor limits nor geometry nor attributes.

He hath ever been nearer to everything than its own essence through His essence, more subtle than the very mention of subtlety through His subtle nature, more merciful to all things than mercy itself through His mercy, more generous to all things than generosity itself through His being, more compassionate to all things than compassion itself through His reality, more magnificent than all things than magnificence itself through His magnificence, more elevated above all things than elevation itself through His elevation, more inaccessible than all things than inaccessibility itself through His inaccessibility, more knowing of all things before and after their existence, more powerful over all things before and after their manifestation. Verily, glorified and exalted is He!

The manifestations alter Him not, neither in their beginning nor in their end. All the Messengers that have appeared have called to naught but His oneness, and all the martyrs that have arisen have summoned to naught but His singleness, and all the paths that have been established indicate naught but the sovereignty of His Self-Subsistence. No Throne has been manifested except that all are summoned unto it to affirm His unity, His singleness, the perfection of His handiwork and His sanctity.

The First Throne, before which there was no first and whose firstness has no beginning, declared: “There is no God but God, in truth, in truth.” And all the Thrones that have appeared in every Revelation have proclaimed: “There is no God but God, in truth, in truth.” And all that shall appear unto the end that has no end shall declare: “There is no God but God, in truth, in truth.” For all the Messengers, in their essential reality, are guides to the sovereignty of His unity and His singleness, and witnesses to the dominion of His might and His oneness. Verily He, exalted and glorified be He, cannot be known in His Essence except through what the Messengers describe from His presence.

And verily the Messengers, from the beginning that has no beginning unto the end that has no end—naught can be seen in them save His Primal Will, which God has made like unto the sun of heaven: though it rise from different dawning-places and set in different settings, it is but one and the same sun. Consider each Manifestation’s throne as the rising of a day, and were the creation of one Revelation not complete, God would not manifest the subsequent Throne. And all that is witnessed in every Revelation of manifested Thrones—these are the ornaments of that Revelation, the glories of that Concealment, the sublimities of that exalted Might, and the magnificence of that beloved Sanctity.

Observe how many mirrors appeared during the time of Muhammad, the Messenger of God, until God manifested the Point of the Bayan—all were exalted ornaments of that Divine Tree and elevated manifestations of that Divine Leaf.

Likewise witness in the Bayan, from the moment God revealed it to the Primal Point until the Next Resurrection when God shall manifest Him Whom God Shall Make Manifest—exalted be His measure and elevated and sublime be His mention—how many pure crystals appeared, and how many matchless mirrors reflected, and how many radiant realities were expressed, and how many lofty essences spoke forth, and how many refined beings were manifested—all were ornaments for Him Who is in that Revelation and glory for Him Who is in that Concealment, until God completes the creation of that Revelation through His power and manifests it upon the earth and all who dwell thereon through His sovereignty, and establishes that matchless Tree in the hearts of all His creation.

And when it is completed and elevated and made glorious and inaccessible, then its Lord comes unto it and renews its tidings as He willeth from His presence. For the Master of every Revelation is none other than God, glorified be His Glory, and the Sovereign of every Concealment is none but Him, mighty in His might. Therefore, train your reality to become a mirror reflecting the Throne of every Revelation in its manifestation and concealment, and a pure crystal reflecting the Seat of every Revelation in its life and after its elevation. For this is from God’s grace upon you and upon the dwellers of that manifest and transcendent Revelation, and the guides of that impregnable and exalted Concealment.

And I bear witness that the creation of every Revelation is but through the Word of God, glorified be His Glory, and this appears only from the Throne of Reality, mighty in might. And verily what God has willed in that Revelation is the exaltation of that Letter in that Name, and its remembrance night and day according to the number of Ha, that it may be for thee a shield on the Day of Resurrection at the appearance of Him Whom God shall make manifest, and a path unto the Hour when the Fire of God shall dawn. Be thou not veiled from that Remembrance when thou art cognizant thereof. And if thou shouldst forget throughout thy life, no blame attacheth unto thee in the Book of God. But if thou remainest veiled after having known it, thou art bound to offer the number of Ha in green emeralds.

This is that thou mayest observe the Cause of God. Otherwise God, glorified be He, is the Self-Sufficient, the Exalted, the All-Bountiful, the Manifest, the Most High. I have not set bounds save to establish His Cause in every Dispensation in the essences of all created things.

The fruit thereof in thy life is that thou shouldst attain unto the good-pleasure of thy Lord and His Cause. And after thy death, God will cause thee, through thy obedience to every command, to enter two thousand lofty, towering castles and sublime, magnificent pavilions, each fashioned from a mine of elevated, noble rubies and treasured, precious chrysolite.

In each thou shalt behold a thousand youths created by God at the age of the numerical value of the name of Splendor, all seated upon a thousand chairs of green emerald, and facing them a thousand maidens upon a thousand chairs of crimson ruby, such that whoso hath lived the number of Baha—God hath clothed these with the finest silk of paradise and the most delicate raiment created in the gardens, all their garments embroidered with gold as thou seest in thy life, their beauty equalling nine hundred and ninety-nine splendors compared to the beauty of these garments.

They celebrate the praise of God their Lord night and day, and they are compassionate through the verses of God. And they recite the verses of the Bayan in response to them, in the most enchanting melody beloved. Were but a single melody from any of them to be manifested on earth, all who dwell thereon would be enraptured. But God hath veiled them in the pavilions of the unseen and concealed them in the tabernacles of holiness and mystery. Thou shalt not find this save after thy death. And there shall ever be made verdant whatsoever their souls desire of the bounties of paradise, that which hath no equal, nor likeness, nor peer, nor similitude. And all that they desire, God shall cause to descend upon them through the angels of the green pavilion and the crimson tabernacle. No sorrow shall ever touch their hearts.

This is what God hath promised thee for every one of His commandments, whether universal or particular. We love not to mention thy being veiled and what God hath ordained in the treasury of thine essence. Thou comprehendest in thy heart that in thy life there can be no greater fire for thee than thy being veiled, and after thy death, were thy knowledge not to encompass it, it would be colder for thy heart. We all seek refuge with God and then with His most beautiful names from all that He loveth not nor is pleased with, from the beginning that hath no beginning unto the end that hath no end. Verily He sufficeth us and sufficeth whoso placeth his trust in Him. Say: All are from God and all begin from God, and all are God’s and all shall return unto God.

Persian mode

In the Name of God, the Self-Subsisting, the Self-Subsisting

Most glorious and exalted is the holy court of the Ever-Living, the Self-Subsisting One, Who hath existed from time immemorial in the inaccessible heights of His holy Being, and will continue to exist forever in the majesty and independence of His sacred Essence. No atom hath truly known Him as He deserves to be known, nor hath any particle truly recognized Him as He deserves to be recognized. Transcendent is His holy exaltation above the understanding of all who possess understanding, and manifest is His sublime glory above the praise of all who offer praise.

Matchless praise be unto Him Who hath caused the countenance of His unseen Being to be revealed unto the hearts of all created things through the manifestations of His Cause, and incomparable thanks be unto Him Who hath caused the radiance of His holy Sun to shine upon the hearts of all existent beings, that no atom might be deprived of the path of His knowledge and no thing be denied its portion of His recognition. He hath existed forever through the reality of His Essence, and will continue to exist through the identity of His Being. He hath ordained no beginning for His creation, that no thing might imagine an interruption in His outpouring grace, and He hath decreed no end, that no thing might fall into the abyss of despair from His bounty.

He hath forever been sanctified and exalted above the praise of all who bestow praise and the glorification of all who offer glorification. Description in its pure and simple form is but the description of His creation, and attributes in their evident and manifest form are but the attributes of His dominion. All eternal ornaments are, before His ornamentation, absolute nothingness, and all eternal dawning-places are, before His dawning-place, utter non-existence. He hath been cognizant of all things before their existence and after their existence within the precincts of their limitations, and powerful over all things through His Being, before their existence and after their passing.

That which He hath created cannot be described by it, and that which He hath brought into being cannot be characterized by it, for all description hath been brought into existence through His creation—how then could it serve as evidence of His primordial exaltation? And all attributes have been brought into being through His origination—how then could they provide a way to recognize His eternity? He hath ever loved, in every Revelation, the exaltation of His own Word of affirmation to the extent possible in the realm of His creation, and the annihilation of the word of negation to the extent possible in the realm of extinction.

He hath ever summoned all creation unto Himself out of the sublimity of His grace and mercy, despite the complete independence of His holy Being and the absolute self-sufficiency of His glorified Essence, for the recognition of created beings of Him is an honor unto them that they should know their God, and the love of existent things for Him is a nobility unto them that they should cherish their Lord. How transcendent is His holy court of glory, before which all that is glorious boweth down in humility, and how resplendent is His sacred realm of exaltation, before which all that is exalted bendeth low in submission!

His most glorious similitude hath ever existed in the kingdom of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them, and the Most Glorious Example in the kingdom of Command and Creation and whatsoever is beneath them, for in no thing is aught seen but Him, since the existence of every thing is by His command, and His command is more manifest than its existence through command. And there is nothing that has sought or will seek other than Him, for every thing has loved and loves the ultimate glory and exaltation, and all glory and exaltation are creations in the grasp of His power and manifestations in the right hand of His Will.

He cannot be described by places and limitations, and His encompassing of all created things is not an encompassing of Essence, for conjunction is impossible and without conjunction, conjoined encompassing is impossible. Rather, He encompasses all things through His penetrating knowledge and extends over all things through His prevailing power.

How transcendent are the manifestations of His glory, for every thing, through its firstness and lastness, seeks Him! If thou sayest He is the First, He created all first ones that thou mightest sanctify Him from the mention of lastness. If thou sayest He is the Manifest, He originated all manifest things that thou mightest sanctify Him from the mention of manifestness. If thou sayest He is the Hidden, He brought into being all hidden things that thou mightest sanctify Him from hiddenness. If thou sayest He is the Knowing, He established all knowledge in the contingent realm of His manifestations that thou mightest sanctify Him from knowingness. If thou sayest He is the Powerful, He established all power in the dawning-places of His names that thou mightest sanctify Him from power.

If thou sayest He is the All-Encompassing, He established all encompassing in the essence of the hearts of His pure creation that thou mightest sanctify Him from encompassingness. If thou sayest He is the Inaccessible, He established all inaccessibility in the dawning-places of His examples that thou mightest know Him as sanctified from all inaccessibility. If thou sayest He is the Exalted, He established all exaltation for the pillars of His pure and holy dominion that thou mightest sanctify Him from exaltedness. If thou sayest He is the Most High, He established all loftiness for the support of the carpet of His pure holiness that thou mightest sanctify Him from highness.

If thou sayest He is the All-Glorious, He established all glory in the countenance of those who glorify His holy Essence that thou mightest sanctify Him from glory.

Who can describe Him when the very existence of description itself is proof of His creation? Who can praise Him when the very existence of praise in its ancient utterance is evidence of its being originated by Him? All names are proofs of His oneness and have ever been so, and all examples have been and will ever be the emblems of His exclusive sovereignty.

The essence of His riches hath been independent of any mention of need, and the essence of His glory hath been independent of any mention of seeking glory, and the essence of His beauty hath been independent of any mention of acquiring beauty, and the essence of His loftiness hath been independent of any mention of seeking loftiness, and the essence of His inaccessibility hath been independent of any mention of becoming inaccessible, and the essence of His grandeur hath been independent of any mention of seeking grandeur, and the essence of His generosity hath been independent of any mention of becoming generous, and the essence of His glorification hath been independent of any mention of seeking glorification, and the essence of His holiness hath been independent of any mention of seeking holiness, and the essence of His might hath been independent of any mention of seeking might, and the essence of His greatness hath been independent of any mention of seeking greatness, and the essence of His good-pleasure hath been independent of any mention of seeking good-pleasure, and the essence of His love hath been independent of any mention of seeking love, and the essence of His nobility hath been independent of any mention of seeking nobility, and the essence of His dominion hath been independent of any mention of seeking dominion, and the essence of His sovereignty hath been independent of any mention of seeking sovereignty, and the essence of His transcendence hath been independent of any mention of seeking transcendence, and the essence of His bounty hath been independent of any mention of seeking bounty, and the essence of His perfection hath been independent of any mention of seeking perfection, and the essence of His good-pleasure hath been independent of any mention of seeking good-pleasure, and the essence of His protection hath been independent of any mention of seeking protection, and the essence of His triumph hath been independent of any mention of seeking triumph, and the essence of His grace hath been independent of any mention of seeking grace, and the essence of His justice hath been independent of any mention of seeking justice, and the essence of His vision hath been independent of any mention of seeking vision.

How exalted are the manifestations of His glory, that all these names bow down before the sanctity of His exaltation! And how glorious are the revelations of His might, that all these examples find their rest in His Being! From a beginning that hath no beginning unto an end that hath no end, He hath manifested Himself unto His creation in every Revelation through the Manifestation of His own Self, howsoever He pleaseth, through whatsoever He pleaseth, for whatsoever He pleaseth. He hath ordained no limit or bound to the purposes of His Revelation, nor will He ever do so. From a beginning that hath no beginning, all the thrones of manifestation have summoned unto His oneness, and unto an end that hath no end, all the seats of revelation will summon unto Him.

In every Revelation, according to the wisdom of His eternal Being and the subtlety of His everlasting Essence, He hath commanded His servants whatsoever He hath deemed meet for His dominion, and hath raised up the people of that Revelation toward Him through His commandments and prohibitions. He hath promised infinite rewards unto them that obey Him, and hath demonstrated His power in fulfilling what He hath promised through the creation of the heavens and the earth and all that lieth between them, that not a single atom of doubt or uncertainty concerning the promises of His grace might exist in the kingdom of command and creation.

And He hath decreed firm ordinances in life and in death for them that have remained veiled from His commandments and prohibitions, that not a single atom might harbor in its heart aught that is contrary to His good-pleasure. All existence, from the invisible Kingdom and the realm of witness, is elevated and restrained within His firm ordinances in every Revelation. He has willed naught from the creation in each Manifestation save to prepare creation for the next Revelation. And concerning the decree of the Hereafter in relation to the primary life, in mention of this letter, He has made beloved its mention five times during day and night, that it might shine forth upon the tongues of His servants.

And if it is conjoined with the mention of two words with the term Living’, it suffices in place of this number. And He has made beloved the elevation of this letter in His life and death, for the elevation of the dwellers of each Revelation is the elevation of the Manifestation of His Self, and the elevation of the Manifestation of His Self is the elevation of His invisible and unseen Essence in the station of His revelation upon this throne of manifestation, as it has been and ever shall be. And He has decreed for the veiled ones the number of Ha’ in emeralds without equivalent, and for the forgotten ones—even though they be in their own lifetime—He has ordained no decree, out of His bounty and grace.

And He has ordained this decree solely for the strengthening of His Cause and the establishment of His Revelation, and the preparation of all for the Day of the next Resurrection and the manifestation of Him Whom God shall make manifest in the highest and lowest kingdoms and whatsoever lies between them, from the first atom to the last, so that the dwellers of each Revelation until its end might draw near through His commandments and prohibitions, that through this education they might draw near in the subsequent Revelation, and through this grace they might ascend to the Source in the next Resurrection and be illumined by the ever-abiding holy splendor in the Hereafter and the beginning. His is the praise in the past and the future, and we are all His praising ones.

6. Al-abha

Mode of verses

In the name of God, the Most Splendid, the Most Splendid

In the name of God, the Most Splendid, the Most Splendid! There is no God but Him, the Most Glorious, the Most Glorious! There is no God but Him, the Most Resplendent, the Most Resplendent! There is no God but Him, the Most Luminous, the Most Luminous! There is no God but Him, the One, the All-Glorious!

To God belongs the glory of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them. God is the All-Glorious, the Most Resplendent. To God belongs the effulgent glory that illumineth the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them. God is the All-Glorious, the Most Exalted. To God belongs the radiant glory of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them. God is the All-Glorious, the Most Sublime.

Say: God is more glorious than every possessor of glory. None can escape from the sovereignty of His glory, whether in the heavens or on earth or in what lieth between them. Verily, He is the All-Glorious, the Most Resplendent. Say: God is more glorious than every possessor of beauty. None can escape from His resplendent glory, whether in the heavens or on earth or in what lieth between them. Verily, He is the All-Glorious, the Most Luminous. Say: God is more glorious than every possessor of majesty. None can escape from His radiant glory, whether in the heavens or on earth or in what lieth between them. Verily, He is the All-Glorious, the Most Effulgent.

Say: O God! Thou art the Source of all glory. Thou givest glory unto whomsoever Thou willest and withholdest it from whomsoever Thou willest. Thou exaltest whom Thou willest and abaseth whom Thou willest. Thou aidest whom Thou willest and forsakest whom Thou willest. Thou enrichest whom Thou willest and impoverishest whom Thou willest. Thou strengthenest whom Thou willest and weakeneth whom Thou willest. Within Thy grasp is the kingdom of all things. Thou createst what Thou willest by Thy command. Verily, Thou art the All-Glorious, the Most Resplendent.

Glorified art Thou, O God! Thou art the Glory of the heavens and earth and whatsoever is between them. Thou bestowest glory upon whomsoever Thou willest and withholdest it from whomsoever Thou willest. Thou ordainest what Thou willest and decreest what Thou willest. Thou exaltest whom Thou willest and abaseth whom Thou willest. Thou givest life to whom Thou willest and causest to die whom Thou willest. Thou upholdest the heavens and earth and whatsoever is between them by Thy command. Verily, Thou art powerful over all things.

Say: O God! Thou art the Most Glorious of the glorious ones. Thou givest authority to whom Thou willest and takest it from whom Thou willest. Thou holdest up the heavens lest they fall upon the earth, and Thou holdest the earth above the water. Thou createst in the kingdom of the heavens and earth and whatsoever is between them whatsoever Thou willest. Verily, Thou art powerful over all things.

To God belongs the sovereign dominion of the glory of the heavens and earth and whatsoever is between them. God is the All-Glorious, the Most Exalted. To God belongs all that He hath created and will create of all things, and unto Him shall return all glory, resplendent and luminous.

Say: The glory of all things lieth in their faith in God and in His signs. If ye wish to preserve your glory, then believe in God and in His signs at the time of the appearance of each of God’s Messengers, for thereafter ye shall attain unto all glory. Say: The glory of that thing is what gold ye give and receive. God teacheth you the knowledge of glory that ye may become certain.

This is a Book from God, the Supreme, the Self-Subsisting, unto Him Whom God shall make manifest. Verily, there is no God but Me, the Mighty, the Best-Beloved. Bear thou witness that verily He is I, besides Whom there is no God, and all are His worshippers.

We have made thee resplendent with the light of Baha for those who are radiant, and We have made thee majestic with glory for those who are glorious, and We have made thee beautiful with beauty for those who are beautiful, and We have made thee mighty with grandeur for those who are mighty, and We have made thee luminous with light for those who are enlightened, and We have made thee merciful with grace for those who are merciful, and We have made thee perfect with perfection for those who are perfect.

Say: We have made thee complete with completeness for those who are complete. Say: We have made thee great with greatness for those who are great. Say: We have made thee powerful with might for those who are powerful. Say: We have made thee victorious with triumph for those who are victorious. Say: We have made thee conquering with conquest for those who conquer. Say: We have made thee capable with capacity for those who are capable. Say: We have made thee pure with purity for those who are pure. Say: We have made thee loving with love for those who love. Say: We have made thee noble with nobility for those who are noble. Say: We have made thee sovereign with sovereignty for those who are sovereign. Say: We have made thee regal with kingship for those who rule.

Say: We have made thee lofty with exaltation for those who are exalted. Say: We have made thee a herald of glad tidings for those who bring good news. Say: We have made thee a proof with evidence for those who prove. Say: We have made thee dominant with dominion for those who dominate. Say: We have made thee compelling with force for those who compel. Say: We have made thee wise with wisdom for those who judge. Say: We have made thee a minister with ministry for those who minister. Say: We have made thee generous with bounty for those who give. Say: We have made thee bestowing with bestowal for those who bestow. Say: We have made thee hearing with perception for those who hear. Say: We have made thee near with nearness for those who draw nigh.

Say: We have made thee seeing with vision for those who see. Say: We have made thee observant with observation for those who observe. Say: We have made thee informed with knowledge for those who know. Say: We have made thee mighty with power for those who seize. Say: We have made thee tranquil with peace for those who are at peace. Say: We have made thee pleased with pleasure for those who are pleased. Say: We have made thee noble with nobility for those who are noble. Say: We have made thee manifest with manifestation for those who manifest. Say: We have made thee detached with detachment for those who are detached. Say: We have made thee pure with purity for those who are pure. Say: We have made thee adorned with adornment for those who adorn.

Say: We have made thee a shining sun for those who shine. Say: We have made thee a luminous moon for those who illuminate. Say: We have made thee radiant stars for those who are noble. Say: We have made thee a heaven endowed with loftiness for those who are elevated. Say: We have made thee an earth endowed with expansion for those who expand. Say: We have made thee a mountain endowed with grandeur for those who are grand. Say: We have made thee an ocean endowed with waves for those who journey.

Say: We have made thee all things and have sanctified thee from all things, for We are powerful over all things. Say: We have made thee all things and have purified thee from all things, and We are mighty over that. Therefore, grieve not even to the extent of a mustard seed, for We are thy helpers. Place thy trust in God, thy Lord, the All-Merciful, the Most Compassionate. Whatsoever thou beholdest of joy, say: This is from God, the Most High, the Most Great. And whatsoever thou beholdest other than this, seek refuge with God from those who believe not in God, the Most High, the All-Bountiful.

Verily God hath created for thee in Paradise that which He hath created for none among all the worlds, and hath ordained for thee in all the heavens that which He hath ordained for none among all the worlds. All this is through God’s favor upon thee and upon those who recognize God their Lord, then believe in and are assured of His signs. Say: God will assuredly make thee manifest upon the earth and all that is thereon by His command, and God is, in truth, powerful over that. Say: God will assuredly exalt thee upon the earth and all that is thereon by His word, and God is, in truth, powerful over that. Say: God will assuredly cause thee to triumph over the earth and all that is thereon, and God is, in truth, invincible over that.

Say: God will assuredly grant thee dominion over all things, and God is, in truth, supreme over that. Say: God will assuredly subjugate all things unto thee, and God is, in truth, sovereign over that. Therefore grieve not over anything, for We are in truth filled with joy. Guard thyself that no sorrow return unto thee, for this is God’s command unto thee and unto all believers. Say: God will assuredly assist Him Whom God shall make manifest with the hosts of the heavens and earth and whatsoever lieth between them, and God is mighty, invincible. Say: Should all who are in the heavens and earth and whatsoever lieth between them gather together to produce the like of that Being, they would never be able nor would they have power, even were they all to aid one another.

Such was the creation of the Bayan in the Book of God. Are ye then able to oppose it? Watch over yourselves in the days of God, for ye shall surely be tested. Say: God will assuredly make manifest Him Whom God shall make manifest even as He made manifest Muhammad, the Messenger of God, aforetime and made manifest ʿAli before Muhammad thereafter, howsoever He pleaseth by His command. Verily He hath power over all things. Say: If ye desire to behold all the Messengers in the countenance of God, and if ye desire to see all the Books in the Book of God, and if ye desire to attain unto all good from God, and if ye desire to know the names of God and His attributes—ye who believe in Him Whom God shall make manifest shall know, then shall love.

Say: Were the creation of the Bayan not complete, God would not make Him manifest. Do ye not see? And all that appeareth before His manifestation are proofs that there is no God but Him, and all are His worshippers. Say: God hath created naught save for the day of His manifestation. Do ye then withhold from God, his Lord, anything? He it is Who aided you with His help and sent down unto you clear verses wherein is guidance and glad tidings for those who believe in God and then in His names. Say: The eyes shall never comprehend God, yet He is the One, the All-Seeing. Say: God comprehendeth all things, and He is the One, the All-Perceiving. Say: God is the Unseen, the Inaccessible, the Most Exalted.

All that hath known Him or shall know Him—that is what the Messengers have proclaimed from His presence, that there is no God but Me, the Protecting, the Self-Subsisting. Say: All that the Messengers have brought, they have spoken from God that there is no God but Me, the Mighty, the Best-Beloved. Even if they were calling unto themselves, how many gods do ye then witness? Say: Glory be to God! All are servants of God and there is no God but God. All were created from clay and unto clay shall all return. All have declared: We worship none but God, the Lord of the heavens and the Lord of the earth, the Lord of the visible and invisible, Lord of all the worlds.

God hath chosen us for Himself that we may summon all unto Him and recite the verses of God from His presence, and we all bow down before Him.

Say: He is the First before all things; through Him are all created. Say: He is the Last after all things; through Him are all sustained. Say: He is the Outward above all things; through Him do all die. Say: He is the Inward beneath all things; through Him are all made alive. Say: He is the Powerful over all things; through Him are all brought into being. Say: He is the Powerful over all things, and all are submissive to Him. Say: He is the Almighty above all things, and through Him do all prevail. Say: He is the Most Glorious above all things, and through Him are all made victorious.

Blessed be God, the Lord Inaccessible, Invincible! Blessed be God, the Sovereign All-Powerful, Ancient! Blessed be God, the Ruler Supreme, Most High! Blessed be God, the Mighty One, Most Strong! Blessed be God, the Judge All-Wise, Most Sage! Blessed be God, the Holy One Most Pure, Most Sacred! Blessed be God, the Resplendent, Most Luminous! Blessed be God, the Majestic, Most August! Blessed be God, the Beauteous, Most Comely! Blessed be God, the Greatest, Most Supreme! Blessed be God, the Light-Giving, Most Radiant! Blessed be God, the Merciful, Most Compassionate! Blessed be God, the Lofty, Most Elevated! Blessed be God, the Magnificent, Most Sublime! Blessed be God, the Originator, Most Wondrous! Blessed be God, the Glorious, Most Excellent! Blessed be God, the Manifest, Most Evident!

Blessed be God, the Subduer, Most Compelling! Blessed be God, the Victorious, Most Mighty! Blessed be God, the Great, Most Eminent! Blessed be God, the Powerful, Most Strong! Blessed be God, the All-Knowing, Most Wise! Blessed be God, the Ancient, Most Enduring! Blessed be God, the Bountiful, Most Generous! Blessed be God, the Gracious, Most Kind! Blessed be God, the Adorner, Most Beauteous! Blessed be God, the Attractor, Most Alluring! Blessed be God, the Inaccessible, Most Impregnable! Blessed be God, the Noble, Most Distinguished! Blessed be God, the Well-Pleased, Most Content! Blessed be God, the Exalted, Most High!

This is the Path of God for all who are in the heavens and on the earth and whatsoever lieth between them—all are guided by Him. This is the Help of God for all who are in the heavens and on the earth and whatsoever lieth between them—all are aided through Him. This is the Victory of God for all who are in the heavens and on the earth and whatsoever lieth between them—all are made victorious through Him. This is God’s sovereignty over all who are in the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them—through it all exercise sovereignty. This is God’s dominion over all who are in the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them—say: through it all exert dominion.

This is God’s manifestation over all who are in the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them—say: through it all become manifest. This is God’s victory over all who are in the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them—say: through it all achieve victory. This is God’s power over all who are in the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them—say: through it all wield power. This is He Who shall be made manifest on the Day of Resurrection. Will ye not, then, believe in God and His signs? Say: He Who hath been made manifest and He Who shall be made manifest—if ye look at their outward appearance. Say: He Who hath been made manifest and He Who shall be made manifest—if ye look at their inward reality.

Say: He Who hath been made manifest and He Who shall be made manifest—if ye look at their beginning. Say: He Who hath been made manifest and He Who shall be made manifest—if ye look at their end. Say: He Who hath been made manifest and He Who shall be made manifest—if ye look at their speaking. Say: He Who hath been made manifest and He Who shall be made manifest—if ye look at their power. Say: He Who hath been made manifest and He Who shall be made manifest—if ye look at their loftiness. Say: All Who have been made manifest from a beginning that hath no beginning and all Who shall be made manifest unto an end that hath no end—behold ye Me in them.

Say: All Who have been made manifest from a beginning that hath no beginning and all Who shall be made manifest unto an end that hath no end—do ye worship any but God in them? And there is no God but God—we all worship Him. Therefore, exalt ye the station of that Letter and make mention of it to the number of the letter Ha in every night and day, that ye may be guided by it in the next Resurrection. And if ye make mention after the mention of the two Words to the number of the Living, this shall suffice you instead of that, for God desireth to make your religion spacious unto you, that ye may be thankful. And whoso is veiled from the number of Ha, upon him shall be binding the number of Ha, perchance the Zero that hath no equal, that ye may be God-fearing and not be veiled.

And if ye forget, God will not question you about it, even if ye remain veiled throughout your lives. But after ye have remembered, then remember ye. Then give thanks unto God.

Mode of prayers

In the name of God, the Most Splendid, the Most Splendid

Glory be unto Thee, O my God! I and all things bear witness that Thou art God, that there is no God but Thee, alone with no partner. Thine is the Kingdom and the celestial dominion, Thine the might and the divine power, Thine the strength and the heavenly domain, Thine the force and sovereignty, Thine the earthly realm and grandeur, Thine the countenance and perfection, Thine the likeness and the examples, Thine the stations and the glory, Thine the mercy and bounty, Thine the sovereignty and justice, Thine the likeness and the examples, Thine the stations and the glory, Thine the honor and invincibility, Thine the power and exaltation, Thine the grandeur and independence, Thine the majesty and sublimity, Thine the joy and gladness, Thine the dominion and authority.

Thine is whatsoever Thou hast loved or wilt love in the kingdom of Thy Cause and creation. All things have ever been in Thy grasp, and within Thy mighty hand lies everything.

All shall worship Thee according to Thy true oneness, all shall prostrate themselves before Thee according to Thy true unity, all shall glorify Thee according to Thy true singleness, all shall sanctify Thee according to Thy true glory, all shall exalt Thee according to Thy true essence, all shall beautify Thee according to Thy true being, all shall aid Thee according to Thy true victory, all shall strengthen Thee according to Thy true self-subsistence, all shall empower Thee according to Thy true sovereignty, all shall render Thee sovereign according to Thy true eternity. None besides Thee can be manifest so as to be known thereby, nor can any besides Thee be hidden so as to be described thereby.

Glory be unto Thee! Glory be unto Thee! Thou art too exalted and glorious to be known through any but Thyself, too lofty and inaccessible to be described by Thy servants. Rather, all that is known is known through Thy knowledge, and all that is described is described through Thy description. Therefore, I praise Thee for having made Thyself known to us with true praise, for who could know Thee hadst Thou not made Thyself known? And I thank Thee for having shown us Thy radiance, for who could witness Thee and what Thou art, hadst Thou not shown us?

Glorified and exalted art Thou! All names are signs of Thy Will, yet Thou art sanctified above all Thy names. All examples are signs of Thy Purpose, yet Thou art exalted above all Thy examples. Thou hast made Thyself known to Thy creation through Thy Word, and thereby have the dwellers of Thy paradise come to know Thee, and through this they have recognized Thee as manifest above all things, triumphant over all things, sanctified above the sanctity of all things, exalted above the exaltation of all things, powerful above the power of all things, sovereign above the sovereignty of all things, and manifest above the manifestation of all things.

Praise be unto Thee, with true praise, for having made us among the dwellers of the paradise of Thy knowledge and the guides to Thy love and glory. Glory be unto Thee for having inspired us with Thy remembrance and praise, and for having shown us Thy love and good-pleasure. All this is from Thee, belongs to Thee, exists through Thee, and returns to Thee alone. There is no God but Thee. None besides Thee is sought after, none except Thee is worshipped, none but Thee is praised, none other than Thee is adored.

Thou art the First, O my God, and there is naught before Thee. Thou art the Last, O my Beloved, and there is naught after Thee. Thou art the Manifest, O my Desired One, and there is naught above Thee. Thou art the Hidden, O my Worshipped One, and there is naught besides Thee. Thou hast created all things from nothing by Thy power, and Thou hast provided for all things, not through any other thing; and by Thy purpose hast Thou caused all things to die, not through any other thing; and by Thy mercy hast Thou brought all things to life, not through any other thing. Through Thee have I known Thee, O my God, not through aught else, for all else is Thy creation. How then can that which is created comprehend Thee?

Through Thee have I recognized Thy oneness, not through aught else besides Thee, for all else is Thy creation. How then can it be a pathway to the sovereignty of Thy oneness and the kingdom of Thy singleness?

Glorified and exalted art Thou! Through Thee have I known Thee, and there is none known but Thee. Through Thee have I described Thee, and there is none described but Thee. Through Thee have I loved Thee, and there is none beloved but Thee. Through Thee have I turned towards Thee, and there is none desired but Thee. Through Thee have I sought Thee, and there is none sought but Thee.

Thy signs are Thy creation—how then can I know Thee through them when Thou hast created them and their meanings? Thy words are a sign of Thy power—Thou hast brought them into being, so how can I attest to Thy oneness through them? Thy attractions are an expression of Thy mercy—how then can I proclaim Thy unity through them? Thy tokens are but designs from the designs of Thy dominion—how then can I sanctify Thee through them? Thy manifestations are but words from the words of Thy creation—how then can I glorify Thee through them?

Far be it from Thee that anything should know Thee save through Thee! Glory be to Thee that anything should love Thee save through Thee! Sanctified art Thou that anything should draw nigh unto Thee save through Thee! Thou hast ever been the Ancient One in the sovereignty of might and majesty, and Thou wilt ever remain the Creator, the Wondrous, in the kingdom of glory and beauty.

All, O my God, worship Thee; all proclaim Thy unity; all describe Thee; all praise Thee; all long to behold Thy countenance and seek Thy good pleasure; all turn toward Thee through the lights of Thy face; all manifest Thy will through the exaltation of Thy sovereignty; all elevate Thy purpose through the invincibility of Thy words.

I testify, and all things testify, that everything to which the name of a thing can be applied, from the beginning that hath no beginning to the end that hath no end, are Thy servants, prostrate before Thy face, humble before Thy Being, thankful for Thy presence, praising Thy countenance, submissive to Thy Lordship, and lowly before Thy divinity. There is nothing that doth not sanctify Thy Being, glorify Thy remembrance, magnify Thy holiness, extol Thy might, revere Thy grandeur, proclaim Thy singleness, and honor Thy transcendence.

Thou art He Who hath ever been eternally ancient and will ever remain wondrously new. Thou begettest not nor wast Thou begotten, and there is none like unto Thee, none to compare with Thee, none equal to Thee, none to rival Thee, none to resemble Thee.

Glorified and exalted art Thou! How can I praise Thee, O my God, with the highest forms of praise when these are but creations in Thy dominion? How can I praise Thee with the most excellent degrees of glory when these are but attributes in Thy kingdom? Glory be to Thee! Sanctified, resplendent, majestic, beauteous, mighty, and luminous art Thou! Were it not that Thou hadst made Thyself known to Thy creation, who would know Thee? And were it not that Thou hadst sent down Thy signs, who would be guided by Thy guidance? Were it not for Thy assistance to Thy Faith, who would be able to raise up Thy Cause? Were it not for the perfection of Thy handiwork, who would be capable of perpetuating Thy remembrance? Glory be unto Thee and exalted art Thou!

Send Thy blessings upon Him Whom Thou shalt manifest on the Day of Resurrection through Thy power over all things, with all Thy most resplendent Glory, and with all Thy most exalted Majesty, and with all Thy most beauteous Beauty, and with all Thy most supreme Greatness, and with all Thy most luminous Light, and with all Thy most expansive Mercy, and with all Thy most perfect Words, and with all Thy most noble Signs, and with all Thy most great Names, and with all Thy most mighty Power, and with all Thy most effectual Will, and with all Thy most penetrating Knowledge, and with all Thy most prevailing Might, and with all Thy most pleasing Utterance, and with all Thy most noble Honor, and with all Thy most enduring Sovereignty, and with all Thy most glorious Dominion, and with all Thy most elevated Loftiness, and with all Thy most bountiful Generosity, and with all Thy most impregnable Gifts, and with all Thy most victorious Aid, and with all Thy most manifest Triumph, and with all Thy most powerful Attraction, and with all Thy most sublime Praise, and with all Thy most wondrous Innovation, and with all Thy most evident Manifestation, and with all Thy most perfect Protection, and with all Thy most complete Guardianship, and with all Thy most great Care, and with all Thy most exalted Shelter, and with all Thy most resplendent Authority, and with all Thy most compassionate Kindness, and with all Thy most glorious Might, and with all Thy most merciful Clemency, and with all that pertaineth unto Thee of Thy most excellent Names and Thy most exalted Attributes.

Verily nothing escapeth Thy knowledge and nothing is beyond Thy power. Thou hast ever been the Knower of all things and the Possessor of might over all things.

O my God! Thou shalt manifest in the Bayan a mirror of Thy Self and a dawning-place of Thine Essence, and Thou shalt make it the dayspring of Thy sanctity in Thine ultimacy and the orient of Thy subsistence in Thy primacy, the repository of Thine eternity in Thy visibility and the stronghold of Thine everlastingness in Thy concealment. O God! Make it, by Thy might, a glory unto them that are in the Bayan, and by Thy bounty, a treasure unto them that dwell in that Paradise. Thou hast created me, O my God, and manifested me through the name of Thy Gates in that number of 4. Therefore, O God, create through each one mirrors unattainable that tell of Thine Essence and crystals exalted that indicate Thy Oneness.

Then Thou didst remove from me that garment and elevate me beyond that sublime horizon and manifest me in the proofs of Thy authority and the names of Thy unity. Therefore, O God, create in every year for each one mirrors unattainable and crystals exalted that tell of Thy Self with all the conditions of Thy power and the manifestations of Thy might, until Thou dost raise me above the station of martyrdom and cause me to enter the gardens Thou didst create before authority and make to shine before guidance. O God!

Create there mirrors unattainable and raise me, O God, above that and establish me in Thy station and show me the number of the Living Ones as pure mirrors and exalted crystals, all reflecting the reflection of Thy Countenance and telling of the manifestation of Thy Face and shining with the dawning-places of Thine eternity and gleaming with the lightning-flashes of Thine everlastingness and revealing the daysprings of Thy Self-Subsistence and the wonders of the traces of Thy Oneness and the conditions of the sanctity of Thy Self-Subsistence and the attractions of the nearness of Thy Holiness and the signs of the glory of Thy Perpetuity and the tokens of the might of Thy Singleness and that which beseemeth Thee of bounty, O Thou Possessor of Glory and Splendor, and of grace and bestowal, O Thou Possessor of Holiness and Sublimity!

Praise be unto Thee, O my God, for mirrors Thou hast revealed, the crystals Thou hast manifested, the essences Thou hast caused to shine forth, the beings Thou hast adorned, and the pure ones Thou hast exalted. Here am I, O my God, unable to render due thanks for this glorious gift and mighty bestowal, nor can I, O my Beloved, offer befitting gratitude for these reflecting mirrors and crystalline surfaces. Therefore, O Lord, protect them by Thy power from being touched by sorrow, and send down upon them through Thy knowledge that which will gladden them. Cause, O Lord, the tongue of their essence to speak the words of Thy glory, and the tongue of their nature to utter the verses of Thy oneness.

Make their being, O Lord, to bring forth the pearls of the ocean of Thy singleness, and cleave their ruby essence that the waters of Thy singular manifestations may flow therefrom, that they may witness no sorrow in Thy realm but behold all joy from Thee and from all Thy creation.

Rear them, O Lord, in the highest heights of Thy education, and gladden their eyes with that which will satisfy their hearts, and beyond what will satisfy their hearts, from Thee and from all Thy creatures. Exalt, O Lord, the influence of their pens to the loftiest degree possible in Thy knowledge and the most glorious attainable in Thy dominion. Send down upon them, O Lord, all Thy goodness and mercy, and preserve them from any love save Thy love and the good-pleasure of Thy oneness.

Send down, O Lord, upon them and upon their parents and their siblings and their near kindred that which will guide them by their guidance, elevate them by their exaltation, and cause them to praise Thee in the watches of the night and the ends of the day through their radiance. Remove, O Lord, from all Thy creation whatsoever might sadden their souls, for these are fruits Thou hast taken from that Tree.

Praise be unto Thee, O my God, for this glorious fruit, and glory be unto Thee, O my Beloved, for this mighty gift. This is one of the first cycles of My manifestation. Glorified art Thou! There is no God but Thee. Verily, Thou art the Most Holy of the holy ones.

Show forth, O Lord, through Thy power the numbers of the letter Ha, and choose from among the crystals of Thy creation through Thy all-encompassing knowledge, and manifest unto them through themselves with the prevailing might of Thy singleness, that thereby may be quickened the remembrance of Him Who quickened the Furqan and then the Bayan, through Thy grandeur. Verily, O my God, nothing escapeth Thy knowledge, whether in the heavens or on the earth or between them, and nothing can frustrate Thee, whether in the kingdom of command or creation or whatsoever is beneath them.

Therefore, O Lord, send blessings upon these mirrors with every good that Thy knowledge encompasseth, and ordain, O Lord, in that Gate the mention of the letter Ha, the elevation of its seat, the inaccessibility of its remembrance and word, and inspire all to mention it night and day to the number of Ha, that none may be veiled from Thy commandments. And whosoever is veiled, though cognizant of Thy Cause, upon him shall be incumbent from Thy Book the number of Ha in most resplendent gold. And as for the Prophet—verily Thou art too exalted and sweet to ask anyone. Glorified art Thou! There is no God but Thee. Verily, Thou art the Best of rememberers.

Mode of sermons

In the name of God, the Most Splendid, the Most Splendid

Praise be to God Who hath adorned the essences of all praise with the ornament of His ornate adornment, and hath caused the realities of all essence to shine forth through the effulgence of the dawning-places of His radiant splendor, and hath caused the simple essences to appear through the rising-places of the wondrous, sublime and inaccessible glory of His sanctified transcendence, and hath manifested the lights of all beings through the appearances of the signs of His divine Unity.

I praise Him with such praise as none before Me hath praised Him, nor shall anyone after Me praise Him—praise that hath dawned and illumined, shone forth and radiated, glowed and beamed forth, risen and blazed forth, shone and ascended, gleamed and became inaccessible. Praise of radiance possessed of brilliance, of lightning possessed of flashing, of twilight possessed of glowing, of ascent possessed of rising, of companionship possessed of association, of truth possessed of yearning, of separation possessed of parting, of verification possessed of confirming, of cleaving possessed of splitting, of creation possessed of originating, of vanishing possessed of passing away, of derivation possessed of springing forth.

Praise adorned with ornament, mighty with glory, treasured with abundance, preserved with safekeeping, honored with pride, favored with bounty, illumined with light, fashioned with creation, purified with sanctity, exalted with grandeur, manifest with appearance, victorious with triumph, watchful with observation, informed with knowledge, beloved with affection, forgiving with pardon, striving with effort, concealed with secrecy, righteous with virtue.

Praise that filleth all the heavens with the dawning-places of the glory of His inaccessibility, and the earth and whatsoever is thereon with the lightning-flashes of the holiness of His transcendence, and whatsoever is between them with the manifestations of the might of His majesty, and whatsoever is beneath them with the mysteries of the sanctity of His grace. Praise that filleth all paradise with the lights of the revelations of His countenance, and the heavenly realm and whatsoever is therein with the manifestations of the might of His grandeur, and those who dwell in the Most Exalted Horizon with the dawning-places of His holy adornment, and those who abide in the Supreme Horizon with the wonders of the glory of His eternity.

A praise that is pleasing and well-pleasing, and an exaltation that is lofty and sublime, bearing witness unto that which God hath testified concerning His own Self, that verily there is none other God but Him. He was an Eternal Mystery and an Everlasting Manifestation, a Glorious Sovereign and an Exalted King, a Resplendent Beauty and a Magnificent Glory, a Gracious Essence and a Mighty Being, an Illuminating Light and a Great Grandeur, a Powerful Might and a Perfect Wholeness, a Universal Knowledge and a Mighty Power, a Content Pleasure and a Lofty Height, an August Majesty and a Mighty Dominion, a Supreme Sovereignty and a Transcendent Exaltation.

May all attain unto the summit of the glory of their Beloved, and may all reach the source of the might of their Goal. May all speak in praise of the loftiness of His novel adornment and His Purpose, and the splendor of the attraction of His grandeur and His Praised One. May all things give voice to the truth of His praise—praise ornate and adorned, splendor radiant and illumined, glory lofty and exalted, gratitude manifest and evident, glory enduring and everlasting.

His firstness indicateth the firstness of His creation, His lastness the lastness of His origination, His outwardness the outwardness of His manifestation, His inwardness the inwardness of His nurture.

Praise through which victory descendeth like pouring rain and filleth the atmosphere of earth and heaven with triumph like an encompassing cloud, and filleth the kingdom of the heavens with exalted manifestation and the kingdom of the earth with overwhelming power, and what lieth between them with overwhelming majesty, and what lieth beneath them with conquering might, and whatsoever existeth in the creation of the First and the Last, the Outward and the Inward, with balanced might and surpassing victory, and perfect grandeur and complete favor, until all the atoms of existence, from the kingdom of origin and the unseen, praise the divine tree for bearing the sublime and eternal fruit, and the heavenly tree for bringing forth eternal and ornate leaves, and the tree of divine oneness for growing novel and eternal branches, and the tree of unity for adorning the pristine camphor-like garden, and the nightingale of divinity for singing melodies of divine essence, and the peacock of might for chanting the most glorious and attractive songs, and the dove of the kingdom for soaring in the atmosphere of holy sanctity and ruby-like manifestation with exalted and attractive qualities, and the cock of the Throne at noontide for spreading its wings adorned with glory and grandeur, until all are attracted by the first call that “There is no God but Me, the Guardian, the Self-Subsisting” and all are elevated by the first manifestation that “There is no God but God, I am the Mighty, the Beloved.”

Indeed, thus does the tree of oneness bear fruit, and the countenance of the Lord become manifest, and the face of the Eternal shine forth, and the essence of divinity be exalted, and the crystal of divinity gleam, and the mirrors of holiness reflect.

For verily it is resplendent, made radiant through the twofold Baha, through splendour and splendours, through luminous ones and luminosities; and it is majestic, robed in the twofold Jalal, through glory and glorifications, through august ones and majesties; and it is beautiful, adorned with the twofold Jamal, through loveliness and harmonies, through fair ones and beauties; and it is exalted, magnified by the twofold Azamah, through greatness and grandeurs, through mighty ones and magnitudes; and it is illumined, irradiated by the twofold Nur, through light and effulgences, through radiant ones and illuminations; and it is sovereign, empowered by the twofold Sultan, through dominion and authorities, through rulers and sovereignties; and it is possessed, endowed by the twofold Mulk, through kingship and realms, through possessors and possessions; and it is exalted on high, raised by the twofold Ulu, through loftiness and sublimities, through exalted ones and elevations; and it is ennobled, honored by the twofold Sharaf, through nobility and distinctions, through the noble and the dignities; and it is beloved, cheriitd by the twofold Hubb, through love and affections, through lovers and endearments; and it is well-pleased, satisfied through the twofold Rida, through contentment and approvals, through the well-pleased and satisfactions; and it is empowered, made potent through the twofold Qudrah, through might and capacities, through the powerful and powers; and it is knowing, instructed by the twofold Ilm, through knowledge and sciences, through the learned and knowings; and it is mighty, fortified by the twofold Izzah, through glory and strengths, through the exalted and honours; and it is boastful, glorying in the twofold Fakhr, through pride and distinctions, through the proud and excellences; and it is secure, entrusted through the twofold Amanah, through trust and fidelities, through the faithful and securities; and it is commanding, enjoined by the twofold Amr, through authority and commandership, through rulers and ordinances; and it is judging, establiitd by the twofold Hukm, through judgment and wisdom, through judges and decrees; and it is vested, burdened by the twofold Wizar, through ministry and stewardship, through ministers and offices; and it is great, magnified by the twofold Kibr, through grandeur and magnitudes, through the great and greatnesses; and it is perfected, completed by the twofold Kamal, through perfection and consummations, through the perfect and completions; and it is fulfilled, brought to fullness by the twofold Tamam, through completion and plenitude, through the complete and fulfillments; and it is merciful, encompassed by the twofold Rahmah, through mercy and compassions, through the merciful and mercies; and it is manifest, made evident through the twofold Taharah, through purity and clarities, through the pure and purifications; and it is victorious, aided by the twofold Nasr, through victory and triumphs, through helpers and victories; and it is opened, inaugurated by the twofold Fath, through openings and unveilings, through openers and openings; and it is overpowering, subduing by the twofold Qahr, through dominion and compulsions, through conquerors and overpowerings; and it is prevailing, triumphant through the twofold Ghalabah, through victory and ascendancies, through victors and triumphs; and it is succored, aided by the twofold Ghiyath, through help and succour, through helpers and deliverances; and it is sanctified, purified by the twofold Nazahah, through sanctity and pureness, through the pure and purities; and it is enriched, made independent through the twofold Ghina, through wealth and sufficiency, through the rich and abundances; and it is adorned, ornamented by the twofold Tiraz, through adornment and vestures, through the adorned and adornments; and it is drawn, attracted by the twofold Jadhb, through attraction and rapture, through the drawn and attractions; and it is sanctified, hallowed by the twofold Qudus, through holiness and sanctifications, through the holy and sanctities; and it is nurtured, sustained by the twofold Rububiyyah, through lordship and upholding, through the nurturers and nurturances; and it is deified, made divine by the twofold Uluhiyyah, through godhood and divinities, through the divine and godheads—all this by the command of God and His good-pleasure.

Yet notwithstanding all this, it, in its very Being, is self-sufficient; by its Essence, exalted beyond need; by its Selfhood, inaccessible and impregnable; by its Identity, supremely transcendent; by its Substance, all-dominating; by its Abstraction, all-possessing; by its Simplicity, all-powerful; by its Camphor-purity, all-resplendent; by its Firstness, all-majestic; by its Lastness, all-beautiful and all-bearing; by its Outwardness, all-perfected; by its Inwardness, all-justly-balanced; by its Nearness, all-magnified; by its Remoteness, all-honoured; by its Loftiness, all-glorified and all-mighty; by its Lowliness, all-preceding; by its Command, all-decisive; by its Remembrance, all-foremost; by its Verses, all-divinized; by its Words, all-nurturing; by its Manifestations, all-attracting; by its States, all-gentling; by its Emanations, all-compassionate; by its Totality, all-victorious; by its Particularity, all-subduing; by its Holiness, all-prevailing; and by its Self-Subsistence, all-upright and all-enduring.

Blessed be God for this majestic and exalted Rising One, this noble and transcendent Dawning One, whom God has made a glory for all who are created and shall be created, a treasure for all who are fashioned and shall be fashioned, a victory for all who exist and shall exist, a triumph for all who are sustained and shall be sustained, a refuge for all who perish and shall perish, a support for all who are proven and shall be proven, and a light for all who are created and shall be created.

Therefore let all things praise God for this most resplendent Rising One, this most exalted Dawning One, this most impregnable Stronghold, this most manifest Victory, this most glorious Triumph, this most splendid Glory, this most magnificent Majesty, this most beauteous Beauty, this most mighty Might, this most brilliant Light, this most perfect Perfection, this most great Grandeur, this most powerful Power, this most mighty Might, this most pleasing Good-pleasure, this most beloved Love, this most noble Honor, this most radiant Radiance, this most gleaming Gleam, this most sovereign Authority, this most wise Wisdom, this most dominant Dominion, this most transcendent Transcendence, this most bountiful Bounty, this most just Justice, this most ancient Ancient, this most eternal Eternal.

And let them adorn it with the ornament of longing and devotion, and gladden it with the gladness of joy and delight, that the fire of its heart may not be stilled, nor the air of its spirit congeal, nor the water of its soul become stagnant, nor the earth of its body be extinguished. For this is a glorious essence, a spiritual reality, an ornamental being, and a divine identity, like unto pure crystalline glass which, when it faces the sun, reflects the sun’s image and speaks with its tongue and tells of all that pertains to it and proceeds from it and returns to it.

And its likeness is as a bird that desires to emerge from its shell—therefore raise it upon the wings of your love, support it with the breezes of your affection, and preserve it from all that would make stagnant the water of its love within itself, or imprison the air of its devotion in its essence, or extinguish the fire of its nearness in its being, or scatter the dust of its attraction in its reality. Therefore give thanks to God for this blessed and felicitous Rising One, and praise God for this blessed and praiseworthy Dawning One, and beseech God to make you mirrors like these mirrors, and to adorn utterance with the ornament of such mirrors.

Look not upon it except with the eye of divine manifestation, for verily He, exalted and mighty is He, has no likeness, no equal, no peer, no companion, no similitude. Look upon it with the eye of God, exalted be His glory, and love the manifestations of God, mighty be His power, and purify your essential realities that the Sun of Truth may be reflected therein. For the mirrors of all things, were they to face the Sun of Utterance, would reflect what these mirrors reflect and would show forth what these crystalline substances show forth.

Therefore watch for the Day of Resurrection and learn from this wondrous fruit and eternal ornament how its reality became so pure that it faced the Divine Sun and reflected its verses, its signs, its attributes and its evidences, to such degree that it will desire naught save what God desires, and ordain naught save what God hath ordained, and decree naught save what God hath decreed, and permit naught save what God hath permitted, and defer naught save what God hath deferred, and inscribe naught save what God hath inscribed. For this is a glory unto Him Whom God shall make manifest on the Day of Resurrection, and an honor unto them who are in the Bayan until the Hour shall strike, and a treasure and nobility unto them who are in that Paradise until God shall renew the Resurrection.

And if, ere the creation of that Manifestation be complete, God doth not renew your creation, then draw ye nigh unto Him through your love and devotion and His good-pleasure and His command, through the exaltation of His Word and the invincibility of His Cause. And ye shall enjoy in that Paradise what no eye hath seen, nor ear heard, nor mind conceived. For all this is of God’s bounty and His grace, God’s bestowal and His favor. And ye shall observe the resplendent Mirrors after the Dawning-place of Holiness for the divine and eternal Point. And ye shall remember in that Name the mention of that Letter, night and day, to the number of “Ha”.

And if ye recite the verse wherein mention is made of the Two Words to the number of the Unity, and remember therein the mention of the Living One, this shall suffice you as a bounty from God your Lord and a grace from God bestowed upon you. And verily God loveth that the station of that Letter be exalted, that it may serve as a proof for the Day of Him Whom God shall make manifest and as a path for whosoever desireth to attain unto the presence of God. And if ye be veiled, then the number of “Ha” shall be binding upon you, perchance ye may turn yellow. And if ye forget, God will not question you concerning that, that ye may be God-fearing in His commandments and in His prohibitions.

Mode of commentary

In the name of God, the Most Splendid, the Most Splendid

Praise be to God, Who is none other than He, the Most Glorious, the Most Glorious! Indeed, the Glory from God is upon Him Whom God shall make manifest, and then upon His chosen ones in the latter and former days. I bear witness that God, glorified be He, cannot be described by the attributes of His creation, nor characterized by the qualities of His servants, nor indicated by the signs of contingent beings, nor perceived through the essences of existing things. He, exalted and glorified be He, is far too glorious and mighty to be known through aught else but Himself or to be described by any save Him. Rather, all are known through Him and all are described by Him.

Indeed, were He not to manifest Himself to the Messengers through their own selves, how could thou know God, thy Lord, become aware of His commandments, be honored by His good-pleasure, be ennobled by His guidance, and take pride in His words? Therefore, I bear witness that authority proceeds from God without any being deserving it, and grace originates with God without any thing being worthy of it.

God, exalted and mighty be He, has ever been a hidden Mystery, inaccessible, elevated, sovereign, effulgent, majestic, great, and luminous. His are all the most beautiful names, and His are all the most exalted attributes. He cannot be known in His essence nor worshipped in His Reality.

Whatever appears among contingent beings are but signs of His creation, and whatever comes into existence among all things are but lights of His invention. Exalted, exalted be the glory of His grandeur above all similarity and comparison! Exalted, exalted be the majesty of His oneness above all likeness and forms!

He, exalted and mighty be He, has ever been eternal in the eternity of eternities. He begets not, nor is He begotten, nor is He joined with anything. He, exalted and mighty be He, will forever remain ancient in the sanctuary of might and majesty, and will forever continue to be what He has always been. His knowledge encompasses all contingent things, and His power extends over all existing beings.

He is as He is—none knows Him save He Himself. He is as He is—none describes Him save He Himself. He is as He is—none characterizes Him save He Himself. He is as He is—none worships Him save He Himself. He is as He is—none sanctifies Him save He Himself. He is as He is—none glorifies Him save He Himself. He is as He is—none magnifies Him save He Himself. He is as He is—none unifies Him save He Himself. None exalts Him save He Himself. None loves Him save He Himself. He is as He is—none empowers Him save He Himself. He is as He is—none causes Him to reign save He Himself.

First while being Last, and Hidden while being Manifest, Near while being Far, and Far while being Near—nearer to all things through His Self than they are to themselves, and more subtle than all things in His Essence by His Essence. Places do not encompass Him, nor can the most profound mysteries perceive Him. He has ever been All-Encompassing in His knowledge of what He has created and will create, and All-Seeing regarding what He has brought forth and will bring forth. He hears the voice of all things and sees from the most exalted heights to the lowest atom.

He is Subtle where subtlety cannot be ascribed, All-Informed where being informed cannot be ascribed, All-Powerful where power cannot be ascribed, All-Knowing where knowledge cannot be ascribed, All-Glorious where glory cannot be ascribed, All-Wise where wisdom cannot be ascribed, Most Great where greatness cannot be ascribed, All-Beautiful where beauty cannot be ascribed, Most Magnificent where magnificence cannot be ascribed, and All-Luminous where luminosity cannot be ascribed, eternity where no eternity can define it, justice where no justice can characterize it, existence where no existence can portray it, nearness where no nearness can depict it, and remoteness where no remoteness can express it.

He originates all things and causes their return, creates all things and then brings them into being, sustains all things and then causes them to perish, causes all things to die and then elevates them, gives life to all things and then preserves them, and generates all things from all things when He willeth through His Will. He hath ever been praised in all His doings and sought after in all His attributes. His act is justice, His decree is truth, His execution is grace, and His ordainment is equity. He hath never desired for anything save its manifestation through the ocean of His bounty and generosity and the surging waves of His grace and favor. Were He to decree justice for anything, nothing would remain steadfast.

Exalted, exalted is His station above withholding His grace from anything or being veiled from any of His creation. He, glorified and exalted be He, is sanctified above all that contingent beings have described and elevated beyond all that existing things have characterized. If thou sayest “He is He,” the letter “H” indicateth the concealed glory, which is an attribute for proving His oneness, while the letter “W” is a sign of the exaltation of His self-subsistence. These are attributes of proof, majesty, grace, independence, and perfection, and they, in their essence, demonstrate the sovereignty of His oneness, the dominion of His singleness, the emblems of His uniqueness, the antiquity of His glory, and the sanctity of His bounty.

All that hath been described or I describe, and all that hath been characterized by anything or will be characterized—He, glorified and exalted be He, hath created it and brought it into being. How then can He be known through it? Therefore, when thou desirest to know Him, know the Manifestation of His Self in every Revelation, for this is the most glorious veil of God, the most exalted pavilion of God, the most excellent embroidery of God, and the most enduring light of God. Thou hast no way to know Him or to attain His good-pleasure except through the Manifestations of His Revelation in every Dispensation.

In every Revelation, God shineth forth through the Manifestation of His Self as He pleaseth, then through him upon others as He willeth.

When thou hearest of the appearance of Him Whom God shall make manifest on the Day of Resurrection, hasten thou alive unto His good-pleasure, then hasten alive unto His exaltation, then unto His majesty, then unto His beauty, then unto His grandeur, then unto His light, then unto His loftiness, then unto His might, then unto His glory, then unto His dominion, then unto His power, then unto His mercy, then unto His loving-kindness, then unto His victory, then unto His authority, then unto His guidance, then unto His holiness, then unto His triumph, then unto His omnipotence, then unto His supremacy, then unto His manifestation, then unto His presence, then unto all the goodly names befitting the sublimity of His holy might and the exaltation of His glorious majesty.

For verily, all that thou hast done in thy religion was for this purpose, and all that thou doest in thy life is for this end. Therefore, from the beginning of every Revelation, thou shouldst find contentment in God, exalted be His glory, to establish that Revelation until the next Revelation. Be thou assured that had the first Revelation not perfected its creation, God would not have brought forth the next Revelation. And thou shalt witness in every Revelation impregnable mirrors and exalted crystals. These are, from God, glorified be His praise, ornaments of that Revelation, signs of that inward reality, exaltations for the dwellers of that paradise, and glories for the inhabitants of that heaven.

Bear thou witness that the likeness of every Revelation, though it be sanctified above all similitudes and exalted above all forms, may be seen in the sun of heaven. Take it as evidence for the Sun of Truth, and consider its rising in each Revelation like its rising each day. The length of that day—the duration of that Revelation—varies according to times and seasons, as thou witnessest from the beginning of creation until now, where there was no fixed measure. Between Moses and David, hundreds passed; between David—peace be upon him—and Jesus, hundreds passed; between Jesus—peace be upon him—and Muhammad, the Messenger of God, hundreds passed, with slight increase or decrease.

From the beginning of Muhammad’s Revelation to the manifestation of the Point of the Bayan, a thousand passed, and from that Revelation to Him Whom God shall make manifest, His power hath been exalted and elevated, His remembrance made glorious and sublime.

God, exalted be His glory, knoweth, and it is possible for creation to know this through what they may derive from the science of letters, when God bestoweth that complete knowledge, like what was derived by those who derived the quatrain verses in the Revelation of the Point of the Bayan. Upon thee be the victory through insight at every Revelation, the ascendancy of the word of affirmation over all things, and the negation of self in all that is possible therein.

When thou witnesseth this, then bear witness that in every Revelation God chooseth for the Manifestation of His Self what He willeth of guiding proofs, sanctified witnesses, protecting guardians, pure guides, and precise leaders, who preserve God’s commands from Revelation to Revelation and call all to God from manifestation to manifestation. God, glorified be He, hath chosen in this Revelation impregnable mirrors and exalted crystals wherein the Sun of Truth is reflected, the Point of Divinity is manifested, and the Essence of Eternity is expressed.

This is from God’s grace and mercy, God’s bounty and honor, God’s bestowal and gift, God’s beneficence and favor, God’s rewards and wonders.

Therefore, be thou unique through the splendor of God, exalted be His glory; be thou magnificent through the majesty of God, exalted be His greatness; be thou beauteous through the beauty of God, exalted be His glory; be thou great through the grandeur of God, exalted be His glory; be thou illumined through the light of God, exalted be His glory; be thou merciful through the mercy of God, mighty be His power; be thou complete through the words of God, mighty be His proof; be thou perfect through the perfection of God, mighty be His power; be thou supreme through the supremacy of God, true be His truth; and be thou content through the good-pleasure of God, extended be His aid.

For these are manifest paths, radiant gates, rising suns, shining moons, brilliant stars, dazzling planets, and luminous dawning-places—all of them indicating God, glorified be His praise, relating from God, mighty be His power, and showing the proof of proofs upon the truth of truths in all that is proven, and the very essence of negation attests to what befits the soul through itself. God, glorified be He, hath willed in this Revelation that the Tree of the Bayan be elevated with its root, branch, twigs, fruits and leaves. How wondrous, how wondrous is this novel fruit! How excellent, how excellent is this delicate leaf! How blessed, how blessed is this mighty branch!

How glorious, how glorious is this exalted tree, which testifieth of God through His primacy and finality, His outward and inward nature, and which proveth God through His essence, His reality, His identity and His divinity! And from these mirrors are reflected mirrors, and from those mirrors yet other mirrors, and from those still other mirrors, and from those yet more mirrors. Were I to continue mentioning this unto the end that hath no end, the love in my heart would not be exhausted in describing these successive reflections and ascending effulgences. However, until now, by pure nature, none but these mirrors have appeared, and God shall cause to appear whatsoever He willeth, for verily He hath power over all things.

I testify that in every Revelation, all that exalteth the Primary Tree exalteth what lieth beneath its shade, and all that exalteth what lieth beneath its shade bestoweth glory upon it and upon those who dwell therein. Observe how in the Dispensation of the Qur’an, all that exalted the Tree of Islam was naught but the exaltation of Muhammad, the Apostle of God. And all that exalteth the Bayan to its utmost heights is naught but the exaltation of the Primal Point.

Likewise, all that exalteth the proofs of Him Whom God shall make manifest is an exaltation of Him Whom God shall make manifest, and all that exalteth the religion of Him Who shall appear after Him Whom God shall make manifest is evidence of the exaltation of the Manifestation of that Revelation and the Dayspring of those hidden mysteries. Exalted be God, the Protector, the Self-Subsisting, above every dawning that hath dawned through the dawning of the Eternal Morn, and above every rising that hath risen through the rising of the Primal Light!

I bear witness that with God, all the Thrones that have appeared are as those that shall appear, and all the Thrones that shall appear are as those that have appeared. All begin from God and all return unto Him. All show patience in the Cause of God, all dwell in the good-pleasure of God, all strive for the exaltation of God’s Cause, all endeavor to uphold the inviolability of God’s commandments. All proclaim:

“We are all servants of God, we are all His worshippers. We have no god but God; He is our Lord and the Lord of all things, the Lord of the visible and the invisible, the Lord of all the worlds.”

I testify that God, glorified be He, hath indeed desired in that Name the mention of the Fifth Letter and the exaltation of his seat. Whosoever existeth in that Revelation must needs mention that Letter day and night to the number of Ha. And whoso faileth while being cognizant of God’s Cause and adhering to God’s religion, upon him shall be incumbent the number of Ha measures of yellow ruby. But whoso forgetteth, even if it be throughout his entire life, nothing is prescribed for him in the Book of God. When mention is made, after the two mighty Words, of the Living One in the exalted verse, it sufficeth in lieu of the number of Ha. However, should one fail in this, the number of Ha shall be binding upon him.

This is to prepare the dwellers of that Dispensation for the Day of the Manifestation of Him Whom God shall make manifest, and for the elevation of these commandments at the dawning of God’s Cause, and for the transformation of these Manifestations at the rising of God’s Fire, and for the exaltation of these guides at the appearance of God’s Power. And in every Dispensation, all that is realized is realized through the Word of the Throne of Revelation until another Manifestation. Say: All are from God and all return unto God, and all are of God and all begin from the presence of God.

Persian mode

In the name of God, the Most Splendid, the Most Splendid

Immeasurable praise and gratitude befit that Ever-Beloved Being Who from time immemorial has existed through the sovereign majesty of His own sacred Essence, and will forever continue to exist through the transcendent inaccessibility of His sacred Self. No thing hath ever known Him as He deserves to be known, and no thing hath ever praised Him as He deserves to be praised. How exalted is the holy court of His divine unity, before which all created things from the beginning that hath no beginning unto the end that hath no end have been and shall ever remain prostrate!

How manifest is the loftiness of His holy transcendence, towards the light of Whose countenance all existing things from the beginning that hath no beginning unto the end that hath no end have been and shall ever remain oriented!

God hath everlastingly been the Lord, God hath everlastingly been the Truth, God hath everlastingly been Justice, God hath everlastingly been Living, God hath everlastingly been Single, God hath everlastingly been All-Knowing, God hath everlastingly been All-Powerful, God hath everlastingly been the Ruler, God hath everlastingly been the Sovereign, God hath everlastingly been the Owner, God hath everlastingly been the Almighty.

He hath created all contingent beings from the beginning that hath no beginning through His Primal Will, and He shall create until the end that hath no end through His Manifest Will. His creation hath no beginning that could be mentioned before it, nor any end that could be mentioned after it. His dominion hath ever been revolving around His dominion in the realm of creation, and the contingent hath ever been advancing within the bounds of its own possibility.

And inasmuch as He created all beings for His worship, and brought all creation into existence for His love, and originated all who dwell in the kingdoms of earth and heaven for the manifestation of His power, no atom hath existed or shall exist that remaineth veiled from the cause of its own existence. All things, from the first atom to the last, from the eastern horizon to the western horizon, from the initial essence to the final essence, from the infinite pure and pristine realm—all proclaim Him according to their own reality as they are in themselves, for the existence of every thing, by virtue of its very existence, is evidence of His power’s dominion, His grandeur’s sovereignty, His exaltation’s glory, His mercy’s bounty, and His might’s justice.

He hath chosen from among all things the human chain of being, caused it to speak His praise and glorification, and distinguished it from among the species of animals. All creatures praise His glory and majesty, and love and know His sacred Self. He hath ever purified and continueth to purify the human chain of being in every Dispensation through the Manifestation appearing in that Dispensation.

And if the people of any previous Dispensation fail to turn towards the subsequent Manifestation, He pronounceth them as naught, for their existence was created for the recognition and love of Him Who appeareth in the Dispensation, and when they remain veiled from this divine and subtle truth, the judgment of nothingness is established concerning them, and their judgment becomes as the judgment of their kind, for the distinction of the human species has ever been and shall ever be through the recognition of and obedience to the eternal Lord. And to the extent that one remains veiled from this mystery, one remains veiled from one’s own essence and deprived of its fruit.

This is why in every Revelation after a Revelation, He pronounces the judgment of annihilation upon these Manifestations as they appear in that Revelation, while those who have attained unto the pearls of truth are judged as all things, for they have attained to the source of God’s eternal good-pleasure and the love of the Self-Subsisting, the Inaccessible. In every Revelation they have watched over themselves, that they might not be accounted as nothingness, nor manifest in themselves the judgment pertaining to the animal kind, but rather have held fast to the Tree of Truth and Its holy Manifestations in every Revelation, for It is the means of guidance for all created things and the instrument of grace for all contingent beings.

Know thou that in every Revelation that appeareth, since the people of the previous Revelation do not show the same acquiescence to the Manifestation of God as they showed relative to the previous Manifestation, the judgment of nothingness is pronounced concerning them. From the beginning that hath no beginning until this day, had all followed the path of truth, they would have been as a single soul whose inmost reality is illumined by the rays of the Ever-Living, the Self-Subsisting Sun, and in every concealment is illumined by what hath shone forth from that Manifestation.

Know thou that the people of the Bayan are today the dwellers of the Most Exalted Paradise and the highest Paradise, and all others, having remained veiled from the fruit of their own existence, are judged as nothingness. Similarly must thou regard the people of this Revelation in relation to Him Whom God shall make manifest, that thou mayest be safe from the supreme terror on that Day of Resurrection. Fix thy gaze upon the one true Countenance, and let not multiplicity veil thee from unity, but rather through unity draw multiplicity unto thyself, that in every Revelation thou mayest rest upon the throne of sanctity, and in every concealment remain steadfast and assured through the rays that shine forth from the Sun of Manifestation.

Know thou that the fruits of the Tree of every Revelation are His commandments and prohibitions, which have ever been and shall ever be living and vital. Every command in each Revelation hath been for the affirmation of affirmation and the negation of negation, and all other conditions in every Revelation have been adorned with this command. In every Revelation, that which is witnessed as the cause of affirming the Tree of Affirmation and annihilating the Tree of Negation is decreed by God, for the Command of God appeareth through none but Him. And in every Revelation, He taketh the source of judgment, for all else among commands and prohibitions are but aspects of its affirmation, which is the Word of Unity.

And since the Word of Unity is not realized except through the mention of Him Who appeareth in the Revelation, therefore hath it been commanded. And since the second word is not established except through the mention of the primary proofs and exalted, impregnable commandments and prohibitions that were ordained by God, therefore the thread detailing the Word of Unity in this Dispensation has culminated in the number of all things. And consider every Dispensation like unto this Dispensation, for the manifest purpose in every Revelation has been to establish the unity of the Ever-Living, Self-Subsisting Lord, and all else comprising the commandments and prohibitions have been but aspects of this impregnable Word, and will continue to be so unto an endless end.

In every Dispensation that is made manifest, His desire has been and will be none other than to establish the unity of God’s sanctified Essence and the self-sufficiency of the Ever-Living, Impregnable One. And He ordaineth all other aspects according to divine wisdom and heavenly grace and bounty. Consider how many peoples exist upon the earth today, all saying “There is no God but God” and mentioning their Prophet’s name in affirmation of divine unity, knowing the commandments and prohibitions of their Prophet from their Book and acting upon them. Yet in God’s sight the judgement of being part of humanity is not rendered unto them.

And hereafter unto an endless end, observe with this same perspective that in every Dispensation, recognition of that Dispensation and its manifest commandments and prohibitions should not become a cause of thy being veiled from infinite future Manifestations, for the Ever-Living God Who neither beginneth nor endeth hath been and will ever be manifest, and He is, each day, in a new condition and sublime creation. Worship Him in every Dispensation in the way that He loveth, not in the way thou wert reared in the previous Dispensation, for that way, even if thou attainest its highest pinnacle of glory, will yield thee no fruit.

Consider that at the time of the Point of the Qur’an’s appearance, although all the inhabitants of the Gospel Dispensation were not acting according to its commandments and prohibitions as God had commanded, yet among them were those who acted according to the bounds of their religion and in that Dispensation were proofs establishing the Ever-Living Who dieth not. But how did it become after the next Manifestation appeared? Now observe what comes after with the same eye of truth and insight as what came before, and in every Dispensation take, by the leave of their Owner, from the virgin gardens of the Tree of Unity and the holy fruits of the branches of Oneness.

And know that in every Dispensation, until the creation of that Dispensation reaches its utmost perfection, the Divine Will and the intention of the Ever-Living One will not decree the return of creation. And from the beginning of each Dispensation until the day of the next Manifestation, all proofs that appear have been and are established proofs of that Dispensation, and have been and will be the adorning features of those inner meanings. All are mirrors reflecting the Sun of Unity of that Dispensation, and are radiant crystals relating the countenance of those inner meanings. And know that the Proof from God unto His creation hath been from time immemorial and will continue forever, for the subsistence of all things dependeth upon, and ever hath depended upon, the Will of God.

It is inconceivable that there should ever have existed anything without a proof from God concerning it, for were such a thing possible to imagine, how could one acknowledge the power of God, His all-pervading knowledge, His all-encompassing mercy, and His conclusive proof? Immeasurably exalted is God above such a notion! Rather, just as the existence of the Ever-Living One hath been established through His own Being from time immemorial and will continue forever, so too hath the Throne of Reality in the realm of creation occupied its own station from time immemorial and will continue forever. However, in the Day of Resurrection it becometh manifest and radiant, while in the days of its setting it remaineth knowing yet hidden.

Yet even in the time of its concealment there have been and are those who guide by His command, who are the guardians of His religion and His witnesses unto creation. These are the lamps of guidance in the divine night, by whose guidance all are guided, and they shall be recognized in the Day of Resurrection. These are the same Manifestations who believe at the time of the appearance of the Sun of Reality, and in every Revelation there appear reflected shadows who outwardly profess that Faith and follow its laws. However, since their essential reality derives not from the Tree of Affirmation, this becometh evident in the Day of Resurrection. Consider the divines of every religion upon the earth, who are these same servants who in that Revelation professed belief and followed divine laws.

Yet when the subsequent Revelation dawned, their essential nature became manifest. Thus shalt thou observe endlessly that if in the Bayan a single soul should remain and fail to believe with certainty in Him Whom God shall make manifest, his reality was of those who made profession of affirmation. Similarly, consider the Revelation after Him Whom God shall make manifest and draw thy conclusion, and likewise observe the Revelation after after Him Whom God shall make manifest and draw thy conclusion. Were I to mention unto the eternity of God’s holy Essence “after after after after Him Whom God shall make manifest,” its sweetness would not depart from my heart.

This hath been and ever shall be possible in creation, and I behold them all like the sun in the midst of heaven, for that which is to come is like that which hath passed in the sight of God and in the sight of one who gazeth with the eye of God. I counsel thee and the dwellers in every Revelation to behold with an eye of oneness amidst the ocean of multiplicity, and to know that the thread of life of all things is extended through every Revelation, and in every Revelation to outwardly believe with certainty in that Revelation, that thou mayest be and remain in thy life in the very essence of God’s good-pleasure, and after thine ascension thou shalt verily dwell in the eternal paradise, and thou must not be veiled by the multitude of these people and their indifference to His Cause.

For if it be supposed that in any Manifestation the Tree of Truth should speak and all should ponder concerning Him, all would be negated in “There is no God” though they exist upon the earth, yet their existence is in the fire and ever shall be. And all affirmation belongs to that most inaccessible and exalted Being, and all existence derives support from His Command. And if it be imagined conversely that a Manifestation should appear and not a single unbeliever remain on earth, then the essence of negation would remain suspended in the atmosphere of falsehood—like when thou sayest “there is no sun except the sun of heaven” while thou seest the sun before thee, whether thou deniest it or not, except that thou wouldst be mentioning it in a void.

Such is the measure of negation before the Tree of Truth. And know that these people are not outside of two categories: either their essence is from the Tree of Affirmation or it is not. If their essence is from the Tree of Affirmation, then attributes appearing from them apart from that Tree are from the tree of negation and are taken from them at the time of death and return to the tree of negation. And whosoever is pure and holy at the time of death is of the leaves of the Tree of Affirmation, and at the time of death it is taken from him and united with the Lord of the Tree. And he who is other than pure and holy returns to his appointed place.

God hath made beloved the living mention in the verse wherein the two testimonies were revealed, once in each day and night, and if it be not mentioned the number of “ha” sufficeth in mentioning, and if forgotten nothing is prescribed for him, and if after knowing it he remains veiled, for each day and night that passes without it, the number of “ha” in yellow rubies is charged against him. And this is naught but that all should be watchful of God’s Cause lest they be veiled. And God, the Ever-Living, the Eternal, hath ever been and shall ever be independent of all things and self-subsisting, while all have been and shall ever be in need of Him. And He is the Most Exalted, the Most Great.

7. Al-ajlal

Mode of verses

In the Name of God, the Most Glorious, the Most Glorious

God, there is no God but Him, the Most Glorious, the Most Glorious! God, there is no God but Him, the All-Glorious, the All-Glorious! God, there is no God but Him, the Resplendent, the Resplendent! God, there is no God but Him, the Glorified, the Glorified! God, there is no God but Him, the One, the Glorious!

To God belongs the sublime glory of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them. God is the All-Glorious, the Glorifier. To God belongs the sublime glory of the manifestation of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them. God is the Glorious, the Resplendent, the Transcendent. To God belongs the sublime glory of the revelation of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them. God is the Resplendent, the Transcendent.

Say: God is more glorious than any possessor of glory. None can withhold himself from the sovereign power of His glory, whether in the heavens or in the earth or in what lieth between them. Verily, He is the All-Glorious, the Glorifier, the Sublime. Say: God is more glorious than any possessor of majesty. None can withhold himself from His sublime glory, whether in the heavens or in the earth or in what lieth between them. Verily, He is the All-Glorious, the Glorifier, the Sublime. Say: God is more glorious than any possessor of grandeur. None can withhold himself from His sublime glory and revelation, whether in the heavens or in the earth or in what lieth between them. Verily, He is the Glorious, the Resplendent, the Sublime.

Say: O God! Thou art the Glory of all who glory! Thou givest glory unto whom Thou willest and takest it away from whom Thou willest. Thou exaltest whom Thou willest and abaseth whom Thou willest. Thou aidest whom Thou willest and forsakest whom Thou willest. Thou enrichest whom Thou willest and makest poor whom Thou willest. Thou honorest whom Thou willest and humblest whom Thou willest. Within Thy grasp is the kingdom of all things. Thou createst what Thou willest by Thy command. Verily, Thou art the All-Glorious, the Glorifier, the Sublime.

Glorified art Thou, O God! Thou art the Glory of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them! Thou givest glory unto whom Thou willest and takest it away from whom Thou willest. Thou ordainest what Thou willest and decreest what Thou willest. Thou exaltest whom Thou willest and abaseth whom Thou willest. Thou givest life to whom Thou willest and causest to die whom Thou willest. Thou sustainest the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them by Thy command. Verily, Thou art powerful over all things.

Say: O God! Thou art the Most Glorious of the most glorious! Thou givest authority to whom Thou willest and takest it away from whom Thou willest. Thou holdest up the heavens lest they fall upon the earth, and Thou holdest the earth above the water. Thou createst in the kingdom of the heavens and the earth whatsoever Thou willest. Verily, Thou art powerful over all things.

To God belongs the sovereign glory of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them. God is the All-Glorious, the Glorifier, the Transcendent. To Him belongs all that He hath created and will create. God hath ever been possessed of sublime glory.

Verily, I am God! There is no God but Me. All else besides Me is My creation. Say: O My creation! Worship ye Me! He it is Who created the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them by His command. Say: All shall return unto God, their Lord. He it is before Whom prostrate themselves whosoever is in the heavens and whosoever is on the earth and whatsoever is between them. Say: All shall return unto God, their Lord. Unto Him submit all who are in the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them. There is no God but Him, the Protector, the Self-Subsisting. He it is Who createth what He willeth by His command “Be,” and it is! Such is God, your Lord. His is the power and strength from all eternity. There is no God but Him, the All-Protecting, the Self-Subsisting.

Say: He is independent of all that is in the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them. Verily, there is no God but Him, the Mighty, the Well-Beloved. All that are in the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them glorify Him, and He is the All-Protecting, the Self-Subsisting. To God belongs the dominion of the kingdoms of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them, and God has power over all things. To God belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them, and God encompasses all things. He is the One Who has ever been and there was none besides Him, and all are His worshippers. He is the One Who will ever be, even as He has ever been, all are His servants and all bow down before Him.

O people of the Bayan! Let your vision be as refined as you are capable of refining it, and let your gaze be as penetrating as you are able to make it penetrate, for verily the cycle has been refined and the lights of the eternal morn have shone forth upon the crystalline mirrors facing each other, and the world has been made subtle, and the splendors of the Eternal Sun have dawned upon the essences of the mirrors. Therefore, ascend through God unto God, then in the days of God be ye thankful.

And ye shall assuredly ascend by God unto God, and there, in that station, shall ye prostrate yourselves before the Lord of the Easts and the Wests, the Lord of the Dawn-Bearers, the Lord of the Easts and the Wests, the Lord of the Radiant Ones, the Lord of the Easts and the Wests, the Lord of the Swift-Forerunners, the Lord of the Easts and the Wests, the Lord of the Cleaving Ones, the Lord of the Easts and the Wests, the Lord of the Truth-Bearers, the Lord of the Easts and the Wests, the Lord of the Subtle Ones, the Lord of the Easts and the Wests, the Lord of the Minute Ones, the Lord of the Easts and the Wests, the Lord of the Those Who Divide, the Lord of the Easts and the Wests, the Lord of the Delicate Ones, the Lord of the Easts and the Wests, the Lord of the Those Who Contend, the Lord of the Easts and the Wests, the Lord of the Lofty-Hued Ones, the Lord of the Easts and the Wests, the Lord of the Those Who Rend Asunder, the Lord of the Easts and the Wests, the Lord of the Faithful-Contractors, the Lord of the Easts and the Wests, the Lord of the Creators, the Lord of the Easts and the Wests, the Lord of the Providers, the Lord of the Easts and the Wests, the Lord of the Effacers, the Lord of the Easts and the Wests, the Lord of the Those Who Join, the Lord of the Easts and the Wests, the Lord of the Those Who Penetrate,

the Lord of all that He hath created and doth create, the Lord of the Divine Ones, the Lord of all that He hath created and doth create, the Lord of the Lordly Ones, the Lord of all that He hath created and doth create, the Lord of the Majestic Ones, the Lord of all that He hath created and doth create, the Lord of the Beautiful Ones, the Lord of all that He hath created and doth create, the Lord of the Luminous Ones, the Lord of all that He hath created and doth create, the Lord of the All-Encompassing Ones, the Lord of all that He hath created and doth create, the Lord of the Complete Ones, the Lord of all that He hath created and doth create, the Lord of the Perfect Ones, the Lord of all that He hath created and doth create, the Lord of the Great Ones, the Lord of all that He hath created and doth create, the Lord of the Innate Ones, the Lord of all that He hath created and doth create, the Lord of the All-Knowing Ones, the Lord of all that He hath created and doth create, the Lord of the All-Powerful Ones, the Lord of all that He hath created and doth create, the Lord of the Well-Pleased Ones, the Lord of all that He hath created and doth create, the Lord of the Noble Ones, the Lord of all that He hath created and doth create, the Lord of the Sovereign Ones, the Lord of all that He hath created and doth create, the Lord of the Angelic Ones, the Lord of all that He hath created and doth create, the Lord of the Exalted Ones.

Beloved of the People of Baha, the Lord of all that He hath created and doth create; Beloved of the People of Loftiness, the Lord of all that He hath created and doth create; Beloved of the People of Singleness, the Lord of all that He hath created and doth create; Beloved of the People of Duality, the Lord of all that He hath created and doth create; Beloved of the People of Radiance, the Lord of all that He hath created and doth create; Beloved of the People of Majesty, the Lord of all that He hath created and doth create; Beloved of the People of Beauty, the Lord of all that He hath created and doth create; Beloved of the People of All-Encompassing Might, the Lord of all that He hath created and doth create; Beloved of the People of Perfection, the Lord of all that He hath created and doth create; Beloved of the People of Adornment, the Lord of all that He hath created and doth create; Beloved of the People of Attraction, the Lord of all that He hath created and doth create; Beloved of the People of Omnipotence, the Lord of all that He hath created and doth create; Beloved of the People of Preservation, the Lord of all that He hath created and doth create; Beloved of the People of Prevailing Might, the Lord of all that He hath created and doth create; Beloved of the People of Subduing Power.

Say: Transience hath passed away. Why do ye not exalt yourselves through that which befitteth the Throne? Ye say:

“All-Glorious, Most Holy, Divine, Lord of Lords, Lord of the Self-Subsisting, the Eternal!”

He it is Who hath created all things through His command, and He is the Mighty, the Beloved.

Say: God createth what He willeth through His command, and He, verily, is the All-Powerful, the All-Loving. Say: O all things! Your likeness is as crystal which, in every Revelation, faceth the Sun of Heaven that it might reflect therein even as mirrors reflect the celestial sun. Do ye not desire to mirror forth God, Whom no vision can comprehend while He comprehendeth all vision, the Self-Subsisting, the Eternal?

Therefore ascend to that Paradise to the utmost of your powers of ascension. Become resplendent through God to the extent ye are able to shine forth. Become beautiful through God to the degree ye can attain unto beauty. Become magnificent through God to the measure ye can achieve magnificence. Become illumined through God according to your capacity for light. Become perfected through God to the extent ye can attain perfection. Become complete through God according to your ability to achieve completion. Become great through God to the degree ye can attain greatness. Become powerful through God to the measure ye can achieve power. Become content through God according to your capacity for contentment. Become noble through God to the extent ye can attain nobility. Become sovereign through God to the degree ye can achieve sovereignty. Become masters through God according to your ability to attain mastery.

The whole earth hath been illumined with the light of God—will ye not become illumined? All the heavens have been made radiant through the Name of God—will ye not become radiant? All the gardens have been brightened by the splendor of God’s countenance—will ye not become bright? All Paradise hath been illumined by the effulgence of God’s presence—will ye not become illumined? All the highest horizons have been lit by the mention of God—will ye not become enlightened? All the depths have been brightened by the waves of God’s ocean—will ye not become bright? All the deepest depths have been illumined by the treasures of God’s mysteries—will ye not become illumined? All essential realities have been brightened by the dawning-places of God’s grace—will ye not become bright?

All souls have been illumined by the rising-points of God’s generosity—will ye not become illumined? All beings have been brightened by the manifestations of God’s glory—will ye not become bright? All things, from first to last, have been illumined by the commands of God’s Sun—will ye not become illumined?

The earth and the heavens have all been made firm through the power of God’s Essence—will ye not become firm? All moving things have been set in motion by the movement of God’s Command—will ye not move? All still things have been made tranquil through the tranquility of God’s Self—will ye not become tranquil? The heavens and the earth and all that lieth between them have been adorned with the ornaments of God’s adorning—will ye not become adorned?

All these are signs from God that ye might attain certitude that there is no God but Him, the Truth beyond doubt, and all are submissive before Him. If ye desire to comprehend the Point of the Bayan, then comprehend Him Whom God shall make manifest, then through His words ascend. And all that appeareth in every Revelation are mirrors reflecting that there is no God but Me, the Self-Subsisting, the Eternal, and all are crystals reflecting from their Source that there is no God but Him, the Mighty, the Beloved.

Glorified be He Who createth whatsoever He willeth by His command, and verily He is the Kind, the Beloved. Glorified be He Who originateth whatsoever He willeth by His command, and verily He is the Adorned Embroiderer. Glorified be He Who bringeth into being whatsoever He willeth by His command, and verily He is the Overseer, the Powerful.

Blessed be God—the Lord Unassailable; Blessed be God—the Lord Exalted; Blessed be God—the Lord All-Great; Blessed be God—the Lord Most-Generous; Blessed be God—the Lord Ancient; Blessed be God—the Lord All-Knowing; Blessed be God—the Lord All-Wise; Blessed be God—the Lord All-Merciful; Blessed be God—the Lord Forbearing; Blessed be God—the Lord Majestic; Blessed be God—the Lord Beautiful; Blessed be God—the Lord Perfect; Blessed be God—the Lord Just-Balanced; Blessed be God—the Lord Bounteous; Blessed be God—the Lord Noble; Blessed be God—the Lord Effectual; Blessed be God—the Lord Radiant; Blessed be God—the Lord Supportive; Blessed be God—the Lord Originating; Blessed be God—the Lord Subduing; Blessed be God—the Lord All-Powerful; Blessed be God—the Lord All-Forgiving; Blessed be God—the Lord All-Encompassing; Blessed be God—the Lord Concealing; Blessed be God—the Lord All-Hearing; Blessed be God—the Lord Near; Blessed be God—the Lord All-Aware; Blessed be God—the Lord Answering; Blessed be God—the Lord Firm; Blessed be God—the Lord Sustaining.

Blessed be God—the Lord of whatsoever He hath created and doth create, the Lord of all things, the Lord of the worlds.

Say: He is the One, the Manifest. All who attain unto Him whom God shall make manifest— by His Words shall ye be exalted. And all that appeareth in every revelation are mirrors rendered transparent, all bearing witness that there is no god but Me, the All-Protecting, the Self-Subsisting. And every crystal reflecteth from its place of disclosure that there is no god but He, the Mighty, the Beloved.

Glorified be He Who createth whatsoever He willeth by His command, and verily He is the Subtle, the Beloved. Glorified be He Who bringeth forth whatsoever He willeth by His command, and verily He is the Adorner, the Ornamented. Glorified be He Who originateh whatsoever He willeth by His command, and verily He is the All-Protecting, the All-Powerful.

Blessed be God—the Lord Unassailable; Blessed be God—the Lord Exalted; Blessed be God—the Lord All-Great; Blessed be God—the Lord Most-Generous; Blessed be God—the Lord Ancient; Blessed be God—the Lord All-Knowing; Blessed be God—the Lord All-Wise; Blessed be God—the Lord All-Merciful; Blessed be God—the Lord Forbearing; Blessed be God—the Lord Majestic; Blessed be God—the Lord Beautiful; Blessed be God—the Lord Beautiful; Blessed be God—the Lord Just-Balanced; Blessed be God—the Lord Bounteous; Blessed be God—the Lord Noble; Blessed be God—the Lord Effectual; Blessed be God—the Lord Radiant; Blessed be God—the Lord Supportive; Blessed be God—the Lord Originating; Blessed be God—the Lord Subduing; Blessed be God—the Lord All-Powerful; Blessed be God—the Lord All-Forgiving; Blessed be God—the Lord All-Encompassing; Blessed be God—the Lord Concealing; Blessed be God—the Lord All-Hearing; Blessed be God—the Lord Near; Blessed be God—the Lord All-Aware; Blessed be God—the Lord Answering; Blessed be God—the Lord Firm; Blessed be God—the Lord Sustaining.

Blessed be God—the Lord of whatsoever He hath created and doth create, the Lord of all things, the Lord of the worlds.

Say: He is the One who manifests all who are manifested, and by His manifestation are all made manifest. Say: There is no God but Him, the One, the Bountiful—by His bounty are all made bountiful. Say: In every Revelation, God loves to confirm all that is revealed in that Revelation for the Day when God wills to manifest another Revelation, that ye may be guided thereby. All that appears in every Revelation are signs of Him Whom God shall make manifest, that ye may be guided by Him on the Day of Resurrection.

Blessed be God, the One, the Manifest! Blessed be God, the One, the Subduer! Blessed be God, the One, the Bountiful! Blessed be God, the One, the Creator! Blessed be God, the One, the Illuminator! Blessed be God, the One, the Concealer! Blessed be God, the One, the Almighty! Blessed be God, the One, the Radiant! Blessed be God, the One, the Resplendent! Blessed be God, the One, the Adorner! Blessed be God, the One, the Victorious! Blessed be God, the One, the Self-Sufficient! Blessed be God, the One, the Divine! Blessed be God, the One, the Luminous! Blessed be God, the One, the Judge! Blessed be God, the One, the Dawning! Blessed be God, the One, the Tender! Blessed be God, the One who splits asunder! Blessed be God, the One who joins together! Blessed be God, the One, the Compassionate! Blessed be God, the One, the Kind, Who creates what He willeth by His command, and He is the One, the Subduer!

He it is Who hath willed to mention that Letter in that Name as a remembrance from His presence. Verily, there is no God but Him, the One, the All-Remembering. Therefore, remember ye that Letter the number of Ha in every night and day, and should ye be prevented, it behooveth you to pay the weight of Ha in wine as fixed in the Book of God, that ye may be preserved. And if ye remember after the two words in remembrance of the Living One, it shall suffice you. God desireth to make your affairs spacious for you in your return and your dwelling, and to make clear unto you by yourselves in your beginning and your end. This is of God’s grace and mercy unto you, that ye may be thankful in the days of God.

Mode of prayers

In the Name of God, the Most Glorious, the Most Glorious

Glorified art Thou, O my God! I and all things testify that Thou art God, and that there is no God but Thee, alone with no partner. Thou hast ever been in the heights of eternity with none before Thee, and Thou wilt ever abide in the sanctity of eternity with none after Thee. All things exist through Thy will and all creation is brought into being through Thy desire. Sanctified art Thou, O Lord of might and glory! Exalted art Thou, O Lord of majesty and splendor! Blessed art Thou, O Lord of holiness and radiance! Magnified art Thou, O Lord of design and names! Sovereign art Thou, O Lord of power and grandeur!

Thou hast ever beheld what is in the kingdom of Thy command and creation, and witnessed what is in the realm of Thy heaven and earth. Through Thy might Thou hast ruled over all things, and through Thy dominion Thou hast prevailed over all things. Glorified and exalted art Thou! Thy revelation is grace and bounty, and Thy withholding is justice and glory. From a beginning that had no beginning, Thy way hath been grace and favor, Thy path hath been generosity and munificence.

No prophet hast Thou created, no path hast Thou ordained, none hast Thou acquainted with Thy knowledge, none hast Thou caused to taste Thy love and beauty, and none hast Thou honored with Thy praise and glory, but I and all creation testify that Thy greatest gift is Thy love from Thee, and Thy most manifest bestowal is Thy affection from Thy presence. For hadst Thou not created Thy love in the hearts of Thy servants, who would love Thee? And hadst Thou not concealed Thy affection in the hearts of Thy chosen ones, who would cherish Thee? Thou art the Beloved in the sanctity of eternity, and Thou art the Desired One forever.

Glorified and exalted art Thou! There is nothing except that it glorifieth Thee with the exaltation of Thy praise, sanctifieth Thee with the transcendence of Thy laudation, uniteth with Thee through the ascendancy of Thy oneness, magnifieth Thee with the supremacy of Thy greatness, and exalteth Thee with the uniqueness of Thy glorification. None besides Thee, O my God, can be mentioned whereby Thou mightest be mentioned. None besides Thee, O my Beloved, can be described whereby Thou mightest be described. None besides Thee, O my Goal, can be characterized whereby Thou mightest be characterized. None besides Thee, O Thou Who art characterized, can be praised whereby Thou mightest be praised. None besides Thee, O Thou Who art described, can be glorified whereby reference might be made to Thee.

Glorified, glorified art Thou! Every mention through Thy creation hath been mentioned, every description through Thy invention hath come into being, every attribute through Thy ordainment hath been realized, and every glory through Thy creation hath been brought forth. Exalted art Thou, O Lord of might and glory, above every mention and praise, and magnified art Thou, O Lord of pride and loftiness, above every attribute and beauty.

How can I praise Thee, O my Beloved, when verily praise itself testifieth to its evanescence before the exaltation of Thy holiness and the transcendence of Thy might? And how can I not praise Thee when my heart findeth no rest except in Thy remembrance and praise? Therefore shall I praise Thee, O my Beloved, being certain that my praise is a creation in Thy dominion and being assured that the ultimate description I can give is but a trace of Thy creation.

But since Thou hast created all things to describe Thee, brought all into being to characterize and meet Thee, fashioned all for Thy love and praise, originated all for Thy affection and exaltation, and created all for Thy glorification and mention of Thy bounty, therefore through these manifestations which Thou hast created in Thy realm do they mention Thee, and through these attributes which Thou hast established in Thy dominion do I praise Thee, after having witnessed that Thou and all things testify that none besides Thee can know Thee, and how can any praise Thee when none besides Thee hath the power to love Thee, and how could they describe Thee when all knowledge possible in Thy creation is what Thou hast created through Thy power, and all love and attraction possible among Thy servants is what Thou hast brought into being through Thy command.

Glorified and exalted art Thou! Glorified and sanctified art Thou! Thou art the Most High—there is nothing above Thee, and Thou art the Most Exalted—there is nothing comparable to Thee. All faces have prostrated before the glory of Thy countenance, all voices have been humbled in praise of Thy Lordship, all hearts have been enraptured in their attraction to Thy love, and all souls have been revived in their loftiness by the dawning places of Thy eternal splendor. How glorious, O my God, is Thy glory! How exalted, O my Beloved, is Thy exaltation! How sweet, O my Heart’s Desire! How mighty, O Thou Who art praised, is Thy might! How true, O Thou Who art described, is Thy truth!

Glorified art Thou beyond my saying that Thou art Lord, for Thou art the Lord of all lords. Glorified art Thou beyond my saying that Thou art God, for Thou art the God of all gods. Glorified art Thou beyond my saying that Thou art the Truth, for Thou art the Establisher of all truth. Glorified art Thou beyond my saying that Thou art the Eternal, for Thou art the Source of all eternity. Glorified art Thou beyond my saying that Thou art the Ancient, for Thou art the One Who made all ancientness. Glorified art Thou beyond my saying that Thou art the Existent, for Thou art the Creator of all existence. Glorified art Thou beyond my saying that Thou art the Most Praised, for Thou art the Source of all praise.

Glorified art Thou beyond my saying that Thou art the Most Holy, for Thou art the Sanctifier of all holiness. Glorified art Thou beyond my saying that Thou art the Most Glorious, for Thou art the Source of all glory. Glorified art Thou beyond my saying that Thou art the Most Sublime, for Thou art the Source of all sublimity. Glorified art Thou beyond my saying that Thou art the Most Beautiful, for Thou art the Source of all beauty. Glorified art Thou beyond my saying that Thou art the Most Great, for Thou art the Magnifier of all greatness. Glorified art Thou beyond my saying that Thou art the Most Luminous, for Thou art the Source of all light. Glorified art Thou beyond my saying that Thou art the Most Merciful, for Thou art the Source of all mercy.

Glorified art Thou beyond my saying that Thou art the Most Generous, for Thou art the Source of all generosity. Glorified art Thou beyond my saying that Thou art the Most Upright, for Thou art the Uprighter of all uprightness. Glorified art Thou beyond my saying that Thou art the Most Perfect, for Thou art the Source of all perfection. Glorified art Thou beyond my saying that Thou art the Most Great, for Thou art the Magnifier of all greatness. Glorified art Thou beyond my saying that Thou art the All-Knowing, for Thou art the Teacher of all knowledge. Glorified art Thou beyond my saying that Thou art the All-Powerful, for Thou art the Ordainer of all power. Glorified art Thou beyond my saying that Thou art the Most Pleased, for Thou art the Source of all pleasure.

Glorified art Thou beyond my saying that Thou art the Best-Beloved, for Thou art the Source of all love. Glorified art Thou beyond my saying that Thou art the Most Noble, for Thou art the Ennobler of all nobility. Glorified art Thou beyond my saying that Thou art the Most Sovereign, for Thou art the Source of all sovereignty. Glorified art Thou beyond my saying that Thou art the King, for Thou art the King of all kings. Glorified art Thou beyond my saying that Thou art the One, for Thou art the Unifier of all oneness. Glory be unto Thee! How can I say Thou art the Adorner, when Thou art the One Who adorneth all adorners? Glory be unto Thee! How can I say Thou art Pure, when Thou art the Source of all purity? Glory be unto Thee!

How can I say Thou art Unique, when Thou art the One Who maketh unique all who are unique? Glory be unto Thee! How can I say Thou art the Protector, when Thou art the Shelter of all who protect? Glory be unto Thee! How can I say Thou art Detached, when Thou art the Life-Giver of all who live? Glory be unto Thee! How can I say Thou art the Witness, when Thou art the One Who maketh all to witness? Glory be unto Thee! How can I say Thou art Kind, when Thou art the Source of all kindness? Glory be unto Thee! How can I say Thou art Rich, when Thou art the Enricher of all who are rich? Glory be unto Thee! How can I say Thou art Vast, when Thou art the One Who expandeth all vastness? Glory be unto Thee! How can I say Thou art the Creator, when Thou art the Originator of all creation?

Glory be unto Thee! How can I say Thou art the Judge, when Thou art the One Who ordaineth all judgment? Glory be unto Thee! How can I say Thou art Generous, when Thou art the Source of all generosity? Glory be unto Thee! How can I say Thou art the Bestower, when Thou art the One Who bestoweth all gifts? Glory be unto Thee! How can I say Thou art the First, when Thou art the One Who maketh first all that is first? Glory be unto Thee! How can I say Thou art the Last, when Thou art the One Who maketh last all that is last? Glory be unto Thee! How can I say Thou art the Manifest, when Thou art the Manifestor of all manifestation? Glory be unto Thee! How can I say Thou art the Hidden, when Thou art the Concealer of all that is hidden? Glory be unto Thee!

How can I say Thou art Mighty, when Thou art the One Who giveth might to all the mighty? Glory be unto Thee! How can I say Thou art Compassionate, when Thou art the Source of all compassion? Glory be unto Thee! How can I say Thou art the Subduer, when Thou art the One Who subdueth all? Glory be unto Thee! How can I say Thou art Kind, when Thou art the Source of all kindness? Glory be unto Thee! How can I say Thou art the Compeller, when Thou art the One Who compelleth all? Glory be unto Thee! How can I say Thou art Inaccessible, when Thou art the One Who maketh inaccessible all things? Glory be unto Thee! How can I say Thou art the Helper, when Thou art the One Who helpeth all helpers? Glory be unto Thee! How can I say Thou art Exalted, when Thou art the One Who exalteth all?

Glory be unto Thee! How can I say Thou art Glorious, when Thou art the One Who bringeth near all nearness? Glory be unto Thee! How can I say Thou art Remote, when Thou art the One Who maketh remote all remoteness? Glory be unto Thee! How can I say Thou art the Hearer, when Thou art the One Who maketh all to hear? Glory be unto Thee! How can I say Thou art the Seer, when Thou art the One Who maketh all to see? Glory be unto Thee! How can I say Thou art the All-Informed, when Thou art the One Who informeth all? Glory be unto Thee! How can I say Thou art the Guide, when Thou art the One Who guideth all guidance? Glory be unto Thee! How can I say Thou art the Observer, when Thou art the One Who causeth all to observe? Glory be unto Thee! How can I say Thou art Swift, when Thou art the One Who maketh swift all swiftness?

Thou art exalted and none is higher than Thee in elevation. Then Thou drawest near and none is like unto Thee in nearness. Thou art the Most High in Thy nearness and the Most Near in Thy loftiness. Sanctified art Thou from conjunction and holy art Thou from separation. Thou hast humbled the mighty ones and taken vengeance upon the oppressors. Thou hast risen above the manifest ones and shown Thy grandeur over the proud ones. Thou hast elevated Thyself above the lofty ones and shown Thy might over the powerful ones. Thou hast displayed Thy riches above the wealthy ones. Blessed and exalted art Thou in majestic, magnificent glory. Sanctified and glorified art Thou in resplendent, sublime majesty.

Glory be unto Thee! None besides Thee can manifest, none besides Thee can conceal. Thou wert living in the glory of eternity and self-subsisting forever. Thou seest the dwellers of the kingdom of Thy earth and heaven, and beholdest all within the kingdom of Thy Cause and precision. Nothing escapeth Thy knowledge and nothing is hidden from Thee. The reins of all affairs are in Thy grasp, the mysteries of the unseen in the right hand of Thy divinity, the gems of the treasured in the vaults of Thy authority, and the pearls arrayed in the vessels of Thy dominion’s treasury.

Thou hast ever made Thyself known to all Thy creation, thus nothing knoweth Thee not. Thou hast ever concealed Thy essence from all things, thus nothing findeth Thee. Is there any manifest like Thee before Thy creation? Any present like Thee before Thy loved ones? Any sovereign like Thee over those in the kingdom of Thy dominion? Any forgiver like Thee for those in the kingdom of Thy Cause and heaven of Thy glory?

Glory be unto Thee and exalted art Thou! Thou art He Whom sight cannot grasp at its highest reach, nor thoughts encompass at their finest perception. Thou wert existing in the glory of eternity and in Being forever. Thou didst create all things from nothing and rose above all things without means. Send Thy blessings upon Him Whom Thou shalt manifest on the Day of Resurrection through the mighty ones of Thy kingdom, the glorious ones of the heaven of Thy sovereignty, and the wise ones of the holy glory of Thy oneness.

Bestow all Thy grace, grant all Thy beneficence, confer all Thy joy, give all Thy bounty, manifest all Thy revelation, and all that Thou hast encompassed in Thy knowledge of every good, for that which descendeth from Thee hath no likeness, no equal, no peer, no partner, and no similitude. And do Thou bless all the thrones of Thy concealment from the beginning that hath no beginning to the end that hath no end, even as Thou hast blessed the thrones of Thy manifestation, for all that is created with Thee is as that which shall be created, and all that hath been formed is like unto that which shall be formed.

Glory be unto Thee and exalted art Thou! O God, do Thou elevate the mention of that Letter and his station, and present him on the Day of Resurrection unto Him Whom Thou shalt manifest according to what Thou lovest and art pleased with, and above what Thou lovest and art pleased with, and above above what Thou lovest and art pleased with. O God, do Thou inspire all Thy creation to remember him night and day the number of the letter Ha, in submission to Thy Cause and in affirmation of Thy judgment, for verily nothing escapeth Thy knowledge and nothing is beyond Thy power. Thou knowest all things and hast power over all things.

And whoso is veiled shall be bound before Thee to the number of Ha, O Thou the All-Powerful, and whoso forgets even if throughout his entire life—verily Thou art too exalted to be asked about it, for Thy mercy hath encompassed all particles and Thy gift hath surrounded all beings. Glory be unto Thee! There is no God but Thee. Verily, Thou art the One, the Manifest.

Mode of sermons

In the Name of God, the Most Glorious, the Most Glorious

All praise be to God Who hath revealed Himself unto all created things through the manifestations of His divine might, and hath made known His Essence unto all beings through the signs of His celestial dominion, and Who hath distinguished Himself from all creation through the radiance of His countenance, and hath sanctified Himself from all atoms through the effulgence of His Face, and hath elevated Himself above all who dwell in the kingdoms of earth and heaven through the holy attributes of His oneness.

I praise Him on this night—the Night of Independence—with praise that filleth His heaven with the manifestations of His grace, and all His earth with the splendors of His glory, and all that lieth between them with the wonders of His favor—praise that causeth all essences to speak forth the exaltation of His sovereign unity, and all realities to bear witness to His eternal oneness, and all souls to ascend to the sanctified heights of His singleness, and all beings to rise unto the holy horizon of His eternity.

Such praise as none among all created things hath ever offered, nor any being shall ever render—praise that filleth the creation of all things with His holy glorification and revealeth through the outward form of all things the sublimity of His glory and His sanctity. Praise that is rising and causing to rise, shining and causing to shine, preceding and causing to precede, following and causing to follow, accompanying and causing to accompany, compassionate and causing compassion, elevating and causing to elevate, truthful and causing truth, sustaining and causing sustenance, creating and causing creation, vanquishing and causing to vanish, flowing and causing to flow, companioning and causing companionship, realizing and causing realization.

Praise that blazeth and gleameth, flasheth and illumineth, radiantly shineth and brightly gloweth, brilliantly beameth and brightly burneth. Praise that adorneth all adorned things with infinite embellishments, that draweth all attracted things through primal attractions, that manifesteth all manifest things through ultimate manifestations, that concealeth all hidden things through manifest mysteries, that determineth all determined things through pre-determined measures, that illumineth all illumined things through enlightening lights.

Praise that indicateth His primacy and telleth of His ultimacy, that speaketh of His manifest sovereignty and testifieth to His hidden dominion. Praise to the number of what He hath created and what He will create, to the number of what He hath scattered and what He will scatter, to the number of what He hath fashioned and what He will fashion, to the number of what He hath brought into being and what He will bring into being, to the number of what He hath originated and what He will originate, to the number of what He hath invented and what He will invent, to the number of what He hath encompassed and what He will encompass.

Praise whereby affirmations ascend to the uttermost height of affirmation, and praise that extendeth from the self to the ultimate extinction of self. Praise that causeth all things to attain the station of love for their Beloved, that bringeth all things to the station of devotion to their Goal, that maketh all things speak in praise of their Worshipped One, that adorneth all things with the knowledge of their Adored One, that causeth the creation of all things to testify to the depths of their Desired One, that maketh the creation of all things to delight in the inner meanings of their Praised One, that causeth the essence of all things to manifest through the outer aspects of their Thanked One.

Praise that hath no equal in His kingdom, no likeness in His dominion, no peer in His realm, no match in His sovereignty, no companion in His good-pleasure, and no similitude in His glory. Praise that bringeth down victory through dark-gathering clouds and filleth the atmosphere with triumph through pure-dropping rains. Praise whereby all things become independent of the kingdom of their Creator, and all things receive their full portion from their Originator, and all things attain to the source of His good-pleasure and love for their Fashioner, and all things possess what they desire of the bounty of their King and Ordainer, and the breast of all things shall be gladdened through communion with their Beloved and Master.

Praise be unto Him, whereof all created things bear witness that there is none other God but Him. He was eternal in the glory of pre-existence, and shall be everlastingly hidden, a pristine essence from the beginning of beginnings, and a pure substance in the most exalted seat of holiness and grandeur. God Himself beareth witness, and all His names bear witness, and God Himself beareth witness, and all His attributes bear witness, and God Himself beareth witness, and all His signs bear witness, and God Himself beareth witness, and all His martyrs bear witness, and God Himself beareth witness, and all His loved ones bear witness, and God Himself beareth witness, and all that He hath created and shall create bear witness, that there is none other God but Him.

He hath no peer, no equal, no likeness, no similitude. He is exalted above all comparison, sanctified above all resemblance, holy beyond all similitude, unique beyond all association, glorified above all measure, magnified above all equality, and extolled above all rivalry. He hath ever been known through naught but Himself, and shall forever be described through naught save His Own Being. He created all things out of nothing by His Will, and brought all things into being from non-existence by His Purpose.

All creation testifieth, after acknowledging His unity and confessing His singleness and bearing witness to the sovereignty of His eternal holiness and being assured of the dominion of His everlasting majesty, that the Bearer of the Seven Letters is the Manifestation of His Self and Essence, the Dayspring of His Being and Reality, the Orient of His Eternity and Identity, and the Dawning-Place of His Everlastingness and Ipseity. God hath chosen Him from among all created things for the station of His perpetuity, and singled Him out from amidst all existing things for the rank of His education.

Through Him alone is God known, through Him alone is God described, through Him alone is God glorified, and through Him have all contingent things been illumined by the effulgences of His eternal glory and all realities been made radiant through the splendors of His everlasting might. God hath sanctified Him from all names through the sanctification of His sovereign holiness, and exalted Him above all likenesses through the transcendence of His kingly uniqueness. He hath made Him the Throne of His appearance in all that hath appeared from the beginning that hath no beginning through the Most Luminous Manifestation, and the Seat of His concealment in all that shall appear unto the end that hath no end through the Most Evident Manifestation.

Let all praise be unto Him for the knowledge of that divine Essence, as is meet and seemly, and let all gratitude be unto Him for the recognition of that crystalline Mirror, as behooveth and befitteth—praise such as none hath ever offered unto any Manifestation like unto His praise, and thanks such as none hath ever rendered unto any Seat of His concealment as is His due. Praise whereby all things, after affirming His unity, acknowledge the Manifestation of His Self and the sublimity of His sanctity, and whereby the creation of all things, after confessing His oneness, attesteth to that which He hath ordained for the Manifestation of His Essence in the Seat of His concealment.

Through Him hath the light been made luminous, and the manifest been made manifest, and the resplendent been made to shine, and praise been made praiseworthy, and heaven been made celestial, and glory been made glorious, and the exalted been made lofty, and radiance been made radiant, and embellishment been made ornate, and majesty been made majestic, and beauty been made beauteous, and grandeur been made grand, and greatness been made great, and mercy been made merciful, and perfection been made perfect, and completion been made complete, and might been made mighty, and the orient been made to dawn, and lightning been made to flash, and knowledge been made knowing, and power been made powerful, and nobility been made noble, and good-pleasure been made pleasing, and dominion been made sovereign, and ministry been made ministerial, and command been made commanding, and wisdom been made wise, and wealth been made wealthy, and the generosity of the Generous, and the advent of the Ancient Ones, and the grace of the Gracious, and the kindness of the Kind, and the beauty of the Beautiful, and the life of the Living, and the power of the Powerful, and the holiness of the Holy Ones, and the might of the Mighty, and the strength of the Strong, and the dominion of the Dominant, and the victory of the Victorious, and the triumph of the Triumphant, and by all that fills the earth and heaven and whatsoever lies between them from among created things, that verily He is the Primal Remembrance in the Morn of Eternity and the Dawning-Place of the Unseen from the Ever-Living.

God hath through Him exalted all manifestations and revealed all that was hidden and renewed all essences and originated all realities and rent asunder all veils and sent down His favors upon all created and to-be-created things. God hath chosen from the height of all possibilities names most impregnable and examples most sublime, and hath through them ordained paths most elevated and decrees most inviolable, until He established all lands through His independent power and fixed the heavens in the atmosphere through His sovereign might and created all things in their proper place and made known to all things the source of their existence.

Then He created what exists by His command and adorned all possible things with the ornament of His creation and caused the dawning-places of existences to shine forth through the effulgence of His invention. God chose for Himself crystal-clear mirrors and resplendent reflections and radiant essences and exalted realities and transcendent individualities and sanctified beings. Then He revealed Himself to them through themselves and cast upon their reality the image of their own essence, and through them He became independent of all else and manifested through them what could be revealed of their mystery from the manifestations of His sovereign unity and the appearances of His holy dominion and the revelations of His glorious sanctity and the evidences of His eternal holiness.

Thus did the Orient shine through the dawning of His countenance’s lights and the Lightning flash through the manifestations of His face’s radiance and Ornaments became adorned through the ornament of His glorious essence and the Attracted were drawn through the attractions of His inner reality. Even thus doth God create what He willeth, even thus doth God choose what He willeth, even thus doth God select what He willeth, even thus doth God prefer what He willeth, even thus doth God reveal Himself to whom He willeth, even thus doth God purify whom He willeth, even thus doth God nurture whom He willeth.

Therefore be independent through God, O all things, and be detached unto God, O all things, and attain unto God’s good-pleasure, O all things, and strive to establish God’s remembrance, O all things, and endeavor to exalt God’s proofs, O all things, and seek help from God in manifesting God’s Cause, O all things. For this is a radiant glory and a flashing splendor and a manifesting majesty and a penetrating beauty and a refining perfection and a creating magnificence and a sustaining light and a compassionate mercy and an ascending completion and a transcending perfection and a confirming might.

God aids the true religion through the helpers of the might of His divine, heavenly, celestial sovereignty and raises up the Word of Affirmation through the keys of the sapphire of His manifestation’s eternal dominion. Nothing can ever frustrate God’s power to create any thing, nor can any knowledge be concealed from His knowledge. God hath ever been the All-Knowing above all things, and God hath ever been the All-Powerful over all things, and God hath ever been the Provider for all things. God hath ever existed as the Slayer over all things, and God hath ever existed eternally in the glory of eternity, and God hath ever existed as the Ancient of Days that never ceaseth to be.

Rejoice then in the mirrors that reflect one another and in the crystals that face each other, which shine forth from the dawning-places of the lights of the Ancient Glory, and flash forth from the lightning-bolts of the remembrance of the First One, and are adorned with the ornaments of the praise of the Sovereign of Majesty, and are illumined by the rays of the King of Beauty. All of them are lofty proofs and elevated tokens for the affirmation of that which is established, and the negation of that which is negated, and the exaltation of that which is exalted, and the inaccessibility of that which is inaccessible from the chain of affirmations, and the descent of that which descendeth, and the poverty of that which is impoverished from the chain of the transient.

Therefore seek ye help from God and remain steadfast in supporting the Cause of God and the exaltation of the remembrance of God and the inaccessibility of the Word of God and the independence of the Cause of God and the majesty of the power of God and whatsoever God, exalted and mighty be He, loveth and desireth in the exaltation of the word of His affirmation and the inaccessibility of the dawning-places of His glory. And remember ye that Letter beneath the shadow of that Name, night and day, to the number of all numbers, as a remembrance from God, the Lord of the Pen and of Ink.

And be ye not veiled from any of the commandments of God, for verily this would veil you from the word of the unity of God, inasmuch as that commandment hath shone forth from His Essence, speaking forth from God that there is no God but Me, and hath flashed forth from His Being, speaking forth from the Sun of Eternity that verily I am the First Remembrance. And God hath uttered no command nor prohibition save for the preparation thereof for the exaltation of both Words and the inaccessibility of both Signs. And all shall return unto God.

Mode of commentary

In the Name of God, the Most Glorious, the Most Glorious

Praise be to God, besides Whom there is none other God, the Most Glorious, the Most Glorious! All glory from God be upon Him Whom God shall make manifest, and then upon His holy and glorious deputies. I bear witness that God, the Exalted, has eternally been sanctified from all His servants, transcendent above any similarity to aught else, holy beyond association with His creation, exalted above all things in His grandeur, elevated above all things in His majesty, sovereign over all things in His dominion, and ruling over all things through His lordly might.

He has ever known all things through His all-encompassing Will, and exercises power over all things through His all-pervading Purpose. He ordains whatsoever He pleaseth through His creative Command, and decrees what He willeth through the perfection of His wisdom. He has eternally been in one state, one beauty, one grandeur, one light, one mercy, one word, one perfection, one name, one glory, one will, one knowledge, one power, one utterance, one manifestation, one concealment, one revelation, one effulgence, and whatsoever is attributed to Him of His most excellent and blessed names and His most exalted and pleasing attributes—all these are proofs of His oneness and witnesses to His unity.

In all names naught can be seen save their Named One, and in all attributes naught can be witnessed save their Source. In all essences naught can be beheld save their Spirit, and in all beings naught can be perceived save their Reality. All this is through God and His Will, through God’s Command and the manifestation of His power, through God’s might and the emergence of His glory, through God’s strength and the mysteries of His purpose, through God’s majesty and the radiance of His power, through God’s grace and the dawning of His countenance, through God’s bounty and the flashing forth of the lights of His Word.

Whatsoever thou hast known of God, thy Lord, sanctify Him above thy knowledge. Whatsoever thou hast unified regarding God, thy Lord, exalt Him above thy unification. Whatsoever thou hast described of God, thy Lord, glorify Him above thy description. Whatsoever thou hast attributed to God, thy Creator, magnify Him above thine attribution. Whatsoever praise thou hast offered to God, thy Fashioner, uniquify Him above thy praise.

I bear witness that God, the Exalted, hath no place that might encompass Him, nor doth His Essence encompass anything that might impose limitations upon His encompassing power. He is neither substance nor essence nor abstract nor pure being, nor any of the attributes ascribed, nor any of the qualities praised. When thou sayest He is All-Hearing, verily He, exalted be His glory, hath created hearing in all things heard, while there was naught to be heard except His Essence. When thou sayest He is All-Seeing, verily He, exalted be His glory, hath created sight in all things seen, while there was naught to be seen except His Essence. When thou sayest He is All-Subtle, verily He, exalted be His glory, hath created subtlety in all subtle things, while there was naught subtle.

When thou sayest He is All-Informed, verily He, exalted be His glory, hath created information in all things informed, while there was naught to be informed of. When thou sayest He is All-Powerful, verily He, exalted be His glory, hath created power within all things foreordained, and there existed naught that was foreordained except His Own Self. He hath ever been the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing, the Most Subtle, the All-Informed, and the All-Powerful, without the existence of anything heard, seen, known, affected, or subject to power. Consider then the Life of God, exalted be His glory, how it subsisteth by itself without any other thing. Canst thou prove His Life through the existence of aught besides Him? Likewise, thou canst not prove His knowledge and power through the existence of anything affected or known.

All these are but resplendent expressions, stammering allusions, ascending proofs, and manifest appearances, that the hearts of all created things might find tranquility, the souls of contingent beings might attain certitude, the spirits of all creatures might be assured, and the essence of every atom might gain insight. Otherwise, He is sanctified beyond any mention of hearing or sight, beyond any reference to subtlety or knowledge, beyond any attribution of knowledge or power, and beyond all such similitudes and likenesses.

Rather, when thou findest knowledge to be a praiseworthy attribute, with which God hath described His Own Self—though the knowledge that is with God is His very Essence—how canst thou know it to describe it? And when thou findest power to be an exalted attribute, with which God hath described His Own Self—though His power is His very Being and Identity—how can any besides Him know it?

Similarly, thou dost praise thy Lord with unapproachable names and describe thy Lord with exalted similitudes, for He hath created these within thee and thou art elevated by them in His dominion, since God, glorified be He, hath related them to Himself. Otherwise, exalted, exalted be His station above all names and attributes, and sanctified, sanctified be His might above all similitudes and allusions. He is as He hath described Himself; none other than Him can know Him. Indeed, when He describeth Himself, He maketh description itself a creation for His creatures, and description at the time of its describing is evidence of its nature as an attribute and witness that it is other than the One described.

Therefore, limit not the names of God by the number of all things, or by infinite numbers of all things, or by less than that. For all these are but manifestations that have shown forth in the realm of sovereignty and dominion, concealed realities that have blazed forth in the realm of might and power, emergences that have stammered forth in the realm of holiness and sanctity, and allusions that have been raised up in the realm of glory and grandeur.

He, glorified and exalted be He, describeth Himself by these and is pleased with His creation describing Him thus, for in creation nothing is possible without such attributes, since when He created creation, that whereby God describeth Himself was manifested from His presence upon the horizon of origination and invention, of manifestation and bringing into being. How then canst thou know the Essence of Eternity thereby, or describe the Identity of the Primal Remembrance through this?

When thou hast recognized these allusions, witnessed these proofs, become certain of these manifestations, and known these clear evidences, then bear thou witness that all that the mystics have known, the describers have described, the attributers have attributed, the praisers have praised, and the unitarians have unified—God, exalted be His glory, was not the source of these attributes except through His true Thrones and His everlasting Seats, and they, through what God casteth into them, are by them stammering and manifest, resplendent and radiant, declared and stripped, contemplative and simple, brilliant and majestic, forbearing and mighty, luminous and holy, glorifying, purified, merciful, compassionate, exalted, supreme, perfected, complete, noble, dignified, described, characterized, praised, extolled, learned, powerful, content, beloved, honored, sovereign, ruling, advanced, generous, elevated, majestic, mighty, protected, adorned, attracted, and enraptured beings, and all similar manifestations and stations, all begin from the Kingdom and return to the Kingdom, and circle the Kingdom through the Kingdom around the Kingdom, and speak of the Kingdom from the Kingdom by the Kingdom for the Kingdom in the Kingdom.

However, God, glorified be He, through the transcendence of His power and the inaccessibility of His all-encompassing nature, has made these thrones so delicate in their corporeal existence that they are likened to pure mirrors, and has made these essences so subtle in their station that they are described at the level of their limitations as facing crystals. God, glorified be He, has been pleased with their recognition through His recognition, with their love through His love, with their contentment through His contentment, with their nearness through His nearness, with their obedience through His obedience, and with their allegiance through His allegiance, for beyond this nothing is possible in creation nor can come into being through invention.

For when speaking of duality, the other is a creation that has been brought into being through His bringing into being, made through His making, given essence through His essence, originated through His origination, and invented through His invention—evidence that it is His creation in His kingdom and points to Him in its mystery and essence. Thus, when speaking of duality, knowledge of the Pre-existent is impossible. Therefore, as you have witnessed this, bear witness in all manifestations that the One apparent in all mirrors is one God, and the One hidden in all crystals is one Lord. What the First Innovation called to God, exalted be His glory, is what all thrones of manifestation before it, when there was no before, have understood.

And all that calls to God after the First Innovation points to God and calls to God. Thus the acknowledgment of all these Manifestations, who are the essences of the kingdom of possibility, and the confession of all these Dawning-places, who are the abstract realities of the creation of all worlds, is evidence of His oneness and a path to everyone’s confession of His eternality. Have you ever heard of any throne calling to other than God? Therefore bear witness that the Speaker therein is the One apparent in all thrones, and the One revealed to Him through Him is the One revealed through all seats of power. And perceive through this divine subtlety and godly simplicity that the Command from God is for one, and that the thrones are mirrors for God, glorified be He.

God manifests them throughout the ages and in the eternity of manifestation as He wishes, for the exaltation of His Lordship, the glorification of His Divinity, the establishment of His oneness, the magnification of His eternality, the elevation of His singleness, the inaccessibility of His self-subsistence, the empowerment of His sanctity, and what expressions cannot mention of remembrances and what outward forms cannot bear to be described by thoughts. All this is evidence that there is no god but He, the One, the Luminous. And since the manifestation of His oneness appears only through the Manifestation of His Self, as you perceive it—and were it not for God’s revelation to Him through Him, how could the manifestation of the Manifestation of His Self appear through His manifestation?

The manifestation of God is not through the manifestation of the Manifestation of His Self, rather the manifestation of the Manifestation of His Self is through the manifestation of God. But since all cannot comprehend this, whatever has been made the throne of manifestation from a beginning to which there was no beginning is the seat of your recognition of your Lord and the source of your revelation before your Creator, and that He Who is manifest in the Thrones hath ever been one Living Being, and that the very essence of the Thrones in their reality shall forever abide in God’s paradise and His good pleasure. Yet what thine eyes behold of the outward forms of the Thrones is but clay.

Consider from the beginning that hath no beginning how many Thrones have appeared, and if thou regardest not what is within them as dust in its station. Likewise with what shall appear hereafter unto the end that hath no end, if thou regardest not what is within them as dust in its contingent nature and in its creation before God, since existence and contingency are equal before God. God’s relationship to all things hath ever been equal—He is neither nearer to one thing than another, nor farther from one thing than another. His relationship to all things is equal, while the relationship of things to Him is by virtue of creation and origination. Within that bound is revealed the nearness or remoteness of a thing.

When thou hast witnessed this, look not upon the Thrones as they are in themselves, for thou hast observed their beginning as a drop of water and their return as a handful of clay. Rather, behold them through that wherewith God hath manifested Himself in them, for when thou lookest with that eye, thou shalt see them worthy of all glory and praise, and befitting all majesty and splendor. Be not veiled from these divine Manifestations, these celestial Dawning-Places, these divine Elements, these Points of unity’s dayspring, these heavenly Effulgences. For if thou lookest upon them through the eye of God’s manifestation, however high thou mayest ascend, thou shalt never attain unto their glory, and however far thou mayest rise, thou shalt never comprehend their majesty.

God hath desired in that Name the exaltation of that Letter and its remembrance, and the loftiness of its station, for it preceded in guidance and faith, ascended unto God in the Bayan, reached unto the Manifestation of Glory, and entered the paradise in the inmost sanctuary of holiness. When thou makest mention of it in the remembrance of the Living One in the first verse, it sufficeth thee. God hath desired to remember His creation through their remembrance, though God is in truth independent of all that He hath created or shall create. If thou desirest to remember it alone, the number of the letter Ha sufficeth thee.

If thou art veiled after gaining knowledge, then the weight of a ruby equal to the number of Ha shall be binding upon thee, for it hath ascended unto God at the time of the rising of God’s fire at the corner of the Gates. If thou forgettest, no blame attacheth to thee in God’s Book. Verily God is sublime, transcendent.

Persian mode

In the name of God, the Most Glorious, the Most Glorious

Sanctified and glorified be the Ever-Abiding Beloved Who has existed through the majesty of His independent Being and will forever exist through the inaccessible exaltation of His holy Essence. No thing has known Him as He deserves to be known, and no being has worshipped Him as He deserves to be worshipped. He has been exalted in the glory of eternity above the praise of all created things, and sanctified in the holiness of perpetuity above the tributes of all existing beings. How transcendent is the inaccessible holiness of His sanctuary, that all who glorify Him in the heights of sanctity and all who are sanctified in the kingdom of intimacy have forever been excluded from truly praising Him!

How lofty is the threshold of His unifying glory, that all divine ones in the heaven of might and all who guard the gates to the realm of grandeur have forever been unequal to truly describing Him! Who can praise Him when the very act of praise is His creation? And who can refrain from praising Him when nothing exists but Him?

Incomparable praise befits Him, and just tribute is His due, for He has created all atoms with the knowledge of His Self, and brought all contingent beings into being through the evidence of His Command. He has brought all created things from the depths of nothingness to the summit of existence, and called all particles from the abyss of annihilation to the heights of eternal life. He is the First, but is not described by firstness; He is the Last, but is not characterized by lastness; He is the Manifest, but is not praised for manifestation; He is the Hidden, but is not known through hiddenness. He is the One Who made all first things without any first, and brought forth all last things without any last.

He is the One Who created all outer things without any outer things, and originated all inner things without any inner things.

Forever has the threshold of His holy unity been exalted above the prostration of those who prostrate, and the summit of His majestic glory been sanctified above the worship of worshippers. From the beginning that has no beginning to the end that has no end, He has been the One Who appears in every aspect and is manifest in every manifestation, and is concealed in every concealment. Who can enumerate the thrones of His manifestation from the beginning that has no beginning? And who can count the thrones of His concealment unto the end that has no end?

Praise and thanksgiving be unto Him Who, in every hidden plane, hath bestowed assistance upon all things through all things themselves, yet from nothing whatsoever; and whatsoever He hath manifested in His own Manifestation is He Himself, Who alone is worthy of praise, and none other; and He it is Who alone is worthy of worship, and none beside Him. From everlasting He hath been One, alone, without partner, and to everlasting He shall remain One, alone, without peer.

All existence is but a ray of the effulgence of His bounty, and all that hath been or shall be is but a reflection of the shining forth of His grace. How many are they who have failed to know Him, though there hath been—and shall be—no deity save Him; and how many are they who have come to know Him, though there hath been—and shall be—no unseen reality save Him.

The radiance of the Sun is but a garment of His Countenance, illuminating all being; and the splendor of the lights of His Presence shineth forth from placelessness unto the inmost essence of all places, rendering them resplendent. The entire order of contingent things, from the first without a beginning, hath ascended—and doth ascend—toward Him, the One, yet never attaineth unto Him.

And the whole order of created beings, unto the last without an end, shall continue to ascend, yet shall never reach the summit of His sanctified Oneness. How exalted are the dawning-points of His effulgence, and how manifest are the arenas of His radiant lights! Every effulgence, when compared with His effulgence, is as nothing; and every light, when set beside His lights, is utter non-being. How sublime is the splendor of His Presence, before which every splendor is bereft of splendor; and how exalted is the sacred expanse of the glory of His praise, beside which every act of praise is stripped of praise itself.

He hath ever been and shall ever be engaged in creation, bringing into being each day that which had no prior existence, and He hath ever been and shall ever be engaged in origination, calling forth at every instant servants who existed not before. He it is in Whose grasp of power all contingent things have ever been and shall remain, and He it is in Whose right hand of might all atoms have ever dwelt and shall continue to dwell.

He hath singled out the dwellers of this Revelation, by the effulgence of the lights of the Dawning-Point of His own Essence, and by the manifestations of the glory of the Sovereign of His Oneness, so that all atoms, from the kingdom of beginnings without beginning and endings without end, may be illumined by the rising-splendors of His effulgence, kindled by the flashing-bolts of His radiance, confirmed by the realities of His establishing truth, softened by the subtleties of His gentling grace, made exact by the fineness of His precision, made to outstrip all others by the precedences of His priority, joined by the consequents of His annexation, overwhelmed by the vanquishings of His effacement, exalted by the loftiness of His elevation, mended by the stitchings of His repairing hand, cleft open by the openings of His disclosure, created by the creativities of His origination, sustained by the provisions of His bestowal, made truthful by the veracities of His confirming word, brought into being by the becomings of His command, renewed by the novelties of His origination, drawn by the attractions of His magnetism, adorned by the adornments of His vesture, made resplendent by the splendors of His Baha, invested with majesty by the majesties of His Jalal, beautified by the beauties of His Jamal, magnified by the immensities of His ʿAzamat, illumined by the lights of His Nur, enfolded in mercy by the compassions of His Rahmat, completed by the completions of His perfection, perfected by the perfections of His consummation, made great by the grandeurs of His greatness, implanted by the instincts of His endowment, empowered by the measures of His decree, set upon the paths of His ways, rejoiced by the delights of His gladdening, made to blossom by the flowerings of His disclosure, made manifest by the manifestations of His unveiling, made inward by the inwardnesses of His hiddenness, deferred by the deferrals of His treasuring, made primordial by the primacies of His firstness, made content by the satisfactions of His good-pleasure, made loving by the belovednesses of His love, made ennobled by the nobilities of His honor, made dominant by the dominations of His authority, made possessed by the angelic sovereignties of His command, made exalted by the exaltations of His loftiness, made honored by the honors of His generosity, made subtle by the subtleties of His kindness, made preferred by the preferences of His bounty, made munificent by the munificences of His liberality, made gifted by the gifts of His bestowal, made indebted by the obligations of His grace, made tender by the tendernesses of His compassion, made manifest by the disclosures of His essences, made stripped by the strippings of His abstraction, made simple by the simplicities of His purity, made refreshed by the breezes of His spirit, made time-encompassing by the elements of His ages, made drawn again by the attractions of His drawing power.

And whatsoever is ascribed unto Him is thereby related unto Him; and whatsoever shineth forth from the Dawning-Point of His sanctity is made radiant.

For this has been the portion allotted to all created things, and the share granted to all existing beings from the Dayspring of His hidden Essence and the Orient of His eternal Self. And since His all-pervading wisdom hath ordained that in every Manifestation it should be exalted and in every concealment it should be withheld, from time immemorial in every Revelation He hath raised up those who guide others to His manifestation, and in every concealment He hath established witnesses to His own effulgence, so that none among all created things might remain veiled from His holy presence and all might attain unto the summit of His grace and bounty.

Know thou that there was no beginning for God’s sovereignty in His realm, nor shall there be any end to His dominion in His kingdom. From eternity unto eternity He circled round His own Self, and in every Manifestation when the cycle reached its utmost refinement and the age attained its most delicate expression, He revealed Himself to His creation through His chosen ones among His creatures and His accepted ones among His servants. This hath ever been His way and ever shall it remain His custom.

At every Manifestation He hath caused the previous Revelations to be superseded, that all might turn wholly toward Him, be drawn to the glory of His manifestation, be quickened by the holy breaths of His spirit, ascend unto the dawning-places of His Cause, and be exalted by the splendors of His majesty, so that none might linger in contemplation of past Dispensations or gaze upon their outward forms.

For were it not so, the path from the first creation would remain forever unto the last creation, and since the creation of all things is constantly progressing and His sustenance from God hath ever been and shall be according to the capacity of their receptivity, therefore in every Manifestation the Lord of all revelations and in every concealment the Master of all concealments hath called all unto God and hath measured their ascent and rise according to what He hath ordained.

He hath been the Manifestor of never-ending grace, the Ever-Living and Self-Subsisting Truth, the Eternal and Holy Existence, and the Divine and Single Essence, Who in every Manifestation hath shone forth upon the tablets of all contingent beings with whatsoever hath been beloved of the Eternal Living One and desired of the Single Everlasting Being.

And among the effulgences of this Manifestation hath been the mention of this letter which from the beginning of its revelation hath been illumined by the rays of the Sun of Manifestation, and until its ascension hath remained steadfast in establishing the proof of that Ever-Living One Who dieth not, and the Beloved of all eternity hath eternally cherished its remembrance day and night, to the number of encounters with it in the manifestation of the Eternal Beloved. He hath commanded concerning those who are veiled from His Cause that which He hath commanded, and in His own station He hath not passed judgment upon any soul, out of the utmost grace of His own being.

Know thou that this was a name that lay concealed in the supreme heights of truth manifest in revelation, and fitting words drawn from inner depths were made manifest through its pens. The Ever-Living One hath loved the exaltation of his seat, and the Ever-Dreaded One its sublime inaccessibility. The angels of the heavens have at all times beseeched the Ever-Living One to attain unto it, and the dwellers of earth, until the appearance of Him Whom God shall make manifest, have sought and continue to seek its holy dawning-place.

Know thou that there is no glory for any thing except through obedience to its Beloved and the good-pleasure of its Goal. And since obedience to the Self-Subsisting One and the good-pleasure of the All-Holy One were not possible for the chain of created things except through the Manifestation of its outward aspects and at the Dawning-Place of its inner realities, the Ever-Living One Who dieth not and the Truth Who passeth not away ordained for this Letter this transcendent glory and sublime majesty. Had the grace of the Self-Subsisting One been made to flow, its mirror of receptivity would have been in a state of perfect readiness to manifest infinite splendors in the realm and to cause endless lights to shine forth.

However, since divine decree must needs flow and no soul hath any path except through its execution, God hath ordained that in the next Resurrection, during the days of the appearance of Him Whom God shall make manifest, this Name shall be exalted and this Remembrance made inaccessible. It rests with Him Whom God shall make manifest to elevate whatsoever He hath witnessed in this Revelation and to bestow upon it whatsoever beseemeth its own essence.

Know thou that in every Revelation there have been dawning-places that have shown forth and lights that have shone, testifying to the unity of the sanctified and eternal Essence and adorning the paradise of the Primal Remembrance. All, at the supreme height of their holy summit and the lowest depth of their earthly particle, have glorified the divine sanctified Essence, hallowed the Ever-Inaccessible Living One, unified His Being, magnified His Self, and extolled His Reality.

Their glory hath lain in this: that their very beings have reached such heights of subtlety and delicacy that their own selves have been lifted from them, and naught but the Truth hath shown forth in them, and naught hath been seen or can be seen in them save the Point of the Bayan, in Whom naught can be seen except the Dawning-Place of Glory and the Sanctifier of Holiness. God hath ever loved and will continue to love the exaltation of these mirrors to the utmost possible degree in the realm of contingent being, for their elevation is a proof of the exaltation of the Manifestation of Divine Unity, and their inaccessibility, carried to its ultimate degree, is a path unto the inaccessibility of the Countenance of eternity.

At all times these Mirrors must be watched lest any dust settle upon them, causing them to lose, to that extent, their power of reflection, and lest the moistures of the air descend upon them, causing them, to that degree, to lose their capacity to tell their tale. For their brilliance hath not been vouchsafed to the degree of mirror-like receptivity and crystalline essence that would apply generally to all, but rather is a special grace bestowed upon whomsoever God willeth.

The measure thereof must be recognized in every instance, and the raptures thereof must be watched, and the ardent longings thereof, lest anything appear that would cause them to diminish, so that they may attain, to the extent possible in the contingent world, to the grace of the All-Glorious Lord, and become a sign unto those who seek proofs in every age, before every age, and after every age.

8. Al-ajmal

Mode of verses

In the Name of God, the Most Beautiful, the Most Beautiful

In the Name of God, the Most Beautiful, the Most Beautiful! By God, the Beautiful One, Possessor of Twin Beauties! In the Name of God, the Beautiful One, Possessor of Beauty! In the Name of God, the Beauteous, the Beauteous! By God, the Beauteous, the Beauteous! By God, the Beautiful One, Possessor of Twin Beauties! By God, the Beautiful One, Possessor of Beauty! By God, the Beautiful One, Possessor of Beauties! By God, the Beautiful One, Possessor of Splendors! In the Name of God, the Most Beautiful, the Most Beautiful! By God, the Most Beautiful, the Most Beautiful! In the Name of God, the Beautiful One, Possessor of Twin Beauties! In the Name of God, the Beautiful One, Possessor of Splendors!

In the Name of God, the Beauteous, the Beauteous! In the Name of God, the All-Beautiful, the All-Beautiful! By God, the Beauteous, the Beauteous! By God, the All-Beautiful, the All-Beautiful! In the Name of God, the One Beauty! By God, the One Beauty! In the Name of God, the Beautiful One, Possessor of Beauty! By God, the Beautiful One, Possessor of Beauty! By God, the One, the Two Beauties! In the Name of God, the One, the Two Beauties! In the Name of God, the All-Beautiful, the Transcendent! By God, the All-Beautiful, the Transcendent! God, there is no God but He, the Most Beautiful, the Most Beautiful! God, there is no God but He, the Beauteous, the Beauteous! By God, the Beautified, the All-Beautiful! In the Name of God, the Beautified, the All-Beautiful! In the Name of God, the Ever-Beauteous, the Ever-Beauteous! By God, the Ever-Beauteous, the Ever-Beauteous!

And unto God belongeth the beauty of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them, and God is Beautiful, All-Beautiful, Transcendent. And unto God belongeth the dominion and sovereignty of the beauty of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them, and God is Beautiful, Beauteous, Gracious. Say: God is more beautiful than any possessor of beauty. None can withhold himself from the sovereign dominion of His beauty, whether in the heavens or in the earth or in what lieth between them. Verily, He was ever Beautiful, Beauteous, Gracious. Say: God is more beautiful than any possessor of beauty. None can withhold himself from the gracious beauty of His beauty, whether in the heavens or in the earth or in what lieth between them. Verily, He was ever Beautiful, Beauteous, Gracious.

Glorified art Thou, O my God! Verily, Thou art the Most Beautiful of the beautiful ones. Thou givest beauty unto whomsoever Thou willest and withholdest it from whomsoever Thou willest. Thou exaltest whom Thou willest and abaseth whom Thou willest. Thou raisest up whom Thou willest and bringest down whom Thou willest. Thou aidest whom Thou willest and forsakest whom Thou willest. Thou enrichest whom Thou willest and impoverishest whom Thou willest. Within Thy grasp is the kingdom of all things. Thou createst what Thou willest by Thy command. Verily, Thou art powerful over all things.

Say: O my God! Verily, Thou art the Most Beautiful of the beautiful ones. Thou givest beauty unto whomsoever Thou willest and withholdest it from whomsoever Thou willest. Within Thy grasp is the kingdom of all things. Thou createst what Thou willest by Thy command. Verily, Thou wert ever Beautiful, Beauteous, Gracious.

Say: O my God! Verily, Thou art the Beauty of the heavens and the earth and what lieth between them. All are illumined by the light of Thy beauty.

Say: O my God! Verily, Thou art the Beauty of beauties. Thou plantest the tree of affirmation in the hearts of those who have believed in God and His signs. Verily, Thou art the Most Powerful of the powerful ones.

Glorified art Thou, O my God! Do Thou cause the tree of affirmation to grow through Thy all-encompassing knowledge in all goodness. Verily, Thou art the Most Exalted of the exalted ones. And do Thou, O my God, bring down the tree of self through Thy all-encompassing knowledge. Verily, Thou art the most abasing of the assembled ones.

This is a Book from God, the Protector, the Self-Subsisting, unto Him Whom God shall make manifest. Bear thou witness that there is no God but He, the Protector, the Best Beloved.

O God! Thou createst whatsoever Thou willest in the kingdom of the heavens and of the earth and all that lies between them through Thy command. Verily, Thou art the Most Powerful of the powerful. O God! Thou adornest all who dwell in the kingdom of the heavens and of the earth and all that lies between them with what Thou sendest down. Verily, Thou art the Most Luminous of the luminous. O God! Thou wilt assuredly assist those who have believed in God and His signs. Verily, Thou art the Best of helpers.

Glory be unto Thee, O God! Thou choosest from among Thy servants whom Thou willest, and Thou wilt manifest Thyself through whomsoever Thou willest, in whatsoever way Thou willest. Verily, Thou art the Best of manifesters. Glory be unto Thee, O God! Thou art the Knower of the heavens and of the earth and all that lies between them. Nothing can frustrate Thee in the kingdom of creation and command and all that lies between them. Verily, Thou art the Ordainer of all worlds.

O Essence of the Bayan! Bear thou witness that there is none other God but Him. Say: All seek Me. Say: All desire Me. Say: All glorify Me. Say: All give thanks unto Me. We have no God save God. He is our Lord, in Him do we trust, and in God let the faithful servants put their trust.

O Eternal Father! Bear thou witness and then say: There is none other God but Thee. All shall return unto God, our Lord. Say: There is none other God but I. All ascend unto God, our Lord. Say: There is none other God but He. All shall be raised up unto God, their Lord.

Say: O all things! God, your Lord, created you not, sustained you not, caused you not to die, and gave you not life, except that in the days of God ye should aid Me. Therefore assist ye the Cause of God, then put your trust in God, your Lord. Call ye upon God, your Lord, the All-Merciful, that He may answer your prayers. Verily, He is All-Knowing of those who supplicate Him.

Say: God will surely answer the prayers of those who have believed in God and His signs, and who put their trust in God, their Lord. Say: I am the Mirror of God unto all who are in the heavens and on earth and all that lies between them. Ye see not save through God. Say: I am the Crystal of God unto all who are in the heavens and on earth and all that lies between them. Ye witness not save through God.

Say: God chooseth from among His servants whom He willeth. Verily, He best knoweth all beings. Say: If ye assist His Cause, He will assist you and make firm your steps on a mighty straight path. Say: God is indeed independent of all that is in the heavens and on earth and all that lies between them. But we are all servants of God, drawing nigh unto Him, and all are supplicants of His bounty.

Glory be unto Thee, O God! Aid us from Thy presence, for Thou art the Best of helpers. Glory be unto Thee, O God! Make us manifest from Thy presence, for Thou art the Most Manifest of the manifest. Glory be unto Thee, O God! Exalt us from Thy presence, for Thou art the Most Exalted of the exalted. Glory be unto Thee, O God! Make us victorious from Thy presence, for Thou art the Most Victorious of the victorious. Glory be unto Thee, O God! Grant us dominion over the earth and all that dwell therein from Thy presence, for Thou art the Most Sovereign of sovereigns. Glory be unto Thee, O God! Strengthen us from Thy presence, for Thou art the Most Powerful of the powerful. Glory be unto Thee, O God! Soften our hearts from Thy presence, for Thou art the Most Gentle of the gentle.

Glory be unto Thee, O God! Refine our spirits from Thy presence, for Thou art the Most Discerning of the discerning. Glory be unto Thee, O God! Purify our souls from Thy presence, for Thou art the Most Observant of observers. Glory be unto Thee, O God! Refine our bodies from Thy presence, for Thou art the Most Knowing of the knowing. Say: These are the essences of your hearts, spirits, souls and bodies from among the signs of God within you, were ye to know. These are signs that God createth within you in every Revelation that ye may believe in the evidences of God. Therefore, possess ye that which God hath planted in the Bayan, that it may yield fruits wherewith ye shall rejoice. This is a fruit that hath ripened in the Vav. Will ye not then be thankful?

O Azim! Bear thou witness that there is no God but Me, the Most Great, the Most Great. We have acquainted thee with a mighty matter great. Say: Praise be to God Who hath guided me unto that which God hath revealed unto him from His presence. Verily He is the All-Powerful, the Almighty. This is what We promised thee aforetime when We loved thee. Be patient until nine passeth from the Bayan, then say: Blessed be God, the best of creators. And We loved thee before the Ta. It behooveth that there appear in the Vav two verses from God in the Book concerning the ancient ones. Say: One of them is John the Prophet, then the other is the son of Ali, an Imam exalted and true. We have indeed informed thee concerning one of the twain.

Journey thou through the land until God thy Lord causeth thee to be informed of that which shall become manifest from God thy Lord, the Lord of all the worlds. And preserve thou that fruit, that naught may reach it which would grieve its heart, until it ascendeth unto a seat of inaccessible glory and riseth unto a sanctified, exalted horizon, that it may be brought before God. And aid thou the Cause of God from His presence. Verily, He is a mighty Helper.

And when you present yourself there, it is as though you present yourself before God, for verily We were present and We were glorious. Look not except toward God and behold in the mirrors only what the sun reveals therein, and say: “All are from God and all unto God shall return.” And if you are able to convey the remembrance of God in such wise as to attract all the worlds, then convey it, for this is the victory of God for all who are in the heavens and the earth and what lies between them, and for all who dwell in the worlds. And if you desire to aid the Cause of God, then when you are distant, do not place the mirrors of God between you, but seek assistance from God through what He reveals, for this is a mighty shelter for you.

Thus does God, your Lord, choose what He desires; verily He is the All-Knowing, the All-Powerful.

And what God has taken from you of the Tablets is what We have taken. Yea, verily these are mirrors that testify that there is no God but He, the Holy, the Supreme, the Beloved. Bear thou witness that God has manifested Me in the Gates to the number of Dal, and We were speaking therein. When thou hast recognized the essence of all things, it behooveth thee to reflect from that Mirror the mirrors of that which reflecteth from God, thy Lord, the Lord of all worlds. Nay, rather, it behooveth that in every year there appear mirrors for each Manifestation from among the exponents of the Unity, for verily We are powerful over this. And what He desired to raise from thy heart is the remembrance of an exalted and glorious Book.

If thou hast aided the Cause of God in such wise as would please the heart of the First Remembrance, God will, perchance, raise it up when He willeth, for He is the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. We have bestowed upon thee what We have ordained in the Book that his heart might be pleased with what he loved in his life, for this is of God’s grace unto all worlds. But thou shalt not make mention of the Return, for in that Resurrection what was decreed hath been accomplished, and God will grant thee an exalted and glorious station. For were We to desire it, the signs of the Return would have no end, but We were the Senders when We willed from Our presence, and We were powerful over all things.

Therefore detach thyself from these remembrances and strive to establish what is established, for in this is every glorious remembrance. When God willeth, in less than the twinkling of an eye, He will raise up all those who were first and last, outward and inward, from among the Prophets, the truthful ones, the martyrs and the believers, from those who were in the first creation until that time, and those who shall be in the realm of possibility unto an end that hath no end, and verily We are powerful over all of this. But God loveth that thou shouldst exalt His Cause according to what hath been ordained in a glorious Book. And bear thou witness that those who desired not to believe in God and His signs were in their religion veiled from the bounds of their own religion.

Place no hope in them, for they know themselves, and all know them. Without right do they earn what they earn. They show no shame before God or His guides, nor do they fear what God their Lord has ordained for them after their death, though they well know they do no good. They are not like those who think they do good. Put thy trust in God thy Lord and draw not nigh unto them until thou witness grief. Thou shalt assuredly be helped by God, for verily the guides of God are they who are helped. And what We revealed to thee before in the tablets, were God to cause it to reach thee, thou wouldst be informed of what thou didst ask of God thy Lord, Lord of the heavens and Lord of the earth, Lord of what is seen and unseen, Lord of all the worlds.

Were the Cause to be made manifest as God hath revealed before, this would be better for the God-fearing. Say: God aideth whom He willeth by His command, and He is verily the Mighty, the Inaccessible, the Exalted. Say: The Unique One shall indeed merit what We mentioned to thee before. The power of God shall assuredly be made manifest among His near-serving ones, until God thy Lord shall descend in the shadows of the clouds and the matter will be determined by God, the One, the Manifest. Think not that those who have not been given the Bayan are founded on anything—they are as the spider, and what they possess is as the spider’s web. Seek help from God, then in the days of God shall ye give thanks.

Say: God hath created for those who believe in Him Whom God shall make manifest after their death lofty gardens of holiness wherein are mansions of crimson ruby which ye shall enter, mansions of green emerald wherein ye shall profess His unity, mansions of yellow topaz wherein ye shall glorify Him, mansions of white diamond wherein ye shall sanctify Him. Say: Unto Him Whom God shall make manifest belongeth every goodly mention that hath been revealed in the Book or shall be revealed. Do ye then behold in Him other than God? Say: In that Resurrection all the guides shall shine forth through God, and all shall receive tidings from Him Whom God shall make manifest.

Say: In the days of God all that riseth from the crystallizations of every guide is for Him Whom God shall make manifest, and all derive their authority from Him. Withhold not from the fruit of God any mention of tidings though ye long for it. We have made thee a king that thou mayest cause that bird to fly upon thy hand. Whatsoever flyeth, stretch forth thy hands, for verily We are they who cause to fly. Say: Verily it flieth in that paradise, and for this there is neither beginning nor end—all fly from God unto God. And when thou meetest the two unique ones, make mention of them from thy Lord with gracious mention. Say to the greater one: Behold what God hath revealed to those mirrors, for this is glory for the believers.

And say to the mirrors: Glorify this, for it is the help of God in the Book, and verily We are they who glorify. O mirrors of eternity! Strengthen all who are in the Bayan through what is revealed from thee, and cause all the guides of God to be loved, and make mention of them from God with mighty mention, for all are guided by what We have given thee from Our presence, and verily We are they who ordain. And make mention of that Letter night and day to the number of the letter Ha’, for verily We have been them that remember. And whoso withdraweth himself, upon him shall rest the obligation of offering rubies red in weight the number of the letter Ha’. And whoso forgetteth, God will not call him to account therefor, for verily We have been gracious.

And whoso reciteth the First Verse, it shall suffice him in lieu of that remembrance the number of the letter ʿHa’, inasmuch as all remember through that which God hath sent down.

Mode of prayers

In the name of God, the Most Beautiful, the Most Beautiful

Glorified art Thou, O my God! I and all things testify that Thou art God, there is no God but Thee, alone without partner. Thine is the power and the grandeur, Thine the sovereignty and the earthly dominion, Thine the might and the majesty, Thine the countenance and the beauty, Thine the face and the perfection, Thine the similitude and the examples, Thine the stations and the glory, Thine the mercy and grace, Thine the dominance and justice, Thine the greatness and independence, Thine the grandeur and exaltation, Thine the might and the invincibility, Thine the power and the elevation, Thine the joy and the gladness, Thine is whatsoever Thou hast loved or wilt love in the kingdom of Thy Cause and creation.

Thou art the Manifest, O my God, and Thou art the Hidden, O my Beloved, and Thou art the First, O my Desire, and Thou art the Last, O my Adored One. Thou hast ever been exalted above all things and inaccessible to all things. Sanctified are all Thy names and exalted are all Thy examples. All Thy creation recognizeth Thee through bounty and favor, and Thy manifestation to all Thy servants is grace and loving-kindness. Thou hast ever been known in the eternity of eternities and wilt ever be described. Thou art He from Whose knowledge nothing escapeth, whether in the heavens or on the earth or between them, and nothing frustrateth Thee, whether in the kingdom of Command or of Creation or between them.

Sanctified art Thou, O Possessor of holiness and glory, and exalted art Thou, O Possessor of might and proof, and elevated art Thou, O Judge of judges, and glorified art Thou, O Compassionate, All-Merciful One, and magnified art Thou, O Beneficent, All-Bountiful One, and glorified art Thou, O Firm, All-Powerful One, and exalted art Thou, O Evident, All-Expressive One. All worship Thee according to Thy true Oneness, and all prostrate themselves before Thee according to Thy true Unity, and all glorify Thee according to Thy true Singleness. Thou art He Who hath ever existed before all things, and Thou art He Who will ever remain after all things, and Thou art He Whom nothing changeth, and Thou art He Whom nothing altereth.

All the mighty ones bow before Thy might, and all the lofty ones humble themselves before Thy loftiness, and all the majestic ones are submissive before Thy majesty, and all the beautiful ones are attracted to Thy countenance, and all the luminous ones are bewildered before the light of Thy face, and all the proofs are established by Thy proof, and all the witnesses bear witness to Thy testimony, and all the perfect ones seek perfection from Thy perfection, and all the manifest ones are concealed in Thy concealment and are silenced, and all the reverent ones stand before Thy reverence. Thou art the Most High above all things and Thou art the Most Exalted in the exaltation of all things.

All ever glorify Thee according to Thy true Oneness, and all sanctify Thee according to Thy true Unity, and all thank Thee according to Thy true Lordship, and remember Thee according to Thy true Being, and sanctify Thee according to Thy true Eternity.

O God, do Thou assist the Tree of Affirmation in the Bayan in its root and branch and twigs and leaves and whatsoever is in it and upon it with all Thy assistance, and do Thou, O God, send down upon the Alif standing at the Affirmation and the Vav dawning from behind the Ha whatsoever beseemeth the loftiness of Thy holiness and the sublimity of Thy glory, and do Thou, O God, send down upon whomsoever is in the Bayan from all Thy assistance the most assisting, and from all Thy triumph the most triumphant, and from all Thy manifestation the most manifest, and from all Thy dominion the most dominant, and of all Thy might the mightiest, and of all Thy loftiness the most exalted, and of all Thy grandeur the most grand, and of all Thy power the most powerful, and of all that Thou art in the sublimity of Thy holiness and the exaltation of Thy grace, of Thy most excellent Names and Thy most exalted Exemplars.

And do Thou cause to descend, O my God, upon the Manifestation of Thy Being and the Dayspring of Thine Essence, of all Thy glory the most glorious, and of all Thy majesty the most majestic, and of all Thy beauty the most beautiful, and of all Thy grandeur the most grand, and of all Thy mercy the most extensive, and of all Thy words the most perfect, and of all Thy might the mightiest, and of all Thy will the most potent, and of all Thy power the most powerful, and of all Thy knowledge the most penetrating, and of all Thy utterance the most pleasing, and of all Thy honor the most honorable, and of all Thy sovereignty the most enduring, and of all Thy dominion the most excellent, and of all Thy exaltation the most exalted, and of all that beseemeth the sublimity of Thy holiness and the exaltation of Thy might that which hath no equal, no peer, no likeness, no companion, and no similitude.

For Thou hast ever been, O my God, supreme over all things, triumphant over all beings, powerful over all creatures, manifest above all creation, victorious over all atoms, transcendent above all who dwell in the kingdom of earth and heaven, and sovereign over all who inhabit the realms of names and attributes. Thy victory hath ever been in the Daysprings of Thy names and Thy triumph in the Dawning-places of Thine exemplars. Thou art too exalted to be mentioned by aught else but Thee and too glorious to be praised by any other than Thyself.

Thou hast ever been the Manifest of the manifest, the Triumphant of the triumphant, the Almighty of the almighty, the Gracious of the gracious, the Luminous of the luminous, the Most Glorious of the glorious, the Greatest of the great, the Most Excellent of the excellent, the Most Forgiving of the forgiving, the Most Righteous of the righteous, the Most High of the high, the Most Creative of creators, the Most Informed of the informed, the Most Discerning of the discerning, the Most Seeing of the seeing, the Most Victorious of the victorious, and the Most Powerful of the powerful. All names bow down before the sublimity of Thy Being and all names are humbled before the exaltation of Thine Essence. There is no God but Thee, the Lord of the most exalted Exemplars.

There is no God but Thee, the Possessor of the most excellent Names. Thou hast ever loved all Thy guides, rewarded all Thy servants, aided all Thy chosen ones, illumined all Thy martyrs, and enriched all Thy loved ones. Glorified art Thou, and exalted art Thou! There is none other beside Thee possessed of might and power, nor any save Thee endowed with glory and majesty. Through Thy might Thou hast possessed all sovereigns, through Thy loftiness Thou hast subjected all rulers, through Thy grandeur Thou hast humbled all the mighty, through Thy power Thou hast subdued all the majestic, through Thy dominion Thou hast vanquished all the triumphant, through Thy sovereignty Thou hast concealed all the manifest, and through Thy oneness Thou hast taken possession of all things by Thy power.

Thou art the Ever-Victorious, and wilt ever be so. Thou art the Ever-Manifest throughout all eternity. Thou art the All-Compelling through might and majesty. Thou art the All-Subduing through grandeur and beauty. Thou art the All-Ruling through sovereignty and power. Thou art the Supreme through dominion and authority. Thou art the All-Powerful through justice and equity. Thou art the All-Attracting through love and rapture. All who dwell in the kingdom of the heavens and the earth and all that lies between them have ever watched for Thy grandeur, feared Thy majesty, been in awe of the sovereignty of Thy oneness, fled unto Thee from the justice of Thy Lordship, and been drawn unto Thee by Thy merciful favors and shall be attracted unto Thee by Thy divine bounties.

They shall support Thy religion through what Thou hast created in them of the powers of Thy might. None besides Thee is manifest, O Thou Who art the Manifest One, none besides Thee is hidden, O Thou Who art the Hidden One, none besides Thee is first, O Thou Who art the First One, none besides Thee is last, O Thou Who art the Last One. Thou hast made Thyself known, and thus were the attracted ones among the dwellers of Thy kingdom drawn unto Thee.

When those near unto Thee called upon Thee with that station Thou hadst specially ordained for Thy chosen ones, Thou didst answer their prayers through Thy grace and bestowed upon them through Thy favor, until Thou didst raise them unto Thee by Thy power and draw them nigh unto Thee by Thy providence, and caused them to dwell in the midst of Thy paradise by Thy loving-kindness, and granted them what Thou hadst created in Thy gardens for Thy divine authority.

Therefore, O my God, send down upon the numbers of Thy luminous Name and the examples of Thy mighty Holiness that which will satisfy their hearts in Thy good-pleasure, quiet their spirits in Thy paradise, assure their souls in Thy glory, and cause them to speak in praise and thanksgiving of Thee in the paradise of Thy transcendence. Glory be unto Thee and exalted art Thou!

O God, do Thou raise up from among the guides of Thy kingdom those who shall arise by Thy power, establish Thy oneness by Thy might, exalt Thy Word by Thy sovereignty, manifest the elevation of Thy remembrance by Thy sanctity, and fill Thy heaven and earth with the manifestations of the glory of Thy divinity through the effulgences of the sun of Thy unity, and fill all who are in the kingdom of earth and heaven with the words “There is no God but Thee” by Thy sovereignty, until all shall behold Thee manifest, shall turn unto Thee eagerly, shall be drawn unto Thee longingly, shall be impassioned with love for Thee, and shall desire naught but what Thou hast desired and love naught but what Thou hast loved, until nothing shall be witnessed in Thy knowledge that is not for Thee, for that is of Thy grace unto all contingent beings and of Thy bounty unto all created things. Otherwise, with Thee light and darkness are at the same level of creation, and nearness and remoteness are at the same level of ordainment.

Glorified art Thou, O Possessor of sovereignty and power! Glorified art Thou, O Possessor of dominion and manifestation! Glorified art Thou, O Possessor of might and conquest! Glorified art Thou, O Possessor of loftiness and exaltation! Glorified art Thou, O Possessor of strength and invincibility! Glorified art Thou, O Possessor of majesty and grandeur! Glorified art Thou, O Possessor of glory and radiance! Glorified art Thou, O Possessor of beauty and grace! Glorified art Thou, O Possessor of greatness and magnificence! Glorified art Thou, O Possessor of light and illumination! Glorified art Thou, O Possessor of might and authority! Glorified art Thou, O Possessor of dignity and honor! Glorified art Thou, O Possessor of nobility and glorification! Glorified art Thou, O Possessor of grandeur and elevation!

Glorified art Thou, O Possessor of nearness and proximity! Glorified art Thou, O Possessor of good-pleasure and acceptance! Glorified art Thou, O Possessor of power and strength! Glorified art Thou, O Possessor of excellence and beneficence! Glorified art Thou, O Possessor of grace and bounty! Glorified art Thou, O Possessor of generosity and honor! Glorified art Thou, O Possessor of dominion and munificence! Glorified art Thou, O Possessor of bestowal and giving! Glorified art Thou, O Possessor of favor and beneficence! Glorified art Thou, O Possessor of tenderness and compassion! Glorified art Thou, O Possessor of wealth and enrichment! Glorified art Thou, O Possessor of radiance and effulgence! Glorified art Thou, O Possessor of brilliance and resplendence! Glorified art Thou, O Possessor of might and power! Glorified art Thou, O Possessor of wisdom and judgment!

Ever do all achieve victory through Thy triumph, attain conquest through Thy conquest, prevail through Thy dominion, become manifest through Thy manifestation, gain authority through Thy sovereignty, achieve supremacy through Thy supremacy, become mighty through Thy might, attain transcendence through Thy transcendence, gain dominion through Thy dominion, achieve dignity through Thy dignity, and gain mastery through Thy mastery. Send Thy blessings upon all Thy guides, from their first to their last, their outward to their inward aspects. Verily, Thou art the Possessor of great bounty. And show Thou, O my God, unto the first who believed in Thee, among them that have desired to be the dawning-place of Thy good pleasure, that which befitteth Thee to show him, and unto all Thy proofs.

And aid Thou him, O my God, with all Thine aid, that Thou mayest exalt Thy Word, and establish Thy sovereignty, and make manifest Thy omnipotence, and cause Thy compelling power to prevail. Verily, Thou hast power and ability to do this.

And inspire Thou, O my God, mention of that Letter unto all Thy creation, in every night and day, according to the number of the Ha, as a remembrance from Thy presence. Verily, Thou art the Best of Rememberers. And protect Thou, O my God, all Thy creation from being veiled from Thy limits. Verily, Thou art the Best of Protectors. And forgive Thou, O my God, him who hath forgotten Thy remembrance. Verily, Thou art the Best of Forgivers.

Mode of sermons

In the name of God, the Most Beautiful, the Most Beautiful

Praise be to God Who hath ascended in His exaltation above all contingent beings, and risen in His loftiness above all created things, and become inaccessible in His remoteness above all existing things, and manifested His dominion above all who dwell in the kingdoms of earth and heaven, and revealed His power above all beings. His creation beareth witness, and all created things testify, that there is none other God but Him. He hath been, and will ever be, the One God, Single, Independent, Self-Subsisting, Sovereign, All-Compelling, Holy, Eternal, Everlasting, Self-Sufficient, Most Exalted, Inaccessible, Most High, Omnipotent. He hath taken unto Himself neither companion nor son. He hath ever existed in the glory of eternity, and will continue to exist forever.

Vision comprehendeth Him not, nor do the thoughts of minds encompass Him, nor can the hidden glances of contemplation reach Him, nor can the highest expressions of praise ascend unto Him. He is as He hath ever been—indescribable by any attributes, uncharacterizable by any qualities, beyond all recognition, beyond all praise, beyond all signs. His existence precedeth all existence in the glory of eternity, and His perpetuity extendeth beyond all duration. He is exalted above all similarity, transcendent above all likeness, unique beyond all comparison, sanctified above all association, and holy beyond all relationship. Exalted and elevated is His remembrance, lofty and inaccessible is His station.

He was self-sufficient in the glory of eternity and will ever continue to be independent in the sanctity of His eternity from all that He hath created and will create. All things indicate His sovereign unity and testify to His absolute oneness. He cannot be compared to any likeness, nor can He be matched with any form. He hath ever been, and will ever remain, beyond all description and sanctified above all glorification. He hath created all contingent beings out of nothing through His power, and hath manifested Himself unto all created things through His Will. He is sanctified above all things through the exaltation of His Self-Subsistence, and holy above all things through the elevation of His Sanctity.

No semblance can resemble Him, no likeness can match Him, no form can equal Him, and no peer can compare with Him. He hath ever been, and will ever remain, beyond the manifestations of His Self-Subsistence, exercising His sovereignty over the essences of His Sanctity. Vision comprehendeth Him not, nor do the hidden thoughts of minds encompass Him. Glorified be His Glory, exalted be His Might, and holy be His Holiness! He hath created all that was and will be through the exaltation of His divine inaccessibility, the independence of His divine majesty, and the elevation, sublimity and splendor of His glory. He will ever remain sanctified above all comparison, and everlasting in His freedom from all forms. Near is He in His uttermost remoteness, and far is He in His uttermost nearness.

No vision can comprehend Him due to the loftiness of His Being, nor can the most profound glance ascend unto Him due to the exaltation of His Essence. He cannot be compared to any likeness, nor can He be associated with aught in the kingdoms of origin and end. Glorified and exalted is He—nothing created resembles Him, nor can anything to be created equal Him, nor can He be described by anything fashioned, nor can He be praised by anything yet to be fashioned.

He manifests through His manifestation above all manifest things, conquers through His conquest above all conquerors, compels through His compelling power above all compellers, prevails through His triumph above all prevailing things, rules through His dominion above all rulers, aids through His assistance above all helpers, and opens through His opening above all openers.

He has ever been and shall ever be inaccessible above all that is inaccessible, exalted above all that is exalted, dominant above all that is dominant, overwhelming above all that is overwhelming, victorious above all that is victorious, manifest above all that is manifest, transcendent above all that is transcendent, resplendent above all that is resplendent, revealed above all that is revealed, and compelling above all contingent things. Glorified and exalted is He—He perceives all things through the eye of His oneness, beholds all things through the eye of His eternity, witnesses all things through the eye of His singleness, rises above all things through the loftiness of His Being, and excels above all things through the exaltation of His Essence.

All are within His grasp from a beginning that has no beginning, and all are in His right hand unto an end that has no end. He has ever been alone, sanctified beyond peers and allusions, holy beyond similitudes and indications. Sanctified is the Sovereign of His holiness, and exalted the King of His everlastingness. Nothing is like unto Him, nothing equals Him, nothing compares with Him, nothing matches Him. He has ever been in one state and one manifestation, sanctified beyond allusions, exalted above indications, raised above all signs, and inaccessible beyond all stations. Exalted and glorified is His holiness, mighty and sublime is His sanctity.

Nothing possesseth a likeness unto Him, nor can anything equal Him. He hath manifested Himself in every Manifestation through His Revelation, and in every concealment through the seat of His concealment, until all existing things were brought into being through His creative Will and all created things came into existence through His generative Power. He was in eternity in the eternity of eternities, and everlasting, never ceasing to be. Nothing can be likened unto Him, nor share His attributes, nor be compared to Him, nor be His equal.

All must worship Him in accordance with His oneness, all must sanctify Him in accordance with His unity, all must glorify Him in accordance with His majesty, all must exalt Him in accordance with His might, and all must magnify Him in accordance with His grandeur.

He hath created all that was and will be through the exercise of His power, and brought into being all that existeth or will exist through the expression of His sovereignty. He is the Subduer of all contingent beings through His all-compelling might, and the One manifest above all created things through the revelation of His glory. He is sovereign over all who dwell in the kingdom of earth and heaven through the exaltation of His oneness, and hath power over all atoms through the potency of His everlasting sovereignty.

Exalted is He above all similarity and likeness. He hath ever existed through His eternal Being and will forever endure through His everlasting Essence. Eyes comprehend Him not, so lofty is His sovereignty, nor can the hands of them that are endowed with understanding reach Him, so exalted is His oneness. All things remain within the grasp of His Lordship and in the right hand of His oneness. He beholdeth all things from the highest heights to the lowliest atom, and His knowledge encompasseth all that is in the highest heaven and all that is beneath the lowest depths.

He hath ever been—and shall forever be—in a wondrous act of creation, and in a station unassailable: a Sovereign exalted, a Kingship inaccessible and impregnable. In the Dispensation of the Bayan, and at the very summit of the Bayan, He chose out a substance inviolable, a simplicity sublime, a Beingness pre-eternal, an Essence everlasting, and a Selfhood beloved.

Then did He manifest unto it His Splendor, and by that same Splendor rendered it inaccessible unto all else; and He cast into its identity the likeness of His own Self. Whereupon there appeared from it—and upon it—all that pertaineth unto the attributes of the Self-Subsisting, the emanations of the All-Glorified, the indications of the Intended One, the signs of the All-Praised, the narratives of rapture, and the reflections of passionate devotion—until the forms were embroidered with their own embroideries, the detached ones were stripped by their own abstractions, the self-subsisting ones were caused to pass away by the very selves of their selves, the realized ones were made real by the realities of their own truths, and the singers of praise were made to chant by the melodies of their own beingness.

Thus was it that She became radiant in Her splendor, majestic in Her glory, beautiful in Her adornment, immense in Her greatness, luminous in Her light, merciful in Her compassion, perfect in Her completion, great in Her grandeur, powerful in Her might, well-pleased in Her contentment, knowing in Her knowledge, noble in Her honor, dominant in Her authority, sovereign in Her possession, exalted in Her loftiness, bounteous in Her grace, subtle in Her gentleness, concealed in Her being, watchful in Her guardianship, and wise in Her judgment.

All attributes fell short of comprehending Her, and all affirmations were confounded amid the wonders of the forms of Their attestations. Exalted and sanctified, therefore, is the Sovereignty of His Oneness; purified and resplendent is the Kingship of His Self-Subsistence, beyond that any sign should point unto Him, or any indication encompass Him.

Thereupon He called to witness all that He hath created, and again He called to witness all that He doth create, that there is no god but He—the Possessor of the Kingdom and the Dominion, the Lord of Might and the Realm of Compulsion, the Owner of Power and Precious Essence, the Bearer of Majesty and Divinity, the Holder of Sovereignty and Humanity, the Possessor of Direction and Glory, the Lord of Might and Beauty, the Source of the Archetype and all similitudes, the Master of Stations and Exaltations, the Bestower of Mercy and Grace, the Wielder of Force and Justice, the Bearer of Grandeur and Independence, the Lord of Magnificence and Comeliness, the Possessor of Might and Inaccessibility, the Holder of Power and Elevation, the Bearer of Awe and Majesty, the Source of Joy and Exultation, the Sovereign of Authority and Omnipotence, the Fountain of Mercy and Loving-Kindness, the Victor in Triumph and Manifestation, the All-Protecting in Dominion and Constraint, the Exalted in Loftiness and Ascent, the Guide in Direction and Ability, the Radiant in Illumination and Enlightenment, the True in Reality and Rightful Claim, the Gentle in Subtlety and Enslavement, the Opener in Rending and Disclosure, the Possessor of all-embracing, unassailable states, and the Lord of overmastering, self-subsisting proofs.

Verily, that Being of the Seven Letters is His servant and His Word. He hath made him the Manifestation of all that is manifest, the concealer of all that is hidden, the proclaimer of His revelations, the indicator of His sovereign unity, and the speaker of His holy and eternal dominion. He, exalted and mighty is He, chooseth whom He willeth as He willeth, and revealeth Himself to whom He pleaseth as He pleaseth. He hath ever been self-sufficient in the realm of sanctity and glory, and independent in the kingdom of might and grandeur. The passing of ages altereth Him not, nor do the vicissitudes of time change His sovereign might. He hath ever been manifest to those who know Him, hidden to those who find Him, near to those who remember Him, and hearing to those who call upon Him. All attributes are bewildered in knowing Him, and all signs are confounded in their certitude of Him.

He hath ever been, and will ever be. His Essence glorifieth His Essence, His Being sanctifieth His Being, His Identity uniteth His Identity, and His Reality magnifieth His Reality. His Glory transcendeth all comparison, and His Holiness surpasseth all likeness. He hath chosen in this Revelation a crystal mirror, a pure essence, an abstract reality, a divine countenance that shineth forth, and a lordly face that gleameth bright. He, exalted and mighty is He, ordereth all that is ordained by His decree, fashioneth all that is fashioned by His forming, and confirmeth all things according to His exalted sanctity and transcendence. The events of the contingent world alter Him not, nor do the inventions of creation change Him.

Should all things appear before His Self-Subsisting Countenance, they would surely testify to the uniqueness of His revelation, that there is no God but Him; they would surely prove the manifestation of His nurture, that there is no God but Him; they would surely praise the purity of His Essence and nurture, that there is no God but Him; and they would surely demonstrate the sublimity of His Self-Subsisting exaltation and glorification, that there is no God but Him.

God hath ordained in this Name the mention of that Letter for the exaltation of His Word, and hath decreed for him in the Book what He hath decreed for His creation. Whoso is veiled must offer the weight of the letter “H” in rubies of crimson wine, and whoso forgets, nothing is recorded against him in the Book of God.

Remember thou God, the Sovereign, the All-Compelling, the All-Dominant; the Support, the Upholder, the Sustainer; the Judge, the Ruler, the Arbitrator; the Knowing, the All-Informed, the All-Wise; the Powerful, the Mighty, the Prevailing; the Self-Sufficient, the Independent, the All-Possessing; the Majestic, the August, the Most Great; the Beautiful, the Gracious, the Perfect; the Hidden, the Concealed, the Manifest; the Glorious, the Resplendent, the All-Sublime—He to Whom belong the most excellent names, and Whom all that is in the heavens and earth and what lieth between them doth glorify.

Mode of commentary

In the Name of God, the Most Beautiful, the Most Beautiful

Praise be to God, beside Whom there is none other God, the Most Beautiful of the Beautiful! Indeed all glory is from God upon the Primal Unity and upon those who resemble that Unity wherein naught is seen save the Primal Unity. And further, I testify that God, glorified be He, can never be known in His Essence, nor described, nor characterized, nor consulted. And whatsoever attributes of majesty, beauty, perfection, justice, grace and the like that are ascribed to the Divine Essence are but manifestations from God, glorified be He, of those attributes through themselves, and revelations from God, exalted be He, of those stations through themselves.

All that contingent beings have known or existing things shall know is but the effect of what God hath created in their essences and the shadow of what God hath manifested in their realities. Verily He, exalted and glorified be His transcendence, hath ever been and shall ever be manifest through radiant appearances and newly-created revelations that none among contingent beings can comprehend and none among existing things can encompass in knowledge.

I address thee and all things: Whatsoever the knowers have known of Me, they have not known Me; whatsoever the describers have described of Me, they have not described Me; whatsoever the characterizers have characterized of Me, they have not characterized Me; whatsoever the unifiers have unified of Me, they have not found Me; whatsoever the magnifiers have magnified of Me, they have not magnified Me; whatsoever the glorifiers have glorified of Me, they have not glorified Me; whatsoever the sanctifiers have sanctified of Me, they have not sanctified Me. For that whereby everything is sanctified is created by the Divine Will, and this is a veil between God and that thing and all that sanctifies it.

Such expressions cannot encompass and such metaphors cannot convey That which eyes cannot perceive, thoughts cannot encompass, and the most subtle insights cannot attain, while He perceives all things through His knowledge, encompasses all things through His creation, and has power over all things through His might. His is the creation and the command, before and after. There is no God but He, the One, the All-Compelling.

O Name of the Great One and Remembrance of God, the Gracious! What thou hast written hath been presented before God, and We have loved thee through clear verses that render all the worlds impotent. But since none save those who are pure in heart can comprehend what We have answered thee, I shall answer thee through the essence of the gates, for knowledge and wisdom are attributes of the beloved ones, and nothing befits God, exalted and mighty be He, except words that render powerless all that hath been and shall be created. All that thou hast seen regarding this pertains to His divine and eternal essence, and all that hath been revealed in prayers is from the tongue of the essence of servitude.

The first veil is at the mention of specification, where reference is made to the Divine Will, the First Creation, the First Mention, the Sun of Reality, the Morn of Eternity, the Muhammadan Essence, the Primal Unity, the First Manifestation, the First Action, the First Mirror, the First Effulgence, and similar expressions, all of which indicate that first essence that prostrated before God, recognized its Creator, and declared: “Thee do we worship and before Thee do we bow down.” This is the station of thy spirit in thine essence, while the verses are the station of thy heart in thy reality, and the sermons are the station of thy soul, and these are among the attributes of the Imams of Guidance and the Lamps in the Darkness.

If thou wouldst look into the Path of Eloquence from Ali of old, thou wouldst witness this. Therefore such attributes were not manifested from Muhammad before, for He, exalted and glorified be His mention, was speaking through His heart on behalf of God, with the Furqan and the verses proving the One, the Glorious God as His evidence. Then, when He descended from that station, He stood in the station of the First Mention in pure, absolute servitude. Therefore, He called upon God with the tongue of prayers, and whatever shone forth from Him of modes of address was a bounty from Him, as there existed within Him aspects of divine authority created through His Prophethood. And what emerged of knowledge and wisdom was bounty upon bounty, as there existed within Him qualities of the Gates of Guidance.

Be not veiled by these allusions, for the mystery is one—the First is the Last, and the Outward is the Inward. There is no God but Him, Who creates all things and sustains them, Who causes all things to die and gives them life. These expressions are veils for the dwellers in the sea of allusions, and those who traverse the ocean of names and attributes see naught but God and His names, and witness in the mirrors nothing but their Revealer.

Consider, for example, in the manifestation of the Point of the Furqan, all that emerged from the time of His appearance until one thousand two hundred and seventy years had passed. All who came as God’s guides were mirrors wherein naught could be seen save the First Manifestation, that is, Muhammad. Otherwise, had He said that whoever would appear after a thousand years from His manifestation, from that land and that Tree, would be a proof over all things just as He created proofs before through His word, there would be no difference between them save that in this instance He did not say it, while in that instance He did—for in those mirrors nothing appeared save the One. Were they to be multiplied, the heavens and earth and all between them would be corrupted. There is no indicator save God; all are His servants.

When you recognize this exalted essence and this transcendent abstraction, then bear witness that all that was revealed in the addresses was of the garment of God’s martyrs, and its station is the station of your soul. And all that was revealed of knowledge and wisdom—that is the station of your essential body, not that which is created from clay and returns to clay. When you witness this, then bear witness to the beginning and return of all things, for this is of His heart, spirit, soul, and essential body.

Consider in that Day of Resurrection how those among the Shi’ih who possessed no essential body—that is, no knowledge of the inner of the inner—could not return despite having heart, spirit and soul. And this essential body is not something imagined, but rather an independent reality like the Gates of Guidance before, who were created by the command of the Twenty-Fourth Proof. And after the Cause was veiled unto God, there were Thrones wherein naught could be seen save God—these are essential bodies, that greatest world wherein whoever exists therein returns just as there existed in you love for God’s Greatest Name and His good-pleasure, how He made you supported to return to God and to be guided by God. Look not upon anything except with a single glance.

God has always judged the essence of all things without regard to their outward form. Consider the tradition regarding the Proof, where he, peace be upon him, says: “Whoever wishes to behold Adam, let him look upon…” and did not say “look at Adam,” even though Adam was alive upon the earth. Not in the sense of that primordial, original, innate Adamic nature, but rather through the manifestation of those divine attributes—that same Adam was alive. Yet the judgment pertains to what lies within, for the essence that was in Adam was the divine manifestation, and thus He made him Adam. When that manifestation transferred to another throne, this became the throne of manifestation, and likewise until it transferred to Muhammad, the Messenger of God.

Thus whoever desires the Prophets must desire Muhammad, for what is in the Prophets of their essence is the primal Will, that is, the eternal manifestation of God. This does not multiply or change, and thus He said in explaining the word of His manifestation: “As for the Prophets, I am they.” Similarly, understand all the stations. Were I to explain in detail, the tablets would not suffice. If God had wished on that day to create Prophets, Imams and Gates to the number of all things, He would have been able. But in all things the manifestations of those revelations exist only according to the possibilities of that world. Therefore in every dispensation God mentions a limited number of guides.

Consider the Tree of Negation—if a thousand thousand rulers were appointed in a day, none would be truly appointed. Likewise deduce regarding the Tree of Reality and enter into the limitless ocean. The matter has transcended all limitations. Thou choosest servants when God reveals Himself to them—through them they know God their Creator, and they were patient therein and doubted not, until I made them like those I made before of the Prophets, Successors, Martyrs and Near Ones. By My life, were they to appear to the number of all things, I would make them so, and nothing would be diminished from God’s dominion. But thou seest that for such a station the Most Great Infallibility is required.

Infallibility is not what people imagine in their religious precautions, for when they heard the call “Am I not your Lord?” and did not say “Yea,” they went astray. Rather, infallibility belongs to those who, when God said to them “Am I not your Lord?” said “Yea.” And God speaks to none except through the tongue of His Manifestation in every dispensation. Therefore thou seest in this Revelation the wonder of the Truth concerning the former ones, and likewise in the days of Muhammad before—the people wondered when He appointed Ali and made him Imam, and they said what they said.

But now thou seest in Islam there is none who denies his authority, though the masses have separated between him and the Point in ways God did not permit, while the elect made no separation, though all were veiled from the mystery of the Cause save those whose hearts God opened. Consider what thou wishest—that thou wouldst prove the prophethood of the Messenger of God to someone merely by saying “God hath said: ʿWe have made thee a Messenger to all the worlds.”’ And thou wouldst use this as proof, and he would believe and be convinced. Yet should he ask thee how it is established that these are indeed the words of God, thou wouldst say that which all creation is powerless to produce, though thou hast no evidence, nor doth anyone else, save that manifest proof.

And all else is but words to you. Were the matter as ye claim, that which occurred in the past would not have occurred. Rather, the Cause is as it was in those days. Therefore gain insight into your religion and hearken unto God’s command regarding your origin, for ye know it not, and your ultimate end, for ye comprehend it not. All this is counsel from God for whomsoever desireth to believe in the religion of God. Otherwise, We have already guided thee aforetime and freed thee from such proofs, and bestowed upon thee from Our presence a mighty station. And since the first to believe had no progeny, nor did some of the primary witnesses, God will grant unto thee what He hath ordained for one person, and He bestoweth upon whomsoever He willeth what He hath decreed.

Therefore seek thou the help of God in the days of God until the heart of the Unique One is pleased with thee, and that Unique One yearneth for thee from thy Lord. And thou shalt exalt the Cause of God and manifest the extension of God’s power. Let not the condition of these people weaken thee, for they worship what they know not and prostrate themselves before that which they seek not. At the time of Manifestation, all creation was tested by the words “Am I not?” and there was none on earth possessing extensive power who could cause those who said not “Yea” to enter into saying “Yea,” or return them to that from which they were created. All would love that save thee who knoweth, while others know not.

And if in those days there be anyone from the community of the First Manifestation who loveth that and worketh not save for this purpose—verily he is veiled by that for which he hath no proof. Gain insight into thy religion, for the dwellers of every Manifestation are distinguished by their fire and their light. For example, consider the dwellers of the ocean of the Furqan—those who followed not the limits of their religion after God had revealed in the Furqan what He revealed. How could they be believers while they were not certain of God and His verses, though they were certain of their religion? Otherwise they would not have borne that which God did not permit.

Therefore despair of such as these, unless thou seest benefit for their worldly affairs in their helping the Cause of God, that perchance they may be drawn thereby. Otherwise there is no spirit of the fear and love of God in them, else they would not have deviated in their religion from His bounds. This is the essence of the discourse and the seal of seals for whomsoever desireth to submit or say “Yea.” And peace be upon thee. As for what thou didst mention first in thy letter regarding what the mirrors have reflected from their Lord and what the crystal hath reflected from its God—blessed is it, then blessed is it, nay, blessed is he who attaineth unto it. But O My beloved!

In these days thou seest the condition of these people like that pure essence and that resplendent abstraction whose worth none knoweth save God.

Exalted is He! Before the Word of thy Lord be upraised, conceal the mystery of God lest any trace of sorrow diminish the fire of His love in thy heart. If thou desirest to reach all, then reach them with wisdom, make no allusion, but seek assistance from God, and victory from Him. Observe the mirrors of God and create in them yearning. Do not inquire with words that may bring forth from denial what God loveth not. Support not openly, but aid the Cause of God inwardly and outwardly, and lastly through children. This is thy might and the might of all who are in the Bayan. This is what We have loved for thee before the Primary Point appeared in the wombs of possibility, nine degrees before the time when it behooveth thee to seek two mirrors from God.

For from the First Creation until that time, none was born after six months save John the Prophet and Husayn the son of Ali. God hath acquainted thee with one; inquire of the other among the people of the Bayan until thou bringest him forth from concealment. But be discerning, for this is a sign of innate knowledge and naught else. Verily, I have manifested Myself in the Gates for four years, and it behooveth thee to find a mirror for each letter, that thou mayest be the manifestation of those letters. For after I have removed that garment and revealed Myself in the name of Him Who is intended as the Promised One, these must needs be clothed in their forms.

Observe how its possessor came with his garment and say: “Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy!” Bear witness that in the inward is seen naught but the outward, in the outward naught but the inward, in the First naught but the Last, and in the Last naught but the First. Yea, the Last Name of God hath shone forth, gleamed, flashed and radiated. Blessed is he who seeth naught therein save God and desireth for it naught save what God desireth for Himself. Preserve what is confided to thee in thy heart, for it behooveth that these be kept in treasuries. Give not these pearls and jewels to those unworthy, to sell or buy for a numbered price. Make it for God, for none knoweth its worth save God.

That which is ordained for the Last Name is that which endeth with Him, for He hath naught to receive save what God hath ordained for Him. Though all things love what God hath manifested through Him, most exalted and most glorious, create in Him yearning until He soareth in the atmosphere of the divine cloud as He is able. I have made thee an angel that He might soar upon thy hands. Spread thy wings that He might soar through the attractions of His essence, the raptures of His being, the adornings of His soul, and the reflections of His identity. This is from God’s grace and generosity, from God’s bestowal and favor. All that I have mentioned in His remembrance is from the world of limitations; else in the Kingdom of Names and Attributes there is none save God and His names.

Say: There is no God but Me, the Mighty, the Beloved. Say: Verily I am God, there is no God but He, the Sovereign, the Self-Subsisting. What thou hast known in the inmost essence, know thou there, for the Outward in the First and the Last, and the Inward, is none other than God, exalted be His glory. The Slayer is the Life-Giver, and the Creator is the Sustainer. Nothing exists save through God, and unto Him do all return. As for what thou hast mentioned concerning the people of the Book, God shall cause to reach them that which will satisfy their souls. Verily, He is the Protector in the beginning and in the return.

And concerning what thou hast mentioned about the All-Bountiful, say: If through My name thy namesake knoweth thee, how is it that thou dost not rest content in thy indication of thy namesake? Do as thou pleasest—canst thou find any besides God who is bountiful, or below God who is generous, or other than God who is gracious? Say: Glory be unto Him, glory be unto Him, glory be unto Him above all that He hath created or will create. All are His servants and all bow down before Him. I testify that the namesake of every name is in its station, and that the perfection of Divine Unity is the negation of attributes and names from God, thy Lord, for all within the limits of their existence seek information and tell tales.

As for him whom God hath delivered and strengthened, this is of God’s grace upon him and upon all the God-fearing. Be thou kind to whomsoever thy Lord, God, willeth, for He is the best of the kind ones. And the Words of God that are written remind thee, yet hearts find no peace save through God’s help and the affirmation of His proof. Therefore seek help from God, for God aideth whomsoever He willeth through the angels of the heavens and the earth and what lieth between them. Verily, He is the best of helpers. As for what thou hast conveyed of God’s Cause to those whom thou hast mentioned along with their names—this is of God’s grace unto His servants.

It behooveth that no one on earth should be known except God, his Lord, outwardly—how much more these proofs which cause the heart to be straitened by their limitations. God shall multiply their numbers and fill the whole earth with them. Verily, He is the Forgiver, the Powerful, the Mighty.

Persian mode

In the name of God, the Most Beautiful, the Most Beautiful

Glorification and sanctification befit and have ever befitted the Ancient Being, the Ever-Beloved, Who hath everlastingly existed in the impenetrable glory of His own sacred Essence, and will forever remain in the unapproachable exaltation of His holy Self. No created thing hath known Him as He deserves to be known, nor hath any being worshipped Him as He deserves to be worshipped. From time immemorial the sanctuary of His divine unity hath transcended the understanding of all contingent beings and the certitude of all existing things, and unto eternity His timeless Being shall remain sanctified from the perception of all created things and the praise of all simple essences.

He hath created all things from nothingness, and hath placed the essence of all things within things, and the essence of a thing within all things, and the essence of all within the Primal Unity, so that all contingent beings might attain unto the summit of His bounteous grace and reach the horizon of His holy glory. How transcendent is the sanctuary of His majesty, before which all the monarchs of the kingdoms of the first and the last bow in adoration, and all the denizens of the celestial realm of the beginning and the end stand in reverence between His hands. He it is Whom no thing can comprehend in the reality of His sacred Essence, and no thing can remain veiled from Him to the extent of a thing’s mention, for the existence of every thing is through His Will.

How could any being fail to turn unto Him and remain ignorant of the Cause of its own existence—the Causer of causes without cause, the Generator of existence without existence, the Originator of creation without creation, the Inventor of invention without invention, the Producer of production without production, the Fashioner of form without form, the Innovator of innovation without innovation? From a beginning that hath no beginning unto an end that hath no end, such discourse hath ever been impossible.

Every thing, through its very existence, worshippeth Him, attesteth to His unity, demonstrateth His absolute oneness, proveth His singleness, and beareth witness that there is no God but Him, no Lord but Him, no Creator but Him, no Provider but Him, no Quickener but Him, no Slayer but Him, no Fashioner but Him, no Knower but Him, no Powerful One but Him.

All are turned toward Him through the revelations He hath bestowed upon each thing according to its own station and rank. In every dispensation He hath ordained for Himself a Throne of Manifestation and a Seat of Concealment, that all might thereby attain unto the knowledge of His unity through these most glorious veils and most exalted pavilions, and become assured of His oneness. And there hath been no limit to the Manifestations of His Cause, neither from the beginning that hath no beginning nor from the end that hath no end, to the number of all that is possible to be numbered in the realm of contingent being. His have been and shall ever be the Thrones of Revelation, yet in every Revelation He seateth Himself upon but one manifest Throne, whereby all men are guided to His oneness.

And He it is Who in every concealment sitteth upon His hidden Seat, before Whom all have been and shall ever remain worshipful and prostrate.

All praise, beyond compare, beseemeth Him, for having caused all things to know His innovative effulgences, and all glory, without peer, behooveth Him, for having, in every condition, enabled His creation to recognize the Manifestation of His Self. He hath loved to bring, through His compelling power, the entirety of creation into the ocean of His knowledge, even should all not willingly and gladly become immersed therein, through the abundance of His grace and bounty.

In no Revelation hath He decreed aught for any soul save to manifest His self-sufficiency and power over all things. He hath not created all contingent beings because He was lonely without creation, nor hath He brought all existence into being so that after creating it He might find companionship. He hath ever been independent of all things through the self-sufficiency of His sanctified Essence, and will ever remain sovereign above all things through the self-sufficiency of His eternal Being.

In every night and day that dawneth, for that Throne a Revelation appeareth and a hidden Seat becometh manifest. One cannot imagine, even to the measure of nine times nine times nineteen times nineteen times the ninth of the ninth of what can be counted of ninths, that there would not be for that Reality a manifest or hidden Throne.

In every Revelation He hath made the Throne of Reality singular in its manifestation, that it might serve as evidence of the uniqueness of His sanctified Being. And He hath caused all His names and likenesses, through His resplendent lights, to ascend and abide beneath the canopy of His sacred Essence, that all might remain inseparable from the thread of unity and be established in affirming affirmation at the Dawning-Place of affirmation.

God hath created no pleasure like unto the affirmation of affirmation, and all degrees of pleasure return to this creation. Consider the pleasure of attraction—how unbearable it becometh when the affirmer denieth affirmation for those who take delight therein. There can be no doubt that all degrees of pleasure are branches of the affirmation of affirmation.

And since affirmation of affirmation cannot be established except through the negation of negation, He hath doubled its pleasures and doubled its sorrows, that all created things might receive a twofold reward in their sorrow for the sake of God, and attain a twofold recompense in their joy at negation. Thus may their hearts be content, their spirits tranquil, their souls assured, and their bodies delighted, that this might give strength in affirming affirmation, in exalting exaltation, in making unreachable the unreachable, in establishing independence, in manifesting glory, in raising aloft elevation, and in revealing splendor, in the path of the Ever-Living and the Ever-Beloved.

Know that every created thing has a sign from God which betokeneth His sovereignty. And there is no doubt that the greatest of signs in both the genesis and the ultimate end is the Manifestation of God Himself. Since the affirmation of affirmation is contingent upon affirming the Manifestation of Affirmation, it is for this reason that the mention of prophethood has become conjoined with the mention of divine unity. For whosoever fails to acknowledge the second will remain veiled from the first.

Therefore in every Dispensation, the Exponents of God have hastened to exalt and elevate His Throne, and have striven to establish and glorify the Seat of His transcendent Oneness, so that through this means the Sun of the Divine Unity might shine upon the mirrors of all created things, making them ready to receive the Word of Unity in the next Resurrection. Know thou that at the beginning of every Revelation, it was the mention of God, not His Messenger, that was proclaimed—though the mention of God was made manifest through His Messenger and none other. Praise be to Him Who hath, in every dispensation, aided all contingent beings through His angels and strengthened all atoms through His effulgent manifestations.

Know thou that the Throne of Revelation in every Dispensation hath had no purpose save the establishment of the Word of Unity, nor shall it ever have any other aim. All that thou seest of commands and prohibitions hath been for the sake of establishing this Word, for through its establishment is proven its truth, and through certitude in it is found the path to its recognition. Consider Islam: one of its ordinances is that every soul must, when able, circumambulate the Kaaba which is made of clay. How can any soul declare “Muhammad is His Messenger” before first affirming the Word of Unity? And how can one acknowledge this as one of His commandments before remembering Him?

Thus consider to what heights the elevation of this House leadeth, and remain not veiled from its Source lest thou be veiled on the Day of its Culmination. The Ever-Living who dieth not, the All-Holy who passeth not away, the Self-Subsisting who changeth not, and the All-Beloved who altereth not hath ordained that all contingent beings should progress in such wise that on the Day when Him Whom God shall make manifest raises and exalts His Cause from the Most Hidden Mystery, and declares “Verily I am God, there is no God but Me,” all shall be drawn unto Him and shall not be veiled by other conditions, but shall be guided by manifest signs whereof all are incapable.

Thus in every Dispensation all existence, both from the invisible kingdom and the visible realm, hath outwardly recognized its Beloved and through His veil hath attained unto His good-pleasure. Know thou that in every Dispensation that dawneth, all things take shelter beneath its shade according to their capacity, for it is from the Manifestation of God. Therefore, it was due to the lack of capacity of the inhabitants of each Dispensation, otherwise the power from God had been conferred. For instance, at the time of the manifestation of the Point of the Beloved, He wished that during His lifetime all who dwell on earth would acknowledge the unity of the sacred Divine Being and the prophethood of that infinite Throne, and would draw nigh unto Him through His commandments and prohibitions.

But the reason it did not come to pass was due to the weakness of the guides of that Dispensation who, in the words of the people of this age, were without proof. Otherwise, how could it be that the Manifestation of God would appear and a single atom remain on earth that did not seek shelter under His protecting shadow? It is not that God’s power was not bestowed upon the inhabitants of each Dispensation, or that capacity was not granted, rather it was due to their remoteness. Consider the Dispensation of Jesus before Muhammad—had the guides of the Faith been discerning in their religion and established the proof of His Manifestation, why would a single letter of the Nazarenes remain on earth?

Know then that in every Dispensation, as soon as its inhabitants see their own needs fulfilled, they remain veiled from the divine purpose. Consider the Dispensation of the Point of the Furqan (Muhammad), how many sovereigns appeared among His people, all content with their limited dominions and remaining veiled from establishing that which God had promised—to make His Faith triumph over all religions—otherwise why would there be today a single soul other than the Letters of the Furqan upon the earth? Likewise observe in every Dispensation, and be discerning in every concealment. Do not lower your ambition if God causes the manifestations of power to flow through your hands, and be not content with limitations, for the grace of the Ever-Living One has always exceeded all bounds.

If He Whom God shall make manifest should appear and there remained a single letter other than the Letters of “There is no God but God” in the paradise of manifestation, how could the inhabitants of this Dispensation claim to have established the proof and essence of faith, when the first principle of religion was this word, and after its establishment all other things were under its shadow? God desires that no thing should remain in His knowledge except that it enter beneath the shadow of affirmation, so that on the Day of His Manifestation He shall not witness from any soul any word but “yea.” Otherwise what benefit is there if throughout one’s life one says “There is no God but God” but on the Day of God’s Manifestation does not truthfully say “yea”?

This is why at once all deeds become as nothing, for they have remained veiled from its most precious essence and remote from its purest essence. Were a Manifestation to appear and all to prostrate beneath His shadow through the inherent right of His sacred Being, through the compelling and overwhelming grace of His existence, then would the breezes of paradise waft over the hearts of all contingent beings through His existence. And when thou seest that in every Dispensation He loveth to cause His servants to enter the paradise of His good-pleasure through compelling power and might, this is because they do not, of their own accord, render due acknowledgment of His oneness, nor do they recognize the Manifestation thereof, nor do they heed His commandments.

Were it not so, His grace and bounty are too exalted and glorious. Since He seeth that they do not willingly worship their Lord nor prostrate themselves before their Object of Adoration as befitteth His station, He is content to compel and constrain some, that this may cause others to be drawn and freely submit. This too proceedeth from naught save His grace, favor, bounty, generosity, loving-kindness and mercy. Otherwise, He hath ever been and will ever be independent of all things and self-sufficient, above all that hath been or will be created. But since He beholdeth that all have been created to acknowledge His oneness, and seeth all veiled therefrom, He therefore commandeth the guidance of His servants and loveth that all should, in every Dispensation, enter into His good-pleasure.

Consider how this is the fifth Dispensation, and two thousand seven hundred and seventy-one years have passed, yet the followers of Moses still follow the Torah which was their Book in that Dispensation. Such is how affirmation affirmed and denial denied. And this despite that in every Dispensation the means of ascendancy and power were made available to its people, yet they remained occupied with themselves and deemed those days precious while remaining veiled from the fruits of true affirmation.

Reflect thou that God hath not created anything in vain, and for everything He hath created, He first took from it acknowledgment of His unity, then recognition of the Manifestation of His Self in that Dispensation wherein He appeared, then of whatsoever was revealed through that Manifestation from the greatest to the least. And in mentioning this Name He hath loved the mention of this Letter by day and night in the number of Ha. Marvel not at this, for this too is a command like other commands. How dost thou circumambulate mere clay when it was God’s command—look to the command, not its outward form. The All-Wise One issueth commands and prohibitions with wisdom, and He is the Best of Judges.

If thou art veiled from what He hath ordained, thou wouldst be held to account, but if thou hast forgotten, He is too exalted to question thee concerning it. He is the Self-Sufficient, the Most High.

10. Al-anwar

Mode of verses

In the Name of God, the Most Luminous, the Most Luminous

In the Name of God, the Light of the Twin Lights In the Name of God, the Light of Luminous Radiance In the Name of God, the Light of All Lights In the Name of God, the Light of Illumination In the Name of God, the Light of Brilliance In the Name of God, the Light of Effulgence In the Name of God, the Light of Rare Splendors In the Name of God, the Light of Luminous Emanations In the Name of God, the Illuminator, the All-Luminous In the Name of God, the Illuminator, the All-Luminous In the Name of God, the Source of Light, the All-Illuminating In the Name of God, the Source of Light, the Twin Lights In the Name of God, the Mutual Illuminator, the Source of Light In the Name of God, the Resplendent, the All-Resplendent In the Name of God, the Radiant, the All-Radiant.

By God, God, the Most Luminous, the Most Luminous By God, God, the Light of the Twin Lights By God, God, the Light of Luminous Radiance By God, God, the Light of All Lights By God, God, the Light of Illumination By God, God, the Light of Brilliance By God, God, the Light of Effulgence By God, God, the Light of Luminous Emanations By God, God, the Light of Radiant Manifestations By God, God, the Illuminator, the All-Luminous By God, God, the Illuminator, the All-Luminous By God, God, the Source of Light, the All-Illuminating By God, God, the Source of Light, the Twin Lights By God, God, the Mutual Illuminator, the Source of Light By God, God, the Resplendent, the All-Resplendent By God, God, the Radiant, the All-Radiant By God, God, the Mutual Illuminator, the All-Illuminating By God, God, the Seeker of Light, the All-Radiant By God, God, the Light, the Light By God, God, the One, the All-Luminous

In the Name of God, the One, the All-Luminous! In the Name of God, the One, the Light! By God, the One, the Light! In the Name of God, the One, the Light! By God, the Light of Light! In the Name of God, the Light of Light!

There is no God but He, the Light of Light! There is no God but He, the Light of Light! There is no God but He, the Rare, the Rare! There is no God but He, the All-Luminous, the All-Illuminating! There is no God but He, the All-Luminous, the All-Illuminating! There is no God but He, the One, the All-Illuminating! There is no God but He, the One, the Light! There is no God but He, the One, the Light! There is no God but He, the Light of Light! There is no God but He, the Illuminator, the Illuminator! There is no God but He, the Illuminator, the Illuminator! There is no God but He, the One, the Two Lights! There is no God but He, the Source of Light, the Source of Light! There is no God but He, the Luminous, the Luminous! There is no God but He, the Light of Light! There is no God but He, the All-Resplendent, the All-Resplendent! There is no God but He, the All-Resplendent, the All-Illuminating! There is no God but He, the Light-Seeking, the Light-Seeking!

Verily, I am God! There is no God but Me, the Most Luminous, the Most Luminous! Verily, I am God! There is no God but Me, the Light of Light! Verily, I am God! There is no God but Me, the Light of Light! Verily, I am God! There is no God but Me, the One, the All-Illuminating! Verily, I am God! There is no God but Me, the One, the All-Illuminating! Verily, I am God! There is no God but He, the One, the All-Illuminating! Verily, I am God! There is no God but Me, the One, the All-Luminous! Verily, I am God! There is no God but Me, the One, the Light! Verily, I am God! There is no God but Me, the One, the Possessor of Light!

Verily, I am God! There is no God but Me, the One, the Light! Verily, I am God! There is no God but Me, the One, the Light! Verily, I am God! There is no God but Me, the Source of Light, the Source of Light! Verily, I am God! There is no God but Me, the Luminous, the Luminous! Verily, I am God! There is no God but Me, the All-Resplendent, the All-Resplendent! Verily, I am God! There is no God but Me, the All-Resplendent, the All-Illuminating! Verily, I am God! There is no God but Me, the Light-Seeking, the Light-Seeking!

Unto God belongeth the radiance and the twin lights and the illumination of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever lieth between them. And God is the Illuminator, the Source of Light, the All-Resplendent. And unto God belongeth the kingdom and sovereignty of the light of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever lieth between them. And God is the twin lights, the Source of Light, the All-Resplendent. Say: God is more luminous than every possessor of lights. None can withhold himself from the sovereignty of His lights, whether in the heavens or in the earth or in what lieth between them. Verily, He is the Illuminator, the All-Luminous, the Radiant. Say: God is more luminous than every possessor of lights. None can withhold himself from the radiance and twin lights of His illumination, whether in the heavens or in the earth or in what lieth between them. Verily, He is the Illuminator, the All-Luminous, the Radiant. Say: God is more luminous than every possessor of light. None can withhold himself from the radiance and twin lights of His light, whether in the heavens or in the earth or in what lieth between them. Verily, He is the Illuminator, the All-Luminous, the Radiant.

Glory be unto Thee, O God! Verily Thou art the Light of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever lieth between them. Thou bestowest light upon whomsoever Thou willest, and withdrawest it from whomsoever Thou willest. Thou exaltest whom Thou willest, and abaseth whom Thou willest. Thou raisest up whom Thou willest, and bringest down whom Thou willest. Thou enrichest whom Thou willest, and makest poor whom Thou willest. Within Thy grasp is the kingdom of all things. Thou createst whatsoever Thou willest by Thy command. Verily Thou art the Most Luminous of the luminous ones.

Say: O God! Thou art the Light of lights. Thou bestowest light upon the possessors of light, and withholdest it from the bearers of light. Thou raisest the people of light unto the highest paradise of glory in the Ridvan, and castest down the might of the people of light into the uttermost depths of the fire. Verily Thou art the King, the Supreme, the Sovereign, the Single, the Almighty, the Exalted, the Beneficent.

Say: O God! Thou art the Light of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever lieth between them. Thou choosest for Thy light whom Thou willest, and withholdest Thy light from whom Thou willest. Through Thy light Thou exaltest whom Thou willest, and without Thy light Thou abaseth whom Thou willest. By Thy light Thou raisest up whom Thou willest, and withdrawest Thy light from whom Thou willest. Through Thy light Thou renderest victorious whom Thou willest, and without Thy light Thou forsakest whom Thou willest. Nothing whatsoever escapeth Thy knowledge, whether in the heavens or on the earth or between them, and nothing in the kingdom of command or creation or below them can frustrate Thee. Verily Thou art the Illuminator of the illumined ones.

Say: O God! Thou art the Most Luminous of the luminous ones. Thou bestowest light and radiance upon whomsoever Thou willest among Thy servants from among the people of light and radiance who sacrifice themselves in the path of Thy Word and who unto Thee do turn in supplication.

This is a Book from God, the Supreme, the Self-Subsisting, unto Him Whom God shall make manifest. Bear thou witness that there is none other God but Me, the Supreme, the Self-Subsisting. Verily the Light mentioned in the Furqan referreth to the letter Ha, wherein naught remained that He loved save its affirmation. Thus doth God cause to enter into His light whomsoever He willeth. There is none other God but He, the Single, the All-Luminous.

O thou who art named by that letter in the Furqan! Bear thou witness that there is none other God but Me, the Single, the All-Luminous. Verily the name of Light was thy name aforetime in the Furqan wherein naught is seen save the lights of God, the Single, the All-Luminous. And after thou didst witness what was decreed concerning the letter Ha, observe how God exalteth His light among those who have been given Islam, all of whom glory in His remembrance. Perchance in every year a thousand thousand souls enter the house of light. Thus doth God exalt the light of light through His light. Verily He is the Illuminator of lights. How many servants are enriched through the mention of light while they live!

This is the ultimate fruit of light, whereas on the first day there was none to veil the eye of light except that God raised up servants from among the people of the cities. Thus doth God show thee the abode of the hereafter that thou mayest be of the thankful ones.

Verily thou hast seen what thou hast seen and heard what thou hast heard, and God thy Lord hath shown thee in thine hereafter the glory of this and caused thee to hear the exaltation of that. This is the true end for the God-fearing. However, they who glory in the mention of light in the Qur’an—not one among them recognizeth the Light of God, even until the Resurrection hath come to pass, and they remain veiled from the Light of God. But in every Revelation God reneweth the creation of all things, that ye may be renewed. And We have renewed the Light of the Qur’an through the Light of the Bayan; these are they who proceed from light unto light, and in the light, before the light, are among the illumined ones.

I have witnessed what hath been decreed for them and have heard it, and God will cause thee to witness in thy latter end and will make thee hear that which will gladden thy heart, and above what will give pleasure, and far above what will give pleasure to all who take delight.

By the life of that Light in the Furqan and that Light in the Bayan, there is no light before God more near in the Book, yet people do not know. Soon thou shalt behold the angels of Paradise and of the All-Highest descending there, and they shall be empowered by God’s light. And verily, God hath specially chosen from all names the name of Light, since no veil remaineth therein that would prevent it from the affirmation of affirmations. Thus doth God exalt whomsoever He willeth from His presence. Verily, there is no God but Him, the One, the Illuminating.

And if thou wouldst be among those who understand the meaning of “God is the Light of the heavens and the earth” in the inmost essence after the outmost appearance, the Gate is the first to believe. Thus doth God remove the veils that thou mayest see with thine own eyes that God is Light from before and from after, and all are guided by His light. But ye shall observe the days of Him Whom God shall make manifest, for ye, O people of the Bayan, shall surely be tested.

Perchance ye read these verses while ye yourselves depart from the light and enter into that which is not light, thinking ye do good—like those who recognized not Husayn, the Light of God, though they recited the verse of Light in God’s Book, and afterward knew not the Illuminator of lights in the Bayan, though they recited all the verses of light in the Furqan.

Verily the lamp is mentioned as light because it consumeth itself and naught remaineth thereof. Thus doth God show you the lamps of light that ye may be guided. By the life of Him Whom God shall make manifest, the Light of lights is more luminous than all lamps, yet most people see not. Behold then the power of God, how He createth servants who are content to be a light unto God like the lamp that burneth itself and illumineth those around it. This is from God’s grace upon them and upon you, yet ye give not thanks.

Thinkest thou the creation of light hath an equal? Say: Exalted is God above that! All are made just through God’s light. See how they care not for negation nor for what is with it, and they worship God outwardly, though their numbers and their means testify, and the possessors of knowledge shall record all that for those who shall come after to remember. Thus doth God create power in the hearts of those given light. Similarly hast thou heard about the word Ha, when thousands of troops confronted him and seventy souls affirmed the affirmation and negated the negation, and they showed no patience in God’s cause and closed not their eyes for an instant.

It behooveth those given the Bayan to be like the people of light, but God bestoweth His grace upon whomsoever He willeth among His servants. Verily, there is no God but Him, the One, the Illuminating. And what thou seest of the deeds of those given Islam from the beginning of their lives to the end—that is because they have grown accustomed and persist unaware of what they earn. And if they become aware at God’s manifestation, they do not affirm, for they act to earn God’s good pleasure while remaining veiled from the eye of good pleasure, working day and night.

Look at those given the Book—they all follow limits in their religion and think within themselves they attain God’s good pleasure in their faith. They remember not that God’s good pleasure was the good pleasure of Muhammad, the Messenger of God. When they veiled themselves from Him, they possessed no good-pleasure, yet they neither remember nor reflect. From dust they began, and unto dust they shall return. And verily, all that thou hast done from the beginning of thy life until now shall profit thee when thou sayest “There is no God but God” and art among the truthful ones. Say not “There is no God but God” unless thou deniest all else and bearest witness that all exists within the shadow of God’s Remembrance, if thou be of them that speak.

And the words “There is no God but God” are not established unless they refer to none other than the Point of the Bayan and what He createth by His Word. This is what We have given thee of the essence of knowledge and wisdom, that thou mayest be of the thankful. And verily, whatsoever thou doest now returneth not unto God, though all pray night and day. If thou desirest to perform a deed, then perform one that returneth unto God, for this shall profit thee and all the worlds. Yea, if thou writest concerning this Cause to establish this Truth, and art guided by its very essence, it returneth unto God, the Protector, the Self-Subsisting. And whatsoever returneth unto God returneth unto the Manifestation of His Self. Do ye not see?

And whatsoever returneth unto the Manifestation of His Self returneth unto God. Do ye not remember? Think ye that the reckoning and the balance are in a world other than this? Say: Glory be to God above what they imagine! We have set up the balance and have reckoned all things. One saith: We were indeed the reckoners. All who have said “yea” have We caused to enter the fire with them that are veiled. And verily We counsel thee to perform a deed that returneth unto Him Whom God shall make manifest, for this is an glory impregnable and mighty, which God giveth not save to His sincere servants. Behold how all upon the earth work for God, yet they work not for God save they who work for Me, and all others work for other than God and perceive it not.

Therefore perform a deed that returneth unto God, that what thou hast wrought in thy life may not be lost, for this is of God’s bounty to all the worlds. And verily what thou hast desired of the traces of God—We were indeed the senders thereof. And what thou hast mentioned of the remembrance of him who reciteth the verses of God—We were indeed the teachers thereof. When the mirrors of his being were refined, We revealed Ourself unto him thereby and made him a remembrance for all the worlds. And when the crystal of his essence was purified, it reflected God, his Lord, and his being reflected that which God had revealed unto it. Thus doth God choose whom He willeth from among His servants. He is the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.

Write thou what appeareth from the mirrors of God, for it is of the lights of sanctified glory. Yet be thou assured that he calleth unto God, my Lord and thy Lord, and he hath naught save through God. We have chosen him for Our remembrance that he may render victorious aid unto them who have been given the Bayan and that he may be for them a mighty glory. Is there any god besides God? Say: Glory be to God! All are His servants and all worship Him. And concerning what thou hast mentioned of him who wisheth to bear witness to what existeth between His Prophet and God, his Lord, say: Yea, We were indeed aware thereof. And We shall show thee when We please, but be thou of them that carefully examine.

For God proves through what He hath created and shall create, and proves through whomsoever He willeth to guide. These are the verses of God from His presence, by which all are guided.

Say: Write down the letters from alif to ghayn, then remove four, then take what remains after the four, then bear witness to what thou hast, and enter not thereby into God’s religion that by which God shall prove thee, even as He proveth all believers. Draw thou proof from that whereby God thy Lord drew proof in the Qur’an, and thereafter in the Bayan, for this is greater than that concerning which men enquire.

Bear thou witness that the verses of God aforetime in the Qur’an are greater than the verses of the Prophets, and He establisheth thereby whatsoever He willeth in the Qur’an, but men in their religion neither ponder nor remember.

Make thou thy name to excel in the Bayan by helping God with a mighty help. This is how thou helpest thine own self, and God is the best of helpers and refuge. Otherwise thy life hath been decreed before and shall be decreed hereafter, and thou shalt return unto God and wish to return and seek God thy Lord’s help with mighty help. Yet We desire not that thou shouldst grieve for Us even to the weight of a mustard seed, but rather that thou shouldst rejoice. Help thou God thy Lord with such help as shall satisfy thyself and all believers, for this is better than all thou hast done in thy life or shalt do hereafter, and God is the best of judges.

Remember thou the mention of thy Lord’s name, the Chosen, the Chosen. Say: We have mentioned thee before, so seek thou help from God and be of them that are steadfast. And if there be the mention of thy Lord’s name, the All-Praised, the Kind, mention Him from thy Lord with a gracious mention and grieve not.

Write thou all the Bismillahs to the number of all things and deliver them unto God’s veiled servants. And write in what thou writest that this is what thou hast found from him who first believed in God and His verses in Tus. We have mentioned him as a remembrance for them that remember, that perchance through thy guidance a soul may be guided, and this is better for thee than what thou doest by night and day, if thou be of them that ponder.

Mode of prayers

In the name of God, the Most Luminous, the Most Luminous

Glorified art Thou, O my God! I bear witness, and all things testify, that Thou art the Light of the heavens and earth and all that lies between them, the Illuminator of all who dwell in the kingdom of command and creation and whatsoever lieth beneath them, and the One Who enlighteneth all who abide in the realm on high, even unto the most minute atom and whatsoever lieth beneath it. Thou hast ever been Light before all light, Light after all light, Light above all light, and Light with all light.

I beseech Thee by Thy Light whereby Thou hast illumined the heavens and earth and all that lieth between them, and renewed the creation of all things, and manifested Thyself, and shone forth upon all things through Thy might, and established the Hour, and brought forth the Resurrection, and abrogated all guidance, and raised up divine authority, and sent down sufficiency, and perfected loving providence, that Thou mayest send down upon the Dayspring of Thy Light amidst the lights, and the Setting-Place of Thy Light in the depths of lights, and upon the Guides of Thy Light in the kingdom of earth and heaven, from all Thy glory its most glorious, from all Thy majesty its most majestic, from all Thy beauty its most beauteous, from all Thy grandeur its most grand, from all Thy light its light, from all Thy mercy its most expansive, from all Thy words their most perfect, from all Thy names their most great, from all Thy might its most mighty, from all Thy will its most conclusive, from all Thy knowledge its most penetrating, from all Thy power its most potent, from all Thy causes those most beloved by Thee and most impregnable before Thee, from all Thy honor its most honorable, from all Thy sovereignty its most enduring, from all Thy dominion its most distinguished, from all Thy loftiness its most exalted, and from all that Thou art, from Thy most excellent and unapproachable names and Thy most sublime and elevated attributes, that which befitteth the sublimity of Thy hallowed glory and the exaltation of Thy mighty power.

Thou art He Whom all recognize in Thy oneness, Thou art He before Whom all prostrate themselves in Thy self-subsistence, Thou art He to Whom all are certain in Thy unity, Thou art He to Whom all submit in Thy Lordship, Thou art He before Whom all humble themselves in Thy Self-Sufficiency, Thou art He unto Whom all are drawn by the lights of Thy countenance, and Thou art He unto Whom all are attracted by the signs of Thy might. None besides Thee, O my God, hath any manifestation whereby Thou mightest be known, nor anything besides Thee, O my Beloved, hath any hiddenness whereby Thou mightest be described. Thou hast ever been rich in Thine own Essence independent of Thine Essence—how then can I mention Thee in Thy independence from Thy creation?

Thou wilt ever remain self-sufficient in the self-sufficiency of Thy Self from Thy Self—how then can I mention Thee in Thy freedom from all else but Thee? Glory be unto Thee! Glory be unto Thee! Thou art the Manifest above all things in Thy sovereignty, Thou art the Almighty above all things in Thy dominion, Thou art the Powerful above all things in Thy might, Thou art the Inaccessible above all things in Thy Lordship, Thou art the Sovereign above all things in Thy divinity, Thou art the Omnipotent over all things in Thy sanctity, and Thou art the Possessor above all things in Thine eternity.

I know not, O my God, whether to remember Thee by Thy manifestations of old, for verily they have no beginning, and I have ever been in them all worshipping Thee, prostrating before Thee, assured of Thee, remembering Thee, thanking Thee, praising Thee, and well-pleased with Thee, for had I not been there, how could I now be here before Thee? Nay, by Thy might! From a beginning that hath no beginning until now, I have been with Thee glorifying Thee, sanctifying Thee, asserting Thy unity, magnifying Thee, exalting Thee, extolling Thee, and empowering Thee, being certain that this and whatsoever may appear from all Thy creation befitteth not the sublimity of Thy sanctity, nor is worthy of the court of Thy nearness. Yet there existeth naught in me nor in Thy creation save this.

I shall glorify Thee beyond all that which the contingent beings have glorified or shall glorify Thee. I shall sanctify Thee beyond all that which existing things have sanctified or shall sanctify Thee. I shall exalt Thee beyond all that which created things have exalted or shall exalt Thee. I shall unite Thee beyond all that which contingent beings have united or shall unite Thee. I shall magnify Thee above all that which the atoms have magnified or shall magnify Thee. I shall extol Thee above all that which all things have extolled or shall extol Thee. I shall honor Thee above all that which all essences have honored or shall honor Thee. I shall elevate Thee above all that which all realities have elevated or shall elevate Thee. Thou art the Most High and none is Thy peer. Thou art the Most Exalted and none is Thy equal.

I shall praise Thee from that beginning which hath no beginning for all that Thou hast created and shalt create. I shall thank Thee from that beginning which hath no beginning unto that end which hath no end for all that Thou hast brought into being and shalt bring into being. Glorified art Thou, O my God, for there is no end to Thy creation, and Thou hast caused me to attain unto this degree in Thy invention. Therefore, O my God, raise me up unto that end which hath no end through Thy exaltation, for Thou hast not created me save for the eternal abode with Thee and the everlasting life before Thee. All that Thou hast manifested in Thy previous manifestations was but a prelude to Thy future manifestations and a nurturing for Thy future concealment.

Cause me then to endure, O my God, through Thy endurance, and grant me life, O my God, through Thy life, and make me everlasting, O my God, through Thy everlastingness, and make me eternal, O my God, through Thine eternity, and cause me to abide, O my God, through Thine abiding presence. For Thou hast ever been and shalt ever be eternal and ancient. In that station, I witness through what Thou hast taught me of knowledge and wisdom, the exalted and transcendent manifestations, wherein in each manifestation Thou dost elevate what Thou hadst revealed before and createst anew what Thou lovest therein thereafter.

Were I to say, O my God, that Thou hast manifested the manifestations of Thyself according to the number of all things, I would have limited Thee. I seek Thy forgiveness, O God, for this. And were I to say that Thou hast manifestations according to the number of all things hereafter, I would have limited Thy revelations, and I verily repent unto Thee for this.

O my God, my God, by the number of all Thou hast created! O my God, my God, by the number of all Thou hast brought into being! O my God, my God, by the number of all Thou hast originated! O my God, my God, by the number of all Thou hast sustained! O my God, my God, by the number of all Thou hast caused to pulsate! O my God, my God, by the number of all Thou wilt create! O my God, my God, by the number of all Thou wilt bring into being! O my God, my God, by the number of all Thou wilt originate! O my God, my God, by the number of all Thou wilt produce!

O my God, my God, by the number of all Thou wilt cause to come into being! O my God, my God, by the number of all Thou wilt call into existence! O my God, my God, by the number of all Thou wilt fashion! O my God, my God, by the number of all Thou wilt sustain! O my God, my God, by the number of all Thou wilt originate! O my God, my God, by the number of all Thou wilt establish! O my God, my God, by the number of all Thou wilt realize! In all this, verily there is no God but Thee, in truth, in truth, and in all this, verily there is no God but Thee, justice upon justice!

And in all this, there is no God but Thee, life upon life! And in all this, there is no God but Thee, singleness upon singleness! And in all this, there is no God but Thee, light upon light! And in all this, there is no God but Thee, wonder upon wonder! And in all this, there is no God but Thee, glory upon glory! For none besides Thee, O my God, is worshipped, and none except Thee, O my God, is sought, and none other than Thee, O my God, is adored.

Thou art the One Who existed before all things, and Thou art the One Who dwelleth in all things, and Thou art the One Who existeth for all things, and Thou art the One Who standeth above all things, and Thou art the One Who abideth with all things. Bless, then, all the thrones of Thy Manifestation through what Thou art in Thyself.

Thou hast manifestations to the number of all things, yet Thou hast limited Thy revelations, and I verily turn unto Thee from this. O my God, my God, by the number of all Thou hast created! O my God, my God, by the number of all Thou hast brought forth! O my God, my God, by the number of all Thou hast made to exist! O my God, my God, by the number of all Thou hast originated! O my God, my God, by the number of all Thou hast caused to appear! O my God, my God, by the number of all Thou hast established! O my God, my God, by the number of all Thou hast ordained! O my God, my God, by the number of all Thou wilt create! O my God, my God, by the number of all Thou wilt bring forth! O my God, my God, by the number of all Thou wilt devise!

O my God, my God, by the number of all Thou wilt originate! O my God, my God, by the number of all Thou wilt cause to appear! O my God, my God, by the number of all Thou wilt bring into being! O my God, my God, by the number of all Thou wilt create anew! O my God, my God, by the number of all Thou wilt establish! O my God, my God, by the number of all Thou wilt cause to appear! O my God, my God, by the number of all Thou wilt ordain! O my God, my God, by the number of all Thou wilt decree!

In all this, there is no God but Thee, truth upon truth! And in all this, there is no God but Thee, justice upon justice! And in all this, there is no God but Thee, life upon life! And in all this, there is no God but Thee, singleness upon singleness! And in all this, there is no God but Thee, light upon light! And in all this, there is no God but Thee, wonder upon wonder! And in all this, there is no God but Thee, glory upon glory! For none besides Thee, O my God, is worshipped, and none except Thee, O my God, is sought, and none other than Thee, O my God, is adored.

Thou art the One Who existed before all things, and Thou art the One Who dwelleth in all things, and Thou art the One Who existeth for all things, and Thou art the One Who standeth above all things, and Thou art the One Who abideth with all things. Bless, then, all the thrones of Thy Manifestation through what Thou art in Thyself, and bless all the seats of Thy concealment through what Thou art in Thyself—not by the number of all things, for this is the limit of Thy creation, nor by counting the number of all things, for this is from the limitations of Thy servants.

In all this, Thou art God alone, there is no God but Thee, and verily the Manifestation of Thyself is the Dawning-Place of Thy mystery, and that Manifestation of Thy Essence, through Whom Thou dost create whatsoever Thou willest, howsoever Thou willest, through whatsoever Thou willest. We have no command except through that which is from Thee, and no prohibition except through that which proceedeth from Thy presence. All commandments, O my God, are from Thee alone—there is no God but Thee—and they proceed from the Tree of Thy affirmation. And all prohibitions, O my God, are by Thy command, ordained for all save the Tree of Thy affirmation.

Do Thou, O God, purify the whole earth from aught else but Thy love and Thy good-pleasure. Cause Thou, O God, all things to enter into the ocean of Thy good-pleasure, Thy tranquility, Thy detachment, Thy joy, Thy might, Thy holiness, and Thy glory, and whatsoever Thou art in Thy names and Thine attributes. For unto Thee belongeth dominion and kingdom, might and power, strength and divinity, force and sovereignty, grandeur and majesty, beauty and perfection, mercy and grace, authority and justice, similitude and example, sublimity and glory, grandeur and exaltation, sovereignty and whatsoever Thou lovest or wilt love from the kingdom of Thy Command and Thy creation.

Thou hast ever been one God, single, eternal, independent, ever-living, self-subsisting, sovereign, all-compelling, holy, everlasting, eternal, self-dependent, transcendent, inaccessible, exalted, supreme, sovereign, all-possessing, all-powerful, manifest, glorious. Thou hast taken neither consort nor son, nor hath there been any partner in what Thou hast created, nor any protector in what Thou hast fashioned. Thou dost give life and cause death, then cause death and give life. Verily Thou art the Ever-Living Who dieth not, the Sovereign Who passeth not away, the Just Who wrongeth not, the King Who changeth not, the One from Whose grasp nothing escapeth, whether in the heavens or on the earth or between them. Thou createst what Thou willest by Thy command. Verily, Thou art powerful over all things.

Mode of sermons

In the Name of God, Most Luminous, Most Luminous

Praise be to God Who has risen with the elevation of His exaltedness and thereby has towered above all who dwell in the kingdoms of earth and heaven. And praise be to God Who has established dominion through the potency of His might and thereby has overcome all the atoms through His irresistible power. And praise be to God Who has taken possession, through the knowledge of His all-knowingness, of whatsoever He has willed in the kingdoms of beginnings and endings, and thereby has manifested His ascendancy over all who dwell in the kingdom of names and attributes and the realm of first and last things.

All His creation beareth witness, and He Himself testifieth, that there is none other God but Him, the One, the All-Glorious—a testimony inviolable that proclaimeth the loftiness of His oneness and announceth the sublimity of His singleness, that declareth the independence of His eternal sovereignty and magnifieth the sovereignty of His holiness.

This testimony filleth the pillars of all things with the words “There is none other God but Him,” and the outer aspects of all things with the witness “There is none other God but Him,” and the inner realities of all things with the testimony “There is none other God but Him,” and the first of all things with the witness “There is none other God but Him,” and the last of all things with the testimony “There is none other God but Him,” and the height of all things with the witness “There is none other God but Him,” and the depth of all things with the testimony “There is none other God but Him,” and the ascent of all things with the witness “There is none other God but Him,” and the descent of all things with the testimony “There is none other God but Him,” and the exaltation of all things with the witness “There is none other God but Him,” and the splendor of all things with the testimony “There is none other God but Him.”

And from all, through all, in all, upon all, from all unto all, above all, before all, after all, upon all, from all unto all, above all, beneath all, before all, after all, to the right of all, to the left of all, from every direction of all things—that there is none other God but Him, the All-Powerful, possessed of might; the All-Luminous, possessed of light; the Most Glorious, possessed of glory; the Most Majestic, possessed of majesty; the Most Beautiful, possessed of beauty; the Most Great, possessed of greatness; the Most Perfect, possessed of perfection; the Most Merciful, possessed of mercy; the Most Mighty, possessed of might; the Most Supreme, possessed of supremacy; the Most Great, possessed of greatness; the Most High, possessed of loftiness; the Most Praiseworthy, possessed of praise; the Most Knowing, possessed of knowledge; the Most Noble, possessed of nobility; the Most Hidden, possessed of concealment; the Most Holy, possessed of holiness; the Most Dominant, possessed of dominion; the Most Sovereign, possessed of sovereignty; the Most Exalted, possessed of exaltation; the Most Honored, possessed of honor; the Most Glorious, possessed of glory.

This is a testimony whereby no thing in existence remaineth but that it seeketh shelter beneath the tree of affirmation and entereth beneath the shadow of the tree of independence—a testimony whose beginning indicateth the exaltation of its Revealer, whose end proclaimeth the inaccessibility of its Educator, whose outward aspect declareth the transcendence of its Ordainer, whose inward reality announceth the splendor of its Essence, whose totality testifieth to the independence of its Creator, whose particularity magnifieth the glory of its Originator, and all that pertaineth unto it and proceedeth from it attesteth to the power of its Manifestor—a testimony that freeth all hearts from every sorrow, cools every breast of its dangers, soothes every heart of its loneliness, calms every soul of anything less than its assurance, and causes bodies to delight in all that is destined for them and in their being veiled from that which God has not permitted them.

A testimony glorious, radiant, attractive, luminous, manifest, resplendent, adorning, beauteous, magnificent, supreme, perfect, just, gracious, mighty, knowing, powerful, well-pleasing, loving, sovereign, regal, sublime, tangible, ancient, majestic. A testimony that adorns all adornments with infinite embellishments, brings forth all manifestations from the manifestation of the infinite, exalts all exaltations from the might of the primal ones, illumines all lights from the light of the latter ones, reveals all revelations from the manifestation of the outer ones, purifies all purifications from the purity of the inner ones, magnifies all magnifications from the greatness of the great ones, and treasures all treasures from the treasure of the treasured ones.

A testimony whose worth none knoweth save God its Lord, and whose station none comprehendeth save God its Creator. A testimony rising from the horizon of dawning places, shining from the summit of radiant places, and resounding from the sanctity of resonant places. A testimony that adorns light with ornament and illumines ornament with light, that causes cycles to revolve as the Almighty desires and ages to roll as the Omnipotent is pleased, and causes night and day to succeed each other as God, the One, the Manifest, loves.

A testimony that fills the creation of the heavens and earth and what lies between them with creation that has no likeness, with beings that have no equal, with phenomena that have no similitude, with existence that has no peer, and with origination that has no parallel.

A testimony that enables all things to attain what they can attain of the gifts of their Beloved and the bounties of their Desired One, such that if that thing were to be fashioned with craftsmanship and examined with scrutiny and investigated with precision, it would reach what it can attain of the generosity of its Creator and the gifts of its Originator, until there remains nothing in the kingdom of earth and heaven but that its creation has been perfected by the Manifestations of creation and its potential existence has reached the point of its manifestation through the hands of the Guides of the Cause. Thus does God love to fill the earth with His generosity and the heavens with His grace and what lies between them with His gifts. O possessors of cycles and ages!

O possessors of phases and seas! O possessors of visions and insights! O possessors of thoughts and remembrances! O possessors of lights and mysteries! O possessors of the righteous and the chosen ones! O possessors of manifestation and subjugation! O possessors of might and power! O possessors of journeys and regions! O possessors of forgiveness and veils! O possessors of purity and destiny! Bear witness on the Day of God, the One, the Manifest, and in the Night of God, the One, the Omnipotent, that there is no God but God, the Inaccessible, the Supreme, the Almighty. His might is justice wherein is no wrong, His justice is truth wherein is no deviation, His grace is bounty wherein is no alteration, and His generosity is giving wherein is no change.

He created you all only for the knowledge of your Lord, your obedience to God through His signs, and your allegiance to the Guides of your Beloved, your assistance in raising His Word, and your aid in exalting the Cause of your Desire—do you imagine that you were created merely to eat, to dress, to sleep, or to take pleasure? Far, far be it from your conduct! Far, far be it from your path! Do you suppose that God created you from a drop of water and endowed you with knowledge and wisdom, with judgment and remembrance, for naught? God desired naught but the establishment of His unity, and wished naught but the exaltation of His sanctity.

He warned you of the fire and gave you glad tidings of light only that you might perfect your creation in your lifetime and assure your hearts of what He has ordained for you after your death. God hath created all things for you, O concourse of the divine ones, but He hath not created you for anything. How is it that you do not reflect? How is it that you do not remember? How is it that you do not ponder? Do you not see that this kingdom had neither beginning nor end? He created kings in numbers beyond count and then seized them, reducing them to clay. And He created countless rulers from water, then caused them to die and turned them to dust.

You were not created for pleasure, nor provided sustenance for idle pursuits, nor given death for the sake of attire, nor granted life for the purpose of dwelling—except that you might render all these things unto God your Lord, and affirm the unity of your Creator, exalt the sovereignty of your Fashioner, magnify the dominion of your Revealer, elevate the supremacy of your Educator, and glorify the sanctity of your Illuminator. Arise then from your slumber, for the Hour is come, the Resurrection hath appeared, and every soul hath been gathered according to its deeds, every being judged according to its works. All this transpires in the realm of their existence.

When We look upon the earth, We see all veiled in their conceits, each worshipping God to gain His pleasure while remaining veiled from His true worship, earning naught but His displeasure even as they strive for His good pleasure. When do they act, yet perceive not? When do they worship, yet know not? Verily God is the Manifest, the Inaccessible, the Mighty. Verily God is the Subduer, the Exalted, the High. Verily God is the Glorious, the Powerful, the Strong. Verily God is the Resplendent, the Dominant, the Compelling. Verily God is the Victorious, the Supreme, the Sovereign. Verily God is the Creator, the Originator, the Fashioner. Verily God is the Illuminator, the Enlightener, the Radiant. Verily God is the Most Great, the Supreme, the Magnificent.

Verily God is the Restorer, the Compeller, the Mighty. Verily God is the Powerful, the Potent, the Omnipotent. Verily God is the Manifest, the Evident, the Clear. Verily God is the All-Seeing, the Discerning, the Perceptive. Verily God is the All-Knowing, the Informed, the Aware. Verily God is the Observer, the Watchful, the Vigilant. Verily God is the Pure, the Purifier, the Most Pure. All these are names for the exaltation of His majesty, and all these are examples of His inaccessible glory. Yet glory be unto Him beyond all mention and praise, and sanctified be He beyond all description and tribute.

Therefore, seize your life, for there is no glory greater than this elixir, as the elixir was created for you, and you were not created for the elixir; and gold was created for you, and you were not created for gold; and silver was created for you, and you were not created for silver, for the means were created for you, and ye were not created for means. Indeed, blessings were created for you, and ye were not created for blessings. Indeed, bounties were created for you, and ye were not created for bounties. Indeed, pleasures were created for you, and ye were not created for pleasures. How then do ye pursue that which was created for you, and pursue not God, that what was created for you might return unto you?

How many a creation hath God created and then made it clay, and how many a creation hath God begun from clay and then made it living! From manifestation unto manifestation doth God nurture you for preparation for the next manifestation, that ye might know God your Lord, being manifest, and worship God your Lord, being assured, and aid God your Lord, being constant, and uplift the religion of God, being impregnable, and proclaim the Word of God, being exalted. Yet in every manifestation ye are as dead, moving not save when the washer moveth you, and rising not save when circumstances turn you over. Is there then any difference at the manifestation of God or before His manifestation?

Walk ye therefore upon the earth, and seek guidance from the creation of God, and subdue the earth of God, and take possession from the bounty of God, and uplift the religion of God, and defend the Word of God. Be not patient like the dead until movements move you or changes change you. Rather be ye living, vital, and pleasing guides, spreading life from your sides, from which every possessor of attraction fleeth due to your attractions. God hath nurtured you for one thousand two hundred and seventy years that perchance once ye might say “There is no God but God” and behold the multiplication of your creation where none can count or reckon.

Yet until now “There is no God but God” hath not appeared, whereas ye see the seats of the affirmers and witness the dwellings of the deniers, and by night and day ye pray and weep. But your deeds profit you not.

O lifeless bodies! Did the deeds of those given the Book before you profit them after approval was cut off from them? Doth not every community act according to what is in its religion? How then doth it not profit them with their Lord? Therefore worship God as your Lord willeth, not as ye have become accustomed and found comfort from previous manifestations, lest ye make yourselves like those who, from the beginning of creation, did not prostrate. For all commandments and prohibitions are established by the Word of God and shine forth by the Command of God.

Therefore gain insight into your cause, and consider your affairs, and seek help from God your Lord, and remember God throughout your life—not merely with the remembrance of your tongues, for this is a portion of a portion of the remembrances. For this shall profit you when it is followed by your remembrance being established in all regions, and your mention being appointed in all cycles, and your word being confirmed in all ages. Do not all peoples remember God, their Lord, their Prophet, and that which was created in their religion? Why, then, do ye not reflect? There is no glory save in obedience to God and His good-pleasure.

And if glory be in possessions and dominions, or in riches and majesty—how is it that all the peoples before you possessed these, and yet ye now behold upon the earth those who follow not your religion? Be ye truly alive, for the living one is he who knoweth God in every Manifestation; other than this is death. Do ye not see? How many are the servants who are born dead and die dead! This is the death of their religion, not of their bodies, yet they remember not. They begin from the clay of death and return to the clay of death. Therefore, awaken, lest aught consume your slumber, for your attachments shall be severed from you when your spirit is taken.

It profiteth you not to seek God’s good-pleasure in your life through the vain imaginings of your souls, but rather through that which pleaseth the Lord of good-pleasure. Ye shall find rest after your death and shall enter Paradise if ye believe in God and then in Him Whom God shall make manifest in every Resurrection.

Mode of commentary

In the Name of God, the Most Luminous, the Most Luminous

Praise be to God, besides Whom there is none other God, the Most Luminous, the Most Luminous! All glory be upon every Throne of Manifestation, for His Firstness hath no beginning and His Lastness hath no end. In that Day all things are the Primal Point and then His most exalted, most lofty Guides.

I testify, O Name of God—exalted be His majesty! and Remembrance of God—mighty be His glory!—that God the All-Glorious hath ever been unknowable through aught else but Him, and will ever be indescribable through aught else but Him. Verily He, glorified and exalted be He, hath been from all eternity and will continue to be for all eternity, just as He hath always been, without change or transformation. All names are His Name and all similitudes are His attributes. He, glorified and exalted be He, is sanctified above all similitudes and exalted above all descriptions.

All these are signs from God to His creation whereby they may know Him. For example, when thou seest knowledge as a perfection and God hath described Himself thereby, then thou sayest He is the Most Knowing of the knowing ones. When thou seest power as an inaccessible attribute and God hath described Himself thereby, then thou sayest He is the Most Powerful of the powerful ones.

Similarly with hearing, thou sayest He is the Most Hearing of the hearing ones; with sight, thou sayest He is the Most Seeing of the seeing ones; with hearts, thou sayest He is the Most Subtle of the subtle ones; with might, thou sayest He is the Most Mighty of the mighty ones; with loftiness, thou sayest He is the Most Lofty of the lofty ones; with inaccessibility, thou sayest He is the Most Inaccessible of the inaccessible ones; with exaltation, thou sayest He is the Most Exalted of the exalted ones; with glory, thou sayest He is the Most Glorious of the glorious ones; with majesty, thou sayest He is the Most Majestic of the majestic ones. And likewise with all names and attributes.

Having recognized this, then testify that the knowledge of God is manifested only through the knowledge of the Manifestation of His Self, for all created things have known their Lord only through what the Messengers of God have taught them. Thus knowledge beginneth with Them and endeth with Them, for They are the veils of God whom none can know save God. Their likeness is as mirrors wherein naught can be seen except God. Therefore They desire naught but what God hath desired, They will naught but what God hath willed, They have no power save what God hath empowered, They decree naught save what God hath decreed, They permit naught save what God hath permitted, They defer naught save what God hath deferred, and They inscribe naught save what God hath inscribed.

Be thou severed from the limitations of names and their meanings, for they are transformed by God’s command as He willeth in every Manifestation. I testify that the likeness of every Manifestation is as the rising of the sun—though it rise countless times, it is one and the same sun, and though it set countless times, it is one and the same sun. Thus consider this similitude in relation to the Sun of Truth, for the First is the Last, and the Manifest is the Hidden. Naught is seen in the Thrones except their Revealer, and naught in the Chairs except their Educator.

Were a soul to exist from the beginning that hath no beginning unto the end that hath no end, and were it to dwell in the ocean of truth, following the First that hath no first, it would follow unto the Last that hath no last, for in both shineth forth one Sun, and that is the Sun of the Revelation of God, which no place can encompass, and no inward essence can contain, and which is bounded by no bounds and cannot be described by limits. He is exalted above all likeness, sanctified beyond all similarity, holy beyond all comparison, and hallowed above all association, unique beyond all kinship. All names are His Name, yet He hath no name. All attributes are His attribute, yet He hath no attribute.

His inner reality is the Word “There is no God but God,” and His outer manifestation in the Qur’an is Muhammad the Messenger of God, and in the Bayan the Letters of the Seven, and in the Gospel Jesus the Spirit of God, and in the Psalms David the Chosen of God, and in the Torah Moses the One Who spoke with God, and after the Bayan Him Whom God shall make manifest, and after Him Whom God shall make manifest, Him Whom God shall make manifest, and after Him Whom God shall make manifest, Him Whom God shall make manifest, and after Him Whom God shall make manifest, Him Whom God shall make manifest, and after Him Whom God shall make manifest, Him Whom God shall make manifest, and after Him Whom God shall make manifest, Him Whom God shall make manifest, and after Him Whom God shall make manifest, Him Whom God shall make manifest.

And I declare that as long as I live, my heart shall never be free from the sweetness of Their remembrance, and nothing shall be dearer to my heart than that remembrance. And I declare unto the end that hath no end that God will surely manifest Him, and there is no limit to Him, nor are God’s creations in His dominion limited, for it hath no beginning and no end. And whosoever limiteth the Thrones of Truth in the Bayan, such a one believeth not in God. I seek God’s forgiveness for this.

But be thou assured that the span between Revelations is known to none save God or to him whom God hath given knowledge of its mysteries, for from the Primal Point until now, they have appeared at different intervals, such that between Moses and David was a period of hundreds, and between David and Jesus likewise, and between Jesus and Muhammad likewise, and between Muhammad and the Point of the Bayan was the number of years appointed, and from the Point of the Bayan to Him Whom God shall make manifest—God alone knoweth its measure. Were the creation of each Revelation not complete, God would not manifest the Manifestation of His Self in the next Revelation.

This is God’s balance, and it behooveth thee and every soul in every Revelation to establish the truth in such wise that nothing remaineth in God’s dominion except that it seeketh shelter under His shadow, for less than this is not worthy of God. And even if this appeareth not due to the weakness of creation, God hath nevertheless given the means and created the power in the hearts of contingent beings and promised them that He will manifest through their hands the power from His presence, gathering unto them all means. Think not that any soul can be veiled from God, for at the moment of recognizing God, that soul would turn away from being veiled.

However, in every Revelation its people imagine they are doing good, while in the sight of God and the people of the succeeding Revelation, their condition is manifest—that when they became veiled, they became as dead, even though they live. They will not enter into the next Manifestation. Marvel not at this, but observe what is upon the earth and take heed. For what Jesus promised has come to pass, and the number of years of His Manifestation has elapsed, yet they still await what was promised. And before Jesus it was likewise, and after Muhammad the same. Look upon this matter with a universal view, not a particular one. Bear witness that each day God wishes to be worshipped as He desires, not as the people desire.

Observe how each people worships God according to what He revealed to them in the days of their Prophet, but when they veil themselves from the next Manifestation, their worship becomes for other than God.

Believe not in the permanent negation or affirmation of any soul, for both live—one in fire and one in light. What thou hast heard about those who did not prostrate to the Primal Point was not as people understand, for it changes in each Manifestation, nay, even more frequently, for it depends upon one’s lifetime. Consider Muhammad: when He was exalted, the affirmation inherited affirmation, and His followers were servants of God. When the First One was raised up, negation inherited from its inheritors, and these were not servants of the All-Merciful.

My heart is not content with their mention until the end that has no end. Learn this principle: in each Manifestation, the proofs of its affirmation change to negation. However, God in that Manifestation establishes His Cause and perfects His creation, for therein light is not changed to fire except at God’s Manifestation during His next Resurrection. My grief is for all who are in the Bayan, who from that day are proofs of that Manifestation, those who believe in Him; all others are negation, even if they were pious in the Bayan. God has taken them and caused them to perish, for they followed neither the Bayan nor what was revealed therein. Otherwise, they would follow God, their Lord, at the time of His Manifestation, and would be certain of His signs.

When thou hast understood this, then in each Manifestation seek God’s good pleasure and perform deeds that return unto God, not becoming mere particles in the air. Observe how many on earth worship God, yet their worship returns not unto God, returning to no path, as thou seest, except for a few guides, manifest supporters, hidden mystics, loving friends, and sincere, God-fearing ones. The deeds of these return unto God as they perform them, but what others do in their familiarity returns not unto God, for this pertains to the affirmation of the first Manifestation, and though the First One has been established, on that Day God desires to establish the Manifestation of His Self.

Though what was established before is established, even if everything is proof of its establishment, this is an essence that not all of God’s creation can comprehend. What all things comprehend is what constitutes sensory weeping and determines physical following. When these comprehend the Truth, observe from the beginning of that Manifestation until now how many words God has revealed, yet until now none have appeared before Me in a script so excellent as to attract my heart or the heart of another in a book. And verily I know that in the Dispensation of Him Whom God shall make manifest, there shall be counted that which you see today in the Qur’an, wherein they expend what can be expended. But this is of death and returneth not unto God.

And were it to appear in that Day before God it would be better than what shall appear afterward beyond measure. Yet all labor night and day to perform deeds that they may attain the good pleasure of God, while that which pleaseth God none performeth. And verily I am independent of this, but this is for the preservation of God’s religion and a remembrance from God unto thee and unto those who are in the Bayan, that ye may preserve what hath been revealed from God. For this is the source of your existence unto the next Resurrection. Had the Qur’an not been preserved from the time of its revelation, from where wouldst thou read it or act according to its laws?

This is the source of all that hath been and shall be created, the sustenance of all that hath been and shall be fashioned, the glory of all that hath been and shall be originated, and the good pleasure of all that hath perished and shall perish. The possessors of wisdom pay no heed to it and tire themselves in that which pleaseth not God, the One, the Almighty. God hath given thee knowledge and penmanship that thou mayest occupy thyself with that which establisheth the Cause of God. How is it that until now thou hast not possessed all that hath been revealed, nor hath anyone who, like thee, is capable of the highest that is possible?

For God loveth not in that Dispensation that a single letter of the Bayan be written save in the most excellent and beloved script, and in the most attractive and captivating tablet, unless one desireth to attain unto this, in which case he is permitted until such time as he perfecteth what hath been revealed from God. It is as though I see with mine own eyes servants who, were it possible to spend a million mithqals of gold on the Bayan, would spend it and write it and glory therein. But on the Day when He Who revealed the Bayan, Who is Him Whom God shall make manifest, shall come, they will be veiled even as thou seest today how many copies of the Qur’an exist wherein hath been expended what none can reckon save God.

And verily what He revealed hath been fulfilled as was destined, for God in His Essence never revealeth a Book, but rather revealeth through the Manifestation of His Self, and naught else hath any true reality, for from that heaven nothing descendeth. Rather, this is from the heaven of Prophethood, whose heaven is the heart of the Throne of Reality. God revealeth unto it through His Self as He willeth. Therefore be thou conscious in the days of God that thou mayest perform deeds that return unto God, that thou mayest aid the Word of Unity, negate negation, preserve the Words of God, seek assistance from God, trust in God, commit thy affair unto God, be victorious through God, be exalted through God, be glorified through God.

And whatsoever thou lovest of goodly names appeareth not in truth except from God. Therefore remove the veil from thine eyes and thou shalt see the servants of God, and who thinketh he worshippeth God, and who in Paradise is at peace, and who in the fire is troubled. For that is the Day whereon God hath made manifest all things according to their true nature. The dwellers of Paradise shall be known by their marks, yet they themselves know not. Know thou the value of God’s Days, for after the cycle of one thousand two hundred and seventy years hath passed, God hath manifested such impossible things. Know thou their measure, that no sadness may touch them, and watch what is reflected from them, that no dust may reach them.

For in every Dispensation, all the guides of God, exalted be He, desire to speak of their primacy and their finality, their outwardness and their inwardness. There is no God but He, the Protector, the Self-Subsisting.

Persian mode

In the Name of God, the Most Luminous, the Most Luminous

All praise and glory befit that Ever-Living Beloved Who has eternally existed in the sublimity of His independent, holy Essence and will forever abide in the exaltation of His sacred, inaccessible Being. No thing has ever known Him as He deserves to be known, and no thing has ever praised Him as He deserves to be praised. He created all things from nothing through His perfect power, and brought all things into being from naught through His inaccessible Will. How transcendent is the holy court of His might, for all praise His oneness! How exalted is the sanctified realm of His elevation, for all testify to His uniqueness! Praise befits Him like unto me, for from a beginning that has no beginning to an end that has no end, His generosity has been bestowed upon the creation of all things.

Thanks befit Him like unto me, for unto an end that has no end, His grace shall be connected to the bringing into being of all things. The might of His transcendence is sanctified above the transcendence of all who transcend, and the glory of His holiness is hallowed above the sanctification of all who sanctify. The sublimity of His praise is exalted above the praise of all who praise, and the grandeur of His glorification is elevated above the glorification of all who glorify. He has ever known all things before their existence, without His knowledge requiring mention of the known. His power shall ever extend over all things, without mention of the object of power being necessary to establish that power.

All praise Him through the merit of His holy Essence, and all worship Him through the majesty of His sacred Being. He created all contingent beings from nothing through His Primal Will, and brought all existences into being from naught through His Ultimate Purpose. He has made His Will like unto the rising of the sun: were it to rise infinitely, there would not be more than one sun, and were it to set infinitely, there would not be more than one sun. He has made every Manifestation of the Sun of Truth like unto a daily sunrise, and has ordained creation to be like crystals which, when polished, reflect from the Sun of Truth the attribute of names and the quality of attributes, but which, when veiled, are confirmed in their nothingness.

Praise be unto Him Who has shed His holy, sacred effulgences upon all contingent beings and has manifested Himself to all created things through the dawning-places of His glory, so that no thing remains veiled from knowledge of Him. All things, through acknowledging His oneness, have attained the summit of the grace of existence. And He has made the creation of light in His names like unto the creation of souls, wherein no trace of self is observed, and which in their mutual reflection and mirroring reflect the manifestations of His sun of oneness exactly as they are. And verily, all have called Him, from the beginning that hath no beginning, by the name of Light-Bearer, and unto the end that hath no end, by the name of Light-Manifestor.

This hath been a description of the dawning-places of His manifestation and an attribute of the daysprings of His revelation. In every manifestation, all have been watchful at the time of the creation of light, for therein lay the test of all. The luminous souls have been likened unto lamps that are themselves aflame and illuminate all that surrounds them. Likewise, the affirmative proofs for establishing His station in regard to light have reached such a lofty summit of glory that no capacity for existence remained in them, and they returned to the holy Source of the Manifestation of God, making their own realities light for the guidance of all created things, that all might be illumined by them and ascend to the glorious summit of unity.

Know that in the creation of the Qur’an, the station of light was the station of the Word, whereby in the transmitted prayers, after mention of His grandeur, God was called upon by the mention of light. This is the light that, when it became manifest for Muhammad, the Apostle of God, became divine. First thou shalt observe this light, before which no worshippers would draw nigh, as is evident in the traditions. And last, which pertaineth to the hereafter, thou shalt observe in this world how on the Day of ʿArafih how many worshippers are present before the Dawning-Place of that light, and in all lands how many effulgences are raised up in the religion of Islam through the radiance of the Muhammadan light.

Yet with the eye of insight, in every manifestation observe thou the beginning of light, wherein thou shalt behold the ultimate of what hath been ordained for it. And at the time of the creation of light be thou not veiled, for the power to create light hath been more dominant than other names. Be thou watchful for the days of Him Whom God shall make manifest, for on that day the carpet of the light of the Bayan shall have reached the highest summit of exaltation, like unto what thou observest today in the Qur’an, and weak, weak is that in comparison, unto infinity.

If on that day thou didst recognize light from fire, and didst deliver thyself from the fire of the veil, and by the light of life didst ascend unto Him Whom God shall make manifest, this is proof that thou hast comprehended from the light of the Bayan. Otherwise what fruit is there in having recited or learned, while remaining veiled from its meaning?

How many souls from the day of the manifestation of the Apostle of God until the day of the martyrdom of Husayn, son of ʿAli, peace be upon them both, called upon God by His light and recited the verse of light in the Qur’an, yet on the day of the creation of light there were none save the Manifestation of light and seventy-two souls who fulfilled the verse “God is the light of the heavens” and who turned themselves toward that whereby they had called upon God.

For this reason it is that in every manifestation of light, most light is transformed into fire, and they themselves perceive it not. Consider how on the day of the martyrdom of the Prince of Martyrs, peace be upon him, all the people of that time were acting according to the ordinances of the Qur’an, yet at the time of the manifestation of light, their light was transformed into fire, and the deeds they had performed in Islam profited them not. In every Dispensation they watched for the Manifestation of God’s Cause, for at the time of His appearance the Light distinguisheth between truth and untruth, even as in the Dispensation of Islam the same distinction was made between the people of paradise and the denizens of the fire.

Though they failed to perceive it at that time, yet today thou seest that no mention is made of the fire, nay rather, all curse them, while thou beholdest the exaltation of the Light and Its proofs. In every Dispensation thou shalt witness the like of this. In the days of Him Whom God shall make manifest it would not be meet that any grief should be caused unto Him. But if it be God’s will that a Light be ordained for Him, be thou among those who are endowed with insight in the Bayan, that thou mayest not enter into the fire, even though throughout thy life thou hast yearned to attain unto the Light.

Reflect thou somewhat on the supreme power and transcendent majesty in the last Manifestation compared with the first—how God revealed Himself unto all created things through the Light; how He revealed Himself unto all created things after the dawning of the Light through His own Manifestation, and brought It to Its consummation in the perfection of Its names. This hath been, and is, naught but His mercy unto all created things, and His bounty unto all beings. And this is not such that the proofs of Light should be confounded with fire in any Dispensation.

Consider the days of the martyrdom of the Fifth Proof, when those who stood in the position of fire, desiring in their own estimation to uphold the religion of Islam, falsely attributed words to the Light which the pen is ashamed to mention, even as thou readest in his visitation prayer: “I testify that thou didst perform the prayer and give the alms” and so forth—these being on account of matters they attributed to him, else how could they have acted thus toward the Fifth Proof without any justification, when they had read in their own religion what God had revealed in the Qur’an: “Whoso killeth a soul, it shall be as if he had killed all mankind”?

Despite their knowledge of this divine decree, and their claiming to believe in the Qur’an, and all that had been revealed concerning him from the Messenger of God, they still transformed their own essence into fire. And in that time they carried out this decree against him only after the divines of that age issued their verdict, even as on the Day of Ashura there were seventy persons in the army of fire, all of whom would recite the Qur’an and command what they commanded.

Now observe thou that in every Dispensation, at the time of the appearance of the Light, all depart in this manner, imagining they act for the sake of upholding God’s Cause. In the time of the Imams of Guidance it was not like this time; rather, those who opposed them all claimed the Caliphate and would not have approved of making any judgment other than God’s judgment, yet despite this, they were tested and departed. It behooveth him who is endowed with insight to hold fast, in every Revelation, to the proofs of that Revelation, and not to remain veiled by previous Revelations from the subsequent one.

For in every Revelation, the followers of the preceding Revelation denied it, as thou hast observed that in every Manifestation that hath appeared, all that befell Him came from the followers of the previous Revelation, even though they all claimed to affirm and not to deny. Be thou enlightened in the Bayan, lest on the Day of Him Whom God shall make manifest thou shouldst deny, though thou deemest thyself among those who affirm. For instance, were all on earth to believe in Him and await His appearance, yet when He is made manifest, should but one soul deny Him, in the inner reality that soul would be confirmed in the fire of negation while that one who affirmeth would be established in the light of affirmation. Behold how subtle is this matter!

Though there can be no doubt that each Dispensation progresseth and the evidences of light, if not ascending, will not descend—except when the Sun of Truth appeareth in its fullness, at which time the essences of light remain veiled in veils of light and come not into being. God hath ever been and will ever be characterized by light. Should there occur a Revelation wherein no sorrow befalleth the Sun of Truth—for the Beloved is the Ever-Living, the Immortal—yet should it occur, behold with the eye of truth the inner light, lest the essences of affirmation of the previous Revelation be transformed into denial of the subsequent one, and the essential lights of the former Revelation into the fire of the latter.

God hath desired the mention of this word after the mention of two words, within the bounds mentioned in previous letters, that it might serve as a reminder for those who remember until the next Resurrection, that perchance in that Resurrection the people might not be veiled as in this Resurrection, but might be guided by the proofs of Him Whom God shall make manifest, illumined by the lights of the Sun of Truth, and enlightened by the dawning splendors of the Morn of Eternity, so that no soul might worship any but God alone, and all might in every Revelation be strengthened by what appeareth from Him, reaching thereby their highest pinnacle.

11. Al-aqdam

Mode of verses

Part 1: “In the Name of God, the One…”

In the name of God, the Most Ancient, the Most Ancient

In the Name of God, the One, the All-Preceding! In the Name of God, the Most Advanced, the Most Forward! In the Name of God, the Most Advanced, the Most Forward! In the Name of God, the Approaching, the All-Preceding! In the Name of God, the Approaching, the All-Preceding! In the Name of God, the Approaching, the All-Preceding! In the Name of God, the Approaching, the Coming! In the Name of God, the Approaching, the Coming! In the Name of God, the Approaching, the Coming! In the Name of God, the Approaching, the Two Preceding Ones! In the Name of God, the Approaching, the Most Advanced! In the Name of God, the Most Progressive, the Most Progressive! In the Name of God, the Approaching, the Leading! In the Name of God, the Most Advanced, the Most Advanced!

In the Name of God, the One, Possessor of Precedence! In the Name of God, the Most Ancient, the Most Ancient! In the Name of God, the Most Ancient, the Most Ancient! In the Name of God, the One, Possessor of Precedence! In the Name of God, the Most Ancient, Possessor of the Two Precedents! In the Name of God, the Most Ancient, Possessor of the Ancient Ones! In the Name of God, the Most Ancient, Possessor of the Approaching Ones! In the Name of God, the Most Ancient, Possessor of Steps! In the Name of God, the Most Ancient, Possessor of Precedence! In the Name of God, the Most Ancient, Possessor of Priority! In the Name of God, the Most Ancient, Possessor of Coming!

In the Name of God, the Most Ancient, Possessor of the Two Comings! In the Name of God, the Most Ancient, Possessor of the Two Precedents! In the Name of God, the Most Ancient, Possessor of the Two Precedents! In the Name of God, the Most Ancient, Possessor of the Two Ancient Ones! In the Name of God, the Most Ancient, Possessor of the Foremost Ones! In the Name of God, the Most Ancient, Possessor of Precedence! In the Name of God, the Most Ancient, Possessor of the Advanced Ones! In the Name of God, the Most Ancient, Possessor of the Progressive Ones! In the Name of God, the Most Ancient, Possessor of the Forward Ones! In the Name of God, the Most Ancient, Possessor of the Most Advanced Ones! In the Name of God, the Most Ancient, Possessor of Priority! In the Name of God, the Most Ancient, Possessor of Priority!

By God! God is the Most Ancient of the Most Ancient! By God! God is the One, the All-Preceding! By God! God is the Most Advanced, the Most Forward! By God! God is the Most Advanced, the Most Forward! By God! God is the Approaching, the All-Preceding! By God! God is the Approaching, the All-Preceding! By God! God is the Approaching, the All-Preceding! By God! God is the Approaching, the Coming! By God! The Approaching, the Coming! By God! God is the Approaching, the Coming! By God! God is the Approaching, the Two Preceding Ones! By God! God is the Approaching, the Most Advanced! By God! God is the Most Progressive, the Most Progressive! By God! God is the Approaching, the Leading! By God! God is the Most Advanced, the Most Advanced! By God! God is the Approaching, the Self-Subsisting! By God! God is the Most Ancient, the Most Ancient! By God! God is the Most Ancient, the Most Ancient!

By God! God is the One, Possessor of Precedence! By God! God is the Most Ancient, Possessor of the Two Precedents! By God! God is the Most Ancient, Possessor of the Ancient Ones! By God! God is the Most Ancient, Possessor of the Approaching Ones! By God! God is the Most Ancient, Possessor of Steps! By God! God is the Most Ancient, Possessor of Precedence! By God! God is the Most Ancient, Possessor of Priority! By God! God is the Most Ancient, Possessor of Coming! By God! God is the Most Ancient, Possessor of the Two Comings! By God! God is the Most Ancient, Possessor of the Two Precedents! By God! God is the Most Ancient, Possessor of the Two Precedents!

By God! God is the Most Ancient, Possessor of the Two Ancient Ones! By God! God is the Most Ancient, Possessor of the Foremost Ones! By God! God is the Most Ancient, Possessor of Precedence! By God! God is the Most Ancient, Possessor of the Advanced Ones! By God! God is the Most Ancient, Possessor of the Progressive Ones! By God! God is the Most Ancient, Possessor of the Forward Ones! By God! God is the Most Ancient, Possessor of the Most Advanced Ones! By God! God is the Most Ancient, Possessor of Priority! By God! God is the Most Ancient, Possessor of Priority!

God! There is no God but He, the Most Ancient of the Most Ancient! God! There is no God but He, the One, the All-Preceding! God! There is no God but He, the Most Advanced, the Most Forward! God! There is no God but He, the Most Advanced, the Most Forward! God! There is no God but He, the Approaching, the All-Preceding! God! There is no God but He, the Approaching, the All-Preceding! God! There is no God but He, the Approaching, the Coming! God! There is no God but He, the Approaching, the Coming! God! There is no God but He, the Approaching, the Two Preceding Ones! God! There is no God but He, the Approaching, the Most Advanced! God! There is no God but He, the Most Advanced, the Most Progressive! God! There is no God but He, the Approaching, the Leading! God! There is no God but He, the Most Advanced, the Most Advanced! God! There is no God but He, the Approaching, the Self-Subsisting! God is the Ancient of Days! There is no God but Him, the Ancient of Days!

God is the Ancient of Days! There is no God but Him, the Single One, Possessor of preeminence! God is the Ancient of Days! There is no God but Him, the Ancient, Possessor of the two eternities! God is the Ancient of Days! There is no God but Him, the Ancient, Possessor of ancientness! God is the Ancient of Days! There is no God but Him, the Ancient, Possessor of precedence! God is the Ancient of Days! There is no God but Him, the Ancient, Possessor of antiquity! God is the Ancient of Days! There is no God but Him, the Ancient, Possessor of priority! God is the Ancient of Days! There is no God but Him, the Ancient, Possessor of eternity!

God is the Ancient of Days! There is no God but Him, the Ancient, Possessor of the two eternities! God is the Ancient of Days! There is no God but Him, the Ancient, Possessor of the two precedences! God is the Ancient of Days! There is no God but Him, the Ancient, Possessor of the two antiquities! God is the Ancient of Days! There is no God but Him, the Ancient, Possessor of precedences! God is the Ancient of Days! There is no God but Him, the Ancient, Possessor of preeminence! God is the Ancient of Days! There is no God but Him, the Ancient, Possessor of advancement! God is the Ancient of Days! There is no God but Him, the Ancient, Possessor of priority! God is the Ancient of Days! There is no God but Him, the Ancient, Possessor of precedence!

Verily, I am God! There is no God but Me, the Most Ancient, the Most Ancient! Verily, I am God! There is no God but Me, the Single, the Ancient! Verily, I am God! There is no God but Me, the Foremost, the Preeminent! Verily, I am God! There is no God but Me, the Foremost, the Preeminent! Verily, I am God! There is no God but Me, the Ancient, the Eternal! Verily, I am God! There is no God but Me, the Ancient, the Eternal! Verily, I am God! There is no God but Me, the Ancient, the Eternal! Verily, I am God! There is no God but Me, the Ancient, the Everlasting! Verily, I am God! There is no God but Me, the Ancient, the Eternal! Verily, I am God! There is no God but Me, the Ancient, the Everlasting! Verily, I am God. There is no God but Me, the Ancient, the Most Ancient. Verily, I am God. There is no God but Me, the Ancient, the Most Beneficent. Verily, I am God. There is no God but Me, the Ancient, the Pre-existent. Verily, I am God. There is no God but Me, the Ancient, the Self-Subsisting. Verily, I am God. There is no God but Me, the Most Ancient.

Verily, I am God. There is no God but Me, the One, Possessor of all antiquity. Verily, I am God. There is no God but Me, the Ancient of the two antiquities. Verily, I am God. There is no God but Me, the Ancient of the ancients. Verily, I am God. There is no God but Me, the Ancient of all ancient ones. Verily, I am God. There is no God but Me, the Ancient of all ancientry. Verily, I am God. There is no God but Me, the Ancient of all antiquity. Verily, I am God. There is no God but Me, the Ancient of eternity. Verily, I am God. There is no God but Me, the Ancient of perpetuity.

Verily, I am God. There is no God but Me, the Ancient of the two eternities. Verily, I am God. There is no God but Me, the Ancient of the two perpetuities. Verily, I am God. There is no God but Me, the Ancient of all ancients. Verily, I am God. There is no God but Me, the Ancient of all antiquity. Verily, I am God. There is no God but Me, the Ancient of all that hath advanced. Verily, I am God. There is no God but Me, the Ancient of all that shall advance. Verily, I am God. There is no God but Me, the Ancient of all that progresseth. Verily, I am God. There is no God but Me, the Ancient of all that precedeth.

Verily, I am God. There is no God but Me, the Ancient of all eternities. Verily, I am God. There is no God but Me, the Ancient of all that precedeth. Verily, I am God. There is no God but Me, the Ancient of perpetuity.

Glory be unto Thee, O Lord! There is none other God but Thee. Verily Thou art the Most Ancient of the Most Ancient. Glory be unto Thee, O Lord! There is none other God but Thee. Verily Thou art the One, the Most Ancient. Glory be unto Thee, O Lord! There is none other God but Thee. Verily Thou art the Most Precedent, the Most Precedent. Glory be unto Thee, O Lord! There is none other God but Thee. Verily Thou art the Most Precedent, the Most Precedent. Glory be unto Thee, O Lord! There is none other God but Thee. Verily Thou art the Foremost, the Most Ancient. Glory be unto Thee, O Lord! There is none other God but Thee.

Verily Thou art the Foremost, the Most Ancient. Glory be unto Thee, O Lord! There is none other God but Thee. Verily Thou art the Foremost, the Most Ancient. Glory be unto Thee, O Lord! There is none other God but Thee. Verily Thou art the Foremost, the Eternal. Glory be unto Thee, O Lord! There is none other God but Thee. Verily Thou art the Foremost, the Eternal. Glory be unto Thee, O Lord! There is none other God but Thee. Verily Thou art the Foremost, the Eternal. Glory be unto Thee, O Lord! There is none other God but Thee. Verily Thou art the Foremost, the Most Ancient One. Glory be unto Thee, O Lord! There is none other God but Thee.

Verily Thou art the Foremost, the Most Advanced. Glory be unto Thee, O Lord! There is none other God but Thee. Verily Thou art the Foremost, the Most Progressive. Glory be unto Thee, O Lord! There is none other God but Thee. Verily Thou art the Foremost, the Most Leading. Glory be unto Thee, O Lord! There is none other God but Thee. Verily Thou art the Foremost, the Most Forward. Glory be unto Thee, O Lord! There is none other God but Thee. Verily Thou art the Foremost, the Self-Subsisting. Glory be unto Thee, O Lord! There is none other God but Thee. Verily Thou art the Foremost, the Ancient. Glory be unto Thee, O Lord! There is none other God but Thee. Verily Thou art the Foremost, the Ancient.

Glory be unto Thee, O Lord! There is none other God but Thee. Verily Thou art the One, the Possessor of all Precedence. Glory be unto Thee, O Lord! There is none other God but Thee. Verily Thou art the Ancient, the Possessor of Antiquity. Glory be unto Thee, O Lord! There is none other God but Thee. Verily Thou art the Most Ancient, Possessor of ancientness. Glory be unto Thee, O my God! There is no God but Thee! Verily, Thou art the Most Ancient, Possessor of precedence. Glory be unto Thee, O my God! There is no God but Thee! Verily, Thou art the Most Ancient, Possessor of all advancement. Glory be unto Thee, O my God! There is no God but Thee!

Verily, Thou art the Most Ancient, Possessor of priority. Glory be unto Thee, O my God! There is no God but Thee! Verily, Thou art the Most Ancient, Possessor of precedence. Glory be unto Thee, O my God! There is no God but Thee! Verily, Thou art the Most Ancient, Possessor of advent. Glory be unto Thee, O my God! There is no God but Thee! Verily, Thou art the Most Ancient, Possessor of the two advents. Glory be unto Thee, O my God! There is no God but Thee! Verily, Thou art the Most Ancient, Possessor of the two precedences. Glory be unto Thee, O my God! There is no God but Thee! Verily, Thou art the Most Ancient, Possessor of the two precedences.

Glory be unto Thee, O my God! There is no God but Thee! Verily, Thou art the Most Ancient, Possessor of the two ancient ones. Glory be unto Thee, O my God! There is no God but Thee! Verily, Thou art the Most Ancient, Possessor of all precedences. Glory be unto Thee, O my God! There is no God but Thee! Verily, Thou art the Most Ancient, Possessor of all that precedes. Glory be unto Thee, O my God! There is no God but Thee! Verily, Thou art the Most Ancient, Possessor of all that advances. Glory be unto Thee, O my God! There is no God but Thee! Verily, Thou art the Most Ancient, Possessor of all that proceeds.

Glory be unto Thee, O my God! There is no God but Thee! Verily, Thou art the Most Ancient, Possessor of all that proceeds. Glory be unto Thee, O my God! There is no God but Thee! Verily, Thou art the Most Ancient, Possessor of all that comes forth. Glory be unto Thee, O my God! There is no God but Thee! Verily, Thou art the Most Ancient, Possessor of precedence. Glory be unto Thee, O my God! There is no God but Thee! Verily, Thou art the Most Ancient, Possessor of all antiquity.

These are verses We have sent down according to the number of the Vahids. Thus these are ten Vahids in the Book of God. Ye shall derive knowledge from all names and prepare yourselves for the Day of Him Whom God shall make manifest. For on that Day, if ye traverse the ocean of names, it would be better for you than traversing the ocean of creation. Say: The names are like mirrors wherein naught is seen but the Sun. God hath attributed what is seen in the evidence of Him Whom God shall make manifest unto Himself, that ye may be enabled to traverse the ocean of names.

God hath two ancient ones: the ancient one of the heavens and the earth and what lieth between them, and God is the Most Precedent, the Most Advanced, the Most Ancient. And unto God belongeth the ancient one of the heavens and the earth and what lieth between them, and God is the Most Precedent, the Most Advanced, the Most Ancient. And unto God belong two ancient ones: the advancement of the heavens and the earth and what lieth between them, and God is twice precedent, most advanced, most ancient. And unto God belong two sovereign kingdoms: the advent of the heavens and the earth and what lieth between them, and God is the Most Precedent, the Most Advanced, the Most Ancient.

Part 2: “And unto God belong supreme sovereignty and authority…”

And unto God belong supreme sovereignty and authority over the advancement of the heavens and the earth and what lieth between them, and God is the Most Precedent, the Most Advanced, the Most Ancient.

Say: God is more ancient than all who possess ancientness. None in the heavens or on the earth or what lieth between them can escape from the ancient precedence of His two ancient ones. Verily, He hath ever been the Most Precedent, the Most Advanced, the Most Ancient. Say: God is more ancient than all who possess ancientness. None in the heavens or on the earth or what lieth between them can escape from the advent of His two ancient ones. Verily, He hath ever been the Most Precedent, the Most Advanced, the Most Ancient. Say: God is more ancient than all who possess advancement. None shall withstand Him, whether in the heavens or on the earth or in all that lieth between them, for verily He hath been, from everlasting, pre-existent and eternal.

Say: God is Preeminent above all who possess preeminence. None, whether in the heavens or on the earth or in all that lieth between them, can frustrate the sovereignty of His dominion. Verily He hath been, from everlasting, pre-existent and eternal. Say: God is Preeminent above all who possess preeminence. None shall withstand the potent power of His sovereignty, whether in the heavens or on the earth or in all that lieth between them. Verily He hath been eternally pre-existent. Say: O my God! Thou art the Most Ancient of the ancient ones. Say: O my God! Thou art the Pre-existent of all pre-existent beings. Say: O my God! Thou art the Pre-existent over the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them, and Thou art the Most Ancient of the ancient ones.

Say: O my God! Thou art the Ancient of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them, and Thou art the Best of the ancient ones. Say: O my God! Thou art the Pre-existent of all ancient ones. Thou givest pre-existence to whomsoever Thou willest and takest it from whomsoever Thou willest. Thou exaltest whomsoever Thou willest and abaseth whomsoever Thou willest. Thou raiseth up whomsoever Thou willest and bringeth down whomsoever Thou willest. Thou purifieth whomsoever Thou willest and withholdeth this from whomsoever Thou willest. Thou enricheth whomsoever Thou willest and maketh poor whomsoever Thou willest. Within Thy grasp is the kingdom of all things. Verily Thou hast been eternally pre-existent. Say: O my God! Thou art the Pre-existent of all ancient ones.

Thou ordereth the affairs of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them by Thy command. Verily Thou art the Knower of all things. Say: O my God! Thou art the Pre-existent of all pre-existent ones. Thou givest authority to whomsoever Thou willest and takest it from whomsoever Thou willest. Thou ordereth in the kingdom of command and creation as Thou pleaseth. Thou art the Best of administrators. Say: O my God! Thou art the Ancient of the heavens and earth and whatsoever is between them. Thou saveth whomsoever Thou willest among Thy servants through Thy mercy. Thou art the Most Merciful of the merciful ones. Say: O my God! Thou art the Ancient of the heavens and earth and whatsoever is between them. Thou bestowest grace upon whomsoever Thou willest among Thy servants. Thou art the Most Gracious of the gracious ones.

O Name of the Merciful! Bear thou witness that there is none other God but I, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful. None shall be seen in the names except God, the Lord of all worlds. O Abraham! Bear thou witness that there is none other God but I, the Lord of all worlds. There was no beginning for what I have created, nor any end, and all stand firm by My command. None can enumerate the Manifestations of thy Lord from a beginning that hath no beginning to an end that hath no end. Say: In all Manifestations there is no God but God and verily the Manifestation of His Self is the Truth, there is no doubt in it. All are created by the command of God from His presence.

Bear witness, O Abraham, that thou wert present on the day of the throne of thy Lord’s manifestation, and We were manifest before and shall be manifest hereafter. Behold how We created thee and provided for thee and caused thee to die and brought thee to life until this moment, while those who were given the scriptures remain veiled until this moment. When thou didst descend upon God, thy Lord, the Lord of the visible and invisible, the Lord of all worlds, thou didst hear the voice of those who follow not thy command while they imagine they are exalting themselves in their love for thee. Say: Nay, by no means! Verily I and those who followed me were gathered unto God, my Lord, on the day when I was among the believers with Moses at the throne of God’s manifestation.

These people follow me not, for had they followed me they would have believed in Moses before Jesus, then in Muhammad after Jesus, then in the Point of the Bayan on the Day of Resurrection, then in Him Whom God shall make manifest, then in whomsoever God willeth to make His Self known to His servants, that there is no God but Me, the Self-Subsisting, the Eternal. Observe in every Revelation how God taketh unto Himself the gems of creation and leaveth the others in their veils, for they imagine within themselves that they do well, even as We have left these people after four Revelations, and the spirit of life hath been withdrawn from them while they fancy within themselves that they worship God, their Lord.

But God will raise up one who will cause them, through His might, to enter the paradise of God, though they neither remember nor take heed. Consider the example of every Revelation that God hath manifested aforetime, and verily on the Day of Him Whom God shall make manifest, they who are given the Bayan will be tested like those who were given the Books before them. Perchance God will manifest the Manifestation of His Self while they, at the height of their piety in the Bayan, are being righteous. Then what they have acquired will profit them not unless they believe in Him Whom God shall make manifest. God will transform their light into fire when they are veiled, and if they believe, God will transform their fire into light when they truly believe.

O My friend in the Scriptures! The thrones of God’s Revelation have no limit, neither in the past nor in the future, but people are veiled from the mystery of the Cause. O My remembrance in the Books after the Scriptures! There is naught in the thrones save what pointeth to God their Lord. Say: All are from God and unto God do they return. O My Name in the Bayan! Observe how My evidence hath been elevated in every Revelation, yet until now I had not opened the door of the Name in any previous Revelation. This is from God’s grace unto them that are in the Bayan, but people know not. Observe how all conditions in every Revelation establish the word “There is no God but God” for those endowed with knowledge who perceive.

When thou considerest the science of elixir, thou wilt discover conditions beyond counting save by God, and all manifest according to the measure of effect that God hath created therein. On this account have the philosophers differed, each following their own path, and likewise have the seekers differed in their knowledge and deeds, each following their own way. The science of elixir, like the creation of all things, hath neither beginning nor end—a knowledge that God hath concealed behind holy veils, and when He bestoweth it upon any of His servants, they act by God’s command. And what the seekers of guidance say manifesteth no effect until the Effector permitteth it from Our presence. Say: Glory be to God! At the time of effect, God hath already permitted it—do ye not see?

Do ye witness anything separated from its effect? That is what God hath created therein, and all stand firm by God’s command. Yea, when God willeth, He can separate between a thing and its effect as He pleaseth—verily He hath power over all things. But according to how He hath created the causes, each thing manifesteth according to what was created in it, even as ye observe and witness. When thou hast understood this, know that there are no limits to this knowledge, and whosoever clingeth unto any aspect thereof will manifest something through it. Do ye not observe those who have been given a portion of this knowledge? Do ye not reflect upon those who have received a share of this knowledge yet walk not according to God’s good-pleasure?

This is because God withholdeth not the effect of that which He hath created therein, and this is by God’s command that ye may be thankful. That which God hath concealed of this knowledge is not of that which was given to creation, for that which was given hath no station with God. All in the kingdom move by His command and then become still. Like unto those who were given this knowledge are those who were given knowledge of aught else; all manifest according to the measure they have received. God hath created naught except that He hath created therein something of the elixir, yet not all are able to manifest it, for the elixir was created to indicate God’s testimony that there is no God but Me, the Mighty, the Beloved.

There is naught but beareth witness unto this, yet none can bear witness unto it save those endowed with insight. Consider, for example, clay, the lowest form of created things in the realm of solidity. When days pass over it, God transformeth it and maketh it stone, even as ye observe. And when that stone is taken by one endowed with knowledge of crystal-making, he extracteth from it its essence, even as ye witness that crystal from that stone. Then essence is extracted from essence until the crystal reacheth a degree beyond which there is no higher, and this is the limit of its existence wherewith ye delight yourselves.

Thus hath God commanded in the Bayan that there should be manifested in all things whatsoever can be manifested of refinement, that ye may enter into and be grateful for the precincts wherein manifestations have been ordained, the means whereof have been created from all things having no equal in your lives. Those who have been given an oil whose name equateth with “the Sustainer,” when they apply it to that crystal, transform it into oil, and this is a wondrous creation, for God hath created within it such effect that when it falleth upon this, it maketh it water, and this is of God’s handiwork, the Protector, the Self-Subsisting.

Thereafter, if there be added to that water the equivalent of eight portions here equating to the name of the Revealer, and the sun’s ocean nourisheth it for numbered days, it will affect that very crystal, and less than that, being transformed by what equateth to the number of “the Sovereign” in what ye mention in the foreign tongue, into gold from which not a thing diminisheth in the melting. This is of God’s handiwork, the Subtle, the Beloved. This is the most perfect expression of that knowledge, but as for the lower degrees, all have been given a portion and all rejoice in what they have been given. This pertaineth to the knowledge of those who desire the knowledge of the sun in he creation of gold. Say: Glory be to God, the Most High! All stand firm by His command.

As for what thou hast mentioned concerning the knowledge of the moon—verily, when it descends upon the fugitive as an oil in yellow sulfur, it solidifies more swiftly than the twinkling of an eye when the fugitive touches the fire that does not flee. This is from the craftsmanship of God, the Ordainer, the Beloved. However, in spirit and various lunar aspects there hath not appeared what appeared before. But the extraction of the oil is difficult, then more difficult, as the sulfur burns when touched by fire. And what the first who answered God taught thee is difficult upon difficult. Yet those who were given that knowledge have all mentioned wisdom and devised matters, and all they were given was the perfection thereof in what God created therein.

All rejoice in what they have been given. Whatever knowledge thou possessest of this, that which thou hast not yet become certain of is nearer than what thou art certain of within thyself. God will manifest it when He willeth—verily He is the All-Knowing, the Powerful. And that whose name equals the name of the Honored One, when diminished by the number of alif and ba, when equated with sulfur, prevents fire from burning it. This confirmeth that should We explain the keys of this knowledge concerning gold and silver, they could not be counted. God hath created through numbers, and the knowledge of everything is in everything, and God hath ever been powerful and mighty over this. But We have referred to gold with one mention and to silver with another mention.

Let this suffice both the solar and lunar practitioners if they understand. They shall understand what they understand, and shall conceal what they understand, and shall hide what they witness. This is what We have bestowed upon thee, and all that shall be understood until the Day of Resurrection. This is God’s gift unto thee—verily there is no God but He, the All-Bountiful, the Supreme, the Beloved. Hadst thou asked God how He sendeth down these verses unto thee, say: All rejoice in what God hath revealed. How many servants spend their wealth in this yet understand not, and how many servants spend and do understand! Say: All are from God—these and those are nurtured by what God hath revealed.

But bear witness, O My Name, that God loveth not to command His creation save with what all are capable of understanding. Consider from the first One unto this time—hath there appeared a Manifestation who educated people thus? Nay, they conceal themselves from those who desire this, and forbid it, for that whereby God’s Manifestation appeareth is that all in every Revelation seek shelter in God’s shadow, and all are exalted by what He willeth. Consider how God hath created gold and silver upon the earth—all belong to God, and in every Revelation none should possess them save God.

And when established in the Manifestation of God’s Revelation, then all become possessors like what God manifested in the days of Solomon, when a hundred leagues were paved with gold whereon God’s hosts stood firm. And if it appear not, thou hast heard how Muhammad, the Messenger of God, placed a stone upon his belly that those who had naught might find solace, and they are patient. Yet God, the Most High, transcends all that hath been created and shall be created, and all stand firm by His command. Consider the movements of the exalted ones and the ways of the noble, and thou shalt surely find sufficiency in what God hath ordained for those who have been given the Book, for this is nearer in the Book of God for the God-fearing.

And should that knowledge be disclosed such that all would exchange whatsoever they possess for gold and silver—yet God hath created gold and silver in the earth many times over that amount. In every Dispensation ye strive to establish proofs upon proofs, for all good lieth in the shadow of this all from God, whereby all are enriched. Verily God hath fixed the sun and moon and made them means whereby ye are elevated in the kingdom. Otherwise, with God, gold is like that which is not gold, and God maketh that which is not gold to be gold, according to how ye conduct yourselves in the kingdom. Consider: were God to transform every stone into ruby, wherein would ye glory?

Part 3: “For God hath already created mountains of ruby…”

For God hath already created mountains of ruby in the sea—when thou enterest the sea thou seest the water reddened from the hue of those mountains. Yet God permitteth none to possess these save whom He willeth, for He is All-Knowing, All-Wise. If everything possessed them as they possess other things, how then would ye glory in them? God setteth forth these similitudes regarding the creation of your essence. Observe what sustaineth the kingdom, for everything within its limits hath a sign like unto all things—will ye not then be thankful? Consider the place of ink: if thou were to make it of red ruby, would it suffice thee? Nay, everything in the measure of its existence benefiteth all things as all things benefit each other, but most men do not reflect.

Look at the fruit of that knowledge: is it aught but that thou shouldst possess gold and silver and thereby suffice thyself and the believers? Yet before thou possessed that knowledge, God had already sufficed thy needs and the needs of whomsoever He willeth, for He is gracious and kind. What fruit is there whether thou possess it or possess it not, save that thou weary thine essence, when God loveth not that thou shouldst experience any measure of sorrow? Be thou clear-sighted until God gathereth for thee the means, and if thou desirest to witness this, God’s sincere servants shall work for thee. Say: Verily God loveth that all who make mention of aught that hath been or shall be created should dwell in glory and wealth, in joy and delight, for God is bountiful and kind.

Say: God is well-pleased with those who desire that knowledge which yieldeth fruit from their deeds, as they expend in the path of God. Do ye desire that knowledge only that ye might possess its working and then expend in God’s path that your Lord might be pleased with you? Yet God was pleased with you before ye possessed or labored. How then do ye still desire to possess? Say: Yea, by my Lord! My heart loveth to possess it, and were God to send down all the pages, still my heart would not be emptied of the love of That One and all that pleases God, my Lord.

Indeed, My heart is consumed with love for That One, and all that God sends down of His good-pleasure shall find ardent love, and this shall never end, for that which pleases God is endless, and We are all journeying in the infinite oceans.

Verily, I am God, there is no God but Me. O My servants! What benefit accrues to you from that knowledge? We have accepted from you that you shall not weary thereof. And I swear by My Self concerning those who have been given that knowledge before action, that you shall not take aught from My servants and then, having taken it, possess nothing, while you would make lawful for yourselves what you have taken from them. Do you imagine that you possess anything? How can you harm others when you possess nothing? How can you display ownership while defrauding your brothers?

Whosoever takes anything from another in exchange for teaching that knowledge and granting the practice thereof or showing it to him, let him be bound to pay five hundred mithqals of gold for what he has taken from one who has believed in God—this is prescribed in the Book of God until the Day of Resurrection, that you may be God-fearing.

O My Name! I shall relate to you the story of Abu Mahdi, who was among Our sincere servants. Someone came to him desiring to learn that knowledge, and took from him five hundred mithqals of gold. Then, after having taken it, he did not possess what he had received of anything and concealed himself from the one from whom he had taken it. This is the way of these people—they neither feel shame nor fear God.

This story was presented to Me on the Day of Resurrection, though before that We had witnessed and known above that and far above that, where all are afflicted and possess nothing of what they have received, while they call upon Us night and day and implore Us. We have forbidden this to these people and have prescribed for them that they shall not approach what We have made lawful for them for nineteen months in the Book of God. And after what they desire, the same limit We have set before in the Book of God shall be binding upon them, that they may be God-fearing.

Say: O ye possessors of knowledge! If ye truly possess this, then from whom do ye take it, save from others than yourselves? And if ye do not possess it, how then do ye set yourselves forth, that any soul should be drawn unto you— while thereafter ye neither act with equity nor show forth gentleness?

Verily, they who steal know well that they steal; yet ye exceed all bounds, and imagine that ye are in any wise the same as they, that ye might be given aught— while ye are assured that what is with you is naught, and that what is with them is likewise naught, that aught should be bestowed; ye know full well that what is with you is nothing, and that what is with them is nothing, that anything should be given unto you.

Therefore fear God, O ye who gain your livelihood and seek sufficiency from the very gates which God hath created for you; and be not content to cause sorrow unto any soul in the Cause of God, after that ye worship God, your Lord. O My servants! How is it that ye do not reflect? Have ye not been endowed with reason and understanding, that haply ye might ponder and comprehend?

Those who come to you to take from you what you love, whether it be the knowledge of the elixir or other sciences that preoccupy you, while these sciences have no foundation—and if someone possesses the foundation, they will not inform you, and if they do inform you, they do not wish to take anything from you, and if they reveal anything, they wish only to show you what God has given them so that you may speak of God’s bounties and be thankful—why do you not reflect and remember? You give your wealth to those who are considered thieves in the sight of God. You say to them that you possess this knowledge, so how can you desire anything from us? And if you do not possess it, how do you test us without shame?

And if they tell you according to the means thereof, “We do not have what you are capable of,” you guide them without intending to take anything if they are truthful. They would guide you as you were guided when their work is complete. And if they are not truthful, God will give you from His presence and you will not be tested.

O My servants, sharpen your vision, for these are thieves. O My servants, sharpen your vision, for these are deceivers. Sometimes they show you something while they substitute and take from you that by which you are tested, and afterward you possess not even a little, and then you grieve. O you who have not been given this knowledge and practice, how are you not ashamed and do not fear? How do you not fear that after your death God will cause you to enter the fire as recompense for what you unjustly earn? If you wish to become wealthy, then seek wealth through other means and walk upon God’s earth.

O you who have been given this knowledge, before you become certain through your practice, do not reveal it to test any soul, lest you afterward grieve. O you who have been given this knowledge and practice, give thanks to God, your Lord, the Merciful, for what We have given you from Our presence—a wondrous knowledge. Spend in God’s dominion what God has made lawful for you, and enrich those who are poor in God’s dominion. Do not reveal it to others lest they be attracted to you while you give them nothing and they grieve. Rather, practice it for yourselves and spend in God’s dominion.

If you wish to speak of what God has given you, then reveal it in the presence of loving servants and inform them before you show them, saying: “We do not teach you this, but we wish to tell you what God our Lord has given us, that you may be thankful.” Then observe: Create a tablet from essence that you make into golden fire, then make a drop from what We have taught you in the science of the sun. Then you shall witness an incomparable oil, and you shall say, “This is from God, we are all thankful to Him.” Then say: “From the left they attend in a vessel of fleeing mercury, then touch it with gentle fire.

When the mercury feels the heat, place upon it a drop of the oil We have taught you.” Then you shall witness and give thanks for how God has fixed it and made it pure silver; then praise, and from this and from that concerning those who do not possess it, ye dispose. And if ye love that your work should return unto God, then from this ye fashion means for Him Whom God shall make manifest, and from this ye fashion means for other than Him Whom God shall make manifest. And if it be from both to the measure of two rings, that your works may return unto God Who hath created you and sustained you and caused you to die and brought you to life and taught you this knowledge from His presence as He willeth—for this is of God’s grace and mercy upon you. God loveth to behold what He hath given you from His presence; verily He hath been gracious and beautiful.

O witnesses of God’s mystery! Learn from God’s bounty that which ye treat lightly, and die not, lest your knowledge die with your death in your breasts. Make for it lofty prayers that will remind you of your knowledge, that ye may remember it thereafter in truth. For that knowledge is not more precious than the knowledge of Truth—how do ye inherit from God? The knowledge of Truth is greater than this, do ye not see? Were there before God a thousand souls who had perfected themselves in that knowledge and work, if they believed not in God and His signs, God would command that they be banished with their knowledge and work. This is the glory of the knowledge of Truth, and this is the station of the knowledge of the elixir—do ye not fear?

Yea, if this knowledge be from one who hath believed in God and His signs, it would be an ornament for him in the Bayan. Will ye not adorn yourselves with the ornament of God? Say: Yea, we are all adorned with the ornament of God. And like that which is above a thousand, and like that which is below a thousand—glorify yourselves with the knowledge of Truth in every Manifestation, for this is God’s elixir under whose shadow all elixirs take shelter.

And whoso cometh unto Me with knowledge or work of anything, to teach that knowledge or show that work, there shall be binding upon him from God’s Book nineteen mithqals of gold, and what God hath made lawful unto him shall be forbidden him for nineteen days—a limit in God’s Book that ye may not be tried. This is for one instance, and if the instances multiply the decree multiplieth upon you to what ye can count, that ye may not grieve in the paradise of the Bayan.

O My servants! If ye possess this knowledge, ye know it, and if ye have of that work, ye give it. And if ye possess it not, try no one with it. Ye manifest God’s bounty in that knowledge, ye manifest God’s grace in that work, ye manifest God’s kindness in that knowledge, ye manifest God’s power in that craft, ye manifest God’s gift in that knowledge, ye manifest God’s bestowal in that elixir. And whoso is given this and bequeatheth it not to anyone when he dieth entereth the fire, and what is ordained for him shall not be lightened. That is of God’s grace upon you, that ye may give life to yourselves after your death through your knowledge, and in your life manifest God’s gift.

And after what ye have witnessed from yourselves, ye shall manifest and shall not fear, for God will protect you from what lies before you, from what is on your right, from what is on your left, from what is above your heads, and from what is beneath your feet, and from every direction that approaches you. Verily, He is the Protector of all things. And after you have become manifest, if you experience sorrow, God will multiply your good deeds, and you shall enter the most exalted Paradise. You do not wish to learn, and you desire to remain unique in this knowledge, for you were created from the signs of divinity and wish to be singular in what God, your Lord, has given you, and all shall return unto you.

Yea, this is God’s bounty unto you, but you should not withhold God’s generosity from His creation. Whether a thousand souls possess true knowledge or only one, would this diminish God’s knowledge in any way? Consider this. God will bring forth this knowledge which you are unable to possess in its fullness, and do not protest against Him Whom God shall make manifest, for what is with God is more exalted and glorious. All are created by His command. If they were given all the knowledge of letters on earth and the most perfect knowledge of elixir, yet believe not in Him Whom God shall make manifest, they deserve naught in God’s sight save their own extinction before others cause their extinction.

Therefore fear God, and believe in and be certain of Him Whom God shall make manifest and His verses. All that you possess is from Him, created in the manifestations before His manifestation. Do you witness anything from other than God? Your bodies are fashioned from that essence, and you build God’s dominion and bring forth God’s evidence. This is God’s bounty unto those who are given this knowledge and who conceal it by God’s command, and none know it save those who preserve it and who follow God’s command. Be vigilant in this and exceed not the prescribed limits, lest you lose control of your own souls and be unable to possess them. For in this is a wondrous creation. Teach not those who cannot comprehend it, and give it only to those who deal justly. If you bestow it upon anyone, set its measure and let not the period from beginning to end be prolonged, that you may not cause sorrow to anyone in God’s sight.

O possessors of the jewels! Create in this knowledge, without essence, that which can be transformed into gold as you are able to create, for all this pertains to the science of elixir. If you are given this, comprehend it and be thankful. And if you are given it, die not until you know who shall inherit from you, that perchance some of your works may return to Him Whom God shall make manifest, and you may thus be remembered before God, your Lord, on the Day of Resurrection. Say: With water you erase your writings; do you not wish to learn? Bequeath the knowledge to living manifestations and preserve it in books, for by these shall they be educated. God has created both of these; do you not wish to be prepared?

How many books have been written, but because they were not bequeathed to living servants, it is as though they had not written what they wrote, nor do any benefit therefrom. How many servants have written and taught others, yet those others taught no one and died, and you possess naught of their knowledge, nor can testify to it. God hath created science and wisdom and joined them with established tablets and discerning souls. The first shall never be separated from the last, nor the last from the first. You are walking in the path of God. Do you not observe in the Book of God when God revealed the Bayan?

Part 4: “It is preserved in established tablets, and those…”

It is preserved in established tablets, and those who witness it believe in what is therein, are certain of it, follow what God hath revealed therein, and shall follow it until the Day of Him Whom God shall make manifest. Learn ye every knowledge from the knowledge of the Bayan, for therein is the detailed explanation of all things, if ye would but ponder it. O thou who bearest that name! There hath been presented before God, thy Lord, one who hath taken from Him the number of two hundred to learn that knowledge, and hath kept with him particles which their possessor supposeth contain particles of gold. This hath become apparent from him, and We have made thee a guardian over him.

But concerning him who is veiled, a proof hath been fashioned therein that no particles of gold remain therein. Therefore, calm thou its possessor with the knowledge We have given thee. If there be in the particles that remain with their possessor any particles of gold, they will emerge when placed over fire, and they will never perish. And if there be no particles of gold in the particles, this will become evident when they fall upon the fire. This is what hath been sent down in the Book from God, the Protector, the Exalted.

But thou shouldst learn from him who hath the particles that have been gathered—if there be in them what would benefit as particles of gold, then arrange concerning them what would convey to their possessor what hath come from the number of two hundred in gold, lest harm come to the amount of even a speck, for God loveth not that anyone should be harmed in that knowledge. And if there be no benefit in it, then there is no fruit for it in the Book of God, if ye would but reflect a little. All these are clear verses from God for those who traverse that sea seeking to extract the pearls of the elixir. Say: The pearls are in their shells. God giveth to whom He willeth their shells to be a veil over them. Verily He is the All-Wise, the All-Knowing.

And to God belongeth the elixir of all that He hath created and will create of all things, and God is powerful over that and mighty. And to God belongeth the knowledge of power in the body concerning all that He hath created and will create of all things, and God is powerful over that and mighty. And to God belongeth the knowledge of what emergeth from the earth of the leaf of the sun and moon concerning all that He hath created and will create of all things, and God is powerful over that and mighty. And to God belongeth every knowledge by which a soul is attracted concerning all that He hath created and will create of all things, and God is powerful over that and mighty—like what ye relate in parchment, or recall in subjugation, or discuss in separation and union. And to God belongeth the knowledge of all talismans, both from before and after, and God is powerful over that and mighty.

Say: God loves that knowledge, which is the science of numerical values of letters, just as in the letter “Ba” you write the figure two. Say: This is an inaccessible and exalted knowledge—whoever is given it has been given a great bounty. We love to create in this science from a book so that all who are meticulous may be illumined by its mention. Write not any body except that you write its spirit, that you may be able to grasp the wisdom when you are writing. This is the knowledge by which We have ordained inheritances and decreed measures for every soul—a reminder from God to those who ponder in the days of their Lord. We have made all letters in ten similitudes, then added the form of joining, thus in eleven degrees are all letters in the Gate created.

And this is the temple of man—its outer form is “Ha” and its inner form is “Waw”. Everything in that is from everything in the eight letters after ten, and We have confirmed them in the number of splendor without counting the Alif and Lam—a remembrance from God, the One, the Manifest. Say: The first line of “Ha” is the number of knowledge and the last line of “Waw” is the number of abhorrence, between them are nineteen exalted Names by which you call. If you obtain a book on the science of numerical values of letters, send it to God, for We wish to confirm the truth therein and remove what is other than truth from it, that those who are given this knowledge may thereafter walk in God’s path.

A book has appeared in this science from the ancients—if you obtain this it is better than what has appeared among the latter ones. Say: In every Manifestation God renews the creation of all things—do you not wish to be renewed? Say: God loves in every Manifestation that the creation of all things be made clear from the beginning as a subtle origination. Therefore observe in what you write to perfect the parts in the One, that spirits of the numbers of the One may be created in the Bayan just as you write their word-bodies with subtle grace and mighty attraction. And how all the Bayan appears from your hands when you write on crimson thread—God desires that you be among those who rejoice. Tire not in God’s path, for God is not pleased that you tire to the extent of a speck.

Write with spirit and relief until God perfects all that He has ordained through your hands. He is the Subtle Book. And what has been sent from those who remember God their Lord in subtle gifts—He gives to each one of them from His presence what satisfies their hearts from God. He is the Gracious, the Generous. Remember the mention of thy Lord’s Name, the Most Praiseworthy, the Most Praised. Grieve not in God’s path to the extent of anything, for God causes naught to flow save what is best for the God-fearing. To God belongs the key of paradise over what He has created and creates of all things. God is the Most Subtle, the All-Subtle, the Subtle. To God belongs the bounties of the heavens and earth and what lies between them. God is the All-Knowing, the Knowing, the Omniscient.

Unto God belongeth all the bounties of the heavens and of the earth and of whatsoever lieth between them, and God is the All-Bountiful, the All-Encompassing, the All-Generous. Both these verses refer to the two bounties that have been present before God, and God is the best of bestowers.

Say: All things belong to God, and all exist within God’s dominion, possessing by His command whatsoever they possess. Say: O My Name, how many servants there are upon the earth, all of whom believe they are working for God and striving to attain His good-pleasure, thinking their deeds return unto God, their Lord—yet all are veiled therefrom save those who have been given the Bayan. These are they whose deeds truly return unto God their Lord, and what they acquire is for His sake.

Say: O all things, observe yourselves for the next Resurrection, for verily ye shall be tested as ye were tested in that Resurrection. Ye were unaware during the Resurrection of Muhammad, the Messenger of God, yet shall ye not be tried in that Resurrection? How many servants awaited the appearance of Muhammad, the Messenger of God, but when He came to them with guidance and clear proofs from their Lord, only a few believed in Him, while the rest remain to this day waiting. Those who believed that Day from among the Letters of the Gospel—these were the elixir of the creation of the Gospel, these were the successful ones. Those who remained in their religion until that Day—these were accidental elements created by God to preserve therein the essential elements.

When God took unto Himself those who believed in Muhammad, the Messenger of God, the decree of being accidental elements descended upon them, and they profited not from themselves nor from their deeds, beginning from clay and unto clay returning. They perceived not the creation of the Furqan nor what was created therein, content with what they had in the Gospel, thinking they were doing good. Likewise were they created in the Furqan.

Those who have entered into the Bayan—these are the essence of the creation of the Furqan and its elixir, while all others are accidental elements created to preserve those essential elements. When God took those essential elements from the creation of Islam, there descended upon them that whereof thou wert a witness. Likewise, those created in the Bayan—their essence and elixir are they who believe in Him Whom God shall make manifest, while all others are accidental elements created only to preserve those essential elements.

Say: O people of the Bayan! Watch over your souls that ye may make them of the essential elements by believing in Him Whom God shall make manifest and being assured of His verses. Make not yourselves accidental elements by being veiled in the next Resurrection from God, your Lord, while thinking ye do good. Likewise, those who believe in Him Whom God shall make manifest shall be distinguished in the next Resurrection by Him Whom God shall make manifest. If they believe in Him Who shall appear after Him Whom God shall make manifest, these are of the essential elements who believed in Him Whom God shall make manifest; otherwise they shall perish among the accidental elements.

Similarly for those who believe in Him Who shall appear after after Him Whom God shall make manifest—if they believe in Him Who shall appear after after Him Whom God shall make manifest, these are they who have believed in Him Who shall appear after after Him Whom God shall make manifest. Otherwise, they shall perish in the realms of denial. Likewise, observe this creation unto an end that hath no end, and be of those who are endowed with insight. And likewise observe from a beginning that hath no beginning unto this time, and be of those who are assured. Bear witness in every Revelation that the creation of what was created in that Revelation, and the potentiality of what shall be created from that Revelation, enables thee to say: “O God, the All-Subduing, the Self-Subsisting!

Glory be unto Thee! Thou art the First of the First, and there was naught before Thee. Thou art the God of gods. Glory be unto Thee! Thou art the Last and the Last of the Last, and there shall be naught after Thee. Thou art the Most Unique of the unique ones. Glory be unto Thee! Thou art the Manifest and the Most Manifest of the manifest ones, and there is none above Thee. Thou art the Most Impenetrable of the impenetrable ones. Glory be unto Thee! Thou art the Hidden and the Most Hidden of the hidden ones, and there is none beneath Thee. Thou art the Most Just of the just ones.” Say: Verily, Pre-existence is a name beloved of God, your Lord. By it do ye call upon God, your Lord. Say: This is the nearest of names in the Book of God. Do ye not see? Verily, I am God, there is no God but Me.

I have been eternally Pre-existent before and after. All call upon Me. Say: After the name of God in this verse is the name of Being, whereby ye call upon God, your Lord. Say: Verily this name is mentioned in the veil of action, and in action naught is seen save what is manifest therein. These are mirrors reflecting God, that there is no God but Him, the Being, the Self-Subsisting. Say: In the station of name, Pre-eternity is mentioned before Pre-existence, as ye witness in this verse. These are names wherewith God hath described His Self, that ye may describe. These are the nearest names in the Book of God, and the greatest. Will ye not turn unto God, your Lord? Say: Your measure in mentioning every name is the number of that name. Ye begin from Pre-existence and end at Most Pre-existent.

Say: The sea of names is two seas wherein ye traverse, seeing naught but God. Say: The names are like mirrors—do ye see aught but the Sun therein? Say: Glory be to God! Naught is seen therein save God. All call upon God, their Lord, by His names. Say: That whereby God is described in terms of Pre-eternity is other than what ye describe, and that whereby God is described in terms of Pre-existence is other than what ye describe. Say: Your pre-existence is a creation with God—ye are mentioned in the realm of origination. Though God hath assigned you neither beginning nor end within the bounds of the kingdom, yet this is a limit He hath created by His command in the kingdom, that ye may be assured of God’s command. Similarly with all names, would ye but reflect a little.

That whereby God is described in terms of knowledge is other than what ye describe. That which is described as God’s hearing is other than what you describe. That which is described as God’s sight is other than what you describe. And likewise you witness in all that is attributed to God. Say: There is none save God and His names, whether you traverse the ocean of names or whether you traverse the ocean of creation. There is none save the Primal Point and His guides, through whom all subsist. And in those beneath them there is no spirit of life in guidance and faith, though they may possess the spirit of plant and animal life, yet how little do they see and understand.

And if you traverse the ocean of the outward, there is none save Him Whom God shall make manifest and those who believe in Him, both men and women. Say: All return to a single mystery. And if you gaze into the ocean of the inward, there is no truth save Him Whom God shall make manifest and those who believe in Him. God showeth you the creation of your hearts, spirits, souls and bodies, in your first and last, your outward and inward, that haply ye may be thankful. Say: Were you to reflect upon the day of Muhammad and seek knowledge from one like Salman—his heart was a name among the names of God, referring to naught but God his Lord, if you would gaze into the ocean of names.

And his spirit was a mirror wherein naught was seen save the sun of the Primal Remembrance, Who is Muhammad the Messenger of God. Do ye not reflect on this? And his soul was a sign among the signs which God had sent down upon Muhammad the Messenger of God, bearing witness that He was indeed a Messenger from God, the Lord of the worlds. And in the inmost inward, beyond the outmost outward, his body’s essence indicated naught save that it was an attribute of Muhammad the Messenger of God, turning as a shadow turns with the sun. Do ye not perceive such creation within yourselves? Better would it be for you on the Day of Resurrection if ye could traverse the ocean of hearts and journey in the ocean of names, if ye are able.

And before the Day of Resurrection none can do this save him whom God hath given the inmost inward, wherein he seeth the outmost outward, the last of the last and the first of the first, and he receiveth knowledge from none save God, the Lord of the worlds. But on the Day of Resurrection ye shall be able to know. Look ye therefore upon all that creation, then look upon those who believe in Him Whom God shall make manifest. Ye shall see them as mirrors wherein shineth the Sun of Divinity, and in their hearts they point to the names of God their Lord. There is naught else besides these names, but ye look not upon the names, rather ye look upon and call upon Him Who is the Bearer of all these names.

Mode of prayers

In the Name of God, the Most Ancient, the Most Ancient

Glorified art Thou, O my God! How can I make mention of Thee through the manifestations Thou hast revealed from Thyself? If I make mention of Thee through the manifestations Thou hast revealed from time immemorial unto this moment from Thyself—there is no God but Thee alone—and seek evidence of Thee—there is no God but Thee alone—then unto Thee be praise for having caused me to know Thyself, and unto Thee be praise for having caused me to know Thy remembrance, and unto Thee be praise for having bestowed upon me the bounty of meeting Thee, and unto Thee be praise for having made me witness to that which pleaseth Thee, and unto Thee be praise for having revealed Thyself to me through Thy signs, and unto Thee be praise for having decreed the manifestation of hidden knowledge in my Book through Thy words. All this is from Thee, through Thee, by Thee, and unto Thee alone—there is no God but Thee.

Therefore, O my God, protect me from before me and behind me, from my right and my left, from above my head and beneath my feet, and from every direction that leadeth unto me, and all that Thou hast given me to possess from Thy dominion, howsoever Thou willest, wheresoever Thou willest, and whithersoever Thou willest. Grant me success in reciting Thy verses and delighting in Thy words, in remembering the Manifestation of Thy Self and then Thy chosen ones, in writing Thy verses, in preserving Thy ways, in teaching Thy servants through Thy favors, and in severing all Thy creation from whatsoever veils them from Thy good-pleasure. For all this proceedeth only from Thy grace, Thy bestowal, Thy generosity and Thy exaltation.

How many servants strive throughout their lives to gain somewhat of Thy good-pleasure, yet possess not even a whit thereof! And how many servants Thou dost favor with this bounty, nurturing them in the palm of Thy mercy and in the right hand of Thy loving-kindness, bestowing upon them that which pleaseth Thee and granting them success in attaining Thy good-pleasure. All belongs to Thee, is from Thee, through Thee and dependent upon Thee alone—there is no God but Thee.

O my God, grant me every good thing which Thy knowledge encompasseth, and protect me, O my God, from all that is not good which Thy knowledge encompasseth. Verily, nothing in the heavens or on the earth or between them can be hidden from Thy knowledge, nor can anything in the kingdom of command or creation or below them render Thee powerless. Thou art indeed encompassing all things, and Thou art the Preserver of all things.

Mode of sermons

In the Name of God, the Most Ancient of the Most Ancient

Praise be to God Who hath revealed Himself unto all created things through the manifestations of the lights of His singleness, and hath made known unto all things His Being through the holy signs of His everlasting Oneness, and hath summoned all things unto the glory of His unity and the sanctity of His detachment through the wondrous expressions of His eternality, and hath caused all things to speak of His firstness and His lastness, His outwardness and His inwardness, testifying that there is no God but Him, the All-Powerful, Possessor of all power, the Most High, Possessor of all loftiness, the Manifest One, Source of all manifestation, the Glorious One, Source of all glory, the Most Splendid, Source of all splendor, the Beautiful One, Source of all beauty, the Most Great, Source of all greatness, the Illumined One, Source of all light, the Most Merciful, Source of all mercy, the Perfect One, Source of all perfection, the Most Exalted, Source of all exaltation, the Complete One, Source of all completion, the Mighty One, Source of all might, the All-Knowing, Source of all knowledge, the Most Pleasing, Source of all pleasure, the Noble One, Source of all nobility, the Sovereign, Source of all sovereignty, the King, Source of all dominion, the Most High, Source of all transcendence.

His are the most beautiful names in the kingdom of beginnings and endings, and His are the most exalted attributes in the heaven of hiddenness and manifestation, that all may thereby attain to the summit of the sanctity of names and attributes, and that all may ascend through this unto the fountainhead of glory, pride and evidences. I testify, and all that hath been and shall be created testifieth, as He Himself hath testified concerning His own Self, that there is no God but Him. He hath ever been single, beyond all likeness and similitude, sanctified above all conjunction and separation, exalted beyond all comparison and resemblance.

He hath created whatsoever He willed, from no thing, through the bringing into being of likenesses, and hath originated whatsoever He desired through the generating of His Will. Through the loftiness of His independence and the self-sufficiency of His Lordship He hath made Himself known unto all things; wherefore there is no thing but knoweth Him and confesseth that there is none other God but Him, the One, the Single.

And He hath manifested the hiddenness of His pre-existent Eternity through the appearing of the Manifestation of His Self—the Throne of His Self-Subsisting Sovereignty and His Ancientness, and the Seat of His Holiness and His Everlastingness—from the First that hath no first, in every revelation as He pleaseth, and in every concealment as He willeth, until the revelations attained unto that lofty, impregnable Revelation, and all the concealments unto that sumptuous, unassailable Concealment.

And He hath made Him a Gate unto the revelations of what shall be revealed, even unto the Last that hath no last; and unto the hidden things of what shall be hidden, even unto the Last that hath no last. Therefore did He cause Him, and all that He hath created and will yet create, to bear witness that there is none other God but Him, and that the Manifestation of His Self is the Throne of His manifestation and the Seat of His hiddenness.

God hath created such a Throne from the First that hath no first, whereunto no knowledge besides Him can attain; and God shall create the like of that Throne unto the Last that hath no last, without any attaining unto it in knowledge save Himself. And He hath made every revelation the sum of all revelations which He hath manifested aforetime, and every concealment the sum of all concealments which He shall manifest hereafter, that none may await from any thing the measure of any thing.

And God beholdeth every thing through that Eye of His theophany which He hath created within it. Therefore let them render thanks unto God their Lord, inasmuch as He hath caused them to know His Self, with a mighty thanksgiving; and let them praise God, inasmuch as He hath made them witnesses of His manifestation, with a glorious praise.

Say: We, in all things, do render praise for all things. Say: We, in all things, do give thanks for all things. Say: Whatsoever glorifieth all things, We also are of the glorifiers. Say: Whatsoever sanctifieth all things, We indeed are of the sanctifiers. Say: Whatsoever praiseth all things, We indeed are of them that praise. Say: Whatsoever giveth thanks for all things, We indeed are of them that give thanks. Say: Whatsoever proclaimeth the oneness of all things, We indeed are of them that proclaim oneness. Say: Whatsoever magnifieth all things, We indeed are of them that magnify. Say: Whatsoever exalteth all things, We indeed are of them that exalt.

Mode of commentary

In the Name of God, the Most Ancient of the Most Ancient

Praise be to God, besides Whom there is no other God, the Most Ancient of the Most Ancient! And verily all glory resteth upon the Throne of God’s Revelation from a beginning that hath no beginning unto an end that hath no end. Then upon all God’s guides in the darkest night, according to what God, the One, the Glorious, hath ordained.

I testify that the knowledge of the Ancient One, exalted be His glory, in His essence is forbidden to all else, and in His reality He cannot be manifest to His creation. Verily God, glorified and exalted be He, from a beginning that hath no beginning, hath made Himself known to His creation by manifesting the Throne of His Revelation or by speaking with words of His might. And unto an end that hath no end, God will assuredly manifest even as He hath manifested before. In every Revelation God abrogates what was revealed before, that He may establish what shall be revealed thereafter.

For example, behold: if a thousand Thrones were to be manifested, and then after the thousand there appeareth one like unto the first, at that moment the manifestation of God would be like unto what appeared before. All who appeared throughout the thousand were but means for the essence of what would appear thereafter, and guides to what would be known subsequently. For instance, if any trace of the Revelation that would appear a thousand Revelations hence were to endure until the appearance of Him Who would manifest after the thousand, it would be, in the sight of God, like unto what remained of the former Books before that Revelation.

Ponder thou likewise upon the Manifestations, and be independent of all allusions in the kingdom of names and attributes through God. For unto an end that hath no end, the Cause of God shall be like unto its beginning that hath no beginning. Look not upon the conditions of each Revelation, for they subsist by virtue of that same Revelation. These are all the gems of knowledge and wisdom, the camphor of the elixir and reality, and the essence of the inner mysteries of the dwellers in the sea of eternal craftsmanship. Say: All are from God and all return unto God. Say: All are from God and all stand firm through God.

Persian mode

In the Name of God, the Most Ancient of the Most Ancient

Praise and glorification befit and have ever befitted that Ever-Living, Self-Subsisting Being Who hath everlastingly existed in the sovereign majesty of His own holy Essence, and will forever continue to exist in the transcendent might of His own sacred Reality. No created thing hath known Him as He deserves to be known, nor hath any created thing praised Him as He deserves to be praised.

He hath created all things out of nothing through His all-pervading power, and hath caused all things to come into being from nothingness through His insuperable Will, so that all atoms from a beginning that hath no beginning unto an end that hath no end might be ennobled through His recognition, exalted through His unity, and illumined through acknowledgment of His Manifestations and the commandments and prohibitions that shine forth from the Source of His bounty, such that no created thing, in any state possible to it, hath been deprived of His bounty, and all things have attained to the summit of His grace and existence.

And since this Revelation hath been made manifest in the name of Ha, it hath, through its Ha-like effulgences, caused all the letters of contingent being and of creation to become manifest. His is the praise in the kingdom of knowledge and in the realm below, to the extent that God would reckon, until He is pleased, and above what pleaseth Him, and far above what pleaseth Him. He is indeed the One Who is well-pleased in the Hereafter and in this world.

And He hath loved the mention of this letter under the shadow of this Name, day and night, to the number of Ha, and at the time of the recitation of the verse “God beareth witness that there is none other God but Him, and that the Possessor of the Seven Letters is His servant and His Word, and that the Gates to the Living One are the first of His creation. Say: All are created by God’s command from Him.” The number “one” sufficeth, but if the first is mentioned, the number “one” from the second doth not suffice, and if the second is mentioned, mention of the Living One doth not suffice.

However, in the first two instances the number “one,” and in “the Living One” the number of Ha, are to be mentioned day and night, so that all might be mindful of the remembrance of God, and no decree hath been ordained for mankind, and for the learned one within his own limit what hath been ordained is the number of Ha from the red ruby, so that all might be mindful of the remembrance of God and not be veiled from His Cause. And God is the best of those who remember.

13. Al-aqrab

Mode of verses

In the Name of God, the Most Near, the Most Near

In the Name of God, the Most Near, the Most Near! In the Name of God, Who draweth nigh, Who draweth nigh! In the Name of God, Who approacheth, Who draweth nigh! In the Name of God, Who approacheth, Who draweth nigh! In the Name of God, the Most Near, Who draweth nigh! In the Name of God, Who approacheth, Who bringeth near! In the Name of God, Who approacheth, Who bringeth near! In the Name of God, Who approacheth, Who bringeth near! In the Name of God, Who approacheth, the Most Near! In the Name of God, Who approacheth, Who bringeth near! In the Name of God, Who causeth to draw nigh, Who causeth to draw nigh! In the Name of God, Who causeth to draw nigh, Who causeth to draw nigh!

In the Name of God, Who approacheth, the Sacrifice! In the Name of God, Who seeketh nearness, Who seeketh nearness! In the Name of God, Who desireth nearness, Who desireth nearness! In the Name of God, Who draweth close, Who draweth close! In the Name of God, Who approacheth mutually, Who approacheth mutually! In the Name of God, Who seeketh to draw near, Who seeketh to draw near! In the Name of God, the Most Near, Possessor of nearness! In the Name of God, the Most Near, Possessor of nearness! In the Name of God, the Most Near, Possessor of nearness! In the Name of God, the Most Near, Possessor of approach! In the Name of God, the Most Near, Possessor of approach!

In the Name of God, the Most Near, Possessor of kinship! In the Name of God, the Most Near, Possessor of relations! In the Name of God, the Most Near, Possessor of those who draw nigh! In the Name of God, the Most Near, Possessor of boats! In the Name of God, the Most Near, Possessor of those who draw nigh! In the Name of God, the Most Near, Possessor of nearness! In the Name of God, the Most Near, Possessor of drawing near! In the Name of God, the Most Near, Possessor of boats! In the Name of God, the Most Near, Possessor of those who approach! In the Name of God, the Most Near, Possessor of sacrifices! In the Name of God, the Most Near, Possessor of those who draw close!

In the Name of God, the Most Near, Possessor of those who draw close! In the Name of God, the Most Near, Possessor of acts of nearness! In the Name of God, the Most Near, Possessor of the power of nearness! In the Name of God, the Most Near, Possessor of readings! In the Name of God, the Most Near, Possessor of nearest things! In the Name of God, the Most Near, Possessor of acts of nearness! In the Name of God, the Most Near, Possessor of acts of nearness! In the Name of God, the Most Near, Possessor of approaches! In the Name of God, the Most Near, Possessor of kinships! In the Name of God, the Most Near, Possessor of kinships!

In the Name of God, the Most Near, Possessor of kinships! In the Name of God, the Most Near, Possessor of drawings near! In the Name of God, the Most Near, Possessor of drawings near! In the Name of God, the Most Near, Possessor of drawings near! In the Name of God, the Most Near, Possessor of near things! In the Name of God, the Most Near, Possessor of means of drawing near! In the Name of God, the Most Near, Possessor of those brought near! In the Name of God, the Most Near, Possessor of those brought near! In the Name of God, the Most Near, Possessor of mutual approaches! In the Name of God, the Most Near, Possessor of sacrifices!

In the Name of God, the Most Near, Possessor of those brought near! In the Name of God, the Most Near, Possessor of those who seek nearness! In the Name of God, the Most Near, Possessor of mutual approaches! In the Name of God, the Most Near, Possessor of those who seek to draw near! In the Name of God, the Most Near, the Most Near! In the Name of God, the Most Near, the Most Near! In the Name of God, the Most Approaching, the Most Approaching! In the Name of God, the Most Approaching, the Most Approaching! In the Name of God, the Most Approaching, the Most Approaching! In the Name of God, the Most Approaching, the Most Approaching!

In the Name of God, the Most Approaching, the Most Near! In the Name of God, the Most Approaching, the Most Near! In the Name of God, the Most Approaching, the Most Near! In the Name of God, the Most Approaching, the Most Near! In the Name of God, the Most Near, the Most Near! In the Name of God, Who Draweth Nigh, Who Draweth Nigh! In the Name of God, Who Draweth Nigh, Who Draweth Nigh! In the Name of God, the Near, the Nearest! In the Name of God, Who Approacheth, Who Approacheth! In the Name of God, Who Cometh Near, Who Cometh Near! In the Name of God, Who Approacheth, Who Approacheth! In the Name of God, Who Draweth Near, Who Draweth Near! In the Name of God, Who Cometh Near, Who Seeketh Nearness!

By God, by God—the Near, the Ever-Near; by God, God—the nearness, the nearness; by God, God—the nearness, the nearness; by God, God—the one who draws near, the one who draws near; by God, God—the one who approaches, the approacher; by God, God—the one who approaches, the approacher; by God, God—the one who approaches, the approacher; by God, God—the one who comes near, the coming-near; by God, God—the one who comes near, the coming-near; by God, God—the one who comes near, the coming-near; by God, God—the one who is near, the nearness; by God, God—the nearness, the closeness; by God, God—the one who brings near, the one who brings near; by God, God—the one who brings near, the one who brings near; by God, God—the nearness of offering; by God, God—the one who draws near, the one who draws near; by God, God—the one who seeks nearness, the one who seeks nearness; by God, God—the one who comes alongside, the one who comes alongside; by God, God—the one who becomes near, the one who becomes near; by God, God—the one who seeks nearness and is made near; by God, God—the nearness possessed of nearness; by God, God—the nearness possessed of nearness; by God, God—the nearness possessed of nearness; by God, God—the nearness possessed of approach; by God, God—the nearness possessed of approach; by God, God—the nearness possessed of the near ones; by God, God—the nearness possessed of those who are brought close; by God, God—the nearness possessed of approach itself; by God, God—the nearness possessed of proximity; by God, God—the nearness possessed of the nearest; by God, God—the nearness possessed of closeness; by God, God—the nearness possessed of intimate nearness; by God, God—the nearness possessed of arrivals; by God, God—the nearness possessed of those who draw near; by God, God—the nearness possessed of those who approach; by God, God—the nearness possessed of the bringers-near; by God, God—the nearness possessed of approaches; by God, God—the nearness possessed of acts of nearness; by God, God—the nearness possessed of nearness-itself; by God, God—the nearness possessed of relations; by God, God—the nearness possessed of the nearest acts; by God, God—the nearness possessed of nearnesses; by God, God—the nearness possessed of nearnesses; by God, God—the nearness possessed of nearnesses; by God, God—the nearness possessed of those who draw near; by God, God—the nearness possessed of approaches; by God, God—the nearness possessed of approaches; by God, God—the nearness possessed of approaches; by God, God—the nearness possessed of comings-near; by God, God—the nearness possessed of comings-near; by God, God—the nearness possessed of the near ones; by God, God—the nearness possessed of closenesses; by God, God—the nearness possessed of those made near; by God, God—the nearness possessed of those made near; by God, God—the nearness possessed of those brought close; by God, God—the nearness possessed of offerings of nearness; by God, God—the nearness possessed of those who seek nearness; by God, God—the nearness possessed of those who draw near; by God, God—the nearness possessed of those who come alongside; by God, God—the nearness possessed of those who are made near.

These are the Bismillahs to the number of Sin in the Book of God. Ye are like this in all the Names, if ye would understand. These are the divine attributes to the number of Sin. Ye are like this in all the Names, if ye would understand.

Say: Verily your men make mention through the remembrances of the plural in the plurals of remembrance, and verily your women make mention through what hath been sent down regarding the gathering of their souls. Ye read from these Bismillahs, and they read from these Bismillahs. Say: All do read.

Say: In “Glory be to God” ye are like this if ye would understand and discover. And in the remembrances of “Praise be to God” likewise ye can understand and discover. And in the mention of all the declarations of Divine Unity from “He is God and there is no God but He and no God but Thee”—ye are like this if ye would understand and discover.

And if We wished, We would send down in every Name the like thereof, for verily We have power over all things—like what We have sent down by the might of God, the Divine One, the Divine One, unto the end of what ye can count in that Name and unto the end of all the Names. Can ye comprehend it in knowledge? Say: Glory be to God! All through God’s command do comprehend according to what God hath manifested unto them through themselves, and all unto God their Lord do turn with longing.

And likewise through the justice of God, the Divinity; and likewise through Muhammad of God, the Divinity; and likewise through the light of God, the Divinity; and likewise through the manifestation of God, the Divinity; and likewise through the glory of God, the Divinity; and likewise through the majesty of God, the Divinity. Were We to wish, We would reveal unto the end of all names, for verily We are powerful over all things.

Say: In all the Bismillahs and verses and evidences and psalms and sermons and words and proofs and tokens and signs, ye witness naught except that there is no God but Me, and that all else is My creation, and all do worship Me. If ye comprehend a single Point of the Bayan, then do ye comprehend the whole Bayan. Him Whom God shall make manifest—all shall seek shelter in His shadow. Ponder ye these verses, how they have dawned and risen! Do ye hear or witness from other than a single soul? Even so in the next Resurrection all shall return unto a single soul, if ye would but see. And whatsoever returneth unto Him Whom God shall make manifest—that is the entire Bayan, and whoso returneth not is not of the Bayan.

Do ye not desire to return as did they who returned unto the Point of the Bayan from among those who were given the Furqan? These are they who embody all the verses of God in the Furqan, and all others are as gardens that have received the water of their essence. Will ye not consider them? For all were created to know God their Lord and then to believe and be certain of His signs. These recognized the Point of the Bayan and believed in His words, thus attaining the essence of that for which they were created. But others follow night and day that perchance they may perform deeds pleasing unto God their Lord, while they veil themselves from Him Who createth good-pleasure by His command, and they remember not.

Unto God belongeth the dominion of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them, and all unto God shall return.

Say: Whatsoever God willeth of that Most Glorious, Most Resplendent, Most Radiant One.

Say: Whatsoever God willeth of that Most Majestic, Most Excellent, Most Sublime One.

Say: Whatsoever God willeth of that Most Beautiful, Most Gracious, Most Comely One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Great, Most Great, Most Magnificent One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Luminous, Most Luminous, Most Radiant One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Merciful, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Perfect, Most Perfect, Most Complete One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Accomplished, Most Accomplished, Most Consummate One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Great, Most Great, Most Supreme One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Mighty, Most Mighty, Most Powerful One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Knowing, Most Knowing, Most Learned One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Potent, Most Potent, Most Omnipotent One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Pleasing, Most Pleasing, Most Satisfying One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Beloved, Most Beloved, Most Loving One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Noble, Most Noble, Most Distinguished One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Sovereign, Most Sovereign, Most Authoritative One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Regal, Most Regal, Most Kingly One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Exalted, Most Exalted, Most Transcendent One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Generous, Most Generous, Most Bountiful One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Majestic, Most Majestic, Most Dignified One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Pure, Most Pure, Most Innocent One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Adorned, Most Adorned, Most Beautified One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Hidden, Most Hidden, Most Concealed One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Wondrous, Most Wondrous, Most Innovative One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Wise, Most Wise, Most Judicious One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Commanding, Most Commanding, Most Authoritative One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Trustworthy, Most Trustworthy, Most Faithful One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Glorious, Most Glorious, Most Pride-inducing One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Just, Most Just, Most Equitable One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Gracious, Most Gracious, Most Bountiful One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Rising, Most Rising, Most Ascending One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Brilliant, Most Brilliant, Most Resplendent One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Radiant, Most Radiant, Most Luminous One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Rich, Most Rich, Most Wealthy One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Sun-like, Most Sun-like, Most Illuminating One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Moon-like, Most Moon-like, Most Lustrous One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Star-like, Most Star-like, Most Celestial One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Planet-like, Most Planet-like, Most Orbital One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Celestial, Most Celestial, Most Heavenly One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Named, Most Named, Most Renowned One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Mountain-like, Most Mountain-like, Most Lofty One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Ocean-like, Most Ocean-like, Most Deep One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Tree-like, Most Tree-like, Most Fruitful One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most River-like, Most River-like, Most Flowing One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Verdant, Most Verdant, Most Green One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Branch-like, Most Branch-like, Most Growing One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Leaf-like, Most Leaf-like, Most Verdant One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Garden-like, Most Garden-like, Most Flowering One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Fruit-bearing, Most Fruit-bearing, Most Productive One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Peacock-like, Most Peacock-like, Most Beautiful One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Bird-like, Most Bird-like, Most Soaring One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Rooster-like, Most Rooster-like, Most Vigilant One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Melodious, Most Melodious, Most Musical One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Rich, Most Rich, Most Abundant One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Deep, Most Deep, Most Profound One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Beautiful, Most Beautiful, Most Comely One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Tranquil, Most Tranquil, Most Peaceful One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Noble, Most Noble, Most Distinguished One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Tablet-like, Most Tablet-like, Most Inscribed One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Pen-like, Most Pen-like, Most Writing One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Extended, Most Extended, Most Far-reaching One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Mysterious, Most Mysterious, Most Hidden One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Known, Most Known, Most Recognized One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most House-like, Most House-like, Most Dwelling One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Seat-like, Most Seat-like, Most Established One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Throne-like, Most Throne-like, Most Exalted One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Ancient, Most Ancient, Most Pre-existent One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Eternal, Most Eternal, Most Everlasting One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Near, Most Near, Most Approaching One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Precious, Most Precious, Most Valuable One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Inscribed, Most Inscribed, Most Engraved One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Golden, Most Golden, Most Precious One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Silver-like, Most Silver-like, Most Pure One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Crystal-like, Most Crystal-like, Most Clear One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Tranquil, Most Tranquil, Most Peaceful One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Obligatory, Most Obligatory, Most Binding One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Protected, Most Protected, Most Preserved One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Cascading, Most Cascading, Most Flowing One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Touching, Most Touching, Most Feeling One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Lofty, Most Lofty, Most High One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Musical, Most Musical, Most Melodious One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Ruby-like, Most Ruby-like, Most Precious One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Pearl-like, Most Pearl-like, Most Lustrous One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Jewel-like, Most Jewel-like, Most Precious One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Shell-like, Most Shell-like, Most Protective One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Lofty, Most Lofty, Most High One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Noble, Most Noble, Most Distinguished One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Proud, Most Proud, Most Glorious One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Joyous, Most Joyous, Most Delightful One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Sorrowful, Most Sorrowful, Most Grieving One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Partial, Most Partial, Most Divisible One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Complete, Most Complete, Most Perfect One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Single, Most Single, Most Unique One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Paired, Most Paired, Most Combined One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Distant, Most Distant, Most Remote One.

Say: Whatever God hath willed of that Most Near, Most Near, Most Approaching One. Reflect upon this, then ye shall understand the knowledge of remoteness and nearness.

Say: Can any besides God comprehend this knowledge of nearness and remoteness? Say: Glorified be God above what they mention! Say: Consider how the relationship of a thing changes in this manner with respect to all things. When it moves, its relationship to all things is transformed. Thus do ye witness this in all things and thus do ye observe it in all things.

When this Pen moves even slightly, its relationship to all things differs, and when it is still, its relationship to all things differs. Ye witness this pattern in all things from infinity to infinity, through infinity, by infinity, in infinity, in every particle. Unto God belongs all that He hath created and will create from all things, and all shall return unto God their Lord.

This is a mention of the knowledge of nearness in the Book of God, if ye would comprehend it, and this is from the knowledge of remoteness in the Book of God, if ye would grasp it. The relationship of all things to all things changes with the movement of a thing, if ye would understand. None can comprehend this save God. Say: All begin by God’s command, and unto Him belongs whatsoever dwelleth in the night and day, and unto Him shall all return. Say: In every Dispensation ye witness this same pattern in the Primal Point. Through it God createth all things and reneweth the creation of all things. Do ye not wish to be renewed? Say: He is the Subduer over His creation, and He is the Supreme, the Self-Subsisting. Say: He is the Manifest above His servants, and He is the Mighty, the Beloved.

Remember ye that Name, that Letter, night and day, to the number of the letter Ha, that ye may be mindful. Such was ordained aforetime. Do ye not wish to be exalted? Say: In His hand is the dominion of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them, and unto Him shall all return. Say: In God’s hand, Who created the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them by His command, is power nearer than to say unto a thing “Be!” and it is. He is the Creator of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them, the Ever-Living, the All-Powerful, the All-Compelling, the Self-Subsisting. And like what was ordained in the letters before, ye do witness in this Letter. God will not question you if ye forget this Remembrance, but He will surely question you if ye know and fail to remember.

Mode of prayers

In the name of God, the Most Near, the Most Near

Glorified art Thou, O my God! I and all things testify that Thou art God, there is no God but Thee, alone without companion. Thine is the kingdom of earth and heaven, Thine the glory and the grandeur, Thine the dominion and divinity, Thine the might and majesty, Thine the sovereignty over all things, Thine the exaltation and magnificence, Thine the beauty and perfection, Thine the ideals and their realization, Thine the stations and the glory, Thine the might and the invincibility, Thine the power and exaltation, Thine the joy and the gladness, Thine the dominion and authority, Thine whatsoever Thou hast loved or wilt love of the kingdom of Thy command and creation.

Thou art the Manifest One, and ever shall be; Thou art the Almighty, and ever shall remain. From time immemorial Thou hast been alone in the realm of might and grandeur, and exalted in the kingdom of holiness and beauty. Thou seest but art not seen, and verily Thou art in the Most Exalted Horizon. Sanctified are Thy names in the kingdom on high, from the most sublime atom to the lowliest dust, and exalted are Thy attributes in the realm of the hereafter and of this world.

Thou hast ever been, O my God, the Creator of all things and their Sustainer, the One Who causeth them to die and giveth them life, Who establisheth all things and bringeth them to their fulfillment, Who numbereth all things and preserveth them. How lofty is Thy station, O Lord of might and ascendancy! How glorious is Thy summit, O Lord of holiness and splendor!

Glorified and exalted art Thou! Thou art He Who hath made Thyself known to all Thy servants, and naught remaineth ignorant of Thee. Thou art He Who hast bestowed Thy providence upon all creation, and nothing is veiled from Thee. Glorified and exalted art Thou! All Thy servants worship Thee in the truth of Thy unity, and all Thy creatures prostrate before Thee in the truth of Thy oneness. All who guide others unto Thee are detached from all else in the truth of Thy Lordship, and all in Thy dominion rise unto Thee through the manifestations of Thy sovereignty.

Glorified art Thou, O my God! Thy very Essence by its essence attracteth the realm of transcendence unto the summit of might and inaccessibility. Thou art He Who hath glorified Himself through might and grandeur, and magnified Himself through greatness and majesty. Thy manifestations have ever shone upon all created things, and Thy hidden attributes shall forever enkindle all beings.

Glorified and exalted art Thou! Thou art He Who hath raised Thyself in Thy loftiness above all atoms, and Who hath elevated Thyself in Thy majesty above all created things. Sanctified art Thou, O Lord of might and grandeur, and glorified art Thou, O Lord of pride and exaltation! Thou hast ever been and ever shall be.

Glorified, glorified art Thou! None else is manifest that any should see aught but Thee, and none else is hidden that any should dwell with other than Thee. Glorified, glorified art Thou!

I beseech Thee by the most praiseworthy of Thy praise, by the foremost of Thy sovereignty, by the most generous of Thy generosity, by the most certain of Thy certainty, by the most secure of Thy security, by the most precious of Thy treasures, by the most lordly of Thy lordship, by the most pure of Thy purity, by the most eternal of Thine eternity, by the most final of Thy finality, by the most splendrous of Thy splendor, by the most singular of Thy singularity, by the most divine of Thy divinity, by the most subtle of Thy subtlety, by the most holy of Thy holiness, by the most unique of Thy uniqueness, by the most glorified of Thy glory, by the most sovereign of Thy sovereignty, by the most thankful of Thy thanksgiving, by the most majestic of Thy majesty, by the most radiant of Thy radiance, by the most sublime of Thy praise, by the most subtle of Thy subtlety, by the most glorified of Thy glorification, by the most guided of Thy guidance, by the most enduring of Thine endurance, by the most perpetual of Thy perpetuity, by the most merciful of Thy mercy, by the most elevated of Thy eternality, by the most permanent of Thine everlastingness, by the most lasting of Thy lastingness, by the most living of Thy life, by the most splendid of Thy favors, by the most exalted of Thy gifts, and by the most bountiful of Thy bounty, and from Thy loving-kindness by its most tender love, and from Thy paradise by its most exalted heights, and from Thy glory by its most glorious manifestation, and from Thy everlastingness by its most enduring expression, and from Thy creative power by its most perfect creation, and from Thy excellence by its most excellent form, and from Thy might by its mightiest manifestation, and from Thy divinity by its most divine expression—that Thou mayest cause to descend upon the Tree of Affirmation in every Dispensation, upon its root and branch and boughs and leaves and fruits and all that is in it and upon it, and that Thou mayest cast down all else besides the Tree of Affirmation through Thy power over all things, howsoever Thou willest, wheresoever Thou willest, by whatsoever means Thou willest, and whithersoever Thou willest.

Glorified art Thou, and exalted art Thou! Sanctified art Thou, O Possessor of Glory and Majesty! And magnified art Thou, O Possessor of Grandeur and Beauty! Send down, O my God, from Thy presence, the rains of Thy succor and triumph like a downpour from the treasuries of Thy bounty, and the floods of victory and triumph from Thy presence like rushing waters.

Glorified and exalted art Thou! None besides Thee hath any outward manifestation, none except Thee hath any inward concealment, none other than Thee hath any might, none save Thee hath any honor. Thou dost ever quicken and cause to die through the sovereignty of Thy might, and cause to die and quicken through the measures of Thy glorified power. Glorified and exalted art Thou! Thou art the Manifest through Thy manifestation. Glorified and exalted art Thou! Thou art the Hidden through Thy concealment. Glorified and exalted art Thou! Thou art the Exalted through Thy exaltation. Glorified and exalted art Thou! Thou art the Enduring through Thine endurance. Glorified and exalted art Thou! Thou art the Everlasting through Thine everlastingness. Glorified and exalted art Thou!

Thou art the Self-Sufficient through Thy self-sufficiency. Glorified and exalted art Thou! Thou art the Powerful through Thy power. Glorified and exalted art Thou! Thou art the All-Knowing through Thy knowledge. Glorified and exalted art Thou! Thou art the Ruler through Thy sovereignty. Glorified and exalted art Thou! Thou art the Ordainer through Thine ordinance. Glorified and exalted art Thou! Thou art the All-Encompassing through Thy knowledge.

Thou hast ever been alone in the dominion of sanctity and glory, and exalted in the kingdom of might and majesty. None besides Thee hath any might or manifestation, and none except Thee hath any grandeur or concealment. Glorified and exalted art Thou! Thou hast ever been elevated above all Thy servants and wilt ever remain inaccessible above Thy creation. Glorified and exalted art Thou! Thou art the Manifest in Thy manifestation. Glorified and exalted art Thou! Thou art the Hidden in Thy concealment. How near art Thou to Thy servants! How compassionate art Thou to Thy creation! How kind art Thou to Thy servants! How merciful art Thou to the dwellers of Thy heaven and earth! How gentle art Thou to those in the kingdom of Thy Command and creation!

Glorified art Thou, glorified art Thou! Thou art He in Whose grasp all things have ever been, and Thou art He in Whose right hand of dominion all things shall ever be. Thou art He before Whose majesty all the earth and heavens have prostrated themselves, and Thou art He before Whose exalted sovereignty the earth and all that is thereon have bowed down. Thy triumph hath ever been in Thy lands from Thy presence for those who worship Thee, glorify Thee, prostrate before Thee, magnify Thee, extol Thee, honor Thee, render Thee glory, turn unto Thee, begin from Thee, and return unto Thee.

Glorified art Thou, glorified art Thou, O my God! Were it not for Thy grace unto Thy creation in this, who would be able to know Thy unity and recognize Thee? Who would be capable of glorifying Thee and praising Thee? Who could enumerate Thy manifestations from the beginning that hath no beginning to the end that hath no end? And who could reckon Thy concealment from the beginning that hath no beginning to the end that hath no end? Magnified art Thou, O Possessor of Glory and Exaltation, through the kingdom of Thy glory! Praised art Thou, O Possessor of Might and Exaltation, through the sovereignty of Thy praise! Glorified art Thou, O Possessor of Sanctity and Light, through the radiance of Thy glory!

Exalted art Thou, O Possessor of Grandeur and Majesty, through the sublimity of Thy greatness! Elevated art Thou, O Possessor of Loftiness and Ascendancy, through the heights of Thy elevation!

Glorified and exalted art Thou! Thou art He Whom all things glorify, Thou art He Whom all things sanctify, Thou art He Whom all things glorify, Thou art He Whom all things magnify, and Thou art He Whom all things thank, as is befitting Thy worthiness of thanks. Unto Thee be praise, O my God, with praise that filleth all Thy heavens with Thy good-pleasure. Unto Thee be thanks, O my God, with gratitude that filleth all the earth with Thy good-pleasure. Unto Thee be glory, O my God, with glory that filleth what lieth between them with Thy good-pleasure. Unto Thee be honor, O my God, with honor that filleth the creation of all things with Thy good-pleasure. Unto Thee be might, O my God, with might that filleth the creation of all things with Thy good-pleasure.

Glorified and exalted art Thou! Thou art He Who hath made Himself mighty in His might above all created things. Glorified and exalted art Thou! Therefore, O God, do Thou, through Thy power, relieve all Thy servants, and do Thou, O God, extend Thy sustenance to all Thy loved ones, and do Thou, O God, spread Thy mercy over all Thy chosen ones, and do Thou, O God, guide all Thy creation with Thy guidance, and do Thou, O God, hold back all Thy creation from that which displeaseth Thee, and do Thou, O God, send down the tokens of Thy might and Thy dominion unto those who dwell in the kingdom of Thy Revelation and the heaven of Thy good-pleasure.

For verily Thou art, O my God, the Knower of all things, the Powerful over all things, the Inaccessible above all things, the Exalted at the right hand of all things, and the Originator through the manifestations of Thy creation at the left hand of all things.

Therefore, O God, do Thou raise up from among Thy servants the most resplendent for Thy religion, the most glorious for Thy good-pleasure, the most beautiful for that which pleaseth Thee, the most great for the exaltation of Thy Cause, the most luminous for the inaccessibility of Thy light, the most manifest for the manifestation of Thy Self-Subsistence, the most sovereign for the sovereignty of Thy holiness, the most elevated for the elevation of Thy dominion, the most impregnable for the impregnability of Thy Lordship, the most powerful for the power of Thy strength, the most victorious for the victory of Thy Revelation, the most august for the augustness of Thy majesty, the most potent for the potency of Thy might, the most perfect for the perfection of Thy glory, the most great for the greatness of Thy grandeur, the most knowing for the knowledge of Thy omniscience, the most capable for the capability of Thy power, the most pleasing for the pleasure of Thy oneness, the most tranquil for the tranquility of Thy peace, the most loving for the love of Thy Cause, the most sovereign for the sovereignty of Thy dominion, the most exalted for the exaltation of Thy everlastingness, the most enriched for the riches of Thy eternal wealth, the most preserving for the preservation of what Thou hast sent down by Thy power, the most bountiful for the bounty of Thy generosity, the most gracious for the grace of Thy favor, the most gentle for the gentleness of Thy tenderness, the nearest for the nearness of Thy presence, the most excellent for the excellence of Thy beauty, the most compassionate for Thy compassion, the most just for the justice of Thy equity, the most overwhelming for the overwhelming nature of Thy sovereignty, the most compelling for the compelling force of Thy might, the most victorious for the victory of Thy triumph, the most conquering for the conquest of Thy dominion, the most expansive for the expansion of Thy bounty, the most powerful in the grasp of Thy power, the most generous for the generosity of Thy munificence, the most wise for the wisdom of Thy judgment, the most sufficient for the sufficiency of Thy provision, the most treasured for the treasures of Thy storehouse, and the most liberal for the liberality of Thy generosity.

Whatever good is in them must needs be attributed to Thee, as Thou art worthy thereof, for Thou hast ever been mighty in the kingdom of holiness and glory, and supreme in the heaven of sanctity and grace.

Therefore, O God, do Thou send down upon Him Whom Thou shalt make manifest on the Day of Resurrection all Thy victory and triumph and manifestation and ascendancy and sovereignty and might and power and whatever Thou hast described Thyself with of Thy most beautiful and inaccessible Names and Thy most exalted and elevated Examples—from every glory its most glorious, from every majesty its most majestic, from every beauty its most beautiful, from every grandeur its most grand, from every light its most luminous, from every mercy its most encompassing, from every word its most perfect, from every name its most great, from every perfection its most complete, from every might its mightiest, from every will its most conclusive, from every knowledge its most penetrating, from every power its most extensive, and from every utterance its most pleasing, from every question which He answers to thee and withholds from thee, from every honor most honorable, from every sovereignty most enduring, from every dominion most glorious, from every exaltation most exalted, and from all that Thou art in Thy most excellent Names and most sublime Examples which Thou hast distinguished in Thy Book through Thy knowledge and revealed in Thy Scriptures through Thy command—for none, O my God, can ever reckon the number of Thy names and Thy examples, since all things through their very essence bear witness that there is no God but Thee, the All-Subduing, the Self-Subsisting, and all that can be mentioned by any name through its reality exemplifies that there is no God but Thee, the Mighty, the Beloved.

Glorified, glorified art Thou! Thou hast chosen from among all contingent beings, in every Dispensation, Temples for Thy manifestation, and hast made their hearts the dawning-places of Thy bounty and revelation, the day-springs of Thy holiness and nurture. It behooveth them to make mention of Thee, and Thou, of Thy grace, hast made them mirrors wherein naught can be seen except Thy Will; and crystals wherein naught can be perceived save Thy Purpose; and diamonds wherein naught can be witnessed but Thy Power; and pearls wherein naught can be beheld except Thy Decree; and rubies wherein naught can be observed save Thy Permission; and emeralds wherein naught can be discovered except Thy Term; and sapphires wherein naught can be found except Thy Book.

Thou hast made them guides to Thy names and channels for the manifestation of Thy knowledge and examples. All besides them among Thy creatures are created through them, sustained through them, caused to die through them, and given life through them. Thou hast distinguished them with Thy remembrance only because they believe in the Manifestation of Thy Self, their Names in every Dispensation and Concealment from Thee.

Glorified, glorified art Thou! Thou dost create from clay a creation and raise it to the summit of Thy Names, and cause it to ascend to the horizon of Thy Attributes. This could not be except through Thy transcendent grace and Thy exalted bestowal. Otherwise, how could it be possible for creation to reflect the radiance of Thy Names and the effulgence of Thy Attributes? Nay, by Thy might! Thou art unique in all names and attributes, and sanctified in the kingdoms of earth and heaven. All are Thy servants, and all seek Thee.

Mode of sermons

In the Name of God, the Most Near, the Most Near

Praise be to God Who hath, in this Revelation of the Bayan, renewed the creation of the heavens and of the earth and all that is between them, and hath adorned the creation of all things with the ornament of His transcendent sovereignty, that all things may testify to that which He hath created through His command—that there is no God but Him, the One, the All-Glorious. I praise Him for all that He hath created, glorify Him for all that He hath originated, thank Him for all that He hath brought into being, exalt Him for all that hath appeared, and magnify Him for all that He hath willed, being assured that all this proceedeth from Him. He bestoweth His remembrance upon whomsoever He willeth, and causeth the tongue of whomsoever He desireth to stammer forth His praise.

None hath anything save through His bounty, and none hath anything save through His command, and nothing existeth for anything save through His generosity. He hath ever been single in the manifestations of His sanctity and glory, and will ever remain as He hath been in the revelations of His might and majesty.

He hath made the beginning of religion to be His knowledge, as a grace from Him unto His creation and a gift from the treasuries of His bounty unto His servants. For were He not to make the beginning of every religion His knowledge, how could the objects of knowledge recognize His oneness, how could the objects of worship serve His Being, how could the objects of testimony bear witness to His eternity, how could the objects of utterance speak forth the praise of His Lordship, how could the objects of narration recount the exaltation of His might and sovereignty, and how could the radiant ones shine forth with the radiance of His holiness? All creation is in His grasp, and all servants are in the right hand of His dominion.

He hath ever been known through His greatness and independence, and will ever be renowned through His majesty and glory.

O creation! Know ye that He createth and will create. O creation! Know ye that He bringeth into being. O creation! Know ye that He causeth to appear and will cause to appear. O creation! Know ye that He originateth and will originate. O creation! Know ye that He maketh to exist and will make to exist. Therefore seek insight through God in every Revelation, seek aid from God in every concealment, recognize God your Lord at every dawning, and thank God your Creator at every setting. Your possessions have ever been and will ever be in God’s hand and within His will.

At the appearance of every Manifestation of God and at the concealment of every One Who is hidden of God, there hath been and will be from God unto all things either an outward proof or an inward proof, which its own self and those whom God willeth do recognize.

Think not that ye were created, sustained, caused to die and brought to life merely to begin from clay, then enjoy your lives, then return to clay. Rather, ye were created to know God your Creator, to glorify God your Sustainer, to sanctify God Who causeth you to die, to unify God Who giveth you life, and to magnify God Who bringeth you into being. Ye are not capable of any of this except through your recognition, in every Revelation, of the Throne of Revelation, and through your attachment, in every concealment, to the guides who are veiled in that Revelation.

O all things! Verily God is your Lord, the Lord of all things. He is One in Essence, hath ever been and will ever be; One in Attributes from all eternity; One in Names in holy glory; One in Examples in exalted beauty; and One in Manifestations, having been from all eternity without beginning or end. Therefore gain insight at every Revelation by reflecting upon the proof and deriving evidence therefrom. Be not like those who sought to know God and believe in His proof according to their own desires. Rather, be among those who have known God in every Revelation through what God hath revealed of proof and what God hath sent down as testimony. Worship God as He desireth, not as ye desire, and seek proof in what God hath proven, not in what ye would prove.

For servants before you who disputed what God proved through His Messengers found not their way to God, while servants who accepted what God proved and were content with what God and His Messengers were content with were guided unto God through manifest paths and compelling evidence. And ye shall be like unto them if ye accept in every Revelation what God hath been content with as proof and evidence, and what He hath sent down as testimony and life-giving waters. Then shall ye be enabled to believe in the One True Glorious God, be guided by the One True Beautiful God, cling to the lights of the Throne of Glory, and be established upon the seats of honor.

Reflect ye upon all the Revelations and take heed that what shall come is like unto what hath come before, what shall be decreed is like unto what was decreed, what shall pass away is like unto what hath passed away, and what shall appear is like unto what hath appeared. For if ye perceive your beginning, ye shall perceive your end, and if ye perceive the beginning of each Revelation, ye shall perceive the end of each Revelation. If ye please God concerning yourselves at the beginning of each Revelation, ye shall please God concerning yourselves at the end of each Revelation. Unto God belong all the thrones of divinity in all Revelations, and unto God belong all the seats of the hidden in all concealment.

I call God to witness—my Lord and the Lord of all things, my Creator and the Creator of all things, my Provider and the Provider of all things, He Who causeth me to die and Who causeth all things to die, He Who giveth life to me and Who giveth life to all things, He Who resurrecteth me and Who resurrecteth all things—to that which His Essence hath testified of His Essence, and which hath been revealed by His Own Tongue in His Book: God testifieth that there is none other God but Him and that unto Him all shall return. God testifieth that there is none other God but Him and that from Him all do begin. A testimony pure for God, glorified and exalted be He, which nothing can equal and from which nothing can veil.

A testimony which, when manifest above the earth and all that is thereon, leaveth no negation, and which, when dawning from the horizon of the Unseen and Glory, createth through its effulgences every command and prohibition. A testimony which, when finding its bearer, delegateth to him its witness, and when beholding its possessor, detacheth itself wholly unto Him, and when testifying to its Originator as One, denieth Him every thing, and when seeing all things in His shadow, negates negation in the forms of speech without being realized in the meanings of affirmation.

A testimony which, were the heavens and earth and all that is between them to be filled with red elixir, would not be veiled from Him and would hold fast unto God, glorified be His majesty, through holding fast unto the Manifestation of His Self, exalted be His glory—a testimony that would fill the heavens and the earth and all that lies between them. No equivalent can match it, for raising high the remembrance of its Author and exalting the praise of its Revealer. All this points to the poverty of all created things, for the unity of God is most high and glorious. And all this demonstrates the powerlessness of all existence, for the glorification of God is most sublime and mighty.

Therefore seek ye the help of God, O creation of what He hath created and will create in every Dispensation, for that which ye were created, not for that which ye nurture within yourselves to a degree that profiteth you not. Ye shall return to dust and shall not retain what ye have acquired within the bounds of your mortal frames of its pleasures and delights and whatsoever is in and upon them. Rather, take possession of that for which ye were created—the good-pleasure of God, the establishment of His unity, and the annihilation of those who believe not in the Manifestation of His oneness. Thus shall your delights never be cut off from you, for they are bound to the Tree of Truth, nor shall your pleasures be veiled from you, for they spring from the divine Leaf.

God causeth the night and day to revolve, that He may manifest a Manifestation of His Self from His Self, and God causeth cycles and ages to turn that He may reveal a Manifestation of His Essence from His Essence. Therefore recognize ye the value of the Days of God and exchange them not even for the earth filled with red rubies, for they are more precious and glorious. Seek ye from God His good-pleasure according to what pleaseth Him, not according to what pleaseth you. For ye were created for Him, and He was not created for you; ye were provided for Him, and He was not provided for you; ye were made to die for Him, and He will not die for you; ye were given life for Him, and He will not live for you.

This is the Cause of causes, this is the Glory of glories, this is the Beauty of beauties, this is the Justice of actions, this is the Nobility of nobles, this is the Guarantee of guarantees, this is the Trust of trusts, this is the Mountain of mountains, this is the Eternity of eternities, this is the Summit of summits, this is the Proof of proofs, this is the Solution of solutions, this is the Path of paths, this is the Temple of temples, this is the Cord of cords, this is the Hero of heroes.

This is He the like of Whom the pole of heaven hath never seen, nor the face of earth His similitude, nor what lieth between them His equal. This is He Whom God shall manifest until the End that hath no end, even as He hath manifested Him from the Beginning that hath no beginning. This is He Who is manifest in the Thrones, this is He Who is hidden in the Scrolls. This is the wondrous creation of the First, this is the wondrous existence of the Most Beautiful—in the appearance of His name Noah, in the appearance of His name Abraham, in the appearance of His name Moses, in the appearance of His name Jesus, in the appearance of His name Muhammad, and in an appearance that hath no name after God hath made all names His names and all attributes His attributes.

If thou sayest He is exalted, He is indeed the Most Exalted of the exalted, not from exaltation. If thou sayest He is glorious, He is indeed the Most Glorious of the glorious, not from glory. If thou sayest He is great, He is indeed the Most Great of the great, not from greatness. If thou sayest He is resplendent, He is indeed the Most Resplendent of the resplendent, not from resplendence. If thou sayest He is powerful, He is indeed the Ordainer of ordinances, not from power. And shouldst thou say He is “Zahir” (Manifest), verily He is the Manifestor of all manifestation, not one among manifestors. And shouldst thou say He is “Hashim” (Noble), verily He is the Ennobler of all nobility, not one among the noble.

And shouldst thou say He is “Malik” (King), verily He is the Sovereign of all sovereignty, not one among sovereigns. And shouldst thou say He is “Nabil” (Exalted), verily He is the Source of all exaltation, not one among the exalted. And shouldst thou say He is “Rafi”’ (Lofty), verily He is the Uplifter of all loftiness, not one among the lofty. These are what are mentioned outwardly of His elevated names and what are described in the inmost of the inmost of His inaccessible similitudes. Shouldst thou say He is God, verily He is the Deity of all deities. And shouldst thou say He is Lord, verily He is the Lord of all lords. And shouldst thou say He is One, verily He is the Source of all oneness. And shouldst thou say He is Eternal, verily He is the Eternizer of all eternity.

And shouldst thou say He is Single, verily He is the Singer of all singleness. And shouldst thou say He is Holy, verily He is the Sanctifier of all sanctity. And shouldst thou say He is Glorified, verily He is the Glorifier of all glory. And shouldst thou say He is Self-Subsisting, verily He is the Sustainer of all subsistence. And shouldst thou say He is Everlasting, verily He is the Perpetuator of all perpetuity, the Teacher of all knowledge.

If thou art journeying upon the ocean of names, say: “God, God,” and associate not any partner with God, my Lord. And if thou art journeying in the depths of primal creation, say: “God created all things through His Will, and created the Will through itself, and it is the Primal Remembrance, and this is the Eternal Remembrance.” And if thou descendest in every heaven a descent manifesting a name until thou reachest a station where thou hearest His call in the remembrance of the atom and what is below the atom—thus hath God created that manifest Manifestation, and that pristine Source, and that resplendent Light, and that gleaming Pearl, and that transcendent Knowledge, and that sovereign Dominion, and that mighty Authority, and that glorious Beauty, and that exalted Sublimity, and that eternal Eternity, and that ancient Antiquity.

Therefore, cut thyself from names for they have no limit, and call upon God by them all, for each one in its rank is as the most exalted of names in its elevation. Then cut thyself from similitudes for they have no limit, and call upon God by all His similitudes, for each one in its rank is as the most elevated that can be conceived in its exaltation. This is the key of glory in every Manifestation. Then after Muhammad, if thou wishest to mention the Point of the Bayan, say it, and after that say “He Whom God shall make manifest,” and after Him Whom God shall make manifest, say “He Whom God shall make manifest” [repeated sequence] through the eternity of God, the Mighty, the Sublime, and through the eternity of His endurance.

If thou ask me, I would surely say “He Whom God shall make manifest.” And verily I believe in Him, in His religion, in His Book, in His evidences, in His ways, and in whatsoever proceedeth from Him. In all these I glory in my connection with Him and pride myself on my belief in Him. And if thou askest Me before He Whom God shall make manifest, by the eternity of God—exalted and glorified be He—I shall declare: He Who hath appeared, before Whom there was no first and after Whom there shall be no last. All are sacrifice unto Him Who hath appeared and all are sacrifice unto Him Who shall appear, for all were created by God, and the manifestation of Divinity appeareth only through Him Who hath appeared or shall appear. Verily, He Who hath appeared is He Who shall appear, and He Who shall appear is He Who hath appeared.

Behold then, O ye who exist, the thrones of the manifestation of God with the eye of oneness, and behold the depths of God’s concealment with the eye of oneness. For God hath ever been one in His Essence, and whatsoever ye have witnessed in the Manifestations of the evidences of the One—God hath created these by His Command. And whatsoever ye witness in the Manifestations of the One—that One doth God create by His Command. Therefore ascribe not to God any portion of His servants, nor attribute to the One that is described as God any numbers from among His creation. For the number of the One is nineteen, and each one is a creation with God, exalted be His glory, and a manifestation of might with God, exalted be His power.

Know ye God in all manifestations and perceive ye God in all concealments. For all your sorrow is in the concealments of God and all your joy in the manifestation of God. How is it that ye lament and weep over the grief of one whom ye love, after this love was created by God’s command within the bounds of physical love, yet when given the love of God, ye weep not nor lament for the days of His manifestation? In concealment ye know not the throne of manifestation, and in manifestation ye know the throne of both concealment and manifestation.

By Him Who split the seed and created the soul, Who is unique in might, supreme in grandeur, exalted in loftiness, manifest in self-subsistence, and sovereign in holiness—were ye to possess the love of God in His concealment, ye would not rest for a moment, and in His manifestation ye would not grieve for a moment, for both of these are beyond the comprehension of those who dive not in the ocean of reality and partake not of the sea of guidance.

Know ye then the measure of the days of God and His manifestation, and prepare yourselves for your sorrow in the concealments of God and the setting of the Sun of His manifestation. Ask ye God and supplicate Him for His manifestation and rising, for verily He, exalted and mighty, heareth who calleth upon Him and answereth who asketh of Him. He hath made the greatest of devotions and the nearest of approaches to be the supplication for manifestation during concealment and the entreaty in concealment for manifestation.

Lo, I am like all the thrones, and soon ye shall not hear the verses of God from My tongue, nor shall ye be able to alter God’s command or His prohibition by His decree. Therefore beseech ye God for His manifestation and seek ye God’s true help in His rising, and preserve ye the religion of God in His concealment. Verily we are God’s and unto Him do we return, and verily we are all for Him Whom God shall make manifest and unto Him shall we all be raised.

Mode of commentary

In the Name of God, the Most Near, the Most Near

Praise be to God, besides Whom there is no God, the Most Near, the Most Near. And verily the Glory from God be upon the Sun of Eternity in every manifestation from the first that hath no first unto the last that hath no last, by whatsoever God hath willed of glory and majesty, and by whatsoever God hath desired of holiness and perfection. I testify, O Mirror of nearness and Crystal of love, that God, glorified be He, hath ever existed without aught existing with Him, and will forever continue to be without aught existing with Him. He hath created all things through His Will, and hath created the Will from naught by its own self. And verily the Will hath appeared in the form of man from the first that hath no first unto the last that hath no last.

It encompasseth the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them through its supreme encompassment. All things have been created through it and are caused by it. Look not upon the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them save through their causation by it, for they were created and emerged from it. It was created by its own self and found shelter in the shadow of its own essence. It began from God, its Lord, and returned unto God, its Creator. This is the meaning of how all multiplicities have appeared from the letter B of Bismillah, from the first atom to the last.

Marvel not at how the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them have emerged from a single form, for aught else is impossible, as the Will hath ever existed in the form of God, which is the form of man. All things were created through it, whether of heaven or earth, mountain or sea, great creation or small. It verily encompasseth all the heavens and all the earth and whatsoever is between them—an encompassment of knowledge and dominion, not of physical embodiment within physical form. Thou seest the air encompassing that form, yet if thou wouldst observe with the eye of truth, thou wouldst see the form encompassing the air and all things, not the air encompassing it. For the air is created like all things—it must needs be created through it, as it is the cause of all things.

God, glorified and exalted be He, hath brought forth all multiplicities from the thrones of the Will in every Manifestation as He pleaseth, just as thou seest how God hath brought forth the entire human lineage from the First Creation through a drop of water. Thus hath God created all things through the Will, and there is no altering the creation of God. When thou hast recognized this essential subtlety and reality—concerning which the Point of the Furqan asked of God, his Lord: “O God! Show me the realities of things as they are”—then bear witness that this Will existeth in the station of all things and in the station of being devoid of all things, in the station before all things and in the station after all things, in the station above all things and in the station below all things.

For these different directions were created through it and were endowed with being through the modes of its revelation. It is more manifest unto itself than the very essence of that thing in its own identity, for the First is a creation created through it, and the Last is a creation created through it, and the Outward is a creation created through it, and the Inward is a creation created through it. And this is the meaning of the words of him who mentioned in the Fava’id that the Primal Will hath heads to the number of all things, and each head is a king, for all things have been created through it. How then could it be created through cause and effect, since the effect doth not indicate the cause?

And the kingship of each rank is according to the existence of that rank, from the first atom to the last atom. When thou hast understood this, then bear witness that the Primal Will, though it be all things, is in itself not from anything; rather, it is the Will of all things through God, not from anything. For example, if thou desirest to comprehend the aspects of the Will, then look at the creation of all things, and if thou desirest to comprehend its names, then look at every Revelation in the Book which God sendeth down upon the throne of the Will.

For instance, in the Qur’an, from the words “Verily I am God, there is no God but Me, the Lord of the worlds”, thou seest from Muhammad to the last mention of the atoms “Verily I am the first of them that worship.” Likewise in every Revelation. Therefore comprehend all things from the dawning of the Will and detach thyself from all else, and hold fast to its most glorious summit.

If thou art journeying in the ocean of Names, thou seest naught in the mirrors of God save Him, and if thou art journeying in the ocean of Will—that is, the first creation—thou findest that in the station of nearness unto God, thy Lord, that nearness is not devoid of two aspects: if it be the Will itself, it in itself cannot be nearer thereby unto God, its Lord, and if it be other than itself, it must needs be created through it. And this is the station of the nearness of the reality of the letter ʿAyn in the Qur’an and the letter Sin in the Bayan—it must needs be created through it. And similarly doth nearness descend to the last atoms of existence.

Therefore thou seest in every Revelation that the dwellers of that Revelation differ, though all hold fast to the Book according to the words of Him Who is made manifest in that Revelation. And the cause of that difference is a reality known to the dwellers of the ocean of truth; none else knoweth it. And now will I lift the veil from thine eyes regarding the Bayan, that thou mayest see all this in its limit in the heights of equilibrium and the summit of perfection, and mayest understand the mystery of the words of the Imam aforetime in the Qur’an: “We cast among you differences.” And it is this: when God manifesteth the Primal Will in that world, it speaketh concerning all things, and at its word concerning each thing, that thing cometh into being.

For example, when it declareth “Verily I am the mirrors of God”, mirrors are created wherein naught is seen save God. Thou seest in the Bayan one who deriveth proof from these words, for his reality was created by that verse, and thou seest one who believeth not in them at the lowest level, and he is justified in the rank of his existence.

And when it declareth “Verily I am the first to prostrate before God”, a reality is created after the pattern of those words, and it deriveth proof in the Bayan accordingly, and seeth above it what it cannot comprehend, for its reality was created beneath its existence.

Therefore these two differ, this one saying to that one “Thou art an extremist”, and that one saying to this one “Thou art a rejecter”—this one deriving proof from the word of God and that one deriving proof from the word of God, and I declare that both of ye speak truly and are justified, on condition that thou sayest not unto him “thou art zealous,” nor he unto thee “thou art a rejecter.” For thou wert created by that verse which none can surpass, while he was created by that verse which perceiveth a station beneath thy being.

If thou art wise, drive not from the gate of God’s bounty one who was created beneath thee, for beneath that are degrees down to the smallest atom, where the Tree of Truth hath said “Verily I am less than an atom.” Such a being must needs be created, and in his station he speaketh truly and is justified, for he was created through that grace. If thou art wise, drive no one from his station, but nurture all in the palm of thy favour. If thou canst cause him to ascend to the most exalted horizon, blessed is he through thee; and if he ascendeth not through thy elevation, draw him near in his station of existence, for he was created by thy Lord—God loveth him and loveth thee. What difference is there between this and an ant? Above them both are their totalities in the sight of God.

This one worshippeth God his Lord, and that one worshippeth God his Lord. This one seeth the two recording angels as God’s glory and describeth God through them, while thou seest knowledge and power as God’s glory and describest God through them. What difference is there between thee and them if thou art discerning, unless thy purpose be other than the good pleasure of God? For what the ant describeth of the recording angels existeth not with God, and what thou describest of knowledge and power existeth not with God, for how can what thou comprehendeth exist with God? Thou and what thou comprehendeth are but created things with God, created by His Will.

God is content with the recording angels whereby the ant describeth God its Lord, for the ant findeth no higher description of God whereby to describe Him. God is content with it through His grace and bounty, though He knoweth He is sanctified and exalted above that. And thou seest not knowledge and power as perfect and independent attributes whereby to describe God thy Lord, yet God in His glory is content with thy description, though He knoweth that none save Him can comprehend His knowledge, and none but He can encompass His power, and that He is sanctified, exalted, transcendent and glorified above all that is created or shall be created.

When thou hast understood the mystery of that Primal Point pervading all things, then in every Dispensation strive to remove differences among the dwellers therein, and nurture each according to what he possesseth, even as God hath ordained for His servants in every Dispensation. For example, in the Dispensation of the Qur’an, Ali said “I am the Living One Who dieth not.” A being was created from the effect of that Essence, believing in it and drawing proof from that statement. One draweth proof from what hath befallen him, which is manifest and hidden from none, and argueth thereby that Muhammad—concerning whom God revealed “Verily thou shalt die and they shall die”—how then could one who said “I am but a servant among His servants” not be subject to this?

This one saith to that one “thou art zealous” and that one saith to this one “thou art cold.” O ye two beloved ones! Differ not, but rather expand the vision of your hearts that ye may comprehend all things in every Dispensation of the Divine Will, lest ye be veiled from aught by aught. Thou speakest truly, and verily He is the Ever-Living Who dieth not, and thou art truthful in that thou seest His seat and witnesseth His passing. Yet be not thou veiled by this, for the station of Him Who said “I am the Ever-Living Who dieth not” is other than that station. That is the station of His mirroring forth God, His Lord, while this station wherein death occurs is the station of His creation that changeth, altereth, dieth, liveth, and is raised up. Both of these, within their respective realms of being, are praiseworthy and beloved. Therefore, differ not, lest a veil descend between you to obscure love.

Rather, O thou who art high above the lowly one, preserve the lowly one through thy wisdom and nurture him as is his due, that thou mayest cause him to ascend, not drive him from the gate of God’s bounty. And thou, O lowly one, marvel not at what God hath created above thee of the lofty one, but be content with the creation of thine essence and with what is created above thee. For God, glorified be He, created a thing and made it a diamond, and created another thing and made it a crystal. Should the crystal say, “O my God, why didst Thou not make me a diamond?” Or should the diamond say, “O my God, why didst Thou not make me a crystal?” Both within their realms of being give thanks to their Creator, for He Who created them seeth best. He createth what He willeth as He willeth. He shall not be questioned about what He doeth, but all shall be questioned about all things.

Therefore, multiply in all things these two examples infinitely by infinity, and trace all differences back to the Manifestation of the Divine Will. Yet understand thou its highest form as the First Creation through which and under which all was created. Beneath that rank are degrees which none can reckon save God. All, according to the measure that God hath revealed unto them through themselves, know God their Lord and then profess His unity.

Therefore differ not ever regarding any Manifestation, but look with this same eye in every Manifestation and nurture all the dwellers of that Manifestation with this same eye. For this was the way of those who came before you, such as Ali who knew the station of Salman and Abu Dharr, and spoke of both with truth and loved both, even after saying that if this one knew what was in that one’s heart, he would not be content as he would not be for any other believer. And likewise did the Imam Rida, peace be upon him, when the people of Qum presented themselves to him, inform them about the companions of Yunus, for these ones in their rank of existence were right, and Yunus in the loftiness of his rank was right before his Lord’s proof which is with God, glorified be He.

O people of the Bayan! Don ye the shirt of wisdom! O people of the Bayan! Put on the robe of unity! For differences in your ranks return unto Him Whom God shall make manifest in such wise as to grieve Him. Therefore, fear ye God and differ not in any command or prohibition. If ye witness differences in words, assign to each its proper rank, for ye, in what ye receive, are right if ye fear God therein, are sincere, desire the exaltation of God’s religion and the inaccessibility of God’s remembrance, and in your deeds seek naught save the good-pleasure of Him Whom God shall make manifest. Act not upon mere fancy, for the name of the lamp doth not illumine, and the name of water doth not quench thirst.

Comprehend ye the meanings, for names have been created for them, and all the meanings of the names of God pertain to Him Whom God shall make manifest. Therefore must ye understand Him and watch for the days of His Manifestation, and ponder upon the appearance of the Point of the Bayan and what hath been ordained for Him, that perchance ye may be ashamed and not be veiled from your own selves.

For verily the glory of creation lieth in its learned ones, and the glory of the learned is in their knowledge of Him Whom God shall make manifest and His commandments and prohibitions. And the glory of knowledge concerning Him Whom God shall make manifest lieth in acting in accordance with that knowledge. How many are the servants who have been given knowledge, yet profit not from their knowledge since they act not upon it! Therefore must ye join your knowledge with your deeds, that in every Revelation ye may attain, through knowledge of God’s good-pleasure, both understanding and certitude, and act accordingly.

Perisan mode

In the name of God, the Most Near, the Most Near

All praise, exaltation and glorification beseemeth the Ever-Abiding Beloved Who, from a beginning that hath no beginning, hath existed through the independence and majesty of His own sacred Essence, and unto an end that hath no end, hath been exalted through the inaccessibility and sanctity of His own Being. He hath been sanctified above all that hath been created and exalted above all that shall be created, transcendent above the description of all contingent things and manifest above all atoms.

No thing hath truly known Him as He deserveth to be known, and no thing hath truly praised Him as He deserveth to be praised, though all things, to the extent possible in the realm of contingency, have known Him, and all that can be conceived in creation have worshipped Him and shall continue to do so. Yet this is but the capacity of contingent beings, not what His sacred Essence deserveth. He is far more glorious and inaccessible than that the worship of all contingent things should be associated with Him or that the knowledge of all created things should be linked to His being known. How transcendent is His holy exaltation, that all atoms from the beginning that hath no beginning unto the end that hath no end have prostrated before Him!

How manifest is the elevation of His glory, that all things from the beginning that hath no beginning unto the end that hath no end have worshipped Him! For there hath been no God but Him worthy of worship, and no Lord but Him deserving of praise, knowledge, worship and certitude. Incomparable praise beseemeth Him, for He hath brought all contingent things into being from nothing through His Will, that they might attain to the summit of His love and the path of His knowledge. Never hath there been any occasion when He established, of His own accord, such a proof over His creation that any soul might say what the divine good-pleasure is today or shall be.

From the beginning that hath no beginning He hath created all things through His Primal Will, and unto the end that hath no end He shall create all things through His Primal Will. The Primal Will may be likened unto the sun: though it should rise and set infinitely, it would not become multiple. Likewise, though the Primal Will should appear in this world infinitely, it hath ever been and shall ever be the proof of God, and that which is manifest therein doth not change, even though its outward forms may change. Thus from the beginning that hath no beginning until today, the tradition of the outward forms of the Manifestation of God hath been that in every Revelation He hath appeared with a name, and God, glorified and exalted be He, hath been the Source thereof.

They stand through God and all stand through Them. No duality is seen in Them; rather, in all things the unity is manifest. Consider that no Messenger hath come who summoned the people to anyone other than God, glorified and exalted be He, for in Them there hath been no manifest or hidden, no first or last.

For example, one Manifestation with the name of Noah, one with the name of Abraham, one with the name of Moses, one with the name of Jesus, one with the name of Muhammad, and one with the name of Him Whom God shall make manifest, and My manifestation in the name of Him Whom God shall make manifest, and My manifestation in the name of Him Whom God shall make manifest, and My manifestation in the name of Him Whom God shall make manifest with the eye of truth, and see Him Whom God shall make manifest as He Who has been made manifest, that thou mayest not remain veiled in any Revelation. And see the Book of Him Who shall be made manifest as the Book of Him Who has been made manifest, that thou mayest not be veiled from His divine commandments and prohibitions in any Revelation.

For example, had the dwellers in the Dispensation of Jesus beheld the Apostle of God with the eye of Jesus, they would have recognized none other than Him, and would have seen the followers of the Apostle of God exactly as the followers of Jesus, and not one of the dwellers in that Revelation would have remained veiled in this Revelation. Likewise observe from before Jesus unto the beginning that hath no beginning, and similarly after Muhammad unto the end that hath no end.

In every Revelation, open thine eye of truth that thou mayest not be confounded by the differences of that Revelation, and behold all Revelations with the gaze of oneness, and see everything in its proper place that thou mayest perceive no contradiction in that Revelation. Then shalt thou see the Path of God in every Revelation broader than the heaven that hath no beginning unto the earth that hath no end.

God, exalted and glorified be He, hath designated the heaven of names as “Ghiyath” and the earth of names as “Dhikhar,” for He hath not revealed any name greater in number than “Ghiyath,” and after it “Dhikhar,” having reduced from the earth to heaven the numerical value of “Ya,” thereby making heaven dominant over earth. And in the essences of heaven and earth He hath established His love and affection, such that neither could exist without the other.

Likewise behold the spirit of all things in the station of names, and see the names as proofs of God, for naught is manifest in names except their Named One, and the Named One of all names hath ever been, and will ever be, One—not one in number but one in essence. Consider each name as a mirror placed before the Sun, reflecting its light. For example, in every Revelation when the Tree of Truth is made manifest, each of its attributes becometh a creation, and that creation becometh a mirror reflecting that attribute, while the essence of all names hath ever been, and will ever be, in the Named One Himself, and naught is manifest in names except the Named One.

Worship not the name apart from the Named One, lest thou enter the realm of polytheism, and worship not the name without the Named One, lest thou enter the realm of negation. Rather, worship God, for all these names are His names, and all indicate Him, and He is One, One, with no partner. When thou considerest the eternal glory and ancient sanctity in every Revelation, looking at the proofs of that Revelation wherein the capacity for names hath become manifest—is aught seen in them other than He Who is made manifest in that Revelation? There is no doubt that in the creation of the Gospel none is manifest save Jesus, for He was the source of all.

And in the creation of the Furqan none save Muhammad, and in the creation of the Bayan none save the Point of the Bayan, and in the creation of Him Whom God shall make manifest none save Him Whom God shall make manifest, and thus unto an end that hath no end. And since in the Divine Throne none is manifest in the Revelation save God, therefore the object of all names hath ever been, and shall forever be, one in essence. Yet be not veiled from this subtle truth: that the object of each name, in its own station, is that name, though all exist through God and from God. For example, the name “the Compeller”—the object of compulsion is in this name, yet naught is seen therein save God, for its object in that station is but a mirror that reflecteth naught but God. Thus mayest thou observe all names, and see the object of each name in its own station, beholding all names with their objects as existing through God, from God, in God, and unto God.

Yet thou canst not witness this truth except by beholding, in every Revelation, all the proofs of that Revelation beneath the Tree of Truth. For instance, in the Revelation of Him Whom God shall make manifest, one giveth water—his reality is a mirror wherein “He is the Water-Giver” is reflected. Another forbiddeth—his reality is a mirror reflecting “He is the Forbidder.” Another bestoweth—his reality is a mirror wherein “He is the Bestower” is reflected. Apply this divine subtlety and heavenly mystery to all names and attributes.

Strive thou in every Revelation to be counted among the proofs manifested in that Revelation, that thou mayest be numbered among the proofs of both Command and Creation. For if thou remainest behind, or wert among the proofs of a former Revelation, thou wouldst become as nothing. Witness how in every Revelation many manifestations of divine action appeared, yet in the subsequent Revelation, having failed to take shelter beneath its shade, their deeds were no longer ascribed to God and they all became less than nothing.

In every Revelation, first strive to gain insight through its proof, and set not the proof according to thy desire. Rather, be content with what God hath ordained. For if thou settest it according to thy desire, thy case will be like that of former peoples, and thou shalt remain veiled at the outset of the Revelation. Know that thy faith, which is a branch of entering the religion, is for God’s good-pleasure. How then can the cause of thy entering the religion be thy desire rather than what the Ever-Living, Death-less God hath willed and ordained? Behold how subtle and delicate is this matter, that all desire to enter the religion for the pleasure of God, yet establish their own preferences as the means of entry into the Faith.

In every Dispensation, this very tendency has been and continues to be the cause of stumbling for the followers of the previous Dispensation. For had the people of Moses witnessed the miracles of Moses with Jesus, none would have been veiled, and likewise had the people of Jesus witnessed the same with the Apostle of God, not a single Christian would have remained veiled. Observe this pattern in every Dispensation and consider what constitutes the essence of religion—has it been or is it aught else save the good-pleasure of God? Yet in each Dispensation they seek to be satisfied according to their own pleasure or that of others.

Know thou that the proof from God in every Dispensation has been and is complete and perfect, and that divine proof must render all unable to produce its like, that the power of Him Who appears in that Dispensation might be established. Having understood this, be thou content in every Dispensation, be it one or infinite, and question not the how and wherefore. Whatsoever appears, see it as manifest from God, and observe all that appears with the eye of oneness, not of multiplicity. Judge each thing in its own sphere, that thou mayest perceive no contradiction, either in the Manifestation itself or in its inner meanings.

Observe how in every Dispensation the followers create divisions, and the source of all division lies in the very revelations that proceed from Him Who is the Author of that Dispensation. Each one follows one manifestation while remaining veiled from others. Thus does division occur in every Dispensation, although God has never in any Dispensation enjoined aught save unity and love, and has commanded all to be united and loving. For when thou createst division in this Dispensation, its fruit returns unto God in another Dispensation in a manner more grievous before God than thine own deed. Better would it have been hadst thou remained utterly unlearned than to have become learned and created division, for the harm thereof affects the faithful in the next Revelation.

Consider how many sects arose in the Dispensation of the Gospel, and how this very fact veiled them from believing in the Apostle of God, even though seventy Christian divines embraced His Faith in the time of His Revelation. Had all been united in their understanding of the Gospel, all would have believed even as those seventy believed. What caused this save the divisions that had arisen among them—not divisions for God’s sake, but because each claimed the truth was with him alone. Each created his own kind of division, his brief life passed away, he became dust, and the fruits of his actions remained, returning unto God in the day of the Revelation of the Apostle of God. Consider now what benefit such difference hath yielded.

Likewise consider the Qur’an and how much dissension arose concerning it. At the first appearance of the Point of the Bayan, one group from among these sects proclaimed their faith, while others remained veiled by reason of saying “We follow a different path.” And so animal-like are they that they fail to understand that in every Revelation these differences return to the Revelation itself. As soon as the Revealer appears, all differences are presented before Him, and the relation of all to Him is equal—was and ever shall be. Whatsoever He ordaineth becometh realized in truth, and whatsoever He forbiddeth becometh manifestly untrue.

The people of the most exalted paradise have followed their religion with certitude, and for this reason were outwardly guided in that Revelation, while the rest, since their path was other than knowledge and certitude, remained veiled and were deprived of that for which they were created. Had all followed this path, all would have attained the honor of guidance.

Now in every Revelation, if the learned ones would strive to prevent differences from arising—or if differences do arise, since they possess no inner comprehension to observe each thing in its proper place—they should, through divine wisdom and heavenly subtlety, resolve such differences, rejecting none but assigning to each a suitable station in existence, so that all may be educated in one way until the next Revelation. Perchance in that Revelation all shall be illumined by the light of guidance, for this hath been the most excellent of all deeds in every Revelation. This does not mean that the Cause of God differeth, or that truth exceedeth that single measure. For example, consider in the Revelation of the Qur’an: the divine decree was that Friday prayers were obligatory.

Now this was God’s decree until the next Resurrection, and those who ruled otherwise remained veiled from the decree of that Revelation. The proof lieth with those who acted upon their knowledge of its obligation, and where prohibition existed, it was due to prudential concealment (taqiyyih), not that the decree differed. Rather, the circumstance differed, making the decree appear different, while Friday prayers remained valid in their proper place and prudential concealment in its place.

Behold how many deeds were revealed concerning the excellence of Friday eve and day. And Friday was not called Friday except that it is a mirror reflecting the station of the Most Great Synthesis (jam’ al-jam’), which is the station of the Primal Point, wherein the First Living One was and is treasured. Yet all become cognizant of the Command of God through the verse indicating Him, while remaining unaware and unconscious of that for which Friday was created. Such is the limit of creation in every Revelation. And thou who art in the Bayan, be not proud of thy knowledge and deeds, for thy test shall come in the Day of Him Whom God shall make manifest. If on that Day thou attainest salvation through faith in Him, then soar on the wings of faith in Him rather than faith in thyself.

Otherwise, if thou art learned, thou shalt be as one of the learned among the Christians, and if unlearned, like unto one of their common folk. Indeed, as there is an interval between Manifestations, thy station becometh more remote. But shouldst thou gain insight, and be guided aright, thou wouldst draw nigh beyond measure. No blessing hath there been, nor shall there be, like unto this: that in each Revelation a servant should outwardly be guided by that Revelation, while inwardly beholding with the eye of unity all multiplicities, and in each subsequent Revelation being guided at the time of its appearance. Otherwise, he goeth where the Arab hath cast his spear, even though he be among the most pious of that Revelation’s followers.

Save thyself through the reason and understanding which God hath created within thee, for this is glory and naught else. None can inform thee like unto God, and God is the best Guide and Guardian.

16. Al-a’lam—Lawh-i-Hurufat

Mode of verses

In the name of God, the Most Knowing, the Most Knowing

By God, by God! Know thou that verily I am God, there is no God but Me. I have been, from a beginning that hath no beginning, an All-Knowing, All-Powerful One. Verily I am God, there is no God but Me. I shall be, unto an end that hath no end, an All-Knowing, All-Powerful One. Nay, O God! There is no God but Thee. Thou hast been, from a beginning that hath no beginning, an All-Knowing, All-Powerful One. Nay, O God! There is no God but Thee. Thou shalt be, unto an end that hath no end, an All-Knowing, All-Powerful One.

Verily I am God, there is no God but Me. I have created the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them through My command “Be!” and it is. And I created the letters and made them the keys to all knowledge from Our presence, for We have power over all things. O all things! Reflect ye, from the mention of the Most High to the lowest atom, that ye all shall witness these things in the twenty-eight letters, even as ye have witnessed all letters within them. Thus shall ye witness all the spirits of the letters within their spirits, for We are cognizant of all things.

Verily I am God, there is no God but Me. From a beginning that hath no beginning, I created the essence of an adorned and hidden knowledge, and I treasured it within the veils of the unseen from a beginning that hath no beginning until now, as a glory from Our presence, for We are the Glorifiers. And We saw no servants upon whom We could send down that knowledge, and We kept it concealed with Us until now as a protection from Our presence, for We are the Protectors of all things.

But We have taught the Thrones of Truth and the First Living One in every Dispensation, and We commanded them to conceal it. But now, when We behold in this Resurrection all names drawing proof from Us, We have willed to bestow that knowledge upon them as a bounty from Our presence, for We are the Bountiful. This is a knowledge whereby ye may ascertain through the letters that all is in the First Living One and then the numbers of the Living One in the Primal Point, and ye shall derive all things as guides to the Unity.

This is an explanation of what the ancients have said—all that was created and shall be created in the Furqan—and all this terminateth in the first line which We have sent down upon the Letters of Unity. Ye were not given this knowledge before this, nor were ye witnesses thereof, save what ye have interpreted through what ye have perceived without proof. Ye can derive and explain thereby to all who desire to learn from the Book of God. But God shall now teach you through what He revealeth unto the Point of the Bayan, as a glory from God unto those who shall believe in Him Whom God Shall Make Manifest on the Day of Resurrection.

Had God not willed that He Whom God Shall Make Manifest and then the Letters of the Living in the next Resurrection should bear witness to this, God would not have sent down this knowledge. But ye shall give thanks before God on the day of His manifestation. This is a knowledge with God, than which there is no greater glory without limit, and ye shall witness it. Therefore observe ye in the letters that they are all twenty-eight letters without repetition or attribute, and write this in a line, then from these letters derive ye their points, that you may learn. Write in another line the numerical values of the first line according to the number of the Unique One, that you may be assured. Then write in another line according to the number of the Beloved One, that you may be certain.

Then inscribe the mathematical values of these letters in the form of similar patterns in nine lines, not exceeding the numerical value of “the One Who Calls for Help,” for We have not revealed in Our names any number greater than that. This is a name specifically related to names through numerical geometry which you should preserve as a standard in that knowledge. When you write the similar Alifs, you shall witness thirty-two thousand therein. This is the key to the knowledge of letters for those who were given it before and those who shall be given it afterward. In the fourth line with similar Ba’s, you shall witness the number of the Exalted One. In the fifth line with similar Jims, you shall witness the number of God.

Make these lines the five lines of the First Temple, then you shall derive the Vav of that Ha. Write in the sixth line the similar Dals, and you shall witness the number of Mim and Ha. In the seventh line write the similar Ha’s, then witness the number of Sin therein. In the eighth line inscribe the similar Vavs, then witness the number of “the Expander” therein. In the ninth line write the similar Za’s, then witness the number of “the Restrainer.” In the tenth line write the similar Ha’s, then witness the number of kings. In the eleventh line witness the similar Ta’s, then after writing observe the number of the name of Truth therein. Make the lines of Ha the exterior of the First Temple, and the lines of Vav its interior. This is the essence of all temples by which all are created.

This is one above the number of all that begins there and all that is worshipped there. Thus you shall witness the creation of all things in letters, then witness the pure letters in those ranks, then witness those ranks in the First Temple. It is remembered from God that there is no God but Me, and from the atoms that I am the first of the worshippers. Therefore it is impossible for God to create a temple like this, as all witness what God has testified to Himself. He created that Temple from the One without number—in all names you witness the name of “the Proud One.” Upon this God has revealed the disconnected letters before in the Qur’an.

When you calculate without their repetition, you witness the name of “the Proud One” with the Alif and Lam, as that was the temple of Muhammad before the Point of the Qur’an, if you would reflect upon it. God created the temples of the Living One through that Temple—you calculate the second temple in a single temple as equal to two First Temples, and in the third as equal to three First Temples, continuing thus until you reach the number of Unity.

We have placed the First Temple on Alif, the second on Ba, the third on Jim, the fourth on Dal, the fifth on Ha, the sixth on Vav, the seventh on Za, the eighth on Ha, the ninth on Ta, the tenth on Ya, then the eleventh upon the Alif and Ya, then the twelfth upon the Ya and Ya, then the thirteenth upon the Jim and Ya, then the fourteenth upon the Dal and Ya, then the fifteenth upon the Ha and Ya, then the sixteenth upon the Vav and Ya, then the seventeenth upon the Ra and Ya, then the eighteenth upon the Kha and Ya, then the nineteenth upon the Ta and Ya, that ye might discover what We have sent down. Thus do ye witness the form of all numbers in the final temple.

This is what We have mentioned concerning what was ordained in the years of the Furqan in every number, and what was deposited within a single letter from among the letters of the first Vahid, that ye who are in the Bayan might watch until God shall make manifest the Manifestation of His Self. Ye, the people of the Bayan, shall reckon according to what God willeth. And verily the temples of the Living One, despite their numerous quantities, have taken shelter beneath the shade of the first temple, for in them ye witness oneness in number, while in the first ye witness oneness without number. This is what We have intended for the entire Bayan in the first Vahid, if ye would but perceive.

We have taught you this knowledge that ye might become proficient in this science of letters, that ye might witness and then perceive. And ye shall reckon the name of Him Who Crieth Out for Help with the Alif and Lam by what ye add unto the final temple from the number of splendor. Ye shall perceive the beginning of the temples in the number of splendor. And what decreaseth from the final temple from the name of the eleventh from the number of splendor—that is what God hath created thereby of the lines of the Vav and Ha. Say: All are from God and all shall return unto Him. Say: All shall return unto Him Whom God shall make manifest and all are created by God’s command from His presence. And ye shall guard yourselves with the temples of the Vahid even as We have sent down.

For this is an explanation of what ye have heard aforetime in the Furqan concerning the Most Great Name, would that ye might know and be assured.

The first line in letters: A B J V H V Z H T Y K L M N S ʿ F S Q R Sh T Th Kh Dh D Z Gh Vahid 28

The second line in corresponding points: ones 9 tens 18 hundreds 27 thousands 4 Beloved 58

The third line in corresponding throws: 1111 1110 1101 1100 1011 1010 1001 1000 1001 111 110 101 100 11 10 1 Manual 32

The fourth line in corresponding doubles: 2022 2020 2002 2000 222 202 200 22 20 2 Portion 40

The fifth line in similar Jims: 333 330 303 300 33 30 3 Allah 36

The sixth line in similar Dals: 444 440 404 400 44 40 4 Ayyub 48

The seventh line in similar Has: 555 550 500 55 50 5 Duwwayyim 60

The eighth line in similar Waws: 666 660 606 600 66 60 6 Bisat 73

The ninth line in similar Zas: 777 770 707 700 77 70 7 ʿAziz 84

The tenth line in similar Has: 888 880 808 800 88 80 8 Muluk 96

The eleventh line in similar Tas: 999 990 909 900 99 90 9 Haqq 108

The sum of the numerical values of the resplendent Names is the Name Al-Mutakabbir 662

This is the form of the first temple, which We have computed according to the number alif’, that ye may preserve it. Then the second temple shall be computed according to the number ba’, then in the third according to the number jim’, then in the fourth according to the number dal’, then in the fifth according to the number ʿha’, until ye arrive at the number of the Unity. Ye cannot enter into the ocean of divine favors, for the number of names is cut off at the number of Unity, if ye will but compute. Thus have We shown you the creation of all things in the temples of Unity, then the numbers of Unity within Unity, that ye may believe in and be assured of Him Whom God shall make manifest on the Day of Resurrection. Verily this knowledge is a sign from God to all the worlds.

Had God not made the proof of the Point of the Bayan other than this knowledge whereby He might guide all the worlds and suffice all, if ye would but ponder a little thereon and behold it, then ye would observe the fruit of this knowledge and act according to it. Otherwise your knowledge thereof would profit you not if ye would but perceive a little. God hath sent down this knowledge that ye may be assured that the whole of the Bayan is the essence of the first temple, and even as ye glorify the Bayan, so should ye glorify Him unto Whom the whole Bayan returneth.

Consider how God hath manifested the whole Bayan from a single Soul, and God desireth that all should return to the single Soul, that ye, O people of the Bayan, may return unto Him Whom God shall make manifest, and be not veiled from the Primal Life, for when the First Unity is revealed unto all things, the temples of Life are revealed in the ocean of names, and beyond this ye cannot perceive, for in the number of Unity naught can be seen save the First Unity, if ye would but behold. Be not veiled from the numbers of the temples by the abstraction of the first temple, for all subsist through it. Observe ye the number of the name the King’, then the name the Sower’, then likewise shall ye derive knowledge.

This, despite its multiplicity of number, is one in the kingdom of dominion, and likewise in what We have created shall ye perceive. But ye should observe that the temple of Ali, despite its four aspects, though it was created through Muhammad the Apostle of God, yet did it possess what God had sent down upon the first temple in the Furqan, then after the second temple in the third like unto the second, then unto Unity shall ye likewise judge. Though numbers were multiplied in the last of the Gates, yet doth he desire naught save what hath been ordained from the presence of the first temple. How could it be otherwise when they behold him, and he is the most humble of the humble before him?

Therefore exalt ye this knowledge, then through it shall ye witness the fruits of all things in the First Unity. All have been created according to their creation, and in every temple the numbers of all those temples have been ordained that they may believe in and be assured of them on the Day of God’s Manifestation. Compare ye such creation to mirrors before the sun, and compare ye the first temple to the Sun of the temples, all receiving illumination therefrom and being guided thereby, for the First Living Ones in the first creation are guided by proofs, and God hath created all things and all are dependent upon Him, that they may be guided to the truth that there is no God but Him, the Protector, the Self-Subsisting.

Therefore, exalt this knowledge above all things, for verily through it ye shall be exalted.

Verily, the first that We fashioned and created was the Temple of the Letter Ha, and We reckoned all the letters and their numbers within that Temple as a bounty from Our presence, We the Bountiful Ones. Then We desired to bestow favor upon the Temples of the Living Ones, whereupon We fashioned them and revealed their names, and lo, all stand through God.

Recite ye each day eleven from the Temple, then complete it in the month, then begin anew in the following month, that perchance on the Day of Resurrection ye may believe and be assured in the manner of your circling around the Unity by Unity.

God hath distinguished the Point of the Bayan through verses and through this knowledge, and verily these are the greatest proof from God unto all the worlds, would ye but reflect upon them both. All are powerless before the first, and none can comprehend the second save after We have revealed it in the Book. Verily, ye shall know thereafter what God hath taught you.

When your children reach the age of eleven years, teach them this knowledge as a bounty from God unto them, that they may be thankful. And write ye the Temples of Unity and protect through it whatsoever ye love—all this being eleven units from the Names which ye shall write in nineteen Temples as ye desire and wish. And be ye assured that all began from the First Temple and unto it shall all return.

Mode of prayers

In the name of God, the Most Knowing, the Most Knowing

Glory be unto Thee, O my God! I and all things bear witness that Thou art God, that there is no God but Thee, the One, the Peerless. Thou hast existed from the beginning that hath no beginning, before all things, and Thou shalt exist unto the end that hath no end, after all things, in the exaltation of Thy unity and the sublimity of Thy sanctity. If I describe Thee by Thy names, verily Thou art sanctified above them. If I characterize Thee by Thy attributes, verily Thou art exalted above them. If I praise Thee through Thy manifestations, verily Thou art transcendent above them.

Thou hast caused me and all things to witness, in the height of knowing Thee and the summit of loving Thee, that all names and attributes are signs of the sovereignty of Thy oneness and tokens of the dominion of Thy singleness.

Glorified and exalted art Thou! If I say Thou art One, verily Thou art the Unifier of the unified, not from any one. If I say Thou art the All-Knowing, verily Thou art the Teacher of the learned, not from any knower. If I say Thou art the All-Powerful, verily Thou art the Ordainer of all power, not from any powerful one. If I say Thou art the Ancient, verily Thou art the Originator of all ancientness, not from any ancient one. If I say Thou art the Eternal, verily Thou art the Cause of all eternity, not from any eternal one.

In the most glorious degrees of my unity, O my God, I sanctify Thee beyond the mention of sanctity, exalt Thee beyond the mention of exaltation, glorify Thee beyond the mention of glory, elevate Thee beyond the mention of elevation, and affirm Thy oneness beyond the mention of divinity. Holy art Thou, holy art Thou, holy art Thou, holy art Thou!

In the highest degrees of my unity, I describe Thee by all Thy names and call upon Thee by all Thy attributes, being certain that these are like mirrors before the Sun of Thy countenance and like crystals before the manifestation of Thy Face. Thus do I declare: Thou art God, the One, the Single, the Unique, the Self-Subsisting, the Ever-Living, the Self-Sustaining, the Eternal, the Independent. Thou begettest not, nor art Thou begotten, and there is none like unto Thee, nor equal, nor similar, nor companion, nor likeness. Unto Thee belong all the most beautiful names, from the name of Thy sovereignty to the name of Thy creation.

Thou art the Manifest in all mirrors—there is no God but Thee. Thou art the Hidden in all mirrors—there is no God but Thee. Thou art the First in all mirrors—there is no God but Thee. Thou art the Last in all mirrors—there is no God but Thee. Glory be unto Thee, glory be unto Thee beyond the mention of outwardness and inwardness! Sanctified art Thou, sanctified art Thou beyond the mention of firstness and lastness! Exalted art Thou, exalted art Thou beyond the mention of names and attributes! Elevated art Thou, elevated art Thou beyond the mention of limitation and eternity!

How exalted is Thy might, O my God, and how glorious is Thy majesty, O my Beloved! Thou hast ever existed in the glory of eternity, transcendent above all names and likenesses, and sanctified beyond all similitudes and forms. Thou shalt ever be described by all the most beautiful names, characterized by all the most sublime attributes, renowned through all Thy supreme manifestations, and known through all Thy ultimate signs. At the time when Thou wert sanctified beyond all names, all names called upon Thee, and all circled around Thy Will. At the time when Thou wert exalted above all likenesses, all likenesses sought shelter in the shadow of Thy likeness.

Even as Thou hast favored me, O my God, with Thy hidden knowledge, Thou hast favored me with this degree in the knowledge of unity, glory be unto it! Verily, Thou art the All-Knowing, that I may know Thee in the most glorious degrees of knowledge through Thy sanctification and Thy transcendence above all names and attributes, and in the highest degrees of knowing Thee, I describe Thee by all Thy most beautiful, inaccessible Names and Thy most exalted, sublime similitudes.

Glorified art Thou, glorified art Thou! Thou hast created all things from nothing and subjected all of that within the twenty-eight letters. Then Thou hast subjected those letters through similar letters of their kind in nine ranks. Then Thou added to them geometric points, then the letters themselves, and made their ranks eleven degrees, and made all these ranks the temple of the First Creation and the Primal Remembrance from Thy presence. Thus hast Thou made this a complete whole without anything being diminished from it, nor anything reduced from its full measure.

Glorified art Thou, glorified art Thou! How wondrous is Thy subtle handiwork and how subtle is Thy resplendent Command! Praise be unto Thee for having favored me with this knowledge, whereby through this knowledge Thou hast shown me conclusive proof and decisive evidence that Thou hast brought forth all things from a single point. Were I to make this my proof for all that Thou hast created and wilt create, by Thy might, I would surely prove it for all things and prevail thereby over all things, for this is from Thy knowledge which was treasured and hidden with Thee, unrevealed from the beginning that hath no beginning until now. Thou hast favored me with it and desired that the fruit thereof should return to Him Whom Thou shalt make manifest on the Day of Resurrection through Thy power.

Then Thou didst bring down the degrees of numbers until Thou didst end with the number one, and didst create thereby the temples of the Living, for above that no creation is possible, as Thou hast not revealed in the names any number greater than Thy Name “the One Who is Invoked for Help.” On this basis the reckoning ended at nineteen temples, whereby Thou didst make from it the number of the first Unity, and made the first Unity a unity without number. For in the first temple numbers are cast upon the first, then in the second upon the second, then in the third upon the third, then in the fourth upon the fourth, then in the fifth upon the fifth—and on this basis hast Thou apportioned the inheritances and decreed for whomsoever Thou didst wish among the people of the appointed times.

Glorified art Thou, glorified art Thou!

Then in the sixth by the sixth, then in the seventh by the seventh, then in the eighth by the eighth, then in the ninth by the ninth, then in the tenth by the tenth, then in the eleventh by the eleventh, then in the twelfth by the twelfth, then in the thirteenth by the thirteenth, then in the fourteenth by the fourteenth, then in the fifteenth by the fifteenth, then in the sixteenth by the sixteenth, then in the seventeenth by the seventeenth, then in the eighteenth by the eighteenth, then in the nineteenth by the nineteenth, and thus have I made the entire Bayan to be of the number of the Unity, and I have ordained whatsoever was revealed in the Bayan according to the number of Unity, and I desired that all should be fashioned after the example of that Unity, as though I behold with Mine own eyes on the Day of Him Whom God shall make manifest, and before that, all who are raised up in the Bayan with sovereignty and power choose for themselves the number of the Living Ones as an example of those Living Ones and delegate the affairs of the kingdoms unto them, not exceeding their numbers.

Therefore guide them unto the Manifestation of Thine Own Self after they have been created for Him, and exalt, O my God, that Knowledge through Thy might, and abase, O my God, through Thy command, whoso exalteth not that Knowledge, and teach, O my God, this unto all whom Thou hast chosen from among Thy creation, and manifest, O my God, from His presence the fruit of that which Thou hast graciously bestowed of knowledge, for how many are the servants whom Thou hast given knowledge but not deeds, and they profit not from their knowledge, and how many are the servants whom Thou hast given deeds but not knowledge, and they glory not in their deeds.

Therefore unite, O my God, between knowledge and deeds in all that Thou hast created, for Thou hast never ceased, O my God, to be independent of all things and self-sufficient above all things, and all are Thy poor ones and Thy servants.

If Thou shouldst cause all to enter Thy paradise, who could prevent Thee, O my God? For verily Thou art possessed of great bounty. And if Thou shouldst cause all to enter into Thy fire, who could prevent Thee from that? For verily Thou art possessed of supreme justice. Deal not with us, O my God, except through Thy grace, nor with any in the Bayan, Thy loved ones, except through Thy grace, nor with any who love Him Whom God shall make manifest except through Thy grace, for before Thy justice nothing can stand, while through Thy grace all things are made right.

Therefore I beseech Thee, O my God, by the knowledge which Thou hast treasured in the veils of Thy mystery and concealed in the pavilions of Thy custody, then by Thy power through which Thou hast extended over all things, and prevailed over all things, and dominated all things, and demonstrated power over all things, and accomplished whatsoever Thou hast willed, that Thou send Thy blessings upon the Temple of Unity through all Thy Godhead and Thy Lordship and Thy Glory and Thy Might and Thy Loftiness and Thy Sovereignty and Thy Knowledge and Thy Power and Thy Splendor and Thy Grandeur and Thy Riches and the good-pleasure of Thy Oneness, then by whatsoever Thy knowledge hath encompassed of all good, for Thou hast never ceased to be possessed of beautiful names most great and sublime examples most glorious, then upon the Second Temple and upon the Most Glorious Temple after Him, through whatsoever Thy knowledge hath encompassed of all good, for Thou hast never ceased to be possessed of manifest words, firm Verses, conclusive proofs, decisive evidences, firm demonstrations, exalted manifestations, sublime mysteries, pure essences, ethereal realities, essential natures, abstract beings of camphor-like purity, sublime stations, and perfect geometries.

Therefore, O my God, fill with the First Unity Thy kingdom of heaven and earth and whatsoever is between them, through the sovereignty of Thy Oneness, the dominion of Thy Singleness, the splendor of Thy Glory, the majesty of Thy Grandeur, the beauty of Thy Comeliness, the greatness of Thy Magnitude, the light of Thy Luminosity, the justice of Thy Equity, the grace of Thy Bounty, the might of Thy Power, the depth of Thy Profundity, the perfection of Thy Excellence, the completeness of Thy Consummation, the mercy of Thy Compassion, the knowledge of Thy Omniscience, the power of Thy Omnipotence, the joy of Thy Gladness, the pleasure of Thy Good-pleasure, the tranquility of Thy Serenity, the loftiness of Thy Transcendence, the ardor of Thy Love, the nobility of Thy Honor, the divinity of Thy Godhead, the lordship of Thy Dominion, the unity of Thy Oneness, the singularity of Thy Uniqueness, the life of Thy Vitality, the permanence of Thy Subsistence, the beauty of Thy Comeliness, the eternity of Thy Pre-existence, the nearness of Thy Proximity, the individuality of Thy Singularity, the everlastingness of Thy Eternity, the independence of Thy Self-Subsistence, the praise of Thy Laudation, the holiness of Thy Sanctity, the exaltation of Thy Sublimity, the elevation of Thy Loftiness, the generosity of Thy Munificence, the nobility of Thy Grace, the bounty of Thy Bestowal, the inwardness of Thy Concealment, the outwardness of Thy Manifestation, the might of Thy Dominion, the uniqueness of Thy Singularity, the gentleness of Thy Tenderness, the severity of Thy Sternness, the lordship of Thy Sovereignty, the victory of Thy Triumph, the generosity of Thy Munificence, the nobility of Thy Excellence, the intimacy of Thy Companionship, the exaltation of Thy Transcendence, and whatsoever Thou art in Thy most excellent and sublime Names and Thy most exalted and glorious Examples. For verily, O my God, Thou hast ever been engaged in a new creation, a fresh making, a recent origination, and a subtle invention.

Therefore, O my God, cause the dwellers of the Bayan to recognize the Manifestation of Thy Self, and then the proofs of His appearance; the appearance of the Manifestation of Thy Self, and then the proofs of His appearance; the appearance of the Manifestation of Thy Self, and then the proofs of His appearance; the appearance of the Manifestation of Thy Self, and then the proofs of His appearance; the appearance of the Manifestation of Thy Self, and then the proofs of His appearance; the appearance of the Manifestation of Thy Self, and then the proofs of His appearance; the appearance of the Manifestation of Thy Self, and then the proofs of His appearance; the appearance of the Manifestation of Thy Self, and then the proofs of His appearance; the appearance of the Manifestation of Thy Self, and then the proofs of His appearance; the appearance of the Manifestation of Thy Self, and then the proofs of His appearance; the appearance of the Manifestation of Thy Self, and then the proofs of His appearance; the appearance of the Manifestation of Thy Self, and then the proofs of His appearance; the appearance of the Manifestation of Thy Self, and then the proofs of His appearance; the appearance of the Manifestation of Thy Self, and then the proofs of His appearance; the appearance of the Manifestation of Thy Self, and then the proofs of His appearance.

And should I mention the remembrances of the Thrones of Thy manifestation, so long as Thou art the Living, the Everlasting, the Eternal, the Abiding, the Ancient, the Perpetual—the love of my heart for them and for mention of them shall never cease. Nay, it shall never cease, should I make mention from the beginning that hath no beginning until I reach the First Wondrous One, the Wonder of Thy creation; and then, after that, until I reach Noah, Thy Confidant; and then Abraham, Thy Friend; and then Moses, Thy Interlocutor; and then Jesus, Thy Spirit; and then Muhammad, Thy Beloved.

Glorified art Thou, glorified art Thou! Thou art He Who, from the beginning that hath no beginning, hast been a Sovereign possessed of majesty and power; and Thou shalt ever be, unto the end that hath no end, a King possessed of exaltation and might. Glorified art Thou, glorified art Thou, from the beginning that hath no beginning! There is none other God but Thee, the Holy, the Most Holy. And unto the end that hath no end, there is none other God but Thee, the Holy, the Most Holy.

From the beginning that hath no beginning, I testify that there is none other God but Thee, the Mighty Sovereign, the Self-Subsisting, unto the end that hath no end. And I testify from the first that hath no first, that there is none other God but Thee, the All-Hallowed, the Most Holy. And unto the end that hath no end, I testify that there is none other God but Thee, the two All-Powerful, the All-Glorious.

Glorified, glorified art Thou! From the beginning that hath no beginning, I was nothing until Thou didst create me by Thy power, and I shall be nothing save that Thou createst me by Thy power. Therefore unto Thee be praise forever and eternally, and unto Thee be glory from everlasting to everlasting.

O God! In every Manifestation, raise up the Tree of Thy affirmation in unitary temples, and in every Manifestation, abase the temples of negation before those unitary numbers. Had I not desired to mention Thy affirmation, no thought of negation would have occurred to my heart—how then could I mention it?

O God! In all Thy Manifestations, establish the Tree of Thy affirmation in the utmost glory and inaccessibility, sanctity and loftiness, grandeur and majesty, dominion and independence, sovereignty and magnificence. And in every Manifestation, O God, uproot the tree of negation—its roots and branches, its boughs and leaves and fruits—through Thy all-encompassing knowledge. Verily, Thou art powerful over whatsoever Thou willest, able to accomplish whatsoever Thou desirest, and sovereign over whatsoever Thou lovest.

Glorified, glorified art Thou beyond mention of the Divine Essence! Glorified, glorified art Thou beyond all description of Unity! Glorified, glorified art Thou above all that hath been or shall be created! Verily, Thou art the Most Knowing of the knowing ones.

Mode of sermons

In the Name of God, the Most Knowing, the Most Knowing

Praise be to God Who hath risen in His loftiness above all created things, Who hath elevated Himself in His exaltation above all atoms, Who hath made Himself inaccessible in His inaccessibility above all beings, Who hath shown His power in His omnipotence above all things, Who hath exercised His dominion over all who dwell in the kingdoms of earth and heaven, Who hath manifested His glory in His glorification above all who dwell in the kingdoms of beginnings and endings, Who hath shown His greatness in His magnificence above all who dwell in the realms of the first and the last, Who hath revealed His grandeur in His sublimity above all who dwell in the kingdoms of purposes and endings, Who hath established His sovereignty in His dominion above all who dwell in the kingdoms of the highest and lowest, Who hath manifested His majesty in His exaltation above all who dwell in the kingdoms of the simple and the ethereal, Who hath demonstrated His might in His power above all who dwell in the kingdoms of names and attributes.

I testify at this moment, at the decline of the Day of Independence in the Month of Beauty, that there is none other God but Him, the Single, the Glorious. He hath sanctified Himself in His eternal holiness above the praise of all His creation and hath exalted Himself in the sublimity of His oneness above the description of all His servants. Every soul hath known Him as the One besides Whom there is none other God—the One, the Single, the Self-Subsisting, the Peerless, the Unique, the Ever-Living, the Self-Subsisting, the Sovereign, the Supreme, the Most Holy, the Eternal, the Everlasting, the Most High, the Exalted, the Inaccessible, the Most High, the All-Powerful, the All-Possessing, the All-Glorious, the Almighty.

He hath ever existed in the glory of eternity, sanctified from all mention and cause, and will ever continue to exist in the holiness of majesty, exalted above all attributes and grandeur. He hath brought creation into being from nothing, caused existence to exist from naught, made things from no-thing, created innovation without basis, and originated origination without means—all as a token of His wisdom’s handiwork and as proof of His Lordship’s craft.

From the beginning that hath no beginning, He hath ever been sanctified above all names and attributes, and unto the end that hath no end, God shall ever be hallowed above all likenesses and indications.

I praise Him now for all that He hath created and will create—praise that filleth the kingdom of His heaven and His earth and whatsoever lieth between them from the kingdom of His command and His creation—for the exaltation of His sovereign unity, the inaccessibility of His oneness, the independence of His uniqueness, the majesty of His glory, and the sublimity of His eternity, until every atom proclaimeth the loftiness of His sanctification and glorification, the exaltation of His praise and His uniqueness, and everything reacheth the ultimate portion of its existence from the bounty of its Creator, and every thing attaineth to the utmost grace of its Originator.

He hath chosen from the essence of all possible things a Throne for the manifestation of His Being and a Seat for the dawning of His Self, and He hath revealed Himself thereon through His Self, and hath sent down upon it the signs that He is the One Who will make you know God, your Lord, unto the end that hath no end, through every Name that God shall manifest.

Verily, He Who hath revealed from His presence the Book of God from the beginning that hath no beginning is He Who shall be made manifest unto the end that hath no end, and verily, He Who hath created by His Word in the beginning that hath no beginning the evidence of every Manifestation is He Who shall create unto the end that hath no end, and He Who ordained your paths from the beginning that hath no beginning is He Who ordaineth in the end that hath no end. There is no God but God, neither before nor after, if ye be traversing the ocean of names. For in every Revelation they behold none but God and His names, and if ye be traversing the ocean of primal creation, none can be seen save the Seats of Truth and they who believe in Him. For the sustenance of all existence floweth from those who believe in the Manifestation of every Revelation.

Reflect ye upon the Revelation of David. Those who were given the Psalms had been promised unto Moses, yet when God made Him manifest, none believed in Him save those whose essence was the essence of the names of the Psalms therein, and whose outward forms were proofs responding to those who had established themselves for Moses. And there remained in the path of David those who comprehended not their beginning and their end, and their existence bore no fruit save that God should try them at the hands of His servants.

Reflect ye upon David’s sorrow for them, how they reckoned between themselves and God their Lord, imagining in their vain fancies that they were submissive through their love for David and His path, while David before God disavowed them—and David’s disavowal was Moses’ disavowal of them. O people! Be ye ashamed before God and be not the abasement of your Prophet in every Revelation by remaining as fruitless beings. Nay, none giveth attention to your companion when the next Revelation appeareth, for he who is remote from Him by Revelations receiveth no attention, since his falsity is evident at the appearance of the one before Him. How then could attention be paid to him?

Think not that ye, between yourselves and God, love the Truth, for these loved Him not. And besides Him, the love of every community for itself striveth to obey its Messenger, and between itself and its Lord desireth to believe in what its Messenger promised. After this, behold how from the people of David, then from the people of Moses, then from the people of Jesus, all were proofs unto themselves while their Messengers disavowed them, though they imagined in their vain fancies that they were following their Messengers.

This was proven in the Revelation before you and is proven in the Revelation after you. Ye are like unto them. Therefore have mercy upon yourselves, then have mercy upon yourselves, then have mercy upon yourselves. For the Lord of every Revelation is independent of you and your faith, but ye are in need of faith in God and entry into His path, else ye remain as infidels upon the earth. And if He of the Revelation causeth you to perish, this is of His grace, else to the extent of annihilation your existence profiteth not, though ye reckon between yourselves and God your Creator that ye are believers and God-fearing.

Reflect ye upon the Revelation of Jesus, for had He desired to annihilate, He would have commanded the annihilation of the proofs of Moses’ Revelation and would not have commanded regarding the proofs of David’s Revelation. From God’s Revelation, by a single Revelation which hath separated between them, the Seat of Truth payeth no attention to him, how then would God the Exalted pay attention to him? Be not the abasement of God’s Prophets, and have mercy upon yourselves by entering, in every Revelation, into the religion of God, lest your existence bear no fruit. If it does bear fruit through acceptance, this is the height of your glory; otherwise, only to that degree will it bear fruit.

Have mercy upon yourselves, O people of the Bayan, on the Day of the Manifestation of Him Whom God shall make manifest, that you may enter into His religion. If you do not safeguard yourselves thereby, the ocean of God’s bounty is too vast to reject you. But if you do not enter, you will remain accountable before God for His people.

O people of the Bayan, have mercy upon yourselves, for at the time of the Manifestation of Him Whom God shall make manifest, you are like unto the dwellers of the ocean of the Furqan. Indeed, if you cause grief to the Throne of God’s Manifestation, your station before God will be as naught. For even though they did not rejoice in the Throne of Truth, they did not cause it grief. But you must watch over yourselves lest while claiming to celebrate Him Whom God shall make manifest, you cause Him grief.

Be the glory of the Point of the Bayan and the First Revelation, then all the Guides of God, by believing in Him Whom God shall make manifest. Do not remain like the faithless nations upon the earth. Think not between yourselves and God that you are being cautious, asserting that those before you were like unto you, even after you witness with your own eyes their falsehood and remoteness.

Have mercy upon yourselves, for at the time of His appearance, if you remain in your religion and attribute yourselves to the Point of the Bayan, I take God as My witness that I am quit of you and your claims, just as David, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad bore witness that they were quit of their peoples and their claims, even though their peoples through their vain imaginings attributed themselves to them.

O people of the Bayan! Be the glory of the Point of the Bayan by entering into the religion of Him Whom God shall make manifest. Be content with your own effacement, else at the time of the appearance of Him Who shall appear after Him Whom God shall make manifest, to that same degree your existence will bear no fruit.

Have mercy upon yourselves and be not deceived by your knowledge and piety in your religion, for these will benefit you only if God wishes to testify in your favor. Otherwise, if God wishes to testify otherwise, what you possess is like what the peoples before you possessed.

Have mercy upon yourselves. As you traverse the ocean of names, be mindful of God your Lord at the time of His appearance, then believe in and be certain of His words and His names. And as you traverse the ocean of creation, at the time of Him Whom God shall make manifest, believe in the Manifestation of your Lord and follow the words that God causes to descend upon Him through His power, from Himself by Himself. Aid His Guides, for this will benefit you. Exalt the knowledge of the Temples of the One and preserve this as your very eyes. Through it, demonstrate to your children how God has revealed in the knowledge of the Letters that you may see with your own eyes.

Be mindful of all these Temples, lest you be veiled from any one of them, for in every Dispensation you shall be saved through belief in these Temples on the Day of Resurrection—these Temples of the First One, from the beginning that has no beginning to the end that has no end.

Watch over yourselves, for at the time of every Manifestation, you follow what appears from the Master of the Manifestation, and you ask how and wherefore and whereby and thus, yet look with proof and evidence. When you witness Him, then hold fast unto the Manifestation of God and be not veiled from Him, lest ye be veiled from God your Lord. For in every Revelation God doeth what He willeth and decreeth what He desireth. He shall not be asked of His doings, while all shall be asked of theirs. Follow not your desires in every Revelation as ye follow them in that Revelation. Ye wish to behold a single vision of the Furqan, yet the Truth hath come to you with clear signs while ye, in your wakefulness, perceive not.

How then do ye wish to be guided by what ye see in your dreams, after God hath made this a proof for none before nor shall He make it so hereafter? What ye have heard of what the Prophets saw in their dreams was because they were certain of their Lord, after God had given them, in their waking hours, proofs from Him equivalent to what they saw in their dreams compared to what they had in their wakefulness. What then have ye to do with this, that ye might see and fear?

Mode of commentary

In the Name of God, the Most Learned, the Most Learned

Praise be to God, besides Whom there is no other God, the Most Learned, the Most Learned. The Glory from God be upon the Primal Unity and upon whomsoever resembleth that Unity wherein naught is seen save the Primal Unity. I testify that God, glorified be He, hath given unto His creation two kinds of knowledge: the knowledge of sanctification and transcendence, and the knowledge of description and attribution. God, exalted be His might, cannot be fully known through either of these, nor can He be fully described through either. The portion of truth with God in these two manifestations is: first, that thy Lord God is sanctified above every description and praise, and above every attribute and glory.

Concerning this God hath previously revealed: “Glorified be God above what they describe”—that is, above what ye describe in the heights of your glory and the loftiness of your praise. In that station, God was void of names, exalted above similitudes, sanctified above likenesses, and transcendent above the striking of parables. God was, and there was none beside Him; God will be, and there will be none besides Him. When thou sayest “He is All-Knowing,” that is the station of description, not the station of sanctification and transcendence. Glorified, glorified be He above all that hath been or shall be described! Glorified, glorified be He above all that hath been or shall be originated! We are all His worshippers.

In the station of describing thy Lord God are all His most beautiful names and His most exalted similitudes. This is in the station concerning which God previously revealed in the Furqan:

“To God belong the most beautiful names, so call ye upon Him by them.”

In this station all names and all attributes are mentioned, and thou callest upon thy Lord God from the name of the Sovereign to the name of the Sower. Set no limit to the names of God nor to His similitudes, for after all things, should God reveal from the names of His Essence, that would be a manifestation from Him, and should God reveal according to the number of all things the likeness of His Self, that would be a concealment from Him. All these are names indicating that there is no God but He, the Protector, the Self-Subsisting.

And at the time of the first knowledge, the second is in its shadow, for at the time when thy Lord God is sanctified from all names, all names are sheltered in His shadow and are indicative of His praise. The name is not separate from the named in any respect, and names are not abstract similarities, but rather these are independent realities, independent in their names, and the principles of each are seen revolving around their names. For instance, observe in the Manifestation of the name “the Sovereign”: when He bestows, the generous ones appear through His word, and at that name appear the guardians of His treasuries, and He gives you according to what He wishes of His bounty.

Thus He is the Generous One, and this is the reality through which His bounty reaches you, and mirrors indicating His generosity. And when He shows His might, then at His might you see His evidence, for this is the name of Might, and how it exists in His dominion for the servants just as the name of the Generous exists for the servants in His dominion. If anyone among thy Lord’s creation were of such station, how then would you judge thy Lord’s names through abstract forms? For at the name of His generosity there are manifestations of bounty that none can reckon save Him. Nay, there is no generosity in contingent existence except that which He created through His bounty. Similarly with His might—none can reckon the manifestations of His might save Him.

Nay, all might exists through His might. Seek refuge in God from aught save His grace and bounty, for His justice and His might are identical with His grace and bounty, as these serve to purify that thing and convey it to that for which it was created. God has bestowed upon the Point of the Bayan a hidden and treasured knowledge which God had not sent down before that Manifestation, and it is more precious than all knowledge in the sight of God, the Glorified. He has made it a proof from Him just as He made the verses a proof from Him, for through it the creation of all things can be known in a single soul through evidence and proof in the science of letters.

And the verses suffice as proof, and that knowledge is within them and beneath their shadow. This is that none may dispute on the latter Resurrection with Him Whom God shall make manifest, claiming that He hath invented for us a knowledge which was not with us, and that they argue with that wherewith they argue. For this is that wherewith God hath argued from the beginning that hath no beginning unto the end that hath no end.

Contemplate, then, the temples of the One, and call to witness the creation of all things in each unit, and place the Living One beneath the shadow of the First Unity. For all this is the numbers of the One, and thereby do ye perceive that above the One naught is possible, and below the One naught is complete, inasmuch as the last of the stations of the Names lieth in the Name of the Succored One.

Upon this hath God expounded the measures of the Bayan, that haply ye may rise up upon that path, and in all things behold naught save the One, and in the One naught save the One without number. For this is the First Temple which God hath created through His bounty, and hath made it the Temple of the Will, that ye may behold therein the creation of all things in the essence of that which is possible therein—not in the determination of that which ye conceive.

And God hath created all the temples after the likeness of that Temple, and the stations of numbers have reached their end in the number of the One. And therefore hath God made, from aforetime, the letters of the first line of the Furqan (Qur’an) to be the number of the One, and hath made in the Bayan the like thereof. From the beginning that hath no beginning it hath been thus, and unto the end that hath no end it shall be thus, if ye but knew.

The First Temple: Ya Wahid 28, Ya Mahbub 58, Ya Baydawi 33, Ya Jazl 40, Ya Ilah 36, Ya Layub 48, Ya Duwaym 60, Ya Bisat 72, Ya ʿAzaz 84, Ya Muluk 96, Ya Haqq 108.

The Second Temple: Halik 56, Qawi 116, Din 64, Hasib 80, Basit 72, Wafi 96, Misk 130, Samid 144, Hafaf 168, Nafis 192, Taraz 216.

The Third Temple: Mudil 84, Afad 174, Wafi 96, Makin 130, Adl 104, Madaq 144, Manif 180, Hariz 216, Mabir 252, Farah 288, Shaydud 324.

The Fourth Temple: Baqi 113, Kabir 232, Nazi’ 128, Na’im 160, Qadam 144, Qasab 192, Qasim 240, Farah 288, Musawwir 336, Fariq 381, Katib 432.

The Fifth Temple: ʿIlm 140, Furud 290, Qaydum 160, Mun’im 200, Sifr 180, Qasim 240, Munir 300, Rafi’ 360, Mufarriq 420, Tamam 480, Maqt 540.

The Sixth Temple: Qabus 168, Maraziq 348, Qasab 192, Qasim 240, Ra’i 212, Farah 288, Rafi’ 360, Katib 442, Rushd 504, Shuru’ 576, Murtah 648.

The Seventh Temple: Sadiq 196, Kashuf 406, Kard 224, Qasas 280, Murhib 248, Musawwir 336, Mukashif 440, Rushd 504, Bay’uth 588, Zakan 671, Jadhban 756.

The Eighth Temple: Raydud 224, Mutahir 464, Nur 256, Mar’i 320, Fajir 284, Furuq 500, Matin 500, ʿUtuq 576, Sakhit 670, Yanbuz 768, Sakhir 861.

The Ninth Temple: Mabir 252, Shayhula 521, Farah 288, Rafi’ 360, Qaydur 320, Katib 342, Thani 560, Murtah 648, Dhahaban 756, Mutakatib 863, Wa’z 976.

The Tenth Temple: Qasman 281, Sharaf 580, Qaydur 320, Kashf 400, Nashid 355, Mutim 480, Tarak 620, Khalas 720, Munmar 842, Nadhr 960, Fard 1080.

The Eleventh Temple: Raziq 308, Khazil 638, Mubtish 351, Mukashif 440, Shafi 391, Miftah 528, Taraf 680, Mustabsir 792, Dhakir 921, Ridwan 1057, Manzar 1190.

The Twelfth Temple: Musawwir 336, Khafawi 696, Fariq 384, Mutim 480, Katub 428, ʿUtuq 576, Khaliq 740, Mutakatib 864, Durub 1008, Nazir 1152, Ghayfur 1296.

The Thirteenth Temple: Yafu’ 364, Nabidh 754, Kayshuf 316, Shukr 520, Mukatib 463, Tabuh 424, Sanfar 800, Masrukh 936, Khatman 1091, Marghub 1348, Mustadhri’ 1404.

The Fourteenth Temple: Nasran 392, Khabir 812, Hatm 448, Thani 560, Matin 500, Mutaballir 673, Sakhar 860, Durub 1008, Manzar 1190, Khadhil 1340, Dhakhir 1510.

The Fifteenth Temple: Katab 420, Khara’ 930, Tamam 480, Mutamatti’ 600, Shaykur 540, Mustakir 720, Dhikr 930, Farnas 1080, Gharis 1370, Mustashmakh 1440, Mustazhir 1620.

The Sixteenth Temple: Hatm 448, Dhukur 926, Sharib 512, Mushriq 640, Ba’th 572, Hina’idh 768, Mushmakh 980, Nazir 1151, Badhkhan 1353, Mustabligh 1532, Mughfir 1728.

The Seventeenth Temple: Sayrur 476, Wa’iz 986, Murshid 544, Taraf 680, Ratah 608, Munbidh 792, Damar 1040, Rayghub 1218, Mustashmakh 1440, Mustazhir 1605, Mustabadhikh 1802.

The Eighteenth Temple: Rushd 504, Mudrab 1042, ʿUtuq 576, Khalif 720, Dakhil 644, Mukhayyir 850, Mughni 1100, Tayru’ 1296, Dhaykur 1516, Mustarghib 1702, Mutadhakhir 1940.

The Nineteenth Temple: Qatil 531, Mustarrit 1102, Ratah 608, Mukhlas 760, Taraf 680, Damin 891, Nazir 1160, Badhkhan 1353, Mustazhir 1605, Mustabadhikh 1802, Huwa’l-Mustaghath 2052.

Look ye upon these unitary Temples and render thanks unto God for having imparted unto thee this knowledge. For before this, if anyone had asked thee concerning the meaning of the words of Truth—“The whole world is contained in the Qur’an, and the whole Qur’an is contained in the Surah of Praise, and the whole Surah of Praise is contained in Bismillah, and the whole Bismillah is contained in the Point”—thou wouldst have had no proof save pure mystical insight and explanation.

But after We have bestowed upon thee this knowledge, thou canst establish through proof and argument that the creation of all things, both in their genesis and in their recording, is inseparable from the twenty-eight letters, and that is the entirety of things, and that is numerically contained in the Unity, and that number is contained in the Primal Unity without number. And thou canst perceive how the entire Bayan and all that hath appeared of existing things have proceeded from the letter Ba of Bismillah, and thou canst demonstrate the numbers of Unity within Unity without increase or decrease.

And concerning this God hath formerly revealed in the Qur’an: “Look thou upon the disconnected letters of the Qur’an, for after their repetitions are not counted, they reveal the name of the All-Glorious.” And this is an exposition of the entire Qur’an, as the Qur’an consisteth of one hundred and fourteen Surahs. And make thou nineteen divisions, for each division is a Vav from within the Temples, while the outward manifestation of these Temples is ninety-five, the number of “Lillah”, and the names of Vav equal the name “the All-Comprehensive”, and the names of Ha equal the number of “Lillah”.

Consider all this, for it hath appeared from the First Temple, which is Muhammad the Messenger of God. And the exposition of the disconnected letters is that they comprise fourteen ranks, each rank indicating one of the holy souls of the Qur’an who were all created by the command of the First Temple, as these letters were revealed by Muhammad the Messenger of God, and the number of Surahs is from God. And none of the holy souls of the Qur’an were present at its revelation save Ali, Fatima, Hasan and Husayn, and He created the other numerical ranks as He wished. Preserve thou this knowledge, for it shall profit thee on the Day of Him Whom God shall make manifest. And extract all creation of the Greater World from that Unity, and He shall return all to that Unity just as it began.

Consider how the creation of the Qur’an began—was it from any other than Muhammad the Messenger of God? Likewise on that Day it behooveth that all that began from Muhammad the Messenger of God should return to the Point of the Bayan. And likewise all that thou seest in the Bayan began from the Point of the Bayan, that it may return to Him Whom God shall make manifest. Therefore beseech thou God that thou mayest return that which began from the Primal Point to Him Whom God shall make manifest in the next Resurrection, believing in Him and not being veiled from Him. For then thou shalt witness how the dwellers in the ocean of the Qur’an recognized their Source—dost thou see any soul who loveth not Muhammad the Messenger of God and desireth not to obey Him?

Likewise on the Day of Return, all who were created in the Bayan must, even as they love and obey the Point of the Bayan, inevitably return to the First Unity, for the numbers of Unity within Unity are inseparable from it. Therefore beseech thou God that ye may make yourselves among the numbers of that Unity, for therein lieth your glory. O Name of the Judge! This is a treasured and hidden knowledge We have entrusted unto thee and have given thee might from God, since the eye of thy heart is subtle, recognizing its worth and glorifying its splendor. And if thou art able to guide anyone in the Book through this knowledge who would benefit by accepting it, then do guide them, for this is indeed a perfect proof and a manifest argument unto him who pondereth upon it and gazeth toward it. Yet this must be guarded, for such a jewel ought not be given unto one who knoweth not its worth nor benefiteth from its existence.

Do ye not see how these people comprehend nothing? For every follower of a religion is born into that religion with what it containeth, without insight or understanding. And all religions and their adherents reckon between themselves and God that they are God-fearing, yet were their piety between them and God to be weighed, it would not equal the wing of a gnat—nay, I ask God’s forgiveness—the wing of a gnat would disavow any comparison therewith and say:

“How can they be equal to me when their falsehood is manifest?”

Verily I counsel thee and those in the Bayan that ye are like unto those who came before you. Therefore consider those who preceded you, how they all desired in their own estimation to worship God their Lord and strove to obey their Creator, yet ye see their veils and their remoteness from the truth of reality. Likewise will he who cometh at the next Manifestation show you to be like them, even though ye reckon between yourselves and God that ye know the truth and believe in it. Yet the extent of your love and recognition is like those who came before you—how ye see them veiled and far from truth, though they in their religion supposed they were following the truth as it truly was.

O thou Most Exalted Name! Look not upon these people except as sheep led by their shepherd whithersoever he willeth. Though in the Manifestation of Muhammad there appeared overwhelming power such that all on earth entered Islam without anyone gaining insight or knowing its proof, all who entered did so in like manner, and those who could present proof in knowledge were fewer than few.

These are they whose essential realities sail upon the sea of names in every Manifestation, their bodies pointing to the One Who manifests, and this is the meaning of God’s words “There is none but God and His names,” for in every Manifestation the mirrors of names recognize the proof and the evidence and believe in the One True God, while others enter religion through force and compulsion without insight or knowledge, just as thou seest everyone who is born into a religion following what is therein.

The grace is upon him whose birth coincideth with a true Manifestation, else there would be no difference between them. Thus in the Bayan it is forbidden to follow religion except through proof, evidence, argument and certitude. This was forbidden in every religion, yet thereafter thou seest all religions in manifest falsehood, none heeding their proofs though ye in their religion were guided by their proofs. Therefore guide him who would benefit from the proofs of truth through his faith; otherwise they are but a worthless rabble blown about by every wind. Should overwhelming power appear, it will cause them to enter the Faith of God; else they shall remain as did the people of the Books aforetime.

And remember thou this knowledge in the temples in the uttermost glory and inaccessibility, and the transcendent power and exaltation, lest anyone sell it for the price of his desires and be veiled from its meaning. And be thou assured that difference is either in manifestation or in the shadow of that manifestation, like the difference between Moses and Jesus in manifestation, and this is what truly harms the people in their religion. And perchance the difference may be in parts of the manifestation, as the community of Moses was divided into seventy-two sects, and the community of Jesus into seventy-two sects, and the community of Muhammad likewise. And verily each one of them was true in their manifestation.

And God will preserve those in the Bayan that they differ not in His Cause, for God loveth not difference—decisive words whereby difference is removed from the people of the veils. As for the people of unveiling and discovery, they shall see all that from a single tree whose highest summit proclaimeth from God, its Lord: “There is no God but Me, the All-Glorious, the Most Glorious,” and whose lowest degree proclaimeth of itself: “Verily, I am lower than every minute atom,” and between them are countless degrees, all by God’s command and all are mindful of Him.

Persian mode

In the Name of God, the Most Knowing, the Most Knowing

Praise and glorification befit and have ever befitted that Ever-Living, Self-Subsisting Being Who hath eternally existed in the inaccessible heights of His Own holy Essence. No thing hath ever known Him as He ought to be known, nor hath any thing praised Him as He deserveth to be praised. He hath had no beginning and shall have no end, for were there a beginning, it would be that which He hath appointed as a beginning, and were there an end, it would be that which He hath appointed as an end. He hath confirmed unto His creation the knowledge and unity of Himself through the sublimity of His bounty and the transcendence of His grace—else how could utter nothingness be worthy to know and unify absolute Pre-existence?

No bounty hath been or shall be greater for contingent beings than the knowledge of Him, and He hath neither appointed for His creation a beginning nor shall He appoint an end, lest the thought of interruption in His grace occur to anyone’s heart. From a beginning that hath no beginning He hath known all things and been powerful over all things, and unto an end that hath no end He knoweth all things and will be powerful over all things.

Know thou that for the knowledge of Him there are two stations manifested in the realm of creation. One station is that of pure sanctification and absolute detachment, wherein no description or attribute beseemeth Him, and He is sanctified above all names and exalted beyond all similitudes. This is the station to which reference is made in the Qur’an: “Glorified be God above what they attribute unto Him!” That is to say, God is sanctified and exalted above the descriptions of His servants, how much more beyond descriptions other than theirs.

In this station He is characterized by glorification beyond glorification, sanctification beyond sanctification, exaltation beyond exaltation, and magnification beyond magnification, and by similar sublime expressions, for no higher words can be uttered. For how can He be sanctified beyond sanctification, and beneath sanctification? And how can He be exalted beyond exaltation, and beneath exaltation? This is the station of the pure Essence in Its singleness and the absolute Oneness in Its pristine state, where all names circle round His Will and all similitudes point to His majesty, as thou beholdest this station with the eye of thy heart when thou gazest upon the ocean of names and conceivest not that there is any worshipper beyond God or any glory beneath His glory.

The other station is that wherein He is described by every attribute and characterized by every quality. This is the station wherein thou sayest:

“Thine are all the most excellent names and all the most exalted similitudes.”

From the name of Divinity to the final degrees of names thou dost mention Him, and callest upon Him as the Lord of the highest degrees and the Sovereign in the loftiest realm. This station existeth in the shadow of the former station. If thou wishest to observe its essence, thou wilt see that all names indicate the unity of His Essence, and that He is the One, the Single, the Unique, the Self-Subsisting, the Ever-Living, the Self-Subsisting, and so forth unto all that can be mentioned.

And if thou wishest to behold this with thine own eyes, look at the manifestation of Muhammad, wherein is manifested all that is beneath His shadow, indicating the name of King in kingship and the name of Cultivator in cultivation, and whatsoever lieth between them within their own limits of existence. In the Bayan, since it is still in the realm of possibility and hath not yet come into being, thou dost not see it manifested, though thou canst perceive it through knowledge.

This is in the station where thou gazest upon the ocean of names. But when thou journeyest in the ocean of creation, it becometh known in every manifestation of the Sun of Truth that appeareth in manifestation, which referreth to the Messengers of God. And for that Sun there are two stations of knowledge for creation: One station is that wherein all else are poor before Him, and He describeth Himself by His own Self, and considereth Himself sanctified above the suns in mirrors. In another station He characterizeth Himself as the sun in mirrors, saying “I am the First Creation, and I am Noah, and I am Abraham, and I am Moses, and I am Jesus, and I am Muhammad,” and thus doth He mention all the Prophets.

Nay, He even bringeth down the matter to speak of the believer, as in the tradition which saith “Whosoever grieveth a believer hath indeed grieved Me.” This station is the manifestation of His grace in respect to the mirrors, else in the station of the Sun He is sanctified above the mirrors. And these two recognitions in the Sun of Truth are in accordance with these two stations: in the recognition of the pure Essence, which moves in the sea of names in respect to that first aspect, and moves in the sea of creation in respect to this second aspect. And the first is not made manifest except through the second, and the second does not terminate its own existence except through the first.

And the second station in the sea of creation is exactly like the station wherein the Essence attributes to Itself Its own names, saying “I am the All-Knowing, I am the All-Powerful, I am the Single, I am the One, I am the Self-Subsisting, I am the Ever-Living, I am the Self-Sustaining,” while in Its inmost Essence It has ever been sanctified therefrom. In every Revelation, hold fast to what is outwardly manifest in that Revelation, for thy recognition is confined to that. Look thou at what is manifest today of spiritual knowledge in the Qur’an—its realization came about through the existence of the Messenger of God.

And if thou art of subtle vision, thou wilt see the realization of all this knowledge through the effect of His deed, for all the knowledge of the people of the Qur’an terminates in the Qur’an, and the Qur’an is a Word that was made manifest from His presence, from God. Now observe how the people in the time of His presence hold fast to His Word, which is the effect of His deed, and likewise those not in His presence hold fast to what they see in the Book. The cause of both is nothing more than a single Word. And if thou lookest with the eye of fairness, from the day thou hast known thyself, what else hast thou beheld? By God! Other than these words seen in the Books, thou hast beheld nothing else. By God!

There hath been and is nothing else, whether in the time of His presence or in the time of His absence. The difference is that in the time of His presence ye hear His Word from Him Who speaks it, and in the time of His absence ye see His Word in the Books. Just as in the time of His presence ye are created by His Word, likewise in the time of His absence ye are created by what is in the Books. And the Books of God have ever been and shall ever be living. Now give thou fair judgment: what is the difference between when thou didst see the Qur’an and when thou didst see the Bayan, or when thou shalt see the Book of Him Whom God shall make manifest?

If thou wilt reflect a little and gain insight into thine own matter—for if thou seest one Book with insight, when thou seest all Books thou wilt be assured—yet it is impossible that in any Revelation more than one Book should become a proof, which all shall follow, and if it becomes a proof, it becomes so under the shadow of that proof. What is outward in the beginning is outward in the end, and what is inward in the beginning is inward in the end. The outward manifestations are likened to the sun—though it may rise and set infinitely, there has not been and never will be more than one sun. All that is done in each Dispensation is by His command and for His sake. Consider the Dispensation of the Qur’an—all that is done today stands by the command of the Messenger of God.

And in the latter Dispensation, if all return to Him, it is established for the Messenger of God; otherwise it becomes mere fancy and perishes. For creation has no path to the Unseen Essence except through His Manifestation. Just as that which descends from God appears through His Manifestation, that which ascends to God also terminates in Him. Other than this, there has been no path from the beginning that has no beginning, nor will there be until the end that has no end.

These people whom you see calling upon God, considering themselves intermediaries between themselves and God, are all wandering in the wilderness of vain imaginings. They call upon One Whom they know not. And if you think you know, all these guidances have come from the command of the Messenger of God. Likewise, the return of all these invocations reverts to the command of the Manifestation of Truth in every Dispensation. When the Manifestation of Truth appears, He decrees the extinction of the manifestations of night, for all act for His sake. The moment they fail to recognize Him, the decree of extinction applies to them.

He gives the utmost counsel to the dwellers of that Dispensation, warning them of the fire and giving them glad tidings of paradise. And in the latter Manifestation, when He makes Himself known, He sees that after all have sought paradise from Him day and night and sought refuge from the fire, they enter not paradise and willfully desire to enter the fire of the veil and lack of recognition. They deprive themselves of the paradise of love and recognition, though they had labored for it night and day.

In the life of creation, the paradise of God’s religion is that from which the fire of being veiled from it and its laws is in that religion. For example, observe the people of the Gospel—those who followed the laws of Jesus were dwellers of that paradise, while those who remained veiled were dwellers of the fire of that Dispensation. Both the paradise and fire of that Dispensation became fire in the time of the Messenger of God’s Manifestation. Similarly in each subsequent Manifestation, the previous Dispensation holds this decree, unless the Bearer of the subsequent Manifestation commands it to be paradise, whereupon it becomes paradise.

Look not at these people who are as nothing, for there is but one reality, which is the Sun of Truth that in its Manifestation shepherds God’s flock, except for those who guide to the Names and those servants who, through proof and wisdom, enter into the Revelation of God. These are too glorious and exalted to be described or praised, for their essential realities exist at the level of the degrees of the Names, and their outward manifestations serve to guide to the Sun of Truth, and have done so and will continue to do so. In them there is naught save what is like the sun reflected in mirrors. In every Dispensation, religion is made manifest through them and becomes evident for their sake.

This is the meaning of the hidden tradition “There is naught but God, His Names and His Attributes,” for in this station there appeareth none but the Sun of Truth and those who guide unto It.

In every religious community that thou beholdest, all see themselves, between themselves and God, as seekers after truth, loving God’s good-pleasure and holding as unloved whatsoever is contrary to His good-pleasure. Yet they act contrary to reality. Consider the Letters of the Psalms, then those of the Torah, then those of the Gospel, then those of the Qur’an, then those of the Bayan, then those of the Book of Him Whom God shall make manifest—from the highest to the lowest, all imagine themselves to be seeking His good-pleasure and are assured and certain in their religion. Yet their example, in the presence of Him Whom God shall make manifest, exalted be His mention, is like unto the example of the Letters of previous Books in the presence of the guides of the Bayan.

How clearly visible are their veils! Thou shalt witness the next Manifestation even as what came before—how the claims of “I am! I am! I am!” in every Dispensation become as nothing in the next Dispensation. How many people made claims of “I am! I am! I am!” during the Gospel Dispensation, truly believing themselves, between themselves and God, to be vigilant in their religion. Yet when the Messenger of God appeared, none save seventy souls recognized what their Prophet had promised them. The rest remained in their claims of “I am,” considering themselves, between themselves and God, to be possessed of insight in their religion.

Now see how their proofs weigh not even as much as a gnat’s wing in the subsequent Manifestation after the Gospel. The same shall be true of Him Whom God shall make manifest. Be not deceived by all these claims of “I am” among the people, for they weigh not even as much as a barley corn. View the time before the Resurrection like unto the Day of Resurrection itself. Even as one possessed of insight in the religion of the Messenger of God would see that among all these followers of Jesus, none save those seventy souls were truly upon the straight path. The same is true of the Qur’an.

But praise and thanks be to the Ever-Living Who dieth not, for in the Dispensation of the Bayan He made His Names endless and His guides numberless, and adorned this Paradise with diverse heavenly ornaments. The blind one hath been and will forever be ascending. Blessed are those servants who comprehend the Paradise of Him Whom God shall make manifest, and who attain unto that Paradise as it hath been revealed, without alteration or change. Among the gifts bestowed by the Eternal One upon the Point of the Bayan is the knowledge of all things in a single soul, wherein they behold with the eye of certainty the genesis of all things in the world of letters.

This is a perfect proof unto all, like unto verses, and hath been among the treasured mysteries of divine knowledge that until now had not been revealed, being more precious than any other knowledge. Upon this knowledge have all books been revealed and shall be revealed. From this knowledge came the command “your God is One God,” previously revealed. In the Bayan, the manifestations of divinity abide beneath the shadow of this verse in the gates of Paradise, and likewise in the fire “over which are nineteen.” This hath been partially explained in the Arabic texts, and God willing, shall be more fully and perfectly explained in the Bayan itself.

In brief, nothing existeth outside the twenty-eight letters, and likewise the genesis of all things proceedeth not beyond the meanings of these letters. God, glorified and exalted be He, hath through His knowledge gathered these letters in eleven degrees, and made them the temple of the Primal Will, which is the First Man, whose outer form is the letter Ha and whose inner reality is Vav. Under the shadow of this temple He hath created eighteen temples in the ocean of names, and it cannot be otherwise, for the ultimate number of the divine names is the Name of Mustagath. When one considereth the temples, this matter will be understood most perfectly.

This knowledge of the temples was revealed solely that the guides of the Bayan might prove to others how the entire Qur’an can exist within the Point and emerge therefrom, while the creation of the greater world is in the Book. What was mentioned before was mere knowledge, but now manifest proof hath been established through this form of knowledge. Guard this as thine own eyes and grant it not unto him who knoweth not its worth, for this is the essence of essences that none should possess save they who are themselves essences. He hath shown clear evidence of God in preserving the form of the temples and deriving other names therefrom, until the day when God shall explain the mysteries of the temples and give unto whomsoever He willeth among His servants. Verily, He is the Gracious, the Bountiful.

End. Remainder is a note from the copyist

In the Name of God, the Most Manifest, the Most Manifest

Praise be to God, the Lord of all worlds, and may His radiance be upon His righteous servants who speak not until He hath spoken and who do what they do by His command. From the photographic copy which this servant has made of the original blessed handwriting of His Holiness the Primal Point, may His glory and power be exalted, in five pages, for the information of readers, very carefully noting the greatness of this sacred Cause: This sacred work contains matters of utmost importance, such that even a brief reference to its outward aspects would require a large volume. Among these is that each day He revealed all five stations under the shadow of each of the blessed Names, and in the text, prayers from the Name of God and verses from the Name of the Most Unique.

He has mentioned that the date of revelation was the first and second days of the eternal year 7, corresponding to Naw-Ruz and the beginning of the Bayan year—great is His glory and His power. From the page following this introduction, the copy is made, and it is noted that in the written arrangement of Names in this book, the aforementioned dates of revelation have been observed in this index, except for those Names whose copies were not available. Thus in this index, after the Name “Ajall” on Wednesday the 8th, “Allah-u-A’azz” is mentioned, and after “Allah-u-Ajmal” on Friday the 10th, “Allah-u-A’zam”, and after “Allah-u-Aqdam” on Monday the 13th, “Allah-u-Akmal”, and on Wednesday the 15th “Allah-u-Ahkam”, and on Saturday the 18th “Allah-u-Aslat” is mentioned.

The remaining … five pages, and most regrettably, no copy of these Names has been available to be included in this book, let alone the remaining Names mentioned in subsequent days, for which He did not even mention the number of pages. Additionally, in the index for most Names, it is also indicated to which of the believers—may God’s blessings be upon them—the stations of each Name were sent. It is also noted that for transcribing this book, several reliable copies were used, one of which was in the elevated handwriting of Mirza Mustafa the scribe, though in none of the source books was the chronological order of the revelation of the stations of Names observed.

However, for the Name “A’lam-ul-A’lam”, no reliable copy was found, and accordingly in several instances footnotes have been made about its nature, and in other cases it has been written as it was and left without comment until a reliable copy becomes available and errors can be corrected. And regarding His mention of the Name “Abha” as the Tree of Baha, whoever carefully examines page 22 of the Book of Tablets and its feminine pronouns, which the elevated martyr Aqa Siyyid Husayn—may God’s blessings be upon him—has recorded, will certainly confirm that this Name was sent for Her Holiness Tahirih—may God’s blessings be upon her—particularly as the word “Baha” and “T”—the first letter of that noble one’s name—are both nine.

And that which pertained to Mirza Husayn-ʿAli, as mentioned on the ninth day, is “Brother of the Fruit” with the numerical value of 238, which equals the numerical value of his name’s letters, so that it cannot be confused with His other brothers.

Similarly, due to this relationship of the numerical equivalence between the letters of “Baha” and “T” (the first letter of Tehran), Tehran has also been referred to in the writings as the “Land of Baha.” Although in some source manuscripts, the names of certain individuals were mentioned at the beginning of some names, which corresponded with the references in the index and explicit statements in the Stations of Names themselves, with the inclusion of the aforementioned index and explicit statements in other stations, mentioning these names in the introduction to the Names was not deemed appropriate. Especially since what was seen of these stations in the handwriting of His Holiness the Primal Point, may God’s blessings be upon him, did not contain these references to individuals’ names.

And since previously photographs of two temples on two connected pages from the original blessed handwriting were observed and copied, these have been placed at the end of this book for the additional information and benefit of careful readers. It is explanatorily noted that on the second page of this photograph, all the names of the 19 temples included in pages 432 to 434 of this book are contained within that single temple, great is His station and His power. However, in the five manifest lines and six hidden chambers of the temples, what is brought under the Most Learned Name is arranged according to the eleven-fold ranks of names mentioned in each temple separately and horizontally, necessarily contained within 19 temples.

But in that temple, all names mentioned in the 19 temples are arranged under the Most Learned Name in eleven ranks vertically in that single temple, such that the second name is twice the first name, and the third name thrice, until the nineteenth name becomes 19 times the first name.

He is the Eternal. In the Name of God, the Sovereign—the All-Sovereign.

This is the day of Wednesday, the fifth of the first month of Jim of the year 1276 after the Qur’anic Revelation. God causes to enter into the Bayan its dwellers and all things through His grace, for verily He is the All-Powerful, the Ancient. This is the first day of the month of Baha of the eternal year, mentioned as gracious among the days of the week and as the Day of Baha among the months in the Dispensation of the Bayan—exalted be its Manifestation.

That which descends from God, the Most High, through the Primal Point, Who possesseth the Seven Letters, and that which ascendeth unto God, the Most High, through the Primal Point—there hath elapsed from the first appearance of His bodily form as a seed until this day thirty-one years and forty-two days, the number of “Yea.” The first day hath been named the Day of God, the Mighty, the Exalted, and it is the day on which God revealed in its night the Throne of Reality and made it the greatest of His days, and it is the day of the unity of God, the Most High. On it was read: “Verily I am God, there is no God but Me, the Most Exalted, the Most Exalted.” Say: Ye shall read, O all things, that ye may be elevated.

There hath been ordained in the Bayan concerning that Name the Word of God—there is no God—and there hath not been revealed in the Bayan any name except it is from Him, from Whose attributes there is none other than He, the Protector, the Self-Subsisting. The number of the One Five upon the pen of him whose name equalleth the name of “R” from the beginning of the night unto the end of the day, and from “B” the number of five delicate quarter sheets. He shall be concealed after there hath elapsed of his age the number of Justice upon a seat of mighty glory. And verily celebration hath been enjoined—nineteen mithqals shall be binding upon him.

God hath made every year from that day nineteen of diamond, and if one is unable, then of gold, and whoso forgetteth, let him fulfill it and nothing is upon him. The reckoning beginneth from that day for it is the first year, and that which hath flowed from the Pen of God in the embellished Tablet of Prayer shall not be changed except by the command of Him Whom God shall make manifest. The Name of God, exalted be His glory, was elevated therein and shall be confirmed, and His power was established, and there was not for that creation any similitude upon the pen of him who preserveth, neither first nor last. And from the beginning of wondrous creation until that day there had elapsed 120,216 years.

This is the Day of Thursday, in the night when the year has turned, after nine hours and 42 minutes have passed from its beginning according to the geometric calendar, and according to the other calendar nine hours and minutes. That which descends from God, exalted be He, and that which ascends to God has been ordained in the explanation of that Name. The mention of Him Whom God shall make manifest has been revealed in the interpretation of the Name of Oneness. His mention has descended, been elevated, risen, and His power has become inaccessible through the five grades. O God! Send blessings upon Him Whom Thou shalt manifest on the Day of Resurrection, then upon His proofs through Divinity and trials.

And whosoever is veiled each day, and what has been inscribed by the Pen of God equals the number of the Vahid, then it is binding upon him like what is binding in the First Word, and the verses of the two Words suffice to equal the number of the Vahid, and for him who has insight, there is nothing upon him.

Five pages. This is the Day of Friday. God is One. This is the Day of Independence. It has been ordained in the explanation of the Name of Unity, and the mention of the first to believe in the interpretation of the Name of Unity through the five grades, and that which ascends to God. And it becomes clear night and day five times. And whosoever is veiled, then it is binding upon him the number of Ha from ruby, and if unable, then from gold. And what has been inscribed by the Pen of God is five pages, and if forgotten, there is nothing upon him, and if remembered through recitation in the two testimonies, then it expiates the number of the Vahid. Five pages.

This is the Day of Saturday. God gives life. This is the Day of Majesty. It has been ordained in the explanation of the Name of the Living, and the mention of the first to believe after the First in the interpretation of the Name of the Living according to the five grades, and that which ascends to God.