Another Tablet in which Bahá'u'lláh proclaims some of His basic teachings is the Kalimát-i-Firdawsíyyih (Words of Paradise).* This Tablet was revealed about two years before His ascension in honour of His trusted disciple Hájí Mírzá Haydar-'Alí. Bahá'u'lláh's exhortations and counsels in this Tablet are no less soul-stirring and significant than those in His other Tablets mentioned previously in this book.

In this Tablet Bahá'u'lláh calls upon 'the People of Bahá to render the Lord victorious through the power of their utterance and to admonish the people by their goodly deeds and character'. He declares that man will be exalted through 'honesty, virtue, wisdom and saintly character'; considers the 'fear of God' to be 'a sure defence and a safe stronghold for all the peoples of the world';† enjoins upon the world's rulers, its divines and the wise 'to uphold the cause of religion' and regard it as 'the chief instrument for the establishment of order in the world and of tranquillity amongst its peoples'; acclaims the greatness of His Day;‡ counsels His followers 'to adhere tenaciously to unity and concord'; urges them 'to labour diligently in promoting the Cause of God'; admonishes the 'men of wisdom among nations' to shut their 'eyes to estrangement', to fix their 'gaze upon unity', to 'cleave tenaciously unto that which will lead to the well-being

Furthermore, in the Kalimát-i-Firdawsíyyih Bahá'u'lláh disapproves of 'living in seclusion or practising asceticism',‡ saying that these practices are 'sprung from the loins of idle fancy', or 'begotten of the womb of superstition', and that they 'ill beseem men of knowledge'. He also refers to the mystics,§ 'some of whom indulge in that which leadeth to idleness and seclusion'. He condemns their way of life which 'lowereth man's station and maketh him swell with pride', and teaches that 'man must bring forth fruit. One who yieldeth no fruit is, in the words of the Spirit [Jesus], like unto a fruitless tree, and a fruitless tree is fit but for fire.'

Most of these teachings extracted from the Kalimát-i-Firdawsíyyih have already been mentioned in other Tablets and quoted in more detail in this book.

In this Tablet Bahá'u'lláh authorizes the members of the Universal House of Justice 'to take counsel together regarding those things which have not been outwardly revealed in the Book', and commands them 'to ensure the protection and safeguarding of men, women and children'.

Bahá'u'lláh has revealed the laws of this Dispensation, which must last for at least one thousand years. These laws are described

§ see vol. 2, pp. 24-8.

Expounding the greatness of His Revelation, Bahá'u'lláh reveals these thought-provoking words in the Kalimát-i-Firdawsíyyih:

O people of God! Great is the Day and mighty the Call! In one of Our Tablets We have revealed these exalted words: 'Were the world of the spirit to be wholly converted into the sense of hearing, it could then claim to be worthy to hearken unto the Voice that calleth from the Supreme Horizon; for otherwise, these ears that are defiled with lying tales have never been, nor are they now fit to hear it.' Well is it with them that hearken; and woe betide the wayward.¹

...O God, my God! Thy forgiveness hath emboldened me, and Thy mercy hath strengthened me, and Thy call hath

awakened me, and Thy grace hath raised me up and led me unto Thee. Who, otherwise, am I that I should dare to stand at the gate of the city of Thy nearness, or set my face toward the lights that are shining from the heaven of Thy will? Thou seest, O my Lord, this wretched creature knocking at the door of Thy grace, and this evanescent soul seeking the river of everlasting life from the hands of Thy bounty. Thine is the command at all times, O Thou Who art the Lord of all names; and mine is resignation and willing submission to Thy will, O Creator of the heavens!²

'Abdu'l-Bahá is reported to have said these words in the course of His parting address to the first group of western pilgrims who visited Him in 'Akká in 1899:

And now I give you a commandment which shall be for a covenant between you and Me--that ye have faith; that your faith be steadfast as a rock that no storms can move, that nothing can disturb, and that it endure through all things even to the end; even should ye hear that your Lord has been crucified, be not shaken in your faith; for I am with you always, whether living or dead, I am with you to the end. As ye have faith so shall your powers and blessings be. This is the balance--this is the balance--this is the balance.³

Say: O concourse of divines! Pronounce ye censure against this Pen unto which, as soon as it raised its shrill voice, the kingdom of utterance prepared itself to hearken, and before whose mighty and glorious theme every other theme hath paled into insignificance? Fear ye God and follow not your idle fancies and corrupt imaginings, but rather follow Him Who is

3. Quoted by May Maxwell, An Early Pilgrimage, p. 40.

come unto you invested with undeniable knowledge and unshakeable certitude.⁴

The Ocean of utterance exclaimeth and saith: 'O ye dwellers on the earth! Behold My billowing waters and the pearls of wisdom and utterance which I have poured forth. Fear ye God and be not of the heedless.'

In this Day a great festival is taking place in the Realm above; for whatsoever was promised in the sacred Scriptures hath been fulfilled. This is the Day of great rejoicing. It behoveth everyone to hasten towards the court of His nearness with exceeding joy, gladness, exultation and delight and to deliver himself from the fire of remoteness.⁵

6. Unpublished compilation, National Archives Committee, no. 28, p. 292.

In one of His Tablets⁸ Bahá'u'lláh discloses the intensity with which the verses of God have been sent down in this Dispensation. From the tone of this Tablet is appears that it was revealed towards the end of His earthly life. In it He states that His amanuensis, Mírzá Áqá Ján, used to take down the verses of God which were revealed continuously from morning till evening. He describes how in earlier days He had been engaged in revealing the Words during both day and night, and would only interrupt His utterances in order to attend to other matters. In those days, He affirms, the Tongue of Grandeur was continually revealing the verses of God. But now, at the time of revealing this Tablet, He intimates that owing to physical weakness He has had to bring His utterances to a close after one hour of revelation. But whenever He resumes, all the members of His body will be activated and the verses of God will transform His whole Being. This condition of physical weakness Bahá'u'lláh attributes to the sufferings inflicted on Him by the people of tyranny. They have been the cause of the withholding of the further diffusion of divine fragrances among mankind. But he assures the recipient of this Tablet that until His spirit takes its flight to His other Dominions, the Tongue of Grandeur shall continue to speak and the Pen of the Most High move upon His Tablets.

In the Kalimát-i-Firdawsíyyih as in His other Tablets Bahá'u'lláh rebukes the people of the Bayán, the followers of Mírzá Yahyá, for their waywardness and ignorance. He thus addresses them:

8. ibid. vol. 1, p. 309.

Glorified be God! One wondereth by what proof or reason the disbelievers among the people of the Bayán have turned away from the Lord of being. In truth the station of this Revelation transcendeth the station of whatever hath been manifested in the past or will be made manifest in the future.⁹

Were the Point of the Bayán* present in this day and should He, God forbid, hesitate to acknowledge this Cause, then the very blessed words which have streamed forth from the wellspring of His Own Bayán would apply to Him. He saith, and His word is the truth, 'Lawful is it for Him Whom God will make manifest to reject him who is the greatest on earth.' Say, O ye that are bereft of understanding! Today that Most Exalted Being is proclaiming: 'Verily, verily, I am the first to adore Him.' How shallow is the fund of men's knowledge and how feeble their power of perception. Our Pen of Glory beareth witness to their abject poverty and to the wealth of God, the Lord of all worlds.¹⁰

Say: O Yahyá (Azal), produce a single verse, if thou dost possess divinely-inspired knowledge. These words were formerly spoken by My Herald Who at this hour proclaimeth: 'Verily, verily, I am the first to adore Him.' Be fair, O My brother. Art thou able to express thyself when brought face to face with the billowing ocean of Mine utterance? Canst thou unloose thy tongue when confronted with the shrill voice of My Pen? Hast thou any power before the revelations of Mine omnipotence? Judge thou fairly, I adjure thee by God, and call to mind when thou didst stand in the presence of this Wronged One and We dictated to thee the verses of God, the

10. ibid. p. 75.

Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting. Beware lest the source of falsehood withhold thee from the manifest Truth.¹¹

The sage of Sabzivár hath said: 'Alas! Attentive ears are lacking, otherwise the whisperings of the Sinaic Bush could be heard from every tree.' In a Tablet to a man of wisdom who had made enquiry as to the meaning of Elementary Reality, We addressed this famous sage in these words: 'If this saying is truly thine, how is it that thou hast failed to hearken unto the Call which the Tree of Man hath raised from the loftiest heights of the world? If thou didst hear the Call yet fear and the desire to preserve thy life prompted thee to remain heedless to it, thou art such a person as hath never been nor is worthy of mention; if thou hast not heard it, then thou are bereft of the sense of hearing.' In brief, such men are they whose words are the pride of the world, and whose deeds are the shame of the nations.

Verily We have sounded the Trumpet which is none other than My Pen of Glory, and lo, mankind hath swooned away before it, save them whom God pleaseth to deliver as a token of His grace. He is the Lord of bounty, the Ancient of Days.¹²

12. ibid. p. 61.

In the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh one can hardly find a word of praise directed at any of the authorities in Persia. The tribute He has paid to Qá'im-Maqám is unique, and indicative of the greatness of this man. Bahá'u'lláh finds that no actions on the part of Muhammad Sháh were more heinous than the banishment of the Báb to the fortress of Máh-Kú and the murder of Qá'im-Maqám.

But God rewards His faithful servants in mysterious ways. One of Qá'im-Maqám's grandsons, Mírzá Áqá Khán (entitled Qá'im-Maqámí) had inherited all the outstanding qualities of his paternal grandfather. He was the embodiment of dignity, benevolence and courage, a man of culture and erudition. He grew up in the luxurious home of his ancestors in Arák. On one of his teaching trips, Siyyid Asadu'lláh-i-Qumí, a renowned teacher of the Faith,† arrived in Arák. The father of Mírzá Áqá Khán, being an open-minded and liberal person, invited Siyyid

† see above, pp. 185-6.

As time went by Mírzá Áqá Khán became a truly outstanding Bahá'í. To the nobility and courage of his character was now added the power of faith. He arose to serve the Cause with a zeal and devotion which few among his contemporaries could match. At first he began to earn a modest living and became independent of his father's wealth, but soon he was faced with serious financial difficulties. Then he had a dream: Bahá'u'lláh appeared to him, pointed to a hill nearby, and directed him to dig out some valuable relics which were buried on the side of the hill. Believing his dream to be true, Mírzá Áqá Khán carried out the excavation and recovered a great quantity of priceless relics and jewels. He thus became one of the richest men in Arák and the most influential of its residents. Throughout his long years of life he used his enormous wealth and influence to further the interests of the Cause he loved and served so well. Although he was wealthy, he lived a very simple life. He was a tower of strength for the believers and a guide and refuge for the downtrodden and the needy. His generosity, magnanimity and care for the welfare of people earned him the love and respect of the public in general and the Bahá'ís in particular.

In a Tablet addressed to him¹³ 'Abdu'l-Bahá states that his grandfather, Qá'im-Maqám, is rejoicing in the Abhá Kingdom, for God has enabled his grandson to become a sign of guidance to