BB00150: Fi Yawmi ’idi’l-Adha

On the Day of the Festival of Sacrifice, there hath been revealed:

In the Name of God, the Most Unapproachable, the Most Holy!

Glorified art Thou, O my God! This is a Day which Thou didst ordain aforetime, through the word of Thy beloved Muhammad, as a blessing unto them that have believed in Thee and Thy signs, and as a remembrance for them that have fulfilled Thy covenant and heeded Thy words. I testify before Thee, and before all things from above Thy throne to the depths of Thy earth and whatsoever Thy knowledge hath encompassed between them, that there is no God but Thee, the Possessor of might and power, of glory and independence, of strength and exaltation, of joy and gladness, of grandeur and majesty, of dominion and sovereignty, of glory and omnipotence, of power and divinity, of strength and sovereignty, of dominion over the human realm, of glory and majesty, of beauty and grace, of perfection and completeness, of strength and deeds, of similitudes and examples, of mercy and bounty, of authority and justice, of loftiness and sublimity, of favors and bestowals, and whatsoever Thou hast loved or wilt love of all that Thou hast created or wilt create—all belong to Thee alone.

There is no God but Thee. Thou dost ever cause to live and to die, then to die and to live. Verily Thou art the Ever-Living Who dieth not, the Sovereign Who passeth not away, the Just Who wrongeth not, the Potentate Who changeth not, the Single One Who faileth not, the Powerful Whom none can oppose, the Mighty Whom none can challenge, the Most High Who cannot be described, the Exalted Who cannot be depicted, the Invincible Who cannot be subdued, the Unique Who needeth no counsel, the One Who hath no likeness, the Self-Subsisting Who needeth no sustenance, the Ever-Abiding Who slumbereth not, the Creator Who cannot be created, the Provider Who cannot be provided for, the Eternal Who fadeth not, the Hidden Who cannot be seen, the Everlasting Who changeth not.

Thou hast ever been one God, Single, Eternal, Self-Subsisting, Ever-Living, Ever-Abiding, Self-Sufficient, Most Exalted, Most Inaccessible. Thou hast taken unto Thyself neither consort nor son. Thou didst create all things by Thy power, and didst provide for all things by Thy will, and didst cause all things to die by Thy might, and didst give life to all things by Thy sovereignty, and didst raise up all things by Thy wish. Never hath anything been hidden from Thy knowledge, whether in the heavens or on the earth or between them, nor can anything frustrate Thee, whether in the kingdom of command or of creation or whatsoever is beneath them. Thou createst what Thou willest by Thy command. Verily, Thou art the All-Knowing, the All-Powerful, the Almighty.

O my God! Thou didst not create anything except for those who know Thee and proclaim Thy unity and prostrate themselves before Thee and are detached from all else and stand firm in Thy Cause. Thou seest but art not seen, and verily Thou, from Thy most exalted Prospect, beholdest those for whom Thou didst create the heavens and the earth and whatsoever lieth between them, and they are in such a state that my heart cannot bear to mention them. When I look upon those who have passed away, they lie beneath the earth, none knoweth them and none presenteth himself before their glory, and when I look upon the living, each one is in such grief as none can reckon save Thee.

Glorified art Thou! There is no God but Thee. Through Thee have we become independent of all that Thou hast created or wilt create, for Thou sufficest all things beyond all things, and nothing in the heavens or on earth or whatsoever lieth between them can suffice without Thee, O my God. This is a Day which Thou hast honored and clothed with the garment of Thy grandeur as a glory unto Muhammad and the Manifestations of His Cause in what Thou didst aforetime ordain through Him, and Thou hast purified them through the working of Thy power and raised them up through the sovereignty of Thy Lordship that they might delight in what Thou hast promised them in their latter end, wherein they behold those under their shadow who say with their tongues “We believe in them.”

This is a Day whereon there gather at Thy House, by the word of Thy Beloved, such numbers as none can reckon save Thee, and likewise at His tomb, and similarly before the seat of the One Whom Thou hast mentioned through the words of Thy Beloved. Thus was their remembrance ordained among the servants in Islam, as Thy Beloved made that day a festival wherein they might honor one another, draw close to one another, and approach each other in obedience to Thy Messenger’s command and to exalt the Word of Thy Prophet. Yet all remain veiled from Thy Will and distant from what Thou hast loved, for Thou didst establish all this that they might return to Thy Beloved on the Day when they shall be brought before Thee, and those who are witnesses from His presence, and those who are the people of righteousness mentioned in His Book. All have presented themselves before Thee and have prostrated to Thee, acknowledging Thy Oneness, bearing witness to Thy Divine Sovereignty, drawing nigh unto Thee through the authority of Thy Singleness, enraptured in Thy love through the attraction of what Thou hast sent down of holy emanations. None hath seen their true station in Thee. Thus dost Thou observe what Thou witnesseth.

Verily, Thou hast ever been triumphant over all contingent things, omnipotent over all who dwell in the kingdoms of earth and heaven, victorious over all created things, sovereign over all who dwell in the realms of the beginning and the end, almighty over all atoms, all-powerful over all that hath been or will be brought into being, whether of essence or of attributes, and omnipotent over all that Thou hast created or wilt create in the kingdom of names and attributes. Nothing can ever frustrate Thee, neither in the past nor in the future, and nothing in the heavens or on earth can escape Thy knowledge.

Therefore, O my God, through Thy might manifest the sovereignty of power and majesty, and through Thy strength raise up the dominion of might and beauty, that Thou mayest exalt Thy friends and abase Thine enemies who earn what they earn in Thy name while remaining veiled from Thee and Thy signs.

Send down, O my God, upon those who are oppressed upon the earth and buried beneath it—among them who have believed in Thee and in Thy signs, and have followed the Manifestation of Thine own Self from Thee; who have desired the exaltation of Thy Word and Thy Cause, and have awaited the appearance of Him Whom Thou shalt cause to appear on the Day of Resurrection through Thy signs—of every glory the most glorious, of every majesty the most august, of every beauty the most fair, of every greatness the most mighty, of every light the most luminous, of every mercy the most all-embracing, of every utterance the most perfect, of every name the most great, of every might the most puissant, of every will the most effectual, of every knowledge the most penetrating, of every power the most potent, of every request the dearest unto Thee and the most guarded in Thy presence, of every honour the most honourable, of every sovereignty the most enduring, of every dominion the most splendid, of every loftiness the most sublime, of every bounty the most ancient, of every sign the most noble, of every realm of might the most independent, of every attribute the most earnest, of every manifestation the most manifest, of every hiddenness the most hidden, of every proof the most firmly established, of every effulgence the most exalted, of every marvel the most unassailable, of every favour the most excellent, of every munificence the most bountiful, of every kindness the most gentle, of every generosity the most generous, of every bestowal the most freely bestowed, of every gift the most joyous, of every sustenance the most abundantly spread forth, of every treasure the most mighty, of every attraction the most drawing, of every wonder the most radiant, and of every concealed repository of the unseen of Thy Self-Subsisting Being the most resplendent—this, to the number of the letter Mim, and beyond it, even as Thou art in Thine own being; for none can reckon the manifold attributes of Thy Names, nor any created thing encompass the wondrous gems of Thy Words.

What I have mentioned in these few stations is, of Thy Names, but the number of the One; and beyond this, O my God, are things I have neither numbered nor can number, that I might remember Thee thereby. Thine, verily, are the Most Beauteous Names, in their first and in their last, in their outward and in their inward; and Thine are the Most Exalted Similitudes, in their unapproachableness, their loftiness, their joyfulness, and their sublimity.

O my God! Do Thou send down upon my parents and those who are dear to me that which befitteth Thy grace and mercy. Send down, O my God, upon the dwellers of the heaven of Thy knowledge and the earth of Thy obedience, and all that lieth between them—those who draw sustenance from Thy will—that which befitteth the loftiness of Thy holiness and the sublimity of Thy grace. For I observe all that is above the earth as I would observe a tree whose leaves have grown yet possesseth no animal spirit. Therefore, O God, do Thou kindle them by causing them to enter beneath the shadow of the Bayan, that they might become as fallen leaves, for naught else can befall their existence.

For the human spirit resideth in those who know Thee, who are moved by Thy will, who are illumined by the revelation of Thy sovereign might, and in whose mirrors of being is reflected the image of the Sun of Thy unity. And whoso is not thus, his existence profiteth not. By Thy glory! I see not the forms that are upon the earth save as that withered tree upon the mountain, for Thou didst ordain for them verdure during the appearance of their Prophet and their steadfastness in the Cause of Him through whom Thy proof was perfected unto them. Their greenery and fruits have been lifted away, and they remain upon the earth devoid of divine spirit, heavenly might, celestial power, ethereal grace, or earthly vitality. For all these pertain to those who have entered the Bayan and have been illumined by Thy revelation with the eye of certainty and proof.

Thou seest, O my God, that these upon Thy earth can achieve naught save through what they imagine to be Thy might and power. God forbid! Nay, naught remaineth unto them, for were anything to remain unto them, Thou wouldst not have judged them as having naught. Do not cast them away, O my God, for they are Thy servants and in Thy grasp. Therefore, O God, do Thou manifest one who shall prevail over them through the sovereignty of Thy dominion and who shall rise above all that is upon the earth through the king of the glory of Thy purity, that he might leave nothing thereon save what entereth beneath the shadow of Thy wondrous Manifestation and the depths of Thy new Creation, lest he whom Thou shalt manifest—the Essence of Thy testimony unto Thy creation upon the earth—should behold any who love Him not. Let all abide beneath His authority, awaiting the day of His glory, for Thou hast created no paradise sweeter than awaiting the manifestation of the Manifestation of Thy Self and desiring to fulfill the covenant of Thy mystery—whether through his word after Thy manifestation or through his bashfulness before Thy countenance during Thy concealment. For verily, Thou seest all things and knowest all things.

At this moment, I witness none in Thy paradise save those who believe in Thee and Thy verses, in the appearance of Thy wondrous Creation, the loftiness of Thy holiness, the sublimity of Thy glory, the exaltation of Thy Self, the invincibility of Thy power, the transcendence of Thy eternity, and the independence of Thy unity—all of this draweth them nigh unto Thee in the Bayan and establisheth them beneath Thy shadow therein. All else remain veiled, and this is their fire with Thee. I desire not to mention them, yet I desire to cause them to enter Thy religion through Thy grace and generosity, though I know no benefit shall appear from their existence, for the animal spirit dwelleth in those who know Thee and shall know Thee in the Bayan. Yet according to what is attributed to Thee, this is their paradise and naught beyond it, for the firewood that burneth in the pleasure of Thy Self is better than one who slumbereth outside the pleasure of Thy Self. Glorified art Thou! There is no God but Thee! Therefore, O God, do Thou send down at this moment upon all things that which shall sever them from their own existence and join them unto Thy existence. Verily, Thou art powerful over all things.