BB00270: Li-Ismi’llahi’n-Nazi’

In the Name of God, the Best Preserver, the Most Excellent Protector

Praise be to God—there is none other God but He—the Best Preserver, the Most Excellent Protector. And the glory from God be upon Him Whom God shall make manifest, and then upon His guides—He hath ever been and will ever remain.

And now: I testify, by the Name that standeth present before the Throne, that in the Bayan there have been revealed, concerning the measures of the ordinances, five modes.

The first concerneth the manner of supplications, and it is with the noble name Qabl ʿAli. The second concerneth the Persian tongue, and it is with the name Allah al-Ahmad. The third concerneth the interpretation of the Names, according to the number of all things—some of the Names, in accordance with what hath been revealed. The fourth concerneth the verses upon the dust, upon violet paper: from this was taken the exemplar—three parts; and one part was sent unto him unto whom the supplications were sent; and one part in a kerchief within his grasp—by the mercy of God, the Most Exalted King; and one part hath been sent unto thee. Guard it as thine eyes. And the fifth was revealed concerning the verses in a Temple, upon the traces of God; and from it the exemplar was taken. Great is it, according to what hath been revealed.

And the ordinance is that the enactments be ordered according to what hath been revealed, lest any differ concerning the path of Truth. It hath been revealed in the Bayan that the measures of the ordinances have been set forth in nineteen Vahids; and at that time eleven Vahids were made manifest, and eight were concealed within the Will of God—glorified be His majesty. The ordinance is according to what hath appeared, not according to what God hath willed and hath not made manifest.

God loveth that there should be the thrones of Truth: they shall be cast thereafter into vessels of stone, firm and hardened. And after days have passed over them, none shall find them among the clay save at the appearance of the other. Then, by the command of God, it shall be for the Lord of that manifestation to take up that clay—however long it may have remained—and to make it the resting-place and the cradle of the community that springeth therefrom, and to bestow it upon the guides of God, they who believe in God their Lord and are assured in His verses. This cannot be except at the appearance of Him Whom God shall make manifest.

And before His appearance, hold fast to the Balance that pointeth unto God, and differ not concerning God. For in the world of Names there is none other God but God—alone, alone. And in the world of creation this Balance hath been indicated by the Sun of Truth. He will strengthen you by the power of God, and will shine upon you from the dawning-places of God. He desireth naught but God. God will aid you through Him, and will command you in the paths of the eleven unities. What hath not been set forth of those paths shall be made plain by such as are of the people of the sacred texts—inasmuch as thou hast known that whoso writeth the paths of manifestation and concealment in the presence of God is numbered among them.

And it hath been confined in the Bayan that whatsoever is beneath them is as nothing in the sight of God; and though we see them living, there is in them no spirit of the knowledge of God, nor is there in them the good-pleasure of God. And the people of the dawning-places in the Bayan, the first and the last, are all the guides of God in Ridvan; all have met God in His love and His good-pleasure; all are, in the presence of God, within the Enclosure of Holiness and the Seat of Paradise, prostrate before God their Lord by night and by day, and they weary not.

Guard thou this as thine eyes; and convey it unto the Balance and unto all the guides of thy Lord. And command all that they publish it not. Mention thou the Balance, that none may bear witness from fear until God cause it to reach him. God will accomplish all His purpose, and will raise up whomsoever He willeth by His command, and will explain, through His wisdom, the measures of what was revealed in the Bayan.

And if thou seest any of those concerned with the ordinances, present unto him two copies: one for his own self, and one for the parchment of him who remembereth Me by his name—such as Ibrahim, the scribe of the Bayan—and whomsoever God willeth among them that are endued with divine nature and eternal being. Withhold not yourselves from him who writeth the verses of God; for ye know not the purpose of God, nor are ye able to recite the traces of God. Ask ye, therefore, of Him Who is with Him, and put your trust in God your Lord, in His love and His good-pleasure.

And if ye touch it not in your joy, touch it not in your sorrow; for He commandeth you unto guidance and truth, removeth from your hearts the doubts of the overthrown cities, and giveth you glad tidings of the good-pleasure of God and the dawning-places of His bounty. God, your Lord, hath ever been living, abiding, everlasting, self-subsisting, exalted; neither slumber hath seized Him, nor attribute encompassed Him. Say: God hath ever been living and abiding. Then say: God shall ever be living and abiding.

If thou art gazing upon the ocean of the Names, I shall address thee, and it hath been revealed in the Book: “Verily I am God; there is none other God but Me; all besides Me are My creatures, and all, before and after Me, worship Me.” And if thou art gazing upon the ocean of creation, I shall reveal in the Book: “Verily I am the first whom God my Lord created, and the last whom God my Lord shall create; from His presence shall I be made the Manifestation of His being unto all the worlds, and unto the Last that hath no end shall I be made the Balance of His very Self unto all the worlds.”

All these are attributes which hearts may apprehend; otherwise, glorified be God above all glorification, and glorified be God above all sanctification, and glorified be God above all denial of likeness, and glorified be God above all exaltation, and glorified be God above all inviolability, and glorified be God above whatsoever He hath created and shall create—a lofty glorification.

And the glory from God be upon all who are in the Bayan, every one of them—servants of God—and unto Him shall all return.