BB00322: Letter to an unnamed recipient re Mulla Husayn

In the Name of God, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate.

When thou desirest to enter that hallowed land, purify thyself, and render goodly whatsoever thou possessest to the utmost of thy ability. Know thou that here is the loftiest horizon of the Throne and the uttermost pinnacle of Paradise, and that God hath ever watched over thee, unto the words:

“And say: O God! Thou art the Possessor of all things, and none beside Thee possesseth aught. I beseech, first, Thy bounty, then the grace of all whom Thou hast loved—of Thine angels nigh unto Thee, Thy Envoys sent forth, Thy chosen, purified ones, and Thy righteous servants—that I may enter before Thy Beloved, whom Thou hast chosen for Thyself, elected for Thy remembrance, singled out for Thy revelation, and linked obedience unto Him with obedience unto Thee,” unto the words:

“My father be a ransom for Thee, and all that the knowledge of my Lord encompasseth! How can I make mention of Thee or praise Thee? For whatsoever we behold and whatsoever we behold not is but an effect created through Thee, a form brought into being by Thee. Exalted is Thy remembrance above being conjoined with the remembrance of any of the rememberers, and uplifted is Thy glory above being matched by the glory of any of the thinkers. I bear witness that though Thou wast slain, yet surely Thou livest with God; and through what God hath brought forth from the overflow of Thy life, the hearts of the monotheists do live, and thereby they confess the oneness of Thy Lord and glorify Him, by night and by day, without cease.

How mighty is Thy right! How befitting the wonder of Thy station, the loftiness of Thy rank, and the sublimity of Thy manifestations! Thou hast severed Thyself unto God with all Thou didst possess, unto a height of exaltation which none hath preceded nor shall attain. Exalted is that which Thou hast achieved, and blessed that which Thou hast witnessed. I testify that Thou, and they who ascended with Thee, abide in the Most Exalted Horizon of the Throne and the most glorious pinnacle of the heaven of the Seat. There do they glorify God with the praise of their Lord, and through His remembrance do they profess His unity. Verily I shall testify, before God and before Thyself and the manifestations of Thy Countenance, and whatsoever God hath willed, that Thou didst summon unto God and didst deliver that with which Thou wast charged from the Book of God, and didst attain that which God, Thy Lord, had promised Thee—namely, the most exalted height of martyrdom and the loftiest summit of sainthood.

Who, after Thee, can reach unto Thee? Nay, by Thy glory! All who are martyred are martyred by virtue of Thy martyrdom, and all who ascend do so after the ascension of Thy glory. I testify that Thy calamity is too great to be conjoined with any calamity in creation, and Thy tribulation too high to be equalled by any tribulation in the realm of invention. Curse of God be upon a people who knew not Thy right, who bowed not down before the loftiness of Thy station, and who, through Thee, turned not to God, Thy Lord,” unto the words:

“And how can I send peace upon Thee, O Beloved of my heart, after what mine ears have heard of that which befell Thee? Nigh would the heavens be rent asunder, the earth be cloven, and the mountains fall down in fragments. Unto God do I complain, and unto Thee do I return. God shall assuredly unite me—and them that believe in Him—with the goal He ordained for Thee and whereunto He conveyed Thee. Would that I had been with Thee, that I might have sacrificed my life for Thine!”

And in the Most Sublime, Most Holy Tablets there are recorded many descriptions of His stations and attributes—among them His Supreme Utterance:

“The Name Ha—upon him be His most glorious Baha! He attained unto this supreme martyrdom ere his outward martyrdom; for in no wise had he any will, desire, or thought of his own. All these degrees he sacrificed for the Friend; thereafter he attained outward martyrdom, offering his very life in the path of the True Beloved.”

And likewise His Supreme Utterance:

“I bear witness that, in the Manifestation of the Point of the Bayan—exalted be His grandeur—He decreed that the first who believed was Muhammad, the Messenger of God. Doth it befit anyone to object, saying, This one is Persian whereas that one was Arab,’ or, This one was named Husayn whereas that one was named Muhammad’? Nay, by His exalted, all-glorious Self! The man of insight looketh not unto limitations and names; rather he looketh unto that whereon Muhammad stood—the Cause of God. Likewise he looketh upon Husayn according to that whereon he stood of the Cause of God, the All-Powerful, the Most Exalted, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.”