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Lawh-i-fu'ad

Sources: The Summons Of The Lord Of Hosts By Baha'u'llah

He is the Most Holy, the Most Glorious!



1 Kaf. Za'.(75) We call unto thee from beyond the sea of grandeur, upon

the crimson land, above the horizon of tribulation. Verily, no God is

there save Him, the Almighty, the Most Generous. Walk thou steadfastly in

My Cause and follow not the ways of those who, upon attaining unto the

object of their desire, denied God, the Lord of Lords. Erelong shall He

lay hold
pon them in His wrath, and He, verily, is the All-Powerful, the

All-Subduing.



2 Know thou that, through the power of His sovereign might, God hath

seized him who was the foremost amongst them that passed judgement against

Us. When he saw his torment approaching, he fled to Paris to seek recourse

to physicians.



3 Is there none to help me? he asked.



4 He was smitten upon the mouth and told: There is no escape!(76)



5 And when he turned towards the angel of wrath, he well-nigh expired from

fear. I have a house full of riches, he pleaded. I have a palace on the

Bosphorus, beneath which the rivers flow.



6 The angel replied: No ransom shall be accepted from thee on this day,

even shouldst thou offer up all things visible and invisible. Hearest thou

not the sighs of the kindred of God, whom thou didst cast into prison

without proof or testimony? Thy deed hath provoked the lamentation of the

inmates of Paradise, and of those who circle morn and eve round the Throne

on high. The wrath of thy Lord hath descended upon thee, and stern is He

in His chastisement!(77)



7 He made reply: I held command over the people, and here is the mandate

of my authority.



8 Hold thy peace, O denier of the Day of Judgement!(78)



9 He implored: Is no respite possible so that I may send for my family?



10 Far from it, O disbeliever in the verses of God!



11 Thereupon the keepers of the fathomless abyss called unto him: The

gates of Hell have opened wide to receive thee, O thou who hast turned

away from thy Lord, the Unconstrained! Repair unto its fire, for it

yearneth after thee. Hast thou forgotten, O rejected one, when thou wert

the Nimrod of the age, how thy tyranny eclipsed the very cruelties of

Pharaoh, the Lord of the Stakes?(79) By God! Thine iniquity hath rent

asunder the veil of sanctity and caused the pillars of heaven to tremble.

Where canst thou find refuge now? Who shall protect thee from the dreadful

scourge of thy Lord, the All-Compelling? There is no haven for thee in

this Day, O ungodly doubter! Whereupon the agony of death seized him and

he saw no more. Thus did We lay hold on him in Our wrathful anger, and

severe is thy Lord in His punishment.



12 Then an angel from the right hand of the Throne summoned him: Behold

the angel of affliction. Is there any place to flee to save hell, wherein

the heart(80) boileth? And the angel of chastisement received his spirit,

and a voice proclaimed: Enter the bottomless pit which hath been promised

in the Book, and whose existence thou didst day and night deny!



13 Soon will We dismiss the one who was like unto him,(81) and will lay

hold on their Chief who ruleth the land,(82) and I, verily, am the

Almighty, the All-Compelling. Be thou steadfast in the Cause of God and

extol thy Lord morn and eve. Suffer not the light of thy soul to be

quenched by the calumnies of the one who was so blinded by Our bestowals

as to turn away from God, the Lord of all names. He inspireth his devoted

followers even as the Evil One prompteth his own. Erelong shalt thou

behold him in evident loss both in this world and in the world to come.

He, indeed, is among those whom an afflictive torment doth await. He

dispatched an epistle to someone in that land, a writ of the workers of

iniquity, in which he mocked God and recorded that which filled all

created things with dismay. Say: Canst thou find anyone to protect thee

when the wrath of God, the All-Powerful, the Unconstrained, is visited

upon thee?



14 Thus have We informed thee of that which lieth concealed within the

hearts of men. Verily, thy Lord is the Almighty, the All-Knowing. Arise

for the triumph of this Cause, and gather together My loved ones. Help

them to see the truth in this Day when the feet of men have slipped. Say:

It behoveth every true believer to assist his Lord. He, verily, is your

helper, while the people have no one to turn to in this Day.



15 Then We seized Mihdi,(83) to whom We had promised divine chastisement

in Our Books and Scriptures. When Our awful majesty encompassed him, he

entreated: May I not retrace my steps?



16 A voice exclaimed: Woe betide thee, O disbeliever in the Day of

Resurrection! This is the nethermost fire, and its flames have been made

to blaze for thee. Thou didst forsake all righteous deeds in thy vain and

futile life, and now thou hast none to shield thee from God. Thou art

indeed he who caused all hearts to be consumed and the Holy Spirit to

lament.



17 He pleaded: Is there yet no refuge for me?



18 Nay, by my Lord, even shouldst thou seek recourse to every possible

means!



19 Thereupon he cried out in such distress as to cause the people of the

graves to tremble, and was seized by the Hand of invincible power. A voice

then proclaimed: Return unto the seat of wrath in the fire of hell;

wretched and evil be thine abode!



20 Thus did We lay hold on him as We laid hold on those who preceded him.

Behold their houses which We have left to the spiders, and take heed, O ye

who are endued with understanding! He it is who opposed God, and for whom

the verses of wrath were revealed in the Book. Blessed is he who readeth

it and pondereth its contents, for a goodly end doth in truth await him.



21 Thus have We recounted unto thee the tale of the evil-doers, that thine

eyes may be solaced. As for thee, there lieth in store naught but a

blissful end.



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