Lawh-i-fu'ad
Sources: The Summons Of The Lord Of Hosts By Baha'u'llahHe 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
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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