The Baha'i Holy Land, Haifa, Israel.
"the Beauty of the Unseen hath shone forth
above the horizon of creation."
~ Baha'u'llah ~
Dear Ones,
Among the most intimate texts recited in the Baha'i community is the TABLET OF VISITATION, also known as the Prayer of Visitation or Prayer of Remembrance for Baha'u'llah and the Bab. It is often read privately, at the shrines of the TWIN MANIFESTATIONS, or during the Anniversary of the Ascension of Baha'u'llah and the Martyrdom of the Bab.
We might assume it is a single revelation composed in one flow by Baha'u’llah Himself. In fact, it is composite. This explains why the Tablet lacks a classic final “signature,” as in standalone tablets like the Tablet of Ahmad. Yet every word remains authentic, drawn directly from Baha'u’llah’s revelation. Persian excerpts from one source can be seen HERE.
Shortly after Baha'u’llah’s Ascension (29 May 1892), Nabil-i-Zarandi, His Apostle and author of The Dawn-Breakers, received instructions from Abdu’l-Baha to select and combine excerpts from four distinct Writings revealed by Baha'u’llah during the Akka period.
The Tablet opens with striking glorifications that at first may seem addressed to God Himself. Yet these words are in reality directed to the Bab and Baha’u’llah, the Chosen Ones of God.
The praise which hath dawned from Thy most august Self, and the glory which hath shone forth from Thy most effulgent Beauty, rest upon Thee, O Thou Who art the Manifestation of Grandeur, and the King of Eternity, and the Lord of all who are in heaven and on earth! I testify, moreover, that with but a movement of Thy Pen Thine injunction 'Be Thou' hath been enforced, and God's hidden Secret hath been divulged, and all created things have been called into being, and all the Revelations have been sent down [...] and that through a word from Thee Thou hast decided between all created things, causing them who are devoted to Thee, to ascend unto the summit of glory, and the infidels to fall into the lowest abyss.
Such words invite a deeper and wider reflection: All Manifestations, past, present, and future, share one eternal essence, “one and the same essence,” “one being,” “one spirit,” equal in their pre-eternal reality. Differences concern only the station of distinction (the measure of Revelation suited to each cycle). Thus, when God speaks here through His two last Manifestations, He speaks of all Manifestations. Praising Them as “King of Eternity” is praising Moses, Jesus, Muhammad, the Bab, and all others. They are “seated upon the same throne, uttering the same speech.” Praise to one is praise to all, the same Divine Light shining through each.
Reread with this in mind, the Tablet becomes more than a prayer for a shrine: it is a cosmic celebration of the eternal unity of God’s Manifestations, timeless oneness veiled in apparent individual exaltation.
Yet only through total annihilation do they reach ultimate proximity. Betrayed, humiliated, crucified, chained, exiled — the crown of thorns is the only tiara they will ever wear:
Yet only through total annihilation do they reach ultimate proximity. Betrayed, humiliated, crucified, chained, exiled — the crown of thorns is the only tiara they will ever wear:
I bear witness that the eye of creation hath never gazed upon one wronged like Thee. Thou wast immersed all the days of Thy life beneath an ocean of tribulation.Therefore, in revisiting the Tablet of Visitation, one discovers their surprising exaltation joined to their poignant humiliation — a majesty drenched in a sea of trials.
As this sung interpretation rises, a woman's voice so gentle, almost childlike, one senses the majesty of the divine words trembling at the very heart of the Manifestations' fragile human form: an infinite glory entrusted to an infinite pain.
Be
wonderfully blessed !
Loesha
Share
this page...