The Tablet to the Christians

Among the later Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh treated by Adib Taherzadeh in the fourth volume of *The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh* is the *Lawḥ-i-Aqdas* (the *Most Holy Tablet*), otherwise known as the *Tablet to the Christians*. It is not to be confused with the Kitáb-i-Aqdas.

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The Tablet is in Arabic and is addressed to a believer of Christian background. Some have believed that its recipient was the Syrian convert Fáris Effendi, but Taherzadeh notes that there is no conclusive evidence of this. Bahá'u'lláh had earlier addressed some Tablets to Christians, but the Lawḥ-i-Aqdas seems to be the first major Tablet to a believer of Christian background. Its full English text fills some eight pages of *Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh*.

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Through its recipient, the Tablet proclaims Bahá'u'lláh's message to the Christian people, whom it addresses as *followers of the Son*. In unequivocal terms He declares His station to be that of the Father whose advent Christ had promised:

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> Say, Lo! The Father is come, and that which ye were > promised in the Kingdom is fulfilled! This is the Word > which the Son concealed, when to those around Him He > said: "Ye cannot bear it now."

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He identifies Himself, too, with the promise of the Spirit of Truth in the Gospel of John: *Verily, He Who is the Spirit of Truth is come to guide you unto all truth.*

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The Tablet asks the Christians why they have shut themselves out from Him by reason of His Name, and likens them to the Pharisees who secluded themselves in synagogues lamenting their separation from God, yet did not recognize Christ when He came. It recalls that the most learned man of His age in Christ's own country sentenced Him to death, while a fisherman believed in Him.

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It then turns to the clergy. The bishops are told that they are *the stars of the heaven of My knowledge*, an allusion, Taherzadeh explains, to the Gospel prophecy of the falling of the stars at the coming of the Lord. The priests are called to *leave the bells, and come forth... from your churches* and to proclaim the Most Great Name among the nations, *whilst every stone and every tree shouteth aloud: "The Lord is come in His great glory!"* The monks are promised that if they follow Him, He will make them heirs of His Kingdom.

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The Tablet also declares: *In the East the Light of His Revelation hath broken; in the West the signs of His dominion have appeared.* Taherzadeh connects this with Bahá'u'lláh's repeated statements that His Cause would be carried to the West.

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It closes with a long series of beatitudes, among them *Blessed the ear that hath heard and the tongue that hath borne witness and the eye that hath seen and recognized the Lord Himself*, and ends with the words: *Verily, he is of Me. Upon him rest My mercy, My loving-kindness, My bounty and My glory.*

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*A retelling based on **The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, Vol. 4 — Mazra'ih and Bahjí 1877-92** (Adib Taherzadeh). For the fuller account, see the original.*

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