Tablet of the Master `Abdu'l-Bahá to Karbalái Muhammad Salmáni

(provisionally translated by Dr. Khazeh Fananapazir)


He is God!

His honour Karbalái Muhammad Salmáni,
upon Him be the Glory of God the Most Glorious One!

O thou the servant of Bahá!

Praise be to God that thou art
a candle in the heart of the assembly of love,
a light in the meeting place of divine love,
the fruit upon the tree of grace,
a flowering bud in the rose garden of divine mercy.

Thou art stirred by the breezes of the garden of paradise and art verdant by the gentle winds of heavenly bounty.

Now that thou art confirmed in this grace thou must pass the days of thy life to obtain that which will attract divine nearness, nearness to the divine threshold.

This nearness does not consist in physical
nearness but it resides in supplication, in prayer,
in servitude of the world of God. The more you strive
in this servitude the more divine nearness will be
realized and you will become close to Him.

As much as is possible you should acquire those
attributes and characteristics, so that you may
become
utterly evanescent
and nothingness itself in the Path of God,
so much so that
even a trace of being may not remain within you,
and that one should be as a dead corpse before the
hands of the washer of the dead, utterly ephemeral,
having no thought or remembrance of the self and ego,
become as nothing face to face with the observance of
the divine ordinances, attracted and enamoured of the
commandments of the All-Merciful, to move by that
strength, to be distinguished by those qualities.

This is the station of self-annihilation in God and
being everlasting through God, and upon thee be the
Glory [the Bahá’].

AA.

Tablet of the Master `Abdu'l-Bahá to Ustádh Muhammad Sádeq Salmáni

(provisionally translated by Dr. Khazeh Fananapazir)

By hand of his honour Qaabel [the one who is the recipient of the divine mercy], upon him be the glory of the Most Glorious One. To Kooshakak his honour, Ustádh Muhammad Sádeq Salmáni, his honour Karabalái
Muhammad Salmáni, and the friends of God, upon them all be the Glory of the Most Glorious.

He is God!

O ye enkindled ones with the fire of the Divine Covenant! One can in no wise imagine any tranquillity or real prosperity in this narrow region of earthly existence for it is oppressive, constricted, and laden with sorrows...

The world of real tranquillity is the world of the Kingdom of Him Who is the Lord of All Creation. It is that which has true expansion the dominion of generosity, of bounty, and of liberal grace. Thou shalt always be veiled of the lights of those spiritual spheres as long as thou are beholden to this world of dust. And thou shalt ever remain oblivious and negligent of the Sublime World as long as thine heart is attached to the terrestrial realm.

So ye should utterly focus your eyes unto the other world, of matchless glory, and ye must needs obtain attachment to that other realm. In this wise all your days will be past in joy upon joy and at all times ye will be surrounded by joy of spirit and conscience. This is the counsel of ‘Abdu’l-Baha.

AA.

Sports

Shoghi Effendi writes in 1914:

"Athletics refresh the body, tranquilize and enlighten the mind, and develop moral character."

"Sports, in general, have had an important and estimable function in life and will inevitably in future be regarded as the indispensable factor for intellectual and moral growth."

See http://bahai-library.com/file.php5?file=shoghieffendi_functions_sports_life.

2007 is the year of Boston.

Boston Red Sox world champions.

New England Patriots possibly the best team of all time in football.

Baha'u'llah in the New Testament

Some Christians ask "if Baha'u'llah is the promised One of the New Testament, then where does the New Testament mention Him by name?"

Well, Dr. Khazeh Fananapazir found the word "Baha'u'llah" in the Arabic language translation of the Bibles of 1833 and 1858 (http://bahaistudies.net/kf/bibles.html). For those that do not read Arabic, I'll make it easy by demonstrating it below.

Its should be noted that these 1833 and 1858 versions of the Bible were published before the public declaration of Baha'u'llah in 1863. (Unfortunately, today's version of the Arabic translation of the Bible, unlike the 1833 and 1858 versions, doesn't use the word "Baha'u'llah" anymore.)

First, lets look at the verse in English. In Revelation 21:10, we read about the coming of the New Jerusalem.

NASB: And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God
GWT: He carried me by his power away to a large, high mountain. He showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven.
KJV: And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God


Then a few verses after the New Jerusalem is described, we get to this Revelation 21:23 where the word Baha'u'llah بهاءالله shows up.


NASB: And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb.
GWT: The city doesn't need any sun or moon to give it light because the glory of God gave it light. The lamb was its lamp.
KJV: And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.


The phrase "glory of God" in bold in the above verse is the English Translation of the word "Baha'u'llah". Before I show you the photocopy of this verse from the 1858 version of the Bible, lets first see what Baha'u'llah looks like in Arabic:

بهاءالله

Below is the photocopy of the Bible of 1858 of Revelation Chapter 21. I have put a red box around the word Baha'u'llah بهاءالله, which is translated into English as "glory of God" in Revelation 21:23.





Unfortunately, today's version of the Arabic translation of the Bible doesn't use the word "Baha'u'llah" for "Glory of God" anymore. It now uses the word "Majd'u'llah". Majd'u'llah looks like this in Arabic:

Muhammad - First and Last

These Quranic verses suggest that Muhammad is not the last prophet nor that the Quran is the last Book in a literal sense.

** (Point 1) Quranic verses (listed below) demonstrate that even though the Quran does state that Muhammad is the last, he is also considered to be the first. Since the Quran considers Muhammad as both the first and the last, then "last" should not be taken literally.

** (Point 2) The Quran states that Moses is also the first, so if there are more than one firsts (Moses, Adam, Muhammad), then there are more also than one lasts. Neither first nor last is outwardly literal.

In support of Baha'u'llah's statement in the Iqan, I offer the following Qur'anic verses. First read what Baha'u'llah writes:

Why should Muhammad, that immortal Beauty, Who hath said: “I am the first Adam” be incapable of saying also: “I am the last Adam”? For even as He regarded Himself to be the “First of the Prophets”—that is Adam—in like manner, the “Seal of the Prophets” is also applicable unto that Divine Beauty. It is admittedly obvious that being the “First of the Prophets,” He likewise is their “Seal.” (Baha'u'llah - The Kitab-i-Iqan)

Now to the Quranic verses:

006.014
YUSUFALI: Say: ... but I am commanded to be the first of those who bow to Allah (in Islam)...
PICKTHAL: ...I am ordered to be the first to surrender (unto Him).
SHAKIR: ...I am commanded to be the first who submits himself...
أَوَّلَ مَنْ أَسْلَمَ
awwala man aslama

006.163
YUSUFALI: ...I am the first of those who bow to His will.
PICKTHAL: ...I am first of those who surrender (unto Him).
SHAKIR: ...I am the first of those who submit.
أَوَّلُ الْمُسْلِمِينَ
awwalu almuslimeena

039.012
YUSUFALI: And I am commanded to be the first of those who bow to Allah in Islam.
PICKTHAL: And I am commanded to be the first of those who are muslims (surrender unto Him).
SHAKIR: And I am commanded that I shall be the first of those who submit.
أَوَّلَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ
awwala almuslimeena

Moses is also considered the first. So if there are more than one 'first's, there can also be more than one 'last's.

007.143
YUSUFALI: When Moses came... He said: "... to Thee I turn in repentance, and I am the first to believe."
PICKTHAL: And when Moses came... he said: ...I turn unto Thee repentant, and I am the first of (true) believers.
SHAKIR: And when Musa came.... He said: ... I turn to Thee, and I am the first of the believers.
أَوَّلُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ
awwalu almumineena