Lawh-i- Karmil (Tablet of Carmel) Presentation of Tablet of Carmel at Irfan Colloquium Dr. Sateh Bayat Louhelen Bahá’í School, October 2001 In presenting this mighty Tablet we will discuss the below topics. Contents The circumstances surrounding its revelation ..................................................................... 2 The Significance of this Day of God and Titles of Bahá’u’lláh ......................................... 4 Glad-Tidings of His Coming from the scriptures of the past.............................................. 6 His commandment to carry His Message to all the corners of the world ........................... 8 Glad-Tidings of future institutions of the Spiritual and Administrative Center of the Cause of God..................................................................................................................... 10 The style and language of the Tablet of Carmel ............................................................... 12 Supplemental material ...................................................................................................... 15 1 The circumstances surrounding its revelation Bahá’u’lláh left Adrianople on the next and last step of His exile at the command of the Ottoman Caliph Sultan Abdu’l Aziz to Akka. He left Adrianople on the 12th of August 1868 and journeyed to Gallipoli. This journey took a few days. After a few days stay in Gallipoli He sailed in an Austrian Steamer before noon arriving in Madelli about sunset, leaving at night for Smyrna where He stayed 2 days before traveling to Alexandria. At this time Nabil-i-Azam was a prisoner with a Christian physician Faris Effendi. They wrote petitions and letters to Bahá’u’lláh and in answer a Tablet was revealed. Faris was particularly honored Bahá’u’lláh changed ships at Alexandria. This was also an Austrian Lloyd Triestino steamer bound for Port Said and then onto Jaffa and Haifa. He arrived at Haifa on 31st August and disembarked for a few hours. This was his first visit to Haifa on his way to the Prison City of Akka. His second visit to Haifa was 15 years later in August 1883 when he moved residence to the Mansion of Bahji. He visited Haifa for a few days and stayed at a house in the German Templar colony in the Bayt-i-Funduq. His third visit was in 1890, the same time that Edward Granville Browne, the orientalist, visited Bahá’u’lláh in Akka. In the course of this visit, He stayed first at Bayt-i-Zahlan, near the town, and then He moved to a house in the German colony, which was known as the Oliphant House. His tent was pitched on a piece of land opposite that house. His fourth and last visit was a year before His passing, in the summer of 1891, when He stayed for 3 months. This time he stayed in the house of Ilyas- Abyaz near the German colony. Two happenings of note were that, one day, while standing by the side of some lone cypress trees nearly half-way up the slopes of Mount Carmel, Bahá’u’lláh pointed to an expanse of rock immediately below Him, telling ‘Abdu’l- Bahá that on that spot He would like the mausoleum that would enshrine the Blessed remains of the Martyr-prophet, the Bab, to be built. On a summer day when His tent was pitched in the vicinity of the Carmelite monastery, Stella Maris on a promontory nearby, He summoned His amanuensis and then revealed in a loud and clear voice the Tablet of Carmel. This mighty Tablet of Bahá’u’lláh was revealed in Arabic and He chanted the words of that Tablet with supreme majesty and power. The forceful tone of His exalted language sounded all around, so that even the monks, within the walls of the monastery, heard every word uttered by Him. Such was the commotion created on that historical occasion, …the earth seemed to shake, while all those present were overpowered by His mighty and wondrous spirit. In the course of that same day Bahá’u’lláh, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, local believers and Persian pilgrims visited the upper Cave of Elijah in the nearby Carmelite monastery, thus hallowing both these sites. It was a day of rare significance. 2 Although the policy of Sultán ‘Abdu’l-Hamíd was harsher than ever; although he constantly insisted on his Captive’s strict confinement, still, the Blessed Beauty now lived, as everyone knows, with all power and glory. Some of the time Bahá’u’lláh would spend at the Mansion, and again, at the farm village of Mazra’ih; for a while He would sojourn in Haifa, and occasionally His tent would be pitched on the heights of Mount Carmel. Friends from everywhere presented themselves and gained an audience. The people and the government authorities witnessed it all, yet no one so much as breathed a word. And this is one of Bahá’u’lláh’s greatest miracles: that He, a captive, surrounded Himself with panoply and He wielded power. The prison changed into a palace, the jail itself became a Garden of Eden. Such a thing has not occurred in history before; no former age has seen its like: that a man confined to a prison should move about with authority and might; that one in chains should carry the fame of the Cause of God to the high heavens, should win splendid victories in both East and West, and should, by His almighty pen, subdue the world. Such is the distinguishing feature of this supreme Theophany. –'Abdu’l-Bahá, Memorials of the Faithful, p. 27 In years to come, a House of Worship will be built on the site of the promontory. Some time later Bahá’u’lláh visited the lower cave of Elijah. Elijah was traditionally believed to have lived there. In the 1800’s there were some action-motivated Protestant pietists of Wurttemberg, Germany . One root of the movement sprang from Revd. J. A. Bengel who predicted that the second coming of Christ would occur in 1837. But disagreements on interpretation of the scriptures were blunted by disappointment. Some came to the Holy Land to establish a home for God, a Temple of God in the Holy City. So Hardegg, Hoffman came to Haifa in 1868 and settled in several colonies. All firmly believed in a glorious future for the Holy Land. Der Herr ist nahe 1871. God is nigh. How unfortunate that their ideas of the circumstances surrounding the coming of the Messiah did not coincide with the situation of this Prisoner and consequently they deprived themselves of the blessing of His recognition. 3 The Significance of this Day of God and Titles of Bahá’u’lláh “ALL glory be to this Day, the Day in which the fragrances of mercy have been wafted over all created things, a Day so blest that past ages and centuries can never hope to rival it, a Day in which the countenance of the Ancient of Days hath turned towards His holy seat.” Jews at the time of Moses couldn’t bear to look at Mount Sinai. Relating to that we read, “He that was hidden from mortal eyes is come”. In the Holy traditions it was written “I was a hidden treasure”. Now we read in the Tablet, “Konto Kanzan makhfian”, i.e., the Hidden treasure is now come. Asking Zion not to hesitate and halt like in previous times, Bahá’u’lláh tells the Christians to haste. “Hasten forth and circumambulate the City of God”, the City of God being the New Jerusalem addressed in Revelation of St. John. “New Jerusalem” is the title for the Christians, “Jerusalem” is the title for the Jews and the “Celestial Kaaba” is for the Muslims. In one statement thus He addresses the three followers of the Book and tells them that He is their Promised One and their Point of Adoration. The Beloved Bab also uses the same terms, “City of God and Kaaba” in His Tablet addressed to Muhammad Shah. And the beloved Guardian has interpreted the meaning of the “City of God and the celestial Kaaba” as the Shrine of the Bab. -- Bahá’u’lláh, Proclamation of Bahá’u’lláh, p.90 When Bahá’u’lláh came to this prison in the Holy Land, the wise men realized that the glad tidings which God gave through the tongue of the Prophets two or three thousand years before were again manifested, and that God was faithful to His promise; for to some of the Prophets He had revealed and given the good news that “the Lord of Hosts should be manifested in the Holy Land.” All these promises were fulfilled; and it is difficult to understand how Bahá’u’lláh could have been obliged to leave Persia, and to pitch His tent in this Holy Land, but for the persecution of His enemies, His banishment and exile. His enemies intended that His imprisonment should completely destroy and annihilate the blessed Cause, but this prison was in reality of the greatest assistance and became the means of its development. The divine renown of Bahá’u’lláh reached the East and the West, and the rays of the Sun of Truth illuminated the entire world. Praise be to God! though He was a prisoner, His tent was raised on Mount Carmel, and He moved abroad with the greatest majesty. Every person, friend or stranger, who came into His presence used to say, “This is a prince, not a captive.” This is the Day in which He Who held converse with God hath attained the light of the Ancient of Days, and quaffed the pure waters of reunion from this Cup that hath caused the seas to swell. Say: By the one true God! Sinai is circling round the Dayspring of Revelation, while from the heights of the Kingdom the Voice of the Spirit of God is heard proclaiming: “Bestir yourselves, ye proud ones of the earth, and hasten ye unto Him.” Carmel hath, in this Day, hastened in longing adoration to attain His court, whilst from the heart of Zion there cometh 4 the cry: “The promise is fulfilled.