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BAHÁ'Í PRAYERS
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Pages 202-208
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TABLET OF AHMAD
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"These daily obligatory prayers, together with a few
other specific ones, such as the Healing Prayer, the Tablet
of Ahmad, have been invested by Bahá'u'lláh with
a special potency and significance, and should therefore
be accepted as such and be recited by the believers with
unquestioning faith and confidence, that through them
they may enter into a much closer communion with
God, and identify themselves more fully with His laws
and precepts." - From a letter written on behalf of
Shoghi Effendi
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He is the King, the All-Knowing, the Wise!
Lo, the Nightingale of Paradise singeth
upon the twigs of the Trees of Eternity, with holy
and sweet melodies, proclaiming to the sincere
ones the glad tidings of the nearness of God, calling
the believers in the Divine Unity to the court
of the Presence of the Generous One, informing
the severed ones of the message which hath been
revealed by God, the King, the Glorious, the Peerless,
guiding the lovers to the seat of sanctity and
to this resplendent Beauty.
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3 |
Verily this is that Most Great Beauty, foretold
in the Books of the Messengers, through Whom
truth shall be distinguished from error and the
wisdom of every command shall be tested. Verily
He is the Tree of Life that bringeth forth the fruits
of God, the Exalted, the Powerful, the Great.
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4 |
O Ahmad! Bear thou witness that verily He is
God and there is no God but Him, the King, the
Protector, the Incomparable, the Omnipotent.
And that the One Whom He hath sent forth by the
name of `Alí
[1]
was the true One from God, to
Whose commands we are all conforming.
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Say: O people be obedient to the ordinances of
God, which have been enjoined in the Bayán by
the Glorious, the Wise One. Verily He is the King
of the Messengers and His book is the Mother
Book did ye but know.
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Thus doth the Nightingale utter His call unto
you from this prison. He hath but to deliver this
clear message. Whosoever desireth, let him turn
aside from this counsel and whosoever desireth let
him choose the path to his Lord.
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O people, if ye deny these verses, by what
proof have ye believed in God? Produce it, O assemblage
of false ones.
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Nay, by the One in Whose hand is my soul,
they are not, and never shall be able to do this,
even should they combine to assist one another.
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9 |
O Ahmad! Forget not My ounties while I am
absent. Remember My days during thy days, and
My distress and banishment in this remote prison.
And be thou so steadfast in My love that thy heart
shall not waver, even if the swords of the enemies
rain blows upon thee and all the heavens and the
earth arise against thee.
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10 |
Be thou as a flame of fire to My enemies and a
river of life eternal to My loved ones, and be not of
those who doubt.
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And if thou art overtaken by affliction in My
path, or degradation for My sake, be not thou
troubled thereby.
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Rely upon God, thy God and the Lord of thy
fathers. For the people are wandering in the paths
of delusion, bereft of discernment to see God with
their own eyes, or hear His Melody with their
own ears. Thus have We found them, as thou also
dost witness.
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Thus have their superstitions become veils between
them and their own hearts and kept them
fron the path of God, the Exalted, the Great.
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14 |
Be thou assured in thyself that verily, he who
turns away from this Beauty hath also turned
away from the Messengers of the past and showeth
pride towards God from all eternity to all eternity.
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Learn well this Tablet, O Ahmad. Chant it
during thy days and withhold not thyself therefrom.
For verily, God hath ordained for the one
who chants it, the reward of a hundred martyrs
and a service in both worlds. These favors have
We bestowed upon thee as a bounty on Our part
and a mercy from Our presence, that thou mayest
be of those who are grateful.
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By God! Should one who is in affliction or grief
read this Tablet with absolute sincerity, God will
dispel his sadness, solve his difficulties and remove
his afflictions.
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Verily, He is the Merciful, the Compassionate.
Praise be to God, the Lord of all the worlds.
- Bahá'u'lláh
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Notes
1. [The Báb]
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