Lawh-i-Ru’yá (Tablet of Vision)

Abstract

The Lawh-i-Ru'yá was revealed in the House of 'Udi Khammar in 'Akká for an apparently Bahá'í believer referred to by Bahá'u'lláh as "My Name" (=Husayn?). In various sources this Tablet is said to date nineteen years prior to the ascension of Bahá'u'lláh in 1308 AH and to the (eve of) the anniversary of the birthday of the Báb in the year to 1290 AH, 1873 CE. A four page or so, wholly Arabic Tablet, the Lawh-i-Ru'yá is a multifaceted, largely commemoratory Tablet. It opens with the following paragraph in which a heavenly vision (Arabic = ru'yá) is introduced and headed by the words, "In My Name, that warbleth upon the twigs (afnán)"--the word Afnan being suggestive of the "twigs" or "branches" of the Tree of the family of the Báb: [1] "My Name! Hearken unto My Call which cometh from the precincts of the heavenly Throne (al-'arsh) that it might enable thee to attain unto the shore of an opulent Ocean; the fathomless deep of which no swimmer (sabbah) hath ever attained. And Thy Lord is assuredly One Knowing and Generous. [2] We indeed desired to cast Our Bounty upon thee by making mention of that which We visioned. [3] This to the end that thou mayest witness the Luminous World (al-'álam al-núrání) in this nether world of darkness (al-'álam al-zalmání) and be firmly assured that for Us there is many a world within this mortal world. Then render thanks unto Thy Lord, the Well-Informed. [4] If He desired that He might cause the rays of the Sun to appear from a tiny atom (al-qatra), He is assuredly capable of this; even as He hath enabled the knowledge of what was and what is to emerge from a single Point (al-nuqta)!"