The Chosen Highway/Tablet of His Holiness the Báb
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THE BAB
TaBLeT oF His Houiness THE BAB
“In the Name of God the Most Merciful!
“Praise be unto God, Who hath bestowed upon me the Grace to thank Him for His ordeals.
“T thank Him for the calamities which have descended upon me, and for the hardships which have bestrewn my path.
“These misfortunes have come to me through those who believe not in the One True God, and are of the rebellious.
“I bring my sorrows and my griefs unto God.
“Ere long the unjust shall see their punishment.
‘‘What thou hast written to me I have received, and I became aware of that which hath come through thy love.
“May God reward thee for that which thou hast wrought in His Religion, and for that which thou wilt achieve in His Path.
“IT swear by Him, in whose hand is my soul, that those who quaff of the Chalice of Love are saved, and that those who reject me and my Mission shall perish.
“How can I describe that which befell me in that land?
“Verily, all the ink of the world, and all the parchments of the earth would fall short.
“By a sign it shall be made known unto thee, what are some of the calamities which overwhelmed me, when I journeyed from that land to present myself to one whom God had appointed to be ruler over it.
“T arrived at this place and tarried a space by the permission of His Honour Mu‘tamidu’d-Dawlih; may God preserve and increase his good fortune and reward him with His bounties according to his merits. In truth he did not fail to care for us, and to take trouble on our behalf.
“One night a promise was made in Mu‘tamidu’d-Dawlih’s presence, and that of many nobles, concerning that which God had ordained and desired.
“This will in truth take place, should the ‘ulamas present themselves, on the day of the Great Feast as appointed for that ‘Trial by Ordeal.’
“This was agreed upon between me and the ‘ulamas.
“Soon shall God establish the Truth by His Word, and make manifest the deeds of the people.
“Ere long I shall make a journey to the presence of Maliku’l
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THE CHOSEN HIGHWAY
Fadl (the lord of grace); shouldst thou hear of this visit, present thyself in that place, and relate whatsoever thou hast seen of the actions of the ignorant.
“Verily, we are from God, and unto God shall we return.
‘Peace be upon thee, and upon Ahmad, and upon that one whom thou didst mention in thy letter—and upon those who shall join them.
‘To-day is the appointed day,* and this day shall be fulfilled that which I promised thee—at five minutes before noontide shall this take place—should the ‘ulamas present themselves!”
The ‘ulamas failed to keep the appointment, thereby showing that they did not wish to know the Truth, which it was clearly their duty to investigate.
They were afraid of suffering defeat, and thus bringing about the humiliation of their religion.
Their refusal betrayed their lack of faith in the justice of their opposition.
They feared that the Truth of the Bab’s Mission would, at the projected Ordeal, be proclaimed to the world.
Thus the spectres of grief and sorrow, and woe, and disappointment, stalked beside this Chosen One at all times.
This Tablet was written in 1846, two years after His proclamation.
The persecution of this “Awaited Qa’im,” during the whole six years of His Mission, seems incredible—very difficult to understand, knowing as we do that prayers were constantly offered up for his Coming by those very mullas, who showed themselves to be His most cruel and bitter enemies, and that He showed forth all the requisite signs, mentioned in the prophecies. But this rejection was accepted by those who believed in the Bab, as in itself, one of the proofs of His Truth, being also a fulfilling of prophecy.