Arabic.
Place And
Date Of Revelation:
Adrianople, closing years (See GPB,
pp. 168-77; King, p. 250).
"...whilst in Adrianople, that same Father had, in the Suriy-i-Ghusn (Tablet of the Branch), referred as..." (GPB, p. 242)
Recipient:
Mirza `Ali Rida-i-Mustawfi, the Mustasharu'd
Dawlih.
"Mirza `Ali Rida-i -Mustawfi, a native of Khurasan. This believer was a titled person--the Mustasharu'd Dawlih. He had a prominent position in government circles in the district of Khurasan and was a man of great influence there. His teacher was no less a person than Mulla Husayn who taught him the Faith in Mashhad. Mirza `Ali- Rida became a dedicated believer who in spite of his rank and position never hesitated to assist the friends when ever they faced difficulties; he always helped the poor and down-trodden among them. He was the one mainly responsible for providing the horses and finance for Mulla Husayn and his companions when they were leaving Mashhad for Mazindaran on a mission of great importance. With the help of Mulla Sadiq-i-Khurasani, the renowned teacher of th e Faith, he succeeded in converting his younger brother Mirza Muhammad-Rida, the Mu'taminu's-Saltanih, who became a devoted believer. When Mirza `Ali-Rida retired, it was this same brother who succeeded him in office. It is interesting to note that in a T ablet, Bahá'u'lláh comments on a photograph of Mu'taminu's- Saltanih, saying that it bears a striking resemblance to Himself." (RofB II, p. 388) (See illustration in Some Eminent Bahá'ís, by Mr. M.H. Balyuzi, p. 54)
Also see `Abdu'l-Bahá , p.22, Balyu zi; Some Eminent Bahá'ís, p. 52-9.
Publication In Original
Language:
Athar-i-Qlam-i-`Ala , Vol. 4, pp.
331-5.
Translation And Publication In English:
Translated in
parts by the Guardian and quoted in Dispensati on of
Bahá'u'lláh,
WO, p. 134. (See EXTRACTS bellow).
The following extract from God Passes By indicates that a translation of this Tablet was at hand as early as the time of `Abdu'l-Bahá's visit to New York:
"...the reading of the newly translated Tablet of the Branch, in a general assembly of His followers in New York,..." (GPB, p. 288)
Summary Of Contents:
"Whether in the Kitab-i-Aqdas, the most weighty and sacred of all the works of Bahá'u'lláh, or in the Kitab-i-`Ahd, the Book of His Covenant, or in the Suriy-i-Ghusn (Tablet of the Branch), such references as have been recorded by the pen of Bahá'u'lláh--references which the Tablets of His Father addressed to Him mightily reinforce--invest `Abdu'l-Bahá with a power, a nd surround Him with a halo, which the present generation can never adequately appreciate." (WO p. 133).
"It was during that period that the Suriy-i-Ghusn (Surih of the Branch) was revealed, in which 'Abdu'l-Bahá's future station is foreshadowed, andi n which He is eulogized as the "Branch of Holiness," the "Limb of the Law of God," the "Trust of God," "sent down in the form of a human temple"-- a Tablet which may well be regarded as the harbinger of the rank which was to be bestowed upon Him, in the K itab-i-Aqdas, and which was to be later elucidated and confirmed in the Book of His Covenant." (GPB. p. 177)
Bahá'u'lláh declares that Divine Revelation is sent down from the hevean of His Tablets bringing joy to believers and agitations to unbeliever s; warns against turning our souls away from God's bounties; foreshadows `Abdu'l-Bahá's future station; and instructs people to "render thanks unto God...for His appearance"; and stablishes that "Whoso turneth towards Him hath turned towards God, and whos o turneth away from Him hath turned away from My beauty"; He warns that "They who deprive themselves of the shadow of the Branch, are lost in the wilderness of error, are consumed by the heat of worldly desires, and are of those who will assuredly perish. "; commands the people to seek the gems of wisdom and knowledge from Him (`Abdu'l-Bahá). He makes illusions to Siyyid Muhammad-i-Isfahani and Mirza Yahya and commands the people [of Bayan] to cast them behind and drink from the water of life in the name o f their Lord, the Merciful. He enjoins upon every soul the duty of teaching His Cause to all mankind; declares that he who revives one soul under this Cause, has, verily, revived all souls; and sets conditions and method of teaching.
Titles of `Abd u'l-Bahá in
Suriy-i-Ghusn:
sacred and glorious Being; Branch of Holiness; the
Limb of the Law of
God; this sublime, this blessed, this mighty, this
exalted Handiwork; a sign
of His greatness and power among its people; He
is the most great Favor
un to you, the most perfect bounty upon you;
through Him every
mouldering bone is quickened; He is the Trust of God
amongst you, His
charge within you, His manifestation unto you and His
appearance among
His favored servants;
Passages Indicative Of Subject Matters:
"I affirm," is `Abdu'l-Bahá's own written comment
on the Tablet of the
Branch, "that the true meaning, the real
significance, the innermost secret
of these verses, of these very words,
is my own servitude to the sacred
Threshold of the Abha Beauty, my
complete self-effacement, my utter
nothingness before Him. This is my
resplendent crown, my most precious
adorning. On this I pride myself in
the kingdom of earth and heaven.
Therein I glory among the company of the
well-favored!" "No one is
permitted," He warns us in the passage which
immediately follows, "to
give these verses any other interpretation." "I
am," He, in this same
connection, affirms, "according to the explicit
texts of the Kitab-i-Aqdas
and the Kitab-i-`Ahd the manifest
Interpreter of the Word of God...Whoso
deviates from my interpretation is
a victim of his own fancy." (GPB, p. 138)
Description By The
Guardian:
"...a Tablet which may well be regarded as the harbinger
of the rank
which was to be best owed upon Him [`Abdu'l-Bahá], in the
Kitab-i-Aqdas,
and which was to be later elucidated and confirmed in the
Book of His
Covenant." (GPB. p. 177)
Notes And
Bibliography:
There are tablets of Bahá'u'lláh either addressed to,
or in honor of,` Abdu'l-Bahá several of which are published and well
known: Ad`iyyih-
Hadrat-i-Mahbub, pp. 105-110, four tablets; Tihran
Archives, Vol. 81, pp.
87-89, 3 tablets. These Tablets should not be
confused with the Suriy-i-
Ghusn. Lawh-i-Ard-i-Ba (Tablet of the L and of
Ba, Beirut) falls in this
category.
There are also other Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh addressed to other believers in which He refers to `Abdu'l-Bahá. For instance, in a Tablet addressed to Haji Muhammad Ibrahim-i-Khalil He alludes to `Abdu'l-Bahá as the one amongst His sons "from Whose tongue God will cause the signs of His power to stream forth," and as the one Whom "God hath specially chosen for His Cause." (see GPB p. 242)
Shoghi Effendi, in an unmatched style, discloses the unique station of `Abdu'l-Bahá in the Bahá'í Dispensation as well as the religious history of mankind; quotes extracts from Bahá'u'lláh regarding the station of the Master, followed by `Abdu'l-Bahá's own interpretations of text regarding His Own station; clarifies certain misconceptions regarding the station of `Abdu'l-Bahá; and sets forth the guiding principles of Bahá'í belief. See God Passes By, chapter 18, and Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh, section on `Abdu'l-Bahá.
Also see Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, by Mr. A dib Tahirzadih, Vol. II, chapter 18.
References In The Writings Of The
Guardian:
"There hath branched from the Sadratu'l-Muntaha this
sacred and
glorious Being, this Branch of Holiness; well is it with him
that hath sought
His shelter and abideth beneath His shadow. Verily the
Limb of the Law of
God hath sprung forth from this Root which God hath
firmly implanted in
the Ground of His Will, and Whose Branch hath been so
uplifted as to
encompass the whole of creation. Magnified be He, theref
ore, for this
sublime, this blessed, this mighty, this exalted
Handiwork!...A Word hath,
as a token of Our grace, gone forth from the
Most Great Tablet-- a Word
which God hath adorned with the ornament of His
own Self, and made it
sovereign over the earth
and all that is therein, and a sign of His greatness
and power among its
people...Render thanks unto God, O people, for His
appearance; for verily
He is the most great Favor unto you, the most perfect
bounty upon you; and
through Him every mouldering bon e is quickened.
Whoso turneth towards Him
hath turned towards God, and whoso turneth
away from Him hath turned away
from My beauty, hath repudiated My
Proof, and transgressed against Me. He
is the Trust of God amongst you,
His charge within you, His manif estation
unto you and His appearance
among His favored servants...We have sent Him
down in the form of a
human temple. Blest and sanctified be God Who
createth whatsoever He
willeth through His inviolable, His infallible
decree. They who deprive
themselves of the shadow of the Branch, are lost
in the wilderness of error,
are consumed by the heat of worldly desires,
and are of those who will
assuredly perish." (WO, p. 134-5, Dispensation
of Bahá'u'lláh, 678)
References In Writings Of The Guardian:
GP 177 REF
It was during that period that the Suriy-i-Ghusn
(Surih of the Branch)
GP 242 REF
To Him, whilst in Adrianople,
that same Father had, in the
Suriy-i-Ghusn
GP 288 REF
Tablet of
the Branch, in a general assembly of Hi s followers
in New York,
WO
133 REF
or in the Suriy-i-Ghusn (Tablet of the Branch),
WO 134 QTD
In the Suriy-i-Ghusn (Tablet of the Branch) the following
verses
WO 137 REF
but form no part of, the said Tablet of the
Branch.
WO 137 REF
interpretation of certain terms and passages in
the Tablet
of the Branch,
WO 137 REF
nor even in the Tablet of
the Branch, nor in any other Tablet,
WO 138 REF
the Tablet of the
Branch, "that the true meaning, the
real significance."