Tablet of the Maiden
Exported from Holy-Writings.com on 2026-07-05 - 1 clipping

In the name of God, the most holy, the most exalted. *

Praise be to Thee, O God, My God.  I make mention of Thee at this time,
when the sun of Thy Godhead hath risen from the horizon of the splendid
divinity of Thy oneness, the lights of Thy lordship have flashed forth
from the dawning of the ineffable encounter with the eternal kingdom of
Thy self-sufficiency, and the darkness of this world hath been illumined
by the radiance of the faithful realm of Thy cause--in such wise that the
garden of paradise came into being above the essence of Thy glorious
selfhood.  Therein were planted the trees of Thy quintessence, which put
forth the fruits of Thine essence, and therein wafted the breezes of Thy
spirit and the breaths of Thy sanctity.  Therein were foreordained the
gems of Thy bounties and the substance of Thy munificence; and therein
were uncovered the treasures of Thy knowledge and mystery.  Over its
terraces flow the streams of Thy glorious life, the canals of Thy radiant
eternality, and the springs of the wine of Thine inaccessibility.  When
Thou didst desire, O my God, to manifest it, Thou didst raise it up to the
throne of grandeur and greatness, embellish it with the rays of might and
power, render it effulgent by Thine essence, and didst make to shine upon
it the sun of oneness from the pre-eternal lights of Thy features.  Thou
didst light for it the wick of eternity in the lamp of pre-existence. 
Now, Thy most exalted decree hath come to the kingdom of command by Thy
signature, so that a visage might appear therefrom, that the brilliance of
Thy beauty might be manifest to all who dwell on earth, and that the glory
of Thy countenance might be seen by all who are in the realm of Thy cause.

 There arose the houri, Who had dwelt in pre-eternity in the pavilions
of holiness, protection, and glorification and in the canopies of
sinlessness, greatness and splendor.  Upon Her creamy brow the most high
pen hath written in crimson ink, "Praise be to God!  This is a houri upon
Whom none have gazed save God, the exalted, the most high.  God hath
purified the hem of Her purity from the knowledge of the concourse of
names in the realm of eternity, and Her face from the view of all who are
in the kingdom of creation.  When She arose with the ornament of God from
Her palace, She looked with one glance toward the sky.  The people of the
heavens swooned at the rays of Her visage and at the wafting of Her
perfume.  Then She looked with another glance toward the earth, and it was
illumined by the lights of Her beauty and the loveliness of Her splendor.

 Praise be to Thee, O my God, for all the wonders of Thy handiwork that
Thou hast shown Me in Her, for the ensemble of Thy power, manifest in Her
creation.  She hung there, suspended.  Then She journeyed through the sky
as though striding across the horizon in mid-air.  It is as though I
discovered that the chain of being was set in motion by Her footfalls. 
She descended, drew nigh, and came until She halted before Me.  I was
bewildered by the subtleties and wonders of Her creation.  Behold, I
discovered within myself a passion that grew out of my yearning for Her. 
I raised my hands toward Her, and lifted the hem of Her veil from Her
shoulder.  I found Her hair to be sandy, wavy and curly, lying on Her back
in ringlets, hanging down almost to Her legs.  And when the gales blew it
to the right of Her shoulder, it perfumed the heavens and the earth.  When
it was blown to the left, from its fragrance there spread a holy musk-like
scent.  It is as though the motion of Her tresses caused the spirit of
life to quake in the inner essence of creation, and caused the kingdom of
mystical insight to tremble in the realities of being.  Exalted be God,
Her creator, for what He caused Me to see in Her.  Then blessed be God,
Her fashioner, for the manifestation of might that I witnessed in Her
beauty, and the modalities of power that I saw in Her splendor.  At one
time, I perceived Her as the sweet water of life, delicious and flowing
through the realities of beings and the dark recesses of contingent
things.  I grew certain that the entirety of being survived by virtue of
Her eternity, and continued to exist because of Her perpetuity.  At
another time, I perceived Her as a fire that had blazed forth in the
divine bush, as though the element of fire had been created from a torch
ignited by Her glowing embers.  The hearts of both visible and invisible
being were consumed by Her heat and flame when they were shaken by a
delicate yearning for Her and a wondrous hankering for Her.  It is as
though the fragrance of the All- Merciful wafted from the apertures in Her
garments.  Praise be to God, Her creator, originator and fashioner.  

Then I drew near, till She stood before my face and gave utterance as a
dove warbles in the realm of eternity, as though speaking in the wondrous
music that hath no words, letters or sounds.  It is as though all books
appeared in commentary on the songs of Her innovation.  I recognized all
meaning in a single point therein.  When I listened with my entire being,
I heard the mention of God, the exalted, the most glorious, in Her tunes,
and the name of God, the exalted, the most high, in Her melodies. 

 I raised my hand another time, and bared one of Her breasts that had been
hidden beneath Her gown.  Then the firmament was illumined by the radiance
of its light, contingent beings were made resplendent by its appearance
and effulgence, and by its rays infinite numbers of suns dawned forth, as
though they trekked through heavens that were without beginning or end.  I
became bewildered at the pen of God's handiwork, and at what it had
inscribed upon Her temple.  It was as though She had appeared with a body
of light in the forms of the spirit, as though She moved upon the earth of
essence in the substance of manifestation.  I noticed that the houris had
poked their heads out of their rooms and were suspended in the air above
Her.  They grew perplexed at Her appearance and Her beauty, and were
entranced by the raptures of Her song.  Praise be to Her creator,
fashioner, and maker--to the one Who made Her manifest.  

 Then she
nearly swooned within herself, and with all her being she sought to inhale
My fragrance. She opened Her lips, and the rays of light dawned forth from
Her teeth, as though the pearls of the cause had appeared from Her
treasures and Her shells.  

She asked, "Who art Thou?" 

 I said, "A
servant of God and the son of his maidservant." 

 She said, "I discern
in Thee the signs of sorrow, which so sadden Thee that I find the lamp of
joy in the niche of Thy heart to have been extinguished, and the lights of
happiness in the lantern of Thy soul to have been cut off.  I adjure Thee
by God, other than Whom there is no God, not to conceal from Me what
befell Thee.  Inform Me, that I might know Thy circumstances with no
departure from the whole truth, though it be less than a bit of
overflowing foam."  

 I said to Her, "Do not ask Me about that, for Thou
canst not bear to hear from Me concerning my sorrow--not even a mere
letter thereof.  I entreat you in the name of God, the All-Powerful, the
protector, the eternal, to lift Thy hand from Me and leave Me alone. 
Return to Thy place in paradise, and do not ask about what I cannot
disclose to Thee--even though it be a mere syllable thereof."  

When She
saw the quaking of my soul, the wailing of my heart, the lamenting of my
being, the fire burning in my bones, the shuddering of my skin, the
disturbance in my soul, and the uneasiness of my body, She called out to
Me, asking, "Hast Thou a mother to bemoan Thy tribulations?" 

 I said,
"I do not know."  

She asked, "Hast Thou a sister, to weep at Thy fate,
or a helper, to aid Thee in Thy trial and to give Thee company in Thy
loneliness?"  

I said, "By my sorrow, to which no joy ever came, do not
ask Me anything!  Look at my heart, so that what Thou seekest may become
apparent to Thee."  

She bowed Her head in the direction of my heart,
scrutinizing all my limbs, members, bones and inner organs, as though She
had lost something and sought it everywhere.  Her examination lasted for a
long time.  Then She lifted Her head until it reached my breast.  I saw
that Her condition had undergone an alteration.  Her head tilted once to
the right, and once to the left.  At one moment, She lifted Her gaze to
the heavens with grief and misery, and at another She looked at the earth
in confusion and regret.  I saw Her lips move as though She were saying
something beneath Her breath.  I trained my ear on Her, and heard a faint
cry, as though it issued from the depths of Her being in the essence of
Her heart.  When I brought my head close to Her mouth, I heard words that
I cannot mention.  Were I to disclose them, by God, nothing would be left
of this world in the face of the searing of Her soul and the scorching of
Her heart. 

 Then She addressed Me, saying, "Thy mother will die, O
youth.  For I have seen no one like Thee.  My distress and bewilderment
linger over Thee, and my perturbation hath increased at Thy condition. 
Would that I had never been created in the divine realm of eternity, had
never been born from a breath of God in the most exalted chambers, had
never imbibed the milk of life from the springs of glory!  How sad is what
I have come to know, and to see, how sorrowful what I have discovered. 
For however much I searched, I found within Thee no heart, whereby I might
be informed about Thy circumstances."  

When I heard Her lift Her head
up, I saw that Her eyes were overflowing with blood, as though oceans
appeared from Her every teardrop.  When Her eyes met mine, Her tears took
the reins of patience from Her, and She shrieked Her lament such that I
cannot mention or describe it.  Then She was overcome with weeping.  She
lifted Her hands to my shoulder, and I placed my hand on Her shoulder, and
we wept without moderation, such that it cannot be reckoned by time,
eternity, eons, or epochs.  

When Her weeping subsided, She said, "I
adjure Thee by the One Who seized the pens in His powerful grasp and
thereby established whatever He willed, to answer my questions about what
hath befallen Thee, that I might be Thy companion in Thy calamities and
make mention of Thine ordeals among the concourse on high in the sublime
realm."  I said to Her, "My beloved, by my life and Thine, I am not
able to explain for Thee what befell Me.  But look at my
breast,** 
that
Thou
mightest discover therein what will satisfy Thy quest, in the inmost
recesses of my most hidden soul."  Then She tilted Her head and brought
it near once more to my breast, searching for so long a time that it
cannot be expressed in the realm of glory, nor can it be uttered by the
tongues of the eloquent.  But She found no trace.   Behold, I saw the
earth quake at the trembling of Her soul, and shake at the quivering of
Her heart.  She remained, before time, after time, above time.  Then She
raised Her head with a scream that cleft the sky and broke open the earth. 
Lands moved, and mountains were pulverized.  Then She returned to Me and
said, "Thy mother hath died, O youth.  Thy circumstances have bewildered
Me and Thy deeds have caused Me to perish.  I never found anyone with
neither heart nor breast.  How hast Thou survived on earth, how canst Thou
exist in this world?"  At that point She was gazing at Me as a lover
looketh on the beauty of the beloved.  Then I saw Her shaking within
Herself, as though the breeze of God from this coat had wafted upon Her. 
She turned to Me outwardly and inwardly and said, "By Thy life, I perceive
from Thee the fragrance of the beloved.  Thou art the darling of the
worlds.  If Thou art He, why dost Thou disguise Thy comely features?  Is
it because of the people of the Qur'an, or because of the people of the
Bayan?  Woe be unto all created things!"   When I smelled Her perfume
and saw Her advancing toward Me, I guided Her to my soul.  When She knew,
She wailed, shook, lamented, trembled, and fell on Her face in the dust
before my feet.  When I turned to Her, I found Her stretched out on the
ground, and the spirit had departed from Her as though She had never been
created therein.  Then the houris suspended in the air howled, and the
purified houris in the cloud of unknowing lamented, and all of them
returned to their palaces and their pavilions, forsaking all that had been
ordained for them and created for their essences.  I was standing over
Her body, stricken by Her grief, bewildered at Her condition, and Her
love.  I took Her and washed Her with the tears of my eyes, then wrapped
Her in a shroud of my own clothing.  Then I brought my lips close to Her
right ear and gave Her the glad tidings of what no one can hear from Me in
Her regard.  When I had spoken to Her, She trembled at the Word of God. 
Then She gave Me the glad tidings of what I must not mention or even
breathe.  Thereafter, I consigned Her to the sacred receptacles and
returned Her to the place of intimacy, the station that we had
foreordained for Her.  Thus do we address you, O concourse of paradise,
with a vision of eternity.  Interpret it for Me, if ye can interpret the
vision of the spirit.

*See also a letter from the Universal House of Justice regarding this translation, as well as a note from the translator.
** Lit. "liver." Just as in Islamic
philosophy the heart was often seen as the seat of the intellect
(`aql), so is the liver a symbol for the seat of the emotions.
-J.W.
-- Tablet of the Maiden (Used by permission of the curator)