Tablet on the Debasement of Persia
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Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Abdu'l-Bahá, Tablet on the Debasement of Persia, bahai-library.com.
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Tablet on the Debasement of Persia

Abdu'l-Bahá

Shoghi Effendi, translator

1923

"Only the other day, in the course of my study of various Bahá'í
documents, I came, as if by mere chance, across a very important
message from our beloved 'Abdu'l-Bahá, bearing no date, and revealing no
sign as to exactly where, how and to whom it was given, written in the
Master's own handwriting upon a leaflet that seemed ordinary and ill-preserved in appearance but which on close study proved of the
profoundest interest to all believers in the East as well as in the
West. As to the authenticity of these remarkable words, so clearly and
forcibly written, there is no doubt whatsoever, and the measure of
assurance it shall inspire the loved ones of Persia and the spirit of
hopeful encouragement it shall breath in the friends of the West, have
urged me to communicate it to you, that, subject to your consideration
and consent, it may be published amongst the friends and redouble their
confidence in the very remarkable share the West is destined to
contribute to the immediate spread of the Movement throughout the world.

"Recently, I have rendered it myself into English and enclosed is a
copy of the full translation."

[extract from a letter dated 12 January 1923 to the
NSA of the United States, written by Shoghi Effendi]

— — —

"A thousand years must elapse before Persia can, by the aid of
material power, rise to the height of the peoples and governments of
Europe. BAHA'U'LLAH, however has illumined that land, and will surely
raise her high in the eyes of all the world. That country shall so
advance and develop as to excite the envy and admiration of the East and
the West.

"The land of Hedjaz, though deserted and sterile in its soil and its
tribes ignorant and barborous, yet the power of the Cause of God has
made of such a spot a Point of Adoration and the Focal-centre of world
devotion.

"How foolish are the people of the East to have incarcerated for
well-nigh fifty years the like of this glorious personage! But for His
chains and prison, BAHA'U'LLAH by this time would have gained absolute
ascendancy over the minds and thoughts of the peoples of Europe, would
have made of Persia the Garden of Paradise, would have raised its sons
in the esteem of mankind, nay He would have made it such that all
peoples and governments would seek enlightment from its people.

"Consider and reflect upon the result of my few days stay in London
and the profound effect it has had here and in the surrounding regions.
Ponder then in your heart, what the coming of BAHA'U'LLAH would have
achieved! Had He appeared in Europe, its people would have seized their
opportunity, and His Cause, by virtue of the freedom of thought, would
by this time have encompassed the earth. But alas! This Cause, though
it first appeared in Persia, yet eventually it shall be seen how the
peoples of Europe have wrestled it from its hands! Take note of this
and remember it in future. Ultimately you shall see how it has come to
pass. And yet behold! how the Bahá'ís are still persecuted by the
people of Persia!"

[a Tablet of Abdu'l-Bahá referred to in the above-cited letter from 12
January 1923 to the NSA of the United States]

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-- Tablet on the Debasement of Persia (Used by permission of the curator)