# Súriy-i-Ghusn, the Tablet of the Branch

*Exported from [Holy-Writings.com](https://www.holy-writings.com/) on 2026-06-18 — 1 clipping.*

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> Language Of Revelation:
> 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."
>
> — *Súriy-i-Ghusn, the Tablet of the Branch (Used by permission of the curator)*