Tablet of the Universe
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Praise be to God Who hath ever caused His Names and Attributes to penetrate
the degrees of existence; Who hath made the effects of those Names and
Attributes to shine resplendent and their signs to be firmly established in
both the hidden and manifest worlds.  By them He hath made the holy realities
that are informed by His grace and are the recipients of His outpourings to be
the sole revealers of all that pertaineth unto Him, and hath caused them to
move through the firmament of perfection in arcs of descent and ascent. He hath
ordained these Names and Attributes to be the
first and foremost origin and cause of being in the world of creation and the source of the different grades
of realities in the degrees of existence.  When, through its power of
attraction and propagation, the Day-Star of Names and Attributes shone upon the
hidden realities in the heart of the unseen realm, they issued forth, were
spread abroad, scattered about, set in order, became the recipients of the
grace of God and His outpourings, and were made to be the sole manifestations
of the Divine conditions and Eternal signs.  Emerging from behind the veils,
they appeared clothed in raiments of light, moving in the firmament of the
unity of God, in orbits of sanctity and circles of glorification.

Thus the suns of the praise of the one true God moved resplendent in a vast,
infinite space, capable neither of being defined by limits nor contained within
the compass of signs and allusions.  All praise be to Him Who was its Author
and Creator, Who spread it out, and adorned it with countless lamps and
never-fading luminaries:  'None knoweth the hosts of thy Lord save Him'
(Qur'an, 74:31). He made the circuits of these luminous divine orbs to be their
lofty and celestial spheres; and He made the bodies of these spiritual spheres
to be subtle and soft, flowing and liquid, undulating and vibrating, in such
manner that these refulgent orbs swim in the circumferences of the spheres, and
move in their vast space by the aid of their Creator and Maker, their Ordainer
and Fashioner.

Divine and all-encompassing Wisdom hath ordained that motion be an inseparable
concomitant of existence, whether inherently or accidentally, spiritually or
materially.  This movement must be governed by some check or rein, some
regulator or director, otherwise order will be disrupted and the spheres and
bodies will fall from the heavens.  For this reason God brought into being a
universal attractive force between these bodies to hold sway over them and
govern them, a force deriving from the firm ties, the mighty correspondence and
affinity that exist between the realities of these limitless worlds.  By the
operation of this attractive force those holy and resplendent suns, with their
luminous worlds, satellites and planets, circling and orbiting in their
heavens, at once exerted attraction and were subject to it, induced motion and
were themselves moved, began orbiting and set into orbit other bodies, shone
forth and caused others to shine.  In this manner they became arranged in a
perfectly ordered system, each one a handiwork of consummate fashioning and
manifest beauty, each one an enduring creation and a conclusive proof.  Glory
be to Him Who attracted them, laid firm hold on them, imbued them with
effulgence, ordered them and set them in motion; and far from His glory be that
which any of his creatures can affirm of Him or attribute to Him.

O thou the recipient of overflowing bounties from the billowing, the surging,
the Most Great Ocean, whose waves beat against the shores of the nations.
Blessed art thou inasmuch as thou hast sought the shelter of the strong Pillar
and taken refuge in the impregnable Stronghold, the station of complete
servitude to thy Glorious and All-Praised Lord.  Thou hast rid thyself of
baseless suppositions and sanctified thyself from intellectual imaginings,
hastening to the fountain-head of truths and mysteries, and thirsting for the
well-spring of the river of knowledge where the seas meet and the rivers
return.

Know thou that the expressions of the creative hand of God throughout His
limitless worlds are themselves limitless.  Limitations are a characteristic of
the finite, and restriction is a quality of existent things, not of the reality
of existence. 

 This being the case, how can one, without proof or testimony, conceive of
creation being bound by limits?  Gaze with penetrating vision into this new
cycle.  Hast thou seen any matter in which God is bounded by limits which He
cannot overstep?  Nay, by the excellence of His glory!  On the contrary, His
tokens have encompassed all things and are sanctified and exalted beyond
computation in the world of creation.

These are spiritual truths relating to the spiritual world.  In like manner,
from these spiritual realities infer truths about the material world. For
physical things are signs and imprints of spiritual things; every lower thing
is an image and counterpart of a higher thing.  Nay, earthly and heavenly,
material and spiritual, accidental and essential, particular and universal,
structure and foundation, appearance and reality and the essence of all things,
both inward and outward -- all of these are connected one with another and are
interrelated in such a manner that you will find that drops are patterned after
seas, and that atoms are structured after suns in proportion to their
capacities and potentialities.  For particulars in relation to what is below
them are universals, and what are great universals in the sight of those whose
eyes are veiled are in fact particulars in relation to the realities and beings
which are superior to them.  Universal and particular are in reality incidental
and relative considerations.  The mercy of thy Lord, verily, encompasseth all
things!

Know then that the all-embracing framework that governs existence includes
within its compass every existent being - particular or universal - whether
outwardly or inwardly, secretly or openly.  Just as particulars are infinite in
number, so also universals, on the material plane, and the great realities of
the universe are without number and beyond computation.  The Dawning Places of
Unity, the Daysprings of Singleness and the Suns of Holiness are also
sanctified beyond the bounds of number, and the luminous spiritual worlds are
exalted above limits and restrictions.  In like manner the worlds of bodily
existence the mind of no man can reckon nor the understanding of the learned
comprehend.  Consider the following well-known tradition and examine its
meanings indicative of the vastness of the cosmos and its awesome limitless
expanse:  'God, exalted be He, fashioned one hundred thousand, thousand lamps
and suspended the Throne, the earth, the heavens and whatsoever is between
them, even Heaven and Hell -- all of these in a single lamp.  And only God
knows what is in the rest of the lamps.' The fact that philosophers and sages
have posited limits and restrictions for such matters is to be explained by the
limitations of people~s minds and perceptions and the blindness of the
followers of allusions, whose natures and intellects have been rendered dull
and inanimate by the interposition of many veils.

Every cycle and dispensation has its own distinctive character, its allotted
measure of Grace. The realities of things are manifested in a degree
proportionate to their stations, ranks, receptivity and capacity. For instance,
regard the human reality, its spiritual perfections, the properties and virtues
of the soul: their appearance and manifestation, their propagation and growth
depend in degree upon the stage of development reached in the course of this
earthly life, which ranges from the condition of the primal germ to the highest
stations of mature development. The same principle is to be found in the whole
of existence, seen and unseen.

Consider this marvelous cycle, this great matchless dispensation and say:
Glorified be God, Lord of the Exalted Throne, for He hath manifested the Sun of
Oneness and the Eternal Reality from this lofty and majestic, this mighty and
ancient Horizon in such wise that when its ardent penetrating rays shone upon
the empty worlds and desolate realms the realities of all things and the
universal meanings sprang forth and were renewed through its regenerative power
the hidden mysteries of the sciences, which discover the divine realities, were
made known, and the guarded, preserved Secret and the Hidden Sign became
manifest.  For this sublime cycle, this most great Dawntide is the dispensation
of truths and mysteries, of the gathering-up of the affairs of the Merciful in
the centre of lights, and of the appearance of the hidden treasures in the
midmost heart of the worlds of Thy Lord, the Almighty, the Unconstrained.  In
the reality of drops seas of divine verses surge and in the essence of atoms
suns of names and attributes are manifest.  In our times scientists are
discovering in the strata of rocks secrets that their predecessors could not
discover in perspicuous tablets of light.  That is because in this most great
manifestation, without investigation or deduction the gates of revelation and
discovery have been thrown wide open. 

 The birds of men's thoughts have escaped from the snares of superstitions, and
the veils have been rent asunder and removed from those mysteries which
previously held sway over men.

As weakness and evanescence are inherent in the nature of the contingent world,
it was not possible that it should sustain a complete manifestation of the
signs and evidences of this Revelation, which hath shone forth from the Summit
of Sinai, except in a gradual manner.  For this reason wilt thou discern, when
thou dost look about thee with joyful gaze and uplifted vision, the tokens of
this great, brilliant Luminary, see the lights of wisdom shining from the
horizons on all regions, gather the luminous pearls which are cast forth by
this surging, restless and billowing Ocean, and drink from the clear sweet
founts which spring forth from the outpourings of this bountiful showering
rain-cloud.  Blessed is he who hath not been prevented by the intervening veils
of profitless and fanciful sciences from beholding the verities of true
knowledge and from perceiving its inmost essence in the Day of God.  Joy to him
who hath removed the veil and gone forth amongst the peoples of the world with
penetrating vision when the eyes of all are transfixed in awe at the effulgence
of the All-Powerful.  Woe to him who on the Day of Judgement is raised up
blind, who neglected to remember his most glorious Lord, whose ears were deaf
to the call which was raised in this all-highest Paradise.

Say:  'O my God!  Wert Thou to create in every limb of my body tongues
speaking, in the most eloquent of languages, pure clear meanings, far
surpassing the limitations of signs and allusions, and were these tongues to
praise Thee and thank Thee throughout ages and cycles, yet would they fail to
discharge the full measure of gratitude I owe Thee for Thy grace and bounty in
having enabled me to believe in the Manifestation of Thy Divine mercy, the
Day-spring of Thy oneness, the Dawning-place of Thy mighty signs and the
Repository of the secrets of Thy transcendent sovereignty in the midmost heart
of the world.  "And by whichsoever ye call upon Him, most beauteous are His
Names" (17:110). Likewise would they fail befittingly to fulfil the debt of
thanks I owe Thee for having removed from my eyes the veil that obstructed my
vision, for having caused me to hearken to the melodies of the Birds of
Holiness upon the branches of the Tree of Immortality and for having given me
to quaff the pure water of the camphor cup from the hand of the Cupbearer of
Thy gracious providence in this most great, this most exalted, most holy,
blessed and august Manifestation.'

O thou who wingest thy flight in the spacious realms of the love of God! Know
thou that the knowledges and disciplines, the arts and sciences which appeared
in previous dispensations, when compared to the divine questions, the eternal
verities and the universal mysteries which have become unveiled, manifest and
brilliant in their meridian glory in this resplendent Revelation, are nothing
more than allusions and metaphors, nay, they are hardly better than
superstitious fancies. For the all-embracing universal Reality is, in the eyes
of thy Lord, analogous to the all-embracing human reality which passes in the
course of its early development through infancy, childhood and youth. Even
though these various stages may manifest certain of the characteristics and
virtues of man, yet what are these early manifestations in comparison to the
perfections of the mind, the truths of the Kingdom and the mysteries of God,
with which the reality of man becomes plentifully endowed after reaching
maturity -- the period of its fullest expression?

For this reason thou must weigh all matters in the balance of this Cause and
heed not the idle talk of the blind in heart and those who are captives of
delusions and vain imaginations.  Such talk is, to those possessed of insight,
nothing more than fanciful stories and empty tales.  Nay, rather thou shouldst
investigate all things in a methodical and scientific way, and by clear proofs,
perspicuous signs and incontrovertible evidences, seek to discover the
undisclosed verities and the hidden mysteries which are concealed in the inmost
heart of the realities of the universe.  To those to whom God hath granted
insight, whose inner natures are illumined, whose outer natures are refined,
whose hearts are pure and whose minds are open and receptive, it is not
acceptable, in this great and majestic cycle, to rely unquestioningly on the
views of others in matters such as these.  Conventional wisdoms and precepts
based upon illusion and fancy, and to which no knowledgeable, experienced and
intelligent person can reconcile himself, are today, in the sight of the truly
learned. nothing more than 'deranged dreams'.

Praise be to Him Who hath illumined men's minds with the light of truth shining
forth from the Dawning-place of Revelation.  Glorified be the Lord of Majesty
for breaking down the barriers, tearing asunder the veils, dispelling the
darkness, bursting the chains of allusion, cleaving the fetters of imagination,
freeing men's minds from the tyranny of conjecture, and liberating the birds of
thought in the apogee of human hearts, so that they may soar with the wings of
delight in the worlds of existence and with penetrating insight rend the veils
woven by the spiders of fancy in these lofty chambers and high pavilions.

Know then, with regard to the mathematical sciences, that it was only in this
distinguished age, this great century, that their scope was widened, their
unresolved difficulties solved, their rules systematized, and their diversity
realized.  The discoveries made by earlier philosophers and the views they held
were not established upon a firm basis or a sound foundation for they wished to
confine the worlds of God within the smallest compass and narrowest limit and
were quite unable to conceive what lay beyond; even claiming that there was
neither void nor matter, but merely nothingness.  This view is at variance with
and contrary to all the divine truths and heavenly secrets.  Indeed, if thou
dost compare the ideal world to the human world and apply spiritual principles
to physical matters thou wilt discover that this view is flimsier than a
spider's web, because, just as the luminous spiritual worlds are sanctified
above computation or limitation, so too are the physical worlds in this vast
immensity of space.  This is a secret of which God hath apprised His servants
through His grace and mercy in order to demonstrate the idleness of the fancies
of those who disbelieve in God, and to expose the baselessness of the arguments
of those who are wandering blindly in their heedlessness, that the edifice they
have built out of their vain imaginings may crumble and their profitless
pursuits be discredited and fall into disrepute. 

 For their eyes have been blinded from beholding the worlds of God and their
minds have fallen short of comprehending the mysteries of the Kingdom in this
resplendent Vision.  They believed that these worlds were contained in this
small circuit, which in relation to the worlds of God is of no more account
than the black in the eye of an ant in an infinity of space, even as He saith,
and He speaketh the truth: 'None knoweth the hosts of thy Lord, save Him.'

With regard to that which hath been mentioned concerning the seven spheres and
the seven heavens referred to in the Books revealed by the Dawning-places of
Light and Repositories of Secrets in previous ages, such references were
dictated by the conventional wisdom prevailing in those times, for every cycle
hath its own characteristics which are determined by the capacities of the
people and their readiness to accept fresh revelations of the truth from behind
the veil.  All things are ordained by God according to a given measure.  When
the Prophets spoke of the celestial spheres what they intended was no more than
the orbits of the planets falling within that greater world that embraces the
sun and its attendant planetary system.  For the planets circling this sun are
in seven degrees in respect to mass, volume, visibility and brilliancy.  The
orbit of the first of these is one of the spheres of this solar world and one
of the heavens of finite extent that falls within the circumference of this
all-encompassing circle.  The same pattern is true for all the brilliant stars
shining in the face of the heavens, every one of which is a sun with its own
solar world containing planets and satellites.  When thou gazeth at the planets
with the naked eye, without the interposition of magnifying mirrors, they will
appear to be in seven degrees.  The orbit or circuit of each of these degrees
is an upraised heaven and an encircling sphere in the world of existence.

Know then that, as hath been clearly handed down in the accounts of old, these
great orbits and circuits fall within subtle, fluid, clear, liquid, undulating
and vibrating bodies, and that the heavens are a restrained wave because a void
is impossible and inconceivable.  All that may be said is that the celestial
bodies and the material bodies of the ethereal regions differ in respect of
some of the substances and elements from which they are constituted, the
quantities and proportions of these that go into their composition, the
peculiar characteristics causing the difference in the outward effects of these
bodies, and the properties that emanate from them in rich abundance.  The
celestial bodies that surround the material bodies also differ one from another
in respect of subtlety, fluidity, and weight.  It cannot be otherwise for a
void is impossible.

The existence of a container implies the existence of something contained; what
is contained can hardly be other than a body, but the bodies of the celestial
spheres are in the utmost degree of subtlety, lightness and fluidity as bodies
may be of diverse kinds:  solid like rocks, malleable like metals and minerals,
fluid like water and air.  Lighter still they may be of a kind that ascends
heavenwards, such as that which is used in dirigibles; and lighter than all of
these are fire, electricity and lightning.  All of these are bodies in reality,
but some of them are weightless.  In like manner thy Lord hath created in these
vast heavens manifold bodies without limit or number, which the minds of men
can neither compute nor encompass.  Souls are bewildered when they attempt to
understand them and confounded by a mere glimpse of them.

As for those who claim that the celestial spheres are massive, solid  and
contiguous with each other; that they are glassy, transparent and penetrable to
the light of other bodies; capable of neither being cleft asunder nor welded
back together; forever impermeable and imperishable -- these thoughts are mere
suppositions and surmises made by people who have not understood the meaning of
the brilliant verse that clearly states:  'All swim in a celestial sphere'
(21:34, 36:40). The import of this verse is clear inasmuch as the act of
swimming cannot be conceived of except in yielding, fluid, liquid bodies, and
is quite impossible in solid, resistant bodies. Look, then, with discerning
vision into this clear, conclusive and manifest proof.

Consider the fancies of the philosophers and observe how they wandered
distractedly in the wilderness of philosophical preconceptions and erroneous
beliefs for which the Mighty, Self-Subsistent King hath sent down no proof.  As
for the view that the earth revolves around the sun, that it is one of the
bright planets of this solar system, and that the diurnal movement that brings
about sunrise and sunset is caused by the rotation of the earth about its axis
-- these are not modern ideas nor discoveries of recent times.  On the
contrary, the first person to state that the earth moved about the sun was the
sage Pythagoras, one of the five pillars of wisdom, a defender of its sanctuary
and unfolder of its secrets.  He it was who recognized this truth 500 years
before the advent of Christ and reasoned that the sun was a center in relation
to the earth, because of its fieriness.  He was followed in this view by the
philosopher Plato in his latter days.  Aristarchus composed a treatise in 280
B.C. in which he affirmed that the earth revolves about the sun and around its
own axis.  However, he did not found this view upon clear evidences, convincing
arguments, and positive proofs derived from the laws of geometry and the
principles of mathematics; rather he based it on a mere presentiment, an
apprehension, an intuition.  Most of the sages of old, though, because they
viewed the visible world with their physical eyes and perceived it with their
outward senses only, when they observed the stars and the heavenly bodies,
concluded that it was the sun that was in motion and the earth that was still.
Among them was the Alexandrian, Ptolemy, Roman citizen, renowned for his
knowledge of astronomy and history.  He was a professor at the school of
Alexandria in the second century A.D. He chose the foundation of his system
from a body of ancient principles, founded upon it his observations, and drew
up an almanac based on the idea that the sun is in motion and the earth is
still.  Because of the sway and influence of the Roman people and their
dominion over all nations, his system became well-known and the fame of his
almanac and astronomical observations spread far and wide throughout the earth.
He wrote a book on the science of astronomy and mathematics called Almagest.

In the first centuries of Islam, Al-Farabi translated this book into Arabic,
and the views it propounded became well known to Muslim scholars. These views
they followed and imitated without careful scrutiny and investigation and
without fully comprehending the meanings of some of the Divine verses.  For He
hath said, and His word is the truth: 'All swim in a celestial sphere.' In this
blessed verse it was clearly established that all the brilliant stars and
heavenly bodies throughout the expanse of these lofty heavens, this vast,
limitless space, and this earth too, are in motion, travelling in their orbits
and swimming in their spheres and circuits. ~lore grave than their
misinterpretation of the preceding verse was the inadequacy of their attempts
to interpret the other blessed verse, which indicates that the sun moves about
its own center and axis.  He hath said:  'And the sun moves in a fixed place of
its own' (36:38). Their minds were baffled, their souls perplexed, and their
faculties unequal to the task of perceiving its meanings, for they wished to
make it conform to the rules of Ptolemy, mentioned above, and to harmonize it
with the almanac which he had drawn up.  They were not, however, able to
reconcile the two texts and for this reason had to have recourse to implausible
explanations, such as the claim advanced by some that the words 'in a fixed
place of its own' were originally 'it has no fixed place', the word for 'in'
having become mistakenly confused with the word for 'no' [in the Arabic text];
or the claim made by others that by 'fixed place' is meant the Day of
Judgement, at which time the sun will cease from its orbiting and motion --
this despite the fact that it is plainly stated in this verse that the sun's
motion is about its own axis and center.

Know then that those mathematical questions which have stood the test of
scrutiny and about the soundness of which there is no doubt are those that are
supported by incontrovertible and logically binding proofs and by the rules of
geometry as applied to astronomy; that are based on observations of the stars
and careful astronomical research, and are in conformity with the principles of
the universal themes expounded in the divine sciences.  For it is by applying
the outward world to the inner, the high to the low, the small to the large,
the general to the particular that, with abundant clearness, it becometh
apparent that the new rules arrived at by the science of astronomy are in
closer accord with the universal divine principles than the other erroneous
theories and propositions, as we have explained and illustrated.

The observations of Copernicus and his almanac have been more accurately
compiled and more thoroughly and carefully researched than the other almanacs.
Living at the turn of the fifteenth century A.D., he pursued his astronomical
observations for a period of 36 years before publicly announcing the now famous
system of laws that were the fruit of his studies; and were it not for our wish
to be brief and concise we would have explained for thee the details of the
system and summarized its repercussions.  The guidance we have given on this
subject, however, is sufficient for those with a seeing eye and clear
insight.

Say:  Exalted be the Self-Subsistent King, by Whose manifestation the veil of
fancy hath been torn asunder; by which the sincere ones have dispensed with all
else but Him through love for His manifest Beauty, a Beauty that revealeth the
realities of things, seen and unseen, and exposeth the fanciful misconceptions
and erroneous beliefs in the sciences; by which those that long to behold His
Face have become apprised of the Hidden Secret, the Concealed and Treasured
Symbol; by which they have soared on the wings of penetrating vision to the
apex of reunion, the well-spring of happiness, and the station of blissful
contentment, heard the sweet melodies of the birds on the boughs of the forests
of revelation, bathed at the pure spring, drunk from the oceans of life in the
world of light, and become intoxicated from the cup tempered at the camphor
fountain in this manifest and resplendent Day, calling on their Lord in
soul-entrancing accents, the like of which ear hath not heard amidst the
gardens and meadows of Paradise, saying:  'I call upon Thee, O my God and my
Beloved, with the tongue of my inmost spirit, with my face set towards the
Day-Spring of Thy Unity and the Dawning-Place of the Sun of Thy Sublime
Oneness, sweetening my breath with praise of Thee and thanks to the Center of
Thy Divine mercy, for having created me, undeserving as I am, by Thy heavenly
favor, in this majestic cycle and unique manifestation.  For this is the Day
which Thou hast singled out from amongst all ages for the dawning of the Sun of
Thy Truth, whose brilliant rays illumine all the horizons, the Day in which
Thou hast showered forth Thy grace, made perfect Thy proof and fulfilled Thy
testimony, the Day in which Thou hast perfected Thy bestowals and bounties unto
such of Thy creatures as are wholly devoted unto Thee.  Verily, Thou hast
honored them by attainment to that Day for which the chosen ones of God, i~ the
remoteness of their separation, would have sacrificed their spirits, yearning
to inhale a single breath of the fragrances spread abroad in such a Day, and
longing to behold traces of the lights that shine forth above its heaven.

Thou, in truth, hast crowned me, through Thy gracious favor, in the midmost
heart of creation, with this luminous diadem and seated me upon the throne of
Thy love amidst all the peoples of the earth.  And Thou hast aided me to remain
steadfast in Thy Cause, through which the mightiest powers amongst the
concourse of thy creation were made to shake and tremble, and the foundations
of all beings in the realms of invention and creation to quake.  I ask Thee, O
King of the seen and the unseen, by Thine Ancient Beauty and the radiance of
Thy Holy Countenance and Wondrous Being, to preserve us from vain imaginings
and evil whisperings, and to assist us to be persevering and constant, firm and
unwavering in Thy Cause.  Thou, verily, art the Great Giver, the All-Bountiful,
the Most Compassionate!'
-- Tablet of the Universe (Used by permission of the curator)