# Ornaments: Wilmette Institute faculty notes

*Exported from [Holy-Writings.com](https://www.holy-writings.com/) on 2026-06-20 — 1 clipping.*

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> The Tablet of Tarazat is another of the series of tablets Bahá'u'lláh
> revealed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, which expands on themes in that work.
> Like the Bishárát (which I described in a previous posting) it divides into
> three sections:
> 
>   An introduction.  The first two paragraphs of the introduction set up
> the theme of the tablet: that God is great, but nevertheless the Cause has
> been plagued by opposition from the ignorant and rebellious.  The next three
> paragraphs of the introduction may sound familiar to you: they are a prayer
> found in the Bahá'í prayer book (p. 171-73).
> 
> The last paragraph of the introduction may be seen as a transition to the
> actual Tarazat (plural; singular, Taraz) themselves.  It is worth quoting a
> bit: "These sublime words were heard today from the rustling of the divine
> Lote-Tree. . ."  Is this a fancy way of saying "I received the following
> revelation today. . .?"
> 
>   The six tarazat themselves.  Reading through them, it seems they have as
> a theme the perfection of character and its application in the world.  The
> first Taraz gives supremely practical advice; that a person's first goal in
> life should be to "know himself" (advice as old as the Greeks) and
> understand that which leads to loftiness or lowliness, glory or abasement,
> wealth or poverty.  Acquiring such knowledge results in maturity; presumably
> a spiritual maturity.  And what does a person need next?  Wealth!
> Prosperity gives one the means to express the spiritual qualities one has
> developed.  The second Taraz turns to interfaith dialogue (to put it in
> modern terms) and, beyond that, association with all the peoples of the
> world.  The third and fourth tarazat return to the theme of personal
> development, focusing on development of a good character and acquisition of
> the quality of trustworthiness.  The third Taraz also quotes a Hidden Words;
> presumably this is an example of "re-revelation," something Bahá'u'lláh does
> a lot in Epistle to the Son of the Wolf.
> 
> The fifth and sixth tarazat mix advice about personal character with
> exhortations about changes needed in society.  The fifth focuses on
> protecting the station of God's servants, but devotes much space to the
> importance of craftsmanship.  The sixth continues the theme by stressing the
> importance of acquiring knowledge and the value of the press (though it also
> notes the inaccuracy of press articles about Bahá'u'lláh).
> 
>   The third section of the Tarazat is an open letter to Mírzá Hadi
> Dawlat-ABadí, a prominent follower of Mírzá Yahyá.  The tablet was not
> revealed to him, but perhaps the recipient knew the man.  There is a
> detailed discussion of him in the materials we sent you; most of it comes
> from Taherzadeh's Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh.  The only comment I will
> offer here is that this is another example of how the Tarazat resembles
> Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, which was revealed some time later (I say
> some time because we do not know the year of revelation of the Tarazat).
>
> — *Ornaments: Wilmette Institute faculty notes (Used by permission of the curator)*