# Tablet of Ridván: Tablet study outline

*Exported from [Holy-Writings.com](https://www.holy-writings.com/) on 2026-06-19 — 1 clipping.*

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> Name of Tablet in Arabic or Persian: Lawh-i-Ridván (one of a few 
> with this name)
> 
> Translation into English: Tablet of Ridván. This is *not* the same 
> Tablet of Ridván as can be found excerpted in Gleanings XIV, nor is it 
> the same Tablet of Ridván which can be found on the internet in 
> provisional translation. There would seem to be no part of this Tablet 
> translated anywhere.
> 
> Significance of Name: It was revealed during Ridván.
> 
> Tablet was revealed in: Arabic
> 
> Reason for Revelation of the Tablet: This Tablet opens with the 
> words (provisional translation):
> "This is a Tablet that was revealed in Ridván so that all may read it 
> in the Festival of Ridván in the voice of God, the Almighty, the All-
> Wise." 
> 
> Date of Revelation: The ninth day of Ridván, 1869 (Bahá'u'lláh 
> mentions in the text of this Tablet that  "now is the ninth day of the 
> days of Ridván"). Taherzadeh (vol. 3, p. 53) writes that "It was 
> probably revealed during Ridván 1869, the first of the two Ridván 
> Festivals that He celebrated in the prison, for in it He mentions the 
> names of several believers who had tried to enter `Akká and been 
> stopped by the authorities.")
> 
> Place of Revelation: Akká, "in the barracks" (ibid, p. 53)
> 
> 
> 
> Voice of Tablet: [?] Bahá'u'lláh
> 
> Outline Contents of Tablet:
> Taherzadeh (vol. 3, 53-54) writes: 
> 
>         In this Tablet Bahá'u'lláh describes how...He was invited by one 
> of the believers in the prison to honour his room with His presence 
> and attend the celebration of that great Festival. His companions on 
> that day were truly intoxicated with the wine of His presence. The 
> believer who had invited Bahá'u'lláh entertained Him with the best 
> food he could provide. Bahá'u'lláh refers to this and states that other 
> believers had invited Him to their rooms during the Ridván period 
> also. Each according to his capacity had provided some food and some 
> had nothing to entertain Him with except a cup of tea.
>         In this Tablet Bahá'u'lláh showers His bounties upon His 
> companions, and prays that they may remain steadfast in His Cause 
> and united among themselves."
> 
>         Dr. Iraj Ayman, who has read the Tablet in Arabic, adds:
> "It is interesting that at the end of  this Tablet Bahá'u'lláh 
> supplicates God to aid and assist the  friends so that they can 
> entertain and celebrate this occasion by  their behavior and their 
> deeds thus through such behavior and   celebration the tablecloth of 
> divine blessing be spread    throughout the world!
> 
> Principal themes of the Tablet:
> Not stated; presumably the Tablet is suffused with the spirit of 
> proclamation, joy, and hope, for such is the character of other 
> Tablets of Ridván.
> 
> Tablet's relationship to other tablets: 
> This is one of many Tablets revealed on or in commemoration of the 
> Festival of Ridván. John Walbridge discusses some of these Tablets 
> (though not this one) in the book _Sacred Acts, Sacred Space, Sacred 
> Time_, pages 232-241.
> 
> Biography or bio note of the recipient of the Tablet:
> 
> The following is summarized/paraphrased from Taherzadeh, vol. 3, 
> 53-56:
> 
> In this Tablet Bahá'u'lláh refers to two Persian believers living in 
> `Akká itself, some who were trying to come in, and some who were 
> staying at Haifa.  The two in `Akká were Muhammad Ja`far-i-Tabrizi, 
> entitled Mansur, and Mírzá Hadi  `Abdu'l-Ahad. The latter was the 
> first to arrive in `Akká. He had been sent there by `Abdu'l-Bahá some 
> time before Bahá'u'lláh's exile to that city, and no one suspected him 
> of being a Bahá'í. He opened a shop but did not try to contact 
> Bahá'u'lláh and His companions in the barracks when they arrived. 
> However, the few Bahá'í prisoners who went to the market every day 
> to purchase provisions met him and knew that he was a Bahá'í. 
> Through him, and by other means, the news of Bahá'u'lláh's 
> whereabouts soon reached the believers in Persia and a few of His 
> followers travelled to `Akká. `Abdu'l-Ahad very discreetly helped 
> some of the visitors who had managed to enter the city to approach 
> the barracks. Sometimes he even had to hide the visitors in the back 
> of his shop. 
> 
>         Among those living at Haifa was Mírzá Ibráhím-i-Kashani, a 
> copper-smith by profession, whom Bahá'u'lláh refers to in this Tablet 
> as Khalíl. He was a devoted believer, and had been among the Bahá'í 
> prisoners sent from Baghdad to Mosul. Accompanied by some 
> relatives he had managed to leave Mosul and settle in Haifa. In those 
> days, entering `Akká was very difficult for the believers, but he 
> managed to enter frequently by taking some of his copper implements 
> for sale. He thus became an important channel of communication 
> between the believers and Bahá'u'lláh.
> 
>         Another believer mentioned in the Ridván Tablet was an old 
> man, Ustad Isma`il. He was a master builder of wide experience who 
> had worked for the government officials in Persia. When he became 
> known as a Bábí, he had to leave his work. He then went to Baghdad 
> where he was given the honour of carrying out construction work on 
> the house of Bahá'u'lláh. And when the believers in that city were 
> exiled to Mosul, he managed to travel to `Akká. In spite of old age he 
> walked all the way until he came and stood in front of the Most Great 
> Prison eagerly waiting to behold the face of his Beloved from across 
> the moat.
>
> — *Tablet of Ridván: Tablet study outline (Used by permission of the curator)*