Lawh-i-Mallahu’l-Quds (Tablet of the Holy Mariner)

From the Arabic:

O Mariner of Holiness!

He is the Mighty, the Beloved.

O Mariner of Holiness! Bring the Ark of Eternity into the Concourse on High. Glorified be my Lord, the Most Glorious! Then anchor it upon the Sea of Pre-Eternity with a wondrous name. Glorified be my Lord, the Most Glorious! Then board upon it the temples of spirit in the name of God, the Most Exalted, the Most High. Glorified be my Lord, the Most Glorious! Then loosen the reins of the ship to flow upon the Crimson Deep of Majesty, so its passengers may reach the stations of nearness in the sanctuary of eternity. Glorified be my Lord, the Most Glorious!

And when you have brought them to the shore of holiness, the coast of the Crimson Sea, glorified be my Lord, the Most Glorious!—then disembark them from the ark at this most subtle, most hidden station. Glorified be my Lord, the Most Glorious!

This is the station where God manifested Himself through the fire of beauty upon the Lote-Tree of Immortality. Glorified be my Lord, the Most Glorious! Here they cast off the sandals of self and passion from the form of command. Glorified be my Lord, the Most Glorious! And here Moses of Glory circles with the hosts of eternity. Glorified be my Lord, the Most Glorious! This is the station where the Hand of God emerged from the cloak of grandeur. Glorified be my Lord, the Most Glorious!

This is the station where not even the Ark of the Cause shall stir, even if all names be read upon it. Glorified be my Lord, the Most Glorious! Therefore, O Mariner of Holiness, teach the people of the ship what We have taught you behind the veils of cloud. Glorified be my Lord, the Most Glorious! So that they may not wander lost in the white sand valley. Glorified be my Lord, the Most Glorious!

Let them soar on the wings of spirit to a station sanctified by God above remembrance in the realms of origination. Glorified be my Lord, the Most Glorious! Let them move through the air like birds of nearness in the might of encounter. Glorified be my Lord, the Most Glorious! Let them discover the mysteries within the depths of light. Glorified be my Lord, the Most Glorious! And let them be severed from the abodes of limitation until they reach the station of unity at the center of guidance. Glorified be my Lord, the Most Glorious!

And should they seek to ascend to the station God has set beyond their degrees, then a flaming meteor from the inhabitants of the kingdom of encounter will drive them back. Glorified be my Lord, the Most Glorious! And they shall hear the melody of grandeur from beyond the curtain of the unseen, from the sanctuary of radiance. Glorified be my Lord, the Most Glorious!

It shall be said: O angels of preservation, return these ones to their abodes in the world of creation. Glorified be my Lord, the Most Glorious! For they desired to fly in an air where even the winged dove has never flown. Glorified be my Lord, the Most Glorious! Neither the ships of conjecture nor the hearts of those endowed with reason may stir therein. Glorified be my Lord, the Most Glorious!

Then the Maiden of Spirit lifted her head from the chambers of the Most High. Glorified be my Lord, the Most Glorious! She gestured with the curve of her brow to the assembly of the holy ones. Glorified be my Lord, the Most Glorious! The lights of her brow shone forth from earth to heaven. Glorified be my Lord, the Most Glorious! And the radiance of beauty fell upon the people of earth and dust, such that the frames of existence quivered from the graves of mortality. Glorified be my Lord, the Most Glorious!

Then she cried out in a melody no ear had ever heard since the primordial eternity. Glorified be my Lord, the Most Glorious! She said: By God! Whosoever has not in his heart the fragrance of love for the radiant youth of ’Iráq—glorified be my Lord, the Most Glorious!—shall never ascend to the canopy of “Hā’” in this supreme dominion. Glorified be my Lord, the Most Glorious!

Then she commanded one of her most exquisite maidservants. Glorified be my Lord, the Most Glorious! She said: Descend from the palaces of eternity upon the temple of the sun in this expanse. Glorified be my Lord, the Most Glorious! Then turn your gaze upon them, upon that which they have hidden in the secret of their most secret heart. Glorified be my Lord, the Most Glorious!

If you detect the fragrance of the garment of the youth concealed in the pavilion of light from the hands of the wicked—glorified be my Lord, the Most Glorious!—then cry out within yourself, so that all who dwell in the chambers of paradise among the temples of melody may become aware. Glorified be my Lord, the Most Glorious! Then all of them shall descend from the chambers of eternity. Glorified be my Lord, the Most Glorious! And they shall kiss their feet and hands, for they have soared in the air of faithfulness. Glorified be my Lord, the Most Glorious!

Perhaps they shall find the fragrance of the Beloved from the garment of these ones. Glorified be my Lord, the Most Glorious! Then the Maiden of Nearness shone from the horizon of the chambers like the radiance of the youth’s face from the horizon of the veil. Glorified be my Lord, the Most Glorious!

She descended with a robe by which the heavens and all that is within them were illumined. Glorified be my Lord, the Most Glorious! She moved through the air, perfuming all things in the lands of holiness and splendor. Glorified be my Lord, the Most Glorious! When she reached the station, she stood like the line of the equator at the pole of manifestation. Glorified be my Lord, the Most Glorious!

Then she inhaled from them in a time upon which neither the decree of beginning nor the remembrance of end applies. Glorified be my Lord, the Most Glorious! But she found not what she sought among them. This is among the tales of wondrous astonishment. Glorified be my Lord, the Most Glorious!

Then she cried aloud, groaned, and returned to her station in her crimson palace. Glorified be my Lord, the Most Glorious! Then she uttered a secret word beneath her spiritual tongue. Glorified be my Lord, the Most Glorious! She called out among the Concourse on High and the maidens of eternity. Glorified be my Lord, the Most Glorious!

By God! Among these claimants, I found not even a breath of faithfulness. Glorified be my Lord, the Most Glorious! By God! The youth remained in the land of exile, alone and solitary among the hands of the profligate. Glorified be my Lord, veiled in the divinity of the sorrowful.

Then she cried out in her soul with a scream that shook the inhabitants of the Concourse on High. Glorified be my Lord, who is robed in the cloak of mourning! She fell upon the dust and died—as though summoned and answering the One who called her in the Godhead of the cloud. Glorified is the One who created her from the essence of modesty. Glorified be my Lord, the Most Glorious!

Then the maidens emerged from the chambers—maidens whose beauty no eyes among the dwellers of the heavens of splendor had beheld. Glorified be my Lord, the Most Glorious! They gathered around her and found her body cast upon the dust of desolation. Glorified be our Lord, the Most Exalted!

When they saw her state and understood a single letter of the tale of the youth, they loosened their hair, tore their garments, struck their faces, abandoned their joyful lives, wept with their eyes, and smote their cheeks with their hands. This is among the calamities of the most hidden mystery. Glorified be our Lord, the Most Exalted, the Most High.

From the Persian:

He is the Persian, the ’Iráqí of the Non-Arab Tongue

When the people of the divine Ark, by leave of the Mariner of Holiness, clung to the Ark of Eternity under one of the Names, and it began to flow upon the sea of Names and pass through the stages of limitation, hoping by the power of the Sovereign of Unity to reach the shore of Oneness and drink from the cup of Detachment—

By divine assistance, that sacred Ark moved upon the water of spiritual wisdom, sailing forward until it reached a station where the name “Stillness” prevailed over the name “Motion,” and overcame it. Thus the Ark of Spirit came to rest and was forbidden from moving.

At that moment, a firm decree from the heavenly realm of eternal holiness descended, and the Navigator of Eternity was commanded to teach the voyagers a letter from the Most Hidden Word, so that through hidden aid they might pass beyond the valley of self-perplexity and enter the spacious expanse of spiritual unity, and arrive at the Qáf of the soul’s permanence and the presence of the Beloved of hearts.

And when the people of the ship attained that word of the spiritual Friend, they immediately spread their wings of meaning and soared in the air of holiness. By God’s grace and the mercy of the All-Merciful, they passed beyond the crags of self and passion and the depths of heedlessness and blindness. At that moment, the breezes of Paradise blew from the sanctuary of the All-Merciful upon their bodily temples.

After their flight in the air of divine nearness and journey through the stations of inner meaning, they descended into the abode of safety and security—the final homeland of the lovers. The dwellers of that realm rose in service and kindness.

At that time, the eternal youths and the sacred cupbearer offered a ruby wine of self-effacement, such that intoxication from the wine of divine knowledge and the cup of essential wisdom drew them into longing. They were severed from their own existence and from all created things, and bound their hearts to the beauty of the Friend. For ages and cycles they dwelled in that blissful spiritual realm and the garden of the All-Merciful with perfect joy and exultation.

Then the winds of divine testing and the gusts of sovereign trial blew from the Sheba of the eternal command. They became absorbed in the beauty of the Cupbearer and were heedless of the abiding Face. So much so, that they mistook shadow for the sun and forms for light. They sought to ascend the heights of the Greatest Name and soar in that air and enter that station.

When they attempted to rise, the divine assayers with the sacred assembly descended upon them by the firm command of the Lord. And when they had not perceived the scent of the spiritual Youth, all were restrained.

Then came to pass what had been inscribed in the Preserved Tablet.

So, O companions of the couch of divine love, and O drinkers of the wine of the All-Sufficing’s mercy—do not exchange the nearness of the beauty of the Friend for the two worlds. Do not substitute the meeting with Him for the meeting with the Cupbearer. And do not tie your hearts to the wine of ignorance and heedlessness in place of the wine of His knowledge and wisdom.

The lips are the place for the mention of the Beloved—do not defile them with pollution. The heart is the home of eternal mysteries—do not preoccupy it with transient things.

Seek the water of life from the Kawthar of the All-Glorious Beauty, not from the manifestations of Satan.

This evanescent Youth, from the farthest station of love, reminds the friends of God with the wondrous counsels of the One and the jewels of the All-Sufficing’s wisdom—so that perhaps a soul may step forth and display manliness, and may come forth from the robe of heedlessness and lust.

And if the radiant, sanctified, and holy Beauty of the Friend walk upon the earth of love, detachment, affection, and elevation—then at the very least, they may take from the dawn of that manifest morn and the appearance of that shining Day a light by which they may unify their inner and outer selves.

We have passed beyond the heights of detachment and the summits of oneness, the supreme purification and the most great sanctity. Now strive earnestly and with lofty resolve, that the secrets of the inner life not contradict the deeds of the outer life, nor the outward actions oppose the inward truths.

We have passed beyond sacrificing life in the path of the Beloved—now arise with justice and fairness against your own selves.

Is it truly that you prefer the robe of greed and selfish desires over the garment of the All-Merciful’s sanctity? And do you exchange the song of the nightingale of union for the voice of denial and perishing from the people of rebellion and hatred?

Evil indeed is that which you choose instead! Verily, we belong to God, and to Him do we return.

God willing, we hope that the temples of abiding glory may shine forth with the vesture of holiness and divine attributes—bright, subtle, pure, and radiant, like the All-Sufficing Sun. This is not difficult for God.