Selections from the Writings of Baha'u'llah on Tyranny
and Oppression
https://fglaysher.com/bahaicensorship/Tyranny.htm
Epistle to the Son of the Wolf:
O Shaykh! My Pen is abashed to recount what actually took
place. In the land of Sad (Isfahan)
the fire of tyranny burned with such a hot flame that every
fair-minded person groaned aloud.
--
Briefly, in every city the evidences of a tyranny, beyond
like or equal, were unmistakably clear
and manifest, and yet none arose in self-defence!
--
The Faith of God hath cried everywhere, by reason of thy
tyranny, and yet thou disportest thyself
and art of them that exult. There is no hatred in Mine heart
for thee nor for anyone. Every man of
discernment beholdeth thee, and such as are like thee,
engulfed in evident folly. Hadst thou
realized that which thou hast done, thou wouldst have cast
thyself into the fire, or abandoned
thine home and fled unto the mountains, or wouldst have
groaned until thou hadst returned unto
the place destined for thee by Him Who is the Lord of
strength and of might.
--
We have heard that the provinces of Persia have been
adorned with the adornment of justice.
When We observed closely, however, We found them to be the
dawning-places of tyranny and
the daysprings of injustice. We behold justice in the
clutches of tyranny. We beseech God to set
it free through the power of His might and His sovereignty.
--
How numerous the oppressors before thee who have arisen
to quench the light of God, and how
many the impious who murdered and pillaged until the hearts
and souls of men groaned by
reason of their cruelty! The sun of justice hath been
obscured, inasmuch as the embodiment of
tyranny hath been stablished upon the throne of hatred, and
yet the people understand not. O
foolish one! Thou hast slain the children of the Apostle and
pillaged their possessions. Say: Was
it, in thine estimation, their possessions or themselves that
denied God? Judge fairly, O ignorant
one that hath been shut out as by a veil from God. Thou hast
clung to tyranny, and cast away
justice; whereupon all created things have lamented, and
still thou art among the wayward. Thou
hast put to death the aged, and plundered the young. Thinkest
thou that thou wilt consume that
which thine iniquity hath amassed? Nay, by Myself! Thus
informeth thee He Who is cognizant of
all. By God! The things thou possessest shall profit thee
not, nor what thou hast laid up through
thy cruelty. Unto this beareth witness thy Lord, the
All-Knowing. Thou hast arisen to put out the
light of this Cause; erelong will thine own fire be quenched,
at His behest. He, verily, is the Lord
of strength and of might. The changes and chances of the
world, and the powers of the nations,
cannot frustrate Him. He doeth what He pleaseth, and
ordaineth what He willeth through the
power of His sovereignty.
--
O Shaykh! While hemmed in by tribulations this Wronged
One is occupied in setting down these
words. On every side the flame of oppression and tyranny can
be discerned.
Kitab-I-Aqdas:
Do thou remember the one whose power transcended thy
power, and whose station excelled thy
station. Where is he? Whither are gone the things he
possessed? Take warning, and be not of
them that are fast asleep. He it was who cast the Tablet of
God behind him when We made
known unto him what the hosts of tyranny had caused Us to
suffer. Wherefore, disgrace assailed
him from all sides, and he went down to dust in great loss.
Think deeply, O King, concerning
him, and concerning them who, like unto thee, have conquered
cities and ruled over men. The
All-Merciful brought them down from their palaces to their
graves. Be warned, be of them who
reflect.
--
Hearken ye, O Rulers of America and the Presidents of the
Republics therein, unto that which the
Dove is warbling on the Branch of Eternity: "There is
none other God but Me, the Ever-Abiding,
the Forgiving, the All-Bountiful." Adorn ye the temple
of dominion with the ornament of justice
and of the fear of God, and its head with the crown of the
remembrance of your Lord, the Creator
of the heavens. Thus counselleth you He Who is the Dayspring
of Names, as bidden by Him
Who is the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. The Promised One hath
appeared in this glorified
Station, whereat all beings, both seen and unseen, have
rejoiced. Take ye advantage of the Day of
God. Verily, to meet Him is better for you than all that
whereon the sun shineth, could ye but
know it. O concourse of rulers! Give ear unto that which hath
been raised from the Dayspring of
Grandeur: "Verily, there is none other God but Me, the
Lord of Utterance, the All-Knowing."
Bind ye the broken with the hands of justice, and crush the
oppressor who flourisheth with the
rod of the commandments of your Lord, the Ordainer, the
All-Wise.
--
O people of Constantinople! Lo, from your midst We hear
the baleful hooting of the owl. Hath
the drunkenness of passion laid hold upon you, or is it that
ye are sunk in heedlessness? O Spot
that art situate on the shores of the two seas! The throne of
tyranny hath, verily, been established
upon thee, and the flame of hatred hath been kindled within
thy bosom, in such wise that the
Concourse on high and they who circle around the Exalted
Throne have wailed and lamented.
We behold in thee the foolish ruling over the wise, and
darkness vaunting itself against the light.
--
Say: O people, should ye choose to disbelieve in Him,
refrain at least from rising up against Him.
By God! Sufficient are the hosts of tyranny that are leagued
against Him!
Tablets of Baha'u'llah:
Neither the ascendancy of the oppressor nor the tyranny
of the wicked hath been able to thwart
His Purpose. How glorified is His sovereignty, how exalted
His dominion!
--
Great God! Although His signs have encompassed the world
and His proofs and testimonies are
shining forth and manifest as the light, yet the ignorant
appear heedless, nay rather, rebellious.
Would that they had been content with opposition. But at all
times they are plotting to cut down
the sacred Lote-Tree. Since the dawn of this Revelation the
embodiments of selfishness have, by
resorting to cruelty and oppression, striven to extinguish
the Light of divine manifestation. But
God, having stayed their hands, revealed this Light through
His sovereign authority and
protected it through the power of His might until earth and
heaven were illumined by its radiance
and brightness. Praise be unto Him under all conditions.
--
May Our Glory rest upon the people of Baha whom
neither the tyranny of the oppressor nor the
ascendancy of the aggressor have been able to withhold from
God, the Lord of the worlds.
(Effulgences)
--
O thou who dost magnify My praise! Give ear unto that
which the people of tyranny ascribe unto
Me in My days. Some of them say: `He hath laid claim to
divinity'; others say: `He hath devised
a lie against God'; still others say: `He is come to foment
sedition'. Base and wretched are they.
Lo! They are, in truth, enslaved to idle imaginings.
--
O kindreds of the earth! Incline your ears unto the Voice
from the divine Lote-Tree which
overshadoweth the world and be not of the people of tyranny
on earth-- men who have
repudiated the Manifestation of God and His invincible
authority and have renounced His
favours-- they in truth are reckoned with the contemptible in
the Book of God, the Lord of all
mankind. (Words of Paradise)
--
Well is it with the king who keepeth a tight hold on the
reins of his passion, restraineth his anger
and preferreth justice and fairness to injustice and tyranny.
--
The word of God which the Supreme Pen hath recorded on
the sixth leaf of the Most Exalted
Paradise is the following: The light of men is Justice.
Quench it not with the contrary winds of
oppression and tyranny.
--
Justice is, in this day, bewailing its plight, and Equity
groaneth beneath the yoke of oppression.
The thick clouds of tyranny have darkened the face of the
earth, and enveloped its peoples.
Through the movement of Our Pen of glory We have, at the
bidding of the omnipotent Ordainer,
breathed a new life into every human frame, and instilled
into every word a fresh potency. All
created things proclaim the evidences of this world-wide
regeneration. This is the most great, the
most joyful tidings imparted by the Pen of this Wronged One
to mankind.
--
Referring to the land of Ta (Tihran) We have
revealed in the Kitab-i-Aqdas that which will
admonish mankind. They that perpetrate tyranny in the world
have usurped the rights of the
peoples and kindreds of the earth and are sedulously pursuing
their selfish inclinations. The
tyrant [Prince Mahm£d M¡rz , the Jal lu'd'Dawlih,
Governor of Yazd, Persia.] of the land of Ya
(Yazd), committed that which hath caused the Concourse on
High to shed tears of blood.
--
But where are to be found earnest seekers and inquiring
minds? Whither are gone the equitable
and the fair-minded? At present no day passeth without the
fire of a fresh tyranny blazing
fiercely, or the sword of a new aggression being unsheathed.
Gracious God! The great and the
noble in Persia glory in acts of such savagery that one is
lost in amazement at the tales thereof.
--
Verily, the birds abiding within the domains of My
Kingdom and the doves dwelling in the rose-
garden of My wisdom utter such melodies and warblings as are
inscrutable to all but God, the
Lord of the kingdoms of earth and heaven; and were these
melodies to be revealed even to an
extent smaller than a needle's eye, the people of tyranny
would utter such calumnies as none
among former generations hath ever uttered, and would commit
such deeds as no one in past
ages and centuries hath ever committed. They have rejected
the bounty of God and His proofs
and have repudiated the testimony of God and His signs.
--
A year ago an oppressor ruled over this city, and at
every instant caused fresh harm. By the
righteousness of the Lord! He wrought that which cast terror
into the hearts of men. But to the
Pen of Glory the tyranny of the world hath never been nor
will it ever be a hindrance. In the
abundance of Our grace and loving-kindness We have revealed
specially for the rulers and
ministers of the world that which is conducive to safety and
protection, tranquillity and peace;
haply the children of men may rest secure from the evils of
oppression.
--
The Great Being saith: O well-beloved ones! The
tabernacle of unity hath been raised; regard ye
not one another as strangers. Ye are the fruits of one tree,
and the leaves of one branch. We
cherish the hope that the light of justice may shine upon the
world and sanctify it from tyranny. If
the rulers and kings of the earth, the symbols of the power
of God, exalted be His glory, arise and
resolve to dedicate themselves to whatever will promote the
highest interests of the whole of
humanity, the reign of justice will assuredly be established
amongst the children of men, and the
effulgence of its light will envelop the whole earth.
--
There can be no doubt whatever that if the day-star of
justice, which the clouds of tyranny have
obscured, were to shed its light upon men, the face of the
earth would be completely
transformed.
--
The Great Being, wishing to reveal the prerequisites of
the peace and tranquillity of the world
and the advancement of its peoples, hath written: The time
must come when the imperative
necessity for the holding of a vast, an all-embracing
assemblage of men will be universally
realized. The rulers and kings of the earth must needs attend
it, and, participating in its
deliberations, must consider such ways and means as will lay
the foundations of the world's
Great Peace amongst men. Such a peace demandeth that the
Great Powers should resolve, for the
sake of the tranquillity of the peoples of the earth, to be
fully reconciled among themselves.
Should any king take up arms against another, all should
unitedly arise and prevent him. If this
be done, the nations of the world will no longer require any
armaments, except for the purpose of
preserving the security of their realms and of maintaining
internal order within their territories.
This will ensure the peace and composure of every people,
government and nation. We fain
would hope that the kings and rulers of the earth, the
mirrors of the gracious and almighty name
of God, may attain unto this station, and shield mankind from
the onslaught of tyranny.
--
In these days the tabernacle of justice hath fallen into
the clutches of tyranny and oppression.
Beseech ye the One true God--exalted be His glory--not to
deprive mankind of the ocean of true
understanding, for were men but to take heed they would
readily appreciate that whatever hath
streamed from and is set down by the Pen of Glory is even as
the sun for the whole world and
that therein lie the welfare, security and true interests of
all men; otherwise the earth will be
tormented by a fresh calamity every day and unprecedented
commotions will break out.
--
Be ye warned, O men of understanding. It ill beseemeth
the station of man to commit tyranny;
rather it behoveth him to observe equity and be attired with
the raiment of justice under all
conditions. Beseech ye the One true God that He may, through
the power of the hand of loving-
kindness and spiritual education, purge and purify certain
souls from the defilement of evil
passions and corrupt desires, that they may arise and unloose
their tongues for the sake of God,
that perchance the evidences of injustice may be blotted out
and the splendour of the light of
justice may shed its radiance upon the whole world.
--
The Faith of God hath cried everywhere, by reason of thy
tyranny, and yet thou disportest thyself
and art of them that exult. There is no hatred in Mine heart
for thee nor for anyone. Every man of
learning beholdeth thee, and such as are like thee, engulfed
in evident folly.
--
We have heard that the provinces of Persia have been
adorned with the adornment of justice.
When We observed closely, however, We found them to be the
dawning-places of tyranny and
the daysprings of injustice. We behold justice in the
clutches of tyranny. We beseech God to set
it free through the power of His might and His sovereignty.
--
How numerous the oppressors before thee who have arisen
to quench the light of God, and how
many the impious who murdered and pillaged until the hearts
and souls of men groaned by
reason of their cruelty! The sun of justice hath been
obscured, inasmuch as the embodiment of
tyranny hath been stablished upon the throne of hatred, and
yet the people understand not. The
children of the Apostle have been slain and their possessions
pillaged. Say: Was it, in thine
estimation, their possessions or themselves that denied God?
Judge fairly, O ignorant one that
hath been shut out as by a veil from God. Thou hast clung to
tyranny and cast away justice;
whereupon all created things have lamented, and still thou
art among the wayward. Thou hast put
to death the aged, and plundered the young. Thinkest thou
that thou wilt consume that which
thine iniquity hath amassed? Nay, by Myself! Thus informeth
thee He Who is cognizant of all.
By God! The things thou possessest shall profit thee not, nor
what thou hast laid up through thy
cruelty. Unto this beareth witness Thy Lord, the All-Knowing.
--
O `Al¡! Woes and sorrows are powerless to restrain thy
Lord, the All-Merciful. Indeed He hath
risen to champion the Cause of God in such wise that neither
the overpowering might of the
world nor the tyranny of the nations can ever alarm Him. He
calleth aloud betwixt earth and
heaven, saying: The Promised Day is come. The Lord of
creation proclaimeth: Verily, there is no
God besides Me, the Almighty, the All-Bountiful.
--
How vast the number of places that have been ennobled
with your blood for the sake of God.
How numerous the cities wherein the voice of your lamentation
hath been raised and the wailing
of your anguish uplifted. How many the prisons into which ye
have been cast by the hosts of
tyranny. Know ye of a certainty that He will render you
victorious, will exalt you among the
peoples of the world and will demonstrate your high rank
before the gaze of all nations. Surely
He will not suffer the reward of His favoured ones to be
lost.
--
Persevere thou in helping His Cause through the
strengthening power of the hosts of wisdom and
utterance. Thus hath it been decreed by God, the Gracious,
the All-Praised. Blessed is the
believer who hath in this Day embraced the Truth and the man
of fixed resolve whom the hosts
of tyranny have been powerless to affright.
--
In this Day the Straight Path is made manifest, the
Balance of divine justice is set and the light of
the sun of His bounty is resplendent, yet the oppressive
darkness of the people of tyranny hath,
even as clouds, intervened and caused a grievous obstruction
between the Day-Star of heavenly
grace and the people of the world. Blessed is he who hath
rent the intervening veils asunder and
is illumined by the radiant light of divine Revelation.
Consider how numerous were those who
accounted themselves among the wise and the learned, yet in
the Day of God were deprived of
the outpourings of heavenly bounties.
Hidden Words:
23. O DWELLERS IN THE CITY OF LOVE! Mortal blasts have
beset the everlasting candle,
and the beauty of the celestial Youth is veiled in the
darkness of dust. The chief of the monarchs
of love is wronged by the people of tyranny and the dove of
holiness lies prisoned in the talons of
owls. The dwellers in the pavilion of glory and the celestial
concourse bewail and lament, while
ye repose in the realm of negligence, and esteem yourselves
as of the true friends. How vain are
your imaginings!
--
64. O OPPRESSORS OF EARTH! Withdraw your hands from
tyranny, for I have pledged
Myself not to forgive any man's injustice. This is My
covenant which I have irrevocably decreed
in the preserved tablet and sealed it with My seal of glory.
Homepage
|