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confirmed by another passage at the end of the tablet, where Bahá’u’lláh writes
that he has revealed the tablet solely out of his love for Javád, “Otherwise, I
have no inclination to set forth any topic, or write a single letter thereon.”
But that expression is not the only mistranslation in the passage. It is not
“chains” that are hidden in the breasts but hatred. However, it has apparently
been assumed that the word
aghlál
is the plural of
ghull
(chain). But here
aghlál
is being used as the plural of the Arabic word
ghill
(rancor, malice, or
animosity).
Mughill
, from the same root, means a person who is spiteful,
deceitful, and bears malice and ill will. Bahá’u’lláh frequently uses the terms
ghill
and
mughill
in his tablets to describe the state of his enemies’ hearts.
9
In
this phrase Bahá’u’lláh creates two plurals not found in standard Arabic—
aghlál
as the plural of
ghill
and
as. dár
as the plural of
s. adr
(heart). Note that
creating new words and derivatives was one way in which the Báb declared his
supreme authority as the Manifestation of God. However, what is indisputable
is that in this context Bahá’u’lláh is not talking about chains but animosities in
the hearts. The mistranslation makes it more difficult to understand
Bahá’u’lláh’s reference to his state of disappointment and his forced silence.
With that crucial information and the correction, now when we read the entire
paragraph it becomes absolutely clear what Bahá’u’lláh is talking about in this
passage:
This is especially true if the Eastern Winds begin to blow upon the flood of this
heavenly river, which is rushing forth from the North of divine unity. How many
exalted souls and possessors of true understanding, how many mighty castles and firm
lofty edifices, will be destroyed and perish. By Him Who holdeth the heavens by His
might and moveth the oceans by His command! Were it not for fear of the malice
hidden in the hearts, I would have assuredly unveiled all the inmost divine analogies
and all the subtleties of the heavenly principles with regard to the course of this
outward river. Yet, alas, I am disinclined to approach any matter. On account of the
intensity of My anguish and sorrow, in these days I am sore tried between the Gog of
silence and the Magog of utterance. I beseech God to send down an Alexander who
will raise an insurmountable barrier.
Here Bahá’u’lláh is saying that although he possesses perfect knowledge of all
divine mysteries, and although he can describe all of them through a single
metaphor, he is forced to conceal these truths and practice wisdom (that is, the
principle that words must be uttered with “due regard unto the exigencies of the
occasion and the people” [Bahá’u’lláh,
Tablets
172]). He is in between silence
and speech: the surging of his spiritual truth urges him to expression and
Concealment and Reve lat ion
37
9. See, for example,
Gleanings
255, 273.