28 / 28
a most
noble
pattern
216
Notes
1. The reason MacEoin has made such a mistake is the error in transcription of the tablet
as printed in Ishraq Khavari 1950, vol. 7, p. 60. That it
is
a mistake, all the other copies
of the tablet make clear; see, for example, Bahá’u’lláh INBA 35, p. 233, and INBA 76,
p. 90. See also Mohammadhosseini 1995, pp. 952–3.
2. Bahá’u’lláh,
Hidden Words
, Arabic no. 12.
3. ibid. Arabic no. 13.
4. ibid. Arabic no. 14.
5. ibid. Arabic no. 15.
6. This is Browne’s translation:
One day they summoned Him to the mosque urging and constraining Him to recant,
but He discoursed from the pulpit in such wise as to silence and subdue those
present and to establish and strengthen His followers. It was then supposed that He
claimed to be the medium of grace from His Highness the Lord of the Age (upon
Him be peace); but afterwards it became known and evident that His meaning
was the Gatehood [
Bábíyyat
] of another city and the mediumship of the graces of
another Person Whose qualities and attributes were contained in His books and
treatises (‘Abdu’l-Bahá 1980, pp. 6–7).
7. Sahífiy-i Ja‘faríyyih is truly filled with spiritual wonders and miracles. In this short
article I have tried to outline the structure of the text. However, any detailed discussion
of the issues raised in the text needs independent work.