Lawḥ-i-Fitnih

Lawḥ-i-Fitnih, provisionally translated as Tablet of the Test, is an Arabic Tablet revealed by Bahá’u’lláh. It has not yet been officially translated into English.

Subject

Adib Taherzadeh writes that the Tablet is about the tests and trials associated with the Day of God, specifically referring to Bahá’u’lláh's own Revelation and stating that through It the whole of creation will be tested.

He also notes that in the Tablet Bahá’u’lláh states that the tests and trials of His Revelation will be so severe and numerous that many who believe in God will be deprived, that some will be elevated to the heights of faithfulness and others cast down. He states that the full force of the tests will be felt in the year of Shidád, in English stress. Taherzadeh notes that the numerical value of the word Shidád is 309 and links it to the year 1309 AH, which is 1892 CE, the year of the Ascension of Bahá’u’lláh.

History

The Tablet was revealed for Princess Shams-i-Jihán, a granddaughter of Fath-'Alí Sháh who was a friend of Táhirih. She met Bahá’u’lláh in Baghdad and became a believer. Taherzadeh suggests that the Tablet may have been revealed in either Baghdad or Adrianople.

References

• Adib Taherzadeh, Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh Vol. 1, pp 129-137