What is the Tabernacle of Unity?

The Tabernacle of Unity is a collection of tablets revealed by Baha’u’llah in response to questions from a Parsi Zoroastrian. In total it consists of four tablets as well as responses to questions specifically asked by Manikchi Sahib in a question by question manner.

This often underestimated masterpiece underlines the universality of the Baha’i Faith and is a must read for anyone who wishes to teach the Faith to their brethren across the globe. In it Baha’u’llah lays out the foundation upon which the ocean of His divine wonders rests, while simultaneously letting the sunlight of His revelation pierce the depths enough to give us a glimpse into the deep mysticism of the Faith.

What am I doing?

I will be going through the Tabernacle of Unity giving my personal insight into the tablets one by one. In this edition I will be going through the first tablet which is quite simply called “The Tablet to Manikchi Sahib” or Lawh-i-Manikchi-Sahib.

Each paragraph in the tablet has been abbreviated as U1, U2, U3… etc. Every line break between blocks of paragraphs is considered a new paragraph. The one exception is that the opening words “IN THE NAME OF THE ONE TRUE GOD” I have also enumerated with “U1.” Thus, the first paragraph after the aforementioned epithet is U2, the following U3 and so on.

Please know that nothing I say is anything but my own opinion and reading and is not authoritative in anyway.

Breakdown of Lawi-i-Manikchi-Sahib:

U1: The tablet opens with the most supreme epithet of God. This sets the mindset in which the tablet was not only addressed at the time of its revelation, but also the mindset in which we are asked to read it today. Furthermore, dedicating the tablet in the “Name” of God will have far-reaching ramifications as we will see as we proceed.

U2: This paragraph is without a doubt the most important paragraph in the entire tablet as it outlines two important concepts: the Primal Word and the Primal Light. Indeed Baha’u’llah says that these two immaterial substances come from just a single dewdrop of the ocean of His grace. That the Word and the Light are the water of life, and the sun of divine knowledge is unforgettable.

U3: In this paragraph we learn more about the Primal Word. Chiefly, we learn that all names are but names of it. All created things whether visible or invisible are in some way or another derivatives of the Primal Word. The name which denotes a butterfly, and the name which denotes you as a human are names of that same name. And as Baha’u’llah also tells us in this paragraph, all of these things only arose through the light of the Word’s wisdom, that is to say through the divine knowledge. As such, it is clear that the Light of God is the mover of the Word and the Word is what gives the Light substance.

U4: Baha’u’llah talks simply about His visit with the Parsi Zoroastrian known as Manikchi Sahib who first visited Baha’u’llah in Baghdad.

U5: It is in this paragraph that one of the most well-known quotes in all of Baha’i literature comes from: The All-knowing Physician has His finger on the pulse of mankind. Here Baha’u’llah implores us to be aware of the existence of progressive revelation; that each age has its own ills and God sends a remedy designed for that time.

U6: We tend to make enemies out of friends, and turn the straight crooked, Baha’u’llah tells us. In this paragraph He warns us of the terrible maladies which afflict the world we live in in this present age.

U7: Incline our ears to the sweet melody of the Prisoner is the command in this paragraph. The reason being that to use the ear to hear the Word of the Name of this age is to connect it back to the Primal Word. Indeed, what Baha’u’llah says in this age is that same substance as the Primal Word. As the Primal Word is the Water of Life, then to hear the Word, is to the drink the water of life, and to do so is to never die [spiritually].

U8: Manikchi Sahib asked Baha’u’llah about the preference of language in the eyes of God and Baha’u’llah ensures him that it does not matter so long as the language helps you as a person learn the Faith of God. This is interesting because while a revelation may be revealed in one language, say Arabic for example, then translated into another it will not lose the substance behind it. Undoubtedly any translation is also an interpretation and so one must be careful when translating any work, but Baha’u’llah has assured us that the Word still resides behind it—indeed we see a name of the name of the Name.

U9: Quite simply Baha’u’llah informs us that some people have and will accept the Primal Word while others will not.

U10: Ego. This is as simple as it gets in my opinion. We are warned to do away with the defilement of the ego. We are promised that with the well-wishing of mankind comes true tranquility. What is the most ego-less thing to recognize? Certainly it must be that we are but names on the trail of the Name which leads back to the Word and ultimately the ocean of God’s grace. Indeed, we are all part of God, whether we see ourselves as separate or one with God the following remains true regardless: all of us are the same substance as each other. Hence, the ego is lost.

U11: Here we are instructed to come from the darkness towards the daystar of unity. The most important tenant in the Baha’i Faith is Unity. A daystar is a most supreme heavenly body and can readily be likened back to the Primal Light.

U12: Baha’u’llah likens what the eyelid does to the eye, to what the darkness of disunity does to the soul. Thus to attach ourselves to the Light and to the Word is to remove the lampshade on our soul and reach true understanding.

U13: Darkness covers the Earth, but a Light has been given to us to bring radiance to the globe.

U14: Time and again we are reminded of this, and here is no exception: words need support from deeds.

U15: God, through Baha’u’llah, is the Sun and Ocean, the Light and the Word, the Wisdom and the Knowledge. Wisdom and Knowledge are two forms of intellectual capacity which arrive before and after action respectively. To know these qualties through the Manifestation and through our own needed action is to set the wings of a broken-winged bird to flight.

U16: The Tabernacle of Unity in as concise an example as ever. We are all one.

U17: The past is the mirror of the future and by looking at the past we can see what lay in store for us should we not adopt the Tabernacle of Unity in this age. That is to say that disunity and its sorrows will continue.

U18: Sacrificing the ego in the age where the Sun shines over the Earth allows each and every human, as well as all of creation to drink from the Ocean without tainting it by our sins.

U19: “Milk should be given,” that is to say substance which leads back to the Primal Points (note that Primal Points here does not refer to the Bab for those of you familiar with the Bayan).

U20: Everyone is at heart a pure and fertile soil wherein the seeds of true understanding lay dormant. Under the Sun and with the water from the Ocean they can grow, but we as our bodies must also till the soil and cultivate our soul through unity.

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END

Thank you all for reading through this and I apologize for the lack of pictures. I hope you can use this as a guide for reading the first tablet of the Tabernacle of Unity.

-G.L.