Abdul-Baha's First Thousand-Verse Tablet: History and Provisional Translation

From the onset of his ministry, Abdul-Baha faced significant family opposition to his authority and position. These family members, led by Mirza Muhammad-Ali, a younger half-brother of Abdul-Baha to whom Bahaullah had given a rank subordinate to Abdul-Baha, colluded in spreading false allegations against Abdul-Baha who was seeking to spread the Baha'i Faith to Europe and North America. For several years, Abdul-Baha worked hard to contain these defections and to prevent news of them from reaching other Baha'i communities.

By 18967, the Baha'is of Egypt had heard enough of the details that when Mirza abbullh Afnn was going on a visit to Akka, they asked him to learn as much of the details as he could. To his great shock, while in Akka, the Afnan learned that indeed Abdul-Baha's brothers and the majority of his family had arisen against him in rebellion. As instructed by Abdul-Baha, the young pilgrim on his return to Egypt informed the Baha'i community of the occurrences in Akka and the opposition to Abdul-Baha. The celebrated Mirza Ab'l-Fadl found this hard to accept. Therefore, he wrote to Abdul-Baha inquiring about the veracity of this news, and received in response a lengthy tablet dated 26 March 1897, which we propose to be called the First Thousand-Verse Tablet. This paper will provide historical background and a provisional translation of this momentous tablet.