Houri of Wonder (Hur-i ‘Ujab) is a poem in which Baha’u’llah proclaims the coming of his new revelation using the image of a woman of striking beauty and power appearing in heaven.
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Translation by Juan Cole
The beauty of holiness has risen from behind her veil–
and that is a wondrous thing;
And spirits have fainted from the fire of their attraction,
and that is a wondrous affair.
Then they awoke and soared into the pavilions of sanctity at the throne of domes,
and that is a wondrous mystery.
Say: the houri of eternity removed the veil from her face–
exalted be the wondrous beauty of newness!
The lights of her visage shone from the earth to the clouds,
and that is a wondrous radiance.
She threw a glance like a shooting star,
and that is a wondrous glance.
By the fire of her countenance she burned up all names and designations,
and that is a wondrous deed.
She cast her gaze upon the people of earth and dust,
and that is a wondrous gaze.
Behold, the temples of existence quivered and then vanished,
and that is a wondrous death.
Then a black strand of hair appeared from her, an adornment for the soul in the gloom of hindrances,
and that is a wondrous hue.
The fragrance of scents and perfumes wafted from her,
and that is a wondrous musk.
In her right hand she holds red wine and in her left, kebab,
and that is a wondrous grace.
Her palm is dyed crimson with the blood of lovers,
and that is a wondrous thing.
She passed around the wine of life in jugs and cups,
and that is a wondrous fountain;
And sang of the beloved’s name, strumming on lute and rebec,
and that is a wondrous song.
Then hearts melted from fire and blaze,
and that is a wondrous passion.
She bestowed the nourishment of beauty without measure,
and that is a wondrous food.
The sword of allusion struck at necks,
and that is a wondrous blow.
She smiled, and the pearls of her teeth were manifest,
and that is a wondrous gleam.
Then the hearts of those who understand cried out,
and that is a wondrous self-denial.
All those filled with pride and suspicion turned away from her,
and that is nothing but a wondrous opponent.
When she heard, she returned to her palace in grief and regret,
and that is a wondrous sorrow.
She went and returned, may her to and fro be exalted,
and this is a wondrous decree;
And she uttered within her soul a cry that annihilated existence and then was made to vanish,
and that is a wondrous grief.
She opened her lips for a river of advice and reproof to flow,
and that is a wondrous spring.
She said, “Do not reject me, people of the Book.”
And that is a wondrous affair.
“Are you the people of guidance and are you the friends?”
And that is a wondrous falsehood.
She said, “We shall not return to you, my companions.”
And that is a wondrous return.
“We shall conceal the mysteries of God that are in his scriptures.”
And this matter is from the All-Glorious, the Giving.
“You shall not find me until the promised one appears on the Day of Return.”
By my life, that is a wondrous abasement.
Notes
For other translations of this poem, see Denis MacEoin: Tablet of the Wondrous, and the official translation: Tablet of the Wondrous Maiden.