12th and Final Day of the Festival of Riḍván
He is the Ever-Abiding.
It is the Festival of Riḍván, the vernal season wherein the Beauty of the All-Glorious was revealed betwixt earth and heaven. In this wondrous Day the gates of Paradise were flung open before the faces of all people, at the behest of Him Who is the All-Praised, and the outpourings of divine mercy rained down from the clouds of celestial favour upon His countless embodiments and manifestations in the world of being.
Another letter of thine, which made mention of the hallowed and blessed days of Riḍván, was received. Praise be to God, there wafted therefrom the sweet savours of the rose-garden of true knowledge and inner meaning. Should the people of the world resolve, one and all, to extol the days that We passed in the garden of Najíb Páshá, which hath been designated as the Garden of Riḍván, they would find themselves utterly incapable thereof and would confess to their powerlessness.
Verily, the eye of creation hath never beheld the light of those days, nor hath the gaze of humankind ever witnessed their like. The approach of Him Who is the Desire of the world, His entrance into that garden, His ascent upon the throne of utterance, and the words that streamed forth from the mouth of His will at that moment shall forever transcend every earthly mention. Any attribute that might be ascribed unto them, any praise wherewith they might be extolled will fail to do justice to the dust that hath been ennobled by His footsteps, how much less to His mighty throne, His manifest establishment thereon, and His pervasive and all-embracing utterance. Indeed, the splendours of that Day elude the understanding and comprehension of the peoples of the world.
That garden hath been named after its caretaker, who was called Riḍván. Those were the days whereon the All-Merciful cast the splendour of all His names over all who are in His heaven and on His earth. Some among His chosen ones had the honour of witnessing those days and beholding that which was manifested therein. In the arrival and departure of the Ancient Beauty, the signs and tokens of God were made clear and evident, and the light of Revelation was made to shine forth in the plenitude of its glory. Verily, His majesty was exalted, His power magnified, and His sovereignty revealed.
From Days of Remembrance https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/bahaullah/days-remembrance/
Forty-five selections from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh revealed for, or relating to, nine Bahá’í Holy Days.
