Prayer of the Báb on Divine Sovereignty and the True Mirror

Abstract: This sacred prayer, revealed by the Báb, stands as a luminous testament to His exalted proclamation of the omnipotence and sovereignty of God, and the supreme station of Him Whom God shall make manifest. Opening and closing with solemn invocations, it affirms that the All-Powerful and All-Knowing Lord confers sovereignty, might, and knowledge according to His will, exalting whom He will, abasing whom He will, and holding within His grasp the kingdom of all created things.

Interwoven within these declarations is the singular and enduring metaphor of the True Mirror. The Báb exhorts the addressee to persevere and confront the worldly multitude, declaring that while all other mirrors may imagine themselves to contain the Sun, it is only in the true mirror that the Sun shineth — symbolizing recognition of the Manifestation and the certitude of those who faithfully reflect His light.

Though the recipient, date, and place of revelation remain unknown, the prayer itself situates its utterance on a Friday night, conveying a call to steadfastness, discernment, and devotion among the mirrors of humankind.

What follows is a provisional English rendering of this prayer, revealed in Arabic, based on the manuscript preserved in the Iran National Bahá’í Archives (INBA), Vol. 58, pp. 144–145.