< < back to Table of Contents
Chapter 11
---------------
Balance -- the teachings of the Prophets (both Independent and Dependent Prophets).
1)
Balance revealed by Baha'u'llah, the Independent Prophet.
XVII. By Him Who is the Great Announcement! The All-Merciful is come
invested with undoubted sovereignty. The Balance hath been appointed,
and all them that dwell on earth have been gathered together. The
Trumpet hath been blown, and lo, all eyes have stared up with terror,
and the hearts of all who are in the heavens and on the earth have
trembled, except them whom the breath of the verses of God hath
quickened, and who have detached themselves from all things.
-- Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 40
2)
Infallible Balance revealed by Baha'u'llah, the Independent Prophet.
Immerse yourselves in the ocean of My words, that ye may unravel its
secrets, and discover all the pearls of wisdom that lie hid in its
depths. Take heed that ye do not vacillate in your determination to
embrace the truth of this Cause--a Cause through which the
potentialities of the might of God have been revealed, and His
sovereignty established. With faces beaming with joy, hasten ye unto
Him. This is the changeless Faith of God, eternal in the past, eternal
in the future. Let him that seeketh, attain it; and as to him that hath
refused to seek it--verily, God is Self-Sufficient, above any need of
His creatures.
Say: This is the infallible Balance which the Hand of God is holding,
in which all who are in the heavens and all who are on the earth are
weighed, and their fate determined, if ye be of them that believe and
recognize this truth. Say: Through it the poor have been enriched, the
learned enlightened, and the seekers enabled to ascend unto the
presence of God. Beware, lest ye make it a cause of dissension amongst
you. Be ye as firmly settled as the immovable mountain in the Cause of
your Lord, the Mighty, the Loving.
-- Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 136
3)
In passage below from Gleanings CXXIX:
"concealed within the Holy Veil" -- refers to the realm of pre-existence of the Dependent Prophets, similar to the pre-existence of the Holy Imams.
"His chosen ones" -- the Dependent Prophets of Baha'u'llah.
"Weigh it with the just Balance that ye possess, the Balance of the testimony of the Prophets and Messengers of God" -- judge their revelation with same standards you use for Prophets and Messengers of God, as they are.
"Warn, then, those that have joined partners with Him" --
warn those who reject the Dependent Prophet as the Face of God
(similar, for example, to those who rejected Imam Ali as the Face of
God in the era of Muhammad).
"I am come from the Throne of glory" -- reference to her/his station as a Prophet [Dependent] of God.
"And bear you an announcement from God" -- the declaration of the Dependent Prophet.
"And render your works vain, and be numbered with the infidels" -- reference to believers who after serving the faith reject a dependent prophet, and thereby render their works vain.
There lay concealed within the Holy Veil, and prepared for the service
of God, a company of His chosen ones who shall be manifested unto men,
who shall aid His Cause, who shall be afraid of no one, though the
entire human race rise up and war against them. These are the ones who,
before the gaze of the dwellers on earth and the denizens of heaven,
shall arise and, shouting aloud, acclaim the name of the Almighty, and
summon the children of men to the path of God, the All-Glorious, the
All-Praised. Walk thou in their way, and let no one dismay thee. Be of
them whom the tumult of the world, however much it may agitate them in
the path of their Creator, can never sadden, whose purpose the blame of
the blamer will never defeat.
Go forth with the Tablet of God and His signs, and rejoin them that
have believed in Me, and announce unto them tidings of Our most holy
Paradise. Warn, then, those that have joined partners with Him. Say: I
am come to you, O people, from the Throne of glory, and bear you an
announcement from God, the Most Powerful, the Most Exalted, the Most
Great. In mine hand I carry the testimony of God, your Lord and the
Lord of your sires of old. Weigh it with the just Balance that ye
possess, the Balance of the testimony of the Prophets and Messengers of
God. If ye find it to be established in truth, if ye believe it to be
of God, beware, then, lest ye cavil at it, and render your works vain,
and be numbered with the infidels. It is indeed the sign of God that
hath been sent down through the power of truth, through which the
validity of His Cause hath been demonstrated unto His creatures, and
the ensigns of purity lifted up betwixt earth and heaven.
-- Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, CXXIX, p. 280
4)
More references on Balance:
They say: `We see not the Balance.' Say: `Surely, by my Lord, the God
of Mercy! None can see it except such as are endued with insight.' They
say: `Have the stars fallen?' Say: `Yea, when He Who is the
Self-Subsisting dwelt in the Land of Mystery. Take heed, ye who are
endued with discernment!' All the signs appeared when We drew forth the
Hand of Power from the bosom of majesty and might. Verily, the Crier
hath cried out, when the promised time came, and they that have
recognized the splendours of Sinai have swooned away in the wilderness
of hesitation, before the awful majesty of thy Lord, the Lord of
creation. The trumpet asketh: `Hath the Bugle been sounded?' Say: `Yea,
by the King of Revelation! when He mounted the throne of His Name, the
All-Merciful.' Darkness hath been chased away by the dawning light of
the mercy of thy Lord, the Source of all light. The breeze of the
All-Merciful hath wafted, and the souls have been quickened in the
tombs of their bodies. Thus hath the decree been fulfilled by God, the
Mighty, the Beneficent.
-- Bahá'u'lláh, Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 118
Set before thine eyes God's unerring Balance and, as one standing in
His Presence, weigh in that Balance thine actions every day, every
moment of thy life. Bring thyself to account ere thou art summoned to a
reckoning, on the Day when no man shall have strength to stand for fear
of God, the Day when the hearts of the heedless ones shall be made to
tremble.
-- Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 236
XCVIII. Say: O leaders of religion! Weigh not the Book of God with such
standards and sciences as are current amongst you, for the Book itself
is the unerring balance established amongst men. In this most perfect
balance whatsoever the peoples and kindreds of the earth possess must
be weighed, while the measure of its weight should be tested according
to its own standard, did ye but know it.
The eye of My loving-kindness weepeth sore over you, inasmuch as ye
have failed to recognize the One upon Whom ye have been calling in the
daytime and in the night season, at even and at morn. Advance, O
people, with snow-white faces and radiant hearts, unto the blest and
crimson Spot, wherein the Sadratu'l-Muntahá is calling: "Verily, there
is none other God beside Me, the Omnipotent Protector, the
Self-Subsisting!"
-- Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 198
< < back to Table of Contents