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Chapter 12
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Some references on the Bayan, the Book revealed by the Bab.
1)
VI. Behold, how the divers peoples and kindreds of the earth have been
waiting for the coming of the Promised One. No sooner had He, Who is
the Sun of Truth, been made manifest, than, lo, all turned away from
Him, except them whom God was pleased to guide. We dare not, in this
Day, lift the veil that concealeth the exalted station which every true
believer can attain, for the joy which such a revelation must provoke
might well cause a few to faint away and die.
He Who is the Heart and Center of the Bayan hath written: "The germ
that holdeth within itself the potentialities of the Revelation that is
to come is endowed with a potency superior to the combined forces of
all those who follow Me." And, again, He saith: "Of all the tributes I
have paid to Him Who is to come after Me, the greatest is this, My
written confession, that no words of Mine can adequately describe Him,
nor can any reference to Him in My Book, the Bayan, do justice to His
Cause."
Whoso hath searched the depths of the oceans that lie hid within these
exalted words, and fathomed their import, can be said to have
discovered a glimmer of the unspeakable glory with which this mighty,
this sublime, and most holy Revelation hath been endowed. From the
excellence of so great a Revelation the honor with which its faithful
followers must needs be invested can be well imagined. By the
righteousness of the one true God! The very breath of these souls is in
itself richer than all the treasures of the earth. Happy is the man
that hath attained thereunto, and woe betide the heedless.
-- Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 9
2)
XLVII. O Jews! If ye be intent on crucifying once again Jesus, the
Spirit of God, put Me to death, for He hath once more, in My person,
been made manifest unto you. Deal with Me as ye wish, for I have vowed
to lay down My life in the path of God. I will fear no one, though the
powers of earth and heaven be leagued against Me. Followers of the
Gospel! If ye cherish the desire to slay Muhammad, the Apostle of God,
seize Me and put an end to My life, for I am He, and My Self is His
Self. Do unto Me as ye like, for the deepest longing of Mine heart is
to attain the presence of My Best-Beloved in His Kingdom of Glory. Such
is the Divine decree, if ye know it. Followers of Muhammad! If it be
your wish to riddle with your shafts the breast of Him Who hath caused
His Book the Bayan to be sent down unto you, lay hands on Me and
persecute Me, for I am His Well-Beloved, the revelation of His own
Self, though My name be not His name. I have come in the shadows of the
clouds of glory, and am invested by God with invincible sovereignty.
He, verily, is the Truth, the Knower of things unseen. I, verily,
anticipate from you the treatment ye have accorded unto Him that came
before Me. To this all things, verily, witness, if ye be of those who
hearken. O people of the Bayan! If ye have resolved to shed the blood
of Him Whose coming the Báb hath proclaimed, Whose advent Muhammad hath
prophesied, and Whose Revelation Jesus Christ Himself hath announced,
behold Me standing, ready and defenseless, before you. Deal with Me
after your own desires.
-- Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 100
3)
Ages rolled away, until they attained their consummation in this, the
Lord of days, the Day whereon the Day Star of the Bayan manifested
itself above the horizon of mercy, the Day in which the Beauty of the
All-Glorious shone forth in the exalted person of Ali-Muhammad, the
Báb. No sooner did He reveal Himself, than all the people rose up
against Him. By some He was denounced as one that hath uttered slanders
against God, the Almighty, the Ancient of Days. Others regarded Him as
a man smitten with madness, an allegation which I, Myself, have heard
from the lips of one of the divines. Still others disputed His claim to
be the Mouthpiece of God, and stigmatized Him as one who had stolen and
used as his the words of the Almighty, who had perverted their meaning,
and mingled them with his own. The Eye of Grandeur weepeth sore for the
things which their mouths have uttered, while they continue to rejoice
upon their seats.
"God," said He, "is My witness, O people! I am come to you with a
Revelation from the Lord, your God, the Lord of your fathers of old.
Look not, O people, at the things ye possess. Look rather at the things
God hath sent down unto you. This, surely, will be better for you than
the whole of creation, could ye but perceive it. Repeat the gaze, O
people, and consider the testimony of God and His proof which are in
your possession, and compare them unto the Revelation sent down unto
you in this Day, that the truth, the infallible truth, may be
indubitably manifested unto you. Follow not, O people, the steps of the
Evil One; follow ye the Faith of the All-Merciful, and be ye of them
that truly believe. What would it profit man, if he were to fail to
recognize the Revelation of God? Nothing whatever. To this Mine own
Self, the Omnipotent, the Omniscient, the All-Wise, will testify."
The more He exhorted them, the fiercer grew their enmity, till, at the
last, they put Him to death with shameful cruelty. The curse of God be
upon the oppressors!
-- Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 145
4)
Say: So great is the glory of the Cause of God that even the blind can
perceive it, how much more they whose sight is sharp, whose vision is
pure. The blind, though unable to perceive the light of the sun, are,
nevertheless, capable of experiencing its continual heat. The blind in
heart, however, among the people of the Bayan -- and to this God is My
witness -- are impotent, no matter how long the Sun may shine upon
them, either to perceive the radiance of its glory, or to appreciate
the warmth of its rays.
Say: O people of the Bayan! We have chosen you out of the world to know
and recognize Our Self. We have caused you to draw nigh unto the right
side of Paradise -- the Spot out of which the undying Fire crieth in
manifold accents: "There is none other God besides Me, the
All-Powerful, the Most High!" Take heed lest ye allow yourselves to be
shut out as by a veil from this Day Star that shineth above the
dayspring of the Will of your Lord, the All-Merciful, and whose light
hath encompassed both the small and the great. Purge your sight, that
ye may perceive its glory with your own eyes, and depend not on the
sight of any one except your self, for God hath never burdened any soul
beyond its power. Thus hath it been sent down unto the Prophets and
Messengers of old, and been recorded in all the Scriptures.
-- Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 106
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