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Chapter 22
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Dispensation -- the era of an Independent Prophet.
1)
Thou hast known how grievously the Prophets of God, His Messengers and
Chosen Ones, have been afflicted. Meditate a while on the motive and
reason which have been responsible for such a persecution. At no time,
in no Dispensation, have the Prophets of God escaped the blasphemy of
their enemies, the cruelty of their oppressors, the denunciation of the
learned of their age, who appeared in the guise of uprightness and
piety. Day and night they passed through such agonies as none can ever
measure, except the knowledge of the one true God, exalted be His glory.
Consider this wronged One. Though the clearest proofs attest the truth
of His Cause; though the prophecies He, in an unmistakable language,
hath made have been fulfilled; though, in spite of His not being
accounted among the learned, His being unschooled and inexperienced in
the disputations current among the divines, He hath rained upon men the
showers of His manifold and Divinely-inspired knowledge; yet, behold
how this generation hath rejected His authority, and rebelled against
Him! He hath, during the greater part of His life, been sore-tried in
the clutches of His enemies. His sufferings have now reached their
culmination in this afflictive Prison, into which His oppressors have
so unjustly thrown Him. God grant that, with a penetrating vision and
radiant heart, thou mayest observe the things that have come to pass
and are now happening, and, pondering them in thine heart, mayest
recognize that which most men have, in this Day, failed to perceive.
Please God, He may enable thee to inhale the sweet fragrance of His
Day, to partake of the limitless effusions of His grace, to quaff thy
fill, through His gracious favor, from the most great Ocean that
surgeth in this Day in the name of the Ancient King, and to remain firm
and immovable as the mountain in His Cause.
-- Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 57
2)
But as they failed to recognize the accents of God and the divine
mysteries and holy allusions enshrined in that which flowed from
the tongue of Muhammad, and as they neglected to examine the matter in
their own hearts, and followed instead those priests of error who have
hindered the progress of the people in past dispensations and who will
continue to do so in future cycles, they were thus veiled from the
divine purpose, failed to quaff from the celestial streams, and
deprived themselves of the presence of God, the Manifestation of His
Essence, and the Dayspring of His eternity. Thus did they wander in the
paths of delusion and the ways of heedlessness, and return to their
abode in that fire which feedeth on their own souls. These, verily, are
numbered with the infidels whose names have been inscribed by the Pen
of God in His holy Book. Nor have they ever found, or will ever find, a
friend or helper.
55
Had these souls but clung steadfastly to the Handle of God manifested
in the Person of Muhammad, had they turned wholly unto God and cast
aside all that they had learned from their divines, He would assuredly
have guided them through His grace and acquainted them with the sacred
truths that are enshrined within His imperishable utterances. For far
be it from His greatness and His glory that He should turn away a
seeker at His door, cast aside from His Threshold one who hath set his
hopes on Him, reject one who hath sought the shelter of His shade,
deprive one who hath held fast to the hem of His mercy, or condemn to
remoteness the poor one who hath found the river of His riches. But as
these people failed to turn wholly unto God, and to hold fast to the
hem of His all-pervading mercy at the appearance of the Daystar of
Truth, they passed out from under the shadow of guidance and entered
the city of error. Thus did they become corrupt and corrupt the people.
Thus did they err and lead the people into error. And thus were they
recorded among the oppressors in the books of heaven.
-- Baha'u'llah, Gems of Divine Mysteries, p. 39
3)
Twelve hundred and eighty years have passed since the dawn of the
Muhammadan Dispensation, and with every break of day, these blind and
ignoble people have recited their Qur'án, and yet have failed to grasp
one letter of that Book! Again and again they read those verses which
clearly testify to the reality of these holy themes, and bear witness
to the truth of the Manifestations of eternal Glory, and still
apprehend not their purpose. They have even failed to realize, all this
time, that, in every age, the
reading of the scriptures and holy books is for no other purpose except
to enable the reader to apprehend their meaning and unravel their
innermost mysteries. Otherwise reading, without understanding, is of no
abiding profit unto man.
-- Baha'u'llah, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 172
4)
Likewise, refuting certain disbelievers, He saith: "For none knoweth
the time of the Revelation except God. Whenever it appeareth, all must
acknowledge the Point of Truth, and render thanks unto God." They that
have turned aside from Me have spoken even as the followers of John
(the Baptist) spoke. For they, too, protested against Him Who was the
Spirit (Jesus) saying: "The dispensation of John hath not yet ended;
wherefore hast thou come?" Now, too, they that have repudiated Us,
though they have never known Us and have been at all times ignorant of
the fundamentals of this Cause, knowing not from Whom it proceeded or
what it signifieth, have spoken that which hath made all created things
to sigh and lament. By My life! The mute can never confront the One Who
incarnateth in Himself the kingdom of utterance. Fear God, O people,
and peruse, then, that which hath been sent down with truth in the
eighth Chapter of the sixth Vahid of the Bayan, and be not of such as
have turned aside. He, likewise, hath commanded: "Once every nineteen
days this Chapter should be read, that haply they may not be veiled, in
the time of the revelation of Him Whom God shall make manifest, by
considerations foreign to the verses, which have been, and are still,
the weightiest of all proofs and testimonies."
-- Baha'u'llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 157
5)
In another sense, by the terms 'sun', 'moon', and 'stars' are meant
such laws and teachings as have been established and proclaimed in
every Dispensation, such as the laws of prayer and fasting. These have,
according to the law of the Qur'án, been regarded, when the beauty of
the Prophet Muhammad had passed beyond the veil, as the most
fundamental and binding laws of His dispensation. To this testify the
texts of the traditions and chronicles, which, on account of their
being widely known, need not be referred to here. Nay rather, in
every Dispensation the law concerning prayer hath been emphasized and
universally enforced. To this testify the recorded traditions ascribed
to the lights that have emanated from the Day-star of Truth, the
essence of the Prophet Muhammad.
The traditions established the fact that in all Dispensations the law
of prayer hath constituted a fundamental element of the Revelation of
all the Prophets of God -- a law the form and the manner of which hath
been adapted to the varying requirements of every age. Inasmuch as
every subsequent Revelation hath abolished the manners, habits, and
teachings that have been clearly, specifically, and firmly established
by the former Dispensation, these have accordingly been symbolically
expressed in terms of 'sun' and 'moon'. "That He might prove you, which
of you excel in deeds."[1]
[1 Qur'án 67:2.]
-- Baha'u'llah, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 38
6)
True knowledge, therefore, is the knowledge of God, and this is none
other than the recognition of His Manifestation in each Dispensation.
Nor is there any wealth save in poverty in all save God and sanctity
from aught else but Him -- a state that can be realized only when
demonstrated towards Him Who is the Dayspring of His Revelation. This
doth not mean, however, that one ought not to yield praise unto former
Revelations. On no account is this acceptable, inasmuch as it behooveth
man, upon reaching the age of nineteen, to render thanksgiving for the
day of his conception as an embryo. For had the embryo not existed, how
could he have reached his present state? Likewise had the religion
taught by Adam not existed, this Faith would not have attained its
present stage. Thus consider thou the development of God's Faith until
the end that hath no end. V, 4.
-- The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 89
7)
O thou seeker after truth! The world of the Kingdom is one world. The
only difference is that spring returneth over and over again, and
setteth up a great new commotion throughout all created things. Then
plain and hillside come alive, and trees turn delicately green, and
leaves, blossoms and fruits come forth in beauty, infinite and tender.
Wherefore the dispensations of past ages are intimately connected with
those that follow them: indeed, they are one and the same, but as the
world groweth, so doth the light, so doth the downpour of heavenly
grace, and then the Day-Star shineth out in noonday splendour.
O thou seeker after the Kingdom! Every divine Manifestation is the very
life of the world, and the skilled physician of each ailing soul. The
world of man is sick, and that competent Physician knoweth the cure,
arising as He doth with teachings, counsels and admonishments that are
the remedy for every pain, the healing balm to every wound. It is
certain that the wise physician can diagnose his patient's needs at any
season, and apply the cure. Wherefore, relate thou the Teachings of the
Abha Beauty to the urgent needs of this present day, and thou wilt see
that they provide an instant remedy for the ailing body of the world.
Indeed, they are the elixir that bringeth eternal health.
-- Abdu'l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha, p. 58
It is clear and evident to thee that all the Prophets are the Temples
of the Cause of God, Who have appeared clothed in divers attire. If
thou wilt observe with discriminating eyes, thou wilt behold them all
abiding in the same tabernacle, soaring in the same heaven, seated upon
the same throne, uttering the same speech, and proclaiming the same
Faith. Such is the unity of those Essences of being, those Luminaries
of infinite and immeasurable splendour. Wherefore, should one of these
Manifestations of Holiness proclaim saying: "I am the return of all the
Prophets," He verily speaketh the truth. In like manner, in every
subsequent Revelation, the return of the former Revelation is a fact,
the truth of which is firmly established. Inasmuch as the return of the
Prophets of God, as attested by verses and traditions, hath been
conclusively demonstrated, the return of their chosen ones also is
therefore definitely proven. This return is too manifest in itself to
require any evidence or proof.
-- Baha'u'llah, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 153
8)
CLXVI. Whoso layeth claim to a Revelation direct from God, ere the
expiration of a full thousand years, such a man is assuredly a lying
impostor. We pray God that He may graciously assist him to retract and
repudiate such claim. Should he repent, God will, no doubt, forgive
him. If, however, he persisteth in his error, God will, assuredly, send
down one who will deal mercilessly with him. Terrible, indeed, is God
in punishing! Whosoever interpreteth this verse otherwise than its
obvious meaning is deprived of the Spirit of God and of His mercy which
encompasseth all created things. Fear God, and follow not your idle
fancies. Nay, rather follow the bidding of your Lord, the Almighty, the
All-Wise.
-- Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 345
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