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Chapter 27
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The Face of God -- The Prophets (both Independent Prophets and Dependent/Lesser Prophets).
1)
Bahá'u'lláh, an Independent Prophet, is the Face of God.
"The breezes of the Most Merciful have passed over all created things;
happy the man that hath discovered their fragrance, and set himself
towards them with a sound heart. Attire thy temple with the ornament of
My Name, and thy tongue with remembrance of Me, and thine heart with
love for Me, the Almighty, the Most High. We have desired for thee
naught except that which is better for thee than what thou dost possess
and all the treasures of the earth. Thy Lord, verily, is knowing,
informed of all. Arise, in My Name, amongst My servants, and say: `O ye
peoples of the earth! Turn yourselves towards Him Who hath turned
towards you. He, verily, is the Face of God amongst you, and His
Testimony and His Guide unto you. He hath come to you with signs which
none can produce.' The voice of the Burning Bush is raised in the
midmost heart of the world, and the Holy Spirit calleth aloud among the
nations: `Lo, the Desired One is come with manifest dominion!'
-- Bahá'u'lláh, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 48
2)
His [God's] chosen Ones (both
Independent and Dependent/Lesser Prophets) are the Face of God, are
Manifestations of "the first and the last"..
And were they to say that by "divine Presence" is meant the "Secondary
Revelation of God," interpreted as the "Holy Outpouring," this is
admittedly applicable to the world of creation, that is, in the realm
of the primal and original manifestation of God. Such revelation is
confined to His Prophets and chosen Ones, inasmuch as none mightier
than they hath come to exist in the world of being. This truth all
recognize, and bear witness thereto. These Prophets and chosen Ones of
God are the recipients and revealers of all the unchangeable attributes
and names of God. They are the mirrors that truly and faithfully
reflect the light of God. Whatsoever is applicable to them is in
reality applicable to God, Himself, Who is both the Visible and the
Invisible. The knowledge of Him, Who is the Origin of all things, and
attainment unto Him, are impossible save through knowledge of, and
attainment unto, these luminous Beings who proceed from the Sun of
Truth. By attaining, therefore, to the presence of these holy
Luminaries, the "Presence of God" Himself is attained. From their
knowledge, the knowledge of God is revealed, and from the light of
their countenance, the splendour of the Face of God is made manifest.
Through the manifold attributes of these Essences of Detachment, Who
are both the first and the last, the seen and the hidden, it is made
evident that He Who is the Sun of Truth is "the First and the Last, the
Seen, and the Hidden." Likewise the other lofty names and exalted
attributes of God. Therefore, whosoever, and in whatever Dispensation,
hath recognized and attained unto the presence of these glorious, these
resplendent and most excellent Luminaries, hath verily attained unto
the "Presence of God" Himself, and entered the city of eternal and
immortal life. Attainment unto such presence is possible only in the
Day of Resurrection, which is the Day of the rise of God Himself
through His all-embracing Revelation.
-- Bahá'u'lláh, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 141-143
3)
Imam Ali, the first Dependent/Lesser Prophet in the era of Muhammad, is the Face of God:
The Commander of the Faithful (Imám `Alí) hath said: "I am He Who can
neither be named, nor described." And likewise He hath said: "Outwardly
I am an Imám; inwardly I am the Unseen, the Unknowable [the Manifestation of God]."
Abú-Ja'far-i-Túsí hath said: "I said to Ábí `Abdi'lláh: `You are the
Way mentioned in the Book of God, and you are the Impost, and you are
the Pilgrimage.' He replied: `O man! We [the Holy Imams] are the Way mentioned in the
Book of God,--exalted and glorified be He--and We are the Impost, and
We are the Fast, and We are the Pilgrimage, and We are the Sacred
Month, and We are the Sacred City, and We are the Kaaba of God, and We
are the Qiblih of God, and We are the Face of God.'"
-- Bahá'u'lláh, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 112
4)
"My servant", the Dependent/Lesser Prophet of Baha'u'llah is the Face of God, the same way
Baha'u'llah, the Independent Prophet, is the Face of God, as they all
share the "station of pure abstraction and essential unity" of the
Manifestations of God. Similarly, as indicated in the next passage from
the Iqan, the Holy Imams said, "Muhammad is our first, Muhammad our
last, Muhammad our all." as Muhammad, the Independent Prophet, the Holy
Imams (His Dependent/Lesser Prophets), all share the "station of pure
abstraction and essential unity" of the Manifestations of God.
30. O SON OF MAN!
Deny not My servant should he ask anything from thee, for his face is My face; be then abashed before Me.
-- Baha'u'llah, The Arabic Hidden Words.
These Manifestations of God have each a twofold station. One is the
station of pure abstraction and essential unity. In this respect, if
thou callest them all by one name, and dost ascribe to them the same
attribute, thou hast not erred from the truth. Even as He hath
revealed: "No distinction do We make between any of His Messengers!"[1]
For they one and all summon the people of the earth to acknowledge the
Unity of God, and herald unto them the Kawthar of an infinite grace and
bounty. They are all invested with the robe of Prophethood, and
honoured with the mantle of glory. Thus hath Muhammad, the Point of the
Qur'án, revealed: "I am all the Prophets." Likewise, He saith: "I am
the first Adam, Noah, Moses, and Jesus." Similar statements have been
made by Ali. Sayings such as this, which indicate the essential unity
of those Exponents of Oneness, have also emanated from the Channels of
God's immortal utterance, and the Treasuries of the gems of divine
knowledge, and have been recorded in the scriptures. These Countenances
are the recipients of the Divine Command, and the day-springs of His
Revelation. This Revelation is exalted above the veils of plurality and
the exigencies of number. Thus He saith: "Our Cause is but one."[2]
Inasmuch as the Cause is one and the same, the Exponents thereof also
must needs be one and the same. Likewise, the Imams of the Muhammadan
Faith, those lamps of certitude, have said: "Muhammad is our first,
Muhammad our last, Muhammad our all."
[1 Qur'án 2:285.]
[2 Qur'án 54:50.]
-- Baha'u'llah, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 152
5)
His Chosen Ones are the Face of God.
Consider the past. How many, both high and low, have, at all times,
yearningly awaited the advent of the Manifestations of God in the
sanctified persons of His chosen Ones. How often have they expected His
coming, how frequently have they prayed that the breeze of divine mercy
might blow, and the promised Beauty step forth from behind the veil of
concealment, and be made manifest to all the world. And whensoever the
portals of grace did open, and the clouds of divine bounty did rain
upon mankind, and the light of the Unseen did shine above the horizon
of celestial might, they all denied Him, and turned away from His
face--the face of God Himself. Refer ye, to verify this truth, to that
which hath been recorded in every sacred Book.
-- Bahá'u'lláh, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 4
6)
The Bab (the Imam Mihdi), an Independent Prophet, is the Face of God (in the person of the Primal Point).
From this land We then proceeded to the sacred House, and on Our return
journey We landed once again at this spot, when We perceived that thou
hadst heeded not that which We sent thee, nor art thou of them that
truly believe. Although We had created thee to behold Our countenance,
and We did actually alight in thy locality, yet thou didst fail to
attain the object of thy creation, and this despite thy worshipping God
all thy life. Wherefore vain shall be the deeds thou hast wrought, by
reason of thy being shut out as by a veil from Our presence and from
Our Writings. This is an irrevocable decree ordained by Us. Verily We
are equitable in Our judgement.
Hadst thou observed the contents of the Epistle We sent unto thee, it
would have been far more profitable to thee than worshipping thy Lord
from the beginning that hath no beginning until this day, and indeed
more meritorious than proving thyself wholly devoted in thine acts of
worship. And hadst thou attained the presence of thy Lord in this land,
and been of them that truly believe that the Face of God is beheld in
the person of the Primal Point, it would have been far more
advantageous than prostrating thyself in adoration from the beginning
that hath no beginning until the present time....
In truth We tested thee and found that thou wert not of them that are
endowed with understanding, wherefore We passed upon thee the sentence
of negation, as a token of justice from Our presence; and verily We are
equitable.
-- The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 35
7)
Bahá'u'lláh, an Independent Prophet, is the Face of God.
VII. Verily I say, this is the Day in which mankind can behold the
Face, and hear the Voice, of the Promised One. The Call of God hath
been raised, and the light of His countenance hath been lifted up upon
men. It behoveth every man to blot out the trace of every idle word
from the tablet of his heart, and to gaze, with an open and unbiased
mind, on the signs of His Revelation, the proofs of His Mission, and
the tokens of His glory.
Great indeed is this Day! The allusions made to it in all the sacred
Scriptures as the Day of God attest its greatness. The soul of every
Prophet of God, of every Divine Messenger, hath thirsted for this
wondrous Day. All the divers kindreds of the earth have, likewise,
yearned to attain it. No sooner, however, had the Day Star of His
Revelation manifested itself in the heaven of God's Will, than all,
except those whom the Almighty was pleased to guide, were found
dumbfounded and heedless.
O thou that hast remembered Me! The most grievous veil hath shut out
the peoples of the earth from His glory, and hindered them from
hearkening to His call. God grant that the light of unity may envelop
the whole earth, and that the seal, "the Kingdom is God's", may be
stamped upon the brow of all its peoples.
-- Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 11
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