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Chapter 37
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Joining partners with God -- Rejecting the Prophets (both Independent and Dependent/Lesser Prophets), who are the Face of God.
1)
The Babis (Azalis) who rejected
Baha'u'llah, the Independent Prophet, "joined partners with God".
We eventually succeeded in manifesting the Cause of God, and exalted it
to so eminent a position that all the people, except those who
cherished ill-will in their hearts against this Youth and joined
partners with the Almighty, acknowledged the sovereignty of God and His
mighty dominion. And yet, notwithstanding this Revelation whose
influence hath pervaded all created things, and despite the brightness
of this Light, the like of which none of them hath ever beheld, witness
how the people of the Bayan have denied and contended with Me. Some
have turned away from the Path of God, rejected the authority of Him in
Whom they had believed, and acted insolently towards God, the Most
Powerful, the Supreme Protector, the Most Exalted, the Most Great.
Others hesitated and halted in His Path, and regarded the Cause of the
Creator, in its inmost truth, as invalid unless substantiated by the
approval of him who was created through the operation of My Will. Thus
have their works come to naught, and yet they failed to perceive it.
Among them is he who sought to measure God with the measure of his own
self, and was so misled by the names of God as to rise up against Me,
who condemned Me as one that deserved to be put to death, and who
imputed to Me the very offenses of which he himself was guilty.
-- Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 273
Beware, beware lest thou behave like unto the people of the Bayan. For
indeed they erred grievously, misguided the people, ignored the
Covenant of God and His Testament and joined partners with Him, the
One, the Incomparable, the All-Knowing. Verily they failed to recognize
the Point of the Bayan, for had they recognized Him they would not have
rejected His manifestation in this luminous and resplendent Being. And
since they fixed their eyes on names, therefore when He replaced His
Name 'the Most Exalted' by 'the Most Glorious' their eyes were dimmed.
They have failed to recognize Him in these days and are reckoned with
those that perish. Indeed, had they known Him through His own Self or
by virtue of that which He hath revealed, they would not have
repudiated Him when He appeared in this glorious and incomparable Name,
which God hath ordained to be the Sword of His Revelation between
heaven and earth, and through which truth is separated from error, even
from now until the Day when
mankind shall stand before the Lord of the worlds.
-- Bahá'u'lláh, Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 185
2)
Those who rejected the Holy Imams (Dependent/Lesser Prophets of Muhammad), who are the Face of God, "joined partners with God".
Muhammad, Himself, as the end of His mission drew nigh, spoke these
words: "Verily, I leave amongst you My twin weighty testimonies: The
Book of God and My Family [the Holy Imams]."
-- Bahá'u'lláh, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 201
In response to thy request the Pen of Glory hath graciously described
the stations and grades of the Most Great Infallibility. The purpose is
that all should know of a certainty that the Seal of the Prophets [Muhammad]
-- may the souls of all else but Him be offered up for His sake -- is
without likeness, peer or partner in His Own station. The Holy Ones [The Imams]
-- may the blessings of God be upon them -- were created through the
potency of His Word, and after Him they were the most learned and the
most distinguished among the people and abide in the utmost station of
servitude. The divine Essence, sanctified from every comparison and
likeness, is established in the Prophet [Independent Prophet], and
God's inmost Reality, exalted above any peer or partner, is manifest in
Him. This is the station of true unity and of veritable singleness. The
followers of the previous Dispensation grievously failed to acquire an
adequate understanding of this station. The Primal Point [The Báb] -- may the
life of all else but Him be offered up for His sake -- saith: 'If the
Seal of the Prophets had not uttered the word "Successorship", such a
station would not have been created.'
The people aforetime joined partners with God [rejected the Holy
Imams], though they professed belief in His unity; and although they
were the most ignorant amongst men, they considered themselves the most
accomplished. But, as a token of divine retribution upon those heedless
ones, their erroneous beliefs and pursuits have, in this Day of
Judgement, been made clear and evident to every man of discernment and
understanding.
-- Baha'u'llah, Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 124
13:35. The parable of the Garden which the righteous are promised! -- beneath if [it] flow
rivers: perpetual is the enjoyment thereof and the shade therein: such
is the End of the Righteous; and the End of Unbelievers is the Fire.
13:36. Those to whom We have given the Book rejoice at what hath been
revealed unto thee: but there are among the clans those who reject a
part thereof. Say: "I am commanded to worship Allah, and not to join partners with Him. Unto Him do I call, and unto Him is my return."
13:37. Thus have We revealed it to be a judgment of authority in
Arabic. Wert thou to follow their (vain) desires after the knowledge
which hath reached thee, then wouldst thou find neither protector nor
defender against Allah.
-- The Qur'an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah 13
3:81. Behold! Allah took the Covenant of the Prophets, saying: "I give
you a Book and Wisdom; then comes to you a Messenger confirming what is
with you; do ye believe him and render him help." Allah said: "Do ye
agree, and take this My Covenant as binding on you?" They said: "We
agree." He said: "Then bear witness, and I am with you among the
witnesses."
3:82. If any turn back after this, they are perverted transgressors.
3:83. Do they seek for other than the Religion of Allah? While all
creatures in the heavens and on earth have, willing or unwilling, bowed
to His Will (accepted Islam), and to Him shall they all be brought back.
-- The Qur'an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah 3.
3)
'thou who dost associate a partner with God and doubtest' refers to one who rejects Baha'u'llah, the Independent Prophet.
Say: 'The stunning trumpet blast hath been loudly raised, and the Day
is God's, the One, the Unconstrained.' 'Hath the Catastrophe come to
pass?' Say: 'Yea, by the Lord of Lords!' 'Is the Resurrection come?'
'Nay, more; He Who is the Self-Subsisting hath appeared with the
Kingdom of His signs.' 'Seest thou men laid low?' 'Yea, by my Lord, the
Exalted, the Most High!' 'Have the tree-stumps been uprooted?' 'Yea,
more; the mountains have been scattered in dust; by Him the Lord of
attributes!' They say: 'Where is Paradise, and where is Hell?' Say:
'The one is reunion with Me; the other thine own self, O thou who dost
associate a partner with God and doubtest.' 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.' 'Have the stars fallen?' Say:
'Yea, when He Who is the Self-Subsisting dwelt in the Land of Mystery
(Adrianople). 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.
-- Bahá'u'lláh, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 131
4)
The Manifestation of God (both
the Independent and Dependent/Lesser Prophet) is "the Focal-Point of
Divine unity" and those who reject him/her have joined partners God.
Behold, how they have joined partners with Him Who is the Focal-Point
of Divine unity. Behold how their evil doings have hindered them from
recognizing, in the Day of Resurrection, the Word of Truth, exalted be
His glory. We cherish the hope that this people will henceforth shield
themselves from vain hopes and idle fancies, and will attain to a true
understanding of the meaning of Divine unity.
The Person of the Manifestation hath ever been the representative and
mouthpiece of God. He, in truth, is the Day Spring of God's most
excellent Titles, and the Dawning-Place of His exalted Attributes. If
any be set up by His side as peers, if they be regarded as identical
with His Person, how can it, then, be maintained that the Divine Being
is One and Incomparable, that His Essence is indivisible and peerless?
Meditate on that which We have, through the power of truth, revealed
unto thee, and be thou of them that comprehend its meaning.
--Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 69
5)
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/Lesser Prophets of Baha'u'llah.
"Warn, then, those that have joined partners with Him" -- warn
those who reject the Dependent Prophet as the Face of God.
"I am come from the Throne of glory" -- reference to her/his station as a Dependent Prophet of Baha'u'llah.
"And bear you an announcement from God" -- the declaration of the Dependent Prophet.
"Weigh it with the just Balance that ye possess, the Balance of the testimony of the Prophets and Messengers of God" -- judge their testimony with same standards you use for Prophets and Messengers of God, as they are.
"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.
-- Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 280
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