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Chapter 39
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The Light from which the Independent Prophets and Dependent/Lesser Prophets are created from.
1)
The light from which Muhammad (an Independent Prophet) and Imam Ali (a Dependent Prophet) are created from.
The following Tradition is attributed to the Prophet: 'God created 'Ali
and me from one light before the creation of Adam... then He split (the
light) into two halves, then He created (all) things from my light and
'Ali's light.'[5]
The First Imam, 'Ali, is reported to have said: 'God is one; He was
alone in His singleness and so He spoke one word and it became a light
and He created from that light Muhammad and He created me and my
descendants (i.e. the other Imams), then He spoke another word and it
became a Spirit and He caused it to settle upon that light and He
caused it to settle on our bodies. And so we are the Spirit of God and
His Word... and this was before He created the creation.[6]
-- cited in, Introduction to Shi'i Islam, Moojan Momen p. 148-149
Salman! We are the Mystery of God [Sirru'llah] that shall not remain
hidden. We are His light that shall never be extinguished, His Grace
that is not to be expected from any one but Him. Muhammad is our first,
Muhammad our last, Muhammad our all.
Muhammad is our first, Muhammad our last, Muhammad our all. He who
recognises us in this regard has consummated the Faith in truth.
O Salman and O Jandab! Muhammad and I were the Light that was voicing
forth the divine eulogy before any other reality started to praise Him.
We were the cause of illumination unto all creation. This one Light was
divided by God in two portions and vouchsafed unto creation the Chosen
"Mustapha" Prophet Muhammad and His Vicegerent in Whom He was well
pleased "Murtada". God, exalted be His Glory, said to each half "Be
Muhammad" "Be 'Ali". The Imperative is Kun the letters B and E. It is
thus that the Prophet said: " I am from 'Ali and 'Ali is from Me. None
can give forth my Trust but Myself and 'Ali".
-- Imam Ali, Sermon of Ma'rifat bin-Nuraaniyyat (Recognition with Luminousness) - a provisional translation by K. Fananapazir.
Hast thou not heard what hath been said aforetime: "Muhammad is our
first, Muhammad our last, Muhammad our all"? And elsewhere: "They all
proceed from the same Light"?
-- Baha'u'llah, Gems of Divine Mysteries, p. 30
2)
The light from which Baha'u'llah (an Independent Prophet) is created from.
1.10
I swear by Him Who hath fashioned Me from the light of His own Beauty!
None have I ever seen that surpasseth you in heedlessness or exceedeth
you in ignorance. Ye seek to prove your faith in God through such holy
Tablets as ye possess, yet when the verses of God were revealed and His
Lamp was lighted, ye disbelieved in Him Whose very Pen hath fixed the
destinies of all things in the Preserved Tablet. Ye recite the sacred
verses and yet repudiate Him Who is their Source and Revealer. Thus
hath God blinded your eyes in requital for your deeds, would ye but
understand. Day and night ye transcribe the verses of God, and yet ye
remain shut out, as by a veil, from Him Who hath revealed them.
-- Baha'u'llah, Surih of the Temple, The Summons of the Lord of Hosts, p. 6.
3)
The light from which the
handmaidens (a symbolic reference to the Dependent Prophets of
Baha'u'llah) are created. Later in the passage, the handmaidens are
also referred to as "Thy chosen ones", affirming they are Prophets (Dependent). "such as stubbornly oppose Thee [God]" refers to those who will reject them.
Since Thou hast purposed, O my God, to cause all created things to
enter into the tabernacle of Thy transcendent grace and favor, and to
waft over the entire creation the fragrances of the raiment of Thy
glorious unity, and to look upon all things with the eyes of Thy bounty
and Thy oneness, I beseech Thee, therefore, by Thy love, which Thou
hast made to be the mainspring of the revelations of Thine eternal
holiness, and the flame that gloweth within the hearts of such of Thy
creatures as yearn towards Thee, to create, this very moment, for those
of Thy people who are wholly devoted to Thee, and for such of Thy loved
ones as love Thee, out of the essence of Thy bounty and Thy generosity,
and from the inmost spirit of Thy grace and Thy glory, Thy Paradise of
transcendent holiness, and to exalt it above everything except Thee,
and to sanctify it from aught else save Thyself. Create, moreover,
within it, O my God, out of the lights shed by Thy throne, handmaidens
who will intone the melodies of Thy wondrous and most sweet invention,
that they may magnify Thy name with such words as have not been heard
by any of Thy creatures, be they the inmates of Thy heaven or the
dwellers of Thine earth, nor been comprehended by any of Thy people.
Unlock, then, the gates of this Paradise to the faces of Thy loved
ones, that haply they may enter them in Thy name, and by the power of
Thy sovereignty, that thereby the sovereign bounties vouchsafed by Thee
unto Thy chosen ones
and the transcendent gifts granted unto Thy trusted ones be perfected,
that they may extol Thy virtues with such melodies as none can either
intone or describe, and that none of Thy people may conceive the design
of appearing in the guise of any of Thy chosen ones, or of emulating
the example of Thy loved ones, and that none may fail to discern
between Thy friends and Thine enemies, or to distinguish them that are
devoted to Thee from such as stubbornly oppose Thee. Potent art Thou to
do what Thou willest, and powerful and supreme art Thou over all things.
-- Bahá'u'lláh, Prayers and Meditations, p. 326-327
4)
The following passage also
alludes to the different essence from which the Bab, an Independent
Prophet, was created, when compared to humans (mortal eyes): "the Light of God Whose
radiance can never fade".
THE substance wherewith God hath created Me is not the clay out of
which others have been formed. He hath conferred upon Me that which the
worldly-wise can never comprehend, nor the faithful discover ... I am
one of the sustaining pillars of the Primal Word of God. Whosoever hath
recognized Me, hath known all that is true and right, and hath attained
all that is good and seemly; and whosoever hath failed to recognize Me,
hath turned away from all that is true and right and hath succumbed to
everything evil and unseemly.
I swear by the righteousness of Thy Lord, the Lord of all created
things, the Lord of all the worlds! Were a man to rear in this world as
many edifices as possible and worship God through every virtuous deed
which God's knowledge embraceth, and attain the presence of the Lord,
and were he, even to a measure less than that which is accountable
before God, to bear in his heart a trace of malice towards Me, all his
deeds would be reduced to naught and he would be deprived of the
glances of God's favour, become the object of His wrath and assuredly
perish. For God hath ordained that all the good things which lie in the
treasury of His knowledge shall be attained through obedience unto Me,
and every fire recorded in His Book, through disobedience unto Me.
Methinks in this day and from this station I behold all those who
cherish My love and follow My behest abiding within the mansions of
Paradise, and the entire company of Mine adversaries consigned to the
lowest depths of hell-fire.
By My life! But for the obligation to acknowledge the Cause of Him Who
is the Testimony of God ... I would not have announced this unto
thee... All the keys of heaven God hath chosen to place on My right
hand, and all the keys of hell on My left...
I am the Primal Point from
which have been generated all created things. I am the Countenance of
God Whose splendour can never be obscured, the Light of God Whose
radiance can never fade. Whoso recognizeth Me, assurance and all
good are in store for him, and whoso faileth to recognize Me, infernal
fire and all evil await him...
I swear by God, the Peerless, the Incomparable, the True One: for no
other reason hath He -- the supreme Testimony of God -- invested Me
with clear signs and tokens than that all men may be enabled to submit
to His Cause.
By the righteousness of Him Who is the Absolute Truth, were the veil to
be lifted, thou wouldst witness on this earthly plane all men sorely
afflicted with the fire of the wrath of God, a fire fiercer and greater
than the fire of hell, with the exception of those who have sought
shelter beneath the shade of the tree of My love. For they in very
truth are the blissful...
-- The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 10
5)
In the passage below it's also stated that the Prophets "are created of Thee [God]".
The door of the knowledge of the Ancient of Days being thus closed in
the face of all beings, the Source of infinite grace, according to His
saying: "His grace hath transcended all things; My grace hath
encompassed them all" hath caused those luminous Gems of Holiness to
appear out of the realm of the spirit, in the noble form of the human
temple, and be made manifest unto all men, that they may impart unto
the world the mysteries of the unchangeable Being, and tell of the
subtleties of His imperishable Essence. These sanctified Mirrors, these
Day-springs of ancient glory are one and all the Exponents on earth of
Him Who is the central Orb of the universe, its Essence and ultimate
Purpose. From Him proceed their knowledge and power; from Him is
derived their sovereignty. The beauty of their countenance is but a
reflection of His image, and their revelation a sign of His deathless
glory. They are the Treasuries of divine knowledge, and the
Repositories of celestial wisdom. Through them is transmitted a grace
that is infinite, and by them is revealed the light that can never
fade. Even as He hath said: "There is no distinction whatsoever between
Thee and them; except that they are Thy servants, and are created of
Thee." This is the significance of the tradition: "I am He, Himself,
and He is I, myself."
-- Baha'u'llah, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 99
6)
The following appears to be an
important tablet about the Manifestations, providing additional
important details. However, only a provisional translation is currently
available.
Every one who is endowed with a clear insight will behold that They
(the Manifestations) were created before the creation of heaven and
earth, and that this has ever been the Throne of the Merciful, and will
forever be as it was; that there is no relation, connection, similarity
or reference between that Throne and all else save it, and that all
things testify with their inmost tongue; "Verily, these (bodies) are
the Thrones of the Merciful One." They have no like in creation, nor
any equal in the world of emanation. From their elements all have
appeared in such wise that thou wilt find that, verily, from their Fire
fire hath appeared in the universe and hath spoken in the Blessed
Branch of Unity, in the lofty Sinai of Moses the Interlocutor, and that
from their Waters thou findest every soul living and immortal. So,
likewise, after this manner, consider its other elements; but with
manifest certainty. This was the mention of the place whereon He was
established. How much above this, then, will be the station of His
Chair, and that upon which He stands? (The Prophets.) All that which We
have revealed and mentioned unto thee in this Tablet is according to
the language of the people of creation; otherwise, by the One in the
grasp of Whose Power are all things, verily, We have utterances
concerning this station such as are not befitting to mention in these
days, during which the people have differed, and have cast the Lord of
Lords behind them, and have made an idol by the hands of lust, and have
circled around it and become of those who are attached to it.
-- Baha'u'llah, Lawh-i-Zuhúr, Tablet of the Manifestation - Provisional translation by Unknown author
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