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Chapter 43
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Mortal eyes (believers), as distinct from the Prophets.
1)
Call out to Zion, O Carmel, and announce the joyful tidings: He that
was hidden from mortal eyes is come! His all-conquering sovereignty is
manifest; His all-encompassing splendor is revealed. Beware lest thou
hesitate or halt. Hasten forth and circumambulate the City of God that
hath descended from heaven, the celestial Kaaba round which have
circled in adoration the favored of God, the pure in heart, and the
company of the most exalted angels. Oh, how I long to announce unto
every spot on the surface of the earth, and to carry to each one of its
cities, the glad-tidings of this Revelation--a Revelation to which the
heart of Sinai hath been attracted, and in whose name the Burning Bush
is calling: `Unto God, the Lord of Lords, belong the kingdoms of earth
and heaven.' Verily this is the Day in which both land and sea rejoice
at this announcement, the Day for which have been laid up those things
which God, through a bounty beyond the ken of mortal mind or heart,
hath destined for revelation. Ere long will God sail His Ark upon thee,
and will manifest the people of Bahá who have been mentioned in the
Book of Names."
-- Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 16
2)
Whatsoever ye understand not in the Bayán, ask it of God, your Lord and
the Lord of your forefathers. Should He so desire, He will expound for
you that which is revealed therein, and disclose to you the pearls of
Divine knowledge and wisdom that lie concealed within the ocean of its
words. He, verily, is supreme over all names; no God is there but Him,
the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.
The world's equilibrium hath been upset through the vibrating influence
of this most great, this new World Order. Mankind's ordered life hath
been revolutionized through the agency of this unique, this wondrous
System--the like of which mortal eyes have never witnessed.
-- Bahá'u'lláh, The Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 85
3)
HERALDS OF HIS NAME
O phoenix of that immortal flame kindled in the sacred Tree!
Bahá'u'lláh (may my life, my soul, my spirit, be offered up as a
sacrifice unto His lowly servants) hath, during His last days on earth,
given the most emphatic promise that, through the outpourings of the
grace of God and the aid and assistance vouchsafed from His Kingdom on
high, souls will arise and holy beings appear who, as stars, would adorn the firmament of divine Guidance; illumine the dayspring of loving kindness and bounty; manifest the signs of the unity of God;
shine with the light of sanctity and purity; receive their full measure
of divine inspiration; raise high the sacred torch of faith; stand firm
as the rock and immovable as the mountain; and grow to become
luminaries in the heavens of His Revelation,
mighty channels of His grace, means for the bestowals of God's
bountiful care, heralds calling forth the name of the one true God, and
establishers of the world's supreme foundation.
These shall labor ceaselessly by day and by night, shall heed neither
trial nor woe, shall suffer no respite in their efforts, shall seek no
repose, shall disregard all ease and comfort and, detached and
unsullied, shall consecrate every fleeting moment of their life to the
diffusion of the divine fragrance and the exaltation of God's holy
Word. Their face will radiate heavenly gladness, and their hearts be
filled with joy. Their souls will be inspired, and their foundation
stand secure. They shall scatter in the world, and travel throughout
all regions. They shall raise their voice in every assembly, and adorn
and revive every gathering. They shall speak in every tongue, and
interpret every hidden meaning.
They shall reveal the mysteries of the Kingdom, and manifest unto every
one the signs of God. They shall burn brightly even as a candle in the
heart of every assembly, and beam forth as a star upon every horizon.
The gentle breeze wafted from the garden of their hearts shall perfume
and revive the souls of men, and the revelations of their minds, even
as showers, reinvigorate the peoples and nations of the world.
I am waiting, eagerly waiting for these holy ones to appear; and yet,
how long will they delay their coming? My prayer and ardent
supplication, at eventide and at dawn, is that these shining stars may
soon shed their radiance upon the world, that their sacred countenance may be unveiled to mortal eyes,
and the billows of grace, rising from His oceans above, may flow upon
all mankind. Pray ye also and supplicate unto Him that through the
bountiful aid of the Ancient Beauty these souls may be unveiled to the
eyes of the world.
The glory of God rest upon thee, and upon him whose face is illumined
with that everlasting light that shineth from His Kingdom of Glory.
-- Abdu'l-Baha, Baha'i World Faith - Abdu'l-Baha Section, p. 354
4)
XXXI. Contemplate with thine inward eye the chain of successive
Revelations that hath linked the Manifestation of Adam with that of the
Báb. I testify before God that each one of these Manifestations hath
been sent down through the operation of the Divine Will and Purpose,
that each hath been the bearer of a specific Message, that each hath
been entrusted with a divinely-revealed Book and been commissioned to
unravel the mysteries of a mighty Tablet. The measure of the Revelation
with which every one of them hath been identified had been definitely
fore-ordained. This, verily, is a token of Our favor unto them,
if ye be of those that comprehend this truth.... And when this process
of progressive Revelation culminated in the stage at which His
peerless, His most sacred, and exalted Countenance was to be unveiled
to men's eyes, He chose to hide His own Self behind a thousand veils,
lest profane and mortal eyes discover His glory. This He did at a time
when the signs and tokens of a divinely-appointed Revelation were being
showered upon Him -- signs and tokens which none can reckon except the
Lord, your God, the Lord of all worlds. And when the set time of
concealment was fulfilled, We sent forth, whilst still wrapt within a
myriad veils, an infinitesimal glimmer of the effulgent Glory
enveloping the Face of the Youth, and lo, the entire company of the
dwellers of the Realms above were seized with violent commotion and the
favored of God fell down in adoration before Him. He hath, verily,
manifested a glory such as none in the whole creation hath witnessed,
inasmuch as He hath arisen to proclaim in person His Cause unto all who
are in the heavens and all who are on the earth.
-- Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 74
5)
LXX. The world's equilibrium hath been upset through the vibrating
influence of this most great, this new World Order. Mankind's ordered
life hath been revolutionized through the agency of this unique, this
wondrous System -- the like of which mortal eyes have never witnessed.
Immerse yourselves in the ocean of My words, that ye may unravel its
secrets, and discover all the pearls of wisdom that lie hid in its
depths. Take heed that ye do not vacillate in your determination to
embrace the truth of this Cause -- a Cause through which the
potentialities of the might of God have been revealed, and His
sovereignty established. With faces beaming with joy, hasten ye unto
Him. This is the changeless Faith of God, eternal in the past, eternal
in the future. Let him that seeketh, attain it; and as to him that hath
refused to seek it -- verily, God is Self-Sufficient, above any need of
His creatures.
Say: This is the infallible Balance which the Hand of God is holding,
in which all who are in the heavens and all who are on the earth are
weighed, and their fate determined, if ye be of them that believe and
recognize this truth. Say: Through it the poor have been enriched, the
learned enlightened, and the seekers enabled to ascend unto the
presence of God. Beware, lest ye make it a cause of dissension amongst
you. Be ye as firmly settled as the immovable mountain in the Cause of
your Lord, the Mighty, the Loving.
-- Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 136
6)
The Surih of the Temple, an important tablet revealed by Baha'u'llah, is another
place where Baha'u'llah refers to His many Dependent Prophets ("temples
of the Oneness of God") in separate paragraphs, in addition to other
important themes covered. "Temple" is one of the titles/terms
Baha'u'llah uses to refer to Prophets. Below is one such reference to a
Dependent Prophet of Baha'u'llah ("O Fourth Letter of this Temple").
1.46
O Fourth Letter of this Temple,
betokening the attribute of Grace! We have made thee the manifestation
of grace betwixt earth and heaven. From thee have We generated all
grace in the contingent world, and unto thee shall We cause it to
return. And from thee shall We manifest it again, through a word of Our
command. Potent am I to accomplish whatsoever I desire through My word
"Be", and it is! Every grace that appeareth in the world of being hath
originated from thee, and unto thee shall it return. This, verily, is
what hath been ordained in a Tablet which We have preserved behind the
veil of glory and concealed from mortal eyes. Well is it with them that deprive themselves not of this manifest and unfailing grace.
-- Baha'u'llah, The Summons of the Lord of Hosts, p. 24
7)
62. O SON OF DUST!
Turn not away thine eyes from the matchless wine of the immortal Beloved,
and open them not to foul and mortal dregs. Take from the hands of the
divine Cup-bearer the chalice of immortal life, that all wisdom may be
thine, and that thou mayest hearken unto the mystic voice calling from
the realm of the invisible. Cry aloud, ye that are of low aim!
Wherefore have ye turned away from My holy and immortal wine unto
evanescent water?
-- Baha'u'llah, The Persian Hidden Words
8)
23. O DWELLERS IN THE CITY OF LOVE!
Mortal blasts have beset the everlasting candle, and the beauty of the
celestial Youth is veiled in the darkness of dust. The chief of the
monarchs of love is wronged by the people of tyranny and the dove of
holiness lies prisoned in the talons of owls. The dwellers in the
pavilion of glory and the celestial concourse bewail and lament, while
ye repose in the realm of negligence, and esteem yourselves as of the
true friends. How vain are your imaginings!
-- Baha'u'llah, The Persian Hidden Words
... Finally, they halted at the homeland of lovers. The inhabitants of
this station arose to serve them and show them kindness. The immortal
attendants and the holy servers poured ruby wine liberally.
Intoxication with the wine of divine knowledge, and the cup of eternal
wisdom induced such love and distraction that they escaped from their
own being and that of existing things. They gave their hearts to the
beauty of the friend. For ages and centuries they settled and dwelt in
that pleasant and spiritual station, in that divine and holy rose
garden, with perfect joy and happiness.
Then the gales of divine tests and the winds of lordly temptation blew
from the Sheba of the everlasting Cause. They became distracted by the
beauty of the wine server and grew heedless of the immortal
countenance, to the extent that they imagined the shadow to be the sun
and phantoms to be light. They set out for the ladders of the greatest
name so that they might scale those heavens and arrive at that seat and
place. When they rose toward it, the divine assayers descended upon
them with the sacred touchstone, by the irresistible decree of the
lord. When these emissaries did not perceive the scent of the spiritual
youth, they forbade entry to all. Afterwards, there occurred what is
inscribed upon the guarded tablet.
-- Bahá'u'lláh, Tablet of the Holy Mariner from the Persian. (a provisional translation by J. Cole)
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