From: Frank Lewis

Aqdas 36 condemns him who lays claim to esoteric knowledge: man yadda`ii al-baatin wa baatin al-baatin qul yaa ayyuhaa al-kadhdhaab. Ta'llaah maa `indaka innahu min al-qushuur taraknaa haa lakum kamaa tutraku al-`iz.aam li'l-kilaab --roughly, he who claims esoteric knowledge and the inner essence of esoteric knowledge, say to them: You liars! That which you possess is not but husks we have left to you, as bones are left to dogs. The same verse goes on to reject the ascetic exercises (riiaad.aat wa al-mashaqqaat) of the hermits (the verb for seculsion is used: i'tazala) of India, which is one particular kind of sainthood. This verse at the end suggests that sainthood is not won by such acts, but is given by God as a grace to those who best and most sincerely loves God.

It strikes me that someone like Rumi might be envisioned in Aqdas 173, where Bahaullah calls upon everyone to turn to the concourse of the learned in Baha (ma`shar al-'ulamaa fii al-bahaa), calling them the dawning points of steadfastness among creation (mataali` al-istiqaama bayn al-bariyat) and the daysprings of exposition/utterance/expression for all who dwell in the earthly realm (mashaariq al-bayaan li=man fii al-imkaan). It goes on to congratulate all "who turn to you" and to lament over all who "turn away" from you [tubaa li-man aqbala ilaykum wa waylun li al-mu`rid.iin). Since the "you" here is in the plural, even though the next verse (174) goes on to talk about Abdul-Baha, it is quite clear that we are talking about a distinct quality or category of Bahais, upon whom some kind of authority is being devolved. Recall, at the same time, however, that Bahaullah was profoundly anticlerical and often denounced the 'ulamaa of Islam.