Bab

In devotion to The Bab (21 Oct 1819 - 9 July 1850) was the Lawgiver of the Bayan and Divine Manifestation that the Muslims couldn't kill...


[| Twin Manifestations The Bab and Tahirih]

[|The Báb] //**in** // [|//**Shoghi Effendi's**//] //**[|Dispensation] of [|Baha'u'llah] **//

//** 53 Dearly-beloved friends! That the Báb, the inaugurator of [|the Bábí Dispensation], is fully entitled to rank as one of the self-sufficient Manifestations of God, that He has been invested with sovereign power and authority, and exercises all the rights and prerogatives of independent Prophethood, is yet another fundamental verity which the Message of Bahá'u'lláh insistently proclaims and which its followers must uncompromisingly uphold. That He is not to be regarded merely as an inspired Precursor of the Bahá'í Revelation, that in His person, as He Himself bears witness in the Persian Bayán, the object of all the Prophets gone before Him has been fulfilled, is a truth which I feel it my duty to demonstrate and emphasize. We would assuredly be failing in our duty to the Faith we profess and would be violating one of its basic and sacred principles if in our words or by our conduct we hesitate to recognize the implications of this root principle of Bahá'í belief, or refuse to uphold unreservedly its integrity and demonstrate its truth. Indeed the chief motive actuating me to undertake the task of editing and translating Nabíl's immortal Narrative has been to enable every follower of the Faith in the West to better understand and more readily grasp the tremendous implications of His exalted station and to more ardently admire and love Him. **//   //** 54 There can be no doubt that the claim to the twofold station ordained for the Báb by the Almighty, a claim which He Himself has so boldly advanced, which Bahá'u'lláh has repeatedly affirmed, and to which the Will and Testament of `Abdu'l-Bahá has finally given the sanction of its testimony, constitutes the most distinctive feature of the Bahá'í Dispensation. It is a further evidence of its uniqueness, a tremendous accession to the strength, to the mysterious power and authority with which this holy cycle has been invested. Indeed the greatness of the Báb consists primarily, not in His being the divinely-appointed Forerunner of so transcendent a Revelation, but rather in His having been invested with the powers inherent in the inaugurator of a separate religious Dispensation, and in His wielding, to a degree unrivaled by the Messengers gone before Him, the scepter of independent Prophethood. **//   //** 55 The short duration of His Dispensation, the restricted range within which His laws and ordinances have been made to operate, supply no criterion whatever wherewith to judge its Divine origin and to evaluate the potency of its message. "That so brief a span," Bahá'u'lláh Himself explains, "should have separated this most mighty and wondrous Revelation from Mine own previous Manifestation, is a secret that no man can unravel and a mystery such as no mind can fathom. Its duration had been foreordained, and no man shall ever discover its reason unless and until he be informed of the contents of My Hidden Book." "Behold," Bahá'u'lláh further explains in the Kitáb-i-Badí', one of His works refuting the arguments of the people of the Bayán, "behold, how immediately upon the completion of the ninth year of this wondrous, this most holy and merciful Dispensation, the requisite number of pure, of wholly consecrated and sanctified souls had been most secretly consummated." **//   //** 56 The marvelous happenings that have heralded the advent of the Founder of the Bábí Dispensation, the dramatic circumstances of His own eventful life, the miraculous tragedy of His martyrdom, the magic of His influence exerted on the most eminent and powerful among His countrymen, to all of which every chapter of Nabíl's stirring narrative testifies, should in themselves be regarded as sufficient evidence of the validity of His claim to so exalted a station among the Prophets. **//   //** 57 However graphic the record which the eminent chronicler of His life has transmitted to posterity, so luminous a narrative must pale before the glowing tribute paid to the Báb by the pen of Bahá'u'lláh. This tribute the Báb Himself has, by the clear assertion of His claim, abundantly supported, while the written testimonies of `Abdu'l-Bahá have powerfully reinforced its character and elucidated its meaning. **//   //** 58 Where else if not in the Kitáb-i-Íqán can the student of the Bábí Dispensation seek to find those affirmations that unmistakably attest the power and spirit which no man, except he be a Manifestation of God, can manifest? "Could such a thing," exclaims Bahá'u'lláh, "be made manifest except through the power of a Divine Revelation and the potency of God's invincible Will? By the righteousness of God! Were any one to entertain so great a Revelation in his heart the thought of such a declaration would alone confound him! Were the hearts of all men to be crowded into his heart, he would still hesitate to venture upon so awful an enterprise." "No eye," He in another passage affirms, "hath beheld so great an outpouring of bounty, nor hath any ear heard of such a Revelation of loving-kindness... The Prophets `endowed with constancy,' whose loftiness and glory shine as the sun, were each honored with a Book which all have seen, and the verses of which have been duly ascertained. Whereas the verses which have rained from this Cloud of divine mercy have been so abundant that none hath yet been able to estimate their number... How can they belittle this Revelation? Hath any age witnessed such momentous happenings?" **//   //** 59 Commenting on the character and influence of those heroes and martyrs whom the spirit of the Báb had so magically transformed Bahá'u'lláh reveals the following: "If these companions be not the true strivers after God, who else could be called by this name?... If these companions, with all their marvelous testimonies and wondrous works, be false, who then is worthy to claim for himself the truth?... Has the world since the days of Adam witnessed such tumult, such violent commotion?... Methinks, patience was revealed only by virtue of their fortitude, and faithfulness itself was begotten only by their deeds." **//   //** 60 Wishing to stress the sublimity of the Báb's exalted station as compared with that of the Prophets of the past, Bahá'u'lláh in that same epistle asserts: "No understanding can grasp the nature of His Revelation, nor can any knowledge comprehend the full measure of His Faith." He then quotes, in confirmation of His argument, these prophetic words: "Knowledge is twenty and seven letters. All that the Prophets have revealed are two letters thereof. No man thus far hath known more than these two letters. But when the Qá'im shall arise, He will cause the remaining twenty and five letters to be made manifest." "Behold," He adds, "how great and lofty is His station! His rank excelleth that of all the Prophets and His Revelation transcendeth the comprehension and understanding of all their chosen ones." "Of His Revelation," He further adds, "the Prophets of God, His saints and chosen ones, have either not been informed, or, in pursuance of God's inscrutable decree, they have not disclosed." **//   //** 61 Of all the tributes which Bahá'u'lláh's unerring pen has chosen to pay to the memory of the Báb, His "Best-Beloved," the most memorable and touching is this brief, yet eloquent passage which so greatly enhances the value of the concluding passages of that same epistle. "Amidst them all," He writes, referring to the afflictive trials and dangers besetting Him in the city of Baghdád, "We stand life in hand wholly resigned to His Will, that perchance through God's loving kindness and grace, this revealed and manifest Letter (Bahá'u'lláh) may lay down His life as a sacrifice in the path of the Primal Point, the most exalted Word (the Báb). By Him, at Whose bidding the Spirit hath spoken, but for this yearning of Our soul, We would not, for one moment, have tarried any longer in this city." **//   //** 62 Dearly-beloved friends! So resounding a praise, so bold an assertion issued by the pen of Bahá'u'lláh in so weighty a work, are fully re-echoed in the language in which the Source of the Bábí Revelation has chosen to clothe the claims He Himself has advanced. "I am the Mystic Fane," the Báb thus proclaims His station in the Qayyúmu'l-Asmá, "which the Hand of Omnipotence hath reared. I am the Lamp which the Finger of God hath lit within its niche and caused to shine with deathless splendor. I am the Flame of that supernal Light that glowed upon Sinai in the gladsome Spot, and lay concealed in the midst of the Burning Bush." "O Qurratu'l-`Ayn!" He, addressing Himself in that same commentary, exclaims, "I recognize in Thee none other except the `Great Announcement'--the Announcement voiced by the Concourse on high. By this name, I bear witness, they that circle the Throne of Glory have ever known Thee." "With each and every Prophet, Whom We have sent down in the past," He further adds, "We have established a separate Covenant concerning the `Remembrance of God' and His Day. Manifest, in the realm of glory and through the power of truth, are the `Remembrance of God' and His Day before the eyes of the angels that circle His mercy-seat." "Should it be Our wish," He again affirms, "it is in Our power to compel, through the agency of but one letter of Our Revelation, the world and all that is therein to recognize, in less than the twinkling of an eye, the truth of Our Cause." **//   //** 63 "I am the Primal Point," the Báb thus addresses Muhammad Sháh from the prison-fortress of Máh-Kú, "from which have been generated all created things... I am the Countenance of God Whose splendor can never be obscured, the light of God whose radiance can never fade... 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 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... 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." "Should a tiny ant," the Báb, wishing to stress the limitless potentialities latent in His Dispensation, characteristically affirms, "desire in this day to be possessed of such power as to be able to unravel the abstrusest and most bewildering passages of the Qur'án, its wish will no doubt be fulfilled, inasmuch as the mystery of eternal might vibrates within the innermost being of all created things." "If so helpless a creature," is `Abdu'l-Bahá's comment on so startling an affirmation, "can be endowed with so subtle a capacity, how much more efficacious must be the power released through the liberal effusions of the grace of Bahá'u'lláh!" **//   //** 64 To these authoritative assertions and solemn declarations made by Bahá'u'lláh and the Báb must be added `Abdu'l-Bahá's own incontrovertible testimony. He, the appointed interpreter of the utterances of both Bahá'u'lláh and the Báb, corroborates, not by implication but in clear and categorical language, both in His Tablets and in His Testament, the truth of the statements to which I have already referred. **//   //** 65 In a Tablet addressed to a Bahá'í in Mazindarán, in which He unfolds the meaning of a misinterpreted statement attributed to Him regarding the rise of the Sun of Truth in this century, He sets forth, briefly but conclusively, what should remain for all time our true conception of the relationship between the two Manifestations associated with the Bahá'í Dispensation. "In making such a statement," He explains, "I had in mind no one else except the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh, the character of whose Revelations it had been my purpose to elucidate. The Revelation of the Báb may be likened to the sun, its station corresponding to the first sign of the Zodiac-- the sign Aries--which the sun enters at the Vernal Equinox. The station of Bahá'u'lláh's Revelation, on the other hand, is represented by the sign Leo, the sun's mid-summer and highest station. By this is meant that this holy Dispensation is illumined with the light of the Sun of Truth shining from its most exalted station, and in the plenitude of its resplendency, its heat and glory." **//   //** 66 "The Báb, the Exalted One," `Abdu'l-Bahá more specifically affirms in another Tablet, "is the Morn of Truth, the splendor of Whose light shineth throughout all regions. He is also the Harbinger of the Most Great Light, the Abhá Luminary. The Blessed Beauty is the One promised by the sacred books of the past, the revelation of the Source of light that shone upon Mount Sinai, Whose fire glowed in the midst of the Burning Bush. We are, one and all, servants of their threshold, and stand each as a lowly keeper at their door." "Every proof and prophecy," is His still more emphatic warning, "every manner of evidence, whether based on reason or on the text of the scriptures and traditions, are to be regarded as centered in the persons of Bahá'u'lláh and the Báb. In them is to be found their complete fulfillment." **//   //**<span style="font-family: Liberation Serif,serif;"> 67 And finally, in His Will and Testament, the repository of His last wishes and parting instructions, He in the following passage, specifically designed to set forth the guiding principles of Bahá'í belief, sets the seal of His testimony on the Báb's dual and exalted station: "The foundation of the belief of the people of Bahá (may my life be offered up for them) is this: His holiness the exalted One (the Báb) is the Manifestation of the unity and oneness of God and the Forerunner of the Ancient Beauty (Bahá'u'lláh). His holiness, the Abhá Beauty (Bahá'u'lláh) (may my life be offered up as a sacrifice for His steadfast friends) is the supreme Manifestation of God and the Day-Spring of His most divine Essence." "All others," He significantly adds, "are servants unto Him and do His bidding." **//

//**trans. Dr. Denis MacEoin**//
//**The First Chapter of the Second Unity**//

//**In explanation of the recognition of the Proof and the Evidence**//

//**The substance of this chapter is that God, the Knwoing, glorified be His station, sends down His Proof in every dispensation according to whatever is the highest [|degree] of exaltation wherein the people of that dispensation pride themselves. Thus, for example, in the time when the Qur'an was sent down, all prided themselves in eloquent speech. God, therefore, revealed the Qur'an in the highest degree of eloquence and made it the miracle of His Prophet. In the Qur'an, God has not established the truth of His Prophet or of the religion of Islam by any means other than its verses, which are the mightiest of explanations.**// //**The proof of their might is that all men speak using the letters of the alphabet, whereas God, the Knowing, sent down the words of the Qur'an in such a manner that, if all that are on earth were to gather together, desiring to produce a single verse with which to confront the verses of the Qur'an, they would be unable to do so and would all remain powerless.**// //**The hidden reason for this is that God sent down the Qur'an from the Tree of His Will, which is the Reality of Muhammad, by the Prophet's own tongue. That inaccessible Tree does no cause a single word to descend unless it takes the spirit from it at the moment of its descent. Thus, for, example, should He reveal the words We have originateds that creation through a command from Our own Self. We are, indeed, powerful over all things, the mention of 'origination' refers to whatever may be called by the name of 'all things'; for none save God can encompass all things, in that His Word is the protector of all things, and by it all things are originated.**// //**It is the same if God should reveal the woprds We shall cause that creation to return, as a promise binding upon Us; We are, indeed, Mighty over all things, for, at the time of their revelation, the spirits of the return of all things are taken away in the manifestation of this verse, in order that they may appear before God on the Day of Resurrection, that the return of all things may be rendered true. None but God is capable of achieving this, for whatever God utters from the Tree of Reality, the true self of that thing is brought into being. Should it be non-paradisical, it will become a letter of negation; but if it should be one of the letters of paradise, it will become a letter of affirmation. For the Word of God is true.**// //**Wherefore was it revealed previously that 'hell is a reality, and**//

//**paradise is a reality'. The explanation of the creation of the spirit of the word 'reality' has been given in its proper place.**// //**Whoever ponders upon that will see with certainty that the true**//

//**spirits are realized in their essences through the appearance of the Primal Point in the verses of God within the realities of the souls and the horizons, as was mentioned by God before this in the Qur'an, in the verse We shall show them Our signs in the horizons and in their souls, that it may be made clear to them that He is the Truth. So long as anyone fails to behold the inner reality of all things, which is the spirit of his own heart, he shall not attain to an understanding of the holy words the word of God is the truth, since it is by the (mere) mention of the word that the reality is realized within the inner being of the thing. This refers to God alone, exalted and glorified be He, for none but He is a creator of anything, or a sustainer of anything, or a slayer of anything, or a vivifier of anything.**// //**Any word through which, in the realm of His dominion, negation is negated or affirmation affirmed, will be resurrected in the shadow of whatever He has sent down of His verses. Nay, those words are not in their essences anything but what is manifested from the manifestations of God's verses and His words. For, at the moment when God mentions a believer, his creation takes place through the medium of that act of mentioning. And at the moment when He sends down the non-paradisical letters, the creation of their spirits takes place through the medium of that revelation. This is the secret behind the fact that God's verses are a proof for all created things, and that they are the mightiest of explanations and the greatest of revelations affirming His power and His knowledge.**// //**No doubt is there that, in the dispensation of the Point of the**//

//**Bayan, the intellectuals prided themselves on the science of divine unity, the subtleties of gnosis, and the exalted matters taught by the Imams. For this reason, God, the Knowing, placed the proof [of the Bab], like that of the Prophet of God, within the verses themselves. There streamed forth from his tongue words concerning the exaltation of divine unity and the elevation of divine singleness, before which everyone possessed of the spirit of oneness bowed down, except for those who hsa failed to comprehend that concerning which he had spoken about with his Beloved. And limitless philosophical and scientific explanations appeared from him, whose number is known and understood by God alone.**// //**The Sun of Reality is, in itself, the director of the affairs of all contingent beings, from the elevation of its own understanding; and yet, through the words and verses that God has placed within it, it draws all things to the light of its own utterances. Does He have a peer, that He may be comprehended? Or a rival, that He may be described through him? Or a likeness, that he may be compared to it? Or a partner, that He may be associated with him? Or a resemblance, that He may be likened to it? Exalted be He above that, in the height of exaltation. For nothing may be seen in Him but God, and we are all His worshippers.**// //**In this dispensation, God, the Knowing, has bestowed his verses and explanations upon the Point of the Bayan, and made him the exalted Proof for all things. Should all that are on earth gather together, they would be unable to produce a single verse like the verses which God has caused to flow from his tongue. Everyone possessed of spirit who considers with the eye of certitude will see that these verses are not within the capacity of a human being, but are, on the contrary, attributable solely to God, the One, the Single, He Who causes them to flow upon the tongue of anyone He pleases. He has never caused such verses to flow, nor will He ever make them flow, from anyone but the Point of the Divine Will, for He it is Who has despatched every Messenger and sent down every holy book.**// //**If this had been something that could have been manifested by the power of a human being, someone would have brought forth a verse from the time of the revelation of the Qur'an until the time of the revelation of the Bayan - a period of one thousand, two hundred, and seventy years. But, even though all men desired to extinguish God's word with the exaltation of their own power, they were powerless and were incapable of doing so.**// //**In this day, if anyone ponders closely, he will certainly see that,**//

//**from the beginning of the revelation of the Bayan to this moment, those who have confessed to the evidentiary nature of the verses, and who have carried them to all men, have been the proofs of God. Although it was not evident that they were proofs, the exaltation of their understanding is not hidden from anyone. For the lowliest student of the late Sayyid trod underfoot the most exalted of the scholars and philosophers upon the face of the earth. There can be no doubt in the mind of anyone concerning the elevation of the piety of those men who have recognized the evidentiary nature of the verses, whether they belonged to this school or not.**// //**This is mentioned only in view of the weakness of men. Otherwise, the testimony borne by God can never be compared with that of all that are on earth. And there can be no doubt but that the testimony of God is only manifested through the testimony of that individual whom He makes His Proof. The testimony of the verses themselves is sufficient proof of the inadequacy of all that are on earth, for this is a proof that will remain constant on the part of God until the Day of Resurrection.**// //**Should anyone consider the revelation of this Tree, he will without doubt testify to the exaltation of the cause of God, inasmuch as, for someone of twenty-four years of age and devoid of those branches of learning in which others are well-versed, to receive verses in this manner, with neither thought nor hesitation, and to write one thousand verses of**//

//**devotions in the space of five hours, without lifting his pen from the page, and to reveal Quranic commentaries and scientific treatises in the highest degrees of gnosis and divine unity, when the divines and philosophers have confessed their inability to comprehend these matters, is unquestionably entirely the work of God. To what a degree do scholars who, from the beginning to the end of their lives, have exercised independent reasoning, take care over the writing of a single line of Arabic; yet, when all is said and done, their words are not fit to be mentioned.**// //**All of this is for the sake of providing evidence to men. Otherwise, God's cause is too glorious and too exalted to be recognized through anything but itself. Indeed, all other things are themselves recognized through it. I swear by the essence of God, Who was and is alone in His singleness, that His words are brighter than the light of the sun at mid-day, and the words of those who have been guided by the exaltation of His guidance, should they attain to the highest rank of knowledge and understanding, are like the stars in the night.**// //**Nay, I ask forgiveness of God for such a suggestion. How can the ocean of eternity be grasped through the ocean of temporal existence, and how can the mention of the First be known through the mention of limitations? Praised be God and exalted be He above all the references that are made to Him within the kingdom of the earth and the heavens. All such references have been made with regard for the limited degrees of created things. Otherwise, this is what will be advanced as a proof on the Day of Resurrection (to come), just as the same proof was**//

//**advanced in this Resurrection. When God asked by the tongue of His Tongue, 'Whose Book is the Qur'an?', all those who believed in it said. 'it is the Book of God'. They were then asked, 'can you see any difference between the Qur'an and the Bayan?', and those possessed of hearts replied, 'No, by God!**//

//**Both are from God. None but those possessed of clear vision shall take heed.'**// //**God, the Knowing, then revealed these words: 'The first (of these two books) was My word sent down by the tongue of Muhammad, the Messenger of God, and the second is My word sent down by the tongue of the Essence of the Seven Letters, the Gate of God. Whosoever has believed in the first has no choice but to believe in the second, if he wishes to remain constant in faith. He must either believe in these verses or render his own reality and his own deeds valueless, as on the day when nothing was mentioned before God.' He then revealed the following: 'O My creatures, you strive to the full extent of your ability from the beginning to the end of your lives in order to attain to My good-pleasure. If you perform any secondary act, it is because I Myself revealed it in My Book. And if you have believed in the Imams of Guidance, or have sought nearness to Me by visiting their graves, it is because their names have been sent down in cipher in the Qur'an.**// //**'If you testify to the prophethood of Muhammad, the Messenger of God, it is because he was My Messenger. And if you circumambulate the Ka'ba, it is because I called it My House. And if you hold the Qur'an in esteem, it is because it is My Word. Whatever action a man performs, even though he be of the community of Adam (the first Prophet), it is necessarily performed because of his relationship to Me, as he has understood within himself. Yet now he has become veiled, and has imagined things that are contrary to reality, and has failed to recognize My subsequent manifestations. For there is nothing whatever whose decree does not return to this human temple, which has been created at My command. And that temple returns by decrees until it reaches My Prophet. And My Prophet is only confirmed by a Book sent down on Him and a Proof granted unto him.**// //**'Today, which is the Day of My revelation, in which I have appeared in person - and this mention of "in person" is like the mention of the word "Ka'ba", which I called "My House"; otherwise, My Essence has neither beginning nor end, manifestation nor concealment - yes, today, whatever returns to this personage who recites My verses on My behalf, shall return to Me. And whatever fails to return to him, shall not return to Me. This is My appearance in My own person and My concealment in My own Essence. For anything else is impossible in the realm of contingent being, nor can anything more exalted than this be expressed in words.**// //**'How veiled you are, O creatures, that all of you imagine you enjoy My good-pleasure, through your relationship to me in your own places. Yet the Sign that is My token and that recites by My permission the verses of My power, whose treasuries are his true nature, you have unjustly placed upon a mountain, none of whose inhabitants is fit to be spoken of. With him - that is to say, with Me - there is only one other person, who is one of the Letters of the Living of My Book, and in front of him - that is to say, in front of Me - there burns in the night but a single lamp. Yet in the seats that by degrees return to him, innumerable lamps are shining, while all that are on earth, who were created for his sake, enjoy his benefits, although they are veiled from him to the extent of a single lamp.**// //**'Thus do I bear witness in this day against My creatures, for the testimony of any other than Myself counts for nothing in My sight. There is no higher paradise for My creatures than that they should appear before Me and believe in My verses. Nor is any hellfire fiercer than the veiling of these creatures from the manifestation of My self or their failure to believe in My verses. If you should ask how he speaks on My behalf - do you not behold My verses? Are you no ashamed to repeat what you said in former days concerning My Book (the Qur'an)? And yet you have seen that My Book was confirmed and that today you are all believers in Me because of it. You shall soon see that your glory would reside in your belief in these verses, but today, when the demonstration of faith would benefit your souls, you have remained veiled by what neither benefits nor harms.**// //**'No harm has befallen, nor can any befall the manifestation of My self. Any harm that has befallen and that shall befall (him) shall (in reality) return to your own souls. Have pity on yourselves, and soar into that heaven wherein you imagine My good-pleasure resides. While My good-pleasure has been realized through that proof whereby the religion of all men is confirmed, you have remained vailed by them that associate themselves with the Qur'an. I swear by My own holy Essence that there is no higher paradise for these creatures than my revelation and My verses, no is there any hellfire fiercer than being veiled from Me and My verses.**// //**'If you should say, "our failure has not been demonstrated conclusively to us," why don't you travel the earth from East to West (and see the evidence)? And yet these words of Mine are meaningless, for in this day the truth of all that is on earth is referred back to the decree of Islam. So, if the eloquent among (the people of) this decree have failed, it proves that all other men must have failed as well.**// //**'If they should say, "We have not failed", why do they not produce a single verse resembling Our verses, out of innate capacity, and not through study or by stealing from one another? Although they ought to reveal whatever lies within them, alongside each and every truth, to the same degree demonstrated by the magicians in Moses's day, yet, God be praised, from the beginning of the revelation till now, not even that much has been manifested by the learned men of this religion. They themselves claim that they are soaring in the heights of God's good-pleasure, whereas they are, in fact, veiled from that which confirms God through the verses of His power. This alone is sufficient to disgrace the divines of Islam, that, with respect to Islam, they show forth the learning of that faith, yet remain veiled from him whose word is its confirmation.**// //**'Had they been content with their own condition of being wrapped in veils; had they done injustice to no other souls; and had they not decreed things that had not been sent down in the Qur'an - they would have cast nobody but themselves into hell. But both they and those that have considered them the learned ones of Islam, indeed all men, have been and still are veiled from God's revelation. Yet the punishment of these others shall fall upon them too. Had they pondered upon the verses of God, they would have recognized their own powerlessness, and, in that case, neither the king of Islam nor they that dwelt beneath his shadow would have been content to be veiled from the truth, for the glory of all men resides in following the truth. Had the divines not caused them to go astray, matters would not have reached this point, for there can be no doubt that, in the end, God shall manifest the truth unto all men through His proof.**// //**'Thus, in this day, should someone who associates himself with Islam, whether he be a state official of a divine, wish to confirm the evidentiary nature of the verses, he may do so in the twinkling of an eye. For, if he possesses the power to do so, he is capable of summoning all the divines together (in one place) and saying to them: "I remained veiled from him who is the Possessor of Verses, on account of your decrees. Now let the matter be put to the test: either you should produce a book yourselves, to compare with his verses. Or, if you are incapable of doing so, you should be content with the following verse, written in this connection: Praise be to Thee, O my God! You are the King of Kings. You grant dominion to anyone you wish, and you take it away from anyone you wish. You glorify anyone you wish, and you abase anyone you wish. You make victorious anyone you wish, and you bring defeat on anyone you wish. You bestow wealth on anyone you wish, and you cast into poverty anyone you wish. You make mAnifest anyone you wish to anyone you wish. In your grasp is the kingdom of all things. You create whatever you wish by your command. You are, indeed, All-Knowing, Mighty, and Powerful.**// //**'Speak as he has spoken, by your innate nature. And write as he has written, without hesitation and without lifting your pen from the page. But, if you cannot do so, that proves that what you have done was done unjustly, and that the Possessor of these verses is a truth from God. There is no doubt that God has sent these verses down on him, just as he sent them down (previously) on His Prophet. Verses like these have now been spread about among men to the number of one hundred thousand, apart from his epistles and prayers, or his scientific and philosophical treatises. Within the space of five hours, one thousand verses are revealed by him, or else he dictates the verses of God as fast as the scribe beside him can write them down. You may use this as a basis on which to calculate just how many of his writings would have been distributed by now, had he been given the liberty to do so.**// //**'If you should say that these verses are not, in themselves, any sort of proof, take a look at the Qur'an. Were it the case that God demanded anything but the verses (of that book) as a means of proving the prophet-hood of His Messenger, then you might well hesitate when it comes to these verses. But, on the contrary, God revealed the following words:**// //**Only those who have disbelieved in Him dispute God's verses. Do not let their sudden fortune in the land catch you out. The people of Noah and then the Confederates cried 'lies!' before them; and every people plotted against its prophet in order to take violent hold of him, and they disputed (with him) by means of falsehood, hoping that they might refute the truth. So, I laid hold of them, and how great was My punishment! Thus was the truth of the Word of your Lord brought home to those who did not believe. They are now residing in hell.**// //**'And He has also revealed the following verse, regarding the self-suficiency of the Book: Is it not enough for them that We have sent the Book down upon you, that it may be recited to them? It contains a mercy, as well as a warning for people who believe. Since God has testified that the self-sufficiency of the Book consists in the verses in and of themselves, how can anyone say that the evidentiary nature of the Book is not an adequate proof of its truth?**// //**'If someone should repeat what the people of former days said about the verses, there are two possibilities. It may be that he is not setting out to establish the truth at all; in that case, no proof will have any effect on him whatsoever, just as God has revealed: If they saw every sign they would not believe in one of them or, again, Those against whom the Word of your Lord has come to pass will never believe, not even if every sign reached them, until they catch sight of the severe punishment (that awaits them).**// //**'If, on the other hand, he merely wants to be cautious in matters of religion - something which is quite understandable - than, in what statement will they believe, if not in God and His verses? Either such a person should come in person and ask whatever he wants about any subject, to be answered in the form of verses, so that he may hear for himself how the Source does not hesitate and does not compose artificially and does not consciously the order of the words he writes. Or he should send someone else, in order to sit with him [i.e. the Bab] for an hour and write down whatever he recites of God's verses, after which he may ponder on them until it is clear to him that they have not been put together by conscious thought or deliberate ordering of words, one after the other. If this had taken place from the beginning of the Islamic faith until the present day, it would have occurred with respect to the Qur'an, and from the beginning of this revelation until today someone would have challenegd me in precisely this way.**// //**'Should someone criticize my use of vocalization or textual readings or Arabic grammar, I would reject their criticism. For such grammatical) rules are based on the verses, not vice versa. It cannot be doubted that he has rejected for himself all such rules and the learning that is based on them. Indeed, in the eyes of thinking people, no proof is greater than being ignorant of such rules, when ignorance is combined with the ability to reveal such words and verses as these. This is because the fruit of these sciences is (real) understanding of God's Book, although it is quite unnecessary for the Tree on which the Book of God in person has alighted to have the slightest knowledge of them.**// //**'On the contrary, all the grammatical rules and the systems of vocalization are established by what God has revealed. How many individuals there are who have acquired every conceivable form of learning, even though their faith (in God) is established through their faith in His verses, since the fruit of learning is to know the laws of God and nothing else, provided such knowledge is combined with conformity to His good-pleasure. For, if the sciences (of Arabic grammar and syntax) were capable of bearing fruit purely by themselves, there would be more experts in that field among the Arabs than among the (Persian-speaking) Iranians, wherever the fact is that the former lack any real distinction in this area. Indeed, distinction consists in obtaining God's good-pleasure, in knowing the nature of divine unity, and in dwelling beneath the shadow of His obedience and good-pleasure.**// //**'There is no doubt that whatever they accomplish between Him and themselves, they have no aim other than to make themselves pleasing to Him. And yet few are aware of His good-pleasure, with the exception of those who are informed of the good-pleasure of him who is His Proof [i.e. the Bab]. In this day, God's good-pleasure is confined to that of His Proof and of them who dwell in his shadow. Although other men imagine they are guided, yet whatever God bears witness to endures, whereas whatever is done by those who do not follow the divine command will become as nothing.**// //**'In the same way that mention is still made in this day of those people who called the Qur'an a lie in the early days of Islam, including Christian monks and the eloquent among the Arabs, in this day the mention of those who are shut out as though by a veil will also endure. Today, no-one can perform a more profitable action for himself than to look justly on the verses of the Bayan, so he may see the truth of God with the eye of certainty and may not remain veiled from the presence of the manifestation, those presence is equivalent to the presence of God, and whose good-pleasure is God's good-pleasure. For all men have been created to this end, even as God has revealed: God it is Who has raised up the heavens without visible pillars, then seated Himself upon the Throne, and the sun and the moon, that each of them may run to an appointed decree. He controls the affair and makes clear the verses, that you may be sure of meeting your Lord (Qur'an ). No doubt is there that any mirror that should be placed in front of the sun will light up (with its reflection); otherwise the sun itself rises and sets again.**// //**'The glory of all beings lies in their attainment to the fruit of their own existence - and that is for them to reach God's presence and to have faith in His verses. Otherwise, anything is worthless in itself. It is this very tree that planted the tree of the Qur'an in the hearts of mankind for the sake of this day; today all men pride themselves in it and glory in their relationship to it - yet they are doing what they are doing. This is the meaning of the words: No power nor strength is there save in God (Qur'an ) in the holy religion; otherwise, if men were to divest**//

//**themselves of this relationship - a relationship which actually has no**//

//**reality - they would not have as much as the strength of a housefly. This**//

//**is sufficient disgrace for those who are shut out as though by a veil, who**//

//**commit what they commit by asserting this (spurious) relationship to Him,**//

//**and who, instead of attaining to the fruit of their existence - which in**//

//**this day means coming to his assistance [nusrat-i amr ] - have failed to**//

//**help him at all.**// //**'Indeed, they are not content with their failure to render him aid,**// //**for had they been content with that, this Tree would never have been placed**// //**upon this mountain. God is sufficient for all His servants. He shall issue**// //**a decisive decree, and His decree is that self-same decree that has been**// //**made manifest at this moment in these words, that shall distinguish until**// //**the Day of Resurrection between them that have turned towards Him and them**// //**that have failed to do so. Whatsoever things God decrees shall come to**// //**pass. He is the Best of Helpers and the Best of Protectors, the Best of**// //**Guardians and the Best of Judges.'**// == //**The Persian Bayan of Sayyid `Ali Muhammad Shirazi, the Bab**// ==

//**trans. Dr. Denis MacEoin**//
//**The Second Chapter of the Second Unity**//

//**Concerning this, that none shall comprehend fully what God has sent down in**// //**the Bayan, except those whom He wishes**//

//**The substance of this chapter is that no-one shall grasp what God has**// //**revealed in the Bayan except him whom He shall manifest or him to whom He**// //**has given knowledge. This is just like the Tree from which the Bayan**// //**sprang forth [i.e. the Qur'an], for, were all the oceans of the heavens and**// //**the earth to become ink and were all things pens and all souls enumerators,**// //**even then they would be unable to provide an adequate interpretation of a**// //**single word from among all the words of the Bayan, for God has created**// //**neither a beginning nor an ending for any of His words.**// //**None is permitted to interpret what God has sent down in the Bayan,**//

//**other than to relate all the letters of paradise to him whom God shall**//

//**manifest or to his Letters of the Living, and all the letters of hellfire**//

//**to the gates of his inferno. For all the letters of paradise shall be**//

//**resurrected beneath his shadow while all the letters of hell shall be**//

//**raised up again in the shadow of rejection. What has gone before resembles**//

//**what is yet to come: there is no alteration in the Cause of God, just as**//

//**what preceded what went before resembles what shall follow that which is**//

//**yet to come.**// //**The whole Qur'an was one hundred and fourteen suras, and every six**//

//**suras were sent down according to the exaltation of the station of each**//

//**letter of the letter 'In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate'**//

//**[Bism Allah al-Rahman al-Rahim ]. Thus, the first six suras were from the**//

//**Point and the last six from the mim [?], and all the letters of paradise**//

//**return unto these nineteen manifestations, while the letters of hell return**//

//**to the nineteen manifestations of the gates of hell, just as all the gates**//

//**of hell return to their first gate, in the same manner that all the gates**//

//**of paradise return to their first gate - for all of them are joined**//

//**together in the phrase 'No god is there but God' (la ilaha illa 'llah ]:**//

//**whatever belongs to the letters of hell is connected to the (words of)**//

//**rejection [i.e. la ilaha ], and whatever belongs to the letters of**//

//**paradise is connected to the (words of) affirmation [i.e. illa 'llah ]. All**//

//**the letters of hell in the Qur'an were extinguished in the shadow of the**//

//**first gate of hell, and all the letters of paradise in the Qur'an endured**//

//**in the shadow of the word of affirmation. Thus does God cause to perish**//

//**whatever He wills and thus does He cause to endure whatever He wishes. He,**//

//**indeed, is Powerful, Mighty, and Strong.**// //**It is not permissible to interpret the Bayan other than in**//

//**accordance with the interpretation given by its Tree [i.e. the Bab]. All**//

//**its goodly words may be fittingly applied to the lights of the hearts of**//

//**them that believe in it, while all its letters of hell may be construed as**//

//**refrring to the realities of those who do not believe in it.**// //**The Bayan has ever been and ever will be like the soul of a man who**//

//**is alive; and all its letters of light and fire provide explanations of**//

//**(what is in) the horizons and the souls of men. Thus, in this day, whoever**//

//**wishes to make distinction [tamyiz dahad ] is able to do so, since this is**//

//**the day of the appearance of God; but once the Tree has been uprooted [i.e.**//

//**after the Bab's death] no-one shall be able to distinguish (matters) in**//

//**accordance with their reality, other than in the outward sense. He in whom**//

//**the limits of God are no numbered [?] belongs to the letters of paradise,**//

//**and he in whom they are numbered belongs to the letters of hell, that God**//

//**may cause all created things to rejoice in that through the appearance of**//

//**His own Self on the Day of Resurrection. Wherefore, the Point of the Bayan**//

//**shall not decree at its end according to what was decreed at its beginning.**//

//**Whoso believes in it is one of the letters of paradise. And whoso does no**//

//**believe in it is one of the letters of hell. God shall dinstinguish in**//

//**truth between them both. He, indeed, is the best of distinguishers.**// //**Matters have reached the point where there shall be no further**//

//**mention of the letters of hell, except in the pages of the Book. The Tree**//

//**ogf Negation imagines itself to be one of the Letters of Paradise and**//

//**curses itself, all the time unaware that it is doing so. (Things shall**//

//**continue like this) until the Sun of Truth rises up; at that moment, his**//

//**lack of true faith shall be revealed, for whoever lives during that**//

//**resurrection shall see things with the eye of certitude. This is similar to**//

//**the way in which all men in this day say 'we are believers in God and in**//

//**the verses of the Qur'an', whereas the Tree of Truth who actually sent the**//

//**Qur'an down, dwells on this mountain with only a single companion.**// //**Thus, at the time of the reappearance of the Sun of Truth, its**// //**realities have been uncovered and the veils that concealed it have been**// //**raised. Men who have had no thought other than to obtain the good-pleasure**// //**of God have issued decrees for actions that the pen is ashamed to mention,**// //**all directed against the Treasury of the divine good-pleasure, through whom**// //**alone God's good-pleasure is shown to men. Wherefore, O men of insight,**// //**take heed and fear God's command.**//  //**EXCERPTS FROM THE PERSIAN BAYAN...**//

//**from SELECTIONS FROM THE WRITINGS OF THE BAB (born 1819, Declared in 1844, died in 1850)...**// //**Compiled by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice...**// //**and translated by HABIB TAHERZADEH with the assistance of a Committee at the Baha'i World Centre...**//

//**IT is better to guide one soul than to possess all that is on earth, for as long as that guided soul is under the shadow of the Tree of Divine Unity, he and the one who hath guided him will both be recipients of God's tender mercy, whereas possession of earthly things will cease at the time of death. The path to guidance is one of love and compassion, not of force and coercion. This hath been God's method in the past, and shall continue to be in the future! He causeth him whom He pleaseth to enter the shadow of His Mercy. Verily, He is the Supreme Protector, the All-Generous.**//

//**There is no paradise more wondrous for any soul than to be exposed to God's Manifestation in His Day, to hear His verses and believe in them, to attain His presence, which is naught but the presence of God, to sail upon the sea of the heavenly kingdom of His good-pleasure, and to partake of the choice fruits of the paradise of His divine Oneness. II, 16.+F1**//

//**WORSHIP thou God in such wise that if thy worship lead thee to the fire, no alteration in thine adoration would be produced, and so likewise if thy recompense should be paradise. Thus and thus alone should be the worship which befitteth the one True God. Shouldst thou worship Him because of fear, this would be unseemly in the sanctified Court of His presence, and could not be regarded as an act by thee dedicated to the Oneness of His Being. Or if thy**//

//**____________________**//

//**+F1. The Bayán is divided into vahids and chapters, to which these numbers refer.**//

//**Page 78**//

//**gaze should be on paradise, and thou shouldst worship Him while cherishing such a hope, thou wouldst make God's creation a partner with Him, notwithstanding the fact that paradise is desired by men.**//

//**Fire and paradise both bow down and prostrate themselves before God. That which is worthy of His Essence is to worship Him for His sake, without fear of fire, or hope of paradise.**//

//**Although when true worship is offered, the worshipper is delivered from the fire, and entereth the paradise of God's good-pleasure, yet such should not be the motive of his act. However, God's favour and grace ever flow in accordance with the exigencies of His inscrutable wisdom.**//

//**The most acceptable prayer is the one offered with the utmost spirituality and radiance; its prolongation hath not been and is not beloved by God. The more detached and the purer the prayer, the more acceptable is it in the presence of God. VII, 19.**//

//**THE Day of Resurrection is a day on which the sun riseth and setteth like unto any other day. How oft hath the Day of Resurrection dawned, and the people of the land where it occurred did not learn of the event. Had they heard, they would not have believed, and thus they were not told!**//

//**When the Apostle of God [Muhammad] appeared, He did not announce unto the unbelievers that the Resurrection had come, for they could not bear the news. That Day is indeed an infinitely mighty Day, for in it the Divine Tree proclaimeth from eternity unto eternity, `Verily, I am God. No God is there but Me'. Yet those who are veiled believe**//

//**Page 79**//

//**that He is one like unto them, and they refuse even to call Him a believer, although such a title in the realm of His heavenly Kingdom is conferred everlastingly upon the most insignificant follower of His previous Dispensation. Thus, had the people in the days of the Apostle of God regarded Him at least as a believer of their time how would they have debarred Him, for seven years while He was in the mountain, from access to His Holy House [Ka'bah]? Likewise in this Dispensation of the Point of the Bayán, if the people had not refused to concede the name believer unto Him, how could they have incarcerated Him on this mountain, without realizing that the quintessence of belief oweth its existence to a word from Him? Their hearts are deprived of the power of true insight, and thus they cannot see, while those endowed with the eyes of the spirit circle like moths round the Light of Truth until they are consumed. It is for this reason that the Day of Resurrection is said to be the greatest of all days, yet it is like unto any other day. VIII, 9.**//

//**THERE is no paradise, in the estimation of the believers in the Divine Unity, more exalted than to obey God's commandments, and there is no fire in the eyes of those who have known God and His signs, fiercer than to transgress His laws and to oppress another soul, even to the extent of a mustard seed. On the Day of Resurrection God will, in truth, judge all men, and we all verily plead for His grace. V, 19.**//

//**Page 80**//

//**GOD loveth those who are pure. Naught in the Bayán and in the sight of God is more loved than purity and immaculate cleanliness....**//

//**God desireth not to see, in the Dispensation of the Bayán, any soul deprived of joy and radiance. He indeed desireth that under all conditions, all may be adorned with such purity, both inwardly and outwardly, that no repugnance may be caused even to themselves, how much less unto others. V, 14.**//

//**LIKEWISE consider the manifestation of the Point of the Bayán. There are people who every night until morning busy themselves with the worship of God, and even at present when the Day-Star of Truth is nearing its zenith in the heaven of its Revelation, they have not yet left their prayer-rugs. If any one of them ever heard the wondrous verses of God recited unto him, he would exclaim: `Why dost thou keep me back from offering my prayers?' O thou who are wrapt in veils! If thou makest mention of God, wherefore sufferest thou thyself to be shut out from Him Who hath kindled the light of worship in thy heart? If He had not previously revealed the injunction: `Verily, make ye mention of God'+F1, what would have prompted thee to offer devotion unto God, and whereunto wouldst thou turn in prayer?**//

//**Know thou of a certainty that whenever thou makest mention of Him Whom God shall make manifest, only then art thou making mention of God. In like manner shouldst thou hearken unto the verses of the Bayán and**//

//**____________________**// //**+F1. Qur'án 8:47; 33:41; 62:10**//

//**Page 81**//

//**acknowledge its truth, only then would the revealed verses of God profit thee. Otherwise what benefit canst thou derive therefrom? For wert thou to prostrate thyself in adoration from the beginning of life till the end and to spend thy days for the sake of God's remembrance, but disbelieve in the Exponent of His Revelation for the age, dost thou imagine that thy deeds would confer any benefit upon thee? On the other hand, if thou believest in Him and dost recognize Him with true understanding, and He saith: `I have accepted thine entire life spent in My adoration', then assuredly hast thou been worshipping Him most ardently. Thy purpose in performing thy deeds is that God may graciously accept them; and divine acceptance can in no wise be achieved except through the acceptance of Him Who is the Exponent of His Revelation. For instance, if the Apostle of God--may divine blessings rest upon Him-- accepted a certain deed, in truth God accepted it; otherwise it hath remained within the selfish desires of the person who wrought it, and did not reach the presence of God. Likewise, any act which is accepted by the Point of the Bayán is accepted by God, inasmuch as the contingent world hath no other access unto the presence of the Ancient of Days. Whatever is sent down cometh through the Exponent of His Revelation, and whatever ascendeth, ascendeth unto the Exponent of His Revelation. VIII, 19.**//

//**THERE is no doubt that the Almighty hath sent down these verses unto Him [the Báb], even as He sent down unto the Apostle of God. Indeed no less than a hundred thousand verses similar to these have already been disseminated**//

//**Page 82**//

//**among the people, not to mention His Epistles, His Prayers or His learned and philosophical treatises. He revealeth no less than a thousand verses within the space of five hours. He reciteth verses at a speed consonant with the capacity of His amanuensis to set them down. Thus, it may well be considered that if from the inception of this Revelation until now He had been left unhindered, how vast then would have been the volume of writings disseminated from His pen.**//

//**If ye contend that these verses cannot, of themselves, be regarded as a proof, scan the pages of the Qur'án. If God hath established therein any evidence other than the revealed verses to demonstrate the validity of the prophethood of His Apostle--may the blessings of God rest upon Him--ye may then have your scruples about Him...**//

//**Concerning the sufficiency of the Book as a proof, God hath revealed: `Is it not enough for them that We have sent down unto Thee the Book to be recited to them? In this verily is a mercy and a warning to those who believe.'+F1 When God hath testified that the Book is a sufficient testimony, as is affirmed in the text, how can one dispute this truth by saying that the Book in itself is not a conclusive proof?... II, 1.**//

//**SINCE that Day is a great Day it would be sorely trying for thee to identify thyself with the believers. For the believers of that Day are the inmates of Paradise, while the unbelievers are the inmates of the fire. And know thou of a certainty that by Paradise is meant recognition of and submission**//

//**____________________**// //**+F1. Qur'án 29:50**//

//**Page 83**//

//**unto Him Whom God shall make manifest, and by the fire the company of such souls as would fail to submit unto Him or to be resigned to His good-pleasure. On that Day thou wouldst regard thyself as the inmate of Paradise and as a true believer in Him, whereas in reality thou wouldst suffer thyself to be wrapt in veils and thy habitation would be the nethermost fire, though thou thyself wouldst not be cognizant thereof.**//

//**Compare His manifestation with that of the Point of the Qur'án. How vast the number of the Letters of the Gospel who eagerly expected Him, yet from the time of His declaration up to five years no one became an inmate of Paradise, except the Commander of the Faithful [Imám 'Alí], and those who secretly believed in Him. All the rest were accounted as inmates of the fire, though they considered themselves as dwellers in Paradise.**//

//**Likewise behold this Revelation. The essences of the people have, through divinely-conceived designs, been set in motion and until the present day three hundred and thirteen disciples have been chosen. In the land of Sad [Isfahan], which to outward seeming is a great city, in every corner of whose seminaries are vast numbers of people regarded as divines and doctors, yet when the time came for inmost essences to be drawn forth, only its sifter of wheat donned the robe of discipleship. This is the mystery of what was uttered by the kindred of the Prophet Muhammad--upon them be the peace of God-- concerning this Revelation, saying that the abased shall be exalted and the exalted shall be abased.**//

//**Likewise is the Revelation of Him Whom God shall make manifest. Among those to whom it will never occur that they might merit the displeasure of God, and whose pious deeds will be exemplary unto everyone, there will**//

//**Page 84**//

//**be many who will become the personification of the nethermost fire itself, when they fail to embrace His Cause; while among the lowly servants whom no one would imagine to be of any merit, how great the number who will be honoured with true faith and on whom the Fountainhead of generosity will bestow the robe of authority. For whatever is created in the Faith of God is created through the potency of His Word. VIII, 14.**//

//**IN the manifestation of the Apostle of God all were eagerly awaiting Him, yet thou hast heard how He was treated at the time of His appearance, in spite of the fact that if ever they beheld Him in their dreams they would take pride in them.**//

//**Likewise in the manifestation of the Point of the Bayán, the people stood up at the mention of His Name and fervently implored His advent night and day, and if they dreamt of Him they gloried in their dreams; yet now that He hath revealed Himself, invested with the mightiest testimony, whereby their own religion is vindicated, and despite the incalculable number of people who yearningly anticipate His coming, they are resting comfortably in their homes, after having hearkened to His verses; while He at this moment is confined in the mountain of Mákú, lonely and forsaken.**//

//**Take good heed of yourselves, O people of the Bayán, lest ye perform such deeds as to weep sore for His sake night and day, to stand up at the mention of His Name, yet on this Day of fruition--a Day whereon ye should not only arise at His Name, but seek a path unto Him Who personifies**//

//**Page 85**//

//**that Name--ye shut yourselves out from Him as by as veil. VI, 15.**//

//**AT the time of the manifestation of Him Whom God shall make manifest everyone should be well trained in the teachings of the Bayán, so that none of the followers may outwardly cling to the Bayán and thus forfeit their allegiance unto Him. If anyone does so, the verdict of `disbeliever in God' shall be passed upon him.**//

//**I swear by the holy Essence of God, were all in the Bayán to unite in helping Him Whom God shall make manifest in the days of His Revelation, not a single soul, nay, not a created thing would remain on earth that would not gain admittance into Paradise. Take good heed of yourselves, for the sum total of the religion of God is but to help Him, rather than to observe, in the time of His appearance, such deeds as are prescribed in the Bayán. Should anyone, however, ere He manifesteth Himself, transgress the ordinances, were it to the extent of a grain of barley, he would have trangressed His command.**//

//**Seek ye refuge in God from whatsoever might lead you astray from the Source of His Revelation and hold fast unto His Cord, for whoso holdeth fast unto His allegiance, he hath attained and will attain salvation in all the worlds.**//

//**`Such is the bounty of God; to whom He will, He giveth it, and God is the Lord of grace abounding.'+F1 V, 5.**//

//**____________________**// //**+F1. Qur'án 57:21**//

//**Page 86**//

//**YE perform your works for God from the beginning of your lives till the end thereof, yet not a single act is for the sake of Him Who is the Manifestation of God, to Whom every good deed reverteth. Had ye acted in such manner, ye would not have suffered so grievously on the Day of Resurrection.**//

//**Behold how great is the Cause, and yet how the people are wrapt in veils. I swear by the sanctified Essence of God that every true praise and deed offered unto God is naught but praise and deed offered unto Him Whom God shall make manifest.**//

//**Deceive not your own selves that you are being virtuous for the sake of God when you are not. For should ye truly do your works for God, ye would be performing them for Him Whom God shall make manifest and would be magnifying His Name. The dwellers of this mountain who are bereft of true understanding unceasingly utter the words, `No God is there but God'; but what benefit doth it yield them? Ponder awhile that ye may not be shut out as by a veil from Him Who is the Dayspring of Revelation. VIII, 19.**//

//**GOD hath, at all times and under all conditions, been wholly independent of His creatures. He hath cherished and will ever cherish the desire that all men may attain His gardens of Paradise with utmost love, that no one should sadden another, not even for a moment, and that all should dwell within His cradle of protection and security until the Day of Resurrection which marketh the dayspring of the Revelation of Him Whom God will make manifest.**//

//**Page 87**//

//**The Lord of the universe hath never raised up a prophet nor hath He sent down a Book unless He hath established His covenant with all men, calling for their acceptance of the next Revelation and of the next Book; inasmuch as the outpourings of His bounty are ceaseless and without limit. VI, 16.**//

//**HOW veiled are ye, O My creatures,+F1 ... who, without any right, have consigned Him unto a mountain [Mákú], not one of whose inhabitants is worthy of mention... With Him, which is with Me, there is no one except him who is one of the Letters of the Living of My Book. In His presence, which is My Presence, there is not at night even a lighted lamp! And yet, in places [of worship] which in varying degrees reach out unto Him, unnumbered lamps are shining! All that is on earth hath been created for Him, and all partake with delight of His benefits, and yet they are so veiled from Him as to refuse Him even a lamp!**//

//**In this Day therefore I bear witness unto My creatures, for the witness of no one other than Myself hath been or shall ever be worthy of mention in My presence. I affirm that no Paradise is more sublime for My creatures than to stand before My face and to believe in My holy Words, while no fire hath been or will be fiercer for them than to be veiled from the Manifestation of My exalted Self and to disbelieve in My Words.**//

//**Ye may contend: `How doth He speak on our behalf?'**//

//**____________________**// //**+F1. In The Promised Day is Come on page 7 Shoghi Effendi affirms that this passage was revealed by the Báb speaking with the voice of God.**//

//**Page 88**//

//**Have ye not perused the unseemly words ye uttered in the past, as reflected in the text of My Book, and still ye feel not ashamed? Ye have now seen the truth of My Book conclusively established and today every one of you doth profess belief in Me through that Book. The day is not far distant when ye shall readily realize that your glory lieth in your belief in these holy verses. Today, however, when only belief in this Faith truly profiteth you, ye have debarred yourselves therefrom by reason of the things which are disadvantageous unto you and will inflict harm upon you, whereas He Who is the Manifestation of My Self hath been and shall ever remain immune from any harm whatever, and any loss that hath appeared or will appear shall eventually revert unto yourselves. II, 1.**//

//**HOW vast the number of people who are well versed in every science, yet it is their adherence to the holy Word of God which will determine their faith, inasmuch as the fruit of every science is none other than the knowledge of divine precepts and submission unto His good-pleasure. II, 1.**//

//**NO created thing shall ever attain its paradise unless it appeareth in its highest prescribed degree of perfection. For instance, this crystal representeth the paradise of the stone whereof its substance is composed. Likewise there are various stages in the paradise for the crystal itself... So long as it was stone it was worthless, but if it attaineth**//

//**Page 89**//

//**the excellence of ruby--a potentiality which is latent in it-- how much a carat will it be worth? Consider likewise every created thing.**//

//**Man's highest station, however, is attained through faith in God in every Dispensation and by acceptance of what hath been revealed by Him, and not through learning; inasmuch as in every nation there are learned men who are versed in divers sciences. Nor is it attainable through wealth; for it is similarly evident that among the various classes in every nation there are those possessed of riches. Likewise are other transitory things.**//

//**True knowledge, therefore, is the knowledge of God, and this is none other than the recognition of His Manifestation in each Dispensation. Nor is there any wealth save in poverty in all save God and sanctity from aught else but Him--a state that can be realized only when demonstrated towards Him Who is the Dayspring of His Revelation. This doth not mean, however, that one ought not to yield praise unto former Revelations. On no account is this acceptable, inasmuch as it behooveth man, upon reaching the age of nineteen, to render thanksgiving for the day of his conception as an embryo. For had the embryo not existed, how could he have reached his present state? Likewise had the religion taught by Adam not existed, this Faith would not have attained its present stage. Thus consider thou the development of God's Faith until the end that hath no end. V, 4.**//

//**TWELVE hundred and seventy years have elapsed since the declaration of Muhammad, and each year unnumbered**//

//**Page 90**//

//**people have circumambulated the House of God [Mecca]. In the concluding year of this period He Who is Himself the Founder of the House went on pilgrimage. Great God! There was a vast concourse of pilgrims from every sect. Yet not one recognized Him, though He recognized every one of them--souls tightly held in the grasp of His former commandment. The only person who recognized Him and performed pilgrimage with Him is the one round whom revolve eight Vahids,+F1 in whom God hath gloried before the Concourse on high by virtue of his absolute detachment and for his being wholly devoted to the Will of God. This doth not mean that he was made the object of a special favour, nay, this is a favour which God hath vouchsafed unto all men, yet they have suffered themselves to be veiled from it. The Commentary on the Surih of Joseph had, in the first year of this Revelation, been widely distributed. Nevertheless, when the people realized that fellow supporters were not forthcoming they hesitated to accept it; while it never occurred to them that the very Qur'án whereunto unnumbered souls bear fealty today, was revealed in the midmost heart of the Arab world, yet to outward seeming for no less than seven years no one acknowledged its truth except the Commander of the Faithful [Imám 'Alí]--may the peace of God rest upon him--who, in response to the conclusive proofs advanced by God's supreme Testimony, recognized the Truth and did not fix his eyes on others. Thus on the Day of Resurrection God will ask everyone of his understanding and not of his following in the footsteps of others. How often a person, having inclined his ears to the holy verses, would bow**//

//**____________________**// //**+F1. This is a reference to Quddús, `whom the Persian Bayán extolled as that fellow-pilgrim round whom mirrors to the number of eight Vahids revolve'. (God Passes By, p. 49).**//

//**Page 91**//

//**down in humility and would embrace the Truth, while his leader would not do so. Thus every individual must bear his own responsibility, rather than someone else bearing it for him. At the time of the appearance of Him Whom God will make manifest the most distinguished among the learned and the lowliest of men shall both be judged alike. How often the most insignificant of men have acknowledged the truth, while the most learned have remained wrapt in veils. Thus in every Dispensation a number of souls enter the fire by reason of their following in the footsteps of others. IV, 18.**//

//**BETTER is it for a person to write down but one of His verses than to transcribe the whole of the Bayán and all the books which have been written in the Dispensation of the Bayán. For everything shall be set aside except His Writings, which will endure until the following Revelation. And should anyone inscribe with true faith but one letter of that Revelation, his recompense would be greater than for inscribing all the heavenly Writings of the past and all that has been written during previous Dispensations. Likewise continue thou to ascend through one Revelation after another, knowing that thy progress in the Knowledge of God shall never come to an end, even as it can have no beginning. VII, 13.**//

//**Page 92**//

//**O PEOPLE of the Bayán! Be on your guard; for on the Day of Resurrection no one shall find a place to flee to. He will shine forth suddenly, and will pronounce judgement as He pleaseth. If it be His wish He will cause the abased to be exalted, and the exalted to be abased, even as He did in the Bayán, couldst thou but understand. And no one but Him is equal unto this. Whatever He ordaineth will be fulfilled, and nothing will remain unfulfilled. VII, 9.**//

//**SINCE all men have issued forth from the shadow of the signs of His Divinity and Lordship, they always tend to take a path, lofty and high. And because they are bereft of a discerning eye to recognize their Beloved, they fall short of their duty to manifest meekness and humility towards Him. Nevertheless, from the beginning of their lives till the end thereof, in conformity with the laws established in the previous religion, they worship God, piously adore Him, bow themselves before His divine Reality and show submissiveness toward His exalted Essence. At the hour of His manifestation, however, they all turn their gaze toward their own selves and are thus shut out from Him, inasmuch as they fancifully regard Him as one like unto themselves. Far from the glory of God is such a comparison. Indeed that august Being resembleth the physical sun, His verses are like its rays, and all believers, should they truly believe in Him, are as mirrors wherein the sun is reflected. Their light is thus a mere reflection. VII, 15.**//

//**Page 93**//

//**O PEOPLE of the Bayán! If ye believe in Him Whom God shall make manifest, to your own behoof do ye believe. He hath been and ever will remain independent of all men. For instance, were ye to place unnumbered mirrors before the sun, they would all reflect the sun and produce impressions thereof, whereas the sun is in itself wholly independent of the existence of the mirrors and of the suns which they reproduce. Such are the bounds of the contingent beings in their relation to the manifestation of the Eternal Being...**//

//**In this day no less than seventy thousand people make pilgrimage every year to the holy House of God in compliance with the bidding of the Apostle of God; while He Himself Who ordained this ordinance took refuge for seven years in the mountains of Mecca. And this notwithstanding that the One Who enjoined this commandment is far greater than the commandment itself. Hence all this people who at this time go on pilgrimage do not do so with true understanding, otherwise in this Day of His Return which is mightier than His former Dispensation, they would have followed His commandment. But now behold what hath happened. People who profess belief in His former religion, who in the daytime and in the night season bow down in worship in His Name, have assigned Him to a dwelling place in a mountain, while each one of them would regard attaining recognition of Him as an honour. VII, 15.**//

//**THE reason why privacy hath been enjoined in moments of devotion is this, that thou mayest give thy best attention**//

//**Page 94**//

//**to the remembrance of God, that thy heart may at all times be animated with His Spirit, and not be shut out as by a veil from thy Best Beloved. Let not thy tongue pay lip service in praise of God while thy heart be not attuned to the exalted Summit of Glory, and the Focal Point of communion. Thus if haply thou dost live in the Day of Resurrection, the mirror of thy heart will be set towards Him Who is the Day-Star of Truth; and no sooner will His light shine forth than the splendour thereof shall forthwith be reflected in thy heart. For He is the Source of all goodness, and unto Him revert all things. But if He appeareth while thou hast turned unto thyself in meditation, this shall not profit thee, unless thou shalt mention His Name by words He hath revealed. For in the forthcoming Revelation it is He Who is the Remembrance of God, whereas the devotions which thou art offering at present have been prescribed by the Point of the Bayán, while He Who will shine resplendent in the Day of Resurrection is the Revelation of the inner reality enshrined in the Point of the Bayán --a Revelation more potent, immeasurably more potent, than the one which hath preceded it. IX, 4.**//

//**IT is seemly that the servant should, after each prayer, supplicate God to bestow mercy and forgiveness upon his parents. Thereupon God's call will be raised: `Thousand upon thousand of what thou hast asked for thy parents shall be thy recompense!' Blessed is he who remembereth his parents when communing with God. There is, verily, no God but Him, the Mighty, the Well-Beloved. VIII, 16.**//

//**Page 95**//

//**AS this physical frame is the throne of the inner temple, whatever occurs to the former is felt by the latter. In reality that which takes delight in joy or is saddened by pain is the inner temple of the body, not the body itself. Since this physical body is the throne whereon the inner temple is established, God hath ordained that the body be preserved to the extent possible, so that nothing that causeth repugnance may be experienced. The inner temple beholdeth its physical frame, which is its throne. Thus, if the latter is accorded respect, it is as if the former is the recipient. The converse is likewise true.**//

//**Therefore, it hath been ordained that the dead body should be treated with the utmost honour and respect. V, 12.**//

//**AT the time of the appearance of Him Whom God shall make manifest, wert thou to perform thy deeds for the sake of the Point of the Bayán, they would be regarded as performed for one other than God, inasmuch as on that Day the Point of the Bayán is none other than Him Whom God shall make manifest...**//

//**It is for this reason that at the beginning of every Dispensation a vast multitude, who fondly imagine that their deeds are for God, become drowned and ungodly, and perceive this not, except such as He guideth at His behest.**//

//**It is better for a man to guide a soul than to possess all that lies between East and West. Likewise better is guidance for him who is guided than all the things that exist on earth, for by reason of this guidance he will, after his death, gain admittance into Paradise, whereas by reason of the things of the world below, he will, after his death, receive**//

//**Page 96**//

//**his deserts. Hence God desireth that all men should be guided aright through the potency of the Words of Him Whom God shall make manifest. However, such as are conceited will not suffer themselves to be guided. They will be debarred from the Truth, some by reason of their learning, others on account of their glory and power, and still others due to reasons of their own, none of which shall be of any avail at the hour of death.**//

//**Take thou good heed that ye may all, under the leadership of Him Who is the Source of Divine Guidance, be enabled to direct thy steps aright upon the Bridge, which is sharper than the sword and finer than a hair, so that perchance the things which from the beginning of thy life till the end thou hast performed for the love of God, may not, all at once and unrealized by thyself, be turned to acts not acceptable in the sight of God. Verily God guideth whom He will into the path of absolute certitude. VII, 2.**//

//**EVERYONE is eagerly awaiting His appearance, yet since their inner eyes are not directed towards Him sorrow must needs befall Him. In the case of the Apostle of God--may the blessings of God rest upon Him--before the revelation of the Qur'án everyone bore witness to His piety and noble virtues. Behold Him then after the revelation of the Qur'án. What outrageous insults were levelled against Him, as indeed the pen is ashamed to recount. Likewise behold the Point of the Bayán. His behaviour prior to the declaration of His mission is clearly evident unto those who knew Him. Now, following His manifestation, although He hath, up to the present, revealed no less than five**//

//**Page 97**//

//**hundred thousand verses on different subjects, behold what calumnies are uttered, so unseemly that the pen is stricken with shame at the mention of them. But if all men were to observe the ordinances of God no sadness would befall that heavenly Tree. VI, 11.**//

//**THE acts of Him Whom God shall make manifest are like unto the sun, while the works of men, provided they conform to the good-pleasure of God, resemble the stars or the moon... Thus, should the followers of the Bayán observe the precepts of Him Whom God shall make manifest at the time of His appearance, and regard themselves and their own works as stars exposed to the light of the sun, then they will have gathered the fruits of their existence; otherwise the title of `starship' will not apply to them. Rather it will apply to such as truly believe in Him, to those who pale into insignificance in the day-time and gleam forth with light in the night season.**//

//**Such indeed is the fruit of this precept, should anyone observe it on the Day of Resurrection. This is the essence of all learning and of all righteous deeds, should anyone but attain unto it. Had the peoples of the world fixed their gaze upon this principle, no Exponent of divine Revelation would ever have, at the inception of any Dispensation, regarded them as things of naught. However, the fact is that during the night season everyone perceiveth the light which he himself, according to his own capacity, giveth out, oblivious that at the break of day this light shall fade away and be reduced to utter nothingness before the dazzling splendour of the sun.**//

//**Page 98**//

//**The light of the people of the world is their knowledge and utterance; while the splendours shed from the glorious acts of Him Whom God shall make manifest are His Words, through whose potency He rolleth up the whole world of existence, sets it under His Own authority by relating it unto Himself, then as the Mouthpiece of God, the Source of His divine light--exalted and glorified be He --proclaimeth: `Verily, verily, I am God, no God is there but Me; in truth all others except Me are My creatures. Say, O My creatures! Me alone, therefore, should ye fear'. VIII, 1.**//

//**KNOW thou that in the Bayán purification is regarded as the most acceptable means for attaining nearness unto God and as the most meritorious of all deeds. Thus purge thou thine ear that thou mayest hear no mention besides God, and purge thine eye that it behold naught except God, and thy conscience that it perceive naught other than God, and thy tongue that it proclaim nothing but God, and thy hand to write naught but the words of God, and thy knowledge that it comprehend naught except God, and thy heart that it entertain no wish save God, and in like manner purge all thine acts and thy pursuits that thou mayest be nurtured in the paradise of pure love, and perchance mayest attain the presence of Him Whom God shall make manifest, adorned with a purity which He highly cherisheth, and be sanctified from whosoever hath turned away from Him and doth not support Him. Thus shalt thou manifest a purity that shall profit thee.**//

//**Know thou that every ear which hearkeneth unto His**//

//**Page 99**//

//**Words with true faith shall be immune from the fire. Thus the believer, through his recognition of Him will appreciate the transcendent character of His heavenly Words, will whole-heartedly choose Him over others, and will refuse to incline his affections towards those who disbelieve in Him. Whatever one gaineth in the life to come is but the fruit of this faith. Indeed any man whose eye gazeth upon His Words with true faith well deserveth Paradise; and one whose conscience beareth witness unto His Words with true faith shall abide in Paradise and attain the presence of God; and one whose tongue giveth utterance to His Words with true faith shall have his abode in Paradise, wherein he will be seized with ecstasy in praise and glorification of God, the Ever-Abiding, Whose revelations of glory never end and the reviving breaths of Whose holiness never fail. Every hand which setteth down His Words with true faith shall be filled by God, both in this world and in the next, with things that are highly prized; and every breast which committeth His Words to memory, God shall cause, if it were that of a believer, to be filled with His love; and every heart which cherisheth the love of His Words and manifesteth in itself the signs of true faith when His Name is mentioned, and exemplifieth the words, `their hearts are thrilled with awe at the mention of God',+F1 that heart will become the object of the glances of divine favour and on the Day of Resurrection will be highly praised by God. IX, 10.**//

//**____________________**// //**+F1. Qur'án 8:2**//

//**Page 100**//

//**IF at the time of the appearance of Him Whom God will make manifest all the dwellers of the earth were to bear witness unto a thing whereunto He beareth witness differently, His testimony would be like unto the sun, while theirs would be even as a false image produced in a mirror which is not facing the sun. For had it been otherwise their testimony would have proved a faithful reflection of His testimony.**//

//**I swear by the most sacred Essence of God that but one line of the Words uttered by Him is more sublime than the words uttered by all that dwell on earth. Nay, I beg forgiveness for making this comparison. How could the reflections of the sun in the mirror compare with the wondrous rays of the sun in the visible heaven? The station of one is that of nothingness, while the station of the other, by the righteousness of God--hallowed and magnified be His Name--is that of the Reality of things....**//

//**If in the Day of His manifestation a king were to make mention of his own sovereignty, this would be like unto a mirror challenging the sun, saying: `The light is in me'. It would be likewise, if a man of learning in His Day were to claim to be an exponent of knowledge, or if he who is possessed of riches were to display his affluence, or if a man wielding power were to assert his own authority, or if one invested with grandeur were to show forth his glory. Nay, such men would become the object of the derision of their peers, and how would they be judged by Him Who is the Sun of Truth! III, 12.**//

//**Page 101**//

//**IT is not permissible to ask questions from Him Whom God will make manifest, except that which well beseemeth Him. For His station is that of the Essence of divine Revelation... Whatever evidence of bounty is witnessed in the world, is but an image of His bounty; and every thing owes its existence to His Being... The Bayán is, from beginning to end, the repository of all of His attributes, and the treasury of both His fire and His light. Should anyone desire to ask questions, he is allowed to do so only in writing, that he may derive ample understanding from His written reply and that it may serve as a sign from his Beloved. However, let no one ask aught that may prove unworthy of His lofty station. For instance, were a person to inquire the price of straw from a merchant of rubies, how ignorant would he be and how unacceptable. Similarly unacceptable would be the questions of the highest-ranking people of the world in His presence, except such words as He Himself would utter about Himself in the Day of His manifestation.**//

//**Methinks I visualize those who would, prompted by their own deluded conceptions, write to Him and ask Him questions about that which hath been revealed in the Bayán, and He would answer them with words not of His Own, but divinely inspired, saying: `Verily, verily, I am God; no God is there but Me. I have called into being all the created things, I have raised up divine Messengers in the past and have sent down Books unto Them. Take heed not to worship anyone but God, He Who is My Lord and your Lord. This indeed is the undoubted truth. However, alike shall it be to Me; if ye believe in Me, ye will provide good for your own souls, and if ye believe not in Me, nor in that which God hath revealed unto Me, ye will suffer yourselves to be shut out as by a veil. For verily I have been independent of you heretofore, and shall remain independent hereafter.**//

//**Page 102**//

//**Therefore it behooveth you, O creatures of God, to help your own selves and to believe in the Verses revealed by Me...' III, 13.**//

//**THE Bayán shall constitute God's unerring balance till the Day of Resurrection which is the Day of Him Whom God will make manifest. Whoso acteth in conformity with that which is revealed therein will abide in Paradise, under the shadow of His affirmation and reckoned among the most sublime Letters in the presence of God; while whoso deviateth, were it even so much as the tip of a grain of barley, will be consigned to the fire and will be assembled neath the shadow of negation. This truth hath likewise been laid bare in the Qur'án where in numerous instances God hath set down that whoever should pass judgement contrary to the bounds fixed by Him, would be deemed an infidel...**//

//**In these days how few are those who abide by the standard laid down in the Qur'án. Nay, nowhere are they to be found, except such as God hath willed. Should there be, however, such a person, his righteous deeds would prove of no avail unto him, if he hath failed to follow the standard revealed in the Bayán; even as the pious deeds of the Christian monks profited them not, inasmuch as at the time of the manifestation of the Apostle of God--may the blessings of God rest upon Him--they contented themselves with the standard set forth in the Gospel.**//

//**Had the divine standard laid down in the Qur'án been truly observed, adverse judgements would not have been pronounced against Him Who is the Tree of divine Truth.**//

//**Page 103**//

//**As it hath been revealed: `Almost might the heavens be rent and the earth be cleft asunder and the mountains fall down in fragments.'+F1 And yet how much harder than these mountains their hearts must be to have remained unmoved! Indeed no paradise is more glorious in the sight of God than attainment unto His good-pleasure. II, 6.**//

//**THE One true God may be compared unto the sun and the believer unto a mirror. No sooner is the mirror placed before the sun than it reflects its light. The unbeliever may be likened unto a stone. No matter how long it is exposed to the sunshine, it cannot reflect the sun. Thus the former layeth down his life as a sacrifice, while the latter doeth against God what he committeth. Indeed, if God willeth, He is potent to turn the stone into a mirror, but the person himself remaineth reconciled to his state. Had he wished to become a crystal, God would have made him to assume crystal form. For on that Day whatever cause prompteth the believer to believe in Him, the same will also be available to the unbeliever. But when the latter suffereth himself to be wrapt in veils, the same cause shutteth him out as by a veil. Thus, as is clearly evident today, those who have set their faces toward God, the True One, have believed in Him because of the Bayán, while such as are veiled have been deprived because of it. VI, 4.**//

//**____________________**// //**+F1. Qur'án 19:92**//

//**Page 104**//

//**I SWEAR by the most holy Essence of God--exalted and glorified be He--that in the Day of the appearance of Him Whom God shall make manifest a thousand perusals of the Bayán cannot equal the perusal of a single verse to be revealed by Him Whom God shall make manifest.**//

//**Ponder a while and observe that everything in Islam hath its ultimate and eventual beginning in the Book of God. Consider likewise the Day of the Revelation of Him Whom God shall make manifest, He in Whose grasp lieth the source of proofs, and let not erroneous considerations shut thee out from Him, for He is immeasurably exalted above them, inasmuch as every proof proceedeth from the Book of God which is itself the supreme testimony, as all men are powerless to produce its like. Should myriads of men of learning, versed in logic, in the science of grammar, in law, in jurisprudence and the like, turn away from the Book of God, they would still be pronounced unbelievers. Thus the fruit is within the supreme testimony itself, not in the things derived therefrom. And know thou of a certainty that every letter revealed in the Bayán is solely intended to evoke submission unto Him Whom God shall make manifest, for it is He Who hath revealed the Bayán prior to His Own manifestation. V, 8.**//

//**IN this Revelation the Lord of the universe hath deigned to bestow His mighty utterances and resplendent signs upon the Point of the Bayán, and hath ordained them as His matchless testimony for all created things. Were all the people that dwell on earth to assemble together, they would be unable to produce a single verse like unto the ones which**//

//**Page 105**//

//**God hath caused to stream forth from the tongue of the Point of the Bayán. Indeed, if any living creature were to pause to meditate he would undoubtedly realize that these verses are not the work of man, but are solely to be ascribed unto God, the One, the Peerless, Who causeth them to flow forth from the tongue of whomsoever He willeth, and hath not revealed nor will He reveal them save through the Focal Point of God's Primal Will. He it is, through Whose dispensations divine Messengers are raised up and heavenly Books are sent down. Had human beings been able to accomplish this deed surely someone would have brought forth at least one verse during the period of twelve hundred and seventy years which hath elapsed since the revelation of the Qur'án until that of the Bayán. However, all men have proved themselves impotent and have utterly failed to do so, although they endeavoured, with their vehement might, to quench the flame of the Word of God. II, 1.**//

//**THOU beholdest how vast is the number of people who go to Mecca each year on pilgrimage and engage in circumambulation, while He, through the potency of Whose Word the Ka'bah [the sanctuary in Mecca] hath become the object of adoration, is forsaken in this mountain. He is none other but the Apostle of God Himself, inasmuch as the Revelation of God may be likened to the sun. No matter how innumerable its risings, there is but one sun, and upon it depends the life of all things. It is clear and evident that the object of all preceding Dispensations hath been to pave the way for the advent of Muhammad, the Apostle of God.**//

//**Page 106**//

//**These, including the Muhammadan Dispensation, have had, in their turn, as their objective the Revelation proclaimed by the Qá'im. The purpose underlying this Revelation, as well as those that preceded it, has, in like manner, been to announce the advent of the Faith of Him Whom God will make manifest. And this Faith--the Faith of Him Whom God will make manifest--in its turn, together with all the Revelations gone before it, have as their object the Manifestation destined to succeed it. And the latter, no less than all the Revelations preceding it, prepare the way for the Revelation which is yet to follow. The process of the rise and setting of the Sun of Truth will thus indefinitely continue--a process that hath had no beginning and will have no end.**//

//**Well is it with him who in every Dispensation recognizeth the Purpose of God for that Dispensation, and is not deprived therefrom by turning his gaze towards the things of the past. IV, 12.**//

//**THE substance of this chapter is this, that what is intended by the Day of Resurrection is the Day of the appearance of the Tree of divine Reality, but it is not seen that any one of the followers of __Sh__í'ih Islam hath understood the meaning of the Day of Resurrection; rather have they fancifully imagined a thing which with God hath no reality. In the estimation of God and according to the usage of such as are initiated into divine mysteries, what is meant by the Day of Resurrection is this, that from the time of the appearance of Him Who is the Tree of divine Reality, at whatever period and under whatever name, until the**//

//**Page 107**//

//**moment of His disappearance, is the Day of Resurrection.**//

//**For example, from the inception of the mission of Jesus --may peace be upon Him--till the day of His ascension was the Resurrection of Moses. For during that period the Revelation of God shone forth through the appearance of that divine Reality, Who rewarded by His Word everyone who believed in Moses, and punished by His Word everyone who did not believe; inasmuch as God's Testimony for that Day was that which He had solemnly affirmed in the Gospel. And from the inception of the Revelation of the Apostle of God--may the blessings of God be upon Him-- till the day of His ascension was the Resurrection of Jesus-- peace be upon Him--wherein the Tree of divine Reality appeared in the person of Muhammad, rewarding by His Word everyone who was a believer in Jesus, and punishing by His Word everyone who was not a believer in Him. And from the moment when the Tree of the Bayán appeared until it disappeareth is the Resurrection of the Apostle of God, as is divinely foretold in the Qur'án; the beginning of which was when two hours and eleven minutes had passed on the eve of the fifth of Jamádiyu'l-Avval, 1260 A.H.,+F1 which is the year 1270 of the Declaration of the Mission of Muhammad. This was the beginning of the Day of Resurrection of the Qur'án, and until the disappearance of the Tree of divine Reality is the Resurrection of the Qur'án. The stage of perfection of everything is reached when its resurrection occurreth. The perfection of the religion of Islam was consummated at the beginning of this Revelation; and from the rise of this Revelation until its setting, the fruits of the Tree of Islam, whatever they are, will become apparent. The Resurrection of the Bayán will occur at the time of the appearance of Him Whom**//

//**____________________**// //**+F1. 22 May 1844**//

//**Page 108**//

//**God shall make manifest. For today the Bayán is in the stage of seed; at the beginning of the manifestation of Him Whom God shall make manifest its ultimate perfection will become apparent. He is made manifest in order to gather the fruits of the trees He hath planted; even as the Revelation of the Qá'im [He Who ariseth], a descendant of Muhammad--may the blessings of God rest upon Him-- is exactly like unto the Revelation of the Apostle of God Himself [Muhammad]. He appeareth not, save for the purpose of gathering the fruits of Islam from the Qur'ánic verses which He [Muhammad] hath sown in the hearts of men. The fruits of Islam cannot be gathered except through allegiance unto Him [the Qá'im] and by believing in Him. At the present time, however, only adverse effects have resulted; for although He hath appeared in the midmost heart of Islam, and all people profess it by reason of their relationship to Him [the Qá'im], yet unjustly have they consigned Him to the Mountain of Mákú, and this notwithstanding that in the Qur'án the advent of the Day of Resurrection hath been promised unto all by God. For on that Day all men will be brought before God and will attain His Presence; which meaneth appearance before Him Who is the Tree of divine Reality and attainment unto His presence; inasmuch as it is not possible to appear before the Most Holy Essence of God, nor is it conceivable to seek reunion with Him. That which is feasible in the matter of appearance before Him and of meeting Him is attainment unto the Primal Tree. II, 7.**//

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//**THE evidence set forth by God can never be compared with the evidences produced by any one of the peoples and kindreds of the earth; and beyond a shadow of doubt no evidence is set forth by God save through the One Who is appointed as His supreme Testimony. Moreover, the proof of revealed verses doth, alone and of itself, conclusively demonstrate the utter impotence of all created things on earth, for this is a proof which hath proceeded from God and shall endure until the Day of Resurrection.**//

//**And if anyone should reflect on the appearance of this Tree, he will undoubtedly testify to the loftiness of the Cause of God. For if one from whose life only twenty-four years have passed, and who is devoid of those sciences wherein all are learned, now reciteth verses after such fashion without thought or hesitation, writes a thousand verses of prayer in the course of five hours without pause of the pen, and produceth commentaries and learned treatises on such lofty themes as the true understanding of God and of the oneness of His Being, in a manner which doctors and philosophers confess surpasseth their power of understanding, then there is no doubt that all that hath been manifested is divinely inspired. Notwithstanding their life-long diligent study, what pains do these divines take when writing a single line in Arabic! Yet after such efforts the result is but words which are unworthy of mention. All these things are for a proof unto the people; otherwise the religion of God is too mighty and glorious for anyone to comprehend through aught but itself; rather by it all else is understood. II, 1.**//

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//**PRAISE be to God that He hath enabled us to become cognizant of Him Whom God shall make manifest in the Day of Resurrection, so that we may derive benefit from the fruit of our existence and be not deprived of attaining the presence of God. For indeed this is the object of our creation and the sole purpose underlying every virtuous deed we may perform. Such is the bounty which God hath conferred upon us; verily He is the All-Bountiful, the Gracious. Know thou, that thou wilt succeed in doing so if thou believest with undoubting faith. However, since thou canst not attain the state of undoubting faith, due to the intervening veils of thy selfish desires, therefore thou wilt tarry in the fire, though realizing it not. On the Day of His manifestation, unless thou truly believest in Him, naught can save thee from the fire, even if thou dost perform every righteous deed. If thou embracest the Truth, everything good and seemly shall be set down for thee in the Book of God, and by virtue of this thou wilt rejoice in the all-highest Paradise until the following Resurrection.**//

//**Consider with due attention, for the path is very strait, even while it is more spacious than the heavens and the earth and what is between them. For instance, if all those who were expecting the fulfilment of the promise of Jesus had been assured of the manifestation of Muhammad, the Apostle of God, not one would have turned aside from the sayings of Jesus. So likewise in the Revelation of the Point of the Bayán, if all should be assured that this is that same Promised Mihdi [One Who is guided] whom the Apostle of God foretold, not one of the believers in the Qur'án would turn aside from the sayings of the Apostle of God. So likewise in the Revelation of Him Whom God shall make manifest, behold the same thing; for should all be assured that He is that same `He Whom God shall make manifest'**//

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//**whom the Point of the Bayán hath foretold, not one would turn aside. IX, 3.**//

//**IN the Name of God, the Most Exalted, the Most Holy. All praise and glory befitteth the sacred and glorious court of the sovereign Lord, Who from everlasting hath dwelt, and unto everlasting will continue to dwell within the mystery of His Own divine Essence, Who from time immemorial hath abided and will forever continue to abide within His transcendent eternity, exalted above the reach and ken of all created beings. The sign of His matchless Revelation as created by Him and imprinted upon the realities of all beings, is none other but their powerlessness to know Him. The light He hath shed upon all things is none but the splendour of His Own Self. He Himself hath at all times been immeasurably exalted above any association with His creatures. He hath fashioned the entire creation in such wise that all beings may, by virtue of their innate powers, bear witness before God on the Day of Resurrection that He hath no peer or equal and is sanctified from any likeness, similitude or comparison. He hath been and will ever be one and incomparable in the transcendent glory of His divine being and He hath ever been indescribably mighty in the sublimity of His sovereign Lordship. No one hath ever been able befittingly to recognize Him nor will any man succeed at any time in comprehending Him as is truly meet and seemly, for any reality to which the term `being' is applicable hath been created by the sovereign Will of the Almighty, Who hath shed upon it the radiance of His Own Self, shining forth from His most**//

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//**august station. He hath moreover deposited within the realities of all created things the emblem of His recognition, that everyone may know of a certainty that He is the Beginning and the End, the Manifest and the Hidden, the Maker and the Sustainer, the Omnipotent and the All-Knowing, the One Who heareth and perceiveth all things, He Who is invincible in His power and standeth supreme in His Own identity, He Who quickeneth and causeth to die, the All-Powerful, the Inaccessible, the Most Exalted, the Most High. Every revelation of His divine Essence betokens the sublimity of His glory, the loftiness of His sanctity, the inaccessible height of His oneness and the exaltation of His majesty and power. His beginning hath had no beginning other than His Own firstness and His end knoweth no end save His Own lastness. I, 1.**//

//**THE revelation of the Divine Reality hath everlastingly been identical with its concealment and its concealment identical with its revelation. That which is intended by `Revelation of God' is the Tree of divine Truth that betokeneth none but Him, and it is this divine Tree that hath raised and will raise up Messengers, and hath revealed and will ever reveal Scriptures. From eternity unto eternity this Tree of divine Truth hath served and will ever serve as the throne of the revelation and concealment of God among His creatures, and in every age is made manifest through whomsoever He pleaseth. At the time of the revelation of the Qur'án He asserted His transcendent power through the advent of Muhammad, and on the occasion of the revelation of the Bayán He demonstrated His sovereign**//

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//**might through the appearance of the Point of the Bayán, and when He Whom God shall make manifest will shine forth, it will be through Him that He will vindicate the truth of His Faith, as He pleaseth, with whatsoever He pleaseth and for whatsoever He pleaseth. He is with all things, yet nothing is with Him. He is not within a thing nor above it nor beside it. Any reference to His being established upon the throne implieth that the Exponent of His Revelation is established upon the seat of transcendent authority...**//

//**He hath everlastingly existed and will everlastingly continue to exist. He hath been and will ever remain inscrutable unto all men, inasmuch as all else besides Him have been and shall ever be created through the potency of His command. He is exalted above every mention or praise and is sanctified beyond every word of commendation or every comparison. No created thing comprehendeth Him, while He in truth comprehendeth all things. Even when it is said `no created thing comprehendeth Him', this refers to the Mirror of His Revelation, that is Him Whom God shall make manifest. Indeed too high and exalted is He for anyone to allude unto Him. II, 8.**// //** The Master's Will Part Two Universal House of Justice elaborated in its Intro to the Aqdas that, "Mention has already been made of the intimite relationship between the kitab-i-Akdas and the Holy Books of previous Dispensations. Especilly close is the relationship to the Bayan (see h-net.org/~bahai/trans/bayan/bayan.htm), the Book of Laws revealed by the Bab. It is eluciadet in the following excerpts from tletters written on behalf of the Guardian: **//  //**Shoghi Effendi feels that the unity of the Baha'i Revelation as one complete whole embracing the Faith of the Bab should be emphasized... The Faith of the Bab should not be divorced from that of Bah'u'llah. Though the teachings of the Bayan have been abrogated and superseded by the LAWs of the Aqdas, yet due to the fact that the Bab considered himself as the forerunner of Baha'u'llah, we would regard His Dispensation together with that of Bah'u'llah as forming one entity, the former being introductory to the advent of the latter.**// //**" The Bab states that His laws are provisional and depend upon the acceptance of the future Manifestation. This is why in the Book of Aqdas Bah'u'llah sanctions some of the Laws found in the Bayan, modifies others and sets aside many."**// // [|The Bab died] on 9 July 1850 and was succeeded by <span class="fw_link_website">[|Yahya Azal] ... Most Bab'is ended up following Baha'u'llah upon His declaration, but the remaining ones became known as [|Azali Babis]... After the burial of the Bab's physical body, His resurrected body Returned under the name of // Babaji (appeared between 1861 and 1966)//, Founder of [|Kriya Yoga]... //