Chapter 50
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Conflicting writings regarding countenances in the Dispensation of Baha'u'llah. Last updated: May 3rd, 2024.
In passage 1 Shoghi Effendi says the words, "Know verily that the veil hiding Our countenance hath not been completely lifted...", are
a reference to the Independent Prophet who will appear after a thousand
years, which conflicts with the Holy Writings. Conflicts with the many references to the pre-existent Dependent/Lesser Prophets of Bahá'u'lláh who, as foretold by Baha'u'llah and affirmed by Abdu'l-Baha, will appear in this Dispensation. In passage 2, "Those countenances which are hid
within the chambers of chastity" and "the manifestations of Thy Divine holiness", in Prayers and Meditations CLXXXIV, are references to the Dependent/Lesser Prophets of Bahá'u'lláh, whose descent to earth is "the veil hiding Our countenance" being lifted. They are also referred to as "handmaidens" in the fifth paragraph of Prayers and Meditations CLXXXIV. As parallel, in passage 3 by Baha'u'llah, "angels (in His train)" refers to the Holy Imams, the pre-existent Dependent/Lesser Prophets of Muhammad. "A Day
that God shall come" is
also a reference to the fact that the Holy Imams are Manifestations of
God (Dependent/Lesser Prophets of Muhammad, one of the two classes of Prophets). Similarly, in passage 4, Abdu'l-Baha, the Branch, identifies himself as one of the "favoured angels" mentioned in the Kitab-i-Aqdas/Gleanings. In passage 5 from the writings of Abdu'l-Baha, the
"luminous and sparkling stars" that "derived their grace and brilliance
from the bounties of the Abha Realm" is another reference to the Dependent/Lesser Prophets of
Baha'u'llah, who receive their revelation from Baha'u'llah, the
Independent Prophet. At the following link are some 16 parallels in the station of Abdu'l-Baha and the stations of Imam Ali, Imam Sadiq, and Imam Rida.
1)
It should also be borne in mind that, great as is the power manifested
by this Revelation and however vast the range of the Dispensation its
Author has inaugurated, it emphatically repudiates the claim to be
regarded as the final revelation of God's will and purpose for mankind.
To hold such a conception of its character and functions would be
tantamount to a betrayal of its cause and a denial of its truth...
In a more explicit language Bahá'u'lláh testifies to this truth in one
of His Tablets revealed in Adrianople: "Know verily that the veil
hiding Our countenance hath not been completely lifted. We have
revealed Our Self to a degree corresponding to the capacity of the
people of Our age. Should the Ancient Beauty be unveiled in the
fullness of His glory mortal eyes would be blinded by the dazzling
intensity of His revelation."
In the Suriy-i-Sabr, revealed as far back as the year 1863, on the very
first day of His arrival in the garden of Ridvan, He thus affirms: "God
hath sent down His Messengers to succeed to Moses and Jesus, and He
will continue to do so till 'the end that hath no end'; so that His
grace may, from the heaven of Divine bounty, be continually vouchsafed
to mankind."
-- Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 116
2)
Lauded be Thy name, O Thou Who art the Goal of my desire! I swear by
Thy glory! How great is my wish to attain unto a detachment so complete
that were there to appear before me those countenances which are hid
within the chambers of chastity, and the beauty of which Thou didst
veil from the eyes of the entire creation, and whose faces Thou didst
sanctify from the sight of all beings,and were they to unveil
themselves in all the glory of the splendors of Thine incomparable
beauty, I would refuse to look upon them, and would behold them solely
for the purpose of discerning the mysteries of Thy handiwork, which
have perplexed the minds of such as have drawn nigh unto Thee, and awed
the souls of all them that have recognized Thee. I would, by Thy power
and Thy might, soar to such heights that nothing whatsoever would have
the power to keep me back from the manifold evidences of Thy
transcendent dominion, nor would any earthly scheme shut me out from
the manifestations of Thy Divine holiness.
-- Bahá'u'lláh, Prayers and Meditations CLXXXIV, p. 337
3)
Say I swear by God! They to whom you attribute knowledge and have
accepted them as your divines they are in the sight of God the worst of
men nay the quintessence of evil flees from them. Thus has the matter
been inscribed in the scrolls of God's knowledge. We testify that they
have not drunk from the fountains of knowledge and they have not
attained unto a word of Wisdom and have not become aware of the
mysteries of Revelation and have been racing in the land of their
selfish desires. Nothing of rejection and denial against a prophet or a
successor of a prophet has come to pass except after their permission.
Thus has always been their injunction carried out on the Countenances
of holiness.
Say to them: O ignorant ones! Did We not reveal in the past: "A Day
that God shall come in the canopies of clouds."[4] How is it that when
He came down in the clouds of Revelation in the Temple of 'Ali [Imam
Ali], you turned away and rejected Him and waxed haughty and brought
about your own perdition?[5] Was it not also revealed in your Book:
" the Day when Thy Lord comes or certain of the signs of Thy Lord."[6]
And when He did come with evident signs wherefore did ye turn away from
those signs and veiled yourselves with the veils of self?..
[4] Qur'án 2:210.
[5] Qur'án 25:18 and 48:12.
[6] Qur'an 6:158.
-- Baha'u'llah, Surih-i-Sabr (Lawh-i-Ayyúb), Surih of Patience or Tablet of Job. Translation by K. Fananapazir.
2:208. O ye who believe! enter into Islam whole-heartedly; and follow
not the footsteps of the Evil One; for he is to you an avowed enemy.
2:209. If ye backslide after the clear (signs) have come to you, then know that Allah is Exalted in Power, Wise.
2:210. Will they wait until Allah comes to them in canopies of clouds,
with angels (in His train) and the question is (thus) settled? But to
Allah do all questions go back (for decision).
2:211. Ask the Children of Israel how many Clear (Signs) We have sent
them. But if anyone, after Allah's favor has come to him, substitutes
(something else), Allah is strict in punishment.
2:212. The life of this world is alluring to those who reject faith,
and they scoff at those who believe. But the righteous will be above
them on the Day of Resurrection; for Allah bestows His abundance
without measures on whom He will.
-- The Qur'an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah 2.
The Holy Qur'án hath testified that true Faith is recognition of divine unity and confession to both the Prophet [recognition of Muhammad, the Independent Prophet, the Manifestation of God] and the Imámate [recognition of the Holy Imams, the Dependent/Lesser Prophets of Muhammad, the Manifestations of God].
He who attaineth unto both hath fulfilled his faith. A true believer is
the one who does not reject any matter pertaining to Us, for God
Himself hath dilated His Breast such that He may accept all. He will
not doubt or be mistrustful. He who cavileth why and wherefore becometh
a disbeliever. We are, verily, the Cause of God![15]
-- Imam Ali, The Sermon of Ma'rifat bin-Nurániyyat (Recognition with Luminousness). Translation by K. Fananapazir.
4)
Should differences arise amongst you over any matter, refer it to God while the Sun [Baha'u'llah, the Independent Prophet] still
shineth above the horizon of this Heaven and, when it hath set, refer
ye to whatsoever hath been sent down by Him. This, verily, is
sufficient unto the peoples of the world.
Say: Let not your hearts be perturbed, O people, when the glory of My
Presence is withdrawn, and the ocean of My utterance is stilled. In My
presence amongst you there is a wisdom, and in My absence there is yet another, inscrutable to all but God [pre-existent],
the Incomparable, the All-Knowing. Verily, We behold you from Our realm
of glory, and shall aid whosoever will arise for the triumph of Our
Cause with the hosts of the Concourse on high and a company of Our favoured angels.
-- Baha'u'llah, The Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 38
The Blessed Beauty, in unmistakable language, hath made this promise in
His Book: 'We behold you from Our realm of glory, and shall aid
whosoever will arise for the triumph of Our Cause with the hosts of the Concourse on high and a company of Our favoured angels.'[1]
[1 Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, LXXII ]
God be thanked, that promised aid [Abdu'l-Baha] hath been vouchsafed, as is plain for all to see, and it shineth forth as clear as the sun in the heavens.
-- Abdu'l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha, p. 270
5)
19. Praise be to Him through Whose splendours the earth and the heavens
are aglow, through Whose fragrant breathings the gardens of holiness
that adorn the hearts of the chosen are trembling for joy, to Him Who
hath shed His light and brightened the face of the firmament. Verily
there appeared luminous and sparkling stars, glittering, shining out,
and casting forth their rays upon the supreme horizon. They derived
their grace and brilliance from the bounties of the Abha Realm, then,
stars of guidance [Dependent/Lesser Prophets of Baha'u'llah], they poured down their lights upon this earth.
Praise be to Him Who hath fashioned this new era, this age of majesty,
even as an unfolding pageant where the realities of all things can be
exposed to view. Now are clouds of bounty raining down and the gifts of
the loving Lord are clearly manifest; for both the seen and the unseen
worlds have been illumined, and the Promised One [Abdu'l-Baha, the Branch, the first Dependent/Lesser Prophet of Baha'u'llah] hath come to earth and
the beauty of the Adored One hath shone forth.
-- Abdu'l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha, p. 38.
... for 1000 years there shall arise no Sun [Independent Prophet]. All the appearances will be beneath the shadow of the Most Great Appearance [Baha'u'llah, the Independent Prophet]: they will be as stars of guidance [Dependent/Lesser Prophets of Baha'u'llah]. All of them shall gather around this Fountain of Life; all of them will become illumined with the rays of this Sun;
all of them will receive a share and a portion from this great Sea; all
of them will become vivified with this soul-imparting breeze;...
-- Compilations, Baha'i Scriptures, p. 283.
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