Chapter C2
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Announcement -- the declaration of the Independent and Dependent/Lesser Prophet.
1)
The Announcement of Bahá'u'lláh, the Independent Prophet.
Set thine heart towards Him Who is the Point of adoration for the
world, and say: O peoples of the earth! Have ye denied the One in Whose
path He Who came with the truth, bearing the announcement of your Lord,
the Exalted, the Great, suffered martyrdom? Say: This is an
Announcement whereat the hearts of the Prophets and Messengers have
rejoiced. This is the One Whom the heart of the world remembereth and
is promised in the Books of God, the Mighty, the All-Wise.
-- Bahá'u'lláh, Proclamation of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 29
2)
The Most Great Announcement of Bahá'u'lláh, the Independent Prophet.
O followers of the Bayán! Fear ye the All-Merciful. This is the One Who
hath been glorified by Muhammad, the Apostle of God, and before Him by
the Spirit and yet before Him by the One Who discoursed with God. This
is the Point of the Bayán calling aloud before the Throne, saying: `By
the righteousness of God, ye have been created to glorify this Most
Great Announcement, this Perfect Way which lay hid within the souls of
the Prophets, which was treasured in the hearts of the chosen ones of
God and was written down by the glorious Pen of your Lord, the
Possessor of Names.'
-- Bahá'u'lláh, Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 103
Fear God, O men of insight, and be not of those who disbelieve in Me.
Take heed lest the word "Prophet" withhold you from this Most Great
Announcement, or any reference to "Vicegerency" debar you from the
sovereignty of Him Who is the Vicegerent of God, which overshadoweth
all the worlds. Every name hath been created by His Word, and every
cause is dependent on His irresistible, His mighty and wondrous Cause.
Say: This is the Day of God, the Day on which naught shall be mentioned
save His own Self, the omnipotent Protector of all worlds. This is the
Cause that hath made all your superstitions and idols to tremble.
-- Bahá'u'lláh, The Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 80
Say: Fear ye God, then observe equity in your judgement of this Great
Announcement before which, as soon as it shone forth, every momentous
announcement bowed low in adoration. Say: O concourse of the foolish!
If ye reject Him, by what evidence can ye prove your allegiance to the
former Messengers of God or vindicate your belief in that which He hath
sent down from His mighty and exalted Kingdom? What benefit do your
possessions bestow upon you? What protection can your treasures afford
you? None, I swear by the Spirit of God that pervadeth all that are in
the heavens and on the earth. Cast away that which ye have put together
with the hands of idle fancy and vain imaginings and take fast hold of
the Book of God which hath been sent down by virtue of His
all-compelling and inviolable authority.
-- Bahá'u'lláh, Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 248
3)
The Announcement of Bahá'u'lláh, the Independent Prophet.
`Call out to Zion, O Carmel, and announce the joyful tidings: He that
was hidden from mortal eyes is come! His all-conquering sovereignty is
manifest; His all-encompassing splendour is revealed. Beware lest thou
hesitate or halt. Hasten forth and circumambulate the City of God that
hath descended from heaven, the celestial Kaaba round which have
circled in adoration the favoured of God, the pure in heart, and the
company of the most exalted angels. Oh, how I long to announce unto
every spot on the surface of the earth, and to carry to each one of its
cities, the glad-tidings of this Revelation--a Revelation to which the
heart of Sinai hath been attracted, and in whose name the Burning Bush
is calling: "Unto God, the Lord of Lords, belong the kingdoms of earth
and heaven." Verily this is the Day in which both land and sea rejoice
at this announcement, the Day for which have been laid up those things
which God, through a bounty beyond the ken of mortal mind or heart,
hath destined for revelation. Ere long will God sail His Ark upon thee,
and will manifest the people of Bahá who have been mentioned in the
Book of Names.'
-- Bahá'u'lláh, Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 4
4)
In the following passage from Gleanings CXXIX:
"concealed within the Holy Veil" -- refers to the realm of pre-existence of the Dependent/Lesser Prophets of Baha'u'llah, same as the pre-existence of the Holy Imams.
"a company of His chosen ones" -- the Dependent/Lesser Prophets of Baha'u'llah.
"Warn, then, those that have joined partners with Him" -- warn
those who reject the Dependent Prophet as the Face of God (similar, for
example, to those who rejected Imam Ali as the Face of God in the era
of Muhammad).
"I am come from the Throne of glory" -- reference to her/his station as a Dependent Prophet of Baha'u'llah.
"And bear you an announcement from God" -- the declaration of the Dependent Prophet.
"Weigh it with the just Balance that ye possess, the Balance of the testimony of the Prophets and Messengers of God" -- judge their testimony with same standards you use for Prophets and Messengers of God, as they are.
There lay concealed within the Holy Veil, and prepared for the service
of God, a company of His chosen ones who shall be manifested unto men,
who shall aid His Cause, who shall be afraid of no one, though the
entire human race rise up and war against them. These are the ones who,
before the gaze of the dwellers on earth and the denizens of heaven,
shall arise and, shouting aloud, acclaim the name of the Almighty, and
summon the children of men to the path of God, the All-Glorious, the
All-Praised. Walk thou in their way, and let no one dismay thee. Be of
them whom the tumult of the world, however much it may agitate them in
the path of their Creator, can never sadden, whose purpose the blame of
the blamer will never defeat.
Go forth with the Tablet of God and His signs, and rejoin them that
have believed in Me, and announce unto them tidings of Our most holy
Paradise. Warn, then, those that have joined partners with Him. Say: I
am come to you, O people, from the Throne of glory, and bear you an
announcement from God, the Most Powerful, the Most Exalted, the Most
Great. In mine hand I carry the testimony of God, your Lord and the
Lord of your sires of old. Weigh it with the just Balance that ye
possess, the Balance of the testimony of the Prophets and Messengers of
God. If ye find it to be established in truth, if ye believe it to be
of God, beware, then, lest ye cavil at it, and render your works vain,
and be numbered with the infidels. It is indeed the sign of God that
hath been sent down through the power of truth, through which the
validity of His Cause hath been demonstrated unto His creatures, and
the ensigns of purity lifted up betwixt earth and heaven.
-- Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, CXXIX, p. 280
5)
In the passage below, "O Temple
of Divine Revelation!" is the last of the many passages in the tablet
which refer to the Dependent Prophets of Baha'u'llah, who will "announce unto the people of the
world". The "Temple of
Divine Revelation" is also the Maid of Heaven (Dependent Prophet). The Dependent
Prophets are also referred to as "His servants" in the last paragraph
(1.101) of the Surih of the Temple, and all else besides them are as
naught ("Nay, all in their holy presence
fade into utter nothingness, and are a thing forgotten"), described in more detail in subsequent
passage from the Iqan about the Manifestations of God (in this case,
Dependent Prophets).
1.100
O Temple of Divine Revelation! Sound the trumpet
in My Name! O Temple of Divine mysteries! Raise the clarion call of Thy
Lord, the Unconditioned, the Unconstrained! O Maid of Heaven! Step
forth from the chambers of paradise and announce unto the people of the
world: By the righteousness of God! He Who is the Best-Beloved of the
worlds -- He Who hath ever been the Desire of every perceiving heart,
the Object of the adoration of all that are in heaven and on earth, and
the Cynosure [focal point of Divine Unity] of the former and the latter generations -- is now come!
1.101
Take heed lest ye hesitate in recognizing this resplendent Beauty when
once He hath appeared in the plenitude of His sovereign might and
majesty. He, verily, is the True One, and all else besides Him is as
naught before a single one of His servants, and paleth into nothingness
when brought face to face with the revelation of His splendours.
Hasten, then, to attain the living waters of His grace, and be not of
the negligent. As to him who hesitateth, though it be for less than a
moment, God shall verily bring his works to naught and return him to
the seat of wrath; wretched indeed is the abode of them that tarry!
-- Baha'u'llah, Surih of the Temple, The Summons of the Lord of Hosts, p. 54
And of all men, the most accomplished, the most distinguished and the
most excellent are the Manifestations of the Sun of Truth. Nay, all
else besides these Manifestations, live by the operation of their Will,
and move and have their being through the outpourings of their grace.
"But for Thee, I would have not created the heavens." Nay, all in their
holy presence fade into utter nothingness, and are a thing forgotten.
Human tongue can never befittingly sing their praise, and human speech
can never unfold their mystery. These Tabernacles of holiness, these
primal Mirrors which reflect the light of unfading glory, are but
expressions of Him Who is the Invisible of the Invisibles. By the
revelation of these gems of divine virtue all the names and attributes
of God, such as knowledge and power, sovereignty and dominion, mercy
and wisdom, glory, bounty and grace, are made manifest.
These attributes of God are not and have never been vouchsafed
specially unto certain Prophets, and withheld from others. Nay, all the
Prophets of God, His well-favoured, His holy, and
chosen Messengers, are, without exception, the bearers of His
names, and the embodiments of His attributes. They only differ in the
intensity of their revelation, and the comparative potency of their
light. Even as He hath revealed: "Some of the Apostles We have caused
to excel the others."[1] It hath therefore become manifest and evident
that within the tabernacles of these Prophets and chosen Ones of God
the light of His infinite names and exalted attributes hath been
reflected, even though the light of some of these attributes may or may
not be outwardly revealed from these luminous Temples to the eyes of
men. That a certain attribute of God hath not been outwardly manifested
by these Essences of Detachment doth in no wise imply that they Who are
the Daysprings of God's attributes and the Treasuries of His holy names
did not actually possess it. Therefore, these illuminated Souls, these
beauteous Countenances have, each and every one of them, been endowed
with all the attributes of God, such as sovereignty, dominion, and the
like, even though to outward seeming they be shorn of all earthly
majesty. To every discerning eye this is evident and manifest; it
requireth neither proof nor evidence.
[1 Qur'án 2:253.]
-- Baha'u'llah, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 102
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