The Beauty of God -- the Independent Prophets and the Dependent/Lesser Prophets.
1)
The Beauty of God, Muhammad, the Independent Prophet:
Know then that when Muhammad, the Point of the Qur'án and the
Light of the All-Glorious, came with perspicuous verses and luminous
proofs manifested in such signs as are beyond the power of all
existence to produce, He bade all men follow this lofty and
outstretched Path in accordance with the precepts that He had brought
from God. Whoso acknowledged Him, recognized the signs of God in His
inmost Being, and saw in His beauty the changeless beauty of God,
the decree of "resurrection", "ingathering", "life", and "paradise" was
passed upon him. For he who had believed in God and in the
Manifestation of His beauty was raised from the grave of heedlessness,
gathered together in the sacred ground of the heart, quickened to the
life of faith and certitude, and admitted into the paradise of the
divine presence. What paradise can be loftier than this, what
ingathering mightier, and what resurrection greater? Indeed, should a
soul be acquainted with these mysteries, he would grasp that which none
other hath fathomed.
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Know then that the paradise that appeareth in the day of God surpasseth
every other paradise and excelleth the realities of Heaven. For when
God - blessed and glorified is He - sealed the station of prophethood
in the person of Him Who was His Friend, His Chosen One, and His
Treasure amongst His creatures, as hath been revealed from the Kingdom
of glory: "but He is the Apostle of God and the Seal of the Prophets",
He promised all men that they shall attain unto His own presence in the
Day of Resurrection. In this He meant to emphasize the greatness of the
Revelation to come, as it hath indeed been manifested through the power
of truth. And there is of a certainty no paradise greater than this,
nor station higher, should ye reflect upon the verses of the Qur'án.
Blessed be he who knoweth of a certainty that he shall attain unto the
presence of God on that day when His Beauty shall be made manifest.
-- Baha'u'llah, Gems of Divine Mysteries, p. 41
2)
The Beauty of God, Bahá'u'lláh, the Independent Prophet:
While engulfed in tribulations I heard a most wondrous, a most sweet
voice, calling above My head. Turning My face, I beheld a Maiden -- the
embodiment of the remembrance of the name of My Lord -- suspended in
the air before Me. So rejoiced was she in her very soul that her
countenance shone with the ornament of the good pleasure of God, and
her cheeks glowed with the brightness of the All-Merciful. Betwixt
earth and heaven she was raising a call which captivated the hearts and
minds of men. She was imparting to both My inward and outer being
tidings which rejoiced My soul, and the souls of God's honoured
servants.
1.7
Pointing with her finger unto My head, she addressed all who are in
heaven and all who are on earth, saying: By God! This is the
Best-Beloved of the worlds, and yet ye comprehend not. This is the
Beauty of God amongst you, and the power of His sovereignty within you,
could ye but understand. This is the Mystery of God and His Treasure,
the Cause of God and His glory unto all who are in the kingdoms of
Revelation and of creation, if ye be of them that perceive. This is He
Whose Presence is the ardent desire of the denizens of the Realm of
eternity, and of them that dwell within the Tabernacle of glory, and
yet from His Beauty do ye turn aside.
1.8
O people of the Bayan!
If ye aid Him not, God will assuredly assist Him with the powers of
earth and heaven, and sustain Him with the hosts of the unseen through
His command "Be", and it is! The day is approaching when God will have,
by an act of His Will, raised up a race of men the nature of which is
inscrutable to all save God, the All-Powerful, the Self-Subsisting. He
shall purify them from the defilement of idle fancies and corrupt
desires, shall lift them up to the heights of holiness, and shall cause
them to manifest the signs of His sovereignty and might upon earth. Thus hath it been ordained by God, the All-Glorious, the All-Loving.
-- Baha'u'llah, Surih of the Temple, The Summons of the Lord of Hosts, p. 5
3)
The Beauty of God, Abdu'l-Baha, the Branch:
He is Eternal in His Abha Horizon!...
Say: Verily, the ocean of pre-existence [Abdu'l-Baha] hath branched forth from this
most great Ocean [Baha'u'llah]. Blessed, therefore, is he who abides upon Its shores,
and is of those who are established thereon. Verily, this most sacred
temple of Abha -- -the Branch of Holiness -- - hath branched
forth from the Sadratu'l-Muntaha. Blessed is whosoever sought shelter
beneath it and is of those who rest therein.
Say: Verily, the branch of command hath sprung forth from this root
which God hath firmly planted in the ground of the will, the limb of
which has been elevated to a station which encompasses all existence.
Therefore, exalted be He for this creation, the lofty, the blessed, the
inaccessible, the mighty!
O ye people! Draw nigh unto It, and taste the fruits of its knowledge
and wisdom on the part of the mighty, the knowing One. Whosoever will
not taste thereof shall be deprived of the bounty, even though he hath
partaken of all that is in the earth -- - were ye of those who
know.
Say: Verily a word hath gone forth in favor from the most great Tablet
and God has adorned It with the mantle of Himself, and made it
sovereign over all in the earth and a sign of His grandeur and
omnipotence among the creatures; in order that, through it, the people
shall praise their Lord, the mighty, the powerful, the wise; and that,
through it, they shall glorify their creator and sanctify the self of
God which standeth within all things. Verily, this is naught but a
Revelation upon the part of the wise, the ancient One!
Say: O people, praise ye God, for its Manifestation, for verily it is
the most great favor upon you and the most perfect blessing upon you;
and through Him every moldering bone is quickened. Whosoever turns to
Him hath surely turned unto God, and whosoever turneth away from Him
hath turned away from My beauty, denied My proof and is of those who
transgress. Verily, He is the remembrance of God amongst you and His
trust within you, and His manifestation unto you and His appearance
among the servants who are nigh. Thus have I been commanded to convey
to you the message of God, your Creator; and I have delivered to you
that of which I was commande His messengers, and then His holy servants.
-- Baha'u'llah, Tablet of the Branch, Bahá'í World Faith (Wilmette: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1966 [third printing])
4)
In the following passage, "one of
the Beauties of the Most Sublime Paradise" is a reference to one of the
Dependent Prophets of Baha'u'llah. The "Wronged One" refers to
Bahá'u'lláh himself.
"We will now mention unto thee Trustworthiness and the station thereof
in the estimation of God, thy Lord, the Lord of the Mighty Throne. One
day of days We repaired unto Our Green Island. Upon Our arrival, We
beheld its streams flowing, and its trees luxuriant, and the sunlight
playing in their midst. Turning Our face to the right, We beheld what
the pen is powerless to describe; nor can it set forth that which the
eye of the Lord of Mankind witnessed in that most sanctified, that most
sublime, that blest, and most exalted Spot. Turning, then, to the left
We gazed on one of the Beauties of the Most Sublime Paradise,
standing on a pillar of light, and calling aloud saying: `O inmates of
earth and heaven! Behold ye My beauty, and My radiance, and My revelation, and My effulgence. By God, the True One! I am Trustworthiness and the revelation thereof, and the beauty thereof. I will recompense whosoever will cleave unto Me, and recognize My rank and station, and hold fast unto My hem.
I am the most great ornament of the people of Bahá, and the vesture of
glory unto all who are in the kingdom of creation. I am the supreme
instrument for the prosperity of the world, and the horizon of
assurance unto all beings.' Thus have We sent down for thee that which
will draw men nigh unto the Lord of creation."
This Wronged One hath, at all times, summoned the peoples of the world
unto that which will exalt them, and draw them nigh unto God. From
the Most Sublime Horizon there hath shone forth that which leaveth no
room unto any one for vacillation, repudiation or denial. The wayward,
however, have failed to profit therefrom; nay, it shall only increase
their loss.
-- Bahá'u'lláh, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 136-137
5)
The Beauty of God, Jesus, the Independent Prophet:
And when the days of Moses were ended, and the light of Jesus, shining
forth from the Day Spring of the Spirit, encompassed the world, all the
people of Israel arose in protest against Him. They clamored that He
Whose advent the Bible had foretold must needs promulgate and fulfil
the laws of Moses, whereas this youthful Nazarene, who laid claim to
the station of the divine Messiah, had annulled the laws of divorce and
of the sabbath day -- the most weighty of all the laws of Moses.
Moreover, what of the signs of the Manifestation yet to come? These
people of Israel are even unto the present day still expecting that
Manifestation which the Bible hath foretold! How many Manifestations of
Holiness, how many Revealers of the light everlasting, have appeared
since the time of Moses, and yet Israel, wrapt in the densest veils of
satanic fancy and false imaginings, is still expectant that the idol of
her own handiwork will appear with such signs as she herself hath
conceived! Thus hath God laid hold of them for their sins, hath
extinguished in them the spirit of faith, and tormented them with the
flames of the nethermost fire. And this for no other reason except that
Israel refused to apprehend the meaning of such words as have been
revealed in the Bible concerning the signs of the coming Revelation. As
she never grasped their true significance, and, to outward seeming,
such events never came to pass, she, therefore, remained deprived of
recognizing the beauty of Jesus and of beholding the Face of God.
And they still await His coming! >From time immemorial even unto
this day, all the kindreds and peoples of the earth have clung to such
fanciful and unseemly thoughts, and thus have deprived themselves of
the clear waters streaming from the springs of purity and holiness....
To them that are endowed with understanding, it is clear and manifest
that, when the fire of the love of Jesus consumed the veils of Jewish
limitations, and His authority was made apparent and partially
enforced, He, the Revealer of the unseen Beauty, addressing one day His
disciples, referred unto His passing, and, kindling in their hearts the
fire of bereavement, said unto them: "I go away and come again unto
you." And in another place He said: "I go and another will come, Who
will tell you all that I have not told you, and will fulfil all that I
have said." Both these sayings have but one meaning, were ye to ponder
upon the Manifestations of the Unity of God with Divine insight.
-- Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 19
6)
The Beauty of the Maid of Heaven, the black-eyed Damsel, the Dependent Prophet of Baha'u'llah:
Say: Step out of Thy holy chamber, O Maid of Heaven, inmate of the
Exalted Paradise! Drape thyself in whatever manner pleaseth Thee in the
silken Vesture of Immortality, and put on, in the name of the
All-Glorious, the broidered Robe of Light. Hear, then, the sweet, the
wondrous accent of the Voice that cometh from the Throne of Thy Lord,
the Inaccessible, the Most High. Unveil Thy face, and manifest the
beauty of the black-eyed Damsel, and suffer not the servants of God to
be deprived of the light of Thy shining countenance. Grieve not if Thou
hearest the sighs of the dwellers of the earth, or the voice of the
lamentation of the denizens of heaven. Leave them to perish on the dust
of extinction. Let them be reduced to nothingness, inasmuch as the
flame of hatred hath been kindled within their breasts. Intone, then,
before the face of the peoples of earth and heaven, and in a most
melodious voice, the anthem of praise, for a remembrance of Him Who is
the King of the names and attributes of God. Thus have We decreed Thy destiny. Well able are We to achieve Our purpose.
Beware that Thou divest not Thyself, Thou Who art the Essence of
Purity, of Thy robe of effulgent glory. Nay, enrich Thyself
increasingly, in the kingdom of creation, with the incorruptible
vestures of Thy God, that the beauteous image of the Almighty may be
reflected through Thee in all created things and the grace of Thy Lord
be infused in the plenitude of its power into the entire creation.
If Thou smellest from any one the smell of the love of Thy Lord, offer
up Thyself for him, for We have created Thee to this end, and have
covenanted with Thee, from time immemorial, and in the presence of the
congregation of Our well-favored ones, for this very purpose. Be not
impatient if the blind in heart hurl down the shafts of their idle
fancies upon Thee. Leave them to themselves, for they follow the
promptings of the evil ones.
Cry out before the gaze of the dwellers of heaven and of earth: I am
the Maid of Heaven, the Offspring begotten by the Spirit of Bahá. My
habitation is the Mansion of His Name, the All-Glorious. Before the
Concourse on high I was adorned with the ornament of His names. I was
wrapt within the veil of an inviolable security, and lay hidden from
the eyes of men. Methinks that I heard a Voice of divine and
incomparable sweetness, proceeding from the right hand of the God of
Mercy, and lo, the whole Paradise stirred and trembled before Me, in
its longing to hear its accents, and gaze on the beauty of Him that
uttered them. Thus have We revealed in this luminous Tablet, and in the
sweetest of languages, the verses which the Tongue of Eternity was
moved to utter in the Qayyúmu'l-Asmá.
-- Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 279-284
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