Chapter C11
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The Cause of God, as revealed by the two classes of Prophets, by the Manifestations of God.
1)
The Cause of God as revealed by the Independent Prophet.
Praise be to God, the Eternal that perisheth not, the Everlasting that
declineth not, the Self-Subsisting that altereth not. He it is Who is
transcendent in His sovereignty, Who is manifest through His signs, and
is hidden through His mysteries. He it is at Whose bidding the standard
of the Most Exalted Word hath been lifted up in the world of creation,
and the banner of "He doeth whatsoever He willeth" raised amidst all
peoples. He it is Who hath revealed His Cause for the guidance of His
creatures, and sent down His verses to demonstrate His Proof and His
Testimony, and embellished the preface of the Book of Man with the
ornament of utterance through His saying: "The God of Mercy hath taught
the Qur'án, hath created man, and taught him articulate speech." No God
is there but Him, the One, the Peerless, the Powerful, the Mighty, the
Beneficent.
-- Baha'u'llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 1
2)
The Cause of God as revealed by Baha'u'llah, the Independent Prophet.
And further We have said: "More grievous became Our plight from day to
day, nay, from hour to hour, until they took Us forth from Our prison
and made Us, with glaring injustice, enter the Most Great Prison. And
if anyone ask them: 'For what crime were they imprisoned?' they would
answer and say: 'They, verily, sought to supplant the Faith with a new
religion!' If that which is ancient be what ye prefer, wherefore, then,
have ye discarded that which hath been set down in the Torah and the
Evangel? Clear it up, O men! By My life! There is no place for you to
flee to in this day. If this be My crime, then Muhammad, the Apostle of
God, committed it before Me, and before Him He Who was the Spirit of
God (Jesus Christ), and yet earlier He Who conversed with God (Moses).
And if My sin be this, that I have exalted the Word of God and revealed
His Cause, then indeed am I the greatest of sinners! Such a sin I will
not barter for the kingdoms of earth and heaven."
-- Baha'u'llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 51
3)
The Cause of God as revealed by Imam Ali, the Dependent Prophet of Muhammad.
The Holy Qur'án hath testified that true Faith is recognition of divine unity and confession to both the Prophet [recognition of Muhammad, the pre-existent Independent Prophet, the Manifestation of God] and the Imámate [recognition of the Holy Imams, the pre-existent Dependent 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)
The Cause of God as revealed by the Dependent Prophets of Baha'u'llah.
Erelong shall God draw forth, out of the bosom of power, the hands of ascendancy and might [the Dependent Prophets of Baha'u'llah], and shall raise up a people who will arise to win victory for this Youth [Baha'u'llah]
and who will purge mankind from the defilement of the outcast and the
ungodly. These hands will gird up their loins to champion the Faith of
God, and will, in My name the Self-Subsistent, the Mighty, subdue the
peoples and kindreds of the earth. They will enter the cities and will
inspire with fear the hearts of all their inhabitants. Such are the
evidences of the might of God; how fearful, how vehement is His might,
and how justly doth He wield it! He, verily, ruleth and transcendeth
all who are in the heavens and on the earth, and revealeth what He
desireth according to a prescribed measure.
1.35
Should any one of them be called upon to confront all the hosts of
creation, he would assuredly prevail through the ascendancy of My Will.
This, verily, is a proof of My power, though My creatures comprehend it
not. This, verily, is a sign of My sovereignty, though My subjects
understand it not. This, verily, is a token of My command, though My
servants perceive it not. This, verily, is an evidence of Mine
ascendancy, though none amongst the people is truly thankful for it,
save those whose eyes God hath illumined with the light of His
knowledge, whose hearts He hath made the repository of His Revelation, and upon whose shoulders He hath placed the weight of His Cause.
These shall inhale the fragrances of the All-Merciful from the garment
of His Name, and shall rejoice at all times in the signs and verses of
their Lord. As for those who disbelieve in God, and join partners with
Him, they shall indeed incur His wrath, shall be cast into the Fire,
and shall be made to dwell, fearful and dismayed, in its depths. Thus
do We expound Our verses, and make plain the truth with clear proofs,
that perchance the people may reflect upon the signs of their Lord.
-- Baha'u'llah, Surih of the Temple, The Summons of the Lord of Hosts, p. 19
5)
"Arise thou amongst men in the name of this all-compelling Cause, and
summon, then, the nations unto God, the Mighty, the Great. Be thou not
of them who called upon God by one of His names, but who, when He Who
is the Object of all names appeared, denied Him and turned aside from
Him, and, in the end, pronounced sentence against Him with manifest
injustice. Consider and call thou to mind the days whereon the Spirit
of God (Jesus Christ) appeared, and Herod gave judgment against Him.
God, however, aided Him with the hosts of the unseen, and protected Him
with truth, and sent Him down unto another land, according to His
promise. He, verily, ordaineth what He pleaseth. Thy Lord truly
preserveth whom He willeth, be he in the midst of the seas or in the
maw of the serpent, or beneath the sword of the oppressor."
And further We have said: "Again I say: Hearken unto My voice that
calleth from My prison, that it may acquaint thee with the things that
have befallen My Beauty, at the hands of them that are the
manifestations of My glory, and that thou mayest perceive how great
hath been My patience, notwithstanding My might, and how immense My
forbearance, notwithstanding My power. By My life! Couldst thou but
know the things sent down by My Pen, and discover the treasures of My
Cause, and the pearls of My mysteries which lie hid in the seas of My
names and in the goblets of My words, thou wouldst for longing after
His glorious and sublime Kingdom, lay down thy life in the path of God.
Know thou that though My body be beneath the swords of My foes, and My
limbs be beset with incalculable afflictions, yet My spirit is filled
with a gladness with which all the joys of the earth can never compare."
-- Baha'u'llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 57
6)
And further We have said: "That which God hath ordained as the
sovereign remedy and mightiest instrument for the healing of the world
is the union of all its peoples in one universal Cause, one common
Faith. This can in no wise be achieved except through the power of a
skilled, an all-powerful, and inspired Physician. By My life! This is
the truth, and all else naught but error. Each time that Most Mighty
Instrument hath come, and that Light shone forth from the Ancient
Dayspring, He was withheld by ignorant physicians who, even as clouds,
interposed themselves between Him and the world. It failed therefore,
to recover, and its sickness hath persisted until this day. They indeed
were powerless to protect it, or to effect a cure, whilst He Who hath
been the Manifestation of Power amongst men was withheld from achieving
His purpose, by reason of what the hands of the ignorant physicians
have wrought.
"Consider these days in which He Who is the Ancient Beauty hath come in
the Most Great Name, that He may quicken the world and unite its
peoples. They, however, rose up against Him with sharpened swords, and
committed that which caused the Faithful Spirit to lament, until in the
end they imprisoned Him in the most desolate of cities, and broke the
grasp of the faithful upon the hem of His robe. Were anyone to tell
them: 'The World Reformer is come,' they would answer and say: 'Indeed
it is proven that He is a fomenter of discord!', and this
notwithstanding that they have never associated with Him, and have
perceived that He did not seek, for one moment, to protect Himself. At
all times He was at the mercy of the wicked doers. At one time they
cast Him into prison, at another they banished Him, and at yet another
hurried Him from land to land. Thus have they pronounced judgment
against Us, and God, truly, is aware of what I say."
This charge of fomenting discord is the same as that imputed aforetime
by the Pharaohs of Egypt to Him Who conversed with God (Moses). Read
thou what the All-Merciful hath revealed in the Qur'án. He -- may He be
blessed and glorified -- saith: "Moreover We had sent Moses of old with
Our signs and with clear authority to Pharaoh, and Haman, and Qarun:
and they said: 'Sorcerer, impostor!' And when He came to them from Our
presence with the truth, they said: 'Slay the sons of those who believe
as He doth, and save their females alive,' but the stratagem of the
unbelievers issued only in failure. And Pharaoh said: 'Let me alone,
that I may kill Moses; and let him call upon his Lord: I fear lest he
change your religion, or cause disorder to show itself in the land.'
And Moses said: 'I take refuge with my Lord, and your Lord from every
proud one who believeth not in the Day of Reckoning.'"
-- Baha'u'llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 62
7)
"Peruse thou the Kitáb-i-Íqán (Book of Certitude) and that which the
All-Merciful hath sent down unto the King of Paris (Napoleon III) and
to such as are like him, that thou mayest be made aware of the things
that have happened in the past, and be persuaded that We have not
sought to spread disorder in the land after it had been well-ordered.
We exhort, wholly for the sake of God, His servants. Let him who
wisheth turn unto Him, and him who wisheth turn aside. Our Lord, the
Merciful, is verily the All-Sufficing, the All-Praised. O concourse of
the kindreds of the earth! This is the day whereon nothing amongst all
things, nor any name amongst all names, can profit you save through
this Name which God hath made the Manifestation of His Cause and the
Dayspring of His Most Excellent Titles unto all who are in the kingdom
of creation. Blessed is that man that hath recognized the fragrance of
the All-Merciful and been numbered with the steadfast. Your sciences
shall not profit you in this day, nor your arts, nor your treasures,
nor your glory. Cast them all behind your backs, and set your faces
towards the Most Sublime Word through which the Scriptures and the
Books and this lucid Tablet have been distinctly set forth. Cast away,
O people, the things ye have composed with the pen of your idle fancies
and vain imaginings. By God! The Daystar of Knowledge hath shone forth
above the horizon of certitude.
-- Baha'u'llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 96
8)
Know then that it behoveth thine eminence to ponder from the outset
these questions in thy heart: What hath prompted the divers peoples and
kindreds of the earth to reject the Apostles whom God hath sent unto
them in His might and power, whom He hath raised up to exalt His Cause
and ordained to be the Lamps of eternity within the Niche of His
oneness? For what reason have the people turned aside from them,
disputed about them, risen against and contended with them? On what
grounds have they refused to acknowledge their apostleship and
authority, nay, denied their truth and reviled their persons, even
slaying or banishing them?
O thou who hast set foot in the wilderness of knowledge and taken abode
within the ark of wisdom! Not until thou hast grasped the mysteries
concealed in that which We shall relate unto thee canst thou hope to
attain to the stations of faith and certitude in the Cause of God and
in those who are the Manifestations of His Cause, the Daysprings of His
Command, the Treasuries of His revelation, and the Repositories of His
knowledge. Shouldst thou fail in this, thou wouldst be numbered with
them that have not striven for the Cause of God, nor inhaled the
fragrance of faith from the raiment of certitude, nor scaled the
heights of the divine unity, nor yet recognized the stations of divine
singleness within the Embodiments of praise and the Essences of
sanctity.
-- Baha'u'llah, Gems of Divine Mysteries, p. 4
9)
Know then that "life" hath a twofold meaning. The first pertaineth to
the appearance of man in an elemental body, and is as manifest to thine
eminence and to others as the midday sun. This life cometh to an end
with physical death, which is a God-ordained and inescapable reality.
That life, however, which is mentioned in the Books of the Prophets and
the Chosen Ones of God is the life of knowledge; that is to say, the
servant's recognition of the sign of the splendours wherewith He Who is
the Source of all splendour hath Himself invested him, and his
certitude of attaining unto the presence of God through the
Manifestations of His Cause. This is that blessed and everlasting life
that perisheth not: whosoever is quickened thereby shall never die, but
will endure as long as His Lord and Creator will endure.
The first life, which pertaineth to the elemental body, will come to an
end, as hath been revealed by God: "Every soul shall taste of death."42
But the second life, which ariseth from the knowledge of God, knoweth
no death, as hath been revealed aforetime: "Him will We surely quicken
to a blessed life."43 And in another passage concerning the martyrs:
"Nay, they are alive and sustained by their Lord."44 And from the
Traditions: "He who is a true believer liveth both in this world and in
the world to come."45 Numerous examples of similar words are to be
found in the Books of God and of the Embodiments of His justice. For
the sake of brevity, however, We have contented Ourself with the above
passages.
-- Baha'u'llah, Gems of Divine Mysteries, p. 47
10)
Every discerning observer will recognize that in the Dispensation of
the Qur'án both the Book and the Cause of Jesus were confirmed. As to
the matter of names, Muhammad, Himself, declared: "I am Jesus." He
recognized the truth of the signs, prophecies, and words of Jesus, and
testified that they were all of God. In this sense, neither the person
of Jesus nor His writings hath differed from that of Muhammad and of
His holy Book, inasmuch as both have championed the Cause of God,
uttered His praise, and revealed His commandments. Thus it is that
Jesus, Himself, declared: "I go away and come again unto you." Consider
the sun. Were it to say now, "I am the sun of yesterday," it would
speak the truth. And should it, bearing the sequence of time in mind,
claim to be other than that sun, it still would speak the truth. In
like manner, if it be said that all the days are but one and the same,
it is correct and true. And if it be said, with respect to their
particular names and designations, that they differ, that again is
true. For though they are the same, yet one doth recognize in each a
separate designation, a specific attribute, a particular character.
Conceive accordingly the distinction, variation, and unity
characteristic of the various Manifestations of holiness, that thou
mayest comprehend the allusions made by the Creator of all names and
attributes to the mysteries of distinction and unity, and discover the
answer to thy question as to why that everlasting Beauty should have,
at sundry times, called Himself by different names and titles....
-- Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 21
11)
Indeed, today that which can cleanse the people of defilement, and can
deliver them into true repose, is the faith of God, the religion of
God, the Cause of God. Thus has the invisible discourse rained down
from the heaven of mystical insight, as a grace upon you. Give thanks
and say, "To you be praise, O beloved of the mystics. And to you be
glorification, O goal of the worlds. And to you be thanks, you in whose
grasp is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth."
-- Baha'u'llah, Lawh-i-Ta'wil, Tablet on Interpretation of Scripture. Translation by Juan Cole.
12)
Fear God, and do not differ concerning His cause. Worship naught else
but Him, and wreak not corruption in the land of knowledge. Accept the
counsel proffered ye by this Servant, upon Whom the darts of the divine
decree have rained down from the crimson cloud, in such wise that none
but God can ever estimate their number, or fully perceive them. O
people, be merciful, fear God and devour not this Servant in the flames
of your own selves. Torture Him not with the idle fancies of your base
desires, and do not deliver Him into the prison of your heedlessness.
Do not slay Him with the swords of your hypocrisy, nor banish Him with
the spears of your injustice and malice. For He hath but summoned ye to
God, and shall never call ye unto anyone save the Manifestations of His
Self, the Mirrors of His inmost Essence, and Him Who standeth in the
stead of His Cause itself.
-- Baha'u'llah, Qasídiy-i-Varqá'íyyih, Ode of the Dove. Translation by Juan Cole.
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