The City of God, the religion of God in a given Dispensation.
1)
The City of God, the religion of God in a given Dispensation:
Wherefore, O my friend, it behooveth Us to exert the highest
endeavour to attain unto that City, and, by the grace of God and His
loving-kindness, rend asunder the "veils of glory"; so that, with
inflexible steadfastness, we may sacrifice our drooping souls in the
path of the New Beloved. We should with tearful eyes, fervently and
repeatedly, implore Him to grant us the favour of that grace. That city is none other than the Word of God revealed in every age and dispensation.
In the days of Moses it was the Pentateuch; in the days of Jesus the
Gospel; in the days of Muhammad the Messenger of God the Qur'án; in
this day the Bayan; and
in the dispensation of Him Whom God will make manifest His own Book --
the Book unto which all the Books of former Dispensations must needs be
referred, the Book which standeth amongst them all transcendent and
supreme. In these cities spiritual sustenance is bountifully provided,
and incorruptible delights have been ordained. The food they bestow is
the bread of heaven, and the Spirit they impart is God's imperishable
blessing. Upon detached souls they bestow the gift of Unity, enrich the
destitute, and offer the cup of knowledge unto them who wander in the
wilderness of ignorance. All the guidance, the blessings, the learning,
the understanding, the faith, and certitude, conferred upon all that is
in heaven and on earth, are hidden and treasured within these Cities.
-- Baha'u'llah, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 198
2)
In the following passage the City of God is the Revelation of Salih.
And after Noah the light of the countenance of Hud shone forth
above the horizon of creation. For well-nigh seven hundred years,
according to the sayings of men, He exhorted the people to turn their
faces and draw nearer unto the Ridvan of the divine presence. What
showers of afflictions rained upon Him, until at last His adjurations
bore the fruit of increased rebelliousness, and His assiduous
endeavours resulted in the willful blindness of His people. "And their
unbelief shall only increase for the unbelievers their own
perdition."[1]
[1 Qur'án 35:39.]
And after Him there appeared from the Ridvan of the Eternal, the
Invisible, the holy person of Salih, Who again summoned the people to
the river of everlasting life. For over a hundred years He admonished
them to hold fast unto the commandments of God and eschew that which is
forbidden. His admonitions, however, yielded no fruit, and His pleading
proved of no avail. Several times He retired and lived in seclusion.
All this, although that eternal Beauty was summoning the people to no
other than the city of God.
Even as it is revealed: "And unto the tribe of Thamud We sent their
brother Salih. 'O my people,' said He, 'Worship God, ye have none other
God beside Him....' They made reply: 'O Salih, our hopes were fixed on
thee until now; forbiddest thou us to worship that which our fathers
worshipped? Truly we misdoubt that whereunto thou callest us as
suspicious.'"[1] All this proved fruitless, until at last there went up
a great cry, and all fell into utter perdition.
[1 Qur'án 11:61, 62.]
-- Baha'u'llah, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 8
3)
In the following passages the City of God ("holy City") is the Baha'i Faith.
O ye beloved of God! O ye children of His Kingdom! Verily, verily the
new heaven and the new earth are come. The holy City, new Jerusalem,
hath come down from on high in the form of a maid of heaven [Baha'u'llah, the Independent Prophet], veiled,
beauteous, and unique, and prepared for reunion with her lovers on
earth. The angelic company of the celestial Concourse have joined in a
call that hath rung throughout the universe, all loudly and mightily
acclaiming: "Hail, O City of God! Abide Thou, and make Thy habitation
with the pure, virtuous and holy servants of Thine; for they are Thy
people, and Thou art their Lord."
-- Compilation, Bahá'í World Faith, p. 350
CLVI. He Who is the Eternal Truth hath, from the Day Spring of Glory,
directed His eyes towards the people of Baha, and is addressing them in
these words: "Address yourselves to the promotion of the well-being and
tranquillity of the children of men. Bend your minds and wills to the
education of the peoples and kindreds of the earth, that haply the
dissensions that divide it may, through the power of the Most Great
Name, be blotted out from its face, and all mankind become the
upholders of one Order, and the inhabitants of one City.
Illumine and hallow your hearts; let them not be profaned by the thorns
of hate or the thistles of malice. Ye dwell in one world, and have been
created through the operation of one Will. Blessed is he who mingleth
with all men in a spirit of utmost kindliness and love."
-- Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 333
O Shaykh! Peruse that which Isaiah hath spoken in His Book. He saith:
"Get thee up into the high mountain, O Zion, that bringest good
tidings; lift up Thy Voice with strength, O Jerusalem, that bringest
good tidings. Lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah:
'Behold your God! Behold the Lord God will come with strong hand, and
His arm shall rule for Him.'" This Day all the signs have appeared. A Great City hath descended from heaven,
and Zion trembleth and exulteth with joy at the Revelation of God, for
it hath heard the Voice of God on every side. This Day Jerusalem hath
attained unto a new Evangel, for in the stead of the sycamore standeth
the cedar. Jerusalem is the place of pilgrimage for all the peoples of
the world, and hath been named the Holy City. Together with Zion and
Palestine, they are all included within these regions. Wherefore, hath
it been said: "Blessed is the man that hath migrated to 'Akká."
-- Baha'u'llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 144
4)
In the following passage the City of God is the Islam, most of whose followers rejected the Bab.
O people of the city! Ye have disbelieved your Lord. If ye are truly faithful to Muhammad, the Apostle of God and the Seal of the Prophets,
and if ye follow His Book, the Qur'án, which is free from error, then
here is the like of it -- this Book, which We have, in truth and by the
leave of God, sent down unto Our Servant. If ye fail to believe in Him,
then your faith in Muhammad and His Book which was revealed in the past
will indeed be treated as false in the estimation of God. If ye deny
Him, the fact of your having denied Muhammad and His Book will, in very
truth and with absolute certainty, become evident unto yourselves.
Chapter IV.
FEAR ye God and breathe not a word concerning His Most Great Remembrance other than what hath been ordained by God, inasmuch as We have established a separate covenant
regarding Him with every Prophet and His followers. Indeed, We have not
sent any Messenger without this binding covenant and We do not, of a
truth, pass judgement upon anything except after the covenant of Him
Who is the Supreme Gate hath been established. Ere long the veil shall
be lifted from your eyes at the appointed time. Ye shall then behold
the sublime Remembrance of God, unclouded and vivid. Chapter V.
-- The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 45
In brief, I hold within My grasp whatsoever any man might wish of the
good of this world and of the next. Were I to remove the veil, all
would recognize Me as their Best Beloved, and no one would deny Me. Let
not this assertion astound Your Majesty; inasmuch as a true believer in
the unity of God who keepeth his eyes directed towards Him alone, will
regard aught else but Him as utter nothingness. I swear by God! I seek
no earthly goods from thee, be it as much as a mustard seed. Indeed, to
possess anything of this world or of the next would, in My estimation,
be tantamount to open blasphemy. For it ill beseemeth the believer in
the unity of God to turn his gaze to aught else, much less to hold it
in his possession. I know of a certainty that since I have God, the
Ever-Living, the Adored One, I am the possessor of all things, visible
and invisible...
In this mountain I have remained alone, and have come to such a pass
that none of those gone before Me have suffered what I have suffered,
nor any transgressor endured what I have endured! I render praise unto
God and yet again praise Him. I find Myself free from sorrow, inasmuch
as I abide within the good-pleasure of My Lord and Master. Methinks I
am in the all-highest Paradise, rejoicing at My communion with God, the
Most Great. Verily this is a bounty which God hath conferred upon Me;
and He is the Lord of unbounded blessings.
I swear by the truth of God! Wert thou to know that which I know, thou
wouldst forgo the sovereignty of this world and of the next, that thou
mightest attain My good-pleasure, through thine obedience unto the True
One... Wert thou to refuse, the Lord of the world would raise up one
who would exalt His Cause, and the Command of God would, verily, be
carried into effect.
-- The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 15
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