Chapter C18
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Brief compilation on the Day of Judgement, the day of the appearance of the Manifestation of God, one of the two classes of Prophets.
1)
The Day of Judgement brought by the appearance the Bab, a Manifestation of God, an Independent
Prophet.
GLORY be unto Thee, O Lord my God! I beg Thee to forgive me and
those who support Thy Faith. Verily Thou art the sovereign Lord, the
Forgiver, the Most Generous. O my God! Enable such servants of Thine as
are deprived of knowledge to be admitted into Thy Cause; for once they
learn of Thee, they bear witness to the truth of the Day of Judgement
and do not dispute the revelations of Thy bounty. Send down upon them
the tokens of Thy grace and grant them, wherever they reside, a liberal
share of that which Thou hast ordained for the pious among Thy
servants. Thou art in truth the Supreme Ruler, the All-Bounteous, the
Most Benevolent.
-- The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 199
2)
And further He saith:
"Out of his mouth goeth a two-edged sword." Know thou that since the
sword is an instrument that divideth and cleaveth asunder, and since
there proceedeth from the mouth of the Prophets and the Chosen Ones of God
that which separateth the believer from the infidel and the lover from
the beloved, this term hath been so employed, and apart from this
dividing and separating no other meaning is intended. Thus, when He Who
is the Primal Point and the eternal Sun desireth, by the leave of God,
to gather together all creation, to raise them up from the graves of
their own selves, and to divide them one from another, He shall
pronounce but one verse from Him, and this verse will distinguish truth
from error from this day unto the Day of Resurrection.
What sword is sharper than this heavenly sword, what blade more
trenchant than this incorruptible steel that severeth every tie and
separateth thereby the believer from the infidel, father from son,
brother from sister, and lover from beloved? For whoso believeth in
that which hath been revealed unto him is a true believer and whoso
turneth away is an infidel, and such an irrevocable separation
occurreth between them that they will cease to consort and associate
with each other in this world. And so it is between father and son, for
should the son believe and the father deny, they will be severed and
forever dissociated from each other. Nay rather, thou witnesseth how
the son slayeth the father and the father the son. Consider in the same
light all that We have explained and related unto thee.
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Wert thou to behold all things with the eye of discernment, thou
wouldst indeed see that this divine sword doth cleave asunder
generations. Would that ye could understand it! All this is by virtue
of the word of separation that is manifested on the Day of Judgement
and Separation, were the people to take heed in the days of their Lord.
Nay, couldst thou but sharpen thy sight and refine thy heart, thou
wouldst witness that all the material swords which in every day and age
have slain the infidels and waged war against the impious proceed from
this divine and invisible sword. Open then thine eyes, that thou mayest
behold all that We have revealed to thee and attain unto that which
none other hath attained. We verily exclaim: "Praise be to God, He Who
is the Lord of the Day of Reckoning!"54
-- Baha'u'llah, Gems of Divine Mysteries, p. 56
3)
The Day of Judgement brought by the appearance Imam Ali, a Manifestation of God, the first Dependent
Prophet in the era of Muhammad.
In like manner, two of the people of Kufih went to Ali [Imam Ali], the Commander
of the Faithful. One owned a house and wished to sell it; the other was
to be the purchaser. They had agreed that this transaction should be
effected and the contract be written with the knowledge of Ali. He, the
exponent of the law of God, addressing the scribe, said: "Write thou:
'A dead man hath bought from another dead man a house. That house is
bounded by four limits. One extendeth toward the tomb, the other to the
vault of the grave, the third to the Sirat, the fourth to either
Paradise or hell.'" Reflect, had these two souls been quickened by the
trumpet-call of Ali, had they risen from the grave of error by the
power of his love, the judgment of death would certainly not have been
pronounced against them.
In every age and century, the purpose of the Prophets of God and their
chosen ones hath been no other but to affirm the spiritual significance
of the terms "life," "resurrection," and "judgment." If one will ponder
but for a while this utterance of Ali in his heart, one will surely
discover all mysteries hidden in the terms "grave," "tomb," "sirat,"
"paradise" and "hell."
--Bahá'u'lláh, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 119
4)
The Day of Judgement brought by the appearance Baha'u'llah ("Him Whom Thou wilt make manifest"), a Manifestation of God, an Independent
Prophet,.
SEND down Thy blessings, O my God, upon the Tree of the Bayan, upon its
root and its branch, its boughs, its leaves, its fruits and upon
whatsoever it beareth or sheltereth. Cause this Tree then to be made into a magnificent Scroll to be offered to the presence of Him Whom Thou wilt make manifest on the Day of Judgement,
that He may graciously allow the entire company of the followers of the
Bayan to be restored to life and that He may, through His bounty,
inaugurate a new creation.
-- The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 172
Adorn ye your bodies whilst the raiment of God is stained with the
blood of hatred at the hands of the people of denial? Issue forth from
your habitations and bid the people enter the Kingdom of God, the Lord
of the Day of Judgement. The Word which the Son concealed is made
manifest. It hath been sent down in the form of the human temple in
this day. Blessed be the Lord Who is the Father! He, verily, is come
unto the nations in His most great majesty. Turn your faces towards
Him, O concourse of the righteous!
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O followers of all religions! We behold you wandering distraught in the
wilderness of error. Ye are the fish of this Ocean; wherefore do ye
withhold yourselves from that which sustaineth you? Lo, it surgeth
before your faces. Hasten unto it from every clime. This is the day
whereon the Rock [Peter] crieth out and shouteth, and celebrateth the
praise of its Lord, the All-Possessing, the Most High, saying: "Lo! The
Father is come, and that which ye were promised in the Kingdom is
fulfilled!" This is the Word which was preserved behind the veils of
grandeur, and which, when the Promise came to pass, shed its radiance
from the horizon of the Divine Will with clear tokens.
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My body hath borne imprisonment that your souls may be released from
bondage, and We have consented to be abased that ye may be exalted.
Follow the Lord of glory and dominion, and not every ungodly oppressor.
My body longeth for the cross, and Mine head awaiteth the thrust of the
spear, in the path of the All-Merciful, that the world may be purged
from its transgressions. Thus hath the Daystar of divine authority
shone forth from the horizon of the Revelation of Him Who is the
Possessor of all names and attributes.
-- Baha'u'llah, The Summons of the Lord of Hosts, p. 57
5)
The Day of Judgement brought by the the appearance of the "Living Temple", a Manifestation of God, a Dependent
Prophet of Baha'u'llah,
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O Living [the pre-existent Dependent Prophet when on the earthly plane] Temple!
We, verily, have made Thee a mirror unto the kingdom of names, that
Thou mayest be, amidst all mankind, a sign of My sovereignty, a herald
unto My presence, a summoner unto My beauty, and a guide unto My straight and perspicuous Path.
We have exalted Thy Name among Our servants as a bounty from Our
presence. I, verily, am the All-Bountiful, the Ancient of Days. We
have, moreover, adorned Thee with the ornament of Our own Self, and
have imparted unto Thee Our Word, that Thou mayest ordain in this
contingent world whatsoever Thou willest and accomplish whatsoever Thou
pleasest. We have destined for Thee all the good of the heavens and of
the earth, and decreed that none may attain unto a portion thereof
unless he entereth beneath Thy shadow, as bidden by Thy Lord, the
All-Knowing, the All-Informed. We have conferred upon Thee the Staff of
authority and the Writ of judgement, that Thou mayest test the wisdom
of every command. We have caused the oceans of inner meaning and explanation to surge from Thy heart in remembrance of Thy Lord, the God of mercy,
that Thou mayest render thanks and praise unto Him and be of those who
are truly thankful. We have singled Thee out from amongst all Our
creatures, and have appointed Thee as the Manifestation of Our own Self unto all who are in the heavens and on the earth.
-- Baha'u'llah, Surih of the Temple, The Summons of the Lord of Hosts, p. 43.
6)
O King of Islam! Aid
thou, with the truth, after having aided the Book, Him Who is Our Most
Great Remembrance, for God hath, in very truth, destined for thee, and
for such as circle round thee, on the Day of Judgement, a responsible position in His Path. I swear by God, O Shah! If thou showest enmity unto Him Who is His Remembrance, God will, on the Day of Resurrection,
condemn thee, before the kings, unto hell-fire, and thou shalt not, in
very truth, find on that Day any helper except God, the Exalted. Purge
thou, O Shah, the Sacred Land [Tihran] from such as have repudiated the
Book, ere the day whereon the Remembrance of God
cometh, terribly and of a sudden, with His potent Cause, by the leave
of God, the Most High. God, verily, hath prescribed to thee to submit
unto Him Who is His Remembrance, and unto His Cause, and to subdue,
with the truth and by His leave, the countries, for in this world thou
hast been mercifully invested with sovereignty, and wilt, in the next,
dwell, nigh unto the Seat of Holiness, with the inmates of the Paradise
of His good-pleasure...
-- The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 41
7)
Wherefore, let it not be concealed from anyone who looks on these words
that God has caused the creation of the Qur'án to return on the Day of Judgement
through the manifestation of His own Self upon that Day. Whereupon, He
has created all things freshly, as if they had all just been brought
into existence at that very instant For all that has ever been created
was for the Day of the appearance of God, for He it is in which all
things reach their end, and He it is in Whom they achieve their
destiny. After He manifested Himself through the appearance of the
signs of His power, there can be no doubt at all that all things have
reached the Divine Presence in that state of perfection which they are
capable of attaining. God, may He be praised and glorified, has created
the Primal Will once more, and through It He has created all things.
And, since all things have been mentioned in a new creation, this is a
proof that His creation has neither beginning nor end. Wherefore, there
has never been a situation in which God was Lord and there were no
created beings to worship Him. God has existed eternally in the
exaltation of His Holiness, and all others have existed in the
degradation of their own limitations.
-- The Bab, The Persian Bayan
8)
AS to those who have debarred themselves from the Revelation
of God, they have indeed failed to understand the significance of a
single letter of the Qur'án, nor have they obtained the slightest
notion of the Faith of Islam, otherwise they would not have turned away
from God, Who hath brought them into being, Who hath nurtured them,
hath caused them to die and hath proffered life unto them, by clinging
to parts of their religion, thinking that they are doing righteous work
for the sake of God.
How numerous the verses which have been revealed concerning the grievous tests ye shall experience on the Day of Judgement,
yet it appeareth that ye have never perused them; and how vast the
number of revealed traditions regarding the trials which will overtake
you on the Day of Our Return, and yet ye seem never to have set your
eyes upon them.
Ye spend all your days contriving forms and rules for the principles of
your Faith, while that which profiteth you in all this is to comprehend
the good-pleasure of your Lord and unitedly to become well-acquainted
with His supreme Purpose.
-- The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 139
9)
WHENEVER the faithful hear the verses of this Book being recited, their
eyes will overflow with tears and their hearts will be deeply touched
by Him Who is the Most Great Remembrance for the love they cherish for
God, the All-Praised. He is God, the All-Knowing, the Eternal. They are
indeed the inmates of the all-highest Paradise wherein they will abide
for ever. Verily they will see naught therein save that which hath
proceeded from God, nothing that will lie beyond the compass of their
understanding. There they will meet the believers in Paradise, who will
address them with the words 'Peace, Peace' lingering on their lips...
O concourse of the faithful! Incline your ears to My Voice, proclaimed by this Remembrance of God. Verily God hath revealed unto Me that the Path of the Remembrance which is set forth by Me is, in very truth, the straight Path of God, and that whoever professeth any religion other than this upright Faith, will, when called to account on the Day of Judgement, discover that as recorded in the Book no benefit hath he reaped out of God's Religion...
-- The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 62
10)
O Qurratu'l-'Ayn! Deliver the summons of the most exalted Word unto the
handmaids among Thy kindred, caution them against the Most Great Fire
and announce unto them the joyful tidings that following this mighty Covenant
there shall be everlasting reunion with God in the Paradise of His
good-pleasure, nigh unto the Seat of Holiness. Verily God, the Lord of
creation, is potent over all things.
O Thou Mother of the Remembrance! May the peace and salutation of God
rest upon thee. Indeed thou hast endured patiently in Him Who is the
sublime Self of God.
Recognize then the station of thy Son Who is none other than the mighty
Word of God. He hath verily pledged Himself to be answerable for thee
both in thy grave and on the Judgement Day,
while thou hast, in the Preserved Tablet of God, been immortalized as
the 'Mother of the Faithful' by the Pen of His Remembrance. Chapter
XXVIII.
-- The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 52
11)
In these times thanksgiving for the bounty of the Merciful One consists
in the illumination of the heart and the feeling of the soul. This is
the reality of thanksgiving. But, although offering thanks through
speech or writings is approvable, yet, in comparison with that, it is
but unreal, for the foundation is spiritual feelings and merciful
sentiments. I hope that you may be favored therewith. But the lack of
capacity and merit in the Day of Judgement
does not prevent one from bounty and generosity, for it is the day of
grace and not justice, and to give every one his due is justice.
Consequently, do not look upon thy capacity, nay, rather, look upon the
infinite grace of the Bounty of ABHA whose grace is comprehending and
whose bounty is perfect.
-- Abdu'l-Baha, Tablets of Abdu'l-Baha v2, p. 242
12)
Is it their wish to tarry here when already they have one foot in the
stirrup? Look they to return, once they are gone? Nay, by Him Who is
the Lord of Lords! save on the Day of Judgement,
the Day whereon the people shall arise from their graves and be asked
of their legacy. Well is it with him who shall not be weighted down
with his burdens on that Day, the Day whereon the mountains shall pass
away and all shall gather to be questioned in the presence of God, the
Most Exalted. Stern, indeed, is He in punishing!
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We beseech God to purge the hearts of certain divines from rancour and
enmity, that they may look upon matters with an eye unbeclouded by
contempt. May He raise them up unto so lofty a station that neither the
attractions of the world, nor the allurements of authority, may deflect
them from gazing upon the Supreme Horizon, and that neither worldly
benefits nor carnal desires shall prevent them from attaining that Day
whereon the mountains shall be reduced to dust. Though they now rejoice
in the adversity that hath befallen Us, soon shall come a day whereon
they shall lament and weep. By My Lord! Were I given the choice
between, on the one hand, the wealth and opulence, the ease and
comfort, the honour and glory which they enjoy, and, on the other, the
adversities and trials which are Mine, I would unhesitatingly choose My
present condition and would refuse to barter a single atom of these
hardships for all that hath been created in the world of being.
-- Baha'u'llah, The Summons of the Lord of Hosts, p. 134
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