Chapter C54
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The Mystery of God -- the Independent Prophet and the Dependent Prophet.
1)
The Mystery 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
2)
The Mystery of God, the Bab (Primal Point), the Independent Prophet:
Magnify Thou, O Lord my God, Him Who is the Primal Point, the Divine
Mystery, the Unseen Essence, the Day-Spring of Divinity, and the
Manifestation of Thy Lordship, through Whom all the knowledge of the
past and all the knowledge of the future were made plain, through Whom
the pearls of Thy hidden wisdom were uncovered, and the mystery of
Thy treasured name disclosed, Whom Thou hast appointed as the Announcer
of the One through Whose name the letter B and the letter E have been
joined and united, through Whom Thy majesty, Thy sovereignty and Thy
might were made known, through Whom Thy words have been sent down, and
Thy laws set forth with clearness, and Thy signs spread abroad, and Thy
Word established, through Whom the hearts of Thy chosen ones were laid
bare, and all that were in the heavens and all that were on the earth
were gathered together, Whom Thou hast called Ali-Muhammad in the
kingdom of Thy names, and the Spirit of Spirits in the Tablets of Thine
irrevocable decree, Whom Thou hast invested with Thine own title, unto
Whose name all other names have, at Thy bidding and through the power
of Thy might, been made to return, and in Whom Thou hast caused all
Thine attributes and titles to attain their final consummation. To Him
also belong such names as lay hid within Thy stainless tabernacles, in
Thine invisible world and Thy sanctified cities.
-- Baha'u'llah, Prayers and Meditations by Baha'u'llah, p. 84
3)
The Mystery of God, Imam Ali, the first Dependent Prophet in the era of Muhammad:
He whose acceptance of my guardianship is based on external reality
more than internal truth, he is that one "whose balance will be Light"
[Qur'an 7:9] Those whose scale will be light, will be their souls in
perdition [Qur'an 23:103 and 101:8]. Salman! The faith of no believer
will attain perfection unless and until he recognizes me with
luminousness. If he attains this then he has truly attained faith whose
heart is tested with true faith and whose chest is dilated in true
Islam whose faith is based on discernment. He who is convicted of
shortcoming in this cognition he will be a doubter immersed in
disbelief.
O Salman! And O Jandab [Abu Dharr]! In truth My recognition in
luminousness is the recognition of God [Ma'rifat Allah] and Recognition
and knowledge of God is indeed my knowledge and this is what is meant
by sincere devotion/pure religion [ad-Deen al Khaalis, Qur'an 39:3]...
Salman! We are the Mystery of God [Sirru'llah] that shall not remain
hidden. We are His light that shall never be extinguished, His Grace
that is not to be expected from any one but Him. Muhammad is our first,
Muhammad our last, Muhammad our all.
Muhammad is our first, Muhammad our last, Muhammad our all. He who
recognises us in this regard has consummated the Faith in truth.
-- Imam Ali, Sermon of Ma'rifat bin-Nuraaniyyat (Recognition with Luminousness). Translation by K. Fananapazir.
4)
The Mystery of God, Abdu'l-Baha, the Branch:
He [Abdu'l-Baha] alone had been accorded the privilege of being called "the Master,"
an honor from which His Father had strictly excluded all His other
sons. Upon Him that loving and unerring Father had chosen to confer the
unique title of "Sirru'llah" (the Mystery of God),
...
-- Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 241
THE MYSTERY OF GOD
TABLET OF THE BRANCH
He is Eternal in His Abha Horizon!
Verily, the Cause of God hath come upon the clouds of utterances and
the polytheists are in this day in great torment! Verily, the hosts of
revelation have descended with banners of inspiration from the heaven
of the Tablet in the name of God, the powerful, the mighty! At this
time the monotheists all rejoice in the victory of God and His
dominion, and the deniers will then be in manifest perplexity.
O ye people! Do ye flee from the mercy of God after it has encompassed
the existent things created between the heavens and earths? Beware lest
ye prefer your own selves before the mercy of God, and deprive not
yourselves thereof! Verily, whosoever turneth away therefrom will be in
great loss. Verily, mercy is like unto verses which have descended from
the one heaven, and from them the monotheists drink the choice wine of
life, whilst the polytheists drink from the fiery water; and when the
verses of God are read unto them, the fire of hatred is enkindled
within their breasts. Thus have they preferred their own selves before
the mercy of God, and are of those who are heedless.
Enter, O people, beneath the shelter of the Word! Then drink therefrom
the choice wine of inner significances and utterances; for therein is
hidden the kawther of the glorious One and it hath appeared from the
horizon of the Will of your Lord, the merciful, with wonderful lights.
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.
-- Baha'u'llah, The Tablet of the Branch - from Bahá'í World Faith, Pages: 204-207
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