Chapter C57
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References on Names -- the Revelation of God through His Manifestations, His Chosen Ones, the two classes of Prophets.
1)
"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."
-- Bahá'u'lláh, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 57-58
2)
These attributes of God are not and have never been vouchsafed specially unto certain Prophets, and withheld from others. Nay,
all the Prophets of God, His well-favoured, His holy, and chosen
Messengers, are, without exception, the bearers of His names, and the
embodiments of His attributes. They only differ in the intensity
of their revelation, and the comparative potency of their light. Even
as He hath revealed: "Some of the Apostles We have caused to excel the
others."[1] It hath therefore become manifest and evident that within
the tabernacles of these Prophets and chosen Ones of God the light of His infinite names and exalted attributes hath been reflected, even though the light of some of these attributes may or may not be outwardly revealed from these luminous Temples
to the eyes of men. That a certain attribute of God hath not been
outwardly manifested by these Essences of Detachment doth in no wise
imply that they Who are the Daysprings of God's attributes and the
Treasuries of His holy names did not actually possess it. Therefore,
these illuminated Souls, these beauteous Countenances
have, each and every one of them, been endowed with all the attributes
of God, such as sovereignty, dominion, and the like, even though to
outward seeming they be shorn of all earthly majesty. To every
discerning eye this is evident and manifest; it requireth neither proof
nor evidence.
[1 Qur'án 2:253.]
-- Baha'u'llah, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 103
3)
Such revelation is confined to His Prophets and chosen Ones,
inasmuch as none mightier than they hath come to exist in the world of
being. This truth all recognize, and bear witness thereto. These
Prophets and chosen Ones of God are the recipients and revealers of all
the unchangeable attributes and names of God. They are the mirrors that
truly and faithfully reflect the light of God. Whatsoever is applicable
to them is in reality applicable to God, Himself, Who is both the
Visible and the Invisible. The knowledge of Him, Who is the Origin of
all things, and attainment unto Him, are impossible save through
knowledge of, and attainment unto, these luminous Beings who proceed
from the Sun of Truth. By attaining, therefore, to the presence of
these holy Luminaries, the "Presence of God" Himself is attained. From
their knowledge, the knowledge of God is revealed, and from the light
of their countenance, the splendour of the Face of God is made manifest.
-- Baha'u'llah, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 141
4)
This is an Epistle from Our presence unto him whom the veils of names
have failed to keep back from God, the Creator of earth and heaven,
that his eyes may be cheered in the days of his Lord, the Help in
Peril, the Self-Subsisting.
Say, O followers of the Son! Have ye shut out yourselves from Me by
reason of My Name? Wherefore ponder ye not in your hearts? Day and
night ye have been calling upon your Lord, the Omnipotent, but when He
came from the heaven of eternity in His great glory, ye turned aside
from Him and remained sunk in heedlessness.
-- Bahá'u'lláh, Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 9
5)
Forget the world of creation, O Pen, and turn thou towards the face of
thy Lord, the Lord of all names. Adorn, then, the world with the
ornament of the favors of thy Lord, the King of everlasting days. For
We perceive the fragrance of the Day whereon He Who is the Desire of
all nations hath shed upon the kingdoms of the unseen and of the seen
the splendor of the light of His most excellent names, and enveloped
them with the radiance of the luminaries of His most gracious
favors--favors which none can reckon except Him, Who is the omnipotent
Protector of the entire creation.
-- Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 32
6)
Attract the hearts of men, through the call of Him, the one alone
Beloved. Say: This is the Voice of God, if ye do but hearken. This is
the Day Spring of the Revelation of God, did ye but know it. This is
the Dawning-Place of the Cause of God, were ye to recognize it. This is
the Source of the commandment of God, did ye but judge it fairly. This
is the manifest and hidden Secret; would that ye might perceive it. O
peoples of the world! Cast away, in My name that transcendeth all other
names, the things ye possess, and immerse yourselves in this Ocean in
whose depths lay hidden the pearls of wisdom and of utterance, an ocean
that surgeth in My name, the All-Merciful. Thus instructeth you He with
Whom is the Mother Book.
-- Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 33
7)
LVII. O Jews! If ye be intent on crucifying once again Jesus, the
Spirit of God, put Me to death, for He hath once more, in My person,
been made manifest unto you. Deal with Me as ye wish, for I have vowed
to lay down My life in the path of God. I will fear no one, though the
powers of earth and heaven be leagued against Me. Followers of the
Gospel! If ye cherish the desire to slay Muhammad, the Apostle of God,
seize Me and put an end to My life, for I am He, and My Self is His
Self. Do unto Me as ye like, for the deepest longing of Mine heart is
to attain the presence of My Best-Beloved in His Kingdom of Glory. Such
is the Divine decree, if ye know it. Followers of Muhammad! If it be
your wish to riddle with your shafts the breast of Him Who hath caused
His Book the Bayán to be sent down unto you, lay hands on Me and
persecute Me, for I am His Well-Beloved, the revelation of His own
Self, though My name be not His name. I have come in the shadows of the
clouds of glory, and am invested by God with invincible sovereignty.
He, verily, is the Truth, the Knower of things unseen. I, verily,
anticipate from you the treatment ye have accorded unto Him that came
before Me. To this all things, verily, witness, if ye be of those who
hearken.
-- Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 101
8)
And when after the lapse of a few years the heaven of Divine decree was
cleft asunder, and the Beauty of the Báb appeared in the clouds of the
names of God, arrayed in a new raiment, these same people maliciously
rose up against Him, Whose light embraceth all created things. They
broke His Covenant, rejected His truth, contended with Him, caviled at
His signs, treated His testimony as falsehood, and joined the company
of the infidels. Eventually, they determined to take away His life.
Such is the state of them who are in a far-gone error!
-- Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 147
9)
LXXIII. It is clear and evident that when the veils that conceal the
realities of the manifestations of the Names and Attributes of God, nay
of all created things visible or invisible, have been rent asunder,
nothing except the Sign of God will remain--a sign which He, Himself,
hath placed within these realities. This sign will endure as long as is
the wish of the Lord thy God, the Lord of the heavens and of the earth.
If such be the blessings conferred on all created things, how superior
must be the destiny of the true believer, whose existence and life are
to be regarded as the originating purpose of all creation.
-- Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 140
10)
Letter
is a symbolic term used to refer to a Dependent Prophet, while Word
refers to the Independent Prophet.
1.38
O Second Letter of this Temple [the Word, Baha'u'llah, the Independent Prophet], betokening My name, the Almighty! We
have made thee the manifestation of Our sovereignty and the dayspring
of Our Names. Potent am I to fulfil that which My tongue speaketh.
-- Baha'u'llah, Surih of the Temple, The Summons of the Lord of Hosts, p. 21
11)
O Kings of the earth! He Who is the sovereign Lord of all is come. The
Kingdom is God's, the omnipotent Protector, the Self-Subsisting.
Worship none but God, and, with radiant hearts, lift up your faces unto
your Lord, the Lord of all names. This is a Revelation to which
whatever ye possess can never be compared, could ye but know it. We see
you rejoicing in that which ye have amassed for others, and shutting
out yourselves from the worlds which naught except My Guarded Tablet
can reckon. The treasures ye have laid up have drawn you far away from
your ultimate objective. This ill beseemeth you, could ye but
understand it. Wash your hearts from all earthly defilements, and
hasten to enter the Kingdom of your Lord, the Creator of earth and
heaven, Who caused the world to tremble, and all its peoples to wail,
except them that have renounced all things and clung to that which the
Hidden Tablet hath ordained....
-- Bahá'u'lláh, Proclamation of Bahá'u'lláh, p.
12)
Further, we have harkened to what the nightingale of knowledge sang on
the boughs of the tree of thy being, and learned what the dove of
certitude cried on the branches of the bower of thy heart. Methinks I
verily inhaled the pure fragrances of the garment of thy love, and
attained thy very meeting from perusing thy letter. And since I noted
thy mention of thy death in God, and thy life through Him, and thy love
for the beloved of God and the Manifestations of His Names and the
Dawning-Points of His Attributes--I therefore reveal unto thee sacred
and resplendent tokens from the planes of glory, to attract thee into
the court of holiness and nearness and beauty, and draw thee to a
station wherein thou shalt see nothing in creation save the Face of thy
Beloved One, the Honored, and behold all created things only as in the
day wherein none hath a mention.
-- Bahá'u'lláh, The Seven Valleys and the Four Valleys, p. 2
13)
1.45
Beware lest ye speak of duality in regard to My Self, for all the atoms
of the earth proclaim that there is none other God but Him, the One,
the Single, the Mighty, the Loving. From the beginning that hath no
beginning I have proclaimed, from the realm of eternity, that I am God,
none other God is there save Me, the Help in Peril, the
Self-Subsisting; and unto the end that hath no end I shall proclaim,
amidst the kingdom of names, that I am God, none other God is there
beside Me, the All-Glorious, the Best-Beloved. Say: Lordship is My
Name, whereof I have created manifestations in the world of being,
while We Ourself remain sanctified above them, would ye but ponder this
truth. And Godhead is My Name, whereof We have created exponents whose
power shall encompass the people of the earth and make them true
worshippers of God, could ye but recognize it. Thus should ye regard
all Our Names, if ye be endued with insight.
-- Baha'u'llah, Surih of the Temple, The Summons of the Lord of Hosts, p. 23
14)
1.73
Say: We have made each one of Our Names a wellspring from which We have
caused the streams of divine wisdom and understanding to gush forth and
flow in the garden of Our Cause -- streams whose number none can reckon
save Thy Lord, the Most Holy, the Omnipotent, the Omniscient, the
All-Wise. Say: We have generated all Letters
from the Point and have caused them to return unto It, and We
have sent It down again in the form of a human temple. All glory be
unto the Author of this incomparable and wondrous handiwork! Erelong
shall We unfold and expound It again, in Our name, the All-Glorious.
This is indeed a token of Our grace, and I, truly, am the Most
Bountiful, the Ancient of Days.
1.74
We have brought forth all Lights from the Orb of Our name, the True
One, have caused them to return unto It, and have again made them
manifest in the form of a human temple. All glory be unto the Lord of
strength, might, and power! None can withstand the operation of My will
or the exercise of My might. I am He Who hath raised up all creatures
through a word of My mouth, and My power is, in truth, equal to My
purpose.
-- Baha'u'llah, Surih of the Temple, The Summons of the Lord of Hosts, p. 38
15)
O thou who art standing before My Throne and yet remain unaware
thereof! Know thou that whoso seeketh to scale the summits of the
divine mysteries must needs strive to the utmost of his power and
capacity for his Faith, that the pathway of guidance may be made clear
unto him. And should he encounter One Who layeth claim to a Cause from
God, and Who holdeth from His Lord a testimony beyond the power of men
to produce, he must needs follow Him in all that He pleaseth to
proclaim, command and ordain, even were He to decree the sea to be
land, or to pronounce earth to be heaven, or that the former lieth
above the latter or below it, or to ordain any change or
transformation, for He, verily, is aware of the celestial mysteries,
the unseen subtleties, and the ordinances of God.
31 Were the peoples of every nation to observe that which hath been
mentioned, the matter would be made simple unto them, and such words
and allusions would not withhold them from the Ocean of the names and
attributes of God. And had the people known this truth, they would not
have denied God's favours, nor would they have risen against, contended
with, and rejected His Prophets. Similar passages are also to be found
in the Qur'án, should the matter be carefully examined.
32 Know, moreover, that it is through such words that God proveth His
servants and sifteth them, separating the believer from the infidel,
the detached from the worldly, the pious from the profligate, the doer
of good from the worker of iniquity, and so forth. Thus hath the Dove
of holiness proclaimed: "Do men think when they say 'We believe' they
shall be let alone and not be put to proof?"
-- Baha'u'llah, Gems of Divine Mysteries, p. 24
16)
This servant will now share with thee a dewdrop out of the fathomless
ocean of the truths treasured in these holy words, that haply
discerning hearts may comprehend all the allusions and the implications
of the utterances of the Manifestations of Holiness, so that the
overpowering majesty of the Word of God may not prevent them from
attaining unto the ocean of His names and attributes, nor deprive them
of recognizing the Lamp of God which is the seat of the revelation of
His glorified Essence.
-- Baha'u'llah, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 28
17)
I yield Thee such thanks as can cause the Nightingale of Glory to pour
forth its melody in the highest heaven: "Ali (the Bab), in truth, is
Thy servant, Whom Thou hast singled out from among Thy Messengers and
Thy chosen Ones, and made Him to be the Manifestation of Thyself in all
that pertaineth unto Thee, and that concerneth the revelation of Thine
attributes and the evidences of Thy names."
-- Baha'u'llah, Prayers and Meditations by Baha'u'llah, p. 329
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