Chapter C75
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The Remembrance of God -- the Independent and Dependent Prophets.
1)
The Bab, an Independent Prophet, is the Remembrance of God.
O people of the earth! Whoso obeyeth the Remembrance of God and
His Book hath in truth obeyed God and His chosen ones and he will, in
the life to come, be reckoned in the presence of God among the inmates
of the Paradise of His good-pleasure.
-- The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 43
DO men imagine that We are far distant from the people of the world?
Nay, the day We cause them to be assailed by the pangs of death [1]
they shall, upon the plain of Resurrection, behold how the Lord of
Mercy and His Remembrance
were near. Thereupon they shall exclaim: 'Would that we had followed
the path of the Bab! Would that we had sought refuge only with Him, and
not with men of perversity and error! For verily the Remembrance of God appeared before us,[2] behind us, and on all sides, yet we were, in very truth, shut out as by a veil from Him.' Chapter VII.
[1 cf. Qur'án 68:42 ]
[2 cf. ibid. 7:63, 69]
-- The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 46
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
2)
Baha'u'llah, an Independent Prophet, is the Remembrance of God.
Unlock, O people, the gates of the hearts of men with the keys of the
remembrance of Him Who is the Remembrance of God and the Source of
wisdom amongst you. He hath chosen out of the whole world the hearts of
His servants, and made them each a seat for the revelation of His
glory. Wherefore, sanctify them from every defilement, that the things
for which they were created may be engraven upon them. This indeed is a
token of God's bountiful favor.
-- Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 295
Glorified be Thy name, O Lord my God! I beseech Thee by Him Who is Thine exalted and supreme Remembrance,
Whom Thou hast sent down unto all Thy creatures and invested with Thy
name, the All-Glorious, Whose will Thou hast ordained to be Thine own
will, Whose self Thou hast decreed to be the revealer of Thine own
Self, and His essence the Day-Spring of Thy wisdom, and His heart the
treasury of Thine inspiration, and His breast the dawning-place of Thy
most excellent attributes and most exalted titles, and His tongue the
fountain-head of the waters of Thy praise and the well-spring of the
soft-flowing streams of Thy wisdom, to send down upon us that which
will enable us to dispense with all else except Thee, and will cause us
to direct our steps towards the sanctuary of Thy pleasure and to aspire
after the things Thou didst ordain for us according to Thine
irrevocable decree. Empower us, then, O my God, to forsake ourselves
and cleave steadfastly to Him Who is the Manifestation of Thy Self, the
Most Exalted, the Most High.
-- Baha'u'llah, Prayers and Meditations by Baha'u'llah, p. 130
3)
Abdu'l-Baha, a Branch, a Dependent Prophet, is the Remembrance of God.
Say: Verily, the branch of command [Abdu'l-Baha, the Dependent Prophet] hath sprung forth from this root
[Baha'u'llah, the Independent Prophet] which God hath firmly planted in the ground of the will, the limb of
which has been elevated to a station which encompasses all existence.
Therefore, exalted be He for this creation, the lofty, the blessed, the
inaccessible, the mighty!
...
Say: O people, praise ye God, for its Manifestation, for verily it is
the most great favor upon you and the most perfect blessing upon you;
and through Him every moldering bone is quickened Whosoever turns to
Him hath surely turned unto God, and who soever turneth away from Him
hath turned away from My beauty denied My proof and is of those who
transgress. Verily, He is the remembrance of God amongst you and His
trust within you, and His manifestation unto you and His appearance
among the servants who are nigh. Thus have I been commanded to convey
to you the message of God, your Creator; and I have delivered to you
that of which I was commanded. Whereupon, thereunto testifieth God,
then His angels, then His messengers, and then His holy servants.
-- Baha'u'llah, The Tablet of the Branch - from Bahá'í World Faith, Pages: 204-207
4)
The Dependent Prophet of Baha'u'llah (referred to by the symbolic words, "O Tongue of this Temple") is the Remembrance of God.
1.21
O Tongue [Dependent Prophet] of this Temple [the Maid of Heaven, Baha'u'llah, the Independent Prophet]!
We, verily, have created thee through Our name, the All-Merciful, have
taught thee whatsoever had remained concealed in the Bayan, and have
bestowed upon thee the power of utterance, that thou mayest make
mention of Mine exalted Self amidst My creatures. Proclaim, then, this
wondrous and mighty Remembrance, and fear not the manifestations of the
Evil One. Thou wert called into being for this very purpose by virtue
of My transcendent and all-compelling command. Through thee have We
unloosed the Tongue of Utterance to expound all that hath been, and We
shall again, by My sovereign power, unloose it to speak of that which
is yet to come. Erelong shall We bring into being through thee eloquent
tongues that will praise and extol Me amongst the Concourse on high and
amidst the peoples of the world. Thus have the verses of God been
revealed, and thus hath it been decreed by the Lord of all names and
attributes. Thy Lord, verily, is the True One, the Knower of things
unseen. Nothing whatsoever shall prevent these tongues from magnifying
their Creator. Through them, all created things shall arise to glorify
the Lord of names and to bear witness that there is none other God save
Me, the All-Powerful, the Most-Glorious, the Best-Beloved. Nor shall
those who make mention of Me speak aught unless they be inspired by
this Tongue from its lofty station. Few, however, are they who
understand! No tongue is there that speaketh not the praises of its
Lord and maketh not mention of His Name. Amongst the
people, however, are those who understand and utter praises, and those
who utter praises, yet understand not.
-- Baha'u'llah, Surih of the Temple, The Summons of the Lord of Hosts, p. 11
5)
The Dependent Prophets of Baha'u'llah are the Remembrance of God.
This is the Sura of the Temple which God has made the Mirror of His Names between the earth and heaven and the sign of His remembrances among the people of the world.
-- Baha'u'llah, Surih of the Temple (Suratu'l-Haykal). Translation by Anton Haddad.
"This is the Surih of the Temple which God hath ordained to be the
Mirror of His Names between the heavens and the earth, and the Sign of His Remembrance amidst the peoples of the world."
...
1.12
O Pen of the Most High! Hearken unto the Call of Thy Lord, raised from
the Divine Lote-Tree in the holy and luminous Spot, that the sweet
accents of Thy Lord, the All-Merciful, may fill Thy soul with joy and
fervour, and that the breezes that waft from My name, the
Ever-Forgiving, may dispel Thy cares and sorrows. Raise up, then, from
this Temple [Baha'u'llah, the pre-existent Independent Prophet, the Manifestation of God], the temples of the Oneness of God [the pre-existent Dependent Prophets of Baha'u'llah, the Manifestations of God, summoned to appear on earth by Him],
that they may tell out, in the kingdom of creation, the tidings of
their Lord, the Most Exalted, the All-Glorious, and be of them that are
illumined by His light.
1.13
We, verily, have ordained this Temple [Baha'u'llah, the Independent Prophet] to be the source of all existence
in the new creation, that all may know of a certainty My power to
accomplish that which I have purposed through My word "Be", and it is!
Beneath the shadow of every letter [Dependent Prophet] of this Temple [Baha'u'llah, the Independent Prophet] We shall raise up a people whose number none can reckon save God, the
Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting. Erelong shall God bring forth from
His Temple such souls as will remain unswayed by the insinuations of
the rebellious, and who will quaff at all times of the cup that is life
indeed. These, truly, are of the blissful.
1.14
These are servants
[Dependent Prophets of Baha'u'llah] who abide beneath the shelter of the tender mercy of their Lord, and
who remain undeterred by those who seek to obstruct their path. Upon
their faces may be seen the brightness of the light of the
All-Merciful, and from their hearts may be heard the remembrance of
Mine all-glorious and inaccessible Name. Were they to unloose their
tongues to extol their Lord, the denizens of earth and heaven would
join in their anthems of praise -- yet how few are they who hear! And
were they to glorify their Lord, all created things would join in their
hymns of glory. Thus hath God exalted them above the rest of His creation, and yet the people remain unaware!
1.15
These are they who circle round the Cause of God even as the shadow
doth revolve around the sun. Open, then, your eyes, O people of the
Bayan, that haply ye may behold them! It is by virtue of their movement
that all things are set in motion, and by reason of their stillness all
things are brought to rest, would that ye might be assured thereof! Through
them the believers in the Divine Unity have turned towards Him Who is
the Object of the adoration of the entire creation, and by them the
hearts of the righteous have found rest and composure, could ye but
know it! Through them the earth hath been established, the
clouds have rained down their bounty, and the bread of knowledge hath
descended from the heaven of grace, could ye but perceive it!
1.16
These souls [Dependent Prophets of Baha'u'llah] are the protectors of the Cause of God on earth, who shall preserve its beauty from the obscuring dust of idle fancies and vain imaginings.
-- Baha'u'llah, Surih of the Temple, The Summons of the Lord of Hosts, p. 8.
6)
O KINGS of the earth! Give ear unto the Voice of God, calling from this
sublime, this fruit-laden Tree, that hath sprung out of the Crimson
Hill, upon the holy Plain, intoning the words: 'There is none other God
but He, the Mighty, the All-Powerful, the All-Wise.'... Fear God, O
concourse of kings, and suffer not yourselves to be deprived of this
most sublime grace. Fling away, then, the things ye possess, and take
fast hold on the Handle of God, the Exalted, the Great. Set your hearts
towards the Face of God, and abandon that which your desires have
bidden you to follow, and be not of those who perish. Relate unto them,
O Servant, the story of Ali (the Bab), when He came unto them with
truth, bearing His glorious and weighty Book, and holding in His hands
a testimony and proof from God, and holy and blessed tokens from Him.
Ye, however, O Kings, have failed to heed the Remembrance of God
in His days and to be guided by the lights which arose and shone
forth above the horizon of a resplendent Heaven. Ye examined not His
Cause when so to do would have been better for you than all that the
sun shineth upon, could ye but perceive it. Ye remained careless until
the divines of Persia -- those cruel ones -- pronounced judgment
against Him, and unjustly slew Him. His spirit ascended unto God, and
the eyes of the inmates of Paradise and the angels that are nigh unto
Him wept sore by reason of this cruelty. Beware that ye be not careless
henceforth as ye have been careless aforetime. Return, then, unto God,
your Maker, and be not of the heedless.... My face hath come forth from
the veils, and shed its radiance upon all that is in heaven and on
earth; and yet, ye turned not towards Him, notwithstanding that ye were
created for Him, O concourse of kings! Follow, therefore, that which I
speak unto you, and hearken unto it with your hearts, and be not of
such as have turned aside. For your glory consisteth not in your
sovereignty, but rather in your nearness unto God and your observance
of His command as sent down in His holy and preserved Tablets. Should
any one of you rule over the whole earth, and over all that lieth
within it and upon it, its seas, its lands, its mountains, and its
plains, and yet be not remembered by God, all these would profit him
not, could ye but know it.... Arise, then, and make steadfast your
feet, and make ye amends for that which hath escaped you, and set then
yourselves towards His holy Court, on the shore of His mighty Ocean, so
that the pearls of knowledge and wisdom, which God hath
stored up within the shell of His radiant heart, may be revealed unto
you.... Beware lest ye hinder the breeze of God from blowing over your
hearts, the breeze through which the hearts of such as have turned unto
Him can be quickened....
-- Baha'u'llah, The Proclamation of Baha'u'llah, p. 6
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