It is clear and evident to thee that
all the Prophets are the Temples of the
Cause of God, Who have appeared clothed
in divers attire. If thou wilt observe
with discriminating eyes, thou wilt
behold them all abiding in the same
tabernacle, soaring in the same heaven,
seated
upon the same throne, uttering
the same speech, and proclaiming
the same Faith. Such is the unity of those
Essences of being, those Luminaries
of infinite and immeasurable splendour.
Wherefore, should one of these Manifestations
of Holiness proclaim saying: "I
am the return of all the Prophets,"
He verily speaketh the truth. In like
manner, in every subsequent Revelation,
the return of the former Revelation is
a fact, the truth of which is firmly
established. Inasmuch as the return of the
Prophets of God, as attested by verses
and traditions, hath been conclusively
demonstrated, the return of their
chosen ones also is therefore definitely
proven. This return is too manifest
in itself to require any evidence or proof.
-- Bahá'u'lláh, The
Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 153
The Most Great Law is come, and the
Ancient Beauty ruleth upon the throne
of David.
-- Bahá'u'lláh, Proclamation
of Baha'u'llah, p. 89
Say, this is the Day when the Speaker
on Sinai hath mounted the throne of
Revelation
and the people have stood before the Lord of the worlds. This is
the Day wherein the earth hath told
out her tidings and hath laid bare her
treasures; when the oceans have brought
forth their pearls and the divine
Lote-Tree its fruit; when the Sun
hath shed its radiance and the Moons have
diffused their lights, and the Heavens
have revealed their stars, and the Hour
its signs, and the Resurrection its
dreadful majesty;
-- Bahá'u'lláh, Tablets
of Baha'u'llah, p. 107
As for the station
of the Imams and of the near ones at the threshold of
grandeur, it is that of
spiritual honor and glory. Their right is to the authority
of the All-Merciful,
and their crown of glory is the dust of the divine path. Their
gleaming scepter is the lights of
the bounty of God. Their royal throne is the
seat of hearts,
and their exalted and great crown is in the kingdom of God.
They are the monarchs of the world
of spirit and heart, not that of water and
clay. They are sovereigns of the
realm of the placeless, not of the graveyards
of the contingent world. No one can
usurp or plunder this glorious station or
this pre-existent grandeur.
--`Abdu'l-Baha's "Treatise on Leadership"
(a provisional translation)
O followers of the Bayán! Fear
ye the All-Merciful. This is the One Who
hath been glorified by Muhammad,
the Apostle of God, and before Him by the
Spirit and yet before Him by the
One Who discoursed with God. This is the
Point of the
Bayán calling aloud before the Throne, saying: `By the
righteousness of God, ye have been
created to glorify this Most Great
Announcement, this Perfect Way which
lay hid within the souls of the
Prophets, which was treasured in
the hearts of the chosen ones of God and
was written down by the glorious
Pen of your Lord, the Possessor of Names.'
-- Bahá'u'lláh, Tablets
of Baha'u'llah, p. 103
O King of Berlin! Give ear unto the
Voice calling from this manifest
Temple: Verily, there is none other
God but Me, the Everlasting, the
Peerless, the Ancient of Days. Take
heed lest pride debar thee from
recognizing the Dayspring of Divine
Revelation, lest earthly desires
shut thee out, as by a veil, from
the Lord of the Throne above and of
the earth below.
-- Bahá'u'lláh, Proclamation
of Baha'u'llah, p. 39
When Christ came they denounced and
slew Him, saying: `This is not the
One for whom we wait. Behold when
the Messiah shall come, signs and wonders
shall testify that He is in truth
the Christ. We know the signs and
conditions, and they have not appeared.
The Messiah will arise out of an
unknown city. He shall sit upon the
throne
of David, and behold, He shall
come with a sword of steel, and with
a sceptre of iron shall He rule! He
shall fulfil the law of the Prophets,
He shall conquer the East and the
West, and shall glorify His chosen
people the Jews. He shall bring with
Him a reign of peace, during which
even the animals shall cease to be at
enmity with man. For behold the wolf
and the lamb shall drink from the same
spring, and the lion and the doe
shall lie down in the same pasture, the
serpent and the mouse shall share
the same nest, and all God's creatures
shall be at rest'.
According to the Jews, Jesus the Christ
fulfilled none of these conditions,
for their eyes were holden and they
could not see.
He came from Nazareth, no unknown
place. He carried no sword in His hand,
nor even a stick. He did not sit
upon the Throne of David, He was a poor
man. He reformed the Law of Moses,
and broke the Sabbath Day. He did not
conquer the East and the West, but
was Himself subject to the Roman Law.
He did not exalt the Jews, but taught
equality and brotherhood, and
rebuked the Scribes and Pharisees.
He brought in no reign of peace, for
during His lifetime injustice and
cruelty reached such a height that even
He Himself fell a victim to it, and
died a shameful death upon the cross.
Thus the Jews thought and spoke, for
they did not understand the Scriptures
nor the glorious truths that were
contained in them. The letter they knew
by heart, but of the life-giving
spirit they understood not a word.
Hearken, and I will show you the meaning
thereof. Although He came from
Nazareth, which was a known place,
He also came from Heaven. His body was
born of Mary, but His Spirit came
from Heaven. The sword He carried was
the sword of His tongue, with which
He divided the good from the evil,
the true from the false, the faithful
from the unfaithful, and the light
from the darkness. His Word was indeed
a sharp sword! The Throne upon
which He sat is the Eternal
Throne from which Christ reigns for ever, a
heavenly throne,
not an earthly one, for the things of earth pass away
but heavenly things pass not away.
He re-interpreted and completed the
Law of Moses and fulfilled the Law
of the Prophets. His word conquered
the East and the West. His Kingdom
is everlasting. He exalted those Jews
who recognized Him. They were men
and women of humble birth, but contact
with Him made them great and gave
them everlasting dignity. The animals
who were to live with one another
signified the different sects and
races, who, once having been at war,
were now to dwell in love and charity,
drinking together the water of life
from Christ the Eternal Spring.
-- `Abdu'l-Bahá, Paris Talks,
p. 56
CXLVII. The Most Great Name beareth
Me witness! How sad if any man were,
in this Day, to rest his heart on
the transitory things of this world!
Arise, and cling firmly to the Cause
of God. Be most loving one to another.
Burn away, wholly for the sake of
the Well-Beloved, the veil of self with
the flame of the undying Fire, and
with faces joyous and beaming with
light, associate with your neighbor.
Ye have well observed, in all its
aspects, the behavior of Him Who
is the Word of Truth amidst you. Ye know
full well how hard it is for this
Youth to allow, though it be for one
night, the heart of any one of the
beloved of God to be saddened by Him.
The Word of God hath set the heart
of the world afire; how regrettable if
ye fail to be enkindled with its
flame! Please God, ye will regard this
blessed night as the night of unity,
will knit your souls together, and
resolve to adorn yourselves with
the ornament of a goodly and praiseworthy
character. Let your principal concern
be to rescue the fallen from the
slough of impending extinction, and
to help him embrace the ancient Faith
of God. Your behavior towards your
neighbor should be such as to manifest
clearly the signs of the one true
God, for ye are the first among men to
be re-created by His Spirit, the
first to adore and bow the knee before
Him, the first to circle round His
throne of glory. I swear by Him Who
hath caused Me to reveal whatever
hath pleased Him! Ye are better known
to the inmates of the Kingdom on
high than ye are known to your own selves.
Think ye these words to be vain and
empty? Would that ye had the power to
perceive the things your Lord, the
All-Merciful, doth see--things that
attest the excellence of your rank,
that bear witness to the greatness of
your worth, that proclaim the sublimity
of your station! God grant that
your desires and unmortified passions
may not hinder you from that which
hath been ordained for you.
-- Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings
from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 316
Sanctify thine heart, that thou mayest
remember Me; and purge thine ear,
that thou mayest hearken unto My
words. Set then thy face towards the Spot
wherein the throne
of thy Lord, the God of Mercy, hath been established,
and say: Praise be to Thee, O my
Lord, for having enabled me to recognize
the Manifestation of Thine own Self,
and aided me to fix mine heart on the
court of Thy presence, the object
of my soul's adoration. I beseech Thee,
by Thy name that caused the heavens
to be rent and the earth to be cleft
asunder, to ordain for me what Thou
didst ordain for them that have turned
away from all else but Thee, and
rested their hearts firmly upon Thee.
Grant that I may be seated in Thy
presence on the seat of truth, within
the Tabernacle of Glory. Powerful
art Thou to do what Thou willest. There
is none other God but Thee, the All-Glorious,
the All-Wise.
-- Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings
from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 313
Say: O people of the Bayán!
Did We not admonish you, in all Our Tablets and
in all Our hidden Scriptures, not
to follow your evil passions and corrupt
inclinations, but to keep your eyes
directed towards the Scene of
transcendent glory, on the Day when
the Most Mighty Balance shall be set,
the Day when the sweet melodies of
the Spirit of God shall be poured out
from the right hand of the throne
of your Lord, the omnipotent Protector,
the All-Powerful, the Holy of Holies?
Did We not forbid you to cleave to
the things that would shut you out
from the Manifestation of our Beauty, in
its subsequent Revelation, be they
the embodiments of the names of God and
all their glory, or the revealers
of His attributes and their dominion?
Behold, how, as soon as I revealed
Myself, ye have rejected My truth and
turned away from Me, and been of
them that have regarded the signs of God
as a play and pastime!
-- Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings
from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 292