Remarks about the Kitáb-i-Íqán (Book of Certitude)

"... Bahá’u’lláh has confirmed the Islamic saying that knowledge is a light which God throws in your heart. Bahá’u’lláh confirms it. He talks about it in the Kitáb-i-Íqán. Knowledge is a light which God casts in your heart. What a strange place for knowledge, because often when you say this to the people, people say, "Well, the heart is not a place for knowledge. It's the mind which is a place for knowledge." And it is true. But how can the knowledge of God be cast in the heart of man? And this is what is the difference between knowledge, 'ilm, and irfán. Irfán, which is the recognition, which is the understanding, comes to the heart of man, and then the mind will pick it up and understand it. But it dawns in your heart because Bahá’u’lláh says, "Your heart is my home." I'm paraphrasing. He says, "Your heart is where I will come into it." He will not come into your mind. He will come into your heart first. Heart is a place of love and warmth. We have two focal point in our bodies. One is our mind, which is the center of intellect, which is a very important center. We are not trying to underestimate it or undervalue it. And the other focal point is the heart of man, which is a center of love and warmth. And Bahá’u’lláh says that God always comes to your heart. He says, "This is my home." And many a times, He says in the Hidden Words and other Tablets, He says, "Many a times, I came to your heart, my home. I found there was a stranger in it, and then I left." And you know that stranger is ourself, attachment to the things of this world. The most formidable form of that attachment is our own self-attachment with our own self, the love of our own self, the ego.

So he says, "I came many a times and you were not there or the heart was full of the strangers, and then I left. And I went." So you see, the knowledge of God comes into our hearts. And then the mind will pick it up and we'll understand it. Now this is what we should aim for as Baháʼís for deepening, that our hearts may become the recipient of the knowledge of God. Whether we have education or not, it doesn't matter. Whether we have knowledge or not, it doesn't matter. And Bahá’u’lláh tells us what should we do that we may acquire this quality of irfán, understanding. If you want to know what he has said, read the first, the opening chapter, the opening passage of the Kitáb-i-Íqán. He says, "No man shall attain-" I'm paraphrasing His words. No man shall attain unto the shores of the sea of understanding. He is using the word irfán, which is translated into understanding. It is that word He has used. No one will ever acquire to understanding the shores of the ocean of understanding unless and until-- now, if you ask the people, "I want to understand. What shall I do?" If you ask the people, they will say, "Well, if you want to understand something, go to the university. Learn." Bahá’u’lláh doesn't say that. He says no man shall ever attain the ocean of understanding, the shores of the ocean of understanding unless he be detached from all that is in heaven and on earth. You see, the condition He has put down for it. And detachment, we talked about it this morning, what it means. If you are in love with Bahá’u’lláh, your heart will become opened. And then anything you want to know is there. Believe me, I've seen the early believers who were illiterates. And this is the history of our faith, and their understanding of the faith was so deep. It gushes out of their heart..."

From Day 3 (after 2 hours and 45 minutes):

"This is what Bahá’u’lláh did when this man asked Him about the Báb. He said, "How can I believe in the truth of the Báb?" Bahá’u’lláh knew this man does not know, has not recognized the truth of his religion, the truth of his Prophet. And so what did He do in the Kitáb-i-Íqán when He wrote the answer? He begins, He never says anything about the Báb. He begins to talk about Noah, talk about Moses, talk about Jesus, talk about Muhammad, talk about all the old religions and history of old religions and a lot of spiritual facts. He brings out from all the base and he builds the foundation. What is He doing? He is building the foundation, building the foundation all the time. It is like somebody who comes along and asked you... "Tell me about electricity." And what would you do? You teach him all about mathematics. You keep on teaching about mathematics. Come Sunday, teach him about mathematics until such time that you can tell him, "Now, this is electricity." Now this is what Bahá’u’lláh does in the Kitáb-i-Íqán. He talks a great deal about the past, making him to recognize the truth of some of the things of the past. And then, at the end of the book, a little portion at the end of the book, maybe ten pages, twenty pages at the end of the book, He applies everything to the Báb. How clear it becomes, of course! And this man, when he received it, he recognized. He became a believer^*..."

* Note BLO editor: See article The Conversion of the Great-Uncle of the Báb, by Ahang Rabbani