Paragraph 101

And now, We beseech the people of the Bayán, all the learned, the sages, the divines, and witnesses amongst them, not to forget the wishes and admonitions revealed in their Book. Let them, at all times, fix their gaze upon the essentials of His Cause, lest when He, Who is the Quintessence of truth, the inmost Reality of all things, the Source of all light, is made manifest, they cling unto certain passages of the Book, and inflict upon Him that which was inflicted in the Dispensation of the Qur’án. For, verily, powerful is He, the King of divine might, to extinguish with one letter of His wondrous words, the breath of life in the whole of the Bayán and the people thereof, and with one letter bestow upon them a new and everlasting life, and cause them to arise and speed out of the sepulchres of their vain and selfish desires. Take heed, and be watchful; and remember that all things have their consummation in belief in Him, in attainment unto His day, and in the realization of His divine presence. “There is no piety in turning your faces toward the east or toward the west, but he is pious who believeth in God and the Last Day.” Give ear, O people of the Bayán, unto the truth whereunto We have admonished you, that haply ye may seek the shelter of the shadow extended, in the Day of God, upon all mankind.


Well, dear Reader, here we are: the last paragraph of Part 1. What a journey.

Now, to be honest, looking back at the previous paragraph, we would have ended it there. It sure seems like a nice conclusion. We would have been very satisfied with it. But then, we're not Manifestations of God. (See paragraphs 1 - 100 for more details.)

Not only does Baha'u'llah give us the basic parameters for truly searching for truth (see paragraphs 1 - 6), some examples of previous Manifestations that the reader already recognizes (see paragraphs 7 - 23), and expound upon a single verse of that holy Person, Jesus, (see paragraphs 24 - 98), He also places the feet of the reader upon that path that will surely lead to the recognition of that Manifestation of God for this Day, the Bab (see paragraphs 99 and 100). Beyond that, He also lays the foundation for the recognition of Him Whom God shall make Manifest, helping us understand that the criteria for recognizing the Bab will be the same as those criteria for recognizing His own Station.

Surely that must be enough.

But really, one of those amazing things about Manifestations is that They see vistas we can't even dream about. Here, in paragraph 101, He lifts us up to that greater vista.

Now that it is fairly certain that the uncle to whom this book is addressed will recognize that high station of his Nephew and become a Babi, Baha'u'llah takes a moment to address all the Babis, those "people of the Bayan".

And what does He say? It is not enough to recognize the Bab.

We must be supremely heedful of that most important message the Bab gave. When the Pivot of the Bab's teachings declares His Mission, when Him Whom God shall make Manifest appears, we must not fall into those same old errors. We should not cling to certain verses and deny Him due to our own limited understanding, and inflict great harm to Him. For He is supreme. Baha'u'llah, after all this time helping raise our vision of Jesus, Muhammad and the Bab, helping us get a better vision of Their greatness, reminds us that the One to come is far greater.

Now, that being said, this, too, would make a great ending point. But remember, we're not Manifestations. (See above.)

Now that we can recognize the Bab, and have the tools to recognize Baha'u'llah, the question remains, "So what?" How does that change our life? What do we do about it?

That, dear Reader, is Part 2.