The following is an evidence of the sovereignty exercised by Muḥammad, the Day-star of Truth. Hast thou not heard how with one single verse He hath sundered light from darkness, the righteous from the ungodly, and the believing from the infidel? All the signs and allusions concerning the Day of Judgment, which thou hast heard, such as the raising of the dead, the Day of Reckoning, the Last Judgment, and others have been made manifest through the revelation of that verse. These revealed words were a blessing to the righteous who on hearing them exclaimed: “O God our Lord, we have heard, and obeyed.” They were a curse to the people of iniquity who, on hearing them affirmed: “We have heard and rebelled.” Those words, sharp as the sword of God, have separated the faithful from the infidel, and severed father from son. Thou hast surely witnessed how they that have confessed their faith in Him and they that rejected Him have warred against each other, and sought one another’s property. How many fathers have turned away from their sons; how many lovers have shunned their beloved! So mercilessly trenchant was this wondrous sword of God that it cleft asunder every relationship! On the other hand, consider the welding power of His Word. Observe, how those in whose midst the Satan of self had for years sown the seeds of malice and hate became so fused and blended through their allegiance to this wondrous and transcendent Revelation that it seemed as if they had sprung from the same loins. Such is the binding force of the Word of God, which uniteth the hearts of them that have renounced all else but Him, who have believed in His signs, and quaffed from the Hand of glory the Kawthar of God’s holy grace. Furthermore, how numerous are those peoples of divers beliefs, of conflicting creeds, and opposing temperaments, who, through the reviving fragrance of the Divine springtime, breathing from the Riḍván of God, have been arrayed with the new robe of divine Unity, and have drunk from the cup of His singleness!
This is all under the topic of true sovereignty, and how the Bab demonstrates His sovereignty. As we can see, He is using the story of Muhammad to demonstrate the similarity to the story of the Bab.
Here, in this paragraph, we are being asked to consider what we have heard, namely that with a single verse Muhammad "sundered light from darkness, the righteous from the ungodly, and the believing from the infidel". This leads to a basic question, though. Which verse? Nobody really knows, it could be any of them. But it doesn't really matter, does it? After all, as Hooper Dunbar says in his study guide to this book, a "verse such as 'Verily, I am the Messenger of God unto you all' (7:18) uttered by Muhammad would produce the results mentioned." So rather than try to figure out the history behind this, let's look instead at the paragraph itself.
One thing that stands out for us is the idea that this verse, whichever one it may be, is a blessing for the righteous, and "a curse to the people of iniquity". It reminds us of paragraph 61, where Baha'u'llah says, "such deeds and words are the fire of vengeance unto the wicked, and inwardly the waters of mercy unto the righteous". This is a concept that He has already introduced to us, so the idea of the dual nature of the Word should not come as a surprise. But to find the positive side of this nature, it is not with the mind that we must search. "Were the eye of the heart to open," Baha'u'llah informs us, "it would surely perceive that the words revealed from the heaven of the will of God are at one with, and the same as, the deeds that have emanated from the Kingdom of divine power."
This is where we must turn, we read time and again, if we want to begin to discover the inner meaning of the Word, and come to a better understanding of the nature of the Manifestations.
It brings us right back to paragraph 2. We "must cleanse (ourselves) of all that is earthly". We have to cleanse our ears from idle talk, our minds from vain imaginings, our hearts from worldly affections, and our eyes from that which perishes. If we do, then haply, with luck, we might attain that station which God has destined for us, as Baha'u'llah says in paragraph 1. But if we don't cleanse ourselves, then we won't even have that chance. And who can judge our decision? Well, that is the role of the Manifestation. After all, He is the Sovereign.
But here we must be cautious. We are not the judge. We cannot judge another's decision. That is not our role. As Jesus so famously said, "Judge not, that ye be not judged." Here, in this paragraph, Baha'u'llah makes reference to those who "warred against each other, and sought one another's property", those fathers who "turned away from their sons", those lovers who "shunned their beloved". These examples are a very active stance. They are not the passive acceptance of another's decision, but the condemnation of someone for believing differently. Sure, those who don't follow the new Message may not be "arrayed with the new robe of divine Unity", but that doesn't mean that they are actively against the new Faith.
It seems as if Baha'u'llah is, in actuality, giving us three examples. There are those who are "so fused and blended through their allegiance" that they become a new creation. There are those who rebel to such an extent that they create this state of war. And then there are those, not mentioned, who sit by and do nothing.
We want to strive to be in that first category. But we also want to be careful not to slip inadvertently into that second category, condemning those who believe differently.
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As we were re-reading this paragraph, we noticed another interesting path here. Of course, as we re-read all these passages, we continually discover new pearls hidden within these words. It is what we would expect. Most of the time, we don't share them, for we don't want to burden you with too much of our own thoughts.
Today, however, we felt that this was interesting enough to share.
At the beginning of the paragraph, He says that one singles verse "sundered light from darkness, the righteous from the ungodly, and the believing from the infidel". Here, it begins with the light, and by contrast the darkness, through its absence. This light shines on all, from the righteous all the way through to the ungodly, and everyone in between. These are the personality types, if you will. Based on this spiritual personality type, the reaction can be either to become a believer, or to be recognized as "ungodly". From the light, to the person, to the reaction: we find this an interesting path He has shown us.
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