Paragraph 127

In like manner, two of the people of Kúfih went to ‘Alí, the Commander of the Faithful. One owned a house and wished to sell it; the other was to be the purchaser. They had agreed that this transaction should be effected and the contract be written with the knowledge of ‘Alí. He, the exponent of the law of God, addressing the scribe, said: “Write thou: ‘A dead man hath bought from another dead man a house. That house is bounded by four limits. One extendeth toward the tomb, the other to the vault of the grave, the third to the Ṣiráṭ, the fourth to either Paradise or hell.’” Reflect, had these two souls been quickened by the trumpet-call of ‘Alí, had they risen from the grave of error by the power of his love, the judgment of death would certainly not have been pronounced against them.

"In like manner"? In like manner to what? In like manner to the reference by Jesus in the previous paragraph, calling those who are concerned with a burial dead, even though they still seem to be moving around.

Now, this is another very interesting little story here. As with the previous statement by Jesus, it appears to be condemning those who have not yet recognized Him, but as we saw, it was more likely a command to His disciple to seize the opportunity to teach. "Let the dead bury the dead, but you go and proclaim the Kingdom of God."

So what about this story with Ali? On the surface it appears to be a condemnation, but is it? Baha'u'llah seems to imply it, but we don't think it ends here. It appears, to us, to be the moment of choice.

Putting this into a context, it seems strange to us that these two people would appear to be honouring Ali, acknowledging his trustworthiness by asking him to witness a contract. And what does he do? He seems to condemn them, calling them both dead. After all, he is the "Commander of the Faithful", striving to move the entire world towards that destined Kingdom of God on earth. And what do they ask of him? Witness this sale.

On the surface it seems so petty. After all, can you imagine taking up the valuable time of 'Abdul-Baha to ask Him to witness a contract?

And so, in a way, it actually makes some sort of sense that he might be upset, and condemning them for not asking something more meaningful of him.

But, like the previous story, there may be more here than meets the eye.

If we take a look, there seems to be something of a path. While we can presume the limits he mentions are the four walls of the house, he doesn't actually say that they are. They could, instead, be four steps on this path. It begins with the tomb, and continue to the vault of the grave.

Before we continue, let's look at these two steps. What, we wonder, is the difference between the tomb, and the vault of the grave? The tomb, as you know, is the enclosure for burying the dead, usually either a small cave, or a room built for the coffin. The vault, though, is what you see inside the tomb, above you when you are lying there. It seems to us that by mentioning these two, he is moving us from outside the tomb to inside it. We can imagine ourselves dead, approaching this tomb, and then being placed inside of it.

From there, we move to the third step, Sirat, the bridge that spans the chasm of hell and connects this world with paradise. Only the righteous, though, are able to cross it safely. The rest fall off it into the fiery pit.

And this leads us to the fourth step of this path. Will we cross safely to Paradise, or will we fall into the fire? The choice, as we know, is dependent on what we do in this life. And that is where we feel that Ali is taking this opportunity, seizing it firmly, to offer these two people the choice.

It is this choice that seems to be more in line with the teachings of Ali and Islam, as well as what we found from Jesus in the previous paragraph. Neither seem to be condemning the people outright, but instead are offering them a choice, as well as showing what that choice implies. They are not concerned about the things of this world. Their interest lies solely with the spiritual journey, and what lies at the end of it for the person or people involved.

By talking about these two stories here, in the Kitab-i-Iqan, Baha'u'llah seems to be strongly reminding us of the importance of looking at things with a spiritual eye, as well as recognizing the oneness of the teachings between these two faiths.

He also seems to be showing us two marvelous examples of taking mundane things, a funeral and a house sale, and showing how they can be used to teach much more important spiritual lessons. In other words, He is showing us two fine examples of elevated conversations.