Paragraph 130

Thou dost witness today how, notwithstanding the radiant splendour of the Sun of divine knowledge, all the people, whether high or low, have clung to the ways of those abject manifestations of the Prince of Darkness. They continually appeal to them for aid in unraveling the intricacies of their Faith, and, owing to lack of knowledge, they make such replies as can in no wise damage their fame and fortune. It is evident that these souls, vile and miserable as the beetle itself, have had no portion of the musk-laden breeze of eternity, and have never entered the Ridván of heavenly delight. How, therefore, can they impart unto others the imperishable fragrance of holiness? Such is their way, and such will it remain for ever. Only those will attain to the knowledge of the Word of God that have turned unto Him, and repudiated the manifestations of Satan. Thus God hath reaffirmed the law of the day of His Revelation, and inscribed it with the pen of power upon the mystic Tablet hidden beneath the veil of celestial glory. Wert thou to heed these words, wert thou to ponder their outward and inner meaning in thy heart, thou wouldst seize the significance of all the abstruse problems which, in this day, have become insuperable barriers between men and the knowledge of the Day of Judgment. Then wilt thou have no more questions to perplex thee. We fain would hope that, God willing, thou wilt not return, deprived and still athirst, from the shores of the ocean of divine mercy, nor come back destitute from the imperishable Sanctuary of thy heart’s desire. Let it now be seen what thy search and endeavours will achieve.

This paragraph still falls under the section in which Baha'u'llah is describing true sovereignty, and how it applies to the Bab. It is the last paragraph in the sub-section in which He describes the meaning of the terms "life", "death", "resurrection", and the like. Therefore this paragraph can be seen, in a sense, as a summary of the preceding paragraphs.

Like we have seen in Part 1, there are clues that lead us to this conclusion. You may recall how often Baha'u'llah used the words "ponder", "reflect", and "meditate" in Part 1, usually after He had given us a particularly difficult or new concept to consider. Here He encourages us, again, to "ponder" these words, paying careful attention to "their outward and inner meaning in (our) heart".

He also brings us back to the very beginning of this book, with the mention of "the shores of the ocean".

So, to us, He seems to be indicating that this new understanding of the Day of Judgment is deep and can be troubling for some, and therefore He gives us ample time to reflect on it. Once we understand what He is saying, though, then we will "have no more questions" to perplex us. We will have attained the "shores of the ocean of true understanding", and even the "Sanctuary of our heart's desire", that tabernacle which has "been raised in the firmament of the Bayan". But that's not the end of it. Now, He says, let's see what we're going to do about it. He is projecting us forward. Up until this point, it has all been about the search, but now He is helping us see past this and asking what we will achieve once we recognize.

But going back to the beginning of this paragraph, let's look at His warning. He is reminding us that so many are clinging to the clergy, "those abject manifestations of the Prince of Darkness". They ask these "learned" people to explain things to them, but they cannot. They don't have the knowledge, and are too concerned about their reputation or wealth. How, He wonders, can such people teach others about God? In fact, He goes further and points out that only those people who repudiate such teachers will be able to understand the Word of God. It is as if we have to recognize this false station of knowledge and deny it if we hope to understand the truth. We have to, in a sense, be able to tell the difference between the stench of egotism and the beauty of humility.

In fact, looking back at paragraph 6, "the more closely we observe the denials... the firmer will be (our) faith in the Cause of God." Here, in paragraph 130, we are told to closely examine the denials of today.

Now, what does all this have to do with sovereignty? Well, if we consider what He has said in the past few paragraphs, we will see that the uncle of the Bab was trying to see how sovereignty, as defined by the Mullas of his day, applied to his Nephew. Quite simply, it didn't, because the definition was a false one. To demonstrate this, Baha'u'llah has shown, using the Qu'ran, how we have misunderstood other terms relating to the Day of Judgment, such as "life", "death", "resurrection" and the like. He has shown how even the people of Muhammad's time misunderstood these terms. We can therefore conclude that we have likely misunderstood the term "sovereignty", as He will demonstrate over the next few paragraphs.

Finally, one last little thing caught our attention: Baha'u'llah does not use the word "haply" in describing the results of our search. Previously, He had often stressed the "luck factor", if you will. So much was dependent on the Will of God. If we go back to paragraph 1 again, we will see that if we sanctify our soul, then, with luck, we might attain this shore. Why? Perhaps because there are good people in all faiths. It is only with luck that we will find the Messenger of God for today by sanctifying our soul. Here, though, Baha'u'llah is pointing out the extreme egotism of the Mullas of His day, and if we merely look for it, we cannot help but see it. There is no luck involved, just unbiased observation. And if we "heed these words" and "ponder their outward and inner meaning", we will clearly see that they are acting exactly as the religious leaders of the past did when they denied the other Messengers.

Paragraph 129

Similarly, the records of all the scriptures bear witness to this lofty truth and this most exalted word. Moreover, this verse of the Qur’án, revealed concerning Hamzih, the “Prince of Martyrs,” and Abú-Jahl, is a luminous evidence and sure testimony of the truth of Our saying: “Shall the dead, whom We have quickened, and for whom We have ordained a light whereby he may walk among men, be like him, whose likeness is in the darkness, whence he will not come forth?” This verse descended from the heaven of the Primal Will at a time when Hamzih had already been invested with the sacred mantle of faith, and Abú-Jahl had waxed relentless in his opposition and unbelief. From the Wellspring of omnipotence and the Source of eternal holiness, there came the judgment that conferred everlasting life upon Hamzih, and condemned Abú-Jahl to eternal damnation. This was the signal that caused the fires of unbelief to glow with the hottest flame in the heart of the infidels, and provoked them openly to repudiate His truth. They loudly clamoured: “When did Hamzih die? When was he risen? At what hour was such a life conferred upon him?” As they understood not the significance of these noble sayings, nor sought enlightenment from the recognized expounders of the Faith, that these might confer a sprinkling of the Kawthar of divine knowledge upon them, therefore such fires of mischief were kindled amongst men.

Baha'u'llah is the exponent of unity. It seems to us that He has corrected our mis-understanding of these previous two stories, the one from Jesus and the one from Ali. As we have pointed out in the past few articles, we believe these other stories were not meant to condemn those that believe differently, but rather to remind us of the choice we all face. Let the dead bury the dead, Jesus said, but go and teach them so that they will become alive. We will all face this bridge, is the harsh reminder from Ali, at the end of our days, and we have the choice as to whether we go to heaven or hell. In both cases, there is the reminder of the importance of our choices while we live.

Here Baha'u'llah seems to be reminding us that there is a difference, though, in the aftereffect of our choice. But the important thing is that it is not for us to judge. That is God's job. Our job is to teach.

In all three cases, we are reminded of the importance of teaching. Jesus tells His disciple to go to the funeral and teach. Ali reminds the two people involved in the contract of the choice before them. And here, Muhammad is clearly showing us that these stories are spiritual in meaning, but no less important for that. After all, he who chooses darkness will not be accounted the same as he who chooses light. It's not we who make that distinction, but they themselves.

Despite the rich discussion that can arise from all this, though, we want to look at a few specific things in this paragraph: the fire and the Kawthar.

To remind us, these stories all fall under the discussion Baha'u'llah is having regarding the spiritual nature of the sovereignty of the Promised One. Remember, this is one of the primary questions that the uncle of the Bab had regarding His Station. How did the Bab fulfill the various prophecies regarding the sovereignty of the Qa'im? All this is part of that answer.

We know that the eternal life that was talked about is a spiritual life. And Baha'u'llah is linking that spiritual understanding with our understanding of the nature of the sovereignty of the Qa'im.

Now, as we said, we would like to look at some of the phrases Baha'u'llah uses here. He talks of "the Wellspring of omnipotence" and "the fires of unbelief", "the Kawthar of divine knowledge" and the "fires of mischief". These metaphors speak of water and fire, fire and water. Kawthar, you will recall, is one of the rivers in paradise. And this going back and forth between these primal elements reminds us of that passage from the Tablet of Ahmad, "Be thou as a flame of fire to My enemies and a river of life eternal to My loved ones, and be not of those who doubt."

It has long intrigued us that the same thing can be a burning fire to one person and a refreshing draught of water to another. It is like what we saw way back in part one of this very book. In paragraph 58, Baha'u'llah points out that God could have stayed the hand of Moses from murder, but chose not to do so. In paragraphs 59 and 60, He asks the question why He "Who was known amongst the people as fatherless", Jesus, was given the mantle of Prophethood. All this leads to the quote "outwardly such deeds and words are the fire of vengeance unto the wicked, and inwardly the waters of mercy unto the righteous". As was pointed out back in those paragraphs, the virgin birth was seen as a barrier for some, acting as a repelling fire keeping them away, but as a compelling proof for others, acting like the water of life.

Here, once again, Baha'u'llah is brining up this duality of fire and water here, while discussing the spiritual nature of the terms "life", "death", "resurrection", "judgment", and so forth. And by extension, He is also applying it to the theme of the spiritual nature of the sovereignty of the Promised One.

Paragraph 128

In every age and century, the purpose of the Prophets of God and their chosen ones hath been no other but to affirm the spiritual significance of the terms “life,” “resurrection,” and “judgment.” If one will ponder but for a while this utterance of ‘Alí in his heart, one will surely discover all mysteries hidden in the terms “grave,” “tomb,” “ṣiraṭ,” “paradise” and “hell.” But oh! how strange and pitiful! Behold, all the people are imprisoned within the tomb of self, and lie buried beneath the nethermost depths of worldly desire! Wert thou to attain to but a dewdrop of the crystal waters of divine knowledge, thou wouldst readily realize that true life is not the life of the flesh but the life of the spirit. For the life of the flesh is common to both men and animals, whereas the life of the spirit is possessed only by the pure in heart who have quaffed from the ocean of faith and partaken of the fruit of certitude. This life knoweth no death, and this existence is crowned by immortality. Even as it hath been said: “He who is a true believer liveth both in this world and in the world to come.” If by “life” be meant this earthly life, it is evident that death must needs overtake it.


While we could easily say that all these terms are symbolic in nature, and not literal, Baha'u'llah has already done this. And He has done this far better than we could.

Instead, we want to focus on why He is choosing these particular phrases and examples.

When we look back over the previous couple of paragraphs, and the stories of Jesus and Ali, we notice that He is using stories that have been used to set one people over another. These are examples that have been used to demonstrate that one group is somehow superior to another, and this, we feel, is antithetical to the teachings of these great Teachers.

Baha'u'llah is all about unity. He does whatever He can to help us overcome our own egotism and recognize the fundamental oneness of all peoples.

As you may have noticed, it seems to us that these examples, while having been used to divide people and encourage judgment, don't have to be read that way. We see them, instead, as encouraging us to be with others, but seize every opportunity to share this Message. This is a far more coherent understanding, as far as we can tell.

Another point that comes to mind is one that comes from both 'Abdu'l-Baha and the Bab. 'Abdu'l-Baha, as you recall, has said in Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Baha, section 21, that there are various kingdoms in creation. He talks about the mineral kingdom, with the power of unity and attraction, and the vegetable kingdom with the power of growth. He moves on to the animal kingdom with the power of the senses, and on to the human kingdom. Without going into too much detail, He has defined reality in a manner different from many scientists, but far more accurately. Many people see reality as a pie, and cut away one section and call it the mineral kingdom. This other part is the animal kingdom, and this slice over here is the mammals, while that slice within it is the felines, and so forth. They see creation as a giant pie to be sliced into ever smaller pieces.

But with 'Abdu'l-Baha's description we can see it more like concentric circles. After all, He says that each kingdom comprehends the kingdoms before it. We can see the mineral kingdom in the centre, surrounded by the vegetable kingdom, and moving out towards the animal kingdom. But if we do this, as concentric circles, then it is just another way of slicing this pie. However, if we subtly shift these circles to being a spiral, then we can see this direct continuity of creation. We can see how if we move outwards from the mineral kingdom, we can see the crystals, which have a degree of the power of growth. If we move outwards from the vegetable kingdom, then we can see how we will encounter plants like the Venus fly-trap, which has a degree of sensory awareness. We can begin to see how these various kingdoms merge into each other, giving us a far more unified vision of the world.

The Bab, in addition to all this, offers us an interesting point when He says that everything in creation has its own heaven, and by extension its own hell. Heaven, He says, is the fulfillment of potential, while presumably hell would be its denial.

If we combine these two concepts, then we can think of the idea of moving outward on this spiral as a form of heaven. It would be, in a sense, moving closer to God, Who would be at the very outer most edges of this eternal spiral. The further out we move, the closer we are getting to God. But if we are moving inwards, then we are denying our potential. You see, it's not that animals are bad. They are an incredible and wonderful part of creation. But if we are moving towards being more animalistic, then we are moving in the wrong direction, and that is why it seems so bad for us. This is why being like an animal is not a good thing for us humans.

Now, what does all this have to do with the Kitab-i-Iqan? Well, if we are supremely concerned about the body, and see all these metaphors in terms of physical life, then we are looking at what distinguishes animals, not humans. When we see the spiritual significance of these terms, and move towards the spiritual in our life, then we are moving outwards in that spiral.

At the beginning of this paragraph, Baha'u'llah makes a very powerful statement that we almost overlooked. He says that "the purpose of the Prophets of God and their chosen ones hath been no other but to affirm the spiritual significance of the terms" He has mentioned here. This is Their purpose. No other purpose than this.

Really? That's Their purpose? To affirm some definitions? Surely it can't be just that. What about that famous quote "...is not the object of every Revelation to effect a transformation in the whole character of mankind, a transformation that shall manifest itself both outwardly and inwardly, that shall affect both its inner life and external conditions?"

Well, if we see these new definitions, this spiritual understanding as turning our attention away from the physical world and towards the spiritual, then He is shifting the direction of our gaze from inward towards the centre of the spiral outwards towards the more highly developed spiritual realms. And this will, necessarily, transform the individual, as well as society.

It will help us better understand how these stories from Jesus and Ali are about transformation, and not condemnation.

At this point we could say so much more, but we feel we have said too much already. Besides, Baha'u'llah continues on with this theme for another two paragraphs.