From: hakim@bigq.enet.dec.com
Subject: The Book of Certitude (part 3)
Organization: Sun Microsystems of Canada, Inc.
Date: Thu, 8 Oct 1992 19:35:11 GMT


Reflect, what could have been the motive for such deeds? What could have 
prompted such behaviour towards the Revealers of the beauty of the All-
Glorious? Whatever in days gone by hath been the cause of the denial and
opposition of those people hath now led  to the perversity of the people
of this age. To maintain that the testimony of Providence was incomplete,
that it hath therefore been the cause of the denial of the people, is but
open blasphemy. How far from the grace of the All-Bountiful and from His
loving providence and tender mercies it is to single out a soul from 
amongst all men for the guidance of His creatures, and, on one hand, to 
withhold from Him the full measure of His divine testimony, and, on the
other, inflict severe retribution on His people for having for having
turned away from His chosen One! Nay, the manifold bounties of the Lord
of all beings have, at all times, through the Manifestations of His 
divine Essence, encompassed the earth and all that dwell therein. Not
for a moment hath His grace been withheld, nor have the showers of His
loving kindness ceased to rain upon mankind. Consequently, such behaviour
can be attributed to naught  save the petty-mindedness of such souls as
tread the valley of arrogance and pride, are lost in the wilds of remote-
ness, walk in the ways of their idle fancy, and follow the dictates of 
the leaders of their faith. Their chief concern is mere opposition; their
sole desire is to ignore the truth. Unto every discerning observer it is
evident and manifest that had these people in the days of each of the
Manifestations of the Sun of Truth sanctified their eyes, their ears, and 
their hearts from whatsoever they had seen, heard, and felt, they surely 
would not have been deprived of beholding the beauty of God, nor strayed 
far from the habitations of glory. But having weighed the testimony of God 
by the standard of their own knowledge, gleaned from the teachings of the
leaders of their faith, and found it at variance with their limited
understanding, they rose to perpetrate such unseemly acts. 

Leaders of religion, in every age, have hindered their people from attaining
the shores of eternal salvation, inasmuch as they held the reins of authority
in their mighty grasp. Some for the lust of leadership, others through want
of knowledge and understanding, have been the cause of deprivation of the 
people. By their sanction and authority, every Prophet of God hath drunk from
the chalice of sacrifice, and winged His flight unto the heights of glory.
What unspeakable cruelties they that  have occupied the seats of authority
and learning have inflicted upon the true Monarchs of the world, those Gems 
of divine virtue! Content with a transitory dominion, they have deprived 
themselves of an everlasting sovereignty. Thus, their eyes beheld not the 
light of the countenance of the Well-Beloved, nor did their ears hearken unto
the sweet melodies of the Bird of Desire. For this reason, in all the sacred
books mention hath been made of the divines of every age. Thus He saith: "O
people of the Book! Why disbelieve the signs of God to which ye yourselves 
have been witness?" [Qur'an 3:70] And also He saith: "O people of the Book! 
Why clothe ye the truth with falsehood? Why wittingly hide the truth?" 
[Qur'an 3:71] Again, He saith: "Say, O people of the Book! Why repel believers
from the way of God?" [Qur'an 3:99] It is evident that by the "people of the
Book," who have repelled their fellow-men from the straight path of God, is
meant none other than the divines of that age, whose names and characters 
have been revealed in the sacred books, and alluded to in the verses and 
traditions recorded therein, where ye to observe with the eye of God. 

With fixed and steady gaze, born of the unerring eye of God, scan for a while
the horizon of divine knowledge, and contemplate those words of perfection
which the Eternal hath revealed, that haply the mysteries of divine wisdom,
hidden ere now beneath the veil of glory and treasured within the tabernacle
of His grace, may be made manifest unto you. The denials and protestations 
of these leaders of religion have, in the main, been due to their lack of 
knowledge and understanding. Those words uttered by the Revealers of the 
beauty of the one true God, setting forth the signs that should herald the
advent of the Manifestation to come, they never understood nor fathomed. Hence 
they raised the standard of revolt, and stirred up mischief and sedition. It
is obvious and manifest that the true meaning of the utterances of the Birds
of Eternity is revealed to none except those that manifest the Eternal Being,
and the melodies of the Nightingale of Holiness can reach no ear save that of
the denizens of the everlasting realm. The Copt of tyranny [i.e. Copts were the
descendants of the ancient Egyptian stock.] can never partake of the cup
touched by the lips of the Sept of justice [i.e. Septs were the tribes of
Israel], and the Pharaoh of unbelief can never hope to recognize the hand of
the Moses of truth. Even as He saith: "None knoweth the meaning thereof except
God, and them that are well-grounded in knowledge." [Qur'an 3:7] And yet, they
have sought the interpretation of the Book from those that are wrapt in veils,
and have refused to seek enlightenment from the fountainhead of knowledge.

And when the days of Moses were ended, and the light of Jesus, shining forth
from the dayspring of the Spirit, encompassed the world, all the people of
Israel arose in protest against Him. They clamoured that He Whose advent the
Bible had foretold must needs promulgate and fulfil the laws of Moses, whereas
this youthful Nazarene, who laid claim to the station of the divine Messiah,
had annulled the law of divorce and of the sabbath day-the most weighty of all
the laws of Moses. Moreover, what of the signs of the Manifestation yet to
come? These people of Israel are even unto the present day still expecting
that Manifestation which the Bible hath foretold! How many Manifestations of
Holiness, how many Revealers of light everlasting, have appeared since the
time of Moses, and yet Israel, wrapt in the densest veils of satanic fancy and
false imaginings, is still expectant that the idol of her her own handiwork
will appear with such signs as she herself hath conceived! Thus hath God laid
hold of them for their sins, hath extinguished in them the spirit of faith,
and, and tormented them with the flames of the nethermost fire. And this no
other reason except that Israel refused to apprehend the meaning of such words
as have been revealed in the Bible concerning the signs of the coming
Revelation. As she never grasped their true significance, and, to outward
seeming, such events never came to pass, she, therefore, remained deprived of
recognizing the beauty of Jesus and of beholding the face of God. And they
still await His coming! From time immemorial even unto this day, all the
kindreds and peoples of the earth have clung to such fanciful and unseemly
thoughts, and thus have deprived themselves of the clear waters streaming from
the springs of purity and holiness. 

In unfolding these mysteries, We have, in Our former Tablets which were 
addressed to a friend in the melodious language of Hijaz, cited a few of the
verses revealed unto the Prophets of old. And now, responding to your request,
We again shall cite, in these pages, those same verses, uttered this time in
the wondrous accents of Iraq, that haply the sore athirst in the wilds of
remoteness may attain unto the ocean of divine presence, and they that languish
in the wastes of separation be led unto the home of eternal reunion. Thus the
mists of error may be dispelled, and the all-resplendent light of divine
guidance dawn forth above the horizon of human hearts. In God We put Our trust,
and to Him We cry for help, that haply there may flow from this pen that which
shall quicken the souls of men, that they may all arise from their bed of
heedlessness and hearken unto the rustling of the leaves of Paradise, from the
tree which the hand of divine power hath, by the permission of God, planted in
the Ridva'n of the All-Glorious. 

				The Book of Certitude, Baha'u'llah (p. 13-20)
	
						To be continued

Regards,

Kamran Hakim