twinkling of an eye, thou mayest flash through the wilds of remoteness and
bereavement, attain the Ridvan of everlasting reunion, and in one breath
commune with the heavenly Spirits. For with human feet thou canst never
hope to traverse these immeasurable distances, nor attain thy goal. Peace
be upon him whom the light of truth guideth unto all truth, and who, in
the name of God, standeth in the path of His Cause, upon the shore of true
understanding.
This is the meaning of the sacred verse: "But nay! I swear by the Lord of
the Easts and the Wests,"(29) inasmuch as the "Suns" referred to have each
their own particular rising and setting place. And as the commentators of
the Qur'an have failed to grasp the symbolic meaning of these "Suns," they
therefore were at pains to interpret the above-quoted verse. Some of them
maintained that owing to the fact that the sun each day rises from a
different point, the terms "easts" and "wests" have been mentioned in the
plural. Others have written that by this verse the four seasons of the
year are intended, inasmuch as the dawning and setting points of the sun
vary with the change of the seasons. Such is the depth of their
understanding! None the less, they persist in imputing error and folly to
those Gems of knowledge, those irreproachable and purest Symbols of
wisdom.
In like manner, strive thou to comprehend from these lucid, these
powerful, conclusive, and unequivocal statements the meaning of the
"cleaving of the heaven"--one of the signs that must needs herald the
coming of the last Hour, the Day of Resurrection. As He hath said: "When
the heaven shall be cloven asunder."(30) By "heaven" is meant the heaven
of divine Revelation, which is elevated with every Manifestation, and rent
asunder with every subsequent one. By "cloven asunder" is meant that the
former Dispensation is superseded and annulled. I swear by God! That this
heaven being cloven asunder is, to the discerning, an act mightier than
the cleaving of the skies! Ponder a while. That a divine Revelation which
for years hath been securely established; beneath whose shadow all who
have embraced it have been reared and nurtured; by the light of whose law
generations of men have been disciplined; the excellency of whose word men
have heard recounted by their fathers; in such wise that human eye hath
beheld naught but the pervading influence of its grace, and mortal ear
hath heard naught but the resounding majesty of its command--what act is
mightier than that such a Revelation should, by the power of God, be
"cloven asunder" and be abolished at the appearance of one soul? Reflect,
is this a mightier act than that which these abject and foolish men have
imagined the "cleaving of the heaven" to mean?
Moreover, consider the hardships and the bitterness of the lives of those
Revealers of the divine Beauty. Reflect, how single-handed and alone they
faced the world and all its peoples, and promulgated the Law of God! No
matter how severe the persecutions inflicted upon those holy, those
precious, and tender Souls, they still remained, in the plenitude of their
power, patient, and, despite their ascendancy, they suffered and endured.
In like manner, endeavour to comprehend the meaning of the "changing of
the earth." Know thou, that upon whatever hearts the bountiful showers of
mercy, raining from the "heaven" of divine Revelation, have fallen, the
earth of those hearts hath verily been changed into the earth of divine
knowledge and wisdom. What myrtles of unity hath the soil of their hearts
produced! What blossoms of true knowledge and wisdom hath their illumined
bosoms yielded! Were the earth of their hearts to remain unchanged, how
could such souls who have not been taught one letter, have seen no
teacher, and entered no school, utter such words and display such
knowledge as none can apprehend? Methinks they have been moulded from the
clay of infinite knowledge, and kneaded with the water of divine wisdom.
Therefore, hath it been said: "Knowledge is a light which God casteth into
the heart of whomsoever He willeth." It is this kind of knowledge which is
and hath ever been praiseworthy, and not the limited knowledge that hath
sprung forth from veiled and obscured minds. This limited knowledge they
even stealthily borrow one from the other, and vainly pride themselves
therein!
Would that the hearts of men could be cleansed from these man-made
limitations and obscure thoughts imposed upon them! haply they may be
illumined by the light of the Sun of true knowledge, and comprehend the
mysteries of divine wisdom. Consider now, were the parched and barren soil
of these hearts to remain unchanged, how could they ever become the
Recipients of the revelation of the mysteries of God, and the Revealers of
the divine Essence? Thus hath He said: "On the day when the earth shall be
changed into another earth."(31)
The breeze of the bounty of the King of creation hath caused even the
physical earth to be changed, were ye to ponder in your hearts the
mysteries of divine Revelation.
And now, comprehend the meaning of this verse: "The whole earth shall on
the Resurrection Day be but His handful, and in His right hand shall the
heavens be folded together. Praise be to Him! and high be He uplifted
above the partners they join with him!"(32) And now, be fair in thy
judgment. Were this verse to have the meaning which men suppose it to
have, of what profit, one may ask, could it be to man? Moreover, it is
evident and manifest that no such hand as could be seen by human eye could
accomplish such deeds, or could possibly be ascribed to the exalted
Essence of the one true God. Nay, to acknowledge such a thing is naught
but sheer blasphemy, an utter perversion of the truth. And should it be
supposed that by this verse are meant the Manifestations of God, Who will
be called upon, on the Day of Judgment, to perform such deeds, this too
seemeth far from the truth, and is surely of no profit. On the contrary,
by the term "earth" is meant the earth of understanding and knowledge, and
by "heavens" the heavens of divine Revelation. Reflect thou, how, in one
hand, He hath, by His mighty grasp, turned the earth of knowledge and
understanding, previously unfolded, into a mere handful, and, on the
other, spread out a new and highly exalted earth in the hearts of men,
thus causing the freshest and loveliest blossoms, and the mightiest and
loftiest trees to spring forth from the illumined bosom of man.
In like manner, reflect how the elevated heavens of the Dispensations of
the past have, in the right hand of power, been folded together, how the
heavens of divine Revelation have been raised by the command of God, and
been adorned by the sun, the moon, and stars of His wondrous commandments.
Such are the mysteries of the Word of God, which have been unveiled and
made manifest, that haply thou mayest apprehend the morning light of
divine guidance, mayest quench, by the power of reliance and renunciation,
the lamp of idle fancy, of vain imaginings, of hesitation, and doubt, and
mayest kindle, in the inmost chamber of thine heart, the new-born light of
divine knowledge and certitude.
Know verily that the purpose underlying all these symbolic terms and
abstruse allusions, which emanate from the Revealers of God's holy Cause,
hath been to test and prove the peoples of the world; that thereby the
earth of the pure and illuminated hearts may be known from the perishable
and barren soil. From time immemorial such hath been the way of God amidst
His creatures, and to this testify the records of the sacred books.
And likewise, reflect upon the revealed verse concerning the "Qiblih."(33)
When Muhammad, the Sun of Prophethood, had fled from the dayspring of
Batha(34) unto Yathrib,(35) He continued to turn His face, while praying,
unto Jerusalem, the holy city, until the time when the Jews began to utter
unseemly words against Him--words which if mentioned would ill befit these
pages and would weary the reader. Muhammad strongly resented these words.
Whilst, wrapt in meditation and wonder, He was gazing toward heaven, He
heard the kindly Voice of Gabriel, saying: "We behold Thee from above,
turning Thy face to heaven; but We will have Thee turn to a Qiblih which
shall please Thee."(36) On a subsequent day, when the Prophet, together
with His companions, was offering the noontide prayer, and had already
performed two of the prescribed Rik'ats,(37) the Voice of Gabriel was
heard again: "Turn Thou Thy face towards the sacred Mosque."(38) ,(39) In
the midst of that same prayer, Muhammad suddenly turned His face away from
Jerusalem and faced the Ka'bih. Whereupon, a profound dismay seized
suddenly the companions of the Prophet. Their faith was shaken severely.
So great was their alarm, that many of them, discontinuing their prayer,
apostatized their faith. Verily, God caused not this turmoil but to test
and prove His servants. Otherwise, He, the ideal King, could easily have
left the Qiblih unchanged, and could have caused Jerusalem to remain the
Point of Adoration unto His Dispensation, thereby withholding not from
that holy city the distinction of acceptance which had been conferred upon
it.
None of the many Prophets sent down, since Moses was made manifest, as
Messengers of the Word of God, such as David, Jesus, and others among the
more exalted Manifestations who have appeared during the intervening
period between the Revelations of Moses and Muhammad, ever altered the law
of the Qiblih. These Messengers of the Lord of creation have, one and all,
directed their peoples to turn unto the same direction. In the eyes of
God, the ideal King, all the places of the earth are one and the same,
excepting that place which, in the days of His Manifestations, He doth
appoint for a particular purpose. Even as He hath revealed: "The East and
West are God's: therefore whichever way ye turn, there is the face of
God."(40) Notwithstanding the truth of these facts, why should the Qiblih
have been changed, thus casting such dismay amongst the people, causing
the companions of the Prophet to waver, and throwing so great a confusion
into their midst? Yea, such things as throw consternation into the hearts
of all men come to pass only that each soul may be tested by the
touchstone of God, that the true may be known and distinguished from the
false. Thus hath He revealed after the breach amongst the people: "We did
not appoint that which Thou wouldst have to be the Qiblih, but that We
might know him who followeth the Apostle from him who turneth on his
heels."(41) "Affrighted asses fleeing from a lion."(42)
Were you to ponder, but for a while, these utterances in your heart, you
would surely find the portals of understanding unlocked before your face,
and would behold all knowledge and the mysteries thereof unveiled before
your eyes. Such things take place only that the souls of men may develop
and be delivered from the prison-cage of self and desire. Otherwise, that
ideal King hath, throughout eternity, been in His Essence independent of
the comprehension of all beings, and will continue, for ever, in His own
Being to be exalted above the adoration of every soul. A single breeze of
His affluence doth suffice to adorn all mankind with the robe of wealth;
and one drop out of the ocean of His bountiful grace is enough to confer
upon all beings the glory of everlasting life. But inasmuch as the divine
Purpose hath decreed that the true should be known from the false, and the
sun from the shadow, He hath, therefore, in every season sent down upon
mankind the showers of tests from His realm of glory.
Were men to meditate upon the lives of the Prophets of old, so easily
would they come to know and understand the ways of these Prophets that
they would cease to be veiled by such deeds and words as are contrary to
their own worldly desires, and thus consume every intervening veil with
the fire burning in the Bush of divine knowledge, and abide secure upon
the throne of peace and certitude. For instance, consider Moses, son of
'Imran, one of the exalted Prophets and Author of a divinely-revealed
Book. Whilst passing, one day, through the market, in His early days, ere
His ministry was proclaimed, He saw two men engaged in fighting. One of
them asked the help of Moses against his opponent. Whereupon, Moses
intervened and slew him. To this testifieth the record of the sacred Book.
Should the details be cited, they will lengthen and interrupt the course
of the argument. The report of this incident spread throughout the city,
and Moses was full of fear, as is witnessed by the text of the Book. And
when the warning: "O Moses! of a truth, the chiefs take counsel to slay
Thee"(43) reached His ears, He went forth from the city, and sojourned in
Midian in the service of Shoeb. While returning, Moses entered the holy
vale, situate in the wilderness of Sinai, and there beheld the vision of
the King of glory from the "Tree that belongeth neither to the East nor to
the West."(44) There He heard the soul-stirring Voice of the Spirit
speaking from out of the kindled Fire, bidding Him to shed upon Pharaonic
souls the light of divine guidance; so that, liberating them from the
shadows of the valley of self and desire, He might enable them to attain
the meads of heavenly delight, and delivering them, through the Salsabil
of renunciation, from the bewilderment of remoteness, cause them to enter
the peaceful city of the divine presence. When Moses came unto Pharaoh and
delivered unto him, as bidden by God, the divine Message, Pharaoh spoke
insultingly saying: "Art thou not he that committed murder, and became an
infidel?" Thus recounted the Lord of majesty as having been said by
Pharaoh unto Moses: "What a deed is that which Thou hast done! Thou art
one of the ungrateful. He said: 'I did it indeed, and I was one of those
who erred. And I fled from you when I feared you, but My Lord hath given
Me wisdom, and hath made Me one of His Apostles.'"(45)
And now ponder in thy heart the commotion which God stirreth up. Reflect
upon the strange and manifold trials with which He doth test His servants.
Consider how He hath suddenly chosen from among His servants, and
entrusted with the exalted mission of divine guidance Him Who was known as
guilty of homicide, Who, Himself, had acknowledged His cruelty, and Who
for well-nigh thirty years had, in the eyes of the world, been reared in
the home of Pharaoh and been nourished at his table. Was not God, the
omnipotent King, able to withhold the hand of Moses from murder, so that
manslaughter should not be attributed unto Him, causing bewilderment and
aversion among the people?
Likewise, reflect upon the state and condition of Mary. So deep was the
perplexity of that most beauteous countenance, so grievous her case, that
she bitterly regretted she had ever been born. To this beareth witness the
text of the sacred verse wherein it is mentioned that after Mary had given
birth to Jesus, she bemoaned her plight and cried out: "O would that I had
died ere this, and been a thing forgotten, forgotten quite!"(46) I swear
by God! Such lamenting consumeth the heart and shaketh the being. Such
consternation of soul, such despondency, could have been caused by no
other than the censure of the enemy and the cavilings of the infidel and
perverse. Reflect, what answer could Mary have given to the people around
her? How could she claim that a Babe Whose father was unknown had been
conceived of the Holy Ghost? Therefore did Mary, that veiled and immortal
Countenance, take up her Child and return unto her home. No sooner had the
eyes of the people fallen upon her than they raised their voice saying: "O
sister of Aaron! Thy father was not a man of wickedness, nor unchaste thy
mother."(47)
And now, meditate upon this most great convulsion, this grievous test.
Notwithstanding all these things, God conferred upon that essence of the
Spirit, Who was known amongst the people as fatherless, the glory of
Prophethood, and made Him His testimony unto all that are in heaven and on
earth.
Behold how contrary are the ways of the Manifestations of God, as ordained
by the King of creation, to the ways and desires of men! As thou comest to
comprehend the essence of these divine mysteries, thou wilt grasp the
purpose of God, the divine Charmer, the Best-Beloved. Thou wilt regard the
words and the deeds of that almighty Sovereign as one and the same; in
such wise that whatsoever thou dost behold in His deeds, the same wilt
thou find in His sayings, and whatsoever thou dost read in His sayings,
that wilt thou recognize in His deeds. Thus it is that outwardly such
deeds and words are the fire of vengeance unto the wicked, and inwardly
the waters of mercy unto the righteous. Were the eye of the heart to open,
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.
And now, take heed, O brother! If such things be revealed in this
Dispensation, and such incidents come to pass, at the present time, what
would the people do? I swear by Him Who is the true Educator of mankind
and the Revealer of the Word of God that the people would instantly and
unquestionably pronounce Him an infidel and would sentence Him to death.
How far are they from hearkening unto the voice that declareth: Lo! a
Jesus hath appeared out of the breath of the Holy Ghost, and a Moses
summoned to a divinely-appointed task! Were a myriad voices to be raised,
no ear would listen if We said that upon a fatherless Child hath been
conferred the mission of Prophethood, or that a murderer hath brought from
the flame of the burning Bush the message of "Verily, verily, I am God!"
If the eye of justice be opened, it will readily recognize, in the light
of that which hath been mentioned, that He, Who is the Cause and ultimate
Purpose of all these things, is made manifest in this day. Though similar
events have not occurred in this Dispensation, yet the people still cling
to such vain imaginings as are cherished by the reprobate. How grievous
the charges brought against Him! How severe the persecutions inflicted
upon Him--charges and persecutions the like of which men have neither seen
nor heard!
Great God! When the stream of utterance reached this stage, We beheld, and
lo! the sweet savours of God were being wafted from the dayspring of
Revelation, and the morning breeze was blowing out of the Sheba of the
Eternal. Its tidings rejoiced anew the heart, and imparted immeasurable
gladness to the soul. It made all things new, and brought unnumbered and
inestimable gifts from the unknowable Friend. The robe of human praise can
never hope to match Its noble stature, and Its shining figure the mantle
of utterance can never fit. Without word It unfoldeth the inner mysteries,
and without speech It revealeth the secrets of the divine sayings. It
teacheth lamentation and moaning to the nightingales warbling upon the
bough of remoteness and bereavement, instructeth them in the art of love's
ways, and showeth them the secret of heart-surrender. To the flowers of
the Ridvan of heavenly reunion It revealeth the endearments of the
impassioned lover, and unveileth the charm of the fair. Upon the anemones
of the garden of love It bestoweth the mysteries of truth, and within the
breasts of lovers It entrusteth the symbols of the innermost subtleties.
At this hour, so liberal is the outpouring of Its grace that the holy
Spirit itself is envious! It hath imparted to the drop the waves of the
sea, and endowed the mote with the splendour of the sun. So great are the
overflowings of Its bounty that the foulest beetle hath sought the perfume
of the musk, and the bat the light of the sun. It hath quickened the dead
with the breath of life, and caused them to speed out of the sepulchres of
their mortal bodies. It hath established the ignorant upon the seats of
learning, and elevated the oppressor to the throne of justice.
The universe is pregnant with these manifold bounties, awaiting the hour
when the effects of Its unseen gifts will be made manifest in this world,
when the languishing and sore athirst will attain the living Kawthar of
their Well-Beloved, and the erring wanderer, lost in the wilds of
remoteness and nothingness, will enter the tabernacle of life, and attain
reunion with his heart's desire. In the soil of whose heart will these
holy seeds germinate? From the garden of whose soul will the blossoms of
the invisible realities spring forth? Verily, I say, so fierce is the
blaze of the Bush of love, burning in the Sinai of the heart, that the
streaming waters of holy utterance can never quench its flame. Oceans can
never allay this Leviathan's burning thirst, and this Phoenix of the
undying fire can abide nowhere save in the glow of the countenance of the
Well-Beloved. Therefore, O brother! kindle with the oil of wisdom the lamp
of the spirit within the innermost chamber of thy heart, and guard it with
the globe of understanding, that the breath of the infidel may extinguish
not its flame nor dim its brightness. Thus have We illuminated the heavens
of utterance with the splendours of the Sun of divine wisdom and
understanding, that thy heart may find peace, that thou mayest be of those
who, on the wings of certitude, have soared unto the heaven of the love of
their Lord, the All-Merciful.
And now, concerning His words: "And then shall appear the sign of the Son
of man in heaven." By these words it is meant that when the sun of the
heavenly teachings hath been eclipsed, the stars of the
divinely-established laws have fallen, and the moon of true knowledge--the
educator of mankind--hath been obscured; when the standards of guidance and
felicity have been reversed, and the morn of truth and righteousness hath
sunk in night, then shall the sign of the Son of man appear in heaven. By
"heaven" is meant the visible heaven, inasmuch as when the hour draweth
nigh on which the Day-star of the heaven of justice shall be made
manifest, and the Ark of divine guidance shall sail upon the sea of glory,
a star will appear in the heaven, heralding unto its people the advent of
that most great light. In like manner, in the invisible heaven a star
shall be made manifest who, unto the peoples of the earth, shall act as a
harbinger of the break of that true and exalted Morn. These twofold signs,
in the visible and the invisible heaven, have announced the Revelation of
each of the Prophets of God, as is commonly believed.
Among the Prophets was Abraham, the Friend of God. Ere He manifested
Himself, Nimrod dreamed a dream. Thereupon, he summoned the soothsayers,
who informed him of the rise of a star in the heaven. Likewise, there
appeared a herald who announced throughout the land the coming of Abraham.
After Him came Moses, He Who held converse with God. The soothsayers of
His time warned Pharaoh in these terms: "A star hath risen in the heaven,
and lo! it foreshadoweth the conception of a Child Who holdeth your fate
and the fate of your people in His hand." In like manner, there appeared a
sage who, in the darkness of the night, brought tidings of joy unto the
people of Israel, imparting consolation to their souls, and assurance to
their hearts. To this testify the records of the sacred books. Were the
details to be mentioned, this epistle would swell into a book. Moreover,
it is not Our wish to relate the stories of the days that are past. God is
Our witness that what We even now mention is due solely to Our tender
affection for thee, that haply the poor of the earth may attain the shores
of the sea of wealth, the ignorant be led unto the ocean of divine
knowledge, and they that thirst for understanding partake of the Salsabil
of divine wisdom. Otherwise, this servant regardeth the consideration of
such records a grave mistake and a grievous transgression.
In like manner, when the hour of the Revelation of Jesus drew nigh, a few
of the Magi, aware that the star of Jesus had appeared in heaven, sought
and followed it, till they came unto the city which was the seat of the
Kingdom of Herod. The sway of his sovereignty in those days embraced the
whole of that land.