In the light of subsequent events, the warnings and appeals of
Baha'u'llah's writings during this period take on a terrible poignancy:
O ye the elected representatives of the people in every land!... Regard
the world as the human body which, though at its creation whole and
perfect, hath been afflicted, through various causes, with grave disorders
and maladies. Not for one day did it gain ease, nay its sickness waxed
more severe, as it fell under the treatment of ignorant physicians, who
gave full rein to their personal desires...
We behold it, in this day, at the mercy of rulers so drunk with pride that
they cannot discern clearly their own best advantage, much less recognize
a Revelation so bewildering and challenging as this....(92)
This is the Day whereon the earth shall tell out her tidings. The workers
of iniquity are her burdens, could ye but perceive it....(93)
All men have been created to carry forward an ever-advancing civilization.
The Almighty beareth Me witness: To act like the beasts of the field is
unworthy of man. Those virtues that befit his dignity are forbearance,
mercy, compassion and loving-kindness towards all the peoples and kindreds
of the earth....(94)
A new life is, in this age, stirring within all the peoples of the earth;
and yet none hath discovered its cause or perceived its motive. Consider
the peoples of the West. Witness how, in their pursuit of that which is
vain and trivial, they have sacrificed, and are still sacrificing,
countless lives for the sake of its establishment and promotion....(95)
In all matters moderation is desirable. If a thing is carried to excess,
it will prove a source of evil.... Strange and astonishing things exist in
the earth but they are hidden from the minds and the understanding of men.
These things are capable of changing the whole atmosphere of the earth and
their contamination would prove lethal....(96)
In later writings, including those addressed to humanity collectively,
Baha'u'llah urged the adoption of steps toward what He called the "Great
Peace." These, He said, would mitigate the sufferings and dislocation
which He saw lying ahead of the human race until the world's peoples
embrace the Revelation of God and through it bring about the Most Great
Peace:
The time must come when the imperative necessity for the holding of a
vast, an all-embracing assemblage of men will be universally realized. The
rulers and kings of the earth must needs attend it, and, participating in
its deliberations, must consider such ways and means as will lay the
foundations of the world's Great Peace amongst men. Such a peace demandeth
that the Great Powers should resolve, for the sake of the tranquility of
the peoples of the earth, to be fully reconciled among themselves. Should
any king take up arms against another, all should unitedly arise and
prevent him. If this be done, the nations of the world will no longer
require any armaments, except for the purpose of preserving the security
of their realms and of maintaining internal order within their
territories.... The day is approaching when all the peoples of the world
will have adopted one universal language and one common script. When this
is achieved, to whatsoever city a man may journey, it shall be as if he
were entering his own home.... That one indeed is a man who, today,
dedicateth himself to the service of the entire human race.... It is not
for him to pride himself who loveth his own country, but rather for him
who loveth the whole world. The earth is but one country, and mankind its
citizens.(97)
"NOT OF MINE OWN VOLITION"
In His letter to Nasiri'd-Din _Sh_ah, the ruler of Persia, which refrains
from any rebuke concerning His imprisonment in the Siyah-_Ch_al and the
other injustices He had experienced at the king's hand, Baha'u'llah speaks
of His own role in the Divine Plan:
I was but a man like others, asleep upon My couch, when lo, the breezes of
the All-Glorious were wafted over Me, and taught Me the knowledge of all
that hath been. This thing is not from Me, but from One Who is Almighty
and All-Knowing. And He bade Me lift up My voice between earth and heaven,
and for this there befell Me what hath caused the tears of every man of
understanding to flow. The learning current amongst men I studied not;
their schools I entered not. Ask of the city wherein I dwelt, that thou
mayest be well assured that I am not of them who speak falsely.(98)
The mission to which He had devoted His entire life, which had cost Him
the life of a cherished younger son(99) , as well as all of His material ,
possessions which had undermined His health, and brought imprisonment,
exile, and abuse, was not one that He had initiated. "Not of Mine own
volition," He said, had He entered on such a course:
Think ye, O people, that I hold within My grasp the control of God's
ultimate Will and Purpose?... Had the ultimate destiny of God's Faith been
in Mine hands, I would have never consented, even though for one moment,
to manifest Myself unto you, nor would I have allowed one word to fall
from My lips. Of this God Himself is, verily, a witness.(100)
Having surrendered unreservedly to God's summons, He was equally in no
doubt about the role which He had been called upon to play in human
history. As the Manifestation of God to the age of fulfillment, He is the
one promised in all the scriptures of the past, the "Desire of all
nations," the "King of Glory." To Judaism He is "Lord of Hosts"; to
Christianity, the Return of Christ in the glory of the Father; to Islam,
the "Great Announcement"; to Buddhism, the Maitreya Buddha; to Hinduism,
the new incarnation of Krishna; to Zoroastrianism, the advent of
"_Sh_ah-Bahram."(101)
Like the Manifestations of God gone before Him, He is both the Voice of
God and its human channel: "When I contemplate, O my God, the relationship
that bindeth me to Thee, I am moved to proclaim to all created things
'verily I am God!'; and when I consider my own self, lo, I find it coarser
than clay!"(102)
"Certain ones among you," He declared, "have said: 'He it is Who hath laid
claim to be God.' By God! This is a gross calumny. I am but a servant of
God Who hath believed in Him and in His signs... My tongue, and My heart,
and My inner and My outer being testify that there is no God but Him, that
all others have been created by His behest, and been fashioned through the
operation of His Will.... I am He that telleth abroad the favors with
which God hath, through His bounty, favored Me. If this be My
transgression, then I am truly the first of the transgressors...."(103)
Baha'u'llah's writings seize upon a host of metaphors in their attempt to
express the paradox that lies at the heart of the phenomenon of God's
Revelation of His Will:
I am the royal Falcon on the arm of the Almighty. I unfold the drooping
wings of every broken bird and start it on its flight.(104)
This is but a leaf which the winds of the will of thy Lord, the Almighty,
the All-Praised, have stirred. Can it be still when the tempestuous winds
are blowing? Nay, by Him Who is the Lord of all Names and Attributes! They
move it as they list....(105)