It is evident that the changes brought
about in every Dispensation constitute
the dark clouds
that intervene between the eye of man's understanding and
the Divine Luminary which shineth
forth from the day spring of the Divine
Essence. Consider how men for generations
have been blindly imitating their
fathers, and have been trained according
to such ways and manners as have
been laid down by the dictates of
their Faith. Were these men, therefore, to
discover suddenly that a Man, Who
hath been living in their midst, Who, with
respect to every human limitation
hath been their equal, had risen to abolish
every established principle imposed
by their Faith--principles by which for
centuries they have been disciplined,
and every opposer and denier of which
they have come to regard as infidel,
profligate and wicked,--they would of a
certainty be veiled and hindered
from acknowledging His truth. Such things
are as "clouds"
that veil the eyes of those whose inner being hath not tasted
the Salsabíl of detachment,
nor drunk from the Kawthar of the knowledge of
God. Such men, when acquainted with
those circumstances, become so veiled
that, without the least question,
they pronounce the Manifestation of God as
infidel, and sentence Him to death.
You must have heard of such things taking
place all down the ages, and are
now observing them in these days.
It behoveth us, therefore, to make
the utmost endeavor, that, by God's invisible
assistance, these dark veils, these
clouds of Heaven-sent trials, may not hinder
us from beholding the beauty of His
shining Countenance, and that we may
recognize Him only by His own Self.
-- Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings
from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 26-27
Say: Tribulation is a horizon unto
My Revelation. The day star of grace shineth
above it, and sheddeth a light which
neither the clouds of men's idle fancy nor
the vain imaginations of the aggressor
can obscure.
Follow thou the footsteps of thy Lord,
and remember His servants even as He
doth remember thee, undeterred by
either the clamor of the heedless ones or
the sword of the enemy.... Spread
abroad the sweet savors of thy Lord, and
hesitate not, though it be for less
than a moment, in the service of His Cause.
The day is approaching when the victory
of thy Lord, the Ever-Forgiving, the
Most Bountiful, will be proclaimed.
-- Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings
from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 42
This is the Day whereon the All-Merciful
hath
come down in the clouds of
knowledge,
clothed with manifest sovereignty. He well knoweth the actions
of men. He it is Whose glory none
can mistake, could ye but comprehend it.
The heaven of every religion hath
been rent, and the earth of human
understanding been cleft asunder,
and the angels of God are seen descending.
Say: This is the Day of mutual deceit;
whither do ye flee? The mountains have
passed away, and the heavens have
been folded together, and the whole earth
is held within His grasp, could ye
but understand it. Who is it that can protect
you? None, by Him Who is the All-Merciful!
None, except God, the Almighty,
the All-Glorious, the Beneficent.
Every woman that hath had a burden in her
womb hath cast her burden. We see
men drunken in this Day, the Day in
which men and angels have been gathered
together.
-- Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings
from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p.
LVII. O Jews! If ye be intent on crucifying
once again Jesus, the Spirit of
God, put Me to death, for He hath
once more, in My person, been made
manifest unto you. Deal with Me as
ye wish, for I have vowed to lay down
My life in the path of God. I will
fear no one, though the powers of earth
and heaven be leagued against Me.
Followers of the Gospel! If ye cherish
the desire to slay Muhammad, the
Apostle of God, seize Me and put an end
to My life, for I am He, and My Self
is His Self. Do unto Me as ye like, for
the deepest longing of Mine heart
is to attain the presence of My Best-Beloved
in His Kingdom of Glory. Such is
the Divine decree, if ye know it. Followers
of Muhammad! If it be your wish to
riddle with your shafts the breast of Him
Who hath caused His Book the Bayán
to be sent down unto you, lay hands on
Me and persecute Me, for I am His
Well-Beloved, the revelation of His own
Self, though My name be not His name.
I have come in the shadows of the
clouds of glory,
and am invested by God with invincible sovereignty. He, verily,
is the Truth, the Knower of things
unseen. I, verily, anticipate from you the
treatment ye have accorded unto Him
that came before Me. To this all things,
verily, witness, if ye be of those
who hearken.
-- Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings
from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 101
Consider the past. How many, both
high and low, have, at all times, yearningly
awaited the advent of the Manifestations
of God in the sanctified persons of His
chosen Ones. How often have they
expected His coming, how frequently have
they prayed that the breeze of divine
mercy might blow, and the promised Beauty
step forth from behind the veil of
concealment, and be made manifest to all the
world. And whensoever the portals
of grace did open, and the clouds of divine
bounty
did rain upon mankind, and the light of the Unseen did shine above the
horizon of celestial might, they
all denied Him, and turned away from His face--the
face of God Himself. Refer ye, to
verify this truth, to that which hath been recorded
in every sacred Book.
-- Bahá'u'lláh, The
Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 4
O King of Paris! Tell the priest to
ring the bells no longer. By God, the True One!
The Most Mighty Bell hath appeared
in the form of Him Who is the Most Great Name,
and the fingers of the will of Thy
Lord, the Most Exalted, the Most High, toll it out in
the heaven of Immortality, in His
name, the All-Glorious. Thus have the mighty verses
of Thy Lord been again sent down
unto thee, that thou mayest arise to remember
God, the Creator of earth and heaven,
in these days when all the tribes of the earth
have mourned, and the foundations
of the cities have trembled, and the dust of
irreligion hath enwrapped all men,
except such as God, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise,
was pleased to spare. Say: He Who
is the Unconditioned is come, in the clouds of light,
that He may quicken all created things
with the breeze of His Name, the Most Merciful,
and unify the world, and gather all
men around this Table which hath been sent down
from heaven. Beware that ye deny
not the favour of God after it hath been sent down
unto you. Better is this for you
than that which ye possess; for that which is yours
perisheth, whilst that which is with
God endureth. He, in truth, ordaineth what He
pleaseth. Verily, the breezes of
forgiveness have been wafted from the direction of
your Lord, the God of Mercy; whoso
turneth thereunto, shall be cleansed of his sins,
and of all pain and sickness. Happy
the man that hath turned towards them, and
woe betide him that hath turned aside.
-- Bahá'u'lláh, Proclamation
of Baha'u'llah, p. 17