"The breezes of the Most Merciful
have passed over all created things;
happy the man that hath discovered
their fragrance, and set himself
towards them with a sound heart.
Attire thy temple with the ornament of
My Name, and thy tongue with remembrance
of Me, and thine heart with love
for Me, the Almighty, the Most High.
We have desired for thee naught
except that which is better for thee
than what thou dost possess and all
the treasures of the earth. Thy Lord,
verily, is knowing, informed of
all. Arise, in My Name, amongst My
servants, and say: `O ye peoples of
the earth! Turn yourselves towards
Him Who hath turned towards you. He,
verily, is the Face of God amongst
you, and His Testimony and His Guide
unto you. He
hath come to you with signs which none can produce.' The
voice of the Burning Bush is raised
in the midmost heart of the world,
and the Holy Spirit calleth aloud
among the nations: `Lo, the Desired One
is come with manifest dominion!'
-- Bahá'u'lláh, Epistle
to the Son of the Wolf, p. 48
Say: The first and foremost testimony
establishing His truth is His own Self.
Next to this testimony is His Revelation.
For whoso faileth to recognize
either the one or the other He hath
established the words He hath revealed as
proof of His reality and truth. This
is, verily, an evidence of His tender
mercy unto men. He hath endowed every
soul with the capacity to recognize the
signs
of God. How could He, otherwise, have fulfilled His testimony unto men,
if ye be of them that ponder His
Cause in their hearts. He will never deal
unjustly with any one, neither will
He task a soul beyond its power. He,
verily, is the Compassionate, the
All-Merciful.
-- Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings
from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 105
VII. Verily I say, this is the Day
in which mankind can behold the Face, and
hear the Voice, of the Promised One.
The Call of God hath been raised, and
the light of His countenance hath
been lifted up upon men. It behoveth every
man to blot out the trace of every
idle word from the tablet of his heart,
and to gaze, with an open and unbiased
mind, on the signs of His Revelation,
the proofs of His Mission, and the
tokens of His glory.
Great indeed is this Day! The allusions
made to it in all the sacred
Scriptures as the Day of God attest
its greatness. The soul of every Prophet
of God, of every Divine Messenger,
hath thirsted for this wondrous Day. All
the divers kindreds of the earth
have, likewise, yearned to attain it. No
sooner, however, had the Day Star
of His Revelation manifested itself in the
heaven of God's Will, than all, except
those whom the Almighty was pleased
to guide, were found dumbfounded
and heedless.
-- Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings
from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 10
XVI. Say: O men! This is a matchless
Day. Matchless must, likewise, be the
tongue that celebrateth the praise
of the Desire of all nations, and
matchless the deed that aspireth
to be acceptable in His sight. The whole
human race hath longed for this Day,
that perchance it may fulfil that which
well beseemeth its station, and is
worthy of its destiny. Blessed is the man
whom the affairs of the world have
failed to deter from recognizing Him Who
is the Lord of all things.
So blind hath become the human heart
that neither the disruption of the city,
nor the reduction of the mountain
in dust, nor even the cleaving of the
earth, can shake off its torpor.
The allusions made in the Scriptures have
been unfolded, and the signs
recorded therein have been revealed, and the
prophetic cry is continually being
raised. And yet all, except such as God
was pleased to guide, are bewildered
in the drunkenness of their heedlessness!
-- Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings
from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 39
Only when the lamp of search, of earnest
striving, of longing desire, of
passionate devotion, of fervid love,
of rapture, and ecstasy, is kindled
within the seeker's heart, and the
breeze of His loving-kindness is wafted
upon his soul, will the darkness
of error be dispelled, the mists of doubts
and misgivings be dissipated, and
the lights of knowledge and certitude
envelop his being. At that hour will
the Mystic Herald, bearing the joyful
tidings of the Spirit, shine forth
from the City of God resplendent as the
morn, and, through the trumpet-blast
of knowledge, will awaken the heart,
the soul, and the spirit from the
slumber of heedlessness. Then will the
manifold favors and outpouring grace
of the holy and everlasting Spirit
confer such new life upon the seeker
that he will find himself endowed with
a new eye, a new ear, a new heart,
and a new mind. He will contemplate the
manifest signs of the universe, and
will penetrate the hidden mysteries of
the soul. Gazing with the eye of
God, he will perceive within every atom a
door that leadeth him to the stations
of absolute certitude. He will discover
in all things the mysteries of Divine
Revelation, and the evidences of an
everlasting Manifestation.
I swear by God! Were he that treadeth
the path of guidance and seeketh to
scale the heights of righteousness
to attain unto this glorious and exalted
station, he would inhale, at a distance
of a thousand leagues, the fragrance
of God, and would perceive the resplendent
morn of a Divine guidance rising
above the Day Spring of all things.
Each and every thing, however small,
would be to him a revelation, leading
him to his Beloved, the Object of his
quest. So great shall be the discernment
of this seeker that he will
discriminate between truth and falsehood,
even as he doth distinguish the
sun from shadow. If in the uttermost
corners of the East the sweet savors
of God be wafted, he will assuredly
recognize and inhale their fragrance,
even though he be dwelling in the
uttermost ends of the West. He will,
likewise, clearly distinguish all
the signs of God--His wondrous utterances,
His great works, and mighty deeds--from
the doings, the words and ways of
men, even as the jeweler who knoweth
the gem from the stone, or the man who
distinguisheth the spring from autumn,
and heat from cold. When the channel
of the human soul is cleansed of
all worldly and impeding attachments, it
will unfailingly perceive the breath
of the Beloved across immeasurable
distances, and will, led by its perfume,
attain and enter the City of
Certitude.
-- Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings
from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 267
Say: Is there any doubt concerning
God? Behold how He hath come down from
the heaven of His grace, girded with
power and invested with sovereignty. Is
there any doubt concerning His
signs? Open ye your eyes, and consider His
clear evidence. Paradise is on your
right hand, and hath been brought nigh
unto you, while Hell hath been made
to blaze. Witness its devouring flame.
Haste ye to enter into Paradise,
as a token of Our mercy unto you, and drink
ye from the hands of the All-Merciful
the Wine that is life indeed.
Drink with healthy relish, O people
of Bahá. Ye are indeed they with whom it
shall be well. This is what they
who have near access to God have attained.
This is the flowing water ye were
promised in the Qur'án, and later in the
Bayán, as a recompense from
your Lord, the God of Mercy. Blessed are they
that quaff it.
-- Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings
from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 45
XXI. O Salmán! The door of
the knowledge of the Ancient Being hath ever
been, and will continue for ever
to be, closed in the face of men. No man's
understanding shall ever gain access
unto His holy court. As a token of His
mercy, however, and as a proof of
His loving-kindness, He hath manifested
unto men the Day Stars of His divine
guidance, the Symbols of His divine
unity, and hath ordained the knowledge
of these sanctified Beings to be
identical with the knowledge of His
own Self. Whoso recognizeth them hath
recognized God. Whoso hearkeneth
to their call, hath hearkened to the Voice
of God, and whoso testifieth to the
truth of their Revelation, hath
testified to the truth of God Himself.
Whoso turneth away from them, hath
turned away from God, and whoso disbelieveth
in them, hath disbelieved in
God. Every one of them is the Way
of God that connecteth this world with
the realms above, and the Standard
of His Truth unto every one in the
kingdoms of earth and heaven. They
are the Manifestations of God amidst
men, the evidences of His Truth,
and the signs of His glory.
-- Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings
from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 49
From the Quran
12:1 A.L.R. These are the symbols (or Verses) of the perspicuous Book.
12:2 We have sent it down as an Arabic
Qur'án, in order that ye may learn
wisdom.
12:3 We do relate unto thee the most
beautiful of stories, in that We reveal
to thee this (portion of the)
Qur'án: before this, thou too was among
those who knew it not.
12:4 Behold! Joseph said to his father:
"O my father! I did see eleven stars
and the sun and the moon: I
saw them prostrate themselves to me!"
12:5 Sa'íd (the father): "My
(dear) little son! relate not thy vision to thy
brothers, lest they concoct
a plot against thee: for Satan is to man an
avowed enemy!
12:6 "Thus will thy Lord choose thee
and teach thee the interpretation of
stories (and events) and perfect
His favour to thee and to the posterity
of Jacob - even as He perfected
it to thy fathers Abraham and Isaac
aforetime! for God is full
of knowledge and wisdom."
12:7 Verily in Joseph and his brethren
are signs (or symbols) for seekers
(after Truth).
-- Qur'an: 12 - YUSUF
From the Bible
7:10 Moreover the LORD spake again unto Ahaz, saying,
7:11 Ask thee a sign
of the LORD thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in
the height above.
7:12 But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the LORD.
7:13 And he said, Hear ye now, O house
of David; Is it a small thing for you
to weary men, but will ye weary
my God also?
7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall
give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall
conceive, and bear a son, and
shall call his name Immanuel.
-- Bible: Isaiah.
In the passage
below, Muhammad instructs his followers "be
not divided among
yourselves",
"Be not like those who are divided amongst themselves and fall into
disputations
after receiving Clear Signs: For them is a dreadful penalty,-".
There
are many references
to "Clear Signs"
in the Quran all of which point to the
appearance
of prophets -- In the passage below it can be interpreted as a
reference to
the Imams.
3:102 O ye who believe! Fear God as
He should be feared, and die not except
in a state of Islám.
3:103 And hold fast, all together,
by the rope which God (stretches out
for you), and be not divided
among yourselves; and remember with
gratitude God's favour on you;
for ye were enemies and He joined
your hearts in love, so that
by His Grace, ye became brethren; and
ye were on the brink of the
pit of Fire, and He saved you from it.
Thus doth God make His
Signs clear to you: That ye may be guided.
3:104 Let there arise out of you a
band of people inviting to all that is
good, enjoining what is right,
and forbidding what is wrong: They
are the ones to attain felicity.
3:105 Be not like those who are divided
amongst themselves and fall into
disputations after receiving
Clear Signs: For them is a dreadful
penalty,-
3:106 On the Day when some faces will
be (lit up with) white, and some
faces will be (in the gloom
of) black: To those whose faces will
be black, (will be said): "Did
ye reject Faith after accepting it?
Taste then the penalty for
rejecting Faith."
3:107 But those whose faces will be
(lit with) white,- they will be in
(the light of) God's mercy:
therein to dwell (for ever).
3:108 These are the Signs
of God: We rehearse them to thee in Truth: And
God means no injustice to any
of His creatures.
-- The Qur'an: 3 - AL-I-IMRAN,