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Abstract:
Short one-paragraph Tablet concerning the grades or degrees of certainty.
Notes:
Posted to Tarjuman listserver by K. Fananapazir July 2002; web edition proofread and annotated by M. Wolf.
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The station of assurance[3] is greater in degree than that of mere faith.[4] It is the station denoted by “that they should add faith upon faith.”[5] Even though His holiness Abraham was in the highest station of assurance,[6] the divine perfections have no end. The grades of existence are finite but the perfections in each grade of existence are endless. Thus when He [Abraham] sayeth, “that my heart may have assurance”[7] this is the station of the Knowledge of Certainty.[8] This is a certainty that will be achieved with reflection and rational proofs. The Station of the Vision of Certainty[9] is the station of beholding the lights of certainty.[10] The station of the Reality of Certainty[11] is the full realization of that certainty. The similitude and example of this is this: that with reflection and rational proof, certainty about the existence of fire can be achieved, but when one seeth fire itself, that is then the station of the Vision of Certainty. When a human being gets ignited with that same fire or when one senses fully the heat of that fire, that is the station of the Reality of Certainty. Thus when his holiness Abraham, the Friend of God, was eager to attain the infinite perfections of the All Merciful One, He, therefore, sought the increased realization of all Lordly conditions. In particular, He sought the raising of the dead. His purpose in wishing the raising of the dead was the acquisition of eternal life, not this elemental earthly life. His intention was the appearance of all the conditions and grades of existence in His Own blessed Self so that by the breath of the Holy Spirit He might be living eternally even after His evanescence and end.
Upon thee be the Glory of God!
[2] Of this early believer, nothing is know to the present editor. It is also not known when this Tablet was written (MW’s note). [3] certitude, confidence: Itmí’nán (KF’s note) [4] imán (KF’s note) [5] Cf. Qur’án 48:4: “That they may add faith upon faith..” (KF’s note) [6] The Arabic is Itmí’nán. The reason His Holiness Abraham is mentioned here so closely may be understood when one recalls Q 2: 260. There Abraham in a conversation with God says ‘I believe I have faith but my heart needs Itmi’nán [Assurance].’ Please see Rodwell e.g. “When Abraham said, ‘O Lord! Show me how Thou wilt give life to the dead?’ He [God said] ‘Hast thou not believed [Imán]?’ He said, ‘Yes but I have asked Thee that my heart [Qalb] may be well assured’ [ATTAIN Itmí’nán]. (KF’s note). [7] “Had Abraham attained it, He too, falling prostrate upon the ground, and in the utmost lowliness before the Lord thy God, would have cried: ‘Mine heart is filled with peace, O Thou Lord of all that is in heaven and on earth!’” (Shoghi Effendi: World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, Page: 105) (KF’s note) [8] ‘ilm al-yaqin. Cf. Qur’án 102:5. The phrase is translated as “...know with certainty of mind” in Yúsef ‘Alí. (KF’s note, expanded by MW). [9] ‘ayn al-yaqin. Cf. Qur’án 102:7. Translated as “certainty of sight” in Yúsef ‘Alí. (KF’s note, expanded by MW). [10] Cf. Lawh-i-Dunyá (Tablet of the World): “Praise and thanksgiving beseem the Lord of manifest dominion Who hath adorned the mighty prison with the presence of their honours ‘Alí-Akbar and Amín, and hath illumined it with the light of certitude, constancy and assurance” (Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh Revealed After the Kitáb-i-Aqdas p. 83, Emphasis added). The two souls referenced here are Hájí Mullá ‘Alí-Akbar Shahmírzádí and Hájí Abu’l-Hasan Ardakání, Hands of the Cause appointed by Bahá’u’lláh. In this same Tablet, Bahá’u’lláh describes the Hands of the Cause as those “through whom the light of fortitude hath shone forth” (ibid.)(MW’s note). [11] haqq al-yaqin. Cf. Qur’án 56:96. Translated as “Very Truth and Certainty” in Yúsef ‘Alí (KF’s note, expanded by MW). |
| METADATA | (contact us to help add metadata) |
| VIEWS | 9629 views since posted 2002-07; last edit 2024-11-19 08:59 UTC; previous at archive.org.../abdul-baha_lawh_ustad_khayyat; URLs changed in 2010, see archive.org.../bahai-library.org |
| AB04958 | |
| PERMISSION | translator |
| HISTORY | Formatted 2002-07 by Mehdi Wolf. |
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