Postby Dorumerosaer » Mon Dec 24, 2007 1:49 am
I am unaware of a Muslim prophecy or Hadith which states that the Messiah will unseal the meaning of one specific verse; nor am I aware of anything in Baha'i literature which unseals or identifies that verse.
However.
We do know something about what the Bab revealed on the first night of His Revelation, May 23, 1844, to Mulla Husayn.
Muhammad referred, in the Qur'an, to the Story of Joseph as the Greatest of Stories; this is a great divine hint. This Story is not only about Joseph. It really shows Joseph as the archetype of all of the Prophets of God.
To give one example: The brothers of Joseph appeared and stood before Him; but did not recognize Him. The significance of this is that it symbolizes all of humanity being "gathered together" on the Judgment Day before God. It also means that when the Manifestation of God first comes to the earth, no one recognizes Him. The same thing occurs in the last chapter of the Book of Luke, where two believers are walking with Jesus, but they do not recognize Him. Just as in the Story of Joseph--after they "eat bread" (a symbol explained by Abdu'l-Baha in Some Answered Questions) then their eyes are unsealed and they "recognize" Him. That is, they spiritually accept Him as the Prophet of God; but the way the story is told in the Scriptures, it was as if they saw Him but didn't recognize His physical features. Actually it refers to a much deeper recognition.
One entire chapter of the Qur'an -- Chapter 12, or Surah 12 -- is devoted to the Story of Joseph. This chapter is comprised of one hundred and eleven verses.
The Bab revealed a commentary on this chapter of the Quran. The Bab's commentary consists of one hundred and eleven chapters -- one chapter for each verse of the story as told in the Qur'an.
The Bab named each of these 111 chapters; just as the Chapters of the Qur'an are named. The Bab named the first chapter of His commentary, "The Surih of Mulk." That is, the Surih of Mulk is a commentary on the first verse of the 111 verses comprising the Surih of Joseph in the Qur'an.
This Text by the Bab is known by two names. The first is the "Commentary on the Surih of Joseph," and the second is "the Qayyumu'l-Asma."
Portions of this Work are in English translation. If you will look at the book "Selections from the Writings of the Bab," and look up the Qayyumu'l-Asma, the first selections in that section of the Book were revealed on that first night. This began the process of unsealing the Holy Books, by interpreting the Holy Verses in a spiritual and spiritually symbolic manner.
Brent