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Chapter 64
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The Signs of the Independent Prophets and Dependent/Lesser Prophets.
1)
The Manifestations of God, the signs of God's glory:
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 Bahá'u'lláh, p. 49
2)
The signs of God as manifested in the Prophets:
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 Bahá'u'lláh, p. 105
3)
The signs of Baha'u'llah, the Independent Prophet.
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 Bahá'u'lláh, p. 10
4)
Imam Ali, the first Dependent/Lesser Prophet in the era of Muhammad, is the Cord of God, as
indicated in Quran 3:103 and also by Imam Ali himself in the subsequent
passage. The Holy Imams are also the "Clear Signs" referred in the following passage along with many other passages in the Quran which refer to them as the signs of God.
Those who "fall into disputations after receiving Clear Signs" and
"reject Faith after accepting it" refers to those who rejected the Holy
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 [cord] 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,
The truth is Mine and certitude is at My side. Leadership is Mine and
the righteous shall follow Me. I am the first to acknowledge faith, the
Cord of God
that shall not be broken, the One who will raise the world to justice
even as it hath been brought low by oppression. I am the companion of
Gabriel and the archangel Michael is beside Me. I am the tree of
guidance, and the essence of righteousness. I shall gather together the
world of creation through the Word of God that gathers together all
things. I give life unto humanity and I am the treasury of all divine
commands. To Me hath been given the Luminous Pen and the Crimson Camel.
-- Imam Ali, Sermon of Glorification (a provisional translation by K. Fananapazir).
Full text available at: https://bahai-library.com/imam-ali_khutbat_iftikhar
5)
In passage below from Gleanings CXXIX:
"concealed within the Holy Veil" -- refers to the realm of pre-existence of the Dependent/Lesser Prophets, same as the pre-existence of the Holy Imams.
"a company of His chosen ones" -- the Dependent/Lesser Prophets of Baha'u'llah.
"Go forth with the Tablet of God and His signs, and rejoin them that have believed in Me" -- the Dependent Prophet rejoins believers of Baha'u'llah after appearing on earth.
"Warn, then, those that have joined partners with Him" -- warn
those who reject the Dependent Prophet as the Face of God (similar, for
example, to those who rejected Imam Ali as the Face of God in the era
of Muhammad).
"I am come from the Throne of glory" -- reference to her/his station as a Dependent Prophet of Baha'u'llah.
"And bear you an announcement from God" -- the declaration of the Dependent Prophet.
"Weigh it with the just Balance that ye possess, the Balance of the testimony of the Prophets and Messengers of God" -- judge their revelation with same standards you use for Prophets and Messengers of God, as they are.
"And render your works vain, and be numbered with the infidels" -- reference to believers who after serving the faith reject a Dependent Prophet, and thereby render their works vain.
There lay concealed within the Holy Veil, and prepared for the service of God, a company of His chosen ones
who shall be manifested unto men, who shall aid His Cause, who shall be
afraid of no one, though the entire human race rise up and war against
them. These are the ones who, before the gaze of the dwellers on earth
and the denizens of heaven, shall arise and, shouting aloud, acclaim
the name of the Almighty, and summon the children of men to the path of
God, the All-Glorious, the All-Praised. Walk thou in their way,
and let no one dismay thee. Be of them whom the tumult of the world,
however much it may agitate them in the path of their Creator, can
never sadden, whose purpose the blame of the blamer will never defeat.
Go forth with the Tablet of God and His signs,
and rejoin them that have believed in Me, and announce unto them
tidings of Our most holy Paradise. Warn, then, those that have joined partners with Him. Say: I am come to you, O people, from the Throne of glory, and bear you an announcement from God, the Most Powerful, the Most Exalted, the Most Great. In mine hand I carry the testimony of God, your Lord and the Lord of your sires of old. Weigh it with the just Balance
that ye possess, the Balance of the testimony of the Prophets and
Messengers of God. If ye find it to be established in truth, if ye
believe it to be of God, beware, then, lest ye cavil at it, and render
your works vain, and be numbered with the infidels.
It is indeed the sign of God that hath been sent down through the power
of truth, through which the validity of His Cause hath been
demonstrated unto His creatures, and the ensigns of purity lifted up
betwixt earth and heaven.
-- Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, CXXIX, p. 280
6)
The Dependent Prophets of Baha'u'llah, who will "manifest the signs of His sovereignty and might upon earth":
... The day is approaching when God will have, by an act of His Will,
raised up a race of men the nature of which is inscrutable to all save
God, the All-Powerful, the Self-Subsisting. He shall purify them from
the defilement of idle fancies and corrupt desires, shall lift them up
to the heights of holiness, and shall cause them to manifest the signs of His sovereignty and might upon earth. Thus hath it been ordained by God, the All-Glorious, the All-Loving.
-- Baha'u'llah, Surih of the Temple, The Summons of the Lord of Hosts, p. 6
7)
The signs of one of the many Dependent Prophets of Baha'u'llah, referred symbolically as, "O Eyes of this Temple!":
1.19
O Eyes of this Temple [the Maid of Heaven, Baha'u'llah, the Independent Prophet]!
Look not upon the heavens and that which they contain, nor upon the
earth and them that dwell thereon, for We have created you to behold
Our own Beauty: See it now before you! Withhold not your gaze
therefrom, and deprive not yourselves of the Beauty of your Lord, the
All-Glorious, the Best-Beloved. Erelong shall We bring into being
through you keen and penetrating eyes that will contemplate the
manifold signs of their Creator and turn away from all that is
perceived by the people of the world. Through you shall We bestow the
power of vision upon whomsoever We desire, and lay hold upon those who
have deprived themselves of this gracious bounty. These, verily, have
drunk from the cup of delusion, though they perceive it not.
-- Baha'u'llah, Surih of the Temple, The Summons of the Lord of Hosts, p. 10
8)
The sign of of another Dependent Prophet of Baha'u'llah, referred symbolically as, "O Living Temple!"
1.72
O Living Temple!
We have made Thee the Dayspring of each one of Our most excellent
titles, the Dawning-Place of each one of Our most august attributes,
and the Fountainhead of each one of Our manifold virtues unto the
denizens of earth and heaven. Thereafter have We raised Thee up in Our
own image betwixt the heavens and the earth, and ordained Thee to be
the sign of Our glory
unto all who are in the realms of revelation and creation, that My
servants may follow in Thy footsteps, and be of them who are guided
aright. We have appointed Thee the Tree of grace and bounty unto the
dwellers of both the heavens and the earth. Well is it with them who
seek the shelter of Thy shade and who draw nigh unto Thy Self, the
omnipotent Protector of the worlds.
-- Baha'u'llah, Surih of the Temple, The Summons of the Lord of Hosts
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