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Chapter 71
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The Testimony of the Prophets (both Independent and Dependent/Lesser Prophets).
1)
Baha'u'llah refers to the testimony of The Bab, an Independent Prophet:
O Kings of the earth! Give ear unto the Voice of God, calling from this
sublime, this fruit-laden Tree, that hath sprung out of the Crimson
Hill, upon the holy Plain, intoning the words: `There is none other God
but He, the Mighty, the All-Powerful, the All-Wise.'... Fear God, O
concourse of kings, and suffer not yourselves to be deprived of this
most sublime grace. Fling away, then, the things ye possess, and take
fast hold on the Handle of God, the Exalted, the Great. Set your hearts
towards the Face of God, and abandon that which your desires have
bidden you to follow, and be not of those who perish. Relate unto them,
O Servant, the story of `Alí (the Báb), when He came unto them with
truth, bearing His glorious and weighty Book, and holding in His hands
a testimony and proof from God, and holy and blessed tokens from Him.
Ye, however, O Kings, have failed to heed the Remembrance of God in His
days and to be guided by the lights which arose and shone forth above
the horizon of a resplendent Heaven. Ye examined not His Cause when so
to do would have been better for you than all that the sun shineth
upon, could ye but perceive it. Ye remained careless until the divines
of Persia--those cruel ones--pronounced judgment against Him, and
unjustly slew Him. His spirit ascended unto God, and the eyes of the
inmates of Paradise and the angels that are nigh unto Him wept sore by
reason of this cruelty. Beware that ye be not careless henceforth as ye
have been careless aforetime. Return, then, unto God, your Maker, and
be not of the heedless....
-- Bahá'u'lláh, Proclamation of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 7
2)
The testimony of Muhammad (Independent Prophet) and His Family (The Holy Imams -- Dependent Prophets):
Muhammad, Himself, as the end of His mission drew nigh, spoke these
words: "Verily, I leave amongst you My twin weighty testimonies: The
Book of God and My Family [the Holy Imams]."
Although many traditions had been revealed by that Source of
Prophethood and Mine of divine Guidance, yet He mentioned only that
Book, thereby appointing it as the mightiest instrument and surest
testimony for the seekers; a guide for the people until the Day of
Resurrection.
-- Bahá'u'lláh, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 201
3)
The testimony of the Sixth Imam, Jafar as-Sadiq (a Dependent Prophet).
And now, concerning His words: "And He shall send His angels...." By
"angels" is meant those who, reinforced by the power of the spirit,
have consumed, with the fire of the love of God, all human traits and
limitations, and have clothed themselves with the attributes of the
most exalted Beings and of the Cherubim. That holy man, Sádiq, in his
eulogy of the Cherubim, saith: "There stand a company of our
fellow-Shí'ihs behind the Throne." Divers and manifold are the
interpretations of the words "behind the Throne." In one sense, they
indicate that no true Shí'ihs exist. Even as he hath said in another
passage: "A true believer is likened unto the philosopher's stone."
Addressing subsequently his listener, he saith: "Hast thou ever seen
the philosopher's stone?" Reflect, how this symbolic language, more
eloquent than any speech, however direct, testifieth to the
non-existence of a true believer. Such is the testimony of Sádiq. And
now consider, how unfair and numerous are those who, although they
themselves have failed to inhale the fragrance of belief, have
condemned as infidels those by whose word belief itself is recognized
and established.
-- Bahá'u'lláh, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 78
4)
The passage below from Gleanings CXXIX refers to the testimony of the Dependent Prophets of Baha'u'llah:
"concealed within the Holy Veil" -- refers to the realm of pre-existence of the Dependent Prophets, similar to the pre-existence of the Holy Imams.
"His chosen ones" -- the Dependent Prophets of Baha'u'llah.
"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 Prophet (Dependent) of God.
"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
5)
Testimony of the Manifestation.
O friend! It behooveth us not to waive the injunction of God, but
rather acquiesce and submit to that which He hath ordained as His
divine Testimony. This verse is too weighty and pregnant an utterance
for this afflicted soul to demonstrate and expound. God speaketh the
truth and leadeth the way. He, verily, is supreme over all His people;
He is the Mighty, the Beneficent.
Likewise, He saith: "Such are the verses of God: with truth do We
recite them to Thee. But in what revelation will they believe, if they
reject God and His verses?" If thou wilt grasp the implication of this
verse, thou wilt recognize the truth that no manifestation greater than
the Prophets of God hath ever been revealed, and no testimony mightier
than the testimony of their revealed verses hath ever appeared upon the
earth. Nay, this testimony no other testimony can ever excel, except
that which the Lord thy God willeth.
-- Bahá'u'lláh, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 205
Heed not the idle contention of those who maintain that the Book and
verses thereof can never be a testimony unto the common people,
inasmuch as they neither grasp their meaning nor appreciate their
value. And yet, the unfailing testimony of God to both the East and the
West is none other than the Qur'án. Were it beyond the comprehension of
men, how could it have been declared as a universal testimony unto all
people? If their contention be true, none would therefore be required,
nor would it be necessary for them to know God, inasmuch as the
knowledge of the divine Being transcendeth the knowledge of His Book,
and the common people would not possess the capacity to comprehend it.
Such contention is utterly fallacious and inadmissible. It is actuated
solely by arrogance and pride. Its motive is to lead the people astray
from the Ridván of divine good-pleasure and to tighten the reins of
their authority over the people. And yet, in the sight of God, these
common people are infinitely superior and exalted above their religious
leaders who have turned away from the one true God. The understanding
of His words and the comprehension of the utterances of the Birds of
Heaven are in no wise dependent upon human learning. They depend solely
upon purity of heart, chastity of soul, and freedom of spirit. This is
evidenced by those who, today, though without a single letter of the
accepted standards of learning, are occupying the loftiest seats of
knowledge; and the garden of their hearts is adorned, through the
showers of divine grace, with the roses of wisdom and the tulips of
understanding. Well is it with the sincere in heart for their share of
the light of a mighty Day!
-- Bahá'u'lláh, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 210
6)
The testimony of Muhammad (an Independent Prophet) and Imam Ali (a Dependent Prophet).
11:3 And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall
prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in
sackcloth.
11:4 These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.
11:5 And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth,
and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in
this manner be killed.
11:6 These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of
their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and
to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.
-- Bible: Revelation,
And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a
thousand two hundred and three-score days, clothed in sackcloth." These
two witnesses are Muhammad the Messenger of God, and `Alí, son of Abú
Tálib [Imam Ali].
In the Qur'án it is said that God addressed Muhammad, the Messenger of
God, saying: "We made You a Witness, a Herald of good news, and a
Warner"--that is to say, We have established Thee as the witness, the
giver of good tidings, and as One bringing the wrath of God. The
meaning of "a witness" is one by whose testimony things may be
verified. The commands of these two witnesses were to be performed for
twelve hundred and sixty days, each day signifying a year. Now,
Muhammad was the root, and `Alí the branch,
like Moses and Joshua. It is said they "are clothed in sackcloth,"
meaning that they, apparently, were to be clothed in old raiment, not
in new raiment; in other words, in the beginning they would possess no
splendor in the eyes of the people, nor would their Cause appear new;
for Muhammad's spiritual Law corresponds to that of Christ in the
Gospel, and most of His laws relating to material things correspond to
those of the Pentateuch. This is the meaning of the old raiment.
Then it is said: "These are the two olive trees, and the two
candlesticks standing before the God of the earth." These two souls are
likened to olive trees because at that time all lamps were lighted by
olive oil. The meaning is two persons from whom that spirit of the
wisdom of God, which is the cause of the illumination of the world,
appears. These lights of God were to radiate and shine; therefore, they
are likened to two candlesticks: the candlestick is the abode of the
light, and from it the light shines forth. In the same way the light of
guidance would shine and radiate from these illumined souls.
-- `Abdu'l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, p. 48
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