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description: Haifa Notes 2 and Mary Maxwell
author: Mary Maxwell
title: Haifa Notes 2
notes:
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# Haifa Notes 2
## Mary Maxwell
### Haifa Notes 2 and Mary Maxwell
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## Haifa Notes 2
### Mary Maxwell
### 1937
### Don’t modify this. It will contain an auto-generated Table of Contents
## Haifa Notes 2
### Mary Maxwell
### 1937
### Explanation of Sacred Writing
### Bahá’í, Christian, Muḥammadan
Meanings of, “He is God, “the identity of God with God, of the Prophet with God, of Bahá’u’lláh with God, of the Báb with Bahá’u’lláh.
The Báb in Chapter III of the Persian Bayán, uses the word “Order”: “Happy if the man who fixeth his gaze upon the Order of Bahá’u’lláh and renders thanks unto His Lord.”
The Qayyúmu’l-Asmá’ was regarded as the Qur’án of the Bábís.
The Shaking in the Qur’án: “The earth shall tell her news.” refers to the Most Great Peace. The Daybreak, in the Qur’án; “When the earth is made to crumble to pieces.” refers to the next war and may be taken literally, bombs, etc.
Súrah of Joseph was the only work of the Báb in the possession of those who were martyred in Zanjan, Nayris and Tabersi. Ṭáhirihth was the one who translated it into Persian.
Íqán was written by Bahá’u’lláh while he was a follower of the Báb, before His own Revelation. The title page of Nabíl is Bahá’u’lláh’s reference to the Báb from the Íqán.
Page 16 of Gleanings — ‘Ere long He will sail His Ark upon thee.’ etc., Ark symbolizes the legislative body — the International House of Justice who will sit in Haifa.
Page 16 of Gleanings — ‘Call out to Zion.’ Zion is a hill near Jerusalem and here it means Jerusalem the Holy City.
Page 9 of Gleanings — ‘Except them whom God was pleaded to guide.’ Predestination and free will will always be a mystery, we can never draw a clear line between them. Like the origin of evil, we cannot get at the bottom of it. We have a certain amount of free will, if we don’t use it we are deprived of the flow of these forces. (i.e. promises made in the teachings regarding progress, etc.)
“The lamb and the lion will lie down together;” One explanation is big and little nations; they have all equal rights and representation in a world government, like States in the U.S.A.
Pages 16-16 of Gleanings. “the terms “His Throne.” “City of God.” And “Celestial Kaaba,” all refer to the Holy Shrine either of the Báb or perhaps in the future of Bahá’u’lláh.
Bahá’u’lláh refers to two wholesome things in Gleanings. (Pages 216, 342-3) civilization ends liberty which, if carried to excess, will exercise a pernicious influence on man, and also civilization which if allowed to overleap its bounds will bring evil upon men. So even devotion to the Cause if carried to excess leads to fanaticism. Refereces to Civilization. “when its flame will devour the Cities is a prophecy referring to the bombing of the cities in the next war. Western civilization will commit suicide in he next war becuse by the very weapons it has created it will destroy itself.
Saratu’l-Haykal is the fulfillment of the prophecy in the Bible. “The branch shall build the Temple of the Lord.” Bahá’u’lláh stated this after He had revealed it.
The “Evil One” is the self, the corrupt nature in man. (See ‘Bahá’í Administration.’)
The divorce law is made very easy by Bahá’u’lláh and marriage very difficult; but the Master, because of the ease of the divorce law, discourages divorce extremely. There is in Bahá’í divorce aabsolute equality. According to the Bahá’í law the husband must pay the wife’s expenses for the year they are separated, then they come together and if they still wish to divorce it becomes immediately effective. They can remarry. Regarding marriage, the parents must be quite detached and uninfluenced by the wishes, the standards and the ideas of the marrying ones. But in divorce they need consult no one. “We have wisdom in requiring the consent of the parents. Our purpose is to promote unity and not disunity.” Sais Bahá’u’lláh. Marriage is not something that concerns two people, it is asocial institution.
In Bahá’í Marriage they must go to the Spiritual Assembly, not to an individual — this is priesthood?
“The Cord that none can sever, “referred to in the Gleanings:” Cord in general means His love.
The Visitation Tablet for the Tombs of the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh is three parts: first part was reveiled by Bahá’u’lláh to a believer who could not make the pilgrimage. A few days after the Ascension of Bahá’u’lláh the Master asked Nabíl to arrange selections to be chanted in the Tomb of Bahá’u’lláh. Of the Tablet of Visitation the first part is not addresssed to God but to Bahá’u’lláh Himself. The second part is a prayer revealed by Bahá’u’lláh and the remaining paragraphs refer again to Bahá’u’lláh and not to God direct. It has been used ever since as the Visitation Tablet.
The laws of the Aqdas can never be touched or changed by any International House of Justice. (See “Confusion of Tongus.” — interesting in this connection.)
The Valley of the Indus in India is the cradle o the Aryan race, say Bahá’u’lláh.
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( Persian
( Indian
( Indo ( Teutonic
( European ( Anglo-Saxon
( ( Latin
(
(
( ( Jews
CAUCASIAN ( Semetic ( Arabs
WHITE ( ( Assyrians
( ( Babylonians
( Hamitic ( Egyptians
BLACK ( Turks
( Japanese
YELLOW MONGOLIAN ( Chinese
( Finns
( Laps
( Hungarian
RED
(From Chart indicated by Guardian)
```
Referring to the promises made in the Son of the Wolf: in the pages “he who says Alláh–u–Abhá and counts forty names on the shore of ‘Akká, etc., etc.,) these promises are true forever, not only for Bahá’u’lláh’s lifetime.
The confusion of tongues referred to in the Gleanings is true historically. Once there was one race, one tongue, in Northern India which migrated and became parent race to Persia, parts of Europe, etc., but not of the whole world at once. The Prophet is not a scientist or a sociologist, He is forever authoritative in whatever He states, but does not elaborate. (See Chart attached).
Page 12. Epistle to the Son of the Wolf: Book of Fatimith referred to was a book which the daughter of the Prophet, Fatimith, saw revealed to her in a dream by Gabriel. She was overcome by grief after the death of her husband, ‘Alí, the martyrdom of the 3rd Imám Ḥusayn, and the death of the second Imám Ḥasan, both of whom were her sons, was well as the death of her father the Prophet. The angel Gabriel revealed words of consolation to her which, however, were never known; and also promised her that from her issue the promised One would appear. Shí’ah tradition believed that the Promised One would bring these words again. When Bahá’u’lláh revealed the Hidden Words, He called them the “Book of Fáṭimih.” They were revealed before His declaration. Later they became known as the Hidden Words because they were hidden all the centuries between Fatimith’s vision of them and the appearance of the Promised One.
The prayer for the dead is the only congregational prayer in the Cause — (not yet translated).
What the friends consider to be the Star Tablet is not the Star Tablet to which the Master refers. The Báb revealed many Tablets in the star shape, but the original Tablet with the 300 odd derivations of Bahá’ is lost.
Quddús’s station is higher than any other Letter of the Living.
The Báb’s taking Quddús to Mecca with Him apparently invested him with that peculiar authority he later manifested.
The Epistle to the Son of the Wolf: Page 37; “He will stand by you and your Empire shall extend over all the land’s lighted by the Sun.” This is to be taken literally. If Napoleon the III had accepted the Cause his material empire would have extended over the whole earth. He (i.e. Manifestation) gives men the means to use what God has given them. Men are not born equal; that is the fundamental principal of the Cause.
The power of the Greatest Name can either mean power in the name of Bahá’u’lláh and His Attributes, or the repetition of the Greatest Name, Ya-Bahá’u’l-Abhá.
“Hidden Words:” “Myriads of hidden mysteries are made vocal in a single speech, etc., “refers to the manifold meanings of Bahá’u’lláh’s utterance.
In the Christian dispensation that ray that proceeds from God is called the Holy Ghost. In the Qur’án, the Muslim dispensation, it was the Angel Gabriel. The Trinity in Christianity was the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost was in the form of a dove. In the Muḥammadan dispensation it was Alláh, the Apostle and the Angel Gabriel who were the trinity. In the Bahá’í Dispensation the Most Great Spirit is the Holy Ghost or ray. On page 17 of Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh it says: “The Holy Spirit itself hat been generated through the agency of a single letter revealed by this Most Great Spirit. (D. See E.) — “if be of them that comprehend.” This only means the superiority of the Bahá’í Revelation and is not symbolized as in the dove, in the Christian, and the from of the Angel Gabriel in the Muḥammadan Dispensation. The term “Most Great” means the consummation of a cycle but not finality. Finality different from consummation and culmination of a cycle, Most Great in the sense of consummation and not finality.
We believe the trinity: in God, the Prophet and the Holy Spirit, but not as the Christians do. To us it is human heresy because we believe that the sun, the ray and the mirror always remain each themselves. The mirror never becomes the sun, or the ray the mirror, or the sun the ray. So God, the Holy Spirit and the Prophet are each distinct and their relation that of the Sun, they ray and the mirror.
In the Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, there is reference to a hidden language and a hidden script. Shoghi Effendi himself asked the Master regarding this, and He said that no one ever asked Bahá’u’lláh regarding this, so it remained hidden in the stores of His knowledge.
“The Shrill of the Supreme Pen.” is Bahá’u’lláh’s reference to the reed pen with which He wrote.
When the Aqdas is translated the Bahá’ís will realized to what extension Bahá’u’lláh has abrogated the laws of previous dispensations.
The spiritual significance of the resurrection we believe in absolutely on the authority of Bahá’u’lláh. It often happens that Bahá’u’lláh’s quotations differ from that of the text of the Gospel. We must of course accept His words as the gospel themselves do not agree and were written down many years later. The Gospel must not be taken literally. The text is not authoritative in the sense that the Qur’án is. The proof is that Bahá’u’lláh, when quoting Christ, quotes Him in a way that is different from the Gospels.
In the Will and Testament where it says, “Under the shelter and guidance of His Holiness, the Exalted One.” refers to the Báb. The Exalted One is always the Báb.
The friends of the West are familiar with the principles. There are two pillars o the Faith; principles and las, they are the warp and the woof of the fabric.
The principles are either spiritual or administrative; the spiritual ones are in the addresses of the Master, etc. The Administrative ones are in His Will. They are embodied in the Administrative Order. The friends in America in the West, have Faith. They are will grounded in both of these principles, but they are just beginning to know the laws that are in the Aqdas, these are a grater challenge. The Cause is growing within the Administration. The VI volume of “World Order” will have the original reproductions of those portions of the Aqdas prepared by the Egyptian N.S.A. for presentation to their Government. This is a beginning, eventually it will lead to the printing of the Aqdas. The laws are from Bahá’u’lláh’s Ordinances, secondary laws are from the International House of Justice.
We must not be afraid to says we have doctrine; all that is in the Dispensation is doctrine. We have doctrine but no dogmas; we have mysteries but no superstition.
Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era, Some Answered Questions,: and the Íqán: are essentially books in teaching.
All titles of the chapters of the Qur’án were given by those that compiled it and have noting to do with Muḥammad. He never divided them. They put the latter part of His Revelation at the beginning; Those passages regarding the Promised One, those that announce the coming of the Day of God, which were revealed at the beginning of His revelation they put at the end. Just as the Báb, in the Qayyumu’l-Ama, His first book was His most powerful one and is comparable to those Súrahs of Muḥammad at the end of the Qur’án.
The friends should read and study the Will and Testament. We are too near to it to see it in its proper light. It is like a huge edifice, we can not see it in prospective. This and the Aqdas are the two chief depositories of the truths enshrined in the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh. There are gaps in the Aqdas which the Will fills in as if the Master and Bahá’u’lláh had arranged it. An example of this complimentainess between the Will and the Aqdas is Ḥuqúq. Ḥuqúq is referred to in the Aqdas, also endowment ,fees, fines, inheritance, etc, if their heirs are dead the endowments all payable to the House of Justice. He established the House of Justice and fixed its revenues. Regarding Ḥuqúq, He does not say in the Aqdas to whom it is to be paid, neither in text on questions and answers. Bahá’u’lláh says what Ḥuqúq is emphasizes its importance, but does not say to whom it shall be given and does not say that it goes to the House of Justice In the Will the Master makes it clear. The ordinance of Ḥuqúq is established by Bahá’u’lláh in the Aqdas, but He never said whom it was to be payable to, so He left a gap which the Master, in His Will, fills. He anticipated an Institution but does not refer to what it may be anywhere. Were it not for the Will, this would be very perplexing.
Will of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, part I, page 8: by a “Just King”. “Just Government,” the Master means and established, legitimate form of Government; that we must give our allegiance to. Any established form of Government.
“Will,” part I, page 13: referring to the Hands; they must report the delinquent member to the Guardian, he that puts him out. Three elements in the Will: the Guardian is the Interpreter, the International House of Justice the Legislator; the Hands propagate an teach the Cause, through research work and the example of their lives and conduct. The Administrative Order would be paralyzed if one of these institutions should cease to function.
The friends do not realize that some of the passages in the Gleanings were written by Bahá’u’lláh as a Bábí, before He declared Himself. Gleanings, Page 73, refers to Himself who will be manifest. When He says “We” He means we Bábís; “As well as those who shall come after Him to the end that hath no end...”refers to the Prophets who will come after Him. Once He has declared Himself.
In the Gleanings top paragraph, page 212. Is and excellent quotation related to politics.
The Epistle to the Son of the Wolf,: is the last book revealed by Bahá’u’lláh. No doubt part at least of it was revealed in ‘Akká.
Compare the Gleanings,: page 285 with The Epistle to the Son of the Wolf. Page 75.
Jesus abrogated two laws of Moses, Sabbath and prohibited divorce. The Master explains — Tablet to Miss Rosenberg — that monogamy was not thought by Jesus. The Gospel prohibits divorce but says nothing about monogamy. The Fathers of the Church made it a law, but Christ never did. There was polygamy in His days, and it was not prohibited among the early Christians. Then they not only established monogamy, but said that celibacy should be the rule. When Jesus had not even enjoined monogamy, and had tolerated polygamy., the Church Fathers went so far as to establish celibacy.
The Qur’án prohibited polygamy, but the commentators misinterpreted the text. The text says polygamy is conditioned upon Justice, in another passage Muḥammad says Justice in these circumstances (i.e. polygamy) is impossible. So we see that Islám is a step in advance of Christianity. The mission of the Bahá’ís in proving Islám is a further step in Revelation than Christianity, must cite this evidence. These things should be taught in the summer schools in relation to comparative religion and Islám.
We have to consider the Aqdas in the light of the authorized interpreter, the Master. Bahá’u’lláh in a passage say marriage with two wives is conditioned upon Justice. The Master say in a tablet to Miss Rosenberg, that Justice is impossible, (to be just to two wives). It is just like the Qur’án. Both the Qur’án and the Bahá’í Teachings are a step further than the gospels. The Missionaries, the enemies of the Cause will quote the Aqdas and claim that we do not advocate monogamy. Then we must quote the Master’s Table. Bahá’í says in the Aqdas, “Refer ye to what is not in the Aqdas to the Most Great Branch;” and in the Tablet of the Covenant, (Kitáb-i-‘Ahd) He quotes this passage of His and says the Master is that Branch. The church Fathers had no right to prohibit what Christ had not prohibited, and yet they went a step further and established celibacy.
Hidden Words, Persian, verse 63; corresponds to the Words of Bahá’u’lláh; as to the Great Calamity; it is a punishment from God for their negligences and indifference to His Revelation. It is Retribution. “Unforseen” agrees with “all of a sudden.”
The text o the Qur’án does not agree with Ptolemaic system and commentators of the Qur’án misinterpreted the text in order to agree with the Ptolemaic system. Galileo 1000 years later supported Qur’án’s text.
We must not be afraid in stating truths in spite of the fact that they may run against what the biologist, the astronomer, the physicist, etc., say. His point is that we should not impose it on the scientist. But we should have the courage to make these statements and not be afraid of stating them and saying we have no proof. We must admit we have no proof, but state these are our teachings and express the hope that science will prove them. The statements are Divine Revelation and we believe in them. We should not do what the Muslim and Christian leaders have done and compromise. It is a very subtle form of corruption that the Muslim leaders have introduced into the Qur’án (regarding marriage, astronomy etc.,). If science discovers a fact contrary to the text of the teachings, the Bahá’ís must adhere to the text of the teachings, even if it takes a thousand years to prove it as it did with the text of the Qur’án (Súrah 36)
Tablet of Ishraqát, where it says, “God will inspire them.” Corresponds to the Will and Testament.
The Guardian and the House of Justice are under unerring guidance and protection. Experts, non-Bahá’ís, will have to examine the Aqdas so that it may be published with many notes and commentaries of a clear, explanatory nature. In the Aqdas there is modification, abrogation and addition to religious law. Fasting, Pilgrimage and Obligatory Prayer are modified. The Bahá’ís will not be prepared for the Aqdas with its wealth of technical notes, unless they study Islám, its history and teachings. The summer schools are doing this now.
Bahá’u’lláh alludes to the Aqdas in the Íqán, where he enumerates the books of laws of the different Faiths, and then mentions the book of “Him Whom God will make Manifest.”
The “Holy Book” is the Gospel, the “Most Holy Book” is the Aqdas. The “Holy Spirit” is in the Bible, the “Most Great Spirit (E see D) in the Bahá’í Revelation. Always the superlative “Most.” This Revelation cannot be surpassed, all future Prophets being under His shadow for five hundred thousand years.
We can increase our faith and strengthen it through observation, mediation, prayer and activity.
It is better not to change the personal pronouns in saying the prayers. (from me to us, my to her, etc.,) but leave them exactly as revealed. However, before be say the prayer we can address a few to God saying the prayer is on behalf of such a person or such a group, and then read or say it as it is in the text.
Gleanings,: page 114: “Spread thy skirt, Oh Jerusalem,” means a fuller revelation, His Revelation. (See also under Palestine.)
“The Kingdom is God’s” alludes to that Kingdom which the Christians have been praying for and Christ announced. This is the Kingdom of Bahá’u’lláh which will be raised on the ruins of western civilization. It is referred to by Christ as the “Kingdom of God;” by the Jews as the Reign of Righteousness;” and by Muḥammad as the “Day of God.”
The story of Joseph and his brothers is paralleled by the treatment by Suhh-i-Azal of Bahá’u’lláh, and His troubles. The Báb’s commentary on the Qayyumu-‘l-Asma is about Joseph and his brothers, and was a prophecy of the treatment Bahá’u’lláh would receive from His brothers. It is the most significant, the most eloquent work revealed by the Báb. It is very intimate too, as He refers to His mother and His wife in it.
Bahá’í Scriptures, page 255, paragraph 527, “Verily the tongue of the Ancient gives Glad Tidings to those who are in the world concerning the appearance of the Greatest Name, and who take His Covenant among the nations. “The “Who” in “who takes His Covenant... “refers to the tongues of the Ancient, i.e.: God. This is the Greater Covenant that God takes with all the people of the world regarding His Manifestation; in this case, Bahá’u’lláh.
(In connection with translations of the teachings being misleading, confused, inaccurate. ) Due to insufficient understanding of the Master’s statements, inability to express it on the part of the translator and also whether the person is translated to has understood it.
“Verily, He is Myself, the Shining-Place of My Identity; the East of My Cause,” etc. All this part is God speaking; i.e, the Tongue of the Ancient, referring to Bahá’u’lláh and testifying to Bahá’u’lláh as God’s Covenant. It has nothing to do with the Master.
Some Answered Questions. “page 42, Chapter XII; “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse and a Branch shall grow out of his root:” The words “rod” and “Branch” are one and the same thing in this sentence, it is repetition of the same thing and refers to only one thing and this is Bahá’u’lláh. There are Tablets revealed by Bahá’u’lláh, (not yet translated) in which He refers to Himself as the Branch, but He means by this the Branch of the Tree of Divinity. The Chapter in Isaiah does not refer to the Master at all but Bahá’u’lláh. The Manifestations are all Branches that grow out of the Tree of Divinity, as They are all the Rays of the Sun. When Bahá’u’lláh refers to Himself as sa Tree, then the Master is the Branch of That Tree. (See “Bahá’í Scriptures,” page 256, paragraph 529;) “Verily the Branch of Command hat sprung from this Root.” On page 76, in chapter XII of Some Answered Questions, the Master says: “Universal peace and concord will be realized between all the nations, and that incomparable Branch will gather...” etc. Surely the friends must see that He, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, could not refer to Himself as the “Incomparable Branch”. The term “Lordly Branch” refers to Bahá’u’lláh, (also Page 76.) This means the Branch of Divinity, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá is the ???? of the Manifestation, The friends read the writings but they do not ponder them.
In Some Answered Questions, Chapter XII, page 73, we find that the Master shows that this Prophecy of Isaiah, Chapter II verses 1-10, not only proves that the “Branch” from the stem of Jesse did not refer to Christ but to Bahá’u’lláh, but also states this immaculate conception: “This rod out of the stem of Jesse might be correctly applieds to Christ, for Joseph was of the descendants of Jesse, the Father of David: But as Christ found existences through the Spirit of God, He called Himself the Son of God. If He had not done so, this description would refer to Him. Moreover, the prophecies were fulfilled at that time. Universal peace did not come into existence at the time of Christ. In the word “but” the Master makes the immaculate conception quite clear. In a Tablet that has not yet been translated from thes original Persian, the Master says the conception of christ was extraordinary, against the natural laws. The Bahá’ís must accept the immaculate conception. Every religion has its mysteries. The Virgin Mary’s perplexity was not due to shame, but because she could not explain her condition. The Íqán, where Bahá’u’lláh refers to Mary as “that mild and immortal countenance”, if she were not blameless, how could He refer to her in such term?” “Mild” here means the essence of chastity. But even if Bahá’u’lláh and the Master had not said these things about the Immaculate conception, to a Bahá’í the mention of it in the Qur’án would be quite sufficient proof.
There are many references to the comming of Muḥammad, in both the Old and New Testament. Deuteronomy, Chapter 33, verse 2; “And He said, the Lord come from Sinai, and rose up from Sier unto them; He shined forth from Mount Paran, and He came with ten thousand of Saints: from His right hand went a fiery law for them.” “The Lord coming from Sinai” refers to the Mosaic dispensation. “Rose up from Sier unto them,” refers to mountain in Galilee and means the Christian dispensation. “Shined forth from Mount Paran” refer to the Muḥammadan dispensation; “and He came with ten thousand of saints” is the Bahá’í dispensation; all references to Mound Paran refers to Muḥammad. Paran is a mountain in Arabia. The word Paraclete also refers to Muḥammad. Paraclete means “the Praises” in Greek, and Muḥammad means “the Praiser in Arabic. Further references to Muḥammad in the Answered Questions, page 78, etc. Genesis Chapter 21, verse 21: “And he dwelt in the Wilderness of Paran: refers to Muḥammad. The Arabs are the descendants of Ishmael. Numbers, Chapter 13, verse 3, the word Paran occurs. The wilderness of Paran is in Trans-Jordan. David could easily get to it. The references Deuteronomy is the most important reference. (Chapter 33, verse 2.) Genesis, Chapter 17, verse 20, “And as for Ishmael... and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, etc.” The twelve princes are the twelve Imáms. Also in Deuteronomy, Chapter 18, verse 18, “I will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren.” This refers to their cousins, the Arabs, brethren meaning cousin herein relationship, and the prophet is Muḥammad. If it had meant Christ it would have said “Seed” and not “brethren.”
The twenty four elders who will stand before the Throne of God refers to the 19 Letters of the Living and 5 others will be made known, said ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
In Arabic there are two words:
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Ilham and Vahy
Inspiration Revelation
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The word for Revelation is confined to the Manifestation of God in Arabic, and has a companion word: Ayih — which is applied to any verse or sign revealed by the Manifestation. So that the use of the word “Ayih” is the criterion. All others are inspired:” Ilham, The Master, the Guardian, the poets, etc., are inspired.