January 7
Know thou of a certainty that whenever thou makest mention
of Him Whom God shall make manifest, only then art thou making mention of God.
In like manner shouldst thou hearken unto the verses of the Bayán and acknowledge its truth, only then would the revealed verses
of God profit thee. Otherwise what benefit canst thou derive therefrom? For
wert thou to prostrate thyself in adoration from the beginning of life till the
end and to spend thy days for the sake of God’s remembrance, but disbelieve in
the Exponent of His Revelation for the age, dost thou imagine that thy deeds
would confer any benefit upon thee? On the other hand, if thou believest in Him
and dost recognize Him with true understanding, and He saith: ‘I have accepted
thine entire life spent in My adoration’, then assuredly hast thou been
worshipping Him most ardently. Thy purpose in performing thy deeds is that God
may graciously accept them; and divine acceptance can in no wise be achieved
except through the acceptance of Him Who is the Exponent of His Revelation. For
instance, if the Apostle of God—may divine blessings rest upon Him—accepted a
certain deed, in truth God accepted it; otherwise it hath remained within the
selfish desires of the person who wrought it, and did not reach the presence of
God. Likewise, any act which is accepted by the Point of the Bayán is accepted
by God, inasmuch as the contingent world hath no other access unto the presence
of the Ancient of Days. Whatever is sent down cometh through the Exponent of
His Revelation, and whatever ascendeth, ascendeth unto the Exponent of His
Revelation. (The Báb, excerpt from the Persian Bayan, ‘Selections from the
Writings of the Báb)
