These are the “clouds” that cause the heavens of the
knowledge and understanding of all that dwell on earth to be cloven asunder.
Even as He hath revealed: “On that day shall the heaven be cloven by the
clouds.” [1] Even as the clouds prevent the eyes of men from beholding the sun,
so do these things hinder the souls of men from recognizing the light of the
divine Luminary. To this beareth witness that which hath proceeded out of the
mouth of the unbelievers as revealed in the sacred Book: “And they have said:
‘What manner of apostle is this? He eateth food, and walketh the streets.
Unless an angel be sent down and take part in His warnings, we will not
believe.’” [2] Other Prophets, similarly, have been
subject to poverty and afflictions, to hunger, and to the ills and chances of
this world. As these holy Persons were subject to such needs and wants, the
people were, consequently, lost in the wilds of misgivings and doubts, and were
afflicted with bewilderment and perplexity. How, they wondered, could such a
person be sent down from God, assert His ascendancy over all the peoples and
kindreds of the earth, and claim Himself to be the goal of all creation,—even
as He hath said: “But for Thee, I would not have created all that are in heaven
and on earth,”—and yet be subject to such trivial things? You must undoubtedly
have been informed of the tribulations, the poverty, the ills, and the
degradation that have befallen every Prophet of God and His companions.
(Baha'u'llah, The Kitab-i-Iqan)
[1] Qur’án 25:25.
[2] Qur’án 25:7.
