Were any of the all-embracing Manifestations of God to
declare: “I am God!” He verily speaketh the truth, and no doubt attacheth
thereto. For it hath been repeatedly demonstrated that through their
Revelation, their attributes and names, the Revelation of God, His name and His
attributes, are made manifest in the world. Thus, He hath revealed: “Those
shafts were God’s, not Thine!” [Qur’án 8:17] And also He saith: “In truth, they
who plighted fealty unto thee, really plighted that fealty unto God.” [Qur’án
48:10] And were any of them to voice the utterance: “I am the Messenger of
God,” He also speaketh the truth, the indubitable truth. Even as He saith:
“Muhammad is not the father of any man among you, but He is the Messenger of
God.” [Qur’án 33:40] Viewed in this light, they are all but Messengers of that
ideal King, that unchangeable Essence. And were they all to proclaim: “I am the
Seal of the Prophets,” they verily utter but the truth, beyond the faintest
shadow of doubt. For they are all but one person, one soul, one spirit, one
being, one revelation. They are all the manifestation of the “Beginning” and
the “End,” the “First” and the “Last,” the “Seen” and “Hidden”—all of which
pertain to Him Who is the innermost Spirit of Spirits and eternal Essence of
Essences.
- Baha’u’llah (‘The Kitab-i-Iqan’)
