Concerning the prerequisites of the learned, He saith:
“Whoso among the learned guardeth his self, defendeth his faith, opposeth his
desires, and obeyeth his Lord’s command, it is incumbent upon the generality of
the people to pattern themselves after him....” [1] Should the King of the Age reflect upon this
utterance which hath streamed from the tongue of Him Who is the Dayspring of
the Revelation of the All-Merciful, he would perceive that those who have been
adorned with the attributes enumerated in this holy Tradition are scarcer than
the philosopher’s stone; wherefore not every man that layeth claim to knowledge
deserveth to be believed.
- Baha'u'llah (Tablet to Nasiri’d-Din Shah,
Suriy-i-Haykal [Tablet of Temple]; ‘The Summons of the Lord of Hosts’)
[1] A Tradition ascribed to eleventh Im’am, Abu Muhammad
al-Hasan al-Askari
