QUESTION: Which is to take precedence: the Huqúqu’lláh, the
debts of the deceased or the cost of the funeral and burial?
Some, deluded by their idle fancies, have conceived all
created things as associates and partners of God, and imagined themselves to be
the exponents of His unity. By Him Who is the one true God! Such men have been,
and will continue to remain, the victims of blind imitation, and are to be
numbered with them that have restricted and limited the conception of God.
Regard thou the one true God as One Who is apart from, and
immeasurably exalted above, all created things. The whole universe reflecteth
His glory, while He is Himself independent of, and transcendeth His creatures.
This is the true meaning of Divine unity. He Who is the Eternal Truth is the
one Power Who exerciseth undisputed sovereignty over the world of being, Whose
image is reflected in the mirror of the entire creation. All existence is
dependent upon Him, and from Him is derived the source of the sustenance of all
things. This is what is meant by Divine unity; this is its fundamental
principle.
Look upon this Youth, O King, with the eyes of justice;
judge thou, then, with truth concerning what hath befallen Him. Of a verity,
God hath made thee His shadow amongst men, and the sign of His power unto all
that dwell on earth. Judge thou between Us and them that have wronged Us
without proof and without an enlightening Book. They that surround thee love
thee for their own sakes, whereas this Youth loveth thee for thine own sake,
and hath had no desire except to draw thee nigh unto the seat of grace, and to
turn thee toward the right hand of justice. Thy Lord beareth witness unto that
which I declare.
Wert thou [the Ottoman emperor] to incline thine ear unto My
speech and observe My counsel, God would exalt thee to so eminent a position
that the designs of no man on the whole earth could ever touch or hurt thee.
Observe, O king, with thine inmost heart and with thy whole being, the precepts
of God, and walk not in the paths of the oppressor. Seize thou, and hold firmly
within the grasp of thy might, the reins of the affairs of thy people, and
examine in person whatever pertaineth unto them. Let nothing escape thee, for
therein lieth the highest good.
…in this Dispensation, not one amongst the renowned divines,
in the grasp of whose authority were held the reins of the people, hath
embraced the Faith. Nay, they have striven against it with such animosity and
determination that no ear hath heard and no eye hath seen the like.
It would be wholly untrue to maintain that this faculty [the
rational faculty in a human being] is the same as the power of vision, inasmuch
as the power of vision is derived from it and acteth in dependence upon it. It
would, likewise, be idle to contend that this faculty can be identified with
the sense of hearing, as the sense of hearing receiveth from the rational
faculty the requisite energy for performing its functions.
O Son of Man! Many a day hath passed over thee whilst thou
hast busied thyself with thy fancies and idle imaginings. How long art thou to
slumber on thy bed? Lift up thine head from slumber, for the Sun hath risen to
the zenith; haply it may shine upon thee with the light of beauty.
The highest faculties which the learned have possessed, and
whatsoever truths they, in their search after the gems of Thy [God’s]
knowledge, have discovered; the brightest realities with which the wise have
been endowed, and whatever secrets they, in their attempts to fathom the
mysteries of Thy wisdom, have unraveled, have all been created through the
generative power of the Spirit that was breathed into the Pen which Thy hands
have fashioned. How, then, can the thing which Thy Pen hath created be capable
of comprehending those treasures of Thy Faith with which, as decreed by Thee,
that Pen hath been invested? How can it ever know of the Fingers that grasp Thy
Pen, and of Thy merciful favors with which it hath been endowed? How can it,
already unable to reach this station, be made aware of the existence of Thy
Hand that controlleth the Fingers of Thy might? How can it attain unto the
comprehension of the nature of Thy Will that animateth the movement of Thy
Hand?
The source of all glory is acceptance of whatsoever the Lord
hath bestowed, and contentment with that which God hath ordained.
Glory be to Thee, O my God! The power of Thy might beareth
me witness! I can have no doubt that should the holy breaths of Thy
loving-kindness and the breeze of Thy bountiful favor cease, for less than the
twinkling of an eye, to breathe over all created things, the entire creation
would perish, and all that are in heaven and on earth would be reduced to utter
nothingness. Magnified, therefore, be the marvelous evidences of Thy
transcendent power! Magnified be the potency of Thine exalted might! Magnified
be the majesty of Thine all-encompassing greatness, and the energizing
influence of Thy will!
O King!... I was indeed as one dead when His behest was
uttered. The hand of the will of thy
Lord, the Compassionate, the Merciful, transformed Me. Can anyone speak forth of his own accord that
for which all men, both high and low, will protest against him? Nay, by Him Who taught the Pen the eternal
mysteries, save him whom the grace of the Almighty, the All-Powerful, hath
strengthened.
…I bear witness with my soul, my spirit, my entire being,
that should They Who are the Day-Springs of Thy [God’s] most holy unity and the
Manifestations of Thy transcendent oneness be able to soar so long as Thine own
sovereignty endureth and Thine all-compelling authority can last, they will
fail in the end to attain unto even the precincts of the court wherein Thou
didst reveal the effulgence of but one of Thy most mighty Names. Glorified,
glorified be, therefore, Thy wondrous majesty. Glorified, glorified be Thine
unattainable loftiness. Glorified, glorified be the préeminence of Thy kingship
and the sublimity of Thine authority and power.
Glorified, immeasurably glorified art Thou, my Best-Beloved!
Inasmuch as Thou hast ordained that the utmost limit to which they who lift
their hearts to Thee can rise is the confession of their powerlessness to enter
the realms of Thy holy and transcendent unity, and that the highest station which
they who aspire to know Thee can reach is the acknowledgment of their impotence
to attain the retreats of Thy sublime knowledge I, therefore, beseech Thee, by
this very powerlessness which is beloved of Thee, and which Thou hast decreed
as the goal of them that have reached and attained Thy court, and by the
splendors of Thy countenance that have encompassed all things, and by the
energies of Thy Will whereby the entire creation hath been generated, not to
deprive them that have set their hopes in Thee of the wonders of Thy mercy, nor
to withhold from such as have sought Thee the treasures of Thy grace.
Man is the supreme Talisman. Lack of a proper education
hath, however, deprived him of that which he doth inherently possess. Through a
word proceeding out of the mouth of God he was called into being; by one word
more he was guided to recognize the Source of his education; by yet another
word his station and destiny were safeguarded.
The essence of religion is to testify unto that which the
Lord hath revealed, and follow that which He hath ordained in His mighty Book.
Hearken, O king, to the speech of Him that speaketh the
truth, Him that doth not ask thee to recompense Him with the things God hath
chosen to bestow upon thee, Him Who unerringly treadeth the straight Path. He
it is Who summoneth thee unto God, thy Lord, Who showeth thee the right course,
the way that leadeth to true felicity, that haply thou mayest be of them with
whom it shall be well.... He that giveth up himself wholly to God, God shall,
assuredly, be with him; and he that placeth his complete trust in God, God
shall, verily, protect him from whatsoever may harm him, and shield him from
the wickedness of every evil plotter.
The essence of understanding is to testify to one’s poverty,
and submit to the Will of the Lord, the Sovereign, the Gracious, the
All-Powerful.
The verses are sent down at one time in a form that is
untroubled by the rules of grammarians, transcending what the minds of men have
yet conceived; and at another time they are sent down in a style that
conformeth to the standards of men. Thy Lord, verily, is potent over whatsoever
He willeth by virtue of His words "Be, and it is." Wert thou to view
them with Mine eyes thou wouldst see that they are in conformity with the most
consummate rules, and wouldst give thanks to the Lord, the Almighty, the Best-Beloved.
Wert thou to ponder in thine heart, from now until the end
that hath no end, and with all the concentrated intelligence and understanding
which the greatest minds have attained in the past or will attain in the
future, this divinely ordained and subtle Reality [the rational faculty in a
human being], this sign of the revelation of the All-Abiding, All-Glorious God,
thou wilt fail to comprehend its mystery or to appraise its virtue. Having
recognized thy powerlessness to attain to an adequate understanding of that
Reality which abideth within thee, thou wilt readily admit the futility of such
efforts as may be attempted by thee, or by any of the created things, to fathom
the mystery of the Living God, the Day Star of unfading glory, the Ancient of
everlasting days. This confession of helplessness which mature contemplation
must eventually impel every mind to make is in itself the acme of human
understanding, and marketh the culmination of man’s development.