The Kitab-i-Aqdas Part 27

This is a reference to Napoleon III (1808-1873), the Emperor of the French, who was regarded by many historians as the most outstanding monarch of his day in the West.

Baha'u'llah addressed two Tablets to Napoleon III, in the second of which He clearly prophesied that Napoleon's kingdom would be "thrown into confusion", that his "empire shall pa.s.s" from his hands, and that his people would experience great "commotions".

Within a year, Napoleon III suffered a resounding defeat, at the hands of Kaiser William I, at the Battle of Sedan in 1870. He went in exile to England, where he died three years later.

119. O people of Constantinople! #89

The word here translated as "Constantinople" is, in the original, "Ar-Rum"

or "Rome". This term has generally been used in the Middle East to designate Constantinople and the Eastern Roman Empire, then the city of Byzantium and its empire, and later the Ottoman Empire.

120. O Spot that art situate on the sh.o.r.es of the two seas! #89

This is a reference to Constantinople, now called Istanbul. Located on the Bosphorus, a strait about 31 kilometres long which links the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara, it is the largest city and seaport of Turkey.

Constantinople was the capital of the Ottoman Empire from 1453 until 1922.

During Baha'u'llah's sojourn in this city, the tyrannical Sultan 'Abdu'l-'Aziz occupied the throne. The Ottoman Sultans were also the Caliphs, the leaders of Sunni Islam. Baha'u'llah antic.i.p.ated the fall of the Caliphate, which was abolished in 1924.

121. O banks of the Rhine! #90

In one of His Tablets written before the First World War (1914-1918), 'Abdu'l-Baha explained that Baha'u'llah's reference to having seen the banks of the Rhine "covered with gore" related to the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871), and that there was more suffering to come.

In G.o.d Pa.s.ses By Shoghi Effendi states that the "oppressively severe treaty" that was imposed on Germany following its defeat in the First World War "provoked 'the lamentations'" of Berlin "which half a century before, had been ominously prophesied".

122. O Land of Ta #91

"Ta" is the initial letter of ?ihran, the capital of Iran. Baha'u'llah has often chosen to represent certain place names by reference to their initial letter. According to the abjad system of reckoning, the numerical value of Ta is nine, which equals the numerical value of the name Baha.

123. within thee was born the Manifestation of His Glory #92

This is a reference to the birth of Baha'u'llah in ?ihran on 12 November 1817.

124. O Land of K_h_a! #94

A reference to the Iranian province of K_h_urasan and neighbouring areas, which include the city of Is_h_qabad (Ashkhabad).

125. Should anyone acquire one hundred mit_h_qals of gold, nineteen mit_h_qals thereof are G.o.d's and to be rendered unto Him #97

This verse establishes ?uququ'llah, the Right of G.o.d, the offering of a fixed portion of the value of the believer's possessions. This offering was made to Baha'u'llah as the Manifestation of G.o.d and then, following His Ascension, to 'Abdu'l-Baha as the Centre of the Covenant. In His Will and Testament, 'Abdu'l-Baha provided that the ?uququ'llah was to be offered "through the Guardian of the Cause of G.o.d". There now being no Guardian, it is offered through the Universal House of Justice as the Head of the Faith. This fund is used for the promotion of the Faith of G.o.d and its interests as well as for various philanthropic purposes. The offering of the ?uququ'llah is a spiritual obligation, the fulfilment of which has been left to the conscience of each Baha'i. While the community is reminded of the requirements of the law of ?uquq, no believer may be approached individually to pay it.

A number of items in Questions and Answers further elaborate this law. The payment of ?uququ'llah is based on the calculation of the value of the individual's possessions. If a person has possessions equal in value to at least nineteen mit_h_qals of gold (Q and A 8), it is a spiritual obligation to pay nineteen percent of the total amount, once only, as ?uququ'llah (Q and A 89). Thereafter, whenever one's income, after all expenses have been paid, increases the value of one's possessions by the amount of at least nineteen mit_h_qals of gold, one is to pay nineteen percent of this increase, and so on for each further increase (Q and A 8, 90).

Certain categories of possessions, such as one's residence, are exempt from the payment of ?uququ'llah (Q and A 8, 42, 95), and specific provisions are outlined to cover cases of financial loss (Q and A 44, 45), the failure of investments to yield a profit (Q and A 102) and for the payment of ?uquq in the event of the person's death (Q and A 9, 69, 80).

(In this latter case, see note 47.)

Extensive extracts from Tablets, Questions and Answers, and other Writings concerning the spiritual significance of ?uququ'llah and the details of its application have been published in a compilation ent.i.tled ?uququ'llah.

126. Various pet.i.tions have come before Our throne from the believers, concerning laws from G.o.d... We have, in consequence, revealed this Holy Tablet and arrayed it with the mantle of His Law that haply the people may keep the commandments of their Lord. #98

"For a number of years", Baha'u'llah states in one of His Tablets, "pet.i.tions reached the Most Holy Presence from various lands begging for the laws of G.o.d, but We held back the Pen ere the appointed time had come." Not until twenty years from the birth of His Prophetic Mission in the Siyah-C_h_al of ?ihran had elapsed did Baha'u'llah reveal the Kitab-i-Aqdas, the Repository of the laws of His Dispensation. Even after its revelation the Aqdas was withheld by Him for some time before it was sent to the friends in Persia. This divinely purposed delay in the revelation of the basic laws of G.o.d for this age, and the subsequent gradual implementation of their provisions, ill.u.s.trate the principle of progressive revelation which applies even within the ministry of each Prophet.

127. crimson Spot #100

This is a reference to the prison-city of Akka. In the Baha'i Writings the word "crimson" is used in several allegorical and symbolic senses. (See also note 115.)

128. the Sadratu'l-Muntaha #100

Literally "the furthermost Lote-Tree", translated by Shoghi Effendi as "the Tree beyond which there is no pa.s.sing". This is used as a symbol in Islam, for example in the accounts of Mu?ammad's Night Journey, to mark the point in the heavens beyond which neither men nor angels can pa.s.s in their approach to G.o.d, and thus to delimit the bounds of divine knowledge as revealed to mankind. Hence it is often used in the Baha'i Writings to designate the Manifestation of G.o.d Himself. (See also note 164.)