The Kitab-i-Aqdas Part 34

In this verse and the ones which immediately follow it, Baha'u'llah confronts one of the reasons some of the Babis rejected His claim to be the Promised One of the Bayan. Their rejection was based on a Tablet addressed by the Bab to "Him Who will be made manifest" on the reverse side of which the Bab had written: "May the glances of Him Whom G.o.d shall make manifest illumine this letter at the primary school." This Tablet is published in Selections from the Writings of the Bab.

These Babis maintained that, since Baha'u'llah was two years older than the Bab, it was not possible for Him to receive this Tablet "at the primary school".

Baha'u'llah here explains that the reference is to events transpiring in the spiritual worlds beyond this plane of existence.

186. We accepted the verses of G.o.d ... which He presented unto Us #175

In His Tablet addressed to "Him Who will be made manifest", the Bab characterizes the Bayan as an offering from Him to Baha'u'llah. See Selections from the Writings of the Bab.

187. O people of the Bayan! #176

Reference to the followers of the Bab.

188. the letters B and E were joined and knit together #177

Shoghi Effendi, in letters written on his behalf, has explained the significance of the "letters B and E". They const.i.tute the word "Be", which, he states, "means the creative Power of G.o.d Who through His command causes all things to come into being" and "the power of the Manifestation of G.o.d, His great spiritual creative force".

The imperative "Be" in the original Arabic is the word "kun", consisting of the two letters "kaf" and "nun". They have been translated by Shoghi Effendi in the above manner. This word has been used in the Qur'an as G.o.d's bidding calling creation into being.

189. this new World Order #181

In the Persian Bayan, the Bab stated: "Well is it with him who fixeth his gaze upon the Order of Baha'u'llah, and rendereth thanks unto his Lord.

For He will a.s.suredly be made manifest. G.o.d hath indeed irrevocably ordained it in the Bayan." Shoghi Effendi identifies this "Order" with the System Baha'u'llah envisages in the Aqdas, in which He testifies to its revolutionizing effect on the life of humanity and reveals the laws and principles which govern its operation.

The features of the "new World Order" are delineated in the Writings of Baha'u'llah and 'Abdu'l-Baha and in the letters of Shoghi Effendi and the Universal House of Justice. The inst.i.tutions of the present-day Baha'i Administrative Order, which const.i.tute the "structural basis" of Baha'u'llah's World Order, will mature and evolve into the Baha'i World Commonwealth. In this regard, Shoghi Effendi affirms that the Administrative Order "will, as its component parts, its organic inst.i.tutions, begin to function with efficiency and vigour, a.s.sert its claim and demonstrate its capacity to be regarded not only as the nucleus but the very pattern of the New World Order destined to embrace in the fullness of time the whole of mankind".

For additional information on the evolution of this new World Order, see, for example, the letters of Shoghi Effendi published in The World Order of Baha'u'llah.

190. O source of perversion! #184

This is a reference to Mirza Ya?ya, known as Subh-i-Azal (Morning of Eternity), a younger half-brother of Baha'u'llah, who arose against Him and opposed His Cause. Mirza Ya?ya was nominated by the Bab to serve as a figure-head for the Babi community pending the imminent manifestation of the Promised One. At the instigation of Siyyid Mu?ammad-i-I?fahani (see note 192), Mirza Ya?ya betrayed the trust of the Bab, claimed to be His successor, and intrigued against Baha'u'llah, even attempting to have Him murdered. When Baha'u'llah formally declared His Mission to him in Adrianople, Mirza Ya?ya responded by going to the length of putting forward his own claim to be the recipient of an independent Revelation.

His pretensions were eventually rejected by all but a few, who became known as Azalis (see note 177). He is described by Shoghi Effendi as the "Arch-Breaker of the Covenant of the Bab" (see G.o.d Pa.s.ses By, chapter X).

191. remember how We nurtured thee by day and by night for service to the Cause #184

In _G.o.d Pa.s.ses By_, Shoghi Effendi refers to the fact that Baha'u'llah, Who was thirteen years older than Mirza Ya?ya, had counselled him and watched over his early youth and manhood.

192. G.o.d hath laid hold on him who led thee astray. #184

A reference to Siyyid Mu?ammad-i-I?fahani, who is described by Shoghi Effendi as the "Antichrist of the Baha'i Revelation". He was a man of corrupt character and great personal ambition who induced Mirza Ya?ya to oppose Baha'u'llah and to claim prophethood for himself (see note 190).

Although he was an adherent of Mirza Ya?ya, Siyyid Mu?ammad was exiled with Baha'u'llah to Akka. He continued to agitate and plot against Baha'u'llah. In describing the circ.u.mstances of his death, Shoghi Effendi has written in G.o.d Pa.s.ses By:

A fresh danger now clearly threatened the life of Baha'u'llah.

Though He Himself had stringently forbidden His followers, on several occasions, both verbally and in writing, any retaliatory acts against their tormentors, and had even sent back to Beirut an irresponsible Arab convert, who had meditated avenging the wrongs suffered by his beloved Leader, seven of the companions clandestinely sought out and slew three of their persecutors, among whom were Siyyid Mu?ammad and aqa Jan.

The consternation that seized an already oppressed community was indescribable. Baha'u'llah's indignation knew no bounds. "Were We", He thus voices His emotions, in a Tablet revealed shortly after this act had been committed, "to make mention of what befell Us, the heavens would be rent asunder and the mountains would crumble." "My captivity", He wrote on another occasion, "cannot harm Me. That which can harm Me is the conduct of those who love Me, who claim to be related to Me, and yet perpetrate what causeth My heart and My pen to groan."

193. Select ye a single language ... adopt ye ... a common script. #189

Baha'u'llah enjoins the adoption of a universal language and script. His Writings envisage two stages in this process. The first stage is to consist of the selection of an existing language or an invented one which would then be taught in all the schools of the world as an auxiliary to the mother tongues. The governments of the world through their parliaments are called upon to effect this momentous enactment. The second stage, in the distant future, would be the eventual adoption of one single language and common script for all on earth.

194. We have appointed two signs for the coming of age of the human race #189

The first sign of the coming of age of humanity referred to in the Writings of Baha'u'llah is the emergence of a science which is described as that "divine philosophy" which will include the discovery of a radical approach to the trans.m.u.tation of elements. This is an indication of the splendours of the future stupendous expansion of knowledge.

Concerning the "second" sign which Baha'u'llah indicates to have been revealed in the Kitab-i-Aqdas, Shoghi Effendi states that Baha'u'llah, "...in His Most Holy Book, has enjoined the selection of a single language and the adoption of a common script for all on earth to use, an injunction which, when carried out, would, as He Himself affirms in that Book, be one of the signs of the 'coming of age of the human race'".

Further insight into this process of mankind's coming of age and proceeding to maturity is provided by the following statement of Baha'u'llah:

One of the signs of the maturity of the world is that no one will accept to bear the weight of kings.h.i.+p. Kings.h.i.+p will remain with none willing to bear alone its weight. That day will be the day whereon wisdom will be manifested among mankind.