Selections From the Writings of the BábBab, ʻAli Muhammad Shirazi
Religion
Selections From the Writings of the Báb
Bab, ʻAli Muhammad Shirazi
Babism; Bahai Faith
How veiled are ye, O My creatures,(62) ... who, without any right, have
consigned Him unto a mountain [Mákú], not one of whose inhabitants is
worthy of mention... With Him, which is with Me, there is no one except
him who is one of the Letters of the Living of My Book. In His presence,
which is My Presence, there is not at night even a lighted lamp! And yet,
in places [of worship] which in varying degrees reach out unto Him,
unnumbered lamps are shining! All that is on earth hath been created for
Him, and all partake with delight of His benefits, and yet they are so
veiled from Him as to refuse Him even a lamp!
In this Day therefore I bear witness unto My creatures, for the witness of
no one other than Myself hath been or shall ever be worthy of mention in
My presence. I affirm that no Paradise is more sublime for My creatures
than to stand before My face and to believe in My holy Words, while no
fire hath been or will be fiercer for them than to be veiled from the
Manifestation of My exalted Self and to disbelieve in My Words.
Ye may contend: ‘How doth He speak on our behalf?’ Have ye not perused the
unseemly words ye uttered in the past, as reflected in the text of My
Book, and still ye feel not ashamed? Ye have now seen the truth of My Book
conclusively established and today every one of you doth profess belief in
Me through that Book. The day is not far distant when ye shall readily
realize that your glory lieth in your belief in these holy verses. Today,
however, when only belief in this Faith truly profiteth you, ye have
debarred yourselves therefrom by reason of the things which are
disadvantageous unto you and will inflict harm upon you, whereas He Who is
the Manifestation of My Self hath been and shall ever remain immune from
any harm whatever, and any loss that hath appeared or will appear shall
eventually revert unto yourselves. II, 1.
“How vast the number of people who are well versed in ...”
How vast the number of people who are well versed in every science, yet it
is their adherence to the holy Word of God which will determine their
faith, inasmuch as the fruit of every science is none other than the
knowledge of divine precepts and submission unto His good-pleasure. II, 1.
“No created thing shall ever attain its paradise unless it ...”
No created thing shall ever attain its paradise unless it appeareth in its
highest prescribed degree of perfection. For instance, this crystal
representeth the paradise of the stone whereof its substance is composed.
Likewise there are various stages in the paradise for the crystal
itself... So long as it was stone it was worthless, but if it attaineth
the excellence of ruby—a potentiality which is latent in it—how much a
carat will it be worth? Consider likewise every created thing.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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