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
The acts of Him Whom God shall make manifest are like unto the sun, while
the works of men, provided they conform to the good-pleasure of God,
resemble the stars or the moon... Thus, should the followers of the Bayán
observe the precepts of Him Whom God shall make manifest at the time of
His appearance, and regard themselves and their own works as stars exposed
to the light of the sun, then they will have gathered the fruits of their
existence; otherwise the title of ‘starship’ will not apply to them.
Rather it will apply to such as truly believe in Him, to those who pale
into insignificance in the day-time and gleam forth with light in the
night season.
Such indeed is the fruit of this precept, should anyone observe it on the
Day of Resurrection. This is the essence of all learning and of all
righteous deeds, should anyone but attain unto it. Had the peoples of the
world fixed their gaze upon this principle, no Exponent of divine
Revelation would ever have, at the inception of any Dispensation, regarded
them as things of naught. However, the fact is that during the night
season everyone perceiveth the light which he himself, according to his
own capacity, giveth out, oblivious that at the break of day this light
shall fade away and be reduced to utter nothingness before the dazzling
splendour of the sun.
The light of the people of the world is their knowledge and utterance;
while the splendours shed from the glorious acts of Him Whom God shall
make manifest are His Words, through whose potency He rolleth up the whole
world of existence, sets it under His Own authority by relating it unto
Himself, then as the Mouthpiece of God, the Source of His divine
light—exalted and glorified be He—proclaimeth: ‘Verily, verily, I am God,
no God is there but Me; in truth all others except Me are My creatures.
Say, O My creatures! Me alone, therefore, should ye fear’. VIII, 1.
“Know thou that in the Bayán purification is regarded as ...”
Know thou that in the Bayán purification is regarded as the most
acceptable means for attaining nearness unto God and as the most
meritorious of all deeds. Thus purge thou thine ear that thou mayest hear
no mention besides God, and purge thine eye that it behold naught except
God, and thy conscience that it perceive naught other than God, and thy
tongue that it proclaim nothing but God, and thy hand to write naught but
the words of God, and thy knowledge that it comprehend naught except God,
and thy heart that it entertain no wish save God, and in like manner purge
all thine acts and thy pursuits that thou mayest be nurtured in the
paradise of pure love, and perchance mayest attain the presence of Him
Whom God shall make manifest, adorned with a purity which He highly
cherisheth, and be sanctified from whosoever hath turned away from Him and
doth not support Him. Thus shalt thou manifest a purity that shall profit
thee.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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