The passage of the Bayán which Bahá’u’lláh here quotes draws the attention
of the believers to the imminence of the coming of "Him Whom God will make
manifest". Its prohibition of marriage with a non-Bábí and its provision
that the property of a husband or wife who embraced the Faith could not
lawfully pass to the non-Bábí spouse were explicitly held in abeyance by
the Báb, and were subsequently annulled by Bahá’u’lláh before they could
come into effect. Bahá’u’lláh, in quoting this law, points to the fact
that, in revealing it, the Báb had clearly anticipated the possibility
that the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh would rise to prominence before that of the
Báb Himself.
In God Passes By Shoghi Effendi points out that the Bayán "should be
regarded primarily as a eulogy of the Promised One rather than a code of
laws and ordinances designed to be a permanent guide to future
generations". "Designedly severe in the rules and regulations it imposed,"
he continues, "revolutionizing in the principles it instilled, calculated
to awaken from their age-long torpor the clergy and the people, and to
administer a sudden and fatal blow to obsolete and corrupt institutions,
it proclaimed, through its drastic provisions, the advent of the
anticipated Day, the Day when ‘the Summoner shall summon to a stern
business’, when He will ‘demolish whatever hath been before Him, even as
the Apostle of God demolished the ways of those that preceded Him’" (see
also note 109).
159. The Point of the Bayán #140
One of the titles of the Báb.
160. Verily, there is none other God besides Me #143
The Bahá’í Writings contain many passages that elucidate the nature of the
Manifestation and His relationship to God. Bahá’u’lláh underlines the
unique and transcendent nature of the Godhead. He explains that "since
there can be no tie of direct intercourse to bind the one true God with
His creation" God ordains that "in every age and dispensation a pure and
stainless Soul be made manifest in the kingdoms of earth and heaven". This
"mysterious and ethereal Being", the Manifestation of God, has a human
nature which pertains to "the world of matter" and a spiritual nature
"born of the substance of God Himself". He is also endowed with a "double
station":
The first station, which is related to His innermost reality,
representeth Him as One Whose voice is the voice of God Himself...
The second station is the human station, exemplified by the
following verses: "I am but a man like you." "Say, praise be to my
Lord! Am I more than a man, an apostle?"
Bahá’u’lláh also affirms that, in the spiritual realm, there is an
"essential unity" between all the Manifestations of God. They all reveal
the "Beauty of God", manifest His names and attributes, and give utterance
to His Revelation. In this regard, He states:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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