Were any of the all-embracing Manifestations of God to declare: “I am
God!” He verily speaketh the truth, and no doubt attacheth thereto. For it
hath been repeatedly demonstrated that through their Revelation, their
attributes and names, the Revelation of God, His name and His attributes,
are made manifest in the world. Thus, He hath revealed: “Those shafts were
God’s, not Thine!”(136) And also He saith: “In truth, they who plighted
fealty unto thee, really plighted that fealty unto God.”(137) And were any
of them to voice the utterance: “I am the Messenger of God,” He also
speaketh the truth, the indubitable truth. Even as He saith: “Muḥammad is
not the father of any man among you, but He is the Messenger of God.”(138)
Viewed in this light, they are all but Messengers of that ideal King, that
unchangeable Essence. And were they all to proclaim: “I am the Seal of the
Prophets,” they verily utter but the truth, beyond the faintest shadow of
doubt. For they are all but one person, one soul, one spirit, one being,
one revelation. They are all the manifestation of the “Beginning” and the
“End,” the “First” and the “Last,” the “Seen” and “Hidden”—all of which
pertain to Him Who is the innermost Spirit of Spirits and eternal Essence
of Essences. And were they to say: “We are the servants of God,” this also
is a manifest and indisputable fact. For they have been made manifest in
the uttermost state of servitude, a servitude the like of which no man can
possibly attain. Thus in moments in which these Essences of being were
deeply immersed beneath the oceans of ancient and everlasting holiness, or
when they soared to the loftiest summits of divine mysteries, they claimed
their utterance to be the Voice of divinity, the Call of God Himself. Were
the eye of discernment to be opened, it would recognize that in this very
state, they have considered themselves utterly effaced and non-existent in
the face of Him Who is the All-Pervading, the Incorruptible. Methinks,
they have regarded themselves as utter nothingness, and deemed their
mention in that Court an act of blasphemy. For the slightest whispering of
self, within such a Court, is an evidence of self-assertion and
independent existence. In the eyes of them that have attained unto that
Court, such a suggestion is itself a grievous transgression. How much more
grievous would it be, were aught else to be mentioned in that Presence,
were man’s heart, his tongue, his mind, or his soul, to be busied with
anyone but the Well-Beloved, were his eyes to behold any countenance other
than His beauty, were his ear to be inclined to any melody but His voice,
and were his feet to tread any way but His way.
In this day the breeze of God is wafted, and His Spirit hath pervaded all
things. Such is the outpouring of His grace that the pen is stilled and
the tongue is speechless.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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