By virtue of this station, they have claimed for themselves the Voice of
Divinity and the like, whilst by virtue of their station of Messengership,
they have declared themselves the Messengers of God. In every instance
they have voiced an utterance that would conform to the requirements of
the occasion, and have ascribed all these declarations to Themselves,
declarations ranging from the realm of divine Revelation to the realm of
creation, and from the domain of Divinity even unto the domain of earthly
existence. Thus it is that whatsoever be their utterance, whether it
pertain to the realm of Divinity, Lordship, Prophethood, Messengership,
Guardianship, Apostleship or Servitude, all is true, beyond the shadow of
a doubt. Therefore, these sayings which We have quoted in support of Our
argument must be attentively considered, that the divergent utterances of
the Manifestations of the Unseen and Daysprings of Holiness may cease to
agitate the soul and perplex the mind.
Those words uttered by the Luminaries of Truth must needs be pondered, and
should their significance be not grasped, enlightenment should be sought
from the Trustees of the depositories of Knowledge, that these may expound
their meaning, and unravel their mystery. For it behooveth no man to
interpret the holy words according to his own imperfect understanding,
nor, having found them to be contrary to his inclination and desires, to
reject and repudiate their truth. For such, today, is the manner of the
divines and doctors of the age, who occupy the seats of knowledge and
learning, and who have named ignorance knowledge, and called oppression
justice. Were these to ask the Light of Truth concerning those images
which their idle fancy hath carved, and were they to find His answer
inconsistent with their own conceptions and their own understanding of the
Book, they would assuredly denounce Him Who is the Mine and Wellhead of
all Knowledge as the very negation of understanding. Such things have
happened in every age.
For instance, when Muḥammad, the Lord of being, was questioned concerning
the new moons, He, as bidden by God, made reply: “They are periods
appointed unto men.”(139) Thereupon, they that heard Him denounced Him as
an ignorant man.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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