Paragraph 63

If the eye of justice be opened, it will readily recognize, in the light of that which hath been mentioned, that He, Who is the Cause and ultimate Purpose of all these things, is made manifest in this day. Though similar events have not occurred in this Dispensation, yet the people still cling to such vain imaginings as are cherished by the reprobate. How grievous the charges brought against Him! How severe the persecutions inflicted upon Him -- charges and persecutions the like of which men have neither seen nor heard!

Well, this is it. This is the last paragraph in the long section that deals with that passage, "shall the sun be darkened, the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the earth shall be shaken". The next two paragraphs are something of an interlude before He moves on to the next part of that incredible quote from Jesus, found in Matthew 24, "and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven".

But for now, let's finish this.

To start, He mentions the eye of justice. Why an eye? The eye of justice is an eye that sees what is actually occurring, instead of looking at what it is expecting to see.

Perhaps He chooses to refer to it as an eye because that is exactly what is happening. Things are occurring in the world, and we are witnessing them. While we do that, we can look for what we expect, using these events to justify whatever we want, or we can look at them afresh, and see what they are telling us.

If, for example, you believe that all people with brown eyes are mean, then you can surely find numerous examples of behaviour to support that. But if you look with the eyes of justice, you will watch people's behaviour and see what they are actually doing, regardless of eye colour. You will see that some people are mean while others are very kind. And you will readily discover a flaw in your original assumption.

Here, many people are expecting a new Messenger to come, but they have their own preconceptions of what that means. Baha'u'llah is helping us move beyond our preconceived ideas so that we can see what is actually occurring.

But let's look at that word, "justice", again for a moment. It occurs in three of the Hidden Words.

The first reference is in the second Hidden Word in Arabic:

O SON OF SPIRIT!
The best beloved of all things in My sight is Justice; turn not away therefrom if thou desirest Me, and neglect it not that I may confide in thee. By its aid thou shalt see with thine own eyes and not through the eyes of others, and shalt know of thine own knowledge and not through the knowledge of thy neighbor. Ponder this in thy heart; how it behooveth thee to be. Verily justice is My gift to thee and the sign of My loving-kindness. Set it then before thine eyes.

Here, in the Kitab-i-Iqan, He seems to be saying that it is through justice that we will recognize the Bab, and presumably Himself. And then He calls this justice His gift to us. He calls it a sign of His loving-kindness. And isn't it just that? What greater gift gift, what greater sign of love than that which will allow us to recognize Him?

Oh, and He also, again, tells us to ponder this in our heart.

The second reference to justice is in the Persian Hidden Words:

O SON OF JUSTICE!
Whither can a lover go but to the land of his beloved? and what seeker findeth rest away from his heart's desire? To the true lover reunion is life, and separation is death. His breast is void of patience and his heart hath no peace. A myriad lives he would forsake to hasten to the abode of his beloved.

Doesn't this just beautifully describe our state as we are searching for the Promised One? And how many lovers gave up their very lives for the beauty of the Bab?

The third reference occurs towards the end of the Persian Hidden Words:

O SON OF JUSTICE!
In the night-season the beauty of the immortal Being hath repaired from the emerald height of fidelity unto the Sadratu'l-Muntaha, and wept with such a weeping that the concourse on high and the dwellers of the realms above wailed at His lamenting. Whereupon there was asked, Why the wailing and weeping? He made reply: As bidden I waited expectant upon the hill of faithfulness, yet inhaled not from them that dwell on earth the fragrance of fidelity. Then summoned to return I beheld, and lo! certain doves of holiness were sore tried within the claws of the dogs of earth. Thereupon the Maid of heaven hastened forth unveiled and resplendent from Her mystic mansion, and asked of their names, and all were told but one. And when urged, the first letter thereof was uttered, whereupon the dwellers of the celestial chambers rushed forth out of their habitation of glory. And whilst the second letter was pronounced they fell down, one and all, upon the dust. At that moment a voice was heard from the inmost shrine: "Thus far and no farther." Verily We bear witness to that which they have done and now are doing.

Once again it is about this search, and this day. The Messenger has gone back to His home and is crying. Why? Because nobody is showing fidelity, and the doves of holiness are being attacked. When asked who, the reply is given out in spelling. "B". Really? What is the second letter? "A". And? "Nope. That's all I'm giving you for now." So is He spelling out the Bab, or Baha'u'llah?

All of this through the simple reference to the word "justice".

And you know what? This, we think, is the very first time that Baha'u'llah directly mentions the Bab in this text. Even if it isn't, it surely is the first time that He refers to this Day as a new Dispensation.

What a proclamation. What a statement.

Also, He has just spent 62 paragraphs describing "that which they have done", and is now beginning to refer to that which they "now are doing".