Paragraph 113

And now, to resume Our argument concerning the question: Why is it that the sovereignty of the Qá’im, affirmed in the text of recorded traditions, and handed down by the shining stars of the Muḥammadan Dispensation, hath not in the least been made manifest? Nay, the contrary hath come to pass. Have not His disciples and companions been afflicted of men? Are they not still the victims of the fierce opposition of their enemies? Are they not today leading the life of abased and impotent mortals? Yea, the sovereignty attributed to the Qá’im and spoken of in the scriptures, is a reality, the truth of which none can doubt. This sovereignty, however, is not the sovereignty which the minds of men have falsely imagined. Moreover, the Prophets of old, each and every one, whenever announcing to the people of their day the advent of the coming Revelation, have invariably and specifically referred to that sovereignty with which the promised Manifestation must needs be invested. This is attested by the records of the scriptures of the past. This sovereignty hath not been solely and exclusively attributed to the Qá’im. Nay rather, the attribute of sovereignty and all other names and attributes of God have been and will ever be vouchsafed unto all the Manifestations of God, before and after Him, inasmuch as these Manifestations, as it hath already been explained, are the Embodiments of the attributes of God, the Invisible, and the Revealers of the divine mysteries.

This is the beginning of a long section in the book, from this paragraph all the way until paragraph 132. In some ways, this section helps us see how Part 2 mirrors Part 1. Both parts of the book began with an introduction. Then Baha'u'llah looked at the Manifestations of the past, first in a general historical sense showing how we could already see that They were all similar, and then in a more particular sense of showing the implications of that similarity, namely how They all demonstrated all the attributes of the divine. After this look at the Messengers of the past, He goes into the heart of His argument. In Part 1 it was to show us how the prophecies of Jesus are answered by all the Manifestations, and here it is to help us see how They all have these attributes, weather or not They exhibit them during Their lifetime.

Remember, this is all in response to the questions that were asked of Baha'u'llah by the uncle of the Ba, and here the underlying question is why isn't the Bab showing sovereignty? The answer, of course, is that He doesn't have to. As Baha'u'llah just pointed out in the previous section, all the Messengers have all the attributes of God, even if They don't show them. During the lifetimes of Jesus and Muhammad, to the average person They did not appear to be sovereign. Today, however, we recognize their undisputed sovereignty.

Here, in this paragraph, though, it is worth noting that Baha'u'llah doesn't really talk about this at all. Instead He focuses on the question that has been asked by the uncle. He affirms that this is a good and important question. The launching point of his question is true. The sovereignty of the Qa'im is a reality, and we cannot doubt that. Over and over He re-affirms the validity of the question and the starting point of the uncle's reasoning.

Then He points out that this sovereignty is not what people have imagined. Moreover, it is not solely in the realm of the Qa'im; all the Messengers have this true sovereignty. Again, He shows the similarity of all the Manifestations and reminds the uncle of what He had just discussed in the previous number of paragraphs.

Now, if this is supposed to be a template about how we are to teach, we can learn a lot from this. Acknowledging the validity of a question is extremely important. He does this by re-stating the question, ensuring that the uncle knows that his question has been understood. The importance of this cannot be overstated. By reiterating the question back to the person, we let them know that they have been heard. We let them know that we are truly listening to them, and not just composing some sort of answer while they are talking. Perhaps this is one reason why the uncle had to write the questions down, but really, this is a very effective tool in any conversation. It allows the individual to correct us if, by chance, we have misunderstood the intent of the question.

Another aspect here is that Baha'u'llah doesn't immediately dismiss this question. Pointing out the common error inherent within the question does not make it a dumb question, but rather sets the stage for a more comprehensive answer. And as we can see, He will spend the next few dozen paragraphs giving that more comprehensive response.