Paragraph 135

Were the idle contention of these foolish and despicable souls to be true, they would have none other alternative than to reject all these holy utterances and heavenly allusions. For no warrior could be found on earth more excellent and nearer to God than Husayn, son of ‘Alí, so peerless and incomparable was he. “There was none to equal or to match him in the world.” Yet, thou must have heard what befell him. “God’s malison on the head of the people of tyranny!”

Ah yes, another short paragraph. These are usually the most difficult to write about, but not because there is so little there, but rather because they are so jam-packed.

To start, we have to ask the question, "Which idle contention?"

To get an idea, we have to go back a paragraph, to the end of 134. Baha'u'llah has just quoted 3 verses. “And verily Our host shall conquer.” “Fain would they put out God’s light with their mouths: But God hath willed to perfect His light, albeit the infidels abhor it.” “He is the Dominant, above all things.”

Looking at these quotes, and the idea mentioned in paragraph 133, that these quotes must refer to a physical reality instead of a spiritual one, Baha'ullah is pointing out the absurd contradiction to history. If these quotes were supposed to be earthly, instead of spiritual, then how could the religious leaders explain Imam Husayn? He sure didn't conquer. He was defeated at Karbila. Dominant? Nope. He was defeated in battle.

But these leaders recognize the authority of so noble a figure as Husayn, son of Ali, and therefore recognize the spiritual nature of his victory.

Now, the question is how does this apply to us? Well, to us it demonstrates how we can respond to any objection raised against the Faith.

When the religious leaders said that the Bab could not be a Manifestation, they said that He would have to demonstrate earthly sovereignty. Ok, we could reply, how did Husayn show earthly sovereignty?

In fact, the same objection could be, and has been, raised by some Christians. "When Jesus returns, He will be sovereign over the whole earth."

This was the same objection raised against Jesus in His own lifetime. How do they answer this? "He had a spiritual sovereignty."

So did Husayn. So did the Bab. So does Baha'u'llah.

Any objection raised can be turned back upon the objector. Whatever defense they offer can also be offered in this instance.

Whatever objection they present was likely also presented against their own Founder.

Baha'u'llah points out that there must be a consistency of argument. Whatever works for one must work for all.

At no point have any of the Messengers been interested in the authority and power of this world. They have always worked towards the spiritual, striving in every Dispensation to draw our attention upwards, from this earthly plane towards the spiritual worlds of God.

At the very end of this paragraph, He curses the "people of tyranny". Why? Because, like all curses, it is a natural result of their own behaviour. These leaders, these "people of tyranny", are doing all they can to move our vision back down to the earthly plane, which is the very antithesis of these teachings. We know that when our vision is turned towards the heavens, we reflect the light of God, but when we turn our vision to those things of the dust, we reflect that lifeless dust, instead. By being so focused on the physical, so distant from the spiritual, they are forcing themselves to do nothing more than reflect the lifeless dust of this world. Can we imagine a greater curse than this?