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Should We wish to impart unto thee a glimmer of the mysteries of Husayn’s martyrdom, and reveal unto thee the fruits thereof, these pages could never suffice, nor exhaust their meaning. Our hope is that, God willing, the breeze of mercy may blow, and the divine Springtime clothe the tree of being with the robe of a new life; so that we may discover the mysteries of divine Wisdom, and, through His providence, be made independent of the knowledge of all things. We have, as yet, descried none but a handful of souls, destitute of all renown, who have attained unto this station. Let the future disclose what the Judgment of God will ordain, and the Tabernacle of His decree reveal. In such wise We recount unto thee the wonders of the Cause of God, and pour out into thine ears the strains of heavenly melody, that haply thou mayest attain unto the station of true knowledge, and partake of the fruit thereof. Therefore, know thou of a certainty that these Luminaries of heavenly majesty, though their dwelling be in the dust, yet their true habitation is the seat of glory in the realms above. Though bereft of all earthly possessions, yet they soar in the realms of immeasurable riches. And whilst sore tried in the grip of the enemy, they are seated on the right hand of power and celestial dominion. Amidst the darkness of their abasement there shineth upon them the light of unfading glory, and upon their helplessness are showered the tokens of an invincible sovereignty.

Here we are, the last of the six paragraphs that talk about the Imam Husayn.

It is worth remembering, here, that this is the conclusion of Baha'u'llah's argument about "true sovereignty". This was all in response to the uncle's question about how his Nephew could possibly be the Promised One when He did not appear to be a sovereign at all.

In this paragraph, after a beautiful reminder of the glorious station of the Imam Husayn, Baha'u'llah sums it up for us. Within the darkness of his abasement we could see "the light of unfading glory", and in his helplessness we could see his "invincible sovereignty". There appears to be a strange contradiction here, but this just brings us right back to paragraph 102, the very beginning of Part 2. In that paragraph, you will recall, the Messenger of God holds "undisputed sovereignty over all that is in heaven and on earth, though no man be found on earth to obey Him." We can see it so clearly in Husayn, and Baha'u'llah allows us, at this point, to make that connection to the Bab on our own.

He talks of the "mysteries" of Husayn's martyrdom, and the "fruits thereof", reminding us that we don't really know the benefit of his martyrdom. All good Shi'ite Muslims are well aware of Husayn, and revere him, rightly so, but that doesn't mean that they have thought about this aspect of his life and death.

Similarly, we can presume that we don't really know the effects of the martyrdom of the Bab. We do know, though, that although His "dwelling be in the dust," His "true habitation is the seat of glory in the realms above".

There is a lot of metaphor in this paragraph, a lot to do with nature. There are the fruits of his martyrdom, the breeze of mercy, the divine Springtime, the tree of being. We see the Tabernacle again, and following that we get that metaphor of music, as well as those mysterious apparent contradictions.

But what really stands out to us, amidst this wealth of imagery, is that singular word "haply", with luck. We first encountered this word way back in paragraph 1, where we were told "Sanctify your souls... that haply ye may attain that station which God hath destined for you and enter thus the tabernacle which... hath been raised in the firmament of the Bayán." Then we were told to "scan for a while the horizon of divine knowledge, and contemplate those words of perfection which the Eternal hath revealed, that haply the mysteries of divine wisdom... may be made manifest unto you." Over and over again He shows us these great insights into the sacred Texts of the past, hoping that, with luck, we might understand.

When He gets to Part 2, it is no longer just about understanding. In that first paragraph, paragraph 102, He hopes that through all of this, "haply", we may "soar on the wings of renunciation to those heights that are veiled from the eyes of men." He reminds us that these heights are veiled from our sight, but goes on to remind us of what we already know. These heights are real, and, with luck, we may have the opportunity to move up to them, if we but strive.

Most of all, here, we need to be careful not to let ourselves be blinded by the fact that to outward appearances, these holy Souls were disgraced, abased and powerless. Truly, He seems to say, we should know better.

In the end, if we question the validity of the Bab based on our understanding of sovereignty, then we have to question all those great souls of the past that we already revere. But when we re-examine what we understand of true sovereignty, and begin to get a better understanding of the spiritual nature of Their sovereignty, then we not only gain a greater appreciation of those Messengers of the past, and Their followers, we also come to a better understanding of the station of the Bab, Himself. This, presumably, is just a taste of that fruit of "true knowledge".

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Think not that because these things have come to pass after Husayn’s martyrdom, therefore all this glory hath been of no profit unto him. For that holy soul is immortal, liveth the life of God, and abideth within the retreats of celestial glory upon the Sadrih of heavenly reunion. These Essences of being are the shining Exemplars of sacrifice. They have offered, and will continue to offer up their lives, their substance, their souls, their spirit, their all, in the path of the Well-Beloved. By them, no station, however exalted, could be more dearly cherished. For lovers have no desire but the good-pleasure of their Beloved, and have no aim except reunion with Him.

This is the fifth of six paragraphs relating to the Imam Husayn. In it, as you can see, He talks about the sacrifice made by Husayn, and by extension all those who have made such sacrifices in the path of their Lord. It gives a list of some of the things we can offer up in this path, whether it is our life, our material goods, our very soul or spirit, everything.

This is a direct reminder, also, that our actions are not limited in their effect to this world. Do we wish to be like Husayn, or like any of the heroes of the Faith that we admire? Here He is giving us the method. He is showing us how far we have to be willing to go, how much we may be called upon to give up.

And it is very interestingly placed in the context of this book. By this point the uncle of the Bab is likely beginning to see his Nephew as being the Promised One. And while some of us may have been content with convincing the uncle, or anyone for that matter, of the truth of the Cause, Baha'u'llah, quite naturally, goes further. Here He seems to be saying, as we said way back at that juncture between parts one and two, "You believe? Fine. What are you going to do about it?"

Most of the rest of the book deals with those various heroes who have sacrificed their all, and this is just the beginning of those numerous, inspiring stories.

But here, at the very beginning of this paragraph, we are reminded that our actions, his actions, are and were not limited to this world. It is the great danger we all face, thinking that our actions are limited to this world. Here, Baha'u'llah reminds us that if we believe, then this is one of the implications of our belief: We must accept the reality that our actions carry on into the next world.

And yet there is a caution, too. We should not fall into the trap of doing good merely for the reward of heaven. We should "have no desire but the good-pleasure" of our Lord.

It is as 'Abdu'l-Baha said: "In the highest prayer, men pray only for the love of God, not because they fear Him or hell, or hope for bounty or heaven... The spiritual man finds no delight in anything save in commemoration of God."

This, we are reminded, is the touchstone. Husayn and all those "Essences of being", were prepared to sacrifice literally everything to be nearer to their Lord. How can we do any less?

One last point. We looked at this list that Baha'u'llah gave us: their lives, their substance, their souls, their spirit, their all. And honestly, we don't understand why they are in this order. We'll look at it for just a moment, but ask you, dear Reader, if you can shed more light on it.

To start, offering up your life, difficult as it is, sort of ends there. You offer it up as a martyr, and bang, you're done. That's it.

But when you offer up your substance, your material wealth, as Baha'u'llah did when He became a Babi, there is a very real question of how you survive. How do you pay for your next meal? Your shelter? How do you provide for your family? While martyrdom is quick, in some ways, this becomes more of a life-long martyrdom. So with these two, we see the beginning of that crescendo pattern that we love to look for in the Writings.

The next two, your soul and your spirit, we are stumped on. We just don't get it. Obviously they are of a higher order than both your life and your materials possessions, but why are they in that order? In fact, how are they different? It may make more sense in the original, but for us, we're stuck.

Finally, there is your all. Well, that about takes care of it, doesn't it? You can't get much more than your all. And in fact, there is a story that we are reminded of with this, that of Adam. As Tahirih pointed out, Adam was a Manifestation of God, the first One in the Adamic Cycle. The Cycle was named after Him, so come on, of course He was a Manifestation. But how does this accord with how He is treated in, say, the Bible, or history? For centuries He was regarded as something of a buffoon, having eaten the apple just because Eve asked Him. Well, this doesn't sound like a Manifestation to us. But, as Tahirih said in her incredible poem, Adam's Wish, He sacrificed His reputation to allow us, humanity, to begin this path that has led us to the revelation of both the Bab and Baha'u'llah. He taught us the difference between good and evil, and that opened up the path of choice, which has resulted in this incredible spiritual journey for all humanity. And we, the spiritual children of this glorious faith of ours, have the incredible bounty of helping humanity move on to the next stage in this path.

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Furthermore, call to mind the shameful circumstances that have attended the martyrdom of Husayn. Reflect upon his loneliness, how, to outer seeming, none could be found to aid him, none to take up his body and bury it. And yet, behold how numerous, in this day, are those who from the uttermost corners of the earth don the garb of pilgrimage, seeking the site of his martyrdom, that there they may lay their heads upon the threshold of his shrine! Such is the ascendancy and power of God! Such is the glory of His dominion and majesty!

Here we are at the fourth of six paragraphs that talk about the Imam Husayn. It all falls under the response to the question of the uncle trying to understand how the Bab demonstrated the sovereignty that was to be shown by the Promised One.

By bringing up the Imam Husayn, whom the uncle honours, and pointing out the "shameful circumstances that have attended the martyrdom" of this man, Baha'u'llah is reminding us to look to the past. If this uncle calls into question the validity of the Bab due to His martyrdom, then how can he claim to properly respect the Imam Husayn?

"Call to mind". "Reflect". These are two things that we were regularly asked to do back in Part 1. By this point, we should be fairly decent at this.

There is no question in the mind or heart of the uncle that he already knows this, and Baha'u'llah is helping him reframe his knowledge. He is pointing out the many similarities between the stories of this Imam and the Bab.

And the reference to none taking up his body? That reminds us of the Bab, Himself. At the time, only a handful of people knew that His body had been rescued from the moat outside Tabriz.

Today, people don't just seek the site of His martyrdom, they go to His actual Shrine as part of their Baha'i Pilgrimage.

To us, the importance of this paragraph, and in fact the whole section on the Imam Husayn, is to help remind us to recognize what others feel is important and sacred. We can always use that as a starting point in our teaching. At no point does Baha'u'llah belittle Islam or any of the Imams. He continually reaffirms what the uncle knows and points out those tidbits of knowledge that will help him advance on his spiritual journey.

Baha'u'llah regularly goes back to history, shows what the uncle already knows, and seems to say, "See how this applies today?" He shows how everything that we love in the history of our religion, no matter what religion it is, can be directly applied today.

There are two other interesting points here that seem to come together. The uncle's faith is very much alive. He is a firm believer, but he is not closed-minded about it. He has serious questions that have prevented him from recognizing his Nephew, but he is willing to listen.

It is as if Baha'u'llah is saying that questions are ok. We are not expected to know everything. But we are expected to be open to hearing an answer.

Today, when talking about the Faith with others, it is important to understand this distinction. There are many people who are very spiritual, but closed to hearing anything different. There are also those who are very open to learning new things, but are not spiritual at all. We, however, need to be open to recognizing those who are both spiritual and open.