Paragraph 204

Gracious God! Such is the measure of his understanding. And yet, behold what cavils and calumnies he hath heaped upon those Embodiments of God’s infinite knowledge! How well and true is the saying: “Flingest thou thy calumnies unto the face of Them Whom the one true God hath made the Trustees of the treasures of His seventh sphere?” Not one understanding heart or mind, not one among the wise and learned, hath taken notice of these preposterous statements. And yet, how clear and evident it is to every discerning heart that this so-called learning is and hath ever been rejected by Him Who is the one true God. How can the knowledge of these sciences, which are so contemptible in the eyes of the truly learned, be regarded as essential to the apprehension of the mysteries of the “Mi‘ráj,” whilst the Lord of the “Mi‘ráj” Himself was never burdened with a single letter of these limited and obscure learnings, and never defiled His radiant heart with any of these fanciful illusions? How truly hath he said: “All human attainment moveth upon a lame ass, whilst Truth, riding upon the wind, darteth across space.” By the righteousness of God! Whoso desireth to fathom the mystery of this “Mi‘ráj,” and craveth a drop from this ocean, if the mirror of his heart be already obscured by the dust of these learnings, he must needs cleanse and purify it ere the light of this mystery can be reflected therein.

This is the second of the ten paragraphs Baha'u'llah uses to talk about the negative example set by Haji Mirza Karim Khan.

As you can see, it seems to begin with His exasperation, something that occurs seldomly, but occasionally, in this book. This is, in fact, the fifth time He has used the phrase "Gracious God" so far, and it is interesting to note when He uses it, but not where we want to go here.

Instead, He begins by reminding us that this individual said you needed to understand multiple different so-called sciences to understand one of the mysteries of Muhammad, the Miraj. The derision that Baha'u'llah uses towards this claim is evident when He says, "Such is the measure of his understanding." And then He exposes his character by referring to the "cavils and calumnies" he heaps upon those that disagree with him, especially "those Embodiments of God's infinite knowledge".

It is worth pointing out that cavils are petty and insignificant points of argument, while calumnies are lies designed to attack the character of an individual. As bad as backbiting is, at least it is based upon a truth. Calumnies don't even have that going for them. By using these two terms, Baha'u'llah is really giving us a sampling of this man's character.

Then, referring back to those sciences that are deemed necessary by this guy for understanding the Word of God, Baha'u'llah goes on and says that it is absurd to think that this would be the case. He points out that Muhammad, Himself, never wasted His time with these silly and obscure teachings.

Instead of wasting our time with these ideas, Baha'u'llah points out that what is important, especially for the understanding of religious truth, is the purification of the heart.

All of this, of course, goes right back to the very beginning of the book, where He says, "No man shall attain the shores of the ocean of true understanding except he be detached from all that is in heaven and on earth."

This man seems to want to understand the Miraj. Let's presume the best of him here. Let's presume he is sincere in this desire.

He says that to properly understand it, you first have to understand all these different branches of learning, no matter how absurd some of them may be. But that's not what Baha'u'llah says. He doesn't say, "No man shall attain the shores of the ocean of true understanding unless he knows these various sciences." That's not what He says at all. He places the emphasis on detachment, not learning.

So what is the purpose of talking about this man here?

In some ways, it is the last step before He describes the station and attributes of the true seeker. By talking about Haji Mirza Karim Khan, Baha'u'llah is giving us a powerful negative example to avoid. After all, this is an individual who incited many people to rebel against the Bab and His followers. He is one of those souls of whom Baha'u'llah talks in paragraph 6. Remember paragraph 6? That is where He says "...the more closely you observe the denials... the firmer will be your faith..."

This is an individual who offered countless denials. But rather than just sharing those denials, Baha'u'llah is exposing a little bit of his character for us. And to be sure, it is of a type of character we really want to avoid.