In this day, they that are submerged beneath the ocean of ancient Knowledge, and dwell within the ark of divine wisdom, forbid the people such idle pursuits. Their shining breasts are, praise be to God, sanctified from every trace of such learning, and are exalted above such grievous veils. We have consumed this densest of all veils with the fire of the love of the Beloved—the veil referred to in the saying: “The most grievous of all veils is the veil of knowledge.” Upon its ashes, We have reared the tabernacle of divine knowledge. We have, praise be to God, burned the “veils of glory” with the fire of the beauty of the Best-Beloved. We have driven from the human heart all else but Him Who is the Desire of the world, and glory therein. We cleave to no knowledge but His Knowledge, and set our hearts on naught save the effulgent glories of His light.
Here we are at the third of ten paragraphs looking at "a certain man, reputed for his learning and attainments", or as we like to think of it, the tablet of the false seeker. After all the various arguments Baha'u'llah has laid out in this book, this is the final gift he offers us before outlining the qualities of the true seeker in paragraphs 213 - 219. It is an amazing example of what not to do, before clearly guiding us to the proper manner in which to seek the truth.
Before we get into it, note the contrasting elements throughout this one paragraph. We begin with the ocean, and the ark which sails upon it. He then brings us back to our body with the reference to the breast, and then up towards the veil which, presumably covers the face. This veil is then burned with fire and we are left with its ashes. These ashes then form the foundation upon which is built the tabernacle, that sacred tent housing the Holy of Holies. The praise of God is like a burnt offering, soaring up towards the heavens, which brings us right back down to the heart, which has been cleansed and purified. Out to the ocean, in to the heart, up to the heavens, and back down to the heart again. So majestic. So powerful. And so grounding.
Going back to the beginning of this paragraph, we find ourselves at the ocean once again. In paragraph 1 we were trying to "attain the shores of the ocean of true understanding", but now we are "submerged beneath the ocean". We are not just pleasantly swimming on the surface, we are diving deep within it. But we are not in danger. Oh, no. We dwell within the "ark of divine wisdom", safe within its confines, free to dive into the ocean whenever we wish.
But this is not a total freedom to do anything we want. There are some rules that we follow. Of course, we don't follow them merely because they are there. We obey them because they are for our benefit. They are the sort of laws that aid us in our growth and development. One of those laws helps us avoid those senseless disciplines that avail us nothing.
As we move on, we find that these learnings appear to obscure the heart, as He refers to the "shining breasts" being "sanctified from every trace of such learning". This puts us in mind of all the writings that describe the heart as a mirror, from which we must cleanse the dross. These idle teachings espoused by this "man of learning" are like that dross.
Baha'u'llah then refers to this learning as a veil. As we saw earlier in the book, veils are those things that obscure the light of God for the individual. They are closer to us, more personal, than the clouds, which also obscure the light, but do so for everyone.
Now that we recognize the veil, we have to get rid of it, but how? In the Long Obligatory Prayer, Baha'u'llah asks God to "make of my prayer a fire that will burn away the veils which have shut me out from Thy beauty". By turning towards God, facing the true beauty of the All-Beloved, that veil is burned away so that we may see His true beauty in all its glory.
Once this false and obscuring knowledge has been burned away, we find ourselves left with nothing but these ashes which can then be used to help us recognize the true knowledge that He is laying bare before us. This is how we are able to raise the "tabernacle of true knowledge". And again, looking at the concept of the tabernacle, we can see why it would be used here. It is the movable tent that housed the Spirit in the desert for the Jewish peoples, and where they store the Torah today.
By focusing on God, that source of all knowledge, our heart is cleansed. Nothing else remains within it but the love of God.
Back in paragraph 76, Baha'u'llah said, " Know verily that Knowledge is of two kinds: Divine and Satanic. The one welleth out from the fountain of divine inspiration; the other is but a reflection of vain and obscure thoughts. The source of the former is God Himself; the motive-force of the latter the whisperings of selfish desire." Here we are getting rid of the latter and focusing all our energies on the former.
This is where we want to be. This is what we want to do. And the following paragraphs remind us of what happens when we don't, when we turn towards ourselves and use our own limited knowledge as the "standard for the true understanding and recognition of God and His Prophets."
