Paragraph 207

Gracious God! How great is Our amazement at the way the people have gathered around him, and have borne allegiance to his person! Content with transient dust, these people have turned their face unto it, and cast behind their backs Him Who is the Lord of Lords. Satisfied with the croaking of the crow and enamored with the visage of the raven, they have renounced the melody of the nightingale and the charm of the rose. What unspeakable fallacies the perusal of this pretentious book hath revealed! They are too unworthy for any pen to describe, and too base for one moment’s attention. Should a touchstone be found, however, it would instantly distinguish truth from falsehood, light from darkness, and sun from shadow.

We are still looking at this "certain man, reputed for his learning and attainment", who accounts "himself as one of the preeminent leaders of his people".

This paragraph begins with exasperation. "Gracious God!"

Why? What is Baha'u'llah exasperated about? If we look at the last sentence of the previous paragraph, we see that this refers to the "heights of extravagance his claims have reached".

But it's not only that. It's the way "people have gathered around him, and have borne allegiance to his person." As Baha'u'llah says in paragraph 111, quoting the Qur'an, "And if they see the path of righteousness, they will not take it for their path; but if they see the path of error, for their path will they take it." No wonder He is amazed.

For us, it is a good reminder to be cautious about following the crowd. Are we following merely to follow? Or have we consciously thought about it? Remember, we are not to "regard the words and deeds of mortal men as a standard for the true understanding and recognition of God and His Prophets". But that doesn't mean we need to ignore anything anyone else says. It means that we should be cautious, make sure that what is being said makes sense and is in line with the Writings. Being attracted to what another person says is not necessarily bad. But we need to see whether we are attracted like the moth to the light or the fly to the fertilizer. It all hearkens back, of course, to paragraphs 14 and 15, too, and not weighing the Word of God "by the standard of their own knowledge".

But all of this can become a distraction.

Why would we bother paying attention to the cawing of the crow when we can listen to the beautiful melody of the nightingale? Why would we waste our time with the "visage of the raven" when we can surround ourself with the beauty of the rose? We should focus our attention on the positive, spending our precious time building up what is good rather than focusing on the negative. Those petty things that try to divert our attention away from the Word of God and the building of this new civilization are not worthy of our attention.

What a lesson this is for us in this age of social media, which thrives on this distraction and relishes in these petty arguments. No. We shouldn't bother with such things, for once we have the divine Word of God, we can "instantly distinguish truth from falsehood, light from darkness, and sun from shadow".