Paragraph 216

Only when the lamp of search, of earnest striving, of longing desire, of passionate devotion, of fervid love, of rapture, and ecstasy, is kindled within the seeker’s heart, and the breeze of His loving-kindness is wafted upon his soul, will the darkness of error be dispelled, the mists of doubts and misgivings be dissipated, and the lights of knowledge and certitude envelop his being. At that hour will the mystic Herald, bearing the joyful tidings of the Spirit, shine forth from the City of God resplendent as the morn, and, through the trumpet-blast of knowledge, will awaken the heart, the soul, and the spirit from the slumber of negligence. Then will the manifold favors and outpouring grace of the holy and everlasting Spirit confer such new life upon the seeker that he will find himself endowed with a new eye, a new ear, a new heart, and a new mind. He will contemplate the manifest signs of the universe, and will penetrate the hidden mysteries of the soul. Gazing with the eye of God, he will perceive within every atom a door that leadeth him to the stations of absolute certitude. He will discover in all things the mysteries of divine Revelation and the evidences of an everlasting manifestation.

We began this section of seven paragraphs with our internal state, followed by our actions. The third paragraph reminded us of our quest for truth. Here we are reminded that it's a path on which we embark, and are given a glimpse of where we are going.

"Path?", we hear you ask. "Where does He talk about a path?" Great question. Thanks for asking. To answer, let's look a bit more closely at this first sentence here.

He begins it by referencing search, striving, desire, devotion, love, rapture, and ecstasy. With each word He draws us closer and closer. A search may be a very laid back sort of affair, without much effort put into it. But the next step is striving. That implies a great effort. As we put more effort into our search, our desire to attain the goal becomes even stronger. At some point, though, we make a commitment. We become devoted to what we have found. As we serve the Cause and become even more familiar with its goals, our love for it increases. As that love increases, it moves from a simple love to a far more intense love, eventually becoming rapture, a far more intense feeling. Eventually even this can grow to such an extent that we find ourselves lost in the ecstasy of nearness, a feeling so overwhelming that it becomes that mystic sort of transcendence.

Once all this occurs, and even while it is happening, we find ourselves moving along the parallel path from doubt to misgiving, from knowledge to certitude. Doubt is a feeling of uncertainty, while misgivings are a lesser form of doubt, not as powerful. Once we get past that, we have knowledge. But knowledge can be tentative, and so we move on to certitude, a far more stable form of knowledge. Knowledge may be knowing all the intricacies of a piece by Bach, understanding the mathematics behind it. Certitude is listening to it and knowing it is beautiful.

Remember, though, this is all in relation to the lamp of the heart. Every one of these attributes in the first part are developed through the kindling of that lamp. It is very emotional, and can be staggering. It may do a lot for convincing us of the truth of what we are finding, but it does not necessarily translate well to others.

Loving-kindness, though, does translate well. People remember it. It can act as oxygen to the flame within that lamp. It can make it burn brighter, and allow others to see it from further away. It can offer heat to those who are cold, and become a guide to those that are lost and wandering in the mists of confusion. This loving-kindness, though, is His loving-kindness. It is a breeze that cools us off as the heat of this flame threatens to envelop us. With all these metaphors Baha'u'llah carefully moves us back and forth, helping us burn brighter, but ensuring we don't burn away by that love. As He said earlier, even that love can lead us to error, so this restraint seems appropriate.

Baha'u'llah then gives us a reference to time: "At that hour..." Which hour? Dawn. All of this is occurring in the early morning, with His references to the morn, and the alarm clock blast of the trumpet waking us up. So much in the Iqan, and all His writings fro m this period, remind us that this is just the beginning.

But what happens after that? God showers His bounties upon us. It is a new day, and we have a whole new world in front of us.

Beyond that, we find ourselves a new person. At the very beginning of this book, we were told that those who seek must "cleanse... their ears from idle talk, their minds from vain imaginings, their hearts from worldly affections, their eyes from that which perisheth." Now we are told that when we awaken to this new message, we will find ourselves "endowed with a new eye, a new ear, a new heart, and a new mind." Same attributes, different order. Previously we noticed that what we listen to affects how we think, which impacts what we love, which determines how we look at the world. Now we find ourselves looking at the world in a new way. This can change how we hear those around us. We can see past the illusions to their common humanity and love them in a whole new way. When we find ourselves in this position, we will discover that our very thoughts change. We have become transformed. And make no mistake, it is a gift. When Baha'u'llah says that we will be "endowed" with these things, it means that they are given to us by someone else. We take the step, but it is God who transforms us.

At that point we will find ourselves discovering new wonders, new mysteries.

As we look at the world with these new eyes, the eyes that God has given us, we will find that all of creation leads us forward. We will see the sign of God in all things. We will look at the world with the eye of unity, seeing everything as part of that divine creation. We will recognize all the various religions as part of that same continuous Revelation of God, rather than separate paths. We "will discover in all things the mysteries of divine Revelation and the evidences of an everlasting manifestation."

In the next paragraph He will explain a little bit about what that means in practical terms.