Paragraph 175

And, now, strive thou to comprehend the meaning of this saying of ‘Alí, the Commander of the Faithful: “Piercing the veils of glory, unaided.” Among these “veils of glory” are the divines and doctors living in the days of the Manifestation of God, who, because of their want of discernment and their love and eagerness for leadership, have failed to submit to the Cause of God, nay, have even refused to incline their ears unto the divine Melody. “They have thrust their fingers into their ears.” And the people also, utterly ignoring God and taking them for their masters, have placed themselves unreservedly under the authority of these pompous and hypocritical leaders, for they have no sight, no hearing, no heart, of their own to distinguish truth from falsehood.

Paragraph fifteen of thirty paragraphs looking at the first of the two stations of the Manifestations of God, that of "pure abstraction and essential unity". Whew. We're halfway there.

Now, it may seem that this paragraph is familiar. The theme certainly is. We encountered it over and over again in Part 1.

Looking at this paragraph, it seems useful to put it into simple language, ensuring that we understand the very basic message Baha'u'llah is giving here. First, those that are considered "learned" in the time of the Messenger can be seen as veils blocking our vision of the Manifestation. This goes back to many passages in part one, such as paragraph 15. There are too many examples for us to go into here, but simply looking back at part one will amply demonstrate this. The question, though, is why they are like veils in this instance. The answer is, as He states here, "want of discernment and their love and eagerness for leadership". It is because of these two qualities that they have strayed from the guidance given to them in their own scriptures. They have placed leadership above what is being taught to them. Second, though, the people have fallen prey to their sway. These people believe these leaders and follow, without question, what they say. They are seemingly enamoured by the pomp these leaders show, and utterly ignore the hypocrisy.

Understanding this is the basis for the paragraphs to come. All the troubles, all the tribulations, all the trials these great Teachers face is due to the fact that these leaders love the thought of leadership beyond the truth found within their own Writings. And this, too, is one of the reasons that the Messengers need to come. Their love of leadership has led these foolish leaders astray, and the effect of the Writings has been diminished. Society has fallen to pieces. Injustice runs rampant. All the signs He talked about in part one are the result of this. Therefore the next Messenger needs to come and put things right again.

Of course, this is not to condemn all religious leaders. He is not doing that. He is specifically condemning those who have ignored what is in their Scriptures because of their love of leadership. There are others who, as stated back in part one, are merely ignorant. But here it is a very specific condemnation against those who have both this "want of discernment" combined with this love of leadership.

Now, the next question is why does Baha'u'llah bring this up here? What is His methodology in helping bring the uncle closer to recognition?

Earlier on He offered some condemnation of some of the religious leaders, but not so much that it would repel a good Muslim. He drew on what was obvious to any student of religion, and pointed out that there were some today who also loved leadership more than truth. However, He is much further in His argument. The uncle is already far more aware of the similarities between the days of Muhammad and his own day. Baha'u'llah can be much more direct without fear of driving the uncle away. Slowly He builds His argument, allowing the uncle the time to come to agreement. He is so careful to not put any ideas or concepts between the uncle and the truth.

All of this leads us to a strange question. What is the difference between these "veils" and the "clouds" He talked about earlier?

The "clouds", as described in paragraphs 79 - 82, are those things about the Messenger that prevent us from recognizing them and their glory. For example, He cites the fact that they walk and talk just like us, while changing the laws such as altering where we face when praying. They are the things that get us to ask, "Who does he think he is?" They are also things that everyone knows and witnesses.

The "veils", though, cover our own eyes. A desire for leadership, for example, does not get us to question the Messenger specifically. They get us to question anything contrary to our own thoughts. Our love of the pomp that the religious leaders show do not make us question whether or not Baha'u'llah is who He says He is. It has nothing to do with Him. Instead, this pomp distracts us individually from what is important. It is a veil over us, and not the Messenger.

The clouds are there for everyone. The veils are specific to the individual. Everyone knew that Moses stuttered, and the Jesus was regarded as fatherless. Even their followers recognized these truths. They were just not distracted by it.

The veils are specific. Not everyone loves the pomp, but those that do will be prevented from recognizing. For others, the veil might be their own love of leadership. For some, the veil might be the fact that they love their leaders and believe them with absolute certainty.

In these paragraphs, Baha'u'llah is no longer dealing with abstract generalities. He is talking about very specific things that apply to actual people and showing how their misplaced priorities get in the way of them recognizing the next Messenger.

All of this shows how those that turn away have placed something else besides the Messenger at the centre of their heart.

For some, if they have to choose between obedience to their own teachings or doing things that will give more power in a leadership position, they will choose the latter.

For others, if they have to choose between what they read in their own Writings and following the leader of their particular religion, they will choose the leader.

Here, Baha'u'llah is beginning to remind us that the Messenger is the absolute Sovereign. Nothing should be more important than what they say.

All of this is in part two of this incredible book, and the main theme of part two is this sovereignty. So you see how this all ties together? You see how it all flows?

And more importantly, you see where this is all leading?

As we come to recognize the absolute unity of the Messengers, we will see these same themes over and over in their stories. We will recognize the problems of the past in the problems of the present. We can clearly see how the people in the days of Muhammad put obedience to their leaders over obedience to Jesus or Muhammad. And by applying this same keenness of sight to today, we can see the same issues again.