Parargaph 222

Muḥammad, Himself, as the end of His mission drew nigh, spoke these words: “Verily, I leave amongst you My twin weighty testimonies: The Book of God and My Family.” Although many traditions had been revealed by that Source of Prophethood and Mine of divine Guidance, yet He mentioned only that Book, thereby appointing it as the mightiest instrument and surest testimony for the seekers; a guide for the people until the Day of Resurrection.

This paragraph, and the next, will complete the introduction to this section of the Iqan, in which Baha'u'llah looks at various proofs from the Qur'an regarding the Bab and His mission. He will look at more than a dozen different passages in support of His argument, taking us all the way to paragraph 245.

It is interesting to note that the majority of the questions posed by the uncle revolved around the traditions, and a literal interpretation of them. This was the basis of the majority of his confusion. Part One, of course, dealt with the basics of that, helping the uncle see how to read sacred text and gain meaningful understanding from it. The entirety of the explanation of the quote from Jesus related to this issue.

Here, Baha'u'llah is pointing out that Muhammad, Himself, specifically told His followers where to look for guidance in the future: His Family and the Qur'an. Nothing else is mentioned. Nothing else can be held to that high standard.

Even then, we still need to be cautious to not "regard the words and deeds of mortal men as a standard for the true understanding and recognition of God and His Prophets." It seems as if the traditions might fall into that category, especially with the myriad interpretations of them. After all, as we just read, "the traditions themselves grievously differ".

And so Baha'u'llah directs the attention of the uncle back to those two infallible sources of guidance, as offered by Muhammad.

Aside from this basic understanding of the text itself, there are two other things that stand out to us: "the Source of Prophethood", and "the Mine of divine Guidance". A "source" generally refers to a spring, from which we get fresh water. A mine, of course, is where we get gems. Both of these, of course, refer to Muhammad.

In terms of the former, it says that all the Prophets of God arose from Muhammad, for he is their Source. But since they all share that first station of "pure abstraction and essential unity", they all arise from each other. We cannot make any distinction between any of them, except that they all partake of that second station, "that of distinction" due to where and when they arose. Jesus, for example, said that if we had known Moses, we would have known Him. This all relates to the concept of how they are all essentially one and the same. To truly recognize one is to recognize them all. They are, each and all, the Source of Prophethood.

As to the second point, that of Muhammad being the Mine of divine Guidance, that speaks to our duty to explore His words and seek out those gems of divine wisdom.

So, first, recognize all the Manifestations, and then seek out those gems of divine wisdom in their Writings.

It's interesting how all these little details throughout the Iqan continually lead us back to these essential ideas.

Finally, there is that reference to "instrument". Of course, we know that in this context it means a tool or an implement, but it reminded us of music. Following that train of thought, it occurred to us that we can think of this as part of the "divine melody" composed by God. All the various musicians would be playing with the same score, in harmony with one another. The conductor could be seen as the Manifestation, while all the various instruments are the followers, the sacred book, and anything else to do with the faith at any given moment. And what would the "mightiest instrument" be? Whichever one is playing the solo at the time.

That's just another fun example of where our minds go when we're reading this incredible book.

Paragraph 221

All the things that people required in connection with the Revelation of Muḥammad and His laws were to be found revealed and manifest in that Riḍván of resplendent glory. That Book constitutes an abiding testimony to its people after Muḥammad, inasmuch as its decrees are indisputable, and its promise unfailing. All have been enjoined to follow the precepts of that Book until “the year sixty” — the year of the advent of God’s wondrous Manifestation. That Book is the Book which unfailingly leadeth the seeker unto the Riḍván of the divine Presence, and causeth him that hath forsaken his country and is treading the seeker’s path to enter the Tabernacle of everlasting reunion. Its guidance can never err, its testimony no other testimony can excel. All other traditions, all other books and records, are bereft of such distinction, inasmuch as both the traditions and they that have spoken them are confirmed and proven solely by the text of that Book. Moreover, the traditions themselves grievously differ, and their obscurities are manifold.

This section of proofs from the Qur'an of the Bab's mission will take us all the way to paragraph 245. Baha'u'llah will offer us more than a dozen different passages from that sacred Book here, along with explanations. After this, He will look at the lives of His followers, and then the example of the Bab Himself. Then, rather reluctantly, He will look at some traditions, too, before He offers His final thoughts and concludes this amazing volume.

One question that we asked ourselves when discussing this paragraph was why the use of the word "Ridvan"? And this has more to do with the translation than anything else. Why did Shoghi Effendi, that infallible translator of the Writings into English, leave the Arabic word there? Why didn't he translate it to the English "Paradise"? That would have made perfect sense, fit in with the rest of the paragraph, and would have been an accurate translation of the word itself.

To better understand this, we went all the way back to the very first paragraph, where he knowingly left another Arabic word in the original: "...the firmament of the Bayan." Translating that word to its literal English equivalent, "utterance", also would have made perfect sense, but then we would have lost the reference and connection to the Bab and His holy Book.

Here, by leaving it as Ridvan in both instances, we understand that Baha'u'llah has connected the Qur'an, that City of God as mentioned a few paragraphs earlier, to His own upcoming declaration. The Qur'an is that "Ridvan of resplendent glory" that leads us to His own Revelation and the "Ridvan of the divine Presence". It not only leads those of us who came later to Muhammad, it also leads us unfailingly to the Bab, as Baha'u'llah will demonstrate in the next few paragraphs. And it will also lead us to Baha'u'llah when He reveals His own station in the Ridvan Garden.

This paragraph, for us, is another incredible example of the unity exemplified in this book. He began this whole journey for us by reminding us of the similarities between the stories of all the Manifestations, showing that they all follow the same path. When discussing the prophecy of Jesus leading us to Muhammad, He demonstrated how it actually is a blue print to recognition of all Messengers. He began Part Two by explaining the nature of the Manifestations, culminating in that description of their two stations. And then, when talking about the nature of the true seeker, showed us that the City of God which we are all seeking is the holy Book of each and every Revelation. Now, as He gets ready to use that infallible guide to prove the Cause of the Bab, He is also hinting at His own declaration just a few years later.

At every step He continually reminds us that these Manifestations of the Divine Spirit are, one and all, demonstrating that station of "pure abstraction and essential unity", applying the proof of any of them to all of them. As He says in Gleanings, "God, the Creator, saith: There is no distinction whatsoever among the Bearers of My Message."

Another point we noticed was the use of the word "Tabernacle". It doesn't come up often in this book, only a dozen times or so, but always in a fascinating way. There's the "tabernacle of His grace" and the "tabernacle of life". It is referred to as inviolable and mystic. He says that all the Manifestations of God "are abiding in the same tabernacle". He also refers to the "tabernacle of the knowledge of God" and "the tabernacle of divine knowledge". Finally, here, it is referred to as the "Tabernacle of everlasting reunion". But way back in paragraph 1, it was "raised in the firmament of the Bayan".

This Tabernacle, the holy tent which is the House of God, which moves throughout the desert, may change locations, but it is always the same tent. And here, it is raised in the City of God, the sacred Book revealed in each Dispensation. While it would be so easy to read this paragraph as only referring to the Qur'an, Baha'u'llah has just gone to some length to remind us that all the sacred Books are the Book of God. It is to this Book, all these sacred Books, that we must refer. Nothing else can or should be used as a standard. Or as He says was back in paragraph 2, we should never "regard the words and deeds of mortal men as a standard for the true understanding and recognition of God and His Prophets."

This, of course, leads us to very last sentence, in which He cautions us against using the traditions as a guide. Why? Probably because most of the uncle's questions arose from Hadith, those traditions in Islam relating to Muhammad.

With consummate skill and grace, Baha'u'llah is guiding the uncle back to the Qur'an as the only standard by which to judge the next Manifestation, and He will use this standard all the way to the end of this section.

Paragraph 220

For instance, the Qur’án was an impregnable stronghold unto the people of Muḥammad. In His days, whosoever entered therein was shielded from the devilish assaults, the menacing darts, the soul-devouring doubts, and blasphemous whisperings of the enemy. Upon him was also bestowed a portion of the everlasting and goodly fruits—the fruits of wisdom from the divine Tree. To him was given to drink the incorruptible waters of the river of knowledge and to taste the wine of the mysteries of divine Unity.

We now find ourselves at an entirely new section of the Iqan. Now that Baha'u'llah has taught us how to read sacred Text in Part One, explained the nature and station of the Manifestations of God, as well as gone into great detail about their two stations, and now that He has outlined for us our role as a true seeker, He is ready to dive into His proofs of the Bab and His mission. He will offer us four types of proof: proofs from the Qur'an, proofs from His followers, proof from His own life, and then, albeit reluctantly, proofs from the traditions of the uncle's faith. The first one, looking at the proofs from the Qur'an, will be unfolded over the next 26 paragraphs.

When describing the nature and station of the true seeker, at the very end of those seven paragraphs He explained to us that what it is we are seeking, that City of God, is, in truth, the Word of God for our day. Just as it was the Pentateuch in the days of Moses, and the Gospel in the time of Jesus, and the Qur'an for those companions of Muhammad, it is now the Bayan in the days of the Bab when this book was written. Of course, following that, it is the word of Baha'u'llah, for we have moved on to a new Day yet again. The important thing here is to recognize the Day in which we are living and to seek out God's guidance specific to our own time.

In this particular paragraph, this moment of transition to the proofs He has been so patiently waiting to use, He is fully stressing the importance of Muhammad and the Qur'an. He is giving great importance to how it protected the people of His day.

In fact, it is worth remembering that He has just fully vindicated all the Books of the past. They are all, as He said, that City of God which we can fully explore once we enter. Attainment unto that City is not the end of our journey. Once we arrive within it, we then need to search it. We need to explore "every blade of grass", "every rosebush", "Its wondrous tulips", "every leaf", and go searching "within every chamber".

As we do so, we should be conscious of the fact that this City will protect us, just as any good city will do. Just as the Tanakh and the Gospel were the impregnable strongholds for the Jewish and Christian peoples, the Qur'an is the same for the Muslims. Each and all of them, as well as all the other sacred books, fulfill the same function, and should be treated with the same regard.

It is interesting to note, as we often do in our explorations of this text, that He begins with the protective qualities of the Word of God. It protects us from "assaults", which tend to be of a more physical nature, close in proximity, as well as the "darts", which tend to be hurled from a greater distance. While the former are fairly easy to try and sidestep, the latter are more dangerous in that we may not see them coming, nor know from which direction they arose. But as Baha'u'llah usually does, He continues with His crescendo. More dangerous than the physical attacks, both near and distant, are the "doubts" and "blasphemous whisperings". And this is where the Word of God really helps us the most. By turning back to the Writings, looking at what the good Book actually says, we will be able to avoid the doubts and whisperings that lead so many astray.

Beyond that, though, even beyond our physical and mental safety, we are also being given both food and drink, which are necessary for sustaining us. The fruits, interestingly, bring us in mind of the book of Genesis, with the Garden of Eden and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. From there we move on the water and wine, which, of course, remind us of Jesus. At every step Baha'u'llah continually reminds us of the great spiritual path upon which we, humanity, have been walking. Not content with only looking at the Qur'an, He constantly brings us back to the other books of God, affirming them as good sources of knowledge, worthy of the title "City of God".

When we read these books, we acquire a taste of the simple "waters" of "knowledge" contained within them. But when we dive deep within them and explore with both our heart and soul, then we can imbibe of the far more complex "wine" and recognize those "mysteries of divine unity".