In view of this, is it fair for this people to repudiate these newly revealed verses which have encompassed both the East and the West, and to regard themselves as the upholders of true belief? Should they not rather believe in Him Who hath revealed these verses? Considering the testimony which He Himself hath established, how could He fail to account as true believers them that have testified to its truth? Far be it from Him that He should turn away from the gates of His mercy them that have turned unto and embraced the truth of the divine verses, or that He should threaten those that have clung to His sure testimony! He verily establisheth the truth through His verses, and confirmeth His Revelation by His words. He verily is the Powerful, the Help in peril, the Almighty.
This paragraph continues with His look at the quote from the Qur'an, “Say, O people of the Book! do ye not disavow us only because we believe in God and in what He hath sent down to us, and in what He hath sent down aforetime, and because most of you are doers of ill?”
Our first question was who He is referring to when He says "this people" at the beginning. Given that He has just shown us this verse from the Qur'an, it seems to refer to the Muslims of His own day. Look at how the people in Muhammad's day were chastised by Muhammad, He points out. Is it fair that you make the same accusations against the Babis? That seems to be the essence of it.
The Babis are accepting of the Manifestations of the past, and continue to believe that Revelation is on-going. This is the same "crime" of which the early Muslims were accused.
How, He is asking, could God consider them infidels when they are testifying to the truth of His Revelation?
Truth, He points out, is established by the verses. This is why these references to the Qur'an are the first and foremost proof Baha'u'llah is giving us.
It is worth noting that Baha'u'llah refers to these "newly revealed verses". And since that this is the criterion by which we should believe, should we not declare our belief in their Revealer? He has moved beyond the stage of the argument in which He is asking us to look at the verses and has now moved on to our reaction to what we find.
He also asks us, "Is it fair?" He doesn't ask us if it is true. He asks about the justice of such an argument.
"Be consistent" seems to be His theme. If we profess to believe in Muhammad, then we should not use the same arguments that were used against Him.
Perhaps this is one of the reasons why He said, way back in paragraph 6, "...the more closely you observe the denials... the firmer will be your faith..." He knew that the pattern was the same. Every Manifestation was met with similar accusations, similar objections, and similar denials. By inviting us to study those earlier responses carefully, He prepares us to recognize the same pattern when it appears in His own day.
Baha'u'llah also says at the end of the paragraph that God "establisheth the truth through His verses, and confirmeth His Revelation by His words." At first glance, "verses" and "words" seem almost the same, and perhaps they simply reinforce one another. But it is striking that He chose two different expressions rather than repeating the same one.
Whether or not there is a distinction between them, the emphasis is unmistakable. Truth is not established through the opinions of the clergy, through worldly power, or through miracles. It is established through Revelation itself. The proof always points back to the Word of God.
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