Paragraph 126

In another passage of the Gospel it is written: “And it came to pass that on a certain day the father of one of the disciples of Jesus had died. That disciple reporting the death of his father unto Jesus, asked for leave to go and bury him. Whereupon, Jesus, that Essence of Detachment, answered and said: “Let the dead bury their dead.”

Wow. What an interesting quote to put here. As we just saw, the previous paragraph references these two possible paths that we can tread. The first began with our spiritual life, while the second started with our spiritual death. Is Baha'u'llah reminding us of what the ramifications of this second path are?

Possibly.

But before we get into that, let's think about how this passage has been traditionally understood. In many churches, it is defense for a non-compassionate, condemnatory attitude. There is a story of a missionary in one such organization whose father had passed away while they were on mission overseas. They asked for permission to fly home to attend the funeral, but the church fathers said no, citing this reference. They felt that it was not a worthy use of the money. Needless to say, when this missionary did go home later, they left that particular church.

Is this what Jesus would have wanted? Was He so unconcerned about those who did not follow Him that He felt His followers shouldn't care about them either?

This doesn't seem likely.

In fact, it seems quite remote from what we know of Him.

So what else could it be?

To begin to get a better idea, we feel that we need to look back at the original reference in the Bible, Luke 9:60. In fact, we really need to look at all of Luke 9.

This is a chapter in which Jesus sends the disciples out to go teach His Cause. Peter has already recognized Him as the Messiah. Jesus has healed people and cast out demons. He has even predicted His own impending martyrdom. Finally, at the very end of this chapter, He points out to these disciples the full cost of truly following Him. He says that they will have no place to lay their head. Then He offers this line, followed by the idea that they will even have to leave their families behind.

But let's look again. The full statement, of which Baha'u'llah only quotes the first half, is "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God."

When read in the full context of that chapter, it is not a condemnation of those who may be seen as unworthy, but rather a caution of what it will cost them, the disciples, if they really want to follow Him.

Again, looking at this quote once more, it is even possible to read it as a command to go and attend the funeral. "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go...", He says. And while you are there, raise the dead. "...Proclaim the kingdom of God." Waste no opportunity.

This seems more likely. It feels more congruent with the full teachings of all the Messengers of God.

In fact, this notion of offering a choice, to both the disciples as well as the funeral attendees, makes even more sense when we look at the next paragraph.

Finally, by only quoting the first half of this statement of Jesus, Baha'u'llah has prompted us to go back and look at the entire context of the quote. With the simple method of using only a partial quote, He is helping us go back and review sacred Scripture.

Paragraph 125

Such things have come to pass in the days of every Manifestation of God. Even as Jesus said: “Ye must be born again.” Again He saith: “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” The purport of these words is that whosoever in every dispensation is born of the Spirit and is quickened by the breath of the Manifestation of Holiness, he verily is of those that have attained unto “life” and “resurrection” and have entered into the “paradise” of the love of God. And whosoever is not of them, is condemned to “death” and “deprivation,” to the “fire” of unbelief, and to the “wrath” of God. In all the scriptures, the books and chronicles, the sentence of death, of fire, of blindness, of want of understanding and hearing, hath been pronounced against those whose lips have tasted not the ethereal cup of true knowledge, and whose hearts have been deprived of the grace of the holy Spirit in their day. Even as it hath been previously recorded: “Hearts have they with which they understand not.”

"Such things have come to pass..." What things? Perhaps those things He has mentioned in paragraph 124. The "people strayed from the way of God". The Day of Resurrection has been ushered in. His light and tokens have encompassed everything. The people have "derided Him, gave themselves up to those idols which the divines of that age... had conceived, and deprived themselves of the light of heavenly grace and of the showers of divine mercy." This is the pattern. We saw it in the very beginning of the book when He described the other Messengers of the past, and we are seeing it again.

We also notice that throughout this book, Baha'u'llah has continually referenced the relation between Jesus' prophecies and the Revelation of Muhammad. Here He is doing the same thing. He is quoting Jesus, but now goes a step further. This isn't just in relation to Muhammad, but occurs "in the days of every Manifestation of God". Presumably, if we are seeing a similar occurrence today in the way people are acting, we might be able to presume the cause. By showing us this pattern, He is opening our awareness to look for it.

Here, in the middle of this paragraph, Baha'u'llah offers us two paths, from which we can choose which one we wish to walk. The first is "life", "resurrection", and "paradise". The second is "death", "deprivation", "fire", and "wrath".

This first one begins with our life. It can be likened to the very beginning of this book, in which it is up to us to sanctify our soul, "that haply (we) may attain that station which God hath destined for" us. If we do this, then, with luck, we can be resurrected and find that paradise of nearness to our Creator. This, obviously, is the path that we all wish to walk.

The second path, though, begins with our death. If we are not living a spiritual life, as those first quotes from Jesus point out, then we can be seen as dead. This lack of spirituality leads to our deprivation. We are deprived of the development of our virtues, of the understanding of these spiritual issues, and of so much that can contribute to both our well-being and our happiness. This, quite naturally, will lead to our misery, both in this life and the next. It can truly be seen as a fire. The very fact that we do not believe in the Manifestation for today leads us to so many questions that only He can answer. And this misery of searching in vain leads us to feel as if our very soul is on fire. We search for something that we know is there, but we adamantly deny it when it is presented to us. This is a true torture. The denial itself becomes the source of that wrath of God.

Of course, this word, "wrath" also reminds us of that Hidden Word, "How couldst thou forget thine own faults and busy thyself with the faults of others? Whoso doeth this is accursed of Me." We were wondering about this word "accursed", when we read it. It seemed so strong here, yet, when we examined the context, we realized that it was perfectly appropriate. We are not, for example, merely noting someone else's faults, but busying ourselves with them. There is an extremeness to it. When we do this, then they, quite naturally, won't want to be around us. They will avoid us. We will be miserable, by only seeing the faults of others. This, it seems to us, would be a fairly good definition of being under a curse. We are, in fact, the very cause of our own cursing.

When we deny the Manifestation of God in Their Day, and act as the fanatics of old have done, we become the very embodiment of that wrath of God, inflicting all that pain upon ourselves.

This, it seems to us, is our choice. We can choose either of these paths, whichever we prefer.

All this is bracketed by those quotes from Jesus. We are reminded at the beginning that this is all referring to a spiritual state, not a physical one, being of the spirit and not of the flesh. And it ends with the reminder that it is the state of our heart that determines our ability to choose.

Paragraph 124

Gracious God! How far have that people strayed from the way of God! Although the Day of Resurrection was ushered in through the Revelation of Muḥammad, although His light and tokens had encompassed the earth and all that is therein, yet that people derided Him, gave themselves up to those idols which the divines of that age, in their vain and idle fancy, had conceived, and deprived themselves of the light of heavenly grace and of the showers of divine mercy. Yea, the abject beetle can never scent the fragrance of holiness, and the bat of darkness can never face the splendour of the sun.


"Gracious God!" Well, yes, He is, but this is not a reference to the Graciousness of our Lord, obviously. It is really an exclamation of exasperation. He is stunned and dumbfounded at the obtuseness of the people. Which people? Those people at the time of Muhammad, referred to in the previous few paragraphs, who did not see that the Day of Resurrection occurred at the time of the Prophet. This seems to totally mystify Him.

But then He makes an interesting comment that can be seen as a literal statement, as well as an oblique statement on the people of His day. He says they "gave themselves up to those idols which the divines of that age... had conceived". These were the very people who were so blinded that they preferred to worship the stone and wooden idols in the Kaaba, as opposed to the living Manifestation in their very midst.

It can also be seen as a condemnation of those similar divines who have made an idol of their interpretation of the prophecies and terms of the past. They are so in love with their understanding of such terms as resurrection, judgment, paradise and hell, that if anyone comes along with a different interpretation, they condemn him as a heretic. They have made an idol of their interpretations.

This is so important a theme that He spent almost all of Part 1 of this book talking about it. Remember, He took a single passage from Matthew and showed the many layers of meaning within it. Any single term had multiple definitions and could be seen in numerous ways, all of which led us to a better understanding of the world around us and prepared us for the coming Manifestation.

But again, Baha'u'llah is referring to those people who would deny this, or any interpretation that is not the exact same as theirs. When we fall prey to this form of egotism, believing that we have the answer and everyone else must be wrong, this is when we will find ourselves "deprived... of the light of heavenly grace and of the showers of divine mercy". We are so rapt in our own vain imaginings that we are unable to see the beautiful teachings that we may have missed. And as we get caught up in this egotistic net, we find that we will become more and more fanatical in our defense of this position, thus depriving ourselves of any mercy that we may so desperately need.

It is so easy to think of those poor souls who began with such a love for the sacred Text, but then became dogmatic in their belief. We can just see them frothing at the mouth, forgetting the initial beauty that attracted them, unaware of all that they have lost.

This is when they become like that "abject beetle", which destroys the agriculture in an area and is so hated by those around them. Of course, we are also reminded of those other beetles that live amidst the dung.

This is also when they become like the bat, virtually blind, flitting around in the darkness hoping to catch a few paltry insects to survive. They miss out on the radiant beauty and warmth of the sun.

As if this wasn't bad enough, they even drag so many of those people around them down to their own level. Gracious God, indeed.

Paragraph 123

Nay, by “trumpet” is meant the trumpet-call of Muḥammad’s Revelation, which was sounded in the heart of the universe, and by “resurrection” is meant His own rise to proclaim the Cause of God. He bade the erring and wayward arise and speed out of the sepulchres of their bodies, arrayed them with the beauteous robe of faith, and quickened them with the breath of a new and wondrous life. Thus at the hour when Muḥammad, that divine Beauty, purposed to unveil one of the mysteries hidden in the symbolic terms “resurrection,” “judgment,” “paradise,” and “hell,” Gabriel, the Voice of Inspiration, was heard saying: “Erelong will they wag their heads at Thee, and say, ‘When shall this be?’ Say: ‘Perchance it is nigh.’” The implications of this verse alone suffice the peoples of the world, were they to ponder it in their hearts.


This is interesting, as you will recall that it comes at a point in the book when Baha'u'llah is discussing how the Bab demonstrates the sovereignty of the Qa'im. He points out that what we typically think of as the sovereignty that the Promised One is to show is not what He actually will demonstrate in His lifetime. Over and over throughout Part 1 of this book Baha'u'llah has encouraged us to remember what we know of the religions of old, and be detached from our own expectations of what is to come. He shows us very clearly some of the many meanings in the prophecies of ancient times, and reminds us over and over that there is a clear pattern throughout all the religions of God, if we but take notice and keep an open heart.

Here He is reminding us that it is not just the term "sovereignty" that will be redefined by the Manifestation of God, but many terms. The Manifestation does not conform to the will and expectations of the generation in which They live. The people expect these various prophecies to come true at some point in the future, and Baha'u'llah is pointing out that "Perchance it is nigh", as was mentioned in the Qur'an. All of these things refer to the time of Muhammad, as well as the time of all the other Messengers of God.

There are a few things that catch our attention in this paragraph, as you would expect. The first one we want to point out is the various terms that Baha'u'llah is redefining here. We don't think they are random. We suspect that they are very precisely chosen. They are, in order, "trumpet", "resurrection", "judgment", "paradise" and "hell". It seems to us that there is a bit of a path alluded to here. The Messenger is always heralded in with a trumpet blast. This, it warns, is the Day of Judgment. All the various phenotypes of old, as Baha'u''llah points out throughout this book, are resurrected. They come back, again and again. And from there, the Messenger judges the people according to the divine standard, not the low standard set forth by men, and either rewards the people with heaven or condemns them to hell. To us, this feels like another subtle warning. He seems to be saying, as He has a few times previously, that this is another Day of Judgment. Will we be sent to paradise or hell? It is through the path we choose as set forth in this book that will decide where we end up.

Another interesting point here is the sentence that describes this resurrection. Muhammad, He says, called the people out of their speulchres, which is where you would inter a dead body. After calling them arise, He gave them a new robe. He clothed them, so that they were no longer naked, or in their burial shrouds. They were now dressed in beautiful robes. Then, after they were dressed nicely, He gave them a new life.

It's interesting to us because we would have expected the new life to come before the dressing in the new clothes. But it makes sense, doesn't it? You rise up, and are given this faith, but you still have to grow into it. You don't really change when you become a Baha'i, for example. You are given the tools to change. The actual transformation of behaviour takes time and often occurs long after the declaration of faith. Then, with this new behaviour firmly in place, you become more attractive, as someone dressed in fine clothes.

And finally, He reminds us once more to ponder. You will, of course, recall how often He told us to ponder and meditate and reflect throughout Part 1. This always occurred when He had given us a lot to think about, as if we needed a few moments to reflect and allow these new ideas to set in.

So what is the new idea here that we need to ponder? Perhaps it is just this idea of these terms being redefined. Or maybe it is the idea that the Day of Resurrection is now, and not at some distant point in the future. Either way, this is a point in the text where we need to be certain to allow our previously held ideas of what these terms mean to fall by the wayside. We need to open ourselves up to these potentially new definitions, and not instinctively fall back on what we were taught they would mean.

Paragraph 122

As the commentators of the Qur’án and they that follow the letter thereof misapprehended the inner meaning of the words of God and failed to grasp their essential purpose, they sought to demonstrate that, according to the rules of grammar, whenever the term “idhá” (meaning “if” or “when”) precedeth the past tense, it invariably hath reference to the future. Later, they were sore perplexed in attempting to explain those verses of the Book wherein that term did not actually occur. Even as He hath revealed: “And there was a blast on the trumpet,—lo! it is the threatened Day! And every soul is summoned to a reckoning,—with him an impeller and a witness.” In explaining this and similar verses, they have in some cases argued that the term “idhá” is implied. In other instances, they have idly contended that whereas the Day of Judgment is inevitable, it hath therefore been referred to as an event not of the future but of the past. How vain their sophistry! How grievous their blindness! They refuse to recognize the trumpet-blast which so explicitly in this text was sounded through the revelation of Muḥammad. They deprive themselves of the regenerating Spirit of God that breathed into it, and foolishly expect to hear the trumpet-sound of the Seraph of God who is but one of His servants! Hath not the Seraph himself, the angel of the Judgment Day, and his like been ordained by Muḥammad’s own utterance? Say: What! Will ye give that which is for your good in exchange for that which is evil? Wretched is that which ye have falsely exchanged! Surely ye are a people, evil, in grievous loss.


Wow. This paragraph kind of stumped us. We read it, and re-read it, and then re-re-read it, and still had a difficult time figuring out what to talk about. We found it difficult to understand, awkward to follow, and had a hard time getting pretty much any sort of a grasp on it.

And so, what did we do? We went back to the beginning. Oh, but not the beginning of this book, but rather to Ruhi Book 1.

What, we asked ourselves, is the overarching theme of this entire paragraph?

Before we answer that, though, we want to just mention something that we haven't actually said before about the entire book. It seems that Part 1 is dedicated not to answering the questions of the uncle of the Bab, but rather to reframing the questions themselves. It is as if Baha'u'llah is telling him that the very questions he is asking are the wrong sort of questions. They are framed in the understanding current amongst the theologians of the day, and are therefore based on an incorrect premise. It is as if the uncle is asking, "When did the stars fall from heaven? When did the sun cease to shine?" Baha'u'llah is sitting here saying that these are the wrong questions. What we should be asking is "How did the stars fall? How did the sun cease to shine?" Rather than asking if these things occurred, based on our faulty understanding of what we expect to happen, we should be asking the Messenger of God how these things occurred.

Well, that brings us to Part 2.

Now that we have a better understanding of what to ask, Baha'u'llah is now re-framing the questions that are specific to the uncle's request.

Part 1 concerned us deeply because it helped us understand a historical perspective, no matter what our starting point.

Part 2 is specifically concerned with issues relating to Islam. And this, truth be told, is beyond us.

But now, with that clearly stated, we can go back to this paragraph and ask ourselves what Baha'u'llah, in short, is talking about.

He seems to be addressing an issue around the singular term, idhá, and showing how the theologians have twisted and turned to try to explain things in ways that they can understand. You see, they are of the belief that the questions regarding the Judgment Day all relate to the distant future. And so, when the text of the Qur'an talks about it in the present tense, they are at a loss. They come up with the explanation that the future tense is somehow implied, even though the text clearly phrases it in the present tense. "It is the threatened Day." "Every soul is summoned to a reckoning." Yes, it refers to the future, but it also relates to the present day, both at the same time.

And it is interesting to note that Baha'u'llah is not condemning them for mis-leading the people deliberately. He is not accusing them of malicious intent. Instead He laments their vain sophistry. He says that their argument is superficially sound, and may make some sort of sense on the surface, but doesn't really hold up to scrutiny. He accuses them of blindness, not wickedness.

There is an element of sadness in this paragraph for us, for the scholars have deprived themselves of this regenerating spirit by clinging to their preconceived ideas. They had an idea, that the Day of Judgment was in the distant future, and then tried to force the text to support this theory. Instead, what they should have done is been detached from their idea and examined the text to see if it supported their theory. After all, "No man shall attain the shores of the ocean of true understanding except he be detached from all that is in heaven and on earth."

When studying the text, and trying to understand it, it is important to recognize the need for detachment and humility. After all, let's put this in perspective. Someone was reading these passages in the Qur'an, and thought that these references, perhaps, spoke of some future time. Sure. That sounds reasonable. Then what they should have done is looked at the text again to see if their idea was supported by the text. Instead what they did was insist that their theory was right, and it became a recognized tradition. Now, it has the weight of doctrine. And it is because of this that a great many people have been led astray.

Time and again, those very basic concepts that Baha'u'llah introduced at the beginning of book prove to be the exact tools we need to understand everything that follows.

Paragraph 121

When the light of Qur’ánic Revelation was kindled within the chamber of Muḥammad’s holy heart, He passed upon the people the verdict of the Last Day, the verdict of resurrection, of judgment, of life, and of death. Thereupon the standards of revolt were hoisted, and the doors of derision opened. Thus hath He, the Spirit of God, recorded, as spoken by the infidels: “And if thou shouldst say, ‘After death ye shall surely be raised again,’ the infidels will certainly exclaim, ‘This is nothing but manifest sorcery.’” Again He speaketh: “If ever thou dost marvel, marvellous surely is their saying, ‘What! When we have become dust, shall we be restored in a new creation?’” Thus, in another passage, He wrathfully exclaimeth: “Are We wearied out with the first creation? Yet are they in doubt with regard to a new creation!”

This is a very interesting paragraph. After all, Baha'u''llah has talked a lot about the spiritual interpretation of sacred Text quite a lot already, yet this paragraph here seems to be an oddity. Why is it here? and what on earth can we say about it? It seems to be just a few quotes that don't appear to have much more to say except that we need to look at all these quotes with a spiritual eye.

But is that it?

We have just read a number of paragraphs, circling around the overarching theme of sovereignty, that deal with the idea of spiritual interpretation. Remember that phrase from a few paragraphs ago, regarding the wolf and the lamb? "Besides, of what profit would it be to the world were such a thing to take place?" This seems to be a very important concept here. If we take a literal view of these lines, what good would it do the world?

And remember, this is in response to a series of questions from the uncle of the Bab regarding His Sovereignty. "Where is it? How was He a sovereign?" It also deals with the other questions regarding other signs of the Day of Resurrection, or the Last Days.

The uncle of the Bab, like most Muslims of his day, saw the Day of Resurrection as referring to some day in the distant future. Yet it seems as if Muhammad is referring to His own day, here in these quotes.

In that first quote, Muhammad is letting His followers know that if they talk about the resurrection, the infidels will claim it to be sorcery. Ok. Fine. No problem, just a warning.

In the second quote, He seems to be saying that if we are ever struck with wonder, we should really wonder that the unbelievers don't believe in the Resurrection.

That third quote, exclaimed in anger, says "Oh, I'm sick and tired of it all", in essence. And yet, He says, they doubt that there is a new creation happening right before their very eyes.

Baha'u'llah is not really giving us any answers here. He is, instead, leading us on with questions, which will be answered in the upcoming paragraphs.

Muhammad passed judgment on those around Him, and was met with derision, as evidenced by these quotes. And yet today, or the today of a hundred and fifty years ago, we don't question Him. Similarly, judgment was passed by the Bab, and He was met with this same derision.

Right now, Baha'u'llah seems to be merely pointing out a parallel reaction. Anything further will be explained in the next few paragraphs.

But for us, we just want to make sure that it is crystal clear that this Day of Resurrection, and all the prophecies that refer to it, applies to every single Manifestation of God. Yes, it refers to some distant future, but it also applies to the time of Muhammad, and Jesus, and Buddha, and even the next Messenger after Baha'u'llah. This seems to be so important a concept that He refers to it over and over again in these pages.

And finally, we just wanted to point out another "progression" that He does. If you look at the quotes that He refers to in this paragraph, there is a bit of a path. In the first quote, you die but are raised again. It seems like not a lot of time has passed, either minutes or days. In the second quote, you have already become dust. A lot more time has elapsed in this one, so much so that you have completely decayed. That takes a long time, but still, the result is the same, in that you are restored. In the third, all of creation has passed away. Now we are talking ages, possibly eons. A huge amount of time has gone by. But not to worry, an entirely new creation has replaced it. All is good in the world.

Paragraph 120

Consider how with this one verse which hath descended from the heaven of the Will of God, the world and all that is therein have been brought to a reckoning with Him. Whosoever acknowledged His truth and turned unto Him, his good works outweighed his misdeeds, and all his sins were remitted and forgiven. Thereby is the truth of these words concerning Him made manifest: “Swift is He in reckoning.” Thus God turneth iniquity into righteousness, were ye to explore the realms of divine knowledge, and fathom the mysteries of His wisdom. In like manner, whosoever partook of the cup of love, obtained his portion of the ocean of eternal grace and of the showers of everlasting mercy, and entered into the life of faith—the heavenly and everlasting life. But he that turned away from that cup was condemned to eternal death. By the terms “life” and “death,” spoken of in the scriptures, is intended the life of faith and the death of unbelief. The generality of the people, owing to their failure to grasp the meaning of these words, rejected and despised the person of the Manifestation, deprived themselves of the light of His divine guidance, and refused to follow the example of that immortal Beauty.

You may notice the similarity between this and the previous paragraphs. In the last few, He talked about how, with a single word, Muhammad separated all these things from all these other things, such as "light from darkness, the righteous from the ungodly, and the believing from the infidel". He also mentioned the problem with taking some of these verses literally, such as the lamb and the wolf enjoying a good meal together.

Here, as in many instances in Part 1, He points out that life and death, when mentioned in the scriptures, in this manner, means "the life of faith and the death of unbelief". In other words, it is not meant to be taken literally.

We could talk about this a lot, really, but it seems that anything we say would be merely repeating what Baha'u'llah has already said, and we would do it in a more lengthy, and less interesting, manner.

Instead, we noticed the word "consider". This is a point where we can consider so many things, and this time we want to use this paragraph to do something a little different. Look at the word "ocean". It is used here in a similar manner to how He uses it elsewhere in this book, so we would see how it is used throughout.

The first instance, as you will no doubt recall, is in the very first sentence: No man shall attain the shores of the ocean of true understanding... (1)

He also refers, in subsequent paragraphs, to:

• the ocean of the divine presence (2)
• ocean of truths treasured in these holy words (3)
• the ocean of true understanding (4)
• the ocean of His bountiful grace (5)
• the ocean of divine knowledge (6)
• the billowing ocean of God's grace (7)
• the ocean of His tender mercies (8)
• the oceans of wisdom (9)
• the ocean of eternal grace (10)
• the ocean of faith (11)
• the ocean of divine mercy (12)
• the ocean of the inner meaning of these words (13)
• the Ocean of everlasting bounty (14)
• the ocean of eternal grace (15)
• the ocean of acceptance (16)
• the ocean of His knowledge (17)
• the oceans of ancient and everlasting holiness (18)
• the ocean of ancient Knowledge (19)
• that Ocean of divine wisdom (20)

That's a lot of oceans.

As we noticed, fairly quickly, many of them refer to some form of knowledge.

But is there a path here? Well, let's find out.

It begins with the ocean of true understanding (1) and our search to reach its shores. Let's suppose that this desire comes from our understanding of the previous scriptures. We begin with sincere search, and attain, in the Day of our Lord, the divine presence(2). Once we have attained His presence, we truly begin to see the deep truths treasured in these holy words (3), as we are discovering in this very book. This leads us on to a true understanding (4), and helps us unravel the mysteries in those very texts.

When we reach this higher understanding, based on the Writings of Baha'u'llah, we begin to receive His bountiful grace (5), which carries us forward to divine knowledge (6). Previously, it may have been our own deficient knowledge, based on our sincere understanding, but now it is closer to Baha'u'llah's, and yet we are still only at the very beginning of this path. We must continue to study and reflect on His Words. We must act on them, moving them off the page and into our daily lives. We have to reflect on our actions and, in light of the guidance from His mighty Pen, strive to make every day an improvement over yesterday. This is when we will get a far greater sense of the billowing ocean of God's grace (7). This is when we can truly see His tender mercies (8).

Sometimes, though, we will encounter tests and difficulties. This isn't just a possibility. It is a guarantee. As we move forward, we know that we are making progress because the road is getting more difficult. If it wasn't getting more difficult, we wouldn't be able to grow. It is like when we exercise our body. If we do not push ourselves, we will not gain any benefit. When we look past our own comfort to the end of things, then we can begin to sense God's wisdom (9). When we reconcile ourselves to God's will, and strive to maintain that radiant acquiescence in the face of tests and trials, then we can begin to get a sense of His eternal grace (10). Again, it may seem like step seven, but it is, in truth, a spiral. We see this grace at a higher level. We understand more thoroughly that He is always bestowing upon us His ever-loving favours. We see the wisdom of the struggle, and the benefits that arise from it. And while we may not actively enjoy it, we accept it gracefully and radiantly.

This is when we have truly started on that path of faith (11) that Baha'u'llah describes, that path in which we are willing to give up everything. When we do this, all those tests and trials seem to fade in His light, and we sense that continual divine mercy (12) in our life. It is not a temporary thing, that we only sense when things are going well, but even recognize it when those difficult times are before us.

It is only then that we can truly start to appreciate the inner meaning of these words (13), and not just their surface meaning. We see many layers of meaning in all His Words. We see truths in the former scriptures that we never sensed before, things that were hidden to our eyes, but are now evident in light of historical experience. Now we begin to sense His everlasting bounty (14) in a whole new way, and can get an even higher sense of that eternal grace (15). As we read the Iqan, we recognize that this eternal grace is far more profound than we had imagined. This is when we are better able to enter into that state of acceptance (16) with whatsoever He has ordained. We see more clearly that cycle He has described of crisis and victory. We see the various twistings and turnings of history as nothing more than curves on that eternal road of history, leading us ever forward to that promised Kingdom.

When we see this, when we truly begin to accept whatever He has ordained for us, then we find ourselves at a whole new level of His knowledge (17). This is when we begin to get an even grander sense of His ancient and everlasting holiness (18). This is when we can clearly see the truths in all faiths and recognize His overwhelming presence in all of history. We see ourselves not as some random, final pinnacle of history, but as another step in that eternal path God has laid out for us. We see ourselves and our Faith as another pearl on that divine strand. We see the ancient Knowledge (19) intermingled, and identical to, that present Knowledge, which has been restated for today.

This, dear Reader, is when we truly begin to get a greater sense of the divine wisdom (20) that pervades all aspects of our life.

Even with all of this, we can still recall that this incredible book was written before Baha'u'llah declared His mission. And that, dear Reader, fills us with even more awe and wonder.