Paragraph 134

Know, therefore, O questioning seeker, that earthly sovereignty is of no worth, nor will it ever be, in the eyes of God and His chosen Ones. Moreover, if ascendency and dominion be interpreted to mean earthly supremacy and temporal power, how impossible will it be for thee to explain these verses: “And verily Our host shall conquer.” “Fain would they put out God’s light with their mouths: But God hath willed to perfect His light, albeit the infidels abhor it.” “He is the Dominant, above all things.” Similarly, most of the Qur’án testifieth to this truth.

Here, it would be so easy to continue to talk about how the earthly sovereignty is worthless, but this is what Baha'u'llah is already doing. We could continue to talk about how these quotes are obviously not referring to "earthly supremacy and temporal power", but again, this is so obvious from the context here.

Instead, we would like to look at the three quotes He has chosen to use here: "Our host shall conquer"; "God hath willed to perfect His light"; and "He is the Dominant".

The first is in the future perfect tense, giving us a promise of something that will happen, without question. The second quote seems to explain how, showing that it is through this perfecting of His light. The last one is a reminder that this is what we have always seen in the other religions, their dominance.

So while we can rest assured in the promise, and the example from the past, our primary concern is the how. How will God perfect His light? What does it mean for God to "perfect His light"? And how would the people be able to put it out "with their mouths"?

To get a better idea of this, we decided to look at a few other quotes.

The first one that came to mind was "A kindly tongue is the lodestone of the hearts of men. It is the bread of the spirit, it clotheth the words with meaning, it is the fountain of the light of wisdom and understanding..."

You see, for God to perfect His light, He uses the tools at hand, namely the followers of the new religion. This is how it was done in the past, and we can presume, given what we have been reading in this book, that this will be His method in the present day.

In fact, there is a marvelous passage from 'Abdu'l-Baha in which He says, "The purpose of the appearance of the Manifestations of God is the training of the people. That is the only result of Their mission, the real outcome. The outcome of the whole life of Jesus was the training of eleven disciples and two women. Why did He suffer troubles, ordeals and calamities? For the training of these few followers. That was the result of His life. The product of the life of Christ was not the churches but the illumined souls of those who believed in Him. Afterward, they spread His teachings."

Given that we seem to be the ones who have the responsibility for passing on these teachings, it seems that we are also instrumental in passing on this light. How do we do it?

Looking at the quote, the one about the lodestone, it seems we are given a bit of a clue. A lodestone, as you know, is a magnet, and so speaking with kindness, quite simply, is attractive. Well, given our experience, that just makes sense. We react far more positively to those that speak kindly than to those that speak harshly. It's the old "attracting flies with honey, as opposed to vinegar" motif, but with more spiritual importance.

In fact, looking at the quote, we realize that when someone speaks harshly, we are less likely to even bother listening to them. And so a kindly tongue really does clothe the words with meaning. After all, if we do not listen to the other person, then their actual words are truly meaningless.

But "the fountain of the light of wisdom and understanding"? Again if we talk about the teaching of Baha'u'llah with a kindly tongue, ensuring that we do all we can to be as gracious and gentle as possible, then the person is far more willing to listen, and to listen closely. We can easily imagine our words as a fountain, to which others can approach and from which they can drink. If we fill our words with Baha'u'llah's teachings, then they end up drinking that divine draught.

It is through this teaching that the light of God's message penetrates more and more hearts.

In the Hidden Words, revealed around the same time as this book, Baha'u'llah writes, "Thou art My lamp and My light is in thee. Get thou from it thy radiance and seek none other than Me. For I have created thee rich and have bountifully shed My favor upon thee." And so we get a better understanding of the nature of this light, and its relation to us.

Honestly, though we can find hundreds more quotes on this theme, if not more, we don't want to bury you, dear Reader, in too many. Instead, let us look at the best example of this process in action that we can think of: Baha'u'llah's revelation of this very book.

When we consider how this book came to be revealed, can we imagine a better example of a kindly tongue perfecting the light of God in another's heart?

And honestly, it is only through the changing of the heart that God's light becomes dominant.

Paragraph 133

And now, ponder this in thine heart: Were sovereignty to mean earthly sovereignty and worldly dominion, were it to imply the subjection and external allegiance of all the peoples and kindreds of the earth—whereby His loved ones should be exalted and be made to live in peace, and His enemies be abased and tormented—such form of sovereignty would not be true of God Himself, the Source of all dominion, Whose majesty and power all things testify. For, dost thou not witness how the generality of mankind is under the sway of His enemies? Have they not all turned away from the path of His good-pleasure? Have they not done that which He hath forbidden, and left undone, nay repudiated and opposed, those things which He hath commanded? Have not His friends ever been the victims of the tyranny of His foes? All these things are more obvious than even the splendour of the noon-tide sun.

"And now..." Here He is implying that He is moving onto a new section, a new thought. And at the very beginning He is asking us to "ponder". Whenever we see this word, or any of its synonyms, such as "meditate" or "consider", we take it very seriously. We have seen, as you will no doubt recall, in Part 1 of this book that every time He tells us to do this, it is so that we can begin to get a deeper understanding of some difficult truth that will become the foundation of what is to come.

So what is happening here? What is it that we are to ponder? And why?

Before we go onto those questions, we want to take a look back at paragraph 102, that first paragraph of Part 2.

You will recall that He talks about "He Who is the Day-star of Truth and Revealer of the Supreme Being" and His "undisputed sovereignty over all that is in heaven and on earth, though no man be found on earth to obey Him." Over the past 30 paragraphs, He has helped us redefine our understanding of this "sovereignty". He has carefully moved us away from an earthly understanding, which naturally would lead to God's loved ones being exalted and living in peace, and towards this more accurate understanding of this spiritual sovereignty that He does wield.

When we look at the past, we can see that no Manifestation has had this life of ease that the people imagine, nor have the early followers found lives of peace. The early Christians did not expect to get a warm reception when they delivered the Message. They expected to be crucified.

In the latter part of paragraph 102, Baha'u'llah talks about how we may be able to "soar on the wings of renunciation to those heights that are veiled from the eyes of men." This, we feel, is the key to understanding the rest of Part 2, this renunciation. From here on out, He is going to direct our attention to the tests and trials that the early believers have faced in other religious traditions, namely Islam, since He is addressing the uncle of the Bab. And then, from there, He will direct our gaze towards the early Babi heroes, whom we will be encouraged to emulate.

But, if we have a poor understanding of this sovereignty, it all stops here. For if we expect a life of ease and comfort, we will never make the necessary sacrifices needed to transform the planet and all the peoples on it. It is like the Buddha said to His disciples when He sent them out to teach. "What if they ignore you?" "Then we will be glad that they have not harmed us." "Well, what if they harm you?" "Then we will be glad that they do not imprison us." "What if they throw you in prison?" "We will be glad they do not kill us." "And what if they kill you?" "Then we will be glad to die as martyrs, for what is greater than to die for the glory of God?"

And so, Baha'u'llah gives us these questions to ponder.

He points out, very logically, that if we actually believe that God is the earthly sovereign of this planet, then that would mean that we would all be following and obeying His laws. Clearly, this is not the case. When we look at God's laws, no matter which religion we examine, we will find that the majority of the people on earth are clearly not following this guidance. Wherever we turn, we can easily see that the people are not obeying His laws. In fact, in most areas, the majority are acting contrary to the guidance in the sacred Books of the world.

Doesn't this get us to sit up and think? Pay attention? Do we not, when pondering this, ask ourselves if we are acting according to God's teachings? Or are we acting like most people, being greedy and self-centred?

He ties all this to the stories of the heroes of both Islam and the Babi religion, encouraging the friends to arise, in His day, to the same degree of self-sacrifice. Similarly, today, we are encouraged to use these very same stories of those heroes of the Faith, those Dawn-Breakers, to encourage those around us to their own great feats of service. The stories are wonderful, but if they do not motivate us to serve today, then they are nothing more than mere history. And if they do not encourage us to arise in our own turn, then they are, also, no more than mere stories. It is our reaction to them, our own willingness to strive to emulate their greatness, that give the stories of the heroes the meaning that will last through the ages.

Paragraph 132

This is but one of the meanings of the spiritual sovereignty which We have set forth in accordance with the capacity and receptiveness of the people. For He, the Mover of all beings, that glorified Countenance, is the source of such potencies as neither this wronged One can reveal, nor this unworthy people comprehend. Immensely exalted is He above men’s praise of His sovereignty; glorified is He beyond that which they attribute unto Him!

The first question we have is "What is one of the meanings?" Well, if we look back at the previous paragraph, He has said that the sovereignty alluded to here is the power of the Word of God. This is so much more powerful than any earthly sovereignty, which is what the uncle of the Bab was wondering about.

The next point that catches our attention is the fact that this is only "one of the meanings". We are reminded of Part 1, in which Baha'u'llah spent so much time discussing the myriad meanings in Matthew 24. Obviously, He could do the same here. He can give us meaning upon meaning, writing many volumes all on the meaning and interpretation of this single word, sovereignty.

But that leads us to the next point: He is only going as far as is "in accordance with the capacity and receptiveness of the people". This reminds us very much of what He just said in paragraph 114, that the sacred Word "revealeth itself to the world in direct proportion to its capacity and spiritual receptiveness". That is, it is only revealed as much as we are able to bear it. This also brings us back to Jesus, in John 16:12, "I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now."

Perhaps that is part of the joys of trying to study the infinite: you can never get it all. No matter how much we praise Him, no matter how exalted we think He is, we are guaranteed to fall short.

By the way, it is also interesting to note that this concept of sovereignty is alluded to in the very beginning of the book, in the introductory invocation: "In the Name of our Lord, the Exalted, the Most High". The very title, "Lord", is an allusion to that absolute sovereignty, while even the attributes of exalted and most high are doomed to fall short of His true exaltation and... high-ness? Sure. We'll go with that.

Given that any attempt at a description is destined to fall short, that He is so far beyond anything that we can attribute to Him, how can we even begin to approach any study of Him? If we look back at the very beginning of the book, we will see that a posture of humility is key. We must be detached from anything we know, not forget it, but not be so attached that we are not willing to hear a new perspective. With this stance, we allow ourselves to be open to this new perspective given to us by the Manifestation.

And you know what? It also works in our daily life. As soon as we close ourselves off to a new perspective, we are no longer able to learn. When we no longer are learning, we are moving backwards, for nothing in the world remains in stasis. So this concept of detachment, so pivotal in Part 1, really does come into play here, too.

* * * * *

As we look at this paragraph again, another point comes to mind.

We imagine a town in which the messenger of the King arrives. He proclaims the new message from the King, and reads out the new law that is to take effect. Although the law takes effect immediately, it still takes time for it to spread throughout the town. It takes even longer for it to be understood, and for the people to act upon it. Even though the law is there, there is a mercy from the just sovereign for the first little while, allowing the people to become used to this new law. They will likely have their guards issue warnings for the first little while, and work towards educating the people to this new law. But over time, it will become a routine part of their life.

Similarly, the Messenger of God arrives and proclaims the new Law to the people. In the epochal history with which we are dealing, it likely takes a few hundred years for this gradual effect, the education of the people, to become apparent. But in the end, the new law will become infused within the life of the community.

Paragraph 131

To resume: Our purpose in setting forth these truths hath been to demonstrate the sovereignty of Him Who is the King of kings. Be fair: Is this sovereignty which, through the utterance of one Word, hath manifested such pervading influence, ascendancy, and awful majesty, is this sovereignty superior, or is the worldly dominion of these kings of the earth who, despite their solicitude for their subjects and their help of the poor, are assured only of an outward and fleeting allegiance, while in the hearts of men they inspire neither affection nor respect? Hath not that sovereignty, through the potency of one word, subdued, quickened, and revitalized the whole world? What! Can the lowly dust compare with Him Who is the Lord of Lords? What tongue dare utter the immensity of difference that lieth between them? Nay, all comparison falleth short in attaining the hallowed sanctuary of His sovereignty. Were man to reflect, he would surely perceive that even the servant of His threshold ruleth over all created things! This hath already been witnessed, and will in future be made manifest.

"To resume". Our hearts leap when we read this phrase. Baha'u'llah, through His grace and bounty, is helping us grasp His outline here. He is reminding us of where this is all leading. And this is really wonderful, for by this point we had actually forgotten. It is so good that He reminds us.

So, why did He write all that He had written in these past couple dozen paragraphs? It has been to to demonstrate Bab's sovereignty.

As we mentioned earlier, the overarching theme of this entire half of the book is summed up in the word "sovereignty", as far as we can tell. He first mentions it here in paragraph 102, that first paragraph of Part 2 - He holds, for all time, "undisputed sovereignty over all that is in heaven and on earth, though no man be found on earth to obey Him." He brings it up again in 109 and 110 as one of many attributes the Manifestation of God has. In 113, He looks at the question asked by the uncle about why this sovereignty has not been made manifest in the Bab. Baha'u'llah then proceeds to explain that it was manifest similarly as it was in Muhammad. If we examine the Qur'an we can clearly see that this sovereignty was not manifest outwardly in His life, but is very evident today. If we understand how it was manifested during Muhammad's time, we can see that the same sovereignty is expressed today in the Bab. And this, in short, brings us up to where we are right now.

Here, though, He refocuses the question. The uncle was clearly asking about the earthly sovereignty of kings and rulers, and wondering why the Bab did not demonstrate this. Baha'u'llah reminds him of the true nature of Muhammad's sovereignty, which he clearly recognizes, and asks which is superior. Is the earthly sovereignty superior to the spiritual? Of course not. The spiritual is always more important than the material.

Interestingly enough in this particular paragraph He uses phrases like "King of kings" and "Lord of lords". Why? Why does He use them here? The uncle, like most of us, naturally thinks of the king when he thinks of a sovereign, and has naturally placed the Bab at that level. Why, he is wondering, is the Bab not ruling like a king? Baha'u'llah is reminding us of these phrases, which we are all familiar with, even outside of Handel's Messiah, and that the king of a country, no matter how lofty that throne may be, is only at one level. The Manifestation of God is at a much higher level of sovereignty.

This awareness of the many levels of sovereignty make us think of others, too, such as the throne of our heart, and being sovereign in our own life. It reminds us that even at the level of our own actions, we have to continually remember that the spiritual is always more important than the physical. In other words, we have to act with integrity and truthfulness, trustworthiness and compassion, and not sacrifice these qualities to, say, get a promotion at work.

Another aspect of this paragraph is His graciousness towards the rulers mentioned here. He presumes that they are showing "solicitude for their subjects" and providing "help of the poor". Here He is reminding them of what it is they should be doing. It is as if He is saying "Well, of course they're doing this", and hoping that they arise to do it. But, He also reminds them that this does not inspire "affection or respect". In the political realm, any allegiance is likely only fleeting and outward, not deep and sincere. This should not stop them from doing what is right and just. It should not affect the bounties that they pour out upon their subjects. It's a beautiful reminder, and we can learn from this. Not only should we always do what is right and just, but we should presume the best of others, too, in the hope that they will arise to that station.

Finally, one last point that caught our attention. "Reflect", He says. Over and over this word, or a synonym, comes up, and it usually arises when there is an important point to consider. Here, He is telling us to specifically reflect on "the servant of His threshold", and his station. Well, as soon as we see this phrase, we are immediately put in mind of 'Abdu'l-Baha. Now, if we reflect on the Master, and consider what signs He had already shown in His life when Baha'u'llah was writing this, we can clearly see that He was already showing great signs. It has "already been witnessed". The stories of His childhood abound and show the greatness to which He would rise. Baha'u'llah also mentions that this station "will in future be made manifest". And that, dear Reader, sure feels prophetic.

Paragraph 130

Thou dost witness today how, notwithstanding the radiant splendour of the Sun of divine knowledge, all the people, whether high or low, have clung to the ways of those abject manifestations of the Prince of Darkness. They continually appeal to them for aid in unraveling the intricacies of their Faith, and, owing to lack of knowledge, they make such replies as can in no wise damage their fame and fortune. It is evident that these souls, vile and miserable as the beetle itself, have had no portion of the musk-laden breeze of eternity, and have never entered the Ridván of heavenly delight. How, therefore, can they impart unto others the imperishable fragrance of holiness? Such is their way, and such will it remain for ever. Only those will attain to the knowledge of the Word of God that have turned unto Him, and repudiated the manifestations of Satan. Thus God hath reaffirmed the law of the day of His Revelation, and inscribed it with the pen of power upon the mystic Tablet hidden beneath the veil of celestial glory. Wert thou to heed these words, wert thou to ponder their outward and inner meaning in thy heart, thou wouldst seize the significance of all the abstruse problems which, in this day, have become insuperable barriers between men and the knowledge of the Day of Judgment. Then wilt thou have no more questions to perplex thee. We fain would hope that, God willing, thou wilt not return, deprived and still athirst, from the shores of the ocean of divine mercy, nor come back destitute from the imperishable Sanctuary of thy heart’s desire. Let it now be seen what thy search and endeavours will achieve.

This paragraph still falls under the section in which Baha'u'llah is describing true sovereignty, and how it applies to the Bab. It is the last paragraph in the sub-section in which He describes the meaning of the terms "life", "death", "resurrection", and the like. Therefore this paragraph can be seen, in a sense, as a summary of the preceding paragraphs.

Like we have seen in Part 1, there are clues that lead us to this conclusion. You may recall how often Baha'u'llah used the words "ponder", "reflect", and "meditate" in Part 1, usually after He had given us a particularly difficult or new concept to consider. Here He encourages us, again, to "ponder" these words, paying careful attention to "their outward and inner meaning in (our) heart".

He also brings us back to the very beginning of this book, with the mention of "the shores of the ocean".

So, to us, He seems to be indicating that this new understanding of the Day of Judgment is deep and can be troubling for some, and therefore He gives us ample time to reflect on it. Once we understand what He is saying, though, then we will "have no more questions" to perplex us. We will have attained the "shores of the ocean of true understanding", and even the "Sanctuary of our heart's desire", that tabernacle which has "been raised in the firmament of the Bayan". But that's not the end of it. Now, He says, let's see what we're going to do about it. He is projecting us forward. Up until this point, it has all been about the search, but now He is helping us see past this and asking what we will achieve once we recognize.

But going back to the beginning of this paragraph, let's look at His warning. He is reminding us that so many are clinging to the clergy, "those abject manifestations of the Prince of Darkness". They ask these "learned" people to explain things to them, but they cannot. They don't have the knowledge, and are too concerned about their reputation or wealth. How, He wonders, can such people teach others about God? In fact, He goes further and points out that only those people who repudiate such teachers will be able to understand the Word of God. It is as if we have to recognize this false station of knowledge and deny it if we hope to understand the truth. We have to, in a sense, be able to tell the difference between the stench of egotism and the beauty of humility.

In fact, looking back at paragraph 6, "the more closely we observe the denials... the firmer will be (our) faith in the Cause of God." Here, in paragraph 130, we are told to closely examine the denials of today.

Now, what does all this have to do with sovereignty? Well, if we consider what He has said in the past few paragraphs, we will see that the uncle of the Bab was trying to see how sovereignty, as defined by the Mullas of his day, applied to his Nephew. Quite simply, it didn't, because the definition was a false one. To demonstrate this, Baha'u'llah has shown, using the Qu'ran, how we have misunderstood other terms relating to the Day of Judgment, such as "life", "death", "resurrection" and the like. He has shown how even the people of Muhammad's time misunderstood these terms. We can therefore conclude that we have likely misunderstood the term "sovereignty", as He will demonstrate over the next few paragraphs.

Finally, one last little thing caught our attention: Baha'u'llah does not use the word "haply" in describing the results of our search. Previously, He had often stressed the "luck factor", if you will. So much was dependent on the Will of God. If we go back to paragraph 1 again, we will see that if we sanctify our soul, then, with luck, we might attain this shore. Why? Perhaps because there are good people in all faiths. It is only with luck that we will find the Messenger of God for today by sanctifying our soul. Here, though, Baha'u'llah is pointing out the extreme egotism of the Mullas of His day, and if we merely look for it, we cannot help but see it. There is no luck involved, just unbiased observation. And if we "heed these words" and "ponder their outward and inner meaning", we will clearly see that they are acting exactly as the religious leaders of the past did when they denied the other Messengers.

Paragraph 129

Similarly, the records of all the scriptures bear witness to this lofty truth and this most exalted word. Moreover, this verse of the Qur’án, revealed concerning Hamzih, the “Prince of Martyrs,” and Abú-Jahl, is a luminous evidence and sure testimony of the truth of Our saying: “Shall the dead, whom We have quickened, and for whom We have ordained a light whereby he may walk among men, be like him, whose likeness is in the darkness, whence he will not come forth?” This verse descended from the heaven of the Primal Will at a time when Hamzih had already been invested with the sacred mantle of faith, and Abú-Jahl had waxed relentless in his opposition and unbelief. From the Wellspring of omnipotence and the Source of eternal holiness, there came the judgment that conferred everlasting life upon Hamzih, and condemned Abú-Jahl to eternal damnation. This was the signal that caused the fires of unbelief to glow with the hottest flame in the heart of the infidels, and provoked them openly to repudiate His truth. They loudly clamoured: “When did Hamzih die? When was he risen? At what hour was such a life conferred upon him?” As they understood not the significance of these noble sayings, nor sought enlightenment from the recognized expounders of the Faith, that these might confer a sprinkling of the Kawthar of divine knowledge upon them, therefore such fires of mischief were kindled amongst men.

Baha'u'llah is the exponent of unity. It seems to us that He has corrected our mis-understanding of these previous two stories, the one from Jesus and the one from Ali. As we have pointed out in the past few articles, we believe these other stories were not meant to condemn those that believe differently, but rather to remind us of the choice we all face. Let the dead bury the dead, Jesus said, but go and teach them so that they will become alive. We will all face this bridge, is the harsh reminder from Ali, at the end of our days, and we have the choice as to whether we go to heaven or hell. In both cases, there is the reminder of the importance of our choices while we live.

Here Baha'u'llah seems to be reminding us that there is a difference, though, in the aftereffect of our choice. But the important thing is that it is not for us to judge. That is God's job. Our job is to teach.

In all three cases, we are reminded of the importance of teaching. Jesus tells His disciple to go to the funeral and teach. Ali reminds the two people involved in the contract of the choice before them. And here, Muhammad is clearly showing us that these stories are spiritual in meaning, but no less important for that. After all, he who chooses darkness will not be accounted the same as he who chooses light. It's not we who make that distinction, but they themselves.

Despite the rich discussion that can arise from all this, though, we want to look at a few specific things in this paragraph: the fire and the Kawthar.

To remind us, these stories all fall under the discussion Baha'u'llah is having regarding the spiritual nature of the sovereignty of the Promised One. Remember, this is one of the primary questions that the uncle of the Bab had regarding His Station. How did the Bab fulfill the various prophecies regarding the sovereignty of the Qa'im? All this is part of that answer.

We know that the eternal life that was talked about is a spiritual life. And Baha'u'llah is linking that spiritual understanding with our understanding of the nature of the sovereignty of the Qa'im.

Now, as we said, we would like to look at some of the phrases Baha'u'llah uses here. He talks of "the Wellspring of omnipotence" and "the fires of unbelief", "the Kawthar of divine knowledge" and the "fires of mischief". These metaphors speak of water and fire, fire and water. Kawthar, you will recall, is one of the rivers in paradise. And this going back and forth between these primal elements reminds us of that passage from the Tablet of Ahmad, "Be thou as a flame of fire to My enemies and a river of life eternal to My loved ones, and be not of those who doubt."

It has long intrigued us that the same thing can be a burning fire to one person and a refreshing draught of water to another. It is like what we saw way back in part one of this very book. In paragraph 58, Baha'u'llah points out that God could have stayed the hand of Moses from murder, but chose not to do so. In paragraphs 59 and 60, He asks the question why He "Who was known amongst the people as fatherless", Jesus, was given the mantle of Prophethood. All this leads to the quote "outwardly such deeds and words are the fire of vengeance unto the wicked, and inwardly the waters of mercy unto the righteous". As was pointed out back in those paragraphs, the virgin birth was seen as a barrier for some, acting as a repelling fire keeping them away, but as a compelling proof for others, acting like the water of life.

Here, once again, Baha'u'llah is brining up this duality of fire and water here, while discussing the spiritual nature of the terms "life", "death", "resurrection", "judgment", and so forth. And by extension, He is also applying it to the theme of the spiritual nature of the sovereignty of the Promised One.

Paragraph 128

In every age and century, the purpose of the Prophets of God and their chosen ones hath been no other but to affirm the spiritual significance of the terms “life,” “resurrection,” and “judgment.” If one will ponder but for a while this utterance of ‘Alí in his heart, one will surely discover all mysteries hidden in the terms “grave,” “tomb,” “ṣiraṭ,” “paradise” and “hell.” But oh! how strange and pitiful! Behold, all the people are imprisoned within the tomb of self, and lie buried beneath the nethermost depths of worldly desire! Wert thou to attain to but a dewdrop of the crystal waters of divine knowledge, thou wouldst readily realize that true life is not the life of the flesh but the life of the spirit. For the life of the flesh is common to both men and animals, whereas the life of the spirit is possessed only by the pure in heart who have quaffed from the ocean of faith and partaken of the fruit of certitude. This life knoweth no death, and this existence is crowned by immortality. Even as it hath been said: “He who is a true believer liveth both in this world and in the world to come.” If by “life” be meant this earthly life, it is evident that death must needs overtake it.


While we could easily say that all these terms are symbolic in nature, and not literal, Baha'u'llah has already done this. And He has done this far better than we could.

Instead, we want to focus on why He is choosing these particular phrases and examples.

When we look back over the previous couple of paragraphs, and the stories of Jesus and Ali, we notice that He is using stories that have been used to set one people over another. These are examples that have been used to demonstrate that one group is somehow superior to another, and this, we feel, is antithetical to the teachings of these great Teachers.

Baha'u'llah is all about unity. He does whatever He can to help us overcome our own egotism and recognize the fundamental oneness of all peoples.

As you may have noticed, it seems to us that these examples, while having been used to divide people and encourage judgment, don't have to be read that way. We see them, instead, as encouraging us to be with others, but seize every opportunity to share this Message. This is a far more coherent understanding, as far as we can tell.

Another point that comes to mind is one that comes from both 'Abdu'l-Baha and the Bab. 'Abdu'l-Baha, as you recall, has said in Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Baha, section 21, that there are various kingdoms in creation. He talks about the mineral kingdom, with the power of unity and attraction, and the vegetable kingdom with the power of growth. He moves on to the animal kingdom with the power of the senses, and on to the human kingdom. Without going into too much detail, He has defined reality in a manner different from many scientists, but far more accurately. Many people see reality as a pie, and cut away one section and call it the mineral kingdom. This other part is the animal kingdom, and this slice over here is the mammals, while that slice within it is the felines, and so forth. They see creation as a giant pie to be sliced into ever smaller pieces.

But with 'Abdu'l-Baha's description we can see it more like concentric circles. After all, He says that each kingdom comprehends the kingdoms before it. We can see the mineral kingdom in the centre, surrounded by the vegetable kingdom, and moving out towards the animal kingdom. But if we do this, as concentric circles, then it is just another way of slicing this pie. However, if we subtly shift these circles to being a spiral, then we can see this direct continuity of creation. We can see how if we move outwards from the mineral kingdom, we can see the crystals, which have a degree of the power of growth. If we move outwards from the vegetable kingdom, then we can see how we will encounter plants like the Venus fly-trap, which has a degree of sensory awareness. We can begin to see how these various kingdoms merge into each other, giving us a far more unified vision of the world.

The Bab, in addition to all this, offers us an interesting point when He says that everything in creation has its own heaven, and by extension its own hell. Heaven, He says, is the fulfillment of potential, while presumably hell would be its denial.

If we combine these two concepts, then we can think of the idea of moving outward on this spiral as a form of heaven. It would be, in a sense, moving closer to God, Who would be at the very outer most edges of this eternal spiral. The further out we move, the closer we are getting to God. But if we are moving inwards, then we are denying our potential. You see, it's not that animals are bad. They are an incredible and wonderful part of creation. But if we are moving towards being more animalistic, then we are moving in the wrong direction, and that is why it seems so bad for us. This is why being like an animal is not a good thing for us humans.

Now, what does all this have to do with the Kitab-i-Iqan? Well, if we are supremely concerned about the body, and see all these metaphors in terms of physical life, then we are looking at what distinguishes animals, not humans. When we see the spiritual significance of these terms, and move towards the spiritual in our life, then we are moving outwards in that spiral.

At the beginning of this paragraph, Baha'u'llah makes a very powerful statement that we almost overlooked. He says that "the purpose of the Prophets of God and their chosen ones hath been no other but to affirm the spiritual significance of the terms" He has mentioned here. This is Their purpose. No other purpose than this.

Really? That's Their purpose? To affirm some definitions? Surely it can't be just that. What about that famous quote "...is not the object of every Revelation to effect a transformation in the whole character of mankind, a transformation that shall manifest itself both outwardly and inwardly, that shall affect both its inner life and external conditions?"

Well, if we see these new definitions, this spiritual understanding as turning our attention away from the physical world and towards the spiritual, then He is shifting the direction of our gaze from inward towards the centre of the spiral outwards towards the more highly developed spiritual realms. And this will, necessarily, transform the individual, as well as society.

It will help us better understand how these stories from Jesus and Ali are about transformation, and not condemnation.

At this point we could say so much more, but we feel we have said too much already. Besides, Baha'u'llah continues on with this theme for another two paragraphs.