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When the Unseen, the Eternal, the divine Essence, caused the Day-star of Muhammad to rise above the horizon of knowledge, among the cavils which the Jewish divines raised against Him was that after Moses no Prophet should be sent of God. Yea, mention hath been made in the scriptures of a Soul Who must needs be made manifest and Who will advance the Faith, and promote the interests of the people, of Moses, so that the Law of the Mosaic Dispensation may encompass the whole earth. Thus hath the King of eternal glory referred in His Book to the words uttered by those wanderers in the vale of remoteness and error: “‘The hand of God,’ say the Jews, ‘is chained up.’ Chained up be their own hands! And for that which they have said, they were accursed. Nay, outstretched are both His hands!” “The hand of God is above their hands.”

Here Baha'u'llah is introducing a similar argument to that which was used against Muhammad, as recorded in the Qur'an. The uncle of the Bab, who, as you recall, was a devout Muslim , was most likely aware of this argument.

What is interesting to note is that Baha'u'llah is not citing the Bab, or any contemporary authors, but is strictly referring to a book that this man would regard as sacred. It is also worth noting that this argument comes quite late in the Kitab-i-Iqan. Baha'u'llah does not open with this. It is a nearly 150 paragraphs into it. By this point, Baha'u'llah has already firmed up the foundation of this man's belief, and is building His argument on what is now solid ground.

The argument, as you can see, basically says that the Jews argued that God was unable to send down another Messenger, which is exactly the same argument that the Muslim divines of the day were using against the Bab. Baha'u'llah will go more into this over the next few paragraphs.

But now that we have seen a summary, we want to look in a slightly different direction.

Quite often we like to focus on a single word or phrase and explore what we can learn from it. Here, we want to look at the attributes of God that Baha'u'llah cites at the beginning of this paragraph: the Unseen, the Eternal, the divine Essence.

He has just finished up a series of paragraphs in which He has talked about the spiritual understanding of the word "sovereign", and how it refers to the Promised One in a spiritual sense, and not in a literal sense. And here He immediately begins by reminding us that God is the Unseen. It only makes sense, in this context, that the sovereignty to which the traditions refer would also be "unseen".

He is also beginning an argument to show that God's hands cannot be tied up. For us to think that God cannot send down another Messenger really limits Him. And this limitation would not be for our lifetime, nor even for another hundred, or thousand years, but for the rest eternity. That's a long time for God to cut off communication. And really, when we stop to think about it, it just doesn't make any sense.

Another point to consider is how we reflect that attribute of God, the Eternal. While our soul may be eternal, we, in our bodies, most definitely are not. We only last around a hundred years, if we are lucky. But the Manifestations? Their dispensations tend to last a thousand years. So maybe Baha'u'llah is also alluding to the truth that only God is eternal, and that the various religions come and go.

God is eternal. The Manifestations are, in a sense, around for a thousand years. We are only here for a hundred. So again we can see this progression that is so often found in the Writings

If we are only here for a hundred years, at the most, then what are we going to do with the time we have? Are we going to try to bolster our own ego by showing how great our religion of the past was, or are we going to spend our time striving to build something new? Muhammad spoke at great length about the Last Days, and isn't it worth our time to investigate to see if we are living in those days? And if God has sent down another Messenger, shouldn't we do all we can to learn His message and strive to put it into practice?

As for the divine Essence, this seems to regularly refer in Baha'u'llah's writings to the source of the Manifestations. They are regularly referred to as the "Manifestations of His divine Essence", "the Mirrors reflecting the divine Essence", and so forth. It reminds us of the very source of Their power. If we consider ourselves as created in the image of God, and that this imaging refers to our own spiritual attributes, then we might think of the Manifestations as the capital version of this divine Essence, while we would be the lower case version of that. God, of course, would be in all caps.

Much of the rest of this book looks at the qualities of a true seeker, and gives inspirational examples of those heroes who have given their all to help support this new Message. It seems that Baha'u'llah, here, is just beginning to get us to consider stepping off the path on which we have been walking, and begin looking at this new one.

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Thus with steadfast steps we may tread the Path of certitude, that perchance the breeze that bloweth from the meads of the good-pleasure of God may waft upon us the sweet savours of divine acceptance, and cause us, vanishing mortals that we are, to attain unto the Kingdom of everlasting glory. Then wilt thou comprehend the inner meaning of sovereignty and the like, spoken of in the traditions and scriptures. Furthermore, it is already evident and known unto thee that those things to which the Jews and the Christians have clung, and the cavilings which they heaped upon the Beauty of Muhammad, the same have in this day been upheld by the people of the Qur’án, and been witnessed in their denunciations of the “Point of the Bayán”—may the souls of all that dwell within the kingdom of divine Revelations be a sacrifice unto Him! Behold their folly: they utter the self-same words, uttered by the Jews of old, and know it not! How well and true are His words concerning them: “Leave them to entertain themselves with their cavilings!” “As Thou livest, O Muhammad! they are seized by the frenzy of their vain fancies.”

At this point, it feels as if Baha'u'llah is moving on to another section in the Book. He seems to have finished His discourse on the nature of true sovereignty and is now moving on to talk more about the various arguments that the people have against the new Faith, the "cavilings", as He says, or petty arguments. Over the next number of paragraphs He will focus on various of these arguments, showing how they are the same arguments that were used against Muhammad.

It is interesting to us how He moves from these previous paragraphs about sovereignty to this new idea of these petty arguments. It seems to us that He's not actually answering any direct questions that the uncle has asked, but instead is building up the foundation of his belief so that the questions he asked are no longer relevant.

To do this, we noted that He ended the previous paragraph with the references to our feet and our heart. Here He opens this new section with a further reference to the "steps we may tread", placing those very steps in the middle of a pleasant meadow, with a gentle breeze blowing across us. We want to keep walking there. We want to follow His argument. We want to see where He is going.

Baha'u'llah is doing all He can to keep us with Him, ensuring with such gentleness that we don't get lost.

As we have mentioned previously, all those passages about true sovereignty are alluded to in the very beginning of Part 2, paragraph 102, when He talks about the Messenger having "undisputed sovereignty". Now He seems to be carrying us to the end of that same paragraph, where He says "that haply thou mayest soar on the wings of renunciation to those heights that are veiled from the eyes of men."

Part 1, you may recall, centred around the theme of detachment. Now we are moving into the realm of renunciation, the formal rejection of a previously held belief. For us to continue on this path, we, or the uncle particularly, will have to renounce some of the concepts we previously held. And that, we feel, is why He began with such a lengthy discourse adjusting our understanding of true sovereignty.

In this paragraph, Baha'u'llah does another very interesting thing in preparation for the next series of paragraphs. he reminds the uncle, and the reader, of the very arguments that are mentioned in the Qur'an that were perpetrated against Muhammad. These are the same arguments that He will later point out as being the same as those used against the Bab.

The reason that this intrigues us, and we feel is a great example for us as teachers of the Faith, is that He doesn't try to use the Writings of the Bab to press His point. In fact, He doesn't even quote a single word from the Bab. No. All His arguments stem from the Qur'an, a book that the uncle recognizes as sacred Text.

When we are trying to help someone move from their own faith path to recognize Baha'u'llah, we should also, perhaps, do the same. We should show the ardent seeker how their own sacred Book points us to the Twin Messengers. From there, they will be in a far better position to begin to recognize that divine Voice calling from the wilderness.

At the end of this paragraph, Baha'u'llah quotes that wonderful line form the Qur'an, "Leave them to entertain themselves with their cavilings!" For us, this is a reminder that we are truly free to walk away when we encounter those souls who have no further interest than mere arguing. We should feel comfortable leaving them to themselves. After all, there are plenty of people out there who are very interested in truly investigating the world around them, and sincere in their questions. This is a just a good reminder from Baha'u'llah that not everyone we encounter will be sincere in their questions.

* * * * *

By the way, Mead here. Before we conclude for this paragraph, I just want to say congratulations to my dear friend, Samuel, my co-writer here. He and his wife just had their first baby a couple of weeks ago. As we talked on the phone about this paragraph, we could hear her murmuring in the background. It was such a beautiful sound by which to study the Word of God.

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It is also recorded in the Gospel according to St. Luke, that on a certain day Jesus passed by a Jew who was sick of the palsy, and lay upon a couch. When the Jew saw Him, he recognized Him, and cried out for His help. Jesus said unto him: “Arise from thy bed; thy sins are forgiven thee.” Certain of the Jews, standing by, protested saying: “Who can forgive sins, but God alone?” And immediately He perceived their thoughts, Jesus answering said unto them: “Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, arise, and take up thy bed, and walk; or to say, thy sins are forgiven thee? that ye may know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins.” This is the real sovereignty, and such is the power of God’s chosen Ones! All these things which We have repeatedly mentioned, and the details which We have cited from divers sources, have no other purpose but to enable thee to grasp the meaning of the allusions in the utterances of the chosen Ones of God, lest certain of these utterances cause thy feet to falter and thy heart to be dismayed.

In many ways, this is the last substantial paragraph regarding "sovereignty", the next paragraph being the summation of this whole section. And isn't it interesting that He has looked to Jesus for these last two examples to explain what is truly meant by that word?

The uncle of the Bab, no doubt, would have recognized the sovereign nature of Jesus, and probably known these stories. He was, after all, fairly well-read in religion.

In the previous paragraph, the question was asked about His claim, and Jesus basically said, "Can't you see Me? Sitting on the right hand of power and might?" The uncle would obviously have understood this, even though at that point in His story, Jesus is a prisoner, and about to suffer crucifixion. He appears to all to be a lowly prisoner, and yet He claims to have this great seat.

In this paragraph, He goes to heal someone, and further extends this to the forgiveness of his sins. How can this be? The Jews wonder. And His reply is to the effect of "What's more difficult? Healing someone of these ills? Or forgiving their sins?" To many of us, we would say the former, for we don't understand how that miraculous healing can occur. Yet, to one who is wise, the latter would be. To the common person, merely saying these words, forgiving their sins, is easy, for there is no proof of it, but to one who understands Jesus' station, they know that the latter is infinitely more difficult.

As Baha'u'llah says, "This is the real sovereignty..."

To go on a bit of a tangent, we just want to look at the concept of Jesus' healing for a moment. Baha'u'llah, in Gleanings, writes, "Through Him the leper recovered from the leprosy of perversity and ignorance. Through Him, the unchaste and wayward were healed. Through His power, born of Almighty God, the eyes of the blind were opened, and the soul of the sinner sanctified." He continues by pointing out, "Leprosy may be interpreted as any veil that interveneth between man and the recognition of the Lord, his God."

To look at this again, we realize that any doctor can basically heal the body. And while we know that healing is also dependent upon God, this physical healing is something that more and more people can accomplish today. But here, Baha'u'llah links these stories of healing by Jesus to the education of humanity.

Today, we see various social ills running rampant. Racism, for example, is on the rise. And we know that racism is based on ignorance, and is considered a disease. So when we think about healing humanity from this illness, racism, we can see how the education given through the holy Writings can be a great source for healing us, and our society, from this horrendous disease.

In this paragraph, Baha'u'llah quotes Jesus pointing out that it is the spiritual that is far more important. Sure, healing the body is wonderful and all, but healing the soul, forgiving the sins, is of far greater import.

Hasn't this been His message throughout regarding sovereignty? Earthly sovereignty pales in comparison to that divine sovereignty.

And here, we can see that it is Their ability to heal these dreadful ills of both the individual and society that are, again, far more important than anything else.

There is also an allusion to the importance of recognizing the Messenger. Baha'u'llah says that the Jew "recognized Him", and perhaps that is why Jesus was able to forgive his sins. By placing this point here in the text, perhaps Baha'u'llah is adding the reminder to the uncle that he needs to recognize his Nephew if he also wants his sins forgiven.

Now that He has finished His explanation of true sovereignty, it seems timely that He introduce the importance of recognizing. And don't forget, part 1 was centered around this whole issue of being detached from one's own beliefs and understandings so that recognition was possible. Here, we seem to be coming back to that theme again.

Paragraph 144

Similarly, call thou to mind the day when the Jews, who had surrounded Jesus, Son of Mary, were pressing Him to confess His claim of being the Messiah and Prophet of God, so that they might declare Him an infidel and sentence Him to death. Then, they led Him away, He Who was the Day-star of the heaven of divine Revelation, unto Pilate and Caiaphas, who was the leading divine of that age. The chief priests were all assembled in the palace, also a multitude of people who had gathered to witness His sufferings, to deride and injure Him. Though they repeatedly questioned Him, hoping that He would confess His claim, yet Jesus held His peace and spake not. Finally, an accursed of God arose and, approaching Jesus, adjured Him saying: “Didst thou not claim to be the Divine Messiah? Didst thou not say, ‘I am the King of Kings, My word is the Word of God, and I am the breaker of the Sabbath day?’” Thereupon Jesus lifted up His head and said: “Beholdest thou not the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power and might?” These were His words, and yet consider how to outward seeming He was devoid of all power except that inner power which was of God and which had encompassed all that is in heaven and on earth. How can I relate all that befell Him after He spoke these words? How shall I describe their heinous behaviour towards Him? They at last heaped on His blessed Person such woes that He took His flight unto the fourth Heaven.

"Similarly"? Similar to what?

In the previous number of paragraphs we have seen how the wealth and sovereignty wielded by the Manifestations are not the wealth and sovereignty that most people think of when they consider these terms. And so similarly Jesus was sitting at the "right hand of power and might", although to those around Him He seemed devoid of those things.

Again and again Baha'u'llah is showing us how those standards by which we judge those around us fail when considering the Messengers and the Holy Ones.

This is another example of how we often fail to look at the spiritual reality, dwelling instead on the material.

But let's look at this from the perspective of the uncle of the Bab. How would he have seen this example?

To start, he was probably not all that familiar with Christian apologetics, so we won't go into that. But we know that he recognized Jesus as a Manifestation of God, and he would have agreed with what Jesus was saying. He also would have likely made a connection between this story from the Bible and the stories of Muhammad being asked to prove His Station, too. When asked to demonstrate a miracle, Muhammad pointed out that the Qur'an itself was a miracle. Was Muhammad a ruler over men, in the material sense? Of course not. Was He a sovereign? Again, not in the material sense.

Over and over Baha'u'llah is showing these, and similar stories, reminding us that we should not judge the Bab by these deficient standards. It is as Baha'u'llah says, way back in the first couple paragraphs of this book: that no one "shall attain the shores of the ocean of true understanding" until we cease "to regard the words and deeds of mortal men as a standard for the true understanding and recognition of God and His Prophets".

Interestingly enough, we were looking at this and wondering where we had seen this notion of a deficient standard. We knew that there was a quote we had read about it that sort of nailed it, but could not remember where it was. And then, after a quick search, we discovered, to our vast amusement, that it was in the first two paragraphs of this book. Even now, so far into it, Baha'u'llah is still bringing us back to the very beginning of this same volume.

Now, as for how this applies to us, it is nothing short of a stark reminder that we, too, need to keep the standard of God firmly in our sight. It is so easy to be distracted by the arguments of those who would deny this Faith, claiming that it does not fulfill the various prophecies or promises in the way that they would demand. Here, Baha'u'llah is alluding to that quote from Gleanings, number 42, "Follow thou the footsteps of thy Lord, and remember His servants even as He doth remember thee, undeterred by either the clamor of the heedless ones or the sword of the enemy.... Spread abroad the sweet savors of thy Lord, and hesitate not, though it be for less than a moment, in the service of His Cause."

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This poverty and these riches, this abasement and glory, this dominion, power, and the like, upon which the eyes and hearts of these vain and foolish souls are set,—all these things fade into utter nothingness in that Court! Even as He hath said: “O men! Ye are but paupers in need of God; but God is the Rich, the Self-Sufficing.” By ‘riches’ therefore is meant independence of all else but God, and by ‘poverty’ the lack of things that are of God.

Way back in paragraph 102, the first paragraph of Part 2, you will recall He wrote, "He verily is independent of all earthly dominion, though He be utterly destitute." Here, Baha'u'llah is continuing to help us redefine what we think of as common terms: sovereignty, wealth, power, dominion, and the like.

In fact, by citing this particular verse from the Qu'ran, 35:15, He is also reminding us of the entire Surih in which it is found. This Surih, or chapter of the Qu'ran, begins by warning the people not to be deceived by those whose motives are satanic, and then continues on by giving examples of contrasts that are not equal. He reminds us in this Surih, that not all things are equal. There is a great difference between the darkness and the light, the living and the dead. And we would do well to remember this.

It seems to us that every time Baha'u'llah quotes a passage from the Qu'ran, He is not merely quoting that particular passage, but in fact is reminding us of the entire context of the quote itself.

In Part 1 of this book, the Kitab-i-Iqan, Baha'u'llah gave us multiple meanings of those phrases from Jesus, found in Matthew 24. Here, in Part 2, He is redefining basic terms so that these meanings can make sense.

For example, if we think of wealth as the mere acquisition of worldly property, then the statements about the wealth of the Messenger of God make no sense. Neither Jesus nor Muhammad were what we would call wealthy. And if we try to apply this limited definition to the Bab, then we would see that it doesn't apply to Him either.

But when we look at Baha'u'llah's new definition, wealth and riches being independent of all save God, then we recognize the true wealth of all the Messengers and saints.

Whether in science or philosophy or religion, if we have poor definitions of our terms, then we can only go so far in our understanding before things break down. But when we get a better set of definitions, miracles can seemingly occur. The best example we have of this is Einstein redefining our concepts of time and space. Before his new definitions, we had found the limitations of the Newtonian definitions, and could not get any further in our discoveries. But with Einstein's new definitions, we had breakthroughs in various fields like chemistry, nuclear physics, computer technology, and discovered all the wonders and miracles of the modern age.

The same holds true with these new definitions that Baha'u'llah is giving us, too. When we apply the old definitions, we find that we can only go so far in our understanding of the world. Various quotes and traditions make no sense when we examine them closely. But when we use His new definitions, then wonders open up before our eyes, and everything seems so much clearer.

As we discover these new meanings, and begin to embrace them in our lives, and our vision of the world around us, it is as 'Abdu'l-Baha said, "Thou shalt surely behold wondrous traces and shalt discover the signs of thy Mighty Lord."

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In like manner, it is related that on a certain day, one of the companions of Sádiq complained of his poverty before him. Whereupon, Sádiq, that immortal beauty, made reply: “Verily thou art rich, and hast drunk the draught of wealth.” That poverty-stricken soul was perplexed at the words uttered by that luminous countenance, and said: “Where are my riches, I who stand in need of a single coin?” Sádiq thereupon observed: “Dost thou not possess our love?” He replied: “Yea, I possess it, O thou scion of the Prophet of God!” And Sádiq asked him saying: “Exchangest thou this love for one thousand dinars?” He answered: “Nay, never will I exchange it, though the world and all that is therein be given me!” Then Sádiq remarked: “How can he who possesses such a treasure be called poor?”

Here, Baha'u'llah is continuing His theme of true wealth.

He says, "In like manner...", and we can see the similar refocusing of our understanding of what is meant by wealth. Whereas in the previous paragraph He talks about how poverty and wealth are an internal perception of the true wealth in the world around us, here He looks a bit more closely at what is truly valuable, namely the love of God.

It's very interesting to read this story, in our overly-consumeristic culture, for the emphasis is placed so directly on the intangible. It touches on detachment from the material, and also on the importance of love.

Today, we focus so much of our attention on work and our paycheck that we often forget about what is truly important in our life. Time and again we read of elders who are on their deathbed saying that they regret not spending more time with their family. They will often comment that they have never heard anyone say that they wished they worked a few more hours. Even as we write this, it sounds ridiculous. And yet, this is how we often define ourselves, and others. We talk about our job, or our salary.

In some cultures, though, the emphasis is on family, or religion. They talk about their ancestors or which faith they follow. In these cultures there is often a healthier balance in their lives.

When we see the true wealth of our relations, whether by blood or love, then we are far more aware of the great bounties in our life.

Baha'u'llah, in His Hidden Words, writes, "I have created thee rich and have bountifully shed My favor upon thee." He also says, "I created thee rich, why dost thou bring thyself down to poverty?" In both these quotes, He reminds us of the great gifts He has bestowed upon us, and that it is usually ourselves, through our lack of awareness and gratitude, that create our own inner poverty.

Here, in this story, Sadiq reminds his companion that there are many things worth far more than a few measly coins. The love of one's family, the time spent with one's children, those moments spent growing older with one's spouse: how can any of these be worth sacrificing for a bit of pocket change?

Now, this is not to say that we shouldn't work. Of course we should earn a living. But this is just to help put that into a healthy perspective.

And that, we feel, is one of the things we can learn from this paragraph.

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Thus Jesus, Son of Mary, whilst seated one day and speaking in the strain of the Holy Spirit, uttered words such as these: “O people! My food is the grass of the field, wherewith I satisfy my hunger. My bed is the dust, my lamp in the night the light of the moon, and my steed my own feet. Behold, who on earth is richer than I?” By the righteousness of God! Thousands of treasures circle round this poverty, and a myriad kingdoms of glory yearn for such abasement! Shouldst thou attain to a drop of the ocean of the inner meaning of these words, thou wouldst surely forsake the world and all that is therein, and, as the Phoenix wouldst consume thyself in the flames of the undying Fire.

Back in paragraph 102, the first paragraph in Part 2, Baha'u'llah says that the Messenger of God has "undisputed sovereignty over all that is in heaven and on earth, though no man be found on earth to obey Him." From there, He goes on to say that He is also "independent of all earthly dominion, though He be utterly destitute."

As He has just talked about the issue of sovereignty, we can now see that He is moving on to the next topic, namely that of wealth and poverty.

Here, in this paragraph, we see that He is connecting this to the previous theme with the word "thus". By going back a sentence we read, "Amidst the darkness of their abasement there shineth upon them the light of unfading glory, and upon their helplessness are showered the tokens of an invincible sovereignty." Now He is connecting this to the issue of wealth and poverty, demonstrating the truth of this assertion with the quote from Jesus, which clearly shows His sovereignty over the world.

If we try to focus on what we typically think of as wealth, then we will fall into the same problem as we did when we thought of sovereignty as being an earthly sovereignty. The Manifestations generally are not wealthy, in the sense that They do not have money stored up in a bank somewhere. Their wealth, Their ability to survive in the world, comes from a different perspective of the world itself. They do not count wealth based on what They can buy. They see wealth as a recognition of what is possible.

If we think of wealth as a recognition of choice, and use the buying of a car as our example, then we can clearly see that the more money we have, the more options we have. But when we recognize that we do not need a car, that our feet will carry us more places with less damage to the world around us, then we realize that we have even more choice then we first considered.

Jesus is pointing out, in this quote, that He will never starve, for He sees all the different bounties that God has given us in the world. He can eat the grass in the field, if need be. He will never be homeless, for the entire world is His bed. He has lights in the night far more beautiful than anything in our modern electric world. This, He seems to say, is true wealth, and we should not be distracted by such trivialities as money.

There is another thing here that catch our attention, too: Thousands of treasures circle round this poverty, and a myriad kingdoms of glory yearn for such abasement!

What does this mean?

Perhaps it is a recognition that this poverty, this lack of material wealth is, in fact, worth far more than any material riches. Gold, we know, can be stolen, or lost, but this perspective of our position in the world is eternal. We may lose everything we have of our material possessions, but this understanding of the true bounty all around us allows us to be detached from them.

Tying it back to the issue of sovereignty, He says that these many kingdoms long for such abasement. It reminds us of E. G. Browne's comment that Baha'u'llah was "the object of a devotion and love which kings might envy and emperors sigh for in vain", even though to outward seeming He was a prisoner.

We could talk more about this, but really, Baha'u'llah will further explore this theme over the next few paragraphs.