The Manifestation: the source and the reflection

But the individual reality of the Manifestations of the All-Merciful is a sanctified reality, and it is so because it surpasses in essence and in attributes all created things. It is like the sun, which, by virtue of its inherent disposition, must inevitably produce light, and cannot be compared to any satellite.

The people see that holy reality manifest in a human temple, but they do not see the power of the Holy Spirit. They look at the human aspect, and since they see that in their human station they share qualities with other humans - they eat, they sleep, they become ill, they grow weak - therefore they make comparison with themselves and say: "These are like us, they have no distinction.

It is therefore clear and evident that man stands in need of an educator. This educator must undeniably be perfect in every way and distinguished above all men. For if he were like others he could never be their educator, particularly since he must at once be their material, human and spiritual educator.

… Our meaning is that the universal Educator must be at once a material, a human and a spiritual educator, and, soaring above the world of nature, must be possessed of another power, so that He may assume the station of a divine teacher. Were He not to wield such a celestial power, He would not be able to educate, for He would be imperfect Himself. How then could He foster perfection?

But in this age of splendours, this era of God, the pre-eminent Personage, the luminous Orb, the chosen Individual will shine out with such perfections and such power as ultimately to dazzle the minds of every community and group. And since such a Personage is superior to all others in spiritual perfections and heavenly attainments, and is indeed the focal centre of divine blessings and the pivot of the circle of light, He will encompass all others, and there is no doubt whatsoever that He will shine out with such power as to gather every soul into His sheltering shade.

Man, the noblest and most perfect of all created things, excelleth them all in the intensity of this revelation, and is a fuller expression of its glory. And of all men, the most accomplished, the most distinguished and the most excellent are the Manifestations of the Sun of Truth. Nay, all else besides these Manifestations live by the operation of their Will, and move and have their being through the outpourings of their grace.

He Who is everlastingly hidden from the eyes of men can never be known except through His Manifestation, and His Manifestation can adduce no greater proof of the truth of His Mission than the proof of His own Person.

The Dawn hath appeared upon the Temple of Man. Verily this is the Book of the All-Merciful which was mentioned in the Scriptures of God, the Most High, the Most Great. Therein hath been inscribed by the Most Exalted Pen that which none knoweth save His Own Self, the All-Knowing.

This Book can only be known through itself, and this Man can only be known through his own self.

Say: Seek ye forgiveness for what ye have thought concerning Him Who was among you but as one like yourselves. Though ye traverse the earth, ye shall find none like unto Him - and God is witness to this.

Similarly man makes advances along his discipleship in Christ; he does not become Christ. Christ is infinite, while man is finite in comparison to Him.

The other station is the special station of the Prophets, wherein God raiseth up an individual to the station of Prophethood without regard to capacity or qualification, as in the case of Moses, Christ, and Muhammad.

Q. Do "Prophet souls" enjoy the love and faith of Disciples?

A. Those Prophets who are Manifestations of God, sent by God, (Avatars) are of the Essence (Logos) and quite untouched by the faith of disciples, but lesser prophets, those under the shadow of (Avatars) manifestations can be raised by the faith and love of their believers.

Their belief or disbelief in My Cause can neither profit nor harm Me. We summon them wholly for the sake of God. He, verily, can afford to dispense with all creatures.

Man has two planes: the physical and the intellectual. The divine revelators have three: their physical condition, which is shared by all mankind - they eat, they sleep, they are sometimes ill, they become well again, they become fatigued, they undergo all that man can undergo; their intellectual degree and their holy reality which surrounds all beings and comprehends secrets.

… Other men, although able to evolve to a high degree, are still in the second condition; this third state is alone partaken of by the divine messengers although great saints have attained extraordinary pre-eminence and reflect the splendor of the sun.

Thus it is established that the true human bears the divine image and likeness, meaning they receive all divine perfections. Such a person is like a mirror, and divine bestowals are like the rays of the sun--all divine names and perfect attributes are reflected in this mirror.

Such a blessed soul is the center of spiritual manifestations, just as the sun is the center of light in the material world. This blessed soul breathes the breath of life into hearts, making souls spiritual, and divine bestowals shine forth in hearts. Such a blessed soul is the first teacher of the human world and the first manifestor to contingent beings.

O ye leaders of religion! Who is the man amongst you that can rival Me in vision or insight? Where is he to be found that dareth to claim to be My equal in utterance or wisdom?

Similarly, each type of human being has a spiritual station and progresses within his own rank and station. A dull person, no matter how much severe discipline he may undergo, no matter how much he may strive and be transformed, can never attain to the station of the Manifestations of Revelation and the Dawning-places of inspiration. The tree of Zaqqum cannot become a lofty palm, nor can the bitter colocynth yield sweet fruit. What fantasies are these, what strange conjectures, that people give ear to such delusions!

As for the possibility of all creation attaining the station of the Prophets, this is not possible since creation has ranks - the lower cannot comprehend the higher - "He created you in degrees." A hard stone cannot become a red ruby, and pottery and shells cannot become brilliant pearls. … The believers of this Manifestation can reach the station of the Prophets of Israel, but not the Manifestations of Universal Divine Authority, for they were Universal Manifestations. In brief, the Universal Manifestations of God who shone forth independently have another station and another condition - no one can attain their station and rank.

So he who occupies the degree of servitude, no matter how far he may progress and acquire endless perfections, can never reach the degree of divine Lordship.

… For example, Peter cannot become Christ. At most he can attain infinite perfections in the degrees of servitude; for every existing reality is capable of progress.

Know thou that the Manifestation hath not emerged from the four elements, but rather is the Mystery of Oneness, the Pre-existent Essence, the Self-Subsisting Reality, and the Hidden Identity. Indeed, He cannot be known through aught else, nor can it be established for anyone that He hath appeared from the four elements, or from the basic substances mentioned in the language of the philosophers, or from the four natures - for all these were created by His command and will.

… Were He to be known through any other than Himself, His essence could not be proven free from similitude, nor His being sanctified from likeness, nor His uniqueness from the manifestations of creation.

All praise to the unity of God, and all honor to Him, the sovereign Lord, the incomparable and all-glorious Ruler of the universe, Who, out of utter nothingness, hath created the reality of all things, Who, from naught, hath brought into being the most refined and subtle elements of His creation, and Who, rescuing His creatures from the abasement of remoteness and the perils of ultimate extinction, hath received them into His kingdom of incorruptible glory. Nothing short of His all-encompassing grace, His all-pervading mercy, could have possibly achieved it. How could it, otherwise, have been possible for sheer nothingness to have acquired by itself the worthiness and capacity to emerge from its state of nonexistence into the realm of being?

Having created the world and all that liveth and moveth therein, He, through the direct operation of His unconstrained and sovereign Will, chose to confer upon man the unique distinction and capacity to know Him and to love Him -- a capacity that must needs be regarded as the generating impulse and the primary purpose underlying the whole of creation, as mentioned in the well-known sacred tradition. He honored and distinguished man with the robe of honor - "We have created man in the best of forms" - and with the mantle of grace and favor - "Blessed be God, the most excellent of creators". Upon the inmost reality of each and every created thing He hath shed the light of one of His names, and made it a recipient of the glory of one of His attributes. Upon the reality of man, however, He hath focused the radiance of all of His names and attributes, and made it a mirror of His own Self. Alone of all created things man hath been singled out for so great a favor, so enduring a bounty.

These energies with which the Daystar of Divine bounty and Source of heavenly guidance hath endowed the reality of man lie, however, latent within him, even as the flame is hidden within the candle and the rays of light are potentially present in the lamp. The radiance of these energies may be obscured by worldly desires even as the light of the sun can be concealed beneath the dust and dross which cover the mirror. Neither the candle nor the lamp can be lighted through their own unaided efforts, nor can it ever be possible for the mirror to free itself from its dross. It is clear and evident that until a fire is kindled the lamp will never be ignited, and unless the dross is blotted out from the face of the mirror it can never represent the image of the sun nor reflect its light and glory.

And since there can be no tie of direct intercourse to bind the one true God with His creation, and no resemblance whatever can exist between the transient and the Eternal, the contingent and the Absolute, He hath ordained that in every age and dispensation a pure and stainless Soul be made manifest in the kingdoms of earth and heaven. Unto this subtle, this mysterious and ethereal Being He hath assigned a twofold nature: the physical, pertaining to the world of matter, and the spiritual, which is born of the substance of God Himself. He hath, moreover, conferred upon Him a double station. The first station, which is related to His innermost reality, representeth Him as One Whose voice is the voice of God Himself. To this testifieth the tradition: "Manifold and mysterious is My relationship with God. I am He, Himself, and He is I, Myself, except that I am that I am, and He is that He is." And in like manner, the words: "Arise, O Muhammad, for lo, the Lover and the Beloved are joined together and made one in Thee." He similarly saith: "There is no distinction whatsoever between Thee and Them, except that They are Thy Servants." The second station is the human station, exemplified by the following verses: "I am but a man like you." "Say, praise be to my Lord! Am I more than a man, an apostle?" These Essences of Detachment, these resplendent Realities are the channels of God's all-pervasive grace. Led by the light of unfailing guidance, and invested with supreme sovereignty, They are commissioned to use the inspiration of Their words, the effusions of Their infallible grace and the sanctifying breeze of Their Revelation for the cleansing of every longing heart and receptive spirit from the dross and dust of earthly cares and limitations. Then, and only then, will the Trust of God, latent in the reality of man, emerge, as resplendent as the rising Orb of Divine Revelation, from behind the veil of concealment, and implant the ensign of its revealed glory upon the summits of men's hearts.

From the foregoing passages and allusions it hath been made indubitably clear that in the kingdoms of earth and heaven there must needs be manifested a Being, an Essence Who shall act as a Manifestation and Vehicle for the transmission of the grace of the Divinity Itself, the Sovereign Lord of all. Through the Teachings of this Daystar of Truth every man will advance and develop until he attaineth the station at which he can manifest all the potential forces with which his inmost true self hath been endowed. It is for this very purpose that in every age and dispensation the Prophets of God and His chosen Ones have appeared amongst men, and have evinced such power as is born of God and such might as only the Eternal can reveal.

Can one of sane mind ever seriously imagine that, in view of certain words the meaning of which he cannot comprehend, the portal of God's infinite guidance can ever be closed in the face of men? Can he ever conceive for these Divine Luminaries, these resplendent Lights either a beginning or an end? What outpouring flood can compare with the stream of His all-embracing grace, and what blessing can excel the evidences of so great and pervasive a mercy? There can be no doubt whatever that if for one moment the tide of His mercy and grace were to be withheld from the world, it would completely perish. For this reason, from the beginning that hath no beginning the portals of Divine mercy have been flung open to the face of all created things, and the clouds of Truth will continue to the end that hath no end to rain on the soil of human capacity, reality and personality their favors and bounties. Such hath been God's method continued from everlasting to everlasting.

However, after the appearance of these holy Countenances in the world of manifestation and witness, some souls and people become afflicted with the darkness of ignorance - the fruit of their own deeds - while others become occupied with passing vanities. And since that hidden Beauty calls all people to complete detachment and sacrifice, they therefore turn away and stretch forth their hands in harm and injury.

And since these Monarchs of existence, in the world of the spirits, accepted with utmost desire and yearning all tribulations in God's path, they therefore deliver themselves into the hands of their enemies, such that whatever harm and injury they can inflict upon the bodies, limbs and members of these sanctified Essences in the realm of earth and witness, they carry out. And since the believers and loved ones are like the branches and leaves of this blessed Tree, whatever befalls the root of the Tree must surely befall its branches, twigs and leaves.

This is why in all ages such tribulations and afflictions have been and will be the portion of the lovers of the All-Glorious Beauty. There has never been a time when these Manifestations of Divine Unity appeared in the earthly realm without such tribulations, afflictions and ordeals. Though outwardly imprisoned and the victims and outcasts of the land, yet inwardly they are the recipients of God's hidden favors. And though they are deprived of physical comfort and bodily pleasures, yet they partake of spiritual comfort and the delights of the fruits of inner meaning and the holy celestial yields.

Were people to observe with the eye of insight, it would become evident that these trials and tribulations, these hardships and calamities, which have descended upon the sincere ones and the believers, are the essence of comfort and the reality of bounty, while this comfort and glory of those who have turned away from the truth is itself affliction, torment and hardship. For the consequence and fruit of these tribulations is the supreme comfort and the cause of attaining the highest horizon, while the recompense and effect of this comfort is great hardship and affliction, and the cause of descent to the nethermost depths. Therefore, at no time should one be saddened by the descent of trials and tribulations, nor should one be sorrowful and grief-stricken by the manifestation of ordained events and calamities. Rather, one must hold fast to the firm handle of patience and cleave to the strong cord of forbearance, for the Lord hath ordained a measure and reckoning for the reward of every good deed except patience, concerning which He saith: "Verily, the patient will be paid their recompense without measure."

I remember and long for Aqa Mirza Ismail with the utmost yearning and attachment. God willing, may you ever abide secure and at rest beneath the shadow of God's grace.

I testify that Thou wast a hidden Treasure wrapped within Thine immemorial Being and an impenetrable Mystery enshrined in Thine own Essence. Wishing to reveal Thyself, Thou didst call into being the Greater and the Lesser Worlds, and didst choose Man above all Thy creatures, and didst make Him a sign of both of these worlds, O Thou Who art our Lord, the Most Compassionate!

Thou didst raise Him up to occupy Thy throne before all the people of Thy creation. Thou didst enable Him to unravel Thy mysteries, and to shine with the lights of Thine inspiration and Thy Revelation, and to manifest Thy names and Thine attributes.

Exalted, immeasurably exalted, art Thou above the strivings of mortal man to unravel Thy mystery, to describe Thy glory, or to even hint at the nature of Thine Essence. For whatever such strivings may accomplish, they can never hope to transcend the limitations imposed upon Thy creatures, inasmuch as these efforts are actuated by Thy decree, and are begotten of Thine invention. The loftiest sentiments which the holiest of saints can express in praise of Thee, and the deepest wisdom which the most learned of men can utter in their attempts to comprehend Thy nature, all revolve around that Center Which is wholly subjected to Thy sovereignty, Which adoreth Thy Beauty, and is propelled through the movement of Thy Pen.

The Holy Divine Manifestations are Unique and Peerless. They are the Archetypes of Celestial and Spiritual Virtues in their own age and cycle. They stand on the Mount of Vision and they foreshadow the perfection of the evolving race.

Catalogue reference: ABU0128 · passage alignment is approximate; supplied wording retained.