Prophetic awareness: the light before its public dawning

In the Gospel it is said: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God." It follows then that Christ did not attain His Messianic station and His perfections at the moment of His baptism, when the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in the form of a dove. Rather, the Word of God has always been, and will ever remain, in the loftiest heights of sanctity.

Whomsoever He ordaineth as a Prophet, he, verily, hath been a Prophet from the beginning that hath no beginning, and will thus remain until the end that hath no end, inasmuch as this is an act of God.

From the beginning, that sanctified Reality is undoubtedly aware of the secret of existence, and from childhood the signs of greatness are clearly manifested in Him. How then could He fail, in spite of such bounties and perfections, to be conscious of His own station?

'Abdu'l-Baha: "It was hidden from others, but manifest to him. The story about the dove is simply a metaphor. No dove came down. Amongst the people, John the Baptist felt that the Holy Spirit was in Christ. The Holy Spirit was always with Christ. He knew about his mission from early childhood."

The dignity and burden of prophethood is not conferred on the true Prophet, but it is inborn, created in Him.

All have witnessed that at the time of His birth there appeared signs that were unique to His station and manifest only in relation to His rank. At the very moment His body appeared, signs of prophethood were inscribed upon His shoulder in such wise that none other could possibly attain to this mighty station.

No one entered his presence without becoming awe-stricken by his might. The learned men who approached him were astounded at his knowledge, yet he never attended school nor learned of men. His friends and his family all testify to this, yet his teachings are the soul of this age.

The sun emanates from itself and does not draw its light from other sources. The divine teachers have the innate light; they have knowledge and understanding of all things in the universe; the rest of the world receives its light from them and through them the arts and sciences are revived in each age.

Investigate the reality and in whomsoever these conditions are fulfilled, know ye of a certainty that he is the Great Master.

… Thirdly: His Knowledge must be innate and spontaneous and not acquired.

But the light of this Perfect Man must be heavenly, not earthly; His perfections must be innate, not acquired; and His writings must be unbounded bestowals, not the products of the finite disciplines of this limited and contingent world.

Say: The Holy Spirit Itself hath been generated through the agency of a single letter revealed by this Most Great Spirit, if ye be of them that comprehend. And that innate and untaught nature in its essence is called into being by the verses of God, the Help in Peril, the All-Glorious, the Best-Beloved. Say: This nature prideth itself in its relation to Our transcendent Truth, whilst We, for Our part, glory neither in it nor in aught else, for all beside Myself hath been created through the potency of My word, could ye but understand.

I was asleep on My couch, when lo, the Breeze of God wafting over Me roused Me from My slumber. His quickening Spirit revived Me, and My tongue was unloosed to voice His Call.

At age seven, one day as the Blessed Beauty was walking, His mother, observing His blessed figure, said He was somewhat short in stature. The father of the Blessed Beauty said, "You do not know what capacity and capability He possesses, how intelligent and brilliant He is. He is like a flame of fire. At this young age He surpasses mature youth.

Consider, for instance, at the time of the manifestation of the universal Manifestation, before that Ancient Being maketh Himself known and uttereth the creative Word, the world existed but none had knowledge of Him. Likewise, He was the Creator but no creation existed with Him, for at that moment the spirit is withdrawn from all to which the name "thing" can be applied.

The Universal Manifestations of the past were aware before the Revelation. They are the Dawning-places of divine knowledge.

O people of the Bayan! We, verily, set foot within the School of God when ye lay slumbering; and We perused the Tablet while ye were fast asleep.

Were We to address Our theme by speaking in the language of the inmates of the Kingdom, We would say: "In truth, God created that School ere He created heaven and earth, and We entered it before the letters B and E were joined and knit together."

I lay asleep on the bed of self when lo, Thou didst waken me with the divine accents of Thy voice, and didst unveil to me Thy beauty, and didst enable me to listen to Thine utterances, and to recognize Thy Self, and to speak forth Thy praise, and to extol Thy virtues, and to be steadfast in Thy love.

Some have assumed that the divine Manifestations are not aware of their inner truth prior to the day of revelation, like a lamp which is deprived of light. However, this is a mistake, for the holy Manifestations have been distinguished from the beginning.

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The Manifestations no doubt had some consciousness of Their station, but what the nature of that consciousness was we do not know.

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