Knowledge and revelation: insight in the service of humanity

Know that you seek one who is capable of understanding all mysteries and knowledgeable of all sciences in detail. God and His chosen ones bear witness that I neither was nor am such a one.

Briefly, the universal Manifestations of God are aware of the truths underlying the mysteries of all created things, and thus they found a religion that is based upon and consonant with the prevailing condition of humanity. For religion consists in the necessary relationships deriving from the realities of things. If the Manifestation of God--the divine Lawgiver--were not informed of the realities of things, if He did not understand the necessary relationships deriving from these realities, He would assuredly be incapable of establishing a religion consonant with the needs and conditions of the time.

The second kind of discovery is due to the fact that the Prophets are able Physicians and informed of the mysteries of the universe. They have Their finger on the pulse of the world, and They diagnose and foresee the ailments and illnesses which are to come. It is from the appearance, signs, and conditions of the universe itself that They infer these mysteries.

Thou knowest full well that We perused not the books which men possess and We acquired not the learning current amongst them, and yet whenever We desire to quote the sayings of the learned and of the wise, presently there will appear before the face of thy Lord in the form of a tablet all that which hath appeared in the world and is revealed in the Holy Books and Scriptures. Thus do We set down in writing that which the eye perceiveth. Verily His knowledge encompasseth the earth and the heavens.

O King! I was but a man like others, asleep upon My couch, when lo, the breezes of the All-Glorious were wafted over Me, and taught Me the knowledge of all that hath been. This thing is not from Me, but from One Who is Almighty and All-Knowing. And He bade Me lift up My voice between earth and heaven, and for this there befell Me what hath caused the tears of every man of understanding to flow.

Among other things, it was acknowledged by all that He had neither entered a school nor received a religious education. Nonetheless, His knowledge and perfections were well recognized. The learned men of Persia would submit to Him the difficult questions that perplexed their minds, and He would resolve them. To this day, and in spite of their hostility, the dignitaries of Persia bear witness to this matter.

Once He went to Mazindaran where Mirza Muhammad-Taqi, the renowned mujtahid, was in Yalrud. He had nearly a thousand students and had given several of his pupils permission and authority to practice ijtihad. In the evenings there would be gatherings for scholarly discourse where they would relate certain difficult traditions, and when they would become perplexed, the Blessed Beauty would explain the meaning of the tradition. One evening, Mirza Muhammad-Taqi the mujtahid asked his students about a tradition. They offered interpretations which he did not approve. Then the Blessed Beauty gave an explanation and he fell silent. The next day he said to his students who were mujtahids, "For twenty-five years I have trained and taught you. I had supposed you would not be helpless in explaining this tradition, yet a young man wearing a hat has expounded it in such a way."

Consider these answers of His according to the text of the Qur'an, and likewise observe the manifestation of encompassing knowledge, power and greatness of the Most Great Name in this most perfect and most mighty Revelation - in Iran, Iraq, Constantinople, Adrianople, and in the early period of this Most Great Prison when He would grant meetings.

All peoples, tribes, scholars, learned ones, princes and ministers who attained His holy presence acknowledged and confessed the greatness, power and loftiness of station of the Manifestation of Revelation and the Beauty of the Self-Subsisting. They heard convincing answers to their questions, accompanied by their own acknowledgment and confession.

All peoples, tribes, religions and paths were present in the Most Holy Court, and all were submissive and humble. Every seeker asked about the divine mysteries and received a healing, sufficient answer. And any person who asked about the most difficult questions of ancient arts and modern sciences, even obscure sciences, heard a convincing reply.

This matter is renowned throughout all regions and known to all in every direction, despite everyone knowing that throughout His life He had neither studied nor been taught. What greater miracle than this?

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.

Many people crossed the desert of Sinai but it was Moses who heard the voice of God because the divine Manifestations have a spiritual power peculiar to themselves.

The prophets see many things with their inner eye. They do not need to go by discoveries. The scientist with induction is like a blind man who cannot see two steps ahead of him. The prophet sees a long distance."

(That is, the Prophets prove the existence of Intuition or Inner Reason, by showing forth themselves such a comprehension which is beyond the power of any man. They also inspire their disciples with, and develop in them, the same power. This is illustrated in the life, prophetic vision and deeds of the Prophets and their true followers.)

The explanations of the Manifestation were all revelations, and there is not a single learned man on the earth who can produce the like of them.

All these things refer to the corporeal station of the Manifestations; but their heavenly station encompasses all things, is aware of all mysteries, is informed of all signs, and rules supreme over all things. And this is equally true both before and after the intimation of their mission. That is why Christ said: "I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last"--that is, there has never been, nor shall there ever be, any change or alteration in Me.

The stations of the Manifestations of Revelation and Dawning-places of inspiration are diverse, yet the universal Manifestations have been and are aware of all matters. Past and future exist not in that realm.

Tenth letter from Dr. J. F. to Mrs. A. Schwarz, Stuttgart.

Individual conversations of 'Abdu'l-Baha with Miss E. St. Stevens concerning prophecy and prophetic utterances in the Teachings of the Bab and of Baha'u'llah.

Persons: apart from the Master and Miss Stevens, a Persian dragoman, sometimes an intimate of the house or Dr. F. are also present.

Place always: House of the Master, the small reception room.

Time: 2-3 times weekly after sunset.

Duration: One hour and a quarter.

Question from Miss Stevens: Is the concept of prophecy in the Teachings of the Bab the same as in the Teachings of the Divine Manifestation (Baha'u'llah)?

The Master: "In the whole of the Orient the concept of the nature of a Prophet is the same, no matter whether it is the religion of Islam, or the Mosaic or Christian religions, namely: The Prophet, by reason of the personal attributes implanted in Him by the Lord God, is Leader as well as Teacher of His religion (creed). He, the Prophet, reigns and teaches in the name of God. The nature of the Prophet has superhuman traits which prove that He towers above ordinary human nature.

The dignity and burden of prophethood is not conferred on the true Prophet, but it is inborn, created in Him. The penetration of the preexistent Divine Light through the substance of His soul makes the Prophet the Lord of His epoch and confers upon Him extraordinary powers which go far beyond the nature of ordinary man. The substance of the soul of the Prophet is purer than that of the average mortal, it has no traces of ungood impulses, it is aflame with Divine Fire. That is why true Prophets are not susceptible to defilement by sin.

The Divine Light and the Heavenly Fire at the same time confer true perception, a secret knowledge, a sure inspiration, which extend not only to the eternal verities of the religion but also to all worldly, past, contemporary and future occurrences. - You, my daughter, are a Christian and one day will also be a Baha'i - God willing and permitting -, I adduce Jesus Christ, the Messiah of your present Faith, as example and witness: He, the Holy One of God, was He not infallible in three respects: 1. Sinless, 2. Possessor of prophetic secret knowledge and 3. with the justified claim to absolute authority over the things of His Faith, of this world and the next, the earthly and the eternal?

In the Bayan, the Holy Book of the Bab, this blessed, prophetic Forerunner of the Divine Manifestation (Baha'u'llah) has given decisive proof of His prophetic call and endowment, namely: In the revealed verses ('ayat') of the Bayan His magic inspiration, His flowing diction, His rapid grasp (conception), His innate knowledge (ladunni), His power derived from the verses (ayat) over human souls, which are seized as if through a Word of God. For one of the deciding characteristics of the Prophet is that He speaks and writes with divine authority, nay, He may and can introduce God Himself as the subject Who is speaking. His Holiness the Bab has often let the Lord God speak with the formula: 'Say!' This is true of all true Prophets of the Old and New Testaments.

The natural miracles of the Prophet may be explained allegorically, but the verses 'ayat' prove the divine inspiration and the innate knowledge of all things. Great minds, geniuses often have an astonishing school knowledge, be it acquired by themselves (autodidactic), be it acquired through teachers and schooling, but this acquired knowledge ('ilm-i-kasbi), admirable as it is, is not to be compared with the innate knowledge ('ilm-i-ladduni) of a Prophet. Even the unlettered Prophet - see His Holiness, our Lord Muhammad, the unlettered camel-driver - has revealed in the Qur'an verses of a grammatical correctness, purity of style (fasahat) and in a language which touches the heart (balaghat), which will remain for ever the guideline, the eternally valid measure for the Arabic language.

Every true Prophet is by nature - insofar as He needs it in His life - All-Knowing. The Divine Spirit is the 'Constituent' (building element, the Arabic word is illegible) of the earthly world of appearances, thus prophetic knowledge includes not only the metaphysical but also the physical reality, not only the religious, but also the profane. The Lord God, however, is far above any of His prophetic servants, for He, the Highest, is All-Powerful, whereas the Prophet never is, was or will be. The nature of the Prophet in relation to God, His Lord, His Holiness the Bab has already explained as follows: The Prophet is the reflected Sun on earth, the Godhead, however, is the unapproachable, unchanging Sun before and above the earth. The Sun, the Divine Light, radiates its nature, light and warmth without losing any substance, even so does the Prophet radiate His nature without losing anything, for He receives the light and warmth of the Eternal Sun which radiates through Him both light and warmth.

The Prophet is the emanation (radiation) of the Eternal Light. It is not an emanation of substance, but an overflowing, a reflection (literally: reflect, throw back) of light and warmth. All things appertaining to prophethood are a manifestation, a reflection of the Divine."

Pause. The Master receives a message from the French Consul. Some time passes until the Master is again at his guests' disposal.

Master: "Ask, my daughter, what else do you want to know?"

Miss Stevens: "What can be known and said of the 'Divine'?"

Master: "The Divine always presents itself as a mysterious potency (power), (might), as a magic faculty of perception and a mystic force of love (power of love).

The Godhead can be designated as Primal Love and therefore as the oneness of perception and the perceived. Into the abyss (primal depths) of the aloneness of God sink all duality, plurality and individuality. The 'Prophetic' is the perfect reflection of the Divine. All things truly religious are the more-or-less perfect reflection of the Divine, but they will never approach the perfection of the Prophetic reflection of the Divine! The world of the pious (of the just!) represents the sum of more-or-less receptive and reflective mirrors which all reflect the Godhead.

The Easterner understands better than the Westerner that the world (the cosmos) is a reflection of the Creator. The Godhead is represented in the category (the image) of the light, the sun, and the created (the world) is a reflection of Divine Light, for the relationship of the created to the Creator is incomprehensible and can only be seen and represented in a pale comparison (analogy). The true Prophet (there are also false prophets) is thus a pure Manifestation of the divine 'Primal Will'. All the Prophets: Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Christ, Muhammad, the Bab, Baha'u'llah, are of identical stature, in Whom the same Godhead has appeared (manifested Itself) at different times as the same eternal Truth, and Who have merely adapted Themselves to the different stages of development of mankind and its capacity of understanding.

The Prophets and Their religions are to be compared to the sun which rises on different days and at different times - but always as the same, identical in Their nature, differing only as to Their place in history and Their activity -, Who educate mankind as the teacher educates the child. The religion of God is one, only the theophanies (teachings of God) are different."

The Master is called away, the people present are dismissed.

The Blessed Beauty said that the nature of the Most Great Branch reflected the nature of God, and that with but slight attention, He could comprehend sciences and arts that others could not master. Just as the Bab, though having practiced writing for only a few pages, possessed such sweet penmanship, and though attending school for just a few days, had such divine knowledge flow from His blessed heart. Thus it was that the Most Great Branch, upon merely hearing certain outward sciences, became such that no scholar had the power to challenge Him.

Abdu'l-Baha, do You know everything? Saffa Kinney is said to have asked.

No, I do not know everything. But when I need to know something, it is pictured before Me.

There is treasured within this Youth a melody which, were even less than a needle's eye thereof to be disclosed, would cause the mountains to crumble, the leaves to wither, the fruits to fall from the trees, faces to bow down, and all countenances to turn toward this King Whom thou beholdest in the form of fire clothed in light, and at times thou seest Him as waves in this surging ocean, and at times thou beholdest Him as the Tree whose roots are firmly fixed in the earth of grandeur and whose branches and twigs have reached unto a station that hath transcended the Mighty Throne, and at times thou findest Him in the form of the Beloved in this Raiment which none among all creation can recognize, and were they to desire to know Him, they would swoon in their spirits, save him who cometh unto his Lord with a sound heart.

Fourthly: He must answer the questions of all the sages, solve all the difficult problems of humanity and be able to withstand all the persecutions and sufferings heaped upon him.

… Sixthly: His Knowledge must be infinite and his wisdom all-comprehensive.

The Holy, Divine Manifestations are even superior and distinguished in their physical powers from the rest of mankind. For example, even when the Blessed Perfection was not feeling well his pulse did beat regularly like the a pulse of a young man of 20 yrs old. Although for the last three years of His life he hardly ate anything.

As to the pronouncements which, through divine revelation, have issued from the Prophets regarding the advent of the Promised One of the Torah, these likewise were not the cause of Christ's appearance. But the hidden mysteries of the days to come were revealed to the Prophets, who thus became acquainted with future events and who proclaimed them in turn. This knowledge and proclamation were not the cause of the occurrence of these events.