The twin Manifestations: recognition and relationship

I manifested Myself aforetime under the name of 'Ali and took from all in the world, by His tongue, the covenant of My Self.

O people! He is My Beloved and I am His Beloved. Whatsoever appeareth from Me is His purpose preserved in tablets of glory. He spoke not except in praise of Me, and I speak not except in remembrance of Him, the Inaccessible, the Most High.

This is the foundation of the belief of the people of Baha (may my life be offered up for them): "His Holiness, the Exalted One (the Bab), is the Manifestation of the Unity and Oneness of God and the Forerunner of the Ancient Beauty. His Holiness the Abha Beauty (may my life be a sacrifice for His steadfast friends) is the Supreme Manifestation of God and the Dayspring of His Most Divine Essence. All others are servants unto Him and do His bidding."

We have already in the foregoing pages assigned two stations unto each of the Luminaries arising from the Daysprings of eternal holiness. One of these stations, the station of essential unity, We have already explained. "No distinction do We make between any of them." The other is the station of distinction, and pertaineth to the world of creation and to the limitations thereof. In this respect, each Manifestation of God hath a distinct individuality, a definitely prescribed mission, a predestined Revelation, and specially designated limitations.

Know verily that whenever this Youth turneth His eyes towards His own self, he findeth it the most insignificant of all creation. When He contemplates, however, the bright effulgences He hath been empowered to manifest, lo, that self is transfigured before Him into a sovereign Potency permeating the essence of all things visible and invisible.

When I contemplate, O my God, the relationship that bindeth me to Thee, I am moved to proclaim to all created things "verily I am God!"; and when I consider my own self, lo, I find it coarser than clay!

Men have failed to perceive Our purpose in the references We have made to Divinity and Godhood. … The Seal of the Prophets -- may the souls of all else but Him be offered up for His sake -- saith: "Manifold are Our relationships with God. At one time, We are He Himself, and He is We Ourself. At another He is that He is, and We are that We are."

Gate One of the Fourth Unity,

explaining that the Point hath two stations: a station in which He speaketh on the part of God; and a station in which He speaketh of that which is other than God, which latter is the station of His servitude unto the former station, wherein He worshippeth God both night and day, and singeth praise to Him both at morn and at eventide.

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.

Concerning the question: "Which of these creeds is acceptable and which of these leaders is to be preferred?", this is the station wherein the following blessed words shine resplendent as the sun: "No distinction do We make between any of His Messengers", while the verse "Some of the Apostles We have caused to excel the others" pertaineth to the other station of which We have already made mention.

Thus, should the mirrored Sun proclaim, 'I am the Sun!' this is but truth; and should It cry, 'I am not the Sun!' this is the truth as well.

The Manifestations of God are like so many different mirrors, as They each have Their own distinct individuality, but that which is reflected in these mirrors is one and the same sun.

Question: "And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come."

Answer: The sanctified realities of the Manifestations of God have two spiritual stations: One is that of the state of divine manifestation, which can be compared to the orb of the sun, and the other is that of radiance and revelation, which may be likened to the divine light and perfections--the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Manifestations of God possess two stations: one is the physical station, and one the spiritual. In other words, one station is that of a human being, and one, of the Divine Reality.

And verily the glory be upon the First Unity and upon them who resemble that Unity wherein naught is seen save the First Unity. Then bear thou witness that there is no harmer save God and no benefiter besides Him. This hath not been made manifest except from the Sun of Truth in all its manifestations and in its concealment, according to what hath been ordained in its manifestation.

It must be evident to thee that the divine Cause, the celestial Will, and the heavenly Purpose have never been confined by limitations. In some ages there hath been a single Soul, and in other times multiple Temples have appeared from the Dayspring of the Cause, as is recorded and evident in all the Books of old and recent times.

… And if in certain utterances of the Manifestations of the Cause and holy Dawning-places thou perceivest limitation to one, be not veiled thereby but consider the origin of the divine Tree and holy Sapling, for the Cause of God hath ever appeared and shall ever appear without limit or number.

O dear one! All nations await two Manifestations, and these two Manifestations signify the Blessed Beauty (i.e. Baha'u'llah) and His Holiness the Bab. Words are different, but the purpose is one. One has called Him "Mahdi" and another hath called Him "Christ". One hath named the Blessed Beauty (i.e. Baha'ullah) the "Lord of Hosts" and another hath called Him the "Heavenly Father".

Ye have been illumined by the guiding light of the glad tidings emanating from the morning brightness of the Bab, may my spirit be a sacrifice to His exalted holiness. And ye have received a generous portion from the effulgent rays of the loving providence of the great Luminary of the Concourse on High, the Abha Beauty Himself.

The Ancient Beauty---may my life be offered up for His loved ones---did not to outward seeming meet His Holiness, the Exalted One---may my life be a sacrifice unto Him. [cf. BH06483]

The Faithful Spirit, Gabriel, the Holy Spirit, and the One mighty in power are all designations of the same Reality.

It is this same Manifestation Whose covenant Thou hast bidden Him establish ere He had established His own covenant. He it is Whose praise the Bayan hath celebrated. In it His excellence hath been extolled, and His truth established, and His sovereignty proclaimed, and His Cause perfected.

This is the Day whereon the Point of the Bayan called out from the midmost heart of Paradise, saying: "O people! This is He in Whose path I laid down My life. This is He for Whose sake I revealed Myself and of Whose presence I bore unto you the most joyful tidings.

This is the Primal Point, Who circles round the Throne and proclaims with His most exalted call: "O my people! This is He Whom I gave you glad tidings of in the Books of God and what the All-Merciful revealed in the Furqan through His words 'the Day when thy Lord cometh, or some of the signs of thy Lord,' if ye be of those who know.

He it was Whom Thou hast determined to be the Herald of Thy Most Great Revelation and the Announcer of Thy Most Ancient Splendor.

… And when Thy promise came to pass and the set time was fulfilled, He Who is the Possessor of all Names and Attributes was made manifest unto men.

Say: By God! The Beauty of the First hath appeared in the Point of the Last. By God! This is thy Lord, the Most High, and whoso turneth away from Him and denieth His signs hath indeed gone astray and transgressed.

Leave behind what thou hast and take what hath been sent down unto thee from the One mighty in His Cause, Who hath appeared and proclaimed: "Verily, He appeared once by the name of 'Ali, then by this name in His final return."

Say: Verily He appeared aforetime under the name of 'Ali before Nabil, and in this Revelation under the name of Husayn before 'Ali.

Verily, He appeared by the name of Ali in the first time, then by the name of Husayn in another time.

He has come as 'Ali came from the heaven of the Cause with manifest sovereignty, and He commands you but what 'Ali commanded before.

However, O my God, since he believed in Thee through Thy First Beauty, whom Thou didst distinguish above Thy servants, making Him the Seal of Thy Prophets, the Beginning of Thy Chosen Ones, a Light in Thy lands, and a treasure and honor for Thy trusted ones - therefore Thou didst make the end of his days the beginning of Thy days, and the ultimate attainment of his maturity the attainment to the Manifestations of Thy unity and arrival in the precincts of Thy oneness.

Therefore, O my God, waft over him from the Ridvan of Thine eternity the breezes of Thy essence and the winds of Thy oneness, that he may know the mysteries of Thy uniqueness in the temples of Thy detachment and acknowledge Thy Later Beauty just as he acknowledged Thy majesty in Thy First Beauty.

Say: Verily He appeared once in the name of 'Ali, and this is His subsequent manifestation, whereat all who are in the heavens and on earth were struck with terror, save them whom God preserved through His grace, and unto Him shall all things return both in the latter and former times.

As to what thou hast asked about God thy Lord concerning what We revealed aforetime unto Muhammad in Arabic, know thou that the first one We sent with truth was Ali whom We caused to shine forth from the Persian horizon and sent down upon clouds of the Spirit from an exalted heaven, and the last one We sent was also Ali whom We named in the Supreme Concourse by Our Most Holy Name, if thou be of them that know.

The appearance of His Holiness the Primal Point, Herald of the Blessed Beauty (may my spirit be sacrificed for Him) in the dream world indicates the manifestation of lights and diffusion of signs. … And the blessed explanation in establishing the reality of the letter "Ha" between the two - this "Ha" is the "Ha" of Identity which falls between "Ba" and "Alif" and indicates that the first Manifestation is contained within the second Manifestation. The Second Manifestation represents the completion of the Word.

The Qayyum hath appeared after the Qa'im and hath arisen to the Cause with a sovereignty before which all who are in the heavens and on earth shall bow down, as attesteth the Book of God, the Mighty, the Wise.

Time and again it has flowed from the pen of 'Abdu'l-Baha and has been explicitly and conclusively declared that what is meant in the prophecies by the Lord of Hosts and the Promised Christ is the Blessed Beauty and the Exalted One [the Bab], and the beliefs of all must be centered on this explicit and conclusive text.

All the Scriptures have foretold the advent of two Manifestations, even as the Gospel doth refer to the coming of Elijah and the Messiah, by which is meant the Bab and Baha'u'llah. There is no third Manifestation.

All the peoples of the world are awaiting two Manifestations, Who must be contemporaneous. This is what they all have been promised. In the Torah the Jews are promised the Lord of Hosts and the Messiah. In the Gospel, the return of Christ and Elijah is foretold. In the religion of Muhammad there is the promise of the Mahdi and the Messiah.

Abdu'l-Baha answered:

In the Book of the Zend-Avesta the Zoroastrians are awaiting the Coming of two Manifestations. Also, in the Old Testament Scriptures there is the promise of Elijah and Messiah. In the Gospel of the New Testament they are expecting the Father and the Second Coming of Christ. Likewise, in the Qur'an the Muhammadans have the promise of the Imam Mihdi and Christ.

The Reality of God in them never varies; only the garment in which the Primal Reality is clothed is different according to the time and place of their Appearance and Declaration to the world. One Day it is the garment of Abraham, then Moses, then Jesus, then Baha'u'llah.

… The Manifestations are as suns in the Heaven of the Divine Will. Sometimes the sun and moon are far apart; for instance, in the middle of month they are 180 degrees from each other. But in the beginning and end of the lunar month they are only one degree apart.

In the Qur'an Muhammad prophesied that in this Day the Sun and Moon will meet in Heaven; that is, the spiritual Sun and Moon of this Dispensation will rise together in the form of man.

This is the sincere, true, clear and evident belief of the people of the Most Glorious Kingdom and the dwellers of the Supreme Heaven: that the Universal Manifestations, who are the Primal Points, the Suns of Truth, and the Sources of divine outpourings, culminated in the Most Great Manifestation and the Ancient Beauty (may my spirit be sacrificed for His loved ones' feet).

Every proof and prophecy, every manner of evidence, whether based on reason or on the text of the scriptures and traditions, are to be regarded as centered in the persons of Baha'u'llah and the Bab. In them is to be found their complete fulfillment.

December 1---In this greatest period there are only two manifestations, the blessed Bab (May my soul be a ransom to him!) and the Manifestation of the Blessed Perfection (Glory be to Him!).

"To remove any source of differentiation, the Believers must know that the Blessed Bab was giving the glad tidings of the coming of the Blessed Perfection, and the Blessed Perfection was the Great Manifestation.

Know thou moreover that the two calves did transgress against God in these two Names and these two most ancient Ornaments in the two most exalted Words, and they betrayed themselves in their heedlessness of these two Mysteries in this Light that hath shone forth from these two Horizons. By God! This is the Beauty manifest in these two hidden and concealed Symbols that are glorified in both worlds, and this is the Mystery veiled in the two veils.

Those denied God when He appeared with the name of 'Ali in truth, and these have denied Him when He appeared once again with this Name, at which all who are in the heavens and earth were struck with terror.

The second obligation is to establish the oneness of the invisible Beauty of Abha and the perfect divine Manifestation of the Primal Point and the pure, absolute, essential, inner, true, explicit servitude of 'Abdu'l-Baha without any trace of mention other than that.

I wrote that his highness The Supreme (Bab) was the fore-runner like John the Baptist, like the dawn. The Blessed Beauty is the sun and I am Abdul Baha and no one should go beyond that.

He gave the impression of being very modest about his own teaching, adding that the East was in a bad way, needed light, and had to be told these things. That was the reason for Bahaullah and the Bab.

So blessed are you and I, both of whom entered under the shadow of servitude to His Holiness the Herald (may my spirit be sacrificed for Him) and His Holiness the Abha Beauty (may my being be sacrificed for His luminous threshold).

O you who are steadfast in the Covenant and firm in the Testament! Give thanks to the Mighty, the Ever-Living, the Self-Subsisting Lord that from the beginning of the Cause you drank of the sealed wine and heard with your heart and soul the life-giving call of the Primal Point, His Holiness the Exalted One (may my spirit and being be sacrificed for Him), and responded with heart and soul "Yea, verily" to the call of "Am I not?" from the Abha Beauty (may my spirit be a sacrifice for His loved ones), and threaded the pearl of praise and thanksgiving to the Lord of Creation, cleansed your heart from all save the Friend, attained the presence of God, and were honored to hear His address openly.

From early youth you were assisted and confirmed, and in all occasions and circumstances you stood firm. And now too you remain firm and steadfast in the Covenant and Testament like an iron foundation, dwelling beneath the shade of the Tree of Life and protected in the impregnable fortress of the Covenant.

This is the most great gift and this is the supreme bounty. This is divine favor and this is heavenly mercy. Praise be to God, you have been and will continue to be the recipient of the favors of the Ancient Beauty from all directions.

And upon the people of Baha be the Glory.

...one person envisages the Unseen, the Transcendent, the Inaccessible One (God; ghayb-i-mani' la yudrak) in the Person (haykal) of the Manifestation (of God; zuhur) without making any distinction (fasl; or division) or connection (between them; wasl/union). Others there are who recognize the Person (haykal) of the Manifestation as the Appearance of God ([Himself] or theophany, zuhur'u'llah) and consider the commands and prohibitions of the Manifestation to be identical with such as originate with the One True God. These two positions (maqam) are both acceptable before the throne of God.

Catalogue reference: BH01034 · passage alignment is approximate; supplied wording retained.

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No distinction can be made amongst the Prophets in the sense that They all proceed from One Source, and are of One Essence. But Their stations and functions in this world are different.

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There can be no doubt that the claim to the twofold station ordained for the Bab by the Almighty ... constitutes the most distinctive feature of the Baha'i Dispensation. It is a further evidence of its uniqueness, a tremendous accession to the strength, to the mysterious power and authority with which this holy cycle has been invested.

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