"O Third Letter of this Temple, betokening My name, the All-Bountiful! We have made thee the dawning-place of Our bounty amidst Our creatures and the fountainhead of Our generosity amidst Our people. Powerful am I in My dominion. Nothing whatsoever of all that hath been created in the heavens or on the earth can escape My knowledge, and I am the True One, the Knower of things unseen."
Comments:
• As was explained in the comments associated with Paragraph 1.37, the third Arabic letter of the word Haykal (Temple) is the letter ‘Kaf’ which according to Baha’u’llah is representative of the attribute of ‘ the All-Bountiful’ with respect to the Manifestation of God.
• It is such a comforting thought to know that one of the names of the Manifestation of God is ‘the All-Bountiful’! Judging by the meaning of the word ‘bountiful’ in the dictionary as ‘giving freely and graciously; generous’, one becomes aware that when this quality is attributed to the Manifestation of God it takes on many meanings. We will explore these later in the context of the themes elaborated by Baha’u’llah in the next six Paragraphs of this powerful Tablet.
• The phrase the “dawning-place” normally reminds one of the daily cycles of the earth orbiting the sun resulting in sunrise and sunset. So, just like the physical sun that keeps our solar system together and is the very source of life on our planet, we should remind ourselves that, metaphorically speaking, the third Letter of the word Haykal (namely the letter ‘k’) is a spiritual Sun that the Manifestation of God has created as a symbol of His “bounty amidst … [His] creatures and the fountainhead of …[His] generosity] amidst .. [His] people.” Mind boggling, isn’t it!? It really makes us feel small and dependent!
March 30, 2010
March 23, 2010
Paragraph 1.38
"O Second Letter of this Temple, betokening My name, the Almighty! We have made thee the manifestation of Our sovereignty and the dayspring of Our Names. Potent am I to fulfil that which My tongue speaketh."
Comments:
• As was explained in the comments associated with Paragraph 1.37, the second Arabic letter of the word Haykal (Temple) is the letter Ya', symbolizing the word Qadir (Almighty), of which Ya' is the third letter.
• In this paragraph we become aware that the attribute of “Almighty” is one of the characteristics of the Primal Will of God, as manifested by Baha’u’llah. He refers to it as “the manifestation” of His “sovereignty” and the “dayspring” of His “Names.” So, once again, as a token of His abiding grace, Baha’u’llah is making us gently aware of the potentialities, qualities and attributes of the Entity called the Primal Will of God, an Entity that throughout the recorded and unrecorded history of man’s existence on this planet has presented Itself as Manifestations of God in our midst.
• The word ‘dayspring’ is defined in the dictionary as ‘dawn’ and the word ‘Almighty’ as ‘having unlimited power and all-powerful.’ So, our “partial and imperfect” understanding will lead us to postulate that just like our physical sun that when it rises at dawn it provides us with a smaller measure of its greater potency that we could experience at noon, similarly, we should perhaps view the attribute of “Almighty” with respect to the spiritual Sun. In other words, although “Almighty” is one of the “names” of the Manifestation of God and that it implies ‘having unlimited power, and the all-powerful’, it does not mean that it represents the full potency of the powers with which God has endowed His Primal Will with His “Names” and Their progressive appearances through His Manifestations.
Comments:
• As was explained in the comments associated with Paragraph 1.37, the second Arabic letter of the word Haykal (Temple) is the letter Ya', symbolizing the word Qadir (Almighty), of which Ya' is the third letter.
• In this paragraph we become aware that the attribute of “Almighty” is one of the characteristics of the Primal Will of God, as manifested by Baha’u’llah. He refers to it as “the manifestation” of His “sovereignty” and the “dayspring” of His “Names.” So, once again, as a token of His abiding grace, Baha’u’llah is making us gently aware of the potentialities, qualities and attributes of the Entity called the Primal Will of God, an Entity that throughout the recorded and unrecorded history of man’s existence on this planet has presented Itself as Manifestations of God in our midst.
• The word ‘dayspring’ is defined in the dictionary as ‘dawn’ and the word ‘Almighty’ as ‘having unlimited power and all-powerful.’ So, our “partial and imperfect” understanding will lead us to postulate that just like our physical sun that when it rises at dawn it provides us with a smaller measure of its greater potency that we could experience at noon, similarly, we should perhaps view the attribute of “Almighty” with respect to the spiritual Sun. In other words, although “Almighty” is one of the “names” of the Manifestation of God and that it implies ‘having unlimited power, and the all-powerful’, it does not mean that it represents the full potency of the powers with which God has endowed His Primal Will with His “Names” and Their progressive appearances through His Manifestations.
March 10, 2010
Paragraph 1.37
"O First Letter of this Temple, betokening the Essence of Divinity! We have made thee the treasury of My Will and the repository of My Purpose unto all who are in the kingdoms of revelation and creation. This is but a token of the grace of Him Who is the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting."
Comments:
• In the Endnotes section of the Summons of the Lord of Hosts book we read an explanation concerning the first line of this paragraph:
"The word Haykal (Temple) is composed in Arabic of the four letters Ha', Ya', Kaf and Lam (HYKL). Its first letter is taken to symbolize the word Huviyyah (Essence of Divinity); its second letter the word Qadir (Almighty), of which Ya' is the third letter; its third letter the word Karim (All-Bountiful); and its fourth letter the word Fadl (Grace), of which Lam is the third letter."
• Scholars of the Faith have indicated that the word "Haykal" (Temple) is generally used in both Arabic and Persian languages. Its root is traced back to the Sumerian language where it referred to a physical temple, a place of worship or a castle -- a concept used in the Judo-Christian religions to mainly refer to the Jerusalem temple. In Arabic and Persian it has many meanings and connotations among them is the body or temple of a human being.
• In the Baha’i context, we will see later in Paragraph 1.44 that Baha’u’llah addresses His human temple as the Haykal (Temple):
Comments:
• In the Endnotes section of the Summons of the Lord of Hosts book we read an explanation concerning the first line of this paragraph:
"The word Haykal (Temple) is composed in Arabic of the four letters Ha', Ya', Kaf and Lam (HYKL). Its first letter is taken to symbolize the word Huviyyah (Essence of Divinity); its second letter the word Qadir (Almighty), of which Ya' is the third letter; its third letter the word Karim (All-Bountiful); and its fourth letter the word Fadl (Grace), of which Lam is the third letter."
• Scholars of the Faith have indicated that the word "Haykal" (Temple) is generally used in both Arabic and Persian languages. Its root is traced back to the Sumerian language where it referred to a physical temple, a place of worship or a castle -- a concept used in the Judo-Christian religions to mainly refer to the Jerusalem temple. In Arabic and Persian it has many meanings and connotations among them is the body or temple of a human being.
• In the Baha’i context, we will see later in Paragraph 1.44 that Baha’u’llah addresses His human temple as the Haykal (Temple):
March 2, 2010
Paragraph 1.36
"O Living Temple! We have, in very truth, appointed Thee to be the sign of My majesty amidst all that hath been and all that shall be, and have ordained Thee to be the emblem of My Cause betwixt the heavens and the earth, through My word "Be", and it is!"
Comments:
• In this and the succeeding three paragraphs, we get further glimpses of that incredible realm associated with the Manifestation of God – its majesty, power and grandeur -- as well as its numerous mysteries. It is as if, Baha’u’llah, in His loving grace, is helping us, the humanity, based on our current state of comprehension, to become more aware of our very dependence on the Manifestation of God, a dependence the acknowledgment of which will impact our process of spiritual growth and maturation.
• There are many references in the Writings of Baha’u’llah concerning the station of the Manifestation of God and our inability, as human beings, to fully understand it. For example:
I swear by Thy glory, O Thou Who art the Lord of all being and the Possessor of all things visible and invisible! Every man of understanding hath been so bewildered at Thy knowledge, and every man endued with insight been so perplexed in his attempt to fathom the signs of Thy great glory, that all have recognized their powerlessness to visualize, and their impotence to soar into, the heaven wherefrom one of the Luminaries of the Manifestations of Thy knowledge and of the Day-Springs of Thy wisdom hath shone forth. Who is he that shall befittingly describe this most sublime station and this most august seat -- the seat which, as decreed by Thee, transcendeth the comprehension of Thy creatures and the testimonies of Thy servants, and which hath everlastingly been hid from the understanding and the knowledge of men, and been closed with the seal of Thy name, the Self-Subsisting. (Baha'u'llah, Prayers and Meditations by Baha'u'llah, p. 279).
Comments:
• In this and the succeeding three paragraphs, we get further glimpses of that incredible realm associated with the Manifestation of God – its majesty, power and grandeur -- as well as its numerous mysteries. It is as if, Baha’u’llah, in His loving grace, is helping us, the humanity, based on our current state of comprehension, to become more aware of our very dependence on the Manifestation of God, a dependence the acknowledgment of which will impact our process of spiritual growth and maturation.
• There are many references in the Writings of Baha’u’llah concerning the station of the Manifestation of God and our inability, as human beings, to fully understand it. For example:
I swear by Thy glory, O Thou Who art the Lord of all being and the Possessor of all things visible and invisible! Every man of understanding hath been so bewildered at Thy knowledge, and every man endued with insight been so perplexed in his attempt to fathom the signs of Thy great glory, that all have recognized their powerlessness to visualize, and their impotence to soar into, the heaven wherefrom one of the Luminaries of the Manifestations of Thy knowledge and of the Day-Springs of Thy wisdom hath shone forth. Who is he that shall befittingly describe this most sublime station and this most august seat -- the seat which, as decreed by Thee, transcendeth the comprehension of Thy creatures and the testimonies of Thy servants, and which hath everlastingly been hid from the understanding and the knowledge of men, and been closed with the seal of Thy name, the Self-Subsisting. (Baha'u'llah, Prayers and Meditations by Baha'u'llah, p. 279).
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