Comments
This paragraph contains a number of intriguing subjects that we need to explore together – albeit in our own partial and imperfect way! Let’s attempt to do some identification and grouping of the various gems embedded in this paragraph:
- To be fearful of God
- Warning to not let our “tongues to utter, in their deceitfulness, that which displeaseth” God.
- The vice of deceitfulness
- The fact that we are created “out of a drop of water” – reference from the Qur’an
- Everyone, that is, “all that are in heaven [other planets?] and on earth”, are created “in the nature made by God”
- By turning to the Manifestation of God a human being will allow the “potentialities” of his/her ‘inborn nature’ to be manifested to himself/herself and to humanity. This is a “grace” from God.
- Anyone who remains “veiled” from the Manifestation of God, when He appears, “shall be deprived of this invisible and all-encompassing grace” – the grace that would allow the “potentiality” of his/her “inborn nature” be manifested to himself/herself and to humanity.
- God’s favor is not withheld from anyone.
- God deals equitably in the fashioning of each human being.
- By a word of His mouth, God presents to all of us the “trust” of His “love” – His Message through His Manifestation?
- They that have accepted this “trust” of God’s “love” – His Message to us through His Manifestation -- “are indeed safe and secure, and are numbered among those who are immune from the terrors of this Day.”
- “Those, however, who have rejected it have, in truth, disbelieved in God, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting”.
- This is how God would “distinguish between the people and pronounce judgement upon them. We, of a certainty, have the power to discern.”
• In the first line of the paragraph we read: “Say: O people! Fear ye God and allow not your tongues to utter, in their deceitfulness, that which displeaseth Him” Here it appears that by utilizing the fear of God one receives spiritual strength to be more in control of their words – avoiding those that would displease God. So the attribute of the “fear of God” appears to have an empowering effect on one’s abilities.
• Let’s explore the Writings and see in what other contexts this phrase “Fear ye God” is used by Baha’u’llah:
- “Fear ye God, and be not of them that have denied Him.” [His Manifestation] (Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 38)
- “Fear ye God, and be not of the foolish.” (Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 49)
- “Fear ye God, and turn not away disdainfully from His Revelation.” (Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 38)
- “Fear ye God, and be not of those who perish.” (Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 104)
- “Fear ye God, and contend not with Him as the people of the Qur'án have contended with Me.” (Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 146)
- “Fear ye God, and take heed not to outstrip the bounds of moderation, and be numbered among the extravagant.” (Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 250)
- “Fear ye God, and withhold not yourselves from recognizing the One Who is the Object of your creation.” (Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 314)
- “Fear ye God, O ye servants of God, and suffer not yourselves to be kept back from this pure Wine that hath flowed from the right hand of the throne of the mercy of your Lord, the Most Merciful.” (Prayers and Meditations by Baha'u'llah, p. 188)
- “Fear ye God and follow not your idle fancies and corrupt imaginings, but rather follow Him Who is come unto you invested with undeniable knowledge and unshakeable certitude.” (Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 61)
- “Fear ye God and be not of the heedless.” (Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 78)
- “Fear ye God and abandon vain imaginings to the begetters thereof and leave superstitions to the devisers thereof and misgivings to the breeders thereof.” (Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 104)
- “Fear ye God and suffer not your deeds to be rendered vain and be not of them that are sunk in heedlessness.” (Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 182)
- “Fear ye God and sow not the seeds of dissension amongst men.” (Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 196)
- “Fear ye God and commit not such deeds as would cause My loved ones on earth to lament.” (Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 197)
- “This is the Day of God Himself; fear ye God and be not of them that have disbelieved in Him.” (Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 241)
- “Fear ye God and reject not the heavenly grace which hath shed radiance upon all regions.” (Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 244)
- “Fear ye God and be not of them that well deserve the chastisement of God, the Lord of creation.” (Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 245)
- “Fear ye God, O concourse of the foolish, and do not inflict tribulations upon those who have willed naught but that which God hath willed.” (Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 245)
- “Fear ye God and follow not the promptings of your passions, rather follow Him unto Whom have testified the Scriptures of God, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.” (Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 247)
- “Fear ye God, then observe equity in your judgement of this Great Announcement before which, as soon as it shone forth, every momentous announcement bowed low in adoration.” (Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 248)
- “Fear ye God, O My servants, one and all. (The Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 73)
- The one[the Divine knowledge] is guided by the principle: "Fear ye God; God will teach you;"[Qur'án 2:282] (The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 69)
- “Fear ye God, and deprive not yourselves of the sweet savours of the days of the Lord of all names and attributes.” (The Summons of the Lord of Hosts, p. 18)
- “Fear ye God, and contend not with Him Who representeth the Godhead.” (The Summons of the Lord of Hosts, p. 31)
- “Fear ye God, and nullify not the truth with the things ye possess.” (The Summons of the Lord of Hosts, p. 53)
- “Fear ye God and follow not in the ways of those who have turned away from His face, though they invoke His name in the daytime and in the night season.” (The Summons of the Lord of Hosts, p. 65)
- “Fear ye God, and follow not every contumacious oppressor.” (The Summons of the Lord of Hosts, p. 87)
- “Fear ye God, and take heed not to outstrip the bounds of moderation and be numbered among the extravagant.” (The Summons of the Lord of Hosts, p. 189)
• Since a reference is made in this paragraph about the care we need to exercise towards the use of our tongues, we should also keep in mind why God has given us tongues: “Thou hast given me a tongue wherewith to remember and praise Thee…” (Baha'u'llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf)
• It also appears that in the first line of the above paragraph, Baha’u’llah reminds us about the acquired vice of “deceitfulness” in the human soul and our need to combat its influences through the “fear of God”. As we know to be deceitful means to be deliberately misleading, deceptive and to cheat. It is also synonymous with being dishonest.
• In the second line of this Paragraph we read: “Stand abashed before the One Who, as ye well know, hath created you out of a drop of water.” [cf. Qur’án 21:30; 24:45; 25:54]: We can’t help but feel very lowly and humble after reading this verse. Citing a verse in the Qur’an, Baha’u’llah reminds us how man was originally created by God: “out of a drop of water”! Whether we take this reference literally or symbolically, it invites in one’s heart a feeling of “smallness” – especially when we read its original verses in the Qur’an (From Sales rendering into English): Surah 21 The Prophets
(30) Do not the unbelievers therefore know, that the heavens and the earth were solid, and we clave the same in sunder; and made every living thing of water? Will they not therefore believe? (31) And we placed stable mountains on the earth, lest it should move with them; and we made broad passages between them for paths, that they might be directed in their journeys; (32) and we made the heaven a roof well supported. Yet they turn aside from the signs thereof, not considering that they are the workmanship of God. (33) It is he who hath created the night, and the day, and the sun, and the moon: all the celestial bodies move swiftly, each in its respective orbit.
• In addition to feeling small and tiny, Baha’u’llah in this Paragraph instructs us to “stand abashed” -- ashamed; embarrassed -- before the Source of our creation! A remarkable point to keep in mind when we recite one of the three daily Obligatory Prayers. To help ourselves maintain such a “posture” towards our Creator we should try to spend time in nature to remember the majesty, grandeur, and beauty of God’s creation.
• In the next line we are reminded that God “created all that are in heaven and on earth in the nature made by God.” The phrase :the “nature made by God” hence reminds us that creation did not come into being “accidentally”. Thus it follows that we need to implement in our lives the healing Message of the Manifestation of God – since He knows exactly what this “nature” is! It is interesting to note from this verse the reference to those beings created “in heaven” – beings on other planets;? spiritual beings that never had a physical existence;? Angels?
• We then become aware of an amazing principle embedded in our creation by God: “Whosoever turneth unto this blessed Countenance shall manifest the potentialities of that inborn nature, and whosoever remaineth veiled therefrom shall be deprived of this invisible and all-encompassing grace.” A remarkable thing to know!! It makes one so grateful for being a Baha’i and discovering such a “gem”, doesn’t it!? It adds so much significance to our responsibility to help those whom we come in contact with to recognize the latest Manifestation of God – so that at least they could help their own soul to “manifest the potentialities” that God has deposited in their own “nature”.
• The realization of this principle of turning to the Manifestation of God so that our “potentialities” become “manifest”, is, of course an ongoing process. Similar to the plants that grow when exposed to the sun, we need to constantly orient ourselves to God’s latest Manifestation, Baha’u’llah, to become “imbued with the spirit and truths of the Baha’i Writings” (The Universal House of Justice, Ridvan 153, 1996 - To the Followers of Bahá'u'lláh in North America: Alaska, Canada, Greenland and the United States). Perhaps this is one of reasons that Baha’u’llah instructs us in the Kitab-i-Aqdas to “Recite ye the verses of God every morn and eventide.” (Baha'u'llah, The Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 73) Please visit Daily Verses of God.
• This Paragraph also assures us that God’s “favour” is not withheld from anyone or anything and that He deals “equitably in the fashioning of each and all”. We should also bear in mind this divine principle: “The whole duty of man in this Day is to attain that share of the flood of grace which God poureth forth for him. Let none, therefore, consider the largeness or smallness of the receptacle. The portion of some might lie in the palm of a man's hand, the portion of others might fill a cup, and of others even a gallon-measure.” (Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 8)
• This paragraph also makes a reference to “the trust of Our love” being “presented” to humanity and those who have “accepted it” and those who have “rejected it”. One obvious meaning of this passage appears to be the role that God’s Manifestations have progressively played in gradually presenting to humanity a measure of His “trust of love” commensurate with our collective process of development and maturation. Baha’u’llah assures us that those who acknowledge God’s latest Manifestation are “safe and secure … and immune from the terrors” accompanying the advent of the New Day. Those who have “rejected” the New Manifestation of God, however, Baha’u’llah reminds us, “have, in truth, disbelieved in God, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting” – they may think they believe in God, but according to God’s standard they have not. A very sad state of affairs.
