June 9, 2013

Paragraph 1.54

"Among the infidels are those who have repudiated His Self and risen up against His Cause, and who claim that these divine verses are contrived. Such also were the objections of the deniers of old, who now implore deliverance from the Fire. Say: Woe betide you for the idle words that proceed from your mouths! If these verses be indeed contrived, then by what proof have ye believed in God? Produce it, if ye be men of understanding! Whensoever We revealed Our clear verses unto such men, they rejected them, and whensoever they beheld that which the combined forces of the earth are powerless to produce, they pronounced it sorcery."

Comments

(1) In this paragraph Baha’u’llah makes us aware of some of the indignities that He, as the Manifestation of God, was subjected to by a group of people whom He designates as “infidels”. Let us consult the Writings to get a feel for who such people are. The following passages are extracted from some of Baha’u’llah’s Tablets:

  • Thus did they mock and deride Him[Muhammad], for they had read in their Books and heard from their divines the terms "life" and "death", and understood them as this elemental life and physical death, and hence when they found not that which their vain imaginings and their false and wicked minds had conceived, they hoisted the banners of discord and the standards of sedition and kindled the flame of war. God, however, quenched it through the power of His might, as thou seest again in this day with these infidels and evil-doers. (Gems of Divine Mysteries)
  • For whoso believeth in that which hath been revealed unto him is a true believer and whoso turneth away is an infidel … (Gems of Divine Mysteries)
  • What woeful sufferings did the hand of the infidel and erring, the divines of that age and their associates, inflict upon that spiritual Essence, that most pure and holy Being![Moses] (Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah)
  • There hath appeared in this Revelation what hath never appeared before. As to the infidels that have witnessed what hath been manifested, they murmur and say: "Verily, this is a sorcerer who hath devised a lie against God." They are indeed an outcast people. (Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah)
  • They broke His[the Báb’s] Covenant, rejected His truth, contended with Him, caviled at His signs, treated His testimony as falsehood, and joined the company of the infidels. Eventually, they determined to take away His life. Such is the state of them who are in a far-gone error! (Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah)
  • I know not the path ye have chosen and which ye tread, O congregation of My ill-wishers! We summon you to God, We remind you of His Day, We announce unto you tidings of your reunion with Him, We draw you nigh unto His court, and send down upon you tokens of His wondrous wisdom, and yet lo, behold how ye reject Us, how ye condemn Us, through the things which your lying mouths have uttered, as an infidel, how ye devise your devices against Us! (Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah)
  • Strengthen Thou, O my Lord, the hearts of them that love Thee, that they may not be affrighted by the hosts of the infidels that are turned back from Thee, but may follow Thee in whatsoever hath been revealed by Thee. (Prayers and Meditations by Baha'u'llah)
  • Do Thou ordain, moreover, for every one who hath turned towards Thee what will make him steadfast in Thy Cause, in such wise that neither the vain imaginations of the infidels among Thy creatures, nor the idle talk of the froward amidst Thy servants will have the power to shut him out from Thee (Prayers and Meditations by Baha'u'llah)
  • I give Thee thanks, also, for having sent down upon me from the clouds of Thy will that which hath so sanctified me from the hints of the infidels and the allusions of the misbelievers that I have fixed my heart firmly on Thee, and fled from such as have denied the light of Thy countenance. (Prayers and Meditations by Baha'u'llah)
  • Enable Thy loved ones, by Thy Name, the Victorious, to prevail against Thine enemies and the infidels among Thy creatures. (Prayers and Meditations by Baha'u'llah)
  • Magnified be Thy name, O Lord my God, inasmuch as Thou hast inclined mine ear to Thy voice, and called me to Thyself, and opened mine eyes to gaze on Thy beauty, and illumined my heart with Thy knowledge, and sanctified my breast from the doubts of the infidels in Thy days. (Prayers and Meditations by Baha'u'llah)
  • Grant that I may be so confirmed in my love for Thee, and in fulfilling that which is well-pleasing unto Thee, that neither the defection of the infidels among Thy people, nor the clamor of the hypocrites among Thy creatures, may avail to keep me back from Thee. (Prayers and Meditations by Baha'u'llah)
  • How pleasing are the wounds which, in Thy path and in order to proclaim Thy Faith, I sustain from the swords of the infidels! (Prayers and Meditations by Baha'u'llah)
  • I beseech Thee, by Thy name through which Thou turnest restlessness into tranquillity, fear into confidence, weakness into strength, and abasement into glory, that Thou of Thy grace wilt aid me and Thy servants to exalt Thy name, to deliver Thy Message, and to proclaim Thy Cause, in such wise that we may remain unmoved by either the assaults of the transgressors or the wrath of the infidels, O Thou Who art my Well-Beloved! (Prayers and Meditations by Baha'u'llah)
  • Supply me, then, with what Thou hast written down for the chosen ones among Thy creatures, whom neither the blame of the blamer, nor the clamor of the infidel, nor the estrangement of such as have withdrawn from Thee, hath deterred from turning towards Thee. (Prayers and Meditations by Baha'u'llah)
  • Look Thou upon this wronged one, who hath been sorely afflicted by the oppressors among Thy creatures and the infidels among Thine enemies, though he himself hath refused to breathe a single breath but by Thy leave and at Thy bidding. (Prayers and Meditations by Baha'u'llah)
  • Woe betide him that hath transgressed against Thee, and hath denied Thee, and repudiated Thy signs, and gainsaid Thy sovereignty, and risen up against Thee, and waxed proud before Thy face, and hath disputed Thy testimonies, and fled from Thy rule and Thy dominion, and been numbered with the infidels whose names have been inscribed by the fingers of Thy behest upon Thy holy Tablets. (Prayers and Meditations by Baha'u'llah)
(2) Broadly speaking, the word “infidel” is defined in the dictionary as a person who does not believe in a particular religion, esp. the prevailing religion; for example among Christians, a non-Christian would be counted as an infidel and among Muslims, non-Muslims would be considered as infidels. Furthermore, a person who holds no religious belief is also considered to be an infidel.

(3) In today’s world we also hear about cases of infidelity in marital relationships. Infidelity, which is defined as the fact or state of being an infidel relates to unfaithfulness or disloyalty to one another among marriage partners. So in the same way, in a religious context, infidels appear to be those who have been unfaithful to God by not accepting His Manifestation when He comes.

(4) In the above paragraph, Baha’u’llah explains that among the group of people who didn’t embrace His Message, namely, the infidels, are those who did the following actions:

"repudiated His Self"
rose up "against His Cause," and
claimed that the divine verses that He revealed were "contrived'.

(5) The word ‘contrived’ is defined in the dictionary as (1) to think up; devise; scheme; plan (2.) to construct skillfully or ingeniously; fabricate (3.) to bring about, as by a scheme; manage (4.) to scheme for evil purposes, to form plans; scheme

(6) Next, we learn that such “objections” were not limited to those infidels who lived at the time of Baha’u’llah. Grouping them with “the deniers of old” Baha’u’llah further brings our attention to an aspect of divine retribution by informing us that those “deniers of old” are now imploring “deliverance from the Fire.” What could that ‘Fire” be that one would implore God to be rescued and freed from It!?

(7) Baha’u’llah then issues a warning and a challenge to those who accuse Him of contriving divine verses: “If these verses be indeed contrived, then by what proof have ye believed in God? Produce it, if ye be men of understanding!” It is difficult for us mortal beings to realize the impact of such a challenge issued by the Manifestation of God and its effect throughout the length of Their Dispensation.

(8) In the next line we get an inkling of the possible occurrence of certain supernatural events caused by Baha’u’llah and how the infidels labeled them as “sorcery”. There are some rare accounts of certain extraordinary events that some early believers experienced while in the presence of Baha’u’llah. We are very grateful to Haji Mirza Haydar-‘Ali for leaving for posterity the following amazing account:

"Once I requested to be in Baha'u'llah's room when He was revealing Tablets. This request met with His approval. As I entered His room, I heard streams of words sweeping along in a torrential flow from His lips. It seemed that the atmosphere, the floor, the walls, and every atom in the room was filled with perfume. Only those who have had this indescribable experience can ever imagine what I mean. The flow of revelation continued for about five minutes. Then Baha'u'llah said to me, 'You have on several occasions been here when the revelation of Tablets has taken place. Should the people of the whole world wish to be present and hear the words of revelation, We would permit them. But since We have approved courtesy and ordained it upon men, we are reluctant to display this power publicly.'" (Haji Mirza Haydar-‘Ali, ‘The Delight of Hearts’)