Once again my dear brother and mentor Brent Poirier is ahead of me in
thought and logical consequence of his thought as below:
He writes:
**One Hand of the Cause broke the Covenant -- the others not only remained
> faithful, they set a new standard of loyalty in religious history...
In like manner, the fact that a few of the knowledgeable in the Baha'i
> Faith have turned against the Cause does not, and should not, cast a pall
> of suspicion over those who aspire ...Brent**
The point this servant would make with a trembling hand and a trepid heart
is this:
At the level of the human being [naasut] we may wish in a great optative
mood that would to God that *knowledgeable ones* had not turned against the
Cause or the Cause's present Centre of guidance.
I know in my heart at the level of my lowly naasut I pray and think so :*I
wish to God that these souls would be with us in our journey* I rue the day
these friendships became strained etc. I think of those happy days of
yesteryear.
But of course when I study even more the text of the Holy Qur'an,
Baha'u'llah's Supreme utterance in the Summons Book and the Tablets of the
Master I see there is a certain inevitability to this malady that can
afflict any human heart ie denial after knowledge and God forbid it should
afflict us my poor lowly ignorant self included:
and we just have to pray as Baha'u'llah does in the end of His Epistle to
the Shaykh.
see below:
As to my references re this inevitability:
16: 83 They know the favour of God and then deny it.
(The Qur'an (Pickthall tr), Sura 16 - The Bee)
[Commentators have commented that the *favour of God* Ne'mat Allah is an
allusion to the Covenant vis a vis the Imam 'Ali established in the Ghadir e
Khumm and then "they deny it" refers to the denial of this truth after
Muhammad's ascension.
God's consummate wisdom is far beyond any description or fitting mention.
****Verily, people see with their own eyes and yet deny; they are aware, yet
they pretend not to know.**** Had they observed the ordinance of God they
would have attained the good of this world and the next.
(Baha'u'llah Compilations, The Compilation of Compilations vol. I, p. 505)
What! Will the people dispute then that whereof they themselves stand
witness? ****Will they deny that which they know to be true? I know not in
what wilderness they roam! Do they not see that they are embarked upon a
journey from which there is no return?**** How long will they wander from
mountain to valley, from hollow to hill? "Hath not the time come for those
who believe to humble their hearts at the mention of God?" Blessed is he who
hath said, or now shall say, "Yea, by my Lord! The time is come and the hour
hath struck!", and who, thereafter, shall detach himself from all that hath
been, and deliver himself up entirely unto Him Who is the Possessor of the
universe and the Lord of all creation.
(Baha'u'llah, The Summons of the Lord of Hosts, p. 131)
O maid-servant of God! Verily, the tests and trials of God are very great
and very violent. Beseech thou God to protect thee from all doubts and to
guard thee from the interpretations of parabolical [1] verses, as made by
those who know not in what valley they are roving, who speak according to
their own selfish purposes and after their own evil inclinations; ****who
accept and then reject; who believe in God and then deny Him; and who appear
firm and then backslide; thus thou beholdest these oscillating daily.****
[1 Texts relating to parables and which are veiled in symbols and have
esoteric meanings.]
"Leave them to amuse themselves with their own vain discourses," and turn
thou to the light of the Testament, and rejoice at the bounty of the
effulgence, and seek shelter under the shadow of the standard of the
Covenant. Thou wilt soon find it fluttering on the highest summits of glory,
surrounded by the valiant hosts of the angels of heaven and assisted by
spiritual armies of great number that proceed from the Supreme Concourse.
(Abdu'l-Baha, Tablets of Abdu'l-Baha v1, p. 72)
Thus it is seen that no means for dissension hath been left, but carnal
desires are the cause of difference as it is the case with the violators.
These do not doubt the validity of the Covenant but selfish motives have
dragged them to this condition. ***It is not that they do not know what
they do - they are perfectly aware and still they exhibit opposition. ***
(`Abdu'l-Baha: Selections ... `Abdu'l-Baha, Pages: 215-216)
and the Prayer at the end of the Epistle to the Shaykh
**"If thou attainest unto His Revelation, and obeyest Him, thou wilt have
revealed the fruit of the Bayan; if not, thou art unworthy of mention before
God. Take pity upon thyself. If thou aidest not Him Who is the
Manifestation of the Lordship of God, be not, then, a cause of sadness unto
Him." And further He saith - magnified be His station: "If thou attainest
not unto the Presence of God, grieve not, then, the Sign of God. Ye will
renounce that which can profit them that acknowledge the Bayan, if ye
renounce that which can harm Him. I know, however, that ye will refuse to do
so."
O Hadi! Methinks it is by reason of these indubitable utterances that
thou hast determined to blot out the Bayan....
We pray God to aid the heedless to turn unto Him, and such as have turned
aside to direct themselves towards Him, and them that have denied Him to
acknowledge this Cause, which, no sooner did it appear than all created
things proclaimed: "He that was hidden in the Treasury of Knowledge, and
inscribed by the Pen of the Most High in His Books, and His Scriptures, and
His Scrolls, and His Tablets, is come!"
(Baha'u'llah: pages 172 and 177)
with prayers and humility that we may be steadfast in this thorny and
trouble laden journey of life
your dust
khazeh f.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Brent Poirier" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Baha'i Studies" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: 06 August 2003 07:08
Subject: Re: Spiritual disease
>
> There is one more point I want to make here.
>
> One Hand of the Cause broke the Covenant -- the others not only remained
> faithful, they set a new standard of loyalty in religious history. Even
> though Remey was so visible and prominent a violator, we do not now say,
> when speaking of one of the Hands of the Cause, "Oh. He was a *Hand of
> the Cause*" -- with a tone of voice that shows that therefore, the whole
> body of the Hands is suspect. Remey destroyed his own life; he did not
> tear down the reputation of the Hands.
>
> In like manner, the fact that a few of the knowledgeable in the Baha'i
> Faith have turned against the Cause does not, and should not, cast a pall
> of suspicion over those who aspire to be scholars in the Faith. The term
> scholar should be said while thinking of its highest exponents -- not with
> a sneer and a tone of derision. Also, as the House points out in its
> letters on the subject, Baha'i Scholar is not a term to be limited to a
> small group; anyone can aspire to it, through knowledge, insight, or
> research.
>
> Brent
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