Marleen's original post caught my attention because I had been reciting the Meditation and Prayer for two nights. Kazeh's examination is moving and infused with spiritual meaning. Below, I offer what has struck me about this last Prayer and Meditation CLXXXIV. The weightiness of the theme is beyond my capacity. I offer the merest outline.
In paragraph 16 He reveals: "All laud and honor to Thee, O my God! Thou well knowest the things which, for a score of years, have happened in Thy days, and have continued to happen until this hour." A score of years is twenty years. The question is: twenty years from what date? It has been suggested by Kazeh that the twenty years should be counted from 1260 A.H. i.e. the year of the Declaration of the Bab. However, there is another possible date from which the twenty-years may be counted. "His imprisonment lasted for a period of no less than four months, in the middle of which the "year nine" (1269), anticipated in such glowing terms by the Báb, and alluded to as the year "after Hin" by Shaykh Ahmad-i-Ahsa'i, was ushered in, endowing with undreamt-of potentialities the whole world." (Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 104) Twenty years from 1269 (1851-52) is very close to the Revelation of the Kitab-i-Aqdas, for it was "Revealed soon after Bahá'u'lláh had been transferred to the house of 'Udi Khammar[1] (circa 1873)" (Baha'u'llah, Synopsis and Codification of the Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 2) Is this important? It may be important with regard to an important Prophecy attributed to Jesus. "Immediately after the oppression of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet." (Baha'u'llah, Gems of Divine Mysteries, p. 8) Baha'u'llah explains the meaning of the term "oppression" in this wise: "As to the words -- "Immediately after the oppression of those days" -- they refer to the time when men shall become oppressed and afflicted, the time when the lingering traces of the Sun of Truth and the fruit of the Tree of knowledge and wisdom will have vanished from the midst of men, when the reins of mankind will have fallen into the grasp of the foolish and ignorant, when the portals of divine unity and understanding -- the essential and highest purpose in creation -- will have been closed, when certain knowledge will have given way to idle fancy, and corruption will have usurped the station of righteousness." (Baha'u'llah, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 28) The condition described below, which existed for the 20 years between Baha'u'llah's first intimations of His Revelation which came closely upon the Martyrdom of the Bab began as "the lingering traces of the Sun of Truth and the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge" were vanishing. "Nabil, traveling at that time through the province of Khurasan, the scene of the tumultuous early victories of a rising Faith, had himself summed up his impressions of the prevailing condition. "The fire of the Cause of God," he testifies in his narrative, "had been well-nigh quenched in every place. I could detect no trace of warmth anywhere." In Qasvin, according to the same testimony, the remnant of the community had split into four factions, bitterly opposed to one another, and a prey to the most absurd doctrines and fancies. Bahá'u'lláh upon His arrival in Baghdad, a city which had witnessed the glowing evidences of the indefatigable zeal of Tahirih, found among His countrymen residing in that city no more than a single Bábí, while in Kazimayn inhabited chiefly by Persians, a mere handful 114 of His compatriots remained who still professed, in fear and obscurity, their faith in the Báb." (Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 113) In paragraph 10 of His Prayer and Meditation Baha'u'llah reveals what may be a reference to the above circumstances which continued into 1873 although He rehabilitated the Bab’i community. “Lauded be Thy name, O Lord my God, and my Master! Thou bearest witness, and seest, and knowest the things that have befallen Thy loved ones in Thy days, and the continual trials, and the successive tribulations, and the incessant afflictions, which have been sent down upon Thine elect. Such hath been their plight that the earth became too strait for them, and they were encompassed by the evidences of Thy wrath and the signs of Thy fear in every land, and the doors of Thy mercy and Thy loving-kindness were shut against them, and the garden of their hearts was deprived of the overflowing showers of Thy grace and Thy bountiful favors.” (Baha'u'llah, Prayers and Meditations by Baha'u'llah, p. 332) Shoghi Effendi’s use of the term “elect” in this context is reminiscent of a Statement attributed to Jesus which bears upon the same theme: 24:22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. (King James Bible, Matthew) Is this Statement of Jesus compatible with the context in which Baha’u’llah is Writing? Here is paragraph 11. "I know full well Thou hast delayed to manifest Thy triumph in the kingdom of creation by reason of Thy knowledge which embraceth both the mysteries of Thy decree, and the hidden things ordained behind the veils of Thine irrevocable purpose, that thereby those who have entered beneath the shadow of Thy transcendent mercy may be separated from those who have dealt disdainfully with Thee, and turned back from Thy presence at the time when Thou didst manifest Thy most exalted Beauty." The great sufferings have occurred during the time of the "delay". The Bab supplicated for a delay of only 19 years. (Baha'u'llah, Prayers and Meditations by Baha'u'llah, p. 333) What is meant by “Thy triumph”? Marleen asks if it refers to “entry by troops”. It could very well refer to that event. Perhaps, subsequent paragraphs refer to something more close in time to the revelation of the Prayer and Meditation. Paragraph 18: “Behold how I have stepped upon the dust of the city of Thy forgiveness and Thy bounty, and dwelt within the precincts of Thy transcendent mercy, and have besought Thee, through the sovereignty of Him Who is Thy Remembrance and Who hath appeared in the robe of Thy most pure and most august Beauty, to send down, in the course of this year, upon Thy loved ones what will enable them to dispense with any one except Thee, and will set them free to recognize the evidences of Thy sovereign will and all-conquering purpose, in such wise that they will seek only what Thou didst wish for them through Thy bidding, and will desire naught except what Thou didst desire for them through Thy will. Sanctify, then, their eyes, O my 337 God, that they may behold the light of Thy Beauty, and purge their ears, that they may listen to the melodies of the Dove of Thy transcendent oneness. Flood, then, their hearts with the wonders of Thy love, and preserve their tongues from mentioning any one save Thee, and guard their faces from turning to aught else except Thyself. Potent art Thou to do what pleaseth Thee. Thou, verily, art the Almighty, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.” (Baha'u'llah, Prayers and Meditations by Baha'u'llah, p. 336) There are two phrases to which I would draw your attention. 1. Baha’u’llah refers to His beseeching God “through the sovereignty of Him Who is Thy Remembrance”. This is a reference to the Bab, I believe, and would suggest that the Kitab-I-Aqdas has yet to be revealed. 2. Baha’u’llah beseeches God to ”send down, in the course of this year, upon Thy loved ones what will enable them to dispense with any one except Thee…” If the chronology I suggest is correct; then the Prayer and Meditation could be Baha’u’llah’s supplication for what God send down in the Kitab-I-Aqdas. See also “This is the hour, O my Lord, which Thou hast caused to excel every other hour, and hast related it to the choicest among Thy creatures. I beseech Thee, O my God, by Thy Self and by them, to ordain in the course of this year what shall exalt Thy loved ones. Do Thou, moreover, decree within this year what will enable the Day-Star of Thy power to shine brightly above the horizon of Thy glory, and to illuminate, by Thy sovereign might, the whole world.” (Baha'u'llah, Prayers and Meditations by Baha'u'llah, p. 146) Richard. ---------- You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Baha'i Studies is available through the following: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://list.jccc.net/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=bahai-st news://list.jccc.net/bahai-st http://www.escribe.com/religion/bahaist (public) http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED] (public)
