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The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh
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Pages 128-139
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`Abdu'l-Bahá
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Dearly-beloved friends! I have in the foregoing pages ventured
to attempt an exposition of such truths as I firmly believe are
implicit in the claim of Him Who is the Fountain-Head of the
Bahá'í Revelation. I have moreover endeavored to dissipate such
misapprehensions as may naturally arise in the mind of any one
contemplating so superhuman a manifestation of the glory of God.
I have striven to explain the meaning of the divinity with which
He Who is the vehicle of so mysterious an energy must needs be
invested. That the Message which so great a Being has, in this age,
been commissioned by God to deliver to mankind recognizes the
divine origin and upholds the first principles of every Dispensation
inaugurated by the prophets of the past, and stands inextricably
interwoven with each one of them, I have also to the best of my
ability undertaken to demonstrate. That the Author of such a Faith,
Who repudiates the claim to finality which leaders of various denominations
uphold has, despite the vastness of His Revelation,
disclaimed it for Himself I have, likewise, felt it necessary to prove
and emphasize. That the Báb, notwithstanding the duration of His
Dispensation, should be regarded primarily, not as the chosen
Precursor of the Bahá'í Faith, but as One invested with the undivided
authority assumed by each of the independent Prophets of
the past, seemed to me yet another basic principle the elucidation
of which would be extremely desirable at the present stage of the
evolution of our Cause.
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An attempt I strongly feel should now be made to clarify our
minds regarding the station occupied by `Abdu'l-Bahá and the significance
of His position in this holy Dispensation. It would be indeed
difficult for us, who stand so close to such a tremendous figure and
are drawn by the mysterious power of so magnetic a personality,
to obtain a clear and exact understanding of the rôle and character
of One Who, not only in the Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh but in
the entire field of religious history, fulfills a unique function. Though
moving in a sphere of His own and holding a rank radically different
from that of the Author and the Forerunner of the Bahá'í Revelation,
He, by virtue of the station ordained for Him through the
Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh, forms together with them what may be
termed the Three Central Figures of a Faith that stands unapproached
in the world's spiritual history. He towers, in conjunction
with them, above the destinies of this infant Faith of God from
a level to which no individual or body ministering to its needs after
Him, and for no less a period than a full thousand years, can ever
hope to rise. To degrade His lofty rank by identifying His station
with or by regarding it as roughly equivalent to, the position of
those on whom the mantle of His authority has fallen would be an
act of impiety as grave as the no less heretical belief that inclines
to exalt Him to a state of absolute equality with either the central
Figure or Forerunner of our Faith. For wide as is the gulf that
separates `Abdu'l-Bahá from Him Who is the Source of an independent
Revelation, it can never be regarded as commensurate with
the greater distance that stands between Him Who is the Center
of the Covenant and His ministers who are to carry on His work,
whatever be their name, their rank, their functions or their future
achievements. Let those who have known `Abdu'l-Bahá, who
through their contact with His magnetic personality have come to
cherish for Him so fervent an admiration, reflect, in the light of
this statement, on the greatness of One Who is so far above Him
in station.
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That `Abdu'l-Bahá is not a Manifestation of God, that, though
the successor of His Father, He does not occupy a cognate station,
that no one else except the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh can ever lay claim
to such a station before the expiration of a full thousand years--
are verities which lie embedded in the specific utterances of both
the Founder of our Faith and the Interpreter of His teachings.
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"Whoso layeth claim to a Revelation direct from God," is the
express warning uttered in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, "ere the expiration of
a full thousand years, such a man is assuredly a lying imposter. We
pray God that He may graciously assist him to retract and repudiate
such claim. Should he repent, God will no doubt forgive him. If,
however, he persists in his error, God will assuredly send down one
who will deal mercilessly with him. Terrible indeed is God in punishing!"
"Whosoever," He adds as a further emphasis, "interpreteth
this verse otherwise than its obvious meaning is deprived of the
Spirit of God and of His mercy which encompasseth all created
things." "Should a man appear," is yet another conclusive statement,
"ere the lapse of a full thousand years--each year consisting of
twelve months according to the Qur'án, and of nineteen months of
nineteen days each, according to the Bayán--and if such a man
reveal to your eyes all the signs of God, unhesitatingly reject him!"
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`Abdu'l-Bahá's own statements, in confirmation of this warning,
are no less emphatic and binding: "This is," He declares, "my firm,
my unshakable conviction, the essence of my unconcealed and explicit
belief--a conviction and belief which the denizens of the Abhá
Kingdom fully share: The Blessed Beauty is the Sun of Truth, and
His light the light of truth. The Báb is likewise the Sun of Truth,
and His light the light of truth... My station is the station of
servitude--a servitude which is complete, pure and real, firmly
established, enduring, obvious, explicitly revealed and subject to no
interpretation whatever... I am the Interpreter of the Word of
God; such is my interpretation."
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Does not `Abdu'l-Bahá in His own Will--in a tone and language
that might well confound the most inveterate among the breakers
of His Father's Covenant--rob of their chief weapon those who so
long and so persistently had striven to impute to Him the charge
of having tacitly claimed a station equal, if not superior, to that of
Bahá'u'lláh? "The foundation of the belief of the people of Bahá
is this," thus proclaims one of the weightiest passages of that last
document left to voice in perpetuity the directions and wishes of a
departed Master, "His Holiness the Exalted One (the Báb) is the
Manifestation of the unity and oneness of God and the Forerunner
of the Ancient Beauty. His Holiness the Abhá Beauty (Bahá'u'lláh)
(may my life be a sacrifice for His steadfast friends) is the supreme
Manifestation of God and the Day-Spring of His most divine Essence.
All others are servants unto Him and do His bidding."
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From such clear and formally laid down statements, incompatible
as they are with any assertion of a claim to Prophethood, we should
not by any means infer that `Abdu'l-Bahá is merely one of the
servants of the Blessed Beauty, or at best one whose function is to
be confined to that of an authorized interpreter of His Father's
teachings. Far be it from me to entertain such a notion or to wish to
instill such sentiments. To regard Him in such a light is a manifest
betrayal of the priceless heritage bequeathed by Bahá'u'lláh to mankind.
Immeasurably exalted is the station conferred upon Him by
the Supreme Pen above and beyond the implications of these, His
own written statements. Whether in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, the most
weighty and sacred of all the works of Bahá'u'lláh, or in the
Kitáb-i-`Ahd, the Book of His Covenant, or in the Súriy-i-Ghusn
(Tablet of the Branch), such references as have been recorded by
the pen of Bahá'u'lláh--references which the Tablets of His Father
addressed to Him mightily reinforce--invest `Abdu'l-Bahá with a
power, and surround Him with a halo, which the present generation
can never adequately appreciate.
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He is, and should for all time be regarded, first and foremost,
as the Center and Pivot of Bahá'u'lláh's peerless and all-enfolding
Covenant, His most exalted handiwork, the stainless Mirror of His
light, the perfect Exemplar of His teachings, the unerring Interpreter
of His Word, the embodiment of every Bahá'í ideal, the
incarnation of every Bahá'í virtue, the Most Mighty Branch sprung
from the Ancient Root, the Limb of the Law of God, the Being
"round Whom all names revolve," the Mainspring of the Oneness
of Humanity, the Ensign of the Most Great Peace, the Moon of
the Central Orb of this most holy Dispensation--styles and titles
that are implicit and find their truest, their highest and fairest
expression in the magic name `Abdu'l-Bahá. He is, above and beyond
these appellations, the "Mystery of God"--an expression by which
Bahá'u'lláh Himself has chosen to designate Him, and which, while
it does not by any means justify us to assign to Him the station
of Prophethood, indicates how in the person of `Abdu'l-Bahá the
incompatible characteristics of a human nature and superhuman
knowledge and perfection have been blended and are completely
harmonized.
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"When the ocean of My presence hath ebbed and the Book of
My Revelation is ended," proclaims the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, "turn your
faces towards Him Whom God hath purposed, Who hath branched
from this Ancient Root." And again, "When the Mystic Dove will
have winged its flight from its Sanctuary of Praise and sought its
far-off goal, its hidden habitation, refer ye whatsoever ye understand
not in the Book to Him Who hath branched from this mighty
Stock."
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In the Kitáb-i-`Ahd, moreover, Bahá'u'lláh solemnly and explicitly
declares: "It is incumbent upon the Aghsán, the Afnán and
My kindred to turn, one and all, their faces towards the Most
Mighty Branch. Consider that which We have revealed in Our Most
Holy Book: `When the ocean of My presence hath ebbed and the
Book of My Revelation is ended, turn your faces toward Him
Whom God hath purposed, Who hath branched from this Ancient
Root.' The object of this sacred verse is none other except the Most
Mighty Branch (`Abdu'l-Bahá). Thus have We graciously revealed
unto you our potent Will, and I am verily the Gracious, the All-Powerful."
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In the Súriy-i-Ghusn (Tablet of the Branch) the following
verses have been recorded: "There hath branched from the Sadratu'l-Muntahá
this sacred and glorious Being, this Branch of Holiness;
well is it with him that hath sought His shelter and abideth beneath
His shadow. Verily the Limb of the Law of God hath sprung forth
from this Root which God hath firmly implanted in the Ground of
His Will, and Whose Branch hath been so uplifted as to encompass
the whole of creation. Magnified be He, therefore, for this sublime,
this blessed, this mighty, this exalted Handiwork!... A Word
hath, as a token of Our grace, gone forth from the Most Great
Tablet--a Word which God hath adorned with the ornament of
His own Self, and made it sovereign over the earth and all that is
therein, and a sign of His greatness and power among its people
...Render thanks unto God, O people, for His appearance; for
verily He is the most great Favor unto you, the most perfect bounty
upon you; and through Him every mouldering bone is quickened.
Whoso turneth towards Him hath turned towards God, and whoso
turneth away from Him hath turned away from My beauty, hath
repudiated My Proof, and transgressed against Me. He is the Trust
of God amongst you, His charge within you, His manifestation unto
you and His appearance among His favored servants... We have
sent Him down in the form of a human temple. Blest and sanctified
be God Who createth whatsoever He willeth through His inviolable,
His infallible decree. They who deprive themselves of the shadow
of the Branch, are lost in the wilderness of error, are consumed
by the heat of worldly desires, and are of those who will assuredly
perish."
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"O Thou Who art the apple of Mine eye!" Bahá'u'lláh, in His
own handwriting, thus addresses `Abdu'l-Bahá, "My glory, the
ocean of My loving-kindness, the sun of My bounty, the heaven of
My mercy rest upon Thee. We pray God to illumine the world
through Thy knowledge and wisdom, to ordain for Thee that which
will gladden Thine heart and impart consolation to Thine eyes."
"The glory of God rest upon Thee," He writes in another Tablet,
"and upon whosoever serveth Thee and circleth around Thee. Woe,
great woe, betide him that opposeth and injureth Thee. Well is it
with him that sweareth fealty to Thee; the fire of hell torment him
who is Thine enemy." "We have made Thee a shelter for all mankind,"
He, in yet another Tablet, affirms, "a shield unto all who
are in heaven and on earth, a stronghold for whosoever hath believed
in God, the Incomparable, the All-Knowing. God grant that through
Thee He may protect them, may enrich and sustain them, that He
may inspire Thee with that which shall be a wellspring of wealth
unto all created things, an ocean of bounty unto all men, and the
dayspring of mercy unto all peoples."
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"Thou knowest, O my God," Bahá'u'lláh, in a prayer revealed
in `Abdu'l-Bahá's honor, supplicates, "that I desire for Him naught
except that which Thou didst desire, and have chosen Him for no
purpose save that which Thou hadst intended for Him. Render Him
victorious, therefore, through Thy hosts of earth and heaven...
Ordain, I beseech Thee, by the ardor of My love for Thee and My
yearning to manifest Thy Cause, for Him, as well as for them that
love Him, that which Thou hast destined for Thy Messengers and
the Trustees of Thy Revelation. Verily, Thou art the Almighty, the
All-Powerful."
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In a letter dictated by Bahá'u'lláh and addressed by Mírzá Áqá
Ján, His amanuensis, to `Abdu'l-Bahá while the latter was on a visit
to Beirut, we read the following: "Praise be to Him Who hath honored
the Land of Bá (Beirut) through the presence of Him round
Whom all names revolve. All the atoms of the earth have announced
unto all created things that from behind the gate of the Prison-city
there hath appeared and above its horizon there hath shone forth
the Orb of the beauty of the great, the Most Mighty Branch of God
--His ancient and immutable Mystery--proceeding on its way to
another land. Sorrow, thereby, hath enveloped this Prison-city,
whilst another land rejoiceth... Blessed, doubly blessed, is the
ground which His footsteps have trodden, the eye that hath been
cheered by the beauty of His countenance, the ear that hath been
honored by hearkening to His call, the heart that hath tasted the
sweetness of His love, the breast that hath dilated through His
remembrance, the pen that hath voiced His praise, the scroll that
hath borne the testimony of His writings."
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`Abdu'l-Bahá, writing in confirmation of the authority conferred
upon Him by Bahá'u'lláh, makes the following statement: "In
accordance with the explicit text of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas Bahá'u'lláh
hath made the Center of the Covenant the Interpreter of His Word--
a Covenant so firm and mighty that from the beginning of time until
the present day no religious Dispensation hath produced its like."
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Exalted as is the rank of `Abdu'l-Bahá, and however profuse
the praises with which in these sacred Books and Tablets Bahá'u'lláh
has glorified His son, so unique a distinction must never be construed
as conferring upon its recipient a station identical with, or
equivalent to, that of His Father, the Manifestation Himself. To
give such an interpretation to any of these quoted passages would
at once, and for obvious reasons, bring it into conflict with the no
less clear and authentic assertions and warnings to which I have
already referred. Indeed, as I have already stated, those who overestimate
`Abdu'l-Bahá's station are just as reprehensible and have
done just as much harm as those who underestimate it. And this
for no other reason except that by insisting upon an altogether
unwarranted inference from Bahá'u'lláh's writings they are inadvertently
justifying and continuously furnishing the enemy with proofs
for his false accusations and misleading statements.
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I feel it necessary, therefore, to state without any equivocation
or hesitation that neither in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas nor in the Book of
Bahá'u'lláh's Covenant, nor even in the Tablet of the Branch, nor
in any other Tablet, whether revealed by Bahá'u'lláh or `Abdu'l-Bahá,
is there any authority whatever for the opinion that inclines
to uphold the so-called "mystic unity" of Bahá'u'lláh and `Abdu'l-Bahá,
or to establish the identity of the latter with His Father or
with any preceding Manifestation. This erroneous conception may,
in part, be ascribed to an altogether extravagant interpretation of
certain terms and passages in the Tablet of the Branch, to the
introduction into its English translation of certain words that are
either non-existent, misleading, or ambiguous in their connotation.
It is, no doubt, chiefly based upon an altogether unjustified inference
from the opening passages of a Tablet of Bahá'u'lláh, extracts of
which, as reproduced in the Bahá'í Scriptures, immediately precede,
but form no part of, the said Tablet of the Branch. It should
be made clear to every one reading those extracts that by the phrase
"the Tongue of the Ancient" no one else is meant but God, and that
the term "the Greatest Name" is an obvious reference to Bahá'u'lláh,
and that "the Covenant" referred to is not the specific Covenant of
which Bahá'u'lláh is the immediate Author and `Abdu'l-Bahá the
Center but that general Covenant which, as inculcated by the Bahá'í
teaching, God Himself invariably establishes with mankind when
He inaugurates a new Dispensation. "The Tongue" that "gives,"
as stated in those extracts, the "glad-tidings" is none other than the
Voice of God referring to Bahá'u'lláh, and not Bahá'u'lláh referring
to `Abdu'l-Bahá.
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Moreover, to maintain that the assertion "He is Myself," instead
of denoting the mystic unity of God and His Manifestations, as
explained in the Kitáb-i-Íqán, establishes the identity of Bahá'u'lláh
with `Abdu'l-Bahá, would constitute a direct violation of the oft-repeated
principle of the oneness of God's Manifestations--a principle
which the Author of these same extracts is seeking by implication
to emphasize.
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It would also amount to a reversion to those irrational and superstitious
beliefs which have insensibly crept, in the first century of
the Christian era, into the teachings of Jesus Christ, and by crystallizing
into accepted dogmas have impaired the effectiveness and
obscured the purpose of the Christian Faith.
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"I affirm," is `Abdu'l-Bahá's own written comment on the
Tablet of the Branch, "that the true meaning, the real significance,
the innermost secret of these verses, of these very words, is my own
servitude to the sacred Threshold of the Abhá Beauty, my complete
self-effacement, my utter nothingness before Him. This is my
resplendent crown, my most precious adorning. On this I pride
myself in the kingdom of earth and heaven. Therein I glory among
the company of the well-favored!" "No one is permitted," He warns
us in the passage which immediately follows, "to give these verses
any other interpretation." "I am," He, in this same connection,
affirms, "according to the explicit texts of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas and
the Kitáb-i-`Ahd the manifest Interpreter of the Word of God...
Whoso deviates from my interpretation is a victim of his own
fancy."
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Furthermore, the inescapable inference from the belief in the
identity of the Author of our Faith with Him Who is the Center
of His Covenant would be to place `Abdu'l-Bahá in a position superior
to that of the Báb, the reverse of which is the fundamental,
though not as yet universally recognized, principle of this Revelation.
It would also justify the charge with which, all throughout
`Abdu'l-Bahá's ministry, the Covenant-Breakers have striven to
poison the minds and pervert the understanding of Bahá'u'lláh's
loyal followers.
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It would be more correct, and in consonance with the established
principles of Bahá'u'lláh and the Báb, if instead of maintaining this
fictitious identity with reference to `Abdu'l-Bahá, we regard the
Forerunner and the Founder of our Faith as identical in reality--
a truth which the text of the Súratu'l-Haykal unmistakably affirms.
"Had the Primal Point (the Báb) been someone else beside Me as
ye claim," is Bahá'u'lláh's explicit statement, "and had attained My
presence, verily He would have never allowed Himself to be separated
from Me, but rather We would have had mutual delights with
each other in My Days." "He Who now voiceth the Word of God,"
Bahá'u'lláh again affirms, "is none other except the Primal Point
Who hath once again been made manifest." "He is," He thus refers
to Himself in a Tablet addressed to one of the Letters of the Living,
"the same as the One Who appeared in the year sixty (1260 A.H.).
This verily is one of His mighty signs." "Who," He pleads in the
Súriy-i-Damm, "will arise to secure the triumph of the Primal
Beauty (the Báb) revealed in the countenance of His succeeding
Manifestation?" Referring to the Revelation proclaimed by the Báb
He conversely characterizes it as "My own previous Manifestation."
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That `Abdu'l-Bahá is not a Manifestation of God, that He gets
His light, His inspiration and sustenance direct from the Fountain-head
of the Bahá'í Revelation; that He reflects even as a clear and
perfect Mirror the rays of Bahá'u'lláh's glory, and does not inherently
possess that indefinable yet all-pervading reality the exclusive
possession of which is the hallmark of Prophethood; that His words
are not equal in rank, though they possess an equal validity with the
utterances of Bahá'u'lláh; that He is not to be acclaimed as the
return of Jesus Christ, the Son Who will come "in the glory of the
Father"--these truths find added justification, and are further reinforced,
by the following statement of `Abdu'l-Bahá, addressed to
some believers in America, with which I may well conclude this
section: "You have written that there is a difference among the
believers concerning the `Second Coming of Christ.' Gracious God!
Time and again this question hath arisen, and its answer hath
emanated in a clear and irrefutable statement from the pen of
`Abdu'l-Bahá, that what is meant in the prophecies by the `Lord
of Hosts' and the `Promised Christ' is the Blessed Perfection
(Bahá'u'lláh) and His holiness the Exalted One (the Báb). My
name is `Abdu'l-Bahá. My qualification is `Abdu'l-Bahá. My reality
is `Abdu'l-Bahá. My praise is `Abdu'l-Bahá. Thraldom to the Blessed
Perfection is my glorious and refulgent diadem, and servitude to all
the human race my perpetual religion... No name, no title, no
mention, no commendation have I, nor will ever have, except
`Abdu'l-Bahá. This is my longing. This is my greatest yearning.
This is my eternal life. This is my everlasting glory."
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