Progressive Revelation Bahá í Devotional Readings 1
O Thou kind Lord! Thou hast created all humanity from the same stock. Thou hast decreed that all shall belong to the same household. In Thy Holy Presence they are all Thy servants, and all mankind are sheltered beneath Thy Tabernacle; all have gathered together at Thy 102 Table of Bounty; all are illumined through the light of Thy Providence. O God! Thou art kind to all, Thou hast provided for all, dost shelter all, conferrest life upon all. Thou hast endowed each and all with talents and faculties, and all are submerged in the Ocean of Thy Mercy. O Thou kind Lord! Unite all. Let the religions agree and make the nations one, so that they may see each other as one family and the whole earth as one home. May they all live together in perfect harmony. O God! Raise aloft the banner of the oneness of mankind. O God! Establish the Most Great Peace. Cement Thou, O God, the hearts together. O Thou kind Father, God! Gladden our hearts through the fragrance of Thy love. Brighten our eyes through the Light of Thy Guidance. Delight our ears with the melody of Thy Word, and shelter us all in the Stronghold of Thy Providence. Thou art the Mighty and Powerful, Thou art the Forgiving and Thou art the One Who overlooketh the shortcomings of all mankind. Bahá í Faith: 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Baha i Prayers 2
The purpose of the one true God, exalted be His glory, hath been to bring forth the Mystic Gems out of the mine of man--they Who are the Dawning-Places of His Cause and the Repositories of the pearls of His knowledge; for, God Himself, glorified be He, is the Unseen, the One concealed and hidden from the eyes of men.... Bahá í Faith: Bahá u lláh, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 13 From the days of Adam until today, the religions of God have been made manifest, one following the other, and each one of them fulfilled its due function, revived mankind, and provided education and enlightenment... Bahá í Faith: Selections from the Writings of Abdu l-bahá, p. 51 As a token of His mercy... and as a proof of His loving-kindness, He hath manifested unto men the Day Stars of His divine guidance, the Symbols of His divine unity, and hath ordained the knowledge of these sanctified Beings to be identical with the knowledge of His own Self. Whoso recognized them hath recognized God. Whoso hearkeneth to their call, hath hearkened to the Voice of God, and whoso testifieth to the truth of their Revelation, hath testified to the truth of God Himself. Whoso turneth away from them, hath turned away from God, and whoso disbelieveth in them, hath disbelieved in God. Every one of them is the Way of God that connecteth this world with the realms above, and the Standard of His Truth unto every one in the kingdoms of earth and heaven. They are the Manifestations of God amidst men, the evidences of His Truth, and the signs of His glory. Bahá í Faith: Gleaning from the Writings of Bahá u lláh, pp. 49-50 3
... we worship the utterances of Zoroaster and his religion, his faith and his lore. And we worship the former religions of the world devoted to Righteousness... the holy religions of the Creator... the resplendent and glorious. Zoroasterian: The Zend-Avesta, Avesta - Yasna) The fool, who out of attachment to a wrong view speaks ill of the religion of the enlightened and noble ones who live according to truth, brings forth fruit to his own downfall... Buddhism: Dhammapada - Sayings of the Buddha 1 (tr. J. Richards) And the Lord said unto (Moses)... I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. Judaism: The Torah, Deuteronomy 18:17-18) Ye are the light of the world....let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. Christianity: The Bible, Matthew 5:14-17 The Jews say the Christians are misguided, and the Christians say it is the Jews who are misguided. Yet they both read the Scriptures. And the pagans say the same of both... Say: We believe in Allah and that which is revealed to us; in what was revealed to Abraham, Ishmael, Issac, Jacob and the tribes; to Moses and Jesus and the other prophets by their Lord... Islam: The Koran (N. J. Dawood Trans.) 2:112; 2:136 4
From the beginning it was I who taught... The Lord of all things living... I come, and go, and come. When Righteousness Declines,... when Wickedness Is strong, I rise, from age to age, and take visible shape, and move a man with men, succouring the good, thrusting the evil back, and setting virtue on her seat again. Who knows the truth touching my births on earth and my divine work, when he quits the flesh, puts on its load no more, falls no more down... to Me he comes! Hinduism: Bhagavad Gita (Edwin Arnold tr) The reality of divinity... has ever been hidden and secluded in its own holiness and sanctity above our comprehending. Although it transcends our realization, its lights, bestowals, traces and virtues have become manifest in the realities of the prophets, even as the sun becomes resplendent in various mirrors. These holy realities are as reflectors, and the reality of divinity is as the sun which although it is reflected from the mirrors, and its virtues and perfections become resplendent therein, does not stoop from its own station of majesty and glory and seek abode in the mirrors; it remains in its heaven of sanctity. At most it is this, that its lights become manifest and evident in its mirrors or manifestations. Therefore its bounty proceeding from them is one bounty but the recipients of that bounty are many. This is the unity of God...divine unity--the prophets are its mirrors; its lights are revealed through them; its virtues become resplendent in them, but the Sun of Reality never descends from its own highest point and station. Bahá í Faith: Foundations of World Unity, p. 68 5
Contemplate with thine inward eye the chain of successive Revelations that hath linked the Manifestation(s) I testify before God that each one of these Manifestations hath been sent down through the operation of the Divine Will and Purpose, that each hath been the bearer of a specific Message, that each hath been entrusted with a divinelyrevealed Book and been commissioned to unravel the mysteries of a mighty Tablet. Bahá í Faith: Gleaning from the Writings of Bahá u lláh, pages 74-75 It is clear and evident to thee that all the Prophets are the Temples of the Cause of God, Who have appeared clothed in divers attire. If thou wilt observe with discriminating eyes, thou wilt behold Them all abiding in the same tabernacle, soaring in the same heaven, seated upon the same throne, uttering the same speech, and proclaiming the same Faith. Such is the unity of those Essences of Being, those Luminaries of infinite and immeasurable splendor! Wherefore, should one of these Manifestations of Holiness proclaim saying: I am the return of all the Prophets, He, verily, speaketh the truth. In like manner, in every subsequent Revelation, the return of the former Revelation is a fact, the truth of which is firmly established... Bahá í Faith: Gleaning from the Writings of Bahá u lláh, p. 52 I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not... Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust. For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me; for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words? Christianity: TheBible, John 5:43-47 6
We sent Noah, and Abraham, and We appointed the Prophecy and the Book to be among their seed...then We sent, following in their footsteps, Our Messengers; and We sent, following, Jesus son of Mary, and gave unto Him the Gospel. And We set in the hearts of those who followed Him tenderness and mercy. Islam: Mohammad: The Qur an, 57: 26-27 For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God... Christianity: The Bible: John 3:34 Beware, O believers in the Unity of God, lest ye be tempted to make any distinction between any of the Manifestations of His Cause, or to discriminate against the signs that have accompanied and proclaimed their Revelation. This is the true meaning of Divine Unity, if ye be of them that apprehend and believe this truth. Be ye assured, moreover, that the works and acts of each and every one of these Manifestations of God, nay whatever pertaineth unto them, and whatsoever they may manifest in the future, are all ordained by God, and are a reflection of His Will and Purpose... Bahá í Faith: Gleaning from the Writings of Bahá u lláh, pp. 59-60 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. Christianity: 1 Corinthians 12:4-7 7
That the divers communions of the earth, and the manifold systems of religious belief, should never be allowed to foster the feelings of animosity among men, is, in this Day, of the essence of the Faith of God and His Religion. These principles and laws, these firmly established and mighty systems, have proceeded from one Source, and are rays of one Light. That they differ one from another is to be attributed to the varying requirements of the ages in which they were promulgated. Bahá í Faith: Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 13 As each succeeding Faith and Law became revealed, it remained for some centuries a richly fruitful tree, and to it was committed the happiness of humankind. However, as the centuries rolled by, it aged, it flourished no more and put forth no fruit, wherefore was it then made young again....the religion of God is one, and it is the educator of humankind; but still, it needs must be made new. When thou dost plant a tree, its height increaseth day by day. It putteth forth blossoms and leaves and luscious fruits. But after a long time, it doth grow old, yielding no fruitage any more. Then doth the Husbandman of Truth take up the seed from that same tree, and plant it in a pure soil; and lo, there standeth the first tree, even as it was before. Bahá í Faith: Selections from the Writings of Abdu l-bahá, pp. 51-52 When the Sun of Reality returns to quicken the world of mankind, a divine bounty descends from the heaven of generosity. The realm of thoughts and ideals is set in motion and blessed with new life. Minds are developed, hopes brighten, aspirations become spiritual, the virtues of the human world appear with freshened power of growth, and the image and likeness of God become visible in man. It is the springtime of the inner world... Bahá í Faith: Bahá í World Faith, p. 255 8
... associate with one another with joy and radiance. O people! Consort with the followers of all religions in a spirit of friendliness and fellowship. The fundamental purpose animating the Faith of God and His Religion is to safeguard the interests and promote the unity of the human race, and to foster the spirit of love and fellowship amongst men. Suffer it not to become a source of dissension and discord, of hate and enmity... Our hope is that the world s religious leaders and the rulers thereof will unitedly arise for the reformation of this age and the rehabilitation of its fortunes. Bahá í Faith: Tablets of Bahá u lláh, pp. 22,168 Religious fanaticism and hatred are a world-devouring fire, whose violence none can quench. The Hand of Divine power can, alone, deliver mankind from this desolating affliction. Bahá í Faith: Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 14 May fanaticism and religious bigotry be unknown, all humanity enter the bond of brotherhood, souls consort in perfect agreement, the nations of earth at last hoist the banner of truth, and the religions of the world enter the divine temple of oneness, for the foundations of the heavenly religions are one reality. Reality is not divisible; it does not admit multiplicity. All the holy Manifestations of God have proclaimed and promulgated the same reality. They have summoned mankind to reality itself, and reality is one. The clouds and mists of imitations have obscured the Sun of Truth. We must forsake these imitations, dispel these clouds and mists and free the Sun from the darkness of superstition. Then will the 9
Sun of Truth shine most gloriously; then all the inhabitants of the world will be united, the religions will be one, sects and denominations will reconcile, all nationalities will flow together in the recognition of one Fatherhood, and all degrees of humankind will gather in the shelter of the same tabernacle, under the same banner. Bahá í Faith: The Promulgation of Universal Peace, pp. 95-96 (The Teacher) asked: 'How many gods are there?' (The Student) replied, 'As many as are mentioned in... the hymn of praise... three and three hundred, three and three thousand.' 'Yes,' he said, and asked again: 'How many gods are there really, (O Student)?' 'Thirty-three,' he said. 'Yes,' he said, and asked again How many gods are there really, (O Student)?' 'Six,' he said. 'Yes,' he said, and asked again:' How many gods are there really, (O Student)?' 'Three,' he said. 'Yes,' he said, and asked again: 'How many gods are there really, (O Student)?' 'Two,' he said. 'Yes,' he said, and asked again:'how many gods are there really, (O Student)?' 'One and a half,' he said. 'Yes,' he said, and asked again: 'How many gods are there really, (O Student)?' 'One,' he said. 'Yes.' Hindusim: Brihadaranyaka-Upanishad 10
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one... Judaism/Christianity: The Bible, Deuteronomy 6:4 And if all the trees on earth were pens and the Ocean were ink, with seven Oceans behind it to add to it. yet would not the Words of Allah be exhausted in the writing... Islam: The Qur an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah 31 This is the changeless Faith of God, eternal in the past, eternal in the future. Bahá í: The Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 85 O God, Who art the Author of all Manifestations, the Source of all Sources, the Fountain-Head of all Revelations, and the Well-Spring of all Lights! I testify that by Thy Name the heaven of understanding hath been adorned, and the ocean of utterance hath surged, and the dispensations of Thy providence have been promulgated unto the followers of all religions. Bahá í Faith: Baha u llah, Baha i Prayers 11
I beseech Thee so to enrich me as to dispense with all save Thee, and be made independent of any one except Thyself. Rain down, then, upon me out of the clouds of Thy bounty that which shall profit me in every world of Thy worlds. Assist me, then, through Thy strengthening grace, so to serve Thy Cause amidst Thy servants that I may show forth what will cause me to be remembered as long as Thine own kingdom endureth and Thy dominion will last. This is Thy servant, O my Lord, who with his whole being hath turned unto the horizon of Thy bounty, and the ocean of Thy grace, and the heaven of Thy gifts. Do with me then as becometh Thy majesty, and Thy glory, and Thy bounteousness, and Thy grace. Thou, in truth, art the God of strength and power, Who art meet to answer them that pray Thee. There is no God save Thee, the All- Knowing, the All-Wise. Bahá í Faith: Prayers and Meditations by Baha'u'llah, p. 59 12