A Study of Baha’u’llah’s
Kitab-i-Iqan, The Book of Certitude
|
God’s
tests
“… from time immemorial even unto eternity the Almighty hath tried, and will continue to try, His servants, so that light may be distinguished from darkness, truth from falsehood, right from wrong, guidance from error, happiness from misery, and roses from thorns.” (8)
Creation
“… the portals of divine unity and understanding -- the
essential and highest purpose in creation --…” (28)
Symbolic
Terms
“Know verily that the purpose underlying all these symbolic
terms and abstruse allusions, which emanate from the Revealers of God's holy
Cause, hath been to test and prove the peoples of the world; that thereby the
earth of the pure and illuminated hearts may be known from the perishable and
barren soil.” (53)
Changes
of ordinances
“… why should the Qiblih have been changed, thus casting
such dismay amongst the people, causing the companions of the Prophet to waver,
and throwing so great a confusion into their midst? Yea, such things as throw
consternation into the hearts of all men come to pass only that each soul may
be tested by the touchstone of God, that the true may be known and
distinguished from the false.” (55)
Manifestation
of God
“Verily He Who is the Day-star of Truth and Revealer of the
Supreme Being holdeth, for all time, undisputed sovereignty over all that is in
heaven and on earth, though no man be found on earth to obey Him. He verily is
independent of all earthly dominion, though He be utterly destitute….The
significance and essential purpose underlying these words is to reveal and
demonstrate unto the pure in heart and the sanctified in spirit that they Who
are the Luminaries of truth and the Mirrors reflecting the light of divine
Unity, in whatever age and cycle they are sent down from their invisible
habitations of ancient glory unto this world, to educate the souls of men and
endue with grace all created things, are invariably endowed with an
all-compelling power, and invested with invincible sovereignty.” (102-3)
Prophets
of God
“In every age and century, the purpose of the Prophets of
God and their chosen ones hath been no other but to affirm the spiritual
significance of the terms “life,” “resurrection,” and “judgment.”” (128)
Learning
“Inasmuch as these undiscerning and wretched souls have
failed to apprehend the true meaning of “Resurrection” and of the “attainment
unto the divine Presence,” they therefore have remained utterly deprived of the
grace thereof. Although the sole and fundamental purpose of all learning, and
the toil and labour thereof, is attainment unto, and the recognition of, this
station, yet they are all immersed in the pursuit of their material studies.” (153)
Reading
Scripture
“…in every age, the reading of the scriptures and holy books
is for no other purpose except to enable the reader to apprehend their meaning
and unravel their innermost mysteries. Otherwise reading, without
understanding, is of no abiding profit unto man.” (185)
Revelation
“… is not the object of every Revelation to effect a
transformation in the whole character of mankind, a transformation that shall
manifest itself both outwardly and inwardly, that shall affect both its inner
life and external conditions? For if the character of mankind be not changed,
the futility of God's universal Manifestations would be apparent.” (270)
(
See “A companion to the study of the Kitab-i-Iqan”, p. 181, by Hooper Dunbar)