A Study of Baha’u’llah’s
Kitab-i-Iqan, The Book of Certitude
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The
following quotations from the Iqan are selected to show that God tests mankind
during every dispensation (See “A Companion to the Study of Kitab-i-Iqan”, pages
252-255, by Hooper Dunbar). These tests are both in words and deeds of the
Manifestations of God. The purpose of these tests is to separate truth from
falsehood and distinguish between those who are sincere worshippers of the
light, from those who are merely attached to the lamp. An example of the test
using words is the promises given by Noah which were later not fulfilled;
examples of the deeds are the appearance of the Manifestations in the form of a
mortal man with the attendant weaknesses and limitations. Other examples relate
to homicide incidence of Moses, circumstances of birth of Jesus, and alteration
of the Qiblih by Muhammad. We can add to this the removal of the veil by
Tahirih at Badasht, and numerous instances in the Writings of Baha’u’llah
written in the voice of God Himself, that led to accusations of blasphemy and attacks
by the enemies of the Faith (See details of these accusations and Baha’u’llah’s
responses in the Epistle to the Son of the Wolf) – F.A.
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The purpose of 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. Even as He hath revealed: “Do men think when they say 'We believe' they shall be let alone and not be put to proof?” (8)
Were men to meditate upon the lives of the Prophets of old, so easily would they come to know and understand the ways of these Prophets that they would cease to be veiled by such deeds and words as are contrary to their own worldly desires, … (57)
… As thou comest to comprehend the essence of these divine mysteries, thou wilt grasp the purpose of God, the divine Charmer, the Best-Beloved. Thou wilt regard the words and the deeds of that almighty Sovereign as one and the same; in such wise that whatsoever thou dost behold in His deeds, the same wilt thou find in His sayings, and whatsoever thou dost read in His sayings, that wilt thou recognize in His deeds. Thus it is that outwardly such deeds and words are the fire of vengeance unto the wicked, and inwardly the waters of mercy unto the righteous. Were the eye of the heart to open, it would surely perceive that the words revealed from the heaven of the will of God are at one with, and the same as, the deeds that have emanated from the Kingdom of divine power. (61)
The Words:
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. From time immemorial such hath been the way of God amidst His creatures, and to this testify the records of the sacred books. (53)
Noah:
… He several times promised victory to His companions and fixed the hour thereof. But when the hour struck, the divine promise was not fulfilled. This caused a few among the small number of His followers to turn away from Him, … (7)
The Deeds:
… the appearance of that immortal Beauty in the image of mortal man, with such human limitations as eating and drinking, poverty and riches, glory and abasement, sleeping and waking, and such other things as cast doubt in the minds of men, and cause them to turn away. … Other Prophets, similarly, have been subject to poverty and afflictions, to hunger, and to the ills and chances of this world. As these holy Persons were subject to such needs and wants, the people were, consequently, lost in the wilds of misgivings and doubts, and were afflicted with bewilderment and perplexity. (79-80)
Moses:
Consider how He hath suddenly chosen from among His servants, and entrusted with the exalted mission of divine guidance Him Who was known as guilty of homicide, Who, Himself, had acknowledged His cruelty, and Who for well-nigh thirty years had, in the eyes of the world, been reared in the home of Pharaoh and been nourished at his table. Was not God, the omnipotent King, able to withhold the hand of Moses from murder, <p56> so that manslaughter should not be attributed unto Him, causing bewilderment and aversion among the people? (58)
Jesus:
How could she [Mary] claim that a Babe Whose father was unknown had been conceived of the Holy Ghost? …And now, meditate upon this most great convulsion, this grievous test. Notwithstanding all these things, God conferred upon that essence of the Spirit, Who was known amongst the people as fatherless, the glory of Prophethood, and made Him His testimony unto all that are in heaven and on earth. (59-60)
Muhammad:
the Voice of Gabriel was heard again: “Turn Thou Thy face towards the sacred Mosque.” In the midst of that same prayer, Muhammad suddenly turned His face away from Jerusalem and faced the Ka'bih. Whereupon, a profound dismay seized suddenly the companions of the Prophet. Their faith was shaken severely. So great was their alarm, that many of them, discontinuing their prayer, apostatized their faith. Verily, God caused not this turmoil but to test and prove His servants. Otherwise, He, the ideal King, could easily have left the Qiblih unchanged, and could have caused Jerusalem to remain the Point of Adoration … (54)
The Outcome:
Such things take place only that the souls of men may develop and be delivered from the prison-cage of self and desire…. inasmuch as the divine Purpose hath decreed that the true should be known from the false, and the sun from the shadow, He hath, therefore, in every season sent down upon mankind the showers of tests from His realm of glory. (56)