Index term: barrier to recognition of Manifestation of God, under Knowledge
Amongst the people is he whose learning hath made him proud, and who hath been debarred thereby from recognizing My Name, the Self-Subsisting; who, when he heareth the tread of sandals following behind him, waxeth greater in his own esteem than Nimrod. Say: O rejected one! Where now is his abode? By God, it is the nethermost fire. Say: O concourse of divines! Hear ye not the shrill voice of My Most Exalted Pen? See ye not this Sun that shineth in refulgent splendour above the All-Glorious Horizon? For how long will ye worship the idols of your evil passions? Forsake your vain imaginings, and turn yourselves unto God, your Everlasting Lord.
We have decreed, O people, that the highest and last end of all learning be the recognition of Him Who is the Object of all knowledge; and yet, behold how ye have allowed your learning to shut you out, as by a veil, from Him Who is the Dayspring of this Light, through Whom every hidden thing hath been revealed. Could ye but discover the source whence the splendour of this utterance is diffused, ye would cast away the peoples of the world and all that they possess, and would draw nigh unto this most blessed Seat of glory.
Call ye to mind the shaykh whose name was Muhammad-Hasan, who ranked among the most learned divines of his day. When the True One was made manifest, this shaykh, along with others of his calling, rejected Him, while a sifter of wheat and barley accepted Him and turned unto the Lord. Though he was occupied both night and day in setting down what he conceived to be the laws and ordinances of God, yet when He Who is the Unconstrained appeared, not one letter thereof availed him, or he would not have turned away from a Countenance that hath illumined the faces of the well-favoured of the Lord. Had ye believed in God when He revealed Himself, the people would not have turned aside from Him, nor would the things ye witness today have befallen Us. Fear God, and be not of the heedless.
Beware lest any name debar you from Him Who is the Possessor of all names, or any word shut you out from this Remembrance of God, this Source of Wisdom amongst you. Turn unto God and seek His protection, O concourse of divines, and make not of yourselves a veil between Me and My creatures. Thus doth your Lord admonish you, and command you to be just, lest your works should come to naught and ye yourselves be oblivious of your plight. Shall he who denieth this Cause be able to vindicate the truth of any cause throughout creation? Nay, by Him Who is the Fashioner of the universe! Yet the people are wrapped in a palpable veil. Say: Through this Cause the day-star of testimony hath dawned, and the luminary of proof hath shed its radiance upon all that dwell on earth. Fear God, O men of insight, and be not of those who disbelieve in Me. Take heed lest the word "Prophet" withhold you from this Most Great Announcement, or any reference to "Vicegerency" debar you from the sovereignty of Him Who is the Vicegerent of God, which overshadoweth all the worlds. Every name hath been created by His Word, and every cause is dependent on His irresistible, His mighty and wondrous Cause. Say: This is the Day of God, the Day on which naught shall be mentioned save His own Self, the omnipotent Protector of all worlds. This is the Cause that hath made all your superstitions and idols to tremble.
We, verily, see amongst you him who taketh hold of the Book of God and citeth from it proofs and arguments wherewith to repudiate his Lord, even as the followers of every other Faith sought reasons in their Holy Books for refuting Him Who is the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting. Say: God, the True One, is My witness that neither the Scriptures of the world, nor all the books and writings in existence, shall, in this Day, avail you aught without this, the Living Book, Who proclaimeth in the midmost heart of creation: "Verily, there is none other God but Me, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise."
Call ye to mind Karím, and how, when We summoned him unto God, he waxed disdainful, prompted by his own desires; yet We had sent him that which was a solace to the eye of proof in the world of being and the fulfilment of God’s testimony to all the denizens of earth and heaven. As a token of the grace of Him Who is the All-Possessing, the Most High, We bade him embrace the Truth. But he turned away until, as an act of justice from God, angels of wrath laid hold upon him. Unto this We truly were a witness.
Amongst the people is he whose learning hath made him proud . . . who, when he heareth the tread of sandals following behind him, waxeth greater in his own esteem
In the East, the practice has been for followers of a religious leader, out of deference, to walk a pace or two behind him.
In the East, the practice has been for followers of a religious leader, out of deference, to walk a pace or two behind him.
the "mystery of the Great Reversal in the Sign of the Sovereign"
Shaykh Ahmad-i-Ahsá’í (1753-1831), who was the founder of the Shaykhí School and the first of the "twin luminaries that heralded the advent of the Faith of the Báb", prophesied that at the appearance of the Promised One all things would be reversed, the last would be first, the first last. Bahá’u’lláh in one of His Tablets refers to the “symbol and allusion” of the “mystery of the Great Reversal in the Sign of the Sovereign”. He states: “Through this reversal He hath caused the exalted to be abased and the abased to be exalted”, and He recalls that “in the days of Jesus, it was those who were distinguished for their learning, the men of letters and religion, who denied Him, whilst humble fishermen made haste to gain admittance into the Kingdom” (see also note 172). For additional information about Shaykh Ahmad-i-Ahsá’í see The Dawn-Breakers, chapters 1 and 10.
Shaykh Ahmad-i-Ahsá’í (1753-1831), who was the founder of the Shaykhí School and the first of the "twin luminaries that heralded the advent of the Faith of the Báb", prophesied that at the appearance of the Promised One all things would be reversed, the last would be first, the first last. Bahá’u’lláh in one of His Tablets refers to the “symbol and allusion” of the “mystery of the Great Reversal in the Sign of the Sovereign”. He states: “Through this reversal He hath caused the exalted to be abased and the abased to be exalted”, and He recalls that “in the days of Jesus, it was those who were distinguished for their learning, the men of letters and religion, who denied Him, whilst humble fishermen made haste to gain admittance into the Kingdom” (see also note 172). For additional information about Shaykh Ahmad-i-Ahsá’í see The Dawn-Breakers, chapters 1 and 10.
Call ye to mind Karím
Hájí Mírzá Muhammad Karím Khán-i-Kirmání (1810-circa 1873) was the self-appointed leader of the Shaykhí community after the death of Siyyid Kázim, who was the appointed successor to Shaykh Ahmad-i-Ahsá’í (see notes 171 and 172). He dedicated himself to the promotion of the teachings of Shaykh Ahmad. The opinions he expressed became the subject of controversy among his supporters and opponents alike.
Regarded as one of the leading savants and prolific authors of his age, he composed numerous books and epistles in the various fields of learning that were cultivated in those times. He actively opposed both the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh, and used his treatises to attack the Báb and His Teachings. In the Kitáb-i-íqán, Bahá’u’lláh condemns the tone and content of his writings and singles out for criticism one of his works which contains negative allusions to the Báb. Shoghi Effendi describes him as "inordinately ambitious and hypocritical" and describes how he "at the special request of the Sháh had in a treatise viciously attacked the new Faith and its doctrines".
Hájí Mírzá Muhammad Karím Khán-i-Kirmání (1810-circa 1873) was the self-appointed leader of the Shaykhí community after the death of Siyyid Kázim, who was the appointed successor to Shaykh Ahmad-i-Ahsá’í (see notes 171 and 172). He dedicated himself to the promotion of the teachings of Shaykh Ahmad. The opinions he expressed became the subject of controversy among his supporters and opponents alike.
Regarded as one of the leading savants and prolific authors of his age, he composed numerous books and epistles in the various fields of learning that were cultivated in those times. He actively opposed both the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh, and used his treatises to attack the Báb and His Teachings. In the Kitáb-i-íqán, Bahá’u’lláh condemns the tone and content of his writings and singles out for criticism one of his works which contains negative allusions to the Báb. Shoghi Effendi describes him as "inordinately ambitious and hypocritical" and describes how he "at the special request of the Sháh had in a treatise viciously attacked the new Faith and its doctrines".