The “House of Justice's reference to Bahá'u'lláh as ‘the most precious Being ever to have drawn breath on this planet’”: 21 December 1992

Dear Bahá'í Friend,

The Universal House of Justice has received your letter of 24 November 1992 and has asked us to send you the following reply.

That the House of Justice's reference to Bahá'u'lláh as "the most precious Being ever to have drawn breath on this planet" has caused, as you say, such misconceptions among the believers is a sign of the degree to which the friends need to study the Writings and deepen their understanding of the Teachings of the Faith. Had they done so sufficiently they would surely have been able to comprehend the context in which the statement was made, as you did, and would have been untroubled by it.

In answer to a recent letter on the subject, the following comments were conveyed on behalf of the House of Justice, and we repeat them here as an assistance to you in explaining the matter to any friends who raise it with you.

It would seem that the agitation shown by certain of the friends to the description of Bahá'u'lláh as "the most precious Being ever to have drawn breath on this planet", and their impression that this indicates some new doctrine, arises from their lack of familiarity with the range of expressions used in the Sacred Writings and by the beloved Guardian, and their inability to grasp that such expressions are used in the context of the illumination of the stations of the Manifestations of God as conveyed by Bahá'u'lláh in the Kitáb-i-Íqán and elucidated by the Guardian in "The Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh".

This description, in fact, is not so different from the Guardian's words in his cablegram of 3 June 1957, which appears on page 122 of "Messages to the Bahá'í World". He refers to:

“… the adoption and execution of preliminary measures designed to herald the construction in future decades of the stately, befitting Mausoleum to enshrine the holiest dust the earth ever received into its bosom.”

Anticipation of Guardianship in the Kitab-i-Aqdas: 8 December 1992

Memorandum

To: The Universal House of Justice  

December 8, 1992

From: The Research Department

The Research Department has studied the questions raised by Mr. ... in his letter of 24 October 1992 to the Universal House of Justice. Mr. ... is writing a paper on the…

Mr. ... draws attention to Shoghi Effendi's statement that the Kitab-i-Aqdas anticipates the institutions of the Administrative Order "in a number of passages". He expresses the view that the Guardianship is anticipated in the passage concerning the "endowments dedicated to charity". In addition, he has been informed that since Bahá'u'lláh provides, in the Aqdas, for payment of the Huququ'llah without specifying its recipient, this particular passage implicitly anticipates the Guardianship. He asks whether one or both of these passages anticipate the Guardianship. We provide the following response.

The issues raised by Mr. ... are addressed in a letter dated 27 May 1980 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice in response to a number of questions about the Kitab-i-Aqdas. The relevant section of this letter is cited below:

The Station of Bahá'u'lláh and the Significance of His Revelation: 15 October 1992

Dear Bahá’í Friend,

The Universal House of Justice has received your letter of 3 September 1992 and is very glad that you have raised this matter. It has recently been disturbed at the degree to which these issues seem to have been giving concern to Bahá’ís in different parts of the world. It may, indeed, be providential for the matter to be brought to the fore now, before the English translation of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas is published. We have been asked to convey to you the following comments.

As you know, the human soul is “a heavenly gem … whose mystery no mind, however acute, can ever hope to unravel,” “one of the signs of God, a mystery among His mysteries.” If even the soul of man is so ineffable a reality, how can a human being claim to understand or to set forth the nature of the Manifestations of God, of the relationships between Them, or of Their relationship to God, let alone to grasp the nature of God Himself?

Bahá’u’lláh has explained these mysteries to a degree never before approached, but we must accept that they are realities that cannot be defined in a rigorous manner, as one would attempt to define the terms of mathematics or even of philosophy. This is a realm of knowledge in which poetry, analogy, hyperbole and paradox are to be expected; a realm in which the Manifestations Themselves speak with many voices. Undoubtedly you are familiar with the passage in the Kitáb-i-Íqán in which Bahá’u’lláh elaborates this theme, commenting on Muhammad’s statement: “Some of the Apostles We have caused to excel the others. To some God hath spoken, some He hath raised and exalted. And to Jesus, Son of Mary, We gave manifest signs, and We strengthened Him with the Holy Spirit.”

Authenticity of some prayers and Tablets: September 1992

From time to time the National Spiritual Assembly [of US] receives letters from Bahá'ís or local Spiritual Assemblies about the authenticity of certain prayers or "tablets" that are circulated in typed form.

The Research Department of the Universal House of Justice is asked to check these writings for authenticity. The following works that commonly circulate in the Bahá'í community are not authentic:

• "Fourth Dimensional Consciousness" and other instructions to Marie Watson. This so-called tablet from 'Abdu'l-Bahá is erroneous; Shoghi Effendi has stated that it is not a work by 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
• "O God! Give me knowledge, faith and love...." This prayer was written by Ibrahim Kheiralla, a Covenant-breaker; he attributed it, however, to Bahá'u'lláh.
• "Hold Thou my right arm, O God! and dwell continually with me. Guide me to the fountain of Thy knowledge and encircle me with Thy glory...." Another prayer written by Ibrahim Kheiralla and attributed by him to Bahá'u'lláh.
• The Significance of the Greatest Name, beginning "Ya Baha'u'l-Abha! The cry that renovates the soul...on that cry are all the cries of the universe sounded." The Research Department has not been able to find, either in English or Persian, such statements attributed to 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
• The Marriage Tablet, beginning "The bond that unite hearts most perfectly is loyalty..." This is not a tablet at all, but is an unauthenticated record by Ahmad Sohrab of a talk by 'Abdu'l-Bahá. The friends may use it, but it should be made clear that this is not Bahá'í scripture.
• "There is a power in this cause, a mysterious power, far, far beyond the ken of men and angels...." This passage is from Ahmad Sohrab's diary and should be considered as interesting material, but not as scripture.
• "O Lord! Open Thou the door, provide the means...." This is a free translation of part of a prayer revealed by 'Abdu'l-Bahá to the friends in Tehran, incomplete, and unfortunately, even erroneous.
• "Oh God! Make me a teacher in Thy Cause...." This prayer cannot be confirmed as authentic as no original has been found.
• "O Our God! We beg of Thee...that Thou wilt guide us always...and that we may ever be strong and fully prepared to render instant, exact and complete obedience." This prayer cannot be confirmed as authentic as no original has been found.
• "My strength is the assistance of the Blessed Perfection...." From the pilgrim's notes of Julia Grundy, Ten Days in the Light of Akka, p. 63.
• "Fill Thou, O God, our home with harmony and happiness, with laughter and delight...." Attributed to 'Abdu'l-Bahá, but in fact it is three short supplications that appear on pages 147 and 148 of The Mission of Bahá'u'lláh by Hand of the Cause George Townshend.

 (Baha’i Library Online)