Chapter 29
---------------
Conflicting
writings related to the statement, "ere the expiration of a thousand years,
no one has the right to utter a single word". Last updated: September 12th, 2024.
Passage 1 below, from
a compilation, is presented in a manner that is highly misleading, when it says, "The substance
is, that prior to the completion of a thousand years, no individual may
presume to breathe a word",
as someone reading it may conclude there are no Dependent/Lesser Prophets in
the era of Baha'u'llah, when there are many references to them in both the writings of Baha'u'llah and the writings of Abdu'l-Baha. All recent major dispensations have had Dependent/Lesser Prophets, and the same is true of the dispensation of Baha'u'llah.
Keeping in mind, the teaching not to deviate from
what Baha'u'llah revealed, not "even to the extent of a hair's
breadth". The Guardian, who headed the faith for 36 years,
was to be the "sacred head" of the House, and the House were "to show
their obedience, submissiveness and subordination unto the Guardian of
the Cause of God, to turn unto him and be lowly before him"; which is not consistent with the words, "no
individual may presume to breathe a word" in passage 1 by Abdu’l-Bahá. Passage 2
provides the full letter, from which it's clear Abdu'l-Baha meant,
there will be no Independent Prophet
(who receives Revelation "direct from God") until after a thousand years of Baha'u'llah's dispensation have passed. In passage 3, "the
people of Baha who speak not except by His leave" is another reference
to the Dependent/Lesser Prophets of Baha'u'llah, who are also the chosen Ones of God, like the Holy Imams in the era of Muhammad. In passages 4 from the Aqdas, "angels", is another reference to the Dependent Prophets of Baha'u'llah, the first of whom was Abdu'l-Baha,
as indicated by Him. In the era of Muhammad, after the ascension of
Muhammad, divine guidance continued through the Holy Imams (Dependent
Prophets of Muhammad), who are also referred to as "angels" in the
Quran. Passage 5 where it states, "My purpose is this, that ere the
expiration of a thousand years, no one has the right to utter a single
word, even to claim the station of Guardianship" is
similar to passage 1, and also conflicts with the writings of
Baha'u'llah and Abdu'l-Baha, as stated above, and may not be authentic/accurate..
Passage 6, apparently by Ruhiyyih
Khanum (wife of the Guardian), refers to the Guardianship in the
following terms, "He [Abdu'l-Baha] kept His precious secret carefully
guarded, even from His intended successor [Shoghi Effendi]". In passage
7 it also states, regarding the Guardianship, "know verily that this
is a well-guarded secret". Based on passages 6 and 7, it appears
Abdu'l-Baha made no mention of the
Guardianship during his lifetime; so passage 5,
dated 1916, which does make reference to the Guardianship, may not be authentic/accurate..
1)
14.1
The substance is, that prior to the completion of a thousand years, no
individual may presume to breathe a word. All must consider themselves
to be of the order of subjects, submissive and obedient to the
commandments of God and the laws of the House of Justice. Should any
deviate by so much as a needle’s point from the decrees of the
Universal House of Justice, or falter in his compliance therewith, then
is he of the outcast and rejected.
(Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá (Wilmette: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1997, 2009 printing), par. 33.6)
Full text available at: https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/compilations/universal-house-of-justice-compilation/universal-house-of-justice-compilation.xhtml?795fc615
2)
33. O servant of God! We have noted what thou didst write to
Jinab-i-Ibn-Abhar, and thy question regarding the verse: 'Whoso layeth
claim to a Revelation direct from God, ere the expiration of a full
thousand years, such a man is assuredly a lying impostor.'
The meaning of this is that any individual who, before the expiry of a
full thousand years -- years known and clearly established by common
usage and requiring no interpretation -- should lay claim to a
Revelation direct from God, even though he should reveal certain signs,
that man is assuredly false and an impostor.
This is not a reference to the Universal Manifestation, for it is
clearly set forth in the Holy Writings that centuries, nay thousands of
years, must pass on to completion, before a Manifestation like unto
this Manifestation shall appear again.
It is possible, however, that after the completion of a full thousand
years, certain Holy Beings will be empowered to deliver a Revelation:
this, however, will not be through a Universal Manifestation. Wherefore
every day of the cycle of the Blessed Beauty is in reality equal to one
year, and every year of it is equal to a thousand years.
Consider, for example, the sun: its transit from one zodiacal sign to
the next occurreth within a short period of time, yet only after a long
period doth it attain the plenitude of its resplendency, its heat and
glory, in the sign of Leo. It must first complete one full revolution
through the other constellations before it will enter the sign of Leo
again, to blaze out in its full splendour. In its other stations, it
revealeth not the fullness of its heat and light.
The substance is, that prior to the completion of a thousand years, no
individual may presume to breathe a word. All must consider themselves
to be of the order of subjects, submissive and obedient to the commandments of God
and the laws of the House of Justice. Should any deviate by so much as
a needle's point from the decrees of the Universal House of Justice, or
falter in his compliance therewith, then is he of the outcast and
rejected.
As to the cycle of the Blessed Beauty -- the times of the Greatest Name
-- this is not limited to a thousand or two thousand years....
When it is said that the period of a thousand years beginneth with the
Manifestation of the Blessed Beauty and every day thereof is a thousand
years, the intent is a reference to the cycle of the Blessed Beauty,
which in this context will extend over many ages into the unborn
reaches of time.
-- Abdu'l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha, p. 67
3)
Say: Let not your hearts be perturbed, O people, when the glory of My
Presence is withdrawn, and the ocean of My utterance is stilled. In My
presence amongst you there is a wisdom, and in My absence there is yet
another, inscrutable to all but God, the Incomparable, the All-Knowing.
Verily, We behold you from Our realm of glory, and shall aid whosoever
will arise for the triumph of Our Cause with the hosts of the Concourse
on high and a company of Our favoured angels.
-- Baha'u'llah, The Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 38
The Blessed Beauty, in unmistakable language, hath made this promise in
His Book: 'We behold you from Our realm of glory, and shall aid
whosoever will arise for the triumph of Our Cause with the hosts of the
Concourse on high and a company of Our favoured angels.'[1]
[1 Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, LXXII ]
God be thanked, that promised aid [Abdu'l-Baha] hath been vouchsafed, as is plain for all to see, and it shineth forth as clear as the sun in the heavens.
-- Abdu'l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha, p. 270
... for 1000 years there shall arise no Sun [Independent Prophet]. All the appearances will
be beneath the shadow of the Most Great Appearance [Baha'u'llah, the
Independent Prophet]: they will be as stars [Dependent Prophets of Baha'u'llah] of guidance. All of them
shall gather around this Fountain of Life; all of them will become
illumined with the rays of this Sun; all of them will receive a share
and a portion from this great Sea; all of them will become vivified
with this soul-imparting breeze;..
-- Compilations, Baha'i Scriptures, p. 283
4)
Endowments dedicated to charity revert to God, the Revealer of Signs.
None hath the right to dispose of them without leave from Him Who is
the Dawning-place of Revelation. After Him, this authority shall pass
to the Aghsan, and after them to the House of Justice -- should it be
established in the world by then -- that they may use these endowments
for the benefit of the Places which have been exalted in this Cause,
and for whatsoever hath been enjoined upon them by Him Who is the God
of might and power. Otherwise, the endowments shall revert to the people of Baha who speak not except by His leave and judge not save in accordance with what God hath decreed in this Tablet -- lo, they are the champions of victory
betwixt heaven and earth -- that they may use them in the manner that
hath been laid down in the Book by God, the Mighty, the Bountiful.
-- Baha'u'llah, The Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 34
Know ye that trials and tribulations have, from time immemorial, been the lot of the chosen Ones of God
and His beloved, and such of His servants as are detached from all else
but Him, they whom neither merchandise nor traffic beguile from the
remembrance of the Almighty, they that speak not till He hath spoken, and act according to His commandment.
-- Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 128
5)
727. ...for 'Abdu'l-Bahá is in a tempest of dangers and infinitely
abhors differences of opinion... Praise be to God, there are no grounds
for differences.
The Báb, the Exalted One, is the Morn of Truth, the splendour of Whose
light shineth through all regions. He is also the Harbinger of the Most
Great Light, the Abha Luminary. The Blessed Beauty is the One promised
by the sacred books of the past, the revelation of the Source of light
that shone upon Mount Sinai, Whose fire glowed in the midst of the
Burning Bush. We are, one and all, servants of Their threshold, and
stand each as a lowly keeper at Their door.
My purpose is this, that ere the expiration
of a thousand years, no one has the right to utter a single word, even
to claim the station of Guardianship. The Most Holy Book is the
Book to which all peoples shall refer, and in it the Laws of God have
been revealed. Laws not mentioned in the Book should be referred to the
decision of the Universal House of Justice. There will be no grounds
for difference... Beware, beware lest anyone create a rift or stir up
sedition. Should there be differences of opinion, the Supreme House of
Justice would immediately resolve the problems. Whatever will be its
decision, by majority vote, shall be the real truth, inasmuch as that
House is under the protection, unerring guidance and care of the one
true Lord. He shall guard it from error and will protect it under the
wing of His sanctity and infallibility. He who opposes it is cast out
and will eventually be of the defeated. ...
("Tablets of Abdul-Baha Abbas", vol. 3 (Chicago: Bahá'í Publishing
Society, 1916), pp. 499-501; cited in "Wellspring of Guidance: Messages
1963-1968", 1st rev. ed. (Wilmette: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1976) pp.
47-48)
-- Compilations, The Compilation of Compilations vol. I, p. 321
6)
THE TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY
OF THE GUARDIANSHIP
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF THE GUARDIANSHIP
By RIIIHfrYIH KIII{NUM...
It was also during practically the babyhood of our first Guardian that
the Master revealed that highly significant Tablet about a child having
been born who would do great things in the future. When asked by his
secretary, Dr. Yunis Khan, whether by this was meant a living child or
if it was a symbolical expression, the Master explained a real child
was meant and that it would raise the Cause of God to great heights. So
we see, that when 'Abdu'l-Bahá left us a quarter of a century ago we
were not unprovided for. His plans for the Guardianship --
the fruition of Bahá'u'lláh's own scheme -- had been made
at a very early date, but from the depths of His bitter experience over
a period of sixty years, He kept His precious secret carefully guarded,
even from His intended successor, and it was not until after His
ascension that we began to appreciate the perfection of the system God
has, in this most great cycle, given to mankind; a system which has the
hand of God constantly laid on it from above in the form of a
divinely-guarded Guardianship directly descended from and related to
the two Founders of the Faith and, at the same time, exalts the role of
Man to a new height in that the freely-elected members of the
International House of Justice are, when functioning as a body,
promised the inspiration and protection of God upon their deliberations
and decisions.
-- BW - Baha'i World Volumes, Volume 11, p. 113
7)
It should be borne in mind that the institution of the Guardianship has
been anticipated by 'Abdu'l-Bahá in an allusion He made in a Tablet
addressed, long before His own ascension, to three of His friends in
Persia. To their question as to whether there would be any person to
whom all the Bahá'ís would be called upon to turn after His ascension
He made the following reply: "As to the question ye have asked me, know verily that this is a well-guarded secret.
It is even as a gem concealed within its shell. That it will be
revealed is predestined. The time will come when its light will appear,
when its evidences will be made manifest, and its secrets unraveled."
Dearly-beloved friends! Exalted as is the position and vital as is the
function of the institution of the Guardianship in the Administrative
Order of Bahá'u'lláh, and staggering as must be the weight of
responsibility which it carries, its importance must, whatever be the
language of the Will, be in no wise over-emphasized. The Guardian of
the Faith must not under any circumstances, and whatever his merits or
his achievements, be exalted to the rank that will make him a co-sharer
with 'Abdu'l-Bahá in the unique position which the Center of the
Covenant occupies -- much less to the station exclusively ordained for
the Manifestation of God. So grave a departure from the established
tenets of our Faith is nothing short of open blasphemy. As I have
already stated, in the course of my references to 'Abdu'l-Bahá's
station, however great the gulf that separates Him from the Author of a
Divine Revelation it can never measure with the distance that stands
between Him Who is the Center of Bahá'u'lláh's Covenant and the
Guardians who are its chosen ministers. There is a far, far greater
distance separating the Guardian from the Center of the Covenant than
there is between the Center of the Covenant and its Author.
-- Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 150
Back to Table of Contents.