“The Bayán,” the Báb in that Book, referring to the Promised One, affirms, “is, from beginning to end, the repository of all of His attributes, and the treasury of both His fire and His light.” “If thou attainest unto His Revelation,” He, in another connection declares, “and obeyest Him, thou wilt have revealed the fruit of the Bayán; if not, thou art unworthy of mention before God.” “O people of the Bayán!” He, in that same Book, thus warns the entire company of His followers, “act not as the people of the Qur’án have acted, for if ye do so, the fruits of your night will come to naught.” “Suffer not the Bayán,” is His emphatic injunction, “and all that hath been revealed therein to withhold you from that Essence of Being and Lord of the visible and invisible.” “Beware, beware,” is His significant warning addressed to Váḥid, “lest in the days of His Revelation the Váḥid of the Bayán (eighteen Letters of the Living and the Báb) shut thee out as by a veil from Him, inasmuch as this Váḥid is but a creature in His sight.” And again: “O congregation of the Bayán, and all who are therein! Recognize ye the limits imposed upon you, for such a One as the Point of the Bayán Himself hath believed in Him Whom God shall make manifest before all things were created. Therein, verily, do I glory before all who are in the kingdom of heaven and earth.”
“In the year nine,” He, referring to the date of the advent
of the promised Revelation, has explicitly written, “ye shall attain unto all
good.” “In the year nine, ye will attain unto the presence of God.” And again:
“After Ḥín (68) a Cause shall be given unto you which ye shall come to know.”
“Ere nine will have elapsed from the inception of this Cause,” He more
particularly has stated, “the realities of the created things will not be made
manifest. All that thou hast as yet seen is but the stage from the moist germ
until We clothed it with flesh. Be patient, until thou beholdest a new
creation. Say: ‘Blessed, therefore, be God, the most excellent of Makers!’”
“Wait thou,” is His statement to ‘Azím, “until nine will have elapsed from the
time of the Bayán. Then exclaim: ‘Blessed, therefore, be God, the most
excellent of Makers!’” “Be attentive,” He, referring in a remarkable passage to
the year nineteen, has admonished, “from the inception of the Revelation till
the number of Váḥid (19).” “The Lord of the Day of Reckoning,” He, even more
explicitly, has stated, “will be manifested at the end of Váḥid (19) and the
beginning of eighty (1280 A.H.).” “Were He to appear this very moment,” He, in
His eagerness to insure that the proximity of the promised Revelation should
not withhold men from the Promised One, has revealed, “I would be the first to
adore Him, and the first to bow down before Him.”
- Shoghi Effendi (God Passes By)
