aidan

On this forum there appears to be very little posting about the Bab.Why is this so especially when he is the Precursor to Baha'u'llah and therefore central to our blessed faith.I have a great love and admiration for the Bab.He suffered terrible torment and a cruel death for his love of God.He practised great humility and never claimed to be more than what he was,and he always proclaimed that someone greater was yet to come.Please post any thoughts or tributes you have to the Bab

Yeshua

The Bab was an incredibly brave and selfless man, who was willing to pay the ultimate sacrifice for what he believed in. His writings are incredibly beautiful. I have only read "Selections from the Writings of the Bab", as well as speeches attributed to him in the Dawn-breakers and in the Gate of the Heart, but this was enough to tell me that the Bab was greatly talented at writing, and possesed great wisdom for his young years. I wish more of his Writings were translated.

I also find his youthfulness both inspiring and appealing. I cannot imagine the burden that this young, 25 year old merchant from Shiraz placed upon his shoulders out of love for others.

cire perdue

The Bab fulfilled prophecies of Islam and dealt with very specific issues of Islam made it very clear His Mission was to announce "The Promised One of All The Ages". His work as described in GATE OF THE HEART which is a recent publication is extremely complex and misunderstood even by scholars if not viewed in the contexts that are provided by nearly all of his work. Many mistaken views were refuted in this book from E.G. Browne to Dennis MacEoin. I was severely challenged by this book, but got a good bit out of it like what I stated in the previous sentence.

Much of the Bab's work explains the abstruse issues of Islam and then alludes to Baha'u'llah. His first work revealed to Mulla Husayn was about Joseph and is all actually about Baha'u'llah who is the dearly beloved Joseph. We are trying to establish this world wide Faith so I guess some of the more philosophical items go by the wayside. However His importance is shown by the Holy Days that are about Him is what occurs to me. We do not forget His sacrifice nor His importance. Unfortunately without reading arabic and persian it is difficult to know more about the Bab, but the Bab's laws are the basis of THE KATIB i AQDAS.

The laws of the Bab as written are dumbfounding unless you realize that only He Who Is To Be Manifested was to enforce or negate them. It is interesting to note that the Babis who did NOT follow Baha'u'llah attempted to enforce these laws literally which included burning books and marrying only other Babis. Those laws are not a fair test of the validity of the Bab's Mission, but have been cited as such erroneously. People who want to see error will.

arthra

There are only about twenty pages of references to the Bab on this Forum...probably ohh hundreds of posts have related in some way to the Bab.

Do a search using the word "Bab" and see:

Search Results | ZX6R.NET

Also we will be observing the Birth of the Bab this month October 20th..

You can read about the birth and childhood of the Bab at

http://bahai-library.com/davidmerric...childhoodofbab

LordOfGoblins

The Bab was a great man. He was a warner of the people, thats how I see him. God raised him to a mighty station of prophethood and gave him innate knowledge. He fulfilled the prophecies of Islam but was also a John the Baptist figure in relation to the Christians..
He was meek and mild but compelling and charming in speach and of pure character.
He constantly told people to search for Baha'u'llah and constantly extolled Baha'u'llahs greatness and his relative insignificance.

references are on demand only...

BruceDLimber

Quote:

Originally Posted by cire perdue His work as described in GATE OF THE HEART which is a recent publication . . . .

Who is the author, and where is this available?

Thanks! :-)

Bruce

cire perdue

Nader Saiedi is the author of GATE OF THE HEART. It is expensive, but Yeshua told me he has read part of it at googlebooks of which I know nada.
It is a very dense read........

Yeshua

Here is the preview on Googlebooks: Gate of the heart: understanding the ... - Nader Saiedi - Google Books

There is a quite a lot of it you can read here online, however there is a heck of a lot not available. I hope to buy it in future and so read it in full!

arthra

There is a reference in "Gate of the Heart" to Kitabu'l-Asma Book of Divine Names. It's "complete text if which is more than three thousand pages, is the largest revealed book in sacred history. It consists of nineteen unities and 361 gates (chapters). Many parts of the text are yet to be located... This book approaches various catagories of human beings as reflections of divine names and attributes and discusses ways that all of reality can be spiritualized through the recognition of the supreme Source of divine revelation." p. 35-36

In Arabic:

http://www.archive.org/details/Kitabul-Asma

http://www.archive.org/stream/Kitabu...ge/n0/mode/2up

cire perdue

Good point. It's been a while since I have read GOTH. It is a magnificient work that I am sure will be lauded over the centuries!

PS I can't read Sanskrit either.

Yeshua

Wow! That sounds incredible - hope somebody translates it in the near future!

Yeshua

BTW there is a saying in the Bayan, quoted in Gate of the Heart, which prohibits "causing grief" to other human beings, which I find very intriguing:

"...He who knowingly causeth grief to any soul must pay a fine of ninteeen mithqals of gold, should it be in his power to do so..."

What I find interesting about this, is how radical it is. I know of no other religion in the past which actually prescribed a monetary fine for causing another human being depression/sadness/anxiety. Although it obviously would not be feasible, I imagine, in reality to implement such a law - as is the case with many of the Bab's law which I do feel were meant only to prepare for the coming of a much more substantial revelation - the principle behind it is quite important: It takes a much more psychological approach to how we treat others. We must have such a degree of empathy that we not only prevent ourselves from physically harming others, but from actually doing anything that would result in mental anxiety to another human being, which in God's eyes constitutes a grave offense, even if human law cannot prescribe punishment for this. The humanitarianism present in this Bayanic teaching quite inspires me: Human beings are emotional beings, and we must always remember that other people have the exact same emotional needs as we do. To cause another human being grief, is a very great offence in God's eyes, for all acts and behaviours have their origin and locus in the mind.

The Bayan furthermore tells us that we should actively seek to bring joy and gladness to people:

"...Therefore, in the Bayan there is no act of obedience that ensureth greater nearness to God than bringing joy to the hearts of the faithful, even as naught yieldeth more remoteness than causing them grief. This law is doubly binding in dealing with the possessors of circles (women), whether in causing them joy or grief. However, man must always be watchful that even if he fail to bring joy to a human being, at least he should refrain from causing him grief..."

The prohibition on causing grief to others, reminds me of this agrapha of Jesus:

"Whoever causes grief to the spirit of his brother is guilty of the greatest crime" - Jesus Christ, Gospel of the Hebrews ( Jerome Ez. 18.7)

As you can see the Bab and Jesus were both speaking from the exact same hymn sheet, the only difference being that the Bab actually did make causing "grief" ot others a crime under his law! The Bab could not possibly have known of this largely unknown saying of Jesus, so the fact that they both taught the same in this regard is intriguing.

arthra

http://ia600503.us.archive.org/0/ite...e/06TheBab.mp3

cire perdue

I have learned more about what is out there in the last few days than in months of having a new computer. THANK YOU ALL.

arthra, is there a homepage to the above link with other sources?

arthra

It's from an audio version of The Baha'i Revelation by Thornton Chase


The Baha'i Revelation by Thornton Chase : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive

Attribuitions:

http://ia600503.us.archive.org/0/ite...ttribution.mp3

Rani

I only just noticed in readings recently that the then serving President of the United States, Zachary Taylor, died on the very same day that the Bab was martyred.

How freaky is that? I can't assume there is a spiritual significance to it, as I believe the first mention of the Faith in the US was during Johnson's administration, right? But somehow it seemed oddly coincidental and worthy of note.

arthra

May 23rd - Declaration of Bab (Baha'i festival) ('Azamat 7, 1)

May 24th - Samuel Morse taps out "What hath God wrought" (1st telegraph message)

Oct 22nd - Millerite Adventists wait for appearance of Jesus

Source:

Historical Events for Year 1844 | HistoryOrb.com

There's a super photo of Samuel Morse on this site!

BruceDLimber

Presumably Lyndon rather than Andrew.

Gotta distinguish those Johnsons! :-)

Bruce

Rani

1844? That's a cool dateline history, but of course I was talking about 9th July 1850, the date of the Martyrdom of the Bab. Zachary Taylor, the then serving President, reportedly died some time between 10 and 11a.m., that morning.

And Bruce, I thought I read, maybe even on this forum, that perhaps there was mention of Baha'u'llah, in a newspaper in the 1860's, during Andrew Johnson's term. But even if it had, it may have been a small reference couching Him in terms as some persian 'dissident'.

I might have been way off there, sorry.. I don't know when the first mention of Baha'u'llah was made there, but I thought it would have been well possible for news to circulate about different movements and turmoils around the world, -even from the middle east (?), before Abdu'l-Baha's travels there in 1912.

arthra

Rani this may interest you:


Baha'is Petition to US Governemnt 1867

armin

Regarding the Bab and His station, I've gathered these information from different places in His writings, He is truly the gate to God! In earthly terms He has said that His revelation is equal to Muhammad's yet His comes first! The station of all the prophets of God is beyond our understanding but it should be clear from the Bab's own words how lofty a station He has.

"If you testify to the prophethood of Muhammad, the Messenger of God, it is because he was My Messenger. And if you circumambulate the Ka‘bah, it is because I called it My House. And if you hold the Qur’án in esteem, it is because it is My Word. Whatever action a man performs, even though he be of the community of Adam (the first Prophet), it is necessarily performed because of his relationship to Me, as he has understood within himself. Yet now he has become veiled, and has imagined things that are contrary to reality, and has failed to recognize My subsequent manifestations. For there is nothing whatever whose decree does not return to this human temple, which has been created at My command. And that temple returns by decrees until it reaches My Prophet. And My Prophet is only confirmed by a Book sent down on Him and a Proof granted unto him."

The Bab

These words speak of the difference between Prophethood and Manifestations! Now imagine the station of man, where we all are, then imagine how infinitely the station of Prophets is above our station, then imagine the station of the Manifestations of God and how lofty their station is, and finally just try to imagine God Himself! In the very first step here our mind testifies to it's weakness ... Indeed immeasurably exalted is God beyond human understanding!

Rani

Thanks Arthra!!