4:59
O ye who believe! Obey God, and obey the Apostle, and those
charged with
authority
among you. If
ye differ in anything among yourselves, refer it to
God
and His Apostle, if ye do believe in God and the Last Day: That is best,
and
most suitable for final determination.
--
Qur'an: 4 - AN-NISA.
And
likewise in the sacred verse: "Obey God and obey the Apostle, and those
among
you invested with authority." By "those
invested with authority" is
meant
primarily and more especially the Imáms -- the blessings
of God rest
upon
them! They, verily, are the manifestations of the power of God, and the
sources
of His authority, and the repositories of His knowledge, and the
daysprings
of His commandments.
--
Bahá'u'lláh, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 90
Muhammad,
Himself, as the end of His mission drew nigh, spoke these words:
"Verily,
I leave amongst you My twin weighty testimonies: The Book of
God
and
My
Family [the Imams]."
--
Bahá'u'lláh, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 201
7:181
Of those We have created are people
who direct (others) with truth.
And
dispense justice therewith.
7:182
Those who reject Our signs, We shall gradually visit with punishment,
in
ways they perceive not;
--
Qur'an: 7 - AL-A`ARAF.
3:7
He it is Who has sent down to thee the Book: In it are verses basic or
fundamental
(of established meaning); they are the foundation of the Book:
others
are allegorical. But those in whose hearts is perversity follow the
part
thereof that is allegorical, seeking discord, and searching for its
hidden
meanings, but no one knows its hidden meanings except God. And those
who
are firmly grounded in knowledge say:
"We believe in the Book; the whole
of
it is from our Lord:" and none will grasp the Message except men of
understanding.
--
Qur'an: 3 - AL-I-IMRAN
3:102
O ye who believe! Fear God as He should be feared, and die not except
in a state of Islám.
3:103
And hold fast, all together, by the
rope [cord] which God (stretches out
for you), and be not divided among yourselves;
and remember with
gratitude God's favour on you; for ye were enemies and He joined
your hearts in love, so that by His Grace, ye became brethren; and
ye were on the brink of the pit of Fire, and He saved you from it.
Thus doth God make His Signs clear to you: That ye may be guided.
3:104
Let there arise out of you a band of people inviting to all that is
good, enjoining what is right, and forbidding what is wrong: They
are the ones to attain felicity.
3:105
Be not like those who are divided amongst themselves and fall into
disputations after receiving Clear Signs: For them is a dreadful
penalty,-
3:106
On the Day when some faces will be (lit up with) white, and some
faces will be (in the gloom of) black: To those whose faces will
be black, (will be said): "Did ye reject Faith after accepting it?
Taste then the penalty for rejecting Faith."
3:107
But those whose faces will be (lit with) white,- they will be in
(the light of) God's mercy: therein to dwell (for ever).
3:108
These are the Signs of God: We rehearse them to thee in Truth: And
God means no injustice to any of His creatures.
--
The Qur'an: 3 - AL-I-IMRAN,
Below Imam Ali states he is the Cord of God.
The
truth is Mine and certitude is at My side. Leadership is Mine and the
righteous
shall follow Me. I am the first to acknowledge faith, the Cord
of God
that
shall not be broken, the One who will raise the world to justice even as
it
hath
been brought low by oppression. I am the companion of Gabriel and the
archangel
Michael is beside Me. I am the tree of guidance, and the essence of
righteousness.
I shall gather together the world of creation through the Word of
God
that gathers together all things. I give life unto humanity and I am the
treasury
of all divine commands. To Me hath been given the Luminous Pen and
the
Crimson Camel.
--
Imam Ali, Khutbat'ul-Iftikhár (The Sermon of Glorification)
29:49
Nay, here are Signs self-evident in the hearts of those endowed with
knowledge:
and none but the unjust reject Our Signs.
29:50
Ye they say: "Why are not Signs sent down to him from his Lord?" Say:
"The
signs are indeed with God: and I am indeed a clear Warner."
29:51
And is it not enough for them that we have sent down to thee the Book
which
is rehearsed to them? Verily, in it is Mercy
and a Reminder to those
who
believe.
--
Qur'an: 29 - AL-`ANKABUT
7:9
Those whose scale will be light, will be their souls in perdition, for
that
they wrongfully treated Our
signs.
--
Qur'an: 7 - AL-A`ARAF.
10:6
Verily, in the alternation of the night and the day, and in all that
God
hath created, in the heavens and the earth, are signs for those who
fear
Him.
10:7
Those who rest not their hope on their meeting with Us, but are
pleased
and satisfied with the life of the present, and those who heed not
Our
Signs,-
10:8
Their abode is the Fire, because of the (evil) they earned.
--
Qur'an: 10 - YUNUS.
10:101
Say: "Behold all that is in the heavens and on earth"; but neither
Signs
nor
Warners profit those who believe not.
--
Qur'an: 10 - YUNUS.
22:55
Those who reject Faith will not cease to be in doubt concerning
(Revelation)
until the Hour (of Judgment) comes suddenly upon them, or
there
comes to them the Penalty of a Day of Disaster.
22:56
On that Day of Dominion will be that of God: He will judge between
them:
so those who believe and work righteous deeds will be in Gardens of
Delight.
22:57
And for those who reject Faith and deny our
Signs, there will be a
humiliating
Punishment.
--
Qur'an: 22 - AL-HAJJ.
8:29
(Here is) a Book which We have sent down unto thee, full of blessings,
that
they may mediate on its Signs,
and that men of understanding may
receive
admonition.
--
Qur'an: 38 - SUAD.
1:6
Show us the straight
way,
--
Qur'an: 1 - AL-FATIHAH.
6:153
Verily, this is My
way, leading straight: follow it: follow not
(other)
paths: they will scatter you about from His
(great) path: thus doth
He
command you. that ye may be righteous.
--
Qur'an: 6 - AL-AN`AM.
15:41
(God) said: "This (way
of My sincere servants) is
indeed a way that
leads
straight to Me.
--
Qur'an: 15 - AL-HIJR.
16:76
God sets forth (another) Parable of two men: one of them dumb, with
no
power of any sort; a wearisome burden is he to his master; whichever way
be
directs
him, he brings no good: is such a man equal with one who
commands
Justice, and is on a Straight
Way?
--
Qur'an: 16 - AN-NAHL.
20:135
Say: "Each one (of us) is waiting: wait ye, therefore, and soon
shall
ye know who it is that is on the straight
and even way, and who it is
that
has received Guidance."
--
Qur'an: 20 - TA HA.
43:42
Or We shall show thee that (accomplished) which We have promised
them:
for verily We shall prevail over them.
43:43
So hold thou fast to the Revelation sent down to thee; verily thou
art
on a Straight Way.
--
Qur'an: 43 - AZ-ZUKHRUF.
25:27
The Day that the wrong-doer will bite at his hands, he will say, "Oh!
would
that I had taken a (straight) path with
the Apostle!
--
Qur'an: 25 - AL-FURQAN.
6:153
Verily, this is My way, leading straight: follow it: follow not
(other)
paths: they will scatter you about from His
(great) path: thus doth
He
command you. that ye may be righteous.
--
Qur'an: 6 - AL-AN`AM.
29:69
And those who strive in Our (cause),- We will certainly guide them to
our
Paths: For verily God is with those who do
right.
--
Qur'an: 29 - AL-`ANKABUT.
These
are among the attributes of the exalted, and constitute the hall-mark
of
the spiritually-minded. They have already been mentioned in connection
with
the requirements of the wayfarers that tread the Path of Positive
Knowledge.
When the detached wayfarer and sincere seeker hath fulfilled
these
essential conditions, then and only then can he be called a true
seeker.
Whensoever he hath fulfilled the conditions implied in the verse:
"Whoso
maketh efforts for Us," he shall enjoy the blessing conferred by the
words:
"In Our ways shall We assuredly guide him."
--
Bahá'u'lláh, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 195
31:15
"But if they strive to make thee join in worship with Me things of
which
thou hast no knowledge, obey them not; yet bear them company in this
life
with justice (and consideration), and follow
the way of those
who turn
to
me (in love): in the end the return of you all is to Me, and I will tell
you
the truth (and meaning) of all that ye did."
--
Qur'an: 31 - LUQMAN.
The
Commander of the Faithful (Imám `Alí) hath said: "I am He
Who can
neither
be named, nor described." And likewise He hath said: "Outwardly I
am
an Imám; inwardly I am the Unseen, the Unknowable." Abú-Ja'far-i-Túsí
hath
said: "I said to Ábí `Abdi'lláh: `You are the Way
mentioned in the
Book
of God, and you are the Impost, and you are the Pilgrimage.' He
replied:
`O man! We are the Way mentioned in the Book
of God,--exalted and
glorified
be He--and We are the Impost, and We are the Fast, and We are the
Pilgrimage,
and We are the Sacred Month, and We are the Sacred City, and We
are
the Kaaba of God, and We are the Qiblih of God, and We are the Face of
God.'"
--
Bahá'u'lláh, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 112
2:256
Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from
Error:
whoever rejects evil and believes in God hath grasped the most
trustworthy
hand- hold, that never breaks. And God heareth and knoweth
all
things.
--
Qur'an: 2 - AL-BAQARAH.
64:8
Believe, therefore, in God and His Apostle, and in theLight
which
we
have sent down. And God is well acquainted
with all that ye do.
64:9
The Day that He assembles you (all) for a Day of Assembly,- that
will
be a Day of mutual loss and gain (among you), and those who believe
in
God and work righteousness,- He will remove from them their ills, and
He
will admit them to Gardens beneath which Rivers flow, to dwell therein
for
ever: that will be the Supreme Achievement.
64:10
But those who reject Faith and treat Our Signs as falsehoods, they
will
be Companions of the Fire, to dwell therein for aye: and evil is
that
Goal.
--Qur'an:
64 - AT-TAGHABUN.
4:174
O mankind! verily there hath come to you a convincing proof from
your
Lord: For We have sent unto you a
light (that is) manifest.
--Qur'an:
4 - AN-NISA.
6:122
Can he who was dead, to whom We gave life,and
a light whereby he
can
walk amongst men, be like him who is in the
depths of darkness, from
which
he can never come out? Thus to those without faith their own deeds
seem
pleasing.
6:123
Thus have We placed leaders in every town, its wicked men, to plot
(and
burrow) therein: but they only plot against their own souls, and
they
perceive it not.
6:124
When there comes to them a sign (from God), They say: "We shall not
believe
until we receive one (exactly) like those received by God's
apostles."
God knoweth best where (and how) to carry out His mission.
Soon
will the wicked be overtaken by humiliation before God, and a severe
punishment,
for all their plots.
6:125
Those whom God (in His plan) willeth to guide,- He openeth their
breast
to Islám; those whom He willeth to leave straying,- He maketh
their
breast close and constricted, as if they had to climb up to the
skies:
thus doth God (heap) the penalty on those who refuse to believe.
6:126
This is the way of thy Lord, leading
straight: We have detailed the
signs
for those who receive admonition.
--
Qur'an: 6 - AL-AN`AM.
7:157
"Those who follow the apostle, the unlettered Prophet, whom they
find
mentioned in their own (scriptures),- in the law and the Gospel;-
for
he commands them what is just and forbids them what is evil; he
allows
them as lawful what is good (and pure) and prohibits them from
what
is bad (and impure); He releases them from their heavy burdens and
from
the yokes that are upon them. So it is those who believe in him,
honour
him, help him, and follow the light which
is sent down with him,-
it
is they who will prosper."
--Qur'an:
7 - AL-A`ARAF.
9:32
Fain would they extinguish God's
light with their
mouths, but God
will
not allow but that His
light should
be perfected, even though the
Unbelievers
may detest (it).
9:33
It is He Who hath sent His Apostle with guidance and the Religion of
Truth,
to proclaim it over all religion, even though the Pagans may
detest
(it).
--
Qur'an: 9 - AT-TAUBAH.
57:28
O ye that believe! Fear God, and believe in His Apostle, and He
will
bestow on you a double portion of His Mercy: He will provide for you
a
Light by which ye shall walk (straight in your path),
and He will
forgive
you (your past): for God is Oft- Forgiving, Most Merciful.
--
Qur'an: 57 - AL-HADID.
66:8
O ye who believe! Turn to God with sincere repentance: In the hope
that
your Lord will remove from you your ills and admit you to Gardens
beneath
which Rivers flow,- the Day that God will not permit to be
humiliated
the Prophet and those who believe with him. Their
Light will
run
forward before them and
by their right hands, while they say, "Our
Lord!
Perfect our Light for us, and grant us Forgiveness: for Thou hast
power
over all things."
--
Qur'an: 66 - AT-TAHRIM.
91:1 By the Sun and his (glorious) splendour;
91:2 By the Moon as she follows him;
91:3 By the Day as it shows up (the Sun's) glory;
91:4
By the Night as it conceals it;
--
Qur'an: 91 - ASH-SHAMS.
The
Prophet is the Sun and Imam Ali is the Moon. The Day refers to the
Imams
and the Night to the Caliphate which "covered" Imam Ali.
The
term "suns" hath many a time been applied in the writings of the
"immaculate
Souls" unto the Prophets of God, those luminous Emblems of
Detachment.
Among those writings are the following words recorded in the
"Prayer
of Nudbih": "Whither are gone the resplendent Suns? Whereunto
have
departed those shining Moons and sparkling Stars?" Thus, it hath
become
evident that the terms "sun," "moon," and "stars" primarily
signify
the Prophets of God, the saints, and their companions, those
Luminaries,
the light of Whose knowledge hath shed illumination upon the
worlds
of the visible and the invisible.
--
Bahá'u'lláh, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 35
Universally,
the Prophets are of two kinds. One are the independent
Prophets
Who are followed; the other kind are not independent and are
themselves
followers..
The
independent Prophets are the lawgivers and the founders of a new
cycle..
They are like the sun
which is luminous in itself..
The
other Prophets are followers and promoters, for they are branches and
not
independent; they receive the bounty of the independent Prophets, and
they
profit by the light of the Guidance of the universal Prophets. They
are
like the moon,
which is not luminous and radiant in itself, but
receives
its light from the sun...
--
`Abdu'l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, p.165
55:19 He has let free the two bodies of flowing water, meeting together:
55:20 Between them is a Barrier which they do not transgress:
55:21 Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?
55:22 Out of them come Pearls and Coral:...
The
Two Seas are Imam Ali and Fatima (both equal in rank) and the
"Pearls
and Coral" are their sons Imam Hasan and Imam Husayn.
55:37 When the sky is rent asunder, and it becomes red like ointment:
55:38 Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?...
55:56In
them will be (Maidens), chaste, restraining their glances, whom
no
man or Jinn before them has touched;-
55:57 Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny?-
55:58
Like unto Rubies
and coral.
--
The Qur’án 55 - AR-RAHMAN
We
have digressed from the purpose of Our argument, although whatsoever
is
mentioned serveth only to confirm Our purpose. By God! however great
Our
desire to be brief, yet We feel We cannot restrain Our pen.
Notwithstanding
all that We have mentioned, how innumerable are the
pearls
which have remained unpierced in the shell of Our heart! How many
the
húrís of inner meaning that
are as yet concealed within the chambers
of
divine wisdom![1] None
hath yet approached them;--húrís,"whom no man
nor
spirit hath touched before." Notwithstanding all that hath been said,
it
seemeth as if not one letter of Our purpose hath been uttered, nor a
single
sign divulged concerning Our object. When will a faithful seeker
be
found who will don the garb of pilgrimage, attain the Ka'bih of the
heart's
desire, and, without ear or tongue, discover the mysteries of
divine
utterance? [1 Qur'an 55:56.]
--
Bahá'u'lláh, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 70
By
God! This Bird of Heaven, now dwelling upon the dust, can, besides these
melodies,
utter a myriad songs, and is able, apart from these utterances,
to
unfold innumerable mysteries. Every single note of its unpronounced
utterances
is immeasurably exalted above all that hath already been
revealed,
and immensely glorified beyond that which hath streamed from this
Pen.
Let the future disclose the hour when the Brides
of inner meaning
will,
as decreed by the Will of God, hasten forth, unveiled, out of their
mystic
mansions, and manifest themselves in the ancient realm of being.
Nothing
whatsoever is possible without His permission; no power can endure
save
through His power, and there is none other God but He. His is the
world
of creation, and His the Cause of God. All proclaim His Revelation,
and
all unfold the mysteries of His Spirit.
--
Bahá'u'lláh, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 175
O
My servants! Through the might of God and His power, and out of the
treasury
of His knowledge and wisdom, I have brought forth and revealed
unto
you the pearls that lay concealed in the depths of His everlasting
ocean.
I have summoned the Maids of Heaven
to emerge from behind the veil
of
concealment, and have clothed them with these words of Mine--words of
consummate
power and wisdom. I have, moreover, with the hand of divine
power,
unsealed the choice wine of My Revelation, and have wafted its holy,
its
hidden, and musk-laden fragrance upon all created things. Who else but
yourselves
is to be blamed if ye choose to remain unendowed with so great
an
outpouring of God's transcendent and all-encompassing grace, with so
bright
a revelation of His resplendent mercy?...
--
Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah,
p. 327
7:46
Between them shall be a veil, and on the heights will be men who would
know
every one by his marks: they will call out to the Companions of the
Garden,
"peace on you": they will not have entered, but they will have an
assurance
(thereof).
--
Qur'an: 7 - AL-A`ARAF.
7:35
O ye Children of Adam! whenever there come to you apostles from
amongst
you, rehearsing My signs unto you,- those who are righteous and
mend
(their lives),- on them shall be no fear nor shall they grieve.
7:36
But those who reject Our signs and treat them with arrogance, - they
are
companions of the Fire, to dwell therein (for ever).
--
The Qur’án: 7 - AL-A`ARAF
The
apostles mentioned above can be paralleled to those who came after
Moses
mentioned below.
2:87
We gave Moses the Book and followed him up with a succession of
apostles;
We gave Jesus the son of Mary Clear (Signs) and strengthened him
with
the holy spirit. Is it that whenever there comes to you an apostle
with
what ye yourselves desire not, ye are puffed up with pride?- Some ye
called
impostors, and others ye slay!
--
The Qur’án: 2 - AL-BAQARAH