Publications, Newspaper Cuttings, Photographs and Correspondence about Persia and the Persian Gulf [‎186r] (372/879)

May 27, 1910.
JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF ARTS.
659
festation ” as but another outpouring of divine truth
upon the earth; that Bahais are lovers of the Light
from whatever horizon it may appear, looking on
the different “ Prophets,” or founders of religion, as
so many different lamps through which this Light
shone forth, and by which all the world has been
illumined ; therefore Bahaism considers all religions
to be divine, and possessing the essence of Truth
which has since become obscured by the super
stitions and ceremonial practices added by man. In
other words, the teaching of the Bahai Faith is that
the Logos, or Word, spoken of in the first chapter
of St. John, has manifested itself on this earth, in
past ages, at various times and to various peoples;
those in whom this Word has been fully manifested
and perfected, are men known as the " Prophets ” or
4 Manifestations of God,” and through them we hear
the voice of God speaking to humanity. The dis
tinctive claim of the Bahai Faith is that the eternal
Word has manifested itself in our day, more power
fully than ever before, in the person of Baha Ullah.
Besides the writings already mentioned, Baha Ullah,
while in prison, composed several books dealing
with metaphysical, philosophical and social pro
blems. These books were written in Persian and
Arabic, and but three or four of them have been
translated into Western tongues. Some of the best
translations are in French, namely, “ Le Livre de la
Certitude ” (Kitab-ul-Iqan), “ Les Paroles Cachees
en Persan ” and “ LesPreceptes de Bahaisme ” trans
lated by M. Hippolyte Dreyfus, and published by
Ernest Leroux, Paris. The most important work of
Baha Ullah, the “ Kitab-ul-Aqdas ” (Most Holy
Book), has not yet been fully translated.
Mr. Sidney Sprague’s description of Bahaism
is characterised by calmness and simplicity.
For greater picturesqueness of exposition one
must turn from the Westerner to the Easterner.
A Persian Bahai of high authority, formerly a
Muhammadan doctor of divinity, favoured me
with the following graphic explanation of his
new creed : —
There is only one God. There is only one
Truth. God is infinite. Truth is infinite. Man,
being finite, cannot know God ; cannot know Truth.
Man knows something of God ; something of Truth.
This is because there has been a finite Manifestation
-of God ; a finite Revelation of Truth. The Mani
festation of God is one. The Revelation of Truth is
-one. Moses was the Manifestation ; so was Jesus,
so was Muhammad, so was Baha Ullah. All
-these are one. The Pentateuch was the Revela
tion, so was the Gospel, so was the Quran,
so was the Kitab-ul-Aqdas. All these are
one. Is this hard to understand ? Consider the
sun. The sun in the heaven is above my reach.
Here in my hand is a mirror which contains the sun.
To my senses there is no difference, except in degree,
between the sun in the heaven and the sun in the
mirror. * Both suns give out light and heat and
energy. Yet they are not two suns. Nor has the
sun come down from its place in the heaven in order
to go into the mirror. To-day I smash this mirror.
To-morrow I procure another mirror, and find the
sun in that too. The second mirror is not the same
as the first mirror. The sun in it is the same sun.
Moses and Muhammad are not the same man. The
Manifestation in them is the same Manifestation. It
may be objected that the light that Moses shed and
the light that Muhammad shed seem different. True.
In mirrors of differently coloured glass the sun pre
sents differently coloured appearances. But what is
colour ? Colour is incomplete light. The seven
prismatic rays, when all are present, give complete
light. The seven prophetical dispensations,* when
all are present, give complete Truth. It is the mission
of Bahaism to bring about such a combination. Will
it be contended that some or any of the Prophets
gave forth no light, not even coloured light ? Con
sider this : Was there ever a prophet who did not
denounce perjury, theft, adultery and murder; who
did not enjoin charity, morality, dutifulness and rever
ence ? That is why Bahaism contemns no religion,
and reverences all religions. At the worst, even it
the glass of some religions be smoked, it admits a
certain quantity oflight. There are some eyes, weak
and watery, which cannot bear light at all unless it
come through smoked glass.
Esoteric Philosophy of Bahaism.
I have never met two men, I have never read
two books, whose accounts of Bahai teaching
wholly agree. It would not be difficult for me
to present to you many different concepts of
Bahaism, gathered in my travel, each resting
on seeming authority. This is, perhaps, only
natural in the case of a religious movement
which, setting out to emancipate the intellect,
turns each individual mind loose in a new
world of vivid thought to reason out its own
faith by its own strength. The following half-
mystical, half-transcendental, play of ideas
proceeds from a school of esoteric Bahaism
in Persia, whose existence appears to be un
known to Europe :—
Bahaism teaches that man, in his earliest spiritual
weakness, has to support himself by props. These
props are seven in number. They are indispensable
aids to man’s spiritual growth. Without them man
would faint and collapse. They put him upon his
feet, they enable him to walk, they give him strength,
confidence, courage, and hope. But still they are
props, and as props they are to be used only to the
end that they may ultimately be dispensed with.
Man’s spiritual progress, in fact, consists in learning
to discard these props one by one, as a young
• According to one version—Noah, Abraham, Moses,
David, Jesus, Muhammad, and Baha Ullah. According to
another version—Moses, Zoroaster, Confucius, Buddha,
Jesus, Muhammad, Baha Ullah.