|
He said, "O my glorious Lord, I sacrifice myself entirely to thee. My only desire is to be martyred for thy love. Thou dost suffice me!" The Bab's desire was to be realized, for the glorious crown of martyrdom was placed upon his head. The gems light the whole world. (52:1) He was imprisoned at Shiraz, then went to Isfahan, was afterward confined in a fortress at Makow and finally executed in a public square of Tabriz. This supreme martyrdom raised his banner yet higher and heightened the power of divine manifestation on earth, for the reality which is reflected is the same from the beginning. The Christ was the word of God from the beginning - in the same way Mohammed says, "I was a prophet before the existence of Adam," and Baha'o'llah says, "In the beginning which has no beginning I loved thee." (52:2) The sun is always the sun; if at a certain period it gave no light it would not at that period be called the sun, for the characteristics of the sun are light and heat. The great ones are from all time in their glorious station, their reality is luminous from the beginning, the reality that causes the qualities of God to appear, but the day of their manifestation is the day when they proclaim themselves of this earth. (52:3) The Bab in his writings heralded the advent of Baha'o'llah. He declared to his followers "You will attain the perfect well-being at your meeting with God; the horizon will be illumined; the infinite spirit will send forth its breezes - the divine proclamation will make itself heard."
(52:4)
|