In His Tablets Baha'u'llah counsels the believers to study such sciences and arts as are "useful" and would further "the progress and advancement" of society, and He cautions against sciences which "begin with words and end with words", the pursuit of which leads to "idle disputation". Shoghi Effendi, in a letter written on his behalf, likened sciences that "begin with words and end with words" to "fruitless excursions into metaphysical hair-splittings", and, in another letter, he explained that what Baha'u'llah primarily intended by such "sciences" are "those theological treatises and commentaries that encumber the human mind rather than help it to attain the truth". (215:1)

111. He Who held converse with God
This is a traditional Jewish and Islamic title of Moses. Baha'u'llah states that with the coming of His Revelation "human ears have been privileged to hear what He Who conversed with God heard upon Sinai". (215:2)

112. Sinai
The mountain where the Law was revealed by God to Moses. (215:3)

113. the Spirit of God
This is one of the titles used in the Islamic and Baha'i Writings to designate Jesus Christ. (215:4)

114. Carmel ... Zion
Carmel, the "Vineyard of God", is the mountain in the Holy Land where the Shrine of the Bab and the seat of the world administrative centre of the Faith are situated. (215:5)

Zion is a hill in Jerusalem, the traditional site of the tomb of King David, and is symbolic of Jerusalem as a Holy City. (215:6)

Get Next Page