Our dear brother Gilberto
[I say our dear Gilberto because in the Name of God I feel very close to you
and your essay today [the first in the thread of Clarification and
Progressive Revelation and Peace] is quite a remarkable one. With every
letter of yours [addressed to my lowly self personally] my respect for you
grows.
You have a sense of humour as well as fairness.
I liked particularly what you wrote here at the end
** Gilberto:
But there are ALOT of religions out there. If you looked at all the
religions of the world and decided to thoroughly completely investigate
their claims then you would never finish. If you happened to go in reverse
alphabetical order you could read for several lifetimes before getting to
the Bahá'ís. **
I really liked this :)
You also said dear Gilberto
I do hope all the killing stops in Iraq.
There is a passage of a poem by John Donne which I wish a lot more
government leaders took to heart:
Each man's death diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind.
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee.
Actually, that is interesting. Your kind words made me think about
something. The Bahá'ís say that the whole world is a country and mankind are
its citizens. So how does that work out in terms of how Bahá'ís see the
world? And current events?
Peace
Gilberto
This is very very important all that you wrote here.
But one thing that is clear is you often write Bahá'ís say...How do Bahá'ís
view...?
Can I beg you something? Can I plead humbly with you something?
Dear Gilbert Can I ask you something precious
Firstly one must read the sources and then by all means consort with Baha'I
discourse amongst us fallible limited contingent beings.
You are a quick reader. I reckon you read faster than me definitely.
So why do you not read the Dawn Breakers' over a weekend? And then these
three books which I have read dozens of times but which I need to read again
and again the Gleanings, the Iqan, and the World Order Letters of the
Guardian and then two essays by the Universal House of Justice The Promise
of World Peace and the Message to Religious Leaders
I swear by Allah subh.aanahu wa ta.aalaa and I swear by all the love in my
heart for the Prophet Muhammad Mustapha and His martyred Grandson the Unique
Imam Husayn so many things will be clear to you as daylight and you would
not have to worry about the vagaries the vicissitudes of opinion.
This advice to go to the texts is given so often in this Day as indeed in
the Day of the Prophet.
On a smaller point you write
But today
> The other twenty-five letters of all knowledge have been revealed to
> mankind whereas only two letters had been revealed previously.
> [multiple references in the textbooks of Islamic hadiths such as the
> Bihar]
What do the letters represent? The above just sounds like unsubstantiated
bragging....Gilberto
Dear Brother
This is not bragging.
The Imam S.aadeq [the 6th Imam ] as quoted in several Books the Bih.aar ul
Anwaar [Ocean of Lights] is on the net the Imam S.aadeq [quoting that which
He heard from His Sanctified Fathers and Ancestors Whose Holy Lineage goes
to the Prophet [Peace and Salutation be upon Him] said
** "Knowledge is twenty and seven letters. All that the Prophets have
revealed are two letters thereof. No man thus far hath known more than
these two letters. But when the Qa'im shall arise, He will cause the
remaining twenty and five letters to be made manifest."
This is from that Sacred Utterance of the Imam. I shall come back to it
later. But I beseech you to ponder my earlier pleading to go to the texts.
[as indeed I do and that is why large sections of the Holy Qur'an are
memorized in my humble mind]
In the meantime I have printed your letter, taking it with me to work and
thinking of it
http://www.mail-archive.com/bahai-st@list.jccc.edu/msg01691.html
your brother sending his warmest regards and desperately praying for peace
[the true salaam] khazeh
****
The essence of these words is this: they that tread the path of faith, they
that thirst for the wine of certitude, must cleanse themselves of all that
is earthly - their ears from idle talk, their minds from vain imaginings,
their hearts from worldly affections, their eyes from that which perisheth.
They should put their trust in God, and, holding fast unto Him, follow in
His way. Then will they be made worthy of the effulgent glories of the sun
of divine knowledge and understanding, and become the recipients of a grace
that is infinite and unseen, inasmuch as man can never hope to attain unto
the knowledge of the All-Glorious, can never quaff from the stream of divine
knowledge and wisdom, can never enter the abode of immortality, nor partake
of the cup of divine nearness and favour, UNLESS AND UNTIL HE CEASES TO
REGARD THE WORDS and deeds of mortal men as a standard for the true
understanding and recognition of God and His Prophets.
(Baha'u'llah: The Kitab-i-Iqan, Pages: 3-4)
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Gilberto Simpson
Sent: 22 December 2004 03:00
To: Baha'i Studies
Subject: Re: Clarification and Progressive Revelation and Peace
On Wed, 22 Dec 2004 00:02:03 -0000, Khazeh Fananapazir
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
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