"10. QUESTION: Shaving the head hath been forbidden in the
Kitáb-i-Aqdas but enjoined in the Suriy-i-Hajj."
"ANSWER: All are charged with obedience to the
Kitáb-i-Aqdas; whatsoever is revealed therein is
the Law of God amid His servants. The injunction
on pilgrims to the sacred House to shave the head
hath been lifted."
(Tablet of Questions and Answers, The Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 109)
So Baha'u'llah revealed a Tablet requiring pilgrims to shave the head; then in
the Aqdas prohibited shaving the head.
Did He change His mind? I think that is perhaps the first instinct, to think
that. But a few other thoughts come to mind. One is that by this law,
Baha'u'llah was demonstrating that He *could* have requiring pilgrims to shave
the head. Then this law would be seen in the same light as the laws of the
Bayan, which the Guardian explained were never intended to be enforced, but
rather to demonstrate the sovereignty of the Bab as an independent
Manifestation.
So the reason that a Manifestation reveals something, is not always the obvious
one.
My personal take on this, is that in this verse from Questions and Answers
Baha'u'llah is demonstrating the pre-eminence of the Aqdas over His other
Writings. It is a more effective lesson and sinks deeper than merely stating
that it is pre-eminent.
Similarly, some time after He originally revealed it, Baha'u'llah later added a
passage to the Iqan, in which He expresses His devotion to the Bab and states
that He wants to lay down His life for Him. Shoghi Effendi selected this
passage for the frontispiece to the Dawn-Breakers, not knowing that it was an
afterthought. Hand of the Cause Ugo Giachery was present when the original of
the Iqan in the handwriting of `Abdu'l-Baha was presented to Shoghi Effendi:
"These manuscripts, Shoghi Effendi stated, were transcribed by 'Abdu'l-Bahá in
His beautiful calligraphy, when He was about eighteen years old, and bore some
additions in the Hand of Bahá'u'lláh, insertions which He had written on the
margins of many pages in reviewing the manuscripts. Shoghi Effendi had never
before seen the original of the Íqán and was deeply astonished to discover that
the phrase he had chosen from this book and placed on the title page of his
translation of Nabil's Narrative, The Dawn-Breakers, was an after-reflection of
Bahá'u'lláh's, written by Himself, on the margin of one page. The phrase in
question is the one starting: 'I stand, life in hand, ready; that
perchance...'[KI, p. 161 (Brit. ed.), p. 252 (U.S. ed.). See DB for the
translation here used, which appears on the title page.]
"The Guardian, that evening, was not only astonished but overjoyed as well,
because he was conscious that through a mysterious process he had been inspired
to adopt that phrase as an eternal testimonial to Bahá'u'lláh's yearning to
sacrifice His life for the Báb, the Primal Point. All of us who were seated at
the table were awed and profoundly stirred, and I, in particular, felt that the
existence of a spiritual link between our Guardian and the invisible world of
God was something that no one should ever doubt."
(Ugo Giachery, Shoghi Effendi - Recollections, p. 148)
So again, does this mean that Baha'u'llah changed His mind about the contents
of the Iqan? Or was this a way of emphasizing this passage?
Perhaps we can read of an addition to the Aqdas in the same light:
"The eighth Ishraq
"This passage, now written by the Pen of Glory, is accounted as part of the
Most Holy Book: The men of God's House of Justice have been charged with the
affairs of the people. They, in truth, are the Trustees of God among His
servants and the daysprings of authority in His countries.
"O people of God! That which traineth the world is Justice, for it is upheld by
two pillars, reward and punishment. These two pillars are the sources of life
to the world. Inasmuch as for each day there is a new problem and for every
problem an expedient solution, such affairs should be referred to the House of
Justice that the members thereof may act according to the needs and
requirements of the time. They that, for the sake of God, arise to serve His
Cause, are the recipients of divine inspiration from the unseen Kingdom. It is
incumbent upon all to be obedient unto them. All matters of State should be
referred to the House of Justice, but acts of worship must be observed
according to that which God hath revealed in His Book."
(Baha'u'llah, Tablets of Baha'u'llah, pp. 128-129)
Does this mean that Baha'u'llah didn't think of this passage when He authored
the Aqdas? That God left something out of the Book, and Baha'u'llah remedied
it later?
It is my own personal view that by this method Baha'u'llah has emphasized this
matter. Just as the Master selected the very last verse of His Will --
literally the very last words He addressed to the human race -- to direct us to
turn to the House of Justice and the Guardian and seek their guidance; in the
same manner, Baha'u'llah is here emphasizing the role and functions of the
Universal House of Justice, and that it is divinely-guided in its
deliberations. Adding it in a later Tablet, and saying that it is deemed a
part of the Aqdas, is a way of bringing special attention to it. It is a way
that the Universal Mind impresses something on limited mind.
So, are all of these -- including the House functioning without the Guardian --
evidence of God changing His mind? Or perhaps a way of emphasizing something,
or admonishing people?
Brent
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