Declarations (LOP IX & X, Notes 81-86)

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I testify that Thou hast been sanctified above all attributes and holy above all names. [IX]

81) “For the almighty Lord is He Whom no human comprehension can ever conceive, Whom no earthly knowledge can circumscribe, and Whose Essence none hath ever been or shall ever be able to fathom.”

(Baha'u'llah, quoting “one of the great Prophets,” The Tabernacle of Unity, p. 33)


"Should my bodily tongue ever attempt to describe Thee as the One Whose strength hath ever excelled the strength of the most mighty amongst men, the tongue of my heart would address me, saying: "These are but words which can only be adequate to such things as are of the same likeness and nature as themselves. But He, of a truth, is infinitely exalted above the mention of all His creatures."

(Baha'u'llah, Prayers and Meditations, p. 214)

See Note 41.


I testify [IX]

82) In declaring, "I testify," one is grounding one's self, affirming one's resolve in the presence of God. The daily recital of an obligatory prayer is crucial to maintaining one’s Baha'i identity. In His great love for us, Baha'u'llah has mandated as spiritual law the imprinting process of annunciating one's faith daily, using the words of God.

Testifying in the Obligatory Prayers

• “I bear witness” is found in the English translation of all three obligatory prayers.

• “I testify” is declared four times in the Long Obligatory Prayer, and also “my spirit testifieth to that whereunto Thy chosen Ones have testified.”

• “I testify” and “I bear witness” are the same word in the original Arabic, and both terms are used in the Long and Short Obligatory Prayers.

• Every adult Bahá'í declares daily. In addition to testifying and bearing witness, there is acknowledgment:

• “…Thou hast aided me…to acknowledge that which hath been uttered by the Tongue of Thy Grandeur.”

• “…and acknowledge that which the inmates of the all-highest Paradise and those who circle round Thy mighty Throne have acknowledged.”

Let him then seat himself and say: [X]

83) "...one of the believers asked the Guardian a question about the correct position for sitting. From the content it seems clear that this question is related to the medium Prayer, but this is not explicitly stated. The Guardian's reply states that sitting on a chair is permissible, but to sit on the floor is preferable and more fitting."

(From a letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to an individual believer, April 1, 1982)

I testify unto that whereunto have testified all created things [X]

84) ‘Wert thou to incline thine inner ear unto all created things, thou wouldst hear: “The Ancient of Days is come in His great glory!” Everything celebrateth the praise of its Lord. Some have known God and remember Him; others remember Him, yet know Him not. Thus have We set down Our decree in a perspicuous Tablet.’

(Baha'u'llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 47) [Emphasis added.]


‘We pray God to aid the heedless to turn unto Him, and such as have turned aside to direct themselves towards Him, and them that have denied Him to acknowledge this Cause, which, no sooner did it appear than all created things proclaimed: "He that was hidden in the Treasury of Knowledge, and inscribed by the Pen of the Most High in His Books, and His Scriptures, and His Scrolls, and His Tablets, is come!"’

(Baha'u'llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 177) [Emphasis added.]


“Meditate diligently upon the Cause of thy Lord. Strive to know Him through His own Self and not through others. For no one else besides Him can ever profit thee. To this all created things will testify, couldst thou but perceive it.”

(Baha'u'llah, Gleanings, LXXVI, p. 148) [Emphasis added.]


"Know, verily, that the soul is a sign of God, a heavenly gem whose reality the most learned of men hath failed to grasp, and whose mystery no mind, however acute, can ever hope to unravel. It is the first among all created things to declare the excellence of its Creator, the first to recognize His glory, to cleave to His truth, and to bow down in adoration before Him. If it be faithful to God, it will reflect His light, and will, eventually, return unto Him. If it fail, however, in its allegiance to its Creator, it will become a victim to self and passion, and will, in the end, sink in their depths.”

(Baha'u'llah, Gleanings, LXXXII, p. 158-59) [Emphasis added.]


“Praised be Thou, O Lord my God! The tongues of all created things testify to Thy sovereignty and Thine omnipotence, and proclaim mine own poverty and my wretchedness when face to face with the revelations of Thy wealth.”

(Baha'u'llah, Prayers and Meditations, CLXXIX, p. 301) [Emphasis added.]


“Nay, were man to gaze with the eye of divine and spiritual discernment, he will readily recognize that nothing whatsoever can exist without the revelation of the splendour of God, the ideal King. Consider how all created things eloquently testify to the revelation of that inner Light within them.”

(Baha'u'llah, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 140) [Emphasis added.]

the Concourse on high [X]

85)
"concourse 1) A large crowd: THRONG"

Webster's II New Riverside University Dictionary


and the inmates of the all-highest Paradise [X]

86) “In this day whosoever attaineth the good pleasure of the one true God, magnified be His glory, shall be remembered and accounted among the inmates of the all-highest Heaven and the most exalted Paradise, and shall partake of its benefits in all the worlds of God. By Him Who is the Desire of all men! The pen is powerless to portray this station or to expound this theme.”

(Baha'u'llah, The Tabernacle of Unity, p. 46) [Emphasis added.]


Next: "The Treasured Symbol"