Daily Frameworks for 08 June 2024

Jalál, 05 Núr (Light), 181 B.E.

The Twin Manifestations

Quotes for Reflection:

IS there any Remover of difficulties save God? Say: Praised be God! He is God! All are His servants and all abide by His bidding! — The Báb ¹

RID thou thyself of all attachments to aught except God, enrich thyself in God by dispensing with all else besides Him, and recite this prayer:
> Say: God sufficeth all things above all things, and nothing in the heavens or in the earth or in whatever lieth between them but God, thy Lord, sufficeth. Verily, He is in Himself the Knower, the Sustainer, the Omnipotent.
Regard not the all-sufficing power of God as an idle fancy. It is that genuine faith which thou cherishest for the Manifestation of God in every Dispensation. It is such faith which sufficeth above all the things that exist on the earth, whereas no created thing on earth besides faith would suffice thee. If thou art not a believer, the Tree of divine Truth would condemn thee to extinction. If thou art a believer, thy faith shall be sufficient for thee above all things that exist on earth, even though thou possess nothing. — The Báb ²

The Life of the Báb

This is the foundation of the belief of the people of Bahá (may my life be offered up for them): “His Holiness, the Exalted One (the Báb), is the Manifestation of the Unity and Oneness of God and the Forerunner of the Ancient Beauty. His Holiness the Abhá Beauty (may my life be a sacrifice for His steadfast friends) is the Supreme Manifestation of God and the Dayspring of His Most Divine Essence. All others are servants unto Him and do His bidding.” — ‘Abdu’l-Bahá ³

The Báb, acclaimed by Bahá’u’lláh as the “Essence of Essences,” the “Sea of Seas,” the “Point round Whom the realities of the Prophets and Messengers revolve,” “from Whom God hath caused to proceed the knowledge of all that was and shall be,” Whose “rank excelleth that of all the Prophets,” and Whose “Revelation transcendeth the comprehension and understanding of all their chosen ones,” had delivered His Message and discharged His mission. He Who was, in the words of ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá, the “Morn of Truth” and “Harbinger of the Most Great Light,” Whose advent at once signalized the termination of the “Prophetic Cycle” and the inception of the “Cycle of Fulfillment,” had simultaneously through His Revelation banished the shades of night that had descended upon His country, and proclaimed the impending rise of that Incomparable Orb Whose radiance was to envelop the whole of mankind. — Shoghi Effendi ⁴

The short duration of His Dispensation, the restricted range within which His laws and ordinances have been made to operate, supply no criterion whatever wherewith to judge its Divine origin and to evaluate the potency of its message. “That so brief a span,” Bahá’u’lláh Himself explains, “should have separated this most mighty and wondrous Revelation from Mine own previous Manifestation, is a secret that no man can unravel and a mystery such as no mind can fathom. Its duration had been foreordained, and no man shall ever discover its reason unless and until he be informed of the contents of My Hidden Book.” “Behold,” Bahá’u’lláh further explains in the Kitáb-i-Badí’, one of His works refuting the arguments of the people of the Bayán, “behold, how immediately upon the completion of the ninth year of this wondrous, this most holy and merciful Dispensation, the requisite number of pure, of wholly consecrated and sanctified souls had been most secretly consummated.” — Shoghi Effendi ⁵

The appearance of the Bab resembles the dawn, for the dawn holds the promise of the sun. The dawn of the Bab promised the rising of the sun of truth that is to envelop the whole world.”
He said, “O my glorious Lord, I sacrifice myself entirely to thee. My only desire is to be martyred for thy love. Thou doth 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. — ‘Abdu’l-Bahá ^{6 7}

1. The Báb. Selections from the Writings of the Báb. Translated by Habib Taherzadeh. 1. ed. Haifa: Bahá’í World Centre, 1976, 217. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-bab/selections-writings-bab/8#006719414. ↩
2. The Báb. Selections from the Writings of the Báb. Translated by Habib Taherzadeh. 1. ed. Haifa: Bahá’í World Centre, 1976, 123. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-bab/selections-writings-bab/5#167334056. ↩
3. ’Abdu’l-Bahá. Will and Testament of ’Abdu’l-Bahá. Translated by Shoghi Effendi. Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed June 7, 2024. https://www.bahai.org/r/985165857. ↩
4. Effendi, Shoghi. God Passes By. Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed June 7, 2024. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/shoghi-effendi/god-passes-by/6#242445030. ↩
5. Effendi, Shoghi. The World Order of Baháʾuʾlláh: Selected Letters. Bahá’í Reference Library. Accessed June 7, 2024. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/shoghi-effendi/world-order-bahaullah/8#307646511. ↩
6. ’Abdu’l-Bahá. ’Abdu’l-Bahá on Divine Philosophy. Edited by Elizabeth Fraser Chamberlain. Boston: Tudor Press, 1918, 51-52. https://bahai-library.com/abdul-baha_divine_philosophy&chapter=all/#51. ↩
7. Ruhi Institute. The Twin Manifestations. 2.1.21.PE December 2021. Vol. Book 4. 6 vols. Embarking on a Path of Service. Cali, Columbia: Ruhi Foundation, 2021, 41-42. https://www.ruhi.org/en/walking-a-path-of-service/#TWM.