To Every Discerning And Illuminated Heart It

Sources: Gleanings From The Writings Of Baha'u'llah

To every discerning and illuminated heart it is evident that God, the

unknowable Essence, the Divine Being, is immensely exalted beyond every

human attribute, such as corporeal existence, ascent and descent, egress

and regress. Far be it from His glory that human tongue should adequately

recount His praise, or that human heart comprehend His fathomless mystery.

He is, and hath ever been, veiled in the ancient eternity of His Essenc ,

and will remain in His Reality everlastingly hidden from the sight of men.

"No vision taketh in Him, but He taketh in all vision; He is the Subtile,

the All-Perceiving."...



The door of the knowledge of the Ancient of Days being thus closed in the

face of all beings, the Source of infinite grace, according to His saying,

"His grace hath transcended all things; My grace hath encompassed them

all," hath caused those luminous Gems of Holiness to appear out of the

realm of the spirit, in the noble form of the human temple, and be made

manifest unto all men, that they may impart unto the world the mysteries

of the unchangeable Being, and tell of the subtleties of His imperishable

Essence.



These sanctified Mirrors, these Day Springs of ancient glory, are, one and

all, the Exponents on earth of Him Who is the central Orb of the universe,

its Essence and ultimate Purpose. From Him proceed their knowledge and

power; from Him is derived their sovereignty. The beauty of their

countenance is but a reflection of His image, and their revelation a sign

of His deathless glory. They are the Treasuries of Divine knowledge, and

the Repositories of celestial wisdom. Through them is transmitted a grace

that is infinite, and by them is revealed the Light that can never

fade.... These Tabernacles of Holiness, these Primal Mirrors which reflect

the light of unfading glory, are but expressions of Him Who is the

Invisible of the Invisibles. By the revelation of these Gems of Divine

virtue all the names and attributes of God, such as knowledge and power,

sovereignty and dominion, mercy and wisdom, glory, bounty, and grace, are

made manifest.



These attributes of God are not, and have never been, vouchsafed specially

unto certain Prophets, and withheld from others. Nay, all the Prophets of

God, His well-favored, His holy and chosen Messengers are, without

exception, the bearers of His names, and the embodiments of His

attributes. They only differ in the intensity of their revelation, and the

comparative potency of their light. Even as He hath revealed: "Some of the

Apostles We have caused to excel the others."



It hath, therefore, become manifest and evident that within the

tabernacles of these Prophets and chosen Ones of God the light of His

infinite names and exalted attributes hath been reflected, even though the

light of some of these attributes may or may not be outwardly revealed

from these luminous Temples to the eyes of men. That a certain attribute

of God hath not been outwardly manifested by these Essences of Detachment

doth in no wise imply that they who are the Day Springs of God's

attributes and the Treasuries of His holy names did not actually possess

it. Therefore, these illuminated Souls, these beauteous Countenances have,

each and every one of them, been endowed with all the attributes of God,

such as sovereignty, dominion, and the like, even though to outward

seeming they be shorn of all earthly majesty....