Condition of a “disbeliever” at the moment of death

By the righteousness of Him Who hath called thee into being and unto Whom erelong thou shalt return, if thou remainest, at the moment of death, a disbeliever in the signs of thy Lord thou shalt surely enter the gates of hell, and none of the deeds thy hands have wrought will profit thee, nor shalt thou find a patron nor anyone to plead for thee. Fear thou God and pride not thyself on thine earthly possessions, inasmuch as what God doth possess is better for them that tread the path of righteousness. 

- The Bab  (From Tablet to Muhammad Shah; ‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb)

The Báb suffered more than anyone before Him

In this mountain I have remained alone, and have come to such a pass that none of those gone before Me have suffered what I have suffered, nor any transgressor endured what I have endured! I render praise unto God and yet again praise Him. I find Myself free from sorrow, inasmuch as I abide within the good-pleasure of My Lord and Master. Methinks I am in the all-highest Paradise, rejoicing at My communion with God, the Most Great. Verily this is a bounty which God hath conferred upon Me; and He is the Lord of unbounded blessings. 

- The Báb  (‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb)

“This mortal life” - How one’s attitude towards it should be

Thou [Muhammad Shah] pridest thyself in the things thou dost possess, yet no believer in God and in His signs, nor any righteous man would ever deign to regard them. This mortal life is like unto the carcass of a dog, around which none would gather, nor would any partake thereof, except those who gainsay the life hereafter. Verily it is incumbent upon thee to become a true believer in God, the All-Possessing, the Almighty, and to turn away from the one who guideth thee into the torment of hellfire. 

- The Bab  (‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb)

The amazing station of Mulla Husayn – the first to believe in the Báb

God hath in truth testified in His Book and so also have testified the company of His angels, His Messengers and those endued with divine knowledge, that thou hast believed in God and in His signs and that everyone is guided aright by virtue of thy guidance. This is indeed a boundless grace which God, the Ever-Living, the Self-Subsisting, hath graciously conferred upon thee aforetime and will confer hereafter. And since thou didst believe in God before the creation, He hath in truth, at His own behest, raised thee up in every Revelation. There is no God but Him, the Sovereign Protector, the All-Glorious.

It behooveth you to proclaim the Cause of God unto all created things as a token of grace from His presence; no God is there but Him, the Most Generous, the All-Compelling.

Say: All matters must be referred to the Book of God; I am indeed the First to believe in God and in His signs; I am the One Who divulgeth and proclaimeth the Truth and I have been invested with every excellent title of God, the Mighty, the Incomparable. Verily I have attained the Day of the First Manifestation and by the bidding of the Lord and as a token of His grace, I shall attain the Day of the Latter Manifestation. There is no God but Him and at the appointed hour everyone shall bow down unto Him in adoration. 

- The Báb  (From Tablet to the First Letter of the Living; ‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb)

Consequences of doing good or evil towards the Manifestation of God

He who doeth good unto Me, it is as if he doeth good unto God, His angels and the entire company of His loved ones. He who doeth evil unto Me, it is as if he doeth evil unto God and His chosen ones. Nay, too exalted is the station of God and of His loved ones for any person’s good or evil deed to reach their holy threshold. 

- The Báb  (‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb)

Prophecy about the Báb and the province of Adhirbayjan, Persia

Through the grace of God nothing can frustrate My purpose, and I am fully conscious of that which God hath bestowed upon Me as a token of His favor. If it were My will, I would disclose to Your Majesty all things; but I have not done this, nor will I do it, that the Truth may be distinguished from aught else beside it, and this prophecy uttered by the Imám Báqir—may peace rest upon Him—be fully realized: “What must needs befall us in Ádhirbáyján is inevitable and without parallel. When this happeneth, rest ye in your homes and remain patient as we have remained patient. As soon as the Mover moveth make ye haste to attain unto Him, even though ye have to crawl over the snow.” 

- The Báb  (‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb)

Governor's successor in Isfahan showed exceptional meanness towards the Báb

Following his [Governor of Isfahan] ascension to the eternal Kingdom, the vicious Gurgín, resorting to all manner of treachery, false oaths and coercion, sent Me away from Isfahán with an escort of five guards on a journey which lasted seven days, without providing the barest necessities for My travel (Alas! Alas! for the things which have touched Me!), until eventually Your Majesty’s order came, instructing Me to proceed to Máh-Kú.… 

- The Báb  (‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb)

Governor of Isfahan showed “exemplary servitude and devotion” to the Báb

Manuchihr-Khan the
governor of Isfahan

The Mu‘tamidu’d-Dawlih [the Governor of Isfahan] then became aware of the truth of the Cause and manifested exemplary servitude and devotion to His chosen ones. When some of the ignorant people in his city arose to stir up sedition, he defended the divine Truth by affording Me protection for a while in the privacy of the Governor’s residence. At length, having attained the good-pleasure of God, he repaired to his habitation in the all-highest Paradise. May God reward him graciously.… 

- The Báb  (‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb)

Governor of Fars persecuted the Báb in Shiraz

While I was in Shíráz the indignities which befell Me at the hands of its wicked and depraved Governor waxed so grievous that if thou wert acquainted with but a tithe thereof, thou wouldst deal him retributive justice. For as a result of his unmitigated oppression, thy royal court hath become, until the Day of Resurrection, the object of the wrath of God. Moreover, his indulgence in alcohol had grown so excessive that he was never sober enough to make a sound judgment. Therefore, disquieted, I was obliged to set out from Shíráz with the aim of attaining the enlightened and exalted court of Your Majesty. 

- The Báb  (‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb)

In 1844 the Báb “dispatched a messenger and a book” to the King of Persia

In that same year [year 1260] I dispatched a messenger and a book unto thee [Muhammad Shah], that thou mightest act towards the Cause of Him Who is the Testimony of God as befitteth the station of thy sovereignty. But inasmuch as dark, dreadful and dire calamity had been irrevocably ordained by the Will of God, the book was not submitted to thy presence, through the intervention of such as regard themselves the well-wishers of the government. Up to the present, when nearly four years have passed, they have not duly presented it to Your Majesty. However, now that the fateful hour is drawing nigh, and because it is a matter of faith, not a worldly concern, therefore I have given thee a glimpse of what hath transpired. 

- The Báb  (‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb)

In 1844 the Báb “ proclaimed God’s hidden Cause and unveiled its well-guarded Pillar”

God beareth Me witness, I was not a man of learning, for I was trained as a merchant. In the year sixty [1] God graciously infused my soul with the conclusive evidences and weighty knowledge which characterize Him Who is the Testimony of God—may peace be upon Him—until finally in that year I proclaimed God’s hidden Cause and unveiled its well-guarded Pillar, in such wise that no one could refute it. “That he who should perish might perish with a clear proof before him and he who should live might live by clear proof.” [2] 

- The Báb  (‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb)

[1] 1260 A.H. (1844 A.D.)             

[2] Qur’án 8:44

What one would see if God were to lift “the veil” that covers “this earthly plane…

By the righteousness of Him Who is the Absolute Truth, were the veil to be lifted, thou wouldst witness on this earthly plane all men sorely afflicted with the fire of the wrath of God, a fire fiercer and greater than the fire of hell, with the exception of those who have sought shelter beneath the shade of the tree of My love. For they in very truth are the blissful.… 

- The Báb  (‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb)

The station of the Báb

I am the Primal Point from which have been generated all created things. I am the Countenance of God Whose splendor can never be obscured, the Light of God Whose radiance can never fade. Whoso recognizeth Me, assurance and all good are in store for him, and whoso faileth to recognize Me, infernal fire and all evil await him.… 

- The Báb  (‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb)

The importance of recognizing the Manifestation of God when He appears

I swear by the righteousness of Thy Lord, the Lord of all created things, the Lord of all the worlds! Were a man to rear in this world as many edifices as possible and worship God through every virtuous deed which God’s knowledge embraceth, and attain the presence of the Lord, and were he, even to a measure less than that which is accountable before God, to bear in his heart a trace of malice towards Me, all his deeds would be reduced to naught and he would be deprived of the glances of God’s favor, become the object of His wrath and assuredly perish. For God hath ordained that all the good things which lie in the treasury of His knowledge shall be attained through obedience unto Me, and every fire recorded in His Book, through disobedience unto Me. Methinks in this day and from this station I behold all those who cherish My love and follow My behest abiding within the mansions of Paradise, and the entire company of Mine adversaries consigned to the lowest depths of hellfire. 

- The Báb  (‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb)

The station of the Báb

I am one of the sustaining pillars of the Primal Word of God. Whosoever hath recognized Me hath known all that is true and right and hath attained all that is good and seemly, and whosoever hath failed to recognize Me hath turned away from all that is true and right and hath succumbed to everything evil and unseemly. 

- The Báb  (‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb)

The substance from which the Manifestation of God is made

The substance wherewith God hath created Me is not the clay out of which others have been formed. He hath conferred upon Me that which the worldly-wise can never comprehend, nor the faithful discover.… 

- The Báb  (‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb)

The station of Baha'u'llah

This is an epistle from the letter Thá [1] unto Him Who will be made manifest through the power of Truth—He Who is the All-Glorious, the Best-Beloved—to affirm that all created things as well as myself bear witness for all time that there is none other God but Thee, the Omnipotent, the Self-Subsisting; that Thou art God, there is no God besides Thee and that all men shall be raised up to life through Thee.
- The Báb  (‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb)
[1] This is the first letter of Thamarih which means “fruit.” Shoghi Effendi, in his writings, refers to the Báb as the Thamarih (fruit) of the Tree of God’s successive Revelations. (See Shoghi Effendi’s letter to the Bahá’ís of the East dated Naw-Rúz 110, page 5.)