He is God!
Praise be unto the One who created the world and made every existing thing wonderful! He gave the sincere praiseworthy stations and made the invisible visible, but all others are groping in their deep sleep. He laid the foundation in the erection of the lofty palace and the glorious light; created the new creatures in a manifest resurrection! — and still the people are heedless in their slumber. He blew the horn; the (first) trumpet sounded; the drum was beaten; those in the world of existence were stunned! — and still the dead are dormant in the graves of their bodies. Then the second trumpet sounded; it brought the breath of life to some of the dead; even the nursing mothers forgot their infants! — and still the people in their unconsciousness do not comprehend.
The day of judgment has come; the hour has struck; the path is extended; the balance (scale of justice) is set up; all the contingent beings are gathered (for judgment)! — and still the people are afflicted with blindness! The light has shone forth; the Mount of Tôr became illumined; the soft breeze of the rose-gardens of the forgiving Lord blew gently; the fragrances of the Spirit were diffused; the dead were resurrected from the graves! — and still the heedless are asleep in their tombs. The fires are blazing; heaven is nigh; the meadows are blooming; paradise has become a wonder! — and still the ignorant are wading in the stagnant pools of their imaginations. The veil is removed; the curtain is lifted; the clouds are torn asunder; the Lord of Lords is manifest! — and still the criminally negligent are at loss.
He (Bahá’u’lláh) sounded forth the second trumpet and created for you the great Resurrection Day and gathered the holy souls in the Supreme Kingdom. Verily, therein are signs for the possessors of insight. And some of His signs are the unfoldment of prophecies and glad tidings; the appearance of proofs and references; the expectations of the pure and devout—and they are of those who attain. And some of His signs are His lights that are shining from the horizon of oneness; His rays that are beaming from the glorious dawning-point, and the declaration of the great glad tidings by His forerunner (the Bab). Verily, therein is a clear evidence for those who reason. And some of His signs are His manifestation and His appearance; His firmness and existence among the witnessing people in all the cities and among the tribes who attacked Him from all sides like unto wolves. And some of His signs are His steadfastness before the great nations and powerful governments, even before a host of enemies who shed blood and strive to wreck the divine edifice in every time and place. Verily, therein is a thought for those who reflect upon the signs of God. And some of His signs are the wonders of His explanations; the eloquence of His utterances; the rapidity of revealing His words, verses, addresses, communes, interpretations of the symbols and illustrations of the parables. By thy life, the Cause is evident and clear to those who see with the eyes of justice! And some of His signs are the rising of the sun of His knowledge; the ascending of the moon of His arts and the firmness of the perfections of His conditions. This is acknowledged by the well-informed and the learned of the nations. And some of His signs are the preservation of His beauty, the protection of His human temple, the shining of His lights despite the attacks of His enemies with lances, swords and darting arrows from thousands of people. Verily, therein is an admonition to those who are just. And some of His signs are His patience, calamities, ordeals, and sufferings under chains and fetters, while He was calling: "Come unto me, come unto me, O people of piety! Come unto me, come unto me, O party of goodness! Come unto me, come unto me, O rising points of light!" Verily, the door of mysteries is open—and still the wicked are wading in their mire. And some of His signs are the revealing of His Book; His explicit messages as warnings to the kings; exhortations to the one who encircled the earth with a penetrating power and dominating force, whose great throne was destroyed within a few days (this refers to Napoleon III). This matter is well-known and obvious to the public. And some of His signs are the sublimity of His greatness; the supremacy of His station; the immensity of His glory and the shining of His beauty in the horizon of the prison (Acca). Then the heads bowed, the voices were silenced and the faces were amazed at Him. This is a proof that was not heard of in past centuries. And some of His signs are the performing of miracles, the appearance of continuous and uninterrupted supernatural powers, like the bounty of His cloud and the acknowledgment by the heedless of the penetration of His light. By His life! the Cause is affirmed and clear to all who have come from all parties to the presence of the Living, the Self-subsisting. And some of His signs are the shining of the sun of His century, the rising of the moon of His generation in the heaven of the ages—the supreme summit of the centuries, with exigencies, knowledge and arts that astonished the horizons, amazed the minds and became known and famous.
Verily, this is a complete matter!
(Signed) ‘Abdu’l-Baha Abbas
(Star of the West, vol. 9, no. 3, April 28, 1918)
