15. Part One — 14

1As to His words: "And then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory" (Matt. 24-30)—The purport of this saying is that at that time the people will lament because of the absence of the Sun of Divine Beauty, the Moon of Knowledge and the Stars of Intuitive Wisdom; then it will be witnessed that the Face of the Promised One and the Beauty of the Adored One will descend from heaven riding upon a cloud; that is that Divine Beauty will appear from the Heavens of the Supreme Will, in the human temple. The purpose of "heaven" is none other than to denote the exaltation and loftiness which is the station of the appearance of those Day-springs of Holiness and Dawningplaces of Pre-existence. Although these Ancient Beings outwardly appear from the wombs of mothers, yet in reality they descend from the Heavens of Command; and although they dwell upon the earth, yet they recline upon the couch of Significances; and while walking among the servants, they soar in the skies of Nearness. They journey in the land of Spirit without the motion of foot and fly upward to the summit of Oneness without wing. In every breath they traverse the world of creation east and west, and in every moment pass through the kingdom of the Seen and Unseen. They are established upon the throne of "no employment keepeth Him from doing many things (at the same time)," and they are seated upon the chair of "every day (is) He employed in (some new) work" (K. S. 55). They are sent forth from the loftiness of the power of the King of Pre-existence and from the exaltation of the Will of the Most Great Ruler. Therefore He says He shall "descend from heaven."

2The word "heaven" is used in many senses in the utterances of the Suns of Significances; such as the "heaven of Command," the "heaven of Will," the "heaven of Desire," the "heaven of Knowledge," the "heaven of Assurance," the "heaven of Explanation," the "heaven of Epiphany," the "heaven of Concealment," etc. In every instance He intends for the word "heaven" a meaning which can only be comprehended by those who have knowledge of the mysteries of Oneness and have quaffed from the chalices of Eternity. For example, it is said "Your sustenance is in the heaven, and also that which ye are promised" (K. S. 51), although sustenance grows up from the earth. Likewise, "the names come down from heaven,"although they proceed from the tongue of the servants. Shouldst thou make the mirror of heart pure and clear from the dust of prejudice, thou wilt comprehend all the symbols in the sayings of the perfect Word of Divinity in every Manifestation and be informed of the mysteries of Knowledge. But unless thou destroyest with the fire of Severance the veils of learning which are conventional among the servants, thou wilt not attain to the brilliant morn of the Ideal Knowledge.

3Knowledge is divided into two kinds: Divine Knowledge and Satanic knowledge. One appears from the inspirations of the Ideal King; the other emanates from the imaginations of darkened souls. The teacher of one is the Exalted God and the teacher of the other is sensual suggestion. The explanation of one is "fear God and God will teach you," and the definition of the other is "knowledge is the greatest veil." The fruits of one tree are patience, longing, wisdom and love, and the fruits of the other are pride, vain-glory and conceit. No scent of these obscure learnings, the darkness of which hath encompassed all regions, is inhaled from what the Masters of Utterance have explained concerning the meaning of Knowledge. The only fruit of this tree is injustice and iniquity, and it yields no crop but malice and hatred. Its fruit is deadly poison and its shadow is a destructive fire. How excellent is the saying, "cling to the hems of passion, cast off modesty, abandon the pathway of the devotees though they may be illustrious."

4Consequently the breast must be purified from all that hath been heard and the heart sanctified from all attachments, so that it may become a recipient of the invisible inspiration and a treasury of the mysteries of Supreme Knowledges. Therefore it is said—"The traveller in the White Path and in the Red Support shall never reach his homestead unless he is empty-handed from all that is possessed by the people." This is the condition of the traveller; duly reflect and meditate, that thou mayest be informed of the purpose of the Book, without veil. To resume: We are kept afar from the subject, yet all mention is concerning the subject; and We swear by God that notwithstanding Our desire to abridge and be brief, We find that the reins of the pen slip from the hand. Yet how countless are the pearls still unpierced in the shell of heart and how many are the houris of significances concealed in the chambers of Wisdom, which no one hath ever touched! "which neither man nor genii has defiled" (K. S. 55). Notwithstanding all these explanations, it seems as if not one letter of the purpose hath been mentioned and no sign of the object hath been explained. When will an intimate one be found to don the garb of pilgrimage to the sacred precinct of the Friend and attain to the Caaba of the Desired one? to hear and discover the mysteries of explanation without ear or tongue?