Mulla Musayn has fascinated me since learning my first bits of Babi history. Firstly he has my favorite name ever, Husayn. Secondly he has the unique privilege of being the Babu’l-Bab; a single mortal man through whom the fulfillment of all human potential was ushered in. And I love the name Husayn.
At Carmel Baha’i school my teacher told us that the Bab referred to Mulla Husayn-i-Bushru’i as the return of Muhammad, and that thus in a mystical way there have perhaps been more than two manifestations in this dispensation. I did not even think to doubt it, the man is a genius, and upon getting home I looked it up and he was right. (Shout out to Dr. Jay)
Consider thou the Revelation of the Point of the Bayan — exalted is His glory. He pronounced the First One [1] to believe in Him to be Muhammad, the Messenger of God. Doth it beseem a man to dispute with Him by saying that this man is from Persia, the Other from Arabia, or this one was called Husayn while the Other bore the name of Muhammad? Nay, I swear by God’s holy Being, the Exalted, the Most Great. Surely no man of intelligence and insight would ever pay attention unto limitations or names, but rather unto that with which Muhammad was invested, which was none other than the Cause of God. Such a man of insight would likewise consider Husayn and the position he occupied in the Cause of God, the Omnipotent, the Exalted, the Knowing, the Wise. And since the First One to believe in God in the Dispensation of the Bayan was invested with command similar to that with which Muhammad, the Messenger of God, was invested, therefore the Báb pronounced him to be the latter, namely His return and resurrection. This station is sanctified from every limitation or name, and naught can be seen therein but God, the One, the Peerless, the All-Knowing. [1 Mulla Husayn.] (Baha’u’llah, Tablets of Baha’u’llah, p. 184)
This passage seems at first to say that Mulla Husayn was an independent Manifestation of God, endowed with constancy, and the power of the creative word. This throws the idea of the Twin Manifestations out the window and opens up the door to many questions. However, if we analyze the meaning in context with some other quotations, it begins to make sense on both logical and mystical levels. Now, I don’t claim that the meaning I take from it is the only one or even the right one, just the one that seem apparent to my faulty reasoning. Insha’allah it is somewhere close to the intended truth.
If we examine this statement by ‘Abdu’l-Baha, the Centre of the Covenant, we can start see what I think Baha’u’llah might have intended us to gather from the above passage.
In confirmation of the exalted rank of the true believer, referred to by Bahá’u’lláh, He reveals the following: “The station which he who hath truly recognized this Revelation will attain is the same as the one ordained for such prophets of the house of Israel as are not regarded as Manifestations ‘endowed with constancy.'” (Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha’u’llah, p. 111)
The quote above does not say that we can become Lesser Prophets, it says that we can attain an equal station. Lesser Prophets, nabi are a thing of the previous age, however we have now the oppourtunity, by pure recognition of Baha’u’llah to reach a station that is equal in glory to them, and perhaps this even implies an equal, if different spiritual power – utterly dependent still on the Manifestation of God.
Likewise Baha’u’llah makes it clear elsewhere that the station He holds is supreme among Manifestations, and thus the power wielded by Him is greater than those manifestations of the Adamaic Age. The essence is no different, but the station is far greater, and this applies as well to the manifestations to come in this age. (As I understand it.)
And since the First One to believe in God in the Dispensation of the Bayan was invested with command similar to that with which Muhammad, the Messenger of God, was invested, therefore the Báb pronounced him to be the latter, namely His return and resurrection.
It was pointed out to me that while the return of a Lesser Prophet can well be a Greater Prophet, it cannot be the other way around – nor can a Greater Prophet return as a normal human being, as their essence is that of Manifestation. (Not to say they cannot, (He is, in truth, the exponent of ‘God doeth whatsoever He willeth’.) but it is a different concept than that return Baha’u’llah teaches us about.
However, if the believer in this Age can be exalted to the station of a Lesser Prophet of the previous age, and the Manifestations of this Age wield greater power than the previous ones, why cannot – by the will of the Manifestation of God, a soul endowed with acquired infallibility be given power to wield equal to that wielded by the Manifestations of the previous age?
So I would venture that this passage is not saying that Mulla Husayn is an independent Manifestation of his own right, nor anywhere near the level of Baha’u’llah. It seems to me that it is saying that his station has been exalted such, that he bears power equal to that Muhammad bore, while remaining human in his essence, and that his piety and human attributes are identical, through the power given him by the Bab, and through his very nature to those of Muhammad. Thus he is the same person, and equal to him in all ways but his pre-existent essence. I hope that made some sort of sense.
—
164 years ago, on this day, the Point of the Bayan ascended from this mortal plane, making way for ‘Him Whom God must needs make manifest’. I would like to offer a written prayer to that Point as a testament to Him and all those exalted souls who gave their lives for His cause, and that I may live.
How numerous the souls raised to life who were exposed to dire humiliation in Thy Path for exalting Thy Word and for glorifying Thy divine Unity! How profuse the blood that hath been shed for the sake of Thy Faith to vindicate the authenticity of Thy divine Mission and to celebrate Thy praise! How vast the possessions that were wrongfully seized in the Path of Thy love in order to affirm the loftiness of Thy sanctity and to extol Thy glorious Name! How many the feet that have trodden upon the dust in order to magnify Thy holy Word and to extol Thy glory! How innumerable the voices that were raised in lamentation, the hearts that were struck with terror, the grievous woes that none other than Thee can reckon, and the adversities and afflictions that remain inscrutable to anyone except Thyself; all this to establish, O my God, the loftiness of Thy sanctity and to demonstrate the transcendent character of Thy glory.
These decrees were ordained by Thee so that all created things might bear witness that they have been brought into being for the sake of naught else but Thee. Thou hast withheld from them the things that bring tranquillity to their hearts, that they might know of a certainty that whatever is associated with Thy holy Being is far superior to and exalted above aught else that would satisfy them; inasmuch as Thine indomitable power pervadeth all things, and nothing can ever frustrate it.
Indeed Thou hast caused these momentous happenings to come to pass that those who are endued with perception may readily recognize that they were ordained by Thee to demonstrate the loftiness of Thy divine Unity and to affirm the exaltation of Thy sanctity.
Here and now, boys 