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"The ulamas must, therefore, assemble, and, with one accord, choose one miracle, and write that, after the performance of this miracle they will no longer entertain doubts about Me, and that all will acknowledge and confess the truth of My Cause. Let them seal this paper, and bring it to Me. This must be the accepted criterion: if the miracle is performed, no doubt will remain for them; and if not, We shall be convicted of imposture." The learned man, Hasan Amu, rose and replied, "There is no more to be said"; he then kissed the knee of the Blessed One although he was not a believer, and went. He gathered the ulama and gave them the sacred message. They consulted together and said, "This man is an enchanter; perhaps he will perform an enchantment, and then we shall have nothing more to say." Acting on this belief, they did not dare to push the matter further (114:1) This man, Hasan Amu, mentioned this fact at many meetings. After leaving Karbila he went to Kirmanshah and Tihran and spread a detailed account of it everywhere, laying emphasis on the fear and the withdrawal of the ulama (114:2) Briefly, all His adversaries in the Orient acknowledged His greatness, grandeur, knowledge and virtue; and though they were His enemies, they always spoke of Him as "the renowned Baha'u'llah." (114:3) Once again, we see that the people wanted miracles. As in the time of Christ, in the peoples eyes, it was the performance of miracles that constituted irrefutable proof. Baha'is, however, do not place great emphasis on outward miracles. As illustrated in the above story, Baha'u'llah, like Christ, was loath to produce signs and wonders for the entertainment of doubters. Although miracles can constitute a compelling proof for those who witness them, for others they are subject to question, and we read from the above story, and in the New Testament, that even those who witness them, if their purpose is to oppose Him, will not believe (114:4) Like Christ, Baha'u'llah has given to the world, for all to see, His message, and it is now available for study, for scrutiny, for test. To Baha'is it represents an undeniable proof of His mission (114:5) One final analogy is in order, to put in perspective what I share here of the teachings of Baha'u'llah. Imagine that someone holds out a small spoon for you to see, and in that spoon is a drop of water. The person offering it to you, for your study, informs you, "This drop is from the Pacific Ocean." Consider, in studying that drop, what could you learn of the ocean from which it came? Could you perceive from it anything of the depths of that great ocean? Could you understand from it its vast extent, or the influence it has on the life of this planet? Could you tell anything of that ocean's beauty or power? (114:6) No, certainly not. And neither, unfortunately, will you be able from my brief presentation here, to receive more than a drop of the ocean of Baha'u'llah's words. What I present here, you can read in but a few minutes, yet Baha'u'llah's teachings were revealed over a period of forty years. Merely reading them alone, would take years; understanding them, lifetimes. No Baha'i in the world claims to have fully grasped the immensity of the knowledge of Baha'u'llah. In fact, it is one of the foremost truths of the Baha'i Faith, that the Word of God is and will always remain far beyond the ken of the human mind
(114:7)
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