6  Belief in the Manifestation of God

6.1 The Station of the Manifestation

In Chapter 1, we explored the various names and attributes of God to help understand what belief in God can encompass. The second group is Manifestation. The ability for God to manifest Himself to His creation is fundamental for us. Manifestation turns the inaccessible and subtle into more tangible and easier to discern aspects of reality. One of the ways God manifests Himself is through the human flesh. While this flesh is bound by the material world, the soul within it reflects divinity in such a way the other names and attributes of God also appear. While the historical terms of prophet, messenger, avatar, or apostle help us understand aspects of this divinity and purpose, the Manifestation serves as the living bridge between our human soul and divine reality. We also explored in Chapter 3 the symbol of the Sidrat al-Muntaha, the tree of the farthest extent. The Manifestation of God serves as the Dawning Place, a title used regularly throughout the Kitáb-i-Aqdas. The Manifestation is the Dawning Place of Revelation, of the Light of Divinity, of God’s Most Excellent Names, of Grandeur, of God’s Most Radiant Cause, and of Oneness. This Dawn itself marks the fulfillment of the Day of Resurrection. “By Him the Hour has come.”1 He appears “in the Most Glorious attire”2 as if He were a Monarch. The Manifestation is also the means by which the human soul is able to understand God’s will, purpose, and those other names and attributes more fully. “Whoever has turned to Me has turned to the Worshiped One.”3 The Manifestation is the focal point for the devotional life for God, much like the Qiblih of Islam or the Temple of Judaism. Thus, all Manifestations of God are the Sidrat al-Muntaha, with each being a branch of this divine tree.

This whole purpose of the Manifestation is entirely for our soul. The belief in the soul, as described in Chapter 2, requires belief in the Manifestation as the primary means of progress towards God. They serve not only as the Dawn for the worlds of God, but they also serve as the Dawn of the transcendence of the soul as it prepares to navigate the spiritual worlds of God. We express this belief by recognizing the Dawning Place of Grandeur, their exalted nature over everything else on Earth, and their high spiritual capacity and fragrance. We express this belief by recognizing their Revelation, which is the Word of God, the Command and Counsel which guides and organizes all with justice and mercy. We practice this through submission and love, in fear and in awe, in faithfulness and good deeds.

Reflection: What changes in your daily life when you treat Revelation as the place where the hidden becomes knowable?

This is where we step from God’s attributes into God’s appearance in history.

6.2 Countless Adams

This station of Manifestation has been fulfilled by many throughout history. The Kitáb-i-Aqdas nor Bahá’u’lláh’s writings describe all the Manifestations throughout history, but God has spoken to the people of the world at different places and at different times. The Báb had said “From the appearance of Adam to the first manifestation and the Point of the Bayán, only 12,210 years of this world’s time have passed. Beyond this, there is no doubt that God has created countless Adams, whose number is known to none but Him.”4 The Adam described in the Book of Genesis of the Hebrew Torah would have lived around 10,360BC, just as the world was emerging from the last Ice Age and humankind was starting to transition to a more agrarian lifestyle. There could have been countless Adams. These Adams could have emerged in various places throughout the world to establish the foundations of human civilization. A Garden of Eden would represent the emergence of plants being cultivated, a Garden which emerged in newly forming agrarian societies. These Adams could have also helped guide mankind as we look back beyond 10,360BC. While Genesis says Adam was the first man and Eve was the first woman, it is definitely clear Adam represented a dawn of a new era of humanity from the Paleolithic and Mesolithic periods into the Holocene. Humankind had emerged into a new creation, where God was guiding the development of us throughout the world.

Reflection: When you read sacred origins, do you look for a single date, or for a single turning point in the soul of humanity?

With that widening of history, we can return to the most immediate Dawn for our age.

6.3 The Báb, The Primal Point

This brings us to the Báb. He was known by the various titles in the context of Islam, particularly in Shí‘a Islam such as the Qa’im. However, there are two names and titles which I want to bring particular attention to, given these two names are rather universal in nature. The first title is the Primal Point.

My understanding of the Primal Point is that it signifies the ultimate unity and reality of all things. It is the essence of the oneness in its most pure form, if you recall Purity and One as the pinnacle of understanding the Essence of God. The Primal Point is the point where all creation returns to and from all creation emerges. I think of the Primal Point as being as if a black hole, where all energy and mass return to. I also think of the Primal Point as being as if the Big Bang, where all energy and mass expand from a point and all reality of the Universe emerges from. In this context, creation ended one cycle and a new cycle emerged.

The most common name is the Báb. The word Báb means the Gate. A Gate is never the ultimate destination. It is the entrance we pass through as we arrive to our destination. In this context, the Gate is where we leave one space, Adam and the Holocene, and emerge in a new space, Bahá’u’lláh and the emerging Anthropocene epoch. The Primal Point and the Báb are two distinct ways to express a complex but singular reality. The Báb relates to this theme in the Persian Bayán by saying:

“The names and attributes are manifestations of the multiplicity of that primal unity. Reflect upon the verbal letters of the Bayán: all multiplicity originates from the first unity, even if it extends infinitely. And in the multiplicity of the universal manifestations, there arises a strength in the manifestation surpassing that of the primal unity. Yet, all things are realized through Him, and all return to Him, just as they originate from Him.”

Even if we look at traditions which seem polytheistic, they are not. All are Manifestations of God, expressions of God’s attributes according to the needs and cultures of their time.

Reflection: What is the difference between a destination you possess, and a Gate that changes who you are as you pass through it?

That Gate leads directly to the pattern the Báb placed at the center of His Revelation.

6.4 The Vahid, The Number 19

The Báb placed significant importance on the number 19. Some tie the origin of its significance to the Qur’án’s Surah al-Muddaththir, where the Seal of the Prophets describes 19 angels who guard the gates of Hell. The number is a marker of faith in God. The audience to whom the Seal of the Prophets was speaking to in the early Meccan period was most likely the Jewish population of Mecca, who observed the lunisolar Metonic cycle. This cycle represents the 19 year cycles where the lunar phases repeat at the same solar periods. Today’s Easter observances follow this Metonic cycle. Other ancient cultures also observed this cycle, such as the Polynesians.

Mathematically 19 is a prime number, which is indivisible by any other numbers. Within it, it includes the number one and the number 9, which is the highest single digit whose value is inclusive of all other single digits. In this context, 19 can represent the Bayánic verse of unity and multiplicity shared in the last section. The Báb makes regular use of the number 19 throughout the Bayán and other writings. As you recall, the Bayán’s intended structure was to be 19 Vahids of 19 Gates, 361 total Gates. A Vahid, using the Arabic abjad system of numerology, represents the number 19. Vahid literally means unity. Thus the Bayán would represent 19 separate unities, each multiplicities of 19, which comprise one Paradise (Bayán). There are 19 gates to pass through for each unity, much like the Báb Himself was a Gate.

When we refer back to the Báb’s ministry, the first believers were called the Letters of the Living. There were 18 of them and together with the Báb, were 19 in total. Each had served as gates in their own way and ushered in a period of considerable upheaval in Persia. All but one were executed for apostasy from Islam, much like what the Qur’án was alluding to in Surah al-Muddaththir. Before He was executed, He had implemented the Bayánic Calendar of 19 months of 19 days and as you will see throughout this book, 19 is a common feature of this cycle. How does Bahá’u’lláh represent the Vahid, the Unity of the Number 19? Let’s explore who Bahá’u’lláh is and the connection to the Báb’s Revelation.

Reflection: Where in your life do you feel unity most strongly, and what pattern helps you return to it when multiplicity overwhelms you?

From the pattern of nineteen, we now turn to the Glory that fulfills it.

6.5 Bahá’u’lláh, The Glory of God

Bahá’u’lláh is the most recent of these Manifestations of God who has brought forth Revelation as their divinely ordained mission. Belief in Bahá’u’lláh is belief in all the prior Manifestations of God, belief their words and causes were true, but also belief that the prior Manifestation’s teachings are now superseded by Bahá’u’lláh’s revelation. It is the dawn of a new day with a new command, which will serve us until the dawn of the next day with a next Manifestation.

In Bahá’u’lláh’s writings, some Manifestations are referred to by certain titles. For example, Jesus is often referred to as the Spirit5 and Muhammad as the Messenger of God.6 In the Bayán, the Báb had said everything in the Bayán is for He Whom God Shall Make Manifest (HWGSMM), a title used at least 240 times in the Bayán. Bahá’u’lláh refers to this title in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas #137. This helps signal to the Bábí community the station Bahá’u’lláh is claiming. HWGSMM was said to be one to complete the Bayán.7 The Kitáb-i-Aqdas serves as the completion of the Bayán, with some laws abrogated and some laws confirmed. As we go through this book, we will sometimes refer to these changes or instances where a command from the Bayán might still apply. Understand though, that while the Kitáb-i-Aqdas also refers to the Báb as Bahá’u’lláh’s Herald,8 the Báb was completely a Manifestation of God. Bahá’u’lláh is also a Herald for a future Manifestation of God who will come no earlier than 2873AD (1029 Badíʿ Calendar).9

Bahá’u’lláh was often referred to as the Greatest Name.10 The Greatest Name is reference to various Muslim traditions. In one way, God can elevate any of His names to be the greatest, as ultimately all names come from the word “One”. In this dispensation, the Greatest Name is Baha, which means Glory. Much like how Jesus was given the name Son, these names are used to demonstrate a primary purpose in the mission of the Manifestation. The Gospel of John says the Gospel exists so all may become sons of God, so thus Jesus’s mission was to teach Sonship of God the Father. Simultaneously, Krishna means all-attractive and His mission was to demonstrate what true devotion to God and knowledge of the true Self, which are all manifestations of Beauty and Love. The purpose of Bahá’u’lláh’s mission then, is for our souls to embody and believe in the quality of Glory. The revelation is to demonstrate in every way the exaltation of God, His Majesty over all, and only He is the Infallible. It is also our purpose to reflect this Glory to the best of our abilities, which helps make the world around us more beautiful, more magnificent, and more illustrious. This purpose teaches us we all deserve these attributes and are also able to manifest them, if we so believe. This Glory reigns supreme over all the worlds.11

The Kitáb-i-Aqdas does not go too deeply into the biography of Bahá’u’lláh, which may matter to some. Belief in Bahá’u’lláh as the Manifestation of God does not require knowledge of the biography, but there are some aspects about Him which are mentioned. The Book says He is unlettered,12 saying “I have not entered schools, nor have I studied scholarly works.” Despite this, He is unmatched in the fields of mystical insight and knowledge and none can keep up with Him in the course of wisdom and expression.13 He Himself had entered various Schools of God.14 Bahá’u’lláh first had His epiphany of station while within the prison called the Black Pit of Tehran in the year 1852 (8 BE). He says this in the Súríy-i-Haykal:

So when I saw myself at the pole of affliction, I heard the most beautiful, the sweetest voice above my head. When I turned, I saw a maiden, the mention of my Lord’s name suspended in the air, aligned with the sun’s head, and I saw her rejoicing in herself. As if the embroidery of pleasure appears from her face and the light of mercy declares from her cheek. She was speaking between the heavens and the earth with a call that attracts hearts and minds and gives all my limbs, both outward and inward, the good news that my soul was rejoiced with, and honored servants rejoiced from it.

She pointed with her finger at my head and addressed those in the heavens and the earth, by God, this is the beloved of the worlds, but you do not understand. This is the beauty of God among you and His authority within you, if you indeed know. This is the secret of God and His treasure and the command of God and His dignity for those in the dominion of command and creation, if you indeed comprehend. Indeed, this is the one whom those in the realm of permanence long to meet, then those who have settled behind the most splendid pavilion, but you turn away from his beauty.

In Baghdad, He revealed His mission during the festival of Ridván in 1863 (19 BE), “when We manifested to those in existence with Our most beautiful names and highest attributes.”15 This mission began 19 years after the Báb began His ministry in May 1844 (0 BE). It continued until His passing in 1892 in ’Akká, 19 years after Bahá’u’lláh revealed the Kitáb-i-Aqdas. The 10 year period from 1863 to 1873 was much like a pivot period, where the Bayán was still the Command of God, but Bahá’u’lláh was declaring His mission and station to believers of the Báb and prior Manifestations, to leaders in Asia and Europe. The Command emerged through writings such as the Súríy-i-Haykal (The Súrah of the Temple) which addresses four monarchs and the Pope, and the Súríy-i-Mulúk (addressing Kings in general). The Bayán, which was an incomplete paradise and like a Gate, was to be passed through over one period of 19 years (1 Vahid), and Bahá’u’lláh was to live for one Vahid of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas. This was no mere coincidence. The Vahid is the design of this new post Adam cycle.

By 1873, both Baghdad and ’Akká were part of the Ottoman Empire. While in ’Akká, Bahá’u’lláh was in the Most Great Prison, where the Kitáb-i-Aqdas itself was revealed.16 Despite being a prisoner of the Persian and Ottoman Empires for most of this 40 year period as a Manifestation of God, He says His love is able to burn away veils17 which inhibit one’s ability to fully believe in God. This love and imprisonment serves one major purpose.

Hasten to what you were promised in the Books of God, and do not follow the ways of the ignorant. My body has been imprisoned for the liberation of your souls. Turn towards the Face, and do not follow every tyrant and obstinate one. He accepted the greatest humiliation for your honor.18

Bahá’u’lláh’s mission is the liberation of our souls from oppression. It might seem somewhat similar to the liberation theology of the 1960’s, which used Christian doctrine as inspirations of revolution. Yet the center here is not political power, but the soul’s deliverance from every form of tyranny, outward and inward.

You will see the rest of this book outlines how the Kitáb-i-Aqdas fulfills this mission through the commands and revelation of Glory. Every law, counsel, exhortation, and theological ruling should be considered from the perspective of this mission, the mission born of the love from God for all of us.

Reflection: When you think of liberation, do you imagine escape from a place, or the awakening of a capacity you forgot you had?

With that mission named, we can now look at how Bahá’u’lláh describes His own roles in fulfilling it.

6.6 How Bahá’u’lláh Fulfills His Mission

The Kitáb-i-Aqdas is ripe with various symbols and expressions of the way Bahá’u’lláh fulfills His Mission for us. These titles include the Sun, the Pen, the Shepherd, the Sea, the Master, the Remembrance, the Temple, the Judge, the Chief, the Reminder, the Tongue, the Book, and We. These titles are often used in conjunction with other descriptions, but as you can see, these titles are encompassing of many roles and duties. All of these roles are framed within the name Glorious, and Bahá’u’lláh’s roles should be considered with respect of this exalted station.

Belief in Bahá’u’lláh as the Manifestation of God for our age does not mean to merely view Him as a philosopher or ethical reformer. He should not be viewed as a Unitarian where all paths currently lead to the same destination. Belief in Bahá’u’lláh as the Manifestation of God for our age means to view Him as more glorious than any person. This station lasts until the Day of His Revelation sets and a new Manifestation of God appears to fulfill the next Covenant. Every word, every letter, every breath which came from Bahá’u’lláh is the pathway for freedom.

Reflection: What would change if you treated every command as a path toward freedom, rather than a burden placed upon you?

That question is why Part 1 must end not with ideas alone, but with a call to lived response.

6.7 Conclusion of Part 1

We began this journey in Chapter 1 exploring the names and attributes of God from Subtlety to Purity, from Knowledge to Love, discovering that God’s essence remains forever inaccessible yet His purpose is for us to recognize Him in all things. Yet how would we recognize any of this without the Manifestation. Without the Manifestation, God’s subtlety would remain forever hidden rather than purposefully veiled, His love would be an abstract concept rather than a tangible reality, and His covenant would be mere speculation. The Manifestation is the voice of the breath of God, carrying its fragrance to receptive souls.

In Chapter 2, we learned the human soul is a mirror capable of reflecting divine attributes, born noble yet requiring cultivation to remain so. But without the Manifestation’s teachings, how would we know the soul’s divine origin, its capacity for flight, or its destiny aboard the Crimson Ark. The Manifestation shows us what the polished mirror looks like and demonstrates the soul’s potential made visible in the human temple.

Chapter 3 revealed infinite worlds beyond our lesser world including kingdoms, cities, and schools where souls progress through stages of spiritual maturation. Without the Manifestation, these worlds would remain speculation, dreams without interpretation, mystery without guidance. The Manifestation is the Sidrat al-Muntahá made knowable, the point where heaven touches earth, where the greater worlds become accessible to seeking souls.

In Chapter 4, we discovered the Day of Resurrection is happening now, not as bodies rising from graves but as souls awakening to divine truth. Yet without the Manifestation, how would we recognize this Day. How would we know the trumpet has sounded, the moon has been cleft, and all forms are being shaken. The Manifestation announces the Day, embodies its reality, and calls us to seize it rather than wait passively.

Chapter 5 established that God’s Command flows eternally through revelations such as the Torah, Gospel, Qur’án, Bayán, and Aqdas, each paradise preparing for its Lord. Yet Command cannot exist without Commander. The Manifestation is the living authority who speaks the Most Great Command, the Sun rising from the Sidrat al-Muntahá at dawn, the lamp lighting our pathway toward true liberation. Belief in the Manifestation completes the foundation we have built across these six chapters.

The Manifestation is not simply another belief to add to our collection. It is the answer to every question these chapters have raised, the lens through which all other beliefs become clear and actionable. With this foundation complete, a question naturally emerges. What do we do with these beliefs? Belief alone, however complete, remains incomplete without expression. The breath of God does not merely inform. It moves and animates. The Commands we have received through the Manifestation call us not simply to know, but to act, not merely to understand, but to practice, not just to believe, but to become. Part 2 will explore how these beliefs translate into a living relationship with God through spiritual practices that transform knowledge into experience, conviction into devotion, and understanding into love.

  1. Kitáb-i-Aqdas #81↩︎

  2. Kitáb-i-Aqdas #82↩︎

  3. Kitáb-i-Aqdas #131↩︎

  4. Persian Bayán Vahid 3 Gate 13↩︎

  5. Kitáb-i-Aqdas #80↩︎

  6. The Súríy-i-Ra’ís (Súrah to the Chief)↩︎

  7. The Testament of the Báb to Subh-i-Azal↩︎

  8. Kitáb-i-Aqdas #137↩︎

  9. Kitáb-i-Aqdas #37↩︎

  10. Kitáb-i-Aqdas #51↩︎

  11. Kitáb-i-Aqdas #127↩︎

  12. Kitáb-i-Aqdas #104↩︎

  13. Kitáb-i-Aqdas #101↩︎

  14. Kitáb-i-Aqdas #175 and #176↩︎

  15. Kitáb-i-Aqdas #75↩︎

  16. Kitáb-i-Aqdas #132↩︎

  17. Kitáb-i-Aqdas #132↩︎

  18. The Lawh-i-Aqdas (Most Holy Tablet)↩︎