Phenomenology of Occultation

216 Notes

a most noble pattern

1. The reason MacEoin has made such a mistake is the error in transcription of the tablet as printed in Ishraq Khavari 1950, vol. 7, p. 60. That it is a mistake, all the other copies of the tablet make clear; see, for example, Bahá’u’lláh INBA 35, p. 233, and INBA 76, p. 90. See also Mohammadhosseini 1995, pp. 952–3. 2. Bahá’u’lláh, Hidden Words , Arabic no. 12.

3. ibid. Arabic no. 13. 4. ibid. Arabic no. 14. 5. ibid. Arabic no. 15. 6. This is Browne’s translation:

One day they summoned Him to the mosque urging and constraining Him to recant, but He discoursed from the pulpit in such wise as to silence and subdue those present and to establish and strengthen His followers. It was then supposed that He claimed to be the medium of grace from His Highness the Lord of the Age (upon Him be peace); but afterwards it became known and evident that His meaning was the Gatehood [ Bábíyyat ] of another city and the mediumship of the graces of another Person Whose qualities and attributes were contained in His books and treatises (‘Abdu’l-Bahá 1980, pp. 6–7). 7. Sahífiy-i Ja‘faríyyih is truly filled with spiritual wonders and miracles. In this short article I have tried to outline the structure of the text. However, any detailed discussion of the issues raised in the text needs independent work.