Turning to Face the Public: part two

This is a continuation on the previous post, which begins a commentary on section 13. The text of that is as follows.

Let him then repeat the Greatest Name thrice, and kneel with his forehead to the ground, and say:

Praise be unto Thee, O our God, that Thou hast sent down unto us that which draweth us nigh unto Thee, and supplieth us with every good thing sent down by Thee in Thy Books and Thy Scriptures. Protect us, we beseech Thee, O my Lord, from the hosts of idle fancies and vain imaginations. Thou, in truth, art the Mighty, the All-Knowing.


Just to summarize, the performer praises God for two things: that Thou 1) hast sent down unto us that which draweth us nigh unto Thee, and 2) supplieth us with every good thing sent down by Thee in Thy Books and Thy Scriptures. In the first praise, the performer speaks very generally of all things that have brought us nearer unto God. It is a reminder that the spiritual path is not just for one. But that it is walked together. Further, this solidarity cuts also across time and religious boundaries. For in the next praise, the performer thanks God for all the blessings contained in Thy Books and Thy Scriptures. No distinction is made between any one of them so the performer is left to presume that these are the sacred writings of a wide number of traditions, inspired by God in different times and places. The invocation of scriptures calls to mind the public nature of the spiritual journey as exemplified in these words of Bahá’u’lláh from the Lawh-i-Maqsud.[1]

If any man were to meditate on that which the Scriptures, sent down from the heaven of God’s holy Will, have revealed, he would readily recognize that their purpose is that all men shall be regarded as one soul.

God has manifested his blessings around the world from time immemorial. The us in Thou… supplieth us must then refer to the human race in general inasmuch as God has offered his blessings recent and ancient, far and wide.

Following this offering of praise, the performer petitions God to protect us…from the hosts of idle fancies and vain imaginations. In general, these two expressions, idle fancies and vain imaginations refer to a certain overextension of reason, usually arising from a misplaced confidence in oneself. It is often used polemically against those who reject the Manifestations of God when they appear. In another sense, it is used against those ideas that hinder the recognition of the unity of the human race, such as in this passage of Bahá’u’lláh.

Arise and, armed with the power of faith, shatter to pieces the gods of your vain imaginings, the sowers of dissension amongst you. Cleave unto that which draweth you together and uniteth you. This, verily, is the most exalted Word which the Mother Book hath sent down and revealed unto you.

That the performer begins the petition with the words Protect us expresses the way in which certain limits of the us must be guarded from dangerous forces outside of it. Certainly, this is a necessary feature of any community. But if the goal is human unity, then the us must be careful to always in act in respect of that goal. Certain ideas may not contribute to the unity of the human race, but recognition must always be given that those who hold them are also members of that distinguished us. Holding peace together amidst this tension, awful as it may become, is the surest sign that such people are ready to be regarded as one soul.

[1] Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh Revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas p.162