Bahá-u-lláh | The Book of the Tigris

Bahá'u'lláh's Book of the Tigris takes the form of a short letter written approximately in 1857. Bahais might be surprised to find that in this work, Bahá'u'lláh specifically denies having worked any miracles. Juan Cole, the translator, argues that Bahá'u'lláh's “self-conception” changed significantly between the time of this seemingly self-deprecating letter and His declaration, some years later, that He was the manifestation of God promised by the Bab. Yet any miracles that were attributed to Him after His declaration and before His death were not covered in this letter. In this work He explicitly lays “no claim to a Cause.” The letter itself designates a timeframe and differentiates between the dispensation of the Bab and “the day when the Hour shall strike,” an unmistakable reference to the appearance, promised by the Bab, of the One Whom God shall make manifest. This work addresses the period prior to that promised Hour.

In any case, Bahá'u'lláh puts aside the use of miracles as the definitive proof of His or any other divine revelation. After the passing of a few generations, stories of miracles lose their potency when every living witness to them is dead. The touchstone of the divine, therefore, cannot forever reside in the person of the manifestation or in the specific actions of that manifestation, however wondrous, but should reside in the revealed word. In reference to the Bab's revelation in the Bayan, Bahá'u'lláh declares that “This was and is God's proof to the people of the earth. Any sign beyond it that appears from the mine of grace and glory is a bounty from God.”

Additional commentary on this work can be found at www.h-net.org/~bahai/trans/bhshatt.htm.

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