Nader Saiedi's ignorance and Baha'u'llah evolving claims

Another problem within the same and other chapters is that Saiedi attempts to bypass the degree to which Baha'-Allah's voicing of his claims evolved from 'ubudiyya' ("servitude") and 'Husayniyya' (being the spiritually returned eschatological Husayn b. 'Ali), to 'mazhariyya' (theophanology) and 'rububiyya' ("Lordship"), or (subordinate) 'ilahiyya' (divinity). Such a progression, from "messianic secret" to the claim of divine theophany, was affirmed by both the Bab in his (Persian) 'Dala'il-i sab'a' (Seven Proofs) and Baha'u'llah himself in, for example, his little studied 'Surat al-fath' (early 1860s?). In the latter work, Baha'u'llah clearly states that the claims of both the Bab and himself evolved in accordance with the capacity of their hearers and according to a divinely ordained progression. At one point in the 'Surat al-fath', Baha'u'llah clarifies his earlier position by writing, "O people! I did not desire any 'amr' (religious "Cause") for myself and followed all the [founding] theophanies of old (mazahir al-qabl)" Unaware of this and related passages, Saiedi renders a phrase in Baha'u'llah's (Persian) 'Sahifah-i shattiyya' (Scroll of the Torrent, c. 1857) in a way that dismisses the nature of his unfolding claims. In so doing he mistakenly criticizes Juan Cole's translation of 'amr' in the aforementioned 'Sahifah' as "Cause," over-confidently reckoning 'amr' as having the basic sense of "issue" or "task." Much work remains to be done in order to clarify the evolving nature of Baha'-Allah's multi-faceted and ultimately theophanic claims.

-Stephen N. Lambden

(Logos and Civilization, Spirit, History and Order in the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh by Nader Saiedi Review by: Stephen N. Lambden Iranian Studies, Vol. 36, No. 1 (Mar., 2003), pp. 118-121)

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/iranian-studies/article/abs/logos-and-civilization-spirit-history-and-order-in-the-writings-of-bahaullah-nader-saiedi-bethesda-university-press-of-maryland-2000-404-pp-isbn-1883053609-cloth-isbn-1883053633-pb/201B0B0C99E02697C8D785E3ACFB4D0E