| The great Prophets
of God. His chosen Messengers, who appear in each age: 'He . . . hath caused those
luminous Gems of Holiness to appear out of the realm of the spirit, in the noble form
of the human temple, and be made manifest unto all men, that they may impart unto the
world the mysteries of the unchangeable Being and tell of the subtleties of His imperishable
Essence . . . All the Prophets of God, His well-favored, His holy and chosen Messengers
are, without exception, the bearers of His names and the embodiments of His attributes
. . .'3 |
| The Manifestations of God are not God descended to earth, but are rather perfect reflections of His attributes, just as a
mirror reflects the sun but is not the sun itself: 'These Tabernacles of Holiness,
these primal Mirrors which reflect the Light of the unfading glory, are but expressions
of Him Who is the Invisible of Invisibles.'4 'These sanctified mirrors . . . are one
and all the exponents on earth of Him Who in the central Orb of the universe, its essence
and ultimate purpose. From Him proceed their knowledge and power; from Him is derived
their sovereignty. The beauty of their countenance is but a reflection of His image,
and their revelation a sign of His deathless glory.'5 |
| All the Manifestations have the same spirit, although their outward forms
are different and they manifest different attributes of God relevant to the needs and circumstances of the age in which they appear: 'Inasmuch
as these Birds of the celestial Throne are all sent down from the heaven of the Will
of God, and as they all arise to
proclaim His irresistible Faith, they therefore are regarded as one soul and the same
person . . . They all abide in the same tabernacle, soar in the same heaven, are seated
on the same throne, utter the same speech, and proclaim the same faith . . . They only
differ in the intensity of their revelation and the comparative potency of their light
. . . That a certain attribute of God hath not been outwardly manifested by these Essences of Detachment doth in no wise
imply that they Who are the Day-Springs of God's
attributes and the Treasuries of His holy names did not actually posses it.'6 |
| The Bahá'í
Writings identify several Manifestations, among them Abraham, Noah, Buddha, Zoroaster,
Christ, Moses, Muḥammad, the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh.
The Hindu figure Krishna is also considered a Manifestation, although not much is known
about Him. In the Kitáb-i-Iqan Bahá'u'lláh mentions other Prophets such
as Húd and Sálih. Bahá'ís believe that there have been other Manifestations but that there is no record of their
names.7 |
| Bahá'u'lláh has stated that another Manifestation will not arise before the lapse of a thousand
years. |
| [BD 143-144] |
 |
| One who is the "express image" of the perfections and attributes of God. |
| [GWB 349] |
|
