We post this quote as part of our series honoring the teachings of the Bab, whose 200th anniversary Baha’is are celebrating around the world in the month of October.

The quote  summarizes the primary  teaching of the Bab- that the closest we can come in this world to a spiritual paradise is to draw close to one of the Revelations from God that have formed the major religions of humankind.  

Imagine, if you are a Christian, being able to come into the presence of Jesus Christ and be like one of the apostles, sit amongst them while He delivered one of His sermons- like the Sermon on the Mount. It’s not hard to imagine that you could not come closer to God in this life than have such an experience.  

The Bab is expressing that this is also true of the other Manifestations that have come into the world, and indeed, there is no experience “more wondrous” than to have that experience.  This is especially true if one chooses to “sail upon the sea of the heavenly kingdom of His good-pleasure”.  “Good pleasure” is a term the Bab uses to express what God wants you to do- it is to do “God’s will”.  

The Bab’s language is exhilarating, once you get used to the terminology.  And we always have to remember that His job was to prepare the people for the coming of a new Revelation from God, the most universal Revelation ever to come to humanity, so this passage and His many others were intended to teach people about how to regard what they were about to experience with the coming of Baha’u’llah.  

After Baha’u’llah did manifest Himself, his followers would literally walk over mountains and deserts, for months, just to “attain His presence” and “hear His verses”.  Many have left accounts of the experience, though they are often short on details as most say that it was simply indescribable.