In an earlier post, The Real Enemy Isn’t Doctrine — It’s Outsourcing Perception, I explored Baha’u’llah’s response to Sarraj’s question about “how it is possible for the letter of the Most Exalted to be transformed into the most debased.” The striking feature of Baha’u’llah’s answer is that he does not turn to doctrine. Instead, he argues that a person becomes debased through the simple act of blindly following others and failing to use their own God‑given faculties of perception.
As Baha’u’llah moves on in the Lawh‑i‑Sarraj, he teases out more of the implications of this principle. Here, I continue following the movement of his thought through the early paragraphs, where every element he introduces reinforces the same claim: independent perception is not merely a spiritual virtue. It is the only perceptive stance that corresponds to the metaphysics of the Day of God.
The First Step Is Detachment From Everything
In paragraph 3, after praising Sarraj for asking the question, Baha’u’llah begins his response in earnest. He asks God to raise Sarraj to a station where he will see, hear, and know the Ancient Beauty with his own eyes, ears, and heart, and be detached from the sight, hearing, and hearts of all else in the world. This plea is not simply a prayer for spiritual refinement; it is a prayer that sets the epistemic conditions under which Sarraj can begin to perceive divine reality.
Hearing the Divine Truth in All Things
Baha’u’llah expresses the hope that Sarraj will become so independent in sight, hearing, heart, and knowledge that he will hear in all things two declarations: first, that there is no God but Him, and second, that the Most Exalted One — the Bab — is the divine splendor in the kingdom of command and creation. This, he says, is how every thing speaks, but a person must be detached to hear it.
Here Baha’u’llah’s purpose becomes clear. He is not simply urging people to be fair or pure; his point goes far beyond moral counsel. He is speaking about a person’s capacity to recognise the true Source of authority and power. He states that the divine power operates and manifests within all created things, and that every thing declares this truth — but this declaration can only be heard by a soul whose faculties are independent.
Veiled Souls Can See Only Worldly Powers
Given the above, a soul that is not detached from the world will fail to see the divine power in all things. Instead, it will see the world in a distorted way because it focuses on power at the level of the creatures. It will view the creatures as having real power and fail to notice God’s power entirely. The world will appear as a field of competing powers — human, social, institutional — while the divine radiance remains veiled from it.
It will also attribute real power to itself. For example, further along in paragraph 136, Baha’u’llah sums up souls that assume God’s power is channelled through themselves: “They have assumed God’s power to be like their own power and have considered the Supreme Pen to be idle.” This is the spiritual equivalent of assuming that the sun shines through one’s torch, thereby mistaking a tiny, creaturely light for the Source of all illumination.
Why Independence Is Required in the Day of God
In paragraph 4, Baha’u’llah explains why this independence is a requirement in the Day of God. He states that “today” God has ordained that every soul must observe and ponder his Cause with their own eyes, ears, and heart. Independent perception is therefore a divine command.
The reason for this is rooted in the structure of reality. The “Sun of meanings,” Baha’u’llah says, is always shedding forth its illumination. Its splendors, mercy, and outpourings never fail. But the ability to perceive this splendor depends entirely on the soul having independent sight. A soul entangled in the world is veiled from the divine light. As such, it fails to apprehend the metaphysics of the Day of God, in which it is God who rules heaven and earth.
Everything in Creation Is Powerless
In paragraph 5, Baha’u’llah makes a decisive rhetorical move. Sarraj’s question — “how it is possible for the letter of the Most Exalted to be transformed into the most debased” — assumes that a person can be exalted and then become debased. Baha’u’llah does not correct the question; he dissolves it by declaring that powerlessness is the attribute of creation and that God is “seated upon the throne of might and power.”
In this way, Baha’u’llah shows that the entire framework of “exaltation” and “abasement” is meaningless. It belongs to a worldview in which creatures are supposed to possess real power. But in the metaphysics of this Day, such a worldview is impossible. No created thing has ever had any power with which to rise or fall. Sarraj’s question becomes void because it presupposes a structure of reality that does not exist.
Conclusion
How are people debased? Baha’u’llah explains that, in this Day, the divine light is ever present and shining in all things. Exaltation comes from turning toward this light, and abasement comes from blocking it out. The outcome depends on what we do with our own faculties.
Beyond that, blocking out the light means not seeing God’s independent power over all things and — worse — possibly assuming that God’s power runs through ourselves.
Another answer Baha’u’llah gives is simply that God can do whatever God wants.
Instructions on How to Find Lawh‑i‑Sarraj
Instructions can be found at How to Find Lawh‑i‑Sarraj (and Why It’s Not Straightforward). Note that the procedure has recently become much easier than it used to be. These updates are noted in the blog post.
Excerpt From Lawh‑i‑Sarraj, Paragraphs 3–5
3 We beseech God to raise you to a station wherein you shall behold the Ancient Beauty with your own eyes and be detached from the sight of all the worlds … to such extent that you shall hear from all things that there is no God but Him, and that the Most Exalted One is … His grandeur unto all who are in the kingdom of command and creation. Thus doth every thing speak, if thou be of them that hear.
4 For today it hath been ordained by God that every soul should observe and ponder His Cause with their own eyes, ears and heart, that they may be illumined by the dawning splendors of the Sun of meanings … The divine Cause hath ever shone forth like unto the luminous morn. That some have remained veiled from perceiving it is due to their having sullied their ears and hearts with the sayings of men …
5 Now let that honored one consider that the matter is of two kinds: Either the followers of the Bayan acknowledge divine power or they do not. If they do not acknowledge it, we have no words for such souls … But if they acknowledge the wonders of divine power, then dwelling upon such questions would be idle and vain, for powerlessness is the attribute of creation, while that Ancient Being hath ever been and shall ever be seated upon the throne of might and power.