The Kitáb-i-Aqdas : The Most Holy Book
Notes
175.The Lord hath relieved you ... of the restrictions that formerly applied to clothing and to the trim of the beard.
¶159
Many rules about dress had their origins in the laws and traditional practices of the world’s religions. For example, the
Shí‘ih clergy adopted for themselves a distinctive headdress and robes and, at one time, forbade the people to adopt European attire.
Muslim practice, in its desire to emulate the custom of
the Prophet, also introduced a number of restrictions with regard to the trim of the moustache and the length of the beard.
Bahá’u’lláh removed such limitations on one’s apparel and beard. He leaves such matters to the “
discretion” of the individual, and at the same time calls upon the believers not to transgress the bounds of propriety and to exercise moderation in all that pertains to dress.
176.O Land of Káf and Rá!
¶164
Káf and Rá are the first two consonants of Kirmán, the name of a city and province of
Írán.
177.We perceive that which secretly and stealthily diffuseth from thee.
¶164
This passage is a reference to the intrigues of a group of
Azalís, followers of
Mírzá Yaḥyá (see note
190), associated with the city of Kirmán. They include Mullá Ja’far, his son
Shay
kh Aḥmad-i-Rúhí and Mírzá Áqá
Khán-i-Kirmání (both sons-in-law of Mírzá Yaḥyá), as well as Mírzá Aḥmad-i-Kirmání. They not only sought to undermine the
Faith, but involved themselves in political intrigues which culminated in the assassination of Náṣiri’d-Dín
Sháh.
178.Call ye to mind the
Shay
kh whose name was Muḥammad-Ḥasan
¶166
Shay
kh Muḥammad-Ḥasan, one of the leading exponents of
Shí’ih
Islám, rejected
the Báb. The author of voluminous
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