ah's writings date from this
first period of exile, preceding the declaration of His mission in 1863.
The first of these is a small book which He named The Hidden Words.
Written in the form of a compilation of moral aphorisms, the volume
represents the ethical heart of Baha'u'llah's message. In verses which
Baha'u'llah describes as a distillation of the spiritual guidance of all
the Revelations of the past, the voice of God speaks directly to the human
soul:

O Son of Spirit!
The best beloved of all things in My sight is Justice; turn not away
therefrom if thou desirest Me, and neglect it not that I may confide in
thee. By its aid thou shalt see with thine own eyes and not through the
eyes of others, and shalt know of thine own knowledge and not through the
knowledge of thy neighbor. Ponder this in thy heart; how it behooveth thee
to be. Verily justice is My gift to thee and the sign of My
loving-kindness. Set it then before thine eyes.

O Son of Being!
Love Me that I may love thee. If thou lovest Me not, My love can in no
wise reach thee. Know this, O servant.

O Son of Man!
Sorrow not save that thou art far from Us. Rejoice not save that thou art
drawing near and returning unto Us.

O Son of Being!
With the hands of power I made thee and with the fingers of strength I
created thee; and within thee have I placed the essence of My light. Be
thou content with it and seek naught else, for My work is perfect and My
command is binding. Question it not, nor have a doubt thereof.(15)

The second of the two major works composed by Baha'u'llah during this
period is The Book of Certitude, a comprehensive exposition of the nature
and purpose of religion. In passages that draw not only on the Qur'an, but
with equal facility and insight on the Old and New Testaments, the
Messengers of God are depicted as agents of a single, unbroken process,
the awakening of the human race to its spiritual and moral potentialities.
A humanity which has come of age can respond to a directness of teaching
that goes beyond the language of parable and allegory; faith is a matter
not of blind belief, but of conscious knowledge. Nor is the guidance of an
ecclesiastical elite any longer required: the gift of reason confers on
each individual in this new age of enlightenment and education the
capacity to respond to Divine guidance. The test is that of sincerity:

No man shall attain the shores of the ocean of true understanding except
he be detach