f His own will that He had assumed this
position of unparalleled difficulty and hardship. As Jesus said: "Father,
if it be possible, let this cup pass from me," so Baha'u'llah said: "Had
another exponent or speaker been found, We would not have made Ourself an
object of censure, derision and calumnies on the part of the people"
(Tablet of I_sh_raqat). But the divine call was clear and imperative and
He obeyed. God's will became His will, and God's pleasure, His pleasure;
and with "radiant acquiescence" He declared:--"Verily I say: Whatever
befalleth in the path of God is the beloved of the soul and the desire of
the heart. Deadly poison in His path is pure honey, and every tribulation
a draught of crystal water."--Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 17.

At other times, as we have mentioned, Baha'u'llah speaks "from the station
of Deity." In these utterances His human personality is so completely
subservient that it is left out of account altogether. Through Him God
addresses His creatures, proclaiming His love for them, teaching them His
attributes, making known His will, announcing His laws for their guidance
and pleading for their love, their allegiance and service.

In the Writings of Baha'u'llah, the utterance frequently changes from one
of these forms to another. Sometimes it is evidently the man who is
discoursing, then without a break the writing continues as if God were
speaking in the first person. Even when speaking as a man, however,
Baha'u'llah speaks as God's messenger, as a living example of entire
devotion to God's will. His whole life is actuated by the Holy Spirit.
Hence no hard and fast line can be drawn between the human and divine
elements in His life or teachings. God tells Him:--

Say: "Naught is seen in my temple but the Temple of God, and in my
beauty but His Beauty, and in my being but His Being, and in
myself but Himself, and in my movement but His Movement, and in my
acquiescence but His Acquiescence, and in my pen but His Pen, the
Precious, the Extolled."

Say: "There hath not been in my soul but the Truth, and in myself
naught could be seen but God."--Suratu'l-Haykal.

His Mission

Baha'u'llah's mission in the world is to bring about Unity--Unity of all
mankind in and through God. He says:--"Of the Tree of Knowledge the
All-glorious fruit is this exalted word: Of one Tree are all ye the fruits
and of one Bough the leaves. Let not man glory in this