Kitab-i-Iqan — Paragraph 79

Source (Persian)

پس، از اين بيانات محکمه واضحه لائحه مقصود از سماء در آيه مُنزله معلوم شد و مفهوم گشت. و اينکه می فرمايد: با ابر و غمام نازل می شود مقصود از ابر آن اموری است که مخالف نفس و هوای ناس است. چنانچه ذکرشد در آيه مذکوره: "اَفَکُلَّما جَاءَکُمْ رَسولٌ بِما لا تَهوَی اَنفُسُکُم استَکبَرتُمْ فَفَرِيقاً کَذَّبتُم وَ فَريِقاً تَقتُلُونَ."١ مثلاً از قبيل تغيير احکام و تبديل شرائع و ارتفاع قواعد و رسوم عاديّه و تقدّم مؤمنين از عوام بر معرضين از علماء. و همچنين ظهور آن جمال ازلی بر حدودات بشريّه از اکل و شرب و فقر و غنا و عزّت و ذلّت و نوم و يقظه و امثال آن، از آن چيزهائی که مردم را به شبهه می اندازد و منع می نمايد. همه اين حجبات به غمام تعبير شده.

Translation

By these luminous, these conclusive, and lucid statements, the meaning of “heaven” in the aforementioned verse hath thus been made clear and evident. And now regarding His words, that the Son of man shall “come in the clouds of heaven.” By the term “clouds” is meant those things that are contrary to the ways and desires of men. Even as He hath revealed in the verse already quoted: “As oft as an Apostle cometh unto you with that which your souls desire not, ye swell with pride, accusing some of being impostors and slaying others.” These “clouds” signify, in one sense, the annulment of laws, the abrogation of former Dispensations, the repeal of rituals and customs current amongst men, the exalting of the illiterate faithful above the learned opposers of the Faith. In another sense, they mean the appearance of that immortal Beauty in the image of mortal man, with such human limitations as eating and drinking, poverty and riches, glory and abasement, sleeping and waking, and such other things as cast doubt in the minds of men, and cause them to turn away. All such veils are symbolically referred to as “clouds.”