33:40
Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but (he is) the Apostle
of
God,
and the Seal of the Prophets: and God has full knowledge of all
things.
--
Qur'an: 33 - AL-AHZAB,
One
meaning of "Seal" is a reference to Muhammad being the last Independent
Prophet
in the Cycle of Prophecy.
When
God sent forth His Prophet Muhammad, on that day the termination of the
prophetic
cycle was foreordained in the knowledge of God. Yea, that promise
hath
indeed come true and the decree of God hath been accomplished as He hath
ordained.
Assuredly we are today living in the Days of God. These are the
glorious
days on the like of which the sun hath never risen in the past.
--
The Báb, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 161
XXV.
It is evident that every age in which a Manifestation of God hath lived
is
divinely
ordained, and may, in a sense, be characterized as God's appointed
Day.
This Day, however, is unique, and is to be distinguished from those that
have
preceded it. The designation "Seal of the Prophets" fully revealeth its
high
station. The Prophetic Cycle hath, verily, ended. The Eternal Truth is
now
come.
He hath lifted up the Ensign of Power, and is now shedding upon the world
the
unclouded splendor of His Revelation.
--
Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah,
p. 60
Another
meaning of "Seal" is a reference to Muhammad being the latest Prophet
of
God. "Seal" is also applied to Imam Ali meaning he is the latest Imam.
Muhammad
is the Seal of the Prophets (khátim al-anbiyá) and I am the
Seal of
the
Successors (khátim al-wasiyyin)
--
Imam Ali (First Imam), Hadith an-Nuraniyya
Were
any of the all-embracing Manifestations of God to declare: "I am God!"
He
verily speaketh the truth, and no doubt attacheth thereto. For it hath
been
repeatedly demonstrated that through their Revelation, their
attributes
and names, the Revelation of God, His name and His attributes,
are
made manifest in the world. Thus, He hath revealed: "Those shafts were
God's,
not Thine!" And also He saith: "In truth, they who plighted fealty
unto
thee, really plighted that fealty unto God." And were any of them to
voice
the utterance: "I am the Messenger of God," He also speaketh the
truth,
the indubitable truth. Even as He saith: "Muhammad is not the father
of
any man among you, but He is the Messenger of God." Viewed in this
light,
they are all but Messengers of that ideal King, that unchangeable
Essence.
And were they all to proclaim: "I am the Seal of the Prophets,"
they
verily utter but the truth, beyond the faintest shadow of doubt. For
they
are all but one person, one soul, one spirit, one being, one
revelation.
They are all the manifestation of the "Beginning" and the
"End,"
the "First" and the "Last," the "Seen" and "Hidden" --all of which
pertain
to Him Who is the innermost Spirit of Spirits and eternal Essence
of
Essences.
--
Bahá'u'lláh, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 178-179
Notwithstanding
the obviousness of this theme, in the eyes of those that
have
quaffed the wine of knowledge and certitude, yet how many are those
who,
through failure to understand its meaning, have allowed the term "Seal
of
the Prophets" to obscure their understanding, and deprive them of the
grace
of all His manifold bounties! Hath not Muhammad, Himself, declared:
"I
am all the Prophets?" Hath He not said as We have already mentioned: "I
am
Adam, Noah, Moses, and Jesus?" Why should Muhammad, that immortal
Beauty,
Who hath said: "I am the first Adam" be incapable of saying also:
"I
am the last Adam"? For even as He regarded Himself to be the "First of
the
Prophets"--that is Adam--in like manner, the "Seal of the Prophets"
is
also
applicable unto that Divine Beauty. It is admittedly obvious that
being
the "First of the Prophets," He likewise is their "Seal."
The
mystery of this theme hath, in this Dispensation, been a sore test unto
all
mankind. Behold, how many are those who, clinging unto these words,
have
disbelieved Him Who is their true Revealer.
--
Bahá'u'lláh, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 161-162
Say:
O People of the Qur'an! Ponder ye in the Book that was revealed in
truth
unto Muhammad in which he sealed Prophethood with the coming of His
beloved
Prophet until the day of resurrection. But this day is the day of
Resurrection
whereon God has risen in the Manifestation of His Self but you
have
become veiled from it just as the peoples before have become veiled on
the
advent of Muhammad and you have become drowned in the depths of an
ocean
of ignorance and denial.
--
Bahá'u'lláh, Tablet of Job (a provisional translation)
In
the passage below "Seal" can also be interpreted as referring to
Baha'u'llah
as the latest (and logically also the first) prophet.
Glorified
art Thou, O Lord my God! I beseech Thee by Thy Chosen Ones, and
by
the Bearers of Thy Trust, and by Him Whom Thou hast ordained to be the
Seal
of Thy Prophets and of Thy Messengers, to let Thy remembrance be my
companion,
and Thy love my aim, and Thy face my goal, and Thy name my
lamp,
and Thy wish my desire, and Thy pleasure my delight.
--
Compilation, Baha'i Prayers, p. 72
I
beseech Thee by Thy Lastness which is the same as Thy Firstness,
and by
Thy
Revelation which is identical with Thy Concealment, to grant that they
who
are dear to Thee, and their children, and their kindred, may become the
revealers
of Thy purity amidst Thy creatures, and the manifestations of Thy
sanctity
amongst Thy servants.
--
Bahá'u'lláh, Prayers and Meditations, p. 229
