# Commentary on Verses of John

*Exported from [Holy-Writings.com](https://www.holy-writings.com/) on 2026-06-18 — 1 clipping.*

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> The Master quotes:[1]
> 
>    “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that
> I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto
> you;[2] but if I
> depart, I will send him unto
> you.[3] And when he is
> come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgement:
> Of sin, because they believe not on me; Of righteousness, because I go to my
> Father, and ye see me no more; Of judgment, because the prince of this world is
> judged. I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.
> Howbeit when he, the Spirit of
> truth,[4] is come, he
> will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever
> he shall hear, [that] shall he speak: and he will show you things to
> come.”[5]
> 
> 
>    The concourse of the Gospel have presently fallen lost in the
> wilderness of error and purblindness and thus have considered as
> naught[6] these
> assertions of the Gospel which are explicitly clear and without allusiveness.
> This concourse of Christians have clung to interpretations based on their own
> imaginings.[7] Thus
> they say that the purpose of the above verses is the descent of the Holy Spirit,
> the descent that occurred after the ascension of His holiness Christ upon the
> disciples.[8]  This is
> in truth the customary way of all
> peoples[9]  and
> religious communities in that they close their eyes to the strong and firm
> meanings of the divine verses and then they adhere to
> suppositional[10] and
> dubious interpretations. Now you should consider how much their assertion is
> trivial and invalid: 
> 
>    Firstly. He sayeth: He shall not come unless I go away.  This
> utterance indicates that He, the Spirit, the Comforter was not there at the time
> of Christ[11] and
> that He would come afterwards. But the Holy Spirit was inseparably and always
> co-existing with
> Christ.[12]  So there
> would otherwise be no meaning to the saying: He shall not come unless I go away.
> 
> 
>    Secondly. He said: I have many things to explain to you but you do not
> posses the capacity to bear them; but that Sanctified Spirit of Truth will
> expound these things and lead you into all truth. 
> 
>    Now consider further: In accord with Christian Teaching, the Holy
> Spirit is the Third
> Hypostasis[13]  and
> the Spirit Jesus Christ is the Second
> Hypostasis.[14],[15],[16]
> Could it be the case that after all the training imparted by the two
> Hypostases[17] the
> veils of ignorance and lack of knowledge were not torn asunder and the disciples
> were not confirmed with the full guidance of
> truth?[18] Were they
> then after the ascension of that Supreme Luminary receiving the hidden unseen
> mysteries and the concealed and sealed Lordly wisdoms from the Third Hypostasis?
> Did they then only become able to hear these truths? Rather it is
> obvious[19] that if
> under the shade of guidance of that Essence of Essences and the Spirit of
> Spirits and with all the confirmations of the Holy spirit if souls be not
> educated and trained, and, if the soul’s dark veils were still not burned
> away, then the breaths of the Holy spirit [alone] would have no effect for a
> hundred thousand years. And herein is manifest and recognizable truth.
> 
> 
>    Thus it has become clear and proven from those blessed Johannine
> verses that after the Beauty of Jesus another Honoured Soul and Great Beauty
> will appear Whose training will be even greater than the education imparted by
> Christ, the Spirit of God. 
> 
>    Thirdly He said: That Comforter will not speak from Himself. That
> means He shall be aided by the hosts of divine Revelation. He shall declare and
> expound all that reaches His Blessed Hearing from the Kingdom of Glory.
> 
> 
>    Consider again, how clear it is. This means that that Comforting
> Spirit is a
> Person[20] Who wilt
> be inspired with heavenly Inspirations and be the Repository of Lordly
> Revelations. Further, the Holy Spirit doth not have ears with which to
> hear.[21]  The
> references that the disciples adduced as proof from the Torah with respect to
> the Advent of Christ were never with this degree of explicitness. 
> 
> 
> Notes
> [1] From
> Makátib ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’ Vol. 2. 
> [al-juz’ ath-tháni, page 59].  The title here given is
> provisionally added by the present editor.  The commentary which follows is only
> a part of a longer Tablet.  Date and recipient of this text are uncertain
> (KF’s note, modified by MW).
> 
> 
> [2] See eg.
> Summons of the Lord of Hosts: Tablets of
> Bahá’u’lláh, M15, H248 (MW’s
> note).
> 
> 
> [3] Here, we
> see Christ as the ‘Sender of Messengers’ (MW’s
> note).
> 
> 
> [4] Cf.
> Summons of the Lord of Hosts: Tablets of
> Bahá’u’lláh, M15 (MW’s note).
> 
> 
> [5] John
> 16:7-15 (KF’s note).
> 
> 
> [6]
> Hích (KF’s note)
> 
> 
> [7]
> ta’wilát-i-mawhúmih (KF’s note)
> 
> 
> [8] i.e. the
> descent at Pentecost: “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they
> were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from
> heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were
> sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat
> upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to
> speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” (Acts,
> 2:1-6) (MW’s note).
> 
> 
> [9]
> Adat-i-kull-i-umam ast (KF’s note)
> 
> 
> [10]
> wahmiyya (KF’s note)
> 
> 
> [11]
> Rúh- i-tasalli-dahandih
> mawjúd nabúdih (KF’s note)
> 
> 
> [12] Cf.
> Luke 4:18 (Quoting Isaiah 61:1); Qur’án 2:253; Summons of the
> Lord of Hosts: Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh, H133.
> (MW’s note)
> 
> 
> [13]
> uqnúm-i-thálith (KF’s note).
> 
> 
> [14] Cf. I
> John  5:7:  “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father,
> the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.” (MW’s
> note).
> 
> 
> [15]
> uqnúm-i-thání. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’
> addresses the subject of the trinity as follows: 
> 
> 
> 
>    The Divine Reality, which is purified and sanctified from the
> understanding of human beings and which can never be imagined by the people of
> wisdom and of intelligence, is exempt from all conception. That Lordly Reality
> admits of no division; for division and multiplicity are properties of creatures
> which are contingent existences, and not accidents which happen to the
> self-existent.  
> 
>    The Divine Reality is sanctified from singleness, then how much more
> from plurality. The descent of that Lordly Reality into conditions and degrees
> would be equivalent to imperfection and contrary to perfection, and is,
> therefore, absolutely impossible. It perpetually has been, and is, in the
> exaltation of holiness and sanctity. All that is mentioned of the Manifestations
> and Dawning-places of God signifies the divine reflection, and not a descent
> into the conditions of existence.  
> 
>    God is pure perfection, and creatures are but imperfections. For God to
> descend into the conditions of existence would be the greatest of imperfections;
> on the contrary, His manifestation, His appearance, His rising are like the
> reflection of the sun in a clear, pure, polished mirror. All the creatures are
> evident signs of God, like the earthly beings upon all of which the rays of the
> sun shine. But upon the plains, the mountains, the trees and fruits, only a
> portion of the light shines, through which they become visible, and are reared,
> and attain to the object of their existence, while the Perfect Man is in the
> condition of a clear mirror in which the Sun of Reality becomes visible and
> manifest with all its qualities and perfections. So the Reality of Christ was a
> clear and polished mirror of the greatest purity and fineness. The Sun of
> Reality, the Essence of Divinity, reflected itself in this mirror and manifested
> its light and heat in it; but from the exaltation of its holiness, and the
> heaven of its sanctity, the Sun did not descend to dwell and abide in the
> mirror. No, it continues to subsist in its exaltation and sublimity, while
> appearing and becoming manifest in the mirror in beauty and perfection. 
> 
> 
>    Now if we say that we have seen the Sun in two mirrors-- one the Christ
> and one the Holy Spirit--that is to say, that we have seen three Suns, one in
> heaven and the two others on the earth, we speak truly. And if we say that there
> is one Sun, and it is pure singleness, and has no partner and equal, we again
> speak truly.  
> 
> The epitome of the discourse is that the Reality of Christ was a clear
> mirror, and the Sun of Reality--that is to say, the Essence of Oneness, with its
> infinite perfections and attributes--became visible in the mirror. The meaning
> is not that the Sun, which is the Essence of the Divinity, became divided and
> multiplied--for the Sun is one--but it appeared in the mirror. This is why
> Christ said, “The Father is in the Son,” meaning that the Sun is
> visible and manifest in this mirror.  
> 
>    The Holy Spirit is the Bounty of God which becomes visible and evident
> in the Reality of Christ. The Sonship station is the heart of Christ, and the
> Holy Spirit is the station of the spirit of Christ. Hence it has become certain
> and proved that the Essence of Divinity is absolutely unique and has no equal,
> no likeness, no equivalent.  
> 
>    This is the signification of the Three Persons of the Trinity. If it
> were otherwise, the foundations of the Religion of God would rest upon an
> illogical proposition which the mind could never conceive, and how can the mind
> be forced to believe a thing which it cannot conceive? A thing cannot be grasped
> by the intelligence except when it is clothed in an intelligible form;
> otherwise, it is but an effort of the imagination.  
> 
>    It has now become clear, from this explanation, what is the meaning of
> the Three Persons of the Trinity. The Oneness of God is also proved. (Some
> Answered Questions, Chap. 27, pp. 113-5)  (KF’s note, expanded by
> MW).
> 
> 
> [16] See
> Qur’án 5:76:  “They do blaspheme who say: God is one of three
> in a Trinity: for there is no god except One God. If they desist not from their
> word (of blasphemy), verily a grievous penalty will befall the blasphemers among
> them.” (MW’s note).
> 
> 
> [17] i.e. of
> Christ and the Holy Spirit (KF’s note).
> 
> 
> [18]
> rushd va hidáyat-i-támmih (KF’s
> note).
> 
> 
> [19]
> Wadhih ast (KF’s note).
> 
> 
> [20]
> Shakhsí ast.  Cf. Some Answered Questions, p.
> 109. (KF’s note, expanded by MW).
> 
> 
> [21]
> sam’í nabúdih kih istimá’ namáyad
> (KF’s note).
>
> — *Commentary on Verses of John (Used by permission of the curator)*