Did Bahaullah call non Baha'is Donkeys?
Yes.
Talk about me not doing my research.
I cannot believe how gullible you are to believe that trash.
Did Bahá'u'lláh really call his deniers donkeys, pigs, and ********?
Scott Hakala
, Ph.D Econ, Baha'i, interest in morals and religion
Answered November 25, 2018 · Author has 2.8K answers and 758.9K answer views
Generally, no. Those terms were only used in specific context of persons actively persecuting the Faith and opposing it. This is another question designed to inflame and misrepresent by taking passages out of context and to promote anti-Baha’i materials that misrepresent the Faith.
In reality, Baha’u’llah told Baha’is to love all and be tolerant.
“Cleanse ye your eyes, so that ye behold no man as different from yourselves. See ye no strangers; rather see all men as friends, for love and unity come hard when ye fix your gaze on otherness. And in this new and wondrous age, the Holy Writings say that we must be at one with every people; that we must see neither harshness nor injustice, neither malevolence, nor hostility, nor hate, but rather turn our eyes toward the heaven of ancient glory. For each of the creatures is a sign of God, and it was by the grace of the Lord and His power that each did step into the world; therefore they are not strangers, but in the family; not aliens, but friends, and to be treated as such. Wherefore must the loved ones of God associate in affectionate fellowship with stranger and friend alike, showing forth to all the utmost loving-kindness, disregarding the degree of their capacity, never asking whether they deserve to be loved. In every instance let the friends be considerate and infinitely kind. Let them never be defeated by the malice of the people, by their aggression and their hate, no matter how intense. If others hurl their darts against you, offer them milk and honey in return; if they poison your lives, sweeten their souls; if they injure you, teach them how to be comforted; if they inflict a wound upon you, be a balm to their sores; if they sting you, hold to their lips a refreshing cup.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, p. 24)
Sláinte
, I own books on religion and enjoy thinking about it.
Updated September 10, 2016
I asked a theologian who reads Arabic and Persian to answer this question. He responded via email. This is an excerpt from our correspondence, shared with his permission. All credit goes to Sen McGlinn:
"The quotes are accurate, but without context, and the translation and
interpretation shows a lack of understanding of literature. The bane
of religion in the 19th century and until today was that it fell into
the hands of engineers and the like whose own use of language lacks
literary flourishes, metaphors, rhyme, quotes from poetry and
sayings, etc.. When they read religious literature the result is like
the ballet of the hippopotami. Oh dear, I called our author a
hippopotamus! Scandal!
In this page, the writer's objection is to animal metaphors. The
first one is "O you donkeys" (plural not singular as in the website's
translation), which Baha'u'llah inserts as a quote in Arabic although
the text is in Persian. The reason, I think, is that this is a saying
which plays on the rhyme between Amir (leader) and hamir (donkeys).
Baha'u'llah could have used the Persian khar, plural kharha, meaning
a donkey/fool. Instead he switches to an Arabic expression, which is
less derogatory and has the connotation of looking like a leader but
being a bumbler. A literary reading notes such things: quotes,
allusions, rhymes, metaphors. To these, your engineer is as deaf as
an adder. As deaf as a shad.
The quote from Baha'u'llah continues "truth is what Truth may tell,
tho' the errant may say it's an error." The Persian original has a
couple of word-plays that are lost in the web-site's translation.
There is one striking simile used by Abdu'l-Baha, which does employ
the Persian word khar. It's in the Persian edition of selections from
the writings of Abdu'l-Baha, vol 2 p 77
مرجع كتب وآثار بهائی - منتخباتى از مكاتيب حضرت عبدالبهاء - جلد ۲٬ صفحه ۷۷
where he compares people who waste their lives on splitting hairs to
a donkey turning a mill (pumping water or grinding grain): it goes
round and round and gets nowhere.
Wem die Jacke passt, der soll sie sich dat anziehen.
~Sen"
Denis MacEoin
, Author of several academic studies of Babi and Baha'i faiths. Former Baha'i.
Answered October 8, 2016
What the commentators here are missing is reference to the fact that many Baha’i attitudes comie directly from Islamic originals. The Qur’an, for instance, refers to Jews as ‘the sons of apes and pigs’. Today, Muslim sermons, books etc. use this and other metaphotres to describe Jews. And you only have to read the Qur’an and ahadith to find ample references to unbelievers (kuffar) as hateful, ignorant, destined for hell and so on. Baha’ism may appear more tolerant than Islam (and in many ways it is), but there persists a string Islamic level that involves a clear distinction between those who have seen the Truth and those who have denied it. At the same time, Baha’ Allah does not divide the world sharply between something like Dar al-Islam and Dar al-Harb (which the Bab most certainly did), so there is none of that antagonism. But from a secularist point of view, religious believers who believe they are the sole modern possessors of the truth and that the rest of the world is in denial and ignorance are still given to an arrogance that destroys good social relations.
https://www.quora.com/Did-Baháulláh-really-call-his-deniers-donkeys-pigs-and-********
