Moreover, in the traditions the terms "sun" and "moon"
have been applied to prayer and fasting, even as it is said: "Fasting is
illumination,
prayer is light." One day, a well-known divine came to visit Us. While
We were conversing with him, he referred to the above-quoted tradition.
He said: "Inasmuch as fasting causeth the heat of the body to increase,
it hath therefore been likened unto the light of the sun; and as the
prayer of the night-season refresheth man, it hath been compared unto
the radiance of the moon." Thereupon We realized that that poor man had
not been favoured with a single drop of the ocean of true understanding,
and had strayed far from the burning Bush of divine wisdom. We then
politely observed to him saying: "The interpretation your honour hath
given to this tradition is the one current amongst the people. Could it
not be interpreted differently?" He asked Us: "What could it be?" We
made reply: "Muhammad, the Seal of the Prophets, and the most
distinguished
of God's chosen Ones, hath likened the Dispensation of the Qur'an unto
heaven, by reason of its loftiness, its paramount influence, its
majesty,
and the fact that it comprehendeth all religions. And as the sun and
moon constitute the brightest and most prominent luminaries in the
heavens,
similarly in the heaven of the religion of God two shining orbs have
been ordained -- fasting and prayer. 'Islam is heaven; fasting is its
sun,
prayer, its moon.;
Baha'u'llah,
Baha'u'llah,
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