Metaphor and the Language of Revelation

Abstract

Metaphor is the literal language of the soul. To enter the realm of metaphor as the language of the soul is to come into direct contact with the Word as the originating power of creation, in the Bible identified with God. In thisexploration of metaphorical language as the language of revelation, the richer unveiling of its meaning to be found in the writings of the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh will serve to clarify further the nature of metaphor as that clarification which contains within it an immediate consciousness of the station of Bahá’u’lláh. This newly released consciousness signifies humanity’s coming of age in and as a fully awakened human realization that the earth is now the throne of God, as proclaimed by Bahá’u’lláh in his impassioned address to Carmel as his New Jerusalem Bride. Metaphorically understood, Bahá’u’lláh’s proclamation is “the trumpet” that in the biblical tradition signals the Resurrection. “Trumpet,” “Pen,” “Bride,” “Resurrection”—in metaphors such as these the soul finds its proper home in the redeeming consciousness of a new era described by Bahá’u’lláh as the “Divine Springtime.”