It is not like, Bahaullah must either quote everything exactly word for word, or He completely sets aside quoting. From all these, His intention becomes clear that, He does not want to quote, unless it is necessary. And the part of the Book which I quoted, where Bahahllah refrains from quoting text is applicable through out the Book, but not in a black and white manner.
...well - it looks like I spoke too soon. This Baha'u'llah quote is not a mistake on his part - you were, of course, continuing in your disingenuous course of deliberately taking a a quote out of context to support your argument.
Here is the slightly fuller quote of the passage from
Kitáb-i-Íqán: "...
For this reason, in all chronicles and traditions reference hath been made unto these things, namely that iniquity shall cover the surface of the earth and darkness shall envelop mankind. As the traditions referred to are well known, and as the purpose of this servant is to be brief, He will refrain from quoting the text of these traditions."
So, in fact, it was the specific "chronicles and traditions" about the spiritual "darkness" that would "envelop mankind" that were so well known he felt no need to quote them.
He then goes on - on the very next page - to make a direct quotation from scripture "
And now, concerning His words—“The sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give light, and the stars shall fall from heaven.”"
So you have a choice here: either you accept the perfectly sensible interpretation that Baha'u'llah was only refraining from quoting directly the specific traditions he referred to in the same paragraph - or he lied about his intention to make direct quotations from either the Qur'an or the Bible which he does scores if not hundreds of times in the
Kitáb-i-Íqán.
Here is a little exercise for you to try: go to
Bahá'í Reference Library - The Kitáb-i-Íqán, Pages 3-41 and scroll to the bottom of the page. Click on each of the footnote references and see how many of the numbers are immediately following a passage enclosed in quotation marks ("...") and following a phrase like "it is written" or "He saith"...etc. These are called quotes. See how many you can find on the first page then go to the bottom and click where it says 'next' and do the same for the next page and so on. Let me know when you get past 100 quotes.
Baha'ullah in several places mentions that He wishes to be brief, and does not wish to narrate the stories of bygone ages, unless it is required for His arguments in the Book. Though it may appear that He is saying this with regards to particular traditions, it is a theme and style of writing that Bahaullah consistently uses throughout His Book.
The first one, I have already quoted was:
"As the traditions referred to are well known, and as the purpose of this servant is to be brief, He will refrain from quoting the text of these traditions."
Again in another passage He said:
"Although We did not intend to make mention of the traditions of a bygone age, yet, because of Our love for thee, We will cite a few which are applicable to Our argument. We do not feel their necessity, however, inasmuch as the things We have already mentioned suffice the world and all
that is therein"
This quote tells us, Bahaullah's purpose is not to mention old stories of past ages, however He mentions them, only when it is required for His argument.
In another passage, again He writes:
"By God! however great Our desire to be brief, yet We feel We cannot restrain Our pen"
It is then evident that throughout the Book, Bahaullah only refers to traditions when it is necessary for His argument, and whenever it is not necessary He would be either brief or does not mention them. This is the logic that He follows in His Book.
This is why you see, sometimes He quotes word for word of old Traditions, when it is necessary, and sometimes He omits the parts, which are not necessary. Again, going back to the example in Luke 9:
"Then he and his disciples went to another village.
As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go."
Jesus replied, "
Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."
He said to another man, "Follow me." But he replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."
Jesus said to him,
"Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God."
Bahaullah in order to teach the 'Dead' can be spiritually dead, or physically, refers to this tradition. It is obvious that, for instance it is not necessary He mentions the part of the passage which is not related for this purpose. For example part of the story says "
Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.".
Why should Bahaullah quote this part at all, when it has nothing to do with His purpose which is to show Dead can mean Spiritually dead?
Therefore in order to be brief He omitted the part which does not serve a purpose. When He says this is written in Bible, why does that have to be taken literally, that these are word for word written? Can it not also mean, that this story is written in Bible, and Bahaullah describes it in His own style of writing to omit the parts which are not related to His argument?
If you look closely throughout His Book, you would see, He follows this logic; He quotes only when it is necessary, and provided a brief version elsewhere.