I: Lauded and glorified art Thou, O Lord, my…

Lauded and glorified art Thou, O Lord, my God! How can I make mention
of Thee, assured as I am that no tongue, however deep its wisdom, can
befittingly magnify Thy name, nor can the bird of the human heart,
however great its longing, ever hope to ascend into the heaven of Thy
majesty and knowledge.

If I describe Thee, O my God, as Him Who is the All-Perceiving, I
find myself compelled to admit that They Who are the highest Embodiments
of perception have been created by virtue of Thy behest. And if I extol
Thee as Him Who is the All-Wise, I, likewise, am forced to recognize
that the Well Springs of wisdom have themselves been generated through
the operation of Thy Will. And if I proclaim Thee as the Incomparable
One, I soon discover that they Who are the inmost essence of oneness
have been sent down by Thee and are but the evidences of Thine
handiwork. And if I acclaim Thee as the Knower of all things, I must
confess that they Who are the Quintessence of knowledge are but the
creation and instruments of Thy Purpose.

Exalted, immeasurably exalted, art Thou above the strivings of mortal
man to unravel Thy mystery, to describe Thy glory, or even to hint at
the nature of Thine Essence. For whatever such strivings may accomplish,
they never can hope to transcend the limitations imposed upon Thy
creatures, inasmuch as these efforts are actuated by Thy decree, and are
begotten of Thine invention. The loftiest sentiments which the holiest
of saints can express in praise of Thee, and the deepest wisdom which
the most learned of men can utter in their attempts to comprehend Thy
nature, all revolve around that Center Which is wholly subjected to Thy
sovereignty, Which adoreth Thy Beauty, and is propelled through the
movement of Thy Pen.

Nay, forbid it, O my God, that I should have uttered such words as
must of necessity imply the existence of any direct relationship between
the Pen of Thy Revelation and the essence of all created things. Far,
far are They Who are related to Thee above the conception of such
relationship! All comparisons and likenesses fail to do justice to the
Tree of Thy Revelation, and every way is barred to the comprehension of
the Manifestation of Thy Self and the Day Spring of Thy Beauty.

Far, far from Thy glory be what mortal man can affirm of Thee, or
attribute unto Thee, or the praise with which he can glorify Thee!
Whatever duty Thou hast prescribed unto Thy servants of extolling to the
utmost Thy majesty and glory is but a token of Thy grace unto them, that
they may be enabled to ascend unto the station conferred upon their own
inmost being, the station of the knowledge of their own selves.

No one else besides Thee hath, at any time, been able to fathom Thy
mystery, or befittingly to extol Thy greatness. Unsearchable and high
above the praise of men wilt Thou remain for ever. There is none other
God but Thee, the Inaccessible, the Omnipotent, the Omniscient, the Holy
of Holies.

II: The beginning of all things is the knowledge…

The beginning of all things is the knowledge of God, and the end of
all things is strict observance of whatsoever hath been sent down from
the empyrean of the Divine Will that pervadeth all that is in the
heavens and all that is on the earth.

III: The Revelation which, from time immemorial,…

The Revelation which, from time immemorial, hath been acclaimed as
the Purpose and Promise of all the Prophets of God, and the most
cherished Desire of His Messengers, hath now, by virtue of the pervasive
Will of the Almighty and at His irresistible bidding, been revealed unto
men. The advent of such a Revelation hath been heralded in all the
sacred Scriptures. Behold how, notwithstanding such an announcement,
mankind hath strayed from its path and shut out itself from its
glory.

Say: O ye lovers of the One true God! Strive, that ye may truly
recognize and know Him, and observe befittingly His precepts. This is a
Revelation, under which, if a man shed for its sake one drop of blood,
myriads of oceans will be his recompense. Take heed, O friends, that ye
forfeit not so inestimable a benefit, or disregard its transcendent
station. Consider the multitude of lives that have been, and are still
being, sacrificed in a world deluded by a mere phantom which the vain
imaginations of its peoples have conceived. Render thanks unto God,
inasmuch as ye have attained unto your heart’s Desire, and been
united to Him Who is the Promise of all nations. Guard ye, with the aid
of the one true God—exalted be His glory—the integrity of the station
which ye have attained, and cleave to that which shall promote His
Cause. He, verily, enjoineth on you what is right and conducive to the
exaltation of man’s station. Glorified be the All-Merciful, the
Revealer of this wondrous Tablet.

IV: This is the Day in which God’s most excellent…

This is the Day in which God’s most excellent favors have been
poured out upon men, the Day in which His most mighty grace hath been
infused into all created things. It is incumbent upon all the peoples of
the world to reconcile their differences, and, with perfect unity and
peace, abide beneath the shadow of the Tree of His care and
loving-kindness. It behoveth them to cleave to whatsoever will, in this
Day, be conducive to the exaltation of their stations, and to the
promotion of their best interests. Happy are those whom the all-glorious
Pen was moved to remember, and blessed are those men whose names, by
virtue of Our inscrutable decree, We have preferred to conceal.

Beseech ye the one true God to grant that all men may be graciously
assisted to fulfil that which is acceptable in Our sight. Soon will the
present-day order be rolled up, and a new one spread out in its stead.
Verily, thy Lord speaketh the truth, and is the Knower of things
unseen.

V: This is the Day whereon the Ocean of God’s…

This is the Day whereon the Ocean of God’s mercy hath been
manifested unto men, the Day in which the Day Star of His
loving-kindness hath shed its radiance upon them, the Day in which the
clouds of His bountiful favor have overshadowed the whole of mankind.
Now is the time to cheer and refresh the down-cast through the
invigorating breeze of love and fellowship, and the living waters of
friendliness and charity.

They who are the beloved of God, in whatever place they gather and
whomsoever they may meet, must evince, in their attitude towards God,
and in the manner of their celebration of His praise and glory, such
humility and submissiveness that every atom of the dust beneath their
feet may attest the depth of their devotion. The conversation carried by
these holy souls should be informed with such power that these same
atoms of dust will be thrilled by its influence. They should conduct
themselves in such manner that the earth upon which they tread may never
be allowed to address to them such words as these: “I am to be
preferred above you. For witness, how patient I am in bearing the burden
which the husbandman layeth upon me. I am the instrument that
continually imparteth unto all beings the blessings with which He Who is
the Source of all grace hath entrusted me. Notwithstanding the honor
conferred upon me, and the unnumbered evidences of my wealth—a wealth
that supplieth the needs of all creation—behold the measure of my
humility, witness with what absolute submissiveness I allow myself to be
trodden beneath the feet of men….”

Show forbearance and benevolence and love to one another. Should any
one among you be incapable of grasping a certain truth, or be striving
to comprehend it, show forth, when conversing with him, a spirit of
extreme kindliness and good-will. Help him to see and recognize the
truth, without esteeming yourself to be, in the least, superior to him,
or to be possessed of greater endowments.

The whole duty of man in this Day is to attain that share of the
flood of grace which God poureth forth for him. Let none, therefore,
consider the largeness or smallness of the receptacle. The portion of
some might lie in the palm of a man’s hand, the portion of others
might fill a cup, and of others even a gallon-measure.

Every eye, in this Day, should seek what will best promote the Cause
of God. He, Who is the Eternal Truth, beareth Me witness! Nothing
whatever can, in this Day, inflict a greater harm upon this Cause than
dissension and strife, contention, estrangement and apathy, among the
loved ones of God. Flee them, through the power of God and His sovereign
aid, and strive ye to knit together the hearts of men, in His Name, the
Unifier, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.

Beseech ye the one true God to grant that ye may taste the savor of
such deeds as are performed in His path, and partake of the sweetness of
such humility and submissiveness as are shown for His sake. Forget your
own selves, and turn your eyes towards your neighbor. Bend your energies
to whatever may foster the education of men. Nothing is, or can ever be,
hidden from God. If ye follow in His way, His incalculable and
imperishable blessings will be showered upon you. This is the luminous
Tablet, whose verses have streamed from the moving Pen of Him Who is the
Lord of all worlds. Ponder it in your hearts, and be ye of them that
observe its precepts.

VI: Behold, how the divers peoples and kindreds…

Behold, how the divers peoples and kindreds of the earth have been
waiting for the coming of the Promised One. No sooner had He, Who is the
Sun of Truth, been made manifest, than, lo, all turned away from Him,
except them whom God was pleased to guide. We dare not, in this Day,
lift the veil that concealeth the exalted station which every true
believer can attain, for the joy which such a revelation must provoke
might well cause a few to faint away and die.

He Who is the Heart and Center of the Bayán hath written: “The
germ that holdeth within itself the potentialities of the Revelation
that is to come is endowed with a potency superior to the combined
forces of all those who follow Me.” And, again, He saith:
“Of all the tributes I have paid to Him Who is to come after Me,
the greatest is this, My written confession, that no words of Mine can
adequately describe Him, nor can any reference to Him in My Book, the
Bayán, do justice to His Cause.”

Whoso hath searched the depths of the oceans that lie hid within
these exalted words, and fathomed their import, can be said to have
discovered a glimmer of the unspeakable glory with which this mighty,
this sublime, and most holy Revelation hath been endowed. From the
excellence of so great a Revelation the honor with which its faithful
followers must needs be invested can be well imagined. By the
righteousness of the one true God! The very breath of these souls is in
itself richer than all the treasures of the earth. Happy is the man that
hath attained thereunto, and woe betide the heedless.

VII: Verily I say, this is the Day in which mankind…

Verily I say, this is the Day in which mankind can behold the Face,
and hear the Voice, of the Promised One. The Call of God hath been
raised, and the light of His countenance hath been lifted up upon men.
It behoveth every man to blot out the trace of every idle word from the
tablet of his heart, and to gaze, with an open and unbiased mind, on the
signs of His Revelation, the proofs of His Mission, and the tokens of
His glory.

Great indeed is this Day! The allusions made to it in all the sacred
Scriptures as the Day of God attest its greatness. The soul of every
Prophet of God, of every Divine Messenger, hath thirsted for this
wondrous Day. All the divers kindreds of the earth have, likewise,
yearned to attain it. No sooner, however, had the Day Star of His
Revelation manifested itself in the heaven of God’s Will, than
all, except those whom the Almighty was pleased to guide, were found
dumbfounded and heedless.

O thou that hast remembered Me! The most grievous veil hath shut out
the peoples of the earth from His glory, and hindered them from
hearkening to His call. God grant that the light of unity may envelop
the whole earth, and that the seal, “the Kingdom is
God’s”, may be stamped upon the brow of all its peoples.

VIII: By the righteousness of God! These are the…

By the righteousness of God! These are the days in which God hath
proved the hearts of the entire company of His Messengers and Prophets,
and beyond them those that stand guard over His sacred and inviolable
Sanctuary, the inmates of the celestial Pavilion and dwellers of the
Tabernacle of Glory. How severe, therefore, the test to which they who
join partners with God must needs be subjected!

IX: O Ḥusayn! Consider the eagerness with which…

O Ḥusayn! Consider the eagerness with which certain peoples and
nations have anticipated the return of Imám-Ḥusayn, whose coming, after
the appearance of the Qá’im, hath been prophesied, in days past,
by the chosen ones of God, exalted be His glory. These holy ones have,
moreover, announced that when He Who is the Day Spring of the manifold
grace of God manifesteth Himself, all the Prophets and Messengers,
including the Qá’im, will gather together beneath the shadow of
the sacred Standard which the Promised One will raise. That hour is now
come. The world is illumined with the effulgent glory of His
countenance. And yet, behold how far its peoples have strayed from His
path! None have believed in Him except them who, through the power of
the Lord of Names, have shattered the idols of their vain imaginings and
corrupt desires and entered the city of certitude. The seal of the
choice Wine of His Revelation hath, in this Day and in His Name, the
Self-Sufficing, been broken. Its grace is being poured out upon men.
Fill thy cup, and drink in, in His Name, the Most Holy, the
All-Praised.

X: The time foreordained unto the peoples and…

The time foreordained unto the peoples and kindreds of the earth is
now come. The promises of God, as recorded in the holy Scriptures, have
all been fulfilled. Out of Zion hath gone forth the Law of God, and
Jerusalem, and the hills and land thereof, are filled with the glory of
His Revelation. Happy is the man that pondereth in his heart that which
hath been revealed in the Books of God, the Help in Peril, the
Self-Subsisting. Meditate upon this, O ye beloved of God, and let your
ears be attentive unto His Word, so that ye may, by His grace and mercy,
drink your fill from the crystal waters of constancy, and become as
steadfast and immovable as the mountain in His Cause.

In the Book of Isaiah it is written: “Enter into the rock, and
hide thee in the dust, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of His
majesty.” No man that meditateth upon this verse can fail to
recognize the greatness of this Cause, or doubt the exalted character of
this Day—the Day of God Himself. This same verse is followed by these
words: “And the Lord alone shall be exalted in that Day.”
This is the Day which the Pen of the Most High hath glorified in all the
holy Scriptures. There is no verse in them that doth not declare the
glory of His holy Name, and no Book that doth not testify unto the
loftiness of this most exalted theme. Were We to make mention of all
that hath been revealed in these heavenly Books and holy Scriptures
concerning this Revelation, this Tablet would assume impossible
dimensions. It is incumbent in this Day, upon every man to place his
whole trust in the manifold bounties of God, and arise to disseminate,
with the utmost wisdom, the verities of His Cause. Then, and only then,
will the whole earth be enveloped with the morning light of His
Revelation.

XI: All glory be to this Day, the Day in which the…

All glory be to this Day, the Day in which the fragrances of mercy
have been wafted over all created things, a Day so blest that past ages
and centuries can never hope to rival it, a Day in which the countenance
of the Ancient of Days hath turned towards His holy seat. Thereupon the
voices of all created things, and beyond them those of the Concourse on
high, were heard calling aloud: “Haste thee, O Carmel, for lo, the
light of the countenance of God, the Ruler of the Kingdom of Names and
Fashioner of the heavens, hath been lifted upon thee.”

Seized with transports of joy, and raising high her voice, she thus
exclaimed: “May my life be a sacrifice to Thee, inasmuch as Thou
hast fixed Thy gaze upon me, hast bestowed upon me Thy bounty, and hast
directed towards me Thy steps. Separation from Thee, O Thou Source of
everlasting life, hath well nigh consumed me, and my remoteness from Thy
presence hath burned away my soul. All praise be to Thee for having
enabled me to hearken to Thy call, for having honored me with Thy
footsteps, and for having quickened my soul through the vitalizing
fragrance of Thy Day and the shrilling voice of Thy Pen, a voice Thou
didst ordain as Thy trumpet-call amidst Thy people. And when the hour at
which Thy resistless Faith was to be made manifest did strike, Thou
didst breathe a breath of Thy spirit into Thy Pen, and lo, the entire
creation shook to its very foundations, unveiling to mankind such
mysteries as lay hidden within the treasuries of Him Who is the
Possessor of all created things.”

No sooner had her voice reached that most exalted Spot than We made
reply: “Render thanks unto thy Lord, O Carmel. The fire of thy
separation from Me was fast consuming thee, when the ocean of My
presence surged before thy face, cheering thine eyes and those of all
creation, and filling with delight all things visible and invisible.
Rejoice, for God hath in this Day established upon thee His throne, hath
made thee the dawning-place of His signs and the day spring of the
evidences of His Revelation. Well is it with him that circleth around
thee, that proclaimeth the revelation of thy glory, and recounteth that
which the bounty of the Lord thy God hath showered upon thee. Seize thou
the Chalice of Immortality in the name of thy Lord, the All-Glorious,
and give thanks unto Him, inasmuch as He, in token of His mercy unto
thee, hath turned thy sorrow into gladness, and transmuted thy grief
into blissful joy. He, verily, loveth the spot which hath been made the
seat of His throne, which His footsteps have trodden, which hath been
honored by His presence, from which He raised His call, and upon which
He shed His tears.

“Call out to Zion, O Carmel, and announce the joyful tidings:
He that was hidden from mortal eyes is come! His all-conquering
sovereignty is manifest; His all-encompassing splendor is revealed.
Beware lest thou hesitate or halt. Hasten forth and circumambulate the
City of God that hath descended from heaven, the celestial Kaaba round
which have circled in adoration the favored of God, the pure in heart,
and the company of the most exalted angels. Oh, how I long to announce
unto every spot on the surface of the earth, and to carry to each one of
its cities, the glad-tidings of this Revelation—a Revelation to which
the heart of Sinai hath been attracted, and in whose name the Burning
Bush is calling: ‘Unto God, the Lord of Lords, belong the kingdoms
of earth and heaven.’ Verily this is the Day in which both land
and sea rejoice at this announcement, the Day for which have been laid
up those things which God, through a bounty beyond the ken of mortal
mind or heart, hath destined for revelation. Ere long will God sail His
Ark upon thee, and will manifest the people of Bahá who have been
mentioned in the Book of Names.”

Sanctified be the Lord of all mankind, at the mention of Whose name
all the atoms of the earth have been made to vibrate, and the Tongue of
Grandeur hath been moved to disclose that which had been wrapt in His
knowledge and lay concealed within the treasury of His might. He,
verily, through the potency of His name, the Mighty, the All-Powerful,
the Most High, is the ruler of all that is in the heavens and all that
is on earth.

XII: Bestir yourselves, O people, in anticipation of…

Bestir yourselves, O people, in anticipation of the days of Divine
justice, for the promised hour is now come. Beware lest ye fail to
apprehend its import and be accounted among the erring.

XIII: Consider the past. How many, both high and…

Consider the past. How many, both high and low, have, at all times,
yearningly awaited the advent of the Manifestations of God in the
sanctified persons of His chosen Ones. How often have they expected His
coming, how frequently have they prayed that the breeze of Divine mercy
might blow, and the promised Beauty step forth from behind the veil of
concealment, and be made manifest to all the world. And whensoever the
portals of grace did open, and the clouds of divine bounty did rain upon
mankind, and the light of the Unseen did shine above the horizon of
celestial might, they all denied Him, and turned away from His face—the
face of God Himself….

Reflect, what could have been the motive for such deeds? What could
have prompted such behavior towards the Revealers of the beauty of the
All-Glorious? Whatever in days gone by hath been the cause of the denial
and opposition of those people hath now led to the perversity of the
people of this age. To maintain that the testimony of Providence was
incomplete, that it hath therefore been the cause of the denial of the
people, is but open blasphemy. How far from the grace of the
All-Bountiful and from His loving providence and tender mercies it is to
single out a soul from amongst all men for the guidance of His
creatures, and, on one hand, to withhold from Him the full measure of
His divine testimony, and, on the other, inflict severe retribution on
His people for having turned away from His chosen One! Nay, the manifold
bounties of the Lord of all beings have, at all times, through the
Manifestations of His Divine Essence, encompassed the earth and all that
dwell therein. Not for a moment hath His grace been withheld, nor have
the showers of His loving-kindness ceased to rain upon mankind.
Consequently, such behavior can be attributed to naught save the
petty-mindedness of such souls as tread the valley of arrogance and
pride, are lost in the wilds of remoteness, walk in the ways of their
idle fancy, and follow the dictates of the leaders of their faith. Their
chief concern is mere opposition; their sole desire is to ignore the
truth. Unto every discerning observer it is evident and manifest that
had these people in the days of each of the Manifestations of the Sun of
Truth sanctified their eyes, their ears, and their hearts from whatever
they had seen, heard, and felt, they surely would not have been deprived
of beholding the beauty of God, nor strayed far from the habitations of
glory. But having weighed the testimony of God by the standard of their
own knowledge, gleaned from the teachings of the leaders of their faith,
and found it at variance with their limited understanding, they arose to
perpetrate such unseemly acts….

Consider Moses! Armed with the rod of celestial dominion, adorned
with the white hand of Divine knowledge, and proceeding from the Párán
of the love of God, and wielding the serpent of power and everlasting
majesty, He shone forth from the Sinai of light upon the world. He
summoned all the peoples and kindreds of the earth to the kingdom of
eternity, and invited them to partake of the fruit of the tree of
faithfulness. Surely you are aware of the fierce opposition of Pharaoh
and his people, and of the stones of idle fancy which the hands of
infidels cast upon that blessed Tree. So much so that Pharaoh and his
people finally arose and exerted their utmost endeavor to extinguish
with the waters of falsehood and denial the fire of that sacred Tree,
oblivious of the truth that no earthly water can quench the flames of
Divine wisdom, nor mortal blasts extinguish the lamp of everlasting
dominion. Nay, rather, such water cannot but intensify the burning of
the flame, and such blasts cannot but ensure the preservation of the
lamp, were ye to observe with the eye of discernment, and walk in the
way of God’s holy will and pleasure….

And when the days of Moses were ended, and the light of Jesus,
shining forth from the Day Spring of the Spirit, encompassed the world,
all the people of Israel arose in protest against Him. They clamored
that He Whose advent the Bible had foretold must needs promulgate and
fulfil the laws of Moses, whereas this youthful Nazarene, who laid claim
to the station of the divine Messiah, had annulled the laws of divorce
and of the sabbath day—the most weighty of all the laws of Moses.
Moreover, what of the signs of the Manifestation yet to come? These
people of Israel are even unto the present day still expecting that
Manifestation which the Bible hath foretold! How many Manifestations of
Holiness, how many Revealers of the light everlasting, have appeared
since the time of Moses, and yet Israel, wrapt in the densest veils of
satanic fancy and false imaginings, is still expectant that the idol of
her own handiwork will appear with such signs as she herself hath
conceived! Thus hath God laid hold of them for their sins, hath
extinguished in them the spirit of faith, and tormented them with the
flames of the nethermost fire. And this for no other reason except that
Israel refused to apprehend the meaning of such words as have been
revealed in the Bible concerning the signs of the coming Revelation. As
she never grasped their true significance, and, to outward seeming, such
events never came to pass, she, therefore, remained deprived of
recognizing the beauty of Jesus and of beholding the Face of God. And
they still await His coming! From time immemorial even unto this day,
all the kindreds and peoples of the earth have clung to such fanciful
and unseemly thoughts, and thus have deprived themselves of the clear
waters streaming from the springs of purity and holiness….

To them that are endowed with understanding, it is clear and manifest
that, when the fire of the love of Jesus consumed the veils of Jewish
limitations, and His authority was made apparent and partially enforced,
He, the Revealer of the unseen Beauty, addressing one day His disciples,
referred unto His passing, and, kindling in their hearts the fire of
bereavement, said unto them: “I go away and come again unto
you.” And in another place He said: “I go and another will
come, Who will tell you all that I have not told you, and will fulfil
all that I have said.” Both these sayings have but one meaning,
were ye to ponder upon the Manifestations of the Unity of God with
Divine insight.

Every discerning observer will recognize that in the Dispensation of
the Qur’án both the Book and the Cause of Jesus were confirmed. As
to the matter of names, Muḥammad, Himself, declared: “I am
Jesus.” He recognized the truth of the signs, prophecies, and
words of Jesus, and testified that they were all of God. In this sense,
neither the person of Jesus nor His writings hath differed from that of
Muḥammad and of His holy Book, inasmuch as both have championed the
Cause of God, uttered His praise, and revealed His commandments. Thus it
is that Jesus, Himself, declared: “I go away and come again unto
you.” Consider the sun. Were it to say now, “I am the sun of
yesterday,” it would speak the truth. And should it, bearing the
sequence of time in mind, claim to be other than that sun, it still
would speak the truth. In like manner, if it be said that all the days
are but one and the same, it is correct and true. And if it be said,
with respect to their particular names and designations, that they
differ, that again is true. For though they are the same, yet one doth
recognize in each a separate designation, a specific attribute, a
particular character. Conceive accordingly the distinction, variation,
and unity characteristic of the various Manifestations of holiness, that
thou mayest comprehend the allusions made by the Creator of all names
and attributes to the mysteries of distinction and unity, and discover
the answer to thy question as to why that everlasting Beauty should
have, at sundry times, called Himself by different names and
titles….

When the Unseen, the Eternal, the Divine Essence, caused the Day Star
of Muḥammad to rise above the horizon of knowledge, among the cavils
which the Jewish divines raised against Him was that after Moses no
Prophet should be sent of God. Yea, mention hath been made in the
Scriptures of a Soul Who must needs be made manifest and Who will
advance the Faith, and promote the interests of the people of Moses, so
that the Law of the Mosaic Dispensation may encompass the whole earth.
Thus hath the King of eternal glory referred in His Book to the words
uttered by those wanderers in the vale of remoteness and error:
“‘The hand of God,’ say the Jews, ‘is chained
up.’ Chained up be their own hands; And for that which they have
said, they were accursed. Nay, outstretched are both His hands!”
“The hand of God is above their hands.” Although the
commentators of the Qur’án have related in divers manners the
circumstances attending the revelation of this verse, yet thou shouldst
endeavor to apprehend the purpose thereof. He saith: How false is that
which the Jews have imagined! How can the hand of Him Who is the King in
truth, Who caused the countenance of Moses to be made manifest, and
conferred upon Him the robe of Prophethood—how can the hand of such a
One be chained and fettered? How can He be conceived as powerless to
raise up yet another Messenger after Moses? Behold the absurdity of
their saying; how far it hath strayed from the path of knowledge and
understanding! Observe how in this Day also, all these people have
occupied themselves with such foolish absurdities. For over a thousand
years they have been reciting this verse, and unwittingly pronouncing
their censure against the Jews, utterly unaware that they themselves,
openly and privily, are voicing the sentiments and belief of the Jewish
people! Thou art surely aware of their idle contention, that all
Revelation is ended, that the portals of Divine mercy are closed, that
from the day springs of eternal holiness no Sun shall rise again, that
the Ocean of everlasting bounty is forever stilled, and that out of the
Tabernacle of ancient glory the Messengers of God have ceased to be made
manifest. Such is the measure of the understanding of these
small-minded, contemptible people. These people have imagined that the
flow of God’s all-encompassing grace and plenteous mercies, the
cessation of which no mind can contemplate, has been halted. From every
side they have risen and girded up the loins of tyranny, and exerted the
utmost endeavor to quench with the bitter waters of their vain fancy the
flame of God’s Burning Bush, oblivious that the globe of power
shall, within its own mighty stronghold, protect the Lamp of God….

Behold how the sovereignty of Muḥammad, the Messenger of God, is
today apparent and manifest amongst the people. You are well aware of
what befell His Faith in the early days of His Dispensation. What woeful
sufferings did the hand of the infidel and erring, the divines of that
age and their associates, inflict upon that spiritual Essence, that most
pure and holy Being! How abundant the thorns and briars which they have
strewn over His path! It is evident that that wretched generation, in
their wicked and satanic fancy, regarded every injury to that immortal
Being as a means to the attainment of an abiding felicity; inasmuch as
the recognized divines of that age, such as
‘Abdu’lláh-i-Ubayy, Abú’Amír, the hermit,
Ka’b-ibn-i-Ashraf, and Nadr-ibn-i-Hárith, all
treated Him as an impostor, and pronounced Him a lunatic and a
calumniator. Such sore accusations they brought against Him that in
recounting them God forbiddeth the ink to flow, Our pen to move, or the
page to bear them. These malicious imputations provoked the people to
arise and torment Him. And how fierce that torment, if the divines of
the age be its chief instigators, if they denounce Him to their
followers, cast Him out from their midst, and declare Him a miscreant!
Hath not the same befallen this Servant, and been witnessed by all?

For this reason did Muḥammad cry out: “No Prophet of God hath
suffered such harm as I have suffered.” And in the Qur’án
are recorded all the calumnies and reproaches uttered against Him, as
well as all the afflictions which He suffered. Refer ye thereunto, that
haply ye may be informed of that which hath befallen His Revelation. So
grievous was His plight, that for a time all ceased to hold intercourse
with Him and His companions. Whoever associated with Him fell a victim
to the relentless cruelty of His enemies….

Consider, how great is the change today! Behold, how many are the
Sovereigns who bow the knee before His name! How numerous the nations
and kingdoms who have sought the shelter of His shadow, who bear
allegiance to His Faith, and pride themselves therein! From the
pulpit-top there ascendeth today the words of praise which, in utter
lowliness, glorify His blessed name; and from the heights of minarets
there resoundeth the call that summoneth the concourse of His people to
adore Him. Even those Kings of the earth who have refused to embrace His
Faith and to put off the garment of unbelief, none-the-less confess and
acknowledge the greatness and overpowering majesty of that Day Star of
loving-kindness. Such is His earthly sovereignty, the evidences of which
thou dost on every side behold. This sovereignty must needs be revealed
and established either in the lifetime of every Manifestation of God or
after His ascension unto His true habitation in the realms above….

It is evident that the changes brought about in every Dispensation
constitute the dark clouds that intervene between the eye of man’s
understanding and the Divine Luminary which shineth forth from the day
spring of the Divine Essence. Consider how men for generations have been
blindly imitating their fathers, and have been trained according to such
ways and manners as have been laid down by the dictates of their Faith.
Were these men, therefore, to discover suddenly that a Man, Who hath
been living in their midst, Who, with respect to every human limitation
hath been their equal, had risen to abolish every established principle
imposed by their Faith—principles by which for centuries they have been
disciplined, and every opposer and denier of which they have come to
regard as infidel, profligate and wicked,—they would of a certainty be
veiled and hindered from acknowledging His truth. Such things are as
“clouds” that veil the eyes of those whose inner being hath
not tasted the Salsabíl of detachment, nor drunk from the Kawthar
of the knowledge of God. Such men, when acquainted with those
circumstances, become so veiled that, without the least question, they
pronounce the Manifestation of God as infidel, and sentence Him to
death. You must have heard of such things taking place all down the
ages, and are now observing them in these days.

It behoveth us, therefore, to make the utmost endeavor, that, by
God’s invisible assistance, these dark veils, these clouds of
Heaven-sent trials, may not hinder us from beholding the beauty of His
shining Countenance, and that we may recognize Him only by His own
Self.

XIV: The Divine Springtime is come, O Most Exalted…

The Divine Springtime is come, O Most Exalted Pen, for the Festival
of the All-Merciful is fast approaching. Bestir thyself, and magnify,
before the entire creation, the name of God, and celebrate His praise,
in such wise that all created things may be regenerated and made new.
Speak, and hold not thy peace. The day star of blissfulness shineth
above the horizon of Our name, the Blissful, inasmuch as the kingdom of
the name of God hath been adorned with the ornament of the name of thy
Lord, the Creator of the heavens. Arise before the nations of the earth,
and arm thyself with the power of this Most Great Name, and be not of
those who tarry.

Methinks that thou hast halted and movest not upon My Tablet. Could
the brightness of the Divine Countenance have bewildered thee, or the
idle talk of the froward filled thee with grief and paralyzed thy
movement? Take heed lest anything deter thee from extolling the
greatness of this Day—the Day whereon the Finger of majesty and power
hath opened the seal of the Wine of Reunion, and called all who are in
the heavens and all who are on the earth. Preferrest thou to tarry when
the breeze announcing the Day of God hath already breathed over thee, or
art thou of them that are shut out as by a veil from Him?

No veil whatever have I allowed, O Lord of all names and Creator of
the heavens, to shut me from the recognition of the glories of Thy
Day—the Day which is the lamp of guidance unto the whole world, and the
sign of the Ancient of Days unto all them that dwell therein. My silence
is by reason of the veils that have blinded Thy creatures’ eyes to
Thee, and my muteness is because of the impediments that have hindered
Thy people from recognizing Thy truth. Thou knowest what is in me, but I
know not what is in Thee. Thou art the All-Knowing, the All-Informed. By
Thy name that excelleth all other names! If Thy overruling and
all-compelling behest should ever reach me, it would empower me to
revive the souls of all men, through Thy most exalted Word, which I have
heard uttered by Thy Tongue of power in Thy Kingdom of glory. It would
enable me to announce the revelation of Thy effulgent countenance
wherethrough that which lay hidden from the eyes of men hath been
manifested in Thy name, the Perspicuous, the sovereign Protector, the
Self-Subsisting.

Canst thou discover any one but Me, O Pen, in this Day? What hath
become of the creation and the manifestations thereof? What of the names
and their kingdom? Whither are gone all created things, whether seen or
unseen? What of the hidden secrets of the universe and its revelations?
Lo, the entire creation hath passed away! Nothing remaineth except My
Face, the Ever-Abiding, the Resplendent, the All-Glorious.

This is the Day whereon naught can be seen except the splendors of
the Light that shineth from the face of Thy Lord, the Gracious, the Most
Bountiful. Verily, We have caused every soul to expire by virtue of Our
irresistible and all-subduing sovereignty. We have, then, called into
being a new creation, as a token of Our grace unto men. I am, verily,
the All-Bountiful, the Ancient of Days.

This is the Day whereon the unseen world crieth out: “Great is
thy blessedness, O earth, for thou hast been made the foot-stool of thy
God, and been chosen as the seat of His mighty throne.” The realm
of glory exclaimeth: “Would that my life could be sacrificed for
thee, for He Who is the Beloved of the All-Merciful hath established His
sovereignty upon thee, through the power of His Name that hath been
promised unto all things, whether of the past or of the future.”
This is the Day whereon every sweet smelling thing hath derived its
fragrance from the smell of My garment—a garment that hath shed its
perfume upon the whole of creation. This is the Day whereon the rushing
waters of everlasting life have gushed out of the Will of the
All-Merciful. Haste ye, with your hearts and souls, and quaff your fill,
O Concourse of the realms above!

Say: He it is Who is the Manifestation of Him Who is the Unknowable,
the Invisible of the Invisibles, could ye but perceive it. He it is Who
hath laid bare before you the hidden and treasured Gem, were ye to seek
it. He it is Who is the one Beloved of all things, whether of the past
or of the future. Would that ye might set your hearts and hopes upon
Him!

We have heard the voice of thy pleading, O Pen, and excuse thy
silence. What is it that hath so sorely bewildered thee?

The inebriation of Thy presence, O Well-Beloved of all worlds, hath
seized and possessed me.

Arise, and proclaim unto the entire creation the tidings that He Who
is the All-Merciful hath directed His steps towards the Ridván and
entered it. Guide, then, the people unto the garden of delight which God
hath made the Throne of His Paradise. We have chosen thee to be our most
mighty Trumpet, whose blast is to signalize the resurrection of all
mankind.

Say: This is the Paradise on whose foliage the wine of utterance hath
imprinted the testimony: “He that was hidden from the eyes of men
is revealed, girded with sovereignty and power!” This is the
Paradise, the rustling of whose leaves proclaims: “O ye that
inhabit the heavens and the earth! There hath appeared what hath never
previously appeared. He Who, from everlasting, had concealed His Face
from the sight of creation is now come.” From the whispering
breeze that wafteth amidst its branches there cometh the cry: “He
Who is the sovereign Lord of all is made manifest. The Kingdom is
God’s,” while from its streaming waters can be heard the
murmur: “All eyes are gladdened, for He Whom none hath beheld,
Whose secret no one hath discovered, hath lifted the veil of glory, and
uncovered the countenance of Beauty.”

Within this Paradise, and from the heights of its loftiest chambers,
the Maids of Heaven have cried out and shouted: “Rejoice, ye
dwellers of the realms above, for the fingers of Him Who is the Ancient
of Days are ringing, in the name of the All-Glorious, the Most Great
Bell, in the midmost heart of the heavens. The hands of bounty have
borne round the cup of everlasting life. Approach, and quaff your fill.
Drink with healthy relish, O ye that are the very incarnations of
longing, ye who are the embodiments of vehement desire!”

This is the Day whereon He Who is the Revealer of the names of God
hath stepped out of the Tabernacle of glory, and proclaimed unto all who
are in the heavens and all who are on the earth: “Put away the
cups of Paradise and all the life-giving waters they contain, for lo,
the people of Bahá have entered the blissful abode of the Divine
Presence, and quaffed the wine of reunion, from the chalice of the
beauty of their Lord, the All-Possessing, the Most High.”

Forget the world of creation, O Pen, and turn thou towards the face
of thy Lord, the Lord of all names. Adorn, then, the world with the
ornament of the favors of thy Lord, the King of everlasting days. For We
perceive the fragrance of the Day whereon He Who is the Desire of all
nations hath shed upon the kingdoms of the unseen and of the seen the
splendor of the light of His most excellent names, and enveloped them
with the radiance of the luminaries of His most gracious favors—favors
which none can reckon except Him, Who is the omnipotent Protector of the
entire creation.

Look not upon the creatures of God except with the eye of kindliness
and of mercy, for Our loving providence hath pervaded all created
things, and Our grace encompassed the earth and the heavens. This is the
Day whereon the true servants of God partake of the life-giving waters
of reunion, the Day whereon those that are nigh unto Him are able to
drink of the soft-flowing river of immortality, and they who believe in
His unity, the wine of His Presence, through their recognition of Him
Who is the Highest and Last End of all, in Whom the Tongue of Majesty
and Glory voiceth the call: “The Kingdom is Mine. I, Myself, am,
of Mine own right, its Ruler.”

Attract the hearts of men, through the call of Him, the one alone
Beloved. Say: This is the Voice of God, if ye do but hearken. This is
the Day Spring of the Revelation of God, did ye but know it. This is the
Dawning-Place of the Cause of God, were ye to recognize it. This is the
Source of the commandment of God, did ye but judge it fairly. This is
the manifest and hidden Secret; would that ye might perceive it. O
peoples of the world! Cast away, in My name that transcendeth all other
names, the things ye possess, and immerse yourselves in this Ocean in
whose depths lay hidden the pearls of wisdom and of utterance, an ocean
that surgeth in My name, the All-Merciful. Thus instructeth you He with
Whom is the Mother Book.

The Best-Beloved is come. In His right hand is the sealed Wine of His
name. Happy is the man that turneth unto Him, and drinketh his fill, and
exclaimeth: “Praise be to Thee, O Revealer of the signs of
God!” By the righteousness of the Almighty! Every hidden thing
hath been manifested through the power of truth. All the favors of God
have been sent down, as a token of His grace. The waters of everlasting
life have, in their fullness, been proffered unto men. Every single cup
hath been borne round by the hand of the Well-Beloved. Draw near, and
tarry not, though it be for one short moment.

Blessed are they that have soared on the wings of detachment and
attained the station which, as ordained by God, overshadoweth the entire
creation, whom neither the vain imaginations of the learned, nor the
multitude of the hosts of the earth have succeeded in deflecting from
His Cause. Who is there among you, O people, who will renounce the
world, and draw nigh unto God, the Lord of all names? Where is he to be
found who, through the power of My name that transcendeth all created
things, will cast away the things that men possess, and cling, with all
his might, to the things which God, the Knower of the unseen and of the
seen, hath bidden him observe? Thus hath His bounty been sent down unto
men, His testimony fulfilled, and His proof shone forth above the
Horizon of mercy. Rich is the prize that shall be won by him who hath
believed and exclaimed: “Lauded art Thou, O Beloved of all worlds!
Magnified be Thy name, O Thou the Desire of every understanding
heart!”

Rejoice with exceeding gladness, O people of Bahá, as ye call to
remembrance the Day of supreme felicity, the Day whereon the Tongue of
the Ancient of Days hath spoken, as He departed from His House,
proceeding to the Spot from which He shed upon the whole of creation the
splendors of His name, the All-Merciful. God is Our witness. Were We to
reveal the hidden secrets of that Day, all they that dwell on earth and
in the heavens would swoon away and die, except such as will be
preserved by God, the Almighty, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.

Such is the inebriating effect of the words of God upon Him Who is
the Revealer of His undoubted proofs, that His Pen can move no longer.
With these words He concludeth His Tablet: “No God is there but
Me, the Most Exalted, the Most Powerful, the Most Excellent, the
All-Knowing.”

XV: The Pen of Revelation exclaimeth: “On this…

The Pen of Revelation exclaimeth: “On this Day the Kingdom is
God’s!” The Tongue of Power is calling: “On this Day
all sovereignty is, in very deed, with God!” The Phoenix of the
realms above crieth out from the immortal Branch: “The glory of
all greatness belongeth to God, the Incomparable, the
All-Compelling!” The Mystic Dove proclaimeth from its blissful
bower, in the everlasting Paradise: “The source of all bounty is
derived, in this Day, from God, the One, the Forgiving!” The Bird
of the Throne warbleth its melody in its retreats of holiness:
“Supreme ascendancy is to be attributed, this Day, to none except
God, Him Who hath no peer nor equal, Who is the Most Powerful, the
All-Subduing!” The inmost essence of all things voiceth in all
things the testimony: “All forgiveness floweth, in this Day, from
God, Him to Whom none can compare, with Whom no partners can be joined,
the Sovereign Protector of all men, and the Concealer of their
sins!” The Quintessence of Glory hath lifted up its voice above My
head, and crieth from such heights as neither pen nor tongue can in any
degree describe: “God is my witness! He, the Ancient of
everlasting days is come, girded with majesty and power. There is none
other God but Him, the All-Glorious, the Almighty, the All-Highest, the
All-Wise, the All-Pervading, the All-Seeing, the All-Informed, the
Sovereign Protector, the Source of eternal light!”

O My servant, who hast sought the good-pleasure of God and clung to
His love on the Day when all except a few who were endued with insight
have broken away from Him! May God, through His grace, recompense thee
with a generous, an incorruptible and everlasting reward, inasmuch as
thou hast sought Him on the Day when eyes were blinded. Know thou that
if We reveal to thee but a sprinkling of the showers which, through
God’s decree, and at the hands of the envious and the malicious,
have rained upon Us, thou wouldst weep with a great weeping, and wouldst
bewail day and night Our plight. Oh, would that a discerning and
fair-minded soul could be found who would recognize the wonders of this
Revelation—wonders that proclaim the sovereignty of God and the
greatness of its power. Would that such a man might arise and, wholly
for the sake of God, admonish, privately and openly, the people, that
haply they may bestir themselves and aid this wronged One Whom the
workers of iniquity have so sorely afflicted.

Methinks that I hear the Voice of the Holy Spirit calling from behind
Me saying: Vary Thou Thy theme, and alter Thy tone, lest the heart of
him who hath fixed his gaze upon Thy face be saddened. Say: I have
through the grace of God and His might besought the help of no one in
the past, neither will I seek the help of any one in the future. He it
is Who aided Me, through the power of truth, during the days of My
banishment in ‘Iráq. He it is Who overshadowed Me with His
protection at a time when the kindreds of the earth were contending with
Me. He it is Who enabled Me to depart out of the city, clothed with such
majesty as none, except the denier and the malicious, can fail to
admit.

Say: My army is My reliance on God; My people, the force of My
confidence in Him. My love is My standard, and My companion the
remembrance of God, the Sovereign Lord of all, the Most Powerful, the
All-Glorious, the Unconditioned.

Arise, O wayfarer in the path of the Love of God, and aid thou His
Cause. Say: Barter not away this Youth, O people, for the vanities of
this world or the delights of heaven. By the righteousness of the one
true God! One hair of Him excelleth all that is in the heavens and all
that is on the earth. Beware, O men, lest ye be tempted to part with Him
in exchange for the gold and silver ye possess. Let His love be a
storehouse of treasure for your souls, on the Day when naught else but
Him shall profit you, the Day when every pillar shall tremble, when the
very skins of men shall creep, when all eyes shall stare up with terror.
Say: O people! Fear ye God, and turn not away disdainfully from His
Revelation. Fall prostrate on your faces before God, and celebrate His
praise in the daytime and in the night season.

Let thy soul glow with the flame of this undying Fire that burneth in
the midmost heart of the world, in such wise that the waters of the
universe shall be powerless to cool down its ardor. Make, then, mention
of thy Lord, that haply the heedless among Our servants may be
admonished through thy words, and the hearts of the righteous be
gladdened.

XVI: Say: O men! This is a matchless Day….

Say: O men! This is a matchless Day. Matchless must, likewise, be the
tongue that celebrateth the praise of the Desire of all nations, and
matchless the deed that aspireth to be acceptable in His sight. The
whole human race hath longed for this Day, that perchance it may fulfil
that which well beseemeth its station, and is worthy of its destiny.
Blessed is the man whom the affairs of the world have failed to deter
from recognizing Him Who is the Lord of all things.

So blind hath become the human heart that neither the disruption of
the city, nor the reduction of the mountain in dust, nor even the
cleaving of the earth, can shake off its torpor. The allusions made in
the Scriptures have been unfolded, and the signs recorded therein have
been revealed, and the prophetic cry is continually being raised. And
yet all, except such as God was pleased to guide, are bewildered in the
drunkenness of their heedlessness!

Witness how the world is being afflicted with a fresh calamity every
day. Its tribulation is continually deepening. From the moment the
Súriy-i-Ra’ís (Tablet to Ra’ís) was revealed until the
present day, neither hath the world been tranquillized, nor have the
hearts of its peoples been at rest. At one time it hath been agitated by
contentions and disputes, at another it hath been convulsed by wars, and
fallen a victim to inveterate diseases. Its sickness is approaching the
stage of utter hopelessness, inasmuch as the true Physician is debarred
from administering the remedy, whilst unskilled practitioners are
regarded with favor, and are accorded full freedom to act. …The dust
of sedition hath clouded the hearts of men, and blinded their eyes.
Erelong, they will perceive the consequences of what their hands have
wrought in the Day of God. Thus warneth you He Who is the All-Informed,
as bidden by One Who is the Most Powerful, the Almighty.

XVII: By Him Who is the Great Announcement!…

By Him Who is the Great Announcement! The All-Merciful is come
invested with undoubted sovereignty. The Balance hath been appointed,
and all them that dwell on earth have been gathered together. The
Trumpet hath been blown, and lo, all eyes have stared up with terror,
and the hearts of all who are in the heavens and on the earth have
trembled, except them whom the breath of the verses of God hath
quickened, and who have detached themselves from all things.

This is the Day whereon the earth shall tell out her tidings. The
workers of iniquity are her burdens, could ye but perceive it. The moon
of idle fancy hath been cleft, and the heaven hath given out a palpable
smoke. We see the people laid low, awed with the dread of thy Lord, the
Almighty, the Most Powerful. The Crier hath cried out, and men have been
torn away, so great hath been the fury of His wrath. The people of the
left hand sigh and bemoan. The people of the right abide in noble
habitations: they quaff the Wine that is life indeed, from the hands of
the All-Merciful, and are, verily, the blissful.

The earth hath been shaken, and the mountains have passed away, and
the angels have appeared, rank on rank, before Us. Most of the people
are bewildered in their drunkenness and wear on their faces the
evidences of anger. Thus have We gathered together the workers of
iniquity. We see them rushing on towards their idol. Say: None shall be
secure this Day from the decree of God. This indeed is a grievous Day.
We point out to them those that led them astray. They see them, and yet
recognize them not. Their eyes are drunken; they are indeed a blind
people. Their proofs are the calumnies they uttered; condemned are their
calumnies by God, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting. The Evil One
hath stirred up mischief in their hearts, and they are afflicted with a
torment that none can avert. They hasten to the wicked, bearing the
register of the workers of iniquity. Such are their doings.

Say: The heavens have been folded together, and the earth is held
within His grasp, and the corrupt doers have been held by their
forelock, and still they understand not. They drink of the tainted
water, and know it not. Say: The shout hath been raised, and the people
have come forth from their graves, and arising, are gazing around them.
Some have made haste to attain the court of the God of Mercy, others
have fallen down on their faces in the fire of Hell, while still others
are lost in bewilderment. The verses of God have been revealed, and yet
they have turned away from them. His proof hath been manifested, and yet
they are unaware of it. And when they behold the face of the
All-Merciful, their own faces are saddened, while they are disporting
themselves. They hasten forward to Hell Fire, and mistake it for light.
Far from God be what they fondly imagine! Say: Whether ye rejoice or
whether ye burst for fury, the heavens are cleft asunder, and God hath
come down, invested with radiant sovereignty. All created things are
heard exclaiming: “The Kingdom is God’s, the Almighty, the
All-Knowing, the All-Wise.”

Know thou, moreover, that We have been cast into an afflictive
Prison, and are encompassed with the hosts of tyranny, as a result of
what the hands of the infidels have wrought. Such is the gladness,
however, which the Youth hath tasted that no earthly joy can compare
unto it. By God! The harm He suffereth at the hands of the oppressor can
never grieve His heart, nor can He be saddened by the ascendancy of such
as have repudiated His truth.

Say: Tribulation is a horizon unto My Revelation. The day star of
grace shineth above it, and sheddeth a light which neither the clouds of
men’s idle fancy nor the vain imaginations of the aggressor can
obscure.

Follow thou the footsteps of thy Lord, and remember His servants even
as He doth remember thee, undeterred by either the clamor of the
heedless ones or the sword of the enemy…. Spread abroad the sweet
savors of thy Lord, and hesitate not, though it be for less than a
moment, in the service of His Cause. The day is approaching when the
victory of thy Lord, the Ever-Forgiving, the Most Bountiful, will be
proclaimed.

XVIII: Say: We have caused the rivers of Divine…

Say: We have caused the rivers of Divine utterance to proceed out of
Our throne, that the tender herbs of wisdom and understanding may spring
forth from the soil of your hearts. Will ye not be thankful? They who
disdain to worship their Lord shall be of those who are cast off. And
oft as Our verses are rehearsed unto them, they persist in proud
disdain, and in their gross violation of His law, and know it not. As
for them who have disbelieved in Him, they shall be in the shadow of a
black smoke. “The Hour” hath come upon them, while they are
disporting themselves. They have been seized by their forelock, and yet
know it not.

The thing that must come hath come suddenly; behold how they flee
from it! The inevitable hath come to pass; witness how they have cast it
behind their backs! This is the Day whereon every man will fly from
himself, how much more from his kindred, could ye but perceive it. Say:
By God! The blast hath been blown on the trumpet, and lo, mankind hath
swooned away before us! The Herald hath cried out, and the Summoner
raised His voice saying: “The Kingdom is God’s, the Most
Powerful, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.”

This is the Day on which all eyes shall stare up with terror, the Day
in which the hearts of them that dwell on earth shall tremble, save them
whom thy Lord, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise, pleaseth to deliver. All
faces have turned black except those to whom the God of Mercy hath
vouchsafed a radiant heart. Drunken are the eyes of those men that have
openly refused to behold the face of God, the All-Glorious, the
All-Praised.

Say: Perused ye not the Qur’án? Read it, that haply ye may find
the Truth, for this Book is verily the Straight Path. This is the Way of
God unto all who are in the heavens and all who are on the earth. If ye
have been careless of the Qur’án, the Bayán cannot be regarded to
be remote from you. Behold it open before your eyes. Read ye its verses,
that perchance ye desist from committing that which will cause the
Messengers of God to mourn and lament.

Speed out of your sepulchers. How long will ye sleep? The second
blast hath been blown on the trumpet. On whom are ye gazing? This is
your Lord, the God of Mercy. Witness how ye gainsay His signs! The earth
hath quaked with a great quaking, and cast forth her burdens. Will ye
not admit it? Say: Will ye not recognize how the mountains have become
like flocks of wool, how the people are sore vexed at the awful majesty
of the Cause of God? Witness how their houses are empty ruins, and they
themselves a drowned host.

This is the Day whereon the All-Merciful hath come down in the clouds
of knowledge, clothed with manifest sovereignty. He well knoweth the
actions of men. He it is Whose glory none can mistake, could ye but
comprehend it. The heaven of every religion hath been rent, and the
earth of human understanding been cleft asunder, and the angels of God
are seen descending. Say: This is the Day of mutual deceit; whither do
ye flee? The mountains have passed away, and the heavens have been
folded together, and the whole earth is held within His grasp, could ye
but understand it. Who is it that can protect you? None, by Him Who is
the All-Merciful! None, except God, the Almighty, the All-Glorious, the
Beneficent. Every woman that hath had a burden in her womb hath cast her
burden. We see men drunken in this Day, the Day in which men and angels
have been gathered together.

Say: Is there any doubt concerning God? Behold how He hath come down
from the heaven of His grace, girded with power and invested with
sovereignty. Is there any doubt concerning His signs? Open ye your eyes,
and consider His clear evidence. Paradise is on your right hand, and
hath been brought nigh unto you, while Hell hath been made to blaze.
Witness its devouring flame. Haste ye to enter into Paradise, as a token
of Our mercy unto you, and drink ye from the hands of the All-Merciful
the Wine that is life indeed.

Drink with healthy relish, O people of Bahá. Ye are indeed they with
whom it shall be well. This is what they who have near access to God
have attained. This is the flowing water ye were promised in the
Qur’án, and later in the Bayán, as a recompense from your Lord,
the God of Mercy. Blessed are they that quaff it.

O My servant that hath turned thy face towards Me! Render thanks unto
God for having sent down unto thee this Tablet in this Prison, that thou
mayest remind the people of the days of thy Lord, the All-Glorious, the
All-Knowing. Thus have We established for thee, through the waters of
Our wisdom and utterance, the foundations of thy belief. This, verily,
is the water whereon the Throne of thy Lord hath been raised. “His
Throne had stood upon the waters.” Ponder this in thine heart,
that thou mayest comprehend its meaning. Say: Praise be to God, the Lord
of all worlds.

XIX: To every discerning and illuminated heart it…

To every discerning and illuminated heart it is evident that God, the
unknowable Essence, the Divine Being, is immensely exalted beyond every
human attribute, such as corporeal existence, ascent and descent, egress
and regress. Far be it from His glory that human tongue should
adequately recount His praise, or that human heart comprehend His
fathomless mystery. He is, and hath ever been, veiled in the ancient
eternity of His Essence, and will remain in His Reality everlastingly
hidden from the sight of men. “No vision taketh in Him, but He
taketh in all vision; He is the Subtile, the
All-Perceiving.”…

The door of the knowledge of the Ancient of Days being thus closed in
the face of all beings, the Source of infinite grace, according to His
saying, “His grace hath transcended all things; My grace hath
encompassed them all,” hath caused those luminous Gems of Holiness
to appear out of the realm of the spirit, in the noble form of the human
temple, and be made manifest unto all men, that they may impart unto the
world the mysteries of the unchangeable Being, and tell of the
subtleties of His imperishable Essence.

These sanctified Mirrors, these Day Springs of ancient glory, are,
one and all, the Exponents on earth of Him Who is the central Orb of the
universe, its Essence and ultimate Purpose. From Him proceed their
knowledge and power; from Him is derived their sovereignty. The beauty
of their countenance is but a reflection of His image, and their
revelation a sign of His deathless glory. They are the Treasuries of
Divine knowledge, and the Repositories of celestial wisdom. Through them
is transmitted a grace that is infinite, and by them is revealed the
Light that can never fade…. These Tabernacles of Holiness, these
Primal Mirrors which reflect the light of unfading glory, are but
expressions of Him Who is the Invisible of the Invisibles. By the
revelation of these Gems of Divine virtue all the names and attributes
of God, such as knowledge and power, sovereignty and dominion, mercy and
wisdom, glory, bounty, and grace, are made manifest.

These attributes of God are not, and have never been, vouchsafed
specially unto certain Prophets, and withheld from others. Nay, all the
Prophets of God, His well-favored, His holy and chosen Messengers are,
without exception, the bearers of His names, and the embodiments of His
attributes. They only differ in the intensity of their revelation, and
the comparative potency of their light. Even as He hath revealed:
“Some of the Apostles We have caused to excel the
others.”

It hath, therefore, become manifest and evident that within the
tabernacles of these Prophets and chosen Ones of God the light of His
infinite names and exalted attributes hath been reflected, even though
the light of some of these attributes may or may not be outwardly
revealed from these luminous Temples to the eyes of men. That a certain
attribute of God hath not been outwardly manifested by these Essences of
Detachment doth in no wise imply that they who are the Day Springs of
God’s attributes and the Treasuries of His holy names did not
actually possess it. Therefore, these illuminated Souls, these beauteous
Countenances have, each and every one of them, been endowed with all the
attributes of God, such as sovereignty, dominion, and the like, even
though to outward seeming they be shorn of all earthly majesty….

XX: Know thou of a certainty that the Unseen…

Know thou of a certainty that the Unseen can in no wise incarnate His
Essence and reveal it unto men. He is, and hath ever been, immensely
exalted beyond all that can either be recounted or perceived. From His
retreat of glory His voice is ever proclaiming: “Verily, I am God;
there is none other God besides Me, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. I
have manifested Myself unto men, and have sent down Him Who is the Day
Spring of the signs of My Revelation. Through Him I have caused all
creation to testify that there is none other God except Him, the
Incomparable, the All-Informed, the All-Wise.” He Who is
everlastingly hidden from the eyes of men can never be known except
through His Manifestation, and His Manifestation can adduce no greater
proof of the truth of His Mission than the proof of His own Person.

XXI: O Salmán! The door of the knowledge of…

O Salmán! The door of the knowledge of the Ancient Being hath ever
been, and will continue for ever to be, closed in the face of men. No
man’s understanding shall ever gain access unto His holy court. As
a token of His mercy, however, and as a proof of His loving-kindness, He
hath manifested unto men the Day Stars of His divine guidance, the
Symbols of His divine unity, and hath ordained the knowledge of these
sanctified Beings to be identical with the knowledge of His own Self.
Whoso recognizeth them hath recognized God. Whoso hearkeneth to their
call, hath hearkened to the Voice of God, and whoso testifieth to the
truth of their Revelation, hath testified to the truth of God Himself.
Whoso turneth away from them, hath turned away from God, and whoso
disbelieveth in them, hath disbelieved in God. Every one of them is the
Way of God that connecteth this world with the realms above, and the
Standard of His Truth unto every one in the kingdoms of earth and
heaven. They are the Manifestations of God amidst men, the evidences of
His Truth, and the signs of His glory.

XXII: The Bearers of the Trust of God are made…

The Bearers of the Trust of God are made manifest unto the peoples of
the earth as the Exponents of a new Cause and the Revealers of a new
Message. Inasmuch as these Birds of the celestial Throne are all sent
down from the heaven of the Will of God, and as they all arise to
proclaim His irresistible Faith, they, therefore, are regarded as one
soul and the same person. For they all drink from the one Cup of the
love of God, and all partake of the fruit of the same Tree of
Oneness.

These Manifestations of God have each a twofold station. One is the
station of pure abstraction and essential unity. In this respect, if
thou callest them all by one name, and dost ascribe to them the same
attributes, thou hast not erred from the truth. Even as He hath
revealed: “No distinction do We make between any of His
Messengers.” For they, one and all, summon the people of the earth
to acknowledge the unity of God, and herald unto them the Kawthar
of an infinite grace and bounty. They are all invested with the robe of
prophethood, and are honored with the mantle of glory. Thus hath
Muḥammad, the Point of the Qur’án, revealed: “I am all the
Prophets.” Likewise, He saith: “I am the first Adam, Noah,
Moses, and Jesus.” Similar statements have been made by Imám
‘Alí. Sayings such as these, which indicate the essential unity of
those Exponents of Oneness, have also emanated from the Channels of
God’s immortal utterance, and the Treasuries of the gems of Divine
knowledge, and have been recorded in the Scriptures. These Countenances
are the recipients of the Divine Command, and the Day Springs of His
Revelation. This Revelation is exalted above the veils of plurality and
the exigencies of number. Thus He saith: “Our Cause is but
One.” Inasmuch as the Cause is one and the same, the Exponents
thereof also must needs be one and the same. Likewise, the Imáms of the
Muḥammadan Faith, those lamps of certitude, have said: “Muḥammad
is our first, Muḥammad is our last, Muḥammad our all.”

It is clear and evident to thee that all the Prophets are the Temples
of the Cause of God, Who have appeared clothed in divers attire. If thou
wilt observe with discriminating eyes, thou wilt behold Them all abiding
in the same tabernacle, soaring in the same heaven, seated upon the same
throne, uttering the same speech, and proclaiming the same Faith. Such
is the unity of those Essences of Being, those Luminaries of infinite
and immeasurable splendor! Wherefore, should one of these Manifestations
of Holiness proclaim saying: “I am the return of all the
Prophets,” He, verily, speaketh the truth. In like manner, in
every subsequent Revelation, the return of the former Revelation is a
fact, the truth of which is firmly established….

The other station is the station of distinction, and pertaineth to
the world of creation, and to the limitations thereof. In this respect,
each Manifestation of God hath a distinct individuality, a definitely
prescribed mission, a predestined revelation, and specially designated
limitations. Each one of them is known by a different name, is
characterized by a special attribute, fulfils a definite mission, and is
entrusted with a particular Revelation. Even as He saith: “Some of
the Apostles We have caused to excel the others. To some God hath
spoken, some He hath raised and exalted. And to Jesus, Son of Mary, We
gave manifest signs, and We strengthened Him with the Holy
Spirit.”

It is because of this difference in their station and mission that
the words and utterances flowing from these Well Springs of Divine
knowledge appear to diverge and differ. Otherwise, in the eyes of them
that are initiated into the mysteries of Divine wisdom, all their
utterances are, in reality, but the expressions of one Truth. As most of
the people have failed to appreciate those stations to which We have
referred, they, therefore, feel perplexed and dismayed at the varying
utterances pronounced by Manifestations that are essentially one and the
same.

It hath ever been evident that all these divergencies of utterance
are attributable to differences of station. Thus, viewed from the
standpoint of their oneness and sublime detachment, the attributes of
Godhead, Divinity, Supreme Singleness, and Inmost Essence, have been,
and are applicable to those Essences of Being, inasmuch as they all
abide on the throne of Divine Revelation, and are established upon the
seat of Divine Concealment. Through their appearance the Revelation of
God is made manifest, and by their countenance the Beauty of God is
revealed. Thus it is that the accents of God Himself have been heard
uttered by these Manifestations of the Divine Being.

Viewed in the light of their second station—the station of
distinction, differentiation, temporal limitations, characteristics and
standards—they manifest absolute servitude, utter destitution, and
complete self-effacement. Even as He saith: “I am the servant of
God. I am but a man like you.”…

Were any of the all-embracing Manifestations of God to declare:
“I am God,” He, verily, speaketh the truth, and no doubt
attacheth thereto. For it hath been repeatedly demonstrated that through
their Revelation, their attributes and names, the Revelation of God, His
names and His attributes, are made manifest in the world. Thus, He hath
revealed: “Those shafts were God’s, not Thine.” And
also He saith: “In truth, they who plighted fealty unto Thee,
really plighted that fealty unto God.” And were any of them to
voice the utterance, “I am the Messenger of God,” He, also,
speaketh the truth, the indubitable truth. Even as He saith:
“Muḥammad is not the father of any man among you, but He is the
Messenger of God.” Viewed in this light, they are all but
Messengers of that ideal King, that unchangeable Essence. And were they
all to proclaim, “I am the Seal of the Prophets,” they,
verily, utter but the truth, beyond the faintest shadow of doubt. For
they are all but one person, one soul, one spirit, one being, one
revelation. They are all the manifestation of the
“Beginning” and the “End,” the
“First” and the “Last,” the “Seen”
and the “Hidden”—all of which pertain to Him Who is the
Innermost Spirit of Spirits and Eternal Essence of Essences. And were
they to say, “We are the Servants of God,” this also is a
manifest and indisputable fact. For they have been made manifest in the
uttermost state of servitude, a servitude the like of which no man can
possibly attain. Thus in moments in which these Essences of Being were
deep immersed beneath the oceans of ancient and everlasting holiness, or
when they soared to the loftiest summits of Divine mysteries, they
claimed their utterances to be the Voice of Divinity, the Call of God
Himself.

Were the eye of discernment to be opened, it would recognize that in
this very state, they have considered themselves utterly effaced and
non-existent in the face of Him Who is the All-Pervading, the
Incorruptible. Methinks, they have regarded themselves as utter
nothingness, and deemed their mention in that Court an act of blasphemy.
For the slightest whispering of self within such a Court is an evidence
of self-assertion and independent existence. In the eyes of them that
have attained unto that Court, such a suggestion is itself a grievous
transgression. How much more grievous would it be, were aught else to be
mentioned in that Presence, were man’s heart, his tongue, his
mind, or his soul, to be busied with any one but the Well-Beloved, were
his eyes to behold any countenance other than His beauty, were his ear
to be inclined to any melody but His Voice, and were his feet to tread
any way but His way….

By virtue of this station they have claimed for themselves the Voice
of Divinity and the like, whilst by virtue of their station of
Messengership, they have declared themselves the Messengers of God. In
every instance they have voiced an utterance that would conform to the
requirements of the occasion, and have ascribed all these declarations
to Themselves, declarations ranging from the realm of Divine Revelation
to the realm of creation, and from the domain of Divinity even unto the
domain of earthly existence. Thus it is that whatsoever be their
utterance, whether it pertain to the realm of Divinity, Lordship,
Prophethood, Messengership, Guardianship, Apostleship, or Servitude, all
is true, beyond the shadow of a doubt. Therefore these sayings which We
have quoted in support of Our argument must be attentively considered,
that the divergent utterances of the Manifestations of the Unseen and
Day Springs of Holiness may cease to agitate the soul and perplex the
mind.

XXIII: Consider the former generations. Witness…

Consider the former generations. Witness how every time the Day Star
of Divine bounty hath shed the light of His Revelation upon the world,
the people of His Day have arisen against Him, and repudiated His truth.
They who were regarded as the leaders of men have invariably striven to
hinder their followers from turning unto Him Who is the Ocean of
God’s limitless bounty.

Behold how the people, as a result of the verdict pronounced by the
divines of His age, have cast Abraham, the Friend of God, into fire; how
Moses, He Who held converse with the Almighty, was denounced as liar and
slanderer. Reflect how Jesus, the Spirit of God, was, notwithstanding
His extreme meekness and perfect tender-heartedness, treated by His
enemies. So fierce was the opposition which He, the Essence of Being and
Lord of the visible and invisible, had to face, that He had nowhere to
lay His head. He wandered continually from place to place, deprived of a
permanent abode. Ponder that which befell Muḥammad, the Seal of the
Prophets, may the life of all else be a sacrifice unto Him. How severe
the afflictions which the leaders of the Jewish people and of the
idol-worshipers caused to rain upon Him, Who is the sovereign Lord of
all, in consequence of His proclamation of the unity of God and of the
truth of His Message! By the righteousness of My Cause! My Pen groaneth,
and all created things weep with a great weeping, as a result of the
woes He suffered at the hands of them that have broken the Covenant of
God, violated His Testament, rejected His proofs, and disputed His
signs. Thus recount We unto thee the tale of that which happened in days
past, haply thou mayest comprehend.

Thou hast known how grievously the Prophets of God, His Messengers
and Chosen Ones, have been afflicted. Meditate a while on the motive and
reason which have been responsible for such a persecution. At no time,
in no Dispensation, have the Prophets of God escaped the blasphemy of
their enemies, the cruelty of their oppressors, the denunciation of the
learned of their age, who appeared in the guise of uprightness and
piety. Day and night they passed through such agonies as none can ever
measure, except the knowledge of the one true God, exalted be His
glory.

Consider this wronged One. Though the clearest proofs attest the
truth of His Cause; though the prophecies He, in an unmistakable
language, hath made have been fulfilled; though, in spite of His not
being accounted among the learned, His being unschooled and
inexperienced in the disputations current among the divines, He hath
rained upon men the showers of His manifold and Divinely-inspired
knowledge; yet, behold how this generation hath rejected His authority,
and rebelled against Him! He hath, during the greater part of His life,
been sore-tried in the clutches of His enemies. His sufferings have now
reached their culmination in this afflictive Prison, into which His
oppressors have so unjustly thrown Him. God grant that, with a
penetrating vision and radiant heart, thou mayest observe the things
that have come to pass and are now happening, and, pondering them in
thine heart, mayest recognize that which most men have, in this Day,
failed to perceive. Please God, He may enable thee to inhale the sweet
fragrance of His Day, to partake of the limitless effusions of His
grace, to quaff thy fill, through His gracious favor, from the most
great Ocean that surgeth in this Day in the name of the Ancient King,
and to remain firm and immovable as the mountain in His Cause.

Say: Glory be to Thee Who hast caused all the holy Ones to confess
their helplessness before the manifold revelations of Thy might, and
every Prophet to acknowledge His nothingness at the effulgence of Thine
abiding glory. I beseech Thee, by Thy name that hath unlocked the gates
of Heaven and filled with ecstasy the Concourse on high, to enable me to
serve Thee, in this Day, and to strengthen me to observe that which Thou
didst prescribe in Thy Book. Thou knowest, O my Lord, what is in me; but
I know not what is in Thee. Thou art the All-Knowing, the
All-Informed.

XXIV: Beware, O believers in the Unity of God,…

Beware, O believers in the Unity of God, lest ye be tempted to make
any distinction between any of the Manifestations of His Cause, or to
discriminate against the signs that have accompanied and proclaimed
their Revelation. This indeed is the true meaning of Divine Unity, if ye
be of them that apprehend and believe this truth. Be ye assured,
moreover, that the works and acts of each and every one of these
Manifestations of God, nay whatever pertaineth unto them, and whatsoever
they may manifest in the future, are all ordained by God, and are a
reflection of His Will and Purpose. Whoso maketh the slightest possible
difference between their persons, their words, their messages, their
acts and manners, hath indeed disbelieved in God, hath repudiated His
signs, and betrayed the Cause of His Messengers.

XXV: It is evident that every age in which a Manifestation…

It is evident that every age in which a Manifestation of God hath
lived is divinely ordained, and may, in a sense, be characterized as
God’s appointed Day. This Day, however, is unique, and is to be
distinguished from those that have preceded it. The designation
“Seal of the Prophets” fully revealeth its high station. The
Prophetic Cycle hath, verily, ended. The Eternal Truth is now come. He
hath lifted up the Ensign of Power, and is now shedding upon the world
the unclouded splendor of His Revelation.

XXVI: Praise be to God, the All-Possessing, the…

Praise be to God, the All-Possessing, the King of incomparable glory,
a praise which is immeasurably above the understanding of all created
things, and is exalted beyond the grasp of the minds of men. None else
besides Him hath ever been able to sing adequately His praise, nor will
any man succeed at any time in describing the full measure of His glory.
Who is it that can claim to have attained the heights of His exalted
Essence, and what mind can measure the depths of His unfathomable
mystery? From each and every revelation emanating from the Source of His
glory, holy and never-ending evidences of unimaginable splendor have
appeared, and out of every manifestation of His invincible power oceans
of eternal light have outpoured. How immensely exalted are the wondrous
testimonies of His almighty sovereignty, a glimmer of which, if it but
touched them, would utterly consume all that are in the heavens and in
the earth! How indescribably lofty are the tokens of His consummate
power, a single sign of which, however inconsiderable, must transcend
the comprehension of whatsoever hath, from the beginning that hath no
beginning, been brought into being, or will be created in the future
till the end that hath no end. All the Embodiments of His Names wander
in the wilderness of search, athirst and eager to discover His Essence,
and all the Manifestations of His Attributes implore Him, from the Sinai
of Holiness, to unravel His mystery.

A drop of the billowing ocean of His endless mercy hath adorned all
creation with the ornament of existence, and a breath wafted from His
peerless Paradise hath invested all beings with the robe of His sanctity
and glory. A sprinkling from the unfathomed deep of His sovereign and
all-pervasive Will hath, out of utter nothingness, called into being a
creation which is infinite in its range and deathless in its duration.
The wonders of His bounty can never cease, and the stream of His
merciful grace can never be arrested. The process of His creation hath
had no beginning, and can have no end.

In every age and cycle He hath, through the splendorous light shed by
the Manifestations of His wondrous Essence, recreated all things, so
that whatsoever reflecteth in the heavens and on the earth the signs of
His glory may not be deprived of the outpourings of His mercy, nor
despair of the showers of His favors. How all-encompassing are the
wonders of His boundless grace! Behold how they have pervaded the whole
of creation. Such is their virtue that not a single atom in the entire
universe can be found which doth not declare the evidences of His might,
which doth not glorify His holy Name, or is not expressive of the
effulgent light of His unity. So perfect and comprehensive is His
creation that no mind nor heart, however keen or pure, can ever grasp
the nature of the most insignificant of His creatures; much less fathom
the mystery of Him Who is the Day Star of Truth, Who is the invisible
and unknowable Essence. The conceptions of the devoutest of mystics, the
attainments of the most accomplished amongst men, the highest praise
which human tongue or pen can render are all the product of man’s
finite mind and are conditioned by its limitations. Ten thousand
Prophets, each a Moses, are thunderstruck upon the Sinai of their search
at His forbidding voice, “Thou shalt never behold Me!”;
whilst a myriad Messengers, each as great as Jesus, stand dismayed upon
their heavenly thrones by the interdiction, “Mine Essence thou
shalt never apprehend!” From time immemorial He hath been veiled
in the ineffable sanctity of His exalted Self, and will everlastingly
continue to be wrapt in the impenetrable mystery of His unknowable
Essence. Every attempt to attain to an understanding of His inaccessible
Reality hath ended in complete bewilderment, and every effort to
approach His exalted Self and envisage His Essence hath resulted in
hopelessness and failure.

How bewildering to me, insignificant as I am, is the attempt to
fathom the sacred depths of Thy knowledge! How futile my efforts to
visualize the magnitude of the power inherent in Thine handiwork—the
revelation of Thy creative power! How can mine eye, which hath no
faculty to perceive itself, claim to have discerned Thine Essence, and
how can mine heart, already powerless to apprehend the significance of
its own potentialities, pretend to have comprehended Thy nature? How can
I claim to have known Thee, when the entire creation is bewildered by
Thy mystery, and how can I confess not to have known Thee, when, lo, the
whole universe proclaimeth Thy Presence and testifieth to Thy truth? The
portals of Thy grace have throughout eternity been open, and the means
of access unto Thy Presence made available, unto all created things, and
the revelations of Thy matchless Beauty have at all times been imprinted
upon the realities of all beings, visible and invisible. Yet,
notwithstanding this most gracious favor, this perfect and consummate
bestowal, I am moved to testify that Thy court of holiness and glory is
immeasurably exalted above the knowledge of all else besides Thee, and
the mystery of Thy Presence is inscrutable to every mind except Thine
own. No one except Thyself can unravel the secret of Thy nature, and
naught else but Thy transcendental Essence can grasp the reality of Thy
unsearchable being. How vast the number of those heavenly and
all-glorious beings who, in the wilderness of their separation from
Thee, have wandered all the days of their lives, and failed in the end
to find Thee! How great the multitude of the sanctified and immortal
souls who were lost and bewildered while seeking in the desert of search
to behold Thy face! Myriad are Thine ardent lovers whom the consuming
flame of remoteness from Thee hath caused to sink and perish, and
numberless are the faithful souls who have willingly laid down their
lives in the hope of gazing on the light of Thy countenance. The sighs
and moans of these longing hearts that pant after Thee can never reach
Thy holy court, neither can the lamentations of the wayfarers that
thirst to appear before Thy face attain Thy seat of glory.

XXVII: All praise to the unity of God, and all…

All praise to the unity of God, and all honor to Him, the sovereign
Lord, the incomparable and all-glorious Ruler of the universe, Who, out
of utter nothingness, hath created the reality of all things, Who, from
naught, hath brought into being the most refined and subtle elements of
His creation, and Who, rescuing His creatures from the abasement of
remoteness and the perils of ultimate extinction, hath received them
into His kingdom of incorruptible glory. Nothing short of His
all-encompassing grace, His all-pervading mercy, could have possibly
achieved it. How could it, otherwise, have been possible for sheer
nothingness to have acquired by itself the worthiness and capacity to
emerge from its state of non-existence into the realm of being?

Having created the world and all that liveth and moveth therein, He,
through the direct operation of His unconstrained and sovereign Will,
chose to confer upon man the unique distinction and capacity to know Him
and to love Him—a capacity that must needs be regarded as the
generating impulse and the primary purpose underlying the whole of
creation…. Upon the inmost reality of each and every created thing He
hath shed the light of one of His names, and made it a recipient of the
glory of one of His attributes. Upon the reality of man, however, He
hath focused the radiance of all of His names and attributes, and made
it a mirror of His own Self. Alone of all created things man hath been
singled out for so great a favor, so enduring a bounty.

These energies with which the Day Star of Divine bounty and Source of
heavenly guidance hath endowed the reality of man lie, however, latent
within him, even as the flame is hidden within the candle and the rays
of light are potentially present in the lamp. The radiance of these
energies may be obscured by worldly desires even as the light of the sun
can be concealed beneath the dust and dross which cover the mirror.
Neither the candle nor the lamp can be lighted through their own unaided
efforts, nor can it ever be possible for the mirror to free itself from
its dross. It is clear and evident that until a fire is kindled the lamp
will never be ignited, and unless the dross is blotted out from the face
of the mirror it can never represent the image of the sun nor reflect
its light and glory.

And since there can be no tie of direct intercourse to bind the one
true God with His creation, and no resemblance whatever can exist
between the transient and the Eternal, the contingent and the Absolute,
He hath ordained that in every age and dispensation a pure and stainless
Soul be made manifest in the kingdoms of earth and heaven. Unto this
subtle, this mysterious and ethereal Being He hath assigned a twofold
nature; the physical, pertaining to the world of matter, and the
spiritual, which is born of the substance of God Himself. He hath,
moreover, conferred upon Him a double station. The first station, which
is related to His innermost reality, representeth Him as One Whose voice
is the voice of God Himself. To this testifieth the tradition:
“Manifold and mysterious is My relationship with God. I am He,
Himself, and He is I, Myself, except that I am that I am, and He is that
He is.” And in like manner, the words: “Arise, O Muḥammad,
for lo, the Lover and the Beloved are joined together and made one in
Thee.” He similarly saith: “There is no distinction
whatsoever between Thee and Them, except that They are Thy
Servants.” The second station is the human station, exemplified by
the following verses: “I am but a man like you.” “Say,
praise be to my Lord! Am I more than a man, an apostle?” These
Essences of Detachment, these resplendent Realities are the channels of
God’s all-pervasive grace. Led by the light of unfailing guidance,
and invested with supreme sovereignty, They are commissioned to use the
inspiration of Their words, the effusions of Their infallible grace and
the sanctifying breeze of Their Revelation for the cleansing of every
longing heart and receptive spirit from the dross and dust of earthly
cares and limitations. Then, and only then, will the Trust of God,
latent in the reality of man, emerge, as resplendent as the rising Orb
of Divine Revelation, from behind the veil of concealment, and implant
the ensign of its revealed glory upon the summits of men’s
hearts.

From the foregoing passages and allusions it hath been made
indubitably clear that in the kingdoms of earth and heaven there must
needs be manifested a Being, an Essence Who shall act as a Manifestation
and Vehicle for the transmission of the grace of the Divinity Itself,
the Sovereign Lord of all. Through the Teachings of this Day Star of
Truth every man will advance and develop until he attaineth the station
at which he can manifest all the potential forces with which his inmost
true self hath been endowed. It is for this very purpose that in every
age and dispensation the Prophets of God and His chosen Ones have
appeared amongst men, and have evinced such power as is born of God and
such might as only the Eternal can reveal.

Can one of sane mind ever seriously imagine that, in view of certain
words the meaning of which he cannot comprehend, the portal of
God’s infinite guidance can ever be closed in the face of men? Can
he ever conceive for these Divine Luminaries, these resplendent Lights
either a beginning or an end? What outpouring flood can compare with the
stream of His all-embracing grace, and what blessing can excel the
evidences of so great and pervasive a mercy? There can be no doubt
whatever that if for one moment the tide of His mercy and grace were to
be withheld from the world, it would completely perish. For this reason,
from the beginning that hath no beginning the portals of Divine mercy
have been flung open to the face of all created things, and the clouds
of Truth will continue to the end that hath no end to rain on the soil
of human capacity, reality and personality their favors and bounties.
Such hath been God’s method continued from everlasting to
everlasting.

XXVIII: Happy is the man who will arise to serve…

Happy is the man who will arise to serve My Cause, and glorify My
beauteous Name. Take hold of My Book with the power of My might, and
cleave tenaciously to whatsoever commandment thy Lord, the Ordainer, the
All-Wise, hath prescribed therein. Behold, O Muḥammad, how the sayings
and doings of the followers of Shí’ih Islám have dulled the
joy and fervor of its early days, and tarnished the pristine brilliancy
of its light. In its primitive days, whilst they still adhered to the
precepts associated with the name of their Prophet, the Lord of mankind,
their career was marked by an unbroken chain of victories and triumphs.
As they gradually strayed from the path of their Ideal Leader and
Master, as they turned away from the Light of God and corrupted the
principle of His Divine unity, and as they increasingly centered their
attention upon them who were only the revealers of the potency of His
Word, their power was turned into weakness, their glory into shame,
their courage into fear. Thou dost witness to what a pass they have
come. Behold, how they have joined partners with Him Who is the
Focal-Point of Divine unity. Behold how their evil doings have hindered
them from recognizing, in the Day of Resurrection, the Word of Truth,
exalted be His glory. We cherish the hope that this people will
henceforth shield themselves from vain hopes and idle fancies, and will
attain to a true understanding of the meaning of Divine unity.

The Person of the Manifestation hath ever been the representative and
mouthpiece of God. He, in truth, is the Day Spring of God’s most
excellent Titles, and the Dawning-Place of His exalted Attributes. If
any be set up by His side as peers, if they be regarded as identical
with His Person, how can it, then, be maintained that the Divine Being
is One and Incomparable, that His Essence is indivisible and peerless?
Meditate on that which We have, through the power of truth, revealed
unto thee, and be thou of them that comprehend its meaning.

XXIX: The purpose of God in creating man hath…

The purpose of God in creating man hath been, and will ever be, to
enable him to know his Creator and to attain His Presence. To this most
excellent aim, this supreme objective, all the heavenly Books and the
divinely-revealed and weighty Scriptures unequivocally bear witness.
Whoso hath recognized the Day Spring of Divine guidance and entered His
holy court hath drawn nigh unto God and attained His Presence, a
Presence which is the real Paradise, and of which the loftiest mansions
of heaven are but a symbol. Such a man hath attained the knowledge of
the station of Him Who is “at the distance of two bows,” Who
standeth beyond the Sadratu’l-Muntahá. Whoso hath failed to
recognize Him will have condemned himself to the misery of remoteness, a
remoteness which is naught but utter nothingness and the essence of the
nethermost fire. Such will be his fate, though to outward seeming he may
occupy the earth’s loftiest seats and be established upon its most
exalted throne.

He Who is the Day Spring of Truth is, no doubt, fully capable of
rescuing from such remoteness wayward souls and of causing them to draw
nigh unto His court and attain His Presence. “If God had pleased
He had surely made all men one people.” His purpose, however, is
to enable the pure in spirit and the detached in heart to ascend, by
virtue of their own innate powers, unto the shores of the Most Great
Ocean, that thereby they who seek the Beauty of the All-Glorious may be
distinguished and separated from the wayward and perverse. Thus hath it
been ordained by the all-glorious and resplendent Pen….

That the Manifestations of Divine justice, the Day Springs of
heavenly grace, have when they appeared amongst men always been
destitute of all earthly dominion and shorn of the means of worldly
ascendancy, should be attributed to this same principle of separation
and distinction which animateth the Divine Purpose. Were the Eternal
Essence to manifest all that is latent within Him, were He to shine in
the plentitude of His glory, none would be found to question His power
or repudiate His truth. Nay, all created things would be so dazzled and
thunderstruck by the evidences of His light as to be reduced to utter
nothingness. How, then, can the godly be differentiated under such
circumstances from the froward?

This principle hath operated in each of the previous Dispensations
and been abundantly demonstrated…. It is for this reason that, in
every age, when a new Manifestation hath appeared and a fresh revelation
of God’s transcendent power was vouchsafed unto men, they that
misbelieved in Him, deluded by the appearance of the peerless and
everlasting Beauty in the garb of mortal men, have failed to recognize
Him. They have erred from His path and eschewed His company—the company
of Him Who is the Symbol of nearness to God. They have even arisen to
decimate the ranks of the faithful and to exterminate such as believed
in Him.

Behold how in this Dispensation the worthless and foolish have fondly
imagined that by such instruments as massacre, plunder and banishment
they can extinguish the Lamp which the Hand of Divine power hath lit, or
eclipse the Day Star of everlasting splendor. How utterly unaware they
seem to be of the truth that such adversity is the oil that feedeth the
flame of this Lamp! Such is God’s transforming power. He changeth
whatsoever He willeth; He verily hath power over all things….

Consider at all times the sovereignty exercised by the Ideal King,
and behold the evidences of His power and paramount influence. Sanctify
your ears from the idle talk of them that are the symbols of denial and
the exponents of violence and anger. The hour is approaching when ye
will witness the power of the one true God triumphing over all created
things and the signs of His sovereignty encompassing all creation. On
that day ye will discover how all else besides Him will have been
forgotten and come to be regarded as utter nothingness.

It should, however, be borne in mind that God and His Manifestation
can, under no circumstances, be dissociated from the loftiness and
sublimity which They inherently possess. Nay, loftiness and sublimity
are themselves the creations of His Word, if ye choose to see with My
sight not with yours.

XXX: God witnesseth that there is no God but…

God witnesseth that there is no God but Him, the Gracious, the
Best-Beloved. All grace and bounty are His. To whomsoever He will He
giveth whatsoever is His wish. He, verily, is the All-Powerful, the
Almighty, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting. We, verily, believe in
Him Who, in the person of the Báb, hath been sent down by the Will of
the one true God, the King of Kings, the All-Praised. We, moreover,
swear fealty to the One Who, in the time of Mustagháth, is
destined to be made manifest, as well as to those Who shall come after
Him till the end that hath no end. We recognize in the manifestation of
each one of them, whether outwardly or inwardly, the manifestation of
none but God Himself, if ye be of those that comprehend. Every one of
them is a mirror of God, reflecting naught else but His Self, His
Beauty, His Might and Glory, if ye will understand. All else besides
them are to be regarded as mirrors capable of reflecting the glory of
these Manifestations Who are themselves the Primary Mirrors of the
Divine Being, if ye be not devoid of understanding. No one hath ever
escaped them, neither are they to be hindered from achieving their
purpose. These Mirrors will everlastingly succeed each other, and will
continue to reflect the light of the Ancient of Days. They that reflect
their glory will, in like manner, continue to exist for evermore, for
the Grace of God can never cease from flowing. This is a truth that none
can disprove.

XXXI: Contemplate with thine inward eye the…

Contemplate with thine inward eye the chain of successive Revelations
that hath linked the Manifestation of Adam with that of the Báb. I
testify before God that each one of these Manifestations hath been sent
down through the operation of the Divine Will and Purpose, that each
hath been the bearer of a specific Message, that each hath been
entrusted with a divinely-revealed Book and been commissioned to unravel
the mysteries of a mighty Tablet. The measure of the Revelation with
which every one of them hath been identified had been definitely
fore-ordained. This, verily, is a token of Our favor unto them, if ye be
of those that comprehend this truth…. And when this process of
progressive Revelation culminated in the stage at which His peerless,
His most sacred, and exalted Countenance was to be unveiled to
men’s eyes, He chose to hide His own Self behind a thousand veils,
lest profane and mortal eyes discover His glory. This He did at a time
when the signs and tokens of a divinely-appointed Revelation were being
showered upon Him—signs and tokens which none can reckon except the
Lord, your God, the Lord of all worlds. And when the set time of
concealment was fulfilled, We sent forth, whilst still wrapt within a
myriad veils, an infinitesimal glimmer of the effulgent Glory enveloping
the Face of the Youth, and lo, the entire company of the dwellers of the
Realms above were seized with violent commotion and the favored of God
fell down in adoration before Him. He hath, verily, manifested a glory
such as none in the whole creation hath witnessed, inasmuch as He hath
arisen to proclaim in person His Cause unto all who are in the heavens
and all who are on the earth.

XXXII: That which thou hast heard concerning…

That which thou hast heard concerning Abraham, the Friend of the
All-Merciful, is the truth, and no doubt is there about it. The Voice of
God commanded Him to offer up Ishmael as a sacrifice, so that His
steadfastness in the Faith of God and His detachment from all else but
Him may be demonstrated unto men. The purpose of God, moreover, was to
sacrifice him as a ransom for the sins and iniquities of all the peoples
of the earth. This same honor, Jesus, the Son of Mary, besought the one
true God, exalted be His name and glory, to confer upon Him. For the
same reason was Ḥusayn offered up as a sacrifice by Muḥammad, the
Apostle of God.

No man can ever claim to have comprehended the nature of the hidden
and manifold grace of God; none can fathom His all-embracing mercy. Such
hath been the perversity of men and their transgressions, so grievous
have been the trials that have afflicted the Prophets of God and their
chosen ones, that all mankind deserveth to be tormented and to perish.
God’s hidden and most loving providence, however, hath, through
both visible and invisible agencies, protected and will continue to
protect it from the penalty of its wickedness. Ponder this in thine
heart, that the truth may be revealed unto thee, and be thou steadfast
in His path.

XXXIII: It hath been decreed by Us that the Word…

It hath been decreed by Us that the Word of God and all the
potentialities thereof shall be manifested unto men in strict conformity
with such conditions as have been foreordained by Him Who is the
All-Knowing, the All-Wise. We have, moreover, ordained that its veil of
concealment be none other except its own Self. Such indeed is Our Power
to achieve Our Purpose. Should the Word be allowed to release suddenly
all the energies latent within it, no man could sustain the weight of so
mighty a Revelation. Nay, all that is in heaven and on earth would flee
in consternation before it.

Consider that which hath been sent down unto Muḥammad, the Apostle of
God. The measure of the Revelation of which He was the bearer had been
clearly foreordained by Him Who is the Almighty, the All-Powerful. They
that heard Him, however, could apprehend His purpose only to the extent
of their station and spiritual capacity. He, in like manner, uncovered
the Face of Wisdom in proportion to their ability to sustain the burden
of His Message. No sooner had mankind attained the stage of maturity,
than the Word revealed to men’s eyes the latent energies with
which it had been endowed—energies which manifested themselves in the
plenitude of their glory when the Ancient Beauty appeared, in the year
sixty, in the person of ‘Alí-Muḥammad, the Báb.

XXXIV: All praise and glory be to God Who,…

All praise and glory be to God Who, through the power of His might,
hath delivered His creation from the nakedness of non-existence, and
clothed it with the mantle of life. From among all created things He
hath singled out for His special favor the pure, the gem-like reality of
man, and invested it with a unique capacity of knowing Him and of
reflecting the greatness of His glory. This twofold distinction
conferred upon him hath cleansed away from his heart the rust of every
vain desire, and made him worthy of the vesture with which his Creator
hath deigned to clothe him. It hath served to rescue his soul from the
wretchedness of ignorance.

This robe with which the body and soul of man hath been adorned is
the very foundation of his well-being and development. Oh, how blessed
the day when, aided by the grace and might of the one true God, man will
have freed himself from the bondage and corruption of the world and all
that is therein, and will have attained unto true and abiding rest
beneath the shadow of the Tree of Knowledge!

The songs which the bird of thine heart had uttered in its great love
for its friends have reached their ears, and moved Me to answer thy
questions, and reveal to thee such secrets as I am allowed to unfold. In
thine esteemed letter thou hadst inquired which of the Prophets of God
should be regarded as superior to others. Know thou assuredly that the
essence of all the Prophets of God is one and the same. Their unity is
absolute. God, the Creator, saith: There is no distinction whatsoever
among the Bearers of My Message. They all have but one purpose; their
secret is the same secret. To prefer one in honor to another, to exalt
certain ones above the rest, is in no wise to be permitted. Every true
Prophet hath regarded His Message as fundamentally the same as the
Revelation of every other Prophet gone before Him. If any man,
therefore, should fail to comprehend this truth, and should consequently
indulge in vain and unseemly language, no one whose sight is keen and
whose understanding is enlightened would ever allow such idle talk to
cause him to waver in his belief.

The measure of the revelation of the Prophets of God in this world,
however, must differ. Each and every one of them hath been the Bearer of
a distinct Message, and hath been commissioned to reveal Himself through
specific acts. It is for this reason that they appear to vary in their
greatness. Their Revelation may be likened unto the light of the moon
that sheddeth its radiance upon the earth. Though every time it
appeareth, it revealeth a fresh measure of its brightness, yet its
inherent splendor can never diminish, nor can its light suffer
extinction.

It is clear and evident, therefore, that any apparent variation in
the intensity of their light is not inherent in the light itself, but
should rather be attributed to the varying receptivity of an
ever-changing world. Every Prophet Whom the Almighty and Peerless
Creator hath purposed to send to the peoples of the earth hath been
entrusted with a Message, and charged to act in a manner that would best
meet the requirements of the age in which He appeared. God’s
purpose in sending His Prophets unto men is twofold. The first is to
liberate the children of men from the darkness of ignorance, and guide
them to the light of true understanding. The second is to ensure the
peace and tranquillity of mankind, and provide all the means by which
they can be established.

The Prophets of God should be regarded as physicians whose task is to
foster the well-being of the world and its peoples, that, through the
spirit of oneness, they may heal the sickness of a divided humanity. To
none is given the right to question their words or disparage their
conduct, for they are the only ones who can claim to have understood the
patient and to have correctly diagnosed its ailments. No man, however
acute his perception, can ever hope to reach the heights which the
wisdom and understanding of the Divine Physician have attained. Little
wonder, then, if the treatment prescribed by the physician in this day
should not be found to be identical with that which he prescribed
before. How could it be otherwise when the ills affecting the sufferer
necessitate at every stage of his sickness a special remedy? In like
manner, every time the Prophets of God have illumined the world with the
resplendent radiance of the Day Star of Divine knowledge, they have
invariably summoned its peoples to embrace the light of God through such
means as best befitted the exigencies of the age in which they appeared.
They were thus able to scatter the darkness of ignorance, and to shed
upon the world the glory of their own knowledge. It is towards the
inmost essence of these Prophets, therefore, that the eye of every man
of discernment must be directed, inasmuch as their one and only purpose
hath always been to guide the erring, and give peace to the
afflicted…. These are not days of prosperity and triumph. The whole of
mankind is in the grip of manifold ills. Strive, therefore, to save its
life through the wholesome medicine which the almighty hand of the
unerring Physician hath prepared.

And now concerning thy question regarding the nature of religion.
Know thou that they who are truly wise have likened the world unto the
human temple. As the body of man needeth a garment to clothe it, so the
body of mankind must needs be adorned with the mantle of justice and
wisdom. Its robe is the Revelation vouchsafed unto it by God. Whenever
this robe hath fulfilled its purpose, the Almighty will assuredly renew
it. For every age requireth a fresh measure of the light of God. Every
Divine Revelation hath been sent down in a manner that befitted the
circumstances of the age in which it hath appeared.

As to thy question regarding the sayings of the leaders of past
religions. Every wise and praiseworthy man will no doubt eschew such
vain and profitless talk. The incomparable Creator hath created all men
from one same substance, and hath exalted their reality above the rest
of His creatures. Success or failure, gain or loss, must, therefore,
depend upon man’s own exertions. The more he striveth, the greater
will be his progress. We fain would hope that the vernal showers of the
bounty of God may cause the flowers of true understanding to spring from
the soil of men’s hearts, and may wash them from all earthly
defilements.

XXXV: Ponder a while. What is it that prompted,…

Ponder a while. What is it that prompted, in every Dispensation, the
peoples of the earth to shun the Manifestation of the All-Merciful? What
could have impelled them to turn away from Him and to challenge His
authority? Were men to meditate on these words which have flowed from
the Pen of the Divine Ordainer, they would, one and all, hasten to
embrace the truth of this God-given, and ever-enduring Revelation, and
would testify to that which He Himself hath solemnly affirmed. It is the
veil of idle imaginations which, in the days of the Manifestations of
the Unity of God and the Day Springs of His everlasting glory, hath
intervened, and will continue to intervene, between them and the rest of
mankind. For in those days, He Who is the Eternal Truth manifesteth
Himself in conformity with that which He Himself hath purposed, and not
according to the desires and expectations of men. Even as He hath
revealed: “So oft, then, as an Apostle cometh to you with that
which your souls desire not, do ye swell with pride, and treat some as
impostors, and slay others.”

There can be no doubt whatever that had these Apostles appeared, in
bygone ages and cycles, in accordance with the vain imaginations which
the hearts of men had devised, no one would have repudiated the truth of
these sanctified Beings. Though such men have been, night and day,
remembering the one true God, and have been devoutly engaged in the
exercise of their devotions, yet they failed in the end to recognize,
and partake of the grace of, the Day Springs of the signs of God and the
Manifestations of His irrefutable evidences. To this the Scriptures bear
witness. Thou hast, no doubt, heard about it.

Consider the Dispensation of Jesus Christ. Behold, how all the
learned men of that generation, though eagerly anticipating the coming
of the Promised One, have nevertheless denied Him. Both Annas, the most
learned among the divines of His day, and Caiaphas, the high priest,
denounced Him and pronounced the sentence of His death.

In like manner, when Muḥammad, the Prophet of God—may all men be a
sacrifice unto Him—appeared, the learned men of Mecca and Medina arose,
in the early days of His Revelation, against Him and rejected His
Message, while they who were destitute of all learning recognized and
embraced His Faith. Ponder a while. Consider how Balál, the Ethiopian,
unlettered though he was, ascended into the heaven of faith and
certitude, whilst ‘Abdu’lláh Ubayy, a leader among the
learned, maliciously strove to oppose Him. Behold, how a mere shepherd
was so carried away by the ecstasy of the words of God that he was able
to gain admittance into the habitation of his Best-Beloved, and was
united to Him Who is the Lord of Mankind, whilst they who prided
themselves on their knowledge and wisdom strayed far from His path and
remained deprived of His grace. For this reason He hath written:
“He that is exalted among you shall be abased, and he that is
abased shall be exalted.” References to this theme are to be found
in most of the heavenly Books, as well as in the sayings of the Prophets
and Messengers of God.

Verily I say, such is the greatness of this Cause that the father
flieth from his son, and the son flieth from his father. Call ye to mind
the story of Noah and Canaan. God grant that, in these days of heavenly
delight, ye may not deprive yourselves of the sweet savors of the
All-Glorious God, and may partake, in this spiritual Springtime, of the
outpourings of His grace. Arise in the name of Him Who is the Object of
all knowledge, and, with absolute detachment from the learning of men,
lift up your voices and proclaim His Cause. I swear by the Day Star of
Divine Revelation! The very moment ye arise, ye will witness how a flood
of Divine knowledge will gush out of your hearts, and will behold the
wonders of His heavenly wisdom manifested in all their glory before you.
Were ye to taste of the sweetness of the sayings of the All-Merciful, ye
would unhesitatingly forsake your selves, and would lay down your lives
for the Well-Beloved.

Who can ever believe that this Servant of God hath at any time
cherished in His heart a desire for any earthly honor or benefit? The
Cause associated with His Name is far above the transitory things of
this world. Behold Him, an exile, a victim of tyranny, in this Most
Great Prison. His enemies have assailed Him on every side, and will
continue to do so till the end of His life. Whatever, therefore, He
saith unto you is wholly for the sake of God, that haply the peoples of
the earth may cleanse their hearts from the stain of evil desire, may
rend its veil asunder, and attain unto the knowledge of the one true
God—the most exalted station to which any man can aspire. Their belief
or disbelief in My Cause can neither profit nor harm Me. We summon them
wholly for the sake of God. He, verily, can afford to dispense with all
creatures.

XXXVI: Know thou that when the Son of Man…

Know thou that when the Son of Man yielded up His breath to God, the
whole creation wept with a great weeping. By sacrificing Himself,
however, a fresh capacity was infused into all created things. Its
evidences, as witnessed in all the peoples of the earth, are now
manifest before thee. The deepest wisdom which the sages have uttered,
the profoundest learning which any mind hath unfolded, the arts which
the ablest hands have produced, the influence exerted by the most potent
of rulers, are but manifestations of the quickening power released by
His transcendent, His all-pervasive, and resplendent Spirit.

We testify that when He came into the world, He shed the splendor of
His glory upon all created things. Through Him the leper recovered from
the leprosy of perversity and ignorance. Through Him, the unchaste and
wayward were healed. Through His power, born of Almighty God, the eyes
of the blind were opened, and the soul of the sinner sanctified.

Leprosy may be interpreted as any veil that interveneth between man
and the recognition of the Lord, his God. Whoso alloweth himself to be
shut out from Him is indeed a leper, who shall not be remembered in the
Kingdom of God, the Mighty, the All-Praised. We bear witness that
through the power of the Word of God every leper was cleansed, every
sickness was healed, every human infirmity was banished. He it is Who
purified the world. Blessed is the man who, with a face beaming with
light, hath turned towards Him.

XXXVII: Blessed is the man that hath acknowledged…

Blessed is the man that hath acknowledged his belief in God and in
His signs, and recognized that “He shall not be asked of His
doings.” Such a recognition hath been made by God the ornament of
every belief, and its very foundation. Upon it must depend the
acceptance of every goodly deed. Fasten your eyes upon it, that haply
the whisperings of the rebellious may not cause you to slip.

Were He to decree as lawful the thing which from time immemorial had
been forbidden, and forbid that which had, at all times, been regarded
as lawful, to none is given the right to question His authority. Whoso
will hesitate, though it be for less than a moment, should be regarded
as a transgressor.

Whoso hath not recognized this sublime and fundamental verity, and
hath failed to attain this most exalted station, the winds of doubt will
agitate him, and the sayings of the infidels will distract his soul. He
that hath acknowledged this principle will be endowed with the most
perfect constancy. All honor to this all-glorious station, the
remembrance of which adorneth every exalted Tablet. Such is the teaching
which God bestoweth on you, a teaching that will deliver you from all
manner of doubt and perplexity, and enable you to attain unto salvation
in both this world and in the next. He, verily, is the Ever-Forgiving,
the Most Bountiful.

XXXVIII: Know of a certainty that in every Dispensation…

Know of a certainty that in every Dispensation the light of Divine
Revelation hath been vouchsafed unto men in direct proportion to their
spiritual capacity. Consider the sun. How feeble its rays the moment it
appeareth above the horizon. How gradually its warmth and potency
increase as it approacheth its zenith, enabling meanwhile all created
things to adapt themselves to the growing intensity of its light. How
steadily it declineth until it reacheth its setting point. Were it, all
of a sudden, to manifest the energies latent within it, it would, no
doubt, cause injury to all created things…. In like manner, if the Sun
of Truth were suddenly to reveal, at the earliest stages of its
manifestation, the full measure of the potencies which the providence of
the Almighty hath bestowed upon it, the earth of human understanding
would waste away and be consumed; for men’s hearts would neither
sustain the intensity of its revelation, nor be able to mirror forth the
radiance of its light. Dismayed and overpowered, they would cease to
exist.

XXXIX: Praise be to Thee, O Lord My God, for the…

Praise be to Thee, O Lord My God, for the wondrous revelations of Thy
inscrutable decree and the manifold woes and trials Thou hast destined
for Myself. At one time Thou didst deliver Me into the hands of Nimrod;
at another Thou hast allowed Pharaoh’s rod to persecute Me. Thou,
alone, canst estimate, through Thine all-encompassing knowledge and the
operation of Thy Will, the incalculable afflictions I have suffered at
their hands. Again Thou didst cast Me into the prison-cell of the
ungodly, for no reason except that I was moved to whisper into the ears
of the well-favored denizens of Thy Kingdom an intimation of the vision
with which Thou hadst, through Thy knowledge, inspired Me, and revealed
to Me its meaning through the potency of Thy might. And again Thou didst
decree that I be beheaded by the sword of the infidel. Again I was
crucified for having unveiled to men’s eyes the hidden gems of Thy
glorious unity, for having revealed to them the wondrous signs of Thy
sovereign and everlasting power. How bitter the humiliations heaped upon
Me, in a subsequent age, on the plain of Karbilá! How lonely did I feel
amidst Thy people! To what a state of helplessness I was reduced in that
land! Unsatisfied with such indignities, My persecutors decapitated Me,
and, carrying aloft My head from land to land paraded it before the gaze
of the unbelieving multitude, and deposited it on the seats of the
perverse and faithless. In a later age, I was suspended, and My breast
was made a target to the darts of the malicious cruelty of My foes. My
limbs were riddled with bullets, and My body was torn asunder. Finally,
behold how, in this Day, My treacherous enemies have leagued themselves
against Me, and are continually plotting to instill the venom of hate
and malice into the souls of Thy servants. With all their might they are
scheming to accomplish their purpose…. Grievous as is My plight, O
God, My Well-Beloved, I render thanks unto Thee, and My Spirit is
grateful for whatsoever hath befallen me in the path of Thy
good-pleasure. I am well pleased with that which Thou didst ordain for
Me, and welcome, however calamitous, the pains and sorrows I am made to
suffer.

XL: O My Well-Beloved! Thou hast breathed Thy…

O My Well-Beloved! Thou hast breathed Thy Breath into Me, and
divorced Me from Mine own Self. Thou didst, subsequently, decree that no
more than a faint reflection, a mere emblem of Thy Reality within Me be
left among the perverse and envious. Behold, how, deluded by this
emblem, they have risen against Me, and heaped upon Me their denials!
Uncover Thy Self, therefore, O My Best-Beloved, and deliver Me from My
plight.

Thereupon a Voice replied: “I love, I dearly cherish this
emblem. How can I consent that Mine eyes, alone, gaze upon this emblem,
and that no heart except Mine heart recognize it? By My Beauty, which is
the same as Thy Beauty! My wish is to hide Thee from Mine own eyes: how
much more from the eyes of men!”

I was preparing to make reply, when lo, the Tablet was suddenly
ended, leaving My theme unfinished, and the pearl of Mine utterance
unstrung.

XLI: God is My witness, O people! I was asleep…

God is My witness, O people! I was asleep on My couch, when lo, the
Breeze of God wafting over Me roused Me from My slumber. His quickening
Spirit revived Me, and My tongue was unloosed to voice His Call. Accuse
Me not of having transgressed against God. Behold Me, not with your eyes
but with Mine. Thus admonisheth you He Who is the Gracious, the
All-Knowing. Think ye, O people, that I hold within My grasp the control
of God’s ultimate Will and Purpose? Far be it from Me to advance
such claim. To this I testify before God, the Almighty, the Exalted, the
All-Knowing, the All-Wise. Had the ultimate destiny of God’s Faith
been in Mine hands, I would have never consented, even though for one
moment, to manifest Myself unto you, nor would I have allowed one word
to fall from My lips. Of this God Himself is, verily, a witness.

XLII: O Son of Justice! In the night season the…

O Son of Justice! In the night season the beauty of the immortal
Being hath repaired from the emerald height of fidelity unto the
Sadratu’l-Muntahá, and wept with such a weeping that the Concourse
on high and the dwellers of the realms above wailed at His lamenting.
Whereupon there was asked, Why the wailing and weeping? He made reply:
As bidden I waited expectant upon the hill of faithfulness, yet inhaled
not from them that dwell on earth the fragrance of fidelity. Then
summoned to return I beheld, and lo! certain doves of holiness were sore
tried within the claws of the dogs of earth. Thereupon the Maid of
Heaven hastened forth unveiled and resplendent from Her mystic mansion,
and asked of their names, and all were told but one. And when urged, the
first letter thereof was uttered, whereupon the dwellers of the
celestial chambers rushed forth out of their habitation of glory. And
whilst the second letter was pronounced they fell down, one and all,
upon the dust. At that moment a voice was heard from the inmost shrine:
“Thus far and no farther.” Verily, We bear witness unto that
which they have done, and now are doing.

XLIII: O Afnán, O thou that hast branched from…

O Afnán, O thou that hast branched from Mine ancient Stock! My glory
and My loving-kindness rest upon thee. How vast is the tabernacle of the
Cause of God! It hath overshadowed all the peoples and kindreds of the
earth, and will, erelong, gather together the whole of mankind beneath
its shelter. Thy day of service is now come. Countless Tablets bear the
testimony of the bounties vouchsafed unto thee. Arise for the triumph of
My Cause, and, through the power of thine utterance, subdue the hearts
of men. Thou must show forth that which will ensure the peace and the
well-being of the miserable and the down-trodden. Gird up the loins of
thine endeavor, that perchance thou mayest release the captive from his
chains, and enable him to attain unto true liberty.

Justice is, in this day, bewailing its plight, and Equity groaneth
beneath the yoke of oppression. The thick clouds of tyranny have
darkened the face of the earth, and enveloped its peoples. Through the
movement of Our Pen of glory We have, at the bidding of the omnipotent
Ordainer, breathed a new life into every human frame, and instilled into
every word a fresh potency. All created things proclaim the evidences of
this world-wide regeneration. This is the most great, the most joyful
tidings imparted by the Pen of this wronged One to mankind. Wherefore
fear ye, O My well-beloved ones? Who is it that can dismay you? A touch
of moisture sufficeth to dissolve the hardened clay out of which this
perverse generation is molded. The mere act of your gathering together
is enough to scatter the forces of these vain and worthless
people….

Every man of insight will, in this day, readily admit that the
counsels which the Pen of this wronged One hath revealed constitute the
supreme animating power for the advancement of the world and the
exaltation of its peoples. Arise, O people, and, by the power of
God’s might, resolve to gain the victory over your own selves,
that haply the whole earth may be freed and sanctified from its
servitude to the gods of its idle fancies—gods that have inflicted such
loss upon, and are responsible for the misery of, their wretched
worshipers. These idols form the obstacle that impedeth man in his
efforts to advance in the path of perfection. We cherish the hope that
the Hand of Divine power may lend its assistance to mankind, and deliver
it from its state of grievous abasement.

In one of the Tablets these words have been revealed: O people of
God! Do not busy yourselves in your own concerns; let your thoughts be
fixed upon that which will rehabilitate the fortunes of mankind and
sanctify the hearts and souls of men. This can best be achieved through
pure and holy deeds, through a virtuous life and a goodly behavior.
Valiant acts will ensure the triumph of this Cause, and a saintly
character will reinforce its power. Cleave unto righteousness, O people
of Bahá! This, verily, is the commandment which this wronged One hath
given unto you, and the first choice of His unrestrained Will for every
one of you.

O friends! It behoveth you to refresh and revive your souls through
the gracious favors which in this Divine, this soul-stirring Springtime
are being showered upon you. The Day Star of His great glory hath shed
its radiance upon you, and the clouds of His limitless grace have
overshadowed you. How high the reward of him that hath not deprived
himself of so great a bounty, nor failed to recognize the beauty of his
Best-Beloved in this, His new attire. Watch over yourselves, for the
Evil One is lying in wait, ready to entrap you. Gird yourselves against
his wicked devices, and, led by the light of the name of the All-Seeing
God, make your escape from the darkness that surroundeth you. Let your
vision be world-embracing, rather than confined to your own self. The
Evil One is he that hindereth the rise and obstructeth the spiritual
progress of the children of men.

It is incumbent upon every man, in this Day, to hold fast unto
whatsoever will promote the interests, and exalt the station, of all
nations and just governments. Through each and every one of the verses
which the Pen of the Most High hath revealed, the doors of love and
unity have been unlocked and flung open to the face of men. We have
erewhile declared—and Our Word is the truth—: “Consort with the
followers of all religions in a spirit of friendliness and
fellowship.” Whatsoever hath led the children of men to shun one
another, and hath caused dissensions and divisions amongst them, hath,
through the revelation of these words, been nullified and abolished.
From the heaven of God’s Will, and for the purpose of ennobling
the world of being and of elevating the minds and souls of men, hath
been sent down that which is the most effective instrument for the
education of the whole human race. The highest essence and most perfect
expression of whatsoever the peoples of old have either said or written
hath, through this most potent Revelation, been sent down from the
heaven of the Will of the All-Possessing, the Ever-Abiding God. Of old
it hath been revealed: “Love of one’s country is an element
of the Faith of God.” The Tongue of Grandeur hath, however, in the
day of His manifestation proclaimed: “It is not his to boast who
loveth his country, but it is his who loveth the world.” Through
the power released by these exalted words He hath lent a fresh impulse,
and set a new direction, to the birds of men’s hearts, and hath
obliterated every trace of restriction and limitation from God’s
holy Book.

O people of Justice! Be as brilliant as the light, and as splendid as
the fire that blazed in the Burning Bush. The brightness of the fire of
your love will no doubt fuse and unify the contending peoples and
kindreds of the earth, whilst the fierceness of the flame of enmity and
hatred cannot but result in strife and ruin. We beseech God that He may
shield His creatures from the evil designs of His enemies. He verily
hath power over all things.

All praise be to the one true God—exalted be His glory—inasmuch as
He hath, through the Pen of the Most High, unlocked the doors of
men’s hearts. Every verse which this Pen hath revealed is a bright
and shining portal that discloseth the glories of a saintly and pious
life, of pure and stainless deeds. The summons and the message which We
gave were never intended to reach or to benefit one land or one people
only. Mankind in its entirety must firmly adhere to whatsoever hath been
revealed and vouchsafed unto it. Then and only then will it attain unto
true liberty. The whole earth is illuminated with the resplendent glory
of God’s Revelation. In the year sixty He Who heralded the light
of Divine Guidance—may all creation be a sacrifice unto Him—arose to
announce a fresh revelation of the Divine Spirit, and was followed,
twenty years later, by Him through Whose coming the world was made the
recipient of this promised glory, this wondrous favor. Behold how the
generality of mankind hath been endued with the capacity to hearken unto
God’s most exalted Word—the Word upon which must depend the
gathering together and spiritual resurrection of all men….

Incline your hearts, O people of God, unto the counsels of your true,
your incomparable Friend. The Word of God may be likened unto a sapling,
whose roots have been implanted in the hearts of men. It is incumbent
upon you to foster its growth through the living waters of wisdom, of
sanctified and holy words, so that its root may become firmly fixed and
its branches may spread out as high as the heavens and beyond.

O ye that dwell on earth! The distinguishing feature that marketh the
preeminent character of this Supreme Revelation consisteth in that We
have, on the one hand, blotted out from the pages of God’s holy
Book whatsoever hath been the cause of strife, of malice and mischief
amongst the children of men, and have, on the other, laid down the
essential prerequisites of concord, of understanding, of complete and
enduring unity. Well is it with them that keep My statutes.

Time and again have We admonished Our beloved ones to avoid, nay to
flee from, anything whatsoever from which the odor of mischief can be
detected. The world is in great turmoil, and the minds of its people are
in a state of utter confusion. We entreat the Almighty that He may
graciously illuminate them with the glory of His Justice, and enable
them to discover that which will be profitable unto them at all times
and under all conditions. He, verily is the All-Possessing, the Most
High.

XLIV: Lay not aside the fear of God, O ye the…

Lay not aside the fear of God, O ye the learned of the world, and
judge fairly the Cause of this unlettered One to Whom all the Books of
God, the Protector, the Self-Subsisting, have testified. …Will not the
dread of Divine displeasure, the fear of Him Who hath no peer or equal,
arouse you? He Whom the world hath wronged hath, at no time, associated
with you, hath never studied your writings, nor participated in any of
your disputations. The garb He weareth, His flowing locks, His
headdress, attest the truth of His words. How long will ye persist in
your injustice? Witness the habitation in which He, Who is the
incarnation of justice, hath been forced to dwell. Open your eyes, and,
beholding His plight, meditate diligently upon that which your hands
have wrought, that haply ye may not be deprived of the light of His
Divine utterance, nor remain bereft of your share of the ocean of His
knowledge.

Certain ones among both commoners and nobles have objected that this
wronged One is neither a member of the ecclesiastical order nor a
descendant of the Prophet. Say: O ye that claim to be just! Reflect a
little while, and ye shall recognize how infinitely exalted is His
present state above the station ye claim He should possess. The Will of
the Almighty hath decreed that out of a house wholly devoid of all that
the divines, the doctors, the sages, and scholars commonly possess His
Cause should proceed and be made manifest.

The Breathings of the Divine Spirit awoke Him, and bade Him arise and
proclaim His Revelation. No sooner was He roused from His slumber than
He lifted up His voice and summoned the whole of mankind unto God, the
Lord of all worlds. We have been moved to reveal these words in
consideration of the weakness and frailty of men; otherwise, the Cause
We have proclaimed is such as no pen can ever describe, nor any mind
conceive its greatness. To this beareth witness He with Whom is the
Mother Book.

XLV: The Ancient Beauty hath consented to be…

The Ancient Beauty hath consented to be bound with chains that
mankind may be released from its bondage, and hath accepted to be made a
prisoner within this most mighty Stronghold that the whole world may
attain unto true liberty. He hath drained to its dregs the cup of
sorrow, that all the peoples of the earth may attain unto abiding joy,
and be filled with gladness. This is of the mercy of your Lord, the
Compassionate, the Most Merciful. We have accepted to be abased, O
believers in the Unity of God, that ye may be exalted, and have suffered
manifold afflictions, that ye might prosper and flourish. He Who hath
come to build anew the whole world, behold, how they that have joined
partners with God have forced Him to dwell within the most desolate of
cities!

XLVI: I sorrow not for the burden of My imprisonment….

I sorrow not for the burden of My imprisonment. Neither do I grieve
over My abasement, or the tribulation I suffer at the hands of Mine
enemies. By My life! They are My glory, a glory wherewith God hath
adorned His own Self. Would that ye know it!

The shame I was made to bear hath uncovered the glory with which the
whole of creation had been invested, and through the cruelties I have
endured, the Day Star of Justice hath manifested itself, and shed its
splendor upon men.

My sorrows are for those who have involved themselves in their
corrupt passions, and claim to be associated with the Faith of God, the
Gracious, the All-Praised.

It behoveth the people of Bahá to die to the world and all that is
therein, to be so detached from all earthly things that the inmates of
Paradise may inhale from their garment the sweet smelling savor of
sanctity, that all the peoples of the earth may recognize in their faces
the brightness of the All-Merciful, and that through them may be spread
abroad the signs and tokens of God, the Almighty, the All-Wise. They
that have tarnished the fair name of the Cause of God, by following the
things of the flesh—these are in palpable error!

XLVII: O Jews! If ye be intent on crucifying once…

O Jews! If ye be intent on crucifying once again Jesus, the Spirit of
God, put Me to death, for He hath once more, in My person, been made
manifest unto you. Deal with Me as ye wish, for I have vowed to lay down
My life in the path of God. I will fear no one, though the powers of
earth and heaven be leagued against Me. Followers of the Gospel! If ye
cherish the desire to slay Muḥammad, the Apostle of God, seize Me and
put an end to My life, for I am He, and My Self is His Self. Do unto Me
as ye like, for the deepest longing of Mine heart is to attain the
presence of My Best-Beloved in His Kingdom of Glory. Such is the Divine
decree, if ye know it. Followers of Muḥammad! If it be your wish to
riddle with your shafts the breast of Him Who hath caused His Book the
Bayán to be sent down unto you, lay hands on Me and persecute Me, for I
am His Well-Beloved, the revelation of His own Self, though My name be
not His name. I have come in the shadows of the clouds of glory, and am
invested by God with invincible sovereignty. He, verily, is the Truth,
the Knower of things unseen. I, verily, anticipate from you the
treatment ye have accorded unto Him that came before Me. To this all
things, verily, witness, if ye be of those who hearken. O people of the
Bayán! If ye have resolved to shed the blood of Him Whose coming the Báb
hath proclaimed, Whose advent Muḥammad hath prophesied, and Whose
Revelation Jesus Christ Himself hath announced, behold Me standing,
ready and defenseless, before you. Deal with Me after your own
desires.

XLVIII: God is my witness! Had it not been in…

God is my witness! Had it not been in conflict with that which the
Tablets of God have decreed, I would have gladly kissed the hands of
whosoever attempted to shed my blood in the path of the Well-Beloved. I
would, moreover, have bestowed upon him a share of such worldly goods as
God had allowed me to possess, even though he who perpetrated this act
would have provoked the wrath of the Almighty, incurred His malediction,
and deserved to be tormented throughout the eternity of God, the
All-Possessing, the Equitable, the All-Wise.

XLIX: Know verily that whenever this Youth…

Know verily that whenever this Youth turneth His eyes towards His own
self, he findeth it the most insignificant of all creation. When He
contemplates, however, the bright effulgences He hath been empowered to
manifest, lo, that self is transfigured before Him into a sovereign
Potency permeating the essence of all things visible and invisible.
Glory be to Him Who, through the power of truth, hath sent down the
Manifestation of His own Self and entrusted Him with His message unto
all mankind.

L: Shake off, O heedless ones, the slumber of…

Shake off, O heedless ones, the slumber of negligence, that ye may
behold the radiance which His glory hath spread through the world. How
foolish are those who murmur against the premature birth of His light. O
ye who are inly blind! Whether too soon or too late, the evidences of
His effulgent glory are now actually manifest. It behoveth you to
ascertain whether or not such a light hath appeared. It is neither
within your power nor mine to set the time at which it should be made
manifest. God’s inscrutable Wisdom hath fixed its hour beforehand.
Be content, O people, with that which God hath desired for you and
predestined unto you…. O my ill-wishers! The Day Star of eternal
Guidance beareth me witness: Had it been in my power, I would have,
under no circumstances, consented to distinguish myself amongst men, for
the Name I bear utterly disdaineth to associate itself with this
generation whose tongues are sullied and whose hearts are false. And
whenever I chose to hold my peace and be still, lo, the voice of the
Holy Ghost, standing on my right hand, aroused me, and the Supreme
Spirit appeared before my face, and Gabriel overshadowed me, and the
Spirit of Glory stirred within my bosom, bidding me arise and break my
silence. If your hearing be purged and your ears be attentive, ye will
assuredly perceive that every limb of my body, nay all the atoms of my
being, proclaim and bear witness to this call: “God, besides Whom
is none other God, and He, Whose beauty is now manifest, is the
reflection of His glory unto all that are in heaven and on earth.”

LI: O people! I swear by the one true God! This…

O people! I swear by the one true God! This is the Ocean out of which
all seas have proceeded, and with which every one of them will
ultimately be united. From Him all the Suns have been generated, and
unto Him they will all return. Through His potency the Trees of Divine
Revelation have yielded their fruits, every one of which hath been sent
down in the form of a Prophet, bearing a Message to God’s
creatures in each of the worlds whose number God, alone, in His
all-encompassing Knowledge, can reckon. This He hath accomplished
through the agency of but one Letter of His Word, revealed by His Pen—a
Pen moved by His directing Finger—His Finger itself sustained by the
power of God’s Truth.

LII: Say: O people! Withhold not from yourselves…

Say: O people! Withhold not from yourselves the grace of God and His
mercy. Whoso withholdeth himself therefrom is indeed in grievous loss.
What, O people! Do ye worship the dust, and turn away from your Lord,
the Gracious, the All-Bountiful? Fear ye God, and be not of those who
perish. Say: The Book of God hath been sent down in the form of this
Youth. Hallowed, therefore, be God, the most excellent of makers! Take
ye good heed, O peoples of the world, lest ye flee from His face. Nay,
make haste to attain His presence, and be of them that have returned
unto Him. Pray to be forgiven, O people, for having failed in your duty
towards God, and for having trespassed against His Cause, and be not of
the foolish. He it is Who hath created you; He it is Who hath nourished
your souls through His Cause, and enabled you to recognize Him Who is
the Almighty, the Most Exalted, the All-Knowing. He it is Who hath
unveiled to your eyes the treasures of His knowledge, and caused you to
ascend unto the heaven of certitude—the certitude of His resistless,
His irrefutable, and most exalted Faith. Beware that ye do not deprive
yourselves of the grace of God, that ye do not bring to naught your
works, and do not repudiate the truth of this most manifest, this lofty,
this shining, and glorious Revelation. Judge ye fairly the Cause of God,
your Creator, and behold that which hath been sent down from the Throne
on high, and meditate thereon with innocent and sanctified hearts. Then
will the truth of this Cause appear unto you as manifest as the sun in
its noon-tide glory. Then will ye be of them that have believed in
Him.

Say: The first and foremost testimony establishing His truth is His
own Self. Next to this testimony is His Revelation. For whoso faileth to
recognize either the one or the other He hath established the words He
hath revealed as proof of His reality and truth. This is, verily, an
evidence of His tender mercy unto men. He hath endowed every soul with
the capacity to recognize the signs of God. How could He, otherwise,
have fulfilled His testimony unto men, if ye be of them that ponder His
Cause in their hearts. He will never deal unjustly with any one, neither
will He task a soul beyond its power. He, verily, is the Compassionate,
the All-Merciful.

Say: So great is the glory of the Cause of God that even the blind
can perceive it, how much more they whose sight is sharp, whose vision
is pure. The blind, though unable to perceive the light of the sun, are,
nevertheless, capable of experiencing its continual heat. The blind in
heart, however, among the people of the Bayán—and to this God is My
witness—are impotent, no matter how long the Sun may shine upon them,
either to perceive the radiance of its glory, or to appreciate the
warmth of its rays.

Say: O people of the Bayán! We have chosen you out of the world to
know and recognize Our Self. We have caused you to draw nigh unto the
right side of Paradise—the Spot out of which the undying Fire crieth in
manifold accents: “There is none other God besides Me, the
All-Powerful, the Most High!” Take heed lest ye allow yourselves
to be shut out as by a veil from this Day Star that shineth above the
dayspring of the Will of your Lord, the All-Merciful, and whose light
hath encompassed both the small and the great. Purge your sight, that ye
may perceive its glory with your own eyes, and depend not on the sight
of any one except your self, for God hath never burdened any soul beyond
its power. Thus hath it been sent down unto the Prophets and Messengers
of old, and been recorded in all the Scriptures.

Strive, O people, to gain admittance into this vast Immensity for
which God ordained neither beginning nor end, in which His voice hath
been raised, and over which have been wafted the sweet savors of
holiness and glory. Divest not yourselves of the Robe of grandeur,
neither suffer your hearts to be deprived of remembering your Lord, nor
your ears of hearkening unto the sweet melodies of His wondrous, His
sublime, His all-compelling, His clear, and most eloquent voice.

LIII: O Náṣir, O My servant! God, the Eternal…

O Náṣir, O My servant! God, the Eternal Truth, beareth Me witness.
The Celestial Youth hath, in this Day, raised above the heads of men the
glorious Chalice of Immortality, and is standing expectant upon His
seat, wondering what eye will recognize His glory, and what arm will,
unhesitatingly, be stretched forth to seize the Cup from His snow-white
Hand and drain it. Only a few have as yet quaffed from this peerless,
this soft-flowing grace of the Ancient King. These occupy the loftiest
mansions of Paradise, and are firmly established upon the seats of
authority. By the righteousness of God! Neither the mirrors of His
glory, nor the revealers of His names, nor any created thing, that hath
been or will ever be, can ever excel them, if ye be of them that
comprehend this truth.

O Náṣir! The excellence of this Day is immensely exalted above the
comprehension of men, however extensive their knowledge, however
profound their understanding. How much more must it transcend the
imaginations of them that have strayed from its light, and been shut out
from its glory! Shouldst thou rend asunder the grievous veil that
blindeth thy vision, thou wouldst behold such a bounty as naught, from
the beginning that hath no beginning till the end that hath no end, can
either resemble or equal. What language should He Who is the Mouthpiece
of God choose to speak, so that they who are shut out as by a veil from
Him can recognize His glory? The righteous, inmates of the Kingdom on
high, shall drink deep from the Wine of Holiness, in My name, the
all-glorious. None other besides them will share such benefits.

LIV: By the righteousness of God, my Well-Beloved!…

By the righteousness of God, my Well-Beloved! I have never aspired
after worldly leadership. My sole purpose hath been to hand down unto
men that which I was bidden to deliver by God, the Gracious, the
Incomparable, that it may detach them from all that pertaineth to this
world, and cause them to attain such heights as neither the ungodly can
conceive, nor the froward imagine.

LV: Call thou to remembrance, O Land of Tá…

Call thou to remembrance, O Land of Tá (Ṭihrán), the former days in
which thy Lord had made thee the seat of His throne, and had enveloped
thee with the effulgence of His glory. How vast the number of those
sanctified beings, those symbols of certitude, who, in their great love
for thee, have laid down their lives and sacrificed their all for thy
sake! Joy be to thee, and blissfulness to them that inhabit thee. I
testify that out of thee, as every discerning heart knoweth, proceedeth
the living breath of Him Who is the Desire of the world. In thee the
Unseen hath been revealed, and out of thee hath gone forth that which
lay hid from the eyes of men. Which one of the multitude of thy sincere
lovers shall We remember, whose blood hath been shed within thy gates,
and whose dust is now concealed beneath thy soil? The sweet savors of
God have unceasingly been wafted, and shall everlastingly continue to be
wafted upon thee. Our Pen is moved to commemorate thee, and to extol the
victims of tyranny, those men and women that sleep beneath thy dust.

Among them is Our own sister, whom We now call to mind as a token of
Our fidelity, and as proof of Our loving-kindness, unto her. How piteous
was her plight! In what a state of resignation she returned to her God!
We, alone, in Our all-encompassing knowledge, have known it.

O Land of Tá! Thou art still, through the grace of God, a center
around which His beloved ones have gathered. Happy are they; happy every
refugee that seeketh thy shelter, in his sufferings in the path of God,
the Lord of this wondrous Day! Blessed are they that remember the one
true God, that magnify His Name, and seek diligently to serve His Cause.
It is to these men that the sacred Books of old have referred. On them
hath the Commander of the Faithful lavished his praise, saying:
“The blessedness awaiting them excelleth the blessedness we now
enjoy.” He, verily, hath spoken the truth, and to this We now
testify. The glory of their station, however, is as yet undisclosed. The
Hand of Divine power will, assuredly, lift up the veil, and expose to
the sight of men that which shall cheer and lighten the eye of the
world.

Render thanks unto God, the Eternal Truth, exalted be His glory,
inasmuch as ye have attained so wondrous a favor, and been adorned with
the ornament of His praise. Appreciate the value of these days, and
cleave to whatsoever beseemeth this Revelation. He, verily, is the
Counsellor, the Compassionate, the All-Knowing.

LVI: Let nothing grieve thee, O Land of Tá…

Let nothing grieve thee, O Land of Tá (Ṭihrán), for God hath chosen
thee to be the source of the joy of all mankind. He shall, if it be His
Will, bless thy throne with one who will rule with justice, who will
gather together the flock of God which the wolves have scattered. Such a
ruler will, with joy and gladness, turn his face towards, and extend his
favors unto, the people of Bahá. He indeed is accounted in the sight of
God as a jewel among men. Upon him rest forever the glory of God, and
the glory of all that dwell in the kingdom of His revelation.

Rejoice with great joy, for God hath made thee “the Day Spring
of His light,” inasmuch as within thee was born the Manifestation
of His Glory. Be thou glad for this name that hath been conferred upon
thee—a name through which the Day Star of grace hath shed its splendor,
through which both earth and heaven have been illumined.

Ere long will the state of affairs within thee be changed, and the
reins of power fall into the hands of the people. Verily, thy Lord is
the All-Knowing. His authority embraceth all things. Rest thou assured
in the gracious favor of thy Lord. The eye of His loving-kindness shall
everlastingly be directed towards thee. The day is approaching when thy
agitation will have been transmuted into peace and quiet calm. Thus hath
it been decreed in the wondrous Book.

LVII: When thou art departed out of the court of…

When thou art departed out of the court of My presence, O Muḥammad,
direct thy steps towards My House (Baghdád House), and visit it
on behalf of thy Lord. When thou reachest its door, stand thou before it
and say: Whither is the Ancient Beauty gone, O most great House of God,
He through Whom God hath made thee the cynosure of an adoring world, and
proclaimed thee to be the sign of His remembrance unto all who are in
the heavens and all who are on the earth? Oh! for the former days when
thou, O House of God, wert made His footstool, the days when in
ceaseless strains the melody of the All-Merciful poured forth from thee!
What hath become of thy jewel whose glory hath irradiated all creation?
Whither are gone the days in which He, the Ancient King, had made thee
the throne of His glory, the days in which He had chosen thee alone to
be the lamp of salvation between earth and heaven, and caused thee to
diffuse, at dawn and at eventide, the sweet fragrance of the
All-Glorious?

Where, O House of God, is the Sun of majesty and power Who had
enveloped thee with the brightness of His presence? Where is He, the Day
Spring of the tender mercies of thy Lord, the Unconstrained, Who had
established His seat within thy walls? What is it, O throne of God, that
hath altered thy countenance, and made thy pillars to tremble? What
could have closed thy door to the face of them that eagerly seek thee?
What hath made thee so desolate? Couldst thou have been told that the
Beloved of the world is pursued by the swords of His enemies? The Lord
bless thee, and bless thy fidelity unto Him, inasmuch as thou hast
remained His companion through all His sorrows and His sufferings.

I testify that thou art the scene of His transcendent glory, His most
holy habitation. Out of thee hath gone forth the Breath of the
All-Glorious, a Breath that hath breathed over all created things, and
filled with joy the breasts of the devout that dwell in the mansions of
Paradise. The Concourse on high, and they that inhabit the Cities of the
Names of God, weep over thee, and bewail the things that have befallen
thee.

Thou art still the symbol of the names and attributes of the
Almighty, the Point towards which the eyes of the Lord of earth and
heaven are directed. There hath befallen thee what hath befallen the Ark
in which God’s pledge of security had been made to dwell. Well is
it with him that apprehendeth the intent of these words, and recognizeth
the purpose of Him Who is the Lord of all creation.

Happy are those that inhale from thee the sweet savors of the
Merciful, that acknowledge thine exaltation, that safeguard thy
sanctity, that reverence, at all times, thy station. We implore the
Almighty to grant that the eyes of those who have turned away from thee,
and failed to appreciate thy worth, may be opened, that they may truly
recognize thee, and Him Who, through the power of truth, hath raised
thee up on high. Blind, indeed, are they about thee, and utterly unaware
of thee in this day. Thy Lord is, verily, the Gracious, the
Forgiving.

I bear witness that through thee God hath proved the hearts of His
servants. Blessed be the man that directeth his steps toward thee, and
visiteth thee. Woe to him that denieth thy right, that turneth away from
thee, that dishonoreth thy name, and profaneth thy holiness.

Grieve not, O House of God, if the veil of thy sanctity be rent
asunder by the infidels. God hath, in the world of creation, adorned
thee with the jewel of His remembrance. Such an ornament no man can, at
any time, profane. Towards thee the eyes of thy Lord shall, under all
conditions, remain directed. He, verily, will incline His ear to the
prayer of every one that visiteth thee, who will circle around thee, and
calleth upon Him in thy name. He, in truth, is the Forgiving, the
All-Merciful.

I beseech Thee, O my God, by this House that hath suffered such
change in its separation from Thee, that bewaileth its remoteness from
Thy presence, and lamenteth Thy tribulation, to forgive me, and my
parents, and my kindred, and such of my brethren as have believed in
Thee. Grant that all my needs be satisfied, through Thy bounty, O Thou
Who art the King of Names. Thou art the most Bountiful of the bountiful,
the Lord of all worlds.

LVIII: Call thou to mind that which hath been…

Call thou to mind that which hath been revealed unto Mihdí, Our
servant, in the first year of Our banishment to the Land of Mystery
(Adrianople). Unto him have We predicted that which must befall Our
House (Baghdád House), in the days to come, lest he grieve over
the acts of robbery and violence already perpetrated against it. Verily,
the Lord, thy God, knoweth all that is in the heavens and all that is on
the earth.

To him We have written: This is not the first humiliation inflicted
upon My House. In days gone by the hand of the oppressor hath heaped
indignities upon it. Verily, it shall be so abased in the days to come
as to cause tears to flow from every discerning eye. Thus have We
unfolded to thee things hidden beyond the veil, inscrutable to all save
God, the Almighty, the All-Praised. In the fullness of time, the Lord
shall, by the power of truth, exalt it in the eyes of all men. He shall
cause it to become the Standard of His Kingdom, the Shrine round which
will circle the concourse of the faithful. Thus hath spoken the Lord,
thy God, ere the day of lamentation arriveth. This revelation have We
given thee in Our holy Tablet, lest thou sorrow for what hath befallen
Our House through the assaults of the enemy. All praise be to God, the
All-Knowing, the All-Wise.

LIX: Every unbiased observer will readily admit…

Every unbiased observer will readily admit that, ever since the dawn
of His Revelation, this wronged One hath invited all mankind to turn
their faces towards the Day Spring of Glory, and hath forbidden
corruption, hatred, oppression, and wickedness. And yet, behold what the
hand of the oppressor hath wrought! No pen dare describe his tyranny.
Though the purpose of Him Who is the Eternal Truth hath been to confer
everlasting life upon all men, and ensure their security and peace, yet
witness how they have arisen to shed the blood of His loved ones, and
have pronounced on Him the sentence of death.

The instigators of this oppression are those very persons who, though
so foolish, are reputed the wisest of the wise. Such is their blindness
that, with unfeigned severity, they have cast into this fortified and
afflictive Prison Him, for the servants of Whose Threshold the world
hath been created. The Almighty, however, in spite of them and those
that have repudiated the truth of this “Great Announcement,”
hath transformed this Prison House into the Most Exalted Paradise, the
Heaven of Heavens.

We did not refuse such material benefits as could relieve Us from Our
afflictions. Every one of Our companions, however, will bear Us witness
that Our holy court is sanctified from, and far above, such material
benefits. We have nevertheless accepted, while confined in this Prison,
those things of which the infidels have striven to deprive Us. If a man
be found willing to rear, in Our name, an edifice of pure gold or
silver, or a house begemmed with stones of inestimable value, such a
wish will no doubt be granted. He, verily, doeth what He willeth, and
ordaineth that which He pleaseth. Leave hath, moreover, been given to
whosoever may desire to raise, throughout the length and breadth of this
land, noble and imposing structures, and dedicate the rich and sacred
territories adjoining the Jordan and its vicinity to the worship and
service of the one true God, magnified be His glory, that the prophecies
recorded by the Pen of the Most High in the sacred Scriptures may be
fulfilled, and that which God, the Lord of all worlds, hath purposed in
this most exalted, this most holy, this mighty, and wondrous Revelation
may be made manifest.

We have, of old, uttered these words: Spread thy skirt, O Jerusalem!
Ponder this in your hearts, O people of Bahá, and render thanks unto
your Lord, the Expounder, the Most Manifest.

Were the mysteries, that are known to none except God, to be
unraveled, the whole of mankind would witness the evidences of perfect
and consummate justice. With a certitude that none can question, all men
would cleave to His commandments, and would scrupulously observe them.
We, verily, have decreed in Our Book a goodly and bountiful reward to
whosoever will turn away from wickedness and lead a chaste and godly
life. He, in truth, is the Great Giver, the All-Bountiful.

LX: My captivity can bring on Me no shame….

My captivity can bring on Me no shame. Nay, by My life, it conferreth
on Me glory. That which can make Me ashamed is the conduct of such of My
followers as profess to love Me, yet in fact follow the Evil One. They,
indeed, are of the lost.

When the time set for this Revelation was fulfilled, and He Who is
the Day Star of the world appeared in ‘Iráq, He bade His followers
observe that which would sanctify them from all earthly defilements.
Some preferred to follow the desires of a corrupt inclination, while
others walked in the way of righteousness and truth, and were rightly
guided.

Say: He is not to be numbered with the people of Bahá who followeth
his mundane desires, or fixeth his heart on things of the earth. He is
My true follower who, if he come to a valley of pure gold, will pass
straight through it aloof as a cloud, and will neither turn back, nor
pause. Such a man is, assuredly, of Me. From his garment the Concourse
on high can inhale the fragrance of sanctity…. And if he met the
fairest and most comely of women, he would not feel his heart seduced by
the least shadow of desire for her beauty. Such an one, indeed, is the
creation of spotless chastity. Thus instructeth you the Pen of the
Ancient of Days, as bidden by your Lord, the Almighty, the
All-Bountiful.

LXI: The world is in travail, and its agitation…

The world is in travail, and its agitation waxeth day by day. Its
face is turned towards waywardness and unbelief. Such shall be its
plight, that to disclose it now would not be meet and seemly. Its
perversity will long continue. And when the appointed hour is come,
there shall suddenly appear that which shall cause the limbs of mankind
to quake. Then, and only then, will the Divine Standard be unfurled, and
the Nightingale of Paradise warble its melody.

LXII: Recall thou to mind My sorrows, My cares…

Recall thou to mind My sorrows, My cares and anxieties, My woes and
trials, the state of My captivity, the tears that I have shed, the
bitterness of Mine anguish, and now My imprisonment in this far-off
land. God, O Muṣṭafá, beareth Me witness. Couldst thou be told what hath
befallen the Ancient Beauty, thou wouldst flee into the wilderness, and
weep with a great weeping. In thy grief, thou wouldst smite thyself on
the head, and cry out as one stung by the sting of the adder. Be thou
grateful to God, that We have refused to divulge unto thee the secrets
of those unsearchable decrees that have been sent down unto Us from the
heaven of the Will of thy Lord, the Most Powerful, the Almighty.

By the righteousness of God! Every morning I arose from My bed, I
discovered the hosts of countless afflictions massed behind My door; and
every night when I lay down, lo! My heart was torn with agony at what it
had suffered from the fiendish cruelty of its foes. With every piece of
bread the Ancient Beauty breaketh is coupled the assault of a fresh
affliction, and with every drop He drinketh is mixed the bitterness of
the most woeful of trials. He is preceded in every step He taketh by an
army of unforeseen calamities, while in His rear follow legions of
agonizing sorrows.

Such is My plight, wert thou to ponder it in thine heart. Let not,
however, thy soul grieve over that which God hath rained down upon Us.
Merge thy will in His pleasure, for We have, at no time, desired
anything whatsoever except His Will, and have welcomed each one of His
irrevocable decrees. Let thine heart be patient, and be thou not
dismayed. Follow not in the way of them that are sorely agitated.

LXIII: O thou whose face is turned towards Me!…

O thou whose face is turned towards Me! As soon as thine eyes behold
from afar My native city (Ṭihrán), stand thou and say: I am come to thee
out of the Prison, O Land of Tá, with tidings from God, the Help in
Peril, the Self-Subsisting. I announce unto thee, O mother of the world
and fountain of light unto all its peoples, the tender mercies of thy
Lord, and greet thee in the name of Him Who is the Eternal Truth, the
Knower of things unseen. I testify that within thee He Who is the Hidden
Name was revealed, and the Unseen Treasure uncovered. Through thee the
secret of all things, be they of the past or of the future, hath been
unfolded.

O Land of Tá! He Who is the Lord of Names remembereth thee in His
glorious station. Thou wert the Day Spring of the Cause of God, the
fountain of His Revelation, the manifestation of His Most Great Name—a
Name that hath caused the hearts and souls of men to tremble. How vast
the number of those men and women, those victims of tyranny, that have,
within thy walls, laid down their lives in the path of God, and been
buried beneath thy dust with such cruelty as to cause every honored
servant of God to bemoan their plight.

LXIV: It is Our wish to remember the Abode of…

It is Our wish to remember the Abode of supreme blissfulness
(Ṭihrán), the holy and shining city—the city wherein the fragrance of
the Well-Beloved hath been shed, wherein His signs have been diffused,
wherein the evidences of His glory have been revealed, wherein His
standards have been raised, wherein His tabernacle hath been pitched,
wherein each of His wise decrees hath been unfolded.

It is the city in which the sweet savors of reunion have breathed,
which have caused the sincere lovers of God to draw nigh unto Him, and
to gain access to the Habitation of holiness and beauty. Happy is the
wayfarer that directeth his steps towards this city, that gaineth
admittance into it, and quaffeth the wine of reunion, through the
outpouring grace of his Lord, the Gracious, the All-Praised.

I am come to thee, O land of the heart’s desire, with tidings
from God, and announce to thee His gracious favor and mercy, and greet
and magnify thee in His name. He, in truth, is of immense bounteousness
and goodness. Blessed be the man that turneth his face towards thee,
that perceiveth from thee the fragrance of God’s Presence, the
Lord of all worlds. His glory be on thee, and the brightness of His
light envelop thee, inasmuch as God hath made thee a paradise unto His
servants, and proclaimed thee to be the blest and sacred land of which
He, Himself, hath made mention in the Books which His Prophets and
Messengers have revealed.

Through thee, O land of resplendent glory, the ensign, “There
is none other God but Him,” hath been unfurled, and the standard,
“Verily I am the Truth, the Knower of things unseen,” been
hoisted. It behoveth every one that visiteth thee to glory in thee and
in them that inhabit thee, that have branched from My Tree, who are the
leaves thereof, who are the signs of My glory, who follow Me and are My
lovers, and who, with the most mighty determination, have turned their
faces in the direction of My glorious station.

LXV: Call Thou to remembrance Thine arrival in…

Call Thou to remembrance Thine arrival in the City (Constantinople),
how the Ministers of the Sulṭán thought Thee to be unacquainted with
their laws and regulations, and believed Thee to be one of the ignorant.
Say: Yes, by My Lord! I am ignorant of all things except what God hath,
through His bountiful favor, been pleased to teach Me. To this We
assuredly testify, and unhesitatingly confess it.

Say: If the laws and regulations to which ye cleave be of your own
making, We will, in no wise, follow them. Thus have I been instructed by
Him Who is the All-Wise, the All-Informed. Such hath been My way in the
past, and such will it remain in the future, through the power of God
and His might. This, indeed, is the true and right way. If they be
ordained by God, bring forth, then, your proofs, if ye be of them that
speak the truth. Say: We have written down in a Book which leaveth not
unrecorded the work of any man, however insignificant, all that they
have imputed to Thee, and all that they have done unto Thee.

Say: It behoveth you, O Ministers of State, to keep the precepts of
God, and to forsake your own laws and regulations, and to be of them who
are guided aright. Better is this for you than all ye possess, did ye
but know it. If ye transgress the commandment of God, not one jot or one
tittle of all your works shall be acceptable in His sight. Ye shall,
erelong, discover the consequences of that which ye shall have done in
this vain life, and shall be repaid for them. This, verily, is the
truth, the undoubted truth.

How great the number of those who, in bygone ages, have committed the
things ye have committed, and who, though superior to you in rank, have,
in the end, returned unto dust, and been consigned to their inevitable
doom! Would that ye might ponder the Cause of God in your hearts! Ye
shall follow in their wake, and shall be made to enter a habitation
wherein none shall be found to befriend or help you. Ye shall, of a
truth, be asked of your doings, shall be called to account for your
failure in duty with regard to the Cause of God, and for having
disdainfully rejected His loved ones who, with manifest sincerity, have
come unto you.

It is ye who have taken counsel together regarding them, ye that have
preferred to follow the promptings of your own desires, and forsaken the
commandment of God, the Help in Peril, the Almighty.

Say: What! Cleave ye to your own devices, and cast behind your backs
the precepts of God? Ye, indeed, have wronged your own selves and
others. Would that ye could perceive it! Say: If your rules and
principles be founded on justice, why is it, then, that ye follow those
which accord with your corrupt inclinations and reject such as conflict
with your desires? By what right claim ye, then, to judge fairly between
men? Are your rules and principles such as to justify your persecution
of Him Who, at your bidding, hath presented Himself before you, your
rejection of Him, and your infliction on Him every day of grievous
injury? Hath He ever, though it be for one short moment, disobeyed you?
All the inhabitants of ‘Iráq, and beyond them every discerning
observer, will bear witness to the truth of My words.

Be fair in your judgment, O ye Ministers of State! What is it that We
have committed that could justify Our banishment? What is the offense
that hath warranted Our expulsion? It is We Who have sought you, and
yet, behold how ye refused to receive Us! By God! This is a sore
injustice that ye have perpetrated—an injustice with which no earthly
injustice can measure. To this the Almighty is Himself a witness….

Know ye that the world and its vanities and its embellishments shall
pass away. Nothing will endure except God’s Kingdom which
pertaineth to none but Him, the Sovereign Lord of all, the Help in
Peril, the All-Glorious, the Almighty. The days of your life shall roll
away, and all the things with which ye are occupied and of which ye
boast yourselves shall perish, and ye shall, most certainly, be summoned
by a company of His angels to appear at the spot where the limbs of the
entire creation shall be made to tremble, and the flesh of every
oppressor to creep. Ye shall be asked of the things your hands have
wrought in this, your vain life, and shall be repaid for your doings.
This is the day that shall inevitably come upon you, the hour that none
can put back. To this the Tongue of Him that speaketh the truth and is
the Knower of all things hath testified.

LXVI: Fear God, ye inhabitants of the City (Constantinople),…

Fear God, ye inhabitants of the City (Constantinople), and sow not
the seeds of dissension amongst men. Walk not in the paths of the Evil
One. Walk ye, during the few remaining days of your life, in the ways of
the one true God. Your days shall pass away as have the days of them who
were before you. To dust shall ye return, even as your fathers of old
did return.

Know ye that I am afraid of none except God. In none but Him have I
placed My trust; to none will I cleave but Him, and wish for naught
except the thing He hath wished for Me. This, indeed, is My
heart’s desire, did ye but know it. I have offered up My soul and
My body as a sacrifice for God, the Lord of all worlds. Whoso hath known
God shall know none but Him, and he that feareth God shall be afraid of
no one except Him, though the powers of the whole earth rise up and be
arrayed against him. I speak naught except at His bidding, and follow
not, through the power of God and His might, except His truth. He,
verily, shall recompense the truthful.

Narrate, O Servant, the things Thou didst behold at the time of Thine
arrival in the City, that Thy testimony may endure amongst men, and
serve as a warning unto them that believe. We found, upon Our arrival in
the City, its governors and elders as children gathered about and
disporting themselves with clay. We perceived no one sufficiently mature
to acquire from Us the truths which God hath taught Us, nor ripe for Our
wondrous words of wisdom. Our inner eye wept sore over them, and over
their transgressions and their total disregard of the thing for which
they were created. This is what We observed in that City, and which We
have chosen to note down in Our Book, that it may serve as a warning
unto them, and unto the rest of mankind.

Say: If ye be seekers after this life and the vanities thereof, ye
should have sought them while ye were still enclosed in your
mothers’ wombs, for at that time ye were continually approaching
them, could ye but perceive it. Ye have, on the other hand, ever since
ye were born and attained maturity, been all the while receding from the
world and drawing closer to dust. Why, then, exhibit such greed in
amassing the treasures of the earth, when your days are numbered and
your chance is well-nigh lost? Will ye not, then, O heedless ones, shake
off your slumber?

Incline your ears to the counsels which this Servant giveth you for
the sake of God. He, verily, asketh no recompense from you and is
resigned to what God hath ordained for Him, and is entirely submissive
to God’s Will.

The days of your life are far spent, O people, and your end is fast
approaching. Put away, therefore, the things ye have devised and to
which ye cleave, and take firm hold on the precepts of God, that haply
ye may attain that which He hath purposed for you, and be of them that
pursue a right course. Delight not yourselves in the things of the world
and its vain ornaments, neither set your hopes on them. Let your
reliance be on the remembrance of God, the Most Exalted, the Most Great.
He will, erelong, bring to naught all the things ye possess. Let Him be
your fear, and forget not His covenant with you, and be not of them that
are shut out as by a veil from Him.

Beware that ye swell not with pride before God, and disdainfully
reject His loved ones. Defer ye humbly to the faithful, they that have
believed in God and in His signs, whose hearts witness to His unity,
whose tongues proclaim His oneness, and who speak not except by His
leave. Thus do We exhort you with justice, and warn you with truth, that
perchance ye may be awakened.

Lay not on any soul a load which ye would not wish to be laid upon
you, and desire not for any one the things ye would not desire for
yourselves. This is My best counsel unto you, did ye but observe it.

Respect ye the divines and learned amongst you, they whose conduct
accords with their professions, who transgress not the bounds which God
hath fixed, whose judgments are in conformity with His behests as
revealed in His Book. Know ye that they are the lamps of guidance unto
them that are in the heavens and on the earth. They who disregard and
neglect the divines and learned that live amongst them—these have truly
changed the favor with which God hath favored them.

Say: Await ye till God will have changed His favor unto you. Nothing
whatsoever escapeth Him. He knoweth the secrets both of the heavens and
of the earth. His knowledge embraceth all things. Rejoice not in what ye
have done, or will do in the future, nor delight in the tribulation with
which ye have afflicted Us, for ye are unable by such means as these to
exalt your stations, were ye to examine your works with acute
discernment. Neither will ye be capable of detracting from the loftiness
of Our state. Nay, God will add unto the recompense with which He shall
reward Us, for having sustained with persevering patience the
tribulations We have suffered. He, verily, shall increase the reward of
them that endure with patience.

Know ye that trials and tribulations have, from time immemorial, been
the lot of the chosen Ones of God and His beloved, and such of His
servants as are detached from all else but Him, they whom neither
merchandise nor traffic beguile from the remembrance of the Almighty,
they that speak not till He hath spoken, and act according to His
commandment. Such is God’s method carried into effect of old, and
such will it remain in the future. Blessed are the steadfastly enduring,
they that are patient under ills and hardships, who lament not over
anything that befalleth them, and who tread the path of
resignation….

The day is approaching when God will have raised up a people who will
call to remembrance Our days, who will tell the tale of Our trials, who
will demand the restitution of Our rights from them that, without a
tittle of evidence, have treated Us with manifest injustice. God,
assuredly, dominateth the lives of them that wronged Us, and is well
aware of their doings. He will, most certainly, lay hold on them for
their sins. He, verily, is the fiercest of avengers.

Thus have We recounted unto you the tales of the one true God, and
sent down unto you the things He had preordained, that haply ye may ask
forgiveness of Him, may return unto Him, may truly repent, may realize
your misdeeds, may shake off your slumber, may be roused from your
heedlessness, may atone for the things that have escaped you, and be of
them that do good. Let him who will, acknowledge the truth of My words;
and as to him that willeth not, let him turn aside. My sole duty is to
remind you of your failure in duty towards the Cause of God, if
perchance ye may be of them that heed My warning. Wherefore, hearken ye
unto My speech, and return ye to God and repent, that He, through His
grace, may have mercy upon you, may wash away your sins, and forgive
your trespasses. The greatness of His mercy surpasseth the fury of His
wrath, and His grace encompasseth all who have been called into being
and been clothed with the robe of life, be they of the past or of the
future.

LXVII: There hath appeared in this Revelation…

There hath appeared in this Revelation what hath never appeared
before. As to the infidels that have witnessed what hath been
manifested, they murmur and say: “Verily, this is a sorcerer who
hath devised a lie against God.” They are indeed an outcast
people.

Tell out to the nations, O Pen of the Ancient of Days, the things
that have happened in ‘Iráq. Tell them of the messenger whom the
congregation of the divines of that land had delegated to meet Us, who,
when attaining Our presence, questioned Us concerning certain sciences,
and whom We answered by virtue of the knowledge We inherently possess.
Thy Lord is, verily, the Knower of things unseen. “We
testify,” said he, “that the knowledge Thou dost possess is
such as none can rival. Such a knowledge, however, is insufficient to
vindicate the exalted station which the people ascribe to Thee. Produce,
if Thou speakest the truth, what the combined forces of the peoples of
the earth are powerless to produce.” Thus was it irrevocably
decreed in the court of the presence of thy Lord, the All-Glorious, the
Loving.

“Witness! What is it thou seest?” He was dumbfounded. And
when he came to himself, he said: “I truly believe in God, the
All-Glorious, the All-Praised.” “Go thou to the people, and
tell them: ‘Ask whatsoever ye please. Powerful is He to do what He
willeth. Nothing whatsoever, be it of the past or of the future, can
frustrate His Will.’ Say: ‘O ye congregation of the divines!
Choose any matter ye desire, and ask your Lord, the God of Mercy, to
reveal it unto you. If He fulfil your wish, by virtue of His
sovereignty, believe ye then in Him, and be not of those that reject His
truth.’” “The dawn of understanding hath now
broken,” said he, “and the testimony of the All-Merciful is
fulfilled.” He arose and returned unto them that sent him, at the
bidding of God, the All-Glorious, the Well-Beloved.

Days passed and he failed to come back to Us. Eventually, there came
another messenger who informed Us that the people had given up what they
originally had purposed. They are indeed a contemptible people. This is
what happened in ‘Iráq, and to what I reveal I Myself am witness.
This happening was noised abroad, yet none was found to comprehend its
meaning. Thus did We ordain it. Would that ye knew this!

By My Self! Whoso hath in bygone ages asked Us to produce the signs
of God, hath, no sooner We revealed them to him, repudiated God’s
truth. The people, however, have, for the most part, remained heedless.
They whose eyes are illumined with the light of understanding will
perceive the sweet savors of the All-Merciful, and will embrace His
truth. These are they who are truly sincere.

LXVIII: O thou who art the fruit of My Tree and…

O thou who art the fruit of My Tree and the leaf thereof! On thee be
My glory and My mercy. Let not thine heart grieve over what hath
befallen thee. Wert thou to scan the pages of the Book of Life, thou
wouldst, most certainly, discover that which would dissipate thy sorrows
and dissolve thine anguish.

Know thou, O fruit of My Tree, that the decrees of the Sovereign
Ordainer, as related to fate and predestination, are of two kinds. Both
are to be obeyed and accepted. The one is irrevocable, the other is, as
termed by men, impending. To the former all must unreservedly submit,
inasmuch as it is fixed and settled. God, however, is able to alter or
repeal it. As the harm that must result from such a change will be
greater than if the decree had remained unaltered, all, therefore,
should willingly acquiesce in what God hath willed and confidently abide
by the same.

The decree that is impending, however, is such that prayer and
entreaty can succeed in averting it.

God grant that thou who art the fruit of My Tree, and they that are
associated with thee, may be shielded from its evil consequences.

Say: O God, my God! Thou hast committed into mine hands a trust from
Thee, and hast now according to the good-pleasure of Thy Will called it
back to Thyself. It is not for me, who am a handmaid of Thine, to say,
whence is this to me or wherefore hath it happened, inasmuch as Thou art
glorified in all Thine acts, and art to be obeyed in Thy decree. Thine
handmaid, O my Lord, hath set her hopes on Thy grace and bounty. Grant
that she may obtain that which will draw her nigh unto Thee, and will
profit her in every world of Thine. Thou art the Forgiving, the
All-Bountiful. There is none other God but Thee, the Ordainer, the
Ancient of Days.

Vouchsafe Thy blessings, O Lord, my God, unto them that have quaffed
the wine of Thy love before the face of men, and, in spite of Thine
enemies, have acknowledged Thy unity, testified to Thy oneness, and
confessed their belief in that which hath made the limbs of the
oppressors among Thy creatures to quake, and the flesh of the proud ones
of the earth to tremble. I bear witness that Thy Sovereignty can never
perish, nor Thy Will be altered. Ordain for them that have set their
faces towards Thee, and for Thine handmaids that have held fast by Thy
Cord, that which beseemeth the Ocean of Thy bounty and the Heaven of Thy
grace.

Thou art He, O God, Who hath proclaimed Himself as the Lord of
Wealth, and characterized all that serve Him as poor and needy. Even as
Thou hast written: “O ye that believe! Ye are but paupers in need
of God; but God is the All-Possessing, the All-Praised.” Having
acknowledged my poverty, and recognized Thy wealth, suffer me not to be
deprived of the glory of Thy riches. Thou art, verily, the Supreme
Protector, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.

LXIX: Call thou to mind the behavior of Ashraf’s…

Call thou to mind the behavior of Ashraf’s mother, whose
son laid down his life in the Land of Zá (Zanján). He, most certainly,
is in the seat of truth, in the presence of One Who is the Most
Powerful, the Almighty.

When the infidels, so unjustly, decided to put him to death, they
sent and fetched his mother, that perchance she might admonish him, and
induce him to recant his faith, and follow in the footsteps of them that
have repudiated the truth of God, the Lord of all worlds.

No sooner did she behold the face of her son, than she spoke to him
such words as caused the hearts of the lovers of God, and beyond them
those of the Concourse on high, to cry out and be sore pained with
grief. Truly, thy Lord knoweth what My tongue speaketh. He Himself
beareth witness to My words.

And when addressing him she said: “My son, mine own son! Fail
not to offer up thyself in the path of thy Lord. Beware that thou betray
not thy faith in Him before Whose face have bowed down in adoration all
who are in the heavens and all who are on the earth. Go thou straight
on, O my son, and persevere in the path of the Lord, thy God. Haste thee
to attain the presence of Him Who is the Well-Beloved of all
worlds.”

On her be My blessings, and My mercy, and My praise, and My glory. I
Myself shall atone for the loss of her son—a son who now dwelleth
within the tabernacle of My majesty and glory, and whose face beameth
with a light that envelopeth with its radiance the Maids of Heaven in
their celestial chambers, and beyond them the inmates of My Paradise,
and the denizens of the Cities of Holiness. Were any eye to gaze on his
face, he would exclaim: “Lo, this is no other than a noble
angel!”

LXX: The world’s equilibrium hath been upset…

The world’s equilibrium hath been upset through the vibrating
influence of this most great, this new World Order. Mankind’s
ordered life hath been revolutionized through the agency of this unique,
this wondrous System—the like of which mortal eyes have never
witnessed.

Immerse yourselves in the ocean of My words, that ye may unravel its
secrets, and discover all the pearls of wisdom that lie hid in its
depths. Take heed that ye do not vacillate in your determination to
embrace the truth of this Cause—a Cause through which the
potentialities of the might of God have been revealed, and His
sovereignty established. With faces beaming with joy, hasten ye unto
Him. This is the changeless Faith of God, eternal in the past, eternal
in the future. Let him that seeketh, attain it; and as to him that hath
refused to seek it—verily, God is Self-Sufficient, above any need of
His creatures.

Say: This is the infallible Balance which the Hand of God is holding,
in which all who are in the heavens and all who are on the earth are
weighed, and their fate determined, if ye be of them that believe and
recognize this truth. Say: Through it the poor have been enriched, the
learned enlightened, and the seekers enabled to ascend unto the presence
of God. Beware, lest ye make it a cause of dissension amongst you. Be ye
as firmly settled as the immovable mountain in the Cause of your Lord,
the Mighty, the Loving.

LXXI: Be not dismayed, O peoples of the world,…

Be not dismayed, O peoples of the world, when the day star of My
beauty is set, and the heaven of My tabernacle is concealed from your
eyes. Arise to further My Cause, and to exalt My Word amongst men. We
are with you at all times, and shall strengthen you through the power of
truth. We are truly almighty. Whoso hath recognized Me, will arise and
serve Me with such determination that the powers of earth and heaven
shall be unable to defeat his purpose.

The peoples of the world are fast asleep. Were they to wake from
their slumber, they would hasten with eagerness unto God, the
All-Knowing, the All-Wise. They would cast away everything they possess,
be it all the treasures of the earth, that their Lord may remember them
to the extent of addressing to them but one word. Such is the
instruction given you by Him Who holdeth the knowledge of things hidden,
in a Tablet which the eye of creation hath not seen, and which is
revealed to none except His own Self, the omnipotent protector of all
worlds. So bewildered are they in the drunkenness of their evil desires,
that they are powerless to recognize the Lord of all being, Whose voice
calleth aloud from every direction: “There is none other God but
Me, the Mighty, the All-Wise.”

Say: Rejoice not in the things ye possess; tonight they are yours,
tomorrow others will possess them. Thus warneth you He Who is the
All-Knowing, the All-Informed. Say: Can ye claim that what ye own is
lasting or secure? Nay! By Myself, the All-Merciful. The days of your
life flee away as a breath of wind, and all your pomp and glory shall be
folded up as were the pomp and glory of those gone before you. Reflect,
O people! What hath become of your bygone days, your lost centuries?
Happy the days that have been consecrated to the remembrance of God, and
blessed the hours which have been spent in praise of Him Who is the
All-Wise. By My life! Neither the pomp of the mighty, nor the wealth of
the rich, nor even the ascendancy of the ungodly will endure. All will
perish, at a word from Him. He, verily, is the All-Powerful, the
All-Compelling, the Almighty. What advantage is there in the earthly
things which men possess? That which shall profit them, they have
utterly neglected. Erelong, they will awake from their slumber, and find
themselves unable to obtain that which hath escaped them in the days of
their Lord, the Almighty, the All-Praised. Did they but know it, they
would renounce their all, that their names may be mentioned before His
throne. They, verily, are accounted among the dead.

LXXII: Let not your hearts be perturbed, O people,…

Let not your hearts be perturbed, O people, when the glory of My
Presence is withdrawn, and the ocean of My utterance is stilled. In My
presence amongst you there is a wisdom, and in My absence there is yet
another, inscrutable to all but God, the Incomparable, the All-Knowing.
Verily, We behold you from Our realm of glory, and shall aid whosoever
will arise for the triumph of Our Cause with the hosts of the Concourse
on high and a company of Our favored angels.

O peoples of the earth! God, the Eternal Truth, is My witness that
streams of fresh and soft-flowing waters have gushed from the rocks,
through the sweetness of the words uttered by your Lord, the
Unconstrained; and still ye slumber. Cast away that which ye possess,
and, on the wings of detachment, soar beyond all created things. Thus
biddeth you the Lord of creation, the movement of Whose Pen hath
revolutionized the soul of mankind.

Know ye from what heights your Lord, the All-Glorious is calling?
Think ye that ye have recognized the Pen wherewith your Lord, the Lord
of all names, commandeth you? Nay, by My life! Did ye but know it, ye
would renounce the world, and would hasten with your whole hearts to the
presence of the Well-Beloved. Your spirits would be so transported by
His Word as to throw into commotion the Greater World—how much more
this small and petty one! Thus have the showers of My bounty been poured
down from the heaven of My loving-kindness, as a token of My grace; that
ye may be of the thankful….

Beware lest the desires of the flesh and of a corrupt inclination
provoke divisions among you. Be ye as the fingers of one hand, the
members of one body. Thus counselleth you the Pen of Revelation, if ye
be of them that believe.

Consider the mercy of God and His gifts. He enjoineth upon you that
which shall profit you, though He Himself can well dispense with all
creatures. Your evil doings can never harm Us, neither can your good
works profit Us. We summon you wholly for the sake of God. To this every
man of understanding and insight will testify.

LXXIII: It is clear and evident that when the veils…

It is clear and evident that when the veils that conceal the
realities of the manifestations of the Names and Attributes of God, nay
of all created things visible or invisible, have been rent asunder,
nothing except the Sign of God will remain—a sign which He, Himself,
hath placed within these realities. This sign will endure as long as is
the wish of the Lord thy God, the Lord of the heavens and of the earth.
If such be the blessings conferred on all created things, how superior
must be the destiny of the true believer, whose existence and life are
to be regarded as the originating purpose of all creation. Just as the
conception of faith hath existed from the beginning that hath no
beginning, and will endure till the end that hath no end, in like manner
will the true believer eternally live and endure. His spirit will
everlastingly circle round the Will of God. He will last as long as God,
Himself, will last. He is revealed through the Revelation of God, and is
hidden at His bidding. It is evident that the loftiest mansions in the
Realm of Immortality have been ordained as the habitation of them that
have truly believed in God and in His signs. Death can never invade that
holy seat. Thus have We entrusted thee with the signs of thy Lord, that
thou mayest persevere in thy love for Him, and be of them that
comprehend this truth.

LXXIV: Every word that proceedeth out of the…

Every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God is endowed with
such potency as can instill new life into every human frame, if ye be of
them that comprehend this truth. All the wondrous works ye behold in
this world have been manifested through the operation of His supreme and
most exalted Will, His wondrous and inflexible Purpose. Through the mere
revelation of the word “Fashioner,” issuing forth from His
lips and proclaiming His attribute to mankind, such power is released as
can generate, through successive ages, all the manifold arts which the
hands of man can produce. This, verily, is a certain truth. No sooner is
this resplendent word uttered, than its animating energies, stirring
within all created things, give birth to the means and instruments
whereby such arts can be produced and perfected. All the wondrous
achievements ye now witness are the direct consequences of the
Revelation of this Name. In the days to come, ye will, verily, behold
things of which ye have never heard before. Thus hath it been decreed in
the Tablets of God, and none can comprehend it except them whose sight
is sharp. In like manner, the moment the word expressing My attribute
“The Omniscient” issueth forth from My mouth, every created
thing will, according to its capacity and limitations, be invested with
the power to unfold the knowledge of the most marvelous sciences, and
will be empowered to manifest them in the course of time at the bidding
of Him Who is the Almighty, the All-Knowing. Know thou of a certainty
that the Revelation of every other Name is accompanied by a similar
manifestation of Divine power. Every single letter proceeding out of the
mouth of God is indeed a mother letter, and every word uttered by Him
Who is the Well Spring of Divine Revelation is a mother word, and His
Tablet a Mother Tablet. Well is it with them that apprehend this
truth.

LXXV: Tear asunder, in My Name, the veils that…

Tear asunder, in My Name, the veils that have grievously blinded your
vision, and, through the power born of your belief in the unity of God,
scatter the idols of vain imitation. Enter, then, the holy paradise of
the good-pleasure of the All-Merciful. Sanctify your souls from
whatsoever is not of God, and taste ye the sweetness of rest within the
pale of His vast and mighty Revelation, and beneath the shadow of His
supreme and infallible authority. Suffer not yourselves to be wrapt in
the dense veils of your selfish desires, inasmuch as I have perfected in
every one of you My creation, so that the excellence of My handiwork may
be fully revealed unto men. It follows, therefore, that every man hath
been, and will continue to be, able of himself to appreciate the Beauty
of God, the Glorified. Had he not been endowed with such a capacity, how
could he be called to account for his failure? If, in the Day when all
the peoples of the earth will be gathered together, any man should,
whilst standing in the presence of God, be asked: “Wherefore hast
thou disbelieved in My Beauty and turned away from My Self,” and
if such a man should reply and say: “Inasmuch as all men have
erred, and none hath been found willing to turn his face to the Truth,
I, too, following their example, have grievously failed to recognize the
Beauty of the Eternal,” such a plea will, assuredly, be rejected.
For the faith of no man can be conditioned by any one except
himself.

This is one of the verities that lie enshrined in My Revelation—a
verity which I have revealed in all the heavenly Books, which I have
caused the Tongue of Grandeur to utter, and the Pen of Power to
inscribe. Ponder a while thereon, that with both your inner and outer
eye, ye may perceive the subtleties of Divine wisdom and discover the
gems of heavenly knowledge which, in clear and weighty language, I have
revealed in this exalted and incorruptible Tablet, and that ye may not
stray far from the All-Highest Throne, from the Tree beyond which there
is no passing, from the Habitation of everlasting might and glory.

The signs of God shine as manifest and resplendent as the sun amidst
the works of His creatures. Whatsoever proceedeth from Him is apart, and
will always remain distinguished, from the inventions of men. From the
Source of His knowledge countless Luminaries of learning and wisdom have
risen, and out of the Paradise of His Pen the breath of the All-Merciful
hath continually been wafted to the hearts and souls of men. Happy are
they that have recognized this truth.

LXXVI: Give ear, O My servant, unto that which…

Give ear, O My servant, unto that which is being sent down unto thee
from the Throne of thy Lord, the Inaccessible, the Most Great. There is
none other God but Him. He hath called into being His creatures, that
they may know Him, Who is the Compassionate, the All-Merciful. Unto the
cities of all nations He hath sent His Messengers, Whom He hath
commissioned to announce unto men tidings of the Paradise of His good
pleasure, and to draw them nigh unto the Haven of abiding security, the
Seat of eternal holiness and transcendent glory.

Some were guided by the Light of God, gained admittance into the
court of His presence, and quaffed, from the hand of resignation, the
waters of everlasting life, and were accounted of them that have truly
recognized and believed in Him. Others rebelled against Him, and
rejected the signs of God, the Most Powerful, the Almighty, the
All-Wise.

Ages rolled away, until they attained their consummation in this, the
Lord of days, the Day whereon the Day Star of the Bayán manifested
itself above the horizon of mercy, the Day in which the Beauty of the
All-Glorious shone forth in the exalted person of ‘Alí-Muḥammad,
the Báb. No sooner did He reveal Himself, than all the people rose up
against Him. By some He was denounced as one that hath uttered slanders
against God, the Almighty, the Ancient of Days. Others regarded Him as a
man smitten with madness, an allegation which I, Myself, have heard from
the lips of one of the divines. Still others disputed His claim to be
the Mouthpiece of God, and stigmatized Him as one who had stolen and
used as his the words of the Almighty, who had perverted their meaning,
and mingled them with his own. The Eye of Grandeur weepeth sore for the
things which their mouths have uttered, while they continue to rejoice
upon their seats.

“God,” said He, “is My witness, O people! I am come
to you with a Revelation from the Lord, your God, the Lord of your
fathers of old. Look not, O people, at the things ye possess. Look
rather at the things God hath sent down unto you. This, surely, will be
better for you than the whole of creation, could ye but perceive it.
Repeat the gaze, O people, and consider the testimony of God and His
proof which are in your possession, and compare them unto the Revelation
sent down unto you in this Day, that the truth, the infallible truth,
may be indubitably manifested unto you. Follow not, O people, the steps
of the Evil One; follow ye the Faith of the All-Merciful, and be ye of
them that truly believe. What would it profit man, if he were to fail to
recognize the Revelation of God? Nothing whatever. To this Mine own
Self, the Omnipotent, the Omniscient, the All-Wise, will
testify.”

The more He exhorted them, the fiercer grew their enmity, till, at
the last, they put Him to death with shameful cruelty. The curse of God
be upon the oppressors!

A few believed in Him; few of Our servants are the thankful. These He
admonished, in all His Tablets—nay, in every passage of His wondrous
writings—not to give themselves up in the Day of the promised
Revelation to anything whatever, be it in the heaven or in the earth.
“O people!” said He, “I have revealed Myself for His
Manifestation, and have caused My Book, the Bayán, to descend upon you
for no other purpose except to establish the truth of His Cause. Fear ye
God, and contend not with Him as the people of the Qur’án have
contended with Me. At whatever time ye hear of Him, hasten ye towards
Him, and cleave ye to whatsoever He may reveal unto you. Naught else
besides Him can ever profit you, no, not though ye produce from first to
last the testimonies of all those who were before you.”

And when after the lapse of a few years the heaven of Divine decree
was cleft asunder, and the Beauty of the Báb appeared in the clouds of
the names of God, arrayed in a new raiment, these same people
maliciously rose up against Him, Whose light embraceth all created
things. They broke His Covenant, rejected His truth, contended with Him,
caviled at His signs, treated His testimony as falsehood, and joined the
company of the infidels. Eventually, they determined to take away His
life. Such is the state of them who are in a far-gone error!

And when they realized their powerlessness to achieve their purpose,
they arose to plot against Him. Witness how every moment they devise a
fresh device to harm Him, that they may injure and dishonor the cause of
God. Say: Woe be to you! By God! Your schemings cover you with shame.
Your Lord, the God of mercy, can well dispense with all creatures.
Nothing whatever can either increase or diminish the things He doth
possess. If ye believe, to your own behoof will ye believe; and if ye
believe not, ye yourselves will suffer. At no time can the hand of the
infidel profane the hem of His Robe.

O My servant that believest in God! By the righteousness of the
Almighty! Were I to recount to thee the tale of the things that have
befallen Me, the souls and minds of men would be incapable of sustaining
its weight. God Himself beareth Me witness. Watch over thyself, and
follow not the footsteps of these people. Meditate diligently upon the
Cause of thy Lord. Strive to know Him through His own Self and not
through others. For no one else besides Him can ever profit thee. To
this all created things will testify, couldst thou but perceive it.

Emerge from behind the veil, by the leave of thy Lord, the
All-Glorious, the Most Powerful, and seize, before the eyes of those who
are in the heavens and those who are on the earth, the Chalice of
Immortality, in the name of thy Lord, the Inaccessible, the Most High,
and quaff thy fill, and be not of them that tarry. I swear by God! The
moment thou touchest the Cup with thy lips, the Concourse on high will
acclaim thee saying, “Drink with healthy relish, O man that hast
truly believed in God!” and the inhabitants of the Cities of
Immortality will cry out, “Joy be to thee, O thou that hast
drained the Cup of His love!” and the Tongue of Grandeur will hail
thee, “Great is the blessedness that awaiteth thee, O My servant,
for thou hast attained unto that which none hath attained, except such
as have detached themselves from all that is in the heavens and all that
is on the earth, and who are the emblems of true detachment.”

LXXVII: And now, concerning thy question regarding…

And now, concerning thy question regarding the creation of man. Know
thou that all men have been created in the nature made by God, the
Guardian, the Self-Subsisting. Unto each one hath been prescribed a
pre-ordained measure, as decreed in God’s mighty and guarded
Tablets. All that which ye potentially possess can, however, be
manifested only as a result of your own volition. Your own acts testify
to this truth. Consider, for instance, that which hath been forbidden,
in the Bayán, unto men. God hath in that Book, and by His behest,
decreed as lawful whatsoever He hath pleased to decree, and hath,
through the power of His sovereign might, forbidden whatsoever He
elected to forbid. To this testifieth the text of that Book. Will ye not
bear witness? Men, however, have wittingly broken His law. Is such a
behavior to be attributed to God, or to their proper selves? Be fair in
your judgment. Every good thing is of God, and every evil thing is from
yourselves. Will ye not comprehend? This same truth hath been revealed
in all the Scriptures, if ye be of them that understand. Every act ye
meditate is as clear to Him as is that act when already accomplished.
There is none other God besides Him. His is all creation and its empire.
All stands revealed before Him; all is recorded in His holy and hidden
Tablets. This fore-knowledge of God, however, should not be regarded as
having caused the actions of men, just as your own previous knowledge
that a certain event is to occur, or your desire that it should happen,
is not and can never be the reason for its occurrence.

LXXVIII: As to thy question concerning the origin…

As to thy question concerning the origin of creation. Know assuredly
that God’s creation hath existed from eternity, and will continue
to exist forever. Its beginning hath had no beginning, and its end
knoweth no end. His name, the Creator, presupposeth a creation, even as
His title, the Lord of Men, must involve the existence of a servant.

As to those sayings, attributed to the Prophets of old, such as,
“In the beginning was God; there was no creature to know
Him,” and “The Lord was alone; with no one to adore
Him,” the meaning of these and similar sayings is clear and
evident, and should at no time be misapprehended. To this same truth
bear witness these words which He hath revealed: “God was alone;
there was none else besides Him. He will always remain what He hath ever
been.” Every discerning eye will readily perceive that the Lord is
now manifest, yet there is none to recognize His glory. By this is meant
that the habitation wherein the Divine Being dwelleth is far above the
reach and ken of any one besides Him. Whatsoever in the contingent world
can either be expressed or apprehended, can never transgress the limits
which, by its inherent nature, have been imposed upon it. God, alone,
transcendeth such limitations. He, verily, is from everlasting. No peer
or partner has been, or can ever be, joined with Him. No name can be
compared with His Name. No pen can portray His nature, neither can any
tongue depict His glory. He will, for ever, remain immeasurably exalted
above any one except Himself.

Consider the hour at which the supreme Manifestation of God revealeth
Himself unto men. Ere that hour cometh, the Ancient Being, Who is still
unknown of men and hath not as yet given utterance to the Word of God,
is Himself the All-Knower in a world devoid of any man that hath known
Him. He is indeed the Creator without a creation. For at the very moment
preceding His Revelation, each and every created thing shall be made to
yield up its soul to God. This is indeed the Day of which it hath been
written: “Whose shall be the Kingdom this Day?” And none can
be found ready to answer!

LXXIX: As to thy question concerning the worlds…

As to thy question concerning the worlds of God. Know thou of a truth
that the worlds of God are countless in their number, and infinite in
their range. None can reckon or comprehend them except God, the
All-Knowing, the All-Wise. Consider thy state when asleep. Verily, I
say, this phenomenon is the most mysterious of the signs of God amongst
men, were they to ponder it in their hearts. Behold how the thing which
thou hast seen in thy dream is, after a considerable lapse of time,
fully realized. Had the world in which thou didst find thyself in thy
dream been identical with the world in which thou livest, it would have
been necessary for the event occurring in that dream to have transpired
in this world at the very moment of its occurrence. Were it so, you
yourself would have borne witness unto it. This being not the case,
however, it must necessarily follow that the world in which thou livest
is different and apart from that which thou hast experienced in thy
dream. This latter world hath neither beginning nor end. It would be
true if thou wert to contend that this same world is, as decreed by the
All-Glorious and Almighty God, within thy proper self and is wrapped up
within thee. It would equally be true to maintain that thy spirit,
having transcended the limitations of sleep and having stripped itself
of all earthly attachment, hath, by the act of God, been made to
traverse a realm which lieth hidden in the innermost reality of this
world. Verily I say, the creation of God embraceth worlds besides this
world, and creatures apart from these creatures. In each of these worlds
He hath ordained things which none can search except Himself, the
All-Searching, the All-Wise. Do thou meditate on that which We have
revealed unto thee, that thou mayest discover the purpose of God, thy
Lord, and the Lord of all worlds. In these words the mysteries of Divine
Wisdom have been treasured. We have refrained from dwelling upon this
theme owing to the sorrow that hath encompassed Us from the actions of
them that have been created through Our words, if ye be of them that
will hearken unto Our Voice.

LXXX: Thou hast asked Me whether man, as apart…

Thou hast asked Me whether man, as apart from the Prophets of God and
His chosen ones, will retain, after his physical death, the self-same
individuality, personality, consciousness, and understanding that
characterize his life in this world. If this should be the case, how is
it, thou hast observed, that whereas such slight injuries to his mental
faculties as fainting and severe illness deprive him of his
understanding and consciousness, his death, which must involve the
decomposition of his body and the dissolution of its elements, is
powerless to destroy that understanding and extinguish that
consciousness? How can any one imagine that man’s consciousness
and personality will be maintained, when the very instruments necessary
to their existence and function will have completely disintegrated?

Know thou that the soul of man is exalted above, and is independent
of all infirmities of body or mind. That a sick person showeth signs of
weakness is due to the hindrances that interpose themselves between his
soul and his body, for the soul itself remaineth unaffected by any
bodily ailments. Consider the light of the lamp. Though an external
object may interfere with its radiance, the light itself continueth to
shine with undiminished power. In like manner, every malady afflicting
the body of man is an impediment that preventeth the soul from
manifesting its inherent might and power. When it leaveth the body,
however, it will evince such ascendancy, and reveal such influence as no
force on earth can equal. Every pure, every refined and sanctified soul
will be endowed with tremendous power, and shall rejoice with exceeding
gladness.

Consider the lamp which is hidden under a bushel. Though its light be
shining, yet its radiance is concealed from men. Likewise, consider the
sun which hath been obscured by the clouds. Observe how its splendor
appeareth to have diminished, when in reality the source of that light
hath remained unchanged. The soul of man should be likened unto this
sun, and all things on earth should be regarded as his body. So long as
no external impediment interveneth between them, the body will, in its
entirety, continue to reflect the light of the soul, and to be sustained
by its power. As soon as, however, a veil interposeth itself between
them, the brightness of that light seemeth to lessen.

Consider again the sun when it is completely hidden behind the
clouds. Though the earth is still illumined with its light, yet the
measure of light which it receiveth is considerably reduced. Not until
the clouds have dispersed, can the sun shine again in the plenitude of
its glory. Neither the presence of the cloud nor its absence can, in any
way, affect the inherent splendor of the sun. The soul of man is the sun
by which his body is illumined, and from which it draweth its
sustenance, and should be so regarded.

Consider, moreover, how the fruit, ere it is formed, lieth
potentially within the tree. Were the tree to be cut into pieces, no
sign nor any part of the fruit, however small, could be detected. When
it appeareth, however, it manifesteth itself, as thou hast observed, in
its wondrous beauty and glorious perfection. Certain fruits, indeed,
attain their fullest development only after being severed from the
tree.

LXXXI: And now concerning thy question regarding…

And now concerning thy question regarding the soul of man and its
survival after death. Know thou of a truth that the soul, after its
separation from the body, will continue to progress until it attaineth
the presence of God, in a state and condition which neither the
revolution of ages and centuries, nor the changes and chances of this
world, can alter. It will endure as long as the Kingdom of God, His
sovereignty, His dominion and power will endure. It will manifest the
signs of God and His attributes, and will reveal His loving kindness and
bounty. The movement of My Pen is stilled when it attempteth to
befittingly describe the loftiness and glory of so exalted a station.
The honor with which the Hand of Mercy will invest the soul is such as
no tongue can adequately reveal, nor any other earthly agency describe.
Blessed is the soul which, at the hour of its separation from the body,
is sanctified from the vain imaginings of the peoples of the world. Such
a soul liveth and moveth in accordance with the Will of its Creator, and
entereth the all-highest Paradise. The Maids of Heaven, inmates of the
loftiest mansions, will circle around it, and the Prophets of God and
His chosen ones will seek its companionship. With them that soul will
freely converse, and will recount unto them that which it hath been made
to endure in the path of God, the Lord of all worlds. If any man be told
that which hath been ordained for such a soul in the worlds of God, the
Lord of the throne on high and of earth below, his whole being will
instantly blaze out in his great longing to attain that most exalted,
that sanctified and resplendent station…. The nature of the soul after
death can never be described, nor is it meet and permissible to reveal
its whole character to the eyes of men. The Prophets and Messengers of
God have been sent down for the sole purpose of guiding mankind to the
straight Path of Truth. The purpose underlying Their revelation hath
been to educate all men, that they may, at the hour of death, ascend, in
the utmost purity and sanctity and with absolute detachment, to the
throne of the Most High. The light which these souls radiate is
responsible for the progress of the world and the advancement of its
peoples. They are like unto leaven which leaveneth the world of being,
and constitute the animating force through which the arts and wonders of
the world are made manifest. Through them the clouds rain their bounty
upon men, and the earth bringeth forth its fruits. All things must needs
have a cause, a motive power, an animating principle. These souls and
symbols of detachment have provided, and will continue to provide, the
supreme moving impulse in the world of being. The world beyond is as
different from this world as this world is different from that of the
child while still in the womb of its mother. When the soul attaineth the
Presence of God, it will assume the form that best befitteth its
immortality and is worthy of its celestial habitation. Such an existence
is a contingent and not an absolute existence, inasmuch as the former is
preceded by a cause, whilst the latter is independent thereof. Absolute
existence is strictly confined to God, exalted be His glory. Well is it
with them that apprehend this truth. Wert thou to ponder in thine heart
the behavior of the Prophets of God thou wouldst assuredly and readily
testify that there must needs be other worlds besides this world. The
majority of the truly wise and learned have, throughout the ages, as it
hath been recorded by the Pen of Glory in the Tablet of Wisdom, borne
witness to the truth of that which the holy Writ of God hath revealed.
Even the materialists have testified in their writings to the wisdom of
these divinely-appointed Messengers, and have regarded the references
made by the Prophets to Paradise, to hell fire, to future reward and
punishment, to have been actuated by a desire to educate and uplift the
souls of men. Consider, therefore, how the generality of mankind,
whatever their beliefs or theories, have recognized the excellence, and
admitted the superiority, of these Prophets of God. These Gems of
Detachment are acclaimed by some as the embodiments of wisdom, while
others believe them to be the mouthpiece of God Himself. How could such
Souls have consented to surrender themselves unto their enemies if they
believed all the worlds of God to have been reduced to this earthly
life? Would they have willingly suffered such afflictions and torments
as no man hath ever experienced or witnessed?

LXXXII: Thou hast asked Me concerning the…

Thou hast asked Me concerning the nature of the soul. Know, verily,
that the soul is a sign of God, a heavenly gem whose reality the most
learned of men hath failed to grasp, and whose mystery no mind, however
acute, can ever hope to unravel. It is the first among all created
things to declare the excellence of its Creator, the first to recognize
His glory, to cleave to His truth, and to bow down in adoration before
Him. If it be faithful to God, it will reflect His light, and will,
eventually, return unto Him. If it fail, however, in its allegiance to
its Creator, it will become a victim to self and passion, and will, in
the end, sink in their depths.

Whoso hath, in this Day, refused to allow the doubts and fancies of
men to turn him away from Him Who is the Eternal Truth, and hath not
suffered the tumult provoked by the ecclesiastical and secular
authorities to deter him from recognizing His Message, such a man will
be regarded by God, the Lord of all men, as one of His mighty signs, and
will be numbered among them whose names have been inscribed by the Pen
of the Most High in His Book. Blessed is he that hath recognized the
true stature of such a soul, that hath acknowledged its station, and
discovered its virtues.

Much hath been written in the books of old concerning the various
stages in the development of the soul, such as concupiscence,
irascibility, inspiration, benevolence, contentment, Divine
good-pleasure, and the like; the Pen of the Most High, however, is
disinclined to dwell upon them. Every soul that walketh humbly with its
God, in this Day, and cleaveth unto Him, shall find itself invested with
the honor and glory of all goodly names and stations.

When man is asleep, his soul can, in no wise, be said to have been
inherently affected by any external object. It is not susceptible of any
change in its original state or character. Any variation in its
functions is to be ascribed to external causes. It is to these external
influences that any variations in its environment, its understanding,
and perception should be attributed.

Consider the human eye. Though it hath the faculty of perceiving all
created things, yet the slightest impediment may so obstruct its vision
as to deprive it of the power of discerning any object whatsoever.
Magnified be the name of Him Who hath created, and is the Cause of,
these causes, Who hath ordained that every change and variation in the
world of being be made dependent upon them. Every created thing in the
whole universe is but a door leading into His knowledge, a sign of His
sovereignty, a revelation of His names, a symbol of His majesty, a token
of His power, a means of admittance into His straight Path….

Verily I say, the human soul is, in its essence, one of the signs of
God, a mystery among His mysteries. It is one of the mighty signs of the
Almighty, the harbinger that proclaimeth the reality of all the worlds
of God. Within it lieth concealed that which the world is now utterly
incapable of apprehending. Ponder in thine heart the revelation of the
Soul of God that pervadeth all His Laws, and contrast it with that base
and appetitive nature that hath rebelled against Him, that forbiddeth
men to turn unto the Lord of Names, and impelleth them to walk after
their lusts and wickedness. Such a soul hath, in truth, wandered far in
the path of error…

Thou hast, moreover, asked Me concerning the state of the soul after
its separation from the body. Know thou, of a truth, that if the soul of
man hath walked in the ways of God, it will, assuredly, return and be
gathered to the glory of the Beloved. By the righteousness of God! It
shall attain a station such as no pen can depict, or tongue describe.
The soul that hath remained faithful to the Cause of God, and stood
unwaveringly firm in His Path shall, after his ascension, be possessed
of such power that all the worlds which the Almighty hath created can
benefit through him. Such a soul provideth, at the bidding of the Ideal
King and Divine Educator, the pure leaven that leaveneth the world of
being, and furnisheth the power through which the arts and wonders of
the world are made manifest. Consider how meal needeth leaven to be
leavened with. Those souls that are the symbols of detachment are the
leaven of the world. Meditate on this, and be of the thankful.

In several of Our Tablets We have referred to this theme, and have
set forth the various stages in the development of the soul. Verily I
say, the human soul is exalted above all egress and regress. It is
still, and yet it soareth; it moveth, and yet it is still. It is, in
itself, a testimony that beareth witness to the existence of a world
that is contingent, as well as to the reality of a world that hath
neither beginning nor end. Behold how the dream thou hast dreamed is,
after the lapse of many years, re-enacted before thine eyes. Consider
how strange is the mystery of the world that appeareth to thee in thy
dream. Ponder in thine heart upon the unsearchable wisdom of God, and
meditate on its manifold revelations….

Witness the wondrous evidences of God’s handiwork, and reflect
upon its range and character. He Who is the Seal of the Prophets hath
said: “Increase my wonder and amazement at Thee, O God!”

As to thy question whether the physical world is subject to any
limitations, know thou that the comprehension of this matter dependeth
upon the observer himself. In one sense, it is limited; in another, it
is exalted beyond all limitations. The one true God hath everlastingly
existed, and will everlastingly continue to exist. His creation,
likewise, hath had no beginning, and will have no end. All that is
created, however, is preceded by a cause. This fact, in itself,
establisheth, beyond the shadow of a doubt, the unity of the
Creator.

Thou hast, moreover, asked Me concerning the nature of the celestial
spheres. To comprehend their nature, it would be necessary to inquire
into the meaning of the allusions that have been made in the Books of
old to the celestial spheres and the heavens, and to discover the
character of their relationship to this physical world, and the
influence which they exert upon it. Every heart is filled with wonder at
so bewildering a theme, and every mind is perplexed by its mystery. God,
alone, can fathom its import. The learned men, that have fixed at
several thousand years the life of this earth, have failed, throughout
the long period of their observation, to consider either the number or
the age of the other planets. Consider, moreover, the manifold
divergencies that have resulted from the theories propounded by these
men. Know thou that every fixed star hath its own planets, and every
planet its own creatures, whose number no man can compute.

O thou that hast fixed thine eyes upon My countenance! The Day Spring
of Glory hath, in this Day, manifested its radiance, and the Voice of
the Most High is calling. We have formerly uttered these words:
“This is not the day for any man to question his Lord. It behoveth
whosoever hath hearkened to the Call of God, as voiced by Him Who is the
Day Spring of Glory, to arise and cry out: ‘Here am I, here am I,
O Lord of all Names; here am I, here am I, O Maker of the heavens! I
testify that, through Thy Revelation, the things hidden in the Books of
God have been revealed, and that whatsoever hath been recorded by Thy
Messengers in the sacred Scriptures hath been
fulfilled.’”

LXXXIII: Consider the rational faculty with which…

Consider the rational faculty with which God hath endowed the essence
of man. Examine thine own self, and behold how thy motion and stillness,
thy will and purpose, thy sight and hearing, thy sense of smell and
power of speech, and whatever else is related to, or transcendeth, thy
physical senses or spiritual perceptions, all proceed from, and owe
their existence to, this same faculty. So closely are they related unto
it, that if in less than the twinkling of an eye its relationship to the
human body be severed, each and every one of these senses will cease
immediately to exercise its function, and will be deprived of the power
to manifest the evidences of its activity. It is indubitably clear and
evident that each of these afore-mentioned instruments has depended, and
will ever continue to depend, for its proper functioning on this
rational faculty, which should be regarded as a sign of the revelation
of Him Who is the sovereign Lord of all. Through its manifestation all
these names and attributes have been revealed, and by the suspension of
its action they are all destroyed and perish.

It would be wholly untrue to maintain that this faculty is the same
as the power of vision, inasmuch as the power of vision is derived from
it and acteth in dependence upon it. It would, likewise, be idle to
contend that this faculty can be identified with the sense of hearing,
as the sense of hearing receiveth from the rational faculty the
requisite energy for performing its functions.

This same relationship bindeth this faculty with whatsoever hath been
the recipient of these names and attributes within the human temple.
These diverse names and revealed attributes have been generated through
the agency of this sign of God. Immeasurably exalted is this sign, in
its essence and reality, above all such names and attributes. Nay, all
else besides it will, when compared with its glory, fade into utter
nothingness and become a thing forgotten.

Wert thou to ponder in thine heart, from now until the end that hath
no end, and with all the concentrated intelligence and understanding
which the greatest minds have attained in the past or will attain in the
future, this divinely ordained and subtle Reality, this sign of the
revelation of the All-Abiding, All-Glorious God, thou wilt fail to
comprehend its mystery or to appraise its virtue. Having recognized thy
powerlessness to attain to an adequate understanding of that Reality
which abideth within thee, thou wilt readily admit the futility of such
efforts as may be attempted by thee, or by any of the created things, to
fathom the mystery of the Living God, the Day Star of unfading glory,
the Ancient of everlasting days. This confession of helplessness which
mature contemplation must eventually impel every mind to make is in
itself the acme of human understanding, and marketh the culmination of
man’s development.

LXXXIV: Regard thou the one true God as One…

Regard thou the one true God as One Who is apart from, and
immeasurably exalted above, all created things. The whole universe
reflecteth His glory, while He is Himself independent of, and
transcendeth His creatures. This is the true meaning of Divine unity. He
Who is the Eternal Truth is the one Power Who exerciseth undisputed
sovereignty over the world of being, Whose image is reflected in the
mirror of the entire creation. All existence is dependent upon Him, and
from Him is derived the source of the sustenance of all things. This is
what is meant by Divine unity; this is its fundamental principle.

Some, deluded by their idle fancies, have conceived all created
things as associates and partners of God, and imagined themselves to be
the exponents of His unity. By Him Who is the one true God! Such men
have been, and will continue to remain, the victims of blind imitation,
and are to be numbered with them that have restricted and limited the
conception of God.

He is a true believer in Divine unity who, far from confusing duality
with oneness, refuseth to allow any notion of multiplicity to becloud
his conception of the singleness of God, who will regard the Divine
Being as One Who, by His very nature, transcendeth the limitations of
numbers.

The essence of belief in Divine unity consisteth in regarding Him Who
is the Manifestation of God and Him Who is the invisible, the
inaccessible, the unknowable Essence as one and the same. By this is
meant that whatever pertaineth to the former, all His acts and doings,
whatever He ordaineth or forbiddeth, should be considered, in all their
aspects, and under all circumstances, and without any reservation, as
identical with the Will of God Himself. This is the loftiest station to
which a true believer in the unity of God can ever hope to attain.
Blessed is the man that reacheth this station, and is of them that are
steadfast in their belief.

LXXXV: O My servants! It behoveth you to refresh…

O My servants! It behoveth you to refresh and revive your souls
through the gracious favors which, in this Divine, this soul-stirring
Springtime, are being showered upon you. The Day Star of His great glory
hath shed its radiance upon you, and the clouds of His limitless grace
have overshadowed you. How high the reward of him that hath not deprived
himself of so great a bounty, nor failed to recognize the beauty of his
Best-Beloved in this, His new attire.

Say: O people! The Lamp of God is burning; take heed, lest the fierce
winds of your disobedience extinguish its light. Now is the time to
arise and magnify the Lord, your God. Strive not after bodily comforts,
and keep your heart pure and stainless. The Evil One is lying in wait,
ready to entrap you. Gird yourselves against his wicked devices, and,
led by the light of the name of the one true God, deliver yourselves
from the darkness that surroundeth you. Center your thoughts in the
Well-Beloved, rather than in your own selves.

Say: O ye that have strayed and lost your way! The Divine Messenger,
Who speaketh naught but the truth, hath announced unto you the coming of
the Best-Beloved. Behold, He is now come. Wherefore are ye downcast and
dejected? Why remain despondent when the Pure and Hidden One hath
appeared unveiled amongst you? He Who is both the Beginning and the End,
He Who is both Stillness and Motion, is now manifest before your eyes.
Behold how, in this Day, the Beginning is reflected in the End, how out
of Stillness Motion hath been engendered. This motion hath been
generated by the potent energies which the words of the Almighty have
released throughout the entire creation. Whoso hath been quickened by
its vitalizing power, will find himself impelled to attain the court of
the Beloved; and whoso hath deprived himself therefrom, will sink into
irretrievable despondency. He is truly wise whom the world and all that
is therein have not deterred from recognizing the light of this Day, who
will not allow men’s idle talk to cause him to swerve from the way
of righteousness. He is indeed as one dead who, at the wondrous dawn of
this Revelation, hath failed to be quickened by its soul-stirring
breeze. He is indeed a captive who hath not recognized the Supreme
Redeemer, but hath suffered his soul to be bound, distressed and
helpless, in the fetters of his desires.

O My servants! Whoso hath tasted of this Fountain hath attained unto
everlasting Life, and whoso hath refused to drink therefrom is even as
the dead. Say: O ye workers of iniquity! Covetousness hath hindered you
from giving a hearing ear unto the sweet voice of Him Who is the
All-Sufficing. Wash it away from your hearts, that His Divine secret may
be made known unto you. Behold Him manifest and resplendent as the sun
in all its glory.

Say: O ye that are bereft of understanding! A severe trial pursueth
you, and will suddenly overtake you. Bestir yourselves, that haply it
may pass and inflict no harm upon you. Acknowledge the exalted character
of the name of the Lord, your God, Who hath come unto you in the
greatness of His glory. He, verily, is the All-Knowing, the
All-Possessing, the Supreme Protector.

LXXXVI: And now concerning thy question…

And now concerning thy question whether human souls continue to be
conscious one of another after their separation from the body. Know thou
that the souls of the people of Bahá, who have entered and been
established within the Crimson Ark, shall associate and commune
intimately one with another, and shall be so closely associated in their
lives, their aspirations, their aims and strivings as to be even as one
soul. They are indeed the ones who are well-informed, who are
keen-sighted, and who are endued with understanding. Thus hath it been
decreed by Him Who is the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.

The people of Bahá, who are the inmates of the Ark of God, are, one
and all, well aware of one another’s state and condition, and are
united in the bonds of intimacy and fellowship. Such a state, however,
must depend upon their faith and their conduct. They that are of the
same grade and station are fully aware of one another’s capacity,
character, accomplishments and merits. They that are of a lower grade,
however, are incapable of comprehending adequately the station, or of
estimating the merits, of those that rank above them. Each shall receive
his share from thy Lord. Blessed is the man that hath turned his face
towards God, and walked steadfastly in His love, until his soul hath
winged its flight unto God, the Sovereign Lord of all, the Most
Powerful, the Ever-Forgiving, the All-Merciful.

The souls of the infidels, however, shall—and to this I bear
witness—when breathing their last be made aware of the good things that
have escaped them, and shall bemoan their plight, and shall humble
themselves before God. They shall continue doing so after the separation
of their souls from their bodies.

It is clear and evident that all men shall, after their physical
death, estimate the worth of their deeds, and realize all that their
hands have wrought. I swear by the Day Star that shineth above the
horizon of Divine power! They that are the followers of the one true God
shall, the moment they depart out of this life, experience such joy and
gladness as would be impossible to describe, while they that live in
error shall be seized with such fear and trembling, and shall be filled
with such consternation, as nothing can exceed. Well is it with him that
hath quaffed the choice and incorruptible wine of faith through the
gracious favor and the manifold bounties of Him Who is the Lord of all
Faiths….

This is the Day when the loved ones of God should keep their eyes
directed towards His Manifestation, and fasten them upon whatsoever that
Manifestation may be pleased to reveal. Certain traditions of bygone
ages rest on no foundations whatever, while the notions entertained by
past generations, and which they have recorded in their books, have, for
the most part, been influenced by the desires of a corrupt inclination.
Thou dost witness how most of the commentaries and interpretations of
the words of God, now current amongst men, are devoid of truth. Their
falsity hath, in some cases, been exposed when the intervening veils
were rent asunder. They themselves have acknowledged their failure in
apprehending the meaning of any of the words of God.

Our purpose is to show that should the loved ones of God sanctify
their hearts and their ears from the vain sayings that were uttered
aforetime, and turn with their inmost souls to Him Who is the Day Spring
of His Revelation, and to whatsoever things He hath manifested, such
behavior would be regarded as highly meritorious in the sight of
God….

Magnify His Name, and be thou of the thankful. Convey My greetings to
My loved ones, whom God hath singled out for His love, and caused them
to achieve their objects. All glory be to God, the Lord of all
worlds.

LXXXVII: And now regarding thy question, “How…

And now regarding thy question, “How is it that no records are
to be found concerning the Prophets that have preceded Adam, the Father
of Mankind, or of the kings that lived in the days of those
Prophets?” Know thou that the absence of any reference to them is
no proof that they did not actually exist. That no records concerning
them are now available, should be attributed to their extreme
remoteness, as well as to the vast changes which the earth hath
undergone since their time.

Moreover such forms and modes of writing as are now current amongst
men were unknown to the generations that were before Adam. There was
even a time when men were wholly ignorant of the art of writing, and had
adopted a system entirely different from the one which they now use. For
a proper exposition of this an elaborate explanation would be
required.

Consider the differences that have arisen since the days of Adam. The
divers and widely-known languages now spoken by the peoples of the earth
were originally unknown, as were the varied rules and customs now
prevailing amongst them. The people of those times spoke a language
different from those now known. Diversities of language arose in a later
age, in a land known as Babel. It was given the name Babel, because the
term signifieth “the place where the confusion of tongues
arose.”

Subsequently Syriac became prominent among the existing languages.
The Sacred Scriptures of former times were revealed in that tongue.
Later, Abraham, the Friend of God, appeared and shed upon the world the
light of Divine Revelation. The language He spoke while He crossed the
Jordan became known as Hebrew (Ibrání), which meaneth “the
language of the crossing.” The Books of God and the Sacred
Scriptures were then revealed in that tongue, and not until after a
considerable lapse of time did Arabic become the language of
Revelation….

Witness, therefore, how numerous and far-reaching have been the
changes in language, speech, and writing since the days of Adam. How
much greater must have been the changes before Him!

Our purpose in revealing these words is to show that the one true God
hath, in His all-highest and transcendent station, ever been, and will
everlastingly continue to be, exalted above the praise and conception of
all else but Him. His creation hath ever existed, and the Manifestations
of His Divine glory and the Day Springs of eternal holiness have been
sent down from time immemorial, and been commissioned to summon mankind
to the one true God. That the names of some of them are forgotten and
the records of their lives lost is to be attributed to the disturbances
and changes that have overtaken the world.

Mention hath been made in certain books of a deluge which caused all
that existed on earth, historical records as well as other things, to be
destroyed. Moreover, many cataclysms have occurred which have effaced
the traces of many events. Furthermore, among existing historical
records differences are to be found, and each of the various peoples of
the world hath its own account of the age of the earth and of its
history. Some trace their history as far back as eight thousand years,
others as far as twelve thousand years. To any one that hath read the
book of Jük it is clear and evident how much the accounts given by the
various books have differed.

Please God thou wilt turn thine eyes towards the Most Great
Revelation, and entirely disregard these conflicting tales and
traditions.

LXXXVIII: Know verily that the essence of justice…

Know verily that the essence of justice and the source thereof are
both embodied in the ordinances prescribed by Him Who is the
Manifestation of the Self of God amongst men, if ye be of them that
recognize this truth. He doth verily incarnate the highest, the
infallible standard of justice unto all creation. Were His law to be
such as to strike terror into the hearts of all that are in heaven and
on earth, that law is naught but manifest justice. The fears and
agitation which the revelation of this law provokes in men’s
hearts should indeed be likened to the cries of the suckling babe weaned
from his mother’s milk, if ye be of them that perceive. Were men
to discover the motivating purpose of God’s Revelation, they would
assuredly cast away their fears, and, with hearts filled with gratitude,
rejoice with exceeding gladness.

LXXXIX: Know assuredly that just as thou firmly…

Know assuredly that just as thou firmly believest that the Word of
God, exalted be His glory, endureth for ever, thou must, likewise,
believe with undoubting faith that its meaning can never be exhausted.
They who are its appointed interpreters, they whose hearts are the
repositories of its secrets, are, however, the only ones who can
comprehend its manifold wisdom. Whoso, while reading the Sacred
Scriptures, is tempted to choose therefrom whatever may suit him with
which to challenge the authority of the Representative of God among men,
is, indeed, as one dead, though to outward seeming he may walk and
converse with his neighbors, and share with them their food and their
drink.

Oh, would that the world could believe Me! Were all the things that
lie enshrined within the heart of Bahá, and which the Lord, His God, the
Lord of all names, hath taught Him, to be unveiled to mankind, every man
on earth would be dumbfounded.

How great the multitude of truths which the garment of words can
never contain! How vast the number of such verities as no expression can
adequately describe, whose significance can never be unfolded, and to
which not even the remotest allusions can be made! How manifold are the
truths which must remain unuttered until the appointed time is come!
Even as it hath been said: “Not everything that a man knoweth can
be disclosed, nor can everything that he can disclose be regarded as
timely, nor can every timely utterance be considered as suited to the
capacity of those who hear it.”

Of these truths some can be disclosed only to the extent of the
capacity of the repositories of the light of Our knowledge, and the
recipients of Our hidden grace. We beseech God to strengthen thee with
His power, and enable thee to recognize Him Who is the Source of all
knowledge, that thou mayest detach thyself from all human learning, for,
“what would it profit any man to strive after learning when he
hath already found and recognized Him Who is the Object of all
knowledge?” Cleave to the Root of Knowledge, and to Him Who is the
Fountain thereof, that thou mayest find thyself independent of all who
claim to be well versed in human learning, and whose claim no clear
proof, nor the testimony of any enlightening book, can support.

XC: Whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on…

Whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth is a direct
evidence of the revelation within it of the attributes and names of God,
inasmuch as within every atom are enshrined the signs that bear eloquent
testimony to the revelation of that Most Great Light. Methinks, but for
the potency of that revelation, no being could ever exist. How
resplendent the luminaries of knowledge that shine in an atom, and how
vast the oceans of wisdom that surge within a drop! To a supreme degree
is this true of man, who, among all created things, hath been invested
with the robe of such gifts, and hath been singled out for the glory of
such distinction. For in him are potentially revealed all the attributes
and names of God to a degree that no other created being hath excelled
or surpassed. All these names and attributes are applicable to him. Even
as He hath said: “Man is My mystery, and I am his mystery.”
Manifold are the verses that have been repeatedly revealed in all the
Heavenly Books and the Holy Scriptures, expressive of this most subtle
and lofty theme. Even as He hath revealed: “We will surely show
them Our signs in the world and within themselves.” Again He
saith: “And also in your own selves: will ye not, then, behold the
signs of God?” And yet again He revealeth: “And be ye not
like those who forget God, and whom He hath therefore caused to forget
their own selves.” In this connection, He Who is the eternal
King—may the souls of all that dwell within the mystic Tabernacle be a
sacrifice unto Him—hath spoken: “He hath known God who hath known
himself.”

…From that which hath been said it becometh evident that all
things, in their inmost reality, testify to the revelation of the names
and attributes of God within them. Each according to its capacity,
indicateth, and is expressive of, the knowledge of God. So potent and
universal is this revelation, that it hath encompassed all things
visible and invisible. Thus hath He revealed: “Hath aught else
save Thee a power of revelation which is not possessed by Thee, that it
could have manifested Thee? Blind is the eye which doth not perceive
Thee.” Likewise hath the eternal King spoken: “No thing have
I perceived, except that I perceived God within it, God before it, or
God after it.” Also in the tradition of Kumayl it is written:
“Behold, a light hath shone forth out of the morn of eternity, and
lo, its waves have penetrated the inmost reality of all men.” Man,
the noblest and most perfect of all created things, excelleth them all
in the intensity of this revelation, and is a fuller expression of its
glory. And of all men, the most accomplished, the most distinguished,
and the most excellent are the Manifestations of the Sun of Truth. Nay,
all else besides these Manifestations, live by the operation of Their
Will, and move and have their being through the outpourings of Their
grace.

XCI: Amongst the proofs demonstrating the truth…

Amongst the proofs demonstrating the truth of this Revelation is
this, that in every age and Dispensation, whenever the invisible Essence
was revealed in the person of His Manifestation, certain souls, obscure
and detached from all worldly entanglements, would seek illumination
from the Sun of Prophethood and Moon of Divine guidance, and would
attain unto the Divine Presence. For this reason, the divines of the age
and those possessed of wealth, would scorn and scoff at these people.
Even as He hath revealed concerning them that erred: “Then said
the chiefs of His people who believed not, ‘We see in Thee but a
man like ourselves; and we see not any who have followed Thee except our
meanest ones of hasty judgment, nor see we any excellence in you above
ourselves: nay, we deem you liars.’” They caviled at those
holy Manifestations, and protested saying: “None hath followed you
except the abject amongst us, those who are worthy of no
attention.” Their aim was to show that no one amongst the learned,
the wealthy, and the renowned believed in them. By this and similar
proofs they sought to demonstrate the falsity of Him that speaketh
naught but the truth.

In this most resplendent Dispensation, however, this most mighty
Sovereignty, a number of illumined divines, of men of consummate
learning, of doctors of mature wisdom, have attained unto His Court,
drunk the cup of His divine Presence, and been invested with the honor
of His most excellent favor. They have renounced, for the sake of the
Beloved, the world and all that is therein….

All these were guided by the light of the Sun of Divine Revelation,
confessed and acknowledged His truth. Such was their faith, that most of
them renounced their substance and kindred, and cleaved to the good
pleasure of the All-Glorious. They laid down their lives for their
Well-Beloved, and surrendered their all in His path. Their breasts were
made targets for the darts of the enemy, and their heads adorned the
spears of the infidel. No land remained which did not drink the blood of
these embodiments of detachment, and no sword that did not bruise their
necks. Their deeds, alone, testify to the truth of their words. Doth not
the testimony of these holy souls, who have so gloriously risen to offer
up their lives for their Beloved that the whole world marveled at the
manner of their sacrifice, suffice the people of this day? Is it not
sufficient witness against the faithlessness of those who for a trifle
betrayed their faith, who bartered away immortality for that which
perisheth, who gave up the Kawthar of the Divine Presence for
salty springs, and whose one aim in life is to usurp the property of
others? Even as thou dost witness how all of them have busied themselves
with the vanities of the world, and have strayed far from Him Who is the
Lord, the Most High.

Be fair: Is the testimony of those acceptable and worthy of attention
whose deeds agree with their words, whose outward behavior conforms with
their inner life? The mind is bewildered at their deeds, and the soul
marveleth at their fortitude and bodily endurance. Or is the testimony
of these faithless souls who breathe naught but the breath of selfish
desire, and who lie imprisoned in the cage of their idle fancies,
acceptable? Like the bats of darkness, they lift not their heads from
their couch except to pursue the transient things of the world, and find
no rest by night except as they labor to advance the aims of their
sordid life. Immersed in their selfish schemes, they are oblivious of
the Divine decree. In the daytime they strive with all their soul after
worldly benefits, and in the night season their sole occupation is to
gratify their carnal desires. By what law or standard could men be
justified in cleaving to the denials of such petty-minded souls and in
ignoring the faith of them that have renounced, for the sake of the good
pleasure of God, their life and substance, their fame and renown, their
reputation and honor?…

With what love, what devotion, what exultation and holy rapture, they
sacrificed their lives in the path of the All-Glorious! To the truth of
this all witness. And yet, how can they belittle this Revelation? Hath
any age witnessed such momentous happenings? If these companions be not
the true strivers after God, who else could be called by this name? Have
these companions been seekers after power or glory? Have they ever
yearned for riches? Have they cherished any desire except the good
pleasure of God? If these companions, with all their marvelous
testimonies and wondrous works, be false, who then is worthy to claim
for himself the truth? I swear by God! Their very deeds are a sufficient
testimony, and an irrefutable proof unto all the peoples of the earth,
were men to ponder in their hearts the mysteries of Divine Revelation.
“And they who act unjustly shall soon know what lot awaiteth
them!”…

Consider these martyrs of unquestionable sincerity, to whose
truthfulness testifieth the explicit text of the Book, and all of whom,
as thou hast witnessed, have sacrificed their life, their substance,
their wives, their children, their all, and ascended unto the loftiest
chambers of Paradise. Is it fair to reject the testimony of these
detached and exalted beings to the truth of this pre-eminent and
Glorious Revelation, and to regard as acceptable the denunciations which
have been uttered against this resplendent Light by this faithless
people, who for gold have forsaken their faith, and who for the sake of
leadership have repudiated Him Who is the First Leader of all mankind?
This, although their character is now revealed unto all people who have
recognized them as those who will in no wise relinquish one jot or one
tittle of their temporal authority for the sake of God’s holy
Faith, how much less their life, their substance, and the like.

XCII: The Book of God is wide open, and His…

The Book of God is wide open, and His Word is summoning mankind unto
Him. No more than a mere handful, however, hath been found willing to
cleave to His Cause, or to become the instruments for its promotion.
These few have been endued with the Divine Elixir that can, alone,
transmute into purest gold the dross of the world, and have been
empowered to administer the infallible remedy for all the ills that
afflict the children of men. No man can obtain everlasting life, unless
he embraceth the truth of this inestimable, this wondrous, and sublime
Revelation.

Incline your ears, O friends of God, to the voice of Him Whom the
world hath wronged, and hold fast unto whatsoever will exalt His Cause.
He, verily, guideth whomsoever He pleaseth unto His straight Path. This
is a Revelation that infuseth strength into the feeble, and crowneth
with wealth the destitute.

With the utmost friendliness and in a spirit of perfect fellowship
take ye counsel together, and dedicate the precious days of your lives
to the betterment of the world and the promotion of the Cause of Him Who
is the Ancient and Sovereign Lord of all. He, verily, enjoineth upon all
men what is right, and forbiddeth whatsoever degradeth their
station.

XCIII: Know thou that every created thing is a…

Know thou that every created thing is a sign of the revelation of
God. Each, according to its capacity, is, and will ever remain, a token
of the Almighty. Inasmuch as He, the sovereign Lord of all, hath willed
to reveal His sovereignty in the kingdom of names and attributes, each
and every created thing hath, through the act of the Divine Will, been
made a sign of His glory. So pervasive and general is this revelation
that nothing whatsoever in the whole universe can be discovered that
doth not reflect His splendor. Under such conditions every consideration
of proximity and remoteness is obliterated…. Were the Hand of Divine
power to divest of this high endowment all created things, the entire
universe would become desolate and void.

Behold, how immeasurably exalted is the Lord your God above all
created things! Witness the majesty of His sovereignty, His ascendancy,
and supreme power. If the things which have been created by
Him—magnified be His glory—and ordained to be the manifestations of
His names and attributes, stand, by virtue of the grace with which they
have been endowed, exalted beyond all proximity and remoteness, how much
loftier must be that Divine Essence that hath called them into
being?…

Meditate on what the poet hath written: “Wonder not, if my
Best-Beloved be closer to me than mine own self; wonder at this, that I,
despite such nearness, should still be so far from Him.”…
Considering what God hath revealed, that “We are closer to man
than his life-vein,” the poet hath, in allusion to this verse,
stated that, though the revelation of my Best-Beloved hath so permeated
my being that He is closer to me than my life-vein, yet, notwithstanding
my certitude of its reality and my recognition of my station, I am still
so far removed from Him. By this he meaneth that his heart, which is the
seat of the All-Merciful and the throne wherein abideth the splendor of
His revelation, is forgetful of its Creator, hath strayed from His path,
hath shut out itself from His glory, and is stained with the defilement
of earthly desires.

It should be remembered in this connection that the one true God is
in Himself exalted beyond and above proximity and remoteness. His
reality transcendeth such limitations. His relationship to His creatures
knoweth no degrees. That some are near and others are far is to be
ascribed to the manifestations themselves.

That the heart is the throne, in which the Revelation of God the
All-Merciful is centered, is attested by the holy utterances which We
have formerly revealed.

Among them is this saying: “Earth and heaven cannot contain Me;
what can alone contain Me is the heart of him that believeth in Me, and
is faithful to My Cause.” How often hath the human heart, which is
the recipient of the light of God and the seat of the revelation of the
All-Merciful, erred from Him Who is the Source of that light and the
Well Spring of that revelation. It is the waywardness of the heart that
removeth it far from God, and condemneth it to remoteness from Him.
Those hearts, however, that are aware of His Presence, are close to Him,
and are to be regarded as having drawn nigh unto His throne.

Consider, moreover, how frequently doth man become forgetful of his
own self, whilst God remaineth, through His all-encompassing knowledge,
aware of His creature, and continueth to shed upon him the manifest
radiance of His glory. It is evident, therefore, that, in such
circumstances, He is closer to him than his own self. He will, indeed,
so remain for ever, for, whereas the one true God knoweth all things,
perceiveth all things, and comprehendeth all things, mortal man is prone
to err, and is ignorant of the mysteries that lie enfolded within
him….

Let no one imagine that by Our assertion that all created things are
the signs of the revelation of God is meant that—God forbid—all men,
be they good or evil, pious or infidel, are equal in the sight of God.
Nor doth it imply that the Divine Being—magnified be His name and
exalted be His glory—is, under any circumstances, comparable unto men,
or can, in any way, be associated with His creatures. Such an error hath
been committed by certain foolish ones who, after having ascended into
the heavens of their idle fancies, have interpreted Divine Unity to mean
that all created things are the signs of God, and that, consequently,
there is no distinction whatsoever between them. Some have even
outstripped them by maintaining that these signs are peers and partners
of God Himself. Gracious God! He, verily, is one and indivisible; one in
His essence, one in His attributes. Everything besides Him is as nothing
when brought face to face with the resplendent revelation of but one of
His names, with no more than the faintest intimation of His glory—how
much less when confronted with His own Self!

By the righteousness of My name, the All-Merciful! The Pen of the
Most High trembleth with a great trembling and is sore shaken at the
revelation of these words. How puny and insignificant is the evanescent
drop when compared with the waves and billows of God’s limitless
and everlasting Ocean, and how utterly contemptible must every
contingent and perishable thing appear when brought face to face with
the uncreated, the unspeakable glory of the Eternal! We implore pardon
of God, the All-Powerful, for them that entertain such beliefs, and give
utterance to such words. Say: O people! How can a fleeting fancy compare
with the Self-Subsisting, and how can the Creator be likened unto His
creatures, who are but as the script of His Pen? Nay, His script
excelleth all things, and is sanctified from, and immeasurably exalted
above, all creatures.

Furthermore, consider the signs of the revelation of God in their
relation one to another. Can the sun, which is but one of these signs,
be regarded as equal in rank to darkness? The one true God beareth Me
witness! No man can believe it, unless he be of those whose hearts are
straitened, and whose eyes have become deluded. Say: Consider your own
selves. Your nails and eyes are both parts of your bodies. Do ye regard
them of equal rank and value? If ye say, yea; say, then: ye have indeed
charged with imposture, the Lord, my God, the All-Glorious, inasmuch as
ye pare the one, and cherish the other as dearly as your own life.

To transgress the limits of one’s own rank and station is, in
no wise, permissible. The integrity of every rank and station must needs
be preserved. By this is meant that every created thing should be viewed
in the light of the station it hath been ordained to occupy.

It should be borne in mind, however, that when the light of My Name,
the All-Pervading, hath shed its radiance upon the universe, each and
every created thing hath, according to a fixed decree, been endowed with
the capacity to exercise a particular influence, and been made to
possess a distinct virtue. Consider the effect of poison. Deadly though
it is, it possesseth the power of exerting, under certain conditions, a
beneficial influence. The potency infused into all created things is the
direct consequence of the revelation of this most blessed Name.
Glorified be He, Who is the Creator of all names and attributes! Cast
into the fire the tree that hath rot and dried up, and abide under the
shadow of the green and goodly Tree, and partake of the fruit
thereof.

The people living in the days of the Manifestations of God have, for
the most part, uttered such unseemly sayings. These have been set down
circumstantially in the revealed Books and Holy Scriptures.

He is really a believer in the Unity of God who recognizeth in each
and every created thing the sign of the revelation of Him Who is the
Eternal Truth, and not he who maintaineth that the creature is
indistinguishable from the Creator.

Consider, for instance, the revelation of the light of the Name of
God, the Educator. Behold, how in all things the evidences of such a
revelation are manifest, how the betterment of all beings dependeth upon
it. This education is of two kinds. The one is universal. Its influence
pervadeth all things and sustaineth them. It is for this reason that God
hath assumed the title, “Lord of all worlds.” The other is
confined to them that have come under the shadow of this Name, and
sought the shelter of this most mighty Revelation. They, however, that
have failed to seek this shelter, have deprived themselves of this
privilege, and are powerless to benefit from the spiritual sustenance
that hath been sent down through the heavenly grace of this Most Great
Name. How great the gulf fixed between the one and the other! If the
veil were lifted, and the full glory of the station of those that have
turned wholly towards God, and have, in their love for Him, renounced
the world, were made manifest, the entire creation would be dumbfounded.
The true believer in the Unity of God will, as it hath already been
explained, recognize, in the believer and the unbeliever, the evidences
of the revelation of both of these Names. Were this revelation to be
withdrawn, all would perish.

Consider, in like manner, the revelation of the light of the Name of
God, the Incomparable. Behold, how this light hath enveloped the entire
creation, how each and every thing manifesteth the sign of His Unity,
testifieth to the reality of Him Who is the Eternal Truth, proclaimeth
His sovereignty, His oneness, and His power. This revelation is a token
of His mercy that hath encompassed all created things. They that have
joined partners with Him, however, are unaware of such a revelation, and
are deprived of the Faith through which they can draw near unto, and be
united with, Him. Witness how the divers peoples and kindreds of the
earth bear witness to His unity, and recognize His oneness. But for the
sign of the Unity of God within them, they would have never acknowledged
the truth of the words, “There is none other God but God.”
And yet, consider how grievously they have erred, and strayed from His
path. Inasmuch as they have failed to recognize the Sovereign Revealer,
they have ceased to be reckoned among those who may be regarded as true
believers in the Unity of God.

This sign of the revelation of the Divine Being in them that have
joined partners with Him may, in a sense, be regarded as a reflection of
the glory with which the faithful are illumined. None, however, can
comprehend this truth save men endued with understanding. They that have
truly recognized the Unity of God should be regarded as the primary
manifestations of this Name. It is they who have quaffed the wine of
Divine Unity from the cup which the hand of God hath proffered unto
them, and who have turned their faces towards Him. How vast the distance
that separateth these sanctified beings from those men that are so far
away from God!…

God grant that, with a penetrating vision, thou mayest perceive, in
all things, the sign of the revelation of Him Who is the Ancient King,
and recognize how exalted and sanctified from the whole creation is that
most holy and sacred Being. This, in truth, is the very root and essence
of belief in the unity and singleness of God. “God was alone;
there was none else besides Him.” He, now, is what He hath ever
been. There is none other God but Him, the One, the Incomparable, the
Almighty, the Most Exalted, the Most Great.

XCIV: And now concerning thy reference to the…

And now concerning thy reference to the existence of two Gods.
Beware, beware, lest thou be led to join partners with the Lord, thy
God. He is, and hath from everlasting been, one and alone, without peer
or equal, eternal in the past, eternal in the future, detached from all
things, ever-abiding, unchangeable, and self-subsisting. He hath
assigned no associate unto Himself in His Kingdom, no counsellor to
counsel Him, none to compare unto Him, none to rival His glory. To this
every atom of the universe beareth witness, and beyond it the inmates of
the realms on high, they that occupy the most exalted seats, and whose
names are remembered before the Throne of Glory.

Bear thou witness in thine inmost heart unto this testimony which God
hath Himself and for Himself pronounced, that there is none other God
but Him, that all else besides Him have been created by His behest, have
been fashioned by His leave, are subject to His law, are as a thing
forgotten when compared to the glorious evidences of His oneness, and
are as nothing when brought face to face with the mighty revelations of
His unity.

He, in truth, hath, throughout eternity, been one in His Essence, one
in His attributes, one in His works. Any and every comparison is
applicable only to His creatures, and all conceptions of association are
conceptions that belong solely to those that serve Him. Immeasurably
exalted is His Essence above the descriptions of His creatures. He,
alone, occupieth the Seat of transcendent majesty, of supreme and
inaccessible glory. The birds of men’s hearts, however high they
soar, can never hope to attain the heights of His unknowable Essence. It
is He Who hath called into being the whole of creation, Who hath caused
every created thing to spring forth at His behest. Shall, then, the
thing that was born by virtue of the word which His Pen hath revealed,
and which the finger of His Will hath directed, be regarded as partner
with Him, or an embodiment of His Self? Far be it from His glory that
human pen or tongue should hint at His mystery, or that human heart
conceive His Essence. All else besides Him stand poor and desolate at
His door, all are powerless before the greatness of His might, all are
but slaves in His Kingdom. He is rich enough to dispense with all
creatures.

The tie of servitude established between the worshiper and the adored
One, between the creature and the Creator, should in itself be regarded
as a token of His gracious favor unto men, and not as an indication of
any merit they may possess. To this testifieth every true and discerning
believer.

XCV: Know thou that, according to what thy…

Know thou that, according to what thy Lord, the Lord of all men, hath
decreed in His Book, the favors vouchsafed by Him unto mankind have
been, and will ever remain, limitless in their range. First and foremost
among these favors, which the Almighty hath conferred upon man, is the
gift of understanding. His purpose in conferring such a gift is none
other except to enable His creature to know and recognize the one true
God—exalted be His glory. This gift giveth man the power to discern the
truth in all things, leadeth him to that which is right, and helpeth him
to discover the secrets of creation. Next in rank, is the power of
vision, the chief instrument whereby his understanding can function. The
senses of hearing, of the heart, and the like, are similarly to be
reckoned among the gifts with which the human body is endowed.
Immeasurably exalted is the Almighty Who hath created these powers, and
revealed them in the body of man.

Every one of these gifts is an undoubted evidence of the majesty, the
power, the ascendancy, the all-embracing knowledge of the one true
God—exalted be His glory. Consider the sense of touch. Witness how its
power hath spread itself over the entire human body. Whereas the
faculties of sight and of hearing are each localized in a particular
center, the sense of touch embraceth the whole human frame. Glorified be
His power, magnified be His sovereignty!

These gifts are inherent in man himself. That which is preeminent
above all other gifts, is incorruptible in nature, and pertaineth to God
Himself, is the gift of Divine Revelation. Every bounty conferred by the
Creator upon man, be it material or spiritual, is subservient unto this.
It is, in its essence, and will ever so remain, the Bread which cometh
down from Heaven. It is God’s supreme testimony, the clearest
evidence of His truth, the sign of His consummate bounty, the token of
His all-encompassing mercy, the proof of His most loving providence, the
symbol of His most perfect grace. He hath, indeed, partaken of this
highest gift of God who hath recognized His Manifestation in this
Day.

Render thanks unto thy Lord for having vouchsafed unto thee so great
a bounty. Lift up thy voice and say: All praise be to Thee, O Thou, the
Desire of every understanding heart!

XCVI: The Pen of the Most High is unceasingly…

The Pen of the Most High is unceasingly calling; and yet, how few are
those that have inclined their ear to its voice! The dwellers of the
kingdom of names have busied themselves with the gay livery of the
world, forgetful that every man that hath eyes to perceive and ears to
hear cannot but readily recognize how evanescent are its colors.

A new life is, in this age, stirring within all the peoples of the
earth; and yet none hath discovered its cause or perceived its motive.
Consider the peoples of the West. Witness how, in their pursuit of that
which is vain and trivial, they have sacrificed, and are still
sacrificing, countless lives for the sake of its establishment and
promotion. The peoples of Persia, on the other hand, though the
repository of a perspicuous and luminous Revelation, the glory of whose
loftiness and renown hath encompassed the whole earth, are dispirited
and sunk in deep lethargy.

O friends! Be not careless of the virtues with which ye have been
endowed, neither be neglectful of your high destiny. Suffer not your
labors to be wasted through the vain imaginations which certain hearts
have devised. Ye are the stars of the heaven of understanding, the
breeze that stirreth at the break of day, the soft-flowing waters upon
which must depend the very life of all men, the letters inscribed upon
His sacred scroll. With the utmost unity, and in a spirit of perfect
fellowship, exert yourselves, that ye may be enabled to achieve that
which beseemeth this Day of God. Verily I say, strife and dissension,
and whatsoever the mind of man abhorreth are entirely unworthy of his
station. Center your energies in the propagation of the Faith of God.
Whoso is worthy of so high a calling, let him arise and promote it.
Whoso is unable, it is his duty to appoint him who will, in his stead,
proclaim this Revelation, whose power hath caused the foundations of the
mightiest structures to quake, every mountain to be crushed into dust,
and every soul to be dumbfounded. Should the greatness of this Day be
revealed in its fullness, every man would forsake a myriad lives in his
longing to partake, though it be for one moment, of its great glory—how
much more this world and its corruptible treasures!

Be ye guided by wisdom in all your doings, and cleave ye tenaciously
unto it. Please God ye may all be strengthened to carry out that which
is the Will of God, and may be graciously assisted to appreciate the
rank conferred upon such of His loved ones as have arisen to serve Him
and magnify His name. Upon them be the glory of God, the glory of all
that is in the heavens and all that is on the earth, and the glory of
the inmates of the most exalted Paradise, the heaven of heavens.

XCVII: Consider the doubts which they who have…

Consider the doubts which they who have joined partners with God have
instilled into the hearts of the people of this land. “Is it ever
possible,” they ask, “for copper to be transmuted into
gold?” Say, Yes, by my Lord, it is possible. Its secret, however,
lieth hidden in Our Knowledge. We will reveal it unto whom We will.
Whoso doubteth Our power, let him ask the Lord his God, that He may
disclose unto him the secret, and assure him of its truth. That copper
can be turned into gold is in itself sufficient proof that gold can, in
like manner, be transmuted into copper, if they be of them that can
apprehend this truth. Every mineral can be made to acquire the density,
form, and substance of each and every other mineral. The knowledge
thereof is with Us in the Hidden Book.

XCVIII: Say: O leaders of religion! Weigh not the…

Say: O leaders of religion! Weigh not the Book of God with such
standards and sciences as are current amongst you, for the Book itself
is the unerring balance established amongst men. In this most perfect
balance whatsoever the peoples and kindreds of the earth possess must be
weighed, while the measure of its weight should be tested according to
its own standard, did ye but know it.

The eye of My loving-kindness weepeth sore over you, inasmuch as ye
have failed to recognize the One upon Whom ye have been calling in the
daytime and in the night season, at even and at morn. Advance, O people,
with snow-white faces and radiant hearts, unto the blest and crimson
Spot, wherein the Sadratu’l-Muntahá is calling: “Verily,
there is none other God beside Me, the Omnipotent Protector, the
Self-Subsisting!”

O ye leaders of religion! Who is the man amongst you that can rival
Me in vision or insight? Where is he to be found that dareth to claim to
be My equal in utterance or wisdom? No, by My Lord, the All-Merciful!
All on the earth shall pass away; and this is the face of your Lord, the
Almighty, the Well-Beloved.

We have decreed, O people, that the highest and last end of all
learning be the recognition of Him Who is the Object of all knowledge;
and yet, behold how ye have allowed your learning to shut you out, as by
a veil, from Him Who is the Day Spring of this Light, through Whom every
hidden thing hath been revealed. Could ye but discover the source whence
the splendor of this utterance is diffused, ye would cast away the
peoples of the world and all that they possess, and would draw nigh unto
this most blessed Seat of glory.

Say: This, verily, is the heaven in which the Mother Book is
treasured, could ye but comprehend it. He it is Who hath caused the Rock
to shout, and the Burning Bush to lift up its voice, upon the Mount
rising above the Holy Land, and proclaim: “The Kingdom is
God’s, the sovereign Lord of all, the All-Powerful, the
Loving!”

We have not entered any school, nor read any of your dissertations.
Incline your ears to the words of this unlettered One, wherewith He
summoneth you unto God, the Ever-Abiding. Better is this for you than
all the treasures of the earth, could ye but comprehend it.

XCIX: The vitality of men’s belief in God is dying…

The vitality of men’s belief in God is dying out in every land;
nothing short of His wholesome medicine can ever restore it. The
corrosion of ungodliness is eating into the vitals of human society;
what else but the Elixir of His potent Revelation can cleanse and revive
it? Is it within human power, O Hakím, to effect in the constituent
elements of any of the minute and indivisible particles of matter so
complete a transformation as to transmute it into purest gold?
Perplexing and difficult as this may appear, the still greater task of
converting satanic strength into heavenly power is one that We have been
empowered to accomplish. The Force capable of such a transformation
transcendeth the potency of the Elixir itself. The Word of God, alone,
can claim the distinction of being endowed with the capacity required
for so great and far-reaching a change.

C: The voice of the Divine Herald, proceeding…

The voice of the Divine Herald, proceeding out of the throne of God,
declareth: O ye My loved ones! Suffer not the hem of My sacred vesture
to be smirched and mired with the things of this world, and follow not
the promptings of your evil and corrupt desires. The Day Star of Divine
Revelation, that shineth in the plenitude of its glory in the heaven of
this Prison, beareth Me witness. They whose hearts are turned towards
Him Who is the Object of the adoration of the entire creation must
needs, in this Day, pass beyond and be sanctified from all created
things, visible and invisible. If they arise to teach My Cause, they
must let the breath of Him Who is the Unconstrained, stir them and must
spread it abroad on the earth with high resolve, with minds that are
wholly centered in Him, and with hearts that are completely detached
from and independent of all things, and with souls that are sanctified
from the world and its vanities. It behoveth them to choose as the best
provision for their journey reliance upon God, and to clothe themselves
with the love of their Lord, the Most Exalted, the All-Glorious. If they
do so, their words shall influence their hearers.

How great, how very great, the gulf that separateth Us from them who,
in this Day, are occupied with their evil passions, and have set their
hopes on the things of the earth and its fleeting glory! Many a time
hath the court of the All-Merciful been to outward seeming so denuded of
the riches of this world that they who lived in close association with
Him suffered from dire want. Despite their sufferings, the Pen of the
Most High hath, at no time, been willing to refer, nor even to make the
slightest allusion, to the things that pertain to this world and its
treasures. And if, at any time, any gift were presented to Him, that
gift was accepted as a token of His grace unto him that offered it.
Should it ever please Us to appropriate to Our own use all the treasures
of the earth, to none is given the right to question Our authority, or
to challenge Our right. It would be impossible to conceive any act more
contemptible than soliciting, in the name of the one true God, the
riches which men possess.

It is incumbent upon thee, and upon the followers of Him Who is the
Eternal Truth, to summon all men to whatsoever shall sanctify them from
all attachment to the things of the earth and purge them from its
defilements, that the sweet smell of the raiment of the All-Glorious may
be smelled from all them that love Him.

They who are possessed of riches, however, must have the utmost
regard for the poor, for great is the honor destined by God for those
poor who are steadfast in patience. By My life! There is no honor,
except what God may please to bestow, that can compare to this honor.
Great is the blessedness awaiting the poor that endure patiently and
conceal their sufferings, and well is it with the rich who bestow their
riches on the needy and prefer them before themselves.

Please God, the poor may exert themselves and strive to earn the
means of livelihood. This is a duty which, in this most great
Revelation, hath been prescribed unto every one, and is accounted in the
sight of God as a goodly deed. Whoso observeth this duty, the help of
the invisible One shall most certainly aid him. He can enrich, through
His grace, whomsoever He pleaseth. He, verily, hath power over all
things….

Tell, O ‘Alí, the loved ones of God that equity is the most
fundamental among human virtues. The evaluation of all things must needs
depend upon it. Ponder a while on the woes and afflictions which this
Prisoner hath sustained. I have, all the days of My life, been at the
mercy of Mine enemies, and have suffered each day, in the path of the
love of God, a fresh tribulation. I have patiently endured until the
fame of the Cause of God was spread abroad on the earth. If any one
should now arise and, prompted by the vain imaginations his heart hath
devised, endeavor, openly or in secret, to sow the seeds of dissension
amongst men—can such a man be said to have acted with equity? No, by
Him Whose might extendeth over all things! By My life! Mine heart
groaneth and mine eyes weep sore for the Cause of God and for them that
understand not what they say and imagine what they cannot
comprehend.

It beseemeth all men, in this Day, to take firm hold on the Most
Great Name, and to establish the unity of all mankind. There is no place
to flee to, no refuge that any one can seek, except Him. Should any man
be led to utter such words as will turn away the people from the shores
of God’s limitless ocean, and cause them to fix their hearts on
anything except this glorious and manifest Being, that hath assumed a
form subject to human limitations—such a man, however lofty the station
he may occupy, shall be denounced by the entire creation as one that
hath deprived himself of the sweet savors of the All-Merciful.

Say: Observe equity in your judgment, ye men of understanding heart!
He that is unjust in his judgment is destitute of the characteristics
that distinguish man’s station. He Who is the Eternal Truth
knoweth well what the breasts of men conceal. His long forbearance hath
emboldened His creatures, for not until the appointed time is come will
He rend any veil asunder. His surpassing mercy hath restrained the fury
of His wrath, and caused most people to imagine that the one true God is
unaware of the things they have privily committed. By Him Who is the
All-Knowing, the All-Informed! The mirror of His knowledge reflecteth,
with complete distinctness, precision and fidelity, the doings of all
men. Say: Praise be to Thee, O Concealer of the sins of the weak and
helpless! Magnified be Thy name, O Thou that forgivest the heedless ones
that trespass against Thee!

We have forbidden men to walk after the imaginations of their hearts,
that they may be enabled to recognize Him Who is the sovereign Source
and Object of all knowledge, and may acknowledge whatsoever He may be
pleased to reveal. Witness how they have entangled themselves with their
idle fancies and vain imaginations. By My life! They are themselves the
victims of what their own hearts have devised, and yet they perceive it
not. Vain and profitless is the talk of their lips, and yet they
understand not.

We beseech God that He may graciously vouchsafe His grace unto all
men, and enable them to attain the knowledge of Him and of themselves.
By My life! Whoso hath known Him shall soar in the immensity of His
love, and shall be detached from the world and all that is therein.
Nothing on earth shall deflect him from his course, how much less they
who, prompted by their vain imaginations, speak those things which God
hath forbidden.

Say: This is the Day when every ear must needs be attentive to His
voice. Hearken ye to the Call of this wronged One, and magnify ye the
name of the one true God, and adorn yourselves with the ornament of His
remembrance, and illumine your hearts with the light of His love. This
is the key that unlocketh the hearts of men, the burnish that shall
cleanse the souls of all beings. He that is careless of what hath poured
out from the finger of the Will of God liveth in manifest error. Amity
and rectitude of conduct, rather than dissension and mischief, are the
marks of true faith.

Proclaim unto men what He, Who speaketh the truth and is the Bearer
of the Trust of God, hath bidden thee observe. My glory be with thee, O
thou that callest upon My name, whose eyes are directed towards My
court, and whose tongue uttereth the praise of thy Lord, the
Beneficent.

CI: The purpose underlying the revelation of…

The purpose underlying the revelation of every heavenly Book, nay, of
every divinely-revealed verse, is to endue all men with righteousness
and understanding, so that peace and tranquillity may be firmly
established amongst them. Whatsoever instilleth assurance into the
hearts of men, whatsoever exalteth their station or promoteth their
contentment, is acceptable in the sight of God. How lofty is the station
which man, if he but choose to fulfill his high destiny, can attain! To
what depths of degradation he can sink, depths which the meanest of
creatures have never reached! Seize, O friends, the chance which this
Day offereth you, and deprive not yourselves of the liberal effusions of
His grace. I beseech God that He may graciously enable every one of you
to adorn himself, in this blessed Day, with the ornament of pure and
holy deeds. He, verily, doeth whatsoever He willeth.

CII: Give a hearing ear, O people, to that which…

Give a hearing ear, O people, to that which I, in truth, say unto
you. The one true God, exalted be His glory, hath ever regarded, and
will continue to regard, the hearts of men as His own, His exclusive
possession. All else, whether pertaining to land or sea, whether riches
or glory, He hath bequeathed unto the Kings and rulers of the earth.
From the beginning that hath no beginning the ensign proclaiming the
words “He doeth whatsoever He willeth” hath been unfurled in
all its splendor before His Manifestation. What mankind needeth in this
day is obedience unto them that are in authority, and a faithful
adherence to the cord of wisdom. The instruments which are essential to
the immediate protection, the security and assurance of the human race
have been entrusted to the hands, and lie in the grasp, of the governors
of human society. This is the wish of God and His decree…. We cherish
the hope that one of the kings of the earth will, for the sake of God,
arise for the triumph of this wronged, this oppressed people. Such a
king will be eternally extolled and glorified. God hath prescribed unto
this people the duty of aiding whosoever will aid them, of serving his
best interests, and of demonstrating to him their abiding loyalty. They
who follow Me must strive, under all circumstances, to promote the
welfare of whosoever will arise for the triumph of My Cause, and must at
all times prove their devotion and fidelity unto him. Happy is the man
that hearkeneth and observeth My counsel. Woe unto him that faileth to
fulfil My wish.

CIII: God hath, through His tongue that uttereth…

God hath, through His tongue that uttereth the truth, testified in
all His Tablets to these words: “I am He that liveth in the Abhá
Realm of Glory.”

By the righteousness of God! He, from the heights of this sublime,
this holy, this mighty, and transcendent station, seeth all things,
heareth all things, and is, at this hour, proclaiming: Blessed art thou,
O Javád, inasmuch as thou hast attained unto that which no man before
thee hath attained. I swear by Him Who is the Eternal Truth! Through
thee the eyes of the inmates of the Exalted Paradise have been
gladdened. The people, however, are utterly heedless. Were We to reveal
thy station, the hearts of men would be sorely agitated, their footsteps
would slip, the embodiments of vain-glory would be dumbfounded, would
fall down upon the ground, and would thrust the fingers of heedlessness
into their ears, for fear of hearing.

Grieve thou not over those that have busied themselves with the
things of this world, and have forgotten the remembrance of God, the
Most Great. By Him Who is the Eternal Truth! The day is approaching when
the wrathful anger of the Almighty will have taken hold of them. He,
verily, is the Omnipotent, the All-Subduing, the Most Powerful. He shall
cleanse the earth from the defilement of their corruption, and shall
give it for an heritage unto such of His servants as are nigh unto
Him.

Say: O people! Dust fill your mouths, and ashes blind your eyes, for
having bartered away the Divine Joseph for the most paltry of prices.
Oh, the misery that resteth upon you, ye that are far astray! Have ye
imagined in your hearts that ye possess the power to outstrip Him and
His Cause? Far from it! To this He, Himself, the All-Powerful, the Most
Exalted, the Most Great, doth testify.

Soon shall the blasts of His chastisement beat upon you, and the dust
of hell enshroud you. Those men who, having amassed the vanities and
ornaments of the earth, have turned away disdainfully from God—these
have lost both this world and the world to come. Ere long, will God,
with the Hand of Power, strip them of their possessions, and divest them
of the robe of His bounty. To this they themselves shall soon witness.
Thou, too, shalt testify.

Say: O people! Let not this life and its deceits deceive you, for the
world and all that is therein is held firmly in the grasp of His Will.
He bestoweth His favor on whom He willeth, and from whom He willeth He
taketh it away. He doth whatsoever He chooseth. Had the world been of
any worth in His sight, He surely would never have allowed His enemies
to possess it, even to the extent of a grain of mustard seed. He hath,
however, caused you to be entangled with its affairs, in return for what
your hands have wrought in His Cause. This, indeed, is a chastisement
which ye, of your own will, have inflicted upon yourselves, could ye but
perceive it. Are ye rejoicing in the things which, according to the
estimate of God, are contemptible and worthless, things wherewith He
proveth the hearts of the doubtful?

CIV: O ye peoples of the world! Know, verily,…

O ye peoples of the world! Know, verily, that an unforeseen calamity
is following you, and that grievous retribution awaiteth you. Think not
the deeds ye have committed have been blotted from My sight. By My
beauty! All your doings hath My Pen graven with open characters upon
tablets of chrysolite.

CV: O kings of the earth! He Who is the sovereign…

O kings of the earth! He Who is the sovereign Lord of all is come.
The Kingdom is God’s, the omnipotent Protector, the
Self-Subsisting. Worship none but God, and, with radiant hearts, lift up
your faces unto your Lord, the Lord of all names. This is a Revelation
to which whatever ye possess can never be compared, could ye but know
it.

We see you rejoicing in that which ye have amassed for others and
shutting out yourselves from the worlds which naught except My guarded
Tablet can reckon. The treasures ye have laid up have drawn you far away
from your ultimate objective. This ill beseemeth you, could ye but
understand it. Wash your hearts from all earthly defilements, and hasten
to enter the Kingdom of your Lord, the Creator of earth and heaven, Who
caused the world to tremble and all its peoples to wail, except them
that have renounced all things and clung to that which the Hidden Tablet
hath ordained.

This is the Day in which He Who held converse with God hath attained
the light of the Ancient of Days, and quaffed the pure waters of reunion
from this Cup that hath caused the seas to swell. Say: By the one true
God! Sinai is circling round the Day Spring of Revelation, while from
the heights of the Kingdom the Voice of the Spirit of God is heard
proclaiming: “Bestir yourselves, ye proud ones of the earth, and
hasten ye unto Him.” Carmel hath, in this Day, hastened in longing
adoration to attain His court, whilst from the heart of Zion there
cometh the cry: “The promise is fulfilled. That which had been
announced in the holy Writ of God, the most Exalted, the Almighty, the
Best-Beloved, is made manifest.”

O kings of the earth! The Most Great Law hath been revealed in this
Spot, this scene of transcendent splendor. Every hidden thing hath been
brought to light, by virtue of the Will of the Supreme Ordainer, He Who
hath ushered in the Last Hour, through Whom the Moon hath been cleft,
and every irrevocable decree expounded.

Ye are but vassals, O kings of the earth! He Who is the King of Kings
hath appeared, arrayed in His most wondrous glory, and is summoning you
unto Himself, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting. Take heed lest
pride deter you from recognizing the Source of Revelation, lest the
things of this world shut you out as by a veil from Him Who is the
Creator of heaven. Arise, and serve Him Who is the Desire of all
nations, Who hath created you through a word from Him, and ordained you
to be, for all time, the emblems of His sovereignty.

By the righteousness of God! It is not Our wish to lay hands on your
kingdoms. Our mission is to seize and possess the hearts of men. Upon
them the eyes of Bahá are fastened. To this testifieth the Kingdom of
Names, could ye but comprehend it. Whoso followeth his Lord, will
renounce the world and all that is therein; how much greater, then, must
be the detachment of Him Who holdeth so august a station! Forsake your
palaces, and haste ye to gain admittance into His Kingdom. This, indeed,
will profit you both in this world and in the next. To this testifieth
the Lord of the realm on high, did ye but know it.

How great the blessedness that awaiteth the king who will arise to
aid My Cause in My Kingdom, who will detach himself from all else but
Me! Such a king is numbered with the companions of the Crimson Ark—the
Ark which God hath prepared for the people of Bahá. All must glorify his
name, must reverence his station, and aid him to unlock the cities with
the keys of My Name, the omnipotent Protector of all that inhabit the
visible and invisible kingdoms. Such a king is the very eye of mankind,
the luminous ornament on the brow of creation, the fountain-head of
blessings unto the whole world. Offer up, O people of Bahá, your
substance, nay your very lives, for his assistance.

CVI: The All-Knowing Physician hath His finger…

The All-Knowing Physician hath His finger on the pulse of mankind. He
perceiveth the disease, and prescribeth, in His unerring wisdom, the
remedy. Every age hath its own problem, and every soul its particular
aspiration. The remedy the world needeth in its present-day afflictions
can never be the same as that which a subsequent age may require. Be
anxiously concerned with the needs of the age ye live in, and center
your deliberations on its exigencies and requirements.

We can well perceive how the whole human race is encompassed with
great, with incalculable afflictions. We see it languishing on its bed
of sickness, sore-tried and disillusioned. They that are intoxicated by
self-conceit have interposed themselves between it and the Divine and
infallible Physician. Witness how they have entangled all men,
themselves included, in the mesh of their devices. They can neither
discover the cause of the disease, nor have they any knowledge of the
remedy. They have conceived the straight to be crooked, and have
imagined their friend an enemy.

Incline your ears to the sweet melody of this Prisoner. Arise, and
lift up your voices, that haply they that are fast asleep may be
awakened. Say: O ye who are as dead! The Hand of Divine bounty
proffereth unto you the Water of Life. Hasten and drink your fill. Whoso
hath been re-born in this Day, shall never die; whoso remaineth dead,
shall never live.

CVII: He Who is your Lord, the All-Merciful,…

He Who is your Lord, the All-Merciful, cherisheth in His heart the
desire of beholding the entire human race as one soul and one body.
Haste ye to win your share of God’s good grace and mercy in this
Day that eclipseth all other created Days. How great the felicity that
awaiteth the man that forsaketh all he hath in a desire to obtain the
things of God! Such a man, We testify, is among God’s blessed
ones.

CVIII: We have a fixed time for you, O peoples….

We have a fixed time for you, O peoples. If ye fail, at the appointed
hour, to turn towards God, He, verily, will lay violent hold on you, and
will cause grievous afflictions to assail you from every direction. How
severe, indeed, is the chastisement with which your Lord will then
chastise you!

CIX: O Kamál! The heights which, through the…

O Kamál! The heights which, through the most gracious favor of God,
mortal man can attain, in this Day, are as yet unrevealed to his sight.
The world of being hath never had, nor doth it yet possess the capacity
for such a revelation. The day, however, is approaching when the
potentialities of so great a favor will, by virtue of His behest, be
manifested unto men. Though the forces of the nations be arrayed against
Him, though the kings of the earth be leagued to undermine His Cause,
the power of His might shall stand unshaken. He, verily, speaketh the
truth, and summoneth all mankind to the way of Him Who is the
Incomparable, the All-Knowing.

All men have been created to carry forward an ever-advancing
civilization. The Almighty beareth Me witness: To act like the beasts of
the field is unworthy of man. Those virtues that befit his dignity are
forbearance, mercy, compassion and loving-kindness towards all the
peoples and kindreds of the earth. Say: O friends! Drink your fill from
this crystal stream that floweth through the heavenly grace of Him Who
is the Lord of Names. Let others partake of its waters in My name, that
the leaders of men in every land may fully recognize the purpose for
which the Eternal Truth hath been revealed, and the reason for which
they themselves have been created.

CX: The Great Being saith: O ye children of men!…

The Great Being saith: O ye children of men! The fundamental purpose
animating the Faith of God and His Religion is to safeguard the
interests and promote the unity of the human race, and to foster the
spirit of love and fellowship amongst men. Suffer it not to become a
source of dissension and discord, of hate and enmity. This is the
straight Path, the fixed and immovable foundation. Whatsoever is raised
on this foundation, the changes and chances of the world can never
impair its strength, nor will the revolution of countless centuries
undermine its structure. Our hope is that the world’s religious
leaders and the rulers thereof will unitedly arise for the reformation
of this age and the rehabilitation of its fortunes. Let them, after
meditating on its needs, take counsel together and, through anxious and
full deliberation, administer to a diseased and sorely-afflicted world
the remedy it requireth…. It is incumbent upon them who are in
authority to exercise moderation in all things. Whatsoever passeth
beyond the limits of moderation will cease to exert a beneficial
influence. Consider for instance such things as liberty, civilization
and the like. However much men of understanding may favorably regard
them, they will, if carried to excess, exercise a pernicious influence
upon men…. Please God, the peoples of the world may be led, as the
result of the high endeavors exerted by their rulers and the wise and
learned amongst men, to recognize their best interests. How long will
humanity persist in its waywardness? How long will injustice continue?
How long is chaos and confusion to reign amongst men? How long will
discord agitate the face of society?… The winds of despair are, alas,
blowing from every direction, and the strife that divideth and
afflicteth the human race is daily increasing. The signs of impending
convulsions and chaos can now be discerned, inasmuch as the prevailing
order appeareth to be lamentably defective. I beseech God, exalted be
His glory, that He may graciously awaken the peoples of the earth, may
grant that the end of their conduct may be profitable unto them, and aid
them to accomplish that which beseemeth their station.

CXI: O contending peoples and kindreds of the…

O contending peoples and kindreds of the earth! Set your faces
towards unity, and let the radiance of its light shine upon you. Gather
ye together, and for the sake of God resolve to root out whatever is the
source of contention amongst you. Then will the effulgence of the
world’s great Luminary envelop the whole earth, and its
inhabitants become the citizens of one city, and the occupants of one
and the same throne. This wronged One hath, ever since the early days of
His life, cherished none other desire but this, and will continue to
entertain no wish except this wish. There can be no doubt whatever that
the peoples of the world, of whatever race or religion, derive their
inspiration from one heavenly Source, and are the subjects of one God.
The difference between the ordinances under which they abide should be
attributed to the varying requirements and exigencies of the age in
which they were revealed. All of them, except a few which are the
outcome of human perversity, were ordained of God, and are a reflection
of His Will and Purpose. Arise and, armed with the power of faith,
shatter to pieces the gods of your vain imaginings, the sowers of
dissension amongst you. Cleave unto that which draweth you together and
uniteth you. This, verily, is the most exalted Word which the Mother
Book hath sent down and revealed unto you. To this beareth witness the
Tongue of Grandeur from His habitation of glory.

CXII: Behold the disturbances which, for many a…

Behold the disturbances which, for many a long year, have afflicted
the earth, and the perturbation that hath seized its peoples. It hath
either been ravaged by war, or tormented by sudden and unforeseen
calamities. Though the world is encompassed with misery and distress,
yet no man hath paused to reflect what the cause or source of that may
be. Whenever the True Counsellor uttered a word in admonishment, lo,
they all denounced Him as a mover of mischief and rejected His claim.
How bewildering, how confusing is such behavior! No two men can be found
who may be said to be outwardly and inwardly united. The evidences of
discord and malice are apparent everywhere, though all were made for
harmony and union. The Great Being saith: O well-beloved ones! The
tabernacle of unity hath been raised; regard ye not one another as
strangers. Ye are the fruits of one tree, and the leaves of one branch.
We cherish the hope that the light of justice may shine upon the world
and sanctify it from tyranny. If the rulers and kings of the earth, the
symbols of the power of God, exalted be His glory, arise and resolve to
dedicate themselves to whatever will promote the highest interests of
the whole of humanity, the reign of justice will assuredly be
established amongst the children of men, and the effulgence of its light
will envelop the whole earth. The Great Being saith: The structure of
world stability and order hath been reared upon, and will continue to be
sustained by, the twin pillars of reward and punishment…. In another
passage He hath written: Take heed, O concourse of the rulers of the
world! There is no force on earth that can equal in its conquering power
the force of justice and wisdom…. Blessed is the king who marcheth
with the ensign of wisdom unfurled before him, and the battalions of
justice massed in his rear. He verily is the ornament that adorneth the
brow of peace and the countenance of security. There can be no doubt
whatever that if the day star of justice, which the clouds of tyranny
have obscured, were to shed its light upon men, the face of the earth
would be completely transformed.

CXIII: Dost thou imagine, O Minister of the Sháh…

Dost thou imagine, O Minister of the Sháh in the City
(Constantinople), that I hold within My grasp the ultimate destiny of
the Cause of God? Thinkest thou that My imprisonment, or the shame I
have been made to suffer, or even My death and utter annihilation, can
deflect its course? Wretched is what thou hast imagined in thine heart!
Thou art indeed of them that walk after the vain imaginings which their
hearts devise. No God is there but Him. Powerful is He to manifest His
Cause, and to exalt His testimony, and to establish whatsoever is His
Will, and to elevate it to so eminent a position that neither thine own
hands, nor the hands of them that have turned away from Him, can ever
touch or harm it.

Dost thou believe thou hast the power to frustrate His Will, to
hinder Him from executing His judgment, or to deter Him from exercising
His sovereignty? Pretendest thou that aught in the heavens or in the
earth can resist His Faith? No, by Him Who is the Eternal Truth! Nothing
whatsoever in the whole of creation can thwart His Purpose. Cast away,
therefore, the mere conceit thou dost follow, for mere conceit can never
take the place of truth. Be thou of them that have truly repented and
returned to God, the God Who hath created thee, Who hath nourished thee,
and made thee a minister among them that profess thy faith.

Know thou, moreover, that He it is Who hath, by His own behest,
created all that is in the heavens and all that is on the earth. How
can, then, the thing that hath been created at His bidding prevail
against Him? High is God exalted above what ye imagine about Him, ye
people of malice! If this Cause be of God, no man can prevail against
it; and if it be not of God, the divines amongst you, and they that
follow their corrupt desires and such as have rebelled against Him will
surely suffice to overpower it.

Hast thou not heard what a man of the family of Pharaoh, a believer,
hath said of old, and which God recounted unto His Apostle, Whom He hath
chosen above all human beings, and entrusted with His Message, and made
the source of His mercy unto all them that dwell on earth? He said, and
He, verily, speaketh the truth: “Will ye slay a man because he
saith my Lord is God, when he hath already come to you with proofs of
his mission? And if he be a liar, on him will be his lie, but if he be a
man of truth, part at least of what he threateneth will fall upon
you.” This is what God hath revealed unto His Well-Beloved One, in
His unerring Book.

And yet, ye have failed to incline your ears unto His bidding, have
disregarded His law, have rejected His counsel as recorded in His Book,
and have been of them that have strayed far from Him. How many those
who, every year, and every month, have because of you been put to death!
How manifold the injustices ye have perpetrated—injustices the like of
which the eye of creation hath not seen, which no chronicler hath ever
recorded! How numerous the babes and sucklings who were made orphans,
and the fathers who lost their sons, because of your cruelty, O ye
unjust doers! How oft hath a sister pined away and mourned over her
brother, and how oft hath a wife lamented after her husband and sole
sustainer!

Your iniquity waxed greater and greater until ye slew Him Who had
never taken His eyes away from the face of God, the Most Exalted, the
Most Great. Would that ye had put Him to death after the manner men are
wont to put one another to death! Ye slew Him, however, in such
circumstances as no man hath ever witnessed. The heavens wept sore over
Him, and the souls of them who are nigh unto God cried out for His
affliction. Was He not a Scion of your Prophet’s ancient House?
Had not His fame as a direct descendant of the Apostle been spread
abroad amongst you? Why, then, did ye inflict upon Him what no man,
however far ye may look back, hath inflicted upon another? By God! The
eye of creation hath never beheld your like. Ye slay Him Who is a Scion
of your Prophet’s House, and rejoice and make merry while seated
on your seats of honor! Ye utter your imprecations against them who were
before you, and who have perpetrated what ye have perpetrated, and
remain yourselves all the time unaware of your enormities!

Be fair in your judgment. Did they whom you curse, upon whom ye
invoke evil, act differently from yourselves? Have they not slain the
descendant of their Prophet as ye have slain the descendant of your own?
Is not your conduct similar to their conduct? Wherefore, then, claim ye
to be different from them, O ye sowers of dissension amongst men?

And when ye took away His life, one of His followers arose to avenge
His death. He was unknown of men, and the design he had conceived was
unnoticed by any one. Eventually he committed what had been preordained.
It behoveth you, therefore, to attach blame to no one except to
yourselves, for the things ye have committed, if ye but judge fairly.
Who is there on the whole earth who hath done what ye have done? None,
by Him Who is the Lord of all worlds!

All the rulers and kings of the earth honor and revere the
descendants of their Prophets and holy men, could ye but perceive it.
Ye, on the other hand, are responsible for such acts as no man hath, at
any time, performed. Your misdeeds have caused every understanding heart
to be consumed with grief. And yet, ye have remained sunk in your
heedlessness, and failed to realize the wickedness of your actions.

Ye have persisted in your waywardness until ye rose up against Us,
though We had committed nothing to justify your enmity. Fear ye not God
Who hath created you, and fashioned you, and caused you to attain your
strength, and joined you with them that have resigned themselves to Him
(Muslims)? How long will ye persist in your waywardness? How long will
ye refuse to reflect? How long ere ye shake off your slumber and are
roused from your heedlessness? How long will ye remain unaware of the
truth?

Ponder in thine heart. Did ye, notwithstanding your behavior and the
things your hands have wrought, succeed in quenching the fire of God or
in putting out the light of His Revelation—a light that hath enveloped
with its brightness them that are immersed in the billowing oceans of
immortality, and hath attracted the souls of such as truly believe in
and uphold His unity? Know ye not that the Hand of God is over your
hands, that His irrevocable Decree transcendeth all your devices, that
He is supreme over His servants, that He is equal to His Purpose, that
He doth what He wisheth, that He shall not be asked of whatever He
willeth, that He ordaineth what He pleaseth, that He is the Most
Powerful, the Almighty? If ye believe this to be the truth, wherefore,
then, will ye not cease from troubling and be at peace with
yourselves?

Ye perpetrate every day a fresh injustice, and treat Me as ye treated
Me in times past, though I never attempted to meddle with your affairs.
At no time have I opposed you, neither have I rebelled against your
laws. Behold how ye have, at the last, made Me a prisoner in this
far-off land! Know for a certainty, however, that whatever your hands or
the hands of the infidels have wrought will never, as they never did of
old, change the Cause of God or alter His ways.

Give heed to My warning, ye people of Persia! If I be slain at your
hands, God will assuredly raise up one who will fill the seat made
vacant through My death, for such is God’s method carried into
effect of old, and no change can ye find in God’s method of
dealing. Seek ye to put out God’s light that shineth upon His
earth? Averse is God from what ye desire. He shall perfect His light,
albeit ye abhor it in the secret of your hearts.

Pause for but a little while and reflect, O Minister, and be fair in
thy judgment. What is it that We have committed that could justify thee
in having slandered Us unto the King’s Ministers, in following thy
desires, in perverting the truth, and in uttering thy calumnies against
Us? We have never met each other except when We met thee in thy
father’s house, in the days when the martyrdom of Imám Ḥusayn was
being commemorated. On those occasions no one could have the chance of
making known to others his views and beliefs in conversation or in
discourse. Thou wilt bear witness to the truth of My words, if thou be
of the truthful. I have frequented no other gatherings in which thou
couldst have learned My mind or in which any other could have done so.
How, then, didst thou pronounce thy verdict against Me, when thou hadst
not heard My testimony from Mine own lips? Hast thou not heard what God,
exalted be His glory, hath said: “Say not to every one who meeteth
you with a greeting, ‘Thou art not a believer’.”
“Thrust not away those who cry to their Lord at morn and even,
craving to behold His face.” Thou hast indeed forsaken what the
Book of God hath prescribed, and yet thou deemest thyself to be a
believer!

Despite what thou hast done I entertain—and to this God is My
witness—no ill-will against thee, nor against any one, though from thee
and others We receive such hurt as no believer in the unity of God can
sustain. My cause is in the hand of none except God, and My trust is in
no one else but Him. Erelong shall your days pass away, as shall pass
away the days of those who now, with flagrant pride, vaunt themselves
over their neighbor. Soon shall ye be gathered together in the presence
of God, and shall be asked of your doings, and shall be repaid for what
your hands have wrought, and wretched the abode of the wicked doers!

By God! Wert thou to realize what thou hast done, thou wouldst surely
weep sore over thyself, and wouldst flee for refuge to God, and wouldst
pine away and mourn all the days of thy life, till God will have
forgiven thee, for He, verily, is the Most Generous, the All-Bountiful.
Thou wilt, however, persist, till the hour of thy death, in thy
heedlessness, inasmuch as thou hast, with all thine heart, thy soul and
inmost being, busied thyself with the vanities of the world. Thou shalt,
after thy departure, discover what We have revealed unto thee, and shalt
find all thy doings recorded in the Book wherein the works of all them
that dwell on earth, be they greater or less than the weight of an atom,
are noted down. Heed, therefore, My counsel, and hearken thou, with the
hearing of thine heart, unto My speech, and be not careless of My words,
nor be of them that reject My truth. Glory not in the things that have
been given thee. Set before thine eyes what hath been revealed in the
Book of God, the Help in Peril, the All-Glorious: “And when they
had forgotten their warnings, We set open to them the gates of all
things,” even as We did set open to thee and to thy like the gates
of this earth and the ornaments thereof. Wait thou, therefore, for what
hath been promised in the latter part of this holy verse, for this is a
promise from Him Who is the Almighty, the All-Wise—a promise that will
not prove untrue.

I know not the path ye have chosen and which ye tread, O congregation
of My ill-wishers! We summon you to God, We remind you of His Day, We
announce unto you tidings of your reunion with Him, We draw you nigh
unto His court, and send down upon you tokens of His wondrous wisdom,
and yet lo, behold how ye reject Us, how ye condemn Us, through the
things which your lying mouths have uttered, as an infidel, how ye
devise your devices against Us! And when We manifest unto you what God
hath, through His bountiful favor, bestowed upon Us, ye say, “It
is but plain magic.” The same words were spoken by the generations
that were before you and were what you are, did ye but perceive it. Ye
have thereby deprived yourselves of the bounty of God and of His grace,
and shall never obtain them till the day when God will have judged
between Us and you, and He, verily, is the best of Judges.

Certain ones among you have said: “He it is Who hath laid claim
to be God.” By God! This is a gross calumny. I am but a servant of
God Who hath believed in Him and in His signs, and in His Prophets and
in His angels. My tongue, and My heart, and My inner and My outer being
testify that there is no God but Him, that all others have been created
by His behest, and been fashioned through the operation of His Will.
There is none other God but Him, the Creator, the Raiser from the dead,
the Quickener, the Slayer. I am He that telleth abroad the favors with
which God hath, through His bounty, favored Me. If this be My
transgression, then I am truly the first of the transgressors. I and My
kindred are at your mercy. Do ye as ye please, and be not of them that
hesitate, that I might return to God My Lord, and reach the place where
I can no longer behold your faces. This, indeed, is My dearest wish, My
most ardent desire. Of My state God is, verily, sufficiently informed,
observant.

Imagine thyself to be under the eye of God, O Minister! If thou seest
Him not, He, in truth, clearly seeth thee. Observe, and judge fairly Our
Cause. What is it that We have committed that could have induced thee to
rise up against Us, and to slander Us to the people, if thou be of them
who are just? We departed out of Ṭihrán, at the bidding of the King,
and, by his leave, transferred Our residence to ‘Iráq. If I had
transgressed against him, why, then, did he release Me? And if I were
innocent of guilt, wherefore did ye afflict Us with such tribulation as
none among them that profess your faith hath suffered? Hath any of Mine
acts, after Mine arrival in ‘Iráq, been such as to subvert the
authority of the government? Who is it that can be said to have detected
any thing reprehensible in Our behavior? Enquire for thyself of its
people, that thou mayest be of them who have discerned the truth.

For eleven years We dwelt in that land, until the Minister
representing thy government arrived, whose name Our pen is loth to
mention, who was given to wine, who followed his lusts, and committed
wickedness, and was corrupt and corrupted ‘Iráq. To this will bear
witness most of the inhabitants of Baghdád, wert thou to inquire
of them, and be of such as seek the truth. He it was who wrongfully
seized the substance of his fellow-men, who forsook all the commandments
of God, and perpetrated whatever God had forbidden. Eventually, he,
following his desires, rose up against Us, and walked in the ways of the
unjust. He accused Us, in his letter to thee, and thou didst believe him
and followed in his way, without seeking any proof or trustworthy
evidence from him. Thou didst ask for no explanation, nor didst thou
attempt either to investigate or ascertain the matter, that the truth
might be distinguished from falsehood in thy sight, and that thou
mightest be clear in thy discernment. Find out for thyself the sort of
man he was by asking those Ministers who were, at that time, in
‘Iráq, as well as the Governor of the City (Baghdád) and
its high Counsellor, that the truth may be revealed to thee, and that
thou mayest be of the well-informed.

God is Our witness! We have, under no circumstances, opposed either
him, or others. We observed, under all conditions, the precepts of God,
and were never one of those that wrought disorders. To this he himself
doth testify. His intention was to lay hold on Us, and send Us back to
Persia, that he might thereby exalt his fame and reputation. Thou hast
committed the same crime, and for the self-same purpose. Ye both are of
equal grade in the sight of God, the sovereign Lord of all, the
All-Knowing.

It is not Our purpose in addressing to thee these words to lighten
the burden of Our woe, or to induce thee to intercede for Us with any
one. No, by Him Who is the Lord of all worlds! We have set forth the
whole matter before thee, that perchance thou might realize what thou
hast done, might desist from inflicting on others the hurt thou hast
inflicted on Us, and might be of them that have truly repented to God,
Who created thee and created all things, and might act with discernment
in the future. Better is this for thee than all thou dost possess, than
thy ministry whose days are numbered.

Beware lest thou be led to connive at injustice. Set thy heart firmly
upon justice, and alter not the Cause of God, and be of them whose eyes
are directed towards the things that have been revealed in His Book.
Follow not, under any condition, the promptings of thine evil desires.
Keep thou the law of God, thy Lord, the Beneficent, the Ancient of Days.
Thou shalt most certainly return to dust, and shalt perish like all the
things in which thou takest delight. This is what the Tongue of truth
and glory hath spoken.

Rememberest thou not God’s warning uttered in times past, that
thou mayest be of them that heed His warning? He said, and He, verily,
speaketh the truth: “From it (earth) have We created you, and unto
it will We return you, and out of it will We bring you forth a second
time.” This is what God ordained unto all them that dwell on
earth, be they high or low. It behoveth not, therefore, him who was
created from dust, who will return unto it, and will again be brought
forth out of it, to swell with pride before God, and before His loved
ones, to proudly scorn them, and be filled with disdainful arrogance.
Nay, rather it behoveth thee and those like thee to submit yourselves to
them Who are the Manifestations of the unity of God, and to defer humbly
to the faithful, who have forsaken their all for the sake of God, and
have detached themselves from the things which engross men’s
attention, and lead them astray from the path of God, the All-Glorious,
the All-Praised. Thus do We send down upon you that which shall profit
you and profit them that have placed their whole trust and confidence in
their Lord.

CXIV: Hearken, O King (Sulṭán ‘Abdu’l-‘Azíz),…

Hearken, O King (Sulṭán ‘Abdu’l-‘Azíz), to the
speech of Him that speaketh the truth, Him that doth not ask thee to
recompense Him with the things God hath chosen to bestow upon thee, Him
Who unerringly treadeth the straight Path. He it is Who summoneth thee
unto God, thy Lord, Who showeth thee the right course, the way that
leadeth to true felicity, that haply thou mayest be of them with whom it
shall be well.

Beware, O King, that thou gather not around thee such ministers as
follow the desires of a corrupt inclination, as have cast behind their
backs that which hath been committed into their hands and manifestly
betrayed their trust. Be bounteous to others as God hath been bounteous
to thee, and abandon not the interests of thy people to the mercy of
such ministers as these. Lay not aside the fear of God, and be thou of
them that act uprightly. Gather around thee those ministers from whom
thou canst perceive the fragrance of faith and of justice, and take thou
counsel with them, and choose whatever is best in thy sight, and be of
them that act generously.

Know thou for a certainty that whoso disbelieveth in God is neither
trustworthy nor truthful. This, indeed, is the truth, the undoubted
truth. He that acteth treacherously towards God will, also, act
treacherously towards his king. Nothing whatever can deter such a man
from evil, nothing can hinder him from betraying his neighbor, nothing
can induce him to walk uprightly.

Take heed that thou resign not the reins of the affairs of thy state
into the hands of others, and repose not thy confidence in ministers
unworthy of thy trust, and be not of them that live in heedlessness.
Shun them whose hearts are turned away from thee, and place not thy
confidence in them, and entrust them not with thine affairs and the
affairs of such as profess thy faith. Beware that thou allow not the
wolf to become the shepherd of God’s flock, and surrender not the
fate of His loved ones to the mercy of the malicious. Expect not that
they who violate the ordinances of God will be trustworthy or sincere in
the faith they profess. Avoid them, and preserve strict guard over
thyself, lest their devices and mischief hurt thee. Turn away from them,
and fix thy gaze upon God, thy Lord, the All-Glorious, the Most
Bountiful. He that giveth up himself wholly to God, God shall,
assuredly, be with him; and he that placeth his complete trust in God,
God shall, verily, protect him from whatsoever may harm him, and shield
him from the wickedness of every evil plotter.

Wert thou to incline thine ear unto My speech and observe My counsel,
God would exalt thee to so eminent a position that the designs of no man
on the whole earth can ever touch or hurt thee. Observe, O King, with
thine inmost heart and with thy whole being, the precepts of God, and
walk not in the paths of the oppressor. Seize thou, and hold firmly
within the grasp of thy might, the reins of the affairs of thy people,
and examine in person whatever pertaineth unto them. Let nothing escape
thee, for therein lieth the highest good.

Render thanks unto God for having chosen thee out of the whole world,
and made thee king over them that profess thy faith. It well beseemeth
thee to appreciate the wondrous favors with which God hath favored thee,
and to magnify continually His name. Thou canst best praise Him if thou
lovest His loved ones, and dost safeguard and protect His servants from
the mischief of the treacherous, that none may any longer oppress them.
Thou shouldst, moreover, arise to enforce the law of God amongst them,
that thou mayest be of those who are firmly established in His law.

Shouldst thou cause rivers of justice to spread their waters amongst
thy subjects, God would surely aid thee with the hosts of the unseen and
of the seen, and would strengthen thee in thine affairs. No God is there
but Him. All creation and its empire are His. Unto Him return the works
of the faithful.

Place not thy reliance on thy treasures. Put thy whole confidence in
the grace of God, thy Lord. Let Him be thy trust in whatever thou doest,
and be of them that have submitted themselves to His Will. Let Him be
thy helper and enrich thyself with His treasures, for with Him are the
treasuries of the heavens and of the earth. He bestoweth them upon whom
He will, and from whom He will He withholdeth them. There is none other
God but Him, the All-Possessing, the All-Praised. All are but paupers at
the door of His mercy; all are helpless before the revelation of His
sovereignty, and beseech His favors.

Overstep not the bounds of moderation, and deal justly with them that
serve thee. Bestow upon them according to their needs, and not to the
extent that will enable them to lay up riches for themselves, to deck
their persons, to embellish their homes, to acquire the things that are
of no benefit unto them, and to be numbered with the extravagant. Deal
with them with undeviating justice, so that none among them may either
suffer want, or be pampered with luxuries. This is but manifest
justice.

Allow not the abject to rule over and dominate them who are noble and
worthy of honor, and suffer not the high-minded to be at the mercy of
the contemptible and worthless, for this is what We observed upon Our
arrival in the City (Constantinople), and to it We bear witness. We
found among its inhabitants some who were possessed of an affluent
fortune and lived in the midst of excessive riches, while others were in
dire want and abject poverty. This ill beseemeth thy sovereignty, and is
unworthy of thy rank.

Let My counsel be acceptable to thee, and strive thou to rule with
equity among men, that God may exalt thy name and spread abroad the fame
of thy justice in all the world. Beware lest thou aggrandize thy
ministers at the expense of thy subjects. Fear the sighs of the poor and
of the upright in heart who, at every break of day, bewail their plight,
and be unto them a benignant sovereign. They, verily, are thy treasures
on earth. It behoveth thee, therefore, to safeguard thy treasures from
the assaults of them who wish to rob thee. Inquire into their affairs,
and ascertain, every year, nay every month, their condition, and be not
of them that are careless of their duty.

Set before thine eyes God’s unerring Balance and, as one
standing in His Presence, weigh in that Balance thine actions every day,
every moment of thy life. Bring thyself to account ere thou art summoned
to a reckoning, on the Day when no man shall have strength to stand for
fear of God, the Day when the hearts of the heedless ones shall be made
to tremble.

It behoveth every king to be as bountiful as the sun, which fostereth
the growth of all beings, and giveth to each its due, whose benefits are
not inherent in itself, but are ordained by Him Who is the Most
Powerful, the Almighty. The King should be as generous, as liberal in
his mercy as the clouds, the outpourings of whose bounty are showered
upon every land, by the behest of Him Who is the Supreme Ordainer, the
All-Knowing.

Have a care not to entrust thine affairs of state entirely into
another’s hands. None can discharge thy functions better than
thine own self. Thus do We make clear unto thee Our words of wisdom, and
send down upon thee that which can enable thee to pass over from the
left hand of oppression to the right hand of justice, and approach the
resplendent ocean of His favors. Such is the path which the kings that
were before thee have trodden, they that acted equitably towards their
subjects, and walked in the ways of undeviating justice.

Thou art God’s shadow on earth. Strive, therefore, to act in
such a manner as befitteth so eminent, so august a station. If thou dost
depart from following the things We have caused to descend upon thee and
taught thee, thou wilt, assuredly, be derogating from that great and
priceless honor. Return, then, and cleave wholly unto God, and cleanse
thine heart from the world and all its vanities, and suffer not the love
of any stranger to enter and dwell therein. Not until thou dost purify
thine heart from every trace of such love can the brightness of the
light of God shed its radiance upon it, for to none hath God given more
than one heart. This, verily, hath been decreed and written down in His
ancient Book. And as the human heart, as fashioned by God, is one and
undivided, it behoveth thee to take heed that its affections be, also,
one and undivided. Cleave thou, therefore, with the whole affection of
thine heart, unto His love, and withdraw it from the love of any one
besides Him, that He may aid thee to immerse thyself in the ocean of His
unity, and enable thee to become a true upholder of His oneness. God is
My witness. My sole purpose in revealing to thee these words is to
sanctify thee from the transitory things of the earth, and aid thee to
enter the realm of everlasting glory, that thou mayest, by the leave of
God, be of them that abide and rule therein….

I swear by God, O King! It is not My wish to make My plaint to thee
against them that persecute Me. I only plead My grief and My sorrow to
God, Who hath created Me and them, Who well knoweth our state and Who
watcheth over all things. My wish is to warn them of the consequences of
their actions, if perchance they might desist from treating others as
they have treated Me, and be of them that heed My warning.

The tribulations that have touched Us, the destitution from which We
suffer, the various troubles with which We are encompassed, shall all
pass away, as shall pass away the pleasures in which they delight and
the affluence they enjoy. This is the truth which no man on earth can
reject. The days in which We have been compelled to dwell in the dust
will soon be ended, as will the days in which they occupied the seats of
honor. God shall, assuredly, judge with truth between Us and them, and
He, verily, is the best of judges.

We render thanks unto God for whatsoever hath befallen Us, and We
patiently endure the things He hath ordained in the past or will ordain
in the future. In Him have I placed My trust; and into His hands have I
committed My Cause. He will, certainly, repay all them that endure with
patience and put their confidence in Him. His is the creation and its
empire. He exalteth whom He will, and whom He will He doth abase. He
shall not be asked of His doings. He, verily, is the All-Glorious, the
Almighty.

Let thine ear be attentive, O King, to the words We have addressed to
thee. Let the oppressor desist from his tyranny, and cut off the
perpetrators of injustice from among them that profess thy faith. By the
righteousness of God! The tribulations We have sustained are such that
any pen that recounteth them cannot but be overwhelmed with anguish. No
one of them that truly believe and uphold the unity of God can bear the
burden of their recital. So great have been Our sufferings that even the
eyes of Our enemies have wept over Us, and beyond them those of every
discerning person. And to all these trials have We been subjected, in
spite of Our action in approaching thee, and in bidding the people to
enter beneath thy shadow, that thou mightest be a stronghold unto them
that believe in and uphold the unity of God.

Have I, O King, ever disobeyed thee? Have I, at any time,
transgressed any of thy laws? Can any of thy ministers that represented
thee in ‘Iráq produce any proof that can establish my disloyalty
to thee? No, by Him Who is the Lord of all worlds! Not for one short
moment did We rebel against thee, or against any of thy ministers.
Never, God willing, shall We revolt against thee, though We be exposed
to trials more severe than any We suffered in the past.

In the day time and in the night season, at even and at morn, We pray
to God on thy behalf, that He may graciously aid thee to be obedient
unto Him and to observe His commandment, that He may shield thee from
the hosts of the evil ones. Do, therefore, as it pleaseth thee, and
treat Us as befitteth thy station and beseemeth thy sovereignty. Be not
forgetful of the law of God in whatever thou desirest to achieve, now or
in the days to come. Say: Praise be to God, the Lord of all worlds!

CXV: The Pen of Revelation, O Dhabíh, hath, in…

The Pen of Revelation, O Dhabíh, hath, in most of the
divinely-revealed Tablets, recorded these words: We have admonished all
the loved ones of God to take heed lest the hem of Our sacred vesture be
smirched with the mire of unlawful deeds, or be stained with the dust of
reprehensible conduct. We have, moreover, exhorted them to fix their
gaze upon whatsoever hath been revealed in Our Tablets. Had their inner
ears been attentive to the Divine counsels which have shone forth from
the Day Spring of the Pen of the All-Merciful, and hearkened unto His
Voice, most of the peoples of the earth would have by now been adorned
with the ornament of His guidance. What had been pre-ordained, however,
hath come to pass.

Once again doth the Tongue of the Ancient of Days reveal, while in
this Most Great Prison, these words which are recorded in this
snow-white Scroll: O ye the beloved of the one true God! Pass beyond the
narrow retreats of your evil and corrupt desires, and advance into the
vast immensity of the realm of God, and abide ye in the meads of
sanctity and of detachment, that the fragrance of your deeds may lead
the whole of mankind to the ocean of God’s unfading glory. Forbear
ye from concerning yourselves with the affairs of this world and all
that pertaineth unto it, or from meddling with the activities of those
who are its outward leaders.

The one true God, exalted be His glory, hath bestowed the government
of the earth upon the kings. To none is given the right to act in any
manner that would run counter to the considered views of them who are in
authority. That which He hath reserved for Himself are the cities of
men’s hearts; and of these the loved ones of Him Who is the
Sovereign Truth are, in this Day, as the keys. Please God they may, one
and all, be enabled to unlock, through the power of the Most Great Name,
the gates of these cities. This is what is meant by aiding the one true
God—a theme to which the Pen of Him Who causeth the dawn to break hath
referred in all His Books and Tablets.

It behoveth, likewise, the loved ones of God to be forbearing towards
their fellow-men, and to be so sanctified and detached from all things,
and to evince such sincerity and fairness, that all the peoples of the
earth may recognize them as the trustees of God amongst men. Consider to
what lofty heights the injunctions of the Almighty have soared, and how
abject is the habitation wherein these feeble souls are now abiding.
Blessed are they who, on the wings of certitude, have flown in the
heavens which the Pen of thy Lord, the All-Merciful, hath spread.

Behold, O Dhabíh, the works which God, the Sovereign Truth,
hath wrought. Say thou: How great, how very great, is the power of His
might that encompasseth all worlds! Exalted, immeasurably exalted, is
His detachment above the reach and ken of the entire creation!
Glorified, glorified be His meekness—a meekness that hath melted the
hearts of them that have been brought nigh unto God!

Though afflicted with countless tribulations, which We have suffered
at the hands of Our enemies, We have proclaimed unto all the rulers of
the earth what God hath willed to proclaim, that all nations may know
that no manner of affliction can deter the Pen of the Ancient of Days
from achieving its purpose. His Pen moveth by the leave of God, Who
fashioneth the crumbling and rotten bones.

Considering this most mighty enterprise, it beseemeth them that love
Him to gird up the loins of their endeavor, and to fix their thoughts on
whatever will ensure the victory of the cause of God, rather than commit
vile and contemptible deeds. Wert thou to consider, for but a little
while, the outward works and doings of Him Who is the Eternal Truth,
thou wouldst fall down upon the ground, and exclaim: O Thou Who art the
Lord of Lords! I testify that Thou art the Lord of all creation, and the
Educator of all beings, visible and invisible. I bear witness that Thy
power hath encompassed the entire universe, and that the hosts of the
earth can never dismay Thee, nor can the dominion of all peoples and
nations deter Thee from executing Thy purpose. I confess that Thou hast
no desire except the regeneration of the whole world, and the
establishment of the unity of its peoples, and the salvation of all them
that dwell therein.

Reflect a while, and consider how they who are the loved ones of God
must conduct themselves, and to what heights they must soar. Beseech
thou, at all times, thy Lord, the God of Mercy, to aid them to do what
He willeth. He, verily, is the Most Powerful, the All-Glorious, the
All-Knowing.

The imprisonment inflicted on this wronged One, O Dhabíh, did
to Him no harm nor can it ever do so; nor can the loss of all His
earthly goods, His exile, or even His martyrdom and outward humiliation,
do Him any hurt. That which can hurt Him are the evil deeds which the
beloved of God commit, and which they impute to Him Who is the Sovereign
Truth. This is the affliction from which I suffer, and to this He,
Himself, Who is potent over all things, beareth Me witness. That which
hath sorely hurt Me are the claims which the people of the Bayán are
advancing every day. Some have proclaimed their allegiance to one of My
Branches (Sons), while others have asserted independently their claims,
and acted after their own desires.

O Dhabíh! The Tongue of Grandeur saith: By Myself that
speaketh the truth! In this most mighty Revelation all the Dispensations
of the past have attained their highest and final consummation. Whoso
layeth claim to a Revelation after Him, such a man is assuredly a lying
impostor. We pray God that He may graciously assist him to retract and
repudiate such claim. Should he repent, God will no doubt forgive him.
If, however, he persisteth in his error, God will assuredly send down
one who will deal mercilessly with him. He, verily, is the Almighty, the
Most Powerful.

Behold how the people of the Bayán have utterly failed to recognize
that the sole object of whatsoever My Previous Manifestation and
Harbinger of My Beauty hath revealed hath been My Revelation and the
proclamation of My Cause. Never—and to this He Who is the Sovereign
Truth beareth Me witness—would He have, but for Me, pronounced what He
did pronounce. Witness how this foolish people have treated the Cause of
Him Who is the All-Possessing, the Inaccessible, as a play and pastime!
Their hearts devise each day a new device, and their fancy leadeth them
to seek a fresh retreat. If what they say be true, how then can the
stability of the Cause of thy Lord be ensured? Ponder this in thine
heart, and be thou of them who are sharp-sighted, who scan heedfully,
who are steadfast in their purpose and confident in their belief. Such
should be thy certitude that if all mankind were to advance such claims
as no man hath ever advanced, or any mind conceived, thou wouldst
completely ignore them, wouldst cast them from thee, and would set thy
face towards Him Who is the Object of the adoration of all worlds.

By the righteousness of Mine own Self! Great, immeasurably great is
this Cause! Mighty, inconceivably mighty is this Day! Blessed indeed is
the man that hath forsaken all things, and fastened his eyes upon Him
Whose face hath shed illumination upon all who are in the heavens and
all who are on the earth.

Sharp must be thy sight, O Dhabíh, and adamant thy soul, and
brass-like thy feet, if thou wishest to be unshaken by the assaults of
the selfish desires that whisper in men’s breasts. This is the
firm injunction which the Pen of the Most Great Name hath, by virtue of
the Will of the Ancient King, been moved to reveal. Keep it as the apple
of thine eye, and be thou of the thankful. Strive thou day and night to
serve the Cause of Him Who is the Eternal Truth, and be thou detached
from all else but Him. By Myself! Whatever thou seest in this Day shall
perish. Supremely lofty will be thy station, if thou remainest steadfast
in the Cause of thy Lord. Towards Him are thy busy movements directed,
and in Him is thy final resting-place.

CXVI: O kings of Christendom! Heard ye not the…

O kings of Christendom! Heard ye not the saying of Jesus, the Spirit
of God, “I go away, and come again unto you”? Wherefore,
then, did ye fail, when He did come again unto you in the clouds of
heaven, to draw nigh unto Him, that ye might behold His face, and be of
them that attained His Presence? In another passage He saith:
“When He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you into all
truth.” And yet, behold how, when He did bring the truth, ye
refused to turn your faces towards Him, and persisted in disporting
yourselves with your pastimes and fancies. Ye welcomed Him not, neither
did ye seek His Presence, that ye might hear the verses of God from His
own mouth, and partake of the manifold wisdom of the Almighty, the
All-Glorious, the All-Wise. Ye have, by reason of your failure, hindered
the breath of God from being wafted over you, and have withheld from
your souls the sweetness of its fragrance. Ye continue roving with
delight in the valley of your corrupt desires. Ye, and all ye possess,
shall pass away. Ye shall, most certainly, return to God, and shall be
called to account for your doings in the presence of Him Who shall
gather together the entire creation…

Twenty years have passed, O kings, during which We have, each day,
tasted the agony of a fresh tribulation. No one of them that were before
Us hath endured the things We have endured. Would that ye could perceive
it! They that rose up against Us have put us to death, have shed our
blood, have plundered our property, and violated our honor. Though aware
of most of our afflictions, ye, nevertheless, have failed to stay the
hand of the aggressor. For is it not your clear duty to restrain the
tyranny of the oppressor, and to deal equitably with your subjects, that
your high sense of justice may be fully demonstrated to all mankind?

God hath committed into your hands the reins of the government of the
people, that ye may rule with justice over them, safeguard the rights of
the down-trodden, and punish the wrong-doers. If ye neglect the duty
prescribed unto you by God in His Book, your names shall be numbered
with those of the unjust in His sight. Grievous, indeed, will be your
error. Cleave ye to that which your imaginations have devised, and cast
behind your backs the commandments of God, the Most Exalted, the
Inaccessible, the All-Compelling, the Almighty? Cast away the things ye
possess, and cling to that which God hath bidden you observe. Seek ye
His grace, for he that seeketh it treadeth His straight Path.

Consider the state in which We are, and behold ye the ills and
troubles that have tried Us. Neglect Us not, though it be for a moment,
and judge ye between Us and Our enemies with equity. This will, surely,
be a manifest advantage unto you. Thus do We relate to you Our tale, and
recount the things that have befallen Us, that ye might take off Our
ills and ease Our burden. Let him who will, relieve Us from Our trouble;
and as to him that willeth not, My Lord is assuredly the best of
helpers.

Warn and acquaint the people, O Servant, with the things We have sent
down unto Thee, and let the fear of no one dismay Thee, and be Thou not
of them that waver. The day is approaching when God will have exalted
His Cause and magnified His testimony in the eyes of all who are in the
heavens and all who are on the earth. Place, in all circumstances, Thy
whole trust in Thy Lord, and fix Thy gaze upon Him, and turn away from
all them that repudiate His truth. Let God, Thy Lord, be Thy sufficing
succorer and helper. We have pledged Ourselves to secure Thy triumph
upon earth and to exalt Our Cause above all men, though no king be found
who would turn his face towards Thee.

CXVII: The Great Being, wishing to reveal the…

The Great Being, wishing to reveal the prerequisites of the peace and
tranquillity of the world and the advancement of its peoples, hath
written: The time must come when the imperative necessity for the
holding of a vast, an all-embracing assemblage of men will be
universally realized. The rulers and kings of the earth must needs
attend it, and, participating in its deliberations, must consider such
ways and means as will lay the foundations of the world’s Great
Peace amongst men. Such a peace demandeth that the Great Powers should
resolve, for the sake of the tranquillity of the peoples of the earth,
to be fully reconciled among themselves. Should any king take up arms
against another, all should unitedly arise and prevent him. If this be
done, the nations of the world will no longer require any armaments,
except for the purpose of preserving the security of their realms and of
maintaining internal order within their territories. This will ensure
the peace and composure of every people, government and nation. We fain
would hope that the kings and rulers of the earth, the mirrors of the
gracious and almighty name of God, may attain unto this station, and
shield mankind from the onslaught of tyranny. …The day is approaching
when all the peoples of the world will have adopted one universal
language and one common script. When this is achieved, to whatsoever
city a man may journey, it shall be as if he were entering his own home.
These things are obligatory and absolutely essential. It is incumbent
upon every man of insight and understanding to strive to translate that
which hath been written into reality and action…. That one indeed is a
man who, today, dedicateth himself to the service of the entire human
race. The Great Being saith: Blessed and happy is he that ariseth to
promote the best interests of the peoples and kindreds of the earth. In
another passage He hath proclaimed: It is not for him to pride himself
who loveth his own country, but rather for him who loveth the whole
world. The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens.

CXVIII: Lay not aside the fear of God, O kings of…

Lay not aside the fear of God, O kings of the earth, and beware that
ye transgress not the bounds which the Almighty hath fixed. Observe the
injunctions laid upon you in His Book, and take good heed not to
overstep their limits. Be vigilant, that ye may not do injustice to
anyone, be it to the extent of a grain of mustard seed. Tread ye the
path of justice, for this, verily, is the straight path.

Compose your differences, and reduce your armaments, that the burden
of your expenditures may be lightened, and that your minds and hearts
may be tranquillized. Heal the dissensions that divide you, and ye will
no longer be in need of any armaments except what the protection of your
cities and territories demandeth. Fear ye God, and take heed not to
outstrip the bounds of moderation, and be numbered among the
extravagant.

We have learned that you are increasing your outlay every year, and
are laying the burden thereof on your subjects. This, verily, is more
than they can bear, and is a grievous injustice. Decide justly between
men, and be ye the emblems of justice amongst them. This, if ye judge
fairly, is the thing that behoveth you, and beseemeth your station.

Beware not to deal unjustly with any one that appealeth to you, and
entereth beneath your shadow. Walk ye in the fear of God, and be ye of
them that lead a godly life. Rest not on your power, your armies, and
treasures. Put your whole trust and confidence in God, Who hath created
you, and seek ye His help in all your affairs. Succor cometh from Him
alone. He succoreth whom He will with the hosts of the heavens and of
the earth.

Know ye that the poor are the trust of God in your midst. Watch that
ye betray not His trust, that ye deal not unjustly with them and that ye
walk not in the ways of the treacherous. Ye will most certainly be
called upon to answer for His trust on the day when the Balance of
Justice shall be set, the day when unto every one shall be rendered his
due, when the doings of all men, be they rich or poor, shall be
weighed.

If ye pay no heed unto the counsels which, in peerless and
unequivocal language, We have revealed in this Tablet, Divine
chastisement shall assail you from every direction, and the sentence of
His justice shall be pronounced against you. On that day ye shall have
no power to resist Him, and shall recognize your own impotence. Have
mercy on yourselves and on those beneath you. Judge ye between them
according to the precepts prescribed by God in His most holy and exalted
Tablet, a Tablet wherein He hath assigned to each and every thing its
settled measure, in which He hath given, with distinctness, an
explanation of all things, and which is in itself a monition unto them
that believe in Him.

Examine Our Cause, inquire into the things that have befallen Us, and
decide justly between Us and Our enemies, and be ye of them that act
equitably towards their neighbor. If ye stay not the hand of the
oppressor, if ye fail to safeguard the rights of the down-trodden, what
right have ye then to vaunt yourselves among men? What is it of which ye
can rightly boast? Is it on your food and your drink that ye pride
yourselves, on the riches ye lay up in your treasuries, on the diversity
and the cost of the ornaments with which ye deck yourselves? If true
glory were to consist in the possession of such perishable things, then
the earth on which ye walk must needs vaunt itself over you, because it
supplieth you, and bestoweth upon you, these very things, by the decree
of the Almighty. In its bowels are contained, according to what God hath
ordained, all that ye possess. From it, as a sign of His mercy, ye
derive your riches. Behold then your state, the thing in which ye glory!
Would that ye could perceive it!

Nay! By Him Who holdeth in His grasp the kingdom of the entire
creation! Nowhere doth your true and abiding glory reside except in your
firm adherence unto the precepts of God, your wholehearted observance of
His laws, your resolution to see that they do not remain unenforced, and
to pursue steadfastly the right course.

CXIX: O ye rulers of the earth! Wherefore have…

O ye rulers of the earth! Wherefore have ye clouded the radiance of
the Sun, and caused it to cease from shining? Hearken unto the counsel
given you by the Pen of the Most High, that haply both ye and the poor
may attain unto tranquillity and peace. We beseech God to assist the
kings of the earth to establish peace on earth. He, verily, doth what He
willeth.

O kings of the earth! We see you increasing every year your
expenditures, and laying the burden thereof on your subjects. This,
verily, is wholly and grossly unjust. Fear the sighs and tears of this
wronged One, and lay not excessive burdens on your peoples. Do not rob
them to rear palaces for yourselves; nay rather choose for them that
which ye choose for yourselves. Thus We unfold to your eyes that which
profiteth you, if ye but perceive. Your people are your treasures.
Beware lest your rule violate the commandments of God, and ye deliver
your wards to the hands of the robber. By them ye rule, by their means
ye subsist, by their aid ye conquer. Yet, how disdainfully ye look upon
them! How strange, how very strange!

Now that ye have refused the Most Great Peace, hold ye fast unto
this, the Lesser Peace, that haply ye may in some degree better your own
condition and that of your dependents.

O rulers of the earth! Be reconciled among yourselves, that ye may
need no more armaments save in a measure to safeguard your territories
and dominions. Beware lest ye disregard the counsel of the All-Knowing,
the Faithful.

Be united, O kings of the earth, for thereby will the tempest of
discord be stilled amongst you, and your peoples find rest, if ye be of
them that comprehend. Should any one among you take up arms against
another, rise ye all against him, for this is naught but manifest
justice.

CXX: O ye the elected representatives of the people…

O ye the elected representatives of the people in every land! Take ye
counsel together, and let your concern be only for that which profiteth
mankind, and bettereth the condition thereof, if ye be of them that scan
heedfully. Regard the world as the human body which, though at its
creation whole and perfect, hath been afflicted, through various causes,
with grave disorders and maladies. Not for one day did it gain ease, nay
its sickness waxed more severe, as it fell under the treatment of
ignorant physicians, who gave full rein to their personal desires, and
have erred grievously. And if, at one time, through the care of an able
physician, a member of that body was healed, the rest remained afflicted
as before. Thus informeth you the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.

We behold it, in this day, at the mercy of rulers so drunk with pride
that they cannot discern clearly their own best advantage, much less
recognize a Revelation so bewildering and challenging as this. And
whenever any one of them hath striven to improve its condition, his
motive hath been his own gain, whether confessedly so or not; and the
unworthiness of this motive hath limited his power to heal or cure.

That which the Lord hath ordained as the sovereign remedy and
mightiest instrument for the healing of all the world is the union of
all its peoples in one universal Cause, one common Faith. This can in no
wise be achieved except through the power of a skilled, an all-powerful
and inspired Physician. This, verily, is the truth, and all else naught
but error.

CXXI: Say: O ye that envy Me and seek My hurt!…

Say: O ye that envy Me and seek My hurt! The fury of your wrath
against Me confound you! Lo, the Day Star of Glory hath risen above the
horizon of My Revelation, and enveloped with its radiance the whole of
mankind. And yet, behold how ye have shut out yourselves from its
splendor and are sunk in utter heedlessness. Have mercy upon yourselves,
and repudiate not the claim of Him Whose truth ye have already
recognized, and be not of them that transgress.

By the righteousness of the one true God! If ye reject this
Revelation, all the nations of the earth will laugh you to scorn and
mock you, for it is you that have produced, before their eyes, and for
the purpose of vindicating the truth of your Cause, the testimonies of
God, the Sovereign Protector, the Most Powerful, the All-Glorious, the
All-Knowing. And yet, no sooner was His subsequent Revelation, clothed
with the glory of an all-compelling sovereignty, sent down unto you,
than ye cast it behind your backs, O ye that are numbered with the
heedless ones!

What! Believe ye in your hearts that ye possess the power to
extinguish the radiance of the Sun, or to eclipse its splendor? Nay, by
My life! Ye will never and can never achieve your purpose, though ye
summon to your aid all that is in the heavens and all that is on the
earth. Walk ye in the fear of God, and render not your works vain.
Incline your ears to His words, and be not of them that are shut out as
by a veil from Him. Say: God is My witness! I have wished nothing
whatever for Myself. What I have wished is the victory of God and the
triumph of His Cause. He is Himself a sufficient witness between you and
Me. Were ye to cleanse your eyes, ye would readily perceive how My deeds
testify to the truth of My words, how My words are a guide to My
deeds.

Blinded are your eyes! Perceived ye not the greatness of the power of
God and of His sovereignty? Beheld ye not His majesty and glory? Woe
unto you, ye congregation of the malicious and envious! Hearken unto My
speech, and tarry not though it be for less than a moment. Thus biddeth
you He Who is the Beauty of the All-Merciful, that haply ye may detach
yourselves from the things ye possess, and ascend to the heights from
which ye can discover the whole creation sheltered beneath the shadow of
His Revelation.

Say: There is no place of refuge for you, no asylum to which ye can
flee, no one to defend or to protect you in this Day from the fury of
the wrath of God and from His vehement power, unless and until ye seek
the shadow of His Revelation. This, indeed, is His Revelation which hath
been manifested unto you in the person of this Youth. Glorified, then,
be God for so effulgent, so precious, so wondrous a vision.

Detach yourselves from all else but Me, and turn your faces towards
My face, for better is this for you than the things ye possess. The
Tongue of God testifieth to the truth of My words, through Mine own Word
that speaketh the truth, and embraceth and comprehendeth all things.

Say: Think ye that your allegiance to His Cause can ever profit Him,
or your repudiation of its truth cause Him any loss? No, by My Self, the
All-Subduing, the Inaccessible, the Most High! Tear ye asunder the veils
of names and cleave ye their kingdom. By My Beauty! He Who is the
Monarch of all names is come, He at Whose bidding every single name
hath, from the beginning that hath no beginning, been created, He Who
shall continue to create them as He pleaseth. He, verily, is the
All-Powerful, the All-Wise.

Beware that ye divest not yourselves of the raiment of Divine
guidance. Drink ye your fill from the Cup which the Youths of Heaven
have raised above your heads. Thus biddeth you He Who hath more mercy
upon you than your own selves, He Who asketh not any recompense or
thanks from you. His reward is from Him Who hath, through the power of
truth, sent Him down unto you, and singled Him out and proclaimed Him as
His own Testimony unto the whole of creation. He it is Who hath
empowered Him to manifest all His signs. Repeat the gaze, that ye may
perceive the things whereunto the Tongue of the Ancient of Days hath
summoned you, that haply ye may be of them that have apprehended the
truth. Heard it ye ever reported by your fathers of old, or by the
generations that preceded them, even unto the first Adam, that any one
coming in the clouds of revelation, being invested with manifest and
transcendent sovereignty, having on his right hand the Kingdom of God
and on his left all the power and glory of His everlasting dominion, any
one preceded by the hosts of God, the Almighty, the All-Compelling, the
Most Powerful, and uttering continually verses whose import the minds of
the most learned and wisest of men are powerless to fathom, should yet
be the bearer of a message that is not of God? Be discerning, then, and
speak ye the truth, the very truth, if ye claim to be honest and
high-minded.

Say: The verses We have revealed are as numerous as those which, in
the preceding Revelation, were sent down upon the Báb. Let him that
doubteth the words which the Spirit of God hath spoken seek the court of
Our presence and hear Our divinely-revealed verses, and be an
eye-witness of the clear proof of Our claim.

Say: By the righteousness of the Almighty! The measure of the favors
of God hath been filled up, His Word hath been perfected, the light of
His countenance hath been revealed, His sovereignty hath encompassed the
whole of creation, the glory of His Revelation hath been made manifest,
and His bounties have rained upon all mankind.

CXXII: Man is the supreme Talisman. Lack of a…

Man is the supreme Talisman. Lack of a proper education hath,
however, deprived him of that which he doth inherently possess. Through
a word proceeding out of the mouth of God he was called into being; by
one word more he was guided to recognize the Source of his education; by
yet another word his station and destiny were safeguarded. The Great
Being saith: Regard man as a mine rich in gems of inestimable value.
Education can, alone, cause it to reveal its treasures, and enable
mankind to benefit therefrom. If any man were to meditate on that which
the Scriptures, sent down from the heaven of God’s holy Will, have
revealed, he would readily recognize that their purpose is that all men
shall be regarded as one soul, so that the seal bearing the words
“The Kingdom shall be God’s” may be stamped on every
heart, and the light of Divine bounty, of grace, and mercy may envelop
all mankind. The one true God, exalted be His glory, hath wished nothing
for Himself. The allegiance of mankind profiteth Him not, neither doth
its perversity harm Him. The Bird of the Realm of Utterance voiceth
continually this call: “All things have I willed for thee, and
thee, too, for thine own sake.” If the learned and worldly-wise
men of this age were to allow mankind to inhale the fragrance of
fellowship and love, every understanding heart would apprehend the
meaning of true liberty, and discover the secret of undisturbed peace
and absolute composure. Were the earth to attain this station and be
illumined with its light it could then be truly said of it: “Thou
shall see in it no hollows or rising hills.”

CXXIII: The generations that have gone on before…

The generations that have gone on before you—whither are they fled?
And those round whom in life circled the fairest and the loveliest of
the land, where now are they? Profit by their example, O people, and be
not of them that are gone astray.

Others ere long will lay hands on what ye possess, and enter into
your habitations. Incline your ears to My words, and be not numbered
among the foolish.

For every one of you his paramount duty is to choose for himself that
on which no other may infringe and none usurp from him. Such a
thing—and to this the Almighty is My witness—is the love of God, could
ye but perceive it.

Build ye for yourselves such houses as the rain and floods can never
destroy, which shall protect you from the changes and chances of this
life. This is the instruction of Him Whom the world hath wronged and
forsaken.

CXXIV: How wondrous is the unity of the Living,…

How wondrous is the unity of the Living, the Ever-Abiding God—a
unity which is exalted above all limitations, that transcendeth the
comprehension of all created things! He hath, from everlasting, dwelt in
His inaccessible habitation of holiness and glory, and will unto
everlasting continue to be enthroned upon the heights of His independent
sovereignty and grandeur. How lofty hath been His incorruptible Essence,
how completely independent of the knowledge of all created things, and
how immensely exalted will it remain above the praise of all the
inhabitants of the heavens and the earth!

From the exalted source, and out of the essence of His favor and
bounty He hath entrusted every created thing with a sign of His
knowledge, so that none of His creatures may be deprived of its share in
expressing, each according to its capacity and rank, this knowledge.
This sign is the mirror of His beauty in the world of creation. The
greater the effort exerted for the refinement of this sublime and noble
mirror, the more faithfully will it be made to reflect the glory of the
names and attributes of God, and reveal the wonders of His signs and
knowledge. Every created thing will be enabled (so great is this
reflecting power) to reveal the potentialities of its pre-ordained
station, will recognize its capacity and limitations, and will testify
to the truth that “He, verily, is God; there is none other God
besides Him.”…

There can be no doubt whatever that, in consequence of the efforts
which every man may consciously exert and as a result of the exertion of
his own spiritual faculties, this mirror can be so cleansed from the
dross of earthly defilements and purged from satanic fancies as to be
able to draw nigh unto the meads of eternal holiness and attain the
courts of everlasting fellowship. In pursuance, however, of the
principle that for every thing a time hath been fixed, and for every
fruit a season hath been ordained, the latent energies of such a bounty
can best be released, and the vernal glory of such a gift can only be
manifested, in the Days of God. Invested though each day may be with its
pre-ordained share of God’s wondrous grace, the Days immediately
associated with the Manifestation of God possess a unique distinction
and occupy a station which no mind can ever comprehend. Such is the
virtue infused into them that if the hearts of all that dwell in the
heavens and the earth were, in those days of everlasting delight, to be
brought face to face with that Day Star of unfading glory and attuned to
His Will, each would find itself exalted above all earthly things,
radiant with His light, and sanctified through His grace. All hail to
this grace which no blessing, however great, can excel, and all honor to
such a loving-kindness the like of which the eye of creation hath not
seen! Exalted is He above that which they attribute unto Him or recount
about Him!

It is for this reason that, in those days, no man shall ever stand in
need of his neighbor. It hath already been abundantly demonstrated that
in that divinely-appointed Day the majority of them that have sought and
attained His holy court have revealed such knowledge and wisdom, a drop
of which none else besides these holy and sanctified souls, however long
he may have taught or studied, hath grasped or will ever comprehend. It
is by virtue of this power that the beloved of God have, in the days of
the Manifestation of the Day Star of Truth, been exalted above, and made
independent of, all human learning. Nay, from their hearts and the
springs of their innate powers hath gushed out unceasingly the inmost
essence of human learning and wisdom.

CXXV: O My brother! When a true seeker determineth…

O My brother! When a true seeker determineth to take the step of
search in the path leading unto the knowledge of the Ancient of Days, he
must, before all else, cleanse his heart, which is the seat of the
revelation of the inner mysteries of God, from the obscuring dust of all
acquired knowledge, and the allusions of the embodiments of satanic
fancy. He must purge his breast, which is the sanctuary of the abiding
love of the Beloved, of every defilement, and sanctify his soul from all
that pertaineth to water and clay, from all shadowy and ephemeral
attachments. He must so cleanse his heart that no remnant of either love
or hate may linger therein, lest that love blindly incline him to error,
or that hate repel him away from the truth. Even as thou dost witness in
this Day how most of the people, because of such love and hate, are
bereft of the immortal Face, have strayed far from the Embodiments of
the Divine mysteries, and, shepherdless, are roaming through the
wilderness of oblivion and error.

That seeker must, at all times, put his trust in God, must renounce
the peoples of the earth, must detach himself from the world of dust,
and cleave unto Him Who is the Lord of Lords. He must never seek to
exalt himself above any one, must wash away from the tablet of his heart
every trace of pride and vain-glory, must cling unto patience and
resignation, observe silence and refrain from idle talk. For the tongue
is a smoldering fire, and excess of speech a deadly poison. Material
fire consumeth the body, whereas the fire of the tongue devoureth both
heart and soul. The force of the former lasteth but for a time, whilst
the effects of the latter endureth a century.

That seeker should, also, regard backbiting as grievous error, and
keep himself aloof from its dominion, inasmuch as backbiting quencheth
the light of the heart, and extinguisheth the life of the soul. He
should be content with little, and be freed from all inordinate desire.
He should treasure the companionship of them that have renounced the
world, and regard avoidance of boastful and worldly people a precious
benefit. At the dawn of every day he should commune with God, and, with
all his soul, persevere in the quest of his Beloved. He should consume
every wayward thought with the flame of His loving mention, and, with
the swiftness of lightning, pass by all else save Him. He should succor
the dispossessed, and never withhold his favor from the destitute. He
should show kindness to animals, how much more unto his fellow-man, to
him who is endowed with the power of utterance. He should not hesitate
to offer up his life for his Beloved, nor allow the censure of the
people to turn him away from the Truth. He should not wish for others
that which he doth not wish for himself, nor promise that which he doth
not fulfil. With all his heart he should avoid fellowship with
evil-doers, and pray for the remission of their sins. He should forgive
the sinful, and never despise his low estate, for none knoweth what his
own end shall be. How often hath a sinner attained, at the hour of
death, to the essence of faith, and, quaffing the immortal draught, hath
taken his flight unto the Concourse on high! And how often hath a devout
believer, at the hour of his soul’s ascension, been so changed as
to fall into the nethermost fire!

Our purpose in revealing these convincing and weighty utterances is
to impress upon the seeker that he should regard all else beside God as
transient, and count all things save Him, Who is the Object of all
adoration, as utter nothingness.

These are among the attributes of the exalted, and constitute the
hall-mark of the spiritually-minded. They have already been mentioned in
connection with the requirements of the wayfarers that tread the path of
Positive Knowledge. When the detached wayfarer and sincere seeker hath
fulfilled these essential conditions, then and only then can he be
called a true seeker. Whensoever he hath fulfilled the conditions
implied in the verse: “Whoso maketh efforts for Us,” he
shall enjoy the blessings conferred by the words: “In Our Ways
shall We assuredly guide him.”

Only when the lamp of search, of earnest striving, of longing desire,
of passionate devotion, of fervid love, of rapture, and ecstasy, is
kindled within the seeker’s heart, and the breeze of His
loving-kindness is wafted upon his soul, will the darkness of error be
dispelled, the mists of doubts and misgivings be dissipated, and the
lights of knowledge and certitude envelop his being. At that hour will
the Mystic Herald, bearing the joyful tidings of the Spirit, shine forth
from the City of God resplendent as the morn, and, through the
trumpet-blast of knowledge, will awaken the heart, the soul, and the
spirit from the slumber of heedlessness. Then will the manifold favors
and outpouring grace of the holy and everlasting Spirit confer such new
life upon the seeker that he will find himself endowed with a new eye, a
new ear, a new heart, and a new mind. He will contemplate the manifest
signs of the universe, and will penetrate the hidden mysteries of the
soul. Gazing with the eye of God, he will perceive within every atom a
door that leadeth him to the stations of absolute certitude. He will
discover in all things the mysteries of Divine Revelation, and the
evidences of an everlasting Manifestation.

I swear by God! Were he that treadeth the path of guidance and
seeketh to scale the heights of righteousness to attain unto this
glorious and exalted station, he would inhale, at a distance of a
thousand leagues, the fragrance of God, and would perceive the
resplendent morn of a Divine guidance rising above the Day Spring of all
things. Each and every thing, however small, would be to him a
revelation, leading him to his Beloved, the Object of his quest. So
great shall be the discernment of this seeker that he will discriminate
between truth and falsehood, even as he doth distinguish the sun from
shadow. If in the uttermost corners of the East the sweet savors of God
be wafted, he will assuredly recognize and inhale their fragrance, even
though he be dwelling in the uttermost ends of the West. He will,
likewise, clearly distinguish all the signs of God—His wondrous
utterances, His great works, and mighty deeds—from the doings, the
words and ways of men, even as the jeweler who knoweth the gem from the
stone, or the man who distinguisheth the spring from autumn, and heat
from cold. When the channel of the human soul is cleansed of all worldly
and impeding attachments, it will unfailingly perceive the breath of the
Beloved across immeasurable distances, and will, led by its perfume,
attain and enter the City of Certitude.

Therein he will discern the wonders of His ancient Wisdom, and will
perceive all the hidden teachings from the rustling leaves of the Tree
that flourisheth in that City. With both his inner and outer ear, he
will hear from its dust the hymns of glory and praise ascending unto the
Lord of Lords, and with his inner eye will he discover the mysteries of
“return” and “revival.”

How unspeakably glorious are the signs, the tokens, the revelations,
and splendors which He, Who is the King of Names and Attributes, hath
destined for that City! The attainment unto this City quencheth thirst
without water, and kindleth the love of God without fire. Within every
blade of grass are enshrined the mysteries of an inscrutable Wisdom, and
upon every rose-bush a myriad nightingales pour out, in blissful
rapture, their melody. Its wondrous tulips unfold the mystery of the
undying Fire in the Burning Bush, and its sweet savors of holiness
breathe the perfume of the Messianic Spirit. It bestoweth wealth without
gold, and conferreth immortality without death. In each one of its
leaves ineffable delights are treasured, and within every chamber
unnumbered mysteries lie hidden.

They that valiantly labor in quest of God, will, when once they have
renounced all else but Him, be so attached and wedded unto that City,
that a moment’s separation from it would to them be unthinkable.
They will hearken unto infallible proofs from the Hyacinth of that
assembly, and will receive the surest testimonies from the beauty of its
Rose, and the melody of its Nightingale. Once in about a thousand years
shall this City be renewed and readorned….

That City is none other than the Word of God revealed in every age
and dispensation. In the days of Moses it was the Pentateuch; in the
days of Jesus, the Gospel; in the days of Muḥammad, the Messenger of
God, the Qur’án; in this day, the Bayán; and in the Dispensation
of Him Whom God will make manifest, His own Book—the Book unto which
all the Books of former Dispensations must needs be referred, the Book
that standeth amongst them all transcendent and supreme.

CXXVI: To whatever place We may be banished,…

To whatever place We may be banished, however great the tribulation
We may suffer, they who are the people of God must, with fixed resolve
and perfect confidence, keep their eyes directed towards the Day Spring
of Glory, and be busied in whatever may be conducive to the betterment
of the world and the education of its peoples. All that hath befallen Us
in the past hath advanced the interests of Our Revelation and blazoned
its fame; and all that may befall Us in the future will have a like
result. Cling ye, with your inmost hearts, to the Cause of God, a Cause
that hath been sent down by Him Who is the Ordainer, the All-Wise. We
have, with the utmost kindliness and mercy, summoned and directed all
peoples and nations to that which shall truly profit them.

The Day Star of Truth that shineth in its meridian splendor beareth
Us witness! They who are the people of God have no ambition except to
revive the world, to ennoble its life, and regenerate its peoples.
Truthfulness and good-will have, at all times, marked their relations
with all men. Their outward conduct is but a reflection of their inward
life, and their inward life a mirror of their outward conduct. No veil
hideth or obscureth the verities on which their Faith is established.
Before the eyes of all men these verities have been laid bare, and can
be unmistakably recognized. Their very acts attest the truth of these
words.

Every discerning eye can, in this Day, perceive the dawning light of
God’s Revelation, and every attentive ear can recognize the Voice
that was heard from the Burning Bush. Such is the rushing of the waters
of Divine mercy, that He Who is the Day Spring of the signs of God and
the Revealer of the evidences of His glory is without veil or
concealment associating and conversing with the peoples of the earth and
its kindreds. How numerous are those who, with hearts intent upon
malice, have sought Our Presence, and departed from it loyal and loving
friends! The portals of grace are wide open before the face of all men.
In Our outward dealings with them We have treated alike the righteous
and the sinner, that perchance the evil-doer may attain the limitless
ocean of Divine forgiveness. Our name “the Concealer” hath
shed such a light upon men that the froward hath imagined himself to be
numbered with the pious. No man that seeketh Us will We ever disappoint,
neither shall he that hath set his face towards Us be denied access unto
Our court….

O friends! Help ye the one true God, exalted be His glory, by your
goodly deeds, by such conduct and character as shall be acceptable in
His sight. He that seeketh to be a helper of God in this Day, let him
close his eyes to whatever he may possess, and open them to the things
of God. Let him cease to occupy himself with that which profiteth him,
and concern himself with that which shall exalt the all-compelling name
of the Almighty. He should cleanse his heart from all evil passions and
corrupt desires, for the fear of God is the weapon that can render him
victorious, the primary instrument whereby he can achieve his purpose.
The fear of God is the shield that defendeth His Cause, the buckler that
enableth His people to attain to victory. It is a standard that no man
can abase, a force that no power can rival. By its aid, and by the leave
of Him Who is the Lord of Hosts, they that have drawn nigh unto God have
been able to subdue and conquer the citadels of the hearts of men.

CXXVII: If it be your wish, O people, to know…

If it be your wish, O people, to know God and to discover the
greatness of His might, look, then, upon Me with Mine own eyes, and not
with the eyes of any one besides Me. Ye will, otherwise, be never
capable of recognizing Me, though ye ponder My Cause as long as My
Kingdom endureth, and meditate upon all created things throughout the
eternity of God, the Sovereign Lord of all, the Omnipotent, the
Ever-Abiding, the All-Wise. Thus have We manifested the truth of Our
Revelation, that haply the people may be roused from their heedlessness,
and be of them that understand.

Behold the low estate of these men who know full well how I have
offered up Mine own Self and My kindred in the path of God and for the
preservation of their faith in Him, who are well aware how Mine enemies
have compassed Me about, in the days when the hearts of men feared and
trembled, the days when they hid themselves from the eyes of the loved
ones of God and of His enemies, and were busied in ensuring their own
security and peace.

We eventually succeeded in manifesting the Cause of God, and exalted
it to so eminent a position that all the people, except those who
cherished ill-will in their hearts against this Youth and joined
partners with the Almighty, acknowledged the sovereignty of God and His
mighty dominion. And yet, notwithstanding this Revelation whose
influence hath pervaded all created things, and despite the brightness
of this Light, the like of which none of them hath ever beheld, witness
how the people of the Bayán have denied and contended with Me. Some have
turned away from the Path of God, rejected the authority of Him in Whom
they had believed, and acted insolently towards God, the Most Powerful,
the Supreme Protector, the Most Exalted, the Most Great. Others
hesitated and halted in His Path, and regarded the Cause of the Creator,
in its inmost truth, as invalid unless substantiated by the approval of
him who was created through the operation of My Will. Thus have their
works come to naught, and yet they failed to perceive it. Among them is
he who sought to measure God with the measure of his own self, and was
so misled by the names of God as to rise up against Me, who condemned Me
as one that deserved to be put to death, and who imputed to Me the very
offenses of which he himself was guilty.

Wherefore, do I plead My grief and My sorrow to Him Who created Me
and entrusted Me with His Message. Unto Him do I render thanks and
praise for the things He hath ordained, for My loneliness, and the
anguish I suffer at the hands of these men who have strayed so far from
Him. I have patiently sustained, and will continue to sustain, the
tribulation that touched Me, and will put My whole trust and confidence
in God. Him will I supplicate saying: Guide Thy servants, O My Lord,
unto the court of Thy favor and bounty, and suffer them not to be
deprived of the wonders of Thy grace and of Thy manifold blessings. For
they know not what Thou hast ordained for them by virtue of Thy mercy
that encompasseth the whole of creation. Outwardly, O Lord, they are
weak and helpless; inwardly they are but orphans. Thou art the
All-Bountiful, the Munificent, the Most Exalted, the Most Great. Cast
not, O My God, the fury of Thy wrath upon them, and cause them to tarry
until such time when the wonders of Thy mercy will have been made
manifest, that haply they may return unto Thee, and ask forgiveness of
Thee for the things they have committed against Thee. Verily, Thou art
the Forgiving, the All-Merciful.

CXXVIII: Say: Doth it beseem a man while claiming…

Say: Doth it beseem a man while claiming to be a follower of his
Lord, the All-Merciful, he should yet in his heart do the very deeds of
the Evil One? Nay, it ill beseemeth him, and to this He Who is the
Beauty of the All-Glorious will bear Me witness. Would that ye could
comprehend it!

Cleanse from your hearts the love of worldly things, from your
tongues every remembrance except His remembrance, from your entire being
whatsoever may deter you from beholding His face, or may tempt you to
follow the promptings of your evil and corrupt inclinations. Let God be
your fear, O people, and be ye of them that tread the path of
righteousness.

Say: Should your conduct, O people, contradict your professions, how
think ye, then, to be able to distinguish yourselves from them who,
though professing their faith in the Lord their God, have, as soon as He
came unto them in the cloud of holiness, refused to acknowledge Him, and
repudiated His truth? Disencumber yourselves of all attachment to this
world and the vanities thereof. Beware that ye approach them not,
inasmuch as they prompt you to walk after your own lusts and covetous
desires, and hinder you from entering the straight and glorious
Path.

Know ye that by “the world” is meant your unawareness of
Him Who is your Maker, and your absorption in aught else but Him. The
“life to come,” on the other hand, signifieth the things
that give you a safe approach to God, the All-Glorious, the
Incomparable. Whatsoever deterreth you, in this Day, from loving God is
nothing but the world. Flee it, that ye may be numbered with the blest.
Should a man wish to adorn himself with the ornaments of the earth, to
wear its apparels, or partake of the benefits it can bestow, no harm can
befall him, if he alloweth nothing whatever to intervene between him and
God, for God hath ordained every good thing, whether created in the
heavens or in the earth, for such of His servants as truly believe in
Him. Eat ye, O people, of the good things which God hath allowed you,
and deprive not yourselves from His wondrous bounties. Render thanks and
praise unto Him, and be of them that are truly thankful.

O thou that hast fled thy home and sought the presence of God!
Proclaim unto men the Message of thy Lord, that it may haply deter them
from following the promptings of their evil and corrupt desires, and
bring them to the remembrance of God, the Most Exalted, the Most Great.
Say: Fear God, O people, and refrain from shedding the blood of any one.
Contend not with your neighbor, and be ye of them that do good. Beware
that ye commit no disorders on the earth after it hath been well
ordered, and follow not the footsteps of them that are gone astray.

Whoso ariseth among you to teach the Cause of his Lord, let him,
before all else, teach his own self, that his speech may attract the
hearts of them that hear him. Unless he teacheth his own self, the words
of his mouth will not influence the heart of the seeker. Take heed, O
people, lest ye be of them that give good counsel to others but forget
to follow it themselves. The words of such as these, and beyond the
words the realities of all things, and beyond these realities the angels
that are nigh unto God, bring against them the accusation of
falsehood.

Should such a man ever succeed in influencing any one, this success
should be attributed not to him, but rather to the influence of the
words of God, as decreed by Him Who is the Almighty, the All-Wise. In
the sight of God he is regarded as a lamp that imparteth its light, and
yet is all the while being consumed within itself.

Say: Commit not, O people, that which will bring shame upon you or
dishonor the Cause of God in the eyes of men, and be not of the
mischief-makers. Approach not the things which your minds condemn.
Eschew all manner of wickedness, for such things are forbidden unto you
in the Book which none touch except such as God hath cleansed from every
taint of guilt, and numbered among the purified.

Be fair to yourselves and to others, that the evidences of justice
may be revealed, through your deeds, among Our faithful servants. Beware
lest ye encroach upon the substance of your neighbor. Prove yourselves
worthy of his trust and confidence in you, and withhold not from the
poor the gifts which the grace of God hath bestowed upon you. He,
verily, shall recompense the charitable, and doubly repay them for what
they have bestowed. No God is there but Him. All creation and its empire
are His. He bestoweth His gifts on whom He will, and from whom He will
He withholdeth them. He is the Great Giver, the Most Generous, the
Benevolent.

Say: Teach ye the Cause of God, O people of Bahá, for God hath
prescribed unto every one the duty of proclaiming His Message, and
regardeth it as the most meritorious of all deeds. Such a deed is
acceptable only when he that teacheth the Cause is already a firm
believer in God, the Supreme Protector, the Gracious, the Almighty. He
hath, moreover, ordained that His Cause be taught through the power of
men’s utterance, and not through resort to violence. Thus hath His
ordinance been sent down from the Kingdom of Him Who is the Most
Exalted, the All-Wise. Beware lest ye contend with any one, nay, strive
to make him aware of the truth with kindly manner and most convincing
exhortation. If your hearer respond, he will have responded to his own
behoof, and if not, turn ye away from him, and set your faces towards
God’s sacred Court, the seat of resplendent holiness.

Dispute not with any one concerning the things of this world and its
affairs, for God hath abandoned them to such as have set their affection
upon them. Out of the whole world He hath chosen for Himself the hearts
of men—hearts which the hosts of revelation and of utterance can
subdue. Thus hath it been ordained by the Fingers of Bahá, upon the
Tablet of God’s irrevocable decree, by the behest of Him Who is
the Supreme Ordainer, the All-Knowing.

CXXIX: O wayfarer in the path of God! Take…

O wayfarer in the path of God! Take thou thy portion of the ocean of
His grace, and deprive not thyself of the things that lie hidden in its
depths. Be thou of them that have partaken of its treasures. A dewdrop
out of this ocean would, if shed upon all that are in the heavens and on
the earth, suffice to enrich them with the bounty of God, the Almighty,
the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. With the hands of renunciation draw forth
from its life-giving waters, and sprinkle therewith all created things,
that they may be cleansed from all man-made limitations and may approach
the mighty seat of God, this hallowed and resplendent Spot.

Be not grieved if thou performest it thyself alone. Let God be
all-sufficient for thee. Commune intimately with His Spirit, and be thou
of the thankful. Proclaim the Cause of thy Lord unto all who are in the
heavens and on the earth. Should any man respond to thy call, lay bare
before him the pearls of the wisdom of the Lord, thy God, which His
Spirit hath sent down unto thee, and be thou of them that truly believe.
And should any one reject thine offer, turn thou away from him, and put
thy trust and confidence in the Lord, thy God, the Lord of all
worlds.

By the righteousness of God! Whoso openeth his lips in this Day and
maketh mention of the name of his Lord, the hosts of Divine inspiration
shall descend upon him from the heaven of My name, the All-Knowing, the
All-Wise. On him shall also descend the Concourse on high, each bearing
aloft a chalice of pure light. Thus hath it been foreordained in the
realm of God’s Revelation, by the behest of Him Who is the
All-Glorious, the Most Powerful.

There lay concealed within the Holy Veil, and prepared for the
service of God, a company of His chosen ones who shall be manifested
unto men, who shall aid His Cause, who shall be afraid of no one, though
the entire human race rise up and war against them. These are the ones
who, before the gaze of the dwellers on earth and the denizens of
heaven, shall arise and, shouting aloud, acclaim the name of the
Almighty, and summon the children of men to the path of God, the
All-Glorious, the All-Praised. Walk thou in their way, and let no one
dismay thee. Be of them whom the tumult of the world, however much it
may agitate them in the path of their Creator, can never sadden, whose
purpose the blame of the blamer will never defeat.

Go forth with the Tablet of God and His signs, and rejoin them that
have believed in Me, and announce unto them tidings of Our most holy
Paradise. Warn, then, those that have joined partners with Him. Say: I
am come to you, O people, from the Throne of glory, and bear you an
announcement from God, the Most Powerful, the Most Exalted, the Most
Great. In mine hand I carry the testimony of God, your Lord and the Lord
of your sires of old. Weigh it with the just Balance that ye possess,
the Balance of the testimony of the Prophets and Messengers of God. If
ye find it to be established in truth, if ye believe it to be of God,
beware, then, lest ye cavil at it, and render your works vain, and be
numbered with the infidels. It is indeed the sign of God that hath been
sent down through the power of truth, through which the validity of His
Cause hath been demonstrated unto His creatures, and the ensigns of
purity lifted up betwixt earth and heaven.

Say: This is the sealed and mystic Scroll, the repository of
God’s irrevocable Decree, bearing the words which the Finger of
Holiness hath traced, that lay wrapt within the veil of impenetrable
mystery, and hath now been sent down as a token of the grace of Him Who
is the Almighty, the Ancient of Days. In it have We decreed the
destinies of all the dwellers of the earth and the denizens of heaven,
and written down the knowledge of all things from first to last. Nothing
whatsoever can escape or frustrate Him, whether created in the past or
to be created in the future, could ye but perceive it.

Say: The Revelation sent down by God hath most surely been repeated,
and the outstretched Hand of Our power hath overshadowed all that are in
the heavens and all that are on the earth. We have, through the power of
truth, the very truth, manifested an infinitesimal glimmer of Our
impenetrable Mystery, and lo, they that have recognized the radiance of
the Sinaic splendor expired, as they caught a lightening glimpse of this
Crimson Light enveloping the Sinai of Our Revelation. Thus hath He Who
is the Beauty of the All-Merciful come down in the clouds of His
testimony, and the decree accomplished by virtue of the Will of God, the
All-Glorious, the All-Wise.

Say: Step out of Thy holy chamber, O Maid of Heaven, inmate of the
Exalted Paradise! Drape thyself in whatever manner pleaseth Thee in the
silken Vesture of Immortality, and put on, in the name of the
All-Glorious, the broidered Robe of Light. Hear, then, the sweet, the
wondrous accent of the Voice that cometh from the Throne of Thy Lord,
the Inaccessible, the Most High. Unveil Thy face, and manifest the
beauty of the black-eyed Damsel, and suffer not the servants of God to
be deprived of the light of Thy shining countenance. Grieve not if Thou
hearest the sighs of the dwellers of the earth, or the voice of the
lamentation of the denizens of heaven. Leave them to perish on the dust
of extinction. Let them be reduced to nothingness, inasmuch as the flame
of hatred hath been kindled within their breasts. Intone, then, before
the face of the peoples of earth and heaven, and in a most melodious
voice, the anthem of praise, for a remembrance of Him Who is the King of
the names and attributes of God. Thus have We decreed Thy destiny. Well
able are We to achieve Our purpose.

Beware that Thou divest not Thyself, Thou Who art the Essence of
Purity, of Thy robe of effulgent glory. Nay, enrich Thyself
increasingly, in the kingdom of creation, with the incorruptible
vestures of Thy God, that the beauteous image of the Almighty may be
reflected through Thee in all created things and the grace of Thy Lord
be infused in the plenitude of its power into the entire creation.

If Thou smellest from any one the smell of the love of Thy Lord,
offer up Thyself for him, for We have created Thee to this end, and have
covenanted with Thee, from time immemorial, and in the presence of the
congregation of Our well-favored ones, for this very purpose. Be not
impatient if the blind in heart hurl down the shafts of their idle
fancies upon Thee. Leave them to themselves, for they follow the
promptings of the evil ones.

Cry out before the gaze of the dwellers of heaven and of earth: I am
the Maid of Heaven, the Offspring begotten by the Spirit of Bahá. My
habitation is the Mansion of His Name, the All-Glorious. Before the
Concourse on high I was adorned with the ornament of His names. I was
wrapt within the veil of an inviolable security, and lay hidden from the
eyes of men. Methinks that I heard a Voice of divine and incomparable
sweetness, proceeding from the right hand of the God of Mercy, and lo,
the whole Paradise stirred and trembled before Me, in its longing to
hear its accents, and gaze on the beauty of Him that uttered them. Thus
have We revealed in this luminous Tablet, and in the sweetest of
languages, the verses which the Tongue of Eternity was moved to utter in
the Qayyúmu’l-Asmá.

Say: He ordaineth as He pleaseth, by virtue of His sovereignty, and
doeth whatsoever He willeth at His own behest. He shall not be asked of
the things it pleaseth Him to ordain. He, in truth, is the Unrestrained,
the All-Powerful, the All-Wise.

They that have disbelieved in God and rebelled against His
sovereignty are the helpless victims of their corrupt inclinations and
desires. These shall return to their abode in the fire of hell: wretched
is the abode of the deniers!

CXXX: Be generous in prosperity, and thankful in…

Be generous in prosperity, and thankful in adversity. Be worthy of
the trust of thy neighbor, and look upon him with a bright and friendly
face. Be a treasure to the poor, an admonisher to the rich, an answerer
of the cry of the needy, a preserver of the sanctity of thy pledge. Be
fair in thy judgment, and guarded in thy speech. Be unjust to no man,
and show all meekness to all men. Be as a lamp unto them that walk in
darkness, a joy to the sorrowful, a sea for the thirsty, a haven for the
distressed, an upholder and defender of the victim of oppression. Let
integrity and uprightness distinguish all thine acts. Be a home for the
stranger, a balm to the suffering, a tower of strength for the fugitive.
Be eyes to the blind, and a guiding light unto the feet of the erring.
Be an ornament to the countenance of truth, a crown to the brow of
fidelity, a pillar of the temple of righteousness, a breath of life to
the body of mankind, an ensign of the hosts of justice, a luminary above
the horizon of virtue, a dew to the soil of the human heart, an ark on
the ocean of knowledge, a sun in the heaven of bounty, a gem on the
diadem of wisdom, a shining light in the firmament of thy generation, a
fruit upon the tree of humility.

CXXXI: The Pen of the Ancient King hath never…

The Pen of the Ancient King hath never ceased to remember the loved
ones of God. At one time, rivers of mercy have streamed from His Pen, at
another, through its movement, God’s perspicuous Book hath been
revealed. He is the One to Whom none can compare, Whose utterance mortal
man can never rival. He it is Who from everlasting hath been established
upon the seat of ascendancy and might, He from Whose lips have gone out
counsels that can satisfy the needs of the whole of mankind, and
admonitions that can profit them.

The One true God beareth Me witness, and His creatures will testify,
that not for a moment did I allow Myself to be hidden from the eyes of
men, nor did I consent to shield My person from their injury. Before the
face of all men I have arisen, and bidden them fulfil My pleasure. My
object is none other than the betterment of the world and the
tranquillity of its peoples. The well-being of mankind, its peace and
security, are unattainable unless and until its unity is firmly
established. This unity can never be achieved so long as the counsels
which the Pen of the Most High hath revealed are suffered to pass
unheeded.

Through the power of the words He hath uttered the whole of the human
race can be illumined with the light of unity, and the remembrance of
His Name is able to set on fire the hearts of all men, and burn away the
veils that intervene between them and His glory. One righteous act is
endowed with a potency that can so elevate the dust as to cause it to
pass beyond the heaven of heavens. It can tear every bond asunder, and
hath the power to restore the force that hath spent itself and
vanished….

Be pure, O people of God, be pure; be righteous, be righteous….
Say: O people of God! That which can ensure the victory of Him Who is
the Eternal Truth, His hosts and helpers on earth, have been set down in
the sacred Books and Scriptures, and are as clear and manifest as the
sun. These hosts are such righteous deeds, such conduct and character,
as are acceptable in His sight. Whoso ariseth, in this Day, to aid Our
Cause, and summoneth to his assistance the hosts of a praiseworthy
character and upright conduct, the influence flowing from such an action
will, most certainly, be diffused throughout the whole world.

CXXXII: The Purpose of the one true God, exalted…

The Purpose of the one true God, exalted be His glory, in revealing
Himself unto men is to lay bare those gems that lie hidden within the
mine of their true and inmost selves. That the divers communions of the
earth, and the manifold systems of religious belief, should never be
allowed to foster the feelings of animosity among men, is, in this Day,
of the essence of the Faith of God and His Religion. These principles
and laws, these firmly-established and mighty systems, have proceeded
from one Source, and are the rays of one Light. That they differ one
from another is to be attributed to the varying requirements of the ages
in which they were promulgated.

Gird up the loins of your endeavor, O people of Bahá, that haply the
tumult of religious dissension and strife that agitateth the peoples of
the earth may be stilled, that every trace of it may be completely
obliterated. For the love of God, and them that serve Him, arise to aid
this most sublime and momentous Revelation. Religious fanaticism and
hatred are a world-devouring fire, whose violence none can quench. The
Hand of Divine power can, alone, deliver mankind from this desolating
affliction….

The utterance of God is a lamp, whose light is these words: Ye are
the fruits of one tree, and the leaves of one branch. Deal ye one with
another with the utmost love and harmony, with friendliness and
fellowship. He Who is the Day Star of Truth beareth Me witness! So
powerful is the light of unity that it can illuminate the whole earth.
The one true God, He Who knoweth all things, Himself testifieth to the
truth of these words.

Exert yourselves that ye may attain this transcendent and most
sublime station, the station that can ensure the protection and security
of all mankind. This goal excelleth every other goal, and this
aspiration is the monarch of all aspirations. So long, however, as the
thick clouds of oppression, which obscure the day star of justice,
remain undispelled, it would be difficult for the glory of this station
to be unveiled to men’s eyes….

Consort with all men, O people of Bahá, in a spirit of friendliness
and fellowship. If ye be aware of a certain truth, if ye possess a
jewel, of which others are deprived, share it with them in a language of
utmost kindliness and good-will. If it be accepted, if it fulfil its
purpose, your object is attained. If any one should refuse it, leave him
unto himself, and beseech God to guide him. Beware lest ye deal unkindly
with him. A kindly tongue is the lodestone of the hearts of men. It is
the bread of the spirit, it clotheth the words with meaning, it is the
fountain of the light of wisdom and understanding….

CXXXIII: The ordinances of God have been sent…

The ordinances of God have been sent down from the heaven of His most
august Revelation. All must diligently observe them. Man’s supreme
distinction, his real advancement, his final victory, have always
depended, and will continue to depend, upon them. Whoso keepeth the
commandments of God shall attain everlasting felicity.

A twofold obligation resteth upon him who hath recognized the Day
Spring of the Unity of God, and acknowledged the truth of Him Who is the
Manifestation of His oneness. The first is steadfastness in His love,
such steadfastness that neither the clamor of the enemy nor the claims
of the idle pretender can deter him from cleaving unto Him Who is the
Eternal Truth, a steadfastness that taketh no account of them whatever.
The second is strict observance of the laws He hath prescribed—laws
which He hath always ordained, and will continue to ordain, unto men,
and through which the truth may be distinguished and separated from
falsehood.

CXXXIV: The first and foremost duty prescribed…

The first and foremost duty prescribed unto men, next to the
recognition of Him Who is the Eternal Truth, is the duty of
steadfastness in His Cause. Cleave thou unto it, and be of them whose
minds are firmly fixed and grounded in God. No act, however meritorious,
did or can ever compare unto it. It is the king of all acts, and to this
thy Lord, the All-Highest, the Most Powerful, will testify….

The virtues and attributes pertaining unto God are all evident and
manifest, and have been mentioned and described in all the heavenly
Books. Among them are trustworthiness, truthfulness, purity of heart
while communing with God, forbearance, resignation to whatever the
Almighty hath decreed, contentment with the things His Will hath
provided, patience, nay, thankfulness in the midst of tribulation, and
complete reliance, in all circumstances, upon Him. These rank, according
to the estimate of God, among the highest and most laudable of all acts.
All other acts are, and will ever remain, secondary and subordinate unto
them….

The spirit that animateth the human heart is the knowledge of God,
and its truest adorning is the recognition of the truth that “He
doeth whatsoever He willeth, and ordaineth that which He
pleaseth.” Its raiment is the fear of God, and its perfection
steadfastness in His Faith. Thus God instructeth whosoever seeketh Him.
He, verily, loveth the one that turneth towards Him. There is none other
God but Him, the Forgiving, the Most Bountiful. All praise be to God,
the Lord of all worlds.

CXXXV: O Letter of the Living! The ear of God…

O Letter of the Living! The ear of God hath heard thy cry, and His
eyes have beheld thy written supplication. He is calling thee from His
seat of glory, and is revealing unto thee the verses that have been sent
down by Him Who is the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.

Blessed art thou for having utterly abolished the idol of self and of
vain imagination, and for having rent asunder the veil of idle fancy,
through the power of the might of thy Lord, the Supreme Protector, the
Almighty, the one Beloved. Thou art indeed to be numbered with those
Letters that have excelled every other Letter. Wherefore thou hast been
singled out by God through the tongue of thy Lord, the Báb, the
brightness of Whose countenance hath enveloped, and will continue to
envelop, the whole of creation. Render thanks unto the Almighty, and
magnify His name, inasmuch as He hath aided thee to recognize a Cause
that hath made the hearts of the inhabitants of the heavens and of the
earth to tremble, that hath caused the denizens of the Kingdoms of
creation and of Revelation to cry out, and through which the hidden
secrets of men’s breasts have been searched out and tested.

Thy Lord, the Most High (the Báb), addresseth thee, from His Realm of
glory, these words: Great is the blessedness that awaiteth thee, O
Letter of the Living, for thou hast truly believed in Me, hast refused
to shame Me before the Concourse on high, hast fulfilled thy pledge,
hast cast away the veil of vain imaginings, and hast fixed thy gaze upon
the Lord, thy God, the Lord of the unseen and the seen, the Lord of the
Frequented Fane. I am well pleased with thee, inasmuch as I have found
thy face beaming with light on the Day when faces have been made dismal
and turned black.

Say: O people of the Bayán! Did We not admonish you, in all Our
Tablets and in all Our hidden Scriptures, not to follow your evil
passions and corrupt inclinations, but to keep your eyes directed
towards the Scene of transcendent glory, on the Day when the Most Mighty
Balance shall be set, the Day when the sweet melodies of the Spirit of
God shall be poured out from the right hand of the throne of your Lord,
the omnipotent Protector, the All-Powerful, the Holy of Holies? Did We
not forbid you to cleave to the things that would shut you out from the
Manifestation of our Beauty, in its subsequent Revelation, be they the
embodiments of the names of God and all their glory, or the revealers of
His attributes and their dominion? Behold, how, as soon as I revealed
Myself, ye have rejected My truth and turned away from Me, and been of
them that have regarded the signs of God as a play and pastime!

By My Beauty! Nothing whatsoever shall, in this Day, be accepted from
you, though ye continue to worship and prostrate yourselves before God
throughout the eternity of His dominion. For all things are dependent
upon His Will, and the worth of all acts is conditioned upon His
acceptance and pleasure. The whole universe is but a handful of clay in
His grasp. Unless one recognize God and love Him, his cry shall not be
heard by God in this Day. This is of the essence of His Faith, did ye
but know it.

Will ye be content with that which is like the vapor in a plain, and
be willing to forgo the Ocean Whose waters refresh, by virtue of the
Will of God, the souls of men? Woe unto you, for having repaid the
bounty of God with so vain and contemptible a thing! Ye are, indeed, of
them that have rejected Me in My previous Revelation. Would that your
hearts could comprehend!

Arise, and, under the eyes of God, atone for your failures in duty
towards Him. This is My commandment unto you, were ye to incline your
ears unto My commandment. By Mine own Self! Neither the people of the
Qur’án, nor the followers of either the Torah or the Evangel, nor
those of any other Book, have committed that which your hands have
wrought. I, Myself, have dedicated My whole life to the vindication of
the truth of this Faith. I, Myself, have announced, in all My Tablets,
the advent of His Revelation. And yet, no sooner did He manifest
Himself, in His subsequent Revelation, clothed in the glory of Bahá and
arrayed in the robe of His grandeur, than ye rebelled against Him Who is
the supreme Protector, the Self-Subsisting. Beware, O people! Be ye
ashamed of that which hath befallen Me at your hands in the path of God.
Take heed that ye be not of them that have rejected that which hath been
sent down unto them from the Heaven of God’s transcendent
glory.

Such, O Letter of the Living, are the words which thy Lord hath
spoken, and addressed unto thee from the realms above. Proclaim the
words of thy Lord unto His servants, that perchance they may shake off
their slumber, and ask pardon of God, Who hath formed and fashioned
them, and sent down unto them this most effulgent, this most holy, and
manifest Revelation of His Beauty.

CXXXVI: Say: Deliver your souls, O people, from…

Say: Deliver your souls, O people, from the bondage of self, and
purify them from all attachment to anything besides Me. Remembrance of
Me cleanseth all things from defilement, could ye but perceive it. Say:
Were all created things to be entirely divested of the veil of worldly
vanity and desire, the Hand of God would in this Day clothe them, one
and all, with the robe “He doeth whatsoever He willeth in the
kingdom of creation,” that thereby the sign of His sovereignty
might be manifested in all things. Exalted then be He, the Sovereign
Lord of all, the Almighty, the Supreme Protector, the All-Glorious, the
Most Powerful.

Intone, O My servant, the verses of God that have been received by
thee, as intoned by them who have drawn nigh unto Him, that the
sweetness of thy melody may kindle thine own soul, and attract the
hearts of all men. Whoso reciteth, in the privacy of his chamber, the
verses revealed by God, the scattering angels of the Almighty shall
scatter abroad the fragrance of the words uttered by his mouth, and
shall cause the heart of every righteous man to throb. Though he may, at
first, remain unaware of its effect, yet the virtue of the grace
vouchsafed unto him must needs sooner or later exercise its influence
upon his soul. Thus have the mysteries of the Revelation of God been
decreed by virtue of the Will of Him Who is the Source of power and
wisdom.

O Khalíl! God beareth Me witness. Though My Pen be still
moving on My Tablet, yet, in its very heart, it weepeth and is sore
distressed. The lamp burning before the Throne, likewise, weepeth and
groaneth by reason of the things which the Ancient Beauty hath suffered
at the hands of them who are but a creation of His Will. God, Himself,
knoweth and testifieth to the truth of My words. No man that hath purged
his ear from the loud clamor of the infidels, and inclined it to all
created things, can fail to hear the voice of their lamentation and
weeping over the trouble that hath befallen Us at the hands of those of
Our servants that have disbelieved in, and rebelled against, Us. Thus
have We disclosed to thee a glimmer of the woes that have come upon us,
that thou mayest be made aware of Our sufferings, and patiently endure
thy sorrows.

Arise to aid thy Lord at all times and in all circumstances, and be
thou one of His helpers. Admonish, then, the people to lend a hearing
ear to the words which the Spirit of God hath uttered in this irradiant
and resplendent Tablet. Say: Sow not, O people, the seeds of dissension
amongst men, and contend not with your neighbor. Be patient under all
conditions, and place your whole trust and confidence in God. Aid ye
your Lord with the sword of wisdom and of utterance. This indeed well
becometh the station of man. To depart from it would be unworthy of God,
the Sovereign Lord of all, the Glorified. The people, however, have been
led astray, and are truly of the heedless.

Unlock, O people, the gates of the hearts of men with the keys of the
remembrance of Him Who is the Remembrance of God and the Source of
wisdom amongst you. He hath chosen out of the whole world the hearts of
His servants, and made them each a seat for the revelation of His glory.
Wherefore, sanctify them from every defilement, that the things for
which they were created may be engraven upon them. This indeed is a
token of God’s bountiful favor.

Beautify your tongues, O people, with truthfulness, and adorn your
souls with the ornament of honesty. Beware, O people, that ye deal not
treacherously with any one. Be ye the trustees of God amongst His
creatures, and the emblems of His generosity amidst His people. They
that follow their lusts and corrupt inclinations, have erred and
dissipated their efforts. They, indeed, are of the lost. Strive, O
people, that your eyes may be directed towards the mercy of God, that
your hearts may be attuned to His wondrous remembrance, that your souls
may rest confidently upon His grace and bounty, that your feet may tread
the path of His good-pleasure. Such are the counsels which I bequeath
unto you. Would that ye might follow My counsels!

CXXXVII: Some have regarded it as lawful to infringe…

Some have regarded it as lawful to infringe on the integrity of the
substance of their neighbor, and have made light of the injunction of
God as prescribed in His Book. Evil fall upon them, and the chastisement
of God, the All-Powerful, the Almighty, afflict them! By Him Who shineth
above the Day Spring of sanctity! If the whole earth were to be
converted into silver and gold, no man who can be said to have truly
ascended into the heaven of faith and certitude would deign to regard
it, much less to seize and keep it. We have formerly referred to this
subject in passages revealed in the Arabic tongue, in a language of
exquisite beauty. God is Our witness! Whoever hath tasted the sweetness
of those words will never consent to transgress the bounds which God
hath fixed, neither will he turn his gaze towards any one except his
Well-Beloved. Such a man will, with his inner eye, readily recognize how
altogether vain and fleeting are the things of this world, and will set
his affections on things above.

Say: Be ashamed, O ye that call yourselves the lovers of the Ancient
Beauty! Be ye admonished by the tribulation He hath suffered, by the
burden of anguish He hath carried for the sake of God. Let your eyes be
opened. To what purpose hath He labored, if the manifold trials He hath
endured are, in the end, to result in such contemptible professions, and
such wretched conduct? Every robber, every worker of iniquity, hath, in
the days prior to My Revelation, uttered these same words, and performed
these same deeds.

Verily I say: Incline your ears to My sweet voice, and sanctify
yourselves from the defilement of your evil passions and corrupt
desires. They who dwell within the tabernacle of God, and are
established upon the seats of everlasting glory, will refuse, though
they be dying of hunger, to stretch their hands and seize unlawfully the
property of their neighbor, however vile and worthless he may be.

The purpose of the one true God in manifesting Himself is to summon
all mankind to truthfulness and sincerity, to piety and trustworthiness,
to resignation and submissiveness to the Will of God, to forbearance and
kindliness, to uprightness and wisdom. His object is to array every man
with the mantle of a saintly character, and to adorn him with the
ornament of holy and goodly deeds.

Say: Have mercy on yourselves and on your fellowmen, and suffer not
the Cause of God—a Cause which is immeasurably exalted above the inmost
essence of sanctity—to be sullied with the stain of your idle fancies,
your unseemly and corrupt imaginations.

CXXXVIII: Thou seest, O God of Mercy, Thou…

Thou seest, O God of Mercy, Thou Whose power pervadeth all created
things, these servants of Thine, Thy thralls, who, according to the
good-pleasure of Thy Will, observe in the daytime the fast prescribed by
Thee, who arise, at the earliest dawn of day, to make mention of Thy
Name, and to celebrate Thy praise, in the hope of obtaining their share
of the goodly things that are treasured up within the treasuries of Thy
grace and bounty. I beseech Thee, O Thou that holdest in Thine hands the
reins of the entire creation, in Whose grasp is the whole kingdom of Thy
names and of Thine attributes, not to deprive, in Thy Day, Thy servants
from the showers pouring from the clouds of Thy mercy, nor to hinder
them from taking their portion of the ocean of Thy good-pleasure.

All the atoms of the earth bear witness, O my Lord, to the greatness
of Thy power and of Thy sovereignty; and all the signs of the universe
attest the glory of Thy majesty and of Thy might. Have mercy, then, O
Thou Who art the sovereign Lord of all, Who art the King of everlasting
days, and Ruler of all nations, upon these Thy servants, who have clung
to the cord of Thy commandments, who have bowed their necks to the
revelations of Thy laws which have been sent down from the heaven of Thy
Will.

Behold, O my Lord, how their eyes are lifted up towards the
dawning-place of Thy loving-kindness, how their hearts are set upon the
oceans of Thy favors, how their voices are lowered before the accents of
Thy most sweet Voice, calling, from the most sublime Station, in Thy
name the All-Glorious. Help Thou Thy loved ones, O my Lord, them that
have forsaken their all, that they may obtain the things Thou dost
possess, whom trials and tribulations have encompassed for having
renounced the world and set their affections on Thy realm of glory.
Shield them, I entreat Thee, O my Lord, from the assaults of their evil
passions and desires, and aid them to obtain the things that shall
profit them in this present world and in the next.

I pray Thee, O my Lord, by Thy hidden, Thy treasured Name, that
calleth aloud in the kingdom of creation, and summoneth all peoples to
the Tree beyond which there is no passing, the seat of transcendent
glory, to rain down upon us, and upon Thy servants, the overflowing rain
of Thy mercy, that it may cleanse us from the remembrance of all else
but Thee, and draw us nigh unto the shores of the ocean of Thy grace.
Ordain, O Lord, through Thy most exalted Pen, that which will
immortalize our souls in the Realm of glory, will perpetuate our names
in Thy Kingdom, and safeguard our lives in the treasuries of Thy
protection and our bodies in the stronghold of Thy inviolable fastness.
Powerful art Thou over all things, be they of the past or of the future.
No God is there but Thee, the omnipotent Protector, the
Self-Subsisting.

Thou seest, O Lord, our suppliant hands lifted up towards the heaven
of Thy favor and bounty. Grant that they may be filled with the
treasures of Thy munificence and bountiful favor. Forgive us, and our
fathers, and our mothers, and fulfil whatsoever we have desired from the
ocean of Thy grace and Divine generosity. Accept, O Beloved of our
hearts, all our works in Thy path. Thou art, verily, the Most Powerful,
the Most Exalted, the Incomparable, the One, the Forgiving, the
Gracious.

CXXXIX: Let thine ear be attentive, O Nabíl-i-‘Aẓam,…

Let thine ear be attentive, O Nabíl-i-‘Aẓam, to the Voice of
the Ancient of Days, crying to thee from the Kingdom of His all-glorious
Name. He it is Who is now proclaiming from the realms above, and within
the inmost essence of all created things: “I truly am God, there
is none other God but Me. I am He Who, from everlasting, hath been the
Source of all sovereignty and power, He Who shall continue, throughout
eternity, to exercise His kingship and to extend His protection unto all
created things. My proof is the greatness of My might and My sovereignty
that embraceth the whole of creation.”…

Blessed art thou, O My name, inasmuch as thou hast entered Mine Ark,
and art speeding, through the power of My sovereign and most exalted
might, on the ocean of grandeur, and art numbered with My favored ones
whose names the Finger of God hath inscribed. Thou hast quaffed the cup
which is life indeed from the hands of this Youth, around Whom revolve
the Manifestations of the All-Glorious, and the brightness of Whose
presence they Who are the Day Springs of Mercy extol in the day time and
in the night season.

His glory be with thee, inasmuch as thou hast journeyed from God unto
God, and entered within the borders of the Court of unfading
splendor—the Spot which mortal man can never describe. Therein hath the
breeze of holiness, laden with the love of thy Lord, stirred thy spirit
within thee, and the waters of understanding have washed from thee the
stains of remoteness and ungodliness. Thou hast gained admittance into
the Paradise of God’s Remembrance, through thy recognition of Him
Who is the Embodiment of that Remembrance amongst men.

Wherefore, be thankful to God, for having strengthened thee to aid
His Cause, for having made the flowers of knowledge and understanding to
spring forth in the garden of thine heart. Thus hath His grace
encompassed thee, and encompassed the whole of creation. Beware, lest
thou allow anything whatsoever to grieve thee. Rid thyself of all
attachment to the vain allusions of men, and cast behind thy back the
idle and subtle disputations of them that are veiled from God. Proclaim,
then, that which the Most Great Spirit will inspire thee to utter in the
service of the Cause of thy Lord, that thou mayest stir up the souls of
all men and incline their hearts unto this most blessed and all-glorious
Court….

Know thou that We have annulled the rule of the sword, as an aid to
Our Cause, and substituted for it the power born of the utterance of
men. Thus have We irrevocably decreed, by virtue of Our grace. Say: O
people! Sow not the seeds of discord among men, and refrain from
contending with your neighbor, for your Lord hath committed the world
and the cities thereof to the care of the kings of the earth, and made
them the emblems of His own power, by virtue of the sovereignty He hath
chosen to bestow upon them. He hath refused to reserve for Himself any
share whatever of this world’s dominion. To this He Who is Himself
the Eternal Truth will testify. The things He hath reserved for Himself
are the cities of men’s hearts, that He may cleanse them from all
earthly defilements, and enable them to draw nigh unto the hallowed Spot
which the hands of the infidel can never profane. Open, O people, the
city of the human heart with the key of your utterance. Thus have We,
according to a pre-ordained measure, prescribed unto you your duty.

By the righteousness of God! The world and its vanities, and its
glory, and whatever delights it can offer, are all, in the sight of God,
as worthless as, nay, even more contemptible than, dust and ashes. Would
that the hearts of men could comprehend it! Cleanse yourselves
thoroughly, O people of Bahá, from the defilement of the world, and of
all that pertaineth unto it. God Himself beareth Me witness. The things
of the earth ill beseem you. Cast them away unto such as may desire
them, and fasten your eyes upon this most holy and effulgent Vision.

That which beseemeth you is the love of God, and the love of Him Who
is the Manifestation of His Essence, and the observance of whatsoever He
chooseth to prescribe unto you, did ye but know it.

Say: Let truthfulness and courtesy be your adorning. Suffer not
yourselves to be deprived of the robe of forbearance and justice, that
the sweet savors of holiness may be wafted from your hearts upon all
created things. Say: Beware, O people of Bahá, lest ye walk in the ways
of them whose words differ from their deeds. Strive that ye may be
enabled to manifest to the peoples of the earth the signs of God, and to
mirror forth His commandments. Let your acts be a guide unto all
mankind, for the professions of most men, be they high or low, differ
from their conduct. It is through your deeds that ye can distinguish
yourselves from others. Through them the brightness of your light can be
shed upon the whole earth. Happy is the man that heedeth My counsel, and
keepeth the precepts prescribed by Him Who is the All-Knowing, the
All-Wise.

CXL: O Muḥammad-‘Alí! Great is the blessedness…

O Muḥammad-‘Alí! Great is the blessedness awaiting thee,
inasmuch as thou hast adorned thine heart with the ornament of the love
of thy Lord, the All-Glorious, the All-Praised. He that hath attained
this station in this day, all good shall be his.

Pay thou no heed to the humiliation to which the loved ones of God
have in this Day been subjected. This humiliation is the pride and glory
of all temporal honor and worldly elevation. What greater honor can be
imagined than the honor conferred by the Tongue of the Ancient of Days
when He calleth to remembrance His loved ones in His Most Great Prison?
The day is approaching when the intervening clouds will have been
completely dissipated, when the light of the words, “All honor
belongeth unto God and unto them that love Him,” will have
appeared, as manifest as the sun, above the horizon of the Will of the
Almighty.

All men, be they high or low, have sought and are still seeking so
great an honor. All, however, have, as soon as the Sun of Truth shed its
radiance upon the world, been deprived of its benefits, and have been
shut out as by a veil from its glory, except them that have clung to the
cord of the unfailing providence of the one true God, and have with
complete detachment from all else but Him turned their faces towards His
holy court.

Render thanks unto Him Who is the Desire of all worlds for having
invested thee with such high honor. Ere long the world and all that is
therein shall be as a thing forgotten, and all honor shall belong to the
loved ones of thy Lord, the All-Glorious, the Most Bountiful.

CXLI: A Book sent down in truth unto men of…

A Book sent down in truth unto men of insight! It biddeth the people
to observe justice and to work righteousness, and forbiddeth them to
follow their corrupt inclinations and carnal desires, if perchance the
children of men might be roused from their slumber.

Say: Follow, O people, what hath been prescribed unto you in Our
Tablets, and walk not after the imaginations which the sowers of
mischief have devised, they that commit wickedness and impute it to God,
the Most Holy, the All-Glorious, the Most Exalted. Say: We have accepted
to be tried by ills and troubles, that ye may sanctify yourselves from
all earthly defilements. Why, then, refuse ye to ponder Our purpose in
your hearts? By the righteousness of God! Whoso will reflect upon the
tribulations We have suffered, his soul will assuredly melt away with
sorrow. Thy Lord Himself beareth witness to the truth of My words. We
have sustained the weight of all calamities to sanctify you from all
earthly corruption, and ye are yet indifferent.

Say: It behoveth every one that holdeth fast to the hem of Our Robe
to be untainted by anything from which the Concourse on high may be
averse. Thus hath it been decreed by thy Lord, the All-Glorious, in this
His perspicuous Tablet. Say: Set ye aside My love, and commit what
grieveth Mine heart? What is it that hindereth you from comprehending
what hath been revealed unto you by Him Who is the All-Knowing, the
All-Wise?

We verily behold your actions. If We perceive from them the sweet
smelling savor of purity and holiness, We will most certainly bless you.
Then will the tongues of the inmates of Paradise utter your praise and
magnify your names amidst them who have drawn nigh unto God.

Cling thou to the hem of the Robe of God, and take thou firm hold on
His Cord, a Cord which none can sever. Beware that the clamor of them
that have repudiated this Most Great Announcement shall not deter thee
from achieving thy purpose. Proclaim what hath been prescribed unto thee
in this Tablet, though all the peoples arise and oppose thee. Thy Lord
is, verily, the All-Compelling, the Unfailing Protector.

My glory be with thee and with those of My loved ones that associate
with thee. These indeed are they with whom it shall be well.

CXLII: I swear by the beauty of the Well-Beloved!…

I swear by the beauty of the Well-Beloved! This is the Mercy that
hath encompassed the entire creation, the Day whereon the grace of God
hath permeated and pervaded all things. The living waters of My mercy, O
‘Alí, are fast pouring down, and Mine heart is melting with the
heat of My tenderness and love. At no time have I been able to reconcile
Myself to the afflictions befalling My loved ones, or to any trouble
that could becloud the joy of their hearts.

Every time My name “the All-Merciful” was told that one
of My lovers had breathed a word that runneth counter to My wish, it
repaired, grief-stricken and disconsolate to its abode; and whenever My
name “the Concealer” discovered that one of My followers had
inflicted any shame or humiliation on his neighbor, it, likewise, turned
back chagrined and sorrowful to its retreats of glory, and there wept
and mourned with a sore lamentation. And whenever My name “the
Ever-Forgiving” perceived that any one of My friends had committed
any transgression, it cried out in its great distress, and, overcome
with anguish, fell upon the dust, and was borne away by a company of the
invisible angels to its habitation in the realms above.

By Myself, the True One, O ‘Alí! The fire that hath inflamed
the heart of Bahá is fiercer than the fire that gloweth in thine heart,
and His lamentation louder than thy lamentation. Every time the sin
committed by any one amongst them was breathed in the Court of His
Presence, the Ancient Beauty would be so filled with shame as to wish He
could hide the glory of His countenance from the eyes of all men, for He
hath, at all times, fixed His gaze on their fidelity, and observed its
essential requisites.

The words thou hadst written have, as soon as they were read in My
Presence, caused the ocean of My fidelity to surge within Me, and the
breeze of My forgiveness to be wafted over thy soul, and the tree of My
loving-kindness to overshadow thee, and the clouds of My bounty to rain
down upon thee their gifts. I swear by the Day Star that shineth above
the horizon of eternity, I sorrow for thee in thy grief, and lament with
thee in thy tribulation…. I bear witness to the services thou hast
rendered Me, and testify to the various troubles thou hast sustained for
My sake. All the atoms of the earth declare My love for thee.

The call thou didst raise, O ‘Alí, is highly acceptable in My
sight. Proclaim with both thy pen and tongue My Cause. Cry out and
summon the people to Him Who is the Sovereign Lord of all worlds, with
such zeal and fervor that all men may be set on fire by thee.

Say: O my Lord, my Best-Beloved, the Mover of my actions, the Lode
Star of my soul, the Voice that crieth in mine inmost being, the Object
of mine heart’s adoration! Praise be to Thee for having enabled me
to turn my face towards Thee, for having set my soul ablaze through
remembrance of Thee, for having aided Me to proclaim Thy Name and to
sing Thy praises.

My God, my God! If none be found to stray from Thy path, how, then,
can the ensign of Thy mercy be unfurled, or the banner of Thy bountiful
favor be hoisted? And if iniquity be not committed, what is it that can
proclaim Thee to be the Concealer of men’s sins, the
Ever-Forgiving, the Omniscient, the All-Wise? May my soul be a sacrifice
to the trespasses of them that trespass against Thee, for upon such
trespasses are wafted the sweet savors of the tender mercies of Thy
Name, the Compassionate, the All-Merciful. May my life be laid down for
the transgressions of such as transgress against Thee, for through them
the breath of Thy grace and the fragrance of Thy loving-kindness are
made known and diffused amongst men. May my inmost being be offered up
for the sins of them that have sinned against Thee, for it is as a
result of such sins that the Day Star of Thy manifold favors revealeth
itself above the horizon of Thy bounty, and the clouds of Thy
never-failing providence rain down their gifts upon the realities of all
created things.

I am he, O my Lord, that hath confessed to Thee the multitude of his
evil doings, that hath acknowledged what no man hath acknowledged. I
have made haste to attain unto the ocean of Thy forgiveness, and have
sought shelter beneath the shadow of Thy most gracious favor. Grant, I
beseech Thee, O Thou Who art the Everlasting King and the Sovereign
Protector of all men, that I may be enabled to manifest that which shall
cause the hearts and souls of men to soar in the limitless immensity of
Thy love, and to commune with Thy Spirit. Strengthen me through the
power of Thy sovereignty, that I may turn all created things towards the
Day Spring of Thy Manifestation and the Source of Thy Revelation. Aid
me, O my Lord, to surrender myself wholly to Thy Will, and to arise and
serve Thee, for I cherish this earthly life for no other purpose than to
compass the Tabernacle of Thy Revelation and the Seat of Thy Glory. Thou
seest me, O my God, detached from all else but Thee, and humble and
subservient to Thy Will. Deal with me as it beseemeth Thee, and as it
befitteth Thy highness and great glory.

O ‘Alí! The bounty of Him Who is the Lord of all worlds hath
been, and is still being, vouchsafed unto thee. Arm thyself with His
strength and power, and arise to aid His Cause and to magnify His holy
name. Let not thine ignorance in human learning and thy inability to
read or write grieve thine heart. The doors of His manifold grace are
within the mighty grasp of the power of the one true God. He hath
opened, and will continue to open, them in the face of all them that
serve Him. I fain would hope that this breeze of Divine sweetness will,
at all times, continue to be wafted from the meadow of thine heart upon
the whole world, in such wise that its effects may be manifested in
every land. He it is that hath power over all things. He, verily, is the
Most Powerful, the All-Glorious, the Almighty.

CXLIII: Blessed art thou, O My servant, inasmuch…

Blessed art thou, O My servant, inasmuch as thou hast recognized the
Truth, and withdrawn from him who repudiated the All-Merciful, and was
condemned as wicked in the Mother Tablet. Walk thou steadfastly in the
love of God, and keep straight on in His Faith, and aid Him through the
power of thine utterance. Thus biddeth thee the All-Merciful Who is
suffering imprisonment at the hands of His oppressors.

If tribulation touch thee for My sake, call thou to mind My ills and
troubles, and remember My banishment and imprisonment. Thus do We
devolve on thee what hath descended upon Us from Him Who is the
All-Glorious, the All-Wise.

By My Self! The day is approaching when We will have rolled up the
world and all that is therein, and spread out a new order in its stead.
He, verily, is powerful over all things.

Sanctify thine heart, that thou mayest remember Me; and purge thine
ear, that thou mayest hearken unto My words. Set then thy face towards
the Spot wherein the throne of thy Lord, the God of Mercy, hath been
established, and say: Praise be to Thee, O my Lord, for having enabled
me to recognize the Manifestation of Thine own Self, and aided me to fix
mine heart on the court of Thy presence, the object of my soul’s
adoration. I beseech Thee, by Thy name that caused the heavens to be
rent and the earth to be cleft asunder, to ordain for me what Thou didst
ordain for them that have turned away from all else but Thee, and rested
their hearts firmly upon Thee. Grant that I may be seated in Thy
presence on the seat of truth, within the Tabernacle of Glory. Powerful
art Thou to do what Thou willest. There is none other God but Thee, the
All-Glorious, the All-Wise.

CXLIV: The Pen of the Most High hath decreed…

The Pen of the Most High hath decreed and imposed upon every one the
obligation to teach this Cause…. God will, no doubt, inspire whosoever
detacheth himself from all else but Him, and will cause the pure waters
of wisdom and utterance to gush out and flow copiously from his heart.
Verily, thy Lord, the All-Merciful, is powerful to do as He willeth, and
ordaineth whatsoever He pleaseth.

Wert thou to consider this world, and realize how fleeting are the
things that pertain unto it, thou wouldst choose to tread no path except
the path of service to the Cause of thy Lord. None would have the power
to deter thee from celebrating His praise, though all men should arise
to oppose thee.

Go thou straight on and persevere in His service. Say: O people! The
Day, promised unto you in all the Scriptures, is now come. Fear ye God,
and withhold not yourselves from recognizing the One Who is the Object
of your creation. Hasten ye unto Him. Better is this for you than the
world and all that is therein. Would that ye could perceive it!

CXLV: If ye meet the abased or the down-trodden,…

If ye meet the abased or the down-trodden, turn not away disdainfully
from them, for the King of Glory ever watcheth over them and surroundeth
them with such tenderness as none can fathom except them that have
suffered their wishes and desires to be merged in the Will of your Lord,
the Gracious, the All-Wise. O ye rich ones of the earth! Flee not from
the face of the poor that lieth in the dust, nay rather befriend him and
suffer him to recount the tale of the woes with which God’s
inscrutable Decree hath caused him to be afflicted. By the righteousness
of God! Whilst ye consort with him, the Concourse on high will be
looking upon you, will be interceding for you, will be extolling your
names and glorifying your action. Blessed are the learned that pride not
themselves on their attainments; and well is it with the righteous that
mock not the sinful, but rather conceal their misdeeds, so that their
own shortcomings may remain veiled to men’s eyes.

CXLVI: It is Our wish and desire that every one of…

It is Our wish and desire that every one of you may become a source
of all goodness unto men, and an example of uprightness to mankind.
Beware lest ye prefer yourselves above your neighbors. Fix your gaze
upon Him Who is the Temple of God amongst men. He, in truth, hath
offered up His life as a ransom for the redemption of the world. He,
verily, is the All-Bountiful, the Gracious, the Most High. If any
differences arise amongst you, behold Me standing before your face, and
overlook the faults of one another for My name’s sake and as a
token of your love for My manifest and resplendent Cause. We love to see
you at all times consorting in amity and concord within the paradise of
My good-pleasure, and to inhale from your acts the fragrance of
friendliness and unity, of loving-kindness and fellowship. Thus
counselleth you the All-Knowing, the Faithful. We shall always be with
you; if We inhale the perfume of your fellowship, Our heart will
assuredly rejoice, for naught else can satisfy Us. To this beareth
witness every man of true understanding.

CXLVII: The Most Great Name beareth Me witness!…

The Most Great Name beareth Me witness! How sad if any man were, in
this Day, to rest his heart on the transitory things of this world!
Arise, and cling firmly to the Cause of God. Be most loving one to
another. Burn away, wholly for the sake of the Well-Beloved, the veil of
self with the flame of the undying Fire, and with faces joyous and
beaming with light, associate with your neighbor. Ye have well observed,
in all its aspects, the behavior of Him Who is the Word of Truth amidst
you. Ye know full well how hard it is for this Youth to allow, though it
be for one night, the heart of any one of the beloved of God to be
saddened by Him.

The Word of God hath set the heart of the world afire; how
regrettable if ye fail to be enkindled with its flame! Please God, ye
will regard this blessed night as the night of unity, will knit your
souls together, and resolve to adorn yourselves with the ornament of a
goodly and praiseworthy character. Let your principal concern be to
rescue the fallen from the slough of impending extinction, and to help
him embrace the ancient Faith of God. Your behavior towards your
neighbor should be such as to manifest clearly the signs of the one true
God, for ye are the first among men to be re-created by His Spirit, the
first to adore and bow the knee before Him, the first to circle round
His throne of glory. I swear by Him Who hath caused Me to reveal
whatever hath pleased Him! Ye are better known to the inmates of the
Kingdom on high than ye are known to your own selves. Think ye these
words to be vain and empty? Would that ye had the power to perceive the
things your Lord, the All-Merciful, doth see—things that attest the
excellence of your rank, that bear witness to the greatness of your
worth, that proclaim the sublimity of your station! God grant that your
desires and unmortified passions may not hinder you from that which hath
been ordained for you.