Lay Not Aside The Fear Of God O Kings Of

Sources: Gleanings From The Writings Of Baha'u'llah

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 our 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.