O Ye Divines Of The City! We Came To You With The
Categories:
THE CLERGY AND PEOPLE OF VARIOUS FAITHS
O YE divines of the City! We came to you with the truth, whilst ye were
heedless of it. Methinks ye are as dead, wrapt in the coverings of your
own selves. Ye sought not Our presence, when so to do would have been
better for you than all your doings.... Know ye, that had your leaders, to
whom ye owe allegiance, and on whom ye pride yourselves, and whom ye
mention by day and by night, and from whose traces ye seek guidance--had
they lived in these days, they would have circled around Me, and would not
have separated themselves from Me, whether at eventide or at morn. Ye,
however, did not turn your faces towards My face, for even less than a
moment, and waxed proud, and were careless of this Wronged One, Who hath
been so afflicted by men that they dealt with Him as they pleased. Ye
failed to inquire about My condition, nor did ye inform yourselves of the
things which befell Me. Thereby have ye withheld from yourselves the winds
of holiness, and the breezes of bounty, that blow from this luminous and
perspicuous Spot. Methinks ye have clung to outward things, and forgotten
the inner things, and say that which ye do not. Ye are lovers of names,
and appear to have given yourselves up to them. For this reason make ye
mention of the names of your leaders. And should any one like them, or
superior unto them, come unto you, ye would flee him. Through their names
ye have exalted yourselves, and have secured your positions, and live and
prosper. And were your leaders to reappear, ye would not renounce your
leadership, nor would ye turn in their direction, nor set your faces
towards them. We found you, as We found most men, worshipping names which
they mention during the days of their life, and with which they occupy
themselves. No sooner do the Bearers of these names appear, however, than
they repudiate them, and turn upon their heels.... Know ye that God will
not, in this day, accept your thoughts, nor your remembrance of Him, nor
your turning towards Him, nor your devotions, nor your vigilance, unless
ye be made new in the estimation of this Servant, could ye but perceive
it.