Suriy-i-muluk

Sources: The Summons Of The Lord Of Hosts By Baha'u'llah

He is the Almighty!



1 This is a Tablet from this Servant, who is called Husayn in the kingdom

of names, to the concourse of the kings of the earth. Haply they may

approach it in a spirit of open-mindedness, discover from its message the

mysteries of divine providence, and be of those that comprehend its

meaning, and perchance they may forsake all they possess, turn towards the

retreats of holiness, and dr w nigh unto God, the All-Glorious, the

Incomparable.



2 O kings of the earth! Give ear unto the Voice of God, calling from this

sublime, this fruit-laden Tree, that hath sprung out of the Crimson Hill,

upon the holy Plain, intoning the words: There is none other God but He,

the Mighty, the All-Powerful, the All-Wise. This is a Spot which hath

been sanctified by God for those who approach it, a Spot wherein His Voice

may be heard from the celestial Tree of Holiness. Fear God, O concourse of

kings, and suffer not yourselves to be deprived of this most sublime

grace. Fling away, then, the things ye possess, and take fast hold on the

Handle of God, the Exalted, the Great. Set your hearts towards the Face of

God, and abandon that which your desires have bidden you to follow, and be

not of those who perish.



3 Relate unto them, O Servant, the story of 'Ali,(84) when He came unto

them with truth, bearing His glorious and weighty Book, and holding in His

hands a testimony and proof from God, and holy and blessed tokens from

Him. Ye, however, O kings, have failed to heed the Remembrance of God in

His days and to be guided by the lights which arose and shone forth above

the horizon of a resplendent Heaven. Ye examined not His Cause when so to

do would have been better for you than all that the sun shineth upon,

could ye but perceive it. Ye remained careless until the divines of

Persia--those cruel ones--pronounced judgement against Him, and unjustly

slew Him. His spirit ascended unto God, and the eyes of the inmates of

Paradise and the angels that are nigh unto Him wept sore by reason of this

cruelty. Beware that ye be not careless henceforth as ye have been

careless aforetime. Return, then, unto God, your Maker, and be not of the

heedless.



4 Say: The Sun of vicegerency hath dawned, the Point of knowledge and

wisdom hath been made plain, and the Testimony of God, the Almighty, the

All-Wise, hath been made manifest. Say: The Moon of eternity hath risen in

the midmost heaven, and its light hath illumined the dwellers of the

realms above. My face hath come forth from the veils, and shed its

radiance upon all that is in heaven and on earth; and yet, ye turned not

towards Him, notwithstanding that ye were created for Him, O concourse of

kings! Follow, therefore, that which I speak unto you, and hearken unto it

with your hearts, and be not of such as have turned aside. For your glory

consisteth not in your sovereignty, but rather in your nearness unto God

and your observance of His command as sent down in His holy and preserved

Tablets. Should any one of you rule over the whole earth, and over all

that lieth within it and upon it, its seas, its lands, its mountains, and

its plains, and yet be not remembered by God, all these would profit him

not, could ye but know it.



5 Know ye that a servant's glory resideth in his nearness unto God, and

that, unless he draweth nigh unto Him, naught else can ever profit him,

even should he hold sway over the entire creation. Say: The breeze of God

hath wafted over you from the retreats of Paradise, but ye have neglected

it and chosen to persist in your waywardness. Guidance hath been given

unto you from God, but ye have failed to follow it and preferred to reject

its truth. The Lamp of God hath been lit within the niche of His Cause,

but ye have neglected to seek the radiance of its glory and to draw nigh

unto its light. And still ye slumber upon the couch of heedlessness!



6 Arise, then, and make steadfast your feet, and make ye amends for that

which hath escaped you, and set then yourselves towards His holy Court, on

the shore of His mighty Ocean, so that the pearls of knowledge and wisdom,

which God hath stored up within the shell of His radiant heart, may be

revealed unto you. Such is the counsel that shall profit you most; make of

it your provision, that ye may be of those who are guided aright. Beware

lest ye hinder the breeze of God from blowing over your hearts, the breeze

through which the hearts of such as have turned unto Him can be quickened.

Hearken unto the clear admonitions that We have revealed for you in this

Tablet, that God, in turn, may hearken unto you, and may open before your

faces the portals of His mercy. He, verily, is the Compassionate, the

Merciful.



7 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.



8 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.



9 We have learned that ye 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 ye justly between men,

O kings, and be ye the emblems of justice amongst them. This, if ye judge

fairly, is the thing that behoveth you, and beseemeth your station.



10 Beware not to deal unjustly with anyone 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. Succour cometh from Him

alone. He succoureth whom He willeth with the hosts of the heavens and of

the earth.



11 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 everyone shall be rendered his due, when the doings

of all men, be they rich or poor, shall be weighed.



12 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, and 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.



13 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 neighbour. If ye stay not the hand of the

oppressor, if ye fail to safeguard the rights of the downtrodden, 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!



14 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.



15 O kings of Christendom! Heard ye not the saying of Jesus, the Spirit of

God, I go away, and come again unto you?(85) 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.(86) 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. By God! 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.



16 Again, heard ye not that which hath been recorded in the Gospel

concerning those which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the

flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God(87)--that is, those who have

been made manifest through the power of God? Wherefore it becometh evident

that one may well be manifested in the world of creation who is truly of

God, the Almighty, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. How is it then that when

word reached you of Our Cause, ye failed to inquire from Our own lips,

that ye might distinguish truth from falsehood, discover Our aim and

purpose, and learn of the afflictions which We have suffered at the hands

of an evil and wayward generation?



17 O Minister of the King of Paris!(88) Hast thou forgotten the

pronouncement recorded in the Gospel according to John concerning the Word

and those who are its Manifestations? And hast thou ignored the counsels

of the Spirit(89) concerning the Manifestations of the Word, and been

numbered with the heedless? If not, wherefore then didst thou conspire

with the Minister of Persia(90) to inflict upon Us that which hath caused

the hearts of men of insight and understanding to melt, the tears of the

denizens of the Realm of eternity to flow, and the souls of them who are

nigh unto God to mourn? And all this thou didst commit without seeking to

examine Our Cause or to discern its truth. For is it not thy clear duty to

investigate this Cause, to inform thyself of the things that have befallen

Us, to judge with equity, and to cleave unto justice?



18 Thy days shall pass away, thy ministry shall come to an end, and thy

possessions shall vanish and be no more. Then, in the presence of the

almighty King, thou shalt be called to answer for that which thy hands

have wrought. How many the ministers who came before thee into this world,

men who exceeded thee in power, excelled thee in station, and surpassed

thee in wealth, and yet returned to dust, leaving upon the face of the

earth neither name nor trace, and are now plunged in grievous remorse.

Amongst them were those who failed in their duty towards God, followed

their own desires, and trod the path of lust and wickedness. And amongst

them were those who observed that which hath been prescribed in the verses

of God, judged with fairness by the divine guidance that overshadowed

them, and entered beneath the shelter of the mercy of their Lord.



19 I admonish thee, and those who are like thee, to deal not with anyone

as ye have dealt with Us. Beware lest ye follow in the footsteps of the

Evil One and walk in the ways of the unjust. Take from this world only to

the measure of your needs, and forgo that which exceedeth them. Observe

equity in all your judgements, and transgress not the bounds of justice,

nor be of them that stray from its path.



20 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 honour. 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?



21 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 downtrodden, and punish the wrongdoers. 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.



22 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.



23 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

succourer and helper. We have pledged Ourself 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.



24 Call Thou to remembrance Thine arrival in the City, how the Ministers

of the Sultan thought Thee to be unacquainted with their laws and

regulations, and believed Thee to be one of the ignorant. Say: Yea, by My

Lord! I am ignorant of all things except what God hath, through His

bountiful favour, been pleased to teach Me. To this We assuredly testify,

and unhesitatingly confess it.



25 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.



26 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.



27 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.



28 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.



29 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

'Iraq, and beyond them every discerning observer, will bear witness to the

truth of My words.



30 Be fair in your judgement, O ye Ministers of State! What is it that We

have committed that could justify Our banishment? What is the offence 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.



31 Have I at any time transgressed your laws, or disobeyed any of your

ministers in 'Iraq? Inquire of them, that ye may act with discernment

towards Us and be numbered with those who are well-informed. Hath anyone

ever brought before them a plaint against Us? Hath anyone amongst them

ever heard from Us a word contrary to that which God hath revealed in His

Book? Bring forth, then, your evidence, that We may approve your actions

and acknowledge your claims!



32 Had ye wished to deal with Us in accordance with your principles and

standards, it would have behoved you to respect and honour Us for

complying with your commands and following that which ye have pleased to

ordain. Likewise, it would have beseemed you to repay the debts which We

incurred in 'Iraq in the execution of your wishes. Ye should have given

ear then unto Us, heard the account of Our woes, and judged with equity,

as ye would judge your own selves. Ye should not have wished for Us that

which ye have not wished for yourselves, but rather chosen to act with

generosity. By God! Ye dealt with Us neither in accordance with your own

principles and standards, nor with those of any man living, but in

accordance with the promptings of your evil and wayward passions, O ye

concourse of the froward and the arrogant!



33 O Bird of Holiness! Soar in the heaven of communion with Me, and

acquaint the people with that which We disclosed unto Thee in the

billowing oceans of immortality beyond the mount of glory. Let the fear of

no one dismay Thee, and put Thy trust in God, the Almighty, the

Beneficent. We, verily, shall protect Thee from those who, without a clear

token from God or an enlightening Book, have grievously wronged Thee.



34 Say: God is My witness, O concourse of the negligent! We came not unto

you to spread disorder in your lands or to sow dissension amongst your

peoples. Nay rather, We came in obedience to the command of the sovereign,

and in order to exalt your authority, to instruct you in the ways of Our

wisdom, and to remind you of that which ye had forgotten--even as He saith

in truth: Warn them, for, in truth, Thy warning will profit the

believers.(91) But ye hearkened not unto the sweet melodies of the

Spirit, and gave ear unwittingly unto Our enemies, they who follow the

promptings of their corrupt inclinations, whose deeds the Evil One hath

made fair-seeming in their own eyes, and whose tongues utter calumnies

against Us. Heard ye not that which hath been revealed in His all-glorious

and unerring Book: If a wicked man come to you with news, clear it up at

once?(92) Wherefore have ye then cast the command of God behind your

backs, and followed in the footsteps of them that are bent on mischief?



35 We have heard that one of these calumniators hath alleged that this

Servant practised usury whilst residing in 'Iraq, and was engaged in

amassing riches for Himself. Say: How can ye judge a matter whereof ye

have no knowledge? How can ye hurl calumnies against the servants of God,

and entertain such evil suspicions? And how could this accusation be true,

when God hath forbidden this practice unto His servants in that most holy

and well-guarded Book revealed unto Muhammad, the Apostle of God and the

Seal of the Prophets, a Book which He hath ordained to be His abiding

testimony, and His guidance and monition unto all mankind? This is but one

of the matters in which We have opposed the divines of Persia, inasmuch as

We have, according to the text of the Book, forbidden unto all men the

practice of usury. God Himself beareth witness to the truth of My words.

Yet I hold not myself clear, for the soul is prone to evil.(93) We

intend only to impart unto you the truth, that ye might be informed

thereof and be of them that lead a godly life. Beware lest ye give ear to

the words of those from whom the foul smell of malice and envy can be

discerned; pay no heed to them, and stand ye for righteousness.



36 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.



37 Fear God, ye inhabitants of the City, 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.



38 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 naught, through the power of God

and His might, except His truth. He, verily, shall recompense the

truthful.



39 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.



40 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?



41 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.



42 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.



43 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.



44 Lay not on any soul a load which ye would not wish to be laid upon you,

and desire not for anyone the things ye would not desire for yourselves.

This is My best counsel unto you, did ye but observe it.



45 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 judgements 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 favour with which God hath favoured them.



46 Say: Wait ye till God will have changed His favour 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.



47 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.



48 That which hath befallen Us hath been witnessed before. Ours is not the

first goblet dashed to the ground in the lands of Islam, nor is this the

first time that such schemers have intrigued against the beloved of the

Lord. The tribulations We have sustained are like unto the trials endured

aforetime by Imam Husayn. For he was approached by messengers from

malicious and evil-hearted plotters, inviting him to come forth from the

city; yet when he came unto them, accompanied by his kindred, they rose up

against him with all their might, until at last they slew him, slaughtered

his sons and his brothers, and took captive the remainder of his family.

So did it come to pass in an earlier age, and God, verily, is a witness

unto My words. Of his lineage there survived none, whether young or old,

save his son 'Ali al-Awsat, known as Zaynu'l-'Abidin.



49 Behold then, O heedless ones, how brightly the fire of the love of God

blazed aforetime in the heart of Husayn, if ye be of them that ponder! So

intense grew its flame that fervour and longing at last seized the reins

of patience from his grasp, and the love of Him Who is the All-Compelling

so enraptured his heart that he surrendered his soul, his spirit, his

substance, and his all in the path of God, the Lord of the worlds. By God!

Sweeter was this in his sight than the empire of earth and heaven. For the

true lover desireth naught save reunion with his beloved and the seeker

hath no goal but to attain unto the object of his quest. Their hearts long

for reunion even as the body yearneth for the spirit, nay greater indeed

is their longing, could ye but perceive it!



50 Say: That same fire now blazeth in Mine own breast, and My wish is that

this Husayn may lay down His life in like manner, in the hope of attaining

unto so august and sublime a station, that station wherein the servant

dieth to himself and liveth in God, the Almighty, the Exalted, the Great.

Were I to disclose unto you the mysteries which God hath enshrined

therein, ye would, of a truth, offer up your lives in His path, renounce

your riches, and forsake all that ye possess, that ye might attain this

transcendent and all-glorious station. God, however, hath veiled your

hearts and obscured your eyes, lest ye should apprehend His mysteries and

be made aware of their meaning.



51 Say: The sincere soul longeth for nearness to God even as the suckling

babe yearneth for its mother's breast, nay more ardent is his longing,

could ye but know it! Again, his longing is even as the panting of one

sore athirst after the living waters of grace, or the yearning of the

sinner for forgiveness and mercy. Thus do We expound unto you the

mysteries of the Cause, and impart unto you what shall render you

independent of all that hath so far occupied you, that perchance ye may

enter the Court of Holiness within this exalted Paradise. I swear by God!

Whoso entereth therein shall never abandon its precincts, and whoso gazeth

thereon shall never turn away therefrom, even should the swords of

infidels and deniers rain blows upon him. Thus have We related unto you

that which befell Husayn, and We beseech God that He may destine for Us

that which He had decreed for him. He, verily, is the Most Generous, the

All-Bountiful.



52 By the righteousness of God! Through his deed the fragrances of

holiness were wafted over all things, the proof of God was perfected, and

His testimony made manifest to all men. And after him God raised up a

people who avenged his death, who slew his enemies, and who wept over him

at dawn and at eventide. Say: God hath pledged in His Book to lay hold

upon every oppressor for his tyranny, and to uproot the stirrers of

mischief. Know ye that such holy deeds exert, in themselves, a great

influence upon the world of being--an influence which is, however,

inscrutable to all save those whose eyes have been opened by God, whose

hearts He hath freed from obscuring veils, and whose souls He hath guided

aright.



53 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.



54 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.



55 O concourse of Ministers of State! Do ye believe in your hearts that We

have come to divest you of your earthly possessions and vanities? Nay, by

the One in Whose hand is My soul! Our intention hath been to make clear

that We oppose not the commands of the sovereign, nor are We to be

numbered with the rebellious. Know ye of a certainty that all the

treasures of the earth, all the gold, the silver, and the rare and

precious gems they contain, are, in the sight of God, of His chosen ones

and His loved ones, as worthless as a handful of clay. For erelong all

that is on earth shall perish, and the kingdom will remain unto God, the

All-Powerful, the Incomparable. That which perisheth can never profit Us,

nor can it profit you, were ye but to reflect.



56 By the righteousness of God! I speak not falsely, and utter naught save

that which God hath bidden Me. To this bear witness the very words of this

Tablet, if ye but reflect upon its contents. Follow not the promptings of

your own desires, nor the whisperings of the Evil One in your souls.

Follow rather the Cause of God, both in your outward and your inner lives,

and be not of the heedless. Better is this for you than all that ye have

laid up in your houses, and all that ye have sought by day and night.



57 The world will pass away, and so will all the things whereat your

hearts rejoice, or wherein ye pride yourselves before men. Cleanse the

mirrors of your hearts from the dross of the world and all that is

therein, that they may reflect the resplendent light of God. This, indeed,

shall enable you to dispense with all save God, and to attain unto the

good pleasure of your Lord, the Most Bountiful, the All-Knowing, the

All-Wise. We, verily, have unfolded before your eyes that which shall

profit you both in this world and in the realm of faith, and which will

lead you to the path of salvation. Would that ye might turn thereunto!



58 Hearken, O King,(94) 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.



59 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.



60 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 neighbour, nothing can induce him to

walk uprightly.



61 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.



62 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.



63 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 favours with which God hath favoured 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.



64 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.



65 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 favours.



66 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.



67 Allow not the abject to rule over and dominate them who are noble and

worthy of honour, 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, 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.



68 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.



69 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.



70 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.



71 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 favours. 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.



72 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

honour. 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 anyone 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.



73 Hast thou heard, O King, what We have suffered at the hands of thy

ministers and how We have been treated by them, or art thou of the

negligent? If indeed thou hast heard and known, wherefore didst thou not

forbid thy ministers to commit such deeds? How didst thou desire for Him

Who hath complied with thy command, and been obedient to thy behest, that

which no king would desire for any of his subjects? And if thou knowest

not, this indeed is a more grievous error, wert thou of the God-fearing.

Wherefore shall I recount to thee that which We have suffered at the hands

of these oppressors.



74 Know, then, that We came unto thy city at thine own behest, and entered

therein with conspicuous honour. They expelled Us, however, from thy city

with an abasement with which no abasement on earth can compare, if thou be

of them that are well-informed. They made Us journey until We reached the

place(95) which none entereth except such as have rebelled against the

authority of the sovereign, and as are numbered with the transgressors.

All this, notwithstanding that We had never disobeyed thee, though it be

for a single moment, for when We heard thy bidding We observed it and

submitted to thy will. In dealing with Us, however, thy ministers neither

honoured the standards of God and His commandments, nor heeded that which

hath been revealed to the Prophets and Messengers. They showed Us no mercy

and committed against Us that which no one among the faithful hath ever

wrought against his fellow, nor any believer inflicted upon an infidel.

God knoweth and is a witness unto the truth of Our words.



75 When they expelled Us from thy city, they placed Us in such conveyances

as the people use to carry baggage and the like. Such was the treatment We

received at their hands, shouldst thou wish to know the truth. Thus were

We sent away, and thus were We brought to the city which they regard as

the abode of rebels. Upon our arrival, We could find no house in which to

dwell, and perforce resided in a place where none would enter save the

most indigent stranger. There We lodged for a time, after which, suffering

increasingly from the confined space, We sought and rented houses which by

reason of the extreme cold had been vacated by their occupants. Thus in

the depth of winter we were constrained to make our abode in houses

wherein none dwell except in the heat of summer. Neither My family, nor

those who accompanied Me, had the necessary raiment to protect them from

the cold in that freezing weather.



76 Would that thy ministers had dealt with Us according to the principles

they uphold amongst themselves! For, by God, they dealt with Us neither in

accordance with the commandments of God, nor with the practices they

uphold, nor with the standards current amongst men, nor even with the

manner in which the destitute of the earth receive a wayfarer. Such is the

account of what We suffered at their hands, and which We have related unto

thee in a language of truthfulness and sincerity.



77 All this befell Me, though I had come unto them at their own behest and

did not oppose their authority, which deriveth from thine own. Thus did We

accept and observe their bidding. They, however, appear to have forgotten

that which God hath commanded. He saith, and His Word is the truth: Act

with humility towards the believers.(96) Methinks that their only concern

was their own comfort and repose, and that their ears were deaf to the

sighs of the poor and the cries of the oppressed. They seem to imagine

that they have been created from pure light, while others have been

fashioned out of dust. How wretched are their imaginings! We have all been

created from a sorry germ.(97)



78 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.



79 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 honour. God

shall, assuredly, judge with truth between Us and them, and He, verily, is

the best of judges.



80 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.



81 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.



82 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 'Iraq

produce any proof that can establish My disloyalty to thee? Nay, 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.



83 In the daytime 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!



84 Dost thou imagine, O Minister of the Shah in the City, 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.



85 Dost thou believe thou hast the power to frustrate His Will, to hinder

Him from executing His judgement, or to deter Him from exercising His

sovereignty? Pretendest thou that aught in the heavens or in the earth can

resist His Faith? Nay, 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.



86 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.



87 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.(98) This is what

God hath revealed unto His Well-Beloved One, in His unerring Book.



88 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!



89 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.(99) 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 honour! 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!



90 Be fair in your judgement. Did they whom ye curse, upon whom ye invoke

evil, act differently from yourselves? Have they not slain the descendant

of their Prophet(100) 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?



91 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 anyone. 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!



92 All the rulers and kings of the earth honour 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.



93 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?(101) 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?



94 Ponder in thine heart. Did ye, notwithstanding your behaviour 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 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?



95 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.



96 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.



97 Pause for but a little while and reflect, O Minister, and be fair in

thy judgement. 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 Imam Husayn was being

commemorated. On those occasions no one could have had 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 everyone who meeteth you with a greeting,

'Thou art not a believer'.(102) Thrust not away those who cry to their

Lord at morn and even, craving to behold His face.(103) Thou hast indeed

forsaken what the Book of God hath prescribed, and yet thou deemest

thyself to be a believer!



98 Despite what thou hast done I entertain--and to this God is My

witness--no ill will against thee, nor against anyone, 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 neighbour. 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 is the abode of the wicked doers!



99 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,(104) for this is a promise from Him Who is the

Almighty, the All-Wise--a promise that will not prove untrue.



100 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 favour, 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 ye 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