Texts 153 - 171
153
Should anyone wax angry with you, respond to
him with gentleness; and should anyone upbraid you,
forbear to upbraid him in return, but leave him to
himself and put your trust in God, the omnipotent
Avenger, the Lord of might and justice.
154
Ye have been prohibited from making use of
pulpits. Whoso wisheth to recite unto you the verses of
his Lord, let him sit on a chair placed upon a dais, that
he may make mention of God, his Lord, and the Lord
of all mankind. It is pleasing to God that ye should seat
yourselves on chairs and benches as a mark of honour
for the love ye bear for Him and for the Manifestation
of His glorious and resplendent Cause.
155
Gambling and the use of opium have been
forbidden unto you. Eschew them both, O people, and
be not of those who transgress. Beware of using any
substance that induceth sluggishness and torpor in the
human temple and inflicteth harm upon the body. We,
verily, desire for you naught save what shall profit you,
and to this bear witness all created things, had ye but
ears to hear.
156
Whensoever ye be invited to a banquet or festive
occasion, respond with joy and gladness, and whoever
fulfilleth his promise will be safe from reproof. This is a
Day on which each of God's wise decrees hath been
expounded.
157
Behold, the "mystery of the Great Reversal in the
Sign of the Sovereign" hath now been made manifest.
Well is it with him whom God hath aided to recognize
the "Six" raised up by virtue of this "Upright Alif";
he, verily, is of those whose faith is true. How many
the outwardly pious who have turned away, and how
many the wayward who have drawn nigh, exclaiming:
"All praise be to Thee, O Thou the Desire of the
worlds!" In truth, it is in the hand of God to give what
He willeth to whomsoever He willeth, and to withhold
what He pleaseth from whomsoever He may wish. He
knoweth the inner secrets of the hearts and the meaning
hidden in a mocker's wink. How many an embodiment
of heedlessness who came unto Us with purity of heart
have We established upon the seat of Our acceptance;
and how many an exponent of wisdom have We in all
justice consigned to the fire. We are, in truth, the One
to judge. He it is Who is the manifestation of "God
doeth whatsoever He pleaseth", and abideth upon the
throne of "He ordaineth whatsoever He chooseth".
158
Blessed is the one who discovereth the fragrance of
inner meanings from the traces of this Pen through
whose movement the breezes of God are wafted over the
entire creation, and through whose stillness the very
essence of tranquillity appeareth in the realm of being.
Glorified be the All-Merciful, the Revealer of so
inestimable a bounty. Say: Because He bore injustice,
justice hath appeared on earth, and because He
accepted abasement, the majesty of God hath shone
forth amidst mankind.
159
It hath been forbidden you to carry arms unless
essential, and permitted you to attire yourselves in silk.
The Lord hath relieved you, as a bounty on His part, of
the restrictions that formerly applied to clothing and to
the trim of the beard. He, verily, is the Ordainer, the
Omniscient. Let there be naught in your demeanour of
which sound and upright minds would disapprove, and
make not yourselves the playthings of the ignorant.
Well is it with him who hath adorned himself with the
vesture of seemly conduct and a praiseworthy character.
He is assuredly reckoned with those who aid their Lord
through distinctive and outstanding deeds.
160
Promote ye the development of the cities of God
and His countries, and glorify Him therein in the
joyous accents of His well-favoured ones. In truth, the
hearts of men are edified through the power of the
tongue, even as houses and cities are built up by the
hand and other means. We have assigned to every end a
means for its accomplishment; avail yourselves thereof,
and place your trust and confidence in God, the
Omniscient, the All-Wise.
161
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.
162
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.
163
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 honour 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.
He it is Who hath sent forth the Messengers, and sent
down the Books to proclaim "There is none other God
but Me, the Almighty, the All-Wise".
164
O Land of &Kaf and &Ra! (&Kirman) We, verily, behold thee
in a state displeasing unto God, and see proceeding
from thee that which is inscrutable to anyone save
Him, the Omniscient, the All-Informed; and We
perceive that which secretly and stealthily diffuseth
from thee. With Us is the knowledge of all things,
inscribed in a lucid Tablet. Sorrow not for that which
hath befallen thee. Erelong will God raise up within
thee men endued with mighty valour, who will
magnify My Name with such constancy that neither
will they be deterred by the evil suggestions of the
divines, nor will they be kept back by the insinuations
of the sowers of doubt. With their own eyes will they
behold God, and with their own lives will they render
Him victorious. These, truly, are of those who are
steadfast.
165
O concourse of divines! When My verses were sent
down, and My clear tokens were revealed, We found
you behind the veils. This, verily, is a strange thing.
Ye glory in My Name, yet ye recognized Me not at the
time your Lord, the All-Merciful, appeared amongst
you with proof and testimony. We have rent the veils
asunder. Beware lest ye shut out the people by yet
another veil. Pluck asunder the chains of vain
imaginings, in the name of the Lord of all men, and be
not of the deceitful. Should ye turn unto God and
embrace His Cause, spread not disorder within it, and
measure not the Book of God with your selfish desires.
This, verily, is the counsel of God aforetime and
hereafter, and to this God's witnesses and chosen ones,
yea, each and every one of Us, do solemnly attest.
166
Call ye to mind the &shaykh whose name was
&Muhammad-Hasan, who ranked among the most
learned divines of his day. When the True One was
made manifest, this &shaykh, along with others of his
calling, rejected Him, while a sifter of wheat and
barley accepted Him and turned unto the Lord.
Though he was occupied both night and day in setting
down what he conceived to be the laws and ordinances
of God, yet when He Who is the Unconstrained
appeared, not one letter thereof availed him, or he
would not have turned away from a Countenance that
hath illumined the faces of the well-favoured of the
Lord. Had ye believed in God when He revealed
Himself, the people would not have turned aside from
Him, nor would the things ye witness today have
befallen Us. Fear God, and be not of the heedless.
167
Beware lest any name debar you from Him Who
is the Possessor of all names, or any word shut you
out from this Remembrance of God, this Source of
Wisdom amongst you. Turn unto God and seek His
protection, O concourse of divines, and make not of
yourselves a veil between Me and My creatures. Thus
doth your Lord admonish you, and command you to be
just, lest your works should come to naught and ye
yourselves be oblivious of your plight. Shall he who
denieth this Cause be able to vindicate the truth of any
cause throughout creation? Nay, by Him Who is the
Fashioner of the universe! Yet the people are wrapped
in a palpable veil. Say: Through this Cause the day-star
of testimony hath dawned, and the luminary of proof
hath shed its radiance upon all that dwell on earth. Fear
God, O men of insight, and be not of those who
disbelieve in Me. Take heed lest the word "Prophet"
withhold you from this Most Great Announcement, or
any reference to "Vicegerency" debar you from the
sovereignty of Him Who is the Vicegerent of God,
which overshadoweth all the worlds. Every name hath
been created by His Word, and every cause is
dependent on His irresistible, His mighty and wondrous
Cause. Say: This is the Day of God, the Day on
which naught shall be mentioned save His own Self,
the omnipotent Protector of all worlds. This is the
Cause that hath made all your superstitions and idols to
tremble.
168
We, verily, see amongst you him who taketh hold
of the Book of God and citeth from it proofs and
arguments wherewith to repudiate his Lord, even as the
followers of every other Faith sought reasons in their
Holy Books for refuting Him Who is the Help in Peril,
the Self-Subsisting. Say: God, the True One, is My
witness that neither the Scriptures of the world, nor all
the books and writings in existence, shall, in this Day,
avail you aught without this, the Living Book, Who
proclaimeth in the midmost heart of creation: "Verily,
there is none other God but Me, the All-Knowing, the
All-Wise."
169
O concourse of divines! Beware lest ye be the cause
of strife in the land, even as ye were the cause of the
repudiation of the Faith in its early days. Gather the
people around this Word that hath made the pebbles to
cry out: "The Kingdom is God's, the Dawning-place of
all signs!" Thus doth your Lord admonish you, as a
bounty on His part; He, of a truth, is the Ever-Forgiving,
the Most Generous.
170
Call ye to mind &Karim, and how, when We
summoned him unto God, he waxed disdainful,
prompted by his own desires; yet We had sent him that
which was a solace to the eye of proof in the world of
being and the fulfilment of God's testimony to all the
denizens of earth and heaven. As a token of the grace of
Him Who is the All-Possessing, the Most High, We
bade him embrace the Truth. But he turned away
until, as an act of justice from God, angels of wrath laid
hold upon him. Unto this We truly were a witness.
171
Tear the veils asunder in such wise that the
inmates of the Kingdom will hear them being rent.
This is the command of God, in days gone by and for
those to come. Blessed the man that observeth that
whereunto he was bidden, and woe betide the
negligent.
Texts 153 - 171 |