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what hath been sent unto thee by Him Who is the 
All-Knowing, the All-Informed.  As to him who 
turneth aside, and swelleth with pride, after that the 
clear tokens have come unto him, from the Revealer 
of signs, his work shall God bring to naught.  He, in 
truth, hath power over all things.  Man’s actions are 
acceptable after his having recognized (the Manifestation). 
He that turneth aside from the True One 
is indeed the most veiled amongst His creatures.  Thus 
hath it been decreed by Him Who is the Almighty, 
the Most Powerful. 
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     “We have also heard that thou hast entrusted the 
reins of counsel into the hands of the representatives 
of the people.  Thou, indeed, hast done well, for 
thereby the foundations of the edifice of thine affairs 
will be strengthened, and the hearts of all that are 
beneath thy shadow, whether high or low, will be 
tranquillized.  It behooveth them, however, to be 
trustworthy among His servants, and to regard themselves 
as the representatives of all that dwell on earth. 
This is what counselleth them, in this Tablet, He Who 
is the Ruler, the All-Wise.  And if any one of them 
directeth himself towards the Assembly, let him turn 
his eyes unto the Supreme Horizon, and say:  ‘O my 
God!  I ask Thee, by Thy most glorious Name, to aid 
me in that which will cause the affairs of Thy servants 
to prosper, and Thy cities to flourish.  Thou, indeed, 
hast power over all things!’  Blessed is he that entereth 
the Assembly for the sake of God, and judgeth between 
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men with pure justice.  He, indeed, is of the 
blissful. 
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     “O ye members of Assemblies in that land and in 
other countries!  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.” 
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     And further We have said:  “That which God hath 
ordained as the sovereign remedy and mightiest instrument 
for the healing of 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 
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Physician.  By My life!  This is the truth, and all 
else naught but error.  Each time that Most Mighty 
Instrument hath come, and that Light shone forth 
from the Ancient Dayspring, He was withheld by 
ignorant physicians who, even as clouds, interposed 
themselves between Him and the world.  It failed 
therefore, to recover, and its sickness hath persisted 
until this day.  They indeed were powerless to protect 
it, or to effect a cure, whilst He Who hath been 
the Manifestation of Power amongst men was withheld 
from achieving His purpose, by reason of what 
the hands of the ignorant physicians have wrought. 
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     “Consider these days in which He Who is the 
Ancient Beauty hath come in the Most Great Name, 
that He may quicken the world and unite its peoples. 
They, however, rose up against Him with sharpened 
swords, and committed that which caused the Faithful 
Spirit to lament, until in the end they imprisoned 
Him in the most desolate of cities, and broke the grasp 
of the faithful upon the hem of His robe.  Were 
anyone to tell them:  ‘The World Reformer is come,’ 
they would answer and say:  ‘Indeed it is proven that 
He is a fomenter of discord!’, and this notwithstanding 
that they have never associated with Him, and 
have perceived that He did not seek, for one moment, 
to protect Himself.  At all times He was at the mercy 
of the wicked doers.  At one time they cast Him into 
prison, at another they banished Him, and at yet 
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another hurried Him from land to land.  Thus have 
they pronounced judgment against Us, and God, 
truly, is aware of what I say.” 
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     This charge of fomenting discord is the same as 
that imputed aforetime by the Pharaohs of Egypt 
to Him Who conversed with God (Moses).  Read 
thou what the All-Merciful hath revealed in the 
Qur’án.  He—may He be blessed and glorified—saith: 
“Moreover We had sent Moses of old with Our signs 
and with clear authority to Pharaoh, and Hamán, 
and Qarún:  and they said:  ‘Sorcerer, impostor!’  And 
when He came to them from Our presence with the 
truth, they said:  ‘Slay the sons of those who believe 
as He doth, and save their females alive,’ but the 
stratagem of the unbelievers issued only in failure. 
And Pharaoh said:  ‘Let me alone, that I may kill 
Moses; and let him call upon his Lord:  I fear lest he 
change your religion, or cause disorder to show itself 
in the land.’  And Moses said:  ‘I take refuge with my 
Lord, and your Lord from every proud one who 
believeth not in the Day of Reckoning.’” 
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     Men have, at all times, considered every World 
Reformer a fomenter of discord, and have referred 
unto Him in terms with which all are familiar.  Each 
time the Daystar of Divine Revelation shed its 
radiance from the horizon of God’s Will a great 
number of men denied Him, others turned aside from 
Him, and still others calumniated Him, and thereby 
withheld the servants of God from the river of loving 
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providence of Him Who is the King of creation.  In 
like manner, they who, in this day, have neither met 
this Wronged One nor associated with Him have 
said, and even now continue to say, the things thou 
hast heard and hearest still.  Say:  “O people!  The 
Sun of Utterance beameth forth in this day, above 
the horizon of bounty, and the radiance of the Revelation 
of Him Who spoke on Sinai flasheth and 
glisteneth before all religions.  Purge and sanctify 
your breasts, and your hearts, and your ears, and your 
eyes with the living waters of the utterance of the 
All-Merciful, and set, then, your faces towards Him. 
By the righteousness of God!  Ye shall hear all things 
proclaim:  ‘Verily, He the True One is come.  Blessed 
are they that judge with fairness, and blessed they 
that turn towards Him!’” 
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     Among the things they have imputed to the Divine 
Lote-Tree (Moses) are charges to the falsity of which 
every discerning man of knowledge, and every wise 
and understanding heart, will witness.  Thou must, 
no doubt, have read and considered the verses which 
have been sent down concerning Him Who conversed 
with God.  He—may He be blessed and glorified—saith:  “He said:  ‘Did We not rear thee among 
us when a child?  And hast thou not passed years 
of thy life among us?  And yet what a deed is that 
which thou hast done!  Thou art one of the ungrateful.’ 
He said:  ‘I did it indeed, and I was one of 
those who erred.  And I fled from you because I 
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feared you; but My Lord hath given Me wisdom and 
hath made Me one of His Apostles.’”  And elsewhere 
He—may He be blessed and exalted—saith:  “And 
He entered a city at the time when its inhabitants 
would not observe Him, and found therein two men 
fighting, the one, of His own people; the other, of 
His enemies.  And he who was of His own people 
asked His help against him who was of His enemies. 
And Moses smote him with His fist and slew him. 
Said He:  ‘This is a work of Satan; for he is an enemy, 
a manifest misleader.’  He said:  ‘O my Lord!  I have 
sinned to mine own hurt, forgive me.’  So God forgave 
Him; for He is the Forgiving, the Merciful. 
He said:  ‘Lord! because Thou hast showed me this 
grace, I will never again be the helper of the wicked.’ 
And in the city at noon He was full of fear, casting 
furtive glances round Him, and lo, the man whom He 
had helped the day before, cried out to Him again 
for help.  Said Moses to him:  ‘Thou art plainly a 
most depraved person.’  And when He would have 
laid violent hands on him who was their common 
foe, he said to Him:  ‘O Moses!  Dost Thou desire to 
slay me, as thou slewest a man yesterday?  Thou desirest 
only to become a tyrant in this land, and 
desirest not to become a peacemaker.’”  Thine ears 
and thine eyes must needs now be cleansed and sanctified, 
that thou mayest be able to judge with fairness 
and justice.  Moses Himself, moreover, acknowledged 
His injustice and waywardness, and testified 
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that fear had seized Him, and that He had transgressed, 
and fled away.  He asked God—exalted be 
His glory—to forgive Him, and He was forgiven. 
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     O Shaykh!  Every time God the True One—exalted 
be His glory—revealed Himself in the person of His 
Manifestation, He came unto men with the standard 
of “He doeth what He willeth, and ordaineth what 
He pleaseth.”  None hath the right to ask why or 
wherefore, and he that doth so, hath indeed turned 
aside from God, the Lord of Lords.  In the days of 
every Manifestation these things appear and are 
evident.  Likewise, they have said that about this 
Wronged One, to the falsity of which they who are 
nigh unto God and are devoted to Him have borne, 
and still bear, witness.  By the righteousness of God! 
This Hem of His Robe hath ever been and remaineth 
unsullied, though many have, at the present time, 
purposed to besmirch it with their lying and unseemly 
calumnies.  God, however, knoweth and they 
know not.  He Who, through the might and power 
of God, hath arisen before the face of all the kindreds 
of the earth, and summoned the multitudes to 
the Supreme Horizon, hath been repudiated by them 
and they have clung instead unto such men as have 
invariably withdrawn themselves behind veils and 
curtains, and busied themselves about their own 
protection.  Moreover, many are now engaged in 
spreading lies and calumnies, and have no other intention 
than to instill distrust into the hearts and 
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souls of men.  As soon as someone leaveth the Great 
City (Constantinople) to visit this land, they at 
once telegraph and proclaim that he hath stolen 
money and fled to ‘Akká.  A highly accomplished, 
learned and distinguished man visited, in his declining 
years, the Holy Land, seeking peace and retirement, 
and about him they have written such things as have 
caused them who are devoted to God and are nigh 
unto Him to sigh. 
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     His Excellency, the late Mírzá Ḥusayn Khán, 
Mushíru’d-Dawlih,—may God forgive him—hath 
known this Wronged One, and he, no doubt, must 
have given to the Authorities a circumstantial account 
of the arrival of this Wronged One at the 
Sublime Porte, and of the things which He said and 
did.  On the day of Our arrival the Government 
Official, whose duty it was to receive and entertain 
official visitors, met Us and escorted Us to the place 
he had been bidden to take Us.  In truth, the Government 
showed these wronged ones the utmost 
kindness and consideration.  The following day Prince 
Shuja’u’d-Dawlih, accompanied by Mírzá Safá, acting 
as the representatives of the late Mushíru’d-Dawlih, 
the Minister (accredited to the Imperial 
Court) came to visit Us.  Others, among whom were 
several Ministers of the Imperial Government, and 
including the late Kamál Páshá, likewise called on Us. 
Wholly reliant on God, and without any reference 
to any need He might have had, or to any other 
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matter, this Wronged One sojourned for a period of 
four months in that city.  His actions were known 
and evident unto all, and none can deny them except 
such as hate Him, and speak not the truth.  He that 
hath recognized God, recognizeth none other but 
Him.  We have never liked, nor like We, to make 
mention of such things. 
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     Whenever high dignitaries of Persia came to that 
city (Constantinople) they would exert themselves 
to the utmost soliciting at every door such allowances 
and gifts as they might obtain.  This Wronged One, 
however, if He hath done nothing that would redound 
to the glory of Persia, hath at least acted in a 
manner that could in no wise disgrace it.  That which 
was done by his late Excellency (Mushíru’d-Dawlih)—may God exalt his station—was not actuated 
by his friendship towards this Wronged One, but 
rather was prompted by his own sagacious judgment, 
and by his desire to accomplish the service he secretly 
contemplated rendering his Government.  I testify 
that he was so faithful in his service to his Government 
that dishonesty played no part, and was held 
in contempt, in the domain of his activities.  It was 
he who was responsible for the arrival of these 
wronged ones in the Most Great Prison (‘Akká). 
As he was faithful, however, in the discharge of his 
duty, he deserveth Our commendation.  This Wronged 
One hath, at all times, aimed and striven to exalt 
and advance the interests of both the government 
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and the people, not to elevate His own station.  A 
number of men have, now, gathered others about 
them, and have arisen to dishonor this Wronged One. 
He, nevertheless, beseecheth God—hallowed and glorified 
be He—to aid them to return unto Him, and 
assist them to compensate for that which escaped 
them, and repent before the door of His bounty.  He, 
verily, is the Forgiving, the Merciful. 
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     O Shaykh!  My Pen, verily, lamenteth over Mine 
own Self, and My Tablet weepeth sore over what hath 
befallen Me at the hands of one (Mírzá Yaḥyá) over 
whom We watched for successive years, and who, 
day and night, served in My presence, until he was 
made to err by one of My servants, named Siyyid 
Muḥammad.  Unto this bear witness My believing 
servants who accompanied Me in My exile from 
Baghdád to this, the Most Great Prison.  And there 
befell Me at the hands of both of them that which 
made every man of understanding to cry out, and 
he who is endued with insight to groan aloud, and 
the tears of the fair-minded to flow. 
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     We pray to God to graciously assist them that 
have been led astray to be just and fair-minded, and 
to make them aware of that whereof they have been 
heedless.  He, in truth, is the All-Bounteous, the Most 
Generous.  Debar not Thy servants, O my Lord, from 
the door of Thy grace, and drive them not away 
from the court of Thy presence.  Assist them to 
dispel the mists of idle fancy, and to tear away the 
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veils of vain imaginings and hopes.  Thou art, verily, 
the All-Possessing, the Most High.  No God is there 
but Thee, the Almighty, the Gracious. 
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     O Shaykh!  Time and again have I declared, and 
now yet again I affirm, that for two score years We 
have, through the grace of God and by His irresistible 
and potent will, extended such aid to His 
Majesty the Sháh—may God assist him—as the exponents 
of justice and of equity would regard as incontestable 
and absolute.  None can deny it, unless he 
be a transgressor and sinner, or one who would hate 
Us or doubt Our truth.  How very strange that until 
now the Ministers of State and the representatives 
of the people have alike remained unaware of such 
conspicuous and undeniable service, and, if apprized 
of it, have, for reasons of their own, chosen to ignore 
it!  Previous to these forty years controversies and 
conflicts continually prevailed and agitated the servants 
of God.  But since then, aided by the hosts of 
wisdom, of utterance, of exhortations and understanding, 
they have all seized and taken fast hold 
of the firm cord of patience and of the shining hem 
of fortitude, in such wise that this wronged people 
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endured steadfastly whatever befell them, and committed 
everything unto God, and this notwithstanding 
that in Mázindarán and at Rasht a great many 
have been most hideously tormented.  Among them 
was his honor, Ḥájí Náṣir, who, unquestionably, was 
a brilliant light that shone forth above the horizon 
of resignation.  After he had suffered martyrdom, 
they plucked out his eyes and cut off his nose, and 
inflicted on him such indignities that strangers wept 
and lamented, and secretly raised funds to support 
his wife and children. 
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     O Shaykh!  My Pen is abashed to recount what 
actually took place.  In the land of Sád (Iṣfahán) 
the fire of tyranny burned with such a hot flame 
that every fair-minded person groaned aloud.  By 
thy life!  The cities of knowledge and of understanding 
wept with such a weeping that the souls 
of the pious and of the God-fearing were melted. 
The twin shining lights, Ḥasan and Ḥusayn (The 
King of Martyrs and the Beloved of Martyrs) offered 
up spontaneously their lives in that city.  Neither 
fortune, nor wealth, nor glory, could deter them! 
God knoweth the things which befell them and yet 
the people are, for the most part, unaware! 
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     Before them one named Kázim and they who 
were with him, and after them, his honor Ashraf, 
all quaffed the draught of martyrdom with the utmost 
fervor and longing, and hastened unto the 
Supreme Companion.  In like manner, at the time 
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of Sardár Azíz Khán, that godly man, Mírzá 
Muṣṭafá, and his fellow martyrs, were arrested, and 
despatched unto the Supreme Friend in the All-Glorious 
Horizon.  Briefly, in every city the evidences 
of a tyranny, beyond like or equal, were unmistakably 
clear and manifest, and yet none arose in self-defence! 
Call thou to mind his honor Badí, who was 
the bearer of the Tablet to His Majesty the Sháh, 
and reflect how he laid down his life.  That knight, 
who spurred on his charger in the arena of renunciation, 
threw down the precious crown of life for 
the sake of Him Who is the Incomparable Friend. 
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     O Shaykh!  If things such as these are to be denied, 
what shall, then, be deemed worthy of credence? 
Set forth the truth, for the sake of God, and be not 
of them that hold their peace.  They arrested his 
honor Najaf-‘Alí, who hastened, with rapture and 
great longing, unto the field of martyrdom, uttering 
these words:  “We have kept both Bahá and the 
khún-bahá (bloodmoney)!”  With these words he 
yielded up his spirit.  Meditate on the splendor and 
glory which the light of renunciation, shining from 
the upper chamber of the heart of Mullá ‘Alí-Ján, 
hath shed.  He was so carried away by the breezes of 
the Most Sublime Word and by the power of the 
Pen of Glory that to him the field of martyrdom 
equalled, nay outrivalled, the haunts of earthly delights. 
Ponder upon the conduct of ‘Abá-Básir and 
Siyyid Ashraf-i-Zanjání.  They sent for the mother 
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of Ashraf to dissuade her son from his purpose.  But 
she spurred him on until he suffered a most glorious 
martyrdom. 
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     O Shaykh!  This people have passed beyond the 
narrow straits of names, and pitched their tents upon 
the shores of the sea of renunciation.  They would 
willingly lay down a myriad lives, rather than breathe 
the word desired by their enemies.  They have clung 
to that which pleaseth God, and are wholly detached 
and freed from the things which pertain unto men. 
They have preferred to have their heads cut off 
rather than utter one unseemly word.  Ponder this 
in thine heart.  Methinks they have quaffed their fill 
of the ocean of renunciation.  The life of the present 
world hath failed to withhold them from suffering 
martyrdom in the path of God. 
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     In Mázindarán a vast number of the servants of 
God were exterminated.  The Governor, under the 
influence of calumniators, robbed a great many of 
all that they possessed.  Among the charges he laid 
against them was that they had been laying up arms, 
whereas upon investigation it was found out that 
they had nothing but an unloaded rifle!  Gracious 
God!  This people need no weapons of destruction, 
inasmuch as they have girded themselves to reconstruct 
the world.  Their hosts are the hosts of goodly 
deeds, and their arms the arms of upright conduct, 
and their commander the fear of God.  Blessed that 
one that judgeth with fairness.  By the righteousness 
of God!  Such hath been the patience, the calm, the 
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resignation and contentment of this people that they 
have become the exponents of justice, and so great 
hath been their forbearance, that they have suffered 
themselves to be killed rather than kill, and this 
notwithstanding that these whom the world hath 
wronged have endured tribulations the like of which 
the history of the world hath never recorded, nor the 
eyes of any nation witnessed.  What is it that could 
have induced them to reconcile themselves to these 
grievous trials, and to refuse to put forth a hand to 
repel them?  What could have caused such resignation 
and serenity?  The true cause is to be found 
in the ban which the Pen of Glory hath, day and 
night, chosen to impose, and in Our assumption of 
the reins of authority, through the power and might 
of Him Who is the Lord of all mankind. 
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     Remember the father of Badí.  They arrested that 
wronged one, and ordered him to curse and revile 
his Faith.  He, however, through the grace of God 
and the mercy of his Lord, chose martyrdom, and 
attained thereunto.  If ye would reckon up the martyrs 
in the path of God, ye could not count them. 
Consider his honor Siyyid Ismá’íl—upon him be the 
peace of God, and His loving-kindness—how, before 
daybreak he was wont to dust, with his own turban, 
the doorstep of My house, and in the end, whilst 
standing on the banks of the river, with his eyes 
fixed on that same house, offered up, by his own 
hand, his life. 
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     Do thou ponder on the penetrative influence of 
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the Word of God.  Every single one of these souls 
was first ordered to blaspheme and curse his faith, 
yet none was found to prefer his own will to the 
Will of God. 
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     O Shaykh!  In former times he that was chosen 
to be slain was but one person, whereas now this 
Wronged One hath produced for thee that which 
causeth every fair-minded man to marvel.  Judge 
fairly, I adjure thee, and arise to serve thy Lord. 
He, verily, shall reward thee with a reward which 
neither the treasures of the earth nor all the possessions 
of kings and rulers can equal.  In all thine 
affairs put thy reliance in God, and commit them 
unto Him.  He will render thee a reward which the 
Book hath ordained as great.  Occupy thyself, during 
these fleeting days of thy life, with such deeds as will 
diffuse the fragrance of Divine good pleasure, and 
will be adorned with the ornament of His acceptance. 
The acts of his honor, Balál, the Ethiopian, were so 
acceptable in the sight of God that the “sín” of his 
stuttering tongue excelled the “shín” pronounced by 
all the world.  This is the day whereon all peoples 
should shed the light of unity and concord.  In brief, 
the pride and vanity of certain of the peoples of the 
world have made havoc of true understanding, and 
laid waste the home of justice and of equity. 
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     O Shaykh!  That which hath touched this Wronged 
One is beyond compare or equal.  We have borne it 
all with the utmost willingness and resignation, so 
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that the souls of men may be edified, and the Word 
of God be exalted.  While confined in the prison of 
the Land of Mím (Mázindarán) We were one day 
delivered into the hands of the divines.  Thou canst 
well imagine what befell Us.  Shouldst thou at some 
time happen to visit the dungeon of His Majesty 
the Sháh, ask the director and chief jailer to show 
thee those two chains, one of which is known as 
Qará-Guhar, and the other as Salásil.  I swear by 
the Daystar of Justice that for four months this 
Wronged One was tormented and chained by one 
or the other of them.  “My grief exceedeth all the 
woes to which Jacob gave vent, and all the afflictions 
of Job are but a part of My sorrows!” 
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     Likewise, ponder thou upon the martyrdom of 
Ḥájí Muḥammad-Riḍá in the City of Love (Ishqábád). 
The tyrants of the earth have subjected that 
wronged one to such trials as have caused many foreigners 
to weep and lament for, as reported and 
ascertained, no less than thirty-two wounds were 
inflicted upon his blessed body.  Yet none of the 
faithful transgressed My commandment, nor raised 
his hand in resistance.  Come what might, they refused 
to allow their own inclinations to supersede 
that which the Book hath decreed, though a considerable 
number of this people have resided, and still 
reside, in that city. 
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     We entreat His Majesty the Sháh,—may God, hallowed 
and glorified be He, assist him—himself to 
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ponder upon these things, and to judge with equity 
and justice.  Although in recent years a number of 
the faithful have, in most of the cities of Persia, suffered 
themselves to be killed rather than kill, yet the 
hatred smouldering in certain hearts hath blazed 
more fiercely than before.  For the victims of oppression 
to intercede in favor of their enemies is, in 
the estimation of rulers, a princely deed.  Some must 
have certainly heard that this oppressed people have, 
in that city (Ishqábád), pleaded with the Governor 
on behalf of their murderers, and asked for the mitigation 
of their sentence.  Take, then, good heed, ye 
who are men of insight! 
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     O Shaykh!  These perspicuous verses have been 
sent down in one of the Tablets by the Abhá Pen: 
“Hearken, O servant, unto the voice of this Wronged 
One, Who hath endured grievous vexations and trials 
in the path of God, the Lord of all Names, until 
such time as He was cast into prison, in the Land of 
Tá (Ṭihrán).  He summoned men unto the most 
sublime Paradise, and yet they seized Him and 
paraded Him through cities and countries.  How 
many the nights during which slumber fled from the 
eyes of My loved ones, because of their love for Me; 
and how numerous the days whereon I had to face 
the assaults of the peoples against Me!  At one time 
I found Myself on the heights of mountains; at another 
in the depths of the prison of Tá (Ṭihrán), in 
chains and fetters.  By the righteousness of God! 
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I was at all times thankful unto Him, uttering 
His praise, engaged in remembering Him, directed 
towards Him, satisfied with His pleasure, and lowly 
and submissive before Him.  So passed My days, until 
they ended in this Prison (‘Akká) which hath made 
the earth to tremble and the heavens to sigh.  Happy 
that one who hath cast away his vain imaginings, 
when He Who was hid came with the standards of 
His signs.  We, verily, have announced unto men 
this Most Great Revelation, and yet the people are in 
a state of strange stupor.” 
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     Thereupon, a Voice was raised from the direction 
of Ḥijáz, calling aloud and saying:  “Great is thy 
blessedness, O ‘Akká, in that God hath made thee 
the dayspring of His Most Sweet Voice, and the 
dawn of His most mighty signs.  Happy art thou in 
that the Throne of Justice hath been established upon 
thee, and the Daystar of God’s loving-kindness and 
bounty hath shone forth above thy horizon.  Well 
is it with every fair-minded person that hath judged 
fairly Him Who is the Most Great Remembrance, 
and woe betide him that hath erred and doubted.” 
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     “He is the Almighty, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise! 
The winds of hatred have encompassed the 
Ark of Bathá (Mecca), by reason of that which the 
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hands of the oppressors have wrought.  O thou who 
art reputed for thy learning!  Thou hast pronounced 
sentence against them for whom the books of the 
world have wept, and in whose favor the scriptures 
of all religions have testified.  Thou, who art gone 
far astray, art indeed wrapt in a thick veil.  By God 
Himself!  Thou hast pronounced judgment against 
them through whom the horizon of faith hath been 
illumined.  Unto this bear witness They Who are 
the Dawning-Places of Revelation and the Manifestations 
of the Cause of thy Lord, the Most Merciful, 
Who have sacrificed Their souls and all that They 
possessed in His straight Path.  The Faith of God 
hath cried everywhere, by reason of thy tyranny, 
and yet thou disportest thyself and art of them that 
exult.  There is no hatred in Mine heart for thee nor 
for anyone.  Every man of discernment beholdeth 
thee, and such as are like thee, engulfed in evident 
folly.  Hadst thou realized that which thou hast done, 
thou wouldst have cast thyself into the fire, or abandoned 
thine home and fled unto the mountains, or 
wouldst have groaned until thou hadst returned unto 
the place destined for thee by Him Who is the Lord 
of strength and of might.  O thou who art even as 
nothing!  Rend thou asunder the veils of idle fancies 
and vain imaginings, that thou mayest behold the 
Daystar of knowledge shining from this resplendent 
Horizon.  Thou hast torn in pieces a remnant of the 
Prophet Himself, and imagined that thou hadst 
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Saturday
[Pages 61–80]Epistle to the Son of the Wolf
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