The One true God may be compared unto the sun and the
believer unto a mirror. No sooner is the mirror placed before the sun than it
reflects its light. The unbeliever may be likened unto a stone. No matter how
long it is exposed to the sunshine, it cannot reflect the sun. Thus the former
layeth down his life as a sacrifice, while the latter doeth against God what he
committeth. Indeed, if God willeth, He is potent to turn the stone into a
mirror, but the person himself remaineth reconciled to his state. Had he wished
to become a crystal, God would have made him to assume crystal form. For on
that Day whatever cause prompteth the believer to believe in Him, the same will
also be available to the unbeliever. But when the latter suffereth himself to
be wrapt in veils, the same cause shutteth him out as by a veil. Thus, as is
clearly evident today, those who have set their faces toward God, the True One,
have believed in Him because of the Bayán, while such as are veiled have been deprived
because of it.
(The Báb, excerpts from the Persian Bayán; ‘Selections from the
Writings of the Báb’)