This Wronged One hath at no time dealt deceitfully with anyone.
Every one is well aware of this, and beareth witness unto it. Regard for the
rank of sovereigns is divinely ordained, as is clearly attested by the words of
the Prophets of God and His chosen ones. He Who is the Spirit (Jesus)—may peace
be upon Him—was asked: “O Spirit of God! Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar
or not?” And He made reply: “Yea, render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s
and to God the things that are God’s.” He forbade it not. These two sayings
are, in the estimation of men of insight, one and the same, for if that which
belonged to Caesar had not come from God, He would have forbidden it. And
likewise in the sacred verse: “Obey God and obey the Apostle, and those among
you invested with authority.” By “those invested with authority” is meant
primarily and more especially the Imáms—the blessings of God rest upon them!
They, verily, are the manifestations of the power of God, and the sources of
His authority, and the repositories of His knowledge, and the daysprings of His
commandments. Secondarily these words refer unto the kings and rulers—those
through the brightness of whose justice the horizons of the world are
resplendent and luminous.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Epistle to the Son of the Wolf’)
