O King! We were in
‘Iráq, when the hour of parting arrived. At the bidding of the King of Islám
[1] We set Our steps in his direction. Upon Our arrival, there befell Us at the
hands of the malicious that which the books of the world can never adequately
recount. Thereupon the inmates of Paradise, and they that dwell within the
retreats of holiness, lamented; and yet the people are wrapped in a thick
veil! Say: Do ye cavil at Him Who hath
come unto you bearing the clear evidence of God and His proof, the testimony of
God and His signs? These things are not from Himself; nay, rather they proceed
from the One Who hath raised Him up, sent Him forth through the power of truth,
and made Him to be a lamp unto all mankind.
- Baha'u'llah (Tablet to Napoleon
III, Suriy-i-Haykal [Tablet of Temple]; ‘The Summons of the Lord of Hosts’)
[1] The Sultan of Turkey
