O heedless one! [1] Rely not on thy glory, and thy power.
Thou art even as the last trace of sunlight upon the mountain-top. Soon will it
fade away as decreed by God, the All-Possessing, the Most High. Thy glory and
the glory of such as are like thee have been taken away, and this verily is
what hath been ordained by the One with Whom is the Mother Tablet. Where is he
to be found who contended with God, and whither is gone he that gainsaid His signs,
and turned aside from His sovereignty? Where are they who have slain His chosen
ones and spilt the blood of His holy ones? Reflect, that haply thou mayest
perceive the breaths of thine acts, O foolish doubter! Because of you the
Apostle (Muhammad) lamented, and the Chaste One (Fátimih) cried out, and the
countries were laid waste, and darkness fell upon all regions. O concourse of
divines! Because of you the people were abased, and the banner of Islám was
hauled down, and its mighty throne subverted. Every time a man of discernment
hath sought to hold fast unto that which would exalt Islám, ye raised a clamor,
and thereby was he deterred from achieving his purpose, while the land remained
fallen in clear ruin.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Epistle to the Son of the Wolf’)
[1] Shaykh Muhammad-Taqi, known as Aqa Najafi, a son of
Shaykh Muhammad-Baqir who was stigmatized by Baha’u’llah as 'Wolf'. After the
death of his father in 1883, Aqa Najafi succeeded him as a leading mujtahid of
Isfahan. He was an inveterate enemy and formidable opponent of the Cause of
Bahá'u'lláh. (Adib Taherzadeh, ‘The Revelation of Baha’u’llah, vol. 4)
