O Shaykh! [1] Ponder the behavior of men. The inmates of the
cities of knowledge and wisdom are sore perplexed asking themselves why it is
that the Shí’ih sect, which regarded itself as the most learned, the most
righteous, and the most pious of all the peoples of the world, hath turned
aside in the Day of His Revelation, and hath shown a cruelty such as hath never
been experienced. It is incumbent upon thee to reflect a while. From the
inception of this sect until the present day how great hath been the number of
the divines that have appeared, none of whom became cognizant of the nature of
this Revelation. What could have been the cause of this waywardness? Were We to
mention it, their limbs would cleave asunder. It is necessary for them to
meditate, to meditate for a thousand thousand years, that haply they may attain
unto a sprinkling from the ocean of knowledge, and discover the things whereof
they are oblivious in this day.
- 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)
