…O my friend, it behooveth Us to exert the highest endeavour
to attain unto that City, [“City of Certitude”] and, by the grace of God and
His loving-kindness, rend asunder the “veils of glory”; so that, with
inflexible steadfastness, we may sacrifice our drooping souls in the path of
the New Beloved. We should with tearful eyes, fervently and repeatedly, implore
Him to grant us the favour of that grace. That city is none other than the Word
of God revealed in every age and dispensation. In the days of Moses it was the
Pentateuch; in the days of Jesus the Gospel; in the days of Muḥammad the
Messenger of God the Qur’án; in this day the Bayán; and in the dispensation of
Him Whom God will make manifest His own Book—the Book unto which all the Books
of former Dispensations must needs be referred, the Book which standeth amongst
them all transcendent and supreme. In these cities spiritual sustenance is
bountifully provided, and incorruptible delights have been ordained. The food
they bestow is the bread of heaven, and the Spirit they impart is God’s
imperishable blessing. Upon detached souls they bestow the gift of Unity,
enrich the destitute, and offer the cup of knowledge unto them who wander in
the wilderness of ignorance. All the guidance, the blessings, the learning, the
understanding, the faith, and certitude, conferred upon all that is in heaven
and on earth, are hidden and treasured within these Cities.
- Baha’u’llah (‘The
Kitab-i-Iqan’)
