The evidences which the people demanded from the Apostle of
God through their idle fancy have mostly been rejected in the Qur’án, even as
in the Súrih of the Children of Israel [Súrih XVII] it hath been revealed: ‘And
they say, by no means will we believe on thee till thou cause a fountain to
gush forth for us from the earth; or till thou have a garden of palm trees and
vines, and thou cause rivers to spring forth from the midst thereof in
abundance; or thou cause the heaven to fall down upon us, as thou hast given
out, in pieces; or thou bring God and the angels to vouch for thee; or thou
have a house of gold; or thou ascend to heaven nor will we believe in thine
ascension, till thou send down to us a book which we may read. Say, Praise be
to my Lord! Am I more than a man, an apostle?’
- The Báb (‘Selections from the
Writings of the Báb’)
