O Chief! [‘Álí Páshá,
the Ottoman Prime Minister] We revealed Ourself unto thee at one time upon
Mount Tíná, and at another time upon Mount Zaytá, [1] and yet again in this
hallowed Spot. Following, however, thy corrupt inclinations, thou didst fail to
respond and wert accounted with the heedless. Consider, then, and call thou to
mind the time when Muhammad came with clear tokens from Him Who is the
Almighty, the All-Knowing. The people were wont to pelt Him with stones from
hidden places and in the markets, and they rejected the signs of God, thy Lord
and the Lord of thy forefathers. The learned also denied Him, as did their
followers, and likewise the kings of the earth, as thou hast heard from the
tales of old. Among those kings was Chosroes, [2] to whom Muhammad sent a
blessed epistle summoning him unto God and forbidding him from misbelief. Verily,
thy Lord knoweth all things. Following the promptings of his evil and corrupt
desires, however, Chosroes waxed arrogant before God and tore up the Tablet.
He, verily, is accounted among the inmates of the nethermost fire.
- Baha’u’llah (Súriy-i-Ra’ís, addressed to ‘Álí Páshá, the Ottoman Prime
Minister, [referred to here as Ra’ís (Chief or Ruler)]; ‘The Summons of the
Lord of Hosts’
[1] Literally, “the Mount of Figs” and “the Mount of
Olives”, cf. Qur’án 95:1.
[2] Chosroes II, the Sasanian monarch who reigned in Persia
during the lifetime of Muhammad
