Gracious God! Within the domains of Islám there are at
present seven powerful sovereigns ruling the world. None of them hath been
informed of His [the Báb’s] Manifestation, and if informed, none hath believed
in Him. Who knoweth, they may leave this world below full of desire, and
without having realized that the thing for which they were waiting had come to
pass. This is what happened to the monarchs that held fast unto the Gospel.
They awaited the coming of the Prophet of God [Muḥammad], and when He did appear,
they failed to recognize Him. Behold how great are the sums which these
sovereigns expend without even the slightest thought of appointing an official
charged with the task of acquainting them in their own realms with the
Manifestation of God! They would thereby have fulfilled the purpose for which
they have been created. All their desires have been and are still fixed upon
leaving behind them traces of their names. - The Báb (‘Selections from the
Writings of the Báb)
