That seeker [1] must at all times put his trust in God, must
renounce the peoples of the earth, detach himself from the world of dust, and
cleave unto Him Who is the Lord of Lords. He must never seek to exalt himself
above any one, must wash away from the tablet of his heart every trace of pride
and vainglory, must cling unto patience and resignation, observe silence, and
refrain from idle talk. 
…O my brother, when a true seeker determineth to take the
step of search in the path leading to the knowledge of the Ancient of Days, he
must, before all else, cleanse and purify his heart, which is the seat of the
revelation of the inner mysteries of God, from the obscuring dust of all
acquired knowledge, and the allusions of the embodiments of satanic fancy. He
must purge his breast, which is the sanctuary of the abiding love of the
Beloved, of every defilement, and sanctify his soul from all that pertaineth to
water and clay, from all shadowy and ephemeral attachments. He must so cleanse
his heart that no remnant of either love or hate may linger therein, lest that
love blindly incline him to error, or that hate repel him away from the truth.
Our Exalted Herald—may the life of all else besides Him be
offered up for His sake—hath revealed certain laws. However, in the realm of
His Revelation these laws were made subject to Our sanction, hence this Wronged
One hath put some of them into effect by embodying them in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas in
different words. Others We set aside. He holdeth in His hand the authority. He
doeth what He willeth and He ordaineth whatsoever He pleaseth. He is the
Almighty, the All-Praised. There are also ordinances newly revealed. Blessed
are they that attain. Blessed are they that observe His precepts.
We exhort the loved ones of God to perform good deeds that
perchance they may be graciously assisted and may hold fast to that which hath
been sent down from the heaven of His Revelation. The benefits arising from
this divine utterance shall fall upon such as observe His precepts. We beseech
God to enable them to do that which is pleasing and acceptable unto Him, to
grant that they may deal equitably and may observe justice in this
all-compelling Cause, to acquaint them with His Holy Writings and to direct
their steps towards His straight Path.
Verily He hath appeared with so great an authority that no
man of vision, of hearing, of insight, of justice or of equity can ever deny
Him. Unto this beareth witness in this resplendent Hour the Pen of Him Who is
the Ancient of Days.
O ye that judge with fairness! If this Cause is to be denied
then what other cause in this world can be vindicated or deemed worthy of
acceptance?
Upon Our arrival in ‘Iráq We found the Cause of God sunk in
deep apathy and the breeze of divine revelation stilled. Most of the believers
were faint and dispirited, nay utterly lost and dead. Hence there was a second
blast on the Trumpet, whereupon the Tongue of Grandeur uttered these blessed
words: ‘We have sounded the Trumpet for the second time.’ Thus the whole world
was quickened through the vitalizing breaths of divine revelation and
inspiration.
The highest faculties which the learned have possessed, and
whatsoever truths they, in their search after the gems of Thy [God’s]
knowledge, have discovered; the brightest realities with which the wise have
been endowed, and whatever secrets they, in their attempts to fathom the
mysteries of Thy wisdom, have unravelled, have all been created through the
generative power of the Spirit that was breathed into the Pen which Thy hands
have fashioned. How, then, can the thing which Thy Pen hath created be capable
of comprehending those treasures of Thy Faith with which, as decreed by Thee,
that Pen hath been invested? How can it ever know of the Fingers that grasp Thy
Pen, and of Thy merciful favours with which it hath been endowed? How can it,
already unable to reach this station, be made aware of the existence of Thy
Hand that controlleth the Fingers of Thy might? How can it attain unto the
comprehension of the nature of Thy Will that animateth the movement of Thy
Hand?
This is not a Cause which may be made a plaything for your
idle fancies, nor is it a field for the foolish and faint of heart. By God,
this is the arena of insight and detachment, of vision and upliftment, where
none may spur on their chargers save the valiant horsemen of the Merciful, who
have severed all attachment to the world of being. These, truly, are they that
render God victorious on earth, and are the dawning-places of His sovereign might
amidst mankind.
O Son of Man! Thou dost wish for gold and I desire thy
freedom from it. Thou thinkest thyself rich in its possession, and I recognize
thy wealth in thy sanctity therefrom. By My life! This is My knowledge, and
that is thy fancy; how can My way accord with thine?
O Lord of all being and Educator of all things visible and
invisible! Grant us ears that are pure, hearts that are sanctified, and eyes
that see, so that we may discover the sweetness of Thine enthralling utterance,
may fix our gaze upon Thy supreme horizon, and may come to know whatever hath
been sent down through Thy bounty, O Thou Who art the King of Names!
Burden not an animal with more than it can bear. We, truly,
have prohibited such treatment through a most binding interdiction in the Book.
Be ye the embodiments of justice and fairness amidst all creation.
Think ye that the things ye possess shall profit you? Soon
others will possess them and ye will return unto the dust with none to help or
succour you. What advantage is there in a life that can be overtaken by death,
or in an existence that is doomed to extinction, or in a prosperity that is
subject to change? Cast away the things that ye possess and set your faces
toward the favours of God which have been sent down in this wondrous Name.
Let them that bear allegiance to this Wronged One be even as
a raining cloud in moments of charity and benevolence and as a blazing fire in
restraining their base and appetitive natures.
O proud ones of the earth!
Do ye believe yourselves to be abiding in palaces whilst He Who is the
King of Revelation resideth in the most desolate of abodes? Nay, by My life! In tombs do ye dwell, could ye but perceive
it. Verily, he who faileth, in these days,
to be stirred by the breeze of God is accounted among the dead in the sight of
Him Who is the Lord of all names and attributes. Arise, then, from the tombs of self and
desire and turn unto the Kingdom of God, the Possessor of the Throne on high
and of earth below, that ye may behold that which ye were promised aforetime by
your Lord, the All-Knowing.
According to the fundamental laws which We have formerly
revealed in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas and other Tablets, all affairs are committed to
the care of just kings and presidents and of the Trustees of the House of
Justice. Having pondered on that which We have enunciated, every man of equity
and discernment will readily perceive, with his inner and outer eyes, the
splendours of the day-star of justice which radiate therefrom.
It is for the sake of God alone that My tongue counselleth
you and that My pen moveth to make mention of you, for neither can the malice
and denial of all who dwell on earth harm Me, nor the allegiance of the entire
creation profit Me. We, verily, exhort
you unto that which We were commanded, and desire naught from you except that
ye draw nigh unto what shall profit you in both this world and the world to
come. Say: Will ye slay Him Who summoneth you unto life
everlasting? Fear ye God, and follow not
every contumacious oppressor.
… [since] only those who are initiated into the divine
mysteries can comprehend the melodies uttered by the Bird of Heaven, it is
therefore incumbent upon every one to seek enlightenment from the illumined in
heart and from the Treasuries of divine mysteries regarding the intricacies of
God’s Faith and the abstruse allusions in the utterances of the Day-springs of
Holiness. Thus will these mysteries be unravelled, not by the aid of acquired
learning, but solely through the assistance of God and the outpourings of His
grace. “Ask ye, therefore, of them that have the custody of the Scriptures, if
ye know it not.” (Qur’an 16:43)
Say: If ye be seekers after this life and the vanities
thereof, ye should have sought them while ye were still enclosed in your
mothers’ wombs, for at that time ye were continually approaching them, could ye
but perceive it. Ye have, on the other hand, ever since ye were born and
attained maturity, been all the while receding from the world and drawing
closer to dust. Why, then, exhibit such greed in amassing the treasures of the
earth, when your days are numbered and your chance is well-nigh lost? Will ye
not, then, O heedless ones, shake off your slumber?
The days of your life are far spent, O people, and your end
is fast approaching. Put away, therefore, the things ye have devised and to
which ye cleave, and take firm hold on the precepts of God, that haply ye may
attain that which He hath purposed for you, and be of them that pursue a right
course. Delight not yourselves in the things of the world and its vain
ornaments, neither set your hopes on them. Let your reliance be on the
remembrance of God, the Most Exalted, the Most Great. He will, erelong, bring
to naught all the things ye possess. Let Him be your fear, and forget not His
covenant with you, and be not of them that are shut out as by a veil from Him.