Man is the supreme Talisman. Lack of a proper education
hath, however, deprived him of that which he doth inherently possess. Through a
word proceeding out of the mouth of God he was called into being; by one word
more he was guided to recognize the Source of his education; by yet another
word his station and destiny were safeguarded. 
The essence of religion is to testify unto that which the
Lord hath revealed, and follow that which He hath ordained in His mighty Book.
Hearken, O king, to the speech of Him that speaketh the
truth, Him that doth not ask thee to recompense Him with the things God hath
chosen to bestow upon thee, Him Who unerringly treadeth the straight Path. He
it is Who summoneth thee unto God, thy Lord, Who showeth thee the right course,
the way that leadeth to true felicity, that haply thou mayest be of them with
whom it shall be well.... He that giveth up himself wholly to God, God shall,
assuredly, be with him; and he that placeth his complete trust in God, God
shall, verily, protect him from whatsoever may harm him, and shield him from
the wickedness of every evil plotter.
The essence of understanding is to testify to one’s poverty,
and submit to the Will of the Lord, the Sovereign, the Gracious, the
All-Powerful.
The verses are sent down at one time in a form that is
untroubled by the rules of grammarians, transcending what the minds of men have
yet conceived; and at another time they are sent down in a style that
conformeth to the standards of men. Thy Lord, verily, is potent over whatsoever
He willeth by virtue of His words "Be, and it is." Wert thou to view
them with Mine eyes thou wouldst see that they are in conformity with the most
consummate rules, and wouldst give thanks to the Lord, the Almighty, the Best-Beloved.
Wert thou to ponder in thine heart, from now until the end
that hath no end, and with all the concentrated intelligence and understanding
which the greatest minds have attained in the past or will attain in the
future, this divinely ordained and subtle Reality [the rational faculty in a
human being], this sign of the revelation of the All-Abiding, All-Glorious God,
thou wilt fail to comprehend its mystery or to appraise its virtue. Having
recognized thy powerlessness to attain to an adequate understanding of that
Reality which abideth within thee, thou wilt readily admit the futility of such
efforts as may be attempted by thee, or by any of the created things, to fathom
the mystery of the Living God, the Day Star of unfading glory, the Ancient of
everlasting days. This confession of helplessness which mature contemplation
must eventually impel every mind to make is in itself the acme of human
understanding, and marketh the culmination of man’s development.
True remembrance is to make mention of the Lord, the
All-Praised, and forget aught else beside Him.
O King!... This [Baha'u'llah] is but a leaf which the winds of the will of
thy Lord, the Almighty, the All-Praised, have stirred. Can it be still when the
tempestuous winds are blowing? Nay, by
Him Who is the Lord of all Names and Attributes! They move it as they
list. The evanescent is as nothing
before Him Who is the Ever-Abiding. His
all-compelling summons hath reached Me, and caused Me to speak His praise
amidst all people.
Fear ye God, O concourse of kings, lest ye remain afar from
Him Who is His Remembrance [the Báb], after the Truth hath come unto you with a
Book and signs from God, as spoken through the wondrous tongue of Him Who is
His Remembrance. Seek ye grace from God, for God hath ordained for you, after
ye have believed in Him, a Garden the vastness of which is as the vastness of
the whole of Paradise.
The essence of love is for man to turn his heart to the
Beloved One, and sever himself from all else but Him, and desire naught save
that which is the desire of his Lord.
O concourse of kings and of the sons of kings! Lay aside,
one and all, your dominion which belongeth unto God.... Vain indeed is your dominion,
for God hath set aside earthly possessions for such as have denied Him.... O
concourse of kings! Deliver with truth and in all haste the verses sent down by
Us to the peoples of Turkey and of India, and beyond them, with power and with
truth, to lands in both the East and the West.... By God! If ye do well, to
your own behoof will ye do well; and if ye deny God and His signs, We, in very
truth, having God, can well dispense with all creatures and all earthly
dominion.
Consider the rational faculty with which God hath endowed
the essence of man. Examine thine own self, and behold how thy motion and
stillness, thy will and purpose, thy sight and hearing, thy sense of smell and
power of speech, and whatever else is related to, or transcendeth, thy physical
senses or spiritual perceptions, all proceed from, and owe their existence to,
this same faculty. So closely are they related unto it, that if in less than
the twinkling of an eye its relationship to the human body be severed, each and
every one of these senses will cease immediately to exercise its function, and
will be deprived of the power to manifest the evidences of its activity. It is
indubitably clear and evident that each of these afore-mentioned instruments
has depended, and will ever continue to depend, for its proper functioning on
this rational faculty, which should be regarded as a sign of the revelation of
Him Who is the sovereign Lord of all.
O thou that hast fixed thine eyes upon My countenance! The
Day Spring of Glory hath, in this Day, manifested its radiance, and the Voice
of the Most High is calling. We have formerly uttered these words: “This is not
the day for any man to question his Lord. It behoveth whosoever hath hearkened
to the Call of God, as voiced by Him Who is the Day Spring of Glory, to arise
and cry out: ‘Here am I, here am I, O Lord of all Names; here am I, here am I,
O Maker of the heavens! I testify that, through Thy Revelation, the things
hidden in the Books of God have been revealed, and that whatsoever hath been
recorded by Thy Messengers in the sacred Scriptures hath been fulfilled.’”
The source of all good is trust in God, submission unto His
command, and contentment with His holy will and pleasure.
Say, every matter related to state affairs which ye raise
for discussion falls under the shadow of one of the words sent down from the
heaven of His glorious and exalted utterance.
O King! I was but a man like others, asleep upon My couch,
when lo, the breezes of the All-Glorious were wafted over Me, and taught Me the
knowledge of all that hath been. This thing is not from Me, but from One Who is
Almighty and All-Knowing. And He bade Me lift up My voice between earth and
heaven, and for this there befell Me what hath caused the tears of every man of
understanding to flow. The learning current amongst men I studied not; their
schools I entered not. Ask of the city
wherein I dwelt, that thou mayest be well assured that I am not of them who
speak falsely.
Say: He hath kindled
the lamp of utterance, and feedeth it with the oil of wisdom and understanding.
Too high is thy Lord, the All-Merciful, for aught in the universe to resist His
Faith. He revealeth what He pleaseth
through the power of His sovereign might, and protecteth it with a host of His
well-favoured angels. He is supreme over His servants and exerciseth undisputed
dominion over His creation. He, verily, is the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.
O King! I adjure thee by thy Lord, the All-Merciful, to look
upon thy servants with the glances of the eye of thy favour, and to treat them
with justice, that God may treat thee with mercy. Potent is thy Lord to do as
He pleaseth. The world, with all its abasement and glory, shall pass away, and
the kingdom will remain unto God, the Most Exalted, the All-Knowing.
…should a person arise and bring forth a myriad verses,
discourses, epistles, and prayers, none of which have been acquired through
learning, what conceivable excuse could justify those that reject them, and
deprive themselves of the potency of their grace? What answer could they give
when once their soul hath ascended and departed from its gloomy temple? Could
they seek to justify themselves by saying: “We have clung to a certain
tradition, and not having beheld the literal fulfilment thereof, we have
therefore raised such cavils against the Embodiments of divine Revelation, and
kept remote from the law of God?”