ies, protected and will continue to protect it from the penalty of
its wickedness. Ponder this in thine heart, that the truth may be revealed
unto thee, and be thou steadfast in His path.

XXXIII: IT HATH BEEN DECREED BY US THAT THE WORD...

It hath been decreed by Us that the Word of God and all the potentialities
thereof shall be manifested unto men in strict conformity with such
conditions as have been foreordained by Him Who is the All-Knowing, the
All-Wise. We have, moreover, ordained that its veil of concealment be none
other except its own Self. Such indeed is Our Power to achieve Our
Purpose. Should the Word be allowed to release suddenly all the energies
latent within it, no man could sustain the weight of so mighty a
Revelation. Nay, all that is in heaven and on earth would flee in
consternation before it.

Consider that which hath been sent down unto Muhammad, the Apostle of God.
The measure of the Revelation of which He was the bearer had been clearly
foreordained by Him Who is the Almighty, the All-Powerful. They that heard
Him, however, could apprehend His purpose only to the extent of their
station and spiritual capacity. He, in like manner, uncovered the Face of
Wisdom in proportion to their ability to sustain the burden of His
Message. No sooner had mankind attained the stage of maturity, than the
Word revealed to men's eyes the latent energies with which it had been
endowed--energies which manifested themselves in the plenitude of their
glory when the Ancient Beauty appeared, in the year sixty, in the person
of 'Ali-Muhammad, the Bab.

XXXIV: ALL PRAISE AND GLORY BE TO GOD WHO,...

All praise and glory be to God Who, through the power of His might, hath
delivered His creation from the nakedness of non-existence, and clothed it
with the mantle of life. From among all created things He hath singled out
for His special favor the pure, the gem-like reality of man, and invested
it with a unique capacity of knowing Him and of reflecting the greatness
of His glory. This twofold distinction conferred upon him hath cleansed
away from his heart the rust of every vain desire, and made him worthy of
the vesture with which his Creator hath deigned to clothe him. It hath
served to rescue his soul from the wretchedness of ignorance.

This robe with which the body and soul of man hath been adorned is the
very foundation of his well-being and development. Oh, how blessed the day
when, aided by