of ignorance, and guide them to the light of true understanding. The
second is to ensure the peace and tranquillity of mankind, and provide all
the means by which they can be established.

The Prophets of God should be regarded as physicians whose task is to
foster the well-being of the world and its peoples, that, through the
spirit of oneness, they may heal the sickness of a divided humanity. To
none is given the right to question their words or disparage their
conduct, for they are the only ones who can claim to have understood the
patient and to have correctly diagnosed its ailments. No man, however
acute his perception, can ever hope to reach the heights which the wisdom
and understanding of the Divine Physician have attained. Little wonder,
then, if the treatment prescribed by the physician in this day should not
be found to be identical with that which he prescribed before. How could
it be otherwise when the ills affecting the sufferer necessitate at every
stage of his sickness a special remedy? In like manner, every time the
Prophets of God have illumined the world with the resplendent radiance of
the Day Star of Divine knowledge, they have invariably summoned its
peoples to embrace the light of God through such means as best befitted
the exigencies of the age in which they appeared. They were thus able to
scatter the darkness of ignorance, and to shed upon the world the glory of
their own knowledge. It is towards the inmost essence of these Prophets,
therefore, that the eye of every man of discernment must be directed,
inasmuch as their one and only purpose hath always been to guide the
erring, and give peace to the afflicted.... These are not days of
prosperity and triumph. The whole of mankind is in the grip of manifold
ills. Strive, therefore, to save its life through the wholesome medicine
which the almighty hand of the unerring Physician hath prepared.

And now concerning thy question regarding the nature of religion. Know
thou that they who are truly wise have likened the world unto the human
temple. As the body of man needeth a garment to clothe it, so the body of
mankind must needs be adorned with the mantle of justice and wisdom. Its
robe is the Revelation vouchsafed unto it by God. Whenever this robe hath
fulfilled its purpose, the Almighty will assuredly renew it. For every age
requireth a fresh measure of the light of God. Every Divine Revelation
hath been sent down in a manner that befitted the cir