the path of the Well-Beloved. I would,
moreover, have bestowed upon him a share of such worldly goods as God had
allowed me to possess, even though he who perpetrated this act would have
provoked the wrath of the Almighty, incurred His malediction, and deserved
to be tormented throughout the eternity of God, the All-Possessing, the
Equitable, the All-Wise.

XLIX: KNOW VERILY THAT WHENEVER THIS YOUTH...

Know verily that whenever this Youth turneth His eyes towards His own
self, he findeth it the most insignificant of all creation. When He
contemplates, however, the bright effulgences He hath been empowered to
manifest, lo, that self is transfigured before Him into a sovereign
Potency permeating the essence of all things visible and invisible. Glory
be to Him Who, through the power of truth, hath sent down the
Manifestation of His own Self and entrusted Him with His message unto all
mankind.

L: SHAKE OFF, O HEEDLESS ONES, THE SLUMBER OF...

Shake off, O heedless ones, the slumber of negligence, that ye may behold
the radiance which His glory hath spread through the world. How foolish
are those who murmur against the premature birth of His light. O ye who
are inly blind! Whether too soon or too late, the evidences of His
effulgent glory are now actually manifest. It behoveth you to ascertain
whether or not such a light hath appeared. It is neither within your power
nor mine to set the time at which it should be made manifest. God's
inscrutable Wisdom hath fixed its hour beforehand. Be content, O people,
with that which God hath desired for you and predestined unto you.... O my
ill-wishers! The Day Star of eternal Guidance beareth me witness: Had it
been in my power, I would have, under no circumstances, consented to
distinguish myself amongst men, for the Name I bear utterly disdaineth to
associate itself with this generation whose tongues are sullied and whose
hearts are false. And whenever I chose to hold my peace and be still, lo,
the voice of the Holy Ghost, standing on my right hand, aroused me, and
the Supreme Spirit appeared before my face, and Gabriel overshadowed me,
and the Spirit of Glory stirred within my bosom, bidding me arise and
break my silence. If your hearing be purged and your ears be attentive, ye
will assuredly perceive that every limb of my body, nay all the atoms of
my being, proclaim and bear witness to this call: "God, besides Whom is
none other God, and He, Whose beauty