of His love!" and the Tongue of Grandeur
will hail thee, "Great is the blessedness that awaiteth thee, O My
servant, for thou hast attained unto that which none hath attained, except
such as have detached themselves from all that is in the heavens and all
that is on the earth, and who are the emblems of true detachment."

LXXVII: AND NOW, CONCERNING THY QUESTION REGARDING...

And now, concerning thy question regarding the creation of man. Know thou
that all men have been created in the nature made by God, the Guardian,
the Self-Subsisting. Unto each one hath been prescribed a pre-ordained
measure, as decreed in God's mighty and guarded Tablets. All that which ye
potentially possess can, however, be manifested only as a result of your
own volition. Your own acts testify to this truth. Consider, for instance,
that which hath been forbidden, in the Bayan, unto men. God hath in that
Book, and by His behest, decreed as lawful whatsoever He hath pleased to
decree, and hath, through the power of His sovereign might, forbidden
whatsoever He elected to forbid. To this testifieth the text of that Book.
Will ye not bear witness? Men, however, have wittingly broken His law. Is
such a behavior to be attributed to God, or to their proper selves? Be
fair in your judgment. Every good thing is of God, and every evil thing is
from yourselves. Will ye not comprehend? This same truth hath been
revealed in all the Scriptures, if ye be of them that understand. Every
act ye meditate is as clear to Him as is that act when already
accomplished. There is none other God besides Him. His is all creation and
its empire. All stands revealed before Him; all is recorded in His holy
and hidden Tablets. This fore-knowledge of God, however, should not be
regarded as having caused the actions of men, just as your own previous
knowledge that a certain event is to occur, or your desire that it should
happen, is not and can never be the reason for its occurrence.

LXXVIII: AS TO THY QUESTION CONCERNING THE ORIGIN...

As to thy question concerning the origin of creation. Know assuredly that
God's creation hath existed from eternity, and will continue to exist
forever. Its beginning hath had no beginning, and its end knoweth no end.
His name, the Creator, presupposeth a creation, even as His title, the
Lord of Men, must involve the existence of a servant.

As to those sayings, attributed to the Prophets of old, such as, "In the
beginnin