etness of its fragrance. Ye continue
roving with delight in the valley of your corrupt desires. Ye, and all ye
possess, shall pass away. Ye shall, most certainly, return to God, and
shall be called to account for your doings in the presence of Him Who
shall gather together the entire creation...

Twenty years have passed, O kings, during which We have, each day, tasted
the agony of a fresh tribulation. No one of them that were before Us hath
endured the things We have endured. Would that ye could perceive it! They
that rose up against Us have put us to death, have shed our blood, have
plundered our property, and violated our honor. Though aware of most of
our afflictions, ye, nevertheless, have failed to stay the hand of the
aggressor. For is it not your clear duty to restrain the tyranny of the
oppressor, and to deal equitably with your subjects, that your high sense
of justice may be fully demonstrated to all mankind?

God hath committed into your hands the reins of the government of the
people, that ye may rule with justice over them, safeguard the rights of
the down-trodden, and punish the wrong-doers. If ye neglect the duty
prescribed unto you by God in His Book, your names shall be numbered with
those of the unjust in His sight. Grievous, indeed, will be your error.
Cleave ye to that which your imaginations have devised, and cast behind
your backs the commandments of God, the Most Exalted, the Inaccessible,
the All-Compelling, the Almighty? Cast away the things ye possess, and
cling to that which God hath bidden you observe. Seek ye His grace, for he
that seeketh it treadeth His straight Path.

Consider the state in which We are, and behold ye the ills and troubles
that have tried Us. Neglect Us not, though it be for a moment, and judge
ye between Us and Our enemies with equity. This will, surely, be a
manifest advantage unto you. Thus do We relate to you Our tale, and
recount the things that have befallen Us, that ye might take off Our ills
and ease Our burden. Let him who will, relieve Us from Our trouble; and as
to him that willeth not, My Lord is assuredly the best of helpers.

Warn and acquaint the people, O Servant, with the things We have sent down
unto Thee, and let the fear of no one dismay Thee, and be Thou not of them
that waver. The day is approaching when God will have exalted His Cause
and magnified His testimony in the eyes of all who are in the heavens and
all who are on the earth. Place, in all