tion has been
scattered to the four winds. "Humiliation and misery were stamped upon
them."(52) These two most great afflictions, brought on by Nebuchadnezzar
and Titus, are referred to in the glorious Qur'an: "And We solemnly
declared to the children of Israel in the Book, 'Twice surely will ye
commit evil in the earth, and with great loftiness of pride will ye surely
be uplifted.' And when the menace for the first of the two came to be
executed, We sent against you Our servants endowed with terrible prowess;
and they searched the inmost part of your abodes, and the menace was
accomplished... And when the punishment threatened for your latter
transgression came to be inflicted, then We sent an enemy to sadden your
faces, and to enter the Temple as they entered it at first, and to destroy
with utter destruction that which they had conquered."(53)

Our purpose is to show how true religion promotes the civilization and
honor, the prosperity and prestige, the learning and advancement of a
people once abject, enslaved and ignorant, and how, when it falls into the
hands of religious leaders who are foolish and fanatical, it is diverted
to the wrong ends, until this greatest of splendors turns into blackest
night.

When for the second time the unmistakable signs of Israel's
disintegration, abasement, subjection and annihilation had become
apparent, then the sweet and holy breathings of the Spirit of God (Jesus)
were shed across Jordan and the land of Galilee; the cloud of Divine pity
overspread those skies, and rained down the copious waters of the spirit,
and after those swelling showers that came from the most great Sea, the
Holy Land put forth its perfume and blossomed with the knowledge of God.
Then the solemn Gospel song rose up till it rang in the ears of those who
dwell in the chambers of heaven, and at the touch of Jesus' breath the
unmindful dead that lay in the graves of their ignorance lifted up their
heads to receive eternal life. For the space of three years, that Luminary
of perfections walked about the fields of Palestine and in the
neighborhood of Jerusalem, leading all men into the dawn

[PAGES 81-100]

of redemption, teaching them how to acquire spiritual qualities and
attributes well-pleasing to God. Had the people of Israel believed in that
beauteous Countenance, they would have girded themselves to serve and obey
Him heart and soul, and through the quickening fragrance of His Spirit
they wou