the Christian era till the close of the fifteenth, Europe was in every
respect and to an extreme degree, barbaric and dark. The principal cause
of this was that the monks, referred to by European peoples as spiritual
and religious leaders, had given up the abiding glory that comes from
obedience to the sacred commandments and heavenly teachings of the Gospel,
and had joined forces with the presumptuous and tyrannical rulers of the
temporal governments of those times. They had turned their eyes away from
everlasting glory, and were devoting all their efforts to the furtherance
of their mutual worldly interests and passing and perishable advantages.
Ultimately things reached a point where the masses were hopeless prisoners
in the hands of these two groups, and all this brought down in ruins the
whole structure of the religion, culture, welfare and civilization of the
peoples of Europe.

When the unworthy acts and thoughts and the discreditable purposes of the
leaders had stilled the sweet savors of the Spirit of God (Jesus) and they
ceased to stream across the world, and the darkness of ignorance and
bigotry and of actions that were displeasing to God, encompassed the
earth, then the dawn of hope shone out and the Divine spring drew on; a
cloud of mercy overspread the world, and out of the regions of grace the
fecund winds began to blow. In the sign of Muhammad, the Sun of Truth rose
over Ya_th_rib (Medina) and the Hijaz and cast across the universe the
lights of eternal glory. Then the earth of human potentialities was
transformed, and the words "The earth shall shine with the light of her
Lord,"(57) were fulfilled. The old world turned new again, and its dead
body rose into abundant life. Then tyranny and ignorance were overthrown,
and towering palaces of knowledge and justice were reared in their place.
A sea of enlightenment thundered, and science cast down its rays. The
savage peoples of the Hijaz, before that Flame of supreme Prophethood was
lit in the lamp of Mecca, were the most brutish and benighted of all the
peoples of the earth. In all the histories, their depraved and vicious
practices, their ferocity and their constant feuds, are a matter of
record. In those days the civilized peoples of the world did not even
consider the Arab tribes of Mecca and Medina as human beings. And yet,
after the Light of the World rose over them, they were--because of the
education bestowed on them by that Mine of perfections, tha