, deplored by all nations? She was once the noblest of peoples: will
you let contemporary history register for the ages her now degenerate
state? Will you complacently accept her present wretchedness, when she was
once the land of all mankind's desire? Must she now, for this contemptible
sloth, this failure to struggle, this utter ignorance, be accounted the
most backward of nations?

Were not the people of Persia, in days long gone, the head and front of
intellect and wisdom? Did they not, by God's grace, shine out like the
daystar from the horizons of Divine knowledge? How is it that we are
satisfied today with this miserable condition, are engrossed in our
licentious passions, have blinded ourselves to supreme happiness, to that
which is pleasing in God's sight, and have all become absorbed in our
selfish concerns and the search for ignoble, personal advantage?

This fairest of lands was once a lamp, streaming with the rays of Divine
knowledge, of science and art, of nobility and high achievement, of wisdom
and valor. Today, because of the idleness and lethargy of her people,
their torpor, their undisciplined way of life, their lack of pride, lack
of ambition--her bright fortune has been totally eclipsed, her light has
turned to darkness. "The seven heavens and the seven earths weep over the
mighty when he is brought low."

It should not be imagined that the people of Persia are inherently
deficient in intelligence, or that for essential perceptiveness and
understanding, inborn sagacity, intuition and wisdom, or innate capacity,
they are inferior to others. God forbid! On the contrary, they have always
excelled all other peoples in endowments conferred by birth. Persia
herself, moreover, from the standpoint of her temperate climate and
natural beauties, her geographical advantages and her rich soil, is
blessed to a supreme degree. What she urgently requires, however, is deep
reflection, resolute action, training, inspiration and encouragement. Her
people must make a massive effort, and their pride must be aroused.

Today throughout the five continents of the globe it is Europe and most
sections of America that are renowned for law and order, government and
commerce, art and industry, science, philosophy and education. Yet in
ancient times these were the most savage of the world's peoples, the most
ignorant and brutish. They were even stigmatized as barbarians--that is,
utterly rude and uncivilized. Further, from th