and referring to them as
"unclean," the stranger would be grieved and offended to such a point that
he would never accept the Faith, even if he should see, taking place
before his very eyes, the miracle of the splitting of the moon. The
results of shunning him would be this, that if there had been in his heart
some faint inclination toward God, he would repent of it, and would flee
away from the sea of faith into the wastes of oblivion and unbelief. And
upon returning home to his own country he would publish in the press
statements to the effect that such and such a nation was utterly lacking
in the qualifications of a civilized people.

If we ponder a while over the Qur'anic verses and proofs, and the
traditional accounts which have come down to us from those stars of the
heaven of Divine Unity, the Holy Imams, we shall be convinced of the fact
that if a soul is endowed with the attributes of true faith and
characterized with spiritual qualities he will become to all mankind an
emblem of the outstretched mercies of God. For the attributes of the
people of faith are justice and fair-mindedness; forbearance and
compassion and generosity; consideration for others; candor,
trustworthiness, and loyalty; love and loving-kindness; devotion and
determination and humanity. If therefore an individual is truly righteous,
he will avail himself of all those means which will attract the hearts of
men, and through the attributes of God he will draw them to the straight
path of faith and cause them to drink from the river of everlasting life.

Today we have closed our eyes to every righteous act and have sacrificed
the abiding happiness of society to our own transitory profit. We regard
fanaticism and zealotry as redounding to our credit and honor, and not
content with this, we denounce one another and plot each other's ruin, and
whenever we wish to put on a show of wisdom and learning, of virtue and
godliness, we set about mocking and reviling this one and that. "The ideas
of such a one," we say, "are wide of the mark, and so-and-so's behavior
leaves much to be desired. The religious observances of Zayd are few and
far between, and 'Amr is not firm in his faith. So-and-so's opinions smack
of Europe. Fundamentally, Blank thinks of nothing but his own name and
fame. Last night when the congregation stood up to pray, the row was out
of line, and it is not permissible to follow a different leader. No rich
man has died this month, and not