f God! To pierce
such veils is the mightiest of all acts, and to rend them asunder the most
meritorious of all deeds!" "On their tongue," He moreover has written,
"the mention of God hath become an empty name; in their midst His holy
Word a dead letter. Such is the sway of their desires, that the lamp of
conscience and reason hath been quenched in their hearts.... No two are
found to agree on one and the same law, for they seek no God but their own
desire, and tread no path but the path of error. In leadership they have
recognized the ultimate object of their endeavor, and account pride and
haughtiness as the highest attainments of their hearts' desire. They have
placed their sordid machinations above the Divine decree, have renounced
resignation unto the will of God, busied themselves with selfish
calculation, and walked in the way of the hypocrite. With all their power
and strength they strive to secure themselves in their petty pursuits,
fearful lest the least discredit undermine their authority or blemish the
display of their magnificence."

"The source and origin of tyranny," Baha'u'llah in another Tablet has
affirmed, "have been the divines. Through the sentences pronounced by
these haughty and wayward souls the rulers of the earth have wrought that
which ye have heard.... The reins of the heedless masses have been, and
are, in the hands of the exponents of idle fancies and vain imaginings.
These decree what they please. God, verily, is clear of them, and We, too,
are clear of them, as are such as have testified unto that which the Pen
of the Most High hath spoken in this glorious Station."

"The leaders of men," He has likewise asserted, "have, from time
immemorial, prevented the people from turning unto the Most Great Ocean.
The Friend of God [Abraham] was cast into fire through the sentence
pronounced by the divines of the age, and lies and calumnies were imputed
to Him Who discoursed with God [Moses]. Reflect upon the One Who was the
Spirit of God [Jesus]. Though He showed forth the utmost compassion and
tenderness, yet they rose up against that Essence of Being and Lord of the
seen and unseen, in such a manner that He could find no refuge wherein to
rest. Each day He wandered unto a new place, and sought a new shelter.
Consider the Seal of the Prophets [Muhammad]--may the souls of all else
except Him be His sacrifice! How grievous the things which befell that
Lord of all being at the hands of the priests of i