e Land of Ta
[Tihran]--the dayspring of the signs of thy Lord--when lo, I heard the
lamentation of the pulpits and the voice of their supplication unto God,
blessed and glorified be He! They cried out and said: 'O God of the world
and Lord of the nations! Thou beholdest our state and the things which
have befallen us, by reason of the cruelty of Thy servants. Thou hast
created us and revealed us for Thy glorification and praise. Thou dost now
hear what the wayward proclaim upon us in Thy days. By Thy might! Our
souls are melted, and our limbs are trembling. Alas, alas! Would that we
had never been created and revealed by Thee!' The hearts of them that
enjoy near access to God are consumed by these words, and from them the
cries of such as are devoted to Him are raised."

"These thick clouds," He, in that same Epistle, has stated, "are the
exponents of idle fancies and vain imaginings, who are none other than the
divines of Persia." "By 'divines' in the passage cited above," He, in that
same connection, explains, "is meant those men who outwardly attire
themselves with the raiment of knowledge, but who inwardly are deprived
therefrom. In this connection We quote, from the Tablet addressed to His
Majesty the _Sh_ah, certain passages from the 'Hidden Words' which were
revealed by the Abha Pen under the name of the 'Book of Fatimih,' the
blessings of God be upon her! 'O ye that are foolish, yet have a name to
be wise! Wherefore do ye wear the guise of the shepherd, when inwardly ye
have become wolves, intent upon My flock? Ye are even as the star, which
riseth ere the dawn, and which, though it seem radiant and luminous,
leadeth the wayfarers of My city astray into the paths of perdition.' And
likewise He saith: 'O ye seemingly fair yet inwardly foul! Ye are like
clear but bitter water, which to outward seeming is but crystal pure but
of which, when tested by the Divine Assayer, not a drop is accepted. Yea,
the sunbeam falleth alike upon the dust and the mirror, yet differ they in
reflection even as doth the star from the earth: nay, immeasurable is the
difference!'"

"We have invited all men," Baha'u'llah, in another Tablet, has stated, "to
turn towards God, and have acquainted them with the Straight Path. They
[divines] rose up against Us with such cruelty as hath sapped the strength
of Islam, and yet most of the people are heedless!" "The children of Him
Who is the Friend of God [Abraham]," He moreover has written, "and