ted to the rank of the metropolis
of both the Roman Empire and of Christendom, and subsequently revered as
the seat of the Caliphs, was relegated to the position of a provincial
city and stripped of all its pomp and glory, its soaring and slender
minarets standing sentinel at the grave of so much vanished splendor and
power.

"O Spot that art situate on the shores of the two seas!" Baha'u'llah has
thus apostrophized the Imperial City, in terms that call to mind the
prophetic words addressed by Jesus Christ to Jerusalem, "The throne of
tyranny hath, verily, been stablished upon thee, and the flame of hatred
hath been kindled within thy bosom, in such wise that the Concourse on
high, and they who circle around the Exalted Throne, have wailed and
lamented. We behold in thee the foolish ruling over the wise, and darkness
vaunting itself against the light. Thou art indeed filled with manifest
pride. Hath thine outward splendor made thee vainglorious? By Him Who is
the Lord of mankind! It shall soon perish, and thy daughters, and thy
widows, and all the kindreds that dwell within thee shall lament. Thus
informeth thee the All-Knowing, the All-Wise."

Such was the fate that overtook both _Sh_i'ih and Sunni Islam, in the two
countries where they had planted their banners and reared their most
powerful and far-famed institutions. Such was their fate in these two
countries, in one of which Baha'u'llah died an exile, and in the other the
Bab suffered a martyr's death. Such was the fate of the self-styled Vicar
of the Prophet of God, and of the favorite ministers of the still awaited
Imam. "The people of the Qur'an," Baha'u'llah testifies, "have risen
against Us, and tormented Us with such a torment that the Holy Spirit
lamented, and the thunder roared out, and the clouds wept over Us....
Muhammad, the Apostle of God, bewaileth, in the all-highest Paradise,
their acts." "A day shall be witnessed by My people," their own traditions
condemn them, "whereon there will have remained of Islam naught but a
name, and of the Qur'an naught but a mere appearance. The doctors of that
age shall be the most evil the world hath ever seen. Mischief hath
proceeded from them, and on them it will recoil." And again: "Most of His
enemies will be the divines. His bidding they will not obey, but will
protest saying: 'This is contrary to that which hath been handed down unto
us by the Imams of the Faith.'" And still again: "At that hour His
malediction