th divers
ailments, and the recovery of which dependeth upon the harmonizing of all
of its component elements. Gather ye around that which We have prescribed
unto you, and walk not in the ways of such as create dissension. Meditate
on the world and the state of its people. He, for Whose sake the world was
called into being, hath been imprisoned in the most desolate of cities
(Akka), by reason of that which the hands of the wayward have wrought.
From the horizon of His prison-city He summoneth mankind unto the
Dayspring of God, the Exalted, the Great. Exultest thou over the treasures
thou dost possess, knowing they shall perish? Rejoicest thou in that thou
rulest a span of earth, when the whole world, in the estimation of the
people of Baha, is worth as much as the black in the eye of a dead ant?
Abandon it unto such as have set their affections upon it, and turn thou
unto Him Who is the Desire of the world. Whither are gone the proud and
their palaces? Gaze thou into their tombs, that thou mayest profit by this
example, inasmuch as We made it a lesson unto every beholder. Were the
breezes of Revelation to seize thee, thou wouldst flee the world, and turn
unto the Kingdom, and wouldst expend all thou possessest, that thou mayest
draw nigh unto this sublime Vision.

CZAR ALEXANDER II

O CZAR of Russia! Incline thine ear unto the voice of God, the King, the
Holy, and turn thou unto Paradise, the Spot wherein abideth He Who, among
the Concourse on high, beareth the most excellent titles, and Who, in the
kingdom of creation, is called by the name of God, the Effulgent, the
All-Glorious. Beware lest thy desire deter thee from turning towards the
face of thy Lord, the Compassionate, the Most Merciful. We, verily, have
heard the thing for which thou didst supplicate thy Lord, whilst secretly
communing with Him. Wherefore, the breeze of My loving-kindness wafted
forth, and the sea of My mercy surged, and We answered thee in truth. Thy
Lord, verily, is the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. Whilst I lay chained and
fettered in the prison, one of thy ministers extended Me his aid.
Wherefore hath God ordained for thee a station which the knowledge of none
can comprehend except His knowledge. Beware lest thou barter away this
sublime station... Beware lest thy sovereignty withhold thee from Him Who
is the Supreme Sovereign. He, verily, is come with His Kingdom, and all
the atoms cry aloud: 'Lo! The Lord is come in His great majesty!