ations of the past, and particularly
those of Abraham, Christ, and Muhammad, had produced their most important
effects on the development of civilization during the course of their
westward expansion, Baha'u'llah predicted that the same thing would occur
in this new age, but on a vastly larger scale: "In the East the Light of
His Revelation hath broken; in the West the signs of His dominion have
appeared. Ponder this in your hearts, O people..."(71)

It is then perhaps not surprising that Baha'u'llah chose this moment to
make public the mission which had been slowly enlisting the allegiance of
the followers of the Bab throughout the Middle East. His announcement took
the form of a series of statements which are among the most remarkable
documents in religious history. In them, the Manifestation of God
addresses the "Kings and Rulers of the world," announcing to them the
dawning of the Day of God, alluding to the as yet inconceivable changes
which were gathering momentum throughout the world, and calling on them as
the trustees of God and of their fellow human beings to arise and serve
the process of the unification of the human race. Because of the
veneration in which they were held by the mass of their subjects, and
because of the absolute nature of the rule which most of them exercised,
it lay in their power, He said, to assist in bringing about what He called
the "Most Great Peace," a world order characterized by unity and animated
by Divine justice.

Only with the greatest difficulty can the modern reader envision the moral
and intellectual world in which these monarchs of a century ago lived.
From their biographies and private correspondence, it is apparent that,
with few exceptions, they were personally devout, taking a leading part in
the spiritual life of their respective nations, often as the heads of the
state religions, and convinced of the unerring truths of the Bible or the
Qur'an. The power which most of them wielded they attributed directly to
the divine authority of passages in these same Scriptures, an authority
about which they were vigorously articulate. They were the anointed of
God. Prophecies of "the Latter Days" and "the Kingdom of God" were not for
them myth or allegory, but certainties upon which all moral order rested
and in which they would themselves be called on by God to give an account
of their stewardship.

The letters of Baha'u'llah address themselves to this mental world:

O Kings of