hat which Jesus had decreed, they would neither acknowledge nor follow
Him, so clear and self-evident is this matter in their sight.

24 Thou canst indeed hear the learned and the foolish amongst the people
voice the same objections in this day, saying: "The sun hath not risen
from the West, nor hath the Crier cried out betwixt earth and heaven.
Water hath not inundated certain lands; the Dajjal(17) hath not appeared;
Sufyani(18) hath not arisen; nor hath the Temple been witnessed in the
sun." I heard, with Mine own ears, one of their divines proclaim: "Should
all these signs come to pass and the long-awaited Qa'im appear, and should
He ordain, with respect to even our secondary laws, aught beyond that
which hath been revealed in the Qur'an, we would assuredly charge Him with
imposture, put Him to death, and refuse forever to acknowledge Him", and
other statements such as these deniers make. And all this, when the Day of
Resurrection hath been ushered in, and the Trumpet hath been sounded, and
all the denizens of earth and heaven have been gathered together, and the
Balance hath been appointed, and the Bridge hath been laid, and the Verses
have been sent down, and the Sun hath shone forth, and the stars have been
blotted out, and the souls have been raised to life, and the breath of the
Spirit hath blown, and the angels have been arrayed in ranks, and Paradise
hath been brought nigh, and Hell made to blaze! These things have all come
to pass, and yet to this day not a single one of these people hath
recognized them! They all lie as dead within their own shrouds, save those
who have believed and repaired unto God, who rejoice in this day in His
celestial paradise, and who tread the path of His good-pleasure.

25 Veiled as they remain within their own selves, the generality of the
people have failed to perceive the sweet accents of holiness, inhale the
fragrance of mercy, or seek guidance, as bidden by God, from those who are
the custodians of the Scriptures. He proclaimeth, and His word, verily, is
the truth: "Ask ye, therefore, of them that have the custody of the
Scriptures, if ye know it not."(19) Nay rather, they have turned aside
from them and followed instead the Samiri(20) of their own idle fancies.
Thus have they strayed far from the mercy of their Lord and failed to
attain unto His Beauty in the day of His presence. For no sooner had He
come unto them with a sign and a testimony from God than the same people
who