d deride Him, for they had read in their Books and heard from their
divines the terms "life" and "death", and understood them as this
elemental life and physical death, and hence when they found not that
which their vain imaginings and their false and wicked minds had
conceived, they hoisted the banners of discord and the standards of
sedition and kindled the flame of war. God, however, quenched it through
the power of His might, as thou seest again in this day with these
infidels and evil-doers.

63 At this hour, when the sweet savours of attraction have wafted over Me
from the everlasting city, when transports of yearning have seized Me from
the land of splendours at the dawning of the Daystar of the worlds above
the horizon of 'Iraq, and the sweet melodies of Hijaz have brought to Mine
ears the mysteries of separation, I have purposed to relate unto thine
eminence a portion of that which the Mystic Dove hath warbled in the
midmost heart of Paradise as to the true meaning of life and death, though
the task be impossible. For were I to interpret these words for thee as it
hath been inscribed in the Guarded Tablets, all the books and pages of the
world could not contain it, nor could the souls of men bear its weight. I
shall nonetheless mention that which beseemeth this day and age, that it
might serve as a guidance unto whosoever desireth to gain admittance into
the retreats of glory in the realms above, to hearken unto the melodies of
the spirit intoned by this divine and mystic bird, and to be numbered with
those who have severed themselves from all save God and who in this day
rejoice in the presence of their Lord.

64 Know then that "life" hath a twofold meaning. The first pertaineth to
the appearance of man in an elemental body, and is as manifest to thine
eminence and to others as the midday sun. This life cometh to an end with
physical death, which is a God-ordained and inescapable reality. That
life, however, which is mentioned in the Books of the Prophets and the
Chosen Ones of God is the life of knowledge; that is to say, the servant's
recognition of the sign of the splendours wherewith He Who is the Source
of all splendour hath Himself invested him, and his certitude of attaining
unto the presence of God through the Manifestations of His Cause. This is
that blessed and everlasting life that perisheth not: whosoever is
quickened thereby shall never die, but will endure as long as His Lord and
Creator will end