hat hath no end, its wondrous
attributes, the love that My heart cherisheth for this hallowed and
everlasting city would never be exhausted. I shall, however, bring My
theme to a close, since time is short and the inquirer impatient, and
since these secrets are not to be openly divulged save by the leave of
God, the Almighty, the All-Compelling.

108 Erelong shall the faithful behold, in the day of the latter
Resurrection, Him Whom God shall make manifest descending with this city
from the heaven of the Unseen, together with a company of His exalted and
favoured angels. Great, therefore, is the blessedness of him that
attaineth unto His presence and beholdeth His countenance. We all, verily,
cherish this hope, and exclaim: "Praise be unto Him, for verily He is the
Eternal Truth, and unto Him do we return!"

109 Know, moreover, that should one who hath attained unto these stations
and embarked upon these journeys fall prey to pride and vainglory, he
would at that very moment come to naught and return to the first step
without realizing it. Indeed, they that seek and yearn after Him in these
journeys are known by this sign, that they humbly defer to those who have
believed in God and in His verses, that they are lowly before those who
have drawn nigh unto Him and unto the Manifestations of His Beauty, and
that they bow in submission to them that are firmly established upon the
lofty heights of the Cause of God and before its majesty.

110 For were they to reach the ultimate object of their quest for God and
their attainment unto Him, they would have but reached that abode which
hath been raised up within their own hearts. How then could they ever hope
to ascend unto such realms as have not been ordained for them or created
for their station? Nay, though they journey from everlasting to
everlasting, they will never attain unto Him Who is the midmost Heart of
existence and the Axis of the entire creation, He on Whose right hand flow
the seas of grandeur, on Whose left stream the rivers of might, and Whose
court none can ever hope to reach, how much less His very abode! For He
dwelleth in the ark of fire, speedeth, in the sphere of fire, through the
ocean of fire, and moveth within the atmosphere of fire. How can he who
hath been fashioned of contrary elements ever enter or even approach this
fire? Were he to do so, he would be instantly consumed.

111 Know, moreover, that should the cord of assistance binding this mighty