enter of His Faith and the
Delineator of its future institutions.

In this weighty and incomparable Document its Author discloses the
character of that "excellent and priceless heritage" bequeathed by Him to
His "heirs"; proclaims afresh the fundamental purpose of His Revelation;
enjoins the "peoples of the world" to hold fast to that which will
"elevate" their "station"; announces to them that "God hath forgiven what
is past"; stresses the sublimity of man's station; discloses the primary
aim of the Faith of God; directs the faithful to pray for the welfare of
the kings of the earth, "the manifestations of the power, and the
daysprings of the might and riches, of God"; invests them with the
rulership of the earth; singles out as His special domain the hearts of
men; forbids categorically strife and contention; commands His followers
to aid those rulers who are "adorned with the ornament of equity and
justice"; and directs, in particular, the A_gh_san (His sons) to ponder
the "mighty force and the consummate power that lieth concealed in the
world of being." He bids them, moreover, together with the Afnan (the
Bab's kindred) and His own relatives, to "turn, one and all, unto the Most
Great Branch ('Abdu'l-Baha)"; identifies Him with "the One Whom God hath
purposed," "Who hath branched from this pre-existent Root," referred to in
the Kitab-i-Aqdas; ordains the station of the "Greater Branch" (Mirza
Muhammad-'Ali) to be beneath that of the "Most Great Branch"
('Abdu'l-Baha); exhorts the believers to treat the A_gh_san with
consideration and affection; counsels them to respect His family and
relatives, as well as the kindred of the Bab; denies His sons "any right
to the property of others"; enjoins on them, on His kindred and on that of
the Bab to "fear God, to do that which is meet and seemly" and to follow
the things that will "exalt" their station; warns all men not to allow
"the means of order to be made the cause of confusion, and the instrument
of union an occasion for discord"; and concludes with an exhortation
calling upon the faithful to "serve all nations," and to strive for the
"betterment of the world."

That such a unique and sublime station should have been conferred upon
'Abdu'l-Baha did not, and indeed could not, surprise those exiled
companions who had for so long been privileged to observe His life and
conduct, nor the pilgrims who had been brought, however fleetingly, into
personal contact with Him, nor