ry! I call Thee to witness that no day passeth but that I quaff my
fill from this cup, so grievous are the misdeeds wrought by them that have
broken the Covenant, kindled discord, showed their malice, stirred
sedition in the land and dishonored Thee amidst Thy servants. Lord! Shield
Thou from these Covenant-breakers the mighty Stronghold of Thy Faith and
protect Thy secret Sanctuary from the onslaught of the ungodly. Thou art
in truth the Mighty, the Powerful, the Gracious, the Strong.

In short, O ye beloved of the Lord! The Center of Sedition, Mirza Muhammad
'Ali, in accordance with the decisive words of God and by reason of his
boundless transgression, hath grievously fallen and been cut off from the
Holy Tree. Verily, we wronged them not, but they have wronged themselves!

O God, my God! Shield Thy trusted servants from the evils of self and
passion, protect them with the watchful eye of Thy loving kindness from
all rancor, hate and envy, shelter them in the impregnable stronghold of
Thy care and, safe from the darts of doubtfulness, make them the
manifestations of Thy glorious Signs, illumine their faces with the
effulgent rays shed from the Dayspring of Thy Divine Unity, gladden their
hearts with the verses revealed from Thy Holy Kingdom, strengthen their
loins by Thy all-swaying power that cometh from Thy Realm of Glory. Thou
art the All-Bountiful, the Protector, the Almighty, the Gracious!

O ye that stand fast in the Covenant! When the hour cometh that this
wronged and broken-winged bird will have taken its flight into the
Celestial Concourse, when it will have hastened to the Realm of the Unseen
and its mortal frame will have been either lost or hidden neath the dust,
it is incumbent upon the Afnan, that are steadfast in the Covenant of God
and have branched from the Tree of Holiness; the Hands, (pillars) of the
Cause of God (the glory of the Lord rest upon them), and all the friends
and loved ones, one and all to bestir themselves and arise with heart and
soul and in one accord, to diffuse the sweet savors of God, to teach His
Cause and to promote His Faith. It behooveth them not to rest for a
moment, neither to seek repose. They must disperse themselves in every
land, pass by every clime, and travel throughout all regions. Bestirred,
without rest, and steadfast to the end, they must raise in every land the
triumphal cry "Ya Baha'u'l-Abha!" (O Thou the Glory of Glories), must
achieve renown in the world where