it before Me, and
before Him He Who was the Spirit of God, and yet earlier He Who conversed
with God. And if My sin be this, that I have exalted the Word of God and
revealed His Cause, then indeed am I the greatest of sinners! Such a sin I
will not barter for the kingdoms of earth and heaven.

141 Upon Our arrival at this Prison, We purposed to transmit to the kings
the messages of their Lord, the Mighty, the All-Praised. Though We have
transmitted to them, in several Tablets, that which We were commanded, yet
We do it once again as a token of God's grace. Perchance they may
recognize the Lord, Who hath come down in the clouds with manifest
sovereignty.

142 As My tribulations multiplied, so did My love for God and for His
Cause increase, in such wise that all that befell Me from the hosts of the
wayward was powerless to deter Me from My purpose. Should they hide Me
away in the depths of the earth, yet would they find Me riding aloft on
the clouds, and calling out unto God, the Lord of strength and of might. I
have offered Myself up in the way of God, and I yearn after tribulations
in My love for Him, and for the sake of His good pleasure. Unto this bear
witness the woes which now afflict Me, the like of which no other man hath
suffered. Every single hair of Mine head calleth out that which the
Burning Bush uttered on Sinai, and each vein of My body invoketh God and
saith: "O would I had been severed in Thy path, so that the world might be
quickened, and all its peoples be united!" Thus hath it been decreed by
Him Who is the All-Knowing, the All-Informed.

143 Know of a truth that your subjects are God's trust amongst you. Watch
ye, therefore, over them as ye watch over your own selves. Beware that ye
allow not wolves to become the shepherds of the fold, or pride and conceit
to deter you from turning unto the poor and the desolate. Wert thou to
quaff the mystic Wine of everlasting life from the chalice of the words of
thy Lord, the All-Merciful, thou wouldst be enabled to forsake all that
thou dost possess and to proclaim My Name before all mankind. Cleanse then
thy soul with the waters of detachment. Verily, this is the Remembrance
that hath shone forth above the horizon of creation, which shall purge thy
soul from the dross of the world. Abandon thy palaces to the people of the
graves, and thine empire to whosoever desireth it, and turn, then, unto
the Kingdom. This, verily, is what God hath chosen for thee, wert tho