lt perish and
enter the fire, when thou shalt have neither patron nor helper from God.
We have taken compassion on thee, as a sign of Our grace, inasmuch as thou
hast related thyself unto Us. Verily We are aware of all things. We are
cognizant of thy righteous deeds, though they shall avail thee nothing;
for the whole object of such righteousness is but recognition of God, thy
Lord, and undoubted faith in the Words revealed by Him.

Address To Sulayman, One Of The Muslim Divines In The Land Of Masqat

This is an Epistle from God, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting, unto
Sulayman in the land of Masqat, to the right of the Sea. In truth there is
none other God but Him, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting... Indeed,
were all the inhabitants of heaven and earth and whatever existeth between
them to assemble together, they would utterly fail and be powerless to
produce such a book, even though We made them masters of eloquence and
learning on earth. Since thou dost adduce proofs from the Qur'an, God
shall, with proofs from that self-same Book, vindicate Himself in the
Bayan. This is none other than a decree of God; He is truly the
All-Knowing, the All-Powerful.

If thou art of them that truly believe, thou hast no other alternative
than to bear allegiance unto it. This is the Way of God for all the
inhabitants of earth and heaven and all that lieth betwixt them. No God is
there but Me, the Almighty, the Inaccessible, the Most Exalted.

From this land We then proceeded to the sacred House, and on Our return
journey We landed once again at this spot, when We perceived that thou
hadst heeded not that which We sent thee, nor art thou of them that truly
believe. Although We had created thee to behold Our countenance, and We
did actually alight in thy locality, yet thou didst fail to attain the
object of thy creation, and this despite thy worshipping God all thy life.
Wherefore vain shall be the deeds thou hast wrought, by reason of thy
being shut out as by a veil from Our presence and from Our Writings. This
is an irrevocable decree ordained by Us. Verily We are equitable in Our
judgement.

Hadst thou observed the contents of the Epistle We sent unto thee, it
would have been far more profitable to thee than worshipping thy Lord from
the beginning that hath no beginning until this day, and indeed more
meritorious than proving thyself wholly devoted in thine acts of worship.
And hadst thou attained the presence o