those who in every subsequent Dispensation preceded the rest of
mankind in embracing the Faith of God, who quaffed the clear waters of
knowledge at the hand of the divine Beauty, and attained the loftiest
summits of faith and certitude, these can be regarded, in name, in
reality, in deeds, in words, and in rank, as the "return" of those who in
a former Dispensation had achieved similar distinctions. For whatsoever
the people of a former Dispensation have manifested, the same hath been
shown by the people of this latter generation. Consider the rose: whether
it blossometh in the East or in the West, it is none the less a rose. For
what mattereth in this respect is not the outward shape and form of the
rose, but rather the smell and fragrance which it doth impart.

Purge thy sight, therefore, from all earthly limitations, that thou mayest
behold them all as the bearers of one Name, the exponents of one Cause,
the manifestations of one Self, and the revealers of one Truth, and that
thou mayest apprehend the mystic "return" of the Words of God as unfolded
by these utterances. Reflect for a while upon the behaviour of the
companions of the Muhammadan Dispensation. Consider how, through the
reviving breath of Muhammad, they were cleansed from the defilements of
earthly vanities, were delivered from selfish desires, and were detached
from all else but Him. Behold how they preceded all the peoples of the
earth in attaining unto His holy Presence--the Presence of God Himself--how
they renounced the world and all that is therein, and sacrificed freely
and joyously their lives at the feet of that Manifestation of the
All-Glorious. And now, observe the "return" of the self-same
determination, the self-same constancy and renunciation, manifested by the
companions of the Point of the Bayan.(118) Thou hast witnessed how these
companions have, through the wonders of the grace of the Lord of Lords,
hoisted the standards of sublime renunciation upon the inaccessible
heights of glory. These Lights have proceeded from but one Source, and
these fruits are the fruits of one Tree. Thou canst discern neither
difference nor distinction among them. All this is by the grace of God! On
whom He will, He bestoweth His grace. Please God, that we avoid the land
of denial, and advance into the ocean of acceptance, so that we may
perceive, with an eye purged from all conflicting elements, the worlds of
unity and diversity, of variation and oneness, of lim