ened, obstructing the vision and causing the light of
understanding to be obscured. Moreover We observe that the fresh calumnies
which are now rife are far more malicious than those of former days.

O people of the Bayan! Fear ye the merciful Lord. Consider the people of
former times. What were their deeds and what fruit did they gather? Every
thing they uttered was but imposture and whatever they wrought hath proved
worthless, except for those whom God hath graciously protected through His
power.

I swear by the life of Him Who is the Desire of the world! Were a man to
ponder in his heart he would, free of all attachment to the world, hasten
unto the Most Great Light and would purge and purify himself from the dust
of vain imaginings and the smoke of idle fancy. What could have prompted
the people of the past to err and by whom were they misled? They still
reject the truth and have turned towards their own selfish desires. This
Wronged One calleth aloud for the sake of God. Whosoever wisheth, let him
turn thereunto; whosoever wisheth, let him turn away. Verily God can well
afford to dispense with all things, whether of the past or of the future.

O people of the Bayan! It is men like unto Hadi Dawlat-Abadi(6) who, with
turban and staff,(7) have been the source of opposition and hindrance and
have so grievously burdened the people with superstitions that even at the
present time they still expect the appearance of a fictitious person from
a fictitious place. Be ye warned, O men of understanding.

O Hadi! Give ear unto the Voice of this trustworthy Counsellor: direct thy
steps from the left unto the right, that is turn away from idle fancy unto
certitude. Lead not the people into error. The divine Luminary shineth,
His Cause is manifest and His signs are all-embracing. Set thy face
towards God, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting. Renounce thy
leadership for the sake of God and leave the people unto themselves. Thou
art ignorant of the essential truth, thou art not acquainted therewith.

O Hadi! Be thou of one face in the path of God. When in company with the
infidels, thou art an infidel and with the pious, thou art pious. Reflect
thou upon such souls as offered up their lives and their substance in that
land, that haply thou mayest be admonished and roused from slumber.
Consider: who is to be preferred, he who preserveth his body, his life and
his possessions or the one who surrendereth his all in the path of God?