ation into being. He is
the sovereign Truth, the Knower of things unseen. The Mother Book is
revealed and the Lord of Bounty is established upon the most blessed seat
of glory. The Dawn hath broken, yet the people understand not. The signs
have been ushered in, while He Who hath revealed them is overwhelmed with
manifest sorrow. Indeed I have endured that which hath caused the world of
existence to lament.

Say: O Yahya (Azal), produce a single verse, if thou dost possess
divinely-inspired knowledge. These words were formerly spoken by My Herald
Who at this hour proclaimeth: 'Verily, verily, I am the first to adore
Him.' Be fair, O My brother. Art thou able to express thyself when brought
face to face with the billowing ocean of Mine utterance? Canst thou
unloose thy tongue when confronted with the shrill voice of My Pen? Hast
thou any power before the revelations of Mine omnipotence? Judge thou
fairly, I adjure thee by God, and call to mind when thou didst stand in
the presence of this Wronged One and We dictated to thee the verses of
God, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting. Beware lest the source of
falsehood withhold thee from the manifest Truth.

O thou who hast fixed thy gaze upon My countenance! Say: O ye heedless
ones! By reason of a droplet ye have deprived yourselves of the ocean of
heavenly verses and for the sake of an insignificant atom ye have shut
yourselves out from the splendours of the Day-Star of Truth. Who else but
Baha hath the power to speak forth before the face of mankind? Judge ye
fairly and be not of the unjust. Through Him the oceans have surged, the
mysteries have been divulged and the trees have lifted up their voices
exclaiming: The kingdoms of earth and heaven are God's, the Revealer of
signs, the Fountainhead of clear tokens. Peruse ye the Persian Bayan
revealed by Him Who heralded this Revelation and look at it with the eye
of fairness. Verily He will guide you aright to His Path. At this moment
He proclaimeth that which His tongue had formerly uttered when He was
seated upon the throne of His most exalted Name.

Thou hast made mention of the loved ones in those regions. Praised be God,
each one of them attained the honour of being remembered by the True
One--exalted is His glory--and the names of them, one and all, flowed from
the Tongue of Grandeur in the kingdom of utterance. Great indeed is their
blessedness and happiness, inasmuch as they have drunk the choice wine of
revelatio