to
exploit; and then Thy lone Servant rose up to lift Thy banner high, and
carry the day for Thy Faith. For thirty years He summoned the people unto
Thee, publicly, privately, and spread Thy Teachings and Thy principles to
every corner, every country of the earth. Night and day, He fostered Thy
loved ones in the cradle of divine knowledge and wisdom, and endowed them
with the qualities of the spirit. And all this time He bore, at the hands
of that evil crew, not once but over and over again, every kind of
outrage, and calumny, and oppression. For they were forever lying in wait
for Him, were spying on Him at all times from their ambush, attacking Him
in whatever manner they chose, swelling with their insolence and pride.
And yet, through Thy strong support, Thine overwhelming confirmations,
they were the losers in the end, and their strivings came to nothing in
this world's life, and all they gained was their own ruin.

Then, O my Lord, Thou didst make Him to ascend unto Thee, to place Him at
Thy side, and by this the pillars of joy were shaken to their base, and
the hearts of the devoted were terrified, and the smoke of their sorrow
overspread the earth. At such a time that hate-filled band, seeing their
advantage in the dire event, came in from every highway and byway,
advancing on every side to topple over the throne of Thy Covenant, and
lead Thy loved ones to perdition. They have laid their very being in ruins
and they know not. How far, how very far have they gone in their
ignorance!

But the Centre of Thy complete and flawless Covenant, He Who occupies the
seat of servitude to Thee in Thine exalted and all-glorious Cause, had
written by Thy will and Thy power a Book that shall never be lost nor ever
forgotten. Within it by Thy predestinating knowledge and might, He had set
forth all that is essential and obligatory for the upraising of Thy Cause
in this world below. It is a book in which all things are explained in
minute detail, in such wise that no matters whether small or great have
been left out. And by Thy will and pleasure He designated therein, in
place of His own Person, a Branch grown out from the Tree of Thy holiness,
one fresh and tender, verdant and flourishing, arising to serve Thee,
dwelling in the groves of Thine eternity, and Thine immortal gardens. And
he, after turning to Thy gracious countenance and through Thine ancient
succour, is inviting the people unto Thee and unto Thy Covenant, sound and