of thine heart that thou mayest hearken unto the speech of the Divine
Lote-Tree that hath been raised up in truth by God, the Almighty, the
Beneficent. Verily, this Tree, notwithstanding the things that befell it
by reason of thy cruelty and of the transgressions of such as are like
thee, calleth aloud and summoneth all men unto the Sadratu'l-Muntaha and
the Supreme Horizon. Blessed is the soul that hath gazed on the Most
Mighty Sign, and the ear that hath heard His most sweet Voice, and woe to
whosoever hath turned aside and done wickedly.

"O thou who hast turned away from God! Wert thou to look with the eye of
fairness upon the Divine Lote-Tree, thou wouldst perceive the marks of thy
sword on its boughs, and its branches, and its leaves, notwithstanding
that God created thee for the purpose of recognizing and of serving it.
Reflect, that haply thou mayest recognize thine iniquity and be numbered
with such as have repented. Thinkest thou that We fear thy cruelty? Know
thou and be well assured that from the first day whereon the voice of the
Most Sublime Pen was raised betwixt earth and heaven We offered up Our
souls, and Our bodies, and Our sons, and Our possessions in the path of
God, the Exalted, the Great, and We glory therein amongst all created
things and the Concourse on high. Unto this testify the things which have
befallen Us in this straight Path. By God! Our hearts were consumed, and
Our bodies were crucified, and Our blood was spilt, while Our eyes were
fixed on the horizon of the loving-kindness of their Lord, the Witness,
the All-Seeing. The more grievous their woes, the greater waxed the love
of the people of Baha. Unto their sincerity hath borne witness what the
All-Merciful hath sent down in the Qur'an. He saith: 'Wish ye, then, for
death, if ye are sincere.' Who is to be preferred, he that hath sheltered
himself behind curtains, or he that hath offered himself in the path of
God? Judge thou fairly, and be not of them that rove distraught in the
wilderness of falsehood. So carried away have they been by the living
waters of the love of the Most Merciful, that neither the arms of the
world nor the swords of the nations have deterred them from setting their
faces towards the ocean of the bounty of their Lord, the Giver, the
Generous.

"By God! Troubles have failed to unnerve Me, and the repudiation of the
divines hath been powerless to weaken Me. I have spoken, and still speak
forth before the face of me