aywardness, and testified that
fear had seized Him, and that He had transgressed, and fled away. He asked
God--exalted be His glory--to forgive Him, and He was forgiven.

O _Sh_ay_kh_! Every time God the True One--exalted be His glory--revealed
Himself in the person of His Manifestation, He came unto men with the
standard of "He doeth what He willeth, and ordaineth what He pleaseth."
None hath the right to ask why or wherefore, and he that doth so, hath
indeed turned aside from God, the Lord of Lords. In the days of every
Manifestation these things appear and are evident. Likewise, they have
said that about this Wronged One, to the falsity of which they who are
nigh unto God and are devoted to Him have borne, and still bear, witness.
By the righteousness of God! This Hem of His Robe hath ever been and
remaineth unsullied, though many have, at the present time, purposed to
besmirch it with their lying and unseemly calumnies. God, however, knoweth
and they know not. He Who, through the might and power of God, hath arisen
before the face of all the kindreds of the earth, and summoned the
multitudes to the Supreme Horizon, hath been repudiated by them and they
have clung instead unto such men as have invariably withdrawn themselves
behind veils and curtains, and busied themselves about their own
protection. Moreover, many are now engaged in spreading lies and
calumnies, and have no other intention than to instill distrust into the
hearts and souls of men. As soon as someone leaveth the Great City
(Constantinople) to visit this land, they at once telegraph and proclaim
that he hath stolen money and fled to Akka. A highly accomplished, learned
and distinguished man visited, in his declining years, the Holy Land,
seeking peace and retirement, and about him they have written such things
as have caused them who are devoted to God and are nigh unto Him to sigh.

His Excellency, the late Mirza Husayn _Kh_an, Mu_sh_iru'd-Dawlih,--may God
forgive him--hath known this Wronged One, and he, no doubt, must have given
to the Authorities a circumstantial account of the arrival of this Wronged
One at the Sublime Porte, and of the things which He said and did. On the
day of Our arrival the Government Official, whose duty it was to receive
and entertain official visitors, met Us and escorted Us to the place he
had been bidden to take Us. In truth, the Government showed these wronged
ones the utmost kindness and consideration. The following da