man is sacred and to be respected; and that liberty thereof produces
widening of ideas, amendment of morals, improvement of conduct, disclosure
of the secrets of creation, and manifestation of the hidden verities of
the contingent world. Moreover, if interrogation of conscience, which is
one of the private possessions of the heart and the soul, take place in
this world, what further recompense remains for man in the court of divine
justice at the day of general resurrection? Convictions and ideas are
within the scope of the comprehension of the King of kings, not of kings;
and soul and conscience are between the fingers of control of the Lord of
hearts, not of [His] servants. So in the world of existence two persons
unanimous in all grades [of thought] and all beliefs cannot be found. 'The
ways unto God are as the number of the breaths of [His] creatures' is a
mysterious truth, and 'To every [people] We have appointed a [separate]
rite'(50) is one of the subtleties of the Qur'an. If this vast energy and
precious time which have been expended in persecuting other religions, and
whereby no sort of result or effect has been obtained, had been spent in
strengthening the basis of the monarchy, fortifying the imperial throne,
making prosperous the realms of the sovereign, and quickening the subjects
of the king, ere now the royal dominions would have become prosperous, the
seed-plot of the people would have been watered by the bounty of princely
justice, and the splendor of the kingdom of Persia would be evident and
apparent as the true dawn throughout the horizons of the world."

These questions and considerations, at all events, certain persons have
reported. But let us return to our original subject. The Royal Personage
was pleased to investigate the hidden secret in his own noble person.
According to the account transmitted, it became clear and obvious before
the [Royal] Presence that most of these suspicions arose from the
intrigues of persons of influence who were continually engaged in
fabricating matters behind the veil of fancy and casting suspicion upon
the community, and who, to attain advantages for themselves and preserve
their own positions, were wont to make motes appear as globes, and straws
as mountains in the mirror of their imagination. For these suspicions
there was absolutely no foundation or basis, nor had these assertions any
proof or verisimilitude. What power and ability have the helpless people,
or wha