How hath Daniel given news of today! How hath the word of
Isaiah taken effect now! ⁷⁰ *
How hath the promise of all the Scriptures been fulfilled, precisely
in conformity with the Qur'án, the Pentateuch, the Books of the
Prophets and the Gospels!
Now in the Abode of Peace [Baghdád], now in Jerusalem, now in
Mount Carmel, now in Edom, and now in Sion,
The Holy and Fortunate Land hath been determined, the Blessed
and Auspicious Day hath been fixed.
'How came the Truth [God] to us? Even as our Arabian Prophet
and our guides the Imáms indicated to us. *
How according to promise did the Eternal Beauty * reveal His
beauty, from whose Blessed Beauty the whole world augured
well? ⁷⁵
How did God become apparent in the Valley of ‘the Fig’? How
did He become visible in the Mount of ‘the Olive’? *
How does He conquer without an army while all [others] are con-
quered? How does He triumph unaided while mankind are
helpless [before Him]?
Without the aid of learning He intones the sweetest verses; * with-
out the help of others He lays down the Best Law.
Why should we not see a hundred thousand souls His sacrifice?
Why should we not see a hundred thousand hearts bewitched
by Him?
By the movement of His Pen [men's] hearts and breasts are moved;
by the calmness of His Glance cometh Peace without and
within ⁸⁰

The turbans of the doctors * did not extinguish His Torch; the
hosts of the captains did not overthrow His Standard.
Behold how His Word permeates the world as the soul the body;
behold how His Influence throbs in the spirit like the blood in
the veins!
The hostility of His foes does but [attempt to] crush water in a
mortar; the enmity of His rivals is but as wind in the desert.
The duration of His command in the heart keeps company with the
Spirit; * the continuance of His authority in the world is coeval
with the ages.
What a fire hath He kindled in [men's] hearts, such that no water
can quench this furnace! ⁸⁵
His authority comprehendeth the terrestrial and the subterranean
regions; His fame hath passed beyond China, India and Japan.
With one glance He hath conquered two hundred countries and
districts; with one [stroke of His] Pen He hath taken a
hundred castles and fortresses.
How by His summons to the Faith hath He established a Church
against whom until the Resurrection no opponent shall prevail!
He sought help from none to found His Law; yea, God did not
raise up the heavens on pillars. *
When, when wilt thou admit His Grace and Mercy? How, how
canst thou deny His Knowledge and Power? ⁹⁰
Thou, who canst not order the affairs of a single household, do not
contend with Him who orders all the ages!
Thou, who knowest not what is expedient in thine own affairs, do
not obstinately strive with the Lord of the Kingdom of ‘Be and
it is’! *
Thou dost dispute with thy father about a farthing's damage;
these * surrender life and wealth for His sake, and deem them-
selves favoured.
Alas a thousandfold that I have a thousand thoughts which I cannot
harmonize with these restricted rhymes!
Words have escaped my control, yet [the tale of] my heart's pain is
incomplete; now I return again to the same refrain. ⁹⁵

In this chameleon-like * age I have a heart led astray by all kinds of
trifles.
The time preens itself like a peacock in varied hues; the sphere dis-
plays its blandishments like a chameleon in divers colours.
Sufficient is thy burning, O Sun, for my heart is roasted! sufficient
is thy turning, O Heaven, for my body is ground to powder!
I have a head, but what can it do with all this passion? I have a
heart, but what can it do with all this trickery?
Where can the soul find endurance and steadfastness except in the
Beloved? Where can the heart find patience and rest save in
the Heart's Desire? ¹⁰⁰
At one time I say to myself, ‘Perfection is a disaster’: * at another
I laugh to myself, ‘Madness is of many kinds.’
At one time my fancy rushes through the plain like an engine; at
another my desire soars in the air like a balloon.
I have broken away from the body, but life will not leave the body;
I have abandoned life, yet the heart is not tranquil.
My heart is wearied of this ruined mansion of merit and talent:
welcome the kingdoms of Love! welcome the realms of Mad-
ness! *
The hobble of understanding hath snapped on the leg of the drome-
dary of my luck: * O God, where is my Laylá, for I have
become Majnún (mad)? ¹⁰⁵
Save the Divine Will [exercised] through the channel of Omnipo-
tence, who can drag me forth from this whirlpool?
Behold, the Will of God is ‘He whom God willeth,’ * with whose will
the Will of God is conjoined;

The unique Servant of Bahá ('Abdu'l-Bahá), made such by the Will
of God, Who ‘When He willeth aught, saith “Be!” and it is’; *
A King to whom God shows us the way; a Moon who guides us
towards God;
‘God's Secret,’ the fortunate Pearl of the Ocean of Union, who is the
Pearl concealed in the shell of God's Knowledge; ¹¹⁰
Beside his excellence, excellence lacks its excellency; beside his
bounty Ma'n * is a withholder of benefits.
His enemy is a foe unto himself whom even his friends renounce; he
who obeys him is secure of himself and trusted by mankind.
In praise of the countenance of Him round whom the [Divine] Names
revolve I would sing psalms, were I granted permission by Him.
I continued to utter in praise of His Essence what God [Himself]
hath said, not the verse of ‘the poets whom the erring follow’. *
O Vice-gerent [Khalífa] of the All-merciful, O Ark of Noah, be not
grieved because the Truth hath been weakened by violation [of
the Covenant]. ¹¹⁵
In the Dispensation of Adam, Qábíl [Cain] cruelly and despitefully
shed his brother's blood without fault or sin [on his part].
In the Dispensation of Noah, when Canaan * broke his father's
Covenant, by the disgrace of a repudiated affiliation he was
drowned in the Sea of Shame.
In the Dispensation of Jacob, Joseph the faithful was imprisoned
in the bonds of servitude by the wiles of his brethren.
In the Dispensation of Moses from amongst the children of Israel
one was such as Aaron and another such as Qárún. *
In the Dispensation of the Spirit of God [Jesus Christ] from amongst

the Disciples one in cruelty became like Judas [Iscariot] and
one in sincerity like Simon [Peter]. ¹²⁰
In the Dispensation of His Holiness the Seal of the Prophets [Mu-
ḥammad] one of his people was in faithfulness Abú Dharr and
another Abú Sha'yún. *
In the Dispensation of His Holiness the Supreme [the Báb] two
persons were [entitled] Waḥíd; * one was faithful and brave,
the other a cowardly traitor.
In the Dispensation of the Most Splendid Countenance [Bahá'u-
'lláh] it must likewise needs be so, one faithful to the Covenant,
the other a vile violator thereof. *
I will not open my lips to curse, but God says, ‘Whosoever breaketh
my Covenant is accursed.’
This people wilfully shut their eyes to the Truth, for the Truth is
apparent from the False in all circumstances. ¹²⁵
I swear by Thy Face, O Exemplar of all peoples! I swear by Thy
Hair, O Leader of all the ages!
I swear by Thy Substance, to wit the Majesty of the Absolute! I
swear by Thy Truth, to wit the Reality of the Why-less! *
I swear by Thy Countenance, to wit His [God's] dawning Counten-
ance! I swear by thy Secret, to wit His Treasured Secret!
By the earth at Thy Feet, to wit the Alchemy of Desire! By the
dust on Thy Road, to wit the tutty of [our] eyes!