By the spot pressed by Thy foot in the Land of ‘the Fig’! By the
place of adoration of mankind adorned by ‘the Olive’! ¹³⁰ *
[By all these I swear] that my heart cannot remain tranquil without
praising Thee, for the debtor cannot lay his head tranquilly on
the pillow.
Yet how can Na'ím utter Thy praises? [He is as one] unproved who
steps into the Oxus.
May he who obeys Thy command be secure from the deceits of the
Flesh! May he who is the captive of Thy thralls be protected
from the delusions of the time!” ¹³³

Some apology is needed for quoting and translating in full so long a poem by an author so modern, so little known Analysis of the above poem of Na'ím, and reasons for including it in this book. outside the circle of his own coreligionists, and, as he himself admits (verse 94), so comparatively unskilful in the manipulation of rhyme and metre. On the other hand the Bábí and the subsequent and consequent Bahá'í movement constitutes one of the most important and typical mani­festations of the Persian spirit in our own time; and this poem, wherein an ardent enthusiasm struggles with a some­what uncouth terminology, does on the whole faithfully represent the Bahá'í Weltanschauung. The following brief analysis may help the reader better to understand the line of thought which it pursues.