O thou who considerest thyself the greatest of all men ... erelong thy name shall be forgotten and thou shalt find thyself in great loss. According to thy opinion, this Quickener of the world and its Peacemaker is culpable and seditious. What crime have the women, children and suffering babes committed to merit thy wrath, oppression and hate? You have persecuted a number of souls who have shown no opposition in your country, and who have instigated no revolution against the government; nay, rather, by day and by night they have been peacefully engaged in the mentioning of God. You have pillaged their properties, and through your tyrannical acts, all that they had was taken from them.... Before God, a handful of dust is greater than your kingdom, glory, sovereignty and dominion, and should He desire, He would scatter you as the sand of the desert. Erelong His wrath shall overtake you, revolutions shall appear in your midst and your countries will be divided! Then you will weep and lament and nowhere will you find help and protection. ... Be ye watchful, for the wrath of God is prepared, and erelong you shall behold that which is written by the Pen of Command. And to ‘Alí Pá_sh_á He wrote:— Thou hast, O Chief, committed that which hath made Muḥammad, the Apostle of God, groan in the Most Exalted Paradise. The world hath made thee proud, so much so that thou hast turned away from the Face through Whose brightness the Concourse on high hath been illumined. Soon thou shalt find thyself in evident loss. Thou didst unite with the Ruler of Persia for doing Me harm, although I had come to you from the Dawning-place of the Almighty, the Great, with a Cause which refreshed the eyes of the favored ones of God.... Didst thou think that thou could put out the fire which God hath enkindled in the Universe? No! I declare by His True Soul, wert thou of those who understand. More than that, by what thou hast done its blaze and flame have been increased. Soon it will encompass the world and its inhabitants.... The day is approaching when the Land of Mystery (Adrianople) and what is beside it shall be changed, and shall pass out of the hands of the King, and commotions shall appear, and the voice of lamentation shall be raised, and the evidences of mischief shall be revealed on all sides, and confusion shall spread by reason of that which hath befallen these captives [Bahá’u’lláh and His companions] at the hands of the hosts of oppression. The course of things shall be altered, and conditions shall wax so grievous, that the very sand on the desolate hills will moan, and the trees on the mountain will weep, and blood will flow out of all things. Then wilt thou behold the people in sore distress....