Canst thou discover any one but Me, O Pen, in this Day? What hath become of the creation and the manifestations thereof? What of the names and their kingdom? Whither are gone all created things, whether seen or unseen? What of the hidden secrets of the universe and its revelations? Lo, the entire creation hath passed away! Nothing remaineth except My Face, the Ever-Abiding, the Resplendent, the All-Glorious. This is the Day whereon naught can be seen except the splendors of the Light that shineth from the face of Thy Lord, the Gracious, the Most Bountiful. Verily, We have caused every soul to expire by virtue of Our irresistible and all-subduing sovereignty. We have, then, called into being a new creation, as a token of Our grace unto men. I am, verily, the All-Bountiful, the Ancient of Days.(162) FOOTNOTES 1 Shoghi Effendi, _Advent of Divine Justice_ (Wilmette: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1990), p. 81. 2 Shoghi Effendi, _The Promised Day is Come_ (Wilmette: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1996), p. 1. 3 Eric Hobsbawm, _Age of Extremes: The Short Twentieth Century, 1914-1991_ (London: Abacus, 1995), p. 584. 4 Leopold II, King of the Belgians, operated the colony as a private preserve for some three decades (1877-1908). The atrocities carried out under his misrule aroused international protest, and in 1908 he was compelled to surrender the territory to the administration of the Belgian government. 5 The processes that brought about these changes are reviewed in some detail by A. N. Wilson, et al., _God’s Funeral_ (London: John Murray, 1999). In 1872, a book published by Winwood Reade under the title _The Martyrdom of Man_ (London: Pemberton Publishing, 1968), which became something of a secular “Bible” in the early decades of the twentieth century, expressed the confidence that “finally, men will master the forces of Nature. They will become themselves architects of systems, manufacturers of worlds. Man will then be perfect; he will then be a creator; he will therefore be what the vulgar worship as a god.” Cited by Anne Glyn-Jones, _Holding up a Mirror: How Civilizations Decline_ (London: Century, 1996), pp. 371-372. _ 6 Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá_ (Wilmette: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1997), p. 35, (section 15.6). 7 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, _The Secret of Divine Civilization_ (Wilmette: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1990), p. 2. _ 8 Makátíb-i-‘Abdu’l-Bahá _(Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá), vol. 4 (Tehran: Iran National Publishing Trust, 1965), pp. 132-134, provisional translation. _ 9 ibid. _ _ 10 ibid. _ 11 The school was closed in 1934, by order of Reza Shah, because it had observed Bahá’í Holy Days as religious holidays. The closing of all other Bahá’í schools in Iran followed.