76 As to the words “brass-like were His feet”, by this is meant His
constancy upon hearing the call of God that commandeth Him: “Be thou
steadfast as thou hast been bidden.”(52) He shall so persevere in the
Cause of God, and evince such firmness in the path of His might, that even
if all the powers of earth and heaven were to deny Him, He would not waver
in the proclamation of His Cause, nor flee from His command in the
promulgation of His Laws. Nay rather, He will stand as firm as the highest
mountains and the loftiest peaks. He will remain immovable in His
obedience to God and steadfast in revealing His Cause and proclaiming His
Word. No obstacle will hinder Him, nor will the censure of the froward
deter Him or the repudiation of the infidels cause Him to waver. All the
hatred, the rejection, the iniquity, and the unbelief that He witnesseth
serve but to strengthen His love for God, to augment the yearning of His
heart, to heighten the exultation of His soul, and to fill His breast with
passionate devotion. Hast thou ever seen in this world brass stronger, or
blade sharper, or mountain more unyielding than this? He shall verily
stand upon His feet to confront all the inhabitants of the earth, and will
fear no one, notwithstanding that which, as thou well knowest, the people
are wont to commit. Glory be to God, Who hath established Him and called
Him forth! Potent is God to do what He pleaseth. He, in truth, is the Help
in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.
77 And further He saith: “Out of his mouth goeth a two-edged sword.” Know
thou that since the sword is an instrument that divideth and cleaveth
asunder, and since there proceedeth from the mouth of the Prophets and the
Chosen Ones of God that which separateth the believer from the infidel and
the lover from the beloved, this term hath been so employed, and apart
from this dividing and separating no other meaning is intended. Thus, when
He Who is the Primal Point and the eternal Sun desireth, by the leave of
God, to gather together all creation, to raise them up from the graves of
their own selves, and to divide them one from another, He shall pronounce
but one verse from Him, and this verse will distinguish truth from error
from this day unto the Day of Resurrection. What sword is sharper than
this heavenly sword, what blade more trenchant than this incorruptible
steel that severeth every tie and separateth thereby the believer from the
infidel, father from son, brother from sister, and lover from beloved?(53)
For whoso believeth in that which hath been revealed unto him is a true
believer and whoso turneth away is an infidel, and such an irrevocable
separation occurreth between them that they will cease to consort and
associate with each other in this world. And so it is between father and
son, for should the son believe and the father deny, they will be severed
and forever dissociated from each other. Nay rather, thou witnesseth how
the son slayeth the father and the father the son.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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