Say, We, in truth, entered the school of inner meaning and exposition at a time when the minds of all that dwell on earth were wrapt in heedlessness. We beheld what the Merciful Lord had revealed, accepted the gift He [the Báb] had offered Me of the verses of God, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting, and hearkened to that to which He had attested in the Tablet. We, verily, are the Witness. We responded to His call at Our Own behest, and We are, in truth, the Ordainer. O people of the Bayán! We entered the School of God when ye were slumbering on your couches, and perused the Tablet when ye were fast asleep. By the righteousness of God, the True One, We had read it before it was revealed, and ye were utterly unaware. Indeed Our knowledge had encompassed the Book when ye were yet unborn. These utterances are revealed according to your measure, not to God’s, and unto this beareth witness that which is enshrined in the knowledge of God, did ye but know. Unto this testifieth He Who is the Mouthpiece of God, could ye but understand. By the righteousness of God! Were We to lift the veil ye would swoon away. Take heed lest ye dispute with Him and His Cause. He hath indeed appeared in such wise as to encompass all things, whether of the past or of the future. Were We to speak forth at this time in the language of the dwellers of the Kingdom, We would say that God raised up this School ere the earth and the heavens were brought into being, and We entered it before the letters ‘B’ and ‘E’ were joined and knit together. 3 1260 A.H. (1844 A.D.) 4 Qur’án 8:44 5 The numerical value of the letters of the word Ḥin is 68. The year 1268 A.H. (1851–1852 A.D.) is the year preceding the birth of the Bahá’í Revelation. 6 The Ka’bah in Mecca 7 cf. Qur’án 4:119 8 Qur’án 13 9 Qur’án 3:182 10 cf. Qur’án 19:41 11 cf. Qur’án 17:90 12 cf. Qur’án 2:285 13 cf. Qur’án 3:50 14 cf. Qur’án 14:4 15 cf. Qur’án 68:42 16 cf. Qur’án 7:63, 69 17 cf. Qur’án 36:68 18 cf. Qur’án 65:7; 94:5 19 cf. Qur’án 8:45 20 cf. Qur’án 2:204 21 cf. Qur’án 4:51 22 In these passages of the Qayyúmu’l-Asmá the name Qurratu’l-‘Ayn (Solace of the Eyes) refers to the Báb Himself. 23 cf. Qur’án 12:20 24 cf. Qur’án 78:38 25 cf. Qur’án 11:83 26 cf. Qur’án 24:21 27 cf. Qur’án 83:25–26 28 Qur’án 52:6 29 cf. Qur’án 29:40 30 cf. Qur’án 2:206 31 cf. Qur’án 2:163–164 32 cf. Qur’án 17:88 33 cf. Qur’án 74:35–37 34 cf. Qur’án 21:40 35 cf. Qur’án 2:14 36 cf. Qur’án 4:149 37 cf. Qur’án 9:32 38 cf. Qur’án 4:169 39 Qur’án 5:77 40 cf. Qur’án 5:15–18 41 cf. Qur’án 5:22 42 cf. Qur’án 5:71 43 cf. Qur’án 2:32; 38:74–78 44 cf. Qur’án 7:69; 12:40 45 cf. Qur’án 7:146; 20:90