Happy the soul that shall forget his own good, and like the chosen ones of God, vie with his fellows in service to the good of all; until, strengthened by the blessings and perpetual confirmations of God, he shall be empowered to raise this mighty nation up to its ancient pinnacles of glory, and restore this withered land to sweet new life, and as a spiritual springtime, array those trees which are the lives of men with the fresh leaves, the blossoms and fruits of consecrated joy. FOOTNOTES 1 Qur’án 39:69. 2 Qur’án 55:1–3. 3 Qur’án 39:12. 4 Qur’án 41:53. 5 Qur’án 7:178; 8:22. 6 The original Persian text written in 1875 carried no author’s name, and the first English translation published in 1910 under the title The Mysterious Forces of Civilization states only “Written in Persian by an Eminent Bahai Philosopher.” 7 Qur’án 76:9. 8 2 Chronicles 36:22–23; Ezra 1:2; Esther 1:1; 8:9; Isaiah 45:1, 14; 49:12. 9 Qur’án 6:90; 11:31. 10 Qur’án 14:23; 35:18. 11 Qur’án 95:4. 12 The Imám ‘Alí. 13 Qur’án 5:85. 14 Qur’án 29:2. 15 Jáhilíyyih: the period of paganism in Arabia, prior to the advent of Muḥammad. 16 The pagan Arabs observed one separate and three consecutive months of truce, during which period pilgrimages were made to Mecca, and fairs, poetry contests and similar events took place. 17 Qur’án 16:124. 18 Qur’án 4:45; 5:16. 19 Cf. Bahá’u’lláh, The Kitáb-i-Íqán, p. 86. 20 “If by the word algebra we mean that branch of mathematics by which we learn how to solve the equation x2+5x=14, written in this way, the science begins in the 17th century. If we allow the equation to be written with other and less convenient symbols, it may be considered as beginning at least as early as the 3rd century. If we permit it to be stated in words and solved, for simple cases of positive roots, by the aid of geometric figures, the science was known to Euclid and others of the Alexandrian school as early as 300 B.C. If we permit of more or less scientific guessing in achieving a solution, algebra may be said to have been known nearly 2000 years B.C., and it had probably attracted the attention of the intellectual class much earlier... The name ‘algebra’ is quite fortuitous. When Mohammed ibn Músá al-_Kh_owarizmí ... wrote in Baghdad (c. 825) he gave to one of his works the name Al-jebr w’al-muqábalah. The title is sometimes translated as ‘restoration and equation,’ but the meaning was not clear even to the later Arab writers.” Encyclopedia Britannica, 1952, s.v. Algebra. 21 Qur’án 39:12; 13:17. 22 Rúmí, The Ma_th_naví, I, 1906–1907. 23 ‘Ulamá, from the Arabic alima, to know, may be translated learned men, scientists, religious authorities.