24 The Resh Galuta, a prince or ruler of the exiles in Babylon, to whom Jews, wherever they were, paid tribute. 25 A measure of weight, in Ṭihrán equivalent to six and two-thirds pounds. 26 Qur’án 9:33; 48:28; 61:9. 27 Qur’án 54:55. 28 Qur’án 7:171: Yawm-i-Alast, the Day when God, addressing Adam’s posterity-to-be, said to them, “Am I not your Lord?” (a-lastu bi Rabbikum) and they replied: “Yea, we bear witness.” 29 Qur’án 9:33. 30 Cf. Qur’án 27:12, referring to Moses: “Put now thy hand into thy bosom: it shall come forth white ... one of nine signs to Pharaoh and his people....” Also Qur’án 7:105; 20:23; 26:32; 32. Also Exodus 4:6. See too Edward Fitzgerald’s The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam: Now the New Year reviving old Desires, The thoughtful Soul to Solitude retires, Where the White Hand of Moses on the Bough Puts out, and Jesus from the Ground suspires. The metaphors here refer to white blossoms and the perfumes of spring. 31 Qur’án 16:126. 32 Qur’án 24:35. _ 33 Dh_u’l-Awtád is variously rendered by translators of the Qur’án as The Impaler, The Contriver of the Stakes, The Lord of a Strong Dominion, The One Surrounded by Ministers, etc. Awtád means pegs or tent stakes. See Qur’án 38:11 and 89:9. 34 Qur’án 20:46. 35 Qur’án 33:63: “Men will ask Thee of ‘the Hour.’ Say: The knowledge of it is with God alone.” Cf. also 22:1, “the earthquake of the Hour,” etc. See also Matthew 24:36, 42, etc. To Bahá’ís, this refers to the Advent of the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh. 36 Cf. the Islamic confession of faith, sometimes called the two testimonies: “I testify that there is no God but God and Muḥammad is the Prophet of God.” 37 Cf. Qur’án 27:20 ff. 38 Qur’án 12:44; 21:5. 39 Qur’án 24:39. 40 1875 A.D. 41 The foregoing paragraph, together with the later paragraph beginning “A few, unaware of the power latent in human endeavor,” was translated by Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith. Cf. The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 37–38. 42 Sásáníyán king who reigned 531–578 A.D. 43 i.e., the whole world. 44 Sa’dí, The Gulistán, On the Conduct of Kings. 45 Qur’án 17:84. 46 The poet Saná’í. 47 Rúmí, The Ma_th_naví, III, 4229–4231. 48 Qur’án 2:24. 49 Qur’án 8:64. 50 See Rúmí, The Ma_th_naví, II, 185 and 189. Also the Hadí_th_: “God created the creatures in darkness, then He sprinkled some of His Light upon them. Those whom some of that Light reached took the right way, while those whom it missed wandered from the straight road.” Cf. R. A. Nicholson’s “The Ma_th_nawí of Jalálu’ddín Rúmí” in the E. J. W. Gibb Memorial Series. 51 Qur’án 24:35. 52 Qur’án 2:58. 53 Qur’án 17:4 ff.