15 O kings of Christendom! Heard ye not the saying of Jesus, the Spirit of
God, “I go away, and come again unto you”?(85) Wherefore, then, did ye
fail, when He did come again unto you in the clouds of heaven, to draw
nigh unto Him, that ye might behold His face, and be of them that attained
His Presence? In another passage He saith: “When He, the Spirit of Truth,
is come, He will guide you into all truth.”(86) And yet behold how, when
He did bring the truth, ye refused to turn your faces towards Him, and
persisted in disporting yourselves with your pastimes and fancies. Ye
welcomed Him not, neither did ye seek His Presence, that ye might hear the
verses of God from His own mouth, and partake of the manifold wisdom of
the Almighty, the All-Glorious, the All-Wise. Ye have, by reason of your
failure, hindered the breath of God from being wafted over you, and have
withheld from your souls the sweetness of its fragrance. Ye continue
roving with delight in the valley of your corrupt desires. By God! Ye, and
all ye possess, shall pass away. Ye shall, most certainly, return to God,
and shall be called to account for your doings in the presence of Him Who
shall gather together the entire creation.
16 Again, heard ye not that which hath been recorded in the Gospel
concerning those “which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the
flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God”(87)—that is, those who have
been made manifest through the power of God? Wherefore it becometh evident
that one may well be manifested in the world of creation who is truly of
God, the Almighty, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. How is it then that when
word reached you of Our Cause, ye failed to inquire from Our own lips,
that ye might distinguish truth from falsehood, discover Our aim and
purpose, and learn of the afflictions which We have suffered at the hands
of an evil and wayward generation?
17 O Minister of the King of Paris!(88) Hast thou forgotten the
pronouncement recorded in the Gospel according to John concerning the Word
and those who are its Manifestations? And hast thou ignored the counsels
of the Spirit(89) concerning the Manifestations of the Word, and been
numbered with the heedless? If not, wherefore then didst thou conspire
with the Minister of Persia(90) to inflict upon Us that which hath caused
the hearts of men of insight and understanding to melt, the tears of the
denizens of the Realm of eternity to flow, and the souls of them who are
nigh unto God to mourn? And all this thou didst commit without seeking to
examine Our Cause or to discern its truth. For is it not thy clear duty to
investigate this Cause, to inform thyself of the things that have befallen
Us, to judge with equity, and to cleave unto justice?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account