54 Thus have We recounted unto you the tales of the one true God, and sent
down unto you the things He had preordained, that haply ye may ask
forgiveness of Him, may return unto Him, may truly repent, may realize
your misdeeds, may shake off your slumber, may be roused from your
heedlessness, may atone for the things that have escaped you, and be of
them that do good. Let him who will, acknowledge the truth of My words;
and as to him that willeth not, let him turn aside. My sole duty is to
remind you of your failure in duty towards the Cause of God, if perchance
ye may be of them that heed My warning. Wherefore, hearken ye unto My
speech, and return ye to God and repent, that He, through His grace, may
have mercy upon you, may wash away your sins, and forgive your trespasses.
The greatness of His mercy surpasseth the fury of His wrath, and His grace
encompasseth all who have been called into being and been clothed with the
robe of life, be they of the past or of the future.
55 O concourse of Ministers of State! Do ye believe in your hearts that We
have come to divest you of your earthly possessions and vanities? Nay, by
the One in Whose hand is My soul! Our intention hath been to make clear
that We oppose not the commands of the sovereign, nor are We to be
numbered with the rebellious. Know ye of a certainty that all the
treasures of the earth, all the gold, the silver, and the rare and
precious gems they contain, are, in the sight of God, of His chosen ones
and His loved ones, as worthless as a handful of clay. For erelong all
that is on earth shall perish, and the kingdom will remain unto God, the
All-Powerful, the Incomparable. That which perisheth can never profit Us,
nor can it profit you, were ye but to reflect.
56 By the righteousness of God! I speak not falsely, and utter naught save
that which God hath bidden Me. To this bear witness the very words of this
Tablet, if ye but reflect upon its contents. Follow not the promptings of
your own desires, nor the whisperings of the Evil One in your souls.
Follow rather the Cause of God, both in your outward and your inner lives,
and be not of the heedless. Better is this for you than all that ye have
laid up in your houses, and all that ye have sought by day and night.
57 The world will pass away, and so will all the things whereat your
hearts rejoice, or wherein ye pride yourselves before men. Cleanse the
mirrors of your hearts from the dross of the world and all that is
therein, that they may reflect the resplendent light of God. This, indeed,
shall enable you to dispense with all save God, and to attain unto the
good pleasure of your Lord, the Most Bountiful, the All-Knowing, the
All-Wise. We, verily, have unfolded before your eyes that which shall
profit you both in this world and in the realm of faith, and which will
lead you to the path of salvation. Would that ye might turn thereunto!
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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