243 Consider the dispensation of Him Who is the Seal of the Prophets and
the King of the Chosen Ones—may the souls of all mankind be offered up for
His sake! After the Daystar of Truth dawned above the horizon of Ḥijáz,
how great were the cruelties which the exponents of error inflicted upon
that incomparable Manifestation of the All-Glorious! Such was their
heedlessness that they regarded every injury inflicted upon that sacred
Being as ranking among the greatest of all acts, and constituting a means
of attainment unto God, the Most High. For in the early years of His
mission the divines of that age, both Christian and Jewish, turned away
from that Daystar of the heaven of glory, whereupon all people, high and
low alike, bestirred themselves to extinguish the light of that Luminary
of the horizon of inner meanings. The names of all these divines have been
mentioned in the books of old; among them are Wahb Ibn-i-Ráhib, Ka‘b
Ibn-i-Ashraf, ‘Abdu’lláh-i-Ubayy, and others of their like.
244 Finally, matters came to such a pass that these men took counsel
together and conspired to shed His pure blood, even as God—glorified be
His mention!—saith: “And remember when the disbelievers schemed against
Thee, that they might lay hold upon Thee, or slay Thee, or cast Thee out;
and so they schemed, and God schemed, and God, verily, is the best of
schemers.”(46) Again He saith: “But if their opposition be grievous to
Thee—if Thou canst, seek out an opening into the earth or a ladder into
heaven and bring to them a sign; yet if God wished, He could gather them
unto true guidance; be Thou not, then, of the ignorant.”(47) By God! The
hearts of His favoured ones are consumed at the purport of these two
blessed verses. Such established and undisputed facts have been forgotten,
and no one hath paused to reflect, in days past or in this day, upon the
things that have prompted men to turn away from the Revealers of the light
of God at the time of their manifestation.
245 Likewise, before the appearance of the Seal of the Prophets, consider
Jesus, the Son of Mary. When that Manifestation of the All-Merciful
revealed Himself, all the divines charged that Quintessence of faith with
impiety and rebellion. Eventually, with the sanction of Annas, the most
learned of the divines of His day, and Caiaphas, the high priest, His
blessed person was made to suffer that which the pen is ashamed to mention
and powerless to describe. The wide world in all its vastness could no
longer contain Him, until at last God raised Him up unto heaven.
246 Were a detailed account of all the Prophets to be given here, We fear
that it might lead to weariness. The doctors of the Torah in particular
assert that no independent Prophet will come after Moses with a new Law.
They maintain that a Scion of the House of David shall be made manifest
Who will promulgate the Law of the Torah, and help establish and enforce
its commandments throughout the East and the West.
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