247 The followers of the Gospel, likewise, hold as impossible that the
Bearer of a new Revelation should again shine forth from the dayspring of
the Will of God after Jesus, Son of Mary—peace be upon Him! In support of
this contention, they adduce the following verse from the Gospel: “Heaven
and earth shall pass away, but the words of the Son of Man shall never
pass away.”(48) They maintain that neither the teachings nor the
commandments of Jesus—peace be upon Him!—may ever be altered.
248 At one point in the Gospel, He saith: “I go away, and come again.”(49)
Again in the Gospel of John, He hath foretold the advent of a Comforter
who shall come after Him.(50) In the Gospel of Luke, moreover, a number of
signs and portents have been mentioned. Certain divines of that Faith,
however, have interpreted these utterances after their own fancy, and have
thus failed to grasp their true significance.
249 O would that thou wouldst permit Me, O Sháh, to send unto thee that
which would cheer the eyes, and tranquillize the souls, and persuade every
fair-minded person that with Him is the knowledge of the Book. Certain
persons, incapable of answering the objections raised by their opponents,
claim that the Torah and the Gospel have been corrupted, whereas in
reality the references to such corruption pertain only to specific
cases.(51) But for the repudiation of the foolish and the connivance of
the divines, I would have uttered a discourse that would have thrilled and
carried away the hearts unto a realm from the murmur of whose winds can be
heard: “No God is there but He!” For the present, however, since the
season is not ripe, the tongue of My utterance hath been stilled and the
wine of exposition sealed up until such time as God, through the power of
His might, shall please to unseal it. He, verily, is the Almighty, the
Most Powerful.
250 Praise be unto Thee, O Lord My God! I ask Thee by Thy Name, through
which Thou hast subdued all who are in the heavens and all who are on the
earth, to protect the lamp of Thy Cause within the globe of Thine
omnipotence and Thy bountiful favour, lest it be exposed to the blasts of
denial from those who remain heedless of the mysteries of Thy name, the
Unconstrained. Increase, then, by the oil of Thy wisdom, the radiance of
its light. Thou, verily, hast power over all the dwellers of Thine earth
and of Thy heaven.
251 I implore Thee, O My Lord, by that most exalted Word which hath struck
terror into the hearts of all who are in the heavens and on the earth,
save only those who have taken fast hold of Thy Sure Handle, not to
abandon Me amidst Thy creatures. Lift Me up, then, unto Thyself, cause Me
to enter beneath the shadow of Thy mercy, and give Me to drink of the pure
wine of Thy providence, that I may dwell within the tabernacle of Thy
majesty and beneath the canopy of Thy favour. Potent art Thou to do what
pleaseth Thee. Thou, verily, art the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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