ho is endowed with
the power of utterance. He should not hesitate to offer up his life for
his Beloved, nor allow the censure of the people to turn him away from the
Truth. He should not wish for others that which he doth not wish for
himself, nor promise that which he doth not fulfil. With all his heart he
should avoid fellowship with evil-doers, and pray for the remission of
their sins. He should forgive the sinful, and never despise his low
estate, for none knoweth what his own end shall be. How often hath a
sinner attained, at the hour of death, to the essence of faith, and,
quaffing the immortal draught, hath taken his flight unto the Concourse on
high! And how often hath a devout believer, at the hour of his soul's
ascension, been so changed as to fall into the nethermost fire!

Our purpose in revealing these convincing and weighty utterances is to
impress upon the seeker that he should regard all else beside God as
transient, and count all things save Him, Who is the Object of all
adoration, as utter nothingness.

These are among the attributes of the exalted, and constitute the
hall-mark of the spiritually-minded. They have already been mentioned in
connection with the requirements of the wayfarers that tread the path of
Positive Knowledge. When the detached wayfarer and sincere seeker hath
fulfilled these essential conditions, then and only then can he be called
a true seeker. Whensoever he hath fulfilled the conditions implied in the
verse: "Whoso maketh efforts for Us," he shall enjoy the blessings
conferred by the words: "In Our Ways shall We assuredly guide him."

Only when the lamp of search, of earnest striving, of longing desire, of
passionate devotion, of fervid love, of rapture, and ecstasy, is kindled
within the seeker's heart, and the breeze of His loving-kindness is wafted
upon his soul, will the darkness of error be dispelled, the mists of
doubts and misgivings be dissipated, and the lights of knowledge and
certitude envelop his being. At that hour will the Mystic Herald, bearing
the joyful tidings of the Spirit, shine forth from the City of God
resplendent as the morn, and, through the trumpet-blast of knowledge, will
awaken the heart, the soul, and the spirit from the slumber of
heedlessness. Then will the manifold favors and outpouring grace of the
holy and everlasting Spirit confer such new life upon the seeker that he
will find himself endowed with a new eye, a new ear, a new heart, and a
ne