f wisdom
amongst you. He hath chosen out of the whole world the hearts of His
servants, and made them each a seat for the revelation of His glory.
Wherefore, sanctify them from every defilement, that the things for which
they were created may be engraven upon them. This indeed is a token of
God's bountiful favor.

Beautify your tongues, O people, with truthfulness, and adorn your souls
with the ornament of honesty. Beware, O people, that ye deal not
treacherously with any one. Be ye the trustees of God amongst His
creatures, and the emblems of His generosity amidst His people. They that
follow their lusts and corrupt inclinations, have erred and dissipated
their efforts. They, indeed, are of the lost. Strive, O people, that your
eyes may be directed towards the mercy of God, that your hearts may be
attuned to His wondrous remembrance, that your souls may rest confidently
upon His grace and bounty, that your feet may tread the path of His
good-pleasure. Such are the counsels which I bequeath unto you. Would that
ye might follow My counsels!

CXXXVII: SOME HAVE REGARDED IT AS LAWFUL TO INFRINGE...

Some have regarded it as lawful to infringe on the integrity of the
substance of their neighbor, and have made light of the injunction of God
as prescribed in His Book. Evil fall upon them, and the chastisement of
God, the All-Powerful, the Almighty, afflict them! By Him Who shineth
above the Day Spring of sanctity! If the whole earth were to be converted
into silver and gold, no man who can be said to have truly ascended into
the heaven of faith and certitude would deign to regard it, much less to
seize and keep it. We have formerly referred to this subject in passages
revealed in the Arabic tongue, in a language of exquisite beauty. God is
Our witness! Whoever hath tasted the sweetness of those words will never
consent to transgress the bounds which God hath fixed, neither will he
turn his gaze towards any one except his Well-Beloved. Such a man will,
with his inner eye, readily recognize how altogether vain and fleeting are
the things of this world, and will set his affections on things above.

Say: Be ashamed, O ye that call yourselves the lovers of the Ancient
Beauty! Be ye admonished by the tribulation He hath suffered, by the
burden of anguish He hath carried for the sake of God. Let your eyes be
opened. To what purpose hath He labored, if the manifold trials He hath
endured are, in the end, to result in suc