emptible and worthless, for this is what We observed upon Our arrival
in the City [Constantinople], and to it We bear witness....

"Set before thine eyes God's unerring Balance and, as one standing in His
Presence, weigh in that balance thine actions every day, every moment of
thy life. Bring thyself to account ere thou art summoned to a reckoning,
on the Day when no man shall have strength to stand for fear of God, the
Day when the hearts of the heedless ones shall be made to tremble....

"Thou art God's shadow on earth. Strive, therefore, to act in such a
manner as befitteth so eminent, so august a station. If thou dost depart
from following the things We have caused to descend upon thee and taught
thee, thou wilt, assuredly, be derogating from that great and priceless
honor. Return, then, and cleave wholly unto God, and cleanse thine heart
from the world and all its vanities, and suffer not the love of any
stranger to enter and dwell therein. Not until thou dost purify thine
heart from every trace of such love can the brightness of the light of God
shed its radiance upon it, for to none hath God given more than one heart.
This, verily, hath been decreed and written down in His ancient Book. And
as the human heart, as fashioned by God, is one and undivided, it
behooveth thee to take heed that its affections be, also, one and
undivided. Cleave thou, therefore, with the whole affection of thine
heart, unto His love, and withdraw it from the love of anyone besides Him,
that He may aid thee to immerse thyself in the ocean of His unity, and
enable thee to become a true upholder of His oneness....

LET THE OPPRESSOR DESIST

"Let thine ear be attentive, O King, to the words We have addressed thee.
Let the oppressor desist from his tyranny, and cut off the perpetrators of
injustice from among them that profess thy faith. By the righteousness of
God! The tribulations We have sustained are such that any pen that
recounteth them cannot but be overwhelmed with anguish. No one of them
that truly believe and uphold the unity of God can bear the burden of
their recital. So great have been Our sufferings that even the eyes of our
enemies have wept over Us, and beyond those of every discerning person.
And to all these trials have We been subjected, in spite of Our action in
approaching thee, and in bidding the people to enter beneath thy shadow,
that thou mightest be a stronghold unto them that believe in and uphold
the un