he fact of having a pure and
spotless body likewise exerciseth an influence upon the spirit of man.

Now, see how much purity is approved in the Court of God, that it should
be especially mentioned in the Holy Books of the Prophets. So the Holy
Books forbid the eating of any unclean thing, or the use of anything which
is not pure. Certain prohibitions are absolute and imperative for all: he
who commits that which is forbidden is detested by God and excluded from
the number of the elect. This applieth to the things forbidden by an
absolute prohibition and of which the perpetration is a grave sin; they
are so vile that even to mention them is shameful. There are other
forbidden things which do not cause an immediate evil and of which the
pernicious effect is only gradually produced. They are also abhorred,
blamed and rejected by God, but their prohibition is not recorded in an
absolute way, although cleanliness and sanctity, spotlessness and purity,
the preservation of health and independence are required by these
interdictions.

One of these last prohibitions is the smoking of tobacco, which is
unclean, malodorous, disagreeable and vulgar and of which the gradual
harmfulness is universally recognized. All clever physicians have judged,
and have also shown by experiment, that one of the constituents of tobacco
is a mortal poison and that smokers are exposed to different
indispositions and maladies. That is why cleanly people have a marked
aversion for its use.

His supreme Highness the Bab--may my soul be His sacrifice! --in the
beginning of His Cause, openly forbade it and all the friends abandoned
its use. But, as it was a time for caution and he who abstained from
smoking was ill treated, persecuted and even killed, therefore the friends
were obliged, as a matter of prudence, to smoke. Later, the Kitab-i-Aqdas
was revealed and as the prohibition of tobacco was not clearly stated in
it, the friends did not renounce it. But the Blessed Perfection had always
a marked aversion for its use. At the beginning of the Cause, for certain
reasons, He smoked a little, but later He abandoned it completely, and the
holy souls who obeyed Him in all circumstances, also entirely gave up
smoking. I wish to say that, in the sight of God, the smoking of tobacco
is a thing which is blamed and condemned, very unclean, and of which the
result is by degrees injurious. Besides it is a cause of expense and of
loss of time and it is a harmful