'Abdu'l-Baha, writing in confirmation of the authority conferred upon Him
by Baha'u'llah, makes the following statement: "In accordance with the
explicit text of the Kitab-i-Aqdas Baha'u'llah hath made the Center of the
Covenant the Interpreter of His Word--a Covenant so firm and mighty that
from the beginning of time until the present day no religious Dispensation
hath produced its like."

Exalted as is the rank of 'Abdu'l-Baha, and however profuse the praises
with which in these sacred Books and Tablets Baha'u'llah has glorified His
son, so unique a distinction must never be construed as conferring upon
its recipient a station identical with, or equivalent to, that of His
Father, the Manifestation Himself. To give such an interpretation to any
of these quoted passages would at once, and for obvious reasons, bring it
into conflict with the no less clear and authentic assertions and warnings
to which I have already referred. Indeed, as I have already stated, those
who overestimate 'Abdu'l-Baha's station are just as reprehensible and have
done just as much harm as those who underestimate it. And this for no
other reason except that by insisting upon an altogether unwarranted
inference from Baha'u'llah's writings they are inadvertently justifying
and continuously furnishing the enemy with proofs for his false
accusations and misleading statements.

I feel it necessary, therefore, to state without any equivocation or
hesitation that neither in the Kitab-i-Aqdas nor in the Book of
Baha'u'llah's Covenant, nor even in the Tablet of the Branch, nor in any
other Tablet, whether revealed by Baha'u'llah or 'Abdu'l-Baha, is there
any authority whatever for the opinion that inclines to uphold the
so-called "mystic unity" of Baha'u'llah and 'Abdu'l-Baha, or to establish
the identity of the latter with His Father or with any preceding
Manifestation. This erroneous conception may, in part, be ascribed to an
altogether extravagant interpretation of certain terms and passages in the
Tablet of the Branch, to the introduction into its English translation of
certain words that are either non-existent, misleading, or ambiguous in
their connotation. It is, no doubt, chiefly based upon an altogether
unjustified inference from the opening passages of a Tablet of
Baha'u'llah, extracts of which, as reproduced in the Baha'i Scriptures,
immediately precede, but form no part of, the said Tablet of the Branch.
It should be made clear to every one