and testimonies in the presence of His Majesty," which would
establish the truth of His Cause; exposed the perversity of the
ecclesiastical leaders in His own days, as well as in the days of Jesus
Christ and of Muhammad; prophesied that His sufferings will be followed by
the "outpourings of a supreme mercy" and by an "overflowing prosperity";
drew a parallel between the afflictions that had befallen His kindred and
those endured by the relatives of the Prophet Muhammad; expatiated on the
instability of human affairs; depicted the city to which He was about to
be banished; foreshadowed the future abasement of the 'ulamas; and
concluded with yet another expression of hope that the sovereign might be
assisted by God to "aid His Faith and turn towards His justice."

To 'Ali Pa_sh_a, the Grand Vizir, Baha'u'llah addressed the Suriy-i-Ra'is.
In this He bids him "hearken to the voice of God"; declares that neither
his "grunting," nor the "barking" of those around him, nor "the hosts of
the world" can withhold the Almighty from achieving His purpose; accuses
him of having perpetrated that which has caused "the Apostle of God to
lament in the most sublime Paradise," and of having conspired with the
Persian Ambassador to harm Him; forecasts "the manifest loss" in which he
would soon find himself; glorifies the Day of His own Revelation;
prophesies that this Revelation will "erelong encompass the earth and all
that dwell therein," and that the "Land of Mystery (Adrianople) and what
is beside it ... shall pass out of the hands of the King, and commotions
shall appear, and the voice of lamentation shall be raised, and the
evidences of mischief shall be revealed on all sides"; identifies that
same Revelation with the Revelations of Moses and of Jesus; recalls the
"arrogance" of the Persian Emperor in the days of Muhammad, the
"transgression" of Pharaoh in the days of Moses, and of the "impiety" of
Nimrod in the days of Abraham; and proclaims His purpose to "quicken the
world and unite all its peoples."

The ministers of the Sultan, He, in the Suriy-i-Muluk, reprimands for
their conduct, in passages in which He challenges the soundness of their
principles, predicts that they will be punished for their acts, denounces
their pride and injustice, asserts His integrity and detachment from the
vanities of the world, and proclaims His innocence.

The French Ambassador accredited to the Sublime Porte, He, in that same
Surih, rebukes for hav