the spiritual fast; it is a symbol of
self-restraint, the withholding of oneself from all appetites of the self,
taking on the characteristics of the spirit, being carried away by the
breathings of heaven and catching fire from the love of God.

Your letter also betokened your unity and the closeness of your hearts. It
is my hope that the west, through the boundless grace that God is pouring
down in this new era, will become the east, the dawning-point of the Sun
of Truth, and western believers the daysprings of light, and manifestors
of the signs of God; that they will be guarded from the doubts of the
heedless and will stay firm and unmoveable in the Covenant and Testament;
that they will toil by day and by night until they awaken those who sleep,
and make mindful those who are unaware, and bring in the outcast to be
intimates of the inner circle, and bestow upon the destitute their portion
of eternal grace. Let them be heralds of the Kingdom, and call out to the
denizens of this nether world, and summon them to enter the realm on high.

O army of God! Today, in this world, every people is wandering astray in
its own desert, moving here and there according to the dictates of its
fancies and whims, pursuing its own particular caprice. Amongst all the
teeming masses of the earth, only this community of the Most Great Name is
free and clear of human schemes and hath no selfish purpose to promote.
Alone amongst them all, this people hath arisen with aims purified of
self, following the Teachings of God, most eagerly toiling and striving
toward a single goal: to turn this nether dust into high heaven, to make
of this world a mirror for the Kingdom, to change this world into a
different world, and cause all humankind to adopt the ways of
righteousness and a new manner of life.

O army of God! Through the protection and help vouchsafed by the Blessed
Beauty--may my life be a sacrifice to His loved ones--ye must conduct
yourselves in such a manner that ye may stand out distinguished and
brilliant as the sun among other souls. Should any one of you enter a
city, he should become a centre of attraction by reason of his sincerity,
his faithfulness and love, his honesty and fidelity, his truthfulness and
loving-kindness towards all the peoples of the world, so that the people
of that city may cry out and say: 'This man is unquestionably a Baha'i,
for his manners, his behaviour, his conduct, his morals, his nature, and
dispositi