d! Make ye a mighty effort: perchance ye can flood this earth
with light, that this mud hut, the world, may become the Abha Paradise.
The dark hath taken over, and the brute traits prevail. This world of man
is now an arena for wild beasts, a field where the ignorant, the heedless,
seize their chance. The souls of men are ravening wolves and animals with
blinded eyes, they are either deadly poison or useless weeds--all except
for a very few who indeed do nurture altruistic aims and plans for the
well-being of their fellow men: but ye must in this matter--that is, the
serving of humankind--lay down your very lives, and as ye yield yourselves,
rejoice.

O army of God! The Exalted One, the Bab, gave up His life. The Blessed
Perfection gave up a hundred lives at every breath. He bore calamities. He
suffered anguish. He was imprisoned. He was chained. He was made homeless
and was banished to distant lands. Finally, then, He lived out His days in
the Most Great Prison. Likewise, a great multitude of the lovers of God
who followed this path have tasted the honey of martyrdom and they gave up
everything--life, possessions, kindred--all they had. How many homes were
reduced to rubble; how many dwellings were broken into and pillaged; how
many a noble building went to the ground; how many a palace was battered
into a tomb. And all this came about that humankind might be illumined,
that ignorance might yield to knowledge, that men of earth might become
men of heaven, that discord and dissension might be torn out by the roots,
and the Kingdom of Peace become established over all the world. Strive ye
now that this bounty become manifest, and this best-beloved of all hopes
be realized in splendour throughout the community of man.

O army of God! Beware lest ye harm any soul, or make any heart to sorrow;
lest ye wound any man with your words, be he known to you or a stranger,
be he friend or foe. Pray ye for all; ask ye that all be blessed, all be
forgiven. Beware, beware, lest any of you seek vengeance, even against one
who is thirsting for your blood. Beware, beware, lest ye offend the
feelings of another, even though he be an evil-doer, and he wish you ill.
Look ye not upon the creatures, turn ye to their Creator. See ye not the
never-yielding people, see but the Lord of Hosts. Gaze ye not down upon
the dust, gaze upward at the shining sun, which hath caused every patch of
darksome earth to glow with light.

O army of God! When ca