t
is this: the souls of the believers, at the time when they first become
manifest in the world of the body, are equal, and each is sanctified and
pure. In this world, however, they will begin to differ one from another,
some achieving the highest station, some a middle one, others remaining at
the lowest stage of being. Their equal status is at the beginning of their
existence; the differentiation followeth their passing away.

Thou didst write as to Seir. Seir is a locality near Nazareth in Galilee.

As to the statement of Job, chapter 19, verses 25-27, 'I know that my
Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the
earth,' the meaning here is: I shall not be abased, I have a Sustainer and
a Guardian, and my Helper, my Defender will in the end be made manifest.
And although now my flesh be weak and clothed with worms, yet shall I be
healed, and with these mine own eyes, that is, mine inner sight, I shall
behold Him. This did Job say after they had reproached him, and he himself
had lamented the harms that his tribulations had wreaked upon him. And
even when, from the terrible inroads of the sickness, his body was covered
with worms, he sought to tell those about him that still he would be fully
healed, and that in his very body, with his very eyes, he would gaze on
his Redeemer.

As to the woman in the Revelation of Saint John, chapter 12, who fled into
the wilderness, and the great wonder appearing in the heavens--that woman
clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet: what is meant by the
woman is the Law of God. For according to the terminology of the Holy
Books, this reference is to the Law, the woman being its symbol here. And
the two luminaries, the sun and the moon, are the two thrones, the Turkish
and the Persian, these two being under the rule of the Law of God. The sun
is the symbol of the Persian Empire, and the moon, that is, the crescent,
of the Turkish. The twelve-fold crown is the twelve Imams, who, even as
the Apostles, supported the Faith of God. The newborn Child is the Beauty
of the Adored One,(49) come forth out of the Law of God. He then saith
that the woman fled into the wilderness, that is, the Law of God was
carried out of Palestine to the desert of Hijaz, where it remained 1260
years--that is, until the advent of the promised Child. And as is well
known, in the Holy Books, every day is accounted as one year.

146: O THOU HANDMAID AFIRE WITH THE LOVE OF GOD!