ority...

From the beginning of existence until the Promised Day men retained
superiority over women in every respect. It is revealed in the Qur'an:
"Men have superiority over women." But in this wondrous Dispensation, the
supreme outpouring of the Glorious Lord became the cause of manifest
achievements by women. Some handmaidens arose who excelled men in the
arena of knowledge. They arose with such love and spirituality that they
became the cause of the outpouring of the bounty of the Sovereign Lord
upon mankind, and with their sanctity, purity and attributes of the spirit
led a great many to the shore of unity. They became a guiding torch to the
wanderers in the wastes of bewilderment, and enkindled the despondent in
the nether world with the flame of the love of the Lord. This is a
bounteous characteristic of this wondrous Age which hath granted strength
to the weaker sex and hath bestowed masculine might upon womanhood....

(From a Tablet - translated from the Persian) [8]

9: O handmaid of God! In this wondrous dispensation in which the
Ancient...

O handmaid of God! In this wondrous dispensation in which the Ancient
Beauty and the Manifest Light--may my spirit be sacrificed for His loved
ones--hath risen from the horizon of age-old hopes, women have assumed the
attributes of men in showing forth steadfastness in the Cause of God, and
revealing the heroism and might of fearless men. They invaded the arena of
mystic knowledge and hoisted aloft the banner on the heights of certitude.
Thou, too, must make a mighty effort and show forth supreme courage. Exert
thyself and taste of the sweetness of a heavenly draught, for the sweet
taste of the love of God will linger on to the end that hath no end.

(From a Tablet - translated from the Persian) [9]

10: Render thanks to the Lord that among that race thou art the first...

Render thanks to the Lord that among that race thou art the first
believer,(1) that thou hast engaged in spreading sweet-scented breezes,
and hast arisen to guide others. It is my hope that through the bounties
and favours of the Abha Beauty thy countenance may be illumined, thy
disposition pleasing, and thy fragrance diffused, that thine eyes may be
seeing, thine ears attentive, thy tongue eloquent, thy heart filled with
supreme glad-tidings, and thy soul refreshed by divine fragrances, so that
thou mayest arise among that race and occupy thyself with the edification
of the people,