breakers, foreboders of evil, however, waxed fiercer in their
rancor, rejoiced as I fell a victim to the most grievous ordeal, bestirred
themselves against me and made merry over the heartrending happenings
around me.

I call upon Thee, O Lord my God! with my tongue and with all my heart, not
to requite them for their cruelty and their wrong-doings, their craft and
their mischief, for they are foolish and ignoble and know not what they
do. They discern not good from evil, neither do they distinguish right
from wrong, nor justice from injustice. They follow their own desires and
walk in the footsteps of the most imperfect and foolish amongst them. O my
Lord! Have mercy upon them, shield them from all afflictions in these
troubled times and grant that all trials and hardships may be the lot of
this Thy servant that hath fallen into this darksome pit. Single me out
for every woe and make me a sacrifice for all Thy loved ones. O Lord, Most
High! May my soul, my life, my being, my spirit, my all be offered up for
them. O God, my God! Lowly, suppliant and fallen upon my face, I beseech
Thee with all the ardor of my invocation to pardon whosoever hath hurt me,
forgive him that hath conspired against me and offended me, and wash away
the misdeeds of them that have wrought injustice upon me. Vouchsafe unto
them Thy goodly gifts, give them joy, relieve them from sorrow, grant them
peace and prosperity, give them Thy bliss and pour upon them Thy bounty.

Thou art the Powerful, the Gracious, the Help in Peril, the
Self-Subsisting!

O dearly beloved friends! I am now in very great danger and the hope of
even an hour's life is lost to me. I am thus constrained to write these
lines for the protection of the Cause of God, the preservation of His Law,
the safeguarding of His Word and the safety of His Teachings. By the
Ancient Beauty! This wronged one hath in no wise borne nor doth he bear a
grudge against any one; towards none doth he entertain any ill-feeling and
uttereth no word save for the good of the world. My supreme obligation,
however, of necessity, prompteth me to guard and preserve the Cause of
God. Thus, with the greatest regret, I counsel you saying: Guard ye the
Cause of God, protect His law and have the utmost fear of discord. This is
the foundation of the belief of the people of Baha (may my life be offered
up for them): "His Holiness, the Exalted One (the Bab), is the
Manifestation of the Unity and Oneness of God and t