rove to be in vain. Ye know well what the hands of the Center of
Sedition, Mirza Muhammad 'Ali, and his associates have wrought. Among his
doings, one of them is the corruption of the Sacred Text whereof ye are
all aware, the Lord be praised, and know that it is evident, proven and
confirmed by the testimony of his brother, Mirza Badi'u'llah, whose
confession is written in his own handwriting, beareth his seal, is printed
and spread abroad. This is but one of his misdeeds. Can a transgression be
imagined more glaring than this, the interpolation of the Holy Text? Nay,
by the righteousness of the Lord! His transgressions are writ and recorded
in a leaflet by itself. Please God, ye will peruse it.

In short, according to the explicit Divine Text the least transgression
shall make of this man a fallen creature, and what transgression is more
grievous than attempting to destroy the Divine Edifice, breaking the
Covenant, erring from the Testament, falsifying the Holy Text, sowing the
seeds of doubt, calumniating 'Abdu'l-Baha, advancing claims for which God
hath sent down no warrant, kindling mischief and striving to shed the very
blood of 'Abdu'l-Baha, and many other things whereof ye are all aware! It
is thus evident that should this man succeed in bringing disruption into
the Cause of God, he will utterly destroy and exterminate it. Beware lest
ye approach this man, for to approach him is worse than approaching fire!

Gracious God! After Mirza Badi'u'llah had declared in his own handwriting
that this man (Muhammad 'Ali) had broken the Covenant and had proclaimed
his falsification of the Holy Text, he realized that to return to the True
Faith and pay allegiance to the Covenant and Testament would in no wise
promote his selfish desires. He thus repented and regretted the thing he
had done and attempted privily to gather in his printed confessions,
plotted darkly with the Center of Sedition against me and informed him
daily of all the happenings within my household. He has even taken a
leading part in the mischievous deeds that have of late been committed.
Praise be to God affairs recovered their former stability and the loved
ones obtained partial peace. But ever since the day he entered again into
our midst, he began afresh to sow the seeds of sore sedition. Some of his
machinations and intrigues will be recorded in a separate leaflet.

My purpose is, however, to show that it is incumbent upon the friends that
are fast and