joy of the dwellers of the Abha Kingdom.

Lord! My cup of woe runneth over, and from all sides blows are fiercely
raging upon me. The darts of affliction have compassed me round and the
arrows of distress have rained upon me. Thus tribulation overwhelmed me
and my strength, because of the onslaught of the foemen, became weakness
within me, while I stood alone and forsaken in the midst of my woes. Lord!
Have mercy upon me, lift me up unto Thyself and make me to drink from the
Chalice of Martyrdom, for the wide world with all its vastness can no
longer contain me.

Thou art, verily, the Merciful, the Compassionate, the Gracious, the
All-Bountiful!

O ye the true, the sincere, the faithful friends of this wronged one!
Everyone knoweth and believeth what calamities and afflictions have
befallen this wronged one, this prisoner, at the hands of those who have
broken the Covenant at the time when, after the setting of the Day-Star of
the world, his heart was consumed with the flame of His bereavement.

When, in all parts of the earth, the enemies of God profiting by the
passing away of the Sun of Truth, suddenly and with all their might
launched their attack; at such a time and in the midst of so great a
calamity, the Covenant-breakers arose with the utmost cruelty, intent upon
harm and the stirring up of the spirit of enmity. At every moment a
misdeed they did commit and bestirred themselves to sow the seeds of
grievous sedition, and to ruin the edifice of the Covenant. But this
wronged one, this prisoner, did his utmost to hide and veil their doings,
that haply they might regret and repent. His long-suffering and
forbearance of these evil deeds, however, made the rebellious ones still
more arrogant and daring; until, through leaflets written with their own
hands, they sowed the seeds of doubt, printing these leaflets and
scattering them broadcast throughout the world, believing that such
foolish doings would bring to naught the Covenant and the Testament.

Thereupon the loved ones of the Lord arose, inspired with the greatest
confidence and constancy and aided by the power of the Kingdom, by Divine
Strength, by heavenly Grace, by the unfailing help and Celestial Bounty,
they withstood the enemies of the Covenant in well-nigh three score and
ten treatises and supported by conclusive proofs, unmistakable evidences
and clear texts from the Holy Writ, they refuted their scrolls of doubt
and mischief-kindling leaflets. The C