lay
chained and fettered in the prison, one of thy ministers extended Me his
aid. Wherefore hath God ordained for thee a station which the knowledge of
none can comprehend except His knowledge. Beware lest thou barter away
this sublime station. Thy Lord, verily, doeth what He willeth. What He
pleaseth will God abrogate or confirm, and with Him is the knowledge of
all things in a Guarded Tablet.

159 Beware lest thy sovereignty withhold thee from Him Who is the Supreme
Sovereign. He, verily, is come with His Kingdom, and all the atoms cry
aloud: "Lo! The Lord is come in His great majesty!" He Who is the Father
is come, and the Son, in the holy vale, crieth out: "Here am I, here am I,
O Lord, My God!", whilst Sinai circleth round the House, and the Burning
Bush calleth aloud: "The All-Bounteous is come mounted upon the clouds!
Blessed is he that draweth nigh unto Him, and woe betide them that are far
away."

160 Arise thou amongst men in the name of this all-compelling Cause, and
summon, then, the nations unto God, the Exalted, the Great. Be thou not of
them who called upon God by one of His names, but who, when He Who is the
Object of all names appeared, denied Him and turned aside from Him, and,
in the end, pronounced sentence against Him with manifest injustice.
Consider and call thou to mind the days whereon the Spirit of God
appeared, and Herod gave judgement against Him. God, however, aided Him
with the hosts of the unseen, and protected Him with truth, and sent Him
down unto another land, according to His promise. He, verily, ordaineth
what He pleaseth. Thy Lord truly preserveth whom He willeth, be he in the
midst of the seas, or in the maw of the serpent, or beneath the sword of
the oppressor.

161 Blessed be the king whom the veils of glory have not deterred from
turning unto the Dayspring of beauty and who hath forsaken his all in his
desire to obtain the things of God. He, indeed, is accounted in the sight
of God as the most excellent of men, and is extolled by the inmates of
paradise and them that circle morn and eve round the Throne on high.

162 Again I say: Hearken unto My voice that calleth from My prison, that
it may acquaint thee with the things that have befallen My Beauty, at the
hands of them that are the manifestations of My glory, and that thou
mayest perceive how great hath been My patience, notwithstanding My might,
and how immense My forbearance, notwithstanding My power. By My life!
Couldst