then draw thereby the hearts of Thy creatures towards the heaven of
Thy knowledge, and the heart of the Sovereign towards the right hand of
the throne of Thy name, the All-Merciful. Supply him then, O My God, with
a portion of that goodly sustenance which hath descended from the heaven
of Thy generosity and the clouds of Thy mercy, that he may forsake his all
and turn unto the court of Thy favour. Aid him, O My God, to assist Thy
Cause and to exalt Thy Word amidst Thy creatures. Strengthen him, then,
with the hosts of the seen and the unseen, that he may subdue every city
in Thy Name, and hold sway, through Thy sovereignty and might, over all
that dwell on earth, O Thou in Whose hand is the kingdom of creation!
Thou, verily, art the Supreme Ordainer in both the beginning and the end.
No God is there but Thee, the Most Powerful, the All-Glorious, the
All-Wise.

239 So grossly hath Our Cause been misrepresented before thy royal
presence that, if some unseemly act be committed by but one of this
people, it is portrayed as being prompted by their beliefs. By Him besides
Whom there is none other God! This Servant hath refused even to sanction
the commission of reproved actions, how much less those which have been
explicitly prohibited in the Book of God.

240 God hath forbidden unto men the drinking of wine, and this prohibition
hath been revealed and recorded in His Book. In spite of this, and of the
fact that the learned doctors of the age--may God increase their
numbers!--have all prohibited the people from such a wretched act, there
still remain some who commit it. The punishment which this act entaileth,
however, applieth only to its heedless perpetrators, whilst those noble
manifestations of supreme sanctity remain exalted above and exempt from
all blame. Yea, the whole creation, both seen and unseen, beareth witness
unto their holiness.

241 Yea, these servants regard the one true God as He Who "doeth as He
willeth"(41) and "ordaineth as He pleaseth".(42) Thus they view not as
impossible the continued appearance in the contingent world of the
Manifestations of His Unity. Should anyone hold otherwise, how would he be
different from those who believe the hand of God to be "chained up"?(43)
And if the one true God--glorified be His mention!--be indeed regarded as
unconstrained, then whatever Cause that Ancient King may please to
manifest from the wellspring of His Command must be embraced by all. No
refuge is there for