im Who is the Truth!
I fear no tribulation in His path, nor any affliction in My love for Him
and in the way of His good pleasure. Verily God hath made adversity as a
morning dew upon His green pasture, and a wick for His lamp which lighteth
earth and heaven.

259 Shall a man's wealth endure forever, or protect him from the One Who
shall, erelong, seize him by his forelock? Gazing upon those who sleep
beneath the gravestones, embosomed in the dust, could one ever distinguish
the sovereign's crumbling skull from the subject's mouldering bones? Nay,
by Him Who is the King of kings! Could one discern the lord from the
vassal, or those that enjoyed wealth and riches from those who possessed
neither shoes nor mat? By God! Every distinction hath been erased, save
only for those who upheld the right and who ruled with justice.

260 Whither are gone the learned men, the divines and potentates of old?
What hath become of their discriminating views, their shrewd perceptions,
their subtle insights and sage pronouncements? Where are their hidden
coffers, their flaunted ornaments, their gilded couches, their rugs and
cushions strewn about? Gone forever is their generation! All have
perished, and, by God's decree, naught remaineth of them but scattered
dust. Exhausted is the wealth they gathered, dispersed the stores they
hoarded, dissipated the treasures they concealed. Naught can now be seen
but their deserted haunts, their roofless dwellings, their uprooted
tree-trunks, and their faded splendour. No man of insight will let wealth
distract his gaze from his ultimate objective, and no man of understanding
will allow riches to withhold him from turning unto Him Who is the
All-Possessing, the Most High.

261 Where is he who held dominion over all whereon the sun shineth, who
lived extravagantly on earth, seeking out the luxuries of the world and of
all that hath been created upon it? Where is the commander of the swarthy
legion and the upraiser of the golden standard? Where is the ruler of
Zawra', and where the tyrant of Fayha'?(56) Where are those before whose
munificence the treasure-houses of the earth shrank in shame, and at whose
largesse and swelling spirit the very ocean was abashed? Where is he who
stretched forth his arm in rebellion, and who turned his hand against the
All-Merciful?

262 Where are they who went in quest of earthly pleasures and the fruits
of carnal desires? Whither are fled their fair and comely women? Wh