" he replied, "the
king, the princes, and the ministers, their pomp and glory, their might
and power, everything you saw, are now contained within this box."

16 I swear by My Lord Who, through a single word of His Mouth, hath
brought into being all created things! Ever since that day, all the
trappings of the world have seemed in the eyes of this Youth akin to that
same spectacle. They have never been, nor will they ever be, of any weight
and consequence, be it to the extent of a grain of mustard seed. How
greatly I marvelled that men should pride themselves upon such vanities,
whilst those possessed of insight, ere they witness any evidence of human
glory, perceive with certainty the inevitability of its waning. "Never
have I looked upon any thing save that I have seen extinction before it;
and God, verily, is a sufficient witness!"

17 It behoveth everyone to traverse this brief span of life with sincerity
and fairness. Should one fail to attain unto the recognition of Him Who is
the Eternal Truth, let him at least conduct himself with reason and
justice. Erelong these outward trappings, these visible treasures, these
earthly vanities, these arrayed armies, these adorned vestures, these
proud and overweening souls, all shall pass into the confines of the
grave, as though into that box. In the eyes of those possessed of insight,
all this conflict, contention and vainglory hath ever been, and will ever
be, like unto the play and pastimes of children. Take heed, and be not of
them that see and yet deny.

18 Our call concerneth not this Youth and the loved ones of God, for they
are already sore-tried and imprisoned and expect nothing from men such as
thee. Our purpose is that thou mayest lift up thy head from the couch of
heedlessness, shake off the slumber of negligence, and cease to oppose
unjustly the servants of God. So long as thy power and ascendancy endure,
strive to alleviate the suffering of the oppressed. Shouldst thou judge
with fairness and observe with the eye of discernment the conflicts and
pursuits of this transient world, thou wouldst readily acknowledge that
they are even as the play which We have described.

19 Hearken unto the words of the one true God and pride thyself not in the
things of this world. What hath become of those like unto thee who falsely
claimed lordship on earth, who sought to quench the light of God in His
land and to destroy the foundation of His mighty edifice in His cities?
Wh