ere are they to be seen now? Be fair in thy judgement and return unto
God, that perchance He might cancel the trespasses of thy vain life. Alas,
We know that thou shalt never attain unto this, for such is thy cruelty
that it hath made hell to blaze and the Spirit to lament, and hath caused
the pillars of the Throne to shake and the hearts of the faithful to
tremble.

20 O peoples of the earth! Incline your inner ears to the call of this
Wronged One and pause to reflect upon the story that We have recounted.
Perchance ye may not be consumed by the fire of self and passion, nor
allow the vain and worthless objects of this nether world to withhold you
from Him Who is the Eternal Truth. Glory and abasement, riches and
poverty, tranquillity and tribulation, all will pass away, and all the
peoples of the earth will erelong be laid to rest in their tombs. It
behoveth therefore every man of insight to fix his gaze upon the goal of
eternity, that perchance by the grace of Him Who is the Ancient King he
may attain unto the immortal Kingdom and abide beneath the shade of the
Tree of His Revelation.

21 Though this world be fraught with deception and deceit, yet it
continually warneth all men of their impending extinction. The death of
the father proclaimeth to the son that he, too, shall pass away. Would
that the inhabitants of the world who have amassed riches for themselves
and have strayed far from the True One might know who will eventually lay
hand on their treasures; but, by the life of Baha, no one knoweth this
save God, exalted be His glory.

22 The poet Sana'i, may God's mercy rest upon him, hath said: "Take heed,
O ye whose unseemly conduct hath darkened your faces! Take heed, O ye
whose beards have been whitened by age!" Alas, most of the people are fast
asleep. They are even as the man who, in his drunkenness, became attracted
to a dog, took it in his embrace, and made it his plaything, and who, when
the morn of discernment dawned and the light of the sun enveloped the
horizon, realized that the object of his affection was but a dog. Then,
filled with shame and remorse, he repaired to his abode.

23 Think not that thou hast abased this Youth or prevailed over Him. The
least of creatures ruleth over thee, and yet thou perceivest not. The
lowliest and most abject of all things holdeth sway over thee, and that is
none other than self and passion, which have ever been reprehensible. Were
it not for God's consummate wisd