'Iraq in the execution of your wishes. Ye should have given
ear then unto Us, heard the account of Our woes, and judged with equity,
as ye would judge your own selves. Ye should not have wished for Us that
which ye have not wished for yourselves, but rather chosen to act with
generosity. By God! Ye dealt with Us neither in accordance with your own
principles and standards, nor with those of any man living, but in
accordance with the promptings of your evil and wayward passions, O ye
concourse of the froward and the arrogant!

33 O Bird of Holiness! Soar in the heaven of communion with Me, and
acquaint the people with that which We disclosed unto Thee in the
billowing oceans of immortality beyond the mount of glory. Let the fear of
no one dismay Thee, and put Thy trust in God, the Almighty, the
Beneficent. We, verily, shall protect Thee from those who, without a clear
token from God or an enlightening Book, have grievously wronged Thee.

34 Say: God is My witness, O concourse of the negligent! We came not unto
you to spread disorder in your lands or to sow dissension amongst your
peoples. Nay rather, We came in obedience to the command of the sovereign,
and in order to exalt your authority, to instruct you in the ways of Our
wisdom, and to remind you of that which ye had forgotten--even as He saith
in truth: "Warn them, for, in truth, Thy warning will profit the
believers."(91) But ye hearkened not unto the sweet melodies of the
Spirit, and gave ear unwittingly unto Our enemies, they who follow the
promptings of their corrupt inclinations, whose deeds the Evil One hath
made fair-seeming in their own eyes, and whose tongues utter calumnies
against Us. Heard ye not that which hath been revealed in His all-glorious
and unerring Book: "If a wicked man come to you with news, clear it up at
once"?(92) Wherefore have ye then cast the command of God behind your
backs, and followed in the footsteps of them that are bent on mischief?

35 We have heard that one of these calumniators hath alleged that this
Servant practised usury whilst residing in 'Iraq, and was engaged in
amassing riches for Himself. Say: How can ye judge a matter whereof ye
have no knowledge? How can ye hurl calumnies against the servants of God,
and entertain such evil suspicions? And how could this accusation be true,
when God hath forbidden this practice unto His servants in that most holy
and well-guarded Book revealed unto Muhammad, the Apostle of God and th