they who never even speak the name of it; then think how
wretched is the user.

O ye lovers of God! In this, the cycle of Almighty God, violence
and force, constraint and oppression, are one and all condemned.
It is, however, mandatory that the use of opium be prevented by
any means whatsoever, that perchance the human race may be
delivered from this most powerful of plagues. And otherwise, woe
and misery to whoso falleth short of his duty to his Lord.

In one of His Tablets 'Abdu'l-Baha has stated concerning opium: "the user,
the buyer and the seller are all deprived of the bounty and grace of God".

In yet another Tablet, 'Abdu'l-Baha has written:

Regarding hashish you have pointed out that some Persians have
become habituated to its use. Gracious God! This is the worst of
all intoxicants, and its prohibition is explicitly revealed. Its
use causeth the disintegration of thought and the complete torpor
of the soul. How could anyone seek the fruit of the infernal tree,
and by partaking of it, be led to exemplify the qualities of a
monster? How could one use this forbidden drug, and thus deprive
himself of the blessings of the All-Merciful? Alcohol consumeth
the mind and causeth man to commit acts of absurdity, but this
opium, this foul fruit of the infernal tree, and this wicked
hashish extinguish the mind, freeze the spirit, petrify the soul,
waste the body and leave man frustrated and lost.

It should be noted that the above prohibition against taking certain
classes of drugs does not forbid their use when prescribed by qualified
physicians as part of a medical treatment.

171. the "mystery of the Great Reversal in the Sign of the Sovereign" #157

S{~COMBINING MACRON BELOW~}h{~COMBINING MACRON BELOW~}ayk{~COMBINING MACRON BELOW~}h{~COMBINING MACRON BELOW~} Ahmad-i-Ahsa'i (1753-1831), who was the founder of the
S{~COMBINING MACRON BELOW~}h{~COMBINING MACRON BELOW~}ayk{~COMBINING MACRON BELOW~}h{~COMBINING MACRON BELOW~}i School and the first of the "twin luminaries that heralded the
advent of the Faith of the Bab", prophesied that at the appearance of the
Promised One all things would be reversed, the last would be first, the
first last. Baha'u'llah in one of His Tablets refers to the "symbol and
allusion" of the "mystery of the Great Reversal in the Sign of the
Sovereign". He states: "Through this reversal He hath caused the