many are the
Sovereigns who bow the knee before His name! How numerous the nations and
kingdoms who have sought the shelter of His shadow, who bear allegiance to
His Faith, and pride themselves therein! From the pulpit-top there
ascendeth today the words of praise which, in utter lowliness, glorify His
blessed name; and from the heights of minarets there resoundeth the call
that summoneth the concourse of His people to adore Him. Even those Kings
of the earth who have refused to embrace His Faith and to put off the
garment of unbelief, none the less confess and acknowledge the greatness
and overpowering majesty of that Day-star of loving kindness. Such is His
earthly sovereignty, the evidences of which thou dost on every side
behold. This sovereignty must needs be revealed and established either in
the lifetime of every Manifestation of God or after His ascension unto His
true habitation in the realms above. What thou dost witness today is but a
confirmation of this truth. That spiritual ascendency, however, which is
primarily intended, resideth within, and revolveth around Them from
eternity even unto eternity. It can never for a moment be divorced from
Them. Its dominion hath encompassed all that is in heaven and on earth.

The following is an evidence of the sovereignty exercised by Muhammad, the
Day-star of Truth. Hast thou not heard how with one single verse He hath
sundered light from darkness, the righteous from the ungodly, and the
believing from the infidel? All the signs and allusions concerning the Day
of Judgment, which thou hast heard, such as the raising of the dead, the
Day of Reckoning, the Last Judgment, and others have been made manifest
through the revelation of that verse. These revealed words were a blessing
to the righteous who on hearing them exclaimed: "O God our Lord, we have
heard, and obeyed." They were a curse to the people of iniquity who, on
hearing them affirmed: "We have heard and rebelled." Those words, sharp as
the sword of God, have separated the faithful from the infidel, and
severed father from son. Thou hast surely witnessed how they that have
confessed their faith in Him and they that rejected Him have warred
against each other, and sought one another's property. How many fathers
have turned away from their sons; how many lovers have shunned their
beloved! So mercilessly trenchant was this wondrous sword of God that it
cleft asunder every relationship! On the other hand, consider th