of God! Were any one to entertain so great a Revelation in
his heart, the thought of such a declaration would alone confound him!
Were the hearts of all men to be crowded into his heart, he would still
hesitate to venture upon so awful an enterprise. He could achieve it only
by the permission of God, only if the channel of his heart were to be
linked with the Source of divine grace, and his soul be assured of the
unfailing sustenance of the Almighty. To what, We wonder, do they ascribe
so great a daring? Do they accuse Him of folly as they accused the
Prophets of old? Or do they maintain that His motive was none other than
leadership and the acquisition of earthly riches?

Gracious God! In His Book, which He hath entitled "Qayyumu'l-Asma,"--the
first, the greatest and mightiest of all books--He prophesied His own
martyrdom. In it is this passage: "O thou Remnant of God! I have
sacrificed myself wholly for Thee; I have accepted curses for Thy sake;
and have yearned for naught but martyrdom in the path of Thy love.
Sufficient Witness unto me is God, the Exalted, the Protector, the Ancient
of Days!"

Likewise, in His interpretation of the letter "Ha," He craved martyrdom,
saying: "Methinks I heard a Voice calling in my inmost being: 'Do thou
sacrifice the thing which Thou lovest most in the path of God, even as
Husayn, peace be upon him, hath offered up his life for My sake.' And were
I not regardful of this inevitable mystery, by Him, Who hath my being
between His hands even if all the kings of the earth were to be leagued
together they would be powerless to take from me a single letter, how much
less can these servants who are worthy of no attention, and who verily are
of the outcast... That all may know the degree of My patience, My
resignation, and self-sacrifice in the path of God."

Could the Revealer of such utterance be regarded as walking any way but
the way of God, and as having yearned for aught else except His
good-pleasure? In this very verse there lieth concealed a breath of
detachment, which if it were to be breathed full upon the world, all
beings would renounce their lives, and sacrifice their souls. Reflect upon
the villainous behaviour of this generation, and witness their astounding
ingratitude. Observe how they have closed their eyes to all this glory,
and are abjectly pursuing those foul carcasses from whose bellies
ascendeth the cry of the swallowed substance of the faithful. And yet,
what unseemly