calumnies they have hurled against those Daysprings of
Holiness? Thus do We recount unto thee that which the hands of the
infidels have wrought, they who, in the Day of Resurrection, have turned
their face away from the divine Presence, whom God hath tormented with the
fire of their own misbelief, and for whom He hath prepared in the world to
come a chastisement which shall devour both their bodies and souls. For
these have said: "God is powerless, and His hand of mercy is fettered."

Steadfastness in the Faith is a sure testimony, and a glorious evidence of
the truth. Even as the "Seal of the Prophets" hath said: "Two verses have
made Me old." Both these verses are indicative of constancy in the Cause
of God. Even as He saith: "Be thou steadfast as thou hast been
bidden."(179)

And now consider how this Sadrih of the Ridvan of God hath, in the prime
of youth, risen to proclaim the Cause of God. Behold what steadfastness
that Beauty of God hath revealed. The whole world rose to hinder Him, yet
it utterly failed. The more severe the persecution they inflicted on that
Sadrih of Blessedness, the more His fervour increased, and the brighter
burned the flame of His love. All this is evident, and none disputeth its
truth. Finally, He surrendered His soul, and winged His flight unto the
realms above.

And among the evidences of the truth of His manifestation were the
ascendancy, the transcendent power, and supremacy which He, the Revealer
of being and Manifestation of the Adored, hath, unaided and alone,
revealed throughout the world. No sooner had that eternal Beauty revealed
Himself in _Sh_iraz, in the year sixty, and rent asunder the veil of
concealment, than the signs of the ascendancy, the might, the sovereignty,
and power, emanating from that Essence of Essences and Sea of Seas, were
manifest in every land. So much so, that from every city there appeared
the signs, the evidences, the tokens, the testimonies of that divine
Luminary. How many were those pure and kindly hearts which faithfully
reflected the light of that eternal Sun, and how manifold the emanations
of knowledge from that Ocean of divine wisdom which encompassed all
beings! In every city, all the divines and dignitaries rose to hinder and
repress them, and girded up the loins of malice, of envy, and tyranny for
their suppression. How great the number of those holy souls, those
essences of justice, who, accused of tyranny, were put to death! And how
many e