firmly-established, and is spreading Thy commandments and Thy doctrines
throughout Thy land, and guiding Thy servants to the path that leads
aright.

O my God, I beg of Thee by all the days which Thy Light, the Centre of Thy
Covenant, did spend in scattering Thy sweet scents abroad, and by all the
nights when that delicate and fragile Being rested not, but kept the long
vigils, crying out unto Thee, expending His efforts to guard Thy Cause and
Thy dear ones, exerting His utmost to spread out Thy bounties and
bestowals--while the malevolent, comfortable against their pillows, rested
in their beds--I entreat Thee, by the ordeals He endured, for the sake of
exalting Thy Word, at the hands of those who join partners to God, and the
deniers, and the deserters, to keep Thy loved ones safe from the arrows of
the calumniators, and the doubts of those who mislead and betray. Hold
them fast, then, in the gardens and groves of Thy Covenant and Testament,
and make them to enter the pavilions of Thy good pleasure, and shelter
them in the refuge of Thy protection, and cast upon them the glance of Thy
mercy's eye, and guard them from deviation and schism. Make them to live
in unity and harmony, one with the others, and aid them to serve Thy Faith
and to spread Thy Teachings far and wide.

Verily Thou art the Living, the Eternal, the Watchful, the All-Powerful,
the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.

O you true servants of the Holy Threshold, you faithful friends of
'Abdu'l-Baha!

Our hearts are burning away with the intense emotions aroused by this most
dreaded of calamities, and our souls are suffering the torments of this
separation causing delay in correspondence with you, yet God be praised,
you are all among the well-favoured at the divine Threshold, and are
drinking from the winecup of the Eternal Covenant. To the holy summons,
you have all replied 'Yea!'; you have seized the chalice of His Testament
and held it high. You are enamoured of that world-adorning Face, your
hearts are tightly bound to those curling locks, that waft the fragrance
of the musk-deer's scent; you are held spellbound by that magic nature,
and by the teachings like nectar on the tongue, refreshing the spirit; and
all continually receiving divine bounties from the One alone beloved, and
ministering at His Threshold, and sincere and pure of heart.

The glories of that Sun are shining now from out the high, immortal
realms, and His glance is resting on His loved