and the saints
were and are the fear of God. That is the buckler which guardeth man from
the arrows of hatred and abomination. Unceasingly hath the standard of
piety been victorious, and accounted amongst the most puissant hosts of
the world. Thereby do the saints subdue the cities of [men's] hearts by
the permission of God, the Lord of hosts. Darkness hath encompassed the
earth: the lamp which giveth light was and is wisdom. The dictates thereof
must be observed under all circumstances. And of wisdom is the regard of
place and the utterance of discourse according to measure and state. And
of wisdom is decision; for man should not accept whatsoever anyone sayeth.

"Under all circumstances desire of the True One (glorious is His glory)
that He will not deprive His servants of the sealed wine(22) and the
lights of the Name of the Self-Subsistent.

"O friends of God, verily the Pen of Sincerity enjoineth on you the
greatest faithfulness. By the Life of God, its light is more evident than
the light of the sun! In its light and its brightness and its radiance
every light is eclipsed. We desire of God that He will not withhold from
His cities and lands the radiant effulgence of the Sun of Faithfulness. We
have directed all in the nights and in the days to faithfulness, chastity,
purity, and constancy; and have enjoined good deeds and well-pleasing
qualities. In the nights and in the days the shriek of the pen ariseth and
the tongue speaketh, that against the sword the word may arise, and
against fierceness patience, and in place of oppression submission, and at
the time of martyrdom resignation. For thirty years and more, in all that
hath befallen this oppressed community they have been patient, referring
it to God. Everyone endowed with justice and fairness hath testified and
doth testify to that which hath been said. During this period this
Oppressed One was engaged in good exhortations and efficacious and
sufficient admonitions, till it became established and obvious before all
that this Victim had made Himself a target for the arrows of calamity unto
the showing forth of the treasures deposited in [men's] souls. Strife and
contest were and are seemly in the beasts of prey of the earth, [but]
laudable actions are seemly in man.

"Blessed is the Merciful One: Who created man: and taught him
utterance.(23) After all these troubles, neither are the ministers of
state content, nor the doctors of the church. Not one soul was