purity and sanctity of Our name.

Gracious God! This is the day whereon the wise should seek the advice of
this Wronged One, and ask Him Who is the Truth what things are conducive
to the glory and tranquillity of men. And yet, all are earnestly striving
to put out this glorious and shining light, and are diligently seeking
either to establish Our guilt, or to voice their protest against Us.
Matters have come to such a pass, that the conduct of this Wronged One
hath, in every way, been grossly misrepresented, and in a manner which it
would be unseemly to mention. One of Our friends hath reported that among
the residents of the Great City (Constantinople) he had heard with the
greatest regret someone state that, each year, a sum of fifty thousand
tumans was being despatched from his native land to Akká! It hath not,
however, been made clear who had disbursed the sum, nor through whose
hands it had passed!

Briefly, this Wronged One hath, in the face of all that hath befallen Him
at their hands, and all that hath been said of Him, endured patiently, and
held His peace, inasmuch as it is Our purpose, through the loving
providence of God—exalted be His glory—and His surpassing mercy, to
abolish, through the force of Our utterance, all disputes, war, and
bloodshed, from the face of the earth. Under all conditions We have, in
spite of what they have said, endured with seemly patience, and have left
them to God. In answer to this particular imputation, however, We have
replied, that if that which he affirmeth be true, it behooveth him to be
thankful to Him Who is the Lord of all being, and the King of the seen and
unseen, for having raised up in Persia One Who, though a prisoner and with
none to help and assist Him, hath succeeded in establishing His ascendency
over that land, and in drawing from it a yearly revenue. Such an
achievement should be praised rather than censured, if he be of them that