that I said unto thee, ye must be born again.”(49)

72 Wing then thy flight unto this divine Tree and partake of its fruits.
Gather up that which hath fallen therefrom and guard it faithfully.
Meditate then upon the utterance of one of the Prophets as He intimated to
the souls of men, through veiled allusions and hidden symbols, the
glad-tidings of the One Who was to come after Him, that thou mayest know
of a certainty that their words are inscrutable to all save those who are
endued with an understanding heart. He saith: “His eyes were as a flame of
fire”, and “brass-like were His feet”, and “out of His mouth goeth a
two-edged sword”.(50) How could these words be literally interpreted? Were
anyone to appear with all these signs, he would assuredly not be human.
And how could any soul seek his company? Nay, should he appear in one
city, even the inhabitants of the next would flee from him, nor would any
soul dare approach him! Yet, shouldst thou reflect upon these statements,
thou wouldst find them to be of such surpassing eloquence and clarity as
to mark the loftiest heights of utterance and the epitome of wisdom.
Methinks it is from them that the suns of eloquence have appeared and the
stars of clarity have dawned forth and shone resplendent.

73 Behold, then, the foolish ones of bygone times and those who, in this
day, await the advent of such a being! Nor would they ever bear allegiance
unto him except that he appear in the aforementioned form. And as such a
being will never appear, so too will they never believe. Such indeed is
the measure of the understanding of these perverse and ungodly souls! How
could those who fail to understand the most evident of the evident and the
most manifest of the manifest ever apprehend the abstruse realities of the
divine precepts and the essence of the mysteries of His everlasting
wisdom?