3 Know then that it behoveth thine eminence to ponder from the outset
these questions in thy heart: What hath prompted the divers peoples and
kindreds of the earth to reject the Apostles whom God hath sent unto them
in His might and power, whom He hath raised up to exalt His Cause and
ordained to be the Lamps of eternity within the Niche of His oneness? For
what reason have the people turned aside from them, disputed about them,
risen against and contended with them? On what grounds have they refused
to acknowledge their apostleship and authority, nay, denied their truth
and reviled their persons, even slaying or banishing them?

4 O thou who hast set foot in the wilderness of knowledge and taken abode
within the ark of wisdom! Not until thou hast grasped the mysteries
concealed in that which We shall relate unto thee canst thou hope to
attain to the stations of faith and certitude in the Cause of God and in
those who are the Manifestations of His Cause, the Daysprings of His
Command, the Treasuries of His revelation, and the Repositories of His
knowledge. Shouldst thou fail in this, thou wouldst be numbered with them
that have not striven for the Cause of God, nor inhaled the fragrance of
faith from the raiment of certitude, nor scaled the heights of the divine
unity, nor yet recognized the stations of divine singleness within the
Embodiments of praise and the Essences of sanctity.

5 Strive then, O My brother, to apprehend this matter, that the veils may
be lifted from the face of thy heart and that thou mayest be reckoned
among them whom God hath graced with such penetrating vision as to behold
the most subtle realities of His dominion, to fathom the mysteries of His
kingdom, to perceive the signs of His transcendent Essence in this mortal
world, and to attain a station wherein one seeth no distinction amongst
His creatures and findeth no flaw in the creation of the heavens and the