concealment, and be made manifest to all the world. And whensoever the
portals of grace did open, and the clouds of divine bounty did rain upon
mankind, and the light of the Unseen did shine above the horizon of
celestial might, they all denied Him, and turned away from His face—the
face of God Himself....

Reflect, what could have been the motive for such deeds? What could have
prompted such behavior towards the Revealers of the beauty of the
All-Glorious? Whatever in days gone by hath been the cause of the denial
and opposition of those people hath now led to the perversity of the
people of this age. To maintain that the testimony of Providence was
incomplete, that it hath therefore been the cause of the denial of the
people, is but open blasphemy. How far from the grace of the All-Bountiful
and from His loving providence and tender mercies it is to single out a
soul from amongst all men for the guidance of His creatures, and, on one
hand, to withhold from Him the full measure of His divine testimony, and,
on the other, inflict severe retribution on His people for having turned
away from His chosen One! Nay, the manifold bounties of the Lord of all
beings have, at all times, through the Manifestations of His Divine
Essence, encompassed the earth and all that dwell therein. Not for a
moment hath His grace been withheld, nor have the showers of His
loving-kindness ceased to rain upon mankind. Consequently, such behavior
can be attributed to naught save the petty-mindedness of such souls as
tread the valley of arrogance and pride, are lost in the wilds of
remoteness, walk in the ways of their idle fancy, and follow the dictates
of the leaders of their faith. Their chief concern is mere opposition;
their sole desire is to ignore the truth. Unto every discerning observer
it is evident and manifest that had these people in the days of each of
the Manifestations of the Sun of Truth sanctified their eyes, their ears,
and their hearts from whatever they had seen, heard, and felt, they surely