sovereignty. He, verily, is the Truth, the Knower of things unseen. I,
verily, anticipate from you the treatment ye have accorded unto Him that
came before Me. To this all things, verily, witness, if ye be of those who
hearken. O people of the Bayán! If ye have resolved to shed the blood of
Him Whose coming the Báb hath proclaimed, Whose advent Muḥammad hath
prophesied, and Whose Revelation Jesus Christ Himself hath announced,
behold Me standing, ready and defenseless, before you. Deal with Me after
your own desires.





XLVIII: GOD IS MY WITNESS! HAD IT NOT BEEN IN...


God is my witness! Had it not been in conflict with that which the Tablets
of God have decreed, I would have gladly kissed the hands of whosoever
attempted to shed my blood in the path of the Well-Beloved. I would,
moreover, have bestowed upon him a share of such worldly goods as God had
allowed me to possess, even though he who perpetrated this act would have
provoked the wrath of the Almighty, incurred His malediction, and deserved
to be tormented throughout the eternity of God, the All-Possessing, the
Equitable, the All-Wise.





XLIX: KNOW VERILY THAT WHENEVER THIS YOUTH...