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
would not have been deprived of beholding the beauty of God, nor strayed
far from the habitations of glory. But having weighed the testimony of God
by the standard of their own knowledge, gleaned from the teachings of the
leaders of their faith, and found it at variance with their limited
understanding, they arose to perpetrate such unseemly acts.

Leaders of religion, in every age, have hindered their people from
attaining the shores of eternal salvation, inasmuch as they held the reins
of authority in their mighty grasp. Some for the lust of leadership,
others through want of knowledge and understanding, have been the cause of
the deprivation of the people. By their sanction and authority, every
Prophet of God hath drunk from the chalice of sacrifice, and winged His
flight unto the heights of glory. What unspeakable cruelties they that
have occupied the seats of authority and learning have inflicted upon the
true Monarchs of the world, those Gems of divine virtue! Content with a
transitory dominion, they have deprived themselves of an everlasting
sovereignty. Thus, their eyes beheld not the light of the countenance of
the Well-Beloved, nor did their ears hearken unto the sweet melodies of
the Bird of Desire. For this reason, in all sacred books mention hath been
made of the divines of every age. Thus He saith: “O people of the Book!
Why disbelieve the signs of God to which ye yourselves have been
witnesses?”(12) And also He saith: “O people of the Book! Why clothe ye
the truth with falsehood? Why wittingly hide the truth?”(13) Again, He
saith: “Say, O people of the Book! Why repel believers from the way of
God?”(14) It is evident that by the “people of the Book,” who have
repelled their fellow-men from the straight path of God, is meant none
other than the divines of that age, whose names and character have been
revealed in the sacred books, and alluded to in the verses and traditions