have embraced it have been reared and nurtured; by the light of whose law
generations of men have been disciplined; the excellency of whose word men
have heard recounted by their fathers; in such wise that human eye hath
beheld naught but the pervading influence of its grace, and mortal ear
hath heard naught but the resounding majesty of its command—what act is
mightier than that such a Revelation should, by the power of God, be
“cloven asunder” and be abolished at the appearance of one soul? Reflect,
is this a mightier act than that which these abject and foolish men have
imagined the “cleaving of the heaven” to mean?

Moreover, consider the hardships and the bitterness of the lives of those
Revealers of the divine Beauty. Reflect, how single-handed and alone they
faced the world and all its peoples, and promulgated the Law of God! No
matter how severe the persecutions inflicted upon those holy, those
precious, and tender Souls, they still remained, in the plenitude of their
power, patient, and, despite their ascendancy, they suffered and endured.

In like manner, endeavour to comprehend the meaning of the “changing of
the earth.” Know thou, that upon whatever hearts the bountiful showers of
mercy, raining from the “heaven” of divine Revelation, have fallen, the
earth of those hearts hath verily been changed into the earth of divine
knowledge and wisdom. What myrtles of unity hath the soil of their hearts
produced! What blossoms of true knowledge and wisdom hath their illumined
bosoms yielded! Were the earth of their hearts to remain unchanged, how
could such souls who have not been taught one letter, have seen no
teacher, and entered no school, utter such words and display such
knowledge as none can apprehend? Methinks they have been moulded from the
clay of infinite knowledge, and kneaded with the water of divine wisdom.
Therefore, hath it been said: “Knowledge is a light which God casteth into
the heart of whomsoever He willeth.” It is this kind of knowledge which is