these dire adversities be succeeded by an overflowing prosperity. We fain
would hope, however, that His Majesty the Sháh will himself examine these
matters, and bring hope to the hearts. That which We have submitted to thy
Majesty is indeed for thine highest good. And God, verily, is a sufficient
witness unto Me....

O would that thou wouldst permit Me, O Sháh, to send unto thee that which
would cheer the eyes, and tranquillize the souls, and persuade every
fair-minded person that with Him is the knowledge of the Book... But for
the repudiation of the foolish and the connivance of the divines, I would
have uttered a discourse that would have thrilled and carried away the
hearts unto a realm from the murmur of whose winds can be heard: ‘No God
is there but He!’...

I have seen, O Sháh, in the path of God what eye hath not seen nor ear
heard... How numerous the tribulations which have rained, and will soon
rain, upon Me! I advance with My face set towards Him Who is the Almighty,
the All-Bounteous, whilst behind Me glideth the serpent. Mine eyes have
rained down tears until My bed is drenched. I sorrow not for Myself,
however. By God! Mine head yearneth for the spear out of love for its
Lord. I never passed a tree, but Mine heart addressed it saying: ‘O would
that thou wert cut down in My name, and My body crucified upon thee, in
the path of My Lord!’... By God! Though weariness lay Me low, and hunger
consume Me, and the bare rock be My bed, and My fellows the beasts of the
field, I will not complain, but will endure patiently as those endued with
constancy and firmness have endured patiently, through the power of God,
the Eternal King and Creator of the nations, and will render thanks unto
God under all conditions. We pray that, out of His bounty—exalted be He—He
may release, through this imprisonment, the necks of men from chains and
fetters, and cause them to turn, with sincere faces, towards His Face, Who