O Thou Remnant of G.o.d! I have sacrificed myself wholly for Thee; I have accepted curses for Thy sake, and have yearned for naught but martyrdom in the path of Thy love. Sufficient witness unto me is G.o.d, the Exalted, the Protector, the Ancient of Days.
O Qurratu"l-"Ayn! The words Thou hast uttered in this momentous Call have grieved Me bitterly. However, the irrevocable decision resteth with none but G.o.d and the decree proceedeth from none save Him alone. By My life, Thou art the Well-Beloved in the sight of G.o.d and His creation. Verily, there is no power except in G.o.d, and sufficient witness unto Me is your Lord, Who is, in very truth, the Omnipotent Avenger. _Chapter LVIII._
"O Peoples of the earth! By the righteousness of G.o.d, this ..."
O Peoples of the earth! By the righteousness of G.o.d, this Book hath, through the potency of the sovereign Truth, pervaded the earth and the heaven with the mighty Word of G.o.d concerning Him Who is the supreme Testimony, the Expected Qa"im, and verily G.o.d hath knowledge of all things. This divinely-inspired Book hath firmly established His Proof for all those who are in the East and in the West, hence beware lest ye utter aught but the truth regarding G.o.d, for I swear by your Lord that this supreme Proof of Mine beareth witness unto all things...
O servants of G.o.d! Be ye patient, for, G.o.d grant, He Who is the sovereign Truth will suddenly appear amongst you, invested with the power of the mighty Word, and ye shall then be confounded by the Truth itself, and ye shall have no power to ward it off;(34) and verily I am a witness over all mankind. _Chapter LIX._
"Verily such as ridicule the wondrous, divine Verses ..."
Verily such as ridicule the wondrous, divine Verses revealed through His Remembrance, are but making themselves the objects of ridicule, and We, in truth, aid them to wax in their iniquity.(35) Indeed G.o.d"s knowledge transcendeth all created things...
The infidels, of a truth, seek to separate G.o.d from His Remembrance,(36) but G.o.d hath determined to perfect His Light(37) through His Remembrance, and indeed He is potent over all things...
Verily, Christ is Our Word which We communicated unto Mary;(38) and let no one say what the Christians term as "the third of three",(39) inasmuch as it would amount to slandering the Remembrance Who, as decreed in the Mother Book, is invested with supreme authority. Indeed G.o.d is but one G.o.d, and far be it from His glory that there should be aught else besides Him. All those who shall attain unto Him on the Day of Resurrection are but His servants, and G.o.d is, of a truth, a sufficient Protector. Verily I am none other but the servant of G.o.d and His Word, and none but the first one to bow down in supplication before G.o.d, the Most Exalted; and indeed G.o.d witnesseth all things. _Chapter LXI._
"O People of the Qur"an! Ye are as nothing unless ye ..."
O People of the Qur"an! Ye are as nothing unless ye submit unto the Remembrance of G.o.d and unto this Book. If ye follow the Cause of G.o.d, We will forgive you your sins, and if ye turn aside from Our command, We will, in truth, condemn your souls in Our Book, unto the Most Great Fire.
We, verily, do not deal unjustly with men, even to the extent of a speck on a date-stone. _Chapter LXII._
"O Peoples of the earth! Verily the resplendent Light of ..."
O Peoples of the earth! Verily the resplendent Light of G.o.d hath appeared in your midst, invested with this unerring Book, that ye may be guided aright to the ways of peace and, by the leave of G.o.d, step out of the darkness into the light and onto this far-extended Path of Truth(40) ...
G.o.d hath, out of sheer nothingness and through the potency of His command, created the heavens and the earth and whatever lieth between them. He is single and peerless in His eternal unity with none to join partner with His holy Essence, nor is there any soul, except His Own Self, who can befittingly comprehend Him...
O peoples of the earth! Verily His Remembrance is come to you from G.o.d after an interval during which there were no Messengers,(41) that He may purge and purify you from uncleanliness in antic.i.p.ation of the Day of the One true G.o.d; therefore seek ye whole-heartedly divine blessings from Him, inasmuch as We have, in truth, chosen Him to be the Witness and the Source of wisdom unto all that dwell on earth...
O Qurratu"l-"Ayn! Proclaim that which hath been sent down unto Thee as a token of the grace of the merciful Lord, for if Thou do it not, Our secret will never be made known to the people,(42) while the purpose of G.o.d in creating man is but for him to know Him. Indeed G.o.d hath knowledge of all things and is self-sufficient above the need of all mankind. _Chapter LXII._
"Whenever the faithful hear the verses of this Book ..."
Whenever the faithful hear the verses of this Book being recited, their eyes will overflow with tears and their hearts will be deeply touched by Him Who is the Most Great Remembrance for the love they cherish for G.o.d, the All-Praised. He is G.o.d, the All-Knowing, the Eternal. They are indeed the inmates of the all-highest Paradise wherein they will abide for ever.
Verily they will see naught therein save that which hath proceeded from G.o.d, nothing that will lie beyond the compa.s.s of their understanding.
There they will meet the believers in Paradise, who will address them with the words "Peace, Peace" lingering on their lips...
O concourse of the faithful! Incline your ears to My Voice, proclaimed by this Remembrance of G.o.d. Verily G.o.d hath revealed unto Me that the Path of the Remembrance which is set forth by Me is, in very truth, the straight Path of G.o.d, and that whoever professeth any religion other than this upright Faith, will, when called to account on the Day of Judgement, discover that as recorded in the Book no benefit hath he reaped out of G.o.d"s Religion...
Fear ye G.o.d, O concourse of kings, lest ye remain afar from Him Who is His Remembrance [the Bab], after the Truth hath come unto you with a Book and signs from G.o.d, as spoken through the wondrous tongue of Him Who is His Remembrance. Seek ye grace from G.o.d, for G.o.d hath ordained for you, after ye have believed in Him, a Garden the vastness of which is as the vastness of the whole of Paradise. Therein ye shall find naught save the gifts and favours which the Almighty hath graciously bestowed by virtue of this momentous Cause, as decreed in the Mother Book. _Chapter LXIII._
"O Spirit of G.o.d! Call Thou to mind the bounty which ..."
O Spirit of G.o.d! Call Thou to mind the bounty which I bestowed upon Thee when I conversed with Thee in the midmost heart of My Sanctuary and aided Thee through the potency of the Holy Spirit that Thou mightest, as the peerless Mouthpiece of G.o.d, proclaim unto men the commandments of G.o.d which lie enshrined within the divine Spirit.
Verily G.o.d hath inspired Thee with divine verses and wisdom while still a child and hath graciously deigned to bestow His favour upon the peoples of the world through the influence of Thy Most Great Name, for indeed men have not the least knowledge of the Book. _Chapter LXIII._
"O People of the earth! To attain the ultimate retreat in ..."
O People of the earth! To attain the ultimate retreat in G.o.d, the True One, are we to seek a Gate other than this exalted Being?...
When G.o.d created the Remembrance He presented Him to the a.s.semblage of all created beings upon the altar of His Will. Thereupon the concourse of the angels bowed low in adoration to G.o.d, the Peerless, the Incomparable; while Satan waxed proud, refusing to submit to His Remembrance; hence he is identified in the Book of G.o.d as the arrogant one and the accursed.(43) _Chapter LXVII._
"G.o.d, besides Whom there is none other true G.o.d, saith: ..."
G.o.d, besides Whom there is none other true G.o.d, saith: Indeed, whoso visiteth the Remembrance of G.o.d after His pa.s.sing, it is as though he hath attained the presence of the Lord, seated upon His mighty Throne. Verily this is the Way of G.o.d, the Most Exalted, which hath been irrevocably decreed in the Mother Book...
Say, O peoples of the world! Do ye dispute with Me about G.o.d by virtue of the names which ye and your fathers have adopted for Him at the promptings of the Evil One?(44) G.o.d hath indeed sent down this Book unto Me with truth that ye may be enabled to recognize the true names of G.o.d, inasmuch as ye have strayed in error far from the Truth. Verily We have taken a covenant from every created thing upon its coming into being concerning the Remembrance of G.o.d, and there shall be none to avert the binding command of G.o.d for the purification of mankind, as ordained in the Book which is written by the hand of the Bab. _Chapter LXVIII._
"The people, during the absence of the Bab, re-enacted ..."
The people, during the absence of the Bab, re-enacted the episode of the Calf by setting up a blaring figure which embodied animal features in human form(45) ...