In this day the most vital and momentous matter is steadfastness in the love of the Manifestor of Light on the Mount of Sinai and endurance of ordeals and unaccountable calamities in this Cause.
Ere long the seditious people shall arise in that country to deride the righteous ones and to ridicule the holy ones. Every day they will cast ignominy and at every moment they will present great persecution. They shall revile the friends for the sake of the love of Baha; and bring down upon them contempt and sarcasm; neither do they fall short in creating torture.
This is the custom and sentence of the people of bygone ages. Undoubtedly these things must transpire in these days even with a greater intensity.
That is why His Holiness the Christ sayeth: “Everything which hath happened in the cycles of the former prophets will certainly occur again in these days.” Consider ye! What calumny, slander, cruelty and oppression were brought down upon the apostles by the Israelites for the sake of faith and assurance! They unlocked the hands of pillage, persecuted and tortured those sanctified souls. Therefore, there is no doubt but that you will become afflicted with trial, calamity and oppression in the path of the Beauty of Abha. These trials are the essence of bestowal and pure bounty and the proofs of your acceptance in the Threshold of Oneness. Consequently, when the fire of trials is ignited, celebrate ye in joy, dance with overflowing emotions and be ye happy that—praise be to God!—ye have become the target of contempt in the path of the Beauty of Abha and are hated by the people of passion and desire.
Thy services in the highway of the Kingdom are accepted, thy toleration of the troubles is known and manifest and thy eloquent speeches in the assemblies of believers are heard and appreciated. I hope that through these services thou mayest become the manifestor of the favors of the Lord of the Kingdom and recipient of the merciful glances of His Highness the Magnificent and the Compassionate.
“O thou speaker in the remembrance of God!...”
O thou speaker in the remembrance of God!
Verily I say unto thee, O servant of God! The earth and what is therein are imaginations or reflections in mirrors or shades; but the bounty of the Kingdom and the gifts of the invisible world are the thoughts of the Merciful One, and the lordly radiances are immortal and constant and unending. Thou must depend upon these! Thou must depend unto these! Thou must depend upon these!