is the Mighty, the Unconstrained. We ask thee to reflect upon that which
hath been revealed, and to be fair and just in thy speech, that perchance
the splendors of the daystar of truthfulness and sincerity may shine
forth, and may deliver thee from the darkness of ignorance, and illumine
the world with the light of knowledge. This Wronged One hath frequented no
school, neither hath He attended the controversies of the learned. By My
life! Not of Mine own volition have I revealed Myself, but God, of His own
choosing, hath manifested Me. In the Tablet, addressed to His Majesty the
_Sh_áh—may God, blessed and glorified be He, assist him—these words have
streamed from the tongue of this Wronged One:

"O King! I was but a man like others, asleep upon My couch, when lo, the
breezes of the All-Glorious were wafted over Me, and taught Me the
knowledge of all that hath been. This thing is not from Me, but from One
Who is Almighty and All-Knowing. And He bade Me lift up My voice between
earth and heaven, and for this there befell Me what hath caused the tears
of every man of understanding to flow. The learning current amongst men I
studied not; their schools I entered not. Ask of the city wherein I dwelt,
that thou mayest be well assured that I am not of them who speak falsely.
This is but a leaf which the winds of the will of thy Lord, the Almighty,
the All-Praised, have stirred. Can it be still when the tempestuous winds
are blowing? Nay, by Him Who is the Lord of all Names and Attributes! They
move it as they list. The evanescent is as nothing before Him Who is the
Ever-Abiding. His all-compelling summons hath reached Me, and caused Me to
speak His praise amidst all people. I was indeed as one dead when His
behest was uttered. The hand of the will of thy Lord, the Compassionate,
the Merciful, transformed Me."

Now is the moment in which to cleanse thyself with the waters of
detachment that have flowed out from the Supreme Pen, and to ponder,