Among the things they have imputed to the Divine Lote-Tree (Moses) are charges to the falsity of which every discerning man of knowledge, and every wise and understanding heart, will witness.  Thou must, no doubt, have read and considered the verses which have been sent down concerning Him Who conversed with God.  He—­may He be blessed and glorified—­saith:  “He said:  ’Did We not rear thee among us when a child?  And hast thou not passed years of thy life among us?  And yet what a deed is that which thou hast done!  Thou art one of the ungrateful.’  He said:  ’I did it indeed, and I was one of those who erred.  And I fled from you because I feared you; but My Lord hath given Me wisdom and hath made Me one of His Apostles.’” And elsewhere He—­may He be blessed and exalted—­saith:  “And He entered a city at the time when its inhabitants would not observe Him, and found therein two men fighting, the one, of His own people; the other, of His enemies.  And he who was of His own people asked His help against him who was of His enemies.  And Moses smote him with His fist and slew him.  Said He:  ‘This is a work of Satan; for he is an enemy, a manifest misleader.’  He said:  ‘O my Lord!  I have sinned to mine own hurt, forgive me.’  So God forgave Him; for He is the Forgiving, the Merciful.  He said:  ’Lord! because Thou hast showed me this grace, I will never again be the helper of the wicked.’  And in the city at noon He was full of fear, casting furtive glances round Him, and lo, the man whom He had helped the day before, cried out to Him again for help.  Said Moses to him:  ’Thou art plainly a most depraved person.’  And when He would have laid violent hands on him who was their common foe, he said to Him:  ’O Moses!  Dost Thou desire to slay me, as thou slewest a man yesterday?  Thou desirest only to become a tyrant in this land, and desirest not to become a peacemaker.’” Thine ears and thine eyes must needs now be cleansed and sanctified, that thou mayest be able to judge with fairness and justice.  Moses Himself, moreover, acknowledged His injustice and waywardness, and testified that fear had seized Him, and that He had transgressed, and fled away.  He asked God—­exalted be His glory—­to forgive Him, and He was forgiven.

O Shay_kh_!  Every time God the True One—­exalted be His glory—­revealed Himself in the person of His Manifestation, He came unto men with the standard of “He doeth what He willeth, and ordaineth what He pleaseth.”  None hath the right to ask why or wherefore, and he that doth so, hath indeed turned aside from God, the Lord of Lords.  In the days of every Manifestation these things appear and are evident.  Likewise, they have said that about this Wronged One, to the falsity of which they who are nigh unto God and are devoted to Him have borne, and still bear, witness.  By the righteousness of God!  This Hem of His Robe hath ever been and remaineth unsullied, though many have, at the present time, purposed to besmirch it with their lying and