surrendered his soul.  An empty bottle was found by his side, indicating that he had poisoned himself.  Briefly, the guardian, while greatly astonished, broke the news to the people.  It was found out that he had left two testaments.  In the first he recognized and confessed the unity of God, that His Exalted Being had neither peer nor equal, and that His Essence was exalted above all praise, all glorification and description.  He also testified to the Revelation of the Prophets and the holy ones, and recognized what had been written down in the Books of God, the Lord of all men.  On another page, in which he had set down a prayer, he wrote these words in conclusion:  “This servant and the loved ones of God are perplexed.  On the one hand the Pen of the Most High hath forbidden all men to engage in sedition, contention or conflict, and on the other that same Pen hath sent down these most sublime words:  ’Should anyone, in the presence of the Manifestation, discover an evil intention on the part of any soul, he must not oppose him, but must leave him to God.’  Considering that on the one hand this binding command is clear and firmly established, and that on the other calumnies, beyond human strength to bear or endure, have been uttered, this servant hath chosen to commit this most grievous sin.  I turn suppliantly unto the ocean of God’s bounty and the heaven of Divine mercy, and hope that He will blot out with the pen of His grace and bounteousness the misdeeds of this servant.  Though my transgressions be manifold, and unnumbered my evildoings, yet do I cleave tenaciously to the cord of His bounty, and cling unto the hem of His generosity.  God is witness, and they that are nigh unto His Threshold know full well, that this servant could not bear to hear the tales related by the perfidious.  I, therefore, have committed this act.  If He chastise me, He verily is to be praised for what He doeth; and if He forgive me, His behest shall be obeyed.”

Ponder, now, O Shay_kh_, the influence of the word of God, that haply thou mayest turn from the left hand of idle fancy unto the right hand of certitude.  This Wronged One hath never acted hypocritically towards any one, in the Cause of God, and hath loudly proclaimed the Word of God before the face of His creatures.  Let him who wisheth turn thereunto, and let him who wisheth turn aside.  If these things, however, that are so clear, so manifest and indubitable, be denied, what else can be deemed acceptable and worthy of credence in the estimation of men of insight?  We beseech God—­blessed and glorified be He—­to forgive the aforementioned person (Haji Shay_kh_ Muhammad-’Ali), and change his evil deeds into good ones.  He, verily, is the All-Powerful, the Almighty, the All-Bounteous.

Such things have appeared in this Revelation that there is no recourse for either the exponents of science and knowledge or the manifestations of justice and equity other than to recognize them.  It is incumbent upon thee, in this day, to arise with celestial power and dissipate, with the aid of knowledge, the doubts of the peoples of the world, so that all men may be sanctified, and direct their steps towards the Most Great Ocean and cleave fast unto that which God hath purposed.