O Shay_kh_!  While hemmed in by tribulations this Wronged One is occupied in setting down these words.  On every side the flame of oppression and tyranny can be discerned.  On the one hand, tidings have reached Us that Our loved ones have been arrested in the land of Ta (Tihran) and this notwithstanding that the sun, and the moon, and the land, and the sea all testify that this people are adorned with the adornment of fidelity, and have clung and will cling to naught except that which can ensure the exaltation of the government, and the maintenance of order within the nation, and the tranquillity of the people.

O Shay_kh_!  We have time and again stated that for a number of years We have extended Our aid unto His Majesty the Shah.  For years no untoward incident hath occurred in Persia.  The reins of the stirrers of sedition among various sects were held firmly in the grasp of power.  None hath transgressed his limits.  By God!  This people have never been, nor are they now, inclined to mischief.  Their hearts are illumined with the light of the fear of God, and adorned with the adornment of His love.  Their concern hath ever been and now is for the betterment of the world.  Their purpose is to obliterate differences, and quench the flame of hatred and enmity, so that the whole earth may come to be viewed as one country.

On the other hand, the officials of the Persian Embassy in the Great City (Constantinople) are energetically and assiduously seeking to exterminate these wronged ones.  They desire one thing, and God desireth another.  Consider now what hath befallen the trusted ones of God in every land.  At one time they have been accused of theft and larceny; at another they have been calumniated in a manner without parallel in this world.  Answer thou fairly.  What could be the results and consequences, in foreign countries, of the accusation of theft brought by the Persian Embassy against its own subjects?  If this Wronged One was ashamed, it was not because of the humiliation it brought this servant, but rather because of the shame of its becoming known to the Ambassadors of foreign countries how incompetent and lacking in understanding are several eminent officials of the Persian Embassy.  “Flingest thou thy calumnies into the face of Them Whom the one true God hath made the Trustees of the treasures of His seventh sphere?” Briefly, instead of seeking, as they should, through Him Who occupieth this sublime station, to attain unto the most exalted ranks, and to obtain His advice, they have exerted themselves and are striving their utmost to put out His light.  However, according to what hath been reported, His Excellency the Ambassador Mu’inu’l-Mulk, Mirza Muhsin Khan—­may God assist him—­was, at that time, absent from Constantinople.  Such things have happened because it was believed that His Majesty the Shah of Persia—­may the All-Merciful assist him—­was angry with them that have attained and revolve round the Sanctuary of Wisdom.  God well knoweth and testifieth that this Wronged One hath, at all times, been cleaving fast unto whatever would be conducive to the glory of both the government and the people.  God, verily, is sufficient Witness.