Were the verse “And verily Our host shall conquer” to be literally interpreted, it is evident that it would in no wise be applicable to the chosen Ones of God and His hosts, inasmuch as Husayn, whose heroism was manifest as the sun, crushed and subjugated, quaffed at last the cup of martyrdom in Karbila, the land of Taff.  Similarly, the sacred verse “Fain would they put out God’s light with their mouths:  But God hath willed to perfect His light, albeit the infidels abhor it.”  Were it to be literally interpreted it would never correspond with the truth.  For in every age the light of God hath, to outward seeming, been quenched by the peoples of the earth, and the Lamps of God extinguished by them.  How then could the ascendancy of the sovereignty of these Lamps be explained?  What could the potency of God’s will to “perfect His light” signify?  As hath already been witnessed, so great was the enmity of the infidels, that none of these divine Luminaries ever found a place for shelter, or tasted of the cup of tranquillity.  So heavily were they oppressed, that the least of men inflicted upon these Essences of being whatsoever he listed.  These sufferings have been observed and measured by the people.  How, therefore, can such people be capable of understanding and expounding these words of God, these verses of everlasting glory?

But the purpose of these verses is not what they have imagined.  Nay, the terms “ascendancy,” “power,” and “authority” imply a totally different station and meaning.  For instance, consider the pervading power of those drops of the blood of Husayn which besprinkled the earth.  What ascendancy and influence hath the dust itself, through the sacredness and potency of that blood, exercised over the bodies and souls of men!  So much so, that he who sought deliverance from his ills, was healed by touching the dust of that holy ground, and whosoever, wishing to protect his property, treasured with absolute faith and understanding, a little of that holy earth within his house, safeguarded all his possessions.  These are the outward manifestations of its potency.  And were We to recount its hidden virtues they would assuredly say:  “He verily hath considered the dust to be the Lord of Lords, and hath utterly forsaken the Faith of God.”

Furthermore, call to mind the shameful circumstances that have attended the martyrdom of Husayn.  Reflect upon his loneliness, how, to outer seeming, none could be found to aid him, none to take up his body and bury it.  And yet, behold how numerous, in this day, are those who from the uttermost corners of the earth don the garb of pilgrimage, seeking the site of his martyrdom, that there they may lay their heads upon the threshold of his shrine!  Such is the ascendancy and power of God!  Such is the glory of His dominion and majesty!