recount.  Refer to the Qur’an, that thou mayest find mention of all this and be of them that understand its meaning.  Even to this day do these people await the appearance of that which they have learned from their doctors and imbibed from their divines.  Thus do they say:  “When shall these signs be made manifest, that we may believe?” But if this be the case, how could ye refute their arguments, invalidate their proofs, and challenge them concerning their faith and their understanding of their Books and the sayings of their leaders?

15 And should they reply:  “The Books that are in the hands of this people, which they call the Gospel and attribute to Jesus, the Son of Mary, have not been revealed by God and proceed not from the Manifestations of His Self”, then this would imply a cessation in the abounding grace of Him Who is the Source of all grace.  If so, God’s testimony to His servants would have remained incomplete and His favour proven imperfect.  His mercy would not have shone resplendent, nor would His grace have overshadowed all.  For if at the ascension of Jesus His Book had likewise ascended unto heaven, then how could God reprove and chastise the people on the Day of Resurrection, as hath been written by the Imams of the Faith and affirmed by its illustrious divines?

16 Ponder then in thine heart:  Matters being such as thou dost witness, and as We also witness, where canst thou flee, and with whom shalt thou take refuge?  Unto whom wilt thou turn thy gaze?  In what land shalt thou dwell and upon what seat shalt thou abide?  In what path shalt thou tread and at what hour wilt thou find repose?  What shall become of thee in the end?  Where shalt thou secure the cord of thy faith and fasten the tie of thine obedience?  By Him Who revealeth Himself in His oneness and Whose own Self beareth witness to His unity!  Should there be ignited in thy heart the burning brand of the love of God, thou wouldst seek neither rest nor composure, neither laughter nor repose, but wouldst hasten to scale the highest summits in the realms of divine nearness, sanctity, and beauty.  Thou wouldst lament as a soul bereaved and weep as a heart filled with longing.  Nor wouldst thou repair to thy home and abode unless God would lay bare before thee His Cause.

17 O thou who hast soared to the realm of guidance and ascended to the kingdom of virtue!  Shouldst thou desire to apprehend these celestial allusions, to witness the mysteries of divine knowledge, and to become acquainted with His all-encompassing Word, then it behoveth thine eminence to inquire into these and other questions pertaining to thine origin and ultimate goal from those whom God hath made to be the Wellspring of His knowledge, the Heaven of His wisdom, and the Ark of His mysteries.  For were it not for those effulgent Lights that shine above the horizon of His Essence, the people would know not their left hand from their right, how much less could they scale