In like manner, those words that have streamed forth from the source of power and descended from the heaven of glory are innumerable and beyond the ordinary comprehension of man.  To them that are possessed of true understanding and insight the Surah of Hud surely sufficeth.  Ponder a while those holy words in your heart, and, with utter detachment, strive to grasp their meaning.  Examine the wondrous behaviour of the Prophets, and recall the defamations and denials uttered by the children of negation and falsehood, perchance you may cause the bird of the human heart to wing its flight away from the abodes of heedlessness and doubt unto the nest of faith and certainty, and drink deep from the pure waters of ancient wisdom, and partake of the fruit of the tree of divine knowledge.  Such is the share of the pure in heart of the bread that hath descended from the realms of eternity and holiness.

Should you acquaint yourself with the indignities heaped upon the Prophets of God, and apprehend the true causes of the objections voiced by their oppressors, you will surely appreciate the significance of their position.  Moreover, the more closely you observe the denials of those who have opposed the Manifestations of the divine attributes, the firmer will be your faith in the Cause of God.  Accordingly, a brief mention will be made in this Tablet of divers accounts relative to the Prophets of God, that they may demonstrate the truth that throughout all ages and centuries the Manifestations of power and glory have been subjected to such heinous cruelties that no pen dare describe them.  Perchance this may enable a few to cease to be perturbed by the clamour and protestations of the divines and the foolish of this age, and cause them to strengthen their confidence and certainty.

Among the Prophets was Noah.  For nine hundred and fifty years He prayerfully exhorted His people and summoned them to the haven of security and peace.  None, however, heeded His call.  Each day they inflicted on His blessed person such pain and suffering that no one believed He could survive.  How frequently they denied Him, how malevolently they hinted their suspicion against Him!  Thus it hath been revealed:  “And as often as a company of His people passed by Him, they derided Him.  To them He said:  ’Though ye scoff at us now, we will scoff at you hereafter even as ye scoff at us.  In the end ye shall know.’"(3) Long afterward, He several times promised victory to His companions and fixed the hour thereof.  But when the hour struck, the divine promise was not fulfilled.  This caused a few among the small number of His followers to turn away from Him, and to this testify the records of the best-known books.  These you must certainly have perused; if not, undoubtedly you will.  Finally, as stated in books and traditions, there remained with Him only forty or seventy-two of His followers.  At last from the depth of His being He cried aloud:  “Lord!  Leave not upon the land a single dweller from among the unbelievers."(4)