within them, that at every moment they seem to be afflicted with fresh torments.  The more they are told that this wondrous Cause of God, this Revelation from the Most High, hath been made manifest to all mankind, and is waxing greater and stronger every day, the fiercer groweth the blaze of the fire in their hearts.  The more they observe the indomitable strength, the sublime renunciation, the unwavering constancy of God’s holy companions, who, by the aid of God, are growing nobler and more glorious every day, the deeper the dismay which ravageth their souls.  In these days, praise be to God, the power of His Word hath obtained such ascendancy over men, that they dare breathe no word.  Were they to encounter one of the companions of God who, if he could, would, freely and joyously, offer up ten thousand lives as a sacrifice for his Beloved, so great would be their fear, that they forthwith would profess their faith in Him, whilst privily they would vilify and execrate His name!  Even as He hath revealed:  “And when they meet you, they say, ‘We believe’; but when they are apart, they bite their fingers’ ends at you, out of wrath.  Say:  ‘Die in your wrath!’ God truly knoweth the very recesses of your breasts."(61)

Ere long, thine eyes will behold the standards of divine power unfurled throughout all regions, and the signs of His triumphant might and sovereignty manifest in every land.  As most of the divines have failed to apprehend the meaning of these verses, and have not grasped the significance of the Day of Resurrection, they therefore have foolishly interpreted these verses according to their idle and faulty conception.  The one true God is My witness!  Little perception is required to enable them to gather from the symbolic language of these two verses all that We have purposed to propound, and thus to attain, through the grace of the All-Merciful, the resplendent morn of certitude.  Such are the strains of celestial melody which the immortal Bird of Heaven, warbling upon the Sadrih of Baha, poureth out upon thee, that, by the permission of God, thou mayest tread the path of divine knowledge and wisdom.

And now, concerning His words:  “And He shall send His angels....”  By “angels” is meant those who, reinforced by the power of the spirit, have consumed, with the fire of the love of God, all human traits and limitations, and have clothed themselves with the attributes of the most exalted Beings and of the Cherubim.  That holy man, Sadiq,(62) in his eulogy of the Cherubim, saith:  “There stand a company of our fellow-Shi’ihs behind the Throne.”  Divers and manifold are the interpretations of the words “behind the Throne.”  In one sense, they indicate that no true Shi’ihs exist.  Even as he hath said in another passage:  “A true believer is likened unto the philosopher’s stone.”  Addressing subsequently his listener, he saith:  “Hast thou ever seen the philosopher’s stone?” Reflect, how this symbolic language, more eloquent than any speech, however direct, testifieth to the non-existence of a true believer.  Such is the testimony of Sadiq.  And now consider, how unfair and numerous are those who, although they themselves have failed to inhale the fragrance of belief, have condemned as infidels those by whose word belief itself is recognized and established.