NASIRI’D-DIN SHAH

O king!  I was but a man like others, asleep upon My couch, when lo, the breezes of the All-Glorious were wafted over Me, and taught Me the knowledge of all that hath been.  This thing is not from Me, but from One Who is Almighty and All-Knowing.  And He bade Me lift up My voice between earth and heaven, and for this there befell Me what hath caused the tears of every man of understanding to flow.  The learning current amongst men I studied not; their schools I entered not.  Ask of the city wherein I dwelt, that thou mayest be well assured that I am not of them who speak falsely.  This is but a leaf which the winds of the will of thy Lord, the Almighty, the All-Praised, have stirred.  Can it be still when the tempestuous winds are blowing?  Nay, by Him Who is the Lord of all Names and Attributes!  They move it as they list.  The evanescent is as nothing before Him Who is the Ever-Abiding.  His all-compelling summons hath reached Me, and caused Me to speak His praise amidst all people.  I was indeed as one dead when His behest was uttered.  The hand of the will of thy Lord, the Compassionate, the Merciful, transformed Me.  Can any one speak forth of his own accord that for which all men, both high and low, will protest against him?  Nay, by Him Who taught the Pen the eternal mysteries, save him whom the grace of the Almighty, the All-Powerful, hath strengthened.  The Pen of the Most High addresseth Me saying:  Fear not.  Relate unto His Majesty the Shah that which befell thee.  His heart, verily, is between the fingers of thy Lord, the God of Mercy, that haply the sun of justice and bounty may shine forth above the horizon of his heart.  Thus hath the decree been irrevocably fixed by Him Who is the All-Wise.

Look upon this Youth, O King, with the eyes of justice; judge thou, then, with truth concerning what hath befallen Him.  Of a verity, God hath made thee His shadow amongst men, and the sign of His power unto all that dwell on earth.  Judge thou between Us and them that have wronged Us without proof and without an enlightening Book.  They that surround thee love thee for their own sakes, whereas this Youth loveth thee for thine own sake, and hath had no desire except to draw thee nigh unto the seat of grace, and to turn thee toward the right-hand of justice.  Thy Lord beareth witness unto that which I declare.

O King!  Wert thou to incline thine ear unto the shrill of the Pen of Glory and the cooing of the Dove of Eternity which, on the branches of the Lote-Tree beyond which there is no passing, uttereth praises to God, the Maker of all names and Creator of earth and heaven, thou wouldst attain unto a station from which thou wouldst behold in the world of being naught save the effulgence of the Adored One, and wouldst regard thy sovereignty as the most contemptible of thy possessions, abandoning it to whosoever might desire it, and setting thy face toward the Horizon aglow with the light of His countenance.  Neither wouldst thou ever be willing to bear the burden of dominion save for the purpose of helping thy Lord, the Exalted, the Most High.  Then would the Concourse on high bless thee.  O how excellent is this most sublime station, couldst thou ascend thereunto through the power of a sovereignty recognized as derived from the Name of God!...