recorded such souls in the Preserved Tablet as mere worshippers of names.  Recount then that which Thou hast purposed for this Temple, that its signs and tokens may be made manifest upon earth, and that the brightness of this Light may illumine the horizons of the world and cleanse the earth from the defilement of those who have disbelieved in God.  Thus have We set down the verses of God and made plain the matter unto those who understand.

31 O Living Temple!  Stretch forth Thy hand over all who are in heaven and on earth, and seize within the grasp of Thy Will the reins of command.  We have, verily, placed in Thy right hand the empire of all things.  Do as Thou willest, and fear not the ignorant.  Reach out to the Tablet that hath dawned above the horizon of the pen of Thy Lord, and take hold of it with such strength that, through Thee, the hands of all who inhabit the earth may be enabled to lay fast hold upon it.  This, in truth, is that which becometh Thee, if Thou be of those who understand.  Through the upraising of Thy hand to the heaven of My grace, the hands of all created things shall be lifted up to their Lord, the Mighty, the Powerful, the Gracious.  Erelong shall We raise up, through the aid of Thy hand, other hands endued with power, with strength and might, and shall establish through them Our dominion over all that dwell in the realms of revelation and creation.  Thus will the servants of God recognize the truth that there is none other God beside Me, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.  With these hands, moreover, We shall both bestow and withhold, though none can understand this save those who see with the eye of the spirit.

32 Say:  O people!  Can ye ever hope to escape the sovereign power of your Lord?  By the righteousness of God!  No refuge will ye find in this day, and no one to protect you, save those upon whom God hath bestowed the favour of His mercy.  He, verily, is the Ever-Forgiving, the Most Compassionate.  Say:  O people!  Forsake all that ye possess, and enter beneath the shadow of your Lord, the All-Merciful.  Better is this for you than all your works of the past and of the future.  Fear ye God, and deprive not yourselves of the sweet savours of the days of the Lord of all names and attributes.  Take heed lest ye alter or pervert the text of the Word of God.  Walk ye in the fear of God, and be numbered with the righteous.

33 Say:  O people!  This is the Hand of God, which hath ever been above your own hands, could ye but understand.  Within its grasp We have ordained all the good of the heavens and the earth, such that no good shall be made manifest but that it proceedeth therefrom.  Thus have We made it the source and treasury of all good both aforetime and hereafter.  Say:  The rivers of divine wisdom and utterance which flowed through the Tablets of God are joined to this Most Great Ocean, could ye but perceive it, and whatever hath been set forth in His Books hath attained its final consummation in this most exalted Word—­a Word shining above the horizon of the Will of the All-Glorious in this Revelation which hath filled with delight all things seen and unseen.