thou in that thou rulest a span of earth, when the whole world, in the estimation of the people of Baha, is worth as much as the black in the eye of a dead ant?  Abandon it unto such as have set their affections upon it, and turn thou unto Him Who is the Desire of the world.  Whither are gone the proud and their palaces?  Gaze thou into their tombs, that thou mayest profit by this example, inasmuch as We made it a lesson unto every beholder.  Were the breezes of Revelation to seize thee, thou wouldst flee the world, and turn unto the Kingdom, and wouldst expend all thou possessest, that thou mayest draw nigh unto this sublime Vision.

157 We behold the generality of mankind worshipping names and exposing themselves, as thou dost witness, to dire perils in the mere hope of perpetuating their names, whilst every perceiving soul testifieth that after death one’s name shall avail him nothing except insofar as it beareth a relationship unto God, the Almighty, the All-Praised.  Thus have their vain imaginings taken hold of them in requital for that which their hands have wrought.  Consider the pettiness of men’s minds.  They seek with utmost exertion that which profiteth them not, and yet wert thou to ask of them:  “Is there any advantage in that which ye desire?”, thou wouldst find them sorely perplexed.  Were a fair-minded soul to be found, he would reply:  “Nay, by the Lord of the worlds!” Such is the condition of the people and of that which they possess.  Leave them in their folly and turn thy sight unto God.  This is in truth that which beseemeth thee.  Hearken then unto the counsel of thy Lord, and say:  Lauded art Thou, O God of all who are in heaven and on earth!

Czar Alexander II

158 O Czar of Russia!  Incline thine ear unto the voice of God, the King, the Holy, and turn thou unto Paradise, the Spot wherein abideth He Who, among the Concourse on high, beareth the most excellent titles, and Who, in the kingdom of creation, is called by the name of God, the Effulgent, the All-Glorious.  Beware lest thy desire deter thee from turning towards the face of thy Lord, the Compassionate, the Most Merciful.  We, verily, have heard the thing for which thou didst supplicate thy Lord, whilst secretly communing with Him.  Wherefore, the breeze of My loving-kindness wafted forth, and the sea of My mercy surged, and We answered thee in truth.  Thy Lord, verily, is the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.  Whilst I lay chained and fettered in the prison, one of thy ministers extended Me his aid.  Wherefore hath God ordained for thee a station which the knowledge of none can comprehend except His knowledge.  Beware lest thou barter away this sublime station.  Thy Lord, verily, doeth what He willeth.  What He pleaseth will God abrogate or confirm, and with Him is the knowledge of all things in a Guarded Tablet.