196 Amongst the people are those who allege that this Youth hath had no purpose but to perpetuate His name, whilst others claim that He hath sought for Himself the vanities of the world—­this, notwithstanding that never, throughout all My days, have I found a place of safety, be it to the extent of a single foothold.  At all times have I been immersed in an ocean of tribulations, whose full measure none can fathom but God.  He, truly, is aware of what I say.  How many the days in which My loved ones have been sorely shaken by reason of My afflictions, and how many the nights during which My kindred, fearing for My life, have bitterly wept and lamented!  And this none can deny save them that are bereft of truthfulness.  Is it conceivable that He Who expecteth to lose His life at any moment should seek after worldly vanities?  How very strange the imaginings of those who speak as prompted by their own caprices, and who wander distractedly in the wilderness of self and passion!  Erelong shall they be called upon to account for their words, and on that day they shall find none to befriend or help them.

197 And amongst the people are those who claim that He hath disbelieved in God—­yet every member of My body testifieth that there is none other God but Him; that those Whom He hath raised up in truth and sent forth with His guidance are the Manifestations of His most excellent names, the Revealers of His most exalted attributes, and the Repositories of His Revelation in the kingdom of creation; that through them the Proof of God hath been perfected unto all else but Him, the standard of Divine Unity hath been raised, and the sign of sanctity hath been made manifest; and that through them every soul hath found a path unto the Lord of the Throne on high.  We testify that there is none other God but Him, that from everlasting He was alone with none else besides Him, and that He shall be unto everlasting what He hath ever been.  Too high is the All-Merciful for the hearts of those who have recognized Him to apprehend His true nature, or for the minds of men to hope to fathom His essence.  He verily is exalted above the understanding of anyone besides Himself, and sanctified beyond the comprehension of all else save Him.  From all eternity He hath been independent of the entire creation.

198 Remember the days in which the Sun of Batha(24) shone forth above the horizon of the Will of thy Lord, the Exalted, the Most High, and recall how the divines of that age turned away from Him, and the learned contended with Him, that haply thou mayest apprehend that which, in this day, remaineth concealed behind the veils of glory.  So grievous became His plight on every side that He instructed His companions to disperse.  Thus was the decree made manifest from the heaven of divine glory.  Remember, furthermore, how, when one of these same companions came before the King of Ethiopia and recited unto him a Surih of the Qur’an, he declared to his attendants:  “This, truly, hath been revealed by One Who is All-Knowing and All-Wise.  Whoso acknowledgeth the truth, and believeth in the teachings of Jesus, can in no wise deny what hath been recited.  We, verily, bear witness to its truth, even as we bear witness to the truth of that which we possess of the Books of God, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.”