242 The essential requirement for whoso advanceth a claim is to support his assertions with clear proofs and testimonies.  Beyond this, the rejection of the people, whether learned or ignorant, hath never been, nor shall it ever be, of any consequence.  The Prophets of God, those Pearls of the ocean of Divine Unity and the Repositories of Divine Revelation, have ever been the object of men’s repudiation and denial.  Even as He saith:  “Each nation hath plotted darkly against their Messenger to lay violent hold on Him, and disputed with vain words to invalidate the truth."(44) And again:  “No Messenger cometh unto them but they laugh Him to scorn."(45)

243 Consider the dispensation of Him Who is the Seal of the Prophets and the King of the Chosen Ones—­may the souls of all mankind be offered up for His sake!  After the Daystar of Truth dawned above the horizon of Hijaz, how great were the cruelties which the exponents of error inflicted upon that incomparable Manifestation of the All-Glorious!  Such was their heedlessness that they regarded every injury inflicted upon that sacred Being as ranking among the greatest of all acts, and constituting a means of attainment unto God, the Most High.  For in the early years of His mission the divines of that age, both Christian and Jewish, turned away from that Daystar of the heaven of glory, whereupon all people, high and low alike, bestirred themselves to extinguish the light of that Luminary of the horizon of inner meanings.  The names of all these divines have been mentioned in the books of old; among them are Wahb Ibn-i-Rahib, Ka’b Ibn-i-Ashraf, ’Abdu’llah-i-Ubayy, and others of their like.

244 Finally, matters came to such a pass that these men took counsel together and conspired to shed His pure blood, even as God—­glorified be His mention!—­saith:  “And remember when the disbelievers schemed against Thee, that they might lay hold upon Thee, or slay Thee, or cast Thee out; and so they schemed, and God schemed, and God, verily, is the best of schemers."(46) Again He saith:  “But if their opposition be grievous to Thee—­if Thou canst, seek out an opening into the earth or a ladder into heaven and bring to them a sign; yet if God wished, He could gather them unto true guidance; be Thou not, then, of the ignorant."(47) By God!  The hearts of His favoured ones are consumed at the purport of these two blessed verses.  Such established and undisputed facts have been forgotten, and no one hath paused to reflect, in days past or in this day, upon the things that have prompted men to turn away from the Revealers of the light of God at the time of their manifestation.

245 Likewise, before the appearance of the Seal of the Prophets, consider Jesus, the Son of Mary.  When that Manifestation of the All-Merciful revealed Himself, all the divines charged that Quintessence of faith with impiety and rebellion.  Eventually, with the sanction of Annas, the most learned of the divines of His day, and Caiaphas, the high priest, His blessed person was made to suffer that which the pen is ashamed to mention and powerless to describe.  The wide world in all its vastness could no longer contain Him, until at last God raised Him up unto heaven.