17 He pleaded:  “Is there yet no refuge for me?”

18 “Nay, by my Lord, even shouldst thou seek recourse to every possible means!”

19 Thereupon he cried out in such distress as to cause the people of the graves to tremble, and was seized by the Hand of invincible power.  A voice then proclaimed:  “Return unto the seat of wrath in the fire of hell; wretched and evil be thine abode!”

20 Thus did We lay hold on him as We laid hold on those who preceded him.  Behold their houses which We have left to the spiders, and take heed, O ye who are endued with understanding!  He it is who opposed God, and for whom the verses of wrath were revealed in the Book.  Blessed is he who readeth it and pondereth its contents, for a goodly end doth in truth await him.

21 Thus have We recounted unto thee the tale of the evil-doers, that thine eyes may be solaced.  As for thee, there lieth in store naught but a blissful end.

SURIY-I-MULUK

He is the Almighty!

1 This is a Tablet from this Servant, who is called Husayn in the kingdom of names, to the concourse of the kings of the earth.  Haply they may approach it in a spirit of open-mindedness, discover from its message the mysteries of divine providence, and be of those that comprehend its meaning, and perchance they may forsake all they possess, turn towards the retreats of holiness, and draw nigh unto God, the All-Glorious, the Incomparable.

2 O kings of the earth!  Give ear unto the Voice of God, calling from this sublime, this fruit-laden Tree, that hath sprung out of the Crimson Hill, upon the holy Plain, intoning the words:  “There is none other God but He, the Mighty, the All-Powerful, the All-Wise.”  This is a Spot which hath been sanctified by God for those who approach it, a Spot wherein His Voice may be heard from the celestial Tree of Holiness.  Fear God, O concourse of kings, and suffer not yourselves to be deprived of this most sublime grace.  Fling away, then, the things ye possess, and take fast hold on the Handle of God, the Exalted, the Great.  Set your hearts towards the Face of God, and abandon that which your desires have bidden you to follow, and be not of those who perish.

3 Relate unto them, O Servant, the story of ’Ali,(84) when He came unto them with truth, bearing His glorious and weighty Book, and holding in His hands a testimony and proof from God, and holy and blessed tokens from Him.  Ye, however, O kings, have failed to heed the Remembrance of God in His days and to be guided by the lights which arose and shone forth above the horizon of a resplendent Heaven.  Ye examined not His Cause when so to do would have been better for you than all that the sun shineth upon, could ye but perceive it.  Ye remained careless until the divines of Persia—­those cruel ones—­pronounced judgement against Him, and unjustly slew Him.  His spirit ascended unto God, and the eyes of the inmates of Paradise and the angels that are nigh unto Him wept sore by reason of this cruelty.  Beware that ye be not careless henceforth as ye have been careless aforetime.  Return, then, unto God, your Maker, and be not of the heedless.