29 Say:  What!  Cleave ye to your own devices, and cast behind your backs the precepts of God?  Ye, indeed, have wronged your own selves and others.  Would that ye could perceive it!  Say:  If your rules and principles be founded on justice, why is it, then, that ye follow those which accord with your corrupt inclinations and reject such as conflict with your desires?  By what right claim ye, then, to judge fairly between men?  Are your rules and principles such as to justify your persecution of Him Who, at your bidding, hath presented Himself before you, your rejection of Him, and your infliction on Him every day of grievous injury?  Hath He ever, though it be for one short moment, disobeyed you?  All the inhabitants of ’Iraq, and beyond them every discerning observer, will bear witness to the truth of My words.

30 Be fair in your judgement, O ye Ministers of State!  What is it that We have committed that could justify Our banishment?  What is the offence that hath warranted Our expulsion?  It is We Who have sought you, and yet, behold how ye refused to receive Us!  By God!  This is a sore injustice that ye have perpetrated—­an injustice with which no earthly injustice can measure.  To this the Almighty is Himself a witness.

31 Have I at any time transgressed your laws, or disobeyed any of your ministers in ’Iraq?  Inquire of them, that ye may act with discernment towards Us and be numbered with those who are well-informed.  Hath anyone ever brought before them a plaint against Us?  Hath anyone amongst them ever heard from Us a word contrary to that which God hath revealed in His Book?  Bring forth, then, your evidence, that We may approve your actions and acknowledge your claims!

32 Had ye wished to deal with Us in accordance with your principles and standards, it would have behoved you to respect and honour Us for complying with your commands and following that which ye have pleased to ordain.  Likewise, it would have beseemed you to repay the debts which We incurred in ’Iraq in the execution of your wishes.  Ye should have given ear then unto Us, heard the account of Our woes, and judged with equity, as ye would judge your own selves.  Ye should not have wished for Us that which ye have not wished for yourselves, but rather chosen to act with generosity.  By God!  Ye dealt with Us neither in accordance with your own principles and standards, nor with those of any man living, but in accordance with the promptings of your evil and wayward passions, O ye concourse of the froward and the arrogant!

33 O Bird of Holiness!  Soar in the heaven of communion with Me, and acquaint the people with that which We disclosed unto Thee in the billowing oceans of immortality beyond the mount of glory.  Let the fear of no one dismay Thee, and put Thy trust in God, the Almighty, the Beneficent.  We, verily, shall protect Thee from those who, without a clear token from God or an enlightening Book, have grievously wronged Thee.