49 Behold then, O heedless ones, how brightly the fire of the love of God blazed aforetime in the heart of Husayn, if ye be of them that ponder!  So intense grew its flame that fervour and longing at last seized the reins of patience from his grasp, and the love of Him Who is the All-Compelling so enraptured his heart that he surrendered his soul, his spirit, his substance, and his all in the path of God, the Lord of the worlds.  By God!  Sweeter was this in his sight than the empire of earth and heaven.  For the true lover desireth naught save reunion with his beloved and the seeker hath no goal but to attain unto the object of his quest.  Their hearts long for reunion even as the body yearneth for the spirit, nay greater indeed is their longing, could ye but perceive it!

50 Say:  That same fire now blazeth in Mine own breast, and My wish is that this Husayn may lay down His life in like manner, in the hope of attaining unto so august and sublime a station, that station wherein the servant dieth to himself and liveth in God, the Almighty, the Exalted, the Great.  Were I to disclose unto you the mysteries which God hath enshrined therein, ye would, of a truth, offer up your lives in His path, renounce your riches, and forsake all that ye possess, that ye might attain this transcendent and all-glorious station.  God, however, hath veiled your hearts and obscured your eyes, lest ye should apprehend His mysteries and be made aware of their meaning.

51 Say:  The sincere soul longeth for nearness to God even as the suckling babe yearneth for its mother’s breast, nay more ardent is his longing, could ye but know it!  Again, his longing is even as the panting of one sore athirst after the living waters of grace, or the yearning of the sinner for forgiveness and mercy.  Thus do We expound unto you the mysteries of the Cause, and impart unto you what shall render you independent of all that hath so far occupied you, that perchance ye may enter the Court of Holiness within this exalted Paradise.  I swear by God!  Whoso entereth therein shall never abandon its precincts, and whoso gazeth thereon shall never turn away therefrom, even should the swords of infidels and deniers rain blows upon him.  Thus have We related unto you that which befell Husayn, and We beseech God that He may destine for Us that which He had decreed for him.  He, verily, is the Most Generous, the All-Bountiful.

52 By the righteousness of God!  Through his deed the fragrances of holiness were wafted over all things, the proof of God was perfected, and His testimony made manifest to all men.  And after him God raised up a people who avenged his death, who slew his enemies, and who wept over him at dawn and at eventide.  Say:  God hath pledged in His Book to lay hold upon every oppressor for his tyranny, and to uproot the stirrers of mischief.  Know ye that such holy deeds exert, in themselves, a great influence upon the world of being—­an influence which is, however, inscrutable to all save those whose eyes have been opened by God, whose hearts He hath freed from obscuring veils, and whose souls He hath guided aright.