Our Exalted Herald—­may the life of all else besides Him be offered up for His sake—­hath revealed certain laws.  However, in the realm of His Revelation these laws were made subject to Our sanction, hence this Wronged One hath put some of them into effect by embodying them in the Kitab-i-Aqdas in different words.  Others We set aside.  He holdeth in His hand the authority.  He doeth what He willeth and He ordaineth whatsoever He pleaseth.  He is the Almighty, the All-Praised.  There are also ordinances newly revealed.  Blessed are they that attain.  Blessed are they that observe His precepts.

The people of God should make the utmost endeavour that perchance the fire of hatred and malice which smouldereth in the breasts of kindreds and peoples may, through the living waters of utterance and the exhortations of Him Who is the Desire of the world, be quenched and the trees of human existence may be adorned with wondrous and excellent fruit.  He is, in truth, the Admonisher, the Compassionate, the All-Bountiful.

May the brightness of His glory shining above the horizon of bounty rest upon you, O people of Baha, upon every one who standeth firm and steadfast and upon those that are well grounded in the Faith and are endued with true understanding.

As to thy question concerning interest and profit on gold and silver:  Some years ago the following passage was revealed from the heaven of the All-Merciful in honour of the one who beareth the name of God, entitled Zaynu’l-Muqarrabin(49)—­upon him be the glory of the Most Glorious.  He—­exalted be His Word—­saith:  Many people stand in need of this.  Because if there were no prospect for gaining interest, the affairs of men would suffer collapse or dislocation.  One can seldom find a person who would manifest such consideration towards his fellow-man, his countryman or towards his own brother and would show such tender solicitude for him as to be well-disposed to grant him a loan on benevolent terms.(50) Therefore as a token of favour towards men We have prescribed that interest on money should be treated like other business transactions that are current amongst men.  Thus, now that this lucid commandment hath descended from the heaven of the Will of God, it is lawful and proper to charge interest on money, that the people of the world may, in a spirit of amity and fellowship and with joy and gladness, devotedly engage themselves in magnifying the Name of Him Who is the Well-Beloved of all mankind.  Verily He ordaineth according to His Own choosing.  He hath now made interest on money lawful, even as He had made it unlawful in the past.  Within His grasp He holdeth the kingdom of authority.  He doeth and ordaineth.  He is in truth the Ordainer, the All-Knowing.

Render thou thanks unto thy Lord, O Zaynu’l-Muqarrabin, for this manifest bounty.

Many ecclesiastics in Persia have, through innumerable designs and devices, been feeding on illicit gains obtained by usury.  They have contrived ways to give its outward form a fair semblance of lawfulness.  They make a plaything of the laws and ordinances of God, but they understand not.