The Secret of Divine Civilization

SECRET OF DIVINE CIVILIZATION, THE
(U.S., 1990, pocket-size ed.)
Filename: SDC.ZIP (FN)
Filedate: 02/19/94

+P1

In the Name of God the Clement, the Merciful

Praise and thanksgiving be unto Providence that
out of all the realities in existence He has
chosen the reality of man and has honored it
with intellect and wisdom, the two most luminous lights
in either world. Through the agency of this great endowment,
He has in every epoch cast on the mirror
of creation new and wonderful configurations. If we
look objectively upon the world of being, it will become
apparent that from age to age, the temple of existence
has continually been embellished with a fresh grace,
and distinguished with an ever-varying splendor, deriving
from wisdom and the power of thought.
This supreme emblem of God stands first in the
order of creation and first in rank, taking precedence
over all created things. Witness to it is the Holy Tradition,
"Before all else, God created the mind." From
the dawn of creation, it was made to be revealed in the
temple of man.
Sanctified is the Lord, Who with the dazzling rays
of this strange, heavenly power has made our world
of darkness the envy of the worlds of light: "And the

+P2
earth shall shine with the light of her Lord."+F1 Holy
and exalted is He, Who has caused the nature of man
to be the dayspring of this boundless grace: "The God
of mercy hath taught the &Qur'an, hath created man,
hath taught him articulate speech."+F2
O ye that have minds to know! Raise up your suppliant
hands to the heaven of the one God, and humble
yourselves and be lowly before Him, and thank Him
for this supreme endowment, and implore Him to succor
us until, in this present age, godlike impulses may
radiate from the conscience of mankind, and this
divinely kindled fire which has been entrusted to the
human heart may never die away.
Consider carefully: all these highly varied phenomena,
these concepts, this knowledge, these technical
procedures and philosophical systems, these sciences,
arts, industries and inventions--all are emanations of
the human mind. Whatever people has ventured
deeper into this shoreless sea, has come to excel the
rest. The happiness and pride of a nation consist in
this, that it should shine out like the sun in the high
heaven of knowledge. "Shall they who have knowledge
and they who have it not, be treated alike?"+F3 And
the honor and distinction of the individual consist in
this, that he among all the world's multitudes should
become a source of social good. Is any larger bounty

+F1 &Qur'an 39:69.
+F2 &Qur'an 55:1-3.
+F3 &Qur'an 39:12.

+P3
conceivable than this, that an individual, looking
within himself, should find that by the confirming
grace of God he has become the cause of peace and
well-being, of happiness and advantage to his fellow
men? No, by the one true God, there is no greater
bliss, no more complete delight.

How long shall we drift on the wings of passion
and vain desire; how long shall we spend
our days like barbarians in the depths of ignorance
and abomination? God has given us eyes, that
we may look about us at the world, and lay hold of
whatsoever will further civilization and the arts of living.
He has given us ears, that we may hear and profit
by the wisdom of scholars and philosophers and arise
to promote and practice it. Senses and faculties have
been bestowed upon us, to be devoted to the service of
the general good; so that we, distinguished above all
other forms of life for perceptiveness and reason,
should labor at all times and along all lines, whether
the occasion be great or small, ordinary or extraordinary,
until all mankind are safely gathered into the impregnable
stronghold of knowledge. We should continually
be establishing new bases for human happiness and
creating and promoting new instrumentalities toward

+P4
this end. How excellent, how honorable is man if he
arises to fulfil his responsibilities; how wretched and
contemptible, if he shuts his eyes to the welfare of society
and wastes his precious life in pursuing his own
selfish interests and personal advantages. Supreme happiness
is man's, and he beholds the signs of God in the
world and in the human soul, if he urges on the steed
of high endeavor in the arena of civilization and justice.
"We will surely show them Our signs in the world
and within themselves."+F4
And this is man's uttermost wretchedness: that he
should live inert, apathetic, dull, involved only with his
own base appetites. When he is thus, he has his being
in the deepest ignorance and savagery, sinking lower
than the brute beasts. "They are like the brutes: Yea,
they go more astray... For the vilest beasts in God's
sight, are the deaf, the dumb, who understand not."+F5
We must now highly resolve to arise and lay hold of
all those instrumentalities that promote the peace and
well-being and happiness, the knowledge, culture and
industry, the dignity, value and station, of the entire
human race. Thus, through the restoring waters of pure
intention and unselfish effort, the earth of human potentialities
will blossom with its own latent excellence
and flower into praiseworthy qualities, and bear and
flourish until it comes to rival that rosegarden of knowledge
which belonged to our forefathers. Then will this

+F4 &Qur'an 41:53.
+F5 &Qur'an 7:178; 8:22.

+P5
holy land of Persia become in every sense the focal
center of human perfections, reflecting as if in a mirror
the full panoply of world civilization.
All praise and honor be to the Dayspring of Divine
wisdom, the Dawning Point of Revelation (&Muhammad),
and to the holy line of His descendants, since,
by the widespread rays of His consummate wisdom,
His universal knowledge, those savage denizens of
&Yathrib (Medina) and &Batha (Mecca), miraculously,
and in so brief a time, were drawn out of the depths of
their ignorance, rose up to the pinnacles of learning,
and became centers of arts and sciences and human perfections,
and stars of felicity and true civilization, shining
across the horizons of the world.

His Majesty the &Shah has, at the present time,
[1875] resolved to bring about the advancement
of the Persian people, their welfare
and security and the prosperity of their country. He has
spontaneously extended assistance to his subjects, displaying
energy and fair-mindedness, hoping that by the
light of justice he might make &Iran the envy of East
and West, and set that fine fervor which characterized
the first great epochs of Persia to flowing again through
the veins of her people. As is clear to the discerning,

+P6
the writer has for this reason felt it necessary to put
down, for the sake of God alone and as a tribute to this
high endeavor, a brief statement on certain urgent
questions. To demonstrate that His one purpose is to
promote the general welfare, He has withheld His
name.+F5b Since He believes that guidance toward
righteousness is in itself a righteous act, He offers these
few words of counsel to His country's sons, words
spoken for God's sake alone and in the spirit of a faithful
friend. Our Lord, Who knows all things, bears
witness that this Servant seeks nothing but what is
right and good; for He, a wanderer in the desert of
God's love, has come into a realm where the hand of
denial or assent, of praise or blame, can touch Him
not. "We nourish your souls for the sake of God; We
seek from you neither recompense nor thanks."+F6

"The hand is veiled, yet the pen writes as bidden;
The horse leaps forward, yet the rider's hidden."

O people of Persia! Look into those blossoming pages
that tell of another day, a time long past. Read them
and wonder; see the great sight. &Iran in that day was as
the heart of the world; she was the bright torch flaming
in the assemblage of mankind. Her power and glory
shone out like the morning above the world's horizons,

+F5b The original Persian text written in 1875 carried no author's
+F5b name, and the first English translation published in 1910
under
+F5b the title The Mysterious Forces of Civilization states only
"Written
+F5b in Persian by an Eminent Bahai Philosopher."
+F6 &Qur'an 76:9.

+P7
and the splendor of her learning cast its rays over East
and West. Word of the widespread empire of those
who wore her crown reached even to the dwellers in
the arctic circle, and the fame of the awesome presence
of her King of Kings humbled the rulers of Greece and
Rome. The greatest of the world's philosophers marveled
at the wisdom of her government, and her political
system became the model for all the kings of the
four continents then known. She was distinguished
among all peoples for the scope of her dominion, she
was honored by all for her praiseworthy culture and
civilization. She was as the pivot of the world, she was
the source and center of sciences and arts, the wellspring
of great inventions and discoveries, the rich mine
of human virtues and perfections. The intellect, the
wisdom of the individual members of this excellent nation
dazzled the minds of other peoples, the brilliance
and perceptive genius that characterized all this noble
race aroused the envy of the whole world.
Aside from that which is a matter of record in Persian
histories, it is stated in the Old Testament--established
today, among all European peoples, as a sacred and
canonical Text--that in the time of Cyrus, called in
Iranian works Bahman son of &Isfandiyar, the three
hundred and sixty divisions of the Persian Empire extended
from the inner confines of India and China to
the farthermost reaches of Yemen and Ethiopia.+F7 The

+F7 2 Chronicles 36:22-23; Ezra 1:2; Esther 1:1; 8:9; Isaiah
+F7 45:1, 14; 49:12.

+P8
Greek accounts, as well, relate how this proud sovereign
came against them with an innumerable host, and left
their own till then victorious dominion level with the
dust. He made the pillars of all the governments to
quake; according to that authoritative Arab work, the
history of &Abu'l-Fida, he took over the entire known
world. It is likewise recorded in this same text and elsewhere,
that &Firaydun, a king of the &Pishdadiyan Dynasty--
who was indeed, for his inherent perfections,
his powers of judgment, the scope of his knowledge,
and his long series of continual victories, unique among
all the rulers who preceded and followed him--divided
the whole known world among his three sons.
As attested by the annals of the world's most illustrious
peoples, the first government to be established on
earth, the foremost empire to be organized among the
nations, was Persia's throne and diadem.
O people of Persia! Awake from your drunken sleep!
Rise up from your lethargy! Be fair in your judgment:
will the dictates of honor permit this holy land, once
the wellspring of world civilization, the source of glory
and joy for all mankind, the envy of East and West, to
remain an object of pity, deplored by all nations? She
was once the noblest of peoples: will you let contemporary
history register for the ages her now degenerate
state? Will you complacently accept her present
wretchedness, when she was once the land of all mankind's
desire? Must she now, for this contemptible

+P9
sloth, this failure to struggle, this utter ignorance, be
accounted the most backward of nations?
Were not the people of Persia, in days long gone,
the head and front of intellect and wisdom? Did they
not, by God's grace, shine out like the daystar from the
horizons of Divine knowledge? How is it that we are
satisfied today with this miserable condition, are engrossed
in our licentious passions, have blinded ourselves
to supreme happiness, to that which is pleasing
in God's sight, and have all become absorbed in our
selfish concerns and the search for ignoble, personal advantage?
This fairest of lands was once a lamp, streaming with
the rays of Divine knowledge, of science and art, of
nobility and high achievement, of wisdom and valor.
Today, because of the idleness and lethargy of her
people, their torpor, their undisciplined way of life,
their lack of pride, lack of ambition--her bright fortune
has been totally eclipsed, her light has turned to darkness.
"The seven heavens and the seven earths weep
over the mighty when he is brought low."
It should not be imagined that the people of Persia
are inherently deficient in intelligence, or that for essential
perceptiveness and understanding, inborn sagacity,
intuition and wisdom, or innate capacity, they
are inferior to others. God forbid! On the contrary,
they have always excelled all other peoples in endowments
conferred by birth. Persia herself, moreover,
from the standpoint of her temperate climate and natural

+P10
beauties, her geographical advantages and her rich
soil, is blessed to a supreme degree. What she urgently
requires, however, is deep reflection, resolute action,
training, inspiration and encouragement. Her people
must make a massive effort, and their pride must be
aroused.
Today throughout the five continents of the globe it
is Europe and most sections of America that are renowned
for law and order, government and commerce,
art and industry, science, philosophy and education. Yet
in ancient times these were the most savage of the
world's peoples, the most ignorant and brutish. They
were even stigmatized as barbarians--that is, utterly
rude and uncivilized. Further, from the fifth century
after Christ until the fifteenth, that period defined as
the Middle Ages, such terrible struggles and fierce upheavals,
such ruthless encounters and horrifying acts,
were the rule among the peoples of Europe, that the
Europeans rightly describe those ten centuries as the
Dark Ages. The basis of Europe's progress and civilization
was actually laid in the fifteenth century of the
Christian era, and from that time on, all her present
evident culture has been, under the stimulus of great
minds and as a result of the expansion of the frontiers
of knowledge and the exertion of energetic and ambitious
efforts, in the process of development.
Today by the grace of God and the spiritual influence
of His universal Manifestation, the fair-minded
ruler of &Iran has gathered his people into the shelter

+P11
of justice, and the sincerity of the imperial purpose has
shown itself in kingly acts. Hoping that his reign will
rival the glorious past, he has sought to establish equity
and righteousness and to foster education and the
processes of civilization throughout this noble land,
and to translate from potentiality into actuality whatever
will insure its progress. Not until now had we seen
a monarch, holding in his capable hands the reins of
affairs, and on whose high resolve the welfare of all
his subjects depends, exerting as it would befit him,
like a benevolent father, his efforts toward the training
and cultivation of his people, seeking to insure their
well-being and peace of mind, and exhibiting due concern
for their interests; this Servant and those like Him
have therefore remained silent. Now, however, it is
clear to the discerning that the &Shah has of his own accord
determined to establish a just government and to
secure the progress of all his subjects. His honorable
intention has consequently evoked this present statement.
It is indeed strange that instead of offering thanks
for this bounty, which truly derives from the grace of
Almighty God, by arising as one in gratitude and enthusiasm
and praying that these noble purposes will
daily multiply, some, on the contrary, whose reason has
been corrupted by personal motives and the clarity of
whose perception has been clouded by self-interest and
conceit; whose energies are devoted to the service of
their passions, whose sense of pride is perverted to the

+P12
love of leadership, have raised the standard of opposition
and waxed loud in their complaints. Up to now,
they blamed the &Shah for not, on his own initiative,
working for his people's welfare and seeking to bring
about their peace and well-being. Now that he has inaugurated
this great design they have changed their
tune. Some say that these are newfangled methods and
foreign isms, quite unrelated to the present needs and
the time-honored customs of Persia. Others have rallied
the helpless masses, who know nothing of religion or
its laws and basic principles and therefore have no
power of discrimination--and tell them that these
modern methods are the practices of heathen peoples,
and are contrary to the venerated canons of true faith,
and they add the saying, "He who imitates a people
is one of them." One group insists that such reforms
should go forward with great deliberation, step by step,
haste being inadmissible. Another maintains that only
such measures should be adopted as the Persians themselves
devise, that they themselves should reform their
political administration and their educational system
and the state of their culture and that there is no need
to borrow improvements from other nations. Every faction,
in short, follows its own particular illusion.
O people of Persia! How long will you wander?
How long must your confusion last? How long will it
go on, this conflict of opinions, this useless antagonism,
this ignorance, this refusal to think? Others are alert,
and we sleep our dreamless sleep. Other nations are

+P13
making every effort to improve their condition; we are
trapped in our desires and self-indulgences, and at
every step we stumble into a new snare.
God is Our witness that We have no ulterior motive
in developing this theme. We seek neither to curry
favor with any one nor to attract any one to Ourselves
nor to derive any material benefit therefrom. We
speak only as one earnestly desiring the good pleasure
of God, for We have turned Our gaze away from the
world and its peoples and have sought refuge in the
sheltering care of the Lord. "No pay do I ask of you for
this... My reward is of God alone."+F8
Those who maintain that these modern concepts apply
only to other countries and are irrelevant in &Iran,
that they do not satisfy her requirements or suit her
way of life, disregard the fact that other nations were
once as we are now. Did not these new systems and
procedures, these progressive enterprises, contribute to
the advancement of those countries? Were the people
of Europe harmed by the adoption of such measures?
Or did they rather by these means reach the highest
degree of material development? Is it not true that for
centuries, the people of Persia have lived as we see
them living today, carrying out the pattern of the past?
Have any discernible benefits resulted, has any progress
been made? If these things had not been tested by
experience, some in whose minds the light of native
intelligence is clouded, might idly question them. On

+F8 &Qur'an 6:90; 11:31.

+P14
the contrary, however, every aspect of these prerequisites
to progress have in other countries been time and
again put to the test, and their benefits demonstrated
so plainly that even the dullest mind can grasp them.
Let us consider this justly and without bias: let us
ask ourselves which one of these basic principles and
sound, well-established procedures would fail to satisfy
our present needs, or would be incompatible with Persia's
best political interests or injurious to the general
welfare of her people. Would the extension of education,
the development of useful arts and sciences, the
promotion of industry and technology, be harmful
things? For such endeavor lifts the individual within
the mass and raises him out of the depths of ignorance
to the highest reaches of knowledge and human excellence.
Would the setting up of just legislation, in accord
with the Divine laws which guarantee the happiness
of society and protect the rights of all mankind
and are an impregnable proof against assault--would
such laws, insuring the integrity of the members of society
and their equality before the law, inhibit their
prosperity and success?
Or if by using one's perceptive faculties, one can
draw analogies from present circumstances and the conclusions
arrived at by collective experience, and can
envisage as coming realities situations now only potential,
would it be unreasonable to take such present
measures as would guarantee our future security?
Would it seem shortsighted, improvident and unsound,

+P15
would it constitute a deviation from what is right and
proper, if we were to strengthen our relationships with
neighboring countries, enter into binding treaties with
the great powers, foster friendly connections with well-disposed
governments, look to the expansion of trade
with the nations of East and West, develop our natural
resources and increase the wealth of our people?
Would it spell perdition for our subjects if the provincial
and district governors were relieved of their
present absolute authority, whereby they function exactly
as they please, and were instead limited to equity
and truth, and if their sentences involving capital punishment,
imprisonment and the like were contingent
on confirmation by the &Shah and by higher courts in
the capital, who would first duly investigate the case
and determine the nature and seriousness of the crime,
and then hand down a just decision subject to the issuance
of a decree by the sovereign? If bribery and
corruption, known today by the pleasant names of gifts
and favors, were forever excluded, would this threaten
the foundations of justice? Would it be an evidence of
unsound thinking to deliver the soldiery, who are a
living sacrifice to the state and the people and brave
death at every turn, from their present extreme misery
and indigence, and to make adequate arrangements for
their sustenance, clothing and housing, and exert every
effort to instruct their officers in military science, and
supply them with the most advanced types of firearms
and other weapons?

+P16
Should anyone object that the above-mentioned reforms
have never yet been fully effected, he should
consider the matter impartially and know that these
deficiencies have resulted from the total absence of a
unified public opinion, and the lack of zeal and resolve
and devotion in the country's leaders. It is obvious that
not until the people are educated, not until public opinion
is rightly focused, not until government officials,
even minor ones, are free from even the least remnant
of corruption, can the country be properly administered.
Not until discipline, order and good government reach
the degree where an individual, even if he should put
forth his utmost efforts to do so, would still find himself
unable to deviate by so much as a hair's breadth
from righteousness, can the desired reforms be regarded
as fully established.
Furthermore, any agency whatever, though it be the
instrument of mankind's greatest good, is capable of
misuse. Its proper use or abuse depends on the varying
degrees of enlightenment, capacity, faith, honesty, devotion
and highmindedness of the leaders of public
opinion.
The &Shah has certainly done his part, and the execution
of the proposed beneficial measures is now in the
hands of persons functioning in assemblies of consultation.
If these individuals prove to be pure and high-minded,
if they remain free from the taint of corruption,
the confirmations of God will make them a never-failing
source of bounty to mankind. He will cause to

+P17
issue from their lips and their pens what will bless the
people, so that every corner of this noble country of
&Iran will be illumined with their justice and integrity
and the rays of that light will encompass the whole
earth. "Neither will this be difficult with God."+F9
Otherwise it is clear that the results will prove
unacceptable.
For it has been directly witnessed in certain
foreign countries that following on the establishment
of parliaments those bodies actually distressed and
confused the people and their well-meant reforms produced
maleficent results. While the setting up of parliaments,
the organizing of assemblies of consultation,
constitutes the very foundation and bedrock of government,
there are several essential requirements which
these institutions must fulfill. First, the elected members
must be righteous, God-fearing, high-minded, incorruptible.
Second, they must be fully cognizant, in
every particular, of the laws of God, informed as to the
highest principles of law, versed in the rules which
govern the management of internal affairs and the conduct
of foreign relations, skilled in the useful arts of
civilization, and content with their lawful emoluments.
Let it not be imagined that members of this type
would be impossible to find. Through the grace of God
and His chosen ones, and the high endeavors of the
devoted and the consecrated, every difficulty can be
easily resolved, every problem however complex will
prove simpler than blinking an eye.

+F9 &Qur'an 14:23; 35:18.

+P18
If, however, the members of these consultative assemblies
are inferior, ignorant, uninformed of the laws
of government and administration, unwise, of low aim,
indifferent, idle, self-seeking, no benefit will accrue
from the organizing of such bodies. Where, in the past,
if a poor man wanted his rights he had only to offer a
gift to one individual, now he would either have to
renounce all hope of justice or else satisfy the entire
membership.
Close investigation will show that the primary cause
of oppression and injustice, of unrighteousness, irregularity
and disorder, is the people's lack of religious
faith and the fact that they are uneducated. When, for
example, the people are genuinely religious and are
literate and well-schooled, and a difficulty presents itself,
they can apply to the local authorities; if they do
not meet with justice and secure their rights and if
they see that the conduct of the local government is
incompatible with the Divine good pleasure and the
king's justice, they can then take their case to higher
courts and describe the deviation of the local administration
from the spiritual law. Those courts can then
send for the local records of the case and in this way
justice will be done. At present, however, because of
their inadequate schooling, most of the population lack
even the vocabulary to explain what they want.
As to those persons who, here and there, are considered
leaders of the people: because this is only the
beginning of the new administrative process, they are

+P19
not yet sufficiently advanced in their education to have
experienced the delights of dispensing justice or to have
tasted the exhilaration of promoting righteousness or to
have drunk from the springs of a clear conscience and a
sincere intent. They have not properly understood that
man's supreme honor and real happiness lie in self-respect,
in high resolves and noble purposes, in integrity
and moral quality, in immaculacy of mind. They
have, rather, imagined that their greatness consists in
the accumulation, by whatever means may offer, of
worldly goods.
A man should pause and reflect and be just: his
Lord, out of measureless grace, has made him a human
being and honored him with the words: "Verily, We
created man in the goodliest of forms"+F10--and caused
His mercy which rises out of the dawn of oneness to
shine down upon him, until he became the wellspring
of the words of God and the place where the mysteries
of heaven alighted, and on the morning of creation he
was covered with the rays of the qualities of perfection
and the graces of holiness. How can he stain this immaculate
garment with the filth of selfish desires, or
exchange this everlasting honor for infamy? "Dost thou
think thyself only a puny form, when the universe is
folded up within thee?"+F11
Were it not our purpose to be brief and to develop
our primary subject, we would here set down a summary

+F10 &Qur'an 95:4.
+F11 The &Imam &Ali.

+P20
of themes from the Divine world, as to the reality
of man and his high station and the surpassing value
and worth of the human race. Let this be, for another
time.
The highest station, the supreme sphere, the noblest,
most sublime position in creation, whether visible or
invisible, whether alpha or omega, is that of the Prophets
of God, notwithstanding the fact that for the most
part they have to outward seeming been possessed of
nothing but their own poverty. In the same way, ineffable
glory is set apart for the Holy Ones and those
who are nearest to the Threshold of God, although
such as these have never for a moment concerned themselves
with material gain. Then comes the station of
those just kings whose fame as protectors of the people
and dispensers of Divine justice has filled the world,
whose name as powerful champions of the people's
rights has echoed through creation. These give no
thought to amassing enormous fortunes for themselves;
they believe, rather, that their own wealth lies in enriching
their subjects. To them, if every individual citizen
has affluence and ease, the royal coffers are full.
They take no pride in gold and silver, but rather in
their enlightenment and their determination to achieve
the universal good.
Next in rank are those eminent and honorable ministers
of state and representatives, who place the will of
God above their own, and whose administrative skill
and wisdom in the conduct of their office raises the science

+P21
of government to new heights of perfection. They
shine in the learned world like lamps of knowledge;
their thinking, their attitudes and their acts demonstrate
their patriotism and their concern for the country's advancement.

Content with a modest stipend, they consecrate
their days and nights to the execution of important
duties and the devising of methods to insure the
progress of the people. Through the effectiveness of
their wise counsel, the soundness of their judgment,
they have ever caused their government to become an
example to be followed by all the governments of the
world. They have made their capital city a focal center
of great world undertakings, they have won distinction,
attaining a supreme degree of personal eminence, and
reaching the loftiest heights of repute and character.
Again, there are those famed and accomplished men
of learning, possessed of praiseworthy qualities and vast
erudition, who lay hold on the strong handle of the
fear of God and keep to the ways of salvation. In the
mirror of their minds the forms of transcendent realities
are reflected, and the lamp of their inner vision
derives its light from the sun of universal knowledge.
They are busy by night and by day with meticulous
research into such sciences as are profitable to mankind,
and they devote themselves to the training of students
of capacity. It is certain that to their discerning taste,
the proffered treasures of kings would not compare
with a single drop of the waters of knowledge, and
mountains of gold and silver could not outweigh the

+P22
successful solution of a difficult problem. To them, the
delights that lie outside their work are only toys for
children, and the cumbersome load of unnecessary possessions
is only good for the ignorant and base. Content,
like the birds, they give thanks for a handful of
seeds, and the song of their wisdom dazzles the minds
of the world's most wise.
Again, there are sagacious leaders among the people
and influential personalities throughout the country,
who constitute the pillars of state. Their rank and station
and success depend on their being the well-wishers
of the people and in their seeking out such means as
will improve the nation and will increase the wealth
and comfort of the citizens.
Observe the case when an individual is an eminent
person in his country, zealous, wise, pure-hearted,
known for his innate capacity, intelligence, natural
perspicacity--and is also an important member of the
state: what, for such an individual, can be regarded as
honor, abiding happiness, rank and station, whether in
the here or the hereafter? Is it a diligent attention to
truth and righteousness, is it dedication and resolve
and devotion to the good pleasure of God, is it the desire
to attract the favorable consideration of the ruler
and to merit the approval of the people? Or would it,
rather, consist in this, that for the sake of indulging in
feasts and dissipations by night he should undermine
his country and break the hearts of his people by day,
causing his God to reject him, and his sovereign to cast

+P23
him out and his people to defame him and hold him in
deserved contempt? By God, the mouldering bones in
the graveyard are better than such as these! Of what
value are they, who have never tasted the heavenly
food of truly human qualities, and never drunk of the
crystalline waters of those bounties which belong to the
realm of man?

It is unquestionable that the object in establishing
parliaments is to bring about justice and righteousness,
but everything hinges on the efforts of
the elected representatives. If their intention is sincere,
desirable results and unforeseen improvements will be
forthcoming; if not, it is certain that the whole thing
will be meaningless, the country will come to a standstill
and public affairs will continuously deteriorate. "I
see a thousand builders unequal to one subverter; what
then of the one builder who is followed by a thousand
subverters?"
The purpose of the foregoing statements is to demonstrate
at least this, that the happiness and greatness,
the rank and station, the pleasure and peace, of an individual
have never consisted in his personal wealth,
but rather in his excellent character, his high resolve,
the breadth of his learning, and his ability to solve difficult

+P24
problems. How well has it been said: "On my
back is a garment which, were it sold for a penny, that
penny would be worth far more; yet within the garment
is a soul which, if you weighed it against all the
souls in the world, would prove greater and nobler."
In the present writer's view it would be preferable
if the election of nonpermanent members of consultative
assemblies in sovereign states should be dependent
on the will and choice of the people. For elected representatives
will on this account be somewhat inclined to
exercise justice, lest their reputation suffer and they
fall into disfavor with the public.
It should not be imagined that the writer's earlier remarks
constitute a denunciation of wealth or a commendation
of poverty. Wealth is praiseworthy in the
highest degree, if it is acquired by an individual's own
efforts and the grace of God, in commerce, agriculture,
art and industry, and if it be expended for philanthropic
purposes. Above all, if a judicious and resourceful individual
should initiate measures which would universally
enrich the masses of the people, there could be no
undertaking greater than this, and it would rank in the
sight of God as the supreme achievement, for such a
benefactor would supply the needs and insure the comfort
and well-being of a great multitude. Wealth is
most commendable, provided the entire population is
wealthy. If, however, a few have inordinate riches
while the rest are impoverished, and no fruit or benefit
accrues from that wealth, then it is only a liability to its

+P25
possessor. If, on the other hand, it is expended for the
promotion of knowledge, the founding of elementary
and other schools, the encouragement of art and industry,
the training of orphans and the poor--in brief, if it
is dedicated to the welfare of society--its possessor will
stand out before God and man as the most excellent of
all who live on earth and will be accounted as one of
the people of paradise.

As to those who maintain that the inauguration
of reforms and the setting up of powerful
institutions would in reality be at variance
with the good pleasure of God and would contravene
the laws of the Divine Law-Giver and run counter to
basic religious principles and to the ways of the Prophet--
let them consider how this could be the case. Would
such reforms contravene the religious law because they
would be acquired from foreigners and would therefore
cause us to be as they are, since "He who imitates a
people is one of them"? In the first place these matters
relate to the temporal and material apparatus of civilization,
the implements of science, the adjuncts of progress
in the professions and the arts, and the orderly

+P26
conduct of government. They have nothing whatever
to do with the problems of the spirit and the complex
realities of religious doctrine. If it be objected that even
where material affairs are concerned foreign importations
are inadmissible, such an argument would only
establish the ignorance and absurdity of its proponents.
Have they forgotten the celebrated &hadith (Holy Tradition):
"Seek after knowledge, even unto China"? It
is certain that the people of China were, in the sight of
God, among the most rejected of men, because they
worshiped idols and were unmindful of the omniscient
Lord. The Europeans are at least "Peoples of the Book,"
and believers in God and specifically referred to in the
sacred verse, "Thou shalt certainly find those to be
nearest in affection to the believers, who say, `We are
Christians.'"+F12 It is therefore quite permissible and
indeed more appropriate to acquire knowledge from
Christian countries. How could seeking after knowledge
among the heathen be acceptable to God, and
seeking it among the People of the Book be repugnant
to Him?
Furthermore, in the Battle of the Confederates, &Abu
&Sufyan enlisted the aid of the &Bani &Kinanih, the &Bani
&Qahtan and the Jewish &Bani Qurayzih and rose up
with all the tribes of the &Quraysh to put out the Divine
Light that flamed in the lamp of &Yathrib (Medina). In
those days the great winds of trials and tribulations
were blowing from every direction, as it is written: "Do

+F12 &Qur'an 5:85.

+P27
men think when they say `We believe' they shall be
let alone and not be put to proof?"+F13 The believers
were few and the enemy attacking in force, seeking to
blot out the new-risen Sun of Truth with the dust of
oppression and tyranny. Then &Salman (the Persian)
came into the presence of the Prophet--the Dawning-Point
of revelation, the Focus of the endless splendors
of grace--and he said that in Persia to protect themselves
from an encroaching host they would dig a moat
or trench about their lands, and that this had proved
a highly efficient safeguard against surprise attacks.
Did that Wellspring of universal wisdom, that Mine
of divine knowledge say in reply that this was a custom
current among idolatrous, fire-worshiping Magians
and could therefore hardly be adopted by monotheists?
Or did He rather immediately direct His followers to
set about digging a trench? He even, in His Own
blessed person, took hold of the tools and went to work
beside them.
It is moreover a matter of record in the books of the
various Islamic schools and the writings of leading divines
and historians, that after the Light of the World
had risen over &Hijaz, flooding all mankind with Its
brilliance, and creating through the revelation of a new
divine Law, new principles and institutions, a fundamental
change throughout the world--holy laws were
revealed which in some cases conformed to the practices

+F13 &Qur'an 29:2.

+P28
of the Days of Ignorance.+F14 Among these, &Muhammad
respected the months of religious truce,+F15 retained
the prohibition of swine's flesh, continued the
use of the lunar calendar and the names of the months
and so on. There is a considerable number of such laws
specifically enumerated in the texts:
"The people of the Days of Ignorance engaged in
many practices which the Law of &Islam later confirmed.
They would not take in marriage both a mother and
her daughter, and the most shameful of acts in their
view was to marry two sisters. They would stigmatize
a man marrying the wife of his father, derisively calling
him his father's competitor. It was their custom to
go on pilgrimage to the House at Mecca, where they
would perform the ceremonies of visitation, putting on
the pilgrim's dress, practicing the circumambulation,
running between the hills, pausing at all the stopping-places,
and casting the stones. It was, furthermore, their
wont to intercalate one month in every three-year period,
to perform ablutions after intercourse, to rinse
out the mouth and snuff up water through the nostrils,
to part the hair, use the tooth-stick, pare the nails and
pluck the armpits. They would, likewise, cut off the
right hand of a thief."
Can one, God forbid, assume that because some of

+F14 &Jahiliyyih: the period of paganism in Arabia, prior to the
+F14 advent of &Muhammad.
+F15 The pagan Arabs observed one separate and three consecutive
+F15 months of truce, during which period pilgrimages were made to
+F15 Mecca, and fairs, poetry contests and similar events took
place.

+P29
the divine laws resemble the practices of the Days of
Ignorance, the customs of a people abhorred by all nations,
it follows that there is a defect in these laws?
Or can one, God forbid, imagine that the Omnipotent
Lord was moved to comply with the opinions of the
heathen? The divine wisdom takes many forms. Would
it have been impossible for &Muhammad to reveal a Law
which bore no resemblance whatever to any practice
current in the Days of Ignorance? Rather, the purpose
of His consummate wisdom was to free the people
from the chains of fanaticism which had bound them
hand and foot, and to forestall those very objections
which today confuse the mind and trouble the conscience
of the simple and helpless.
Some, who are not sufficiently informed as to the
meaning of the divine Texts and the contents of traditional
and written history, will aver that these customs
of the Days of Ignorance were laws which had come
down from His Holiness Abraham and had been retained
by the idolaters. In this connection they will
cite the &Qur'anic verse: "Follow the religion of Abraham,
the sound in faith."+F16 Nevertheless it is a fact
attested by the writings of all the Islamic schools that
the months of truce, the lunar calendar, and the cutting
off of the right hand as punishment for theft,
formed no part of Abraham's Law. In any case, the
Pentateuch is extant and available today, and contains
the laws of Abraham. Let them refer to it. They will

+F16 &Qur'an 16:124.

+P30
then, of course, insist that the Torah has been tampered
with, and in proof will quote the &Qur'anic verse: "They
pervert the text of the Word of God."+F17 It is, however,
known where such distortion has occurred, and is a
matter of record in critical texts and commentaries.+F18
Were We to develop the subject beyond this brief reference,
We would have to abandon Our present purpose.
According to some accounts, mankind has been directed
to borrow various good qualities and ways from
wild animals, and to learn a lesson from these. Since
it is permissible to imitate virtues of dumb animals, it
is certainly far more so to borrow material sciences and
techniques from foreign peoples, who at least belong
to the human race and are distinguished by judgment
and the power of speech. And if it be contended that
such praiseworthy qualities are inborn in animals, by
what proof can they claim that these essential principles
of civilization, this knowledge and these sciences current
among other peoples, are not inborn? Is there any
Creator save God? Say: Praised be God!
The most learned and accomplished divines, the
most distinguished scholars, have diligently studied
those branches of knowledge the root and origin of
which were the Greek philosophers such as Aristotle
and the rest, and have regarded the acquisition from
the Greek texts of sciences such as medicine, and

+F17 &Qur'an 4:45; 5:16.
+F18 Cf. &Baha'u'llah, The &Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 86.

+P31
branches of mathematics including algebra+F19 and arithmetic,
as a most valuable achievement. Every one of
the eminent divines both studies and teaches the science
of logic, although they consider its founder to
have been a Sabean. Most of them have insisted that if
a scholar has thoroughly mastered a variety of sciences
but is not well grounded in logic, his opinions, deductions
and conclusions cannot safely be relied upon.

It has now been clearly and irrefutably shown that
the importation from foreign countries of the
principles and procedures of civilization, and
the acquisition from them of sciences and techniques--

+F19 "If by the word algebra we mean that branch of mathematics
+F19 by which we learn how to solve the equation x2+5x=14,
+F19 written in this way, the science begins in the 17th century.
If we
+F19 allow the equation to be written with other and less
convenient
+F19 symbols, it may be considered as beginning at least as early
as the
+F19 3rd century. If we permit it to be stated in words and
solved, for
+F19 simple cases of positive roots, by the aid of geometric
figures, the
+F19 science was known to Euclid and others of the Alexandrian
school
+F19 as early as 300 B.C. If we permit of more or less scientific
guessing
+F19 in achieving a solution, algebra may be said to have been
known
+F19 nearly 2000 years B.C., and it had probably attracted the
attention
+F19 of the intellectual class much earlier... The name `algebra'
is
+F19 quite fortuitous. When Mohammed ibn &Musa &al-Khowarizmi ...
+F19 wrote in Baghdad (c. 825) he gave to one of his works the name

+F19 Al-jebr &w'al-muqabalah. The title is sometimes translated as

+F19 `restoration and equation,' but the meaning was not clear even
to the
+F19 later Arab writers." Encyclopedia Britannica, 1952, s.v.
Algebra.

+P32
in brief, of whatsoever will contribute to the general
good--is entirely permissible. This has been done to
focus public attention on a matter of such universal advantage,
so that the people may arise with all their
energies to further it, until, God helping them, this
Sacred Land may within a brief period become the first
of nations.
O you who are wise! Consider this carefully: can an
ordinary gun compare with a Martini-Henry rifle or a
Krupp gun? If anyone should maintain that our old-time
firearms are good enough for us and that it is
useless to import weapons which have been invented
abroad would even a child listen to him? Or should
anyone say: "We have always transported merchandise
from one country to another on the backs of animals.
Why do we need steam engines? Why should we try to
ape other peoples?" could any intelligent person tolerate
such a statement? No, by the one God! Unless he
should, because of some hidden design or animosity,
refuse to accept the obvious.
Foreign nations, in spite of their having achieved the
greatest expertness in science, industry and the arts, do
not hesitate to borrow ideas from one another. How can
Persia, a country in the direst need, be allowed to lag
behind, neglected, abandoned?
Those eminent divines and men of learning who
walk the straight pathway and are versed in the secrets
of divine wisdom and informed of the inner realities of
the sacred Books; who wear in their hearts the jewel of

+P33
the fear of God, and whose luminous faces shine with
the lights of salvation--these are alert to the present
need and they understand the requirements of modern
times, and certainly devote all their energies toward
encouraging the advancement of learning and civilization.
"Are they equal, those who know, and those who
do not know?... Or is the darkness equal with the
light?"+F20
The spiritually learned are lamps of guidance among
the nations, and stars of good fortune shining from the
horizons of humankind. They are fountains of life for
such as lie in the death of ignorance and unawareness,
and clear springs of perfections for those who thirst
and wander in the wasteland of their defects and errors.
They are the dawning places of the emblems of Divine
Unity and initiates in the mysteries of the glorious
&Qur'an. They are skilled physicians for the ailing body
of the world, they are the sure antidote to the poison
that has corrupted human society. It is they who are
the strong citadel guarding humanity, and the impregnable
sanctuary for the sorely distressed, the anxious
and tormented, victims of ignorance. "Knowledge is a
light which God casteth into the heart of whomsoever
He willeth."
For every thing, however, God has created a sign and
symbol, and established standards and tests by which
it may be known. The spiritually learned must be characterized
by both inward and outward perfections; they

+F20 &Qur'an 39:12; 13:17.

+P34
must possess a good character, an enlightened nature,
a pure intent, as well as intellectual power, brilliance
and discernment, intuition, discretion and foresight,
temperance, reverence, and a heartfelt fear of God. For
an unlit candle, however great in diameter and tall, is
no better than a barren palm tree or a pile of dead
wood.

"The flower-faced may sulk or play the flirt,
The cruel fair may bridle and coquet;
But coyness in the ugly is ill-met,
And pain in a blind eye's a double hurt."+F20a

An authoritative Tradition states: "As for him who
is one of the learned:+F21 he must guard himself, defend
his faith, oppose his passions and obey the commandments
of his Lord. It is then the duty of the people to
pattern themselves after him." Since these illustrious
and holy words embody all the conditions of learning,
a brief commentary on their meaning is appropriate.
Whoever is lacking in these divine qualifications and
does not demonstrate these inescapable requirements in
his own life, should not be referred to as learned and
is not worthy to serve as a model for the believers.
The first of these requirements is to guard one's own
self. It is obvious that this does not refer to protecting
oneself from calamities and material tests, for the

+F20a &Rumi, The &Mathnavi, I, 1906-1907.
+F21 &Ulama', from the Arabic &alima, to know, may be translated
+F21 learned men, scientists, religious authorities.

+P35
Prophets and saints were, each and every one, subjected
to the bitterest afflictions that the world has to offer,
and were targets for all the cruelties and aggressions of
mankind. They sacrificed their lives for the welfare of
the people, and with all their hearts they hastened to
the place of their martyrdom; and with their inward
and outward perfections they arrayed humanity in new
garments of excellent qualities, both acquired and inborn.
The primary meaning of this guarding of oneself
is to acquire the attributes of spiritual and material perfection.

The first attribute of perfection is learning and the
cultural attainments of the mind, and this eminent station
is achieved when the individual combines in himself
a thorough knowledge of those complex and
transcendental realities pertaining to God, of the fundamental
truths of &Qur'anic political and religious law,
of the contents of the sacred Scriptures of other faiths,
and of those regulations and procedures which would
contribute to the progress and civilization of this distinguished
country. He should in addition be informed
as to the laws and principles, the customs, conditions
and manners, and the material and moral virtues characterizing
the statecraft of other nations, and should
be well versed in all the useful branches of learning of
the day, and study the historical records of bygone
governments and peoples. For if a learned individual
has no knowledge of the sacred Scriptures and the entire
field of divine and natural science, of religious

+P36
jurisprudence and the arts of government and the
varied learning of the time and the great events of history,
he might prove unequal to an emergency, and
this is inconsistent with the necessary qualification of
comprehensive knowledge.
If for example a spiritually learned Muslim is conducting
a debate with a Christian and he knows nothing
of the glorious melodies of the Gospel, he will, no
matter how much he imparts of the &Qur'an and its
truths, be unable to convince the Christian, and his
words will fall on deaf ears. Should, however, the
Christian observe that the Muslim is better versed in
the fundamentals of Christianity than the Christian
priests themselves, and understands the purport of the
Scriptures even better than they, he will gladly accept
the Muslim's arguments, and he would indeed have no
other recourse.
When the Chief of the Exile+F22 came into the presence
of that Luminary of divine wisdom, of salvation
and certitude, the &Imam &Rida--had the &Imam, that
mine of knowledge, failed in the course of their interview
to base his arguments on authority appropriate
and familiar to the Exilarch, the latter would never
have acknowledged the greatness of His Holiness.

+F22 The Resh Galuta, a prince or ruler of the exiles in Babylon,
+F22 to whom Jews, wherever they were, paid tribute.

+P37
The state is, moreover, based upon two potent
forces, the legislative and the executive. The
focal center of the executive power is the
government, while that of the legislative is the learned
--and if this latter great support and pillar should prove
defective, how is it conceivable that the state should
stand?
In view of the fact that at the present time such
fully developed and comprehensively learned individuals
are hard to come by, and the government and people
are in dire need of order and direction, it is essential
to establish a body of scholars the various groups of
whose membership would each be expert in one of the
aforementioned branches of knowledge. This body
should with the greatest energy and vigor deliberate as
to all present and future requirements, and bring about
equilibrium and order.
Up to now the religious law has not been given a
decisive role in our courts, because each of the &ulama
has been handing down decrees as he saw fit, based on
his arbitrary interpretation and personal opinion. For
example, two men will go to law, and one of the &ulama
will find for the plaintiff and another for the defendant.
It may even happen that in one and the same case two
conflicting decisions will be handed down by the same
mujtahid, on the grounds that he was inspired first in

+P38
one direction and then in the other. There can be no
doubt that this state of affairs has confused every important
issue and must jeopardize the very foundations
of society. For neither the plaintiff nor the defendant
ever loses hope of eventual success, and each in turn
will waste his life in the attempt to secure a later verdict
which would reverse the previous one. Their entire
time is thus given over to litigation, with the result that
their life instead of being devoted to beneficial undertakings
and necessary personal affairs, is completely involved
with the dispute. Indeed, these two litigants
might just as well be dead, for they can serve their government
and community not a particle. If, however, a
definite and final verdict were forthcoming, the duly
convicted party would perforce give up all hope of reopening
the case, and would then be relieved on that
score and would go back to looking after his own concerns
and those of others.
Since the primary means for securing the peace and
tranquillity of the people, and the most effective agency
for the advancement of high and low alike, is this all-important
matter, it is incumbent on those learned
members of the great consultative assembly who are
thoroughly versed in the Divine law to evolve a single,
direct and definite procedure for the settlement of litigations.
This instrument should then be published
throughout the country by order of the king, and its
provisions should be strictly adhered to. This all-important
question requires the most urgent attention.

+P39
The second attribute of perfection is justice and
impartiality.
This means to have no regard for one's own
personal benefits and selfish advantages, and to carry
out the laws of God without the slightest concern for
anything else. It means to see one's self as only one of
the servants of God, the All-Possessing, and except for
aspiring to spiritual distinction, never attempting to be
singled out from the others. It means to consider the
welfare of the community as one's own. It means, in
brief, to regard humanity as a single individual, and
one's own self as a member of that corporeal form, and
to know of a certainty that if pain or injury afflicts any
member of that body, it must inevitably result in suffering
for all the rest.
The third requirement of perfection is to arise with
complete sincerity and purity of purpose to educate the
masses: to exert the utmost effort to instruct them in
the various branches of learning and useful sciences, to
encourage the development of modern progress, to
widen the scope of commerce, industry and the arts, to
further such measures as will increase the people's
wealth. For the mass of the population is uninformed as
to these vital agencies which would constitute an immediate
remedy for society's chronic ills.
It is essential that scholars and the spiritually learned
should undertake in all sincerity and purity of intent
and for the sake of God alone, to counsel and exhort
the masses and clarify their vision with that collyrium
which is knowledge. For today the people out of the

+P40
depths of their superstition, imagine that any individual
who believes in God and His signs, and in the Prophets
and Divine Revelations and laws, and is a devout
and God-fearing person, must of necessity remain idle
and spend his days in sloth, so as to be considered in
the sight of God as one who has forsaken the world
and its vanities, set his heart on the life to come, and
isolated himself from human beings in order to draw
nearer to God. Since this theme will be developed elsewhere
in the present text, We shall leave it for the
moment.
Other attributes of perfection are to fear God, to love
God by loving His servants, to exercise mildness and
forbearance and calm, to be sincere, amenable, clement
and compassionate; to have resolution and courage,
trustworthiness and energy, to strive and struggle, to be
generous, loyal, without malice, to have zeal and a
sense of honor, to be high-minded and magnanimous,
and to have regard for the rights of others. Whoever is
lacking in these excellent human qualities is defective.
If We were to explain the inner meanings of each one
of these attributes, "the poem would take up seventy
maunds+F22a of paper."

+F22a A measure of weight, in &Tihran equivalent to six and
two-thirds
+F22a pounds.

+P41
The second of these spiritual standards which
apply to the possessor of knowledge is that
he should be the defender of his faith. It is
obvious that these holy words do not refer exclusively
to searching out the implications of the Law, observing
the forms of worship, avoiding greater and lesser sins,
practicing the religious ordinances, and by all these
methods, protecting the Faith. They mean rather that
the whole population should be protected in every
way; that every effort should be exerted to adopt a combination
of all possible measures to raise up the Word
of God, increase the number of believers, promote the
Faith of God and exalt it and make it victorious over
other religions.
If, indeed, the Muslim religious authorities had persevered
along these lines as they ought to have done, by
now every nation on earth would have been gathered
into the shelter of the unity of God and the bright fire
of "that He may make it victorious over every other
religion"+F23 would have flamed out like the sun in the
midmost heart of the world.
Fifteen centuries after Christ, Luther, who was
originally one of the twelve members of a Catholic religious
body at the center of the Papal government and
later on initiated the Protestant religious belief, opposed

+F23 &Qur'an 9:33; 48:28; 61:9.

+P42
the Pope on certain points of doctrine such as the
prohibition of monastic marriage, the revering and bowing
down before images of the Apostles and Christian
leaders of the past, and various other religious practices
and ceremonies which were accretional to the ordinances
of the Gospel. Although at that period the
power of the Pope was so great and he was regarded
with such awe that the kings of Europe shook and
trembled before him, and he held control of all
Europe's major concerns in the grasp of his might--
nevertheless because Luther's position as regards the
freedom of religious leaders to marry, the abstention
from worshiping and making prostrations before
images and representations hung in the churches, and
the abrogation of ceremonials which had been added
on to the Gospel, was demonstrably correct, and because
the proper means were adopted for the promulgation
of his views: within these last four hundred and
some years the majority of the population of America,
four-fifths of Germany and England and a large percentage
of Austrians, in sum about one hundred and
twenty-five million people drawn from other Christian
denominations, have entered the Protestant Church.
The leaders of this religion are still making every effort
to promote it, and today on the East Coast of Africa,
ostensibly to emancipate the Sudanese and various
Negro peoples, they have established schools and colleges
and are training and civilizing completely savage
African tribes, while their true and primary purpose

+P43
is to convert some of the Muslim Negro tribes to Protestantism.
Every community is toiling for the advancement
of its people, and we (i.e., Muslims) sleep on!
Although it was not clear what purpose impelled
this man or where he was tending, see how the zealous
efforts of Protestant leaders have spread his doctrines
far and wide.
Now if the illustrious people of the one true God,
the recipients of His confirmations, the objects of His
Divine assistance, should put forth all their strength,
and with complete dedication, relying upon God and
turning aside from all else but Him, should adopt procedures
for spreading the Faith and should bend all
their efforts to this end, it is certain that His Divine
light would envelop the whole earth.
A few, who are unaware of the reality below the
surface of events, who cannot feel the pulse of the
world under their fingers, who do not know what a
massive dose of truth must be administered to heal this
chronic old disease of falsehood, believe that the Faith
can only be spread by the sword, and bolster their
opinion with the Tradition, "I am a Prophet by the
sword." If, however, they would carefully examine this
question, they would see that in this day and age the
sword is not a suitable means for promulgating the
Faith, for it would only fill peoples' hearts with revulsion
and terror. According to the Divine Law of &Muhammad,
it is not permissible to compel the People of
the Book to acknowledge and accept the Faith. While

+P44
it is a sacred obligation devolving on every conscientious
believer in the unity of God to guide mankind to the
truth, the Traditions "I am a Prophet by the sword"
and "I am commanded to threaten the lives of the
people until they say, `There is none other God but
God'" referred to the idolaters of the Days of Ignorance,
who in their blindness and bestiality had sunk
below the level of human beings. A faith born of sword
thrusts could hardly be relied upon, and would for any
trifling cause revert to error and unbelief. After the
ascension of &Muhammad, and His passing to "the seat
of truth, in the presence of the potent King,"+F24 the
tribes around Medina apostatized from their Faith,
turning back to the idolatry of pagan times.
Remember when the holy breaths of the Spirit of
God (Jesus) were shedding their sweetness over Palestine
and Galilee, over the shores of Jordan and the regions
around Jerusalem, and the wondrous melodies of
the Gospel were sounding in the ears of the spiritually
illumined, all the peoples of Asia and Europe, of Africa
and America, of Oceania, which comprises the islands
and archipelagoes of the Pacific and Indian Oceans,
were fire-worshipers and pagans, ignorant of the Divine
Voice that spoke out on the Day of the Covenant.+F25
Alone the Jews believed in the divinity and oneness
of God. Following the declaration of Jesus, the pure

+F24 &Qur'an 54:55.
+F25 &Qur'an 7:171: Yawm-i-Alast, the Day when God, addressing
+F25 Adam's posterity-to-be, said to them, "Am I not your Lord?"
+F25 (a-lastu bi Rabbikum) and they replied: "Yea, we bear
witness."

+P45
and reviving breath of His mouth conferred eternal
life on the inhabitants of those regions for a period of
three years, and through Divine Revelation the Law
of Christ, at that time the vital remedy for the ailing
body of the world, was established. In the days of
Jesus only a few individuals turned their faces toward
God; in fact only the twelve disciples and a few women
truly became believers, and one of the disciples, Judas
Iscariot apostatized from his Faith, leaving eleven.
After the ascension of Jesus to the Realm of Glory,
these few souls stood up with their spiritual qualities
and with deeds that were pure and holy, and they arose
by the power of God and the life-giving breaths of the
Messiah to save all the peoples of the earth. Then all
the idolatrous nations as well as the Jews rose up in
their might to kill the Divine fire that had been lit in
the lamp of Jerusalem. "Fain would they put out God's
light with their mouths: but God hath willed to perfect
His light, albeit the infidels abhor it."+F26 Under the
fiercest tortures, they did every one of these holy souls
to death; with butchers' cleavers, they chopped the pure
and undefiled bodies of some of them to pieces and
burned them in furnaces, and they stretched some of
the followers on the rack and then buried them alive.
In spite of this agonizing requital, the Christians continued
to teach the Cause of God, and they never drew
a sword from its scabbard or even so much as grazed a
cheek. Then in the end the Faith of Christ encompassed

+F26 &Qur'an 9:33.

+P46
the whole earth, so that in Europe and America
no traces of other religions were left, and today in Asia
and Africa and Oceania, large masses of people are
living within the sanctuary of the Four Gospels.
It has now by the above irrefutable proofs been fully
established that the Faith of God must be propagated
through human perfections, through qualities that are
excellent and pleasing, and spiritual behavior. If a soul
of his own accord advances toward God he will be accepted
at the Threshold of Oneness, for such a one is
free of personal considerations, of greed and selfish interests,
and he has taken refuge within the sheltering
protection of his Lord. He will become known among
men as trustworthy and truthful, temperate and scrupulous,
high-minded and loyal, incorruptible and God-fearing.
In this way the primary purpose in revealing
the Divine Law--which is to bring about happiness in
the after life and civilization and the refinement of
character in this--will be realized. As for the sword,
it will only produce a man who is outwardly a believer,
and inwardly a traitor and apostate.

We shall here relate a story that will serve as
an example to all. The Arabian chronicles
tell how, at a time prior to the advent of
&Muhammad, &Nu'man son of &Mundhir the Lakhmite

+P47
--an Arab king in the Days of Ignorance, whose seat
of government was the city of &Hirih--had one day returned
so often to his wine-cup that his mind clouded
over and his reason deserted him. In this drunken and
insensible condition he gave orders that his two boon
companions, his close and much-loved friends, &Khalid
son of Mudallil and &Amr son of &Mas'ud-Kaldih, should
be put to death. When he wakened after his carousal,
he inquired for the two friends and was given the
grievous news. He was sick at heart, and because of his
intense love and longing for them, he built two
splendid monuments over their two graves and he
named these the Smeared-With-Blood.
Then he set apart two days out of the year, in memory
of the two companions, and he called one of them
the Day of Evil and one the Day of Grace. Every year
on these two appointed days he would issue forth with
pomp and circumstance and sit between the monuments.
If, on the Day of Evil, his eye fell on any soul,
that person would be put to death; but on the Day of
Grace, whoever passed would be overwhelmed with
gifts and benefits. Such was his rule, sealed with a
mighty oath and always rigidly observed.
One day the king mounted his horse, that was called
&Mahmud, and rode out into the plains to hunt. Suddenly
in the distance he caught sight of a wild donkey.
&Nu'man urged on his horse to overtake it, and galloped
away at such speed that he was cut off from his retinue.
As night approached, the king was hopelessly lost.

+P48
Then he made out a tent, far off in the desert, and he
turned his horse and headed toward it. When he
reached the entrance of the tent he asked, "Will you
receive a guest?" The owner (who was &Hanzala, son
of &Abi-Ghafray-i-Ta'i) replied, "Yea." He came forward
and helped &Nu'man to dismount. Then he went
to his wife and told her, "There are clear signs of greatness
in the bearing of this person. Do your best to show
him hospitality, and make ready a feast." His wife said,
"We have a ewe. Sacrifice it. And I have saved a little
flour against such a day." &Hanzala first milked the ewe
and carried a bowl of milk to &Nu'man, and then he
slaughtered her and prepared a meal; and what with
his friendliness and loving-kindness, &Nu'man spent
that night in peace and comfort. When dawn came,
&Nu'man made ready to leave, and he said to &Hanzala:
"You have shown me the utmost generosity, receiving
and feasting me. I am &Nu'man, son of &Mundhir, and I
shall eagerly await your arrival at my court."
Time passed, and famine fell on the land of &Tayy.
&Hanzala was in dire need and for this reason he sought
out the king. By a strange coincidence he arrived on the
Day of Evil. &Nu'man was greatly troubled in spirit. He
began to reproach his friend, saying, "Why did you
come to your friend on this day of all days? For this is
the Day of Evil, that is, the Day of Wrath and the Day
of Distress. This day, should my eyes alight on &Qabus,
my only son, he should not escape with his life. Now
ask me whatever favor you will."

+P49
&Hanzala said: "I knew nothing of your Day of Evil.
As for the gifts of this life, they are meant for the living,
and since I at this hour must drink of death, what
can all the world's storehouses avail me now?"
&Nu'man said, "There is no help for this."
&Hanzala told him: "Respite me, then, that I may go
back to my wife and make my testament. Next year
I shall return, on the Day of Evil."
&Nu'man then asked for a guarantor, so that, if &Hanzala
should break his word, this guarantor would be put
to death instead. &Hanzala, helpless and bewildered,
looked about him. Then his gaze fell on one of
&Nu'man's retinue, &Sharik, son of &Amr, son of Qays of
&Shayban, and to him he recited these lines: "O my
partner, O son of &Amr! Is there any escape from death?
O brother of every afflicted one! O brother of him who
is brotherless! O brother of &Nu'man, in thee today is a
surety for the &Shaykh. Where is &Shayban the noble--
may the All-Merciful favor him!" But &Sharik only
answered, "O my brother, a man cannot gamble with
his life." At this the victim could not tell where to turn.
Then a man named &Qarad, son of &Adja' the Kalbite
stood up and offered himself as a surety, agreeing that,
should he fail on the next Day of Wrath to deliver up
the victim, the king might do with him, &Qarad, as he
wished. &Nu'man then bestowed five hundred camels on
&Hanzala, and sent him home.
In the following year on the Day of Evil, as soon
as the true dawn broke in the sky, &Nu'man as was his

+P50
custom set out with pomp and pageantry and made for
the two mausoleums called the Smeared-With-Blood.
He brought &Qarad along, to wreak his kingly wrath
upon him. The pillars of the state then loosed their
tongues and begged for mercy, imploring the king to
respite &Qarad until sundown, for they hoped that
&Hanzala might yet return; but the king's purpose was
to spare the life of &Hanzala, and to requite his hospitality
by putting &Qarad to death in his place. As the
sun began to set, they stripped off the garments of
&Qarad, and made ready to sever his head. At that
moment a rider appeared in the distance, galloping at
top speed. &Nu'man said to the swordsman, "Why delayest
thou?" The ministers said, "Perchance it is &Hanzala
who comes." And when the rider drew near, they
saw it was none other.
&Nu'man was sorely displeased. He said, "Thou fool!
Thou didst slip away once from the clutching fingers
of death; must thou provoke him now a second time?"
And &Hanzala answered, "Sweet in my mouth and
pleasant on my tongue is the poison of death, at the
thought of redeeming my pledge."
&Nu'man asked, "What could be the reason for this
trustworthiness, this regard for thine obligation and this
concern for thine oath?" And &Hanzala answered, "It
is my faith in the one God and in the Books that have
come down from heaven." &Nu'man asked, "What Faith
dost thou profess?" And &Hanzala said, "It was the holy
breaths of Jesus that brought me to life. I follow the

+P51
straight pathway of Christ, the Spirit of God." &Nu'man
said, "Let me inhale these sweet aromas of the Spirit."
So it was that &Hanzala drew out the white hand of
guidance from the bosom of the love of God,+F27 and illumined
the sight and the insight of the beholders with
the Gospel light. After he had in bell-like accents recited
some of the divine verses out of the Evangel,
&Nu'man and all his ministers sickened of their idols
and their idol-worship and were confirmed in the Faith
of God. And they said, "Alas, a thousand times alas,
that up to now we were careless of this infinite mercy
and veiled away therefrom, and were bereft of this rain
from the clouds of the grace of God." Then straightway
the king tore down the two monuments called
the Smeared-With-Blood, and he repented of his
tyranny and established justice in the land.

+F27 Cf. &Qur'an 27:12, referring to Moses: "Put now thy hand
+F27 into thy bosom: it shall come forth white ... one of nine
signs
+F27 to Pharaoh and his people...." Also &Qur'an 7:105; 20:23;
26:32;
+F27 and 28:32. Also Exodus 4:6. See too Edward Fitzgerald's The
+F27 Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam:
+F27 Now the New Year reviving old Desires,
+F27 The thoughtful Soul to Solitude retires,
+F27 Where the White Hand of Moses on the Bough
+F27 Puts out, and Jesus from the Ground suspires.
+F27 The metaphors here refer to white blossoms and the perfumes of

+F27 spring.

+P52
Observe how one individual, and he a man of
the desert, to outward seeming unknown and
of no station--because he showed forth one
of the qualities of the pure in heart, was able to deliver
this proud sovereign and a great company of others
from the dark night of unbelief and guide them into
the morning of salvation; to save them from the perdition
of idolatry and bring them to the shores of the
oneness of God, and to put an end to practices of the
sort which blight a whole society and reduce the peoples
to barbarism. One must think deeply over this,
and grasp its meaning.

My heart aches, for I note with intense regret
that the attention of the people is nowhere
directed toward that which is worthy of
this day and time. The Sun of Truth has risen above
the world but we are ensnared in the dark of our
imaginings. The waters of the Most Great Sea are
surging all around us, while we are parched and weak
with thirst. The divine bread is coming down from

+P53
heaven, and yet we grope and stumble in a famine-stricken
land. "Between the weeping and the telling,
I spin out my days."
One of the principal reasons why people of other
religions have shunned and failed to become converted
to the Faith of God is fanaticism and unreasoning religious
zeal. See for example the divine words that were
addressed to &Muhammad, the Ark of Salvation, the
Luminous Countenance and Lord of Men, bidding
Him to be gentle with the people and long-suffering:
"Debate with them in the kindliest manner."+F28 That
Blessed Tree Whose light was "neither of the East nor
of the West"+F29 and Who cast over all the peoples of
the earth the sheltering shade of a measureless grace,
showed forth infinite kindness and forbearance in His
dealings with every one. In these words, likewise, were
Moses and Aaron commanded to challenge Pharaoh,
Lord of the Stakes:+F30 "Speak ye to him with gentle
speech."+F31
Although the noble conduct of the Prophets and
Holy Ones of God is widely known, and it is indeed,
until the coming of the Hour,+F32 in every aspect of life

+F28 &Qur'an 16:126.
+F29 &Qur'an 24:35.
+F30 &Dhu'l-Awtad is variously rendered by translators of the
+F30 &Qur'an as The Impaler, The Contriver of the Stakes, The Lord
+F30 of a Strong Dominion, The One Surrounded by Ministers, etc.
+F30 &Awtad means pegs or tent stakes. See &Qur'an 38:11 and 89:9.

+F31 &Qur'an 20:46.
+F32 &Qur'an 33:63: "Men will ask Thee of `the Hour.' Say: The
+F32 knowledge of it is with God alone." Cf. also 22:1, "the
earthquake
+F32 of the Hour," etc. See also Matthew 24:36, 42, etc. To
+F32 &Baha'is, this refers to the Advent of the &Bab and
&Baha'u'llah.

+P54
an excellent pattern for all mankind to follow, nevertheless
some have remained neglectful of and separated
from these qualities of extraordinary sympathy and
loving-kindness, and have been prevented from attaining
to the inner significances of the Holy Books. Not
only do they scrupulously shun the adherents of religions
other than their own, they do not even permit
themselves to show them common courtesy. If one is
not allowed to associate with another, how can one
guide him out of the dark and empty night of denial,
of "there-is-no-God," into the bright morning of belief,
and the affirmation, "but God."+F33 And how can one
urge him on and encourage him to rise up out of the
abyss of perdition and ignorance and climb the heights
of salvation and knowledge? Consider justly: had not
&Hanzala treated &Nu'man with true friendship, showing
him kindness and hospitality, could he have brought the
King and a great number of other idolaters to acknowledge
the unity of God? To keep aloof from people, to
shun them, to be harsh with them, will make them
shrink away, while affection and consideration, mildness
and forbearance will attract their hearts toward
God. If a true believer when meeting an individual
from a foreign country should express revulsion, and

+F33 Cf. the Islamic confession of faith, sometimes called the two
+F33 testimonies: "I testify that there is no God but God and
&Muhammad
+F33 is the Prophet of God."

+P55
should speak the horrible words forbidding association
with foreigners and referring to them as "unclean," the
stranger would be grieved and offended to such a point
that he would never accept the Faith, even if he should
see, taking place before his very eyes, the miracle of
the splitting of the moon. The results of shunning him
would be this, that if there had been in his heart some
faint inclination toward God, he would repent of it,
and would flee away from the sea of faith into the
wastes of oblivion and unbelief. And upon returning
home to his own country he would publish in the press
statements to the effect that such and such a nation
was utterly lacking in the qualifications of a civilized
people.
If we ponder a while over the &Qur'anic verses and
proofs, and the traditional accounts which have come
down to us from those stars of the heaven of Divine
Unity, the Holy &Imams, we shall be convinced of the
fact that if a soul is endowed with the attributes of true
faith and characterized with spiritual qualities he will
become to all mankind an emblem of the outstretched
mercies of God. For the attributes of the people of faith
are justice and fair-mindedness; forbearance and compassion
and generosity; consideration for others; candor,
trustworthiness, and loyalty; love and loving-kindness;
devotion and determination and humanity. If therefore
an individual is truly righteous, he will avail himself
of all those means which will attract the hearts of
men, and through the attributes of God he will draw

+P56
them to the straight path of faith and cause them to
drink from the river of everlasting life.
Today we have closed our eyes to every righteous act
and have sacrificed the abiding happiness of society to
our own transitory profit. We regard fanaticism and
zealotry as redounding to our credit and honor, and not
content with this, we denounce one another and plot
each other's ruin, and whenever we wish to put on a
show of wisdom and learning, of virtue and godliness,
we set about mocking and reviling this one and that.
"The ideas of such a one," we say, "are wide of the
mark, and so-and-so's behavior leaves much to be desired.
The religious observances of Zayd are few and
far between, and &Amr is not firm in his faith. So-and-so's
opinions smack of Europe. Fundamentally, Blank
thinks of nothing but his own name and fame. Last
night when the congregation stood up to pray, the row
was out of line, and it is not permissible to follow a
different leader. No rich man has died this month, and
nothing has been offered to charity in memory of the
Prophet. The edifice of religion has crumbled, the
foundations of faiths have been blown to the winds.
The carpet of belief has been rolled up, the tokens of
certitude blotted out; the whole world has fallen into
error; when it comes to repelling tyranny all are soft
and remiss. Days and months have passed away, and
these villages and estates still belong to the same owners
as they did last year. In this town there used to be seventy
different governments functioning in good order,

+P57
but the number has steadily decreased; there are only
twenty-five left now, as a memento. It used to be that
two hundred contradictory judgments were handed
down by the same &mufti in any one day, now we hardly
get fifty. In those days there were crowds of people
who were all brainsick with litigation, and now they
rest in peace; today the plaintiff would be defeated and
the defendant victorious, tomorrow the plaintiff won
the case and the defendant lost it--but now this excellent
practice has been abandoned too. What is this
heathenish religion, this idolatrous kind of error! Alas
for the Law, alas for the Faith, alas for all these calamities!
O Brothers in the Faith! This is surely the end
of the world! The Judgment is coming!"
With words such as these they assault the minds of
the helpless masses and disturb the hearts of the already
bewildered poor, who know nothing of the true
state of affairs and the real basis for all such talk, and
remain completely unaware of the fact that a thousand
selfish purposes are concealed behind the supposedly
religious eloquence of certain individuals. They imagine
that speakers of this type are motivated by virtuous
zeal, when the truth is that such individuals keep up a
great hue and cry because they see their own personal
ruin in the welfare of the masses, and believe that if
the people's eyes are opened, their own light will go
out. Only the keenest insight will detect the fact that
if the hearts of these individuals were really impelled
by righteousness and the fear of God, the fragrance of

+P58
it would, like musk, be spreading everywhere. Nothing
in the world can ever be supported by words alone.

But these ill-omened owls have done a wrong,
And learned to sing as the white falcon sings.
And what of Sheba's message that the lapwing brings
If the bittern learn to sing the lapwing's song?+F34

The spiritually learned, those who have derived infinite
significance and wisdom from the Book of Divine
Revelation, and whose illumined hearts draw inspiration
from the unseen world of God, certainly exert their
efforts to bring about the supremacy of the true followers
of God, in all respects and above all peoples,
and they toil and struggle to make use of every agency
that will conduce to progress. If any man neglects
these high purposes he can never prove acceptable in
the sight of God; he stands out with all his shortcomings
and claims perfection, and destitute, pretends to
wealth.

One sluggish, blind and surly's a poor thing,
"A lump of flesh, without a foot or wing."
How far is he who apes and makes a show
From the illumined, who doth truly know.
One but an echo, though it's clear and sharp,
And one, the Psalmist David with his harp.

Knowledge, purity, devotion, discipline, independence,
have nothing to do with outer appearance and
dress. Once in the course of My travels I heard an

+F34 Cf. &Qur'an 27:20 ff.

+P59
eminent personage make the following excellent remark,
the wit and charm of which remain in memory:
"Not every cleric's turban is a proof of continence and
knowledge; not every layman's hat a sign of ignorance
and immorality. How many a hat has proudly raised
the banner of knowledge, how many a turban pulled
down the Law of God!"

The third element of the utterance under discussion
is, "opposes his passions." How wonderful
are the implications of this deceptively
easy, all-inclusive phrase. This is the very foundation
of every laudable human quality; indeed, these few
words embody the light of the world, the impregnable
basis of all the spiritual attributes of human beings.
This is the balance wheel of all behavior, the means of
keeping all man's good qualities in equilibrium.
For desire is a flame that has reduced to ashes uncounted
lifetime harvests of the learned, a devouring
fire that even the vast sea of their accumulated knowledge
could never quench. How often has it happened
that an individual who was graced with every attribute
of humanity and wore the jewel of true understanding,
nevertheless followed after his passions until his excellent
qualities passed beyond moderation and he was
forced into excess. His pure intentions changed to evil

+P60
ones, his attributes were no longer put to uses worthy
of them, and the power of his desires turned him aside
from righteousness and its rewards into ways that were
dangerous and dark. A good character is in the sight of
God and His chosen ones and the possessors of insight,
the most excellent and praiseworthy of all things, but
always on condition that its center of emanation should
be reason and knowledge and its base should be true
moderation. Were the implications of this subject to be
developed as they deserve the work would grow too
long and our main theme would be lost to view.
All the peoples of Europe, notwithstanding their
vaunted civilization, sink and drown in this terrifying
sea of passion and desire, and this is why all the phenomena
of their culture come to nothing. Let no one
wonder at this statement or deplore it. The primary
purpose, the basic objective, in laying down powerful
laws and setting up great principles and institutions
dealing with every aspect of civilization, is human happiness;
and human happiness consists only in drawing
closer to the Threshold of Almighty God, and in securing
the peace and well-being of every individual member,
high and low alike, of the human race; and the
supreme agencies for accomplishing these two objectives
are the excellent qualities with which humanity
has been endowed.
A superficial culture, unsupported by a cultivated
morality, is as "a confused medley of dreams,"+F35 and

+F35 &Qur'an 12:44; 21:5.

+P61
external lustre without inner perfection is "like a vapor
in the desert which the thirsty dreameth to be water."+F36
For results which would win the good pleasure of God
and secure the peace and well-being of man, could
never be fully achieved in a merely external civilization.
The peoples of Europe have not advanced to the
higher planes of moral civilization, as their opinions
and behavior clearly demonstrate. Notice, for example,
how the supreme desire of European governments and
peoples today is to conquer and crush one another, and
how, while harboring the greatest secret repulsion, they
spend their time exchanging expressions of neighborly
affection, friendship and harmony.
There is the well-known case of the ruler who is
fostering peace and tranquillity and at the same time
devoting more energy than the warmongers to the accumulation
of weapons and the building up of a larger
army, on the grounds that peace and harmony can only
be brought about by force. Peace is the pretext, and
night and day they are all straining every nerve to pile
up more weapons of war, and to pay for this their
wretched people must sacrifice most of whatever they
are able to earn by their sweat and toil. How many
thousands have given up their work in useful industries
and are laboring day and night to produce new and
deadlier weapons which would spill out the blood of
the race more copiously than before.
Each day they invent a new bomb or explosive and

+F36 &Qur'an 24:39.

+P62
then the governments must abandon their obsolete arms
and begin producing the new, since the old weapons
cannot hold their own against the new. For example
at this writing, in the year 1292 A.H.+F37 they have invented
a new rifle in Germany and a bronze cannon in
Austria, which have greater firepower than the Martini-Henry
rifle and the Krupp cannon, are more rapid in
their effects and more efficient in annihilating humankind.
The staggering cost of it all must be borne by the
hapless masses.
Be just: can this nominal civilization, unsupported
by a genuine civilization of character, bring about the
peace and well-being of the people or win the good
pleasure of God? Does it not, rather, connote the destruction
of man's estate and pull down the pillars of
happiness and peace?
At the time of the Franco-Prussian War, in the year
1870 of the Christian era, it was reported that 600,000
men died, broken and beaten, on the field of battle.
How many a home was torn out by the roots; how many
a city, flourishing the night before, was toppled down
by sunrise. How many a child was orphaned and
abandoned, how many an old father and mother had to
see their sons, the young fruit of their lives, twisting
and dying in dust and blood. How many women were
widowed, left without a helper or protector.
And then there were the libraries and magnificent
buildings of France that went up in flames, and the

+F37 1875 A.D.

+P63
military hospital, packed with sick and wounded men,
that was set on fire and burned to the ground. And
there followed the terrible events of the Commune,
the savage acts, the ruin and horror when opposing
factions fought and killed one another in the streets of
Paris. There were the hatreds and hostilities between
Catholic religious leaders and the German government.
There was the civil strife and uproar, the bloodshed
and havoc brought on between the partisans of
the Republic and the Carlists in Spain.
Only too many such instances are available to demonstrate
the fact that Europe is morally uncivilized.
Since the writer has no wish to cast aspersions on anyone
He has confined Himself to these few examples.
It is clear that no perceptive and well-informed mind
can countenance such events. Is it right and proper
that peoples among whom, diametrically opposed to
the most desirable human behavior, such horrors take
place, should dare lay claim to a real and adequate
civilization? Especially when out of all this no results
can be hoped for except the winning of a transient
victory; and since this outcome never endures, it is, to
the wise, not worth the effort.
Time and again down the centuries, the German
state has subdued the French; over and over, the kingdom
of France has governed German land. Is it permissible
that in our day 600,000 helpless creatures
should be offered up as a sacrifice to such nominal and
temporary uses and results? No, by the Lord God! Even

+P64
a child can see the evil of it. Yet the pursuit of passion
and desire will wrap the eyes in a thousand veils that
rise out of the heart to blind the sight and the insight
as well.

Desire and self come in the door
And blot out virtue, bright before,
And a hundred veils will rise
From the heart, to blind the eyes.

True civilization will unfurl its banner in the midmost
heart of the world whenever a certain number of
its distinguished and high-minded sovereigns--the shining
exemplars of devotion and determination--shall, for
the good and happiness of all mankind, arise, with firm
resolve and clear vision, to establish the Cause of Universal
Peace. They must make the Cause of Peace the
object of general consultation, and seek by every means
in their power to establish a Union of the nations of the
world. They must conclude a binding treaty and establish
a covenant, the provisions of which shall be sound,
inviolable and definite. They must proclaim it to all the
world and obtain for it the sanction of all the human
race. This supreme and noble undertaking--the real
source of the peace and well-being of all the world--
should be regarded as sacred by all that dwell on earth.
All the forces of humanity must be mobilized to ensure
the stability and permanence of this Most Great Covenant.
In this all-embracing Pact the limits and frontiers
of each and every nation should be clearly fixed, the

+P65
principles underlying the relations of governments towards
one another definitely laid down, and all international
agreements and obligations ascertained. In like
manner, the size of the armaments of every government
should be strictly limited, for if the preparations for war
and the military forces of any nation should be allowed
to increase, they will arouse the suspicion of others.
The fundamental principle underlying this solemn
Pact should be so fixed that if any government later
violate any one of its provisions, all the governments
on earth should arise to reduce it to utter submission,
nay the human race as a whole should resolve, with
every power at its disposal, to destroy that government.
Should this greatest of all remedies be applied to the
sick body of the world, it will assuredly recover from
its ills and will remain eternally safe and secure.+F38
Observe that if such a happy situation be forthcoming,
no government would need continually to pile up
the weapons of war, nor feel itself obliged to produce
ever new military weapons with which to conquer the
human race. A small force for the purposes of internal
security, the correction of criminal and disorderly elements
and the prevention of local disturbances, would
be required--no more. In this way the entire population
would, first of all, be relieved of the crushing burden

+F38 The foregoing paragraph, together with the later paragraph
+F38 beginning "A few, unaware of the power latent in human
endeavor,"
+F38 was translated by Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the &Baha'i
+F38 Faith. Cf. The World Order of &Baha'u'llah, pp. 37-38.

+P66
of expenditure currently imposed for military purposes,
and secondly, great numbers of people would cease to
devote their time to the continual devising of new
weapons of destruction--those testimonials of greed and
bloodthirstiness, so inconsistent with the gift of life--
and would instead bend their efforts to the production
of whatever will foster human existence and peace and
well-being, and would become the cause of universal
development and prosperity. Then every nation on
earth will reign in honor, and every people will be
cradled in tranquillity and content.
A few, unaware of the power latent in human endeavor,
consider this matter as highly impracticable,
nay even beyond the scope of man's utmost efforts.
Such is not the case, however. On the contrary, thanks
to the unfailing grace of God, the loving-kindness of
His favored ones, the unrivaled endeavors of wise and
capable souls, and the thoughts and ideas of the peerless
leaders of this age, nothing whatsoever can be regarded
as unattainable. Endeavor, ceaseless endeavor,
is required. Nothing short of an indomitable determination
can possibly achieve it. Many a cause which past
ages have regarded as purely visionary, yet in this day
has become most easy and practicable. Why should
this most great and lofty Cause--the daystar of the
firmament of true civilization and the cause of the
glory, the advancement, the well-being and the success
of all humanity--be regarded as impossible of achievement?
Surely the day will come when its beauteous

+P67
light shall shed illumination upon the assemblage of
man.

The apparatus of conflict will, as preparations
go on at their present rate, reach the point
where war will become something intolerable
to mankind.
It is clear from what has already been said that man's
glory and greatness do not consist in his being avid for
blood and sharp of claw, in tearing down cities and
spreading havoc, in butchering armed forces and civilians.
What would mean a bright future for him would
be his reputation for justice, his kindness to the entire
population whether high or low, his building up countries
and cities, villages and districts, his making life
easy, peaceful and happy for his fellow beings, his laying
down fundamental principles for progress, his raising
the standards and increasing the wealth of the entire
population.
Consider how throughout history many a king has
sat on his throne as a conqueror. Among them were
&Hulagu &Khan and Tamerlane, who took over the vast
continent of Asia, and Alexander of Macedon and Napoleon
I, who stretched their arrogant fists over three
of the earth's five continents. And what was gained by

+P68
all their mighty victories? Was any country made to
flourish, did any happiness result, did any throne
stand? Or was it rather that those reigning houses lost
their power? Except that Asia went up in the flame of
many battles and fell away to ashes, &Changiz's &Hulagu,
the warlord, gathered no fruit from all his conquests.
And Tamerlane, out of all his triumphs, reaped only
the peoples blown to the winds, and universal ruin.
And Alexander had nothing to show for his vast victories,
except that his son toppled from the throne and
Philip and Ptolemy took over the dominions he once
had ruled. And what did the first Napoleon gain from
subjugating the kings of Europe, except the destruction
of flourishing countries, the downfall of their inhabitants,
the spreading of terror and anguish across
Europe and, at the end of his days, his own captivity?
So much for the conquerors and the monuments they
leave behind them.
Contrast with this the praiseworthy qualities and the
greatness and nobility of &Anushirvan the Generous and
the Just.+F39 That fair-minded monarch came to power at
a time when the once solidly established throne of Persia
was about to crumble away. With his Divine gift
of intellect, he laid the foundations of justice, uprooting
oppression and tyranny and gathering the scattered
peoples of Persia under the wings of his dominion.
Thanks to the restoring influence of his continual care,
Persia that had lain withered and desolate was quickened

+F39 &Sasaniyan king who reigned 531-578 A.D.

+P69
into life and rapidly changed into the fairest of all
flourishing nations. He rebuilt and reinforced the disorganized
powers of the state, and the renown of his
righteousness and justice echoed across the seven
climes,+F39a until the peoples rose up out of their degradation
and misery to the heights of felicity and honor.
Although he was a Magian, &Muhammad, that Center
of creation and Sun of prophethood, said of him: "I
was born in the time of a just king," and rejoiced at
having come into the world during his reign. Did this
illustrious personage achieve his exalted station by virtue
of his admirable qualities or rather by reaching out
to conquer the earth and spill the blood of its peoples?
Observe that he attained to such a distinguished rank
in the heart of the world that his greatness still rings
out through all the impermanence of time, and he won
eternal life. Should We comment on the continuing life
of the great, this brief essay would be unduly prolonged,
and since it is by no means certain that public
opinion in Persia will be materially affected by its perusal,
We shall abridge the work, and go on to other
matters which come within the purview of the public
mind. If, however, it develops that this abridgement
produces favorable results, We shall, God willing, write
a number of books dealing at length and usefully with
fundamental principles of the Divine wisdom in its
relation to the phenomenal world.

+F39a i.e., the whole world.

+P70
No power on earth can prevail against the armies
of justice, and every citadel must fall before
them; for men willingly go down under the
triumphant strokes of this decisive blade, and desolate
places bloom and flourish under the tramplings of this
host. There are two mighty banners which, when they
cast their shadow across the crown of any king, will
cause the influence of his government quickly and easily
to penetrate the whole earth, even as if it were the
light of the sun: the first of these two banners is wisdom;
the second is justice. Against these two most potent
forces, the iron hills cannot prevail, and Alexander's
wall will break before them. It is clear that life
in this fast-fading world is as fleeting and inconstant as
the morning wind, and this being so, how fortunate
are the great who leave a good name behind them, and
the memory of a lifetime spent in the pathway of the
good pleasure of God.

It is all one, if it be a throne
Or the bare ground under the open sky,
Where the pure soul lays him
Down to die.+F39b

A conquest can be a praiseworthy thing, and there
are times when war becomes the powerful basis of

+F39b &Sa'di, The &Gulistan, On the Conduct of Kings.

+P71
peace, and ruin the very means of reconstruction. If,
for example, a high-minded sovereign marshals his
troops to block the onset of the insurgent and the aggressor,
or again, if he takes the field and distinguishes
himself in a struggle to unify a divided state and people,
if, in brief, he is waging war for a righteous purpose,
then this seeming wrath is mercy itself, and this
apparent tyranny the very substance of justice and this
warfare the cornerstone of peace. Today, the task befitting
great rulers is to establish universal peace, for in
this lies the freedom of all peoples.

The fourth phrase of the aforementioned Utterance
which points out the way of salvation
is: "obedient to the commandments of his
Lord." It is certain that man's highest distinction is to
be lowly before and obedient to his God; that his greatest
glory, his most exalted rank and honor, depend on
his close observance of the Divine commands and prohibitions.
Religion is the light of the world, and the
progress, achievement, and happiness of man result
from obedience to the laws set down in the holy Books.
Briefly, it is demonstrable that in this life, both outwardly
and inwardly the mightiest of structures, the
most solidly established, the most enduring, standing

+P72
guard over the world, assuring both the spiritual and
the material perfections of mankind, and protecting the
happiness and the civilization of society--is religion.
It is true that there are foolish individuals who have
never properly examined the fundamentals of the Divine
religions, who have taken as their criterion the
behavior of a few religious hypocrites and measured all
religious persons by that yardstick, and have on this
account concluded that religions are an obstacle to
progress, a divisive factor and a cause of malevolence
and enmity among peoples. They have not even observed
this much, that the principles of the Divine religions
can hardly be evaluated by the acts of those who
only claim to follow them. For every excellent thing,
peerless though it may be, can still be diverted to the
wrong ends. A lighted lamp in the hands of an ignorant
child or of the blind will not dispel the surrounding
darkness nor light up the house--it will set both the
bearer and the house on fire. Can we, in such an instance,
blame the lamp? No, by the Lord God! To the
seeing, a lamp is a guide and will show him his path;
but it is a disaster to the blind.
Among those who have repudiated religious faith
was the Frenchman, Voltaire, who wrote a great number
of books attacking the religions, works which are
no better than children's playthings. This individual,
taking as his criterion the omissions and commissions
of the Pope, the head of the Roman Catholic religion,
and the intrigues and quarrels of the spiritual leaders of

+P73
Christendom, opened his mouth and caviled at the
Spirit of God (Jesus). In the unsoundness of his reasoning,
he failed to grasp the true significance of the
sacred Scriptures, took exception to certain portions of
the revealed Texts and dwelt on the difficulties involved.
"And We send down of the &Qur'an that which
is a healing and a mercy to the faithful: But it shall
only add to the ruin of the wicked."+F40

The Sage of &Ghazna+F41 told the mystic story
To his veiled hearers, in an allegory:
If those who err see naught in the &Qur'an
But only words, it's not to wonder on;
Of all the sun's fire, lighting up the sky
Only the warmth can reach a blind man's eye.+F42

"Many will He mislead by such parables and many
guide: but none will He mislead thereby except the
wicked..."+F43
It is certain that the greatest of instrumentalities for
achieving the advancement and the glory of man, the
supreme agency for the enlightenment and the redemption
of the world, is love and fellowship and unity
among all the members of the human race. Nothing
can be effected in the world, not even conceivably,
without unity and agreement, and the perfect means
for engendering fellowship and union is true religion.

+F40 &Qur'an 17:84.
+F41 The poet &Sana'i.
+F42 &Rumi, The &Mathnavi, III, 4229-4231.
+F43 &Qur'an 2:24.

+P74
"Hadst Thou spent all the riches of the earth, Thou
couldst not have united their hearts; but God hath
united them..."+F44
With the advent of the Prophets of God, their power
of creating a real union, one which is both external and
of the heart, draws together malevolent peoples who
have been thirsting for one another's blood, into the
one shelter of the Word of God. Then a hundred thousand
souls become as one soul, and unnumbered individuals
emerge as one body.

Once they were as the waves of the sea
That the wind made many out of one.
Then God shed down on them His sun,
And His sun but one can never be.
Souls of dogs and wolves go separately,
But the soul of the lions of God is one.+F45

The events that transpired at the advent of the
Prophets of the past, and Their ways and works and
circumstances, are not adequately set down in authoritative
histories, and are referred to only in condensed
form in the verses of the &Qur'an, the Holy Traditions
and the Torah. Since, however, all events from the
days of Moses until the present time are contained in

+F44 &Qur'an 8:64.
+F45 See &Rumi, The &Mathnavi, II, 185 and 189. Also the &Hadith:

+F45 "God created the creatures in darkness, then He sprinkled some

+F45 of His Light upon them. Those whom some of that Light reached

+F45 took the right way, while those whom it missed wandered from
+F45 the straight road." Cf. R. A. Nicholson's "The &Mathnawi of
+F45 &Jalalu'ddin &Rumi" in the E. J. W. Gibb Memorial Series.

+P75
the mighty &Qur'an, the authoritative Traditions, the
Torah and other reliable sources, We shall content
Ourself with brief references here, the purpose being to
determine conclusively whether religion is the very
basis and root-principle of culture and civilization, or
whether as Voltaire and his like suppose, it defeats all
social progress, well-being and peace.
To preclude once and for all objections on the part
of any of the world's peoples, We shall conduct Our
discussion conformably to those authoritative accounts
which all nations are agreed upon.
At a time when the Israelites had multiplied in
Egypt and were spread throughout the whole country,
the Coptic Pharaohs of Egypt determined to strengthen
and favor their own Coptic peoples and to degrade and
dishonor the children of Israel, whom they regarded as
foreigners. Over a long period, the Israelites, divided
and scattered, were captive in the hands of the tyrannical
Copts, and were scorned and despised by all, so that
the meanest of the Copts would freely persecute and
lord it over the noblest of the Israelites. The enslavement,
wretchedness and helplessness of the Hebrews
reached such a pitch that they were never, day or night,
secure in their own persons nor able to provide any
defense for their wives and families against the tyranny
of their Pharaohic captors. Then their food was the
fragments of their own broken hearts, and their drink
a river of tears. They continued on in this anguish
until suddenly Moses, the All-Beauteous, beheld the

+P76
Divine Light streaming out of the blessed Vale, the
place that was holy ground, and heard the quickening
voice of God as it spoke from the flame of that Tree
"neither of the East nor of the West,"+F46 and He stood
up in the full panoply of His universal prophethood.
In the midst of the Israelites, He blazed out like a lamp
of Divine guidance, and by the light of salvation He
led that lost people out of the shadows of ignorance into
knowledge and perfection. He gathered Israel's scattered
tribes into the shelter of the unifying and universal
Word of God, and over the heights of union He
raised up the banner of harmony, so that within a brief
interval those benighted souls became spiritually educated,
and they who had been strangers to the truth,
rallied to the cause of the oneness of God, and were
delivered out of their wretchedness, their indigence,
their incomprehension and captivity and achieved a
supreme degree of happiness and honor. They emigrated
from Egypt, set out for Israel's original homeland,
and came to Canaan and Philistia. They first
conquered the shores of the River Jordan, and Jericho,
and settled in that area, and ultimately all the neighboring
regions, such as Phoenicia, Edom and Ammon,
came under their sway. In Joshua's time there were
thirty-one governments in the hands of the Israelites,
and in every noble human attribute--learning, stability,
determination, courage, honor, generosity--this people
came to surpass all the nations of the earth. When in

+F46 &Qur'an 24:35.

+P77
those days an Israelite would enter a gathering, he was
immediately singled out for his many virtues, and even
foreign peoples wishing to praise a man would say that
he was like an Israelite.
It is furthermore a matter of record in numerous historical
works that the philosophers of Greece such as
Pythagoras, acquired the major part of their philosophy,
both divine and material, from the disciples of
Solomon. And Socrates after having eagerly journeyed
to meet with some of Israel's most illustrious scholars
and divines, on his return to Greece established the
concept of the oneness of God and the continuing life
of the human soul after it has put off its elemental
dust. Ultimately, the ignorant among the Greeks denounced
this man who had fathomed the inmost mysteries
of wisdom, and rose up to take his life; and then
the populace forced the hand of their ruler, and in
council assembled they caused Socrates to drink from
the poisoned cup.
After the Israelites had advanced along every level of
civilization, and had achieved success in the highest
possible degree, they began little by little to forget the
root-principles of the Mosaic Law and Faith, to busy
themselves with rites and ceremonials and to show forth
unbecoming conduct. In the days of Rehoboam, the son
of Solomon, terrible dissension broke out among them;
one of their number, Jeroboam, plotted to get the
throne, and it was he who introduced the worship of
idols. The strife between Rehoboam and Jeroboam led

+P78
to centuries of warfare between their descendants, with
the result that the tribes of Israel were scattered and
disrupted. In brief, it was because they forgot the
meaning of the Law of God that they became involved
in ignorant fanaticism and blameworthy practices such
as insurgence and sedition. Their divines, having concluded
that all those essential qualifications of humankind
set forth in the Holy Book were by then a dead
letter, began to think only of furthering their own
selfish interests, and afflicted the people by allowing
them to sink into the lowest depths of heedlessness and
ignorance. And the fruit of their wrong doing was this,
that the old-time glory which had endured so long now
changed to degradation, and the rulers of Persia, of
Greece, and of Rome, took them over. The banners of
their sovereignty were reversed; the ignorance, foolishness,
abasement and self-love of their religious leaders
and their scholars were brought to light in the coming
of Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, who destroyed
them. After a general massacre, and the sacking and
razing of their houses and even the uprooting of their
trees, he took captive whatever remnants his sword had
spared and carried them off to Babylon. Seventy years
later the descendants of these captives were released
and went back to Jerusalem. Then Hezekiah and Ezra
reestablished in their midst the fundamental principles
of the Holy Book, and day by day the Israelites advanced,
and the morning-brightness of their earlier ages
dawned again. In a short time, however, great dissensions

+P79
as to belief and conduct broke out anew, and
again the one concern of the Jewish doctors became the
promotion of their own selfish purposes, and the reforms
that had obtained in Ezra's time were changed
to perversity and corruption. The situation worsened
to such a degree that time and again, the armies of the
republic of Rome and of its rulers conquered Israelite
territory. Finally the warlike Titus, commander of the
Roman forces, trampled the Jewish homeland into
dust, putting every man to the sword, taking the women
and children captive, flattening their houses, tearing
out their trees, burning their books, looting their treasures,
and reducing Jerusalem and the Temple to an
ash heap. After this supreme calamity, the star of Israel's
dominion sank away to nothing, and to this day,
the remnant of that vanished nation has been scattered
to the four winds. "Humiliation and misery were
stamped upon them."+F47 These two most great afflictions,
brought on by Nebuchadnezzar and Titus, are
referred to in the glorious &Qur'an: "And We solemnly
declared to the children of Israel in the Book, `Twice
surely will ye commit evil in the earth, and with great
loftiness of pride will ye surely be uplifted.' And when
the menace for the first of the two came to be executed,
We sent against you Our servants endowed with terrible
prowess; and they searched the inmost part of
your abodes, and the menace was accomplished...
And when the punishment threatened for your latter

+F47 &Qur'an 2:58.

+P80
transgression came to be inflicted, then We sent an
enemy to sadden your faces, and to enter the Temple
as they entered it at first, and to destroy with utter destruction
that which they had conquered."+F48
Our purpose is to show how true religion promotes
the civilization and honor, the prosperity and prestige,
the learning and advancement of a people once abject,
enslaved and ignorant, and how, when it falls into the
hands of religious leaders who are foolish and fanatical,
it is diverted to the wrong ends, until this greatest of
splendors turns into blackest night.
When for the second time the unmistakable signs of
Israel's disintegration, abasement, subjection and annihilation
had become apparent, then the sweet and holy
breathings of the Spirit of God (Jesus) were shed
across Jordan and the land of Galilee; the cloud of Divine
pity overspread those skies, and rained down the
copious waters of the spirit, and after those swelling
showers that came from the most great Sea, the Holy
Land put forth its perfume and blossomed with the
knowledge of God. Then the solemn Gospel song rose
up till it rang in the ears of those who dwell in the
chambers of heaven, and at the touch of Jesus' breath
the unmindful dead that lay in the graves of their ignorance
lifted up their heads to receive eternal life. For
the space of three years, that Luminary of perfections
walked about the fields of Palestine and in the neighborhood
of Jerusalem, leading all men into the dawn

+F48 &Qur'an 17:4 ff.

+P81
of redemption, teaching them how to acquire spiritual
qualities and attributes well-pleasing to God. Had the
people of Israel believed in that beauteous Countenance,
they would have girded themselves to serve and
obey Him heart and soul, and through the quickening
fragrance of His Spirit they would have regained their
lost vitality and gone on to new victories.
Alas, of what avail was it; they turned away and opposed
Him. They rose up and tormented that Source
of Divine knowledge, that Point where the Revelation
had come down--all except for a handful who, turning
their faces toward God, were cleansed of the stain of
this world and found their way to the heights of the
placeless Realm. They inflicted every agony on that
Wellspring of grace until it became impossible for
Him to live in the towns, and still He lifted up the
flag of salvation and solidly established the fundamentals
of human righteousness, that essential basis of true
civilization.
In the fifth chapter of Matthew beginning with the
thirty-seventh verse He counsels: "Resist not evil and
injury with its like; but whosoever shall smite thee on
thy right cheek, turn to him the other also." And further,
from the forty-third verse: "Ye have heard that it
hath been said, `Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and
thou shalt not vex thine enemy with enmity.'+F49 But I

+F49 The King James Bible reads: "Ye have heard that it hath
+F49 been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine
enemy."
+F49 Scholars object to this reading because it is contrary to the
known
+F49 Law as set forth in Leviticus 19:18, Exodus 23:4-5, Proverbs
+F49 25:21, the Talmud, etc.

+P82
say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse
you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them
which despitefully use you, and persecute you; that ye
may be the children of your Father which is in heaven:
for He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the
good, and sendeth down the rain of His mercy on the
just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love
you, what reward have ye? Do not even the publicans
the same?"
Many were the counsels of this kind that were uttered
by that Dayspring of Divine wisdom, and souls
who have become characterized with such attributes of
holiness are the distilled essence of creation and the
sources of true civilization.
Jesus, then, founded the sacred Law on a basis of
moral character and complete spirituality, and for those
who believed in Him He delineated a special way of
life which constitutes the highest type of action on
earth. And while those emblems of redemption were to
outward seeming abandoned to the malevolence and
persecution of their tormentors, in reality they had been
delivered out of the hopeless darkness which encompassed
the Jews and they shone forth in everlasting
glory at the dawn of that new day.
That mighty Jewish nation toppled and crumbled
away, but those few souls who sought shelter beneath

+P83
the Messianic Tree transformed all human life. At that
time the peoples of the world were utterly ignorant,
fanatical and idolatrous. Only a small group of Jews
professed belief in the oneness of God and they were
wretched outcasts. These holy Christian souls now
stood up to promulgate a Cause which was diametrically
opposed and repugnant to the beliefs of the entire
human race. The kings of four out of the world's five
continents inexorably resolved to wipe out the followers
of Christ, and nevertheless in the end most of them set
about promoting the Faith of God with their whole
hearts; all the nations of Europe, many of the peoples
of Asia and Africa, and some of the inhabitants of the
islands of the Pacific, were gathered into the shelter of
the oneness of God.
Consider whether there exists anywhere in creation
a principle mightier in every sense than religion, or
whether any conceivable power is more pervasive than
the various Divine Faiths, or whether any agency can
bring about real love and fellowship and union among
all peoples as can belief in an almighty and all-knowing
God, or whether except for the laws of God there
has been any evidence of an instrumentality for educating
all mankind in every phase of righteousness.
Those qualities which the philosophers attained
when they had reached the very heights of their wisdom,
those noble human attributes which characterized
them at the peak of their perfection, would be exemplified
by the believers as soon as they accepted the

+P84
Faith. Observe how those souls who drank the living
waters of redemption at the gracious hands of Jesus,
the Spirit of God, and came into the sheltering shade
of the Gospel, attained to such a high plane of moral
conduct that Galen, the celebrated physician, although
not himself a Christian, in his summary of Plato's
Republic extolled their actions. A literal translation of
his words is as follows:
"The generality of mankind are unable to grasp a
sequence of logical arguments. For this reason they
stand in need of symbols and parables telling of rewards
and punishments in the next world. A confirmatory
evidence of this is that today we observe a people
called Christians, who believe devoutly in rewards and
punishments in a future state. This group show forth
excellent actions, similar to the actions of an individual
who is a true philosopher. For example, we all see
with our own eyes that they have no fear of death, and
their passion for justice and fair-dealing is so great that
they should be considered true philosophers."+F50
The station of a philosopher, in that age and in the
mind of Galen, was superior to any other station in the
world. Consider then how the enlightening and spiritualizing
power of divine religions impels the believers
to such heights of perfection that a philosopher like

+F50 Cf. &Abdu'l-Baha, Some Answered Questions, ch. LXXXIV,
+F50 and Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 385. See also Galen
on
+F50 Jews and Christians by Richard Walzer, Oxford University
Press,
+F50 1949, p. 15. The author states that Galen's summary here
referred
+F50 to is lost, being preserved only in Arabic quotations.

+P85
Galen, not himself a Christian, offers such testimony.
One demonstration of the excellent character of the
Christians in those days was their dedication to charity
and good works, and the fact that they founded hospitals
and philanthropic institutions. For example, the
first person to establish public clinics throughout the
Roman Empire where the poor, the injured and the
helpless received medical care, was the Emperor Constantine.
This great king was the first Roman ruler to
champion the Cause of Christ. He spared no efforts,
dedicating his life to the promotion of the principles
of the Gospel, and he solidly established the Roman
government, which in reality had been nothing but a
system of unrelieved oppression, on moderation and
justice. His blessed name shines out across the dawn of
history like the morning star, and his rank and fame
among the world's noblest and most highly civilized is
still on the tongues of Christians of all denominations.
What a firm foundation of excellent character was
laid down in those days, thanks to the training of holy
souls who arose to promote the teachings of the Gospel.
How many primary schools, colleges, hospitals, were
established, and institutions where fatherless and indigent
children received their education. How many
were the individuals who sacrificed their own personal
advantages and "out of desire to please the Lord"+F51 devoted
the days of their lives to teaching the masses.
When, however, the time approached for the effulgent

+F51 From &Qur'an 4:114; 2:207, etc.

+P86
beauty of &Muhammad to dawn upon the world,
the control of Christian affairs passed into the hands
of ignorant priests. Those heavenly breezes, soft-flowing
from the regions of Divine grace, died away, and
the laws of the great Evangel, the rock-foundation on
which the civilization of the world was based, turned
barren of results, this out of misuse and because of the
conduct of persons who, seemingly fair, were yet inwardly
foul.
The noted historians of Europe, in describing the
conditions, manners, politics, learning and culture, in
all their aspects, of early, medieval and modern times,
unanimously record that during the ten centuries constituting
the Middle Ages, from the beginning of the
sixth century of the Christian era till the close of the
fifteenth, Europe was in every respect and to an extreme
degree, barbaric and dark. The principal cause of
this was that the monks, referred to by European peoples
as spiritual and religious leaders, had given up the
abiding glory that comes from obedience to the sacred
commandments and heavenly teachings of the Gospel,
and had joined forces with the presumptuous and tyrannical
rulers of the temporal governments of those
times. They had turned their eyes away from everlasting
glory, and were devoting all their efforts to the
furtherance of their mutual worldly interests and passing
and perishable advantages. Ultimately things
reached a point where the masses were hopeless prisoners
in the hands of these two groups, and all this

+P87
brought down in ruins the whole structure of the religion,
culture, welfare and civilization of the peoples
of Europe.
When the unworthy acts and thoughts and the discreditable
purposes of the leaders had stilled the sweet
savors of the Spirit of God (Jesus) and they ceased to
stream across the world, and the darkness of ignorance
and bigotry and of actions that were displeasing to God,
encompassed the earth, then the dawn of hope shone
out and the Divine spring drew on; a cloud of mercy
overspread the world, and out of the regions of grace
the fecund winds began to blow. In the sign of &Muhammad,
the Sun of Truth rose over &Yathrib (Medina)
and the &Hijaz and cast across the universe the lights of
eternal glory. Then the earth of human potentialities
was transformed, and the words "The earth shall shine
with the light of her Lord,"+F52 were fulfilled. The old
world turned new again, and its dead body rose into
abundant life. Then tyranny and ignorance were overthrown,
and towering palaces of knowledge and justice
were reared in their place. A sea of enlightenment
thundered, and science cast down its rays. The savage
peoples of the &Hijaz, before that Flame of supreme
Prophethood was lit in the lamp of Mecca, were the
most brutish and benighted of all the peoples of the
earth. In all the histories, their depraved and vicious
practices, their ferocity and their constant feuds, are a
matter of record. In those days the civilized peoples of

+F52 &Qur'an 39:69.

+P88
the world did not even consider the Arab tribes of
Mecca and Medina as human beings. And yet, after
the Light of the World rose over them, they were--
because of the education bestowed on them by that
Mine of perfections, that Focal Center of Revelation,
and the blessings vouchsafed by the Divine Law--
within a brief interval gathered into the shelter of the
principle of Divine oneness. This brutish people then
attained such a high degree of human perfection and
civilization that all their contemporaries marveled at
them. Those very peoples who had always mocked the
Arabs and held them up to ridicule as a breed devoid
of judgment, now eagerly sought them out, visiting
their countries to acquire enlightenment and culture,
technical skills, statecraft, arts and sciences.
Observe the influence on material situations of that
training which is inculcated by the true Educator. Here
were tribes so benighted and untamed that during the
period of the &Jahiliyyih they would bury their seven-year-old
daughters alive--an act which even an animal,
let alone a human being, would hate and shrink from
but which they in their extreme degradation considered
the ultimate expression of honor and devotion to principle
--and this darkened people, thanks to the manifest
teachings of that great Personage, advanced to such a
degree that after they conquered Egypt, Syria and its
capital Damascus, Chaldea, Mesopotamia and &Iran,
they came to administer single-handedly whatever matters

+P89
were of major importance in four main regions of
the globe.
The Arabs then excelled all the peoples of the world
in science and the arts, in industry and invention, in
philosophy, government and moral character. And
truly, the rise of this brutish and despicable element,
in such a short interval, to the supreme heights of human
perfection, is the greatest demonstration of the
rightfulness of the Lord &Muhammad's Prophethood.
In the early ages of &Islam the peoples of Europe acquired
the sciences and arts of civilization from &Islam
as practiced by the inhabitants of Andalusia. A careful
and thorough investigation of the historical record will
establish the fact that the major part of the civilization
of Europe is derived from &Islam; for all the writings of
Muslim scholars and divines and philosophers were
gradually collected in Europe and were with the most
painstaking care weighed and debated at academic
gatherings and in the centers of learning, after which
their valued contents would be put to use. Today, numerous
copies of the works of Muslim scholars which
are not to be found in Islamic countries, are available
in the libraries of Europe. Furthermore, the laws and
principles current in all European countries are derived
to a considerable degree and indeed virtually in their
entirety from the works on jurisprudence and the legal
decision of Muslim theologians. Were it not for the
fear of unduly lengthening the present text, We would
cite these borrowings one by one.

+P90
The beginnings of European civilization date from
the seventh century of the Muslim era. The particulars
were these: toward the end of the fifth century of the
hegira, the Pope or Head of Christendom set up a great
hue and cry over the fact that places sacred to the
Christians, such as Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Nazareth,
had fallen under Muslim rule, and he stirred up
the kings and the commoners of Europe to undertake
what he considered a holy war. His impassioned outcry
waxed so loud that all the countries of Europe responded,
and crusading kings at the head of innumerable
hosts passed over the Sea of Marmara and made
their way to the continent of Asia. In those days the
&Fatimid caliphs ruled over Egypt and some countries
of the West, and most of the time the kings of Syria,
that is the &Saljuqs, were subject to them as well. Briefly,
the kings of the West with their unnumbered armies
fell upon Syria and Egypt, and there was continuous
warfare between the Syrian rulers and those of Europe
for a period of two hundred and three years. Reinforcements
were always coming in from Europe, and time
and time again the Western rulers stormed and took
over every castle in Syria, and as often, the kings of
&Islam delivered them out of their hands. Finally Saladin,
in the year 693 A.H., drove the European kings
and their armies out of Egypt and off the Syrian coast.
Hopelessly beaten, they went back to Europe. In the
course of these wars of the Crusades, millions of human
beings perished. To sum up, from 490 A.H. until

+P91
693, kings, commanders and other European leaders
continually came and went between Egypt, Syria and
the West, and when in the end they all returned home,
they introduced into Europe whatever they had observed
over two hundred and odd years in Muslim
countries as to government, social development and
learning, colleges, schools and the refinements of living.
The civilization of Europe dates from that time.

O people of Persia! How long will your torpor
and lethargy last? You were once the lords
of the whole earth; the world was at your
beck and call. How is it that your glory has lapsed and
you have fallen from favor now, and crept away into
some corner of oblivion? You were the fountainhead of
learning, the unfailing spring of light for all the earth,
how is it that you are withered now, and quenched,
and faint of heart? You who once lit the world, how is
it that you lurk, inert, bemused, in darkness now?
Open your mind's eye, see your great and present need.
Rise up and struggle, seek education, seek enlightenment.
Is it meet that a foreign people should receive
from your own forbears its culture and its knowledge,
and that you, their blood, their rightful heirs, should
go without? How does it seem, when your neighbors

+P92
are at work by day and night with their whole hearts,
providing for their advancement, their honor and prosperity,
that you, in your ignorant fanaticism, are busy
only with your quarrels and antipathies, your indulgences
and appetites and empty dreams? Is it commendable
that you should waste and fritter away in
apathy the brilliance that is your birthright, your native
competence, your inborn understanding? Again, We
have digressed from Our theme.

Those European intellectuals who are well-informed
as to the facts of Europe's past,
and are characterized by truthfulness and a
sense of justice, unanimously acknowledge that in
every particular the basic elements of their civilization
are derived from &Islam. For example Draper,+F53 the well-known

+F53 The Persian text transliterates this author's name as
"&Draybar"
+F53 and titles his work The Progress of Peoples. The reference
+F53 is apparently to John William Draper, 1811-1882, celebrated
+F53 chemist and widely-translated historian. Detailed material on

+F53 Muslim contributions to the West, and on Gerbert (Pope
Sylvester II)
+F53 appears in the second volume of the work cited. Of
+F53 some of Europe's systematically unacknowledged obligations to
+F53 &Islam the author writes: "Injustice founded on religious
rancour
+F53 and national conceit cannot be perpetuated for ever." (Vol.
II,
+F53 p. 42, Rev. ed.) The Dictionary of American Biography states
+F53 that Draper's father was a Roman Catholic who assumed the name

+F53 John Christopher Draper when disowned by his family for
becoming
+F53 a Methodist, and that his real name is unknown. The
+F53 translator is indebted to Mr. Paul North Rice, Chief of the
New
+F53 York Public Library's Reference Department, for the
information
+F53 that available data on Draper's family history and nationality
are
+F53 in conflict; The Drapers in America by Thomas Waln-Morgan
+F53 (1892) states that Draper's father was born in London, while
+F53 Albert E. Henschel in "Centenary of John William Draper" (New
+F53 York University "Colonnade," June, 1911) has the following:
+F53 "If there be among us any who trace their lineage to the sunny

+F53 fields of Italy, they may feel a just pride in John William
Draper,
+F53 for his father, John C. Draper, was an Italian by birth..."
+F53 The translator's thanks are also due to Madame Laura
Dreyfus-Barney
+F53 for investigations in connection with this passage at the
+F53 Library of Congress and the &Bibliotheque Nationale.

+P93
French authority, a writer whose accuracy, ability
and learning are attested by all European scholars,
in one of his best-known works, The Intellectual Development
of Europe, has written a detailed account
in this connection, that is, with reference to the derivation
by the peoples of Europe of the fundamentals of
civilization and the bases of progress and well-being
from &Islam. His account is exhaustive, and a translation
here would unduly lengthen out the present work
and would indeed be irrelevant to Our purpose. If
further details are desired the reader may refer to that
text.
In essence, the author shows how the totality of
Europe's civilization--its laws, principles, institutions,
its sciences, philosophies, varied learning, its civilized
manners and customs, its literature, art and industry,
its organization, its discipline, its behavior, its commendable
character traits, and even many of the words

+P94
current in the French language, derives from the Arabs.
One by one, he investigates each of these elements in
detail, even giving the period when each was brought
over from &Islam. He describes as well the arrival of
the Arabs in the West, in what is now Spain, and how
in a short time they established a well-developed civilization
there, and to what a high degree of excellence
their administrative system and scholarship attained,
and how solidly founded and well regulated were their
schools and colleges, where sciences and philosophy,
arts and crafts, were taught; what a high level of leadership
they achieved in the arts of civilization and how
many were the children of Europe's leading families
who were sent to attend the schools of Cordova and
Granada, Seville and Toledo to acquire the sciences
and arts of civilized life. He even records that a European
named Gerbert came to the West and enrolled at
the University of Cordova in Arab territory, studied
arts and sciences there, and after his return to Europe
achieved such prominence that ultimately he was elevated
to the leadership of the Catholic Church and
became the Pope.
The purpose of these references is to establish the
fact that the religions of God are the true source of the
spiritual and material perfections of man, and the
fountainhead for all mankind of enlightenment and
beneficial knowledge. If one observes the matter justly
it will be found that all the laws of politics are contained
in these few and holy words:

+P95
"And they enjoin what is just, and forbid what is
unjust, and speed on in good works. These are of the
righteous."+F54 And again: "that there may be among
you a people who invite to the good, and enjoin the
just, and forbid the wrong. These are they with whom
it shall be well."+F55 And further: "Verily, God enjoineth
justice and the doing of good ... and He forbiddeth
wickedness and oppression. He warneth you that
haply ye may be mindful."+F56 And yet again, of the
civilizing of human behavior: "Make due allowances;
and enjoin what is just, and withdraw from the ignorant."+F57
And likewise: "...who master their anger,
and forgive others! God loveth the doers of good."+F58
And again: "There is no righteousness in turning your
faces toward the East or the West, but he is righteous
who believeth in God, and the last day, and the angels,
and the Scriptures, and the Prophets; who for the love
of God disburseth his wealth to his kindred, and to
orphans, and the needy and the wayfarer, and those
who ask, and for ransom; who observeth prayer, and
payeth the legal alms, and who is of those who perform
their covenant when they have covenanted, and are
patient under ills and hardships, and in time of
trouble: these are they who are just, and these are they

+F54 &Qur'an 3:110.
+F55 &Qur'an 3:100.
+F56 &Qur'an 16:92.
+F57 &Qur'an 7:198.
+F58 &Qur'an 3:128.

+P96
who fear the Lord."+F59 And yet further: "They prefer
them before themselves, though poverty be their own
lot."+F60 See how these few sacred verses encompass the
highest levels and innermost meanings of civilization
and embody all the excellencies of human character.
By the Lord God, and there is no God but He, even
the minutest details of civilized life derive from the
grace of the Prophets of God. What thing of value to
mankind has ever come into being which was not first
set forth either directly or by implication in the Holy
Scriptures?
Alas, of what avail is it. When the weapons are in
cowards' hands, no man's life and property are safe,
and thieves only grow the stronger. When, in the same
way, a far-from-perfect priesthood acquire control of
affairs, they come down like a massive curtain between
the people and the light of Faith.
Sincerity is the foundation-stone of faith. That is, a
religious individual must disregard his personal desires
and seek in whatever way he can wholeheartedly to
serve the public interest; and it is impossible for a
human being to turn aside from his own selfish advantages
and sacrifice his own good for the good of the
community except through true religious faith. For
self-love is kneaded into the very clay of man, and it
is not possible that, without any hope of a substantial
reward, he should neglect his own present material

+F59 &Qur'an 2:172.
+F60 &Qur'an 59:9.

+P97
good. That individual, however, who puts his faith in
God and believes in the words of God--because he is
promised and certain of a plentiful reward in the next
life, and because worldly benefits as compared to the
abiding joy and glory of future planes of existence are
nothing to him--will for the sake of God abandon his
own peace and profit and will freely consecrate his
heart and soul to the common good. "A man, too, there
is who selleth his very self out of desire to please
God."+F61
There are some who imagine that an innate sense of
human dignity will prevent man from committing evil
actions and insure his spiritual and material perfection.
That is, that an individual who is characterized with
natural intelligence, high resolve, and a driving zeal,
will, without any consideration for the severe punishments
consequent on evil acts, or for the great rewards
of righteousness, instinctively refrain from inflicting
harm on his fellow men and will hunger and thirst to
do good. And yet, if we ponder the lessons of history
it will become evident that this very sense of honor
and dignity is itself one of the bounties deriving from
the instructions of the Prophets of God. We also observe
in infants the signs of aggression and lawlessness,
and that if a child is deprived of a teacher's instructions
his undesirable qualities increase from one moment to
the next. It is therefore clear that the emergence of this
natural sense of human dignity and honor is the result

+F61 &Qur'an 2:203.

+P98
of education. Secondly, even if we grant for the sake
of the argument that instinctive intelligence and an
innate moral quality would prevent wrongdoing, it is
obvious that individuals so characterized are as rare as
the philosopher's stone. An assumption of this sort cannot
be validated by mere words, it must be supported
by the facts. Let us see what power in creation impels
the masses toward righteous aims and deeds!
Aside from this, if that rare individual who does exemplify
such a faculty should also become an embodiment
of the fear of God, it is certain that his strivings
toward righteousness would be strongly reinforced.
Universal benefits derive from the grace of the Divine
religions, for they lead their true followers to sincerity
of intent, to high purpose, to purity and spotless
honor, to surpassing kindness and compassion, to the
keeping of their covenants when they have covenanted,
to concern for the rights of others, to liberality, to justice
in every aspect of life, to humanity and philanthropy,
to valor and to unflagging efforts in the service
of mankind. It is religion, to sum up, which produces
all human virtues, and it is these virtues which are the
bright candles of civilization. If a man is not characterized
by these excellent qualities, it is certain that he has
never attained to so much as a drop out of the fathomless
river of the waters of life that flows through the
teachings of the Holy Books, nor caught the faintest
breath of the fragrant breezes that blow from the gardens
of God; for nothing on earth can be demonstrated

+P99
by words alone, and every level of existence is known
by its signs and symbols, and every degree in man's development
has its identifying mark.
The purpose of these statements is to make it
abundantly clear that the Divine religions, the holy
precepts, the heavenly teachings, are the unassailable
basis of human happiness, and that the peoples of the
world can hope for no real relief or deliverance without
this one great remedy. This panacea must, however, be
administered by a wise and skilled physician, for in the
hands of an incompetent all the cures that the Lord of
men has ever created to heal men's ills could produce
no health, and would on the contrary only destroy the
helpless and burden the hearts of the already afflicted.
That Source of Divine wisdom, that Manifestation
of Universal Prophethood (&Muhammad), encouraging
mankind to acquire sciences and arts and similar advantages
has commanded them to seek these even in
the furthermost reaches of China; yet the incompetent
and caviling doctors forbid this, offering as their justification
the saying, "He who imitates a people is one
of them." They have not even grasped what is meant
by the "imitation" referred to, nor do they know that
the Divine religions enjoin upon and encourage all the
faithful to adopt such principles as will conduce to
continuous improvements, and to acquire from other
peoples sciences and arts. Whoever expresses himself
to the contrary has never drunk of the nectar of knowledge

+P100
and is astray in his own ignorance, groping after
the mirage of his desires.
Judge this aright: which one of these modern developments,
whether in themselves or in their application,
is contrary to the Divine commandments? If they mean
the establishment of parliaments, these are enjoined by
the very text of the holy verse: "and whose affairs are
guided by mutual counsel."+F62 And again, addressing
the Dayspring of all knowledge, the Source of perfection
(&Muhammad), in spite of His being in possession
of universal wisdom, the words are: "and consult them
in the affair."+F63 In view of this how can the question
of mutual consultation be in conflict with the religious
Law? The great advantages of consultation can be established
by logical arguments as well.
Can they say that it would be contrary to the laws of
God to make a death sentence conditional on the most
careful investigations, on the sanction of numerous
bodies, on legal proof and the royal order? Can they
claim that what went on under the previous government
was in conformity with the &Qur'an? For example,
in the days when &Haji &Mirza &Aqasi was Prime Minister,
it was heard from many sources that the governor
of &Gulpaygan seized thirteen defenseless bailiffs of
that region, all of them of holy lineage, all of them
guiltless, and without a trial, and without obtaining
any higher sanction, beheaded them in a single hour.

+F62 &Qur'an 42:36.
+F63 &Qur'an 3:153.

+P101
At one time the population of Persia exceeded fifty
millions. This has been dissipated partly through civil
wars, but predominantly because of the lack of an adequate
system of government and the despotism and
unbridled authority of provincial and local governors.
With the passage of time, not one-fifth of the population
has survived, for the governors would select any
victim they cared to, however innocent, and vent their
wrath on him and destroy him. Or, for a whim, they
would make a pet out of some proven mass murderer.
Not a soul could speak out, because the governor was
in absolute control. Can we say that these things were
in conformity with justice or with the laws of God?
Can we maintain that it is contrary to the fundamentals
of the Faith to encourage the acquisition of useful
arts and of general knowledge, to inform oneself as to
the truths of such physical sciences as are beneficial to
man, and to widen the scope of industry and increase
the products of commerce and multiply the nation's
avenues of wealth? Would it conflict with the worship
of God to establish law and order in the cities and organize
the rural districts, to repair the roads and build
railroads and facilitate transportation and travel and
thus increase the people's well-being? Would it be inconsistent
with the Divine commands and prohibitions
if we were to work the abandoned mines which are the
greatest source of the nation's wealth, and to build factories,
from which come the entire people's comfort,
security and affluence? Or to stimulate the creation of

+P102
new industries and to promote improvements in our
domestic products?
By the All-Glorious! I am astonished to find what a
veil has fallen across their eyes, and how it blinds them
even to such obvious necessities as these. And there is
no doubt whatever that when conclusive arguments
and proofs of this sort are advanced, they will answer,
out of a thousand hidden spites and prejudices: "On
the Day of Judgment, when men stand before their
Lord, they will not be questioned as to their education
and the degree of their culture--rather will they be examined
as to their good deeds." Let us grant this and
assume that man will not be asked as to his culture and
education; even so, on that great Day of Reckoning,
will not the leaders be called to account? Will it not
be said to them: "O chiefs and leaders! Why did ye
cause this mighty nation to fall from the heights of its
former glory, to pass from its place at the heart and
center of the civilized world? Ye were well able to take
hold of such measures as would lead to the high honor
of this people. This ye failed to do, and ye even went
on to deprive them of the common benefits enjoyed by
all. Did not this people once shine out like stars in an
auspicious heaven? How have ye dared to quench their
light in darkness! Ye could have lit the lamp of temporal
and eternal glory for them; why did ye fail to
strive for this with all your hearts? And when by God's
grace a flaming Light flared up, why did ye fail to
shelter it in the glass of your valor, from the winds that

+P103
beat against it? Why did ye rise up in all your might
to put it out?"
"And every man's fate have We fastened about his
neck: and on the Day of Resurrection will We bring
it forth to him a book which shall be proffered to him
wide open."+F64
Again, is there any deed in the world that would be
nobler than service to the common good? Is there any
greater blessing conceivable for a man, than that he
should become the cause of the education, the development,
the prosperity and honor of his fellow-creatures?
No, by the Lord God! The highest righteousness of all
is for blessed souls to take hold of the hands of the helpless
and deliver them out of their ignorance and abasement
and poverty, and with pure motives, and only for
the sake of God, to arise and energetically devote themselves
to the service of the masses, forgetting their own
worldly advantage and working only to serve the general
good. "They prefer them before themselves, though
poverty be their own lot."+F65 "The best of men are those
who serve the people; the worst of men are those who
harm the people."
Glory be to God! What an extraordinary situation
now obtains, when no one, hearing a claim advanced,
asks himself what the speaker's real motive might be,
and what selfish purpose he might not have hidden behind
the mask of words. You find, for example, that an

+F64 &Qur'an 17:14.
+F65 &Qur'an 59:9.

+P104
individual seeking to further his own petty and personal
concerns, will block the advancement of an entire
people. To turn his own water mill, he will let
the farms and fields of all the others parch and wither.
To maintain his own leadership, he will everlastingly
direct the masses toward that prejudice and fanaticism
which subvert the very base of civilization.
Such a man, at the same moment that he is perpetrating
actions which are anathema in the sight of God
and detested by all the Prophets and Holy Ones, if he
sees a person who has just finished eating wash his
hands with soap--an article the inventor of which was
&Abdu'llah &Buni, a Muslim--will, because this unfortunate
does not instead wipe his hands up and down
the front of his robe and on his beard, set up a hue
and cry to the effect that the religious law has been
overthrown, and the manners and customs of heathen
nations are being introduced into ours. Utterly disregarding
the evil of his own ways, he considers the very
cause of cleanliness and refinement as wicked and
foolish.
O People of Persia! Open your eyes! Pay heed! Release
yourselves from this blind following of the bigots,
this senseless imitation which is the principal reason
why men fall away into paths of ignorance and degradation.
See the true state of things. Rise up; seize hold
of such means as will bring you life and happiness and
greatness and glory among all the nations of the world.
The winds of the true springtide are passing over

+P105
you; adorn yourselves with blossoms like trees in the
scented garden. Spring clouds are streaming; then turn
you fresh and verdant like the sweet eternal fields. The
dawn star is shining, set your feet on the true path. The
sea of might is swelling, hasten to the shores of high
resolve and fortune. The pure water of life is welling
up, why wear away your days in a desert of thirst? Aim
high, choose noble ends; how long this lethargy, how
long this negligence! Despair, both here and hereafter,
is all you will gain from self-indulgence; abomination
and misery are all you will harvest from fanaticism,
from believing the foolish and the mindless. The confirmations
of God are supporting you, the succor of
God is at hand: why do you not cry out and exult with
all your heart, and strive with all your soul!

Among those matters which require thorough revision
and reform is the method of studying the
various branches of knowledge and the organization
of the academic curriculum. From lack of
organization, education has become haphazard and confused.
Trifling subjects which should not call for
elaboration receive undue attention, to such an extent
that students, over long periods of time, waste their
minds and their energies on material that is pure supposition,

+P106
in no way susceptible of proof, such study consisting
in going deep into statements and concepts
which careful examination would establish as not even
unlikely, but rather as unalloyed superstition, and representing
the investigation of useless conceits and the
chasing of absurdities. There can be no doubt that to
concern oneself with such illusions, to examine into
and lengthily debate such idle propositions, is nothing
but a waste of time and a marring of the days of one's
life. Not only this, but it also prevents the individual
from undertaking the study of those arts and sciences
of which society stands in dire need. The individual
should, prior to engaging in the study of any subject,
ask himself what its uses are and what fruit and result
will derive from it. If it is a useful branch of knowledge,
that is, if society will gain important benefits from it,
then he should certainly pursue it with all his heart.
If not, if it consists in empty, profitless debates and in
a vain concatenation of imaginings that lead to no result
except acrimony, why devote one's life to such
useless hairsplittings and disputes.
Because this matter requires further elucidation and
a thorough hearing, so that it can be fully established
that some of the subjects which today are neglected are
extremely valuable, while the nation has no need whatever
of various other, superfluous studies, the point
will, God willing, be developed in a second volume.
Our hope is that a reading of this first volume will produce
fundamental changes in the thinking and the behavior

+P107
of society, for We have undertaken the work
with a sincere intent and purely for the sake of God.
Although in this world individuals who are able to distinguish
between sincere intentions and false words
are as rare as the philosopher's stone, yet We fix Our
hopes on the measureless bounties of the Lord.
To resume: As for that group who maintains that in
effecting these necessary reforms we must proceed with
deliberation, exercise patience and gain the objectives
one at a time, just what do they mean by this? If by
deliberation they are referring to that circumspection
which the science of government requires, their
thought is timely and appropriate. It is certain that
momentous undertakings cannot be brought to a successful
conclusion in haste; that in such cases haste
would only make waste.
The world of politics is like the world of man; he is
seed at first, and then passes by degrees to the condition
of embryo and foetus, acquiring a bone structure,
being clothed with flesh, taking on his own special
form, until at last he reaches the plane where he can
befittingly fulfill the words: "the most excellent of
Makers."+F66 Just as this is a requirement of creation and
is based on the universal Wisdom, the political world
in the same way cannot instantaneously evolve from
the nadir of defectiveness to the zenith of rightness and
perfection. Rather, qualified individuals must strive by

+F66 &Qur'an 23:14: "Blessed therefore be God, the most excellent
+F66 of Makers."

+P108
day and by night, using all those means which will conduce
to progress, until the government and the people
develop along every line from day to day and even from
moment to moment.
When, through the Divine bestowals, three things
appear on earth, this world of dust will come alive, and
stand forth wondrously adorned and full of grace.
These are first, the fruitful winds of spring; second, the
welling plenty of spring clouds; and third, the heat of
the bright sun. When, out of the endless bounty of
God, these three have been vouchsafed, then slowly,
by His leave, dry trees and branches turn fresh and
green again, and array themselves with many kinds of
blossoms and fruits. It is the same when the pure intentions
and the justice of the ruler, the wisdom and
consummate skill and statecraft of the governing authorities,
and the determination and unstinted efforts
of the people, are all combined; then day by day the
effects of the advancement, of the far-reaching reforms,
of the pride and prosperity of government and people
alike, will become clearly manifest.
If, however, by delay and postponement they mean
this, that in each generation only one minute section
of the necessary reforms should be attended to, this is
nothing but lethargy and inertia, and no results would
be forthcoming from such a procedure, except the endless
repetition of idle words. If haste is harmful, inertness
and indolence are a thousand times worse. A middle
course is best, as it is written: "It is incumbent upon

+P109
you to do good between the two evils," this referring
to the mean between the two extremes. "And let not
thy hand be tied up to thy neck; nor yet open it with
all openness ... but between these follow a middle
way."+F67
The primary, the most urgent requirement is the promotion
of education. It is inconceivable that any nation
should achieve prosperity and success unless this paramount,
this fundamental concern is carried forward.
The principal reason for the decline and fall of peoples
is ignorance. Today the mass of the people are uninformed
even as to ordinary affairs, how much less do
they grasp the core of the important problems and complex
needs of the time.
It is therefore urgent that beneficial articles and books
be written, clearly and definitely establishing what the
present-day requirements of the people are, and what
will conduce to the happiness and advancement of society.
These should be published and spread throughout
the nation, so that at least the leaders among the
people should become, to some degree, awakened, and
arise to exert themselves along those lines which will
lead to their abiding honor. The publication of high
thoughts is the dynamic power in the arteries of life;
it is the very soul of the world. Thoughts are a boundless
sea, and the effects and varying conditions of existence
are as the separate forms and individual limits
of the waves; not until the sea boils up will the waves

+F67 &Qur'an 17:31; 110.

+P110
rise and scatter their pearls of knowledge on the shore
of life.

Thou, Brother, art thy thought alone,
The rest is only thew and bone.+F68

Public opinion must be directed toward whatever is
worthy of this day, and this is impossible except
through the use of adequate arguments and the adducing
of clear, comprehensive and conclusive proofs. For
the helpless masses know nothing of the world, and
while there is no doubt that they seek and long for
their own happiness, yet ignorance like a heavy veil
shuts them away from it.
Observe to what a degree the lack of education will
weaken and degrade a people. Today [1875] from the
standpoint of population the greatest nation in the
world is China, which has something over four hundred
million inhabitants. On this account, its government
should be the most distinguished on earth, its
people the most acclaimed. And yet on the contrary,
because of its lack of education in cultural and material
civilization, it is the feeblest and the most helpless of
all weak nations. Not long ago, a small contingent of
English and French troops went to war with China
and defeated that country so decisively that they took
over its capital Peking. Had the Chinese government

+F68 &Rumi, The &Mathnavi, II 2:277. The next line is:
+F68 A garden close, if that thought be a rose,
+F68 But if it be a thorn, then only fit to burn.

+P111
and people been abreast of the advanced sciences of
the day, had they been skilled in the arts of civilization,
then if all the nations on earth had marched against
them the attack would still have failed, and the attackers
would have returned defeated whence they
had come.
Stranger even than this episode is the fact that the
government of Japan was in the beginning subject to
and under the protection of China, and that now for
some years, Japan has opened its eyes and adopted the
techniques of contemporary progress and civilization,
promoting sciences and industries of use to the public,
and striving to the utmost of their power and competence
until public opinion was focused on reform.
This government has currently advanced to such a
point that, although its population is only one-sixth, or
even one-tenth, that of China, it has recently challenged
the latter government, and China has finally
been forced to come to terms. Observe carefully how
education and the arts of civilization bring honor, prosperity,
independence and freedom to a government
and its people.
It is, furthermore, a vital necessity to establish schools
throughout Persia, even in the smallest country towns
and villages, and to encourage the people in every possible
way to have their children learn to read and write.
If necessary, education should even be made compulsory.
Until the nerves and arteries of the nation stir into
life, every measure that is attempted will prove vain; for

+P112
the people are as the human body, and determination
and the will to struggle are as the soul, and a soulless
body does not move. This dynamic power is present to
a superlative degree in the very nature of the Persian
people, and the spread of education will release it.

As to that element who believe that it is neither
necessary nor appropriate to borrow the principles
of civilization, the fundamentals of
progress toward high levels of social happiness in the
material world, the laws which effect thorough reforms,
the methods which extend the scope of culture--and
that it is far more suitable that Persia and the Persians
reflect over the situation and then create their own
techniques of progress.
It is certain that if the vigorous intelligence and superior
skill of the nation's great, and the energy and
resolve of the most eminent men at the imperial court,
and the determined efforts of those who have knowledge
and capacity, and are well versed in the great
laws of political life, should all be combined, and all
should exert every effort and examine and reflect over
every detail as well as on the main currents of affairs,
there is every likelihood that because of the effective
plans they would evolve, some situations would be

+P113
thoroughly reformed. In the majority of cases, however,
they would still be obliged to borrow; because,
throughout the many-centuried past, hundreds of
thousands of persons have devoted their entire lives to
putting these things to the test until they were able to
bring about these substantial developments. If all that
is to be ignored and an effort is made to re-create those
agencies in our own country and in our own way, and
thus effect the hoped-for advancement, many generations
would pass by and still the goal would not be
reached. Observe for instance that in other countries
they persevered over a long period until finally they
discovered the power of steam and by means of it were
enabled easily to perform the heavy tasks which were
once beyond human strength. How many centuries it
would take if we were to abandon the use of this power
and instead strain every nerve to invent a substitute.
It is therefore preferable to keep on with the use of
steam and at the same time continuously to examine
into the possibility of there being a far greater force
available. One should regard the other technological
advances, sciences, arts and political formulae of proven
usefulness in the same light--i.e., those procedures
which, down the ages, have time and again been put
to the test and whose many uses and advantages have
demonstrably resulted in the glory and greatness of the
state, and the well-being and progress of the people.
Should all these be abandoned, for no valid reason, and
other methods of reform be attempted, by the time

+P114
such reforms might eventuate, and their advantages
might be put to proof, many years would go by, and
many lives. Meanwhile, "we are still at the first bend
in the road."+F69
The superiority of the present in relation to the past
consists in this, that the present can take over and
adopt as a model many things which have been tried
and tested and the great benefits of which have been
demonstrated in the past, and that it can make its own
new discoveries and by these augment its valuable inheritance.
It is clear, then, that the accomplishment
and experience of the past are known and available to
the present, while the discoveries peculiar to the present
were unknown to the past. This presupposes that
the later generation is made up of persons of ability;
otherwise, how many a later generation has lacked even
so much as a drop out of the boundless ocean of knowledge
that was its forbears'.
Reflect a little: let us suppose that, through the
power of God, certain individuals are placed on earth;
these obviously stand in need of many things, to provide
for their human dignity, their happiness and ease.
Now is it more practicable for them to acquire these
things from their contemporaries, or should they, in
each successive generation, borrow nothing, but instead
independently create one or another of the instrumentalities
which are necessary to human existence?

+F69 From the lines: "&Attar has passed through the seven cities
+F69 of love, and we are still at the first bend in the road."

+P115
Should some maintain that those laws, principles and
fundamentals of progress on the highest levels of a
fully developed society, which are current in other
countries, are not suited to the condition and the traditional
needs of Persia's people, and that on this account
it is necessary that within &Iran, the nations'
planners should exert their utmost efforts to bring about
reforms appropriate to Persia--let them first explain
what harm could come from such foreign importations.
If the country were built up, the roads repaired, the
lot of the helpless improved by various means, the poor
rehabilitated, the masses set on the path to progress,
the avenues of public wealth increased, the scope of
education widened, the government properly organized,
and the free exercise of the individual's rights, and the
security of his person and property, his dignity and good
name, assured--would all this be at odds with the character
of the Persian people? Whatever is in conflict
with these measures has already been proved injurious,
in every country, and does not concern one locality
more than another.
These superstitions result in their entirety from lack
of wisdom and understanding, and insufficient observation
and analysis. Indeed, the majority of the reactionaries
and the procrastinators are only concealing their
own selfish interests under a barrage of idle words, and
confusing the minds of the helpless masses with public
statements which bear no relation to their well-concealed
objectives.

+P116
O people of Persia! The heart is a divine trust;
cleanse it from the stain of self-love, adorn it with the
coronal of pure intent, until the sacred honor, the abiding
greatness of this illustrious nation may shine out
like the true morning in an auspicious heaven. This
handful of days on earth will slip away like shadows
and be over. Strive then that God may shed His grace
upon you, that you may leave a favorable remembrance
in the hearts and on the lips of those to come. "And
grant that I be spoken of with honor by posterity."+F70
Happy the soul that shall forget his own good, and
like the chosen ones of God, vie with his fellows in
service to the good of all; until, strengthened by the
blessings and perpetual confirmations of God, he shall
be empowered to raise this mighty nation up to its
ancient pinnacles of glory, and restore this withered
land to sweet new life, and as a spiritual springtime,
array those trees which are the lives of men with the
fresh leaves, the blossoms and fruits of consecrated joy.

+F70 &Qur'an 26:84.