"We believe in God, and that which hath been sent down to us, and that which hath been sent down to Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and the tribes: and that which hath been given to Moses and to Jesus, and that which was given to the prophets from their lord. No difference do we make between any of them: and to God are we resigned (Muslims)."[1] [The word Muslim means "one who is resigned to God."]

"Verily they who believe, and the Jews, and the Sabeites and the Christians - whoever of them believeth in God and in the last day and doeth what is right, on them shall come no fear, neither shall they be put to grief . . . Of old we accepted the covenant of the children of Israel, and sent Apostles to them. Oft as an Apostle came to them with that for which they had no desire, some they treated as lairs, and some they slew."[2]

With the permission of the leaders (the great city) was subjected by the rank and file to pillage and massacre for three days. Many priceless icons, relics, and other objects later turned up in Western Europe.[5]

"The chief idols in the desecrated temple of mankind are none other than the triple gods of Nationalism, Racialism and Communism, at whose altars governments and peoples, whether democratic or totalitarian, at peace or at war, of the East or of the West, Christian or Islamic, are, in various forms and in different degrees, now worshiping. Their high priests are the politicians and the worldly-wise, the so-called sages of the age; their sacrifice, the flesh and blood of the slaughtered multitudes; their incantations outworn shibboleths and insidious and irreverent formulas; their incense, the smoke of anguish that ascends from the lacerated hearts of the bereaved, the maimed, and the homeless." [53]

Throughout most of the Middle Ages, man is a Christian or Muslim first, a native of his own home district and subject of the local lord next and only last a Frenchman, an Egyptian, or a German. The gradual reversal of the strength of these loyalties marks the close of the Middle Ages. [7]

"Deprived of the guidance of Muhammad’s family and appointed successor, Islam began its conquering career."

The middle age was marked by the emergence of Europe as a cultural unit by the rise and decay of a distinctive Christian civilization, and by the nearly successful attempt of the Latin Church to function as a world state in succession to the vanished empire centered in Rome. Perhaps more commonly identified with the middle ages, however, is the social system known as feudalism. [10]

The church [itself] was largely feudalized. Secular lords, in return for homage, would invest bishops and abbots with their ecclesiastical offices and with the temporalities that went with them. In return, the bishops and abbots owed the crown various services, even military. [11]

The period ended with the fragmentation of Europe. The pervasive authority of the papacy which had been strong enough to order the anti-Islamic adventures called the Crusades, was about to be repudiated in large parts of Europe through the reformation. [12]

"The first conspicuous employment [of this institutionalized ‘sin’] was by a French Pope Urban II (1088-1099), who promised full indulgence to all who engaged in the First Crusade, though Pope Alexander II had given similar privileges on a smaller scale for battle against the Saracens [Muslims] in Spain about 1063. Once begun, the system spread with great rapidity . . . human nature readily responded."[13]

" . . . a revolutionary advance had been made in the Church's claims, so that Urban II, for instance, forbade ecclesiastics to do fealty as vassals to kings. The church was never able to enforce this, and had to be content with a practical division of the spiritual and temporal powers."[14]

"The Greek Church achieved some success in solving the conflict by administrative subjection of the leading cleric to the leading official: the Byzantine Emperor appointed the patriarch of Constantinople. In the West, Pope and Emperor fought each other throughout the period, with the papacy slowly losing out as the age drew to a close. In a sense, every state in the West went through an embittered civil war, while the struggle between church and state went on tenaciously from generation to generation."[15]

"A Christian historian relates that oftentimes during an episcopal election, or an excommunication of an important figure, the cities of Antioch, Alexandria, and Constantinople broke out into scenes of riot 'that would have disgraced a revolution.’ Great numbers of people who were labeled 'heretic' were massacred. Towns and villages were ‘utterly destroyed.' Even the orthodox populace became divided into factions, and 'fought like savages in the very churches.'"[17]

Early in the fifth century a dispute . . . was taken up by the fanatical Egyptian monks and the ignorant populace of Alexandria. [The One Divine Nature doctrine was made a rallying cry against Greek reasoning and thought.] A Council of the entire Church, held at Chalcedon in A.D. 451, adopted a compromise formula which neither emphasized the Humanity of Christ . . . nor subordinated it to His Divinity . . . . The result was a violent . . . reaction: the Patriarch of Alexandria was murdered on Good Friday in his own cathedral and his body dragged through the streets by the mob. [18]

"It is recorded that at the time of the reinstatement of the Arian Bishop Macedonius, in Constantinople, three thousand people lost their lives in the fighting . . Probably more Christians were slaughtered by Christians in these two years, than by all the persecutions of Christians by pagans in the history of Rome."[19]

"We find all the Christian communities so agitated and exasperated by tortuous and elusive arguments about the nature of God as to be largely negligent of the simpler teachings of charity, service and brotherhood that Jesus had inculcated." [20}

. . . some European writers have in the past declared that he was never anything more than an ambitious politician who insincerely professed a new religion as a vehicle for attaining political power. But this cynical interpretation will not bear analysis: there are too many hazards in the preaching of a new religion to commend it to the politically ambitious. Muhammad himself had to endure twelve years of neglect, derision, and growing hostility before he attained political authority over the small band who followed him into exile. It is far more reasonable to suppose that his original religious experience was entirely genuine, but that when the call came to undertake the governance of the Muslim community at Medina, it opened up or confirmed in him a rich veil of practical authority . . . [21]

Had not God laid upon him the duty of conveying the revelation of God's truth to his fellow-men, and would he not be executing this duty if he embraced this heaven sent opportunity of providing the new religion, whose path had been obstructed for ten years by human force-majeure, with a human political vehicle without which, as personal experience showed, Islam could make no further practical progress? [22]

Abyssinia (Ethiopia), once colonized by South Arabians, had been Christianized by missionaries from Roman Egypt in the 4th century AD and, in the 6th century, was attempting to invade and dominate South Arabia. The Abyssinians hoped to reorganize to their own advantage the lucrative caravan trade that supplied the incense of Arabia and the spices of India to the Mediterranean world. The South Arabians looked for aid to the Persian Empire (which was Zoroastrian-i.e., following the teachings of the sixth century B.C. prophet and religious reformer Zoroaster), one of the two major powers of Western Asia. The other great power, the Christian Byzantine Empire, which controlled Syria, Egypt, and North Africa, was an ally of the Abyssinians.[23]

. . . he, with consummate skill devised a machinery, by the adaptive energy of which he gradually shaped the broken and disconnected masses of the Arab race into an harmonious whole, a body politic endowed with life and vigour . . . by unparalleled art and a rare supremacy of mind, he persuaded the wh6le of Arabia, Pagan, Jew, and Christian, to follow his steps with docile submission.[24]

The Arab tribes were thus impelled to give in their submission to the Prophet, not merely as head of the strongest military force in Arabia, but as the exponent of a theory of social life that was making all others weak and ineffective. Muhammad had succeeded in introducing into the anarchical society of his time a sentiment of national unity, a consciousness of rights and duties towards one another such as the Arabs had not felt before. [25]

Arabs from as far away as Bahrein, Oman, and Southern Arabia recognized him as their overlord. [26]

And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee; behold, I will bless him, . . . and will multiply him exceedingly; he shall be the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. (Genesis 25:16) [28]

"The Muslim and the Christian alike viewed the history of mankind as leading from Creation to Judgement Day. History culminates in a final revelation of God’s will and God's truth. It is for man to accept or reject the message of the lord and thus secure for himself salvation or damnation. The historical process will be staged only once. On Judgment Day the book of history is to be closed forever. Any idea of a cyclical return of events would be incompatible with the purpose for which the Lord created the world of man. Thus every moment is unique and irretrievable, and his allotted time is tense with man’s anxious struggle to work his salvation ere it is too late. For the individual, then, life in history carries the supreme moral obligation of proving himself in the face of the lord. Man is on trial. Revelation is his law, the Prophet or the Savior his model and guide, while Satan, prodding his innate sinfulness, seeks to lead him astray. After the final judgement has acquitted or condemned, Satan will lose his power. Justice has triumphed and history reached its end."[29]

". . . he could have had no adequate first-hand knowledge of the Jewish or Christian scriptures, which had not been translated into Arabic while he knew no other language; but he had opportunities for conversations with Jews arid Christians both on his caravan journeys and in Mecca itself. . .[30]

". . . the Christian world devoted more attention to Islam than it received. Hatred, fear, admiration and attraction of the unknown seem to have co-existed in Christendom throughout the Middle Ages, events determining the paramount emotion of the moment. The foreignness of the Muslim world was keenly felt and the enigma never solved to satisfaction why so large a part of mankind would cling so staunchly to the manifest errors of its faith."

"The Christian knew himself possessed of the perfect and of the whole truth. He reacted with disgust, at best with compassion, when confronted with the crude distortion of this truth by means of which the Evil One had ensnared so many souls that might have been saved. When the Christian looked upon Islam, his primary task was not to study this phenomenon of an alien faith that seemed both akin to and apart from his own but rather to explain the unexplainable, to wit, the artful machinations by which Muhammad had won over his people to the acceptance of his absurd confabulations. There is always, even in the most aggressive and contemptuous discussions of Islam, an element of apologetic self-defense in the utterances of the Christian writers almost a touch of propaganda for the home front. It is as if only the most derogatory presentation of the despicable but powerful enemy could allay the secret suspicion that his case be stronger than it was wise to admit. It is not surprising, then, that Christianity, Eastern and Western alike, got off to a wrong start in their approach to Islam and its founder."[32]

"When the lecherous former monk noticed the gullibility of the people, 'he thought he should give them a creed and a law after the fashion of Arianism and the other heresies for which he had been excommunicated. So he sat down and wrote a book, the so-called Koran, which is the law of God, disseminating therein all his impiety. He taught that God had neither logos nor pneuma, that the Christ was not God but only a great prophet, and put together a great amount of other such nonsense. He then handed it to his pupil, Muhammad, and announced to those senseless people that this book had come down to Muhammad from heaven where it had been with the angel Gabriel. They believed that the matter was such and so the monk assured the establishment of the new law.’"[33]

"devoured by pigs while unconscious in one of his epileptic attacks. This unusual incident satisfactorily accounts for the Muslim prejudice against the consumption of pork. Another version substitutes drunkenness for epilepsy and thus explains the prohibition of wine as well."[34]

the Muslims appropriated and handled with increasing skill the scholastic method perfected by the church. By 900 AD, perhaps earlier, both sides employ the same techniques in arguing...[37]

"When God revealed his message through his apostle Muhammad, he sent it down as 'an Arabic Koran.’ . . . . Many centuries before Muhammad arose to preach, the prophet Zehaniah (3:9) had foretold that the Lord would 'renew to the people the chosen language, that all of them may taste the name of the Lord, and serve Him together with one consent.' There could be little doubt but that 'the chosen language is the perspicuous Arabic, which is neither unintelligible, nor sophistical.' It is the language which became common to the Gentiles, who spoke it and were rejuvenated by the new dispensation that it brought to them.

As to Hebrew, it was already the language of those prophets. As to Syriac, never did it cross the frontiers of the country of Syria; neither did Greek cross the country of the Greeks, nor Persian the city of Iran-Shar, but Arabic reached as far as the spot where dust ends, the desert of the Turks, and the countries of Hazar and India.

No language can match the dignity of Arabic, the chosen vehicle of God's ultimate message. But it is not only its spiritual rank that transcends the potentialities of the other tongues; its pre-eminence is rooted equally firmly in its objective features -- above all, in the unparalleled vastness of its vocabulary. Where Greek frequently has but one word to denote many objects, Arabic offers many words to denote one. Phonetic beauty is added to its staggering richness in synonyms. Precision and concision of expression adorn Arabic speech. While it is true that thoughts can also render in foreign languages, Arabic will render them with greater exactitude and more beautifully. Arabic is distinguished by its unrivaled possibilities in the use of figurative speech. Its innuendoes, tropes, and figures of speech lift it far above any other human language. There are many stylistic and grammatical peculiarities in Arabic to which no corresponding feature can be discovered elsewhere.

This makes satisfactory translation from and into Arabic impossible. The Arabic version of a foreign saying is invariably shorter than the original. Beautiful Arabic loses when translated into Syriac, but beautiful Syriac gains when translated into Arabic... Moreover, the natural eloquence of the Arab is remarkable.

Nevertheless, Arabic is too rich to be mastered completely by anyone but a prophet. Thus, while the most excellent of all discourse is that of the eloquent, intelligent, and learned speakers of Arabic, it is necessary to study that language incessantly to attain to understanding of the Holy Book."[38]

"In art and architecture, in philosophy, in medicine, in science and literature, in government the original Arabians had nothing to teach and everything to learn. [This overstatement ignores Muhammad’s contribution to government and modern social customs.] . . .With sharp curiosity and latent potentialities never aroused before, the Muslim Arabians in collaboration with and by the help of their subject peoples (including both Jew and Christian -- for example John of Damascus [40]) began now to assimilate, adapt and reproduce their intellectual and esthetic heritage... Between the middle of the eighth and the beginning of the thirteenth centuries... the Arabic speaking peoples were the main bearers of the torch of culture and civilization throughout the world, the medium which ancient science and philosophy were recovered, supplemented and transmitted to make possible the renaissance of Western Europe."[41]

"Arab scholars were studying Aristotle when Charlemagne and his lords were learning to write their names. Scientists in Cordova, with their seventeen great libraries, one alone of which included more than 400,000 volumes, enjoyed luxurious baths at a time when washing the body was considered a dangerous custom at the University of Oxford. For many centuries during the Middle Ages (Arabic) was the language of learning, culture and progressive thought throughout the civilized world. Between the ninth and twelfth centuries more works --philosophical, medical, historical, religious, astronomical, and geographical -- were produced through the medium of Arabic than through any other tongue."[42]

"The first influx into Western Europe of a body of new ideas, mainly philosophic and medical, marks the end of the 'Dark Ages' and the dawn of the scholastic period."[44]

"At first sight it appears strange that none of these three thinkers had any appreciable influence within his own world (neither Islam nor Judaism knew of any such thing as a ‘discovery’ of Aristotle), whereas on almost every page of the 13th century Christian summae the names of Avicenna, Averroes, and Maimonides are found."[46]

"Let us examine the two civilizations which in the eleventh century divided the ancient world. In the west -- miserable little cities; peasants' huts and great fortresses -- a country always troubled by war, where one could not travel ten leagues without running the risk of being robbed; and in the Orient --Constantinople, Cairo, Damascus, Baghdad -- with their marble palaces, their workshops, their schools, their bazaars, their villages, and the incessant movement of merchants who traveled in peace from Spain to Persia. There is no doubt that the musselman and Byzantine worlds were richer, better policed, better lighted than the western world. In the eleventh century these two worlds began to become acquainted; the barbarous Christians came into contact with the civilized musselmans in two ways -- by war and by commerce. And by contact with the Orientals, the occidentals became civilized."[48]

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 Islám. For example Draper, the well-known 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 Islám. 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 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 Islám. 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: "And they enjoin what is just, and forbid what is unjust, and speed on in good works. These are of the righteous." 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." 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." And yet again, of the civilizing of human behavior: "Make due allowances; and enjoin what is just, and withdraw from the ignorant." And likewise: "...who master their anger, and forgive others! God loveth the doers of good." 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 who fear the Lord." And yet further: "They prefer them before themselves, though poverty be their own lot." See how these few sacred verses [from the Qur’an] encompass the highest levels and innermost meanings of civilization and embody all the excellencies of human character. [50]

Ali, the paternal cousin of the Prophet, the husband of his only surviving daughter and one of the first two or three believers, was the one thus designated as the only legitimate successor.[51]

"Umar rode into the city with the Patriarch Sophronius conversing on its antiquities; when the hour of prayer came, he declined to pray in the Church of the Resurrection, where he then happened to be, lest in the future the Muslims, claiming a precedent, should infringe the rights of the Christians to their church. This was 637. By contrast, [600 years later] the Crusaders dashed the brains of children against the walls, roasted men at slow fires, ripped up others to see if they had swallowed gold, drove the Jews into their synagogue and burnt them, massacred somewhere between 10,000 and 70,000 people."[52]

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 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."

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 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 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 and is astray in his own ignorance, groping after the mirage of his desires." [50]

Therefore, those who in every subsequent Dispensation preceded the rest of mankind in embracing the Faith of God, who quaffed the clear waters of knowledge at the hand of the divine Beauty, and attained the loftiest summits of faith and certitude, these can be regarded, in name, in reality, in deeds, in words, and in rank, as the "return" of those who in a former Dispensation had achieved similar distinctions. For whatsoever the people of a former Dispensation have manifested, the same hath been shown by the people of this latter generation. Consider the rose: whether it blossometh in the East or in the West, it is none the less a rose. For what mattereth in this respect is not the outward shape and form of the rose, but rather the smell and fragrance which it doth impart.

Purge thy sight, therefore, from all earthly limitations, that thou mayest behold them all as the bearers of one Name, the exponents of one Cause, the manifestations of one Self, and the revealers of one Truth, and that thou mayest apprehend the mystic "return" of the Words of God as unfolded by these utterances. Reflect for a while upon the behaviour of the companions of the Muhammadan Dispensation. Consider how, through the reviving breath of Muhammad, they were cleansed from the defilements of earthly vanities, were delivered from selfish desires, and were detached from all else but Him. Behold how they preceded all the peoples of the earth in attaining unto His holy Presence--the Presence of God Himself--how they renounced the world and all that is therein, and sacrificed freely and joyously their lives at the feet of that Manifestation of the All-Glorious. And now, observe the "return" of the self-same determination, the self-same constancy and renunciation, manifested by the companions of the Point of the Bayán. Thou hast witnessed how these companions have, through the wonders of the grace of the Lord of Lords, hoisted the standards of sublime renunciation upon the inaccessible heights of glory. These Lights have proceeded from but one Source, and these fruits are the fruits of one Tree. Thou canst discern neither difference nor distinction among them. All this is by the grace of God! On whom He will, He bestoweth His grace. Please God, that we avoid the land of denial, and advance into the ocean of acceptance, so that we may perceive, with an eye purged from all conflicting elements, the worlds of unity and diversity, of variation and oneness, of limitation and detachment, and wing our flight unto the highest and innermost sanctuary of the inner meaning of the Word of God.

From these statements therefore it hath been made evident and manifest that should a Soul in the "End that knoweth no end" be made manifest, and arise to proclaim and uphold a Cause which in "the Beginning that hath no beginning" another Soul had proclaimed and upheld, it can be truly declared of Him Who is the Last and of Him Who was the First that they are one and the same, inasmuch as both are the Exponents of one and the same Cause. For this reason, hath the Point of the Bayán--may the life of all else but Him be His sacrifice!--likened the Manifestations of God unto the sun which, though it rise from the "Beginning that hath no beginning" until the "End that knoweth no end," is none the less the same sun. Now, wert thou to say, that this sun is the former sun, thou speakest the truth; and if thou sayest that this sun is the "return" of that sun, thou also speakest the truth. Likewise, from this statement it is made evident that the term "last" is applicable to the "first," and the term "first" applicable to the "last;" inasmuch as both the "first" and the "last" have risen to proclaim one and the same Faith.

Notwithstanding the obviousness of this theme, in the eyes of those that have quaffed the wine of knowledge and certitude, yet how many are those who, through failure to understand its meaning, have allowed the term "Seal of the Prophets" to obscure their understanding, and deprive them of the grace of all His manifold bounties! Hath not Muhammad, Himself, declared: "I am all the Prophets?" Hath He not said as We have already mentioned: "I am Adam, Noah, Moses, and Jesus?" Why should Muhammad, that immortal Beauty, Who hath said: "I am the first Adam" be incapable of saying also: "I am the last Adam"? For even as He regarded Himself to be the "First of the Prophets"--that is Adam--in like manner, the "Seal of the Prophets" is also applicable unto that Divine Beauty. It is admittedly obvious that being the "First of the Prophets," He likewise is their "Seal."

The mystery of this theme hath, in this Dispensation, been a sore test unto all mankind. Behold, how many are those who, clinging unto these words, have disbelieved Him Who is their true Revealer. What, We ask, could this people presume the terms "first" and "last"--when referring to God--glorified be His Name!--to mean? If they maintain that these terms bear reference to this material universe, how could it be possible, when the visible order of things is still manifestly existing? Nay, in this instance, by "first" is meant no other than the "last" and by "last" no other than the "first."

Even as in the "Beginning that hath no beginnings" the term "last" is truly applicable unto Him who is the Educator of the visible and of the invisible, in like manner, are the terms "first" and "last" applicable unto His Manifestations. They are at the same time the Exponents of both the "first" and the "last." Whilst established upon the seat of the "first," they occupy the throne of the "last." Were a discerning eye to be found, it will readily perceive that the exponents of the "first" and the "last," of the "manifest" and the "hidden," of the "beginning" and the "seal" are none other than these holy Beings, these Essences of Detachment, these divine Souls. And wert thou to soar in the holy realm of "God was alone, there was none else besides Him," thou wilt find in that Court all these names utterly non-existent and completely forgotten. Then will thine eyes no longer be obscured by these veils, these terms, and allusions. How ethereal and lofty is this station, unto which even Gabriel, unshepherded, can never attain, and the Bird of Heaven, unassisted, can never reach!

And, now, strive thou to comprehend the meaning of this saying of `Alí, the Commander of the Faithful: "Piercing the veils of glory, unaided." Among these "veils of glory" are the divines and doctors living in the days of the Manifestation of God, who, because of their want of discernment and their love and eagerness for leadership, have failed to submit to the Cause of God, nay, have even refused to incline their ears unto the divine Melody. "They have thrust their fingers into their ears." And the people also, utterly ignoring God and taking them for their masters, have placed themselves unreservedly under the authority of these pompous and hypocritical leaders, for they have no sight, no hearing, no heart, of their own to distinguish truth from falsehood.

Notwithstanding the divinely-inspired admonitions of all the Prophets, the Saints, and Chosen ones of God, enjoining the people to see with their own eyes and hear with their own ears, they have disdainfully rejected their counsels and have blindly followed, and will continue to follow, the leaders of their Faith. Should a poor and obscure person, destitute of the attire of men of learning, address them saying: "Follow ye, O people! the Messengers of God," they would, greatly surprised at such a statement, reply: "What! Meanest thou that all these divines, all these exponents of learning, with all their authority, their pomp and pageantry, have erred, and failed to distinguish truth from falsehood? Dost thou, and people like thyself, pretend to have comprehended that which they have not understood?" If numbers and excellence of apparel be regarded as the criterions of learning and truth, the peoples of a bygone age, whom those of today have never surpassed in numbers, magnificence and power, should certainly be accounted a superior and worthier people.

It is clear and evident that whenever the Manifestations of Holiness were revealed, the divines of their day have hindered the people from attaining unto the way of truth. To this testify the records of all the scriptures and heavenly books. Not one Prophet of God was made manifest Who did not fall a victim to the relentless hate, to the denunciation, denial, and execration of the clerics of His day! Woe unto them for the iniquities their hands have formerly wrought! Woe unto them for that which they are now doing! What veils of glory more grievous than these embodiments of error! By the righteousness of God! to pierce such veils is the mightiest of all acts, and to rend them asunder the most meritorious of all deeds! May God assist us and assist you, O concourse of the Spirit! that perchance ye may in the time of His Manifestation be graciously aided to perform such deeds, and may in His days attain unto the Presence of God.

Furthermore, among the "veils of glory" are such terms as the "Seal of the Prophets" and the like, the removal of which is a supreme achievement in the sight of these base-born and erring souls. All, by reason of these mysterious sayings, these grievous "veils of glory," have been hindered from beholding the light of truth. Have they not heard the melody of that bird of Heaven, uttering this mystery: "A thousand Fátimih I have espoused, all of whom were the daughters of Muhammad, Son of `Abdu'lláh, the `Seal of the Prophets?'" Behold, how many are the mysteries that lie as yet unravelled within the tabernacle of the knowledge of God, and how numerous the gems of His wisdom that are still concealed in His inviolable treasuries! Shouldest thou ponder this in thine heart, thou wouldst realize that His handiwork knoweth neither beginning nor end. The domain of His decree is too vast for the tongue of mortals to describe, or for the bird of the human mind to traverse; and the dispensations of His providence are too mysterious for the mind of man to comprehend. His creation no end hath overtaken, and it hath ever existed from the "Beginning that hath no beginning"; and the Manifestations of His Beauty no beginning hath beheld, and they will continue to the "End that knoweth no end." Ponder this utterance in thine heart, and reflect how it is applicable unto all these holy Souls.

Likewise, strive thou to comprehend the meaning of the melody of that eternal beauty, Husayn, son of `Alí, who, addressing Salmán, spoke words such as these: "I was with a thousand Adams, the interval between each and the next Adam was fifty thousand years, and to each one of these I declared the Successorship conferred upon my father." He then recounteth certain details, until he saith: "I have fought one thousand battles in the path of God, the least and most insignificant of which was like the battle of Khaybar, in which battle my father fought and contended against the infidels." Endeavour now to apprehend from these two traditions the mysteries of "end," "return," and "creation without beginning or end."

O my beloved! Immeasurably exalted is the celestial Melody above the strivings of human ear to hear or mind to grasp its mystery! How can the helpless ant step into the court of the All-Glorious? And yet, feeble souls, through lack of understanding, reject these abstruse utterances, and question the truth of such traditions. Nay, none can comprehend them save those that are possessed of an understanding heart. Say, He is that End for Whom no end in all the universe can be imagined, and for Whom no beginning in the world of creation can be conceived. Behold, O concourse of the earth, the splendours of the End, revealed in the Manifestations of the Beginning!

How strange! These people with one hand cling to those verses of the Qur'án and those traditions of the people of certitude which they have found to accord with their inclinations and interests, and with the other reject those which are contrary to their selfish desires. "Believe ye then part of the Book, and deny part?" How could ye judge that which ye understand not? Even as the Lord of being hath in His unerring Book, after speaking of the "Seal" in His exalted utterance: "Muhammad is the Apostle of God and the Seal of the Prophets," hath revealed unto all people the promise of "attainment unto the divine Presence." To this attainment to the presence of the immortal King testify the verses of the Book, some of which We have already mentioned. The one true God is My witness! Nothing more exalted or more explicit than "attainment unto the divine Presence" hath been revealed in the Qur'án. Well is it with him that hath attained thereunto, in the day wherein most of the people, even as ye witness, have turned away therefrom.

-- Bahá'u'lláh, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p.158-169