The Bahá’í World
Volume 2 : 1926-1928
sovereignty, glory and dominion, and should He desire, He would scatter you as the sand of the desert; and ere long His wrath shall overtake thee, revolutions shall appear in your midst and your countries shall be divided. Thy glory is not eternal, and our humiliation will not last. This humiliation is the diadem of all the glories, and only man in his perfection can comprehend it.”
APPENDIX THREE
WORDS OF ‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ CONCERNING PERSIA
“Regarding the subject of Persia. Praise be to God! she became the East of the Sun of Truth in this age. The Light of Eternity dawned, the everlasting Glory unveiled her countenance and the Reality of Mercifulness became manifest. This is the prosperity of Persia. Undoubtedly she will progress day by day under the shade of the Blessed Tree until her illumination shall penetrate throughout the wide expanse of the earth.
“Regarding the question of the establishment of the National Assembly (of Persia, September 12, 1906). This National Assembly will not bring any rapid results. Now some of the agitators are harboring evil intentions and do not let agreement and union be realized between the government and (foreign) nations ...
“However, we have nothing to do with these proceedings and counter-proceedings. We are commanded to quicken the souls, to train the characters, to illumine the realm of man, to guide all the inhabitants of the earth, to create concord and unity among all men and to lead the world of humanity to the Fountain of the everlasting Glory. The reformation of one empire is not our aim; nay, rather we invoke from God that all the regions of the world be reformed and cultivated; the republic of men become the manifestors of the bounty of the most glorious Lord; the East and the West be brought nearer together; and that Turk and Tajik, Írán and America, India and Arabia, Japan and Persia, China and Germany—in brief, all the nations and peoples of the world—become as one soul and one spirit, in order that strife and warfare be entirely removed and the rancor and hostility disappear so that all become as the waves of one ocean, the drops of one sea, the flowers of one rose-garden, the trees of one orchard, the grains of one harvest and the plants of one meadow.
“The Constitutional Government, according to the irrefutable text of the Religion of God, is the cause of the glory and prosperity of the nation and the civilization and freedom of the people. However, according to what is known, the hands of the selfish leaders from among the ‘Ulamás are in this affair. Outwardly they are desiring the establishment of the National Assembly and at every moment they are crying and clamoring (for its immediate realization), but inwardly they are sowing the seeds of corruption and agitation and try to put to naught the noble intention of the government. In the secret of their hearts and souls they do not favor the upbuilding of the National Assembly, the civilization of Persia, the awakening of the people, the advancement of the age, the spreading of knowledge and public instruction. Thieves like to lurk in darkness; fishers desire disturbed water; the bat shuns the rays of the sun; the black beetle dislikes the fragrance of the rose-garden; the ferocious wolf is in expectation of the sleet and snow; and the wine seller sees his advantage in the inebriate, irrational drinker. These leaders of religion also desire to behold the nation thrown into a weltering chaos of ignorance so that the rein of affairs remain in the hands of the arrogant ‘Ulamás. They know that if
