IX

IX

Consider what momentous glad-tidings the all-glorious Pen has announced in the Holy Tablets, what explicit promises His exalted and irrevocable Pen has revealed. In the Súratu’l-Haykal these gem-like words are recorded: “He will, erelong, out of the Bosom of Power, draw forth the Hands of Ascendancy and Might—Hands who will arise to win victory for this Youth and who will purge mankind from the defilement of the outcast and the ungodly. These Hands will gird up their loins to champion the Faith of God, and will, in My name, the Self-Subsistent, the Mighty, subdue the peoples and kindreds of the earth. They will enter the cities and will inspire with fear the hearts of all their inhabitants. Such are the evidences of the might of God, how fearful, how vehement is His might!”²² And likewise these luminous verses are inscribed in this holy Súrih: “The day is approaching when God will have raised up, through Thee, such invincible Hands, such indomitable Helpers, who will emerge from behind the veils, will render victorious the All-Merciful One amidst all the peoples of the world, and will burst forth into such a cry as will leave its mark in all hearts. Thus hath it been decreed in the inscribed Tablet. And they will appear with such power that all the dwellers of the earth will be seized with fear and every one will be sorely shaken.”

Moreover He has written: “Erelong will the Call be raised in every city and thou shalt find the people fearful and dismayed by virtue of the awful ascendancy of God’s Revelation. Thus hath it been irrevocably ordained in His Holy Scriptures.” And also He declares: “Soon will the cry ‘Yea, yea, here am I, here am I’ be heard from every land. For there hath never been, nor can there ever be, any other refuge to fly to for anyone.”²³ And again He says: “The day is fast approaching when God will have manifested from this horizon such light and power as will cause the sun to be darkened, will obliterate every trace of them that have turned away disdainfully from God, and will illumine the faces of the sincere.” And likewise He has revealed: “Erelong ye shall witness all men believing in His cause and weeping sore over the good things that have escaped them during His days. Verily He is the Expounder, the All-Knowing.”

And He also states: “Soon will the unbelievers behold the banners of victory and will hear the name of God proclaimed from every direction. On that day will they say: ‘Truly we do believe in God.’ Say: God well knoweth what is hidden in the breasts of all men.” And again He has written: “Erelong will the faithful behold the standards of divine manifestation unfurled in all regions.” And likewise He declares: “I swear by the Most Great Book that God’s Revelation shall gain ascendancy and encompass the whole world.”

Moreover, the following resplendent words which have flowed from the Pen of the Centre of the Covenant amply confirm that which the all-glorious Pen of Bahá’u’lláh has revealed: “Despair not of the manifestations of the divine Spirit. Erelong, by the leave of God, the veil will be removed from the face of His Cause, this effulgent light will shed its radiance upon all countries, the signs of His oneness will be spread abroad, and the banners bearing the emblems of your glorious Lord will float above the lofty mansion.” And again He affirms: “The day will soon come when the light of divine unity will have so permeated the East and the West that no man dare any longer ignore it.”²⁴