Selections From the Writings of the Báb
Tablets and Addresses
have paid him the slightest attention. Indeed in the estimation of the people he is naught but manifest darkness...
Fear thou God and suffer not thy soul to be chastised beyond that with which it hath already been tormented; for ere long thou shalt pass away and shalt declare thyself clear of the devil whom thou hast appointed as thy Chancellor, saying: ‘O would that I had not taken the devil as my Chancellor, nor appointed an impostor as my guide and adviser.’
Why dost thou burden thy soul with that which is far more abject than the deeds of
Pharaoh, and still callest thyself one of the faithful? How dost thou peruse the verses of the
Qur’án, while thou art of the unjust? Never would the Jews, nor the Christians nor any such people as have rejected the truth consent to inflict wrongs upon the son of their
Prophet’s daughter. Woe betide thee, for the day of chastisement is approaching. Dost thou not dread the wrath of thy Lord, the Almighty, the Lord of the heavens, the Lord of all worlds? Indeed these manifest verses are conclusive testimony for those who seek true guidance.
I have no desire to seize thy property, even to the extent of a grain of mustard, nor do I wish to occupy thy position. If thou followest Me not, then unto thee be the things thou dost possess, and unto Me the land of unfailing security. If thou obeyest Me not, wherefore dost thou look disdainfully upon Me and seek to treat Me with sore injustice? Verily, behold My habitation—a lofty mountain wherein no one dwelleth. Woe betide them that wrongfully do injustice to people, and unjustly and deceitfully usurp the property of the believers in violation of His lucid Book; whereas I, Who, in very truth, am the rightful Sovereign of all men, designated by the true, the undeniable Leader, would never infringe on the integrity of the substance of
26