The Kitáb-i-Íqán : The Book of Certitude
Part One
mayest kindle, in the inmost chamber of thine heart, the new-born light of divine knowledge and certitude.
53Know verily that the purpose underlying all these symbolic terms and abstruse allusions, which emanate from the Revealers of God’s holy Cause, hath been to test and prove the peoples of the world; that thereby the earth of the pure and illuminated hearts may be known from the perishable and barren soil. From time immemorial such hath been the way of God amidst His creatures, and to this testify the records of the sacred books.
54And likewise, reflect upon the revealed verse concerning the “Qiblih.”33 When Muḥammad, the Sun of Prophethood, had fled from the dayspring of Baṭḥá34 unto Yathrib,35 He continued to turn His face, while praying, unto Jerusalem, the holy city, until the time when the Jews began to utter unseemly words against Him—words which if mentioned would ill befit these pages and would weary the reader. Muḥammad strongly resented these words. Whilst, wrapt in meditation and wonder, He was
33 The direction toward which the face must be turned when praying.
34 Mecca.
35 Medina.
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