| Kitáb-i-Íqán | 23 |
life upon the pure in heart and the illumined
in spirit. This is the bread of which it is
said: "Lord, send down upon us Thy bread from
heaven." (1) This bread shall never be withheld from
them that deserve it, nor can it ever be exhausted.
It groweth everlastingly from the tree of grace; it
descendeth at all seasons from the heavens of justice
and mercy. Even as He saith: "Seest thou not
to what God likeneth a good word? To a good
tree; its root firmly fixed, and its branches reaching
unto heaven: yielding its fruit in all seasons." (2)
O the pity! that man should deprive himself of
this goodly gift, this imperishable bounty, this
everlasting life. It behooveth him to prize this food
that cometh from heaven, that perchance, through
the wondrous favours of the Sun of Truth, the
dead may be brought to life, and withered souls
be quickened by the infinite Spirit. Make haste, O
my brother, that while there is yet time our lips
may taste of the immortal draught, for the breeze
of life, now blowing from the city of the Well-Beloved,
cannot last, and the streaming river of holy
utterance must needs be stilled, and the portals of
the Ridván cannot for ever remain open. The day
