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individual seeking to further his own petty and personal
concerns, will block the advancement of an entire
people. To turn his own water mill, he will let
the farms and fields of all the others parch and wither.
To maintain his own leadership, he will everlastingly
direct the masses toward that prejudice and fanaticism
which subvert the very base of civilization.
Such a man, at the same moment that he is perpetrating
actions which are anathema in the sight of God
and detested by all the Prophets and Holy Ones, if he
sees a person who has just finished eating wash his
hands with soap--an article the inventor of which was
`Abdu'lláh Buní, a Muslim--will, because this unfortunate
does not instead wipe his hands up and down
the front of his robe and on his beard, set up a hue
and cry to the effect that the religious law has been
overthrown, and the manners and customs of heathen
nations are being introduced into ours. Utterly disregarding
the evil of his own ways, he considers the very
cause of cleanliness and refinement as wicked and
foolish.
O People of Persia! Open your eyes! Pay heed! Release
yourselves from this blind following of the bigots,
this senseless imitation which is the principal reason
why men fall away into paths of ignorance and degradation.
See the true state of things. Rise up; seize hold
of such means as will bring you life and happiness and
greatness and glory among all the nations of the world.
The winds of the true springtide are passing over
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