words, sharp as the sword of God, have separated
the faithful from the infidel, and severed father
from son. Thou hast surely witnessed how they
that have confessed their faith in Him and they
that rejected Him have warred against each other,
and sought one another's property. How many
fathers have turned away from their sons; how
many lovers have shunned their beloved! So mercilessly
trenchant was this wondrous sword of God
that it cleft asunder every relationship! On the
other hand, consider the welding power of His
Word. Observe, how those in whose midst the
Satan of self had for years sown the seeds of malice
and hate became so fused and blended through
their allegiance to this wondrous and transcendent
Revelation that it seemed as if they had sprung
from the same loins. Such is the binding force of
the Word of God, which uniteth the hearts of them
that have renounced all else but Him, who have
believed in His signs, and quaffed from the Hand
of glory the Kawthar of God's holy grace. Furthermore,
how numerous are those peoples of divers
beliefs, of conflicting creeds, and opposing temperaments,
who, through the reviving fragrance of
the Divine springtime, breathing from the Ridván
of God, have been arrayed with the new robe of
