| Kitáb-i-Íqán | 159 |
and certitude, these can be regarded, in name, in
reality, in deeds, in words, and in rank, as the "return"
of those who in a former Dispensation had
achieved similar distinctions. For whatsoever the
people of a former Dispensation have manifested,
the same hath been shown by the people of this
latter generation. Consider the rose: whether it
blossometh in the East or in the West, it is none
the less a rose. For what mattereth in this respect is
not the outward shape and form of the rose, but
rather the smell and fragrance which it doth
impart.
Purge thy sight, therefore, from all earthly limitations,
that thou mayest behold them all as the
bearers of one Name, the exponents of one Cause,
the manifestations of one Self, and the revealers of
one Truth, and that thou mayest apprehend the
mystic "return" of the Words of God as unfolded
by these utterances. Reflect for a while upon the
behaviour of the companions of the Muhammadan
Dispensation. Consider how, through the reviving
breath of Muhammad, they were cleansed from
the defilements of earthly vanities, were delivered
from selfish desires, and were detached from all
else but Him. Behold how they preceded all the
