| Kitáb-i-Íqán | 182 |
significance be not grasped, enlightenment should
be sought from the Trustees of the depositories of
Knowledge, that these may expound their meaning,
and unravel their mystery. For it behooveth no
man to interpret the holy words according to his
own imperfect understanding, nor, having found
them to be contrary to his inclination and desires,
to reject and repudiate their truth. For such, today,
is the manner of the divines and doctors of
the age, who occupy the seats of knowledge and
learning, and who have named ignorance knowledge,
and called oppression justice. Were these to
ask the Light of Truth concerning those images
which their idle fancy hath carved, and were they
to find His answer inconsistent with their own conceptions
and their own understanding of the Book,
they would assuredly denounce Him Who is the
Mine and Wellhead of all Knowledge as the very
negation of understanding. Such things have happened
in every age.
For instance, when Muhammad, the Lord of
being, was questioned concerning the new moons,
He, as bidden by God, made reply: "They are
periods appointed unto men." (1) Thereupon, they
