| Kitáb-i-Íqán | 39 |
known, need not be referred to here. Nay rather,
in every Dispensation the law concerning prayer
hath been emphasized and universally enforced.
To this testify the recorded traditions ascribed
to the lights that have emanated from the Day-star
of Truth, the essence of the Prophet Muhammad.
The traditions established the fact that in all Dispensations the law of prayer hath constituted a fundamental element of the Revelation of all the Prophets of God--a law the form and the manner of which hath been adapted to the varying requirements of every age. Inasmuch as every subsequent Revelation hath abolished the manners, habits, and teachings that have been clearly, specifically, and firmly established by the former Dispensation, these have accordingly been symbolically expressed in terms of `sun' and `moon'. "That He might prove you, which of you excel in deeds." (1)
Moreover, in the traditions the terms "sun" and
"moon" have been applied to prayer and fasting,
even as it is said: "Fasting is illumination, prayer
is light." One day, a well-known divine came to
