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Divine Retribution
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1 |
The whole of mankind is groaning, is dying to be led to unity,
and to terminate its age-long martyrdom. And yet it stubbornly
refuses to embrace the light and acknowledge the sovereign authority
of the one Power that can extricate it from its entanglements,
and avert the woeful calamity that threatens to engulf it.
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2 |
Ominous indeed is the voice of Bahá'u'lláh that rings through
these prophetic words: "O ye peoples of the world! Know, verily,
that an unforeseen calamity followeth you, and grievous retribution
awaiteth you. Think not that which ye have committed hath been
effaced in My sight." And again: "We have a fixed time for you,
O peoples. If ye fail, at the appointed hour, to turn towards God,
He, verily, will lay violent hold on you, and will cause grievous
afflictions to assail you from every direction. How severe, indeed,
is the chastisement with which your Lord will then chastise you!"
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3 |
Must humanity, tormented as she now is, be afflicted with still
severer tribulations ere their purifying influence can prepare her to
enter the heavenly Kingdom destined to be established upon earth?
Must the inauguration of so vast, so unique, so illumined an era in
human history be ushered in by so great a catastrophe in human
affairs as to recall, nay surpass, the appalling collapse of Roman civilization
in the first centuries of the Christian Era? Must a series of
profound convulsions stir and rock the human race ere Bahá'u'lláh
can be enthroned in the hearts and consciences of the masses, ere His
undisputed ascendancy is universally recognized, and the noble edifice
of His World Order is reared and established?
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4 |
The long ages of infancy and childhood, through which the
human race had to pass, have receded into the background. Humanity
is now experiencing the commotions invariably associated
with the most turbulent stage of its evolution, the stage of adolescence,
when the impetuosity of youth and its vehemence reach their
climax, and must gradually be superseded by the calmness, the wisdom,
and the maturity that characterize the stage of manhood. Then
will the human race reach that stature of ripeness which will enable
it to acquire all the powers and capacities upon which its ultimate
development must depend.
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