And as we survey in other fields the decline in the fortunes of royalty,
whether in the years immediately preceding the Great War or after, and
contemplate the fate that has overtaken the Chinese Empire, the Portuguese
and Spanish Monarchies, and more recently the vicissitudes that have
afflicted, and are still afflicting, the sovereigns of Norway, of Denmark
and of Holland, and observe the impotence of their fellow-sovereigns, and
note the fear and trembling that has seized their thrones, may we not
associate their plight with the opening passages of the Suriy-i-Muluk,
which, in view of their momentous significance, I feel impelled to quote a
second time: "Fear God, O concourse of kings, and suffer not yourselves to
be deprived of this most sublime grace.... Set your hearts towards the
face of God, and abandon that which your desires have bidden you to
follow, and be not of those who perish.... Ye examined not His [the Bab's]
Cause, when so to do had been better for you than all that the sun shineth
upon, could ye but perceive it.... Beware that ye be not careless
henceforth, as ye have been careless aforetime.... My face hath come forth
from the veils, and shed its radiance upon all that is in heaven and on
earth, and yet ye turned not towards Him.... Arise then ... and make ye
amends for that which hath escaped you.... If ye pay no heed unto the
counsels which, in peerless and unequivocal language, We have revealed in
this Tablet, Divine chastisement shall assail you from every direction,
and the sentence of His justice shall be pronounced against you.... Twenty
years have passed, O kings, during which We have, each day, tasted the
agony of a fresh tribulation.... Though aware of most of Our afflictions,
ye, nevertheless, have failed to stay the hand of the aggressor. For is it
not your clear duty to restrain the tyranny of the oppressor, and to deal
equitably with your subjects, that your high sense of justice may be fully
demonstrated to all mankind?"
No wonder that Baha'u'llah, in view of the treatment meted out to Him by
the sovereigns of the earth, should, as already quoted, have written these
words: "From two ranks amongst men power hath been seized: kings and
ecclesiastics." Indeed, He even goes further, and states in His Tablet
addressed to _Sh_ay_kh_ Salman: "One of the signs of the maturity of the
world is that no one will accept to bear the weight of kingship. Kingship
will remain with none willing to bear alone its weight. That day will be
the day whereon wisdom will be manifested among mankind. Only in order to
proclaim the Cause of God and spread abroad His Faith will anyone be
willing to bear this grievous weight. Well is it with him who, for love of
God and His Cause, and for the sake of God and for the purpose of
proclaiming His Faith, will expose himself unto this great danger, and
will accept this toil and trouble."