A Gift for Baghdad — Page 59
Reply to the Announcement & Letter 59 foundation of goodness and one of the signs of the righteous. You should present to me your misgivings in order that I might give you that which has evaded you and is lost to you. You will find me—God willing—a sincere friend and a good companion along the path of the servants [of God]. Allah has bestowed upon me power from Himself to dispel suspicions from the hearts of people. He has opened unto me the doors of educating mankind, completing the argument, and demonstrating the truth. I am, by His grace, among those who are supported by divine help. But those who do not aspire to truth cannot recognize me. Although they perceive the Signs from Allah, they are nevertheless among the deniers. They attack, insult, glare, and are bursting with fury. They do not ponder or reflect like those in search of guidance. I swear by Allah that I am truthful and not of those who invent lies. I swear by Allah that I am not a suitor of this mundane world and its carrion. So, woe to those who entertain evil thoughts about me! Pity on those who exceed the bounds. My case is like the case of a man who has fallen in love with someone, preferring that love over everything else. Like one who has fully devoted himself to his beloved, continuously seeking their nearness, and for the sake of meeting them, he has forsaken his own homeland. Like one who has left the soil of his native land, the comradeship of his friends and proceeded to the city of his beloved. Like one who has abandoned his house, silver, and gold for the sake of his beloved. Like one who has lost him- self for the sake of his beloved to the extent that he has become annihilated.