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Devastating indeed has been the havoc wrought in the fortunes of the Shi'ih hierarchy in Persia, and pitiable the lot reserved for its remnant now groaning under the yoke of a civil authority it had for centuries scorned and dominated. Cataclysmic indeed has been the collapse of the most preeminent institution of Sunni Islam, and irretrievable the downfall of its hierarchy in a country that had championed the cause of the self-styled vicar of the Prophet of God. Steady and relentless is the process which has brought such destruction, shame, division, and weakness to the defenders of the strongholds of Christian ecclesiasticism, and black indeed are the clouds that darken its horizon. Through the actions of Muslim and Christian divines - "idols," whom Baha'u'llah has stigmatized as constituting the majority of His enemies who failed, as commanded by Him, to lay aside their pens and fling away their fancies, and who, as He Himself testified, had they believed in Him would have brought about the conversion of the masses, Islam and Christianity have, it would be no exaggeration to say, entered the most critical phase of their history. (111:1) Let none, however, mistake my purpose, or misrepresent this cardinal truth which is of the essence of the Faith of Baha'u'llah. The divine origin of all the Prophets of God - including Jesus Christ and the Apostle of God, the two greatest Manifestations preceding the Revelation of the Bab - is unreservedly and unshakably upheld by each and every follower of the Baha'i religion. The fundamental unity of these Messengers of God is clearly recognized, the continuity of their Revelations is affirmed, the God-given authority and correlative character of their Books is admitted, the singleness of their aims and purposes is proclaimed, the uniqueness of their influence emphasized, the ultimate reconciliation of their teachings and followers taught and anticipated. "They all," according to Baha'u'llah's testimony, "abide in the same tabernacle, soar in the same heaven, are seated upon the same throne, utter the same speech, and proclaim the same Faith."
(111:2)
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