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In a letter dictated by Baha'u'llah and addressed by Mirza Aqa Jan, His amanuensis, to 'Abdu'l-Baha while the latter was on a visit to Beirut, we read the following: "Praise be to Him Who hath honored the Land of Ba (Beirut) through the presence of Him round Whom all names revolve. All the atoms of the earth have announced unto all created things that from behind the gate of the Prison-city there hath appeared and above its horizon there hath shone forth the Orb of the beauty of the great, the Most Mighty Branch of God - His ancient and immutable Mystery - proceeding on its way to another land. Sorrow, thereby, hath enveloped this Prison-city, whilst another land rejoiceth ... Blessed, doubly blessed, is the ground which His footsteps have trodden, the eye that hath been cheered by the beauty of His countenance, the ear that hath been honored by hearkening to His call, the heart that hath tasted the sweetness of His love, the breast that hath dilated through His remembrance, the pen that hath voiced His praise, the scroll that hath borne the testimony of His writings." (136:2) 'Abdu'l-Baha, writing in confirmation of the authority conferred upon Him by Baha'u'llah, makes the following statement: "In accordance with the explicit text of the Kitab-i-Aqdas Baha'u'llah hath made the Center of the Covenant the Interpreter of His Word a Covenant so firm and mighty that from the beginning of time until the present day no religious Dispensation hath produced its like." (136:3) Exalted as is the rank of 'Abdu'l-Baha, and however profuse the praises with which in these sacred Books and Tablets Baha'u'llah has glorified His son, so unique a distinction must never be construed as conferring upon its recipient a station identical with, or equivalent to, that of His Father, the Manifestation Himself. To give such an interpretation to any of these quoted passages would at once, and for obvious reasons, bring it into conflict with the no less clear and authentic assertions and warnings to which I have already referred. Indeed, as I have already stated, those who overestimate 'Abdu'l-Baha's station are just as reprehensible and have done just as much harm as those who underestimate it. And this for no other reason except that by insisting upon an altogether unwarranted inference from Baha'u'llah's writings they are inadvertently justifying and continuously furnishing the enemy with proofs for his false accusations and misleading statements.
(136:4)
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