The Story of Noah

Quotations from the Qur'an and Genesis

Edited for the Internet by 'a volunteer'

The Koran

Sura 71

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

71:1 WE sent forth Noah to his people, saying: 'Give warning to your people before a woeful scourge overtakes them.'

He said: 'My people, I come to warn you plainly. Serve God and fear Him, and obey me. He will forgive you your sins and give you respite for an appointed term. When God's time arrives, none shall put it back. Would that you understood this!'

71:6 'Lord,' said Noah, 'night and day I have pleaded with my people, but my pleas have only aggravated their aversion. Each time I call on them to seek Your pardon, they thrust their fingers into their ears and draw their cloaks over their heads, persisting in sin and bearing themselves with insolent pride. I called out loud to them, and appealed to them in public and in private.

71:9 "Seek forgiveness of your Lord," I said. "He is ever ready to forgive. He sends down abundant water from the sky for you and bestows upon you wealth and children. He has provided you with gardens and with running brooks. Why do you deny the greatness of God when He created you in gradual stages?

"Can you not see how God created the seven heavens one above the other, placing in them the moon for a light and the sun for a lantern? God has brought you forth from the earth like a plant, and to the earth He will restore you. Then He will bring you back afresh. God has made the earth a vast expanse for you, so that you may roam its spacious paths."'

71:20 And Noah said: 'Lord, my people disobey me, and follow those whose wealth and offspring will only hasten their perdition. They have devised an outrageous plot, and said to each other: "Do not renounce your gods. Do not forsake Wadd or Suwa' or Yaghuth or Ya'uq or Nasr."

They have led numerous men astray. You surely drive the wrongdoers to further error. And because of their sins they were overwhelmed by the Flood and cast into the Fire. They found none besides God to help them.

And Noah said: 'Lord, do not leave a single unbeliever on the earth. If You spare them, they will mislead Your servants and beget none but sinners and unbelievers.

71:29 'Forgive me, Lord, and forgive my parents and every true believer who seeks refuge in my house. Forgive all the faithful, men and women, and hasten the destruction of the wrongdoers.'

(The Qur'an, s71-noah_dawood)

69:10 When the Flood rose high We carried you in the floating ark, making the event a warning, so that all attentive ears might heed it. (The Qur'an, s69-catastrophe_dawood)

Long before them, the people of Noah disbelieved. They disbelieved Our servant, and called him a madman.

54:10 Rejected and condemned, he cried out, saying: 'Help me, Lord, I am overcome!'

54:11 We opened the gates of heaven with pouring rain and caused the earth to burst with gushing springs, so that the waters met for a predestined end. We carried him in a vessel built with planks and nails, which drifted on under Our eyes: a recompense for him who had been disbelieved.

This We have left as a sign: but will any take heed? How grievous was My scourge, and how clear My warning! (The Qur'an, s54-moon_dawood)

3:30 God exalted Adam and Noah, Abraham's descendants and the descendants of Imran above the nations. They were the offspring of one another. God hears all and knows all. (The Qur'an, s03-imrans_dawood)

4:162 We have revealed Our will to you as We revealed it to Noah and to the prophets who came after him; as We revealed it to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and the tribes; to Jesus, Job, Jonah, Aaron, Solomon and David, to whom We gave the Psalms. (The Qur'an, s04-women_dawood)

7:59 Long ago, We sent forth Noah to his people. He said: 'Serve God, my people, for you have no god but Him. Beware the torment of a fateful day.'

But the elders of his people said: 'We can see that you are in palpable error.'

7:60 'I am not in error, my people,' he replied. 'I am sent forth by the Lord of the Worlds to make known to you my Lord's will and to give you friendly counsel, for I know of God what you know not. Do you think it strange that an admonition should come to you from your Lord through a mortal like yourselves, and that He should warn you, so that you may keep from evil and be shown mercy?'

They denied him. So We saved him and all who were with him in the ark, and drowned those that denied Our revelations. Surely they were blind men. (The Qur'an, s07-heights_dawood)

10:72 Recount to them the tale of Noah. He said to his people: 'If it offends you, my people, that I should dwell in your midst and preach to you God's revelations (for in God I have put my trust), muster all your idols and decide on your course of action. Do not intrigue in secret. Execute your judgement and give me no respite. If you turn away from me, remember I demand of you no recompense. Only God will reward me. I am commanded to be one of those who shall submit to Him'

But they disbelieved him. Therefore We saved Noah and those who were with him in the ark, so that they survived, and drowned the others who denied Our revelations. Consider the fate of those who were forewarned. (The Qur'an, s10-jonah_dawood)

11:24 We sent forth Noah to his people. He said: 'I have come to warn you plainly. Serve none but God. Beware the torment of a woeful day.'

The unbelieving elders of his people said: 'We see you as but a mortal like ourselves. Nor can we see you being followed by any but the lowliest of our men, those who are rash and undiscerning. We see no superior merit in you: indeed we think that you are lying.'

11:28 He said: 'Consider, my people! If my Lord has revealed to me His will and bestowed on me a favour of His own, though it be hidden from you, can we compel you to accept it against your will? I seek of you no recompense for this, my people; for none but God can reward me. Nor will I drive away the faithful, for they will surely meet their Lord. But I can see that you are ignorant men. And were I to drive them away, my people, who would protect me from God? Will you not take heed?

'I do not say to you that I possess God's treasures, nor have I knowledge of what is hidden. I do not claim to be an angel, nor do I say to those whom your eyes disdain that God will not be bountiful to them -- God knows best what is in their hearts -- for then I should become a wrongdoer.'

'Noah,' they replied, 'you have argued with us, and argued to excess. Bring down the scourge you threaten us with, if what you say be true!'

He said: 'God will bring it down upon you if He pleases: nor shall you be immune. My counsel will not profit you if God intends to confound you, willing though I am to offer you counsel. He is your Lord, and to Him shall you return.'

11:35 If they declare: 'He has invented it himself,' say: 'If I have indeed invented it, then may I be punished for my sin! I am innocent of yours.'

God's will was revealed to Noah, saying: 'None of your people will believe in you save those who already believe. Do not grieve at what they do. Build the ark under Our watchful eyes, and with Our inspiration. You shall not plead with Me for those who have done wrong: they shall assuredly be drowned.'

So he built the ark. And whenever the elders of his people passed by him they jeered at him. He said: 'If You mock us, we shall mock you just as you mock us. You shall learn who will be seized by a scourge that shall humiliate him, and be smitten by a scourge everlasting.'

And when Our will was done and water welled out from the Oven, We said to Noah: 'Take into the ark a pair from every species, your kinsfolk (except for those already doomed), and all the true believers.' But none except a few believed with him.

'Embark,' said Noah. 'In the name of God it shall set sail and cast anchor. Surely my Lord is forgiving and merciful.'

And as the ark moved on with them amid the mountainous waves, Noah cried out to his son, who stood apart: 'Embark with us, my child. Do not remain with the unbelievers!' He replied: 'I shall seek refuge in a mountain, which will protect me from the flood.'

Noah cried: 'None shall be secure today from the judgement of God but those who shall enjoy His mercy!' And thereupon the billows rolled between them, and Noah's son was drowned. A voice cried out: 'Earth, swallow up your waters. Heaven, cease your rain!' The floods abated, and His will was done. The ark came to rest upon Al-Judi, and a voice declared: 'Gone are the evil-doers.

11:45 Noah called out to his Lord, saying: 'Lord, my son was my own flesh and blood. Your promise was surely true. You are the most just of judges.'

11:46 'Noah,' He replied, 'he was no kinsman of yours: he had acted unjustly. Do not question Me about things you know nothing of. I admonish you lest you become an ignorant man.'

'I seek refuge in You, Lord, for asking You about things I know nothing of,' said Noah. 'Forgive me and have mercy on me, or I shall surely be among the lost.'

'Noah,' He replied, 'go ashore in peace. Our blessings are upon you and on some of the descendants of those that are with you. As for the others, We will suffer them to take their ease awhile and will then visit upon them a woeful scourge.'

That which We have now revealed to you is secret history: it was unknown to you and to your people. Have patience; the righteous shall have a joyful end. (The Qur'an, s11-hud_dawood)

21:76 Before him Noah invoked Us, and We answered his prayer. We saved him and all his kinsfolk from the great calamity, and delivered him from those who had denied Our revelations. Evil were they; We drowned them all. (The Qur'an, s21-prophets_dawood)

23:22 We sent forth Noah to his people. 'Serve God, my people,' he said, 'for you have no god but Him. Will you not take heed?'

The unbelieving elders of his people said: 'This man is but a mortal like yourselves, feigning to be your superior. Had God willed, He could have sent down angels. Nor did we hear that such a thing ever happened to our forefathers. He is surely possessed. Keep an eye on him awhile.' Noah said: 'Help me, Lord. They will not believe me.

We revealed Our will to him, saying: 'Build the ark under Our watchful eye, according to Our instructions. When Our judgement comes to pass and water wells out from the Oven, take aboard a pair from every species and the members of your household, except those of them already doomed.

Do not plead with Me for those who have done wrong: they shall be drowned. And when you and all your followers have gone aboard, say: "Praise be to God who has delivered us from a sinful nation. Lord, let my landing from the ark be blessed. You alone can make me land in safety."

Surely in that there were veritable signs. Thus did We put mankind to the proof.

Then We raised a new generation, and sent forth to them an apostle of their own. 'Serve God,' he said, 'for you have no god but Him. Will you not take heed?'

But the unbelieving elders of his people, who denied the life to come and on whom We had bestowed the good things of this life, said: 'This man is but a mortal like yourselves, nourished by the same food and drink. If you obey a mortal like yourselves, you shall indeed be lost. Does he promise you, when you are dead and turned to dust and bones, you will be raised to life? A foolish promise, indeed. There is no other life but this, our earthly life: we die and live, never to be restored to life. This man is but an impostor who tells of God what is untrue. Never will We believe in him.'

He said: 'Help me, Lord, they have rejected me.'

He replied: 'Before long they shall rue it.' The Cry took them in all justice, and We swept them away like withered leaves. Gone are those wicked men. (The Qur'an, s23-believers_dawood)

25:38 As for Noah's people, We drowned them when they denied their apostles and made of them an example to mankind. For the wrongdoers We have prepared a woeful scourge. (The Qur'an, s25-al-furqan_dawood)

26:102 Surely your Lord is the Mighty One, the Merciful. The people of Noah, too, disbelieved the apostles.

'Will you not fear God?' said Noah, their kinsman, to them. 'I am indeed your true apostle. Fear God, then, and follow me. For this I demand of you no recompense, for none can reward me except the Lord of the Worlds. Have fear of God and follow me.'

They replied: 'Are we to believe in you when your followers are but the lowest of the low?'

'I have no knowledge of what they may have done,' said Noah. 'My Lord alone can bring them to account. Would that you understood! I will not drive away the true believers. I am sent only to give plain warning.'

'Noah,' they replied, 'desist, or you shall be stoned to death.'

He said: 'Lord, my people have rejected me. Judge rightly between us. Save me and the believers who are with me.'

26:120 We delivered him and those who were with him in the laden ark, and overwhelmed the others with the Flood. Surely in that there was a sign; yet most of them did not believe.

Your Lord is the Mighty One, the Merciful. (The Qur'an, s26-poets_dawood)

29:14 We sent forth Noah to his people, and he dwelt among them for a thousand years less fifty. Then in their sinfulness the Flood overwhelmed them. But We delivered him and all who were in the ark, and made the event a sign for mankind. (The Qur'an, s29-spider_dawood)

36:40 The sun is not allowed to overtake the moon, nor does the night outpace the day. Each in its own orbit swims.

We gave them yet another sign when We carried their offspring in the laden ark. And similar vessels We have made for them to voyage in. We drown them if We will: none can help or rescue them, except through Our mercy and unless We please to prolong their lives awhile. When they are told: 'Have fear of that which is before you and behind you, so that you may be shown mercy,' [they pay no heed.]

37:74 Noah prayed to Us, and his prayers were graciously answered. We delivered him, and his household, from the mighty scourge, and made his descendants the sole survivors. We bestowed on him the praise of later generations: 'Peace be on Noah among all men!'

37:80 Thus do We reward the righteous: he was one of Our believing servants. The others We peremptorily drowned. (The Qur'an, s37-ranks_dawood)

57:27 We sent forth Noah and Abraham, and bestowed on their offspring prophethood and the Scriptures. Some were rightly guided, but many were evil-doers (The Qur'an, s57-iron_dawood)

66:10 God gave an example to the unbelievers in the wife of Noah and the wife of Lot. They were married to two of Our righteous servants and deceived them. Their husbands could in no way protect them from God. They were told: 'Enter the Fire with those that shall enter it.' (The Qur'an, s66-prohabition_dawood)

GENESIS 6

The flood

1 WHEN MANKIND BEGAN TO INCREASE and to spread all over the earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of the gods saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; so they took for themselves such women as they chose. But the Lord said, 'My life-giving spirit shall not remain in man for ever; he for his part is mortal flesh: he shall live for a hundred and twenty years.'

4 In those days, when the sons of the gods had intercourse with the daughters of men and got children by them, the Nephilim were on earth. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.

5 When the Lord saw that man had done much evil on earth and that his thoughts and inclinations were always evil, he was sorry that he had made man on earth, and he was grieved at heart. He said, 'This race of men whom I have created, I will wipe them off the face of the earth, man and beast, reptiles and birds. I am sorry that I ever made them.' But Noah had won the Lord's favour.

9 This is the story of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, the one blameless man of his time; he walked with God. He had three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth. Now God saw that the whole world was corrupt and full of violence. In his sight the world had become corrupted, for all men had lived corrupt lives on earth. God said to Noah, 'The loathsomeness of all mankind has become plain to me, for through them the earth is full of violence. I intend to destroy them, and the earth with them. Make yourself an ark with ribs of cypress; cover it with reeds and coat it inside and out with pitch. This is to be its plan: the length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. You shall make a roof for the ark, giving it a fall of one cubit when complete; and put a door in the side of the ark, and build three decks, upper, middle, and lower. I intend to bring the waters of the flood over the earth to destroy every human being under heaven that has the spirit of life; everything on earth shall perish. But with you I will make a covenant, and you shall go into the ark, you and your sons, your wife and your sons' wives with you. And you shall bring living creatures of every kind into the ark to keep them alive with you, two of each kind, a male and a female; two of every kind of bird, beast, and reptile, shall come to you to be kept alive. See that you take and store every kind of food that can be eaten; this shall be food for you and for them.' Exactly as God had commanded him, so Noah did.

GENESIS 7

1 The Lord said to Noah, 'Go into the ark, you and all your household; for I have seen that you alone are righteous before me in this generation. Take with you seven pairs, male and female, of all beasts that are ritually clean, and one pair, male and female, of all beasts that are not clean; also seven pairs, male and female, of every bird -- to ensure that life continues on earth. In seven days' time I will send rain over the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe off the face of the earth every living thing that I have made.' Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him. He was six hundred years old when the waters of the flood came upon the earth.

And so, to escape the waters of the flood, Noah went into the ark with his sons, his wife, and his sons' wives. And into the ark with Noah went one pair, male and female, of all beasts, clean and unclean, of birds and of everything that crawls on the ground, two by two, as God had commanded. Towards the end of seven days the waters of the flood came upon the earth. In the year when Noah was six hundred years old, on the seventeenth day of the second month, on that very day, all the springs of the great abyss broke through, the windows of the sky were opened, and rain fell on the earth for forty days and forty nights. On that very day Noah entered the ark with his sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, his own wife, and his three sons' wives. Wild animals of every kind, cattle of every kind, reptiles of every kind that move upon the ground, and birds of every kind -- all came to Noah in the ark, two by two of all creatures that had life in them. Those which came were one male and one female of all living things; they came in as God had commanded Noah, and the Lord closed the door on him. The flood continued upon the earth for forty days, and the waters swelled and lifted up the ark so that it rose high above the ground. They swelled and increased over the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the waters. More and more the waters increased over the earth until they covered all the high mountains everywhere under heaven. The waters increased and the mountains were covered to a depth of fifteen cubits. Every living creature that moves on earth perished, birds, cattle, wild animals, all reptiles, and all mankind. Everything died that had the breath of life in its nostrils, everything on dry land. God wiped out every living thing that existed on earth, man and beast, reptile and bird; they were all wiped out over the whole earth, and only Noah and his company in the ark survived.

24 When the waters had increased over the earth for a hundred and fifty days,

The flood

GENESIS 8

1 God thought of Noah and all the wild animals and the cattle with him in the ark, and he made a wind pass over the earth, and the waters began to subside. The springs of the abyss were stopped up, and so were the windows of the sky; the downpour from the skies was checked. The water gradually receded from the earth, and by the end of a hundred and fifty days it had disappeared. On the seventeenth day of the seventh month the ark grounded on a mountain in Ararat. The water continued to recede until the tenth month, and on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains could be seen.

6 After forty days Noah opened the trap-door that he had made in the ark, and released a raven to see whether the water had subsided, but the bird continued flying to and fro until the water on the earth had dried up. Noah waited for seven days, and then he released a dove from the ark to see whether the water on the earth had subsided further. But the dove found no place where she could settle, and so she came back to him in the ark, because there was water over the whole surface of the earth. Noah stretched out his hand, caught her and took her into the ark. He waited another seven days and again released the dove from the ark. She came back to him towards evening with a newly plucked olive leaf in her beak. Then Noah knew for certain that the water on the earth had subsided still further. He waited yet another seven days and released the dove, but she never came back. And so it came about that, on the first day of the first month of his six hundred and first year, the water had dried up on the earth, and Noah removed the hatch and looked out of the ark. The surface of the ground was dry.

14 By the twenty-seventh day of the second month the whole earth was dry. And God said to Noah, 'Come out of the ark, you and your wife, your sons and their wives. Bring out every living creature that is with you, live things of every kind, bird and beast and every reptile that moves on the ground, and let them swarm over the earth and be fruitful and increase there.' So Noah came out with his sons, his wife, and his sons' wives. Every wild animal, all cattle, every bird, and every reptile that moves on the ground, came out of the ark by families. Then Noah built an altar to the Lord. He took ritually clean beasts and birds of every kind, and offered whole-offerings on the altar. When the Lord smelt the soothing odour, he said within himself, 'Never again will I curse the ground because of man, however evil his inclinations may be from his youth upwards. I will never again kill every living creature, as I have just done.

22 While the earth lasts
        seed time and harvest, cold and heat,
        summer and winter, day and night,
        shall never cease.'

The flood

GENSIS 9

1 GOD BLESSED NOAH and his sons and said to them, 'Be fruitful and increase, and fill the earth. The fear and dread of you shall fall upon all wild animals on earth, on all birds of heaven, on everything that moves upon the ground and all fish in the sea; they are given into your hands. Every creature that lives and moves shall be food for you; I give you them all, as once I gave you all green plants. But you must not eat the flesh with the life, which is the blood, still in it. And further, for your life-blood I will demand satisfaction; from every animal I will require it, and from a man also I will require satisfaction for the death of his fellow-man.

6  He that sheds the blood of a man,
        for that man his blood shall be shed;
        for in the image of God
        has God made man.

7 But you must be fruitful and increase, swarm throughout the earth and rule over it.

8 God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him: 'I now make my covenant with you and with your descendants after you, and with every living creature that is with you, all birds and cattle, all the wild animals with you on earth, all that have come out of the ark. I will make my covenant with you: never again shall all living creatures be destroyed by the waters of the flood, never again shall there be a flood to lay waste the earth.'

12 God said, 'This is the sign of the covenant which I establish between myself and you and every living creature with you, to endless generations:

13 My bow I set in the cloud,
        sign of the covenant
        between myself and earth.
        When I cloud the sky over the earth,
        the bow shall be seen in the cloud.

15 Then will I remember the covenant which I have made between myself and you and living things of every kind. Never again shall the waters become a flood to destroy all living creatures. The bow shall be in the cloud; when I see it, it will remind me of the everlasting covenant between God and living things on earth of every kind.' God said to Noah, 'This is the sign of the covenant which I make between myself and all that lives on earth.'

18 The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham and Japheth; Ham was the father of Canaan. These three were the sons of Noah, and their descendants spread over the whole earth.

20 Noah, a man of the soil, began the planting of vineyards. He drank some of the wine, became drunk and lay naked inside his tent. When Ham, father of Canaan, saw his father naked, he told his two brothers outside. So Shem and Japheth took a cloak, put it on their shoulders and walked backwards, and so covered theit father's naked body; their faces were turned the other way, so that they did not see their father naked. When Noah woke from his drunken sleep, he learnt what his youngest son had done to him, and said:

25 'Cursed be Canaan,
        slave of slaves
        shall he be to his brothers.'

And he continued:

26 'Bless, O Lord,
        the tents of Shem;
        may Canaan be his slave.
        May God extend Japheth's bounds,
        let him dwell in the tents of Shem,
        may Canaan be their slave.'

28 After the flood Noah lived for three hundred and fifty years, and he was nine hundred and fifty years old when he died.

From Baha'i Writings

Among the Prophets was Noah. For nine hundred and fifty years He prayerfully exhorted His people and summoned them to the haven of security and peace. None, however, heeded His call. Each day they inflicted on His blessed person such pain and suffering that no one believed He could survive. How frequently they denied Him, how malevolently they hinted their suspicion against Him! Thus it hath been revealed: 'And as often as a company of His people passed by Him, they derided Him. To them He said: 'Though ye scoff at us now, we will scoff at you hereafter even as ye scoff at us. In the end ye shall know.'[1] Long afterward, He several times promised victory to His companions and fixed the hour thereof. But when the hour struck, the divine promise was not fulfilled. This caused a few among the small number of His followers to turn away from Him, and to this testify the records of the best-known books. These you must certainly have perused; if not, undoubtedly you will. Finally, as stated in books and traditions, there remained with Him only forty or seventy-two of His followers. At last from the depth of His being He cried aloud: 'Lord! Leave not upon the land a single dweller from among the unbelievers.'[1]

[1 Qur'an 11:38.]

And now, consider and reflect a moment upon the waywardness of this people. What could have been the reason for such denial and avoidance on their part? What could have induced them to refuse to put off the garment of denial, and to adorn themselves with the robe of acceptance? Moreover, what could have caused the nonfulfilment of the divine promise which led the seekers to reject that which they had accepted? Meditate profoundly, that the secret of things unseen may be revealed unto you, that you may inhale the sweetness of a spiritual and imperishable fragrance, and that you may acknowledge the truth that from time immemorial even unto eternity the Almighty hath tried, and will continue to try, His servants, so that light may be distinguished from darkness, truth from falsehood, right from wrong, guidance from error, happiness from misery, and roses from thorns. Even as He hath revealed: 'Do men think when they say 'We believe' they shall be let alone and not be put to proof?'[1] (Baha'u'llah, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 6)

[1 Qur'an 29:2.]

For instance, consider that among the Prophets was Noah. When He was invested with the robe of Prophethood, and was moved by the Spirit of God to arise and proclaim His Cause, whoever believed in Him and acknowledged His Faith, was endowed with the grace of a new life. Of him it could be truly said that he was reborn and revived, inasmuch as previous to his belief in God and his acceptance of His Manifestation, he had set his affections on the things of the world, such as attachment to earthly goods, to wife, children, food, drink, and the like, so much so that in the day-time and in the night season his one concern had been to amass riches and procure for himself the means of enjoyment and pleasure. Aside from these things, before his partaking of the reviving waters of faith, he had been so wedded to the traditions of his forefathers, and so passionately devoted to the observance of their customs and laws, that he would have preferred to suffer death rather than violate one letter of those superstitious forms and manners current amongst his people. Even as the people have cried: 'Verily we found our fathers with a faith, and verily, in their footsteps we follow.'[1]

[1 Qur'an 43:22.]

These same people, though wrapt in all these veils of limitation, and despite the restraint of such observances, as soon as they drank the immortal draught of faith, from the cup of certitude, at the hand of the Manifestation of the All-Glorious (Noah), were so transformed that they would renounce for His sake their kindred, their substance, their lives, their beliefs, yea, all else save God! So overpowering was their yearning for God, so uplifting their transports of ecstatic delight, that the world and all that is therein faded before their eyes into nothingness. Have not this people exemplified the mysteries of 'rebirth' and 'return'? Hath it not been witnessed that these same people, ere they were endued with the new and wondrous grace of God, sought through innumerable devices, to ensure the protection of their lives against destruction? Would not a thorn fill them with terror, and the sight of a fox put them to flight? But once having been honoured with God's supreme distinction, and having been vouchsafed His bountiful grace, they would, if they were able, have freely offered up ten thousand lives in His path! Nay, their blessed souls, contemptuous of the cage of their bodies, would yearn for deliverance. A single warrior of that host would face and fight a multitude! And yet, how could they, but for the transformation wrought in their lives, be capable of manifesting such deeds which are contrary to the ways of men and incompatible with their worldly desires?

It is evident that nothing short of this mystic transformation could cause such spirit and behaviour, so utterly unlike their previous habits and manners, to be made manifest in the world of being. For their agitation was turned into peace, their doubt into certitude, their timidity into courage. Such is the potency of the Divine Elixir, which, swift as the twinkling of an eye, transmuteth the souls of men!

For instance, consider the substance of copper. Were it to be protected in its own mine from becoming solidified, it would, within the space of seventy years, attain to the state of gold. There are some, however, who maintain that copper itself is gold, which by becoming solidified is in a diseased condition, and hath not therefore reached its own state. (Baha'u'llah, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 153)