At a time when the shining reality of the Faith of Muhammad
had been obscured by the ignorance, the fanaticism, and perversity of the
contending sects into which it had fallen, there appeared above the horizon of
the East that luminous Star of Divine
guidance, Shaykh Ahmad-i-Ahsá’í. He observed how those who professed the Faith
of Islám had shattered its unity, sapped its force, perverted its purpose, and
degraded its holy name. His soul was filled with anguish at the sight of the corruption
and strife which characterised the Shí’ah sect of Islám. Inspired by the light
that shone within him, he arose with unerring vision, with fixed purpose, and
sublime detachment to utter his protest against the betrayal of the Faith by
that ignoble people. Aglow with zeal and conscious of the sublimity of his
calling, he vehemently appealed not only to shí’ah Islám but to all the
followers of Muhammad throughout the East, to awaken from the slumber of
negligence and to prepare the way for Him who must needs be made manifest in
the fulness of time, whose light alone could dissipate the mists of prejudice
and ignorance which had enveloped that Faith.
(‘The Dawn-Breakers’, Chapter 1)
