Ere he departed from Karbilá, [to Mecca and Medina] he
[Shaykh Ahmad] confided to Siyyid Kázim, his chosen successor, the secret of
his mission, and instructed him to strive to kindle in every receptive heart
the fire that had burned so brightly within him. However much Siyyid Kázim
insisted on accompanying him as far as Najaf, Shaykh Ahmad refused to comply
with his request. “You have no time to lose,” were the last words which he
addressed to him. “Every fleeting hour should be fully and wisely utilised. You
should gird up the loin of endeavour and strive day and night to rend asunder,
by the grace of God and by the hand of wisdom and loving-kindness, those veils
of heedlessness that have blinded the eyes of men. For verily I say, the Hour
is drawing nigh, the Hour I have besought God to spare me from witnessing, for
the earthquake of the Last Hour will be tremendous. You should pray to God to
be spared the overpowering trials of that Day, for neither of us is capable of
withstanding its sweeping force. Others, of greater endurance and power, have
been destined to bear this stupendous weight, men whose hearts are sanctified
from all earthly things, and whose strength is reinforced by the potency of His
power.”
(Chapter 1, ‘The Dawn-Breakers’)
