The tests of every dispensation are in direct proportion to
the greatness of the Cause, and as heretofore such a manifest Covenant, written
by the Supreme Pen, hath not been entered upon, the tests are proportionately
more severe. These trials cause the feeble souls to waver while those who are
firm are not affected. These agitations of the violators are no more than the
foam of the ocean, which is one of its inseparable features; but the ocean of
the Covenant shall surge and shall cast ashore the bodies of the dead, for it
cannot retain them. Thus it is seen that the ocean of the Covenant hath surged
and surged until it hath thrown out the dead bodies—souls that are deprived of
the Spirit of God and are lost in passion and self and are seeking leadership.
This foam of the ocean shall not endure and shall soon disperse and vanish,
while the ocean of the Covenant shall eternally surge and roar....
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (‘Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Baha’)
