Were it not for the protecting power of the Covenant to
guard the impregnable fort of the Cause of God, there would arise among the
Bahá'ís, in one day, a thousand different sects as was the case in former ages.
But in this Blessed Dispensation, for the sake of the permanency of the Cause
of God and the avoidance of dissension amongst the people of God, the Blessed
Beauty (may my soul be a sacrifice unto Him), has through the Supreme Pen
written the Covenant and the Testament....
- 'Abdu'l-Bahá (Cited in "Bahá'í
World Faith", The Compilation of Compilations, vol. I, The Covenant)
