- These “first Letters generated from the Primal Point,”
 - this “company of angels arrayed before God on the Day of His coming,”
 - these “Repositories of His Mystery,”
 - these “Springs that have welled out from the Source of His Revelation,”
 - these first companions who, in the words of the Persian Bayán, “enjoy nearest access to God,”
 - these “Luminaries that have, from everlasting, bowed down, and will everlastingly continue to bow down, before the Celestial Throne,” and lastly
 - these “elders” mentioned in the Book of Revelation as “sitting before God on their seats,” “clothed in white raiment” and wearing on their heads “crowns of gold”—
 
- Shoghi Effendi (Chapter 1, ‘God Passes By)