O My brother! Forsake thine
own desires, turn thy face unto thy Lord, and walk not in the footsteps of
those who have taken their corrupt inclinations for their god, that perchance
thou mayest find shelter in the heart of existence, beneath the redeeming
shadow of Him Who traineth all names and attributes. For they who turn away
from their Lord in this day are in truth accounted amongst the dead, though to
outward seeming they may walk upon the earth, amongst the deaf, though they may
hear, and amongst the blind, though they may see, as hath been clearly stated
by Him Who is the Lord of the Day of Reckoning: “Hearts have they with which
they understand not, and eyes have they with which they see not....” [Qur’án
7:179] They walk the edge of a
treacherous bank and tread the brink of a fiery abyss. [cf. Qur’án
9:109; 3:103] They partake not of the
billows of this surging and treasure-laden Ocean, but disport themselves with
their own idle words.
(Baha’u’llah, ‘Gems of
Divine Mysteries’, ‘Javáhiru’l-Asrár’)
