Should anyone acquire one hundred mithqáls
of gold, nineteen mithqáls thereof are God’s and to be rendered unto
Him, the Fashioner of earth and heaven. Take heed, O people, lest ye deprive
yourselves of so great a bounty. This We have commanded you, though We are well
able to dispense with you and with all who are in the heavens and on earth; in
it there are benefits and wisdoms beyond the ken of anyone but God, the
Omniscient, the All-Informed. Say: By this means He hath desired to purify what
ye possess and to enable you to draw nigh unto such stations as none can
comprehend save those whom God hath willed. He, in truth, is the Beneficent,
the Gracious, the Bountiful.
(Baha’u’llah,
‘The Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
