October 31

Although We did not intend to make mention of the traditions of a bygone age [in support of the mission of the Báb], yet, because of Our love for thee [the Báb’s uncle], We will cite a few which are applicable to Our argument…

Among them is the tradition, “And when the Standard of Truth is made manifest, the people of both the East and the West curse it.” The wine of renunciation must needs be quaffed, the lofty heights of detachment must needs be attained, and the meditation referred to in the words “One hour’s reflection is preferable to seventy years of pious worship” must needs be observed, so that the secret of the wretched behaviour of the people might be discovered, those people who, despite the love and yearning for truth which they profess, curse the followers of Truth when once He hath been made manifest. To this truth the above-mentioned tradition beareth witness. It is evident that the reason for such behaviour is none other than the annulment of those rules, customs, habits, and ceremonials to which they have been subjected. Otherwise, were the Beauty of the Merciful to comply with those same rules and customs, which are current amongst the people, and were He to sanction their observances, such conflict and mischief would in no wise be made manifest in the world. 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘The Kitab-i-Iqan’)

October 30

… man is unable to comprehend that which hath streamed forth from the Pen of Glory and is recorded in His heavenly Books. Men at all times and under all conditions stand in need of one to exhort them, guide them and to instruct and teach them. Therefore He hath sent forth His Messengers, His Prophets and chosen ones that they might acquaint the people with the divine purpose underlying the revelation of Books and the raising up of Messengers, and that everyone may become aware of the trust of God which is latent in the reality of every soul. 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘Tablets of Baha’u’llah revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas’)

October 29

It is evident how relentless was the hate, and how bitter the malice and enmity entertained by all the peoples of the earth towards these companions [followers of the Báb]. The persecution and pain they inflicted on these holy and spiritual beings were regarded by them as means unto salvation, prosperity, and everlasting success. Hath the world, since the days of Adam, witnessed such tumult, such violent commotion? Notwithstanding all the torture they suffered, and manifold the afflictions they endured, they became the object of universal opprobrium and execration. Methinks patience was revealed only by virtue of their fortitude, and faithfulness itself was begotten only by their deeds. 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘The Kitab-i-Iqan’)

October 28

And among the evidences of the truth of His [the Báb’s] manifestation were the ascendancy, the transcendent power, and supremacy which He, the Revealer of being and Manifestation of the Adored, hath, unaided and alone, revealed throughout the world. No sooner had that eternal Beauty revealed Himself in Shíráz, in the year sixty, and rent asunder the veil of concealment, than the signs of the ascendancy, the might, the sovereignty, and power, emanating from that Essence of Essences and Sea of Seas, were manifest in every land. So much so, that from every city there appeared the signs, the evidences, the tokens, the testimonies of that divine Luminary. How many were those pure and kindly hearts which faithfully reflected the light of that eternal Sun, and how manifold the emanations of knowledge from that Ocean of divine wisdom which encompassed all beings! 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘The Kitab-i-Iqan’)

October 27

A PRAISE which is exalted above every mention or description beseemeth the Adored One, the Possessor of all things visible and invisible, Who hath enabled the Primal Point to reveal countless Books and Epistles and Who, through the potency of His sublime Word, hath called into being the entire creation, whether of the former or more recent generations. Moreover He hath in every age and cycle, in conformity with His transcendent wisdom, sent forth a divine Messenger to revive the dispirited and despondent souls with the living waters of His utterance, One Who is indeed the Expounder, the true Interpreter… 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘Tablets of Baha’u’llah revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas’)

October 26

The source of all learning is the knowledge of God, exalted be His Glory, and this cannot be attained save through the knowledge of His Divine Manifestation. 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘Tablets of Baha’u’llah revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas’)

October 25

The essence of wealth is love for Me; whoso loveth Me is the possessor of all things, and he that loveth Me not is indeed of the poor and needy. This is that which the Finger of Glory and Splendour hath revealed. 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘Tablets of Baha’u’llah revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas’)

October 24

He is truly wise whom the world and all that is therein have not deterred from recognizing the light of this Day, who will not allow men’s idle talk to cause him to swerve from the way of righteousness. He is indeed as one dead who, at the wondrous dawn of this Revelation, hath failed to be quickened by its soul-stirring breeze. He is indeed a captive who hath not recognized the Supreme Redeemer, but hath suffered his soul to be bound, distressed and helpless, in the fetters of his desires. 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah’)

October 23

Say: O ye that have strayed and lost your way! The Divine Messenger, Who speaketh naught but the truth, hath announced unto you the coming of the Best-Beloved. Behold, He is now come. Wherefore are ye downcast and dejected? Why remain despondent when the Pure and Hidden One hath appeared unveiled amongst you? He Who is both the Beginning and the End, He Who is both Stillness and Motion, is now manifest before your eyes. Behold how, in this Day, the Beginning is reflected in the End, how out of Stillness Motion hath been engendered. This motion hath been generated by the potent energies which the words of the Almighty have released throughout the entire creation. Whoso hath been quickened by its vitalizing power, will find himself impelled to attain the court of the Beloved; and whoso hath deprived himself therefrom, will sink into irretrievable despondency. 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah’)

October 22

Say: O people! The Lamp of God is burning; take heed, lest the fierce winds of your disobedience extinguish its light. Now is the time to arise and magnify the Lord, your God. Strive not after bodily comforts, and keep your heart pure and stainless. The Evil One is lying in wait, ready to entrap you. Gird yourselves against his wicked devices, and, led by the light of the name of the one true God, deliver yourselves from the darkness that surroundeth you. Center your thoughts in the Well-Beloved, rather than in your own selves. 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah’)

October 21

…it is incumbent upon a lowly servant to acquiesce to whatever proof God hath appointed, and not to follow his own idle fancy. If the wishes of the people [re miracles] were to be gratified not a single disbeliever would remain on earth. For once the Apostle of God had fulfilled the wishes of the people they would unhesitatingly have embraced His Faith. May God save thee, shouldst thou seek any evidence according to thy selfish desire; rather it behooveth thee to uphold the unfailing proof which God hath appointed. The object of thy belief in God is but to secure His good-pleasure. How then dost thou seek as a proof of thy faith a thing which hath been and is contrary to His good-pleasure? 

- The Báb  (‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb’)

October 20

The beginning of magnanimity is when man expendeth his wealth on himself, on his family and on the poor among his brethren in his Faith. 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘Tablets of Baha’u’llah revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas’)

October 19

Consider the extent of the adherence of these people to matters of faith. When dealing with their own affairs they are well content with the testimony of two just witnesses, and yet despite the testimony of so many righteous men they hesitate to believe in Him Who is the Bearer of the divine Truth. 

- The Báb  (‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb’)

October 18

That which God testifieth is none other than what His supreme Testimony [Go’s Manifestation] testifieth. Were all the peoples of the world to testify unto a thing and were He to testify unto another, His testimony will be regarded as God’s testimony, while aught else but Him hath been and will ever be as naught; for it is through His might that a thing assumeth existence. 

- The Báb  (‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb’)

October 17

The essence of true safety is to observe silence, to look at the end of things and to renounce the world. 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘Tablets of Baha’u’llah revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas’)

October 16

The evidences which the people demanded from the Apostle of God through their idle fancy have mostly been rejected in the Qur’án, even as in the Súrih of the Children of Israel [Súrih XVII] it hath been revealed: ‘And they say, by no means will we believe on thee till thou cause a fountain to gush forth for us from the earth; or till thou have a garden of palm trees and vines, and thou cause rivers to spring forth from the midst thereof in abundance; or thou cause the heaven to fall down upon us, as thou hast given out, in pieces; or thou bring God and the angels to vouch for thee; or thou have a house of gold; or thou ascend to heaven nor will we believe in thine ascension, till thou send down to us a book which we may read. Say, Praise be to my Lord! Am I more than a man, an apostle?’ 

- The Báb  (‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb’)

October 15

O My servants! It behoveth you to refresh and revive your souls through the gracious favors which, in this Divine, this soul-stirring Springtime, are being showered upon you. The Day Star of His great glory hath shed its radiance upon you, and the clouds of His limitless grace have overshadowed you. How high the reward of him that hath not deprived himself of so great a bounty, nor failed to recognize the beauty of his Best-Beloved in this, His new attire. 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah’)

October 14

The recognition of Him Who is the Bearer of divine Truth is none other than the recognition of God, and loving Him is none other than loving God. However, I swear by the sublime Essence of God—exalted and glorified be He—that I did not wish my identity to be known by men, and gave instructions that My name should be concealed, because I was fully aware of the incapacity of this people, who are none other than those who have, in reference to no less a person than the Apostle of God—incomparable as He hath ever been—remarked, ‘He is certainly a lunatic’. [Qur’án 68:51] If they now claim to be other than those people, their deeds bear witness to the falsity of their assertions. 

- The Báb  (‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb’)

October 13

The essence of faith is fewness of words and abundance of deeds; he whose words exceed his deeds, know verily his death is better than his life. 

- Baha’u’llah  ('Tablets of Baha’u’llah revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas’)

October 12

Glorified, glorified be Thou, O my God! How can I ever hope to ascend into the heaven of Thy most holy will, or gain admittance into the tabernacle of Thy Divine knowledge, knowing as I do that the minds of the wise and learned are impotent to fathom the secrets of Thy handiwork—a handiwork which is itself but a creation of Thy will? 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘Prayers and Meditations by Baha’u’llah’)

October 11

…in His interpretation of the letter “Há,” He [the Báb] craved martyrdom, saying: “Methinks I heard a Voice calling in my inmost being: ‘Do thou sacrifice the thing which Thou lovest most in the path of God, even as Ḥusayn, [Imam Husayn] peace be upon him, hath offered up his life for My sake.’ And were I not regardful of this inevitable mystery, by Him, Who hath my being between His hands even if all the kings of the earth were to be leagued together they would be powerless to take from me a single letter, how much less can these servants who are worthy of no attention, and who verily are of the outcast... That all may know the degree of My patience, My resignation, and self-sacrifice in the path of God”…

In this very verse there lieth concealed a breath of detachment, which if it were to be breathed full upon the world, all beings would renounce their lives, and sacrifice their souls. 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘The Kitab-i-Iqan’)

October 10

O concourse of the fair-minded! Observe and reflect upon the billows of the ocean of the utterance and knowledge of God, so that ye may testify with your inner and outer tongues that with Him is the knowledge of all that is in the Book. Nothing escapeth His knowledge. He, verily, hath manifested that which was hidden, when He, upon His return, mounted the throne of the Bayán. All that hath been sent down hath and will come to pass, word for word, upon earth. No possibility is left for anyone either to turn aside or protest. As fairness, however, is disgraced and concealed, most men speak as prompted by their own idle fancies. 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘Epistle to the Son of the Wolf’)

October 9

Such is Thy [God's] greatness that wert Thou to concentrate the eyes of all men in the eye of one of Thy servants, and to compress all their hearts within his heart, and wert Thou to enable him to behold within himself all the things Thou hast created through Thy power and fashioned through Thy might, and were he to ponder, throughout eternity, over the realms of Thy creation and the range of Thy handiwork, he would unfailingly discover that there is no created thing but is overshadowed by Thine all-conquering power, and is vitalized through Thine all-embracing sovereignty. 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘Prayers and Meditations by Baha’u’llah’)

October 8

O Son of Man! Write all that We have revealed unto thee with the ink of light upon the tablet of thy spirit. Should this not be in thy power, then make thine ink of the essence of thy heart. If this thou canst not do, then write with that crimson ink that hath been shed in My path. Sweeter indeed is this to Me than all else, that its light may endure for ever. 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘The Hidden Words of Baha’u’llah’)

October 7

Gracious God! In His [the Báb’s] Book, which He hath entitled “Qayyúmu’l-Asmá,”—the first, the greatest and mightiest of all books—He prophesied His own martyrdom. In it is this passage: “O thou Remnant of God! I have sacrificed myself wholly for Thee; I have accepted curses for Thy sake; and have yearned for naught but martyrdom in the path of Thy love. Sufficient Witness unto me is God, the Exalted, the Protector, the Ancient of Days!” 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘The Kitab-i-Iqan’)

October 6

Another proof and evidence of the truth of this Revelation [the Báb’s], which amongst all other proofs shineth as the sun, is the constancy of the eternal Beauty in proclaiming the Faith of God. Though young and tender of age, and though the Cause He revealed was contrary to the desire of all the peoples of earth, both high and low, rich and poor, exalted and abased, king and subject, yet He arose and steadfastly proclaimed it. All have known and heard this. He was afraid of no one; He was regardless of consequences. Could such a thing be made manifest except through the power of a divine Revelation, and the potency of God’s invincible Will? By the righteousness of God! Were any one to entertain so great a Revelation in his heart, the thought of such a declaration would alone confound him! Were the hearts of all men to be crowded into his heart, he would still hesitate to venture upon so awful an enterprise. He could achieve it only by the permission of God, only if the channel of his heart were to be linked with the Source of divine grace, and his soul be assured of the unfailing sustenance of the Almighty. To what, We wonder, do they ascribe so great a daring? Do they accuse Him of folly as they accused the Prophets of old? Or do they maintain that His motive was none other than leadership and the acquisition of earthly riches? 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘The Kitab-i-Iqan’)

October 5

O Land of Tá (Tihrán)! Let nothing grieve thee, for God hath chosen thee to be the source of the joy of all mankind. He shall, if it be His Will, bless thy throne with one who will rule with justice, who will gather together the flock of God which the wolves have scattered. Such a ruler will, with joy and gladness, turn his face towards, and extend his favors unto, the people of Bahá. He indeed is accounted in the sight of God, as a jewel among men. Upon him rest forever the glory of God, and the glory of all that dwell in the kingdom of His revelation. 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘Epistle to the Son of the Wolf’)

October 4

…the Primal Point [the Báb] saith: “Behold ye Him with His own eyes. Were ye to behold Him with the eyes of another, ye would never recognize and know Him.” This referreth to naught else except this Most Great Revelation. Well is it with them that judge fairly. 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘Epistle to the Son of the Wolf’)

October 3

Were men to observe with the eye of justice, they would be made aware of the secret of this blessed verse: “Neither is there a thing green or sere, but it is noted in a distinct writing,” and would comprehend it. On this day, however, men’s repudiation of the truth hath prevented them from understanding what hath been sent down in truth by Him Who is the Revealer, the Ancient of Days. Gracious God! Perspicuous signs have appeared on every side, and yet men are, for the most part, deprived of the privilege of beholding and of comprehending them. We beseech God to bestow His aid, that all men may recognize the pearls that lie hid within the shells of the Most Great Ocean, and exclaim: “Praised be Thou, O God of the world!” 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘Epistle to the Son of the Wolf’)

October 2

…He [the Báb] saith: “The year-old germ that holdeth within itself the potentialities of the Revelation that is to come is endowed with a potency superior to the combined forces of the whole of the Bayán.” These glad-tidings of the Bayán and of the Books of former times have been repeatedly mentioned under divers names in numerous books, that perchance men might judge equitably that which hath arisen and shone forth above the horizon of the will of God, the Lord of the Mighty Throne. 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘Epistle to the Son of the Wolf’)

October 1

The essence of charity is for the servant to recount the blessings of his Lord, and to render thanks unto Him at all times and under all conditions. 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘Tablets of Baha’u’llah revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas’)