O MY handmaiden, O My leaf! Render thou thanks unto the
Best-Beloved of the world for having attained this boundless grace at a time
when the world's learned and most distinguished men have remained deprived
thereof. We have designated thee 'a leaf' that thou mayest, like unto leaves,
be stirred by the gentle wind of the Will of God -- exalted be His glory --
even as the leaves of the trees are stirred by onrushing winds. Yield thou
thanks unto thy Lord by virtue of this brilliant utterance. Wert thou to
perceive the sweetness of the title 'O My handmaiden' thou wouldst find thyself
detached from all mankind, devoutly engaged day and night in communion with Him
Who is the sole Desire of the world.
In words of incomparable beauty We have made fitting mention
of such leaves and handmaidens as have quaffed from the living waters of
heavenly grace and have kept their eyes directed towards God. Happy and blessed
are they indeed. Ere long shall God reveal their station whose loftiness no
word can befittingly express nor any description adequately describe.
We admonish thee to do that which will serve to promote the
interests of the Cause of God amongst men and women. He doth hear the call of
the friends and beholdeth their actions. Verily, He is the Hearing and the
Seeing.
Upon thee and upon them be the glory of God, the Powerful,
the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Tablets of Baha’u’llah revealed
after the Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
