If ye meet the abased or the down-trodden, turn not away
disdainfully from them, for the King of Glory ever watcheth over them and
surroundeth them with such tenderness as none can fathom except them that have
suffered their wishes and desires to be merged in the Will of your Lord, the
Gracious, the All-Wise. O ye rich ones of the earth! Flee not from the face of
the poor that lieth in the dust, nay rather befriend him and suffer him to
recount the tale of the woes with which God’s inscrutable Decree hath caused
him to be afflicted. By the righteousness of God! Whilst ye consort with him,
the Concourse on high will be looking upon you, will be interceding for you,
will be extolling your names and glorifying your action. Blessed are the
learned that pride not themselves on their attainments; and well is it with the
righteous that mock not the sinful, but rather conceal their misdeeds, so that
their own shortcomings may remain veiled to men’s eyes. - Baha’u’llah (‘Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah’)
