Morning
It is known to thine eminence that all the variations which
the wayfarer in the stages of his journey beholdeth in the realms of being
proceed from his own vision. We shall give an example of this, that the meaning
may become fully clear. Consider the visible sun: Although it shineth with the
same radiance upon all existence, and at the behest of the Lord of Revelation
bestoweth light on all things, yet in each place it becometh manifest and
sheddeth its bounty according to the potentialities of that place. For
instance, in a mirror it reflecteth its own disk and shape, and this is due to
the clarity of the mirror itself; through a crystal it maketh fire to appear;
and in other things it showeth only the effect of its shining, but not its full
disk. And yet, through that effect, by the command of the Creator it traineth
each thing according to the capacity of that thing, even as thou dost observe.
In like manner, colours become visible in each object according to its nature. For instance, in a yellow glass the rays shine yellow; in a white glass they are white; and in a red glass red rays are visible. These variations proceed from the object itself, not from the light. And if a place be shut away from the light, as by walls and a roof, it will be entirely bereft of the light of the sun and deprived of its rays.
- Baha’u’llah (‘The Seven Valleys’, revised translation by the Baha’i World Center included in ‘The Call of the Divine Beloved’)
Evening
O people of the earth! To attain the ultimate retreat in
God, the True One, are we to seek a Gate other than this exalted Being?...
When God created the Remembrance He presented Him to the assemblage of all created beings upon the altar of His Will. Thereupon the concourse of the angels bowed low in adoration to God, the Peerless, the Incomparable; while Satan waxed proud, refusing to submit to His Remembrance; hence he is identified in the Book of God as the arrogant one and the accursed. [Qur’án 2:32; 38:74–78]
- The Báb (From the Qayyumu’l-Asma, ‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb)
