Morning
…suffer not yourselves to be deprived of the robe of forbearance and justice, that the sweet savors of holiness may be wafted from your hearts upon all created things. Say: Beware, O people of Bahá, lest ye walk in the ways of them whose words differ from their deeds. Strive that ye may be enabled to manifest to the peoples of the earth the signs of God, and to mirror forth His commandments. Let your acts be a guide unto all mankind, for the professions of most men, be they high or low, differ from their conduct. It is through your deeds that ye can distinguish yourselves from others. Through them the brightness of your light can be shed upon the whole earth. Happy is the man that heedeth My counsel, and keepeth the precepts prescribed by Him Who is the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.
- Baha’u’llah (Quoted by Shoghi Effendi in ‘The Advent of Divine Justice’)
Evening
…the lovers of the countenance of the Beloved have said, “O Thou Whose Essence alone can lead to His Essence, and Who transcendeth all likeness to His creatures”. [1] How can utter nothingness spur its charger in the arena of eternity, or a fleeting shadow reach to the everlasting sun? The Friend addressed by the words “But for Thee” [2] hath said, “We have failed to know Thee”; and the Beloved alluded to by the words “or even closer” hath said, “nor attained Thy presence”.
- Baha’u’llah (‘The Seven Valleys’, revised translation
by the Baha’i World Center included in ‘The Call of the Divine Beloved’)
[1] From a prayer of Imam ‘Ali
[2] “But for Thee” refers to the Hadíth quoted in note 26.
“We have failed to know Thee” alludes to a prayer attributed to Muhammad that
says, “We have not known Thee, O God, as Thou oughtest to be known.” “Or even
closer” alludes to Qur’án 53:9.
