Morning
Bring then into being, by Our leave, resplendent mirrors and
exalted letters that shall testify to Thy sovereignty and dominion, bear
witness to Thy might and glory, and be the manifestations of Thy Names amidst
mankind. We have caused Thee again to be the Origin and the Creator of all
mirrors, even as We brought them forth from Thee aforetime. And We shall cause
Thee to return unto Mine own Self, even as We called Thee forth in the
beginning. Thy Lord, verily, is the Unconstrained, the All-Powerful, the All-Compelling.
Warn, then, these mirrors, once they have been made manifest, lest they swell
with pride before their Creator and Fashioner when He appeareth amongst them,
or let the trappings of leadership delude and debar them from bowing in
submission before God, the Almighty, the All-Beauteous.
Say: O concourse of mirrors! Ye are but a creation of My will and have come to exist by virtue of My command. Beware lest ye deny the verses of My Lord, and be of them who have wrought injustice and are numbered with the lost. Beware lest ye cling unto that which ye possess, or take pride in your fame and renown. That which behoveth you is to wholly detach yourselves from all that is in the heavens and on the earth. Thus hath it been ordained by Him Who is the All-Powerful, the Almighty.
- Baha'u'llah (‘Suriy-i-Haykal, ‘The Summons of the Lord of Hosts’)
Evening
O thou who hast turned thy gaze towards My face! In these days there occurred that which hath plunged Me into dire sadness. Certain wrong-doers who profess allegiance to the Cause of God committed such deeds as have caused the limbs of sincerity, of honesty, of justice, of equity to quake. One known individual to whom the utmost kindness and favour had been extended perpetrated such acts as have brought tears to the eye of God. Formerly We uttered words of warning and premonition, then for a number of years We kept the matter secret that haply he might take heed and repent. But all to no purpose. In the end he bent his energies upon vilifying the Cause of God before the eyes of all men. He tore the veil of fairness asunder and felt sympathy neither for himself nor for the Cause of God. Now, however, the deeds of certain individuals have brought sorrows far more grievous than those which the deeds of the former had caused. Beseech thou God, the True One, that He may graciously enable the heedless to retract and repent. Verily He is the Forgiving, the Bountiful, the Most Generous.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Tablets of
Baha’u’llah revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
