Morning
It is indeed in Our power to take up a handful of dust and to adorn it with the vesture of Our Names. This, however, would be but a sign of our favour, and not an indication of any merit it may have inherently possessed. Thus hath it been revealed in truth by Him Who is the Sovereign Revealer, the All-Knowing. Consider the Black Stone, [1] which God hath made a point whereunto all men turn in adoration. Hath this bounty been conferred upon it by virtue of its innate excellence? Nay, by Mine own Self! Or doth such distinction stem from its intrinsic worth? Nay, by Mine own Being, Whose Essence even the wisest and most discerning of men have failed to grasp!
- Baha'u'llah (‘Suriy-i-Haykal', ‘The Summons of the Lord of Hosts’)
[1] A small rock situated low in the eastern corner of the
Kaaba
Evening
The word of God which the Supreme Pen hath recorded on the
fourth leaf of the Most Exalted Paradise is the following: O people of God!
Beseech ye the True One — glorified be His Name—that He may graciously shield
the manifestations of dominion and power from the suggestions of self and
desire and shed the radiance of justice and guidance upon them.
His Majesty Muhammad Sháh, despite the excellence of his rank, committed two heinous deeds. One was the order to banish the Lord of the Realms of Grace and Bounty, the Primal Point; and the other, the murder of the Prince of the City of Statesmanship and Literary Accomplishment. [1]
- Baha’u’llah (‘Tablets of Baha’u’llah revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
[1] Mírzá Abu’l-Qásim Faráhání, the Qá’im Maqám, a
distinguished poet and scholar during the reign of Fath ‘Alí Sháh. He was a
friend of Mírzá Buzurg, father of Bahá’u’lláh. Qá’im Maqám became Prime
Minister of Persia in 1821, but in 1835 he was put to death by order of
Muhammad Sháh, at the instigation of Hájí Mírzá Aqásí.
