December 19
If the wayfarer’s goal be the dwelling of the Praiseworthy
One (Mahmúd), [An
attribute of God and one of the titles of Muhammad] this is the station
of primal reason which is known as the Prophet and the Most Great Pillar. [Maqám-i-Mahmúd—Praiseworthy
Station—is the rank of Prophets endowed with constancy] Here reason
signifieth the divine, universal mind, whose sovereignty enlighteneth all
created things … (Baha’u’llah, ‘The Seven Valleys and the Four Valleys’)
December 18
O people! Words must be supported by deeds, for deeds are the true test of words. Without the former, the latter can never quench the thirst of the yearning soul, nor unlock the portals of vision before the eyes of the blind. The Lord of celestial wisdom saith: A harsh word is even as a sword thrust; a gentle word as milk. The latter leadeth the children of men unto knowledge and conferreth upon them true distinction. (Baha’u’llah, ‘The Tabernacle of Unity, Bahá’u’lláh’s Responses to Mánikchí Sáhib and Other Writings’)
December 17
Verily, the breezes of forgiveness have been wafted from the
direction of your Lord, the God of Mercy; whoso turneth thereunto, shall be
cleansed of his sins, and of all pain and sickness. Happy
the man that hath turned towards them, and woe betide him that hath turned
aside. (Baha’u’llah, from a Tablet addressed to Napoleon III, ‘Epistle to the
Son of the Wolf’)
December 16
O people of the Bayán! Would ye deny Him Whose presence is the very object of your creation,
while ye rejoice idly upon your couches? Would ye laugh to scorn and contend with Him, a single hair of Whose
head excelleth, in the sight of God, all that are in the heavens and all that
are on the earth? O people of the Bayán! Produce, then, that which ye possess, that I
may know by what proof ye believed aforetime in the Manifestations of His
Cause, and by what reason ye now wax so disdainful!
I swear by Him Who hath fashioned Me from the light of His own Beauty! None have I ever seen that surpasseth you in heedlessness or exceedeth you in ignorance. Ye seek to prove your faith in God through such holy Tablets as ye possess, yet when the verses of God were revealed and His Lamp was lighted, ye disbelieved in Him Whose very Pen hath fixed the destinies of all things in the Preserved Tablet. Ye recite the sacred verses and yet repudiate Him Who is their Source and Revealer. Thus hath God blinded your eyes in requital for your deeds, would ye but understand. Day and night ye transcribe the verses of God, and yet ye remain shut out, as by a veil, from Him Who hath revealed them. (Baha’u’llah, Súriy-i-Haykal, ‘The Summons of the Lord of Hosts’)
I swear by Him Who hath fashioned Me from the light of His own Beauty! None have I ever seen that surpasseth you in heedlessness or exceedeth you in ignorance. Ye seek to prove your faith in God through such holy Tablets as ye possess, yet when the verses of God were revealed and His Lamp was lighted, ye disbelieved in Him Whose very Pen hath fixed the destinies of all things in the Preserved Tablet. Ye recite the sacred verses and yet repudiate Him Who is their Source and Revealer. Thus hath God blinded your eyes in requital for your deeds, would ye but understand. Day and night ye transcribe the verses of God, and yet ye remain shut out, as by a veil, from Him Who hath revealed them. (Baha’u’llah, Súriy-i-Haykal, ‘The Summons of the Lord of Hosts’)
December 15
O the pity! that man should deprive himself of this goodly
gift, this imperishable bounty, this everlasting life. It behooveth him to
prize this food that cometh from heaven, that perchance, through the wondrous
favours of the Sun of Truth, the dead may be brought to life, and withered
souls be quickened by the infinite Spirit. Make haste, O my brother, that while
there is yet time our lips may taste of the immortal draught, for the breeze of
life, now blowing from the city of the Well-Beloved, cannot last, and the
streaming river of holy utterance must needs be stilled, and the portals of the
Ridván cannot for ever remain open. The day will surely
come when the Nightingale of Paradise will have winged its flight away from its
earthly abode unto its heavenly nest. Then will its melody be heard no more,
and the beauty of the rose cease to shine. Seize the time, therefore, ere the
glory of the divine springtime hath spent itself, and the Bird of Eternity
ceased to warble its melody, that thy inner hearing may not be deprived of
hearkening unto its call. This is My counsel unto thee and unto the beloved of
God. Whosoever wisheth, let him turn thereunto; whosoever wisheth, let him turn
away. God, verily, is independent of him and of that which he may see and
witness. (Baha’u’llah ‘ Kitab-i-Iqan’)
December 14
O concourse of divines! Fear God from this day onwards in
the views ye advance, for He Who is Our Remembrance in your midst, and Who
cometh from Us, is, in very truth, the Judge and Witness. Turn away from that
which ye lay hold of, and which the Book of God, the True One, hath not
sanctioned, for on the Day of Resurrection ye shall, upon the Bridge, be, in
very truth, held answerable for the position ye occupied.... And unto you We
have sent down this Book which truly none can mistake... (The Báb, from the
Qayyumu’l-Asma, ‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb)
December 13
Lauded and glorified art Thou, O Lord, my God! How can I
make mention of Thee, assured as I am that no tongue, however deep its wisdom,
can befittingly magnify Thy name, nor can the bird of the human heart, however
great its longing, ever hope to ascend into the heaven of Thy majesty and
knowledge.
If I describe Thee, O my God, as Him Who is the All-Perceiving, I find myself compelled to admit that They Who are the highest Embodiments of perception have been created by virtue of Thy behest. And if I extol Thee as Him Who is the All-Wise, I, likewise, am forced to recognize that the Well Springs of wisdom have themselves been generated through the operation of Thy Will. And if I proclaim Thee as the Incomparable One, I soon discover that they Who are the inmost essence of oneness have been sent down by Thee and are but the evidences of Thine handiwork. And if I acclaim Thee as the Knower of all things, I must confess that they Who are the Quintessence of knowledge are but the creation and instruments of Thy Purpose. (Baha’u’llah, ‘Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah’)
If I describe Thee, O my God, as Him Who is the All-Perceiving, I find myself compelled to admit that They Who are the highest Embodiments of perception have been created by virtue of Thy behest. And if I extol Thee as Him Who is the All-Wise, I, likewise, am forced to recognize that the Well Springs of wisdom have themselves been generated through the operation of Thy Will. And if I proclaim Thee as the Incomparable One, I soon discover that they Who are the inmost essence of oneness have been sent down by Thee and are but the evidences of Thine handiwork. And if I acclaim Thee as the Knower of all things, I must confess that they Who are the Quintessence of knowledge are but the creation and instruments of Thy Purpose. (Baha’u’llah, ‘Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah’)
December 12
Blessed is He Who doeth as He willeth by a word of His
command. He, verily, is the True One, the Knower of things unseen. Blessed is
He Who inspireth whomsoever He willeth with whatsoever He desireth, through His
irresistible and inscrutable command. Blessed is He Who aideth whomsoever He
desireth with the hosts of the unseen. His might is, in truth, equal to His
purpose, and He, verily, is the All-Glorious, the Self-Subsisting. Blessed is
He Who exalteth whomsoever He willeth by the power of His sovereign might, and
confirmeth whomsoever He chooseth in accordance with His good pleasure; well is
it with them that understand! (Baha’u’llah, Súriy-i-Haykal, ‘The Summons of the
Lord of Hosts’)
December 11
Beseech God to grant unto men hearing ears, and sharp sight,
and dilated breasts, and receptive hearts, that haply His
servants may attain unto their hearts’ Desire, and set their faces towards
their Beloved. Troubles, such as no eye hath beheld, have touched this Wronged
One. In proclaiming His Cause, He, in no wise, hesitated. Addressing Himself
unto the kings and rulers of the earth—may God, exalted be He, assist them—He
imparted unto them that which is the cause of the well-being, the unity, the
harmony, and the reconstruction of the world, and of the tranquillity of the
nations. (Baha’u’llah, ‘Epistle to the Son of the Wolf’)
December 10
At a time when darkness had encompassed the world, the ocean
of divine favour surged and His Light was made manifest, that the doings of men
might be laid bare. This, verily, is that Light which hath been foretold in the
heavenly scriptures. Should the Almighty so please, the hearts of all men will
be purged and purified through His goodly utterance, and the light of unity
will shed its radiance upon every soul and revive the whole earth. (Baha’u’llah,
‘The Tabernacle of Unity, Bahá’u’lláh’s Responses to Mánikchí Sáhib and Other
Writings’)
December 9
…The Valley of Love … In this city the heaven of ecstasy is upraised and
the world-illuming sun of yearning shineth, and the fire of love is ablaze; and
when the fire of love is ablaze, it burneth to ashes the harvest of reason.
Now is the traveler unaware of himself, and of aught besides himself. He seeth neither ignorance nor knowledge, neither doubt nor certitude; he knoweth not the morn of guidance from the night of error. He fleeth both from unbelief and faith, and deadly poison is a balm to him. Wherefore Attár [the great Persian Súfí poet 1150–1230 A.D] saith:
For the infidel, error—for the faithful, faith;
For Attár’s heart, an atom of Thy pain.
The steed of this Valley is pain; and if there be no pain this journey will never end. In this station the lover hath no thought save the Beloved, and seeketh no refuge save the Friend. At every moment he offereth a hundred lives in the path of the Loved One, at every step he throweth a thousand heads at the feet of the Beloved. (Baha’u’llah, ‘The Seven and the Four Valleys’)
Now is the traveler unaware of himself, and of aught besides himself. He seeth neither ignorance nor knowledge, neither doubt nor certitude; he knoweth not the morn of guidance from the night of error. He fleeth both from unbelief and faith, and deadly poison is a balm to him. Wherefore Attár [the great Persian Súfí poet 1150–1230 A.D] saith:
For the infidel, error—for the faithful, faith;
For Attár’s heart, an atom of Thy pain.
The steed of this Valley is pain; and if there be no pain this journey will never end. In this station the lover hath no thought save the Beloved, and seeketh no refuge save the Friend. At every moment he offereth a hundred lives in the path of the Loved One, at every step he throweth a thousand heads at the feet of the Beloved. (Baha’u’llah, ‘The Seven and the Four Valleys’)
December 8
If thou rejoicest in My imprisonment, woe then unto thee for
the grievous torment which will soon overtake thee. Indeed God hath permitted
no one to pass unfair judgement, and if thou wouldst fain do so, then soon
shalt thou learn.
From the first day that I cautioned thee not to wax proud before God until the present time, four years have elapsed, and during this space naught have I witnessed, either from thee or from thy soldiers, except dire oppression and disdainful arrogance. Methinks thou dost imagine that I wish to gain some paltry substance from this earthly life. Nay, by the righteousness of My Lord! In the estimation of them that have fixed their eyes upon the merciful Lord, the riches of the world and its trappings are worth as much as the eye of a dead body, nay even less. Far from His glory be what they associate with Him!... I seek patience only in God. Verily He is the best protector and the best helper. No refuge do I seek save God. Verily He is the guardian and the best supporter... (The Báb, Extracts from an Epistle to Muhammad Shah of Persia, ‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb)
From the first day that I cautioned thee not to wax proud before God until the present time, four years have elapsed, and during this space naught have I witnessed, either from thee or from thy soldiers, except dire oppression and disdainful arrogance. Methinks thou dost imagine that I wish to gain some paltry substance from this earthly life. Nay, by the righteousness of My Lord! In the estimation of them that have fixed their eyes upon the merciful Lord, the riches of the world and its trappings are worth as much as the eye of a dead body, nay even less. Far from His glory be what they associate with Him!... I seek patience only in God. Verily He is the best protector and the best helper. No refuge do I seek save God. Verily He is the guardian and the best supporter... (The Báb, Extracts from an Epistle to Muhammad Shah of Persia, ‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb)
December 7
O SON OF SPIRIT! My first counsel is this: Possess a pure,
kindly and radiant heart, that thine may be a sovereignty ancient, imperishable
and everlasting. (Baha’u’llah, ‘The Hidden Words’)
December 6
O people of the Bayán!
If ye aid Him not, God will assuredly assist Him with the powers of
earth and heaven, and sustain Him with the hosts of the unseen through His
command “Be”, and it is! The day is approaching
when God will have, by an act of His Will, raised up a race of men the nature
of which is inscrutable to all save God, the All-Powerful, the
Self-Subsisting. He shall purify them
from the defilement of idle fancies and corrupt desires, shall lift them up to
the heights of holiness, and shall cause them to manifest the signs of His
sovereignty and might upon earth. Thus
hath it been ordained by God, the All-Glorious, the All-Loving. (Baha’u’llah,
Súriy-i-Haykal, ‘The Summons of the Lord of Hosts’)
December 5
Every eye, in this Day, should seek what will best promote the Cause of God. He, Who is the Eternal Truth,
beareth Me witness! Nothing whatever can, in this Day, inflict a greater harm
upon this Cause than dissension and strife, contention, estrangement and
apathy, among the loved ones of God. Flee them, through the power of God and
His sovereign aid, and strive ye to knit together the hearts of men, in His
Name, the Unifier, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. (Baha’u’llah, ‘Gleanings from
the Writings of Baha’u’llah’)
December 4
O children of understanding! If the eyelid, however
delicate, can deprive man’s outer eye from beholding the world and all that is
therein, consider then what would be wrought if the veil of covetousness were
to descend upon his inner eye. Say: O people! The darkness of greed and envy
becloudeth the radiance of the soul even as the clouds obstruct the light of
the sun. Should anyone hearken unto this utterance with a discerning ear, he
will unfurl the wings of detachment and soar effortlessly in the atmosphere of
true understanding. (Baha’u’llah, ‘The Tabernacle of Unity, Bahá’u’lláh’s
Responses to Mánikchí Sáhib and Other Writings’)
December 3
By the righteousness of God! Idle fancies have debarred men
from the Horizon of Certitude, and vain imaginings withheld them from the
Choice Sealed Wine. In truth I say, and for the sake of God I declare: This
Servant, this Wronged One, is abashed to claim for Himself any existence
whatever, how much more those exalted grades of being! Every man of
discernment, while walking upon the earth, feeleth indeed abashed, inasmuch as
he is fully aware that the thing which is the source of his prosperity, his
wealth, his might, his exaltation, his advancement and power is, as ordained by
God, the very earth which is trodden beneath the feet of all men. There can be
no doubt that whoever is cognizant of this truth, is cleansed and sanctified
from all pride, arrogance, and vainglory. Whatever hath been said hath come
from God. Unto this, He, verily, hath borne, and beareth now, witness, and He,
in truth, is the All-Knowing, the All-Informed. (Baha’u’llah, ‘Epistle to the
Son of the Wolf’)
December 2
By the righteousness of Him Who hath called thee into being
and unto Whom ere long thou shalt return, if thou remainest, at the moment of
death, a disbeliever in the signs of thy Lord thou shalt surely enter the gates
of hell, and none of the deeds thy hands have wrought will profit thee, nor
shalt thou find a patron nor anyone to plead for thee. Fear thou God and pride
not thyself on thine earthly possessions, inasmuch as what God doth possess is
better for them that tread the path of righteousness.
Verily in this Day all that dwell on earth are the servants of God. As to those who truly believe in God and are well assured in the signs revealed by Him, perchance He will graciously forgive them the things their hands have committed, and will grant them admission into the precincts of His mercy. He, in truth, is the Ever-Forgiving, the Compassionate. But the verdict of divine chastisement is pronounced against those who have turned away disdainfully from Me and have repudiated the conclusive proofs and the unerring Book with which God hath invested Me, and on the Day of Severing they shall find no protector or helper. (The Báb, Extracts from an Epistle to Muhammad Shah of Persia, ‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb)
Verily in this Day all that dwell on earth are the servants of God. As to those who truly believe in God and are well assured in the signs revealed by Him, perchance He will graciously forgive them the things their hands have committed, and will grant them admission into the precincts of His mercy. He, in truth, is the Ever-Forgiving, the Compassionate. But the verdict of divine chastisement is pronounced against those who have turned away disdainfully from Me and have repudiated the conclusive proofs and the unerring Book with which God hath invested Me, and on the Day of Severing they shall find no protector or helper. (The Báb, Extracts from an Epistle to Muhammad Shah of Persia, ‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb)
December 1
We ask for neither meed nor reward. “We nourish your souls
for the sake of God; we seek from you neither recompense nor thanks.” [Qur’án
76:9] This is the food that conferreth everlasting life
upon the pure in heart and the illumined in spirit. This is the bread of which
it is said: “Lord, send down upon us Thy bread from heaven.” [Qur’án 5:117]
This bread shall never be withheld from them that deserve it, nor can it ever
be exhausted. It groweth everlastingly from the tree of grace; it descendeth at
all seasons from the heavens of justice and mercy. Even as He saith: “Seest
thou not to what God likeneth a good word? To a good tree; its root firmly
fixed, and its branches reaching unto heaven: yielding its fruit in all seasons.”[
Qur’án 14:24] (Baha'u'llah, 'Kitab-i-Iqan')
November 30
O King! Wert thou to incline thine ears unto the shrill
voice of the Pen of Glory and the cooing of the Dove of Eternity, which on the
branches of the Lote-Tree beyond which there is no passing, uttereth praises to
God, the Maker of all Names and the Creator of earth and heaven, thou wouldst
attain unto a station from which thou wouldst behold in the world of being
naught save the effulgence of the Adored One, and wouldst regard thy
sovereignty as the most contemptible of thy possessions, abandoning it to
whosoever might desire it, and setting thy face toward the Horizon aglow with
the light of His countenance. Neither wouldst thou ever be willing to bear the
burden of dominion save for the purpose of helping thy
Lord, the Exalted, the Most High. Then would the Concourse on high bless thee.
O how excellent is this most sublime station, couldst thou ascend thereunto
through the power of a sovereignty recognized as derived from the Name of God!
(Baha’u’llah, from a Tablet addressed to Nasiri’d-Din Shah, the King of Persia,
quoted in ‘The Epistle to the Son of the Wolf’)
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