January 7

Know thou of a certainty that whenever thou makest mention of Him Whom God shall make manifest, only then art thou making mention of God. In like manner shouldst thou hearken unto the verses of the Bayán and acknowledge its truth, only then would the revealed verses of God profit thee. Otherwise what benefit canst thou derive therefrom? For wert thou to prostrate thyself in adoration from the beginning of life till the end and to spend thy days for the sake of God’s remembrance, but disbelieve in the Exponent of His Revelation for the age, dost thou imagine that thy deeds would confer any benefit upon thee? On the other hand, if thou believest in Him and dost recognize Him with true understanding, and He saith: ‘I have accepted thine entire life spent in My adoration’, then assuredly hast thou been worshipping Him most ardently. Thy purpose in performing thy deeds is that God may graciously accept them; and divine acceptance can in no wise be achieved except through the acceptance of Him Who is the Exponent of His Revelation. For instance, if the Apostle of God—may divine blessings rest upon Him—accepted a certain deed, in truth God accepted it; otherwise it hath remained within the selfish desires of the person who wrought it, and did not reach the presence of God. Likewise, any act which is accepted by the Point of the Bayán is accepted by God, inasmuch as the contingent world hath no other access unto the presence of the Ancient of Days. Whatever is sent down cometh through the Exponent of His Revelation, and whatever ascendeth, ascendeth unto the Exponent of His Revelation. (The Báb, excerpt from the Persian Bayan, ‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb)

January 6

He Who is the Heart and Center of the Bayán hath written: “The germ that holdeth within itself the potentialities of the Revelation that is to come is endowed with a potency superior to the combined forces of all those who follow Me.” And, again, He saith: “Of all the tributes I have paid to Him Who is to come after Me, the greatest is this, My written confession, that no words of Mine can adequately describe Him, nor can any reference to Him in My Book, the Bayán, do justice to His Cause.”

Whoso hath searched the depths of the oceans that lie hid within these exalted words, and fathomed their import, can be said to have discovered a glimmer of the unspeakable glory with which this mighty, this sublime, and most holy Revelation hath been endowed. From the excellence of so great a Revelation the honor with which its faithful followers must needs be invested can be well imagined. By the righteousness of the one true God! The very breath of these souls is in itself richer than all the treasures of the earth. Happy is the man that hath attained thereunto, and woe betide the heedless. (Baha’u’llah, ‘Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah’)

January 5

There are people who every night until morning busy themselves with the worship of God, and even at present when the Day-Star of Truth is nearing its zenith in the heaven of its Revelation, they have not yet left their prayer-rugs. If any one of them ever heard the wondrous verses of God recited unto him, he would exclaim: ‘Why dost thou keep me back from offering my prayers?’ O thou who are wrapt in veils! If thou makest mention of God, wherefore sufferest thou thyself to be shut out from Him Who hath kindled the light of worship in thy heart? If He had not previously revealed the injunction: ‘Verily, make ye mention of God’[Qur’án 8:47; 33:41; 62:10], what would have prompted thee to offer devotion unto God, and whereunto wouldst thou turn in prayer? (The Báb, excerpt from the Persian Bayan, ‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb)

January 4

O SON OF BEING! Thy heart is My home; sanctify it for My descent. Thy spirit is My place of revelation; cleanse it for My manifestation. (Baha’u’llah, ‘The Hidden Words of Baha’u’llah’) (For an explanation by ‘Abdu’l-Baha please visit Daily Spiritual Food for Thought)

January 3

You have asked regarding the heavenly books. The pulse of the world is in the hand of the skillful Physician. He diagnoses the illness and wisely prescribes the remedy. Every day has its own secret, and every tongue a melody. The illness of today has one cure and that of tomorrow another. Look ye upon this day, and consider, and discuss its needs. One sees that existence is afflicted with innumerable ailments, compelling it to lie upon the bed of suffering. Men who are intoxicated with the wine of self-contemplation prevent the wise physician from reaching the patient. Thus they cause themselves and the world to suffer. They know not the ailment nor recognize the remedy. They take the wrong for the right, the crooked for the straight, the enemy for the friend.

Harken ye to the melody of this Prisoner! Stand up and proclaim; perchance those who are asleep may awaken. Say, O ye dead ones, the generous hand of the Almighty is passing around the water of eternal life. Hasten ye and drink. Whosoever becomes alive in this Day shall never die, and whosoever dies in this Day can never find life. (Baha’u’llah, ‘Baha'i Scriptures’)

January 2

O Pen of the Most High!  Hearken unto the Call of Thy Lord, raised from the Divine Lote-Tree in the holy and luminous Spot, that the sweet accents of Thy Lord, the All-Merciful, may fill Thy soul with joy and fervour, and that the breezes that waft from My name, the Ever-Forgiving, may dispel Thy cares and sorrows. Raise up, then, from this Temple, the temples of the Oneness of God, that they may tell out, in the kingdom of creation, the tidings of their Lord, the Most Exalted, the All-Glorious, and be of them that are illumined by His light. (Baha’u’llah, Súriy-i-Haykal, ‘The Summons of the Lord of Hosts’)

January 1

How vast is the tabernacle of the Cause of God! It hath overshadowed all the peoples and kindreds of the earth, and will, ere long, gather together the whole of mankind beneath its shelter. Thy day of service is now come… Arise for the triumph of My Cause, and, through the power of thine utterance, subdue the hearts of men. Thou must show forth that which will ensure the peace and the well-being of the miserable and the downtrodden. Gird up the loins of thine endeavour, that perchance thou mayest release the captive from his chains, and enable him to attain unto true liberty. (Baha’u’llah, ‘Tablets of Baha’u’llah revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas’)

December 31

The Tongue of Wisdom proclaimeth: He that hath Me not is bereft of all things. Turn ye away from all that is on earth and seek none else but Me. I am the Sun of Wisdom and the Ocean of Knowledge. I cheer the faint and revive the dead. I am the guiding Light that illumineth the way. I am the royal Falcon on the arm of the Almighty. I unfold the drooping wings of every broken bird and start it on its flight. (Baha’u’llah, ‘The Tabernacle of Unity, Bahá’u’lláh’s Responses to Mánikchí Sáhib and Other Writings’)

December 30

Suffer me not, O my Lord, to be deprived of the knowledge of Thee in Thy days, and divest me not of the robe of Thy guidance. Give me to drink of the river that is life indeed, whose waters have streamed forth from the Paradise (Ridván) in which the throne of Thy Name, the All-Merciful, was established, that mine eyes may be opened, and my face be illumined, and my heart be assured, and my soul be enlightened, and my steps be made firm. (Baha’u’llah, ‘Prayers and Meditations by Baha’u’llah’)

December 29

We cherish the hope that through the earnest endeavours of such as are the exponents of the power of God—exalted be His glory—the weapons of war throughout the world may be converted into instruments of reconstruction and that strife and conflict may be removed from the midst of men. (Baha’u’llah, ‘Tablets of Baha’u’llah revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas’)

December 28

Hast thou heard anyone of old passing a judgement similar to the one thou didst contrive or like unto that whereto thou didst give thine assent? Woe then unto the oppressors! Both thine intentions and the manner in which thou dealest with the people clearly demonstrate thine infidelity towards God, hence He hath ordained a severe chastisement for thee. Verily I seek patience only in God, and Him do I regard as the goal of My desire. This signifieth that I have the undoubted Truth on My side. (The Báb, Extracts from an Epistle to Muhammad Shah of Persia, ‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb)

December 27

Glory is due unto God, the Discoverer, who, through one shower of the ocean of His Generosity, expanded the firmament of existence, begemmed it with the stars of knowledge and summoned the people to the most high court of perception and understanding!

This shower, which is the Primal Word of the Almighty, is sometimes called the Water of Life, for it quickens the dead souls in the desert of ignorance with the spring of intelligence. Sometimes it is called the First Emanation which appears from the Sun of Wisdom, and when it began to shine the first movement became manifest and known; then phenomena stepped into the arena of existence and these appearances were through the generosity of the incomparable, the Wise One. He is the Knower, the Giver! He is sanctified and holy above every statement and attribute! The seen and the unseen fail to attain the measure of His understanding. The world of being and whatever has issued from it bears witness to this utterance.

Therefore, it has become known that the First Bestowal of the Almighty is the Word. The receiver and acceptor of it is the understanding. It is the First Instructor in the University of Existence and it is the Primal Emanation of God. Whatever has appeared is through the reflection of its Light and whatever is manifested is the appearance of its Wisdom. All the names originate in His Name and the beginnings and endings of all affairs are in His Hand. (Baha’u’llah, Star of the West, vol. 1, no. 1, March 21, 1910)

December 26

It is binding and incumbent upon the peoples of the world, one and all, to extend aid unto this momentous Cause which is come from the heaven of the Will of the ever-abiding God, that perchance the fire of animosity which blazeth in the hearts of some of the peoples of the earth may, through the living waters of divine wisdom and by virtue of heavenly counsels and exhortations, be quenched, and the light of unity and concord may shine forth and shed its radiance upon the world. (Baha’u’llah, ‘Tablets of Baha’u’llah revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas’)

December 25

Great is the blessedness of that divine that hath not allowed knowledge to become a veil between him and the One Who is the Object of all knowledge, and who, when the Self-Subsisting appeared, hath turned with a beaming face towards Him. He, in truth, is numbered with the learned. The inmates of Paradise seek the blessing of his breath, and his lamp sheddeth its radiance over all who are in heaven and on earth. He, verily, is numbered with the inheritors of the Prophets. He that beholdeth him hath, verily, beheld the True One, and he that turneth towards him hath, verily, turned towards God, the Almighty, the All-Wise. (Baha’u’llah, quoted by Shoghi Effendi in ‘The Promised Day Is Come’)

December 24

Know thou that when the Son of Man yielded up His breath to God, the whole creation wept with a great weeping. By sacrificing Himself, however, a fresh capacity was infused into all created things. Its evidences, as witnessed in all the peoples of the earth, are now manifest before thee. The deepest wisdom which the sages have uttered, the profoundest learning which any mind hath unfolded, the arts which the ablest hands have produced, the influence exerted by the most potent of rulers, are but manifestations of the quickening power released by His transcendent, His all-pervasive and resplendent Spirit. We testify that when He came into the world, He shed the splendor of His glory upon all created things. Through Him the leper recovered from the leprosy of perversity and ignorance. Through Him the unchaste and wayward were healed. Through His power, born of Almighty God, the eyes of the blind were opened and the soul of the sinner sanctified.... He it is Who purified the world. Blessed is the man who, with a face beaming with light, hath turned towards Him. (Baha’u’llah, quoted by Shoghi Effendi in ‘The Promised Day Is Come’)

December 23

These are the melodies, sung by Jesus, Son of Mary, in accents of majestic power in the Ridván of the Gospel, revealing those signs that must needs herald the advent of the Manifestation after Him. In the first Gospel according to Matthew it is recorded: And when they asked Jesus concerning the signs of His coming, He said unto them: “Immediately after the oppression [The Greek word used (Thlipsis) has two meanings: pressure and oppression] of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the earth shall be shaken: and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet.” [Matthew 24:29–31] (Baha’u’llah, ‘Kitab-i-Iqan’)

December 22

Wert thou to incline thine inner ear unto all created things, thou wouldst hear: ‘The Ancient of Days is come in His great glory!’ Everything celebrateth the praise of its Lord. Some have known God and remember Him; others remember Him, yet know Him not. Thus have We set down Our decree in a perspicuous Tablet. (Baha’u’llah, from a Tablet addressed to Napoleon III, ‘Epistle to the Son of the Wolf’)

December 21

O Living Temple!  Arise by the power of Thy Self in such wise that all created things will be moved to arise with Thee.  Aid, then, Thy Lord through such ascendancy and might as We have bestowed upon Thee.  Take heed lest Thou falter on that Day when all created things are filled with dismay; rather be Thou the revealer of My name, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.  Assist Thy Lord to the utmost of Thine ability, and pay no heed to the peoples of the world, for that which their mouths utter is like unto the droning of a gnat in an endless valley.  Quaff the water of life in My name, the All-Merciful, and proffer unto the near ones amongst the inmates of this lofty station that which shall cause them to become detached from all names and enter beneath this blessed and all-encompassing shadow. (Baha’u’llah, Súriy-i-Haykal, ‘The Summons of the Lord of Hosts’)

December 20

In every country where any of this people reside, they must behave towards the government of that country with loyalty, honesty and truthfulness. This is that which hath been revealed at the behest of Him Who is the Ordainer, the Ancient of Days. (Baha’u’llah, ‘Tablets of Baha’u’llah revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas’)

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’)