Withhold thy tongue from uttering that
which might grieve thee and beseech God for mercy. Verily He is fully cognizant
of the righteous, for He is with such of His servants as truly believe in Him,
and He is not unaware of the actions of the mischief-makers, inasmuch as
nothing whatever in the heavens or on the earth can escape His knowledge.
June 24
O thou who hast gone astray! Thou hast neither seen Me, nor
associated with Me, nor been My companion for the fraction of a moment. How is
it, then, that thou hast bidden men to curse Me? Didst thou, in this, follow
the promptings of thine own desires, or didst thou obey thy Lord? Produce thou
a sign, if thou art one of the truthful. We testify that thou hast cast behind
thy back the Law of God, and laid hold on the dictates of thy passions.
Nothing, in truth, escapeth His knowledge; He, verily, is the Incomparable, the
All-Informed.
- Baha’u’llah (Excerpt from the Lawh-i-Burhan [1] quoted by
Baha’u’llah in ‘The Epistle to the Son of Wolf’)
[1] Lawh-i-Burhán (Tablet of the Proof) was
revealed after the martyrdom of the King of Martyrs and the Beloved of Martyrs and
was addressed to Shaykh Muhammad Báqir, denounced by Bahá’u’lláh as the ‘Wolf’.
June 23
Cling, O ye people of Bahá, to the cord of
servitude unto God, the True One, for thereby your stations shall be made
manifest, your names written and preserved, your ranks raised and your memory
exalted in the Preserved Tablet. Beware lest the dwellers on earth hinder you
from this glorious and exalted station. Thus have We exhorted you in most of
Our Epistles and now in this, Our Holy Tablet, above which hath beamed the
Day-Star of the Laws of the Lord, your God, the Powerful, the All-Wise.
- Baha’u’llah (‘The Kitab-i-Iqan)
June 22
The word of God which the Supreme Pen
hath recorded on the fifth leaf of the Most Exalted Paradise is this: Above all else, the
greatest gift and the most wondrous blessing hath ever been and will continue
to be Wisdom. It is man’s unfailing Protector. It aideth him and strengtheneth
him. Wisdom is God’s Emissary and the Revealer of His Name the Omniscient.
Through it the loftiness of man’s station is made manifest and evident. It is
all-knowing and the foremost Teacher in the school of existence. It is the
Guide and is invested with high distinction. Thanks to its educating influence
earthly beings have become imbued with a gem-like spirit which outshineth the
heavens. In the city of justice it is the unrivalled Speaker Who, in the year
nine, illumined the world with the joyful tidings of this Revelation.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Tablets of Baha’u’llah
revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
June 21
A
drop of the billowing ocean of His [God’s] endless mercy hath adorned all
creation with the ornament of existence, and a breath wafted from His peerless
Paradise hath invested all beings with the robe of His sanctity and glory. A
sprinkling from the unfathomed deep of His sovereign and all-pervasive Will
hath, out of utter nothingness, called into being a creation which is infinite
in its range and deathless in its duration. The wonders of His bounty can never
cease, and the stream of His merciful grace can never be arrested. The process
of His creation hath had no beginning, and can have no end.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah’)
June 20
A king who is not deterred by the vainglory of power and
authority from observing justice, nor is deprived of the splendours of the
day-star of equity by luxury, riches, glory or the marshalling of hosts and
legions shall occupy a high rank and a sublime station amongst the Concourse on
high. It is incumbent upon everyone to extend aid and to manifest kindness to
so noble a soul. Well is it with the king who keepeth a tight hold on the reins
of his passion, restraineth his anger and preferreth justice and fairness to
injustice and tyranny.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Tablets
of Baha’u’llah revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
June 19
It is seemly that the servant should, after each prayer,
supplicate God to bestow mercy and forgiveness upon his parents. Thereupon
God’s call will be raised: ‘Thousand upon thousand of what thou hast asked for
thy parents shall be thy recompense!’ Blessed is he who remembereth his parents
when communing with God. There is, verily, no God but Him, the Mighty, the
Well-Beloved.
- The Báb, (Excerpt from 'Persian Bayan'; ‘Selections from the
Writings of the Báb')
June 18
Adorn your heads with the garlands of
trustworthiness and fidelity, your hearts with the attire of the fear of God,
your tongues with absolute truthfulness, your bodies with the vesture of
courtesy. These are in truth seemly adornings unto the temple of man, if ye be
of them that reflect.
- Baha’u’llah (‘The Kitab-i-Iqan)
June 17
Let not the deeds of those who reject
the Truth shut you out as by a veil. Such people have warrant over your bodies only, and God hath not reposed in them power over
your spirits, your souls and your hearts. Fear ye God that haply it may be well
with you. All things have been created for your sakes, and for the sake of
naught else hath your creation been ordained. Fear ye God and take heed lest
forms and apparels debar you from recognizing Him. Render ye thanksgiving unto
God that perchance He may deal mercifully with you.
- The Báb (‘Selections from
the Writings of the Báb)
June 16
The fifth question concerneth the Bridge of Sirát, Paradise,
and Hell. The Prophets of God have come in truth and have spoken the truth.
Whatsoever the Messenger of God hath announced hath been and will be made
manifest. The world is established upon the foundations of reward and punishment.
Knowledge and understanding have ever affirmed and will continue to affirm the
reality of Paradise and Hell, for reward and punishment require their
existence. Paradise signifieth first and foremost the good-pleasure of God.
Whosoever attaineth His good-pleasure is reckoned and recorded among the
inhabitants of the most exalted paradise and will attain, after the ascension
of his soul, that which pen and ink are powerless to describe. For them that
are endued with insight and have fixed their gaze upon the Most Sublime Vision,
the Bridge, the Balance, Paradise, Hellfire, and all that hath been mentioned
and recorded in the Sacred Scriptures are clear and manifest. At the time of
the appearance and manifestation of the rays of the Daystar of Truth, all
occupy the same station. God then proclaimeth that which He willeth, and whoso
heareth His call and acknowledgeth His truth is accounted among the inhabitants
of Paradise. Such a soul hath traversed the Bridge, the Balance, and all that
hath been recorded regarding the Day of Resurrection, and hath reached his
destination. The Day of God’s Revelation is the Day of the most great
Resurrection. We cherish the hope that, quaffing from the choice wine of divine
inspiration and the pure waters of heavenly grace, thou mayest attain the
station of discovery and witnessing, and behold, both outwardly and inwardly,
all that which thou hast mentioned.
- Baha’u’llah (‘The Tabernacle of Unity,
Bahá’u’lláh’s Responses to Mánikchí Sáhib and Other Writings’)
June 15
Myriads of holy verses have descended from the heaven of
might and grace, yet no one hath turned thereunto, nor ceased to cling to those
words of men, not one letter of which they that have spoken them comprehend.
For this reason the people have doubted incontestable truths, such as these,
and caused themselves to be deprived of the Ridván of divine knowledge, and the
eternal meads of celestial wisdom.
- Baha’u’llah (‘The
Kitab-i-Iqan)
June 14
The Lord hath granted leave to whosoever desireth it that he
be instructed in the divers tongues of the world that he may deliver the
Message of the Cause of God throughout the East and throughout the West, that
he make mention of Him amidst the kindreds and peoples of the world in such
wise that hearts may revive and the mouldering bone be quickened.
- Baha’u’llah (‘The Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
June 13
Say: O people! I admonish you wholly for the sake of God,
and seek no reward from you. For My
recompense shall be with God, He Who hath brought Me into being, raised Me up
by the power of truth, and made Me the Source of His remembrance amidst His
creatures. Hasten to behold this divine
and glorious Vision, the Spot wherein God hath established His Seat. Follow not that which the Evil One whispereth
in your hearts, for he, verily, doth prompt you to walk after your lusts and
covetous desires, and hindereth you from treading the straight Path which this
all-embracing and all-compelling Cause hath opened.
- Baha'u'llah (‘The Summons of the Lord of Hosts’)
June 12
Behold, however, how those who are but a creation of His
Will and Command have turned aside from Him and have taken unto themselves a
lord and master beside God; these, truly, are of the wayward.
- Baha'u'llah (‘The Summons of
the Lord of Hosts’)
June 11
Verily, the wayfarer who journeyeth unto God, unto the
Crimson Pillar in the snow-white path, will never reach unto his heavenly goal
[1] unless he abandoneth all that men possess: “And if he feareth not God, God
will make him to fear all things; whereas all things fear him who feareth God.”
- Baha’u’llah (‘The Four Valleys’)
[1] The Fourth Valley of the Four Valleys
June 10
Say, this earthly life shall come to an
end, and everyone shall expire and return unto my Lord God Who will reward with
the choicest gifts the deeds of those who endure with patience. Verily thy God
assigneth the measure of all created things as He willeth, by virtue of His
behest; and those who conform to the good-pleasure of your Lord, they are
indeed among the blissful.
- The Báb (‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb)
June 9
It is inadmissible that man, who hath been endowed with
reason, should consume that which stealeth it away. Nay, rather it behoveth him
to comport himself in a manner worthy of the human station, and not in
accordance with the misdeeds of every heedless and wavering soul.
- Baha’u’llah (‘The
Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
June 8
Judge thou fairly, I adjure thee by God. What proof did the
Jewish doctors adduce wherewith to condemn Him Who was the Spirit of God (Jesus
Christ), when He came unto them with truth? What could have been the evidence
produced by the Pharisees and the idolatrous priests to justify their denial of
Muhammad, the Apostle of God when He came unto them with a Book that judged
between truth and falsehood with a justice which turned into light the darkness
of the earth, and enraptured the hearts of such as had known Him? Indeed thou
hast produced, in this day, the same proofs which the foolish divines advanced
in that age. Unto this testifieth He Who is the King of the realm of grace in
this great Prison. Thou hast, truly, walked in their ways, nay, hast surpassed
them in their cruelty, and hast deemed thyself to be helping the Faith and
defending the Law of God, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. By Him Who is the
Truth! Thine iniquity hath made Gabriel to groan, and hath drawn tears from the
Law of God, through which the breezes of justice have been wafted over all who
are in heaven and on earth. Hast thou fondly imagined that the judgment thou
didst pronounce hath profited thee? Nay, by Him Who is the King of all Names!
Unto thy loss testifieth He with Whom is the knowledge of all things as
recorded in the preserved Tablet.
- Baha’u’llah (Excerpt from the Lawh-i-Burhan
[1] quoted by Baha’u’llah in ‘The Epistle to the Son of Wolf’)
[1] Lawh-i-Burhán (Tablet of the Proof) was
revealed after the martyrdom of the King of Martyrs and the Beloved of Martyrs and
was addressed to Shaykh Muhammad Báqir, denounced by Bahá’u’lláh as the ‘Wolf’.
The Epistle to the Son of the Wolf was addressed to Shaykh Muhammad
Taqíy-i-Najafí, the son of Shaykh Muhammad Báqir.
June 7
When God sent forth His Prophet Muhammad,
on that day the termination of the prophetic cycle was foreordained in the
knowledge of God. Yea, that promise hath indeed come true and the decree of God
hath been accomplished as He hath ordained. Assuredly we are today living in
the Days of God. These are the glorious days on the like of which the sun hath
never risen in the past. These are the days which the people in bygone times
eagerly expected. What hath then befallen you that ye are fast asleep? These are
the days wherein God hath caused the Day-Star of Truth to shine resplendent.
What hath then caused you to keep your silence? These are the appointed days
which ye have been yearningly awaiting in the past—the days of the advent of
divine justice. Render ye thanks unto God, O ye concourse of believers.
- The
Báb (‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb)
June 6
By the righteousness of Mine own Self! Great, immeasurably
great is this Cause! Mighty, inconceivably mighty is this Day!
- Baha’u’llah (Quoted by Shoghi Effendi in ‘The Advent of Divine Justice’)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)