A Word hath, as a
token of Our grace, gone forth from the Most Great Tablet—a Word which God hath
adorned with the ornament of His own Self, and made it sovereign over the earth
and all that is therein, and a sign of His greatness and power among its people
...Render thanks unto God, O people, for His [‘Abdu’l-Baha] appearance; for
verily He is the most great Favor unto you, the most perfect bounty upon you;
and through Him every mouldering bone is quickened. Whoso turneth towards Him
hath turned towards God, and whoso turneth away from Him hath turned away from
My beauty, hath repudiated My Proof, and transgressed against Me. He is the
Trust of God amongst you, His charge within you, His manifestation unto you and
His appearance among His favored servants... We have sent Him down in the form
of a human temple. Blest and sanctified be God Who createth whatsoever He
willeth through His inviolable, His infallible decree. They who deprive
themselves of the shadow of the Branch, are lost in the wilderness of error,
are consumed by the heat of worldly desires, and are of those who will
assuredly perish.
- Baha’u’llah (Quoted by Shoghi Effendi in ‘The Dispensation
of Baha’u’llah’)
