O servants! Be pure
in your deeds, and conduct yourselves in accordance with the words of God. Such
are the counsels of the incomparable Lord.
- Baha’u’llah (‘The Tabernacle of Unity’)
January 13
Let none, in this
Day, hold fast to aught save that which hath been manifested in this
Revelation. Such is the decree of God, aforetime and hereafter—a decree
wherewith the Scriptures of the Messengers of old have been adorned. Such is
the admonition of the Lord, aforetime and hereafter—an admonition wherewith the
preamble to the Book of Life hath been embellished, did ye but perceive it.
Such is the commandment of the Lord, aforetime and hereafter; beware lest ye
choose instead the part of ignominy and abasement.
- Baha’u’llah (‘The
Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
January 12
I know not, O my
God, what the Fire is which Thou didst kindle in Thy land. Earth can never
cloud its splendor, nor water quench its flame. All the peoples of the world
are powerless to resist its force. Great is the blessedness of him that hath
drawn nigh unto it, and heard its roaring.
Some, O my God, Thou
didst, through Thy strengthening grace, enable to approach it, while others
Thou didst keep back by reason of what their hands have wrought in Thy days.
Whoso hath hasted towards it and attained unto it hath, in his eagerness to
gaze on Thy beauty, yielded his life in Thy path, and ascended unto Thee, wholly
detached from aught else except Thyself.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Prayers and Meditations
of Baha’u’llah’)
January 11
O Son of Spirit! With
the joyful tidings of light I hail thee: rejoice! To the court of holiness I
summon thee; abide therein that thou mayest live in peace for evermore.
- Baha’u’llah (‘The Hidden Words of Baha’u’llah’)
January 10
O servants! Follow
the path of truthfulness and turn not away from the needy. Make mention of Me
before the great ones of the earth and fear not.
- Baha’u’llah (‘The Tabernacle of Unity’)
January 9
The Lord of the
world saith: O servants! Forsake your own desires and seek that which I have
desired for you. Walk ye not without one to guide you on the way, and accept ye
not the words of every guide. How numerous the guides who have gone astray and
failed to discover the straight Path! He alone is a guide who is free from the
bondage of this world and whom nothing whatsoever can deter from speaking the
truth.
- Baha’u’llah (‘The Tabernacle of Unity’)
January 8
And should the
servant ascend to even loftier heights, quit this mortal world of dust, and
seek to ascend unto the celestial abode, he will then pass from this city [the
City of the Garden of Wonderment] into the City of Absolute Nothingness, that
is, of dying to self and living in God. In this station, this most exalted
habitation, this journey of utter self-effacement, the wayfarer forgetteth his
soul, spirit, body, and very being, immerseth himself in the sea of
nothingness, and liveth on earth as one unworthy of mention. Nor will one find
any sign of his existence, for he hath vanished from the realm of the visible
and attained unto the heights of self-abnegation.
Were We to recount
the mysteries of this city, the dominions of the hearts of men would be laid to
waste in the intensity of their longing for this mighty station. For this is
the station wherein the effulgent glories of the Beloved are revealed to the sincere
lover and the resplendent lights of the Friend are cast upon the severed heart
that is devoted to Him.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Gems of Divine Mysteries’)
January 7
In this valley the
wayfarers stray and perish ere they attain their final abode. Gracious God! So
immense is this valley, so vast this city [the City of the Garden of
Wonderment] in the kingdom of creation,
that it seemeth to have neither beginning nor end. How great the blessedness of
him who completeth his journey therein and who traverseth, through the
assistance of God, the hallowed soil of this heavenly city, a city in which the
favoured ones of God and the pure in heart are overcome with wonder and awe.
And We say: “Praise be to God, the Lord of the worlds.”
- Baha’u’llah (‘Gems of
Divine Mysteries’)
January 6
O concourse of monks! The fragrances of the All-Merciful have
wafted over all creation. Happy the man that hath forsaken his desires, and
taken fast hold of guidance. He, indeed, is of those who have attained unto the
presence of God in this Day, a Day whereon commotions have seized the dwellers
of the earth and filled with dismay all save those who have been exempted by
God, He Who layeth low the necks of men.
Adorn ye your bodies whilst the raiment of God is stained
with the blood of hatred at the hands of the people of denial? Issue forth from
your habitations and bid the people enter the Kingdom of God, the Lord of the
Day of Judgement. The Word which the Son concealed is made manifest. It hath
been sent down in the form of the human temple in this day. Blessed be the Lord
Who is the Father! He, verily, is come unto the nations in His most great
majesty. Turn your faces towards Him, O concourse of the righteous!
- Baha'u'llah (Suriy-i-Haykal [Tablet of Temple]; ‘The
Summons of the Lord of Hosts’)
January 5
Say: If ye deny this Revelation, by what proof have ye believed
in God? Produce it then. Thus hath the
summons of God been sent down by the Pen of the Most High at the bidding of
your Lord, the Most Glorious, in this Tablet from whose horizon the splendour of
His Light hath shone forth. How many are My servants whose deeds have become
veils between them and their own selves, and who have been kept back thereby
from drawing nigh unto God, He Who causeth the winds to blow.
- Baha'u'llah (Suriy-i-Haykal
[Tablet of Temple]; ‘The Summons of the Lord of Hosts’)
January 4
Say: Take heed lest your devotions withhold you from Him Who
is the object of all devotion, or your worship debar you from Him Who is the
object of all worship. Rend asunder the
veils of your idle fancies! This is your Lord, the Almighty, the All-Knowing,
Who hath come to quicken the world and unite all who dwell on earth. Turn unto
the Dayspring of Revelation, O people, and tarry not, be it for less than the
twinkling of an eye. Read ye the Evangel and yet refuse to acknowledge the
All-Glorious Lord? This indeed beseemeth you not, O concourse of learned
men!
- Baha'u'llah (Suriy-i-Haykal [Tablet of Temple]; ‘The Summons of the Lord of Hosts’)
January 3
Address yourselves
to the promotion of the well-being and tranquillity of the children of men.
Bend your minds and wills to the education of the peoples and kindreds of the
earth, that haply the dissensions that divide it may, through the power of the
Most Great Name, be blotted out from its face, and all mankind become the
upholders of one Order, and the inhabitants of one City.
- Baha'u'llah (Gleanings from the Writings
of Bahá'u'lláh’)
January 2
Illumine and hallow
your hearts; let them not be profaned by the thorns of hate or the thistles of
malice. Ye dwell in one world, and have been created through the operation of
one Will. Blessed is he who mingleth with all men in a spirit of utmost kindliness
and love.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh’)
January 1
Be generous in
prosperity, and thankful in adversity. Be worthy of the trust of thy neighbor,
and look upon him with a bright and friendly face. Be a treasure to the poor,
an admonisher to the rich, an answerer to the cry of the needy, a preserver of
the sanctity of thy pledge. Be fair in thy judgment, and guarded in thy speech.
Be unjust to no man, and show all meekness to all men. Be as a lamp unto them
that walk in darkness, a joy to the sorrowful, a sea for the thirsty, a haven
for the distressed, an upholder and defender of the victim of oppression. Let
integrity and uprightness distinguish all thine acts. Be a home for the
stranger, a balm to the suffering, a tower of strength for the fugitive. Be
eyes to the blind, and a guiding light unto the feet of the erring…
- Baha’u’llah (‘Epistle to the Son of the Wolf’)
December 31
O Moving Form of
Dust! I desire communion with thee, but thou wouldst put no trust in Me. The
sword of thy rebellion hath felled the tree of thy hope. At all times I am near
unto thee, but thou art ever far from Me. Imperishable glory I have chosen for
thee, yet boundless shame thou hast chosen for thyself. While there is yet
time, return, and lose not thy chance.
- Baha’u’llah (‘The Hidden Words of
Baha’u’llah’)
December 30
O people of the
Bayán! Fear ye the Most Merciful and consider what He hath revealed in another
passage. He said: “The Qiblih is indeed He Whom God will make manifest;
whenever He moveth, it moveth, until He shall come to rest.” Thus was it set
down by the Supreme Ordainer when He desired to make mention of this Most Great
Beauty. Meditate on this, O people, and be not of them that wander distraught
in the wilderness of error. If ye reject Him at the bidding of your idle
fancies, where then is the Qiblih to which ye will turn, O assemblage of the
heedless? Ponder ye this verse, and judge equitably before God, that haply ye
may glean the pearls of mysteries from the ocean that surgeth in My Name, the
All-Glorious, the Most High.
- Baha’u’llah (‘The Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
December 29
Wert thou, for the
sake of God, to ponder, though it be but for an hour, upon the things which
have occurred in former times and more recently, thou wouldst turn away from
the things thou dost possess unto the things which belong unto God, and wouldst
become a means for the exaltation of His Word. Hath, from the foundation of the
world until the present day, any Light or Revelation shone forth from the
dayspring of the will of God which the kindreds of the earth have accepted, and
Whose Cause they have acknowledged? Where is it to be found, and what is its
name? Since the Seal of the Prophets (Muhammad)—may all else but Him be His sacrifice—and before Him the Spirit of God
(Jesus), as far back as the First Manifestation, all have at the time of Their
appearance suffered grievously. Some were held to be possessed, others were
called impostors, and were treated in a manner that the pen is ashamed to describe.
By God! There befell Them what hath made all created things to sigh, and yet
the people are, for the most part, sunk in manifest ignorance! We pray God to
assist them to return unto Him, and to repent before the door of His mercy.
Potent is He over all things.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Epistle to the Son of the Wolf’)
December 28
The divines must
needs unite with His Majesty, the Sháh, and cleave unto that which will insure
the protection, the security, the welfare and prosperity of men. A just king
enjoyeth nearer access unto God than anyone. Unto this testifieth He Who
speaketh in His Most Great Prison. God! There is none other God but Him, the
One, the Incomparable, the Almighty, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Epistle to the Son of the
Wolf’)
December 27
Say: This is a
Revelation around which every proof and testimony doth circle. Thus hath it
been sent down by your Lord, the God of Mercy, if ye be of them that judge
aright. Say: This is the very soul of all Scriptures which hath been breathed
into the Pen of the Most High, causing all created beings to be dumbfounded,
save only those who have been enraptured by the gentle breezes of My
loving-kindness and the sweet savours of My bounties which have pervaded the
whole of creation.
- Baha’u’llah (‘The Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
December 26
Call then to mind
these words which have streamed forth, in tribute to this Revelation, from the
Pen of Him Who was My Herald, and consider what the hands of the oppressors
have wrought throughout My days. Truly they are numbered with the lost. He
said: “Should ye attain the presence of Him Whom We shall make manifest,
beseech ye God, in His bounty, to grant that He might deign to seat Himself
upon your couches, for that act in itself would confer upon you matchless and
surpassing honour. Should He drink a cup of water in your homes, this would be
of greater consequence for you than your proffering unto every soul, nay unto
every created thing, the water of its very life. Know this, O ye My servants!”
- Baha’u’llah (‘The Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
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