…the Bearers of the trust of God are made manifest unto the
peoples of the earth as the Exponents of a new Cause and the Bearers of a new
Message. Inasmuch as these Birds of the Celestial Throne are all sent down from
the heaven of the Will of God, and as they all arise to proclaim His irresistible
Faith, they therefore are regarded as one soul and the same person. For they
all drink from the one Cup of the love of God, and all partake of the fruit of
the same Tree of Oneness.
- Baha’u’llah (The Kitab-i-Iqan’)
July 15
O Son of Utterance! Thou art My stronghold; enter therein
that thou mayest abide in safety. My love is in thee, know it, that thou mayest
find Me near unto thee.
- Baha’u’llah (‘The Hidden Words of Baha’u’llah’)
- Baha’u’llah (‘The Hidden Words of Baha’u’llah’)
July 14
Know, moreover, that should the cord of assistance binding
this mighty Pivot to the dwellers of earth and heaven be severed, they would
all assuredly perish. Great God! How can the lowly dust ever reach unto Him Who
is the Lord of lords? Immeasurably exalted is God above that which they
conceive in their hearts, and immensely glorified is He beyond that which they
attribute to Him.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Gems of Divine Mysteries’)
July 13
…were they to reach the ultimate object of their quest for
God and their attainment unto Him, they would have but reached that abode which
hath been raised up within their own hearts. How then could they ever hope to
ascend unto such realms as have not been ordained for them or created for their
station? Nay, though they journey from everlasting to everlasting, they will
never attain unto Him Who is the midmost Heart of existence and the Axis of the
entire creation, He on Whose right hand flow the seas of grandeur, on Whose
left stream the rivers of might, and Whose court none can ever hope to reach,
how much less His very abode! For He dwelleth in the ark of fire, speedeth, in
the sphere of fire, through the ocean of fire, and moveth within the atmosphere
of fire. How can he who hath been fashioned of contrary elements ever enter or
even approach this fire? Were he to do so, he would be instantly consumed.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Gems of Divine Mysteries’)
July 12
O Son of Utterance! Turn thy face unto Mine and renounce all
save Me; for My sovereignty endureth and My dominion perisheth not. If thou
seekest another than Me, yea, if thou searchest the universe for evermore, thy
quest will be in vain.
- Baha’u’llah (‘The Hidden Words of Baha’u’llah’)
July 11
As to those who have debarred themselves from the Revelation
of God, they have indeed failed to understand the significance of a single
letter of the Qur’án, nor have they obtained the slightest notion of the Faith
of Islám, otherwise they would not have turned away from God, Who hath brought
them into being, Who hath nurtured them, hath caused them to die and hath
proffered life unto them, by clinging to parts of their religion, thinking that
they are doing righteous work for the sake of God.
- The Báb (‘Selections from
the Writings of the Báb)
July 10
The light of the people of the world is their knowledge and
utterance; while the splendours shed from the glorious acts of Him Whom God
shall make manifest are His Words, through whose potency He rolleth up the
whole world of existence, sets it under His Own authority by relating it unto
Himself, then as the Mouthpiece of God, the Source of His divine light—exalted
and glorified be He—proclaimeth: ‘Verily, verily, I am God, no God is there but
Me; in truth all others except Me are My creatures. Say, O My creatures! Me
alone, therefore, should ye fear’.
- The Báb (From the Persian Bayan,
‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb)
July 9
O servant of God! Turn thou away from the stranger, that
thou mayest recognize the Friend. He indeed is a stranger who leadeth you away
from the Friend. This is not the day whereon the high priests can command and
exercise their authority. In your Book it is stated that the high priests will,
on that day, lead men far astray, and will prevent them from drawing nigh unto
Him. He indeed is a high priest who hath seen the light and hastened unto the
way leading to the Beloved. Such a man is a benevolent priest and a source of
illumination to the whole world.
- Baha’u’llah (‘The Tabernacle of Unity’)
July 8
O friends of God! Incline your inner ears to the voice of
the peerless and self-subsisting Lord, that He may deliver you from the bonds
of entanglement and the depths of darkness and enable you to attain the eternal
light. Ascent and descent, stillness and motion, have come into being through
the will of the Lord of all that hath been and shall be. The cause of ascent is
lightness, and the cause of lightness is heat. Thus hath it been decreed by
God. The cause of stillness is weight and density, which in turn are caused by
coldness. Thus hath it been decreed by God.
And since He hath ordained heat to be the source of motion
and ascent and the cause of attainment to the desired goal, He hath therefore
kindled with the mystic hand that Fire that dieth not and sent it forth into
the world, that this divine Fire might, by the heat of the love of God, guide
and attract all mankind to the abode of the incomparable Friend. This is the
mystery enshrined in your Book that was sent down aforetime, a mystery which
hath until now remained concealed from the eyes and hearts of men. That primal
Fire hath in this Day appeared with a new radiance and with immeasurable heat.
This divine Fire burneth of itself, with neither fuel nor fume, that it might
draw away such excess moisture and cold as are the cause of torpor and
weariness, of lethargy and despondency, and lead the entire creation to the
court of the presence of the All-Merciful. Whoso hath approached this Fire hath
been set aflame and attained the desired goal, and whoso hath removed himself therefrom
hath remained deprived.
- Baha’u’llah (‘The Tabernacle of Unity’)
July 7
Everyone is eagerly awaiting His appearance, yet since their
inner eyes are not directed towards Him sorrow must needs befall Him. In the
case of the Apostle of God—may the blessings of God rest upon Him—before the
revelation of the Qur’án everyone bore witness to His piety and noble virtues.
Behold Him then after the revelation of the Qur’án. What outrageous insults
were levelled against Him, as indeed the pen is ashamed to recount. Likewise
behold the Point of the Bayán. His behaviour prior to the declaration of His
mission is clearly evident unto those who knew Him. Now, following His
manifestation, although He hath, up to the present, revealed no less than five
hundred thousand verses on different subjects, behold what calumnies are
uttered, so unseemly that the pen is stricken with shame at the mention of
them. But if all men were to observe the ordinances of God no sadness would
befall that heavenly Tree.
- The Báb (From the Persian Bayan,
‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb)
July 6
The foundations of idle fancies have trembled, and the
heaven of vain imaginings hath been cleft asunder, and yet the people are in
doubt and in contention with Him. They have denied the testimony of God and His
proof, after He came from the heaven of power with the kingdom of His signs. They
have cast away what had been prescribed, and perpetrated what had been
forbidden them in the Book. They have abandoned their God, and clung unto their
desires. They truly have strayed and are in error. They read the verses and
deny them. They behold the clear tokens and turn aside. They truly are lost in
strange doubt.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Ishraqat (Splendours)’; ‘Tablets of Baha’u’llah revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
- Baha’u’llah (‘Ishraqat (Splendours)’; ‘Tablets of Baha’u’llah revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
July 5
I swear by the life of Him Whom God shall make manifest! My
Revelation is indeed far more bewildering than that of Muhammad, the Apostle of
God, if thou dost but pause to reflect upon the days of God. Behold, how
strange that a person brought up amongst the people of Persia should be
empowered by God to proclaim such irrefutable utterances as to silence every
man of learning, and be enabled to spontaneously reveal verses far more rapidly
than anyone could possibly set down in writing. Verily, no God is there but
Him, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.
- The Báb (‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb)
- The Báb (‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb)
July 4
He Who hath revealed the Qur’án unto Muhammad, the Apostle
of God, ordaining in the Faith of Islám that which was pleasing unto Him, hath
likewise revealed the Bayán, in the manner ye have been promised, unto Him Who
is your Qá’im, [1] your Guide, your Mihdí, [2] your Lord, Him Whom ye acclaim
as the manifestation of God’s most excellent titles. Verily the equivalent of
that which God revealed unto Muhammad during twenty-three years, hath been
revealed unto Me within the space of two days and two nights. However, as
ordained by God, no distinction is to be drawn between the two. He, in truth,
hath power over all things.
- The Báb (‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb)
[1] He Who ariseth (God Passes By, p. 57)
[2] One Who is guided (God Passes By, p. 58)
- The Báb (‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb)
[1] He Who ariseth (God Passes By, p. 57)
[2] One Who is guided (God Passes By, p. 58)
July 3
It is the bounden duty of parents to rear their children to
be staunch in faith ... For every praiseworthy deed is born out of the light of
religion, and lacking this supreme bestowal the child will not turn away from
any evil, nor will he draw nigh unto any good.
- Baha’u’llah ('Bahá'í Education', a compilation, 1976 World Centre edition)
- Baha’u’llah ('Bahá'í Education', a compilation, 1976 World Centre edition)
July 2
O concourse of the kindreds of the earth! This is the day
whereon nothing amongst all things, nor any name amongst all names, can profit
you save through this Name which God hath made the Manifestation of His Cause
and the Dayspring of His Most Excellent Titles unto all who are in the kingdom
of creation. Blessed is that man that hath recognized the fragrance of the
All-Merciful and been numbered with the steadfast. Your sciences shall not
profit you in this day, nor your arts, nor your treasures, nor your glory. Cast
them all behind your backs, and set your faces towards
the Most Sublime Word through which the Scriptures and the Books and this lucid
Tablet have been distinctly set forth. Cast away, O people, the things ye have
composed with the pen of your idle fancies and vain imaginings. By God! The
Daystar of Knowledge hath shone forth above the horizon of certitude.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Epistle to Son of the Wolf’)
- Baha’u’llah (‘Epistle to Son of the Wolf’)
July 1
O my friend, were the bird of thy mind to explore the
heavens of the Revelation of the Qur’án, were it to contemplate the realm of
divine knowledge unfolded therein, thou wouldst assuredly find unnumbered doors
of knowledge set open before thee. Thou wouldst certainly recognize that all
these things which have in this day hindered this people from attaining the
shores of the ocean of eternal grace, the same things in the Muhammadan Dispensation prevented the people of that age from
recognizing that divine Luminary, and from testifying to His truth. Thou wilt
also apprehend the mysteries of “return” and “revelation,” and wilt securely
abide within the loftiest chambers of certitude and assurance.
- Baha’u’llah ('The Kitab-i-Iqan’)
- Baha’u’llah ('The Kitab-i-Iqan’)
June 30
At the time of the appearance of Him Whom God shall make
manifest, wert thou to perform thy deeds for the sake of the Point of the
Bayán, they would be regarded as performed for one other than God, inasmuch as
on that Day the Point of the Bayán is none other than Him Whom God shall make
manifest...
It is for this reason that at the beginning of every Dispensation a vast multitude, who fondly imagine that their deeds are for God, become drowned and ungodly, and perceive this not, except such as He guideth at His behest.
- The Báb (From the Persian Bayan, ‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb)
It is for this reason that at the beginning of every Dispensation a vast multitude, who fondly imagine that their deeds are for God, become drowned and ungodly, and perceive this not, except such as He guideth at His behest.
- The Báb (From the Persian Bayan, ‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb)
June 29
Peruse thou the Kitáb-i-Íqán (Book of Certitude) and that
which the All-Merciful hath sent down unto the King of Paris (Napoleon III) and
to such as are like him, that thou mayest be made aware of the things that have
happened in the past, and be persuaded that We have not sought to spread
disorder in the land after it had been well-ordered. We exhort, wholly for the
sake of God, His servants. Let him who wisheth turn unto Him, and him who
wisheth turn aside. Our Lord, the Merciful, is verily the All-Sufficing, the
All-Praised.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Epistle to Son of the Wolf’)
June 28
How vast the number of people who are well versed in every science,
yet it is their adherence to the holy Word of God which will determine their
faith, inasmuch as the fruit of every science is none other than the knowledge
of divine precepts and submission unto His good-pleasure.
- The Báb (From the Persian Bayan, ‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb)
- The Báb (From the Persian Bayan, ‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb)
June 27
O Shaykh! Entreat thou the one true God to
sanctify the ears, and the eyes, and the hearts of mankind, and to protect them
from the desires of a corrupt inclination. For malice is a grievous malady
which depriveth man from recognizing the Great Being, and debarreth him from
the splendors of the sun of certitude. We pray and hope that through the grace
and mercy of God He may remove this mighty obstacle. He, verily, is the Potent,
the All-Subduing, the Almighty.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Epistle to Son of the Wolf’)
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