…in reality it [the Qur’an] hath been interpreted in
numerous ways and translated into countless languages. That which men have been
unable to grasp are its hidden mysteries and inner meanings. And all that they
have said or will say is limited in scope and should be seen as commensurate
with their rank and station. For none can fathom its true meaning save God, the
One, the Incomparable, the All-Knowing.
- Baha’u’llah (‘The Tabernacle of
Unity’)
October 19
Yield thee thanks unto God, for He hath graciously aided
thee in this Day, revealed for thee the clear verses of this Tablet, and hath
numbered thee among such women as have believed in the signs of God, have taken
Him as their guardian and are of the grateful. Verily God shall soon reward
thee and those who have believed in His signs with an excellent reward from His
presence. Assuredly no God is there other than Him, the All-Possessing, the
Most Generous. The revelations of His bounty pervade all created things; He is
the Merciful, the Compassionate.
- The Báb (‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb)
- The Báb (‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb)
October 18
God testifieth that there is none other God but Him. His are
the kingdoms in the heavens and on the earth and all that is between them. He
is exalted above the comprehension of all things, and is inscrutable to the
mind of every created being; none shall be able to fathom the oneness of His
Being or to unravel the nature of His Existence. No peer or likeness, no
similitude or equal can ever be joined with Him. Yield ye praise then unto Him
and glorify Him and bear ye witness to the sanctity and oneness of His Being
and magnify His might and majesty with wondrous glorification.
- The Báb (‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb’)
- The Báb (‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb’)
October 17
Say, God hath undisputed triumph over every victorious one.
There is no one in heaven or earth or in whatever lieth between them who can
frustrate the transcendent supremacy of His triumph. He calleth into being
whatsoever He willeth through the potency of His behest. Verily God is the
mightiest Sustainer, the Helper and the Defender.
- The Báb (‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb')
- The Báb (‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb')
October 16
Say: O concourse of the heedless! I swear by God! The
promised day is come, the day when tormenting trials will have surged above
your heads, and beneath your feet, saying: ‘Taste ye what your hands have
wrought!’
- Baha’u’llah (Quoted by Shoghi Effendi in a letter dated December 25, 1938, published as ‘The Advent of the Divine Justice’)
- Baha’u’llah (Quoted by Shoghi Effendi in a letter dated December 25, 1938, published as ‘The Advent of the Divine Justice’)
October 15
…those who in every subsequent Dispensation preceded the
rest of mankind in embracing the Faith of God, who quaffed the clear waters of
knowledge at the hand of the divine Beauty, and attained the loftiest summits
of faith and certitude, these can be regarded, in name, in reality, in deeds,
in words, and in rank, as the “return” of those who in a former Dispensation
had achieved similar distinctions. For whatsoever the people of a former
Dispensation have manifested, the same hath been shown by the people of this
latter generation. Consider the rose: whether it blossometh in the East or in
the West, it is none the less a rose. For what mattereth in this respect is not
the outward shape and form of the rose, but rather the smell and fragrance
which it doth impart.
- Baha’u’llah (‘The Kitab-i-Iqan’)
October 14
The system of government which the British people have
adopted in London appeareth to be good, for it is adorned with the light of
both kingship and of the consultation of the people.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Tablets of Baha’u’llah revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
- Baha’u’llah (‘Tablets of Baha’u’llah revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
October 13
Incline your hearts, O people of God, unto the counsels of
your true, your incomparable Friend. The Word of God may be likened unto a
sapling, whose roots have been implanted in the hearts of men. It is incumbent
upon you to foster its growth through the living waters of wisdom, of
sanctified and holy words, so that its root may become firmly fixed and its
branches may spread out as high as the heavens and beyond.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Tablets of Baha’u’llah revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
- Baha’u’llah (‘Tablets of Baha’u’llah revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
October 12
Purge thy sight… from all earthly limitations, that thou
mayest behold them all as the bearers of one Name, the exponents of one Cause,
the manifestations of one Self, and the revealers of one Truth, and that thou
mayest apprehend the mystic “return” of the Words of God as unfolded by these
utterances.
- Baha’u’llah (‘The Kitab-i-Iqan’)
October 11
Should anyone wax angry with you, respond to him with
gentleness; and should anyone upbraid you, forbear to upbraid him in return,
but leave him to himself and put your trust in God, the omnipotent Avenger, the
Lord of might and justice.
- Baha’u’llah (‘The Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
October 10
Ye have been enjoined to renew the furnishings of your homes
after the passing of each nineteen years; thus hath it been ordained by One Who
is Omniscient and All-Perceiving. He, verily, is desirous of refinement, both
for you yourselves and for all that ye possess; lay not aside the fear of God
and be not of the negligent. Whoso findeth that his means are insufficient to
this purpose hath been excused by God, the Ever-Forgiving, the Most Bounteous.
- Baha’u’llah (‘The Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
- Baha’u’llah (‘The Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
October 9
Consider how a Pharisee who had worshipped God for seventy
years repudiated the Son when He appeared, whereas one who had committed
adultery gained admittance into the Kingdom.
Thus doth the Pen admonish thee as bidden by the Eternal King, that thou
mayest be apprised of what came to pass aforetime and be reckoned in this day
among them that truly believe.
- Baha'u'llah (Tablet to Napoleon III,
Suriy-i-Haykal [Tablet of Temple]; ‘The Summons of the Lord of Hosts’)
October 8
O ye that dwell on earth! The distinguishing feature that
marketh the pre-eminent character of this Supreme Revelation consisteth in that
We have, on the one hand, blotted out from the pages of God’s holy Book
whatsoever hath been the cause of strife, of malice and mischief amongst the
children of men, and have, on the other, laid down the essential prerequisites
of concord, of understanding, of complete and enduring unity. Well is it with
them that keep My statutes.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Tablets of Baha’u’llah revealed
after the Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
October 7
Ye have been prohibited from making use of pulpits. Whoso
wisheth to recite unto you the verses of his Lord, let him sit on a chair
placed upon a dais, that he may make mention of God, his Lord, and the Lord of
all mankind. It is pleasing to God that ye should seat yourselves on chairs and
benches as a mark of honour for the love ye bear for Him and for the
Manifestation of His glorious and resplendent Cause.
- Baha’u’llah (The
Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
October 6
These same people, [1] though wrapt in all these veils of
limitation, and despite the restraint of such observances, as soon as they
drank the immortal draught of faith, from the cup of certitude, at the hand of
the Manifestation of the All-Glorious, were so transformed that they would
renounce for His sake their kindred, their substance, their lives, their
beliefs, yea, all else save God! So overpowering was their yearning for God, so
uplifting their transports of ecstatic delight, that the world and all that is
therein faded before their eyes into nothingness. Have not this people
exemplified the mysteries of “rebirth” and “return”? Hath it not been witnessed
that these same people, ere they were endued with the new and wondrous grace of
God, sought through innumerable devices, to ensure the protection of their
lives against destruction? Would not a thorn fill them with terror, and the
sight of a fox put them to flight? But once having been honoured with God’s
supreme distinction, and having been vouchsafed His bountiful grace, they
would, if they were able, have freely offered up ten thousand lives in His
path! Nay, their blessed souls, contemptuous of the cage of their bodies, would
yearn for deliverance. A single warrior of that host would face and fight a
multitude! And yet, how could they, but for the transformation wrought in their
lives, be capable of manifesting such deeds which are contrary to the ways of
men and incompatible with their worldly desires?
It is evident that nothing short of this mystic
transformation could cause such spirit and behaviour, so utterly unlike their
previous habits and manners, to be made manifest in the world of being. For
their agitation was turned into peace, their doubt into certitude, their
timidity into courage. Such is the potency of the Divine Elixir, which, swift
as the twinkling of an eye, transmuteth the souls of men!
- Baha’u’llah (‘The
Kitab-i-Iqan’)
[1] People at the time of Noah before they recognized the
Manifestation of God
October 5
Time and again have We admonished Our beloved ones to avoid,
nay to flee from, anything whatsoever from which the odour of mischief can be
detected. The world is in great turmoil, and the minds of its people are in a
state of utter confusion. We entreat the Almighty that He may graciously
illuminate them with the glory of His Justice, and enable them to discover that
which will be profitable unto them at all times and under all conditions. He,
verily is the All-Possessing, the Most High.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Tablets of
Baha’u’llah revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
October 4
O people of God! In this day everyone should fix his eyes
upon the horizon of these blessed words: ‘Alone and unaided He doeth whatsoever
He pleaseth.’ Whoso attaineth this station hath verily attained the light of
the essential unity of God and is enlightened thereby, while all others are
reckoned in the Book of God among the followers of idle fancy and vain
imagination. Incline your ears to the Voice of this Wronged One and safeguard
the integrity of your stations. It is highly necessary and imperative that
everyone should observe this matter.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Tablets of Baha’u’llah
revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
October 3
Behold, the “mystery of the Great Reversal in the Sign of
the Sovereign” hath now been made manifest. Well is it with him whom God hath
aided to recognize the “Six” raised up by virtue of this “Upright Alif”; he,
verily, is of those whose faith is true. How many the outwardly pious who have
turned away, and how many the wayward who have drawn nigh, exclaiming: “All
praise be to Thee, O Thou the Desire of the worlds!” In truth, it is in the
hand of God to give what He willeth to whomsoever He willeth, and to withhold
what He pleaseth from whomsoever He may wish. He knoweth the inner secrets of
the hearts and the meaning hidden in a mocker’s wink. How many an embodiment of
heedlessness who came unto Us with purity of heart have We established upon the
seat of Our acceptance; and how many an exponent of wisdom have We in all
justice consigned to the fire. We are, in truth, the One to judge. He it is Who
is the manifestation of “God doeth whatsoever He pleaseth”, and abideth upon
the throne of “He ordaineth whatsoever He chooseth”.
- Baha’u’llah (‘The
Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
October 2
Gambling and the use of opium have been forbidden unto you.
Eschew them both, O people, and be not of those who transgress. Beware of using
any substance that induceth sluggishness and torpor in the human temple and
inflicteth harm upon the body. We, verily, desire for you naught save what
shall profit you, and to this bear witness all created things, had ye but ears
to hear.
- Baha’u’llah (‘The Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
October 1
…consider the substance of copper. Were it to be protected
in its own mine from becoming solidified, it would, within the space of seventy
years, attain to the state of gold. There are some, however, who maintain that
copper itself is gold, which by becoming solidified is in a diseased condition,
and hath not therefore reached its own state.
Be that as it may, the real elixir will, in one instant,
cause the substance of copper to attain the state of gold, and will traverse
the seventy-year stages in a single moment. Could this gold be called copper?
Could it be claimed that it hath not attained the state of gold, whilst the
touch-stone is at hand to assay it and distinguish it from copper?
Likewise, these souls, through the potency of the Divine
Elixir, traverse, in the twinkling of an eye, the world of dust and advance
into the realm of holiness; and with one step cover the earth of limitations
and reach the domain of the Placeless. It behooveth thee to exert thine utmost
to attain unto this Elixir which, in one fleeting breath, causeth the west of
ignorance to reach the east of knowledge, illuminates the darkness of night
with the resplendence of the morn, guideth the wanderer in the wilderness of
doubt to the well-spring of the Divine Presence and Fount of certitude, and
conferreth upon mortal souls the honour of acceptance into the Ridván of
immortality. Now, could this gold be thought to be copper, these people could
likewise be thought to be the same as before they were endowed with faith.
- Baha’u’llah (‘The Kitab-i-Iqan’)
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