- Baha’u’llah (‘Prayers and Meditations by Baha’u’llah’)
May 13
May 12
The Most Great Festival commenceth late in the
afternoon of the thirteenth day of the second month of the year according to
the Bayán. On the first, ninth and twelfth days of this Festival, work is
forbidden.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Questions and Answers’; ‘The Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
May 11
O Thou Who art the Lord of all names and the Maker of the
heavens! I beseech Thee by them Who are the Daysprings of Thine invisible
Essence, the Most Exalted, the All-Glorious, to make of my prayer a fire that
will burn away the veils which have shut me out from Thy beauty, and a light
that will lead me unto the ocean of Thy Presence.
- Baha’u’llah (Excerpt from
the Long Obligatory Prayer’)
May 10
Know thou of a truth that the soul, after its separation
from the body, will continue to progress until it attaineth the presence of
God, in a state and condition which neither the revolution of ages and
centuries, nor the changes and chances of this world, can alter. It will endure
as long as the Kingdom of God, His sovereignty, His dominion and power will
endure. It will manifest the signs of God and His attributes, and will reveal
His loving kindness and bounty. The movement of My Pen is stilled when it
attempteth to befittingly describe the loftiness and glory of so exalted a
station. The honor with which the Hand of Mercy will invest the soul is such as
no tongue can adequately reveal, nor any other earthly agency describe.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah’)
May 9
Abase not the station of the learned in Bahá and belittle
not the rank of such rulers as administer justice amidst you.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Tablets of Baha’u’llah revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
May 8
Let your eye be chaste, your hand faithful, your tongue
truthful and your heart enlightened.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Tablets of Baha’u’llah
revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
May 7
Let each morn be better than its eve and each morrow richer
than its yesterday.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Tablets of Baha’u’llah revealed after the
Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
May 6
He that riseth to serve My Cause should manifest My wisdom,
and bend every effort to banish ignorance from the earth.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Tablets of Baha’u’llah revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
May 5
- Baha’u’llah (‘Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah’)
May 4
O peoples of the world! Forsake all evil, hold fast that
which is good. Strive to be shining examples unto all mankind, and true
reminders of the virtues of God amidst men.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Tablets of
Baha’u’llah revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
May 3
We exhort mankind in these days when the countenance of
Justice is soiled with dust, when the flames of unbelief are burning high and
the robe of wisdom rent asunder, when tranquillity and faithfulness have ebbed
away and trials and tribulations have waxed severe, when covenants are broken
and ties are severed, when no man knoweth how to discern light and darkness or
to distinguish guidance from error.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Tablets of Baha’u’llah
revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
May 2
In another passage He saith: “Woe to every lying sinner, who
heareth the verses of God recited to him, and then, as though he heard them
not, persisteth in proud disdain! Apprise him of a painful punishment.” [Qur’án 45:6] The
implications of this verse, alone, suffice all that is in heaven and on earth,
were the people to ponder the verses of their Lord. For thou hearest how in
this day the people disdainfully ignore the divinely-revealed verses, as though
they were the meanest of all things. And yet, nothing greater than these verses
hath ever appeared, nor will ever be made manifest in the world! Say unto them:
“O heedless people! Ye repeat what your fathers, in a bygone age, have said.
Whatever fruits they have gathered from the tree of their faithlessness, the
same shall ye gather also. Ere long shall ye be gathered unto your fathers, and
with them shall ye dwell in hellish fire. An ill abode! the abode of the people
of tyranny.”
- Baha’u’llah (‘The Kitab-i-Iqan’)
May 1
Likewise, He saith: “Such are the verses of God: with truth
do We recite them to Thee. But in what revelation will they believe, if they
reject God and His verses?” [1] If thou wilt grasp the implication of this
verse, thou wilt recognize the truth that no manifestation greater than the
Prophets of God hath ever been revealed, and no testimony mightier than the
testimony of their revealed verses hath ever appeared upon the earth. Nay, this
testimony no other testimony can ever excel, except that which the Lord thy God
willeth.
- Baha’u’llah (‘The Kitab-i-Iqan’)
[1] Qur’án 45:5
April 30
Consider the lamp which is hidden under a bushel. Though its
light be shining, yet its radiance is concealed from men. Likewise, consider
the sun which hath been obscured by the clouds. Observe how its splendor
appeareth to have diminished, when in reality the source of that light hath
remained unchanged. The soul of man should be likened unto this sun, and all
things on earth should be regarded as his body. So long as no external
impediment interveneth between them, the body will, in its entirety, continue
to reflect the light of the soul, and to be sustained by its power. As soon as,
however, a veil interposeth itself between them, the brightness of that light
seemeth to lessen.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah’)
April 29
…compared with all other proofs and tokens, the
divinely-revealed verses shine as the sun, whilst all others are as stars. To
the peoples of the world they are the abiding testimony, the incontrovertible
proof, the shining light of the ideal King. Their excellence is unrivalled,
their virtue nothing can surpass. They are the treasury of the divine pearls
and the depository of the divine mysteries. They constitute the indissoluble
Bond, the firm Cord, the Urvatu’l-Vuthqá, [the Sure Handle] the
inextinguishable Light. Through them floweth the river of divine knowledge, and
gloweth the fire of His ancient and consummate wisdom.
- Baha’u’llah (‘The
Kitab-i-Iqan’)
April 28
When it [human soul] leaveth the body, however, it will
evince such ascendancy, and reveal such influence as no force on earth can
equal. Every pure, every refined and sanctified soul will be endowed with
tremendous power, and shall rejoice with exceeding gladness.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah’)
April 27
Know thou that the soul of man is exalted above, and is
independent of all infirmities of body or mind. That a sick person showeth
signs of weakness is due to the hindrances that interpose themselves between
his soul and his body, for the soul itself remaineth unaffected by any bodily
ailments. Consider the light of the lamp. Though an external object may
interfere with its radiance, the light itself continueth to shine with
undiminished power. In like manner, every malady afflicting the body of man is
an impediment that preventeth the soul from manifesting its inherent might and
power.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah’)
April 26
Be united, O kings of the earth, for thereby will the
tempest of discord be stilled amongst you, and your peoples find rest, if ye be
of them that comprehend. Should any one
among you take up arms against another, rise ye all against him, for this is
naught but manifest justice. Thus did We
exhort you in the Tablet sent down aforetime, [1] and We admonish you once
again to follow that which hath been revealed by Him Who is the Almighty, the
All-Wise. Should anyone seek refuge with
you, extend unto him your protection and betray him not. Thus doth the Pen of the Most High counsel
you, as bidden by Him Who is the All-Knowing, the All-Informed.
- Baha'u'llah (Tablet to Queen Victoria, Suriy-i-Haykal [Tablet of Temple]; ‘The Summons of
the Lord of Hosts’)
[1] The Súriy-i-Mulúk
April 25
Were man to study with deep insight God’s holy Words and
ponder them in his heart, he will surely realize that their one aim is to so
unite the world that the divers peoples on earth may be regarded even as one
soul, that the seal of “Unto God is all dominion” may be stamped upon the tablet
of every heart and that the splendors of loving kindness, of grace and mercy
may be shed upon all mankind.
- Baha’u’llah (From a Tablet, Baha’i News no. 49,
March 1931)
April 24
God has ever regarded the hearts of His servants, and this too
by reason of His most great favor, that perchance mortal souls may be cleansed
and sanctified from earthly states and may attain unto the everlasting places.
But that Real King is in Himself sufficient unto Himself and independent of
all; neither does any advantage accrue to Him from the love of contingent
beings, nor does any hurt befall Him from their hatred. All earthly places
appear through Him and unto him return, and God singly and alone abides in His
own place which is holy above space and time, mention and utterance, sign,
description and definition, height and depth. And no one knows this save Him
and whosoever has knowledge of the Book.
- Baha’u’llah (From a Tablet, Baha’i
News no. 48, February 1931)
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