Facing in the direction of the Qiblih is a fixed requirement
for the recitation of obligatory prayer, but for other prayers and devotions
one may follow what the merciful Lord hath revealed in the Qur’án: “Whichever
way ye turn, there is the face of God.” 
O Essence of Desire! At many a dawn have I turned from the
realms of the Placeless unto thine abode, and found thee on the bed of ease
busied with others than Myself. Thereupon, even as the flash of the spirit, I
returned to the realms of celestial glory and breathed it not in My retreats
above unto the hosts of holiness.
Far be it… from Thy glory that anyone should gaze on Thy
wondrous beauty with any eye save Thine own eye, or hear the melodies
proclaiming Thine almighty sovereignty with any ear except Thine own ear. Too
high art Thou exalted for the eye of any creature to behold Thy beauty, or for
the understanding of any heart to scale the heights of Thine immeasurable
knowledge. For should the birds of the hearts of them that are nigh unto Thee
be ever enabled to soar as long as Thine own overpowering sovereignty can endure,
or to ascend as long as the empire of Thy Divine holiness can last, they shall,
in no wise, be able to transcend the limitations which a contingent world hath
imposed upon them, nor pass beyond its confines. How, then, can he whose very
creation is restricted by such limitations, attain unto Him Who is the Lord of
the Kingdom of all created things, or ascend into the heaven of Him Who ruleth
the realms of loftiness and grandeur?
Blessed is the soul which, at the hour of its separation
from the body, is sanctified from the vain imaginings of the peoples of the
world. Such a soul liveth and moveth in accordance with the Will of its
Creator, and entereth the all-highest Paradise. The Maids of Heaven, inmates of
the loftiest mansions, will circle around it, and the Prophets of God and His
chosen ones will seek its companionship. With them that soul will freely
converse, and will recount unto them that which it hath been made to endure in
the path of God, the Lord of all worlds. If any man be told that which hath
been ordained for such a soul in the worlds of God, the Lord of the throne on
high and of earth below, his whole being will instantly blaze out in his great
longing to attain that most exalted, that sanctified and resplendent station.
Set your reliance on the army of justice, put on the armour
of wisdom, let your adorning be forgiveness and mercy and that which cheereth
the hearts of the well-favoured of God.
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.
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.
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.
Abase not the station of the learned in Bahá and belittle
not the rank of such rulers as administer justice amidst you.
Let your eye be chaste, your hand faithful, your tongue
truthful and your heart enlightened.
Let each morn be better than its eve and each morrow richer
than its yesterday.
He that riseth to serve My Cause should manifest My wisdom,
and bend every effort to banish ignorance from the earth.
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.
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.
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.”
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.
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.
…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.