The Great Being saith: The structure of world stability and
order hath been reared upon, and will continue to be sustained by, the twin
pillars of reward and punishment.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Tablets of Baha’u’llah
revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
December 28
The Great Being saith: The structure of world stability and
order hath been reared upon, and will continue to be sustained by, the twin
pillars of reward and punishment. 
December 27
I swear by God, O King! Wert thou to incline thine ear to the melodies of that Nightingale which
warbleth in manifold accents upon the mystic bough as bidden by thy Lord, the
All-Merciful, thou wouldst cast away thy sovereignty and set thy face towards
this Scene of transcendent glory, above whose horizon shineth the Book of the
Dawntide, and wouldst expend all that
thou possessest in thine eagerness to obtain the things of God. Then wouldst
thou find thyself raised up to the summit of exaltation and glory, and elevated
to the pinnacle of majesty and independence. Thus hath the decree been recorded in the Mother Book by the Pen of the
All-Merciful.
- Baha'u'llah (Tablet to
Nasiri’d-Din Shah, Suriy-i-Haykal [Tablet of Temple]; ‘The Summons of the Lord
of Hosts’)
December 26
O ye who are invested with the Bayán! Ye shall be put to
proof, even as those unto whom the Qur’án was given. Have pity on yourselves,
for ye shall witness the Day when God will have revealed Him Who is the
Manifestation of His Own Self, invested with clear and irrefutable proofs,
while ye will cling tenaciously to the words the Witnesses of the Bayán have
uttered. On that Day ye will continue to rove distraught, even as camels,
seeking a drop of the water of life. God will cause oceans of living water to
stream forth from the presence of Him Whom God shall make manifest, while ye
will refuse to quench your thirst therefrom, notwithstanding that ye regard
yourselves as the God-fearing witnesses of your Faith. Nay, and yet again, nay!
Ye will go astray far beyond the peoples unto whom the Gospel, or the Qur’án or
any other Scripture was given. Take good heed to yourselves, inasmuch as the
Cause of God will come upon you at a time when you will all be entreating and
tearfully imploring God for the advent of the Day of His Manifestation; yet
when He cometh ye will tarry and will fail to be of those who are well-assured
in His Faith.
- The Báb (‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb)
December 25
Know thou that when the Son of Man yielded up His breath to
God, the whole creation wept with a great weeping. By sacrificing Himself,
however, a fresh capacity was infused into all created things. Its evidences,
as witnessed in all the peoples of the earth, are now manifest before thee. The
deepest wisdom which the sages have uttered, the profoundest learning which any
mind hath unfolded, the arts which the ablest hands have produced, the
influence exerted by the most potent of rulers, are but manifestations of the
quickening power released by His transcendent, His all-pervasive and
resplendent Spirit.
- Baha’u’llah (Quoted
by Shoghi Effendi in 'The Promised Day is Come')
December 24
We testify that when He [Jesus] came into the world, He shed
the splendor of His glory upon all created things. Through Him the leper
recovered from the leprosy of perversity and ignorance. Through Him the
unchaste and wayward were healed. Through His power, born of Almighty God, the
eyes of the blind were opened and the soul of the sinner sanctified.... He it
is Who purified the world. Blessed is the man who, with a face beaming with
light, hath turned towards Him.
- Baha’u’llah
(Quoted by Shoghi Effendi in 'The Promised Day is Come')
December 23
If ye wish to distinguish truth from error, consider those
who believe in Him Whom God shall make manifest and those who disbelieve Him at
the time of His appearance. The former represent the essence of truth, as
attested in the Book of God, while the latter the essence of error, as attested
in that same Book. Fear ye God that ye may not identify yourselves with aught
but the truth, inasmuch as ye have been exalted in the Bayán for being
recognized as the bearers of the name of Him Who is the eternal Truth.
- The
Báb (‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb’)
December 22
We beseech God to strengthen thee with His power, and enable
thee to recognize Him Who is the Source of all knowledge, that thou mayest
detach thyself from all human learning, for, “what would it profit any man to
strive after learning when he hath already found and recognized Him Who is the
Object of all knowledge?” Cleave to the Root of Knowledge, and to Him Who is
the Fountain thereof, that thou mayest find thyself independent of all who
claim to be well versed in human learning, and whose claim no clear proof, nor
the testimony of any enlightening book, can support.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Gleanings
from the Writings of Baha’u’llah’)
December 21
Oh, would that the world could believe Me! Were all the
things that lie enshrined within the heart of Bahá, and which the Lord, His
God, the Lord of all names, hath taught Him, to be unveiled to mankind, every
man on earth would be dumbfounded.
How great the multitude of truths which the garment of words
can never contain! How vast the number of such verities as no expression can
adequately describe, whose significance can never be unfolded, and to which not
even the remotest allusions can be made! How manifold are the truths which must
remain unuttered until the appointed time is come! Even as it hath been said:
“Not everything that a man knoweth can be disclosed, nor can everything that he
can disclose be regarded as timely, nor can every timely utterance be
considered as suited to the capacity of those who hear it.”
Of these truths some can be disclosed only to the extent of
the capacity of the repositories of the light of Our knowledge, and the
recipients of Our hidden grace.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah’)
December 20
Know assuredly that just as thou firmly believest that the
Word of God, exalted be His glory, endureth for ever, thou must, likewise,
believe with undoubting faith that its meaning can never be exhausted. They who
are its appointed interpreters, they whose hearts are the repositories of its
secrets, are, however, the only ones who can comprehend its manifold wisdom.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah’)
December 19
Praise be to Thee, O Lord my God, for guiding me unto the
horizon of Thy Revelation… I beseech Thee, by the spreading rays of the Daystar
of Thy providence and by the billowing waves of the Ocean of Thy mercy, to
grant that my speech may bear a trace of the influence of Thine own exalted
Word, attracting thereby the realities of all created things.
- Baha’u’llah (New
compilation prepared by the Baha’i World Center; Online Baha’i Reference
Library of the World Center)
December 18
The Great Being saith: O well-beloved ones! The tabernacle
of unity hath been raised; regard ye not one another as strangers. Ye are the
fruits of one tree, and the leaves of one branch. We cherish the hope that the
light of justice may shine upon the world and sanctify it from tyranny. If the
rulers and kings of the earth, the symbols of the power of God, exalted be His
glory, arise and resolve to dedicate themselves to whatever will promote the
highest interests of the whole of humanity, the reign of justice will assuredly
be established amongst the children of men, and the effulgence of its light
will envelop the whole earth.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Tablets of Baha’u’llah revealed
after the Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
December 17
Behold the disturbances which, for many a long year, have
afflicted the earth, and the perturbation that hath seized its peoples. It hath
either been ravaged by war, or tormented by sudden and unforeseen calamities.
Though the world is encompassed with misery and distress, yet no man hath
paused to reflect what the cause or source of that may be. Whenever the True
Counsellor uttered a word in admonishment, lo, they all denounced Him as a
mover of mischief and rejected His claim. How bewildering, how confusing is
such behaviour! No two men can be found who may be said to be outwardly and
inwardly united. The evidences of discord and malice are apparent everywhere,
though all were made for harmony and union.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Tablets of
Baha’u’llah revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
December 16
Take heed, O concourse of the rulers of the world! There is
no force on earth that can equal in its conquering power the force of justice
and wisdom. I, verily, affirm that there is not, and hath never been, a host
more mighty than that of justice and wisdom. Blessed is the king who marcheth
with the ensign of wisdom unfurled before him, and the battalions of justice
massed in his rear. He verily is the ornament that adorneth the brow of peace
and the countenance of security. There can be no doubt whatever that if the
day-star of justice, which the clouds of tyranny have obscured, were to shed
its light upon men, the face of the earth would be completely transformed.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Tablets of Baha’u’llah revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
December 15
Illumine, O Lord, the faces of Thy servants, that they may
behold Thee; and cleanse their hearts that they may turn unto the court of Thy
heavenly favors, and recognize Him Who is the Manifestation of Thy Self and the
Day-Spring of Thine Essence.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Prayers and Meditations by
Baha’u’llah’)
December 14
Be most loving one to another. Burn away, wholly for the
sake of the Well-Beloved, the veil of self with the flame of the undying Fire,
and with faces joyous and beaming with light, associate with your neighbour...
- Baha’u’llah (‘Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah’; The Compilation of
Compilations, vol. III, Social and Economic Development)
December 13
Should a person acquire one hundred mithqals [1] of gold,
nineteen mithqals thereof belong unto God, the Creator of earth and heaven.
Take heed, O people, lest ye deprive yourselves of this great bounty. We have
prescribed this law unto you while We are wholly independent of you and of all
that are in the heavens and on the earth. Indeed there lie concealed in this
command, mysteries and benefits which are beyond the comprehension of anyone
save God, the All-Knowing, the All-Informed. Say, through this injunction God
desireth to purify your possessions and enable you to draw nigh unto such
stations as none can attain, except those whom God may please. Verily, He is
the Generous, the Gracious, the Bountiful.
- Baha’u’llah (The Compilation of
Compilation, vol. I, Huqúqu'lláh)
[1] Mithqál is a unit of weight equals to about 3.642 grams.
December 12
No understanding can grasp the nature of His [the Báb’s]
Revelation, nor can any knowledge comprehend the full measure of His Faith. All
sayings are dependent upon His sanction, and all things stand in need of His
Cause. All else save Him are created by His command, and move and have their
being through His law. He is the Revealer of the divine mysteries, and the
Expounder of the hidden and ancient wisdom.
- Baha’u’llah (‘The Kitab-i-Iqan’)
December 11
The divine call of the celestial Herald [the Báb] from
beyond the Veil of Glory, summoning mankind to renounce utterly all the things
to which they cleave, is repugnant to their desire; and this is the cause of
the bitter trials and violent commotions which have occurred. Consider the way
of the people. They ignore these well-founded traditions, all of which have
been fulfilled, and cling unto those of doubtful validity, and ask why these
have not been fulfilled. And yet, those things which to them were inconceivable
have been made manifest.
- Baha’u’llah (‘The Kitab-i-Iqan’)
December 10
Intone, O My servant, the verses of God that have been
received by thee, as intoned by them who have drawn nigh unto Him, that the
sweetness of thy melody may kindle thine own soul, and attract the hearts of
all men.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh’; The
Compilation of Compilations, vol. I, The Importance of Deepening our Knowledge
of the Faith)
December 9
Remember…how, when one of these same companions came before
the King of Ethiopia and recited unto him a Súrih of the Qur’án, he declared to
his attendants: “This, truly, hath been revealed by One Who is All-Knowing and
All-Wise. Whoso acknowledgeth the truth,
and believeth in the teachings of Jesus, can in no wise deny what hath been
recited. We, verily, bear witness to its
truth, even as we bear witness to the truth of that which we possess of the
Books of God, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.”
- Baha'u'llah (Tablet to
Nasiri’d-Din Shah, Suriy-i-Haykal [Tablet of Temple]; ‘The Summons of the Lord
of Hosts’)
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