The Great Being saith: The learned of the day must direct
the people to acquire those branches of knowledge which are of use, that both
the learned themselves and the generality of mankind may derive benefits
therefrom. 
O Children of Adam! Holy words and pure and goodly deeds
ascend unto the heaven of celestial glory. Strive that your deeds may be
cleansed from the dust of self and hypocrisy and find favor at the court of
glory; for ere long the assayers of mankind shall, in the holy presence of the
Adored One, accept naught but absolute virtue and deeds of stainless purity.
This is the daystar of wisdom and of divine mystery that hath shone above the
horizon of the divine will. Blessed are they that turn thereunto.
Lauded be Thy name, O Lord my God! Thou dost witness that
Thy will hath prevailed over all created things, and Thy mercy hath surpassed
all who are in heaven and on earth. And when Thou didst purpose to unveil Thy
sovereignty, and to glorify Thy word, and to reveal Thy bounteousness and
mercy, Thou didst raise up one of Thy servants, and didst choose Him above all
Thy creatures, and didst single Him out for Thy purpose, and didst clothe Him
with the robe of Thy guidance, and didst immerse Him beneath the seas of Thy
majesty and grandeur, and didst sanctify Him from all that beseemeth not the
greatness of Thy glory and the power of Thy might, and didst bid Him to cry out
before all that are in heaven and on earth, and summon the multitudes to the
Manifestation of Thy Self and the Revealer of Thy signs.
Say: He is not to be numbered with the people of Bahá who
followeth his mundane desires, or fixeth his heart on things of the earth. He
is My true follower who, if he come to a valley of pure gold will pass straight
through it aloof as a cloud, and will neither turn back, nor pause. Such a man
is assuredly of Me. From his garment the Concourse on high can inhale the
fragrance of sanctity.... And if he met the fairest and most comely of women,
he would not feel his heart seduced by the least shadow of desire for her
beauty. Such an one indeed is the creation of spotless chastity. Thus
instructeth you the Pen of the Ancient of Days, as bidden by your Lord, the
Almighty, the All-Bountiful.
Say: God is indeed the Maker of all things. He giveth
sustenance in plenty to whomsoever He willeth. He is the Creator, the Source of
all beings, the Fashioner, the Almighty, the Maker, the All-Wise. He is the
Bearer of the most excellent titles throughout the heavens and the earth and
whatever lieth between them. All do His bidding, and all the dwellers of earth
and heaven celebrate His praise, and unto Him shall all return.
It behooveth the people of Bahá to die to the world and all
that is therein, to be so detached from all earthly things that the inmates of
Paradise may inhale from their garment the sweet smelling savor of sanctity....
They that have tarnished the fair name of the Cause of God by following the
things of the flesh—these are in palpable error!
From time immemorial He [God] hath been established upon the
seat of His sovereignty and through eternity will He continue to occupy the
inaccessible heights of His glory. Every created thing is impotent before the
evidences of His invincible might, and all beings fade into utter nothingness
when confronted with the revelation of His awesome majesty.
He [God] hath chosen out of the whole world the hearts of
His servants and made them each a seat for the revelation of His glory.
Wherefore, sanctify them from every defilement, that the things for which they
were created may be engraven upon them. This indeed is a token of God’s
bountiful favor.
Our hope is that the world’s religious leaders and the
rulers thereof will unitedly arise for the reformation of this age and the
rehabilitation of its fortunes. Let them, after meditating on its needs, take
counsel together and, through anxious and full deliberation, administer to a
diseased and sorely-afflicted world the remedy it requireth.
In the early days of Our arrival in this land, [Iraq] when
We discerned the signs of impending events, We decided, ere they happened, to
retire. We betook Ourselves to the wilderness, and there, separated and alone,
led for two years a life of complete solitude. From Our eyes there rained tears
of anguish, and in Our bleeding heart there surged an ocean of agonizing pain.
Many a night We had no food for sustenance, and many a day Our body found no
rest. By Him Who hath My being between His hands! notwithstanding these showers
of afflictions and unceasing calamities, Our soul was wrapt in blissful joy,
and Our whole being evinced an ineffable gladness.
To everyone We have been a most kindly companion, a most
forbearing and affectionate friend. In the company of the poor We have sought
their fellowship, and amidst the exalted and learned We have been submissive
and resigned. I swear by God, the one true God! grievous as have been the woes
and sufferings which the hand of the enemy and the people of the Book inflicted
upon Us, yet all these fade into utter nothingness when compared with that
which hath befallen Us at the hand of those who profess to be Our friends.
We fain would hope that the people of the Bayán will be
enlightened, will soar in the realm of the spirit and abide therein, will
discern the Truth, and recognize with the eye of insight dissembling falsehood.
In these days, however, such odours of jealousy are diffused, that—I swear by
the Educator of all beings, visible and invisible—from the beginning of the
foundation of the world—though it hath no beginning—until the present day, such
malice, envy, and hate have in no wise appeared, nor will they ever be
witnessed in the future.
We entreat the learned men of the Bayán not to follow in
such ways, not to inflict, at the time of Mustagháth, [1] upon Him Who is the
divine Essence, the heavenly Light, the absolute Eternity, the Beginning and
the End of the Manifestations of the Invisible, that which hath been inflicted
in this day. We beg them not to depend upon their intellect, their
comprehension and learning, nor to contend with the Revealer of celestial and
infinite knowledge.
O Companion of My Throne! Hear no evil, and see no evil,
abase not thyself, neither sigh and weep. Speak no evil, that thou mayest not
hear it spoken unto thee, and magnify not the faults of others that thine own
faults may not appear great; and wish not the abasement of anyone, that thine
own abasement be not exposed. Live then the days of thy life, that are less
than a fleeting moment, with thy mind stainless, thy heart unsullied, thy
thoughts pure, and thy nature sanctified, so that, free and content, thou
mayest put away this mortal frame, and repair unto the mystic paradise and
abide in the eternal kingdom for evermore.
The Great Being saith: O ye children of men! The fundamental
purpose animating the Faith of God and His Religion is to safeguard the
interests and promote the unity of the human race, and to foster the spirit of
love and fellowship amongst men. Suffer it not to become a source of dissension
and discord, of hate and enmity. This is the straight Path, the fixed and
immovable foundation. Whatsoever is raised on this foundation, the changes and
chances of the world can never impair its strength, nor will the revolution of
countless centuries undermine its structure.
The tribulations which I have suffered in this land
[Persia], no one of old hath suffered. Verily unto God shall revert the whole
affair, and He in truth is the best protector and is cognizant of all. The
things which have, from the first day till now, befallen Me at the hand of thy
people are but the work of Satan. [cf. Qur’án 4:119] Ever since the Cause of
thy Lord hath appeared none of thy deeds hath been acceptable, and thou hast
been lost in palpable error while all thou couldst see appeared to thee as
deeds performed for the sake of thy Lord. In truth thy day is nigh at hand and
thou shalt be questioned concerning all this, and assuredly God is not heedless
of the deeds of the wicked.
That one indeed is a man who, today, dedicateth himself to
the service of the entire human race. The Great Being saith: Blessed and happy
is he that ariseth to promote the best interests of the peoples and kindreds of
the earth. In another passage He hath proclaimed: It is not for him to pride
himself who loveth his own country, but rather for him who loveth the whole
world. The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens.
O My Friends! Walk ye in the ways of the good pleasure of
the Friend, and know that His pleasure is in the pleasure of His creatures.
That is: no man should enter the house of his friend save at his friend’s
pleasure, nor lay hands upon his treasures nor prefer his own will to his
friend’s, and in no wise seek an advantage over him. Ponder this, ye that have
insight!
…that ideal King [God] is, in Himself and by Himself,
sufficient unto Himself and independent of all things. Neither doth the love of
His creatures profit Him, nor can their malice harm Him. All have issued forth
from abodes of dust, and unto dust shall they return, while the one true God,
alone and single, is established upon His Throne, a Throne which is beyond the
reaches of time and space, is sanctified above all utterance or expression, intimation,
description and definition, and is exalted beyond all notion of abasement and
glory. And none knoweth this save Him and those with whom is the knowledge of
the Book. No God is there but Him, the Almighty, the All-Bountiful.