April 11

Alas, alas, for that which ye have inflicted upon this wronged, this banished and forsaken Soul! Nor do I know what ye will inflict upon Him [Baha’u’llah] hereafter. Nay, by Myself, the All-Knowing! I do verily know, for with Me is the knowledge of all things in a Tablet that God hath shielded from the gaze of those who have joined partners with Him. We apprised Him aforetime of the things that have befallen or will befall Him, even though He Himself is well informed of all that the hearts of men conceal. For nothing can escape His knowledge, and whatever hath been created by a mere word from His mouth can never slip from His grasp. No God is there but Him, the Peerless, the Creator, the Quickener, the Destroyer. 

- The Báb  (Quoted by Baha’u’llah; ‘Days of Remembrance’)

April 10

Were a man in this day to adorn himself with the raiment of trustworthiness it were better for him in the sight of God than that he should journey on foot towards the holy court and be blessed with meeting the Adored One and standing before His Seat of Glory. Trustworthiness is as a stronghold to the city of humanity, and as eyes to the human temple. Whosoever remaineth deprived thereof shall, before His Throne, be reckoned as one bereft of vision. 

- Baha’u’llah  (The Compilation of Compilations, Vol. II, Trustworthiness)

April 9

The betterment of the world can be accomplished through pure and goodly deeds, through commendable and seemly conduct.... 

- Bahá'u'lláh  (cited in ‘The Advent of Divine Justice’ by Shoghi Effendi; The Compilation of Compilations vol. I, A Chase and Holy Life)

April 8

I have made all things conditional upon His [Baha’u’llah’s] approval and pleasure. He it is, in truth, Who is the Lord of the worlds and the Object of the desire of every searching soul. Were ye to open your eyes, ye would verily behold the Manifestations of “He doeth whatsoever He willeth” worshipping under His shadow. Yet ye have done to Him what even the people of the Qur’án dared not do to Myself, nor the Jews to Christ. Alas, alas! My heart is consumed with anguish and My soul groaneth at what hath befallen My Beloved at the hands of the infidels. Woe unto you for your faithlessness, O concourse of oppressors! We, verily, created faithfulness and courtesy for His sake, that perchance ye would not commit, in the time of His appearance, aught that would cause Mine inner reality and the realities of all things to lament. But ye have transgressed that which was laid down in the Book of God, the King, the Most Exalted, the Most Great. Ye have rent asunder the veil of restraint and cast aside the vesture of propriety, and ye have committed that which the Pen of creation is abashed to recount before the dwellers of earth and heaven. 

- The Báb  (Quoted by Baha’u’llah; ‘Days of Remembrance’)

April 7

The Pen of the Most High hath ordained that the Huququ'lláh is payable on nineteen mithqals of gold. That is, the Huquq is levied on money equalling this amount. As to other possessions in silver or otherwise, it is payable when they equal this in value, not in number. The Huququ'lláh is payable only once; for example if a person acquireth a thousand mithqals in gold and payeth the Huquq thereof, the Right of God ceaseth to be applicable to that amount, except in regard to what accrueth to it through commerce and transactions; when such profits reach the prescribed minimum, one must carry out what God hath decreed. When, however, the original sum changeth hands, the Huquq is again payable as it was the first time; in this event the Right of God must be given. 

- Baha’u’llah  (The Compilation of Compilation, vol. I, Huqúqu'lláh)

April 6

I swear by My life! If I have made mention of “lordship”, I have intended only His [Baha’u’llah’s] lordship over all things. If the word “divinity” hath ever flowed from My pen, I have intended naught but His divinity in relation to the world; and if an allusion to the “Desired One” hath proceeded therefrom, I have had none other in mind than Him. So too, in regard to the word “Beloved”, He, indeed, is My Beloved and the Beloved of every understanding heart. If I have spoken of “prostration”, I have meant only prostration before His exalted, His glorious and sublime Countenance. If I have praised any soul, Mine aim hath only been to celebrate His praise. And if I have bidden the people to act, My sole purpose hath been that they should act in accordance with His good-pleasure on the day of His Manifestation. Unto this beareth witness whatsoever was sent down unto Me from the kingdom of My Lord, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. 

- The Báb  (Quoted by Baha’u’llah; ‘Days of Remembrance’) 

April 5

O Son of Man! If thou lovest Me, turn away from thyself; and if thou seekest My pleasure, regard not thine own; that thou mayest die in Me and I may eternally live in thee. 

- Baha'u'llah  (The Hidden Words)

April 4

Say: God hath made My hidden love the key to the Treasure; would that ye might perceive it! But for the key, the Treasure would to all eternity have remained concealed; would that ye might believe it! Say: This is the Source of Revelation, the Dawning-place of Splendour, Whose brightness hath illumined the horizons of the world. Would that ye might understand! This is, verily, that fixed Decree through which every irrevocable decree hath been established. 

- Baha'u'llah  (The Kitab-i-Aqdas)

April 3

He Who is both the Beginning and the End, He Who is both Stillness and Motion, is now manifest before your eyes. Behold how, in this Day, the Beginning is reflected in the End, how out of Stillness Motion hath been engendered. This motion hath been generated by the potent energies which the words of the Almighty have released throughout the entire creation. Whoso hath been quickened by its vitalizing power, will find himself impelled to attain the court of the Beloved; and whoso hath deprived himself therefrom, will sink into irretrievable despondency. 

- Baha'u'llah  ('Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah')

April 2

He is truly wise whom the world and all that is therein have not deterred from recognizing the light of this Day, who will not allow men's idle talk to cause him to swerve from the way of righteousness. He is indeed as one dead who, at the wondrous dawn of this Revelation, hath failed to be quickened by its soul-stirring breeze. He is indeed a captive who hath not recognized the Supreme Redeemer, but hath suffered his soul to be bound, distressed and helpless, in the fetters of his desires. 

- Baha'u'llah  ('Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah')

April 1

Say: No man can attain his true station except through his justice. No power can exist except through unity. No welfare and no well-being can be attained except through consultation. 

- Baha’u’llah  (From a Tablet; compilation: ‘Consultation’, prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice, February 1978, Revised November 1990; Baha’i World Center website)

March 31

I testify in my present state, O my Lord, and against the will of him who hath turned his back to Thee, that Thou art God, and that there is none other God beside Thee. This, verily, is the Day wherewith Thy Scriptures, and Thy Books, and Thy Tablets, have been adorned. And He Who now speaketh is, in truth, the Well-guarded Treasure, and the Hidden Secret, and the Preserved Tablet, and the Impenetrable Mystery, and the Sealed Book. He, truly, is to be obeyed in whatsoever He commandeth, and decreeth, and revealeth, and is to be loved in everything He, through His sovereignty, enjoineth, and, through His power, ordaineth. Whoso will hesitate for less than the twinkling of an eye, hath, verily, denied Thy right, and repudiated all that Thou hast revealed in Thy Books, and in Thy Scriptures, and sent down with Thy chosen Ones, and Thy Prophets, and Thy Messengers, and the Trustees of Thy Revelation. 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘Prayers and Meditations by Baha’u’llah’)

March 30

Incline your ears to the words of this unlettered One, wherewith He summoneth you unto God, the Ever-Abiding. Better is this for you than all the treasures of the earth, could ye but comprehend it.... 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘Epistle to the Son of the Wolf’; The Compilation of Compilations, vol. I, The Importance of Deepening our Knowledge of the Faith)

March 29

Grieve not on account of Our adversity, but be patient even as We have been patient. He, in truth, is the best of helpers. Remember thy Lord in the daytime and in the night season, and extol His praise amidst His servants. Haply the fire of His love will thereby be kindled in the hearts of the righteous, and all shall arise in turn to extol God, their Lord, the Lord of the seen and the unseen, and the Lord of your sires of old. 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘Days of Remembrance’)

March 28

Thou art He, O my God, Who hath commanded them in Thy great Book, and said: “Fear ye the Most Merciful, O people of the Bayán, and deny not Him for Whom I have ordained the Bayán to be one of the leaves of His Paradise. I, verily, esteem it as a gift from me unto Him. Were it His pleasure to accept it, He, truly, is the Most Bountiful; and if He cast it away and refuse to consider it, His verdict is just, and He, in very truth, is Praiseworthy in His acts, and meet to be obeyed in His behests. To none is given the right to cavil at Him.” 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘Prayers and Meditations by Baha’u’llah’)

March 27

The friends of God, one and all, are remembered by the Supreme Pen: The bounties of the Source of Bounty are at every moment visibly descending. It behoveth the friends in whatever land they be, to gather together in meetings, and therein to speak wisely and with eloquence, and to read the verses of God; for it is God's Words that kindle love's fire and set it ablaze. 

- Bahá'u'lláh  (compilation ‘Baha’i Meetings’, prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice)

March 26

I give praise to Thee, O my God, that the fragrance of Thy loving-kindness hath enraptured me, and the gentle winds of Thy mercy have inclined me in the direction of Thy bountiful favors. Make me to quaff, O my Lord, from the fingers of Thy bounteousness the living waters which have enabled every one that hath partaken of them to rid himself of all attachment to any one save Thee, and to soar into the atmosphere of detachment from all Thy creatures, and to fix his gaze upon Thy loving providence and Thy manifold gifts.

Make me ready, in all circumstances, O my Lord, to serve Thee and to set myself towards the adored sanctuary of Thy Revelation and of Thy Beauty. If it be Thy pleasure, make me to grow as a tender herb in the meadows of Thy grace, that the gentle winds of Thy will may stir me up and bend me into conformity with Thy pleasure, in such wise that my movement and my stillness may be wholly directed by Thee. 

- Baha'u'llah  (‘Prayers and Meditations by Baha'u'llah’)

March 25

Say: But for Him the word “love” would never have been written, nor would the letters of the name of the Beloved have been joined together,[1] nor would creation itself have been brought into being, would that ye might understand! But for Him I would never have surrendered Myself into the hands of the ungodly nor consented to be suspended in the air. By God! I have borne, in My love and yearning for Him, that which no other Prophet or Messenger hath borne, and I have acquiesced to bear all this Myself, that He might never be made to endure aught that would sadden His most kind and tender, His most pure and sanctified heart. We admonished you throughout the Bayán not to be the cause of grief to any soul, that haply no sorrow should ever befall Him. Otherwise, why would I have exhorted you and occupied Myself with your care, O assemblage of wavering ones? I intended in the Bayán none other than Him, I extolled no praise but His praise, and I uttered no name save His most blessed and most exalted, His most holy and most wondrous name. 

- Bahá’u’lláh  (From a Tablet; Baha'u'llah speaks in the voice of the Báb; ‘Days of Remembrance’)

[1] The letters Há’ and Bá’ spell the word hubb (love), while Há’ and Váv constitute the word Huva (He).

March 24

Immeasurably exalted is Thy true state above the description or knowledge of anyone besides Thee, and sanctified art Thou from the glorification of Thy creatures and the praise of Thy servants in their attempts to ascend unto Thee. Whatsoever appeareth from Thy servants is limited by the limitations of their own selves and is created by their own idle fancies and imaginings.

Alas, alas, O my Beloved, for mine inability to befittingly praise Thee and for my shortcomings during Thy days! If I acclaim Thee, O my God, as Him Who knoweth all things, I readily perceive that shouldst Thou point to a mute rock with a single finger of Thy will, Thou wouldst enable it to unfold the knowledge of all past and future ages; and if I extol Thee as the All-Powerful, I find that one word issuing from the mouth of Thy purpose is sufficient to convulse the heavens and the earth.

Thy glory beareth me witness, O Beloved of all that recognize Thee, should any learned one fail to confess his ignorance before the revelations of Thy knowledge, he would be accounted the most ignorant of Thy people; and should any mighty one refuse to admit his weakness before the evidences of Thy power, he would be considered the weakest and the most heedless of Thy creatures. Given my knowledge and certainty that this is so, how can I extol Thee or describe and praise Thee? Wherefore, knowing my weakness, I have hastened toward the shelter of Thy strength; and realizing my poverty, I have sought refuge under the shadow of Thy wealth; and recognizing my powerlessness, I have arisen to stand before the tabernacle of Thy power and might. Wilt thou cast away this poor one after he hath taken no one but Thee as his succourer, or turn away this stranger after he hath found no one but Thee to be his true beloved? 

- Baha’u’llah  (compilation: The Importance of Obligatory Prayer and Fasting, prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice)

March 23

Thou has asked which is to take precedence: the Huququ'lláh, the debts of the deceased, or the cost of burial. It is God's command that the cost of burial take precedence, then payment of debts, then the Right of God. Verily He is the One Who will pay due recompense, the All- Rewarding, the All-Generous. If the property is not equal to the debts, the estate must be distributed in direct proportion to each debt. The settlement of debts is a most important command set forth in the Book. Well is it with him who ascendeth unto God, without any obligations to Huququ'lláh and to His servants. It is evident that the Huququ'lláh hath priority over all other liabilities; however, as a token of mercy, He Who is the Dawning-Place of Revelation hath commanded that which hath been revealed by His life-giving and omniscient Pen in this Tablet. 

- Baha’u’llah  (The Compilation of Compilation, vol. I, Huqúqu'lláh)