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O newspapers published throughout the cities and countries of the world! Have ye heard the groan of the downtrodden, and have their cries of anguish reached your ears? Or have these remained concealed? It is hoped that ye will investigate the truth of what hath occurred and vindicate it.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Additional Tablets and Extracts from Tablets Revealed by Bahá’u’lláh’; Baha’i Reference Library of the Baha’i World Center)
It is incumbent upon these servants [1] to cleanse the heart, which is the wellspring of divine treasures, of every marking; turn away from imitation, which is following the traces of their forefathers; and shut the door of friendship and enmity upon all the people of the earth.
- Baha’u’llah ('The Seven Valleys', revised translation by the Baha’i World Center included in ‘The Call of the Divine Beloved’)
[1] Those going through the Valley of Search
He is the Eternal.
Husayn, son of ‘Ayn [1]
Wealth and children are the adornment of this present life; but good works, which are lasting, are better in the sight of thy Lord as to recompense, and better as to hope. [2]
This son hath been an adornment of the Most Exalted Paradise and we see him now, through God’s grace and bounty, engaged in sightseeing [3] in the heavenly realms.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Additional Tablets and Extracts from Tablets Revealed by Bahá’u’lláh’; Baha’i Reference Library of the Baha’i World Center)
[1] Inscription on the tombstone of Husayn, son of the beloved Master. ‘Ayn is the first letter of his Father’s name, ‘Abbás.
[2] Cf. Qur’án 18:46.
[3] In the original Persian Bahá’u’lláh makes a fond play on the word “tamáshá” which means “sightseeing”, a word which the little child mispronounced as “tabáshá”, which has no meaning. Thus in the inscription: “we see Our ‘tabáshá’ now engaged in ‘tamáshá’ in the heavenly realms”.
It is incumbent upon the kings and the spiritual leaders of the world to lay fast hold on religion, inasmuch as through it the fear of God is instilled in all else but Him.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Epistle to the Son of the Wolf’)
After Socrates came the divine Plato who was a pupil of the former and occupied the chair of philosophy as his successor. He acknowledged his belief in God and in His signs which pervade all that hath been and shall be. Then came Aristotle, the well-known man of knowledge. He it is who discovered the power of gaseous matter. These men who stand out as leaders of the people and are pre-eminent among them, one and all acknowledged their belief in the immortal Being Who holdeth in His grasp the reins of all sciences.
- Baha'u'llah (From Lawh-i-Hikmat, ‘Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh Revealed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas’; compilation ‘Socrates’, prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice)
We have caused thee to return to thy home as a token of Our mercy unto thy mother, inasmuch as We have found her overwhelmed with sorrow. We have enjoined you in the Book “to worship no one but God and to show kindness to your parents”. [cf. Qur’án 17:23] Thus hath the one true God spoken and the decree hath been fulfilled by the Almighty, the All-Wise. Therefore We have caused thee to return unto her and unto thy sister, that thy mother’s eyes may thereby be cheered, and she may be of the thankful.
Say, O My people! Show honour to your parents and pay homage to them. This will cause blessings to descend upon you from the clouds of the bounty of your Lord, the Exalted, the Great.
When We learned of her sadness, We directed thee to return unto her, as a token of mercy unto thee from Our presence, and as an admonishment for others.
Beware lest ye commit that which would sadden the hearts of your fathers and mothers. Follow ye the path of Truth, which indeed is a straight path. Should anyone give you a choice between the opportunity to render a service to Me and a service to them, choose ye to serve them, and let such service be a path leading you to Me. This is My exhortation and command unto thee. Observe therefore that which thy Lord, the Mighty, the Gracious, hath prescribed unto thee.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Additional Tablets and Extracts from Tablets Revealed by Bahá’u’lláh’; Baha’i Reference Library of the Baha’i World Center)
Through the grace of God nothing can frustrate My purpose, and I am fully conscious of that which God hath bestowed upon Me as a token of His favour. If it were My will, I would disclose to Your Majesty all things; but I have not done this, nor will I do it, that the Truth may be distinguished from aught else beside it, and this prophecy uttered by the Imám Báqir—may peace rest upon Him—be fully realized: ‘What must needs befall us in Ádhirbayján is inevitable and without parallel. When this happeneth, rest ye in your homes and remain patient as we have remained patient. As soon as the Mover moveth make ye haste to attain unto Him, even though ye have to crawl over the snow.’
- The Báb (From an Epistle to Muhammad Shah, ‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb')
Teach ye your children so that they may peruse the divine verses every morn and eve. God hath prescribed unto every father to educate his children, both boys and girls, in the sciences and in morals, and in crafts and professions. Thus have We instructed you in Our Most Holy Book, revealed by Us from Our all-hallowed Realm. Well is it with him who cleaveth fast to this with a power from Our own Self; he verily is a man related to this Station.
Make ye an effort that there may issue forth from you that which befitteth the days of your God, the King before Whom all heads bow down.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Additional Tablets and Extracts from Tablets Revealed by Bahá’u’lláh’; Baha’i Reference Library of the Baha’i World Center)
From the exalted source, and out of the essence of His favor and bounty He hath entrusted every created thing with a sign of His knowledge, so that none of His creatures may be deprived of its share in expressing, each according to its capacity and rank, this knowledge. This sign is the mirror of His beauty in the world of creation. The greater the effort exerted for the refinement of this sublime and noble mirror, the more faithfully will it be made to reflect the glory of the names and attributes of God, and reveal the wonders of His signs and knowledge. … There can be no doubt whatever that, in consequence of the efforts which every man may consciously exert and as a result of the exertion of his own spiritual faculties, this mirror can be so cleansed from the dross of earthly defilements and purged from satanic fancies as to be able to draw nigh unto the meads of eternal holiness and attain the courts of everlasting fellowship.
- Baha'u'llah (‘Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah’)
- Baha’u’llah (‘Additional Tablets and Extracts from Tablets Revealed by Bahá’u’lláh’; Baha’i Reference Library of the Baha’i World Center)
Whatever is written should not transgress the bounds of tact and wisdom, and in the words used there should lie hid the property of milk, so that the children of the world may be nurtured therewith, and attain maturity. We have said in the past that one word hath the influence of spring and causeth hearts to become fresh and verdant, while another is like unto blight which causeth the blossoms and flowers to wither. God grant that authors among the friends will write in such a way as would be acceptable to fair-minded souls, and not lead to cavilling by the people.
- Bahá’u’lláh (From a Tablet; compilation: ‘Social Action’,
prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice, August
2020, online Baha’i Reference Library of the Baha’i World Center)
… I hold within My grasp whatsoever any man might wish of the good of this world and of the next. Were I to remove the veil, all would recognize Me as their Best Beloved, and no one would deny Me. Let not this assertion astound Your Majesty; inasmuch as a true believer in the unity of God who keepeth his eyes directed towards Him alone, will regard aught else but Him as utter nothingness. I swear by God! I seek no earthly goods from thee, be it as much as a mustard seed. Indeed, to possess anything of this world or of the next would, in My estimation, be tantamount to open blasphemy. For it ill beseemeth the believer in the unity of God to turn his gaze to aught else, much less to hold it in his possession. I know of a certainty that since I have God, the Ever-Living, the Adored One, I am the possessor of all things, visible and invisible...
- The Báb (From an Epistle to Muhammad Shah, ‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb)
Thou hast mentioned the station of parents in the next world. One of the special bounties of this Dispensation is that the sun of divine favour will shine upon the parents of any soul who hath recognized the Dayspring of the Cause of God, even though they themselves may not have attained to His recognition. This is one of His bounties bestowed upon His loved ones. Render thanks, then, and be of those who are grateful.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Additional Tablets and Extracts from Tablets Revealed by Bahá’u’lláh’; Baha’i Reference Library of the Baha’i World Center)
O My Leaf! [1] ...Thou art with the Supreme Companion, and this Wronged One is making mention of thee in the Prison of ‘Akká. Thou art she who, before the creation of the world of being, found the fragrance of the garment of the Merciful.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Additional Tablets and Extracts from Tablets Revealed by Bahá’u’lláh’; Baha’i Reference Library of the Baha’i World Center)
[1] Khadíjih Bagum
The people of the world have grievously erred, for they fondly imagine that they can exterminate the Cause of God, that they would be able to extinguish His effulgent light, and to put out His heavenly lamps. Vain indeed are their imaginings. I swear by the righteousness of God that the more they endeavour to quench His Light, the brighter will it shine, and the more they strive to smother its flame, the fiercer will it burn. God's invincible Will far transcendeth their devices, and His Purpose is supreme above all human desires, inasmuch as all that is in the heavens and all that is on the earth have been called into being through a single holy breeze --the Word of His command--wafted from His presence, and all shall be brought to naught through but one letter of His. From time immemorial He 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.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Fire and Light: Excerpts from the Bahá'í Sacred Writings by Báb, The, Bahá'u'lláh, Abdu'l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi’ Compiled by Research Department of the Universal House of Justice; The Baha’i World 1979-1983)
Blessed is he who in the days of God will engage in handicrafts. This is a bounty from God, for in this Most Great Dispensation it is acceptable in the sight of God for man to occupy himself in a trade which relieveth him of depending upon charity. The craft of every craftsman is regarded as worship.
- Bahá’u’lláh (From a Tablet—translated from the Persian; compilation: ‘Social Action’, prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice, August 2020, online Baha’i Reference Library of the Baha’i World Center)
O ye friends of God in His cities and His loved ones in His lands! This Wronged One enjoineth on you honesty and piety. Blessed the city that shineth by their light. Through them man is exalted, and the door of security is unlocked before the face of all creation. Happy the man that cleaveth fast unto them, and recognizeth their virtue, and woe betide him that denieth their station.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Epistle to the Son of the Wolf’ The Compilation of Compilations, Vol. II, Trustworthiness)
He Who is the Heart and Center of the Bayan hath written: "The germ that holdeth within itself the potentialities of the Revelation that is to come is endowed with a potency superior to the combined forces of all those who follow Me." And, again, He saith: "Of all the tributes I have paid to Him Who is to come after Me, the greatest is this, My written confession, that no words of Mine can adequately describe Him, nor can any reference to Him in My Book, the Bayan, do justice to His Cause."
- Baha'u'llah (‘Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah’)
Behold, how the divers peoples and kindreds of the earth have been waiting for the coming of the Promised One. No sooner had He, Who is the Sun of Truth, been made manifest, than, lo, all turned away from Him, except them whom God was pleased to guide. We dare not, in this Day, lift the veil that concealeth the exalted station which every true believer can attain, for the joy which such a revelation must provoke might well cause a few to faint away and die.
- Baha'u'llah (‘Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah’)
- Baha'u'llah (‘Tablets of Baha'u'llah revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas’)