January 20

And now concerning the poor, thou hast written to ask whether it is permissible to pay them out of the Right of God. This is conditional upon permission having been granted. In each locality where the Right of God is being received, details of it must be submitted to His exalted presence together with a statement describing the position of the needy ones. Verily He doeth what He willeth and ordaineth what He pleaseth. If permission were to be given universally it would lead to strife and give rise to trouble. 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘Additional Tablets and Extracts from Tablets Revealed by Bahá’u’lláh’; Baha’i Reference Library of the Baha’i World Center)

January 19

We, verily, believe in Him Who, in the person of the Báb, hath been sent down by the Will of the one true God, the King of Kings, the All-Praised. We, moreover, swear fealty to the One Who, in the time of Mustagháth, is destined to be made manifest, as well as to those Who shall come after Him till the end that hath no end. We recognize in the manifestation of each one of them, whether outwardly or inwardly, the manifestation of none but God Himself, if ye be of those that comprehend. Every one of them is a mirror of God, reflecting naught else but His Self, His Beauty, His Might and Glory, if ye will understand. All else besides them are to be regarded as mirrors capable of reflecting the glory of these Manifestations Who are themselves the Primary Mirrors of the Divine Being, if ye be not devoid of understanding. No one hath ever escaped them, neither are they to be hindered from achieving their purpose. These Mirrors will everlastingly succeed each other, and will continue to reflect the light of the Ancient of Days. They that reflect their glory will, in like manner, continue to exist for evermore, for the Grace of God can never cease from flowing. This is a truth that none can disprove. 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah’)

January 18

If the learned ones of the earth were all present at the time of the revealing of Our verses, know ye of a certainty that they would all acknowledge the truth of this Revelation. 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘Additional Tablets and Extracts from Tablets Revealed by Bahá’u’lláh’; Baha’i Reference Library of the Baha’i World Center)

January 17

In this Day the Bayán is conditioned and dependent upon the acceptance of this Most Great Revelation. We, verily, did send down unto My Herald that which caused the Books of God, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting, to rejoice. We sent it unto Him and, when it reached Him and He perused it, He was so transported by the breaths of Revelation that with His whole being He soared into Mine atmosphere, and purposed to attain My presence and to stand before My face. Such was the vibrant influence of Our words upon Him as no tongue can ever tell, nor any pen recount. To this testifieth the Mother Book in this, the Day of Return. We, verily, concealed the root of the Cause in order to ensure its preservation—this in token of Our wisdom, and I, truly, am the All-Glorious, the Unconstrained. He doeth what He willeth and shall not be asked of what He pleaseth to ordain. He is the God of strength, of glory and of wisdom. 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘Additional Tablets and Extracts from Tablets Revealed by Bahá’u’lláh’; Baha’i Reference Library of the Baha’i World Center)

January 16

This Huqúq which hath been mentioned, and the command of which hath issued forth from the horizon of God’s Holy Tablet, hath benefits which are the prescribed lot of the individuals themselves. By God! Were the people to know what hath been concealed from their eyes and become fully aware of the ocean of grace which lieth hid within this divine command, all the people of the world would offer everything they possess in order to be mentioned by Him. Blessed is the man who hath been privileged to observe that which he hath been commanded by God, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise....

As bidden by Him, no one is allowed to solicit payment of the Ḥuqúq. In the Book of God everyone is enjoined to offer the Ḥuqúq spontaneously and in a spirit of joy and fellowship. I beseech Him, the Most Exalted, to graciously enable everyone to do that which is pleasing and acceptable unto Him. 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘Additional Tablets and Extracts from Tablets Revealed by Bahá’u’lláh’; Baha’i Reference Library of the Baha’i World Center)

January 15

By the righteousness of God! The sword of a virtuous character and upright conduct is sharper than blades of steel. The voice of the true Faith calleth aloud, at this moment, and saith: O people! Verily, the Day is come, and My Lord hath made Me to shine forth with a light whose splendor hath eclipsed the suns of utterance. Fear ye the Merciful, and be not of them that have gone astray.” 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘Epistle to the Son of the Wolf’)

January 14

All should know, and in this regard attain the splendours of the sun of certitude, and be illumined thereby: Women and men have been and will always be equal in the sight of God. The Dawning-Place of the Light of God sheddeth its radiance upon all with the same effulgence. Verily God created women for men, and men for women. The most beloved of people before God are the most steadfast and those who have surpassed others in their love for God, exalted be His glory....

The friends of God must be adorned with the ornament of justice, equity, kindness, and love. As they do not allow themselves to be the object of cruelty and transgression, in like manner they should not allow such tyranny to visit the handmaidens of God. He, verily, speaketh the truth and commandeth that which benefiteth His servants and handmaidens. He is the Protector of all in this world and the next. 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘Additional Tablets and Extracts from Tablets Revealed by Bahá’u’lláh’; Baha’i Reference Library of the Baha’i World Center)

January 13

Say, O friends! Strive that haply the tribulations suffered by this Wronged One and by you, in the path of God, may not prove to have been in vain. Cling ye to the hem of virtue, and hold fast to the cord of trustworthiness and piety. Concern yourselves with the things that benefit mankind, and not with your corrupt and selfish desires. O ye followers of this Wronged One! Ye are the shepherds of mankind; liberate ye your flocks from the wolves of evil passions and desires, and adorn them with the ornament of the fear of God. This is the firm commandment which hath, at this moment, flowed out from the Pen of Him Who is the Ancient of Days. 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘Epistle to the Son of the Wolf’)

January 12

It is incumbent upon every man of insight and understanding to strive to translate that which hath been written into reality and action.... 

- 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)

January 11

O assemblage of rulers! Ye are the manifestations of power and might, and the fountainheads of the glory, greatness, and authority of God Himself. Gaze upon the plight of the wronged ones. O daysprings of justice! The fierce gales of rancour and hatred have extinguished the lamps of virtue and piety. At dawn, the gentle breeze of divine compassion hath wafted over charred and cast-out bodies, whispering these exalted words: “Woe, woe unto you, O people of Iran! Ye have spilt the blood of your own friends and yet remain in ignorance of what ye have done. Should ye become aware of the deeds ye have perpetrated, ye would flee to the desert and bewail your crimes and tyranny.”

O misguided ones! What sin have the little children committed? Hath anyone, in these days, had pity on the dependants of the oppressed? A report hath reached Us that the followers of the Spirit [1]—may the peace of God and His mercy be upon Him—secretly sent them provisions and befriended them out of utmost sympathy. We beseech God, the Eternal Truth, to confirm all in accomplishing that which is pleasing to Him. 

- 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] Jesus

January 10

We have admonished all the loved ones of God to take heed lest the hem of Our sacred vesture be smirched with the mire of unlawful deeds, or be stained with the dust of reprehensible conduct. 

- Baha’u’llah  (Quoted by Shoghi Effendi in ‘The Advent of Divine Justice)

January 9

O “Times”, O thou endowed with the power of utterance! O dawning-place of news! Spend an hour with the oppressed of Iran, and witness how the exemplars of justice and equity are sorely tried beneath the sword of tyrants. Infants have been deprived of milk, and women and children have fallen captive to the lawless. The blood of God’s lovers hath dyed the earth red, and the sighs of His near ones have set the universe ablaze.

……

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)

January 8

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

January 7

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”.

January 6

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’)

January 5

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)

January 4

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)

January 3

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')

January 2

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)

January 1

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’)