February 8

Humility exalteth man to the heaven of glory and power, whilst pride abaseth him to the depths of wretchedness and degradation. 

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

February 7

Great is the Day, and mighty the Call! In one of Our Tablets We have revealed these exalted words: ‘Were the world of the spirit to be wholly converted into the sense of hearing, it could then claim to be worthy to hearken unto the Voice that calleth from the Supreme Horizon; for otherwise, these ears that are defiled with lying tales have never been, nor are they now, fit to hear it.’ Well is it with them that hearken; and woe betide the wayward. 

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

February 6

His first enquiry concerneth the fact that, in the Scriptures of the past, Isaac is said to have been sacrificed unto God, whereas in the Qur’án this station—that is, the sacrifice unto God—hath been revealed and recorded for Ishmael. What he hath mentioned is undoubtedly the truth. All people must, however, fix their gaze upon the Word that hath dawned from the horizon of Divine Utterance. It is incumbent upon every soul to ponder its sovereignty and pervading influence, its might and all-encompassing power. There can be no doubt that these matters are confirmed and proven only through the Word of God. It is the Word of God that standeth supreme over all things. It is the begetter of the world and the educator of its people. It summoneth them that wander athirst in the vale of separation to direct their steps towards the ocean of reunion. It illuminateth the darkness of ignorance with the morning light of knowledge. 

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

February 5

Thou pridest thyself in the things thou dost possess, yet no believer in God and in His signs, nor any righteous man would ever deign to regard them. This mortal life is like unto the carcass of a dog, around which none would gather, nor would any partake thereof, except those who gainsay the life hereafter. Verily it is incumbent upon thee to become a true believer in God, the All-Possessing, the Almighty, and to turn away from the one who guideth thee into the torment of hell-fire. 

- The Báb  (An extract from an Epistle to Muhammad Shah, ‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb)

February 4

The state of affairs hath changed, the countries are agitated, and Islam hath thereby been weakened and is beset by enemies. It is incumbent upon this people to supplicate God, at morn and at eventide, and beseech Him to confirm the entire community of the followers of Islam to attain that which is beloved and pleasing unto Him, to raise them up through the power of His might and sovereignty, and to make known unto them that which will exalt their stations and will transmute their abasement into glory, their poverty into wealth, their ruin into prosperity, their agitation into quiet calm, and their fear into peace and security. He is, verily, the All-Merciful. There is no God but Him, the All-Bounteous, the All-Glorious. 

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

February 3

Leaders of religion, in every age, have hindered their people from attaining the shores of eternal salvation, inasmuch as they held the reins of authority in their mighty grasp. Some for the lust of leadership, others through want of knowledge and understanding, have been the cause of the deprivation of the people. By their sanction and authority, every Prophet of God hath drunk from the chalice of sacrifice, and winged His flight unto the heights of glory. What unspeakable cruelties they that have occupied the seats of authority and learning have inflicted upon the true Monarchs of the world, those Gems of divine virtue! Content with a transitory dominion, they have deprived themselves of an everlasting sovereignty. Thus, their eyes beheld not the light of the countenance of the Well-Beloved, nor did their ears hearken unto the sweet melodies of the Bird of Desire. 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘The Kitab-i-Iqan’)

February 2

The truth is manifest, the kingdom of utterance is resplendent, and the Day of God is clearly revealed! And yet souls who would, wholly for the sake of God, awaken the people and guide them to the True One are as scarce as the philosopher’s stone!

How many the lands that remained untilled and uncultivated; and how many the lands that were tilled and cultivated, and yet remained without water; and how many the lands which, when the harvest time arrived, no harvester came forth to reap! However, through the wonders of God’s favour and the revelations of His loving-kindness, We cherish the hope that souls may appear who are the embodiments of heavenly virtue and who will occupy themselves with teaching the Cause of God and training all that dwell on earth. 

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

February 1

O Husayn! O thou Preceptor! From His Most Great Prison, the countenance of the Ancient of Days is turned towards thee, and He teacheth thee that which will draw thee nigh unto God, the Lord of mankind. Blessed is that teacher who shall arise to instruct the children, and to guide the people into the pathways of God, the Bestower, the Well-Beloved. 

- Baha’u’llah  (The Compilation of Compilations’, vol. I, Baha’i Education)

January 31

Among the Prophets was Noah. For nine hundred and fifty years He prayerfully exhorted His people and summoned them to the haven of security and peace. None, however, heeded His call. Each day they inflicted on His blessed person such pain and suffering that no one believed He could survive. How frequently they denied Him, how malevolently they hinted their suspicion against Him! Thus it hath been revealed: “And as often as a company of His people passed by Him, they derided Him. To them He said: ‘Though ye scoff at us now, we will scoff at you hereafter even as ye scoff at us. In the end ye shall know.’”[Qur’án 11:38] Long afterward, He several times promised victory to His companions and fixed the hour thereof. But when the hour struck, the divine promise was not fulfilled. This caused a few among the small number of His followers to turn away from Him, and to this testify the records of the best-known books. These you must certainly have perused; if not, undoubtedly you will. Finally, as stated in books and traditions, there remained with Him only forty or seventy-two of His followers. At last from the depth of His being He cried aloud: “Lord! Leave not upon the land a single dweller from among the unbelievers.”[Qur’án 71:26] 

- Baha’u’llah  (’The Kitab-i-Iqan’)

January 30

During these days the laws of God have shone forth from the Dayspring of Divine utterance. God willing, they will be sent on later. The following two blessed verses have been revealed in that most exalted, most holy Tablet: “Amongst the people is he who seateth himself amid the sandals by the door whilst coveting in his heart the seat of honour. Say: What manner of man art thou, O vain and heedless one, who wouldst appear as other than thou art? And among the people is he who layeth claim to inner knowledge, and still deeper knowledge concealed within this knowledge. Say: Thou speakest false! By God! What thou dost possess is naught but husks which We have left to thee as bones are left to dogs.” Observe how every vain and worthless soul hath caused a narrow gulf to branch out from the most great Ocean and, prompted by idle imaginings and corrupt desires, hath provoked divisions amongst the people of Islam through evil scheming and deceptions. 

- 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 29

…certain feeble souls have confined the wide expanse of knowledge within the walls of self and passion, and beneath the cloak of ignorance and blindness, and have thereby veiled themselves from the light of the mystic Sun and the mysteries of the eternal Beloved. They have strayed far from the gem-like wisdom of the resplendent Faith of the Lord of the Messengers,[1] have been shut out of the inner court of the All-Beauteous, and have been banished from the Kaaba of glory. Such is the worth of the people of this age! 

- Baha’u’llah  (The Seven Valleys, revised translation by the Baha’i World Center included in ‘The Call of the Divine Beloved’)

[1] The Prophet Muhammad

January 28

We admonish you to observe trustworthiness, piety, chastity, honesty, and fidelity. In this day, and from this time forth, the hosts of God are none other but goodly deeds and a praiseworthy character. Aid ye the True One with these hosts.… 

- 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 27

No man shall attain the shores of the ocean of true understanding except he be detached from all that is in heaven and on earth. Sanctify your souls, O ye peoples of the world, that haply ye may attain that station which God hath destined for you and enter thus the tabernacle which, according to the dispensations of Providence, hath been raised in the firmament of the Bayán. 

-Baha’u’llah  (‘The Kitab-i-Iqan’)

January 26

O people of the world! The fruits of the tree of man are justice and fair-mindedness. Should he not be possessed of these fruits, he is fit but for the fire. Pride hath blinded both their outer and their inner vision. The world is in need of two things: order and justice.… 

- 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 25

It hath been laid down in the Bayan that marriage is dependent upon the consent of both parties. Desiring to establish love, unity and harmony amidst Our servants, We have conditioned it, once the couple's wish is known, upon the permission of their parents, lest enmity and rancour should arise amongst them. And in this We have yet other purposes. Thus hath Our commandment been ordained. 

- Baha’u’llah  (The Kitab-i-Aqdas; compilation ‘Consent of Parents to Marriage,’ prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice)

January 24

O people of the Caucasus! Batḥá (Mecca) hath flowed with water, and the Supreme Horizon hath been suffused with light! By My life! The countenance of Ḥijáz hath been wreathed in smiles, inasmuch as the Tabernacle of Majesty hath been pitched upon the slopes of Carmel, and the Day-Star of Revelation hath shone forth from the horizon of the Will of God, after the veils of glory had been rent asunder by the finger of Divine omnipotence.…

O people of the Caucasus! He that was named ‘Abdu’l-Karím [1] came unto you and announced unto you this Mystery, in remembrance of which men’s hearts have been enkindled, and in separation from which their souls have been consumed. He, verily, held fast the cord of Mine allegiance and clung to the hem of the mercy of His Lord, the Lord of all men.…

O people of the Caucasus! Give ear unto the call of this Wronged One! This is that call for the purpose of hearing which the peoples of the world have, from a state of utter nothingness, been brought into existence.…

…‘Abdu’l-Karím was an exemplar of this Most Great Revelation. Like unto the breeze of dawn, He blew from the quarter of Divine bounty. He himself was aflame with the fire of love for this Revelation, while a portion of the ocean of understanding had been bestowed upon him. This was a token of God’s favour 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)

[1] Siyyid ‘Abdu’l-Karím-i-Urdúbádí

January 23

The Báb, the Lord, the most exalted—may the life of all be a sacrifice unto Him,—hath specifically revealed an Epistle unto the divines of every city, wherein He hath fully set forth the character of the denial and repudiation of each of them. “Wherefore, take ye good heed ye who are men of insight!”[Qur’án 59:2] By His references to their opposition He intended to invalidate the objections which the people of the Bayán might raise in the day of the manifestation of “Mustagháth,” [He Who is invoked] the day of the Latter Resurrection, claiming that, whereas in the Dispensation of the Bayán a number of divines have embraced the Faith, in this latter Revelation none of these hath recognized His claim. His purpose was to warn the people lest, God forbid, they cling to such foolish thoughts and deprive themselves of the divine Beauty. Yea, these divines to whom We have referred, were mostly unrenowned, and, by the grace of God they were all purged of earthly vanities and free from the trappings of leadership. “Such is the bounty of God; to whom He will He giveth it.” 

- Baha’u’llah (‘The Kitab-i-Iqan’)

January 22

All the days have been honoured, O my God, by the arrival of the days upon which Thou hast conferred the name of Há, each of which Thou hast made a herald and a messenger announcing unto the people the advent of the days on which Thou didst enjoin Thy creation and Thy people to observe the Fast. Thus may every soul prepare himself to behold these days and appoint a place for them in his heart and purify it by Thy Name, the Lord, for their appearance. 

- 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 21

Whatever hath befallen you hath been for the sake of God. This is the truth, and in this there is no doubt. Ye should, therefore, leave all your affairs in His Hands, place your trust in Him, and rely upon Him. He will assuredly not forsake you. In this, likewise, there is no doubt. No father will surrender his sons to devouring beasts; no shepherd will leave his flock to ravening wolves. He will most certainly do his utmost to protect his own.

If, however, for a few days, in compliance with God’s all-encompassing wisdom, outward affairs should run their course contrary to one’s cherished desire, this is of no consequence and should not matter. Our intent is that all the friends should fix their gaze on the Supreme Horizon and cling to that which hath been revealed in the Tablets. They should strictly avoid sedition and refrain from treading the path of dissension and strife. They should champion their one true God, exalted be He, through the hosts of forbearance, of submission, of an upright character, of goodly deeds, and of the choicest and most refined words. 

- Baha’u’llah  (From a Tablet; Compilation: ‘Fire and Light’, prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice; The Baha’i World 1979-1983)

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)