Consider the past. How many, both high and low, have, at all
times, yearningly awaited the advent of the Manifestations of God in the
sanctified persons of His chosen Ones. How often have they expected His coming,
how frequently have they prayed that the breeze of Divine mercy might blow, and
the promised Beauty step forth from behind the veil of concealment, and be made
manifest to all the world. And whensoever the portals of grace did open, and
the clouds of divine bounty did rain upon mankind, and the light of the Unseen
did shine above the horizon of celestial might, they all denied Him, and turned
away from His face—the face of God Himself....
Reflect, what could have been the motive for such deeds?
What could have prompted such behavior towards the Revealers of the beauty of
the All-Glorious? (Baha’u’llah, ‘Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah’)
February 2
O thou who hast set foot in the wilderness of knowledge and
taken abode within the ark of wisdom! Not until thou hast grasped the mysteries
concealed in that which We shall relate unto thee canst thou hope to attain to
the stations of faith and certitude in the Cause of God and in those who are
the Manifestations of His Cause, the Daysprings of His Command, the Treasuries
of His revelation, and the Repositories of His knowledge. Shouldst thou fail in
this, thou wouldst be numbered with them that have not striven for the Cause of
God, nor inhaled the fragrance of faith from the raiment of certitude, nor
scaled the heights of the divine unity, nor yet recognized the stations of
divine singleness within the Embodiments of praise and the Essences of
sanctity.
Strive then, O My brother, to apprehend this matter, that the veils may be lifted from the face of thy heart and that thou mayest be reckoned among them whom God hath graced with such penetrating vision as to behold the most subtle realities of His dominion, to fathom the mysteries of His kingdom, to perceive the signs of His transcendent Essence in this mortal world, and to attain a station wherein one seeth no distinction amongst His creatures and findeth no flaw in the creation of the heavens and the earth. [Qur’án 67:3] (Baha’u’llah, ‘Gems of Divine Mysteries’, ‘Javáhiru’l-Asrár’)
Strive then, O My brother, to apprehend this matter, that the veils may be lifted from the face of thy heart and that thou mayest be reckoned among them whom God hath graced with such penetrating vision as to behold the most subtle realities of His dominion, to fathom the mysteries of His kingdom, to perceive the signs of His transcendent Essence in this mortal world, and to attain a station wherein one seeth no distinction amongst His creatures and findeth no flaw in the creation of the heavens and the earth. [Qur’án 67:3] (Baha’u’llah, ‘Gems of Divine Mysteries’, ‘Javáhiru’l-Asrár’)
February 1
O SON OF SPIRIT! The best beloved of all things in My sight
is Justice; turn not away therefrom if thou desirest Me, and neglect it not
that I may confide in thee. By its aid thou shalt see with thine own eyes and
not through the eyes of others, and shalt know of thine own knowledge and not
through the knowledge of thy neighbor. Ponder this in thy heart; how it
behooveth thee to be. Verily justice is My gift to thee and the sign of My
loving-kindness. Set it then before thine eyes. (Baha’u’llah, ‘The Hidden Words
of Baha’u’llah’)
January 31
Say: O ye that have eyes to see! The past is the mirror of the
future. Gaze ye therein and be apprised thereof; perchance ye may be aided
thereby to recognize the Friend and may be not the cause of His displeasure. In
this day the choicest fruit of the tree of knowledge is that which serveth the
welfare of humanity and safeguardeth its interests. (Baha’u’llah, ‘The
Tabernacle of Unity, Bahá’u’lláh’s Responses to Mánikchí Sáhib and Other
Writings’)
January 30
O Eyes of this Temple!
Look not upon the heavens and that which they contain, nor upon the
earth and them that dwell thereon, for We have created you to behold Our own
Beauty: See it now before you! Withhold not your gaze therefrom, and deprive
not yourselves of the Beauty of your Lord, the All-Glorious, the
Best-Beloved. Erelong shall We bring
into being through you keen and penetrating eyes that will contemplate the manifold signs of their
Creator and turn away from all that is perceived by the people of the
world. Through you shall We bestow the
power of vision upon whomsoever We desire, and lay hold upon those who have
deprived themselves of this gracious bounty.
These, verily, have drunk from the cup of delusion, though they perceive
it not. (Baha’u’llah, Súriy-i-Haykal, ‘The Summons of the Lord of
Hosts’)
January 29
Everything that is hath come to be through His irresistible decree. Whenever My laws appear like the sun in the heaven of Mine utterance, they must be faithfully obeyed by all, though My decree be such as to cause the heaven of every religion to be cleft asunder. He doeth what He pleaseth. He chooseth, and none may question His choice. Whatsoever He, the Well-Beloved, ordaineth, the same is, verily, beloved. To this He Who is the Lord of all creation beareth Me witness. Whoso hath inhaled the sweet fragrance of the All-Merciful, and recognized the Source of this utterance, will welcome with his own eyes the shafts of the enemy, that he may establish the truth of the laws of God amongst men. Well is it with him that hath turned thereunto, and apprehended the meaning of His decisive decree. (Baha’u’llah, ‘The Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
January 28
Open Thou, O my Lord, mine eyes and the eyes of all them
that have sought Thee, that we may recognize Thee with Thine own eyes. This is
Thy bidding given us in the Book sent down by Thee unto Him Whom Thou hast
chosen by Thy behest, Whom Thou hast singled out for Thy favor above all Thy
creatures, Whom Thou hast been pleased to invest with Thy sovereignty, and Whom
Thou hast specially favored and entrusted with Thy Message unto Thy people.
Praised be Thou, therefore, O my God, inasmuch as Thou hast graciously enabled
us to recognize Him and to acknowledge whatsoever hath been sent down unto Him,
and conferred upon us the honor of attaining the presence of the One Whom Thou
didst promise in Thy Book and in Thy Tablets. (Baha’u’llah, ‘Prayers and
Meditations of Baha’u’llah’)
January 27
… another verse in the Gospel wherein He saith: “Heaven and
earth shall pass away: but My words shall not pass away.”[Luke 21:33]Thus it
is that the adherents of Jesus maintained that the law of the Gospel shall
never be annulled, and that whensoever the promised Beauty is made manifest and
all the signs are revealed, He must needs re-affirm and establish the law
proclaimed in the Gospel, so that there may remain in the world no faith but
His faith. This is their fundamental belief. And their conviction is such that
were a person to be made manifest with all the promised signs and to promulgate
that which is contrary to the letter of the law of the Gospel, they must
assuredly renounce him, refuse to submit to his law, declare him an infidel,
and laugh him to scorn. This is proved by that which came to pass when the sun
of the Muhammadan Revelation was revealed. Had they sought with a humble mind
from the Manifestations of God in every Dispensation the true meaning of these
words revealed in the sacred books—words the misapprehension of which hath
caused men to be deprived of the recognition of the Sadratu’l-Muntahá, the
ultimate Purpose—they surely would have been guided to the light of the Sun of
Truth, and would have discovered the mysteries of divine knowledge and wisdom.
(Baha’u’llah, ‘The Kitab-i-Iqan’)
January 26
In His Name, the Exalted, the All-Highest, the Most Sublime!
Glorified art Thou, O Lord my God! O Thou Who art my God, and my Master, and my Lord, and my Support, and my Hope, and my Refuge, and my Light. I ask of Thee, by Thine Hidden and Treasured Name, that none knoweth save Thine own Self, to protect the bearer of this Tablet from every calamity and pestilence, and from every wicked man and woman; from the evil of the evil-doers, and from the scheming of the unbelievers. Preserve him, moreover, O my God, from every pain and vexation, O Thou Who holdest in Thy hand the empire of all things. Thou, truly, art powerful over all things. Thou doest as Thou willest, and ordainest as Thou pleasest.
Glorified art Thou, O Lord my God! O Thou Who art my God, and my Master, and my Lord, and my Support, and my Hope, and my Refuge, and my Light. I ask of Thee, by Thine Hidden and Treasured Name, that none knoweth save Thine own Self, to protect the bearer of this Tablet from every calamity and pestilence, and from every wicked man and woman; from the evil of the evil-doers, and from the scheming of the unbelievers. Preserve him, moreover, O my God, from every pain and vexation, O Thou Who holdest in Thy hand the empire of all things. Thou, truly, art powerful over all things. Thou doest as Thou willest, and ordainest as Thou pleasest.
January 25
The incomparable Friend saith: The path to freedom hath been
outstretched; hasten ye thereunto. The wellspring of wisdom is overflowing;
quaff ye therefrom. Say: O well-beloved ones! The tabernacle of unity hath been
raised; regard ye not one another as strangers. Ye are the fruits of one tree,
and the leaves of one branch. Verily I say, whatsoever leadeth to the decline
of ignorance and the increase of knowledge hath been, and will ever remain,
approved in the sight of the Lord of creation. Say: O people! Walk ye neath the
shadow of justice and truthfulness and seek ye shelter within the tabernacle of
unity. (Baha’u’llah, ‘The Tabernacle of Unity, Bahá’u’lláh’s Responses to
Mánikchí Sáhib and Other Writings’)
January 24
Know then that it behoveth thine eminence to ponder from the
outset these questions in thy heart: What hath prompted the divers peoples and
kindreds of the earth to reject the Apostles whom God hath sent unto them in
His might and power, whom He hath raised up to exalt His Cause and ordained to
be the Lamps of eternity within the Niche of His oneness? For what reason have
the people turned aside from them, disputed about them, risen against and
contended with them? On what grounds have they refused to acknowledge their
apostleship and authority, nay, denied their truth and reviled their persons,
even slaying or banishing them? (Baha’u’llah, ‘Gems of Divine Mysteries’, ‘Javáhiru’l-Asrár’)
January 23
Bestir yourselves, O people, in anticipation of the days of
Divine justice, for the promised hour is now come. Beware lest ye fail to
apprehend its import and be accounted among the erring. (Baha’u’llah, ‘Gleanings
from the Writings of Baha’u’llah’)
January 22
The eighth Glad-Tidings
The pious deeds of the monks and priests among the followers of the Spirit [Jesus] —upon Him be the peace of God—are remembered in His presence. In this Day, however, let them give up the life of seclusion and direct their steps towards the open world and busy themselves with that which will profit themselves and others. We have granted them leave to enter into wedlock that they may bring forth one who will make mention of God, the Lord of the seen and the unseen, the Lord of the Exalted Throne. (Baha’u’llah, ‘Tablets of Baha’u’llah revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
The pious deeds of the monks and priests among the followers of the Spirit [Jesus] —upon Him be the peace of God—are remembered in His presence. In this Day, however, let them give up the life of seclusion and direct their steps towards the open world and busy themselves with that which will profit themselves and others. We have granted them leave to enter into wedlock that they may bring forth one who will make mention of God, the Lord of the seen and the unseen, the Lord of the Exalted Throne. (Baha’u’llah, ‘Tablets of Baha’u’llah revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
January 21
Give ear, O King, unto the Voice that calleth from the Fire
which burneth in this verdant Tree, on this Sinai which hath been raised above the
hallowed and snow-white Spot, beyond the Everlasting City; ‘Verily, there is
none other God but Me, the Ever-Forgiving, the Most Merciful!’ We, in truth,
have sent Him Whom We aided with the Holy Spirit (Jesus Christ) that He may
announce unto you this Light that hath shone forth from the horizon of the will
of your Lord, the Most Exalted, the All-Glorious, and Whose signs have been
revealed in the West. Set your faces towards Him (Bahá’u’lláh), on this Day
which God hath exalted above all other days, and whereon the All-Merciful hath
shed the splendor of His effulgent glory upon all who are in heaven and all who
are on earth. Arise thou to serve God and help His Cause. He, verily, will
assist thee with the hosts of the seen and unseen, and will set thee king over
all that whereon the sun riseth. Thy Lord, in truth, is the All-Powerful, the
Almighty. (Baha’u’llah, from a Tablet to Napoleon, ‘Epistle to
the Son of the Wolf’)
January 20
O thou who treadest the path of justice and beholdest the
countenance of mercy! Thine epistle was received, thy question was noted, and
the sweet accents of thy soul were heard from the inmost chambers of thy heart.
Whereupon the clouds of the Divine Will were raised to rain upon thee the
outpourings of heavenly wisdom, to divest thee of all that thou hadst acquired
aforetime, to draw thee from the realms of contradiction unto the retreats of
oneness, and to lead thee to the sacred streams of His Law. Perchance thou
mayest quaff therefrom, repose therein, quench thy thirst, refresh thy soul,
and be numbered with those whom the light of God hath guided aright in this
day.
Encompassed as I am at this time by the dogs of the earth and the beasts of every land, concealed as I remain in the hidden habitation of Mine inner Being, forbidden as I may be from divulging that which God hath bestowed upon Me of the wonders of His knowledge, the gems of His wisdom, and the tokens of His power, yet am I loath to frustrate the hopes of one who hath approached the sanctuary of grandeur, sought to enter within the precincts of eternity, and aspired to soar in the immensity of this creation at the dawning of the divine decree. I shall therefore relate unto thee certain truths from among those which God hath vouchsafed unto Me, this only to the extent that souls can bear and minds endure, lest the malicious raise a clamour or the dissemblers hoist their banners. I implore God to graciously aid Me in this, for unto such as beseech Him, He is the All-Bounteous, and of those who show mercy, He is the Most Merciful. (Bahá’u’lláh, ‘Gems of Divine Mysteries’, ‘Javáhiru’l-Asrár’)
Encompassed as I am at this time by the dogs of the earth and the beasts of every land, concealed as I remain in the hidden habitation of Mine inner Being, forbidden as I may be from divulging that which God hath bestowed upon Me of the wonders of His knowledge, the gems of His wisdom, and the tokens of His power, yet am I loath to frustrate the hopes of one who hath approached the sanctuary of grandeur, sought to enter within the precincts of eternity, and aspired to soar in the immensity of this creation at the dawning of the divine decree. I shall therefore relate unto thee certain truths from among those which God hath vouchsafed unto Me, this only to the extent that souls can bear and minds endure, lest the malicious raise a clamour or the dissemblers hoist their banners. I implore God to graciously aid Me in this, for unto such as beseech Him, He is the All-Bounteous, and of those who show mercy, He is the Most Merciful. (Bahá’u’lláh, ‘Gems of Divine Mysteries’, ‘Javáhiru’l-Asrár’)
January 19
O concourse of the people of the Book! Fear ye God and pride
not yourselves in your learning. Follow ye the Book which His Remembrance hath
revealed in praise of God, the True One. He Who is the Eternal Truth beareth me
witness, whoso followeth this Book hath indeed followed all the past Scriptures
which have been sent down from heaven by God, the Sovereign Truth. Verily, He
is well informed of what ye do... (The Báb, from the Qayyumu’l-Asma,
‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb)
January 18
The time foreordained unto the peoples and kindreds of the
earth is now come. The promises of God, as recorded in the holy Scriptures,
have all been fulfilled. Out of Zion hath gone forth the Law of God, and
Jerusalem, and the hills and land thereof, are filled with the glory of His
Revelation. Happy is the man that pondereth in his heart that which hath been
revealed in the Books of God, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting. Meditate
upon this, O ye beloved of God, and let your ears be attentive unto His Word,
so that ye may, by His grace and mercy, drink your fill from the crystal waters
of constancy, and become as steadfast and immovable as the mountain in His
Cause. (Baha’u’llah, ‘Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah')
January 17
We have enjoined obligatory prayer upon you, with nine
rak’áhs, to be offered at noon and in the morning and the evening unto God, the
Revealer of Verses. We have relieved you of a greater number, as a command in
the Book of God. He, verily, is the Ordainer, the Omnipotent, the Unrestrained.
When ye desire to perform this prayer, turn ye towards the Court of My Most
Holy Presence, this Hallowed Spot that God hath made the Centre round which
circle the Concourse on High, and which He hath decreed to be the Point of
Adoration for the denizens of the Cities of Eternity, and the Source of Command
unto all that are in heaven and on earth; and when the Sun of Truth and
Utterance shall set, turn your faces towards the Spot that We have ordained for
you. He, verily, is Almighty and Omniscient. (Baha’u’llah, ‘The Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
(For additional explanation please visit ‘Daily Spiritual Food for Thought’)
January 16
When the oppression and afflictions that are to befall
mankind will have come to pass, then shall the sun be withheld from shining,
the moon from giving light, the stars of heaven shall fall upon the earth, and
the pillars of the earth shall quake. At that time, the signs of the Son of man
shall appear in heaven, that is, the promised Beauty and Substance of life
shall, when these signs have appeared, step forth out of the realm of the
invisible into the visible world. And He saith: at that time, all the peoples
and kindreds that dwell on earth shall bewail and lament, and they shall see
that divine Beauty coming from heaven, riding upon the clouds with power,
grandeur, and magnificence, sending His angels with a great sound of a trumpet.
Similarly, in the three other Gospels, according to Luke, Mark, and John, the
same statements are recorded. As We have referred at length to these in Our
Tablets revealed in the Arabic tongue, We have made no mention of them in these
pages, and have confined Ourselves to but one reference.
Inasmuch as the Christian divines have failed to apprehend the meaning of these words, and did not recognize their object and purpose, and have clung to the literal interpretation of the words of Jesus, they therefore became deprived of the streaming grace of the Muhammadan Revelation and its showering bounties. (Baha’u’llah, ‘The Kitab-i-Iqan’)
Inasmuch as the Christian divines have failed to apprehend the meaning of these words, and did not recognize their object and purpose, and have clung to the literal interpretation of the words of Jesus, they therefore became deprived of the streaming grace of the Muhammadan Revelation and its showering bounties. (Baha’u’llah, ‘The Kitab-i-Iqan’)
January 15
By the righteousness of God! These are the days in which God
hath proved the hearts of the entire company of His Messengers and Prophets,
and beyond them those that stand guard over His sacred and inviolable
Sanctuary, the inmates of the celestial Pavilion and dwellers of the Tabernacle
of Glory. How severe, therefore, the test to which they who join partners with
God must needs be subjected! (Baha’u’llah, ‘Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah’)
January 14
Magnified be Thy name, O my God! I testify that if Thy
servants were to turn towards Thee with the eyes Thou
didst create in them and with the ears wherewith Thou didst endow them, they
would all be carried away by a single word sent down from the right hand of the
throne of Thy majesty. That word alone would suffice to brighten their faces,
and to assure their hearts, and to cause their souls to soar up to the
atmosphere of Thy great glory, and to ascend into the heaven of Thy
sovereignty. (Baha’u’llah, ‘Prayers and Meditations by Baha’u’llah)
January 13
You should exhort all the friends to patience, to acquiescence,
and to tranquillity, saying: O ye loved ones of God in that land! Ye are
glorified in all the worlds of God because of your relationship to Him Who is
the Eternal Truth, but in your lives on this earthly plane, which pass away as
a fleeting moment, ye are afflicted with abasement. For the sake of the one
true God, ye have been reviled and persecuted, ye have been imprisoned, and
surrendered your lives in His path. Ye should not, however, by reason of the
tyrannical acts of some heedless souls, transgress the limits of God's
commandments by contending with anyone. (Baha’u’llah, ‘The Bahá'í World vol.
XVIII’; The Compilation of Compilations vol. I, Crisis and Victory)
January 12
O Living Temple!
Through Thee have We gathered together all created things, whether in
the heavens or on the earth, and called them to account for that which We had
covenanted with them before the foundation of the world. And lo, but for a few radiant faces and
eloquent tongues, We found most of the people dumbfounded, their eyes staring
up in fear. From the former We brought
forth the creation of all that hath been and all that shall be. These are they whose countenances God hath
graciously turned away from the face of the unbelievers, and whom He hath
sheltered beneath the shadow of the Tree of His own Being; they upon whose
hearts He hath bestowed the gift of peace and tranquillity, and whom He hath
strengthened and assisted through the hosts of the seen and the unseen. (Baha’u’llah,
Súriy-i-Haykal, ‘The Summons of the Lord of Hosts’)
January 11
I entreat Thee to enable me to cleave steadfastly to Thy
Love and Thy remembrance. This is, verily, within my power, and Thou art the One
that knoweth all that is in me. Thou, in truth, art knowing, apprised of all.
Deprive me not, O my Lord, of the splendors of the light of Thy face, whose
brightness hath illuminated the whole world. No God is
there beside Thee, the Most Powerful, the All-Glorious, the Ever-Forgiving.
(Baha’u’llah, ‘Prayers and Meditations by Baha’u’llah)
January 10
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)