Verily, the sun is but a token from My [God’s] presence so that
the true believers among My servants may discern in its rising the dawning of
every Dispensation.
- The Báb (‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb’)
October 24
We exhort the men of
the House of Justice and command them to ensure the protection and safeguarding
of men, women and children. It is incumbent upon them to have the utmost regard
for the interests of the people at all times and under all conditions. Blessed
is the ruler who succoureth the captive, and the rich one who careth for the
poor, and the just one who secureth from the wrong doer the rights of the
downtrodden, and happy the trustee who observeth that which the Ordainer, the
Ancient of Days hath prescribed unto him.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Words of Paradise’; Tablets of Baha’u’llah revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
October 23
O people of Bahá! Each one of the ordinances We have revealed is a
mighty stronghold for the preservation of the world of being. Verily, this
Wronged One desireth naught but your security and elevation.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Words of Paradise’; Tablets of Baha’u’llah
revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
October 22
O servants! This nether world is the abode of demons: Guard
yourselves from approaching them. By demons is meant those wayward souls who,
with the burden of their evil deeds, slumber in the chambers of oblivion. Their
sleep is preferable to their wakefulness, and their death is better than their
life.
- Baha’u’llah (‘The Tabernacle of Unity’)
October 21
The Day He revealeth Himself is Resurrection Day which shall last
as long as He ordaineth.
Everything belongeth unto Him and is fashioned by Him. All besides
Him are His creatures.
- The Báb (‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb’)
October 20
Lauded be Thy name, O my God! I entreat Thee by the
fragrances of the Raiment of Thy grace which at Thy bidding and in conformity
with Thy desire were diffused throughout the entire creation, and by the
Day-Star of Thy will that hath shone brightly, through the power of Thy might
and of Thy sovereignty, above the horizon of Thy mercy, to blot out from my
heart all idle fancies and vain imaginings, that with all my affections I may
turn unto Thee, O Thou Lord of all mankind!
- Baha’u’llah (‘Prayers and Meditations by Baha’u’llah’)
October 19
O peoples of the world! Give ear unto the call of Him Who is the
Lord of Names, Who proclaimeth unto you from His habitation in the Most Great
Prison: “Verily, no God is there but Me, the Powerful, the Mighty, the
All-Subduing, the Most Exalted, the Omniscient, the All-Wise.” In truth, there
is no God but Him, the Omnipotent Ruler of the worlds. Were it His Will, He
would, through but a single word proceeding from His presence, lay hold on all
mankind. Beware lest ye hesitate in your acceptance of this Cause—a Cause
before which the Concourse on high and the dwellers of the Cities of Names have
bowed down. Fear God, and be not of those who are shut out as by a veil. Burn
ye away the veils with the fire of My love, and dispel ye the mists of vain
imaginings by the power of this Name through which We have subdued the entire
creation.
- Baha’u’llah (‘The Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
October 18
O My Friends! Have ye forgotten that true and radiant morn, when
in those hallowed and blessed surroundings ye were all gathered in My presence
beneath the shade of the tree of life, which is planted in the all-glorious
paradise? Awe-struck ye listened as I gave utterance to these three most holy
words: O friends! Prefer not your will to Mine, never desire that which I have
not desired for you, and approach Me not with lifeless hearts, defiled with
worldly desires and cravings. Would ye but sanctify your souls, ye would at
this present hour recall that place and those surroundings, and the truth of My
utterance should be made evident unto all of you.
- Baha’u’llah (‘The Hidden
Words of Baha’u’llah’)
October 17
True death is realized when a person dieth to himself at the time
of His Revelation in such wise that he seeketh naught except Him.
True resurrection from the sepulchres means to be quickened in
conformity with His Will, through the power of His utterance.
Paradise
is attainment of His good-pleasure and everlasting hell-fire His judgement
through justice.
- The Báb (‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb’)
October 16
All men have proceeded from God and unto Him shall all return. All
shall appear before Him for judgement. He is the Lord of the Day of
Resurrection, of Regeneration and of Reckoning, and His revealed Word is the
Balance.
- The Báb (‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb’)
October 15
Be watchful lest the concerns and preoccupations of this
world prevent you from observing that which hath been enjoined upon you by Him
Who is the Mighty, the Faithful. Be ye the embodiments of such steadfastness
amidst mankind that ye will not be kept back from God by the doubts of those
who disbelieved in Him when He manifested Himself, invested with a mighty
sovereignty. Take heed lest ye be prevented by aught that hath been recorded in
the Book from hearkening unto this, the Living Book, Who proclaimeth the truth:
“Verily, there is no God but Me, the Most Excellent, the All-Praised.” Look ye
with the eye of equity upon Him Who hath descended from the heaven of Divine
will and power, and be not of those who act unjustly.
- Baha’u’llah (‘The Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
October 14
O Son of Light! Forget all save Me and commune with My spirit.
This is of the essence of My command, therefore turn unto it.
- Baha’u’llah (‘The Hidden Words of Baha’u’llah’)
October 13
O Best-Beloved of the worlds! Reveal Thou in their stead [1]
such words as will waft the fragrance of Thy gracious favours over all mankind.
We have announced unto everyone that one single word from Thee excelleth all
that hath been sent down in the Bayán. Thou, indeed, hast power to do what
pleaseth Thee. Deprive not Thy servants of the overflowing bounties of the
ocean of Thy mercy! Thou, in truth, art He Whose grace is infinite.
- The Báb (Quoted by Baha’u’llah, ‘The Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
[1] The inscription
on the ring to be placed on the finger of the deceased
October 12
Unto Thee be praise, O Lord my God! I
beseech Thee by Thy Most Great Name Who hath been shut up in the prison-town of
Akká, and Who—as Thou beholdest, O my God—hath fallen into the hands of His
enemies, and is threatened by the swords of the wicked doers, to make me
steadfast in His Cause, and to direct mine eyes continually towards His court,
in such wise that nothing whatsoever will have the power to turn me back from
Him.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Prayers and Meditations by Baha’u’llah’)
October 11
After
this heavenly journey and mystical ascent the wayfarer will enter within the
Garden of Wonderment. Were I to disclose unto thee the reality of this station,
thou wouldst lament and bewail the plight of this Servant Who remaineth in the
hands of these infidels, Who hath grown perplexed at his plight, and is lost in
bewilderment in this fathomless ocean. They conspire each day to put Me to
death, and seek at every hour to banish Me from this land, even as they
banished Me from another land. Yet this Servant standeth ready before them,
awaiting whatsoever the Almighty hath ordained and decreed for Us. Nor do I
fear any soul, encompassed as We may be by such trials and tribulations as are
inflicted by the wicked and the malicious and surrounded at this hour by a
myriad woes and sorrows. “Noah’s flood is but the measure of the tears I have
shed, and Abraham’s fire an ebullition of My soul. Jacob’s grief is but a
reflection of My sorrows, and Job’s afflictions a fraction of My calamity.”
- Baha’u’llah (‘Gems of Divine Mysteries’)
October 10
O servants! Lifeless is the body that
is bereft of a soul, and withered the heart that is devoid of the remembrance
of its Lord. Commune with the remembrance of the Friend and shun the enemy.
Your enemy is such things as ye have acquired of your own inclination, to which
ye have firmly clung, and whereby ye have sullied your souls. The soul hath
been created for the remembrance of the Friend; safeguard its purity. The
tongue hath been created to bear witness to God; pollute it not with the
mention of the wayward.
- Baha’u’llah (‘The
Tabernacle of Unity’)
October 9
Led by the light of unfailing guidance, and invested with
supreme sovereignty, They [Manifestations of God] are commissioned to use the
inspiration of Their words, the effusions of Their infallible grace and the
sanctifying breeze of Their Revelation for the cleansing of every longing heart
and receptive spirit from the dross and dust of earthly cares and limitations.
Then, and only then, will the Trust of God, latent in the reality of man,
emerge, as resplendent as the rising Orb of Divine Revelation, from behind the
veil of concealment, and implant the ensign of its revealed glory upon the
summits of men’s hearts.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Gleanings from the Writings of
Baha’u’llah’)
October 8
And since there can be no tie of direct intercourse to bind
the one true God with His creation, and no resemblance whatever can exist
between the transient and the Eternal, the contingent and the Absolute, He hath
ordained that in every age and dispensation a pure and stainless Soul be made
manifest in the kingdoms of earth and heaven. Unto this subtle, this mysterious
and ethereal Being He hath assigned a twofold nature; the physical, pertaining
to the world of matter, and the spiritual, which is born of the substance of
God Himself. He hath, moreover, conferred upon Him a double station. The first
station, which is related to His innermost reality, representeth Him as One Whose
voice is the voice of God Himself. To this testifieth the tradition: “Manifold
and mysterious is My relationship with God. I am He, Himself, and He is I,
Myself, except that I am that I am, and He is that He is.” And in like manner,
the words: “Arise, O Muhammad, for lo, the Lover and the Beloved are joined
together and made one in Thee.” He similarly saith: “There is no distinction
whatsoever between Thee and Them, except that They are Thy Servants.” The
second station is the human station, exemplified by the following verses: “I am
but a man like you.” “Say, praise be to my Lord! Am I more than a man, an
apostle?” These Essences of Detachment, these resplendent Realities are the
channels of God’s all-pervasive grace.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Gleanings from the Writings
of Baha’u’llah’)
October 7
These energies with which the Day Star of Divine bounty and
Source of heavenly guidance hath endowed the reality of man lie, however,
latent within him, even as the flame is hidden within the candle and the rays
of light are potentially present in the lamp. The radiance of these energies
may be obscured by worldly desires even as the light of the sun can be
concealed beneath the dust and dross which cover the mirror. Neither the candle
nor the lamp can be lighted through their own unaided efforts, nor can it ever
be possible for the mirror to free itself from its dross. It is clear and
evident that until a fire is kindled the lamp will never be ignited, and unless
the dross is blotted out from the face of the mirror it can never represent the
image of the sun nor reflect its light and glory.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Gleanings from
the Writings of Baha’u’llah’)
October 6
Know then that all thou hast heard and witnessed that
Daystar of Truth, the Primal Point, ascribe to Himself from the designations of
former times is only on account of the weakness of men and the scheme of the
world of creation. Otherwise, all names and attributes revolve round His
Essence and circle about the threshold of His sanctuary. For He it is Who
traineth all names, revealeth all attributes, conferreth life upon all beings,
proclaimeth the divine verses, and arrayeth the heavenly signs. Nay, shouldst
thou gaze with thine inner eye, thou wouldst find that all save Him fade into
utter nothingness and are as a thing forgotten in His holy presence. “God was
alone; there was none else besides Him. He remaineth now what He hath ever
been.” Since it hath been established that God—hallowed and glorified be
He!—was alone and there was none besides Him, how can the law of change and
transformation apply here? Shouldst thou reflect upon that which We have
disclosed unto thee, the daystar of guidance would shine resplendent before
thee in this everlasting morn, and thou wouldst be numbered therein with the
pious.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Gems of Divine Mysteries’)
October 5
O servants! Verily I say, he is to be accounted as truthful
who hath beheld the straight Path. That Path is one, and God hath chosen and
prepared it. It shineth resplendent amongst all paths as the sun amongst the
stars. Whosoever hath not attained it hath failed to apprehend the truth and
hath gone astray. Such are the counsels of the incomparable, the peerless Lord.
- Baha’u’llah (‘The Tabernacle of Unity’)
October 4
Tear asunder the
veils of human learning lest they hinder thee from Him Who is My name, the
Self-Subsisting. Call thou to
remembrance Him Who was the Spirit, Who, when He came, the most learned of His
age pronounced judgement against Him in His own country, whilst he who was only
a fisherman believed in Him. Take heed,
then, ye men of understanding heart!
Thou, in truth, art one of the suns of the heaven of His names. Guard thyself, lest darkness spread its veils
over thee, and fold thee away from His light.
Ponder, then, that which hath been sent down in the Book by thy Lord,
the Almighty, the All-Bountiful.
- Baha'u'llah (Tablet to Pope Pius IX, Suriy-i-Haykal
[Tablet of Temple]; ‘The Summons of the Lord of Hosts’)
October 3
Beware lest human learning debar thee from Him Who is the
Supreme Object of all knowledge, or lest the world deter thee from the One Who
created it and set it upon its course. Arise in the name of thy Lord, the God
of Mercy, amidst the peoples of the earth, and seize thou the Cup of Life with
the hands of confidence. First drink
thou therefrom, and proffer it then to such as turn towards it amongst the
peoples of all faiths. Thus hath the Moon of Utterance risen above the horizon
of wisdom and understanding.
- Baha'u'llah (Tablet to Pope
Pius IX, Suriy-i-Haykal [Tablet of Temple]; ‘The Summons of the Lord of Hosts’)
October 2
The word which the one true God uttereth in this day, though
that word be the most familiar and commonplace of terms, is invested with supreme,
with unique distinction.
- Baha’u’llah (Quoted by Shoghi Effendi in a letter
dated February
8, 1934; ‘The Dispensation of Baha’u’llah’)
October 1
He it is Who in the Old Testament hath been named Jehovah,
Who in the Gospel hath been designated as the Spirit of Truth, and in the
Qur’án acclaimed as the Great Announcement… But for Him no Divine Messenger would have been invested with the robe
of prophethood, nor would any of the sacred scriptures have been revealed. To
this bear witness all created things.
- Baha’u’llah (Quoted by Shoghi
Effendi in a letter dated February 8, 1934; ‘The Dispensation of Baha’u’llah’)
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