April 9

From this most august and exalted station, and from this most sublime and glorious plane, [“the City of Absolute Nothingnes”] the seeker entereth the City of Immortality, therein to abide forever. In this station he beholdeth himself established upon the throne of independence and the seat of exaltation. Then will he comprehend the meaning of that which hath been revealed of old concerning the day “whereon God shall enrich all through His abundance”. [Qur’án 4:130] Well is it with them that have attained unto this station and drunk their fill from this snow-white chalice before this Crimson Pillar.

Having, in this journey, immersed himself in the ocean of immortality, rid his heart from attachment to aught save Him, and attained unto the loftiest heights of everlasting life, the seeker will see no annihilation either for himself or for any other soul. He will quaff from the cup of immortality, tread in its land, soar in its atmosphere, consort with them that are its embodiments, partake of the imperishable and incorruptible fruits of the tree of eternity, and be forever accounted, in the lofty heights of immortality, amongst the denizens of the everlasting realm. 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘Gems of Divine Mysteries’)

April 8

The Commander of the Faithful (Imám ‘Alí) hath said: “I am He Who can neither be named, nor described.” And likewise He hath said: “Outwardly I am an Imám; inwardly I am the Unseen, the Unknowable.” 

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

April 7

Gracious God! But for fear of the Nimrod of tyranny and for the protection of the Abraham of justice, I would reveal unto thee that which, wert thou to abandon self and desire, would enable thee to dispense with aught else and to draw nigh unto this city. [“the City of Absolute Nothingness”] 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘Gems of Divine Mysteries’)

April 6

In truth I say: On this day the blessed words “But He is the Apostle of God, and the Seal of the Prophets” have found their consummation in the verse “The day when mankind shall stand before the Lord of the worlds.” Render thou thanksgiving unto God, for so great a bounty. 

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

April 5

In this most mighty Revelation all the Dispensations of the past have attained their highest, their final consummation. 

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

April 4

Verily, I say: The Cause of God hath never had, nor hath it now, any peer or equal. Rend asunder the veils of idle fancies. He, in truth, will reinforce thee, and assist thee, as a token of His grace. He, verily, is the Strong, the All-Subduing, the Almighty. 

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

April 3

The Commander of the Faithful (Imám ‘Alí) answered an Arab, who had questioned him concerning the soul, as follows: “The third is the soul which is divine and celestial. It is a divine energy, a substance, simple, and self-subsistent.” 

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

April 2

The Imám Sádiq hath said: “Servitude is a substance, the essence of which is Divinity.” 

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

April 1

The choice of clothing and the cut of the beard and its dressing are left to the discretion of men. But beware, O people, lest ye make yourselves the playthings of the ignorant. 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh Revealed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas’; The Compilation of Compilations, vol. I, A Chase and Holy Life)

March 31

…Jesus, Son of Mary, whilst seated one day and speaking in the strain of the Holy Spirit, uttered words such as these: “O people! My food is the grass of the field, wherewith I satisfy my hunger. My bed is the dust, my lamp in the night the light of the moon, and my steed my own feet. Behold, who on earth is richer than I?” By the righteousness of God! Thousands of treasures circle round this poverty, and a myriad kingdoms of glory yearn for such abasement! Shouldst thou attain to a drop of the ocean of the inner meaning of these words, thou wouldst surely forsake the world and all that is therein, and, as the Phoenix wouldst consume thyself in the flames of the undying Fire. 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘The Kitab-i-Iqan’)

March 30

…call to mind the shameful circumstances that have attended the martyrdom of Husayn.[Imam Husayn] Reflect upon his loneliness, how, to outer seeming, none could be found to aid him, none to take up his body and bury it. And yet, behold how numerous, in this day, are those who from the uttermost corners of the earth don the garb of pilgrimage, seeking the site of his martyrdom, that there they may lay their heads upon the threshold of his shrine! Such is the ascendancy and power of God! Such is the glory of His dominion and majesty! 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘The Kitab-i-Iqan’)

March 29

…consider the pervading power of those drops of the blood of Husayn [1] which besprinkled the earth. What ascendancy and influence hath the dust itself, through the sacredness and potency of that blood, exercised over the bodies and souls of men! So much so, that he who sought deliverance from his ills, was healed by touching the dust of that holy ground, and whosoever, wishing to protect his property, treasured with absolute faith and understanding, a little of that holy earth within his house, safeguarded all his possessions. 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘The Kitab-i-Iqan’)

[1] Iman Husayn Who was martyred

March 28

O Supreme Pontiff!... Exhort thou the kings and say: “Deal equitably with men.  Beware lest ye transgress the bounds fixed in the Book.” This indeed becometh thee. Beware lest thou appropriate unto thyself the things of the world and the riches thereof. Leave them unto such as desire them, and cleave unto that which hath been enjoined upon thee by Him Who is the Lord of creation. Should anyone offer thee all the treasures of the earth, refuse to even glance upon them. Be as thy Lord hath been. Thus hath the Tongue of Revelation spoken that which God hath made the ornament of the book of creation. 

- Baha'u'llah  (Tablet to Pope Pius IX, Suriy-i-Haykal [Tablet of Temple]; ‘The Summons of the Lord of Hosts’)

March 27

In like manner, every time the Prophets of God have illumined the world with the resplendent radiance of the Day Star of Divine knowledge, they have invariably summoned its peoples to embrace the light of God through such means as best befitted the exigencies of the age in which they appeared. They were thus able to scatter the darkness of ignorance, and to shed upon the world the glory of their own knowledge. It is towards the inmost essence of these Prophets, therefore, that the eye of every man of discernment must be directed, inasmuch as their one and only purpose hath always been to guide the erring, and give peace to the afflicted…

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

March 26

In this day the verses of the Mother Book are resplendent and unmistakable even as the sun. They can in no wise be mistaken for any of the past or more recent utterances. Truly this Wronged One desireth not to demonstrate His Own Cause with proofs produced by others. He is the One Who embraceth all things, while all else besides Him is circumscribed. Say, O people, peruse that which is current amongst you and We will peruse what pertaineth unto Us. I swear by God! Neither the praise of the peoples of the world, nor the things that the kindreds of the earth possess are worthy of mention before the remembrance of His Name. Unto this beareth witness He Who under all conditions proclaimeth, ‘Verily He is God, the sovereign Ruler of the Day of Reckoning and the Lord of the mighty Throne.’ 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘Tablets of Baha’u’llah revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas’)

March 25

O followers of all religions! We behold you wandering distraught in the wilderness of error. Ye are the fish of this Ocean; wherefore do ye withhold yourselves from that which sustaineth you? Lo, it surgeth before your faces. Hasten unto it from every clime. This is the day whereon the Rock [1] crieth out and shouteth, and celebrateth the praise of its Lord, the All-Possessing, the Most High, saying: “Lo!  The Father is come, and that which ye were promised in the Kingdom is fulfilled!” This is the Word which was preserved behind the veils of grandeur, and which, when the Promise came to pass, shed its radiance from the horizon of the Divine Will with clear tokens. 

- Baha'u'llah  (Tablet to Pope Pius IX, Suriy-i-Haykal [Tablet of Temple]; ‘The Summons of the Lord of Hosts’)

[1] Peter

March 24

Regard men as a flock of sheep that need a shepherd for their protection. This, verily, is the truth, the certain truth. We approve of liberty in certain circumstances, and refuse to sanction it in others. We, verily, are the All- Knowing. 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh’; The Compilation of Compilations vol. I, A Chase and Holy Life)

March 23

Teach your children the verses revealed from the heaven of majesty and power, so that, in most melodious tones, they may recite the Tablets of the All-Merciful in the alcoves within the Mashriqu’l-Adhkárs. 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘The Kitab-i-Aqdas’)

March 22

God hath prescribed unto everyone the duty of teaching His Cause. 

- Baha’u’llah  (Quoted by Shoghi Effendi in a letter dated 25 December 1938; ‘The Advent of Divine Justice’)

March 21

If these obstructing veils had not intervened Persia would, in some two years, have been subdued through the power of utterance, the position of both the government and the people would have been raised and the Supreme Goal, unveiled and unconcealed, would have appeared in the plenitude of glory. In short, sometimes in explicit language, at other times by allusion, We said whatever had to be said. Thus, once Persia had been rehabilitated, the sweet savours of the Word of God would have wafted over all countries, inasmuch as that which hath streamed forth from the Most Exalted Pen is conducive to the glory, the advancement and education of all the peoples and kindreds of the earth. Indeed it is the sovereign remedy for every disease, could they but comprehend and perceive it. 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘Tablets of Baha’u’llah revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas’)

March 20

In truth the station of this Revelation transcendeth the station of whatever hath been manifested in the past or will be made manifest in the future. 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘Tablets of Baha’u’llah revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas’)

March 19

A race of men incomparable in character, shall be raised up which, with the feet of detachment, will tread under all who are in heaven and on earth, and will cast the sleeve of holiness over all that hath been created from water and clay. 

- Baha’u’llah  (Quoted by Shoghi Effendi in a letter dated 25 December 1938; ‘The Advent of Divine Justice’)

March 18

Think not that We have revealed unto you a mere code of laws. Nay, rather, We have unsealed the choice Wine with the fingers of might and power. To this beareth witness that which the Pen of Revelation hath revealed. Meditate upon this, O men of insight!... 

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

March 17

Whoever hath been transported by the rapture born of adoration for My Name, the Most Compassionate, will recite the verses of God in such wise as to captivate the hearts of those yet wrapped in slumber. Well is it with him who hath quaffed the Mystic Wine of everlasting life from the utterance of his merciful Lord in My Name—a Name through which every lofty and majestic mountain hath been reduced to dust. 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘The Kitab-i-Aqdas’)

March 16

O faithful ones! Should ye visit the resting-place of the Most Exalted Leaf, who hath ascended unto the Glorious Companion, stand ye and say: ‘Salutation and blessing and glory upon thee, O Holy Leaf that hath sprung from the Divine Lote-Tree! I bear witness that thou hast believed in God and in His signs, and answered His Call, and turned unto Him, and held fast unto His cord, and clung to the hem of His grace, and fled thy home in His path, and chosen to live as a stranger, out of love for His presence and in thy longing to serve Him. May God have mercy upon him that draweth nigh unto thee, and remembereth thee through the things which My Pen hath voiced in this, the most great station. We pray God that He may forgive us, and forgive them that have turned unto thee, and grant their desires, and bestow upon them, through His wondrous grace, whatever be their wish. He, verily, is the Bountiful, the Generous. Praise be to God, He Who is the Desire of all worlds; and the Beloved of all who recognize Him. 

- Baha’u’llah  (Quoted by Shoghi Effendi in a letter dated December 21, 1939; ‘Messages to America’)

March 15

O ye the beloved of the one true God! Pass beyond the narrow retreats of your evil and corrupt desires, and advance into the vast immensity of the realm of God, and abide ye in the meads of sanctity and of detachment, that the fragrance of your deeds may lead the whole of mankind to the ocean of God’s unfading glory. 

- Baha’u’llah  (Quoted by Shoghi Effendi in a letter dated 25 December 1938; ‘The Advent of Divine Justice’)

March 14

O ye My loved ones! Suffer not the hem of My sacred vesture to be smirched and mired with the things of this world, and follow not the promptings of your evil and corrupt desires. 

- Baha’u’llah  (Quoted by Shoghi Effendi in a letter dated 25 December 1938; ‘The Advent of Divine Justice’)

March 13

Glorified art Thou, O Lord, my God! Thou seest me in the hands of Mine enemies, and My son bloodstained before Thy face, O Thou in Whose hands is the kingdom of all names. I have, O my Lord, offered up that which Thou hast given Me, that Thy servants may be quickened and all that dwell on earth be united. 

- Baha’u’llah  (Quoted by Shoghi Effendi in a letter dated December 21, 1939; ‘Messages to America’)

March 12

In the Name of Him Who hath been promised in the Books of God, the All-Knowing, the All-Informed! The days of fasting have arrived wherein those servants who circle round Thy throne and have attained Thy presence have fasted. Say: O God of names and creator of heaven and earth! I beg of Thee by Thy Name, the All-Glorious, to accept the fast of those who have fasted for love of Thee and for the sake of Thy good-pleasure and have carried out what Thou hast bidden them in Thy Books and Tablets. I beseech Thee by them to assist me in the promotion of Thy Cause and to make me steadfast in Thy love, that my footsteps may not slip on account of the clamour of Thy creatures. Verily, Thou art powerful over whatsoever Thou willest. No God is there but Thee, the Quickener, the All-Powerful, the Most Bountiful, the Ancient of Days. 

- Baha’u’llah  (Compilation: ‘The Importance of Obligatory Prayer and Fasting’, prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice; The American Baha’i September 2000)

March 11

O thou who art young in age! May the confirmations of the Merciful enable thee to attain unto His bountiful bestowals. Since thou wert adorned with the recognition of the Daystar of Revelation when thou wert in the prime of youth, beseech thou God to enable thee to achieve that which will be immortalized in the book of existence. Mortality overtaketh everything except what is uttered and carried out for God’s sake; such [words and deeds] are deathless. Strive that thou mayest drink of the wine of immortality and attain unto the Kawthar of steadfastness.  

- Baha’u’llah  (Cited by the Universal House of Justice in a letter dated 158 B.E. addressed to the Iranian believers throughout the world)

March 10

The Prophets of God should be regarded as physicians whose task is to foster the well-being of the world and its peoples, that, through the spirit of oneness, they may heal the sickness of a divided humanity. To none is given the right to question their words or disparage their conduct, for they are the only ones who can claim to have understood the patient and to have correctly diagnosed its ailments. No man, however acute his perception, can ever hope to reach the heights which the wisdom and understanding of the Divine Physician have attained. Little wonder, then, if the treatment prescribed by the physician in this day should not be found to be identical with that which he prescribed before. How could it be otherwise when the ills affecting the sufferer necessitate at every stage of his sickness a special remedy? 

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

March 9

Inspire then my soul, O my God, with Thy wondrous remembrance, that I may glorify Thy name. Number me not with them who read Thy words and fail to find Thy hidden gift which, as decreed by Thee, is contained therein, and which quickeneth the souls of Thy creatures and the hearts of Thy servants. 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘Prayers and Meditations by Baha’u’llah’)

March 8

Do not bring our fasts to an end with this fast, O my Lord, nor the covenants Thou hast made with this covenant. Do Thou accept all that we have done for love of Thee, and for the sake of Thy pleasure, and all that we have left undone as a result of our subjection to our evil and corrupt desires. Enable us, then, to cleave steadfastly to Thy love and Thy good-pleasure, and preserve us from the mischief of such as have denied Thee and repudiated Thy most resplendent signs. 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘Prayers and Meditations by Baha’u’llah’)

March 7

My body hath borne imprisonment that your souls may be released from bondage, and We have consented to be abased that ye may be exalted. Follow the Lord of glory and dominion, and not every ungodly oppressor. My body longeth for the cross, and Mine head awaiteth the thrust of the spear, in the path of the All-Merciful, that the world may be purged from its transgressions. Thus hath the Daystar of divine authority shone forth from the horizon of the Revelation of Him Who is the Possessor of all names and attributes. 

- Baha'u'llah  (Tablet to Pope Pius IX, Suriy-i-Haykal [Tablet of Temple]; ‘The Summons of the Lord of Hosts’)

March 6

O ye peoples of the world! Know assuredly that My commandments are the lamps of My loving providence among My servants, and the keys of My mercy for My creatures. Thus hath it been sent down from the heaven of the Will of your Lord, the Lord of Revelation. Were any man to taste the sweetness of the words which the lips of the All-Merciful have willed to utter, he would, though the treasures of the earth be in his possession, renounce them one and all, that he might vindicate the truth of even one of His commandments, shining above the Dayspring of His bountiful care and loving-kindness. 

- Baha'u'llah  (‘The Kitab-i-Aqdas’)

March 5

O people of the world! Follow not the promptings of the self, for it summoneth insistently to wickedness and lust; follow, rather, Him Who is the Possessor of all created things, Who biddeth you to show forth piety, and manifest the fear of God. He, verily, is independent of all His creatures. Take heed not to stir up mischief in the land after it hath been set in order. Whoso acteth in this way is not of Us, and We are quit of him. Such is the command which hath, through the power of truth, been made manifest from the heaven of Revelation. 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘The Kitab-i-Aqdas’)

March 4

By the righteousness of God!  Should they cast Him into a fire kindled on the continent, He will assuredly rear His head in the midmost heart of the ocean and proclaim: “He is the Lord of all that are in heaven and all that are on earth!” And if they cast Him into a darksome pit, they will find Him seated on earth’s loftiest heights calling aloud to all mankind: “Lo, the Desire of the World is come in His majesty, His sovereignty, His transcendent dominion!” And if He be buried beneath the depths of the earth, His Spirit soaring to the apex of heaven shall peal the summons: “Behold ye the coming of the Glory; witness ye the Kingdom of God, the Most Holy, the Gracious, the All-Powerful!” And if they shed His blood, every drop thereof shall cry out and invoke God in this Name through which the fragrance of His raiment hath been diffused in all directions. 

- Baha'u'llah  (Tablet to Pope Pius IX, Suriy-i-Haykal [Tablet of Temple]; ‘The Summons of the Lord of Hosts’)

March 3

Verily, I say, fasting is the supreme remedy and the most great healing for the disease of self and passion. 

- Baha’u’llah  (Compilation: ‘The Importance of Obligatory Prayer and Fasting’, prepared by Research Department of the Universal House of Justice)

March 2

Thou seest me then, O my God, with my face turned towards Thee, cleaving steadfastly to the cord of Thy gracious providence and generosity, and clinging to the hem of Thy tender mercies and bountiful favors. Destroy not, I implore Thee, my hopes of attaining unto that which Thou didst ordain for Thy servants who have turned towards the precincts of Thy court and the sanctuary of Thy presence, and have observed the fast for love of Thee. 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘Prayers and Meditations by Baha’u’llah’)

March 1

Know thou that religion is as heaven; and fasting and obligatory prayer are its sun and its moon. We entreat God, exalted and glorified be He, to graciously aid everyone who acteth according to His will and good-pleasure. 

- Baha’u’llah  (Compilation: ‘The Importance of Obligatory Prayer and Fasting’, prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice)

February 29

O Son of Man! My majesty is My gift to thee, and My grandeur the token of My mercy unto thee. That which beseemeth Me none shall understand, nor can anyone recount. Verily, I have preserved it in My hidden storehouses and in the treasuries of My command, as a sign of My loving-kindness unto My servants and My mercy unto My people. 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘The Hidden Words of Baha’u’llah’)

February 28

Be a treasure to the poor, an admonisher to the rich, an answerer of the cry of the needy, a preserver of the sanctity of thy pledge. 

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

February 27

Let each morn be better than its eve, each morrow richer than its yesterday. Man’s merit lies in service and virtue and not in the pageantry of wealth and riches.

- Baha’u’llah  (Lawh-i-Hikmat, 'The Baha’i Year Book 1924-1925'; Tablets of Baha’u’llah revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas)

February 26

O ye that are the exponents of generosity and the manifestations thereof! Be generous unto them whom ye find in manifest poverty. O ye that are possessed of riches! Take heed lest outward appearance deter you from benevolent deeds in the path of God, the Lord of all mankind.

- Baha’u’llah  (The Compilation of Compilation, vol. 1, Huqúqu'lláh)

February 25

My God, my Fire and my Light! The days which Thou hast named the Ayyam-i-Ha (the Days of Ha, Intercalary days) in Thy Book have begun, O Thou Who art the King of names, and the fast which Thy most exalted Pen hath enjoined unto all who are in the kingdom of Thy creation to observe is approaching. I entreat Thee, O my Lord, by these days and by all such as have during that period clung to the cord of Thy commandments, and laid hold on the handle of Thy precepts, to grant that unto every soul may be assigned a place within the precincts of Thy court, and a seat at the revelation of the splendors of the light of Thy countenance. 

- Baha'u'llah  (‘Prayers and Meditations by Baha'u'llah’)

February 24

O Pen of the Most High! Say: O people of the world! We have enjoined upon you fasting during a brief period, and at its close have designated for you Naw-Ruz as a feast… Let the days in excess of the months be placed before the month of fasting. We have ordained that these, amid all nights and days, shall be the manifestations of the letter Ha, and thus they have not been bounded by the limits of the year and its months. It behoveth the people of Baha, throughout these days, to provide good cheer for themselves, their kindred and, beyond them, the poor and needy, and with joy and exultation to hail and glorify their Lord, to sing His praise and magnify His Name; and when they end - these days of giving that precede the season of restraint - let them enter upon the Fast. Thus hath it been ordained by Him Who is the Lord of all mankind. 

- Baha'u'llah  (The Kitab-i-Aqdas)

February 23

Consider a pearl which shineth by virtue of its inherent nature.  If it be covered with silk, its lustre and beauty will be concealed.  Likewise, man’s distinction lieth in the excellence of his conduct and in the pursuit of that which beseemeth his station, not in childish play and pastimes.  Know that thy true adornment consisteth in the love of God and in thy detachment from all save Him, and not in the luxuries thou dost possess.  Abandon them unto those who seek after them and turn unto God, He Who causeth the rivers to flow. 

- Baha'u'llah  (From Tablet to Pope Pius IX, Suriy-i-Haykal [Tablet of Temple]; ‘The Summons of the Lord of Hosts’)

February 22

O My Friend in Word! Ponder awhile. Hast thou ever heard that friend and foe should abide in one heart? Cast out then the stranger, that the Friend may enter His home. 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘The Hidden Words of Baha’u’llah’)

February 21

O Supreme Pontiff!  Incline thine ear unto that which the Fashioner of mouldering bones counselleth thee, as voiced by Him Who is His Most Great Name.  Sell all the embellished ornaments thou dost possess, and expend them in the path of God, Who causeth the night to return upon the day, and the day to return upon the night.  Abandon thy kingdom unto the kings, and emerge from thy habitation, with thy face set towards the Kingdom, and, detached from the world, then speak forth the praises of thy Lord betwixt earth and heaven.  Thus hath bidden thee He Who is the Possessor of Names, on the part of thy Lord, the Almighty, the All-Knowing. 

- Baha'u'llah  (Tablet to Pope Pius IX, Suriy-i-Haykal [Tablet of Temple]; ‘The Summons of the Lord of Hosts’)

February 20

In one of the Tablets this exalted Word hath been revealed from the Supreme Pen: “Whoso is unable to teach should appoint a deputy.” 

- Baha’u’llah  (Cited by the Universal House of Justice in a letter dated 158 B.E. addressed to the Iranian believers throughout the world)