.... Beware lest ye hinder the breeze of God from blowing
over your hearts, the breeze through which the hearts of such as have turned
unto Him can be quickened....
- Baha’u’llah (Quoted by Shoghi Effendi in ‘The
Promised Day Is Come’)
April 18
My face hath come forth from the veils, and shed its
radiance upon all that is in heaven and on earth; and yet, ye turned not
towards Him, notwithstanding that ye were created for Him, O concourse of
kings! Follow, therefore, that which I speak unto you, and hearken unto it with
your hearts, and be not of such as have turned aside. For your glory consisteth
not in your sovereignty, but rather in your nearness unto God and your
observance of His command as sent down in His holy and preserved Tablets.
- Baha’u’llah (Quoted by Shoghi Effendi in ‘The Promised Day Is Come’;
Suriy-i-Muluk [Tablet to the Kings]; ‘Summons of the Lord of Hosts’)
April 17
Know ye that a servant’s glory resideth in his nearness unto
God, and that, unless he draweth nigh unto Him, naught else can ever profit
him, even should he hold sway over the entire creation.
- Baha’u’llah (Quoted by
Shoghi Effendi in ‘The Promised Day Is Come’; Suriy-i-Muluk [Tablet to the
Kings]; ‘Summons of the Lord of Hosts’)
April 16
Should any one of you rule over the whole earth, and over
all that lieth within it and upon it, its seas, its lands, its mountains, and
its plains, and yet be not remembered by God, all these would profit him not,
could ye but know it....
- Baha’u’llah (Quoted by Shoghi Effendi in ‘The
Promised Day Is Come’; Suriy-i-Muluk [Tablet to the Kings]; ‘Summons of the
Lord of Hosts’)
April 15
Say, the power of God is in the hearts of those who believe
in the unity of God and bear witness that no God is there but Him, while the
hearts of them that associate partners with God are impotent, devoid of life on
this earth, for assuredly they are dead.
- The Báb (‘Selections from the
Writings of the Báb’)
April 14
Say, God hath, according to that which is revealed in the
Book, taken upon Himself the task of ensuring the ascendancy of any one of the
followers of the Truth, over and above one hundred other souls, and the
supremacy of one hundred believers over one thousand non-believers and the
domination of one thousand of the faithful over all the peoples and kindreds of
the earth; inasmuch as God calleth into being whatsoever He willeth by virtue
of His behest. Verily He is potent over all things.
- The Báb (‘Selections from
the Writings of the Báb’)
April 13
The Day is approaching when God will render the hosts of Truth victorious, and He will purge the whole earth in
such wise that within the compass of His knowledge not a single soul shall
remain unless he truly believeth in God, worshippeth none other God but Him,
boweth down by day and by night in His adoration, and is reckoned among such as
are well assured.
- The Báb (‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb’)
April 12
One of the names of God is the Fashioner. He loveth
craftsmanship. Therefore any of His servants who manifesteth this attribute is
acceptable in the sight of this Wronged One. Craftsmanship is a book among the
books of divine sciences, and a treasure among the treasures of His heavenly
wisdom. This is a knowledge with meaning, for some of the sciences are brought
forth by words and come to an end with words.
- Baha’u’llah (The Compilation of Compilations, vol. I, Arts and Crafts)
April 11
The Purpose of the one true God, exalted be His glory, in
revealing Himself unto men is to lay bare those gems that lie hidden within the
mine of their true and inmost selves.
- Baha'u'llah (Gleanings from the Writings
of Baha'u'llah)
April 10
O Shaykh!...While there is yet time, and the
blessed Lote-Tree is still calling aloud amongst men, suffer not thyself to be
deprived. Place thy trust in God, and commit thine affairs unto Him, and enter
then the Most Great Prison, that thou mayest hear what no ear hath ever heard,
and gaze on that which no eye hath ever seen.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Epistle to the Son
of the Wolf’)
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’)
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