- Baha’u’llah (‘The Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
August 25
August 24
Arise thou amongst men in the name of this all-compelling
Cause, and summon, then, the nations unto God, the Exalted, the Great. Be thou
not of them who called upon God by one of His names, but who, when He Who is
the Object of all names appeared, denied Him and turned aside from Him, and, in
the end, pronounced sentence against Him with manifest injustice. Consider and
call thou to mind the days whereon the Spirit of God appeared, and Herod gave
judgement against Him. God, however,
aided Him with the hosts of the unseen, and protected Him with truth, and sent
Him down unto another land, according to His promise. He, verily, ordaineth
what He pleaseth. Thy Lord truly preserveth whom He willeth, be he in the midst
of the seas, or in the maw of the serpent, or beneath the sword of the
oppressor.
- Baha'u'llah (Tablet to Czar Alexander II, Suriy-i-Haykal [Tablet of
Temple]; ‘The Summons of the Lord of Hosts’)
August 23
Beware lest thy sovereignty withhold thee from Him Who is
the Supreme Sovereign. He, verily, is come with His Kingdom, and all the atoms
cry aloud: “Lo! The Lord is come in His
great majesty!” He Who is the Father is come, and the Son, in the holy vale,
crieth out: “Here am I, here am I, O Lord, My God!”, whilst Sinai circleth
round the House, and the Burning Bush calleth aloud: “The All-Bounteous is come
mounted upon the clouds! Blessed is he that draweth nigh unto Him, and woe
betide them that are far away.”
- Baha'u'llah (Tablet to Czar Alexander II,
Suriy-i-Haykal [Tablet of Temple]; ‘The Summons of the Lord of Hosts’)
August 22
O Shaykh! [1] It is incumbent upon the divines to unite with
His Majesty, the Sháh—may God assist him—and to cleave day and night unto that
which will exalt the station of both the government and the nation. This people
are assiduously occupied in enlightening the souls of men and in rehabilitating
their condition. Unto this testifieth that which hath been sent down by the
Most Sublime Pen in this lucid Tablet. How often have things been simple and
easy of accomplishment, and yet most men have been heedless, and busied
themselves with that which wasteth their time!
- Baha’u’llah (‘Epistle to the
Son of the Wolf’)
[1] Shaykh Muhammad-Taqi, known as Aqa Najafi, a son of
Shaykh Muhammad-Baqir who was stigmatized by Baha’u’llah as 'Wolf'. After the
death of his father in 1883, Aqa Najafi succeeded him as a leading mujtahid of
Isfahan. He was an inveterate enemy and formidable opponent of the Cause of
Bahá'u'lláh. (Adib Taherzadeh, ‘The Revelation of Baha’u’llah, vol. 4)
August 21
This Wronged One hath, at all times, summoned the peoples of
the world unto that which will exalt them, and draw them nigh unto God. From
the Most Sublime Horizon there hath shone forth that which leaveth no room unto
any one for vacillation, repudiation or denial. The wayward, however, have
failed to profit therefrom; nay, it shall only increase their loss.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Epistle to Son of the Wolf’)
August 20
Whatsoever ye understand not in the Bayán, ask it of God,
your Lord and the Lord of your forefathers. Should He so desire, He will
expound for you that which is revealed therein, and disclose to you the pearls
of Divine knowledge and wisdom that lie concealed within the ocean of its
words. He, verily, is supreme over all names; no God is there but Him, the Help
in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.
- Baha’u’llah (‘The Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
August 19
- Baha’u’llah (‘The Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
August 18
O thou who hast fixed thy gaze upon My countenance! Admonish
men to fear God. By God! This fear is the chief commander of the army of thy
Lord. Its hosts are a praiseworthy character and goodly deeds. Through it have
the cities of men’s hearts been opened throughout the ages and centuries, and
the standards of ascendancy and triumph raised above all other standards.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Epistle to Son of the Wolf’)
August 17
This day, it behoveth whoso hath quaffed the Mystic Wine of
everlasting life from the Hands of the loving-kindness of the Lord his God, the
Merciful, to pulsate even as the throbbing artery in the body of mankind, that
through him may be quickened the world and every crumbling bone.
- Baha’u’llah (‘The Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
August 16
Say: O people of God! Adorn your temples with the adornment
of trustworthiness and piety. Help, then, your Lord with the hosts of goodly
deeds and a praiseworthy character. We have forbidden you dissension and
conflict in My Books, and My Scriptures, and My Scrolls, and My Tablets, and
have wished thereby naught else save your exaltation and advancement. Unto this
testify the heavens and the stars thereof, and the sun and the radiance
thereof, and the trees and the leaves thereof, and the seas and the waves
thereof, and the earth and the treasures thereof. We pray God to assist His
loved ones, and aid them in that which beseemeth them in this blest, this
mighty, and wondrous station.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Epistle to the Son of the Wolf’)
August 15
We have admonished Our loved ones to fear God, a fear which
is the fountain-head of all goodly deeds and virtues. It is the commander of
the hosts of justice in the city of Bahá. Happy the man that hath entered the
shadow of its luminous standard, and laid fast hold thereon. He, verily, is of
the Companions of the Crimson Ark, which hath been mentioned in the
Qayyúm-i-Asmá.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Epistle to the Son of the Wolf’)
August 14
O people of the world! When the Mystic Dove will have winged
its flight from its Sanctuary of Praise and sought its far-off goal, its hidden
habitation, refer ye whatsoever ye understand not in the Book to Him Who hath
branched from this mighty Stock.
- Baha’u’llah (‘The Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
August 13
The foundations of idle fancies have trembled, and the
heaven of vain imaginings hath been cleft asunder, and yet the people are in
doubt and in contention with Him. They have denied the testimony of God and His
proof, after He came from the heaven of power with the kingdom of His signs.
They have cast away what had been prescribed, and perpetrated what had been
forbidden them in the Book. They have abandoned their God, and clung unto their
desires. They truly have strayed and are in error. They read the verses and
deny them. They behold the clear tokens and turn aside. They truly are lost in
strange doubt.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Epistle to the Son of the Wolf’)
August 12
Happy are ye, O ye the learned ones in Bahá. By the Lord! Ye
are the billows of the Most Mighty Ocean, the stars of the firmament of Glory,
the standards of triumph waving betwixt earth and heaven. Ye are the
manifestations of steadfastness amidst men and the daysprings of Divine
Utterance to all that dwell on earth. Well is it with him that turneth unto
you, and woe betide the froward.
- Baha’u’llah (‘The Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
August 11
The hope is cherished that ye may obtain true education in
the shelter of the tree of His tender mercies and act in accordance with that
which God desireth. Ye are all the leaves of one tree and the drops of one
ocean.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Tablets of Baha’u’llah revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
August 10
Grieve not, O House of God, [Baghdad House] if the veil of
thy sanctity be rent asunder by the infidels. God hath, in the world of
creation, adorned thee with the jewel of His remembrance. Such an ornament no
man can, at any time, profane. Towards thee the eyes of thy Lord shall, under
all conditions, remain directed. He, verily, will incline His ear to the prayer
of every one that visiteth thee, who will circle around thee, and calleth upon
Him in thy name. He, in truth, is the Forgiving, the All-Merciful.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah’)
August 9
Whither are gone the proud and their palaces? Gaze thou into their tombs, that thou mayest
profit by this example, inasmuch as We made it a lesson unto every
beholder. Were the breezes of Revelation
to seize thee, thou wouldst flee the world, and turn unto the Kingdom, and
wouldst expend all thou possessest, that thou mayest draw nigh unto this
sublime Vision.
- Baha'u'llah (Tablet to Napoleon III, Suriy-i-Haykal [Tablet of
Temple]; ‘The Summons of the Lord of Hosts’)
August 8
Whilst I lay chained and fettered in the prison, one of thy
ministers extended Me his aid. Wherefore
hath God ordained for thee a station which the knowledge of none can comprehend
except His knowledge. Beware lest thou
barter away this sublime station. Thy
Lord, verily, doeth what He willeth.
What He pleaseth will God abrogate or confirm, and with Him is the
knowledge of all things in a Guarded Tablet.
- Baha'u'llah (Tablet to Czar
Alexander II, Suriy-i-Haykal [Tablet of Temple]; ‘The Summons of the Lord of
Hosts’)
August 7
O Czar of Russia!
Incline thine ear unto the voice of God, the King, the Holy, and turn
thou unto Paradise, the Spot wherein abideth He Who, among the Concourse on
high, beareth the most excellent titles, and Who, in the kingdom of creation,
is called by the name of God, the Effulgent, the All-Glorious.
- Baha'u'llah (Tablet to Czar Alexander II, Suriy-i-Haykal [Tablet of Temple]; ‘The Summons of
the Lord of Hosts’)
August 6
We behold the generality of mankind worshipping names and
exposing themselves, as thou dost witness, to dire perils in the mere hope of
perpetuating their names, whilst every perceiving soul testifieth that after
death one’s name shall avail him nothing except insofar as it beareth a
relationship unto God, the Almighty, the All-Praised. Thus have their vain imaginings taken hold of
them in requital for that which their hands have wrought.
- Baha'u'llah (Tablet
to Napoleon III, Suriy-i-Haykal [Tablet of Temple]; ‘The Summons of the Lord of
Hosts’)
August 5
I bear witness that through thee God hath proved the hearts
of His servants. Blessed be the man that directeth his steps toward thee, and
visiteth thee. Woe to him that denieth thy right, that turneth away from thee,
that dishonoreth thy name, and profaneth thy holiness.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Gleanings
from the Writings of Baha’u’llah’)
August 4
Exultest thou over the treasures thou dost possess, knowing
they shall perish? Rejoicest thou in
that thou rulest a span of earth, when the whole world, in the estimation of
the people of Bahá, is worth as much as the black in the eye of a dead
ant? Abandon it unto such as have set
their affections upon it, and turn thou unto Him Who is the Desire of the
world.
- Baha'u'llah (Tablet to Napoleon
III, Suriy-i-Haykal [Tablet of Temple]; ‘The Summons of the Lord of Hosts’)
August 3
Meditate on the world and the state of its people. He, for
Whose sake the world was called into being, hath been imprisoned in the most
desolate of cities, by reason of that which the hands of the wayward have
wrought. From the horizon of His prison-city He summoneth mankind unto the
Dayspring of God, the Exalted, the Great.
- Baha'u'llah (Tablet to Napoleon III,
Suriy-i-Haykal [Tablet of Temple]; ‘The Summons of the Lord of Hosts’)
August 2
Set forth that which ye possess. If it be favourably
received, your end is attained; if not, to protest is vain. Leave that soul to
himself and turn unto the Lord, the Protector, the Self-Subsisting. Be not the
cause of grief, much less of discord and strife.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Tablets of
Baha’u’llah revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
August 1
He is a man of insight whose eyes have been illumined with
the brightness of Thy face, and who, as soon as Thy call was raised, hath
recognized Thee. (Baha’u’llah, ‘Prayers and Meditations by Baha’u’llah’)
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