Know assuredly that just as thou firmly believest that the
Word of God, exalted be His glory, endureth for ever, thou must, likewise,
believe with undoubting faith that its meaning can never be exhausted. They who
are its appointed interpreters, they whose hearts are the repositories of its
secrets, are, however, the only ones who can comprehend its manifold wisdom. 
Praise be to Thee, O Lord my God, for guiding me unto the
horizon of Thy Revelation… I beseech Thee, by the spreading rays of the Daystar
of Thy providence and by the billowing waves of the Ocean of Thy mercy, to
grant that my speech may bear a trace of the influence of Thine own exalted
Word, attracting thereby the realities of all created things.
The Great Being saith: 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. We cherish the hope that the
light of justice may shine upon the world and sanctify it from tyranny. If the
rulers and kings of the earth, the symbols of the power of God, exalted be His
glory, arise and resolve to dedicate themselves to whatever will promote the
highest interests of the whole of humanity, the reign of justice will assuredly
be established amongst the children of men, and the effulgence of its light
will envelop the whole earth.
Behold the disturbances which, for many a long year, have
afflicted the earth, and the perturbation that hath seized its peoples. It hath
either been ravaged by war, or tormented by sudden and unforeseen calamities.
Though the world is encompassed with misery and distress, yet no man hath
paused to reflect what the cause or source of that may be. Whenever the True
Counsellor uttered a word in admonishment, lo, they all denounced Him as a
mover of mischief and rejected His claim. How bewildering, how confusing is
such behaviour! No two men can be found who may be said to be outwardly and
inwardly united. The evidences of discord and malice are apparent everywhere,
though all were made for harmony and union.
Take heed, O concourse of the rulers of the world! There is
no force on earth that can equal in its conquering power the force of justice
and wisdom. I, verily, affirm that there is not, and hath never been, a host
more mighty than that of justice and wisdom. Blessed is the king who marcheth
with the ensign of wisdom unfurled before him, and the battalions of justice
massed in his rear. He verily is the ornament that adorneth the brow of peace
and the countenance of security. There can be no doubt whatever that if the
day-star of justice, which the clouds of tyranny have obscured, were to shed
its light upon men, the face of the earth would be completely transformed.
Illumine, O Lord, the faces of Thy servants, that they may
behold Thee; and cleanse their hearts that they may turn unto the court of Thy
heavenly favors, and recognize Him Who is the Manifestation of Thy Self and the
Day-Spring of Thine Essence.
Be most loving one to another. Burn away, wholly for the
sake of the Well-Beloved, the veil of self with the flame of the undying Fire,
and with faces joyous and beaming with light, associate with your neighbour...
Should a person acquire one hundred mithqals [1] of gold,
nineteen mithqals thereof belong unto God, the Creator of earth and heaven.
Take heed, O people, lest ye deprive yourselves of this great bounty. We have
prescribed this law unto you while We are wholly independent of you and of all
that are in the heavens and on the earth. Indeed there lie concealed in this
command, mysteries and benefits which are beyond the comprehension of anyone
save God, the All-Knowing, the All-Informed. Say, through this injunction God
desireth to purify your possessions and enable you to draw nigh unto such
stations as none can attain, except those whom God may please. Verily, He is
the Generous, the Gracious, the Bountiful.
No understanding can grasp the nature of His [the Báb’s]
Revelation, nor can any knowledge comprehend the full measure of His Faith. All
sayings are dependent upon His sanction, and all things stand in need of His
Cause. All else save Him are created by His command, and move and have their
being through His law. He is the Revealer of the divine mysteries, and the
Expounder of the hidden and ancient wisdom.
The divine call of the celestial Herald [the Báb] from
beyond the Veil of Glory, summoning mankind to renounce utterly all the things
to which they cleave, is repugnant to their desire; and this is the cause of
the bitter trials and violent commotions which have occurred. Consider the way
of the people. They ignore these well-founded traditions, all of which have
been fulfilled, and cling unto those of doubtful validity, and ask why these
have not been fulfilled. And yet, those things which to them were inconceivable
have been made manifest.
Intone, O My servant, the verses of God that have been
received by thee, as intoned by them who have drawn nigh unto Him, that the
sweetness of thy melody may kindle thine own soul, and attract the hearts of
all men.
Remember…how, when one of these same companions came before
the King of Ethiopia and recited unto him a Súrih of the Qur’án, he declared to
his attendants: “This, truly, hath been revealed by One Who is All-Knowing and
All-Wise. Whoso acknowledgeth the truth,
and believeth in the teachings of Jesus, can in no wise deny what hath been
recited. We, verily, bear witness to its
truth, even as we bear witness to the truth of that which we possess of the
Books of God, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.”
The signs and tokens of the Truth shine even as the midday
sun, and yet the people are wandering, aimlessly and perplexedly, in the
wilderness of ignorance and folly. Notwithstanding all the verses of the
Qur’án, and the recognized traditions, which are all indicative of a new Faith,
a new Law, and a new Revelation, this generation still waiteth in expectation
of beholding the promised One who should uphold the Law of the Muhammadan
Dispensation. The Jews and the Christians in like manner uphold the same contention.
All praise, O my God, be to Thee Who art the Source of all
glory and majesty, of greatness and honor, of sovereignty and dominion, of
loftiness and grace, of awe and power. Whomsoever Thou willest Thou causest to
draw nigh unto the Most Great Ocean, and on whomsoever Thou desirest Thou
conferrest the honor of recognizing Thy Most Ancient Name. Of all who are in
heaven and on earth, none can withstand the operation of Thy sovereign Will.
From all eternity Thou didst rule the entire creation, and Thou wilt continue
for evermore to exercise Thy dominion over all created things. There is none
other God but Thee, the Almighty, the Most Exalted, the All-Powerful, the
All-Wise.
The wine of renunciation must needs be quaffed, the lofty
heights of detachment must needs be attained, and the meditation referred to in
the words "One hour's reflection is preferable to seventy years of pious
worship" must needs be observed, so that the secret of the wretched
behaviour of the people might be discovered, those people who, despite the love
and yearning for truth which they profess, curse the followers of Truth when
once He hath been made manifest.
Remember the days in which the Sun of Bathá [ie, Muhammad]
shone forth above the horizon of the Will of thy Lord, the Exalted, the Most
High, and recall how the divines of that age turned away from Him, and the
learned contended with Him, that haply thou mayest apprehend that which, in
this day, remaineth concealed behind the veils of glory. So grievous became His plight on every side
that He instructed His companions to disperse.
Thus was the decree made manifest from the heaven of divine glory.
Too high is the All-Merciful for the hearts of those who
have recognized Him to apprehend His true nature, or for the minds of men to
hope to fathom His essence. He verily is
exalted above the understanding of anyone besides Himself, and sanctified
beyond the comprehension of all else save Him.
From all eternity He hath been independent of the entire creation.
And amongst the people are those who claim that He hath
disbelieved in God—yet every member of My body testifieth that there is none
other God but Him; that those Whom He hath raised up in truth and sent forth
with His guidance are the Manifestations of His most excellent names, the
Revealers of His most exalted attributes, and the Repositories of His
Revelation in the kingdom of creation; that through them the Proof of God hath
been perfected unto all else but Him, the standard of Divine Unity hath been
raised, and the sign of sanctity hath been made manifest; and that through them
every soul hath found a path unto the Lord of the Throne on high. We testify that there is none other God but
Him, that from everlasting He was alone with none else besides Him, and that He
shall be unto everlasting what He hath ever been.
Whoso reciteth, in the privacy of his chamber, the verses
revealed by God, the scattering angels of the Almighty shall scatter abroad the
fragrance of the words uttered by his mouth, and shall cause the heart of every
righteous man to throb. Though he may, at first, remain unaware of its effect,
yet the virtue of the grace vouchsafed unto him must needs sooner or later
exercise its influence upon his soul.
It is incumbent upon every man of insight and understanding
to strive to translate that which hath been written into reality and action....
In these days how few are those who abide by the standard
laid down in the Qur’án. Nay, nowhere are they to be found, except such as God
hath willed. Should there be, however, such a person, his righteous deeds would
prove of no avail unto him, if he hath failed to follow the standard revealed
in the Bayán; even as the pious deeds of the Christian monks profited them not,
inasmuch as at the time of the manifestation of the Apostle of God—may the
blessings of God rest upon Him—they contented themselves with the standard set
forth in the Gospel.
O Ye Sons of Spirit! Ye are My treasury, for in you I have
treasured the pearls of My mysteries and the gems of My knowledge. Guard them
from the strangers amidst My servants and from the ungodly amongst My people.
There hath branched from the Sadratu’l-Muntahá this sacred
and glorious Being, this Branch of Holiness; well is it with him that hath
sought His shelter and abideth beneath His shadow. Verily the Limb of the Law
of God hath sprung forth from this Root which God hath firmly implanted in the
Ground of His Will, and Whose Branch hath been so uplifted as to encompass the
whole of creation. Magnified be He, therefore, for this sublime, this blessed,
this mighty, this exalted Handiwork!
O Shaykh! Tell the people of the Bayán: “Ponder ye these
blessed words. He saith: ‘The whole of the Bayán is only a leaf amongst the
leaves of His Paradise.’ Be fair, O people, and be not of such as are accounted
as lost in the Book of God, the Lord of the worlds.” The blessed Lote-Tree
standeth, in this day, before thy face, laden with heavenly, with new and
wondrous fruits. Gaze on it, detached from all else save it. Thus hath the
Tongue of might and power spoken at this Spot which God hath adorned with the
footsteps of His Most Great Name and Mighty Announcement.
He [‘Abdu’l-Baha] is the Trust of God amongst you, His
charge within you, His manifestation unto you and His appearance among His
favoured servants...