- Baha’u’llah (‘Epistle to the
Son of the Wolf’)
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“Recite ye the verses of God every morn and eventide.” (Bahá’u’lláh, ‘The Kitáb-i-Aqdas’)
August 6
About two months after Our arrival in ‘Iráq, following the
command of His Majesty the Sháh of Persia—may God assist him—Mírzá Yaḥyá joined
Us. We said unto him: “In accordance with the Royal command We have been sent
unto this place. It is advisable for thee to remain in Persia. We will send Our
brother, Mírzá Músá, to some other place. As your names have not been mentioned
in the Royal decree, you can arise and render some service.” Subsequently, this
Wronged One departed from Baghdád, and for two years withdrew from the world.
Upon Our return, We found that he had not left, and had postponed his
departure. This Wronged One was greatly saddened.
August 5
One must call the people to love and faithfulness, to zeal
and contentment, that the sinful may be admonished and the ranks of the
virtuous may swell. Nor is it possible that there be no sinners: So long as the
name “the Ever-Forgiving” shineth resplendent above the horizon of existence,
there will be sinners in the world of creation, for the latter cannot appear
without the former and the former cannot exist without the latter.
- Baha’u’llah (From the 'Letter Bá to the Letter Há'; ‘The Call of the Divine Beloved’)
August 4
I sorrow not for Myself, however. By God! Mine head yearneth
for the spear out of love for its Lord. I never passed a tree, but Mine heart
addressed it saying: “O would that thou wert cut down in My name, and My body
crucified upon thee, in the path of My Lord!”, for I see the people wandering
distraught and unconscious in their drunken stupor. They have raised on high
their passions and set down their God. Methinks they have taken His Cause for a
mockery and regard it as a play and pastime, believing all the while that they
do well, and that they dwell securely in the citadel of safety. Howbeit the
matter is not as they fondly imagine:
tomorrow shall they behold that which today they are wont to deny!
- Baha'u'llah (Tablet to Nasiri’d-Din Shah, Suriy-i-Haykal [Tablet of Temple];
‘The Summons of the Lord of Hosts’)
August 3
I have seen, O Sháh, in the path of God what eye hath not
seen nor ear heard. Mine acquaintances
have repudiated Me, and My pathways have been straitened. The fount of
well-being hath run dry, and the bower of ease hath withered. How numerous the tribulations which have
rained, and will soon rain, upon Me! I advance with My face set towards Him Who
is the Almighty, the All-Bounteous, whilst behind Me glideth the serpent. Mine
eyes have rained down tears until My bed is drenched.
- Baha'u'llah (Tablet to Nasiri’d-Din
Shah, Suriy-i-Haykal [Tablet of Temple]; ‘The Summons of the Lord of Hosts’)
August 2
Whither are gone the learned men, the divines and potentates
of old? What hath become of their
discriminating views, their shrewd perceptions, their subtle insights and sage
pronouncements? Where are their hidden
coffers, their flaunted ornaments, their gilded couches, their rugs and
cushions strewn about? Gone forever is
their generation! All have perished,
and, by God’s decree, naught remaineth of them but scattered dust. Exhausted is the wealth they gathered,
dispersed the stores they hoarded, dissipated the treasures they
concealed. Naught can now be seen but
their deserted haunts, their roofless dwellings, their uprooted tree-trunks,
and their faded splendour. No man of
insight will let wealth distract his gaze from his ultimate objective, and no
man of understanding will allow riches to withhold him from turning unto Him
Who is the All-Possessing, the Most High.
- Baha'u'llah (Tablet to Nasiri’d-Din
Shah, Suriy-i-Haykal [Tablet of Temple]; ‘The Summons of the Lord of Hosts’)
August 1
Shall a man’s wealth endure forever, or protect him from the
One Who shall, erelong, seize him by his forelock? Gazing upon those who sleep beneath the
gravestones, embosomed in the dust, could one ever distinguish the sovereign’s
crumbling skull from the subject’s mouldering bones? Nay, by Him Who is the King of kings! Could one discern the lord from the vassal,
or those that enjoyed wealth and riches from those who possessed neither shoes
nor mat? By God! Every distinction hath been erased, save only
for those who upheld the right and who ruled with justice.
- Baha'u'llah (Tablet
to Nasiri’d-Din Shah, Suriy-i-Haykal [Tablet of Temple]; ‘The Summons of the
Lord of Hosts’)
July 31
O Rebellious Ones! My forbearance hath emboldened you and My
long-suffering hath made you negligent, in such wise that ye have spurred on
the fiery charger of passion into perilous ways that lead unto destruction.
Have ye thought Me heedless or that I was unaware?
- Baha’u’llah (‘The Hidden
Words of Baha’u’llah’)
July 30
The breezes of utterance in this Revelation are not to be
compared with those of former ages. This Wronged One hath been perpetually
afflicted, and found no place of safety in which He could peruse either the
writings of the Most Exalted One (the Báb) or those of any one else.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Epistle to the Son of the Wolf’)
July 29
It is clear and evident that, in this Dispensation wherein
the banner of utterance hath been raised aloft and the candle of discernment
hath been lit, there is no Lord but the Exalted One [the Báb] He it is Who is
one in His essence and one in His attributes, single in the kingdom of names
and peerless in the realm of actions. It is by virtue of His blessed name that
the seas of Divine Unity have been made to surge; it is through the power of
His resistless command that the immutable decrees of destiny have been
enforced; it is through the potency of His sovereign might that the dictates of
fate have been fixed. Who hath the power to soar in that exalted atmosphere or
to cherish another beloved than Him? We all abide beneath His shadow and seek
our portion from the ocean of His grace. However far the gnat may fly, it can
never traverse the length and breadth of heaven, and however high the sparrow
may soar, it can never attain the tree of immortality.
- Baha’u’llah (‘From the
Letter Bá to the Letter Há; ‘The Call of the Divine Beloved’)
July 28
July 27
O Ye People that have Minds to Know and Ears to Hear! The
first call of the Beloved is this: O mystic nightingale! Abide not but in the
rose-garden of the spirit. O messenger of the Solomon of love! Seek thou no
shelter except in the Sheba of the well-beloved, and O immortal phoenix! dwell
not save on the mount of faithfulness. Therein is thy habitation, if on the
wings of thy soul thou soarest to the realm of the infinite and seekest to
attain thy goal.
- Baha’u’llah (‘The Hidden Words of Baha’u’llah’)
July 26
God testifieth and beareth Me witness that this Wronged One
hath not perused the Bayán, nor been acquainted with its contents. This much,
however, is known and is clear and indubitable that He [the Báb] hath ordained
the Book of the Bayán to be the foundation of His works.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Epistle
to the Son of the Wolf’)
July 25
We have heard the moaning of the pulpits which, as attested
by all, the divines of the age of this Revelation have ascended, and from which
they have cursed the True One, and caused such things to befall Him Who is the
Essence of Being and His companions as neither the eye nor the ear of the world
hath seen or heard.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Epistle to the Son of the Wolf’)
July 24
The blind fanaticism of former times hath withheld the
hapless creatures from the Straight Path. Meditate on the Shí’ih sect. For
twelve hundred years they have cried “O Qá’im!”, until in the end all
pronounced the sentence of His death, and caused Him to suffer martyrdom,
notwithstanding their belief in, and their acceptance and acknowledgment of,
the True One—exalted be His glory—and of the Seal of the Prophets, and of the
Chosen Ones. It is now necessary to reflect a while, that haply that which hath
come between the True One and His creatures may be discovered, and the deeds
which have been the cause of protest and denial be made known.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Epistle to the Son of the Wolf’)
July 23
Know thou that, according to what thy Lord, the Lord of all
men, hath decreed in His Book, the favors vouchsafed by Him unto mankind have
been, and will ever remain, limitless in their range. First and foremost among
these favors, which the Almighty hath conferred upon man, is the gift of
understanding. His purpose in conferring such a gift is none other except to
enable His creature to know and recognize the one true God—exalted be His
glory. This gift giveth man the power to discern the truth in all things, leadeth
him to that which is right, and helpeth him to discover the secrets of
creation. Next in rank, is the power of vision, the chief instrument whereby
his understanding can function. The senses of hearing, of the heart, and the
like, are similarly to be reckoned among the gifts with which the human body is
endowed. Immeasurably exalted is the Almighty Who hath created these powers,
and revealed them in the body of man.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Gleanings from the
Writings of Baha’u’llah’)
July 22
The tie of servitude established between the worshiper and
the adored One, between the creature and the Creator, should in itself be
regarded as a token of His gracious favor unto men, and not as an indication of
any merit they may possess. To this testifieth every true and discerning
believer.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah’)
July 21
All the Divine Books and Scriptures have predicted and
announced unto men the advent of the Most Great Revelation. None can adequately
recount the verses recorded in the Books of former ages which forecast this
supreme Bounty, this most mighty Bestowal.
- Baha’u’llah (Quoted by Shoghi
Effendi in 'God Passes By')
July 20
O My servant that believest in God! By the righteousness of
the Almighty! Were I to recount to thee the tale of the things that have
befallen Me, the souls and minds of men would be incapable of sustaining its
weight. God Himself beareth Me witness. …Meditate diligently upon the Cause of
thy Lord. Strive to know Him through His own Self and not through others. For
no one else besides Him can ever profit thee. To this all created things will
testify, couldst thou but perceive it.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Days of Remembrance’)
July 19
For every act performed there shall be a recompense
according to the estimate of God, and unto this the very ordinances and
prohibitions prescribed by the Almighty amply bear witness. For surely if deeds
were not rewarded and yielded no fruit, then the Cause of God—exalted is
He—would prove futile. Immeasurably high is He exalted above such blasphemies!
However, unto them that are rid of all attachments a deed is, verily, its own
reward.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Tablets of Baha’u’llah revealed after the
Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
July 18
Thou hast moreover asked Me concerning the ordinances of
God. Know thou of a truth that whatsoever hath been prescribed in the Book is
indeed the truth, no doubt is there about it, and it is incumbent upon everyone
to observe that which hath been sent down by Him Who is the Revealer, the
All-Knowing. Were a man to put them away despite his being aware thereof, God
would truly be clear of such a one and We too would be clear of him, inasmuch
as His ordinances constitute the fruits of the divine Tree and none other than
the heedless and the wayward will deviate therefrom.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Tablets of
Baha’u’llah revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
July 17
O servant! Warn thou the servants of God not to reject that
which they do not comprehend. Say, implore God to open to your hearts the
portals of true understanding that ye may be apprised of that of which no one
is apprised. Verily, He is the Giver, the Forgiving, the Compassionate.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Tablets of Baha’u’llah revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
July 16
Verily I say, the creation of God embraceth worlds besides
this world, and creatures apart from these creatures. In each of these worlds
He hath ordained things which none can search except Himself, the
All-Searching, the All-Wise.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Tablets of Baha’u’llah revealed
after the Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
July 15
O would that that which interveneth between the children of
men and their Creator were dispelled that they might be enabled to behold God’s
invincible sovereignty and dominion, quaff from the wellspring of His heavenly
streams, be sprinkled with the outpourings of the ocean of true understanding
and be purged from the defilements of the ungodly and the suspicious.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Tablets of Baha’u’llah revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
July 14
Emerge from behind the veil, by the leave of thy Lord, the
All-Glorious, the Most Powerful, and seize, before the eyes of those who are in
the heavens and those who are on the earth, the Chalice of Immortality, in the
name of thy Lord, the Inaccessible, the Most High, and quaff thy fill, and be
not of them that tarry. I swear by God! The moment thou touchest the Cup with
thy lips, the Concourse on high will acclaim thee saying, “Drink with healthy
relish, O man that hast truly believed in God!”, and the inhabitants of the
Cities of Immortality will cry out, “Joy be to thee, O thou that hast drained
the Cup of His love!”, and the Tongue of Grandeur will hail thee, “Great is the
blessedness that awaiteth thee, O My servant, for thou hast attained unto that
which none hath attained, except such as have detached themselves from all that
is in the heavens and all that is on the earth, and who are the emblems of true
detachment.”
- Baha’u’llah (‘Days of Remembrance’)
July 13
The followers of the Gospel… hold as impossible that the
Bearer of a new Revelation should again shine forth from the dayspring of the
Will of God after Jesus, Son of Mary—peace be upon Him! In support of this
contention, they adduce the following verse from the Gospel: “Heaven and earth
shall pass away, but the words of the Son of Man shall never pass away.” [cf.
Matthew 24:35; Mark 13:31; Luke 21:33.] They maintain that neither the
teachings nor the commandments of Jesus—peace be upon Him! —may ever be
altered.
At one point in the Gospel, He saith: “I go away, and come again.” [John 14:28] Again in the Gospel of John, He hath foretold the advent of a Comforter who shall come after Him. [cf. John 14:16; 14:26; 15:26; 16:7] In the Gospel of Luke, moreover, a number of signs and portents have been mentioned. Certain divines of that Faith, however, have interpreted these utterances after their own fancy, and have thus failed to grasp their true significance.
At one point in the Gospel, He saith: “I go away, and come again.” [John 14:28] Again in the Gospel of John, He hath foretold the advent of a Comforter who shall come after Him. [cf. John 14:16; 14:26; 15:26; 16:7] In the Gospel of Luke, moreover, a number of signs and portents have been mentioned. Certain divines of that Faith, however, have interpreted these utterances after their own fancy, and have thus failed to grasp their true significance.
- Baha'u'llah (Tablet to
Nasiri’d-Din Shah, Suriy-i-Haykal [Tablet of Temple]; ‘The Summons of the Lord
of Hosts’)
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