Our hope is that the world’s religious leaders and the
rulers thereof will unitedly arise for the reformation of this age and the
rehabilitation of its fortunes. Let them, after meditating on its needs, take
counsel together and, through anxious and full deliberation, administer to a
diseased and sorely-afflicted world the remedy it requireth... 
The Great Being saith: O ye children of men! The fundamental
purpose animating the Faith of God and His Religion is to safeguard the
interests and promote the unity of the human race, and to foster the spirit of
love and fellowship amongst men. Suffer it not to become a source of dissension
and discord, of hate and enmity. This is the straight Path, the fixed and
immovable foundation. Whatsoever is raised on this foundation, the changes and
chances of the world can never impair its strength, nor will the revolution of
countless centuries undermine its structure.
Verily God will raise up Him Whom God shall make manifest,
and after Him Whomsoever He willeth, even as He hath raised up prophets before
the Point of the Bayán. He in truth hath power over all things.
Great is your blessedness, inasmuch as ye have forsaken your
homes and wandered the land for the love of your Lord, the Almighty, the
Ancient of Days, until ye entered the Land of Mystery at a time when the fire
of oppression was ablaze and the croaking of the raven of discord had been
raised. Ye are My partners in My tribulations, for ye were present with Us
during the darksome night in which the hearts of those who testify to the unity
of God were agitated. Ye entered this land for the sake of Our love, and
departed therefrom through Our command. By the righteousness of God! Because of
you the earth itself glorieth over heaven. How excellent is this most sublime,
this glorious and exalted bounty! Ye have been deprived of your nest, O birds
of eternity, for the sake of your Lord, the Unconstrained, but your true abode
is beneath the wings of the grace of the All-Merciful. Blessed are they that
understand.
O Son of Justice! Whither can a lover go but to the land of
his beloved? and what seeker findeth rest away from his heart’s desire? To the
true lover reunion is life, and separation is death. His breast is void of
patience and his heart hath no peace. A myriad lives he would forsake to hasten
to the abode of his beloved.
The Will of the divine Testator is this: It is incumbent
upon the Aghsán, the Afnán and My Kindred to turn, one and all, their faces
towards the Most Mighty Branch. Consider that which We have revealed in Our
Most Holy Book: ‘When the ocean of My presence hath ebbed and the Book of My
Revelation is ended, turn your faces toward Him Whom God hath purposed, Who
hath branched from this Ancient Root.’ The object of this sacred verse is none
other except the Most Mighty Branch [‘Abdu’l-Bahá]. Thus have We graciously
revealed unto you Our potent Will, and I am verily the Gracious, the
All-Powerful. Verily God hath ordained the station of the Greater Branch [Muḥammad
‘Alí] to be beneath that of the Most Great Branch [‘Abdu’l-Bahá]. He is in
truth the Ordainer, the All-Wise. We have chosen ‘the Greater’ after ‘the Most
Great’, as decreed by Him Who is the All-Knowing, the All-Informed.
O Son of Him that Stood by His Own Entity in the Kingdom of
His Self! Know thou, that I have wafted unto thee all the fragrances of
holiness, have fully revealed to thee My word, have perfected through thee My
bounty and have desired for thee that which I have desired for My Self. Be then
content with My pleasure and thankful unto Me.
Say: This Youth hath departed out of this country and
deposited beneath every tree and every stone a trust, which God will erelong
bring forth through the power of truth. Thus hath the True One come and the
command of Him Who is the Ordainer, the All-Wise, been fulfilled. The hosts of
earth and heaven are powerless to resist His Cause, nor can all the kings and
rulers of the world ever frustrate His purpose. Say: Adversity is the oil which
feedeth the flame of this Lamp and by which its light is increased, did ye but
know. Indeed, the repudiation of the froward serveth but to proclaim this Faith
and to spread the Cause of God and His Revelation throughout the world.
Was it in Pharaoh’s power to stay the hand of God from
exercising His sovereignty when he acted wantonly in the land and was of the
transgressors? From within his own house
and in spite of his will We brought forth Him Who conversed with God. Well able
are We to achieve Our purpose. Recall, moreover, how Nimrod kindled the fire of
impiety that its flames might consume Abraham, the Friend of God; We delivered
Him, however, through the power of truth and seized Nimrod with the fury of Our
wrath. Say: The Oppressor [Muhammad Sháh] put to death the Beloved of the
worlds to quench the light of God amongst the people and to debar them from the
wellspring of life eternal in the days of thy Lord, the Gracious, the Most
Bountiful.
The aim of this Wronged One in sustaining woes and
tribulations, in revealing the Holy Verses and in demonstrating proofs hath
been naught but to quench the flame of hate and enmity, that the horizon of the
hearts of men may be illumined with the light of concord and attain real peace
and tranquillity.
O ye My Branches! A mighty force, a consummate power lieth
concealed in the world of being. Fix your gaze upon it and upon its unifying
influence, and not upon the differences which appear from it.
It is incumbent upon
everyone to aid those daysprings of authority and sources of command who are
adorned with the ornament of equity and justice. Blessed are the rulers and the
learned among the people of Bahá. They are My trustees among My servants and
the manifestations of My commandments amidst My people. Upon them rest My
glory, My blessings and My grace which have pervaded the world of being. In
this connection the utterances revealed in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas are such that from
the horizon of their words the light of divine grace shineth luminous and
resplendent.
Conflict and contention are categorically forbidden in His
Book. This is a decree of God in this Most Great Revelation. It is divinely
preserved from annulment and is invested by Him with the splendour of His
confirmation. Verily He is the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.
O ye the loved ones and the trustees of God! Kings are the
manifestations of the power, and the daysprings of the might and riches, of
God. Pray ye on their behalf. He hath invested them with the rulership of the
earth and hath singled out the hearts of men as His Own domain.
All men have been created to carry forward an ever-advancing
civilization. The Almighty beareth Me witness: To act like the beasts of the
field is unworthy of man. Those virtues that befit his dignity are forbearance,
mercy, compassion and loving-kindness towards all the peoples and kindreds of
the earth. Say: O friends! Drink your fill from this crystal stream that
floweth through the heavenly grace of Him Who is the Lord of Names. Let others
partake of its waters in My name, that the leaders of men in every land may
fully recognize the purpose for which the Eternal Truth hath been revealed, and
the reason for which they themselves have been created.
O Kamál! The heights which, through the most gracious favor
of God, mortal man can attain, in this Day, are as yet unrevealed to his sight.
The world of being hath never had, nor doth it yet possess the capacity for
such a revelation. The day, however, is approaching when the potentialities of
so great a favor will, by virtue of His behest, be manifested unto men. Though
the forces of the nations be arrayed against Him, though the kings of the earth
be leagued to undermine His Cause, the power of His might shall stand unshaken.
He, verily, speaketh the truth, and summoneth all mankind to the way of Him Who
is the Incomparable, the All-Knowing.
We have a fixed time for you, O peoples. If ye fail, at the
appointed hour, to turn towards God, He, verily, will lay violent hold on you,
and will cause grievous afflictions to assail you from every direction. How
severe, indeed, is the chastisement with which your Lord will then chastise
you!
O ye that dwell on earth! The religion of God is for love
and unity; make it not the cause of enmity or dissension. In the eyes of men of
insight and the beholders of the Most Sublime Vision, whatsoever are the
effective means for safeguarding and promoting the happiness and welfare of the
children of men have already been revealed by the Pen of Glory. But the foolish
ones of the earth, being nurtured in evil passions and desires, have remained
heedless of the consummate wisdom of Him Who is, in truth, the All-Wise, while
their words and deeds are prompted by idle fancies and vain imaginings.
“This is the Day which past ages and centuries can never
rival. Know this, and be not of the ignorant.” “This is the Day whereon human
ears have been privileged to hear what He Who conversed with God [Moses] heard
upon Sinai, what He Who is the Friend of God [Muḥammad] heard when lifted up
towards Him, what He Who is the Spirit of God [Jesus] heard as He ascended unto
Him, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.” “This Day is God’s Day, and this
Cause His Cause. Happy is he who hath renounced this world, and clung to Him
Who is the Dayspring of God’s Revelation.” “This is the King of Days, the Day
that hath seen the coming of the Best Beloved, He Who through all eternity hath
been acclaimed the Desire of the World.”
Lofty is the station of man! Not long ago this exalted Word
streamed forth from the treasury of Our Pen of Glory: Great and blessed is this
Day—the Day in which all that lay latent in man hath been and will be made
manifest. Lofty is the station of man, were he to hold fast to righteousness
and truth and to remain firm and steadfast in the Cause. In the eyes of the
All-Merciful a true man appeareth even as a firmament; its sun and moon are his
sight and hearing, and his shining and resplendent character its stars. His is
the loftiest station, and his influence educateth the world of being.
Incline your ears to the sweet melody of this Prisoner.
Arise, and lift up your voices, that haply they that are fast asleep may be
awakened. Say: O ye who are as dead! The Hand of Divine bounty proffereth unto
you the Water of Life. Hasten and drink your fill. Whoso hath been re-born in
this Day, shall never die; whoso remaineth dead, shall never live.
Hast thou [‘Álí Páshá, the Ottoman Prime Minister] imagined
thyself capable of extinguishing the fire which God hath kindled in the heart
of creation? Nay, by Him Who is the Eternal Truth, couldst thou but know it.
Rather, on account of what thy hands have wrought, it blazed higher and burned
more fiercely. Erelong will it encompass the earth and all that dwell therein. Thus hath it been decreed by God, and the powers of earth and heaven are unable
to thwart His purpose.
He Who is your Lord, the All-Merciful, cherisheth in His
heart the desire of beholding the entire human race as one soul and one body.
Haste ye to win your share of God’s good grace and mercy in this Day that
eclipseth all other created Days. How great the felicity that awaiteth the man
that forsaketh all he hath in a desire to obtain the things of God! Such a man,
We testify, is among God’s blessed ones.
How great the blessedness that awaiteth the king who will
arise to aid My Cause in My Kingdom, who will detach himself from all else but
Me! Such a king is numbered with the companions of the Crimson Ark—the Ark
which God hath prepared for the people of Bahá. All must glorify his name, must
reverence his station, and aid him to unlock the cities with the keys of My
Name, the omnipotent Protector of all that inhabit the visible and invisible
kingdoms. Such a king is the very eye of mankind, the luminous ornament on the
brow of creation, the fountain-head of blessings unto the whole world. Offer
up, O people of Bahá, your substance, nay your very lives, for his assistance.
O Chief! [‘Álí Páshá,
the Ottoman Prime Minister] We revealed Ourself unto thee at one time upon
Mount Tíná, and at another time upon Mount Zaytá, [1] and yet again in this
hallowed Spot. Following, however, thy corrupt inclinations, thou didst fail to
respond and wert accounted with the heedless. Consider, then, and call thou to
mind the time when Muhammad came with clear tokens from Him Who is the
Almighty, the All-Knowing. The people were wont to pelt Him with stones from
hidden places and in the markets, and they rejected the signs of God, thy Lord
and the Lord of thy forefathers. The learned also denied Him, as did their
followers, and likewise the kings of the earth, as thou hast heard from the
tales of old. Among those kings was Chosroes, [2] to whom Muhammad sent a
blessed epistle summoning him unto God and forbidding him from misbelief. Verily,
thy Lord knoweth all things. Following the promptings of his evil and corrupt
desires, however, Chosroes waxed arrogant before God and tore up the Tablet.
He, verily, is accounted among the inmates of the nethermost fire.