Praise be to God! —that the Blessed Perfection hath freed
the necks from the bonds and fetters and released all from racial attachments
by proclaiming, “Ye are all the fruits of one tree and the leaves of one
branch.” Be ye kind to the human world, and be ye compassionate to the race of
man, deal with the strangers as you deal with the friends, be ye gentle toward
the outsiders as you are toward the beloved ones… 
God has created us to be loving and compassionate toward
each other and not draw the sword before each other’s face. We must adorn the
gathering of love and peace, and not drill soldiers for the ranks of the army.
We must organize courts of justice. God has given to us eyes so that we may
look upon each other with the eyes of the Love of God. He has granted us hearts
so that we may become attached to each other and not show enmity and rancour.
…the attributes of the people of faith are justice and
fair-mindedness; forbearance and compassion and generosity; consideration for
others; candor, trustworthiness, and loyalty; love and loving-kindness;
devotion and determination and humanity. If therefore an individual is truly
righteous, he will avail himself of all those means which will attract the
hearts of men, and through the attributes of God he will draw them to the
straight path of faith and cause them to drink from the river of everlasting
life.
O ye beloved of the Lord! The Kingdom of God is founded upon
equity and justice, and also upon mercy, compassion, and kindness to every
living soul. Strive ye then with all your heart to treat compassionately all
humankind—except for those who have some selfish, private motive, or some
disease of the soul. Kindness cannot be shown the tyrant, the deceiver, or the
thief, because, far from awakening them to the error of their ways, it maketh
them to continue in their perversity as before. No matter how much kindliness
ye may expend upon the liar, he will but lie the more, for he believeth you to
be deceived, while ye understand him but too well, and only remain silent out
of your extreme compassion.
Regarding the “two wings” of the soul: These signify wings
of ascent. One is the wing of knowledge, the other of faith, as this is the
means of the ascent of the human soul to the lofty station of divine
perfections…
Consider not the present state, for it is the time of sowing
seeds in that country (America) and, of course, great difficulties are met
with, differences and hindrances of the people being severe. Firmness must
uphold us. As the servants and the maid-servants of the Merciful stand firmly
and persevere, the good seed will soon grow and bear the fruit of blessing.
Then will spirit and fragrance prevail, and joy and rejoicing come from the
heavenly sphere; the sorrows and toils shall be forgotten and the eternal peace
and rest appear. I trust, through the bounty of Abha, that ye may be
strengthened to serve and to spread the Word of God.
Be not in despair, but rather smile by the mercy of thy
Lord; and be not sorrowful when meeting with worldly difficulties and
depressions, for they pass away—and thine shall be immortality during ages and
centuries, times and cycles.
Consider the past, so that thou mayest become informed of
the mysteries which shall be disclosed in the future. When the disciples were
calling in the name of Christ, the Jews scoffed, scorned and laughed at them.
They were saying, “They (i.e., the disciples) are taken with madness, and
madness is made an art.” They even beat them with whips, threw stones at them,
prevented the people from approaching them, and were saying, “This man (Christ)
is naught but a sorcerer, blasphemeth God and is possess of a devil.” Then
observe how that persecution and scorn were changed to glory, honor and
reverence.
In the Gospel according to St John, Christ has said: ‘Except
a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of
Heaven.’ [St John 3, 5] The priests have interpreted this into meaning that
baptism is necessary for salvation. In another Gospel it is said: ‘He shall
baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire’. [St Matthew 3, 11]
One day the government leaders, pillars of the country, the
city’s ‘ulamás, leading mystics and intellectuals came out to the Mansion. The
Blessed Beauty paid them no attention whatever. They were not admitted to His
presence, nor did He inquire after any of them. I sat down with them and kept
them company for some hours, after which they returned whence they had come.
Although the royal farmán specifically decreed that Bahá’u’lláh was to be held
in solitary confinement within the Akká fortress, in a cell, under perpetual
guard; that He was never to set foot outside; that He was never even to see any
of the believers—notwithstanding such a farmán, such a drastic order, His tent
was raised in majesty on the heights of Mount Carmel. What greater display of
power could there be than this, that from the very prison, the banner of the
Lord was raised aloft, and rippled out for all the world to see! Praised be the
Possessor of such majesty and might; praised be He, weaponed with the power and
the glory; praised be He, Who defeated His foes when He lay captive in the Akká
prison!
It was the Love of God that led Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
that strengthened Joseph in Egypt and gave to Moses courage and patience.
By the fire of the Love of God the veil is burnt which
separates us from the Heavenly Realities, and with clear vision we are enabled
to struggle onward and upward, ever progressing in the paths of virtue and
holiness, and becoming the means of light to the world.
Among those who emigrated and were companions in the Most
Great Prison was Áqá ‘Abdu’s-Sálih. This excellent soul, a child of early
believers, came from Isfáhán. His noble-hearted father died, and this child
grew up an orphan. There was none to rear or care for him and he was the prey
of anyone who chose to do him harm. At last he became adolescent, and older
now, sought out his Well-Beloved. He emigrated to the Most Great Prison and
here, at the Ridván, achieved the honor of being appointed gardener. At this
task he was second to none. In his faith, too, he was staunch, loyal, worthy of
trust; as to his character, he was an embodiment of the sacred verse, “Of a
noble nature art thou.” That is how he
won the distinction of being gardener at the Ridván, and of thus receiving the
greatest bounty of all: almost daily, he entered the presence of Bahá’u’lláh.
Praise be to God! His divine help and assistance have
enveloped us and the confirmations of the Abhá Kingdom have surrounded us. The
Cause of God has reached every ear and the divine fragrances have spread
throughout all regions. The East and the West are illumined with the light of
the most great guidance. The foundation of the Cause of God is firmly and
securely established. The friends of the Blessed Beauty have risen in
faithfulness and occupied themselves in proclaiming the Word of God. The
foundation of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkár is laid. I have no further desire. I wish to
reach Haifa and to settle again in the Holy Land. It is now your turn to serve,
to render your servitude to the holy threshold. Occupy yourselves day and night
in the diffusion of the divine fragrances. All confirmations encircle those who
are engaged in rendering services to the court of oneness. Nothing avails
except servitude to the Blessed Beauty. If, after the ascension of the Blessed
Beauty, I had not risen in servitude to Him, these confirmations would not have
descended.
Gracious God! Although people see with their own eyes that
in the dispensation of Christ the eleven disciples were ordinary men who,
because of their faith in Him, found eternal life and shone from the horizon of
perpetual honor; and that the Jews, with all their worldly honor, became
contemptible; and that Caiaphas, the greatest enemy of Christ, was, together
with his whole family, obliterated from the face of the earth while a simple
fisherman, because of his belief in Christ, became the great Peter, yet,
despite all this, still they take no heed.
Another friend asked, "In the Tablets it is stated that
we must be severed and detached. In another place it is stated that we must
learn a trade or profession. Do not these two statements contradict each
other?" `Abdu'l-Bahá replied, "In the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh, it is
incumbent upon every soul to acquire a trade and an occupation. For example, I
know how to weave or make a mat, and you know some other trade. This, in itself
is an act of worship, provided that it is conducted on the basis of utmost
honesty and faithfulness.
All government employees, whether of high or low rank,
should, with perfect integrity, probity and rectitude, content themselves with
the modest stipends and allowances that are theirs. They should keep their
hands unsullied and preserve their fair name from blemish.... If a man deal
faithlessly with a just government he shall have dealt faithlessly with God;
and if he render it faithful service he shall have rendered that service to
God.
Those matters of major importance which constitute the
foundation of the Law of God are explicitly recorded in the Text, but
subsidiary laws are left to the House of Justice. The wisdom of this is that
the times never remain the same, for change is a necessary quality and an
essential attribute of this world, and of time and place. Therefore the House
of Justice will take action accordingly...
Trust in God and rely on His great bounty, because His
bounty is overflowing like the seas, brilliant like unto the lights, flowing
like currents of water and raining like the clouds. It is incumbent upon thee
to be humble, lowly and submissive at the appearance of the lights of the gifts
of thy Lord, in every instant. Serve the friends of God under all circumstances
and conditions. This is the station of the spiritual ones; this is the honor of
the Bahais; this is the glory of the sincere ones and this is the sovereignty
of the unitarians.
Serve in the olive garden of God, that God may help thee by
those confirmations by which intellects are astounded and the perceptions are
cleared.
O my beloved one! It is incumbent upon thee to be firm in
the Covenant and to stand up and serve the religion of God. Verily, this is the
magnet of confirmation and assistance, the attracter of all success and the
leader of hosts of gifts.
…use thy utmost power to sow and cast those pure seeds, the
divine teachings, in the hearts which move and cheer by the fragrance of God.
Briefly, this is the wisdom of referring the laws of society
to the House of Justice. In the religion of Islám, similarly, not every
ordinance was explicitly revealed; nay not a tenth part of a tenth part was
included in the Text; although all matters of major importance were
specifically referred to, there were undoubtedly thousands of laws which were
unspecified. These were devised by the divines of a later age according to the
laws of Islamic jurisprudence, and individual divines made conflicting
deductions from the original revealed ordinances. All these were enforced.
Today this process of deduction is the right of the body of the House of Justice,
and the deductions and conclusions of individual learned men have no authority,
unless they are endorsed by the House of Justice. The difference is precisely
this, that from the conclusions and endorsements of the body of the House of
Justice whose members are elected by and known to the worldwide Bahá’í
community, no differences will arise; whereas the conclusions of individual
divines and scholars would definitely lead to differences, and result in
schism, division, and dispersion. The oneness of the Word would be destroyed,
the unity of the Faith would disappear, and the edifice of the Faith of God
would be shaken.
Thank God that He guided thee unto the fountain of guidance,
gave thee to drink from the cup of affection, summoned thee unto His Supreme
Kingdom and chose thee from among those people. This is a favor wholly above
comprehension and is not realized by the intellects which are negligent of the
Lord of hosts and angels.
…the Jews are still expecting Christ and long to see Him in
all anticipation and great zeal, while His light was manifested, His beauty
shone forth, His call was raised, His trumpet blown, His standard hoisted, and
His stars sparkled; but the Pharisees are yet in an amazing slumber, immersed
in former traditions, and they make play with the signs of Thy Lord, the
Merciful, the Clement.
…turn unto God with a heart cheerfully swayed by His love
and kindled by the fire of His desires, both day and night. The lights of God
will appear unto thee, the mysteries of God be unfolded to thee and thy bosom
healed by the exhortations uttered by the Supreme Pen.
O thou who seekest the Kingdom of heaven! This world is even
as the body of man, and the Kingdom of God is as the spirit of life. See how
dark and narrow is the physical world of man’s body, and what a prey it is to
diseases and ills. On the other hand, how fresh and bright is the realm of the
human spirit. Judge thou from this metaphor how the world of the Kingdom hath
shone down, and how its laws have been made to work in this nether realm.
Although the spirit is hidden from view, still its commandments shine out like
rays of light upon the world of the human body. In the same way, although the
Kingdom of heaven is hidden from the sight of this unwitting people, still, to
him who seeth with the inner eye, it is plain as day.