The personality and activity of the body are due to the
individuality of the soul. Thus the soul is the cause of the life of the body,
and the body, with all its organs, is but the vehicle of its expression. 
O thou spiritual youth and merciful young man! Consider the
grace of thy Master; how He hath directed thee to the fountain of salvation,
until thou hast drunk from the salsabil (i.e., clear water of life) of the
guidance of God, in this holy and rich garden. Cling to this firm handle and
make thy feet steady in this path, so that the bounties of thy Supreme Lord may
successively pour upon thee and make thee a sign of His mighty knowledge.
Those souls who have attained to faith, if they be protected
and preserved from tests and keep firm and steadfast, the divine confirmations
will surround them from all directions…
The Kingdom of God is pre-existent and, since He is the
Creator, without doubt He has always had a creation.
Fighting, and the employment of force, even for the right
cause, will not bring about good results. The oppressed who have right on their
side, must not take that right by force; the evil would continue. Hearts must
be changed. The rich must wish to give! Life in man should be like a flame,
warming all with whom it comes into contact. The spiritually awakened are like
to bright torches in the sight of God, they give light and comfort to their
fellows.
I find England awake; there is spiritual life here. But your
poor are so very poor! This should not be. On the one hand you have wealth, and
great luxury; on the other hand, men and women are living in the extremities of
hunger and want. This great contrast of life is one of the blots on the
civilization of this enlightened age.
O ye respected souls! From the continual imitation of
ancient and worn-out ways, the world had grown dark as darksome night. The
fundamentals of the divine Teachings had passed from memory; their pith and
heart had been totally forgotten, and the people were holding on to husks. The
nations had, like tattered garments long outworn, fallen into a pitiful
condition.
O phoenix of that immortal flame kindled in the sacred Tree!
Bahá’u’lláh—may my life, my soul, my spirit be offered up as a sacrifice unto
His lowly servants—hath, during His last days on earth, given the most emphatic
promise that, through the outpourings of the grace of God and the aid and
assistance vouchsafed from His Kingdom on high, souls will arise and holy
beings appear who, as stars, would adorn the firmament of divine guidance;
illumine the dayspring of loving-kindness and bounty; manifest the signs of the
unity of God; shine with the light of sanctity and purity; receive their full
measure of divine inspiration; raise high the sacred torch of faith; stand firm
as the rock and immoveable as the mountain; and grow to become luminaries in
the heavens of His Revelation, mighty channels of His grace, means for the
bestowal of God’s bountiful care, heralds calling forth the name of the One
true God, and establishers of the world’s supreme foundation.
In John 6:26 it is said: “Ye seek Me, not because ye saw the
miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.” It is evident
that the loaves of which the disciples ate, and with which they were filled,
were the heavenly grace, for in verse 33 of the same chapter it is said: “For
the bread of God is He which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the
world.” It is evident that the body of Christ did not descend from heaven but
came from the womb of Mary: What descended from the heaven of God was the spirit
of Christ. The Jews, presuming that Christ was speaking of His body, objected,
as is recorded in verse 42 of the same chapter: “And they said, Is not this
Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how is it then that
he saith, I came down from heaven?
If the heart turns away from the blessings God offers how
can it hope for happiness? If it does not put its hope and trust in God’s
Mercy, where can it find rest? Oh, trust in God! for His Bounty is everlasting,
and in His Blessings, for they are superb. Oh! put your faith in the Almighty,
for He faileth not and His goodness endureth for ever! His Sun giveth Light
continually, and the Clouds of His Mercy are full of the Waters of Compassion
with which He waters the hearts of all who trust in Him. His refreshing Breeze
ever carries healing in its wings to the parched souls of men! Is it wise to
turn away from such a loving Father, Who showers His blessings upon us, and to
choose rather to be slaves of matter?
War and rapine with their attendant cruelties are an abomination
to God, and bring their own punishment, for the God of love is also a God of
justice and each man must inevitably reap what he sows. Let us try to
understand the commands of the Most High and to order our lives as He directs.
True happiness depends on spiritual good and having the heart ever open to
receive the Divine Bounty.
The Sun of Truth bath shone forth from the Horizon of Unity
upon all the regions. All contingent things are clad with the garment of
existence through the rays of the sun. Were it not for the rays of the sun no
being could step forth upon time arena of life. Everything would have remained
hidden; nay rather, the life of the terrestrial beings is continued through the
light and heat of the sun to such an extent that all the infinitesimal atoms,
which move through this realm of earth owe their life to the reflection of the
sun. Of course, each being manifests its inward tendencies according to its
ability and capacity. However, no matter how much the sun reflects itself
through all the contingent beings, yet it never leaves its supreme height and
exalted station.
Praise be to Him, ye are acquainted with the various laws,
institutions and principles of the world; today nothing short of these divine
teachings [of Baha’u’llah] can assure peace and tranquillity to mankind. But
for these teachings, this darkness shall never vanish, these chronic diseases
shall never be healed; nay, they shall grow fiercer from day to day. The
Balkans will remain discontented. Its restlessness will increase. The
vanquished Powers will continue to agitate. They will resort to every measure
that may rekindle the flame of war. Movements, newly-born and world-wide in
their range, will exert their utmost effort for the advancement of their
designs. The Movement of the Left will acquire great importance. Its influence
will spread.
In sooth, there will be found in those regions certain
persons like the Pharisees of the time of Christ, who, night and day, will
exert themselves with all heart and soul to cast forth doubts, in order that
they may deprive the souls of the glad-tidings of the Holy Spirit. They will
disseminate false rumors and utter many a calumny and will publish and announce
(false) stories. They will undertake all these only for the sake of earthly
vanities.
To remedy this condition [the divided condition of the
world] there must be universal peace. To bring this about, a Supreme Tribunal
must be established, representative of all governments and peoples; questions
both national and international must be referred thereto, and all must carry
out the decrees of this Tribunal. Should any government or people disobey, let
the whole world arise against that government or people.
In regard to the verse, which is revealed in tile Qur’an
that His highness, Christ, was not killed and was not crucified, by this is
meant the Reality of Christ. Although they crucified this elemental body, yet
the merciful reality and the heavenly existence remain eternal and undying, and
it was protected from the obsession and persecution of the enemies, for Christ
is Eternal and Everlasting. How can He die? This death and crucifixion was
imposed on the physical body of Christ, and not upon the Spilt of Christ.
I beg of God that thou mayest be so replenished with the
spirit of the love of God that there may not remain (in thee) any place or
access for the winds of tests. For what can dark doubts do with the light of
guidance, or clouds with the shining moon? Tests and trials only cause
agitation to weak hearts. But the pure souls, a hundred thousand tests are but
to them like mirage, imagination and shadow. The shadow cannot withstand the rays
of the sun and pure fragrances of holiness will not be concealed through the
doubts of the beetle. The headache of wavering (or hesitancy) will not affect
those exhilarated with the wine of the love of God.
O thou who art desirous of the Kingdom of God! Thy letter
was the cause of happiness and its contents were the proof of thy turning to
the Shining Beauty. In this blessed period, when the light of the endless
bounties is illuminating the dark world, some souls, like the butterfly,
circled round the Divine Lamp and with perfect yearning sacrificed their lives.
I ask of God that thou mayest be one of those souls, so that the rays of
knowledge will shine forth from thy face to those regions and will be the cause
of guiding the seekers of Reality.
Ye who are servants of the human race, strive ye with all
your heart to deliver mankind out of this darkness and these prejudices that
belong to the human condition and the world of nature, so that humanity may
find its way into the light of the world of God.
It may be that letters addressed to the women believers do
indeed contain certain passages written by way of encouragement, but the
purpose of such passages is to show that, in this wondrous Dispensation,
certain women have outshone certain men—not that all women have excelled all
men! The members of the Spiritual Assembly should do all they can to give encouragement
to the women. In this Dispensation one should not think in terms of “men” and
“women”: all are under the shadow of the Word of God and, as they strive more
diligently, so shall their reward be greater—be they men or women or the
frailest of people.... As for the large number of Tablets addressed to women
enjoining them to teach the Cause: since
the letters arriving in the Holy Land come for the most part from women, and
only rarely from men, it is natural that women should be written to more
frequently than men....
O flame of the love of God! The ray must shed light and the
sun must rise; the full moon must shine and the star must gleam. Since thou art
a ray, beseech thou the Lord to enable thee to give illumination and
enlightenment, to brighten the horizons and to consume the world with the fire
of the love of God. I hope that thou mayest attain such a station, nay, surpass
it. Upon thee be His glory.
There have issued, from His [Baha’u’llah] mighty Pen,
various teachings for the prevention of war, and these have been scattered far
and wide.
Sixty years ago Bahá’u’lláh rose up, even as the Day-Star,
over Persia. He declared that the skies of the world were dark, that this
darkness boded evil, and that terrible wars would come. From the prison at
Akká, He addressed the German Emperor in the clearest of terms, telling him
that a great war was on the way and that his city of Berlin would break forth
in lamentation and wailing. Likewise did He write to the Turkish sovereign,
although He was that Sulṭán’s victim and a captive in his prison—that is, He
was being held prisoner in the Fortress at Akká—and clearly stated that
Constantinople would be overtaken by a sudden and radical change, so great that
the women and children of that city would mourn and cry aloud. In brief, He
addressed such words to all the monarchs and the presidents, and everything
came to pass, exactly as He had foretold.
Question: Christ said: “I am the living bread which came
down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever.” [John
6:51.] What is the meaning of this utterance?
O thou candle of the Love of God! The light of man depends
on the light of the love of God. Thank thou God, for thou hast illuminated thy
face with this light and hast partaken of the bounty of the Kingdom of Abha,
chanted the verses of unity and worn the crown of guidance of the Glorious Lord
on thy head. This is the real Kingdom!
Christ was not widely known among the people—most would not
recognize Him—and He would travel from village to village and from wilderness
to wilderness; and so it was that when they set out to arrest Him they knew not
where to find Him or how to recognize Him. Judas Iscariot came to them and said: “I will show Him to you.” They
said: “When we enter that place, how will we know who is Christ?” Judas said: “The one whom I will kiss is Christ.”
At the time of His ascension, Christ had raised up twelve
men and four women. There were to be
sure a few others beside these, but they had not reached the station of
certitude. And among these twelve men, one became His sworn enemy: Judas Iscariot, who, notwithstanding his
position as the chief of the Apostles, arose to have Him killed. The most
prominent among the remaining eleven was Peter, and even he failed to stand
firm in the face of trials, since, according to the explicit text of the
Gospel, he thrice denied Christ at the hour of His martyrdom, to the point of
entirely recanting his faith in the last instance. It was only after the cock
crowed that he was reawakened and made contrite and repentant.
O thou effulgence of the Kingdom! I read thy letter and was
informed of thy speech, the contents of which were full of the feelings within
thy consciousness, and of thy spiritual sympathies. The light is divided into
two kinds, material and spiritual. The material light is a vanishing matter and
is known by etheric vibrations. But the spiritual light is the divine, eternal
and never-ending quality and is a truth of the Kingdom. Blessed is thy face for
that it hath taken a portion and a radiance from that Light.
O thou shining ray! Verily, the ray, being transmitted from
the etheric sphere, rends the space and reaches the surface of the earth and
dispels the gloomy darkness. Verily, be thou one of the rays of the Sun of
Truth and then thou wilt cause the darkness of error to disappear and wilt
change its intense obscurity into a discovering light which will guide (the
people) unto the Kingdom of God.
A friend asked ‘Abdu’l-Bahá how far the individual could
attain to that Christ consciousness in himself of which St. Paul speaks as our
hope of Glory. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá turned with a look of great joy and said with
an impressive gesture:
Luxuries cut off the freedom of communication. One who is
imprisoned by desires is always unhappy; the children of the Kingdom have
unchained themselves from their desires. Break all fetters and seek for
spiritual joy and enlightenment; then, though you walk on this earth, you will
perceive yourselves to be within the divine horizon. To man alone is this
possible. When we look about us we see every other creature captive to his
environment.