O ye close and dear friends of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá!
In the Orient scatter perfumes,
And shed splendours on the West.
Carry light unto the Bulgar,
And the Slav with life invest.
One year after the ascension of Bahá’u’lláh, there came this
verse from the lips of the Centre of the Covenant. The Covenant-breakers found
it strange indeed, and they treated it with scorn. Yet, praised be God, its
effects are now manifest, its power revealed, its import clear; for by God’s
grace, today both East and West are trembling for joy, and now, from sweet
waftings of holiness, the whole earth is scented with musk.
The Blessed Beauty, in unmistakable language, hath made this
promise in His Book: ‘We behold you from Our realm of glory, and shall aid
whosoever will arise for the triumph of Our Cause with the hosts of the
Concourse on high and a company of Our favoured angels.’
God be thanked, that promised aid hath been vouchsafed, as
is plain for all to see, and it shineth forth as clear as the sun in the heavens.
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (‘Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Baha’)
