O ye maid-servants of the Merciful One! The queens of the world went down to the tombs and disapeared and vanished from the face of the earth. There remained for them no fruit, no name, no trace, no fame and no existence. But every one of the maid-servants in the court of Oneness shone forth like unto the brilliant stars from the glorious Ancient Horizon, cast their rays upon centuries and cycles, attained to their utmost desires in the Kingdom of Abha and drank from the wine of meeting (with God) in the Assembly of the Almighty. These souls have taken a share from (the benefits) of being and obtained results.
O ye friends of the wronged one! Purify your eyes from beholding [any as] strangers. Do ye not see foreignness, nay rather, know all as friends; for with the observation of strangeness, the practice of love and unity is difficult.
In this wonderful age, according to the divine texts, ye must befriend all nations and communities. Ye must not look upon violence, force, evil intentions, persecutions or hostility, nay rather, ye must raise your eyes to the horizon of glory [and see] that each one of these creatures is a sign of the Lord of Signs and [has] stepped upon the arena of existence through divine favor and supreme energy. Thus they are known and not unknown, are friends and not strangers. We must deal with all according to the above criterion.
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (‘Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, vol. 2)
