Our purpose is to show how true religion promotes the civilization and honour, the prosperity and prestige, the learning and advancement of a people once abject, enslaved and ignorant, and how, when it falls into the hands of religious leaders who are foolish and fanatical, it is diverted to the wrong ends, until this greatest of splendours turns into blackest night.
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (Compilation: ‘Bahá’í Sacred Writings: A comprehensive collection of selections from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh and the Writings and utterances of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, representing the range of the Bahá’í teachings”, prepared by the Baha’i World Center, July 2025)
