January 13

O maid-servant of God! Verily, the tests and trials of God are very great and very violent. Beseech thou God to protect thee from all doubts and to guard thee from the interpretations of parabolical [1] verses, as made by those who know not in what valley they are roving, who speak according to their own selfish purposes and after their own evil inclinations; who accept and then reject; who believe in God and then deny Him; and who appear firm and then backslide: thus thou beholdest these oscillating daily.

“Leave them to amuse themselves with their own vain discourses,” and turn thou to the light of the Testament, and rejoice at the bounty of the effulgence, and seek shelter under the shadow of the standard of the Covenant. Thou wilt soon find it fluttering on the highest summits of glory, surrounded by the valiant hosts of the angels of heaven and assisted by spiritual armies of great number that proceed from the Supreme Concourse. 

(‘Abdu’l-Baha, ‘Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, vol. 1)

[1] Texts relating to parables and which are veiled in symbols and have esoteric meanings.

January 12

The most important thing is to polish the mirrors of hearts in order that they may become illumined and receptive of the divine light. One heart may possess the capacity of the polished mirror; another, be covered and obscured by the dust and dross of this world. Although the same Sun is shining upon both, in the mirror which is polished, pure and sanctified you may behold the Sun in all its fullness, glory and power, revealing its majesty and effulgence; but in the mirror which is rusted and obscured there is no capacity for reflection, although so far as the Sun itself is concerned it is shining thereon and is neither lessened nor deprived. Therefore, our duty lies in seeking to polish the mirrors of our hearts in order that we shall become reflectors of that light and recipients of the divine bounties which may be fully revealed through them. 

(‘Abdu’l-Baha, from a talk, New York, 14 April 1912; ‘The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by 'Abdu'l-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912’)

January 11

O thou handsome child!

Thy spiritual father and thy good mother sent me thy radiant picture and I rejoiced on seeing it. I pray God to illumine thy heart with the light of the Manifestation, to nurture thee in His mercy so that thou mayest attain maturity in His love; thy spirit be enlightened with beholding His light and thy spirit revived by the bounty of the Holy Spirit, so that thou mayest be a sign of the love of God, speaking in the name of God, joyous by the favors of God, attaining unto the sea of the mercy of God, and being baptized with the water of life, the fire of love and the spirit of attraction. 

(‘Abdu’l-Baha, ‘Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, vol. 1)

January 10

The Spiritual Assemblies are collectively the most effective of all instruments for establishing unity and harmony. This matter is of the utmost importance; this is the magnet that draweth down the confirmations of God. 

(‘Abdu’l-Baha, ‘Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Baha) 

January 9

At a time when the Israelites had multiplied in Egypt and were spread throughout the whole country, the Coptic Pharaohs of Egypt determined to strengthen and favor their own Coptic peoples and to degrade and dishonor the children of Israel, whom they regarded as foreigners. Over a long period, the Israelites, divided and scattered, were captive in the hands of the tyrannical Copts, and were scorned and despised by all, so that the meanest of the Copts would freely persecute and lord it over the noblest of the Israelites. The enslavement, wretchedness and helplessness of the Hebrews reached such a pitch that they were never, day or night, secure in their own persons nor able to provide any defense for their wives and families against the tyranny of their Pharaohic captors. Then their food was the fragments of their own broken hearts, and their drink a river of tears. They continued on in this anguish until suddenly Moses, the All-Beauteous, beheld the Divine Light streaming out of the blessed Vale, the place that was holy ground, and heard the quickening voice of God as it spoke from the flame of that Tree “neither of the East nor of the West,” [Qur’án 24:35] and He stood up in the full panoply of His universal prophethood. In the midst of the Israelites, He blazed out like a lamp of Divine guidance, and by the light of salvation He led that lost people out of the shadows of ignorance into knowledge and perfection. 

(‘Abdu’l-Baha, ‘The Secret of Divine Civilization’)

January 8

Christ said, ‘They shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of Heaven’. [Matthew xxiv, 30, Matthew xvi, 27] Bahá’u’lláh said, ‘When Christ came for the first time He came upon the clouds’. [John iii, 13] Christ said that He had come from the sky, from Heaven—that He came forth from God—while He was born of Mary, His Mother. But when He declared that He had come from Heaven, it is clear that He did not mean the blue firmament but that He spoke of the Heaven of the Kingdom of God, and that from this Heaven He descended upon the clouds. As clouds are obstacles to the shining of the sun, so the clouds of the world of humanity hid from the eyes of men the radiance of the Divinity of Christ.

Men said, ‘He is of Nazareth, born of Mary, we know Him and we know his brethren. What can He mean? What is He saying? That He came forth from God?’

The Body of Christ was born of Mary of Nazareth, but the Spirit was of God. The capacities of His human body were limited but the strength of His spirit was vast, infinite, immeasurable.  

Men asked, ‘Why does He say He is of God?’ If they had understood the reality of Christ, they would have known that the body of His humanity was a cloud that hid His Divinity. The world only saw His human form, and therefore wondered how He could have ‘come down from Heaven’.

Bahá’u’lláh said, ‘Even as the clouds hide the sun and the sky from our gaze, even so did the humanity of Christ hide from men His real Divine character’. 

(‘Abdu’l-Baha, from a talk, Paris, October 27, 1911, ‘Paris Talks’)

January 7

…it is the desire of the Lord God that the loved ones of God and the handmaids of the Merciful in the West should come closer together in harmony and unity as day followeth day, and until this is accomplished, the work will never go forward. 

(‘Abdu’l-Baha, ‘Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Baha)

January 6

Praise be to God that He has given you a prosperous country. Towns are flourishing, commerce is progressing and the outward evidences of prosperity are displayed with utmost beauty and perfection. But all these things are as nothing when compared to the bounties of God. The whole globe is nothing before one ray of the Sun of Truth. Thus it is said in the Gospel that Satan took Christ to the top of a high mountain, showed Him the world outspread and told Him that he would give Him all these things if he would follow him. But Christ refused. 

(Words of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, 18 September 1912, Minneapolis, USA; ‘Mahmud’s Diary’)

January 5

…the day of the appearance of the Holy Manifestations is the spiritual springtime; it is the divine splendor; it is the heavenly bounty, the breeze of life, the rising of the Sun of Reality. Spirits are quickened; hearts are refreshed and invigorated; souls become good; existence is set in motion; human realities are gladdened, and grow and develop in good qualities and perfections. General progress is achieved and revival takes place, for it is the day of resurrection, the time of excitement and ferment, and the season of bliss, of joy and of intense rapture.

Afterward the life-giving spring ends in fruitful summer. The word of God is exalted, the Law of God is promulgated; all things reach perfection. 

(‘Abdu’l-Baha, table talks in Akka, authenticated by ‘Abdu’l-Baha; ‘Some Answered Questions’)

January 4

The events that transpired at the advent of the Prophets of the past, and Their ways and works and circumstances, are not adequately set down in authoritative histories, and are referred to only in condensed form in the verses of the Qur’án, the Holy Traditions and the Torah….all events from the days of Moses until the present time are contained in the mighty Qur’án, the authoritative Traditions, the Torah and other reliable sources… 

(‘Abdu’l-Baha, ‘The Secret of Divine Civilization’)

January 3

We are striving with heart and soul, resting neither day nor night, seeking not a moment’s ease, to make this world of man the mirror of the unity of God. Then how much more must the beloved of the Lord reflect that unity? And this cherished hope, this yearning wish of ours will be visibly fulfilled only on the day when the true friends of God arise to carry out the Teachings of the Abhá Beauty—may my life be a ransom for His lovers! One amongst His Teachings is this, that love and good faith must so dominate the human heart that men will regard the stranger as a familiar friend, the malefactor as one of their own, the alien even as a loved one, the enemy as a companion dear and close. 

(‘Abdu’l-Baha, ‘Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Baha)

January 2

Look ye not upon the present, fix your gaze upon the times to come. In the beginning, how small is the seed, yet in the end it is a mighty tree. Look ye not upon the seed, look ye upon the tree, and its blossoms, and its leaves and its fruits. Consider the days of Christ, when none but a small band followed Him; then observe what a mighty tree that seed became, behold ye its fruitage. And now shall come to pass even greater things than these, for this is the summons of the Lord of Hosts, this is the trumpet-call of the living Lord, this is the anthem of world peace, this is the standard of righteousness and trust and understanding raised up among all the variegated peoples of the globe; this is the splendour of the Sun of Truth, this is the holiness of the spirit of God Himself. This most powerful of dispensations will encompass all the earth, and beneath its banner will all peoples gather and be sheltered together. Know then the vital import of this tiny seed that the true Husbandman hath, with the hands of His mercy, sown in the ploughed fields of the Lord, and watered with the rain of bestowals and bounties and is now nurturing in the heat and light of the Day-Star of Truth. 

(‘Abdu’l-Baha, ‘Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Baha)

January 1

The Spiritual Assemblies to be established in this Age of God, this holy century, have, it is indisputable, had neither peer nor likeness in the cycles gone before. For those assemblages that wielded power were based on the support of mighty leaders of men, while these Assemblies are based on the support of the Beauty of Abhá. The defenders and patrons of those other assemblages were either a prince, or a king, or a chief priest, or the mass of the people. But these Spiritual Assemblies have for their defender, their supporter, their helper, their inspirer, the omnipotent Lord. 

(‘Abdu’l-Baha, ‘Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Baha)

December 31

Turning to the editor of the Police Journal, ‘Abdu'l-Bahá said,

“A newspaper must in the first instance be the means of creating harmony among the people. This is the prime duty of the proprietors of newspapers, to eradicate misunderstandings between religions and races and nationalities and promote the oneness of mankind.” 

(Words of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, 17 September 1912, Chicago, USA; ‘Mahmud’s Diary’)

December 30

It is evident that prejudices arising from adherence to religious forms and imitation of ancestral beliefs have hindered the progress of humanity thousands of years. How many wars and battles have been fought, how much division, discord and hatred have been caused by this form of prejudice! But inasmuch as this century is a century of the revelation of reality -- praise be to God! -- the thoughts of men are being directed toward the welfare and unity of humanity. Daily the mirage of imitations is passing away, and the ocean of truth is surging more tumultuously. 

(‘Abdu’l-Baha, excerpt from a talk given on 21 April 1912 in Washington D.C.; 'The Promulgation of Universal Peace') 

December 29

…strive ye that ye may become the embodied teachings of the Blessed Perfection, confirmed in the divine precepts, resurrected in holiness and purity, severance, humility and meekness, set aglow with the fire of divine love; and loosen your tongues with the praises and commendations of the Heavenly Kingdom. 

(‘Abdu’l-Baha, from a Tablet, Star of the West, vol. 1, no. 16, December 31, 1910)

December 28

At the time His Holiness Jesus Christ was crucified, there were eleven disciples and even they were doubting -- Peter heading them -- until Mary the Magdalene, that lioness of God, strengthened them and was the cause of confirming them. Then consider how great were the results!

And now, His Holiness Baha’u’llah, when He ascended, had half a million souls who were self-sacrificing and all were perfectly firm and staunch! Consider what a marvelous potency this will exercise. 

(‘Abdu’l-Baha, from a talk, San Francisco, October 5, 1912; Star of the West, vol. 10, no. 13, November 4, 1919) 

(To read the entire talk please visit: Talks of ‘Abdu’l-Baha)

December 27

Study the sciences, acquire more and more knowledge. Assuredly one may learn to the end of one’s life! Use your knowledge always for the benefit of others; so may war cease on the face of this beautiful earth, and a glorious edifice of peace and concord be raised. Strive that your high ideals may be realized in the Kingdom of God on earth, as they will be in Heaven. 

(‘Abdu’l-Baha, from a talk, Paris, October 26, 1911, ‘Paris Talks’) 

December 26

When they exiled us from Persia, from Tehran to Baghdad, the journey was made in thirty stages and in these thirty stages we did not find one Baha’i. Now in every one of these places there are great numbers of Baha’i friends.

Notwithstanding that the ruler of Persia and the Sultan of Turkey opposed the Cause so violently exercising tyranny and oppression thinking to extinguish the Lamp of God yet this Lamp day by day grew in radiance, its power increased and its illumination became greater, until it reached such a degree that now its lights are spread throughout the world even as far as San Francisco, which is very far from Persia. See what this will mean in the future! 

(‘Abdu’l-Baha, from a talk, San Francisco, October 5, 1912; Star of the West, vol. 10, no. 13, November 4, 1919) (To read the entire talk please visit: Talks of ‘Abdu’l-Baha)

December 25

Judas Iscariot was the greatest of the disciples, and he summoned the people to Christ. Then it seemed to him that Jesus was showing increasing regard to the Apostle Peter, and when Jesus said, ‘Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church,’ these words addressed to Peter, and this singling out of Peter for special honour, had a marked effect on the Apostle, and kindled envy within the heart of Judas. For this reason he who had once drawn nigh did turn aside, and he who had believed in the Faith denied it, and his love changed to hate, until he became a cause of the crucifixion of that glorious Lord, that manifest Splendour. Such is the outcome of envy, the chief reason why men turn aside from the Straight Path. So hath it occurred, and will occur, in this great Cause. But it doth not matter, for it engendereth loyalty in the rest, and maketh souls to arise who waver not, who are fixed and unshakeable as the mountains in their love for the Manifest Light. 

(‘Abdu’l-Baha, ‘Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Baha)

December 24

In the Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh it is mentioned that if a rich man neglects the duty of educating his children, the House of Justice is authorized to compel him to assist financially and to educate them. But this is a matter for the family of that wealthy man and comes under the jurisdiction of the House of Justice. The point is that there are matters greater than equality and socialism in divine religions. In the Cause of God there were persons like the King of Martyrs [Mírzá Muhammad-Hasan] who, in the days of tribulation, expended all their wealth and property to relieve the sufferings of the poor and the weak. In Persia the Bahá'ís were willing to sacrifice themselves for one another to such a degree that once when one of the Bahá'ís was a guest in the home of another believer, and the authorities demanded the arrest of the guest, the host gave the guest's name as his own and surrendered himself to them, was martyred in his place, thus sacrificing his life for his guest and brother. 

(‘Abdu’l-Baha, from a talk, 17 September 1912, Chicago, USA; ‘Mahmud’s Diary’)

December 23

If the beloved of God in all America strive for unity and harmony, attain perfect love and accord, and act according to the divine teachings and the precepts of the Blessed Perfection, this will prove a magnet attracting Abdu’l-Baha, so that, perchance, he may journey to America.

But, until the light of oneness, unity and love shine forth from the lamp of America, and the beloved act in accordance with the divine teachings and precepts of the Blessed Perfection, and all the believers in America become united and harmonious, my coming to America will be hindered -- nay, impossible. 

(‘Abdu’l-Baha, from a Tablet, Star of the West, vol. 1, no. 16, December 31, 1910)

December 22

In the Day of the Manifestation, you have caught the lights from the Manifestor on the Mount of Sinai and beheld the splendor of the Ray of Truth. Ye are the children of the Period of Baha’u’llah and have become the appearance of the Effulgence of Mercifulness in the Day wherein the rays of the Divine Sun radiate upon all things. Tear down the old garment and clad your sanctified temples with the new robe! Ye have passed from the salty water of ignorance and have drunk the salubrious salsabil of knowledge. Ye have closed your eyes to the wine of heedlessness and became intoxicated with the choice sealed wine of intelligence! Ye have taken the cup of prosperity from the cupbearer of the Covenant and with infinite rejoicing, happiness and beatitude celebrated the Feast of beholding the rays of the Orb of regions! 

(‘Abdu'l-Baha, from a Tablet addressed to the “Believers of God in Ghalé Darré, Persia; Star of the West, vol. 1, no. 15, December 12, 1910)

December 21

How grievous it is to see how man has used his God-given gift [of understanding or intellect] to frame instruments of war, for breaking the Commandment of God ‘Thou shalt not kill’, and for defying Christ’s injunction to ‘Love one another’.

God gave this power to man that it might be used for the advancement of civilization, for the good of humanity, to increase love and concord and peace. But man prefers to use this gift to destroy instead of to build, for injustice and oppression, for hatred and discord and devastation, for the destruction of his fellow-creatures, whom Christ has commanded that he should love as himself!

I hope that you will use your understanding to promote the unity and tranquillity of mankind, to give enlightenment and civilization to the people, to produce love in all around you, and to bring about the universal peace. 

(‘Abdu’l-Baha, from a talk, Paris, October 26, 1911, ‘Paris Talks’)

December 20

O ye [Husband and wife] two birds warbling in the Garden of Wisdom.

Verily, I saw your photographs, whose beauty proved the turning of your hearts unto the Center of Guidance and the dilation of your breasts by the appearance of the Kingdom of God. The light of God is verily shining in the face of the man who is of the Kingdom, spiritual, heavenly, divine and Baha'i. The rest among the people are like animals; nay, they are led astray from the Path.

Thank God for that He enlightened your faces by the light of guidance, deposited in your hearts the sign of faith, and made you of the chosen ones in this new century.

The truth I say unto you! If ye were aware of what God hath destined for you in the kingdom of His glory, verily ye would rejoice exceedingly and soar with the wings of joy unto the heights of happiness, crying with the most loud voice: “Blessings and happiness from this great attainment and evident bounty.” 

(‘Abdu’l-Baha, ‘Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, vol. 1)

December 19

The principles of socialism are outstripped in the religions of God. For instance, God commands, `But [they] prefer them [the poor] before themselves, although there be indigence among them' [Qur'án 59:9]. That is, the believers spend of their substance and share their possessions and prefer others to themselves willingly and with utmost spirituality. Socialists, however, desire to enforce equality and association by compulsion. Although the preference for others which is the exhortation of God is more difficult because the rich are enjoined to prefer others to themselves, this will become common and will be the cause of tranquillity and an aid to the order of the world, because it depends upon the inclination and willingness of the giver. But socialism and egalitarianism, although easier, as those who have are made equal with others, yet such a system will not become widespread and is the cause of disturbance and tumult because it rests on compulsion and coercion. 

(Words of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, 17 September 1912, Chicago, USA; ‘Mahmud’s Diary’)

December 18

It is certain that the greatest of instrumentalities for achieving the advancement and the glory of man, the supreme agency for the enlightenment and the redemption of the world, is love and fellowship and unity among all the members of the human race. Nothing can be effected in the world, not even conceivably, without unity and agreement, and the perfect means for engendering fellowship and union is true religion. “Hadst Thou spent all the riches of the earth, Thou couldst not have united their hearts; but God hath united them...” [Qur’án 8:64] 

(‘Abdu’l-Baha, ‘The Secret of Divine Civilization’)

December 17

O handmaid of God! Praise be to Him, thy dear husband hath perceived the sweet scents that blow from the gardens of heaven. Now, as day followeth day, must thou, through the love of God, and thine own good actions, draw him ever closer to the Faith.

Those were indeed dire events in San Francisco. [The earthquake of 1906] Disasters of this kind should serve to awaken the people, and diminish the love of their hearts for this inconstant world. It is in this nether world that such tragic things take place: this is the cup that yieldeth bitter wine. 

(‘Abdu’l-Baha, ‘Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Baha)

December 16

Intellect is, in truth, the most precious gift bestowed upon man by the Divine Bounty. Man alone, among created beings, has this wonderful power.

All creation, preceding Man, is bound by the stern law of nature. The great sun, the multitudes of stars, the oceans and seas, the mountains, the rivers, the trees, and all animals, great or small—none is able to evade obedience to nature’s law.

Man alone has freedom, and, by his understanding or intellect, has been able to gain control of and adapt some of those natural laws to his own needs. By the power of his intellect he has discovered means by which he not only traverses great continents in express trains and crosses vast oceans in ships, but, like the fish he travels under water in submarines, and, imitating the birds, he flies through the air in airships. 

(‘Abdu’l-Baha, from a talk, Paris, October 26, 1911, ‘Paris Talks’)

December 15

O Spiritual Assembly! [Muskegon, Michigan]

Everything produces an impression in existence and results in the course of ages. The (earthly) assemblies established in the different parts of Europe, Asia and America have no results save the help of the physical and the mortal life in this lesser world, for the removal of its conditions and reformation of its customs, and in the end no name will remain thereof. But every spiritual assembly of solid foundation, good structure and unwavering constancy will last forever and will send forth its illumination unto all regions.

Observe the gatherings of the disciples after Christ: Their light is still shining, their power is still revealing and their trumpets still resounding throughout the ages. Such is the spiritual meeting. 

(‘Abdu’l-Baha, ‘Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, vol. 1)

December 14

Among those who have repudiated religious faith was the Frenchman, Voltaire, who wrote a great number of books attacking the religions, works which are no better than children’s playthings. This individual, taking as his criterion the omissions and commissions of the Pope, the head of the Roman Catholic religion, and the intrigues and quarrels of the spiritual leaders of Christendom, opened his mouth and caviled at the Spirit of God (Jesus). In the unsoundness of his reasoning, he failed to grasp the true significance of the sacred Scriptures, took exception to certain portions of the revealed Texts and dwelt on the difficulties involved. “And We send down of the Qur’án that which is a healing and a mercy to the faithful: But it shall only add to the ruin of the wicked.” [Qur’án 17:84] 

(‘Abdu’l-Baha, ‘The Secret of Divine Civilization’)

December 13

It is true that there are foolish individuals who have never properly examined the fundamentals of the Divine religions, who have taken as their criterion the behavior of a few religious hypocrites and measured all religious persons by that yardstick, and have on this account concluded that religions are an obstacle to progress, a divisive factor and a cause of malevolence and enmity among peoples. They have not even observed this much, that the principles of the Divine religions can hardly be evaluated by the acts of those who only claim to follow them. For every excellent thing, peerless though it may be, can still be diverted to the wrong ends. A lighted lamp in the hands of an ignorant child or of the blind will not dispel the surrounding darkness nor light up the house—it will set both the bearer and the house on fire. Can we, in such an instance, blame the lamp? No, by the Lord God! To the seeing, a lamp is a guide and will show him his path; but it is a disaster to the blind. 

(‘Abdu’l-Baha, ‘The Secret of Divine Civilization’)

December 12

God’s greatest gift to man is that of intellect, or understanding.

The understanding is the power by which man acquires his knowledge of the several kingdoms of creation, and of various stages of existence, as well as of much which is invisible.

Possessing this gift, he is, in himself, the sum of earlier creations—he is able to get into touch with those kingdoms; and by this gift, he can frequently, through his scientific knowledge, reach out with prophetic vision. 

(‘Abdu’l-Baha, from a talk, Paris, October 26, 1911, ‘Paris Talks’)

December 11

As to the cycle of the Blessed Beauty—the times of the Greatest Name—this is not limited to a thousand or two thousand years....

When it is said that the period of a thousand years beginneth with the Manifestation of the Blessed Beauty and every day thereof is a thousand years, the intent is a reference to the cycle of the Blessed Beauty, which in this context will extend over many ages into the unborn reaches of time. 

(‘Abdu’l-Baha, ‘Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Baha)

December 10

Throughout the universe the divine power is effulgent in endless images and pictures. The world of creation, the world of humanity may be likened to the earth itself and the divine power to the sun. This Sun has shone upon all mankind. In the endless variety of its reflections the divine Will is manifested. Consider how all are recipients of the bounty of the same Sun. At most the difference between them is that of degree, for the effulgence is one effulgence, the one light emanating from the Sun. This will express the oneness of the world of humanity. The body politic, or the social unity of the human world, may be likened to an ocean, and each member, each individual, a wave upon that same ocean.

The light of the sun becomes apparent in each object according to the capacity of that object. The difference is simply one of degree and receptivity. The stone would be a recipient only to a limited extent; another created thing might be as a mirror wherein the sun is fully reflected; but the same light shines upon both. 

(‘Abdu’l-Baha, from a talk, New York, 14 April 1912; ‘The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by 'Abdu'l-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912’)