The
Blessed Beauty entered into this Covenant for obedience and not for opposition.
I say this merely for the protection of the Cause of God and for the purpose of
safeguarding unity among the friends. Were it not for the removal of vain
imaginings and the eradication of differences, I should not have asserted that
I am `the Center of the Covenant'. We must obey the Blessed Beauty. We must
never forget His favors and exhortations. If even a breath of egotism is found
in us, we shall perish at once. The friends must be alert. Everyone who
expresses a word not from the texts sows discord among the believers. The
Blessed Beauty entered into this Covenant for obedience; that is, that no one
should utter a word from his own self or cause any conflict. If it were not so,
everyone would open a way for himself and expound the Words of God in his own
manner. One would say, for instance, `As I have the power of the Holy Spirit, I
have a greater capacity for understanding.' Others, even these old ladies,
would at once retort, `We, too, have the power of the Holy Spirit.'
The
power of the Holy Spirit is limited to the Blessed Beauty and the
interpretation thereof to none but me. If it is so, then there will be no
differences. We must occupy ourselves with thoughts of spreading the Cause.
Know that whoever has any thought other than this will become the cause of
discord among the friends. (‘Abdu’l-Baha, from a talk, New York, July 7, 1912;
‘Mahmud’s Diary’)
