Among
the human race, the bonds of and means for love are numerous, for man cannot
live without it; nay, rather, human life is dependent upon friendship and
affection. Both the material and intrinsic development of man are conditional
upon amity and love and the greatest honor and pleasure in the human world is
love; but the ways and means are different. Sometimes the cause of love is
simply relationship and kinship; and sometimes it is a racial bond, patriotism,
political affairs, etc. But, through all these various bonds and means it is
impossible to obtain a real and pure love; it is rather superficial and temporary.
Such love may easily be changed into enmity and rancor, for it is affected by
the slightest manifestation of hostility; whereas a true and ideal love is
faith and assurance. Those who believe in God and are confident in His Word
shall enter the Kingdom, and the essential oneness appears among them to such
an extent that all become the drops of one ocean, the rays of one sun, the
fishes of one sea, the trees of one garden, the birds of one orchard, the
candles of one assembly and the stars of the same heaven. Such love is real;
there is no interruption for this connection, nor any separation for this
union: this foundation shall never be destroyed, for it is eternal: hence it is
established that the love which exists among the beloved of God is everlasting,
for it is a Divine bounty, a Godly appearance, a melody of the Kingdom and a
heavenly cohesion. (‘Abdu'l-Baha’s words
while serving a number of Jewish, Zoroastrian, Christian and Muslim background Baha'is
seated around His table; Star of the West, Vol. 1, no. 8, Aug. 1 1910)
