…the Blessed Perfection bore all these ordeals and
calamities in order that our hearts might become enkindled and radiant, our
spirits be glorified, our faults become virtues, our ignorance be transformed
into knowledge; in order that we might attain the real fruits of humanity and
acquire heavenly graces; in order that, although pilgrims upon earth, we should
travel the road of the heavenly Kingdom, and, although needy and poor, we might
receive the treasures of eternal life. For this has He borne these difficulties
and sorrows.
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (From a talk, New York, 18 April 1912; ‘The
Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by 'Abdu'l-Bahá during His
Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912’)