Today it behoveth one and all to forgo the mention of all
else, and to disregard all things. Let their speaking, let their inner state be
summed up thus: ‘Keep all my words of prayer and praise confined to one
refrain; make all my life but servitude to Thee.’ That is, let them concentrate
all their thoughts, all their words, on teaching the Cause of God and spreading
the Faith of God, and inspiring all to characterize themselves with the
characteristics of God; on loving mankind; on being pure and holy in all
things, and spotless in their public and private life; on being upright and
detached, and fervent, and afire. All is to be yielded up, save only the
remembrance of God; all is to be dispraised, except His praise. Today, to this
melody of the Company on high, the world will leap and dance: ‘Glory be to my
Lord, the All-Glorious!’ But know ye this: save for this song of God, no song
will stir the world, and save for this nightingale-cry of truth from the Garden
of God, no melody will lure away the heart. ‘Whence cometh this Singer Who
speaketh the Beloved’s name?’
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (‘Selections from the Writings of
‘Abdu’l-Baha’)
