O thou servant of the One true God! In this universal
dispensation man’s wondrous craftsmanship is reckoned as worship of the
Resplendent Beauty. Consider what a bounty and blessing it is that
craftsmanship is regarded as worship. In former times, it was believed that
such skills were tantamount to ignorance, if not a misfortune, hindering man
from drawing nigh unto God. Now consider how His infinite bestowals and abundant
favours have changed hell-fire into blissful paradise, and a heap of dark dust
into a luminous garden.
It behoveth the craftsmen of the world at each moment to
offer a thousand tokens of gratitude at the Sacred Threshold, and to exert
their highest endeavour and diligently pursue their professions so that their
efforts may produce that which will manifest the greatest beauty and perfection
before the eyes of all men.
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (‘Selections from the Writings of
‘Abdu’l-Baha’)
