Souls are inclined toward estrangement. Steps should first
be taken to do away with this estrangement, for only then will the Word take
effect. If a believer showeth kindness to one of the neglectful, and, with
great love, gradually leadeth him to an understanding of the validity of the
Holy Cause, so that he may come to know the fundamentals of God’s Faith and the
implications thereof—such a one will certainly be transformed, excepting only
those seldom-encountered individuals who are even as ashes, whose hearts are
‘hard as rocks, or harder still.’If every one of the friends should strive in this way to guide one soul aright, the number of believers will double every year; and this can be accomplished with prudence and wisdom, and no harm whatever would result therefrom.
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (‘Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Baha’)
