…everyone is fully aware that the friends of God are those whom the people of the world have oppressed and who are the well-wishers of all kindreds and nations. They tread the path of righteousness and seek to foster amity and fellowship with all mankind. They are contemptuous of their own selves and inebriated with the wine of the love of the Almighty. They are sincere and steadfast, shining and radiant. They speak forth, they are competent. They defend the helpless and are a refuge to the fugitive, an asylum to the poor, a haven for the distressed, a remedy for the afflicted, and a balm to the wounds of the needy. They eagerly seek to live in perfect peace with the warlike and quarrelsome tribes, and to those who oppose them they show forth composure, serenity, and kindness.
Be not saddened and grieved by reason of the atrocities the enemies have perpetrated. The day is fast approaching when the light of love will have dispelled the darkness of animosity and the splendours of the sun of truth will have driven away the gloomy night. This spirit of heavenly fellowship, this uprightness of the friends of God will promote the well-being and tranquillity of all mankind. Warring factions will become peaceful, opposing kindreds friendly, hostile peoples reconciled, and aggressive nations united. This is the imperishable glory of the human world. This is the supreme illumination in the kingdom of the Lord of Mercy.
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (From a Tablet; compilation: ‘Fire and Light, Selections from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and from the Letters of Shoghi Effendi’, prepared by the Universal House of Justice, 1986, updated version at Baha’i World Center website)
