O ye daughters of the Kingdom! In past centuries the girl children of Persia were deprived of all instruction. They had neither school nor academy, no kindly tutor and no teacher. Now, in this greatest of centuries, the bounty of the All-Bountiful hath encompassed the girls as well, and many schools have been founded in Persia for the education of girl children—but what is missing from them is character training, and this despite the fact that such training is more important than instruction, for it is the primary accomplishment of humankind.
Praised be God, a school for girls hath now been established in Hamadán. Ye who are the teachers thereof must devote more of your efforts to character training than instruction, and must raise up your girl children to be modest and chaste, of good character and conduct—and in addition must teach them the various branches of knowledge.
If ye follow this course, the confirmations of the All-Glorious Kingdom, in a great rolling swell, will rise and surge above that school.
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (From a Tablet; ‘Additional Tablets, Extracts and Talks’; Online Baha’i Reference Library, Baha’i World Centre)
