May 30

As to the children: From the age of five their formal education must begin. That is, during the daytime they should be looked after in a place where there are teachers, and should learn good conduct. Here they should be taught, in play, some letters and words and a little reading—as it is done in certain countries where they fashion letters and words out of sweets and give them to the child. For example, they make an “a” out of candy and say its name is “a”, or make a candy “b” and call it “b”, and so on with the rest of the alphabet, giving these to the young child. In this way, children will soon learn their letters.... When the children are ready for bed, let the mother read or sing them the Odes of the Blessed Beauty, so that from their earliest years they will be educated by these verses of guidance. 

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha  (From a Tablet; ‘Additional Tablets, Extracts and Talks’; online Baha’i Reference Library, Baha’i World Centre)

May 28

By the term “that true and radiant morn” mentioned in the Hidden Words is meant the Dawn of divine Revelation when the Exalted One [the Báb] manifested Himself in the plenitude of His glory, while the Blessed Tree referreth to the Ancient Beauty. By those “surroundings” is meant the realm of the heart and of the spirit, and the gathering of the people implieth a spiritual communion, not a physical one. However, when the Call of God was raised in the realm of the heart and spirit, mankind remained heedless and inattentive, and therefore was dumbfounded. 

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha  (From a Tablet; ‘Additional Tablets, Extracts and Talks’; online Baha’i Reference Library, Baha’i World Centre)

May 26

The disciples of Christ taught His Faith with the language of the Kingdom. That language conformeth to all languages, for it consisteth of celestial meanings and divine mysteries. For the one who becometh conversant with that language, the realities and secrets of creation stand unveiled before him. Divine truths are common to all languages. The Holy Spirit, therefore, taught the disciples the language of the Kingdom, and they thus were able to converse with the people of all nations. Whenever they spoke to those of other nations of the world, it was as if they conversed in their tongues. The well-known and outstanding languages of the world number about a thousand. It was necessary for the disciples to have written the Gospels in at least one of the languages of other nations. Thus, as it is known, the Gospels were written only in Hebrew and Greek, and not even in the language of the Romans, although it was at the time the official language. As the disciples were not well-versed in it, the Gospels were not written in that language. 

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha  (From a Tablet; ‘Additional Tablets, Extracts and Talks’; online Baha’i Reference Library, Baha’i World Centre)

May 24

O ye [1]  who are turned towards the Kingdom and drawn unto the Holy Fragrances diffused from the Garden of El-Abha!

Arise with every power to assist the Covenant of God and serve in His vineyard. Be confident that a confirmation will be granted unto you and a success on His part given unto you. Verily He shall support you by the angels of His Holiness and reinforce you with the breaths of the Spirit that ye may mount the Ark of Safety, set forth the evident signs, impart the spirit of life, declare the essence of His commands and precepts, guide the sheep who are straying from the fold in all directions, use every effort in your power to give the blessings ye have and strive earnestly and wisely in this new century. By God, verily the Lord of Hosts is your support, the angels of heaven your assistance, the Holy Spirit your companion and the Center of the Covenant your helper! Be not idle, but active and fear not. Look unto those who have been in the former ages—how they have resisted all nations and suffered persecutions and afflictions, and how their stars shone and their attacks proved successful, their teachings established, their regions expanded, their hearts gladdened, their ideas cleared and their motives effective. Ye are now in a great station and noble rank and ye shall find yourselves in evident success and prosperity, the like of which the eye of existence hath never seen in former ages. 

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha  ('Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, vol. 2')

[1] To the New York City Spiritual Assembly

May 22

I beseech God to cast upon your heads the pearls of His bounty; to ignite in your hearts the fire of His love; to unloose your tongues to utter the most eloquent words and the most wondrous mysteries in the assemblage of the righteous; to make you flowers of the Abhá Paradise and angels of heaven, united in your views and with your thoughts harmonized; and to manifest in your faces the holy signs of His Kingdom amidst all people. 

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha  (From a Tablet; ‘Additional Tablets, Extracts and Talks’; online Baha’i Reference Library, Baha’i World Centre)

May 20

Ye have asked about the significance of the expression “sacrificial lover”. The mystery of sacrifice is a profound one, requiring detailed explanation, but briefly it may be stated that sacrificial love is the love shown by the moth towards the candle, by the parched wayfarer towards the living fountain, by the true lover towards his beloved, by the yearning heart towards the goal of its desire. The sacrificial lover, in other words, should become entirely forgetful of self, enthralled by the Beloved, enamoured of His countenance, and enraptured by His locks. Utterly unmindful of body, soul, life, comfort, and existence, he should seek the good-pleasure of the True One, desire to gaze upon His countenance, and wish to follow in His way. Inebriated by the cup He proffereth and submissive in His hands, he should become completely oblivious of his own existence so that, like unto the light of truth, he may shine forth from the horizon of eternity. This is the first degree of sacrifice. As for the second degree, it is in man’s becoming rid of all attachment to the human world and finding deliverance from the darkness of the contingent realm. In this degree, the radiance of the All-Merciful should so suffuse and permeate his being that this nether world may pale into non-existence before the reality of the Kingdom. When a lump of iron is cast into the forge, its ferrous qualities of blackness, coldness, and solidity, which symbolize the attributes of the human world, are concealed and disappear, while the fire’s distinctive qualities of redness, heat, and fluidity, which symbolize the virtues of the Kingdom, become visibly apparent in it, so that the iron may be said to have sacrificed its own qualities and characteristics to the fire, and to have acquired the virtues of that element. Even so is it with man: When, released from earthly bonds, from human imperfections, and from the darkness of the animal world, he setteth foot within the realm of the unbounded, partaketh of the outpourings of the unseen world, and acquireth divine virtues and perfections, then will he become a sacrificial lover of the Sun of Truth and make haste with heart and soul to reach the place of sacrifice. 

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha  (From a Tablet; ‘Additional Tablets, Extracts and Talks’; online Baha’i Reference Library, Baha’i World Centre)

May 18

Know thou that before maturity man liveth from day to day and comprehendeth only such matters as are superficial and outwardly obvious. However, when he cometh of age he understandeth the realities of things and the inner truths. Indeed, in his comprehension, his feelings, his deductions and his discoveries, every day of his life after maturity is equal to a year before it. 

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha  (From a Tablet quoted by the Universal House of Justice in a letter dated 16 June 1998 written on its behalf to two individual believers; Baha’i Library Online)

May 16

O ye believers of God! Each person must summon the people to the Servitude of Abdul-Baha and not the Christhood; and no soul must either publicly or privately utter one word against or in contradiction to the general Teachings, and no one must believe that Abdul-Baha is the “Second Coming of Christ”, nay, rather he must believe that he is the Manifestation of Servitude, the Main-spring of the Unity of the human world, the Herald of the True One with spiritual power throughout all regions, the Commentator of the Book according to the divine text, and the Ransom to each one of the believers of God in the transitory world. 

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha  ('Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, vol. 2')

May 14

How often have the Prophets of God and His universal Manifestations confessed in Their prayers to Their sins and shortcomings! This is only to instruct other souls, to inspire and encourage them to be humble and submissive before God, and to acknowledge their own sins and shortcomings. For these holy Souls are sanctified above every sin and freed from every fault. For example, it is said in the Gospel that a man came to Christ and called Him “Good Master”. Christ answered, “Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.”[Matt. 19:16–17] Now, this did not mean—God forbid!—that Christ was a sinner, but rather His intention was to teach humility, lowliness, meekness, and modesty to the man He was addressing. These blessed Souls are light, and light cannot be united with darkness. They are life everlasting, and life cannot be gathered in with death. They are guidance, and guidance cannot be brought together with waywardness. They are the very essence of obedience, and obedience cannot join hands with rebellion. 

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha  (Table talks in Akka, authenticated by ‘Abdu’l-Baha; ‘Some Answered Questions’ – 2014 revised translation by the Baha’i World Centre)

May 12

While I was journeying throughout America and Europe, I cried before all the meetings, conventions, and churches: "O ye noble friends! The world of humanity is facing in the future a most portentous danger and supreme calamity. The continent of Europe has become like unto a gunpowder magazine and arsenal, under which are hidden combustible materials of the most inflammatory nature. Its combustion will be dependent upon the sudden and unexpected enkindlement of one tiny spark which shall envelop the whole earth with a world-wide conflagration, causing the total collapse of European civilization through the furious, wild, raging, fiery tongues of war. Therefore, O ye well-wishers of the world of humanity, endeavor by day and by night so that these inflammable materials may not come in touch with the burning fires of racial antipathy and hatred!" 

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha  (From a Tablet; ‘Star of the West, vol. 6, no.11, September 27, 1915)

May 10

Today the most important object of the kingdom of God is the promulgation of the cause of universal peace and the principle of the oneness of the world of humanity. Whosoever arises in the accomplishment of this pre-eminent service the confirmations of the holy spirit will descend upon him. 

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha  (From a Tablet; ‘Star of the West, vol. 6, no.11, September 27, 1915)

May 8

The quintessence of Truth is this: We must all become united and harmonized in order to illumine this gloomy world; to abolish the foundations of hostility and animosity from among mankind; to perfume the inhabitants of the universe with the holy fragrances of the nature and disposition of the Beauty of Abha; to enlighten the people of the East and West with the light of guidance; to hoist the tent of the love of God and suffer each and all to enter under its protection; to bestow comfort and tranquillity to every one under the shade of the Divine Tree; to astonish the enemy by the manifestation of the utmost love; to make the ravenous and bloodthirsty wolves to be gazelles of the meadow of the love of God; to administer the taste of non-resistance to the tyrant; to teach long-suffering and resignation of the martyrs to the murderer; to spread the traces of Oneness; to chant the praises and glorification of the Glorious Lord; to raise the voice of “Ya Baha’u’l-Abha!” to the Supreme Apex and to reach the ears of the inhabitants of the Kingdom with the outcry—“Verily the earth is illumined by the lights of its Lord!” This is reality! This is guidance! This is service! This is the consummation of the perfection of the realm of humanity! 

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha  ('Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, vol. 2')

May 6

Among the proofs of the existence of a divine power is this: that things are often known by their opposites. Were it not for darkness, light could not be sensed. Were it not for death, life could not be known. If ignorance did not exist, knowledge would not be a reality. It is necessary that each should exist in order that the other should have reality. Night and day must be in order that each may be distinguished. Night itself is an indication and evidence of day which follows, and day itself indicates the coming night. Unless night were a reality, there could not be day. Were it not for death, there could be no life. Things are known by their opposites.

Therefore, our weakness is an evidence that there is might; our ignorance proves the reality of knowledge; our need is an indication of supply and wealth. Were it not for wealth, this need would not exist; were it not for knowledge, ignorance would be unknown; were it not for power, there would be no impotence. In other words, demand and supply is the law, and undoubtedly all virtues have a center and source. That source is God, from Whom all these bounties emanate. 

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha  (From a talk, 2 May 1912, Chicago, Illinois; ‘The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by 'Abdu'l-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912’)

May 4

These holy Souls [“the Prophets of God”] are like the leaves of a tree which are stirred into motion by the breeze and not of Their own accord, for They are attracted by the breaths of the love of God and have forsaken Their own will. Their word is the word of God; Their commandment is the commandment of God; Their prohibition is the prohibition of God. They are even as this glass globe whose light comes from the flame of the lamp. Although the light appears to emanate from the glass, in reality it proceeds from the flame. Similarly, the movement and repose of the Prophets of God, Who are His Manifestations, proceed from revelation and not from mere human whim. Were it not so, how could the Prophet act as a faithful representative and chosen envoy of God? How could He promulgate God’s commandments and prohibitions? 

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha  (Table talks in Akka, authenticated by ‘Abdu’l-Baha; ‘Some Answered Questions’ – 2014 revised translation by the Baha’i World Centre)

May 2

All the inhabitants of earth are recipients of the bounty of the one phenomenal sun, and none are preferred above others; so, likewise, all receive the heavenly bestowals of the Word of God; none are specialized as favorites; all are under its protection and universal effulgence. Human strife and religious disagreement complex and disfigure the simple purity and beauty of the divine Cause until clouds obscure the light of reality and disunion results. Therefore, make use of intelligence and reason so that you may dispel these dense clouds from the horizon of human hearts and all hold to the one reality of all the Prophets. It is most certain that if human souls exercise their respective reason and intelligence upon the divine questions, the power of God will dispel every difficulty, and the eternal realities will appear as one light, one truth, one love, one God and a peace that is universal. 

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha  (From a talk, 2 May 1912, Chicago, Illinois; ‘The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by 'Abdu'l-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912’)