skip to main |
skip to sidebar
 |
| photo by Trina Ridvan |
Man is like unto a tree. If he be adorned with fruit, he hath been and will ever be worthy of praise and commendation. Otherwise a fruitless tree is but fit for fire. The fruits of the human tree are exquisite, highly desired and dearly cherished. Among them are upright character, virtuous deeds and a goodly utterance. The springtime for earthly trees occurreth once every year, while the one for human trees appeareth in the Days of God—exalted be His glory. Were the trees of men’s lives to be adorned in this divine Springtime with the fruits that have been mentioned, the effulgence of the light of Justice would, of a certainty, illumine all the dwellers of the earth and everyone would abide in tranquillity and contentment beneath the sheltering shadow of Him Who is the Object of all mankind. The Water for these trees is the living water of the sacred Words uttered by the Beloved of the world. In one instant are such trees planted and in the next their branches shall, through the outpourings of the showers of divine mercy, have reached the skies. A dried-up tree, however, hath never been nor will be worthy of any mention.
Happy is the faithful one who is attired with the vesture of high endeavour and hath arisen to serve this Cause. Such a soul hath truly attained the desired Goal and hath apprehended the Object for which it hath been created.
 |
| © 2026 Chuck Egerton |
IN this Most Great Revelation goodly deeds and a praiseworthy character are regarded as the hosts of God, likewise is His blessed and holy Word. These hosts are the lodestone of the hearts of men and the effective means for unlocking doors. Of all the weapons in the world this is the keenest.
Beseech thou God to graciously assist all men to observe that which His all-glorious Pen hath recorded in the sacred Books and Tablets….
 |
| photo by Trina Ridvan |
Say: This is the Day when every ear must needs be attentive to His voice. Hearken ye to the Call of this wronged One, and magnify ye the name of the one true God, and adorn yourselves with the ornament of His remembrance, and illumine your hearts with the light of His love. This is the key that unlocketh the hearts of men, the burnish that shall cleanse the souls of all beings. He that is careless of what hath poured out from the finger of the Will of God liveth in manifest error. Amity and rectitude of conduct, rather than dissension and mischief, are the marks of true faith.
Proclaim unto men what He, Who speaketh the truth and is the Bearer of the Trust of God, hath bidden thee observe. My glory be with thee, O thou that callest upon My name, whose eyes are directed towards My court, and whose tongue uttereth the praise of thy Lord, the Beneficent.
 |
| © 2026 Chuck Egerton |
We beseech God that He may graciously vouchsafe His grace unto all men, and enable them to attain the knowledge of Him and of themselves. By My life! Whoso hath known Him shall soar in the immensity of His love, and shall be detached from the world and all that is therein. Nothing on earth shall deflect him from his course, how much less they who, prompted by their imaginations, speak those things which God hath forbidden.
 |
| photo by Margarete P. |
We have forbidden men to walk after the imaginations of their hearts, that they may be enabled to recognize Him Who is the sovereign Source and Object of all knowledge, and may acknowledge whatsoever He may be pleased to reveal. Witness how they have entangled themselves with their idle fancies and vain imaginations. By My life! They are themselves the victims of what their own hearts have devised, and yet they perceive it not. Vain and profitless is the talk of their lips, and yet they understand not.
 |
| © 2026 Chuck Egerton |
Say: Observe equity in your judgement, ye men of understanding heart! He that is unjust in his judgement is destitute of the characteristics that distinguish man’s station. He Who is the Eternal Truth knoweth well what the breasts of men conceal. His long forbearance hath emboldened His creatures, for not until the appointed time is come will He rend any veil asunder. His surpassing mercy hath restrained the fury of His wrath, and caused most people to imagine that the one true God is unaware of the things they have privily committed. By Him Who is the All-Knowing, the All-Informed! The mirror of His knowledge reflecteth, with complete distinctness, precision and fidelity, the doings of all men. Say: Praise be to Thee, O Concealer of the sins of the weak and helpless! Magnified be Thy name, O Thou that forgivest the heedless ones that trespass against Thee!
 |
| © 2026 Chuck Egerton |
IT beseemeth all men, in this Day, to take firm hold on the Most Great Name, and to establish the unity of all mankind. There is no place to flee to, no refuge that any one can seek, except Him. Should any man be led to utter such words as will turn away the people from the shores of God’s limitless ocean, and cause them to fix their hearts on anything except this glorious and manifest Being, that hath assumed a form subject to human limitations—such a man, however lofty the station he may occupy, shall be denounced by the entire creation as one that hath deprived himself of the sweet savours of the All-Merciful.
 |
| © 2026 Chuck Egerton |
Beseech ye the one true God to grant that ye may taste the savour of such deeds as are performed in His path, and partake of the sweetness of such humility and submissiveness as are shown for His sake. Forget your own selves, and turn your eyes towards your neighbour. Bend your energies to whatever may foster the education of men. Nothing is, or can ever be, hidden from God. If ye follow in His way, His incalculable and imperishable blessings will be showered upon you. This is the luminous Tablet, whose verses have streamed from the moving Pen of Him Who is the Lord of all worlds. Ponder it in your hearts, and be ye of them that observe its precepts.
 |
| photo by Margarete P. |
Every eye, in this Day, should seek what will best promote the Cause of God. He, Who is the Eternal Truth, beareth Me witness! Nothing whatever can, in this Day, inflict a greater harm upon this Cause than dissension and strife, contention, estrangement and apathy, among the loved ones of God. Flee them, through the power of God and His sovereign aid, and strive ye to knit together the hearts of men, in His Name, the Unifier, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.
 |
| photo by TRINA RIDVAN |
The whole duty of man in this Day is to attain that share of the flood of grace which God poureth forth for him. Let none, therefore, consider the largeness or smallness of the receptacle. The portion of some might lie in the palm of a man’s hand, the portion of others might fill a cup, and of others even a gallon-measure.
 |
| © 2026 Chuck Egerton |
Show forbearance and benevolence and love to one another. Should any one among you be incapable of grasping a certain truth, or be striving to comprehend it, show forth, when conversing with him, a spirit of extreme kindliness and goodwill. Help him to see and recognize the truth, without esteeming yourself to be, in the least, superior to him, or to be possessed of greater endowments.
 |
| © 2026 Chuck Egerton |
They who are the beloved of God, in whatever place they gather and whomsoever they may meet, must evince, in their attitude towards God, and in the manner of their celebration of His praise and glory, such humility and submissiveness that every atom of the dust beneath their feet may attest the depth of their devotion. The conversation carried by these holy souls should be informed with such power that these same atoms of dust will be thrilled by its influence. They should conduct themselves in such manner that the earth upon which they tread may never be allowed to address to them such words as these: “I am to be preferred above you. For witness, how patient I am in bearing the burden which the husbandman layeth upon me. I am the instrument that continually imparteth unto all beings the blessings with which He Who is the Source of all grace hath entrusted me. Notwithstanding the honour conferred upon me, and the unnumbered evidences of my wealth—a wealth that supplieth the needs of all creation—behold the measure of my humility, witness with what absolute submissiveness I allow myself to be trodden beneath the feet of men.” …
 |
| photo by Trina Ridvan |
THIS is the Day whereon the Ocean of God’s mercy hath been manifested unto men, the Day in which the Day-Star of His loving-kindness hath shed its radiance upon them, the Day in which the clouds of His bountiful favour have overshadowed the whole of mankind. Now is the time to cheer and refresh the downcast through the invigorating breeze of love and fellowship, and the living waters of friendliness and charity.
 |
| © 2026 Chuck Egerton |
Convey to the friends in that land the greetings of this Exile and say: God grant that ye may be occupied in making mention of God with the utmost wisdom, so that your words may stir the hearts. We counsel you to observe compassion, mercifulness, forbearance, trustworthiness, and sincerity, that haply this darksome world may be illumined with the light of a praiseworthy character and goodly deeds. This is the true meaning of “rendering the Cause victorious” which hath been revealed in the Book. In this day, should any soul commit an act that is the cause of affliction or harm to another, that deed would in truth revert unto this Wronged One. Beware, O My loved ones, lest ye commit that which human minds abhor. Thus doth My Pen counsel you and My truth-speaking and trustworthy tongue exhort you.
 |
| © 2026 Chuck Egerton |
Say: O people! Ye have stepped out of nothingness into the realm of being that ye may reconstruct the world. Dissension and strife ill beseem the station of a human being. In this day, should a soul become the cause of sorrow to another soul, no matter from which Faith, this would not be pleasing to this Wronged One. Unto this bear witness both Mine inner and outer tongue, and beyond them every wise and discerning, every learned and attentive soul. The fundamental purpose of religion as brought down from the heaven of divine Revelation is harmony and union among all people. O physician! Now consider how this pure and gem-like reality hath been clouded by the dust of vain imaginings and how, through the tyranny of the ignorant, things have come to such a pass that religion hath become the cause of hatred amongst God’s servants. This is the pure stream of utterance flowing down from the Kingdom of divine knowledge. Blessed is the soul who approacheth it and drinketh therefrom in the name of the one true God. It is hoped that the people of Bahá may attain unto that which God hath purposed and become the dawning-places of harmony and fellowship, that perchance, through the grace of God and the outpourings of His bounty, they may become the cause of the rehabilitation of the world and its reconstruction.
 |
| © 2026 Chuck Egerton |
God grant that thou mayest attain unto His loving providence and mayest turn to and speak of that which refineth the character of His servants. O physician! The people are heedless and in need of a Teacher and Educator. They must, through the care and loving-kindness of the divine Physicians and the learned ones of the age, recognize the cause of their illnesses and seek to find their cure. Strive then, that haply the heedless may perceive the fruit of goodly deeds and a praiseworthy character. Should they attain unto this station, each one would find himself capable of reforming, edifying, and uniting the negligent and the wayward. The Pen of this Wronged One hath at all times directed everyone to show forth love, compassion, and concord, and hath explicitly set forth the meaning of “rendering the Cause victorious”, which hath been mentioned in the holy Tablets. And yet, it is observed that some have considered sedition to be the means of the betterment of the world and of gaining victory. Nay, by the One Who hath created the world through a single word of His mouth! The Cause of God is rendered victorious through wisdom and utterance, which are in turn conditional upon the utmost joy and radiance. We beseech God to confirm all in achieving that which is worthy of this Day.
 |
| photo by trina ridvan |
THE Supreme Pen hath, in ringing tones, enjoined love and fellowship on the whole world and hath categorically forbidden everyone to engage in that which is the cause of division, discord, estrangement, and the like, so that His grace and bounty, His favour and generosity may be made manifest….
 |
| photo by Margarete P. |
Now is the moment in which to cleanse thyself with the waters of detachment that have flowed out from the Supreme Pen, and to ponder, wholly for the sake of God, those things which, time and again, have been sent down or manifested, and then to strive, as much as lieth in thee, to quench, through the power of wisdom and the force of thy utterance, the fire of enmity and hatred which smouldereth in the hearts of the peoples of the world. The Divine Messengers have been sent down, and their Books were revealed, for the purpose of promoting the knowledge of God, and of furthering unity and fellowship amongst men. But now behold, how they have made the Law of God a cause and pretext for perversity and hatred. How pitiful, how regrettable, that most men are cleaving fast to, and have busied themselves with, the things they possess, and are unaware of, and shut out as by a veil from, the things God possesseth!…
Justice and equity are twin Guardians that watch over men. From them are revealed such blessed and perspicuous words as are the cause of the well-being of the world and the protection of the nations.
 |
| photo by Margarete P. |
In the Tablet, addressed to His Majesty the Sháh—may God, blessed and glorified be He, assist him—these words have streamed from the tongue of this Wronged One:
“O King! I was but a man like others, asleep upon My couch, when lo, the breezes of the All-Glorious were wafted over Me, and taught Me the knowledge of all that hath been. This thing is not from Me, but from One Who is Almighty and All-Knowing. And He bade Me lift up My voice between earth and heaven, and for this there befell Me what hath caused the tears of every man of understanding to flow. The learning current amongst men I studied not; their schools I entered not. Ask of the city wherein I dwelt, that thou mayest be well assured that I am not of them who speak falsely. This is but a leaf which the winds of the will of thy Lord, the Almighty, the All-Praised, have stirred. Can it be still when the tempestuous winds are blowing? Nay, by Him Who is the Lord of all Names and Attributes! They move it as they list. The evanescent is as nothing before Him Who is the Ever-Abiding. His all-compelling summons hath reached Me, and caused Me to speak His praise amidst all people. I was indeed as one dead when His behest was uttered. The hand of the will of thy Lord, the Compassionate, the Merciful, transformed Me.”
 |
| © 2026 Chuck Egerton |
Incline your ears to the sweet melody of this Prisoner. Arise, and lift up your voices, that haply they that are fast asleep may be awakened.
WE beseech God to aid thee to be just and fair-minded, and to acquaint thee with the things that were hidden from the eyes of men. He, in truth, is the Mighty, the Unconstrained. We ask thee to reflect upon that which hath been revealed, and to be fair and just in thy speech, that perchance the splendours of the day-star of truthfulness and sincerity may shine forth, and may deliver thee from the darkness of ignorance, and illumine the world with the light of knowledge. This Wronged One hath frequented no school, neither hath He attended the controversies of the learned. By My life! Not of Mine own volition have I revealed Myself, but God, of His own choosing, hath manifested Me.
