"One of the created phenomena is the dream."

"Indeed, O Brother, if we ponder each created thing, we shall witness a myriad perfect wisdoms and learn a myriad new and wondrous truths. One of the created phenomena is the dream. Behold how many secrets are deposited therein, how many wisdoms treasured up, how many worlds concealed. Observe, how thou art asleep in a dwelling, and its doors are barred; on a sudden thou findest thyself in a far-off city, which thou enterest without moving thy feet or wearying thy body; without using thine eyes, thou seest; without taxing thine ears, thou hearest; without a tongue, thou speakest. And perchance when ten years are gone, thou wilt witness in the outer world the very things thou hast dreamed tonight.

Now there are many wisdoms to ponder in the dream, which none but the people of this Valley (The Valley of Wonderment) can comprehend in their true elements. First, what is this world, where without eye and ear and hand and tongue a man puts all of these to use? Second, how is it that in the outer world thou seest today the effect of a dream, when thou didst vision it in the world of sleep some ten years past? Consider the difference between these two worlds and the mysteries which they conceal, that thou mayest attain to divine confirmations and heavenly discoveries and enter the regions of holiness.

God, the Exalted, hath placed these signs in men, to the end that philosophers may not deny the mysteries of the life beyond nor belittle that which hath been promised them..."

-Bahá'u'lláh, The Seven Valleys And the Four Valleys, pp. 32-33

"A Mhic an Spioraid!"

A Mhic an Spioraid!  Is é an ceart is ansa liom; ná diúltaigh dó má bhíonn dúil agat ionam, agus ná déan faillí ann le go ligfidh mé mo rún leat. Lena chuidiú sin, chífidh tú le do shúile féin agus ní trí shúile daoine eile, agus beidh fhios agat led eolas féin agus ní trí eolas do chomharsan. Taiscigh é seo i do chroí faoi mar ba chóir duit a bheith. Go deimhin is é an ceart mo thíolacadh duit agus comhartha mo thrócaire. Cuir, dá bhrí sin, i bhfianaise do shúl é. (from Irish Gaelic)

O Son of Spirit!  The best beloved of all things in My sight is Justice; turn not away therefrom if thou desirest Me, and neglect it not that I may confide in thee. By its aid thou shalt see with thine own eyes and not through the eyes of others, and shalt know of thine own knowledge and not through the knowledge of thy neighbour.  Ponder this in thy heart; how it behooveth thee to be.  Verily justice is My gift to thee and the sign of My loving-kindness.  Set it then before thine eyes.

Baha’u’llah, Hidden Words of Baha’u’llah, Arabic No.2

"To the believers who were present in Dublin..."

"The Irish are tenacious in their religious beliefs, and once convinced of the truth and significance of our glorious Faith should make ardent and devoted Bahá’ís."

To the believers who were present in Dublin at the 19 Day Feast of Kamál
Written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi, 27 August 1947
Unfolding Destiny pp. 397-398

(Image from Trinidad & Tobago official 40¢ postage stamp)

"Myriads of mystic tongues find utterance in one speech..."

"O ESSENCE OF NEGLIGENCE! Myriads of mystic tongues find utterance in one speech, and myriads of hidden mysteries are revealed in a single melody; yet, alas, there is no ear to hear, nor heart to understand."

-Bahá’u’lláh, The Hidden Words of Bahá’u’lláh p.27, Persian No.16

"...pulsate even as the throbbing artery in the body of mankind..."

"Happy are ye, O ye the learned ones in Bahá. By the Lord! Ye are the billows of the Most Mighty Ocean, the stars of the firmament of Glory, the standards of triumph waving betwixt earth and heaven. Ye are the manifestations of steadfastness amidst men and the daysprings of Divine Utterance to all that dwell on earth. Well is it with him that turneth unto you, and woe betide the froward. This day, it behoveth whoso hath quaffed the Mystic Wine of everlasting life from the Hands of the loving-kindness of the Lord his God, the Merciful, to pulsate even as the throbbing artery in the body of mankind, that through him may be quickened the world and every crumbling bone."

-Bahá’u’lláh, The Kitáb-i-Aqdas, p. 82

“He shall not be asked of His doings”.

"Blessed is the man that hath acknowledged his belief in God and in His signs, and recognized that “He shall not be asked of His doings”. Such a recognition hath been made by God the ornament of every belief and its very foundation. Upon it must depend the acceptance of every goodly deed. Fasten your eyes upon it, that haply the whisperings of the rebellious may not cause you to slip."

-Bahá’u’lláh, The Kitáb-i-Aqdas, p. 77

"By God, the True One! I am Trustworthiness and the revelation thereof, and the beauty thereof."

“We will now mention unto thee Trustworthiness and the station thereof in the estimation of God, thy Lord, the Lord of the Mighty Throne. One day of days We repaired unto Our Green Island. Upon Our arrival, We beheld its streams flowing, and its trees luxuriant, and the sunlight playing in their midst. Turning Our face to the right, We beheld what the pen is powerless to describe; nor can it set forth that which the eye of the Lord of Mankind witnessed in that most sanctified, that most sublime, that blest, and most exalted Spot. Turning, then, to the left We gazed on one of the Beauties of the Most Sublime Paradise, standing on a pillar of light, and calling aloud saying: ‘O inmates of earth and heaven! Behold ye My beauty, and My radiance, and My revelation, and My effulgence. By God, the True One! I am Trustworthiness and the revelation thereof, and the beauty thereof. I will recompense whosoever will cleave unto Me, and recognize My rank and station, and hold fast unto My hem. I am the most great ornament of the people of Bahá, and the vesture of glory unto all who are in the kingdom of creation. I am the supreme instrument for the prosperity of the world, and the horizon of assurance unto all beings.’ Thus have We sent down for thee that which will draw men nigh unto the Lord of creation.”

Baha'u'llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, pp. 136-137

Frank McKelvey
RMA