"...close thine eyes to the world and all that is therein ..."

"O SON OF EARTH! Wouldst thou have Me, seek none other than Me; and wouldst thou gaze upon My beauty, close thine eyes to the world and all that is therein; for My will and the will of another than Me, even as fire and water, cannot dwell together in one heart."

-Bahá'u'lláh, The Hidden Words of Bahá’u’lláh, Arabic No. 31

"Beware lest ye shut out the people by yet another veil."

" CONCOURSE of divines! When My verses were sent down, and My clear tokens were revealed, We found you behind the veils. This, verily, is a strange thing…. We have rent the veils asunder. Beware lest ye shut out the people by yet another veil. Pluck asunder the chains of vain imaginings, in the name of the Lord of all men, and be not of the deceitful. Should ye turn unto God, and embrace His Cause, spread not disorder within it, and measure not the Book of God with your selfish desires. This, verily, is the counsel of God aforetime and hereafter…. Had ye believed in God, when He revealed Himself, the people would not have turned aside from Him, nor would the things ye witness today have befallen Us. Fear God, and be not of the heedless…. This is the Cause that hath caused all your superstitions and idols to tremble…. O concourse of divines! Beware lest ye be the cause of strife in the land, even as ye were the cause of the repudiation of the Faith in its early days. Gather the people around this Word that hath made the pebbles to cry out: ‘The Kingdom is God’s, the Dawning-Place of all signs!’… Tear the veils asunder in such wise that the inmates of the Kingdom will hear them being rent. This is the command of God, in days gone by, and for those to come. Blessed the man that observeth that whereunto he was bidden, and woe betide the negligent."

-Bahá'u'lláh, Proclamation of Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 74-75

Ivory Coast Mask

"... it is incumbent on you to be even as one soul, to walk with the same feet, eat with the same mouth and dwell in the same land ... "

"O CHILDREN OF MEN! Know ye not why We created you all from the same dust? That no one should exalt himself over the other. Ponder at all times in your hearts how ye were created. Since We have created you all from one same substance it is incumbent on you to be even as one soul, to walk with the same feet, eat with the same mouth and dwell in the same land, that from your inmost being, by your deeds and actions, the signs of oneness and the essence of detachment may be made manifest. Such is My counsel to you, O concourse of light! Heed ye this counsel that ye may obtain the fruit of holiness from the tree of wondrous glory."

-Bahá'u'lláh, The Hidden Words of Bahá’u’lláh, Arabic No. 68

"...keep them hidden, till the hyacinths of divine wisdom spring from the heart ..."

"O SON OF DUST! The wise are they that speak not unless they obtain a hearing, even as the cup-bearer, who proffereth not his cup till he findeth a seeker, and the lover who crieth not out from the depths of his heart until he gazeth upon the beauty of his beloved. Wherefore sow the seeds of wisdom and knowledge in the pure soil of the heart, and keep them hidden, till the hyacinths of divine wisdom spring from the heart and not from mire and clay."

-Bahá'u'lláh, The Hidden Words of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 34-35 Arabic No. 36

Alláh-u-Abhá! God is Most Glorious! x 9

"They planned and God planned. God is the supreme Planner." - Qu' ran 3:54

Mishkin-Qalam

"For in those days, He Who is the Eternal Truth manifesteth Himself in conformity with that which He Himself hath purposed ..."

"Ponder a while. What is it that prompted, in every Dispensation, the peoples of the earth to shun the Manifestation of the All-Merciful? What could have impelled them to turn away from Him and to challenge His authority? Were men to meditate on these words which have flowed from the Pen of the Divine Ordainer, they would, one and all, hasten to embrace the truth of this God-given, and ever-enduring Revelation, and would testify to that which He Himself hath solemnly affirmed. It is the veil of idle imaginations which, in the days of the Manifestations of the Unity of God and the Day Springs of His everlasting glory, hath intervened, and will continue to intervene, between them and the rest of mankind. For in those days, He Who is the Eternal Truth manifesteth Himself in conformity with that which He Himself hath purposed, and not according to the desires and expectations of men. Even as He hath revealed: “So oft, then, as an Apostle cometh to you with that which your souls desire not, do ye swell with pride, and treat some as impostors, and slay others.”

-Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 82 XXXV

O God! My God! My Beloved! My Hearts Desire!

"If thou seekest another than Me, yea, if thou searchest the universe for evermore, thy quest will be in vain."

"O SON OF UTTERANCE! Turn thy face unto Mine and renounce all save Me; for My sovereignty endureth and My dominion perisheth not. If thou seekest another than Me, yea, if thou searchest the universe for evermore, thy quest will be in vain."

-Bahá'u'lláh, The Hidden Words of Bahá’u’lláh, Arabic No. 15

“O concourse of Shí’ihs! Fear ye God, and Our Cause, which concerneth Him Who is the Most Great Remembrance of God. For great is its fire, as decreed in the Mother-Book.”

“O people of the Qur’án! Ye are as nothing unless ye submit unto the Remembrance of God and unto this Book. If ye follow the Cause of God, We will forgive you your sins, and if ye turn aside from Our command, We will, in truth, condemn your souls in Our Book, unto the Most Great Fire. We, verily, do not deal unjustly with men, even to the extent of a speck on a date stone.”

-The Báb from the Qayyúm-i-Asmá quoted by Shoghi Effendi in The Promised Day Is Come, pp. 85-86