“Say, O people of the Book! Why repel believers from the way of God?”

"Leaders of religion, in every age, have hindered their people from attaining the shores of eternal salvation, inasmuch as they held the reins of authority in their mighty grasp. Some for the lust of leadership, others through want of knowledge and understanding, have been the cause of the deprivation of the people. By their sanction and authority, every Prophet of God hath drunk from the chalice of sacrifice, and winged His flight unto the heights of glory. What unspeakable cruelties they that have occupied the seats of authority and learning have inflicted upon the true Monarchs of the world, those Gems of divine virtue! Content with a transitory dominion, they have deprived themselves of an everlasting sovereignty. Thus, their eyes beheld not the light of the countenance of the Well-Beloved, nor did their ears hearken unto the sweet melodies of the Bird of Desire. For this reason, in all sacred books mention hath been made of the divines of every age. Thus He saith: “O people of the Book! Why disbelieve the signs of God to which ye yourselves have been witnesses?” 12 And also He saith: “O people of the Book! Why clothe ye the truth with falsehood? Why wittingly hide the truth?” 13 Again, He saith: “Say, O people of the Book! Why repel believers from the way of God?” 14 It is evident that by the “people of the Book,” who have repelled their fellow-men from the straight path of God, is meant none other than the divines of that age, whose names and character have been revealed in the sacred books, and alluded to in the verses and traditions recorded therein, were you to observe with the eye of God."

-Bahá'u'lláh, The Kitáb-i-Íqán, pp. 15-16



12. Qur’án 3:70.
13. Qur’án 3:71.
14. Qur’án 3:99.

“Verily we are God’s, and to Him shall we return.”

"It behoveth him who is a wayfarer in the path of God and a wanderer in His way to detach himself from all who are in the heavens and on the earth. He must renounce all save God, that perchance the portals of mercy may be unlocked before his face and the breezes of providence may waft over him. And when he hath inscribed upon his soul that which We have vouchsafed unto him of the quintessence of inner meaning and explanation, he will fathom all the secrets of these allusions, and God shall bestow upon his heart a divine tranquillity and cause him to be of them that are at peace with themselves. In like manner wilt thou comprehend the meaning of all the ambiguous verses that have been sent down concerning the question thou didst ask of this Servant Who abideth upon the seat of abasement, Who walketh upon the earth as an exile with none to befriend, comfort, aid, or assist Him, Who hath placed His whole trust in God, and Who proclaimeth at all times: “Verily we are God’s, and to Him shall we return.” 22"

-Bahá'u'lláh, Gems of Divine Mysteries (Javáhiru’l-Asrár), pp.25-26


22. Qur’án 2:156.

"He is fully capable of revolutionizing the world through the power of a single Word."

"HE Who leadeth to true victory is come. By the righteousness of God! He is fully capable of revolutionizing the world through the power of a single Word. Having enjoined upon all men to observe wisdom, He Himself hath adhered to the cord of patience and resignation.
The clay clods of the world have set forth to visit the embellished, the luminous, the crimson City of God, and certain emissaries from Persia are secretly stirring up mischief, though to outward seeming they pretend to be gentle and meek. Gracious God! When will this world-afflicting craftiness be transformed into sincerity? The exhortations of God, the True One, have compassed the world, but until now their influence hath not been disclosed. Men’s unseemly deeds have kept them back from attaining unto Him. We entreat God—exalted and glorified is He—to pour down, out of the clouds of divine grace, the overflowing rain of His bounty upon all His servants. Verily potent is He over all things.

O ‘Alí Ḥaydar! O thou who hast risen to serve My Cause and art engaged in magnifying the praise of God, the Lord of the mighty throne! Unto the emblems of justice and the exponents of equity it is indubitably clear and evident that this Wronged One, strengthened by the transcendent power of the Kingdom, is seeking to efface from among the peoples and kindreds of the earth every evidence of disorder, discord, dissension, differences or divisions; and it is for no other reason but this great, this momentous object that He hath again and again been cast into prison and many a day and a night hath been subjected to chains and fetters. Blessed are they that judge this impregnable Cause, this glorious Announcement, with fairness and equity."

-Bahá'u'lláh, Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh Revealed After the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, pp. 259-260

"To give and to be generous are attributes of Mine ..."

"O CHILDREN OF DUST! Tell the rich of the midnight sighing of the poor, lest heedlessness lead them into the path of destruction, and deprive them of the Tree of Wealth. To give and to be generous are attributes of Mine; well is it with him that adorneth himself with My virtues."

-Bahá'u'lláh, The Hidden Words of Bahá’u’lláh, No. 49 Arabic

Mishkin Qalam

" ... my soul burneth with thirst in its ceaseless search after Thee."

"Suffer me, O my God, to draw nigh unto Thee, and to abide within the precincts of Thy court, for remoteness from Thee hath well-nigh consumed me. Cause me to rest under the shadow of the wings of Thy grace, for the flame of my separation from Thee hath melted my heart within me. Draw me nearer unto the river that is life indeed, for my soul burneth with thirst in its ceaseless search after Thee. My sighs, O my God, proclaim the bitterness of mine anguish, and the tears I shed attest my love for Thee.

I beseech Thee, by the praise wherewith Thou praisest Thyself and the glory wherewith Thou glorifiest Thine own Essence, to grant that we may be numbered among them that have recognized Thee and acknowledged Thy sovereignty in Thy days. Help us then to quaff, O my God, from the fingers of mercy the living waters of Thy loving-kindness, that we may utterly forget all else except Thee, and be occupied only with Thy Self. Powerful art Thou to do what Thou willest. No God is there beside Thee, the Mighty, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.

Glorified be Thy name, O Thou Who art the King of all Kings!"

-Bahá'u'lláh, Prayers and Meditations by Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 30-31 XXVI



Window of Bahá'u'lláh's prison cell, Akka.

“Here am I, here am I, O my God”

"This Holy Land hath been mentioned and extolled in all the sacred Scriptures. In it have appeared the Prophets of God and His chosen Ones. This is the wilderness in which all the Messengers of God have wandered, from which their cry, “Here am I, here am I, O my God” was raised. This is the promised Land in which He Who is the Revelation of God was destined to be made manifest. This is the Vale of God’s unsearchable decree, the snow-white Spot, the Land of unfading splendor. Whatever hath come to pass in this Day hath been foretold in the Scriptures of old. These same Scriptures, however, unanimously condemn the people that inhabit this land. They have, at one time, been stigmatized as the “generation of vipers.” Behold how this wronged One is now, whilst surrounded by a “generation of vipers,” calling aloud and summoning all men to Him Who is the world’s Ultimate Desire, the Summit and Day Spring of Glory. Happy is the man that hath hearkened to the voice of Him Who is the Lord of the Kingdom of Utterance, and woe betide the heedless, they that have strayed far from His truth."

-Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 344-345 CLXIV

"O SON OF MAN!"

"Breathe not the sins of others so long as thou art thyself a sinner. Shouldst thou transgress this command, accursed wouldst thou be, and to this I bear witness."

Bahá'u'lláh, The Hidden Words of Bahá’u’lláh, No. 27 Arabic