Sunday, July 25, 2021

"O Son of My Handmaid!"

 

O Son of My Handmaid!


Didst thou behold immortal sovereignty, thou wouldst strive to pass from this fleeting world. But to conceal the one from thee and to reveal the other is a mystery which none but the pure in heart can comprehend.



(The Hidden Words of Bahá’u’lláh)
www.bahai.org/r/228576295

Saturday, July 24, 2021

" ... wish not the abasement of anyone, that thine own abasement be not exposed."

 
Five Generations, Smith's Plantation, Beaufort, SC 1862
"
O Companion of My Throne!

Hear no evil, and see no evil, abase not thyself, neither sigh and weep. Speak no evil, that thou mayest not hear it spoken unto thee, and magnify not the faults of others that thine own faults may not appear great; and wish not the abasement of anyone, that thine own abasement be not exposed. Live then the days of thy life, that are less than a fleeting moment, with thy mind stainless, thy heart unsullied, thy thoughts pure, and thy nature sanctified, so that, free and content, thou mayest put away this mortal frame, and repair unto the mystic paradise and abide in the eternal kingdom forevermore."


(The Hidden Words of Bahá’u’lláh)
www.bahai.org/r/697759113

Friday, July 23, 2021

"His call is now raised in every land, and His life-giving breezes blow from every region."

 
"He is God!


O servant of the one true God! The Morn of divine guidance hath shed its radiance upon the East and lit up the Orient. It hath cast its beams upon the West and brightened the Occident. God be praised, for the renown and glory of the Abhá Beauty hath conquered the world, and the fame of the advent of the Most Great Name hath stirred up the whole earth. His call is now raised in every land, and His life-giving breezes blow from every region. Yet, regrettably, the unfaithful are striving to the utmost to extinguish His radiant Light, to still the wafting of His perfumed breeze, and to hinder the diffusion of His sweet fragrance. Alas, alas! Even if the dark clouds obscure the light of the sun for a while, they shall, in the end, be dispersed, and its effulgent rays shall shine forth once again. Upon thee be greetings and praise."


(Light of the World: Selected Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, #53)
www.bahai.org/r/258417019

Thursday, July 22, 2021

"When the celestial Lion rushed forth from the forest of the All-Merciful, He let out such a mighty roar that the sly foxes of ignorance and the cunning jackals, stained with the dye of deceit, fled the field."

 

"He is God.


O thou servant of the Abhá Beauty! When the celestial Lion rushed forth from the forest of the All-Merciful, He let out such a mighty roar that the sly foxes of ignorance and the cunning jackals, stained with the dye of deceit, fled the field.88 They then began to plot and conspire, raised the dust of cruelty and malice, and abased themselves to the depths of degradation, and now bewail and lament in the remoteness of obscurity and extinction. Leave them, therefore, in their corner of oblivion. They are “those who forget God, and whom He hath therefore caused to forget their own selves”.89 Surely they are a people, evil, in grievous loss!90 Upon thee be greetings and praise."


(Light of the World: Selected Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, #52)
www.bahai.org/r/253499076

Wednesday, July 21, 2021

"The breath of the divine Messiah was diffused, the All-Knowing Physician appeared from behind the veil, and the skilled and true Healer emerged unconcealed."

 
"
He is the All-Glorious.

O thou spiritual physician! The body of humankind was afflicted with severe ills and chronic diseases, contagious maladies and prolonged fevers. Whereupon the ocean of divine favour surged. and the clouds of truth and bounty rained down upon the world of creation. The Sun of the firmament of Oneness shone forth, and vivifying breezes wafted from the meads of Singleness. The breath of the divine Messiah was diffused, the All-Knowing Physician appeared from behind the veil, and the skilled and true Healer emerged unconcealed. He prepared wholesome medicines from hidden substances. and created healing balms from concealed and treasured elements. He bestowed the panacea of unfailing efficacy, and conferred the sovereign remedy for every ill. He blended together spiritual elixirs, and created refreshing draughts made with heavenly pearls and rubies. And from the essence of Divine Unity and the quintessence of singleness, He taught and made known to us remedies that purify and tranquillize and soothe. And all this, so that the feeble frame of the world might be freed from the burning thirst of error and ignorance, and this afflicted body might be delivered from the sore distress of heedlessness and impotence and attain unto a state of divine health and a well-being spiritual, complete, and absolute. 


Yet ignorant and neglectful physicians devoid of learning have intervened and are preventing the divine and timely remedy from being administered. They prescribe instead that which causeth the aggravation of the disease and the worsening of the condition. Thou who hast discovered the storehouse of celestial remedies and the infallible divine medicines must strive, then, that haply the light of perfect health and unfailing tranquillity may shine forth even as the light of guidance from the Dayspring of healing, and that the obscuring gloom of ills may be dispelled and the deadly affliction of maladies eliminated."


(Light of the World: Selected Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, #51)
www.bahai.org/r/038481618

Tuesday, July 20, 2021

"Were the weakest of all creatures to arise in this Day to fulfil this momentous task, that is, to diffuse the divine fragrances, it would become the mightiest of all created things."

 
"In brief, this Revelation is distinguished and exceptional in all respects. In gratitude for these bounties and bestowals, then, it behoveth us to forget all things in our yearning for the love of the Blessed Beauty and, with all our power and strength, centre our thoughts and words on teaching the Cause of God and diffusing the divine fragrances. In this day, this endeavour, that is, teaching the Cause of God, receiveth confirmation and is assured of victory by the aid of the hosts of the Abhá Kingdom.

 
I swear by the Ancient Beauty—may my life be offered up for the dust ennobled by the footsteps of His loved ones! Were the weakest of all creatures to arise in this Day to fulfil this momentous task, that is, to diffuse the divine fragrances, it would become the mightiest of all created things. The drop would become like unto a sea, and the atom would attain the power of the sun. Although the hoopoe was a frail and feeble bird, yet the hosts of Solomon were its support. So it was that the Queen of Sheba, with all her legions, could not resist its powers and found no recourse but to surrender. Now, should any soul arise to diffuse the sweet savours of God, the hosts of the Abhá Kingdom will be his helpers and succourers, and the Almighty Lord his refuge and shelter."


(Light of the World: Selected Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, #50, part 3)
www.bahai.org/r/035330576

Monday, July 19, 2021

"Consider the Writings of the Blessed Beauty on every matter, and the truth will become clear and evident."

 
"This was written with a broken-nibbed pen. The pen hath been changed and the theme is now elaborated.


Consider the Writings of the Blessed Beauty on every matter, and the truth will become clear and evident. Examine the works of the Most Exalted Pen and compare them with all other Scriptures. Reflect upon the manifestation of His overpowering majesty, and ponder how in the Most Great Prison, singly and alone, with none to help or succour Him, He withstood all the peoples and governments of the world in the utmost sovereignty and glory. 


For example, see how during the days of the Apostle of God—may the life of the worlds be offered up for Him—those who repudiated Him would say, as is clearly stated in the Qur’án: “And when they see Thee, they do but take Thee in mockery. ‘What! Is this he whom God hath sent as an Apostle?’”87 In this most mighty Revelation, however, the faithful as well as the froward, the rebellious, and the deniers all speak of the greatness of this Cause and the majesty of the Blessed Beauty—that is, even those that have not accepted and followed the fundamentals of His Faith. As thou hast witnessed, all the widely circulated publications of the world have testified to this. The humility and submissiveness shown by His enemies at all times, even within this afflictive prison, are the greatest proof thereof, as are the signs of the influence of His dawning and transcendent Revelation, whose rays have been shed upon the whole world. Indeed, all historians have regarded this wondrous age, this new century, as the king of all ages and the sovereign of all centuries, and have regarded its achievements as transcending those of all previous ages. That is, shouldst thou compare the achievements of one hundred centuries to those of this single one, they could in no wise compare with it."


(Light of the World: Selected Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, #50, part 2)
www.bahai.org/r/503267191