" ... imagine what would happen were we to follow in the footsteps of the Abhá Beauty and the Báb—may my soul be offered up for them that have laid down their lives in Their path!"

 

"Now consider: If those souls who walked in the ways of that manifest Light attained such blessings and high rank, imagine what would happen were we to follow in the footsteps of the Abhá Beauty and the Báb—may my soul be offered up for them that have laid down their lives in Their path!

From the early dawn of the revelation of His beauty until the time of His most glorious martyrdom, the Exalted One passed every day and night in the most afflictive tribulations in the path of God. In the end, He made His breast the target of a thousand darts of woe and, with His breast torn to shreds, hastened to the Abhá Kingdom.

The Ancient Beauty, the Most Great Name, tasted the poison of every tribulation and quaffed from the brimming cup of every bitter affliction. He made His breast the target of every dart and readied His neck to every sword. He was cast into prison and bound by pitiless chains. He was beset by ferocious foes and attacked with stones hurled by the wicked. He was subjected to chains and fetters and confined to shackles and stocks. He was exiled from His homeland, banished to the lands of the Bulgars and the Serbs, and finally sore tried by grave affliction in the Most Great Prison. In this darksome pit, this prison of tyranny, His blessed days came to an end and He winged His flight to His Kingdom.

And now, O faithful friends, O loved ones of that luminous Beauty! Would it be meet and seemly for us to rest even for a moment? Would it be fitting for us to tarry or delay, to seek our own ease or comfort, thereby falling prey to idleness and tests, becoming preoccupied with our own fancies, and setting our affections on friend and stranger alike? Nay, by God! It behoveth us not to rest for a moment, whether by day or by night, nor to defile our pure hearts with the corruption of this world. We must spread a banquet of renunciation; hold a festival of love; lift up our voices and sing the blissful anthems of the Abhá Kingdom to the melody of the harp, the tambour, and the flute; and, hastening with joy and rapture to the field of martyrdom, surrender our lives and our all in His path."

(Light of the World: Selected Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, #56, part 2)
www.bahai.org/r/212078629

“A noble pattern have ye in God’s Apostle.”

 

"He is God.

O ye beloved of God! O ye spiritual friends! The Lord of the worlds hath said in the Qur’án: “A noble pattern have ye in God’s Apostle.”⁹⁶ By this is meant that the Prophet of God is the noble example to follow, and that allegiance to that true Exemplar is conducive to salvation in both worlds. 

The people of Muḥammad were enjoined to follow His precepts in all matters and under all circumstances. Those who saw this straight Path as the true Way followed it and became even as kings in the realm of the righteous and the land of the chosen. And those who sought their own ease and comfort deprived themselves of His manifold bestowals and perished in the uttermost depths of despair. Their days drew to a close, and their joys and pleasures passed away. Their brilliant morn was turned into darkness, and their clear chalice grew clouded and was mixed with woe. Their radiant star paled and faded, and their orb dimmed and set. But those holy souls who walked in His ways beamed like guiding stars upon the Supreme Horizon. They shone with incomparable light from the dawning-place of all aspirations. They ascended the throne of everlasting dominion and were established upon the seat of heavenly delight. Their influence is still manifest and their effulgence still resplendent. Their stars shine bright, and their companions are the angelic hosts of the eternal realm. Lofty is their mansion, and unshakeable their foundation; their light illumineth the world, and their heat setteth the earth ablaze."

(Light of the World: Selected Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, #56, part 1)
www.bahai.org/r/726704080

" ... “Here am I!” and cried out, from its inmost self, saying, “O our Lord! We have indeed heeded the Voice of Him that called us to the Faith of God—‘Believe ye in your Lord’—and we have believed.”

 

"He is the All-Glorious.

O thou who art inebriated by the heavenly cup! In the wilderness of Sinai in the Holy Land, in the hallowed precincts of the vale of Towa, upon the Mystic Mount from which the Light shone upon Moses, the Divine Lote-Tree was raised high, the Burning Bush was unveiled, and the Voice of the one true God was lifted up, raising a tumult in every land and resounding throughout the East and the West. Upon hearing this soul-stirring Voice, every attentive ear responded, “Here am I!” and cried out, from its inmost self, saying, “O our Lord! We have indeed heeded the Voice of Him that called us to the Faith of God—‘Believe ye in your Lord’—and we have believed.”⁹³ And every soul that was the embodiment of the verse “They are deaf, they are dumb, they are blind and shall return no more” responded, “Lo! This is naught but tales of the Ancients.”⁹⁴

Gracious God! Those who claimed to have heard the Voice of God calling from every least bush, rock, and clod of earth—even every blade of grass in the wilderness—rejected that Voice when its most wondrous accents rose from the Tree of Man with utmost eloquence and grace. This is a cause of astonishment, a source of pity. Thus shall the light of “He guideth whomsoever He pleaseth” be kindled and shine forth in the lamp of “He singleth out for His mercy whomsoever He willeth.”⁹⁵ This, verily, is the truth.

 
Aid Thou Thy servant, O my Lord, who hath sought the light of Thy oneness from the Lamp of Thy guidance and hearkened to Thy most sweet Voice which hath been raised from Thy most glorious Kingdom. Assist him by the power of Thy triumphant might, and enlighten his heart by Thy Most Great Sign. Gladden his bosom through the sublime outpourings of Thy grace from Thine exalted Kingdom. Thou art, in truth, the Lord of this world and of the next."

(Light of the World: Selected Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, #55)
www.bahai.org/r/489205202

" ... he hath been joined to the sacred Lote-Tree and hath grown fresh and verdant in the garden of the Placeless."

 

© 2021 Chuck Egerton

"He is God. O thou sanctified bough of the Tree of Holiness! Though that illustrious offshoot was severed from the garden of the contingent world, he hath been joined to the sacred Lote-Tree and hath grown fresh and verdant in the garden of the Placeless. He hath been nurtured from the wellspring of living waters and stirred by the breezes wafting from the bowers of the Abhá Kingdom. He hath entered the paradise of the Divine Presence, attained the court of the Almighty, and found his habitation in the bountiful realm of the All-Glorious.

And now, from the Concourse on high and the realm of effulgent glory, he beholdeth those that are left behind, and raiseth an inner summons for the heart and soul to hear, saying, “O my kindred, water ye all that I have sown, with the hands of faith and certitude. Nurture ye all that I have planted. Ye are the boughs and fruits of this bountiful tree; ye must reveal its true savour and fragrance and bring forth gem-like fruits. Be not dismayed by the winds of tests, nor shaken by the tempests of trials. Let your roots grow deep in the soil of the Covenant and be nourished by the stream of the Testament of the Day-Star of the world. Hold ye fast unto the firm Cord, and seize the hem of the Covenant of the Lord of all worlds, that ye may become as fresh and graceful boughs that yield sweet fruits. This is my counsel and my admonishment unto you.” The glory of God rest upon you."

(Light of the World: Selected Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, #54, part 2)
www.bahai.org/r/640484230

“Behold the confusion that hath befallen the tribes of the defeated!”

 

"He is God.

O true believer in the verses of God! It is said that the greatest power in the world is the power of an all-compelling sovereignty and the might of an all-subduing government. However, the utmost that such might and power can achieve is to besiege men and conquer fortified strongholds. Such power and might is only made manifest by the aid of massed troops and conquering armies.

Yet, reflect thou on the power and ascendancy of the Greatest Name, on its might and dominion. Ponder how, though alone and forsaken, with none to help or succour Him, He, through the might and power of God and the sovereignty of the Kingdom, subdued the realm of being and conquered the citadels of the hearts of men. He prevailed over the whole world and established His authority over all existence. Single-handedly, He scattered the battalions of the earth; unaided, He defeated the unyielding hosts of darkness. In this day, the evidences of these victories exist in the invisible realm, but in the future they will appear in the visible plane as well. Then shall all witness the truth of the verse “Behold the confusion that hath befallen the tribes of the defeated!”⁹¹

Travel and explore the deserts—places such as the cities of Ṣáliḥ and Thamúd, the sand dunes of the tribe of Húd, the cities of Lot and of Sheba, and the settlements of the people of Rass and Midian,⁹² and other lands. Behold how they have been, even as a defeated army, dispersed and scattered across these barren wastes.

My meaning is that although the Prophets of God and His chosen ones were, in every age and dispensation, alone and forsaken and subjected to relentless attacks by all the peoples and kindreds of the earth, yet their light shone bright and their stars gleamed resplendent, whereas the lamps of worldly power were extinguished, one and all."

(Light of the World: Selected Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, #54, part 1)
www.bahai.org/r/496534355

"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

" ... 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