Some thoughts
Quotes from Baha'i Writings that touch my heart.
Saturday, April 13, 2024
O SON OF MY HANDMAID!
Guidance hath ever been given by words, and now it is given by deeds. Every one must show forth deeds that are pure and holy, for words are the property of all alike, whereas such deeds as these belong only to Our loved ones.
Strive then with heart and soul to distinguish yourselves by your deeds. In this wise We counsel you in this holy and resplendent tablet.
Bahá’u’lláh
How wondrous is the unity of the Living,
Tuesday, April 9, 2024
A pilgrim reports in 1920
No one can comprehend how deeply ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Who was laying the foundation of the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, was immersed in the ocean of responsibilities and difficulties. He was so busy with His work that many nights He had no rest at all. From time to time He would bring the tiniest sample from his innumerable adversities to our attention.
Once He made us aware of His travail through a lesson. He had an enormous mailbox into which the mailman deposited all the letters that were received from abroad. A porter would then carry the mail to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s room. Included in the mail were many registered letters for which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s signature was required.
One day Mírzá Badí Bushrú’í brought all the registered letters to His presence and asked Him to sign every receipt one by one. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had His head bent on His hand and was signing them; there were so many letters and it took a long time. Suddenly ‘Abdu’l-Bahá stopped, lifted up His head, and with a loving smile and in a joking manner addressed Mírzá Badí‘, “O man, what do you want from me?” He looked at the pilgrims and said, “This man is like a Qájár sword.” Then He explained, “I remember that when I was a child in Tihrán they referred to a Qájár soldier as a ‘sword of Qájár.’”
‘Abdu’l-Bahá next showed a sample letter to the pilgrims. This particular letter comprised twenty pages in very small handwriting. He said, “Just look and ponder that the writers of these letters are too many. Find a person to reply to all these letters! It is thirty years that I have borne all this correspondence.” He added meekly, “It is no longer possible for me to undergo such hardship day and night. I beseech God that the answers to these letters be transmitted directly from the Abhá Kingdom into the writers’ hearts.”
Early one morning He called all the pilgrims to the room of one of His daughters. There we saw a long bench piled with letters. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was sitting on folded legs replying to them, and He asked us to sit down on the floor. We tried to imitate and sit like Him, but He was so compassionate that He told us not to sit as He did because we could not bear it, but rather to sit with crossed legs, and we did so.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá said, “Look at all these letters, on so many different matters—and I must reply to every one of them.” For example, one of the letters asked ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to explain how this world came into being. Another asked Him to solve a difficult science problem, and yet another letter, which He showed us, asked Him to kindly bless the writer’s business. Another person wrote to Him that His confirmation and assistance were awaited. Another requested ‘Abdu’l-Bahá interpret his dream. ‘Abdu’l- Bahá said to us, “I need one month just to read these letters. When do you think I will be able to reply to all of them?” Then He showed us another letter and said, “I received this letter four months ago and I was able to read it only today.”
- Nuru’d-din Mumtazi (‘Memories of Nine Days’, translated and edited by Ardeshir Khodadad Forudi and Sheridan A. Sims;
‘Baha’i Library Online)
Truthfulness and goodwill have, at all times,...
The Daystar of Truth that shineth in its meridian splendor beareth Us witness! They who are the people of God have no ambition except to revive the world, to ennoble its life, and regenerate its peoples. Truthfulness and goodwill have, at all times, marked their relations with all men. Their outward conduct is but a reflection of their inward life, and their inward life a mirror of their outward conduct. No veil hideth or obscureth the verities on which their Faith is established. Before the eyes of all men these verities have been laid bare, and can be unmistakably recognized. Their very acts attest the truth of these words.
Saturday, April 6, 2024
Backbiting quencheth the light of the heart, and extinguisheth the life of the soul.
Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh - CXXV, Paragraph 3
O ye peoples of the world!
O ye peoples of the world! Know assuredly that My commandments are the lamps of My loving providence among My servants, and the keys of My mercy for My creatures. Thus hath it been sent down from the heaven of the Will of your Lord, the Lord of Revelation. Were any man to taste the sweetness of the words which the lips of the All-Merciful have willed to utter, he would, though the treasures of the earth be in his possession, renounce them one and all, that he might vindicate the truth of even one of His commandments, shining above the Dayspring of His bountiful care and loving-kindness.
Bahá'u'lláh
The Kitáb-i-Aqdas
Meditation
I now assure thee, O servant of God, that, if thy mind become empty and pure from every mention and thought and thy heart attracted wholly to the Kingdom of God, forget all else besides God and come in communion with the Spirit of God, then the Holy Spirit will assist thee with a power which will enable thee to penetrate all things, and a Dazzling Spark which enlightens all sides, a Brilliant Flame in the zenith of the heavens, will teach thee that which thou dost not know of the facts of the universe and of the divine doctrine.
Verily, I say unto thee, every soul which ariseth today to guide others to the path of safety and infuse in them the Spirit of Life, the Holy Spirit will inspire that soul with evidences, proofs and facts and the lights will shine upon it from the Kingdom of God. Do not forget what I have conveyed unto thee from the breath of the Spirit. Verily, it is the shining morning and the rosy dawn which will impart unto thee the lights, reveal the mysteries and make thee competent in science, and through it the pictures of the Supreme World will be printed in thy heart and the facts of the secrets of the Kingdom of God will shine before thee.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Bahá’í World Faith, p. 369
https://bahaiquotes.com/subject/meditation
Tuesday, March 19, 2024
How long shall we drift ...
How long shall we drift on the wings of passion and vain desire; how long shall we spend our days like barbarians in the depths of ignorance and abomination? God has given us eyes, that we may look about us at the world, and lay hold of whatsoever will further civilization and the arts of living. He has given us ears, that we may hear and profit by the wisdom of scholars and philosophers and arise to promote and practice it. Senses and faculties have been bestowed upon us, to be devoted to the service of the general good; so that we, distinguished above all other forms of life for perceptiveness and reason, should labor at all times and along all lines, whether the occasion be great or small, ordinary or extraordinary, until all mankind are safely gathered into the impregnable stronghold of knowledge. We should continually be establishing new bases for human happiness and creating and promoting new instrumentalities toward this end. How excellent, how honorable is man if he arises to fulfill his responsibilities; how wretched and contemptible, if he shuts his eyes to the welfare of society and wastes his precious life in pursuing his own selfish interests and personal advantages. Supreme happiness is man’s, and he beholds the signs of God in the world and in the human soul, if he urges on the steed of high endeavor in the arena of civilization and justice. “We will surely show them Our signs in the world and within themselves.”
‘Abdu’l‑Bahá "The Secret of Divine Civilization"
O people of Bahá! The source of crafts, sciences and arts is the power of reflection. Make ye every effort that out of this ideal mine there may gleam forth such pearls of wisdom and utterance as will promote the well-being and harmony of all the kindreds of the earth.
Under all conditions, whether in adversity or at ease, whether honored or afflicted, this Wronged One hath directed all men to show forth love, affection, compassion and harmony. And yet whenever there was any slight evidence of progress and advancement, those concealed behind the veils would sally forth and utter calumnies more wounding than the sword. They cling unto misleading and reprehensible words and suffer themselves to be deprived of the ocean of verses revealed by God.
Bahá’u’lláh
www.bahai.org/r/038450443
Naw Ruz
Happy the one who entereth upon the first day of the month of Bahá, the day which God hath consecrated to this Great Name. And blessed be he who evidenceth on this day the bounties that God hath bestowed upon him; he, verily, is of those who show forth thanks to God through actions betokening the Lord's munificence which hath encompassed all the worlds. Say: This day, verily, is the crown of all the months and the source thereof, the day on which the breath of life is wafted over all created things. Great is the blessedness of him who greeteth it with radiance and joy. We testify that he is, in truth, among those who are blissful.
Bahá’u’lláh, The Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 59
Sunday, March 3, 2024
Having created the world and ...
Having created the world and all that liveth and moveth therein, He, through the direct operation of His unconstrained and sovereign Will, chose to confer upon man the unique distinction and capacity to know Him and to love Him—a capacity that must needs be regarded as the generating impulse and the primary purpose underlying the whole of creation.…
Upon the inmost reality of each and every created thing He hath shed the light of one of His names, and made it a recipient of the glory of one of His attributes. Upon the reality of man, however, He hath focused the radiance of all of His names and attributes, and made it a mirror of His own Self. Alone of all created things man hath been singled out for so great a favor, so enduring a bounty.
Bahá’u’lláh
www.bahai.org/r/441185340.
O SON OF MY HANDMAID!
O SON OF MY HANDMAID! Guidance hath ever been given by words, and now it is given by deeds. Every one must show forth deeds that are pure...