The purpose of the one true God in ...

Verily I say: Incline your ears to My sweet voice, and sanctify yourselves from the defilement of your evil passions and corrupt desires. They who dwell within the tabernacle of God, and are established upon the seats of everlasting glory, will refuse, though they be dying of hunger, to stretch their hands and seize unlawfully the property of their neighbor, however vile and worthless he may be.
"The purpose of the one true God in manifesting Himself is to summon all mankind to truthfulness and sincerity, to piety and trustworthiness, to resignation and submissiveness to the Will of God, to forbearance and kindliness, to uprightness and wisdom. His object is to array every man with the mantle of a saintly character, and to adorn him with the ornament of holy and goodly deeds.

Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh

The power of the intellect is ...

‘Abdu’l-Bahá

The power of the intellect is one of God’s greatest gifts to men, it is the power that makes him a higher creature than the animal. For whereas, century by century and age by age man’s intelligence grows and becomes keener, that of the animal remains the same. They are no more intelligent today then they were a thousand years ago! Is there a greater proof than this needed to show man’s dissimilarity to the animal creation? It is surely as clear as day.
As for the spiritual perfections they are man’s birthright and belong to him alone of all creation. Man is, in reality, a spiritual being, and only when he lives in the spirit is he truly happy. This spiritual longing and perception belongs to all men alike, and it is my firm conviction that the Western people possess great spiritual aspiration.
It is my fervent prayer that the star of the East will shed its brilliant rays on the Western world, and that the people of the West may arise in strength, earnestness, and courage, to help their brethren in the East.

`Abdu'l-Bahá,  Paris Talks

Beautify your tongues, O people, with ...

He hath chosen out of the whole world the hearts of His servants, and made them each a seat for the revelation of His glory. Wherefore, sanctify them from every defilement, that the things for which they were created may be engraven upon them. This indeed is a token of God’s bountiful favor.
 "Beautify your tongues, O people, with truthfulness, and adorn your souls with the ornament of honesty. Beware, O people, that ye deal not treacherously with any one. Be ye the trustees of God amongst His creatures, and the emblems of His generosity amidst His people. They that follow their lusts and corrupt inclinations, have erred and dissipated their efforts. They, indeed, are of the lost. Strive, O people, that your eyes may be directed towards the mercy of God, that your hearts may be attuned to His wondrous remembrance, that your souls may rest confidently upon His grace and bounty, that your feet may tread the path of His good-pleasure. Such are the counsels which I bequeath unto you. Would that ye might follow My counsels!"

Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, Pages 294-297

... the rising fires of religious prejudice ...

On 27 May 2014,seven candles were lit by
 the representatives of the UK's major
religions at a gathering at Westminster Abbey,
 each representing  one of Iran's imprisoned
 former Baha'i leaders.

As His journey continued in Europe and North America, 'Abdu'l-Baha, son of Baha'u'llah and head of the Baha'i Faith after His passing, reiterated in many public addresses that, just as mankind is one, religions are likewise one, and that while in outward form religions are many, their reality is one, just as the "days are many, but the sun is one".
 More recently, in its letter to the world's religious leaders in 2002, the Universal House of Justice identified religious prejudice as an increasingly dangerous force in the world.
 "With every day that passes, danger grows that the rising fires of religious prejudice will ignite a worldwide conflagration the consequences of which are unthinkable," It wrote. "The crisis calls on religious leadership for a break with the past as decisive as those that opened the way for society to address equally corrosive prejudices of race, gender and nation."

Baha'i World News Service.

ای پسر انصاف, O SON OF JUSTICE

ای پسر انصاف 

 کدام عاشق كه جز در وطن معشوق محلّ گيرد و کدام طالب که بی مطلوب راحت جويد ؟ عاشق صادق را حيات در وصال است و موت در فراق * صدرشان از صبر خالی و قلوبشان از اصطبار مقدّس از صد هزار جان درگذرند و بکوی جانان شتابند *

حضرت بهاءالله,  کلمات مکنونه فارسی

O SON OF JUSTICE!
Whither can a lover go but to the land of his beloved? and what seeker findeth rest away from his heart’s desire? To the true lover reunion is life, and separation is death. His breast is void of patience and his heart hath no peace. A myriad lives he would forsake to hasten to the abode of his beloved.

The Hidden Words of Bahá’u’lláh

پیام بیت العدل اعظم الهی خطاب به دانشجویان بهائی ایران که از تحصیلات عالیه محروم شده‌اند

....
عکس‌العمل بعضی از مردم در مقابل رنج و عذاب قیام بر علیه ظالم ستمگر است، برخی دیگر چاره‌ای جز فرار ندارند و گروهی نیز تسلیم سرنوشت خود می‌شوند. در حالی که مردم ستمدیدۀ دنیا اغلب قربانی نیروهای پراکندۀ ظلم و ستم هستند، امّا شما به وضوح می‌دانید که چرا این مشکلات و ناملایمات را تحمّل می‌نمایید و بدین ترتیب عکس‌العمل شما نیز باید به همان درجه روشن و واضح باشد. به بیانات و انذارات حضرت بهاءالله و حضرت عبدالبهاء توجّه نمایید که می‌فرمایند. "...بخود مشغول نباشید در فکر اصلاح عالم و تهذیب امم باشید. اصلاح عالم از اعمال طیّبۀ طاهره و اخلاق راضیۀ مرضیّه بوده..."،منتخباتی از آثار حضرت بهاءالله، شمارۀ 43، صفحۀ 67 "...باعراض و انکار و استکبار و ظلم و عدوان اهمّیّت ندهید و اعتنا نکنید بالعکس معامله نمائید..."، "...اگر زهر دهند قند بخشند..."، "...هر نفسی از شما در هر شهری که وارد گردد به خلق و خوی و صدق و وفا و محبّت و امانت و دیانت و مهربانی بعموم عالم انسانی مشار بالبنان گردد..."، "...معین هر مظلومی باشید و مجیر هر محروم..."، "...بهر نفسی برسد خیری بنماید و نفعی برساند..."، "...خالصاً مخلصاً لله بوعظ و نصیحت عموم برخیزند تا دیدۀ اهالی از این کحل بینش معارف روشن و بصیر گردد...".رسالۀ مدنیّه صادره از قلم مبارک حضرت عبدالبهاء، صفحۀ 47
 آیا حضرت بهاءالله برای انتشار این تعالیم شخصاً تحمّل هر نوع محنت و بلا نفرمودند؟ آیا آن حضرت حبس و تبعید را برای آزادی اهل عالم قبول نفرمودند؟ "قد قیّد جمال القدم ﻻطلاق العالم و حبس فی الحصن الاعظم لعتق العالمین...". منتخباتی از آثار حضرت بهاءالله، شمارۀ 45، صفحۀ

 بنابراین با وجدانی روشن و دیدگاهی عالم‌بین، با احتراز کامل از دخالت در هیچ نوع سیاست حزبی، و با رعایت حرمت قوانین و نظم اجتماعی، برای احیای وطن خود بیش از پیش جهد و کوشش نمایید. با اعمال و خدمات پسندیده و مهر و محبّت واقعی به همه، قلوب اطرافیان خود را بدست آورید و حتّی احترام دشمنان سرسخت خود را نیز جلب نمایید. صداقت و امانت و خلوص نیّت خود را به ثبوت رسانید و برای جامعۀ اسم اعظم در سرزمین زادگاهش حرمت و پذیرش روزافزون بدست آورید. گمان مبرید که آنچه مذکور شد صرفاً عباراتی برای آرامش قلوب شکستۀ شما و مرهمی بر زخم‌های شما است. به نتایج حاصله از رفتار و کردار باانضباط بهائیان ایران در مقابل تضییقات واردۀ بعد از انقلاب سال 1357 بیندیشید. آیا روش و سلوک آنان در مقابل ظلم‌های وارده تحسین تعداد فزاینده‌ای از هموطنان شما را جلب نکرده است؟ دفاع شما از حقوق حقّۀ خود البتّه شرط عدل و انصاف است. علاوه بر آن، کلّیّۀ وسایل قانونی موجود نیز برای دفاع از حقوق شما در حال حرکت است. آیا دول مختلف، سازمان‌های مدنی در سطح ملّی و بین‌المللی و مؤسّسات معظم و معروف علمی عالم برای دفاع از حقوق شما قیام نکرده‌اند؟ البتّه که شما تنها نیستید. ولی پشتکار و استقامت شما در این راه باید با بردباری توأم باشد و بخوبی بدانید که صبر و تحمّل ..برای پیشبرد فرایندهای تحوّل اجتماعی که بالطّبیعه با سرعت کم پیش می‌رود با درد و مشقّت توأم و همراه است.

پیام بیت العدل اعظم الهی خطاب به دانشجویان بهائی ایران که از تحصیلات عالیه محروم شده‌اند

Such is God’s transforming power ...

Behold how in this Dispensation the worthless and foolish have fondly imagined that by such instruments as massacre, plunder and banishment they can extinguish the Lamp which the Hand of Divine power hath lit, or eclipse the Day Star of everlasting splendor. How utterly unaware they seem to be of the truth that such adversity is the oil that feedeth the flame of this Lamp! 
Such is God’s transforming power. He changeth whatsoever He willeth; He verily hath power over all things….

Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh

The earth is one native land ..

The earth is one native land, one home; and all mankind are the children of one Father. God has created them, and they are the recipients of His compassion. Therefore, if anyone offends another, he offends God. It is the wish of our heavenly Father that every heart should rejoice and be filled with happiness, that we should live together in felicity and joy. The obstacle to human happiness is racial or religious prejudice, the competitive struggle for existence and inhumanity toward each other...
Beware lest ye offend any heart, lest ye speak against anyone in his absence, lest ye estrange yourselves from the servants of God. You must consider all His servants as your own family and relations. Direct your whole effort toward the happiness of those who are despondent, bestow food upon the hungry, clothe the needy, and glorify the humble.
Be a helper to every helpless one, and manifest kindness to your fellow creatures in order that ye may attain the good pleasure of God. This is conducive to the illumination of the world of humanity and eternal felicity for yourselves. I seek from God everlasting glory in your behalf; therefore, this is my prayer and exhortation.

`Abdu'l-Bahá: The Promulgation of Universal Peace

MARCHING TOWARD THEIR GOAL

Pregnant indeed are the years looming ahead of us all. The twin processes of internal disintegration and external chaos are being accelerated and every day are inexorably moving towards a climax. The rumblings that must precede the eruption of those forces that must cause “the limbs of humanity to quake” can already be heard. “The time of the end,” “the latter years,” as foretold in the Scriptures, are at long last upon us. The Pen of Bahá’u’lláh, the voice of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, have time and again, insistently and in terms unmistakable, warned an unheeding humanity of impending disaster. The Community of the Most Great Name, the leaven that must leaven the lump, the chosen remnant that must survive the rolling up of the old, discredited, tottering order, and assist in the unfoldment of a new one in its stead, is standing ready, alert, clear-visioned, and resolute. The American believers, standard-bearers of this world-wide community and torch-bearers of an as yet unborn civilization, have girt up their loins, unfurled their banners and stepped into the arena of s
ervice. Their Plan has been formulated. Their forces are mobilized. They are steadfastly marching towards their goal. The hosts of the Abhá Kingdom are rushing forth, as promised, to direct their steps and reinforce their power.

Shoghi Effendu, letter dated July 5, 1938; ‘Messages to America’

Iran's crisis of civilization ...

Iran's crisis of civilization will be resolved neither by blind imitation of an obviously defective Western culture nor by retreat into medieval ignorance. The answer to the dilemma was enunciated on the very threshold of the crisis, in the clearest and most compelling language, by a distinguished Son of Iran Who is today honoured in every continent of the world, but sadly not in the land of His birth.
Persia's poetic genius captures the irony: "I searched the wide world over for my Beloved, while my Beloved was waiting for me in my own home."

Day of the Covenant 26 November 2003:
To the Followers of Baha'u'llah in the Cradle of the Faith by
 Universal House of Justice