Enoch Olinga, Baha'i Hand of the Cause of God

This intro shares a glimpse into the life of the most noble and remarkable man I ever had the honor of meeting.

... awaited the day of His Revelation ...

Veiled as they remain within their own selves, the generality of the people have failed to perceive the sweet accents of holiness, inhale the fragrance of mercy, or seek guidance, as bidden by God, from those who are the custodians of the Scriptures. He proclaimeth, and His word, verily, is the truth: "Ask ye, therefore, of them that have the custody of the Scriptures, if ye know it not." Nay rather, they have turned aside from them and followed instead the Samiri of their own idle fancies. Thus have they strayed far from the mercy of their Lord and failed to attain unto His Beauty in the day of His presence. For no sooner had He come unto them with a sign and a testimony from God than the same people who had eagerly awaited the day of His Revelation, who had called upon Him in the daytime and in the night season, who had implored Him to gather them together in His presence and to grant that they may lay down their lives in His path, be led aright by His guidance and illumined by His light - this very people condemned and reviled Him, and inflicted upon Him such cruelties as transcend both My capacity to tell and thine ability to hear them. My very pen crieth out at this moment and the ink weepeth sore and groaneth. By God! Wert thou to hearken with thine inner ear, thou wouldst in truth hear the lamentations of the denizens of heaven; and wert thou to remove the veil from before thine eyes, thou wouldst behold the Maids of Heaven overcome and the holy souls overwhelmed, beating upon their faces and fallen upon the dust.

Baha'u'llah,

Justice

"Justice He [Baha'u'llah] extols as "the light of men" and their "guardian," as "the revealer of the secrets of the world of being, and the standard-bearer of love and bounty"; declares its radiance to be incomparable; affirms that upon it must depend "the organization of the world and the tranquillity of mankind." He characterizes its "two pillars" -- "reward and punishment" -- as "the sources of life" to the human race; warns the peoples of the world to bestir themselves in anticipation of its advent; and prophesies that, after an interval of great turmoil and grievous injustice, its day-star will shine in its full splendor and glory.

Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By"

the source of unity and harmony for the world ...

"Verily, the words which have descended from the heaven of the Will of God are the source of unity and harmony for the world. Close your eyes to racial differences, and welcome all with the light of oneness." "We desire but the good of the world and the happiness of the nations," He proclaims, "...that all nations should become one in faith and all men as brothers; that the bonds of affection and unity between the sons of men should be strengthened; that diversity of religion should cease, and differences of race be annulled." "Baha'u'llah hath said," writes `Abdu'l-Baha, "that the various races of humankind lend a composite harmony and beauty of color to the whole. Let all associate, therefore, in this great human garden even as flowers grow and blend together side by side without discord or disagreement between them." "Bahá'u'llah," `Abdu'l-Baha moreover has said, "once compared the colored people to the black pupil of the eye surrounded by the white. In this black pupil is seen the reflection of that which is before it, and through it the light of the spirit shineth forth."

Shoghi Effendi The Advent of Divine Justice

خوشا به حال

بوهاي خوشم زنده گشت؛ خوشا به حال چشمي كه به جمالم نوراني شد؛ خوشا به حال قاصدي كه قصد سراپرده هاي عظمت و 

كبريايم كرد؛ خوشا به حال ترساني كه به سايه ي بقعه ي بلندم پناه برد؛ خوشا به حال تشنه لبي كه به سوي سلسبيل عنايتم شتافت؛ خوشا به حال گرسنه اي كه به هواي من، از هواي نفس دوري جست و بر سر سفره اي كه از آسمان فضلم براي برگزيدگانم نازل نمودم حاضر شد؛ خوشا به حال ذليلي كه به ريسمان عزّتم چنگ زد و فقيري كه در سايه ي خيمه ي غنايم غنود؛ خوشا به حال جاهلي كه قصد كوثر علمم كرد و غافلي كه به ريسمان ذكرم چنگ زد؛ خوشا به حال روحي كه از دمشم زندگي يافت و در ملكوتم داخل شد؛ خوشا به حال نفسي كه رائحه ي وصلم به اهتزازش آورد و به مشرق امرم جذبش نمود؛ خوشا به حال گوشي كه شنيد و زباني كه شهادت داد و چشمي كه ديد و حضرت پروردگار، صاحب مجد و ملكوت و داراي عظمت و جبروت را شناخت؛ خوشا به حال فائز شدگان؛ خوشا به حال كسي كه از خورشيد كلمه ام نور گرفت؛ خوشا به حال نفسي كه سرش را به تاج حبُّم زينت داد؛ خوشا به حال شخصي كه غم و اندوهم را درك كرد و در ميان ملّتم به نصرتم قيام نمود؛ خوشا به حال كسي كه جانش را در راهم فدا ساخت و به نامم متحمّل مشقّت و سختي شد؛ خوشا به حال فردي كه به حرفم اطمينان نمود و در ميان مردگان به ذكرم قيام كرد؛ خوشا به حال كسي كه مجذوب نغماتم شد و به قدرتم پرده ها را دريد؛ خوشا به حال نفسي كه به عهدم وفا نمود و دنيا او را از ورود در بساط قدسم منع نكرد؛ خوشا به حال شخصي كه از غيرم گسست و در هواي مَحبتّم پرواز كرد و در ملكوتم داخل شد و ممالك عزّتم را شاهد گشت و از كوثر فضلم و سلسبيل عنايتم نوشيد و از امرم و از آنچه در گنجينه هاي كلماتم پنهان نمودم، آگاهي يافت و از افق معاني به ذكر و ثنايم طلوع نمود؛ چنين كسي از من است؛ بر او باد رحمت و عنايت و مكرمت و بهاي من.

Blessed are the rulers and the learned ....

"It is incumbent upon everyone to aid those daysprings of authority and sources of command who are adorned with the ornament of equity and justice. Blessed are the rulers and the learned among the people of Baha. They are My trustees among My servants and the manifestations of My commandments amidst My people. Upon them rest My glory, My blessings and My grace which have pervaded the world of being. In this connection the utterances revealed in the Kitab-i-Aqdas are such that from the horizon of their words the light of divine grace shineth luminous and resplendent.

Baha'u'llah

O SON OF BEING!

SON OF BEING! Love Me, that I may love thee. If thou lovest Me not, My love can in no wise reach thee. Know this, O servant.

Bahá'u'lláh

Photo by http://www.flickr.com/photos/bahaiwritingsasart/

Him Whom God shall make manifest ...

But for the sole reason of His being present amongst this people, We would have neither prescribed any law nor laid down any prohibition. It is only for the glorification of His Name and the exaltation of His Cause that We have enunciated certain laws at Our behest, or forbidden the acts to which We are averse, so that at the hour of His manifestation ye may attain through Him the good-pleasure of God and abstain from the things that are abhorrent unto Him. Say, verily, the good-pleasure of Him Whom God shall make manifest is the good-pleasure of God, while the displeasure of Him Whom God shall make manifest is none other than the displeasure of God. Avoid ye His displeasure, and flee for refuge unto His good-pleasure. Say, the living guides to His good-pleasure are such as truly believe in Him and are well-assured in their faith, while the living testimonies of His displeasure are those who, when they hear the verses of God sent forth from His presence, or read the divine words revealed by Him, do not instantly embrace the Faith and attain unto certitude.

 The Báb,

All are the fruits of one tree and the leaves of one branch.

The Blessed Beauty said: "All are the fruits of one tree and the leaves of one branch." He likened the world of existence to one tree and all the souls to leaves, blossoms and fruits. Therefore all the branches, leaves, blossoms and fruits must be in the utmost of freshness, and the bringing about of this delicacy and sweetness depends upon union and fellowship. Therefore they must assist each other with all their power and seek everlasting life. Thus the friends of God must manifest the mercy of the Compassionate Lord in the world of existence and must show forth the bounty of the visible and invisible King. They must purify their sight, and look upon mankind as the leaves, blossoms and fruits of the tree of creation, and must always be thinking of doing good to someone, of love, consideration, affection and assistance to somebody. They must see no enemy and count no one as an ill wisher. They must consider every one on the earth as a friend; regard the stranger as an intimate, and the alien as a companion. They must not be bound by any tie, nay, rather, they should be free from every bond. In this day the one who is favored in the threshold of grandeur is the one who offers the cup of faithfulness and bestows the pearl of gift to the enemies, even to the fallen oppressor, lends a helping hand, and considers every bitter foe as an affectionate friend.

`Abdu'l-Bahá

`Abdu'l-Bahá on Science and Religion

Among other principles of Bahá'u'lláh's teachings was the harmony of science and religion. Religion must stand the analysis of reason. It must agree with scientific fact and proof so that science will sanction religion and religion fortify science. Both are indissolubly welded and joined in reality. If statements and teachings of religion are found to be unreasonable and contrary to science, they are outcomes of superstition and imagination. Innumerable doctrines and beliefs of this character have arisen in the past ages. Consider the superstitions and mythology of the Romans, Greeks and Egyptians; all were contrary to religion and science. It is now evident that the beliefs of these nations were superstitions, but in those times they held to them most tenaciously. For example, one of the many Egyptian idols was to those people an authenticated miracle, whereas in reality it was a piece of stone. As science could not sanction the miraculous origin and nature of a piece of rock, the belief in it must have been superstition. It is now evident that it was superstition. Therefore, we must cast aside such beliefs and investigate reality. That which is found to be real and conformable to reason must be accepted, and whatever science and reason cannot support must be rejected as imitation and not reality. Then differences of belief will disappear. All will become as one family, one people, and the same susceptibility to the divine bounty and education will be witnessed among mankind.

`Abdu'l-Bahá The Promulgation of Universal Peace

A prayer by Bahá'u'lláh

Glorified art Thou, O Lord My God! O Thou Who art my God, and my Master, and my Lord, and my Support, and my Hope, and my Refuge, and my Light. I ask of Thee, by Thy Hidden and Treasured Name, that none knoweth save Thine own Self, to protect the bearer of this Tablet from every calamity and pestilence, and from every wicked man and woman, from the evil of the evildoers, and from the scheming of the unbelievers. Preserve him, moreover, O my God, from every pain and vexation, O Thou Who holdest in Thy hand the empire of all things. Thou, truly, art powerful over all things. Thou doest as Thou willest, and ordainest as Thou pleasest. 

 O Thou King of Kings!
 O Thou kind Lord!
 O Thou Source of ancient beauty, of grace, of generosity and bestowal!
 O T hou Healer of Sicknesses!
 O T hou Su fficer of needs!
O Thou Light of Lights!
 O Thou Light above all Lights!
 O Thou Revealer of every Manifestation!
 O Thou the Compassionate!
 O Thou the Merciful!
 Do Thou have mercy upon the bearer of this Tablet, through Thy most great mercy and Thine abundant grace, O Thou the Gracious, Thou the Bounteous. Guard him, moreover, through Thy protection, from whatsoever his heart and mind may find repugnant. Of those endued with power, Thou, verily, art the most powerful. The Glory of God rest upon Thee, O Thou rising sun! Do Thou testify unto that which God hath testified of His own Self, that there is none other God besides Him, the Almighty, the Best-Beloved.

Bahá'u'lláh

 [The original Arabic of this healing (and/or protection and healing) prayer is printed in the very popular collection of Bahá'u'lláh's prayers known as Ad'iyyih-i-hadrat-i Mahbub, which was first printed in Egypt in the Fall of 1919 (Mashíyyat 76 B.E.) and has been reprinted many times, most recently by Bahá'í-Verlag of Germany in 1980. This particular prayer is on pp 206-208. The Research Department has found that this is an authentic Tablet revealed by Bahá'u'lláh in the Arabic language. This is a copy of the authorized translation.]