Quote of the Day (ritual, Earth, Kingdom, doom, grace)

[arthra]

He is the Wonderful, The Most Glorious!


Glory be to Him who hath caused the signs to descend to those who perceive!

Glory be to Him who hath caused the signs (verses) to descend to those who understand!

Glory be to Him who guideth whomsoever He wisheth to His Path! Say, verily, it is the path of God to those who are in heaven and on earth:

Blessed are they who hasten toward it.

Glory be to Him who hath caused the signs to descend to those who know!

Glory be to Him who speaketh from the Might of command, and who is not known to any save his noble servants.

Glory be to Him who quickeneth whom He wisheth, by merely saying "Be" and it is.

Glory be to Him who elevateth whom He willeth to the heaven of bounty, and bringeth
down that which He pleaseth to a predetermined measure.

Blessed is He who doeth what He pleaseth by a command on His part; verily He is the True One, the Knower of secrets and unseen things.

Blessed is He who giveth by inspiration to whom He willeth that which He wisheth through His hidden and irresistible command.

Blessed is He who assisteth whom He pleaseth by the hosts of the unseen; verily He is the Doer [doer] of that which He willeth, and He is the Mighty, the Self-existing!

Blessed is He who stengtheneth whom He pleaseth by the dominion of His Power, and confirmeth whom He wisheth to accomplish what He willeth: Blessed are they who know!

Blessed is He who hath ordained to everything a measure decreed in a hidden tablet [Tablet]!

Blessed is He who hath caused to descend upon His servant, that, by reason of which all the hearts and minds will be enlightened!

Blessed is He who hath caused to descend upon His servant, that kind of calamity, whereby the hearts of those who rested inside the awnings of eternity, were burned [(with anguish)]; then also the hearts of those who are near!

Blessed is He who hath caused to descend upon His servant, from the cloud of Fate [fate], the arrows of disaster — and still He findeth Me in Supreme Patience [supreme patience].

Blessed is He who hath ordained to His servant that which was not ordained to any other one of His servants: Verily He is the One, the Mighty, the Self-subsistent.

Blessed is He who hath caused to descend upon His servant, from the clouds of the detestation of those who closed their eyes and feigned to take no notice, the spears of the irreversible decree — and still He sees Him offering great thanks.
Blessed is He who hath caused to descend upon His [his] servant that which equals the weight of the earth and the heaven, for which We indeed praise Him; and of this no one is cognizant save those who understand.

- Baha'u'llah in the Surih i Haykal

[arthra]

"The greatness of His mercy surpasseth the fury of His wrath, and His grace encompasseth all who have been called into being and been clothed with the robe of life."

- Baha’u’llah

(Gleanings # 130)

[arthra]

I have come from distant lands to visit the meetings and assemblies of this country. In every meeting I find people gathered loving each other; therefore I am greatly pleased. The bond of union is evidenced in this assembly today where the power of God has brought together in faith, agreement and concord those who are engaged in furthering the development of the human world. It is my hope that all mankind may become similarly united in the bond and agreement of love. Unity is the expression of the loving power of God and reflects the reality of divinity. It is resplendent in this day through the bestowals of light upon humanity.

- Abdul-Baha

[arthra]

Briefly, such are the least of the mysteries of the composition of the
Greatest Name upon the stone of the Divine ring.

Observe also that the three planes represent the world of God, the
World of Command, and the World of Creation, which are the sources of
the signs. The world of God is the source of Glorious Bounty; the world
of Command is the pure and luminous Mirror which depends upon the Sun
of Truth; and the world of Creation is the source of the acquisition of
Lights which is due to the Supreme Conjunction: To take from God; to
give to the creatures.

In brief: the true "Ba," which is the universal Reality, once descended
and distributed into the third degree from the Supreme Grade, to the
inferior creatures, becomes the collector and creator of all the
worlds.

Upon the horizon of Eternal Glory two luminous stars have arisen in
brilliance: one to the right and one to the left. This supreme mystery
is the two diagrams placed to the right and to the left of the Greatest
Name upon the stone of the noble ring: this is the mystery of the
appearance of the Beauty of Abha and of the Supreme Highness (the Bab).
And though these two diagrams at the right and the left have the form
of stars, they also represent the body of man, with the head, the two
arms and the two legs, since this diagram has five points.

- Abdul-Baha

(Compilations, Baha'i Scriptures, p. 479)

[arthra]

IV: This is the Day in which God’s most excellent…

This is the Day in which God’s most excellent favors have been poured out upon men, the Day in which His most mighty grace hath been infused into all created things.

It is incumbent upon all the peoples of the world to reconcile their differences, and, with perfect unity and peace, abide beneath the shadow of the Tree of His care and loving-kindness.

It behoveth them to cleave to whatsoever will, in this Day, be conducive to the exaltation of their stations, and to the promotion of their best interests.

Happy are those whom the all-glorious Pen was moved to remember, and blessed are those men whose names, by virtue of Our inscrutable decree, We have preferred to conceal.

Beseech ye the one true God to grant that all men may be graciously assisted to fulfil that which is acceptable in Our sight.

~ Baha'u'llah

[arthra]

The world has become a new world. The darkness of night which has enveloped humanity is passing. A new day has dawned. Divine susceptibilities and heavenly capacities are developing in human souls under the training of the Sun of Truth. The capacities of souls are different. Their conditions are various. For example, certain minerals come from the stony regions of the earth.

All are minerals, all are produced by the same sun, but one remains a stone while another develops the capacity of a glittering gem or jewel. From one plot of land tulips and hyacinths grow; from another, thorns and thistles. Each plot receives the bounty of the sunshine, but the capacity to receive it is not the same.

Therefore, it is requisite that we must develop capacity and divine susceptibility in order that the merciful bounty of the Sun of Truth intended for this age and time in which we are living may reflect from us as light from pure crystals.

- Abdul-Baha

- p. 24 Promulgation of Universal Peace

[arthra]

Now regarding the question whether the faculties of the mind and the human soul are one and the same. These faculties are but the inherent properties of the soul, such as the power of imagination, of thought, of understanding; powers that are the essential requisites of the reality of man, even as the solar ray is the inherent property of the sun. The temple of man is like unto a mirror, his soul is as the sun, and his mental faculties even as the rays that emanate from that source of light. The ray may cease to fall upon the mirror, but it can in no wise be dissociated from the sun.


- From a Tablet of Abdul-Baha to August Forel

[arthra]

O Thou Whose tests are a healing medicine to such as are nigh unto Thee, Whose sword is the ardent desire of all them that love Thee, Whose dart is the dearest wish of those hearts that yearn after Thee, Whose decree is the sole hope of them that have recognized Thy truth! I implore Thee, by Thy divine sweetness and by the splendors of the glory of Thy face, to send down upon us from Thy retreats on high that which will enable us to draw nigh unto Thee. Set, then, our feet firm, O my God, in Thy Cause, and enlighten our hearts with the effulgence of Thy knowledge, and illumine our breasts with the brightness of Thy names.

—Bahá’u’lláh

[arthra]

Consider, how great is the change today! Behold, how many are the Sovereigns who bow the knee before His name! How numerous the nations and kingdoms who have sought the shelter of His shadow, who bear allegiance to His Faith, and pride themselves therein! From the pulpit-top there ascendeth today the words of praise which, in utter lowliness, glorify His blessed name; and from the heights of minarets there resoundeth the call that summoneth the concourse of His people to adore Him. Even those Kings of the earth who have refused to embrace His Faith and to put off the garment of unbelief, none the less confess and acknowledge the greatness and overpowering majesty of that Day-star of loving kindness. Such is His earthly sovereignty, the evidences of which thou dost on every side behold. This sovereignty must needs be revealed and established either in the lifetime of every Manifestation of God or after His ascension unto His true habitation in the realms above. What thou dost witness today is but a confirmation of this truth. That spiritual ascendency, however, which is primarily intended, resideth within, and revolveth around Them from eternity even unto eternity. It can never for a moment be divorced from Them. Its dominion hath encompassed all that is in heaven and on earth.

(Baha'u'llah, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 109)

[arthra]

"Ye are the angels, if your feet be firm, your spirits rejoiced, your secret thoughts pure, your eyes consoled, your ears opened, your breasts dilated with joy, and your souls gladdened, and if you arise to assist the Covenant, to resist dissension and to be attracted to the Effulgence! Verily, I say unto you that the Word of God has assuredly been explained and has become an evident sign and a strong and solid proof, and its traces shall be spread in the East and West, and to these all heads shall bow and all souls shall submit and kneel down with their faces to the ground."

(Abdu'l-Baha, Baha'i Wor