Quote of the Day

[InvestigateTruth]

"O servant of God! We have bestowed a dewdrop from the ocean of divine grace; would that men might drink therefrom! We have brought a trace of the sweet melodies of the Beloved; would that men might hearken with their inner ear! Soar upon the wings of joy in the atmosphere of the love of God. Regard the people of the world as dead and seek the fellowship of the living. Whoso hath not breathed the sweet fragrance of the Beloved at this dawntide is indeed accounted among the dead. He Who is the All-Sufficing proclaimeth aloud: “The realm of joy hath been ushered in; be not sorrowful! The hidden mystery hath been made manifest; be not disheartened!” Wert thou to apprehend the surpassing greatness of this Day, thou wouldst renounce the world and all that dwell therein and hasten unto the way that leadeth to the Lord.
O servants of God! Deprived souls are heedless of this triumphant Day, and chilled hearts have no share of the heat of this blazing Fire.
O servant of God! The Tree which We had planted with the Hand of Providence hath borne its destined fruit, and the glad-tidings We had imparted in the Book have appeared in full effect.
O servant of God! We revealed Ourself to thee once in thy sleep, but thou didst remain unaware. Remember now, that thou mayest perceive and hasten with heart and soul to the placeless Friend." ~~ Baha'u'llah

Bahá'í Reference Library - The Tabernacle of Unity, Pages 71-77

 

[arthra]

Arise thou to serve God and help His Cause. He, verily, will assist thee with the hosts of the seen and unseen, and will set thee king over all that whereon the sun riseth. Thy Lord, in truth, is the All-Powerful, the Almighty.... Attire thy temple with the ornament of My Name, and thy tongue with remembrance of Me, and thine heart with love for Me, the Almighty, the Most High. We have desired for thee naught except that which is better for thee than what thou dost possess and all the treasures of the earth. Thy Lord, verily, is knowing, informed of all....

~ Baha'u'llah

(Compilations, Baha'i World Faith, p. 48)

 

[arthra]

These are, o my God, the days whereon Thou didst enjoin Thy servants to observe the fast.

With it Thou didst adorn the preamble of the Book of Thy Laws revealed unto Thy creatures, and didst deck forth the Repositories of Thy commandments in the sight of all who are in Thy heaven and all who are on Thy earth.

Thou hast endowed every hour of these days with a special virtue, inscrutable to all except Thee, Whose knowledge embraceth all created things.

Thou hast, also, assigned unto every soul a portion of this virtue in accordance with the Tablet of Thy decree and the Scriptures of Thine irrevocable judgment.

Every leaf of these Books and Scriptures Thou hast, moreover, alloted to each one of the peoples and kindreds of the earth.

~ Baha’u’llah, Baha'i Prayers, p. 245

 

[arthra]

In the Gospels it is written that the Christ said: "I have many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now! But when he, the spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you unto all knowledge." Christ is alluding to a person, because he says, "When he is come, he will not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak." This means by the power of innate knowledge.

Some Christians claim that the Holy Ghost descended after the resurrection of the Christ and that Christ is alluding to this. But as the Holy Ghost was always with the Christ, is this logical? Again he says, "He will guide you unto truth," he will be better for you than I.

He adds, "Until I go, he cannot come." Endeavor to understand the divine words, otherwise difficulties will arise. Had the Jews understood symbology, they would have understood the Christ.

The holy books are full of significance and must never be taken literally.

Elijah also was expected to come from heaven, and the Christ said, "Elijah is none other than John the Baptist." The reality of John was in the supreme concourse. It is essential to have divine perception in order to see the truth, to hear the call, and obey -- liberating the hearts from all earthly attachment.

~ Abdu'l-Baha, Divine Philosophy, p. 38

 

[arthra]

Fly away with joy! Flutter in the open of the Kingdom! Spread the wings of sanctity in those districts and lands, so that the shadow of the King of the Kingdom may be stretched over those climes and the fragrances of God be diffused in those tracts and in those vast and extensive regions.

By the Lord of the Kingdom! If one arise to promote the Word of God with a pure heart, overflowing with the love of God and severed from the world, the Lord of Hosts will assist him with such a power as will penetrate the core of the existent beings.

~ Abdu'l-Baha, Tablets of Abdu'l-Baha v2, p. 347

 

[arthra]

The spiritual brotherhood which is enkindled and established through the breaths of the Holy Spirit unites nations and removes the cause of warfare and strife.

It transforms mankind into one great family and establishes the foundations of the oneness of humanity.

It promulgates the spirit of international agreement and insures Universal Peace.

Therefore we must investigate the foundation reality of this heavenly fraternity.

We must forsake all imitations and promote the reality of the divine teachings.

~ Abdu'l-Baha, Baha'i World Faith, p. 227

 

[arthra]

Know thou that the Ancient Light and the Manifest Beauty (God) hath sown seeds in the soil of existence and hath irrigated it through His spiritual bounties.

This soil will surely bring forth good plants of divine gifts; the leaves of this growth are love and union, its stem is the teachings of the True One and His supreme laws, and the grain pods are the heavenly blessings which giveth life to the souls.

Depend thou on these!

Depend thou on these!

Depend thou on this, and abandon every imagination and be attracted to the light of reality and discover both the divine truths and physical truths!

~~~ Abdu'l-Baha, Tablets of Abdu'l-Baha v3, p. 611

 

[InvestigateTruth]

"Take heed not to worship anyone but God, He Who is My Lord and your Lord. This indeed is the undoubted truth. However, alike shall it be to Me; if ye believe in Me, ye will provide good for your own souls, and if ye believe not in Me, nor in that which God hath revealed unto Me, ye will suffer yourselves to be shut out as by a veil. For verily I have been independent of you heretofore, and shall remain independent hereafter. Therefore it behooveth you, O creatures of God, to help your own selves and to believe in the Verses revealed by Me..." The Bab

 

[InvestigateTruth]

"THE One true God may be compared unto the sun and the believer unto a mirror. No sooner is the mirror placed before the sun than it reflects its light. The unbeliever may be likened unto a stone. No matter how long it is exposed to the sunshine, it cannot reflect the sun. Thus the former layeth down his life as a sacrifice, while the latter doeth against God what he committeth. Indeed, if God willeth, He is potent to turn the stone into a mirror, but the person himself remaineth reconciled to his state. " The Bab

 

[arthra]

Is the Divine Manifestation, God?

Yes, and yet not in Essence. A Divine Manifestation is as a mirror reflecting the light of the Sun. The light is the same and yet the mirror is not the Sun. All the Manifestations of God bring the same Light; they only differ in degree, not in reality. The Truth is one. The light is the same though the lamps may be different; we must look at the Light not at the Lamp. If we accept the Light in one, we must accept the Light in all; all agree, because all are the same. The teaching is ever the same, it is only the outward forms that change.

The Manifestations of God are as the heavenly bodies. All have their appointed place and time of ascension, but the Light they give is the same. if one wishes to look for the sun rising, one does not look always at the same point because that point changes with the seasons. When one sees the sun rise further in the north one recognizes it, though it has risen at a different point.

~ Abdu'l-Baha, Abdu'l-Baha in London, p. 66-68

 

[InvestigateTruth]

"Should any king take up arms against another, all should unitedly arise and
prevent him. If this be done, the nations of the world will no longer require any armaments,
except for the purpose of preserving the security of their realms and of maintaining internal
order within their territories. This will ensure the peace and composure of every people,
government and nation." Baha'u'llah

 

[arthra]

Time passed, Bahá'u'lláh was called to Istanbul, and on the twelfth
day of Ridvan, as He was about to leave the Garden of Najibiyyah
and take the road to the capital of the Ottoman Empire, He revealed a Tablet which exists in His own handwriting addressed to Aqa Mirza Aqa, reading thus:

Aqa in Shin[1]

[1. Sh, the 15th letter of the Persian alphabet, is pronounced
Shin. Here the city of Shiraz is indicated.]

He is the Glorious!

Hearken to what the departing Dove revealeth unto thee, as He
prepareth to leave the realm of 'Iraq -- such are the methods of God decreed for His Messengers. Let this not cause thee sorrow.

Put thy trust in thy Lord and the Lord of thy forefathers... Those who are endowed with the insight of the spirit are independent of all that was and shall be created, and are able to behold the mysteries of the Cause behind the thickest veils.

Say, 0 beloved of God!

Fear none and let nothing grieve thee; be steadfast in the Cause. By
God, those who have drunk of the love of God, the Glorious, the
Effulgent, have no fear of anyone, and show patience in calamity,
like unto the patience of the lover toward the good-pleasure of the
beloved. With them affliction ranketh greater than that which the
lovers perceive in the countenance of the beloved.

Say, 0 concourse of evil-doers!

Ere long the Cause of God will, in truth, be
exalted, and the standards of those who join partners with God will
perish, and the people shall enter the Faith of God, the Sovereign,
the Supreme, the Ancient of Days.

Well is it with those who have now hastened forth in the love of God and received the tidings of the breath of the Holy Spirit. Glory be unto you, 0 concourse of believers in the unity of God.

From H.M. Balyuzi, "Eminent Baha'is in the Time of Baha'u'llah" p. 228

 

[arthra]

Now what He intended by the term Báb [Gate] was this, that He was the channel of grace from some great Person still behind the veil of glory, Who was the possessor of countless and boundless perfections, by Whose will He moved, and to the bond of Whose love He clung. And in the first book which He wrote in explanation of the Surih of Joseph,* He addressed Himself in all passages to that Person unseen from Whom He received help and grace, sought for aid in the arrangement of His preliminaries, and craved the sacrifice of life in the way of His love.

Amongst others is this sentence: "O Remnant of God, I am wholly sacrificed to Thee; I am content with curses in Thy way; I crave naught but to be slain in Thy love; and God the Supreme sufficeth as an Eternal Protection."

He likewise composed a number of works in explanation and elucidation of the verses of the Qur'án, of sermons, and of prayers in Arabic; inciting and urging men to expect the appearance of that Person; and these books He named "Inspired Pages" and "Word of Conscience." But on investigation it was discovered that He laid no claim to revelation from an angel.

~ Abdu'l-Baha, A Traveller's Narrative, p. 4

 

[InvestigateTruth]

"God hath caused this Remembrance [The Bab] to be, in very truth, independent of all the dwellers of earth and heaven." Selections from the writings of the Bab, p.25

 

[InvestigateTruth]

"It is for the sake of God alone that My tongue counselleth you and that My pen moveth to make mention of you, for neither can the malice and denial of all who dwell on earth harm Me, nor the allegiance of the entire creation profit Me. We, verily, exhort you unto that which We were commanded, and desire naught from you except that ye draw nigh unto what shall profit you in both this world and the world to come. " Baha'u'llah - The Summons of the Lord of Hosts, p.41

 

[arthra]

When Bahá'u'lláh came to this prison in the Holy Land, the wise men realized that the glad tidings which God gave through the tongue of the Prophets two or three thousand years before were again manifested, and that God was faithful to His promise; for to some of the Prophets He had revealed and given the good news that "the Lord of Hosts should be manifested in the Holy Land."

All these promises were fulfilled; and it is difficult to understand how Bahá'u'lláh could have been obliged to leave Persia, and to pitch His tent in this Holy Land, but for the persecution of His enemies, His banishment and exile.

His enemies intended that His imprisonment should completely destroy and annihilate the blessed Cause, but this prison was in reality of the greatest assistance and became the means of its development.

The divine renown of Bahá'u'lláh reached the East and the West, and the rays of the Sun of Truth illuminated all the world. Praise be to God! though He was a prisoner, His tent was raised on Mount Carmel, and He moved abroad with the greatest majesty. Every person, friend or stranger, who came into His presence used to say, "This is a prince, not a captive."

~ Abdu'l-Baha, Some Answered Questions, p. 31

 

[arthra]

And when this Wronged One went forth out of His prison, We journeyed, in pursuance of the order of His Majesty the Shah -- may God, exalted be He, protect him -- to Iraq, escorted by officers in the service of the esteemed and honored governments of Persia and Russia. After Our arrival, We revealed, as a copious rain, by the aid of God and His Divine Grace and mercy, Our verses, and sent them to various parts of the world. We exhorted all men, and particularly this people, through Our wise counsels and loving admonitions, and forbade them to engage in sedition, quarrels, disputes and conflict. As a result of this, and by the grace of God, waywardness and folly were changed into piety and understanding, and weapons converted into instruments of peace.

~~~ Baha'u'llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 21

 

[arthra]

"We will now mention unto thee Trustworthiness and the station thereof in the estimation of God, thy Lord, the Lord of the Mighty Throne.



One day of days We repaired unto Our Green Island. Upon Our arrival, We beheld its streams flowing, and its trees luxuriant, and the sunlight playing in their midst. Turning Our face to the right, We beheld what the pen is powerless to describe; nor can it set forth that which the eye of the Lord of Mankind witnessed in that most sanctified, that most sublime, that blest, and most exalted Spot. Turning, then, to the left We gazed on one of the Beauties of the Most Sublime Paradise, standing on a pillar of light, and calling aloud saying: 'O inmates of earth and heaven! Behold ye My beauty, and My radiance, and My revelation, and My effulgence. By God, the True One! I am Trustworthiness and the revelation thereof, and the beauty thereof.



I will recompense whosoever will cleave unto Me, and recognize My rank and station, and hold fast unto My hem. I am the most great ornament of the people of Baha, and the vesture of glory unto all who are in the kingdom of creation. I am the supreme instrument for the prosperity of the world, and the horizon of assurance unto all beings.'



Thus have We sent down for thee that which will draw men nigh unto the Lord of creation."

(Baha'u'llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 136

 

[InvestigateTruth]

"The All-Knowing Physician hath His finger on the pulse of mankind. He perceiveth the disease, and prescribeth, in His unerring wisdom, the remedy. Every age hath its own problem, and every soul its particular aspiration. The remedy the world needeth in its present-day afflictions can never be the same as that which a subsequent age may require. Be anxiously concerned with the needs of the age ye live in, and center your deliberations on its exigencies and requirements. " Gleanings From the wiritings of Baha'u'llah

 

[InvestigateTruth]

Say: The shout hath been raised, and the people have come forth from their graves, and arising, are gazing around them. Some have made haste to attain the court of the God of Mercy, others have fallen down on their faces in the fire of Hell, while still others are lost in bewilderment. The verses of God have been revealed, and yet they have turned away from them. His proof hath been manifested, and yet they are unaware of it. And when they behold the face of the All-Merciful, their own faces are saddened, while they are disporting themselves. They hasten forward to Hell Fire, and mistake it for light. Far from God be what they fondly imagine! Say: Whether ye rejoice or whether ye burst for fury, the heavens are cleft asunder, and God hath come down, invested with radiant sovereignty. All created things are heard exclaiming: “The Kingdom is God’s, the Almighty, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.”

Baha'u'llah- Gleanings, p29