Quotes from Baha'i sources:

[arthra]

Thou hast spoken of a spiritual wave. This is not a wave, but a sea; nay, the very ocean! But this is not to destroy the cities, but to purify them; and soon it will submerge them all. This does not mean destruction, but salvation; it is not death, but life; it is not enmity, but love; it is not pain; it is a remedy.

The world of existence is the body, and this is its spirit; this immense world is the glass [chimney], and this is the lamp [lighted wick]; humanity is the heaven, this is its sun. The signs of this bounty are clear and visible.

The proof is the changing of the characters of the friends and the perfection that the believers have made in their actions and words: They were dark, they became luminous; they were terrestrial, they became celestial; they were human, they became divine; they were diabolic, they became angelic; they were a drop, they became the sea; they were an atom, they became the sun. These are the signs of those who are entirely submerged by this wave; that is to say, this ocean.

~ Abdu'l-Baha, Tablets of Abdu'l-Baha v3, p. 656

[arthra]

"The object of God's teaching to man is that man may know himself in order to comprehend the greatness of God. The Word of God is for agreement and concord.

If you go to Persia where the friends of Abha are many, you will at once realize the unifying force of God's work. They are doing their utmost to strengthen this bond of amity. There, people of different nationalities gather in one meeting and chant the divine tablets with one accord. It might be supposed that they were all brethren.

We do not consider anyone a stranger, for it is said by Bahá'u'lláh 'Ye are all the rays of one sun; the fruits of one tree; and the leaves of one branch.' We desire the true brotherhood of humanity. This shall be so, and it has already begun. Praise to be God, the Helper, the Pardoner!"

~ Abdu'l-Baha, Abdu'l-Baha in London, p. 80

[arthra]

O thou effulgence of the Kingdom!

I read thy letter and was informed of thy speech, the contents of which were full of the feelings within thy consciousness, and of thy spiritual sympathies.

The light is divided into two kinds, material and spiritual.

The material light is a vanishing matter and is known by etheric vibrations. But the spiritual light is the divine, eternal and never-ending quality and is a truth of the Kingdom.

Blessed is thy face for that it hath taken a portion and a radiance from that Light.

~ Abdu'l-Baha, Tablets of Abdu'l-Baha v 2, p. 249

[Ahanu]

I have a quick question about a quote from the Bab. What verse is he quoting in the psalms? I did a search but could not find it. Plus, the link from the quote on that Baha'i forum does not work.

Click here.

There is not, there could not be any mystery, but the teaching which is given to you is proportioned to your forces [capacities]. And it is the secret which I come to unveil to you, for your intelligence was not able to penetrate it, even though all the terms[limits] of the problem had been submitted to you. In the “Psalms” [41] , God replies to David Who asks Him why He created humanity: “Because I was a hidden treasure and that it pleased Me to be known”. Is it then to know Him that one is stopped at every step by 'the mystery' in the path which leads to Him? Is it then to know Him that one makes an angry and jealous God like the Jews, a God of battles like the Christians, a partial [side-taking] God like the Muslims, an anthropomorphic God like the immense majority of men? Is He thus a liar, this God Whom you adore, would He forget His promises - this Creator before Whom all [things] incline [bow down] themselves? No not so, He has promised you that you will know Him and you will know Him, not in a single blow[all of a sudden], but by successive degrees. The “Professor” has not lacked in [the performance of] His task; He has come at diverse intervals, He has taught you the true law.

[arthra]

Ahanu,

Thanks for the interesting post..

My own response is that what you have here is an English translation of ALM Nicolas translation of the Bab's Writings...

Now we know that the Bab used an Arabic and or possibly a Persian translation of the Psalms..

It may be a reference to this:

From men which are thy hand, O LORD, from men of the world, which have their portion in this life, and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure...

Psalms 17:14


(King James Bible, Psalms)

But see this which to me is even more interesting:

'Abdu'l-Baha's Commentary on "I Was a Hidden Treasure..."

[arthra]

O ye friends of God!

Be kind to all people and nations, have love for all of them, exert yourselves to purify the hearts as much as you can, and bestow abundant effort in rejoicing the souls.

Be ye a sprinkling of rain to every meadow and a water of life to every tree.

Be ye as fragrant musk to every nostril and a soul-refreshing breeze to every invalid.

Be ye salutary water to every thirsty one, a wise guide to every one led astray, an affectionate father or mother to every orphan, and, in the utmost joy and fragrance, a son or daughter to every one bent with age.

Be ye a rich treasure to every indigent one; consider love and union as delectable paradise, and count annoyance and hostility as the torment of hell-fire.

Exert with your soul; seek no rest in body; supplicate and beseech with your heart and search for divine assistance and favor, in order that ye may make this world the Paradise of ABHA and this terrestrial globe the arena of the Supreme Kingdom.

If ye make an effort, it is certain that these lights will shine, this cloud of mercy shall rain, this soul-nourishing breeze shall waft, and the scent of this most fragrant musk be diffused.


~ Abdu'l-Baha, Tablets of Abdu'l-Baha v1, p. 37

[arthra]

Verily I mention thee always and shall never forget thee forever and ever. I beseech God to make thee a sign of guidance among the people and a lamp of dazzling light in that extensive and large city, so that pure and good souls may be illuminated by the light of the knowledge of God and thus serve the merciful Threshold by showing earnest desire for love, peace, affinity and harmony with the people of all religions.

Verily the Spirit through which the temple of the contingent world shall be quickened in this time is indeed the founder of peace, the spirit of affinity and the light of love. This is that whereby this being of existence shall evolve and develop and the world of humanity be adorned with the raiment of glory and honor.

Therefore it is incumbent upon thee to enkindle thyself with the fire of the love of God in order that thy words may have an effect in hearts which are as of hard stone.

~ Abdu'l-Baha, Tablets of Abdu'l-Baha v2, p. 446

[arthra]

During the last six thousand years nations have hated one another, it is now time to stop. War must cease.

Let us be united and love one another and await the result. We know the effects of war are bad. So let us try, as an experiment, peace, and if the results of peace are bad, then we can choose if it would be better to go back to the old state of war!

Let us in any case make the experiment. If we see that unity brings Light we shall continue it. For six thousand years we have been walking on the left-hand path; let us walk on the right-hand path now. We have passed many centuries in darkness, let us advance towards the light.

~ Abdu'l-Baha, Abdu'l-Baha in London, p. 61

[arthra]

The oneness of humanity is a spiritual truth abundantly confirmed by science. Recognition of this truth compels the abandonment of all prejudices of race, color, creed, nation, and class -- of "everything which enables people to consider themselves superior to others." The principle of the oneness of humankind" is no mere outburst of ignorant emotionalism or an expression of vague and pious hope.... It does not constitute merely the enunciation of an ideal.... It implies an organic change in the structure of present-day society, a change such as the world has not yet experienced."

- The National Spiritual Assembly of the United States 1991

Source:

The Vision Of Race Unity: America's Most Challenging Issue

[arthra]

O NOBLE friends and seekers for the Kingdom of God!

About sixty years ago in the time when the fire of war was blazing among the nations of the world, and bloodshed was considered an honour to mankind;

in a time when the carnage of thousands stained the earth;

when children were rendered fatherless;

when fathers were without sons and mothers were spent with weeping;

when the darkness of inter-racial hatred and animosity seemed to envelope mankind and blot out the divine light;

when the wafting of the holy breath of God seemed to be cut off -- in that time Bahá'u'lláh rose like a shining star from the horizon of Persia, inspired with the message of Peace and of Brotherhood among men.

He brought the light of guidance to the world; He kindled the fire of love and revealed the great reality of the True Beloved. He sought to destroy the foundations of religious and racial prejudice and of political rivalry.

He likened the world of humanity to a tree, and all the nations to its branches and the people to its leaves, buds and fruits.

His mission was to change ignorant fanaticism into Universal love, to establish in the minds of His followers the basis of the unity of humanity and to bring about in practice the equality of mankind. He declared that all men were equal under the mercy and bounty of God.
Then was the door of the Kingdom set wide and the light of a new heaven on earth revealed unto seeing eyes.

~ Abdu'l-Baha, Abdu'l-Baha in London, p. 36

[arthra]

Be generous in prosperity, and thankful in adversity.

Be worthy of the trust of thy neighbor, and look upon him with a bright and friendly face.

Be a treasure to the poor, an admonisher to the rich, an answerer of the cry of the needy, a preserver of the sanctity of thy pledge.

Be fair in thy judgment, and guarded in thy speech.

Be unjust to no man, and show all meekness to all men.

Be as a lamp unto them that walk in darkness, a joy to the sorrowful, a sea for the thirsty, a haven for the distressed, an upholder and defender of the victim of oppression.

Let integrity and uprightness distinguish all thine acts.

Be a home for the stranger, a balm to the suffering, a tower of strength for the fugitive.

(Compilations, Baha'i World Faith, p. 136)

[arthra]

"Regarding the relationship of the Cause to the Administration; the Bahá'í Faith as the Guardian himself has repeatedly and emphatically stated cannot be confined to a mere system of organization, however elaborate in its features and universal in its scope it may be. Organization is only a means to the realization of its aims and ideals, and not an end in itself. To divorce the two, however, would be to mutilate the Cause itself, as they stand inseparably bound to each other, in very much the same relationship existing between the soul and body in the world of human existence."

(From a letter on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer April 19, 1939)
(Compilations, Lights of Guidance, p. 2)

[arthra]

Although certain souls finished the days of life in ignorance, were estranged and selfish, yet the ocean of Thy forgiveness is, verily, able to redeem and make free the sinners by one of its waves. Thou redeemest whomsoever Thou willest and deprivest whomsoever Thou willest not [1]! Shouldst Thou treat justly, we all are sinners and deserve to be deprived; and shouldst Thou observe mercy, every sinner shall be made pure and every stranger shall become a friend. Therefore, forgive and pardon and grant Thy mercy unto all. Thou art the Forgiver, the Light-giver and the Compassionate!

[1 "Deprivest whomsoever Thou willest not," refers to the reward and punishment of the soul according to its deeds. There are many instances of this in all the heavenly Scriptures.]

~ Abdu'l-Baha, Tablets of Abdu'l-Baha v1, p. 178


(Abdu'l-Baha, Tablets of Abdu'l-Baha v1, p. 178)

[arthra]

Behold, how in all things the evidences of such a revelation are manifest, how the betterment of all beings dependeth upon it. This education is of two kinds.

The one is universal. Its influence pervadeth all things and sustaineth them. It is for this reason that God hath assumed the title, "Lord of all worlds."

The other is confined to them that have come under the shadow of this Name, and sought the shelter of this most mighty Revelation.

They, however, that have failed to seek this shelter, have deprived themselves of this privilege, and are powerless to benefit from the spiritual sustenance that hath been sent down through the heavenly grace of this Most Great Name.

~ Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 189

[arthra]

O ye beloved of God!
O ye children of His Kingdom!

Verily, verily the new heaven and the new earth are come.

The holy City, new Jerusalem, hath come down from on high in the form of a maid of heaven, veiled, beauteous, and unique, and prepared for reunion with her lovers on earth.

The angelic company of the celestial Concourse have joined in a call that hath rung throughout the universe, all loudly and mightily acclaiming:

"Hail, O City of God! Abide Thou, and make Thy habitation with the pure, virtuous and holy servants of Thine; for they are Thy people, and Thou art their Lord."

~ Abdu'l-Baha, Baha'i World Faith, p. 350