Quotes from Baha'i sources:

[arthra]

Lord!

Pitiful are we, grant us Thy favor;

poor, bestow upon us a share from the ocean of Thy wealth;

needy, do Thou satisfy us;

abased, give us Thy glory.

The fowls of the air and the beasts of the field receive their meat each day from Thee, and all beings partake of Thy care and loving-kindness.

Deprive not this feeble one of Thy wondrous grace and vouchsafe by Thy might unto this helpless soul Thy bounty.

Give us our daily bread, and grant Thine increase in the necessities of life, that we may be dependent on none other but Thee, may commune wholly with Thee, may walk in Thy ways and declare Thy mysteries.

Thou art the almighty and the Loving and the Provider of all mankind.

-- `Abdu'l-Bahá

[arthra]

"The doors will be open to all sects -- no differentiation; and by God's help this temple will prove to be to the body of human society what the soul is to the body of man. For when these colleges for the study of higher sciences, the hospital, the orphanage and the hospice are built,its doors will be opened to all nations, races and religions, with no line of demarkation and its charities will be dispensed without regard to race or color. Its gates will be flung wide to mankind; prejudice toward none, love for all. The central building will be dedicated to prayer and worship and thus for the first time religion will become harmonized with science and science will be the handmaid of religion -- both showering their spiritual gifts on all humanity. In this way the people will be lifted out of the quagmires of slothfulness and bigotry."

All of which would seem to verify the prediction of the great world thinkers of our time, one of whom says:

"Abdul Baha will surely unite the East and West, for he treads the mystic way with practical feet."

(Abdu'l-Baha, Divine Philosophy, p. 13)

[Ahanu]

After Abdul-Baha's death, the New York Evening Telegram recalled his visit of some years before:

"Churches of all denominations in New York city and Chicago were thrown open to him for, unlike the leaders of many cults, he preached not the errors of present religions but their sameness."

[arthra]

The time has come when those who preach the dogmas of materialism, whether of the east or the west, whether of capitalism or socialism, must give account of the moral stewardship they have presumed to exercise. Where is the "new world" promised by these ideologies? Where is the international peace to whose ideals they proclaim their devotion? Where are the breakthroughs into new realms of cultural achievement produced by the aggrandizement of this race, of that nation or of a particular class? Why is the vast majority of the world's peoples sinking ever deeper into hunger and wretchedness when wealth on a scale undreamed of by the Pharaohs, the Caesars, or even the imperialist powers of the nineteenth century is at the disposal of the present arbiters of human affairs?

(The Universal House of Justice, 1985 Oct, The Promise of World Peace)

[arthra]

O thou youth of God!

Thank God that thou hast found thy way to the Radiant Kingdom, torn asunder the veil of superstition and learned the reality of the mysteries.

All the people have formed a god in the world of thought, and that form of their own imagination they worship; when the fact is that the imagined form is finite and the human mind is infinite.[1]

Surely the infinite is greater than the finite, for imagination is accidental (or non-essential) while the mind is essential; surely the essential is greater than the accidental.

[1] Infinite in regard to imagination, for without the mind there would be no imagination.

Another translation of this paragraph is as follows:

"All the people have formed a god in the world of thought and they worship that form of their own imagination, while the fact is that the imagined concept is comprehended by the mind which is comprehensive. Surely that which comprehends is greater than the comprehended for imagination is accidental (non-essential), while the mind is essential. Surely the essential is greater than the accidental."

(Abdu'l-Baha, Tablets of Abdu'l-Baha v3, p. 561)

[arthra]

The path of God may lie through riches or poverty, health or sickness, through palace or dungeon, rose garden or torture chamber. Whichever
it be, the Bahá'í will learn to accept his lot with "radiant
acquiescence."

(Dr. J.E. Esslemont, Baha'u'llah and the New Era, p. 76)

[arthra]

Every war is against the good pleasure of the Lord of mankind, for man is the edifice of God and war destroys the divine edifice. If an active, actual peace is brought about, the human world will attain to the utmost serenity and composure; wolves will be transformed into lambs, devils into angels, and terrors into divine splendors in less than the twinkling of an eye.

(Abdu'l-Baha, Divine Philosophy, p. 85)

[arthra]

Lastly the perfect man, the Prophet, is one who is transfigured, one who has the purity and clearness of a perfect mirror -- one who reflects the Sun of Truth. Of such a one -- of such a Prophet and Messenger -- we can say that the Light of Divinity with the heavenly Perfections dwells in him.

If we claim that the sun is seen in the mirror, we do not mean that the sun itself has descended from the holy heights of his heaven and entered into the mirror! This is impossible.

The Divine Nature is seen in the Manifestations and its Light and Splendor are visible in extreme glory.

Therefore, men have always been taught and led by the Prophets of God. The Prophets of God are the Mediators of God.

All the Prophets and Messengers have come from One Holy Spirit and bear the Message of God, fitted to the age in which they appear.

The One Light is in them and they are One with each other. But the Eternal does not become phenomenal; neither can the phenomenal become Eternal.

- Abdu'l-Baha, Abdu'l-Baha in London, p. 23)

[arthra]

In the spiritual world, the divine bestowals are infinite, for in that realm there is neither separation nor disintegration which characterize the world of material existence. Spiritual existence is absolute immortality, completeness and unchangeable being. Therefore we must thank God that He has created for us both material blessings and spiritual bestowals. He has given us material gifts and spiritual graces, outer sight to view the lights of the sun and inner vision by which we may perceive the glory of God.

- Abdul-Baha

(Compilations, Baha'i World Faith, p. 266)

[arthra]

Then, by God the Truth! the hosts of the angels of the Kingdom shall surround thee and convey to all thy limbs and veins the Spirit of Life; thy tongue shall utter fluently and distinctly the most eloquent and clear words and thoughts; thy bosom shall be cheered with joy through the appearance of the evident texts; thy face shall be illumined, among the daughters of the Kingdom, with the light of firmness; the door of glad-tidings shall be opened before thy face and thou shalt receive knowledge through the symbolic signs descending from the heavenly Kingdom in the Books and Tablets!

(Abdu'l-Baha, Tablets of Abdu'l-Baha v3, p. 704)

[arthra]

Know thou, that letter sent to thee by me, was only because of my perfect love for thee and my pity upon thee, for I had the desire that the fragrance of the Holy Spirit, which hath perfumed all regions and imbued the entire body of the world with the Spirit of Life, should pass over thee and abide with thee.

(Abdu'l-Baha, Tablets of Abdu'l-Baha v3, p. 705)

[arthra]

Divinity cannot by comprehended because it is comprehending.
Man, who has also a real existence, is comprehended by God; therefore, the Divinity which man can understand is partial; it is not complete. Divinity is actual Truth and real existence, and not any representation of it. Divinity itself contains All, and is not contained.

~ Abdu'l-Baha, Abdu'l-Baha in London, p. 22

[arthra]

The first station, which is related to His [the Manifestations] innermost reality, representeth Him as One Whose voice is the voice of God Himself.

To this testified the tradition: 'Manifold and mysterious is My relationship with God. I am He, Himself, and He is I, Myself, except that I am that I am, and He is that He is.

And in like manner, the words:

'Arise, O Muhammad, for the Lover and the Beloved are joined together and made one in Thee.

He similarly saith: 'There is no distinction whatsoever between Thee [God] and Them [the Manifestations], except that They are Thy servants.

The second station is the human station, exemplified by the following verses: 'I am but a man like you. 'Say praise be to my Lord! Am I more than a man, an apostle?

~ Baha'u'llah in Gleanings 66-67

[arthra]

O My Brother!

A pure heart is as a mirror;

cleanse it with the burnish of love and severance from all save God,

that the true sun may shine within it and the eternal morning dawn.

Then wilt thou clearly see the meaning of

"Neither doth My earth nor My heaven contain Me, but the heart of My faithful servant containeth Me."

[1] And thou wilt take up thy life in thine hand, and with infinite longing cast it before the new Beloved One.


[1 Hadith, i.e. action or utterance traditionally attributed to the Prophet Muhammad or to one of the holy Imams.]

~ Baha'u'llah, The Seven Valleys, p. 21-22

[arthra]

Light must be spread afar, so that, in the school of humanity, all may acquire the heavenly characteristics of the spirit, and see for themselves beyond any doubt that there is no fiercer hell, no more fiery abyss, than to possess a character that is evil and unsound; no more darksome pit nor loathsome torment than to show forth qualities which deserve to be condemned.

~ Abdu'l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha, p. 136