Selections from the writings of ‘Abdu'l-BaháʻAbdu'l-Bahá
Religion
Selections from the writings of ‘Abdu'l-Bahá
ʻAbdu'l-Bahá
Bahai Faith
Now is the time for the lovers of God to raise high the banners of unity,
to intone, in the assemblages of the world, the verses of friendship and
love and to demonstrate to all that the grace of God is one. Thus will the
tabernacles of holiness be upraised on the summits of the earth, gathering
all peoples into the protective shadow of the Word of Oneness. This great
bounty will dawn over the world at the time when the lovers of God shall
arise to carry out His Teachings, and to scatter far and wide the fresh,
sweet scents of universal love.
In every dispensation, there hath been the commandment of fellowship and
love, but it was a commandment limited to the community of those in mutual
agreement, not to the dissident foe. In this wondrous age, however,
praised be God, the commandments of God are not delimited, not restricted
to any one group of people, rather have all the friends been commanded to
show forth fellowship and love, consideration and generosity and
loving-kindness to every community on earth. Now must the lovers of God
arise to carry out these instructions of His: let them be kindly fathers
to the children of the human race, and compassionate brothers to the
youth, and self-denying offspring to those bent with years. The meaning of
this is that ye must show forth tenderness and love to every human being,
even to your enemies, and welcome them all with unalloyed friendship, good
cheer, and loving-kindness. When ye meet with cruelty and persecution at
another’s hands, keep faith with him; when malevolence is directed your
way, respond with a friendly heart. To the spears and arrows rained upon
you, expose your breasts for a target mirror-bright; and in return for
curses, taunts and wounding words, show forth abounding love. Thus will
all peoples witness the power of the Most Great Name, and every nation
acknowledge the might of the Ancient Beauty, and see how He hath toppled
down the walls of discord, and how surely He hath guided all the peoples
of the earth to oneness; how He hath lit man’s world, and made this earth
of dust to send forth streams of light.
These human creatures are even as children, they are brash and
unconcerned. These children must be reared with infinite, loving care, and
tenderly fostered in the embraces of mercy, so that they may taste the
spiritual honey-sweetness of God’s love; that they may become like unto
candles shedding their beams across this darksome world, and may clearly
perceive what blazing crowns of glory the Most Great Name, the Ancient
Beauty, hath set on the brows of His beloved, what bounties He hath
bestowed on the hearts of those He holdeth dear, what a love He hath cast
into the breasts of humankind, and what treasures of friendship He hath
made to appear amongst all men.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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