9 The second condition: Fellowship and love amongst the believers. The
divine friends must be attracted to and enamored of each other and ever be
ready and willing to sacrifice their own lives for each other. Should one
soul from amongst the believers meet another, it must be as though a
thirsty one with parched lips has reached to the fountain of the water of
life, or a lover has met his true beloved. For one of the greatest divine
wisdoms regarding the appearance of the holy Manifestations is this: The
souls may come to know each other and become intimate with each other; the
power of the love of God may make all of them the waves of one sea, the
flowers of one rose garden, and the stars of one heaven. This is the
wisdom for the appearance of the holy Manifestations! When the most great
bestowal reveals itself in the hearts of the believers, the world of
nature will be transformed, the darkness of the contingent being will
vanish, and heavenly illumination will be obtained. Then the whole world
will become the Paradise of Abhá, every one of the believers of God will
become a blessed tree, producing wonderful fruits.
10 O ye friends! Fellowship, fellowship! Love, love! Unity, unity!—so that
the power of the Bahá’í Cause may appear and become manifest in the world
of existence. My thoughts are turned towards you, and my heart leaps
within me at your mention. Could ye know how my soul glows with your love,
so great a happiness would flood your hearts as to cause you to become
enamored with each other.
11 The third condition: Teachers must continually travel to all parts of
the continent, nay, rather, to all parts of the world, but they must
travel like ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, who journeyed throughout the cities of America.
He was sanctified and free from every attachment and in the utmost
severance. Just as His Holiness Christ says: Shake off the very dust from
your feet.(13)
12 You have observed that while in America many souls in the utmost of
supplication and entreaty desired to offer some gifts, but this servant,
in accord with the exhortations and behests of the Blessed Perfection,
never accepted a thing, although on certain occasions we were in most
straitened circumstances. But on the other hand, if a soul for the sake of
God, voluntarily and out of his pure desire, wishes to offer a
contribution (toward the expenses of a teacher) in order to make the
contributor happy, the teacher may accept a small sum, but must live with
the utmost contentment.
13 The aim is this: The intention of the teacher must be pure, his heart
independent, his spirit attracted, his thought at peace, his resolution
firm, his magnanimity exalted and in the love of God a shining torch.
Should he become as such, his sanctified breath will even affect the rock;
otherwise there will be no result whatsoever. As long as a soul is not
perfected, how can he efface the defects of others? Unless he is detached
from aught else save God, how can he teach severance to others?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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