Speaker Prep

Opening

Before He was known to the world, the Báb kept a merchant's shop. A man once left goods in His care to be sold at a set price. The Báb sold them for far more — and then, against every custom of the bazaar, insisted on handing the owner the whole of the larger sum, refusing to keep a single coin that was not his by right.

The Dawn-Breakers: Nabíl's Narrative of the Early Days of the Bahá'í Revelation · Nabíl-i-A'ẓam

Middle

In the years before His Declaration, the young Báb was known in Shíráz not for any claim or office but for the depth of His devotion — a Youth of great personal beauty and gentle manner, unfailing in His prayers and fasts, who obeyed not merely the outward forms of His religion but lived, even then, in the very spirit of its teachings.

Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era · J. E. Esslemont

Closing

For two years Bahá'u'lláh withdrew alone into the wilderness of Kurdistan, asking nothing, claiming nothing, known to no one but as a wandering dervish. Yet the sheer beauty of His character and wisdom could not stay hidden — the shaykhs and divines of Sulaymáníyyih were drawn to Him in wonder and love, until His fame at last revealed where He was.

God Passes By · Shoghi Effendi