The Ornament of Life

Your letter, laden with many a graceful phrase, many a wondrous inner meaning, has been received. Its perusal brought composure and tranquillity to my soul and gladness to my heart, inasmuch as from between its lines I could discern the tokens of your unswerving constancy in God’s Mighty Cause and of your intense devotion to the almighty Lord. I beseech God to illumine your heart with the light of His love, to unloose your tongue in magnifying His praise and in extolling His glory, to strengthen you with so mighty a power that you may vindicate the truth of His Faith by expounding infallible proofs and conclusive testimonies.

You have told me about your taking part in special gatherings for the training of Persian and American Bahá’í children. Excellent indeed is what you have done. Rest well assured, O handmaid of God, in the gracious favour of your Lord. Verily He will sustain you in your efforts for the advancement of His Cause and in rendering service to the world of humanity. Exert your utmost endeavour, and expend whatever is dear to you in this glorious path that you may earn the crown of righteousness, imperishable and everlasting.

Indeed the peoples of the world spend their days in idle imaginings, wholly oblivious to the Truth. Know of a certainty that the ornament of life is to be arrayed with the vesture of praiseworthy conduct and be attired with the crown of goodly deeds.

All the members of the family and myself are enjoying excellent health and we send our loving greetings and best wishes to you and to all the beloved friends there. I earnestly beseech from His holy Threshold that He may purge you from every affliction, grant you perfect health and may aid you to serve His sublime Cause in this glorious Day.

An undated letter of the Greatest Holy Leaf, Bahíyyih Khánum, to a Bahá’í woman who had been helping with gatherings for the training of Persian and American Bahá’í children.

Source: Bahíyyih Khánum, compiled by the Bahá’í World Centre (1982), Part V, “Letters of the Greatest Holy Leaf,” no. 92. Text as reproduced in Project Gutenberg eBook #19242 (used under the Bahá’í terms of use; not public domain).

Khánum, B.. (1982). *Bahíyyih Khánum: The Greatest Holy Leaf*. Bahá'í World Centre. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/19242