All Are in Sleep and Ye Are Wide Awake

O ye servants of God and maid-servants of the Merciful!

The letter, which was in reality the congratulation for the entrance of the day of the anniversary of His Highness the Promised One, was received. The names of the friends of God were read one after another and caused great joy.

I hope that upon the coming of each auspicious day the friends of God may become doubled, that is, may become twofold; that the gentle fragrances of the love of God may be spread so universally that large cohorts enter under the shadow of the Word of God in a short space of time, and arise to serve, according to the heavenly instructions, in order that strife and warfare may vanish wholly from the human world, and the beauty of love, friendship and harmony may appear with such an appearance that all the intellects may become astonished, all the souls entranced and all the hearts attracted.

O ye friends! O ye maid-servants of the Merciful! Should ye realize in what a state this Tablet is written, assuredly ye will soar heavenward with joy and exultations and begin to cry out: “Glad-tidings! Glad-tidings!”

Today the whole world is heedless and ye are aware; all are in sleep and ye are wide awake; all are deprived and ye are the custodians of the mysteries of the Kingdom! Therefore, to render thanks for these bounties, open ye the tongue of praise and glorification and engage yourselves in the divine commemoration, in order that the confirmation may be added and the assistance may become renewed!

Source: 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Tablets of 'Abdu'l-Bahá Abbas (1909). Public domain text from Project Gutenberg eBook #19312.

'Abdu'l-Bahá. (1909). *Tablets of 'Abdu'l-Bahá Abbas*. https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/19312/pg19312-images.html