“O ye sincere ones! O ye favored ones! O ye beseeching...”

O ye177 sincere ones! O ye favored ones! O ye beseeching ones! O ye supplicating ones!

Verily, I set my forehead on the dust and turn my face toward the Lord of Lords and invoke my Lord with intense fervor and attraction, that He may look upon you with the glances of the eye of His providence, watch over you with the gaze of His protection, unite your hearts, dilate your breasts, harmonize your souls, rejoice you with gladness, exhilarate you with the chalices of salvation, make you steadfast in the divine Cause and that He may enable you to cling to the hem of the Almighty, to hasten toward the place of sacrifice and to be sheltered under the shadow of the Blessed Tree whose roots are planted firm and whose branches are extended to heaven:

O my Lord! O my Lord! These are the chosen ones whose faces are illumined with the light of guidance, who found the heavenly table pleasing to their tastes, who submitted willingly to every matter which happened in the land and sought help from the hosts of the Supreme Concourse. Their feet are indeed made firm, their banners hoisted, their deeds righteous and their actions just. O Lord! Make them fragrant plants of Thy paradise, flowers of the garden of nearness, verses of Thy glorious book, words of Thy “Published tablet” unto the people of the world and as falcons soaring on the loftiest summit. Verily Thou art the Beneficent, the Merciful, the Powerful, the Mighty, the Bestower!

O my dear friends! Yours was not merely a letter; it was perfumed with amber and diffused a sweet fragrance. Every word thereof was a rose in the rose-garden of the love of God and was a flower, a hyacinth.

When the breeze of Providence blows from the direction of gift, the gardens of hearts attain thereby exceeding purity and freshness. Such significances arise from the soul and consciousness and impart joy and fragrance.

O friends! It is the wish of Abdul-Baha that the friends may establish general unity and not a particular meeting of unity. You must have great consideration for this fact, for during the past cycles though such events (founding of particular, i.e., exclusive unity meetings) were, in the beginning, a means for harmony, they became in the end the cause of trouble.

We are all servants of one Threshold, attendants at one Court, waves of one sea, drops of one stream, the dust before one door and plants of one garden. There must arise no trouble to deprive one from that which is the real purpose. The beloved of God must be friendly even with strangers and intimate even with outsiders—how much more with others among the righteous (i.e., believers)!

To organize assemblies is praiseworthy and acceptable, but these must be established for certain matters. For example: Assemblages for teaching (the Truth), gatherings for the spread of the fragrances of God, gatherings for the relief of the orphans, gatherings for the protection (i.e., feeding, etc.,) of the poor, assemblages for the spread of learning and, in a word, there must be gatherings for matters which concern the well-being of men, such as organizations of a society of commerce, societies for the expansion of agriculture. To be brief, similar societies are very acceptable and praiseworthy and concern all in general and not a particular number.

In a word: That which is conducive to the life (or growth) of the people is acceptable and whatever is the cause of disaffection is blameworthy. I hope all the friends of the East and West shall rest in the same assemblage and adorn one gathering, appearing with all the heavenly attributes and virtues in the world of humanity.

O my Lord! O my Lord! Enable me to witness the most great sign and to realize the fulfillment of this hope throughout all regions. Verily Thou art the Bestower, the Beneficent, whose bounties are great!

Some of the friends have asked to present themselves in these parts. In these days this does not conform with wisdom. God willing, permission shall be given at some favorable time.

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