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"The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens."
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"The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens."
225 stories on this theme.
British guns were trained on Jerusalem, then held by the Turks. Reluctant to fire on the holy city, the British command asked headquarters what to do and was told to pray. Not a gun was fired.
A recollection of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s majestic presence, of the love that flowed from Him to everyone near Him, and of His constant adjuration: “Do as I do. Be as I am.”
‘Abdu’l-Bahá prayed with His hands held out and slightly bent, palms turned toward His breast, as though already gathering in the blessings He prayed for.
Prayer sustained ‘Abdu’l-Bahá through deep sorrow and grave danger. At times He prayed through an entire night, and He often prayed that His conditions might become more severe so that His strength to meet them might increase.
At eight ‘Abdu’l-Bahá grieved over His Father’s sufferings; in Baghdad He prayed without ceasing while Bahá’u’lláh was away in Sulaymaniyyih, rejoiced at His return, and drank in the teaching at the gatherings by the Tigris.
Told he could come on pilgrimage once his debts were paid, an Egyptian merchant spent five years clearing them. Arriving unrecognized in Haifa, he was found by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, who spent the night praying beside him.
At the Unity Feast in West Englewood in June 1912, a sudden storm broke just as the meal was announced. Juliet Thompson watched ‘Abdu’l-Bahá sit at a distant crossroad, His face upturned to the sky, until the clouds raced away.
Dorothy Baker almost always opened her talks with a prayer, and before approaching the platform she often said a prayer of Bahá'u'lláh asking that her speech bear a trace of God's exalted Word.
After three fruitless years teaching the Faith in Jamestown, New York, Doris and Willard McKay were urged by Dorothy Baker to say the invocation “Yá Alláh El-Mustagáth”; Doris later saw in those prayers the beginnings of the Jamestown Assembly.
Bahá’u’lláh recounts how Muhammad, who had prayed toward Jerusalem, was commanded in the midst of the noontide prayer to turn toward the Ka‘bih, and how this change tested His companions.
The owner of the land for the Báb's Shrine on Mount Carmel, influenced by Covenant-breakers, was unwilling to sell. After a night in which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá repeated a prayer of the Báb, the owner came and begged Him to buy it.
From the death of that beloved youth due to his separation from you the utmost sorrow and grief has been occasioned, for he flew away in the flower of his age and the bloom of his youth, to the heavenly nest.
It behoveth thee to sever thyself from all desires save thy Lord, the Supreme, expecting no help or aid from anyone in the universe, not even from thy father or children.
This wonderful age has rent asunder the veils of superstition and has condemned the prejudice of the people of the East.
Know that the conditions of existence are limited to the conditions of servitude, of prophethood, and of Deity, but the divine and the contingent perfections are unlimited.
Cleanliness and sanctity in all conditions are characteristics of pure beings and necessities of free souls.
TO THE ASSEMBLIES AND MEETINGS OF THE BELIEVERS OF GOD AND THE MAID-SERVANTS OF THE MERCIFUL IN THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA: Upon them be Bahá’u’lláh El-Abhá!
O friend! Be set aglow with the fire of the love of God, so that the hearts of the people will become enlightened by the light of thy love.
O thou party who art assisted by the hosts of the Kingdom of El-Abhá!
O ye friends of God! ‘Abdu’l-Bahá is day and night thinking of you and mentioning you, for the friends of God are dear to Him.
In the estimation of historians this radiant century is equivalent to one hundred centuries of the past.
A master cabinet-maker, poet and mathematician from Yazd entered Bahá’u’lláh’s presence almost daily in Baghdad, endured exile and hardship in Mosul, and spent his last days praying by the tomb of Bahá’u’lláh, longing for reunion.
Ali-Kuli Khan, Persia’s representative in Washington, longed for a prayer to say in moments of sudden need. On the drive from the station, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá told him how, as a boy, He had cried “Yá Allah el Mustaghas!” all night before Bahá’u’lláh returned to Baghdad.
Dear and deeply spiritual sister!
O God, my God! Thou seest me immersed in the depths of grief, drowned in my sorrow, my heart on fire with the agony of parting, my inmost self aflame with longing.
Despite our overwhelming sorrows and afflictions, our heart-burning and depth of woes, you are always in our thoughts and we call to mind your cheerful face.
It is clear how that most dire of calamities, that most great disaster which was the ascension of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, may our souls be sacrificed for His meekness, has set our hearts on fire and dissolved our very limbs and members in grief.
All praise to the omnipotent Lord, that in this auspicious day He Who is the Sun of bounty has shone out so fair and bright as to light up the world of the hearts.
At the Threshold of the Lord of Mercy we supplicate Him to grant perception and understanding to the ignorant …
We beseech God—exalted be His glory—to grant awareness and insight to the men of wisdom as well as to those who hold in their grasp the reins of power in Persia …
O my dear sister!
In order that the power of spiritual healing may be brought fully into operation certain requirements are necessary on the part of the patient, of the healer, of the patient’s friends and of the community at large.
The prayers which Bahá’u’lláh has ordained as a daily obligation for Bahá’ís are to be said privately.
“Prayer,” says ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, “is conversation with God.” In order that God may make known His Mind and Will to men, He must speak to them in a language which they can understand, and this He does by the mouths of His Holy Prophets.
Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá regard the descriptions of Heaven and Hell given in some of the older religious writings as symbolic, like the Biblical story of the Creation, and not as literally true.
The work of healing the sick, however, is a matter that concerns not the patient and the practitioner only, but everyone.
Bahá’u’lláh left instructions that temples of worship should be built by His followers in every country and city.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá attaches the greatest importance to regular meetings of the believers for united worship, for the exposition and study of the teachings and for consultation regarding the progress of the Movement.
According to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá:— A mediator is necessary between man and the Creator—one who receives the full light of the Divine Splendor and radiates it over the human world, as the earth’s atmosphere receives and diffuses the warmth of the sun’s rays.
The unity of humanity as taught by Bahá’u’lláh refers not only to men still in the flesh, but to all human beings, whether embodied or disembodied.
Many find a difficulty in believing in the efficacy of prayer because they think that answers to prayer would involve arbitrary interference with the laws of nature.
The use of prayer is enjoined upon Bahá’ís in no uncertain terms.
To someone who asked whether prayer was necessary, since presumably God knows the wishes of all hearts, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá replied:— If one friend loves another, is it not natural that he should wish to say so?
Devotion to God implies a life of service to our fellow-creatures.
In order that we may attain the spiritual condition in which conversation with God becomes possible, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says:— We must strive to attain to that condition by being separated from all things and from the people of the world and by turning to God alone.
The power of spiritual healing is doubtless common to all mankind in greater or less degree, but, just as some men are endowed with exceptional talent for mathematics or music, so others appear to be endowed with exceptional aptitude for healing.
The most potent means of healing is the Power of the Holy Spirit. ...
A 1969 report from Canadian Bahá'í News on the Saskatoon community, where united prayer, a visit from Hand of the Cause John Robarts and a wave of young believers brought some seventy to eighty declarations in under two years.
In 1955 John and Audrey Robarts gave Shoghi Effendi a springbok-skin kaross from Bechuanaland. After the Guardian's passing, Rúhíyyih Khánum showed John Robarts that it had been his prayer mat.
As a boy newly arrived in Tehran from Qum, the future Hand of the Cause Faizi enrolls at the Bahá'í Tarbiyat School and, following his friends, finds his way to a Friday Bahá'í class that shapes his whole life.
Told by Mullá Ḥusayn that the name of the Promised One could not be revealed, Mullá Ṣádiq-i-Muqaddas withdrew to pray in Iṣfahán and, in a vision, recognized the face of a Youth he had seen weeping in prayer at Karbilá.
Mullá 'Alíy-i-Basṭámí followed Mullá Ḥusayn to Shíráz, sensed that his friend had found the Promised One, and on the third night of prayer was led by a vision to the Báb, becoming one of the Letters of the Living.
During their 1906 pilgrimage to 'Akká, 'Abdu'l-Bahá came to Ali Kuli Khan's door with a handkerchief full of white roses for his wife Florence, fulfilling her long prayer to receive a rose from His hand.
In the prison barracks of 'Akká the devoted Mírzá Ja'far fell ill and breathed his last. Bahá'u'lláh said to chant the prayer "O Thou, the Healer", and before an hour had passed he sat up, laughing and joking.
On the night Bahá'u'lláh moved to the Mansion of Bahjí, Nabíl and Hájí Muḥammad-Ṭáhir followed Him to circumambulate it and found its paths crowded with a mysterious throng. Bahá'u'lláh later named them Bulbul and Bahháj.
Lonely on her family's farm, eight-year-old Twinkle prays for a brother or sister. A visit from Sparkle, Aunt Sally's adopted daughter, shows her that loving and being kind to others can make them family.
After Bahá'u'lláh's passing, 'Abdu'l-Bahá made a garden by His Father's Shrine and carried water for it Himself. On Holy Days He led the pilgrims, carrying pots of flowers, to the Shrine.
A children's introduction to the Báb through the words of people who knew Him: His schoolteacher, a visitor who met Him in Karbilá, and His wife, who saw Him praying late at night.
Shoghi Effendi's boyhood in the household of his grandfather 'Abdu'l-Bahá: his name, morning prayers and breakfast with the Master, the Tablet telling him to memorize and chant prayers, and the surname Rabbani.
Tommy, a poor boy with no money for a gift, asks God to help him. He rakes an old lady's leaves and asks for her roses instead of pay, so that he can give them to the teacher he loves.
When Shoghi Effendi, aged five, begged the Master to write something for him, 'Abdu'l-Bahá told him to memorize and chant the prayers of Bahá'u'lláh. The boy chanted them so loudly the whole neighbourhood heard.
As British guns prepared to shell Haifa in 1918, frightened Bahá’ís came to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. He called them to prayer and assured them all would be well, and the shells passed harmlessly over the town.
In October 1912 'Abdu'l-Baha stayed three nights at Phoebe Hearst's house near Pleasanton, California. On the last evening she asked Him to speak to her relatives and guests about the Faith, and He read them a prayer in Arabic.
In Haifa in July 1909 Juliet Thompson watched 'Abdu'l-Baha dictate Tablets. He answered a believer whose father had driven him out, and told Carrie Kinney, who had said nothing of her own trouble, that the reply was for her too.
In Dublin, New Hampshire, in August 1912, the minister Howard Colby Ives spent a Sunday with 'Abdu'l-Bahá and said he would never doubt again. He later wrote that he had spoken many months too soon.
Hand of the Cause John Robarts told of a Toronto friend who prayed all the way to the airport, missed his flight to a Chicago wedding, and still arrived on time on another plane while the first was grounded in Detroit.
John Robarts tells of friends who say they do not pray, and of a young man, sure God could never forgive him, who was comforted by the words “Prayer is a ladder by which everyone can ascend to heaven.”
John Robarts came to speak to a community that needed a ninth believer to form its Assembly. When the only non-Bahá’í in the room fell asleep, he prayed for help, woke the man with a loud quotation, and the man became a Bahá’í that evening.
In Shoghi Effendi’s childhood the family rose at dawn to pray and take breakfast with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in His room. The children sat quietly and chanted when asked, and Shoghi Effendi learned to be always the first up and on time.
As a small boy, Shoghi Effendi learned from his grandfather, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, to be on time, and became the first to get up for the family’s early prayers and breakfast in the Master’s room.
Worn out by years of travel-teaching with no home of their own, Mable Ives (Rizwanea) agreed to spend one day in prayer before deciding to stop, and was brought to submission, gratitude and love for her circumstances.
Also among the emigrants and near neighbors was Áqá ‘Alí Najaf-Ábádí.
Pidar-Ján, a poor old believer in Baghdád, sold socks for a living but was so absorbed in prayer that thieves took them from his outstretched hands. The friends called him Father Dear.
After Bahá'u'lláh's ascension, 'Abdu'l-Bahá asked the chronicler Nabíl to select passages from Bahá'u'lláh's Writings to form the Tablet of Visitation, the text now recited in the Shrines of Bahá'u'lláh and the Báb.
In Iṣfahán in 1844 Mullá Ṣádiq asked Mullá Ḥusayn to name the Promised One. Told only that God's door is never closed to a seeker, he prayed alone, and in a vision saw the face of a Youth he had often seen praying in Karbilá.
Shaykh Ṣádiq of Yazd, healed in Baghdád through words given by Bahá'u'lláh, stayed behind as bidden when the exiles left the city. After Bahá'u'lláh reached Mosul he could bear the separation no longer, ran after Him, and died on the open plain.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá told a story of a Muslim, a Christian and a Jew caught in a storm at sea to show that prayer can be selfish.
In a 1974 talk, Hand of the Cause John Robarts told the parable of a teacher who held a young man’s head under water to show him that prayer is as important as breathing.
In New York in 1912 a grieving young woman told ‘Abdu’l-Bahá that the more she trusted in God, the worse things became. He told her that to pray is to trust in God, and urged her to be a strong ship.
When a pilgrim noticed that no grace was said before meals, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá explained that His heart was always giving thanks. Thornton Chase saw Him begin a meal with ‘In the Name of God’, and He told Lua Getsinger to have spiritual food each morning before breakfast.
In New York, 'Abdu'l-Bahá invited a believer to come at dawn to learn to pray. After hours kneeling in silence across from the Master, he found himself truly praying, and 'Abdu'l-Bahá told him how to pray.
November 24th ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said: I have just been told that there has been a terrible accident in this country.
November 15th ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said: You are all very welcome, and I love you all most dearly.
All majesty and glory, O my God, and all dominion and light and grandeur and splendour be unto Thee.
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. All praise be unto God Who was Ever-Existent ere created things were called into being, when there was no one else besides Him.
Consecrate Thou, O my God, the whole of this Tree unto Him, that from it may be revealed all the fruits created by God within it for Him through Whom God hath willed to reveal all that He pleaseth.
Do Thou ordain for me, O Lord, every good thing Thou hast created or wilt create, and shield me from whatever evil Thou abhorrest from among the things Thou hast caused or wilt cause to exist.
Glorified art Thou, O Lord my God! Thou art in truth the King of kings. Thou dost confer sovereignty upon whomsoever Thou willest and dost seize it from whomsoever Thou willest.
Glorified be Thy Name, O Lord!
Glory be to Thee, O God! Thou art the God Who hath existed before all things, Who will exist after all things and will last beyond all things.
Glory be unto Thee, O God. How can I make mention of Thee while Thou art sanctified from the praise of all mankind.
Glory be unto Thee, O Lord!
Glory be unto Thee, O Lord my God! I beg Thee to forgive me and those who support Thy Faith. Verily Thou art the sovereign Lord, the Forgiver, the Most Generous.
Glory be unto Thee, O Lord my God!
Glory be unto Thee, O Lord, Thou Who hast brought into being all created things, through the power of Thy behest.
A short prayer of the Báb, the last of the prayers given in Selections from the Writings of the Báb, beginning "Is there any Remover of difficulties save God?"
It is seemly that the servant should, after each prayer, supplicate God to bestow mercy and forgiveness upon his parents.
He is God, the Sovereign Ruler, the Ever-Living, He Whose help all men implore.
Praise be to Thee, O Lord, my Best Beloved! Make me steadfast in Thy Cause and grant that I may be reckoned among those who have not violated Thy Covenant nor followed the gods of their own idle fancy.
Praise be unto Thee, O Lord. Forgive us our sins, have mercy upon us and enable us to return unto Thee.
Praised and glorified art Thou, O God! Grant that the day of attaining Thy holy presence may be fast approaching.
Recite ye as much as convenient from this Qur’án both at morn and at eventide, and chant the verses of this Book, by the leave of the eternal God, in the sweet accents of this Bird which warbleth its melody in the vault of heaven.
Rid thou thyself of all attachments to aught except God, enrich thyself in God by dispensing with all else besides Him, and recite this prayer: Say: God sufficeth all things above all things …
In the Name of Thy Lord, the Creator, the Sovereign, the All-Sufficing, the Most Exalted, He Whose help is implored by all men.
Send down Thy blessings, O my God, upon the Tree of the Bayán, upon its root and its branch, its boughs, its leaves, its fruits and upon whatsoever it beareth or sheltereth.
The glory of glories and the most resplendent light rest upon Thee, O my God.
The reason why privacy hath been enjoined in moments of devotion is this, that thou mayest give thy best attention to the remembrance of God, that thy heart may at all times be animated with His Spirit, and not be shut out as by a veil from thy Best Beloved.
Thou art aware, O My God, that since the day Thou didst call Me into being out of the water of Thy love till I reached fifteen years of age I lived in the land which witnessed My birth [Shíráz].
Thou knowest full well, O my God, that tribulations have showered upon me from all directions and that no one can dispel or transmute them except Thee.
Thou seest, O my Lord, my dwelling-place in the heart of this mountain and Thou dost witness my forbearance.
Through Thy revelation, O my God, Thou hast enabled me to know Thee, and through the radiance of Thine effulgent splendour Thou hast inspired me with Thy remembrance.
Throughout eternity Thou hast been, O my Lord, and wilt ever remain the One true God, while all else save Thee are needy and poor.
Verily I am Thy servant, O my God, and Thy poor one and Thy suppliant and Thy wretched creature.
Vouchsafe unto me, O my God, the full measure of Thy love and Thy good-pleasure, and through the attractions of Thy resplendent light enrapture our hearts, O Thou Who art the Supreme Evidence and the All-Glorified.
Worship thou God in such wise that if thy worship lead thee to the fire, no alteration in thine adoration would be produced, and so likewise if thy recompense should be paradise.
O ye two well-loved handmaids of God! Whatever a man’s tongue speaketh, that let him prove by his deeds. If he claimeth to be a believer, then let him act in accordance with the precepts of the Abhá Kingdom.
O thou handmaid of God! The heavenly glad tidings must be delivered with the utmost dignity and magnanimity. And until a soul ariseth with qualities which are essential for the bearer of these tidings, his words will take no effect.
O ye sons and daughters of the Kingdom! Thankful, the birds of the spirit seek only to fly in the high heavens and to sing out their songs with wondrous art.
O my God! O my God!
Praise be to God, thy heart is engaged in the commemoration of God, thy soul is gladdened by the glad tidings of God and thou art absorbed in prayer.
Praise be to Him through Whose splendours the earth and the heavens are aglow, through Whose fragrant breathings the gardens of holiness that adorn the hearts of the chosen are trembling for joy, to Him Who hath shed His light and brightened the face of the firmament.
O my Lord!
O ye faithful friends, O ye sincere servants of Bahá’u’lláh!
O God, my God! Illumine the brows of Thy true lovers and support them with angelic hosts of certain triumph.
O Thou, my God, Who guidest the seeker to the pathway that leadeth aright, Who deliverest the lost and blinded soul out of the wastes of perdition, Thou Who bestowest upon the sincere great bounties and favours …
Whoso reciteth this prayer with lowliness and fervour will bring gladness and joy to the heart of this Servant; it will be even as meeting Him face to face.
O army of God! A letter signed jointly by all of you hath been received. It was most eloquent and full of flavour, and reading it was a delight.
O ye co-workers who are supported by armies from the realm of the All-Glorious!
O servant of the One true God! The Lord be praised, the loved ones of God are found in every land, and are, one and all, neath the shadow of the Tree of Life and under the protection of His good providence.
Ye have written as to the meetings of the friends, and how filled they are with peace and joy.
It befitteth the friends to hold a gathering, a meeting, where they shall glorify God and fix their hearts upon Him, and read and recite the Holy Writings of the Blessed Beauty—may my soul be the ransom of His lovers!
Whensoever a company of people shall gather in a meeting place, shall engage in glorifying God, and shall speak with one another of the mysteries of God, beyond any doubt the breathings of the Holy Spirit will blow gently over them, and each shall receive a share thereof.
We hear that thou hast in mind to embellish thy house from time to time with a meeting of Bahá’ís, where some among them will engage in glorifying the All-Glorious Lord...
Thou hast asked about places of worship and the underlying reason therefor.
O Lord, O Thou Who dost bless all those who stand firm in the Covenant by enabling them, out of their love for the Light of the World, to expend what they have as an offering to the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár …
O ye who are firm in the Covenant and the Testament! Your letter was received and your blessed names were one by one perused.
O thou memento of him who died for the Blessed Beauty! In recent days, the joyful news of thy marriage to that luminous leaf hath been received, and hath infinitely gladdened the hearts of the people of God.
O God, my God!
In the Persian Bayán, revealed in the fortress of Máh-Kú, the Báb asks the believer, after each prayer, to beg God's mercy and forgiveness for his parents, and promises a thousandfold recompense.
Chained in two rows in the Síyáh-Chál in 1852, Bahá'u'lláh's fellow prisoners chanted each night the verses He had taught them, until the sound carried to the Sháh's palace nearby.
Aḥmad of Yazd set out from Baghdád to reach Bahá'u'lláh in Adrianople. In Constantinople he received the Tablet revealed for him, and instead of going on he returned to Persia to teach.
El-Baha, praise, light, blessing and peace be upon thee, O thou fire of the Love of God, thou light of the Kingdom of God, thou radiance of the Gift of God, thou peerless pearl in the Sea of the Mercy of God, thou sturdy lion in the Jungle of the Guidance of God!
Glory be unto Thee, O my God! I supplicate unto Thee, O Thou my Helper! I invoke Thee, O Thou my Refuge! I utter to Thee my agonies, O Thou my Physician, and entreat Thee with all my heart, my soul and my spirit, saying: O my God!
Glory be unto Thee, O my God!
Glory be unto Thee, O Thou whose mercy hath encompassed all things, whose gift is made perfect, whose power hath encircled the world, whose proof is demonstrated, whose signs have become manifest, whose words are promulgated …
My God! My God! Elohim.
My God! My God! I am a servant, miserable, humbled, submissive and low at the door of Thy Oneness, supplicating Thee with a heart full of Thy love and a face rejoiced at Thy glad-tidings!
My Lord! My Lord! Thou hast caused me to hear the Call, guided me unto the sea of favor, awakened me through Thy fragrant breeze, and quickened me by the spirit of Thy greatest guidance.
“O Compassionate God! Thanks be to Thee for Thou hast awakened and made (me) conscious. Thou hast given me a seeing eye and favored me with a hearing ear; hast led me to Thy Kingdom and guided me to Thy Path. Thou hast shown me the…
O God! O God!
O God! O thou Attracted of the hearts of the favored ones toward the Manifest Horizon!
O God who art without likeness! The servant of Thy Kingdom, Mr. ........, reached the Holy Threshold in the utmost of sincerity and longing and sought Thy good will.
O God! Grant Washington happiness and peace! Illuminate that land with the light of the faces of the friends, make it a paradise of Glory, let it become an envy of the green gardens of the earth!
O Lord! O Beloved! The truthful servant, Mr. ........, abandoned home, left his native land and crossed the great ocean until he reached the shore of the Holy Land and arrived at the Blessed Spot.
“O loving God! I am a young child, a suppliant, a captive. Be Thou my refuge, my support, my protector. I am in distress: give me the means of tranquillity. I am needy: bestow upon me the treasure of the Kingdom. I am dead: give me the…
O my God, my God! I am a servant attracted to Thee, humbly coming to the door of Thy Oneness and addressing the kingdom of Thy mercy.
O my God! O my God!
O my God! O my God! These are servants who have turned to Thy Kingdom and hearkened unto Thy voice.
O my Lord, my Beloved, my Desire!
O my Lord, my Hope! Praise be unto Thee, for Thou hast sent down unto us this spiritual table, supreme benefit and heavenly blessing.
O my Lord! O my Lord! I am a child of tender years. Nourish me from the breast of Thy mercy, train me in the bosom of Thy love, educate me in the school of Thy guidance and develop me under the shadow of Thy bounty!
O my Lord! Thou knowest that the people are encircled with pain and calamities and are environed with hardships and trouble.
O my spiritual friends! What you have written is perused, all of which was an entreaty and invocation unto God and a desire for devotion unto the Most High.
O seeker of the truth! There are two ways of healing diseases, the material way and the spiritual way. The first is the remedies of the physician; the second prayers and turning one’s self to God.
O seeker of Truth!
O thou advancing maid-servant of God! Thy letter was received and I was informed of its contents. Thanks be to God! thou art guided to the Light of guidance and hast attained to this most great gift.
O thou bird of the Garden of God! Why art thou sad and sorrowful, disappointed and grieved!
O thou candle of the Love of God!
O thou darling dear! Turn thy face toward the Supreme Kingdom and chant thou this commune: O Thou Pure God!
O thou favored maid-servant in the Threshold of the Almighty!
O Thou Forgiving Lord! Although certain souls finished the days of life in ignorance, were estranged and selfish, yet the ocean of Thy forgiveness is, verily, able to redeem and make free the sinners by one of its waves.
O thou Glorious Lord!
O thou honorable one! Thank thou God that that art instructed in music and melody, singing with pleasant voice the glorification and praise of the Eternal, the Living.
O Thou kind God! That scattered assembly is Thine, and that gathering of friends is of Thee. Their eyes are opened, their hearts in tune with Thy love, and their ears in communion with Thy hidden mysteries.
O thou maid-servant of God who art attracted unto Him! Verily, I read thy letter and was informed of its words.
O thou maid-servant of God! Thy writing was considered.
O thou my dear friend, my associate and companion! The times of (our) meeting are still remembered and the sweetness of thy company is lastingly established in the recess of (my) life.
O thou opened rose in the garden of El-ABHA! I have perused thy excellently worded letter showing what is moving in thy heart by the emotions of the love of God.
O thou peerless, matchless, glorious martyr!
O thou pure and spiritual one!
O Thou Pure God! Gaze providently at the beloved ones and the dear maid-servants in Chicago. Confer upon them Thy bounty and grace.
O thou sincere servant of Baha’o’llah! Thy letter was received and its content was the cause of infinite happiness, for it was an indication of thy firmness in the faith and thy steadfastness in the Covenant and Testament.
O thou spiritual temple whose heart is drawn unto the Horizon of Certainty!
O thou who art a young tree in the Garden of the Love of God!
O thou who art accepted of God! Know thou that, verily, the eye of favors is directed to thee and is beholding thee with a divine glance, so that thou mayest, with clear eyes, see the lights of the Kingdom upon the horizon.
O thou who art advanced towards God!
O thou who art advancing to the Dawning-point of Lights! Extend the hands of communion unto the sacred and brilliant Threshold and read the following prayer: O my God!
O thou who art advancing toward the Kingdom of God!
O thou who art advancing unto God!
O thou who art advancing unto the Face of God!
O thou who art assuredly believing in God!
O thou who art attracted by the Fragrances of Holiness!
O thou who art cheered through the Fragrances of God!
O thou who art controlled by the attractions of the Fragrance of God!
O thou who art longing for the Heavenly Kingdom! Mrs. ......... became the guide and directed thee to the path of the Kingdom and informed thee of my love.
O thou who art set aglow with the Fire of the Love of God! Thy letter reached me and I noted its beautiful contents.
O thou who art skilled in the Knowledge of God and wise in the Wisdom of the Almighty!
O thou who art supplicating unto the Kingdom of God!
O thou who art tranquilized by the Call of the Kingdom at this time!
O thou whose face is radiant with the light of the Love of God!
O thou whose heart hath been filled with the love of the Beauty of God!
O thou wonderful leaf of the Tree of the Love of God! All that thou hast written was perused. It was read from beginning to end, and it caused joy and fragrance.
O ye beloved! O ye maid-servants of the Merciful! What a wonderful meeting ye have arranged and longed for the beauty of service and have arisen to spread the fragrances of God!
O ye beloved servants of Abdul-Baha and the maid-servants of the Merciful One!
O ye dear friends of Abdul-Baha! The blessed letter indicating the election of the Spiritual Meeting was received and proved a source of joy.
O ye dear servants of God! Your letter received and the contents proved excellent.
O ye firm ones in the Covenant! The report of [your meeting] was noted. All the arrangements of the meeting are suitable and acceptable.
O ye illumined faces! O ye divine souls! and O ye spiritual temples!
O ye longing ones! O ye cheered ones! O ye attracted ones! O ye who are beseeching the Kingdom of God!
O ye maid-servants of His Majesty, the Lord—daughters and sons of the Kingdom!
O ye members of the shining assembly! The letter which was written by you, was not a letter, but a musk sack.
O ye shining Assembly! The meeting that you organized hath attracted the divine gaze and the subject of your conversation was the divine commemoration.
O ye sincere ones and ye who are attracted and moved by the breeze of the favor of God!
O ye sincere ones! O ye favored ones! O ye beseeching ones! O ye supplicating ones!
O ye two truthful believers! Your letter was received. Its contents were faith, certainty and sincerity. It was an evidence of perceiving eyes, attentive ears and acute mind.
Rejoice, O maid-servant of God! —for that thou hast known God and heard His call and art attracted to His breaths!
Verily I approach Thee, O my God, in the darkest hour of this dark night, and pray Thee with my inmost heart, while I am moving by Thy fragrances, which are being diffused from Thy Kingdom of Abha, and say: O my Lord …
Verily, I read thy magnificent letter, thy brilliant writing, and found its meanings as the chanting of the verses of guidance and its foundation based on righteousness and piety.
When you assemble in the meeting of teaching (the truth), it is incumbent on you to chant the following supplication and commune: O God, O God!
Driving with Javidukht Khadem, Hand of the Cause Dorothy Baker prayed in tears for Elsie Austin, then explained that each morning she said many prayers so as to be spiritual enough for her Obligatory Prayer.
In a Tablet to a woman who longed for the Heavenly Kingdom, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá counselled her to recite the Greatest Name every morning and turn to the Kingdom of Abhá.
In a prayer for a memorial gathering, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá recalls Fáṭimih Begum, widow of the King of Martyrs: her sufferings after his martyrdom, her patience, and her years of humble service in the Holy Land.
Hurrying to breakfast without her morning prayers, Lua Getsinger met ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in the hallway, and He told her never to eat material food in the morning until she had had spiritual food.
Bahá’u’lláh recalled how, chained in the dark dungeon of the Síyáh-Chál, He taught His fellow-prisoners verses which they chanted every night, until the sound reached the ears of Náṣiri’d-Dín Sháh.
Arriving to find that a revolution had scattered the men she carried letters to, Elizabeth Cheney prayed as she walked the streets until she stopped at a garden fence, where a gardener led her to one of them in hiding.