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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."
161 stories where justice appears.
With a smile, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá told a group in America of a wife who had her husband wipe the dust from her shoes but did not do the same for him, and urged the ladies sometimes to stand up for the rights of men.
At a hotel in Glenwood Springs in 1912, a waiter set no place for Saichiro Fujita because he was a servant; ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had a chair brought and seated him among them.
Leaving Buffalo in 1912, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá left a dollar for the absent chambermaid, yet refused a driver's overcharge, saying one should never yield to a wrongful demand.
In The Advent of Divine Justice, Shoghi Effendi called racial prejudice the most vital and challenging issue before the American Bahá'ís, asked both races for a supreme effort, and gave minorities priority when votes or qualifications were equal.
When a merchant in ‘Akká seized the exiles’ charcoal, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá sat quietly in his shop for three hours. Their talk about Christ won the merchant’s respect; he paid back the money and became a lifelong friend.
During 'Abdu'l-Bahá's visit to segregated Washington, D.C., He shocked white socialites by insisting that Louis Gregory, an African-American Bahá'í and lawyer, be seated next to Him at a society luncheon, and He asked the Bahá'ís to hold integrated meetings.
In London, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá asked a suffragist why women should have the vote. When she said humanity cannot soar with only one wing, He playfully offered to prove that woman is the stronger wing.
The Washington Bahá’ís were divided by the racial customs of the day. When a Unity Feast was booked at a hotel that refused Black guests, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá insisted that all attend, and they sat side by side.
You have questioned me about strikes. This question is and will be for a long time the subject of great difficulties.
From the time of the creation of Adam to this day there have been two pathways in the world of humanity; one the natural or materialistic, the other the religious or spiritual.
The foundation of the Kingdom of God is laid upon justice, fairness, mercy, sympathy and kindness to every soul.
Today I am most happy, for I see here a gathering of the servants of God.
The greatest bestowal of God in the world of humanity is religion; for assuredly the divine teachings of religion are above all other sources of instruction and development to man.
This recent war has proved to the world and the people that war is destruction while Universal Peace is construction; war is death while peace is life; war is rapacity and bloodthirstiness while peace is beneficence and humaneness …
Ḥájí Mírzá Músá, whose father had been devoted to Bahá’u’lláh in Baghdad, longed to give Him the house He lived in; Bahá’u’lláh would accept it only by purchase, and revealed a Tablet in Mírzá Músá’s honour.
In 1889 Ḥájí Muḥammad-Riḍá Iṣfahání was murdered in the bazaar of Ashkhabad; the Russian authorities tried and convicted the killers, the Bahá’ís interceded for their lives, and the community went on to build its own institutions.
Born in Charleston to formerly enslaved parents, Louis G. Gregory became a Bahá'í in 1909, was seated by 'Abdu'l-Bahá at His right in Washington, gave decades to teaching and race unity, and was posthumously named a Hand of the Cause.
In Baghdad, Bahá'u'lláh has 'Abdu'l-Bahá settle a rich jeweler's disputed estate in a single day and gives the share pressed upon Him to the jeweler's son. Later Mírzá Muhammad defends those estates and becomes known as the Deputy.
Mirza Qurban-‘Ali, a revered dervish of Barfurush who embraced the Cause through Mulla Husayn, was arrested in Tihran, boldly defended his faith before the Amir-Nizam, and was beheaded as the second of the Seven Martyrs.
O steadfast ones, gathered beneath the Abhá Beauty’s standard of oneness, O faithful lovers of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá!
At the Threshold of the Lord of Mercy we supplicate Him to grant perception and understanding to the ignorant …
In the Book of Aqdas, revealed in Akká in 1873, Bahá’u’lláh appealed to America as follows:— O Rulers of America and the Presidents of the Republics therein ...
In making appointments, the only criterion must be fitness for the position.
Bahá’u’lláh states that a person should be free to dispose of his possessions during his lifetime in any way he chooses, and it is incumbent on everyone to write a will stating how his property is to be disposed of after his death.
One of the social principles to which Bahá’u’lláh attaches great importance is that women should be regarded as the equals of men and should enjoy equal rights and privileges, equal education and equal opportunities.
The teachings of Bahá’u’lláh contain two different types of reference to the question of true social order.
The importance of the press as a means of diffusing knowledge and educating the people, and its power as a civilizing force, when rightly directed, are fully recognized by Bahá’u’lláh.
Bahá’u’lláh also advocated the establishment of an international court of arbitration, so that differences arising between nations might be settled in accordance with justice and reason, instead of by appeal to the ordeal of battle.
In the little book of Hidden Words, in which Bahá’u’lláh gives in brief the essence of the prophetic teachings, His first counsel refers to the individual life: “Possess a pure, kindly and radiant heart.”
‘Abdu’l-Bahá says:— By a general agreement all the governments of the world must disarm simultaneously.
In the year 1869 Bahá’u’lláh wrote to Napoleon III, rebuking him for his lust of war and for the contempt with which he had treated a former letter from Bahá’u’lláh.
The unification of the world of humanity, the welding together of the world’s different religions, the reconciliation of Religion and Science, the establishment of Universal Peace …
In the Book of Aqdas Bahá’u’lláh forbids slavery, and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has explained that not only chattel slavery, but also industrial slavery, is contrary to the law of God.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá suggests that each town and village or district should be entrusted as far as possible with the administration of fiscal matters within its own area and should contribute its due proportion for the expenses of the general government.
The Bahá’í doctrine of the unity of mankind strikes at the root of another cause of war, namely, racial prejudice.
Although Bahá’u’lláh, like Christ, counsels His follows as individuals and as a religious body to adopt an attitude of nonresistance and forgiveness toward their enemies, He teaches that it is the duty of the community to prevent injustice and oppression.
Bahá’u’lláh forbids tyranny and oppression in the most emphatic terms.
Bahá’u’lláh enjoins justice on all His followers and defines it as:—“The freedom of man from superstition and imitation, so that he may discern the Manifestations of God with the eyes of Oneness, and consider all affairs with keen sight.”—Words of Wisdom.
Both Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá also foretold a period of great social upheaval, conflict and calamity as an inevitable result of the irreligion and prejudices, the ignorance and superstition, prevalent throughout the world.
Before ‘Abdu’l-Bahá completed His earthly mission, He had laid a basis for the development of the administrative order established in Bahá’u’lláh’s Writings.
It has been the general characteristic of religion that organization marks the interruption of the true spiritual influence and serves to prevent the original impulse from being carried into the world.
Christ spoke much in parables about a great Day of Judgment when “the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father ... and ... shall reward every man according to his works” (Matt. xvi, 27).
According to the Bahá’í teachings, riches rightly acquired and rightly used are honorable and praiseworthy.
Another proposal frequently and powerfully advocated by Bahá’u’lláh was that a Universal League of Nations should be formed for the maintenance of international peace.
In a letter to the Central Organization for a Durable Peace, written in 1919, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says:— Among the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh is voluntary sharing of one’s property with others among mankind.
When woman’s point of view receives due consideration and woman’s will is allowed adequate expression in the arrangement of social affairs …
Shoghi Effendi told how a coachman at Ramleh demanded an exorbitant fare from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and pulled Him roughly by His sash. The Master stayed calm, refused to give in, and paid exactly what He owed, without the tip.
When merchants in Búshihr tried to reopen a finished sale of indigo to win a discount, as was their custom, the Báb refused to bargain and took the goods back rather than yield. 'Abdu'l-Bahá recounted the episode.
A man entrusted goods to the Báb to sell at a fixed price and was sent more than he had asked. The Báb explained that the goods had once reached that value, and refused to take back the excess.
When the authorities in Adrianople planned to part Bahá'u'lláh from His family and followers, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá pleaded, persisted and at last vehemently protested, until the governor declared that the exiles could not be separated.
When companions of Ṭáhirih were held prisoner in Ṭihrán, Bahá’u’lláh sent them help; greedy officials then accused Him of complicity and held Him for a few days, His first imprisonment for the Cause.
When the Grand Vizier Hájí Mírzá Áqásí tries to take Bahá'u'lláh's village of Quch-Hisar by fraud, the estate passes to the Sháh's sister, and Bahá'u'lláh answers the minister's accusations about His generous hospitality.
After Sám Khán's regiment failed to harm the Báb, the Nasiri regiment carried out His execution in Tabríz in 1850. Nabíl records how, within three years, every member of that regiment had perished.
Born at sunrise in Tihrán into a noble family, Bahá'u'lláh never went to school, yet as a youth He explained a question a famous scholar's students could not, and rode to Tihrán to stop an injustice against His father.
In Egypt a carriage driver demanded an unfair fare and shook ‘Abdu’l-Bahá by His sash, but the Master paid only what He owed and told him honesty would have earned a handsome tip.
When apartheid laws forbade integration, the South African Bahá’í community chose not to divide into separate racial bodies but to limit membership of its administration to black believers, until integrated bodies were possible again.
In Baghdád a Persian consul and hostile shaykhs summoned the divines of Karbilá and Najaf to move against Bahá'u'lláh and His fellow exiles. The foremost of them, Shaykh Murtadá, refused to pronounce them infidels, and the scheme failed.
The Persian Ambassador's intrigues helped bring about Bahá'u'lláh's banishment from Constantinople. Nearly thirty years later, in the Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, Bahá'u'lláh testified to the ambassador's honesty in his service and said he deserved commendation.
In Egypt a coachman seized 'Abdu'l-Bahá by His sash to force an unjust fare while the boy Shoghi Effendi watched. As Guardian, Shoghi Effendi added up every bill he paid and pointed out undercharges as well as overcharges.
Bahá’u’lláh was born in Tehran in 1817. As He grew, His father, Mirza Buzurg, marvelled at His wisdom, dreamed of Him swimming in a boundless ocean, and heard a soothsayer foretell that no one could stand in His way.
The second Hidden Word in Arabic names justice — *the best beloved of all things in My sight* — and explains it not as rule of law but as the soul's capacity to see with its own eyes and know with its own knowledge.
In San Francisco on 22 October 1912, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá foretold a great war and said the generality of mankind would one day reproach statesmen who send them into war while they themselves live in comfort.
Swiss-born winemaker John Bosch became a Bahá’í in 1905 and took “Justice” as his watchword. When ‘Abdu’l-Bahá wrote to him that the Book of Aqdas forbids both light and strong drinks, he thought it over and soon decided to retire.
Hájí Mírzá Músá wanted to give Bahá'u'lláh the house in Baghdád where He had lived. Bahá'u'lláh refused the gift and had the house bought at a fair price, and it became the Most Great House.
In 1889 an elderly Bahá'í was killed in the bazaar of 'Ishqábád. For the first time, the killers of a Bahá'í were brought to justice, and then the Bahá'ís asked that their lives be spared.
Mírzá Qurbán-‘Alí, a much-loved man of Mázindarán, accepted the Báb through Mullá Husayn. Arrested in Tihrán, he told the chief minister that he had judged the Báb fairly, and he gave his life as one of the Seven Martyrs.
Louis Gregory had not been invited to a luncheon for 'Abdu'l-Bahá in Washington, but 'Abdu'l-Bahá asked for him and gave him the seat of honor beside Himself.
A crowd of boys came to meet 'Abdu'l-Bahá in New York. The only Black boy among them was afraid he would not be welcome, but 'Abdu'l-Bahá greeted him, loud enough for all to hear, as a black rose.
On April 23, 1912, at a Washington luncheon given in 'Abdu'l-Bahá's honor by Ali-Kuli Khan, the Master asked for Louis Gregory, who had not been invited, and gave him the seat of honor at His right.
Khurshíd Begum, who was given the title of Shamsu’d-Ḍuḥá, the Morning Sun, was mother-in-law to the King of Martyrs.
At a luncheon in segregated Washington, D.C., 'Abdu'l-Bahá sent for Louis Gregory, who had not been invited, gave him the seat of honor at His right, and spoke on the oneness of mankind.
In the last year of His life, Bahá'u'lláh addressed His last outstanding Tablet to a cleric of Iṣfahán whose father had condemned two beloved believers. He called him to repent and quoted many passages from His own earlier Writings.
In Adrianople Bahá'u'lláh revealed the Súriy-i-Mulúk, the Súrih of Kings, in which He addressed the monarchs of East and West together for the first time, called them to justice, and described His own banishment.
In a Tablet revealed in answer to a believer's questions, Bahá'u'lláh set out nine of His teachings for the rulers and peoples of the world, each called an Ishráq, a Splendour.
When Bahá'u'lláh was arrested after the attempt on the Sháh's life in 1852, the Russian Minister in Ṭihrán refused to surrender Him to the Sháh's officers, pressed for His innocence to be established, and later offered Him refuge in Russia, which He declined.
On the death of the Ottoman Foreign Minister Fu'ád Páshá in 1869, Bahá'u'lláh, a prisoner in 'Akká, foretold the fall of the Grand Vizier and of Sultán 'Abdu'l-'Azíz. When the Sultán was deposed and killed in 1876, the fulfilled prophecy led the scholar Mírzá Abu'l-Faḍl to accept the Faith.
About 1873, still a prisoner in 'Akká and living in the house of 'Údí Khammár, Bahá'u'lláh revealed the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, the Most Holy Book, which sets out the laws and institutions of His Faith.
Before His exile, Bahá'u'lláh and His wife Navváb spent their wealth caring for the poor of Ṭihrán. Their daughter recalled that nobody was turned away from their door, and that the people called Him "The Father of the Poor."
In Búshihr a man left goods with the Báb to be sold at a fixed price. The Báb sent him more than that price, because the goods had once been worth more, and refused to take back the difference.
In 1889 Ḥájí Muḥammad-Riḍáy-i-Iṣfahání was stabbed to death in the bazaar of ʻIshqábád. A Russian military court condemned his killers, and the Bahá'ís interceded for their lives, a deed Bahá'u'lláh praised.
When Agnes Parsons made her pilgrimage in 1920, 'Abdu'l-Bahá asked her to arrange a convention in Washington for amity between the white and colored races. It met in May 1921, and Mountfort Mills read a message from the Master to it.
In His youth the Báb worked as a merchant in Búshihr. A visitor recalled His humility and courtesy, and told how He insisted on paying a client the full value of an article, above the price the man had asked.
In December 1919 'Abdu'l-Bahá answered a wartime letter from the Central Organization for a Durable Peace at The Hague. He praised their aim and set out the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh on which a lasting peace must rest.
About two years before His passing, Bahá'u'lláh revealed the Kalimát-i-Firdawsíyyih, the Words of Paradise, in honour of Ḥájí Mírzá Ḥaydar-'Alí. Its "leaves" set out counsels on the fear of God, religion, justice, unity, education and peace.
Sám Khán, the Christian colonel ordered to execute the Báb, begged to be freed from shedding His blood. When his regiment's volley left the Báb unharmed, he marched his men out of the barracks and swore never to take part again.
Mírzá Taqí Khán, the Amír-Niẓám, ordered the Báb's execution against the advice of his own counsellors. Within two years he lost the Sháh's favour and was put to death in the bath of Fín, near Káshán.
When news of the Báb reached Zanján, the learned Mullá Muḥammad-'Alí sent a trusted disciple to Shíráz to investigate. When the disciple returned, Mullá Muḥammad-'Alí refused to let another's verdict decide his belief; he read the Báb's words for himself and accepted the new Faith.
In the summer of 1901 a young Englishman met May Bolles in Paris and within three days accepted the Bahá'í Faith. On pilgrimage to 'Akká he told 'Abdu'l-Bahá that the mill he worked for relied on child labour, and resigned at the Master's word.
In Haifa in 1891, after nine days of silence that followed the martyrdom of seven believers in Yazd, Bahá'u'lláh revealed the Lawḥ-i-Dunyá, a Tablet that sets out principles for the peace and betterment of the world.
On 23 April 1912 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke at Howard University in Washington to an audience of Black and white listeners. He told them there are no whites and blacks before God, and compared humanity to a garden of many-colored flowers.
In His last major Tablet, Bahá'u'lláh wrote to Shaykh Muḥammad-Taqí, a cleric of Iṣfahán who had persecuted the believers. He counselled him, gave him a prayer of repentance to recite, and offered him the same advice He had given His own son.
Napoleon III is reported to have flung down Bahá'u'lláh's first Tablet. From the barracks of 'Akká Bahá'u'lláh wrote again, warning that the Emperor's empire would pass from his hands. In 1870 he was defeated at Sedan and lost his throne.
In the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, revealed in 'Akká around 1873, Bahá'u'lláh told the kings of the earth that the King of Kings had appeared and summoned them to serve Him. He addressed the rulers of America and foretold suffering on the banks of the Rhine.
From the barracks in 'Akká, Bahá'u'lláh wrote to Czar Alexander II of Russia, summoning him to proclaim His Cause and recalling that a Russian minister had helped Him when He lay in chains in Ṭihrán. The Czar did not heed it.
In Adrianople Bahá'u'lláh wrote His longest letter to any single king, asking Náṣiri'd-Dín Sháh for justice and for a meeting with the divines in his presence. The youth Badí' carried it to the Sháh and was put to death.
When Black friends decided to stay away from a Unity Feast arranged at a hotel known for racial exclusion, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá insisted that all attend, and the banquet passed in happiness without one unpleasant incident.
Howard Colby Ives recalls a Sunday in New York in April 1912 when some twenty or thirty boys from the East Side came to see 'Abdu'l-Bahá, and He welcomed the only Black boy among them, before them all, as a black rose.
At lunch in Haifa in November 1919, a dish called "the mouthful of the judge" was served, and 'Abdu'l-Bahá told the story behind its name: a judge who reversed a verdict for a better dinner.
October 28th The Creator of all is One God. From this same God all creation sprang into existence, and He is the one goal, towards which everything in nature yearns.
‘What is evil?’ ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.—‘Evil is imperfection.
Friday evening, October 20th ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said: Numerous meetings are held in Paris every day for different purposes, to discuss politics, commerce, education, art, science and many other subjects.
November 8th All over the world one hears beautiful sayings extolled and noble precepts admired.
4 Avenue de Camöens, Paris, November 17th In the conduct of life, man is actuated by two main motives: ‘The Hope for Reward’ and ‘The Fear of Punishment’.
Monday, November 20th From the beginning of the world until the present time each ‘Manifestation’ sent from God has been opposed by an embodiment of the ‘Powers of Darkness’.
October 27th The basis of the teaching of Bahá’u’lláh is the Unity of Mankind, and his greatest desire was that love and goodwill should live in the heart of men.
‘The Laws of God are not imposition of will, or of power, or pleasure, but the resolutions of truth, reason and justice.’
August 28th, 1913 O Thou my beloved daughter! Thine eloquent and fluent letter was perused in a garden, under the cool shade of a tree, while the gentle breeze was wafting.
November 24th ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said: I have just been told that there has been a terrible accident in this country.
October 16th and 17th, 1911 When a man turns his face to God he finds sunshine everywhere.
4 Avenue de Camöens, Paris, November 13th All prejudices, whether of religion, race, politics or nation, must be renounced, for these prejudices have caused the world’s sickness.
October 18th The reality of man is his thought, not his material body.
4 Avenue de Camöens, Paris One of the most important principles of the Teaching of Bahá’u’lláh is: The right of every human being to the daily bread whereby they exist, or the equalization of the means of livelihood.
4 Avenue de Camöens, Paris, November 14th The Tenth Principle of the teaching of Bahá’u’lláh is the equality of the sexes.
November 1st Today is a day of rejoicing in Paris! They are celebrating the Festival of ‘All Saints’. Why do you think that these people were called ‘Saints’?
On June 15, 1912, in New York, 'Abdu'l-Bahá told the Bahá'ís that He did not want them distinguished by wealth or worldly success, but by love, justice, steadfastness and service to humanity.
In Montreal in September 1912 'Abdu'l-Bahá addressed a Socialist Club. An address on economics He gave in Montreal compares humanity to one family and one body, and proposes a village storehouse so that no one remains in want.
Addressing the NAACP's Fourth Annual Conference in Chicago on April 30, 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá said that color is accidental, that the true measure of a person is spirit and intelligence, and that the purity of the heart is what matters.
At the Hotel Schenley in Pittsburgh on May 7, 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá set out six principles of Bahá'u'lláh's teachings, from the investigation of truth to the equality of man and woman, and said universal peace must come through spiritual power.
On October 7, 1912, at the Japanese Independent Church in Oakland, California, 'Abdu'l-Bahá told the Japanese Young Men's Christian Association that all war has come from prejudice, recalling a religious war He had seen in Rumelia.
In Adrianople Bahá'u'lláh revealed the Súriy-i-Mulúk, His first address to the kings of the world as a body, calling them to rule with justice, to settle their differences and to reduce their armaments.
Napoleon III left Bahá'u'lláh's first Tablet unanswered. The second, sent from 'Akká in 1869, warned that his empire would pass from his hands. In 1870 he was defeated at Sedan and taken prisoner, and his empire fell.
From the prison of 'Akká Bahá'u'lláh wrote to Queen Victoria, praising her for forbidding the slave trade and for entrusting counsel to the people's representatives, and calling on the rulers of the earth to hold fast to the Lesser Peace.
The pilgrim Roy Wilhelm observed that people of all classes and religions in ‘Akká came to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá for explanation of their scriptures and settlement of their disputes, and that a just Governor sent his son to Him for instruction.
Today, at table, let us speak for a little of proofs.
In Isaiah, chapter 11, verses 1 to 10, it is said: “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and…
We have before explained that what is most frequently meant by the Holy City, the Jerusalem of God, which is mentioned in the Holy Book, is the Law of God.
The honor and exaltation of every existing being depends upon causes and circumstances.
When we consider existence, we see that the mineral, vegetable, animal and human worlds are all in need of an educator.
Now we come to Muḥammad.
Question.—Is man a free agent in all his actions, or is he compelled and constrained?
Know that to do justice is to give to everyone according to his deserts.
Question.—Should a criminal be punished, or forgiven and his crime overlooked?
All men have proceeded from God and unto Him shall all return.
As a token of pure justice, We have indeed sent tidings unto every Prophet concerning the Cause of Our Remembrance, and verily God is supreme over all the peoples of the world.
This is an Epistle from Him Who is the true, the undoubted Leader.
O Sherif!...
O King of Islám!
O People of the Qur’án! Ye are as nothing unless ye submit unto the Remembrance of God and unto this Book.
O Peoples of the East and the West!
Say, ye will be unable to recognize the One True God or to discern clearly the words of divine guidance, inasmuch as ye seek and tread a path other than His.
There is no paradise, in the estimation of the believers in the Divine Unity, more exalted than to obey God’s commandments, and there is no fire in the eyes of those who have known God and His signs …
As to the difference between that material civilization now prevailing, and the divine civilization which will be one of the benefits to derive from the House of Justice, it is this: material civilization …
O ye beloved of the Lord! The Kingdom of God is founded upon equity and justice, and also upon mercy, compassion, and kindness to every living soul.
As to the question regarding the soul of a murderer, and what his punishment would be, the answer given was that the murderer must expiate his crime: that is, if they put the murderer to death, his death is his atonement for his crime …
O ye lovers of truth, ye servants of humankind! Out of the flowering of your thoughts and hopes, fragrant emanations have come my way, wherefore an inner sense of obligation compelleth me to pen these words.
O ye concourse of the Kingdom of Abhá!
O thou beloved maidservant of God! Thy letter was received and its contents revealed the fact that the friends, in perfect energy and vitality are engaged in the propagation of the heavenly teachings.
O respected personage! I have read your work, The Gospel of Wealth, and noted therein truly apposite and sound recommendations for easing the lot of humankind.
When the Governor of ‘Akká insulted the newly arrived prisoners and one of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s attendants answered him in rage, the Master rebuked the attendant on the spot. The Governor’s attitude changed, and he began to treat the prisoners more humanely.
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 …
O thou who art attracted toward the Kingdom!
Your letters have been received.
At a Washington luncheon held in His honour in 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá asked for Louis Gregory, who had not been on the guest list, and seated him at His right hand before the meal began.
The Master taught that divorce should not be made easier, but marriage more difficult. Lady Blomfield records two cases from the years of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in the Holy Land.
On April 30, 1912, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá told an NAACP conference in Chicago that color is of no importance. That evening, across the road, a tied Bahá’í election ended with Louis Gregory joining the governing board of Bahá’í Temple Unity.
In a parable from The Seven Valleys, a lover fleeing a watchman scales a garden wall and finds his beloved there, and sees that what seemed tyranny was a hidden mercy.
On pilgrimage to ‘Akká, Thomas Breakwell told ‘Abdu’l-Bahá that the cotton mills where he held his post were run on child labour; the Master told him to cable his resignation, and he gladly obeyed.
Near Lake Dublin, New Hampshire, in August 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke to a gathering of Black people about unity between Black and white, and told them of the coming marriage of Louisa Mathew and Louis Gregory.
I know not how long they shall ride the steed of desire and wander erringly in the desert of heedlessness and error.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá retells an Arabian chronicle: Hanzala, pledged to die on King Nu'man's Day of Evil, returned to keep his word, and his faithfulness brought the king and his ministers to faith in God.
Near Mardin, on the journey from Baghdad to Constantinople, two mules belonging to an Arab traveller were stolen. Bahá’u’lláh halted the caravan and refused money in their place until the animals themselves were restored to their owner.