Quote of the Day

[arthra]

O God!

Educate these children.

These children are the plants of Thine orchard, the flowers of Thy meadow, the roses of Thy garden.

Let Thy rain fall upon them; let the Sun of Reality shine upon them with Thy love.

Let Thy breeze refresh them in order that they may be trained, grow and develop, and appear in the utmost beauty.

Thou art the Giver. Thou art the Compassionate.

— 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Bahá'í Prayers​

 

[arthra]

O my God! O my God!

Verily, thy servant, humble before the majesty of Thy divine supremacy, lowly at the door of Thy oneness, hath believed in Thee and in Thy verses, hath testified to Thy word, hath been enkindled with the fire of Thy love, hath been immersed in the depths of the ocean of Thy knowledge, hath been attracted by Thy breezes, hath relied upon Thee, hath turned his face to Thee, hath offered his supplications to Thee, and hath been assured of Thy pardon and forgiveness. He hath abandoned this mortal life and hath flown to the kingdom of immortality, yearning for the favor of meeting Thee.
O Lord, glorify his station, shelter him under the pavilion of Thy supreme mercy, cause him to enter Thy glorious paradise, and perpetuate his existence in Thine exalted rose garden, that he may plunge into the sea of light in the world of mysteries.Verily, Thou art the Generous, the Powerful, the Forgiver and the Bestower.

— 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Bahá'í Prayers, Pages 46-47

 

[arthra]

Dispel my grief by Thy bounty and Thy generosity, O God, my God, and banish mine anguish through Thy sovereignty and Thy might. Thou seest me, O my God, with my face set towards Thee at a time when sorrows have compassed me on every side. I implore Thee, O Thou Who art the Lord of all being, and overshadowest all things visible and invisible, by Thy Name whereby Thou hast subdued the hearts and the souls of men, and by the billows of the Ocean of Thy mercy and the splendors of the Daystar of Thy bounty, to number me with them whom nothing whatsoever hath deterred from setting their faces toward Thee, O Thou Lord of all names and Maker of the heavens!

Thou beholdest, O my Lord, the things which have befallen me in Thy days. I entreat Thee, by Him Who is the Dayspring of Thy names and the Dawning-Place of Thine attributes, to ordain for me what will enable me to arise to serve Thee and to extol Thy virtues. Thou art, verily, the Almighty, the Most Powerful, Who art wont to answer the prayers of all men!

And, finally, I beg of Thee by the light of Thy countenance to bless my affairs, and redeem my debts, and satisfy my needs. Thou art He to Whose power and to Whose dominion every tongue hath testified, and Whose majesty and Whose sovereignty every understanding heart hath acknowledged. No God is there but Thee, Who hearest and art ready to answer.

—Bahá’u’lláh

 

[arthra]

O Thou forgiving Lord!Although some souls have spent the days of their lives in ignorance, and became estranged and contumacious, yet, with one wave from the ocean of Thy forgiveness, all those encompassed by sin will be set free. Whomsoever Thou willest Thou makest a confidant, and whosoever is not the object of Thy choice is accounted a transgressor. Shouldst Thou deal with us with Thy justice, we are all naught but sinners and deserving to be shut out from Thee, but shouldst Thou uphold mercy, every sinner would be made pure and every stranger a friend. Bestow, then, Thy forgiveness and pardon, and grant Thy mercy unto all.Thou art the Forgiver, the Lightgiver and the Omnipotent.

— 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Bahá'í Prayers

 

[arthra]

Glorified art Thou, O Lord my God! I implore Thee by the onrushing winds of Thy grace, and by them Who are the Daysprings of Thy purpose and the Dawning-Places of Thine inspiration, to send down upon me and upon all that have sought Thy face that which beseemeth thy generosity and bountiful grace, and is worthy of Thy bestowals and favors. Poor and desolate I am, O my Lord! Immerse me in the ocean of Thy Wealth; athirst, suffer me to drink from the living waters of Thy loving-kindness.I beseech Thee, by Thine own Self and by Him Whom Thou hast appointed as the Manifestation of Thine own Being and Thy discriminating Word unto all that are in heaven and on earth, to gather together Thy servants beneath the shade of the Tree of Thy gracious providence. Help them, then, to partake of its fruits, to incline their ears to the rustling of its leaves, and to the sweetness of the voice of the Bird that chanteth upon its branches.

Thou art, verily, the Help in Peril, the Inaccessible, the Almighty, the Most Bountiful.

— Bahá'u'lláh, Bahá'í Prayers

 

[arthra]

O peoples of the earth!

Verily His Remembrance is come to you from God after an interval during which there were no Messengers,1 that He may purge and purify you from uncleanliness in anticipation of the Day of the One true God;

therefore seek ye whole-heartedly divine blessings from Him, inasmuch as We have, in truth, chosen Him to be the Witness and the Source of wisdom unto all that dwell on earth. . .

— The Báb, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, Page 621 cf. Qur'án 5:21

 

[arthra]

O THOU cherished Fruit of the heart!

Give ear to the melodies of this mystic Bird warbling in the loftiest heights of heaven.

The Lord hath, in truth, inspired Me to proclaim: Verily, verily, I am God, He besides Whom there is none other God. He is the Almighty, the All-Wise.
O My servants! Seek ye earnestly this highest reward, as I have indeed created for the Remembrance of God gardens which remain inscrutable to anyone save Myself, and naught therein hath been made lawful unto anyone except those whose lives have been sacrificed in His Path. Hence beseech ye God, the Most Exalted, that He may grant you this meritorious reward, and He is in truth the Most High, the Most Great. Had it been Our wish, We would have brought all men into one fold round Our Remembrance, yet they will not cease to differ,1 unless God accomplish what He willeth through the power of truth. In the estimation of the Remembrance this commandment hath, in very truth, been irrevocably ordained. . .God hath indeed chosen Thee to warn the people, to guide the believers aright and to elucidate the secrets of the Book.

— The Báb, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, Page 67 1 cf. Qur'án 11:120

 

[arthra]

O my Lord! O my Lord!

This is a lamp lighted by the fire of Thy love and ablaze with the flame which is ignited in the tree of Thy mercy. O my Lord! Increase his enkindlement, heat and flame, with the fire which is kindled in the Sinai of Thy Manifestation. Verily, Thou art the Confirmer, the Assister, the Powerful, the Generous, the Loving.

— 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Bahá'í Prayers

 

[arthra]

O God! We are as plants, and Thy bounty is as the rain; refresh and cause these plants to grow through Thy bestowal. We are Thy servants; free us from the fetters of material existence. We are ignorant; make us wise. We are dead; make us alive. We are material; endow us with spirit. We are deprived; make us the intimates of Thy mysteries. We are needy; enrich and bless us from Thy boundless treasury. O God! Resuscitate us; give us sight; give us hearing; familiarize us with the mysteries of life, so that the secrets of Thy kingdom may become revealed to us in this world of existence and we may confess Thy oneness. Every bestowal emanates from Thee; every benediction is Thine.Thou art mighty. Thou art powerful. Thou art the Giver, and Thou art the Ever-Bounteous.

— 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Bahá'í Prayershttp://www.bahairesearch.com/language.aspx

 

[arthra]

Say:

God hath made My hidden love the key to the Treasure;

would that ye might perceive it!

But for the key, the Treasure would to all eternity have remained concealed; would that ye might believe it!

Say:

This is the Source of Revelation, the Dawning-place of Splendour, Whose brightness hath illumined the horizons of the world.

Would that ye might understand!

This is, verily, that fixed Decree through which every irrevocable decree hath been established.

— Bahá'u'lláh, The Kitáb-i-Aqdas,

 

[arthra]

O my God! Let the outpourings of Thy bounty and blessings descend upon homes whose inmates have embraced Thy Faith, as a token of Thy grace and as a mark of loving-kindness from Thy presence. Verily, unsurpassed art Thou in granting forgiveness. Should Thy bounty be withheld from anyone, how could he be reckoned among the followers of the Faith in Thy Day?Bless me, O my God, and those who will believe in Thy signs on the appointed Day, and such as cherish my love in their hearts - a love which Thou dost instill into Them. Verily, Thou art the Lord of righteousness, the Most Exalted.

— The Báb, Bahá'í Prayers

 

[arthra]

Glorified, immensely glorified art Thou! Thou art He Who from everlasting hath been the King of the entire creation and its Prime Mover, and Thou wilt to everlasting remain the Lord of all created things and their Ordainer. Glorified art thou, O my God! If Thou ceasest to be merciful unto Thy servants, who, then, will show mercy unto them; and if Thou refusest to succor thy loved ones, who is there that can succor them?Glorified, immeasurably glorified art Thou! Thou art adored in Thy truth, and Thee do we all, verily, worship; and Thou art manifest in Thy justice, and to Thee do we all, verily, bear witness. Thou art, in truth, beloved in Thy grace. No God is there but Thee, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.

— Bahá'u'lláh, Bahá'í Prayers

 

[arthra]

Say: God sufficeth all things above all things, and nothing in the heavens or in the earth but God sufficeth. Verily, He is in Himself the Knower, the Sustainer, the Omnipotent.

—The Báb

 

[arthra]

DO men imagine that We are far distant from the people of the world?

Nay, the day We cause them to be assailed by the pangs of death they shall, upon the plain of Resurrection, behold how the Lord of Mercy and His Remembrance were near.

Thereupon they shall exclaim:

‘Would that we had followed the path of the Báb! Would that we had sought refuge only with Him, and not with men of perversity and error!

For verily the Remembrance of God appeared before us, behind us, and on all sides, yet we were, in very truth, shut out as by a veil from Him.’

~ "Selections from the Writings of the Bab" Chapter VII.

 

[arthra]

O GOD our Lord! Protect us through Thy grace from whatsoever may be repugnant unto Thee and vouchsafe unto us that which well beseemeth Thee. Give us more out of Thy bounty and bless us. Pardon us for the things we have done and wash away our sins and forgive us with Thy gracious forgiveness. Verily Thou art the Most Exalted, the Self-Subsisting.

Thy loving providence hath encompassed all created things in the heavens and on the earth, and Thy forgiveness hath surpassed the whole creation. Thine is sovereignty; in Thy hand are the Kingdoms of Creation and Revelation; in Thy right hand Thou holdest all created things and within Thy grasp are the assigned measures of forgiveness. Thou forgivest whomsoever among Thy servants Thou pleasest.

Verily Thou art the Ever-Forgiving, the All-Loving. Nothing whatsoever escapeth Thy knowledge, and naught is there which is hidden from Thee.

O God our Lord! Protect us through the potency of Thy might, enable us to enter Thy wondrous surging ocean, and grant us that which well befitteth Thee.
Thou art the Sovereign Ruler, the Mighty Doer, the Exalted, the All-loving.

- The Bab

 

[arthra]

Glorified, immensely glorified art Thou! Thou art He Who from everlasting hath been the King of the entire creation and its Prime Mover, and Thou wilt to everlasting remain the Lord of all created things and their Ordainer. Glorified art thou, O my God! If Thou ceasest to be merciful unto Thy servants, who, then, will show mercy unto them; and if Thou refusest to succor thy loved ones, who is there that can succor them? Glorified, immeasurably glorified art Thou! Thou art adored in Thy truth, and Thee do we all, verily, worship; and Thou art manifest in Thy justice, and to Thee do we all, verily, bear witness. Thou art, in truth, beloved in Thy grace. No God is there but Thee, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.

— Bahá'u'lláh, Bahá'í Prayers

 

[arthra]

O Qurratu'l-'Ayn!1

Proclaim that which hath been sent down unto Thee as a token of the grace of the merciful Lord, for if Thou do it not, Our secret will never be made known to the people,2 while the purpose of God in creating man is but for him to know Him.

Indeed God hath knowledge of all things and is self-sufficient above the need of all mankind.

— The Báb, From "Selections from the Writings of the Bab", Pages 61-62
1 In these passages of the Qayyúmu'l-Asmá' the name Qurratu'l-'Ayn (Solace of the Eyes) refers to the Báb Himself.2 cf. Qur'án 5:71

 

[arthra]

MY SERVANT!

Free thyself from the fetters of this world, and loose thy soul from the prison of self. Seize thy chance, for it will come to thee no more.

— Bahá'u'lláh, The Hidden Words

 

[arthra]

The unity which is productive of unlimited results is first a unity of mankind which recognizes that all are sheltered beneath the overshadowing glory of the All-Glorious; that all are servants of one God; for all breathe the same atmosphere, live upon the same earth, move beneath the same heavens, receive effulgence from the same sun and are under the protection of one God. This is the most great unity, and its results are lasting if humanity adheres to it; but mankind has hitherto violated it, adhering to sectarian or other limited unities such as racial, patriotic or unity of self-interests; therefore no great results have been forthcoming. Nevertheless it is certain that the radiance and favors of God are encompassing, minds have developed, perceptions have become acute, sciences and arts are widespread and capacity exists for the proclamation and promulgation of the real and ultimate unity of mankind which will bring forth marvelous results.

~ Abdul-Baha

 

[arthra]

O YE DWELLERS IN THE HIGHEST PARADISE!

Proclaim unto the children of assurance that within the realms of holiness, nigh unto the celestial paradise, a new garden hath appeared, round which circle the denizens of the realm on high and the immortal dwellers of the exalted paradise.

Strive, then, that ye may attain that station, that ye may unravel the mysteries of love from its wind-flowers and learn the secret of divine and consummate wisdom from its eternal fruits.

Solaced are the eyes of them that enter and abide therein!

— Bahá'u'lláh,