disregarding individual capacity; weakness
Editorial introduction
Not every star can be of the first magnitude, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá once said, but each can shine where it is set; and not one of us can do everything, but everyone can cheer or comfort someone. That modest truth is the threshold to something far bolder. Look not to your own capacity, He writes again and again to people who had confessed their weakness, but to the grace of the Ancient Beauty, who can make an ant into a Solomon, a drop into an ocean, an atom into a sun, black soil into a garden. The blessings themselves create the worthiness; the very fact that someone has turned toward God is proof of a capacity they thought they lacked. None of this excuses the farmer from ploughing. Rain and seed need his labour, and the counsel is always to resolve, to pray for assistance and then to rise and begin, however small the gathering or weak the body. The same hope is owed to other people, whose capacities deserve the generosity we ask for our own. Paul, told that grace was sufficient and strength made perfect in weakness, found the same reversal at the heart of his faith [1]. The journey continues into divine confirmations, the development of capacity and readiness, and the differences in human capacity that grace does not erase.
It was not given to every star in the heavens to be the first magnitude, but it was given to each star to shine in the position assigned to it, no matter what might be its size or importance.
So, not any one of us can do everything, but everyone can do something to cheer, comfort or to encourage someone who is struggling along the pathway of life.
Look not to your own capacity and ability. Rather, look to the grace and bounty of the Ancient Beauty, Who can make an ant into a Solomon, and a drop into a vast ocean, Who can turn an atom into a sun and a mirage into a sweet flowing sea, Who can make black soil full of flowers and plants and a colorless stone into a royal pearl. If you look to His gifts and bounties, you will become the very essence of hope from head to toe, but if we look to ourselves, we become hopeless and despondent.
Know that the blessings of the Kingdom of Abha are not dependent upon the capacity and the worthiness of any one; the blessings themselves are the worthiness. As the action itself, when it reaches the thing acted upon, makes it (that which is acted upon) the action,--so the blessings themselves then become identical with worthiness. In like manner, when the action itself descends upon the recipient, the recipient becomes the action.
And do not look to lack of capacity or weakness of ability, for capacity and ability depend upon the bounty of your Lord, and your Lord's bounty has never been forbidden.
O thou who art attracted to the Fragrances of God!
Consider not thy capacity and merit, nay rather consider the grace of thy Lord, the Clement, the Merciful.
This is from God's grace and bounty, not from personal capacity and capability.
Thou hast spoken concerning thy lack of ability and capacity. Wert thou without ability and capacity, thou wouldst not have advanced toward the Kingdom of ABHA.
O thou who art related to Fadl [Grace]!
This distinguished name means the manifestation of divine grace, and among its requirements is that in thy conduct, behavior and speech thou shouldst not consider the capacity and worthiness of people.
We must not look to our own capacity and ability - we must look to the great confirmations of the Lord of the Kingdom, which through the bounty of rain and the farmer's effort can make a seed into a robust and fruitful tree.
Whenever there is any work to be done and I see that physically I am not equal to it, I have just to resolve and supplicate Divine Assistance and arise in its performance. It will be done without delay.
In any case, do not look at your weak body and limited thoughts - look to the favors and bounties of the Lord of the Kingdom, for His confirmation is mighty and His power is without equal or likeness.
The physical side of his life is weak and easily overcome but the ideal side of his life is the all-conquerer. The physical side of man is like an animal but the ideal aspect of his existence is humanistic - Physically man is aggressive, tyrannical, ignorant, overbearing, blood thirsty; - ideally he is just, gentle, wise, patient and benevolent.
When I look to my own capacity and capability, I have no hope at all, but when I consider the divine confirmations and indubitable assistances of the Desired One, I see the gnat as an eagle and observe the mosquito with rainbow wings - and this is certain, absolute truth.
If a lamp is extinguished and darkened, this has no bearing on the brilliant sun and radiant moon. Keep thy attention and vision fixed upon the sun, not the atom. Gaze upon the ocean, not the drop.
One must not look at oneis self, for the more he does this, the more he sees his faults and feels guilty and useless. But when he looks at God, he feels God is near to him, and feels Godis power, Greatness, Bounty and Love. If we look at ourselves, we see only our weakness.
Do not look to your own capacity, place your trust in the Kingdom of Abha, for the Kingdom of Abha makes an atom into a sun, a drop into an ocean, the weak strong, the ignorant knowing, the blind seeing, the mute speaking, the deaf hearing.
Look not to thine own capacity; rather must thou look to the favors of the Blessed Beauty, for His outpourings are endless and His grace and bounty are limitless. He transformeth the sparrow of faithlessness into the nightingale of fidelity, and bestoweth upon the weak ant the throne of Solomon's sovereignty. He maketh the black earth a rose garden, and granteth the sinful servant shelter in the sanctuary of His mercy.
Therefore, do not look to your own capacity and worthiness, but rather look to the endless favors of the Blessed Beauty and rely on the breathings of the Holy Spirit. If the rays of the Sun of Truth shine forth, metaphors become reality, and if that confirmation does not arrive, all realities become metaphor. The meaning is that when divine assistance comes, a drop becomes an ocean, and when assistance is cut off, the sun becomes an atom.
Look not to thine own capacity and capability. Turn thy gaze to the Abha Kingdom, for that eternal rain of bounty causes flowers and tulips to grow from rock, and the rays of the Sun of Reality nurture brilliant diamonds in the heart of stone.
Look not to your own power and capacity - consider instead the bestowal of the Ancient Beauty, may my spirit be sacrificed for His teacher-believers.
You must trust in the favors of the Blessed Beauty which can change a gnat into a phoenix, a drop into an ocean, a stone into a diamond and an atom into a world-illuminating sun. You must not look to your own capacities but to the bounties of the Abha Kingdom.
The object which I wish to convey to you is this - you should not look at your capacity or ability, nay, rather, rely upon the confirmation of the Holy Spirit - do not doubt. Be confident and sure. It will help you.
You must not consider your own capabilities. You must consider how great are the favours of God.
Do not look to your own capacity - look to the divine confirmations. If you arise to serve the Kingdom as you should and must, you will observe that the heavenly divine confirmations will arrive successively.
Whatever occurred was His confirmation, else what capacity or power did we possess? Praise be to God, the Mighty Sovereign wages war with the hosts of the near angels and achieves great victories in East and West.
They should not look to their own capacity, but rather rely and trust in the favors of the Lord of Majesty, so that they may become the dawning-places of lights and the manifestation of "We wish to show favor unto those who were brought low in the land, and to make them leaders, and to make them inheritors."
Do not look to your own capacity - divine confirmations will reach you. I was a weak imprisoned servant, but divine confirmations arrived.
In any case, O handmaiden of God, do not look to weakness and inability, but rather gallop in this field through the power of the love of God, and become the cause of enthusiasm and joy in Shiraz, that private chamber of mysteries.
Rely not therefore on thy capacities but in the effusive grace of the All Loving Lord and be firm at all times, be stalwart and serene in the Covenant and Testament.
If we do not like to associate with some people, very well, it is not compulsory. We can let them alone and become so busy with constructive work, that there is no time to waste upon such matters.
Look not to thine own capacity; rather, consider the divine bounty that can transform a drop into an ocean and make of a gnat a Solomon. He can cause Bilal the Habashi to excel over a Qurayshi chief, and make a Qurayshi Abu Lahab assume the features and disposition of a Habashi. This is not difficult for God.
Look upon the infinite Bounties of God. Do not look upon thine own incapability. Although the earth is the black soil, yet through the downpour of rain and the heat of the sun, flowers and anemones shall grow therefrom.
Do ye not look upon your own capability and merit.
… Therefore in this glorious Cause we must not consider our own capabilities but rather expect the Graces of God.
For thought and discussion