The old alchemists searched for a substance that could turn base metal into gold. Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá take up that dream and give it to the soul. Touched by the divine Elixir, a dull heart becomes tender, black stone becomes diamond, an insignificant plant grows into a blessed tree, and timid, doubting people find themselves calm, certain and brave. Bahá’u’lláh sets a demanding measure on this hope: a Revelation that left human character unchanged would prove its own futility, for true transformation must show both in the inner life and in outward conditions. Augustine’s long struggle, ended in a single moment by a sentence of Paul [1], reminds us how suddenly such a change can come. Yet love, a timely word and service to an ailing world are also named as the means through which the Elixir works, day after day. To follow this thread is to enter the mystery of the second birth, of faith attained in the twinkling of an eye, and of the spirit of faith that remakes a person in the likeness of God.
So without the intermediary of the Holy Spirit man would remain dull, helpless and deprived of all attainment. But touched by that Divine Elixir he becomes tender, loving, responsive, and capable of every perfection of life.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words spoken ca. Oct. 1911 -- ABU0904)
02
O loved handmaidens of God! Consider not your present merits and capacities, rather fix your gaze on the favours and confirmations of the Blessed Beauty, because His everlasting grace will make of the insignificant plant a blessed tree, will turn the mirage into cool water and wine; will cause the forsaken atom to become the very essence of being, the puny one erudite in the school of knowledge. … It will transmute the stone into a ruby of great price, and fill the sea shells with brilliant pearls.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 1910-Jan-01, to Ladies Who Conduct Teaching Classes et al -- AB00616)
03
The bats have no share in the rays of the sun, and the ignorant have no portion in the world of mysteries - unless divine power transforms essences, turns dust into the philosopher's stone, makes stone into the ruby of Badakhshan, transforms black earth into the rose garden of mysteries, and awakens the eternally sleeping one to consciousness and awareness.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 1907-Jun ca., to Aqa Siyyid Ali Muhammad (Mazandaran) -- AB04948)
04
It is evident that nothing short of this mystic transformation could cause such spirit and behavior, so utterly unlike their previous habits and manners, to be made manifest in the world of being. For their agitation was turned into peace, their doubt into certitude, their timidity into courage. Such is the potency of the Divine Elixir, which, swift as the twinkling of an eye, transmuteth the souls of men!
… And yet, is not the object of every Revelation to effect a transformation in the whole character of mankind, a transformation that shall manifest itself, both outwardly and inwardly, that shall affect both its inner life and external conditions? For if the character of mankind be not changed, the futility of God's universal Manifestation would be apparent.
(Bahá’u’lláh, Kitab-i-Iqan (The Book of Certitude), 1278 ca. [1861-1862], to Haji Mirza Siyyid Muhammad, great uncle of the Bab (Khal-i-Akbar) -- BH00002)
05
Wherefore, relate thou the Teachings of the Abha Beauty to the urgent needs of this present day, and thou wilt see that they provide an instant remedy for the ailing body of the world. Indeed, they are the elixir that bringeth eternal health.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 1907-Mar-06, to E E Wrestling Brewster -- AB00276)
06
The sanctified souls should ponder and meditate in their hearts regarding the methods of teaching. From the texts of the wondrous, heavenly Scriptures they should memorize phrases and passages bearing on various instances, so that in the course of their speech they may recite divine verses whenever the occasion demandeth it, inasmuch as these holy verses are the most potent elixir, the greatest and mightiest talisman.
I beg of Thee, O my God, by Thy most exalted Word which Thou hast ordained as the Divine Elixir unto all who are in Thy realm, the Elixir through whose potency the crude metal of human life hath been transmuted into purest gold, O Thou in Whose hands are both the visible and invisible kingdoms, to ordain that my choice be conformed to Thy choice and my wish to Thy wish, that I may be entirely content with that which Thou didst desire, and be wholly satisfied with what Thou didst destine for me by Thy bounteousness and favor.
No more than a mere handful, however, hath been found willing to cleave to His Cause, or to become the instruments for its promotion. These few have been endued with the Divine Elixir that can, alone, transmute into purest gold the dross of the world, and have been empowered to administer the infallible remedy for all the ills that afflict the children of men.
It is as though you have changed the black stone into diamond. It is as though you have transmuted metal into gold, Satan into angel, animal into man.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words to visitors, spoken at Hotel Marquardt on 1913-Apr-05 -- ABU3373)
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11
Love is, indeed, a most potent elixir that can transform the vilest and meanest of people into heavenly souls.
LG#741 (6 Dec. 1935 on behalf of Shoghi Effendi)
Supplied quotation · catalogue passage not verified
12
The power of God can entirely transmute our characters and make of us beings entirely unlike our previous selves.
(22 Nov. 1941 on behalf of Shoghi Effendi, in compilation on the importance of prayer, meditation and the devotional attitude, p. 15)
Supplied quotation · catalogue passage not verified
13
The elixir frequently appears in the Bab's writings as a mystical symbol representing absolute actualization: the stage of the realization of truth, which is the realization of the Supreme Origin and End at the level of phenomenal being... It is by virtue of this perfect self-realization that the elixir can attain ascendancy over other things and is the catalyst which enables them to realize their latent qualities. Since the sign of God is present within all beings, a trace of the elixir exists within all things. The early writings of the Bab refer to His station as the station of the "true Elixir".
(N. Saidei, in GOH.105)
Supplied quotation · catalogue passage not verified
Sentence boundary needs source review; the supplied wording is retained.