Not every game is suspect. Asked whether the prohibition of gambling and lotteries condemns games of every kind, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá answers plainly that some are innocent and harmless as pastime, and then adds the quiet caution that pastime can degenerate into waste of time. The real teaching lies in a habit of attention: the wise person, He says, looks at the consequences of a thing rather than its beginning. A cup of wine brings a moment of elation and hides the harm that follows; gambling works the same way, the thrill of the first wager concealing what it costs over months and years. Bahá’u’lláh sets the ban on gambling beside the ban on opium, within a wider care for the body and the mind. The Buddha’s discourse to Sigāla follows gambling into its six consequences, hostility, grief, loss and the wearing away of trust [1]. Recreation that truly refreshes a life asks the same discernment that alcohol and tobacco do, and finds its counterweight in useful occupation and the honest work of a trade or profession.
Question: "Does the Baha'i prohibition of gambling and lotteries forbid games of every description?"
Answer: "No, some games are innocent, and if pursued for pastime there is no harm. But there is danger that pastime may degenerate into waste of time.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words to Louis Gregory, spoken on 1911-Apr-10 -- ABU3354)
02
The wise person sees the consequences of matters, not their beginnings. For example, one drinks a cup of wine. Temporarily one feels elation and joy, but does not see the hangover and harm that follows. Gambling is the same way...
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words spoken on 1915-Aug-02 in Haifa -- ABU2055)
The available source contains an omission or incomplete wording; sentence boundaries need review.
03
God hath forbidden the practice of idolatry and transgression, and diversion through gambling, and the consumption of wine, for these are abominations of Satan's handiwork. Therefore put your trust in God, your true Protector, and verily God encompasseth all things.
(The Báb, Qayyumu'l-Asma' (Commentary on the Surah of Joseph), 1260-05 [1844-May] -- BB00002)
04
Gambling and the use of opium have been forbidden unto you. Eschew them both, O people, and be not of those who transgress. Beware of using any substance that induceth sluggishness and torpor in the human temple and inflicteth harm upon the body.
(Bahá’u’lláh, Kitab-i-Aqdas (The Most Holy Book), 1290-05-15 [1873-Jul-11] -- BH00001)
What helps a person recognize when a pastime is ceasing to refresh life and beginning to consume attention, time, or relationships?
How does the Buddhist account of consequences deepen the discussion of gambling, and what does the distinction between a general rule and the judgment of particular activities bring into view?
How do the differing settings of the prohibition and the reported conversations affect what can be concluded from each?