Greed and envy: recovering the freedom to see

O children of understanding! If the eyelid, however delicate, can deprive man's outer eye from beholding the world and all that is therein, consider then what would be wrought if the veil of covetousness were to descend upon his inner eye. Say: O people! The darkness of greed and envy becloudeth the radiance of the soul even as the clouds obstruct the light of the sun.

… The heart is the treasury of My mystery; surrender it not into the hand of covetous desires.

Suffer not the habitation wherein dwelleth My undying love for thee to be destroyed through the tyranny of covetous desires, and overcloud not the beauty of the heavenly Youth with the dust of self and passion.

… Ye are even as the bird which soareth, with the full force of its mighty wings and with complete and joyous confidence, through the immensity of the heavens, until, impelled to satisfy its hunger, it turneth longingly to the water and clay of the earth below it, and, having been entrapped in the mesh of its desire, findeth itself impotent to resume its flight to the realms whence it came. … Wherefore, O My servants, defile not your wings with the clay of waywardness and vain desires, and suffer them not to be stained with the dust of envy and hate, that ye may not be hindered from soaring in the heavens of My divine knowledge.

He had everything but he had attained to the station of sacrifice; I had nothing - only a donkey - yet was I attached to it.'

Do not attach your hearts to the worldly possessions. Attachments alloys happiness. There are some people who dream that if they had 10 thousand dollars they would be happy; but they do not know that those who have already 10,000 dollars are unhappy and are sad because they do not have 100,000 dollars and so on. If you want to be happy, attach your hearts to nothing.

As for J. and his great greed about which this helpless one wrote, you are witness to how much this servant was thinking about calming his greed. Even what you presented, I said to give to him, perhaps the fire of greed would be calmed. Despite this, no fruit was observed, and "On the Day We will say to Hell, 'Have you been filled?' and it will say, 'Are there any more?'"

Life to many rich men is nothing but a heavy burden. They are "wood carriers." Instead of a blessing wealth becomes a great calamity to them. The supervision of their colossal fortunes and their proper financial administration becomes the sole object of their lives. Day and night, asleep and awake, they think and work to make their piles larger and that of others smaller till finally they become mere money machines devoid of any other feeling or of higher emotions, wild-eyed, always hungering for more. Greed and selfishness become the dominant influences of their lives.

Among the people is he who, when he witnesseth one gazing upon his home, he desireth, in his anger, to kill him. But erelong his enemies shall seize that which is in his home, and he will find himself in manifest loss. And among the people is he who, if he lacks but a single dinar, his face will turn dark with covetousness. When death overtakes him the hand of separation severs him from that which he had avidly amassed.

Night and day they are consumed by the fire of greed and deprived of the light of detachment. With all their soul they strive after wealth and glory, heedless of to whom this wealth shall revert the following day and who shall inherit this glory.

He possessed three hundred and sixty palaces, and in each palace was a renowned maiden. He would not spend more than one day and night in any single palace. Moreover, whichever maiden's turn it was would arrange all manner of music, song, and pleasure for him on her appointed night. When he was about to die, he said all of this was vain. He wept, saying "Why did I waste my life? Why did I spend my time like children occupied with such things whose end is manifest loss?

Rejoice not in the world and whatsoever it contains. By God's life! Every treasure hath been and is the cause of infinite grief and sorrow and regret. Never hath any perishable thing been the cause of independence, nor shall it ever be.

Greed and avarice have conquered the entire world. Should one observe with penetrating vision, one would see all under the talons of these two oppressors. War and strife in the world emanate from these two, and the conflict and corruption of nations are manifest through them. Every person of power is powerless before them, and every mighty conqueror is non-existent and null before their dominion.

No good deed appears from such people from their avarice and greed in amassing wealth. All their wealth comes from the efforts of the poor. They compel the poor to work, and from their toil, accumulate their wealth. If they were not greedy, so much wealth would not have been amassed.

It is very strange how the possession of a few spans of earth blinds men to justice and fairness. He became neglectful and heedless, forgetting God in their mad haste after wealth and trampling upon the rights of others.

The fire of greed and avarice appeared with a strange flame in that city, burning away spiritual qualities, and in its place the fire of envy was kindled.

Again the greed and avarice of Muhammad-'Ali in the Great City blazed forth and the hidden contents of his breast were revealed, despite having received the utmost outward kindness and having attained apparent prestige and considerable wealth. Suddenly he appeared with complete arrogance, consorting and associating with enemies of every kind. Greed set his very foundations ablaze, and passion made its home in his heart.

Among the people is he who believed, then denied, and wrongfully consumed the property of others, uttering that which none before him had ever uttered. … He cast aside righteousness and piety when he was consumed by the fire of greed and passion.

In the Persian tongue I make mention: in these days, heedless souls have, in their greed for wealth, turned away from the Truth. To such a degree are they aflame with the fire of avarice and desire that the pen is powerless to describe it.

Yet one is astonished at souls who, without cause and merely out of greed, avarice and passion, cling to all manner of evil and emerge thus. Glory be to God! Love of transient ornaments hath so seized them that they have become utterly deprived of human qualities.

The world-consuming greed hath encompassed creation, save whom God willeth.

All are observed to be fettered by the chains of self and desire, save whom God willeth.

One day he is a prisoner of wealth, another day he hungers for fame; now he is moved by the love of glory, then he aspires for distinction. Today he is bound with the ties of family, tomorrow he is caught in the fire of concupiscence; now he is a slave to his anger, anon a thrall to passion and fury. Indeed God has fashioned him with majestic splendors but he has encircled himself with infernal terrors.

People give their lives for the sake of dust, forsake all things, and sacrifice themselves - all this stems from base ambition. When ambition becomes debased, it descends to every passion. For instance, it descends to a cup of wine. One squanders all he has for wine.

Greed and avarice are ingrained in human nature.

For desire is a flame that has reduced to ashes uncounted lifetime harvests of the learned, a devouring fire that even the vast sea of their accumulated knowledge could never quench.

… Yet the pursuit of passion and desire will wrap the eyes in a thousand veils that rise out of the heart to blind the sight and the insight as well.

Desire and self come in the door And blot out virtue, bright before,

And a hundred veils will rise From the heart, to blind the eyes.

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The reason why some missionaries, monks, etc. who spend their whole time in praying and reading holy books, do not accept this, is because though they act in this way, their hearts are really still with the world.

Say: O ye workers of iniquity! Covetousness hath hindered you from giving a hearing ear unto the sweet voice of Him Who is the All-Sufficing. Wash it away from your hearts, that His Divine secret may be made known unto you.

The Blessed Beauty sent someone to Istanbul to see why there was no news of him. When he was contacted, he said to the envoy, 'God is in this box,' meaning that God is money.

The envoy returned and reported the situation to the Blessed Beauty, who then became very sad. He said, 'We will take it from him the same way We gave it to him.'

One group sought pomp and wealth and yearned for grandeur and glory. When they witnessed the tribulations in the path of God, they fled and became restless.

Had the world been of any worth in His sight, He surely would never have allowed His enemies to possess it, even to the extent of a grain of mustard seed. He hath, however, caused you to be entangled with its affairs, in return for what your hands have wrought in His Cause. This, indeed, is a chastisement which ye, of your own will, have inflicted upon yourselves, could ye but perceive it.

Thoughts of wealth and riches, as well as hopes of rank and glory, are sheer illusion. God has cast these thoughts into our minds only so that this world might prosper; apart from this, they are of no importance.

There are some people who make this short span of life miserable to themselves and others because they harbor "envy" in their hearts. Envy is the most despicable quality in man. Some people are so filled with it that they cannot see their friends receive greater privileges and higher promotions in life. Like poison it kills all their nobler sentiments. Envy lowers the station of man and makes him a supreme egoist and self-centred.

But every illness has a cure and every ailment a remedy, except the disease of jealousy, which has absolutely no cure, and love and loyalty yield no result.

Practice contentment in all conditions; through it the soul is preserved from lassitude and ill condition. Avoid anxiety and grief, for through them comes a dire affliction. Say: Envy consumeth the body and anger burneth the liver. Shun these two as ye would a lion.

6. O SON OF EARTH! Know, verily, the heart wherein the least remnant of envy yet lingers, shall never attain My everlasting dominion, nor inhale the sweet savors of holiness breathing from My kingdom of sanctity.

… Abandon not the everlasting beauty for a beauty that must die, and set not your affections on this mortal world of dust.

… The candle of thine heart is lighted by the hand of My power, quench it not with the contrary winds of self and passion.

… Purge thy heart from malice and, innocent of envy, enter the divine court of holiness.

So if you should see a man coveting property and evincing greed toward the wealth of others, know that he is not of the people of Baha.

Our desire is for them to grow focused on God, for hearts to shine with radiance, for thoughts to be expanded, for them to become informed of heavenly realms, for greed and avidity to be erased, for reliance on God to be universal, and for people to be satisfied with their status and not invade other people's possessions.

Most people have been consumed by the fire of greed and desire while they perceive it not. Blessed is the soul that hath cast off the garment of greed and departed from the world out of love for God, the Protector, the Self-Subsisting.

Say: O people, abandon what ye possess and hold fast unto that which your Lord, the Mighty, the Loving, commandeth you. Nothing shall profit you this day, nor shall the treasures of the earth avail you, could ye but know.

He said: It would be difficult for that ship, with the weight of a world of its own merchandise of suspicions, vain imaginings, greed and avarice, to reach its destination except by the will of God, the Lord of all worlds.

Men in their present condition are ignorant of that world, and therefore they wish to remain here. Their utmost desire is to live here always- like a bird in a cage. But the bird which has known the flower garden will not wish to be confined in the cage. If he finds himself there, his desire will be to escape from it that he may return to the garden. So when a man is delivered, he will not wish to return. He will never desire to descend-to be exiled from the godly world and come back to this dark world.