He spent his days in utter bliss. Here, too, he carried on a small business, which occupied him from morning till noon. In the afternoons he would take his samovar, wrap it in a dark-colored pouch made from a saddlebag, and go off somewhere to a garden or meadow, or out in a field, and have his tea.
Muhammad-'Ali would carefully consider every blessing that came his way. "How delicious my tea is today," he would comment. "What perfume, what color! How lovely this meadow is, and the flowers so bright!" He used to say that everything, even air and water, had its own special fragrance. For him the days passed in indescribable delight. Even kings were not so happy as this old man, the people said. "He is completely free of the world," they would declare. "He lives in joy."
Happiness: gratitude, inward freedom, and the joy we give
happiness; joyfulness; joy and sorrow
Editorial introduction
An old man wrapped his samovar in a saddlebag each afternoon, carried it to a meadow, and marvelled at the colour of his tea. People said kings were not so happy. His gladness owed nothing to possessions, and that is where ‘Abdu’l-Bahá begins: happiness is a star in every heart, hidden only by clouds, and a candle lit in the heart drives out the gloom of evil suggestions. He called his own forty years of imprisonment years of supreme joy, and likened the heart to an ocean, storm-tossed on the surface, calm in its depths. Yet this inward freedom turns outward at once, into the command to bring joy to hearts, to console the sad, to keep a cheerful face for the sake of the glad tidings within. Sorrow is given its place, and joy promised after it. The Dhammapada’s picture of living happily and without hostility among the hostile offers a companion from another tradition [1]. From here the journey leads to serenity, to humour within a balanced life, to the radiant countenance that lightens other people, and to the virtuous life in which joy finally rests.
Selected passages
Although the spiritual friends experience continuous and sustained divine joy, if spiritual and physical happiness are joined together it becomes joy upon joy and light upon light. Surely it will become better and more pleasant and more attractive and more satisfying and sweeter.
God willing, may you be joyous at all times, and should any sorrow touch you, know with certainty that after it joy is ordained. Indeed, divine bounty towards thee is beyond reckoning.
If the candle of happiness is ignited in the chamber of the heart all the foreboding gloom of evil suggestions will be dispelled.
My home is the home of happiness. My home is the home of Unity. My home is the home of Peace. My home is the home of joy and delight. My home is the home of laughter and exultation. Whosoever enters through the portals of this home must go out with a gladsome heart. This is the home of Light, whosoever enters therein must become illumined.
This is what causes joy in the human heart - to be accepted at the threshold of the Divine Unity. Then one's heart is always in the utmost gladness, and even if trials and tribulations assail from all sides, the heart remains joyful. It is like an ocean - waves and storms may be seen on its surface, but its depths remain calm and tranquil.
A man asked another: "In what station are you?" He answered: "In the utmost happiness." "Where does this happiness come from?"
The World needs more happiness and illumination. The star of happiness is in every heart, but we have to disperse the clouds, so that it can shine radiantly.
Happiness is an inner state. Once it has been achieved, man will rise to the apex of blissfulness.
Live in the world with joy and delight, then build thy affairs upon trust in God and contentment.
Happiness lies in knowledge, and knowledge in the fear of God, and the fear of God in detachment and aversion from worldly ornaments. And detachment brings divine love, and love seeks the recitation of verses and communes with God, and the attraction of verses refines character - that is, truthfulness in the path of God and fairness with people and mastery over self and association with the righteous and avoidance of the ignorant and respect for the great ones and kindness to the lesser ones and giving counsel to friends and forbearance with enemies and generosity to the poor and love for all people and guidance of those who have gone astray.
This is the most great happiness and the supreme gift and the imperishable bounty.
O maidservant of God! Happiness is of two kinds: one is physical, the other spiritual. The former is finite: it lasteth a day, a month, perhaps a year, and ultimately yieldeth nothing. But the latter is endless and eternal; it revealeth itself through the love of God, and is attained through virtues and perfections in the world of humanity.
Happiness is of two kinds : physical, possessed by animals and men, and spiritual, which is known only by those men who have attained to holiness. Physical pleasure is something casual and temporary only-is due to an adventitious and transient condition of the nerves. But spiritual joy is of God and is unending.
As to spiritual happiness, this is the true basis of the life of man because life is created for happiness, not for sorrow; for pleasure, not for grief. Happiness is life; sorrow is death. Spiritual happiness is eternal. This is a light which is not followed by darkness. This is an honor which is not followed by shame. This is a life that is not followed by death. This is an existence that is not followed by annihilation. This great blessing and precious gift is obtained by man only through the guidance of God.
… This happiness is but the love of God.
The purport is that the heart of man receives happiness through the fragrances of the paradise of Abha and the breaths of the Holy Spirit. Mundane things do not bring any lasting happiness. Earthly happiness endures but for an hour or two.
Do not believe for one moment that it is possible for man to obtain happiness, joy, serenity and confidence save through God. If his heart is not attached to God no matter how seemingly permanent is the structure of his material happiness it will totter down.
Therefore we must be happy.
Happiness must be in GOD. When people are happy in wealth, wealth may disappear. When they are happy in children, the children may die. If it is in luxury, it may be taken away. Therefore, eternal happiness is impossible for man except in GOD.
When you look at reality, there is no one without desire, and no desire is free from trouble and weariness.
Therefore every kind of hope becomes the cause of difficulty and burden, and prevents joy and happiness - except the hopes of souls who bind themselves to the divine world. They attain spiritual joy and achieve conscious happiness.
Therefore, man thinks his happiness is from this world and what it contains, while God has created him in such manner that his happiness must come from the Kingdom; that is, he must find joy from the spiritual world.
No man can be happy without God, though he may not know why he is miserable.
Then the comfort of this world also will be thine. All these men thou art beholding are not enjoying happiness, and are heavily laden with misery of some kind or another. If they sleep on couches of velvet and silk, yet they are sad and restless:
But when the believers of God free themselves from these entangling ties and become spiritual, sanctified and purified, they receive the real joy of this life and their hearts are at ease.
How negligent people are! What insignificant things they consider necessary for their happiness! How negligent they are! Like unto animals, they eat, they sleep, they walk, they sing, they dance, and after the manner of their kind think they are having a good time. But in truth the animals are better off, for without toil or trouble they enjoy all the material blessings necessary for their existence.
This happiness is age-abiding!
If a person is thirsty for the water of the Knowledge of God, his happiness is unfailing. If a soul is interested in humanitarian deeds, his joy is perennial. Therefore. The happiness that comes through God is a light that is not followed by any darkness; a healing which is not ended by any disease; a glory which is not consummated by any shame.
Happiness is the cherubim of the Almighty which inspires mankind to perform feats of self-sacrifice and deeds of disinterested philanthropy. Happiness is the melodious-singing nightingale which transforms the darkened world of sorrow into the beaming-realm of celestial beatitude. Happiness is the waving ocean in the depth of which the diver finds the pearls of resignation and the corals of renunciation. Happiness is the elysium wherein grows the asphodels of good-will and the amaranths of forgiveness.
Joy comes through the radiant light, not through the opening up of a world full of afflictions and sorrows. If the soul is joyous, man is nurtured; if the heart is illumined, every condition becomes as a rose garden, and every plot of ground a flower bed and meadow. But if the heart and soul are confined in the prison of grief and sorrow, then even the celestial paradise becomes the depths of a dungeon. Therefore, as much as thou art able, seek the joy of the heavenly realm, that every constraint may be transformed into relief, and every darkness into light.
But when the light of faith shines forth in the realm of the heart, eternal joy appears and the darkness of sorrow and gloom vanishes away. The despairing one becomes filled with hope, and the sorrowful one is immersed in the sea of gladness. This is an eternal joy that is followed by no sorrow.
Be thou stirred with the Divine Glad tidings so that thou mayst hold in thy grasp the Chalice of imperishable Happiness and discover the brilliant star of age-abiding felicity and rest!
...O servant of God! All that can be seen in this mortal world is naught but imagination, a mere symbol, and not the heavenly reality.
Consider the past and the events that transpired therein. Is not the future like unto the past? Is not the past the very mirror of the future? Truly, that which thou findest in the past thou wilt see in the future, for both are subject to the same order. But each and all complain of the past and look expectantly toward the future, hopeful that their times of toil and weariness might pass, and that days of joy and peace may soon arrive.
How strange and bewildering! For this is a world of dust, and this human reality is hopelessly enmeshed in its corrupt desires. How shall it ever become happy and joyous, unless it first forgets all save God and turns its gaze from this nether world to that which is in the realms above, beholds the reality of the concourse on high, and earnestly beseeches the assistance of the divine kingdom of Abha? Should this happen, it will be filled with bliss in both worlds and remain forever radiant and shining. It will experience boundless joy and felicity and a lasting happiness; it will be even as a garden of roses and a morning breeze, a melody from the nightingales that sing in the grassy meadows of heavenly grace, a pure draught of crystal water, the sweetness of a heavenly dream, and the freshness of a desert breeze.
Therefore, turn your attention entirely to another world and establish your connection to another realm, so that all your days may pass in joy upon joy, and all your times may bring forth eternal gladness.
Rejoice in His praise and be happy with His remembrance. I swear by the Ancient Beauty that were man to traverse all the heavens and earth, and carry out a search, he will never find happiness and joy save in His love.
The love of Baha'u'llah is the essence of happiness, Any heart which will become the depository of this love is always happy. There have been many people sad and despondent but as soon as the sun of the love of Baha'u'llah shone in their hearts they became happy.
Nothing makes a man so happy as love...
One day at luncheon Abdu'l-Baha asked us if we were glad to be at Akka and if we were happy. We answered that we were very happy to be there with Him but that when we thought of our faults we were unhappy. He replied emphatically, "Think not of yourselves, but think of the Bounty of God. This will always make you happy."
To be detached is to be free, is to be flying in a new ether, is to be light, is to be joyous - and a Bahai should be joyous. He should attain to such a station of joy that the world will enquire as to his secret.
The soul of man must be happy no matter where he is. One must attain to that condition of inward beatitude and peace--then outward circumstances will not alter his spiritual calmness and joyousness.
This happiness is eternal and the cause of expansion of heart and soul in all divine worlds. When one's happiness is from divine bounties, they will not become sad or sorrowful in any condition, even if worldly events are not according to their desires and the turning of fortune does not promote their hopes and thoughts.
But those who have faith in God act according to the divine teachings; even though they need a little food to survive, they will pass their lives in the utmost happiness and joy. This is one of the bounties of religion; this is eternal happiness, life everlasting and real affluence.
O My servant! My body is beneath the swords of Mine enemies, and My flesh suffereth trials without number, yet My spirit is filled with a gladness with which all the joys of the earth can never compare.
When we were exiled from Persia outwardly the means of happiness were completely lacking; we did not have even our wherewithal; notwithstanding this whenever I think of those days my heart is filled with exultation.
We cooked with it Persian stew and filled the pot with water so everyone could have a bowl of thin soup. Notwithstanding this we were all very happy and thought that ours was the most delicious dinner.
At one time in Acca, thirteen Bahais lived in one room, but they radiated peace, joy and love.
Notwithstanding these restrictions and this confinement we were in the utmost joy; our breasts were dilated with the happiness of the Kingdom, our trust was in the Mercy of the Lord, our hearts were attracted with the Fragrances of God and our souls rejoiced by the Glad-tidings of Truth.
Every morning when I awoke I praised God there was another day to serve Him in His prison. Every night I thanked Him that He had permitted me to serve His Kingdom one more day in His prison. I was in a Turkish prison forty years but every day was a day of perfect joy.
During the time of Peace, security, Comfort and the lack of sorrow, even the monkey will be the most jovial fellow. He will be happy, joyful, grateful, patient and overflowing with gladsomeness. But the sincere servant of Baha'u'llah, who is firm in the Covenant and steadfast in the Testament, while surrounded by the most great sea of tests; threatened by the surging, rocking waves of persecution and encircled by the whirlwinds of calumnies and backbiting - will blossom like unto a rose and breaks into joyous songs and sweet melodies like unto the nightingale.
The necessity and the particularity of the assured and believing ones is to be firm in the Cause of God and withstand the hidden and evident tests. Thanks be to God that you are distinguished and made eminent by this blessing. Anybody can be happy in the state of comfort, ease, health, success, pleasure and joy; but if one will be happy and contented in the time of trouble, hardship and prevailing disease, it is the proof of nobility.
However, it behooveth thee to serve the Threshold of the All-Merciful with the utmost assurance, steadfastness and certitude, for these trials and tribulations are in the path of the All-Glorious, and this bitter cup must be drunk with the utmost joy and gladness out of love for the Abha Beauty.
Yet from another perspective, consider that the loved ones of God are intoxicated from the overflowing cup of trials, and their joy and gladness lie in bearing afflictions and tribulations in the path of God. … Rather, we must find joy and gladness that, to the extent of our capacity and ability, we share in the trials of God's loved ones.
Despite all this bounty and faithfulness and bestowal and infinite favor, it behooves us that in the midst of harm and cruelty we should spend all our time in joy and gladness and spiritual delight and heavenly grace.
Therefore, do not be tested by trials and tribulations, and like a flower be radiant in this meadow so that you may find spiritual joy and seek conscious delight.
"As the Master says, sorrow is like furrows, the deeper they go the more plentiful are the fruits we obtain."
If a man is not happy in his life, death is better than such a life. True joy comes from the tranquility of heart, and this state comes from faith!
You must always be happy. You must associate with joyous and happy people and be adorned with divine morals. Happiness has a direct influence in preserving our health while being upset causes illness. The basis of eternal happiness is spirituality and divine virtue, which is not followed by sorrow. But physical happiness is subject to a thousand changes and vicissitudes.
Have you heard the story of the emperor who looked into the mirror and became very sad and despondent? He said, "Oh! What a healthy and vigorous body I had but how worn it has become now! What a handsome face I had but how ugly it has become now! What graceful stature I had but how bent my body has become with age!" Thus he spoke one by one of the physical conditions of his youth and expressed his sadness at their loss. Such is the end of the physical happiness.
Joy is the best cure for your illness. Joy is better than a hundred thousand medicines for a sick person. If there is a sick person and one wishes to cure him, let one cause joy and happiness in his heart.
No treatment is better for the sick than spiritual joy and delight, and joy and happiness are confined to divine glad-tidings.
The best food is happiness.
O servant of God! Although in this mortal world no soul finds comfort, pleasure, peace of mind or joy of conscience, yet the people of Baha are ever gladdened and rejoiced by the breaths of the Kingdom of Abha, and are ever exhilarated and intoxicated.
Therefore, seek thou in every moment a new joy, and in every breath be quickened with a fresh spirit, that thy breath may become the breath of Christ.
Be confident and at rest and joyous and tranquil under the sheltering shade of the All-Forgiving Lord. During these few days that you are in this world, be ever gladdened by divine glad-tidings and grateful and delighted with heavenly bounty.
Never allow sorrow to enter your heart nor give way to weariness. Rather, continuously increase your happiness and joy and adorn the gathering of your heart with divine glad-tidings.
Be joyful within yourself and grieve not over anything, and maintain such an expanded heart that it shall never be contracted.
Beware, beware lest you grieve over anything, for grief extinguishes the warmth of your love. Rather, be joyful in what God has given you of His love and knowledge, and soon the door of blessings will open to you from all directions.
Let not sorrows overtake thee. Be thou joyful in the days of thy Lord, then remind souls of that which hath been sent down from the presence of the Mighty, the Self-Subsisting.
Grieve thou not over anything, but be thou among the joyous ones.
In any case, forget sorrows and complaints, and hearken to the melody of the Abha Kingdom. Be joyous and delighted, show forth eagerness and ardor, for praise be to God, thou art established beneath the favors of the Most Glorious Beauty, art immortalized in the paradise of the good-pleasure of the Servant of Baha, art regarded by the glance of the Lord of Oneness, and art known and described in the Supreme Concourse as the herald of the Covenant.
O Faraj! Let thy joy and gladness and sorrow be for God alone. Be happy in truth and confident in truth, and be sorrowful only for His sake. … The radiant effulgence of the Sun of Joy hath taken hold of thee and the Tongue of Eternity speaketh with thee. I swear by the sweetness of the utterance of the All-Merciful that oceans of joy are concealed in this mention.
Be in the utmost joy and delight and fix your gaze on naught but God, for the winds of differences are blowing from all directions.
If thou shouldst drink of this wine, such joy shall possess thee that the troubles and sorrows of the world will never seize thee.
O friends! Gather together with joy and fragrance, and with perfect wisdom and utterance, and drink of the most pure and luminous wine in the name of the Lord of Power. Verily it is My wondrous love, My cherished word, and My holy, transcendent, sublime remembrance. Be not saddened by the calamities of the world. By God! The ocean of joy yearns for your presence, for every good thing hath been created for you and will appear according to the requirements of time. Thus doth My Most Exalted Pen give you glad tidings from this Most Great Prison as a bounty from Him, and He is the All-Bountiful, the Most Generous."
Rejoice ye in these days of God - these are days of gladness for you. Take ye the chalice in His Name, then drink in remembrance of Him, the Mighty, the Bestower.
Can anyone be sorrowful after the Sun of Joy hath dawned from the horizon of the Command of his Lord, the Gracious, the Bountiful?
Today all things, the Concourse on High, the divine Books and holy Scriptures, some in the innermost mystery and others openly and manifestly, are engaged in joy and delight, for this is the Most Great Day of rejoicing.
This is the Day of joy and gladness, inasmuch as the All-Merciful hath come from the heaven of proof with an irrevocable decree.
Were one possessed of sight to observe, and one possessed of hearing to hearken, he would witness in all things the freshness of divine joy and would hear the call "The Most Great Joy hath come!"
The light has blazed forth, the darkness of night has been dispelled, the cup whose mixture is camphor has circulated, the signs of the Day of Resurrection have appeared, the wings of eagles have spread, the gates of joy have opened, and those who are firm are eternally abiding in what their souls desire, giving thanks to their Lord for what He has given them.
This is the day of rejoicing and the hour of ecstasy! This is the season of the dead arising from the graves and gathering together! And this is the promised time for the attainment of plenteous grace.
O what joy be unto you! O what delight be unto you! O what rapture be unto you! For ye have attained to a station envied by the honored ones of past ages and future centuries and cycles.
O beloved friends of 'Abdu'l-Baha! Spend day and night in joy, gladness, delight and success, for the Blessed Beauty is pleased with you and this afflicted servant is grateful. It is a time of joy, a season of delight, days of gladness and a period of success.
Spend these days and nights as if in celebration of Naw Ruz; be joyously content and in the state of utmost exhilaration that ye are crowned with such a diadem, that ye are adorned with such a necklace, that ye are robed in such a graceful garment and have such a seal upon your hands. Great is your blessedness because of this bounty O ye maidservants of the All-Merciful
Therefore, O friends, show gratitude for this manifest bounty and with soul and consciousness create joy and delight. Take up an overflowing cup, raise a resurrection, be happy and successful, and promote the Faith of the All-Merciful.
This is the day of happiness. In no time of any manifestation was there the cause for happiness as now. A happy state brings special blessings. When the mind is depressed the blessings are not received.
You have turned to the kingdom of Baha'u'llah and are manifesting the favors of Baha'u'llah. Verily the light of the Most Great Guidance has become iridescent in your hearts, and in the wilderness of the world you are proving to be fruitful trees. What reward is greater than this? This is a great bounty, a great bestowal. If you be not happy, who could be happy? If you be not attracted, who could be attracted? If you be not radiant, who could be radiant? If you fly not away with joy, who could fly away?
Be happy! Be rejoiced! Live! If you are not Happy who on earth will be happy? If you are not rejoiced, who will be rejoiced? If you are not illumined, who will be illuminated? If you are not honored, who will be honored?
Be confident! Be confident! Be happy! Be rejoiced! Be hopeful!
Be happy. Do not weep. Be happy. You should be joyous. I hope that day by day you will advance in ideal ways, that you may progress every instant. Thus may you attain to that which is the superlative desire of the saints and holy ones.
You will be very happy, for I will be with you all the way. You must go with the utmost happiness and cheerfulness.
May you always be happy. All My endeavors are for the purpose that you may be happy.
O thou kind friend! Through the bounties of the Blessed Beauty, my wish for thee is that thou mayest ever remain secure, protected and joyful.
My fifth wish was to bring about the means of comfort and happiness for the believers - so that they may live with the utmost peace and joyful resignation, that no pain or sorrow may come to them, that they obtain the prosperity of this world and the world to come.
O thou candle of the Love of God!
I ask God to grant thee by His favor and grace that which is thy utmost desire; that the closed doors become opened, the uneven roads become even, thy face shine by the love of God, thy sight become brighter by witnessing the signs of God; that thou mayest attain spiritual joy, eternal happiness and heavenly life.
May joy and delight be attained and divine gladness unveil its face.
God willing, may you ever drink from the ocean of joy and remain fixed in contemplation of the Most Glorious Horizon.
Drink thou the Kawthar of joy in the name of thy Lord, then make mention of Him at morn and eventide.
It befits the divine friends to receive in every breath a dewdrop from the eternal bounty and take their share from the remembrance of God, so that they may bring their days to an end with the utmost joy and delight.
At this time I turn to the Manifest Light and beseech endless favors for the loving friends, that all may be moved to ecstasy and joy at every moment by the song of the nightingale of the divine garden, and may raise such a wondrous melody that its vibrations will reach to the zenith of the ether.
In any case, always warble in the garden of divine knowledge with various melodies and novel tunes in praise of this servant's servitude, that the spirit may be stirred, the heart gladdened, the soul may find joy and delight, the lights of happiness may shine forth, and the bounty of joy may increase.
O spiritual friends! Now that it is nearly evening and tasks are beyond measure and count, his honor Mirza Taraz, with smiling lips and a radiant face like a burning fire, requests this letter. Although I have no time, his state was such that it compelled me to write. Therefore, I have taken up the pen and begun writing this letter.
I beseech from God's infinite favors that in all conditions you may perfume your nostrils with the holy fragrances wafting from the Blessed Garden and make your souls fragrant. And in the utmost joy and delight, attraction and rapture, may you be occupied with stringing the pearls of praise and diffusing the holy fragrances of glorification of the Most Glorious Beauty (may my spirit be sacrificed for His loved ones) among the peoples of the world, so that the sound of the song and delight and the melody of attraction and rapture of the friends may reach the precincts of the Most Glorious Kingdom and bring pleasure to the ears of the Supreme Concourse.
And upon you be the Glory, O loved ones of the All-Merciful!
Be joyous, be happy, and out of the intensity of gladness and delight, raise such a melody and song that the ancient Persians will be moved to ecstasy and joy in the realm above.
Thou must show such joy and gladness, and seek such delight and felicity, that thy laughter of joy and bliss may reach the Kingdom of the All-Forgiving Lord.
Now that ye have become the recipients of such great divine favors, ye must be filled with joy and delight, with happiness and gladness, with pleasure and success, and must begin to sing and chant by day and night with soul-stirring melodies and tunes until the eastern nations and western peoples, indeed all the peoples of the world, become immersed in wonder and ecstasy, and the cry of "O what glad tidings!
And now that thou hast attained thereunto in these days, it behooveth thee to sing with joy and gladness and to warble a melody of ecstasy and delight, so to flood the hearts of other handmaidens with ineffable gladness and stir and enrapture their souls.
Now I counsel thee to patience; nay rather, with utmost joy thou shouldst occupy thyself with the mention of the Lord of all beings, in such wise that the traces of thy happiness may influence the inner realities of the handmaidens of God, that all may arise to praise the Lord of Eternity with supreme joy. Be not sorrowful, for the ocean of gladness is with you.
"Ye are the angels, if your feet be firm, your spirits rejoiced, your secret thoughts pure, your eyes consoled, your ears opened, your breasts dilated with joy, and your souls gladdened, and if you arise to assist the Covenant, to resist dissension and to be attracted to the Effulgence!
The friends are in the utmost joy and delight while the ill-wishers are disappointed, condemned and rejected.
Happy are we to be gathered in one assemblage. My greatest happiness is the hope that we may meet one another in the kingdom of Abha, even as we meet here.
To see the joy of divine gladness on your faces is the cause of my happiness, for when I see you happy, I am happy also. The divine messengers come to bring joy to this earth, for this is the planet of tribulation and torment and the mission of the great masters is to turn men away from these anxieties and to infuse life with infinite joy.
The greatest means of joy and gladness is the mention of the divine friends.
… This will cause enthusiasm and rapture in the friends and attraction and delight in the loved ones.
O thou maid-servant of God!
Dost thou remember when Mrs...was talking with thee, what a cheerful feeling thou felt in thy heart? And what a gladness and rejoicing thou didst find? Even thy friends were astonished at what was the cause of this joy.
Be assured. And I will beseech God that you may be confirmed and assisted in all matters, and that you write good news in your letters that brings joy and delight and becomes the cause of gladness to hearts.
Be ye always the bearers of good tidings and spread such news quickly, and become the means through which the hearts are made cheerful and vigilant.
Therefore when you go back from here you must go with perfect joy and give the glad tidings to every one.
A cheerful countenance lends consolation to the beholder.
A bright and happy face cheers people on their way. If you are sad, and pass a child who is laughing, the child, seeing your sad face, will cease to laugh, not knowing why. If the day be dark, how much a gleam of sunshine is prized; so let believers wear smiling happy faces, gleaming like sunshine in the darkness.
That we must always have a cheerful face because of the glad tidings in our hearts.
Be ye among the servants with joy and radiance such that the gladness of paradise may be perceived in your faces.
Always endeavor to make people happy and their hearts joyful so that you may become the cause of guidance to mankind.
Live in such a way that when people observe your manners, morals and conduct they may exclaim, 'These are not men and women, but angels of the Lord.' Be ye kind to all mankind. Let mercy be the motive power in your dealings with people. Do not look at their shortcomings. Win the hearts through love and charity; set them aglow with the fire of the love of God. The joy of a soul is indescribable, if the fragrance of spirituality waft from the garden of his being. This diving happiness is not followed by any sorrow nor is this heavenly spring ended by the sultry days of summer.
I wish you to become heralds of happiness, because happiness is the cause of progress and development. The Appearance of the Manifestations is to being happiness; that all may reach this great aim of life. Seek the real happiness; nothing is greater than it. Except this happiness of God there is none; all other happiness is but imagination. Therefore My greatest happiness is to see you spiritually happy.
Are you happy? For only by happiness can you progress spiritually. Only after the sorrow has passed and the happiness has come do we witness the blessing of growth. Therefore say to the people—"Be happy! Be always happy!"
I tell you to be happy because we can not know the spiritual life unless we are happy!
Happiness is the most natural possession and immanent attribute of every Bahai.
We must clothe ourselves with the robe of joy and happiness. We must not be pessimists and misanthropes.
One must always be joyous, must always be radiant, must always be filled with gladness.
They sow their seed in firm ground. They write upon the surface of iron and steel. That is when they father many harvests and their writings bestow eternal significances. Therefore they must be in the utmost happiness and rejoicing.
If a man does not do these things, even though he praises God and offers him a hundred thousand thanksgivings every second there will be for that man not the slightest result; it will be but words without light. Consequently, we must be very happy, very glad, very much pleased, very contented, very joyful, because we are submerged in the ocean of the bestowals of Baha'u'llah... A thoughtful man enjoys the gifts and the blessings of God.
I saw that all these things he spoke of held absolutely no importance for the woman. Her thought was that the desert was good and she was in the utmost joy. Human joy, comfort and delight depend on character.
The believers asked him several times to call on the Blessed Perfection but he would flatly refuse while saying:- 'How can I, the essence of sin stand in the Presence of the essence of Holiness! I am not worthy of this privilege! Whenever I find that I have attained to this merit I will go but not now, not now.' Thus this good man lived and died in happiness.
Man must strive to pass his days in the utmost joy, spirit and delight, and this is not possible except through the divine fragrances and the exaltation of the Word of God.
For the happiness of man is through the spiritual susceptibilities; the happiness of man is through evanescence and complete self-abnegation; the happiness of man is to renounce everything in the path of the Blessed Perfection; the happiness of man is through divine Bestowals; the happiness of man the [sic] conceptions of the Kingdom. The misery of man consists in the absence of these.
They are made so happy that they sing and dance under the sword. Eternal happiness is all-inclusive. In it is embraced material happiness.
The Blessed Beauty said, 'In every twenty-four hours, two hours must be spent in a way that will cause happiness.'
Happy are they, blessed are they, and joy be unto them!
Happy are the righteous that have attained unto the most great truth; happy are the wise that have recognized the straight path of God and turned unto His Kingdom; happy are the glad and sincere, the lamps of whose hearts burn with the knowledge of the All-Merciful and are protected by self-abnegation from the rough winds of test and sorrows; happy are the brave whose hearts the power of the oppressor cannot daunt; happy are the clearsighted that have learned to distinguish the transitory from the eternal, that have turned their faces to the Imperishable and are named among the Immortals in the realm of power and glory.
Further quotations · supplied wording and references
Happiness consists of two kinds; physical and spiritual. The physical happiness is limited; its utmost duration is one day, one month, one year. It hath no result. Spiritual happiness is eternal and unfathomable. This kind of happiness appeareth in one's soul with the love of God and suffereth one to attain to the virtues and perfections of the world of humanity. Therefore, endeavor as much as thou canst in order to illumine the lamp of thy heart with the light of love.
...Peace of mind is gained by the centering of the spiritual consciousness on the Prophet of God; therefore you should study the spiritual Teachings, and receive the Water of Life from the Holy Utterances. Then by translating these high ideals into action, your entire character will be changed, and your mind will not only find peace, but your entire being will find joy and enthusiasm.
I counsel thee with these three words: Shouldst thou act in accordance therewith, all sorrow will depart from thee in this world. They are the following: Be not content with anything when once thou becomest aware that it hath a still higher degree. Be not untruthful, though thy very life hang in the balance. And act not towards others save as thou wouldst desire for thine own self.
Abandonment of "a frivolous conduct" does not imply that a Baha'i must be sour-faced or perpetually solemn. Humour, happiness, joy are characteristics of a true Baha'i life. Frivolity palls and eventually leads to boredom and emptiness, but true happiness and joy and humour that are parts of a balanced life that includes serious thought, compassion and humble servitude to God are characteristics that enrich life and add to its radiance.
For what pleasure can compare the pleasure of bringing joy and hope to other hearts. The more we make others happy the greater will be our own happiness and the deeper our sense of having served humanity.
Continue exploring
For thought and discussion
Questions to carry forward
- What does the scene of tea in a meadow suggest about attention, gratitude, and contentment?
- How do these readings relate inward happiness to the practical well-being of other people?
- What do the ocean, candle, garden, and star images help us understand about joy through changing circumstances?
- How does the Dhammapada’s account of happiness without hostility compare with the devotional and ethical sources of joy described here?
- How might invitations to rejoice be offered with tenderness to someone experiencing grief or hardship?
- What practices of fellowship, humor, service, or remembrance could help joy become something shared?