Love at the foundation: creation, religion, and human fellowship

The beginning of religion is love for God and for His Chosen Ones, and its end is to manifest that love to His servants.

The love of God is connected to the love of creation, meaning we must become intimate and close companions with all peoples and nations. We must be kind to friend and stranger alike, and show love and faithfulness to both acquaintance and stranger.

O ye lovers of this wronged one! Cleanse ye your eyes, so that ye behold no man as different from yourselves. See ye no strangers; rather see all men as friends, for love and unity come hard when ye fix your gaze on otherness. And in this new and wondrous age, the Holy Writings say that we must be at one with every people; that we must see neither harshness nor injustice, neither malevolence, nor hostility, nor hate, but rather turn our eyes toward the heaven of ancient glory.

The love of God haloes all created things. Were it not for the love of God, no animate being would exist.

… Third, religion must be the mainspring and source of love in the world, for religion is the revelation of the will of God, the divine fundamental of which is love. Therefore, if religion should prove to be the cause of enmity and hatred instead of love, its absence is preferable to its existence.

O maid-servant of God! Know thou, the first bounty from the True One is love, unity and harmony, and without these all the deeds pass in vain and give no result.

The revelation of the Eternal mystery y and its great wisdom and the grace of the Most Great Name and its blessed fruit require that the loved ones should be distinguished among all others in this new Cycle by their fellowship, their unity and their attraction and should be characterised in particular by their application in deeds of the instructions of that Ancient Beloved in this glorious Dispensation. Those instructions are none other than the strengthening of the sincere bonds of friendship amongst all God's creatures.

Therefore, order your lives in accordance with the first principle of the divine teaching, which is love. Service to humanity is service to God. Let the love and light of the Kingdom radiate through you until all who look upon you shall be illumined by its reflection.

The beloved of God must be the cause of spreading the Heavenly Love. They must impart spiritual concord; deal with all men in the utmost sincerity and kindness in accord with the commands and exhortations of the Merciful One.

There are today many people in the world who hate each other heartily but outwardly they express love and friendship. We must do something so that real love may be born in the hearts and strangeness be removed.

He broke all the imaginary luminations between the races. He took away these fetters and chains. We love the people with heart and soul and not only by mere word of mouth.

In the world of existence there is no power as efficacious and as penetrative as the power of love. Military power coerces and compels men into obedience through unnatural resort to force and violation, but mankind yield happily and willingly to the power of love.

We have many enemies, bitter, dangerous and vengeful! But we defeat them through the Power of love! That is our only weapon.

Let us have love and more love, a love that melts all opposition, a love that conquers all foes, a love that sweeps away all barriers, a love that aboundeth in charity, large-heartedness, tolerance, and noble-striving, a love that triumphs over all obstacles, a boundless, resistless, sweeping love.

… Hast thou love? Then thy power is irresistible. Hast thou sympathy? Then all the stars will sing thy praise!

The message of Rizwan is love, love and still more love, love amongst the believers, love for the strangers, love for the fallen and broken-hearted, love for mankind. If thou hast a universe of love, hunger for more. Live in the world of love, swim in the ocean of love, soar in the atmosphere of love, walk in the bright realm of love, speak the words of love, practice the deeds of love, adore the Beloved of love, sing the soothing lullaby of love and advance toward the palace of love.

The essence of Baha'u'llah's Teaching is all-embracing love, for love includeth every excellence of humankind. It causeth every soul to go forward. It bestoweth on each one, for a heritage, immortal life.

The advent of the prophets and the revelation of the Holy Books is intended to create love between souls and friendship between the inhabitants of the earth. Real love is impossible unless one turn his face towards God and be attracted to His Beauty.

The aim of the appearance of all the Manifestations of God, the prophets and the revelation of all the holy books has been to create Love between the hearts. His Holiness Baha'u'llah accepted so much hardships so that love may be created in the hearts.

The aim of the appearance of all the Prophets - the Manifestations of the holy, divine verities, the revelations of the holy Scriptures has been for the creation of love in the hearts of men.

This is that which never changes. Know then that all divine laws in every age and dispensation change and are transformed according to the requirements of the time, except the law of love which forever flows and never changes or is transformed.

In this divine cycle and merciful manifestation, the very foundation of God's Faith is love and kindliness, though not bound by any limitations.

The Faith of the Blessed Beauty is summoning mankind to safety and love, to amity and peace; it hath raised up its tabernacle on the heights of the earth, and directeth its call to all nations.

O friends! The purpose of the dawning of the Sun of Truth, the blast of the trumpet, the raising of the call, the endurance of a hundred thousand hardships and trials, the gathering at the place of sacrifice, and the offering of martyrs was this: that this dark world might become illumined, this gloomy realm might become radiant, the plane of earthly existence might become the dawning-place of divine reality, and the face of the earth might become the supreme paradise. Strife and contention might utterly disappear, such that warfare and conflict would become characteristics only of the vile and base. The foundation of hatred might be destroyed, the edifice of cruelty demolished, and the tree of love and faithfulness planted. The earthly world might become a mirror of the heavenly realm. The people of earth might become heavenly, dark souls might become illumined, and satanic beings might become merciful. They might begin to show love and kindness, and interact with all humanity in the utmost love and fellowship.

O friends! Listen with the ear of the soul to the counsels and admonitions of the Ancient Beauty. As much as you are able, hurt no one's feelings and sadden no heart. Be the cause of joy to hearts and the source of gladness to the world of humanity. Look not at creation, but rather turn to the Creator. Become adorned with divine attributes and attracted to the holy fragrances of the Lord. Be signs of God's mercy and evidences of heavenly bounty. Become loving friends to enemies and spiritual companions to foes. If struck, show mercy. If wounded, apply a balm. If given deadly poison, give sweet honey in return. Rather, through the endless favors of the All-Merciful Lord, be like a candle illumining every gathering, so that souls might receive glad-tidings, hearts might find joy, eyes might be brightened, and ears might become intimate with the bird of the garden.

These are the counsels and admonitions of 'Abdu'l-Baha. I hope you will be confirmed in them. And upon you be greetings and praise.

Love and unity are the needs of the body politic today. Without these there can be no progress or prosperity attained. Therefore, the friends of God must adhere to the power which will create this love and unity in the hearts of the sons of men.

Verily the Spirit through which the temple of the contingent world shall be quickened in this time is indeed the founder of peace, the spirit of affinity and the light of love.

Today, the world-illumining light is the radiance of divine love and the effulgence of the Most Great Peace and the welfare of nations.

The Cardinal principle of the religion of God is Love; divine Love causes the promulgation of divine Order; divine Order is no other than the consolidation of all the mighty, beneficial forces of the world of humanity, Justice, Brotherhood, diffusion of reality, the fostering of culture and altruistic philanthropy.

The most important of all intentions is to spread the love of God, to establish harmony and oneness among the people.

Unity is the expression of the loving power of God and reflects the reality of Divinity.

Unity is love. It cannot be established without love. Therefore try, as far as possible, to be filled with love. Love is perpetual life, the most perfect vitality.

I desire to make manifest among the friends in America a new light that they may become a new people, that a new foundation may be established and complete harmony be realized; for the foundation of Baha'u'llah is love.

Therefore, all the inhabitants of the earth have grown through their attachment to this tree and all are reared and nurtured through the shower of divine mercy. It is self-evident that this teaching is the very spirit of this age. It is life-giving, because through love it animates the people, and it casts alienation utterly aside. It brings all into friendship and unity.

The first sign of faith is love. The message of the holy, divine Manifestations is love; the phenomena of creation are based upon love; the radiance of the world is due to love; the well-being and happiness of the world depend upon it. Therefore, I admonish you that you must strive throughout the human world to diffuse the light of love.

By the fire of the Love of God the veil is burnt which separates us from the Heavenly Realities, and with clear vision we are enabled to struggle onward and upward, ever progressing in the paths of virtue and holiness, and becoming the means of light to the world.

There is nothing greater or more blessed than the Love of God! It gives healing to the sick, balm to the wounded, joy and consolation to the whole world, and through it alone can man attain Life Everlasting. The essence of all religions is the Love of God, and it is the foundation of all the sacred teachings.

Show love to all; “Love is the breath of the Holy Spirit in the heart of Man.”

I loved thy creation, hence I created thee. Wherefore, do thou love Me, that I may name thy name and fill thy soul with the spirit of life.

… My love is in thee, know it, that thou mayest find Me near unto thee.

… Noble I made thee, wherewith dost thou abase thyself? Out of the essence of knowledge I gave thee being, why seekest thou enlightenment from anyone beside Me? Out of the clay of love I molded thee, how dost thou busy thyself with another? Turn thy sight unto thyself, that thou mayest find Me standing within thee, mighty, powerful and self-subsisting.

The world was created through love, and all are commanded to live in fellowship and unity. Fix your gaze upon and make mention of this blessed word which hath shone forth from the horizon of the mouth of the King of Oneness: "I was in My Ancient Being and My Eternal Essence; I knew My love in thee, therefore I created thee, cast upon thee My image and revealed to thee My beauty."

The cause of the creation of all contingent beings has been love, as is referred to in the well-known tradition which says: "I was a Hidden Treasure and I loved to be known, and therefore I created the creation that I might be known."

Love is the light of God among His creation - through it every light appears and the world is illumined by it. It is the cause of creation and its manifestation, as spoken by the Almighty: "I was a hidden treasure and loved to be known, therefore I created creation that I might be known."

For the variation in the stations of love are from differences of stations and stages and in each world of the worlds and in each stage of the stages there can be seen a magnetism of oneness . Within the grasp of its power is the mutual attraction of the reality of all things and the pulling [together] of the subtlety of Being. And this magnetism of oneness is the station of Love and Attraction (khullat ).

Know thou of a certainty that Love is the secret of God's holy Dispensation, the manifestation of the All-Merciful, the fountain of spiritual outpourings. Love is heaven's kindly light, the Holy Spirit's eternal breath that vivifieth the human soul. Love is the cause of God's revelation unto man, the vital bond inherent, in accordance with the divine creation, in the realities of things. … Love is the spirit of life unto the adorned body of mankind, the establisher of true civilization in this mortal world, and the shedder of imperishable glory upon every high-aiming race and nation.

The origin of creation is love, inasmuch as love is the greatest of divine effulgences. The reality of divinity has cast an effulgence of love upon all phenomena. Were it not for the divine love, no genesis at all would be possible.

Praise be to the Goal of the worlds Who created love and through it adorned the world.

I convey my greetings to him and say: Formerly thou hadst been touched by the river; now thou hast been overtaken by the sea. Well is it with the people of the cloister, how intoxicated have they become therewith! In truth, that wine of which the poets have spoken, saying that it existed before the vine, they have spoken aright; truth is on their side. For this wine is the wine of love, and by the testimony of God, exalted be His majesty, love hath been made the cause of creation. There, not only was there no grape—there was not even the father of the grape.

Exalted be God, the Sovereign Lord, Who hath created love and made it to be the greatest sign and an affliction for all humanity. Every mighty heart is humbled before its sovereignty, and every radiant countenance hath paled before its penetrating power and awesome majesty. Love, verily, is the animator of the world and the attractor of the hearts of men. It is the best of adornments and the dispeller of every affliction.

How wondrous is this most great mystery of love! Though a thousand volumes be written about it, it would still appear deficient. It is the first adornment and the cause and reason for the continuation of existence. In one station it bestows life and grants spirit, in another it makes one utterly evanescent, and in yet another it confers an enduring, eternal power.

The reality of Divinity is a supreme mystery that cannot be comprehended, but its manifestation in the world of existence is love.

O you whom God loves! When the infinite divine manifestation dawned from the horizon of "He loves them," it kindled the luminous lamps of "they love Him" in hearts, establishing a connection between the Ancient and the contingent.

In the Gospel it is said God is love.

There are four kinds of love. The first is the love that flows from God to man; it consists of the inexhaustible graces, the Divine effulgence and heavenly illumination. Through this love the world of being receives life. Through this love man is endowed with physical existence, until, through the breath of the Holy Spirit -- this same love -- he receives eternal life and becomes the image of the Living God. This love is the origin of all the love in the world of creation.

If God had not filled His Servant with His love, love would never have been realized in this creation.

The rays of love having shone from the True One unto the creation, the great signs thereof are imprinted upon clear and luminous hearts, and as these mirror-hearts meet, reflecting this sublime light, love, it becomes manifest from creature to creature.

Such is the true Baha'i love.

Your hearts must be like mirrors brightly polished, which reflect the light of the One sun. This love never changes no matter what its form, because it is from the One Sun - the One Love.

O thou who art yearning to discover! The discoverers of the mysteries of existence and those who comprehend the qualities and hidden secrets hold that a wondrous force of attraction and a strange magnetic power of connection permeates and encompasses all these infinite beings and successive contingent things, both physical and spiritual, and is equally present in them all. … In truth, every thing has unveiled itself through that universal attractive force with a manifestation and light and has displayed its beauty. And in human reality it has become the power of yearning, bringing about enthusiasm and passion and attraction.

Love is the moving principle of all phenomena. It is the first Divine Grace and its effects are apparent and manifest in all degrees of existence.

In the world of existence the spirit of life is Love, the elective affinity between the component parts of organisms is an effulgence of the Sun of Love, the motion of phenomena is by the gravitating power of Love, and the illumination of the world of humanity is through the electric energy of Love.

All union of hearts in this world is brought about by the power of attraction or love. The life of the whole world depends upon it, and when this power of attraction or love is gone, then all is disunion and annihilation then takes place.

We return to the subject. When we observe the phenomena of the universe, we realize that the axis around which life revolves is love, while the axis around which death and destruction revolve is animosity and hatred.

O thou who art attracted to the Light of the Love of God! The world of existence is like a body, and the spirit of this body is the love of God. Were it not for this love, existence would yield no fruit - it would be like a tree without fruit and a lamp without light. It is love that has connected all things together.

Were it not for the love of God, all the spirits would be inanimate. … Were it not for the love of God, the hearts would not be illumined.

Love is the cause of life; love is the means of salvation; love is the bond that joineth together the hearts of men.

Thus did His Holiness Christ declare: God is love. What, then, is greater than God? Therefore, according to the word of Christ, nothing is greater than love.

Although in the world of existence the Outpourings of the Almighty are infinite yet the Greatest Divine Outpouring is the "Love of God." This is the dominant, transcendental Power which rises above all the natural susceptibilities of the world of humanity.

Know that every mighty matter in the world of existence has a center, and the outpouring emanates from that center. For example, in the solar system, the sun is the center of light. Likewise, pure love has a true center, and that center has now appeared in this world and the lights of love are shining forth from that center to all horizons.

Thou hast written that the fundamental basis is love. This is the actual truth; the divine splendors are founded on love and the radiance of the Merciful One in the human world produceth heartfelt attractions.

There is no grace greater in the world of existence than this love. It is the most mighty sign the most wondrous bounty to the world of humanity.

My love is the religion of the righteous.

The essence of all essences is love, which is likened unto the meat of the nut, while all else is likened unto the shell or outside. Through the providence of the Blessed Perfection our spirits must be full of the love of God.

Tell them that Love is the one great thing. - It is life - the only life of the spirit.

Some of the heavenly tables are the divine teachings and their power and effect will be everlasting. Another of the godly tables is His love, which is the cause of Eternal Life.

Through the manifestation of Love God created Man. To attain a supreme station man must reflect the Love of God.

The greatest attainment in the world of humanity is Love, for it is through Love that man is attracted toward God. It is Love that establishes communication between the hearts of men. It is Love that confers eternal life. It is Love that bestows unfailing joy. If real Love appears in the heart of man, he will attract all the virtues. Love is the divine power which causes the ascension of man to all the heavenly stations.

As long as the heart is not illumined with the Light of Love, it is impossible for man to progress.

In the human world, love is the manifestation of divine glory. Without love, the world is an animal world. The distinction of the human world is love. Until love arises between souls, complete rest and happiness will not appear.

All these uniting powers are ineffective and perishable; the only uniting power which can connect all hearts and last forever is faith in God and love for Him. This is the only enduring power, the one that never perishes.

There is only one love which is infinite and unlimited and divine, and that is the love which comes with the Breath of the Holy Spirit - the Love of God - which breaks all barriers and sweeps all before it.

In the world of existence there is no more powerful magnet than the magnet of love.

This matter is a matter of love - what a wonderful rider it is and what a wonderful walker! It traverses the globe in a single step and crosses the realm of imagination in an instant.

When a ray from a longing heart strikes the hearts of the faithful, it creates such a brilliant illumination that it moves the horizons, and a mere gesture suffices.

Real Love is a spiritual thing. It is an emotion of the soul. From the emotion of the soul an effect is also produced upon the body. Love will cause the heart to burn and the eyes to weep - it will shake the body and render sleepless the mind.

If your hearts are turned always towards God, and filled with the love of God, that love will separate them from all other things, that love will be the wall that will come between them and every other desire.

O Khalil! Divine friendship represents the highest degree of love, and when this luminous flame is kindled within the essence of the heart, it burns away the veils of all else and completely forgets estrangement, recognizing only the beauty of oneness - meaning that it finds none except the Most Glorious Beloved and worships none but Him, "until I make all my prayers and remembrances into a single prayer."

Today the greatest of all things is attraction, so that one may be enabled to engage in servitude at the Divine Threshold with perfect willingness and joy - meaning that the heart becomes attracted to that realm, detachment from the world is achieved, and attachment to the Supreme Concourse is realized.

O people of the Kingdom! Strive with all your power so that the love of God may become manifest in its intensity like an embodied form, appearing with the utmost beauty and perfection.

It is love that gives life to the human world, and it is unity that brings about human happiness.

However, everything depends on means - until its means are made ready, nothing can be achieved. For example, this lamp necessarily requires that a globe be made ready, oil be made ready, and a wick be made ready, so that it may be lit. We desire that love be established among humanity.

This is the home of Love, those who come in must learn the lessons of love, thus they may know how to love each other.

The abundancies of God are, to love each other, to speak the truth, to cut our hearts from the world, to be reverent, to be humble, to be hospitable.

A food that is prepared in love and partaken of in love gives one great delight. Nay, whatever is done with love imparts great delight.

Whatever is done in love is never any trouble, and--there is always time.

That which is most delicious in the world of existence is love. The air of itself is not delicious, neither is water, nor in short, all the elements; but when coupled with love it is most delicious. Love is the best condiment. When Love exists in the heart the slightest gesture proves welcome. When love exists in the heart, even if it be a stripe it is delicious.

When love enters the heart the bitter water becomes sweet; disagreeable water becomes agreeable.

In the world of existence nothing is greater than faithfulness, for it allows love to remain unimpaired in spite of the length of time.

The longtime friend is that old companion whose love is a ray from the effulgent lights in the Realm of Spirits and is an outpouring of the Ancient Spirit, not the new--it is eternal, not temporal.

O pearl of the ocean of God's love! Every sea hath its coral, and every shell its pearl. In the ocean of divine love, its pearls are the hearts of true friends and spiritual companions.

This love which is between us is for the sake of God. We love each other for His sake, and we are kind to each other for His sake. There is no other cause.

There are two kinds of love: one is direct love which proceeds from a person to another person; the other is indirect love - that is to love an object for another's sake.

[W]e must look upon every human being we saw as a letter from the Beloved to us. No matter how blotted, blurred, torn or soiled that letter appears to be, nevertheless, you must look upon it with the eye of reality and say to yourself, this is a letter from my Beloved, therefore, because it is from Him, I must love it with that divine love and overlook all its defects--inasmuch as the Beloved wrote it.

One must love so that souls become beloved and their estrangement disappears. You must love so that they will love you. When they love you, they will listen to your words. The foundation of God's Cause and the purpose of religion is love.

And the Love of God will attract pure hearts so that they should love one another as Branches grown from the Tree of the Love of God, as His believers who have attached themselves to His Word, baptized with the Holy Spirit which is pouring today from the Kingdom of Holinesses.

We must love each other perfectly. If we are in such a state, the confirmations of God will reach us.

Hold fast to that which is the cause of unity and friendship. The result of everything should be the Love of God. This is the essential fact of everything, that we should love one another with Godly Love.

Jinab-i-Amin is present and offers utmost praise for all the friends and handmaidens of the Merciful, that all are intoxicated with the wine of divine love and are drunkards in the wine-house of the love of God, taking in hand the cup of the wine of the knowledge of God and dancing and stamping their feet, raising from heart and soul the cry of "O Glory of the Most Glorious!"

The most beautiful pentagram comprises: Love, work, prayer, peace and joy; pursue daily its realization!

Man is like a tree. The tree lives to produce fruit. The fruit of man is love.

The true fruit of man is therefore Love. The purpose of a tee is to produce fruit. Man is like a tree. His fruit should be Love.

In truth, when love appears, all books are rolled up. Blessed is the soul that is warmed by the heat of love and illumined by its light.

Blessed is the soul that, even as it lieth down to sleep, hath a heart shining with love for all the peoples of the world.

Those who discover the secrets of the universe, and are aware of its inherent properties and concealed mysteries believe that an astonishing power of attraction is diffused throughout creation; that an extraordinary bond of magnetism embraceth these myriad beings and governeth these countless elements, both physical and spiritual. … That universal power of attraction is manifest within the inmost reality of every being with an ever-varying splendour, its beauty and charm made apparent in different degrees. Within the inmost reality of man, it expresseth itself as the power of yearning, which is conducive to rapture, fervour, and ecstasy.

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The cause of the creation of all contingent beings has been love, as it is mentioned in the famous tradition; "I was a hidden treasure, and I loved to be known. Therefore I created the creation in order to be known." (Baha'u'llah, in

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Know thou that in every age and cycle, all laws and ordinances have been changed according to the requirements of the times, except the law of love which, like a fountain, ever flows, and whose course never suffers change. (Baha'u'llah, in The Dawn, v5#12 p.1 [translated by Shoghi Effendi]) Earlier translation: Know thou, therefore, that in every age and dispensation all Divine Ordinances are changed and transformed according to the requirements of the time, except the law of love, which, like unto a fountain, always flows and is never overtaken by change.

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All God's prophets have brought the message of love. None has ever thought that war and hate are good. Every one agrees in saying that love and kindness are best.

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God grant that thou mayest fix thy gaze upon the love of God which is the generating impulse and the purpose underlying the whole of creation, and mayest be set aglow by its heat. Through its first letter, (Ha'), the fire of His love gloweth in the hearts of the favoured among the faithful, and in the breasts of they who are nigh unto God and are devoted to Him. Through its second, (Ba'), all created things are made manifest and, by the very dot beneath it, hath appeared the realm of distinction.

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Love is the firstborn, loftier than the gods, the Fathers and men. You, O Love, are the eldest of all, altogether mighty. To you we pay homage! Greater than the breadth of earth and heaven, or of waters and Fire, You, O Love, are the eldest of all, altogether mighty. To you we pay homage! In many a form of goodness, O Love, you show your face. Grant that these forms may penetrate within our hearts. Send elsewhere all malice! (Atharva Veda 9.2.19-20, 25)

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It makes no difference as to the name of the God; since love is the real God of all the world. (Apache Saying , The Path of Prayer by Sophy Burnham)

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Creation is of the order of love. God's love is the fundamental moving force in all created things.

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