Love of God

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.

… Love Me, that I may love thee. If thou lovest Me not, My love can in no wise reach thee.

Having created the world and all that liveth and moveth therein, He, through the direct operation of His unconstrained and sovereign Will, chose to confer upon man the unique distinction and capacity to know Him and to love Him -- a capacity that must needs be regarded as the generating impulse and the primary purpose underlying the whole of creation, as mentioned in the well-known sacred tradition.

Praise be unto Him Who is the Purpose of the world, Who befits all glory, Who created the world through love, ignited it with love, guided it with love, and caused it to attain its goal.

Say: Who hath love more ardent than God's for these signs in all the kingdom of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them, if ye bear witness to that which God hath enjoined therein?

Real love is the love which exists between God and His servants, the love which binds together holy souls. This is the love of the spiritual world, not the love of physical bodies and organisms. For example, consider and observe how the bestowals of God successively descend upon mankind, how the divine effulgences ever shine upon the human world. There can be no doubt that these bestowals, these bounties, these effulgences emanate from love.

O ye two servants of the divine Threshold! The limitless bounties of God have embraced your lives so that ye have became the bearers of a great trust from God. And that trust is the love of the Well-Beloved of the world.

Know that the tongue was created to praise God, your Lord and the Lord of the worlds, and that the heart was fashioned to love your Lord, the Mighty, the Powerful, the Most High, the Most Great, and that the ear was formed to hearken unto His most wondrous and incomparable melodies.

O lovers of His beauty! Turn the anguish of your separation from Him into the joy of an everlasting reunion, and let the sweetness of His presence dissolve the bitterness of your remoteness from His court.

By My life! My remembrance preceded thy remembrance, and My love preceded thy love. Were it not for My love, thy love would not have appeared, and were it not for the stirring of the fragrances of My robe, thy stirring in separation from Me would not have been manifest.

O thou who art beloved of God and who lovest Him! The Most High hath said: "He loveth them and they love Him." Were it not for the outpouring of God's love upon His servant, love would never have been realized in creation. All things are from Him and return unto Him, and man possesseth nothing of his own self.

They who claim to love thee, love thee only for their own sakes, whereas thy Lord loveth thee for thine own sake.

O Nabil! By Him Who holdeth my soul in His hands! I have desired for My loved ones whatsoever good I have desired for Myself, and I have turned to them only as a lover turneth to his beloved, and I have spoken with them only as a true friend speaketh with his friend.

As for what thou hast complained of regarding My love for thee, know that thy love for Me is the essence of My love for thee, such that there is between them neither connection nor separation.

O Abraham!

The Wronged One loveth him who hath loved Him, and desireth him who hath desired Him; nay, He loveth the world by virtue of its connection to the word that must be obeyed.

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By God! There is naught in My heart save compassion for those who turn toward the Throne, and I desire no recompense from them for this, nor do I seek anything from them except that they turn to the face of their Lord, the Mighty, the Beloved.

Say: By Him Who hath raised me up, made me manifest and caused me to speak, God's love for you surpasseth that of all kindred and relatives.

O thou who walkest in the path of love and drinketh from the cup of mercy! Know that thy letter hath reached Us, and We have understood the signs of thy love and the expressions of thy sincerity contained therein. We have become aware of thy state and how the fire of longing hath seized thee and how thou art consumed by the days of separation from the presence of thy Beloved, even though He is with thee at all times.

Abdul Baha: "The greatest thing in this world is the Love of GOD for His children. It is like the light of the sun, and the hearts of the true believers are like mirrors, and if the mirrors are bright they reflect this love, so that everyone can see it."

For when love is superficial, arising from natural feelings, it can hardly be sincere love. But when it springs from divine grace - "He loves them and they love Him" and are "merciful amongst themselves" - there is no doubt that it is real and sincere, hardly changing with the passing of centuries and ages.

The love of the Manifestation of God Himself and the Dawning-Place of inspiration, although it is from servant to servant, is in reality from creation to Truth, for "whoever loves Him has loved God."

The second is the love that flows from man to God. This is faith, attraction to the Divine, enkindlement, progress, entrance into the Kingdom of God, receiving the Bounties of God, illumination with the lights of the Kingdom. This love is the origin of all philanthropy; this love causes the hearts of men to reflect the rays of the Sun of Reality.

There are different kinds of degrees of love:

First, from God to God; the Spiritual flow from God to the Manifestations. This is the bounty of the Holy spirit, perfect in its effulgence and Expression as the light of the sun in a mirror.

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There is a profound, a Divine Wisdom in Love. The Light of God shines in the eyes when the heart is pure. The home of Religion is the heart.

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.

… But spiritual Love - the Love of God - is a bounty from God and will never pass away. We love each other because we are all centered in the Blessed Perfection. If we did not know Him, we should never have loved one another, for we are from different countries and different customs.

The Love of God is like the Sun; it shines upon everything, - and this is God's relation to man. Love is the greatest bounty of God, so Jesus said "God is Love", "I am Love".

It is said in the Koran, "God loved you and then you love."

The Love of God is like the Sun - it shines upon everything and this is His relationship to man: But the love of man to God is borrowed Light because it is impossible for Man to love unless God had first loved.

Love is the greatest Bounty of God.

Question: Those who do good works, who are well-wishers of all mankind, who have a praiseworthy character, who show forth love and kindness to all people, who care for the poor, and who work for universal peace--what need do they have of the divine teachings, with which they believe they can well afford to dispense? What is the condition of such people?

Answer: Know that such ways, words and deeds are to be lauded and approved, and they redound to the glory of the human world. But these actions alone are not sufficient: they are a body of the greatest beauty, but without a spirit. No, that which leads to everlasting life, eternal honour, universal enlightenment, and true success and salvation is, first and foremost, the knowledge of God.

… Second comes the love of God. The light of this love is kindled, through the knowledge of God, in the lamp of the heart, and its spreading rays illumine the world and bestow upon man the life of the Kingdom. And in truth the fruit of human existence is the love of God, which is the spirit of life and grace everlasting.

Only when the lamp of search, of earnest striving, of longing desire, of passionate devotion, of fervid love, of rapture, and ecstasy, is kindled within the seeker's heart, and the breeze of His loving-kindness is wafted upon his soul, will the darkness of error be dispelled, the mists of doubts and misgivings be dissipated, and the lights of knowledge and certitude envelop his being.

By My life, whoso attaineth unto His knowledge soareth in the atmosphere of His love and detacheth himself from all who dwell on earth, let alone those who speak according to their desires that which God hath not permitted them.

… Hear ye the voice of the Wronged One. Speak ye in the name of Truth, and be adorned with the ornament of His remembrance and illumined by the lights of His love. This is the key to hearts and the polish of existence.

The Great Being saith: The Word is the master key for the whole world, inasmuch as through its potency the doors of the hearts of men, which in reality are the doors of heaven, are unlocked. No sooner had but a glimmer of its effulgent splendour shone forth upon the mirror of love than the blessed word 'I am the Best-Beloved' was reflected therein.

Say: This is the Paradise on whose foliage the wine of utterance hath imprinted the testimony: "He that was hidden from the eyes of men is revealed, girded with sovereignty and power!" This is the Paradise the rustling of whose leaves proclaimeth: "O ye that inhabit the heavens and the earth! There hath appeared what hath never previously appeared. He Who, from everlasting, had concealed His Face from the sight of creation is now come."

The path to attaining this Reality is through the love of God. When the light of God's love shines in the lamp of the heart, that radiance shows the way and leads to the Kingdom of the Word of God.

What is truth? Truth is the word of God, which gives life to humanity. … The road to attain to this Truth is the love of God. When the light of the love of God is burning in the mirror of the heart, that flame shows the way and guides to the Kingdom of the Word of God.

As to what causes the growth of the love of God, know that it is to turn one's self toward God.

As to thy question, "In what way is it possible to obtain the Teachings directly from 'Abduil-Baha?" know thou that the greatest means is the love of God, as it is the power that can rend asunder the veil of concealment, comprehend the realities of all created things, penetrate the hearts of men, gather the flock of God from amongst all the peoples and kindreds of the earth, and it is the most great bond between hearts and souls.

In other words, it must produce in our hearts a love of God, which must be transmuted into love for man.

Likewise, ask thou of God that the magnet of His love should draw unto thee the knowledge of Him. Once a soul becometh holy in all things, purified, sanctified, the gates of the knowledge of God will open wide before his eyes.

Knowledge is love. Study, listen to exhortations, think, try to understand the wisdom and greatness of God. The soil must be fertilized before the seed can be sown.

If thou remainest firm in the love of God, the wellsprings of divine wisdom will flow from thy heart and tongue, and thou wilt become aware of the meanings of the divine words, for His love hath ever been and shall continue to be the teacher of pure hearts and sanctified souls.

O thou servant of the True One! Sulphur is the fire of the love of God, and mercury is the quicksilver of the ocean of the knowledge of God.

The light of the love of God however is both the light-giver of all things and their elucidator. It not only reveals the presence of certain realities but also causes them to be comprehended.

In less than the twinkling of an eye it reaches from the lowest realm to the highest realm, and likewise instantly travels from the highest realm to the lowest. Its wire is the knowledge of God and its components are the love of God. Its force and penetration set the worlds in motion and its influence endures forever.

Therefore, O Chief, install one end of the wire in the center of the heart and extend and connect the other end to the highest realm, so that the current of inspiration may continuously express the wisdom of the All-Merciful.

First, the knowledge; and, second, His unfathomable love.

… This is a great gift from God and hath no equal; although in this physical world its greatness is not perceivable, nor its nature clearly known, yet in the spiritual world it shineth like the sun.

Love [hubb], the beloved [habib], the lover [muhibb], and the one who is loved [mahbub] are four signs of the manifestation of the Family of God within thee, and they are thy very self. When these four signs are remembered within thee, and thy heart is illumined, and thy mind is enraptured, and thy spirit is quickened, and thy body trembleth with longing, then art thou truly of the people of Paradise and of the companions of the Commander of the Faithful.

Chapter 12, verses 1-8: Judas Iscariot was the chief among the disciples; their leader. Yet when this test (verse 6) came to him, he fell. The higher our station is, and the nearer we are to God, the more severe do our tests become: and when we have received great blessings, we are apt to become self-confident, and think that we are secure from falling - and then is our danger great. The Master and this story (of Mary and the ointment) had a deep spiritual significance.

The bottle which contained the (ointment) perfumed oil, represents the heart of Mary - the ointment is the love of God which filled her heart, and all this love she poured forth at the feet of Jesus. Then Judas said, why did she lavish all this love upon Jesus, who did not need it so much as the poor - why did she not pour out some of this love and care upon them?

Then Jesus said that she did well to give Him all her love, that is what we ought to do. We must give all our heart's love to God; then, for His sake, and through our love for Him, we shall love all others. By the poor in this spiritual sense, is meant those who needed love. The Blessed Perfection said, "The poor are my charge to you:" therefore we must always cherish the poor for His sake.

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.

Fire is the symbol of love and the baptism by fire means the love of God which descends into the hearts that are turned unto Him.

In the garden of thy heart plant naught but the rose of love, and from the nightingale of affection and desire loosen not thy hold.

… Wouldst thou have Me, seek none other than Me; and wouldst thou gaze upon My beauty, close thine eyes to the world and all that is therein; for My will and the will of another than Me, even as fire and water, cannot dwell together in one heart.

… Make My love thy treasure and cherish it even as thy very sight and life.

The essence of love is for man to turn his heart to the Beloved One, and sever himself from all else but Him, and desire naught save that which is the desire of his Lord.

… The essence of wealth is love for Me; whoso loveth Me is the possessor of all things, and he that loveth Me not is indeed of the poor and needy.

O ye peoples of the world! Know assuredly that My commandments are the lamps of My loving providence among My servants, and the keys of My mercy for My creatures.

… He who attaineth to My love hath title to a throne of gold, to sit thereon in honour over all the world; he who is deprived thereof, though he sit upon the dust, that dust would seek refuge with God, the Lord of all Religions.

Receptivity is necessary. The love of God is like unto the ray of the Sun. As long as the mirror is not polished from the dust, the rays of the sun shall not become manifest and revealed therein. For the appearance of the ray of the Sun which is the love of God depends upon the transparency and clearness of the mirror.

When the heart is free and enkindled with the fire of the love of God, all material affairs and physical conditions become a means for developing human spiritual perfections.

The highest love is independent of any personal advantages which we may draw from the love of the friend. If you love truly, your love for your friend will continue, even if he treats you ill. A man who really loves God, will love Him whether he be ill, or sad, or unfortunate. He does not love God because He has created him - his life may be full of dissociations and miseries. He does not love God because he has given him health or wealth, because these may disappear at any moment. He does not love Him because He has given him the strength of youth, because old age will surely come upon him.

In brief, wealth apart from Me hath been beloved, not My Self; and severance from all save Me hath been sought, not My Beauty.

O handmaid of God, desire nothing from the Friend save the Friend, and seek naught from the Beloved save His good-pleasure. His favor is better than a hundred thousand children, and His good-pleasure sweeter than a hundred thousand worlds.

Say: All anxiety is forbidden save anxiety in My love, and this is the straight path of justice. All fear is unseemly save fear in yearning for My beauty, and this hath been ordained by the finger of mighty glory. All passion and desperation are banished save passion in My affection, and this is better for all who believe in God and His Messengers than the sovereignty of the worlds.

But I say: "Sweet is submission, but sweeter still contentment before the Kind and Ever-faithful Friend," for whatsoever He doeth is the essence of purity and the spirit of faithfulness.

Render thanks unto the Well-Beloved that thou hast attained unto His love, a love that purifieth the soul of sickness and transgression, and answereth one's wants and needs. Please God, thou wilt remain constant in His love, and wilt not deviate from the straight path of His Cause.

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.

… The Fire of the Love of God is like unto the lightening which strikes upon the head of nature, emasculating it of its virility and leaving it fallen on the ground - a lifeless corpse. Consequently the greatest Power in the World of existence is the "Love of God"...

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Overcome passions and desires, purify the heart from remembrance of aught save that of thy Lord, the Precious, the Gracious, and be controlled by the attraction of the Beauty of God, that His remembrance may run as the spirit in thy blood veins and limbs, and thus fill thee with the thoughts of the love of God.

The Love of God makes man free. It is like unto the sword. It cuts all the chains. The Love of God is the remedy for every disease; the salve for every wound and freedom from every prison.

O thou believer in the oneness of God! Know thou that nothing profiteth a soul save the love of the All-Merciful, nothing lighteth up a heart save the splendour that shineth from the realm of the Lord.

For every one of you his paramount duty is to choose for himself that on which no other may infringe and none usurp from him. Such a thing - and to this the Almighty is My witness - is the love of God, could ye but perceive it.

Build ye for yourselves such houses as the rain and floods can never destroy, which shall protect you from the changes and chances of this life.

Ever hast thou had both wealth and honour, for the love of God hath been with thee, and -- God willing -- shall remain with thee for evermore; and naught that hath been created in the heaven or the earth is equal to a single atom of this love.

Strive thou within thyself lest thou sell the Joseph of eternity for whatsoever hath been created in earth and heaven, for through love of Him thou shalt become independent of all who dwell in the heavens and the earth, even shouldst thou possess not so much as a grain or atom of what is ordained on earth. And were His love not with thee, thou wouldst be poor though there be gathered unto thee the treasures of the heavens and the earth.

By the life of God! a single drop of the ocean of His love is more profitable unto thee than the earth and that which is thereupon, because this will vanish and perish, but that drop of love will remain eternally and everlasting in the worlds of God.

Therefore, those souls who have drunk from the choice wine of divine love and partaken of the Kawthar of recognition are in all conditions turned toward Him and holding fast to the hem of His generosity, for that which is everlasting and enduring has been and will be the love of God and His recognition.

That which is the cause of everlasting life in humankind and that which is permanent and lasting is the knowledge of God, the love of God, faith, certitude, steadfastness and constancy.

Noble birth and exalted lineage are praiseworthy when adorned with the love of God; otherwise, if one does not attain to this most exalted station, one has not been and will never be mentioned in the presence of God.

Today kinship is not considered - thou art mentioned for the love of God. Strive that thou mayest attain unto that kinship which befitteth these days.

If a person is illumined with the light of the love of God, he is (like unto) the morning star, even though his name be dark; and if he is a captive in the darkness of error, he is gloomy even though his name be that of a shining star. Consequently, be thou intent thou that thou makest thy face illumined with the light of the love of God, through the divine assistance and favor. This attribute will make thee independent of every name!

O spiritual beloved! Though there are many in the world who bear the name Habibu'llah (Beloved of God), yet all these names are without reality and these titles are without meaning, except for those souls who are the manifestations of the love of the Ancient Beauty and have ecstasy in their hearts. Such souls are the true beloved ones of God and are accepted at the Divine Threshold.

His Love is as wide as the universe, nay, nay, it is limitless and boundless - a shoreless, depthless sea of spiritual Love.

16 The steed of this valley is pain, and if there be no pain this journey will never end. In this plane the lover hath no thought save the Beloved, and seeketh no refuge save the Friend. At every moment he offereth a hundred lives in the path of the Loved One, at every step he throweth a thousand heads at His feet.

… Until thou enter the Egypt of love, thou shalt never gaze upon the Joseph-like beauty of the Friend; and until, like Jacob, thou forsake thine outward eyes, thou shalt never open the eye of thine inward being; and until thou burn with the fire of love, thou shalt never find thyself in true yearning's embrace.

When once the seeker hath ascended unto this station, he will enter the City of Love and Rapture, whereupon the winds of love will blow and the breezes of the spirit will waft. In this station the seeker is so overcome by the ecstasies of yearning and the fragrances of longing that he discerneth not his left from his right, nor doth he distinguish land from sea or desert from mountain. At every moment he burneth with the fire of longing and is consumed by the onslaught of separation in this world.

24 The dwellers of this abode know not the destination, yet they spur on their chargers. They see naught in the Beloved but His very Self. They find all words of sense to be meaningless, and senseless words to be full of meaning. They cannot distinguish head from foot or one limb from another. To them the mirage is water itself and departure is the mystery of return.

Until a person has drunk from this revitalising divine cup, he cannot know its rapture and until a heart is illumined with this Divinely-kindled fire, he cannot imagine it: "He who has tasted not, knows not."

Glorified art Thou, O my God! How can I make mention of Thee after realizing that any remembrance of aught else but Thee befitteth not Thy presence? And how can I fail to make mention of Thee when I find within my heart the love of Thy beauty? Reason saith: Make no mention of Him, for He hath ever been sanctified above the remembrance of all beings and exalted beyond the recognition of all creatures.

This fire is in truth light, and light is identical with fire. At times it is designated as the Breath of God, for the manifestation and growth of divine knowledge and inner meanings in sanctified hearts and illumined minds depends upon the wafting of this spiritual breeze.

O beloved of my heart and physician of my soul! Love is that which openeth the sealed doors and showeth the path of nearness and reunion. If I say it is light, this is the truth without doubt, for through it do lovers attain unto the lights of nearness to the All-Merciful Lord. And if I say it is fire, this too is true, for it consumeth the moisture of lethargy and manifesteth the reality of heat.

This love sometimes appears in the form of light and at times manifests in the shape of fire, speaking from the earthly sphere to the celestial realms. His is the kingdom. Its fragrances cause the world to progress and nations to unite.

Love layeth waste cities and buildeth countless towns and dwellings. The world is set ablaze by its fire and illumined by its light. With a single manifestation it overturneth the world, and with a single revelation it scattereth the peoples. Power is His power, and might is His might, and this ability hath been bestowed upon him by God. Blessed is the soul that hath been adorned with the ornament of love.

O thou who hast obtained guidance from the light of the truth! The human temple is like unto a niche, and the heart is like unto a glass globe, and the love of God is like unto the light within that glass. When that lamp is ignited, the globe becometh illumined and the physical niche also becomes full of light and brilliance.

The love of God, exalted and glorified be He, is like unto a pearl, and its abode is the shell of the heart. That We have likened it to a pearl is for the understanding of the servants; otherwise a hundred thousand pearls of the seas of inner meanings circle round the pearl of His love. Blessed is the heart that hath become the shell of this pearl.

Divine love, exalted be His glory, is like unto a precious pearl, sanctified above any likeness, similitude, peer or dwelling place, and its treasury hath ever been and shall remain the hearts.

O living flame of heavenly love! Thine heart hath been so fired with the love of God that from ten thousand leagues afar its warmth and radiance may be felt and seen. The fire lit by mortal hand imparteth light and warmth to but a little space, whereas that sacred flame which the Hand of God hath kindled, though burning in the east, will set aflame the west and give warmth to both the north and the south; nay, it shall rise from this world to glow with the hottest flame in the realms on high, flooding with light the Kingdom of eternal glory.

O servant of Baha! Be self-sacrificing in the path of God, and wing thy flight unto the heavens of the love of the Abha Beauty, for any movement animated by love moveth from the periphery to the centre, from space to the Day-Star of the universe.

Perchance thou deemest this to be difficult, but I tell thee that such cannot be the case, for when the motivating and guiding power is the divine force of magnetism it is possible, by its aid, to traverse time and space easily and swiftly.

A.B. "Everything is possible. Christ says: 'Be ye therefore perfect even as your father in heaven is perfect.' Thou canst have the pair of wings. One is the love of God and the other is renunciation of aught else save him."

God said to Moses from the decree of the heart: "O chosen one, I love thee!"

But effort is needed until thou emigratest from the realm of self and desire and soarest to the sacred precincts of holiness and becomest intimate with the sanctuary of the soul and findest the way to the heart of the Friend. … Drink from the wine of love and close thine eyes to the world, for whatever thou seest will perish and pass away in an instant, while that which is with God remaineth and perisheth not, and endureth and fadeth not away.

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In the degrees of love and stations of affection, these two verses suffice:

"O arrow of Thy grief, the lovers' hearts its target, A world absorbed in Thee, while Thou art absent from their midst. Sometimes in the monastery confined, sometimes in the mosque residing, Meaning I seek Thee, house to house. My purpose in the Ka'bih and the temple is Thou, Thou art my purpose, the Ka'bih and temple but pretexts."

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When Majnun was consumed with love for Layla, though it was not based on truth and was merely at the level of physical existence, they reached a state that you all remember. When he saw a dog that belonged to the tribe wherein Layla's name was mentioned, he kissed it out of love for her -- this was love of body for body. How is it then that you do not ascend in the love of God? If true love is found in God, it will erase from one who attains it all mention save His.

Yea, the moth-like lovers of the All-Glorious at every instant offer up their lives round the consuming flame of the Friend, occupying themselves with naught save Him.

O ye lovers of the Abha Beauty! When souls become attracted to the variegated colours and physical beauty of this contingent existence, they grow so enamoured that they are ready to give up their lives for a world of dust. They forget themselves and abandon all comfort to surge with the passion of a turbulent ocean. Each eve they grow more anxious in their love; each morn they burn more with desire. Consider, if this is the condition of those who love ephemeral things, what then must be the state of the lovers of the True Beloved? What cries of ardour, what groans of longing must ascend from their hearts? If attraction to the world of dust can cause such ecstasy, surely the love of the Spirit of sanctity can achieve more!

This is the day when the lovers of the Abha Beauty must show self-sacrifice and hasten to the field of martyrdom for His sake. This is the day when they must kindle the lamp of the Most Merciful that they might be granted the spirit of life. Let them sing with the accents of Iraq so that hearts may be moved and souls may be quickened; let them chant the melodies of Hijaz that all spirits may be animated by this divine vitality. Thus shall they celebrate at the banquet of the love of God with such exaltation, such exhilaration and rapture of the spirit that the melodies of that gladsome assembly and the songs sung in those peerless gatherings may echo to the very heights of the divine empyrean, thrilling the denizens of the Concourse on high.

O thou who art enamored of the countenance of the Friend!

In this world, many lovers of the rosy-cheeked, musk-haired, and salty-lipped Beauty, which is a reflection of the manifest Beauty's grace, have appeared and become notorious in streets and bazaars.

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Such is the requirement of love in the contingent world; consider then what the love of God and passionate devotion to the Celestial Beloved would require!

O Khalil, Khalil, Khalil! In the Arabic tongue, this word signifieth a true friend, and it was for this reason that Abraham was given this title. It is derived from khullat, which meaneth intense love.

The well-guarded secrets in this day are the mysteries of the love of God, which are hidden in the innermost essence of the human heart. Its fire ignites all hearts and its heat encompasses all regions.

O fruitful saplings in the garden of the love of God! At all times be immersed in the ocean of divine virtues and character, and be enraptured in the love of the All-Merciful Beauty.

What can this servant mention and what can he express in describing this station, when even those who have attained thereunto are seen to be powerless and wanting in its comprehension? For this is the station of love, the prince of all stations.

"I need a mouth as wide as heaven itself, To tell the praise of that which angels envy."

In the path of love there is no stage of nearness and remoteness.

In any case, praise and thanks be to God that in all degrees the firm foundation of true love and spiritual intimacy became fixed and established, and the delights of spiritual affection and heartfelt love became the sweet taste of the people of the Covenant.

There is a poem in Arabic which says, "We keep silent when love speaks," and that is called the spiritual conversation. The material language is nothing, but the spiritual language is everything.

Thus if you wish to understand the degrees of divine love and spiritual and inner connections and true fellowship, turn to the pure and illumined page of the heart and soul.

O Mihraban! Love is a ray from the sun of divine love and a bounty from the limitless ocean of the Kind Lord.

Thou hast entered beneath the shade of the Divine Lote-Tree and hast partaken of the fruits of the blessed Tree that is "neither of the East nor of the West”.[Q24:35] Thou hast joined the assemblage of the All-Merciful and hast hastened forth, with thine entire being, on the path of the love of God. Thou hast kindled and illuminated thy heart and soul with the effulgent lights emanating from the dayspring of Oneness.

O Isma'il! A single flame from the fire of God's love shone forth upon Solomon and set him ablaze - such a blaze that he lost all control and spoke that which he spoke.

I spoke not of thee between thy risings; that mention pertained to another. How, then, should I point unto thy Presence? If thou wert to give me, from thine own hand, a cup of poison, it would be dearer to me than the intoxication of any other; for my love for thee is thy love within my heart, born of thine own inmost soul.

But O Taqi, the breeze of thy love is sweeter than morning prayers, and thy sin more beloved than asking forgiveness.

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

Loose thy tongue and teach, and let thy face be bright with the fire of God's love. Rest thou not for a moment, seek thou to draw no easeful breath. Thus mayest thou become a sign and symbol of God's love, and a banner of His grace.

O My loved ones! Adorn your tongues with truthfulness, and your hands with generosity, and your bodies with dignity, and your souls with courtesy, and your hearts with My love and then with My exalted remembrance.

That which beseemeth you is the love of God, and the love of Him Who is the Manifestation of His Essence, and the observance of whatsoever He chooseth to prescribe unto you, did ye but know it.

With hearts set aglow by the fire of the love of God and spirits refreshed by the food of the heavenly spirit you must go forth as the disciples nineteen hundred years ago, quickening the hearts of men by the call of glad tidings, the light of God in your faces, severed from everything save God.

If you desire to love God, love thy fellow-men. In them you can see the image and likeness of God.

Love for men is love for God. To serve men is to serve God. My sign is this-that I serve the people, that I clothe the people.

Love the creatures for the sake of God and not for themselves. You will never become angry or impatient if you love them for the sake of God. Humanity is not perfect. There are imperfections in every human being, and you will always become unhappy if you look toward the people themselves. But if you look toward God, you will love them and be kind to them, for the world of God is the world of perfection and complete mercy. Therefore, do not look at the shortcomings of anybody; see with the sight of forgiveness.

Yet if the Love of God is shining in our hearts, we, like Christ, may see that Love reflected in every personality, and love all alike.

There are two kinds of Love: one Universal and one Individual. You must love humanity in order to uplift and beautify humanity. Even if they kill you, you must love them. Individual love cannot be forced and you are not called to love everybody personally, but if they are in your lives, see to it that they are means of your development and that you are means of their development, through your universal love for them. We are creatures of the same God. We must love all therefore as children of God even though they are doing us harm.

Let all be united in this Divine power of love! Let all strive to grow in the light of the Sun of Truth, and reflecting this luminous love on all men, may their hearts become so united that they may dwell evermore in the radiance of the limitless love.

… When you love a member of your family or a compatriot, let it be with a ray of the Infinite Love! Let it be in God, and for God! Wherever you find the attributes of God, love that person, whether he be of your family or of another.

But there is need of a superior power to overcome human prejudices, a power which nothing in the world of mankind can withstand and which will overshadow the effect of all other forces at work in human conditions. That irresistible power is the love of God.

The more love is expressed among mankind and the stronger the power of unity, the greater will be this reflection and revelation, for the greatest bestowal of God is love. Love is the source of all the bestowals of God. Until love takes possession of the heart, no other divine bounty can be revealed in it.

This light is the light of the love of God, of spirituality, of unity of concord; it is the light of knowledge and divine recognition, of bounty and perfection, of self sacrifice and spiritual sensitivity.

Love is the fundamental principle of God's purpose for man, and He has commanded us to love each other even as He loves us. All these discords and disputes which we hear on all sides only tend to increase materiality.

The honor of man is through the attainment of the knowledge of God; his happiness is from the love of God; his joy is in the glad tidings of God; his greatness is dependent upon his servitude to God.

… 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.

In the Koran it is said: 'They love Him and He loves them'--i. e., the bounty of love is one of the Divine bounties which comes to man from God; just as the sun when it sends its rays to the mirrors and thereby the mirrors are illumined; this effulgence and splendor are from the bounty of the sun.

They will, all of them, become elated from a draught of divine love, and that union of theirs, that connection, will also abide forever.

This love is not of the body but completely of the soul. And those souls whose inner being is lit by the love of God are even as spreading rays of light, and they shine out like stars of holiness in a pure and crystalline sky. For true love, real love, is the love for God, and this is sanctified beyond the notions and imaginings of men.

O Ye beloved friends of His Beauty! God has made the love of His friends as equal to the love of Himself and the showing of kindness to His friends, as equal to service to the Creator.

Grant them heavenly shahnaz and make them royal falcons on the arm of the sovereign, for they are longtime friends, of good character and fine disposition, deserving of confirmation and prepared to walk the straight path. They are immersed in the ocean of love and companions in comfort and tribulation.

Moth-like she circled in adoration round the undying flame of the Divine Candle, her spirit ablaze and her heart consumed by the fire of His love.

Take great care of her for her heart is illumined with the love of the Abha Beauty and her soul is spiritual through attraction to the Supreme Kingdom.

His heart is a treasury of the love of God. Verily, We love him who loveth Him. That honored lady and the others should gladden him through manifestations of love and affection.

'This,' exclaimed the Master, when He had finished the story, 'shows us how little man requires when he is nourished by the sweetest of all foods -- the love of God.'

It is not so much what name you are called, but what you are in your heart. Are you loving and serving God? Love and service are the great requisites of a good life.

Spirit is universal. Man is created in a potential degree of Spirit. Growth is from the mental station into the Spiritual, something like the development from soldier to Commander. God Himself cannot compel the soul to become spiritual. The exercise of a free human will is necessary. We can point the way and furnish the example. We should do little things as well as great things for the Love of God. We should love people because they are God's creatures.

Only to be always speaking of love is not sufficient. We must love in our hearts. Nor can love and hate exist together, for love and hate are opposites. If a man declaims that he loves every one, while his actions contradict his words, his assertions have no worth.

O My loved ones! Prefer the love of God to the love of your own selves, and obedience to disobedience.

Economic questions will not attract hearts. The love of God alone will attract them. Economic questions are most interesting; but the power which moves, controls and attracts the hearts of men is the love of God.

I hope that through the power of the love of Baha’u’llah thou mayest put into execution the philanthropic aims and promote the Teachings of Baha’u’llah.

Meanwhile, the supreme antidote and the instantaneous cure for the ills of the people of the world are the sacred teachings of the Ancient Beauty (may my spirit be sacrificed for His loved ones) and true love for that heart-ravishing countenance.

To this 'Abdu'l-Baha said, "Your members may be compared to beams of different metals and you are trying to unite them as you would tie these fingers together with a string." Here 'Abdu'l-Baha brought His own five fingers close together to illustrate His point. "See, no matter how you tie them, still they shall remain separate. But the only way to make these metals into one alloy, is to put them into a crucible and apply intense heat to melt them all. For our melting-pot, we use the fire of the love of God."

The essence of the nature of God is love. His favour cannot be won by hatred or strife.

[Aqa Mirza Khan, the photographer, submitted the question: "Are these persons, whose deeds are praiseworthy yet who possess not faith, accepted in the sight of God?" He said:]

They have no station in the realm of the Kingdom, yet in relation to other people it is evident that they are distinguished. Their charitable deeds do not go without fruit within their own sphere. We do not call these people enemies - all are friends. The Blessed Beauty removed enmity.

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I declare by thyself that I have become enthralled with thy love, obligated to thee for thy affection and the prisoner of the Majesty of this title ('Abdu'l-Baha).

Praise be to God that the bonds of love are so firm and strong that absence is the same as presence and remoteness and separation are not a veil before the eyes.

The cause of the creation of contingent beings was love - "I was a hidden treasure and I loved to be known, therefore I created creation that I might be known."

O 'Ali! The friends must at all times increase in the warmth of divine love. Warmth is manifested through love, and love is achieved through turning towards Him.

O My loved ones! Abandon oppression and immerse yourselves in the ocean of the favors of your Lord, the Mighty, the Loving. Whosoever immerseth himself in this ocean is so attracted by the lights of Beauty that he turneth neither to the right nor to the left.

This one is of metal; that one is the Love of God. This is the difference between the two swords we possess.

O friends! Ye must all be so ablaze in this day with the fire of the love of God that the heat thereof may be manifest in all your veins, your limbs and members of your body, and the peoples of the world may be ignited by this heat and turn to the horizon of the Beloved.

The essential foundation is to turn towards the Abha Kingdom and to be drawn to the Beauty of God. That which exerts influence in the world of being is the love of God, which is the spirit of life and the cause of salvation.

Since thou art a ray, beseech thou the Lord to enable thee to give illumination and enlightenment, to brighten the horizons and to consume the world with the fire of the love of God.

In all conditions, set ablaze the dispirited souls with the fire of divine love and remind them of His verses, for the people are weak and God is strong and compassionate.

But O present friends, beseech God that this flame may ignite today, and through the heat of God and the temperance of disposition and character it may become a new spring, and hearts may become aflame and the target of heart-piercing glances, so that we may become the manifestations of the signs of unity and the dawning-places of clear proofs and the recipients of attention and the objects of the glance of favors - for the grace of the Most Glorious Beauty is great, most great, and the bounty of the Most Great Name is ancient, most ancient.

His love both enlivens and consumes - in both states it is a mercy. The world is enkindled by love and adorned by love.

I pray that you may be manifestations of the love of Baha'u'llah, that each one of you may become like a clear lamp of crystal from which the rays of the bounties of the Blessed Perfection may shine forth to all nations and peoples.

The East hath verily been illumined with the light of the Kingdom. Ere long will this same light shed a still greater illumination upon the West. Then will the hearts of its people be vivified through the potency of the teachings of God and their souls be set aglow by the undying fire of His love.

This Servant prays night and day at the blessed Threshold, with great humbleness and devotion, asking that He may, day by day, confirm you with new confirmations, so that the fire of the love of God may flare up anew in those regions and especially among the tribes and kindreds of the surrounding areas.

And what has occurred that the wine vat of the love of God has stopped bubbling and surging, when moment by moment its effervescence and heat and intensity should increase until it transforms that region into a wine cellar of the paradise of delight?

The rapture and attraction of the love of God maketh the mute tongue to speak and the deaf ear to hear. It inspireth eloquent speech and teacheth wondrous meanings.

Therefore, ask thou of God that the fire of His love may so surge within thee that thou mayest become even as a nightingale in utterance.

Know thou, verily, Baha' was the Sun of Love and Peace, who shone forth with the Light of Guidance and was a Spirit of Life to all regions. The signs of His effulgence shall appear when the love of God shall influence the hearts, just as the soul influenceth bodies.

Be not grieved that thou hast returned to thy homeland. Though the true original home is indeed the precincts of the Throne, yet since thou didst return by God's leave and His good-pleasure, I swear by My life that it is the Kawthar of life.

And as the human heart, as fashioned by God, is one and undivided, it behoveth thee to take heed that its affections be, also, one and undivided. Cleave thou, therefore, with the whole affection of thine heart, unto His love, and withdraw it from the love of anyone besides Him, that He may aid thee to immerse thyself in the ocean of His unity, and enable thee to become a true upholder of His oneness.

It is clear then that love of the beauty of the All-Merciful impelleth one to the worship of Almighty God.

Recite the Obligatory Prayer and supplications as much as thou art able, so that day by day thou mayest attain to increased firmness and steadfastness and find greater joy and gladness. Thus the circle of divine knowledge will grow wider, and the fire of the love of God will burn brighter within thee.

It is revealed in the Visiting Tablet - "O, my GOD, I beg of Thee, by Thyself and by those souls whose faces are brightened through the Lights of Thy Face, and by those who obeyed Thine Ordinances for the sake of Thy Love," etc.They pray only for love of GOD, and not because they fear Him or hell, or hope for Bounty or Heaven. Thus, the souls in whose heart the fire of love is enkindled are attracted by supplications to Thee. The true supplication to GOD must therefore be actuated by love to GOD only.

"If there be no love, if there be no pleasure or spiritual enjoyment in prayer, do not pray. Prayer should spring from love, from the desire of the person to commune with God. Just as the lover never ceases from wishing to communicate with the beloved so does the lover of God always wish for constant communication with the Deity.

Draw nigh unto God and persevere in communion with thy Lord, so that the fire of God's love may glow more luminously in the heart, its heat grow stronger and give warmth to that region and its sound reach the Supreme Concourse.

O thou who hast set thy face towards the Kingdom:

Verily, I say unto thee: Should a spark from the fire of the love of God alight upon a heart, and the flame thus generated be fanned, then gradually its ardour will intensify until a conflagration is produced whose blaze shall mount up to the highest heaven.

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By God! He who loveth Me sleepeth not even when sleeping, nor is he occupied with aught save My remembrance and My love and My praise, even should he be engaged in all the affairs of earth.

Intoxication with the love of God is the key --- that, and ever-growing knowledge of God, love, unity, fellowship and detachment.

O thou son of the Kingdom! All things are beneficial if joined with the love of God; and without His love all things are harmful, and act as a veil between man and the Lord of the Kingdom. When His love is there, every bitterness turneth sweet, and every bounty rendereth a wholesome pleasure.

O faithful and steadfast friends of God! In this world, the foundation of eternal happiness and spiritual ecstasy of the human soul lies in the divine fragrances. The love of God is as the spirit, and the physical world is as a feeble body. When that spirit permeates this body, it becomes alive, resplendent, fresh and verdant.

Behold how pure is the love of children, and how stainless are their hearts. From their very faces it is manifest how sincere and unalloyed is their affection. The love of the hearts must be of this nature---especially the hearts of the loved ones of God.

I supplicate the Almighty that thou mayest be reared in the bosom of the love of God and attain maturity with utmost love and ecstasy.

Praise be to God, the content of the letters was evidence that you are turned toward the Supreme Kingdom, and from your countenances it was clear that the light of the love of God was evident and manifest in your faces.

Regarding what you wrote about the children, from the beginning children must be raised with divine education and ever be reminded of the remembrance of God so that the love of God may become fixed and established in their nature and mix with their milk. … You must, as much as possible, mention the mention of the All-Merciful in the presence of the children so that the fragrances of the love of God may influence their veins and arteries, and this servant will supplicate with utmost humility, submission, powerlessness and contrition at the Court of the Self-Sufficient, seeking confirmation and assistance.

Since you were an integral part of him, God willing, through divine assistance and grace, you will nurse his offspring at the breast of the love of God, give them to drink from the fountainhead of the knowledge of God, and nurture them in the cradle of care, so that these two branches may manifest the perfections of their root, and may truly be the progeny of his heart and soul rather than mere children of water and clay.

Maturity and adulthood mean to be enkindled with the fire of the love of God and to be attracted to the divine fragrances.

O thou whose heart is alive and whose soul is joyful! Although outwardly thou art an aged mortal, in reality thou art a spiritual youth and a radiant young man of the All-Merciful, for thou art fresh and verdant through the spirit of the love of God, and through the breeze of His favor thou art in the utmost freshness and grace and the highest degree of beauty and charm.

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.

Strive for spiritual happiness, therefore, that the lamp of thine heart may be kindled through the love of God.

This happiness is but the love of God.

This happiness is but the eternal might the brilliant traces of which are shining forth unto the temples of unity.

And expansion of hearts is not possible except through the love of God. If expansion comes from other things, it is temporary and transient - it soon turns to constriction. But joy and expansion that comes through the love of God is eternal.

Thus it is necessary that man think only of the Love of God. Then if he eats a little more food than may seem usual, it does no harm. But otherwise, that is, if he does not possess the Love of God, to eat little or much food is all the same.

In brief, I hope that thou mayest become inebriated with the wine of the love of God, find eternal bliss and receive inexhaustible joy and happiness. All wine hath depression as an after-effect, except the wine of the Love of God.

O thou maidservant of God! The physical life is sustained by respiration, eating of food and drinking of water; but the spiritual life consists of the mentioning of the True One, the Love of God, the explanation of the Knowledge of God and attraction to the Beauty of Abha.

O servant of the Supreme Beauty! Khwajiy-i-Ansari said: "O Lord, if Thou shouldst but once say 'My servant,' my laughter would surpass the Throne." Now consider that the Blessed Beauty hath a hundred thousand times caused these yearning souls to hear the call "O My servants."

Whoever has the love of Baha'u'llah in their heart finds capacity, for divine love is like the spirit - as long as the spirit is in the body, the capacity to achieve anything is attainable.

When you recall the endless favors you laugh, and when the fire of love blazes forth you weep. This weeping is better than a thousand joys, and this crying causes attraction to the Most Glorious Kingdom.

From the Kingdom of Signs I entreat for thee Divine confirmations, that day by day thou mayest become happier and sweeter, and mayest delight thy palate with the sweetness of the love of God, becoming a cause of the constancy and steadfastness of the precious friends, so that the tree of life may bear a fruit, and the prayers of 'Abdu'l‑Baha may produce an effect.

I beseech God that thou mayest become a sign of guidance and a gift of the Kingdom of Abha, detached from the world and attracted to the Concourse on High, speaking forth praise and manifesting the Most Beautiful Names. And all these virtues circle round the love of God.

This is naught but from the effulgence of the bounties and favors of the Ancient Beauty, may my spirit be a sacrifice for His loved ones, Who cast such connection in the hearts and such joy in the breasts that tiredness brings freedom and exhaustion brings ease.

You who are wandering in the desert of the love of God must keep that heart connection in view, for it is the continuous medium and perpetual communication.

No sword can sever the inner connection, nor can the passage of time alter it. It has been and will continue to be.

Every letter that was written by anyone and to any place, and every fragrance and melody that was made manifest by any soul and from anywhere, was from you and has returned to you. What else do you seek? You carry an ocean of the Beloved upon your shoulders yet speak of seeking; you hold a universe of the Loved One in your heart yet search for union with the Friend.

Likewise, this imprisoned one is greatly attached with his heart and soul to the beloved ones and this very attachment is the faithful Messenger and the manifest Tablet. Therefore, my request is this: Should ye send a hundred letters and no answers be received, do ye not feel at all sad; nay, rather think of this occurrence as a glorious proof of the power of love, as it will demonstrate that there is no incumbency (or formality) between us.

Though -- as Thou beholdest me, O my God -- I be dwelling in a place within whose walls no voice can be heard except the sound of the echo, though all the gates of ease and comfort be shut against us, and thick darkness appear to have compassed us on every side, yet my soul hath been so inflamed by its love for Thee, that nothing whatsoever can either quench the fire of its love or abate the consuming flame of its desire.

By God! Through tribulation has increased the love of Baha to such an extent that nothing has deterred Him from the remembrance of the Lord of Names and Creator of heaven. … How wondrous is this fire which, whenever water touches it, grows more intense in its love for its Lord, the Almighty, the Most Exalted, the All-Knowing.

Proclaim unto my loved ones the tidings of remembrance of Me and of devotion to Me, and of turning unto Me and of My mercy, My favor and My loving kindness which hath encompassed all who are in heaven and who are on earth.

O love-intoxicated souls attracted to the Peerless Beloved!

When the Quintessence of Beauty turned His face towards the mirror of His glory and that ravishing countenance was reflected in the world of humanity, He taught the friends the ways of true love.

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Doth it beseem a lover to flee from his beloved, or to desert the object of his heart's desire? Nay, we all believe in Thee, and eagerly hope to enter Thy presence.

When the heart is illumined with the lights of divine knowledge and is filled with the remembrance, praise, love and affection of God, glorified be His majesty, no space remaineth therein for the sorrows of the world and the tribulations that descend upon it to enter or penetrate.

Rest was not created save in the shadow of God and His love. Verily, hardship in His path is the sovereign of ease, and extinction in His love is the monarch of immortality. By His very Self! Tribulation in His good-pleasure is a gift to His lovers, and abasement in His Cause is glory to them that yearn for Him.

The heat of the love of God will not gather with quiet and coldness and attractions to the countenance of God will not reconcile with calm and rest. Fire and ice will not embrace and the globe of fire will not hide under snow or a dry mound and thorn.

For the love of God, like a lamp in the glass of tests, burns bright. Sometimes it makes one prisoner in chains, sometimes it makes poison like honey and milk. Sometimes like Joseph it casts one into prison, sometimes like the noble master it makes the throat submit to the dagger. Sometimes like Christ it makes one the ornament of the cross, sometimes like the Son of the Virgin it makes one martyred in the land of Taff. Sometimes like Abraham it makes one homeless and sometimes like Noah it causes one to weep and lament. These are the ways and attributes of the love of God.

Because calamities encountered in God's pathway are, to Abdu'l-Baha, but favour and grace, and in one of His Tablets the all-glorious Beauty hath declared: 'I never passed a tree but Mine heart addressed it saying: "O would that thou wert cut down in My name, and My body crucified upon thee!"' These were the words of the Most Great Name. This is His path. This is the way to His Realm of Might.

Like these homeless ones you became rootless, and like these love-smitten ones you became lost in the wilderness and desert.

… Were it not so, every prisoner of passion would raise the banner of divine love and every one afflicted with pleasure and wealth would pitch high the tent of divine attraction.

From the first, love was fierce and bloodthirsty

So that whoever was an outsider might flee

Indeed, were it not for the trials in the divine path, with what would the palate of the lovers of beauty be sweetened?

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Merely because you were enkindled with the fire of the love of God have they treated you thus.

… Love was fierce and bloody from the start

So that the outsider might flee

Sacrificing life and wealth and self

Is but the first stage on love's path

Now praise be to God that in Iran the just government of His Majesty protects the oppressed and guards the persecuted.

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O Lord! These souls have tasted bitter agony in this earthly life and have, as a sign of their love for the shining beauty of Thy countenance and in their eagerness to attain Thy celestial kingdom, tolerated every gross indignity that the people of tyranny have inflicted upon them.

Thou knowest full well, O my God, that their only crime is to have loved Thee. For this reason have their oppressors laid hold on them, and scattered them abroad.

I swear by the Ancient Beauty that I willingly purchase these tribulations in the path of the Most Glorious Beauty and I desire to bear with heart and soul all the trials of the loved ones in the path of the Most Glorious One, that I may sacrifice myself for all.

Can a loved one find rest after the ascension of the Beloved? Or can a lover endure with patience after the concealment of the countenance of the Beloved? No, by God! The expanse of the world becomes as confining as a prison, and the vastness of plain and desert brings distress and agitation.

O Muhammad qabl-i-Javad! The Creator loves and has loved His loved ones. All have been and shall ever remain beneath His watchful gaze.

Well is it with thee for having adorned thyself with the ornament of the love of God and for having been enabled to make mention of Him and utter His praise.

Praise be to God that thou art successful in steadfastness and confirmed in the love of the Blessed Beauty. The love of Baha is a coat of steel, and the whisperings of souls are like straws.

Let not the lamp of the love of God be extinguished in the niche of hearts by the blowing of severe winds. Rather, it must be protected by the glass of trust in God and detachment from all else save Him.

These are the souls whose existence the denizens of the Supreme Concourse take pride in and whose presence they eagerly anticipate. Therefore strive that the Joseph of divine love not be seized by the wolves of trials.

O Abdul-Husayn! The beginning of the matter is the recognition of the Dawning-Place of God's Cause and the Manifestation of His Own Self, and its end is steadfastness in the love of God, exalted be His glory.

Say: How many souls laid claim to love, yet were later deprived of the Lord of the Beginning and the End by a mere croak or buzz.

Then know that We loved you before as We love you now, and We mentioned you in a beautiful Tablet that you might find tranquility in your soul and be among those firm in love.

By God, We love you more than ye love Us, and all who dwell within the canopies of a mighty Name bear witness to this.

As to thee, O Rasul, shouldst thou wish to take flight in the atmosphere of My love, it behoveth thee to soar above the kingdoms of earth and heaven and all that they contain, that thou mayest attain the paradise of the good-pleasure of the All-Glorious. Well is it with them that have entered therein!

Thou knowest, O my God, that my complaint before Thee is but as the yearnings of lovers before their Beloved, for they desire not to complain of what they have witnessed in the paths of love and separation, or of how they have been consumed by the fire of longing.

The cause of attaining submission and contentment is being enkindled with the fire of the love of God. Therefore strive to increase in the love of God day by day.

No matter how severe this dust and rust may be, the polish of the love of God will cleanse and sanctify the mirror from that rust and dust, leaving no trace of trials and tribulations.

What brings solace to man's heart is to plunge into this ocean of pain in the path of God. In this darkness, man's light is the love of God, and in this endless illness, man's healing is the knowledge of God. Though this cup is bitter, the love of God bestows sweetness.

If the love of God does not exist, with what can man console himself, to what can he attach his heart in this world?

They say that Layli would fill others' cups with sweet syrup but would break Majnun's cup. When they asked Majnun about this, he said this was a sign of attention and love.

"If you should go to Persia and mingle with the friends there and should be in the house of any one of the friends, and people should come in to take you to kill you, you would then witness how the owner of the house would sacrifice himself for you. He would sacrifice himself for you rather than allow even one hair of your head to be hurt. This is love! It has happened often in Persia that the friends have sacrificed themselves for one another. This has happened many times. This love is the love of God.

The intoxication of the crimson wine seized you, and the wine of love and knowledge made you sway until you hastened to the place of sacrifice and preferred the people of poverty and evanescence over your own selves.

Then his love of God burned away every obstructing veil and idle thought. He did all he could to spread the Faith of God, becoming known far and wide for his ardent love of Baha'u'llah.

The encompassing power of the love of God penetrates all the members and limbs, the flesh and blood and skin and bones. And this might and intensity of the wine of the love of God was revealed in the Qur'an concerning women, while concerning men it was revealed: "Those who believe are stronger in their love for God."

He cast off all restraint in Thy love and abandoned pride before Thy servants and loved humility before Thy Kingdom.

She was detached from all else save Thee, attracted to Thee, and aflame with the fire of Thy love. She served her noble spouse out of love for Thy Beauty, seeking Thy good-pleasure and passionate for Thy love.

O you who are wandering in the wilderness of the love of God! For some time no letter was apparently sent and no message or messenger was dispatched. … The hardships, afflictions and overwhelming difficulties facing that one intoxicated with the wine of love are evident and known.

… Now consider that if souls who in past ages became so intoxicated with just a whiff of the fragrances of the love of God that they accepted the cup of trials, how much more should we who are bewildered by the cup of bounty in this Day of Manifestation remain alive and fresh despite severe tribulations.

The candle of that departed one is lit in the niche of that household and family. I beseech God that each of you may become a bright lamp and be as flowers in that rose-garden and meadow. May you become firm and steadfast in the love of God, that you may rend asunder the veil in your love for that peerless Beauty, play a melody, raise up a cry and lamentation, and become the cause of guidance for others.

Then grant tranquility, O my God, to Thy servant who burneth with love for Thy beauty, who crieth out in secret with longing to meet Thee, who waileth in his heart seeking reunion with Thee, who weepeth from the intensity of his passionate desire for Thee and the overwhelming force of his yearning for Thee.

Let him again raise his hands in supplication, and say:

O Thou in separation from Whom hearts and souls have melted, and by the fire of Whose love the whole world hath been set aflame!

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Gladden the bosom wherein the fire of Thy love doth smolder, and set it aglow with the flame of Thy celestial love and spirit.

O Thou most glorious Lord! Make this little maidservant of Thine blessed and happy; cause her to be cherished at the threshold of Thy oneness and let her drink deep from the cup of Thy love so that she may be filled with rapture and ecstasy and diffuse sweet-scented fragrance. Thou art the Mighty and the Powerful, and Thou art the All-Knowing, the All-Seeing.

This, Thy servant, hath advanced towards Thee, is passionately wandering in the desert of Thy love, walking in the path of Thy service, anticipating Thy favours, hoping for Thy bounty, relying upon Thy kingdom, and intoxicated by the wine of Thy gift.

O my God! Increase the fervour of his affection for Thee, the constancy of his praise of Thee, and the ardour of his love for Thee.

Be Thou a solace to Thine ardent lovers, and a friend, a comforter, and a loving companion to them who yearn for Thee. Their hearts are ablaze with the fire of Thy love, and their souls are consumed with the flame of devotion to Thee. They long, one and all, to hasten unto the altar of love, that they may willingly lay down their lives.

O Lord, I am sick and Thy love is the healing of my illness; I am thirsty and Thy grace is the quenching of my thirst; I am burning and Thy mercy is the cooling of my anguish.

Ignite, then, O my God, within my breast the fire of Thy love, that its flame may burn up all else except my remembrance of Thee, that every trace of corrupt desire may be entirely mortified within me, and that naught may remain except the glorification of Thy transcendent and all-glorious Being.

By Thy might, O God of the world and Desire of the nations! I love naught but what Thou lovest, and desire naught but what Thou desirest.

Thou art He Who, through a word of Thy mouth, hath so enravished the hearts of Thy chosen ones that they have, in their love for Thee, detached themselves from all except Thyself, and laid down their lives and sacrificed their souls in Thy path, and borne, for Thy sake, what none of Thy creatures hath borne.

Thou art He the fire of Whose love hath set ablaze the hearts of them who have recognized Thy unity, and the splendors of Whose countenance have illuminated the faces of such as have drawn nigh unto Thy court.

Armed with the power of Thy name nothing can ever hurt me, and with Thy love in my heart all the world's afflictions can in no wise alarm me.

Methinks, the lamp of Thy love is burning in their hearts, and the light of Thy tenderness is lit within their breasts. Adversities are incapable of estranging them from Thy Cause, and the vicissitudes of fortune can never cause them to stray from Thy pleasure.

My very limbs testify to the intensity of its heat, and evince the consuming power of its flame.

… The power of Thy might beareth me witness, O my Well-Beloved! Every limb of my body, methinks, is endowed with a tongue that glorifieth Thee and magnifieth Thy name.

I am the one who hath forsaken his all and set his face towards the splendors of the glory of Thy countenance, who hath severed every tie and clung to the cord of Thy love and of Thy good-pleasure. I am he, O my God, who hath embraced Thy love and accepted all the adversities which the world can inflict, who hath offered up himself as a ransom for the sake of Thy loved ones, that they may ascend into the heavens of Thy knowledge and be drawn nearer unto Thee, and may soar in the atmosphere of Thy love and Thy good-pleasure.

In the love I bear to Thee, O my Lord, my heart longeth for Thee with a longing such as no heart hath known.

Thou beholdest, therefore, the exile which I suffer in Thy days, and art aware of my vehement longing to look upon Thy face, and of mine irrepressible yearnings to enter the court of Thy glory, and of the stirrings of my heart under the influences of the winds of Thy mercy.

O would that they who serve Thee could taste what I have tasted of the sweetness of Thy love!

I implore Thee to supply whosoever hath sought Thee with the living waters of Thy bounty, that they may rid him of all attachment to any one but Thee.

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The waters of Thy love have preserved me in the kingdom of Thy creation, and the fire of my remembrance of Thee hath set me ablaze before all that are in heaven and on earth.

My remembrance of Thee, O my God, quencheth my thirst, and quieteth my heart. My soul delighteth in its communion with Thee, as the sucking child delighteth itself in the breasts of Thy mercy; and my heart panteth after Thee even as one sore athirst panteth after the living waters of Thy bounty, O Thou Who art the God of mercy, in Whose hand is the lordship of all things!

O my God! Thou art the Beloved, there is none besides Thee, and Thou art the Intended One, there is none other than Thee. I have known Thee through Thee and called upon Thee through Thy love for me. Were it not for Thee, I would be nothing, neither could I remember Thee, nor drink from the pure wine of Thy love, nor dwell in the precincts of Thy bounty, nor be established upon the throne of Thy sovereignty, nor mention Thy favors before Thy favored servants.

Draw me through Thy holy fragrances unto Thee until Thy light burns away the veils of love, for the servant hath no veil between him and Thee save love itself.

Let the flame of the love of God burn brightly within your radiant hearts. Feed it with the oil of Divine guidance, and protect it within the shelter of your constancy. Guard it within the globe of trust and detachment from all else but God, so that the evil whisperings of te ungodly may not extinguish its light.

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...man's intelligence has been enabled to free him from the limitations of nature, and to solve many of her mysteries. Man, to a certain extent, has broken the chains of matter. The Holy Spirit will give to man greater powers than these, if only he will strive after the things of the spirit and endeavour to attune his heart to the Divine infinite love.

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...love of God, and consequently of men, is the essential foundation of every religion, our own included. A greater degree of love will produce a greater unity, because it enables people to bear with each other, to be patient and forgiving.

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We must love God, and in this state, a general love for all men becomes possible. We cannot love each human being for himself but our feeling towards humanity should be motivated by our love for the Father who created all men.

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I am lost, O Love, possessed and dazed, Love's fool am I, in all the earth. They call me first among the crazed, Though I once came first for wit and worth. O Love, who sellest me this wine, O Love, for whom I burn and bleed, Love, for whom I cry and pine-- Thou the Piper, I the reed. If Thou wishest me to live, Through me blow Thy holy breath. The touch of Jesus Thou wilt give To me, who've lain an age in death. Thou, both End and Origin, Thou without and Thou within-- From every eye Thou hidest well, And yet in every eye dost dwell. ("At one time, Baha'u'llah had written down an ode of Rumi's for him [Ustad Isma'il], and had told him to turn his face toward the Bab and sing the words, set to a melody. And so as he wandered through the long dark nights, Ustad would sing these lines" Abdu'l-Baha, "Memorials of the Faithful", p.29)

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"My God! my God! Thou art my hope and my beloved, my intended aim and desire! With great humbleness and entire devotion I pray to Thee"

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Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.... And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the lord, thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul... Deuteronomy 6:4-5, 10:12

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The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

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He who does not love does not know God; for God is love. 1 Jn 4:7

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In loving you, what do I love? No physical beauty, no temporal glory, no radiance of light that commends itself to these eyes of mine; no sweet melody of songs tuned to every mode, no soft scent of flowers or of ointments or of perfumes, no manna, no honey, no limbs that can receive [bodily] embrace; yet I do love some kind of light, some kind of voice, some kind of fragrance, some kind of food, some kind of embrace, when I love my God, who is light, voice, fragrance, food, embrace to my inner man. There it is that a light shines on my soul that no place can contain, a sound is uttered that no time can take away, a fragrance cast that no breath of wind can disperse, a savour given forth that eating cannot blunt, and there clings to me that which cannot be torn away by satiety. This is what I love in loving my God.

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The soul then in her natural state is in love with God and wants to be united with him...

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Now it is evident, in accordance with what has been said, that it is love of God (caritas) which directs the acts of all other virtues to the last end and which, consequently, also gives the form to all other acts of virtue: and it is precisely in this sense that love of God (caritas) is called the form of the virtues, for these are called virtues in relation to 'informed' acts. (Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologiae II-II, q.23 a8)

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