The believer’s station: dignity expressed through service

I swear by Him Who hath caused Me to reveal whatever hath pleased Him! Ye are better known to the inmates of the Kingdom on high than ye are known to your own selves. Think ye these words to be vain and empty? Would that ye had the power to perceive the things your Lord, the All-Merciful, doth see---things that attest the excellence of your rank, that bear witness to the greatness of your worth, that proclaim the sublimity of your station!

Should any one of you enter a city, he should become a centre of attraction by reason of his sincerity, his faithfulness and love, his honesty and fidelity, his truthfulness and loving-kindness towards all the peoples of the world, so that the people of that city may cry out and say: 'This man is unquestionably a Baha'i, for his manners, his behaviour, his conduct, his morals, his nature, and disposition reflect the attributes of the Baha'is.' Not until ye attain this station can ye be said to have been faithful to the Covenant and Testament of God.

It is incumbent upon thee to be humble, lowly and submissive at the appearance of the lights of the gifts of thy Lord, in every instant. Serve the friends of God under all circumstances and conditions. This is the station of the spiritual ones; this is the honor of the Bahais; this is the glory of the sincere ones and this is the sovereignty of the believers.

Praise be to God that whenever you attain any station, you recognize it as from the bounties of the Blessed Beauty and not from your own capacity and capability - and this is the best character and most pleasant virtue.

These souls are truly honoured, these souls will abide in the grace of God, be they rich or poor, be they captive or a prince.

Say: O people! Look not upon the loved ones of God with the eye of contempt. Verily, they are, in the sight of God, among the most exalted of created things, though in your eyes they be numbered among the lowliest of servants---were ye but of them that perceive. A single hair of them, in the sight of God, is better than those who practise renunciation before men to preserve their leadership, while in secret they commit that which Nimrod himself committed not.

Though in the eyes of people thou art deemed small, and in the estimation of the chiefs of the people a poor and lowly man, yet at the Threshold of the King of existence thou art great, and in the realm of possibility a renowned person.

Though we are but thorns, we are from the garden of God, and though we are without means and station, we are wanderers in His wilderness.

The Promised Beauty hath destined so exalted a station for His loved ones that it is the envy and the highest wish of the holy saints among His chosen Ones. That station consists of naught else but the attainment of the good pleasure of God, utterance of His praise and glorification within His sanctified Court. In such a station, one shall attract divine assistance, and be the object of the glance of God's mercy; one shall be aided and confirmed by His strengthening grace.

'Abdu'l-Baha's eternal glory is servitude at the Sacred Threshold, and the handmaidens of the All-Merciful's everlasting blessing is service at the Court of Oneness. We are all gathered beneath the shade of that praiseworthy station.

Today the greatest gift of God and the noblest state of human perfection is servitude at the holy threshold of Oneness. This servitude is a glorious diadem and a resplendent crown.

O servant of the Most Glorious! Today, whosoever serves the loved ones of God is a servant of the Most Glorious Beauty and a prince in the realm of the Supreme Concourse. He is the dust at the threshold of the friends and a slave with ear-ring of the truthful ones. He is not a servant but a lord, not a subject but a sovereign upon the throne of dominion. He is not lowly but exalted, not without standing but a leader. This sovereignty he would not exchange for the crown of East and West, nor would he trade this nobility for rulership over the whole earth.

O servant of the Ancient Beauty! Though thou art His servant, yet art thou the master of the world, for thou art the devoted bondsman of the Abha Beauty, the King of Kings. That is, thou dost exercise sovereignty in the inner world and rulest over the realm of meanings. Thou art seated upon the throne of glory and grandeur, and dwellest in the lofty palaces of sovereignty.

For you are the servants and free souls of the Abha Beauty, the bond-servants of His Court, and the friends of 'Abdu'l-Baha. You are free from the fetters of servitude, accepted at the threshold of the King of existence, welcomed at the court of the Lord of loving-kindness.

This is not servitude but sovereignty, and this is not service but chieftainship and greatness! This is the garment of everlasting glory with which thou hast clothed thyself, and this is the rose of eternal exaltation with which thou hast adorned thy head.

In brief, you must become distinguished in all the virtues of the human world -- for faithfulness and sincerity, for justice and fidelity, for firmness and steadfastness, for philanthropic deeds and service to the human world, for love toward every human being, for unity and accord with all people, for removing prejudices and promoting international peace.

Moreover, they must associate with all people with the utmost kindliness and conduct themselves with perfect sanctity, detachment, truthfulness and fairness, in such wise that all people may regard them as the trustees of God amongst His servants.

… Consider carefully what station the friends of God must move in, and in what atmosphere they must soar.

O friends! Know ye your worth and station. Waste not your endeavors on the idle fancies of this one and that. Ye are the stars of the heaven of understanding and the breezes of the morn. Ye are the living waters upon which dependeth the life of all, and ye are the letters of the Book.

O friends, know who ye are and what ye are! Ye are the friends of Baha u llah ! Ye are the lovers of the Beauty of God. Appreciate this high station and rise to attain that which is worthy of this bounty.

Were one to live in accord with these teachings, no one can predict the loftiness of his station. It is beyond the computation of human imagination.

Were the veil to be lifted, all who dwell in the heavens and earth would be thunderstruck by the stations of those who have turned to God and detached themselves from all else save Him.

O Kamal! Today the stations of divine favors are veiled, for the realm of existence hath not had, nor hath it now, the capacity to bear their revelation. But soon will He manifest His Cause by His behest.

I swear by Him Who is the Eternal Truth! Through thee the eyes of the inmates of the Exalted Paradise have been gladdened. The people, however, are utterly heedless. Were We to reveal thy station, the hearts of men would be sorely agitated, their footsteps would slip, the embodiments of vainglory would be dumbfounded, would fall down upon the ground, and would thrust the fingers of heedlessness into their ears, for fear of hearing.

Strange it is that even such souls remain unaware of their stations, for such is the bounty vouchsafed unto them that were but a glimmer thereof to become manifest, the earth would be transformed into another earth.

By Him Who has caused Me to speak what He desires - your names are more renowned in the Supreme Kingdom than your mention among yourselves.

I swear by the Sun of Truth which hath shone forth from the most exalted horizon of existence, there hath been ordained for those men and women who have turned unto God, who are devoted and are attracted, that which the descriptions of the people of the world and the mentions of nations fall short of and are powerless to recount.

O Haydar-'Ali, that which has been ordained for the steadfast and devoted souls is such that the tongues of all created things are powerless to describe.

By Him Who is the All-Knowing One of the world and the Beloved of the world, there is ordained for such souls a station that neither the minds of the wise nor the understanding of the mystics can comprehend.

I swear by the ocean of the All-Merciful's utterance that such souls possess a station which the Book of the world and the pens of nations are powerless to describe.

O people of Baha! By the Lord of Names I swear, a station hath been ordained for you the like of which no one hath understood or shall understand.

By My life and by My life, for each one of them a great station hath been ordained. Blessed are the souls who in the divine days have attained and become cognizant of their stations.

By the life of God, these souls were and are the most exalted of creation, and all are, in the sight of God, on the same plane. Were the station of faith to be made manifest today, all the sincere ones, the near ones, and the believers would perish from joy and gladness.

Well is it with the man-servant who hath attained, and with the maid-servant who hath attained, unto this most exalted, most holy, most glorious station.

Whosoever today attains to this most great bounty and most generous favor - if she be among the handmaidens, she is mentioned before God as being among the denizens of the highest chambers of Paradise, and if he be among the men, he is accounted as one of the people of the Ridvan.

I swear by the Sun of the horizon of inner meanings that all the treasures and riches and wealth and bounties of the world cannot equal the station of a single one of the friends of God.

By the righteousness of the one true God! The very breath of these souls is in itself richer than all the treasures of the earth. Happy is the man that hath attained thereunto, and woe betide the heedless.

Whoso is established in this Cause - all that hath been created between the heavens and earth cannot equal him.

I swear by the Sun of the dawn of inner meanings that nothing that is hidden or manifest can equal even one of those souls.

They who soared in the atmosphere of My nearness and ascended to the heights of My Cause - a single hair of one of them is better than all previous peoples combined.

Consider now how glorious is the station of one who hath attained unto this most great bounty and supreme grace. I swear by the pearls of the divine ocean of wisdom that a single accepted soul is mightier and greater than all the peoples of the world, for all were created to recognize this most holy and sublime Day, and in all the scriptures the appearance of this mighty Cause was promised; yet they are seen to be deprived and debarred therefrom.

O thou who art a true gentleman! Be thou a man of the world. How often it hath come to pass that a single person representeth a thousand souls. Every soul that is firm in the Faith of God prevaileth in human perfections over thousands. One brilliant jewel excelleth a thousand pieces of rock, and one illumined heart is preferable to a thousand darkened hearts. Therefore one pure soul is equal to a world of men.

One deed of His servants stands above the deeds of all, and one word from His handmaidens excels the devotions of all - for these are adorned with the ornament of divine acceptance while the others are deprived.

How blessed are those souls who in these days are manifest and renowned like standards of guidance between earth and heaven. I swear by the Educator of existence that these souls are worshipped by all created things.

Know thou that unless thou seest all who are in the heavens and on earth under thy shadow, thou wilt never be able to enter the land that hath encompassed all things. This is the truth, whereupon the Pen of ancient holiness hath moved, for this is a Revelation the like of which the eye of days hath never witnessed, if thou be of them that see.

O Eyes of this Temple! Look not upon the heavens and that which they contain, nor upon the earth and them that dwell thereon, for We have created you to behold Our own Beauty: See it now before you! Withhold not your gaze therefrom, and deprive not yourselves of the Beauty of your Lord, the All-Glorious, the Best-Beloved.

The true believers are they who desire naught within themselves save the All-Merciful and His Remembrance -- in truth, upon the truth -- as their Beloved.

From amongst all mankind hath He chosen you, and your eyes have been opened to the light of guidance and your ears attuned to the music of the Company above; and blessed by abounding grace, your hearts and souls have been born into new life. Thank ye and praise ye God that the hand of infinite bestowals hath set upon your heads this gem-studded crown, this crown whose lustrous jewels will forever flash and sparkle down all the reaches of time.

O seeing one, O Bassar, O possessor of penetrating vision!

Praise be to God that you have had the veil lifted and opened your penetrating vision, that you have gazed upon the Most Glorious Scene and turned toward the Sacred Threshold, that you have opened your eyes to the Abha Kingdom and brightened your sight toward the Supreme Horizon.

Open thou the eye of true discernment so as to see for thyself the blazing fire kindled on Sinai, and open the ear of truth that thou mayest hearken to the call of the divine Beloved summoning thee from the Supreme Horizon.

And thine eye, which gazeth upon the Abha Kingdom, pierceth all veils. And thine ear, which is turned toward the Supreme Realm, is intimate with the angel of revelation.

Observe ye the paucity of people's understanding - some behold in the divine Tablets naught but paper and ink. Well was it said that the blind eye perceiveth naught of the sun save its heat.

And verily he findeth himself in such a station that the Names prevent him not from their Owner, nor what is named from His straight path. He is of them unto whom the All-Merciful hath testified in His mighty Book.

Now consider the worth and station of the souls who have accepted the Faith. I swear by the Sun of the horizon of utterance that these souls have no peer or likeness, for the greatest veil, which was the divines of the age, did not prevent them from the Truth, exalted be His glory. With the arm of certitude they shattered the idols of vain imaginings and turned toward the Lord of this manifest Day.

Observe how many divines and theologians remained veiled from the ultimate Purpose, while thou through God's grace attained unto it. Thou didst drink from the ocean of knowledge and bore witness to the manifestation of Truth, exalted be His glory. I swear by the Sun of the heaven of inner meanings that if thou become aware of this most great, most exalted station, thou wilt at all times utter "Thine be the praise, O God of the worlds."

How many are the divines, the great ones, the princes and the mighty ones who are deprived, their names erased from the scroll of acceptance and recognition, and how many are those servants who, though outwardly reckoned among the ignorant and lowly in the eyes of men, have attained the highest stations of glory, exaltation, knowledge and wisdom.

O servant of the divine Threshold! Most of the divines, mystics and princes remained deprived while you became privy to the secret. They set while you rose. They descended while you ascended. They became abased while you were exalted.

O pure-hearted servant of the Lord God! The nobles of the world took the path of nothingness, while you trod the way of the Ancient Beauty and took shelter in the shadow of the Most Great Name. Every noble ultimately failed, but you, like an unerring arrow, reached the goal.

Thou art he who hearkened unto the call of thy Lord and turned unto Him on a day when every doubting scholar turned away. Blessed art thou for having turned towards Him, drawn nigh unto Him, hearkened and drunk from the cup of the bounty of thy Lord, the All-Bountiful.

Thou art he who heard the Call and responded to thy Lord, the Lord of Names, when the peoples turned away from Him save whom God, the Lord of the worlds, did will.

I swear by the effulgent rays of the Sun of Truth that whosoever attained and, at the time of the raising of the Call, was confirmed in responding - such a one is recorded and inscribed among the dwellers of the highest paradise in the divine Book.

Blessed is he who hath heard the Call and found the fragrances of Revelation as they wafted from the Most Exalted Horizon in the prison of 'Akka.

Blessed art thou for having turned towards the Intended One and turned away from him who turned away from God when He came with manifest sovereignty.

Blessed is the soul whom the turning away of the peoples of the earth did not prevent from attaining that which was the purpose of creation.

We beheld thee turning unto the Countenance, whereupon We turned unto thee and revealed for thee that which God hath made a testimony unto all who are in the heavens and on earth.

Whosoever has attained unto recognition is reckoned with God and is mentioned by the Supreme Pen in the Book of God.

This is the Day whose mention caused the Messengers of old to rejoice, as attested by every Book which the All-Merciful hath sent down from His wondrous kingdom. Blessed is he who, endowed with vision, hath beheld the Most Great Panorama and followed that which was ordained by the Ordainer, the Ancient of Days.

This is the straight path which, in this Revelation of the Great Announcement, hath been made clear and manifest to all the peoples of the world - that is, to them that are endowed with vision.

Blessed is he who hath recognized My path, and blessed is he who hath acted according to that which was ordained by the All-Wise.

Blessed are you and blessed is your connection to the Divine Threshold. I bear witness that you believed in the Supreme Lord and the Primal Point, the Eternal Essence and the Luminous Reality, the Most Exalted One, may my spirit be sacrificed for Him, who gave the people glad tidings of the rising of the Sun of Baha in the Greater Resurrection.

Let us pass beyond the world of words and grasp the reality of meanings, which is this: Although we lack capacity and worthiness, praise be to God we have attained to a bounty and gift that was the ultimate desire of the ancients and the kings of old. And that is success and deliverance in the day of the manifestation of the Divine Beauty and the embodiment of infinite favors and bestowals, and witnessing the dawning of heavenly lights and entering beneath the shade of the Blessed Tree in this Most Glorious Paradise.

For you have been confirmed in the cause of the creation of all beings and have been made successful in attaining the greatest guidance. You have drunk the cup of favors from the hand of the Cup-bearer at the feast of "Am I not your Lord?", and you have partaken of the wine of life from the wine-cellar of love for the Most Glorious Beauty. You have entered the circle of His chosen ones and become among the enthralled lovers of the Divine Beloved.

Verily, they who have ascended unto God and turned away from earthly dominion, and have drunk from the ocean of life - these are they who recognize the melodies of Paradise and bear witness that all this is a revelation from the presence of One Who is the Mighty, the Self-Subsisting. These are they from whose faces radiance doth shine forth, and from whose hearts the remembrance of God is heard, and who have been enraptured in the atmosphere of the spirit by the melodies of God.

And thou, O servant, take thou the cup of life in the Ridvan of the All-Merciful from the fingers of those whose faces God hath honored by turning away from aught else but Him, and whom He hath raised up in truth from the essence of the Spirit by the hands of divine Will.

O you who are firm in the Covenant! The fountain of the water of life is the very essence of guidance. Praise be to God, you have drunk thereof, and every one who drinks becomes the Khidr of the time.

The lovers who glean are unaware of Layli's secret,

For this bounty belongs only to Majnun who burns the harvest.

This is why all the Prophets were called "majnun" (possessed), and the saints were named "maftun" (enchanted), and they said "O thou to whom the Reminder hath been revealed! thou art indeed a madman!"

O maidservant of Baha'u'llah! I know no title more noble than this by which to address you. … Indeed thou art my daughter and the dear maidservant of Baha'u'llah.

O handmaiden of God! A hundred thousand queens of the world have yearned to hear the address "handmaiden of God" from the tongue of one of God's servants. Now you hear the address "handmaiden of God" from the lips of 'Abdu'l-Baha. This address is reality, while those addresses are metaphorical.

Most of the men of the world, night and day, hope and long that perchance they may hear once from the Manifestation of verses and the Dawning-Place of evidences the words "O My servant," while thou, through God's infinite bounty, hast been honored with the address "O My handmaid." Know thou the greatness of this bounty and be ever thankful to the Beloved of all existence. How many queens of the world died in longing and attained not to this most exalted station.

Should all handmaidens offer up themselves and all they possess in the path of their Beloved, it would not equal the words "O My handmaiden."

O leaf! Praise the Beloved of the worlds that thou hast attained unto His blessed word "O My handmaiden." It behooveth thee to preserve this most exalted station through the name of thy Lord, the Most Glorious.

If you knew how great and glorious is this station of being a handmaiden at the threshold of the Most Great Name (may my spirit be sacrificed for His loved ones), you would surely count the dominion of all horizons as insignificant and would arise to fulfill all the conditions of this servitude.

O handmaid of the Lord! If thou desirest everlasting glory, arise to fulfill the conditions of servitude, for the handmaids of the Blessed Beauty must each one be a sign of guidance and a manifestation of the Most Great Bounty.

O two maidservants of the loved ones of God! It befits you to glory and boast over the queens of all regions, for yours is an everlasting, eternal sovereignty in that you have attained to servitude to the Most Glorious Beauty and service to the chosen ones of God. This servitude to the Ancient Beauty is service to His loved ones.

O handmaiden of God! Today, although in the eyes of the heedless and proud ones the handmaidens of the Most Merciful may outwardly appear lowly, I swear by the Most Great Name that in the Kingdom of the highest heaven they are great and glorious. Their rank and station is exalted in the sight of God.

How many men are deprived and veiled by their own imaginings, and how many handmaidens have attained the honor of recognition and turned toward the Most Exalted Horizon! One believing handmaiden is preferred in the sight of God above many souls.

O leaf assured in the shade of the Tree of the All-Merciful!

In this day women have been raised up who are each a mighty sign and a leaf of the Tree beyond which there is no passing.

Truly, I say unto thee: Every maidservant who ariseth in this day, inspired by the "Mystery of Sacrifice" in the path of God, will become one of the stars of guidance in the supreme Horizon. All in heaven and earth will be illumined by her face. The angels of the Concourse on high will celebrate her praise, and she will be encompassed by the bounties of the Abha Kingdom.

But every maidservant of God who has spread the divine fragrances, served the Kingdom of God, and proclaimed the Word of God - her influence continues to rise and spread throughout the ages. Her dawn is radiant, her star is brilliant, her banner is waving, her station is lofty, her crown gleams, her melody chants forth, her fame spreads far and wide, her voice resounds, her spirit soars in the highest paradise and her light shines in the Supreme Horizon.

She shall surely have a firm and steady footing in the Cause of God, her face shall shine forth from the Horizon of Loftiness, her fame shall be spread in the Kingdom of God, and [she] shall have a ringing voice throughout regions, and the lights of her glorious deeds shall beam forth during cycles and ages.

O handmaiden of God! Today, My handmaidens in the Most Glorious Kingdom are remembered as those who have raised the pavilion of ancient glory upon the highest mountains in the realm of grandeur, and at the pole of the world they have lifted high the banner of the love of the Greatest Name, and they have kindled such a flame as to consume the very heart of the horizons.

O handmaidens of the All-Merciful! Praise be to God that ye are cherished maidservants at the Threshold of Oneness and devoted attendants and guardians of the Sacred Court. What glory and pride could be greater than this?

The favors of God unto His handmaidens far transcend the power of expression and the bounties of the imperishable Beauty surge even as the eternal billows of the sea.

Praise be to God that you are numbered among the believing women in the presence of the Divine Countenance, and counted among those who have turned towards Him.

Within the precincts of His divine sanctuary ye have been chosen from among His servants and in the court of His mercy ye have been accepted among His handmaidens.

Now you, O confident leaves, arise in thanksgiving that, praise be to God, you have the stars of this manifest light rising from the horizon of your brow and the appearance of these brilliant traces manifest in your radiant reality. You wear the crown of this grace upon your head and the diadem of this bounty upon your brow.

Attain to the station of witnessing, for you have become cherished maidservants at the Divine Threshold, have become cultured and refined, and have become intoxicated and ecstatic from the overflowing cup.

O handmaiden of the merciful Lord! God has placed the crown of divine knowledge upon your head and granted you superiority over all the women of the world.

I swear by the face and hair and nature of the Beloved that it is a radiant crown above the queens of all regions and a brilliant lamp in the hearts of the most great ladies.

This worth and value shall become manifest in the Abha Kingdom and this loftiness shall become evident in the highest horizon.

The most noble women of this world have longed to be handmaidens of even one of His lowly servants. They have all been dejected and deprived.

Yet ye have become the particular recipients of His bounteous servitude and are related to His Threshold.

O blessed and holy leaf! A hundred thousand queens of the horizons yearned to sweep the threshold of the chosen ones but were not successful, while you are counted and numbered among the leaves of the Blessed Tree. Consider what a bounty you have attained!

Many valiant men remained deprived while you became intimate with the mysteries of the Ever-Living, the Self-Subsisting. Many queens of the world yearned for the threshold of one of the servants of Truth, while you were counted and numbered among the handmaidens of the Beauty of the One in the court of oneness.

How fortunate and blessed wert thou to become the dawning-place of such a favor that the ladies of kings and queens of the horizons have desired and still desire, though they know it not now, but shall soon become aware.

O handmaiden of God! A hundred thousand ladies of royal harems yearned for this station but were disappointed and left bereft, while you attained it purely through grace and favor.

O thou illumined leaf!

A hundred thousand maidservants, who for countless years engaged in divers arduous devotions, and who, with fervent longing and tearful lamentation, supplicated the threshold of Divine Oneness that they might live for but a moment in these Days and perceive the merest glimmer of the Sinaitic fire, expired at last in the wilderness of separation, and, with infinite regret, laid down their lives in love's arena.

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The pure and devoted women yearned for but an atom of these blessings and laid down their lives in their longing, yet attained them not - while thou hast attained.

It is a station the attainment to which is longed for by all the revered women of the world. That station is nearness at the Threshold of God, is the Eternal, Everlasting Bounty. All else beside it is ephemeral.

This is proof of their nearness to the Divine Threshold, for thousands upon thousands of women spent their days following their desires and ultimately fell into the lowest depths - no fruit, no trace, no portion, no share - and that is manifest loss.

All became absolute nothingness and utter non-existence, and shall continue so, except for those gems of sanctity who shone forth like morning stars at the dawn of creation - namely, those women who were dawning-places of the signs of faithfulness and who, with pure hearts and radiant faces, turned toward the Manifestation of "were it not for Thee."

It behooveth thee to render a thousand thanks at every moment for the bounty of being thus crowned with the diadem of the most great guidance, and it befitteth thee to pride thyself above all the queens of the world. For thousands of worldly queens shall come and go, leaving behind neither name nor trace, neither sign nor fruit; but through the light of Godis love thou wilt shine forth above the horizon of eternity and thy remembrance will bring solace to the hearts of men and women in ages and centuries to come.

Thou, however, and other maidservants of God like unto thee, though ye be seated on the dust, are, in the eyes of God, established upon the seats of honour; and when finally ye return unto your Lord, ye shall ascend with matchless glory unto the realms above. Then shall the whole sublime and holy company of the maids of heaven come forth to greet you, and inhale from you the sweet savours of the love of God.

O ye maid-servants of the Merciful! verily, your Lord, the Supreme, is calling upon you from His Ancient Kingdom and announces unto you such glad-tidings, whereat the hearts of the angels of heaven rejoice.

… Then ye will become the angels of heaven, will enter among the Supreme Concourse and will permanently abide in the paradise of union (with God), and will be associated with the Beauty of El-ABHA.

The glory from Our presence be upon thee, O My handmaiden and My leaf and one who circled round Me in the evening and at dawn, and upon every handmaiden who hath attained to this mighty and wondrous Cause and who hath, for the sake of God, the Mighty, the Praiseworthy, observed thy station.

Each of the leaves and handmaidens who hath today turned towards the Truth is recorded and inscribed among the near ones in the Book of God.

In this Day whosoever from amongst the handmaidens turneth unto and attaineth His Presence, is reckoned in the sight of God amongst the leaves of His Tree and is thus referred to by the Pen of the Most High.

This station has been and remains lofty and exalted in the sight of the Lord of all beings. Were the believing handmaidens to become aware of this most exalted station and most glorious rank, they would be occupied with praise and glorification throughout all their days.

How excellent is the state of those handmaidens whom the doubts and intimations of the barking ones and the transgressors, and the oppression of the tyrannical, did not withhold from the Manifest Truth. These are the dwellers of the most exalted Paradise and the countenances of the most high Heaven.

The pomp of the kings of the world is a vanishing mirage, and the pageantry and magnificence of every renowned prince is a fleeting shadow. But the faces of the loved ones, illumined by the light of the favors of the One True God, shall shine resplendent throughout all eternity.

In speaking of the kings and queens of earth, Abdul-Baha said: "Their glory is but temporal and mortal, for they are but rules of this ephemeral sphere, where all things change from day to day and finally pass away entirely: But the women and men who in the time of a divine Manifestation come forward to acknowledge and believe in Him become real kings and queens, whose reign, glory and dominion are immortal.

"Queen Victoria was a great woman, but what do you hear of her now, after these few years! But upon your head God has placed an eternal crown. He has bestowed upon you eternal sovereignty. He has given you eternal life!"

But those who have been servants of the divine beauty are never forgotten. The result of their works is everywhere visible. What king is there of two thousand years ago whose kingdom has lived in the hearts? But those disciples who were devoted to God, poor people who had neither fortune nor position, are today trees bearing fruit. Their banner is raised higher every day.

Those souls who became awakened during the life time of Christ they were the chosen ones, they were the stars of the heaven of Truth, they were the lamps of guidance. How can we ever compare the station of the apostles and those who came later. Therefore your station cannot be compared unto those who will be awakened later. You are the first fruits of the season: it is very much sought after but afterward the market will become surfeited with fruits. You are the first budding flowers in the rose-garden of Knowledge.

The full measure of your success is as yet unrevealed, its significance still unapprehended. Erelong ye will, with your own eyes, witness how brilliantly every one of you, even as a shining star, will radiate in the firmament of your country the light of divine Guidance, and will bestow upon its people the glory of an everlasting life.

… The station and the confirmation of the apostles in the time of Christ was not known, and no one looked on them with the feeling of importance--nay, rather, they persecuted and ridiculed them. Later on it became evident what crowns studded with the brilliant jewels of guidance were placed on the heads of the apostles, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of John.

O people of Bahá! Ye are the breezes of spring that are wafted over the world. Through you We have adorned the world of being with the ornament of the knowledge of the Most Merciful. Through you the countenance of the world hath been wreathed in smiles, and the brightness of His light shone forth.

Blessed are the people of Bahá! God beareth Me witness! They are the solace of the eye of creation. Through them the universes have been adorned, and the Preserved Tablet embellished. They are the ones who have sailed on the ark of complete independence, with their faces set towards the Dayspring of Beauty. How great is their blessedness that they have attained unto what their Lord, the Omniscient, the All-Wise, hath willed. Through their light the heavens have been adorned, and the faces of those that have drawn nigh unto Him made to shine.

The glory shining from the horizon of the heaven of My kingdom be upon thee and upon them who have turned towards the Most Great Sea, detached from the world. They are verily the people of Baha and the companions of the Crimson Ark, whom My Herald hath mentioned in the Qayyumu'l-Asma, and I am the All-Knowing Witness.

The Supreme Pen hath testified concerning the people of Baha that they are of the company of the Crimson Ark which hath been mentioned in the Tablets from God, the Cleaver of the Dawn.

These are servants whom We have preferred above Our servants and Our creation, and We have written for them from the Supreme Pen in the Crimson Book a station which was in truth exalted, and We have related them to My Self and made them branches of My Tree.

For the loftiness of the Divine Lote-Tree and the elevation of the Tree of the All-Merciful, in terms of all divine worlds both seen and unseen, even in the most outward realm, depends upon the loftiness and elevation of its branches.

I swear by the True Gardener that their holy fragrances have perfumed the horizons of the world and made fragrant the nostrils of the people of the spiritual Paradise.

Blessed are they who, for the sake of God, have borne hardships and heard the taunts of the enemies.

By the ocean of divine knowledge! Such souls are as stars in the heaven of understanding and as fruits upon the trees of Paradise.

O loved ones of God! Verily God hath chosen the pure ones and selected the pious ones for entry into His most exalted Kingdom and eternal life in the Abha Paradise. He hath enabled them to exalt the Word of God and recite His verses, to heal the blind, the deaf and the dumb, and to quicken the dead. He hath made them angels of heaven, keys to the gate of guidance, recipients of His inspiration, dawning-places of His lights, rising-points of His stars, meteors driving away evil ones, lamps of His celestial spheres, spreaders of His proof, and evidence of His mercy.

My God, my God! Thine is the bounty in the mystery of existence, for Thou hast created luminous essences, divine realities, glorified truths and heavenly secrets, and made them lamps of knowledge in the glass of creation and stars of guidance in the horizons of all beings. O Lord! They are Thy loved ones amidst humanity, Thy chosen ones possessed of compassion and godliness, Thy friends who are turned toward the Most Glorious Horizon, and Thy servants who are attracted to the Supreme Concourse.

The holy souls who are free from the ties of this mortal world and attain the confirmation of the Holy Spirit, although they live on earth, yet, verily, they are heavenly, illuminated, spiritual, divine. Such souls must appear and engage, with simplicity, freedom and purity, in training the public and in guiding all people.

They are the real benefactors of humanity, the burning torches of bright hope. Just as the heaven is above the earth, so their Ideals must soar above the ideals of this age.

Tihran is the paradise of Baha'u'llah, for souls are found there you cannot call human; they are angels. In reality, the Baha'i friends in that city are of the heavenly host.

But the friends of God are under the shade and protection of Baha'u'llah. They sow their seed in firm ground. They write upon the surface of iron and steel. That is when they father many harvests and their writings bestow eternal significances.

For those souls who enter beneath the shade of God's all-embracing Word manifest the highest existence even in a particle of dust, just as thou observest the traces of those holy souls in the world of dust as well.

Turn away thine eyes from the ways of the world and its people, and fix thy gaze upon the movements of the leaves suspended from the Divine Lote-Tree.

So when that soaring eagle appeared manifest and radiant in the brilliant heaven, becoming evident and apparent throughout all the world like the shining moon - I swear by that most luminous Beauty, and by the purified dust, and by the illumined and fragrant threshold, that the light of the faces of the firm and steadfast lovers of the Blessed Beauty (may my spirit be sacrificed for the dust of His threshold) is more radiant, for the star sometimes rises and sometimes sets, but the faces of those manifestations of unity are ever-rising and ever-shining.

But the sons and daughters of the Kingdom ultimately become brilliant lamps and radiant stars in the horizon of eternal glory.

Today man is able to attain such a station that his remembrance, like a star in the heaven of God's Tablet, may shine bright and radiant through the eternity of His names and attributes.

I swear by that bright countenance of His and that beautiful brow, ye are so adorned that the pearls and jewels of your crowns shall gleam across the centuries and ages of the future.

And to this station kings are but slaves, and monarchs are but helpless subjects. The grace of the Most Great Name hath placed upon the heads of the faithful friends a precious crown whose brilliant jewels shall illumine centuries and ages.

O Prince of the ethereal realm, for today each of the servants at the threshold of the Lord God are world-conquering ones and princes of the ethereal heaven of the brilliant dawn. They possess the simple light and encompassing sea of sovereignty over the world of the soul, and fulfill the heart's desire. Their throne is the supreme empyrean and their crown is the effulgence of confirmation from the Kingdom of the Glorious Lord. Their lamp is brilliant and their diadem radiant like the shining moon.

O servant of Baha! Praise be to God that a crown from the glorious Kingdom rests upon the heads of the friends, and the eternal throne of sovereignty in that world is the felicity of the friends.

Your name is eternal and established, and mention of you is on the tongues of the friends of God throughout centuries and ages. This is an exalted name and this remembrance is everlasting.

But in the time of trials it becometh clear and evident which one will emerge like unto pure gold when tested in the assayer's fire, and which one will emerge like unto copper, dull, lusterless, lifeless, and darkened.

Our Lord says that in these early days of the faith, it is of the first importance that all believers should have the right qualities, and show forth the right attributes. One un-conquered fault would cast one down in a single moment from the highest station to the lowest.

Stand firm, through God's power, in His Cause, even if thine eyes should oppose thee therein - pluck them out and cast them behind thee. By God, the True One! He will grant thee such vision as will enable thee to behold all things in their essence, their reality and their innermost being, and to witness the effulgent rays of Beauty from the Sovereign of grandeur and majesty, for He, verily, hath power over all things.

Then know thou that God hath ordained for thee in the Tablet a glorious and noble station if thou remainest firm in His love in such wise that the whisperings of Satan influence not thy heart, for they have appeared in every city in every form.

Verily, for those who are steadfast in this Cause, a mighty station hath been ordained, and they are indeed among the most exalted of creation in the sight of God, thy Lord and the Lord of thy forefathers of old.

Verily he who hath recognized this Cause and drunk the choice wine of steadfastness - none among all created things can be his equal.

Free thine eye from the concealing veils of the people of idle fancies that it may behold the greatest signs, and make firm and steadfast thy steps upon God's covenant and testament that thou mayest become renowned and associated in the assemblage of those drawn nigh.

Preserve this lofty station in the name of Truth. Blessed art thou for being enkindled with the fire of God's love, illumined by the lights of His knowledge, and for having accepted His Cause and Will.

By the life of God! All that exists and is treasured cannot compare with this lofty, most exalted station, if you succeed in preserving it.

Know thou the value of this station and preserve it in the Name of the True One, exalted be His glory.

Know thou the value of this most exalted and high station and preserve it in the name of Truth.

This is a station that nothing can equal. Preserve it through My Name, the Mighty, the Wise.

Rest thou assured that thou art under the protection of the Lord of Hosts and art counted among the daughters of the Kingdom. Preserve thou this station, for it is a great station.

Hold this station in high regard. By the life of God, it is more precious than the rarest crimson stone, as attested by the Pen of God, the Mighty, the Inaccessible.

Say: O My friends on earth! The fragrances of revelation have been wafted among you. Be thankful to your Creator for this mighty bounty. Purify your hearts that the effulgence of My Name, the Most Merciful, may be established therein, for I am the Compassionate.

Every soul who in this Day hath attained unto this most exalted and glorious station - that is, hath caused his own will and purpose and good-pleasure to become extinct in the will and purpose and good-pleasure of God - he is reckoned among the people of truth in the Divine Book.

Blessed is he who is content with all that hath appeared and been sent down from God, the Compassionate, the All-Bountiful.

These are they whom the rejection of the rejecter deterreth not, nor the denial of the denier, and they turn toward the canopy of nearness and detachment.

Were the men and women who have turned unto Him to become aware of the sublimity of this most exalted and glorious station, they would manifest themselves in such wise that neither the sorrows and tribulations of the world would take hold of them, nor would the opposition and denial of them that dwell on earth hold them back from their Lord.

Remind My loved ones on My behalf and give them the joyful tidings of My promised Day, that the glad-tidings of God may draw them to a station wherein the conditions of creation shall not sadden them, nor the allusions of every rejected learned one.

Grieve thou not over anything, for he who hath attained unto this Cause is accounted amongst the most exalted of beings in the sight of God, the Most High.

Be among those who have no fear and who do not sorrow. Follow God's command in what has been ordained in this Tablet and He will protect you from the harm of those who have denied God's verses and who do not understand.

Place thy trust in Him, and He shall suffice thee against all who dwell on earth. Know thou that We have loved thee aforetime and now, and have ordained for thee in the Tablet a station which none can attain save those who have attained the presence of their Lord and have been illumined by the lights of manifest glory.

O handmaiden of God! Some leaves have gathered under the shade of oneness who have become the pride of men. God willing, thou art one of those leaves. Place thy trust in the Beauty of Abha and seek to hold fast to the Sure Handle, so that in this mighty Dispensation thou mayest attain to ancient grace and become a sign of manifest light.

The Spirit of Faith in a Baha'i is very strong. His trust is on the Grace of the Holy Spirit."

We have spoken, and Our word is the truth: Should abasement touch you for the sake of My Name, be not grieved. Thus hath the Sun of the Word shone forth from the horizon of the utterance of the Lord of all created things, would that ye might know.

If the eyes of the blind were opened and hearts were made privy to divine mysteries, they would surely behold the Kingdom of glory circling round that abasement, and the kings of the earth would yearn for a single link of those chains.

Therefore thank God, your Lord, Who has honored you with this robe which the denizens of the highest Paradise consider blessed, and Who has strengthened you with this gift which He chose for the Dawning-Place of His verses, the Dayspring of His lights, the Kingdom of His Revelation, His divine Essence and His eternal Identity in that holy land.

Thus it became clear that the divine friends are so glorious that no abasement can follow, no change or alteration possible. Should the entire world unite, seeking to humiliate a single one of God's loved ones, they would fail, for the ultimate outward abasement is martyrdom, yet this martyrdom becomes the cause of eternal glory.

We must ever render thanks to the one true Lord that strangers are deprived of this bounty while His loved ones are favored and blessed thereby. For not every ignorant one is worthy of trials in God's path, and not every ungrateful one deserveth the afflictions of love's way.

The day is approaching when kings will seek blessing from his dust and all heads will bow down in his honour, the day when all men will express humility at the revelation of the majesty and grandeur with which the martyrs are invested and all faces will be downcast before the indomitable power of their testimony.

O ye kinsfolk of that martyr! The calamitous field of martyrdom is the path of supreme glory for those who enjoy near access to the court of grandeur. They are brilliant stars shining from the horizon of faith.

How excellent was thy deed and how excellent the triumph thou didst achieve through thy Lord's grace, the All-Merciful, the Most Compassionate.

We beseech God that He may cause new traces to appear in the earth from these holy souls who have attained unto complete sacrifice, inasmuch as sanctified spirits who ascend with perfect detachment and severance have ever been and shall ever be the cause of wondrous manifestations and exalted revelations. Were this servant to attempt to mention the influences of those spirits upon the inner and outer world, he would need to spend long periods expounding this station. By the life of God! If an eye were to be opened and perceive this station, that one would surely sacrifice the entire world, were it in his possession - how much more these weak, frail, worthless lives and these transient, impermanent riches. However, today service to the Cause, meaning its propagation, takes precedence over all else, as may be understood from the blessed Tablets.

That noble soul, praise be to God, attained to all of these gifts. After that he had no need to remain in this world. Assuredly, this is a blessed consummation and an unsurpassed bounty of the All-Merciful.

He ascended unto a station which no mystic can ever know and which no eloquent one can ever attain. Thus did We ordain for him in the Book of thy Lord.

His transient glory was transformed to enduring bounty; his ministry was transferred to eternal and everlasting grace. His eminence and nobility are manifest and evident in the eternal world, and his blessed name remains forever immortal even in this ephemeral world, praised by the people of knowledge.

Through Your grace which encompassed all the twigs of the Lote Tree of Your Manifestation, and Your generosity which revived the hearts of the branches of the Tree of Your presence, You illumined his sight by beholding Your traces and gladdened his heart by observing the radiant splendors of Your signs. You revived his spirit through the wafting of the breezes of Your favors and caused him to forget his limitations through Your kindness.

He hath made thee to be His companion in every one of His worlds, and hath nourished thee with His meeting and presence, so long as His Name, and His Remembrance, and His Kingdom, and His Empire shall endure.

The people of Baha behold the passing of all things as they see the sun in the sky. These are the dwellers in the cities of eternity.

And it is clear and evident that this world is the abode of the heedless and its foundation is extremely weak. Surely the people of knowledge and understanding do not set their hearts upon water and clay, but rather they establish a mighty palace, seek a noble man, and take refuge in a strong pillar.

(Someone said "I am afraid of hardship and death." He replied:)

Then do something so you never die, but rather become more alive day by day and seek eternal life.

The available source contains an omission or incomplete wording; sentence boundaries need review.

If you knew, you would become so astonished and joyous and successful that you would attain eternal life.

Didst thou but know the station of this place, thou wouldst soar with longing and cry out with this Name amongst the worlds.

For twenty-four years the Ancient Beauty graced this Most Great Prison with His presence. Thus it became known and proven that this is the glory and pride of souls.

Blessed art thou for having attained unto this station and having drunk from the cup of certitude and having detached thyself from all the worlds. Verily, they who have hastened this day to their Lord's grace - these are the most excellent of people and the most distinguished in the sight of thy Lord. By God, the True One! The people of Paradise glory in their presence, and the servants who dwell beyond the pavilions of eternity send their prayers upon them.

Know thou thy station, for thou hast been honored with that which countless souls have died in their longing for.

At that time, the worth, station and rank of the divine friends becomes known, and the glory and loftiness of the sacred beings who are the beloved of the All-Merciful becomes understood.

… The purpose is that through the grace and gift of the Beauty of Oneness, the friends of God have such a station that the essences of existence would sacrifice their lives and become oblated for it.

By my life, this is a favor for which the angels of heaven and the spirits of the holy ones are longing in the Supreme World.

In this we take pride among the Supreme Concourse and glory in the Kingdom of Creation. Blessed are we, again blessed are we! Glad tidings to us, again glad tidings to us from this great gift!

But the sincere believers are in the gardens of their Lord's bounty, joyous, in fellowship, finding solace, and giving thanks to their Lord for this abundant gift.

O servant of God! Be thou happy, for hearts are gladdened by thy remembrance and souls are delighted by the mention of thee.

O thou who art nigh unto the Divine Threshold! Thou art mentioned in this arena and art well-known and renowned at the Holy Threshold of the Blessed Beauty. … Know thou that thou art mentioned at the Divine Threshold and, like this servant, art well-known and renowned at that Court.

O Mahmud! Thou art praised and commended at the Threshold of Oneness, and beloved and accepted at the Court of the All-Merciful. I hope that thou mayest be enriched by the praiseworthy station, enter into the realm of manifestation, become aware of the mystery of existence, and attain to the highest summit of ascent.

He will become the leader of all seekers, the sympathetic friend of the believers, the intoxicated one who is entirely possessed by the love of the Beloved.

What sublime state this is! What a luminous station if it is attained.

O namesake of this servant! It is My ardent hope that thou mayest arise to fulfill the meaning of this name and display the courage, might and majesty of a lion - that is to say, that thou mayest gallop forth in the arena of divine knowledge and, through the power of proof, capture souls.

The sheikh replied to them, "You should have no concern with this dervish. He has no need of our sermons and counsels and traditions."

Truly this son follows in his father's footsteps, and his relation to that loving one is genuine in spirit and heart - "The son is the secret of his father."

As you clearly and evidently observe, praise God that He made this family successful in this great Cause, and the results of this gift will endure in that family forever and ever, and no one can deny it or doubt it.

Ere long the whole of her family will consider the faith of that lady as the crown of honor on their heads.

Abdul Baha replied, "Your friends and relatives, nay your father and descendants shall soon glory over this action of yours, that you have overcome such barriers and have come and lived among the disciples of Baha'u'llah.

Blessed art thou, and thy father, and thine uncle, and they that have attained unto this most glorious station when the Lord of Names came with manifest sovereignty.

Furthermore, convey to his honor your father, upon him be the Most Glorious Glory of God, limitless expressions of sincerity and most wondrous, elevated and sublime greetings from this ephemeral servant. Likewise remember with endless divine praise all the loved ones of God who have drunk from the chalice of steadfastness and independence in the Cause of the King of grandeur and majesty and who in all conditions look to the Lord of beginning and end.

It behooveth everyone who hath believed in God to recognize thy rank and station and to seek thy good pleasure for love of God, the One, the Chosen.

His honor Haji Muhammad-Rida, upon him be the Glory of God, hath verily chosen for himself a lofty station beneath the canopies of grandeur.

He is, verily, of the people of Baha, whose name hath been inscribed in a Tablet from which the eyes are barred.

He shall assuredly find himself in the All-Highest Prospect, and shall soon find himself in the most exalted station - the station wherein shine forth the lights of the countenance of the Youth. Verily, it is a noble station.

So glad tidings to you, O chosen ones! And blessed are you, O noble ones! And joy be unto you, O chiefs, from the Abha Kingdom!

Whosoever hath attained this supreme honor in this Day is mentioned among the inhabitants of the most exalted Paradise in the Book of Names, and the Pens of the Kingdom of Utterance are unable to describe his station. God will soon make manifest the stations of those who have turned to Him and arisen to serve His Cause.

And when it reacheth thee, take it with the hand of power, for those who have taken the Tablet of God in those days are nobles in the Concourse on High and great ones in the realms of immortality and eloquent ones concerning the Command, even though they be but youths upon the earth.

The Tongue of Grandeur addresseth him at this moment, saying: Upon thee be the glory of God and the glory of the Concourse on High, inasmuch as thou didst fulfill God's Covenant and His Testament. Thou art he who attained the presence of God and quaffed the choice wine of reunion while every heedless one remained far from the Truth.

You are the friends of the Ancient Beauty, may my spirit be sacrificed for His loved ones, and you are the companions of the Most Great Name, may my being be offered up for His chosen ones. You are mentioned in the Kingdom of Sanctification and renowned in the Heaven of Unity.

Give thanks unto God that thou art counted among those few souls and numbered among those birds of the holy garden.

These are they whose mention hath been recorded in the divine Books, both past and future. Blessed are they and joy be unto them!

These are among the people of Baha in the Tablet of God, the Lord of the throne and earth, and the Master of the hereafter and the first life.

In the Supreme Concourse you have been named the servants of Baha, and in the earthly kingdom you are mentioned by His name.

At the beginning of the dawning of the Light of the Horizons they accepted and were confirmed in the greatest guidance. They were ever intoxicated from the overflowing cup and made alive by the sweet fragrance of that musk-diffusing tress. The men were trusted servants and the women were manifestations of the evident light.

Thus, blessed are those souls who are the headline of this book and the royal signature of this decree of the Most Great Name.

These are they whose names are celebrated by the tongues of the world and before whose names all nations bow down.

By God! They are the people of Baha among all creatures.

Upon them be the glory of God and the glory of all the worlds.

He is among God's sincere servants - the denizens of Paradise and they who circle round God's throne, the Almighty, the Most High, the Great, pray for him.

These are they who are the true believers and the inheritors of the gardens of justice wherein shall be whatsoever their souls desire.

And they who have believed, these dwell in the highest Paradise, and are now numbered among the blessed in the Abha Paradise.

They, verily, are the people of Baha amidst earth and heaven, upon whom the angels near unto God do send their blessings.

Blessed is he who hath attained unto the mention of God and His Tablet. He is indeed among the most exalted of creation in the Books and Tablets.

Blessed is he who has attained, and woe unto the most lost ones who have deprived themselves of this glorious station.

They who have clung to the cord of the Cause - these are the friends of God on earth and His chosen ones in the lands. The Most Exalted Pen maketh mention of them at eventide and at dawn.

Blessed is he who hath attained unto that which most of creation hath not attained - verily he is of the sincere ones. The All-Merciful remembers him in the highest paradise. This is the most great bounty and the lofty station.

You have attained to that which most of creation has not attained, and achieved that which the hands of the mystics could not reach. By My life! This suffices you, and it is among the gems of your Lord's bestowals.

Convey My greetings to My loved ones who have cast away idle fancies and held fast to My Self-Subsisting Name, through which, when it appeared, the atoms proclaimed: The Kingdom belongeth unto God, the Lord of the Exalted Throne!

Joy be unto thee for having turned towards the Countenance when most of the servants turned away from it, and blessed art thou for having attained the Tablet of God, the Mighty, the Praiseworthy.

By God's life! Such a one is of the people of Baha who hath been inscribed by the Pen of the Ancient of Days in the Books of God.

Such are accounted among the most exalted of creation in My mighty Book.

Blessed art thou for having turned unto Me, and taken, and drunk the choice wine in My glorious, mighty Name.

Verily, he who hath attained unto this Most Great Name is accounted among the most exalted of peoples in the perspicuous Book.

The glory rest upon thee and upon those who have attained unto this most great station and have witnessed what God hath witnessed in His perspicuous Book.

Verily, those who have attained today, they are honored servants upon whom the Concourse on High pray and whom the Tongue of Grandeur doth mention in this praiseworthy station.

This is a Day wherein man is empowered to gain everlasting stations, eternal bounties, and perpetual remembrance. Blessed is the soul whom the affairs of men have not debarred from the ocean of grace nor held back from the Sun of Truth.

Render ye thanks unto God, inasmuch as in the Day of the advent of the Kingdom ye have drawn so nigh unto His court and are so greatly favoured at the Threshold of the loving Lord.

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.

Soon you will find them all disappointed and at loss, sorrowful and grief-stricken, except for those pure souls who are the essence of sanctity and the foundation of unity - they are the subtle realities of existence and are illumined from the praiseworthy station.

O my God! Even if I were to speak with an eloquent tongue and let loose the reins of expression in a vast and expansive field, I would still fall short of offering the praise, tributes, thanks and glorification due to Thee for the bounty and bestowal Thou hast granted me. For Thou, O my God, hast through Thy all-encompassing power created loved ones whom Thou hast guided to the fountain of the Salsabil of faithfulness, whose eyes Thou hast illumined with the light of guidance, and whom Thou hast made to be mines of piety and dawning-places of the lights of fidelity.

Say: O my God, my Beloved, my Goal and the Ultimate Object of my hope and expectation! I beseech Thee by the Name through which the ocean of Thy knowledge surged amongst Thy servants and the breezes of Thy mercy wafted among Thy creatures, to ordain for me and for those who have believed that which Thou hast ordained by Thy Most Exalted Pen in Thy Book for Thy chosen ones - they whom the greatest veil hath not hindered from turning toward the Most Sublime Vision, and whom the conditions of humankind have not frightened from gazing upon Thee, O Thou Who holdest destiny within Thy grasp!

And this human being, O my Merciful Lord, is one who has believed in Thee and Thy signs, turned toward Thy Kingdom, shown humility before Thy Might, been illumined by Thy radiance, sought victory through Thy holy angels, drawn from the ocean of Thy knowledge, been enlightened by the dawning-place of Thy subsistence, arisen to serve Thee, sought Thy servitude, persisted in Thy worship, spoke Thy praise, showed humility to Thy loved ones, and submission to Thy chosen ones, and wished to be as dust beneath the feet of Thy servants.

O spiritual friends, may my spirit be sacrificed for you! You are from the homeland of the Lord and from the city of the Beloved. Great events were manifested and evident there in the beginning of the Cause. Therefore you, who are from the original planting of the Lote Tree of the furthest boundary and from the paradise of the Tree of Tuba, must be ahead of all and more aflame.

Give thanks that the kind Lord has enabled you to render such distinguished service, causing your countenance to shine with the lights of pride in the Supreme Concourse, and making your name endure forever and ever in the divine realm.

We have remembered thee in a Tablet that crieth out between earth and heaven: "O people of Baha! By God, ye have attained unto that which none before you hath attained. Know ye your station, then aid your Lord, the Most Merciful, the Compassionate. Blessed is he that heareth and seeth, and woe unto the deniers."

Blessed are those souls who in the Day of His manifestation attained unto the knowledge of God and arose to serve Him. Such souls are accounted before God as stars in a wondrous heaven.

Blessed be the soul that hath attained unto His days, and heard His call, and won His favors, and arose to serve Him amongst His servants, and proclaimed His praise throughout the lands. By My life! Such a soul is of the people of the highest Paradise and the Supreme Concourse.

And he who draws near is verily among His chosen ones amidst His creation and His guides amongst His servants. Upon him shall pray the Concourse on High and the dwellers of the Kingdom of Names, and then those who have arisen to aid the Cause of God in the realm of creation.

These are among the most exalted of creatures in the Tablet of imperishable glory. They are servants who call all who are on earth behind them and turn toward the countenance of God with pure and illumined hearts.

Blessed is he who has drawn nigh unto Him, and has attained unto His days, and has heard His verses, and has arisen to serve and assist Him. He is of those whom God has made sanctified from all that has been created in the realm of creation."

Blessed is he who in the Day of God hath attained unto His mention and service to His Cause, for these two shall not pass away but shall endure as long as the kingdom and the heavenly realm endure.

Though by God's grace it hath been and shall ever be raised aloft, and the Truth hath by its own essence aided and shall ever aid His Cause, yet the purpose is that souls who are reckoned among the Concourse on High may attain unto the most great honor and be deprived of no bounty whatsoever.

Thus it became clear that the end of the wealthy is regret upon regret, except for the rich person who pours forth treasure from his sleeve for charitable causes and expends his wealth in benevolent matters. Such blessed souls shine like brilliant stars from the horizon of eternal glory.

O thou who art spreading the Cause of God! I hope thou wilt become as a rising light and obtain spiritual health--and spiritual health is conducive to physical health--so that thou mayest be enabled to liquidate thy debts and be strengthened to attain the blessing of the Forgiving Lord; that thou mayest become a mirror of truth and reveal the spiritual brilliancy of the heavenly universe to all eyes, direct large numbers of people under the shadow of the Powerful Lord and guide all thy family and relations unto the Greatest Guidance; and that thou mayest be honored with a visit to the Holy Threshold after having attained to all these gifts.

O my Lord! Thou seest those who have held fast to the cord of Thy obedience and clung to the hem of Thy commandments, and who have arisen to make mention of Thee and to serve Thy Cause, and have spent what Thou hast given them in Thy path. These are they whom Thou hast described in Thy glorious Book with Thy most mighty, most great and most sublime words: "and who prefer others before themselves, though poverty be their portion, and such as are preserved from their own avarice - these are they who prosper."

This beseemeth the believers; this is the qualification of the sincere; this is the path of the knowers, and this is the utmost aim of the faithful.

If you wish for my heart's delight, raise this melody. I swear by your precious life that the reward will be very rich and sweet, delicious and savory, like the musk candy of Rasht and the baklava of Qazvin.

Therefore, with every breath you must render a hundred thousand thanksgivings at the Threshold of the One God, for you have been blessed with the bounty of guidance, have entered the circle of the lovers, and are counted among the company of the yearning ones.

By the sorrows which afflict the beauty of the All-Glorious! Such is the station ordained for the true believer that if to an extent smaller than a needle's eye the glory of that station were to be unveiled to mankind, every beholder would be consumed away in his longing to attain it. For this reason it hath been decreed that in this earthly life the full measure of the glory of his own station should remain concealed from the eyes of such a believer.

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"The station which he who hath truly recognized this Revelation will attain is the same as the one ordained for such prophets of the house of Israel as are not regarded as Manifestations 'endowed with constancy.'"

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The great thing is to 'Live the Life' -- to have our lives so saturated with the Divine teaching and the Baha'i Spirit that people cannot fail to see a joy, a power, a love, a purity, a radiance, an efficiency in our character and work that will distinguish us from worldly-minded people and make people wonder what is the secret of this new life in us. … Unless we can show this transformation in our lives, this new power, this mutual love and harmony, then the Baha'i teachings are but a name to us.

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