1. Glorified art Thou, O Lord my God! Every man of insight
confesseth Thy sovereignty and Thy dominion, and every
discerning eye perceiveth the greatness of Thy majesty and the
compelling power of Thy might. The winds of tests are powerless
to hold back them that enjoy near access to Thee from setting
their faces towards the horizon of Thy glory, and the tempests
of trials must fail to draw away and hinder such as are wholly
devoted to Thy will from approaching Thy court.
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.
I beseech Thee,
O my God, by them and by the sighs which their hearts utter in
their separation from Thee, to keep them safe from the mischief
of Thine adversaries, and to nourish their souls with what Thou
hast ordained for Thy loved ones on whom shall come no fear and
who shall not be put to grief.
- Bahá'u'lláh,
Prayers and Meditations I, p. 3
2. Say: Glory
be to Thee Who hast caused all the holy Ones to confess their
helplessness before the manifold revelations of Thy might, and
every Prophet to acknowledge His nothingness at the effulgence
of Thine abiding glory. I beseech Thee, by Thy name that hath
unlocked the gates of Heaven and filled with ecstasy the
Concourse on high, to enable me to serve Thee, in this Day, and
to strengthen me to observe that which Thou didst prescribe in
Thy Book. Thou knowest, O my Lord, what is in me; but I know not
what is in Thee. Thou art the All-Knowing, the All-Informed.
- Gleanings
from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 59
3. Praise be to
God, the All-Possessing, the King of incomparable glory, a
praise which is immeasurably above the understanding of all
created things, and is exalted beyond the grasp of the minds of
men. None else besides Him hath ever been able to sing
adequately His praise, nor will any man succeed at any time in
describing the full measure of His glory. Who is it that can
claim to have attained the heights of His exalted Essence, and
what mind can measure the depths of His unfathomable mystery?
From each and every revelation emanating from the Source of His
glory, holy and never-ending evidences of unimaginable splendor
have appeared, and out of every manifestation of His invincible
power oceans of eternal light have outpoured.
-Gleanings from
the Writings of Baha'u'llah XXVI, pp. 60-61
4. From the
Tablet of Carmel: All glory be to this Day, the Day in which the
fragrances of mercy have been wafted over all created things, a
Day so blest that past ages and centuries can never hope to
rival it, a Day in which the countenance of the Ancient of Days
hath turned towards His holy seat. Thereupon the voices of all
created things, and beyond them those of the Concourse on High,
were heard calling aloud: `Haste thee, O Carmel, for lo, the
light of the countenance of God, the Ruler of the Kingdom of
Names and Fashioner of the heavens, hath been lifted upon thee.'
- Tablets of
Baha'u'llah, p. 3
5. The
musician's art is among those arts worthy of the highest praise,
and it moveth the hearts of all who grieve. Wherefore, O thou
Shahnáz, play and sing out the holy words of God with wondrous
tones in the gatherings of the friends, that the listener may be
freed from chains of care and sorrow, and his soul may leap for
joy and humble itself in prayer to the realm of Glory.
- Selections
from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha, p. 112
6. O ye
beloved, and ye handmaids of the Merciful! This is the day when
the Day-Star of Truth rose over the horizon of life, and its
glory spread, and its brightness shone out with such power that
it clove the dense and high-piled clouds and mounted the skies
of the world in all its splendour. Hence do ye witness a new
stirring throughout all created things.
- Selections
from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha, p. 111
7. O SON OF
MAN! Thou art My dominion and My dominion perisheth not;
wherefore fearest thou thy perishing? Thou art My light and My
light shall never be extinguished; why dost thou dread
extinction? Thou art My glory and My glory fadeth not; thou art
My robe and My robe shall never be outworn. Abide then in thy
love for Me, that thou mayest find Me in the realm of glory.
- The Hidden
Words of Baha'u'llah, Arabic No. 14
8. God leaves
not His children comfortless, but, when the darkness of winter
overshadows them, then again He sends His Messengers, the
Prophets, with a renewal of the blessed spring. The Sun of Truth
appears again on the horizon of the world shining into the eyes
of those who sleep, awaking them to behold the glory of a new
dawn. Then again will the tree of humanity blossom and bring
forth the fruit of righteousness for the healing of the nations.
Because man has stopped his ears to the Voice of Truth and shut
his eyes to the Sacred Light, neglecting the Law of God, for
this reason has the darkness of war and tumult, unrest and
misery, desolated the earth. I pray that you will all strive to
bring each child of God into the radiance of the Sun of Truth,
that the darkness may be dissipated by the penetrating rays of
its glory, and the winter's hardness and cold may be melted away
by the merciful warmth of its shining.
- `Abdu'l-Bahá,
Paris Talks, pp. 32-33
9. Glory be to
Thee, O my God! Thou hearest Thine ardent lovers lamenting in
their separation from Thee, and such as have recognized Thee
wailing because of their remoteness from Thy presence. Open Thou
outwardly to their faces, O my Lord, the gates of Thy grace,
that they may enter them by Thy leave and in conformity with Thy
will, and may stand before the throne of Thy majesty, and catch
the accents of Thy voice, and be illumined with the splendors of
the light of Thy face.
Potent art Thou
to do what pleaseth Thee. None can withstand the power of Thy
sovereign might. From everlasting Thou wert alone, with none to
equal Thee, and wilt unto everlasting remain far above all
thought and every description of Thee. Have mercy, then, upon
Thy servants by Thy grace and bounty, and suffer them not to be
kept back from the shores of the ocean of Thy nearness. If Thou
abandonest them, who is there to befriend them; and if Thou
puttest them far from Thee, who is he that can favor them? They
have none other Lord beside Thee, none to adore except Thyself.
Deal Thou generously with them by Thy bountiful grace.
Thou, in truth,
art the Ever-Forgiving, the Most Compassionate.
- Bahá'u'lláh,
Prayers and Meditations, L, pp. 72-73
