Courtesy - Baha'i Feast Devotional Program
A compilation from the Baha'i writings on the virtue of courtesy to be used as a Baha'i Feast devotional program.
The Baha'i faith emphasizes the importance of courtesy as a cornerstone of respectful and harmonious relationships. Here's a selection of quotes from the Baha'i writings on the virtue of courtesy:
1.O people of God! I admonish you to observe courtesy, for above all else it is the prince of virtues. Well is it with him who is illumined with the light of courtesy and is attired with the vesture of uprightness. Whoso is endued with courtesy hath indeed attained a sublime station. It is hoped that this Wronged One and everyone else may be enabled to acquire it, hold fast unto it, observe it, and fix our gaze upon it. This is a binding command which hath streamed forth from the Pen of the Most Great Name.
Baha'u'llah, Tablets of Baha'u'llah
2. Divest not yourselves of the robe of courtesy and fairmindedness, and speak not that which hath been forbidden you in the Tablets of your Lord, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting. Whoso is deprived of courtesy walketh naked among men, though he be clothed in all the world’s silk. This is that which hath been revealed through the power of truth in His mighty and guarded Tablets. He who is devoid of courtesy is indeed bereft of faith.
Baha'u'llah, Additional Tablets and Extracts from Tablets Revealed by Bahá’u’lláh
3. This Youth hath ever been disinclined to breathe a word contrary to courtesy, for courtesy is Our raiment, wherewith We have adorned the temples of Our well-favoured servants. Otherwise, some of the deeds that ye believe to be concealed would have been divulged in this Tablet. - Baha'u'llah, The Summons of the Lord of Hosts
4. It ill beseemeth the people of God to transgress the bounds of courtesy.
Baha'u'llah, Additional Tablets and Extracts from Tablets Revealed by Bahá’u’lláh
5. Courtesy is among the hallmarks of the human reality, an attribute whereby man is distinguished above all else. Whoso hath not attained thereunto, his non-existence is assuredly preferable to his existence.
Baha'u'llah, Additional Tablets and Extracts from Tablets Revealed by Bahá’u’lláh
6. We, verily, have chosen courtesy, and made it the true mark of such as are nigh unto Him. Courtesy is, in truth, a raiment which fitteth all men, whether young or old. Well is it with him that adorneth his temple therewith, and woe unto him who is deprived of this great bounty.
Baha'u'llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf
7. Adorn your heads with the garlands of trustworthiness and fidelity, your hearts with the attire of the fear of God, your tongues with absolute truthfulness, your bodies with the vesture of courtesy. These are in truth seemly adornings unto the temple of man, if ye be of them that reflect. Cling, O ye people of Bahá, to the cord of servitude unto God, the True One, for thereby your stations shall be made manifest, your names written and preserved, your ranks raised and your memory exalted in the Preserved Tablet. Beware lest the dwellers on earth hinder you from this glorious and exalted station. Thus have We exhorted you in most of Our Epistles and now in this, Our Holy Tablet, above which hath beamed the Daystar of the Laws of the Lord, your God, the Powerful, the All-Wise.
Baha'u'llah, The Kitáb-i-Aqdas
8. Say: Let truthfulness and courtesy be your adorning. Suffer not yourselves to be deprived of the robe of forbearance and justice, that the sweet savors of holiness may be wafted from your hearts upon all created things. Say: Beware, O people of Bahá, lest ye walk in the ways of them whose words differ from their deeds. Strive that ye may be enabled to manifest to the peoples of the earth the signs of God, and to mirror forth His commandments. Let your acts be a guide unto all mankind, for the professions of most men, be they high or low, differ from their conduct. It is through your deeds that ye can distinguish yourselves from others. Through them the brightness of your light can be shed upon the whole earth. Happy is the man that heedeth My counsel, and keepeth the precepts prescribed by Him Who is the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. - Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh
