Lisle, USA
“O my friend! Render thou thanks unto God for having illumined thy sight with the effulgent rays shed from the Sun of Truth, and for having quickened thee and baptized thee with the water of life and the fire of the love of God.”
-‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Extract from a Tablet of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
Huntsville, USA
“The essence of all that We have revealed for thee is Justice, is for man to free himself from idle fancy and imitation, discern with the eye of oneness His glorious handiwork, and look into all things with a searching eye.”
-Baha’u’llah, Aṣl-i-Kullu’l-Khayr (Words of Wisdom)
Krumbo Reservoir, Oregon, USA
“O SON OF BEING! With the hands of power I made thee and with the fingers of strength I created thee; and within thee have I placed the essence of My light. Be thou content with it and seek naught else, for My work is perfect and My command is binding. Question it not, nor have a doubt thereof.”
-Bahá’u’lláh, The Hidden Words of Bahá’u’lláh
Putnam, USA
“Reveal then Thyself, O Lord, by Thy merciful utterance and the mystery of Thy divine being, that the holy ecstasy of prayer may fill our souls—a prayer that shall rise above words and letters and transcend the murmur of syllables and sounds—that all things may be merged into nothingness before the revelation of Thy splendor.”
-‘Abdu’l-Bahá
Washington D.C., USA
“O maid-servants of the Merciful! Know that, verily, this day is the day of teaching, this day is the day of diffusing the fragrances of God, being severed from aught else save God, attracted to the Word of God, and clinging to the Covenant of God. There is no work greater than this. Be ye entirely spiritual, purely brilliant, cut your dependence from any other mention, thought or purpose, and confine your mentions, thoughts and occupations to spreading the fragrances of God, and devote your attention to this great work. By God, the True One, verily, the Sun of Truth will cast forth its lights in your assemblies and will make you shining lamps, glittering stars, brilliant signs, and as souls attracted to the Holy Spirit. This is the great prosperity! This is the manifest light!”
-`Abdu’l-Bahá, Tablets of Abdu’l-Baha, p. 28
Ladysmith, Canada
“The more difficulties one sees in the world the more perfect one becomes. The more you plough and dig the ground the more fertile it becomes. The more you cut the branches of a tree the higher and stronger it grows. The more you put the gold in the fire the purer it becomes. The more you sharpen the steel by grinding the better it cuts. Therefore, the more sorrows one sees the more perfect one becomes. That is why, in all times, the Prophets of God have had tribulations and difficulties to withstand. The more often the captain of a ship is in the tempest and difficult sailing the greater his knowledge becomes. Therefore I am happy that you have had great tribulations and difficulties. For this I am very happy — that you have had many sorrows. Strange it is that I love you and still I am happy that you have sorrows.”
-Abdu’l-Baha (Star of the West, vol. 14, no. 2, p. 41.)