O ye beloved of 'Abdu'l-Baha and ye handmaids of the Merciful! It is early
morning, and the reviving winds of the Abha Paradise are blowing over all
creation, but they can stir only the pure of heart, and only the pure
sense can detect their fragrance. Only the perceiving eye beholdeth the
rays of the sun; only the listening ear can hear the singing of the
Concourse on high. Although the plentiful rains of spring, the bestowals
of Heaven, pour down upon all things, they can only fructify good soil;
they love not brackish ground, where no results of all the bounty can be
shown.
Today the soft and holy breathings of the Abha Realm are passing over
every land, but only the pure in heart draw nigh and derive a benefit
therefrom. It is the hope of this wronged soul that from the grace of the
Self-Subsistent One and by the manifest power of the Word of God, the
heads of the unmindful may be cleared, that they may perceive these sweet
savours which blow from secret rosebeds of the spirit.
O ye friends of God! True friends are even as skilled physicians, and the
Teachings of God are as healing balm, a medicine for the conscience of
man. They clear the head, so that a man can breathe them in and delight in
their sweet fragrance. They waken those who sleep. They bring awareness to
the unheeding, and a portion to the outcast, and to the hopeless, hope.
If in this day a soul shall act according to the precepts and the counsels
of God, he will serve as a divine physician to mankind, and like the trump
of Israfil,(16) he will call the dead of this contingent world to life;
for the confirmations of the Abha Realm are never interrupted, and such a
virtuous soul hath, to befriend him, the unfailing help of the Company on
high. Thus shall a sorry gnat become an eagle in the fulness of his
strength, and a feeble sparrow change to a royal falcon in the heights of
ancient glory.
Wherefore, look not on the degree of your capacity, ask not if you are
worthy of the task: rest ye your hopes on the help and loving-kindness,
the favours and bestowals of Baha'u'llah--may my soul be offered up for His
friends! Urge on the steed of high endeavour over the field of sacrifice,
and carry away from this wide arena the prize of divine grace.
O ye handmaids of the merciful Lord! How many queens of this world laid
down their heads on a pillow of dust and disappeared. No fruit was left of
them, no trace, no sign, not even their names. For them, no more granting
of bestowals; for them, no more living at all. Not so the handmaids who
ministered at the Threshold of God; these have shone forth like glittering
stars in the skies of ancient glory, shedding their splendours across all
the reaches of time. These have fulfilled their dearest hopes in the Abha
Paradise; they have tasted the honey of reunion in the congregation of the
Lord. Such souls as these profited from their existence here on earth:
they plucked the fruit of life. As for the rest, 'There surely came upon
them a time when they were a thing not spoken of.'
O ye lovers of this wronged one! Cleanse ye your eyes, so that ye behold
no man as different from yourselves. See ye no strangers; rather see all
men as friends, for love and unity come hard when ye fix your gaze on
otherness. And in this new and wondrous age, the Holy Writings say that we
must be at one with every people; that we must see neither harshness nor
injustice, neither malevolence, nor hostility, nor hate, but rather turn
our eyes toward the heaven of ancient glory. For each of the creatures is
a sign of God, and it was by the grace of the Lord and His power that each
did step into the world; therefore they are not strangers, but in the
family; not aliens, but friends, and to be treated as such.
Wherefore must the loved ones of God associate in affectionate fellowship
with stranger and friend alike, showing forth to all the utmost
loving-kindness, disregarding the degree of their capacity, never asking
whether they deserve to be loved. In every instance let the friends be
considerate and infinitely kind. Let them never be defeated by the malice
of the people, by their aggression and their hate, no matter how intense.
If others hurl their darts against you, offer them milk and honey in
return; if they poison your lives, sweeten their souls; if they injure
you, teach them how to be comforted; if they inflict a wound upon you, be
a balm to their sores; if they sting you, hold to their lips a refreshing
cup.
O God, my God! These are Thy feeble servants; they are Thy loyal bondsmen
and Thy handmaidens, who have bowed themselves down before Thine exalted
Utterance and humbled themselves at Thy Threshold of light, and borne
witness to Thy oneness through which the Sun hath been made to shine in
midday splendour. They have listened to the summons Thou didst raise from
out Thy hidden Realm, and with hearts quivering with love and rapture,
they have responded to Thy call.
O Lord, shower upon them all the outpourings of Thy mercy, rain down upon
them all the waters of Thy grace. Make them to grow as beauteous plants in
the garden of heaven, and from the full and brimming clouds of Thy
bestowals and out of the deep pools of Thine abounding grace make Thou
this garden to flower and keep it ever green and lustrous, ever fresh and
shimmering and fair.
Thou art verily the Mighty, the Exalted, the Powerful, He Who alone, in
the heavens and on the earth, abideth unchanged. There is none other God
save Thee, the Lord of manifest tokens and signs.