30 April | a.m

O SON OF DESIRE!

Give ear unto this: Never shall mortal eye recognize the everlasting Beauty, nor the lifeless heart delight in aught but in the withered bloom. For like seeketh like, and taketh pleasure in the company of its kind.

- Baha'u'llah, The Persian Hidden Words, no. 10

Every eye which is weeping for the sake of the love of God is blessed; every ear which is hearing the divine call is blessed. Then may thine eyes flow with the tears of joy because of the coruscation of the fire of the heart and may thy soul and thy spirit be attracted to the Beauty of the Beloved.

- Abdu’l-Bahá, Tablets of Abdu’l-Bahá v1, p. 214

29 April | p.m

O SON OF MAN!

If adversity befall thee not in My path, how canst thou walk in the ways of them that are content with My pleasure? If trials afflict thee not in thy longing to meet Me, how wilt thou attain the light in thy love for My beauty?

- Baha'u'llah, The Arabic Hidden Words, no. 5

23 April | p.m

The whole duty of man in this Day is to attain that share of the flood of grace which God poureth forth for him. Let none, therefore, consider the largeness or smallness of the receptacle. The portion of some might lie in the palm of a man's hand, the portion of others might fill a cup, and of others even a gallon-measure.

- Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 7

A new day has dawned. Divine susceptibilities and heavenly capacities are developing in human souls under the training of the Sun of Truth. The capacities of souls are different. Their conditions are various. For example, certain minerals come from the stony regions of the earth. All are minerals, all are produced by the same sun, but one remains a stone while another develops the capacity of a glittering gem or jewel… Therefore, it is requisite that we must develop capacity and divine susceptibility in order that the merciful bounty of the Sun of Truth intended for this age and time in which we are living may reflect from us as light from pure crystals.

- Abdu’l-Bahá, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 23

23 April | a.m

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."

- Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p.

16 April | p.m

Erelong will the state of affairs within thee be changed, and the reins of power fall into the hands of the people. Verily, thy Lord is the All-Knowing. His authority embraceth all things. Rest thou assured in the gracious favour of thy Lord.

- Baha'u'llah, The Kitáb-i-Aqdas, p. 54

The men of God's House of Justice have been charged with the affairs of the people. They, in truth, are the Trustees of God among His servants and the daysprings of authority in His countries.

- Baha'u'llah, The Kitáb-i-Aqdas, p. 89

16 April | a.m

Heard it ye ever reported by your fathers of old, or by the generations that preceded them, even unto the first Adam, that any one coming in the clouds of revelation, being invested with manifest and transcendent sovereignty, having on his right hand the Kingdom of God and on his left all the power and glory of His everlasting dominion, any one preceded by the hosts of God, the Almighty, the All-Compelling, the Most Powerful, and uttering continually verses whose import the minds of the most learned and wisest of men are powerless to fathom, should yet be the bearer of a message that is not of God? Be discerning, then, and speak ye the truth, the very truth, if ye claim to be honest and high-minded.

- Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 258

15 April | p.m

O MY SERVANT!

Abandon not for that which perisheth an everlasting dominion, and cast not away celestial sovereignty for a worldly desire. This is the river of everlasting life that hath flowed from the well-spring of the pen of the merciful; well is it with them that drink!

- Baha'u'llah, The Persian Hidden Word

15 April | a.m

What mankind needeth in this day is obedience unto them that are in authority, and a faithful adherence to the cord of wisdom. The instruments which are essential to the immediate protection, the security and assurance of the human race have been entrusted to the hands, and lie in the grasp, of the governors of human society. This is the wish of God and His decree.

- Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 206

An intellectual grasp of the Teachings is purely superficial; with the first real test such believers are shaken from the bough! But once a Baha'i has the profound conviction of the authority from God, vested in the Prophet, passed on to the Master, and by Him, to the Guardians, and which flows out through the Assemblies and creates order based on obedience - once a Baha'i has this, nothing can shake him.

- From a letter written on behalf of the Guardian to an individual believer, April 11, 1949

14 April | p.m

And likewise in the sacred verse: "Obey God and obey the Apostle, and those among you invested with authority." By "those invested with authority" is meant primarily and more especially the Imams - the blessings of God rest upon them! They, verily, are the manifestations of the power of God, and the sources of His authority, and the repositories of His knowledge, and the daysprings of His commandments. Secondarily these words refer unto the kings and rulers - those through the brightness of whose justice the horizons of the world are resplendent and luminous.

- Baha'u'llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 89

2 April | p.m

Be thou as the breezes of the All-Merciful for the trees of the realm of existence and foster their growth through the potency of the Name of thy Lord, the Just, the All-Informed.

- Baha'u'llah, Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 137

The Kingdom of God is founded upon equity and justice, and also upon mercy, compassion, and kindness to every living soul. Strive ye then with all your heart to treat compassionately all humankind - except for those who have some selfish, private motive, or some disease of the soul. Kindness cannot be shown the tyrant, the deceiver, or the thief, because, far from awakening them to the error of their ways, it maketh them to continue in their perversity as before.

- Abdu’l-Bahá, Selections from the Writings of Abdu’l-Bahá, p. 158

2 April | a.m

It is better to guide one soul than to possess all that is on earth, for as long as that guided soul is under the shadow of the Tree of Divine Unity, he and the one who hath guided him will both be recipients of God's tender mercy, whereas possession of earthly things will cease at the time of death.

- The Báb, Selections from the Writings of the Báb, p. 75

His Holiness Christ says: Travel ye to the East and to the West of the world and summon the people to the Kingdom of God. Hence the mercy of God must encompass all humanity.

- Abdu’l-Bahá, Tablets of the Divine Plan, p. 31

1 april | p.m

To act like the beasts of the field is unworthy of man. Those virtues that befit his dignity are forbearance, mercy, compassion and loving-kindness towards all the peoples and kindreds of the earth.

- Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 215

Man was created to be merciful, he becomes a tyrant; he was created to be kind to all the children of men and given the capacity to confer life, but he becomes the destroyer of life.

- Abdu’l-Bahá, Divine Philosophy, p. 131