Feast of Glory

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Feast of Glory

The name of BAHA'O'LLAH means the Glory of God, Baha -- Glory, and Allah -- God.

(Abdu'l-Baha, Divine Philosophy, p. 7 )

"He is God, exalted is His state, wisdom and utterance. The True One (glorious is His glory) for the showing forth of the gems of ideals from the mine of man, hath, in every age, sent a Trusted One. The primary foundation of the faith of God and the religion of God is this, that they should not make diverse sects and various paths the cause and reason of hatred. These principles and laws and firm sure roads appear from one dawning-place and shine from one dayspring, and these diversities were out of regard for the requirements of the time, season, ages, and epochs.

(Abdu'l-Baha, A Traveller's Narrative, p. 42 )

Today the friends of God must appear in such fashion amidst [God's] servants that by their actions they may lead all unto the pleasure of the Lord of Glory. I swear by the Sun of the Horizon of Holiness that the friends of God never have regarded nor will regard the earth or its transitory riches. God hath ever regarded the hearts of [His] servants, and this too is by reason of [His] most great favor, that perchance mortal souls may be cleansed and sanctified from earthly states and may attain unto everlasting places.

(Abdu'l-Baha, A Traveller's Narrative, p. 64 )

O Lord, I ask of Thee by the Supreme Word, whereat whosoever is in the earth and the heaven feareth save him who taketh hold of the 'Most Firm Handle,'* that Thou wilt not abandon Me amongst Thy creatures: lift Me up unto Thee, and make Me to enter in under the shadow of Thy mercy, and give Me to drink of the pure wine of Thy grace, that I may dwell under the canopy of Thy glory and the domes of Thy favors: verily Thou art powerful unto that Thou wishest, and verily Thou art the Protecting, the Self-Sufficing.

(Abdu'l-Baha, A Traveller's Narrative, p. 76 )

By My Lord, were I given the choice between the glory and opulence, the wealth and dignity, the ease and luxury wherein they are, and the distress and affliction wherein I am, I would certainly choose that wherein I am today, and I would not now exchange one atom of these afflictions for all that hath been created in the kingdom of production! Were it not for afflictions in the way of God My continuance would have no sweetness for Me, nor would My life profit Me.

(Abdu'l-Baha, A Traveller's Narrative, p. 82 )

There is one God; mankind is one; the foundations of religion are one. Let us worship Him, and give praise for all His great Prophets and Messengers who have manifested His brightness and glory.

(Abdu'l-Baha, Abdu'l-Baha in London, p. 20 )

That is why Baha'u'llah says: "Let not a man glory in that he loves his country, but that he loves his kind." All are of one family, one race; all are human beings. Differences as to the partition of lands should not be the cause of separation among the people.

(Abdu'l-Baha, Abdu'l-Baha in London, p. 55 )

Although the same Sun is shining upon both, in the mirror which is polished, pure and sanctified you may behold the Sun in all its fullness, glory and power revealing its majesty and effulgence, but in the mirror which is rusted and obscured there is no capacity for reflection although so far as the Sun itself is concerned it is shining thereon and is neither lessened nor deprived. Therefore our duty lies in seeking to polish the mirrors of our hearts in order that we shall become reflectors of that light and recipients of the divine bounties which may be fully revealed through them.

(Abdu'l-Baha, Baha'i World Faith - Abdu'l-Baha Section, p. 218 )

The unity which is productive of unlimited results is first a unity of mankind which recognizes that all are sheltered beneath the overshadowing glory of the All-Glorious; that all are servants of one God; for all breathe the same atmosphere, live upon the same earth, move beneath the same heavens, receive effulgence from the same sun and are under the protection of one God.

(Abdu'l-Baha, Baha'i World Faith - Abdu'l-Baha Section, p. 257 )

The consummation of this limitless universe with all its grandeur and glory hath been man himself, who in this world of being toileth and suffereth for a time, with divers ills and pains, and ultimately disintegrates, leaving no trace and no fruit after him. Were it so, there is no doubt that this infinite universe with all its perfections has ended in shame and delusion with no result, no fruit, no permanence and no effect. It would be utterly without meaning. They were thus convinced that such is not the case, that this Great Workshop with all its power, its bewildering magnificence and endless perfections, cannot eventually come to naught. That still another life should exist is thus certain, and, just as the vegetable kingdom is unaware of the world of man, so we, too, know not of the Great Life hereafter that followeth the life of man here below. Our non-comprehension of that life, however, is no proof of its non-existence. The mineral world, for instance, is utterly unaware of the world of man and cannot comprehend it, but the ignorance of a thing is no proof of its non-existence. Numerous and conclusive proofs exist that go to show that this infinite world cannot end with this human life.

(Abdu'l-Baha, Baha'i World Faith - Abdu'l-Baha Section, p. 340 )

That it may become proven to all that the fire of war is world-consuming, whereas the rays of peace are world-enlightening. One is death, the other is life; this is extinction, that is immortality; one is the most great calamity, the other is the most great bounty; this is darkness, that is light; this is eternal humiliation and that is everlasting glory; one is the destroyer of the foundation of man, the other is the founder of the prosperity of the human race.

(Abdu'l-Baha, Baha'i World Faith - Abdu'l-Baha Section, p. 428 )

Consider how humanity has retrograded from its ideals, for it glories in fratricide. If one person kill another he is called a murderer and the civil authority brings him before the law; but if he kill one hundred thousand people on a battlefield, he is hailed as a conqueror. Is not this like unto some blood-thirsty wolf glorying in that he has wantonly strangled a hundred thousand sheep in a night? If a person steal one france he will be branded as a thief; but if he pillage a whole country will be acclaimed a great hero. How ignorant is humanity!

(Abdu'l-Baha, Divine Philosophy, p. 179 )

(Abdu'l-Baha, Foundations of World Unity, p. 66 )

Why has God sent the prophets? It is self-evident that the prophets are the educators of men and the teachers of the human race. They come to bestow universal education upon humanity, to give humanity training, to uplift the human race from the abyss of despair and desolation and enable man to attain the apogee of advancement and glory. The people are in darkness; the prophets bring them into the realm of light. They are in a state of utter imperfection; the prophets imbue them with perfections. The purpose of the prophetic mission is no other than the education and guidance of the people.

(Abdu'l-Baha, Foundations of World Unity, p. 94 )

THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO AND Other East African Adventures

BY Lieut.-Col. J. H. Patterson, D.S.O

The following, is a literal translation of the

Hindustani poem referred to on p. 104:--

IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, THE MERCIFUL, THE

COMPASSIONATE:

First must I speak to the praise and glory of God,

who is infinite and incomprehensible,

Who is without fault or error, who is the Life, though

without body or breath.

He has no relatives, nor father nor son, being himself

incomparable and passionless.

His is the knowledge of the known and of the

unknown, and although without a tongue, yet does

he speak in mighty tones.