9/29/23

Tablet revealed by 'Abdu'l-Baha

 He is God!

O God! O God! Thou dost behold me, how my forehead is laid upon the dust of humility and submission and how my face is covered in the ground of the threshold of thy singleness. O thou my Lord, the Unconstrained! Thou seest me lowly and contrite, supplicating, entreating and imploring toward the Kingdom of thy light by day and by night, that thou encircle us with the eye of thy providence and the glances of the outlook of thy mercifulness.

O Lord! Forgive our sins, pardon our shortcomings and deal with us through thy grace and generosity under all circumstances. O our Lord! We are sinners, but thou art the merciful forgiver. We are transgressors, but thou art the clement pardoner. Absolve our iniquities, remove our sorrows, destine for us through thy bestowal severance from the world, occupation with thy mentioning, enkindlement with the fire of thy love, perpetual contemplation of thy signs, the knowledge of thy words, meditation over thy verses and the attraction of thy lights.

O Lord! O Lord! These are thy servants; they have turned their faces toward thy countenance and they have resolved their joy and happiness in thy favor and bounty. Strengthen their backs in thy obedience. Reinforce their lives in thy adoration. Perfume their hearts with the fragrances of thy holiness. Ordain for them presence in the paradise of thy meeting. Suffer them to become such servants as peruse the verses of unity in the assemblages held in thy name; that attract the rays of singleness from the lamp of thy bestowal; as those drawn towards thy beauty, humble before thy glory; who have abandoned aught else save thee and are relying upon thy protection and preservation; as those rendered meek by the sway of thy Word, made submissive before thy beloved ones; as those diffusing thy fragrances, disclosing thy mysteries, informing people with thy teachings and suffering mankind to become rejoiced through thy glad-tidings. Verily, thou art powerful over that which thou wiliest and thou feedest whomsoever thou desirest with thy hand. The world and the Kingdom belong to thee and thou art the mighty, the omnipotent and the beloved!

O ye believers of God! O ye dear friends of ‘Abdu’l-Baha!

9/20/23

Portion of a Tablet to Mrs. Cora Ditmars, of Spokane, Washington

O thou happy and blessed one!

In this holy Cause the question of the education and the maintenance of the orphans has the utmost importance. Towards the orphans the utmost consideration must be shown, they must be taught and instructed; especially the teachings of his holiness Baha’u’llah must be given freely to every orphan according to the means at hand. I beg of God that to the orphaned children thou mayst become a kind father and mother, to quicken them with the fragrances of the Holy Spirit—thus they may attain to the age of maturity, and each one may become the real servant of the world of humanity—nay rather, they may become as bright candles in the assemblages of mankind.

(Signed) ‘Abdu’l-Baha Abbas 

(Star of the West, vol. 7, no. 13, November 4, 1916)

9/10/23

To the friends of God, men, women and children in the photograph of the First International Bahai Congress, San Francisco, California

Upon them be greeting and praise!

O you real friends and lovers of the Kingdom of God!

In these days the scroll of the photograph of the blessed faces of those pure souls, which was taken during the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, was received.

Praise be to God that the faces are radiant, indicating the sanctification of the hearts. All those who have looked at the photograph have obtained immediate joy—outflowing, and inexhaustible.

I beg infinite grace from the Kingdom of God for each one of those friends who were present in that gathering, wishing for them heavenly powers so that the members of that congress may irradiate the white rays of the Sun of Reality to all parts and illumine the cities, counties, towns and villages of the United States.

The magnet whereby to attract these favors and bounties, is firmness and steadfastness.

Upon you be greeting and praise!

(Signed) ‘Abdu’l-Baha Abbas 

(Star of the West, vol. 7, no. 13, November 4, 1916)