O ye beloved of G.o.d and maid-servants of the Merciful!
The republic of wise men believes that the difference in minds and opinions is due to the difference of education and the acquisition of ethics. That is, that minds are equal in origin, but education and the acquisition of ethics cause minds to differ and comprehensions to be at variance; that this difference is not in ent.i.ty but in education and teaching; that there is no individual distinction for any soul. Hence, the members of the human race all possess the capacity of attaining to the highest station, and the proof they adduce therefor is this: "The inhabitants of a country like Africa are all as wandering savages and wild animals; they lack intelligence and knowledge; all are uncivilized; not one civilized and wise man is to be found among them. On the contrary, consider the civilized countries, the inhabitants of which are living in the highest state of culture and ethics, solidarity and inter-dependence; possessing, with few exceptions, acute power of comprehensions and sound mind. Therefore, it is made clear and evident that the superiority and inferiority of minds and comprehensions arises from education and cultivation, or from their lack and absence. A bent branch is straightened by training and the wild fruit of the jungle is made the product of the orchard. An ignorant man by learning becomes knowing, and the world of savagery, through the bounty of a wise educator, is changed into a civilized kingdom. The sick is healed by medication, and the poor man, by learning the arts of commerce, is made rich. The follower, by attaining the virtues of the leader, becomes great, and the lowly man, by the education of the teacher, rises from the nadir of oblivion to the zenith of celebrity." These are the proofs of the wise men.
The prophets also acknowledge this opinion, towit: That education hath a great effect upon the human race, but they declare that minds and comprehensions are originally different. And this matter is self-evident; it cannot be refuted. We see that certain children of the same age, nativity and race, nay, from the same household, under the tutorship of one teacher, differ in their minds and comprehensions. One advanceth rapidly, another is slow in catching the rays of culture, still another remaineth in the lowest degree of stupidity.
No matter how much the sh.e.l.l is educated (or polished), it can never become the radiant pearl. The black stone will not become the world illumining gem. The calocynth(267) and the th.o.r.n.y cactus can never by training and development become the blessed tree. That is to say, training doth not change the human gem (i.e., human nature or ent.i.ty), but it produceth a marvelous effect. By this effective power all that is registered latent of virtues and capacities in the human reality will be revealed.
Cultivation by the farmer maketh of the grain the harvest, and the effort of the gardener maketh of the seed a n.o.ble tree. The gentle teacher promoteth the children of the school to the lofty alt.i.tude and the bestowal of the trainer placeth the little child upon the throne of ether.
Therefore, it is demonstrated and proven that minds are different in the original ent.i.ty or nature, and that education commandeth a decided and great influence. Were there no educator, all souls would remain savage, and were it not for the teacher, the children would be ignorant creatures.
It is for this reason that, in this New Cycle, education and training are recorded in the Book of G.o.d as obligatory and not voluntary. That is, it is enjoined upon the father and mother, as a duty, to strive with all effort to train the daughter and the son, to nurse them from the breast of knowledge and to rear them in the bosom of sciences and arts. Should they neglect this matter, they shall, be held responsible and worthy of reproach in the presence of the stern Lord.
This is a sin unpardonable, for they have made that poor babe a wanderer in the Sahara of ignorance, unfortunate and tormented; to remain during a lifetime a captive of ignorance and pride, negligent and without discernment. Verily, if that babe depart from this world at the age of infancy, it is sweeter and better. In this sense, death is better than life; deprivation than salvation; non-existence lovelier than existence; the grave better than the s.p.a.cious, regal home; for in the sight of mankind that child is abased and degraded and in the sight of G.o.d weak and defective. in gatherings it is ashamed and humiliated and in the arena of examination subdued and defeated by young and old. What a mistake is this!
What an everlasting humiliation!
Therefore, the beloved of G.o.d and the maid-servants of the Merciful must train their children with life and heart and teach them in the school of virtue and perfection. They must not be lax in the matter; they must not be inefficient. Truly, if a babe did not live at all it were better than to let it grow ignorant, for that innocent babe, in later life, would become afflicted with innumerable defects, responsible to and questioned by G.o.d, reproached and rejected by the people. What a sin this would be and what an omission!
the first duty of the beloved of G.o.d and the maid-servants of the Merciful is this: They must strive by all possible means to educate both s.e.xes, male and female; girls like boys; there is no difference whatsoever between them. The ignorance of both is blameworthy, and negligence in both cases is reprovable. "Are they who know and they who do not know equal?"
(Koran)
The command is decisive concerning both. If it be considered through the eye of reality, the training and culture of daughters is more necessary than that of sons, for these girls will come to the station of motherhood and will mould the lives of the children. The first trainer of the child is the mother. The babe, like unto a green and tender branch, will grow according to the way it is trained. If the training be right, it will grow right, and if crooked, the growth likewise, and unto the end of life it will conduct itself accordingly.
Hence, it is firmly established that an untrained and uneducated daughter, on becoming a mother, will be the prime factor in the deprivation, ignorance, negligence and the lack of training of many children.
O ye beloved of G.o.d and the maid-servants of the Merciful! Teaching and learning, according to the decisive texts of the Blessed Beauty (Baha"o"llah), is a duty. Whosover is indifferent therein depriveth himself of the great bounty.
Beware! Beware! that ye fail not in this matter. Endeavor with heart, with life, to train your children, especially the daughters. No excuse is acceptable in this matter.
Thus may eternal glory and everlasting supremacy, like unto the mid-day sun, shine forth in the a.s.semblage of the people of Baha", and the heart of Abdul-Baha become happy and thankful.
"O pure friends of G.o.d!..."
O pure friends of G.o.d!
Cleanliness and sanct.i.ty in all conditions are the characteristics of pure beings and necessities of free souls. The first perfection consists in cleanliness and sanct.i.ty and in purity from every defect. When man in all conditions is pure and immaculate, he will become the center of the reflection of the manifest Light. In all his actions and conduct there must first be purity, then beauty and independence. The channel must be cleansed before it is filled with sweet water. The pure eye comprehendeth the sight and the meeting of G.o.d; the pure nostril inhaleth the perfumes of the rose-garden of bounty; the pure heart becometh the mirror of the beauty of truth. This is why, in the heavenly Books, the divine counsels and commands have been compared to water. So, in the Koran it is said, "and we have caused a pure water to descend from heaven;" and in the Gospel, "Except a man hath received the baptism of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of G.o.d." Then it is evident that the divine teachings are the heavenly grace and the showers of the mercy of G.o.d, which purify the hearts of men.
The meaning is, in all conditions, cleanliness and sanct.i.ty, purity and delicacy exalt humanity and make the contingent beings progress. Even when applied to physical things, delicacy causeth the attainment of spirituality, as it is established in the Holy Scriptures.
External cleanliness, although it is but a physical thin, hath a great influence upon spirituality. For example, although sound is but the vibrations of the air which affect the tympanum of the ear, and vibrations of the air are but an accident among the accidents which depend upon the air, consider how much marvelous notes or a charming song influence the spirits! A wonderful song giveth wings to the spirit and filleth the heart with exalteth. To return to the subject, the fact of having a pure and spotless body likewise exerciseth an influence upon the spirit of man.
Now, see how much purity is approved in the Court of G.o.d, that it should be especially mentioned in the Holy Books of the Prophets. So the Holy Books forbid the eating of any unclean thing, or the use of anything which is not pure. Certain prohibitions are absolute and imperative for all: he who commits that which is forbidden is detested by G.o.d and excluded from the number of the elect. This applieth to the things forbidden by an absolute prohibition and of which the perpetration is a grave sin; they are so vile that even to mention them is shameful. There are other forbidden things which do not cause an immediate evil and of which the pernicious effect is only gradually produced. They are also abhorred, blamed and rejected by G.o.d, but their prohibition is not recorded in an absolute way, although cleanliness and sanct.i.ty, spotlessness and purity, the preservation of health and independence are required by these interdictions.
One of these last prohibitions is the smoking of tobacco, which is unclean, malodorous, disagreeable and vulgar and of which the gradual harmfulness is universally recognized. All clever physicians have judged, and have also shown by experiment, that one of the const.i.tuents of tobacco is a mortal poison and that smokers are exposed to different indispositions and maladies. That is why cleanly people have a marked aversion for its use.
His Supreme Highness (the Bab)-may my soul be His sacrifice! -in the beginning of His Cause, openly forbade it and all the friends abandoned its use. But, as it was a time for caution and he who abstained from smoking was ill treated, persecuted and even killed, therefore the friends were obliged, as a matter of prudence, to smoke. later, the Kitab-el-Akdas was revealed and as the prohibition of tobacco was not clearly stated in it, the friends did not renounce it. But the Blessed Perfection had always a marked aversion for its use. At the beginning of the Cause, for certain reasons, he smoked a little, but later he abandoned it completely, and the holy souls who obeyed him in all circ.u.mstances, also entirely gave up smoking. I wish to say that, in the sight of G.o.d, the smoking of tobacco is a thing which is blamed and condemned, very unclean, and of which the result is by degrees injurious. Besides it is a cause of expense and of loss of time and it is a harmful habit. So, for those who are firm in the Covenant, it is a thing reprobated by the reason and by tradition, the renouncement of which giveth gradual repose and tranquility, permitteth one to have stainless hands and a clean mouth, and hair which is not pervaded by a bad odor.
Without any doubt, the friends of G.o.d on receiving this epistle will renounce this injurious by all means, even if it be necessary to do so by degrees. This is my hope.
As to the question of opium, disgusting and execrated, I resign myself to G.o.d for its punishment. The formal text of the Kitab-el-Akdas forbids and reproves it and, according to reason, its use leads to madness. Experience hath shown that he who giveth himself up to it is completely excluded from the world of humanity. Let us take refuge in G.o.d against the perpetration of so shameful a thing, which is the destruction of the foundations of humanity and which causeth a perpetual unhappiness. It taketh possession of the soul of man, killeth the reason, weakeneth the intelligence, maketh a living man dead and extinguisheth the natural heat. It is impossible to imagine anything more pernicious. Happy is he who never mentioneth the word opium! But what is the fate of those who make use of it!
O friends of G.o.d! Force and violence, constraint and oppression are condemned in this divine cycle, but to prevent the use of opium, all means must be employed, so that the human species may be delivered and freed from this great calamity. Otherwise, alas! for all the negligent before G.o.d.
O Lord! Give to the people of Baha" cleanliness and holiness in all conditions, purify and free them from all defilement, deliver them from the use of all that is execrated, liberate them from the chains of habits, so that they may be pure and free, clean and spotless, that they may be worthy servants of the Sacred Threshold and may deserve to enter into relation with G.o.d. Deliver them from alcohol and tobacco, and save them from opium, the purveyor of madness! Make them companions of the holy breezes, in order that they may know the pleasures of the wine of the love of G.o.d, and that they may attain to the joy and the happiness of attraction to the Kingdom of Abha!
Hast Thou not said, "All that thou hast in thy cellar will not appease the thirst of my love-bring me, O cup-bearer, of the wine of the spirit, a cup full as the sea!"
O friends of G.o.d! Experience hath shown how much the renouncing of tobacco, wine and opium, giveth health, strength and intellectual enjoyments, penetration of judgment and physical vigor. There exists today a tribe(268) which refrains and abstains from tobacco, alcohol and opium and it completely excels all others in power, in bravery, in health, beauty and grace. A single one of these men can withstand ten men of other tribes, and this hath been universally proved; that is to say, generally, the individuals of this tribe are superior to the individuals of the other tribes.
Therefore strive that the greatest cleanliness and sanct.i.ty, which is the great desire of Abdul-Baha, should be resplendent among the Bahais, and that the companions of G.o.d should surpa.s.s the rest of mankind in all conditions and perfections; that they may be physically and morally superior to others; that through cleanliness and purity, refinement and health, they may be the chief of wise men, and that by their affranchis.e.m.e.nt, their prudence, and the control of their desires, they may be the princes of the pure, the free and the wise.
Upon you be the glory of El-Abha!
"O ye two , servant and maid-servant of the Beauty of..."
O ye two(269), servant and maid-servant of the Beauty of Abha!
Thank ye His Highness the Incomparable One, that ye have become a.s.sisted in the service of the self-subsistent Lord and that ye are making copies of the Tablets of Abdul-Baha, spreading them all around. This service is the most great bounty; for like unto the messenger from Egypt, ye are sending the garment of the Joseph of the love of G.o.d to all directions, so that the fragrance of the rose-garden of the Kingdom of Abha impart the spirit of life to the inquirers.
Excellent! Excellent is your magnanimity and exalted intention!
"O thou who art skilled in the Knowledge of G.o.d and..."
O thou who art skilled in the Knowledge of G.o.d and wise in the Wisdom of the Almighty!
Turn thy face toward the Kingdom of Might with supplication and invocation and entreat thy Lord, the Merciful, with this commune, until the heart and consciousness be illumined by the breath of G.o.d from the right side of grace and generosity, and say:
"O my G.o.d! O my G.o.d! Verily I am Thy humble servant and Thy meek slave. I beseech Thee with all my heart and soul, in the middle of nights, and declare: O my Lord! O my Lord! Enlighten the sights [or eyes] by the outpouring of lights; purify the souls by the fragrances of Paradise; dilate the hearts by the wafting of the breeze whereby the sorrows are dispelled, and exhilarate the spirits by the cups of the wine which is gleaming and sparkling like unto a lamp!
"Then intoxicate me with the wine of Thy love, so that I may attain to success and prosperity in this dawn of Light; may speak Thy praises, call upon Thy Name, be engaged in Thy commemoration in this vast country and s.p.a.cious continent and be inebriated with the pure Wine which is glowing in the excellent Cup. Then suffer me to become the sign of guidance among Thy creatures and to become a supreme example among the believers, in order that I may lead others to Thy Word, spread Thy truth, promulgate Thy knowledge and deliver Thy teachings.
"Verily, Thou art the Confirmer, the a.s.sister, the Mighty, the Powerful and the Beneficent!"
"O seeker for the Truth!..."