As to thy vision that thou wert traveling to Acca in a ship with the maid-servant of G.o.d .........: this ship is the ship of the Covenant, which is surrounded by the winds of discord from the people of hypocrisy.
Be rejoiced that ye two are preserved and have reached the sh.o.r.e of salvation.
Know thou, verily, the winds of confirmation shall surely surround the Ark of Deliverance, the sails of the covenant shall be unfurled, and it shall reach the sh.o.r.e of the Kingdom of G.o.d. Blessed art thou, for thou hast entered this Ark and art saved from afflictions!
As to what thou hast seen in the dream, concerning the letter which reached thee from me, and angels were enclosed in it and they surrounded thee: Know thou verily, that letter is this glorious writing whereby I address thee; and, verily, this is full of angels of confirmation from the Kingdom off G.o.d and they will a.s.sist thee to serve the Cause of G.o.d in the vineyard of G.o.d.
"O thou seeing one!..."
O thou seeing one!
Know thou, verily, G.o.d hath preferred the insight to the sight, because the sight seeth the material things, while the insight apprehendeth the spiritual. the former witnesseth the earthly world, while the latter seeth the world of the Kingdom. The former"s judgment is temporary, while the latter"s vision is everlasting. Thou shalt soon behold the Kingdom of G.o.d and its mysteries and the signs of G.o.d and the lights of His great Realm of Divinity!
"O thou who art speaking the praise of G.o.d in that vast..."
O thou who art speaking the praise of G.o.d in that vast and extensive region!
Thank G.o.d, who hath raised such women from the essences of the love of G.o.d in that distant place and hath made them as fountains of knowledge, sources of a.s.surance and dawning-places of the commemoration of thy Lord, the Merciful! I beg of G.o.d to strengthen them through the most strong power, by the hosts rushing forth from the kingdom of El-Abha and by the angels successively coming from heaven. Verily, He is the a.s.sister, the Beneficient!
As to thy question concerning the husband and wife, the tie between them and the children given to them by G.o.d: Know thou, verily, the husband is one who hath sincerely turned unto G.o.d, is awakened by the call of the Beauty of El-Baha and chanteth the verses of Oneness in the great a.s.semblies; the wife is a being who wisheth to be overflowing with and seeketh after the attributes of G.o.d and His names; and the tie between them is none other than the Word of G.o.d. Verily, it [the Word of G.o.d]
causeth the mult.i.tudes to a.s.semble together and the remote ones to be united. Thus the husband and wife are brought into affinity, are united and harmonized, even as though they were one person. Through their mutual union, companionship and love great results are produced in the world, both material and spiritual. The spiritual result is the appearance of divine bounties. The material result is the children who are born in the cradle of the love of G.o.d, who are nurtured by the breast of knowledge of G.o.d, who are brought up in the bosom of the gift of G.o.d, and who are fostered in the lap of the training of G.o.d. Such children are those of whom it was said by Christ, "Verily, they are the children of the Kingdom!"
Consequently, O thou maid-servant of G.o.d, go unto the maid-servants of the Merciful one and tell them from the tongue of Abdul-Baha: "O maid-servants of the Merciful! It is inc.u.mbent upon you to train the children from their earliest babyhood! It is inc.u.mbent upon you to beautify their morals! It is inc.u.mbent upon you to attend to them under all aspects and circ.u.mstances, inasmuch as G.o.d-glorified and exalted is He! -hath ordained mothers to be the primary trainers of children and infants. This is a great and important affair and a high and exalted position, and it is not allowable to slacken therein at all!
If thou walkest in this right path, thou wouldst become a real mother to the children, both spiritually and materially. I beg of G.o.d to make thee severed from this world, attracted to the fragrances of sanct.i.ty which are being diffused from the garden of the Kingdom of El-Abha, and a servant of the Cause of G.o.d in the vineyard of G.o.d.
Greeting and high respects to the maid-servant of G.o.d Miss........., who is attracted, enkindled, hath spoken and called out, and hath stripped herself from the garment of dependence of this mortal world and its concerns and is clothed with the embroidered garments of separation (from the world) in this great Paradise.
"O thou who art attracted to the Fragrances of G.o.d!..."
O thou who art attracted to the Fragrances of G.o.d!
Know thou that some of the souls who arrive at this Blessed Spot possess hearing, seeing and smelling; they see what no eye hath ever seen, they hear the melodies of the Dove of Holiness on the Tree of Life, they inhale the fragrances of G.o.d from this Garden, and they surely realize that, verily, this Blessed Spot is a center for pure seeing and strong hearing and is the direction from which the breezes of the Holy Spirit blow.
But those who have neither seeing not hearing apprehend nothing and say what they understand not.
As to thee and thy daughter who is devoted to G.o.d, who presented herself, saw and heard: Know ye, verily, (one possessing) a pure insight is a servant to the people of Baha", but only the prudent can understand this.
Know thou, verily, insight (or mental perception) seeth that which sight (or physical perception) seeth not and apprehendeth that which the body perceiveth not, inasmuch as the sight seeth the mirage as water, the images pictured in the mirror as a reality and genuine, and it seeth the earth as stationary, the great stars as small. But the insight correcteth the mistake of the sight and apprehendeth the reality and seeth that the mirage is not water, that the images pictured in mirrors are naught else save mere reflections, that the earth is moving and the distant stars are great. Consequently, the truth of insight, its effectiveness and power is proven, as well as the weakness of sight, its inefficiency and defects.
Then, know thou that the power of the Word of G.o.d is effective, both in the spirit and the body, and the influence of the spirit of G.o.d is predominant over the material as well as the essential and spiritual. And that, verily, G.o.d is powerful in all things, and that the signs (or verses) have exoteric and esoteric meaning, and neither their outward preventeth their inward, nor doth their inward prevent their outward meaning.
Greeting and praise to the maid-servant of G.o.d, thy revered daughter, and to all who commemorate the praise of G.o.d, long for the Kingdom of G.o.d and are cheerfully moved by the fragrances of G.o.d!
"O thou who art attracted to the Fragrances of G.o.d!..."
O thou who art attracted to the Fragrances of G.o.d!
Consider not thy capacity and merit, nay rather consider the grace of thy Lord, the Clement, the Merciful. Verily, thy Lord confirmeth whomsoever He willeth of His servants, through the glad-tidings of the Kingdom, the signals of clemency and the spiritual fragrances. forsake every commemoration and thought in the cell of oblivion (i.e., forget everything) and confine thy days and time in preaching the Kingdom of G.o.d, spreading the teachings of G.o.d and igniting the lights of guidance in the hearts which are awaiting the Kingdom of G.o.d. Truly, I say unto thee, to be engaged in diffusing the fragrance of G.o.d (teaching the Truth) for one hour of time is better than the dominion of the world and all therein; for the latter is mortal and temporary, while the former is permanent and endless. This is the day of Life, the day of Salvation and the day of Bestowal; it is not the day of death, unless it be martyrdom in the path of G.o.d, or embracing the cross in the love of G.o.d.
"O thou who art attracted to the Fragrances of G.o.d!..."
O thou who art attracted to the Fragrances of G.o.d!
As to thy question, "If the husband preventeth his wife from entering into the Light, or the wife preventeth the husband from entering into the Kingdom of G.o.d:" In reality neither one of them preventeth the other from entering into the Kingdom of G.o.d, except when the husband hath a great attachment to the wife, or the wife to the husband. When either one of the two adoreth the other to the exclusion of G.o.d, then each will prevent the other from entering into the Kingdom of G.o.d.
As to thy question concerning the additions to the Old and New Testament: Know thou, verily, as people could not understand the words, nor could they apprehend the realities therein, therefore they have translated them according to their own understanding and interpreted the verses after their own ideas and thus the text fell into confusion. This is undoubtedly true. As to an intentional addition: This is something uncertain. But they have made great mistakes as to the understanding of the texts and the comprehending of the references and have therefore fallen into doubts, especially in regard to the symbolical verses.
As to thy question, "That Abdul-Baha hath said to some of the believers that evil never exists, nay rather, it is a non-existent thing:" This is but truth, inasmuch as the greatest evil is (man"s) going astray and being veiled from Truth. Error is lack of guidance; darkness is absence of light; ignorance is lack of knowledge; falsehood is lack of truthfulness; blindness is lack of sight; and deafness is lack of hearing. Therefore, error, blindness, deafness and ignorance are non-existent things. If we say that according to the text of the bible, "G.o.d hardened Pharaoh"s heart" that he not believe in Moses, this signifies that, verily, He did not soften his heart. And when we wish to say that G.o.d hath not guided a certain one of His servants, this would be interpreted (by people) that G.o.d led him astray. The darkness spoken of in the Bible as being created by G.o.d, signifieth that, verily, G.o.d hath not caused light to shine; inasmuch as where there is no light, there will be darkness; when there is no sight, there will be blindness; when there is no life, there ill be death; when there is no riches, there will be poverty; and when there is no knowledge, there will be ignorance.
Consequently, it is proven by indisputable argument and clear explanation that, verily, evils are non-existent, but people have not understood the meaning of the verses of the Bible.
I beg of G.o.d to make thee a faithful servant in His great vineyard, enable thee to speak His praise, to diffuse His fragrances, to chant His verses and to herald His name at every moment.
"O thou who art rejoiced at the explanation of the maid-servant..."
O thou who art rejoiced at the explanation of the maid-servant of G.o.d .........!
Thank thou G.o.d that He hath sent forth unto thee such a spiritual and loving sister, who is preserved from egotism and desires and is rejoiced at the glad-tidings of G.o.d. Can there be imagined any greater mercy than this? No! by the One who hath created the heaven and earth! Blessed thou art, for thou hast inhaled the fragrances of life from the garden of the Kingdom of El-Baha before thine ears had heard the call!
As to ......... whom thou hast mentioned, it behooveth him to seek only the divine bounties and subjects which lead to the real knowledge of the invisible (world of G.o.d), through the mediation of the Holy spirit. Then he will perceive the reality of the triune powers in man, through his innate perception. For, verily, the sign of these triune powers which exist in mankind are spirit, mind and soul. The spirit is the power of life, the mind is the power which apprehendeth the reality of things, and the soul is an intermediary between the Supreme Concourse (or Spiritual World) and the lower concourse (or material world). It, i.e., the soul, hath two phases: The higher aspireth to the Kingdom of El-Baha, and the lights of the mind shine forth from that horizon (or kingdom) unto its higher sphere; the other phase inclineth to the lower concourse of the material world and its lowest sphere is enveloped in the darkness of ignorance. But when light is poured upon this phase, and if this phase of the soul is capable of receiving it, then "truth hath come and falsehood vanisheth, for falsehood is of short duration"-otherwise, darkness will surround it from all directions and it will be deprived of a.s.sociation with the Supreme Concourse and will remain in the lowest depths.
As to the "voice:" There are two kinds of voices. One is the physical voice and it is expressed by atmospheric vibrations which affect the nerves of the ear; the other is the breath of the Merciful, and this is a call which is continually heard from the Supreme Concourse and cheereth the pure and holy souls. May it be beneficial to those who have heard the Call!
Know thou that the Ancient Light and the Manifest Beauty (G.o.d) hath sown seeds in the soil of existence and hath irrigated it through His spiritual bounties. This soil will surely bring forth good plants of divine gifts; the leaves of this growth are love and union, its stem is the teachings of the True One and His supreme laws, and the grain pods are the heavenly blessings which giveth life to the souls. Depend thou on these! Depend thou on these! Depend thou on this, and abandon every imagination and be attracted to the light of reality and discover both the divine truths and physical truths!