If ye meet the abased or the down-trodden, turn not away
disdainfully from them, for the King of Glory ever watcheth over them and
surroundeth them with such tenderness as none can fathom except them that have suffered
their wishes and desires to be merged in the Will of your Lord, the Gracious,
the All-Wise. O ye rich ones of the earth! Flee not from the face of the poor
that lieth in the dust, nay rather befriend him and suffer him to recount the
tale of the woes with which God's inscrutable Decree hath caused him to be
afflicted. By the righteousness of God! Whilst ye consort with him, the
Concourse on high will be looking upon you, will be interceding for you, will
be extolling your names and glorifying your action. Blessed are the learned
that pride not themselves on their attainments; and well is it with the
righteous that mock not the sinful, but rather conceal their misdeeds, so that
their own shortcomings may remain veiled to men's eyes.
(Baha'u'llah, ‘Gleanings
from the Writings of Baha'u'llah’)
