It is even as in the time of the Messiah, when the Pharisees and the
pious were left without a portion, while Peter, John and Andrew, given neither
to pious worship nor ascetic practice, won the day. Wherefore, thank ye God for
setting upon your heads the crown of glory everlasting, for granting unto you
this immeasurable grace.
The time hath come when, as a thank-offering for this
bestowal, ye should grow in faith and constancy as day followeth day, and
should draw ever nearer to the Lord, your God, becoming magnetized to such a
degree, and so aflame, that your holy melodies in praise of the Beloved will
reach upward to the Company on high; and that each one of you, even as a
nightingale in this rose garden of God, will glorify the Lord of Hosts, and
become the teacher of all who dwell on earth.
- ‘Abdu'l-Baha ('Selections from
the Writings of ‘Abdu'l-Baha')
