...The Bible is not wholly authentic, and in this respect is not to be compared with the Qur'an, and should be wholly subordinated to the authentic writings of Bahá'u'lláh.
- Shoghi Effendi (From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi dated 28 July 1936 to a National Spiritual Assembly; compilation on ‘The Bible: Extracts on the Old and New Testaments’, prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice)
What captives of superstitions people are! What troubles they endure for the sake of name and fame! What fruit will these superstitions bear? All are transitory and perishable and no trace of them will remain. It will be as through they had never existed. They are sowing seeds in a barren land. Man ought to sow pure seeds in a fertile soil.
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (From an address, July 29, 1912, Dublin, USA; recorded by Mahmud Zarqani, His secretary and chronicler during His travels in the West; ‘Mahmud’s Diary’)
Become ye a shelter and asylum to the fearful ones, be ye a cause of tranquillity and ease to the souls and hearts of the agitated ones, impart ye strength to the helpless ones, be ye a remedy and antidote to the afflicted ones, and a physician and nurse to the sick ones. Serve ye for the promotion of peace and concord and establish in this transitory world the foundation of friendship, fidelity, reconciliation and truthfulness.
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (‘Tablets of Abdu’l-Baha’, vol. 1)
In this Day the Hand of divine grace hath removed all distinctions. The servants of God and His handmaidens are regarded on the same plane. Blessed is the servant who hath attained unto that which God hath decreed, and likewise the leaf moving in accordance with the breezes of His will. This favour is great and this station lofty. His bounties and bestowals are ever present and manifest. Who is able to offer befitting gratitude for His successive bestowals and continuous favours?
- Baha’u’llah (The Compilation of Compilations, vol. II, Women)
Verily the most necessary thing is contentment under all circumstances; by this one is preserved from morbid conditions and from lassitude. Yield not to grief and sorrow: they cause the greatest misery. Jealousy consumeth the body and anger doth burn the liver: avoid these two as you would a lion.
- Bahá’u’lláh (cited in ‘Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era’; The Compilation of Compilations, vol. I, Some Aspects of Health, Healing, Nutrition and Related Matters)
O thou servant of the One true God! In this universal dispensation man's wondrous craftsmanship is reckoned as worship of the Resplendent Beauty. Consider what a bounty and blessing it is that craftsmanship is regarded as worship. In former times, it was believed that such skills were tantamount to ignorance, if not a misfortune, hindering man from drawing nigh unto God. Now consider how His infinite bestowals and abundant favours have changed hell-fire into blissful paradise, and a heap of dark dust into a luminous garden.
It behoveth the craftsmen of the world at each moment to offer a thousand tokens of gratitude at the Sacred Threshold, and to exert their highest endeavour and diligently pursue their professions so that their efforts may produce that which will manifest the greatest beauty and perfection before the eyes of all men.
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (‘Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá’; compilation ‘Professions’, prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice)
In connection with the institution of the National Fund and the budgetary system set forth in the minutes of the National Spiritual Assembly, I feel urged to remind you of the necessity of ever bearing in mind the cardinal principle that all contributions to the Fund are to be purely and strictly voluntary in character. It should be made clear and evident to every one that any form of compulsion, however slight and indirect, strikes at the very root of the principle underlying the formation of the Fund ever since its inception. While appeals of a general character, carefully-worded and moving and dignified in tone are welcome under all circumstances, it should be left entirely to the discretion of every conscientious believer to decide upon the nature, the amount, and purpose of his or her contribution for the propagation of the Cause.
- Shoghi Effendi (From a letter dated 10 January 1926 to the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada, published in "Bahá'í Administration"; The Compilation of Compilations, vol. I, Baha’i Funds and Contributions)
O ye Cohorts of God! If you observe that a soul has turned his face completely toward the Cause of God, his intention is centralized upon the penetration of the Word of God, he is serving the Cause day and night with the utmost fidelity, no scent of selfishness is inhaled from his manners and deeds, and no trace of egotism or prejudice is seen in his personality—nay rather is he a wanderer in the wilderness of the love of God, and one intoxicated with the wine of the knowledge of God, occupied wholly with the diffusion of the fragrances of God, and attracted to the signs of the Kingdom of God; know ye of a certainty that he is confirmed with the powers of the Kingdom, assisted by the heaven of Might; and he will shine, gleam and sparkle like unto the morning star with the utmost brilliancy and splendor from the horizon of the everlasting gift. If he is alloyed with the slightest trace of passion, desire, ostentation or self-interest, it is certain that the results of all efforts will prove fruitless, and he will become deprived and hopeless.
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (‘Tablets of Abdu’l-Baha’, vol. 1)
This mountain [Carmel] is where Israel's prophets passed their nights in prayers. Every step of it has been blessed by the footsteps of the prophets .... This land will be the envy of the world, the center of arts and sciences. 'Akka and Haifa will be connected and all the vacant lands will be cultivated. All these caves that you see have been the abode of the prophets, step by step. Every atom of this soil is holy. All the prophets, while praying, longed to reach this day and give the glad tidings of the coming of the Lord. They prophesied that the Lord of Hosts would come and the tent of the Lord would be pitched on Mount Carmel. ... in all these mountains and caves the prophets of God prayed at night, shed tears, and longed to be with us in these days of the Blessed Beauty.
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (From talks to pilgrim in 1907; ’Memories of Dr. Habib Mu’ayyad’, pp. 19, 21, 22, 53; include in the book: ‘Zikrullah Khadem, The Itinerant Hand of the Cause of God’)
Unveiled and unconcealed, this Wronged One hath, at all times, proclaimed before the face of all the peoples of the world that which will serve as the key for unlocking the doors of sciences, of arts, of knowledge, of well-being, of prosperity and wealth.
- Bahá'u'lláh (Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh revealed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas; The Compilation of Compilations, vol. III, Social and Economic Development)
Whoso cleaveth to justice, can, under no circumstances, transgress the limits of moderation. He discerneth the truth in all things, through the guidance of Him Who is the All-Seeing. The civilization, so often vaunted by the learned exponents of arts and sciences, will, if allowed to overleap the bounds of moderation, bring great evil upon men. Thus warneth you He Who is the All-Knowing. If carried to excess, civilization will prove as prolific a source of evil as it had been of goodness when kept within the restraints of moderation. Meditate on this, O people, and be not of them that wander distraught in the wilderness of error. The day is approaching when its flame will devour the cities, when the Tongue of Grandeur will proclaim: "The Kingdom is God's, the Almighty, the All-Praised!"
- Baha'u'llah ('Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah')
Upon becoming a Bahá'í one’s whole life is, or should become devoted to the progress of the Cause of God, and every talent or faculty he possesses is ultimately committed to this overriding life objective.
- The Universal House of Justice (Message dated 9 October 1968 addressed to the “Baha’i Youth in every Land”; Messages from the Universal House of Justice, 1963-1986)
...the happiness and greatness, the rank and station, the pleasure and peace, of an individual have never consisted in his personal wealth, but rather in his excellent character, his high resolve, the breadth of his learning, and his ability to solve difficult problems....
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (‘The Secret of Divine Civilization’; The Compilation of Compilations, vol. III, Scholarship)
In the Hebrew Torah, it is recorded that from Noah's flood until the birth of Abraham there was an interval of two hundred and ninety-two years. In the Greek, that time span is given as one thousand and seventy-two years, while the Samaritan, the recorded span is nine hundred and forty-two years. Refer to the commentary by Henry Westcott [the transliteration of this name is not certain] for tables are supplied therein which show the discrepancies among the three Torahs as to the birthdates of a number of the descendants of Shem, and thou wilt see how greatly the versions differ from one another.
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (‘Tablet of Wisdom questions and answers’, translated by Baha’i World Centre, published in ‘Ethel Jenner Rosenberg, the Life and Times of England's Outstanding Bahá'í Pioneer Worker’, by Robert Weinberg)
Thou seest me, O my God, in this lofty Mountain, this high and exalted place .. . , the abode of the prophets, the haven of Elijah, the sanctuaty of Isaiah, the heights which the Spirit of God, Jesus Christ – upon Him rest salutation and praise - hath traversed, this most exalted Spot blessed by the footsteps of the Lord of Hosts. O Lord! This is the Mountain that Thou hast named Carmel in the Torah, and hast related unto Thyself within the treasury of the holy Scriptures and Tablets. In the midst of the darksome nights, O Lord, I earnestly pray unto Thee in this most exalted Spot.
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (From a Tablet, translation approved by the Universal House of Justice, included in the book: Zikrullah Khadem, The Itinerant Hand of the Cause of God’)