Selections From the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
make him a reveller holding high his cup. Help him to fling away his life; grant that for Thy sake, he be offered up.
190.12Thou art the Mighty, the Powerful. Thou art the Knower, the Seer, the Hearer.
191. 191.1O thou who hast been sore afflicted on the pathway of the
Covenant! Anguish and torment, when suffered on the pathway of the Lord, Him of manifest signs, is only favour and grace; affliction is but mercy, and grief a gift from God. Poison is sugar on the tongue, and wrath is kindness, nourishing the soul.
191.2Then praise thou Him, the loving Provider, for having ordained this dire affliction, which is but bounty unalloyed.
191.3If I, like
Abraham, through flames must go,
Or yet like John
1 a bloodstained road must run;
If, Joseph-like, Thou’d cast me in a well,
Or shut me up within a prison cell—
Or make me e’en as poor as Mary’s Son—
I will not go from Thee,
But ever stand
My soul and body bowed to Thy command.
192. 192.1Today, the
Lord of Hosts is the defender of the Covenant, the forces of the Kingdom protect it, heavenly souls tender their services, and heavenly angels promulgate and spread it broadcast. If it is considered with insight, it will be seen that all the forces
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