day-star in the firmament of true civilization and the cause of the glory, the advancement, the well-being and the success of all humanity—be regarded as an impossibility? Of a surety, the day will come when its beauteous light shall illuminate the assemblage of man.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá: The Secret of Divine
Civilization)
. . . Know thou of a certainty that Love is the secret of God’s holy Dispensation, the manifestation of the All-merciful, the fountain of spiritual outpourings. Love is heaven’s kindly light, the Holy Spirit’s eternal breath that vivifies the human soul. Love is the cause of God’s revelation unto man, the vital bond inherent, according to Divine creation, in the realities of things. Love is the one means that insures true felicity both in this world and the next. Love is the light that guideth in darkness, the living link that uniteth God with man, that assureth the progress of every illumined soul. Love is the most great Law that ruleth this mighty and heavenly cycle, the unique power that bindeth together the divers elements of this material world, the supreme magnetic force that directs the movements of the spheres in the celestial realms. Love revealeth with unfailing and limitless power the mysteries latent in the universe. Love is the spirit of life unto the adorned body of mankind, the establisher of true civilization in this mortal world, and the shedder of imperishable glory upon every high-aiming race and nation.
Whatsoever people is graciously favored therewith by God, its name shall surely be magnified and extolled by the Concourse from on high, by the company of angels, and the denizens of the Abha Kingdom. And whatsoever people turneth its heart away from this Divine Love—the revelation of the Merciful—shall err grievously, shall fall in despair, and be utterly destroyed. That people shall be denied all refuge, shall become even as the vilest creatures of the earth, victims of degradation and shame.
O ye beloved of the Lord! Strive to become the manifestations of the love of God, the lamps of Divine guidance shining amongst the kindreds of the earth with the light of love and concord.
All-hail to the revealers of this glorious light!
(Epistles of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá)
The Prophets of God one and all, Christ Himself, as well as the Blessed Beauty (Bahá’u’lláh), have all appeared and raised the call with the one purpose of transforming the world of man into the Kingdom of God. Their common aim was to turn the earthly into heavenly, darkness into light, things that are satanic into things Divine. They strove to establish the reign of harmony and love amongst the children of men, to unfold to their eyes the fundamental unity of all mankind, to demolish the foundations of differences in the world, and to confer upon it the imperishable blessings of eternal life.
O thou honored one! Ponder in thine heart the world of being. Association, harmony and union are the source of life, whilst difference and division are the cause of ultimate destruction. Shouldst thou reflect on all created things, thou wilt observe that the existence of every being dependeth upon the association and combination of divers elements the disintegration of which will terminate the existence of that being.
O esteemed one! In cycles gone by, though harmony was established, yet, owing to the absence of means, the unity of all mankind was not achieved. Continents remained sundered and divided, nay even among the peoples of one and the same continent association and interchange of thought were well-nigh impossible. Consequently intercourse, understanding and unity amongst all the peoples and kindreds of the earth were unattainable. In this day, however, means of communication have multiplied, and the five continents of the earth have virtually merged into one. For every individual travels in every land, intercourse
