O my God! O my God! Verily, the gloomy night hath fallen
upon all regions and the clouds of ignorance have extended in all directions;
the people are immersed in the darkness of surmise and the tyrants are sunk in
the depths of brutality and lawlessness. The red glare of the burning fire is
flashing forth from the netherworld, roaring, ominous voices are rising from
the cruel, destructive and terrible armaments; every region is crying out with
its dumb secret tongue: "Nothing that I possess hath benefited me and
power and strength are taken away from me!"
Verily, O my God, the lamps of guidance are extinguished;
the fire of animosity is enkindled; wrath and antipathy are spread abroad and
provocation and maliciousness are disseminated upon the face of the earth. Yet
I see only Thy wronged followers who are crying at the tops of their voices and
summoning the people:
Hasten ye toward
faithfulness!
Hasten ye toward
generosity!
Hasten ye toward
guidance!
Hasten ye toward
union!
Hasten ye to behold
the Light of the World!
Hasten ye toward love
and prosperity!
Hasten ye toward
peace and reconciliation!
Hasten ye toward the
law of disarmament!
Hasten ye toward
harmony and success!
Hasten ye toward cooperation and mutual help in the path of
guidance!
Verily, these wronged ones do sacrifice themselves with
infinite joy and happiness for the sake of the people with all their souls and
spirits throughout all regions. Verily, Thou beholdest them weeping at the
misfortunes of every one of Thy creatures and becoming grieved at the distress
of Thy children; they are kind to all the people and pained at the sight of the
calamities of the inhabitants of the world.
O my Lord! Make the wings of prosperity to grow upon their
shoulders, so that they may ever soar toward the apex of their aspirations;
strengthen their loins in the service of Thy people, and confirm them in the
thralldom and adoration of the threshold of Thy Holiness.
Verily, Thou art the Merciful! Thou art the Clement, and
there is no God but Thee, the Powerful, the Compassionate, and the Ancient!
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (From a
Tablet, Star of the West, vol. 4, no. 1, March 21, 1913)
