O Divine Providence! Bestow Thou in all things purity and
cleanliness upon the people of Bahá. Grant that they be freed from all
defilement, and released from all addictions. Save them from committing any
repugnant act, unbind them from the chains of every evil habit, that they may
live pure and free, wholesome and cleanly, worthy to serve at Thy Sacred
Threshold and fit to be related to their Lord. Deliver them from intoxicating
drinks and tobacco, save them, rescue them, from this opium that bringeth on
madness, suffer them to enjoy the sweet savours of holiness, that they may
drink deep of the mystic cup of heavenly love and know the rapture of being
drawn ever closer unto the Realm of the All-Glorious. For it is even as Thou
hast said: ‘All that thou hast in thy cellar will not appease the thirst of my
love—bring me, O cup-bearer, of the wine of the spirit a cup full as the sea!’
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (‘Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Baha’)
