O Thou the dread of Whom hath fallen upon all things, before the splendors of Whose face the countenances of all men are downcast, at the revelations of Whose sovereignty all necks have humbly bowed, to the ruling of Whose will all hearts have been subdued, the awfulness of Whose majesty hath caused the foundations of all things to tremble, and to the power of Whose authority the winds have been subjected! I beseech Thee by the compelling force of Thy Revelation, and by the power of Thy might, and by the exaltation of Thy word, and by the sublimity of Thy sovereignty, to number us with them whom the world hath been powerless to hinder from turning towards Thee.
Cause me, O my Lord, to be of those who, with their substance and their own selves, have fought valiantly in Thy path. Write down, then, for me the recompense Thou didst ordain for them in the Tablet of Thy decree. Stablish me also on the seat of truth in Thy presence, and join me with the sincere among Thy servants.
I implore Thee, O my Lord, by Thy Messengers, and Thy Chosen Ones, and by Him through Whom Thou hast affixed Thy seal upon the Manifestations of Thy Cause among Thy creatures, and Whom Thou hast adorned with the ornament of Thine acceptance among all that dwell in Thy heaven and on Thy earth, to graciously assist me to attain unto what Thou hast ordained for Thy servants and bidden them observe in Thy Tablets. Wash away, then, my sins, O my God, by Thy grace and bounty, and reckon me among such as are not overtaken by fear nor put to grief.
Thou art, verily, the Almighty, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.
Baha’u’llah, Prayers and Meditations # CXXV
SLB: “Baha’is have a Sabbath?”
KPS: “Yes, the Baha’i sabbath day is Friday. This was confirmed by Abdu’l-Baha in a Tablet to an individual believer and re-confirmed for all Baha’i’s by Shoghi Effendi as referenced in Lights of Guidance.”
SLB: “Where can I find that tablet? I always thought the 19 day feast was the equivalent of a sabbath, and that every day was the lord’s day.”
KPS: “Cited in Lights of Guidance: #372. Friday is Day of Rest in Bahá’í Calendar
“Abdu’l-Bahá gives no reason whatever why Friday has been chosen as the day of rest in the Bahá’í calendar. He just affirms it.”
(From a letter written on behalf of the Guardian to an individual believer, July 10, 1939: Bahá’í News, No. 162, April 1943, p. 5)”
KPS: “The original tablet in Abdu’l-Baha’s own hand isn’t currently in print in any translation as far as I know.”
SLB: “Kitab-i-Hearsay?”
KPS: “Apparently you’ve not learned of the Guardian Shoghi Effendi. But if you have and he doesn’t meet your standards, then certainly I can’t help you. Read the Will and Testament of Abdu’l-Baha’ to see the measure of your comment. By the way, Kitab is book, so your comment should at least use the correct word for Tablet which would be Lawh.”
SLB: “Apparently you’ve not learned of the Kitab-i-Hearsay. It is the made-up book of made-up (or unconfirmed) stuff. It’s an old joke that goes back as far as I do. My favorite teaching is don’t get all uptight over stuff. God reveals him or herself to each individual to the understanding of that individual. We each get to pick our own illusions. No harm meant.”
KPS: “Baha’i’s don’t consider Shoghi Effendi to be hearsay.”
KPS: “The book I cited, Lights of Gudance, is a reference which contains many citations from the authoritative works of Baha’u’llah, Abdu’l-Baha’ and Shoghi Effendi. As you stated; “I always thought the 19 day feast was the equivalent of a sabbath…”. Everyone is of course free to “think” anything they wish to, but this includes the freedom to be wrong in their thinking. I provided you with the authoritatively Baha’i answer to your question and you chose to respond as if the answer actually came from me and my own “thinking”. In your response you made the error pointed out explicitly in paragraphs 16 and 17 of the Will and Testament of Abdu’l-Baha’ which to Baha’i’s is no small matter. However, that being said, if you don’t consider yourself to be a Baha’i then this would carry no weight at all and have no authoritative meaning to you and I can completely understand your position.”
KPS: “To the casual observer there are many facts contained within the depths of the Baha’i writings that aren’t readily available, such as the keeping of a weekly Sabbath day and far too many more to address each one here. The best way to become educated about the Baha’i Faith is to enroll in the basic educational series we call Firesides and after completing those classes, continue to conduct one’s independent investigation into the vast depths of the Baha’i writings. Here on my Facebook page I’ve provided many links to the official Baha’i Fireside educational series website. It has recently been uploaded in its entirety on Youtube and is free for the entire population of the world to see through their own eyes in the privacy of their own home.”
SLB: “thank you, KPS. You are very organized.”
KPS: “Something that even many Baha’i’s aren’t aware of is the fact that there is a wealth of authoritative statements made by Abdu’l-Baha’ and Shoghi Effendi in the various Baha’i publications of the time prior to the passing of Shoghi Effendi. They are unfortunately difficult to find and expensive to acquire and have not all been put into digital databases to be easily researched. Fortunately we do have hard, bound copies of all of them and this is where many important topics have been expounded upon and made clear by both of these principal Baha’i figures. There are also some who, even though they lay claim to the name Baha’i, refuse to believe that anything stated by Abdu’l-Baha’ and Shoghi Effendi that is found in these publications is authoritative. This thinking causes people to miss out on a treasure trove of beautiful explanations of Baha’u’llah’s teachings by the very individuals He Himself explicitly told all Baha’i’s to turn to for exactly such expounding and detailing of His Revelation. Baha’i’s who are Under the Provisions of the Covenant understand and accept the explanations and interpretations of Abdu’l-Baha’ and Shoghi Effendi as authoritative.”